Ep 24: Entrepreneur's Journey: Finding Joy and Balance Beyond the Hustle

Our latest podcast episode is a treasure trove of wisdom for service providers, particularly those in the kids' activity sector, as we dissect the importance of robust support systems, the pitfalls of hustle culture, and the art of striking a harmonious work-life balance.

With the 'Queen of Easy Business,' Libby Langley, imparting her expertise, this is the conversation you don't want to miss if you're on the quest for efficiency and profitability without sacrificing sanity.

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:04

Here we are. We are the first podcast of 2024. We're back. We are With a smile. We're back and recharged and ready to bring some amazing podcasts to our listeners' ears.

Speaker 2 0:14

I've got rid of the cough that I had on the last podcast of 2023 and a cough that you had, for I had the 100 day cough. Yeah, it wasn't good, it wasn't.

Speaker 1 0:21

But we're back.

Speaker 2 0:23

We're recharged and ready for another exciting year at Class for Kids we are, and straight into the year we were taking down South to Nottingham last week or, sorry, the beginning of this week, for the Access Marketing Kicker of 2024. Yeah. So we were down with a number I mean a big number, about 350 of our colleagues in marketing when we had sessions with Lathologist Stephanie Davies.

Speaker 1 0:45

Stephanie, Davies, we heard from Teddy Soto. We also heard from a number of other speakers as well, talking all things marketing. If I said the marketing funnel for any marketers out there amongst the kids activity providers, they'll be very excited to hear about that.

Speaker 2 0:57

And if you don't know what the marketing funnel is, simply Google it. And if you're a business owner that doesn't know what the marketing funnel is, shame on you.

Speaker 1 1:03

Or maybe we might bring some wonderful content explaining the marketing funnel and how it can apply for kids activity providers. Just watch this space.

Speaker 2 1:09

Could be some of the wonderful content that we're going to bring to all of the listening ears and eyes in 2024.

Speaker 1 1:15

And it has been a very exciting week, as Stephen said. We've been away at Nottingham at the marketing kicker. We've learned lots where we charged, but it wasn't without its usual class for kids drama.

Speaker 2 1:25

And this time genuinely it could.

Speaker 1 1:28

I don't control the weather yet. No, but you're still the curse.

Speaker 2 1:30

OK, OK, I'll take that so long story short our train on the way back.

Speaker 1 1:34

The train there is always fine, always fine, it's the way back. We were delayed by like what? Five minutes, mr Connecting Chain, by three minutes, which made it turn into, rather than one change, three changes. Some cold nights, and Was it six, seven hours or something like that. But we've discovered some new talent amongst the team, so there's twofold this talent.

Speaker 1 1:53

The first one is we can clear waiting rooms, no matter what the weather, because we are so annoying and so like. So if you have a house party or something that you want cleared, just DM at Class for Kids UK and the marketing team will turn up.

Speaker 2 2:06

We'll be there. We will chase them all out. We literally had nine of us in little areas that we were all huddled in with, and it was like minus six outside. And our noise and talking made these people just go.

Speaker 1 2:18

They chose hypothermia Over warmth because of us, and I'm proud of it. Second talent, stephen.

Speaker 2 2:25

We are train entertainers, train entertainers. Twice within the last six months or the last two months, we've ended up entertaining train carriages for the people. This time round, we brought back the age old game of charades.

Speaker 1 2:37

Yeah, and I've discovered new talent.

Speaker 2 2:39

Yeah, she does have this really freakishly good talent for charades, where, I mean, somebody just went like this Well, I know the listeners can't see it by making a T, which means the.

Speaker 1 2:49

And they did a triangle on their head and I was like the princess diaries.

Speaker 2 2:51

And she got the princess diaries just like that.

Speaker 1 2:52

More to the point, we had a great time there, but we've had an even better time today because we have a very exciting guest on the first podcast of 2024.

Speaker 2 2:59

We do. We thought we wanted to start with a bang this year. Back in October last year we attended the ICAP event, which is the Institute for Children's Activity Providers, one of the really, really impressive keynotes, because there was a lovely lady called Libby Langley.

Speaker 1 3:14

And we've had the pleasure of sitting down with Libby just today actually so you're getting everything in the one day, libby Langley came and visited our office. We managed to sit down with her and get some really good insights around to what she does and some plans for the future, and we also get the pleasure of having our team sit down at four o'clock this evening and sort of learning more about Libby's journey in business.

Speaker 2 3:32

We do, and she's going to be involved with us in a number of things this year.

Speaker 1 3:35

We won't spoil all now Can't say too much.

Speaker 2 3:38

There's always something coming very soon, but I think we should just get into this interview. It was a very good one, both of us doing it. It was Back in the studio like the good old days, good old days and here we go. Libby Langley on In the Club.

Speaker 1 3:49

So, libby, welcome to In the Club. The Class for Kids podcast. We have with us today the Queen of Easy Business. You're a podcaster and author and a speaker. What is it that you don't do so? Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, libby?

Speaker 3 4:01

Well, thank you for having me. So I'm Libby Langley. Yeah, I'm a business coach. I've been in business since 2011. So I feel like a bit of a veteran now in the business world, and I help people. Well, easy business is my thing. I help people to work less and earn more, so it's all about efficiency and profitability.

Speaker 1 4:19

We actually had a session down with Access in our headquarters there in our marketing kicker this week and we had Stephanie Davies from Lafology talking about happiness in the workplace. I don't know if you know Stephanie or if you've heard of Lafology, but it was talking about all, or she was talking about sorry, all the different elements of happiness. Actually, you can only focus on what you can or can't control.

Speaker 2 4:39

And actually it was a really good session.

Speaker 1 4:41

I don't know what you thought about it, Stephen, but it kind of ties into I thought it was very good.

Speaker 2 4:44

This is the first I've spoken this podcast on in the field, so you've came today from Chesterfield, yes, so thank you very much for coming all the way up Just to see us. No, it's been great. So the reason that we asked you to begin with was that one of our salespeople seeing you speak at the ICAP conference back in September and December.

Speaker 2 5:05

And he was absolutely impressed. I mean, he came away saying that that was the takeaway, was your speech and your talk at it. So tell us a little bit about that and how you kind of get involved in that.

Speaker 3 5:14

Well, the reason that I, the reason I was at the ICAP conference, is because I one of the organizers I've known for a long time and knew her when she was her brother's business, actually, but when they were starting their business was around the same time I was starting my business and we met through a kind of entrepreneurial group that we were in and we grew and developed together. They sold, they franchised their business and sold their business and she became a consultant and we just kept in touch and she'd watched my journey and seen that I'd grown and developed too and thought I'd be a good speaker. And I've always put lots of content out on Instagram and on social media, so it's quite easy to find examples of me talking and sharing stuff. So I've always been really open with sharing content and information.

Starting a Business and Supporting Others

Speaker 1 5:57

So, yeah, what inspired you to start your business and start coaching people? Was there something that happened in your own life? Did you see a gap in the market? What was that? You're smiling. I feel like there's a story here.

Speaker 3 6:08

Well, I'm smiling because I feel like I should say yes, I was really passionate about this and the honest truth is that I was utterly miserable in my job. It was absolutely burning me out. I worked in education and I loved that job. I was a commercial development manager and I used to organise paid for training for companies and I started delivering some social media workshops. I got qualified as a tutor while I was there and I really loved it and it just became what's the word? Unbearable to be a commercial person in a public set in the funded educational sector and I just left. I mean, I look back now and it just think so did you just meet the decision I'm leaving?

Speaker 1 6:49

Did you have this business in mind or did you just think for my mental health and well-being.

Speaker 3 6:53

It's fair that I just it was that it reached a point that I just had enough and I walked away and I'd always done lots of networking. So I knew lots of people who had their own businesses and I did a kind of series of lunches with people and said, right, do you think I can make money and make a business from training and coaching people? And they said, of course you can. And that was the full extent of my market research into starting a business. But the mortgage has always been paid, you know, and here I still am and yeah, it's been really successful. But I started it because I wanted to do something different. I couldn't keep living the way I was living. So, yeah, it was about freedom and my own autonomy. Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1 7:32

I think the power of network like a huge thing is a hugely important thing, sometimes not what you know is who you know. Obviously, there's an element of you need to know what you're doing if you want to start something, but it's that. Who can I rely on? Who can I go to advice for? And who's that person that's maybe three or four years ahead of me in a similar journey? I don't want you to think, but I think networks are hugely important.

Speaker 2 7:50

Yeah, something we're concentrating quite heavily on as well at the moment. So in terms of like, so, within our industry, within the kids activity industry, you work with a number of businesses and that's straight, without genetic specifics and names. How have you found working with them and what support do you give them and how can you help them kind of improve their procedures and business?

Speaker 3 8:10

The really most businesses are the same. I work with service providers, so I don't work with kind of bricks and mortars and product based businesses. That's not something that I really know too much about. Well, I mean, I know how to buy stuff, but not necessarily how the businesses set up. But service providers, yeah, and the the issues are pretty much the same across the board is that people feel they're working too hard, they're tired, they're not earning enough money and they can't see the wood for the trees, and that's honestly the same across the board.

Supporting Business Owners in Franchises

Speaker 3 8:38

So I do work with quite a few children's activity providers. Some are franchisees, some are independent, and it's the common theme. Again, it's the same thing. It's like I want to grow my business but I'm running around and I don't know what to do next, and so I always look at how the business is structured and this works if you're independent or you're a franchisee, but how the business is structured, what you're charging for things, what you're focusing on and whether you're being efficient with it, because for children's activity providers, if you've got 20 classes and they've all got five people in them, you're never going to make any money, whereas you've got five classes and they've all got 20 people in them, suddenly the business becomes a much more viable proposition and really it's helping people to understand these kind of fundamentals of business that make that make such a difference. And then, once you've got that solid foundation, you can. You can start to grow.

Speaker 1 9:31

But you can't grow without having all the nuts and bolts in place absolutely, and I was reading some of the success stories on your website of clients that you've helped, and I think one of the biggest things that we know at Class for Kids, and certainly from our time here, is often when we are speaking to these people for the first time. They actually don't think of themselves as business owners and I'm assuming from that you find the same it's. It's how do you go about trying to educate and change their minds?

Speaker 3 9:53

like what are your top tips for those kinds of things.

Speaker 3 9:55

The thing that I say the most and all my clients will tell you that this is like every other sentence it's about conscious decisions, and I mean, certainly, when I started my business you know 2011 I didn't really know what I was doing.

Speaker 3 10:07

I mean, I was financially savvy and understood business because I just am my MBA and I've done a lot of management qualifications and I worked in the commercial area, but that's very different to actually running the business and being in it yourself and all the emotions and everything that that go with it.

Speaker 3 10:23

So it really just just making sure that what you're doing is what you want to do, I think is just kind of so important because we go into this, we go into running a business, because we want to run a business, we don't know what that means, and so, thinking about actually how you want your day to look, how you want things to be structured, and making those conscious decisions is this going to help me get where I want to go? Where is it that I want to go? And am I just busy for the sake of business? Is this constructive? All those kind of things? You've got to have a bit of a word with yourself, really, and because that's how a business owner is born. It's not by buying a franchise that a business owner is born. It's about this mindset and this understanding and those skills to a certain extent.

Speaker 1 11:11

You know, one of the biggest things, like for class, for cases, is, as I say, they're not seeing themselves as business owners. For a lot of the clubs that we speak to in the first instance, it's well, I've got this job in the daytime and I'm really passionate about this. I've always had it in my life and I'm really passionate. I'm really passionate. It's actually, why don't you think of yourself as a business owner? Because you're running classes, you're generating revenue, you're advertising. Now, whether those things are basic things are the way that they're doing it. There's definitely ways that they can level up and do these things, but it's trying to educate them to realise actually you're not just doing a hobby, you're a passion.

Speaker 2 11:40

This is a viable business if you stick at it and you make it work and you have these things like this they're doing everything that a bigger business is doing on a just a much smaller scale, and they just don't even realise it and it sometimes takes a kind of mirror to be held up to look, you're actually doing this, you're doing it all yourself, and then you're kind of stepping and, in the kind of franchise realm, where do you fill, as you see, that kind of that gap with businesses?

Speaker 3 12:03

Well, there is a huge gap and you know, franchises are superb. I think they're a great way for people to be able to start out on their business journey and grow on their business journey. But you're, you know, perhaps you're already providing children's classes. You already do that independently, but you want to do something different. Or you've been a teacher, you know, you've been a teacher with somebody else's dance school, so, and you think you know what the way for me to do my business, I'll buy a franchise, because I've already got the teaching skills and all of that. I'll buy the franchise and that'll help me build the business and then I can be really independent.

Speaker 3 12:35

And all of this and it's like, yeah, that's A, that's C and B is where I come in, because buying the franchise doesn't automatically make you a brilliant business owner, because franchisors will give tons of support and encouragement and guidance and all of them, but the good ones will and but that doesn't doesn't necessarily involve the practical business skills, and so there's no reason why you can go from being a superb teacher of ballet classes for children to being a brilliant business owner just by handing over several thousand pounds for a franchise. There's a bit, there's a whole like skill gap here, and they're the kind of people that I work with who recognise that they they can be better at this and actually it would just help them to be able to enjoy what they're doing more, because they won't be stressing about the fact that it's like trying to I don't know, it's like walking around, walking around with a blindfold on sometimes and, yeah, and I help them. I help them see more clearly and be more strategic and think differently.

Speaker 1 13:38

So is it just franchisees that you work with or do you work with franchisors? Because obviously, like, the requirement for those two people or two businesses are very different. The franchiser and I'm talking from a class for kids perspective here would be very much around. How is my franchise network performing? Where do I need to give more support? Because I can see maybe there's a dip in class capacity here, revenue here, and that's more about, like you say, the support that they provide. So franchise a is doing really well, franchise bees capacities down. Here's where I can provide support and training, whereas a franchisee is more about the day to day, like they're there are the business owner, essentially that's running this thing day in, day out. So do you see a difference in the support that you provide the franchiser versus the franchisee?

Speaker 3 14:13

Yes and no, because it's largely it's kind of the same skills, because franchiseeors often will have started as the practitioner the same and grown. I mean, I have a client who I work with who's just superb at the minute, but she was delivering her her classes, herself started to grow the business, franchise, the business, and I'm working her with her kind of on two sides really, in that I'm helping her to make the the central business, the franchise or a bit more robust, so helping her with her own business skills as well, and then to be able to support the franchisees so that they can grow too. So I'm not working directly with any of her franchisees but I am supporting the entire organisation.

Speaker 1 14:59

Yeah, you're impacting it kind of at a multiple level.

Speaker 3 15:01

So it benefits everybody. You know, the more benefits the franchise. Or because if a franchisee is upskilled and upleveled and, you know, turned into a brilliant business owner, then they will make more money, they will be happier, they will stay longer they will, they will generate more for the franchise, or and so the franchise or will be happier, will be have more longevity. So it benefits everybody. But largely a lot of the skills are and conversations, they're the same across the board. They're just kind of tweaked slightly, I would say. And when working with a franchisee, if it's me working directly independently with them, then that's fine, but if I work through the franchise or as a kind of approved, approved business coach for them, then obviously whatever support I give will be in accordance with whatever the restrictions are and terms and conditions are of the franchise.

Work-Life Balance and Happiness in Business

Speaker 2 15:47

So happiness yeah, happiness in business. One of the things you're quick, big advocate is that, and also kind of work, smarter work, less that's. I mean, that's music to everybody's ears, I think. But is that when you're and when you're working with businesses, how do you, how do they take that on board and how do you, how is it that you put that across to them? Because people will think that they have to be 24, seven and what? How do you approach that?

Speaker 3 16:15

Okay, I mean, the hustle culture is very rife on Instagram and all of that, isn't it? Tiktok, you know, you got it. If you get, if you're going to be successful, you got to smash it. You got to get up at five o'clock and do an ice bath and, you know, drink some kale juice and all of this and it's just like, no, you haven't. I mean that's I might make some people happy, but it would make me really utterly miserable having to do that and, and I think, just allowing people to be to run their business in whatever weird and wonderful way suits their. You know their circadian rhythms, their kind of natural get-up time and go to sleep time and the way they work.

Speaker 3 16:51

As you know, chaotic, but in a chaotic within a very structured way Organized chaos, because you know I mean, if you, if you kind of you know, if you knew a divergent, then there's, your brain is all over the shop, right, but that doesn't mean that you can't have systems like classical kids, right, you could. You can't have systems that support that and you can let your brain just do its thinking then, which is fine. But the question that I always ask my, my clients, and yeah, when I'm on stage talking, is just like, what makes you happy this thing that you're doing right now? Are you happy that thing you're going to do next? Does it make you happy?

Speaker 3 17:28

And it's not to say, does filing your receipts make you happy? You know, I mean not necessarily to that granular detail, but do you actually like what you're doing? You know, if you've got a team, do you like having a team? Because I had a team and I didn't. It wasn't making me happy, so I made them all redundant along in my business journey. Just saying, am I happy? Am I happy, am I happy About everything you're doing will help you adjust it so that you are. And it might be that you think, do you know what? I think I'd be happier if I had a job, great. Then that becomes a conscious decision and that's the important thing.

Speaker 2 18:05

So actually let it, lead it. Let the happiness that you are are not experienced lead to your decisions.

Speaker 3 18:10

Yeah, it's like me being here, you know, it's like absolutely love this and I'm just absolutely delighted to be here, you know, but at the moment there's so much not but, and at the moment there is kind of so much going on, so many opportunities and so many really interesting and exciting things happening that I'm absolutely knackered right. I am really tired. However it's, I'm aware of that and I'm also aware that coming up here and doing all these things, it's all conscious decisions, because I know why and I enjoy it and it's a period of growth. Therefore, there is more hustle right, there is more push and then you know, in a few weeks time it'll level off and that's how you just have to be so conscious of everything and understand why and how it's, how it's falling into place and whether it's helping, helping or not. There's a book and because of ADHD, I'm not, I can't remember his name I'll Ben Hunt Davies. I think that will it make the boat go faster.

Speaker 2 19:00

Okay.

Speaker 3 19:01

He was on the rowing team that a few years ago in the Olympics that won a gazillion gold medals and his book is really interesting and the ethos is really interesting that every single thing they did when training for the Olympics for this rowing stuff I don't know the terminology for rowing was will it make the boat go faster? Is eating this going to make the boat go faster?

Speaker 3 19:22

Is staying up later going to make the boat go faster? Is going to go into bed earlier going to make the boat go faster? Is, you know? Is wearing those clothes, whatever, every single thing. And whilst that's the extreme because obviously the Olympic athletes, there's a lesson that we can all learn from that, and it's like if I want to, if I want to grow my business to the next financial level, or you want to franchise it, or is what you're doing going to make the boat go faster? Is what you're doing going to make you?

Speaker 2 19:50

get there and if not, don't do it.

Speaker 3 19:52

Go and see what I tell you instead.

Speaker 2 19:56

What you said about hustle kind of culture, because it is, isn't it it's? Like you have to be what it's. Do this, do that, but applying that does it make you happy to all these? If you're going to get a nice bathroom on, Is that going to make me happy?

Speaker 1 20:11

No, yeah, I'm going to be eating kale.

Speaker 2 20:13

I'm going to be running 10 miles a day to be a successful businessman and entrepreneur, and it's like you don't need any of that at all. You just need.

Speaker 3 20:22

If it makes you happy, do it. Yeah, yeah, that's the thing. It's not to say. It's not to say there's no way. There's no way.

Speaker 2 20:26

A lot of these things, though, make a lot of people that happy. For sure, I don't think.

Speaker 3 20:30

I don't think they do and it, but it is this. This kind of Instagram and and TikTok pressure of this is what you have to do. You've got to get to do it. You've got to get to 10k months and it's like nobody ever talks about what a 10k month means or is, and it's like it's like your turnover and if so, how much did you spend on Facebook ads to get there?

Speaker 2 20:47

How big is your team?

Speaker 3 20:48

Oh yeah, so you made a thousand pounds profit. Okay, you could get that from working like two days a week in a supermarket or whatever, for example, and it's like look at the difference in your, in your quality of life and your time.

Speaker 2 21:01

I see them from like in a creative angle. I've watched ones going well, what you need to do to get big, high revenues on TikTok is be just repurposing other people's videos, putting a voice over over them, put in. You look at these actual video, the output, and you're like the whole thing looks a mess and this is what you're doing each day. Like this must drive you crazy. But yeah, I like hustle culture. I like that term.

Speaker 1 21:21

We'll put a trademark on for you.

Speaker 3 21:24

But I'm I'm anti hustle culture yeah.

Speaker 2 21:27

Yeah, I think we, we absolutely would be as well, it's I think so.

Speaker 3 21:31

I think you're well. Your, your whole system is about making life easier, right? I mean it's about efficiency, it's almost like reliability, it's about everything that hustle culture kind of is.

Speaker 2 21:41

Yeah, we could have a little logo made anti hustle Joe like a stamp.

Speaker 1 21:45

Yeah, any content that we would be doing the future together. Do anti hustle culture.

Speaker 3 21:49

I like it, I like the fact that we get a stamp, we could have t-shirts.

Speaker 1 21:52

Yeah, we've come up with a new brand. There we go, okay.

Speaker 3 21:56

Yeah, Everybody's saying live a new business new business being done.

Speaker 2 22:00

End of years need to sound after this, Brian.

Speaker 1 22:03

Yeah, brian's in the room as well, so he's involved in this. Now, yeah, that's secret and I guess I mean you've been running the business for a number of years and this kind of flips. The previous question maybe somewhat on its head, but what are some of the biggest challenges you've faced since running that business and how have you overcome them?

Challenges of Divorce and Business Running

Speaker 3 22:17

Boy. I mean there's been a lot. It's 13 years this year, so there's been a lot Right, so well, I mean, personally, I guess I went through. I got divorced, I bought my ex out of the house. You know that was a huge challenge, as well as trying to run a business. At the time I had there was a team of five of us and I employed them all, so they weren't freelancers, so that was, you know, that was a really challenging time just to kind of keep focused, keep focused on stuff. If there is any kind of personal trauma going on, then it is quite hard. And when you're responsible for all that stuff as well, yeah, I mean they were not as long time ago now but they were not fun years, I have to say. It's kind of a period of three years. That just wasn't. That just wasn't any fun. So that's, that's in terms of personal challenges.

Speaker 3 23:08

but business challenges, I mean the hardest thing for me, and it remains the hardest thing, is not going down every single rabbit hole and every following, every single shiny object idea that you know, like the t-shirts, right, it's like I mean, that's the kind of thing I'm like, oh my God, let's do that by the domain, do the half of the idea and that's how your brain works here.

Speaker 2 23:30

Honestly, yeah, very, very similar. I mean when we spoke at first. It's a. There's a lot. I mean the tangents, we can go on Bombs. It's a good example. My wife is very good at knitting hats and she can do it really, really quickly. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 23:44

So, she can do it like an hour, and we were sitting on it and I was like this is this, is it, this is how we're making our millions. We bought the domain name to this Gosh. You did we come up with Pom Bom, a logo, and yeah, we were doing that. That was the whole. That was that whole Friday night. And we woke up in Saturday morning like what are we doing?

Speaker 1 24:00

I'm just seeing Brian laugh behind the computer.

Speaker 3 24:03

But that's, that is absolutely, and I feel I've really cracked it now, right, and I talk you know, I've talked about this in my podcast quite a bit and what I do now is I have the idea because the idea is brilliant. Right, the idea was always the one that's going to make a million. You know, the idea was always brilliant. I have the idea, I flesh out the idea and then I just leave it for 48 hours.

Speaker 1 24:27

And that's very clever yeah.

Speaker 3 24:30

Because then and that's hard, you know, that was the just making that decision, that. Do you know what? I'm not going to immediately plan out this entire program, launch it and everything, because I've launched this. I think there's two or three things that I've had the idea for, dear for set up, launched and then unlaunched, which is a bit embarrassing but always gives a story which I can then share as experience.

Speaker 3 24:52

Yeah, it's all about coaching people, but yeah, to, to, to, let your mind still do, does what it what it wants to do, because that's great. And if you've got ADHD I'm autistic, adhd, you know my mind all on 30 different topics at the same time. So allow yourself to do that, allow that thought process to happen, but just don't do anything. And what people will find I'm sure, which is what I find is which is what you said. You either think, well, that was ridiculous, or I've had the, I can't be bothered, or you know, or just nah, and and it is, and the steam's gone because you've had the dopamine hit of having the idea. So, if you just if you just let yourself think about it, or may you know, write some stuff down or whatever, but then don't do anything, just a kind of a pause moment on it Okay and that's.

Speaker 3 25:40

I guess that's kind of like the biggest challenge that I kind of overcoming.

Speaker 1 25:43

I mean, there's been a million things of like you know but that's a really important learning, like you've learned how to refine it, and I think it's like that message of time is really important. It's like with anything if you feel a certain way, if somebody's made you feel a certain way or you've got this idea, you give it time and say, right, okay, do I still feel as strongly about this? And I were later or a day later, and that kind of thing is is the idea still relevant for eight hours later? And actually, maybe that 48 hours gives you time to say no, or maybe it gives you an idea of right here, so we can refine it and really make it something. So I think that that lesson of time is actually very important to anything.

Speaker 2 26:12

Yeah, I said that 24 hours and made me and my wife go. Yeah, I think we did too many wines last night. That's not. That's not going to be a million pound empire, oh God.

Speaker 3 26:19

It's like, it's this like a few weeks ago, my husband and I we went for a drink on a Friday night, and Saturday we found ourselves in Manchester looking at flats. It's like what are we doing? You know, just booked some good holidays that way as well, too right.

Speaker 2 26:35

That is very much me, isn't it Like we'll end up going I mean my family going the craziest places and I'll just be like, oh, I've booked that. And then he's like, what, what about them? Ah, fine, about the money, but look at the place. We're going like crazy places with staying buses, helicopters, really random.

Speaker 3 26:54

So there are some good sides, but you can't run a business on impulsivity, unfortunately.

Speaker 2 26:58

No, otherwise we would be rich.

Speaker 3 27:00

It would be so exciting, but you just can't.

Speaker 1 27:03

I know his ideas of grandeur would be rich. I think the universe is maybe telling us that we're just too, and the universe does this to me.

Speaker 3 27:11

I'm a little bit too settled down son.

Speaker 1 27:15

Okay, libby, what is next in the horizon for you? What does the next maybe two to three years look like?

Speaker 3 27:20

So I am changing the way that I'm working because of the happiness thing and because of the way my brain is, and I have stopped taking on any new one-to-one clients, which was a massive decision to kind of make over Christmas 2023. I've still got one-to-one clients who I absolutely adore working with and will continue to work with, but I'm not taking on any more and instead I'm running in-person must-mind days at my house in Chesterfield. Yeah, so I don't have to. It's all about ease, right? I don't have to go anywhere.

Speaker 1 27:51

You get them to come to you. Yeah, they come to me. You get multiple people coming at the same time.

Speaker 3 27:54

I like to get some food. It's great, and we talk about people's businesses, because taking that time out of your business, that day out of your business, is the best thing that you can possibly do.

Speaker 1 28:03

But also, like on that point, if you're having multiple people and I'm assuming these people might be from across different industries there's so much to learn right there, For sure so much to learn from people that are operating in a completely different industry too.

Speaker 3 28:13

Getting people in a room together is really, really powerful.

Speaker 2 28:16

We work with somebody called Louise who's always getting a shout-out on this podcast from a company called Dan Sinkshall. She also has the Dan's Business Lounge. She does very similar kind of days where she has a big network. That is part of our business, but she'll bring them all together from time to time. It seems that they get massive benefit from that.

Speaker 3 28:31

Oh, it's great and I mean I've always been to things I've invested in my own personal development you know £120,000 or something since I started the business my own personal development and they've always been the best for me. There's kind of short, sharp bursts, then you can go and do it and you can come to another one, but you know you're more in control of things. So I'm doing those to do VIP days for people where it's just me and them. Working with franchiseors is a big area of growth for me this year, being a business coach in residence, so working with the franchiseors to support their franchisees, and then whatever other interesting stuff comes along which I like to just keep that little bit of.

Speaker 1 29:12

A little bit of an edge. Whatever impulse comes along, yeah, that must be it's 25% of impulsivity that I allow myself.

Speaker 3 29:18

Yeah, you can be able to believe that I like that and I'm working on other stuff?

Speaker 2 29:21

Yeah, even if you're not, because you know that your brain's going to have you working on other stuff.

Speaker 1 29:24

Interesting projects. So if any of our listeners wanted to find out more about these mastermind days or VIP sort of coaching, where would they be able to go and find that information?

Speaker 3 29:32

They can find me on any social media platform. I'm Libby Langley, so at Libby Langley on Instagram. Libby maybe underscore Langley on TikTok, I remember.

Speaker 1 29:40

We will pop all of those in the postcard description Instagram and LinkedIn are my major ones.

Speaker 3 29:45

She's on all the social channels. Yeah, you'll find me, but Libby Langley on everything my books on Amazon.

Speaker 2 29:51

Let's hold your book up thoroughly again. It's nice and steady in front of that camera, Brian.

Speaker 3 29:57

That one there. Hold it still, hold it still Sorry.

Speaker 2 30:00

There it is, there you go.

Speaker 3 30:02

I'm Libby Langley on Amazon, kindle and in paperback. My podcast is also called Life in Business. That's on all the podcast apps. My website is LibbyLangleycom.

Speaker 1 30:13

Perfect. Well, there we go. You've heard all the places that you can find Libby and find access to all of wonderful resources and hear more from her. I don't know about you, but I mean I know we start each year off saying that was amazing, but that was a really cracking podcast with lots of good information packed in it First podcast of our third year.

Speaker 2 30:27

Now Three years in podcasting.

Speaker 1 30:29

You're going to have a birthday celebration this year not individually, of course, we'll have those, but I mean a podcast party, yeah we'll do that in the year.

Speaker 2 30:35

Do you know what they do? Big milestones like fives and tens and things.

Speaker 1 30:38

Well, I don't know how you can celebrate a third birthday. Anyway, we're totally digressing from what Libby was saying in our podcast. I think there was a couple of things I took away this whole anti-hustle work culture. I think what Libby was saying is we see so much of it online on social media, particularly around sort of TikTok and Instagram, around this pressure to be high performing, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, to drive and self motivate, but what is bad for us? Things like making you feel like you're missing out on something because you didn't get up at six o'clock and go for that run, when actually the way that you are built as a person, the way that you learn things, the way that you structure your day could just be very different from somebody else.

Speaker 2 31:10

Yeah, a lot of that is kind of it's almost it's very detrimental if you can't do these things like oh, you got up, get into your ice bath, can't do that, not your ice bath, or eat your cake, things that I mean. Happiness is what I took away from it. Yeah, yeah. That was a real kind of driving point and I think if we could all adopt that. I mean, I'm guilty of not doing it at times, but we totally should be Just if you're doing something that's not making you happy, don't do it.

Speaker 1 31:31

Well, I was thinking when I was listening to her. I was so captivated and motivated by it, but I'm now like, oh my goodness, I'm going to cut everything and everyone out of my life. All right, exactly what you're doing now. Yeah yeah, brian Steven gone. Okay, cool Diaz, but do you know, marie Kondo?

Speaker 2 31:44

Is there a punchline to that?

Speaker 1 31:45

No, it was a Netflix documentary and she was all about decluttering and living a minimalist lifestyle.

Speaker 2 31:49

Yes, okay, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 31:51

And what she was saying is you look at something and see, does it spark during your life? And if it doesn't, you get rid of it. So that kind of reminded me of that analogy. Now, I'm not saying you look at things and, objectively, does that spark during my life? But actually, is this making a difference? Do I still feel motivated, Do I still feel inspired every day when I get up to do this thing?

Speaker 1 32:06

And I think you know, when you apply that to business, it's, you know, not necessarily saying that you're not going to be that business owner anymore, but is the direction of what you're doing? Is that making you happy? Like, are those goals that you want to achieve still the things that you want to achieve? So I think it's just that self-reflection doesn't necessarily need to be a daily thing, but certainly, like for businesses, on a quarterly basis. That kind of thing is am I a center of the business? And I think that's what I'm suggesting myself, Reg Lee, enough to make sure that this is the direction I want to travel in what she said absolutely what she said.

Speaker 2 32:31

yeah, no, she was great to talk to. Lots more to come in the future with her and she's got her book that she pimped, she pimped out. That's great. She's got her website. She's got her podcast as well.

Business Growth and Adaptability

Speaker 1 32:41

Yes, she's got her podcast author, speaker, and obviously she talked about her training courses as well. That she does. She's moved away from that one to one client, I think client basis and I think what that shows is you know, you don't have to stay stagnant in business. What you have now isn't necessarily what you're going to have in three years. So I think for our listeners out there it is just you know, whatever trajectory you're on at the moment, that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be the same trajectory in three years time. And I think it's just that continual motivation. If you apply the happiness analogy to business, then you could be in a totally different place in three years time. So I think that's kind of what I took away from it that actually keep moving the goalposts, keep shifting them like keep focusing, keep bettering yourself, and a lot of that we know for clubs comes down to delegating. Delegate to your team that you've got around you. You step back and you think about where's my business going to be and think about that growth.

Speaker 2 33:24

From that point of view she's got better and better at this, haven't you Year three? And that's what we're getting back. I'm sitting here like mm-hmm, yeah. All I can say is that's what she said again, and I'll wind us towards the end of this podcast.

Speaker 1 33:35

It's the afternoon coffee.

Speaker 2 33:37

She's had a lot of coffee today and poor Libby has put up where it's, both like wow, fever pitch. So I think we're singing goodbye in a normal way for the first time I think we should Of 2024.

Speaker 1 33:46

Yeah, you count us in.

Speaker 2 33:47

One, two, three, bye, Bye.