May 2, 2024 • 47 mins
Thriving businesses that also serve others + science-backed personal growth
Cheryl is a Mindfulness Speaker and Founder of PleaseNotes, a for-purpose company of affirmation-filled physical products. She opens up about the scientific benefits of journaling, the nuances of crafting affirmations that truly resonate, and the personal evolution that led her to prioritize self-empowerment over external validation.
Key Takeaways:
- Manufacturing your first product and how to work with overseas suppliers
- The psychology of sales and marketing with proven sales scripts you can steal
- Selling your physical product in-person at trade shows and popup markets
- Why putting pen to paper is much more effective than typing on our computers
- How to discern whether your personal affirmations are positive or negative
👉 Get 15% off PleaseNotes products with code: FREEDOM15
Cheryl's hands-on experience offers a wealth of wisdom for anyone looking to succeed in the competitive landscape of physical product sales.
Support the show:
☕️buymeacoffee.com/whatsyourfree
About the show:
Sam Laliberte - entrepreneur, digital nomad and freedom seeker, hosts the Freedom Lifestyle Podcast to expose people to the many ways you can design your dream life and unlock your own version of the freedom lifestyle. Her guests have empowered themselves through flexible work as a way to “have it all” - financial, location AND schedule freedom.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Today you're going to meet Cheryl, who is a women's
empowerment expert, amindfulness speaker and also the
founder of Please Notes.
If you're not familiar withPlease Notes, cheryl has created
a suite of products that helpmake personal growth and
self-care a habit you can stickto.
I love this personal missionthat Cheryl is on.
(00:26):
I think as entrepreneurs westart off wanting to create a
business that gives us thatflexible freedom lifestyle.
But from the very beginning,cheryl not only did this, but
she also made her business sorooted with the change that she
wants to see in the world, andso we learned a lot in this
episode about the science ofjournaling and actually the
(00:48):
research that backs up whyputting pen to paper is actually
much more effective than eventyping on our computers, which
we often want to do.
We talked about the power ofaffirmations and the exact
components of an affirmationthat needs to be in place to
make them effective, but then wealso got really into the weeds
of creating a product-basedbusiness.
(01:08):
On the show I've had manyservice-based entrepreneurs, and
I would definitely identify asone myself, but Cheryl was able
to bring insights intomanufacturing your first product
and how to work with suppliersand how to actually set up your
profit margins for scale, how toactually sell and market a
physical product in person.
(01:30):
She does a lot of markets andtrade shows and in-person events
to get her products out there,and there was a lot that I
learned from her, even aboutsales and how to actually market
your products from a place ofconsulting and helping people
find what's best for them,versus really telling them what
they need, which is a bit of ashift for many of us.
(01:53):
So you're going to learn a tonfrom Cheryl.
She also gives us an amazingoffer so that we can take and
test out her products ourselves.
So stick around to the end ofthe episode to unlock that
special discount code With nofurther delay.
Here's Cheryl.
Cheryl, welcome to the FreedomLifestyle podcast.
How are we doing today?
How are we feeling?
(02:14):
Heading into this, I'm soexcited.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I've been wanting to do this for so long and I'm so
glad, like the stars aligned,that we'd be able to like
connect and like do the magictogether.
Yay.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Absolutely, and you've kind of been on the
podcast before because Iremember a few seasons ago when
I offered the free ads forFreedom Seekers, you submitted
one.
Do you remember that?
I do, I do, yeah, and that wasyears ago when your business
only had a couple of products.
I went on your websiteyesterday to just do some
(02:46):
research and get caught up andI'm so impressed with how many
different offers and productsyou have.
It really is like a suite nowof products.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I mean, I love to create environment.
If there's any way that I cansupport people in dipping
themselves and surroundingthemselves with all the
affirmations, all of the likepositive goodness, and let's
just throw something else out,let's just make them cool.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
So it's been super fun, amazing.
Well, I'm really excited tolearn about that evolution.
I know that anyone who isthinking of starting a physical
product based business wouldlearn a lot from you, because
there's so many nuances in that.
I know that when my partner andI created the LDR activity book
, we had so much to learn aboutgetting products created and
(03:32):
manufacturing and suppliers andactually sending them to people,
and so I'd love to quote,unquote, pick your brain on some
best practices there, but thenalso like understand how you
even aligned on figuring outwhat your life purpose was,
because this business is so muchmore than products.
Like you said, it really seemsto be tools that you're creating
(03:52):
to help people with theirpersonal growth.
Is that?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
right fell into personal growth.
It was amazing and there wasjust so many things that I was
able to see, even just like theway that I had conversations
with myself in my head, likejust noticing, like oh my gosh,
why would I think that?
Or like that's not me, Likethat sounds ridiculous.
And then like understanding,like where that came from, and
(04:17):
all those different things.
It really changed the way thatI operate.
And like also the way I makedecisions and choosing for those
decisions to come more fromabundance and love and expansion
versus scarcity.
Or something bad is going tohappen if I don't do that right.
But I think the delicious thingis creating something that
means something to you andcreating something that's
(04:38):
impacted your own life in such away that how do I make it easy,
how do I make it fun, how do Imake it accessible for other
people that might not have thesame opportunities to play the
way that I've been able to playand invest in themselves in the
way that I've been able toinvest in myself?
Speaker 1 (04:52):
So that's basically like the magic behind police
notes is just sharing more ofthis goodness and making it easy
, making it fun and making itaccessible to One of the things
that we hear in entrepreneurialadvice so often is we're best
suited to serve the person weonce were and you've referred to
a few times, like when you wenton your personal growth journey
(05:13):
when you started doing this.
So it sounds like you reallyare creating products for the
person you once were.
So, who was that person prior toPlease Notes, and what did not
doing personal growth look likefor you.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I mean she was still pretty cool.
I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I believe it.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
However, the big thing that I noticed, even just
for myself, was the things thatpeople couldn't see, was my lack
of self-esteem, my lack ofconfidence, and just even the
way that I made decisions wasoften like asking a bunch of
people and then just being like,okay, well, I think that feels
good or I think that makes sense, and I had no way in order to
like, discern, like, what shouldI do?
(05:57):
From the space of like, what isit that I want?
Or like, what makes more sensefor me, or what feels good to me
, I hadn't built up that muscle.
And then so, when I want tomake products for myself and
then other people that also havethis difficulty, because it's
not something that's brand new,it's something that a lot of
people go through, andespecially when you're embarking
(06:17):
on starting a new business, youhave to make a multitude of
decisions in your day-to-daylife, even if you're not a
business owner.
Just within your own life.
Do I decide, do I want tocontinue this relationship with
this person, even though it'snot really working out for me,
or do I want to continueplacating my boss?
That's kind of not very nice tome.
(06:39):
Just all of these little things, all of the decisions that you
make on a day-to-day basisreally come down to do I believe
I deserve this or not, do Ibelieve I could have this or not
?
And the more that we practicecoming from that space of like,
yeah, I deserve this, I can havethis, I could be this, I can
create this, I'm capable of allthese things, then we make more
(07:00):
decisions, worthy decisions, andwe make more juicy decisions.
We move forward in the worldfrom this space of I can have
this and also allow other peopleto see that too, which makes
again that whole ripple effectof people believing in
themselves and setting greatboundaries and going after their
goals, which is what we need.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
I love that and I agree I can imagine you were
pretty cool before all of thisand you didn't have please Notes
as a resource back then.
You had to create it yourself.
What were the tools and theresources that you were using in
your own journey of beingsomebody who could lean into
their own intuition and couldmake decisions for themselves,
(07:41):
versus having to go to a bunchof people and being like what
should I do?
You tell me what to do?
And really figuring out how touse the answers that were within
you?
How are you finding that?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I mean, honestly, the scariest part of it.
It's just choosing to invest inmyself and put myself first.
So I fell into and I guess theuniverse wouldn't let me escape
it because all these stupidpeople that I love now around me
were all like, hey, have youheard about this course?
Or like, hey, have you heardabout this course?
Or like, hey, you should checkout this course.
And I was like, what is thiscult that people keep trying to
(08:12):
bring me into?
Well, one day I decided to gofor it and it was, again, one of
the best decisions I've madefor myself.
But then, of course, as aresult of taking that first step
, it's like, okay, well, do youfeel like you deserve more?
Do you want to invest more inyourself?
Can you give more to yourself?
And then just continuing onthat journey.
However, there's always going tobe a certain point where you
either fall out of the practiceor your life becomes different,
(08:33):
so things are mixed up a littlebit.
You're not able to do the samethings over and over again, and
that's one of the big reasonswhy I've made this line so
integrated and so much so thatyou can use it in all aspects of
your life.
Make it super easy for you tostart pouring into yourself.
I think also, just even within,you're figuring out your own
(08:53):
voice.
It's that introspective workand that's one of the reasons
why I fell in love withjournaling.
I was not one that was like,yeah, journals are the best.
No, it's awkward, it'svulnerable, I feel naked.
Like what is this?
However, the practice of doingit is one that allowed me to get
to know myself at such a deeplevel, understand myself and
(09:16):
even again, with thedecision-making, be able to
discern a lot of things thateither weren't mine or that I
was able to move forward and saylike no, this is really what I
want.
I actually remember the firsttime I had to go ahead and
journal, I was at one of theselovely sleep away personal
growth workshops and they put uson silent and put us in corners
.
We had 10 minutes to just writeand I was like this is icky.
(09:40):
I literally wrote like this isstupid, this is dumb, I can't
pretend, I can't believe.
I paid for this for like thefirst three or four minutes, but
then, once I got into it, itwas just likealing, but just
even.
What's the point?
Speaker 1 (10:08):
I think a common pushback I've heard from many
people and then I've even heardin my own inner voice is well,
my hand just can't keep up withmy thoughts, right, my brain is
going too fast and journaling isjust too slow.
I'm a typer.
I grew up with the internet.
Why would I journal and tell meif this is true or not, based
on what you've learned, it'sactually that practice of having
to slow down and write morecoherent thoughts and fully
(10:32):
formed sentences that actuallycan pull those insights that
when you do slow down, itactually becomes way more
coherent than it would have beenif you were just like typing on
a laptop.
Is that scientifically backedat all, or is that just my own
experience?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Well, I mean, like I, I believe in your experience,
but also there's actualscientific proof that that whole
process of using the pen topaper versus typing actually
activates different areas ofyour brain and I think also it's
that process of slowing down isa huge component of it.
But the amount of focus that youactually have to take to
(11:07):
actually write that down versustyping it, or even if you think
about it, the fastest way weabsorb information is just
through thought.
Now, if you think somethinglike, oh, I believe I can do
this, it's in and out of yourhead in like 30 seconds,
milliseconds, let's be honest,and it doesn't really register,
it doesn't resonate, it doesn'thit you the same way as if you
(11:27):
write it down and say I believethat I can have this or I
believe I can do this Evenanother level is like staring in
the mirror and like look atyourself in the eyes and saying
like I believe that I can havethis, I could be this, that I
could do this.
It's again these differentlevels of connection to
ourselves that we can choose toexplore or not to explore.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
And when it comes to these believe statements whether
it's journaling it or lookingin the mirror does it have to be
authentic?
Do I have to actually believeit, or can even just saying I
believe this help it become moretrue?
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Well, I mean, we're smart, right, so?
And then you know, even if youlie to kids, get no right.
So at the same time, when itcomes down to affirmations,
studies have proven they have tobe at least 51% believable,
Otherwise you won't let it in.
It'll just bounce off Like ifyou're like, oh yeah, I'm a
millionaire, it doesn't connectwith you, as in the same place
as if you believe that you'rewealthy, right.
(12:22):
Like I believe that I'm wealthy, I might not be a millionaire,
but not only in my friendship,but like the peoples I get to
play with, the adventures I getto go on the place that I live
in, I feel authentically wealthy.
But if I again try to say that,oh yeah, I'm worth
multi-million dollars, Like itdoesn't connect with me in that
same place, Doesn't mean itwon't happen.
Let's be clear, However, likeyou just do need to have at
(12:44):
least a bit of it that you feelconnected to and allowing that
to grow.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Okay, that's a good fact to know, 51% believable,
which I think is doable, right,you just have to believe it more
than you don't believe it inorder for that to start working
for you.
And you mentioned affirmations,which I believe was your very
first product.
And so when I go on yourwebsite, kind of like the
mission statement seems to bemaking personal growth and
(13:09):
self-care a habit you can stickto, which I love and very
desirable that like consistencypiece.
So tell us the story of thefirst product.
What was the original offerthat you were putting out in the
world to help people with this?
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Oh my gosh, it's so fun.
So I actually was workingsomewhere and it was very
complicated complicated as in myjob was not like that great.
I wasn't getting anysatisfaction out of it.
But then I had tied myself intonot only living with my boss,
but also we had like so manythings that were commingled, and
so it was like, oh for me toquit this, like this is going to
(13:46):
be.
And then I have also known onelarge thing about myself is that
if I don't create space forsomething new to come in, then
it doesn't.
So I knew at that time that Ineeded to quit my job, even
though I wasn't clear on whatthat next thing was.
So I did that.
And then out of that it wasjust like what do I want?
And I created this lovely listof the attributes that I wanted.
(14:10):
I decided that I did want tohave my own business and not
work for somebody else again,which is, again, it is what it
is.
But then things like I wantedit to be a product so I can make
money when I'm sleeping.
I wanted it to be somethingthat mattered to me.
I wanted to be able to workwherever I wanted, again dipping
into that freedom, lifestyle,all these different attributes.
And then I actually got thisidea because I had noticed how
(14:31):
quickly I had fallen out of myown self-esteem and confidence
and how I really forgot howamazing and capable and
deserving I was.
And I was like, well, what ifwe just had sticky notes or
something around to surroundmyself with affirmations?
I was like oh my gosh, stickynotes that's so good and then.
So the first version of thesticky notes actually had a
(14:52):
different affirmation and likeimage on every single page,
which was great.
However, funny enough, peoplewould fall in love with one
message and then not use therest of the notes.
I'm like y'all got to keepbuying some stuff, so I ended up
building out the product linefrom there, but that was the
first thing.
It's just like how do I make iteasy for me to remind myself
(15:13):
who I am and where I'm going andwhat I really deserve in my
life?
Speaker 1 (15:17):
And were you creating the affirmations like they were
actually printed on, or wereyou encouraging people to fill
out an affirmation, or maybe abit of both?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
printed on, or were you encouraging people to fill
out an affirmation, or maybe abit of both?
No, I, my whole thought processis I again wanted to make it
easy so for people to actuallygo through and like create their
own affirmations got kind ofsticky, uh huh.
That was not a meant to be apun, but I wanted to make it so
you could use it at work or likegift it to someone, and it's
easy and it's like a little popof something.
So at the top it had adifferent affirmation and I
(15:47):
created these affirmations basedon things that I wish I told
myself or that I knew that Ineeded to hear more often and
then kind of just continue to gofrom there.
So each step pad had about 50different affirmations with
different images that likepeople love to give to their
coworkers and colleagues, oreven like as lunches or on like
(16:08):
their kids lunches and stufflike that too.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
So don't rush them.
For someone listening who mightbe like affirmation.
I'm not even 100% clear whatwe're talking about.
Can you give us some examplesof affirmations you might be
using right now in your life?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
So, basically, affirmations is usually a
statement, and it could bepositive or negative that once
you repeat it multiple times,you actually tend to change the
way you see yourself, others inthe world.
Now, in order for them to becomeeffective, you often have to
attach them with, like anemotional response as well, and
then, of course, you're havingthe repetition.
Now I say it can also benegative or positive, because a
(16:47):
lot of people will say thingslike I'm not good enough, I'm
not smart enough for this, I'mall of these negative things,
and then, of course, that's howyou feel.
That becomes your default wayof moving through the world.
However, if you choose to pourgreat things on yourself like
everything is always working outfor me, everything is always
falling into place, I'm worthyof all the things that I desire,
(17:08):
I'm wealthy in all areas of mylife, I'm ambitious and abundant
, then again, the more of thesethings will show up in your life
.
It's kind of like you know,when you go to buy a car, you're
looking for a car and then, allof a sudden, all you see is
like a plethora of Honda Civics.
It's the more you train yourbrain to focus on these things
and the more of that does cometo you and show up in your life
(17:29):
as well too.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Okay, very helpful and a good reminder.
It can be something as simpleas a sticky note, and we can
even be creating these ourselvesif we have our own affirmations
.
But if we are looking to makeit even easier and find
inspiration on what we should beaffirming ourselves with, do
you still have that originalproduct?
Speaker 2 (17:48):
It has evolved now into different sets of sticky
notes, so there's five messageson each pad that rotate through
and you get a stack of three.
So basically there's 15messages that you get to play
with.
But then also, in addition,I've got really great
affirmation cards too that aresuper high quality and have a
really great tactile experience.
And then, with my clarityjournal, there's a workbook in
(18:10):
there that teaches you how tofigure out who you are, what you
want to create, what brings youjoy.
But within that there's anexercise that actually helps you
create your own affirmation, sothat it's something that you
can connect with, that you feeldelicious about, that you want
to be known for that.
You want to feel concrete in.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yeah, I'm guessing that would take it all to the
next level is really anaffirmation that I feel like I
created.
I'm invested in.
It came from me, so I love thatyou offer that as well.
From a business standpoint, indistributing these amazing
products, was it an e-commerceoffering from the very beginning
, with the original sticky notes, or are you selling these in
(18:48):
person and at different eventsin Toronto, which I think is
where you are?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Yeah, so originally it was an e-commerce and there's
still an e-commerce solution.
However, I've always found thatI sell the most whenever I'm in
person, whenever I do pop-ups,like again in Toronto.
We've got the one of a kindshow.
That's been really great for me, but it's kind of tricky to
figure out and I'm still tryingto figure out the e-commerce
side of things and whether it beSEO or like email funnels and
(19:16):
all that other stuff.
However, I think, and I'm verylucky to say, that people
gravitate to my passion about myproduct and like the impact
that I want to make and trulylike I want people to see
themselves the way that I seethem, and then they feel that
and then choose into purchasingmy goods there too.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
That's beautiful, so it is mostly an in-person
strategy, even today, Even today, yeah.
Okay, nice.
Have you been able to scalethat at all, because that means
you have to be at all thesedifferent events.
Is it always you, or do youhave a team being the face of
Please Notes?
Working with you, I've becomean adult now.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I actually hired my first sales rep who is
supporting me at a plethora ofdifferent events.
Funny enough, we actually havethe same birthday.
We have very similar energy andso people.
I feel very safe in having mybrand be in the hands of people
like her.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Yeah, I can imagine that's a big thing to let go of
when, especially so that peopleare connected to you and your
mission.
How's it going so far with thisnew hire?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Honestly, it's been really great.
Like I've had DMs where peopleare like, oh my gosh, I love
your energy and I was likethey're not talking about me,
they're talking about Carlina,yeah, so, and then, of course,
like when we're together, it'slike the energy is like tenfold.
So just being able to pour thaton other people has been super
helpful for me and, honestly, itjust brings so much love to me
(20:44):
and I don't know, I love mystuff, I love being able to run
this.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Yeah Well, I think you've really found a business
that I think so many of us aresearching for.
I know on this podcast, I'veinterviewed hundreds of freedom
seekers now who often juststarted their businesses as a
way to have a certain type oflifestyle right Freedom to work
from anywhere, have freedom overour schedule, freedom over our
(21:10):
finances.
But you have added this wholeother component, which is making
an impact and finding alignmentwith how you want to improve
the world and doing it throughyour business, and I honestly
really envy that.
So I'm so happy for you.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Oh, my gosh.
Well, I received that.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Okay, back to business.
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notes for 10% off your veryfirst order.
So physical products, I thinkit's a whole other beast.
It's one thing to create aservice-based product or I know
you have different courses andworkshops and things that you're
doing now, which is reallyamazing but when it comes to
creating a physical product, youhave to figure out how you're
going to actually make thatproduct, and that's going to
(22:56):
cost money to create it andthat's going to affect your
pricing strategy.
And so how are you finding yourmanufacturers and suppliers at
the beginning?
Speaker 2 (23:09):
And are you still working with those same people
today?
Yeah, honestly, it'sinteresting because you have to
have a very clear vision, and so, for me, I don't think that I'm
controlling, but I'm clear isthe best way to say that.
So, whenever I've made a product, I've known exactly what the
vision has been.
I know, like, what exercise Iwant to put into this all these
different bits, and also, whenit comes down, and anybody
that's creating a product-basedbusiness.
You want to think about theuser experience, like for myself
(23:32):
, I envision people primarilyusing my journals when they're
in bed.
I want it to be heavy, I wantit to be something easy to write
in, I want them to enjoy thewriting experience of putting
that pen to paper.
So I have really thick paper,all of these different bits and
so when you're going through andyou're creating, like what you
want.
As for the attributes of yourproduct, you're also bearing in
(23:53):
mind, again, how people aregoing to be using it, but then
also some of the differentsituations that it's going to be
in as well, and then you'regoing to want to make sure that
the partners that you work withcan fit your vision.
This business has always beenposed and created to be a very
large business and therefore I'monly going to work with
manufacturers that have theability to crank out very large
(24:14):
quantities of goods.
So not only did I originallyhave like a really great
manufacturer that I worked withlocally, but then I also ended
up having another manufactureroverseas that has the ability to
crank out 20, 30, 50,000 units,so that when, eventually, I get
like a really big contract witheither like an influencer or a
(24:35):
subscription box in order tofill the product and like fill
that order, I know exactly whatmy price points are, all of
those things, even when it comesto like shipping terms, and all
of those fits as well.
I think it's always great to becurious and learn what you
don't know about what you don'tknow, and one of the things that
I ended up running into wasfunding.
(24:57):
When I first did my initialproduct with the sticky notes, I
actually self-funded that, andI had to buy 10,000 sticky notes
and I don't know about you, butlike my roommate was like girl,
what are you doing?
My, the garage was very fulland she's just like maybe she
can.
But then when I decided tocreate the journals, I was like
(25:20):
I'm not doing that again.
How do I make sure that peopleknow what I'm doing, that they
love it and that they're willingto purchase it?
And so that's why I actuallylove using Kickstarters, and I
also do a lot of consulting withpeople that want to launch
product-based businesses.
I always advise doingKickstarting and I think a
couple of reasons why is youwant to make sure that A your
(25:42):
product has value and you'reable to communicate that value,
but also, people actually wantthis.
There's so many great ideas,but unless you're actually
serving a purpose or likefilling a need, then it's going
to be really hard for you toactually have the level of
success that you want to have.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Okay, such good advice, and so what I might
wonder is if I was going tocreate a Kickstarter for an idea
, do I already have to have itmanufactured?
Or what would you advise tosomebody who wants to use
Kickstarter to test whether Ishould order 10,000 units for my
business idea?
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yeah.
So the fun thing aboutKickstarter is that you don't
even have to put all of yourmoney in ahead of time in order
to get this up and running andyou have, like you're, you can
have like a minimum viableproduct.
So, like your MVP whether it'slike you've actually got the
final sample done or you justknow, like, what attributes you
want to have, and then you'reworking with your manufacturer
(26:37):
or your potential manufacturerto get the final numbers right.
Based on those numbers, you cango ahead and either hire a team
or do it yourself, depending onyour time or your bandwidth
create your graphic design, yourvideo.
You could do like all of thestretch levels, all of the goals
, everything around that.
If you do choose to bring insomeone like a marketing team,
(26:57):
you can, but just in that likeyou're probably going to invest
less than a thousand dollars tomake sure, yes, this is
something that's going to work.
And then, once it's actually upand running and like it's out
there and people are buying,then at least that way you know
okay, I'm going to move forwardwith this.
You hit your level, you hityour stretch goals, all of these
different bits when you getthat money.
(27:18):
That's when you choose to pourmoney into that.
However, if you don't hit yourgoal, you can either sit back
and reevaluate Okay, what aboutthis?
Am I not doing right?
What do I want to adjust?
Do I want to try this again?
And if so, then you can comewith a different strategy and
launch it again.
I actually had to do that.
At one point, I got like reallyambitious and I tried to launch
(27:41):
three new journals at the sametime and I was doing all this
stuff, I was like girl, what areyou doing?
Like this is not working.
I ended up having to cancel itand I'm like okay, so instead of
trying to launch the gratitudejournal, the manifestation
journal and then a dream journal, let's just do one.
And it was successful and I wasvery happy about it, and it's
actually one of my top sellingproducts today.
(28:01):
So again, like, just play withit, be easy.
But then, of course, make sureyou're testing the market and
provide the value that peopleare looking for in order to be
successful.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Okay, such great advice.
I also didn't realize that youoffer coaching and consulting in
this area, so we'll definitelyinclude your contact information
, because that sounds like agreat resource.
I had seen that you would hit150% of your Kickstarter goal,
so was that for the dreamjournal?
Then, which one did you focuson?
Speaker 2 (28:29):
That was for the first first journal, so the
Clarity Journal.
Well, now it's known as theClarity Journal, and then we
ended up doing similar numbersfor when we had, like these,
really cute enamel pins.
But then I've also usedKickstarter to launch the
Gratitude Journal and then theManifestation Planner as well
too.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Amazing.
Why do you think your campaignson Kickstarter have been
successful?
Of course it sounds likefocusing and doing one thing
well at a time was a big lessonfor you and maybe not mistake,
but area of learning that youhad to pivot along the way From
a marketing perspective,anything that you would advise
anyone to do that worked for you.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Honestly, a lot of it is human connection.
So, whether it's tapping into anetwork, for myself again, I've
had this amazing network ofpeople that are involved in
personal growth and thentherefore, I didn't have to
convince them, I didn't have toeducate them on the benefits of
the product.
Now the fun thing is,especially with everything that
went on with the pandemic, a lotof people are understanding and
(29:32):
acknowledging the value ofmental health and wellness.
So when I do go ahead and I putout a new product, then it's
not as heavy as a lift.
There's less education that'sinvolved.
So I would say, definitelyactivate your networks.
But then also there issomething very special in
reaching out to peopleindividually.
Back when people used to stilluse Facebook, I would message
(29:57):
people or call people or textpeople like, hey, oh my gosh, I
have this new project that I'mlaunching.
This is what it's about.
This is what my intention is.
I would love your help withthis.
Is that something you'rewilling to do?
They say yes or no.
I'm like, okay, cool, so this isthe estimated price point.
Can I put you down for two, orcan I put you down for four, or
can I put you down for 10?
And then again they'd say yesor they'd say no, and then, if
they're not able to contributefinancially, awesome, possum,
(30:21):
would you be willing to share iton your platforms when the
launch is happening?
Cool, yeah, awesome.
I will message you when that'shappening and I'll like send you
everything.
I really appreciate you.
Thank you so much for that.
And then, just by that again,word of mouth is not only the
cheapest but the most valuableform of marketing.
So the more that you canactivate that from people that
(30:42):
love you your friends, family,circles of influences the easier
it is for you to get your goal.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
I love that strategy and I can totally understand why
that was so effective for you.
Even just right now, I'm like,yeah, I'll sign up for 10.
Where's the link?
Like, you have a way ofcommunicating very clearly
without really feeling like I'mbeing pressured to buy anything,
but more like this is what I'vecreated.
This is why I've created.
It's coming from this higherpurpose.
Are you interested in it?
(31:09):
And so I can see that strategyworking so well for you.
I also know that there's somany entrepreneurs who like the
idea of posting even on socialmedia about their business feels
like a leap for them.
They have all of theseassociations with self promotion
and and being salesy or beinggreedy or what are people going
to think of me?
And then taking it to anotherlevel, for not even just like
(31:31):
posting to everybody, but likeactually going one by one.
So why do you think you wereable to do that?
What advice can we give tosomebody who's like not even
comfortable posting on socialmedia about their business, let
alone this incredible strategy?
Speaker 2 (31:45):
So one of the big things is I've been really lucky
to have a career in sales andI've been not only so successful
that I have a lot of returnbusiness, but that I've won
awards.
And the reason I feel like I'vedone so well is I usually do
like a consultative salesapproach, meaning that it's not
about me, I'm not about sellingyou my product.
That is not the win.
(32:05):
The win is finding you asolution or figuring out
something that'll help you,that'll help you achieve your
goals.
When you're coming from thatspace of I'm here to share
something that will help you andhelp your friends and family.
It's not about me getting yourmoney.
That's not the thing.
It's about actually making adifference.
And so, even when it comes toyour products or services, what
(32:27):
is that difference that you'relooking to make and getting out
of your own way?
If you're looking to make adifference in, like again,
helping people feel good aboutthemselves, you know the impact
that that is.
So why would you get in the wayof somebody being their
authentic self, the mostdelicious version of themselves,
being happy, being joyful, evenif it's something like one of
(32:47):
my girlfriends sells art shedoes amazing paintings and again
, for her to do social media'slike oh, this is awkward, but if
you're able to say, like thisis the joy that this brings
people and it being in theirhome, and then they're being in
their house or sharing withtheir loved ones and then, as a
result, then they get somethingthey like and I get something I
(33:08):
like because I like to pay mybills.
Rbc loves it when I pay themmoney, so why would I?
It's a win, win, win.
Guys, get out of your own way.
It's kind of like the oppositeof ego.
And then, of course, especiallyas women, we've been taught to
just not do a lot of that.
It comes across as all thesenegative connotations when
(33:31):
really all we're doing issharing our love in a different
way.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Adam Grant said something to me that really
resonated that I've been passingon to other entrepreneurs who
feel a bit icky with marketingthemselves, and he said it's not
necessarily about marketing andselling you.
It's about marketing andselling your ideas right, and
it's like your vision for theworld or what you've created,
but why you've created it andhow this can actually help
(33:56):
people.
And, like you said, thatconsultative approach and that
solution and when we'remarketing our ideas, I feel like
that just really allows us tobe that thought leader and that
supporter in the world, versus,you know, a bunch of selfies,
which is what some people canthink self-promotion and
marketing ourselves is.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
It's true, and I think, as long as, even if
you're doing selfies like, whatare you doing selfies for Like?
Are you showing how happy youare, because that's important,
that's valuable, right?
So it all really comes down towhat is the value that you're
looking to provide.
How are you looking to help,how do you want to help people,
and then making sure that you'recommunicating that effectively
(34:33):
and over and over and over again, I remember studies came out
that saying that people had tosee something seven times before
they made a buying decision,and I think it's actually gone
up now, like where we're lookingat nine.
So you're doing them adisservice by not actively,
continually marketing, even ifit's the same talking points,
even if it's the same valuebenefits, all these different
(34:55):
things.
Even if it's like you'retexting them and then you're
emailing them and then they'realso seeing a Facebook post from
you, you're helping them byreminding them that they want
this, that this is somethingthat they need, that this is
something that's going toprovide value.
One thing that I'd love toshare as well is that people
love to buy things, but theydon't like to be sold to in an
icky way.
(35:15):
So if you're helping people getthe things that they want by
selling it to them like whywouldn't you?
Speaker 1 (35:21):
I saw on social media that you were nominated again
for a woman of influence.
Congratulations, thank you.
You also do an incredible jobwith getting PR and being
featured in the media.
You've been featured in Forbes,fast Company, huffington Post,
(35:44):
instyle, britain Company, goodMorning LA, blogto.
The list goes on.
This is just a few examples Iwas able to find.
So how are you able to do that?
Are you working with an agency?
Or, again, are you using youramazing sales, consultative,
relationship building skills tosecure all those big deal
placements?
Speaker 2 (36:04):
Honestly, sometimes it is people just like oh yeah,
you should talk to this personor connect to this person.
But PR is not my zone of geniusand I've had the opportunity to
work with some amazing PRagents that are able to distill
the things that I am saying andthen also like the impact that
I'm looking to make andconnecting with the right people
that are able to share my storyand my product.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Love it Okay, so you have some help in that area.
Anyone you would recommend as aresource you comfortable
sharing any agencies.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Both of the people that I used to play with are out
of the PR game now,unfortunately.
However, one of the PR peoplethat I love is actually at
Langton PR Daniel Pillai.
He's the VP there, and they doa really great job, especially
with product-based businesses.
Okay, love it, thank you.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
The thing with product-based businesses?
Okay, love it, thank you.
The thing about product-basedbusinesses as well is they're
pretty capital intensive, right?
If you're looking to launch oneof your courses, your workshops
that you're doing now, for themost part, it's a lot of your
time invested.
It's about thinking about howyou're going to communicate your
own value, maybe creating somevideos to talk about what your
workshop's going to be, actuallyputting yourself in a physical
(37:13):
space to sell that.
But when it comes to physicalproducts, there's unless you're
doing a Kickstarter there's anupfront cost.
You're probably doing some paidadvertising, I'm guessing, at
all of these pop-up events andshows, you're paying a vendor
fee that, as someone who had aproduct business, I know that
that can often be quiteexpensive and an investment
where you're like, well,hopefully I can get it back.
(37:35):
And so how were you able tomake that leap in your business?
Like you mentioned, you quityour job to create space.
Did you have like a side hustlethat was supporting this
entrepreneurial endeavor?
Do you have one today, or haveyou just always gone all in so?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
don't do what I did.
I'm saying because it'sstressful, but, like at the time
when I started this, I wasliving in America, so I couldn't
get another job.
My whole purpose was I wantedthis business to blow up so much
so that I was able to get avisa and stay living in
California.
However, when I moved back toCanada, I was able to get some
part-time gigs and do somethings on the side, so that's
(38:13):
been very supportive for me.
But when it comes to choosingevents to attend and showcase
your stuff at, one of the thingsthat I learned is I know who my
target audience is, soattending events, where they
will be, and then that thatthey're expected to spend money,
that they're ready to spendmoney, is super important.
(38:34):
So I know that I do reallyreally well at events that have
personal growth, empowerment,women's empowerment,
entrepreneurship, because a lotof these people again, I don't
have to educate them on whymental health, why, you know,
mindset, work actually matters,and they're the ones that are
actually actively investing inthemselves in this way.
(38:54):
When they see my goods, they'relike, oh my gosh, this is
amazing.
I feel so different.
Let me buy some for myself, myfriends, my family, and then
again they come back and theyend up buying from the website
because they've already had thatinitial experience with me.
So if you do have aproduct-based business, just be
very clear on what it is thatyou provide in regards to value
(39:14):
and where these people will be.
But then, of course, like takingin account okay, this is how
much I'm paying myself to be atthis event, this is how much I
have to pay for the event itself.
I might possibly have to payfor insurance, gas, parking, if
you need any additional things,like you have to buy a new setup
, a new table, breaking all ofthose in there and then saying,
okay, so for me to not onlybreak even, I'm going to have to
(39:38):
sell like 50 journals, or forme to come up in a way that I
feel successful, I'm going tohave to send 150 journals, or
even that I'm going to have tobe able to sell 150 journals and
get 30 emails added to my emaillist.
So know what numbers you wantbefore you're going into these
events, being willing to askquestions like how many people
(39:58):
are going to be coming?
Is it a paid event?
What is the promotion thatyou're having around the market,
so that you already know thatpeople know that they're going
to be there to spend money andinvest in you and your business.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
So it sounds like you're asking a lot of questions
to make sure that theseinvestments are the right ones.
Was there an experience whereyou did do all the right things?
You did do all of the rightresearch and you tried your best
and then you got to it and youactually were at a pretty big
loss?
Has that happened to you before?
Speaker 2 (40:27):
from like a capital perspective, not really, I think
the only ones where it's beenkind of tricky is the.
I actually did one the otherday.
If you're a Torontonian, thenyou might be familiar with
Scarborough Town Centre.
The reason I chose to do thatparticular event is it was a
three day event.
So Friday, saturday, sunday, itwas a whole market focused on
(40:49):
International Women's Day.
But one of the big things was Iused to have my products for
sale in the Black ONTO market.
That was there, so there was awhole store.
They used to buy my products.
I used to sell it all the time.
I'm like, yeah, my people, adecent amount of people, will be
there.
So not only was it really crazy,because it was like 10 to 9 and
(41:09):
then like 11 to 7 on the Sunday, so three days it's exhausting
but then also I found that mystuff didn't really sell the way
that I thought it would.
In fact, the only thing thatreally sold were my pens, which
are new and very gorgeous, butthey were $10 purchases.
My average order volume wasquite low.
But also I got a lot of reallygreat emails.
(41:31):
A lot of people weren't readyto purchase.
At least I had their contactinformation and some of them
followed me on Instagram, which,okay, sure, why not the
algorithm?
But that was probably the worstevent that I've had in a while.
However, it's been offset by alot of free events that I get to
go to and then like, make fiveor $600 in like three hours and
I'll be like ha ha, ha chucklingon the way to the bank.
(41:52):
So it's all about testing.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
And also it sounds like it's a lot about mindset,
like you seem to have a veryoptimistic view and you're able
to make other connections where,okay, maybe I didn't have the
exact revenue here, but guesswhat?
I got a bunch of new emails.
This is what I'm gonna do aboutit.
I've created brand awarenessfor my new pens.
(42:16):
Here's how I'm going toapproach it.
It sounds like that mindsetpiece has also really served you
.
Would you agree?
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Yeah, definitely.
You have to be willing to lookat all the different ways that
you can create income that mightnot be directly coming from a
sale.
It could be somebody wants youto speak at their workshop, or
somebody wants you to speak attheir school or purchase
something for their businesslater on.
There's so many differentoptions.
However, you just have to beopen to the fact that money can
(42:41):
come to you in all differentways, and it comes to me in
unexpected and unexpected waysin my life and the life of
others, and then that just opensyou up for more deliciousness,
and I met some really coolpeople.
I have new friends.
I got new earrings from thegirl that was the only step
behind me.
I ate all these cookies.
It was a win, win, win.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Okay, I know we're at time.
I have just two more quickquestions that I want to ask you
, if you're okay with that, andthen I'll let you go on with
your delicious, amazing day.
Thank you so much.
You've been so generous withwhat you've shared with us so
far, so if we wanted to checkout some of your products, I'd
love to hear where you woulddirect us.
(43:20):
I think you're so right thatwhen you're in this personal
development, personal growthspace, you don't even need to
educate us.
It's just like what do you haveto give us?
And the closest thing I canthink of that is the five minute
journal I'm sure you'refamiliar with.
I think it's Intelligent Change.
They have a suite of productswhich I'm sure is maybe a
competitor to yours or maybe asource of inspiration, but that
(43:40):
is like a journal I buy over andover again and now I love to
gift it to other people.
So what is your version of thatthat we should maybe like start
with and check out?
Speaker 2 (43:50):
Well, for me, I like to think, if you are looking to
play with journal and you'relooking for something that you
could get stuff out like, I knowa lot of people love the five
minute journal, but they alsowant a little less structure.
That the clarity journal isamazing.
For that you get the workbookyou like, have all the space to
write.
Every page has a differentaffirmation or inspirational
(44:13):
quote, but then on top of that,like, you do have some dot paper
, some blank paper in the back,all those sort of bits, and it's
a little bit bigger, so itgives you a little bit more room
to write.
However, if you want to have aneasy daily practice, get really
started on playing withgratitude, then you're going to
want to get our again ourgratitude journal.
That one's great because itgives you 100 gratitude prompts,
but then it teaches you alittle bit more about, like,
(44:35):
what is gratitude, how does itaffect you, why you actually
want to practice it.
And then every 20 pages is anin real life activity to take
gratitude to the next level,again, just releasing a lot of
the oh, if I don't do this everyday, that I've ruined it, I'm
useless.
The shame spiral no like.
Use it when you feel like it,or like try it, like let me just
set a goal for two minutes aday, or like twice a week, and
(44:56):
then, if that doesn't work,maybe just do it once a week, on
Sundays, or something, you know.
Whatever makes it easy and thenmakes you build your confidence
and then want to do it moreoften, is where we're going at
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (45:09):
Okay, I'll definitely include links to those products
.
Did you have an offer for ourcommunity that we should mention
?
Speaker 2 (45:15):
Well, only because it's a use-in.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
What I would love to do is.
Speaker 2 (45:19):
I again want to encourage people that want to be
freedom seekers, or currentfreedom seekers, to deepen the
level of freedom they experience.
And so, with that, you willhave the opportunity to play
with all of my goodies, whetherit's our manifestation planner,
the affirmation cards, thesticky notes Of course we've got
the near decals as well Any ofour goodies.
(45:40):
You're going to get 15% off byusing the code FREEDOM15, not 55
, because it's yeah, no, soFREEDOM15.
And then, yeah, you'll be ableto get all your goodies with,
like a sleep deal, Amazing.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Thank you so much.
I'll definitely include thatcode as a reminder in the show
notes.
And then my final question.
You've mentioned freedomseekers, freedom lifestyle.
You know that's the vibe of myshow.
So what is your version of freelook like?
What is your freedom lifestyle?
Speaker 2 (46:08):
My version of freedom is being able to do something
that is deeply meaningful to me,but then on my terms.
So I have the ability to workthis business and do amazing
things and connect with greatpeople about something that I'm
very passionate about.
However, if I need to take timeoff, I can do that.
If I decide that I want to dothat from my mom's house in the
(46:30):
Caribbean, I could do that.
If I want to be like naked on ayacht in Dubai, I could do that
.
If I decide that I want to dothat from my mom's house in the
Caribbean, I could do that.
If I want to be like naked on ayacht in Dubai, I could do that
.
So that is my version offreedom, and I hope that anybody
that's seeking that is choosinginto allowing that to be their
version of freedom too.
Speaker 1 (46:45):
Have you been naked on a yacht in Dubai yet?
Speaker 2 (46:47):
That's on my checklist.
That's what we're manifesting.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
Amazing, cheryl, I love you so much.
Your energy is amazing.
I really admire that.
You really come from a higherpurpose when you've created your
suite of products.
I think it's so inspirationaland I'm just so grateful you
finally came on the show for afull interview.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
I'm so excited that I got the chance to do this.
Like I always love playing withyou and I love the podcast.
Like it's such a great resourcefor people to understand and
see and believe that they canhave the things that they want
to have.
So thank you for stepping outand doing something that's
making a deep impact for peopleon a day-to-day basis Of course.
Speaker 1 (47:28):
Thank you so much.
Lots of love.
Make sure you've hit subscribeor follow in your podcast app so
that you never miss an episode.
And, hey, maybe take an extraminute to leave a short little
review in your podcast app.
It really helps me find otherfreedom seekers who can get
inspired and empowered by thesestories.
Today you're going to meet Cheryl, who is a women's
empowerment expert, amindfulness speaker and also the
founder of Please Notes.
If you're not familiar withPlease Notes, cheryl has created
a suite of products that helpmake personal growth and
self-care a habit you can stickto.
I love this personal missionthat Cheryl is on.
(00:26):
I think as entrepreneurs westart off wanting to create a
business that gives us thatflexible freedom lifestyle.
But from the very beginning,cheryl not only did this, but
she also made her business sorooted with the change that she
wants to see in the world, andso we learned a lot in this
episode about the science ofjournaling and actually the
(00:48):
research that backs up whyputting pen to paper is actually
much more effective than eventyping on our computers, which
we often want to do.
We talked about the power ofaffirmations and the exact
components of an affirmationthat needs to be in place to
make them effective, but then wealso got really into the weeds
of creating a product-basedbusiness.
(01:08):
On the show I've had manyservice-based entrepreneurs, and
I would definitely identify asone myself, but Cheryl was able
to bring insights intomanufacturing your first product
and how to work with suppliersand how to actually set up your
profit margins for scale, how toactually sell and market a
physical product in person.
(01:30):
She does a lot of markets andtrade shows and in-person events
to get her products out there,and there was a lot that I
learned from her, even aboutsales and how to actually market
your products from a place ofconsulting and helping people
find what's best for them,versus really telling them what
they need, which is a bit of ashift for many of us.
(01:53):
So you're going to learn a tonfrom Cheryl.
She also gives us an amazingoffer so that we can take and
test out her products ourselves.
So stick around to the end ofthe episode to unlock that
special discount code With nofurther delay.
Here's Cheryl.
Cheryl, welcome to the FreedomLifestyle podcast.
How are we doing today?
How are we feeling?
(02:14):
Heading into this, I'm soexcited.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I've been wanting to do this for so long and I'm so
glad, like the stars aligned,that we'd be able to like
connect and like do the magictogether.
Yay.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Absolutely, and you've kind of been on the
podcast before because Iremember a few seasons ago when
I offered the free ads forFreedom Seekers, you submitted
one.
Do you remember that?
I do, I do, yeah, and that wasyears ago when your business
only had a couple of products.
I went on your websiteyesterday to just do some
(02:46):
research and get caught up andI'm so impressed with how many
different offers and productsyou have.
It really is like a suite nowof products.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I mean, I love to create environment.
If there's any way that I cansupport people in dipping
themselves and surroundingthemselves with all the
affirmations, all of the likepositive goodness, and let's
just throw something else out,let's just make them cool.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
So it's been super fun, amazing.
Well, I'm really excited tolearn about that evolution.
I know that anyone who isthinking of starting a physical
product based business wouldlearn a lot from you, because
there's so many nuances in that.
I know that when my partner andI created the LDR activity book
, we had so much to learn aboutgetting products created and
(03:32):
manufacturing and suppliers andactually sending them to people,
and so I'd love to quote,unquote, pick your brain on some
best practices there, but thenalso like understand how you
even aligned on figuring outwhat your life purpose was,
because this business is so muchmore than products.
Like you said, it really seemsto be tools that you're creating
(03:52):
to help people with theirpersonal growth.
Is that?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
right fell into personal growth.
It was amazing and there wasjust so many things that I was
able to see, even just like theway that I had conversations
with myself in my head, likejust noticing, like oh my gosh,
why would I think that?
Or like that's not me, Likethat sounds ridiculous.
And then like understanding,like where that came from, and
(04:17):
all those different things.
It really changed the way thatI operate.
And like also the way I makedecisions and choosing for those
decisions to come more fromabundance and love and expansion
versus scarcity.
Or something bad is going tohappen if I don't do that right.
But I think the delicious thingis creating something that
means something to you andcreating something that's
(04:38):
impacted your own life in such away that how do I make it easy,
how do I make it fun, how do Imake it accessible for other
people that might not have thesame opportunities to play the
way that I've been able to playand invest in themselves in the
way that I've been able toinvest in myself?
Speaker 1 (04:52):
So that's basically like the magic behind police
notes is just sharing more ofthis goodness and making it easy
, making it fun and making itaccessible to One of the things
that we hear in entrepreneurialadvice so often is we're best
suited to serve the person weonce were and you've referred to
a few times, like when you wenton your personal growth journey
(05:13):
when you started doing this.
So it sounds like you reallyare creating products for the
person you once were.
So, who was that person prior toPlease Notes, and what did not
doing personal growth look likefor you.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I mean she was still pretty cool.
I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I believe it.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
However, the big thing that I noticed, even just
for myself, was the things thatpeople couldn't see, was my lack
of self-esteem, my lack ofconfidence, and just even the
way that I made decisions wasoften like asking a bunch of
people and then just being like,okay, well, I think that feels
good or I think that makes sense, and I had no way in order to
like, discern, like, what shouldI do?
(05:57):
From the space of like, what isit that I want?
Or like, what makes more sensefor me, or what feels good to me
, I hadn't built up that muscle.
And then so, when I want tomake products for myself and
then other people that also havethis difficulty, because it's
not something that's brand new,it's something that a lot of
people go through, andespecially when you're embarking
(06:17):
on starting a new business, youhave to make a multitude of
decisions in your day-to-daylife, even if you're not a
business owner.
Just within your own life.
Do I decide, do I want tocontinue this relationship with
this person, even though it'snot really working out for me,
or do I want to continueplacating my boss?
That's kind of not very nice tome.
(06:39):
Just all of these little things, all of the decisions that you
make on a day-to-day basisreally come down to do I believe
I deserve this or not, do Ibelieve I could have this or not
?
And the more that we practicecoming from that space of like,
yeah, I deserve this, I can havethis, I could be this, I can
create this, I'm capable of allthese things, then we make more
(07:00):
decisions, worthy decisions, andwe make more juicy decisions.
We move forward in the worldfrom this space of I can have
this and also allow other peopleto see that too, which makes
again that whole ripple effectof people believing in
themselves and setting greatboundaries and going after their
goals, which is what we need.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
I love that and I agree I can imagine you were
pretty cool before all of thisand you didn't have please Notes
as a resource back then.
You had to create it yourself.
What were the tools and theresources that you were using in
your own journey of beingsomebody who could lean into
their own intuition and couldmake decisions for themselves,
(07:41):
versus having to go to a bunchof people and being like what
should I do?
You tell me what to do?
And really figuring out how touse the answers that were within
you?
How are you finding that?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I mean, honestly, the scariest part of it.
It's just choosing to invest inmyself and put myself first.
So I fell into and I guess theuniverse wouldn't let me escape
it because all these stupidpeople that I love now around me
were all like, hey, have youheard about this course?
Or like, hey, have you heardabout this course?
Or like, hey, you should checkout this course.
And I was like, what is thiscult that people keep trying to
(08:12):
bring me into?
Well, one day I decided to gofor it and it was, again, one of
the best decisions I've madefor myself.
But then, of course, as aresult of taking that first step
, it's like, okay, well, do youfeel like you deserve more?
Do you want to invest more inyourself?
Can you give more to yourself?
And then just continuing onthat journey.
However, there's always going tobe a certain point where you
either fall out of the practiceor your life becomes different,
(08:33):
so things are mixed up a littlebit.
You're not able to do the samethings over and over again, and
that's one of the big reasonswhy I've made this line so
integrated and so much so thatyou can use it in all aspects of
your life.
Make it super easy for you tostart pouring into yourself.
I think also, just even within,you're figuring out your own
(08:53):
voice.
It's that introspective workand that's one of the reasons
why I fell in love withjournaling.
I was not one that was like,yeah, journals are the best.
No, it's awkward, it'svulnerable, I feel naked.
Like what is this?
However, the practice of doingit is one that allowed me to get
to know myself at such a deeplevel, understand myself and
(09:16):
even again, with thedecision-making, be able to
discern a lot of things thateither weren't mine or that I
was able to move forward and saylike no, this is really what I
want.
I actually remember the firsttime I had to go ahead and
journal, I was at one of theselovely sleep away personal
growth workshops and they put uson silent and put us in corners
.
We had 10 minutes to just writeand I was like this is icky.
(09:40):
I literally wrote like this isstupid, this is dumb, I can't
pretend, I can't believe.
I paid for this for like thefirst three or four minutes, but
then, once I got into it, itwas just likealing, but just
even.
What's the point?
Speaker 1 (10:08):
I think a common pushback I've heard from many
people and then I've even heardin my own inner voice is well,
my hand just can't keep up withmy thoughts, right, my brain is
going too fast and journaling isjust too slow.
I'm a typer.
I grew up with the internet.
Why would I journal and tell meif this is true or not, based
on what you've learned, it'sactually that practice of having
to slow down and write morecoherent thoughts and fully
(10:32):
formed sentences that actuallycan pull those insights that
when you do slow down, itactually becomes way more
coherent than it would have beenif you were just like typing on
a laptop.
Is that scientifically backedat all, or is that just my own
experience?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Well, I mean, like I, I believe in your experience,
but also there's actualscientific proof that that whole
process of using the pen topaper versus typing actually
activates different areas ofyour brain and I think also it's
that process of slowing down isa huge component of it.
But the amount of focus that youactually have to take to
(11:07):
actually write that down versustyping it, or even if you think
about it, the fastest way weabsorb information is just
through thought.
Now, if you think somethinglike, oh, I believe I can do
this, it's in and out of yourhead in like 30 seconds,
milliseconds, let's be honest,and it doesn't really register,
it doesn't resonate, it doesn'thit you the same way as if you
(11:27):
write it down and say I believethat I can have this or I
believe I can do this Evenanother level is like staring in
the mirror and like look atyourself in the eyes and saying
like I believe that I can havethis, I could be this, that I
could do this.
It's again these differentlevels of connection to
ourselves that we can choose toexplore or not to explore.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
And when it comes to these believe statements whether
it's journaling it or lookingin the mirror does it have to be
authentic?
Do I have to actually believeit, or can even just saying I
believe this help it become moretrue?
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Well, I mean, we're smart, right, so?
And then you know, even if youlie to kids, get no right.
So at the same time, when itcomes down to affirmations,
studies have proven they have tobe at least 51% believable,
Otherwise you won't let it in.
It'll just bounce off Like ifyou're like, oh yeah, I'm a
millionaire, it doesn't connectwith you, as in the same place
as if you believe that you'rewealthy, right.
(12:22):
Like I believe that I'm wealthy, I might not be a millionaire,
but not only in my friendship,but like the peoples I get to
play with, the adventures I getto go on the place that I live
in, I feel authentically wealthy.
But if I again try to say that,oh yeah, I'm worth
multi-million dollars, Like itdoesn't connect with me in that
same place, Doesn't mean itwon't happen.
Let's be clear, However, likeyou just do need to have at
(12:44):
least a bit of it that you feelconnected to and allowing that
to grow.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Okay, that's a good fact to know, 51% believable,
which I think is doable, right,you just have to believe it more
than you don't believe it inorder for that to start working
for you.
And you mentioned affirmations,which I believe was your very
first product.
And so when I go on yourwebsite, kind of like the
mission statement seems to bemaking personal growth and
(13:09):
self-care a habit you can stickto, which I love and very
desirable that like consistencypiece.
So tell us the story of thefirst product.
What was the original offerthat you were putting out in the
world to help people with this?
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Oh my gosh, it's so fun.
So I actually was workingsomewhere and it was very
complicated complicated as in myjob was not like that great.
I wasn't getting anysatisfaction out of it.
But then I had tied myself intonot only living with my boss,
but also we had like so manythings that were commingled, and
so it was like, oh for me toquit this, like this is going to
(13:46):
be.
And then I have also known onelarge thing about myself is that
if I don't create space forsomething new to come in, then
it doesn't.
So I knew at that time that Ineeded to quit my job, even
though I wasn't clear on whatthat next thing was.
So I did that.
And then out of that it wasjust like what do I want?
And I created this lovely listof the attributes that I wanted.
(14:10):
I decided that I did want tohave my own business and not
work for somebody else again,which is, again, it is what it
is.
But then things like I wantedit to be a product so I can make
money when I'm sleeping.
I wanted it to be somethingthat mattered to me.
I wanted to be able to workwherever I wanted, again dipping
into that freedom, lifestyle,all these different attributes.
And then I actually got thisidea because I had noticed how
(14:31):
quickly I had fallen out of myown self-esteem and confidence
and how I really forgot howamazing and capable and
deserving I was.
And I was like, well, what ifwe just had sticky notes or
something around to surroundmyself with affirmations?
I was like oh my gosh, stickynotes that's so good and then.
So the first version of thesticky notes actually had a
(14:52):
different affirmation and likeimage on every single page,
which was great.
However, funny enough, peoplewould fall in love with one
message and then not use therest of the notes.
I'm like y'all got to keepbuying some stuff, so I ended up
building out the product linefrom there, but that was the
first thing.
It's just like how do I make iteasy for me to remind myself
(15:13):
who I am and where I'm going andwhat I really deserve in my
life?
Speaker 1 (15:17):
And were you creating the affirmations like they were
actually printed on, or wereyou encouraging people to fill
out an affirmation, or maybe abit of both?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
printed on, or were you encouraging people to fill
out an affirmation, or maybe abit of both?
No, I, my whole thought processis I again wanted to make it
easy so for people to actuallygo through and like create their
own affirmations got kind ofsticky, uh huh.
That was not a meant to be apun, but I wanted to make it so
you could use it at work or likegift it to someone, and it's
easy and it's like a little popof something.
So at the top it had adifferent affirmation and I
(15:47):
created these affirmations basedon things that I wish I told
myself or that I knew that Ineeded to hear more often and
then kind of just continue to gofrom there.
So each step pad had about 50different affirmations with
different images that likepeople love to give to their
coworkers and colleagues, oreven like as lunches or on like
(16:08):
their kids lunches and stufflike that too.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
So don't rush them.
For someone listening who mightbe like affirmation.
I'm not even 100% clear whatwe're talking about.
Can you give us some examplesof affirmations you might be
using right now in your life?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
So, basically, affirmations is usually a
statement, and it could bepositive or negative that once
you repeat it multiple times,you actually tend to change the
way you see yourself, others inthe world.
Now, in order for them to becomeeffective, you often have to
attach them with, like anemotional response as well, and
then, of course, you're havingthe repetition.
Now I say it can also benegative or positive, because a
(16:47):
lot of people will say thingslike I'm not good enough, I'm
not smart enough for this, I'mall of these negative things,
and then, of course, that's howyou feel.
That becomes your default wayof moving through the world.
However, if you choose to pourgreat things on yourself like
everything is always working outfor me, everything is always
falling into place, I'm worthyof all the things that I desire,
(17:08):
I'm wealthy in all areas of mylife, I'm ambitious and abundant
, then again, the more of thesethings will show up in your life
.
It's kind of like you know,when you go to buy a car, you're
looking for a car and then, allof a sudden, all you see is
like a plethora of Honda Civics.
It's the more you train yourbrain to focus on these things
and the more of that does cometo you and show up in your life
(17:29):
as well too.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Okay, very helpful and a good reminder.
It can be something as simpleas a sticky note, and we can
even be creating these ourselvesif we have our own affirmations
.
But if we are looking to makeit even easier and find
inspiration on what we should beaffirming ourselves with, do
you still have that originalproduct?
Speaker 2 (17:48):
It has evolved now into different sets of sticky
notes, so there's five messageson each pad that rotate through
and you get a stack of three.
So basically there's 15messages that you get to play
with.
But then also, in addition,I've got really great
affirmation cards too that aresuper high quality and have a
really great tactile experience.
And then, with my clarityjournal, there's a workbook in
(18:10):
there that teaches you how tofigure out who you are, what you
want to create, what brings youjoy.
But within that there's anexercise that actually helps you
create your own affirmation, sothat it's something that you
can connect with, that you feeldelicious about, that you want
to be known for that.
You want to feel concrete in.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yeah, I'm guessing that would take it all to the
next level is really anaffirmation that I feel like I
created.
I'm invested in.
It came from me, so I love thatyou offer that as well.
From a business standpoint, indistributing these amazing
products, was it an e-commerceoffering from the very beginning
, with the original sticky notes, or are you selling these in
(18:48):
person and at different eventsin Toronto, which I think is
where you are?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Yeah, so originally it was an e-commerce and there's
still an e-commerce solution.
However, I've always found thatI sell the most whenever I'm in
person, whenever I do pop-ups,like again in Toronto.
We've got the one of a kindshow.
That's been really great for me, but it's kind of tricky to
figure out and I'm still tryingto figure out the e-commerce
side of things and whether it beSEO or like email funnels and
(19:16):
all that other stuff.
However, I think, and I'm verylucky to say, that people
gravitate to my passion about myproduct and like the impact
that I want to make and trulylike I want people to see
themselves the way that I seethem, and then they feel that
and then choose into purchasingmy goods there too.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
That's beautiful, so it is mostly an in-person
strategy, even today, Even today, yeah.
Okay, nice.
Have you been able to scalethat at all, because that means
you have to be at all thesedifferent events.
Is it always you, or do youhave a team being the face of
Please Notes?
Working with you, I've becomean adult now.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I actually hired my first sales rep who is
supporting me at a plethora ofdifferent events.
Funny enough, we actually havethe same birthday.
We have very similar energy andso people.
I feel very safe in having mybrand be in the hands of people
like her.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Yeah, I can imagine that's a big thing to let go of
when, especially so that peopleare connected to you and your
mission.
How's it going so far with thisnew hire?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Honestly, it's been really great.
Like I've had DMs where peopleare like, oh my gosh, I love
your energy and I was likethey're not talking about me,
they're talking about Carlina,yeah, so, and then, of course,
like when we're together, it'slike the energy is like tenfold.
So just being able to pour thaton other people has been super
helpful for me and, honestly, itjust brings so much love to me
(20:44):
and I don't know, I love mystuff, I love being able to run
this.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Yeah Well, I think you've really found a business
that I think so many of us aresearching for.
I know on this podcast, I'veinterviewed hundreds of freedom
seekers now who often juststarted their businesses as a
way to have a certain type oflifestyle right Freedom to work
from anywhere, have freedom overour schedule, freedom over our
(21:10):
finances.
But you have added this wholeother component, which is making
an impact and finding alignmentwith how you want to improve
the world and doing it throughyour business, and I honestly
really envy that.
So I'm so happy for you.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Oh, my gosh.
Well, I received that.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Okay, back to business.
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notes for 10% off your veryfirst order.
So physical products, I thinkit's a whole other beast.
It's one thing to create aservice-based product or I know
you have different courses andworkshops and things that you're
doing now, which is reallyamazing but when it comes to
creating a physical product, youhave to figure out how you're
going to actually make thatproduct, and that's going to
(22:56):
cost money to create it andthat's going to affect your
pricing strategy.
And so how are you finding yourmanufacturers and suppliers at
the beginning?
Speaker 2 (23:09):
And are you still working with those same people
today?
Yeah, honestly, it'sinteresting because you have to
have a very clear vision, and so, for me, I don't think that I'm
controlling, but I'm clear isthe best way to say that.
So, whenever I've made a product, I've known exactly what the
vision has been.
I know, like, what exercise Iwant to put into this all these
different bits, and also, whenit comes down, and anybody
that's creating a product-basedbusiness.
You want to think about theuser experience, like for myself
(23:32):
, I envision people primarilyusing my journals when they're
in bed.
I want it to be heavy, I wantit to be something easy to write
in, I want them to enjoy thewriting experience of putting
that pen to paper.
So I have really thick paper,all of these different bits and
so when you're going through andyou're creating, like what you
want.
As for the attributes of yourproduct, you're also bearing in
(23:53):
mind, again, how people aregoing to be using it, but then
also some of the differentsituations that it's going to be
in as well, and then you'regoing to want to make sure that
the partners that you work withcan fit your vision.
This business has always beenposed and created to be a very
large business and therefore I'monly going to work with
manufacturers that have theability to crank out very large
(24:14):
quantities of goods.
So not only did I originallyhave like a really great
manufacturer that I worked withlocally, but then I also ended
up having another manufactureroverseas that has the ability to
crank out 20, 30, 50,000 units,so that when, eventually, I get
like a really big contract witheither like an influencer or a
(24:35):
subscription box in order tofill the product and like fill
that order, I know exactly whatmy price points are, all of
those things, even when it comesto like shipping terms, and all
of those fits as well.
I think it's always great to becurious and learn what you
don't know about what you don'tknow, and one of the things that
I ended up running into wasfunding.
(24:57):
When I first did my initialproduct with the sticky notes, I
actually self-funded that, andI had to buy 10,000 sticky notes
and I don't know about you, butlike my roommate was like girl,
what are you doing?
My, the garage was very fulland she's just like maybe she
can.
But then when I decided tocreate the journals, I was like
(25:20):
I'm not doing that again.
How do I make sure that peopleknow what I'm doing, that they
love it and that they're willingto purchase it?
And so that's why I actuallylove using Kickstarters, and I
also do a lot of consulting withpeople that want to launch
product-based businesses.
I always advise doingKickstarting and I think a
couple of reasons why is youwant to make sure that A your
(25:42):
product has value and you'reable to communicate that value,
but also, people actually wantthis.
There's so many great ideas,but unless you're actually
serving a purpose or likefilling a need, then it's going
to be really hard for you toactually have the level of
success that you want to have.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Okay, such good advice, and so what I might
wonder is if I was going tocreate a Kickstarter for an idea
, do I already have to have itmanufactured?
Or what would you advise tosomebody who wants to use
Kickstarter to test whether Ishould order 10,000 units for my
business idea?
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yeah.
So the fun thing aboutKickstarter is that you don't
even have to put all of yourmoney in ahead of time in order
to get this up and running andyou have, like you're, you can
have like a minimum viableproduct.
So, like your MVP whether it'slike you've actually got the
final sample done or you justknow, like, what attributes you
want to have, and then you'reworking with your manufacturer
(26:37):
or your potential manufacturerto get the final numbers right.
Based on those numbers, you cango ahead and either hire a team
or do it yourself, depending onyour time or your bandwidth
create your graphic design, yourvideo.
You could do like all of thestretch levels, all of the goals
, everything around that.
If you do choose to bring insomeone like a marketing team,
(26:57):
you can, but just in that likeyou're probably going to invest
less than a thousand dollars tomake sure, yes, this is
something that's going to work.
And then, once it's actually upand running and like it's out
there and people are buying,then at least that way you know
okay, I'm going to move forwardwith this.
You hit your level, you hityour stretch goals, all of these
different bits when you getthat money.
(27:18):
That's when you choose to pourmoney into that.
However, if you don't hit yourgoal, you can either sit back
and reevaluate Okay, what aboutthis?
Am I not doing right?
What do I want to adjust?
Do I want to try this again?
And if so, then you can comewith a different strategy and
launch it again.
I actually had to do that.
At one point, I got like reallyambitious and I tried to launch
(27:41):
three new journals at the sametime and I was doing all this
stuff, I was like girl, what areyou doing?
Like this is not working.
I ended up having to cancel itand I'm like okay, so instead of
trying to launch the gratitudejournal, the manifestation
journal and then a dream journal, let's just do one.
And it was successful and I wasvery happy about it, and it's
actually one of my top sellingproducts today.
(28:01):
So again, like, just play withit, be easy.
But then, of course, make sureyou're testing the market and
provide the value that peopleare looking for in order to be
successful.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Okay, such great advice.
I also didn't realize that youoffer coaching and consulting in
this area, so we'll definitelyinclude your contact information
, because that sounds like agreat resource.
I had seen that you would hit150% of your Kickstarter goal,
so was that for the dreamjournal?
Then, which one did you focuson?
Speaker 2 (28:29):
That was for the first first journal, so the
Clarity Journal.
Well, now it's known as theClarity Journal, and then we
ended up doing similar numbersfor when we had, like these,
really cute enamel pins.
But then I've also usedKickstarter to launch the
Gratitude Journal and then theManifestation Planner as well
too.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Amazing.
Why do you think your campaignson Kickstarter have been
successful?
Of course it sounds likefocusing and doing one thing
well at a time was a big lessonfor you and maybe not mistake,
but area of learning that youhad to pivot along the way From
a marketing perspective,anything that you would advise
anyone to do that worked for you.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Honestly, a lot of it is human connection.
So, whether it's tapping into anetwork, for myself again, I've
had this amazing network ofpeople that are involved in
personal growth and thentherefore, I didn't have to
convince them, I didn't have toeducate them on the benefits of
the product.
Now the fun thing is,especially with everything that
went on with the pandemic, a lotof people are understanding and
(29:32):
acknowledging the value ofmental health and wellness.
So when I do go ahead and I putout a new product, then it's
not as heavy as a lift.
There's less education that'sinvolved.
So I would say, definitelyactivate your networks.
But then also there issomething very special in
reaching out to peopleindividually.
Back when people used to stilluse Facebook, I would message
(29:57):
people or call people or textpeople like, hey, oh my gosh, I
have this new project that I'mlaunching.
This is what it's about.
This is what my intention is.
I would love your help withthis.
Is that something you'rewilling to do?
They say yes or no.
I'm like, okay, cool, so this isthe estimated price point.
Can I put you down for two, orcan I put you down for four, or
can I put you down for 10?
And then again they'd say yesor they'd say no, and then, if
they're not able to contributefinancially, awesome, possum,
(30:21):
would you be willing to share iton your platforms when the
launch is happening?
Cool, yeah, awesome.
I will message you when that'shappening and I'll like send you
everything.
I really appreciate you.
Thank you so much for that.
And then, just by that again,word of mouth is not only the
cheapest but the most valuableform of marketing.
So the more that you canactivate that from people that
(30:42):
love you your friends, family,circles of influences the easier
it is for you to get your goal.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
I love that strategy and I can totally understand why
that was so effective for you.
Even just right now, I'm like,yeah, I'll sign up for 10.
Where's the link?
Like, you have a way ofcommunicating very clearly
without really feeling like I'mbeing pressured to buy anything,
but more like this is what I'vecreated.
This is why I've created.
It's coming from this higherpurpose.
Are you interested in it?
(31:09):
And so I can see that strategyworking so well for you.
I also know that there's somany entrepreneurs who like the
idea of posting even on socialmedia about their business feels
like a leap for them.
They have all of theseassociations with self promotion
and and being salesy or beinggreedy or what are people going
to think of me?
And then taking it to anotherlevel, for not even just like
(31:31):
posting to everybody, but likeactually going one by one.
So why do you think you wereable to do that?
What advice can we give tosomebody who's like not even
comfortable posting on socialmedia about their business, let
alone this incredible strategy?
Speaker 2 (31:45):
So one of the big things is I've been really lucky
to have a career in sales andI've been not only so successful
that I have a lot of returnbusiness, but that I've won
awards.
And the reason I feel like I'vedone so well is I usually do
like a consultative salesapproach, meaning that it's not
about me, I'm not about sellingyou my product.
That is not the win.
(32:05):
The win is finding you asolution or figuring out
something that'll help you,that'll help you achieve your
goals.
When you're coming from thatspace of I'm here to share
something that will help you andhelp your friends and family.
It's not about me getting yourmoney.
That's not the thing.
It's about actually making adifference.
And so, even when it comes toyour products or services, what
(32:27):
is that difference that you'relooking to make and getting out
of your own way?
If you're looking to make adifference in, like again,
helping people feel good aboutthemselves, you know the impact
that that is.
So why would you get in the wayof somebody being their
authentic self, the mostdelicious version of themselves,
being happy, being joyful, evenif it's something like one of
(32:47):
my girlfriends sells art shedoes amazing paintings and again
, for her to do social media'slike oh, this is awkward, but if
you're able to say, like thisis the joy that this brings
people and it being in theirhome, and then they're being in
their house or sharing withtheir loved ones and then, as a
result, then they get somethingthey like and I get something I
(33:08):
like because I like to pay mybills.
Rbc loves it when I pay themmoney, so why would I?
It's a win, win, win.
Guys, get out of your own way.
It's kind of like the oppositeof ego.
And then, of course, especiallyas women, we've been taught to
just not do a lot of that.
It comes across as all thesenegative connotations when
(33:31):
really all we're doing issharing our love in a different
way.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Adam Grant said something to me that really
resonated that I've been passingon to other entrepreneurs who
feel a bit icky with marketingthemselves, and he said it's not
necessarily about marketing andselling you.
It's about marketing andselling your ideas right, and
it's like your vision for theworld or what you've created,
but why you've created it andhow this can actually help
(33:56):
people.
And, like you said, thatconsultative approach and that
solution and when we'remarketing our ideas, I feel like
that just really allows us tobe that thought leader and that
supporter in the world, versus,you know, a bunch of selfies,
which is what some people canthink self-promotion and
marketing ourselves is.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
It's true, and I think, as long as, even if
you're doing selfies like, whatare you doing selfies for Like?
Are you showing how happy youare, because that's important,
that's valuable, right?
So it all really comes down towhat is the value that you're
looking to provide.
How are you looking to help,how do you want to help people,
and then making sure that you'recommunicating that effectively
(34:33):
and over and over and over again, I remember studies came out
that saying that people had tosee something seven times before
they made a buying decision,and I think it's actually gone
up now, like where we're lookingat nine.
So you're doing them adisservice by not actively,
continually marketing, even ifit's the same talking points,
even if it's the same valuebenefits, all these different
(34:55):
things.
Even if it's like you'retexting them and then you're
emailing them and then they'realso seeing a Facebook post from
you, you're helping them byreminding them that they want
this, that this is somethingthat they need, that this is
something that's going toprovide value.
One thing that I'd love toshare as well is that people
love to buy things, but theydon't like to be sold to in an
icky way.
(35:15):
So if you're helping people getthe things that they want by
selling it to them like whywouldn't you?
Speaker 1 (35:21):
I saw on social media that you were nominated again
for a woman of influence.
Congratulations, thank you.
You also do an incredible jobwith getting PR and being
featured in the media.
You've been featured in Forbes,fast Company, huffington Post,
(35:44):
instyle, britain Company, goodMorning LA, blogto.
The list goes on.
This is just a few examples Iwas able to find.
So how are you able to do that?
Are you working with an agency?
Or, again, are you using youramazing sales, consultative,
relationship building skills tosecure all those big deal
placements?
Speaker 2 (36:04):
Honestly, sometimes it is people just like oh yeah,
you should talk to this personor connect to this person.
But PR is not my zone of geniusand I've had the opportunity to
work with some amazing PRagents that are able to distill
the things that I am saying andthen also like the impact that
I'm looking to make andconnecting with the right people
that are able to share my storyand my product.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Love it Okay, so you have some help in that area.
Anyone you would recommend as aresource you comfortable
sharing any agencies.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Both of the people that I used to play with are out
of the PR game now,unfortunately.
However, one of the PR peoplethat I love is actually at
Langton PR Daniel Pillai.
He's the VP there, and they doa really great job, especially
with product-based businesses.
Okay, love it, thank you.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
The thing with product-based businesses?
Okay, love it, thank you.
The thing about product-basedbusinesses as well is they're
pretty capital intensive, right?
If you're looking to launch oneof your courses, your workshops
that you're doing now, for themost part, it's a lot of your
time invested.
It's about thinking about howyou're going to communicate your
own value, maybe creating somevideos to talk about what your
workshop's going to be, actuallyputting yourself in a physical
(37:13):
space to sell that.
But when it comes to physicalproducts, there's unless you're
doing a Kickstarter there's anupfront cost.
You're probably doing some paidadvertising, I'm guessing, at
all of these pop-up events andshows, you're paying a vendor
fee that, as someone who had aproduct business, I know that
that can often be quiteexpensive and an investment
where you're like, well,hopefully I can get it back.
(37:35):
And so how were you able tomake that leap in your business?
Like you mentioned, you quityour job to create space.
Did you have like a side hustlethat was supporting this
entrepreneurial endeavor?
Do you have one today, or haveyou just always gone all in so?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
don't do what I did.
I'm saying because it'sstressful, but, like at the time
when I started this, I wasliving in America, so I couldn't
get another job.
My whole purpose was I wantedthis business to blow up so much
so that I was able to get avisa and stay living in
California.
However, when I moved back toCanada, I was able to get some
part-time gigs and do somethings on the side, so that's
(38:13):
been very supportive for me.
But when it comes to choosingevents to attend and showcase
your stuff at, one of the thingsthat I learned is I know who my
target audience is, soattending events, where they
will be, and then that thatthey're expected to spend money,
that they're ready to spendmoney, is super important.
(38:34):
So I know that I do reallyreally well at events that have
personal growth, empowerment,women's empowerment,
entrepreneurship, because a lotof these people again, I don't
have to educate them on whymental health, why, you know,
mindset, work actually matters,and they're the ones that are
actually actively investing inthemselves in this way.
(38:54):
When they see my goods, they'relike, oh my gosh, this is
amazing.
I feel so different.
Let me buy some for myself, myfriends, my family, and then
again they come back and theyend up buying from the website
because they've already had thatinitial experience with me.
So if you do have aproduct-based business, just be
very clear on what it is thatyou provide in regards to value
(39:14):
and where these people will be.
But then, of course, like takingin account okay, this is how
much I'm paying myself to be atthis event, this is how much I
have to pay for the event itself.
I might possibly have to payfor insurance, gas, parking, if
you need any additional things,like you have to buy a new setup
, a new table, breaking all ofthose in there and then saying,
okay, so for me to not onlybreak even, I'm going to have to
(39:38):
sell like 50 journals, or forme to come up in a way that I
feel successful, I'm going tohave to send 150 journals, or
even that I'm going to have tobe able to sell 150 journals and
get 30 emails added to my emaillist.
So know what numbers you wantbefore you're going into these
events, being willing to askquestions like how many people
(39:58):
are going to be coming?
Is it a paid event?
What is the promotion thatyou're having around the market,
so that you already know thatpeople know that they're going
to be there to spend money andinvest in you and your business.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
So it sounds like you're asking a lot of questions
to make sure that theseinvestments are the right ones.
Was there an experience whereyou did do all the right things?
You did do all of the rightresearch and you tried your best
and then you got to it and youactually were at a pretty big
loss?
Has that happened to you before?
Speaker 2 (40:27):
from like a capital perspective, not really, I think
the only ones where it's beenkind of tricky is the.
I actually did one the otherday.
If you're a Torontonian, thenyou might be familiar with
Scarborough Town Centre.
The reason I chose to do thatparticular event is it was a
three day event.
So Friday, saturday, sunday, itwas a whole market focused on
(40:49):
International Women's Day.
But one of the big things was Iused to have my products for
sale in the Black ONTO market.
That was there, so there was awhole store.
They used to buy my products.
I used to sell it all the time.
I'm like, yeah, my people, adecent amount of people, will be
there.
So not only was it really crazy,because it was like 10 to 9 and
(41:09):
then like 11 to 7 on the Sunday, so three days it's exhausting
but then also I found that mystuff didn't really sell the way
that I thought it would.
In fact, the only thing thatreally sold were my pens, which
are new and very gorgeous, butthey were $10 purchases.
My average order volume wasquite low.
But also I got a lot of reallygreat emails.
(41:31):
A lot of people weren't readyto purchase.
At least I had their contactinformation and some of them
followed me on Instagram, which,okay, sure, why not the
algorithm?
But that was probably the worstevent that I've had in a while.
However, it's been offset by alot of free events that I get to
go to and then like, make fiveor $600 in like three hours and
I'll be like ha ha, ha chucklingon the way to the bank.
(41:52):
So it's all about testing.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
And also it sounds like it's a lot about mindset,
like you seem to have a veryoptimistic view and you're able
to make other connections where,okay, maybe I didn't have the
exact revenue here, but guesswhat?
I got a bunch of new emails.
This is what I'm gonna do aboutit.
I've created brand awarenessfor my new pens.
(42:16):
Here's how I'm going toapproach it.
It sounds like that mindsetpiece has also really served you
.
Would you agree?
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Yeah, definitely.
You have to be willing to lookat all the different ways that
you can create income that mightnot be directly coming from a
sale.
It could be somebody wants youto speak at their workshop, or
somebody wants you to speak attheir school or purchase
something for their businesslater on.
There's so many differentoptions.
However, you just have to beopen to the fact that money can
(42:41):
come to you in all differentways, and it comes to me in
unexpected and unexpected waysin my life and the life of
others, and then that just opensyou up for more deliciousness,
and I met some really coolpeople.
I have new friends.
I got new earrings from thegirl that was the only step
behind me.
I ate all these cookies.
It was a win, win, win.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Okay, I know we're at time.
I have just two more quickquestions that I want to ask you
, if you're okay with that, andthen I'll let you go on with
your delicious, amazing day.
Thank you so much.
You've been so generous withwhat you've shared with us so
far, so if we wanted to checkout some of your products, I'd
love to hear where you woulddirect us.
(43:20):
I think you're so right thatwhen you're in this personal
development, personal growthspace, you don't even need to
educate us.
It's just like what do you haveto give us?
And the closest thing I canthink of that is the five minute
journal I'm sure you'refamiliar with.
I think it's Intelligent Change.
They have a suite of productswhich I'm sure is maybe a
competitor to yours or maybe asource of inspiration, but that
(43:40):
is like a journal I buy over andover again and now I love to
gift it to other people.
So what is your version of thatthat we should maybe like start
with and check out?
Speaker 2 (43:50):
Well, for me, I like to think, if you are looking to
play with journal and you'relooking for something that you
could get stuff out like, I knowa lot of people love the five
minute journal, but they alsowant a little less structure.
That the clarity journal isamazing.
For that you get the workbookyou like, have all the space to
write.
Every page has a differentaffirmation or inspirational
(44:13):
quote, but then on top of that,like, you do have some dot paper
, some blank paper in the back,all those sort of bits, and it's
a little bit bigger, so itgives you a little bit more room
to write.
However, if you want to have aneasy daily practice, get really
started on playing withgratitude, then you're going to
want to get our again ourgratitude journal.
That one's great because itgives you 100 gratitude prompts,
but then it teaches you alittle bit more about, like,
(44:35):
what is gratitude, how does itaffect you, why you actually
want to practice it.
And then every 20 pages is anin real life activity to take
gratitude to the next level,again, just releasing a lot of
the oh, if I don't do this everyday, that I've ruined it, I'm
useless.
The shame spiral no like.
Use it when you feel like it,or like try it, like let me just
set a goal for two minutes aday, or like twice a week, and
(44:56):
then, if that doesn't work,maybe just do it once a week, on
Sundays, or something, you know.
Whatever makes it easy and thenmakes you build your confidence
and then want to do it moreoften, is where we're going at
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (45:09):
Okay, I'll definitely include links to those products
.
Did you have an offer for ourcommunity that we should mention
?
Speaker 2 (45:15):
Well, only because it's a use-in.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
What I would love to do is.
Speaker 2 (45:19):
I again want to encourage people that want to be
freedom seekers, or currentfreedom seekers, to deepen the
level of freedom they experience.
And so, with that, you willhave the opportunity to play
with all of my goodies, whetherit's our manifestation planner,
the affirmation cards, thesticky notes Of course we've got
the near decals as well Any ofour goodies.
(45:40):
You're going to get 15% off byusing the code FREEDOM15, not 55
, because it's yeah, no, soFREEDOM15.
And then, yeah, you'll be ableto get all your goodies with,
like a sleep deal, Amazing.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Thank you so much.
I'll definitely include thatcode as a reminder in the show
notes.
And then my final question.
You've mentioned freedomseekers, freedom lifestyle.
You know that's the vibe of myshow.
So what is your version of freelook like?
What is your freedom lifestyle?
Speaker 2 (46:08):
My version of freedom is being able to do something
that is deeply meaningful to me,but then on my terms.
So I have the ability to workthis business and do amazing
things and connect with greatpeople about something that I'm
very passionate about.
However, if I need to take timeoff, I can do that.
If I decide that I want to dothat from my mom's house in the
(46:30):
Caribbean, I could do that.
If I want to be like naked on ayacht in Dubai, I could do that
.
If I decide that I want to dothat from my mom's house in the
Caribbean, I could do that.
If I want to be like naked on ayacht in Dubai, I could do that
.
So that is my version offreedom, and I hope that anybody
that's seeking that is choosinginto allowing that to be their
version of freedom too.
Speaker 1 (46:45):
Have you been naked on a yacht in Dubai yet?
Speaker 2 (46:47):
That's on my checklist.
That's what we're manifesting.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
Amazing, cheryl, I love you so much.
Your energy is amazing.
I really admire that.
You really come from a higherpurpose when you've created your
suite of products.
I think it's so inspirationaland I'm just so grateful you
finally came on the show for afull interview.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
I'm so excited that I got the chance to do this.
Like I always love playing withyou and I love the podcast.
Like it's such a great resourcefor people to understand and
see and believe that they canhave the things that they want
to have.
So thank you for stepping outand doing something that's
making a deep impact for peopleon a day-to-day basis Of course.
Speaker 1 (47:28):
Thank you so much.
Lots of love.
Make sure you've hit subscribeor follow in your podcast app so
that you never miss an episode.
And, hey, maybe take an extraminute to leave a short little
review in your podcast app.
It really helps me find otherfreedom seekers who can get
inspired and empowered by thesestories.
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