September 18, 2023 • 43 mins
Ever felt trapped in the rigid confines of a 9-5 job that offers little to no flexibility? Meet Annelise Worn, a business strategist and agency CEO who managed to transform failing work-life balance into a flourishing business. Listen to her inspiring story of leadership, systems, and the ultimate journey to freedom.
Discover how Annelise, from her in-laws' kitchen table, built a business without any prior business know-how. Learn the power of systems, policies, and procedures that turned her team into a powerhouse of productivity. We delve into how a change in her reading list, podcasts, and conversations reshaped her insights and learning. On a more personal note, uncover the sweet spot between family life and work she found amidst the pandemic, all thanks to systems and structures that gave her the freedom to enjoy life.
As a leader, it's important to care for your self, set boundaries, and lead by example. Annalise opens up on how she treats herself like a million-dollar racehorse to achieve peak performance, with her unique system of professional development, strategic thinking, and life GPS document. Are you ready to break free from fear, embrace change, and start your leadership growth journey? This episode is for you.
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
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Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the podcast designed
to help leaders intentionallygrow and thrive.
Here is your host author andleadership and executive coach,
dr William Attaway.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey, it's William and welcome to today's episode of
the Catalytic Leadership podcast.
Each week, we tackle a topicrelated to the field of
leadership.
My goal is to ensure that youhave actionable steps you can
take from each episode to growin your own leadership.
Growth doesn't just happen.
My goal is to help you becomeintentional about it.
(00:37):
Each week, we spotlight leadersfrom a variety of fields,
organizations and locations.
My goal is for you to see thatleaders can be catalytic, no
matter where they are or whatthey lead.
I draw inspiration from thestories and journeys of these
leaders, and I hear from many ofyou that you do too.
Let's jump in to today'sinterview.
(00:59):
I'm so excited today to haveAnnalise Warren on the podcast.
Annalise empowers digitalbusiness owners to create true
freedom in their lives bybuilding systems into their
business.
She's a business strategist andan agency CEO, wife and mom of
four little ones.
After being denied afamily-friendly work schedule in
(01:20):
2016, annalise built a highlysuccessful agency from her
in-laws kitchen table, but hadno idea how to run a business
and created a virtual prison forherself.
Now she teaches the sevensimple systems that allowed her
to break free, avoid burnout andtransform her business into one
(01:41):
that allows her to workpart-time, give back homeschool
her kids with her husband andenjoy their self-built beachside
home.
Annalise also shares herinsight as host of the Mom Style
Business Podcast and the ImpactBusiness Show.
Annalise, I'm so excited you'rehere.
Thanks for being on the show.
Thank you so much for having me, william.
(02:03):
I would love for you to sharesome of your story with our
listeners, particularly aroundyour journey and your
development as a leader.
How did you get started?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I didn't, I think, is the short that's in my
development as a leader.
I think I realized really latethat actually that was really
important.
I think a lot of us do.
If we start our businesses,we're just like I know how to do
this thing and I can do itbetter and I don't have to go
through the middleman and I'mjust going to like start this
(02:37):
thing and let's do it.
That's what at least that waswhat I did, and a lot of the
people that I speak to aresimilar.
Then, as you grow, you realize,depending on the role that
you're going to take, but for me, I didn't want to do the doing
for everyone.
I wanted to hire people to dothe doing.
I think my days were full ofmeetings for months, like with
(03:00):
my team and with people.
I was like but I'm not doingany work, I'm not doing any work
, I'm just like I'm always inmeetings and I'm never actually
working.
Then I was like, oh, people aremy job now.
So true.
I was such a it hit me reallylate.
It was only then, honestly, andprobably the last, I don't know
(03:25):
two years, three years that Iwant to say two years that I've
been actively focused on my roleas a leader.
But yeah, I was a little slowto the party.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I think that you've just illustrated what I see so
often, and that is that leaders,high performance leaders they
think man, leaders get thingsdone, we get things done.
That's just not true.
Leaders get things done throughother people.
That's where you found.
Oh my goodness, now it's notabout my execution, it's about
(04:01):
working through and investing inthem to get this done.
What was that like?
What was that journey like asyou started to come to that
realization?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Oh, my whole business changed.
Then I wanted to highlight howsilly this was, that it hadn't
occurred to me, because beforethis I was managing a national
training company.
I had managed teams before, soI knew what that looked like.
But I just didn't draw the dotsbetween corporate land and
entrepreneur land, because Istarted from me.
(04:31):
I started from zero again.
So what did that look like?
That really changed thestructure of the team and
setting them up to succeed andshowing them what good looked
like, because I realized thateverything that they did was
actually a reflection of me andmy leadership.
(04:52):
And so if they weren'tperforming, it wasn't that they
weren't performing, it's that Iwasn't helping them to perform,
I wasn't allowing them tosucceed, I wasn't giving them
the right tools, and so thatmeant that we developed systems,
we put policies and proceduresand checklists like every single
thing in our business had achecklist.
I kept saying for like monthsyou don't do it.
(05:15):
If it doesn't have a checklist,like literally, it doesn't get
done.
So that means we create thechecklist, so it gets done.
I love that and really creatingvideos for everything.
I don't know how many timesthat statement came out of my
mouth.
You don't do it Because theywere just doing a little things.
We were busy, you had the teamof nine and so there was a lot
(05:37):
to do.
So people were just like no, no, no, we're going slow, we need
to do things well and thereforeyou don't do it if it doesn't
have a checklist and I need toapprove the checklist and then
creating just really greatsystems and changing the support
.
So we actually increased ourmeetings but made them shorter.
(05:58):
We changed the format of those.
Therefore, in order to make allof that happen and bring that to
life, my learning reallychanged.
So I shifted to the types ofbooks I was reading, the podcast
I was listening to.
My insight shifted.
Like the conversations that Iwas having was different.
(06:19):
I put myself in different roomswith different kind of people,
because the execution piece, themarketing piece, which is kind
of where you kind of sit whenyou start your business, because
you're like, hang on, I need toactually bring an income here
that becomes the easy part.
Actually, once you have thatformula, the marketing, sales
(06:41):
part becomes the easy part and,depending where you are in
business, that can soundcompletely unbelievable, but
it's actually like what?
The making money part's theeasy part.
Yeah, once you crack it likeyeah, it can be a nut to crack
Once it's cracked, then actuallythe execution and doing that
with excellence and managingyour team and making sure that
(07:06):
they're happy and they stay thatbecomes the more difficult
piece, because we're people,right?
So my child just woke up andinterrupted the interview
because he's not a little robotand didn't sleep to lose normal
sleep time today.
But people are the same, we'renot robots.
And so when you're dealing withclients, who are people, who
have expectations and team, whohave lives and make mistakes,
(07:28):
and the whole mess of peoplelaying together, then managing
that and making that a smoothprocess and keeping everybody
happy and leading the vision ofwhere you're actually going and
maintaining everything thatbecomes the job.
So yeah, it was.
(07:50):
That journey for me was a littlebit of all of those things and
continues right, we don't stopthat.
We don't arrive and go.
I'm the best, I'm a leader.
Now I've nailed it.
It's good as it gets.
We need to continue thatprocess.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So well said, and in the middle of all of that,
you're married, you have fourkids and you all homeschool them
.
Now we've been homeschoolingfor going on 15, 16 years now
Our kids from kindergartenthrough high school and now one
in college and the other one inhigh school.
That is not an easy road.
(08:30):
How do you balance all of that?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Definitely the tips from you.
We've only been homeschoolingfor one year, so we've always
worked online, but it was onlyduring the pandemic that we kind
of got opened up to thepossibility of homeschooling.
And we didn't homeschool, theywere enrolled in private
Christian school like they werein school.
And then I realized over a yearago maybe 18 months ago, nearly
(09:02):
not quite that it just wasn'tfun, Like it wasn't, I was hang
on.
Let me back up a little.
So 2020 for us actually wasfine.
I was pregnant with my fourthchild.
We live in a regional coastaltown, so, even though our state
had like the highestrestrictions in the entire world
(09:23):
because we were regional, itmeant that we just got lots of
family time.
We worked from home.
So you know, it was it for usand my introverted self.
2020, given where we werelocated and our circumstance was
not a hard year for us.
We like enjoyed thatintroverted, like family time.
(09:45):
It was really fulfilling for usas a family and I feel bad
saying that because I know thatthe total opposite was true for
so many, but that was ourreality at that time.
And then 2021, I had my baby atthe end of 2020.
2021, everything opened up.
My husband was building ourhouse like seven days a week, 15
(10:06):
hours a day.
So I had a newborn, I had thebusiness to run, I had three
other kids in and out oflockdown and homeschooling and
back and forwards, and basicallyno husband.
Because we had to finish ourhouse that year because of
insurance and all of the otherreasons that you know.
We had a building permit, so wewere on a deadline for 2021 and
it was really really, really,really, really hard, Like, like,
(10:30):
like it's light at the end ofthe tunnel going, like I'm going
to survive, Like it's okay,Like 2021 was really hard and we
also had really great growth inthe business that year.
So it was just, it was a lotLike seriously, only God got me
through that.
Like it was a hard year.
And then 2022 came and we wereall everything come back to
(10:51):
normal.
My husband was home with us,but I was working so much
because I finally could, Ifinally didn't have to do
everything myself, and so Ireally poured myself into the
business and I was working a lot.
But the kids were at schoolagain and there was just so many
balls and I was like this isn'tactually fun, Like, like
dropping the kids at school.
(11:11):
I have a business because Ilike the freedom of the schedule
, but I don't have a freeschedule because I have to this
one's at kindergarten and thisone's at this time, and today
it's book week and this way I'vegot, you know, I've got this
lunch and sports and like thisis like not my idea of a good
time.
And so so we thought about hangon, what are we actually doing
(11:35):
here and what do we want tocreate for for our lives, and
what does that actually looklike?
And we design our lives in somany different ways.
But in this way I feel like I'msquishing myself into a box.
And now, that's not true foreveryone, but just for me.
It wasn't a good fit, and maybeone day it will be again, but
right now it wasn't.
So 2022 was the year of likefiguring it out.
(11:57):
We started homeschoolingmid-year, and then we my husband
was doing full-timehomeschooling, I was doing
full-time work and then we gotto the end of that year and he
was not quite himself, and so wereadjusted things and now we
both do a little bit ofeverything.
So I do, I work part-time, heworks part-time, we have the
(12:21):
kids like half the week each,and this for us now, plus the
baby's, like two and a half.
So we're not in that, you know,intense, sleepless, like you
know, spoon feeding kind ofstage.
And so for us, this year hasfelt just perfection.
(12:42):
Like the businesses, where itneeds to be, is growing how we
want it to be growing.
We're working the right amountfor us.
We've got the kids like yeah,so for us now that's how we
balance and juggle and we'reblessed to be able to do it
because of where the business isat and the things that we've,
you know, creating all of thosesystems and things we created so
(13:04):
many years ago.
Once you have thatinfrastructure, you can then
kind of play.
It's the structure that givesyou the freedom actually, and so
often we can, you know, ifwe're creative and free spirited
and we want to do our own thing, we really repel against the
structure, but it's that thatallows you to then go hang on
(13:28):
Like what do I want it to looklike?
And, knowing all of thosethings are done, you can really
relax and enjoy life.
It's like that's where we'refinding ourselves now.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Yeah, I love that, annalise.
I think that is so fantastic.
I appreciate your transparencythere.
I think that what you aresaying is something that a whole
lot of people are listening toand saying is that really
possible?
You can really do that.
I love that you adopted the sametype of a mindset with your
family that you have adoptedwith your business, which is
(14:01):
that systems and structures giveyou freedom.
I found that to be so true.
I'm a systems guy and I findthat there is incredible freedom
inside of planning, inside ofsystems and structures, and I
love that.
That's where you are, and yourquestion that y'all asked is one
that I think every leader needsto ask, no matter where they
are and what they're doing.
What do we want our lives tolook like?
(14:25):
You get to decide, I get todecide.
Your choices may be differentthan mine around the systems and
the structures and what it'sgoing to look like and how we're
going to paint that picture.
That's okay.
But you get to make thatdecision for your family.
We made it for ours, like wehomeschooled, and that was a
decision that we made very earlyon because of some choices that
(14:47):
we wanted to be able to makelater, just like you did with
your systems and with yourstructures.
I think that's going to be sohelpful for so many people who
are listening to understand thatyou actually can do this.
I heard it said recentlywhatever you are not changing,
you are choosing.
So often we want to paintourselves with a victim mindset.
Very good, just what you get tochoose, I get to choose, we
(15:10):
decide, and whenever you're notgoing to change, you're choosing
.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Well, you're choosing .
I think sometimes it's becauseof the fear of whether we can do
it or the fear of the unknown.
It's more comfortable juststaying where you are, even if
you're not entirely happy there,it's familiar you know it.
(15:36):
So it's the fear of the unknown,but the fear that what you
actually want might actuallyhappen, and the ramifications of
that are not knowing them.
So, for example, we get what wechoose, which is totally true,
but then the fear of what if weactually choose the wrong thing?
Because for us I know that evenmore recently, we've decided
(16:01):
that we're going to spend, we'replanning for a year overseas
trip, like a really big roundthe world trip, and then that
just got really real for megoing, oh, I'm choosing that and
I'm choosing everything thatcomes along with that, like the
stress, the potential illness,like the danger, like the extra
you know, like all of that.
And then I was like oh, andlike the weight of it hit me.
(16:24):
Going, oh, the responsibilityof my kids and their education
actually is totally my fault.
Now, like, anything thathappens is totally.
I'm like oh, wow, that's reallybig, that's really big.
But that's why, like, I thinkthat the fear is kind of both
ways, right.
I think it's the fear that like, maybe we can't do it, maybe we
try and we fail and we fall onour face.
But also like what if wesucceed?
(16:44):
And what if?
Like, what are the actual, whatare the ramifications of that
thing, and because we yeah, whenwe choose, we say yes to that
thing, we say no to a thousandother things, and so we shut
those doors intentionally, andso I think that too can be scary
.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Absolutely, and but what you just said is exactly
what I teach my clients to do.
Flip the script instead of whatif we get sick?
What if we're in danger?
What if?
Hey, what if this succeedsbeyond our wildest dreams?
What would that look like?
Paint that picture for me, showme what that looks like, and
that's when you begin to feel,oh yeah, what if?
(17:24):
What if we don't often giveourselves freedom to do that?
Fear locks us in these chains,and I think there's a better way
.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Yeah, totally.
And I was speaking with mydaughter yesterday about going
to India and I was like, to behonest, that's really scary for
me and like, and then justunpacking all of that going.
Why is that so scary?
I'm going like it doesn't justbecause I'm terrified of the
thought of taking four youngchildren to my country.
I've never been in.
That seems so different.
(17:54):
It's just so different to, like, you know, white, middle class,
rural, like regional Australia,like totally the opposite,
completely the opposite.
Okay, there's a lot to unpackthere in terms of you know, but
just because I'm scared doesn'tmean we're not actually going to
do it anyway.
Because I don't think the fearit doesn't matter what we're
(18:16):
doing, whether we're travelingto India with your family or
you're starting a business orgrowing a business, or hiring a
team member or, you know,starting that new product or
reaching out to someone for acollaboration, partner or like
whatever.
The scary thing is the fear.
Just because the fear theredoesn't mean it's wrong and
doesn't mean you don't do itanyway.
(18:37):
I don't like.
The personal development andprofessional development that we
do as leaders should all bestrengthening that muscle, that
muscle where, yeah, we feel thefear.
We step anyway like it's okay,we're going to, if we know that
this is the right next step.
Just because it's not the easynext step doesn't mean we don't
(19:01):
do it Like we do it.
Maybe we gather support.
We, you know, look at itlogically and emotionally.
Do all the things you're goingto do.
You do your due diligence, butstep into if it's on the right
path, if it leads you to whereyou want to be, that what you've
said, that you want, if it's onthe path, then you've got to go
(19:21):
through it Like you just, youknow, do it.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
I just said once that courage is not the absence of
fear.
It's acting while you're afraid.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
I totally believe that.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
I think that, like that's something business owners
really struggle with, becausefear can cause them to just
remain stuck, stuck with an ideathat never gets pushed into
reality, stuck with a productthat never sees the light of day
, stuck with well, I can'texpand my team, because what if
I can't?
What if, what if, what if?
And they, just they, never move.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah, well, I guess that's then what's so helpful
about the work that you do.
Right, if you're flipping thatscript, then the excitement do
you find that?
Do you find that once theexcitement is bigger than the
fear, that like, what do youfind that helps to move people
through the fear?
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Exactly what you said .
When you flip the script andthey begin to paint the picture
of what could be the reality, ofwhat they inside want and hope
for but are almost afraid toenunciate, when they begin to
talk about it and it sees thelight of day, their entire body
language shifts, their facialexpression changes and all of a
(20:35):
sudden you can see the passionand the excitement begin to
break free and I say, hey, youknow what's going on right now.
You know what I'm seeing rightnow.
I'm seeing potential realizedand it's like it.
Just it wakes them up.
How exciting it is exciting.
(20:55):
I love it's.
One of the joys of what I getto do is to see leaders step
into something even thoughthey're afraid.
Fear can rob us of so much andI love that you're talking about
.
Hey, we're going to do this,even if I am afraid.
We're going to do it anyway.
That's so healthy.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
It doesn't make it comfortable, does it?
Speaker 1 (21:19):
It doesn't matter what we're doing Like yeah, at
all, at all.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
And yeah, like we said, growth and comfort don't
coexist ever.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
We need that on the wall, like stitched onto a
pillow or something.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
If I could put it on the inside of my eyelids, I
would, because I have to remindmyself of it that bad as
frequently as I'm the link.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Yeah well, I guess yeah, it's true, but I think,
yeah, yes, we're leaders and yes, we've got the vision and we're
going with.
That means we go first and sothat you know, I think we sign
up for that.
If you're going to be a leader,that's what you're signing up
for.
Actually is like you're goingfirst, you're going through the
jungle with the big machete,like you don't know what you're
(22:04):
going to come up against andyou're choosing that role and so
I kind of you know it's justgoing to come with it.
It is.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
It is.
And sometimes, when you'redoing that, when you are going
first, and you keep going firstand you keep pressing, you keep
pressing, you keep pressingSometimes people begin to
experience burnout and theybegin to feel like they're just
burning the candle at both endsand they've just got nothing
left.
Have you ever encountered that?
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Well, totally, totally, totally.
And with that came a totalrestructure of my business.
Right, it meant that actually Ihad to, like you were saying,
asking the question, what do weactually want?
Because I realized what Iactually wanted wasn't this you
know empire of an agency with,you know hundreds of clients and
(22:57):
you know massive team.
So I downsized, I downsized, Irestructured.
I spoke about this actually inan episode of the podcast
recently, but then that whatthat meant was that my profit
doubled and my work hours halved, like and.
(23:17):
So when you think about, whenyou say it like that, you're
like well, of course that waslike, of course you should.
But when you're in growth mode,you're not necessarily looking
at profit, you're going yeah,all the profit goes back into
the business because I know whatI'm building.
And then I realized, hang on,like this is not actually
fulfilling me.
(23:37):
What I thought I wanted isn'twhat I want.
And and that's not wrong, right, we get to try and we get to
experiment as business leaders.
That's like we're going to trythings that aren't going to be
going to work out, or they'regoing to work out, and we
realize actually, the reward ofthat is that I learn what I
don't want, and that's fine too,right, unless you stay there.
(23:59):
Unless you stay there, it'sfine.
And so, yeah, I did.
I totally got to that pointwhere I forgot to pick my
daughter up from from kinder.
I, just I, totally I picked upmy kids, my kids, from school so
fast.
Kindergarten is like preschoolpreschool yeah, I've got her.
(24:24):
I drove home and I was like Igot a call like you're half an
hour late, to be like, oh, thisis not good, emergency break,
emergency break.
And I laugh now, right, butthat was honestly like she
wasn't in danger, but it waslike my rock bottom moment as a,
as a mother, going like, oh,that is not good, like just what
?
How did I get here?
I said that I started mybusiness for my kids.
(24:45):
How the heck did I get here?
And so, yeah, so that fully wasjust started, this evolution of
trying things differently andrestructuring the business and
led to where we are now, whichis, you know, but it comes from
hard choices because you can'tjust at least for me as the
(25:08):
owner, the only sole incomeearner I couldn't just stop
doing what I was doing and andjust start this new by a very
like we still have, you know,mortgage and food to like, buy
and all of the things.
And so again, being a leaderand going hang on, how can we
actually do this?
How do we transition clientsout?
(25:29):
How do we shift down gears onthis thing and shift up gears on
the thing that's going to bemore scalable, that's going to
give me the joy and the freedomthat I say that I want, but then
I'm not actually walkingtowards.
So, yeah, I've been there and Ithink it's not so many of us do.
Right, we say yes to everythingand we charge too little and we
take on the world and thenwe're like oh, hang on, I'm not
(25:50):
Superman for comfy Superman forso many years, superwoman.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Oh true, we do not have kids hanging in our closets
, correct?
Are there things that youlearned in that process, like
some keys or some principles toto having a business without
getting to that point of burnout?
Speaker 3 (26:14):
For me, it was about looking at the calendar and
putting in me first, puttingwell-being in first, and so
going what is that actually?
What are the things that lightme up that I want to be doing?
Okay, I want to exercise sixdays a week.
For me, that's really important.
I need to move my body.
I need to take that time tofill my cup so that I can be the
best wife, best friend, bestclient, best CEO, best
(26:38):
everything that I can be.
I need to do that for myselfand just putting those other
things in that are reallyimportant right Time with the
family, date night with myhusband, weekends away, massages
, when I want to, like justwhatever those things are for
you, what they are for me,probably like they're going to
be different, right, but puttingthose actually on the calendar
first, when do I want to work?
(26:59):
And then reframing everythingfrom that, going okay, this is
when I want to work, then, andthis is how much I want to earn,
then what are the offers thatactually align with both of
those things?
And then, what is the simplestway to get in front of more
people, the simplest way tonurture those people and sell to
(27:21):
those people?
Because that was then theanswer of like, how do we build
this thing?
What are the systems we need?
Because this is the time I haveto work with and that's
non-negotiable I'm drawing bigfat, you know, boundaries around
those things and no one's goingto uphold those boundaries
except for me.
I can't expect other people touphold my boundaries because
(27:43):
they're not going to.
And so again, like, be strongin leadership and say no, like
you have to say no, which for uswho are service providers, is
really uncomfortable, because wepeople pleases and we want to
serve, but we can't if we get tothe place of burnout, which is
like actually we're serving themby saying no, because we can
(28:03):
actually serve them better if weknow what our boundaries are
and uphold them.
And so, yeah, coming up withthose times, the offer, often
that is a high ticket product,because high ticket means you
get paid what you want, you'veactually given them the ultimate
(28:23):
solution, not a bandaid, andtherefore they get better
results.
And so therefore, you getbetter testimonials, more
referrals, and so that highticket product and a really
simple marketing strategy wherewe're just doing one way to get
in front of people, one way tonurture them, one way to sell,
and doing that really well andrepeatedly for me was how I
(28:46):
started to move my way out ofthat place.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
That's so good.
You know it feels a littleweird maybe for somebody who's
listening to hear you say youput your well-being first, like
your personal well-being,because you're like wait a
minute.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Wait a minute.
Shouldn't you put other?
Speaker 2 (29:01):
people Like shouldn't you put you know, like
everything else has to comebefore you.
Aren't you last?
Yeah, no, yeah.
It's like when you fly on aplane, right, and they're going
over the safety instructions andthey tell you, hey, make sure
if the oxygen mass drops, youput it on yourself first, then
put it on the people who aretraveling with you, on your kids
and whatnot.
(29:22):
It feels so wrong, but youcan't help anybody if you're not
in a healthy place.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Yeah, I heard an analogy once and I can't
remember who said it, so I keepsaying this if you know who said
it, let me know.
That would be great, then I canactually truth them, because I
said I recognize this like oncea week.
It's the analogy of themillion-dollar racehorse right
have you heard this no.
And so you think about thismillion-dollar racehorse like
(29:50):
this.
Like how is this racehorsetreated?
Like what do they do to makethis a million-dollar racehorse?
Well, they do not like make itwork all night and train every
day, all day, every day, andjust make it survive on coffee
and wine and chocolate, and like.
No, this racehorse is just like, works hard when it works hard,
(30:11):
rests appropriately, has thecorrect nutrition, has all like
do you know what I mean?
It's looked after.
Why?
Because it's expected toperform.
So how on earth can we expectourselves to perform if we're
treating ourselves like crap?
Do you know what I mean?
Like working 18 hours a day andjust more coffee, that'll do it
(30:32):
.
Like no, I don't need to, youknow.
Just actually know.
Like just it doesn't, itdoesn't correlate.
I heard that and that likereally hit home so hard for me
going.
Oh, of course.
Okay, great, got it Like noted.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
That's really good, I like.
I've never heard that before.
That's really good.
There's so many implications ofthat.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
I know, and we're all tempted, right, we have a even
now with my you know what I sayis pretty good boundaries.
Still, I'll get excited about aproject like I'm just going to
work on this tonight or I'm justgoing to, you know, like now
close, now okay, stop.
No, you're not no.
So you've got to be your own,you've got to parent yourself a
little bit for your own.
(31:18):
That's good You're going to bed, yeah, that's right, Elith.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
what do you think is the number one job you have as
the CEO?
Speaker 3 (31:33):
This is such a hard question, goodness One.
Well, if we're lead, our job isto go first.
Right, our job is to go first,and so that means that we are
looking after ourselves Like wehave to.
We have to lead with that.
How do we get performance fromourselves?
Well, it's the same way thatteam are going to get
(31:54):
performance from themselves.
So we have to, we have to gofirst, we have to show, we have
to lead, we have to be theexample, and so I think that
means that we have, we havevision, we are, we know where
we're going and we're settingthe pace in all areas, and I
think that that's reallyholistic in terms of yeah, these
(32:17):
are the business practices,this is the standard that we
serve, this is what's expected,this is how we do things, but
also, you know, this is how wetreat people, this is how we
treat ourselves.
I think that's our job to gofirst, to be the example.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
How do you stay on top of your game?
I mean, you're constantlyhaving to level up right as you
find new levels in your business, with your home, with your
family.
How do you stay on top of that?
How do you constantly continuegrowing and learning?
Speaker 3 (32:52):
I have a system I love it.
Yeah, honestly, I live and dieby the calendar.
So there's a few things that Ido.
There is professionaldevelopment every day in terms
of that could be different books, podcasts, so many different
(33:13):
things, and with that, that isreally strategic.
So it depends on what I'mlearning.
It's not just oh yeah, I'mgoing to listen to the same Tim
Ferriss podcast or whatever itis.
It's going oh, hang on, I needto get better at negotiation or
I need to get better at Xstorytelling, and I'm going to
strategically find those sourcesand I'm going to learn, I'm
(33:37):
going to input from those things.
I'm going to actually justconsume, consume, consume every
day while I'm doing somethingelse Gym, driving, laundry.
They're typically while I'mlearning.
It's always why I'm doingsomething else.
Busy mom or a four here, right?
Speaker 2 (33:53):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
So you always have time for it because you can
combine it with something else.
And then I have strategicthinking time twice a week, so
literally half an hour twice aweek, where I sit down and for
five minutes just write whateverkind of comes to mind, like get
it all out, and then I pose aquestion to myself, which
(34:14):
there's, like I have it.
It could be a range ofquestions what's the one thing I
need to do to save more time?
What's the one person I couldhire to make this easier?
What would a consultant sayabout this area of my business?
Just, you ask a question that'sactually you've been thinking
(34:35):
about during the week and thenyou like literally just sit and
think and journal on thatquestion for, say, 20 minutes,
and once you're done, then yousummarize and you go okay, based
on this, what are the threeaction things that are going on
my calendar next week or thisweek?
And so that's the process.
(34:56):
I learned this from JohnMitchell from Think it Be it.
He was a mentor of mine, he hasa great podcast as well, and
this process, plus a reading myideal life to myself, this life
GPS document to myself, everymorning, it's like a 12 minute a
(35:17):
day thing, that just readingyour goals, reading the things
that you want to do, the personyou want to be, even as nitty
gritty as, like I give myhusband two compliments a day
like literally every area of mylife, of reading that to myself
every day, those three thingscombined what I do for myself,
(35:38):
including looking after my body,but that's how I keep fine
tuned.
What I'm doing is those threethings the professional
development, the thinking timeto process all of that like
learning time and action itemsto make sure that something
actually happens and we're notjust learning, we're actually
implementing and then stayingreally focused on the person I
(36:00):
want to be and the goals that Ihave every day.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
That sounds so incredibly intentional.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Super intentional.
I told you, structure createsfreedom.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Yes, we should put that on a pillow.
Yeah, that's brilliant.
Let's do it.
Out of all the books thatyou've read, is there a book
that you would recommend thatlisteners pick up, one that's
really made a difference in yourjourney?
Speaker 3 (36:30):
The first book in business book that I read was
Think Big, and I can't rememberwho it's by.
It's over there, I can't seethe spine.
You'll find it, you'll find it,I promise.
And I think that just opened myeyes to like, wow, we really
think too small, we really keepourselves, we underestimate what
(36:51):
we can do based on what we seearound us and what we've
experienced, which is natural,because we kind of can't do what
we haven't experienced or seen.
So, yeah, that book for me, Ithink, is a really good start.
If you're in the place of likeyou know, if you are not, or
just are unsure or feeling stuckand not sure what you want.
(37:14):
So I think that's a goodstarting point.
We should be asking you thatquestion.
Look at all of those books.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
I have a little bit of a book problem.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
Yeah, it's a good problem to have.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
I love to read.
I love to read Just constantly,all the time soaking in new
information, because there's somuch to learn.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
How do you answer that question?
Speaker 2 (37:36):
A book that has made a big difference in my life.
I'll tell you one that has.
You're the first I think youmay be the first guest that's
ever spun that around.
That's interesting.
One that I recommend so oftenthese days is actually a newer
book, but it made such an impacton me when I read it I now
recommend it a lot with clients.
It's a book called Soundtracks,and John Acuff is the author,
(37:59):
and what he writes about is howeach one of us has a soundtrack,
kind of like a movie.
You have the music that'splaying in the background.
We have soundtracks in ourminds that are constantly
repeating, and often it's thewords that somebody else has
said to us and they have becomea part of our soundtrack.
Or they're things that we sayto ourselves over and over again
and they become part of oursoundtrack.
(38:21):
So many of those soundtracksare broken, and the thing about
soundtracks is they can bereplaced.
It's choosing to have adifferent mindset, a different
soundtrack, and it's one that Irecommend a lot these days
because I found so much value init personally, because it
returns the agency to youinstead of to the people who
(38:43):
said those things or did thosethings.
The agency is yours.
You get to choose whetheryou're going to replace that
soundtrack.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Maybe that's the theme you get to choose.
It's the theme of the episode.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
Everyone there you go Well, which brings me to my
last question.
So typically, people are goingto leave an episode like this
and they're going to leave withone thing.
One thing is going to stick outto them.
If you were going to definewhat that one thing was going to
be that you want people to walkaway from this conversation
with you what would that onething be?
Speaker 3 (39:16):
Yeah, if it's not you get to choose, then I guess
it's no.
I think that's it actually,because it's true and we get
what we choose.
And we get one step back fromthat, which is the saying I've
(39:38):
heard a little bit around thetraps lately, which is we get
what we believe, and so I guessit's got a lines with the book,
that recommendation that yousaid right, like that thing
that's going around in our heads, we get what we believe and
because if we don't believe wecan have something, we're not
going to choose it, we're notgoing to go after it.
(40:00):
So, yeah, everything stems fromthat, because even if you do
the actions that you're actuallyjust not going to do the
actions, if you don't believe it, you don't choose it, you're
not going to implement.
So you can listen to all of thestrategy that we talked about
today, but you have to decide,like, what is that thing that
(40:22):
I'm going for?
What is that?
What mountain do I want toclimb up?
What does society want?
What does my partner want?
What did I want five years ago?
Because we're going to changeour mind, we're growing right
and so we should change our mind.
That's allowed.
We should change our mind, butdon't make that wrong.
So decide now what mountainyou're climbing up, Believe that
(40:42):
you can do it and choose Likethat, yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
I know folks are going to want to stay connected
with you and continue to learnfrom you.
What is the best way for themto do that?
Speaker 3 (40:54):
Probably come and say hi on Instagram.
It's at AnnaliseWorn, which isa weird spelling, so you're
going to have to look it up.
You're going to have to look inthe show notes.
I'm not going to spell it foryou now, it'll be a waste of
time.
But just on Instagram, come andsay hi, let me know where you
know that you found to be here.
(41:15):
We can share our mutualaffinity for William here and
his podcast.
Yeah, we can chat there.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
And you have a.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
Facebook group too.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
I do, I do yes.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
That's awesome, so we'll have those links in the
show notes so folks can connectwith you there.
Annalise, thank you for yourtime and your generosity today
and sharing so much of you andyour journey with us.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's been really fun.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Thanks for joining me for this episode today.
As we wrap up, I'd love for youto do two things.
First, subscribe to thispodcast so you don't miss an
episode, and if you find valuehere, I'd love it if you would
rate it and review it.
That really does make adifference in helping other
people to discover this podcast.
Second, if you don't have acopy of my newest book,
(42:05):
catalytic Leadership, I'd loveto put a copy in your hands.
If you go tocatalyticleadershipbookcom, you
can get a copy for free.
Just pay the shipping so I canget it to you and we'll get one
right out.
My goal is to put this into thehands of as many leaders as
possible.
This book captures principlesthat I've learned in 20 plus
(42:27):
years of coaching leaders in theentrepreneurial space, in
business, government, nonprofits, education and the local church
.
You can also connect with me onLinkedIn to keep up with what
I'm currently learning andthinking about.
If you're ready to take a nextstep with a coach to help you
intentionally grow and thrive asa leader, I'd be honored to
(42:49):
help you.
Just go tocatalyticleadershipnet to book a
call with me.
Stay tuned for our next episodenext week.
Until then, as always, leaderschoose to be catalytic.
Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the podcast designed
to help leaders intentionallygrow and thrive.
Here is your host author andleadership and executive coach,
dr William Attaway.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey, it's William and welcome to today's episode of
the Catalytic Leadership podcast.
Each week, we tackle a topicrelated to the field of
leadership.
My goal is to ensure that youhave actionable steps you can
take from each episode to growin your own leadership.
Growth doesn't just happen.
My goal is to help you becomeintentional about it.
(00:37):
Each week, we spotlight leadersfrom a variety of fields,
organizations and locations.
My goal is for you to see thatleaders can be catalytic, no
matter where they are or whatthey lead.
I draw inspiration from thestories and journeys of these
leaders, and I hear from many ofyou that you do too.
Let's jump in to today'sinterview.
(00:59):
I'm so excited today to haveAnnalise Warren on the podcast.
Annalise empowers digitalbusiness owners to create true
freedom in their lives bybuilding systems into their
business.
She's a business strategist andan agency CEO, wife and mom of
four little ones.
After being denied afamily-friendly work schedule in
(01:20):
2016, annalise built a highlysuccessful agency from her
in-laws kitchen table, but hadno idea how to run a business
and created a virtual prison forherself.
Now she teaches the sevensimple systems that allowed her
to break free, avoid burnout andtransform her business into one
(01:41):
that allows her to workpart-time, give back homeschool
her kids with her husband andenjoy their self-built beachside
home.
Annalise also shares herinsight as host of the Mom Style
Business Podcast and the ImpactBusiness Show.
Annalise, I'm so excited you'rehere.
Thanks for being on the show.
Thank you so much for having me, william.
(02:03):
I would love for you to sharesome of your story with our
listeners, particularly aroundyour journey and your
development as a leader.
How did you get started?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I didn't, I think, is the short that's in my
development as a leader.
I think I realized really latethat actually that was really
important.
I think a lot of us do.
If we start our businesses,we're just like I know how to do
this thing and I can do itbetter and I don't have to go
through the middleman and I'mjust going to like start this
(02:37):
thing and let's do it.
That's what at least that waswhat I did, and a lot of the
people that I speak to aresimilar.
Then, as you grow, you realize,depending on the role that
you're going to take, but for me, I didn't want to do the doing
for everyone.
I wanted to hire people to dothe doing.
I think my days were full ofmeetings for months, like with
(03:00):
my team and with people.
I was like but I'm not doingany work, I'm not doing any work
, I'm just like I'm always inmeetings and I'm never actually
working.
Then I was like, oh, people aremy job now.
So true.
I was such a it hit me reallylate.
It was only then, honestly, andprobably the last, I don't know
(03:25):
two years, three years that Iwant to say two years that I've
been actively focused on my roleas a leader.
But yeah, I was a little slowto the party.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I think that you've just illustrated what I see so
often, and that is that leaders,high performance leaders they
think man, leaders get thingsdone, we get things done.
That's just not true.
Leaders get things done throughother people.
That's where you found.
Oh my goodness, now it's notabout my execution, it's about
(04:01):
working through and investing inthem to get this done.
What was that like?
What was that journey like asyou started to come to that
realization?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Oh, my whole business changed.
Then I wanted to highlight howsilly this was, that it hadn't
occurred to me, because beforethis I was managing a national
training company.
I had managed teams before, soI knew what that looked like.
But I just didn't draw the dotsbetween corporate land and
entrepreneur land, because Istarted from me.
(04:31):
I started from zero again.
So what did that look like?
That really changed thestructure of the team and
setting them up to succeed andshowing them what good looked
like, because I realized thateverything that they did was
actually a reflection of me andmy leadership.
(04:52):
And so if they weren'tperforming, it wasn't that they
weren't performing, it's that Iwasn't helping them to perform,
I wasn't allowing them tosucceed, I wasn't giving them
the right tools, and so thatmeant that we developed systems,
we put policies and proceduresand checklists like every single
thing in our business had achecklist.
I kept saying for like monthsyou don't do it.
(05:15):
If it doesn't have a checklist,like literally, it doesn't get
done.
So that means we create thechecklist, so it gets done.
I love that and really creatingvideos for everything.
I don't know how many timesthat statement came out of my
mouth.
You don't do it Because theywere just doing a little things.
We were busy, you had the teamof nine and so there was a lot
(05:37):
to do.
So people were just like no, no, no, we're going slow, we need
to do things well and thereforeyou don't do it if it doesn't
have a checklist and I need toapprove the checklist and then
creating just really greatsystems and changing the support
.
So we actually increased ourmeetings but made them shorter.
(05:58):
We changed the format of those.
Therefore, in order to make allof that happen and bring that to
life, my learning reallychanged.
So I shifted to the types ofbooks I was reading, the podcast
I was listening to.
My insight shifted.
Like the conversations that Iwas having was different.
(06:19):
I put myself in different roomswith different kind of people,
because the execution piece, themarketing piece, which is kind
of where you kind of sit whenyou start your business, because
you're like, hang on, I need toactually bring an income here
that becomes the easy part.
Actually, once you have thatformula, the marketing, sales
(06:41):
part becomes the easy part and,depending where you are in
business, that can soundcompletely unbelievable, but
it's actually like what?
The making money part's theeasy part.
Yeah, once you crack it likeyeah, it can be a nut to crack
Once it's cracked, then actuallythe execution and doing that
with excellence and managingyour team and making sure that
(07:06):
they're happy and they stay thatbecomes the more difficult
piece, because we're people,right?
So my child just woke up andinterrupted the interview
because he's not a little robotand didn't sleep to lose normal
sleep time today.
But people are the same, we'renot robots.
And so when you're dealing withclients, who are people, who
have expectations and team, whohave lives and make mistakes,
(07:28):
and the whole mess of peoplelaying together, then managing
that and making that a smoothprocess and keeping everybody
happy and leading the vision ofwhere you're actually going and
maintaining everything thatbecomes the job.
So yeah, it was.
(07:50):
That journey for me was a littlebit of all of those things and
continues right, we don't stopthat.
We don't arrive and go.
I'm the best, I'm a leader.
Now I've nailed it.
It's good as it gets.
We need to continue thatprocess.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So well said, and in the middle of all of that,
you're married, you have fourkids and you all homeschool them
.
Now we've been homeschoolingfor going on 15, 16 years now
Our kids from kindergartenthrough high school and now one
in college and the other one inhigh school.
That is not an easy road.
(08:30):
How do you balance all of that?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Definitely the tips from you.
We've only been homeschoolingfor one year, so we've always
worked online, but it was onlyduring the pandemic that we kind
of got opened up to thepossibility of homeschooling.
And we didn't homeschool, theywere enrolled in private
Christian school like they werein school.
And then I realized over a yearago maybe 18 months ago, nearly
(09:02):
not quite that it just wasn'tfun, Like it wasn't, I was hang
on.
Let me back up a little.
So 2020 for us actually wasfine.
I was pregnant with my fourthchild.
We live in a regional coastaltown, so, even though our state
had like the highestrestrictions in the entire world
(09:23):
because we were regional, itmeant that we just got lots of
family time.
We worked from home.
So you know, it was it for usand my introverted self.
2020, given where we werelocated and our circumstance was
not a hard year for us.
We like enjoyed thatintroverted, like family time.
(09:45):
It was really fulfilling for usas a family and I feel bad
saying that because I know thatthe total opposite was true for
so many, but that was ourreality at that time.
And then 2021, I had my baby atthe end of 2020.
2021, everything opened up.
My husband was building ourhouse like seven days a week, 15
(10:06):
hours a day.
So I had a newborn, I had thebusiness to run, I had three
other kids in and out oflockdown and homeschooling and
back and forwards, and basicallyno husband.
Because we had to finish ourhouse that year because of
insurance and all of the otherreasons that you know.
We had a building permit, so wewere on a deadline for 2021 and
it was really really, really,really, really hard, Like, like,
(10:30):
like it's light at the end ofthe tunnel going, like I'm going
to survive, Like it's okay,Like 2021 was really hard and we
also had really great growth inthe business that year.
So it was just, it was a lotLike seriously, only God got me
through that.
Like it was a hard year.
And then 2022 came and we wereall everything come back to
(10:51):
normal.
My husband was home with us,but I was working so much
because I finally could, Ifinally didn't have to do
everything myself, and so Ireally poured myself into the
business and I was working a lot.
But the kids were at schoolagain and there was just so many
balls and I was like this isn'tactually fun, Like, like
dropping the kids at school.
(11:11):
I have a business because Ilike the freedom of the schedule
, but I don't have a freeschedule because I have to this
one's at kindergarten and thisone's at this time, and today
it's book week and this way I'vegot, you know, I've got this
lunch and sports and like thisis like not my idea of a good
time.
And so so we thought about hangon, what are we actually doing
(11:35):
here and what do we want tocreate for for our lives, and
what does that actually looklike?
And we design our lives in somany different ways.
But in this way I feel like I'msquishing myself into a box.
And now, that's not true foreveryone, but just for me.
It wasn't a good fit, and maybeone day it will be again, but
right now it wasn't.
So 2022 was the year of likefiguring it out.
(11:57):
We started homeschoolingmid-year, and then we my husband
was doing full-timehomeschooling, I was doing
full-time work and then we gotto the end of that year and he
was not quite himself, and so wereadjusted things and now we
both do a little bit ofeverything.
So I do, I work part-time, heworks part-time, we have the
(12:21):
kids like half the week each,and this for us now, plus the
baby's, like two and a half.
So we're not in that, you know,intense, sleepless, like you
know, spoon feeding kind ofstage.
And so for us, this year hasfelt just perfection.
(12:42):
Like the businesses, where itneeds to be, is growing how we
want it to be growing.
We're working the right amountfor us.
We've got the kids like yeah,so for us now that's how we
balance and juggle and we'reblessed to be able to do it
because of where the business isat and the things that we've,
you know, creating all of thosesystems and things we created so
(13:04):
many years ago.
Once you have thatinfrastructure, you can then
kind of play.
It's the structure that givesyou the freedom actually, and so
often we can, you know, ifwe're creative and free spirited
and we want to do our own thing, we really repel against the
structure, but it's that thatallows you to then go hang on
(13:28):
Like what do I want it to looklike?
And, knowing all of thosethings are done, you can really
relax and enjoy life.
It's like that's where we'refinding ourselves now.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Yeah, I love that, annalise.
I think that is so fantastic.
I appreciate your transparencythere.
I think that what you aresaying is something that a whole
lot of people are listening toand saying is that really
possible?
You can really do that.
I love that you adopted the sametype of a mindset with your
family that you have adoptedwith your business, which is
(14:01):
that systems and structures giveyou freedom.
I found that to be so true.
I'm a systems guy and I findthat there is incredible freedom
inside of planning, inside ofsystems and structures, and I
love that.
That's where you are, and yourquestion that y'all asked is one
that I think every leader needsto ask, no matter where they
are and what they're doing.
What do we want our lives tolook like?
(14:25):
You get to decide, I get todecide.
Your choices may be differentthan mine around the systems and
the structures and what it'sgoing to look like and how we're
going to paint that picture.
That's okay.
But you get to make thatdecision for your family.
We made it for ours, like wehomeschooled, and that was a
decision that we made very earlyon because of some choices that
(14:47):
we wanted to be able to makelater, just like you did with
your systems and with yourstructures.
I think that's going to be sohelpful for so many people who
are listening to understand thatyou actually can do this.
I heard it said recentlywhatever you are not changing,
you are choosing.
So often we want to paintourselves with a victim mindset.
Very good, just what you get tochoose, I get to choose, we
(15:10):
decide, and whenever you're notgoing to change, you're choosing
.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Well, you're choosing .
I think sometimes it's becauseof the fear of whether we can do
it or the fear of the unknown.
It's more comfortable juststaying where you are, even if
you're not entirely happy there,it's familiar you know it.
(15:36):
So it's the fear of the unknown,but the fear that what you
actually want might actuallyhappen, and the ramifications of
that are not knowing them.
So, for example, we get what wechoose, which is totally true,
but then the fear of what if weactually choose the wrong thing?
Because for us I know that evenmore recently, we've decided
(16:01):
that we're going to spend, we'replanning for a year overseas
trip, like a really big roundthe world trip, and then that
just got really real for megoing, oh, I'm choosing that and
I'm choosing everything thatcomes along with that, like the
stress, the potential illness,like the danger, like the extra
you know, like all of that.
And then I was like oh, andlike the weight of it hit me.
(16:24):
Going, oh, the responsibilityof my kids and their education
actually is totally my fault.
Now, like, anything thathappens is totally.
I'm like oh, wow, that's reallybig, that's really big.
But that's why, like, I thinkthat the fear is kind of both
ways, right.
I think it's the fear that like, maybe we can't do it, maybe we
try and we fail and we fall onour face.
But also like what if wesucceed?
(16:44):
And what if?
Like, what are the actual, whatare the ramifications of that
thing, and because we yeah, whenwe choose, we say yes to that
thing, we say no to a thousandother things, and so we shut
those doors intentionally, andso I think that too can be scary
.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Absolutely, and but what you just said is exactly
what I teach my clients to do.
Flip the script instead of whatif we get sick?
What if we're in danger?
What if?
Hey, what if this succeedsbeyond our wildest dreams?
What would that look like?
Paint that picture for me, showme what that looks like, and
that's when you begin to feel,oh yeah, what if?
(17:24):
What if we don't often giveourselves freedom to do that?
Fear locks us in these chains,and I think there's a better way
.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Yeah, totally.
And I was speaking with mydaughter yesterday about going
to India and I was like, to behonest, that's really scary for
me and like, and then justunpacking all of that going.
Why is that so scary?
I'm going like it doesn't justbecause I'm terrified of the
thought of taking four youngchildren to my country.
I've never been in.
That seems so different.
(17:54):
It's just so different to, like, you know, white, middle class,
rural, like regional Australia,like totally the opposite,
completely the opposite.
Okay, there's a lot to unpackthere in terms of you know, but
just because I'm scared doesn'tmean we're not actually going to
do it anyway.
Because I don't think the fearit doesn't matter what we're
(18:16):
doing, whether we're travelingto India with your family or
you're starting a business orgrowing a business, or hiring a
team member or, you know,starting that new product or
reaching out to someone for acollaboration, partner or like
whatever.
The scary thing is the fear.
Just because the fear theredoesn't mean it's wrong and
doesn't mean you don't do itanyway.
(18:37):
I don't like.
The personal development andprofessional development that we
do as leaders should all bestrengthening that muscle, that
muscle where, yeah, we feel thefear.
We step anyway like it's okay,we're going to, if we know that
this is the right next step.
Just because it's not the easynext step doesn't mean we don't
(19:01):
do it Like we do it.
Maybe we gather support.
We, you know, look at itlogically and emotionally.
Do all the things you're goingto do.
You do your due diligence, butstep into if it's on the right
path, if it leads you to whereyou want to be, that what you've
said, that you want, if it's onthe path, then you've got to go
(19:21):
through it Like you just, youknow, do it.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
I just said once that courage is not the absence of
fear.
It's acting while you're afraid.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
I totally believe that.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
I think that, like that's something business owners
really struggle with, becausefear can cause them to just
remain stuck, stuck with an ideathat never gets pushed into
reality, stuck with a productthat never sees the light of day
, stuck with well, I can'texpand my team, because what if
I can't?
What if, what if, what if?
And they, just they, never move.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah, well, I guess that's then what's so helpful
about the work that you do.
Right, if you're flipping thatscript, then the excitement do
you find that?
Do you find that once theexcitement is bigger than the
fear, that like, what do youfind that helps to move people
through the fear?
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Exactly what you said .
When you flip the script andthey begin to paint the picture
of what could be the reality, ofwhat they inside want and hope
for but are almost afraid toenunciate, when they begin to
talk about it and it sees thelight of day, their entire body
language shifts, their facialexpression changes and all of a
(20:35):
sudden you can see the passionand the excitement begin to
break free and I say, hey, youknow what's going on right now.
You know what I'm seeing rightnow.
I'm seeing potential realizedand it's like it.
Just it wakes them up.
How exciting it is exciting.
(20:55):
I love it's.
One of the joys of what I getto do is to see leaders step
into something even thoughthey're afraid.
Fear can rob us of so much andI love that you're talking about
.
Hey, we're going to do this,even if I am afraid.
We're going to do it anyway.
That's so healthy.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
It doesn't make it comfortable, does it?
Speaker 1 (21:19):
It doesn't matter what we're doing Like yeah, at
all, at all.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
And yeah, like we said, growth and comfort don't
coexist ever.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
We need that on the wall, like stitched onto a
pillow or something.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
If I could put it on the inside of my eyelids, I
would, because I have to remindmyself of it that bad as
frequently as I'm the link.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Yeah well, I guess yeah, it's true, but I think,
yeah, yes, we're leaders and yes, we've got the vision and we're
going with.
That means we go first and sothat you know, I think we sign
up for that.
If you're going to be a leader,that's what you're signing up
for.
Actually is like you're goingfirst, you're going through the
jungle with the big machete,like you don't know what you're
(22:04):
going to come up against andyou're choosing that role and so
I kind of you know it's justgoing to come with it.
It is.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
It is.
And sometimes, when you'redoing that, when you are going
first, and you keep going firstand you keep pressing, you keep
pressing, you keep pressingSometimes people begin to
experience burnout and theybegin to feel like they're just
burning the candle at both endsand they've just got nothing
left.
Have you ever encountered that?
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Well, totally, totally, totally.
And with that came a totalrestructure of my business.
Right, it meant that actually Ihad to, like you were saying,
asking the question, what do weactually want?
Because I realized what Iactually wanted wasn't this you
know empire of an agency with,you know hundreds of clients and
(22:57):
you know massive team.
So I downsized, I downsized, Irestructured.
I spoke about this actually inan episode of the podcast
recently, but then that whatthat meant was that my profit
doubled and my work hours halved, like and.
(23:17):
So when you think about, whenyou say it like that, you're
like well, of course that waslike, of course you should.
But when you're in growth mode,you're not necessarily looking
at profit, you're going yeah,all the profit goes back into
the business because I know whatI'm building.
And then I realized, hang on,like this is not actually
fulfilling me.
(23:37):
What I thought I wanted isn'twhat I want.
And and that's not wrong, right, we get to try and we get to
experiment as business leaders.
That's like we're going to trythings that aren't going to be
going to work out, or they'regoing to work out, and we
realize actually, the reward ofthat is that I learn what I
don't want, and that's fine too,right, unless you stay there.
(23:59):
Unless you stay there, it'sfine.
And so, yeah, I did.
I totally got to that pointwhere I forgot to pick my
daughter up from from kinder.
I, just I, totally I picked upmy kids, my kids, from school so
fast.
Kindergarten is like preschoolpreschool yeah, I've got her.
(24:24):
I drove home and I was like Igot a call like you're half an
hour late, to be like, oh, thisis not good, emergency break,
emergency break.
And I laugh now, right, butthat was honestly like she
wasn't in danger, but it waslike my rock bottom moment as a,
as a mother, going like, oh,that is not good, like just what
?
How did I get here?
I said that I started mybusiness for my kids.
(24:45):
How the heck did I get here?
And so, yeah, so that fully wasjust started, this evolution of
trying things differently andrestructuring the business and
led to where we are now, whichis, you know, but it comes from
hard choices because you can'tjust at least for me as the
(25:08):
owner, the only sole incomeearner I couldn't just stop
doing what I was doing and andjust start this new by a very
like we still have, you know,mortgage and food to like, buy
and all of the things.
And so again, being a leaderand going hang on, how can we
actually do this?
How do we transition clientsout?
(25:29):
How do we shift down gears onthis thing and shift up gears on
the thing that's going to bemore scalable, that's going to
give me the joy and the freedomthat I say that I want, but then
I'm not actually walkingtowards.
So, yeah, I've been there and Ithink it's not so many of us do.
Right, we say yes to everythingand we charge too little and we
take on the world and thenwe're like oh, hang on, I'm not
(25:50):
Superman for comfy Superman forso many years, superwoman.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Oh true, we do not have kids hanging in our closets
, correct?
Are there things that youlearned in that process, like
some keys or some principles toto having a business without
getting to that point of burnout?
Speaker 3 (26:14):
For me, it was about looking at the calendar and
putting in me first, puttingwell-being in first, and so
going what is that actually?
What are the things that lightme up that I want to be doing?
Okay, I want to exercise sixdays a week.
For me, that's really important.
I need to move my body.
I need to take that time tofill my cup so that I can be the
best wife, best friend, bestclient, best CEO, best
(26:38):
everything that I can be.
I need to do that for myselfand just putting those other
things in that are reallyimportant right Time with the
family, date night with myhusband, weekends away, massages
, when I want to, like justwhatever those things are for
you, what they are for me,probably like they're going to
be different, right, but puttingthose actually on the calendar
first, when do I want to work?
(26:59):
And then reframing everythingfrom that, going okay, this is
when I want to work, then, andthis is how much I want to earn,
then what are the offers thatactually align with both of
those things?
And then, what is the simplestway to get in front of more
people, the simplest way tonurture those people and sell to
(27:21):
those people?
Because that was then theanswer of like, how do we build
this thing?
What are the systems we need?
Because this is the time I haveto work with and that's
non-negotiable I'm drawing bigfat, you know, boundaries around
those things and no one's goingto uphold those boundaries
except for me.
I can't expect other people touphold my boundaries because
(27:43):
they're not going to.
And so again, like, be strongin leadership and say no, like
you have to say no, which for uswho are service providers, is
really uncomfortable, because wepeople pleases and we want to
serve, but we can't if we get tothe place of burnout, which is
like actually we're serving themby saying no, because we can
(28:03):
actually serve them better if weknow what our boundaries are
and uphold them.
And so, yeah, coming up withthose times, the offer, often
that is a high ticket product,because high ticket means you
get paid what you want, you'veactually given them the ultimate
(28:23):
solution, not a bandaid, andtherefore they get better
results.
And so therefore, you getbetter testimonials, more
referrals, and so that highticket product and a really
simple marketing strategy wherewe're just doing one way to get
in front of people, one way tonurture them, one way to sell,
and doing that really well andrepeatedly for me was how I
(28:46):
started to move my way out ofthat place.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
That's so good.
You know it feels a littleweird maybe for somebody who's
listening to hear you say youput your well-being first, like
your personal well-being,because you're like wait a
minute.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Wait a minute.
Shouldn't you put other?
Speaker 2 (29:01):
people Like shouldn't you put you know, like
everything else has to comebefore you.
Aren't you last?
Yeah, no, yeah.
It's like when you fly on aplane, right, and they're going
over the safety instructions andthey tell you, hey, make sure
if the oxygen mass drops, youput it on yourself first, then
put it on the people who aretraveling with you, on your kids
and whatnot.
(29:22):
It feels so wrong, but youcan't help anybody if you're not
in a healthy place.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Yeah, I heard an analogy once and I can't
remember who said it, so I keepsaying this if you know who said
it, let me know.
That would be great, then I canactually truth them, because I
said I recognize this like oncea week.
It's the analogy of themillion-dollar racehorse right
have you heard this no.
And so you think about thismillion-dollar racehorse like
(29:50):
this.
Like how is this racehorsetreated?
Like what do they do to makethis a million-dollar racehorse?
Well, they do not like make itwork all night and train every
day, all day, every day, andjust make it survive on coffee
and wine and chocolate, and like.
No, this racehorse is just like, works hard when it works hard,
(30:11):
rests appropriately, has thecorrect nutrition, has all like
do you know what I mean?
It's looked after.
Why?
Because it's expected toperform.
So how on earth can we expectourselves to perform if we're
treating ourselves like crap?
Do you know what I mean?
Like working 18 hours a day andjust more coffee, that'll do it
(30:32):
.
Like no, I don't need to, youknow.
Just actually know.
Like just it doesn't, itdoesn't correlate.
I heard that and that likereally hit home so hard for me
going.
Oh, of course.
Okay, great, got it Like noted.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
That's really good, I like.
I've never heard that before.
That's really good.
There's so many implications ofthat.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
I know, and we're all tempted, right, we have a even
now with my you know what I sayis pretty good boundaries.
Still, I'll get excited about aproject like I'm just going to
work on this tonight or I'm justgoing to, you know, like now
close, now okay, stop.
No, you're not no.
So you've got to be your own,you've got to parent yourself a
little bit for your own.
(31:18):
That's good You're going to bed, yeah, that's right, Elith.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
what do you think is the number one job you have as
the CEO?
Speaker 3 (31:33):
This is such a hard question, goodness One.
Well, if we're lead, our job isto go first.
Right, our job is to go first,and so that means that we are
looking after ourselves Like wehave to.
We have to lead with that.
How do we get performance fromourselves?
Well, it's the same way thatteam are going to get
(31:54):
performance from themselves.
So we have to, we have to gofirst, we have to show, we have
to lead, we have to be theexample, and so I think that
means that we have, we havevision, we are, we know where
we're going and we're settingthe pace in all areas, and I
think that that's reallyholistic in terms of yeah, these
(32:17):
are the business practices,this is the standard that we
serve, this is what's expected,this is how we do things, but
also, you know, this is how wetreat people, this is how we
treat ourselves.
I think that's our job to gofirst, to be the example.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
How do you stay on top of your game?
I mean, you're constantlyhaving to level up right as you
find new levels in your business, with your home, with your
family.
How do you stay on top of that?
How do you constantly continuegrowing and learning?
Speaker 3 (32:52):
I have a system I love it.
Yeah, honestly, I live and dieby the calendar.
So there's a few things that Ido.
There is professionaldevelopment every day in terms
of that could be different books, podcasts, so many different
(33:13):
things, and with that, that isreally strategic.
So it depends on what I'mlearning.
It's not just oh yeah, I'mgoing to listen to the same Tim
Ferriss podcast or whatever itis.
It's going oh, hang on, I needto get better at negotiation or
I need to get better at Xstorytelling, and I'm going to
strategically find those sourcesand I'm going to learn, I'm
(33:37):
going to input from those things.
I'm going to actually justconsume, consume, consume every
day while I'm doing somethingelse Gym, driving, laundry.
They're typically while I'mlearning.
It's always why I'm doingsomething else.
Busy mom or a four here, right?
Speaker 2 (33:53):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
So you always have time for it because you can
combine it with something else.
And then I have strategicthinking time twice a week, so
literally half an hour twice aweek, where I sit down and for
five minutes just write whateverkind of comes to mind, like get
it all out, and then I pose aquestion to myself, which
(34:14):
there's, like I have it.
It could be a range ofquestions what's the one thing I
need to do to save more time?
What's the one person I couldhire to make this easier?
What would a consultant sayabout this area of my business?
Just, you ask a question that'sactually you've been thinking
(34:35):
about during the week and thenyou like literally just sit and
think and journal on thatquestion for, say, 20 minutes,
and once you're done, then yousummarize and you go okay, based
on this, what are the threeaction things that are going on
my calendar next week or thisweek?
And so that's the process.
(34:56):
I learned this from JohnMitchell from Think it Be it.
He was a mentor of mine, he hasa great podcast as well, and
this process, plus a reading myideal life to myself, this life
GPS document to myself, everymorning, it's like a 12 minute a
(35:17):
day thing, that just readingyour goals, reading the things
that you want to do, the personyou want to be, even as nitty
gritty as, like I give myhusband two compliments a day
like literally every area of mylife, of reading that to myself
every day, those three thingscombined what I do for myself,
(35:38):
including looking after my body,but that's how I keep fine
tuned.
What I'm doing is those threethings the professional
development, the thinking timeto process all of that like
learning time and action itemsto make sure that something
actually happens and we're notjust learning, we're actually
implementing and then stayingreally focused on the person I
(36:00):
want to be and the goals that Ihave every day.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
That sounds so incredibly intentional.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Super intentional.
I told you, structure createsfreedom.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Yes, we should put that on a pillow.
Yeah, that's brilliant.
Let's do it.
Out of all the books thatyou've read, is there a book
that you would recommend thatlisteners pick up, one that's
really made a difference in yourjourney?
Speaker 3 (36:30):
The first book in business book that I read was
Think Big, and I can't rememberwho it's by.
It's over there, I can't seethe spine.
You'll find it, you'll find it,I promise.
And I think that just opened myeyes to like, wow, we really
think too small, we really keepourselves, we underestimate what
(36:51):
we can do based on what we seearound us and what we've
experienced, which is natural,because we kind of can't do what
we haven't experienced or seen.
So, yeah, that book for me, Ithink, is a really good start.
If you're in the place of likeyou know, if you are not, or
just are unsure or feeling stuckand not sure what you want.
(37:14):
So I think that's a goodstarting point.
We should be asking you thatquestion.
Look at all of those books.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
I have a little bit of a book problem.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
Yeah, it's a good problem to have.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
I love to read.
I love to read Just constantly,all the time soaking in new
information, because there's somuch to learn.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
How do you answer that question?
Speaker 2 (37:36):
A book that has made a big difference in my life.
I'll tell you one that has.
You're the first I think youmay be the first guest that's
ever spun that around.
That's interesting.
One that I recommend so oftenthese days is actually a newer
book, but it made such an impacton me when I read it I now
recommend it a lot with clients.
It's a book called Soundtracks,and John Acuff is the author,
(37:59):
and what he writes about is howeach one of us has a soundtrack,
kind of like a movie.
You have the music that'splaying in the background.
We have soundtracks in ourminds that are constantly
repeating, and often it's thewords that somebody else has
said to us and they have becomea part of our soundtrack.
Or they're things that we sayto ourselves over and over again
and they become part of oursoundtrack.
(38:21):
So many of those soundtracksare broken, and the thing about
soundtracks is they can bereplaced.
It's choosing to have adifferent mindset, a different
soundtrack, and it's one that Irecommend a lot these days
because I found so much value init personally, because it
returns the agency to youinstead of to the people who
(38:43):
said those things or did thosethings.
The agency is yours.
You get to choose whetheryou're going to replace that
soundtrack.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Maybe that's the theme you get to choose.
It's the theme of the episode.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
Everyone there you go Well, which brings me to my
last question.
So typically, people are goingto leave an episode like this
and they're going to leave withone thing.
One thing is going to stick outto them.
If you were going to definewhat that one thing was going to
be that you want people to walkaway from this conversation
with you what would that onething be?
Speaker 3 (39:16):
Yeah, if it's not you get to choose, then I guess
it's no.
I think that's it actually,because it's true and we get
what we choose.
And we get one step back fromthat, which is the saying I've
(39:38):
heard a little bit around thetraps lately, which is we get
what we believe, and so I guessit's got a lines with the book,
that recommendation that yousaid right, like that thing
that's going around in our heads, we get what we believe and
because if we don't believe wecan have something, we're not
going to choose it, we're notgoing to go after it.
(40:00):
So, yeah, everything stems fromthat, because even if you do
the actions that you're actuallyjust not going to do the
actions, if you don't believe it, you don't choose it, you're
not going to implement.
So you can listen to all of thestrategy that we talked about
today, but you have to decide,like, what is that thing that
(40:22):
I'm going for?
What is that?
What mountain do I want toclimb up?
What does society want?
What does my partner want?
What did I want five years ago?
Because we're going to changeour mind, we're growing right
and so we should change our mind.
That's allowed.
We should change our mind, butdon't make that wrong.
So decide now what mountainyou're climbing up, Believe that
(40:42):
you can do it and choose Likethat, yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
I know folks are going to want to stay connected
with you and continue to learnfrom you.
What is the best way for themto do that?
Speaker 3 (40:54):
Probably come and say hi on Instagram.
It's at AnnaliseWorn, which isa weird spelling, so you're
going to have to look it up.
You're going to have to look inthe show notes.
I'm not going to spell it foryou now, it'll be a waste of
time.
But just on Instagram, come andsay hi, let me know where you
know that you found to be here.
(41:15):
We can share our mutualaffinity for William here and
his podcast.
Yeah, we can chat there.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
And you have a.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
Facebook group too.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
I do, I do yes.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
That's awesome, so we'll have those links in the
show notes so folks can connectwith you there.
Annalise, thank you for yourtime and your generosity today
and sharing so much of you andyour journey with us.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's been really fun.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Thanks for joining me for this episode today.
As we wrap up, I'd love for youto do two things.
First, subscribe to thispodcast so you don't miss an
episode, and if you find valuehere, I'd love it if you would
rate it and review it.
That really does make adifference in helping other
people to discover this podcast.
Second, if you don't have acopy of my newest book,
(42:05):
catalytic Leadership, I'd loveto put a copy in your hands.
If you go tocatalyticleadershipbookcom, you
can get a copy for free.
Just pay the shipping so I canget it to you and we'll get one
right out.
My goal is to put this into thehands of as many leaders as
possible.
This book captures principlesthat I've learned in 20 plus
(42:27):
years of coaching leaders in theentrepreneurial space, in
business, government, nonprofits, education and the local church
.
You can also connect with me onLinkedIn to keep up with what
I'm currently learning andthinking about.
If you're ready to take a nextstep with a coach to help you
intentionally grow and thrive asa leader, I'd be honored to
(42:49):
help you.
Just go tocatalyticleadershipnet to book a
call with me.
Stay tuned for our next episodenext week.
Until then, as always, leaderschoose to be catalytic.
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