The Voyage of Business Growth and New Horizons in Coaching With Starla West

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When Starla West swapped the security of her consulting job for the roller-coaster ride of entrepreneurship amidst the 2008 economic crash, she wasn't just chasing a dream—she was leaping into a new reality. Our latest episode zeros in on Starla's unguarded revelations about the lessons learned through her coaching business's evolution. From trusting her gut over traditional business plans to nurturing invaluable relationships with an advisory board, Starla's narrative brims with the tenacity and wisdom only found on the front lines of self-made success.

Scaling a business isn't for the faint of heart, and Starla unpacks the intricacies of growth with the precision of a seasoned pro. She shares the significance of having a board of advisors—each a maestro in their realm—and how this council helped her filter through the cacophony of entrepreneurship advice. There's a moment in every business owner's journey where you must decide between deep involvement or expansion, and Starla was no exception. Her candid insights give a sneak peek into the critical decisions and the strategic moves she made to ensure her business thrived without losing its soul.

The conversation takes a profound turn as we venture into the realms of marketing authenticity, pricing strategies, and the promising field of psychedelic integration coaching. Starla's personal experiences and forward-thinking approach exemplify how one's values and business acumen can unite to chart a course through uncertain waters. Whether she's navigating the complexities of networking or contemplating the integration of psychedelics into her practice, Starla's pioneering spirit and commitment to authentic growth are nothing short of inspiring. Join us as we uncover these riveting developments in the world of personal and entrepreneurial breakthroughs.

Episode Transcript

Zach (00:05):
Hello and welcome to the Owner's Odyssey, the podcast
where we delve deep into thetransformative stories of
courageous business owners whohave embarked on an
extraordinary adventure.
I'm Zach Jones and I'm BrookeGattia.
We're here to explore the reallife experiences of
entrepreneurs.

Brook (00:22):
Each episode, we'll embark on a quest to uncover the
trials, triumphs andtransformations of remarkable
individuals who dared to answerthe call of entrepreneurship.

Zach (00:34):
Like all adventurers, our guests have faced their fair
share of challenges, vanquishedformidable foes and braved the
unknown.

Brook (00:41):
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a
seasoned business owner orsimply an avid listener hungry
for captivating stories.

Zach (00:47):
The Owner's Odyssey is here to help you level up.
So join us as we embark on thisepic expedition.
This is the Owner's Odyssey.
Let's start our adventure.

Brook (01:02):
Welcome to our podcast.
We have Starla West with ustoday.
Starla owns a business.
Is it still called Starla WestCoaching?

Starla (01:13):
Yeah, starla West Coaching, starla West
International.
It just depends on how you wantto, whatever's happening that
day and who's speaking.

Brook (01:19):
So I met Starla oh, I want to say four or five years
ago, maybe more, more than that.
Basically, you came needingsome accounting assistance and
kind of jumped in and kind ofbasically helped you doing your
taxes and got to know you alittle bit.
Starla is a business coach,largely with and I'm going to
let her explain a little bitmore but executive coaching and

(01:40):
particularly helping peoplelearn how to think as an
executive coach.
She herself has a podcast whichI'll let her talk about later
at the end of it.
But Starla is one of thosepeople who just feels very
natural to talk to and verycomfortable.
And I've got lots of clients andsometimes you have the very
intense and in-your-face clients.
Starla seems to be aware of allof her items but not

(02:02):
overwhelming in her engagementof it.
I really enjoyed my smallinteractions with Starla from
that side.
But, starla, I would love foryou to tell us a little bit
about how you went from collegestudent whatever it is up to the
point where you're.
You don't have to go back tocollege student but like your
journey to being a businessowner.
When did you start, starla West?

Starla (02:19):
I started it in 2009.

Brook (02:20):
Okay, so you're going on 14 years.

Starla (02:23):
Yes, Wow, Do you still like it?
I love it.
I love it Now, not every day,but for the most part, yes.
I absolutely love it and it wasthe right thing to do back in
2009.

Brook (02:32):
Yeah, so tell us a little bit.
What were you doing before youstarted this and how did you
decide to jump into this funworld of?

Starla (02:39):
ownership.
Probably the easiest place tostart was where I was at in 2008
.
And I don't know if you guysremember what 2008 was like, but
the economic climate here inthe States was not all that
great.
But I found myself working fora consulting firm that was based
out of Lincoln, nebraska, and Ihad been with them for about,
at that point, probably six,seven years, loved the
organization, loved the workthat I was doing.
But I found myself gettingreally bored and I went to my

(03:00):
boss there and I said you know,I'm really bored, I'm tired, can
I take a break?
I said I'll take a two-monthsabbatical, unpaid.
I'm happy to do that.
And she was like well, she cameback to me and she said Starla,
we completely understand, andpart of the exhaustion was
simply I was traveling thecountry about 60 to 80% of the
year and I was doing kind of thesame thing over and over and
over again with just differentclients, and so all of that was

(03:22):
just leading to some exhaustion.
And she came back and she saidStarla, you are our star player,
you've got two months paidsabbatical.
And I was like well, okay, I'lltake it.
And so during that two-monthperiod I was just kind of doing
a lot of soul searching andtrying to figure out.
You know, is this the placethat I want to be?
No-transcript Starla, ourpeople listen to you and you can

(03:53):
actually walk in and have thereally difficult conversations
with them and they actuallylisten and agree with you and
start.
They change their thoughts,they change their behaviors.
So, that being said, we knowyou guys don't typically offer
this kind of training, but weknow that you could figure that
out and create it for us and doit.
And they were right.
I was like what's your problem?
Let's figure out first what theproblem is and then let's look
at all of our possible solutionsand then, if this is something

(04:15):
I could do for you, I want to doit.
But what I would do is I'd goback to the company andla.
It's not what we do here atthis organization.
We need to stay in our swimlane, which, for obvious reasons
, we need.
You know that was the smartdecision.
So I kept getting justfrustrated because I was like I
know I can do this and I know Ican help here and I know I can
fix this problem over here.

(04:35):
But then the other thing that Inoticed was happening was that
and I was fine with it.
And what I realized after?
Actually I started noticingthis well before 2008, but it
just all kind of came together.

(04:55):
It was a collision of things in2008, 2009.
But I just I started to realizepeople would lean on me.
People lean on me Even my goodfriends lean on me to help them
think through whatever it isthat they're going through.
And then I would see my friendscome back and they're changing
jobs and it was all because ofthe conversation that we had
just had and everything that wehad worked through.
So in 2008, I decided I waslike I'm done, I'm just done,
and I gave my husband and myfamily a heart attack because

(05:17):
one the economic climate in theStates was not good and I was
leaving an organization that waspaying me incredibly well, with
amazing benefits that youprobably weren't going to go and
find anywhere else.
So I was giving up financiallya lot of money to go and start a
business that I've never donebefore and I just kept thinking
to myself I know I'm really goodat what I can do and I'll

(05:37):
figure out this business side ofit.

Brook (05:39):
So people talk about finding your superpower.
I don't know if you've heardpeople talking about those
things.
Do you feel like this was kindof your little superpower?

Starla (05:47):
that you stepped into it is.
It is my superpower.
And I always joke.
I always say that if thisdoesn't work out, I'm in trouble
because I'm not equipped to doanything else.
This is really what I was builtto do and this is my superpower
.
So I was fortunate that back in2009, I was able to really kind
of start to see that veryclearly and I was ready to make

(06:08):
the change.

Zach (06:09):
Oh, I'm sorry.
In that transition process, doyou feel like that was something
that you were kind of casttoward or drawn toward in a way,
where you were kind of figuringit out as you went along, like
was that a fairly abrupt processof transitioning into that and
a strong pull there, or did youkind of have a runway for

(06:30):
yourself to, you know, kind ofplot it out and create
transition space?

Starla (06:34):
Great question.
It was abrupt because the partthat I left out was I had hit a
point where I was just mentallyand physically I was done, but I
was not yet ready to quit on myown.
So, in typical Starla fashionbecause I have a history of this
I engaged in some self-sabotageand forced the company's hand.

(06:57):
So it was a mutual decision.
I had had a conversation withmy boss one day and I had said
to her I'm tired of being atraveling donkey.
Those were my words, and whenshe got really quiet I was like
oh, You're like, yep, that didit.
She's not responding very wellto this, and she didn't, and you
know, to her credit.
She just looked at me and shesaid you know, if you're that
unhappy, then it's probably timeto go.

(07:20):
And I said you're probablyright.
And so it was abrupt, and atthat point though, at that point
I it was like it was a very, itwas very refreshing.
It was just like yeah, reliefyeah.
Yeah, I'm, I'm.
I'm frustrated that I didn'thave the courage on my own, um,
to just say I'm done.
I had to.
You know, I had to make ithappen that way Because,
unfortunately, it didn't lead toa departure that was as as

(07:40):
ideal as I would have liked,right?
But I knew it was the rightthing and at that point I was
like well, I guess I'm going tohave to figure this out.

Paul (07:50):
What about?
You?
Had some companies that werewanting your services that were
currently clients of yourex-company.
Now, how did that transition?
How did you manage to navigatenon-competes and all this other?

Starla (07:57):
Well, unfortunately I didn't have a non-compete
no-transcript with about mydeparture, and so I explained
very clearly what I was leavingthe company to go and do.
And I remember, sitting on thesofa, I'm having to chase, my

(08:18):
feet are kicked up, I'm craftingthis email that I had spent
probably three or four hoursjust crafting right it was
probably a two-paragraph emailand spent three or four hours
crafting it right and I pressedsend.
I sat there for a secondbecause I knew that this was
blasting out to all of myclients and I just wasn't sure
what the reaction was going tobe, and this is no exaggeration.
I just shut my laptop lid, orwhatever it's called, and I

(08:38):
turned to stand up and my phonerang and it was one of my
clients down in Florida and itwas the marketing, the chief
marketing officer for thisparticular client, and he said
Starla, I am so super excitedfor you.
If you have a couple of hours,I'd love to strategize with you
on the marketing side of whatyou're going to be doing.
And then I, at that point I waslike this was right.
So that's what kept me going.
Actually, the first couple ofyears is that I had these

(08:59):
clients who already knew me andthey just started reaching out
saying hey, we know you're notwith them anymore, so can you
come do this, can you come anddo that?
So that's really what saved methose first two years is that I
had clients that I could alreadystart working with.

Paul (09:11):
Nice.

Brook (09:11):
Were you, since it was so abrupt.
How did you know you were goingto be stepping into this if it
was that abrupt?
Were you already like thinkingthrough this, but just not
courageous enough to say it?
And that's why you were able todo the kind of passive,
aggressive, abrupt thing thatyou went through and then be
able to send an email out sayingthis is where I'm going to Like
to not to have done it soabrupt, but really have a very

(09:32):
clear pattern of where you'regoing.
How'd you have that overlap?

Starla (09:35):
Well, I had been thinking about it for a year and
I think on both a conscious andsubconscious level, there was a
lot of processing going on forabout a year and a lot of
planning going on in my mind.
So when that happened, I hadalready kind of thought out the
direction I would go and what itwould look like.

Brook (09:49):
Did you have like a business plan together?
Oh heavens, no, none of that.
No, so you were just like well,here we go.

Starla (09:54):
No, no, and I think that's why everybody that loved
me, they were so terrified.

Zach (10:11):
They were like you're absolutely right, I don't, but
how hard can it be?
It was my confidence.
So what were some of the thingsin those early days that were
the biggest learning curves, ormaybe just curve balls in
general that you know you were?
You didn't feel innatelyequipped for, based on your
prior experience?

Starla (10:19):
Well, one of the things would be you know what you
pointed out, which was I wasoperating without a business
plan, I was going off of my guton everything, and the other
thing that started happening wasthat I started connecting with
entrepreneurs and other businessowners here in Indianapolis and
they were all in my ear, right.
Well, have you thought aboutthis?
Have you thought about that?
And so what I quickly startedto become I hate using the word

(10:43):
victim, but I was like a victimof listening too much to
everyone, because I startedlistening, you know.
Okay, well, let's say, I needto be doing this and I start
doing this.
I need to be doing this and Ineed to be doing this.
And all of a sudden, it becameabout all the backend
infrastructure that needs to bebuilt for your business.
And I had left so that I coulddeliver right, so I could work
with my clients.
And so I found myself reallyhaving tried to trying to
balance what's really essentialright now.
I need to be up on my feet, Ineed to be getting money in the

(11:05):
door, but at the same time, Ineed to be preparing for, you
know, creating theinfrastructure on the back end
so that I can grow this andscale this and be able to show
up for these clients in waysthat I've always showed up for
them, because what I was leavingwas a company that was doing
all that for me on the back end.
They were selling me, they were, you know, taking care of all
the invoicing, they, you knowall of that stuff right.
All I had to do was show up andjust wow the client.

(11:26):
And so now I started to realize, oh, I have to, I now I need to
be responsible for all of thisstuff.
So I stumbled I'm not going tolie, I stumbled for probably
three or four years just tryingto figure it all out, and even
at you know, four or five yearsin, I didn't have it all figured
what I was doing.

Zach (11:42):
And what are some of the tools or biggest tips that you
learned along the way that youfeel allowed you to pull away
from some of the minutiae or theparts that you're less
passionate about and back intothe core of what you intend with
your business?

Starla (12:01):
One of the tips that I got early on was to start to
farm out everything that you'renot good at, which I think is a
pretty obvious tip that most,most entrepreneurs get these
days.
And, um, my weakest area are thefinancials.
I am not a numbers person andso that was one of the first
things I farmed out prettyquickly is like I had asked for
a referral.
I got referred over to Brookeand then I you know, I remember
sitting down in your office thatyou had there in Broad Ripple

(12:23):
and working through all that andjust unloading all of the
financial side of it wasimportant to get that to a place
where I actually had numbersthat I could look at, but still,
I have a weakness in running abusiness off of numbers.
So the other thing that wasrecommended to me very early on
that I was glad I did, was Icreated a board of directors or
board of advisors.
I called them my strategicintelligence board because they

(12:44):
were not paid at all.
Right, but uh, one of thethings I did is I started, I
created a board of advisors whofilled in all of my gap areas,
all of my weak spots.

Brook (12:52):
Like what were the subjects they were in Well.

Starla (12:53):
So I had two numbers people.
Okay, I knew very clearly Ineeded people that were going to
challenge me on the numbers,because I'm I'm a big ideas
person, I and I just it's notintuitive for me to think about
the numbers at all and Idefinitely don't think about it
in the beginning of any kind ofum you know, conversation about
you know business decisions.
And so I had two numbers guys.
One was a CEO of anorganization and then one was a
business coach um who helpedpeople build their you know

(13:15):
their financial structures fortheir company.
And then I had, um, a galthat's very visionary um,
someone who could look out intothe future and see what I was
doing and how it might translatefrom a very futuristic
standpoint, because I'm verymuch here in the now person and
I knew that kind of you knowdoing the forecasting about
where the market is going andwhat trends are we seeing and

(13:37):
how could this be built out in away that is bigger than I ever
intended.
I had her.
And then I had a marketing guywho owned his own marketing firm
.
He was on the board as well.
And then I wanted a fellowfemale business owner, someone
who had already been there, donethat, built something and knew.
Kind of, she could say, yes, Iwas in your shoes 20 years ago.
Here's, you know.
Here are the things you need tobe thinking about.

(13:57):
So getting that strategicintelligence board in place was
really good.
And then what would happen is Iwould all the things that I was
hearing from you know all of myfellow entrepreneurs you need
to do this, you need to do that,you need to.
I'd bring it back to my boardof advisors and I'd talk it out
with them and they would be theones to say you don't need to be
wasting your time on that rightnow.
You know that's going to beessential later, but don't worry
about that right now.
Start over, and that I need tofocus on.
It is so very hard when you'rerunning a business.
So, like you, sit back and talkabout you.

(14:17):
Help people think.

Brook (14:27):
And sometimes, when you're in your own business, you
can't even think through yourown business because you're
taking care of helping everybodyelse and you're exhausted by at
the end of the day.
And so it's very funny.
I mean, I'm the same exact way.
I finally got to the pointwhere I don't do doing it for
everybody else.
So you are in the same spot oflike you are helping people
think, but you have learned thatyou need other people to help
you think too.

(14:48):
And it's not just I got thisfigured out, and so let me tell
you all this it's just as muchof a journey for you and
bringing around that communityto kind of pull through it, and
so it's kind of it'sentertaining to me that I'm
sitting back going.
You're helping people think,and at the beginning you were

(15:08):
like I don't know where to lookfirst, like you needed someone
else to help you think becauseyou were too close to it.
Um, and there's nothing to beembarrassed about by asking
people for help, like that'sjust what I think if you're, if
the quickest way to fail as abusiness owner is to think you
can do it all yourself and youdon't need any advisors
somewhere in there, and so, um,yeah, that's just.
It was an interesting kind ofpiece that you were saying.

Starla (15:23):
And I think any business owner that would not agree with
that.
They're definitely in denialand preparing for failure.

Brook (15:30):
Yeah.

Starla (15:30):
You can't do it yourself .
You've really got to bring,you've got to surround yourself
with people who are going to askall the right questions and
stimulate your thoughts in waysthat you're just not going to be
able to do it yourself.

Zach (15:40):
Yeah, I talk a lot about triangulation, like I want.
I want one person that thinksall the way on this side of you
know, or or.
I like to sit in between twopeople on a spectrum in terms of
my you know kind of advisoryinfluences, and I think you do
kind of naturally get a yeahkind of you know triangulation
of, of a comprehensiveperspective or what concrete

(16:01):
there is.
You know there, because mostthings are perception or gray
area or what have you.
But you know you kind of findthose commonalities when you
take those extreme points andfind that middle space.

Brook (16:10):
Now, have you ever gotten to a point where you it's going
to be more than Starla, so Imean, there's so many hours in a
day You're talking abouthelping people think so, you
spent four hours with yourgirlfriend and you loved it, but
like those four hours sothere's only so much touch you
can do with it.
Is this a business that is yourown lifestyle or is this a
business that is more than yourlifestyle?
Have you journeyed back andforth with that topic, like,

(16:31):
where are you on that spectrumof things?

Starla (16:32):
Oh boy, that's a.
That's a big question how teamplayer are you?
Well, and actually it tiesquite nicely into the
conversation that we were justhaving, because once I got about
, you know, three or four yearsinto the business, and my name
started becoming known, and Istarted to feel the same thing
that most solopreneurs feel,which is especially those that
are selling their time is thatI've got bandwidth issues and I

(16:57):
there's, you know, there's apoint at which I'm not going to
be able to make any more moneybecause I don't, I've maxed out.
And so, you know, when youstart articulating that to
people, the first thing they'regoing to look at you and say is
well, you need to scale right.
So does it have to be you?
And that was a tough questionfor me to answer, because I'd
left that company and startedthis business because I knew I

(17:18):
had things I wanted to do and Iwanted to show up and do them in
the star of the way.
And so my first, my initialresponse, without even thinking,
was well, yeah, it kind of doesneed to be me.
And they were like well, let'stalk through that right.
So, after tons of conversations, I had been convinced that it
didn't have to be me and,ultimately, anybody that wants
to scale a coaching business.
You have to get there.
This business is about morethan just me, right?

(17:43):
And so I had mentally gotten tothat point and I just thought,
okay, well, if I want to scalethis business, I need to bring
other coaches in under myumbrella, and then I need to
start offering things that I can, you know, farm out to other
people.
And I went down that path and Ihated it.
I hated it because I foundmyself day in and day out
spending time on the things Idid not want to be doing.
I did not want to be overseeingother people.

(18:05):
I did not want to be.
And it took me and the sad partis it took me three years to
figure it out, because I wasn'tclear on what my vision was.
And once I finally went backand said you know, five, ten
years out, starla, what is yourvision?
Where do you want to be?
And I got really honest withmyself.
That's when I had to look ateverybody else.
But then I had to look atmyself and say you did not start
this business because youwanted to scale it.

(18:26):
It's not like you're trying tobuild a business coaching empire
.
Build a business coachingempire.
I mean, it can be done andthat's a great path for a lot of
people, but it's not a greatpath for me.
I'm unhappy and I just don'twant to do this anymore.
And so that's when I startedpulling back and I said, nope,
this business is all about meshowing up and having the kind
of impact that I know I can haveand I can make people's lives
better and I can help makecompanies more effective in the

(18:48):
work that they're doing.
And if I go to my grave doingthat every day, then I will be a
very happy woman.
And um, but that's a toughdecision to make, because you
look around you and you see allyour friends scaling businesses
and and building empires, andthen you think, well, should I
be doing that?
And and you know every businessowner has to figure that answer
that, the answer to thatquestion out themselves.
They just have to.
And for me it was no, I do notwant to be doing this.

(19:10):
And so then that's when Iredirected to okay, well, there
are other ways to build abusiness and to make money while
you're sleeping.
And I also had lots of peopleknocking on my door saying

(19:34):
Starla, you have amazing content.
Why haven't you turned thisinto a book?
Why haven't you turned thisinto a project or a product?
Why haven't you turned thisinto an online course?
And I'm like oh my gosh, I'm soexcited I could do that.
I could hide away in my officefor months creating stuff like
that for clients.

Brook (19:46):
And I was like, okay, that's how I'm going to build
this business and that's how I'mgoing to make this business
talk to people about, like whatwill make you grow and become
profitable.
And the very first thing that Igo through is it's your
perspective and your mindsetthat you bring to it.
And if your mindset is feelinglike I'm going to mess up and
fail and fall on my face, oryou're nervous or you're anxious
about something, you're kind ofgoing to make decisions that

(20:07):
probably aren't the greatest.
Or if you feel like you'regoing to succeed, you kind of
keep pushing through, eventhough you hit roadblocks of
stuff or a mentality that's likeI'm not comfortable doing risks
or like whatever your mindsetis, it totally impacts things.
And then I have people who talkabout passion over here and I'm
like passion is a form of yourmindset.
If it's something you love,your mindset is going to sit

(20:27):
back and go.
I want to get up and do this.
If it's something you hate,you're going to be like gosh,
like all right, I have to godeal with that.
And every job has some piecethat you're going to hate, like,
okay, we had a mistake.
I have to come to you.
I have to tell you that therewas a mistake.
Or you know, there's some pieceof something that you're just
like ugh, I don't really want todo that aspect.

(20:48):
And then there's some piecethat you do like to it, but it's
super important that the coreof it is something you enjoy,
because you will bring the rightmindset to the table.
You'll make the right decisions, and you are probably you're
making decisions at one point intime based on what everybody
else is telling you you shoulddo of like hey, I should be a
scaling business, like for me tobe successful, for people to
look at me and be like dang,like she's doing awesome, like I

(21:16):
have to have an empire.
But you're going, that's notwhat I want.
Like that's not the like.
So now I feel trapped and likeI'm dying and I don't want to be
here, and your mindset startsto shift to the wrong thing.
And passion is just as much apart of that mindset as just
your own dealing with traumasand various different things.
You have to that impact stuff,but it definitely plays a huge
key in being able to sustainthrough all of the stuff that is
not fun about business sendingout invoices, doing marketing,

(21:39):
organizing podcasts all of those.
I love talking on them, but allof those things that cannot be
as fun.
You have to have some passionthat makes you go.
Okay, I'll do those piecebecause it allows me to do this
piece of it.
So, yeah, I totally respectthat.
You went through that thoughtpattern and I almost think too
you have you sat back and said Ididn't know my vision, like I

(21:59):
didn't know where I was goingwith it.
Like if you had started at thebeginning of people were telling
you to grow and you would haveknown your vision, you would
have said no to that.
But I kind of think sometimesyou have to go through the thing
.
That's not right for you to go.
This isn't right for you not toever wonder somewhere down the
line.
Did I make the wrong decision?
No, I made it and I didn't likeit.
So it's not the wrong decision,it was you have.

(22:19):
You have to step into the like.

Starla (22:21):
I don't want to regret, I don't want to wonder I'm going
to test this and no, I don'tlike it and I can definitely
look back and say I tried it, Itried it and I don't look at it
as failure.
I look at it as part of mydiscovery process and don't get
me wrong, because I still havethose things that I don't want
to do on a daily basis in thebusiness.
Right now that never goes away.
As you just stated.
Proposals that's the worstthing.

(22:41):
Like I'll get off the phonewith a client and we have agreed
to do business.
I've got to write it up, and nowI've gotten really good at
making sure I don't tell myhusband about that phone
conversation or that day,because my husband's a sales guy
and he was like so you got theengagement agreement out right
away, right, and I was like yeah.
I'm going to do that tomorrow.
He'll ask me two or three dayslater and I'm like, oh my gosh,
like I know, like.

Brook (23:08):
I'm terrible about that.
I get a tool that makes themeasier, right, so that you're
just like okay, I'm going to popit up.
It's the same engagement letterfor everybody.
Like, put your name in, send,like good, like I don't have to
like customize it, but those arethe things that.
Yeah, habits and systems.
Yeah, systems that are sosimple that it's like okay, it
seconds of, and I can do it frommy phone, or like finding the

(23:29):
right tools.

Paul (23:30):
I have one question about.
With the.
You had a bit of advisors allthe way through this.
They took you on this growthspurt and then you said stop, I
don't want to do this.
How was that?
How was that received?
And did they try and sort ofkeep you on that?

Starla (23:43):
path.
Well, yes, they my advisorswere incredibly supportive
advisors and they never took medown a path that I didn't show
interest in pursuing.
So it wasn't as if theseparticular advisors were coming
to the table saying here's anidea, we think you should do
this right.
This is all stuff that I hadbrought to them for discussion.
They would support me, and sowhen I started to pull back,

(24:06):
they you know they I think theyhad worked with me long enough
to know okay, this is you.
Okay, she's pulling back.
She must have a reason for it.
Let's ask her all the rightquestions, let's help her think
through all this stuff, but ifthat's the path she wants to go,
that's the path she's going togo.

Zach (24:17):
They were fine with it.
Was that recommended to you byputting that board together?
Was that someone's idea thatyou had come up with, or was
that something that haddeveloped organically through
networking relationships thatyou had?

Starla (24:29):
That was suggested to me .
So I had, very early on,connected with someone who said
if you just started a business,you need to join the National
Association of Women BusinessOwners.
And I'm like, okay, great, tellme what that is, I'll join it.
And so I had gotten into thatorganization, started building
relationships and it wasactually the executive director
of that organization just havingcoffee with her one day and at
the end of the conversation shesaid you know, starla, I've
listened to you enough to knowyou're.

(24:50):
You're at a place where you'reready You're really ready for a
board of advisors.
So that that came from her.
That was not a brilliant idea Icame up with on my own At all.

Brook (25:04):
So you have um started now your own podcast, and you
are now switching into uh,creating material.
Where are you?
Where are you wanting to gowith your?

Starla (25:08):
company.
Great question, great question.
So well, you know one thing Iwill point out um, the reason
and the sound and I hope thisdoesn't sound too ego involved,
but the whole reason I'm stillin business today is, um,
because I'm good at what I do.
Not because I'm brilliant atmarketing or sales, because I
still, to this day, invest verylittle in marketing and sales

(25:29):
and and um, promoting myself onsocial media.
I cringe every time I have topress, send and promote my blog
post that I put out in mypodcast, and I know that that's
kind of a necessary evil.
I need to do that, but that'sall I do, right?
So the only reason I'm reallyin business is because I have
survived on referrals.
Return clients and thenspeaking on stage always

(25:51):
generates business for me, andthen, if I can produce content
and push that out, that is whatproduces business for me, and so
I'm still here today simplybecause of that.
And if I wasn't good at what Idid, I would be out of business
by now, because I one of theother weak areas that I have is
just building a, a marketingplan at the beginning of each
year and and executing amarketing plan in a way that
real businesses.
Actually, I say real businesses, but but you know legit

(26:11):
businesses should be doing, andso I don't.
I don't want to gloss over that, because I do think that that
is a mistake that I continue tomake, and I'm just fearful of
the day that that comes andbites me.

Zach (26:22):
I think marketing is oh sorry, I think marketing is
difficult for good listeners, ifthat makes sense Like marketing
is building a conversation in aspace where you are assuming no
one is listening or no one ispaying attention.
Um, and as a good listener andas a good communicator, it is
tough to shout things repeatedlyinto the abyss and not you know

(26:45):
know if that engagement ishappening or in what capacity
that engagement is happening.
Not receiving that feedback, Ifeel like that's just something
I identify a lot, that peoplethat part of their specialty or,
you know, superpower, bread andbutter what have you is is
listening and, you know, kind ofbeing in that advisory role,
those sorts of things.
Those are typically people thatdon't like to talk about
themselves upfront or do the youknow kind of snake oil salesman

(27:07):
.

Starla (27:07):
I think you hit the nail on the head on that.
Yeah, I mean, that is actuallya very beautiful read, because
that's why I don't want toconvince anybody to do business
with me.
That's not my mode.

Brook (27:17):
I don't think you.
You made the statement of likehow businesses should run.
So there's a book calledGetting Naked by Patrick Lianoni
.
I butchered that.
So whatever, lianoni, okay, saythat again.

Paul (27:28):
Lianoni Lencioni, another Italian name that people
struggle with.

Brook (27:32):
But he does this whole thing about.
It's a kind of parable story oftwo consulting firms that come
in and one of them buys outanother one that's like doing
really, really well, and he goesin and studies them and
realizes that what makes them doreally well is they go in for a
sales meeting and instead ofpitching stuff, they actually
just start doing the work andthey like build up the
relationship and the trust andthey don't do hardly any

(27:58):
marketing, it's all referral ofmouth.
But that that I think we asbusinesses get so caught up
sometimes in the marketing weforget the just do quality work
and care about the person andnot just try to sell them but
engage in them and understandthem, and I think that will by
far outlast the typicalmarketing driver of like let me
shout into the abyss.
So I I mean I don't think youreally worry about it, but like

(28:18):
your statement of like this, Imight be in trouble someday.
I think if you are content withit, just filling your time, and
you are enjoying it and you areloving it, and that is going to
be contagious and fill enoughof your time, I mean I think
it's the perfect marketingaspect of things.
It takes momentum, so you haveto have enough people underneath
you to like in long enough time.

(28:39):
It may be a slower grow, butit's probably a pretty dang
stable one.

Starla (28:44):
Yeah, well, and I think probably what you just witnessed
is one of my challenges thatclearly I haven't gotten past in
14 years, which is watchingwhat the rest of the world is
doing, especially those in myindustry, and and and thinking
to myself, well, I probablyshould be doing that, but I'm
not right.
And because you can, I mean youcan't.
You can't go out to socialmedia and in your feed not see
probably every 10, you know 10posts some coach out there

(29:07):
promoting their programs, right?

Paul (29:08):
Really engaging.
Who's to say they're right.

Starla (29:11):
Absolutely, You're absolutely correct and I will
tell you that.
You know, in the coaching world, coaching coaches are like
Starbucks, I mean, there's oneon every single corner and I
actually got to a point,probably a couple of years ago,
and said to myself and I don'tknow if this was my way of
consoling myself, but I was justlike you know what they're
doing that because they need thebusiness, You've got the
business, you don't need to dothis Right.

(29:31):
And and I'm also also veryfearful of what kind of business
I would get, because I'vegotten myself to a place where I
don't want to work with you.
If I'm not your the rightsolution and even though I could
help you, if there's notalignment here or I feel like
there's someone else better,better equipped or is going to
have a much larger impact withyou, then I'm referring you on

(29:53):
Because, again, I don't want todo that.
That would make me incrediblyunhappy to be showing up and
doing work for people just forthe money.
And, trust me, there are lotsof people that look at me and
they roll my eyes, the rollereyes, including my husband,
who's a business owner.
He's just like Starla take thedollars.
And I'm like I'm not taking thedollars because I do not want
to work with this person, Right,and so that that puts limits on
my business.
That puts limits on my business, but I have actually gotten to

(30:15):
a place where I'm like I amcomfortable with that, because
it's not why I started thisbusiness in 2009.

Zach (30:20):
As you kind of move into the content development side of
things, I'm curious kind of someof the you know internal
elements of your decision makingthere, like and maybe this is a
total you know layman's thingthat I'm I don't understand, but
like why not just increaseprices and keep doing what
you're doing?
Like if you've got a fullschedule and and you know demand
is high, like what keeps thingsfrom kind of continuing in that

(30:44):
space of you know, I just Iknow consultants all the time
that are like oh yeah, price isgoing up, price is going up.
So what, what makes you more?
And yeah, I'm sure you knowit's not to say you never have a
price increase by any stretchof the imagination.
But yeah, like, like what, whatkeeps you from playing
exclusively that game versusgoing the more kind of you know
syndicated or broadcastedapproach?

(31:05):
Like what are the benefitsversus the, the or you know the
major kind of pitfalls or orbenefits that you saw?
uh, kind of saying I'm, I'm kindof you know, branch out and do
this brand new thing on thatside instead of increasing
prices instead, instead of yeah,like, instead of leaning into,
you know you've decided I'm notgoing to scale, I'm not going to
do this with with other people.
Is it a um, a matter of tryingto?

(31:26):
Is it revenue growth?
Is it exposure to, you know,the person that you're looking
to impact, like, what's theprimary driver in putting
yourself in a media format andkind of taking that more uniform
approach, when the consultingthat you've done up to this
point has very much been, youknow, kind of that.
There's no one size fits alland you know I'm going to come

(31:46):
in and take a very customizedapproach, right, right, yeah,
okay.

Starla (31:49):
So great question, and I understand it now.
So I've started.
In the very beginning I startedwith terrible prices.
I mean, they were just so low,in fact, the money, the money
people that I had on my advisoryboard.
One day I had come in and I wasso excited that I had I had
booked this client and of coursethey asked okay, what's the?
You know what's the fee thatyou're charging?
And I shared it with them and Isaw the two money guys just
kind of look at each other andthen, on break, they started.

(32:11):
They were over there justscribbling and doing some math
and I was like, oh, I'm so introuble, here we go.
And they said, starla, we needfor you to come over here and
take a look at this, becauseyou've got first, we've got some
questions for you.
How much time are you going toinvest in doing this?
Right?
So they started going throughall said you're going to lose
money, this one.
And I was like, oh my gosh, butI can't increase my prices,

(32:32):
they won't pay more.
Who's going to pay more thanthis?
And so I had a learning curvevery early on that I had to
start to really realize what themarket was going to pay.
Now I'm proud to say I am at aprice point now that I am
getting the quality of theclient that I want.
About five or six years ago Idid sit down and I developed
psychographics for who my idealclient was, and that was as a

(32:52):
result of my advisory boardsaying you know, who is your
ideal client, who gravitates toyou, who does well, you know,
under your coaching umbrella?
I was like that's a greatquestion.
So one of the things I did is Iand I'm kind of going off
course, but I will circle backto of all my clients, and I had
individual clients and then Ihad my corporate clients, and so

(33:14):
I cut, I printed out thesecolor photos and I just spread
them all over my living room andI was like, okay, what do these
people have in common?
Right, and it was.
I wasn't looking fordemographics, I was looking for
psychographics.
And you know how do they think,what do they care about?
What's important to them, whatdo they fear, what do they, what
do they not give a crap about?
You know what industries arethey in and at what level.
So I developed all thesepsychographics and then, after I

(33:35):
did that, I had this beautifulpicture of who SWI, starless
International, serves and Istarted to realize that price
point, that that aligned withwho.
They were Right.
And so now I'm at a price pointwhere I'm getting that the
quality client that I want.
Could I increase my pricesright now and not lose

(33:56):
opportunities?
I'm not 100% sure, I would haveto test that, but I am at a
place where I just don'tdiscount my prices anymore.
So if I have coaching clientsthat you know want to come in
but they just can't, you know,pay my fee, I, you know, I just
I refer them on to someone else.
So I do feel like my prices aresolid and I feel good about

(34:21):
them.
Now, all that being said, um, myshift to content was the way my
heart would break when I wouldhave to refer someone that I
knew I could help, or when Iwould just have to not take
someone on because they couldnot pay my fee.
That's so painful for me,especially if I see that they
have the capacity to get towhere they want to be and they
have the passion for it, butthey just don't have the means.
My heart just broke.
And so, finally, one of theladies on my advisory board said

(34:43):
Starla, you just got to startputting out content.
You know, if you create theonline courses for them and you
offer that at a price point thatthey can afford, that's how
you'll be able to start servingthem.
And that's how I was sold on itright away, because I was like
I want to help these individuals, but I've got to stay at this
price point or I'm not going tobe profitable and I'm going to
have to go back to corporateamerica and I don't want to go
there.
Right, so I have to stay atthis price point.
But how do I start to deliverto those people who really

(35:04):
deserve this content?

Paul (35:05):
and it's through the you online courses and in the
podcast as well yeah, thatbecomes your marketing campaign
is they do the online courses,then they graduate through and
up.

Starla (35:15):
Right, it's just a classic way to do it, the whole
funnel thing that I heareverybody talking about what are
those marketing terminologies?

Paul (35:22):
well, they get a taste of your style and they like the
content, then they.
You know, the first one's free,the second one they pay a
little bit more.
Right, that's a drug thing,isn't it?

Starla (35:31):
It works in all industries.

Paul (35:33):
Exactly.

Brook (35:34):
What is the biggest thing you are proud of and the
biggest thing you are kind of?

Paul (35:40):
sad about, ashamed about, with your whole business side of
things.

Brook (35:43):
Still working on, still working on.
Maybe that's it.
I have friends with our kids.
They say you can't say youdon't like food.
It's you're still learning tolike.
So what is the thing you'restill learning to?

Starla (35:52):
to to better at Well let's start with what I'm most
proud about.
Well, two things.
One, that I'm still in business14 years later.
That's awesome.
That's, no, no small feat.
Yeah, I'm very proud about that.
I'm very proud of thereputation that I, that I
believe I have among the peoplethat you know I care most about.
And then I'm really proud ofjust my clients.

(36:16):
Just being able to sit backbecause I kept all those photos
and I continue to print thosephotos because I want them in
front of me every day.
And when I can look at allthose photos and know, you know,
where I started with theseindividuals and where they are
now, that's what fuels me everyday.
So that's what I'm most proudabout.
The list of what am I stillworking on?
What am I?

(36:37):
Oh gosh, that list is long.
I'm trying to figure out whatwould go all the way to the top.
I boy, I would say thatprobably what would be at the
top of that list is stillgetting better at running the
business based on the numbers.
If I have to be honest, Ireally, I mean I, I fight that

(36:59):
every day, but I know it is mykryptonite.
It is my kryptonite and if Idon't get my act together.

Zach (37:04):
I'm constantly going to struggle with that, yeah, and Do
you feel like that's a give andtake in any light?
Or do you think, prettycomfortably, that if you follow
the numbers more closely thatwould be a net positive hands
down, just like, do the gut?
You know gut reactions and thekind of I wish I?
Could say Tissue, just like dothe gut, you know gut reactions
and the kind of tissueconnectivity to your business

(37:24):
Like.
Do you think sometimes that,yeah, I wish I could say, yes, I
wish.

Starla (37:28):
I could say yes, but it goes so much deeper than that.
But as it goes deeper, it alsobecomes incredibly clear and
simple.
I'm not motivated by money.
Yeah, I'm just not motivated bymoney.
I'm not like I don't get up inthe morning and and think by
money.
I'm not like I don't get up inthe morning and and think about
money and and because of that itI just don't do things in my
business that I need to do.
When it comes to the numbersand really thinking about the

(37:49):
numbers and how that translatesto how much you know, you know
revenue that the, you know theorganization is bringing in, and
and so I'm embarrassed to saythat.
But at the end of the day, Ialso know that that's my truth,
and I'm still working on tryingto figure out how do I fool my
mind into looking at this alittle differently, so that it's
not about making money but moreabout sustainability, and

(38:10):
that's where I'm kind of atright now is how do I think
about?
it as just being sustainable.

Zach (38:13):
Is making more money synonymous with better service
to your you know servedpopulation, or to you as you
know the piece of it that's yourpassion project of population,
or to you as you know the pieceof it that's your passion
project?
Or are you saying you shouldfollow that just out of the
intrinsic sense that businessesshould make as much money as
they can?

Starla (38:31):
Well, that comes from a couple of places.
One, you know I need to bebuilding wealth.
I hit 50 this year, and so I'mon the on the backside of things
and I'm nowhere near where Iwould want to be if I wanted to
slow down, and so buildingwealth is something that's going
to be essential, and then themore money you have, the more
you can show up and do for yourclients, and there are things

(38:51):
that I want to do, but sometimesmy financials keep me from
doing it, and so those are thekind of things that I try to run
in my head every day.
That this is why this isimportant, starla.
This is why this is importantto look at those numbers and to
really be focused more onbudgeting and planning.

Brook (39:05):
I'm a firm believer that very few people are really about
the money.
It's the thing behind the money.
So I want to be able to havethat luxurious house.
I want to.
You know, I grew up in povertyand I need a safety net and I
don't like, like it's a fearfactor that makes them focus on
money or this, um, uh, justsecurity or comparison to others

(39:26):
.
It's never the money itself, itis always something else, and
if you can find your somethingelse, it helps you be more
comfortable just looking at themoney side of things, and it
also maybe helps you hold themoney not so tightly.
Um, where you're like, oh well,well, that cost me a little bit
more than I needed.
Money will still keep coming inand I'll figure this out.
It doesn't have to be youranxiety driven thing.

(39:47):
If you can figure out what itis behind the scenes that you're
trying to get to.
So money is, it doesn'tsurprise me that you're like I'm
not about the money.
Very few people are, and youget up to do what you do because
you love it, and the onlyreason you look at it is do what
you do because you love it, andthe only reason you look at it
is again, so you can have.
So you can keep doing that andthat when you are done doing

(40:08):
that you don't have to keepdoing it sort of thing.
So I think that's completelyfair from that side.
Yeah Well, I have a few funquestions, um, just to get your
reaction to so, um, uh, so I'mgoing to ask them give me your
one word answers, your five wordanswers, whatever piece those
are.
But so for you, how late isfashionably late.

Starla (40:22):
How late is fashionably late?
I don't know, because I'm notan advocate of being fashionably
late.
I'm almost always on time orearly, so I don't know.
Got it.

Brook (40:32):
So hey, you're like if I'm not there at the time that
it is.
I am late and it's not good.

Starla (40:38):
That's the mindset I'm in.

Zach (40:39):
Is that personal events too, like if the party's at six,
like you're at the party at six?

Starla (40:44):
In most cases, yeah.
Yeah, I mean if we have someflex time.
You know, I'm usually not too,but I want to get there.
I want to get there as quicklyas I can because I need to.

Brook (40:50):
I said it either, and I can't wait to see everyone, and
I've got all kinds of questionsfor everybody.
So your at a businessnetworking event.
What is your drink of choice?

Starla (41:01):
Oh, I would say probably goose soda and a lemon.

Brook (41:06):
Goose soda.
I don't even know what goosesoda is.

Starla (41:08):
Grey goose vodka Grey goose and soda.

Brook (41:10):
Oh okay, got it.
See, there's some things inlife I'm so not.

Starla (41:16):
Mine is a nice glass of red wine, I learned early on
when you just get vodka and soda, and especially if you don't
put fruit in it, people aren'tclear on whether or not you're
drinking.
Yeah, of course, these days itbecomes pretty clear after the
second glass.
She's had two, she's good.

Brook (41:33):
Do you get super talkative when you're a little
tipsy?

Starla (41:37):
Yes, but I also get tired.
Okay, I get really tired now.

Brook (41:41):
Yeah, it's kind of crazy how you change what is your
personal motto.

Starla (41:44):
Personal motto let's get after it.

Brook (41:46):
Let's get after it.
Let's get after it, get afterit.

Zach (41:48):
She knows this right off the bat, I appreciate that the
motto is about let's get up anddo it, and she was ready, yeah.

Starla (41:54):
Just do it.
My clients will tell you In.
I mean, they verbalized this tome.
They were like, if I hear yousay that one more time Is that
how you end every meeting.

Brook (42:04):
Let's get after it.

Starla (42:04):
Let's get after it, let's go or stay the course.
That's another one that theylike in the beginning.
But they're like, okay, I'veheard that enough, starla.
I'm like stay the course, we'vegot our plan.
We know what the vision is, weknow what the.

(42:26):
What color do you think of whenyou think of a business owner?
When I think of a businessowner, probably black.
Interesting why?
Yeah, I don't know.
Just black is what I associatewith being businessy, businessy.

Brook (42:33):
It's the suit that goes on Buttoned up.
Yeah, even though very fewpeople do that today.

Zach (42:37):
Yeah, I feel like we've gotten black and blue a lot.

Brook (42:40):
We got red once.

Zach (42:41):
Well, I think I.
Oh, you did the red, okay, so Idon't count.

Brook (42:43):
You do count, you totally do.
Favorite person to followpodcast Instagram, facebook,
tiktok Dr Huberman.

Starla (42:52):
What is Dr Huberman that's?

Zach (42:53):
Andrew Huberman Andrew.

Starla (42:54):
Huberman yeah, he's a neuroscientist.
I hope I'm getting that correct.

Paul (42:59):
So details are not my thing.

Starla (43:00):
Details are not my thing , but he's a neuroscientist at
Stanford who has created thispodcast that I'm personally in
awe of, because it's veryscience-driven and as soon as
you start getting into sciencewith me, I mean, that's when my
eyes start to gloss over, andhis podcast episodes can be
anywhere between an hour to twoto three hours long, and I
listen to them the entire thingand I just geek out on
everything that he discusses.

(43:20):
So, yeah, he's my idol rightnow.

Zach (43:23):
Is there a topic or one in particular, like an episode or
something you can think of?
That really was a profound.
I know he goes all over theplace, so I'm just curious if
there's a specific one that likekind of stuck with you that.

Starla (43:33):
Well, I have two answers to that.
One of them is going to be alittle long, is that okay?
Yeah, fine.
So one of the reasons that Ilisten to him is research for my
clients, because once you startto listen to him, you start to
realize he is all aboutoptimizing your mental health
and your physical health, and hehas a very science-based
approach, which I appreciate.
I cannot stand doing thingsuntil there's a scientific

(43:58):
reason why we should be doingthis.
Prove to me how this works andwhy it works this way, and then
let's make it as simple aspossible, and he does that.
He does that with all of hispodcasts.
So the first reason I listen isjust research my clients,
because I take so much of thatand then I can go back and have
conversations with them.
One of the topics, though, thathe has hit on quite a bit which
is on my radar right now and itgoes back to a question that

(44:19):
you had asked what's next for mybusiness?
You've caught me in atransition time, because I am
feeling a very strong calling toincorporating psychedelic
integration coaching into mylineup.

Brook (44:31):
Very interesting.
What does that mean?
I'm going to be the uneducatedsilly one here and I will just
ask it no, you're not, no,you're not.

Starla (44:37):
You probably know what I'm talking about.
Yeah, yeah, I mean sayingpsychedelic assisted.

Zach (44:41):
I mean something similar to like a therapy.
You know how they're doing withtherapy, but in a coaching
space, I would assume.
Yeah, I've not heard of before,but just the way you described
it, I kind of intuited.

Starla (44:49):
Yep.
So and you don't have toapologize for not being familiar
with this, because this is thisis me now future casting One of
the things that I've gottenreally good at working with my
clients is just really payingattention to trends and signals
in the market right now.
That could give us some idea asto where things are going in
the future, right, so I spent asignificant amount of time,
especially with my corporateclients, future casting, really
trying to pay attention.
So, uh, you know, thought, well, start.

(45:11):
You know you teach your clientsto do this all day long.
You really need to start doingthis for yourself.

Brook (45:14):
Uh, so about five years ago, I had I started paying
attention to all the researchthat is being done right here in
the United States on the use ofpsychedelics to treat mental
and physical health problems.

Zach (45:34):
This is LSD and psilocybin .

Starla (45:35):
I was like is she talking about drugs?
So a lot of people there's asmall portion of people in the
United States that are payingclose attention to it and most
everybody else has no idea thatthis is happening.
If you go to clinicaltrialsgovand you just search psilocybin
or psychedelics in general, youwill find I think the last time
I checked there are 176 clinicaltrials right here in the United
States using and there'sseveral psychedelics out there,

(45:57):
but using psychedelics to treator to help with mental and
physical health problems, and soin paying very close attention
to that, I started to see thatthe psychedelics are doing
exactly what I'm trying to do ona daily basis and what
therapists are trying to do on adaily basis.
They're doing it far better andquicker.

(46:18):
In fact, we are in third-phasetrials right now.
Third-phase trials FDA is realclose to approving psilocybin
for the use of treatment of PTSD.
Two guided trips and when I sayguided trips it's someone taking
psilocybin in a very safe spacewith a guide therapist, three,

(46:42):
four hours and then, as afterthey've went through that
experience now, they startworking with their therapist to
start integrating what happenedduring that trip into you know,
real life, cause you know youcome out of this trip.
You've got to go back to thereal world, but there are so
many things that happened duringthat trip that can help you
work through whatever it is thatyou need to be working through,
and so I just became fascinated.

Zach (46:56):
I was like are you kidding me?
You know I.
I mean I can work a full yearwith a client just trying to
open up their mind and help themset their ego aside so that
they can start to see

Paul (47:08):
things or reset something that's deeply set in terms of
their habitual patterns yeah,that's so interesting.

Zach (47:10):
So what are the kind of as you embark on that?
Like that has to be a hairykind of thing from the
standpoint of findingcertification, or how do you go?
What, how do you?
How do you?

Starla (47:22):
go about getting into that territory.

Zach (47:24):
Well, one would think it would be here or rather what you
know, what red tape is there oris there?

Starla (47:29):
not Well.

Zach (47:30):
So you know, I guess I'm yeah, my wife is a therapist and
like we're like well-versed inthis stuff.
So I'm thinking about it fromher side, where there's so much
stuff that has to be done andeducation and things to be the
therapist in that room.
I'm curious if there's any ofthat for a coaching space or if
it's.

Starla (47:48):
There is Okay, there is yeah.
So ketamine is the only approvedpsychedelic in the States right
now, but there's ketaminetreatment centers all throughout
the country and what we'reseeing is it's not going to be
long before there are going tobe a couple other psychedelics
that are approved here in theStates Now.
They're going to be approved forthings like PTSD, depression,

(48:10):
anxiety, and so when it comes tothe integration, that's going
to require a therapist becauseyou know you're talking about
mental health issues you wantsomeone who is qualified and has
, you know, done all the workthey need to do to just really
understand what's happening whenthat person's, you know, under
the influence of psychedelicsand then helping them use all of
that to treat those mentalhealth issues.
That's not the path that I wantto go.
I thought about it because Iwas fascinated.

(48:31):
I was like, you know, and Ialso have so many clients tell
me, you know, starla, I've movedforward far quicker with you in
six months than I have spendingfour or five years with my
therapist, right, and so I'mlike but I'm not a therapist,
don't go telling people, I'm atherapist, I'm not a therapist,
but they're like you are mytherapist.
No, I'm not your therapist, donot say that out loud.
But so I was thinking do I wantto go down that path?

(49:01):
And you know there's a lotote,all of that in South and Central
America.
We are really starting to see alarge number of individuals
from the United States go downto Central America, south
America, for ayahuascaceremonies or any kind of plant
medicine ceremony, and myhusband and I did that in May.
How did it go?
It was the most amazingexperience that I have ever had.

(49:24):
It was the most spiritualexperience that I've had and I'm
not a very spiritual person,and it was the most spiritual
experience I ever had.
It was like pressing the resetbutton on my brain.
It was a big fat reset buttonon my brain and it helped me
work through some things that Ihad been struggling with the
last couple of years that reallyhad kind of stalled me out
personally and professionally,and I had gotten to the point

(49:45):
where I knew I've got to dosomething, because working with
a therapist isn't enough.
Doing my own internal work,trying to address this on my own
, isn't working, and I know thatthere are ways of looking at
this that exist that I just Ican't quiet my mind down enough
to see it, and my husband wasalso very ready for it, and so
we felt a calling at the startof this year and we were sitting

(50:05):
on the sofa one night and hewas like, are you ready?
And I was like I'm ready.
And so in that night we bookedyou know, we booked our trip
down to Costa Rica and went downthere in May and had a
fantastic experience.
And so I that, combined withjust everything I've been
listening to and everything I'vebeen researching, there is a
need, and there's going to be ahuge need in the next three to

(50:26):
five years, for integrationtherapists and integration
coaches.
And the difference betweenthose two things is that
integration coaches are going tobe preparing those individuals
who are wanting to go throughthose experiences for
self-actualization purposes.
So the therapists are going tohandle, you know, the mental
health issues.

Zach (50:42):
Breaking your walls down with you.

Starla (50:44):
Right, right.
But for those that are reallyjust trying to figure out what
the next chapter is, or how do Ibreak through some of these
barriers that seem to be infront of me and just simply
self-actualize, there's a wholeindustry of coaches out there,
and I'm just feeling a callingof adding that to my repertoire
of coaching.

Paul (51:03):
So that coaching is on the front end or the back end.

Starla (51:05):
Both, because if you're going to go, if you're going to
go through this kind ofexperience, you want this is my
personal opinion you want to beprepared for it.
Right, you have got to go intoit with the right mindset,
because these medicines areincredibly powerful and if you
don't go into it with the rightmindset, the right intentions
one, they could be deadly, buttwo, you could have some really
unhealthy, painful experiences.

(51:25):
Now they're bad trips, and badtrips in fact, I don't even use
I don't like using the word goodand bad.
There's pleasant ones and thereare unpleasant ones, and you're
supposed to have theseunpleasant ones for a reason.
But these medicines will beatyou up if you're not in the
right mindset and you're notphysically and mentally prepared
.
So it's on the front end, butthen definitely on the back end.
So you have all theseexperiences and you're walking
away.
Now you've got to do somethingwith this.
What do I actually do with it?
And that's where the real magicis.

(51:46):
It's not like thesepsychedelics are going in and
actually fixing anything.
They're creating theenvironment where your mind can
start to surface everything itneeds to surface and everything
it.
But it is extremely interesting.

Zach (51:56):
On DMT I think it might be called like the God molecule or
something like that, but itgoes through in detail all of
these different people's tripsand kind of what it's doing on a

(52:17):
chemical level in your brain,in your brain and yeah, it's
very interesting howpsychedelics they really do kind
of, um, your brain isconstantly reinforcing neuron
pathways based on what yourthinking patterns are, and it's
one of the few things that cankind of break those down, break
those down and allow you tocreate brand new ones,
particularly as you begin to ageand, you know, start to really
sort of firm some of thosethings up and in your brain.

(52:39):
So habits like smoking habitsand stuff yeah, and that was
yeah, addiction, things likethat.
There are a lot of people thatsay they, you know we'll start
to trip and all of a sudden,they, you know they've smoked
two packs a day or whatever, andthey don't feel the same draw
to that because they set theintention beforehand of you know
, I'm going to do this and andwork through whatever this thing
is.
So that's, that's sointeresting.

Starla (53:03):
Yeah, like I just listened to a podcast this
morning to a researcher who isnow looking at it in terms of
autism.

Zach (53:09):
Okay, that's interesting yeah.

Starla (53:11):
It's fascinating because autism is a genetic challenge.
Yeah.

Zach (53:18):
It's genetically driven, yeah right, it's passed down.

Starla (53:20):
Yeah yeah, it's genetically driven, yeah right
it's passed down, yeah, butthey're finding that what you
were describing, which isthere's a period of plasticity
in our brain, first 25 years,and then that closes down.
And if our brain is going tocreate any more of those
connections in our mind or shiftany of those connections, it
now has to be driven by us,right, whereas the first 25
years of our life our brain'sdoing that on its own, we don't
even have to ask it to do it.

(53:40):
Years of her life Our brain'sdoing that on its own.
We don't even have to ask it todo it, it's just doing it.
But there's apparently aconnection there.
I can't speak too intelligentlyabout it, but so there's all
kinds of trials going on thatare going to lead to the need
for this out there, and becauseI'm feeling such a strong
calling to it, I'm looking at atwo-year program to go back and
get my therapeutic coachinglicense.

Paul (53:57):
Wow, are you going to rebrand, are you going to
rebrand the psychedelic coach?

Starla (54:01):
I don't know.
That's a great question, though, because I will have to answer
that question.
Is this something I justintegrate into my coaching
business and I say I haveexecutive coaching, personal
mastery coaching, psychedelicintegration coaching, or do I do
two separate?

Zach (54:12):
And that was my other question too is like do you feel
like this will be the samedemographic slash, psychographic
that you'll end up working within the space?
Yep, okay, yep, very cool.

Starla (54:22):
You know, up until about a couple of years ago, you know
, most people would keep thisquiet, whether or not they were
doing this, but because it's,it's where it's at right now.
I think you guys would besurprised to know the number of
business executives that aretraveling down to South America
and Central America prettyconsistently.

Zach (54:35):
Oh yeah, I think it's in there One of the big Steve Jobs
type guys was supposed to have Ithink it might have been.
Steve Jobs took LSD,micro-dosed LSD, on a daily
basis.
I'm pretty sure because he justsaid that kept his brain in
that space of being able to havebrand new ideas that had
completely unfounded connections.

Brook (54:57):
I don't think I've ever heard of this.
I mean, I've heard ofpsychedelics.
That's where I was going.
Is my definition of this thesame as your definition.
Actually, I am not one who'sever done anything Like.
I once took a gummy bear andthat was it.
Like, that's the extent of mylike anything, and I'm not sure
I felt anything, but anyhow, um,it's intriguing to me because I
like, uh, what blocks mybusiness from growing?

(55:20):
What blocks me from growing?
I'm my own freaking what blocksmy business from growing?
What blocks me from growing?
I'm my own freaking roadblock,and sometimes I don't even know
what it is.
There are many times I start toshake if I hit something really
personal, but I don't evenunderstand why it's personal,
I'm just shaking.
So apparently there's somethinggoing on internally.
I don't even know how to dealwith my own emotions or even
what they process them sometimes.

Paul (55:39):
And.

Brook (55:39):
I think I'm a fairly stable person in the world.
That's incredibly normal, bythe way, I believe that is
normal too, like.
But so it intrigues me becauseI'm like I.
I do feel myself like you justsaid.
I felt like I had this likething in my business where I was
kind of stale and like, just inthis like I had those like it's
everything in me to pull myselfout of some of those spaces,
and so I find myself, as I'mlistening to you, going I might

(56:01):
want to take a trip down there.
Now, if I told my other halfthis and tried to explain it,
it'd be like what in the world?

Zach (56:05):
But definitely requires some reading beforehand.
It definitely does.

Brook (56:09):
But I just and I don't necessarily want to pick up and
go anywhere just yet, but itmakes me want to research a heck
of a lot more about it, and Idon't think I've ever even
realized this existed.
So yeah, you totally have megoing around and picking up a
whole bunch of things to readabout Me too.

Paul (56:21):
I knew about the PTSD and I knew about those, but I didn't
realize about the other.

Starla (56:25):
Yeah, well, I mean, just go out on your podcast app and
put in psychedelics and you'regoing to see all the episodes
pop up out there.
But, dr Huberman, what's yourname?

Zach (56:35):
Ten words or less.

Starla (56:36):
Dr Huberman and Tim Ferriss are two that are having
some really intelligentconversations around it, and I
just actually attended anine-day summit with physicians
and psychiatrists from all overthe world, from Johns Hopkins,
from Stanford, from Harvardright.
So it was a nine-day summit ofsome really incredibly
intelligent people having someamazing conversations about the

(56:57):
work in this area, and as aresult of that summit, I was
like this is where the world isgoing and it aligns quite nicely
with the calling that I'mfeeling, because this is just a
nice addition to the work thatI'm already doing with my
clients.
And if I have clients that feelthe calling to it and they
decide this is what's right forthem which, by the way, no one
should ever tell you whether ornot it's right for you I mean,

(57:17):
this is something you have gotto want to do and be 100% bought
in.
If they want that, I want to beprepared to help them get ready
for it and then to come backand do the things with it that
are possible, and that's goingto take an additional
certification.
It's going to take about twoyears of my time to get myself
ready for, but I do think,circling back to your question,
I do think that that's where I'mheaded.
I think that's what's next formy business.

(57:38):
I would like that to be what'snext for my business as of today
, at whatever time it is, yeah.

Paul (57:43):
The mental health issues are just ballooning, so helping
people Very cool.

Brook (57:49):
Well, starla, thank you so very much for coming and
joining our podcast and Ilearned a ton and I appreciated
very much your candor of likethe journey to jumping into your
own thing and all your like,just the transparency and kind
of rawness and, what's the rightword, vulnerability of it.
So thank you very much andthank you very much.
Tell us a little bit wherepeople can go to learn more

(58:10):
about you.
What's your podcast name?
What's your website?
How can people connect with youif they want to be like hey, I
want to chat with this lady.

Starla (58:17):
Yeah, absolutely so.
My website's fairly easystarlowestcom, and my podcast is
called Help Me Think withStarlow West.
It's out on all the standardpodcast apps and it's actually
kind of a combination podcastand video.
So if you go out to YouTube,all my podcast episodes are out
there too if you want to watchthem.
But that podcast is acombination of solo episodes,
sometimes where it's just meproviding content, and then

(58:38):
sometimes it's interviews withother individuals Fairly new
podcast.
But we just put episode nineout and I'm so excited to get to
episode 10 and say I got toepisode 10.

Zach (58:44):
Yeah, that's a big milestone.
It is.

Starla (58:46):
It's a big one for me because I have a tendency to
move slow on things.
But yeah, so help me think withStarlaWest and StarlaWestcom,
and of course I'm out on socialmedia Easily found out there too
.

Brook (59:33):
Very cool, we appreciate it Well, thank you Bye.