February 3, 2026 • 39 mins
What if the goal isn’t more… but enough?
So many business owners are exhausted - not because they’re failing but because they’re chasing growth that doesn’t actually feel good or sustainable.
In this episode, I’m joined by three 2025 Powerful Women Rising Impact Award winners who approach business growth from very different angles, but land in the same place: calmer momentum beats constant pressure.
Caitlin Durning, Coach of the Year, Teresa Romain, winner of the Active Impact Award, and Meredith Dewald, VA of the Year, share how mindset, systems, and values-first strategy work together to create steady growth you can actually sustain.
We discuss:
- Redefining abundance as "enough" instead of always pushing for more
- Using simple brain-dump systems to calm idea overload
- Letting your niche emerge through consistent action
- The secret to success: Intuition-led coaching, practical strategy and a VA who acts more as a strategic partner than a task-doer
Links & References:
- Learn more about all the 2025 Powerful Women Rising Impact Award winners
- Connect with other female entrepreneurs inside the PWR Connection Network
- Listen to Caitlin's podcast: The End in Mind - Personal Development for Entrepreneurs
- Check out Caitlins website and connect with her on Instagram
- Connect with Teresa on her website, YouTube channel or Facebook
- Follow Meredith on Instagram, watch me tag her a million times on Threads or check out her website
Connect with Your Host!
Melissa Snow is a Business Relationship Strategist and the founder of Powerful Women Rising - a business growth ecosystem for female entreprenuers who want to create real momentum through real relationships.
Inside the PWR Connect Network and the PWR Business Growth Mastermind, Melissa helps women in business get build relationships, increase visibility and get more referrals without pressure, perfection or performative networking.
She's on a mission to change the way women grow their businesses - proving that you can be authentic, values-driven and profitable at the same time.
Melissa lives in Colorado with two dogs (Peyton and Ally), three cats (Giorgio, Karma and Betty) and any number of foster kittens. She hates winter, seafood and feet. She loves iced coffee, Taylor Swift, and buying books she'll never read.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_03 (00:02):
Hello, ladies.
Welcome to the Powerful WomenRising podcast.
SPEAKER_02 (00:05):
Hello.
SPEAKER_03 (00:07):
Good to see you here.
Yes, so excited to have you.
Teresa, this is your second timeon the podcast, I think.
I had you on years ago.
Yes.
I remember.
You were with Amy and LindsayLee, and we were talking about
the powerful women risingcommunity.
Yes, right.
It was it was so memorable shedoesn't even know she did it.
In your defense of it a longtime ago.
(00:28):
So much has happened since then.
I know.
We we each have been like fourdifferent people since then.
Um okay, so let's jump intotoday.
I'm really excited.
You guys don't know each other.
Presumably the listeners don'tknow you either.
So I want to give you a momentto introduce yourselves, tell
everybody a little bit aboutyou, and then we'll jump into
some some juicy stuff.
(00:49):
So, Caitlin, let's hear from youfirst.
You are the winner of the Coachof the Year Award.
So tell everybody a little bitabout you.
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
Thank you so much.
I'm so excited to be here.
So my name's Caitlin.
I own Meraki Media Management,which is a marketing agency.
We specialize in social mediamanagement, specifically in the
organic realm of contentcreation.
And I also coach women, businesscoach, um, consult in marketing,
(01:16):
how to expand communities.
And I've been doing that reallysince I started because I
actually launched courses beforeI became a social media manager.
That was back before 2020 whennobody wanted to hire out social
media yet.
So that's kind of a little bitof my story arc, too.
SPEAKER_03 (01:35):
That's awesome.
I want to share something fromone of the nominations because
when we did these awards, we hadpeople nominate people and then
we took the top people from eachcategory and people voted on
theirs.
And one of the nominations thatwas submitted for you said she
has a rare gift of making youfeel deeply seen, supported, and
safe from the moment you sitdown with her.
And I love that so much,especially considering like when
(01:58):
I read that, I was like, oh, shemust be a life coach or you
know, something like that.
And the fact that you are doinglike business and social media
and marketing and you're stillfinding a way to make people
feel like that, I think isincredible.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
So awesome.
Yeah.
So, Meredith, let's go to younext.
Tell everybody about yourself.
SPEAKER_01 (02:18):
Hi.
Uh, well, I'm a virtualassistant and I work with
business owners, getting theirsystems going and figuring out,
hey, I've got this idea.
How do we do it?
How do we implement fixing theback and working with clients,
their clients, um, building outsites, moving platforms a lot
lately.
Uh yeah, I I just I love beingbehind the scenes.
SPEAKER_03 (02:40):
So yeah, I had to convince, I had to pay her
actually to do this podcastinterview.
Okay, so I didn't cheat, Iswear, but Meredith is my VA.
And I'm only saying that becauseI need to add to what she just
said.
She is not a VA.
She is so many other things.
(03:01):
She, I told her a long time ago,I'm like, why don't you just
become a business coach?
And she's like, because then I'dhave to be on camera.
I was like, okay, fair.
But Meredith is like, she willget this stuff done, but she
also is the kind of assistantthat will say, like, I don't
know if this is the best idea,or I think that's a good idea,
but it would really work a lotbetter if we did it this way.
(03:23):
And if I'm like, no, we're stilldoing it that way, she's like,
okay, whatever you want.
But uh, she's like a strategicpartner almost.
Like we think about thingstogether, we figure stuff out
together.
There's a lot of times that I'mlike, I just told her the other
day, I'm like, I know this issupposed to be the other way
around, me telling you what todo, but um, I have ADHD and I
have 5,000 things in my brain.
(03:43):
And can you just tell me thethree things that need to be
done this week?
And she's like, yes, I will.
So she is like, I she's just somuch more than a VA.
She's like essential support foryour business.
And I love her so much.
Speaking of people I love somuch, let's go to Teresa.
SPEAKER_02 (04:00):
So I am Teresa Romain, and I have been what has
been called, my clients gave methe name, an abundance coach for
more than 30 years.
Caveat.
I'm also also the poster childfor you.
Teach best what you most need tolearn and keep practicing
yourself.
Um, so that's me.
And what it took me almost 25years to learn, where I would do
(04:26):
my own abundance mindset stuffand I'd get out of debt, and I'd
help my clients get out of debtand help them make more money
and all of this.
And yet I noticed that thepressure and the frustration and
the sense of not enough, and Ialways have to do more, and it
has to be bigger, like it neverwent away.
(04:46):
And that what I finallydiscovered over the past three
years, Melissa, you've been partof my journey, is because the
model we have for abundance inour world that dominates our
world is really built on and inreaction to scarcity.
And it keeps us in this trap.
I call it the abundance trap,where we think more, doing more,
(05:08):
being more efficient, achievingmore, making more, all of that
is gonna give us this experienceof wholeness and life and
well-being and freedom we longfor.
And we just keep chasing it andwe stop, we don't know how to
live in it.
And so my work is really aboutliberating people from that trap
and giving them a new model fortheir relationship with money
(05:30):
for uh abundance so that theycan start living in it now and
let all that pressure of gottado more, gotta do more, like let
that go.
SPEAKER_03 (05:40):
Yeah, I love that.
And I love that you explained itthat way because there are so
many different definitions ofabundance out there, as you
know, and you and I have talkedabout many times.
I was just yesterday helping afriend who runs a networking
group sift through um speakerapplications.
And there were so many peoplewho submitted applications for
things like, you know, increaseyour abundance, um, turn your
(06:04):
fear into abundance, moreabundance this year.
And all of the ones that I read,it was all like abundance means
more, right?
Uh let me show you how to makemore money, let me show you how
to call more money in.
Let me show you how to get moreof what you want.
And I kept thinking about youbecause I'm like, Teresa has
changed the word abundance forme forever.
SPEAKER_02 (06:25):
Yep.
And how often abundance is likemoney.
SPEAKER_03 (06:30):
Yeah.
Like and more and more and moreof it.
And more and more of it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, Teresa, I'm going to staywith you for a second because I
love the fact that your awardwas the Active Impact Award.
And basically what that was wasan award that went to someone
who was engaged and active, whoshows up in conversations,
(06:51):
events, online spaces withenergy and enthusiasm and
dedication and inspires otherpeople.
And what we were looking forreally was not just somebody who
is in all of the places, butwhat was the impact that she was
making in the spaces that shewas in?
And I especially love that youwon this award because you've
(07:13):
had quite a journey when itcomes to networking and showing
up in spaces.
And I would love for you to justtalk a little bit about that
experience and what that hasbeen like for you and kind of
how you interpret this award.
SPEAKER_02 (07:28):
Oh, we could go on.
I'll keep it concise.
Um, when I first came intoMelissa's world, it was because
I knew networking was like myweak spot.
It's it was my growth area.
Um, and it brought up all myfears, but it also brought up
all my scarcity because I hadthis belief I wasn't making a
(07:49):
lot of money at the time.
It was going through a hard timefinancially.
And so the only way I thought Icould like support others is if
I bought their products or Iwent to their events and there
was like money.
And so I was living in this, Ican't support others.
And if I can't support others,then I'm not gonna show up
because then they know I can'tsupport them, and then they're
(08:10):
gonna think I'm not an abundancecoach, right?
And so, you know, that was whatyour community and others helped
me see that that's not the onlyway to show up and support.
And um so I started to see like,wow, I could just show up and my
energy supports, or I could showup and just share my experience
(08:31):
and it supports.
Like, oh, I don't have to doanything and I don't have to be
a certain way, and I can make abig difference if I'm just like
have that commitment to show upand serve, which I'm a generator
in human design, so that worksfor me.
So that's what I've been doing.
No big deal.
I'm not on social media a lot,I'm not out there like growing
(08:52):
this massive network, and then Iget this award.
And and my first thought wasone, I laughed and I went, well,
so much for my idea of notenough, because clearly somehow
I'm doing something.
And the other thing I celebratedis that I was honored that I got
the award, and I didn't carethat I got the award.
(09:13):
And what I mean by that is inthe past, I would have used the
fact that I got award as proofand evidence and look at how
good I am and what the impactI'm having it would have been
like to prove I was enough.
And it was just really a greatgift for me to realize how much
I'd grown and healed, that Icould be honored by it, I could
be a little surprised by it, butI didn't have any of that like
(09:36):
looky, look at what it meansabout me.
Um, and that's I think that'sthe gift this award has been for
me.
Like, first of all, like I don'tknow how I'm having impact, and
I don't have to.
And I don't need to prove myworth like I used to either.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:53):
And that totally tracks with what everyone who
nominated you said.
The word authenticity came upover and over again, right?
That she is showing up, likewhen she shows up, she is deeply
present, she's listening, she'sasking good questions, she is uh
being honest about who she is.
(10:13):
She is showing that abundanceisn't just something that she
teaches, but it's how she lives.
And I think that really is theimpact that you've had on people
is showing them that there is away to network that allows you
to stay in integrity and beauthentic and not feel like you
(10:33):
have to be more and be perfectand do all the things for all of
the people.
And I think that's awesome.
Let's go back to Caitlin becauseI want to stay on this kind of
same track.
I think it's I I went back andforth with the whole Coach of
the Year award.
I almost didn't even include itwhen I first started these
awards because I have such aninteresting relationship with
(10:57):
coaching for someone who hasbeen a coach for a while.
Um, but one of the things Ireally wanted to make sure of is
that the people we wererecognizing as coach of the year
were people who reallyunderstood the true essence of
coaching.
People that were operating withintegrity, who were committed to
helping their clients, um, andwho weren't just the Instagram
(11:21):
coaches, right?
The like, look at me on myprivate jet and I made$5 billion
just laying by the pool becauseI got all of you suckers to
believe that I knew what I wasdoing.
So talk to me a little bit aboutyour experience as a coach and
how that all resonates for you.
SPEAKER_00 (11:38):
Yeah, thank you so much for sharing the taboo of
coaching because it took me awhile to even take on that type
of title.
And even internally, like I willshare it small on the smaller
scale.
So this award definitely made methink differently about this
year for myself.
I like to approach coaching in avery intuitive way in the
(12:02):
client's lens.
So I like to just ask questions.
I think of my coaching more as afacilitator of conversation to
help the client understand whatfeels most aligned for them.
For example, I've had clientsthat have come to me, think that
they want to start a digitalmarketing agency.
(12:22):
We have a few meetings and wewalk through what it's going to
look like.
After meeting three, they'relike, you know what?
I don't want to be doing this atall.
I think I just want a career.
And then I'm able to help themon that.
Okay, what does this next careerlook like?
Is it a pivot?
Um, and that's been reallyhelpful for me as well, seeing
(12:44):
that we don't need to followsomeone else's intuition,
someone else's path in order toget to where we want to go.
We have all the answers within.
Um, and that's just been a corebelief of mine for the past few
years now.
And that's how I like to applycoaching.
I also feel more empowered forthe client.
Instead of them coming andasking me questions, I wouldn't
(13:07):
want to send them in a directionthat doesn't resonate with them.
I will still give tacticalstrategy.
I'll make that clear for likemarketing.
Um, but I don't tell themexactly what to do.
I always ask, does this feellike that would work for you?
Or is this something that you'dlike to do?
Because if it's not something wewould like to do, we probably
won't do it.
(13:27):
And then the business nevergrows.
SPEAKER_03 (13:30):
So yeah, that that uh that resonates.
And it also sounds very muchlike Meredith's approach to
helping other business owners.
I think I'm gonna go to younext, Meredith, because I think
it's when we think about virtualassistants, we think of people
who are like behind the sceneshelping other business owners.
(13:52):
And yes, that's what you'redoing, but you're also like, I
don't know, I can only speakfrom my own experience.
It's almost like half thisbusiness is yours, right?
Like we're building thisbusiness together.
It's not like I'm building thisbusiness and Meredith's back
here like doing the things.
It's like we're both uh probablyto an extreme.
(14:13):
I'm always like, hey, we gotanother client.
She's like, okay, it's 11o'clock at night, go to sleep.
Um, but let's talk a little bitabout kind of your philosophy
and how you see your role as avirtual assistant.
SPEAKER_01 (14:25):
Yeah, it well, of course, it's a smaller part of
the business than if I was likein an office space, which I
spent years doing that.
I was a business manager at auniversity.
But if you are going for morethan just the like, hey, will
you go schedule these emails orwill you go, you know, fix this
(14:45):
thing on the website real quickand actually want a strategy
partner, then yeah, it's gonnabe more of a help me with my
business type of relationship.
And I am very invested in whatmy clients are doing and their
businesses and they're doing.
I don't want to work withsomebody that I feel icky about,
you know.
Yeah, and so most of my clientshappen to be entrepreneurs who
(15:09):
have some form of ADHD, whetherit's official or just kind of
yeah, I think so.
So there is a lot of like ideasstuff, and then I'm the one that
comes in and comes to open upwith how we're actually going to
structure the thing that make itmakes it work.
SPEAKER_03 (15:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, yeah, you did.
What do you think it is that Imean you touched on it a little
bit, but you've been a VA forhow long now?
SPEAKER_01 (15:35):
I've been a V, I started doing VA work back in
2020 when the pandemic was juststarting, and I was like, okay,
I don't want to go back to anoffice.
I was moving.
Um, and a friend of mine waslike, hey, I think you'd be an
awesome VA.
Have you looked at this?
I don't I don't even know whatthat is.
So looked into it.
Um, got a few clients startedwith skills that I had already,
(15:58):
but weren't necessarily like bigVA skills and just built as I
went along.
And so you don't have to startknowing Kajavi and Kit, which
used to be convert kit and mail.
You just start with the skillsyou have, get curious, and you
build them from there.
SPEAKER_03 (16:15):
Yeah.
I feel like that's how all of usstarted our businesses, right?
Yeah.
I know for you, Teresa, it was alot of like, well, talk about
how you started your business orhow did you like even get into
this?
Because I know it came from alot of personal experience.
SPEAKER_02 (16:30):
Just a quagmire of my own scarcity.
I mean, um, I left the corporateworld uh and my six-figure job
because I didn't love it.
And I was going to start anetwork marketing business with
my husband, and we were gonna doit full time, and we were gonna
be making money in it, and wespent money to make money and
went to all the trainings.
And like I always say, a yearand a half after going at it
(16:52):
full time, um, as newlyweds too.
So maybe it wasn't full time.
Um, the only thing that wasgrowing exponentially was not
our income, it was our debt.
And it was that that quagmire ofthat the debt, but also the fact
that on paper, Dan and I shouldhave been wildly successful at
that business.
I mean, we had all the skills,we had all of this, um, and we
(17:16):
weren't.
Well, then that was frustrating.
And then, of course, I didn'twant anybody to know it because
everybody expected us tosucceed.
So then I go into patterns ofhiding and acting like we're
successful, spend more money,have more debt.
And finally, I just got to apoint there has to be something
that I'm missing that this isn'tworking.
(17:36):
And when the student is ready,teachers appear.
And I first learned a system forgetting out of debt, kind of
like Dave Ramsey does now.
This was before Dave Ramsey, andother principals, and I just
literally, my scarcity has justcontinued to be my teacher and
like, oh, ooh, oh, gotta work onthe internals, oh, gotta do
this, gotta do this.
(17:57):
And I did all of those things.
I made more money, I spent lessmoney, I did mindset, I did all
of that.
But like I said at thebeginning, and yet it was I
never had that sense of I canjust be and relax and enjoy my
life.
There's always have to do more.
And that's when I started to seeit's the model we have, it's
gonna keep us in scarcity,always chasing chasing.
(18:18):
And so that's when my work,again, my scarcity led me.
Um, and that's why I say now toall my clients, scarcity is not
a problem to fix.
Yeah, it's an invitation andcatalyst for healing and growth.
And that's how I work withpeople because the abundance we
want and that we need to growand thrive is already available
(18:38):
for us.
We may not see it, we may notknow how to access it, we may
not know how to utilize it inways that support us to grow and
thrive, but it's there.
And so when you can you can pullaway that scittercity, then it's
like you're open to it.
SPEAKER_03 (18:52):
Yeah, that's really good.
I actually love that the threeof you ended up on an interview
together.
I didn't really even do that onpurpose, but I love that Teresa
is so focused on like themindset and the perspective and
the shifts that make such a bigdifference.
And Meredith is so focused onlike the action and the doing of
(19:12):
the things.
And then Caitlin is like alittle bit of both.
And I feel like it's all what weneed as business owners.
Like I came from the coachingworld where everything was your
thoughts, right?
So if you're not making money,it's because of your thoughts.
If you signed up for my$10,000program and it didn't work for
you, it's because of yourthoughts.
(19:34):
If you are, you know, whateverit is, you need to do more
thought work.
You need to think differentlyabout it.
There was no like strategy.
There was no like, let's talkabout how you're marketing,
let's not let's talk about youroffer.
It was just like, you probablyneed to think better.
And then I went to the wholeother extreme of like, who cares
(19:54):
what I think?
I just need to do the things.
And now I've landed somewhereback.
Here in the middle with allthree of you of like, okay, yes,
how I'm thinking about this isimportant, and also doing the
things is important.
Does that resonate with youguys?
SPEAKER_02 (20:12):
Yeah, and I just have to and I just have to add
because you know I do this, it'slike, and the bottom line
message you keep getting wheneither is working, when it's the
strategies aren't working oryour thinking's wrong or
whatever, is the message thatkeeps getting reinforced is
something's wrong with me andI'm not enough.
And if I was to say anythingelse about my work, it's like,
no, nothing's wrong with you.
(20:33):
It's not that you're not enough.
The model you have isn't gonnaisn't gonna give you what you
want.
SPEAKER_03 (20:41):
Yeah.
Were you gonna add something,Meredith?
SPEAKER_01 (20:44):
Yeah, a couple of years ago, I started.
Well, I have a Slack space I setup for each of my clients so we
can communicate and draw ideasand this is working that's fine.
Um, but I started a brain dumpchannel because there needed to
be a space where you could comein with an idea and it not be an
assignment, it might be a newproject necessarily, which like
I have this idea, I don't knowwhat to do with it.
(21:06):
How do we implement it?
And then I can come in and go,okay, well, we could do XYZ with
our current system, or you know,just the other plan for it.
We might need to bring inanother platform or a weird
factor integration or somethinglike that.
But you know, just talking backand forth and then deciding,
okay, well, let's implement itin a month, four months,
(21:28):
whatever.
Or yeah, that's no, no, notgonna do it.
Let's let's just table it.
Yeah, but somewhere to talkabout the actual implementation
without it being a stressor orthis thing that's just like
bouncing around in your headwhile you've got the other
clients to deal with and to toserve it.
SPEAKER_00 (21:48):
Yeah, such a good point.
I was just gonna share as wellwhat you both are talking about
and what the theme of today hasbeen.
It's almost like when I firstgot into business, I had created
a jail cell for myself.
It almost mimicked the exact jobthat I left, if not working
triple the amount of time that Iwas working before for somebody
(22:11):
else.
And I realized how much I wasconstricting, you know, the
growth through a lot of the corebeliefs that so many other
people were talking about atthat time.
You know, it's your thoughts,it's you, you're the problem.
And when I was able to stripthat away, that's what I felt
like was expansive.
Like then I could feel myintuition.
(22:32):
I'm like, this is fun, you know,this can be fun.
It should be fun.
Marketing should be fun.
Um, so I feel the same way.
And I think that if we can holdspace for others, you know, that
are experiencing that, what agift.
You know, that doesn't even feellike work anymore.
That just feels like more fun.
SPEAKER_03 (22:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's all great advice on allthree of your parts.
I the last question I want toask you before we wrap up, and
I'm gonna ask each of you thisis for anyone who is listening
to this podcast who maybe is newin business or they're
struggling, something's notworking, they're not getting
consistent traction, they'refeeling overwhelmed or
(23:11):
frustrated or whatever it is,they don't know how to get to
the next level.
What's a piece of advice thatyou would give them or what's
something that you wish that youwould have known?
Any of you can go first.
SPEAKER_02 (23:29):
Well, I could give a few, but here would be mine.
Um it's okay to pair down whileyou're growing something.
So what I mean by that is youknow, instead of like thinking
you gotta act like you'resuccessful and thinking you're
more than what you are, it'sokay in service of your
(23:52):
business, your growth, yourwell-being, to say, hey, let's
let's maybe pare down ourlifestyle, take the pressure off
my business financially, and andand get clear on what your nut
is.
That's what I call it, your nut.
Like this is the minimal amount.
If my business could make thismuch a month, we're good.
(24:14):
We're good.
And see if you can have that nutbe as small as it can, because
then you can feel like, okay, Ican do this, and you're not in
that financial pressure,scarcity, proving all of that.
And then the second piece of itis once you've done it, let's
say your net is$500 or athousand, I don't care.
(24:36):
$1,000, and you did it, yay, Imade a thousand dollars.
Do not raise the goal.
One of the biggest mistakes I'vemade and I see people make is as
soon as we achieve a goal, wewant to raise it.
And I know firsthand that whatyou have to learn to achieve a
goal is very different than whatyou need to learn to continue to
(25:00):
sustain it.
So if your nut is a thousanddollars, then have a goal of a
thousand dollars or more.
And when you make it, celebrateit, and then have that same goal
for the next month and the nextmonth and the next month, and do
that for four, five, six months.
Let that be very solid.
And then if you want to or needto go for more, then set a new
(25:21):
goal.
But this, like upward andonward, don't do that.
Let it gel like a jello salad,let it gel, and then add a layer
if you want.
SPEAKER_03 (25:31):
That is really great advice.
And I'm so glad you said thatbecause it goes against so much
of the like business experts'advice out there that is like
more and more and more and more.
You did that, yay, let's doubleit next month, let's triple it
next month.
And talk about perpetuating anexpense of not enough, right?
(25:53):
No kidding, no kidding, andnothing is less motivating than
a feeling of not enough forsure.
Caitlin, do you want to go next?
SPEAKER_00 (26:03):
Yeah, I would say, you know, I did not understand
that entrepreneurship when I was22 years old getting into this
journey would cause me to lookat all of the parts of myself
that maybe weren't working sowell.
Um, and I don't know that Iwould have done it to be very
(26:24):
transparent if I did know thedepths of my soul that would
come out throughout thisjourney.
So to anybody just starting,look at this as a gift to your
family, your friends, the peoplearound you.
This experience has changed mylife for the better.
It's allowed my relationships todeepen.
(26:45):
Um, even my relationship with mypuppy.
You know, I look at everythingdifferently now.
So I would say give yourselfthis gift and keep going because
even if you have that slowmonth, as Teresa mentioned, it
has nothing to do with you.
Maybe the slow month ishappening.
So you can do the personal work.
My business tends to mimicexactly what's coming up in my
(27:08):
life.
And now I try not to questionit.
I just lean into it.
SPEAKER_03 (27:13):
Yeah.
Do you think you could ever goback to working a nine to five
for someone else?
SPEAKER_00 (27:18):
That's a great question.
You know, of course, like manyentrepreneurs, I've applied
because scarcity just like to bevery transparent.
I think if it's the right personand they respect boundaries and
we have a mutual relationship,beneficial relationship, yes,
but that is sometimeschallenging to find in modern
(27:40):
day workforce.
So I would prefer to keepworking for myself because it's
really is such a gift.
SPEAKER_03 (27:46):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's hard to go back.
I started working part-time atStarbucks about six months ago,
um, mostly so I could get healthinsurance benefits.
And I was like, it'll be fine.
Like there was so much that Ididn't think about.
And my first week there, Iremember telling my boss, I'm
like, I cannot tell you how longit's been since I actually had
(28:10):
to be somewhere on time.
SPEAKER_00 (28:12):
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (28:12):
Like even when you make plans with your friend,
right?
It's like, let's meet for lunchat 11.
But if I'm there at 11:03, noone cares.
If I'm clocking in at 11.03,Starbucks cares.
And that was a lot to get usedto.
Like you're not wearing theright pants.
Are your shoes waterproof?
Uh, don't forget to say hello toevery customer who comes through
(28:33):
the door.
Why weren't you clocked in aminute ago?
Like it's, I actually love myjob, so it's not as terrible as
I'm making it sound, but therewas just so much that I was
like, and dealing with otherpeople and the dynamics.
And last week we had a mandatorystore meeting that was three
hours long with like role playsand games and like all of the
(28:54):
corporate things that you'relike, I forgot about this
three-hour meeting that couldhave been a really short email.
So hard to go back, yes, notimpossible.
Meredith, what about you?
What advice would you give toother business owners?
SPEAKER_01 (29:13):
Give yourself space to experiment and play.
Like the especially I see this alot with younger VAs, is they
think they have to niche reallyfast and like pick their
specialty.
It's like, no, your business isgonna change.
What you specialize in is goingto evolve and change.
And there's just so much spaceout there.
(29:34):
There's so many different typesof clients.
I worked, I've worked with a lotof coaches, but then I've also
worked, I've worked withphotographers and real estate
people, like all kinds of stuff.
So there's space to grow and youdon't have to lock in
immediately.
SPEAKER_03 (29:50):
Yeah, that's really good too.
Cause we obsess about that,especially in the beginning,
because that's what we're toldto do, right?
And I think every business ownerI know has gone through so many
iterations of like, this is whoI am and this is who I help.
And a lot of times where we endup is not at all where we were
planning to end up.
And I see for so many people,like, I don't care what you
(30:12):
think your niche is, your nicheis gonna find you, you know.
Like by the time I was my firstbusiness was a dating and
relationship coaching business.
And I initially thought I wasgoing to be working with, I
started out wanting to work withwomen who were attracting the
same kind of man over and overagain.
By the end of my business, I wasworking almost exclusively with
(30:34):
women who were like late 40s tolate 60s, who had been married
for a long time, who had beendivorced for a long time, now
wanted to get back out there anddate, but it was a very
different world than it was whenthey were 22 and met their
husbands.
And that's like every, and Idon't even know how that
happened, right?
That's just it's like Meredithand the ADHDers, like we just
(30:56):
find her and then we keepfinding her, and then we keep
sending our people to her.
And so, yeah, sometimes like youdon't have to be quite so
uptight about your niche becauseit's gonna find you and you're
gonna figure it out the more youput yourself out there and just
keep moving forward.
Absolutely.
Okay, so if people want to knowmore about what you guys do, I
(31:19):
mean, if you were to ask me mybusiness advice, I would just
say hire probably all three ofthese people.
Um, so if you would like to takemy advice, or if you'd just like
to know them a little bitbetter, be in their circle, see
what's going on with them.
Teresa, what's the best way forpeople to connect with you?
SPEAKER_02 (31:36):
A best way would be to go to my website, teresa
romaine.com.
You can there's a contact formif you wanted to connect.
There's resources there.
Facebook is my second and youknow, or YouTube channel.
YouTube channel and Facebook aremy only social media, and still
probably my website is the bestplace.
SPEAKER_03 (31:55):
Yeah, I agree.
Your website is amazing.
SPEAKER_02 (31:58):
It's so the new one, the new one's gonna be released
next week.
SPEAKER_03 (32:01):
I can't wait for that.
I have always loved your websitebecause it's so interactive and
it's so you.
Like, I know it's a good websitewhen I know the person and then
I see the website, and I'm like,oh yeah, this is like it's hard
sometimes to translate a wholeperson into a website, and you
do a great job.
SPEAKER_02 (32:19):
So I'm excited to well, I think the new one will
then surprise you because increating it, I realized how much
my old ones were still like whatI need to be, what I should be.
And this one is 100% me.
So it's very different.
SPEAKER_03 (32:32):
I can't wait.
So the new website will be outby the time this podcast
launches, so everyone has to goand check it out.
Caitlin, how can people connectwith you?
SPEAKER_00 (32:40):
Yay, I'm excited to see Teresa at your new website.
I will definitely be followingup.
Um, my website is MerakiM-E-R-A-K-I Media Management,
and that's also with underscoreson Instagram.
That's a great place to come seeme, slide in the DMs.
I'm always just happy to chat.
Um, and yeah, would love toconnect with everybody.
SPEAKER_03 (33:02):
Awesome.
Yeah, our guests get reallyexcited when people find them on
Instagram and then send them amessage and say, I heard you on
this podcast.
So if you're listening,definitely go send these ladies
a message and tell them that youheard them on this podcast.
It's always, I don't know, it'seven after doing this podcast
for years, I still feel like I'mjust chatting away and I don't
know if anyone's actuallylistening other than my mom and
(33:22):
like one random person inAfrica.
And then people are like, Oh, Ilove that podcast episode.
I'm like, oh, you're listening?
That's so fun.
Meredith, how can people connectwith you?
SPEAKER_01 (33:34):
Well, they can go to my website, it's
cglassvirtual.com.
Um, also, Melissa's, you've beentagging me like crazy over on
threads and Instagram lately.
So you can find me there.
That I think you've actuallybeen using Coffee Shop Chic,
which is my personal handle.
I respond to that or CGlassVirtual.
So yeah, whatever you want to doto find me that way as well.
(33:55):
It's great.
SPEAKER_03 (33:56):
I have somehow cultivated my threads home
screen to be like, it's alleither I'm an entrepreneur and
I'm looking to connect withother female entrepreneurs.
And like, great, let me tell youhow.
Or like, does anyone know howI'm looking for someone to help
me move from this platform tothis platform?
Or I'm so overwhelmed and I needto have like it's every single
(34:17):
post is either like TaylorSwift, Katz, someone who needs
Melissa, or someone who needsMeredith.
So follow me for more tips onhow to carefully curate your
threads algorithm.
Awesome.
Thank you, ladies, so much.
Thank you for being on thispodcast.
Thank you for the work thatyou're doing in the world.
(34:38):
I love these awards because Iget to meet and connect with
some of the coolest people.
And I love being able to honoryou guys for the work that
you're doing that I think a lotof times goes uh under the radar
and unrealized.
And um, all three of you arejust making such a massive
impact in the world and withyour clients.
And I appreciate you guys somuch.
SPEAKER_02 (34:58):
Thanks for having me.
Thanks.
Nice to meet you, Caitlin, andsee a face to your name
Meredith.
SPEAKER_01 (35:05):
Yeah, thank you for coming up with this idea a
couple of years ago, Melissa.
Because yeah, I think this wasone of the brain dump channel
items.
Yeah, well, thanks for making ithappen.
SPEAKER_00 (35:15):
Yay, thank you so much.
This has been so great.
Hello, ladies.
Welcome to the Powerful WomenRising podcast.
SPEAKER_02 (00:05):
Hello.
SPEAKER_03 (00:07):
Good to see you here.
Yes, so excited to have you.
Teresa, this is your second timeon the podcast, I think.
I had you on years ago.
Yes.
I remember.
You were with Amy and LindsayLee, and we were talking about
the powerful women risingcommunity.
Yes, right.
It was it was so memorable shedoesn't even know she did it.
In your defense of it a longtime ago.
(00:28):
So much has happened since then.
I know.
We we each have been like fourdifferent people since then.
Um okay, so let's jump intotoday.
I'm really excited.
You guys don't know each other.
Presumably the listeners don'tknow you either.
So I want to give you a momentto introduce yourselves, tell
everybody a little bit aboutyou, and then we'll jump into
some some juicy stuff.
(00:49):
So, Caitlin, let's hear from youfirst.
You are the winner of the Coachof the Year Award.
So tell everybody a little bitabout you.
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
Thank you so much.
I'm so excited to be here.
So my name's Caitlin.
I own Meraki Media Management,which is a marketing agency.
We specialize in social mediamanagement, specifically in the
organic realm of contentcreation.
And I also coach women, businesscoach, um, consult in marketing,
(01:16):
how to expand communities.
And I've been doing that reallysince I started because I
actually launched courses beforeI became a social media manager.
That was back before 2020 whennobody wanted to hire out social
media yet.
So that's kind of a little bitof my story arc, too.
SPEAKER_03 (01:35):
That's awesome.
I want to share something fromone of the nominations because
when we did these awards, we hadpeople nominate people and then
we took the top people from eachcategory and people voted on
theirs.
And one of the nominations thatwas submitted for you said she
has a rare gift of making youfeel deeply seen, supported, and
safe from the moment you sitdown with her.
And I love that so much,especially considering like when
(01:58):
I read that, I was like, oh, shemust be a life coach or you
know, something like that.
And the fact that you are doinglike business and social media
and marketing and you're stillfinding a way to make people
feel like that, I think isincredible.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
So awesome.
Yeah.
So, Meredith, let's go to younext.
Tell everybody about yourself.
SPEAKER_01 (02:18):
Hi.
Uh, well, I'm a virtualassistant and I work with
business owners, getting theirsystems going and figuring out,
hey, I've got this idea.
How do we do it?
How do we implement fixing theback and working with clients,
their clients, um, building outsites, moving platforms a lot
lately.
Uh yeah, I I just I love beingbehind the scenes.
SPEAKER_03 (02:40):
So yeah, I had to convince, I had to pay her
actually to do this podcastinterview.
Okay, so I didn't cheat, Iswear, but Meredith is my VA.
And I'm only saying that becauseI need to add to what she just
said.
She is not a VA.
She is so many other things.
(03:01):
She, I told her a long time ago,I'm like, why don't you just
become a business coach?
And she's like, because then I'dhave to be on camera.
I was like, okay, fair.
But Meredith is like, she willget this stuff done, but she
also is the kind of assistantthat will say, like, I don't
know if this is the best idea,or I think that's a good idea,
but it would really work a lotbetter if we did it this way.
(03:23):
And if I'm like, no, we're stilldoing it that way, she's like,
okay, whatever you want.
But uh, she's like a strategicpartner almost.
Like we think about thingstogether, we figure stuff out
together.
There's a lot of times that I'mlike, I just told her the other
day, I'm like, I know this issupposed to be the other way
around, me telling you what todo, but um, I have ADHD and I
have 5,000 things in my brain.
(03:43):
And can you just tell me thethree things that need to be
done this week?
And she's like, yes, I will.
So she is like, I she's just somuch more than a VA.
She's like essential support foryour business.
And I love her so much.
Speaking of people I love somuch, let's go to Teresa.
SPEAKER_02 (04:00):
So I am Teresa Romain, and I have been what has
been called, my clients gave methe name, an abundance coach for
more than 30 years.
Caveat.
I'm also also the poster childfor you.
Teach best what you most need tolearn and keep practicing
yourself.
Um, so that's me.
And what it took me almost 25years to learn, where I would do
(04:26):
my own abundance mindset stuffand I'd get out of debt, and I'd
help my clients get out of debtand help them make more money
and all of this.
And yet I noticed that thepressure and the frustration and
the sense of not enough, and Ialways have to do more, and it
has to be bigger, like it neverwent away.
(04:46):
And that what I finallydiscovered over the past three
years, Melissa, you've been partof my journey, is because the
model we have for abundance inour world that dominates our
world is really built on and inreaction to scarcity.
And it keeps us in this trap.
I call it the abundance trap,where we think more, doing more,
(05:08):
being more efficient, achievingmore, making more, all of that
is gonna give us this experienceof wholeness and life and
well-being and freedom we longfor.
And we just keep chasing it andwe stop, we don't know how to
live in it.
And so my work is really aboutliberating people from that trap
and giving them a new model fortheir relationship with money
(05:30):
for uh abundance so that theycan start living in it now and
let all that pressure of gottado more, gotta do more, like let
that go.
SPEAKER_03 (05:40):
Yeah, I love that.
And I love that you explained itthat way because there are so
many different definitions ofabundance out there, as you
know, and you and I have talkedabout many times.
I was just yesterday helping afriend who runs a networking
group sift through um speakerapplications.
And there were so many peoplewho submitted applications for
things like, you know, increaseyour abundance, um, turn your
(06:04):
fear into abundance, moreabundance this year.
And all of the ones that I read,it was all like abundance means
more, right?
Uh let me show you how to makemore money, let me show you how
to call more money in.
Let me show you how to get moreof what you want.
And I kept thinking about youbecause I'm like, Teresa has
changed the word abundance forme forever.
SPEAKER_02 (06:25):
Yep.
And how often abundance is likemoney.
SPEAKER_03 (06:30):
Yeah.
Like and more and more and moreof it.
And more and more of it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, Teresa, I'm going to staywith you for a second because I
love the fact that your awardwas the Active Impact Award.
And basically what that was wasan award that went to someone
who was engaged and active, whoshows up in conversations,
(06:51):
events, online spaces withenergy and enthusiasm and
dedication and inspires otherpeople.
And what we were looking forreally was not just somebody who
is in all of the places, butwhat was the impact that she was
making in the spaces that shewas in?
And I especially love that youwon this award because you've
(07:13):
had quite a journey when itcomes to networking and showing
up in spaces.
And I would love for you to justtalk a little bit about that
experience and what that hasbeen like for you and kind of
how you interpret this award.
SPEAKER_02 (07:28):
Oh, we could go on.
I'll keep it concise.
Um, when I first came intoMelissa's world, it was because
I knew networking was like myweak spot.
It's it was my growth area.
Um, and it brought up all myfears, but it also brought up
all my scarcity because I hadthis belief I wasn't making a
(07:49):
lot of money at the time.
It was going through a hard timefinancially.
And so the only way I thought Icould like support others is if
I bought their products or Iwent to their events and there
was like money.
And so I was living in this, Ican't support others.
And if I can't support others,then I'm not gonna show up
because then they know I can'tsupport them, and then they're
(08:10):
gonna think I'm not an abundancecoach, right?
And so, you know, that was whatyour community and others helped
me see that that's not the onlyway to show up and support.
And um so I started to see like,wow, I could just show up and my
energy supports, or I could showup and just share my experience
(08:31):
and it supports.
Like, oh, I don't have to doanything and I don't have to be
a certain way, and I can make abig difference if I'm just like
have that commitment to show upand serve, which I'm a generator
in human design, so that worksfor me.
So that's what I've been doing.
No big deal.
I'm not on social media a lot,I'm not out there like growing
(08:52):
this massive network, and then Iget this award.
And and my first thought wasone, I laughed and I went, well,
so much for my idea of notenough, because clearly somehow
I'm doing something.
And the other thing I celebratedis that I was honored that I got
the award, and I didn't carethat I got the award.
(09:13):
And what I mean by that is inthe past, I would have used the
fact that I got award as proofand evidence and look at how
good I am and what the impactI'm having it would have been
like to prove I was enough.
And it was just really a greatgift for me to realize how much
I'd grown and healed, that Icould be honored by it, I could
be a little surprised by it, butI didn't have any of that like
(09:36):
looky, look at what it meansabout me.
Um, and that's I think that'sthe gift this award has been for
me.
Like, first of all, like I don'tknow how I'm having impact, and
I don't have to.
And I don't need to prove myworth like I used to either.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:53):
And that totally tracks with what everyone who
nominated you said.
The word authenticity came upover and over again, right?
That she is showing up, likewhen she shows up, she is deeply
present, she's listening, she'sasking good questions, she is uh
being honest about who she is.
(10:13):
She is showing that abundanceisn't just something that she
teaches, but it's how she lives.
And I think that really is theimpact that you've had on people
is showing them that there is away to network that allows you
to stay in integrity and beauthentic and not feel like you
(10:33):
have to be more and be perfectand do all the things for all of
the people.
And I think that's awesome.
Let's go back to Caitlin becauseI want to stay on this kind of
same track.
I think it's I I went back andforth with the whole Coach of
the Year award.
I almost didn't even include itwhen I first started these
awards because I have such aninteresting relationship with
(10:57):
coaching for someone who hasbeen a coach for a while.
Um, but one of the things Ireally wanted to make sure of is
that the people we wererecognizing as coach of the year
were people who reallyunderstood the true essence of
coaching.
People that were operating withintegrity, who were committed to
helping their clients, um, andwho weren't just the Instagram
(11:21):
coaches, right?
The like, look at me on myprivate jet and I made$5 billion
just laying by the pool becauseI got all of you suckers to
believe that I knew what I wasdoing.
So talk to me a little bit aboutyour experience as a coach and
how that all resonates for you.
SPEAKER_00 (11:38):
Yeah, thank you so much for sharing the taboo of
coaching because it took me awhile to even take on that type
of title.
And even internally, like I willshare it small on the smaller
scale.
So this award definitely made methink differently about this
year for myself.
I like to approach coaching in avery intuitive way in the
(12:02):
client's lens.
So I like to just ask questions.
I think of my coaching more as afacilitator of conversation to
help the client understand whatfeels most aligned for them.
For example, I've had clientsthat have come to me, think that
they want to start a digitalmarketing agency.
(12:22):
We have a few meetings and wewalk through what it's going to
look like.
After meeting three, they'relike, you know what?
I don't want to be doing this atall.
I think I just want a career.
And then I'm able to help themon that.
Okay, what does this next careerlook like?
Is it a pivot?
Um, and that's been reallyhelpful for me as well, seeing
(12:44):
that we don't need to followsomeone else's intuition,
someone else's path in order toget to where we want to go.
We have all the answers within.
Um, and that's just been a corebelief of mine for the past few
years now.
And that's how I like to applycoaching.
I also feel more empowered forthe client.
Instead of them coming andasking me questions, I wouldn't
(13:07):
want to send them in a directionthat doesn't resonate with them.
I will still give tacticalstrategy.
I'll make that clear for likemarketing.
Um, but I don't tell themexactly what to do.
I always ask, does this feellike that would work for you?
Or is this something that you'dlike to do?
Because if it's not something wewould like to do, we probably
won't do it.
(13:27):
And then the business nevergrows.
SPEAKER_03 (13:30):
So yeah, that that uh that resonates.
And it also sounds very muchlike Meredith's approach to
helping other business owners.
I think I'm gonna go to younext, Meredith, because I think
it's when we think about virtualassistants, we think of people
who are like behind the sceneshelping other business owners.
(13:52):
And yes, that's what you'redoing, but you're also like, I
don't know, I can only speakfrom my own experience.
It's almost like half thisbusiness is yours, right?
Like we're building thisbusiness together.
It's not like I'm building thisbusiness and Meredith's back
here like doing the things.
It's like we're both uh probablyto an extreme.
(14:13):
I'm always like, hey, we gotanother client.
She's like, okay, it's 11o'clock at night, go to sleep.
Um, but let's talk a little bitabout kind of your philosophy
and how you see your role as avirtual assistant.
SPEAKER_01 (14:25):
Yeah, it well, of course, it's a smaller part of
the business than if I was likein an office space, which I
spent years doing that.
I was a business manager at auniversity.
But if you are going for morethan just the like, hey, will
you go schedule these emails orwill you go, you know, fix this
(14:45):
thing on the website real quickand actually want a strategy
partner, then yeah, it's gonnabe more of a help me with my
business type of relationship.
And I am very invested in whatmy clients are doing and their
businesses and they're doing.
I don't want to work withsomebody that I feel icky about,
you know.
Yeah, and so most of my clientshappen to be entrepreneurs who
(15:09):
have some form of ADHD, whetherit's official or just kind of
yeah, I think so.
So there is a lot of like ideasstuff, and then I'm the one that
comes in and comes to open upwith how we're actually going to
structure the thing that make itmakes it work.
SPEAKER_03 (15:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, yeah, you did.
What do you think it is that Imean you touched on it a little
bit, but you've been a VA forhow long now?
SPEAKER_01 (15:35):
I've been a V, I started doing VA work back in
2020 when the pandemic was juststarting, and I was like, okay,
I don't want to go back to anoffice.
I was moving.
Um, and a friend of mine waslike, hey, I think you'd be an
awesome VA.
Have you looked at this?
I don't I don't even know whatthat is.
So looked into it.
Um, got a few clients startedwith skills that I had already,
(15:58):
but weren't necessarily like bigVA skills and just built as I
went along.
And so you don't have to startknowing Kajavi and Kit, which
used to be convert kit and mail.
You just start with the skillsyou have, get curious, and you
build them from there.
SPEAKER_03 (16:15):
Yeah.
I feel like that's how all of usstarted our businesses, right?
Yeah.
I know for you, Teresa, it was alot of like, well, talk about
how you started your business orhow did you like even get into
this?
Because I know it came from alot of personal experience.
SPEAKER_02 (16:30):
Just a quagmire of my own scarcity.
I mean, um, I left the corporateworld uh and my six-figure job
because I didn't love it.
And I was going to start anetwork marketing business with
my husband, and we were gonna doit full time, and we were gonna
be making money in it, and wespent money to make money and
went to all the trainings.
And like I always say, a yearand a half after going at it
(16:52):
full time, um, as newlyweds too.
So maybe it wasn't full time.
Um, the only thing that wasgrowing exponentially was not
our income, it was our debt.
And it was that that quagmire ofthat the debt, but also the fact
that on paper, Dan and I shouldhave been wildly successful at
that business.
I mean, we had all the skills,we had all of this, um, and we
(17:16):
weren't.
Well, then that was frustrating.
And then, of course, I didn'twant anybody to know it because
everybody expected us tosucceed.
So then I go into patterns ofhiding and acting like we're
successful, spend more money,have more debt.
And finally, I just got to apoint there has to be something
that I'm missing that this isn'tworking.
(17:36):
And when the student is ready,teachers appear.
And I first learned a system forgetting out of debt, kind of
like Dave Ramsey does now.
This was before Dave Ramsey, andother principals, and I just
literally, my scarcity has justcontinued to be my teacher and
like, oh, ooh, oh, gotta work onthe internals, oh, gotta do
this, gotta do this.
(17:57):
And I did all of those things.
I made more money, I spent lessmoney, I did mindset, I did all
of that.
But like I said at thebeginning, and yet it was I
never had that sense of I canjust be and relax and enjoy my
life.
There's always have to do more.
And that's when I started to seeit's the model we have, it's
gonna keep us in scarcity,always chasing chasing.
(18:18):
And so that's when my work,again, my scarcity led me.
Um, and that's why I say now toall my clients, scarcity is not
a problem to fix.
Yeah, it's an invitation andcatalyst for healing and growth.
And that's how I work withpeople because the abundance we
want and that we need to growand thrive is already available
(18:38):
for us.
We may not see it, we may notknow how to access it, we may
not know how to utilize it inways that support us to grow and
thrive, but it's there.
And so when you can you can pullaway that scittercity, then it's
like you're open to it.
SPEAKER_03 (18:52):
Yeah, that's really good.
I actually love that the threeof you ended up on an interview
together.
I didn't really even do that onpurpose, but I love that Teresa
is so focused on like themindset and the perspective and
the shifts that make such a bigdifference.
And Meredith is so focused onlike the action and the doing of
(19:12):
the things.
And then Caitlin is like alittle bit of both.
And I feel like it's all what weneed as business owners.
Like I came from the coachingworld where everything was your
thoughts, right?
So if you're not making money,it's because of your thoughts.
If you signed up for my$10,000program and it didn't work for
you, it's because of yourthoughts.
(19:34):
If you are, you know, whateverit is, you need to do more
thought work.
You need to think differentlyabout it.
There was no like strategy.
There was no like, let's talkabout how you're marketing,
let's not let's talk about youroffer.
It was just like, you probablyneed to think better.
And then I went to the wholeother extreme of like, who cares
(19:54):
what I think?
I just need to do the things.
And now I've landed somewhereback.
Here in the middle with allthree of you of like, okay, yes,
how I'm thinking about this isimportant, and also doing the
things is important.
Does that resonate with youguys?
SPEAKER_02 (20:12):
Yeah, and I just have to and I just have to add
because you know I do this, it'slike, and the bottom line
message you keep getting wheneither is working, when it's the
strategies aren't working oryour thinking's wrong or
whatever, is the message thatkeeps getting reinforced is
something's wrong with me andI'm not enough.
And if I was to say anythingelse about my work, it's like,
no, nothing's wrong with you.
(20:33):
It's not that you're not enough.
The model you have isn't gonnaisn't gonna give you what you
want.
SPEAKER_03 (20:41):
Yeah.
Were you gonna add something,Meredith?
SPEAKER_01 (20:44):
Yeah, a couple of years ago, I started.
Well, I have a Slack space I setup for each of my clients so we
can communicate and draw ideasand this is working that's fine.
Um, but I started a brain dumpchannel because there needed to
be a space where you could comein with an idea and it not be an
assignment, it might be a newproject necessarily, which like
I have this idea, I don't knowwhat to do with it.
(21:06):
How do we implement it?
And then I can come in and go,okay, well, we could do XYZ with
our current system, or you know,just the other plan for it.
We might need to bring inanother platform or a weird
factor integration or somethinglike that.
But you know, just talking backand forth and then deciding,
okay, well, let's implement itin a month, four months,
(21:28):
whatever.
Or yeah, that's no, no, notgonna do it.
Let's let's just table it.
Yeah, but somewhere to talkabout the actual implementation
without it being a stressor orthis thing that's just like
bouncing around in your headwhile you've got the other
clients to deal with and to toserve it.
SPEAKER_00 (21:48):
Yeah, such a good point.
I was just gonna share as wellwhat you both are talking about
and what the theme of today hasbeen.
It's almost like when I firstgot into business, I had created
a jail cell for myself.
It almost mimicked the exact jobthat I left, if not working
triple the amount of time that Iwas working before for somebody
(22:11):
else.
And I realized how much I wasconstricting, you know, the
growth through a lot of the corebeliefs that so many other
people were talking about atthat time.
You know, it's your thoughts,it's you, you're the problem.
And when I was able to stripthat away, that's what I felt
like was expansive.
Like then I could feel myintuition.
(22:32):
I'm like, this is fun, you know,this can be fun.
It should be fun.
Marketing should be fun.
Um, so I feel the same way.
And I think that if we can holdspace for others, you know, that
are experiencing that, what agift.
You know, that doesn't even feellike work anymore.
That just feels like more fun.
SPEAKER_03 (22:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's all great advice on allthree of your parts.
I the last question I want toask you before we wrap up, and
I'm gonna ask each of you thisis for anyone who is listening
to this podcast who maybe is newin business or they're
struggling, something's notworking, they're not getting
consistent traction, they'refeeling overwhelmed or
(23:11):
frustrated or whatever it is,they don't know how to get to
the next level.
What's a piece of advice thatyou would give them or what's
something that you wish that youwould have known?
Any of you can go first.
SPEAKER_02 (23:29):
Well, I could give a few, but here would be mine.
Um it's okay to pair down whileyou're growing something.
So what I mean by that is youknow, instead of like thinking
you gotta act like you'resuccessful and thinking you're
more than what you are, it'sokay in service of your
(23:52):
business, your growth, yourwell-being, to say, hey, let's
let's maybe pare down ourlifestyle, take the pressure off
my business financially, and andand get clear on what your nut
is.
That's what I call it, your nut.
Like this is the minimal amount.
If my business could make thismuch a month, we're good.
(24:14):
We're good.
And see if you can have that nutbe as small as it can, because
then you can feel like, okay, Ican do this, and you're not in
that financial pressure,scarcity, proving all of that.
And then the second piece of itis once you've done it, let's
say your net is$500 or athousand, I don't care.
(24:36):
$1,000, and you did it, yay, Imade a thousand dollars.
Do not raise the goal.
One of the biggest mistakes I'vemade and I see people make is as
soon as we achieve a goal, wewant to raise it.
And I know firsthand that whatyou have to learn to achieve a
goal is very different than whatyou need to learn to continue to
(25:00):
sustain it.
So if your nut is a thousanddollars, then have a goal of a
thousand dollars or more.
And when you make it, celebrateit, and then have that same goal
for the next month and the nextmonth and the next month, and do
that for four, five, six months.
Let that be very solid.
And then if you want to or needto go for more, then set a new
(25:21):
goal.
But this, like upward andonward, don't do that.
Let it gel like a jello salad,let it gel, and then add a layer
if you want.
SPEAKER_03 (25:31):
That is really great advice.
And I'm so glad you said thatbecause it goes against so much
of the like business experts'advice out there that is like
more and more and more and more.
You did that, yay, let's doubleit next month, let's triple it
next month.
And talk about perpetuating anexpense of not enough, right?
(25:53):
No kidding, no kidding, andnothing is less motivating than
a feeling of not enough forsure.
Caitlin, do you want to go next?
SPEAKER_00 (26:03):
Yeah, I would say, you know, I did not understand
that entrepreneurship when I was22 years old getting into this
journey would cause me to lookat all of the parts of myself
that maybe weren't working sowell.
Um, and I don't know that Iwould have done it to be very
(26:24):
transparent if I did know thedepths of my soul that would
come out throughout thisjourney.
So to anybody just starting,look at this as a gift to your
family, your friends, the peoplearound you.
This experience has changed mylife for the better.
It's allowed my relationships todeepen.
(26:45):
Um, even my relationship with mypuppy.
You know, I look at everythingdifferently now.
So I would say give yourselfthis gift and keep going because
even if you have that slowmonth, as Teresa mentioned, it
has nothing to do with you.
Maybe the slow month ishappening.
So you can do the personal work.
My business tends to mimicexactly what's coming up in my
(27:08):
life.
And now I try not to questionit.
I just lean into it.
SPEAKER_03 (27:13):
Yeah.
Do you think you could ever goback to working a nine to five
for someone else?
SPEAKER_00 (27:18):
That's a great question.
You know, of course, like manyentrepreneurs, I've applied
because scarcity just like to bevery transparent.
I think if it's the right personand they respect boundaries and
we have a mutual relationship,beneficial relationship, yes,
but that is sometimeschallenging to find in modern
(27:40):
day workforce.
So I would prefer to keepworking for myself because it's
really is such a gift.
SPEAKER_03 (27:46):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's hard to go back.
I started working part-time atStarbucks about six months ago,
um, mostly so I could get healthinsurance benefits.
And I was like, it'll be fine.
Like there was so much that Ididn't think about.
And my first week there, Iremember telling my boss, I'm
like, I cannot tell you how longit's been since I actually had
(28:10):
to be somewhere on time.
SPEAKER_00 (28:12):
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (28:12):
Like even when you make plans with your friend,
right?
It's like, let's meet for lunchat 11.
But if I'm there at 11:03, noone cares.
If I'm clocking in at 11.03,Starbucks cares.
And that was a lot to get usedto.
Like you're not wearing theright pants.
Are your shoes waterproof?
Uh, don't forget to say hello toevery customer who comes through
(28:33):
the door.
Why weren't you clocked in aminute ago?
Like it's, I actually love myjob, so it's not as terrible as
I'm making it sound, but therewas just so much that I was
like, and dealing with otherpeople and the dynamics.
And last week we had a mandatorystore meeting that was three
hours long with like role playsand games and like all of the
(28:54):
corporate things that you'relike, I forgot about this
three-hour meeting that couldhave been a really short email.
So hard to go back, yes, notimpossible.
Meredith, what about you?
What advice would you give toother business owners?
SPEAKER_01 (29:13):
Give yourself space to experiment and play.
Like the especially I see this alot with younger VAs, is they
think they have to niche reallyfast and like pick their
specialty.
It's like, no, your business isgonna change.
What you specialize in is goingto evolve and change.
And there's just so much spaceout there.
(29:34):
There's so many different typesof clients.
I worked, I've worked with a lotof coaches, but then I've also
worked, I've worked withphotographers and real estate
people, like all kinds of stuff.
So there's space to grow and youdon't have to lock in
immediately.
SPEAKER_03 (29:50):
Yeah, that's really good too.
Cause we obsess about that,especially in the beginning,
because that's what we're toldto do, right?
And I think every business ownerI know has gone through so many
iterations of like, this is whoI am and this is who I help.
And a lot of times where we endup is not at all where we were
planning to end up.
And I see for so many people,like, I don't care what you
(30:12):
think your niche is, your nicheis gonna find you, you know.
Like by the time I was my firstbusiness was a dating and
relationship coaching business.
And I initially thought I wasgoing to be working with, I
started out wanting to work withwomen who were attracting the
same kind of man over and overagain.
By the end of my business, I wasworking almost exclusively with
(30:34):
women who were like late 40s tolate 60s, who had been married
for a long time, who had beendivorced for a long time, now
wanted to get back out there anddate, but it was a very
different world than it was whenthey were 22 and met their
husbands.
And that's like every, and Idon't even know how that
happened, right?
That's just it's like Meredithand the ADHDers, like we just
(30:56):
find her and then we keepfinding her, and then we keep
sending our people to her.
And so, yeah, sometimes like youdon't have to be quite so
uptight about your niche becauseit's gonna find you and you're
gonna figure it out the more youput yourself out there and just
keep moving forward.
Absolutely.
Okay, so if people want to knowmore about what you guys do, I
(31:19):
mean, if you were to ask me mybusiness advice, I would just
say hire probably all three ofthese people.
Um, so if you would like to takemy advice, or if you'd just like
to know them a little bitbetter, be in their circle, see
what's going on with them.
Teresa, what's the best way forpeople to connect with you?
SPEAKER_02 (31:36):
A best way would be to go to my website, teresa
romaine.com.
You can there's a contact formif you wanted to connect.
There's resources there.
Facebook is my second and youknow, or YouTube channel.
YouTube channel and Facebook aremy only social media, and still
probably my website is the bestplace.
SPEAKER_03 (31:55):
Yeah, I agree.
Your website is amazing.
SPEAKER_02 (31:58):
It's so the new one, the new one's gonna be released
next week.
SPEAKER_03 (32:01):
I can't wait for that.
I have always loved your websitebecause it's so interactive and
it's so you.
Like, I know it's a good websitewhen I know the person and then
I see the website, and I'm like,oh yeah, this is like it's hard
sometimes to translate a wholeperson into a website, and you
do a great job.
SPEAKER_02 (32:19):
So I'm excited to well, I think the new one will
then surprise you because increating it, I realized how much
my old ones were still like whatI need to be, what I should be.
And this one is 100% me.
So it's very different.
SPEAKER_03 (32:32):
I can't wait.
So the new website will be outby the time this podcast
launches, so everyone has to goand check it out.
Caitlin, how can people connectwith you?
SPEAKER_00 (32:40):
Yay, I'm excited to see Teresa at your new website.
I will definitely be followingup.
Um, my website is MerakiM-E-R-A-K-I Media Management,
and that's also with underscoreson Instagram.
That's a great place to come seeme, slide in the DMs.
I'm always just happy to chat.
Um, and yeah, would love toconnect with everybody.
SPEAKER_03 (33:02):
Awesome.
Yeah, our guests get reallyexcited when people find them on
Instagram and then send them amessage and say, I heard you on
this podcast.
So if you're listening,definitely go send these ladies
a message and tell them that youheard them on this podcast.
It's always, I don't know, it'seven after doing this podcast
for years, I still feel like I'mjust chatting away and I don't
know if anyone's actuallylistening other than my mom and
(33:22):
like one random person inAfrica.
And then people are like, Oh, Ilove that podcast episode.
I'm like, oh, you're listening?
That's so fun.
Meredith, how can people connectwith you?
SPEAKER_01 (33:34):
Well, they can go to my website, it's
cglassvirtual.com.
Um, also, Melissa's, you've beentagging me like crazy over on
threads and Instagram lately.
So you can find me there.
That I think you've actuallybeen using Coffee Shop Chic,
which is my personal handle.
I respond to that or CGlassVirtual.
So yeah, whatever you want to doto find me that way as well.
(33:55):
It's great.
SPEAKER_03 (33:56):
I have somehow cultivated my threads home
screen to be like, it's alleither I'm an entrepreneur and
I'm looking to connect withother female entrepreneurs.
And like, great, let me tell youhow.
Or like, does anyone know howI'm looking for someone to help
me move from this platform tothis platform?
Or I'm so overwhelmed and I needto have like it's every single
(34:17):
post is either like TaylorSwift, Katz, someone who needs
Melissa, or someone who needsMeredith.
So follow me for more tips onhow to carefully curate your
threads algorithm.
Awesome.
Thank you, ladies, so much.
Thank you for being on thispodcast.
Thank you for the work thatyou're doing in the world.
(34:38):
I love these awards because Iget to meet and connect with
some of the coolest people.
And I love being able to honoryou guys for the work that
you're doing that I think a lotof times goes uh under the radar
and unrealized.
And um, all three of you arejust making such a massive
impact in the world and withyour clients.
And I appreciate you guys somuch.
SPEAKER_02 (34:58):
Thanks for having me.
Thanks.
Nice to meet you, Caitlin, andsee a face to your name
Meredith.
SPEAKER_01 (35:05):
Yeah, thank you for coming up with this idea a
couple of years ago, Melissa.
Because yeah, I think this wasone of the brain dump channel
items.
Yeah, well, thanks for making ithappen.
SPEAKER_00 (35:15):
Yay, thank you so much.
This has been so great.
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