#003 – 3 Facebook Ad Secrets, Identifying Business Priorities, Anxiety and Stress

Alex Beadon 0:02
Do you ever feel like you’re trying to balance it all? nourishing your health while growing your business and living a life well lift and no matter how hard you try, sometimes you slip from purpose driven into autopilot. Take a deep breath, relax, and let’s get you back to where you belong. On purpose

Hey guys, welcome to episode number three of on purpose with Alex Beadon. I’m so excited for today’s episode, I feel like it’s going to be a really good and valuable one. So definitely stay tuned. But before we dive in, I wanted to share one of my favorite reviews that has been left guys, this is the third episode, right? But really, and truly the podcast just launched yesterday. So this, it’s just like such a special day. For me. It’s the very first time that I’m actually getting reviews on the podcast. And it’s just so much fun to read every single thing that you guys are saying. So for everyone who has left a review, thank you so much. And if you haven’t left a review yet, what is holding you back, I have a goal of reaching 100 reviews in the first seven days and I really need your help to accomplish it. So please take two minutes to go to the podcast app. Search for on purpose with Alex Beadon and select the podcast on purpose of Alex Beadon. Scroll down press write a review and leave me a heartfelt review. I really truly love to hear from you. But okay, let me read this one. This one is from the mermaid with mussels. She says I’ve been a faithful follower of Alex since her YouTube days and now to Instagram. Her energy is contagious. She’s raw and real. And she provides actionable tips and tricks to grow your social business and make more money literally every day to not follow her or subscribe to this podcast is like passing up the most valuable free content out there. Thank you so much for that Epic Review. I really, really appreciate it. And let’s dive in to today’s episode. Okay, so in today’s episode, there’s a lot that I want to talk to you guys about right? I want to talk to you guys about everything that I’ve been working on this week. So that really gets divided into three main categories. We’re going to talk about my podcast launch, we’re going to talk about Facebook ads, and what’s been working, what hasn’t been working. And I’m also going to talk to you guys about the big picture strategy behind my business. Then I’m going to move into more of the personal side of things, what I’ve been experiencing behind the scenes what it’s been like during such a busy, hectic time in my business. So that’s what you can really expect from this podcast. Let’s dive in. So as I mentioned, the podcast went live yesterday, which has been really exciting for me, it’s so much fun to hear from people that they’re listening to the episodes, I’ve got text messages from friends saying that they’re loving it. I’ve been hearing from so many of you guys online just talking to me about how you’re really appreciating the format and how it’s been laid out and what it’s been like so far, we launched with two episodes. And we actually thought it was going to launch like two weeks ago. Seriously, we were pretty blown away by how long the iTunes approval system was. So if for anyone who’s considering coming out with a podcast in the future, I would definitely say like, give it a good two weeks, do not expect that things are going to just be published immediately. To be honest with you, I did my research, I did hear that it could take you know, between five to 14 days. But I also heard from a lot of people that it took them like 24 hours. So I was like you know what they probably just say two weeks, it’s probably only going to be a couple of days. So like we factored in four days, it took way longer than four days. So of course, you know, I’ve been building up this excitement about the podcast that’s going to be launched and On which date it was going to be launched. And of course it ended up. So I told everyone it was going to be on a Monday. And then it ended up being not the following Monday, but the following Friday. So it ended up taking almost two full weeks, right. Yesterday was the first day that the podcast was actually fully live in the iTunes app. And it was, like I said, really a journey because it was live. But it wasn’t fully live. People were messaging me and being like, hey, I can listen to it. But I can’t subscribe. I can’t leave a review of the podcast art isn’t showing up. So we kind of made an executive decision to really not mention the fact that it was live until it was something that we can feel really proud of. In other words, we didn’t want to say that it was live until it was actually 100% live like I don’t want to be like Hey, everyone, go check out my podcast. And then they go and there’s no cover arts and there’s no way to subscribe or leave a review. So that’s really what we were waiting on this entire time because I know a few of you guys were like, You keep saying it’s not live but it is live. And I’m like no, it’s half live like you can listen to the episodes but the entire experience is definitely not there. So that was definitely a struggle for us like really is playing the waiting game not knowing you know, when is when is it actually going to go live a big part of these Monday episodes, guys, because you know, we release new episodes every Monday and Thursday. And a big part of this Monday episode is that I want it to feel fresh. I want it to be very recent and new and I want it to be 100% relatable to what actually happened to me over the past week. Right? So I couldn’t actually record episode number three until I knew when episode number three was going to be going live. So yesterday the podcast went live. So I knew that I’d have to sit down and record this episode today. So this is me, this is like the first time I’m ever recording. Live like because the last episode, I think I must have recorded it like three weeks ago now. So this is like now my new routine where you know, every hopefully I’m thinking every Friday, I will do the recording for Monday, so that it’s still recent and new and relevant. So yeah, so we went through all of those kind of hiccups of not knowing when it was going to be live. And then yesterday it went live, which was just so exciting. I literally have zero shame. I messaged almost everyone I know. I was like, hey, my podcasts just went live. And I really need reviews. So if you wouldn’t mind like take a quick listen to the podcast and just leave a review, I’d really appreciate it even if it’s just a few words. A big part of coming out with a podcast guys, for those of you who don’t know, is just the process of trying to get as many reviews and as many downloads and as many people subscribing to your podcasts as possible, which is why the reviews part is such a big deal to me because I want it to signal to iTunes that this is a podcast that is worth possibly being mentioned in their new and noteworthy section. So I’m not just like asking you to leave reviews for no apparent reason it really does help catch the attention of iTunes, when it comes to actually getting into that new and noteworthy section, which we’ve got our fingers crossed for. But to be honest with you like it’s really not a big obsession, or it’s not like a really big goal of ours. We would like to get into the new and noteworthy section. Of course, that would be fantastic. But if it doesn’t end up happening, it doesn’t add up happening. And I’m just happy that the podcast is live feels good. But yeah, I think that was a really big realization for me over the past 24 hours since it’s been live. It’s like I’ve had zero shame in messaging everyone and being like, hey, like guys, I even created a video that walks people through how to leave a review, I sent it to my entire family. And I was like every single person who is related to me, I’m now calling on you to please leave a review and just go and you know, leave show me some love. Show me some support. This is exactly how to do it shouldn’t take you more than two minutes. Go go go. I think of course you kind of have to like know your crowd and know your audience. So if you don’t have a particularly close relationship with your friends and family, that might not be the best idea. Like I’m definitely not reaching out to strangers or people who I feel like they’d be like, No, I’m reaching out to people who I feel would enjoy supporting me and who I know I would enjoy supporting them in the same way. So that’s been fun and interesting for me yesterday was actually my cousin, Amy’s birthday party. She just turned 27. And she had a birthday party at my aunt’s house up on her roof. And so it was like nice rooftop vibes. And everyone was listening to music dancing, there were some beer pong going on. Really good, good energy happening, then all of a sudden the music cuts. So like I walk. I mean, it’s my family, right. So like, if Amy’s having a party, I feel like I’m also half responsible for the outcome of the party. So I go over to the speaker and I’m like, What’s going on there? Like, for some reason, the music from the phone isn’t hooking up to the speaker. It’s not working, and so they’re trying to figure it out. Meanwhile, everyone is just kind of like standing in silence. So I grabbed this microphone, and guys don’t know where this came from. But I decided this is the perfect time to let everyone know at the party that I have a brand new podcast that went live today because it was yesterday. So I get on the pod. I get on the microphone. I’m like, Hey everyone, we are having some slight technical difficulties. My name is Alex Beadon. And I just want all of you to know that today. I released a podcast called on purpose with Alex Beadon. If you are into business and life and living your best life, and you should definitely go and check it out.

I’m also trying to get 100 reviews in the first seven days. So definitely don’t be scared to go and leave a review. Everyone’s like dying laughing. And I’m just kind of standing there thinking to myself, Wow, who is this girl who is literally speaking to a party of strangers while the music is down, to tell all of them to go and check out her podcast because when I first started my business, honestly speaking about my business was like a stressful thing for me. I remember being so ashamed of even telling people that I had my own business, let alone like promoting what I was doing. And you know, here I was yesterday, just on this microphone, announcing to the entire party to go and leave me a review But yeah, the podcast has been amazing, really happy to see it go live. We checked the stats today. And it has been listened to in over 36 countries in less than 24 hours. To me. That’s just so mind blowing that there are people all over the world listening to my voice, it like it’s just so cool. The internet is so cool. It feels like such an honor to be alive at this point in time. And to be able to get to use these tools. We’re like the first people to use these tools people like it’s so exciting to me the fact that you know, I can speak into this microphone, and you wherever you are in the world can hear it. And by the way, if you’re listening to this, I would absolutely love for you to just send me a selfie of you listening to the podcast tagged me at Alex Beadon. post it to your story on Instagram and just like let me know which country you’re in. Because it’s mind blowing, I think it’d be cool to like maybe create, like some kind of graphic with pictures of people all over the world just to like, celebrate the fact that we are all connected. That’s another thing I love about podcasts is that it really unites people who are like minded. So yeah, it’s been, it’s been really fun. I’m super pumped to see how the podcast goes. I’m also excited for the growing pains and the lessons and I know this podcast is just gonna get better and better and better and better. So for those of you who are listening from day one, and for those of you who are really implementing this into your weekly routine, I just want to say thank you for being on this journey with me and I do not take your time for granted. And I always want to make sure that I’m showing up and giving you my absolute best. And that’s really what this entire episode today is going to be about. I really looked at what what has happened to me over the past week. And I’m going to be sharing with you what I would share with my best friend that I think every single entrepreneur should know, based on what it is that I’ve learned this week. So let’s dive in. I think we’re done talking about the podcast, we definitely had some some launch struggles. If you’re going to launch podcast in the future, keep that in mind, for some reason on many of the other platforms. So like, for example, Spotify, when we submitted the podcast, Spotify picked it up immediately. So Spotify, you are awesome, keep doing what you’re doing iTunes, you got a long way to go like iTunes, really. I mean, even the fact that you know, it’s not just like, it took a long time for them to post it. They were posting it like one day there was one episode The next day, there was a next episode, the next day, the cover art was up two days later, you could subscribe two days later, you could leave a review, like it was just such a step by step process. Like I feel like they should just publish it. And it should just all be live ready to go all at once. Anyway. Okay, we’re gonna move on to the next part. This is something I’m really excited to talk to you guys about Facebook ads. So to kind of give any of you the backstory, you may not really know what’s going on. I have an online course it is right now the core of my business, it’s called Grand Slam. This online course basically teaches people how to use Instagram stories to help build their online brand, whether they are a personal brand, whether they sell a product, whether they have a physical store, whether they sell courses like I do, or maybe you are a service provider, it’s really for anyone who wants to use Instagram stories to create a connection with their people and with their audience that will hopefully result in more trust, which will hopefully result in more sales, right. So I’ve been really focusing on creating this course to be 100% evergreen, which means that people can buy it at any particular time. This is new to me, I’ve never done this before. Normally, I launch something and I give people a week to buy it. And then I close the cart and I don’t let them buy for another year. Right. So this is very differently just leaving the car doors open. You can literally buy Grand Slam whenever you want. And the main focus that I’ve been that I’ve been focusing on for the last

I would say since I was in Hawaii, is Facebook ads and really creating a funnel a marketing funnel that is bringing people in from Facebook ads into the funnel, giving them value and then converting them at the end into Grand Slam customers. Right. So we’ve set up our Facebook ads system, which has been amazing. I’ve learned so much. I’ve spoken to so many people about Facebook ads and it seems to be one of those things that many business owners I speak to have the biggest problems with because it’s hard to find someone you can really trust when when you hire someone to do your Facebook ads, like no one is going to spend your money as carefully as you will spend your money. So when I had to decide, am I going to pay you know 1000s of dollars to someone a month in order for them to take control of my Facebook ads or am I going to do it myself. I decided I wanted to have a really good grasp of Facebook ads before I bring anyone else in like I really wanted to know the ins and outs and I think you need to know your strengths. Like I’m super technical, going into the Facebook ad system and like figuring it out is actually quite fun for me. So this was not something that was super difficult or going to take up like a ridiculous amount of time trying to learn but the Learning has the learning curve has been steep, there has been a lot that has changed since the last time that I was really playing around with Facebook ads. So we basically set up this funnel. And the way that the funnel works is that on day one, they get sent an invite video. And the invite video is really simple. It’s like 30 seconds long. It’s like, Hey, are you interested in learning more about how to edit your Instagram stories, because I have a free course, that’s going to teach you everything you need to know about putting yourself out there on Instagram stories. If you’re interested in getting access to that free course, literally, all you have to do is finish watching this video until the very end. Once they watch that video until the very end, like I said, it’s only a 32nd long video, they basically get put into an audience of people who have watched that video up to I think it’s like 75%. So if you watch that video 75% of the way through, you will get access to lesson one, right, and this is what’s really cool about Facebook ads is that you can target people. So specifically, you can target people who visit a certain page. So like, for example, right now, we target people who come to the Grand Slam sales page, like if you visit the Grand Slam sales page, and then go on Facebook, the next day, you’re gonna see Grand Slam sale, sorry, you’re gonna see grandslam Facebook ads that are basically going to be leading you down a sales funnel, right? So Facebook ads is just really, really cool in that way. So day one, they get the invite video, some people watch it all the way through till the end, they then get sent day two, which is less than one, then they get sent day three, which is less than two, day four, which is less than three, and so on, right, they basically get sent down a marketing funnel and a sales funnel that ultimately the goal at the end is that they will end up buying. Now we’ve set this up in such a way that it obviously takes time, like you don’t know if it’s working or not on day one, because people aren’t getting sales messages maybe until like day nine, right, or like day 11 Or something like that. So it requires this patience of you spending a lot of money on Facebook ads, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money on Facebook ads. To be honest, I just really didn’t have time to lose or waste. I really just wanted to like dive headfirst in. So I was like, Cool. Let’s let’s, let’s hit the ground running. Right? So we’re testing it, we’ve put it out. And we’ve been I think we just hit day 11 sales are finally starting to come in. But guys, I will tell you those first 10 days, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is so it’s so weird to like be pouring so much money into Facebook ads and not seeing anything come back. I’m not used to that at all right? And it’s just one of those things where like, we’re learning how to measure different things we are. It’s just an entire learning curve. But anyway, it’s been going well, let me kind of explain to you the lessons that I’ve learned because like I said, I want these podcasts to be super valuable for you. Okay, so two main lessons that I learned this week. Number one, sequencing on Facebook ads, I had no idea that you could do that. I did not know that you could do. Okay, someone watched this invite video a day after they watched the invite video, I want them to get this two days after they watched my video, I want them to get this three days after the invite video, I want them to get this like I didn’t really know that that was a possibility. Right. So what I was doing, I was doing like, okay, 75 If you watched in video 170 5% of the way through, you get less than one, if you watch less than 170 5% the way through, you get less than two, if you watch less than two, etc, etc. Right? So I was kind of doing it more based on if you watch the previous video, you’ll get sent the next video. Now I realized that I don’t need to do it that way I can literally sequences. So day one, you get this day two, you get that day three, you get this, right. So that was a really fun thing for me to learn. The next thing that I learned is that there is a new thing on Facebook, where you can actually go to a Facebook page, like a business Facebook page, and you can find out like you can see which ads that page is sending out. Mind blown. That means you can go to all of your kumkum competition competitors, I’m getting this, I’m getting squared mix up, you can go to all of your competitors pages, and basically see which ads they are currently putting out there. You can see what they’re testing, you can if you keep an eye on it, which I know is like almost a full time job. But if you do keep an eye on it, you’ll be able to see what’s working and what’s not working based on the ads that they switch on and turn off. Right. So that has been really fun as well as just going around to lots of different people who are in my industry and being like okay, you know, are they using Facebook ads? I’ve been shocked by how many people are not using Facebook ads who I could have sworn would be using Facebook but Facebook ads so that’s an interesting and then also just looking at businesses that I know have really good evergreen funnels set up and just seeing like what are they doing what’s what’s the behind the scenes like guys, that’s something that I would definitely recommend you do go to your competition’s Facebook pages and just see like what are they doing and it’s not necessary. so that you can copy it, it might actually, in fact be so that you can create something super different so that it catches the attention of your prospects, right? But it’s it’s information. I think, as business owners, it’s good for us to know, what is the experience that our ideal client is having. Now the one thing that you can’t see on your like, when you’re looking at your competitors, Facebook ads, you can’t see who they’re targeting, you can only see the actual ad itself, right. So just keep that in mind. So if you’re wondering how to do this, basically, you’re just going to go to their Facebook page on the left hand side all the way at the very bottom of their Facebook page. Underneath their profile picture, it says info and ads, if you click on info and ads, you’ll be able to see all of the ads that they have running in which different countries, it’s really, really cool. So definitely check that out. So those are really like the two big lessons that I’ve learned this week when it comes to Facebook ads. Another thing when it comes to Facebook ads is really being clear about your conversions. Right. So for example, we have people who are buying Grand Slam, just because they found it on my Instagram, they go in the background, some technically, that does not count as a Facebook ads conversion. Right? So there’s something called Custom conversions within Facebook that I’ve been experimenting with and going into and basically trying to figure out like, how do we make sure that when someone buys, we know that they came from Facebook ads, I would definitely recommend if you’re someone who wants to learn more about Facebook ads, looking into custom conversions is definitely something that you that you’re gonna want to do. Another thing that has been super fun is Google Analytics. This is kind of like a common theme in my business where I think I have something set up and then I go and check it out. And it’s not set up. So this whole time, I really believed I had Google Analytics hooked up for the Grand Slam website, because I know I have it on my Alex Beadon website. I have it on the work with me dot Alex beadon.com. Like I have it on my website. So I just assumed I also had it on Grand Slam. So when I actually went to check it out, I do have it but I have it more as like a plugin on my website and not actually on the Google Analytics website, which means that I’m missing out on so many of the Google analytics tools. So I had to fix that this week, you know, I had to go in and be like, oh, gosh, I can’t even tell when like I can’t even tell where they’re coming from how long they’re staying on the site. Like there’s so many things that I want to know, through Google Analytics that I thought I was collecting, and I haven’t been collecting it. So that was another thing I worked on this week, which is making sure that the Google Analytics was properly picking up all of the statistics from the Grand Slam website. Because guys, I want to know, like, where are people coming from? How long are they staying? I think all of those things are really important to know, if you’re trying to track you know how many sales you’re getting. So that’s been another thing for me as well is just making sure that I have my Google Analytics properly set up. Another thing that has been kind of a running theme this week is I really been wanting to put so much time love and energy into my content creation. I just got a new camera guys, Laura brought me a new camera. It’s a Canon M 50. And it is like my baby. And at any point in time that I can use it, I want to be using it. But the truth is right now, there are so many other things that need to get done in the business like this is such a stage phase cycle season of the business where we’re like building, once we have this evergreen model up and running, it’s going to require a lot less work to keep it up and running. But because we’re now in the building phase of putting out the Facebook ads and trying to test it and seeing what’s working, what’s not working, it’s requiring a lot of our attention, like a lot of our time is spent just looking at the stats and being like, you know, is this converting properly? What do we want it to be converting at? What can we do to get it to be converting at that if we spend x amount of Facebook ads, how much money should we be making by the end of the funnel? So like, let’s say the funnel is like three weeks long, you know. And at the three week mark, in order to make sure that this is actually working, how much money should we have made. Once I get up and running, I will have more time to work on other things, I can probably get to a point where I can bring in a Facebook Ads Manager to actually focus on just like keeping an eye on the Facebook ads and making sure that it’s going well. But for now, like I said, it’s really important to me that I know how my money’s being spent. Right. So it’s taking a lot of time and energy away from the content creation, which is what I really love. Like it’s such a pain for me because I want to be making like the best, most epic Instagram stories and putting myself out there all the time. And I just feel like I’ve been super distracted by like what’s been going on with Ground slam and the fact that we’re trying to get these Facebook ads to a really good point. So that’s been a little bit of a struggle for me this week. Last in the business that I kind of want to talk to you guys and share with you about is Laura, who’s my best friend and also the operations manager in the business she and I sat down this week and basically it was so brilliant guys like I’m so glad we did this. We basically sat down and we wrote down every single person in the business. So right now that’s fine. If, and we wrote down who they are, what they do, what their roles are, what their responsibilities are, I feel like this is such a no brainer. And maybe you’re way better at this than I am. But I’ve always been the kind of person who is just like, oh, like I’m hiring you to do this school. But there’s no like, specific act like I’ve just required so much flexibility from everyone. And it’s never really been super clear and specific about like, this is your full responsibility. So sitting down and writing those out and being like, okay, this person has a lot on their plate, like, let’s move things around. Let’s be honest, it’s pretty much me, I have a lot on my plate.

And I’m trying to get to a point where it’s like, there’s less and less and less on my plate so that I can really show up in my zone of genius and be the best that I can be. So that was really helpful to sit down with her and just like lay out what are everyone’s everyone’s rules. Now, guys, this can work. You know, maybe you don’t have a big team, maybe you don’t have a team at all. So I’m just going to kind of translate this for you of how you could do this for yourself, is sitting down and just writing out what are all of your tasks. When I had to list it was like the list of what all of the tasks are like everything that needs to get done. And then it was kind of like the bare minimal list of what needs to get done in order for the business to survive and thrive. Right. So for me, that was like my email list. Super important. My Instagram Stories, super important. Grand Slam super important. Facebook ads, super important. Less important might be like my Facebook page don’t like really am not bending over backwards to have a perfect Facebook page right now not bending over backwards to have a perfect Pinterest page right now. Like I think it’s so important to focus and focus in on like, what are the profit generating activities? What are the like, literally, what are the priorities of activities? Like what comes first, what comes second, what comes third? And then sitting down and writing, writing out? What are the different tasks that need to get done in order for this to actually work? Getting super crystal clear on that? Right? And then from there, if you’re if you’re a solopreneur, bringing it in to your calendar, I mean, like cool. Every Monday, I’m going to focus on this task every Tuesday, I’m gonna focus on this task and really just dividing it and trying to create as much of a routine and as much schedule as you possibly can. I did this for myself meant like I said, me and Laura sat down. We divided up all the roles, and then we were like, Okay, how do we make my life easier? And for me, that’s like, really dividing things. I mean, like, Okay, I only want to take calls on a Thursday. I don’t want to take a call on a Monday, call on a Wednesday, call on a Thursday. No, let’s put all of my calls in on a Thursday. podcast interviews super important right now guys like podcast, this podcast is my baby. Like, I want it to really thrive. I want this to be one of my main content focuses, right. It’s not V main content focus. So you know, in order to do that, I need to do podcast interviews, where I’m interviewing these epic individuals about their lives and about their businesses. But I don’t want to be taking podcast interviews all throughout the month, like if I could squeeze those podcast interviews into like, one or two days during the month, oh my gosh, that that works so much better for me, I realized that I, I am someone who works with momentum, if I’m sitting down and interviewing someone, and then I have to stop and like, do my hair and makeup and film a video and then I have to stop. And then I have to deal with taxes and like finances, and then I have to stop and then have to have a team meeting. It’s too much for me. Like if I can just focus on one thing for as long a period of possible of time as possible. That works way better. So that’s what we did. We got clear on everyone’s roles, we got clear on our vision. Another really big thing guys is like, Do you have a clear vision of where you want your business to be? In three months? Do you have a clearer vision of where you want the business to be in six months? I don’t really work much past that. I’m not at that stage yet where I can work on like, even a yearly basis because like, the business is so dependent on the current status of the business, if that makes sense. So really just depends on what’s happening in the business. And like, where my mindset is that how I’m feeling. So I really worked like three to six months out. And that’s it. So we did that we had a really good strategic session of like big picture stuff, getting clear on everyone’s individual roles and how we can make each other’s lives easier. So that was super productive. Highly recommend that you do that in your business if you haven’t already. So that’s pretty much everything from the business side of things. Like that’s what I’ve been focusing on this week, podcast, launch Facebook ads, and then doing like the big picture strat strategy session with Laura super, super helpful. Now I want to move on to the more personal side of things. So Laura is visiting me from New York City. As I mentioned in Podcast Episode Number one, I hire my best friend full time and it’s amazing and it’s fun and we’re it’s it’s it’s so it’s such a dream come true because we work together. You know, I don’t know how many years ago now. And it was very brief. Like it really just kind of brought her in on like a project by project basis. And it was always my dream to be able to hire her full time and the fact that like we’re now doing it is amazing. We just I wanted to fly her down to Trinidad for three weeks to basically just make sure that we are on the same page, we wanted to get aligned, we wanted to make sure that we were sharing the same vision that we were that that just we couldn’t really flow together in person. So that’s why I brought her down here. We’re now two weeks into her trip. She’s now in her last and final week here. And it has been like, it’s been really interesting, because we’ve been working super hard. And at the same time, it’s this weird mixture of like, she’s here to work, but she’s also my best friend. So I do want to show her around and like, I want her to have a good idea of like, what my life is like here. So I want her to see the places I go and meet my friends. I mean, my family and like, all of that stuff matters to me as well. But at the same time, it’s like work is the priority. But it’s like, you don’t want her to travel all this way and like never see the beach, you know, so I’ve really just been trying to find a balance of how can we get as much work in as we possibly can? And how can we have fun together as well. It’s been interesting, like, even just now she was telling me she’s like, you know, it’s so cool that like we’re here working. But really, it just feels like we have a project together as besties. You know. So it’s been it’s been really, really fun. But it’s been super intense. Like, I feel like we have been working nonstop. And then in our break sessions, it’s like event after event after event socializing after socializing after socializing. And I think when you are always in that output mode, where it’s like you’re working, working, working, and then you’re going out and you’re like having dinners and you’re doing karaoke, and you’re going to your cousin’s birthday party, because it’s her birthday, and you want you want Laura to meet your cousin, it’s just a lot, right? There’s like a lot of like intensity right now. So I can feel that energy. She can feel that energy. So we’re working on like bringing in a little bit more balanced, where it’s like, okay, let’s, let’s be super focused for like the entire work day. And then let’s, you know, let’s find out like one events every day, because when she first got here, we were doing like lunch, and then we’ll do dinner. And then it was just like too much, I think. So we’ve really been working on on bringing in that focus. Also, though, I think we both know that like, we’re in the month of July, Laura gets married in August, I’m going to Colombia for the wedding in August. And then she’s having kind of like a friend’s moon. I think that’s what she’s calling it. So it’s basically like after the wedding, she invited a few of her friends. And Scott’s friend Scott is her husband to be we’re very excited for the wedding. And basically, they invited a few of their friends to go to another part of Colombia and basically like, stay there for a week and just like have a vacation together. So we’re she’s about to take almost the whole month of August off for the wedding. I think it’s like three weeks, I’m taking I believe two weeks off. And then as soon as I get back from Columbia, I’m actually flying out to England, because my sister’s getting married next year, she wants me to come with her to Italy, where the wedding is going to be held. And she wants me to go and see the location with her. And we’re going to do wedding dress shopping together. Because I am the maid of honor. My sister’s getting married, and I’m so freaking excited about it. But anyway, I’m the maid of honor. So I have the Columbia trip. And then I have the English trip. And actually before the Columbia trip, at the end of this month, I’m actually flying to Tampa because one of my best friends is having her baby shower, and she’s doing like a whole weekend of it. So there’s like there’s gonna be a lot of distraction in August. So I think both Laura and I know that now is such a valuable time for us in the business. Because we’re together, we want to work as much as we can and get the most out of it. And then also because we know that next month is not going to be as productive, there’s going to be way more distractions, we’re definitely not going to be working as much as we are right now. So we’re just trying to get the most out of it. This is just an intense season and cycle. But what it has resulted in for me personally is a lot of stress, right? And I think it’s one of those things where it’s like the team is growing. So I think there’s that that factor of like Oh, I’m not just responsible for me. And I’m not just responsible for me and calf which I’ve been used to for the past year. Now there’s like all of these other people on the team who I’m also responsible for. And then it’s like, you know, I’m seeing the stress show up in my body and like so my eye has been twitching guys for like the last five days. It is the most bizarre and annoying experience like it just twitches all day. And it pretty much twitches when I work I’m pretty sure that when I’m not working it’s not twitching. So it’s I definitely think it’s stress related. I’ve also been having like light sensitivity, where I just like really want to keep the curtains closed because my eyes are sometimes sensitive to the light and then I can start getting migraines for a long time this week. I know I wasn’t drinking enough water. We had like water filter problems and I for the longest time needed to go out and buy water so I was like avoiding drinking water. I’ve also been intermittent fasting because I I took remember, I don’t know if you guys know this or if I shared this in the last episode, but I basically got my hair tested. And where they basically they cut off your hair from the roots and they tested and they tested for like heavy metals and they test your,

like metabolism. And so anyway, I got the results back. And it basically says like, my body digests food very slowly. So what ends up happening when I’m eating all day, because that’s normally how I am, like I eat all day, I will eat breakfast, and I’ll have a little snack, and then I’ll eat lunch, and then a little snack. And then I think, and I always thought that was good, right. And now that I’ve taken this test, and, you know, she told me, she explained it to me, she was like, it’s like your body’s just focused on digesting all day long. She’s like, so try doing something like intermittent fasting, where you eat the same amount, but you’re eating it within an eight hour window. So I would say probably like, five or six days of the week, I’m intermittent fasting, so I will only eat between the hours of 12 and at 8pm. So it’s like my body’s going through this change of like, Oh, I’m now doing like this new way of eating. Laura’s here, we’re trying to get the absolute most out of our time together. But at the same time, I want to be social and like show her around. And it’s just like, I think just a lot of stress. And it’s funny how sometimes you may not feel stressed, but your body feels stressed and I can feel in my body like even, you know, I will wake up first thing in the morning. And I can feel the anxiety in my body. I don’t know if anyone’s struggles with anxiety. But if you do you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s like this wired feeling. And I will get it first thing in the morning. And I know it’s stress related. I know that even though like energetically and my mind knows, there’s nothing to stress about. And we’re doing everything properly, and we’re doing everything correctly. And we’re on the right path. And we’re making a lot of headway. It’s like, my body is just experiencing a lot of stress. Because we’re in this intense work season, where there’s so much that needs to get done. Like I was speaking to Nick and he was like, Dude, you’re working a lot, you need to slow down, like you’re gonna burn out. And I’m like, I know, but there’s just so much that needs to get done. And the thing is, it’s like I’m enjoying it. Like, I can’t count the number of times this week that I’ve told Laura, oh my god, I love my job. Like I love doing this. This is so exciting to me. Like it fuels me the unknown, the uncertainty, it’s like, I’m just excited by it. Even though there’s such there’s so much risk. And I can’t promise that I know exactly what the end result will be. I love it. Like I just think all of this is so much fun. So it’s this weird mixture of like, it like so much fun, a lot of hard work, my body’s feeling the stress. And a lot of times like it can also sometimes feel counter counterintuitive, because like I know that this is a stressful season. I know that I’m working really hard. But I also know that this is not my ideal lifestyle. And I think this is important for entrepreneurs to to wrap their mind around is like, you’re going to have periods where you really have to focus and be super productive, and super efficient. And just be like hit the ground running every single day when it comes to your work. I don’t want to live my life like that. Like, I do not want this to be my normal, right. But I also understand the fact that like, this is like I’m working towards something right now. So I can I can deal with it. I can be in this stressful moment. And also know that I don’t have to subscribe to this as a lifestyle. This is just what’s happening right now. So it’s like I know a lot of people are like, how do you find the motivation? It’s because I know that this isn’t forever, I know that I’m putting in all of this work for an end goal, I know that I’m putting in all this work. And that this is just a growing pain. You know, when you’re like in puberty and you have growing pains, because your your your body is growing faster, then how does that work? I don’t even know your body’s going faster than your skin Anyway, whatever. You’re experiencing growing pains, right? And that’s that legit when I see this is Is this the most comfortable time in my business? No. Is it a lot of hard work? Yes. Is it a lot of figuring out and puzzle pieces. And like we just had another expected change happened in the business, which I’ll keep you updated with for sure now isn’t the right time to share. But there’s a lot going on. But I know and have deep trust that like this is just me getting to the next level. This is what getting to the next level looks like. So it’s important to recognize growing pains and appreciate them even if they’re hurting you even if it’s like not the most comfortable position because it means you’re growing. So like a great example is the other day. I had Catherine over Laura was over there both working out are so I pretty much use the dining table as like an office when I have multiple people working over because like I don’t have a big desk space for them. So everyone’s like around the dining table working and I’m cooking. And it was this weird moment where it was like whoa, like my business has reached a point where I am cooking and other people are working. And like I’m kind of taking a break and relaxing other people are working. And yes, there’s a lot of uncertainty right now. Yes. Working towards some really big goals. Yes. Like I don’t, I don’t know what like how this evergreen funnel is gonna go. And yes, there’s a lot of stress. And yes, there’s a lot of hard work. But like, if Alex when she first started eight years ago could see Alex today, she would be so proud she’d be like, Oh my God, you freakin did it. And like that’s important is like always stopping and appreciating it and being like, you know, I like this May, this this is this is I’m here now I have a team now, I’m not sure if in like six months, I’m still gonna be able to afford to have this team. But right now I have this team. And I’m going to relish this moment because this is my new normal. This is becoming my new normal. Right. So like, I guess what I’m just trying to say is like encouraging you to celebrate whatever it is that you have to celebrate however far it is that you’ve come always connect with that person. Like me eight years ago, fresh out of college, starting a photography business, I had no idea what I was doing. I felt a lot of shame and self consciousness about the fact that I had my own business. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, I didn’t even have the courage to tell people that I had my own business people would be like, what do you do? And I’d be like, right, so like getting to this point where it’s like, I have hired people, people are working with me on my projects. And it’s just this really fun time of like, it’s challenging. Yeah. But like, I get to show up as a leader, you know, I get to create this team to be whatever I want it to be like, I want to have an awesome team, who all feel proud to be a part of the team who all feel proud of the change that we’re making in the world. And like it feels really good moving towards that. Right. So that’s just another thing that has been like a theme this week is like growing pains to is this the most comfortable? No, but like, do I know that it’s leading me on to bigger and better things? 100%? Absolutely. Okay, last but not least want to talk about like prioritizing self care. Especially because of the stress, especially because we’ve been working so hard. So like, right now, like as soon it actually took me a while to realize that I was experiencing so much stress, because we were working so much. I just kept ignoring it, ignoring it, ignoring it, ignoring it. And then when Lauren I sat down to have that whole business strategy session, that’s when she was like, dude, like, I think you’re, you’re more stressed than you think you are. She’s like it’s showing up in your body like you’ve had it switches for the last few days. Like that’s definitely not good. So for me, moving forward into the next week, prioritizing self care is huge. I do not want to burn out. And as much as I’d love to say, Oh, I’m Superwoman. I won’t burn out. Everything’s good. I’m great. Like, I’m only human. We’re all only human. So drinking tons of water, making sure I have food, making sure that I’m moving the importance of moving your body, right, I would definitely say like, right now, I’m not too focused on going for runs. And that has always been such a great activity. For me, I’ve really cut it out. Because I don’t want to go on a run in the morning when I’m hungry, because I’m doing intermittent fasting. So I want to go for a run after I’ve eaten or like right before I eat. But right before I eat, it’s noon, it’s really hot outside. So I think I might just have to join a gym and start going running like right before I eat and at least having a gym where I’m not in the heat. But yeah, anyway, the importance of moving going on walks like Lauren, I went on a walk this week. And that really helps like just moving your body in simple ways really helps. But it’s such an easy thing to just be like, No, I’m fine. It’s all good. Like, I don’t need to do that. Right? Like I’m working. I’m working. I’m working. I’m focused, I’m focused on focus, take a break, take a breather, relax. Anyway, I feel like this podcast was a lot. I feel like I just shared so much information with you guys. I would absolutely love it. If you could just send me a message on Instagram. Let me know what you thought of this. Like, how are you experiencing this podcast? This podcast is a creative process for me. And for you like I want this to be something that you’re getting value from. So anything that you can give me constructive kind of let it how can I speak constructive criticism. And also just letting me know like, what you liked what you didn’t like, anything like that would be very, very helpful and very warmly welcome. And I just want you guys to know how much I appreciate you being a part of this with me. I think this is really fun. This has been fun for me to to also reflect and be like this is what’s working. This isn’t what’s working. Here are the top tips that I would give you that I learned this week. So yeah, I hope that you enjoyed this. Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate each and every single one of you. And like I said, take a picture of you listening to the podcast, it could be a selfie, it could be a picture. I don’t really mind, post it on your Instagram story tag me. And I would love love, love to hear from you. Okay, guys, that is it for me this week. I really look forward to like implementing this into my weekly schedule and doing this again next week and really being able to continue to build this relationship with you. This is so much fun for me like YouTube was always super fun for me. But I think that this is going to just take it to a whole nother deeper level. So I just want to say thank you. I love you guys. I’ll talk to you next week. Bye bye Hey

thank you so much for tuning into the on purpose podcast and I really hope that you had as much of a blast as we did. If you liked what you heard and want even more, make sure you leave a review because it really helps support what I do here on the podcast. All you have to do is search the podcast app for the on purpose podcast, select it then scroll down until you see write a review and then type away at the beginning of the next episode I will be picking one review one special review My favorite review of the week and I will be reading it out for all of you guys so you definitely don’t want to miss out on that. I hope you really enjoy your week and I will see you guys again next time stay on purpose.