Crafted with Purpose w/ Leah Spiros

Leah Spiros, the creative force behind Wrapped + Written, explores how a childhood love for art blossomed into a thriving business in calligraphy, engraving, and live event artistry. Leah shares heartfelt stories about the influence of her mother, the leap from corporate life to entrepreneurship, and the joys and challenges of building a business rooted in faith and family. Whether you’re a fellow creative or just love stories of passion and purpose, this episode will inspire you to find and celebrate your own “something extra”.

Guest Links:

• Leah’s LinkedIn
• Wrapped + Written

Credits: 
Host: Lisa Nichols
Executive Producer: Jenny Heal
Marketing Support: Landon Burke and Joe Szynkowski
Podcast Engineer: Portside Media

Transcript

Lisa Nichols  00:00
Announcer, chromosomes, little strands of nucleic acids and proteins are the fundamental genetic instructions that tell us who we are. At birth, most people are born with 46 chromosomes, but each year in the United States, about 6000 people are born with an extra chromosome, making them a person with Down syndrome. If you've ever encountered someone with Down syndrome, you know that they are some of the kindest, most joyful people you will ever meet. They truly have something extra. 

My name is Lisa Nichols, and for 30 years, I have been both the CEO of Technology Partners and the mother to Ally. Ally has something extra in every sense of the word. I have been blessed to be by her side as she impacts everyone she meets. Through these two important roles as CEO and mother to Ally, I have witnessed countless life lessons that have fundamentally changed the way I look at the world. While you may not have an extra chromosome, every leader has something extra that defines who you are. 

Join me as I explore the something extra in leaders from all walks of life and discover how that difference in each of them has made a difference in their companies, their families, their communities and in themselves. If you liked this episode today, please go to Apple Podcast or wherever you listen and leave us a five-star rating. 

I'm thrilled to have Leah Spiros on the show today. Leah is a calligrapher, engraver, painter, live event artist, and the owner of Wrapped + Written. Well, welcome to the Something Extra Podcast, Leah Spiros. I'm so delighted that you are joining me today.

Leah Spiros  01:37
I'm so glad to be here. I'm excited about this. I love listening to it, so, it's an honor to be a part of it.

Lisa Nichols  01:42
Well, I can't wait to introduce you to our listeners. So, Leah, you and I are connected in several ways. We are both on the board of directors for Rooted Sisters, and I think that's how we first met. 

Leah Spiros  01:55
Yes, that's probably where we connected. We actually first met when you spoke at a Little Black Book event at a luncheon a few years ago now.

Lisa Nichols  02:07
Oh my, I remember that now. Yes, that's when we first met and then, and then we've done a lot of things since then. Because I, you know, our listeners will see in the picture that I have been given several of your personalized gifts over the years, and I just love them. I have them in my office here, and so, we've just been and then you recently, my girls have a business, Kindred Spirits Designs. You were so amazing. You've supported them and championed them so beautifully, Leah and I just cannot tell you from a mama's heart how much that means to me, but you recently did some calligraphy for them for an event they were doing. And just appreciate you so much.

Leah Spiros  02:57
It was an honor. I love supporting young entrepreneurs and Paige and Ally are going places, and I love that they have that connection as sisters and in spirit, and they're both creative. They're making beautiful goods. So, I love supporting that. 

Lisa Nichols  03:13
Yes, well, just a little plug for Kindred Spirits Designs, but let's we've got a lot to talk about, but I would love for you to take me back to the beginning. So, how did your love for art really take root?

Leah Spiros  03:31
You know, I don't know exactly where it began, but as far back as I can remember, I think my mom would probably say about three years old. I was sketching. I would watch Olympics and gymnastics, and I would draw sketch like the motion of the gymnasts going across the screen doing a flip. My mom writes beautiful cursive, and so did her mom, and so I really wanted to write like that. I just never pieced it all together as this could be my future. I just knew that I loved it, anything pretty, anything beauty related, creating that. Loved it.

Lisa Nichols  04:09
I love it so much. And I know you talk about your mom and how inspirational and influential your mom has been on your journey. 

Leah Spiros  04:18
My mom has championed. I mean, really, any dream that I can think of, like Mom, let me put on this performance for you. She's like, okay, her and my grandmother. And just, just to support it, I can remember I actually had my own Kindred Spirits moment when I was a kid. I actually made bracelets, beaded bracelets for Christmas with a jingle bell on them. And my mom took those and sold them at her office. And just, you know, as a kid, that really makes you feel believed in and like, well, I can do anything. So, yes, and she's just a woman of the Word a woman of the Lord. She loves the Lord, and just wisdom spills out when she speaks. So, I'm very blessed to call her my mom.

Lisa Nichols  05:07
Oh, that's so beautiful. Well, I can say the same thing about my mom. She really was inspirational to me. In fact, I can't, you can't see it here, but on my, my mom did all kinds of crafts. She was an excellent seamstress, excellent. I mean, she made a lot of my clothes. I've got a purse on my bookcase here that my mom decoupaged when I was a little you know, she did decoupage. She did all that, but she always had me working with my hands. I mean, I have a real love for the Performing Arts. I have a real love for the fine arts. And she always had me working with my hands and doing all kinds of music lessons and things like that, but also just had something going all the time. I was learning needlepoint or doing something all the time, but now she did try to teach me how to sew clothes, and I just never really got the hang of it, you know. I'm sure if I'd maybe kept after it, maybe I could have improved. But I pretty much left that to her. But I definitely think that love for art, really, I think she inspired that. And I think that's a good reminder for us what you just said about your mom. You know, for us and for those listeners out there with kiddos, you know, let them explore things and champion whatever, because you have no idea where that's going to take them.

Leah Spiros  06:39
Absolutely. Every mind has so much potential to make great things. It may not always seem to be what we quantify as creative, but it's expressed differently for every person,

Lisa Nichols  06:52
Right, right. And even if it's not what they end up doing later on. I think that love can come out in different ways. Like I think about kids that love to draw, maybe they're going to be a graphics designer one day, or maybe design clothing. Who knows. But I think all of those experiences are really important. Well, you have a degree in interior design.

Leah Spiros  07:18
I do.

Lisa Nichols  07:19
From Maryville University, and upon graduating, you took a job as a store planner at Save-a-Lot. Now I don't really know the job of a store planner, but I'm thinking you may have done the layout of the store, and the how things are presented in the store. Is that what a store planner would do?

Leah Spiros  07:36
That would be a good part of it. Another part would be like the egress, really understanding how people move throughout a space, throughout a store. You know, there's intentionality of why the produce is up front and why the milk is in the back, and getting to be on the back side of that. Like behind the scenes with that, I learned the purpose in every like grocery store design and why some work and why some don't. So, it was a very enriching job, because it just taught me to see spaces, specifically one that we use every day differently and with more depth of insight.

Lisa Nichols  08:12
That's awesome. Well, in 2018 you took that leap onto the entrepreneurial wagon, right? And founded, Wrapped and Written, what made you finally decide to take that leap? And I also want to know, I don't know if you've been asked this before, but where did the name come from?

Leah Spiros  08:31
Oh, yes, I don't get asked that asked that often. So, I took that leap in 2018 after my husband and I took some time to pray about it. We got married the year before, and my husband already had a kiddo. He had two, but one was an actual kiddo. And really, on the day of our wedding, I just remember having this really strong feeling of Okay, I don't know that this, I think the season is over. I knew I always wanted to be present and available to my kids, wherever they came from, just I wanted to be accessible. And I wanted them to know that too, not just me, but for them to know if I call home, Mom's gonna be there. If the teacher calls home, she's gonna be there. Like, if I get in and I need help with my homework, she's going to be there. I just really had a high value on that. 

Leah Spiros  09:22
And so, we prayed about it a while. We tried to look at some remote options through my current job, which at that time, I was doing commercial kitchens for another company, back of house design, and it just didn't work with their model for me to be able to be remote. And so, we took a year, a solid year, prayed about it. My husband gave me some opportunities to, like, Hey, take some time off and like, just create and see if you like doing this all of the time. It's different when you are doing it for a day or two. But like, take two weeks, and I couldn't get enough of it. I loved it. And he's like, Okay, I think, I think we can do that. And so, we felt connected and unified on it at the same time. And I put in the like, a two months notice to make sure they had time to transition. And then I stepped into my first show the week after my last day.

Lisa Nichols  10:16
Oh, my goodness, did you have product? Did you have product at that point, or was it a live event? 

Leah Spiros  10:22
It was it was product. So, in that time, in the early days of my business, I was more focused on home décor. And I was doing a lot of like scripture passage signage for people to hang in their homes that were just calligraphy based or pretty lettering, and that was my focus. And then I went into stationery. So, it was a lot of home goods that was, that was a main focus at that time.

Lisa Nichols  10:47
Wow. So, Leah, let me ask you, what was going on emotionally for you, from, you know, transferring from this corporate role that you'd had the security of that onto the entrepreneurial wagon. I mean, what was going on emotionally? Were there some transitions that you had to kind of work through? 

Leah Spiros  10:47
Absolutely. I will say I did have peace, and probably because I was so purpose driven in it. It wasn't even just about let me launch my business, but it was, let me be good for my family. So, that gave me a lot of peace and just knowing that we had prayed about it and felt so secure in it. But you do have those uncertainties of will someone show up? This one got rained out. I don't know if this is going to yield as much as this last show went. I'm finding what areas work best for me. There were so many of those components that I couldn't guarantee they were outside of my control. And after years of having a paycheck from someone, decades of having a paycheck from someone, that's a big leap to know, it all depends on me, obviously, with the help of the Lord, but still, I have to make that hustle. I have to make that grind, to make those connections. 

Lisa Nichols  12:01
It is definitely risky. But when you take the time to do it the way you did it, you know, the peace you know was there, and you knew that, hey, you know me, plus, God, we can do this. And to your point, you had a greater purpose. You had a greater purpose that was driving you, right? I love that. Can you share in this journey, in this entrepreneurial journey, can you share a moment, maybe in time where, Leah, you knew that you knew that you knew that you were doing what you were made to do?

Leah Spiros  12:42
Wow. I mean that moment is multiplied because it's, it's almost every time I'm creating something, there's an, an unspeakable joy that comes from that level of expression for me. And it comes back to childhood, like I said, of making things, of creating things, of doing, making things that are attractive, that bring people joy. That's really what it comes down to. And so, whenever I can do that, whether it's planning an event or creating a piece or writing a script, whatever, that gives me a great sense of joy. But there's something about doing it, working with my hands, that also makes that very, very fulfilling and helping me just feel confirmed. And this is absolutely where I can be. And I'm an extrovert. I like people, so, you know, I'm in my home studio, and I'm just going at it, but I still have that sense of joy and comfort and goodness, because I know I'm doing something that on the other end, someone's going to have joy, they're going to feel seen, they're going to feel valued, and they're going to be appreciated. And I played a small part. I got to help. 

Lisa Nichols  14:00
I want to talk about that more. Well, I love that, and I've always thought like that process of creating something from nothing, there is something about that, right? But you know, Jordan Rayner is one of my podcast guests and popular author, Leah, and I love, I love, love, love, what he says about this. You know, our Father is a creator, you know. And we were meant. We were born to create. And whether that is creating in the way that you are, or creating a new product or a business or children, whatever the case is, we are co-creators with him. And you know, that's the way God wired us. It's, it's a beautiful thing to be able to, to participate in that, I think. Well, let me ask you this now you had this interior design background. How did that really influence your work today?

Leah Spiros  15:02
You know so much of design is some basic elements, there's line, there's space, there's placement, there's color, there's esthetic. All of those basic principles that are the foundation of design play into, into what I produce and the output. So, I can look at something, or I can have a client ask me, Well, what do you think about this? And I can say, you know, those colors will complement each other wonderfully. And if we add this, it will make that, you know, you said that they really enjoy this kind of flower. If we incorporate that into it, I think that will make it pop and still give attention to this, you know, and, and then they get excited, because I can speak a language that, I can translate their vision and thoughts into reality and language that is executed.

Lisa Nichols  15:55
Oh, that's so good. That's so goodness. Well, I know, like so much of your work, and the work that's in the picture that our listeners are going to see is a work of calligraphy. And some people think calligraphy and cursive are the same, but they're not. Tell our listeners a little bit of the difference. I mean, you know, I would love to hear it from your mouth. What's the difference?

Leah Spiros  16:18
Sure. The main difference is that cursive is a continuous line you're writing, if you're writing your name, it's all flowing into one with calligraphy. It's really a series of strokes that come together to build the letter and to build the word. So, you are lifting your pen, you're lifting your pencil sometimes it is not just one line. You're repositioning to get angles and create that continuity in your piece.

Lisa Nichols  16:47
That's good. Tell us about can you work through the process, you know, from concept to final piece. And first of all, you have to have a client, right? You have to have a customer that comes to you. I just received a beautiful, personalized wine bottle from Progress 64 for a keynote that I did last year. And did they come to you with that particular concept, or did you work with them to figure out what that could be?

Leah Spiros  17:21
A little of both. So, I've done some work with them before for gifting. And the go to tends to be the engraved wine bottle, which is a very special bespoke piece. And so, they gave me some words. We workshopped a little bit about how many and where would fit, because, again, we want a strong design. We don't want just words and it all just got on there. We want it to be beautiful and make sense. And so, we worked out what those needed to be. And I think there's a lot of value in the recipient's name being prominent, not the company or the giver's name. That says a lot to that recipient about where they're valued or prioritized, right? And so, once I had that content, I sketched it out to see how I felt about how it looked. I had the bottle shape, and I put the pieces on there and looked at how it would stack. And then I pulled out my engraver and went to work. 

Lisa Nichols  18:22
Went to work. And I was a recipient, and I can tell you, I had great joy, because it was a personalized piece, specifically for me, commemorating that date, which was just so special. Let me you do a lot of personalized live events too, Leah, can you tell our listeners about that? And what does that process look like?

Leah Spiros  18:48
Absolutely. So, one of the things that's really helpful for any company is to have brand activations. It gets eyes on your brand. It provides your clients, customers or potential clients of customers a sense of connectivity and engagement, and it's a value add. And so, what companies will do is book me for an amount of time. They will let me know which service they want. Do they want calligraphy on cards? Do they want pieces engraved? Do they want product painting? And then once they've confirmed that, then I will bring my little case, and they provide the product, and I provide the service, and the clients or the guests get the gifts. 

Leah Spiros  19:32
So, coming up, like this weekend, we've got Mother's Day coming up, and Neiman is going to have a Mother's Day event. And so, in their fragrance department, when someone purchases a fragrance, they automatically will get this gift with purchase, so to speak, of having it engraved. So, they'll have all kinds of messages like, happy birthday, mom, or I love you, mom, or I appreciate you in my life. And I'll engrave that. So, then that fragrance. Becomes a keepsake because they don't throw those away. And I've had so many people tell me, I'm never throwing this away. A lot of those luxury fragrance bottles are beautiful anyway, right? And so that piece that just makes it that great conversation piece and visual for that dresser top, it's that much more special.

Lisa Nichols  20:20
So cool. That is so cool. We've been at events before, Leah, where there was an artist there and with a blank canvas, and you're not really sure what's going to be, you know, on the canvas at the end. But that's, that just always adds such a special element, I believe, to, to a live event. I have to ask you this, how do you personally stay inspired creatively? And do you ever experience creators block? You know, there's writer's block, right? Do you ever experience that block? And if you do, how do you get yourself out of it? How do you stay fired?

Leah Spiros  21:00
I think the answer to both of those kinds of goes together. So, I do have creative block every now and then, and that typically comes when I'm forcing the issue. If I am trying to make myself make something like come up with the idea, come up with a concept. Since when does pressure driven creativity build great fruit and so, I try to gain space, whatever that looks like. Maybe it's stepping outside for a moment. Maybe it's getting in the Word, finding a scripture, like a psalm, is always a great source of inspiration for me, going to the Botanical Gardens, going to Forest Park, going to pretty spaces. If I can seek beauty outside myself, I can receive what I need to create more for others.

Lisa Nichols  21:49
Oh, that's great. Well, I have found that before, like with writing, taking a walk in the park and just really letting my senses just really hone in on what I'm hearing, what I'm seeing. I've, I've just gotten so many lessons just from slowing down and observing I feel sometimes. So, that's good. Well, you know you say that your business was born from discovering the good in God's Word, and I know that you are a faith filled woman. In fact, I don't know if we'll have a picture of this, but behind Leah, there, you see there's a whole wall of writing. And I know from knowing Leah, that's all scripture. How has your faith really influenced your creative process in what you're doing? 

Leah Spiros  22:45
One of my favorite passages comes from Exodus, and it talks about, it's when they're starting to work on the temple, and God is giving directions, and he is calling them to specifically work in, quote, artistic designs. There is something beautiful about knowing that the Creator still perpetuated creating in his creation, right? It just going and so feeling like I'm on mission with that just it just blows everything wide open. And one of my other favorite passages is Philippians 4:8 and it talks about thinking on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable. I like those components to be in what I do and what I put out. 

Leah Spiros  23:33
And so, you know, I will connect with the Lord and talk to him about designs. I will ask him, when I have creative block, like, God, why can't I not get past this? Like, what do I need to do right now? I try to pray over the recipients of the gifts, that they'll be blessed, that they will feel loved. I don't know if it's going to be a piece that changes their mind about a life choice or, you know, or makes them feel better in a day that was just completely felt wrong for them. And so, if I'm staying missional, then I've got to remember where my mission is coming from. I'm an ambassadress, and so I want to make sure that I'm receiving what I need from Him, in His word and in my communing with him to be able to give my best in excellence to other people, because that's what he gave to me.

Lisa Nichols  24:25
That's a mic drop. Thank you, Sister. That's a mic drop. I was going to ask you about you've already quoted a couple of scriptures. But you know, the entrepreneurial journey is not for the faint of heart. I mean, there are times where, I mean, it had, we've been in business for 31 years, Leah, and I can tell you almost weekly, there's something new that's come up that we have not had to deal with before. And you know, it can sometimes be really it's not all unicorns and rainbows. It can be really scary or frustrating or, you know, disappointing sometimes. Are there anchor scriptures that you hold on to in those really hard times that help you?

Leah Spiros  25:12
How much time do we have? Yes, there are. Yes, there are, you know, and I can even right now I can just go to my wall. I'm looking to my right, and I have Matthew 6, and it says, Look at the birds. Consider the lilies. Are you not of more value than they. Or But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. You know that reminds me to start my structure well. Like I try to begin the day committing it to the Lord and his agenda, I have my plan of what needs to happen that day, but he might have you know what that client's actually going to need to talk to you for a minute, be available to that. And if I'm focused on my agenda, if I've not sought him first, I can't be prepared or have the capacity I need to do that. Definitely that one, and one of my favorites, too, is from Luke, and it says, And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

Lisa Nichols  26:16
Yes, pray and not lose heart.

Leah Spiros  26:19
Always pray and not lose heart.

Lisa Nichols  26:21
I think about, you know, there's ones for me too. I think about, you know, I look to the hills, I know where hope comes from, right? And I say, you know, we, we walk through this life, and sometimes there's valleys and sometimes there's summits, right? But we never walk alone. We know with us, and that always is encouragement to me, even in the tough times. Well, let me ask you this. You know, we've already talked about the personalization of these pieces, but Leah, why do you think that people are so drawn to these personalized, handcrafted pieces in this very digital world that we're living in now.

Leah Spiros  27:10
Because it's digital, because technology is not a person. It might be created by people, and it obviously has its place, and we need it. That is a need for our world as it operates today. But no nothing artificial can replace a person, because we have spirits and hearts. And we need things that speak to our spirits and our hearts and our souls and that connection just as much as it's valuable to make sure that you don't just FaceTime your friend, but try to get together in person every so often to make an eye to eye connection, to be able to get that hug in person, to give that hug. All of that is re-restoring our souls and resetting that. And we just we cannot get that from a download.

Lisa Nichols  28:02
That's good. That is so good. I know for me, Jenny Heal, you know, my, my right-hand woman. I've gotten so many beautiful handcrafted things from her, like, over the years, afghans and ornaments and all types of things. And just, it's always so special, because I know the time, the time and the thought and the energy that has gone into that really just an expression, I feel like, of her love, you know? And I treasure those things. Well, you know what? I've got a lot more questions for you, girl. But we have to take a quick break, and we'll be right back with Leah Spiros on the Something Extra Podcast.

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Lisa Nichols  29:19
Welcome back everyone to the Something Extra Podcast with my sweet friend Leah Spiros. Leah, we've already talked about how these, you know, the that interaction with a human can really speak to our soul and heal our soul and refresh our souls. I just, I could not agree more with you on that. But how, have you noticed a shift in how people are thinking about art in the post pandemic? Do you think that art has even become more important to people? 

Leah Spiros  29:53
I think so. I feel like it's one of those things where it's like you don't miss something till it's gone, until you don't have the access to it, right? Like, I mean, there were so many things that we were so used to that we didn't really think about it, we maybe unintentionally took for granted, because we're just going through our days and when we didn't have the option of accessing it. You know, I think that's why so many people took to screens and more social media and broader points and, and posting pretty things and, and looking for inspiration, because they wanted that connectivity, because that's something that beauty provides that is just not easily easy to, to access. 

Leah Spiros  30:38
And I know like there were several, several lettering artists and calligraphers that took to the streets, and I ended up being one of them. And we would write out something encouraging on the street or on our windows, so that when people were out walking, which was like, the only thing we could do, they would see something. And so, I would like scratch out a scripture that said something about, like, you know, do not lose hope, or something that would uplift and make it colorful and with a hopscotch behind it, so that kids, you know, could engage with it. And I think all those things brought hope. When I just look at the comment section, people were really thankful for just, just a word of hope.

Lisa Nichols  31:18
Oh, that's so good. I remember a podcast guest, Leah. In fact, it was James Barnett from Dayspring. And I remember what he said that their team did, because obviously they create beautiful cards, and, you know, gifts, things like that. And he said, during the pandemic, their artists would take to go and the sidewalks to hospitals, that they would beautiful artwork on the sidewalks to hospitals to not only encourage the patients, but encourage the healthcare workers in this time, and so that they know that they're being seen and they're being appreciated, and I've never forgotten that. I thought that was really beautiful. 

Leah Spiros  32:07
I think that's where even the muraling businesses started to take off more too, because they started doing them on garages and windows and storefronts and all these different things, like wherever a message of hope could be left. People were trying to do that, you know.

Lisa Nichols  32:25
Agreed. Well, let me ask you this, so there's always something new to learn. I know you know how to engrave. You're a calligrapher, or is there anything new that you're experimenting with right now in your art?

Leah Spiros  32:41
You know, I don't know about a new technique. Just now, I'm trying to really strengthen the current ones, but I keep getting challenged with new pieces to work on, getting some of can you do this? And it's like, you know what? I'm going to find that out. So, I just did a globe. And, yes, that was really cool. I was sharing with you and Jenny earlier. I just did mint julep cups for a Kentucky Derby 70th birthday party.

Lisa Nichols  33:16
Right. 80 of those. I think, right?

Leah Spiros  33:20
Yes, it was. So, things like that. Looking at fabric and what I can do with that. So, stay tuned.

Lisa Nichols  33:32
Okay. Always growing, always growing, always evolving. Well, let's, let's pivot over to, just like more business questions. Being a business owner, you know, what has surprised you the most about being in business for yourself, Leah?

Leah Spiros  33:51
There's a line from the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey where she's talking about parenting, and she says "it's the on-and-on-ness of it". It just, you know, there's so many people that will say to me, like, Oh, you're always busy. Like, are you busy right now? Is business busy? And my answer is like, Yes, it's always busy. It doesn't matter if stuff is coming out of order, coming in or not, because if it's not, then I've got to be marketing. If I'm not marketing, I have to account if I'm not accounting like there's never not something to do. Creating the space to not do something, that's the challenge. 

Lisa Nichols  34:29
Yes, I agree. I can attest to that, girl. We've been in business for 31 years, and I can tell you, I can tell you, there's never been one day where I've been bored. I said I don't have enough to do today. There's always something to do, right? You know, when you're growing.

Leah Spiros  34:51
I think of a mindset shift with that. There were times earlier on where it would just feel like, well, I'm not getting any orders. I don't know what to do. And I remember even like saying that to Lord, like, why aren't you bringing me stuff? What's happening? And he was like, What are you doing with what you have? He's like, if you have an email account, have you reached out to everyone that you know? You have a phone. Have you called everyone that you know? You have feet. Have you visited everyone? No, okay, you're not bored.

Lisa Nichols  35:24
Then you're not bored. So true. So true. Well, has there been a lesson that you've heard long you know that you've actually learned the hard way? Is there been anything that you know has come up that you're like, oh, you know, didn't know that and learned it the hard way? 

Leah Spiros  35:39
Yes, I'm sure there is I'd have to ponder on that a bit. I think I will say as a creative, as an artist, as a very strongly right brain dominant person, cells and compartments are not my strength, or my desire or my pleasure area. They're just not a joy for me. But I have found myself maybe having to pull an all-nighter or scramble to do something because of something that I should have compartmentalized sooner. And you know, in my corporate job before this, I was really responsible for navigating a lot of those sheets, and I didn't love it, but man, did it help me keep my project tracking straight. And so, getting into this and being like, can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. You need some of those tenants that were so valuable there that's gonna do it, keeps you afloat and embracing, embracing the I don't prefer into it's going to be profitable. Do it.

Lisa Nichols  36:50
Right. Yes and, you know, I think that such wise, sage advice there, Leah, because when you're in your own business, I mean, until you get to the point where you can hire help for these other things, you're going to wear every hat for a while. You know, you're going to be the shipping department, you're going to be the creative, you're going to be the accounting, you're going to be the marketing and sales, all of those. And they're just realize that there are going to be things that you don't particularly enjoy doing, but you must do if you're going to have a viable business.

Leah Spiros  37:27
Right. And to that point, if you have that person, which is a blessing, you also need to know what you want of them. You need to articulate that. And I think some of the best bosses, the best leaders, are the ones who have been there and can speak to it, not because they are up here looking down, but because they've already been in the trenches and can articulate.

Lisa Nichols  37:48
Great point. Great point. Well, let me ask you this. What would what advice would you give to someone who is wanting to, or thinking about starting a creative business like yours? Or any business really. I mean stepping out of that corporate role.

Leah Spiros  38:07
I would say, use your words. And by that, I mean, you know, if you are a person of faith, if you, you know, believe in the Lord for take it to him. First check in with him, see what that plan is, and then get your people around you, have others speak into it, find out who, who supports you, who is team you, and is able to give, and you be able to receive both the positive, uplifting, rah, rah, rah feedback and the I'm not sure about that, or I don't think that's going to work so great, because you need all of it. Proverbs says that there is a benefit in many counselors, and so having your set village or Consortium, or whatever you call it to help give that insight and feedback is very, very valuable. Have those partners.

Lisa Nichols  38:59
I'm so glad. I am so glad that you mentioned that, Leah, because you know our tendency sometimes as human beings is not to enjoy the feedback that's not rah, rah, rah. But it is critical to have that humility and to have that posture of saying, No, this person now you have to, you have to make sure that the people, I always say, there is wisdom in many advisors, just make sure that you've got the right advisors around you. But people that, like you said, that are that are people that are for you, that you know, that are for you, that want to have your best interest, you've got to be willing to take the good, bad and the ugly, because how else are you going to improve? And we're all we, I say we all have blind spots. There's all things that we don't see ourselves, right? But somebody else, looking from the outside in, could say, you know, maybe your whatever the case may be, you do need to spend a little bit more time on sales or something like that. You know, just having that really honest feedback is important. Okay, you're a wife to Jason, you're a mom, you're an active board member. I mean, you are a community leader. How do you balance it all, Leah?

Leah Spiros  40:22
Practicing the power of the pause. Pressing the power of the pause, and embracing the No, which is hard. I would like to say yes to everyone, because I want everyone to be happy. But it is better, I believe that it is better to do three things at 100% than 100 things at 3%. And so, if I find that that I am taking on too much or doing more, than will allow me to be actively beneficial to the mission, then I need to make the hard No, or press the pause of I can help but not with this specific thing or not within this season. Let me check back with you here. My heart is for helping and serving and loving, and I want to say yes to every opportunity for that, but I also need to be humble enough to not take that blessing from someone else. I'm not the answer to all the questions, and it might be that I'm supposed to be aware of who can be that and be the caveat or the conduit between the two parties. 

Lisa Nichols  41:33
That's so good. And I think that is truly like knowing yourself, knowing what your principles are, your boundaries. You know, I experienced this recently with you. I said, I give you the little name plates and then I give you another one. And you're like, Lisa, I can do these, but not this. I'm like, no problem. We'll do that one later. But, you know, I appreciated that about you, though, Leah, because you knew what else you had on the docket. And I think it's really important to, to, and I always say, when you say yes to something, when you say yes to something, you're saying no to something else. I mean, it's not Yes, yes, yes. It's going to be yes and no. So very I want you to talk about this, because I love this about you. I love this discipline that you have. You do time blocking. When we talk about managing, I always say we manage our time. We have, what, 168 hours in the week, whatever it is, I think that's right, isn't it? 168 hours in the week, you also were managing our time, but also, we're managing our energy. So, you do time blocking. Can you tell our listeners about that? I love it.

Leah Spiros  42:51
And I, you know, full transparency. I really just started that this year, so I've been at it for a few months, but it was born of, of having too many, oh, oh, dear, moments of I almost dropped that I almost broke that. You know, moments in my business of, I barely made that deadline because I did too many things this day. And now I need to get back to this. And you know, all the things are good, but the timing for everything needed to be divvied up better. And so, I had a workshop, and was working on learning what strategic planning is for your business. And I started hearing about time blocking, and I said, Well, let me think about what it would look like for me to designate days. And so, what I have now is I have studio work days. I have allotted three of those for me per week, and then I have two days that I allot for meetings and com, you know, collabs and those kinds of things. And so, they're not hard and fast. If there's an exception of something urgent that I need to connect on and it falls on one of the other days, there's grace for that, but it has given me designated time for production. 

Leah Spiros  44:09
I might be a small business owner, but I'm also the implementer of everything that I'm gaining the business for. And so I have time to not just take the orders, but to actually make and create those orders. And I was finding that I would be coming from a chamber meeting and then running over to this thing, and then, oh no, I've got this in the evening, and I've got an hour to work on this project, so I'm going to need to take all this time tomorrow to try to catch up. I felt like I was behind the ball every single day, and that is no way to live, and it just bring there was no peace from that. It was just always feeling like a struggle and a scramble. And so, time blocking allowed me to quantify and compartmentalize in a way that has been beneficial. It's helped me balance out my home life, because that doesn't stop. My church life, my board life, which I'm on the Rooted board, but I also am on the board of One Heart Family Ministries. And so, these are things that all require time, but this has created space. Blocking has actually made space. Sounds counterintuitive but...

Lisa Nichols  45:18
No, I love it. And there is such a term out there, if you will, kind of a mindset called Flow. It's like, when you get in that creative flow, I mean, to be in that flow for a longer period of time, Leah is probably just, you can't even put a price on that, rather than saying, Okay, I've got one hour. Okay, let me get in the creative flow. Go do something else, or go send out emails or respond or whatnot. So, I just, I love that so much that you're doing that. Well, let me ask you a question. Then we'll talk about something extra. When people receive one of your pieces, what is it that you hope they feel?

Leah Spiros  46:05
Delight. Delight, because I think that incorporates the surprise aspect and the joy both of it. I love when they don't know about it. I love when a client reaches out to me and says, Hey, we're doing this, and this is what's happening, and then we're going to present it on this date, and I will not post about it. I will not show anything that indicates I won't tag them, nothing to spoil that surprise, because I support what they're trying to bring out from that recipient. So, delight is really it.  

Lisa Nichols  46:43
I love that. That's our core values follow the acrostic DELIGHT, because we say we want delighted clients, so every letter of delight is one of our core values. That's cool. That's cool. Well, let me ask you this, this is called something extra, Leah, what do you believe is something extra that every leader needs?

Leah Spiros  47:08
I believe that every leader needs connected creativity. And I phrase it like that, because I, I believe every single one of us is created with creativity. I think that because we expect that to be expressed in art. If we are not artistic, we don't consider ourselves creative. And it's simply not true. We have it. And so, to me, connected creativity is awareness, knowing that you have creativity, then tapping into the source of that. Maybe it's implemented in spreadsheets for you. It's how you create them, you know, maybe an art piece, and then implementation, actually doing the output, actually taking it from concept to creation. I think every single one of us has the potential to do that, and we need to tap into it and use it, because it will benefit our business and keep them from going flat. 

Lisa Nichols  48:01
I love that so much. I love that so much. Because when I think about it, like even being in business when you are, I say you we're problem solvers, right? And I believe we need creativity when we're solving problems. I believe that we need creativity when we're figuring out how to maybe love someone better in our life with relational kind of intelligence. That is, that's really good. And I hear people sometimes say, Well, I'm just not a very creative person. Don't you hear that?

Leah Spiros  48:38
So much. Yep. And I think that sometimes comparison has worked its way into they're saying it because I define you as creative and I'm not like you, but God gave you your own pocket of connectivity. He gave you your own sense. And that's why I say connected creativity, because that's having all of that work together, having that awareness and using it.

Lisa Nichols  49:00
I love it. I love it. Well. Leah, this has been so much fun. Thank you so much for being on the show today. I've absolutely loved every minute of my time with you today. So, thank you.

Leah Spiros  49:12
I appreciate you having me. This has been my delight today. Thank you, Lisa. 

Announcer  49:16
Thank you for listening to today's show. Something Extra with Lisa Nichols as a Technology Partners Production Copyright Technology Partners Inc. 2019. For show notes or to reach Lisa, visit tpi.co/podcast. Don't forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen. 

*Please note, the preceding transcription has been automatically generated and should be used for informational purposes only.