December 8, 2023 • 25 mins
Ever feel like you're walking a tightrope between being content in the present and striving for more in the future? We've been down that road as we juggled our daily responsibilities while nurturing our dream of making our company the top agency in the Southwest. Join us as we get real about the emotional side of ambition and how we dealt with the pressure of watching our visions come to life.
As humans, we all grapple with the fear of stagnation and embracing the desire for stability. In this episode we are discussing harmony, self-acceptance, and the elusive concept of finding balance in life. It'll leave you pondering your own journey towards growth and self-awareness, so buckle up, this is one enlightening ride you don't want to miss.
A Siarza Production
Hosted by Kristelle Siarza Moon & Jace Downey
Executive Producer: Kristelle Siarza Moon
Producer: Jace Downey
Video/Editing: Justin Otsuka
Watch episodes at siarza.com/siarza-podcast
Follow us on FB, IG, TT, YT and TW @siarzatheagency
Follow Kristelle @kristellesiarza
www.misskristelle.com
Follow Jace @jacedowneyofficial
www.jacedowney.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
How are you also staying here and now?
With everything we have goingon, we don't get to just jump to
the future, right?
So how do you do that and howdo you handle the emotional
component?
["the Emotional?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Component"].
Do you notice that his earsperk up like a little rabbit?
Charlie's here today, which I'mvery excited about.
So if you hear the heavy-ridinghi-bike you heard me talking
about you.
Charlie is your bear and ourwonderful furry team member.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
We also always have Indiana here, who's currently
licking the floor right now yeah, we don't know why?
Yeah, and they're in the moment.
Yes, kind of along the lines oftoday's topic on stories,
success and with stuff which ismindfulness in the workplace,
mindfulness in your life,mindfulness all around.
Help me know where you came upwith this brilliant topic.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Oh, actually it came from someone when I was talking
about oh, I co-host this podcastand we talk about realistic
paths to success and happyliving and they said have you
guys tackled finding ways to besatisfied with the present while
also having ambition for adifferent future?
(01:28):
And I was like dang brah,that's a good that's a legit
topic because that is a toughharmony to find.
We can, I can't.
I'll speak for me.
I can often get caught beingtoo future focused and then I
feel dissatisfied with mypresent, which is not helpful in
(01:51):
any way, or I can be okay andcontent with my present and not
really working towards thefuture I want.
So living in mindfulness ofboth of those simultaneously is
not something I have nailed, buta topic I was like, yeah, let's
definitely talk about that forsure.
So someone else handed thetopic over for us to discuss.
(02:15):
It was a request.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Thank you for the topic idea.
I think that whenever I thinkabout being mindful of where you
are now, I'm terrible at it,too Awful at it.
It is sometimes some of thefriction that I have in my
relationship where the questionis why aren't you happy with
(02:36):
what's in front of you?
It's like I am, but I haven'thad the opportunity to quote an
amazing Broadway musical thatsome of you may or may not know
that I love, but I am obsessedwith Hamilton.
Oh, hamilton is a fantasticproduction.
Lin-manuel Miranda and the castand the crew and the producers
(02:59):
bless their hearts.
They're ingenious, especiallyfor when it came out and what we
needed at the time.
He wrote a song that AngelaShiler sang.
Do you know what she went?
Angelica Shiler sang.
Do you know what song I'mtalking about?
I think so Satisfied, yeah,great, great, great song.
I mean.
She talks about how Angelica isa socialite, like the definition
(03:21):
of New York socialite class.
She's the oldest in her family,her family had no sons and so
she has the pressure of socialclimbing.
She didn't even wanna talk toHamilton because he had no
wealth, he had no money, andsomebody else even approached
the money subject, which wasAaron Burr, and Aaron Burr was
just like I'm a trust fund baby,you can trust me, great line.
(03:42):
So there's a lyric and itcaught my attention even during
the actual show that and I hadheard it for the first time
where Hamilton tells AngelicaShiler, you strike me as a woman
that never seems to besatisfied.
And she just what do you mean?
(04:02):
And he's like I'm neversatisfied.
I'm always looking at ambition,and I think ambition and
satisfaction and being mindfulin the present is part of the
reason why business owners aresociopaths.
In my honest opinion is becausewe're willing to climb the
highs but we're always sowilling to accept the lows when
(04:22):
they come.
These are things that are justvery common, like it happens,
and so I think that's a reallygreat segue into the
conversation or when we weretalking about what this topic
was gonna be.
That, and then also some of theplans that we have at CRS, are
kind of a great conversationabout how do you stay present in
what we're currently working onright now but also look towards
(04:43):
the future in a very optimisticway.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Yeah, which we're in the midst of doing our strategic
planning for 2024.
So, as a business owner thathas, we're nine years in now
right, you're nine years in.
I'm here now, but I haven'tbeen part of the whole journey,
of course.
So you've come a long way.
You've done a lot of the highsand lows, a lot of the roller
coaster that goes with running abusiness, and you're looking to
(05:07):
our next year and what that isgoing to entail, and you're
creating plans for it.
How are you also staying hereand now with everything we have
going on, Because we don't getto just jump to the future,
right?
So how do you do that?
And how do you handle theemotional component that comes
(05:28):
with being a business owner?
That has to hold the vision.
You're a CEO.
Big part of being a CEO isvisioning and holding a big
picture vision while alsomanaging day to day.
Those are separate skillsentirely.
How do you do that?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It's very hard.
I look at the classic exampleof you take a little day by day
and work with me while I gothrough kind of an operational
mindset that sometimes turns onas a CEO and mine operates in a
way where I work backwards.
(06:05):
What's the big vision?
Ciarza?
To be the top agency in NewMexico and the Southwest, and
then the world.
I wasn't ready for thatthunderstruck homie, but I mean
it right.
And what's our measurement ofthat success?
It's the book of lists.
When it's time for us to be onthe list, we want to be number
(06:27):
one on it.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Right now we're number two, awesome and up from
number 10 in a year, though yeah, that's pretty badass.
I was like that's moreimpressive, I think, than being
at numbers.
That was a big climb.
That was a very big climb.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Just going to throw out there and a lot of that
success is the team following myvision.
So I appreciate that visioningwork.
I appreciate them giving me theopportunity to fail at that
visioning work, which hasn'talways gone to plan.
Definitely hasn't.
It never does.
And so, where my operationalmindset comes in, I set that
(07:01):
goal.
And then somebody incredible,had taught me that look at your
lagging and leading indicatorsto help you see where you're
going.
So I wrote the playbook.
And how I measure that playbook?
I measure it by net operatinggross sales, net profit.
I also look at hiring, I alsolook at turnover, I also look at
(07:22):
cost per labor.
And I get into the weeds of it,not only because I enjoy it,
but that's those leading andlagging indicators for me to
realize, like what am I doing tohelp the company be successful?
But what am I also helping theteam realize from a
micro-focused lens, like one ofthe things that we used to do
(07:43):
that I hope to bring back ishere's the big picture, what's
your pieces to the pie and whenpeople feel their individual
goals and how the individualgoals work towards the team
goals, that really helps usunderstand where we are in the
future.
But it goes back to thequestion of how do you balance
what's in the now, one thingthat you don't know yet and the
(08:07):
rest of the team doesn't knowyet.
And you heard, it here first isthat we're not going to get
aggressive with it this year.
We don't need to.
That is what can kill.
So growth is a very delicatebalance.
It's like ballet if you fuck upyour ankles you're screwed, and
I don't want to fuck up thecore of the company, so I'm
(08:30):
leaving it very stable for nextyear.
You've mentioned that.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Yeah, we're all ready for that.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
But that also puts a potential lull because you're
like, well, what are we kind ofworking towards?
It's the wave we have to kindof write out right now because
the economy is so volatile.
I mean, when you walked in likeI was talking about small
business Saturday and I wastalking to another business
owner, the owner of Gray School,great small business here in
(08:55):
Albuquerque, big Funko Popper,and he's like we don't have as
much expendable income anymoreout in the world and he sees
that from his sales trends.
I get it and I see that wherecompanies don't have that
expendable income like they usedto in marketing, the best types
of clients are for us so theones that see that marketing is
essential, essential.
So when we look at thoseclients, that's how we focus on
(09:19):
the now and it's those wins,it's those micro wins, it's
those big wins, it's the littlewins.
That helps us going andenjoying the moment, I think.
And then I also operationally, Ihave a very robust chart that
tells me how we're doing.
How's our sales going, how'sour leads going, How's our
proposals going?
Are we progressing forward onour sales goals for the quarter?
(09:40):
Are we looking good for our?
Are we looking great?
Those Now moments are like thelittle crumbs that eventually
lead into a bigger pile ofbreadcrumbs and breadcrumbs on a
cake are delicious.
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I assume those will be gluten-free and vegan for
Justin and I to also enjoy themOkay great, don't be leaving us
out here with those crumbs.
I appreciate that, and itactually the year ahead, as you
as you share, which is not goingto be defined by leaps and
bounds and big growth, butreally scaling in a smaller, in
(10:16):
a smaller way, in a responsible,responsible way.
That's where I'm at in my ownpersonal life as well, and it's
been something I've really beenstruggling with, especially over
the last probably two months,where I've been used to same
like a huge shifts in life, yeah, and like I'm moving or I'm
(10:37):
taking on a totally newadventure or whatever.
I've had like these really big,noticeable changes going on,
which was part of of the journey.
At the time and last fall I setout to work on security and
stability not sexy goals at alland what my good friend called
(10:58):
sticking power.
He's like, jace, you're so goodat starting over, at taking big
risks, you're really good atfollowing your heart and all of
that.
What you're not particularlyskilled at is sticking with
stuff when it's no longerexciting, when there's not a
good story to tell along with it, when the when the romance from
it is gone, if you will.
(11:18):
He's like you don't have greatsticking power and for me, I'm
always like, okay, I alreadyhave these skills, let me bring
on a new one, and so I this.
Last year I focused on stickingpower and building outer
stability, where I've workedreally hard on my inner
stability, which is fantastic,and I'm so glad that I did yeah,
but my outer life didn'trepresent that, yeah.
So last year I went, okay,let's have the outside match the
(11:42):
inside, yeah.
And then I've gone through Idon't know how many like
beginnings of an existentialcrisis over the last couple of
months, because I'm like, oh mygosh, nothing cool is happening
in my life.
I'm not striving towardsanything like what am I actually
doing with myself?
And this isn't the life that Ithought I was gonna be living
and just going through thisemotional upheaval.
And I've been fortunate to havemy team aware of the goals I set
(12:07):
out and they go whoa, whoa,whoa, whoa, whoa, time out, time
out, time out.
What was your goal this year?
But they're like, hey, you setout for stability and security.
Are you on track?
Yeah, I'm like, oh, yeah, I amon track with those things and
they're not sexy and they're notgonna be my big epic adventure
stories, right, but they'rebuilding a foundation that then
(12:28):
I can take the leap from rightand that that, for me, my
biggest fear is stagnation.
Yeah, I am terrified of mediocrelife Bomb just dropped in my
head, so like there's nothingspectacular about my life right
now and I have a hard time withthat until I'm reminded.
(12:51):
Oh yeah, that's what I set outto do.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I find it very fascinating that you see
stagnation as it has this likesomber tone with you, which I
think is very fascinating.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
And it's, and it's shifted.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
It shouldn't be somber at all.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Well, okay, so judgment free zone.
My greatest fear in life?
I don't know what happens later, but my fear is that I think
this is my, my thoughts onexistence in a nutshell.
Okay, that up in the energy,ether universe, whatever before
we're embodied, we have lessonswe want to learn.
(13:33):
We have a growth that we'retrying to do, or and for what I
don't know?
Maybe because it's neat, maybenirvana, I don't know.
And so that we choose a lifethat will best give us the
opportunity to learn the thingsthat we want to learn, as like a
limitless being right like aschool like we're like oh, I'm
gonna go to this trade school,so I come out with these skills
(13:53):
okay, so.
I came to the trade school ofJay Stowney to learn the
specific things, and my fear isthat I will not have completed
that work in this lifetime andI'll have to come back and do it
again.
And it's not like I'm living abad life.
I love this episode already.
Okay, there was a rough go ofit.
(14:14):
The first chunk of my life,though, also had love and
kindness and joy, and like.
It was not something I wouldwant to redo, and so I have this
just crushing pressure to makesure I don't have to come back
and do it again.
Yeah and that might not even bewhat happens, right.
(14:37):
Maybe we just die and then poofgone, like that's what Ed would
say.
Right then, there's justnothingness, which would be
great.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Oh, ed.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
And so if I am stagnant or I'm not living my
true life, or what, then I'm atrisk having to come back and
redo it.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Okay, so tell me when I say this phrase.
Tell me what your reaction is.
Carpe diem.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
So here is an interesting part of life that I
was just checking in with my,with my bestie, about.
Today.
I've lost a lot of my gusto andhope.
I don't know what I believeanymore, so I don't have a lot
(15:26):
of.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Carpe in my diem.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
So I don't know, and it's life right, like some days.
You just you get up and you,you chop wood and you carry
water, and then that's the dayand that's okay, because we need
wood and we need water.
Not everything is gonna be abig epic day, which is what I'm
coming into recognizing, and I'mreally fortunate.
In fact, the person whorecommended this episode has
(15:57):
taught me a lot where I've goneand I've lived in so many
different places and I've moveda lot and I've tried a lot and
I've done a lot and I've thoughtlike, oh, that's been such an
important part of my journey tobecome the person that I am.
Well, this person has lived intwo zip codes their entire life,
which is like bonkers.
Wow, yes it's like and it's, andI was just like whoa.
(16:18):
I just don't connect with thatand they don't connect.
They're like oh my god, whatchaotic nonsense.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
So I've been living.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
And yet I super respect the person they are.
I really admire who they'vebecome and they didn't go
through all of this stuff that Ihave and so I've recognized
stability and sticking canresult in a beautiful life too.
(16:47):
So when you stay stagnation orany of those things in the past
I would have been like that'sdeath, like just kill me instead
, like I just can't handle that.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
That's so funny.
You said that because instantlyin my head I'm thinking grief,
that's grief.
You're grieving the past, I'mgrieving the I.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I'm being very mind we talked about harmony I'm
being very mindful to not let myhope and magic and wonder men
die.
I'm right at that point in lifewhere it's too much in your DNA
, girl.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
I'm tired.
Oh my god.
That's all I kept on saying.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Like the like, my get-up is brought to you by naps
, something you don't have.
If I'm napping, be very worried.
I'm not a napper, but I'm rightat that point where I could go
either way.
I could become the bitter jaded.
Nothing worked out in life.
You try and it doesn't matterthe things I used to believe
didn't happen.
(17:43):
Right like I'm right at thatgrowing up point where I could
easily follow up it doesn't.
It doesn't, but I could easilyfall into that category and
become a very unhappy person.
Or I fight for holding on towonder men, yeah, and magic, and
(18:07):
the belief that I'm here to dosomething exceptional, okay, but
it's not coming easily rightnow.
I'll be honest.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
I, as much as I would love to share a story like I
really want to dissect this,please, please, because it's
it's actually like it's areflection of what I've been
facing in many different ways,which is, you know, you look at
(18:34):
Metaphoric success.
Yeah, you have it, I have it,we all in this team have it, we
have it together.
Metaphoric success means just aconstant climb, constant
improvement, some fails, someexcitement.
You know, and if I'm listeningto this correctly, the sticking
power that you're talking aboutIs almost this uncomfortable
(18:54):
level of complacency, with thismixed in with a level of comfort
and and steadiness, like Ithink that the world operates.
The world operates with water.
There's always a high tide anda low tide, and I think that
some of us have a low tide thatare longer than others.
(19:16):
I think some of us havesporadic waves.
Some people are just used to bebanging on rocks and that's
just how dysfunctional theirlife is, and there's some people
that prefer to be in calmwaters.
Water's water to me, and Ithink that the situation that
you're in I don't think you'llalways be that way Like I'm
(19:39):
ready, and as painful as this isgonna say I'm ready for you to
leave the walls of CRs.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
I don't want you to I don't you're like Right now,
please don't fire me.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
No, no, no, it's not even that, but like, I
understand that this companyprovides you this ability that
you're looking for, but I'mnever gonna hold it against you
if you're like.
I'm ready to be the next RyanSeacrest Bitch.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
I know you're going to be successful as the next
Ryan Seacrest.
Do I have to frost my tips?
Because, I mean, nature is likedoing it on its own, but let's
do it.
You know, speaking of what Ihad the absolute best compliment
or most like most accuratedescription Of of me of my whole
life, where I was just likeholy smokes this is someone
who's getting to know me, um andSaid jace, you are spectacular.
(20:30):
When I think of you, I thinkthe vision that comes to mind is
fireworks reflected on a stilllake.
Oh, oh, I like that.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
And I was like another t-shirt.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I was just like I always.
I was like, okay, but in mymind I'm like, yeah, every so
many people see the fireworks,they see the magnetism, they see
the, the wit, the jokes, evenif they're bad jokes, uh, the
big smile and all of that, whichis true, but it's not actually
the core of who I am.
That calm, still Water is who Iam.
(21:03):
Yeah, and it's the, it's thefireworks, and I was like that
is literally the most.
I'm like I've never felt moreseen in my life Like holy smokes
.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yeah, I was like who are you?
I?
Speaker 1 (21:12):
get that, but it's.
It's me getting comfortablewith that.
Still, water, yeah, where mylife has been the fireworks, but
it's not actually what I want.
I don't want to be explosive, Idon't want to be separate and
away from others.
I don't want flash.
I so, when you talk about water, like I do want that, but it's
(21:34):
not something I'm comfortablewith.
So I'm in that space of beingcomfortable with where I am now,
while not giving up looking upto the sky.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
I.
I also see that element ofbeing kind to yourself in the
element of yin and yang right,yeah, I don't know the
philosophy of yin and yang, aswell as I, as I want to, as well
as I should, but I think thatBalance is really key to a life
(22:07):
and I think that you're thewhite part of the yin, of the
yin part.
The white part of the circleright now is just Overtaking, it
is more dominant, and sometimesthe black overtakes too, and I
think that's normal.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
It's so interesting.
I pulled an oracle card todayand it was all about the harmony
of the yin and yang.
Oh was it?
Yeah, oh, cool, yeah, it's veryinteresting.
And I have this jerk guy in myhead every time he goes.
It's pronounced yang, and nowthat fuckers in my head.
So, right when you said that,his stupid voice is like ooh,
it's.
And I'm like dude, fuck you.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Nobody wants to hear that.
Was he an?
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Asian.
He was not Asian.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Okay, there you go, he was kind of a cool dude.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
I was like where is this guy?
It's pronounced yang and I'mlike dude, nobody cares.
Like don't be a dick.
So right, that's what's in myhead.
But yeah, that sense of theyang which is more active, right
where the yin is more receptiveand you're absolutely right and
sometimes for me in action canfeel like complacency when in
truth sometimes the just beingis a huge part of the next thing
(23:07):
, right?
And so when I talk and I don'tsay balance, I think balance is
a myth, I think it's bullshit, Ithink it causes a lot of
problems for people.
We can do a whole episode onthat if you'd like, because I
have a lot of things to sayabout it.
So I think about harmony,because it's trying to keep
things like this is unrealistic.
We're humans.
Harmony is this movement.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
It's constant right, Just like water, Just like water
.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
And so that harmony of being in acceptance we talked
about, I'm on track.
So when I start to panic oh myGod, I'm becoming complacent I'm
gonna be settling formediocrity.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Like I'm on track.
These are the goals that I set,and keeping my open mind and
(23:49):
open heart for what's next.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Yeah, yeah 100%.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
That's where I'm at.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Yeah, no, I hate to cut this episode short, but I
also think that this is afantastic way to really reflect
on what's the present, what'sthe future, and thanks for
sharing that.
As deep and as confusing and asmentally stimulating as the
conversation might be for you ordefinitely for me, but
everything that you shared Justwhat I love about this show is
(24:17):
just how every episode just putsus through a wide range of
emotions.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Never know.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
You never know.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
And you just gave me an epiphany real quick, as
you're talking about the depthStill water requires depth.
Shallow water is not stillright when you see that's where
the deep spot is and it's darkand it's cold.
There's something to that.
You got me some things toreflect on, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Thanks for joining us on Stories, success and Stuff.
Don't forget to subscribe onyour favorite podcast channel.
Follow us on your favoritesocial media channel at CRS of
the agency.
I'm Crystal.
This is Jace, and thanks forwatching and listening to
Stories, success and Stuff.
I'll see you next time.
How are you also staying here and now?
With everything we have goingon, we don't get to just jump to
the future, right?
So how do you do that and howdo you handle the emotional
component?
["the Emotional?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Component"].
Do you notice that his earsperk up like a little rabbit?
Charlie's here today, which I'mvery excited about.
So if you hear the heavy-ridinghi-bike you heard me talking
about you.
Charlie is your bear and ourwonderful furry team member.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
We also always have Indiana here, who's currently
licking the floor right now yeah, we don't know why?
Yeah, and they're in the moment.
Yes, kind of along the lines oftoday's topic on stories,
success and with stuff which ismindfulness in the workplace,
mindfulness in your life,mindfulness all around.
Help me know where you came upwith this brilliant topic.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Oh, actually it came from someone when I was talking
about oh, I co-host this podcastand we talk about realistic
paths to success and happyliving and they said have you
guys tackled finding ways to besatisfied with the present while
also having ambition for adifferent future?
(01:28):
And I was like dang brah,that's a good that's a legit
topic because that is a toughharmony to find.
We can, I can't.
I'll speak for me.
I can often get caught beingtoo future focused and then I
feel dissatisfied with mypresent, which is not helpful in
(01:51):
any way, or I can be okay andcontent with my present and not
really working towards thefuture I want.
So living in mindfulness ofboth of those simultaneously is
not something I have nailed, buta topic I was like, yeah, let's
definitely talk about that forsure.
So someone else handed thetopic over for us to discuss.
(02:15):
It was a request.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Thank you for the topic idea.
I think that whenever I thinkabout being mindful of where you
are now, I'm terrible at it,too Awful at it.
It is sometimes some of thefriction that I have in my
relationship where the questionis why aren't you happy with
(02:36):
what's in front of you?
It's like I am, but I haven'thad the opportunity to quote an
amazing Broadway musical thatsome of you may or may not know
that I love, but I am obsessedwith Hamilton.
Oh, hamilton is a fantasticproduction.
Lin-manuel Miranda and the castand the crew and the producers
(02:59):
bless their hearts.
They're ingenious, especiallyfor when it came out and what we
needed at the time.
He wrote a song that AngelaShiler sang.
Do you know what she went?
Angelica Shiler sang.
Do you know what song I'mtalking about?
I think so Satisfied, yeah,great, great, great song.
I mean.
She talks about how Angelica isa socialite, like the definition
(03:21):
of New York socialite class.
She's the oldest in her family,her family had no sons and so
she has the pressure of socialclimbing.
She didn't even wanna talk toHamilton because he had no
wealth, he had no money, andsomebody else even approached
the money subject, which wasAaron Burr, and Aaron Burr was
just like I'm a trust fund baby,you can trust me, great line.
(03:42):
So there's a lyric and itcaught my attention even during
the actual show that and I hadheard it for the first time
where Hamilton tells AngelicaShiler, you strike me as a woman
that never seems to besatisfied.
And she just what do you mean?
(04:02):
And he's like I'm neversatisfied.
I'm always looking at ambition,and I think ambition and
satisfaction and being mindfulin the present is part of the
reason why business owners aresociopaths.
In my honest opinion is becausewe're willing to climb the
highs but we're always sowilling to accept the lows when
(04:22):
they come.
These are things that are justvery common, like it happens,
and so I think that's a reallygreat segue into the
conversation or when we weretalking about what this topic
was gonna be.
That, and then also some of theplans that we have at CRS, are
kind of a great conversationabout how do you stay present in
what we're currently working onright now but also look towards
(04:43):
the future in a very optimisticway.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Yeah, which we're in the midst of doing our strategic
planning for 2024.
So, as a business owner thathas, we're nine years in now
right, you're nine years in.
I'm here now, but I haven'tbeen part of the whole journey,
of course.
So you've come a long way.
You've done a lot of the highsand lows, a lot of the roller
coaster that goes with running abusiness, and you're looking to
(05:07):
our next year and what that isgoing to entail, and you're
creating plans for it.
How are you also staying hereand now with everything we have
going on, Because we don't getto just jump to the future,
right?
So how do you do that?
And how do you handle theemotional component that comes
(05:28):
with being a business owner?
That has to hold the vision.
You're a CEO.
Big part of being a CEO isvisioning and holding a big
picture vision while alsomanaging day to day.
Those are separate skillsentirely.
How do you do that?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It's very hard.
I look at the classic exampleof you take a little day by day
and work with me while I gothrough kind of an operational
mindset that sometimes turns onas a CEO and mine operates in a
way where I work backwards.
(06:05):
What's the big vision?
Ciarza?
To be the top agency in NewMexico and the Southwest, and
then the world.
I wasn't ready for thatthunderstruck homie, but I mean
it right.
And what's our measurement ofthat success?
It's the book of lists.
When it's time for us to be onthe list, we want to be number
(06:27):
one on it.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Right now we're number two, awesome and up from
number 10 in a year, though yeah, that's pretty badass.
I was like that's moreimpressive, I think, than being
at numbers.
That was a big climb.
That was a very big climb.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Just going to throw out there and a lot of that
success is the team following myvision.
So I appreciate that visioningwork.
I appreciate them giving me theopportunity to fail at that
visioning work, which hasn'talways gone to plan.
Definitely hasn't.
It never does.
And so, where my operationalmindset comes in, I set that
(07:01):
goal.
And then somebody incredible,had taught me that look at your
lagging and leading indicatorsto help you see where you're
going.
So I wrote the playbook.
And how I measure that playbook?
I measure it by net operatinggross sales, net profit.
I also look at hiring, I alsolook at turnover, I also look at
(07:22):
cost per labor.
And I get into the weeds of it,not only because I enjoy it,
but that's those leading andlagging indicators for me to
realize, like what am I doing tohelp the company be successful?
But what am I also helping theteam realize from a
micro-focused lens, like one ofthe things that we used to do
(07:43):
that I hope to bring back ishere's the big picture, what's
your pieces to the pie and whenpeople feel their individual
goals and how the individualgoals work towards the team
goals, that really helps usunderstand where we are in the
future.
But it goes back to thequestion of how do you balance
what's in the now, one thingthat you don't know yet and the
(08:07):
rest of the team doesn't knowyet.
And you heard, it here first isthat we're not going to get
aggressive with it this year.
We don't need to.
That is what can kill.
So growth is a very delicatebalance.
It's like ballet if you fuck upyour ankles you're screwed, and
I don't want to fuck up thecore of the company, so I'm
(08:30):
leaving it very stable for nextyear.
You've mentioned that.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Yeah, we're all ready for that.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
But that also puts a potential lull because you're
like, well, what are we kind ofworking towards?
It's the wave we have to kindof write out right now because
the economy is so volatile.
I mean, when you walked in likeI was talking about small
business Saturday and I wastalking to another business
owner, the owner of Gray School,great small business here in
(08:55):
Albuquerque, big Funko Popper,and he's like we don't have as
much expendable income anymoreout in the world and he sees
that from his sales trends.
I get it and I see that wherecompanies don't have that
expendable income like they usedto in marketing, the best types
of clients are for us so theones that see that marketing is
essential, essential.
So when we look at thoseclients, that's how we focus on
(09:19):
the now and it's those wins,it's those micro wins, it's
those big wins, it's the littlewins.
That helps us going andenjoying the moment, I think.
And then I also operationally, Ihave a very robust chart that
tells me how we're doing.
How's our sales going, how'sour leads going, How's our
proposals going?
Are we progressing forward onour sales goals for the quarter?
(09:40):
Are we looking good for our?
Are we looking great?
Those Now moments are like thelittle crumbs that eventually
lead into a bigger pile ofbreadcrumbs and breadcrumbs on a
cake are delicious.
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I assume those will be gluten-free and vegan for
Justin and I to also enjoy themOkay great, don't be leaving us
out here with those crumbs.
I appreciate that, and itactually the year ahead, as you
as you share, which is not goingto be defined by leaps and
bounds and big growth, butreally scaling in a smaller, in
(10:16):
a smaller way, in a responsible,responsible way.
That's where I'm at in my ownpersonal life as well, and it's
been something I've really beenstruggling with, especially over
the last probably two months,where I've been used to same
like a huge shifts in life, yeah, and like I'm moving or I'm
(10:37):
taking on a totally newadventure or whatever.
I've had like these really big,noticeable changes going on,
which was part of of the journey.
At the time and last fall I setout to work on security and
stability not sexy goals at alland what my good friend called
(10:58):
sticking power.
He's like, jace, you're so goodat starting over, at taking big
risks, you're really good atfollowing your heart and all of
that.
What you're not particularlyskilled at is sticking with
stuff when it's no longerexciting, when there's not a
good story to tell along with it, when the when the romance from
it is gone, if you will.
(11:18):
He's like you don't have greatsticking power and for me, I'm
always like, okay, I alreadyhave these skills, let me bring
on a new one, and so I this.
Last year I focused on stickingpower and building outer
stability, where I've workedreally hard on my inner
stability, which is fantastic,and I'm so glad that I did yeah,
but my outer life didn'trepresent that, yeah.
So last year I went, okay,let's have the outside match the
(11:42):
inside, yeah.
And then I've gone through Idon't know how many like
beginnings of an existentialcrisis over the last couple of
months, because I'm like, oh mygosh, nothing cool is happening
in my life.
I'm not striving towardsanything like what am I actually
doing with myself?
And this isn't the life that Ithought I was gonna be living
and just going through thisemotional upheaval.
And I've been fortunate to havemy team aware of the goals I set
(12:07):
out and they go whoa, whoa,whoa, whoa, whoa, time out, time
out, time out.
What was your goal this year?
But they're like, hey, you setout for stability and security.
Are you on track?
Yeah, I'm like, oh, yeah, I amon track with those things and
they're not sexy and they're notgonna be my big epic adventure
stories, right, but they'rebuilding a foundation that then
(12:28):
I can take the leap from rightand that that, for me, my
biggest fear is stagnation.
Yeah, I am terrified of mediocrelife Bomb just dropped in my
head, so like there's nothingspectacular about my life right
now and I have a hard time withthat until I'm reminded.
(12:51):
Oh yeah, that's what I set outto do.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I find it very fascinating that you see
stagnation as it has this likesomber tone with you, which I
think is very fascinating.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
And it's, and it's shifted.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
It shouldn't be somber at all.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Well, okay, so judgment free zone.
My greatest fear in life?
I don't know what happens later, but my fear is that I think
this is my, my thoughts onexistence in a nutshell.
Okay, that up in the energy,ether universe, whatever before
we're embodied, we have lessonswe want to learn.
(13:33):
We have a growth that we'retrying to do, or and for what I
don't know?
Maybe because it's neat, maybenirvana, I don't know.
And so that we choose a lifethat will best give us the
opportunity to learn the thingsthat we want to learn, as like a
limitless being right like aschool like we're like oh, I'm
gonna go to this trade school,so I come out with these skills
(13:53):
okay, so.
I came to the trade school ofJay Stowney to learn the
specific things, and my fear isthat I will not have completed
that work in this lifetime andI'll have to come back and do it
again.
And it's not like I'm living abad life.
I love this episode already.
Okay, there was a rough go ofit.
(14:14):
The first chunk of my life,though, also had love and
kindness and joy, and like.
It was not something I wouldwant to redo, and so I have this
just crushing pressure to makesure I don't have to come back
and do it again.
Yeah and that might not even bewhat happens, right.
(14:37):
Maybe we just die and then poofgone, like that's what Ed would
say.
Right then, there's justnothingness, which would be
great.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Oh, ed.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
And so if I am stagnant or I'm not living my
true life, or what, then I'm atrisk having to come back and
redo it.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Okay, so tell me when I say this phrase.
Tell me what your reaction is.
Carpe diem.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
So here is an interesting part of life that I
was just checking in with my,with my bestie, about.
Today.
I've lost a lot of my gusto andhope.
I don't know what I believeanymore, so I don't have a lot
(15:26):
of.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Carpe in my diem.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
So I don't know, and it's life right, like some days.
You just you get up and you,you chop wood and you carry
water, and then that's the dayand that's okay, because we need
wood and we need water.
Not everything is gonna be abig epic day, which is what I'm
coming into recognizing, and I'mreally fortunate.
In fact, the person whorecommended this episode has
(15:57):
taught me a lot where I've goneand I've lived in so many
different places and I've moveda lot and I've tried a lot and
I've done a lot and I've thoughtlike, oh, that's been such an
important part of my journey tobecome the person that I am.
Well, this person has lived intwo zip codes their entire life,
which is like bonkers.
Wow, yes it's like and it's, andI was just like whoa.
(16:18):
I just don't connect with thatand they don't connect.
They're like oh my god, whatchaotic nonsense.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
So I've been living.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
And yet I super respect the person they are.
I really admire who they'vebecome and they didn't go
through all of this stuff that Ihave and so I've recognized
stability and sticking canresult in a beautiful life too.
(16:47):
So when you stay stagnation orany of those things in the past
I would have been like that'sdeath, like just kill me instead
, like I just can't handle that.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
That's so funny.
You said that because instantlyin my head I'm thinking grief,
that's grief.
You're grieving the past, I'mgrieving the I.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I'm being very mind we talked about harmony I'm
being very mindful to not let myhope and magic and wonder men
die.
I'm right at that point in lifewhere it's too much in your DNA
, girl.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
I'm tired.
Oh my god.
That's all I kept on saying.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Like the like, my get-up is brought to you by naps
, something you don't have.
If I'm napping, be very worried.
I'm not a napper, but I'm rightat that point where I could go
either way.
I could become the bitter jaded.
Nothing worked out in life.
You try and it doesn't matterthe things I used to believe
didn't happen.
(17:43):
Right like I'm right at thatgrowing up point where I could
easily follow up it doesn't.
It doesn't, but I could easilyfall into that category and
become a very unhappy person.
Or I fight for holding on towonder men, yeah, and magic, and
(18:07):
the belief that I'm here to dosomething exceptional, okay, but
it's not coming easily rightnow.
I'll be honest.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
I, as much as I would love to share a story like I
really want to dissect this,please, please, because it's
it's actually like it's areflection of what I've been
facing in many different ways,which is, you know, you look at
(18:34):
Metaphoric success.
Yeah, you have it, I have it,we all in this team have it, we
have it together.
Metaphoric success means just aconstant climb, constant
improvement, some fails, someexcitement.
You know, and if I'm listeningto this correctly, the sticking
power that you're talking aboutIs almost this uncomfortable
(18:54):
level of complacency, with thismixed in with a level of comfort
and and steadiness, like Ithink that the world operates.
The world operates with water.
There's always a high tide anda low tide, and I think that
some of us have a low tide thatare longer than others.
(19:16):
I think some of us havesporadic waves.
Some people are just used to bebanging on rocks and that's
just how dysfunctional theirlife is, and there's some people
that prefer to be in calmwaters.
Water's water to me, and Ithink that the situation that
you're in I don't think you'llalways be that way Like I'm
(19:39):
ready, and as painful as this isgonna say I'm ready for you to
leave the walls of CRs.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
I don't want you to I don't you're like Right now,
please don't fire me.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
No, no, no, it's not even that, but like, I
understand that this companyprovides you this ability that
you're looking for, but I'mnever gonna hold it against you
if you're like.
I'm ready to be the next RyanSeacrest Bitch.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
I know you're going to be successful as the next
Ryan Seacrest.
Do I have to frost my tips?
Because, I mean, nature is likedoing it on its own, but let's
do it.
You know, speaking of what Ihad the absolute best compliment
or most like most accuratedescription Of of me of my whole
life, where I was just likeholy smokes this is someone
who's getting to know me, um andSaid jace, you are spectacular.
(20:30):
When I think of you, I thinkthe vision that comes to mind is
fireworks reflected on a stilllake.
Oh, oh, I like that.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
And I was like another t-shirt.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I was just like I always.
I was like, okay, but in mymind I'm like, yeah, every so
many people see the fireworks,they see the magnetism, they see
the, the wit, the jokes, evenif they're bad jokes, uh, the
big smile and all of that, whichis true, but it's not actually
the core of who I am.
That calm, still Water is who Iam.
(21:03):
Yeah, and it's the, it's thefireworks, and I was like that
is literally the most.
I'm like I've never felt moreseen in my life Like holy smokes
.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yeah, I was like who are you?
I?
Speaker 1 (21:12):
get that, but it's.
It's me getting comfortablewith that.
Still, water, yeah, where mylife has been the fireworks, but
it's not actually what I want.
I don't want to be explosive, Idon't want to be separate and
away from others.
I don't want flash.
I so, when you talk about water, like I do want that, but it's
(21:34):
not something I'm comfortablewith.
So I'm in that space of beingcomfortable with where I am now,
while not giving up looking upto the sky.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
I.
I also see that element ofbeing kind to yourself in the
element of yin and yang right,yeah, I don't know the
philosophy of yin and yang, aswell as I, as I want to, as well
as I should, but I think thatBalance is really key to a life
(22:07):
and I think that you're thewhite part of the yin, of the
yin part.
The white part of the circleright now is just Overtaking, it
is more dominant, and sometimesthe black overtakes too, and I
think that's normal.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
It's so interesting.
I pulled an oracle card todayand it was all about the harmony
of the yin and yang.
Oh was it?
Yeah, oh, cool, yeah, it's veryinteresting.
And I have this jerk guy in myhead every time he goes.
It's pronounced yang, and nowthat fuckers in my head.
So, right when you said that,his stupid voice is like ooh,
it's.
And I'm like dude, fuck you.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Nobody wants to hear that.
Was he an?
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Asian.
He was not Asian.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Okay, there you go, he was kind of a cool dude.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
I was like where is this guy?
It's pronounced yang and I'mlike dude, nobody cares.
Like don't be a dick.
So right, that's what's in myhead.
But yeah, that sense of theyang which is more active, right
where the yin is more receptiveand you're absolutely right and
sometimes for me in action canfeel like complacency when in
truth sometimes the just beingis a huge part of the next thing
(23:07):
, right?
And so when I talk and I don'tsay balance, I think balance is
a myth, I think it's bullshit, Ithink it causes a lot of
problems for people.
We can do a whole episode onthat if you'd like, because I
have a lot of things to sayabout it.
So I think about harmony,because it's trying to keep
things like this is unrealistic.
We're humans.
Harmony is this movement.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
It's constant right, Just like water, Just like water
.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
And so that harmony of being in acceptance we talked
about, I'm on track.
So when I start to panic oh myGod, I'm becoming complacent I'm
gonna be settling formediocrity.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Like I'm on track.
These are the goals that I set,and keeping my open mind and
(23:49):
open heart for what's next.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Yeah, yeah 100%.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
That's where I'm at.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Yeah, no, I hate to cut this episode short, but I
also think that this is afantastic way to really reflect
on what's the present, what'sthe future, and thanks for
sharing that.
As deep and as confusing and asmentally stimulating as the
conversation might be for you ordefinitely for me, but
everything that you shared Justwhat I love about this show is
(24:17):
just how every episode just putsus through a wide range of
emotions.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Never know.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
You never know.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
And you just gave me an epiphany real quick, as
you're talking about the depthStill water requires depth.
Shallow water is not stillright when you see that's where
the deep spot is and it's darkand it's cold.
There's something to that.
You got me some things toreflect on, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Thanks for joining us on Stories, success and Stuff.
Don't forget to subscribe onyour favorite podcast channel.
Follow us on your favoritesocial media channel at CRS of
the agency.
I'm Crystal.
This is Jace, and thanks forwatching and listening to
Stories, success and Stuff.
I'll see you next time.
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