Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gianna Diggs (00:05):
You are listening
to the Mompreneur Mindset
Podcast, a show that empowersyou to create a business that's
authentically yours.
Say goodbye to stressful days,juggling multiple priorities,
and feeling like you're neverenough.
I'm your host, Gianna Diggs, acertified Mindset coach and
business guide for women and momentrepreneurs.
I'm here to empower, guide, andalign you with the tools and the
(00:27):
mindset needed to build athriving business that's true to
your purpose.
In each episode, we'll explorestrategies, tips, and success
stories designed to help yourise above your obstacles and
level up your entrepreneur game.
So whether you're a first timeentrepreneur or a seats and
professional, grab a cup of tea.
Some quiet time away from thekids, and let's dive into the
(00:48):
mompreneur mindset together.
Are you ready?
Let's get into today's episode.
Welcome back to the mompreneurmindset podcast.
So on today's episode, I haveanother guest and we're going to
be talking about a few differenttopics and it's because she has
(01:11):
a lot of things that I thoughtwas going to be interesting and
we couldn't really make up ourmind on which one we wanted to
talk about.
So we kind of made acombination.
Of all three topics.
And we're going to be talkingabout changing countries and
being an international workerusing video in your business to
make connections.
So something cool that she didto pitch me to be on my show was
she sent me a video, which wasvery interesting.
(01:33):
No one's ever done that before.
And that's something that reallygot my attention.
And it may be something that Idid mention in the episode that
I thought was really cool.
And then she also talks aboutbeing a parent and deciding to
go into entrepreneurship.
And so these topics are reallyinteresting.
It's a very interestinginterview.
And so I'm going to tell you alittle bit about my guest.
Her name is Na Ardua Flohic.
And so a little bit about her.
(01:54):
She is the creative behind paperflow designs.
She helps crafters is learn howto use digital art to make
handmade craft projects fortheir family and friends.
While living in France as anex-pat mom, she started making
digital illustrations, alsoknown as SVG files as a way to
use her artistic skills and becreative every day.
She saw that she could reachpeople with her art and help
(02:16):
fellow artists, crafters, andsmall businesses with their
projects.
And she started creating SVGdesigns and selling them online.
She now has over 10,000 sales inher Etsy shop all of this while
she's still working a nine tofive job.
And she runs her business as afull-time.
Mompreneur doing school pickupsand drop offs and running a
household from abroad.
(02:37):
So without further ado, let'sget into the interview.
Hi Na Ardua.
Thank you for being on the showtoday.
Naa Ardua Flohic (02:43):
Hi, Gianna.
Thanks for having me.
Gianna Diggs (02:46):
So today, we we're
gonna cover a lot of different
topics, because that's kindawhat we came up with when we
spoke and I am excited for thetopics we're gonna cover.
But I wanted to just mentionwhen I was thinking of all the
different things that were gonnatalk about, how they were
connected, I realized that allthe topics really.
It takes dedication, motivation,and creativity, especially with
(03:09):
time management to be a mom, anentrepreneur, all while living
in a foreign country.
So, those are the key thingswe're gonna talk about today.
And so I'm really excited to getstarted in our conversation.
So the first question I have foryou is tell us a little bit
about your journey, as anentrepreneur.
Like what drove you to startyour own business?
Naa Ardua Flohic (03:30):
Okay.
I'll say for me, It was like anoutside force that drove me.
Like I never thought that Iwould be an entrepreneur.
I thought, okay, I'm gonna workwith somebody else for my whole
life.
That's totally fine with me.
I'm not built for thatentrepreneurial life.
That's for like, you know,strong people.
That's for other people who haveit all together.
And little by little, I washaving conversations with my
cousin.
Who is an entrepreneur and shewas just like, you know, what
(03:52):
are you doing with your art?
You don't do anything anymore.
And I'm like, I had the list ofexcuses.
It was like, you know, roll itdown.
I can't because I have, youknow, kids, my kids get home
from school, I get home fromwork, I have to make dinner,
keep on, on, on, on, on, on.
And she's like, um, and, and soeventually I got tired of her
nagging me and I started tolearn how to make digital
(04:13):
drawings and I put them on,Instagram and I started getting
orders.
And then I was like, oh man, I,this is like a thing.
I'm gonna have to like, followthrough and do this thing.
And that's kind of like where,that led me to be a blogger and
a digital illustrator that I amtoday.
Gianna Diggs (04:30):
I love that
sometimes we have to have people
in our lives that kind of putfire under our butts, to make
things happen.
And so it's good that you had acousin who.
Kind of recognized your talentsand was able to get you moving.
And I also love that she kind ofmoved you away from this idea
of, your kids being the excuse.
Because I think as moms, that isusually the number one excuse
(04:51):
that I see as a coach.
But also what I see around meand my family is like, oh, I
wanna do this thing, but I have.
Kids to take care of, oh, Iwanna do this thing, but you
know, I'm gonna wait for thekids to get older.
So I'm, I'm really glad that yourecognized that and you kind of
moved forward with somethingthat is making a difference in
your life and your family'slife.
So you were able to grow to over10,000 sales in your Etsy shot
while working a nine to five,which I, I loved.
(05:13):
I think that's so cool.
And so one of the ways, that youwere doing that, that you did
that was by making connectionsvia video and.
I just wanna give a little protip, that Naa Ardua actually
pitched me through a video,which I, I was so surprised by
that.
Like, I gotta chill justthinking about it.
Cuz that was, no one's ever donethat.
And I think that is such a coolway to kind of put yourself out
(05:37):
there.
To me that feels like a strengthof yours and using that.
And so how has using videohelped to grow your business?
And most importantly, how do youeven make time to create videos
in the first place?
Naa Ardua Flohic (05:50):
Well, I'll
start off by saying that I
didn't think that I would everbe using video.
This is like, it seems likeeverything that I'm saying is
like, I always start sayinglike, you know, I never thought
that would be me.
Because I know a lot of peoplethink like, oh, it's hard to use
video.
I don't wanna be on camera.
I don't wanna have to like, getready.
First of all, I'll tell you,there's no get ready for me.
I'm, I'm not the one with the,the beat face.
(06:11):
It's not me.
So I didn't have to worry aboutthat, and I realized that, you
know, I don't have to do allthose things.
It's not because, you know, aperson A is doing that, that I
have to do that I can just comeon and B me.
But even saying that the firsttime that I ever, you know, took
the, the, the camera and youknow, put myself, in front of
it, I was nervous, like, youknow, bubble guts in the
(06:32):
stomach, hands shaking, voiceshaking.
But I just hit recording, said,you know what, okay, if it
somebody laughs oh well thensomebody laughs and you know
what?
Nobody laughs.
So I kept on using video andlemme share.
My three easy, I call them mylazy method, ways of using
video, because I'm a girl wholoves shortcuts.
(06:53):
So one, one thing that helped mewith my Etsy shop was that when
customers would write to me andask me questions instead of like
taking the time to write out thewhole answer.
And even though Etsy does havelike little, shortcut blurbs
that you can say sometimes thatwasn't enough, or sometimes I
need to add something to it.
So I would just like, you know,whip out my phone and just
(07:16):
record the answer.
That would take like, you know,30, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, one
minute max, and then just sendthat to them in an email.
Also because in the beginning Iused to do custom work and
anybody who's done, like youwork with, with clients, or you
have to do a service, you knowthat there's gonna be some back
and forth.
They're gonna tell me questions,answers, they're gonna ask you
to change things.
(07:36):
If you have a package, you'relike, no, but I see the package.
Can you do this?
You're like, oh, okay.
So instead of me going andwriting everything all over
again, I'm just gonna answer youin a short, quick, little video,
whether I record it on my phone,if I'm outside, I can do it, or
I can record it right in frontof my laptop.
So Method one was, customerservice videos.
(07:58):
And I tell the people like that.
So then I started using it forlike client retention, I'll call
it.
So when people would just write,cause I have an email list, I'll
write to people and send them,blog articles.
They're showing them tips of howto use the drawings that they've
bought or they're thinking aboutbuying.
And some people would write meback, you know, and say, oh, I'm
thinking about.
Starting a small business of myown or I don't know how to do
(08:19):
this, and, they have questionsagain, or they just have
something to say or they justintroduce themselves.
So I would do the same.
I would introduce myself back.
In a video.
I'm like, okay, I don't havetime because you know, I've got
kids just like, you know, youguys do.
I've got other things going on.
How can I still give this personattention?
Because I value them as acustomer or as a future client.
(08:42):
I can send them a short video.
And people appreciate that cuzthey can see you and they're
like, wow.
I haven't had people write meback and say, oh my God,
nobody's ever like, you know,Replied to me and like, sent me
a video and like actually like,you know, answered me like,
you're a real person.
I'm like, yes, yes, yes.
I'm a real person.
And the last method.
(09:02):
So I don't wanna fix too long.
I would say I use that for SOPs.
SOPs are just standard operatingprocedures.
All that just means is like howyou run your business.
Now I'm still small level, sopeople use that to give
instructions to their team.
While I don't have a teen, but Ido have a teenage daughter who
helps me out when she's like onvacation from school.
So she does like admin stuff forme, social media stuff, and
(09:24):
instead of me like sitting downand telling her every single
time, okay, you know, this ishow you edit the, the photos for
the listings or whatever.
I sit down, like while I'mactually doing it myself, I just
do a screen record.
So I do a screen record videoand maybe I'll like, Talk
through, the instructions as I'mdoing it, and I can save that so
she can go back and refer tothat when she has time to do
(09:45):
that work for me.
And then bonus is that ifeventually, you know, my team
grows, I still have thoseinstruction videos for other
members to see and refer backto.
So those are my three easy, lazymethods of, how you can use
video.
And it's helped me in my Etsybusiness because like Gianna
said, it got me to over 10,000sales.
So once I saw that it wasworking, I thought, okay, keep
(10:08):
going with the video.
Gianna Diggs (10:10):
Right.
I love that.
Cause I think we're.
Very often resistant to video.
I know that, I dabble back andforth, because of the whole, you
said getting dolled up.
Right.
I'm not someone I don't, youknow, beat my face.
I don't get super, like, do alot of makeup, but if like, my
hair is not where I needed to,like, that'll stop me.
Or if I'm like, oh, what am Igonna wear?
(10:31):
Like, you know, Just littlethings like that.
And so I'm glad that you kind ofjust took the imperfect action
of just like, oh, this is easy.
Okay, I'm gonna do it.
And how it's helped to grow yourbusiness.
So I think the lesson in that isjust trying it, right?
It's cuz we, we can't.
Oh, I'm resistant to that.
I don't like video, I don't likeshowing up on camera.
Right.
You said you just tried it andit helped you and so you kept
(10:53):
moving with it.
And so I love that you, you havelike a, and you have lazy ways
of doing it.
Cuz I think that we are alwayson our phones, but we're
resistant to, to being oncamera.
And so those two things don'treally line up cuz it's like, if
you're always on your phone, youcan just whip out your phone and
use it as opposed to like, youdon't have to use the laptop to
record a video.
That's why we have smartphones.
So I think there's definitely alesson in.
(11:14):
In that.
So let's talk about timemanagement for a second.
So, you know, you have your Etsybusiness, you know you have
children.
How do you make time for bothyour kids and your business?
Naa Ardua Flohic (11:27):
I realized
that I needed to start
delegating more things because,I was just used to like, you
know, just doing it myself.
And I think we've all been therewhen we're like, oh, I can ask
somebody else to do this or tohelp me, or, oh no, I'm not
gonna do that.
I'll just do it myself becauseit'll be done my way.
But sometimes you don't have thetime to do everything.
We never have time to doeverything.
(11:48):
So I started getting my kidsinvolved like they already had.
Some chores, but I kind of likestepped it up a notch.
I'm like, these kids are oldenough where they can, you know,
they can help out and cleaningaround the house.
You know, doing things liketaking out the trash, doing the
dishes, all things that, youknow, it was just me doing
before.
And then I realized like, no, ifI can have them do this, okay,
that's five minutes for me,that's 10 minutes for me.
(12:10):
That's.
15 minutes that I can like, youknow, set up my social media
schedule for my Pinterest pens.
That's, you know, another, twominutes even to answer maybe two
emails from customers.
So definitely delegating thingsout to my kids because, you
know, I'm not at that level yetwhere I have a housekeeper,
let's put a pin in it becausethat's gonna happen, but I'm not
(12:32):
there yet.
So I'm like, these kids can stepup and help out too.
And it's given me back a lot oftime.
Gianna Diggs (12:39):
right.
So what, how would you say atypical week, like what does
that look like for you?
Naa Ardua Flohic (12:45):
For me now
that, I, I've just gone
full-time as of the beginning ofthis year.
So before I was juggling goingto work in an office and, you
know, coming home at night to,to work on my side hustle.
It was my side hustle at thetime.
So I had to like, you know, bereally be strict with my time.
So when it was bedtime for mykids, it was bedtime.
(13:08):
It's like, no, you can't have anextra 15, 20 minutes, because
that was a time that, you know,I needed to work to make
drawings, to put up those thingsand things.
I would use things like, let'ssay a typical day I go to my
nine to five job, or I drop offmy son at school, go to my nine
to five job, come home, makedinner, and then like nine
o'clock.
That was my time to work on myside hustle.
(13:29):
So I had like, you know, timersthat I use.
So I know, okay, 25 minutes, Ihave this timer that's gonna go
on.
I'm gonna have like five minutesto make a new drawing that I'm
gonna list.
When that timer goes off, I'mgonna like, 25 minutes.
Math, it's gonna beembarrassing, but be that time
(13:52):
that I would reserve so that Icould get some, you know, get
things done and it would push mybusiness forward.
So I just really had to, to beclear on.
How much time I was gonna spendon each, on each thing that I
was gonna do nightly.
So that was like Monday throughFriday.
That was like that.
And then Saturday and Sunday, ofcourse, you know, I spent time
with the kids.
I mean, for, for someone elseout there, it might be they wake
(14:15):
up earlier in the morning, butfor me it was working at night
after I put the kids to bed.
Gianna Diggs (14:20):
Right.
I love that cuz it removes theexcuses, right?
Because oftentimes we createexcuses as to why we can't do
something.
And so I love the intention thatyou set, right?
That you were very intentionalabout the time you were spending
of, you know, cuz when you saidlike, oh, extra five minutes, my
daughter does that.
All the time.
She's like, mom, can I have fiveminutes?
And like, I'll give her the fiveminutes and, and then she goes
(14:42):
to bed.
That's like her nightly thing.
Can I get five minutes after shetakes a shower?
But I love that you just said,okay, I know that I want this to
work here is, you know, you didthe Pomodoro method you were
referring to.
Um, and so I'm gonna do, youknow, three blocks or four
blocks of, of 25 minutes and.
(15:02):
Here it is.
Right?
It's done.
I, I take that 90 minute to twohour block and that's done.
And you're doing that and you'remaking that sacrifice.
And you also mentioned aboutspending time with your kids
because I think that's superimportant because I.
It's very easy to be in front ofyour laptop.
It's very easy to say, well,because I work at nine to five,
my weekends is when I work on mybusiness.
Right.
And so you found that balance oflike, okay, I'm gonna sacrifice
(15:25):
my evenings, but I'm not gonnasacrifice my weekends.
And I think that is like themessage, right?
That's the key part of this inthe time management.
Because.
That's where the struggle is, issaying, I'm gonna put this aside
because I need to spend thistime and enjoy this time with my
kids, and I'm gonna sacrifice myevenings to make this happen.
(15:47):
And look where you are.
Now you have your 10,000 sales,your full-time, right?
And so it's, it's really theintention setting that, that
just got me, with what you justmentioned.
So one thing that we talkedabout, that I mentioned in the
intro and that I said earlier isthat you are an international
worker.
you are American.
Yes.
Naa Ardua Flohic (16:05):
Yes.
Gianna Diggs (16:06):
Okay, I didn't ask
you that before.
But you are an American, you'rean American living in France.
And so I wanna touch on this cuzI think you're the first person
that I've interviewed, I couldbe wrong, that is an expat.
So what has been the biggestchallenge of being an
entrepreneur in a foreigncountry?
Naa Ardua Flohic (16:23):
I'd say
definitely learning the, the
customs of that country becauseit's one thing to like read
about things and, you know, hearabout it, but when you're there
on the ground, and, I'll giveyou an example in the states,
like if you wanna go to the postoffice, the post office is open,
like, you know, all day long.
There's, they don't, they don'tstop in the middle of the day to
take a break.
Gianna Diggs (16:42):
Mm-hmm.
Naa Ardua Flohic (16:43):
And here the
post office closes.
Some of them stay open, but mostof them, they close between 12
and two.
So if you don't know that, andlet's say you, have a business
where you're sending outpackages or something like that,
and you wait till like maybeclose to the last minute, and
you go there and it's like 12o'clock, the gates close.
No boo boo.
You won't be sending anythinguntil after two o'clock.
And so things like that, it'slike learning new customs, and
(17:06):
so me, the first time I went, Ididn't have, you know, that
situation of having to sendpackages, but I did have to like
mail something and I went to thepost office.
I'm like, okay.
They're just closing all theday.
So learning those things, it'sreally important, like if you
can find out as much as you canbefore, you going into a new
place.
It's really important.
Gianna Diggs (17:23):
Okay.
so what is your favorite thingabout, being an expat or
entrepreneur in a foreigncountry?
Naa Ardua Flohic (17:30):
I'm gonna
sound crazy, but that is also my
favorite thing is like the newcustoms, because like I always
have learning experiences withthese things.
Like things happen and then I'llremember, you know, something
about that.
Or it'll like, make me.
Change like how I, I operate orI'll meet new people because
like maybe the post officersclosed and I end up standing out
there and talking to someone andlearning something about them
(17:52):
that I can help them or they canhelp me.
So like, even though it's on onehand it's an inconvenience, on
the other hand, it's still funand it's still an opportunity to
learn because, it makes me likethink on my feet to be quick, to
pivot and to like, To adapt in anew situation.
And I always like, I likechange.
I'm a person that likes change.
So at the same time where I saylike, it can be annoying because
(18:15):
you know, you have an idea ofwhat you want.
You have like your schedule andyou're like, okay, today I'm
gonna do, you know, this, this,and that.
And then something just lands inyour lap that says, okay, no,
no, you're not gonna do thisbecause the post office is
closed.
Okay, well maybe I'll end upgoing, I don't know, at a cafe
and meet somebody there andstart talking to them and then
find out that I can help themsomehow, in their business or
they can help me in my business.
(18:36):
So, Different workshop.
Gianna Diggs (18:39):
I like that,
that's a good way of looking at
a inconvenience.
I think a lot of times we don'tlook at inconveniences as a
favorite thing.
So I love how you kind ofreframe that in your mind.
That's a mindset term reframe.
Right?
I love how you reframe that iswhere it's like, you like it,
that's a challenge, but it'ssomething that you enjoy.
So if someone decided that theywanted to test the waters out,
(19:00):
right, because a lot of peoplenow are digital.
We call'em digital nomads,right?
Because they work online, sothey can kind of live anywhere.
And maybe they, you know, withthe world climate, maybe they
wanna move from their homecountry, their native country.
What is your biggest, I guess,tips or steps that you can give
for someone who is thinkingabout, moving away from their
(19:20):
home country?
Naa Ardua Flohic (19:23):
The first step
I would say is to, well, to do
your research first, but alsobefore, you say, okay, I'm going
to Costa Rica, or I'm like,going to Tanzania or something
like that.
Think of, you know, what skillsyou already have.
So step one is use your existingskills.
You don't necessarily, maybeyou're not gonna be able to go
(19:44):
to that country and get a job.
Cuz in some places that's, youknow, highly unlikely.
Either you're not gonna havelike a work permit, you're not
gonna be able to, to work inthat country like, you know, for
another company or somethinglike that.
But you might be able to gothere.
Test it out if you're just goingfor maybe 30 days or something
like that and still be able touse your existing skills.
(20:04):
So what I mean by that, lemmegive you an example.
I'm assuming most of yourlisteners are probably in the
state, so they speak English.
You would be surprised theamount of opportunities you have
just being an English speakerwhere you can, you know, teach,
you can, tutor kids.
In English, you can.
Teach, English, you can like getthat teaching job already in
(20:25):
America and still be considereda US worker, but you know, doing
that from somewhere else.
So use those skills that youalready have.
It doesn't have to be about, oh,I have to go in this country and
work for somewhere else, or Ihave to go in that country and
start my business right away.
Like, use what you have first asa stepping stone because later
maybe you will be able to.
(20:46):
Start a membership where you arehelping other people move abroad
and, use their English skills,as a way to do that.
But it's like, start with, stepone.
If you are in healthcare, forexample, you can be a traveling
nurse, which I just recentlyfound out about, but you don't
have to say, I'm gonna go work.
As a nurse in such and tellshospital, you can already,
(21:07):
travel, be a nurse in differentcountries and, and work for an
agency.
If that works out for you.
Once again, you wanna, be anentrepreneur, find out a way
that maybe you can start a groupyou can mentor to other people
that are in the healthcarebusiness, and they wanna branch
out on their own.
It's like, okay, well now you'vegot that experience, you have
those skills.
You can start a membership.
(21:27):
You can start a group, you canstart teaching people, you can
consult and teach them how to dothat.
But start with step one, withwhat you already know before you
try to, you know, jump to theend.
Gianna Diggs (21:37):
Okay.
I like that.
I think that's like a solidplan, right?
Cuz I did mention the digitalnomad, but you don't necessarily
have to be digital to decide totake that move.
so I'm glad you mentioned justusing the skills that you have
prior to.
You know, or when you decide tomove or not using the, the
different excuses that you don'thave the work permit, you don't
(21:58):
have these different things.
So that's cool.
I love that answer.
So this is a question I alwaysask all my guests because I know
there's somebody out there that,maybe they struggle with time
management or, maybe theystruggle with making videos, all
the things we talked abouttoday, or maybe, spending time
with their kids.
They struggle with that whiletrying to build the side hustle.
Or even they wanna move abroad,but they don't know how.
(22:20):
For any of those people, whatone tip or however many tips you
wanna give, what advice do youhave for them?
Naa Ardua Flohic (22:26):
My best
advice, I would say is to pick
one thing first, because now Iknow even I'm guilty of it, I'll
see, one idea and I'll think,okay, like that sounds great.
Let me hop on that.
And then like you go on YouTube,you go down the the rabbit hole
and start watching videos andnext thing you know, you're on a
completely different topic.
You like completely gone offcourse.
(22:47):
So pick one thing first to testout.
Give it some time.
Maybe that might be a month,maybe that might be six months.
But just like, don't give up.
So quickly pick that one thing,give it some time to work.
And if it doesn't, it's okay.
You can test out something else.
But start with that one thing.
Gianna Diggs (23:05):
Hmm.
I love that.
And if you haven't read thebook, the one thing that's also
helpful, if you like, well, Idon't know what that one thing
is, that book will definitelyhelp you, to pick which one,
which thing you wanna choose.
So before we wrap up, can youlet the audience know where they
can find you, online?
Or
Naa Ardua Flohic (23:22):
Sure.
The best place to find me is inmy inbox and email.
I do have social media handles,so you can find me at Paper Flo
Designs, which is P A P E R F LO, designs with an s.com.
I have that, on Pinterest.
I'm on Instagram, on Facebook,all at paper, but the best place
is gotta be my email inbox.
(23:42):
If you have questions, you wannareach me, and say Hi, you can
write to me at Naad thats N A AD at Paperflodesigns.com
Gianna Diggs (23:51):
all right, Naa
Ardua, thank you so much for
being here.
I really enjoyed ourconversation.
Thank you for tuning intotoday's episode of the
Mompreneur Mindset Podcast.
I truly hope that ourconversation has inspired and
motivated you to take charge ofyour entrepreneurial journey.
(24:11):
If you found today's episodevaluable, please take a moment
and, and subscribe and leave usa review on your preferred
podcast platform.
Your support means the world tome, and it's vital for helping
me to reach more entrepreneurslike you and empower our growing
community to thrive.
Until next time.
Keep pushing boundaries.
Never settle.
And remember, the world iswaiting for your unique gifts
(24:33):
that only you can offer.
See you in the next episode.