Nicole  0:01  
Hey everybody, Nicole here from Hair of the Dog. Welcome back to the Hair of the Dog podcast. Today we are talking with Heather Lahtinen and we are going to be talking about a huge investment that she made in herself and her business and what had to happen for her to make that possible. If you've ever second guessed investing in yourself, you're gonna want to listen to this conversation. Stay tuned.

Voiceover  1:21  
Welcome to the Hair of the Dog podcast. If you're a pet photographer ready to make more money and start living a life by your design, you've come to the right place. And now your host, pet photographer, travel addict, chocolate martini connoisseur, Nicole Begley. 

Nicole  1:39  
Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Hair of the Dog podcast. I'm your host, Nicole Begley. And we're here once again with my good friend, Heather Lahtinen. Hello, Heather. 

Heather  1:50  
Hey, Nicole, thank you so much for having me. I can't wait to share this topic today. 

Nicole  1:55  
Oh my gosh, yeah. No, I can't wait either. Now, just in case just in case, this is the first time someone is like tuning in and hearing Heather and Nicole. It's like who's Heather? Heather runs the Flourish Academy. She is also the main coach running our Elevate program, the Hair of the Dog and Flourish Academy elevate and, man, who have had some incredible successes in that program, and nothing makes me happier, literally nothing than seeing my students, now our students, like just rock it and hit these goals that they're so excited for.

Heather  2:32  
Thank you so much, my friend and I owe so much of this to you. Because if, if someone is listening, and we haven't met, I have money issues. I have a lot of issues.

Nicole  2:45  
Like go back on the podcast. Like if I were going to tell you all of the episodes where we talked about like money mindset and some of Heather's money issues from the Hermes bag that's $35,000 ... $27?

Heather  2:57  
35

Nicole  2:57  
35 ... $35,000, not the one ... she didn't buy an Hermes bag, somebody else did and sent her into a tizzy. So we had an emergency SOS. But we've had lots and lots of conversations about money. And as a general rule, we actually even had one about the different money archetypes which was something Denise Duffield Thomas did and were you an accumulator?

Heather  3:25  
I am absolutely an accumulator. 

Nicole  3:27  
And I am a romantic,which means I like to spend money. 

Heather  3:32  
I like to save money. I like to save it. I like to hoard it, I like to look at it. I don't like to spend it. I ... typically coming from a place of lack or scarcity ... and the good news is ... actually, there's two things that are promising here. Number one is I recognized this years ago, and I've been working on it for years, I've been working on this for years. That's the first thing. And secondly is a few months ago, I had a major major, I can't state this enough major breakthrough when it comes to money. And again, I just have to give credit where credit is due, you have been standing beside me through this for almost a decade. I mean, you have been supportive and encouraging and you ... but also in my face.

Nicole  4:18  
In a loving way. 

Heather  4:20  
And it's been so helpful to just have someone as steady as you and as patient because it has taken me a little while.

Nicole  4:30  
Is there anything in the past year ... we're going to talk about this big investment you just made in yourself. But before we do, is there anything ... because I've noticed the shifts and they ... they're incremental? So a lot of times and this happens this way for people that are in their business and maybe they're having their first sale and they can't picture having a $3,000 sale but they're like and get around $500. So you have that ladder of believability, right. So you start off a little bit less of like OK, I spend a little money Here spend a little money there. I mean, I remember ... standby ... I remember when your car died, not long ago, and you were losing your mind. 

Heather  5:09  
I lost my mind. That was a year ago, a year and a few months. And I mean, I really lost my mind. I was sitting on my front porch calling you, crying. I was crying.

Nicole  5:19  
It wasn't out of expectation. I mean, your car, like my car was very old. And we all knew this was coming.

Heather  5:26  
This was coming. And when it all was said and done, there were, there was actually no issue here. I got a new car. I paid cash for a new car. I love my car. It was like the perfect thing. Everything worked out very easily. And quickly. And so all of the arm waving and the dramatics, yeah, it was for nothing.

Nicole  5:50  
Is there something specific during your past couple years that you're like, Oh, that was the moment of the shift? Or has it been incremental adjustments?

Heather  6:02  
It's absolutely been incremental in testing things, you know, investing in myself and my business and small increments and maybe some even slightly larger increments and realizing that I won't die. So I'm in fact, still living. Proving ...

Nicole  6:11  
And you have a roof over your head. 

Heather  6:17  
Yeah, I'm not homeless. Yeah. Do you believe this? Yeah. I'm clothed and with a home. And so yeah, I think that it's definitely incremental. So you and I were talking about this recently, this idea of micro versus macro shifts. So over the past couple of years with your help and dedication, honestly, I say, dedicate into my growth is that I had many, many micro shifts. But what happened a few months ago was absolutely a pivotal macro turning point for me. Huge, not just because of what I did, but because of the way I felt about it. And the way I managed my emotions around it. So yeah, both I guess to answer your question.

Nicole  7:00  
I love that distinction. Because that micro versus macro changes ... I mean, that applies to all of us in our photography, business, learning, our photography craft, increasing your money mindset, learning to be more organized, learning a second language, whatever, whatever it is, this is applying to everything. So if you guys are listening to this, and you're like, oh, I don't know, I don't care about Heather's conversation about how she invested in herself. You guys, this all comes around. We're not sitting in this podcast, just to like yap about I don't know, whatever. 

Heather  7:35  
Money.

Nicole  7:38  
But it's all in a place to help you. So hopefully, you guys can see that. And with that, I guess it's time well, actually, let's go back. Let's go back before we jump into this new investment you made in yourself, let's go back to I don't even know what year it was 2019, 2018. When I was in a higher level coaching program, at the time, it was the most I had paid yet for an education experience, which was somewhere on the par of $12,000 a year.

Heather  8:09  
It was, it was 13 because it was $1,100 a month. It was 2018. And I thought you were legitimately crazy.

Nicole  8:18  
Like no, Heather it's really, really good. So I don't know if you do this, but I do this anytime I'm presented with educational opportunities. And that is I quickly calculate my return on investment. And that, at the time, my main product in my business that I was selling my education, because this was a a coaching program for running online businesses. And at the time, I was selling that for $1,000. And I'm like, Will being part of this program for the next year help me sell and help 12 additional pet photographers. I think that's probably a really easy yes, of course. So then it became a complete no brainer for me, like there was not even a skip of hesitation. So when I told you this, what started to go through your brain. 

Heather  9:09  
OK, I want to say first, this is further proof that you are several years ahead of me because you asked yourself a very empowering question. 

Nicole  9:16  
Yeah. 

Heather  9:16  
And at that time, I was asking myself disempowering questions. So we're ... you're sitting there saying, how will this investment helped me grow my business? I'm asking myself how can I afford this?

Nicole  9:28  
Hmm, the quality of the question helps determine the quality of our life.

Heather  9:34  
Sounds like an innocent question, doesn't it? Like I'm just asking, How can I afford that? Well, yeah, we need to backup. I wasn't even at that point. When you told me what you invested. I laughed at you. And I said, you're crazy. I love you. You're crazy. Go for it. Let me know how it goes. Teach me everything you learn. Of course I was supportive. But I remember telling Craig You won't believe what Nicole did. She invested all this money. So you were in that group. Was it a full year?

Nicole  10:03  
Might have been like six months. 

Heather  10:06  
And I started to see what that was doing for you. And you just kept encouraging me to consider it. So when you first brought it up to me, that was like a hard pass. There's no way I will ever do that. That's crazy. About six months in I was like, huh, I wonder.

Nicole  10:21  
Then we went because they had ... so James Wedmore is my online business coach. And so he has a program for online business, which is like a standalone program. And so this was a next level coaching, called next level coaching program. And so you and I are going to the BBD live event, which was the free event he does for his students of the course, in there. I had a breakthrough of the year, I was presenting it that one. You didn't then yes. And so you came with me. And even there, they're talking about it. And you're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And then you got home? 

Heather  11:06  
Well, actually what happened was that was January of 2019. And what happened was they give you these, like, free 15-minute laser coaching sessions. And I was with Coach Nikki. And it was, it was the way they sell into next level. And I met with her on the side. And she asked me a couple questions that were like, Whoa, I could see the benefit of working with a coach. So between your encouragement, the moves you were making, and that 15 or so minutes with Nikki, I came home and I was like, well, I mean, I wanted to spend more time with you, in that context, us working together. And  that provided that opportunity. And I had this feeling that investing in myself was a ... I mean, I believe in me, so this is a good move. I was still oh my gosh, there was still a lot of fear and hesitation because that would ... that was the most money I had ever spent on anything. And it was at the time it was $13,000.

Nicole  12:05  
Yeah, yeah. Sure. You're on the payment plan so it's like 11,000 a year or 1100 a month. 

Heather  12:10  
1100 a month. Yeah.

Nicole  12:11  
Right. Yeah. Although you still left that event. And you were like, no. 

Heather  12:16  
Correct. 

Nicole  12:16  
You ended up talking to somebody else, Jasmine or something?

Heather  12:19  
I think it was Jasmine. I think it was. I did a coaching call. It actually may have been Nikki again, because I've worked with both of them a few times. And oh my gosh, they're so good at working with your limiting beliefs and your objections. You know, I tried to play the card ... This is so funny. This is embarrassing. Why am I telling this story? I tried to play the card of like, oh, I need to check with my husband. And she's like, well, what would ... what, what do you anticipate your husband will say? And I'm like, oh my gosh, he's fully supportive of everything. Whatever you think go for it. And she said, OK, so why do you need to check with him? Like, busted! And I kind of had the feeling when I got off the call. Yeah, I'm gonna do this. But then was still, I still had fear, I still had hesitation. And I'm telling you this to contrast with what I am about to share, and how differently I felt with my, my more recent investment, and how I, I've just come to this place of belief, and understanding the importance of belief and investing in yourself. You know, coaching or courses or whatever it is you think you need to take to the next level, and not just trying to do everything yourself? Because that's not even any fun. Like, why not get help? You know?

Nicole  13:37  
No, yeah, that takes way too long. And it's not enjoyable. What was your fear around you? Because you said you were fearful still of investing. But you knew you believed in yourself. So it wasn't ... because I hear a lot of people that are you know, maybe fearful to invest because they're not trusting themselves to finish ...

Heather  13:55  
Correct. Yeah. So I, I trusted myself to do the work. So yeah, I have I've heard that as well. People are like, well, I don't I don't trust myself to do okay, I definitely trusted myself to do that. I didn't have the belief that it would work for me. You know that like, oh, that worked for Nicole. 

Nicole  14:13  
Because you're so special. 

Heather  14:14  
OK, right. I'm some stupid snowflake, right? Yeah, no, it makes no sense. Like it works for everybody else. But me like how ridiculous. This just goes to show you how how much the quality of my thoughts and questions have shifted in the last two years truly, because I was just not asking good questions. It was still coming from a place of fear and scarcity. And what if this doesn't work for me? Because now I'm at the point where everything works for me. That's my belief. Everything I do always just works for me.

Nicole  14:39  
Well, and these questions too. We talk about this and I think people expect like, I am actually right study outside saying those are saying out loud to myself. Hey, Nicole, what will your return be like? These aren't necessarily verbal questions. This is just the chatter that's going on quietly in the back of your head, which is preventing you for moving forward, that you may or may not even realize is there

Heather  15:04  
That oh, that's absolutely it. So the first thing is, Could you do a thought download and just write down everything that's spinning in your head? Because probably it's either a series of disempowering questions, which you should never leave a question unanswered in your brain, it's a dangerous place.

Nicole  15:23  
Well, your brain won't even on question ...

Heather  15:26  
To answer it ... right, right.

Nicole  15:27  
Yeah. If you're asking yourself bad questions, your brain will be like, oh, yeah, I guess that's what you say, OK, then that's where we're going.

Heather  15:34  
But exactly right. So it's, it's either you're asking disempowering questions, or you're thinking disempowering statements. And actually as I share about this investment I made, I do have a series of questions that I want to share in a moment here. 

Nicole  15:48  
Yeah, we'll do that. 

Heather  15:48  
Yeah, with what I asked myself, that propelled me to a new destination in this regard.

Nicole  15:54  
OK, I love it. I love it. So that was 2019. Now we fast forward, it is 2023. Although it was the end of 2022, where I saw a new version of Heather I had never seen before. 

Heather  16:12  
Nobody had. Not even me.

Nicole  16:16  
Tell us tell us what happened.

Heather  16:17  
OK, so I started looking at some courses to take, I had some money, I wanted to invest in education before the end of the year, I love to learn, by the way, and investing in education and courses and books is my favorite thing on the planet. So somebody had asked me about my budget for the remainder of the year for education. This was in October, and I said, OK, probably $2,000 I could probably spend about $2,000 by the end of the year. So I'm looking for a program or something. I'm not exactly sure what yet, but I'm really interested in marketing in a variety of other topics. So I'm just kicking around some ideas. What happened was I invested a couple $100 in a live training that I attended, which is sort of the catalyst to this investment. So it was called Life Coach Live with Brooke Castillo. And it was ... she had an in person, but it was also available online. I think they were in Phoenix, but I feel ...

Nicole  17:15  
You were in her Scholars Program prior to that, though.

Heather  17:18  
I had just joined, I had just joined Self-Coaching Scholars, it's $297 a month, it's a great resource. I was loving the material. So at that same and I'm new to her world, like I was not following her much previously. And I jump into Scholars and I get the information about Life Coach Live. And it was right before it was happening, which is just one of the many reasons I did not go to Phoenix. But I was like, it was only a couple $100, maybe 197 for this live training. And I thought, oh, that's like a no-brainer. That's nothing and I like what she's putting together. So this Life Coach Live, I'll do. OK, so I signed up for it. What I did not realize was that there was not going to be a replay for this three-day intensive.

Nicole  18:04  
Over a weekend. 

Heather  18:05  
Over a weekend. And I typically don't work on the weekends. It was a Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And when I found out that there was no replay at first I was like, man, why would, why would she not have a replay, but then I started to understand the strategy as it unfolded, which is you're going to show up and be present much, much more than you would and you might not even watch the replay how many of us sign up for something and never watched the replay. 

Nicole  18:32  
Right? 

Heather  18:32  
And she knows that they know, they know the stats. So they're like, hey, guess what? No replay. So I was like, whoa, so I said to my husband, hey, I signed up for this training. I didn't realize it was no replay. So I'm gonna block it off and I'm gonna do it and it was because they were in a different timezone. It was like 11 a.m. Eastern to like 7 or 8 p.m. Eastern.

Nicole  18:54  
That's a long Zoom day. 

Heather  18:55  
Oh my gosh, and over the weekend. So I knew this was gonna be a struggle for my attention span, but I was just really interested in it. So I went through it and I was loving, loving it. OK, I fully understood there would be a pitch for something during this event because she has a program for certification for her Life Coach School and when I went into this training, I knew about it, but I was not, not the least bit interested, though. 

Nicole  19:22  
I would venture to say not only were you not the least bit interested, you were actually adamant like, I do not need to do this. No, no, no, no, no, no, I'm not ever doing this. That's insane.

Heather  19:35  
I had some really strong feelings. 

Nicole  19:38  
Yeah. As strong as the Hermes purse not quite that strong pretty close. 

Heather  19:42  
Pretty close. There were a couple things. So Brook's personality is very forward and abrasive and sometimes I'm into that and sometimes I'm not so much and yeah, I know I had expressed to you like, oh my gosh, this is just too over the top for me. And I liked the material but she's, she's pretty aggressive, which I simultaneously love and hate. So I had conflicting feelings about that. But I knew her program for life coaching was really expensive. By the way, I already have a certification as a life coach. So I feel very qualified in my coaching and teaching, especially in photography, I've been in it 20 years. So I didn't feel like I was missing anything. And I just thought, oh, this is just fun to learn. But that she had this training, it was called Turning Desires into Decisions. So this was a brilliant marketing move, by the way, she's teaching this about you desire something, your life. So I'm thinking of our photographer friends who loves puppies and they love photography, and maybe they have a corporate job, and they want to leave that and they want to make money. So they have this desire. And it's, it's probably pretty strong. At least, that's been my experience with our pet friends. So they have this desire. And this training was all about taking that desire and just making a decision. And I mean, I was eating this up, and at the end of this particular training, so this was the second day. And towards the end of the day, here comes the pitch for getting certified with the Life Coach School. And I started to tune out, but I'm, I actually, to be honest, Nicole, I was listening from like, our perspective. 

Nicole  21:15  
Yeah. Right. 

Heather  21:16  
Like sales and marketing. Like, this is so fascinating. I was probably even Voxering you. This is so fascinating. The way this, this pitch has turned. And I know at this point, I don't know that I knew this before or to what degree I can't remember but it was $18,000. And I thought that was hilarious. Because like is $18,000 on, you know, certification for, OK, whatever. But this is interesting. So I'm listening to the pitch, and I'm thinking about my desire and my education and my training. And I started to feel this shift. And I was like, oh, Heather, no. My head was like, I want this. Oh, my gosh, why do I want this? I don't need this. I really want this. No, you don't? Yes, I do. And it's, and I'm having this moment of like, but that's $18,000 up. Keep in mind, I have a $2,000 budget for the remainder of the year, which this is further proof of when people give you their budget. Hmm, I don't know if you should totally believe them on that number.

Nicole  22:17  
Yeah, I never ask clients what their budget is. 

Heather  22:20  
Because that's just the not the greatest question. So then she started talking about all the benefits. And one of the benefits is having access not only to her material for lifetime, but licensing access, so I can take what I'm learning and use it in, in our business. I can teach it, I can use it with our coaching clients. And I love her model. I love the structure of it. And so my brain started to say, well, if I was going to buy this, it would be because I want to license it because I want to have the ability to teach it. It's so good. And I asked oh my gosh, it started this. It was Saturday night. You weren't around or available. 

Nicole  23:01  
I know. Yeah, you were Voxering me, but I wasn't, I haven't, I might have been at a horse show or something.

Heather  23:05  
Yeah, probably. And I, and so I was ... I knew I had to figure this out for myself. Like, I'm not I'm not asking you to call to make my decisions for me, just like trust, like calling me for permission. 

Nicole  23:16  
Right? Right. 

Heather  23:17  
Like, I just want to like, I like to kick the tires with you. So I'm talking within probably a few hours, maybe not even. I had gone from adamantly opposed to $18,000 ... craziest thing I've ever heard to how can I make this work?

Nicole  23:35  
Which is an incredible question. Instead of how can I, you know, like, oh, I can't afford it. Just to go to how can I afford this? How can I make this work? You know, because often anything we want in life, whether it is a horse, a course, I need something else that rhymes with a car, whatever it is, a vacation. Usually, if we really want it, there are ways to afford it. We might have to make decisions on if we want that versus something else more or if we're going to wait for some other thing that we had planned, like you might have to make some decisions. But I think that's one of the most empowering questions you can ask. 

Heather  24:22  
Oh, yeah, it worked because I wanted to turn my desire into a decision. So you know, I hate debt. I had $11,000 in cash in my photography savings account, business savings account. So I was like I need, I just need seven more thousand dollars and, you know, I don't want to put it on my credit, my business credit card, meaning I don't want to make payments on it. I just oh also found out at the same time that the payment plan was seven payments of $3,000 which makes it $21,000. And there was absolutely no way I was doing that. That was like, to me that was like throwing money away. I'd rather figure out something different. 

Right, right. 

And so then I'm like, oh, I could get a new credit card, I can put it on a business credit card, I could use those miles, I could pay it off. Like, I started doing some incredible mental gymnastics.

Nicole  25:10  
You call me for a credit card consult, you're like, hey, I have a big charge. What credit card? Should I open to get a whole bunch of signup bonus points? I'm like, I got you covered.

Heather  25:18  
And I did we both got bonus points as a result of this. And so I'm definitely improving my questions. But I'm still, I'm still, I mean, spinning a little bit. And just trying to get to a better, faster reso ... Here's what I was thinking. I was like, I know, I want to do this. I know I'm going to do this, how can I make this work? And then, and then this was what came to me next. I am not going to view this as a payment of $18,000 out the door. I'm not going to view this as an expense. I am viewing this as I am going to generate $180,000 from this investment in myself. So this was like not a question. This was like, the first question was, how can I make this work. And then, shortly after that, I dropped into this belief that this is an investment that is going to multiply. And right after that thought was like, I'm not kidding you this, this was pivotal, pivotal, pay attention moment for me, I'm going to make a million dollars in my business in one year. Like I said it with such certainty and belief. And I've got to tell you, I credit that to that training, because she helped all of us step into that belief. Like it had never occurred to me. This was a weekend in November, the mid, mid-November. Prior to that weekend, it had never occurred to me that there was the possibility that can make a million dollars. Like that's was not on my, my -- multiple six figures, sure, I could believe that -- never occurred to me, she gave me she has something she teaches called the possibility formula. And in the possibility formula, I just put a million dollars on the radar, like it had never been there before. So that that thought combined with oh, and I'm also going to multiply this $18,000 investment, and then asking myself the thought, so OK, this is all sort of coming together. The question then was talking to my future self sort of in a weird way. But I was like, if I'm making, let me rephrase, when I am making a million dollars a year in my business, will this $18,000 investment even matter? And it was an instant no, it's nothing that is nothing compared to that number. And I applied for the credit card, I swiped, I purchased it, like boom, done.

Nicole  27:50  
Yeah, well, and you even said to them, because you wanted to take like, you know, week to apply for the credit card, get the credit card to use it, but you didn't want to pay for the payment plan. So I remember you saying I'm like, just ask them, I'm sure they'll be fine with that. Where you're like, Hey, can I pay a down payment, I'd like to pay in full. But you know, I need like a week, you know, and that probably happens quite often because I know even I have my business savings account and my personal savings account or on online banks, because they have better interest rate. So sometimes it takes a couple of days to transfer the money to my main checking account. So I'm sure they get those types of requests often for a big ticket item like that.

Heather  28:26  
Yeah, I was. I did. This is so interesting. You say that, because I forgot about this component is that some people can't get past a certain point to even ask the question. So they just write it off as not even a possibility. So what I did was I because the doors were closing like it was only open these two days. So the remaining two days of that workshop. So I said to them, hey, can I start with the payment plan and then switch to a full pay as long as I pay within the first month? And they were like absolutely, I said great. Thank you. So I used my current business credit card, got my new one and then boom done. Part of this training actually got me to this point of like, she calls this living in the miserable maybe when you're not making decisions and how awful that feels when you have a desire but you're not sure that you can make it work or you're lacking belief or you're not taking action to get answers because you think something isn't even possible for you like it doesn't even occur to you to raise your hand.

Nicole  29:32  
Well, it's that or could it also be the like the I forget the saying but essentially like the misery that we know is more comfortable then reaching for what we really want and failing.

Heather  29:46  
The uncertainty of the unknown, right? Yeah, yeah, that you feel safer. So a lot of her training. I'm telling you, Nicole, this was executed so brilliantly. The way they, they stack the training was It was very helpful and useful. But then it played right into their offer, which was just so strategic. But she talked about, you know, the power of decisions, and taking action now, and also giving yourself a guarantee on the risk. So I gave, I gave myself the guarantee of like, I'm going to make $180,000 from this investment. Period. Like, that's what that I am going to invest in me, because I believe in myself, OK, you could invest in the stock market right now.

Nicole  30:30  
I don't know if I believe in that. I don't know.

Heather  30:33  
Right? I don't know how much I believe in that. But I know that I believe in me. And I believe that I'm going to show up. So giving yourself your own guarantee on the risk, I don't need a money back guarantee from the Life Coach School for you, for anyone, I don't need that. Because I'm going to assume the risk myself and give myself my own guarantee. So that was one way of looking at it. Another thing was, you know, I know I wanted to do it at the point that I got to when I said, yes, I want to do this. And I asked myself, what's the only thing holding you back here? And the only response I could come up with was fear. And so then I asked myself, Heather, do we make good decisions based on fear? No, like, you know, you want to do this. Just figure out how to ... certainly there was a nervousness, a rapid heart rate. A lot of things going on. I mean, this, this didn't come without some discomfort in my growth. But something really, really interesting happened the following morning. So this was a Saturday night when I made this decision. And and then we had Sunday training left. I woke up Sunday morning. And you know, you have this moment of like consciousness, but you haven't really opened your eyes, you're like barely what? Yeah, my very first waking thought was, I'm going to be rich. It was not, what have I done? Right? Or oh, my gosh, do I need to think this through? This is scary. There was zero hesitation or concern. It was such certainty.

Nicole  32:05  
Well, I would venture to say, had you made that purchase three or five years ago, you probably wouldn't have. But if you did, you would have had a different thought in the morning, which would have been oh, my God, what have I done? Yeah, for sure. Well, if somebody's out there, and they're like, you know, they're, they're working through there were you were back in 2019, with investing in that program. And they kind of go back and forth. And they're like, oh, my God, I know, it's gonna be helpful. But oh, it's still really scary. And then they wake up the next day, and they get into that fear. What's the best question they can ask themselves to get out of that fear and move back? And focus again on why they made that decision?

Heather  32:44  
Yeah, you could ask yourself, What am I excited about? Like, obviously, you made the decision, because you were excited about something. So you can choose your thoughts. And we're always going to have these negative thoughts that happen automatically. That's like, because you have a human brain. So when that comes up, you just ask yourself, you know, the opposite thought of this is like, no, I'm actually really excited about this. It's natural to feel, you know, some hesitation, that's fine. You know, don't like don't beat yourself up over it. But then ask yourself, How can I get excited about this? How can I get ... I am excited about this is why I did this, like you did this for a reason? You know, okay, I want to just do a slight parallel here. When you talk to a client on the phone, maybe a consultation, and you tell them your pricing, let's say you're an IPS photographer, and your minimum package is three grand, $3,000. And the client says, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's way more than I thought, it's way out of my budget, a great question to ask is, oh, what were you thinking you would like to spend? Because they didn't call you thinking they were going to spend zero. They had something in mind. So you don't have to, you don't have to bridge the gap to 3,000, you have to bridge the gap from where they thought they were going to be. Let's say it's 1,500 to 3,000. So you know, just asking yourself a better positioning yourself, how can I position myself better or more productively, or where I feel better, I just, I woke up and I was like, I'm gonna be rich, I'm gonna figure this out. If you truly believed, you could figure out your camera, you could figure out pricing and the website and the marketing, and you could get clients, if you truly believed there was a line of people out the door that you are in demand. It's just a matter of making it work, and that it can actually be fun. Like, this is fun for me. And it's light, and it's easy, and it doesn't have to feel crushing. And trust me when I say it previously felt crushing to me. I have been in the crushing moments where I can't believe I'm spending this money. But I came up with and I'd like to share these if that's OK. Four questions, four questions. I wrote these down after this happen that I now asked myself when I'm considering a big investment. 

Nicole  34:54  
I love it. All right, let's do it.

Heather  34:55  
Okay. The first question is, how will I grow as a person so I'm looking at notice that my questions are not yes or no, they're open ended? How will I grow? As I'm assuming I'm going to grow as a person? How will I grow as a person? Number two, what will I learn that I can share with others or teach others because I love sharing things that you know, you know this, when I pick up something new, I'm instantly calling you like, oh, my gosh, Nicole, you have to see this, this will get you excited. Number three, is I asked myself how can I apply this to elevate? Or my one on one clients? How can I apply this to elevate or my one on one clients? And then four? This is a good question, what will be the ripple impact of this investment on both myself and those around me? Because when I build my million dollar business, there will be an impact on my family. It will be amazing, there will be an impact on generations probably beyond me that I can't even see, I am assuming that I will, I can create this impact. Because I believe in me, and by the way, if you have doubts, you go into a program, maybe it's Elevate, and you're like, I don't know, I don't know, if this is gonna work for me, you know.

Nicole  36:19  
You, you look around and you're like, Oh, my God, you're comparing yourself to everybody else.

Heather  36:23  
And where they're at and how they're doing, here's the thing, no matter what training I purchase, I always, always make sure that those four questions that criteria criteria, they're always met, I don't hope that I'm going to check these boxes. I look for and I find what I need to make it happen 100% belief, I will always get what I came for, I will always multiply my investment, I am not looking at it as an expense out the door. It is an investment because I believe in me, and I just wonder if one of the reasons people don't invest in themselves is because they just don't believe that they could do it or that they'll get the results. But what if you did?

Nicole  37:08  
Right? Right. Well, and here's another piece of that, too, is that? Would you have gone through the program, spent the time and energy applying yourself as you have? Because I know you've been working really hard on this, if it was given to you?

Heather  37:28  
Absolutely not. So you know, your your amount of investment, the number, that number is actually really important. So if I went on something like Udemy, and I spent $11 on a coach certification, which they do have, you might pick up a few things, but you're not going to watch it you're not going to be invested in but when you drop $18,000, believe me you are going to show up. And so you know, what does James say? He says the transformation is in the transaction. Yes, that's what he says. And a couple of weeks after making this transaction, I was watching the training. And it just, it just shifted everything for me in my emotional management, my thoughts, and I said, I said this to you but I also said it to my husband, I was like, if I stopped here, that would have been worth $18,000 to me. 

Nicole  38:23  
Like I'm already even.

Heather  38:24  
I'm already even. Anything from here forward is just bonus. Now I want to add to this, something really interesting and unexpected happened when I made this investment. I started showing up a little more boldly in, in Elevate and then on my podcasts and my marketing. And I signed several new one on one clients as a result of this move. It's not because I all of a sudden had all this new knowledge because I'm still learning. It was because I dropped into a belief that I can help you get results. And I believe in you to get results. And you think I can share this number you think this is ...

Nicole  39:05  
Yeah, I think so. This is a safe place. 

Heather  39:07  
Okay, is this appropriate? 

Nicole  39:08  
Yeah. I mean, it's only just broadcast out to whoever wants to download it, but it's fine.

Heather  39:12  
But it's fine. So I have recurring revenue in my business. So that's money that I can you know, expect is going to come in every month. So I ... I had this one on one offering and I was, I was talking about it here and there. But once I made this decision, I was like really next level with just my presence around it. And I have generated since then -- so it's been two and a half months -- $50,000 in unexpected revenue. In my business 50,000 unexpected. I was not expecting that revenue. I have my number. This was on top of that. So I went over $200,000 in sales for the year for my business which was not on my radar. And I did it I did that by investing eight In 2000, right? Right. So it was It wasn't like I was hoarding the money, or saving it, I bet on me. And, and it worked. Because I believe in myself. So I feel at this point, I am my best investment. And even if that meant like stretching myself to make a payment -- and it did, because remember, I only had $11,000 in the account ... 

Nicole  40:27  
Right, I remember talking to you like, well, I could do this, and then I could do that. And I can move that from here and this or that, you know, yeah, it wasn't gonna like you weren't going to have to choose between paying your mortgage and paying that bill. But it was not like there was money just sitting over there without earmarks.

Heather  40:42  
Correct. So I ended up signing two clients after that, and that money came in, and then I was able to pay all of it within a month. So there was, there were no additional charges on that $18,000. And I'm actually really proud of that. I would not have beat myself up. If it did take me a couple months to pay that like that. 

You went into saying like, if it happens fine, right?

If it takes a couple of months, that's totally fine. But I was pretty, I am a bit of an overachiever so I was pretty proud that I was able to do that. And I've got to tell you, it's like, everything just collided in my brain and my head exploded. Because I did like ... in a good way. Because I was like, what? It's just, it's working. Because I believe in me. So I was talking with someone about elevate the other day and elevate is 1500, 1495 for six months. And I said the only reason you hesitate is because you don't believe you'll make that money. If you believed that you would make that money, like straightaway, a month or less into Elevate. And then everything else is bonus. On top of that. If you believed that the next six months, you'd make $10,000. In your photography business, would that investment even matter? No, you of course you would make it.

Nicole  41:58  
I'm going to Vegas knowing every quarter you put in is 25 cents.

Heather  42:02  
Right. So I made this investment, knowing and believing if you, if you want to jump in to elevate and it's 1495, if you're just like, Yeah, I'm going to make that I'm going to multiply it, I'm going to make five times that in everything else on top of that is going to be compound interest. It's going to just already feel while I have but I felt really quickly that I had made back my $18,000. And then to me at this point, everything else is just like the happiest bonus surprise of compounding interest and compounding like effect on my thinking and where I'm heading. That's like it's just led to explosive growth for me very quickly because of one bold, courageous move.

Nicole  42:49  
I love it. I love it. Let's wrap this up. Can you go over those four questions? 

Heather  42:53  
Yeah, I would love to. So when I'm making when I'm considering making an investment, I asked myself, how will I grow as a person? What will I learn that I can share and teach essentially I'm asking myself how can I multiply this learning not just for me, but for others? Number three, how can I apply this to Elevate are my one on one clients? And number four, what will be the ripple impact of this investment both on myself and those around me?

Nicole  43:17  
I love that. I love that. And you can take that, you know, guys, if you're like, well, I'm not teaching somebody, but you can ask, you know, just move them a little bit towards towards your goals. And so again, what do you hope to learn? Like, how is this going to impact your photography business? What is you know, the impact going to be on those around me as well. And it's not just your family. I mean, it's going to be your clients, what's the impact on your clients that has an older dog that now that you are out there marketing, you're out there actually building your business they knew about you and had their dog photographed, and they have these images forever, like talk about having a lasting impact. And then same thing with you're making more money you can support more charities like it goes on and on and on. So ...

Heather  44:04  
I actually heard a really good quote about that recently. I hope I don't butcher it but it was something like this. The world suffers to the degree with which you hold yourself back from producing your gift. So to your point about the senior dogs is like you hold yourself back from your education and putting yourself out there for fear whatever various reasons you have which are valid, you have to work through them and then somebody doesn't get photos and then their dog passes away and it's like a missed opportunity. The world suffers to the degree with which you hold yourself back from producing your gift.

Nicole  44:41  
I love that. I think that is a wrap right there. Boom. Thank you for having this conversation with us. I hope you guys found it enlightening and I hope you can find ways to apply it to your business. If you are looking for ways to grow your pet photography craft, master that craft, how to grow your business, check out the academy. If you want to do all those things on steroids check out elevate hair of the dog academy.com/academy or hair, the dog academy.com/elevate. When you join, elevate, you get complimentary access to all the academy things. So anyway, let us know if you have any questions. Let us know what was the most impactful piece of this podcast for you. And we'll see you next week. Bye, everybody. 

Thanks for listening to the Hair of the Dog podcast. This was episode number 177. If you want to check out the show notes for access to any of the resources we mentioned, simply go to www.hairofthedogacademy.com/177. Thanks for listening to this episode of Hair of the Dog podcast. If you enjoyed this show, please take a minute to leave a review. And while you're there, don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss our upcoming episodes. One last thing. If you are ready to dive into more resources, head over to our website at www.hairofthedogacademy.com. Thanks for being a part of this pet photography community.