Hi everyone and welcome! I am so excited to be here and even more excited to share this journey with you. The Zen Your Business podcast was really born out of the idea that the entrepreneur's journey or small business owner, um, I consider a real estate agent a small business owner because as a real estate agent you are solely responsible for you.
the business you generate and the outcomes you deliver to your clients. So the podcast was really born out of the idea that the business owner's journey is really hard. The entrepreneur's journey is like 90 percent mindset, but In our society today, we're so focused on achievement and success and, you know, reaching certain numbers and chronic stress is really just the norm.
We forget that to cultivate a business owner's mindset, you have to take a step back, quiet your mind and make space for creativity and balance and calm. So I want to start by sharing a little bit about my entrepreneurial journey with you. My journey started in seventh grade with a fundraising initiative.
We had sadly lost a friend in a biking accident the year before and his parents were raising money for bicycle safety awareness. So, you know, without safe roads, even if you wear a helmet, these horrible things can happen. And they were raising money to ideally create, you know, a bike path, a safe path for the community to bicycle and walk around town.
And They were doing this by planning a 5k. I was a biking and walking 5k and the idea was that, you know, after a certain number of years the funds generated would be able to um, to pay for this bike path. But I really wanted to do more. And my, you know, my writing journey started when I was in middle school and I had written this poem.
It was just a short little poem. Our classmates had really, you know, Come to associate the symbol of the butterfly with our friend and the poem was just, you know, a short poem about a butterfly flying free and I had this idea to print the poems on a, um, like a small business card and attach a silver butterfly pin that I could then sell to raise money.
Now I'm dating myself, but this is before, um, you know, you could just pull up Google and write, you know, and type like, bulk silver butterfly pins. So my mom had found a catalog somewhere. I have no clue, you know, how we did these things back then, but it was this enormous catalog. And I remember paging through it to find the butterfly pins and then, you know, painstakingly picking out which one would be just perfect, um, you know, on this business card.
And, um, you know, we did all the cost analysis, how much will we have to sell them for to recoup the money and, you know, and make some money. And we sold them, you know, within the community and to classmates, but, you know, at the end of the day, I think they, they only raised like one or two hundred dollars, but for me, it was the first time that I really realized that I could use my talents and skills to raise money and earn money.
You know, fast forward today, and that was just a tiny piece of the much larger puzzle that eventually brought to life, you know, a 13 mile bike path that is very well utilized in our town, um, You know, so, so my one or two hundred dollars was, you know, just a drop in the bucket, but for me, it was really impactful because it really was the start of my journey.
It, you know, lit that spark inside me that just, you know, made me want to you know, you use my own skills and talents to um, create and You know find my my place in the world So my entrepreneurial journey didn't stop there um, there were definitely, you know, little little businesses along the way through high school and college and fast forward to the The year after starting my family.
I joined my mom full time in real estate and we built a team and And, you know, from there, I guess, after five or six years, I, I must have started to get bored, um, running a real estate team, raising, you know, it was then two kids at the time, and I was volunteering for several marketing positions, um, around town, um, I guess with all of my free time, I decided that I would open a bricks and mortar business.
So my mom and I opened a boutique indoor play space for kids and it was magical bringing it to life. Um, it was, you know, it was, it was this Beautiful gathering space for our community and you know, we launched it in the middle of COVID when people really needed it. But at the same time, you know, it just came with its own set of stressors.
And, you know, it was on this journey that I really came to learn firsthand how toxic stress can be on the body. I, you know, I got so good at compartmentalizing my stress that I had no clue how much was actually accumulating in my body. And you know, I know this is a story I'll come back to many times during, you know, our time together, but it's, it was just, it, it compounded to the point that, you know, You know, I have been peeling back all of the layers of stress and learning, you know, using all of the tools that I've had in my toolkit for so long to find balance.
And, you know, it got me thinking that entrepreneurs are so incredibly susceptible to stress when we don't take the time to intentionally find balance.
Life as an entrepreneur is just inherently stressful based on the nature of work that you do and the weight that you carry. You know, as a business owner, you are wearing all of the hats, literally every, every hat you're wearing. It CEO. You are the salesperson for your business, the marketer, human resources manager, the IT department, that's you, you're in charge of finance, and you know, maybe you've had the opportunity to outsource some of these things, but chances are, you know, you don't have the training or experience to, to do all of these things, and so you've had to, you know, push and and stretch yourself outside of your comfort zone so that You can effectively cover all of these bases, and, you know, finding the time to learn these things, that in and of itself is, you know, stressful.
And it's crazy, even saying it out loud here, because, like, why would you do that to yourself, right? But, as an entrepreneur, it's really hard to understand the mind and the drive of an entrepreneur. There is just this. seed or, or fire, fire inside of you that builds and builds. Um, you know, if you ignore it, it just, it continues to grow and you just, you have this like passion that you have to pursue.
You have this dream or this vision that you just have to bring to life and it is so fulfilling but it's also so stressful. You know, you're, You're responsible for providing for your family. Maybe you have employees that you also feel a sense of responsibility for. You've promised to deliver a product or a service, and taking a personal day on a whim isn't always feasible.
Beyond that, you know, you feel driven by this specific person. You know, you started your business because you felt that passion about something. So you're probably working long hours because, you know, you have to, but also you, you love it. It's, you know, it is a passion. It's, it's not just work. You're, you're following a dream.
Um, you know, you're coming up with new ideas, new revenue streams, and you just, pursue them with, you know, you're vigorously pursuing them. And eventually, you realize that you are just working all the time. You've built this momentum, and you're making progress, and your business is growing, and you forget about the need to prioritize your own mental health.
But the wheels are already in motion, and they're picking up speed, and it can just be really, really hard to slow down or change course. And that's what we're gonna do here. We're gonna take a half hour or so to ourselves, and we are going to learn about how building self awareness is a foundation for success and balance.
How developing our authenticity brings us fulfillment and helps us attract dream clients. And how we can build that authenticity into our personal brand, which creates differentiation and genuine emotional connection with our audience. We'll talk about how limiting beliefs and negative self talk are often at the root of stubborn plateaus in your business.
And you know, as I'm a marketer, and even as a marketer, I know how hard it is to tackle an effective marketing strategy on top of everything else that you're already doing. So I have come up with systems and processes that will help you simplify your marketing while also expanding your reach. I'm not going to lie.
We're gonna get a little bit woo from time to time. I love astrology and tarot, sensory healing and journaling, and I think that they each have a really practical use in building self awareness. We'll talk to other business owners and learn about how they find zen in their business. And if you get nothing else from these episodes, I hope you leave with a gentle reminder to schedule time each week for you.
Okay, you can find me at jesscallahan.com or on Instagram at jesscallahan_ find me, send me a message, I would love to hear from you. Until next time, friends!
