February 2, 2025 • 26 mins
Unlock the secrets to transforming your entrepreneurial vision into reality with insights from Shana Lewis, founder and CEO of Tailored Plans. Shana's passion for organization and stationery has driven her to empower small business owners by crafting effective business plans, helping them execute their dreams with intentionality and professionalism. Learn how Shana's commitment to excellence and love for teaching can guide you towards success, illustrating the power of having a solid plan and the right mindset in your business journey.
In this enlightening episode, we journey through the intertwining paths of faith and self-belief, exploring how saying "YES" to God and trusting oneself can be the bedrock for both personal and business growth. Friends and mentors like Greg Jones, Shani Nealy, and Kimberly Francisco highlight the importance of a supportive network when facing challenges. Discover how aligning personal values with meaningful work can build a fulfilling and purposeful life, where gratitude, rest, and presence take precedence over financial gains. Let this conversation inspire you to appreciate your support system and focus on meaningful connections that enrich your life's journey.
Thank you for listening! YouTube - @3KeysforYourJourney -Tune in for a new episode every Sunday. Connect with us at www.ocfo.info
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Greg Jones (00:02):
Our guest, Shana Lewis, founder and CEO of Taylor
Plans, brings over a decade ofexperience in business
development, marketing andpublic relations.
Join us next as we exploreTaylor's strategies and Shana
shares key insights to help yourbusiness and encourage your
vision to become a reality.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Are you ready to unlock your potential?
Tune in to Three Keys for yourJourney podcast, where business
owners share invaluable insightsand empowering strategies to
guide you towards success.
Based in Oklahoma City, ourhost, greg T Jones, will inspire
and motivate you every week.
Get ready to join ourconversation as we build
(00:56):
community together.
Greg Jones (01:00):
All right, well, hello, shana Lewis, hello, how
are you?
Welcome to the podcast.
Shana Lewis (01:05):
Oh, thank you for having me.
You Welcome to the podcast.
Oh, thank you for having me.
I'm on the podcast.
Greg Jones (01:09):
Well, we got the Shana Lewis in the house today.
So I mean this is prettyspecial, we go back a ways and
so, wow, I mean I go back.
You talk about a journey, threekeys for your journey.
It has been a journey, but, man, not only is Shana Lewis a
prominent individual here in theOklahoma City area, but also a
(01:29):
good friend and so glad to haveyou today, but I can do all the
introductions that I want to do,but tell people about Shana
Lewis.
Shana Lewis (01:38):
Okay, so Shana Lewis.
Who is she?
I am an oldest daughter ofthree siblings, so it's four of
us.
I am a extreme planner.
A lot of people may think likethat fits with me with having a
business that deals withbusiness planning and strategy,
(02:00):
but in my personal life I loveplanning.
Also, I've been a part ofplanning groups that decorate
their planners and stuff.
I know it's crazy, but it's fun.
I love handbags.
Anybody who knows me, I am ahandbag connoisseur.
I love, love, love purses.
Greg Jones (02:17):
So I enjoy shopping, decorating, having fun, family,
friends, travel all thosethings outside of tailored plans
wow, I I made me think of astory and I'm thinking of a
lunch that you and I and anotherfriend had.
A couple of friends had talkingabout purses yes and I got
schooled on purses.
(02:38):
So when she says she loveshands, bags, yes, yes, I love
them.
Shana Lewis (02:42):
That is like I would say I collect purses, I
love them, have a whole closetfull of them.
And then also I'm a collectorof planners.
I have to tell myself, likestationery, I am a lover of
paper and pens.
So Greg has stolen a couple ofpens of mine before and I've had
to tell him like hey, greg,hand it right back to me.
Greg Jones (03:04):
I need those back.
Shana Lewis (03:04):
I need those back, shane always has pretty pens,
but I love stationery.
I'm a lover of paper, so I knowit's.
No, it's not crazy.
Greg Jones (03:12):
It's a world of people who love paper, but yes,
Well, I know your business iscalled Tated Plans, but when you
said that about purses and pensand all that, I'm like, yeah,
there's a lot of.
I can see how all of that,wrapped up, it's kind of who
makes you who you are.
So you have a business calledTailored Plans.
Tell us about Tailored Plans.
Shana Lewis (03:33):
So Tailored Plans is a business that caters to
small business owners and Iwanted to assist businesses with
business plans.
I know a lot of people startand they don't have a plan, and
you know, of course, going backto who I am personally, I'm a
planner and I think thatbusinesses that have not think I
know for a fact.
When businesses have a plan,they are able to move in a way
(03:57):
that they can execute themeffectively.
And with me having a backgroundand working for organizations
and doing business I'm tons ofbusiness plans back then for
free I was able to really help alot of business owners and they
just felt this overwhelmingthing where they felt like I can
accomplish this, this on paper.
(04:17):
So I developed Taylor plansfrom a place of wanting people
to succeed and execute thingsand not allow it to just stay on
paper but actually executetheir visions and dreams, and so
that's the basis of my business.
But I also do training anddevelopment.
So a lot of like teachingclasses and we were a part of
like cohorts and all thosethings, and that is a passion of
(04:39):
mine is teaching.
I think a lot of people don'tknow that about me, but I love
to teach, I love to find ways tobroaden people's horizon and
open up their brains and allowthem to have aha moments,
because I like those as well.
So I would say Taylor planshave just been that for people
and business owners andcommunity.
(04:59):
And how can I help them and howcan you know?
I love listening to people'sideas and then allowing them to
flourish like they're.
You know they get, I get to seethem live it out outside of
that paper.
So that is Taylor Plans and wedo business registration.
So if people are interested inhey, I don't know how to even
(05:20):
start a business, how to put itall together and get it
administratively right, then I'mhere for that as well, so I can
see you through the wholeprocess to ensure that you're
successful.
Greg Jones (05:31):
And we'll mention this at the very end.
But you've got a prettycomprehensive website that talks
a lot about what it is that youdo, the services that you offer
and the degree ofprofessionalism.
When I hear, I want to makesure our listening audience
knows, particularly with adegree of excellence, like some
people just put things together,but you put a lot of
(05:53):
intentionality behind everythingthat you do.
Why is that important?
Shana Lewis (05:58):
Well, like you said , me personally, I love just
pretty things, just on thebaseline.
I love pretty things, but thenalso I'm very big on
professionalism things.
But then also I'm very big onprofessionalism and when people
see me they're getting a quality, you know quality work that
they're paying me for, becauseyou know people work hard for
(06:22):
their money and I want them tohave an excellent experience for
me through the first time theyspeak to me.
Well, even look at my products,I want them to be like wow,
these pictures and becausepeople like pretty and I think
capturing someone with yourbranding and then also following
through with professionalismand you know personality,
because I think personality isimportant in your business and
just having that all together, Ithink that's in the two.
(06:44):
That's just me at my core.
I love excellence, I lovemaking sure things are pretty
and curating spaces.
So I want my clients and youknow to experience the same
thing that I have in my personallife.
So I want to bring it to lifein my business.
Greg Jones (06:59):
I think that is completely awesome.
You know part of our podcast isaround these keys for your
journey.
I love to hear from you keysfor your journey.
I'd love to hear from you whatare some of the keys that you've
learned kind of along yourjourney that you can share with
our listening audience.
Shana Lewis (07:18):
I would say most of all is trusting God.
I feel like with business, it'sthe biggest faith journey that
you will ever have.
A little bit of backstory aboutme is that I thought my
business was going to be a sidething.
I didn't think it was going tobe what it is today.
At the time, I wastransitioning from a job that I
(07:41):
wasn't too happy about duringCOVID, and it was just a time of
everyone was just trying tofigure out what they were going
to do and I wanted a change inmy life.
I thought I was going to be acorporate girly and that was
going to be my life and that'sokay.
But God said somethingotherwise and I started feeling
a shift about the direction andwhere I was supposed to go and I
(08:01):
would help people with theirown entrepreneurship journeys.
But when it came to me, I wasalways like, oh, I'm okay with
just.
You know, if someone calls me,I'll write them a plan, I'll do
this.
But I was really called intothis to.
You know, let's just see whatit looks like.
And here we are four yearslater.
But I always tell people Taylorplans was supposed to be a side
(08:22):
thing.
It was never.
It was actually supposed to belike a trial and error.
Maybe we'll do it.
But then when I started reallycreating it and looking at the
intentionality of like, oh man,like I really want to help
people, but then how can I makethis to where it can capture
them?
And I started really buildingit.
And I always tell people thatwebsite was built with tears in
(08:47):
some sense, and the tears wasnot such a bad thing at the time
, but I was going through atransition because I was trying
to figure out what I reallywanted and if I really wanted to
be a business owner, what doesthat look like?
And then creatively startingsomething new and shedding the
old and just taking a leap offaith.
And so I would not be here ifit wasn't for trust in God and
(09:10):
I'm going to go on a limb andsay in Jesus Christ, like me,
giving him my yes and justsaying I know what this looks
like, but I'm willing to go intothe new and shed all the old.
And that was once I gave himthat yes and not relied on what
I thought it should look like,because my whole plan is I'm
(09:31):
going back to corporate andTaylor plans is going to be
right here and it turned out tobe so amazing and bigger and um,
it was just such anenlightening.
It's been an enlighteningjourney for me to just see when
you just say yes and just takethose steps and just you may not
even know, like I always say,how amazing.
(09:53):
I don't know what I'm going toget financially every month.
When you think about business.
You could do all the planning,but to see how God has lined up
me financially and taking careof me outside of what I thought
was going to be my source, andjust really allowing him to be
the source of my life has beenthe most incredible thing that I
(10:13):
can say, which is my ultimatekey.
We have to start with trustingGod and giving him a yes, giving
him a fresh yes every day, andespecially entrepreneurship is a
yes every day when you get up,when it's hard, when it's
unsettling, when it'smountaintop moments, but saying
yes even in those moments whereit feels uncomfortable.
Greg Jones (10:35):
Wow.
Well, I think we just had ourmessage for the week.
That is awesome.
I mean saying yes to JesusChrist and saying yes every day.
Shana Lewis (10:48):
Yes, it's renewing your mind every day, I had
learned.
This is where I tell anyonehaving a relationship with God
is so important, because itreally is truly renewing your
mind every day, because you'llhave moments Greg has seen me
through crying moments where I'mlike, greg, I'm quitting, I'm
quitting, I'm quitting.
He's like, no, you're not.
(11:09):
But this is why you having asupport system in your business
is important.
I don't think people of courseyou know I'm a business owner
and we have to present and makesure we're taking care of our
you know customers and clients.
But it's so important on theback end to have a support
system, to have people say Ibelieve you, they see the
moments where you're like, oh, Idon't know, this is hard.
(11:31):
And they see the vision for you, even though you can't see it.
And these are like God givingpeople.
I believe that God has given mein this time, in this journey.
I would not be as far as I am,or even moving as far as I'm
going, like going as far as I am, if it wasn't for the Greggs
and the Shonies and theKimberleys and my friends and
(11:56):
all the different people thathave said, hey, we're going to
walk with you and I think it'simportant for someone to always
walk with you and encourage youand just believe in you and help
you keep your freshness.
Greg Jones (12:08):
Well, thank you, since I'm one of the people that
you name.
But you're absolutely right.
I mean, I give this word often,but what do we have in common
in unity equals community.
And so building a communitytogether.
Part of this podcast is aroundbuilding a community that
supports one another, and youobviously have just described it
in such a way as your numberone key is really having that
(12:31):
relationship with God and sayingyes and making that a priority.
And so if that doesn't give youcomfort, if that doesn't give
anybody comfort, I want it togive you comfort because you
just heard it and now it's justan opportunity to believe it.
What would you say is yoursecond key?
Shana Lewis (12:48):
The second key is trust yourself.
A lot of times we overthink.
I am an overthinker and aperfectionist, which, being a
perfectionist, I embrace, but ina healthy way, because, like
you said earlier, I love doingthings in excellence.
I want things to be right, Iwant people, I want to curate
these amazing experiences.
But then sometimes, as businessowners or just in me personally
(13:10):
, I can overthink some of themost smallest things.
And a lot of times the root ofoverthinking is not trusting
yourself.
And I think if we take all thethoughts and oh my God, what if,
what, if you know, what if thisdoesn't, and just say, hey, I
trust myself.
And sometimes when I get intooverthinking, I sit and I'm like
(13:31):
Shayna, I trust you, I trustyou, even if let's just say
something does like don't go theway I want or dang, I didn't
think that decision was the best.
Or I don't beat myself up.
I made the best decision withthe information I had in front
of me at that time and a lot ofstuff is fixable.
So if we look at it that way,it's fixable.
(13:55):
But we have to get out our headand a lot of times I've
literally did an exercise withmyself.
When I get overthinking.
I'll just write over and over Itrust you, you can trust
yourself, you can trustespecially if it's a huge
decision I'm not sure about.
I didn't pray about it and I'mstill like it's me and I know
it's a me Just trusting yourself, just saying you got this, it's
(14:15):
fixable.
Greg Jones (14:18):
So I guess what I'm hearing there is self-motivation
, but telling yourself that youtrust yourself actually saying
it, writing it down and puttingit in front of you, and it's
something about doing that takesit from you know, this part to
taking it down to your heart,absolutely so, because a lot of
times we think, oh, I'm justoverthinking, I don't know why
(14:40):
it's a trust thing.
Shana Lewis (14:41):
At the end, like, oh man, you don't trust yourself
to move into that right, thedecision, whatever you're
overthinking or the worst orwhatever.
But when you really sit downand you're like man, I, I can
trust me, I can, I can trustthese decisions, I make sound
decisions.
I've went over the information.
I'm a very detailed person.
I like information, give me thedetails, and I think, because
(15:03):
the work, I've went over theinformation.
I'm a very detailed person.
I like information, give me thedetails, and I think, because
the work I do is very detailed.
So I need all those things.
But sometimes I got to come outof the weeds and not be so
detailed.
But yes, it is one of thosethings that I have to just tell
myself like, hey, you can trustyourself to be a CEO and I say
that with everyone.
People do not.
I've learned a lot of peopledon't like referring to
themselves as CEOs because it'slike such a big responsibility,
(15:25):
like I don't know if I want todo, I just want to be an owner.
But I've been lately embracing,saying that I'm a CEO for my
business, because a lot ofpeople think like I don't want
to put that pressure on myself,but you are.
You're doing the work of a CEO.
You're doing the work of a CEO.
You're delegating, you'remaking decisions, you're
strategizing, you're doing allthese incredible things.
You're a CEO and you have seenthe path.
(15:48):
You have trusted yourself toget you to these different
levels in your business.
Greg Jones (15:52):
Well, I like that what you said, and I'm going to
tie it to your first key, whichwas trusting in God and saying,
yes, that I do believe thatthere are times in our life that
if you take and apply yourfirst principle- trusting.
God.
And then take your secondprinciple.
There are times where I believeGod does not give you a answer
(16:13):
yes or no, and that's becausehe's saying he trusts us
Absolutely.
If you trust yourself andbecause of your first key,
trusting in God now you canapply that trust.
Shana Lewis (16:26):
They go together, because if you're hearing him
and you're first, like I said,take it back to the first one,
then he's going to tell you whatto do, and so if you take
yourself out of it, then you cantrust yourself.
That's good of it, then you cantrust yourself.
That's good, yeah, so, and alot of times when we get outside
(16:46):
of trusting ourselves, wedidn't listen to some things
that we wasn't supposed to.
It could be us comparingourselves, it could be so many
other things that we're lookingat.
That's taking our focus off ofGod and that's our first thing.
And then we start trusting inall our systems and our own
abilities and who we are and allthese other things.
But if you take all that back,take it all off and go back to
(17:06):
your first principle, then whenyou're aligned and when you're
doing the things that you needto do, you can seriously trust
yourself because God's going togive you the next key.
Greg Jones (17:16):
Man?
What is your thing?
What is the next key man?
What is your thing?
What is the?
Shana Lewis (17:20):
next key and then I think the next key is creating
the success and the life thatyou want.
Ok, that's for you.
I think, oftentimes going backto the comparison, the comparing
your business, comparing yourpersonal life, and we think
(17:42):
what's the first things?
Money, what else?
People, money, status, allthose things.
But when you strip it down andyou really go back, I want
people to think about, like,what do you want?
Your business may not ever be amultimillion dollar business,
but you could be so happy withmaking a comfortable amount of
money where you're able totravel with your family, have
experiences, do the things thatyou want.
(18:04):
I think creating and curatingand I love the word curating
because you're creating, you'relooking at your life with
intention and saying whatmatters to me and I've been
doing a lot of work on myselflately.
I'm just saying what do youwant out of this business?
What do you want personally?
Take the business out of it.
What do you want out of thisbusiness?
What do you want personally?
Take the business out of it.
What do you want?
And for me, I want toexperience pleasure, and that's
(18:26):
traveling.
My family, my friends, thepeople I love, those are the
things that I'm going to cherishforever, and the money and
stuff will always come.
When you're doing the work andyou're being integral and you're
doing the things that you needto do.
I feel like I have that, butreally curating a life that you
want, what is meaningful to you,and not comparing yourself,
(18:47):
because we know that's the thiefof joy, but we do it.
We look at someone else'sbusiness, we'll look at someone
else's life and you'll be like,well, they got all these things
and they got all the bags andall the money, but do they have
peace?
Do they have their family andnot to say people can have it
all, I'm not saying that as wellbut do they have peace?
(19:08):
But at the surface level, whatdo you want your life to be and
what are your values?
And I think if you start withwhat your personal values are,
then you can build the life thatyou want and that's successful.
Greg Jones (19:29):
I love that.
I mean, and I think of thingsobviously in threes, but I'm
tying all three of thosetogether and it really sounds
like to me that you know puttingGod first, giving you, yes,
trusting in yourself, then thedesires that you have in your
heart.
As long as they line up withthose things, god doesn't have
any problem with that.
Shana Lewis (19:46):
No, he wants us to be successful.
Greg Jones (19:48):
And he wants us to be happy, and he wants us to
have a fulfilled life.
Shana Lewis (19:53):
A fulfilled life.
Greg Jones (19:53):
He wants us to have a fulfilled life and I'm
reminded that oftentimes,through seasons, you know, I'm
reminded that oftentimes,through seasons, through years,
you know, we lose people thatare close to us.
Sometimes we don't understandwhy, sometimes we think they
were too young and all that andI think and reflect it on my own
life sometimes, and, as you'retalking here, I want to live a
(20:14):
fulfilled life.
Shana Lewis (20:15):
Yeah.
Greg Jones (20:16):
And so having kind of these keys along the journey
kind of in my sights and keepingthem in mind is what keeps me
motivated.
Shana Lewis (20:25):
That's what motivates us when we go back to
values, like you said, likeunderstanding what your true
values are for your own life.
Like me, like I love my family,I love being integral.
I love my family, I love beingintegral, I love just.
(20:51):
You know being latelypracticing, being present, you
know experiencing moments,because you know, like I said,
you don't know, life is sofleeting, sometimes too, and, I
think, lately changing mymotivation.
I think originally, when you getin business, sometimes the
whole money thing can be like,no, I need money, I just I need
to get the money to do all thethings and then I'll be
successful.
But sometimes you, when youstep back and say, no, but truly
, what do you want?
Because, yes, you need money,we need to pay our bills.
But when I really started tolook at what I truly wanted,
(21:15):
what are my values and work fromthat place of my values, money
becomes the lesser focus, eventhough we know we need it.
But it takes the focus off ofit and you're just doing, you're
going back to what's yourprinciple, like, hey, god, I
trust you.
If, if you already said I'msupposed to do this business,
(21:35):
then you're going to take careof me, you're going to supply
all my needs.
That's already done.
And I think once we go back tothat like God being our source
and everything's going to betaken care of, then focus on the
work.
And I think this year we weretalking before the podcast about
I've seen an increase inrevenue this year you were like
what did you do differently?
And we were celebrating that.
(21:56):
And I think I was intentionaland in some sense, I took my
eyes off of the money a littlebit and started thinking about
hey, we're just going to work,we're just going to do it.
We'll see at the end.
And I surprised myself thisyear and it was just me being
(22:16):
intentional about my plans Like,okay, I'm going to do this.
I changed some systems withinmy business to make things a
little bit more simpler, alittle bit more streamlined, but
then at the end of it, I thinkI just said you know, we're just
going to do the work, I'm notgoing to make it all about, oh
my gosh, we got to do this andlook what everybody else is
doing.
Just work.
Greg Jones (22:36):
Well, I circled all back around to when you gave us
the initial in the beginning.
You are a planner and you had aplan and it feels like, as
you're talking today, whatresonates with me is because you
had done the plan and you had aplan.
When opportunities come thatlined up with your plan, it was
easy to say yes, absolutely,because of your first key, which
(22:59):
is I'm saying yes to the Lord,and then my second key, I'm
trusting myself, like it's alllining up.
I mean this is a powerful storyas you're, if you're walking us
through that, wow.
So I always ask all of ourguests this, because I want to
make sure, as we've been talking, anything else that you want to
share with our listeningaudience, anything that's come
(23:22):
to your mind that you'd like toshare.
Shana Lewis (23:27):
I'm going to just leave off with not being so hard
on yourself.
Experience some pleasure inyour life and rest.
I know this journey can be sohard sometimes and we kind of
lose focus and we just think,like you know, I got to work
harder, I got to do all thesethings.
But really taking time to bepresent and looking around you
(23:49):
and seeing what you have andlooking and having more
gratitude for your family andyour friends, that's one of the
things I can say.
Ending this year is not aboutgoing to next year and trying to
figure out oh, I need all themoney, how am I going to get all
the money?
How am I going to do this andwhatever.
You know, if that's your thing,that's fine, but for me it's
(24:10):
appreciating the people who'saround me and being so grateful
for my family and my friends andeven my professional groups of
people that stood with methroughout this journey.
I told you this Tailored planswas supposed to be a side
business, but just honoringthose that surround me and being
(24:31):
so grateful and giving myselfmy own kudos, Give yourself your
own props.
Sometimes Say congratulations,Don't move from thing to thing.
Make a celebration out ofsomething, Like I'm going to do
something because of this wholeto thing, make a celebration out
of something Like I'm going todo something because of this
whole revenue thing.
But I'm also going to do it ina place of I stuck to what I
said I was going to do and thatjust happened to you know.
You know, increase my revenueby just, you know, sticking to
(24:53):
my plan but just taking moretime to do things that you love
and it don't mean like you haveto take the fanciest trips, but
being present with your family,whatever that pleasure is, do
that and then rest, Like havesome time to rest.
You do more from rest.
Greg Jones (25:09):
Wow, that's who I may have to now.
Well, I'll say this.
So one thing you have topromise me is that you know at
some point we'll come back.
I don't know, it might be the100th episode, 150 episode, but
we'd love to stay in touch withyou.
Uh, make sure that you get achance to come back on, tell us
(25:31):
how you're doing.
Um, love to just keep incontact with you.
Somebody out there listeningthat was like I need to talk to
shannon now yes, how can?
people get in contact with you.
How can they look you up?
What's the best ways that?
Shana Lewis (25:43):
they can reach out.
This is a great time because Iget a lot of people who's like
hey, I want to get that businessstarted in the new year.
Perfect timing.
I'm here to talk to you, so youcan go to my website, which is
tailoredplansllccom.
Again, that istailoredplansllccom.
You can also reach me onInstagram and Facebook with
(26:03):
Tailored Plans and that's justthat as far as the names.
But I would love to talk withyou.
Let's look at your business,let's see what we can do.
Let's get everything in orderso that you can be prosperous
and create the life that youwant in your own way.
Greg Jones (26:18):
Wow.
Well, thank you so much again,shana, for being here, and we
invite all of our guests tuneinto our next episode, next
episode of Three Keys for yourJourney.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Thanks for joining Three Keys for your Journey.
Tune in next time for anotherepisode.
Our guest, Shana Lewis, founder and CEO of Taylor
Plans, brings over a decade ofexperience in business
development, marketing andpublic relations.
Join us next as we exploreTaylor's strategies and Shana
shares key insights to help yourbusiness and encourage your
vision to become a reality.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Are you ready to unlock your potential?
Tune in to Three Keys for yourJourney podcast, where business
owners share invaluable insightsand empowering strategies to
guide you towards success.
Based in Oklahoma City, ourhost, greg T Jones, will inspire
and motivate you every week.
Get ready to join ourconversation as we build
(00:56):
community together.
Greg Jones (01:00):
All right, well, hello, shana Lewis, hello, how
are you?
Welcome to the podcast.
Shana Lewis (01:05):
Oh, thank you for having me.
You Welcome to the podcast.
Oh, thank you for having me.
I'm on the podcast.
Greg Jones (01:09):
Well, we got the Shana Lewis in the house today.
So I mean this is prettyspecial, we go back a ways and
so, wow, I mean I go back.
You talk about a journey, threekeys for your journey.
It has been a journey, but, man, not only is Shana Lewis a
prominent individual here in theOklahoma City area, but also a
(01:29):
good friend and so glad to haveyou today, but I can do all the
introductions that I want to do,but tell people about Shana
Lewis.
Shana Lewis (01:38):
Okay, so Shana Lewis.
Who is she?
I am an oldest daughter ofthree siblings, so it's four of
us.
I am a extreme planner.
A lot of people may think likethat fits with me with having a
business that deals withbusiness planning and strategy,
(02:00):
but in my personal life I loveplanning.
Also, I've been a part ofplanning groups that decorate
their planners and stuff.
I know it's crazy, but it's fun.
I love handbags.
Anybody who knows me, I am ahandbag connoisseur.
I love, love, love purses.
Greg Jones (02:17):
So I enjoy shopping, decorating, having fun, family,
friends, travel all thosethings outside of tailored plans
wow, I I made me think of astory and I'm thinking of a
lunch that you and I and anotherfriend had.
A couple of friends had talkingabout purses yes and I got
schooled on purses.
(02:38):
So when she says she loveshands, bags, yes, yes, I love
them.
Shana Lewis (02:42):
That is like I would say I collect purses, I
love them, have a whole closetfull of them.
And then also I'm a collectorof planners.
I have to tell myself, likestationery, I am a lover of
paper and pens.
So Greg has stolen a couple ofpens of mine before and I've had
to tell him like hey, greg,hand it right back to me.
Greg Jones (03:04):
I need those back.
Shana Lewis (03:04):
I need those back, shane always has pretty pens,
but I love stationery.
I'm a lover of paper, so I knowit's.
No, it's not crazy.
Greg Jones (03:12):
It's a world of people who love paper, but yes,
Well, I know your business iscalled Tated Plans, but when you
said that about purses and pensand all that, I'm like, yeah,
there's a lot of.
I can see how all of that,wrapped up, it's kind of who
makes you who you are.
So you have a business calledTailored Plans.
Tell us about Tailored Plans.
Shana Lewis (03:33):
So Tailored Plans is a business that caters to
small business owners and Iwanted to assist businesses with
business plans.
I know a lot of people startand they don't have a plan, and
you know, of course, going backto who I am personally, I'm a
planner and I think thatbusinesses that have not think I
know for a fact.
When businesses have a plan,they are able to move in a way
(03:57):
that they can execute themeffectively.
And with me having a backgroundand working for organizations
and doing business I'm tons ofbusiness plans back then for
free I was able to really help alot of business owners and they
just felt this overwhelmingthing where they felt like I can
accomplish this, this on paper.
(04:17):
So I developed Taylor plansfrom a place of wanting people
to succeed and execute thingsand not allow it to just stay on
paper but actually executetheir visions and dreams, and so
that's the basis of my business.
But I also do training anddevelopment.
So a lot of like teachingclasses and we were a part of
like cohorts and all thosethings, and that is a passion of
(04:39):
mine is teaching.
I think a lot of people don'tknow that about me, but I love
to teach, I love to find ways tobroaden people's horizon and
open up their brains and allowthem to have aha moments,
because I like those as well.
So I would say Taylor planshave just been that for people
and business owners andcommunity.
(04:59):
And how can I help them and howcan you know?
I love listening to people'sideas and then allowing them to
flourish like they're.
You know they get, I get to seethem live it out outside of
that paper.
So that is Taylor Plans and wedo business registration.
So if people are interested inhey, I don't know how to even
(05:20):
start a business, how to put itall together and get it
administratively right, then I'mhere for that as well, so I can
see you through the wholeprocess to ensure that you're
successful.
Greg Jones (05:31):
And we'll mention this at the very end.
But you've got a prettycomprehensive website that talks
a lot about what it is that youdo, the services that you offer
and the degree ofprofessionalism.
When I hear, I want to makesure our listening audience
knows, particularly with adegree of excellence, like some
people just put things together,but you put a lot of
(05:53):
intentionality behind everythingthat you do.
Why is that important?
Shana Lewis (05:58):
Well, like you said , me personally, I love just
pretty things, just on thebaseline.
I love pretty things, but thenalso I'm very big on
professionalism things.
But then also I'm very big onprofessionalism and when people
see me they're getting a quality, you know quality work that
they're paying me for, becauseyou know people work hard for
(06:22):
their money and I want them tohave an excellent experience for
me through the first time theyspeak to me.
Well, even look at my products,I want them to be like wow,
these pictures and becausepeople like pretty and I think
capturing someone with yourbranding and then also following
through with professionalismand you know personality,
because I think personality isimportant in your business and
just having that all together, Ithink that's in the two.
(06:44):
That's just me at my core.
I love excellence, I lovemaking sure things are pretty
and curating spaces.
So I want my clients and youknow to experience the same
thing that I have in my personallife.
So I want to bring it to lifein my business.
Greg Jones (06:59):
I think that is completely awesome.
You know part of our podcast isaround these keys for your
journey.
I love to hear from you keysfor your journey.
I'd love to hear from you whatare some of the keys that you've
learned kind of along yourjourney that you can share with
our listening audience.
Shana Lewis (07:18):
I would say most of all is trusting God.
I feel like with business, it'sthe biggest faith journey that
you will ever have.
A little bit of backstory aboutme is that I thought my
business was going to be a sidething.
I didn't think it was going tobe what it is today.
At the time, I wastransitioning from a job that I
(07:41):
wasn't too happy about duringCOVID, and it was just a time of
everyone was just trying tofigure out what they were going
to do and I wanted a change inmy life.
I thought I was going to be acorporate girly and that was
going to be my life and that'sokay.
But God said somethingotherwise and I started feeling
a shift about the direction andwhere I was supposed to go and I
(08:01):
would help people with theirown entrepreneurship journeys.
But when it came to me, I wasalways like, oh, I'm okay with
just.
You know, if someone calls me,I'll write them a plan, I'll do
this.
But I was really called intothis to.
You know, let's just see whatit looks like.
And here we are four yearslater.
But I always tell people Taylorplans was supposed to be a side
(08:22):
thing.
It was never.
It was actually supposed to belike a trial and error.
Maybe we'll do it.
But then when I started reallycreating it and looking at the
intentionality of like, oh man,like I really want to help
people, but then how can I makethis to where it can capture
them?
And I started really buildingit.
And I always tell people thatwebsite was built with tears in
(08:47):
some sense, and the tears wasnot such a bad thing at the time
, but I was going through atransition because I was trying
to figure out what I reallywanted and if I really wanted to
be a business owner, what doesthat look like?
And then creatively startingsomething new and shedding the
old and just taking a leap offaith.
And so I would not be here ifit wasn't for trust in God and
(09:10):
I'm going to go on a limb andsay in Jesus Christ, like me,
giving him my yes and justsaying I know what this looks
like, but I'm willing to go intothe new and shed all the old.
And that was once I gave himthat yes and not relied on what
I thought it should look like,because my whole plan is I'm
(09:31):
going back to corporate andTaylor plans is going to be
right here and it turned out tobe so amazing and bigger and um,
it was just such anenlightening.
It's been an enlighteningjourney for me to just see when
you just say yes and just takethose steps and just you may not
even know, like I always say,how amazing.
(09:53):
I don't know what I'm going toget financially every month.
When you think about business.
You could do all the planning,but to see how God has lined up
me financially and taking careof me outside of what I thought
was going to be my source, andjust really allowing him to be
the source of my life has beenthe most incredible thing that I
(10:13):
can say, which is my ultimatekey.
We have to start with trustingGod and giving him a yes, giving
him a fresh yes every day, andespecially entrepreneurship is a
yes every day when you get up,when it's hard, when it's
unsettling, when it'smountaintop moments, but saying
yes even in those moments whereit feels uncomfortable.
Greg Jones (10:35):
Wow.
Well, I think we just had ourmessage for the week.
That is awesome.
I mean saying yes to JesusChrist and saying yes every day.
Shana Lewis (10:48):
Yes, it's renewing your mind every day, I had
learned.
This is where I tell anyonehaving a relationship with God
is so important, because itreally is truly renewing your
mind every day, because you'llhave moments Greg has seen me
through crying moments where I'mlike, greg, I'm quitting, I'm
quitting, I'm quitting.
He's like, no, you're not.
(11:09):
But this is why you having asupport system in your business
is important.
I don't think people of courseyou know I'm a business owner
and we have to present and makesure we're taking care of our
you know customers and clients.
But it's so important on theback end to have a support
system, to have people say Ibelieve you, they see the
moments where you're like, oh, Idon't know, this is hard.
(11:31):
And they see the vision for you, even though you can't see it.
And these are like God givingpeople.
I believe that God has given mein this time, in this journey.
I would not be as far as I am,or even moving as far as I'm
going, like going as far as I am, if it wasn't for the Greggs
and the Shonies and theKimberleys and my friends and
(11:56):
all the different people thathave said, hey, we're going to
walk with you and I think it'simportant for someone to always
walk with you and encourage youand just believe in you and help
you keep your freshness.
Greg Jones (12:08):
Well, thank you, since I'm one of the people that
you name.
But you're absolutely right.
I mean, I give this word often,but what do we have in common
in unity equals community.
And so building a communitytogether.
Part of this podcast is aroundbuilding a community that
supports one another, and youobviously have just described it
in such a way as your numberone key is really having that
(12:31):
relationship with God and sayingyes and making that a priority.
And so if that doesn't give youcomfort, if that doesn't give
anybody comfort, I want it togive you comfort because you
just heard it and now it's justan opportunity to believe it.
What would you say is yoursecond key?
Shana Lewis (12:48):
The second key is trust yourself.
A lot of times we overthink.
I am an overthinker and aperfectionist, which, being a
perfectionist, I embrace, but ina healthy way, because, like
you said earlier, I love doingthings in excellence.
I want things to be right, Iwant people, I want to curate
these amazing experiences.
But then sometimes, as businessowners or just in me personally
(13:10):
, I can overthink some of themost smallest things.
And a lot of times the root ofoverthinking is not trusting
yourself.
And I think if we take all thethoughts and oh my God, what if,
what, if you know, what if thisdoesn't, and just say, hey, I
trust myself.
And sometimes when I get intooverthinking, I sit and I'm like
(13:31):
Shayna, I trust you, I trustyou, even if let's just say
something does like don't go theway I want or dang, I didn't
think that decision was the best.
Or I don't beat myself up.
I made the best decision withthe information I had in front
of me at that time and a lot ofstuff is fixable.
So if we look at it that way,it's fixable.
(13:55):
But we have to get out our headand a lot of times I've
literally did an exercise withmyself.
When I get overthinking.
I'll just write over and over Itrust you, you can trust
yourself, you can trustespecially if it's a huge
decision I'm not sure about.
I didn't pray about it and I'mstill like it's me and I know
it's a me Just trusting yourself, just saying you got this, it's
(14:15):
fixable.
Greg Jones (14:18):
So I guess what I'm hearing there is self-motivation
, but telling yourself that youtrust yourself actually saying
it, writing it down and puttingit in front of you, and it's
something about doing that takesit from you know, this part to
taking it down to your heart,absolutely so, because a lot of
times we think, oh, I'm justoverthinking, I don't know why
(14:40):
it's a trust thing.
Shana Lewis (14:41):
At the end, like, oh man, you don't trust yourself
to move into that right, thedecision, whatever you're
overthinking or the worst orwhatever.
But when you really sit downand you're like man, I, I can
trust me, I can, I can trustthese decisions, I make sound
decisions.
I've went over the information.
I'm a very detailed person.
I like information, give me thedetails, and I think, because
(15:03):
the work, I've went over theinformation.
I'm a very detailed person.
I like information, give me thedetails, and I think, because
the work I do is very detailed.
So I need all those things.
But sometimes I got to come outof the weeds and not be so
detailed.
But yes, it is one of thosethings that I have to just tell
myself like, hey, you can trustyourself to be a CEO and I say
that with everyone.
People do not.
I've learned a lot of peopledon't like referring to
themselves as CEOs because it'slike such a big responsibility,
(15:25):
like I don't know if I want todo, I just want to be an owner.
But I've been lately embracing,saying that I'm a CEO for my
business, because a lot ofpeople think like I don't want
to put that pressure on myself,but you are.
You're doing the work of a CEO.
You're doing the work of a CEO.
You're delegating, you'remaking decisions, you're
strategizing, you're doing allthese incredible things.
You're a CEO and you have seenthe path.
(15:48):
You have trusted yourself toget you to these different
levels in your business.
Greg Jones (15:52):
Well, I like that what you said, and I'm going to
tie it to your first key, whichwas trusting in God and saying,
yes, that I do believe thatthere are times in our life that
if you take and apply yourfirst principle- trusting.
God.
And then take your secondprinciple.
There are times where I believeGod does not give you a answer
(16:13):
yes or no, and that's becausehe's saying he trusts us
Absolutely.
If you trust yourself andbecause of your first key,
trusting in God now you canapply that trust.
Shana Lewis (16:26):
They go together, because if you're hearing him
and you're first, like I said,take it back to the first one,
then he's going to tell you whatto do, and so if you take
yourself out of it, then you cantrust yourself.
That's good of it, then you cantrust yourself.
That's good, yeah, so, and alot of times when we get outside
(16:46):
of trusting ourselves, wedidn't listen to some things
that we wasn't supposed to.
It could be us comparingourselves, it could be so many
other things that we're lookingat.
That's taking our focus off ofGod and that's our first thing.
And then we start trusting inall our systems and our own
abilities and who we are and allthese other things.
But if you take all that back,take it all off and go back to
(17:06):
your first principle, then whenyou're aligned and when you're
doing the things that you needto do, you can seriously trust
yourself because God's going togive you the next key.
Greg Jones (17:16):
Man?
What is your thing?
What is the next key man?
What is your thing?
What is the?
Shana Lewis (17:20):
next key and then I think the next key is creating
the success and the life thatyou want.
Ok, that's for you.
I think, oftentimes going backto the comparison, the comparing
your business, comparing yourpersonal life, and we think
(17:42):
what's the first things?
Money, what else?
People, money, status, allthose things.
But when you strip it down andyou really go back, I want
people to think about, like,what do you want?
Your business may not ever be amultimillion dollar business,
but you could be so happy withmaking a comfortable amount of
money where you're able totravel with your family, have
experiences, do the things thatyou want.
(18:04):
I think creating and curatingand I love the word curating
because you're creating, you'relooking at your life with
intention and saying whatmatters to me and I've been
doing a lot of work on myselflately.
I'm just saying what do youwant out of this business?
What do you want personally?
Take the business out of it.
What do you want out of thisbusiness?
What do you want personally?
Take the business out of it.
What do you want?
And for me, I want toexperience pleasure, and that's
(18:26):
traveling.
My family, my friends, thepeople I love, those are the
things that I'm going to cherishforever, and the money and
stuff will always come.
When you're doing the work andyou're being integral and you're
doing the things that you needto do.
I feel like I have that, butreally curating a life that you
want, what is meaningful to you,and not comparing yourself,
(18:47):
because we know that's the thiefof joy, but we do it.
We look at someone else'sbusiness, we'll look at someone
else's life and you'll be like,well, they got all these things
and they got all the bags andall the money, but do they have
peace?
Do they have their family andnot to say people can have it
all, I'm not saying that as wellbut do they have peace?
(19:08):
But at the surface level, whatdo you want your life to be and
what are your values?
And I think if you start withwhat your personal values are,
then you can build the life thatyou want and that's successful.
Greg Jones (19:29):
I love that.
I mean, and I think of thingsobviously in threes, but I'm
tying all three of thosetogether and it really sounds
like to me that you know puttingGod first, giving you, yes,
trusting in yourself, then thedesires that you have in your
heart.
As long as they line up withthose things, god doesn't have
any problem with that.
Shana Lewis (19:46):
No, he wants us to be successful.
Greg Jones (19:48):
And he wants us to be happy, and he wants us to
have a fulfilled life.
Shana Lewis (19:53):
A fulfilled life.
Greg Jones (19:53):
He wants us to have a fulfilled life and I'm
reminded that oftentimes,through seasons, you know, I'm
reminded that oftentimes,through seasons, through years,
you know, we lose people thatare close to us.
Sometimes we don't understandwhy, sometimes we think they
were too young and all that andI think and reflect it on my own
life sometimes, and, as you'retalking here, I want to live a
(20:14):
fulfilled life.
Shana Lewis (20:15):
Yeah.
Greg Jones (20:16):
And so having kind of these keys along the journey
kind of in my sights and keepingthem in mind is what keeps me
motivated.
Shana Lewis (20:25):
That's what motivates us when we go back to
values, like you said, likeunderstanding what your true
values are for your own life.
Like me, like I love my family,I love being integral.
I love my family, I love beingintegral, I love just.
(20:51):
You know being latelypracticing, being present, you
know experiencing moments,because you know, like I said,
you don't know, life is sofleeting, sometimes too, and, I
think, lately changing mymotivation.
I think originally, when you getin business, sometimes the
whole money thing can be like,no, I need money, I just I need
to get the money to do all thethings and then I'll be
successful.
But sometimes you, when youstep back and say, no, but truly
, what do you want?
Because, yes, you need money,we need to pay our bills.
But when I really started tolook at what I truly wanted,
(21:15):
what are my values and work fromthat place of my values, money
becomes the lesser focus, eventhough we know we need it.
But it takes the focus off ofit and you're just doing, you're
going back to what's yourprinciple, like, hey, god, I
trust you.
If, if you already said I'msupposed to do this business,
(21:35):
then you're going to take careof me, you're going to supply
all my needs.
That's already done.
And I think once we go back tothat like God being our source
and everything's going to betaken care of, then focus on the
work.
And I think this year we weretalking before the podcast about
I've seen an increase inrevenue this year you were like
what did you do differently?
And we were celebrating that.
(21:56):
And I think I was intentionaland in some sense, I took my
eyes off of the money a littlebit and started thinking about
hey, we're just going to work,we're just going to do it.
We'll see at the end.
And I surprised myself thisyear and it was just me being
(22:16):
intentional about my plans Like,okay, I'm going to do this.
I changed some systems withinmy business to make things a
little bit more simpler, alittle bit more streamlined, but
then at the end of it, I thinkI just said you know, we're just
going to do the work, I'm notgoing to make it all about, oh
my gosh, we got to do this andlook what everybody else is
doing.
Just work.
Greg Jones (22:36):
Well, I circled all back around to when you gave us
the initial in the beginning.
You are a planner and you had aplan and it feels like, as
you're talking today, whatresonates with me is because you
had done the plan and you had aplan.
When opportunities come thatlined up with your plan, it was
easy to say yes, absolutely,because of your first key, which
(22:59):
is I'm saying yes to the Lord,and then my second key, I'm
trusting myself, like it's alllining up.
I mean this is a powerful storyas you're, if you're walking us
through that, wow.
So I always ask all of ourguests this, because I want to
make sure, as we've been talking, anything else that you want to
share with our listeningaudience, anything that's come
(23:22):
to your mind that you'd like toshare.
Shana Lewis (23:27):
I'm going to just leave off with not being so hard
on yourself.
Experience some pleasure inyour life and rest.
I know this journey can be sohard sometimes and we kind of
lose focus and we just think,like you know, I got to work
harder, I got to do all thesethings.
But really taking time to bepresent and looking around you
(23:49):
and seeing what you have andlooking and having more
gratitude for your family andyour friends, that's one of the
things I can say.
Ending this year is not aboutgoing to next year and trying to
figure out oh, I need all themoney, how am I going to get all
the money?
How am I going to do this andwhatever.
You know, if that's your thing,that's fine, but for me it's
(24:10):
appreciating the people who'saround me and being so grateful
for my family and my friends andeven my professional groups of
people that stood with methroughout this journey.
I told you this Tailored planswas supposed to be a side
business, but just honoringthose that surround me and being
(24:31):
so grateful and giving myselfmy own kudos, Give yourself your
own props.
Sometimes Say congratulations,Don't move from thing to thing.
Make a celebration out ofsomething, Like I'm going to do
something because of this wholeto thing, make a celebration out
of something Like I'm going todo something because of this
whole revenue thing.
But I'm also going to do it ina place of I stuck to what I
said I was going to do and thatjust happened to you know.
You know, increase my revenueby just, you know, sticking to
(24:53):
my plan but just taking moretime to do things that you love
and it don't mean like you haveto take the fanciest trips, but
being present with your family,whatever that pleasure is, do
that and then rest, Like havesome time to rest.
You do more from rest.
Greg Jones (25:09):
Wow, that's who I may have to now.
Well, I'll say this.
So one thing you have topromise me is that you know at
some point we'll come back.
I don't know, it might be the100th episode, 150 episode, but
we'd love to stay in touch withyou.
Uh, make sure that you get achance to come back on, tell us
(25:31):
how you're doing.
Um, love to just keep incontact with you.
Somebody out there listeningthat was like I need to talk to
shannon now yes, how can?
people get in contact with you.
How can they look you up?
What's the best ways that?
Shana Lewis (25:43):
they can reach out.
This is a great time because Iget a lot of people who's like
hey, I want to get that businessstarted in the new year.
Perfect timing.
I'm here to talk to you, so youcan go to my website, which is
tailoredplansllccom.
Again, that istailoredplansllccom.
You can also reach me onInstagram and Facebook with
(26:03):
Tailored Plans and that's justthat as far as the names.
But I would love to talk withyou.
Let's look at your business,let's see what we can do.
Let's get everything in orderso that you can be prosperous
and create the life that youwant in your own way.
Greg Jones (26:18):
Wow.
Well, thank you so much again,shana, for being here, and we
invite all of our guests tuneinto our next episode, next
episode of Three Keys for yourJourney.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Thanks for joining Three Keys for your Journey.
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