January 31, 2023 • 13 mins
What do you do when you create a podcast called Breaking Up with Corporate and then you find yourself back in corporate?
Join me in this first episode of Perfection Not Required as I bring you up to speed with what life has looked like since wrapping up season one and pivoting back into corporate. We'll chat life updates, rebranding the show and what you can expect from the upcoming season. Let's get into it!
Break free from the redundant admin of building your business and focus on the parts you love. | Grab your Ultimate Automations Guide for Coaches & Podcasters here!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jamie Stephens (00:03):
When I launched my podcast breaking up with
corporate I was a few monthsinto his severance. I was trying
to figure out what's next, howto make money and how to show up
on social media. On top oflearning how to actually do all
the things, I was pushing mycomfort zone and expanding my
boundaries. And I spent a lot ofthe time examining the way my
brain and nervous systemresponded to the stress of
(00:24):
building an online business.
Even though I was totally inlove with the process of undoing
all that was holding me back, Iwasn't actually making any
money. Let's just get into it.
So the last time we talked, Ihad run out of money. And I was
going back into corporate and Ijust wanted to like, peel back
(00:45):
that time period for you,because I am going to get into
it in a future podcast episodeabout reframing. But let me just
tell you that I had the bestexperience about going back into
corporate after I had like alittle mini breakdown and felt
all the fields and all that goodstuff, it applied for a whole
bunch of jobs that I reallywould just couldn't find it
(01:08):
within myself to be interestedin. And I was a little I guess,
embarrassed at the time,whenever I was going back, you
know, like having to go throughthis job hunt. And it was just a
really kind of icky time,because I was still doing
everything to move forward in mybusiness, and the podcasts and
(01:30):
all of those things. And Ididn't want to stop. But also
like, there's reality where Ihad to actually go get a job and
bring in some money because oursituation had changed and the
runway was gone, the money wasout like, Okay, time to go find
a job, find some healthinsurance, all of those things.
So, after I had applied to likeseveral different positions
(01:55):
within supply chain, becausethat's where my expertise is, my
husband and I were actually likegoing on vacation. And like if
we wouldn't have lost all of ourdeposit money and all of the
things for the vacation, wewould not have gone because we
just didn't have the money. AndI didn't want to stress about
it. So like we just agreed thatlike, hey, the money's coming.
(02:16):
Like I don't want to go on thisvacation and like nickel and
dimed to death because that'sthat will just make me feel
really gross. So we just agreedto go and like have a good time.
And we just really enjoyedourselves. We traveled from our
home in Northwest Arkansas wentto flew into Savannah and stayed
a couple of days and then wentto Charleston and stayed a
(02:37):
couple of days and then went toFolly Beach. Just kidding. Folly
Beach was before Charleston. Butanyway, we went up the East
Coast, saw my brother in law andnephew, all those good things.
So that was a good time.
Meanwhile, in the background ofall this, I'm just like, half
heartedly applying to jobs thatindeed is recommending me. And I
ended up having one interviewwhile we were on vacation with
(03:01):
this recruiter, and I told herhow much money I was wanting to
make. And she's like, well,that's not an option. And I
said, Well, I'm not reallyflexible on that. My whole thing
is, if I'm going back then I'mgoing back for more money. And
I'm going to use the extra moneyto really kind of fund my dreams
and fund my projects that I'vegot going on. So making less
(03:23):
money or you know, that justwasn't an option. So I then had
an interview with Etsy, which Iwas like so stinking excited
about it was a remote position.
It was in transportation, whichlike that's a big chunk of my
(03:45):
experience. I thought I was aperfect fit for the job,
especially since I've had like,not only at the experience as a
shop owner, but as a consumerand all of this transportation
knowledge and multiple modes andall the things. The one thing I
didn't have was small parcel,which is like the UPS stuff,
(04:05):
which you know, I guess it'spretty important whenever it
comes to Etsy, but like my wholething was, I've got all every
single other transportationskill that there is like this is
just a transferable skill. Itwas ridiculous money, probably
because it was based out ofBrooklyn and I'm in Northwest
Arkansas. So like there's a bigdifference anyway. So I had like
(04:29):
three, two interviews with thatsee, and then didn't move
forward. And I was kind ofheartbroken but what it did
allow me was that like, notionthat there was something out
there that I could get excitedabout, like the first interview
that I had, I was just it wasfor some like some company that
(04:49):
makes fans and sells them intoWalmart like I had zero interest
in this fan business but like,Etsy got me excited. And what
that allowed even Though I endedup not getting the job with ESEA
allow me to dream like a littlebit like, okay, maybe this is
something that I can get excitedabout, like, what was it that
(05:11):
excited me about thisopportunity, and kind of just
let myself dream a little bit.
Anyway. So I ended up at acompany called Acosta. They are
the third company that Iinterviewed with the only
company that I made it past therecruiting type conversations.
Even with Etsy, I still nevergot to actually talk to Etsy, I
(05:32):
had two different interviewswith their screening people. And
then finally, I had my firstlike, in person interview,
probably about a month after Ireally started my job search, I
sat down with these gentlemen.
And they're like, Okay, if youcould do anything within the
supply chain, like, what wouldyou do? And I sat there, and I
(05:54):
thought about it for a minute.
And it didn't actually take longbecause this was a job that I
kind of dreamed up while I wasstill at Sam's Club. And I said,
Honestly, I would just like tosit with people and see what
they're doing. And then go awayand tinker and figure out all
the ways to take it apart andmake it better and make it more
(06:14):
efficient, and basically, tearit all down and put it back
together and make it better,which I realize now is kind of
like a really cocky answer,because that assumes that I know
how to make it better. But Imean, honestly, like, I have
those skills that's in mywheelhouse to do. And so we're
before, I probably would havelike, played that down a little,
(06:35):
I really just kind of went offfor it. I was 100%. Me in the
interview, I said what I wantedto say, and I told them what I
wanted, and it was just one ofthose things like, okay, they're
either gonna love me, or they'regonna hate me. And that's okay,
because I want to find a goodfit. At that point, it had been,
like, almost three years since Ihad set foot in an office. So I
(06:59):
was like, it really needs to bea good fit. Anyway, long story
short, I got that job. It didn'tstart for a few weeks, which was
even better. And let me kind ofwrap some things up, put the
podcasts in place and close outthe season all of those good
things. And so that's what I'vebeen doing. I am working in
(07:19):
supply chain, I have to say, Ihave shocked myself, but I
actually love it. And it'sbecause I'm basically getting to
do exactly what I said I wantedto do. Like I'm taking apart the
processes, I'm puttingeverything back together, I'm
(07:41):
automating stuff that kind ofefficiency does kind of makes my
little geeky brain and heartjust like swell. I love it.
Anyway, so that's been really,really good. Okay, so there's
all of that that's happening inthe background since Season One
came to a close. So really, as Istarted thinking about season
(08:05):
two, I'm like, well, obviously,it can't be breaking up with
corporate because hearing himback at corporate. And so that
kind of led to the name change,which led to a deep dive of
learning around like how to makethe podcast better, and how to
really grow a podcast, becauselast year was really just about
(08:27):
learning to do the thing. I havelearned to make peace with this
messy everything. And it's sotrue that you just have to have
something to edit. Because had Inot started this podcast, I
wouldn't even begin to be ableto have the bandwidth to not
only learn how to do thepodcast, but also how to make it
(08:50):
really good. So I think there'ssomething in that too, because
that's feels like something thatI'm maturing around in my
business journey is allowing thespace to learn and create and
build in the appropriate phases.
(09:12):
Like sometimes I just want toget it all done, because I'm
really excited and I want to bereally good. And then I want to
do this and I want to do that.
And what it does is it just kindof keeps me stuck. Because I
want it to be such this perfectversion whenever I put it out
that it's just not reallyrealistic. And then anyway, I'm
off on a tangent. So when I wasin my like, deep dive of how to
(09:35):
grow a show and make thingsbetter, what I began to learn
was about having clarity aroundwhat you're talking about, which
you know, I did to a point, butthere was this exercise I heard
(09:57):
I cannot think of the guy'sname. I can link it in the show
notes, but he's an NPR PodcastProducer. And he's produced all
kinds of shows. Really, reallysmart dude. And he was talking
about the best way to getclarity around your show and who
you're talking to. And all ofthose things is you have a 10
(10:18):
word description. So like, howcan you describe in 10 words,
your podcast where it's nobodyelse's in the world? Okay, so
like nobody else's in the world.
I don't know about all that. ButI did manage to get down to 11
words, and I think it's reallyspecific. So my 11 words are
exploring conversations betweeninner healing and building an
(10:44):
online business. Oh, 10. Lookhow good I am. Anyway, so I've
got my 10 word description, ithas brought clarity. But also
with that, it's kind of made mego back and redo a bunch of
things that like emailsequences, and Calendly,
invites, and all that sort ofthing to where it didn't do them
(11:07):
in the right order. So I'velearned some things, and I've
got some clarity, and I'mexcited about what's coming for
the future for season two. I'mexcited about the direction and
I really think that I'm gonnahave some really great, I've
already had some greatconversations. So we're gonna
get into mindset, obviously, Imean, that's kind of been my jam
(11:30):
this whole time. But we aregoing to do it around more of
the mindset of actually takingaction and moving beyond just
kind of spinning out and gettingstuck, that sort of thing. We're
going to talk about strategy,like, what are people doing to
grow their shows, theirpodcasts, their content, their
YouTube channels, like whateverit is that they have their
(11:54):
thing? How are they growing it?
What are kind of the hiccups?
What can they share that they'velearned, that we can really
benefit from? So it's somethingthat I've changed in my guest.
Kind of survey, whenever peoplereach out to me to be a guest on
the show, I am now asking, like,on your behalf, like what can
(12:15):
you teach my audience? This isthis is who I'm talking to? What
can you teach them? So I'mgetting a lot of clarity around
that. And it's exciting to havethat direction in the
conversation. I know, I've beenvery kind of off the cuff in the
past. And I still am, to adegree because I really do want
it to be more of a conversation.
(12:35):
But having that direction of howit relates back to you guys like
how it relates back to theaudience, and how like what kind
of value I'm providing throughthis interview. And like, kind
of what's the point. That'swhere I'm getting to in this
season. So I'm excited aboutthat. And then we're also going
to do behind the scenes,primarily with my business, I'm
(12:57):
going to just, like bear it allwith the things that I'm doing
as far as this is what I'm doingin my podcasts. And this is how
I've changed my strategy foremail. And this is what I'm
automating so that you can too,because I know that as a content
creator, somebody who's puttingcontent out and somebody who is
a coach, or an educator orsomebody who's building an
(13:18):
online business, having thecurtain pulled back so that you
can see what is happeningbetween other people's systems
and kind of how they do thingscan be very eye opening. So I'm
excited about that. And withthat there will be an
announcement coming up forsecond quarter that leads into
(13:40):
that because I am also Yeah, Iguess it's not an announcement
if I tell you right now. Soanyway, just know that there's
something big coming secondquarter. And all of this is
really exciting. Thank you forbeing here. Thank you for
listening. I'm excited to beback. I've got a solo episode
(14:01):
again next week about thepatterns holding you back. We're
going to talk about my funpatterns that I have recognized
and how I'm doing thingsdifferently this year and for
the next couple of years, likehow that translates. And so I'm
excited about that. I'm excitedabout the interviews that I've
done, I think that you're goingto love them. There's some great
(14:23):
value coming and I'm excitedabout that the new direction of
the show. So thank you so much.
I will talk to you next week.
Bye bye
When I launched my podcast breaking up with
corporate I was a few monthsinto his severance. I was trying
to figure out what's next, howto make money and how to show up
on social media. On top oflearning how to actually do all
the things, I was pushing mycomfort zone and expanding my
boundaries. And I spent a lot ofthe time examining the way my
brain and nervous systemresponded to the stress of
(00:24):
building an online business.
Even though I was totally inlove with the process of undoing
all that was holding me back, Iwasn't actually making any
money. Let's just get into it.
So the last time we talked, Ihad run out of money. And I was
going back into corporate and Ijust wanted to like, peel back
(00:45):
that time period for you,because I am going to get into
it in a future podcast episodeabout reframing. But let me just
tell you that I had the bestexperience about going back into
corporate after I had like alittle mini breakdown and felt
all the fields and all that goodstuff, it applied for a whole
bunch of jobs that I reallywould just couldn't find it
(01:08):
within myself to be interestedin. And I was a little I guess,
embarrassed at the time,whenever I was going back, you
know, like having to go throughthis job hunt. And it was just a
really kind of icky time,because I was still doing
everything to move forward in mybusiness, and the podcasts and
(01:30):
all of those things. And Ididn't want to stop. But also
like, there's reality where Ihad to actually go get a job and
bring in some money because oursituation had changed and the
runway was gone, the money wasout like, Okay, time to go find
a job, find some healthinsurance, all of those things.
So, after I had applied to likeseveral different positions
(01:55):
within supply chain, becausethat's where my expertise is, my
husband and I were actually likegoing on vacation. And like if
we wouldn't have lost all of ourdeposit money and all of the
things for the vacation, wewould not have gone because we
just didn't have the money. AndI didn't want to stress about
it. So like we just agreed thatlike, hey, the money's coming.
(02:16):
Like I don't want to go on thisvacation and like nickel and
dimed to death because that'sthat will just make me feel
really gross. So we just agreedto go and like have a good time.
And we just really enjoyedourselves. We traveled from our
home in Northwest Arkansas wentto flew into Savannah and stayed
a couple of days and then wentto Charleston and stayed a
(02:37):
couple of days and then went toFolly Beach. Just kidding. Folly
Beach was before Charleston. Butanyway, we went up the East
Coast, saw my brother in law andnephew, all those good things.
So that was a good time.
Meanwhile, in the background ofall this, I'm just like, half
heartedly applying to jobs thatindeed is recommending me. And I
ended up having one interviewwhile we were on vacation with
(03:01):
this recruiter, and I told herhow much money I was wanting to
make. And she's like, well,that's not an option. And I
said, Well, I'm not reallyflexible on that. My whole thing
is, if I'm going back then I'mgoing back for more money. And
I'm going to use the extra moneyto really kind of fund my dreams
and fund my projects that I'vegot going on. So making less
(03:23):
money or you know, that justwasn't an option. So I then had
an interview with Etsy, which Iwas like so stinking excited
about it was a remote position.
It was in transportation, whichlike that's a big chunk of my
(03:45):
experience. I thought I was aperfect fit for the job,
especially since I've had like,not only at the experience as a
shop owner, but as a consumerand all of this transportation
knowledge and multiple modes andall the things. The one thing I
didn't have was small parcel,which is like the UPS stuff,
(04:05):
which you know, I guess it'spretty important whenever it
comes to Etsy, but like my wholething was, I've got all every
single other transportationskill that there is like this is
just a transferable skill. Itwas ridiculous money, probably
because it was based out ofBrooklyn and I'm in Northwest
Arkansas. So like there's a bigdifference anyway. So I had like
(04:29):
three, two interviews with thatsee, and then didn't move
forward. And I was kind ofheartbroken but what it did
allow me was that like, notionthat there was something out
there that I could get excitedabout, like the first interview
that I had, I was just it wasfor some like some company that
(04:49):
makes fans and sells them intoWalmart like I had zero interest
in this fan business but like,Etsy got me excited. And what
that allowed even Though I endedup not getting the job with ESEA
allow me to dream like a littlebit like, okay, maybe this is
something that I can get excitedabout, like, what was it that
(05:11):
excited me about thisopportunity, and kind of just
let myself dream a little bit.
Anyway. So I ended up at acompany called Acosta. They are
the third company that Iinterviewed with the only
company that I made it past therecruiting type conversations.
Even with Etsy, I still nevergot to actually talk to Etsy, I
(05:32):
had two different interviewswith their screening people. And
then finally, I had my firstlike, in person interview,
probably about a month after Ireally started my job search, I
sat down with these gentlemen.
And they're like, Okay, if youcould do anything within the
supply chain, like, what wouldyou do? And I sat there, and I
(05:54):
thought about it for a minute.
And it didn't actually take longbecause this was a job that I
kind of dreamed up while I wasstill at Sam's Club. And I said,
Honestly, I would just like tosit with people and see what
they're doing. And then go awayand tinker and figure out all
the ways to take it apart andmake it better and make it more
(06:14):
efficient, and basically, tearit all down and put it back
together and make it better,which I realize now is kind of
like a really cocky answer,because that assumes that I know
how to make it better. But Imean, honestly, like, I have
those skills that's in mywheelhouse to do. And so we're
before, I probably would havelike, played that down a little,
(06:35):
I really just kind of went offfor it. I was 100%. Me in the
interview, I said what I wantedto say, and I told them what I
wanted, and it was just one ofthose things like, okay, they're
either gonna love me, or they'regonna hate me. And that's okay,
because I want to find a goodfit. At that point, it had been,
like, almost three years since Ihad set foot in an office. So I
(06:59):
was like, it really needs to bea good fit. Anyway, long story
short, I got that job. It didn'tstart for a few weeks, which was
even better. And let me kind ofwrap some things up, put the
podcasts in place and close outthe season all of those good
things. And so that's what I'vebeen doing. I am working in
(07:19):
supply chain, I have to say, Ihave shocked myself, but I
actually love it. And it'sbecause I'm basically getting to
do exactly what I said I wantedto do. Like I'm taking apart the
processes, I'm puttingeverything back together, I'm
(07:41):
automating stuff that kind ofefficiency does kind of makes my
little geeky brain and heartjust like swell. I love it.
Anyway, so that's been really,really good. Okay, so there's
all of that that's happening inthe background since Season One
came to a close. So really, as Istarted thinking about season
(08:05):
two, I'm like, well, obviously,it can't be breaking up with
corporate because hearing himback at corporate. And so that
kind of led to the name change,which led to a deep dive of
learning around like how to makethe podcast better, and how to
really grow a podcast, becauselast year was really just about
(08:27):
learning to do the thing. I havelearned to make peace with this
messy everything. And it's sotrue that you just have to have
something to edit. Because had Inot started this podcast, I
wouldn't even begin to be ableto have the bandwidth to not
only learn how to do thepodcast, but also how to make it
(08:50):
really good. So I think there'ssomething in that too, because
that's feels like something thatI'm maturing around in my
business journey is allowing thespace to learn and create and
build in the appropriate phases.
(09:12):
Like sometimes I just want toget it all done, because I'm
really excited and I want to bereally good. And then I want to
do this and I want to do that.
And what it does is it just kindof keeps me stuck. Because I
want it to be such this perfectversion whenever I put it out
that it's just not reallyrealistic. And then anyway, I'm
off on a tangent. So when I wasin my like, deep dive of how to
(09:35):
grow a show and make thingsbetter, what I began to learn
was about having clarity aroundwhat you're talking about, which
you know, I did to a point, butthere was this exercise I heard
(09:57):
I cannot think of the guy'sname. I can link it in the show
notes, but he's an NPR PodcastProducer. And he's produced all
kinds of shows. Really, reallysmart dude. And he was talking
about the best way to getclarity around your show and who
you're talking to. And all ofthose things is you have a 10
(10:18):
word description. So like, howcan you describe in 10 words,
your podcast where it's nobodyelse's in the world? Okay, so
like nobody else's in the world.
I don't know about all that. ButI did manage to get down to 11
words, and I think it's reallyspecific. So my 11 words are
exploring conversations betweeninner healing and building an
(10:44):
online business. Oh, 10. Lookhow good I am. Anyway, so I've
got my 10 word description, ithas brought clarity. But also
with that, it's kind of made mego back and redo a bunch of
things that like emailsequences, and Calendly,
invites, and all that sort ofthing to where it didn't do them
(11:07):
in the right order. So I'velearned some things, and I've
got some clarity, and I'mexcited about what's coming for
the future for season two. I'mexcited about the direction and
I really think that I'm gonnahave some really great, I've
already had some greatconversations. So we're gonna
get into mindset, obviously, Imean, that's kind of been my jam
(11:30):
this whole time. But we aregoing to do it around more of
the mindset of actually takingaction and moving beyond just
kind of spinning out and gettingstuck, that sort of thing. We're
going to talk about strategy,like, what are people doing to
grow their shows, theirpodcasts, their content, their
YouTube channels, like whateverit is that they have their
(11:54):
thing? How are they growing it?
What are kind of the hiccups?
What can they share that they'velearned, that we can really
benefit from? So it's somethingthat I've changed in my guest.
Kind of survey, whenever peoplereach out to me to be a guest on
the show, I am now asking, like,on your behalf, like what can
(12:15):
you teach my audience? This isthis is who I'm talking to? What
can you teach them? So I'mgetting a lot of clarity around
that. And it's exciting to havethat direction in the
conversation. I know, I've beenvery kind of off the cuff in the
past. And I still am, to adegree because I really do want
it to be more of a conversation.
(12:35):
But having that direction of howit relates back to you guys like
how it relates back to theaudience, and how like what kind
of value I'm providing throughthis interview. And like, kind
of what's the point. That'swhere I'm getting to in this
season. So I'm excited aboutthat. And then we're also going
to do behind the scenes,primarily with my business, I'm
(12:57):
going to just, like bear it allwith the things that I'm doing
as far as this is what I'm doingin my podcasts. And this is how
I've changed my strategy foremail. And this is what I'm
automating so that you can too,because I know that as a content
creator, somebody who's puttingcontent out and somebody who is
a coach, or an educator orsomebody who's building an
(13:18):
online business, having thecurtain pulled back so that you
can see what is happeningbetween other people's systems
and kind of how they do thingscan be very eye opening. So I'm
excited about that. And withthat there will be an
announcement coming up forsecond quarter that leads into
(13:40):
that because I am also Yeah, Iguess it's not an announcement
if I tell you right now. Soanyway, just know that there's
something big coming secondquarter. And all of this is
really exciting. Thank you forbeing here. Thank you for
listening. I'm excited to beback. I've got a solo episode
(14:01):
again next week about thepatterns holding you back. We're
going to talk about my funpatterns that I have recognized
and how I'm doing thingsdifferently this year and for
the next couple of years, likehow that translates. And so I'm
excited about that. I'm excitedabout the interviews that I've
done, I think that you're goingto love them. There's some great
(14:23):
value coming and I'm excitedabout that the new direction of
the show. So thank you so much.
I will talk to you next week.
Bye bye
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