October 27, 2025 • 56 mins
We sit with strategist Chanda Coston to unpack how clarity, systems, and a faith-led mindset can turn overwhelm into freedom and create a legacy-focused business you actually enjoy. From sprints and SOPs to theme days and KPIs, we map a plan you can implement.
• who Chanda serves and why clarity matters
• the blueprint method, sprints, and hands-on execution
• structure as the path to freedom and capacity
• building a personal brand clients trust
• theme days, top three, and focus cycles
• KPIs, audits, and measuring what matters
• systems, SOPs, and simple tool stacks
• automate, delegate, eliminate for time back
• honoring seasons, boundaries, and off days
• non-negotiable goals that can still evolve
• coaching fit, therapy vs strategy, saying no
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Chanda
Keep Shining- Shanna Star
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Shanna Star (00:07):
Thank you for tuning in to another episode of
the Shine Podcast.
I'm your host, Shauna Stark.
Today's episode I have a lovelyguest with me, Chonda Costin,
and we get to talk about allthings having clarity and
strategy and what that lookslike to really allow freedom and
be that free spirit that youwant to be in your business.
(00:29):
We go into a lot of depth ofwhat that looks like and how to
implement those things in purebusiness.
I think you're gonna have a lotof takeaways from this
conversation.
So let's get to it.
Shonda Coston helps highcapacity women, specifically
women over 40, build businesseswith clarity, structure, and
legacy in mind.
Through her signature blueprintto build methods, she turns
(00:52):
confusion into clarity and anexecutable plan.
And her faith-ledstrategy-fueled approach blends
real talk with real tools.
And I have been so excited tochat with you.
Looking forward to herconversation and just all that
you bring and do.
So welcome, Shonda to the SeanShine podcast.
Chanda (01:08):
Thank you, thank you, thank you for having me.
I am so excited to be here andto have the conversation.
Shanna Star (01:14):
Yes, we too, we too.
So what I kind of wanted tostart with is there's so many
things that I was interested inwhen learning about you and
stalking you and finding aboutall that you do.
And one specifically was thatbuild to blueprint program that
you offer and help offer thatyou help shift from guessing to
building, from burnout toblueprint.
And I really loved that.
(01:35):
And of course, I don't want togive all your secrets away
because I want them to go followyou, find you, and get the
program for themselves.
But will you maybe give us justa few nuggets or insight to it?
And then of how how, of course,we can dive into that program
that you have.
Chanda (01:49):
Absolutely.
So um that program is near,dear to my heart as an
entrepreneur.
Um, going from military tocorporate, um, and now into the
entrepreneurial space, uh it wasquite the shift, right?
Because I didn't need all ofthe components that I currently
need to run a successfulbusiness.
And I have been successful.
Military career is successful,my time in corporate was
(02:09):
successful.
And I dipped my toe over hereand I said, wait a minute.
So um the idea was likecreating a program that provided
what I needed as I stepped intothis space for entrepreneurs
that I could relate to, that Icould identify with.
Um, a lot of times as women, wewear so many hats um and we're
(02:30):
always nurturing everyone elsethat we really don't take the
time, one, to say, what is itthat's left for me?
What is there for me?
And then how do I do that?
Right.
And so the number one complaintI get from my clients is, oh my
God, I'm so overwhelmed.
I don't know where to start.
Um, and generally it was like,okay, I'll work with you, I'll
give you a plan of action, I'llsing you on your way.
But then it was like, wait,wait, wait, I need some more
(02:51):
help.
I don't know where to findthese tools, I don't know how to
do these things, right?
And you find that a lot withcoaches in this space,
unfortunately.
They're like, okay, let me giveyou the information without
telling you how to do it, whereto find it, and what that looks
like.
And so that particular thisparticular program does just
that.
They come into my ecosystem, Icoach them and handhold them,
(03:12):
and we execute, not only justtell them what they need to do,
but then help them walk thosethings out.
So, two things that I love thatI've built into this program
are sprints.
Um, if you're not familiar withthe terminology, a sprint is
when you take a period of timeto actually execute actions,
which they should be doingthroughout the program anyway,
but I've given them space to dothat.
(03:33):
And so it is um a course withdealing with mindset, dealing
with education, with strategiesfor time management,
productivity, execution, focus,right?
But on the other side, it'salso dealing with business.
Where are you in your business?
Let's audit it, let's talkabout your client, let's talk
about your messaging, let's talkabout your operational pieces,
(03:54):
right?
Do you have workflows, orgcharts, SOPs, and processes,
right?
Because you can't scale ifyou're the sole single point of
failure.
Uh, your business will neverget take off and get off the
ground.
And then we talk about this newthing that is taking the world
by storm, which is personalbrand, right?
I didn't need this incorporate.
They were like, oh, you gotyour resume, you got your
degrees, you have all thisexperience.
(04:15):
Let's call three people, you'regood.
Well, now everybody wants toGoogle you.
And so they do.
And they do.
So we put all those componentsin there and um at different
levels because a person that isstarting and launching is not
looking at the same person who'srefining and preparing to
(04:36):
scale, and they're not doing theperson that's refining and
preparing to scale is not doingthe same thing for a person
who's ready to scale, right?
And so there's different tracksfor those different clients
who's different with dealingwith different things in their
mind and different issues.
And we just walked them throughthose pieces over 12 weeks.
Um, so I hope that gave youlike a good idea, right?
Shanna Star (04:56):
I love that.
Yeah, I was writing down a fewthings.
The first thing was going backto that personal brand.
And I mean, I'm sure thisexisted even before we had all
the micro and large influencersaround, but I think even more
so, we've gotten to the pointwhere whatever product service
that we want to purchase, welike to, it's an emotional um
purchase.
And so we want to get to knowwho's behind the brand.
(05:18):
And so many business uhentrepreneurs, I'm sure you
experience this too are like,nope, I don't want to show my
face, or nope, I'm not gonna bea part of it, which it does work
for some businesses.
I'm not saying everyone has tobe the front of their business.
Uh, but especially startingout, it can be so just important
really to have that face andthey get to know you and they
(05:40):
have that trust.
So I totally agree with thepersonal brand.
I feel like I can show all mythe most beautiful photos that I
take in photography and and theexperiences I have behind the
scenes.
But as soon as I show my face,even if it's a cell phone photo,
those are the most like, thoseare the most comments, those are
the most messages becausepeople want to interact with
you.
So I love that you alreadybrought that up, even though we
(06:01):
don't always want to do thatpart.
Chanda (06:02):
So yeah, and and for the 40 plus club, right?
It's always sometimes it'sabout not even knowing how,
right?
Um, and so I tell myphotographer, uh, friends and
associates, like, you guys woulddo really well if you would do
some tutorials, because I wouldbe one of the first people in
line, let me tell you, okay.
Trying to figure out the angleof the camera, the like the
(06:23):
lighting that's required, andyou know, what do you say?
How do you not stutter?
Like, you know, do you find ascript?
What apps do you use?
That is like so key to thisparticular um demographic,
right?
The older set.
Um, because they still want thethings, they just don't know
how it fits.
And so they sometimes feelinadequate.
Um, not that they don't havethe experience or the expertise,
(06:45):
they just don't know how tomarry the two.
Shanna Star (06:48):
Right, right.
And something else you weresaying is this whole program or
programs, you've had more thanone in all the offers that you
have, but this particular onetoo.
I know that usually ideas comefrom experiences or pain points
we've had in our own business.
So where did these particularthis program come from?
Like, is that from a painexperience you had in business,
(07:08):
or where did that start to comeup from that you offer your
absolutely, it came frompersonal experiences.
Chanda (07:13):
Um, I won't name names, but I've dealt with some pretty
good coaches and also somepretty not good coaches.
Um, and so I spent quite a bitof money, at least six figures
in the space, like coaching.
Every coach should have acoach, right?
Um, but unfortunately, programsare not all built the same.
And so when you walk away,you've invested after you've
invested your time, your money,money, and your energy, you want
(07:36):
to make sure, like, like, dang,I feel like I didn't get my
money's worth, or I feel like,you know, once they took my
money, they really didn't careabout me, or they just kind of
gave me some stuff and was like,go off and be great.
And it's like, well, wait aminute, I don't quite have it.
And um, I'm I'm a Christianfirst, and I'm big on integrity.
And so I think how you doanything is how you do
(07:57):
everything.
I never want someone toexperience me and walk away
feeling like that.
Right.
And so it's like, okay, how canI structure this so that every
time they come into myatmosphere, my ecosystem, they
say, wow, right?
Not only did she overdeliver,but she made sure I got it.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Right.
Chanda (08:16):
And what does that look like?
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Right.
Chanda (08:18):
And um, most people don't understand what a
strategist is.
Shanna Star (08:21):
I'm finding I agree, especially because so
many people you don't do thisthat I've seen in all of your
website and everything, but somany people use those hot button
words, and then it's like,great, but what does that look
like?
How do I implement that?
And so I totally get why peoplewould be like, oh, I'm not
sure, you know, at first untilthey get to know you and your
program and what you offer.
(08:42):
Um and kind of going into thatburnout part of it in the
exhausted and burnout.
What do you find that weinitially believe in burnout is
the solution to the problems?
And then how did thatperception change as you built a
business?
Chanda (08:59):
So I think there is this assumption, it's like I'm gonna
find more time, right?
And the harsh reality is we allhave the same 24 hours.
I don't care who you are,right?
We don't get any more time.
And so what people mostly arelacking are systems, right?
Systems and strategies.
And I live my life the sameway.
(09:19):
Um, I'm finding that in havingthese conversations, when people
say describe yourself, I'mlike, well, I'm really
structured, disciplined, freespirit.
And they're like, what?
And I have to tell them all ofthe structure and discipline
that I've learned over theyears, it allows me to be that
free spirit.
Um, even when I decided topivot into this space, and I
decided I didn't want to worklong hours, I didn't want to
(09:40):
feel undervalued in corporate,right?
Because no matter how much youwork, it's other, it's just the
next big thing.
And I didn't feel the releaseand the energy I get from
someone telling me like, um, Iappreciate you so much.
Like I finally got it.
Like they took the leap, theydid the thing.
I get something from that.
Like it does something for me.
I feel good about that, right?
Watching other peopleaccomplish their goals.
(10:03):
And it was like, okay, well,how do I build that so I'm not
burnt out?
And so my business isautomated.
And so I tell people, you gotto find a thing that you love,
you got to find a thing that youneed, you got to find the thing
that people will pay for.
And then you have to make sureit fits the season of your life.
That's my 30 compass framework,right?
And so I'm saying once you findthose things, and women are so
(10:23):
multitaskers that they will havea book of things and they want
to do them all.
And I'm like, no, no, no, no.
No, let's narrow it down, okay?
And we're gonna score it off ofthose four things, and
whichever ones are the highest,those are the ones we're gonna
look at as low-hanging fruit,and we're gonna go for those
first, and then we'll look atthe next ones to see how we can
(10:43):
integrate those or have youevolved and are they still
important?
Because we change, right?
In the dance.
But I think it's an importantconversation to have as most
people um they know it, but it'slike having that conversation
around time is like, no, wedon't get any more time, hun.
This is it, this is what we'redoing.
So we need to make it work.
How can we increase ourcapacity?
We increase our capacity bybeing more structured, having
(11:06):
more strategy, right?
Implemented in our day, beingmindful, and then creating
systems that work for us, right?
So that we can do the thingsthat we love, we can spend time
with the people we love.
No one goes into business tocreate another job or 20 jobs as
a fresh CEO.
We go into business to createfreedom, right?
So, what does success look likefor you?
(11:28):
What kind of freedom do youwant?
And that's important to know.
Shanna Star (11:32):
Yes, I wrote down a couple things.
And the first is having clarityin that strategy and structure
allows for a free spirit becauseI think so many, maybe not all,
but so many entrepreneurs canalign themselves with that.
You know, like you said, wemost of us go into it because we
want that freedom.
And we end up being likechained to the desk and being
like, we need to do more workand how we get out of burnout is
(11:53):
just more work until you getwork again.
And and what I found is likeyou said, the more structure I
have, the more freedom I canhave.
One of the things I loved aboutlove from working from home
most of the time is I get toenjoy the sunshine.
So I might have my structure inthe morning, then I'm gonna go
out in the sun for an hour, andthen I'm gonna come back.
(12:13):
And that allows for thatfreedom, but it's really around
that structure, like you talkedabout.
And the other part of that isit has allowed me to see that
having those priorities, I get alot more done in a short amount
of time than when I firststarted the business and thought
I need to work 12 hours a dayand I need to stay up till 11
every night because there'salways the busy work that we can
(12:35):
do, but it doesn't mean thatyou're actually being
productive.
Chanda (12:39):
Exactly.
Shanna Star (12:40):
And something I saw on your Instagram kind of
recently that you posted issomething that I implemented for
myself and I love speakingabout.
And it was the I'm an avid taskchecker and in productivity.
So every day it might be fivethings, it's at least five.
Some of those include like mydevotional or a workout or
specific things I need to do forwork that day.
(13:02):
And I have to get those thingsdone.
Now, if I get those things doneand I might have a few more
things that didn't need to getdone, maybe it's on tomorrow's,
I can do those.
But it's always just get thesethings done and then you can
allow yourself some of thatfreedom we talked about.
So I I would love for you totalk about how you set your
priorities because I know youagree and you've talked about
(13:23):
writing those three things downas well and talk about that a
bit.
Chanda (13:26):
I use lots of time management strategies.
Um I use CEO theme days, iswhat I call them.
And so when I look at my week,um I typically Mondays is for
coaching for me.
So that's when I pour intomyself.
Tuesdays through Thursdays isfor my clients, right?
And then Friday through Sundaysis for my family, right?
And so Fridays, I try to take aday for myself.
(13:48):
Self-care is really key, right?
And that helps with thatburnout.
And I always try to explain tothe women, most of the mothers,
right, is that you have to taketime for yourself.
You have to.
If not, you're not gonna be thebest person, not just for
yourself, but for your family,and not after your family, then
for your clients, right?
For your business.
And if you don't exist, it allgoes away, right?
(14:09):
And getting people tounderstand that.
As far as my days go, I'mreally big on the top three
every single day.
And so my clients say I don'thave enough time.
Let's do a calendar audit.
Let's look at how you'respending your time.
And I explained that to them.
Running in place, it's not thesame as making progress.
So let's see, just because youhave a to-do list, if it has a
(14:30):
bunch of things up there thatdoes not move the needle forward
in your business, right?
Then those are personal thingsyou got to do.
That's not necessarily thingsthat's helping your business,
right?
And we need to separate thosetwo so we're clear because we
don't always do that.
Shanna Star (14:43):
No, you're right.
Absolutely.
Chanda (14:44):
Yeah.
And so during the day, though,it's structuring the day, like
you said, for those time blocks,right?
I call the Pareto principalextended form, but I do long
focus times of work.
So I may sit down for an hour,but within that hour, at 45 to
50 minutes, I'm getting up, I'mstretching my legs, I'm feeding
the dogs, I'm letting them out.
I might check my social media,I might grab a snack, right?
(15:08):
And then when I sit back down,I am better for it because I've
given myself a break.
And what I like to show peopleall the time, especially my
clients, is I'm like, your brainis like this.
Like, this is a hair tie.
And if you're constantlyworking, working, working,
working, working, working,working, working, working, your
brain does not rest.
And when you get up, you'llfind that you're slightly
(15:29):
annoyed, you're frustrated, youhaven't eaten, you haven't drank
anything, like you may not havegone to the bathroom, your dogs
are angry with you, your kidsare angry with you, like
everybody's angry, and you're nobetter for it.
But when you get up and youtake those breaks, you go from
this immediately to this.
And it allows you to relax, itallows you to breathe, it allows
you to get refreshed.
(15:50):
So when you go back at it, youmay go back to the same task,
right?
Depending on how you structureyour day, or you might go on to
the next thing.
But either way, you had time tokind of clear everything out
and start again, right?
And it just gives you such arefreshing that you would have
no idea.
Um, and then when you want totake that time in the evening
because you've focused in onyour day and you've worked on
(16:12):
those tasks and those prioritiesthat you set, you can go out
back and sit on the porch andyou know, lay on the hammock and
watch a sunset or go for a walkor watch a movie with the
family or cook dinner, whateveryour thing is, right?
And that's the beauty of youknow, tapping into some of these
things.
It's like, okay, this couldabsolutely work.
So time blocking, paretoprinciple, theme days, um,
(16:36):
priorities are prioritized basedon the urgency.
Is it gonna cost me money?
Is it gonna affect my bottomline?
Like, what's the urgency of it?
Um, some things are a higherpriority than others because
they are time stamps, right?
Because they will cost me moneyversus some things are things I
just would like to get done,but not as high as a priority.
So if I'm having a bad day andI need to make me a priority
(16:59):
because I matter, I can say, youknow what, that is important,
but I can get to it tomorrow andit's not gonna cost me
anything.
Shanna Star (17:05):
I think that was so relevant what you said about if
you have a bad day, because I Idon't even speak about that
enough.
I think it, but there are dayswhere you do have a priority
list and you do need to getthings done.
But we have maybe some healththings we're going through or
grieving or just a bad day whereyou just are off.
And and it's okay to allowyourself if you've been
(17:26):
structured enough in business tohave a day be like, you know
what?
This is the day that I'm notgonna be focused enough, I'm not
gonna be productive enough.
And so shifting that, I thinkthat would be huge to allow
yourself and give thatpermission.
Chanda (17:38):
I think we don't honor ourselves enough.
Um I think people try to put usin boxes so much.
Well, you have to be this oryou have to be that.
And I don't think you have tobe either.
I think you can be both, right?
And I think the beauty of usacknowledging um that we're all
in a journey individually butcollectively, right?
Is that we're also in differentplaces, we're also in different
(17:59):
seasons.
Um, and my target, you know,ideal client over 40, most of us
have adult children orfamilies.
We have spouses or, you know,long relationships, we have
aging parents, right?
I have grandchildren.
So from a mother perspective, agrandparent perspective, aging
parent perspective, and then Istill have me, who's very much
(18:20):
important.
I think it is important to takethose moments because, like you
said, you know, I lost mybrother a few years to gun
violence and it shaped me.
And it's been years, right?
Thank you.
But it some days it's still notgood.
Um, I just came from Asia twoweeks ago.
Every October, around his deathanniversary, I go celebrate his
life.
Why?
(18:40):
Because some years I'm okay,but some years I'm not.
But I feel like I honor him andI honor me by just stepping
away and giving myselfpermission to be whatever I am
in that moment, right?
And it's not nothing forced andit's nothing with it, you know,
no one has did anything to me.
But I feel like, you know what?
I don't want to have to explainhow I'm feeling today.
Today I just want to I want tobe and I want to honor him and I
want to remember him, and I Ijust want to live out loud.
(19:04):
And who cares what you think?
Shanna Star (19:06):
Right.
I love that.
I I wrote down too about thatfamily too.
I I don't have human kids, Ihave dogs, but as a daughter,
I've talked about this in thepast too, where something I saw
was really important and justvital to me growing up is my mom
did everything for me when Iwas young.
And I feel like, and I'm verythankful for that.
I'm thankful for the mom thatshe always was.
(19:26):
Not everyone has that chance.
But what I saw in her is when Istarted getting a little bit
older, I would have glimpsesinto her being a woman and she
started taking time for herself.
You know, I'd peek in and she'dbe reading the Bible, and she
didn't know I was alwayswatching her.
And then she started workingout, and it might have taken a
little bit of time away from herkids.
It really wasn't much.
Of course, she structured thatwell.
(19:48):
Um, but it made me even respecther as a woman in a different
way.
She always got ready and triedto look beautiful, and it made
me go, those are important too.
It wasn't just about her kids,it's she's a woman and a mom,
and she's not just a mom.
And so it made me gain a newrespect for her too, which led
to me having more respect formyself.
(20:10):
And I think not all moms, Ithink many moms do that really
well.
But just remembering like justbeing the mom, I know that you
think that your life revolvesaround your kids, and that's
going to be the best.
But if they can see that youcare about yourself and taking
time for yourself, whatever thatlooks like, it's going to have
an effect on the childrenwatching you and let them know
I'm important too, and I deservethat rest.
(20:32):
So I think oftentimes, like yousaid, moms especially put
themselves on that back burner.
But it's important for yourkids to see that you're
important too.
Chanda (20:41):
Yeah, I know.
I um I can appreciate yousharing that.
Um, because it's one of themessages I always have for my
moms.
But as a mom of five, fiveadult children, I'm really
blessed that we have really goodrelationships.
And um my oldest is 31 and sheadvocates like mom, you need to
go out, you need to get out,like mom, you know, and I can
(21:01):
appreciate that, but umdefinitely allowing her and them
to be a part of my journey andum to be on the front row seat,
right, of life, um, and watchthem become parents and become
moms themselves.
Um, I think that's soimportant.
I often um tell people I was anempty nester for about a year,
okay?
Kids, a few of them came back.
Shanna Star (21:24):
As they do, yeah.
Chanda (21:26):
But in the year, I realized there should be like
more support for women who areempty nesters.
Like it was the first time inmy life that I didn't have to
cater to anyone, I didn't haveto take care of anyone.
I didn't, and it was hard.
It was because I had built mylife around everything was
structured around them.
How you know what they needed,if they needed to eat, and how I
(21:49):
could support them and how itshow up for them.
And even as my children gotolder and moved out, I allowed
my grandchildren to come go toschool and come home to my house
because it continued that,right?
Yeah, and so when I moved away,my mom's husband is terminally
ill and I moved closer tosupport her.
And so my children, becausethey had lives in a different
state, in a different area, likefour hours away.
(22:10):
It was like, okay, it was adisconnect from them and a
disconnect from my grandkids.
And so it was just me and mydog, me and sire.
And so for that first year, itwas like, oh wow.
Okay, what are you gonna eat?
What are you gonna do today?
You know, how are you gonnaspend your time?
Like, what do you what do youwant?
What do you need?
And I was like, oh my gosh,like this is this is this is I
(22:33):
don't know.
Shanna Star (22:34):
Um card, it's a different part.
Chanda (22:36):
It was because it my identity then could not be
rooted in just being a mother.
I had to face myself and sayyou're a woman, right?
You're your person.
Um, and what is living yourlife in this next season look
like, whether they're here ornot?
What do you want out of life,right?
And some of that brought me tothis place.
It was a good thing.
Um, but I think self-awarenessis key.
(22:57):
And a lot of women don't havethat because we're so ingrained
as someone's wife, someone'spartner, someone's mom,
someone's daughter.
So but who are you?
Who are you?
What do you want?
Right?
And what does that look like,right?
How do you want to show up?
I totally agree.
Um, yeah.
So thanks for sharing that.
That is that is like a lot ofwomen go through that.
(23:18):
And it's great that you couldeven um witness that and then
take away from it, right?
Shanna Star (23:25):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I feel very lucky in thatfor sure.
I know that you are veryfaith-based, so that's where a
lot of the clarity probablycomes from.
And I agree with that.
That's how I feel in mybusiness too.
I always say my business growswhen I work on myself and my
heart and my intentions.
So when you're speaking to yourclients or women listening, how
(23:45):
do you implement that clarityinto your business?
Like what does that look like?
Is there anything that youcould kind of touch on that?
Chanda (23:51):
Um, outside of the systems is really getting to
know the people and listening.
Um, I think a lot of peopledon't listen.
I think communication is a lostart, right?
Um, I over-communicate in everyrelationship.
So um one of the things um,I'll say it with my clients, I'm
probably a lot more gentler.
(24:12):
Um, but I'm like, what I hearyou say is what I hear you say
you need is because so I'masking questions, right?
I'm helping you understand whatit is that you are saying to me
and what it is you're sayingyou need.
So when you say, hey, I gotthis idea, I want you to say,
Well, what is this idea?
Let's talk about it.
So, okay, you want to startthis business.
How big do you want thebusiness?
And I'll start railing offdifferent avenues that you can
(24:34):
take in a business because uh mybrain thinks brainstorm in two
seconds, right?
Um, and so I'm like, okay, mosta lot of people will come and
say, I want to do real estate.
It's like, okay, you want to bea developer, an investor as an
investor.
You want to hold, you want toflip?
You like, what do you want todo?
You want to be a landlord?
Do you just want to do REITs?
Like, do you want to dowholesaling?
What are we talking about?
And then on what scale?
(24:55):
You want to be engaged, youwant to automate, you want to
have like a partnership, a JVpartnership, or you know, do you
have resources?
How is your credit?
Like, I start asking themquestions and oh god, I didn't
think about all of that.
Um, and I'm like, well, thoseare important because there's so
many ways to get into realestate.
I say, so let's dive into it,right?
And so we we get into things bytalking about it and by
(25:18):
fleshing it out and helping themto make it clear so they can
say, okay, I want to do it thisway, I want to do it that way.
Um, I have a discovery surveythat's about 50 questions.
Um, and people will say, I wasa bit overwhelmed, but it really
helped me think about somethings I hadn't thought about
before.
And I say, good, I can tellfrom the amount of time you
spend on it.
(25:38):
I can tell by the way youanswered your questions and what
you said, where you are in yourbusiness, if you're serious
about your business, likeimmediately.
Um, and after they do it, thenwe have a call and we go through
it and I clarify anything I'mnot clear on.
And then I also help them getclear on.
So I'm like, do you measureyourself in your business?
(25:59):
Uh, do you have KPIs?
You know, and what do yourmetrics look like?
And most of them are saying,No, I don't.
Say numbers never lie, but youdon't measure, you can't succeed
in or you won't know yoursuccess.
So, how do you know if you madeit if you're not measuring?
Shanna Star (26:12):
Absolutely.
I think that's especially hardwhen you're first starting
because you know, you you'retrying not to spend as much
money as you possibly can.
You know, you want to save it.
You're getting a little bit,maybe you're investing or not
even paying yourself payingyourself.
And so it's the unsexy parts atfirst that people think um, you
know, getting a clientmanagement system has been huge
(26:33):
in my business.
Uh, but I didn't have it forquite a few years because I was
like, I can't invest in that.
But as soon as I did, likethose numbers are easier to keep
track of.
And then you know, like you'redown 30%, you're up this, you
know how many invoices you sent,you know, all the things.
And especially with AI, now alot of these programs will send
you like, this is what's beenhappening this month.
So I agree with those numbers.
(26:53):
And sometimes they're hard tolook at, but you know, like, oh,
the best way is almost makingit a game.
Well, how can I up how manypeople I'm reaching out to?
How can I send more invoices?
How can I, you know, and justseeing it not as negative when
you see that things are down orup or whatever, but just using
it as a way to move forward andsee that progress?
(27:14):
Absolutely.
Chanda (27:15):
It's all tools.
Shanna Star (27:16):
Yes, absolutely.
And I know on days our capacityon in projects and progress on
all businesses look vastlydifferent.
So, what are some signs maybethat you see of people coming to
you in business early on whereyou're like, oh, they they
definitely need to change somestrategies and they're gonna get
burnt out and they need someclarity.
(27:36):
What are some things that maybeyou notice in people that you
could share?
Like, hey, if you see these inyourself, time to just shift
some things.
What are some of those?
Chanda (27:46):
Um, definitely mean uh when I'm doing the calendar
audits for those who're like, Idon't have enough time, I don't
know where my I can't.
And it's like you come to me asyour coach, and if you tell me
you don't have time, then Ican't make you have more time,
right?
And so it's changing theirlanguage, it's changing their
mindset.
Um, I one of the things I getmy clients, I call it a client
(28:06):
resource guide.
And after our firstconversation over the discovery
survey, I'm looking for mindsetum blocks, right?
And I'll ask them, like, do youhave any issues with this?
And what do you think are yourlimiting beliefs?
And sometimes they'll list themout, but sometimes they come
out in conversation.
I um talked with a client onetime and uh it it was something
(28:26):
about her to tell me aboutherself, and she told me all
these accolades, right?
But then she didn't callherself a CEO.
It's like you wear all thesehats and all these titles, but
you don't see yourself as abusiness owner, but you want me
to be a business coach to you.
And I think I'm gonna bepulling teeth, right?
I said, so let's talk aboutthat.
Is this really something thatyou want to do?
Something you feel like youneed to do, let's clarify.
(28:47):
Most things come out whenyou're coaching, right?
Through conversation.
It'll come out in conversation.
And so I will know immediatelywhere you are, what issues
you're gonna have, whether it'soperational.
If you're telling me you don'tknow where your money is going
in your business, then I know,okay, you need to do a better,
you know, job with yourbudgeting, with your systems.
(29:09):
If you don't want to keep upwith it, right?
Because already can't afford asystem, then let's let's talk
about Excel.
Let's go old school.
Just basically.
Yep.
You need to have something.
If you tell me that you have ahigh turnover in your company,
you have issues with youremployees or your team.
I'm gonna ask you about youroperations.
What kind of workflows,processes do you have in place?
(29:31):
Rose responsibilities, when youtalk about your org chart and
your structure, when people comeinto your company, do you have
to train everybody?
Is there something that you'vealready have everything jotted
down and you can go ahead andpass it off to them, make sure
they don't have any questions?
You can have someone sit withthem for the first few times and
then you're evaluating them ona regular basis.
Like, what is your processesfor that?
Right?
(29:52):
If you tell me that um peopleare not doing what they're
supposed to do, are you guyshaving meetings?
Are you communicating?
Like, what is that that passon, right?
Are you are you doing you knowmeetings every morning?
Are you doing emails?
Like, how are you guyscommunicating with each other?
Because as a CEO, your job isto make sure that everyone
understands your vision, yourmission, everybody understands
(30:14):
the objective of yourorganization, right?
And that at the end of the day,your clients are happy and that
the work is done.
And once you start bringingpeople in for all these things,
right?
Initially you do it.
But once you start bringingpeople in for all these things,
they can't read your mind.
Absolutely.
Right?
Yeah.
And so really justcommunicating and have those
conversations with them, you'llyou'll quickly know, like, you
(30:36):
know what?
I think this is your yourissue.
You've got to get clear.
Once you get clear, theconfusion goes away and
everything falls into place.
Shanna Star (30:46):
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Yes.
There's a few things thatpopped up.
I've listened to a few otherpodcasters, you know, talk about
when it, like you said, likewhen you're bringing on new
people, especially at first,you're the one that's going to
be training them because youknow how you like it to be done
(32:11):
or how that works or whateversystem.
And of course, they may make ittheir own later down the line.
But at first, you're the onehelping that.
And so many times we think,well, I'm just going to help
them on the job.
And really all that does iscreate so much stress.
But if you have a system inplace or you've created of some
docs of how to do those thingsand what to look at, it seems
like a daunting task.
Like that's going to take somuch more time.
(32:32):
But having all of those thingsup front are actually what's
going to save you time, energy,and stress in the future.
And so I know you've talked alot about how a lot of things in
your business are now automatedand that's made easier over the
years with all of themanagement systems we have.
What are some little of thoselike microsystems that you have
(32:54):
that has shifted, whether it'slike your approach to email or
task management or you knowsending the invoices?
How has that changed over theyears and things that are
automated for you?
Chanda (33:06):
Now, my whole entire system is automated, believe it
or not.
I only thing I do is I gin upmy reports and um I'll put them
down and I'll go back and reviewthem, right?
Because your eyes will readwhat you wanted to say.
But other than that, everythingis automated from the moment
someone comes into my system ina funnel.
Okay, the funnel takes them,brings them in, and it they all
(33:29):
go into my emails, they'll gettext messages.
If they're already a client,they'll get emails, they'll get
text messages, and I also getemails and text messages to show
up.
If my client sends something tome, I'll get an email and
respond, of course.
Um, but everything for me isautomated.
The most I do is um I'llmanually account for attendance.
(33:50):
So my I have a three-day tinychallenge where someone who is
not sure if they want to workwith me can jump online with me
for three days and get clear ontheir business and get a 90-day
plan and it has a money-backguarantee.
And so they go on, they pay forit, they get a nudge to fill
out the survey before the westart the challenge, they get a
nudge to book their three callsTuesday through Thursday, right?
(34:13):
At the same time, they getnudges for that.
I don't touch it, it's allautomated.
And the only thing I get ishey, they booked it.
And then once the call has beenheld, I'll go to something to
say, did they show up?
And I'll click off yes and I'llmake my notes.
And it's the same the secondand third day.
At the third day, if they don'twant to take any of my offers
and they feel like they're notsatisfied with my challenge,
(34:33):
they can get their $21 back.
They showed up, only if theyshowed up and did the work,
right?
Um, because I want you to besatisfied.
If I didn't do a good job,right, at $21, like please.
Um, but as you can see, I don'thave to do anything.
So it is a lot of work upfront.
I have an amazing developer formy system who we meet every
(34:55):
single day um to make sure thateverything is working.
If I get something that saysthis link is not working or this
is a failure, or something'sdisconnected, I was like, hey, I
need this like fixed.
And he goes in there and hefixes it and say, Hey, I secured
that.
Um, but yeah, in this day andage, my goal is not to work any
more than 20 hours a week,right?
(35:15):
Because this is the season oflife I'm in.
And so I have a marketingagency, they just send me my
creatives.
I say yes or no, they do allthe testing, they send me my
reports.
Yeah, um, I love that.
This is not for everybody, no,but it's available, right?
(35:36):
But the benefits are mygranddaughter gets in.
If I want to go ride a bikewith her, if I'm gonna take the
weekend and go see my grandsons,um, I have a newborn
granddaughter who's less thantwo months.
If I just want to go and holdher and you know, spend time
with her, I'm clear on Tuesdays,Wednesdays, and Thursdays as an
entrepreneur, my days arededicated to building my
(35:57):
business.
But on the weekends, unless Imake other allowances, that time
is free to do whatever I like.
Now, sometimes I do workbecause it's the nature, right?
Yeah, but it's not guaranteedbecause my clients they know if
you go in there to book a call,those links are only active
Tuesday, Wednesday, andThursday.
Shanna Star (36:15):
Right.
Chanda (36:16):
Yeah.
Shanna Star (36:17):
So it it reminds me people listening who may be
like, okay, well, that's great,but I just it it's a lot of work
up front, like you said.
And it is, it is a lot of workup front.
But even with like, here's avery basic example podcasting.
When I first started five yearsago, I didn't have a scheduled
scheduler link because in mybrain, I'm like, it's fine, I'm
just gonna tell them when I'mI'm available.
(36:37):
And oh my gosh, the back andforth, and then it just never
worked.
And so putting that work upfront actually is gonna help
you.
Well, it's gonna help yourprofessionalism, absolutely, but
it's gonna help you worksmarter, just like any other
system in place.
And so just even having ascheduler allows me to search
through somebody who's come in.
(36:58):
If their PR team contact me,it's like, here it is, and I
don't have to think about it.
They do it, they set it up, andthen it's like, okay, great.
Now I only have to worry aboutit when it comes to that day.
And just seeing it as it'sgonna actually help so much
stress, and those emails be downin your inbox.
And it it's just as importantto have all those strategies,
and I can't, you know, pressthat enough.
Chanda (37:20):
I think if they think of it from this standpoint, and
this is what I try to impressupon my clients, is when you're
tapped for time, I always sayautomate, delegate, right, or
eliminate.
I always say that.
But outside of that,understanding that it gives you
the ability to innovate as a CEOfor your business.
So you do have to be veryclear, not just on your business
(37:42):
as an expert, but your businessmodel going into it, because I
can't have a developer and hedoesn't know how to design
anything for me, right?
I had to know up front, likethis is what I want my business
to look like.
This is what success looks likefor me.
And he's very knowledgeable,right?
So he would recommend certainthings and say, this is what we
can use these tools for, but Idon't have a large um technical
(38:02):
suite, right?
For my automations, I wanted tokeep everything real succinct
and tight.
So I have um, what do I have?
Canva, GHL, Microsoft OfficeSuite, make um outside of social
media, right?
Mine is very succinct because Idon't want to have to be
worried about all thesedifferent subscriptions on my
(38:23):
website, so square.
But I don't want to have toworry about all these different
things.
And GHL is is verycomprehensive, right?
So I have a course, I have myVIP program, I have my
community, I have my CRM, I havemy funnels, I have my triggers,
my links, my automations, myworkflows, I have my AI agent,
like I have my phone, mybusiness phone number,
(38:45):
everything is connected to GHL,and then I have Microsoft Office
Suite for my cloud, right?
So all of my documents,everything for my clients, I can
go anywhere and work.
Like I was in uh Dubai in Asialast week, and um yeah, if I
wanted to work, I could have.
But that wasn't right, becauseeverything's in the cloud, so I
(39:08):
don't have to worry about like,yeah, I got my cell phone, I got
my laptop, I can work fromanywhere.
And I wanted that flexibility,I wanted that freedom.
Of course, yeah.
Shanna Star (39:17):
I know a lot of high performers sometimes define
themselves by what yes they sayyes to.
So, what did you maybedeliberately start saying no to
in order to protect your timeand energy?
I know you've talked a littlebit about that because you work
those days and you're availablethose days.
Um, but what are some maybeother things that you either
(39:39):
said absolutely not to or yes tothat helped you define your
business a little bit more?
Chanda (39:45):
Um absolutely.
If I had to say a no,absolutely no.
I'm not opposed to tellingsomeone that they're not my
client.
And I think um more peopleshould be okay with that.
If you're trying to helpeverybody, you can't help
anybody.
I think that's very true.
(40:06):
Um I have this the same thingwith the whole structure and the
free spirit.
I'm also, I think I'm very wellbalanced on both brains, right?
So I think as a pro projectmanager, program manager, you
know, strategist, I'm verylogical, very rational, right?
Military government background,I'm very okay, let's let's go,
(40:27):
let's go, let's go.
What are we doing?
Um, very direct.
Um, and even though I givespace to emotions, right?
I give space to freedom, I givespace to like if you need a day
to talk about it, let's talkabout it.
Let's let's get it out there.
What are we saying?
The other side of me is we'recrying today, but tomorrow we
need to fix it.
Okay.
And I've had people who wouldcome and I'd have to say, I
(40:50):
don't think you need a coach, Ithink you need a therapist.
And I'm here to help you makeprogress in your life, in your
business.
I just can't, I don't have thecapacity like to sit and listen
to you tell me every singlemeeting about all the things
that are bad in your life,right?
And how you're not willing tofix it, able to fix it, right?
(41:11):
And I don't know, like that'snot serving either one of us.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
Right.
Chanda (41:16):
And so I'm not saying never, I'm just saying not
today.
I think we should probably, youknow, go our separate ways.
You can find your therapist ora coach who's willing to sit
with you in this.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Yeah.
Chanda (41:28):
And then if you decide to move past that, you decide,
you know what, today's the day,I'm gonna make progress, give me
a call.
I would love to talk about thatwith you.
Shanna Star (41:36):
I think that is an incredibly like great example
because especially starting forthose who are just starting it,
we want to say yes to everybodybecause we think everyone's our
client and we want the businesscoming in and we want to grow.
And so I understand thatmindset.
We've all been there.
And but it's important to knowlike, I am not for you right
now, or this is what you need,and to be able to even see that
(42:00):
is really great self-awarenessbecause most people are like,
Okay, I guess I'm just now amentor for this person
emotionally, and and that'sespecially in your case, not
what you do.
Um, of course, I'm sure someclients here and there, you're
like, Okay, yep, just talk aboutit today, and then we'll move
past.
But you talk a lot about umhonoring yourself in business,
(42:21):
and I think what you just saidreally shows one of the ways
that you do that.
Chanda (42:25):
So I really think that's absolutely I told you, I um
people be like, You're so weird.
I'm like, what why am I weird?
You try to put me in a box,first of all, but why does that
make me weird?
Like, I I think you have to umwhen you get to a certain age, I
think you realize, like, okay,I'm gonna be honest here because
what else is there?
Like, let's let's not sugarcoatit, let's not beat around the
(42:47):
bush, let's lay it out on thetable.
Um, and some people don't wantthat.
A lot of people say they wanttruth, but they don't want
truth.
Shanna Star (42:55):
Yeah, it's hard.
It's hard to see that mirroredback for sure if you're not
ready for it.
Yeah, so um that's and then youalso speak about making your
goals non-negotiable.
It's something that's you knowon your website and on all the
things that you speak of.
So first hearing that, what isa first step to building a
business that works in that inthat way, and talk a little bit
(43:18):
about how to do non-negotiablesfor those goals and maybe what
that looks like.
And maybe it's very close tohonoring yourself like you
chatted to, but it's definitelya combination of the two, right?
Chanda (43:29):
And the thing about goals being non-negotiable is
goals change, right?
And so I'm not saying thatyou're completely inflexible,
that life is not gonna happen,that your mindset is not gonna
change.
And and for me, I'll give youan example.
Um, when I left the governmentand I went went to work as a
government contractor, I waslike, I'm gonna start my own
business and I'm gonna be amogul.
(43:50):
Like, I'm gonna go and buildthis great government
contracting consulting firmbecause why not?
Within weeks, I lost my brotherto gun violence, and he was
taken by um guns, obviously Isay gun violence, and it shook
me to my core, and my immediatefocus began to say, I don't want
(44:10):
another family to go throughwhat we went through.
So if you lose a loved one toold age, to terminal illness,
it's just a little differentthan losing someone violently,
right?
And our family never gotclosure, and so I knew
immediately like I needed to dowhat I could do in order to
serve as families to try to keepthis thing from happening
(44:32):
again.
And so we started, he passedaway on October 11th, 2018.
We started family, we startedserving the community
Thanksgiving dinners November2018.
Like we didn't get a chance tobury him until October 25th, and
by November 21st or somewherearound there, we were
distributing Thanksgivingdinners, okay, to families.
(44:55):
And the first year, of course,because we literally only had a
few weeks, was you know, on asmall scale, but to date we've
serviced thousands of familiesin his name and in his honor.
And um it um it pivoted me insuch a way because I realized
when I like to serve, I like toteach, um, and honoring him in
(45:18):
that way allowed me to heal,right?
And so that goal becameobsolete, right?
And I said, okay, um, I had amentoring program, we got lots
of grants and and stuff, but Iwas mentoring uh young adults,
and I said, Well, how can I usethis on a bigger scale?
Because government contracting,I I don't, I'm good at it.
(45:40):
I don't necessarily feel likethis is where I'm supposed to be
anymore.
And so I pivoted, right?
I had people who were saying,Can't you mentor me?
Can you can you be my coach?
And I'm like, I'm not reallyset up for that.
And so I would just, hey, justI'll just call you and check in
on you and give you information.
I'll pass up, I'll see howyou're doing, you know, I'll
give you some resources.
Um, but then I began to say,you know, how can I how can I do
(46:03):
this?
And so I pivoted into thisspace, and it's like, okay, now
these are now my goals, and howdo I make this non-negotiable?
As an introvert, I do not wantto get online and go live, okay?
It's like I don't want to dothat.
And so when I was talking toother coaches, they were like,
you need to get on podcasts, andI was like, I don't want to do
(46:24):
that either.
And as I'm avoiding, yeah,that's you.
So even as an introvert,because I've made this a goal,
like I've I want to help womenwho are older create
sustainable, profitable,purposeful businesses.
How do they find me?
How do they know who I am?
How do I build my brand?
(46:45):
And so this is nownon-negotiable.
I am showing up showing up inthese spaces as my authentic
self, um, opening my heart andmy mind so that people can say,
you know what, I like her.
I like her energy.
I think we can relate, youknow.
I think she's for me and I'mfor her.
I need to get to know herbetter, right?
And so here I am.
(47:06):
This goal has become nownon-negotiable.
Shanna Star (47:09):
I think first of all, thank you for speaking
about that.
Because some of that I I knowit's been a couple years, but
it's still pretty fresh and itstill affects you, and it I'm
sure it will forever.
And so thank you for sharingthat, first of all.
And also for kind of talkingabout that pivot because so
often we feel if we're gonna bedoing something in business,
(47:31):
we're gonna start something,that's it forever.
And if it fails, if we can't,that's it.
It failed.
And that's really not how lifeworks, you know.
This I've been a photographerfor 15 years, but that doesn't
mean I'm gonna do it forever.
And that's why five years ago Istarted the podcast because I
was like, I want to speak towomen not just one-on-one, but
how can I help more than thatone-on-one?
And so allowing yourself thepivot, whether it's through good
(47:54):
events that happen orheartaches and grievances, but
you can add or shift or pivotgoals as you go.
So I think that's so importantthat you said that as well.
Chanda (48:05):
Yeah, and and so that that term is coined not for the
people that are going throughsomething real, right?
It's for the procrastinators,those that can't focus, those uh
people can, I want to make amillion dollars.
I'm like, well, what does thatlook like?
What are you gonna sell?
What are you gonna offer?
How much you're gonna make in aday, how much you're gonna make
how soon are you gonna make themillion dollars?
Are you making it in a month?
Are you making it in a year?
Are you making it in 10 years?
(48:25):
Like, what are we talking?
Because if you do it in a year,you gotta go up versus if
you're doing it in 10 years, yougo this way, right?
And so the process becomesdifferent, the conversation
becomes different, thediscipline and tenacity and
perseverance becomes different.
Definitely the structurebecomes different.
So, what are your goals, right?
And are you are they reallynon-negotiable or are you just
talking?
Because a lot of people just betalking.
Shanna Star (48:46):
Oh, all the time.
Yep, gonna be a millionaire,gonna be this.
I'm like, that's great.
What are you doing now?
And you're like, well, it'sgonna fall on my lap.
And it's like, okay, wishfulthinking, good for you.
But you know, it's always yougot to take the first step where
you can't see the next 10.
And then the next one's gonnabe a little bit bigger step, and
you can't even see that secondstep.
And so I love how you said thatbecause yes, you can have
(49:08):
tenacious goals, but you have tobe starting towards them.
And and even like I have myjournal in the front, I have my
goals for the year, my goals forthe month.
Am I doing them?
And even like, how manydevotionals am I doing?
How many workouts am I doing?
It's not all business, there'spersonal, and it's um they
intertwine some because I wantto always be progressing.
(49:28):
And I don't hit them everymonth, I don't hit them every
year, and that's okay too, butas long as you're making that
progress and moving towards it.
Chanda (49:37):
Yeah, I use that um planner as well because I'm a
little over it, I'm like reallyover.
Shanna Star (49:43):
Get it, yes.
Chanda (49:44):
But um, I was telling my clients, I recommend the
12-week year by time, uh, Ithink his name is Daniel Moran.
His last name is Moran, DMoran.
Okay.
But I want I recommend the12-week year because it
resonates um very much with me.
Um, and he speaks my language.
Um, I have it in hard copy, butI also listen to it every year
by Audible.
And the reason I do is torefresh, you know, my mind that
(50:07):
people say you want something ina year, and because it's so far
out, 365 days, you get lost.
But if you are structuring yourgoals every quarter, right?
Your top three goals everyquarter across, and I do it
across my life.
So I'm talking about myself, myhealth, my family, my
investments, my businesses, youknow, charity, I call it
charity, um, my foundation, likeevery across my entire life.
(50:31):
I'm looking at the top threegoals, right?
What am I gonna do in my home?
Am I doing any renovations?
What am I doing with my family?
Are we connecting?
Right, I have adult children,so they all have lives, and now
we all gotta get on a scheduleto get us all in one place at
one time, but it's important tome.
And so I make it a goal.
Um, but I recommend that topeople because I think it really
helps you stay focused on whatmatters most and what you say
(50:54):
matters most.
And at the end of every year,September, October, I get a new
planner and I look at the old, Ilook at where I am, what I've
accomplished, and I say, Am Ibeing honest with myself?
Am I actually gonna do thesethings?
If not, I don't want to savespace for something I'm not
gonna do because I'm nothonestly not gonna do it, right?
And then things that are doing,I'm doing great, or I feel like
(51:16):
I could be doing better.
I move those into the nextyear, and maybe I increase those
numbers or you know, I changesomething because I'm scrapping
something out.
Like this year, I wanted todwell more into real estate
investing and I completed a partof it, I sold a home, but then
my life was so busy with this, Iwas like, I don't have the
capacity to honestly say, I'mgonna jump into this with both
(51:39):
of my feet and give it my all,right?
And instead of looking atmyself, said 10 bucks over and
saying, you know, I reallydidn't do much in the investment
space, say, you know what?
I'm not really putting my allinto this right now.
Let me table this until nextyear.
Yeah.
And so next year I'll revisitthat and say, what can I
accomplish in real estateinvesting next year?
And what does that look like?
Right.
Shanna Star (51:59):
Uh I can't remember the exact quote.
I might butcher it.
Hopefully not.
But it's, you know, that weoverestimate what we can do in a
day and underestimate what wecan do in a year.
And so it's those baby stepsthat add up.
And that's one of the reasonsthat I'm sure you feel the same
to write down those goals isbecause you see, like, look what
I did this year.
And it helps you go, okay, Idid these things.
Now I can progress for nextyear.
(52:20):
Exactly.
I just did my first likespeaking engagement where I got
to speak really from the heartand some vulnerable things.
And I've been wanting to dothat for a while.
I didn't have the capacity, andI just I wasn't ready
emotionally, but it was kind ofon my long list to do.
And I'm like, okay, now I didit.
Now I need to progress that.
And that's sometimes how itworks as well.
But it is yeah, yeah.
(52:41):
I know you've spoken so muchfrom the heart today.
So thank you for that.
Is there anything else that youfeel that we haven't touched
on, maybe that is from yourheart or personal or business
that you just feel is relevantfor the conversation?
Chanda (52:54):
Um, no, just a reminder like we're all in a journey,
right?
And we are all, like I said, indifferent seasons.
And um, it's not fair toyourself to honor your to
measure yourself based on whereyou see everyone else.
Um, measure yourself againstyourself because you'll find
that um you've made strides andleaps and bounds, and you know,
(53:14):
every day is another opportunityto try again, progress over
perfection every time.
So it doesn't have to beperfect, just keep going, keep
making strides.
Little baby steps still count.
Yeah, um, and and that's it.
You just have to remember,right?
Shanna Star (53:30):
I love that.
Chanda (53:31):
Enough negativity in the world.
Shanna Star (53:32):
So there is, I uh am not a perfectionist, I'm a
good enoughist, which is funnybecause a lot of entrepreneurs
are not that.
And so even talking withpeople, it's like you don't,
it's okay, it's not gonna beperfect.
Just put it out in the world,just start, just do the thing.
It's not gonna be perfect,you're gonna stumble.
But like you said, to justyeah, keep going.
Chanda (53:51):
Keep going, keep going.
Shanna Star (53:53):
So now that you've spoken so many beautiful words
and wisdom and from the heart,how can we find you, follow you,
and hopefully get into thisprogram that you talked about
too?
Chanda (54:01):
So my name is Chonda Costin, and you can find me
website is Chonda-C O.com.
Um, ch a n d a dash co-c-o-ndot com.
And then my social mediaplatform, Instagram, is Chonda
two underscores C O.
And I would love to meet newpeople and uh would love to work
(54:26):
with uh people who's ready towork.
Shanna Star (54:28):
I love that.
Thank you.
And those will all be in thenotes too.
In case they can't get to it,right type it in, they'll be
able to click right from thenotes.
So thank you for all thatyou've shared today.
I really appreciate it.
Chanda (54:39):
Thank you for having me.
It's been a pleasure.
It's been a great conversation.
Shanna Star (54:42):
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Thank you for tuning in to another episode of
the Shine Podcast.
I'm your host, Shauna Stark.
Today's episode I have a lovelyguest with me, Chonda Costin,
and we get to talk about allthings having clarity and
strategy and what that lookslike to really allow freedom and
be that free spirit that youwant to be in your business.
(00:29):
We go into a lot of depth ofwhat that looks like and how to
implement those things in purebusiness.
I think you're gonna have a lotof takeaways from this
conversation.
So let's get to it.
Shonda Coston helps highcapacity women, specifically
women over 40, build businesseswith clarity, structure, and
legacy in mind.
Through her signature blueprintto build methods, she turns
(00:52):
confusion into clarity and anexecutable plan.
And her faith-ledstrategy-fueled approach blends
real talk with real tools.
And I have been so excited tochat with you.
Looking forward to herconversation and just all that
you bring and do.
So welcome, Shonda to the SeanShine podcast.
Chanda (01:08):
Thank you, thank you, thank you for having me.
I am so excited to be here andto have the conversation.
Shanna Star (01:14):
Yes, we too, we too.
So what I kind of wanted tostart with is there's so many
things that I was interested inwhen learning about you and
stalking you and finding aboutall that you do.
And one specifically was thatbuild to blueprint program that
you offer and help offer thatyou help shift from guessing to
building, from burnout toblueprint.
And I really loved that.
(01:35):
And of course, I don't want togive all your secrets away
because I want them to go followyou, find you, and get the
program for themselves.
But will you maybe give us justa few nuggets or insight to it?
And then of how how, of course,we can dive into that program
that you have.
Chanda (01:49):
Absolutely.
So um that program is near,dear to my heart as an
entrepreneur.
Um, going from military tocorporate, um, and now into the
entrepreneurial space, uh it wasquite the shift, right?
Because I didn't need all ofthe components that I currently
need to run a successfulbusiness.
And I have been successful.
Military career is successful,my time in corporate was
(02:09):
successful.
And I dipped my toe over hereand I said, wait a minute.
So um the idea was likecreating a program that provided
what I needed as I stepped intothis space for entrepreneurs
that I could relate to, that Icould identify with.
Um, a lot of times as women, wewear so many hats um and we're
(02:30):
always nurturing everyone elsethat we really don't take the
time, one, to say, what is itthat's left for me?
What is there for me?
And then how do I do that?
Right.
And so the number one complaintI get from my clients is, oh my
God, I'm so overwhelmed.
I don't know where to start.
Um, and generally it was like,okay, I'll work with you, I'll
give you a plan of action, I'llsing you on your way.
But then it was like, wait,wait, wait, I need some more
(02:51):
help.
I don't know where to findthese tools, I don't know how to
do these things, right?
And you find that a lot withcoaches in this space,
unfortunately.
They're like, okay, let me giveyou the information without
telling you how to do it, whereto find it, and what that looks
like.
And so that particular thisparticular program does just
that.
They come into my ecosystem, Icoach them and handhold them,
(03:12):
and we execute, not only justtell them what they need to do,
but then help them walk thosethings out.
So, two things that I love thatI've built into this program
are sprints.
Um, if you're not familiar withthe terminology, a sprint is
when you take a period of timeto actually execute actions,
which they should be doingthroughout the program anyway,
but I've given them space to dothat.
(03:33):
And so it is um a course withdealing with mindset, dealing
with education, with strategiesfor time management,
productivity, execution, focus,right?
But on the other side, it'salso dealing with business.
Where are you in your business?
Let's audit it, let's talkabout your client, let's talk
about your messaging, let's talkabout your operational pieces,
(03:54):
right?
Do you have workflows, orgcharts, SOPs, and processes,
right?
Because you can't scale ifyou're the sole single point of
failure.
Uh, your business will neverget take off and get off the
ground.
And then we talk about this newthing that is taking the world
by storm, which is personalbrand, right?
I didn't need this incorporate.
They were like, oh, you gotyour resume, you got your
degrees, you have all thisexperience.
(04:15):
Let's call three people, you'regood.
Well, now everybody wants toGoogle you.
And so they do.
And they do.
So we put all those componentsin there and um at different
levels because a person that isstarting and launching is not
looking at the same person who'srefining and preparing to
(04:36):
scale, and they're not doing theperson that's refining and
preparing to scale is not doingthe same thing for a person
who's ready to scale, right?
And so there's different tracksfor those different clients
who's different with dealingwith different things in their
mind and different issues.
And we just walked them throughthose pieces over 12 weeks.
Um, so I hope that gave youlike a good idea, right?
Shanna Star (04:56):
I love that.
Yeah, I was writing down a fewthings.
The first thing was going backto that personal brand.
And I mean, I'm sure thisexisted even before we had all
the micro and large influencersaround, but I think even more
so, we've gotten to the pointwhere whatever product service
that we want to purchase, welike to, it's an emotional um
purchase.
And so we want to get to knowwho's behind the brand.
(05:18):
And so many business uhentrepreneurs, I'm sure you
experience this too are like,nope, I don't want to show my
face, or nope, I'm not gonna bea part of it, which it does work
for some businesses.
I'm not saying everyone has tobe the front of their business.
Uh, but especially startingout, it can be so just important
really to have that face andthey get to know you and they
(05:40):
have that trust.
So I totally agree with thepersonal brand.
I feel like I can show all mythe most beautiful photos that I
take in photography and and theexperiences I have behind the
scenes.
But as soon as I show my face,even if it's a cell phone photo,
those are the most like, thoseare the most comments, those are
the most messages becausepeople want to interact with
you.
So I love that you alreadybrought that up, even though we
(06:01):
don't always want to do thatpart.
Chanda (06:02):
So yeah, and and for the 40 plus club, right?
It's always sometimes it'sabout not even knowing how,
right?
Um, and so I tell myphotographer, uh, friends and
associates, like, you guys woulddo really well if you would do
some tutorials, because I wouldbe one of the first people in
line, let me tell you, okay.
Trying to figure out the angleof the camera, the like the
(06:23):
lighting that's required, andyou know, what do you say?
How do you not stutter?
Like, you know, do you find ascript?
What apps do you use?
That is like so key to thisparticular um demographic,
right?
The older set.
Um, because they still want thethings, they just don't know
how it fits.
And so they sometimes feelinadequate.
Um, not that they don't havethe experience or the expertise,
(06:45):
they just don't know how tomarry the two.
Shanna Star (06:48):
Right, right.
And something else you weresaying is this whole program or
programs, you've had more thanone in all the offers that you
have, but this particular onetoo.
I know that usually ideas comefrom experiences or pain points
we've had in our own business.
So where did these particularthis program come from?
Like, is that from a painexperience you had in business,
(07:08):
or where did that start to comeup from that you offer your
absolutely, it came frompersonal experiences.
Chanda (07:13):
Um, I won't name names, but I've dealt with some pretty
good coaches and also somepretty not good coaches.
Um, and so I spent quite a bitof money, at least six figures
in the space, like coaching.
Every coach should have acoach, right?
Um, but unfortunately, programsare not all built the same.
And so when you walk away,you've invested after you've
invested your time, your money,money, and your energy, you want
(07:36):
to make sure, like, like, dang,I feel like I didn't get my
money's worth, or I feel like,you know, once they took my
money, they really didn't careabout me, or they just kind of
gave me some stuff and was like,go off and be great.
And it's like, well, wait aminute, I don't quite have it.
And um, I'm I'm a Christianfirst, and I'm big on integrity.
And so I think how you doanything is how you do
(07:57):
everything.
I never want someone toexperience me and walk away
feeling like that.
Right.
And so it's like, okay, how canI structure this so that every
time they come into myatmosphere, my ecosystem, they
say, wow, right?
Not only did she overdeliver,but she made sure I got it.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Right.
Chanda (08:16):
And what does that look like?
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Right.
Chanda (08:18):
And um, most people don't understand what a
strategist is.
Shanna Star (08:21):
I'm finding I agree, especially because so
many people you don't do thisthat I've seen in all of your
website and everything, but somany people use those hot button
words, and then it's like,great, but what does that look
like?
How do I implement that?
And so I totally get why peoplewould be like, oh, I'm not
sure, you know, at first untilthey get to know you and your
program and what you offer.
(08:42):
Um and kind of going into thatburnout part of it in the
exhausted and burnout.
What do you find that weinitially believe in burnout is
the solution to the problems?
And then how did thatperception change as you built a
business?
Chanda (08:59):
So I think there is this assumption, it's like I'm gonna
find more time, right?
And the harsh reality is we allhave the same 24 hours.
I don't care who you are,right?
We don't get any more time.
And so what people mostly arelacking are systems, right?
Systems and strategies.
And I live my life the sameway.
(09:19):
Um, I'm finding that in havingthese conversations, when people
say describe yourself, I'mlike, well, I'm really
structured, disciplined, freespirit.
And they're like, what?
And I have to tell them all ofthe structure and discipline
that I've learned over theyears, it allows me to be that
free spirit.
Um, even when I decided topivot into this space, and I
decided I didn't want to worklong hours, I didn't want to
(09:40):
feel undervalued in corporate,right?
Because no matter how much youwork, it's other, it's just the
next big thing.
And I didn't feel the releaseand the energy I get from
someone telling me like, um, Iappreciate you so much.
Like I finally got it.
Like they took the leap, theydid the thing.
I get something from that.
Like it does something for me.
I feel good about that, right?
Watching other peopleaccomplish their goals.
(10:03):
And it was like, okay, well,how do I build that so I'm not
burnt out?
And so my business isautomated.
And so I tell people, you gotto find a thing that you love,
you got to find a thing that youneed, you got to find the thing
that people will pay for.
And then you have to make sureit fits the season of your life.
That's my 30 compass framework,right?
And so I'm saying once you findthose things, and women are so
(10:23):
multitaskers that they will havea book of things and they want
to do them all.
And I'm like, no, no, no, no.
No, let's narrow it down, okay?
And we're gonna score it off ofthose four things, and
whichever ones are the highest,those are the ones we're gonna
look at as low-hanging fruit,and we're gonna go for those
first, and then we'll look atthe next ones to see how we can
(10:43):
integrate those or have youevolved and are they still
important?
Because we change, right?
In the dance.
But I think it's an importantconversation to have as most
people um they know it, but it'slike having that conversation
around time is like, no, wedon't get any more time, hun.
This is it, this is what we'redoing.
So we need to make it work.
How can we increase ourcapacity?
We increase our capacity bybeing more structured, having
(11:06):
more strategy, right?
Implemented in our day, beingmindful, and then creating
systems that work for us, right?
So that we can do the thingsthat we love, we can spend time
with the people we love.
No one goes into business tocreate another job or 20 jobs as
a fresh CEO.
We go into business to createfreedom, right?
So, what does success look likefor you?
(11:28):
What kind of freedom do youwant?
And that's important to know.
Shanna Star (11:32):
Yes, I wrote down a couple things.
And the first is having clarityin that strategy and structure
allows for a free spirit becauseI think so many, maybe not all,
but so many entrepreneurs canalign themselves with that.
You know, like you said, wemost of us go into it because we
want that freedom.
And we end up being likechained to the desk and being
like, we need to do more workand how we get out of burnout is
(11:53):
just more work until you getwork again.
And and what I found is likeyou said, the more structure I
have, the more freedom I canhave.
One of the things I loved aboutlove from working from home
most of the time is I get toenjoy the sunshine.
So I might have my structure inthe morning, then I'm gonna go
out in the sun for an hour, andthen I'm gonna come back.
(12:13):
And that allows for thatfreedom, but it's really around
that structure, like you talkedabout.
And the other part of that isit has allowed me to see that
having those priorities, I get alot more done in a short amount
of time than when I firststarted the business and thought
I need to work 12 hours a dayand I need to stay up till 11
every night because there'salways the busy work that we can
(12:35):
do, but it doesn't mean thatyou're actually being
productive.
Chanda (12:39):
Exactly.
Shanna Star (12:40):
And something I saw on your Instagram kind of
recently that you posted issomething that I implemented for
myself and I love speakingabout.
And it was the I'm an avid taskchecker and in productivity.
So every day it might be fivethings, it's at least five.
Some of those include like mydevotional or a workout or
specific things I need to do forwork that day.
(13:02):
And I have to get those thingsdone.
Now, if I get those things doneand I might have a few more
things that didn't need to getdone, maybe it's on tomorrow's,
I can do those.
But it's always just get thesethings done and then you can
allow yourself some of thatfreedom we talked about.
So I I would love for you totalk about how you set your
priorities because I know youagree and you've talked about
(13:23):
writing those three things downas well and talk about that a
bit.
Chanda (13:26):
I use lots of time management strategies.
Um I use CEO theme days, iswhat I call them.
And so when I look at my week,um I typically Mondays is for
coaching for me.
So that's when I pour intomyself.
Tuesdays through Thursdays isfor my clients, right?
And then Friday through Sundaysis for my family, right?
And so Fridays, I try to take aday for myself.
(13:48):
Self-care is really key, right?
And that helps with thatburnout.
And I always try to explain tothe women, most of the mothers,
right, is that you have to taketime for yourself.
You have to.
If not, you're not gonna be thebest person, not just for
yourself, but for your family,and not after your family, then
for your clients, right?
For your business.
And if you don't exist, it allgoes away, right?
(14:09):
And getting people tounderstand that.
As far as my days go, I'mreally big on the top three
every single day.
And so my clients say I don'thave enough time.
Let's do a calendar audit.
Let's look at how you'respending your time.
And I explained that to them.
Running in place, it's not thesame as making progress.
So let's see, just because youhave a to-do list, if it has a
(14:30):
bunch of things up there thatdoes not move the needle forward
in your business, right?
Then those are personal thingsyou got to do.
That's not necessarily thingsthat's helping your business,
right?
And we need to separate thosetwo so we're clear because we
don't always do that.
Shanna Star (14:43):
No, you're right.
Absolutely.
Chanda (14:44):
Yeah.
And so during the day, though,it's structuring the day, like
you said, for those time blocks,right?
I call the Pareto principalextended form, but I do long
focus times of work.
So I may sit down for an hour,but within that hour, at 45 to
50 minutes, I'm getting up, I'mstretching my legs, I'm feeding
the dogs, I'm letting them out.
I might check my social media,I might grab a snack, right?
(15:08):
And then when I sit back down,I am better for it because I've
given myself a break.
And what I like to show peopleall the time, especially my
clients, is I'm like, your brainis like this.
Like, this is a hair tie.
And if you're constantlyworking, working, working,
working, working, working,working, working, working, your
brain does not rest.
And when you get up, you'llfind that you're slightly
(15:29):
annoyed, you're frustrated, youhaven't eaten, you haven't drank
anything, like you may not havegone to the bathroom, your dogs
are angry with you, your kidsare angry with you, like
everybody's angry, and you're nobetter for it.
But when you get up and youtake those breaks, you go from
this immediately to this.
And it allows you to relax, itallows you to breathe, it allows
you to get refreshed.
(15:50):
So when you go back at it, youmay go back to the same task,
right?
Depending on how you structureyour day, or you might go on to
the next thing.
But either way, you had time tokind of clear everything out
and start again, right?
And it just gives you such arefreshing that you would have
no idea.
Um, and then when you want totake that time in the evening
because you've focused in onyour day and you've worked on
(16:12):
those tasks and those prioritiesthat you set, you can go out
back and sit on the porch andyou know, lay on the hammock and
watch a sunset or go for a walkor watch a movie with the
family or cook dinner, whateveryour thing is, right?
And that's the beauty of youknow, tapping into some of these
things.
It's like, okay, this couldabsolutely work.
So time blocking, paretoprinciple, theme days, um,
(16:36):
priorities are prioritized basedon the urgency.
Is it gonna cost me money?
Is it gonna affect my bottomline?
Like, what's the urgency of it?
Um, some things are a higherpriority than others because
they are time stamps, right?
Because they will cost me moneyversus some things are things I
just would like to get done,but not as high as a priority.
So if I'm having a bad day andI need to make me a priority
(16:59):
because I matter, I can say, youknow what, that is important,
but I can get to it tomorrow andit's not gonna cost me
anything.
Shanna Star (17:05):
I think that was so relevant what you said about if
you have a bad day, because I Idon't even speak about that
enough.
I think it, but there are dayswhere you do have a priority
list and you do need to getthings done.
But we have maybe some healththings we're going through or
grieving or just a bad day whereyou just are off.
And and it's okay to allowyourself if you've been
(17:26):
structured enough in business tohave a day be like, you know
what?
This is the day that I'm notgonna be focused enough, I'm not
gonna be productive enough.
And so shifting that, I thinkthat would be huge to allow
yourself and give thatpermission.
Chanda (17:38):
I think we don't honor ourselves enough.
Um I think people try to put usin boxes so much.
Well, you have to be this oryou have to be that.
And I don't think you have tobe either.
I think you can be both, right?
And I think the beauty of usacknowledging um that we're all
in a journey individually butcollectively, right?
Is that we're also in differentplaces, we're also in different
(17:59):
seasons.
Um, and my target, you know,ideal client over 40, most of us
have adult children orfamilies.
We have spouses or, you know,long relationships, we have
aging parents, right?
I have grandchildren.
So from a mother perspective, agrandparent perspective, aging
parent perspective, and then Istill have me, who's very much
(18:20):
important.
I think it is important to takethose moments because, like you
said, you know, I lost mybrother a few years to gun
violence and it shaped me.
And it's been years, right?
Thank you.
But it some days it's still notgood.
Um, I just came from Asia twoweeks ago.
Every October, around his deathanniversary, I go celebrate his
life.
Why?
(18:40):
Because some years I'm okay,but some years I'm not.
But I feel like I honor him andI honor me by just stepping
away and giving myselfpermission to be whatever I am
in that moment, right?
And it's not nothing forced andit's nothing with it, you know,
no one has did anything to me.
But I feel like, you know what?
I don't want to have to explainhow I'm feeling today.
Today I just want to I want tobe and I want to honor him and I
want to remember him, and I Ijust want to live out loud.
(19:04):
And who cares what you think?
Shanna Star (19:06):
Right.
I love that.
I I wrote down too about thatfamily too.
I I don't have human kids, Ihave dogs, but as a daughter,
I've talked about this in thepast too, where something I saw
was really important and justvital to me growing up is my mom
did everything for me when Iwas young.
And I feel like, and I'm verythankful for that.
I'm thankful for the mom thatshe always was.
(19:26):
Not everyone has that chance.
But what I saw in her is when Istarted getting a little bit
older, I would have glimpsesinto her being a woman and she
started taking time for herself.
You know, I'd peek in and she'dbe reading the Bible, and she
didn't know I was alwayswatching her.
And then she started workingout, and it might have taken a
little bit of time away from herkids.
It really wasn't much.
Of course, she structured thatwell.
(19:48):
Um, but it made me even respecther as a woman in a different
way.
She always got ready and triedto look beautiful, and it made
me go, those are important too.
It wasn't just about her kids,it's she's a woman and a mom,
and she's not just a mom.
And so it made me gain a newrespect for her too, which led
to me having more respect formyself.
(20:10):
And I think not all moms, Ithink many moms do that really
well.
But just remembering like justbeing the mom, I know that you
think that your life revolvesaround your kids, and that's
going to be the best.
But if they can see that youcare about yourself and taking
time for yourself, whatever thatlooks like, it's going to have
an effect on the childrenwatching you and let them know
I'm important too, and I deservethat rest.
(20:32):
So I think oftentimes, like yousaid, moms especially put
themselves on that back burner.
But it's important for yourkids to see that you're
important too.
Chanda (20:41):
Yeah, I know.
I um I can appreciate yousharing that.
Um, because it's one of themessages I always have for my
moms.
But as a mom of five, fiveadult children, I'm really
blessed that we have really goodrelationships.
And um my oldest is 31 and sheadvocates like mom, you need to
go out, you need to get out,like mom, you know, and I can
(21:01):
appreciate that, but umdefinitely allowing her and them
to be a part of my journey andum to be on the front row seat,
right, of life, um, and watchthem become parents and become
moms themselves.
Um, I think that's soimportant.
I often um tell people I was anempty nester for about a year,
okay?
Kids, a few of them came back.
Shanna Star (21:24):
As they do, yeah.
Chanda (21:26):
But in the year, I realized there should be like
more support for women who areempty nesters.
Like it was the first time inmy life that I didn't have to
cater to anyone, I didn't haveto take care of anyone.
I didn't, and it was hard.
It was because I had built mylife around everything was
structured around them.
How you know what they needed,if they needed to eat, and how I
(21:49):
could support them and how itshow up for them.
And even as my children gotolder and moved out, I allowed
my grandchildren to come go toschool and come home to my house
because it continued that,right?
Yeah, and so when I moved away,my mom's husband is terminally
ill and I moved closer tosupport her.
And so my children, becausethey had lives in a different
state, in a different area, likefour hours away.
(22:10):
It was like, okay, it was adisconnect from them and a
disconnect from my grandkids.
And so it was just me and mydog, me and sire.
And so for that first year, itwas like, oh wow.
Okay, what are you gonna eat?
What are you gonna do today?
You know, how are you gonnaspend your time?
Like, what do you what do youwant?
What do you need?
And I was like, oh my gosh,like this is this is this is I
(22:33):
don't know.
Shanna Star (22:34):
Um card, it's a different part.
Chanda (22:36):
It was because it my identity then could not be
rooted in just being a mother.
I had to face myself and sayyou're a woman, right?
You're your person.
Um, and what is living yourlife in this next season look
like, whether they're here ornot?
What do you want out of life,right?
And some of that brought me tothis place.
It was a good thing.
Um, but I think self-awarenessis key.
(22:57):
And a lot of women don't havethat because we're so ingrained
as someone's wife, someone'spartner, someone's mom,
someone's daughter.
So but who are you?
Who are you?
What do you want?
Right?
And what does that look like,right?
How do you want to show up?
I totally agree.
Um, yeah.
So thanks for sharing that.
That is that is like a lot ofwomen go through that.
(23:18):
And it's great that you couldeven um witness that and then
take away from it, right?
Shanna Star (23:25):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I feel very lucky in thatfor sure.
I know that you are veryfaith-based, so that's where a
lot of the clarity probablycomes from.
And I agree with that.
That's how I feel in mybusiness too.
I always say my business growswhen I work on myself and my
heart and my intentions.
So when you're speaking to yourclients or women listening, how
(23:45):
do you implement that clarityinto your business?
Like what does that look like?
Is there anything that youcould kind of touch on that?
Chanda (23:51):
Um, outside of the systems is really getting to
know the people and listening.
Um, I think a lot of peopledon't listen.
I think communication is a lostart, right?
Um, I over-communicate in everyrelationship.
So um one of the things um,I'll say it with my clients, I'm
probably a lot more gentler.
(24:12):
Um, but I'm like, what I hearyou say is what I hear you say
you need is because so I'masking questions, right?
I'm helping you understand whatit is that you are saying to me
and what it is you're sayingyou need.
So when you say, hey, I gotthis idea, I want you to say,
Well, what is this idea?
Let's talk about it.
So, okay, you want to startthis business.
How big do you want thebusiness?
And I'll start railing offdifferent avenues that you can
(24:34):
take in a business because uh mybrain thinks brainstorm in two
seconds, right?
Um, and so I'm like, okay, mosta lot of people will come and
say, I want to do real estate.
It's like, okay, you want to bea developer, an investor as an
investor.
You want to hold, you want toflip?
You like, what do you want todo?
You want to be a landlord?
Do you just want to do REITs?
Like, do you want to dowholesaling?
What are we talking about?
And then on what scale?
(24:55):
You want to be engaged, youwant to automate, you want to
have like a partnership, a JVpartnership, or you know, do you
have resources?
How is your credit?
Like, I start asking themquestions and oh god, I didn't
think about all of that.
Um, and I'm like, well, thoseare important because there's so
many ways to get into realestate.
I say, so let's dive into it,right?
And so we we get into things bytalking about it and by
(25:18):
fleshing it out and helping themto make it clear so they can
say, okay, I want to do it thisway, I want to do it that way.
Um, I have a discovery surveythat's about 50 questions.
Um, and people will say, I wasa bit overwhelmed, but it really
helped me think about somethings I hadn't thought about
before.
And I say, good, I can tellfrom the amount of time you
spend on it.
(25:38):
I can tell by the way youanswered your questions and what
you said, where you are in yourbusiness, if you're serious
about your business, likeimmediately.
Um, and after they do it, thenwe have a call and we go through
it and I clarify anything I'mnot clear on.
And then I also help them getclear on.
So I'm like, do you measureyourself in your business?
(25:59):
Uh, do you have KPIs?
You know, and what do yourmetrics look like?
And most of them are saying,No, I don't.
Say numbers never lie, but youdon't measure, you can't succeed
in or you won't know yoursuccess.
So, how do you know if you madeit if you're not measuring?
Shanna Star (26:12):
Absolutely.
I think that's especially hardwhen you're first starting
because you know, you you'retrying not to spend as much
money as you possibly can.
You know, you want to save it.
You're getting a little bit,maybe you're investing or not
even paying yourself payingyourself.
And so it's the unsexy parts atfirst that people think um, you
know, getting a clientmanagement system has been huge
(26:33):
in my business.
Uh, but I didn't have it forquite a few years because I was
like, I can't invest in that.
But as soon as I did, likethose numbers are easier to keep
track of.
And then you know, like you'redown 30%, you're up this, you
know how many invoices you sent,you know, all the things.
And especially with AI, now alot of these programs will send
you like, this is what's beenhappening this month.
So I agree with those numbers.
(26:53):
And sometimes they're hard tolook at, but you know, like, oh,
the best way is almost makingit a game.
Well, how can I up how manypeople I'm reaching out to?
How can I send more invoices?
How can I, you know, and justseeing it not as negative when
you see that things are down orup or whatever, but just using
it as a way to move forward andsee that progress?
(27:14):
Absolutely.
Chanda (27:15):
It's all tools.
Shanna Star (27:16):
Yes, absolutely.
And I know on days our capacityon in projects and progress on
all businesses look vastlydifferent.
So, what are some signs maybethat you see of people coming to
you in business early on whereyou're like, oh, they they
definitely need to change somestrategies and they're gonna get
burnt out and they need someclarity.
(27:36):
What are some things that maybeyou notice in people that you
could share?
Like, hey, if you see these inyourself, time to just shift
some things.
What are some of those?
Chanda (27:46):
Um, definitely mean uh when I'm doing the calendar
audits for those who're like, Idon't have enough time, I don't
know where my I can't.
And it's like you come to me asyour coach, and if you tell me
you don't have time, then Ican't make you have more time,
right?
And so it's changing theirlanguage, it's changing their
mindset.
Um, I one of the things I getmy clients, I call it a client
(28:06):
resource guide.
And after our firstconversation over the discovery
survey, I'm looking for mindsetum blocks, right?
And I'll ask them, like, do youhave any issues with this?
And what do you think are yourlimiting beliefs?
And sometimes they'll list themout, but sometimes they come
out in conversation.
I um talked with a client onetime and uh it it was something
(28:26):
about her to tell me aboutherself, and she told me all
these accolades, right?
But then she didn't callherself a CEO.
It's like you wear all thesehats and all these titles, but
you don't see yourself as abusiness owner, but you want me
to be a business coach to you.
And I think I'm gonna bepulling teeth, right?
I said, so let's talk aboutthat.
Is this really something thatyou want to do?
Something you feel like youneed to do, let's clarify.
(28:47):
Most things come out whenyou're coaching, right?
Through conversation.
It'll come out in conversation.
And so I will know immediatelywhere you are, what issues
you're gonna have, whether it'soperational.
If you're telling me you don'tknow where your money is going
in your business, then I know,okay, you need to do a better,
you know, job with yourbudgeting, with your systems.
(29:09):
If you don't want to keep upwith it, right?
Because already can't afford asystem, then let's let's talk
about Excel.
Let's go old school.
Just basically.
Yep.
You need to have something.
If you tell me that you have ahigh turnover in your company,
you have issues with youremployees or your team.
I'm gonna ask you about youroperations.
What kind of workflows,processes do you have in place?
(29:31):
Rose responsibilities, when youtalk about your org chart and
your structure, when people comeinto your company, do you have
to train everybody?
Is there something that you'vealready have everything jotted
down and you can go ahead andpass it off to them, make sure
they don't have any questions?
You can have someone sit withthem for the first few times and
then you're evaluating them ona regular basis.
Like, what is your processesfor that?
Right?
(29:52):
If you tell me that um peopleare not doing what they're
supposed to do, are you guyshaving meetings?
Are you communicating?
Like, what is that that passon, right?
Are you are you doing you knowmeetings every morning?
Are you doing emails?
Like, how are you guyscommunicating with each other?
Because as a CEO, your job isto make sure that everyone
understands your vision, yourmission, everybody understands
(30:14):
the objective of yourorganization, right?
And that at the end of the day,your clients are happy and that
the work is done.
And once you start bringingpeople in for all these things,
right?
Initially you do it.
But once you start bringingpeople in for all these things,
they can't read your mind.
Absolutely.
Right?
Yeah.
And so really justcommunicating and have those
conversations with them, you'llyou'll quickly know, like, you
(30:36):
know what?
I think this is your yourissue.
You've got to get clear.
Once you get clear, theconfusion goes away and
everything falls into place.
Shanna Star (30:46):
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Yes.
There's a few things thatpopped up.
I've listened to a few otherpodcasters, you know, talk about
when it, like you said, likewhen you're bringing on new
people, especially at first,you're the one that's going to
be training them because youknow how you like it to be done
(32:11):
or how that works or whateversystem.
And of course, they may make ittheir own later down the line.
But at first, you're the onehelping that.
And so many times we think,well, I'm just going to help
them on the job.
And really all that does iscreate so much stress.
But if you have a system inplace or you've created of some
docs of how to do those thingsand what to look at, it seems
like a daunting task.
Like that's going to take somuch more time.
(32:32):
But having all of those thingsup front are actually what's
going to save you time, energy,and stress in the future.
And so I know you've talked alot about how a lot of things in
your business are now automatedand that's made easier over the
years with all of themanagement systems we have.
What are some little of thoselike microsystems that you have
(32:54):
that has shifted, whether it'slike your approach to email or
task management or you knowsending the invoices?
How has that changed over theyears and things that are
automated for you?
Chanda (33:06):
Now, my whole entire system is automated, believe it
or not.
I only thing I do is I gin upmy reports and um I'll put them
down and I'll go back and reviewthem, right?
Because your eyes will readwhat you wanted to say.
But other than that, everythingis automated from the moment
someone comes into my system ina funnel.
Okay, the funnel takes them,brings them in, and it they all
(33:29):
go into my emails, they'll gettext messages.
If they're already a client,they'll get emails, they'll get
text messages, and I also getemails and text messages to show
up.
If my client sends something tome, I'll get an email and
respond, of course.
Um, but everything for me isautomated.
The most I do is um I'llmanually account for attendance.
(33:50):
So my I have a three-day tinychallenge where someone who is
not sure if they want to workwith me can jump online with me
for three days and get clear ontheir business and get a 90-day
plan and it has a money-backguarantee.
And so they go on, they pay forit, they get a nudge to fill
out the survey before the westart the challenge, they get a
nudge to book their three callsTuesday through Thursday, right?
(34:13):
At the same time, they getnudges for that.
I don't touch it, it's allautomated.
And the only thing I get ishey, they booked it.
And then once the call has beenheld, I'll go to something to
say, did they show up?
And I'll click off yes and I'llmake my notes.
And it's the same the secondand third day.
At the third day, if they don'twant to take any of my offers
and they feel like they're notsatisfied with my challenge,
(34:33):
they can get their $21 back.
They showed up, only if theyshowed up and did the work,
right?
Um, because I want you to besatisfied.
If I didn't do a good job,right, at $21, like please.
Um, but as you can see, I don'thave to do anything.
So it is a lot of work upfront.
I have an amazing developer formy system who we meet every
(34:55):
single day um to make sure thateverything is working.
If I get something that saysthis link is not working or this
is a failure, or something'sdisconnected, I was like, hey, I
need this like fixed.
And he goes in there and hefixes it and say, Hey, I secured
that.
Um, but yeah, in this day andage, my goal is not to work any
more than 20 hours a week,right?
(35:15):
Because this is the season oflife I'm in.
And so I have a marketingagency, they just send me my
creatives.
I say yes or no, they do allthe testing, they send me my
reports.
Yeah, um, I love that.
This is not for everybody, no,but it's available, right?
(35:36):
But the benefits are mygranddaughter gets in.
If I want to go ride a bikewith her, if I'm gonna take the
weekend and go see my grandsons,um, I have a newborn
granddaughter who's less thantwo months.
If I just want to go and holdher and you know, spend time
with her, I'm clear on Tuesdays,Wednesdays, and Thursdays as an
entrepreneur, my days arededicated to building my
(35:57):
business.
But on the weekends, unless Imake other allowances, that time
is free to do whatever I like.
Now, sometimes I do workbecause it's the nature, right?
Yeah, but it's not guaranteedbecause my clients they know if
you go in there to book a call,those links are only active
Tuesday, Wednesday, andThursday.
Shanna Star (36:15):
Right.
Chanda (36:16):
Yeah.
Shanna Star (36:17):
So it it reminds me people listening who may be
like, okay, well, that's great,but I just it it's a lot of work
up front, like you said.
And it is, it is a lot of workup front.
But even with like, here's avery basic example podcasting.
When I first started five yearsago, I didn't have a scheduled
scheduler link because in mybrain, I'm like, it's fine, I'm
just gonna tell them when I'mI'm available.
(36:37):
And oh my gosh, the back andforth, and then it just never
worked.
And so putting that work upfront actually is gonna help
you.
Well, it's gonna help yourprofessionalism, absolutely, but
it's gonna help you worksmarter, just like any other
system in place.
And so just even having ascheduler allows me to search
through somebody who's come in.
(36:58):
If their PR team contact me,it's like, here it is, and I
don't have to think about it.
They do it, they set it up, andthen it's like, okay, great.
Now I only have to worry aboutit when it comes to that day.
And just seeing it as it'sgonna actually help so much
stress, and those emails be downin your inbox.
And it it's just as importantto have all those strategies,
and I can't, you know, pressthat enough.
Chanda (37:20):
I think if they think of it from this standpoint, and
this is what I try to impressupon my clients, is when you're
tapped for time, I always sayautomate, delegate, right, or
eliminate.
I always say that.
But outside of that,understanding that it gives you
the ability to innovate as a CEOfor your business.
So you do have to be veryclear, not just on your business
(37:42):
as an expert, but your businessmodel going into it, because I
can't have a developer and hedoesn't know how to design
anything for me, right?
I had to know up front, likethis is what I want my business
to look like.
This is what success looks likefor me.
And he's very knowledgeable,right?
So he would recommend certainthings and say, this is what we
can use these tools for, but Idon't have a large um technical
(38:02):
suite, right?
For my automations, I wanted tokeep everything real succinct
and tight.
So I have um, what do I have?
Canva, GHL, Microsoft OfficeSuite, make um outside of social
media, right?
Mine is very succinct because Idon't want to have to be
worried about all thesedifferent subscriptions on my
(38:23):
website, so square.
But I don't want to have toworry about all these different
things.
And GHL is is verycomprehensive, right?
So I have a course, I have myVIP program, I have my
community, I have my CRM, I havemy funnels, I have my triggers,
my links, my automations, myworkflows, I have my AI agent,
like I have my phone, mybusiness phone number,
(38:45):
everything is connected to GHL,and then I have Microsoft Office
Suite for my cloud, right?
So all of my documents,everything for my clients, I can
go anywhere and work.
Like I was in uh Dubai in Asialast week, and um yeah, if I
wanted to work, I could have.
But that wasn't right, becauseeverything's in the cloud, so I
(39:08):
don't have to worry about like,yeah, I got my cell phone, I got
my laptop, I can work fromanywhere.
And I wanted that flexibility,I wanted that freedom.
Of course, yeah.
Shanna Star (39:17):
I know a lot of high performers sometimes define
themselves by what yes they sayyes to.
So, what did you maybedeliberately start saying no to
in order to protect your timeand energy?
I know you've talked a littlebit about that because you work
those days and you're availablethose days.
Um, but what are some maybeother things that you either
(39:39):
said absolutely not to or yes tothat helped you define your
business a little bit more?
Chanda (39:45):
Um absolutely.
If I had to say a no,absolutely no.
I'm not opposed to tellingsomeone that they're not my
client.
And I think um more peopleshould be okay with that.
If you're trying to helpeverybody, you can't help
anybody.
I think that's very true.
(40:06):
Um I have this the same thingwith the whole structure and the
free spirit.
I'm also, I think I'm very wellbalanced on both brains, right?
So I think as a pro projectmanager, program manager, you
know, strategist, I'm verylogical, very rational, right?
Military government background,I'm very okay, let's let's go,
(40:27):
let's go, let's go.
What are we doing?
Um, very direct.
Um, and even though I givespace to emotions, right?
I give space to freedom, I givespace to like if you need a day
to talk about it, let's talkabout it.
Let's let's get it out there.
What are we saying?
The other side of me is we'recrying today, but tomorrow we
need to fix it.
Okay.
And I've had people who wouldcome and I'd have to say, I
(40:50):
don't think you need a coach, Ithink you need a therapist.
And I'm here to help you makeprogress in your life, in your
business.
I just can't, I don't have thecapacity like to sit and listen
to you tell me every singlemeeting about all the things
that are bad in your life,right?
And how you're not willing tofix it, able to fix it, right?
(41:11):
And I don't know, like that'snot serving either one of us.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
Right.
Chanda (41:16):
And so I'm not saying never, I'm just saying not
today.
I think we should probably, youknow, go our separate ways.
You can find your therapist ora coach who's willing to sit
with you in this.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Yeah.
Chanda (41:28):
And then if you decide to move past that, you decide,
you know what, today's the day,I'm gonna make progress, give me
a call.
I would love to talk about thatwith you.
Shanna Star (41:36):
I think that is an incredibly like great example
because especially starting forthose who are just starting it,
we want to say yes to everybodybecause we think everyone's our
client and we want the businesscoming in and we want to grow.
And so I understand thatmindset.
We've all been there.
And but it's important to knowlike, I am not for you right
now, or this is what you need,and to be able to even see that
(42:00):
is really great self-awarenessbecause most people are like,
Okay, I guess I'm just now amentor for this person
emotionally, and and that'sespecially in your case, not
what you do.
Um, of course, I'm sure someclients here and there, you're
like, Okay, yep, just talk aboutit today, and then we'll move
past.
But you talk a lot about umhonoring yourself in business,
(42:21):
and I think what you just saidreally shows one of the ways
that you do that.
Chanda (42:25):
So I really think that's absolutely I told you, I um
people be like, You're so weird.
I'm like, what why am I weird?
You try to put me in a box,first of all, but why does that
make me weird?
Like, I I think you have to umwhen you get to a certain age, I
think you realize, like, okay,I'm gonna be honest here because
what else is there?
Like, let's let's not sugarcoatit, let's not beat around the
(42:47):
bush, let's lay it out on thetable.
Um, and some people don't wantthat.
A lot of people say they wanttruth, but they don't want
truth.
Shanna Star (42:55):
Yeah, it's hard.
It's hard to see that mirroredback for sure if you're not
ready for it.
Yeah, so um that's and then youalso speak about making your
goals non-negotiable.
It's something that's you knowon your website and on all the
things that you speak of.
So first hearing that, what isa first step to building a
business that works in that inthat way, and talk a little bit
(43:18):
about how to do non-negotiablesfor those goals and maybe what
that looks like.
And maybe it's very close tohonoring yourself like you
chatted to, but it's definitelya combination of the two, right?
Chanda (43:29):
And the thing about goals being non-negotiable is
goals change, right?
And so I'm not saying thatyou're completely inflexible,
that life is not gonna happen,that your mindset is not gonna
change.
And and for me, I'll give youan example.
Um, when I left the governmentand I went went to work as a
government contractor, I waslike, I'm gonna start my own
business and I'm gonna be amogul.
(43:50):
Like, I'm gonna go and buildthis great government
contracting consulting firmbecause why not?
Within weeks, I lost my brotherto gun violence, and he was
taken by um guns, obviously Isay gun violence, and it shook
me to my core, and my immediatefocus began to say, I don't want
(44:10):
another family to go throughwhat we went through.
So if you lose a loved one toold age, to terminal illness,
it's just a little differentthan losing someone violently,
right?
And our family never gotclosure, and so I knew
immediately like I needed to dowhat I could do in order to
serve as families to try to keepthis thing from happening
(44:32):
again.
And so we started, he passedaway on October 11th, 2018.
We started family, we startedserving the community
Thanksgiving dinners November2018.
Like we didn't get a chance tobury him until October 25th, and
by November 21st or somewherearound there, we were
distributing Thanksgivingdinners, okay, to families.
(44:55):
And the first year, of course,because we literally only had a
few weeks, was you know, on asmall scale, but to date we've
serviced thousands of familiesin his name and in his honor.
And um it um it pivoted me insuch a way because I realized
when I like to serve, I like toteach, um, and honoring him in
(45:18):
that way allowed me to heal,right?
And so that goal becameobsolete, right?
And I said, okay, um, I had amentoring program, we got lots
of grants and and stuff, but Iwas mentoring uh young adults,
and I said, Well, how can I usethis on a bigger scale?
Because government contracting,I I don't, I'm good at it.
(45:40):
I don't necessarily feel likethis is where I'm supposed to be
anymore.
And so I pivoted, right?
I had people who were saying,Can't you mentor me?
Can you can you be my coach?
And I'm like, I'm not reallyset up for that.
And so I would just, hey, justI'll just call you and check in
on you and give you information.
I'll pass up, I'll see howyou're doing, you know, I'll
give you some resources.
Um, but then I began to say,you know, how can I how can I do
(46:03):
this?
And so I pivoted into thisspace, and it's like, okay, now
these are now my goals, and howdo I make this non-negotiable?
As an introvert, I do not wantto get online and go live, okay?
It's like I don't want to dothat.
And so when I was talking toother coaches, they were like,
you need to get on podcasts, andI was like, I don't want to do
(46:24):
that either.
And as I'm avoiding, yeah,that's you.
So even as an introvert,because I've made this a goal,
like I've I want to help womenwho are older create
sustainable, profitable,purposeful businesses.
How do they find me?
How do they know who I am?
How do I build my brand?
(46:45):
And so this is nownon-negotiable.
I am showing up showing up inthese spaces as my authentic
self, um, opening my heart andmy mind so that people can say,
you know what, I like her.
I like her energy.
I think we can relate, youknow.
I think she's for me and I'mfor her.
I need to get to know herbetter, right?
And so here I am.
(47:06):
This goal has become nownon-negotiable.
Shanna Star (47:09):
I think first of all, thank you for speaking
about that.
Because some of that I I knowit's been a couple years, but
it's still pretty fresh and itstill affects you, and it I'm
sure it will forever.
And so thank you for sharingthat, first of all.
And also for kind of talkingabout that pivot because so
often we feel if we're gonna bedoing something in business,
(47:31):
we're gonna start something,that's it forever.
And if it fails, if we can't,that's it.
It failed.
And that's really not how lifeworks, you know.
This I've been a photographerfor 15 years, but that doesn't
mean I'm gonna do it forever.
And that's why five years ago Istarted the podcast because I
was like, I want to speak towomen not just one-on-one, but
how can I help more than thatone-on-one?
And so allowing yourself thepivot, whether it's through good
(47:54):
events that happen orheartaches and grievances, but
you can add or shift or pivotgoals as you go.
So I think that's so importantthat you said that as well.
Chanda (48:05):
Yeah, and and so that that term is coined not for the
people that are going throughsomething real, right?
It's for the procrastinators,those that can't focus, those uh
people can, I want to make amillion dollars.
I'm like, well, what does thatlook like?
What are you gonna sell?
What are you gonna offer?
How much you're gonna make in aday, how much you're gonna make
how soon are you gonna make themillion dollars?
Are you making it in a month?
Are you making it in a year?
Are you making it in 10 years?
(48:25):
Like, what are we talking?
Because if you do it in a year,you gotta go up versus if
you're doing it in 10 years, yougo this way, right?
And so the process becomesdifferent, the conversation
becomes different, thediscipline and tenacity and
perseverance becomes different.
Definitely the structurebecomes different.
So, what are your goals, right?
And are you are they reallynon-negotiable or are you just
talking?
Because a lot of people just betalking.
Shanna Star (48:46):
Oh, all the time.
Yep, gonna be a millionaire,gonna be this.
I'm like, that's great.
What are you doing now?
And you're like, well, it'sgonna fall on my lap.
And it's like, okay, wishfulthinking, good for you.
But you know, it's always yougot to take the first step where
you can't see the next 10.
And then the next one's gonnabe a little bit bigger step, and
you can't even see that secondstep.
And so I love how you said thatbecause yes, you can have
(49:08):
tenacious goals, but you have tobe starting towards them.
And and even like I have myjournal in the front, I have my
goals for the year, my goals forthe month.
Am I doing them?
And even like, how manydevotionals am I doing?
How many workouts am I doing?
It's not all business, there'spersonal, and it's um they
intertwine some because I wantto always be progressing.
(49:28):
And I don't hit them everymonth, I don't hit them every
year, and that's okay too, butas long as you're making that
progress and moving towards it.
Chanda (49:37):
Yeah, I use that um planner as well because I'm a
little over it, I'm like reallyover.
Shanna Star (49:43):
Get it, yes.
Chanda (49:44):
But um, I was telling my clients, I recommend the
12-week year by time, uh, Ithink his name is Daniel Moran.
His last name is Moran, DMoran.
Okay.
But I want I recommend the12-week year because it
resonates um very much with me.
Um, and he speaks my language.
Um, I have it in hard copy, butI also listen to it every year
by Audible.
And the reason I do is torefresh, you know, my mind that
(50:07):
people say you want something ina year, and because it's so far
out, 365 days, you get lost.
But if you are structuring yourgoals every quarter, right?
Your top three goals everyquarter across, and I do it
across my life.
So I'm talking about myself, myhealth, my family, my
investments, my businesses, youknow, charity, I call it
charity, um, my foundation, likeevery across my entire life.
(50:31):
I'm looking at the top threegoals, right?
What am I gonna do in my home?
Am I doing any renovations?
What am I doing with my family?
Are we connecting?
Right, I have adult children,so they all have lives, and now
we all gotta get on a scheduleto get us all in one place at
one time, but it's important tome.
And so I make it a goal.
Um, but I recommend that topeople because I think it really
helps you stay focused on whatmatters most and what you say
(50:54):
matters most.
And at the end of every year,September, October, I get a new
planner and I look at the old, Ilook at where I am, what I've
accomplished, and I say, Am Ibeing honest with myself?
Am I actually gonna do thesethings?
If not, I don't want to savespace for something I'm not
gonna do because I'm nothonestly not gonna do it, right?
And then things that are doing,I'm doing great, or I feel like
(51:16):
I could be doing better.
I move those into the nextyear, and maybe I increase those
numbers or you know, I changesomething because I'm scrapping
something out.
Like this year, I wanted todwell more into real estate
investing and I completed a partof it, I sold a home, but then
my life was so busy with this, Iwas like, I don't have the
capacity to honestly say, I'mgonna jump into this with both
(51:39):
of my feet and give it my all,right?
And instead of looking atmyself, said 10 bucks over and
saying, you know, I reallydidn't do much in the investment
space, say, you know what?
I'm not really putting my allinto this right now.
Let me table this until nextyear.
Yeah.
And so next year I'll revisitthat and say, what can I
accomplish in real estateinvesting next year?
And what does that look like?
Right.
Shanna Star (51:59):
Uh I can't remember the exact quote.
I might butcher it.
Hopefully not.
But it's, you know, that weoverestimate what we can do in a
day and underestimate what wecan do in a year.
And so it's those baby stepsthat add up.
And that's one of the reasonsthat I'm sure you feel the same
to write down those goals isbecause you see, like, look what
I did this year.
And it helps you go, okay, Idid these things.
Now I can progress for nextyear.
(52:20):
Exactly.
I just did my first likespeaking engagement where I got
to speak really from the heartand some vulnerable things.
And I've been wanting to dothat for a while.
I didn't have the capacity, andI just I wasn't ready
emotionally, but it was kind ofon my long list to do.
And I'm like, okay, now I didit.
Now I need to progress that.
And that's sometimes how itworks as well.
But it is yeah, yeah.
(52:41):
I know you've spoken so muchfrom the heart today.
So thank you for that.
Is there anything else that youfeel that we haven't touched
on, maybe that is from yourheart or personal or business
that you just feel is relevantfor the conversation?
Chanda (52:54):
Um, no, just a reminder like we're all in a journey,
right?
And we are all, like I said, indifferent seasons.
And um, it's not fair toyourself to honor your to
measure yourself based on whereyou see everyone else.
Um, measure yourself againstyourself because you'll find
that um you've made strides andleaps and bounds, and you know,
(53:14):
every day is another opportunityto try again, progress over
perfection every time.
So it doesn't have to beperfect, just keep going, keep
making strides.
Little baby steps still count.
Yeah, um, and and that's it.
You just have to remember,right?
Shanna Star (53:30):
I love that.
Chanda (53:31):
Enough negativity in the world.
Shanna Star (53:32):
So there is, I uh am not a perfectionist, I'm a
good enoughist, which is funnybecause a lot of entrepreneurs
are not that.
And so even talking withpeople, it's like you don't,
it's okay, it's not gonna beperfect.
Just put it out in the world,just start, just do the thing.
It's not gonna be perfect,you're gonna stumble.
But like you said, to justyeah, keep going.
Chanda (53:51):
Keep going, keep going.
Shanna Star (53:53):
So now that you've spoken so many beautiful words
and wisdom and from the heart,how can we find you, follow you,
and hopefully get into thisprogram that you talked about
too?
Chanda (54:01):
So my name is Chonda Costin, and you can find me
website is Chonda-C O.com.
Um, ch a n d a dash co-c-o-ndot com.
And then my social mediaplatform, Instagram, is Chonda
two underscores C O.
And I would love to meet newpeople and uh would love to work
(54:26):
with uh people who's ready towork.
Shanna Star (54:28):
I love that.
Thank you.
And those will all be in thenotes too.
In case they can't get to it,right type it in, they'll be
able to click right from thenotes.
So thank you for all thatyou've shared today.
I really appreciate it.
Chanda (54:39):
Thank you for having me.
It's been a pleasure.
It's been a great conversation.
Shanna Star (54:42):
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