Welcome to the ambitious introvert podcast created especially for introverts, empaths and highly sensitive entrepreneurs to help you build, grow and scale a successful, sustainable business. I'm your host, Emma Louise parkes, business and mindset coach for ambitious introverts after 17 years working as an air traffic controller, the ultimate fast paced high stimulus extrovert friendly role, my mission now is to show introverts that they too can create big results and success because of who they are not in spite of it. I focus on introvert friendly business and marketing strategy to help you switch overwhelm for clarity, confidence and clients.

Hello, welcome to this week's episode of the ambitious introvert Podcast. I'm Emma Louise. And we are fully back into the swing of guest episodes now. Today I am chatting to the amazing Suzy Angiopolis. Suzy is definitely ambitious. Not so much of an introvert I think she would admit herself to being on the more extroverted side. But one of the reasons that I really wanted to share Suzy story is because she literally turned her passion into a profit, which is one of those cliches that we hear all the time. But it's just such a great story of how she followed her heart didn't really know what was going to happen, how it was going to work out, knew what she loved, knew what she cared about and took that and ran with it and created a seven figure business which is insane. So Suzy is a top mentor to travel entrepreneurs all around the world. And she uses her background in building other businesses as well as psychology research and her extensive travel expertise and helps people to make money via Airbnb. And it's really fascinating. I haven't featured anyone with this kind of business model before so whether you are someone that is looking to turn your passion into a profit or not, I know you're gonna get so much from this episode. One of the things that Susie and I discuss is how we both came into entrepreneurship much later in life. Fun fact, I thought she was much younger than she is she thought I was much younger than I am. And is literally as we're chatting we're like, oh, we're the same age. So talking about how that can be as well especially when you're coming into an online space that is populated with much younger people living a very different lifestyle.

And the other thing that we talk about is investments and how they sometimes don't pay off straight away but they always pay off in the long run and how that's really set Susie up for rapid growth because yes, she's been doing her business for a number of years. But then she hit that critical mass point, you know, the compound effect that I always talk about where all of her actions built up and she scaled really rapidly in the last few years. So she shares about what that's been like and how she's had to expand in the work that she's had to do on herself to be able to hold that level of success. So I really hope that you enjoy listening to me chat to Susie as much as I enjoyed hearing all about her background and her story. Before we head into the interview just to remind you that the doors to the ambitious introvert Academy are still open and there are still spaces left now this is really the ultimate startup programme. If you are an introvert looking to start your business because it has been designed from the ground up by an introvert with introverts in mind. I don't want to give it too much weight because I've discussed it on previous episodes, but I am going to say if you are even 1% Curious, then head down to the show notes and check out the link. All of the details of the Academy are in there. I know that some of you listening I know this is the thing that is going to make all the difference for you because it did in the last round to the entrepreneurs that joined then, and like I say I've designed it from the ground up because I now can it's so easy for me to look back and say this is what I needed. This is where I went wrong. I was concentrated on the wrong thing. I had the wrong type of support. I was focusing on the wrong information. That's why I got tired that's why I got overwhelmed. That's why I didn't take action that that's why I didn't see results and all of those things. So head to the shownotes have a look. This is your invitation if you are at that stage where you're ready to get going and start or maybe you've started but you haven't quite got things fitted together. You haven't got foundations in place. You don't feel confident in what you're doing. Then this could be the thing that you need. So that is in the show notes. But for now please enjoy my chat with the lovely Suzy Angelopoulos. SUSE. Thank you so much for joining me. I can't wait to have this conversation, especially not based on what we've just been discussing before we hit record. Yay. Thank you so much for having me. So, let's start with the fact that you have built a business and an uber successful business that you are in love with all based around something that you love so much like travel. Yes, yes. I don't even know how I got here. But here I am. I follow that. That's that's how I followed what I really liked, which is travel. That's interesting, isn't it? Because we see that of like, you know, follow your passion and do what you love. And I think as a kid, we naturally do that. Like we gravitate towards the hobbies and the after school clubs that the stuff that we really enjoy and then becomes this switch. Maybe when you go to college or something that it's like Oh pick something sense or do something that's going to be you know, a job for life or that's going to have good prospects and all this and we kind of I see this a lot with people that did like music or art or dance where it's like, okay, that would like leave that alone now and like go and learn accounting. Yeah. Yeah. And it's funny that you say that because even when I was starting my business, I actually asked that same question. Like, I knew I wanted to do something online. But, you know, I was thinking well, what makes money as opposed to what, what do I like to talk about and to do every day because you're building a business online, you're gonna have to like to talk about it every day. So I went through that whole thing and tried different things that I thought like, quote, unquote, make money, and I just felt resistance the whole time. And then finally, I gave in and just thought, you know what I like to travel. When I posted online, people are crazy about it. Why would I not just go in that direction? And that's kind of how I made that decision. I love it. So before you got to that stage where you were like, I want an online business, but I don't quite know what to do. What did life look like? For you? Where were you? What were you working on? Oh my gosh, okay. So I started my online business later in life. Because the first 35 years of my life I just had bought into, I had to be a certain way I had to do a certain thing to be successful. I wasn't confident enough to build my own business. What does that actually even mean anyways? And was I even capable of that? So I always knew I wanted freedom. I always like the things that I liked. I've always been good at kind of entrepreneur, entrepreneurial mindset and things like that. However, when push comes to shove, I just didn't think it was like for someone like me, so one day, I was going to open a restaurant I have been in the restaurant business my entire life. I'm great surprise. We all will all the families have restaurants. So I was literally, I was born into the restaurant business. I had already opened one and sold it because I absolutely hated it because it was jailed, and tried all these different things and was back at square one thought I had to get a restaurant to be successful. So at 35 I had moved back to my home close to my family so that they could help me open one. And I couldn't find one. It's a really long story, but I was living in Seattle and everyone moved in because Amazon all of a sudden popped in there. And it just wasn't easy anymore. Kind of like the housing market has been where you have to like overpay for everything. That's how businesses work. So it was no longer easy. I will look for two years for something reasonable could not find something ended up on a podcast, a self development podcast, which led me to an online business podcast and I was like, oh my god sounds like a freaking dream life. And so I went down the rabbit hole in online business and decided one day like you know what? This is not working. It's been two years. I don't actually know if this is going to work for me, but I'm going to try. That is how I found online business. And I learned about the business and everything before I started. But you know, of course when I started that's when everything started. To fall into place and really my my journey became began when I quit my job and decided to go all in on this online business world. How did you find it because I also came to online business later in life. I've been coaching for years, but I didn't come to online business till I was 39 Oh, okay. So we're the same age. Great. Okay, great. So, so I was assigned. I was 20. Now I know I know me too. I thought you were younger, but no, I was. Yeah, I was like pushing 40 And I was like, Oh, I have to have to start this like Facebook page and this Instagram account and I didn't know what I was doing and everyone everyone else was 20 and they were in Bali. I don't weren't drinking cocktails, and I was like oh, I have no deal. No idea what's going on here. 100% Okay, so i i Okay, before this. I just need everybody to know that like I didn't even know what self development was i i was in another world and I need that. And so, you know, I think you know when you're ready, the resources appear. So I ended up on Chalene Johnson's self development podcast. Do you know who that is? No. But I didn't look her up. She's an online marketing expert. She is an OG she's been around forever. And she is older. I mean, not old, but like, you know, she's probably like 5055 or something. And she's just like, freaking cool. She's real. And so I started listening to her and she seemed so real. That like, I was like, well, maybe, maybe everybody can do this. And then I literally she has two podcasts.

I got switched over to her online marketing podcasts. I was like, This is so interesting. So that's that's really how I found it. Because she was a little bit older. I quickly saw like, anybody can do this. So I felt okay, even though I was like, Am I too old for this? Everyone's in Bali and swimsuit. You know, it's the conversation that we have this enough because obviously you know with a lot of my clients and talking about like, Oh, I'm an introvert and maybe I've got limited energy. Can I do this? I don't want to show up and turn on video or, you know, how can I mark it in that way? But I think sometimes it's different challenges when you are a bit older and potentially, I don't know you've got more commitments and more responsibilities. And yeah, like didn't grow up with a smartphone in your hand, because that's the only thing you know, I didn't grow up taking selfies or understand even how social media works. But that was a whole journey, isn't it? But you have done this incredibly well because you have a huge following now. On Instagram. Now about what you love. And that's that made all the difference because like if you don't if you if you feel like you know you have to put yourself in a box, you're not really free anyways. Just you know, like, then you have to make sure that you're in line with this like fake persona, like there's just no way around it like you have to do and talk about what you love, period. And there's absolutely room for introverts, and I mean, half of my friends online are introverts and they like it because you can actually just share and then you're like bye yeah, I'm out. You get to choose you get to control and I get to work from home like that is a huge introvert thing for me like no commute no office No, you know people energy and actually get into work remote and also get to work with who I like. Like I get shows the clients I work with. I get to choose who I have on the podcast to have a chat with. And I'm like, okay, paying for this is great. Yes, it's totally freedom. Totally. So how did you go in the direction of travel then what was it particularly? I mean, obviously, you've always loved it, but what made you go oh, this could be something that I could monetize. While I didn't actually know how I was going to monetize it, which was the actual problem. But so what happened was that I was trying all these other subjects that I liked, but it wasn't like a passion. For instance, like, you know, like, should I start a healthy food blog and whatever, and when it came time to like, take pictures of food, I was like, God, like, I don't want to do this, you know, and at that time, I had had jobs. I was I was in the restaurant business, like I said, and I was working like three jobs while I was looking for a restaurant. So I felt so jailed, that at that time, I was like, all I want to do is travel the world and see everything and be free and all of that kind of stuff. And so I was just dying to travel anyways. And I had travelled a bit before and everyone would always go crazy. When I would post my pictures, you know, just my friends and family and they'd be like, Oh my God, how are you doing this? And I'm like, I'm in Bali. It's like free here. That's right and people people just don't they don't they especially didn't 10 years ago, know how to travel like that because there wasn't travel influencers back then. So I knew I was getting this recognition anyways, and I thought like I actually don't know how to monetize this. I don't have any online business. Experience. I don't I don't know. But it felt right in my body. And that's what matters because like I said, if it doesn't feel right in your body, you're going to have all this resistance. So I literally just decided I had a little bit of money in my savings I had taken all the courses for online business. There wasn't anything more to learn like I had to. And so I went on this trip to Bali like right after I quit my restaurant jobs, and that and I was praying to the universe to give me the answers and they are at a cooking class. I met this couple that were Arab in being their place. And basically they were travelling around the world and I was like, how are you guys doing this? I want to you know, I'm 35 years old. I want to gain this freedom in my life like what I'm doing is not working. I just drilled them and they said, Well, we did a lot of things that are alive but we have this home in Hawaii and we rent it on Airbnb nine months a year. And then for the other three we live in it and nine months a year. We make $210,000 And back then $210,000 was like 22 million to me. No, not not an insignificant amount of money. No, yeah, totally. And that's after taxes. That was after everything that we're literally living on this money. And so I spent the rest of that cooking class drilling them I went home because I didn't know how I was gonna monetize. I threw my studio apartment in Seattle up on Airbnb and to make a really long story short, I started making my what I was making in the restaurant business overnight from that apartment. I was living with my parents in their basement. And because I had replaced my income with this one Airbnb, I all of a sudden freed up all my time and and had money to go travel the world to build my built my travel business. That is actually how this all happened, how it all started. From there, I took off, I decided that I was going to travel my ass off and I did to get you know the attention online and everybody just asked how and I told them I had Airbnbs built more of a Airbnb business and then I just became known as the person that had freedom because of my Airbnb business. Then I started selling a course on how to create your own Airbnb business. And that just like didn't I was like, for personally in the best place because I was doing exactly what I wanted. I had this great product to sell during COVID. Airbnb blew up. It was it was divine timing, I suppose. And I was able to travel more I was able to have more freedom I was able to show that and then sell my course and I mean I've had I did other things to clients all that kind of stuff but at this point I'm just selling my course and I have a mastermind so it it was the decision to go after my dream go after this life online of freedom go after money. You know, whatever that dream was, for me, it was the decision to do it. And after I decided and just started taking the action, all of the opportunities started to come, which is why I always say like, you can't just sit around and be thinking about what you're going to sell, whether it's coaching, whether it's this or that like you're never going to know until you literally just start because that's the power of something greater that's like giving us this shit.

You know so so that was my story. And it taught me obviously so much about really like knowing what I want and just taking action and believing that the answers and that the opportunities and the Synchronicities are all going to come because I'm taking action on those things. I was gonna say there's two things as you're talking that I'm like, Yes, this is what people need to take from this story. And the first is that you didn't have the end product all figured out. And I think so many entrepreneurs and especially in earlier days can be so fixated on Oh, but in three years time I want this and I'm like you ended up your one instance in six months is probably going to change and until you start doing that you don't know and we see that over and over. There's so many people online that are hugely successful, completely aligned in what they're doing, but they started out as something else first and that didn't quite work and then they found another niche or they you know, switched and pivoted completely. And I think we all love this idea that we can map it out perfectly and it's going to fold that way but but it never does. So I love like you say you take the action and something that you would never expect to like you go to a cooking class and you find out about this and here's one thing I want to want to add to that because I just made that sound so so seamless was that first of all three years and entrepreneur years is like a decade. So yeah, don't don't fool yourself. There is no three year plan but also I was finding my way you know so at first I absolutely started with Airbnb coaching packages did that and then I don't know why but something took over me it was like I don't want to be known for the Airbnb girl. I want to do business coaching because that's what's gonna make me money. So I switch over to business coaching, learned, you know, lots over there, but then eventually came back to Airbnb. So even even my story like I've tried everything because I wanted to make sure when I will you know what I wanted to do so, although it seems seamless, Airbnb has always been a part of my brand. Like, I really it wasn't that seamless.

We went to trial, which tried things. So yeah, but it's so true. And I think as you know, especially with our emotions, we need something to go oh yes, this feels good or no like this is a no on paper, something can look like it's going to be perfect. And in fact, I've seen a lot of clients and people in my audience do this by becoming IBM's and using their skills from corporate and they like OPM, this re you know, really great potential for earning, you know as introverts, right, I can do all the stuff behind the scenes. And then they find that the implementation of it that she really exhausted, they're like, oh, there's still like, I'm still doing a lot more than than I thought. So on paper, it looks it looks good. And for some of them, they love it. But for other people, it's like no, this isn't why I started the business. So I think it is really important to know that when you try something and it doesn't work out, it's not wrong, but you didn't make a mistake or you didn't fail. You just learned something else and it's like, okay, let's take a different direction. It's actually part of the process. Like you're just not You're not going to know if you like something you can guess all you want, but you're not going to know if you like something until you do it. And the thing that struck me is the trust aspect. Of course, the universe is going to align perfectly Of course, I'm gonna get everything I need. Like I'm gonna go to Bali and I'm gonna figure it out, which you know, is the fundamentals of mindset that will teach. Was it that easy as you were going Did you feel like, oh, the universe has got me like 1,000% I'm not even going to worry, or was there any trepidation of like, I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I'm just gonna give it a go. No, I I actually think that the that process taught me the trust and that the trust is the actual thing that is actually necessary for building a business of any kind or doing anything great in life is trusting that something greater the universe, whatever it is that you believe in, has your back and as I have grown by business, as I made more and more money as I made more and more scary decisions, the thing that I'm actually doing is strengthening the trust. It is literally the key. It's not yes, I'm smarter. Yes, I have more experience. Yes, I have more followers, but what people don't really truly understand is at every single level, you are stepping into a new level so it gets as uncomfortable as the beginning. And you have to have that trust strengthened every single time and I actually think that is actually the purpose of maybe life is to gain this trust that we have or that that we don't have that we're not born with. And we have to learn by doing and like you say different levels. There's like constant cultivation of this trust or having to grow it even more to have the capacity to do that thing, that kind of thing. What what's like the last big scary decision that you made that was like, Whoa, but that absolutely paid off and you're thrilled about well, I make big scary decisions like so often. But probably hiring different mentors. Because even as even as you you make more money and you need different things in your business, those prices usually go up quite a bit. And it's still so scary. But every single business and investment I've made in myself has always paid off tenfold, even if it was like, you know, super, super, super scary. And that was last year. I mean, just yesterday I signed on a very expensive apartment. And I know that's like well, you didn't you didn't actually need that kind of a thing. But it really wasn't about the apartment because, you know, like I could have gotten something cheaper. It was about the trust that I'm actually stepping into my next level. So this level of, you know, person or businesswoman or entrepreneur has this type of expensive place to live. That's just how it goes. And so, are you going to step into the version of yourself that lives in an apartment like this or whatever it is, has a car like this or whatever. And I'm not telling anybody to be frivolous with their money. These have been like, very calculated decisions by me. I don't just spend money on anything. But it is really about like, you know, am I the kind of person that makes this investment? Am I the kind of person that lives in this apartment and and you become that person by making those decisions? Hopefully, and I feel like that trust thing like say it's so important, but we have to trust like yes, it will come back tenfold. That's all of my information. By the way. Every time I make an investment it comes back to me tenfold is we have to trust but it's not always instant. And that's okay. But it's always gone back so that that trust that it's gonna show up it's going to pay off and I think this is where people get stuck. Sometimes they put these timeframes like I'm gonna join this like three month mastermind and I'm going to make all my money back by the end of it well, but if you don't, but you make that money back within a year and you keep making, you know, that same extra money every year for the next 10 years, then that's been an incredible investment. Let me just let me just back that up with the first two years in my business. I made chunks of money here and there. And I was investing with coaches that were like $10,000 for six months like big investments, and I didn't start making consistent investments till my third year in business or I'm sorry, consistent income until my third year in business, but then I skyrocketed. The last two years have been like insane for me. But what people don't realise is I was investing long before I saw that return. So it absolutely does pay off even bad investments pay off because you learn what you don't want or who don't want to be liked or whatever that may be. I've met I definitely made bad investments that added to my wisdom 1,000% I made a bad investment. I've talked about this a lot but I made a bad investment and it showed me how I would not run a programme. If I was like I would never run a programme like this. I would not want people in my programme to feel like this. They were all you know all these different aspects from it. I wouldn't make it that lens because of this I wouldn't do that because of because and without having that experience I wouldn't have known and my ideal client is me a little bit you know, earlier in the journey, so I'm like if I hated that, they would hate that. So I'm absolutely going to make sure we do the opposite 100% Like it's all it all adds up. It's all worth it. The only thing that is going to make an a bad investment is if you quit that's it. You have to keep going. Yeah, totally. I love it. So while we're on the trust mindset, like all of it, what does your daily weekly mindset routine look like? What kind of practices are you living at the moment? Okay, so my routine like I am the most flexible, rigid person that I know so what? What that means is that my morning, my first few hours of the day is always for me and what I do in those hours varies on what I'm feeling. But they always include things like journaling, meditating, exercising, maybe answering messages setting up my day, but I just make sure that I give myself time to process and think what I need to do and really like who I want to be for that day. When we go straight into the day. We're on autopilot. But if we can take that time in the morning and you know just give ourselves space to make smart decisions and to have awareness and that kind of, you know, that kind of thing like I have just found that is the thing that has changed my life the most. And what does the rest of 2023 look like as far as you've got mapped out or as far as you visualised, or what would you like the rest of 2023 to look like in your world? Well, I am moving to Miami in February so I'm very excited to be living it on the beach and in such a beautiful place. And so that's one thing I'm going to acclimate to tropical hot weather, Mason.