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Have you noticed that you are putting lots of stress on yourself to make your side hustle successful? Or maybe you do this with being a “good mom.”
Today you have the permission to start when everything is not ready and experiment with your business instead of pressuring yourself to make everything work.
The secret to showing up better in your business and motherhood starts with your mindset.
That’s why I have my guest Chloe to help with this. In this episode Chloe shares:
- Starting before you’re ready
- The mindset that is holding you back in your business
- How to reframe our thoughts about our business so that we can relieve ourselves of the pressure to be successful in everything that we do
- The power of our language and how to use it to shift our perspective
- The importance of celebrating small wins
Check out this episode and get the pep talk you need to show up better in your business and at home.
About
Chloe Mckenzie is a small business marketing strategist, event producer, and entrepreneur who helps brands connect with business audiences online and offline. She is the host of the ‘Start Right Now’ Podcast which helps aspiring entrepreneurs get off the sidelines and finally launch their thing. Chloe is also a wife and Mom of two beautiful girls.
Connect
Website: https://www.workwithchloe.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloemckenzie.co
Links Mentioned
Podcast: Start Right Now
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloemckenzie.co
Episodes in the Mompreneur Series
Episode 131 with Tiffany Huff-Strothers – The Way a Broken Single Mom Became Successful Mompreneur
Episode 132 with Kate Doster – Guaranteed Email Marketing Tips for the Win Without Feeling Sleazy
Episode 133 with Chloe McKenzie – The Secret to Showing Up Better at Home and In Your Business
Episode 134 with Cait Scudder – Here’s How to Ditch the Annoying Guilt and Get Support Now
Episode 135 with Katie Kahvo – This is How to Have Success Without the Exhausting Hustle
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Transcript of this episode
Real Happy Mom 0:02
Hey there, I’m Tony and I have an overwhelming passion to help moms navigate motherhood without the overwhelm. I went from struggling with motherhood and losing my identity to be a productive and living out my version of being a happy mom. On the Real Happy Mom podcast, I interview real moms and experts to help you navigate racing, children’s self care, time management, and so much more. So if you’re ready to get rid of the overwhelm, and start being a Real Happy Mom, join me inside the Real Happy Mom podcast.
Real Happy Mom 0:34
Hey there, and welcome to another episode of the Real Happy Mom podcast. This is the mompreneur series that we have going on this week. And this is Episode 133. that I have with Chloe and I am so excited to share this episode with you. Just because Chloe really break some things down for us when it comes to our mindset and whatnot. So that we can show up better not only for our business, but also for our kids and for ourselves. So gluey is going to be sharing a couple of different things, when she shares her journey that led up to her starting her podcast and why having a podcast has been so awesome for her. Also, she talks about what she’s been doing on maternity leave and how she has been able to be more present with her daughter while having a business that she is getting started. Then lastly, Chloe talks to us about some of the language that we can start to change that can actually shift our perspective, especially when we are holding ourselves back when it comes to build like we’re not ready. Or we just have that mindset that is just holding us back from actually getting started. She shares with us some encouragement. And I promise you this episode is going to get you pumped up and ready to get things going for your business. And even if you are a mompreneur, I think this episode is gonna be really helpful for you. But in particular, for my mompreneurs, I really want you to listen in and really take in what Chloe has to share here today, because it’s definitely going to help you as far as getting the proper mindset that is going to help you to succeed and to reach those goals that you have for yourself. So I’m going to stop talking and go ahead and jump into this episode. Chloe, welcome to the podcast.
Unknown Speaker 2:15
Thank you so much excited to be here.
Real Happy Mom 2:18
Absolutely. I’m excited to chat with you today, especially with this mompreneur series that we have going on this week. I know you would be the perfect person to have on. So thank you again for coming on. And before we jump into our topic, I just wanted you to share a little bit about you and what you do.
Unknown Speaker 2:36
Awesome. Well, I am by trade marketer, event producer, business strategist, but also a new entrepreneur, I bring together my love of marketing, my passion for personal development and coaching. And my mission is to help new and aspiring entrepreneurs get off the sidelines and finally launch their thing. I host a podcast as well. It’s called start right now. And it’s exactly what you would think based on the title trying to get you to get started and get out of your head. I’m also a mama Of course, I’ve got two girls, a three year old and a nine month old, so they keep me very, very busy. And I’m based in Toronto, Canada.
Real Happy Mom 3:18
Yes, yes. And you brought up your podcast. And this is a new venture that you started here within the last few months. Right? You bet. Yes. So I was just wondering what was the journey that led you up to coaching and hosting the podcast start right now?
Unknown Speaker 3:36
Awesome. Well, as a mama, we can all relate to this. Kids change pretty much everything. They change your perspective on your career, on your ambition, on the things you need to be thinking about in your life on a day to day basis to not only provide for yourself, but the people around you. So I know that I’ve always had entrepreneurial aspirations. But I’ve always been in a place where the fear of judgment, the fear of failure, the uncertainty about whether I could create something viable and sustainable that people would buy. That’s been something that’s kept me from actually launching. So podcasting for me, was a project that I decided would be by way to dip my toes into entrepreneurship, into testing out ideas that I really feel passionate about. It’s a testing ground for me to start building an audience and honing my own message as I start to bring the pieces of my business together. The thing about podcasting, it being a platform and a media channel, essentially, is that it’s something that holds you accountable every single week, you’re thinking about the content that you want to put out in service of your audience. And I just felt that in a time where it’s easy to have notebooks full of to do lists. It’s harder to Have something that holds you accountable. So having an audience starting a podcast is something that gets me into action on a daily, weekly, monthly basis ongoing. It’s also for a lot of people, I think we have these aspirations of new businesses that may not even be as related to our professional work history. So it’s like, how do you close the gap? How do you bridge your experience that you have with the direction that you want to go. And podcasting in any type of media channel is a place where you can say whatever it is that you want, so I don’t have to have done everything that I want to do as yet. But my channel is a place where I can explore topics that are of interest to me, explore industries that call me and they don’t have to be directly tied to anything that I’ve done in the past. So I call it my bridge project podcasting. And it’s really been an awesome asset as a new entrepreneur.
Real Happy Mom 6:03
Yes, yes. I couldn’t agree more. I absolutely love my podcast. I don’t know if I told you this. But we are approaching year three of the Real Happy Mom podcast. So I absolutely yes, I love it. And I agree with all of those things. But I was just wondering, in particular, because you are actually on maternity leave now. And I know that this has been a time for you to do a lot of different things that you wouldn’t be able to do if you were working. So I wanted you to talk about what you’ve been doing during this time. And just like how you’ve been able to assess and kind of try out some new things here while you’ve been on maternity leave. Mm hmm.
Unknown Speaker 6:42
In Canada, we’re very lucky maternity leave is a year, a full year or 18 months, you can even take these days, but I’ve taken a year off as somebody who in my day job is like the 100% all in dialed in. I haven’t been able to find the balance when I’m working every day to make room for projects like podcasting, like my new business and be able to, you know, give that some attention. So maternity leave as much as it’s about Yes, I get time with the kids. It’s also my brain is clear. And I can focus on making a little bit of headway on some of the things that really called to me. It’s also just a nice window knowing that I’m on a timeline of one year. What do I want to get accomplished in one year? What does life need to look like for me after a year so I look forward to Matt leave as like yes, here’s why another year of transition another year that I get to test some ideas out. Now for anyone who has kids which is all of you. You know the balance of the day with the kids in terms of the nap schedule the nap window and daycare drops and feedings and there’s so much happening we are coached a lot to sleep in the baby sleeps right. And as as great advice as that is for us ambitious moms we know that sometimes that’s not always realistic. It’s like make dinner on baby makes dinner build build empires with baby makes, you know, Ben baby builds empires, right? Not necessarily a good strategy. So I really pride myself on compared to my first child, the times that the baby is awake, I’m very present. But I also use the the things that I need to do at home. And I engage the baby in the activity. So doing laundry becomes, you know, the baby’s hiding in the pile of clothes and in the laundry basket or, you know, the kids are involved when I’m making dinner or I’ve got very specific things I do when the baby is awake so that the nap time is protected time for me to brain dump for me to generate ideas for me to record podcasts. So I really protect that time. Because sometimes it’s all that you have for yourself in a day, right? I’m lucky to also have a great partner at home that can support me in some of those times where maybe the nap window is not the the most optimal time to get work done that day. But we can make arrangements to have somebody come to help us my mother in law lives up the street. So that’s a really helpful support as well. But being really intentional about scheduling time in your calendar, and acknowledging that you have mother hood duties that still need to happen has been really helpful and totally necessary to be able to get anything done at this point.
Real Happy Mom 9:47
Yes, I couldn’t agree more. And I love how you’re saying you know, definitely being present during those times because it can get really hard especially as moms like we got a lot going on in our brains. You know, we got the baby. We have The business, we have the house, we have a lot of things, but really just taking time to be present is definitely a skill that you have to constantly practice. But one thing in particular that I really wanted you to touch on is just how have you been able to make sure that you keep the things that are important to you in the forefront? Because as moms, we tend to put everyone else before ourselves. And it’s so easy for us to kind of put ourselves on the backburner or focus on the kids and say, Oh, well, when the kids get to doing or get to a point x, then I can do whatever it is that I want to do. But how can we you know, make sure that we listen to that, that voice inside of us those dreams, those goals, those aspirations, and make it work for our lives, but also making sure that we still keep up with the responsibilities as a wife, a mom and all the other hats we wear?
Unknown Speaker 10:52
Great question. I think we do this thing as women where it’s us, pouring into the kids or us pouring into the business or our personal lives. And there’s a bit of a dichotomy here, you feel like you’re choosing one or the other, and one is at the detriment of the other. And I’ve had to really, from a mindset perspective, get my head around a couple of things. One, when I’m at my best, because I feel fulfilled, because my cup is full, because I’m touching things everyday that I’m passionate about. That spills over into how I show up as a mother, how I show up as a wife how much energy I have going into the day. Because if you are in a place where you’re giving, giving, giving to your kids, and all you feel is resentment, for not being able to pursue the things that are important to you. You’re you’re not doing your kids any favors, to be honest, I have to really think of I’m doing my family, a service by being my best self. And that can only come from making sure that I am prioritizing the things that are important to me.
Real Happy Mom 12:02
Yes, yes. I could not agree more. Because I know I had to check myself on that to Chloe, and be like, Okay, listen, Tony, and like you’re doing all these things, but like, what do you need to as well so that you can be, you know, your best self. So I love that you brought that up. But another thing too, I wanted to spend this a little bit is also when we are working on our business, and we have that time, you know, how can we get ourselves ready to start before we’re ready, because that’s one thing. I think a lot of us people in general, like we we have this fear, like, Oh, no, no, no, I don’t have all the things together. Like, you know, let me wait. Let me you know, you know, we like to throw it off on the kids. At least that’s my excuse. But oh, well, I got these things to do with the kids. I can’t get started right now. But I just wanted you to talk to us a little bit about why it’s so important for us as moms in particular to start before we’re actually ready to do the thing. Oh, baby,
Unknown Speaker 12:59
I love this question so much. We are out of place now. And I think it’s because definitely, you know, social media is a factor. But we feel as though everything that we do, it has to be wrapped in this beautiful bowl, perfectly packaged, ready to ship out into the world, and voila, everyone will receive it. There’ll be butterflies and rainbows and things will work out exactly as they do in your mind. Right? There’s a pressure that we put on ourselves for everything that we ever do to be perfect or to at least be marketable, especially when you’re thinking about running a business. And what that does is that takes us and robs us of the opportunity to think of the steps that we’re taking as experiments to think of everything that we’re doing as just collecting data about Hmm, I really like this about my business or this really isn’t working for me or all I really have an interest in this. This didn’t work so good this time. But let me make a change and iterate here. I think if we can start to reframe everything that we ever do as an experiment and learning about ourselves as business owners and accepting the journey as one that is long term versus tomorrow, I need to show up as a polished entrepreneur, there’s so much more value in that. There’s also so much learning that happens when you do take steps and take actions because very rarely do things end up the way that they appear in your mind. It’s always a lot more glamorous than when you get to a place of things are difficult things are stuck. You’re not making the progress that you want to make. But taking action little by little and using that to kind of compound and build on one another. That’s how we start to get momentum. That’s how we start to see changes that can have a long term effect on the things that we want to do. And for anyone who’s in a place where They just fear like, what if nobody likes what I put out? What if nobody cares what it is that I have to say? release the pressure of caring and thinking about how other people perceive you. Because the only person that is losing in that equation is you getting into a place of, you know, it really doesn’t matter yet. It really doesn’t matter yet. Nothing that you do right now is life and death. It really just is. Let me test this. Let me try this. Let me get practice. Let me build the muscle of consistency, versus living in the land of possibility and keeping dreams, you know, circling and cycling in my mind?
Real Happy Mom 15:48
Yes, yes. I cannot agree more with that. Because it’s when you were, you’re talking now just thinking about how a lot of times, at least for me, I will get frustrated in and stop making progress, not necessarily because I’m afraid of, or I’m not ready to get started. It’s just more so about clarity. Like, I’m like, Well, I don’t know what to do next, like, when should I do like, should I do it this way to do it that way. But like you said, like, once we take a step, then we get the momentum that we need. And a lot of times the clarity that we need to figure the things out. And that’s one thing, I have to remind myself just take one step at a time, and eventually it will all come together.
Unknown Speaker 16:28
That’s exactly it. Especially when we have things that we’re deciding on doing. We spend a lot of time thinking like, should I do this? Or should I do that and never actually move forward? But the truth is, there really rarely is a wrong answer to that the only Wrong answer is not making a decision at all, because you’re wasting time, right? your valuable time, especially as a mom, just decide, and you can never be wrong, because everything that you ever do is a learning opportunity.
Real Happy Mom 16:55
Yes, definitely. And one other thing that I really love to hear you talk about is about our mindset, and particularly like how we can stop holding ourselves back. Because one of the biggest things that I’ve been seeing, at least for myself when it comes to being a mompreneur is that it’s not necessarily other people holding me back. It’s myself. So I was just wondering, what are some ways that we can do better about talking to ourselves or helping to change that mindset that holds us back? Hmm.
Unknown Speaker 17:28
There’s such a power in the language that we use, and the way that we kind of treat ourselves based on the words that we’re using. We can go through our day, you know, we all have ambitions, we all have things we’re working on. But if you’re in a place where you’re saying, Man, like, why aren’t I as far ahead or, you know, I’m so upset, I wanted to work on all of these things, but I never got to it. And this is frustrating. And you’re living in this cycle of negative energy and negative words that you’re using to describe your situation. There’s so much shift in perspective that can happen just with a tweak in your language, and opening up, you know, language that really supports the possibility. What if, what if I was able to step into my calling what’s available to me? Or if you’re really frustrated, and you know, having a really rough day, it’s instead of man, like, why does this suck so bad? It’s how can I make this more fun? If this were fun? What would it look like? What would I need to change about my situation to be in a better rhythm and in a better flow? As moms and as ambitious people, I think there’s also just a lot of pressure that we put on ourselves to have it all together and for things to happen quickly. But from a mindset perspective, we aren’t taking enough time to celebrate the small wins or celebrate the energy that we spend just on the process. And on the journey. It’s great to have goals, it’s great to want to say I want to set out to lose 10 pounds, I want to set out to launch this course and make $10,000 for my business, it’s great to have those. But where the evolution happens is just in the showing up every day, it’s in, you know, you’ve built this habit of being in the gym, you’ve lost your 10 pounds, it’s you spent an hour on your business every single day. And now you’re in a flow and rhythm and things are starting to feel good and consistent. Even if you haven’t hit that 10 pound or 10k in your in your business milestone. celebrate the fact that you showed up. That’s been a really helpful tool for me in terms of my mindset, in that I’m treating myself with some grace and just rewarding myself positively with the fact that I was willing to take action when I could have been here on the couch or curled up somewhere or complaining about my life. I’m celebrating the fact that it was hard today. But you know what I showed up for 60 minutes, and I did what I said I was going to do. It’s not always about the end result, it is about showing up every single day consistently.
Real Happy Mom 20:15
Yes, yes, I totally agree. And that’s one thing I’ve had to do it myself, too, is remind myself that we got to celebrate more, because I definitely missed a lot of really great milestones, because I was so focused on the big huge goal that I had, and forgot about all of the other things that I had accomplished before. So thank you for that reminder. Yes, we definitely want to celebrate more.
Unknown Speaker 20:41
Yes, so important. We don’t do that enough as women and as moms, we are very quick to celebrate others and to put the energy on our kids. But it’s so important to make sure you have that for yourself. Otherwise, what do we all do in this for right? Life is still happening in the moment, even if we’re not yet at the place that we want to be in the other areas of our lives. So celebrate the moment.
Real Happy Mom 21:03
Absolutely. Now, Chloe, I was just wondering if you had any last words of encouragement or motivational quote, first real happy moms?
Unknown Speaker 21:13
I do. I’ve got one relating to parenting. But like everything I say, in life, everything is the same thing. So how you show up in one area really affects how you show up and others. So when you think about your day, if you’re ever in a place where you’re frustrated about the things that you haven’t been able to do yet, you’re probably noticed that it’s going to show up in how messy your spaces are in even the fact that your kid is having a tantrum, you’re like, why is my kid upset, we were just having a great time. But they’re they’re soaking up your energy. So I want to say that you are a mirror for your kids, you are a mirror for the people in your life. And the energy that you bring to a situation a conversation to a room to an interaction with them really does matter. So, you know, don’t put so much pressure on yourself to have accomplished all these things. Like really try to be present in the moment and let you know the the interaction be positive to help fuel them and to help fuel you. And I would just say, have some grace in this process. Don’t feel like it needs to be rushed. You know, really take your time and think through where is it that you would like to go and day by day, little by little, you’re balancing a lot. You’ve got a lot on your plate. You’re not doing yourself any favors by holding yourself to impossibly high standards, right? celebrate the little moments reward yourself for the action that you take in the direction that you are trying to go.
Real Happy Mom 22:59
Yes, yes. Thank you for that. That was so so good. Now clearly, if there is someone listening that wants to find you online, learn more about you. Where can we find you online if we want to connect with you? Yes, you
Unknown Speaker 23:12
can connect with me on Instagram at Chloe mackenzie.co so.co that’s MC k, e n z Zed IE. So connect with me there. You can also tune into my podcast called start right now give you a little bit of inspiration, motivation and some real talk in terms of getting off the sidelines and finally getting started on your thing. And I would love for you to connect with me. I’d love to hear about what you’re working on and happy to set up some time to work with you and see how we can help to reach your goals together.
Real Happy Mom 23:47
Absolutely. And I will make sure to include all of those links in the show notes Chloe thank you again for coming on. This has been really really good I really appreciate you.
Unknown Speaker 23:56
Thank you It’s been a pleasure I love that you’re creating space for moms to thrive and succeed so keep doing your thing loving these episodes.
Real Happy Mom 24:06
Yes definitely. Now that does it for this episode of the Happy Mom podcast if you want to get the links in Show Notes for this episode head over to Real Happy Mom comm slash 133. And there you’ll find the links that Chloe mentioned here today. And definitely stay tuned for tomorrow for another episode. Like I said, this is a series that will be going on everyday this week. And I want to make sure that you don’t miss the goodness. And if you are just getting started here today, make sure you go back to Episode 132 with Kate doster and 131 with Tiffany. These are two really awesome episodes into really awesome women that I know that you will love to hear from so make sure you stay tuned for tomorrow for another full episode. Take care and with that solo
