Welcome to the Hair of the Dog podcast. My name is Heather Lahtinen and this is our sixth episode in a series called The Coaching Journals. If you would like to get caught up, you can check out the previous episodes. They are one hundred and ninety two, one hundred and ninety six two zero one two zero five, and 2 0 8. It's not imperative, but it could give you a general idea as to what our clients are working towards.

The coaching journals are to elevate members that have agreed to share their experience and let us follow along with everything that they are working on in their business. This includes their thoughts, ideas, plans, strategies along with challenges and obstacles. They share specifics on number of clients, how they're getting those clients, sales goals, and their actual numbers in terms of what they're bringing into their business.

They get a business coaching call every month with me to talk through what's happening in their business. The goal of the coaching journals was not only to help these two photographers, but to share with everyone what it takes to build a successful pet photography business. Today you will be hearing from Christie Baker. You can find her at www.christiebakerphotography.com. And just as a reminder,

Christy is preparing to welcome her first child into the world in early January. So she's working diligently, as you might imagine, to prepare her business for this transition. And in this conversation, she was sharing about all of the things that need to happen as she changes her business model from I P Ss to galleries starting next year. In order to reduce overwhelm and simplify everything,

which is my specialty, we broke down the tasks to make them easier to execute. You'll also be hearing from Monica Alteon from Pup and me photo.com. Monica's faced a few challenging circumstances this past month, including not hitting her goal in terms of revenue, getting a lot of nos from inquiries and people not seeing the value of her services. We talked about allowing yourself to feel disappointed when things take an unexpected turn and how to move forward even when these challenges start to impact your self-confidence.

We also asked and answered a very important question. What would you need to think or believe to feel happy when an inquiry turns you down? If you are seeking assistance in developing your business, please consider exploring our Elevate program. I am extremely enthusiastic and very heavily invested in guiding you through the hurdles you may encounter in supporting you in creating a successful and flourishing pet photography business.

And what makes us different from any other photography business program is that well, like everyone else, we provide you with all the checklists and the strategies, but we also know how to support you when none of it works. Essentially, when the standard approaches fall short, we step in with tailored guidance and support to address your specific challenges. You can find out more information at hair of the dog academy.com/elevate.

I hope you enjoy these coaching calls. Welcome to the Hair of the Dog podcast. If you are 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. Christie, this is so exciting. This is our last call.

So what I would love is to hear an update and then let us know like what's challenging you right now. Yeah, so right now I, last week I actually photographed a golf outing, so it's three days. I also did like corporate headshots with that, which is definitely not my normal mo. Okay. But it was a, it's a good stretch and I think a good challenge for me to like photograph something that's not necessarily my wheelhouse.

Golfers, I would say are just as challenging as dogs, if not more. The dogs kind of just give me what they give me. So, but that's been good. I had to push a couple of sessions back from the beginning of September into October. So we'll be kind of rounding out the end of my shooting season with October. And then I'm doing a doggy daycare Santa event in the beginning of November,

which I was so grateful when they were like, can we do it before Thanksgiving? And I was like, yes, yes, I need that in my life. So that's really gonna kind of round out the rest of my year with shooting and everything. So I think it's just kind of the home stretch, getting ready for the holidays and planning out like some Black Friday promotions and then continuing to prepare for what I would like to kind of structure 2024 into taking kind of that blueprint that I've mapped out and just getting that kind of finalized.

So I've started working on like, okay, what will the calendar contest look like in 2024? And outlining, okay, well what do I need to do if I'm literally not gonna like go out and ask for donations for during the fourth first quarter? I need to ask for them, you know, during the fourth quarter. So I'm doing all of that stuff.

So I think right now, now it's more so just like planning and getting the structures in place so that I can do that smoothly in addition to like revamping to a gallery model, all of the things. So I feel like I just have a lot of balls in the air and I'm just trying to get the structure in place. Okay. How does that,

how does that feel for you right now? Like in terms of number of bookings for the remainder of the year? Like is your, is your calendar closed for the year? Will you take any more bookings or what does that look like? And are you happy with where you landed? I'm happy with where I landed, especially just knowing what's coming and trying not to force too much in the third trimester.

I have a couple of, I'm willing to do like end of life sessions basically. I've held some reservation for that just in case somebody comes and needs. I haven't had very many recently, or I've had the ones that kind of fall through the cracks unfortunately because the dog passes away. So I feel good about that. I think really kind of what I'm really looking kind of just in terms of how I feel about it,

like there's a lot in the air, but I've just basically gone through, mapped everything out basically into the last quarter ish of like 12 weeks and said, okay, what's one thing I can do in each of these? Like pri priority categories. So whether that's, you know, write the Black Friday emails or write the write the remaining blogs. What kind of blogs do I wanna continue to have like posting automatically while I'm out on maternity leave so that those things just continue to roll and when I come back it's a little bit more smooth and that it's not like all at once like,

Hey, by the way, you need to write three blogs 'cause you missed the last three months. So Yeah. Right, right. So I love this whole idea of planning ahead. So it sounds to me like you're thinking, how could I close out this year? Like what would need to happen for me to feel really good about where things close in December?

And it sounds to me like you're on track, is that correct? Yeah, I feel on track, yeah. Feel really on track just to kind of get where I want to be and like what marketing I'm willing to do for the beginning of 2024, knowing that like, yeah, okay, second half is gonna be the second half. I can kind of get there mentally later.

But the, the first half really I would like to have kind of more ironed and planned out a little bit. Okay. What's challenging you right now? Hmm. Mostly that it's just like a lot and then there's doctor's appointments and all of the things. Just life. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I traveled most of the month of September, so I went to Shutter Crown.

That was awesome. Very inspirational, super fun to see Nicole and so many of those people in the photography world. And then I did like a mother-daughter trip to Arizona and then I did this event last week. So I was like, okay, I'm just like ready to like hunker down, do some sessions and like get all of that stuff out. So it's just been kind of a lot of moving pieces,

which is definitely a challenge to keep like everything kind of structured and orderly. But that, that would be my biggest challenge. Like tell me about the moving pieces. Like when you say there are a lot of moving pieces, what are the pieces? Yeah, I mean it really comes down to like, okay, I want to finish out my sessions for the year.

And I kind of like having a clean cutoff of like, okay, these are, these are all gonna be i p s under this current pricing structure. And then everything else after that, like, okay, what is that? What is that? That's basically 12.1. Okay. Really I've, my cutoff is more like November 22nd. Okay. Just 'cause of holiday ordering to make sure everybody gets their stuff on time.

But, So you have these clients all lined up in October, November to be i p s sessions And then the cutoff is after that. Basically I just gave it a random 12 one. 'cause I like the beginning of the bump and You're, you're the c e O of your business. You can do whatever you want. Yeah. Yeah. I like,

I like this date. I like for things to either happen on 31 or 30 or what. Okay, Perfect. The finance nerd in me. Yeah. And then, so then everything after that. So I've like really started planning what all that's gonna look like. But just like the small things like getting the product guide updated, like I can do the Excel and all of that stuff all day and be like,

okay, I'm happy with this. And then it's like, okay, now go implement and like update your C R m, update all the communication, like Your processes. Yeah. Yeah. So that kind of stuff has been like the challenge. Okay. So the the reason It's good, but I like, I don't like to, I like to finish the project and then move on.

Oh, you like it to be done? Yeah. Yeah. Like check the box and say that it's done. Okay. Well, hey, that's a good point. I, I would assume knowing you that you have some type of checklist, so you know, like how will you know when this is done and you are ready? That's the hard part is our businesses are never done.

Never. Right, right. Done enough. Let's say this, how will you know when it's done enough that you can go into the holidays and you're maternity leave? Feeling good. Yeah. I think really getting, that's a great question. Wow, that's harder to think about than I thought. Yeah. I think getting the s like us basic structure and testing and it,

the iteration at least once, whether that be with friends or family or whatever. Yes. Just having somebody go through it, getting at least one test of it done. So I can be like, okay, did that work? Where are the sticky points? Like what, what feels rough about it? Because I always kind of, I'm always like,

is there a friction point here or am I imagining this? That's a good question. In some sense, in some senses. So I think, yeah, like a te at least one test. One test. And would that, so would that need to happen? When would that have to happen in December? Or could that be in Ja, when is your due date?

Remind me. January 4th. So ideally December. I would say it has to happen in December. Yes. Yes. I Don't really wanna be like in labor being, No, no, no, this look Good. Like, does your gallery work? Are you sure? Yeah. Okay. So you have to plan for that. The reason I'm asking these specific questions is that I would like you to get some clarity around when you say like,

I just have all of these things I need to do. Yeah, Yeah. Basically like, and here's what I like to do. I like to high level categorize. Basically I'm, you're gonna kill me. It's, it's really two things. Current clients and future clients, you have two categories that you wanna work on. And in the current client category,

you are scheduling your ipss and executing. And that's, that's pretty straightforward. Like you're, there's nothing to do there except to execute. Is that correct? Yes. Yeah. Okay. So that's like one category that you can, in your brain check that off as done because you know what to do with those things. It's just a matter of execution.

And this is important because it actually creates more space in your mind when you think of it that way. Because if you're like, well have all these clients, I have to work on an I P S and I have to get ready for the, and it starts to become much bigger than it actually is. So just like to break it down. So that makes sense.

Right? Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. Then we have future clients and inside of that category there are probably a few different things or like subcategories, what would those be? Yeah, Really like gallery right? Implementation. And then it's the C R m changes and the communication changes that come with it. Okay. C R m communication and the actual gallery.

Yeah. Okay. So three things And then delivery will be slightly different because I would love to go to like an auto fulfill. Oh. Instead of me doing it. Oh, okay. That's my, that's like a stretch goal. If it doesn't get there, it's fine. But I was like, Ooh, with a newborn, that would be real nice.

Wow. It Sure would be. Is that something that maybe, you know, obviously time permitting, you could test with a December client? Yeah, potentially. Or even just like if I'm like, like, oh, I wanna test it myself, just, I'll order like a sample product through it. Perfect. Make sure that I feel good about like how it's working.

Yeah. I did that with weddings one year. I remember thinking, do I really need to have this album shipped to me? Because I was just so concerned. Everything had to be perfect and I like to package it myself, but at some point I was like, okay, could I drop ship this? Because company started offering boutique packaging. So yeah,

you know, I can make it look nice. And I, I, to be honest, I went back and forth with it. If it was an engagement album, drop ship, like every time wedding albums, it sort of depended. I was like, could I really auto deliver that or do, oh, this like letting go of control. Okay.

That's something to test. So we have really four things underneath of this like future, future system, which, so we have the gallery, like setting up the gallery, the C R m, what needs to change there, the communication, and then possibly the delivery. All right. So underneath of those things, can you make a list specifically of what you need to do for the C R M?

Yeah, the C R M, I have a lot of manual intervention right now where I go in. I would love for that to be far more automated. I also allow people to just book an inquiry call with me, given that I'll be on maternity leave. I'm like, Nope, we're going to a contact form. Yeah. That has to,

yeah. So that'll be slightly different in terms of how that communication works. And then giving them the option to say either you can do a call with me, you're gonna have to wait a little bit of time. Or here, let's do an automatic booking link. So you could go ahead and book and pay and then I will give you a call to like schedule everything.

Perfect. Yes. Schedule everything out. And then kind of getting the, you know, the, the finer touch points of everything before the session actually happens in place. And then after that would be kind of okay, the steps forward, getting the gallery up and running and how people would then purchase from there. So actually, now that you say that,

I'm thinking the C R m, I put these in two different ca subcategories, c r m and communication, but they're, they're kind of, They're interwoven together, right? Yeah. The C R M is like, okay, well what structure I wanna have? But then the communication is obviously layered underneath it of like, okay, well if we want this structure,

how do we need to communicate with them? Mm. Kind of have you map that out on paper, like Yes. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yes, yes. I just sat there for a really long time yesterday because I was like, okay, if I want this to happen, right. And then these three things, because it's just,

it is taking, instead of doing that phone call initially, like you're kind of taking a little bit of that personal touch out of it. You can still be personal and email obviously, but you know, I do notice most of the time if I get somebody on the phone, I'm having a good turnover in terms of converting them into a client. So just where that kind of lands.

Yes, yes. Okay. So we have the C R M and the communication. So that's really just taking what you mapped out on paper and like implementing it. How, what C R M are you using? I forget. We're using Sprout Studio. Yeah, I do. You like it? The one thing that I would say, the manual intervention piece,

because they're like scheduling links, if you don't attach it to your client, it just, you end up duplicating your contact Oh, several times. And that's the biggest drawback I've found. And I've asked them, I've gotten on the phone with one of their customer reps being like, Hey, is there a workaround for this? I've had a client accidentally duplicate themselves like five times and now they're getting like all my emails several times.

And I was like, this is a horrible thing. They're like, yeah, you have to do it this way. And I was like, okay. So that's just something in the checklist where it's like going at all these links. It is, it's a manual intervention that I'll have to keep for the time being, unless I wanna switch a C R M system,

which at this point I'm not totally convinced that I would love to go learn a brand new one right now. Maybe not right this minute, but I actually, now that you say this, I have heard of people struggling with the scheduling in Sprout and also dub saana for that matter. No, Really. Really? Which is funny. It's just like not their area of expertise.

I mean, it makes sense. Yeah. It's, it's just not what they focus on. But I know several people who are using Calendly or Acuity in conjunction with, which is like a bummer. I wish I could do everything within the serum, but maybe, I mean, if wanna consider that in the future. Yeah. And I'm, if enough people say something,

they'll eventually like figure out how to, How to fix That. Create the backend code. Yeah. But yeah. Yeah. Okay. So what would it take in terms of time, do you think, to wrap this up, the C R M and the communication piece, what you mapped out on paper? How long would it take to implement it?

I Really think probably a couple weeks with a couple hours. Like a couple hours per week? Yeah. Yeah. Honestly. Yeah. Just the mapping is done. It's really like just making a bow, like putting the bow on it. I bet I, I have all of the emails, right? Yes. Like I have all that stuff. There are just tweaks where I've been like,

oh, maybe that doesn't even quite make sense to a customer. Maybe I wanna like reformat my language in terms of that, make sure it matches like how I talk normally and all stuff. All of that stuff. Because you're write those things sometimes and they make sense in your head. Yes. You give it to somebody else and they're like, what is that Mean?

Yeah. Where is that? Okay. But you know what I'm thinking because you mapped it out on paper and I, you're high in the conscientious scale, I know that about you, which means you probably had really good attention to detail with that. I'm guessing you could implement this faster than you think. I think what will happen is if you scheduled a couple of hours one afternoon,

it maybe a full afternoon, maybe it's four hours or whatever your attention span is, you know, you have to like work with your brain and you, you start to implement these things and then what happens is new things pop up that you didn't think of and you fix it, you know, and you work through the, and then, you know,

the next day or next couple days, I mean, I bet you could have this knocked off in, you know, four to six hours in one week in a couple of sittings. Yeah, probably true. So, you know, the funny thing about tasks and goals like this is we honestly don't know how long it will take because we've never done it before.

So often what we do is give ourselves way more time. Too much time. Right? Too much time. When the reality is it will take as long as I say it will take, let me give you an example. Somebody said to me recently, or maybe this is a couple months ago, that they wanted to learn ss e o, like get better at SS e o and like implement it on their website.

And I said, okay, set a goal, you know, for time. And she was like, I have Heather, I have no clue what it's gonna take to learn SS e o. I don't, I don't. And I'm like, oh, well yeah, you do. You just decide I'm gonna give myself four hours to learn as much as I can about ss e o.

And then it's done. Like you decide instead of letting the task dictate, because the truth is it will never be done. Yeah, that's fair. Yeah. Like you just have to get it to the point where you're like, okay, let's be work. Let's put it out into the universe and then Done enough. Because it'll never, I was talking to someone this week who was like,

they, they really, there was a lot of resistance against this idea that their business is never done. They needed it to, to to be done. The pricing, you know, and the website. And I said, well, maybe we could just say, is it done enough that it's workable and you can always just like improve it or change it if you need to.

But yeah, I really was like pushing her to just accept the fact that this is never done. Never. Well, Yeah. And that, it's a fair point. 'cause I think there are sometimes where you're like, is there just one change I could make that would actually like change my, like entire reframe my entire view on it? Because I was like kind of frustrated.

I know we've talked about with my pricing a little bit before and I was like, is there just one change I can make? And then I like looked at it and I was like, ah, it's my smallest package. If I made one tweak here, I'd be like, honestly, I'm good for the rest of the year. Like, and then we can just move to the gallery,

like cut check. Like I can just let that go. It's fine. And that's like a very small change. It wasn't like, oh, you need to go and revamp all of your, Everything, collateral And everything and the way you talk about stuff and be like, Nope. It's just like one small little tweak. And I was like, okay,

I feel good about this. It's done, it's implemented and I'm out. Oh my gosh. Awesome. You found the domino, the domino, the first domino that you press to make the rest fall into place. The first domino requires the most energy. So you really does ask yourself a really good question, which is like, what is one small thing I could do that I would feel good enough?

Like this is good. Like done and I can move forward. That's a, a brilliant approach. Yeah. I was like, whoa, this is like, 'cause as soon as that happened I was like, all right, here's like the three next things I can do. Let's get it done, let's get it implemented. And it was awesome. Like it felt good.

Like, 'cause I think for a while I was like, I need to change this, but I'm gonna switch to galleries, but I need to change this, but I'm gonna caught switch to galleries. And I was like, ah, what, what's one thing I could do? Like just pick one thing. And I was Like, you were caught in a loop.

Yeah. And I got it Yourself out of it. Oh, congratulations Christie. That's beautiful. That's really good advice for people listening, which is like, okay, you're probably caught in a loop about overthinking and like cart horse kind of situation, chicken egg. But you could just pick one small thing and then the rest might just fall into place. Like what if it's easier than you think?

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I think that like that's life in general. We all ma love to make things harder than they actually are. Yes. And then you do it and you're like, wow, okay, I can do hard things. Like, but that was easier than I thought I was gonna be. That's a thought that I like to say and elevate all of the time.

I like to help people just reframe by saying everything is easier than I think because in your brain will tell you that everything is harder than you think. Yeah. And you're just not going to receive that and decide, because we have a ton of evidence that that's actually true. Because once you made that small tweak, everything fell into place and then you were off to the races.

Exactly. Okay. It's been so much fun. Congratulations on all of your success and your upcoming birth. That's amazing. And let us know how we can support you. I'll, and thank you so much for the coaching journals. It's been such a fun experience and a really rewarding one. Oh my gosh, my pleasure. I loved working with you.

I'll talk to you soon. Thanks. Okay, bye-bye. Bye. Heather. Hey Monica, it's our last coaching journals call. So I'd love to get a quick update and then work through whatever challenges you might be facing. So how are things going? Things are going, so for August, I have it all written. I always write. Okay,

perfect. So like for August, my revenue is $7,638, which is a little over half of my goal. Like actually less than half of my goal. What am I saying? My, my monthly revenue goal is 16,000. Totally fine. And then for September, I'm at 4,512. And that's something I wanna talk to you about. So I have found that like,

because we've been doing this for six, this is our sixth session, right? Like six months of these coaching journals. And like, I was thinking about this the other day, like I am at a quarter of my goal, right? I just had a client, one of my members ask for a full refund, like chaos, right? It feels like a lot in,

in my world, right? Like, it feels like I'm not hitting my goal, I'm having people ask for refunds, all these things. But like I, although I know it's totally healthy to cry and all that, I haven't had like a, I haven't had like a proper meltdown. Like I would've had like nine months ago, you know what I mean?

Or even six months ago, like, I'm like over here, I'm like, it's gonna pass. And I've been doing your model, the, the C T F I'm gonna say all outta order ct. No, you Got it. That's right. Yeah. C T F A R. Yes. Yes. Yeah. And like I, I've just been working on that.

Like every day I'm like, it's, you know, it's gonna pass. Like I have things coming up and I don't think I would've been in such a good mood if I didn't have your guidance and elevate. Like I just, yeah. So I just wanna say thank you 'cause I, oh my gosh, I can notice that. Like, you know what I mean?

Like I can, I can see that and my partner can too. He's like, yeah, I would've been like full on like, you know, upset. Like, and I think my goals, I just had someone at your refund and like, ah, Well, I think you're just becoming really aware that your thoughts cause your emotions. And also like that it's okay to be disappointed when something doesn't work.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It's okay. But like, feel those feelings, but then know like, you're not gonna be there forever. Like yeah, It's okay to feel disappointed if you don't hit a number or a client asks for a refund. Like if you didn't feel disappointed, I would wonder if you were a human. Right? Like, of course that makes sense.

It's just, it's just like, how long do I wanna stay in that? Right? Yeah. Yeah. And that's something I was struggling with over the weekend. I was kind of staying in that, like, I feel like today I finally got myself together. I was like, okay, because you, I, like, I kept thoughts kept coming up and I was like,

okay, that's a thought. We're gonna set that aside. But I have noticed it's affecting self-confidence a little bit. You know what I mean? Like, I'm over here, I'm like, I'm a $16,000 a month photographer, but then I'm like, I haven't hit my goal for the last two months. But, But you have hit it in the past.

Correct. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So you are that photographer. Yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm there like I've done it like It's done, Right? Yeah. Yeah. It's just that it didn't happen every month. Yeah. And then, And then you had a thought about that. Yeah, I had a thought about that. That like maybe like,

I'm not worth the, the funds I'm, you know, the, the fees I'm charging. So I, I think it's a combination of like not hitting my goals and I'm like getting, I've been getting a lot of nos from people and I'm like, hold on. I am a steal. This is like an experience you won't experience with, you know,

any other photographers in our area. Like, like it's an easy yes in my mind, but it, I feel like it's like hitting my confidence a little bit. No, no, no. I, Well, what's the thought? So like, let's go back. If we're in the circumstance line and the circumstance is, you know, three inquiries say no.

Yeah, that's exactly my number too. Yeah. I'm like a profit. Okay. Yeah. Three inquiries say no, and then you have a thought. Yeah. What's the thought? Ugh. My thought is they don't see the value and I'm like selling, I'm selling them on the value, but they don't see the value. And maybe in, in my head I'm like,

okay, they probably, this is the scenario I make up for my, my clients. I'm like, they have the money, but they just don't see the value right now. You know what I mean? And maybe that's not the case. Maybe they really do need to save up. Like I've had clients before that I've saved up for years. They'll like be photographed.

Yeah. I think there's, to that thought though, I want you to carry out that thought. Ooh, they don't see the value and They're never gonna book me because of that. They don't, they're not gonna come back around. Like, even though they say they will, I, you know what I mean? Like, they didn't see the value right at the beginning during the consult call.

Like, how are they gonna, not, how are they gonna come back after? I've just had like this lovely conversation with them where like, you know, like we spend like 20 minutes just talking about how amazing their dogs are. Like they're like connected, you know? But then when it gets to the, the numbers part, I'm like, But question if they,

if your thought is they don't see the value, how does that, how does that impact your self-confidence if they're not seeing the value? Yeah. I feel like it affects my self-confidence because I am possibly not showing them the value as much as they need to see it. If That makes, okay. Okay. That's the thought. So what, a second ago when I said extended out,

it's, they're not seeing the value and it's my fault. Yes. That's it. That's The thought. I just Needed it to work its way out. Yes, yes, yes. 'cause if we just, if we just thought, oh, they're not seeing the value, it would be like, okay, so what? They're not seeing the value.

Yeah. But if you extend out the rest of that thought, which is your brain offering you, and you didn't do your job Right. Yeah. That's my thought. I'm like, 'cause I, I think when we first started, I had like hundred percent success rate, conversion rate, and it's been, you know, Which was great. It's been,

It was great, but it's not like sustainable or, you know, expected. And so like my rate has gone down, my conversion rate. And I think that is like kind of hurting me a little bit, you know, with my, but do you know What the problem is with a hundred percent success rate is you don't get the opportunity to learn how to manage your thoughts.

Yes. Yeah. That's a really good point. So the Fact that this is happening is good's good. I so good. I would rather this happen because when somebody just like gets clients right outta the gate without even like, you know, trying or they don't know how, then they're totally powerless. Yeah. They are just like, how did I do that?

How did I do that? Like, they can't learn. Yeah. How do I replicate it? And then, and then also when you start to get the nose, you, you, you're like, well, wait, it worked all the time before. And then you're like, your, your emotions get all kind of tripped up, which is where you're at.

Okay. Which is totally fine. You had some awesome, I don't wanna call it luck, I don't like that word. You had some awesome results in the beginning. Yes. Yeah. And, and I'm, I'm happy for you and you should be happy for you, but that's not what builds character. Right. And it also like, it doesn't build like my skillset.

No, No. Right. Yeah. Like I should be, this is like a valuable skill to have right. Is like being able to manage that. Like, no, and like also I have to remember that like, I am spreading out my net farther, so I'm going to have more nos naturally, like as I talk to more people, right?

Yeah. Okay, so let's go back to the model. The unintentional model is, I had three inquiries that said no, the thought is they don't see the value because I'm not conveying the value. The feeling is, The feeling is I'm not Oh. Feeling at the, I'm spitting out a thought and it's not a feeling. It's okay. I do that all the time.

Yeah, we do, we everybody does. I think, I feel like sad because I'm like, they don't get to experience that the the photo session, right? Like they Yeah. They miss out the summary stuff. Yeah, exactly. I feel sad for them. What do you, what Do you Anxious. Anxious. Sorry. Okay. Yeah.

What do you do when you feel sad or anxious? I usually will like journal and like try to like help myself. Like bring that back up. Like, okay. Like not, I'm not gonna be a perfect fit for everybody. Like, Work through it. Yeah, exactly. Work through it. Yeah. Well, that's healthy. Yeah. Yeah.

So then, so if that's, if that's true, if you journal through it and you learn something from it, then, then there's no problem with this model. No. Yeah, you're right. Because it actually results in you getting stronger. Now, obviously you don't wanna stay in sad Right? And you don't wanna, right. Yeah. And you don't wanna stay with the thought that I'm not not doing my job.

So let's go back to the circumstance of three clients saying no. Okay. What would you want to feel when you get a no from a client? What would you want to feel? I would want to feel happy that they are, because they're not excited to work with me. Like, and I want clients who are excited to work with me. Like,

I want that to be a mutual thing. Like, my favorite clients are the ones that after the chat, they book the, the session within an hour Yes. Of talking. They're so excited. Those are always Yeah. They're so excited and like, that's what I want. So if they're not at that level with me, I don't, yeah.

Like it's, it's not a good fit. Yeah. So I wanna feel like happy that they've pleaded themselves out, essentially. Oh, Perfect. Sorry. Okay. So if we wanna feel happy about someone saying no, then the next question you've already answered, we're just gonna fill it in. The next question is, what would I need to think or believe in order to feel happy?

Yeah. And you, you're saying like, we weren't a good fit and Yeah. This is how it's supposed to be. Yeah. Yeah. If they're not, if they're not super excited to work with me, then like, I don't really wanna work with them either. Like, I mean, you don't want people to spend money where they don't wanna spend it.

Yes. Yeah. Or if they, they're like, that's how I feel about unsure. Yeah. If they're not sure. Right. That's how I feel about Elevate. I want people to be so excited to join that they can't wait to do it. And if they're not, then don't. Yeah. Because I want you to be excited about what you're spending and I want you to feel like you're gonna get the transformation.

And then you, you know, like in your case, that they love the photos, they want the photos. So, okay. That's a, that's a thought that would help you feel happy if, at the very least neutral or more relaxed about them saying no, but what's another thought you could choose to think when someone says no? Hmm. That it's not a no right now,

but, or it's, what am I trying to say? Like, come back around? Yeah. Not yet. Not, Not yet. Doesn't mean like they didn't like me or it's not a good fit, that they aren't excited, but maybe they just needed more information and needed to be sold on the service and they will come back around. Maybe they wanna say what you Said,

but that has Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's happened before too. Yeah. So it's not, not every like no is a complete loss. Like Yeah. So you could choose to think, oh, this is just a, not yet, I know I've shared this with you, but I had someone follow me for eight years before she joined Elevate.

She didn't spend a penny with me for eight years. Yeah. And then joined. So like, maybe it's just a, not now. Maybe it's a not yet. Maybe they're coming back. What's another thought? Ooh. Ooh. Another thought that I, we steal this from just the, the bless and release. Like, And release. I love it.

Like that's, that's a lovely thought too. Like, you know what? That's okay. We may have, you know, avoided a client that's not a good fit. That could have been more headache. Right. Maybe I'm avoiding something. Yeah. Yeah. That could be good. You could also choose to think like, okay, this creates space for the next person who,

who wants to come in. Like if you believed, if somebody says no, and you predominant thought about your business was I am in demand and people are already willing and able to pay. And when somebody says no, you'd be like, oh, okay, next. Yeah, move on. I have a line of people waiting Line of people out the door waiting to work with you.

And that this person saying, no, actually this happened with me with one-on-ones recently. Somebody said no, and then the next day somebody else new came in. I would not have been available for that new person had the other person said Yes. Yes. So, because I have evidence to that. Like I look for evidence to support my thoughts that make me feel good.

Yes. You'll have another client that will come in and will spend thousands of dollars and you'll be like, oh, okay. That space needed to be there, which means that person needed to say no. Yes. Yeah. It's all working in my favor. I love that. Yeah. It's all working for me. Everything's working in for Me in my favor.

Yes. So a no is like, listen, I'm telling you, this is a master ninja, Yoda next level skill to have to be able to manage your thoughts and feelings when you are quote, rejected. Yeah. Seriously. Because if you can move through these things, these, these nos faster and easier with a lightness, you will gain speed,

traction, momentum for the people that are coming in. Yes. Oh, I like that. Like that means that I love to hear. No, because it strengthens my resolve. It help, like you said this a minute ago, like helps me to build skills. Yes. Yeah. So that they continue to come in and I continue to move through it faster.

Therefore, I want, I wanna get as many noses as possible because I wanna be so almost like immune to it. Yes. It's like, Okay, of course you're human, it's okay to feel disappointed. I'm not suggesting that we ignore disappointment, right? Yeah. But we shouldn't let it like completely consume us. That's It. Yeah, Exactly.

Like, I'm gonna just move through it faster. Yeah. Like that. Okay. So now if we look at these three people that said no. Yeah. Also, here's something really important to note. If we're we're talking about the three people that said no, and we, we kind of like laid that all out, we're feeling better about it.

But you were also intermingling it with I'm not hitting my goals. Oh my gosh. I was, yeah. So When, when the reality is we have two separate things we're looking at here, two models, two thoughts to, but instead our brain likes to just conflate everything and just put it all in a big massive pile of Yeah. It's trying to connect everything.

Oh, and it, it doesn't, yeah. It's like, yeah, It connects everything because it wants to generalize it and say, see Monica, nothing's working. Nothing at all. Nothing at all, ever. When that's not the truth at all. Like, No, everything's working. It's just we have, but that's why it's important to look at the,

I worked with my coach recently on something like personal around my thoughts around my daughter who's an adult, and I'm like, I'm mixing everything. And I'm like, oh, it's a catastrophe. And she's like, actually I think there are two things, two thoughts, actually. There were not even two circumstances. There were just, oh my god, two thoughts.

And those two thoughts were completely separate. When she helped me get clarity on those thoughts, I was like, oh, okay. This is not like a catastrophe. Yeah. I have two thoughts that I can now manage. So we have this one thought of like, people say, no, okay, this is good. We've sort of rearranged that.

We've developed a protocol for how we're gonna think moving forward. And then we have this thought of I'm not hitting my goal. Yeah. How does that feel? It doesn't feel good, but I, I keep reminding myself that like, I have so many things planned for like the end of this month, which it's like, this weekend I have like two big event.

Like, you know what I mean? Like, I have things happening, like the clients will be coming in, like, I know I'm gonna be like in over my head with like clients. Like I just know it. So like that part, you know what I mean? Like I, I'm, I've got this thought in my head. I'm like,

I'm gonna make $20,000 in October. I'm gonna make up for Yeah. Like, we're gonna be playing catch up and like, I don't know if that's a good thought, but, Well, I don't, I don't like the word catch up, but I'm, I'm, I'm, I like this thought of like, I've got many irons and many fires.

I like, here's my, my base thought is like, everything is working. I have put the wheels in motion, I have planted the seeds. Everything is working, it is coming. My success is inevitable. A normal business will have lower revenue months and higher revenue months. Like that is to be expected. Yeah. But I know that this is working and it's coming and it's gonna be amazing.

And so you're just, you know, you're, you're dropping into this belief about what's coming because you have built a solid foundation. You're doing so many things, you know, you're, oh my gosh, Community, many, You're meeting people, you have all of these plans, you have a bazillion ideas and you're executing on them like they are going to work.

Yeah. Yeah. So it's, and if they don't, like, I'll learn from it, you know, It's coming and it's okay to have, like, I'm not mad about a $7,000 month, Right? Yeah. Yeah. It's not, it's not bad at all. You know, considering, I like, when I looked at my revenue from the previous year for August,

it was only $900. Like, that's how much percentage, like, Like this is classic gap and game thinking. If you measure against yourself in the past, you are killing it. Yeah. But if you measure against, you know, like, oh my gosh. Right, right. Then I'm gonna feel like crap. But the, but the thing is,

it's your choice. What, what, what do you wanna focus on and what do you wanna think about? Yeah, exactly. I wanna think about how I've got a line of clients be out the door. Yep. I am in demand. There are a line of clients waiting for me out the door. I need to bless and release people as quickly as possible.

Yes. Yeah. Oh, that's another thing too. I had the re I had the, and release to potential clients. Like, and I've never, I think that was also kind of feeling weird. Like when I know I need the money, and I was like, I'm choosing to not work with two people. You know what I mean? Who were very excited and that felt very weird to me.

But Why though? Why weird? Because I think I get in this mindset of like, I should be trying to take all the money that's coming my way. You know what I mean? Like, I shouldn't be able to say no, But why? But because like, ah, that's a really good question. But why, why do I feel,

why do I feel guilty about saying no? I think it's just simply like not taking their money. I feel weird about it. I, but why do I feel that way? Do I feel guilty for telling people no? Yeah. I mean, I would, I would almost think, I would almost think you would feel like happy or proud that you didn't work with someone that was a good fit.

That you made a conscious decision as a c e o to say like, no, that's just not a good fit for me. I, I would. Yeah. So yeah, remember thoughts, produce feelings. If I'm feeling guilty, it's because I'm thinking I did something wrong. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Did you do anything wrong by I didn't do anything.

Okay. Yeah. I didn't do anything wrong. No. I just made a choice that was like Right for me and like, yeah. So I need to change my thoughts on that. Like, I always say when we're feeling guilty, guilty is one of those emotions I just have no tolerance for, save it for the criminals. Okay. Yeah.

Because you're not doing anything wrong. Right. Guilt implies wrongdoing. You didn't do anything wrong. You made a decision that was in your best interest. And I would argue even if they were excited, ultimately in their best interest as well. Yeah. Because yeah, I wouldn't have served them. Correct. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. So this is all like,

this is all good. Yeah, it is all good. Yeah. Like you should be Proud of that decision. Yeah. Listen, if You, you know what, Hmm. Oh my gosh, I should probably be careful with my words here. People that take money to do something against their will, I think it's like called prostitution. Like Yeah.

If you, I mean if you take money Yeah. Just For the sake of taking money, even though you, that's something to feel weird about. Yeah, Yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh. Not the opposite. Yeah. Right. Yeah. That is such a good point. Like, I need to feel good about like what I'm doing because otherwise it's just gonna create more stress and anxiety before the session or before I work with that person.

Yeah. I make a good decision. Know You made a decision. This is what I like to think. Like in listen, making c e o level decisions Yes. Can sometimes be challenging. You made a difficult decision to not accept a client. Yeah. You Should be proud of that. Yeah. Because That's not easy to do. You did it in the best interest of yourself and the client so that the next person can come through the door.

Yes. And C e o decisions can be hard because we sometimes have to say no to opportunities, money, clients, whatever in the moment in order to create space for all the good that is coming. Yeah. And it's definitely protecting, I remember we talked about this recently, protecting my heart, guarding my heart and my brain. So I've been writing that down like every day.

Like, protect your heart, protect your, yeah. Protect your mind Guard your, the gateway to your heart and your mind is like everything by what you like, allow into your life, into your business, into your mind. What you watch on tv, the social media, everything you consume is impacting your heart and your mind. And I'm so like crazy about this like,

guard your mind and your heart and your time and your business and that's what you did. Yeah. Amazing. Yeah. I'm should be proud of myself. Yeah, you should. Very healthy. That's For celebrating not, but isn't it so funny how your brain offered you up? Guilt? Yeah. Yeah. So annoying brains Are gonna brain, they're just whacking.

Yeah, Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Great. Okay. This has been so fun. Thank you for sharing your journey and as you continue to longer, obviously I will see you inside of Elevate, but thanks for sharing everything. I'm sure everybody listening really appreciates it. It's been such a great experience, like sitting down with you every month and Yeah,

it's, it's, it's just been life changing for me, so thank you. Oh my gosh, it is my absolute pleasure. Enjoy the rest of your day. I'll see you soon. Thanks, you too. Thanks. Bye-bye. Thanks for listening to The Hair of the Dog podcast. This was episode number 211. If you wanna check out the show notes for access to any of the resources that we mentioned,

simply go to www.hairofthedogacademy.com/ 2 1 1. 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 [email protected] of the Dog Academy.

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