May 25, 2023 • 12 mins
When my father passed away, I found myself at a crossroads in my life and my business. It wasn't until I stepped back and took a much-needed break that I was able to gain the clarity I needed to move forward with purpose. In today's deeply personal episode, I open up about my own journey and reveal the transformative power of clarity in entrepreneurship.
Throughout the episode, we discuss the importance of taking time off, whether it's a vacation or just a few hours of solitude. By stepping away from the daily grind, we can reassess our goals, values, and vision for our business. We also explore activities that can help us reconnect with our personal values and identify areas for improvement. Join me as we uncover the secrets to creating a business that truly reflects our authentic selves, empowering us to achieve even greater success.
Thoughts on this episode? Send me a message
If this episode helped you I would be so grateful if you would leave a 5 star review. If you do leave a review please send me a message at Jen@jengaines.com and we will send you a special thank you gift.
Make sure to connect with me on IG: @fiercemomboss
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
All right, welcome to the She's on Fire podcast, the
show that explores thechallenges and triumphs of
entrepreneurship for mamaentrepreneurs and helps to
empower you to unleash yourmagic and ignite your power.
I'm so happy to be back here.
I'm your host, jen Gaines, andin today's episode we're going
(00:25):
to dive deep into the topic ofreally stepping back from your
business to gain clarity.
All right, so six months ago Iwouldn't have done this podcast
episode, but it was through myown trials and tribulations and
gaining my own razor sharpclarity that I realized just how
(00:47):
necessary this really is.
All right, so if you're on myemail list, you would have
gotten an email about how I tooktime off from marketing my
business for a few monthsbecause my father passed away.
I had two dad's growing up.
My father was actually mysecond dad, the one that passed
away.
He was my second father, but wehad a really close relationship
(01:11):
for my entire life And itreally hit me All right and I
had to scale back somewhere AndI obviously couldn't tell my
clients that I was working with.
Oh hey, see you later.
I'm going to take off a fewmonths, right.
So I decided this was the bestavenue for me to go and to
(01:33):
really step back a little bit.
I had not planned on steppingback to gain clarity Literally
was because I was like in a fog,okay, and I was devastated.
So I really honestly feltblessed for so many reasons, and
one of them being that I dohave a business where I don't
(01:56):
have a damn boss telling me Ihave to go back to work after
three days because my grief,time has been used or whatever
the hell they call it.
Now I have no idea what theycall it, but I'm lucky in that I
am grateful that I don't haveto deal with that, like how
(02:16):
inhumane is that?
Oh, your father died.
Sorry, but here's three days.
That you get to yourself And Iwas walking around in a complete
fog for weeks after Three daysis a joke.
It really is five days.
I know some places give youfive days.
It's still a joke.
It's not humane.
(02:38):
It really isn't.
I feel like even when you have apet who passes away, who dies,
who you might have to use, whoyou might have to use and eyes,
that is a super heavy thing togo through too, and it's like
you don't get anything for that.
Sometimes our pets are the oneswho are always with us, like
the unconditional love.
You don't get anything for that.
It's a hard thing to go through, so I felt very blessed and
(03:04):
lucky and grateful that I wasable to do that.
But anyways, we're not here forme to bash company, even though
I could go on and on all dayabout how entrepreneurship can
be so amazing.
Right, we're here to talk aboutclarity, and the reason why I'm
talking about this now isbecause I really want other
(03:27):
women to understand something.
Sometimes we need to reassessthings.
Okay, my business started tofeel really heavy.
There were things that I wasn'thappy with, but I didn't really
know.
I didn't actually see thisuntil I was in my grief process.
Hold on, i need to drink awater.
(03:48):
In my grief process, and evenmy own business coach gave me
the side eye a few times becauseshe was like are you coming
back?
What are you doing?
You know, quite honestly, itwas the absolute best thing I
could have done.
It really, really was, andthat's why I want to talk about
(04:09):
it, and I'm not telling anybodyhere to take months off.
That's not what I'm saying.
I was really able to takemyself through a process and
figure out what wasn't workingfor me right?
What wasn't working?
It's not that my businesswasn't working, it's what was
heavy for me.
What did I need to change whenI started really thinking about
(04:31):
all this?
And my hope is that my ownprocess can help you understand
how crucial it is to reassessthings from time to time, and
how to do it without stoppingfor so long.
Right, i'm not telling you totake months off, that's not what
I'm saying But it's importantto take some time, especially if
(04:54):
something doesn't feel right,if some things don't feel right.
Okay, so I want you to thinkabout the concept of stepping
back from your business.
Why is it so important forentrepreneurs to take this step
sometimes?
Because, entrepreneurs, weoften get caught up in the daily
grind and lose sight of thebigger picture, the sight of the
(05:17):
vision that we once had, thesight of our mission right.
Stepping back allows us to gaina fresh perspective, reevaluate
our goals, our mission, ourvision, and ensure that our
business aligns with ourpersonal vision.
It's imperative we do this, allright.
(05:39):
So how is really the question?
how do you do this?
Taking breaks, whether it's avacation or simply a few hours
of just solitude.
That means to yourself, itmeans without other people, it
can work wonders.
All right, engaging inactivities that bring you joy
(06:02):
and relaxation really helpsclear the mind, and by yourself,
okay.
One of the things that I did bymyself was take a day alone and
go to Disney.
Now, i know, yep, there's tonsof other people there and
they're all over the place, butit gave me the perspective that
(06:22):
I needed and it really helped medial in the things that I
wanted to do and the things thatI wanted to not do.
All right, it wasn't the onlytime I did that, it wasn't the
only time I was alone, but thatwas a huge thing.
All right, i've never done thatbefore, and it allowed me the
(06:43):
space for new ideas, newinsights to emerge and me to use
my imagination and have newideas flow into my mind.
I have so many different thingsI want to do now and I'm super
(07:04):
excited.
I feel very grounded.
This is what I said in my email.
I feel very grounded, but alsolike I'm soaring at the same
time.
Okay, take time by yourself,though.
This is the crucial thing.
No kids, no friends, nopartners, so that might not be
feasible for you to go and takea vacation.
That's okay, but you can take aday to yourself.
(07:28):
You can, somehow you can find away to take five, six, seven
hours to yourself, all right,It's crucial to do that.
Think about the things thatreally matter to you, the things
that really just light you thefuck up.
What do you love about yourbusiness?
What do you hate about yourbusiness?
(07:49):
Let's change these things thatyou don't like, things that
don't light you up, and do moreof the things that do.
What do you truly desire to do,to talk about, to bring to the
market, but maybe you're afraidto do?
There's been things that I'vebeen afraid.
Right, i talk about confidence,a lot.
(08:10):
Confidence building is reallyfinding the courage to step out,
okay, and then your confidencecomes in.
All right.
So, after gaining clarity,evaluate the current state of
your business.
Where are you at?
(08:30):
Assess your goals and thestrategies helping you to get
there.
What are your operations?
This was a lot of what I neededto reassess my operations.
All right, buy areas forimprovement or things that you
feel that could give you abetter business.
Change things.
(08:51):
Do it now.
Don't wait until it becomesheavy.
All right, don't do that,because that's what I did, and I
want you to learn from my ownmistakes.
All right, i'm gonna be talkingabout this a lot with my
clients.
Now that I've seen it and seenwhat it can do for me, i'm gonna
be talking about it a lot withmy clients.
(09:11):
This process often leads tostrategic pivots, new
initiatives, a reimagining, arevised vision, or maybe you
find that vision that you lostalong the way.
You've gotta think about yourpersonal values.
Our personal values should bethe driving force behind our
(09:35):
business.
Stepping back is gonna allowyou to reconnect with those
values and ensure that yourbusiness reflects them.
All right, we want ourauthentic selves.
People talk about authenticself.
Authentic self.
We really want this in ourbusiness In 2023, there is no
(09:57):
way you can't have that in yourbusiness.
You have to.
All right.
So this alignment creates asense of purpose and fulfillment
, both personally andprofessionally.
It's crucial to do this.
Whatever you do, embrace theprocess wholeheartedly.
(10:17):
Don't do it half-ass.
Okay, i'm very serious aboutthis.
Once I started to realize whatI needed to do, i was like
diving in.
I'm like, i am all in.
I need to do this and I need toput my whole heart and soul
into it.
So I do it the right way.
Right?
So do it wholeheartedly.
Don't do it half-ass.
(10:39):
Stepping back can really feeluncomfortable at first.
There were times where I feltreally guilty until I allowed
myself to get over that, allright.
It did feel uncomfortable, itcan feel heavy in itself.
It can feel heavy to do this,but it really opens up a world
(11:00):
of possibilities.
Let yourself dream, but you'vegotta execute on that dream too.
Trust yourself, trust yourintuition and really remember
that clarity is the catalyst forgrowth.
It really really is.
When you become clear, you grow, you innovate.
(11:23):
All right, so this is somethingwhere clarity can change
everything.
It really can.
It can make your business andyour life so much better and
easier and flow better.
Now, not every day in yourbusiness is gonna be easy.
A walk in the park be the bestday ever, right, not every day
(11:46):
can be, but you can have more ofthat when you do this work.
So I hope this inspires you todive in and take the steps so
you can truly have the businessyou desire, because I know there
are so many women who areholding back and have an amazing
(12:08):
queen inside of them who'sreally burning to bust out and
be that person that they'vealways wanted to be and make
their business what they really,really desire, and maybe that's
you.
So, if it is, now is the timeto take action and empower
yourself to a new level.
(12:29):
I hope this helps and I'll talkto you soon.
Bye.
All right, welcome to the She's on Fire podcast, the
show that explores thechallenges and triumphs of
entrepreneurship for mamaentrepreneurs and helps to
empower you to unleash yourmagic and ignite your power.
I'm so happy to be back here.
I'm your host, jen Gaines, andin today's episode we're going
(00:25):
to dive deep into the topic ofreally stepping back from your
business to gain clarity.
All right, so six months ago Iwouldn't have done this podcast
episode, but it was through myown trials and tribulations and
gaining my own razor sharpclarity that I realized just how
(00:47):
necessary this really is.
All right, so if you're on myemail list, you would have
gotten an email about how I tooktime off from marketing my
business for a few monthsbecause my father passed away.
I had two dad's growing up.
My father was actually mysecond dad, the one that passed
away.
He was my second father, but wehad a really close relationship
(01:11):
for my entire life And itreally hit me All right and I
had to scale back somewhere AndI obviously couldn't tell my
clients that I was working with.
Oh hey, see you later.
I'm going to take off a fewmonths, right.
So I decided this was the bestavenue for me to go and to
(01:33):
really step back a little bit.
I had not planned on steppingback to gain clarity Literally
was because I was like in a fog,okay, and I was devastated.
So I really honestly feltblessed for so many reasons, and
one of them being that I dohave a business where I don't
(01:56):
have a damn boss telling me Ihave to go back to work after
three days because my grief,time has been used or whatever
the hell they call it.
Now I have no idea what theycall it, but I'm lucky in that I
am grateful that I don't haveto deal with that, like how
(02:16):
inhumane is that?
Oh, your father died.
Sorry, but here's three days.
That you get to yourself And Iwas walking around in a complete
fog for weeks after Three daysis a joke.
It really is five days.
I know some places give youfive days.
It's still a joke.
It's not humane.
(02:38):
It really isn't.
I feel like even when you have apet who passes away, who dies,
who you might have to use, whoyou might have to use and eyes,
that is a super heavy thing togo through too, and it's like
you don't get anything for that.
Sometimes our pets are the oneswho are always with us, like
the unconditional love.
You don't get anything for that.
It's a hard thing to go through, so I felt very blessed and
(03:04):
lucky and grateful that I wasable to do that.
But anyways, we're not here forme to bash company, even though
I could go on and on all dayabout how entrepreneurship can
be so amazing.
Right, we're here to talk aboutclarity, and the reason why I'm
talking about this now isbecause I really want other
(03:27):
women to understand something.
Sometimes we need to reassessthings.
Okay, my business started tofeel really heavy.
There were things that I wasn'thappy with, but I didn't really
know.
I didn't actually see thisuntil I was in my grief process.
Hold on, i need to drink awater.
(03:48):
In my grief process, and evenmy own business coach gave me
the side eye a few times becauseshe was like are you coming
back?
What are you doing?
You know, quite honestly, itwas the absolute best thing I
could have done.
It really, really was, andthat's why I want to talk about
(04:09):
it, and I'm not telling anybodyhere to take months off.
That's not what I'm saying.
I was really able to takemyself through a process and
figure out what wasn't workingfor me right?
What wasn't working?
It's not that my businesswasn't working, it's what was
heavy for me.
What did I need to change whenI started really thinking about
(04:31):
all this?
And my hope is that my ownprocess can help you understand
how crucial it is to reassessthings from time to time, and
how to do it without stoppingfor so long.
Right, i'm not telling you totake months off, that's not what
I'm saying But it's importantto take some time, especially if
(04:54):
something doesn't feel right,if some things don't feel right.
Okay, so I want you to thinkabout the concept of stepping
back from your business.
Why is it so important forentrepreneurs to take this step
sometimes?
Because, entrepreneurs, weoften get caught up in the daily
grind and lose sight of thebigger picture, the sight of the
(05:17):
vision that we once had, thesight of our mission right.
Stepping back allows us to gaina fresh perspective, reevaluate
our goals, our mission, ourvision, and ensure that our
business aligns with ourpersonal vision.
It's imperative we do this, allright.
(05:39):
So how is really the question?
how do you do this?
Taking breaks, whether it's avacation or simply a few hours
of just solitude.
That means to yourself, itmeans without other people, it
can work wonders.
All right, engaging inactivities that bring you joy
(06:02):
and relaxation really helpsclear the mind, and by yourself,
okay.
One of the things that I did bymyself was take a day alone and
go to Disney.
Now, i know, yep, there's tonsof other people there and
they're all over the place, butit gave me the perspective that
(06:22):
I needed and it really helped medial in the things that I
wanted to do and the things thatI wanted to not do.
All right, it wasn't the onlytime I did that, it wasn't the
only time I was alone, but thatwas a huge thing.
All right, i've never done thatbefore, and it allowed me the
(06:43):
space for new ideas, newinsights to emerge and me to use
my imagination and have newideas flow into my mind.
I have so many different thingsI want to do now and I'm super
(07:04):
excited.
I feel very grounded.
This is what I said in my email.
I feel very grounded, but alsolike I'm soaring at the same
time.
Okay, take time by yourself,though.
This is the crucial thing.
No kids, no friends, nopartners, so that might not be
feasible for you to go and takea vacation.
That's okay, but you can take aday to yourself.
(07:28):
You can, somehow you can find away to take five, six, seven
hours to yourself, all right,It's crucial to do that.
Think about the things thatreally matter to you, the things
that really just light you thefuck up.
What do you love about yourbusiness?
What do you hate about yourbusiness?
(07:49):
Let's change these things thatyou don't like, things that
don't light you up, and do moreof the things that do.
What do you truly desire to do,to talk about, to bring to the
market, but maybe you're afraidto do?
There's been things that I'vebeen afraid.
Right, i talk about confidence,a lot.
(08:10):
Confidence building is reallyfinding the courage to step out,
okay, and then your confidencecomes in.
All right.
So, after gaining clarity,evaluate the current state of
your business.
Where are you at?
(08:30):
Assess your goals and thestrategies helping you to get
there.
What are your operations?
This was a lot of what I neededto reassess my operations.
All right, buy areas forimprovement or things that you
feel that could give you abetter business.
Change things.
(08:51):
Do it now.
Don't wait until it becomesheavy.
All right, don't do that,because that's what I did, and I
want you to learn from my ownmistakes.
All right, i'm gonna be talkingabout this a lot with my
clients.
Now that I've seen it and seenwhat it can do for me, i'm gonna
be talking about it a lot withmy clients.
(09:11):
This process often leads tostrategic pivots, new
initiatives, a reimagining, arevised vision, or maybe you
find that vision that you lostalong the way.
You've gotta think about yourpersonal values.
Our personal values should bethe driving force behind our
(09:35):
business.
Stepping back is gonna allowyou to reconnect with those
values and ensure that yourbusiness reflects them.
All right, we want ourauthentic selves.
People talk about authenticself.
Authentic self.
We really want this in ourbusiness In 2023, there is no
(09:57):
way you can't have that in yourbusiness.
You have to.
All right.
So this alignment creates asense of purpose and fulfillment
, both personally andprofessionally.
It's crucial to do this.
Whatever you do, embrace theprocess wholeheartedly.
(10:17):
Don't do it half-ass.
Okay, i'm very serious aboutthis.
Once I started to realize whatI needed to do, i was like
diving in.
I'm like, i am all in.
I need to do this and I need toput my whole heart and soul
into it.
So I do it the right way.
Right?
So do it wholeheartedly.
Don't do it half-ass.
(10:39):
Stepping back can really feeluncomfortable at first.
There were times where I feltreally guilty until I allowed
myself to get over that, allright.
It did feel uncomfortable, itcan feel heavy in itself.
It can feel heavy to do this,but it really opens up a world
(11:00):
of possibilities.
Let yourself dream, but you'vegotta execute on that dream too.
Trust yourself, trust yourintuition and really remember
that clarity is the catalyst forgrowth.
It really really is.
When you become clear, you grow, you innovate.
(11:23):
All right, so this is somethingwhere clarity can change
everything.
It really can.
It can make your business andyour life so much better and
easier and flow better.
Now, not every day in yourbusiness is gonna be easy.
A walk in the park be the bestday ever, right, not every day
(11:46):
can be, but you can have more ofthat when you do this work.
So I hope this inspires you todive in and take the steps so
you can truly have the businessyou desire, because I know there
are so many women who areholding back and have an amazing
(12:08):
queen inside of them who'sreally burning to bust out and
be that person that they'vealways wanted to be and make
their business what they really,really desire, and maybe that's
you.
So, if it is, now is the timeto take action and empower
yourself to a new level.
(12:29):
I hope this helps and I'll talkto you soon.
Bye.
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