[00:00:00] Well, hello? Hello, my friends. How are you? I hope you're having a fabulous day fabulous week. Week and. Thank you for joining me today. We just had Halloween last night and. And it was fun and festive, and I feel like ate way too many. Candy bars. But. And then. I'm like, yep. This is the holiday season, right?
Where we're eating. Things that we may be normally don't eat and yes. So let's get rolling because I have a really fun episode for you today. I got this idea from Mel Robbins. I don't know if you ever listened to her podcast. It's amazing. I highly recommend it. It's very inspirational. She also has some great scientists on there, but I digress but she had an episode like this similar but so it gave me this idea and I have always thought it would be super fun.[00:01:00]
If you know this about me, I I've been a writer for, gosh, I don't know, 20 years or something. And I used to write a lot for newspapers and magazines. And as part of that, I got to Interview a lot of really interesting people. And I always loved that. And that was one of my favorite parts of writing for publications was getting to interview people.
And I kind of have lost track of that cause I don't do that anymore. But I was thinking it, wouldn't it be fun to interview some really high level, successful. Millionaire, billionaire women, entrepreneurs. And so Mel Robbins did a similar episode with some of her people that she looks up to. And I thought, well I could do a similar episode and do my own research.
And so that's what I have for you today. One of my mentors. says, if you want to accomplish something big to go [00:02:00] find someone who's already done it and learn everything you can from them. And so I have picked six, I have a six pack of inspiration for you today from my favorite millionaire billionaire women entrepreneurs.
From they come from the worlds of business and entertainment products and services and they all have built very high profile personal brands as well. So. It was really fun to do this research and put this together. And I think this is kind of like one of those dream team type things where I don't know if these six people would ever be in the same room on an interview.
So. Or in a podcast studio together, but we're just going to pretend that we got to hear from each one of these fabulous women and just take in the lessons and the inspiration that they have in their words for us today, along with my [00:03:00] commentary. So. The six women that we have here with us today are Sarah Blakely, who the founder of Spanx, Oprah Winfrey, the famous inspirational broadcaster, TV show host, and she's done so many things, right?
Like I don't even know how to describe her. She's just Oprah. Jamie Kern Lima. Who founded It Cosmetics in her living room with her husband and they grew it and she ended up selling it to L'Oreal for a billion dollars and that's a billion with a B. And that is an amazing story. If you can ever get a chance to read her books so good.
And fourth we have Sandra Yancey. The founder of e women network and one of my personal mentors. And she started humble, humble beginnings is the daughter, her father died when [00:04:00] tragically when she was five, her mother. Is or was a Mexican immigrant and so she was raised by a single mother. Mexican immigrant that worked hard right to support her children.
And Sandra grew up watching, you know, having that kind of example and went on to create her own multimillion dollar business. And then the fifth is Taylor Swift and. Probably one of those people doesn't like Oprah, doesn't need a huge introduction, but the entertainment pop superstar and amazing builder of the Swift empire.
And then sixth, we have Beyonce. She's only got one name because she only needs one name. We all know who Beyonce is, Queen B, right? And the, the famous pop star and legendary entertainer. And [00:05:00] so those are the six women that will be inspiring us with their words today. And so. What I thought was so interesting in doing this research and what I learned just from doing the research is that each one of these women is known for a central message and it's easy to find quotes from them if you're looking within their central message, but if you're looking for something different, you're not going to find any quotes.
So for instance, Taylor Swift, we all know she is an amazing business woman. Like what she has done with, with her her empire and building up her business has been just as amazing as the creative, brilliant musical entertainer that she is. Right. However. There are no [00:06:00] quotes from her that I could find, no major quotes from her or discussions or interviews with her about herself as a business woman and as an entrepreneur.
So I thought that was really interesting. So for me, the lesson for us, number one is to find that one thing that you can talk about everywhere, that impact that you want to have, that message that you want to have. And talk about it and say it over and over. Maybe not the exact same words, but the same central message, right?
And don't stray publicly. I mean, obviously you can talk to other people about other things, but, but just that consistency of message, which I thought was so fascinating and And so that's our first inspiration and first message, first learning as a part of this project. And so, okay. So the first, our first guest today is [00:07:00] the Sarah Blakely.
And if you don't follow her on social media, I recommend you go and follow her on social media, especially Instagram. I follow her on Instagram. And she is amazing and has a great sense of humor, but her she talks a lot about resilience and reframing failure. And so this is a skill that I. I'm sure has really helped her rise to the level of success that she has reached.
And she shares a lot and regularly about how her father encouraged her to celebrate failure. Now, this is not how most of us are raised because failure begins with F and we start school at, you know, the age of five or whatever. And from the very first day of our kindergarten. You know, our, our entire school career, we're learned not to get an F.
Don't fail. [00:08:00] But Sarah Blakely says fail, right? Her quote is, this is her quote. These are her words that she wants to encourage us with. She says, my dad encouraged us to fail. Growing up, he would ask us what we failed at that week. If we didn't have something, he would be disappointed. It changed my mindset at an early age.
That failure is not the outcome. If you're not feeling it means you're not trying unquote. And so I thought that was so interesting. And so there's a couple other quotes from her that I wanted to share with you that she has for us today. A quote with every obstacle that has happened to me in my life, my brain immediately says, where's the hidden blessing?
Right. I love that. This is me talking now. I love that. And she says, quote, every day is learning how to manage obstacles. Unquote. [00:09:00] And I know that for us as entrepreneurs, we are often, I guess it's a human thing. We're like, okay, when is it going to be smooth sailing? And here's Sarah Blakely telling us every day is learning how to manage obstacles.
So it's just really a great reminder that that is the entrepreneurial journey. And that if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. And we know that we are in a small small minority of people that are entrepreneurs and sticking with it. And so really thinking about building resilience and reframing failure is going to make the journey so much easier.
And I really have experienced this myself. During October I had a really big goal for myself and it was very interesting to watch my mind, my thoughts. Really kick up [00:10:00] around failure and really have, I noticed that this is something I need to continue to work on is really reframing failure that it's not, you know, as Sarah Blakely says, if you're not failing, you're not trying, right?
And so we have to constantly be going towards failure. Because the only way we're winning is on the other side of a whole bunch of failures, right? So if we are failure averse, if we avoid failure, we are actually putting more and more distance between us and being able to win and succeed. And so the final quote from Sarah Blakely is, quote, I think failure is nothing more than life's way of nudging you that you're off course.
My attitude, she says, to failure is not attached to the outcome, but in not trying. It is [00:11:00] liberating. So, unquote. And so, for her, how she is encouraging us through these quotes to reframe failure is that the failure, my friends, is in not trying. But if we try and we give. Everything that we do in our businesses, 100 percent and we try and we put our whole heart into it and then we still fail.
That's actually success and it's learning, right? There's a quote by we're going to bring Thomas Edison in right now. I love his quote. We'll invite him to the party. He says, this is his quote, quote, I have not failed. I have just found 10, 000 ways that it won't work. Right? Unquote. And so he said that I believe about the invention of the light bulb.
And so he [00:12:00] tried 10, 000 different ways he, but he didn't see it as failure. He just saw it as way that he's found another way that it's not going to work. So whatever you feel like you're failing at right now, I want you to just consider. How could it just, how could you reframe it? Think of it as learning as, as learning one of your 10, million ways that it won't work.
Right? And so that's been some of my biggest growth in October is trying things and failing and then being able to look at them as learning. I'm learning. I'm not failing. I'm learning. I'm either winning or I'm learning, right? And I think that is a really powerful and very liberating way to look at failure.
It's not something to be avoided. It's something to run [00:13:00] towards, but a worthy fail that you've given it your all. And, you know, you can lay your head down on the pillow at night and know that it was a worthy fail and you learned, right? Because really, if we get to the end of our lives and we haven't tried, that really is failure.
Okay, moving on, because I could talk about that all day. Our second key to entrepreneurial success. We're going to hear from the amazing Ms. Oprah Winfrey and Oprah is known for her deep focus on self awareness and intuition and she credits these traits for her business success. She believes everyone has a unique path and quote, knowing what you don't want is the first step towards knowing what you do [00:14:00] unquote.
Her perspective encourage us, encourages us as leaders to tune into our inner voice as a guide for decision making and personal growth. And so my favorite quote from her around tuning into our self awareness, listening to our inner knowing is, quote, Every right decision I have ever made has come from my gut.
Every wrong decision I have ever made was as a result of me not listening to the greater voice of myself, unquote. So what does this require? This requires self trust, right? This requires us trusting the voice and the inner knowing that we have above all the other voices out there. That we tend to let in, right?[00:15:00]
The voices coming at us from, I don't know. We know you and I both know there's a lot of voices, a lot of opinions always coming at us from all of those around us. Right. But what I want to encourage you to do is learn to tune into that inner voice and it takes practice. And I have really started studying more about human design and I am a generator and with sacral authority, which for me means that my inner wisdom and my sacral wisdom, like that deepest inner knowing is very strong.
And. What I think is such I don't know, it's very sad for me to think about that. I haven't really tuned into that a whole lot until, or had a lot of awareness, I guess, [00:16:00] until the last couple of years. And so I've begun, begun to intentionally tune in more and make more space for listening to my gut.
And it has been such a huge game changer. And when we do that, we, It gives us confidence and, and we can learn how to trust that voice and own our inner wisdom. It's powerful, right? So as women in business, it's a skill that's not often encouraged. Right. And I think women are often socialized to be looking for answers outside of ourselves that, you know, especially in business, we have been socialized in in my generation and older generations that we've been told we're not good with money.
We're not good at business. And so some of us carry that. And so it's been really hard to learn to trust ourselves. [00:17:00] And so if you can relate to that, you're not alone. However, I want to encourage you to as much as possible. Yes, you can take advice from other people, but ultimately tune in to what your gut is telling you and tune into that inner wisdom.
And, and yes We can use our intellectual knowledge and whatever, but really it's our, it's the combination of our intellectual brain and our gut, the wisdom of our gut that are really going to lead us in the best direction for us. Right. And when we listen to that and when we follow it, then we own those decisions.
And I think We can really fully commit to those, right? Because if we're just doing something because someone told us to do it, it's not [00:18:00] necessarily going to lead us towards confidence in that decision. So just something to think about. So we definitely know Oprah is dialed in and she is, she has consistently throughout her career done things differently, right?
And it's because of listening to her inner wisdom. And so she's bucked a lot of trends done things a lot of, a lot differently than, and a lot of other people in her industry. And so if she can be any example to us of listening to our inner wisdom and the power of that, and the success that can come from that.
I think we'll take her lead on this one, right?
Okay. Number three. Is Jamie Kern Lima the founder of it cosmetics? We're going to welcome Jamie and she speaks to another very important [00:19:00] key or secret to success as a woman entrepreneur. She speaks to perseverance in the face of rejection. And if you read her book, her first book, I can't remember the title of it right now, but she has a new book about called worthy.
But if you read her story about building her business, it is. It's amazing the amount of rejection that she put up with. And she says, quote, rejection is redirection. And so that kind of sounds similar to what Sarah Blakely said, right? And she encourages entrepreneurs to trust their intuition. Are we seeing a theme here?
Even when others doubt them. This approach led her to keep pushing her products until it caught the attention of major retailers, ultimately selling her company to L'Oreal for 1. 2 billion, with a B, [00:20:00] billion dollars. So Jamie's favorite, favorite, My favorite quotes from her about perseverance. The first one, quote, these setbacks might hurt our feelings, but they also might be set ups to carry the weight of our future successes.
Unquote. I love that. I love that reframe, right? And yes, we might have setbacks, we might have failures and, unquote. We have a choice. We can think of them as failures or we can think of them as setups, as she says, right, which I love. I think that's such a great reframe and it's fine. It's totally okay to choose thoughts about your failures that serve you.
Thoughts that call you higher that help you to see it not as a failure of you as a person or an entrepreneur, but as an [00:21:00] opportunity to learn as a setup for your future success, right? And so a couple other quotes from Jamie quote, the price we all pay for doing anything great at all. Is that not everyone is going to like it or like you.
And I think that's so great because one you know, the women that I work with, we, and myself too, I am totally, this is me as well. My, my journey as well is that yes, we avoid failure, but we also, Just as much, I feel like, avoid the negative opinions of others, right? Like, we're so afraid that so and so, whether it's, you know, a former classmate or, Mentor or your mother in law or whatever.
Like what if this person doesn't like what I'm doing and that line of [00:22:00] thinking keeps us from our success. So if we take Jamie's advice and just remember that whatever if we're doing something big not everyone's going to like it right or like you or like me And Her final quote, which I want you to really take a moment, just stop what you're doing and listen to quote, you don't become what you want.
You become what you believe you're worthy of unquote. And that is incredibly powerful and really speaks to the fact that wherever you are in your business, in your career, in, The growth that growth track that you're on is we have to constantly be working on our thinking around our worthiness and I want you to know that [00:23:00] you are 100 percent worthy you were on the day you were born having done nothing for anyone other than being born you are 100 percent worthy.
And so how and what do you need in order to believe that? How do you want to believe that? What do you need in order to believe that you are worthy? You are worthy of your dream. You are worthy of the vision that God has put inside of you for your business and your life. So let's go out and get it. Okay.
All right. The fourth key. is from Sandra Yancey. So welcome to the program Sandra Yancey and I've actually interviewed her on this podcast. So I highly recommend going and listening to that. It's a really great episode. So the fourth key from Sandra is to surround yourself with the support you need [00:24:00] to thrive and have people around you that speak life into you.
We cannot do it alone, and Sandra says this. I know her very, I know her quite well, and one of the things that she says, and one of the things that really deeply impacted me when I first met her, is that, that we are not meant to do it alone. So Sandra Yancy, the founder of eWomen Network, which is a network of an international network of women entrepreneurs and of which I am the managing director of the local chapter here in northern Colorado.
And Sandra Yancey, the founder of our network, eWomen Network, believes in building community and creating a supportive network. She says, quote, you must take responsibility for your network to get connected in a deep way, unquote. For her relationships and genuine connections are the key for [00:25:00] sustainable success in entrepreneurship.
And I agree with her a hundred percent. A couple other quotes for her that from her that have been really impactful for me. Number one, Quote, building relationships is more valuable than any financial asset, unquote. And so, I love this because I really have been leaning into connection and creating deeper relationships within my business, and it has changed everything for me.
Not only financially, but also in enjoyment, right? Like, it is so much more enjoyable to be connected. With other women entrepreneurs and supporting each other and lifting each other up and doing business together. It really creates such a, such a great environment for growth. And she says, quote, no one makes it alone unquote.
And so we need each other and [00:26:00] we need to support each other and lift each other up. Okay. Number five, and I'm going to move through the rest of them, kind of Oh, we're only at 26 minutes or so here. Okay. We're doing pretty good. I have to get this episode recorded cause my team is waiting on it. So we're going to keep moving here.
So our fifth key. creativity as delivered to us by Taylor Swift. So welcome Taylor Swift to the program. Taylor Swift doesn't, she doesn't explicitly talk about business. Like I mentioned early earlier or entrepreneurship, but she is widely regarded and respected for her business savvy, her business acumen.
And so she, Doesn't have, like I said earlier, her message is not centered around business or entrepreneurship, but she does have a lot to say about creativity and the creative process, which you and I both know as [00:27:00] entrepreneurs is a very important part, a very important key to entrepreneurial success and is very much part of the entrepreneurial journey.
So the quotes I have from her talk about. success, but I think we can just as easily relate them to entrepreneur, to our entrepreneurial journey. So her first quote, getting a great idea with songwriting is a lot like falling in love. It is this rush of excitement and you're so into it. You can't really explain it.
You just want to hold onto it. Unquote, right? Like we can relate. I don't know if you can relate to this. I definitely can about having an idea for my business or for a service or a product or a an event or something that I want to give to my clients or my audience. Right. And we, and, and I love how she puts this [00:28:00] into words.
And so if you can relate to that. Hold on to that. Don't let your brain Insert itself and talk you out of great ideas. And I think that probably I would venture to say that's what sets one of the things that sets Taylor Swift apart. She takes her creativity and her ideas seriously. She doesn't downplay them or get talked out of them.
And maybe she does a little bit. You know, how do we know? But I think what she does
is Follow those ideas, those, those leanings and urgings and explores them and has fun with them. A couple other quotes from her that I absolutely love. Number one is, quote, being different is the one thing that's most beautiful. And I think for us as entrepreneurs, often we Look at and look to others and compare ourselves to others and want [00:29:00] to do things like others that maybe are in our industry and doing thing and we feel like are more successful than us.
And so I love this quote from her is to be different, right? And that that's, what's most beautiful and to really appreciate our differences. And Sarah Blakely says this in some of her work as well. Like if you're not doing things like other people, that's actually a good thing and can bring, breed new life into your business and can actually.
Work in your favor. If you're not doing things just like everybody else, it helps you to stand out, right? And standing out is a good thing. And finally, she says quote, I think. So songwriting is the ultimate form of being able to make anything that happens in your life, productive.
And I love this quote because for us as entrepreneurs, for [00:30:00] many of us, an experience that we had or a challenge that we. That we solved and rose out of often can be the seeds of new products and services and new businesses that we build. Right. And so this really, when I saw this quote really what's the word?
Emphasize this for me. Right. And that, that going back to failures and And setbacks that they really are setups, right? We reframe even failures and think about them as, as making them productive as a way to serve our clients or as a way to help others. And so I think this is such a beautiful sentiment from Taylor Swift.
And then our sixth key comes [00:31:00] from Beyonce. And as I share this with you, you'll know why I decided to end with her words, because she talks a lot about personal power and confidence and self worth. And so I think the Five keys that have come before her really roll all up into helping us create our personal power, our confidence, and our self worth, right?
So here are some quotes from Beyonce.
Okay. So Beyonce says, quote, we need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead unquote. I love that. She says, quote, the most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence. Unquote. She says, quote, power is not given to you. You have to take it.
Unquote. [00:32:00] I think so often as women, we feel like we have to ask permission or wait for permission. And Beyonce would say, no, just, you have to take it, right? And she says, quote, I'm not bossy. I'm the boss unquote. And I love that. Could we take a little of that attitude into our days? Right. And then finally from Beyonce, she says, quote, I can never be safe.
I always try and go against the grain. As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal. That's how I've gotten to where I am. And I love that because Beyonce has achieved amazing things, right? She is an incredible entertainer and performer. However, even with the heights and [00:33:00] the success that she's achieved, she still Is challenging herself.
She still is setting higher goals. She still is reaching for that next level of quality and quote, and I, there's one other quote, she final quote, I want to share with you. She says, quote, I'm an artist and I'm here to serve. I want to give people something they can feel unquote. And so I want you to just take that quote with you today.
We're here to serve and let's give something, give people something they can feel. Let's give our people something they can feel. Let's connect with them and serve them right in, in a way that we may never have in a level that we may never have before. And we will thank Beyonce for that inspiration. And so finally, to tie [00:34:00] it all together.
I think it's fair to say these women know who they are. They know what they're here to accomplish and they're all relentless leaders, entrepreneurs, growth minded, they're resilient, they're determined, but also my friends listen, they're also human. They are one person just like you and just like me. They have challenges.
They have to put their pants on one leg at a time, as we've heard said, and they all have 1, 440 minutes each day, just like you, just like me. They have all had to work to grow and develop. None of these women was handed what they have. They worked for it, right? Every single one of them came from. Humble beginnings are [00:35:00] nothing or less than nothing.
They worked for it and they made each one of these keys that I presented to you today part of their deliberate practice, their deliberate daily practice. They created habits of success. So I believe that everything you want to create was put inside you as a desire to create it because you are meant to create it.
But that doesn't mean it's not going to be challenging because in challenges is where we experience the most growth, right? It's in the hard that we grow. We become more of who we are meant to be, but it takes deliberate intention to practice these six things that we talked about today, especially reframing failure, right?
And I want you to know you don't have to go it alone. I encourage you, as Sandra says, to get support from a coach or a [00:36:00] community that lifts you up. And as a coach, I would love to lift you up and support you.
Because at the end of the day, my friends, as Oprah says, quote, you become what you believe.
So if you haven't yet become the fullest, highest, best version of yourself and your business, which none of us has, right? We've all got work to do. Let's go get it. Let's be her. And as we wrap up, I just want to invite you. I would love to support you. I coach women entrepreneurs, just like you with service businesses that are growing their business.
If you're determined to grow, but feel like marketing feels overwhelming or intimidating for you, and it's not working like you want it to, I'd love to talk to you. I can help you make some simple doable shifts so that you're practicing marketing as a way of serving your future clients rather than trying [00:37:00] to get something from them, which feels icky, right?
I always offer a complimentary 60 minute consultation where we can evaluate what's going on for you in your business. And I can work with you to create a step by step roadmap To show you how simple and doable marketing can be and get you back on that path of growth So if that is something that you want to take advantage of you can visit my website at Melissa M Kellogg calm click on the button that says book a call and I would love to talk to you set up a call time and let's meet privately one on one And really, I can help you evaluate what's going on and show you some small, simple, doable shifts in your marketing that can help you grow at the rate and the level that you want.
So that's [00:38:00] what I have for you today, my friends. I hope you've enjoyed this fun episode. I've really enjoyed researching it and creating it for you. And I hope you have a fabulous rest of your day and week, and I'll see you next time. Bye. Okay. Okay.
