Investing in yourself—hear from our guests
“Letting go of things that don't serve you is as important as investing in the things that will serve you.” - Cindy Wagman
When it comes to investments, one of the best you can make is in yourself! In this roundup episode, we gathered inspirational insights from our number of guests and shared their personal journeys of success and revealing their secrets on business growth.
Highlights:
Finding a mentor or a coach to help you become accountable, grow and develop your business
Taking time for yourself, your mental health and working on personal growth
How to take workations as business owners
Find Us Online: https://www.confessionswithjessandcindy.com/
Connect with Cindy:
Cindy Wagman Coaching https://cindywagman.com/
The Good Partnership https://www.thegoodpartnership.com/
Connect with Jess:
Out In the Boons: https://www.outintheboons.me/
Transcript:
[00:00:00] Cindy: Welcome to the Confessions Podcast. I'm Cindy Wagman.
[00:00:03] Jess: And I'm Jess Campbell. We're two former in-house non-profit pros turned coaches and consultants to purpose-driven organizations.
[00:00:11] Cindy: After years of building up our separate six-figure businesses from scratch, we've thrown a lot of spaghetti at the wall and have lived to see what sticks.
[00:00:20] Jess: We're on a mission to help other non-profit coaches and consultants looking to start or scale their own businesses past the six figure mark by pulling back the curtain.
[00:00:30] Cindy: Whether you're still working inside a non-profit and thinking of one day going out on your own or you've been running your consulting business for years, you understand that working with nonprofit is just different. We're giving you access to the business leaders who serve nonprofits as their clients. You know, the people who truly get it.
[00:00:52] Jess: No more gatekeeping, no more secrets. This podcast is going to give you an inside look at what running a successful nonprofit coaching and consulting business looks like. Basically, we're asking people how much money they make, how they get paid and what has and hasn't worked in their businesses.
[00:01:11] Cindy: Listen in as these leaders share their insights, their numbers, and the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to building a nonprofit coaching or consulting business, we're gonna empower you to make the power moves that give you the income and freedom you set out to create from day one.
[00:01:28] Jess: You ready? Let's go.
[00:01:31] Cindy: Hey, Jess.
[00:01:33]Jess: Hi.
[00:01:34] Cindy: We're back.
[00:01:34] Jess: So...
[00:01:35] Cindy: We're back. We're back. It's the end of the year, and today's conversation is less of a conversation and more of some really great inspiration and insight from a number of our guests. This is our roundup episode where we're talking all things investing in yourself.
[00:01:56] Jess: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Such an important topic.
[00:02:00] Cindy: Oh, I mean, this is the one thing that we as business owners really need to take seriously because our business is only as successful as we are.
[00:02:13] Jess: Mm-hmm. And as entrepreneurs, I feel like it's this giant game. I sometimes picture myself I'm in this real-life video game and most of the battle is between me and myself. And...
[00:02:27] Cindy: Who's up?
[00:02:28] Jess: Yeah, exactly. And I think that one of the best investments I know I have made in myself and continue to make in myself moving forward is investing in people that are a few steps ahead of me and can kind of look back and understand what I'm going through very specifically, but who can also pull me out of my own way and encourage me. Keep it real, keep me accountable, keep me honest. And I'm excited for who I've invested in the coming 2023. How about you?
[00:03:04] Cindy: Yay. Yeah. So I would say there's two big buckets of how I've invested in myself as a business owner. First, I'm gonna actually use a term I think you use a lot, which is the fast pass or the fast track. So people who have a system or process in place so that I can do the work faster and better. So things like Story Brand, they have a whole program called Business Made Simple. I literally just watch the videos and use their templates over and over again, you know, things like that. So if I'm working on a website page, I have it all structured, It's there. It's easy for me to do quickly.
[00:03:47] Cindy: The one thing that surprised me this past year as I was doing my own coaching certification, I get coached and the mindset work was a lot more significant for me, personally, and for the clients that I work with in coach than I ever thought it would be. And so that was kind of mind blowing, just like, “Whoa!” I have all these stories running in the back of my head about myself and my success and I'm really working on changing those. So, yeah, that was one that surprised me.
[00:04:23] Jess: I'm surprised I surprised you.
[00:04:26] Cindy: I know. Well, so like, I would describe myself as like a doer, a go-getter. If you tell me to do something, I'm gonna do it. So for me, mindset has never been about holding me back in the way that I think, we think it does of a lot of people. But then, all these other stories came up about control and all these other... lots of other things and predictability and how that's impacted my business in different ways. Yeah. And so, it impacted me. So it's very… I mean, without going into all the details of my own mindset work.
[00:05:07] Jess: That's a different episode.
[00:05:09] Cindy: Yeah. And I'm still doing that. It's been so interesting as things come up in my life, new stories show up. And so, I just always thought of myself as someone who just gets it done and that mindset wasn't an issue and that was just like not. And we all have mindset stuff like that is the way our brains are wired. And I kind of... just before this year, didn't include myself in that group but now, it's interesting.
[00:05:38] Jess: Interesting. I'm looking forward to... I mean, I'm an action taker too. I know it's like, "Stop, Jess." I, little too active sometimes . And one of the things that I noticed in 2021, so I put myself in a timeout, was buying up a bunch of courses and getting all this knowledge. I'm at a point in my business where I know a lot, but I need to either execute or complete. And so, I put myself on a timeout in 2022. I'm gonna keep myself fun and I can't imagine not coming out of timeout for buying up things on more knowledge, but I have invested specifically for Q1. And two coaches, one who has just an amazing business and I think she's an incredible marketer. And another person who has a very different business than me but we have a lot of the same elements to our business. And literally, it's just like an unlimited sounding board. It's unlimited Voxxer. That's basically what I'm paying for.
[00:06:49] Cindy: I love it
[00:06:50] Jess: And I can't wait because I don't really need to learn the how. I need someone that's like, "Did you do that thing you said you were gonna do?"
[00:06:59] Cindy: Yeah. Accountability is huge. And yeah, I actually, similarly at a place where I'm not trying to learn more things right now. I have to implement the things that I've committed to implementing and I have things that I wanna start scaling that are scalable. I just need to do it over and over again. And so, yeah, for me, it really is taking a step back and not chasing the shiny objects and trying to add new things, but focusing on being consistent, relationships with people who I trust to like keep me accountable that might mean a coach. I'm already thinking about 2024 investments. But 2023, I think for me, really is about the mindset. I feel like I've just opened a can of worms for that. So like coaching and really not trying to learn things but really stick to what I've built.
[00:08:02] Cindy: One of my... it might surprise you, but one of the things that came up for me is 'cuz I'm a builder, I actually would call myself as an identity, say I'm a builder, I build things. And I think you are as well. But what came up for me is like, "Well, you keep building new things, which means the things that have been built are not. You're missing out on profit and opportunity from just sticking with that consistently." So I'm trying to get better at not trying to build all the time, and just stick with what I have and make really strategic... I think come back to the topic of investing ourselves is taking a step back. What are my goals for this year? Where are the deficits?
[00:08:48] Cindy: Both you and I are in a position where it's not tactical, it's more accountability and coaching. So what are those needs and deficits and then finding the best fit for that. But I think both of us are. And I think everyone who weighs in on this episode is very clear that it's really important to our success to continue to invest in ourselves
[00:09:13] Jess: With a caveat, as always. I'm digging to Cindy saying and vice versa. And I just feel so validated because at this moment in time, Adam Grant, who's a renowned organizational psychologist just talked about the power of changing your mind. And so as Cindy was just talking about being a builder and always be building, and how to maybe sit in the things that she's built, I think it's also very okay to release the things that either don't excite you, don't turn you on or the brains out of you. And then build something new to either replace that, but there's a balance, right?
[00:09:58] Cindy: Yeah.
[00:09:58] Jess: Because you have to test. And if things are working and you're not giving it enough steam behind to really let it shoot off, that is to Cindy's point not doing you a service to always be building new. But I also think there's things in my personal business that I have built that just totally bore me or not the right fit or things I don't wanna sell. And those need to be just shut away like skin on a snake.
[00:10:25] Cindy: Let go. Yeah.
[00:10:27] Jess: Let it go.
[00:10:28] Cindy: Did we...? Wait a second, did we start 2022? Was that ours? I feel like I had... that was my 2022 mantra is just let it go. And I can't remember who we talked about that on our retreat. But yeah, letting go of things that don't serve you is as important as investing in the things that will serve you.
[00:10:53] Jess: Yeah. I agree. It's a mix. And so really taking what we say with a grain of salt and doing what's best for you and your business is always our advice. But I can't wait for you to listen in and hear what others have to say too, because everyone has some very wise wisdom to share.
[00:11:09] Cindy: Yeah. So here are those guests.
[00:11:12] Dana: My name is Dana Snyder and I am the CEO and founder of Positive Equation. And the best personal and professional development, I would say, 'cause it was both investment that I had made in myself was a mastermind that I did with Julie Solomon and about 12 other women called Shine. And it was a $20,000 investment for the year and it was 100% worth it. I saw over a hundred percent growth in my business year over year. And the relationships were incredible, just continuing to grow in friendship with each other.
[00:11:45] Jonathan: This is Jonathan McCoy with We Are For Good. And I'll say the best investment that we've made in ourselves is investing in other people. And I say that because if we would not have taken the risk of hiring people, and I specifically look at Julie, who came with us from the very beginning of our launch. None of this would've been possible. And we had to take the risk, which I think equates to belief in your vision and belief of what's possible. And so making that investment in other people has changed our entire trajectory.
[00:12:17] Becky: This is Becky Endicott with We Are For Good. And honestly, the best investment that we have made for our business and for me, specifically, is honestly paying for my therapy. And I can show up to be the most healthy version of myself. The most centered version of myself by pouring into how do I take care of myself. And so for anyone out there, if you don't even have the funds to do it, I encourage you to find a mentor, find a coach, find somebody that you can talk to that can talk to you through the challenges that you're facing. And it's gonna help keep you more centered and it's gonna keep you focused on the thing that's most important to your business.
[00:13:01] Betty: So I'm Betty. And the best investment that I've make for myself running my own business has been a very source of different coaching. I have hired someone to do specific coaching me on marketing. I have a leadership coach that I've worked with for a long time now. And actually, on top of that, I also think therapy is really good investment. Just in general,
[00:13:30] Kishshana: I'm Kishshana Palmer. I am your favorite relationship coach, consultant and strategist. And the best investment that I have made in my business is actually learning how to take workations. And that's...
[00:13:44] Cindy: Tell us what that means.
[00:13:45] Kishshana: Yes.
[00:13:45] Cindy: Tell us what that means.
[00:13:45] Kishshana: That's to have an opportunity, a planned opportunity, a part of your expenses for your year where you have your CEO week, or you have your step back where you actually take your work to your favorite type of location whether it's the beach, the woods, the mountains or the desert. And you carve out time to be able to actually work, not to think, but actually work and to explore or to rest and to reset. You combine the two together with intention so that you can get some stuff done in a different environment. It gets your creative juices going. It puts that nitro in your backpack and it really propels you going into the next quarter after you come back.
[00:14:29] Cindy: Where has your favorite retreat been?
[00:14:32] Kishshana: In Acapulco?
[00:14:34] Cindy: Ooh, yes.
[00:14:35] Kishshana: Oh, yes. Listen. It was sexy. It was a little dangerous. I had never been to a place where I got off the plane and I said, "Oh, it feels heaty, and I should have on shades and linen and a fast car should pull up. And also, do I need to carry a gun?" I mean, it had all of the things of your favorite 007 movie. I don't know why. I don't know why. But that's what Acapulco had for me. It was very sexy. That place in that kind of danger, sexy. And I really enjoyed being on my own there. I dunno if it was the safest place I went to of all the places I've been y'all for that same very reason. But, it was the most fun I had on my own doing my workation.
[00:15:14] Rhea: This is Rhea Wong. The best investment I've made have been coaches, masterminds and personal development because your business is only as good as you are. And so if you're not willing to make the investment in yourself, your business will suffer. You know, the biggest change has actually been internal, and so I'm going to give it up to Dr. Eugene Choi, who is a neuro hacking performance coach. Because at the end of the day, this business, there's so many ups and downs and your ability to manage your mind around the vicissitudes of business is going to be what makes you successful. Because it's easy to freak out. It's easy to tell yourself stories about, "I suck. I'm going out of business. No one wants to hire me," blah, blah, blah, right? Like that negative narrative can play. But if you can be mentally strong and resilient, you can do anything.
[00:16:10] April: Hi, I'm April. Founder and CEO, Philanthropy for the People. I'm gonna cheat and give you three answers. The best investments plural that I made in my business and myself, certainly, business coaching from the very beginning. Therapy 'cuz mental health is incredibly important. And lots of travel. Catching flights. There's an investment, always.
[00:16:33] Tania: Hey, I'm Tania Bhattacharyya. I'm the founder of Lumos Marketing. And although there are so many investments I've made that are just so fruitful, I truly believe that we have to invest in ourselves as business owners and consultants. One of my favorite things that I have invested in is actually launching a podcast. It's an investment of many different kinds of resources, from money to time to energy but I have just found that it has been paying dividends. So highly recommend.
[00:17:06] Cindy: Thank you again for listening to the Confessions Podcast for nonprofit coaches and consultants. If you enjoyed today's episode, which I sure hope you did, you can enjoy your support in one of three ways.
[00:17:17] Jess: Number one, post the screenshot of this episode to your Instagram stories or LinkedIn profile and tag Cindy so we can repost you.
[00:17:25] Cindy: Number two, share this podcast with a fellow non-profit culture consultant.
[00:17:30] Jess: And number three, leave a positive review on Apple Podcasts so that we can continue to grow and reach new listeners.
[00:17:36] Cindy: And of course, make sure you subscribe so you can get the latest and greatest interviews as they drop every Thursday.
[00:17:43] Jess: And to our fellow non-profit coaching and consulting friends, remember we're an open book and here to answer your burning biz questions.
[00:17:51] Cindy: See you next time.