Fostering Connection and Partnering with Local Businesses: Community Based Events in San Francisco

Soulfull is a community founded by Taylor Hamilton and Caroline Ball with the intent of fostering meaningful and authentic connection, incorporating more play into life, and elevating local businesses and creatives in San Francisco. In this episode, we discuss:

• Their background, friendship, and how they came to both return to CA as roommates in SF
• Their shared passion for building community
• The multiple events they've hosted so far around the city including a Vibe Alchemy event and a clothing swap 
• Some upcoming events will include a pickleball tournament and monthly coffee chats spotlighting different members of the community
• Working with a close friend, each with their own unique strengths
• Making friends in your twenties
• The importance of community
• Starting a business on top of your day job
• How your attitude shifts towards work when you begin working on something that aligns more closely with your unique skills and interests 
• Pursuing what lights you up. 

Soulfull instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soulfull.sf/

Soulfull newsletter: https://soulfullsf.substack.com/

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https://www.passionprojectpending.com/

https://www.instagram.com/passionprojectpending/

https://www.tiktok.com/@passionprojectpendingg

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6F0aDS5efhzgaCtYzI7fsA

Transcript

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I don't know how to explain it, but they're like sober events where you provide non alcoholic drinks. And I always feel high on life after. It feels like I'm, drunk on drugs or something because it just fills you up with so much energy how lucky are we that we get to put on this great event or invest in this community? And we know, and we just trust that it'll come back. what better investments there is like the school of life. So you are trying an entrepreneurial venture and you were going out there and you're learning how to do that. Use tools that you've probably never touched before. You're just using life as your teacher You don't have to have all the details lined out, but just starting is better than never starting. Your 70 percent effort, why you might think it's not your best. It's better than 0%, not doing it at all. Or even some people's a hundred percent. Soulful is a community founded by Taylor Hamilton and Caroline Ball with the intent of fostering meaningful and authentic connection, incorporating more play into life, and elevating local businesses and creatives in San Francisco. They grew up in Fresno, California, but had not seen or spoken to each other for over eight years until they both found themselves moving to San Francisco at the same time and reconnected as roommates. The women quickly realized that they shared a passion for building community, and since launching Soulful in January of this year, they have hosted multiple events around the city including a Vibe Alchemy event featuring yoga, meditation, and music at the beach, as well as a clothing swap. Some upcoming events will include a pickleball tournament and monthly coffee chats spotlighting different members of the community. Tune in to such a lovely conversation about making friends in your twenties, the importance of community, starting a business on top of your day job and pursuing what lights you up. I just started this new tradition where I ask, Each guest at the end a question to ask the next guest. So I have a question that I'm going to start out with. so yeah, so the question is, what would you do if you could do anything you wanted and it would automatically be successful and no one would be mad at you for doing it? Ooh, that's a really nuanced question. Like my honest answer is I think what we're doing now, but just make it bigger. and start doing retreats and having a blog and a podcast and a merch line and just all of that because that fills my soul up and that makes like me so happy. It's not even work. So I think I would honestly do that. Yeah. obviously that's my answer too. I think more too with just if I could quit my job tomorrow and didn't, have to worry about money and anything, I would be lean more into writing. I really love, writing. We do have a newsletter part of Soulful and probably will incorporate more of that, but I would just go travel the world and write. I think. That sounds amazing. Hopefully one day. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Love that. Love those answers. That's like a perfect segue into talking about, Soulful. okay, I am curious if you guys could talk about, the story of your friendship, and then what you each do for work right now, as your day job, and then ultimately, your motivations for starting Soulful. This, was it January? Yeah, it feels like way longer way. Yeah, it's crazy. It's only been a couple of months. We launched in January. yeah, I'll start it off. So Taylor and I have known each other like our whole lives. So we grew up in Fresno, California and went to school together, like K through high school. And we were like the best friends that never knew it. And I mean that because we had a lot of overlap and a lot of similar interests and we always got along really well, but we weren't really like close friends ever for whatever reason. And I think we just Both marched to the beat of our own drum. I was actually living in Ohio a couple of years ago and. It was just this weird intuitive feeling that I had that I was like, you know what? I'm really, I've spent some time in the Midwest, but I'm ready to get back to California. And I just had the thought of, I kind of want to live in San Francisco. And, I was working in insurance sales at the time, which is what I still do. But, randomly out of nowhere, once I had that thought, I got head hunted by a recruiter for a new job for similar competitor, what I was doing in San Francisco. And so here I was, and then shortly after that. Taylor was also on a journey. Yeah, I was living in San Diego before working for sales for grub hub. And I did a solo adventure around South America where I was working remote and I kind of wanted something more. So I was just putting it out to the universe that I maybe wanted to work in a tech industry. Um, maybe move. I was really open to really whatever kind of came my way. And a recruiter reached out to me for the company I work at now called Verkata. So we're a tech sales, exactly what I asked for. and I was interviewing when I was in Peru and then I ended up coming back to the States, came up here for the interview, happened to look at this place that we're currently at the same day and it worked out perfectly. And then we just started living together. So just kind of like the stars, I truly believe aligned that we would come together and then living together as roommates. we just had so we have so much fun and I think soulful was really just a byproduct of the things we were already doing. So we love to host. We have a lot of like theme parties. We're known for theme parties, but dinner parties and book clubs and. Our craft nights, we just constantly we're filling our schedule with, a big group of friends and we love to entertain and then also the other really fun thing about living together and just getting to, be closer as friends is that we have a lot of shared interests and passions really around. Self development and improvement. And we're such lifelong learners. So we'd be, getting home from work, sitting on the couch, and just talking about like a podcast that we listened to and what we learned for hours, dating stories, wisdom that we've learned or gathered from our travels and from work and just from day to day life and things that we, you know, podcast books, whatever it was, and we just were like, how do we make this bigger? Yeah. And so we were driving to Mendocino, which is about a three hour car ride and. We had just gone to an event in San Francisco. It was like a rooftop wellness, sound bath, meditation kind of event. And it felt so good afterwards. And we're just driving in the car and we look at each other at the same time. And we had the exact same thought without even realizing what if we did started doing that and hosting. And it was so funny that we just didn't realize both of us were thinking that at the same time. And three hour car ride turned into a three hour business meeting, our first one ever. And Soulful was born. yeah. And it's just so crazy and how easy it felt because truly, I think one thing we've felt a lot through the process of building Soulful in our community is that while it is hard work, there are elements that are definitely challenging. we're building things and carrying hard stuff and coordinating with vendors and everything, but it doesn't really feel hard. Like it's so natural and there's no resistance. Like things just pour out of us when we come together. And it's really, we're in like flow state and it just happens seamlessly. So it's been, yeah, challenging, but it's fun and it really fills up our cup, which is the whole point is soulful, right? It's something that fills our soul. Yeah, that's such a lovely story. And I feel like it's like a really good foundation for what you're trying to do. Cause it seems like it's built on friendship and meaningful connection and community. that's obviously like a core value to both of you guys. So that's so lovely. Yeah, we never have too many friends. So I think that's even just a part of it too, is like, how do we meet new people? How do we bring more people into the fold and get back to San Francisco too, because it's such a really great city and great community. And there's a lot of people here that are looking for deep connection and just to expand their friend groups and things. So yeah, absolutely. yeah. Cause I know from my experience of living there, There's been, like, countless conversations I've had with friends where we're, like, we just don't know how to, meet people, and, it's just a process, you slowly get better at it, but there's definitely, I would say a gap or a need for more ways to, connect people with, like minded people who like to do similar things, that kind of thing, Yeah, I mean, adult friendships get really hard. I think my parents always said, you know, you leave college and then until you really start having kids, like it is just hard. There's not a lot of natural circles where you meet people, like you said, that are like minded. So creating something that is either, a space for someone who might be new to the city and wants to meet more friends or someone who's just looking to expand their circle. Like I said, I think you can never have too many friends. And so that's a really big thing. A special part of soulful definitely. And the people we've even met through, starting soulful, they're so empowered and badass and just great individuals. And it's been awesome learning from them, connecting with them, leveraging their skills as well in our community space and in our events too. yeah, I love that so much like I have really enjoyed through this podcast being able to connect with also like you said, like empowered badass people who are like just going out and like doing something and it's just so lovely to have a thing that Is could potentially be your like work one day where that is like a core element. So love that. but I also wanted to ask so I think starting something on the side of your full time job is always an interesting Experience. So I was wondering if you guys could talk a little bit about your jobs Your day jobs now, obviously they probably provide you stability and you have already built up industry experience. But how do you see your jobs now? what do they mean to you now after having the life experiences you've had, so far that brought you to this point? That's a good question. I am a big proponent of, I am, working to live. I'm not living to work. And so that has always been like a huge pillar of mine. So my day job, I'm in sales. I work at a tech company. It's not something I'm super passionate about. I love my coworkers, but I commute every day, 30 minutes at five in the morning. I work East coast hours, so I'm up early and not even light out yet. and so it's just something that's not fulfilling and it definitely drains my soul. And while it does support me and I'm so grateful to have a job and have, an income that can provide this beautiful house and, It's beautiful view. We can actually see the Golden Gate Bridge right now. it is just something that it's like, it means to an end almost. And so it's right now just supporting Soulful and supporting, me, why I figure out what I want to do and what I want to create. And so I'm so grateful for that, but it's definitely not a long term goal for me. Yeah. I think what we've talked about a lot is that the more we lean into soulful and what our passions are, the harder it gets to do our day jobs because before there wasn't really a contrast as much, so you just like ignorance is bliss almost. You're like, this is my job. This is what I do. I sell insurance and that's I didn't have anything else to compare to. And now that I'm really tapping into something that like we said, fills our soul so much and just gives me so much joy. And again, Reiterate my earlier point. It doesn't feel hard. It feels in flow. You want to do that more. So having that contrast now has definitely made. It harder to do my nine to five and, tap back into that mindset. You know, we'll, we'll have a really great event, on the weekend, or we'll have a really good business meeting during the week. And I'm like, ah, like now I have to go to work tomorrow and do my, my, boring day job. So I think, yeah, ultimately the goal is to try to lean more into this and see how far we can take it. And we've always said to it's, At the end of the day, the most important thing is like one, like our friendship. So we'd never risk that. And then just having fun with it. And if at any point, either of those things are at jeopardy, either we're not having fun anymore or our friendship's at risk, I think we would just try to spin it into something else. Like we both are just, I think. Entrepreneurial spirit. Yeah. Very adaptable. Yeah. And so even in San Francisco, I've noticed a lot of people's, personality revolves around their job, or it's the first question people ask, like when you meet someone, Hey, what do you do for work? And, while that is a big part of your life, It does pay the bills. it is your nine to five. I think there's so much outside of work that people can be proud of and people can, tap into. And so it's just interesting. I guess the people that we are around and the shift around that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I couldn't agree more. That is like a tough mindset. To get out of, for sure. And yeah, I've experienced something very similar. as I started to work on something that really aligned or energized me, it was harder and harder to ignore. I think like how my other job, wasn't filling my cup in that way. it was almost like an inconvenient realization slash truth. Like it was already like there beneath the surface. already, but then that contrast, as you put it, was, became very like stark. so that's difficult for sure. When I was five, my mom tells a story and I would be running around the house, basically naked screaming, what is my purpose? Like, why am I here? My mom's like, that's a really profound question from a five year old. I don't know what to tell you. And I think that's always been an underlying question within me is like, what is my purpose? Why am I here? And. We do these jobs and we, you know, go to school and go to college and travel and move. And again, I always just had this calling. I know I meant for something more than just a nine to five. I don't want to work for someone else. I want to work for me. I want to create change. I want to inspire. I want to influence and I know I can do it. And so now with all my traveling and working and moving and meeting Caroline, I feel like I really know what I'm here to do. And that's so exciting. Yeah, I definitely fell in alignment. Yeah. And it's like the concept of being paid to exist. once you are just operating, like you said, on that higher energy or the higher frequency that you know, even though it might be hard, you're starting out, you're like, this is my path. It's like, how do you then, yeah, like this is what I meant to do. And how can I just make money doing that? And I think it just comes, the money comes once you like, I mean, I'm sure, as you know, like you took a. A big leap and a big risk of, leaving your day job to go after your passion. And I think the universe rewards that typically, like when you have trust and you just be under courage to say no to something, that's not for you to say yes to something that is, I honestly feel like the universe starts opening doors and you, again, things like start to flow and just happen for you once you put that intention out there. We're big believers in that. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I couldn't agree more. I was technically laid off, but it was going to happen at some point anyway. But yeah, just wanted to clear that up. yeah, but, yes, I couldn't agree more. I think one thing you were talking about earlier, like about, In San Francisco, especially it's one of the main topics in conversations. What do you do for work? And I don't know, The tendency to tie my identity to what I do, that has also been a really interesting thing to grapple with throughout this transition. it's like, how do you define yourself? Like I personally, when I was just like a software engineer, I would just like cling to that, I realized. And then once that was kind of changing, I was like, What's the definition now? And I think it's just really interesting. When this shift happens and you, let something into your life, maybe let in, your true passion or whatever, Yeah, it's like, how do you then change your definition of yourself, because then it's do you attach it to the new thing that you're doing, or do you just Not attach it to anything. So I'm wondering how you guys see that so far into the soulful journey Yeah, I think we both again like we always are talking about concept like this. This is such a conversation We have all the time of just yeah at yourself to anything external whether it's a relationship or a job or really any Cannot control to your point like your job might not be there tomorrow or you know Sadly like that person or whatever it might be. Yeah. so we really tried to work a lot on just inter Attachment only to like yourself and like your core values and your passions and things, and not really looking outward to fill your cup. So I think soulful is the living embodiment of that. It is, like I said, like we love soulful. We love the community, the people that are in it are amazing, but it's not a physical thing to us. It is like an internal feeling. Like when you think about what is a community really. It's just a feeling of connectedness and like mindedness and shared interest and passion. So sometimes even just with yourself, right? Like coming back to you, like you are your own home. And I do think as humans, we like to make things permanent. Kind of Caroline was saying, our jobs, where we live, relationships, friendships, and that's the beauty of life. Like being drunk on the idea of change, cause change can happen at any point, right? Like you can lose your job or you can be offered a new job or you can break up or, someone could pass away or you just have friendships that fade or you move and That is life. And so being able to ebb and flow and go with it and just, remain positive because you have yourself and you know that you've got you. I'm a big proponent of you are your own hype woman. You're your own best friend. Like no matter what changes you have yourself. So if that foundation is strong, like you can really do anything in the world. And so just coming back to yourself. And so building soulful is really to create that feeling inside of someone so that. Even if outside of the community, again, like not even attaching to the community, they still have that feeling. So it's just creating that from within and then yeah, not feeling overly attached because it's easy to define ourselves again by what we do, who we hang out with, whatever. But, I think the process of just self discovery, self growth is a lifelong process, but the more you feed into it and get into it, then yeah, you just, you feel your best self too. I think you just feel. More relaxed and like the pace of the universe just let things flow less resistance. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's like such good guidance and it's probably going to be really helpful for hopefully anyone listening as well. and I do agree. I think it's like any skill, it takes time to improve at yeah. So it's very easy when growing up. yeah. To trend in that direction, I think, and you pick a major, etc. But then it's yeah, it's like the process of letting go of those titles. Like we are given. I was a bio major and I wanted to be a doctor from an early age. And I don't really know honestly why I wanted to be a doctor at this point in time, but it became my identity. Like you were saying, and my parents knew I wanted to go to med school, my friends knew I wanted to go to med school. And when that finally shifted after I. study abroad and got to teach in or teach English in Madrid for a little bit. I was like, wait a minute. I'm having an identity shift as well. My parents were like, no, like you always talked about this, like you want this. And I was like, I don't know if I do want that anymore. And so having almost an identity crisis exactly on wait, I can change. I do have the choice. I am the creator of time. I'm the creator of my time of my life. I'm the main character. I'm the producer. I'm the actor, the director. Like I can do whatever the hell I want. And so just yeah, hire, fire, promote as you wish. There's something so magical and beautiful about that. And so just really owning that. I think sometimes we forget that we can do whatever we want. We can change our mind. that's okay. yeah. I think that's the biggest thing I see a lot. People not thinking that they have their own permission to change their mind or that is bad. Or, You somehow have to pick what you want to do for the rest of your life when you're 18 maybe and then never even know you are 18. Like it's okay. Yeah. We all feel it. as much as, we say that it's still, there are days when I do get really, caught up into my nine to five and you feel the stress or you just feel like you're not making progress enough or all these things. And then, once I stop and think about it, it's This, my job is not who I am, like, am I fulfilled in all these other areas and elements that are arguably more important to me? Yes. So let's like, let this one piece work itself out. It's not, worth being too stressed over. Yeah. Yeah. That's such a good reminder. and it's just, it's really top of mind for me right now because as I shifted to having all my time to myself, even if it is temporary. there are times when I get really stressed and I tend to pile on to do's because I'm like, this time is so precious. This is my baby. This is my product. I want to like, do the most I can with it. And it's easy to , get very worked up when at the end of the day, like I made this transition so that I could be doing something that was more fulfilling, that would cause me less stress and more just feel more natural. So it's just, It's really interesting to talk about it, to me. And so I wanted to get your guys to take on that, but it sounds like you have a very good mindset around the whole thing. So it's very refreshing for sure. It's been a journey though. Like my mindset wasn't always, I think like this. And so again, it's just being patient with yourself and always investing in yourself at the end of the day, that's the biggest or the best investment you can make is in yourself. So. yeah, I agree. It's a work in progress. But, okay. okay. another question, on another note, obviously, community is very important. To you guys with what you're doing with soulful. and also we could all obviously benefit from more meaningful friendship in our twenties. It's such an interesting tumultuous time. So I was wondering, it sounds like you guys have already talked about this, but what do you see as the intended impact, of soulful? I think really it's creating a space where people feel like they can be their authentic self, because I think a lot of us. Don't have that space, you know, it's we all some areas are more so than others But like a little superficial or again People are talking about their jobs or have to feel like they have to have everything together and be Impressing everybody or maybe these friendships are just surrounded or formed from going out and partying and drinking and you know which again Here's say, but like more authentic and meaningful connections in a space where people feel safe, that they can show up as that most authentic version of themselves. And they have people there also doing the same thing, wanting to grow, wanting to learn, wanting to connect, wanting to, learn. yeah. Cause again, like some people don't have a space like that. And I think it's just. really sad. And I think coming out of the pandemic too, what I've talked about with a lot of people is just a lot of people felt really lonely, obviously during the pandemic, but even after it's like socializing and meeting people and these authentic connections is a skill. And I think some people, because that muscle wasn't works like anything else. if you don't use it, you lose it sort of, they kind of forgot how to do that, or it just felt intimidating again. And. We're in a rebuilding phase where people are starved for these connections. I think it's a testament to how many, we're not the only community in San Francisco, we actually are one of many, and we've all intertwined and we do collaborations and it's so wonderful, but a lot of communities have, come out of the pandemic. I think really, again, because people want that we, especially our generation. I just feel like. We want to go deeper with ourselves and with others. So not always knowing what that looks like, I think is the hard part of how to do it, but we're trying to make that easy and fun and like playful. And so a lot of it, it's not just like self discovery and it's not just, meeting new people, but it's having fun and just laughing and doing things maybe that bring out your inner child. That we've gotten away from because we have just been so focused on work or going out. And so finding new hobbies as well, new skills or something that you haven't tried before that, maybe you're like, yeah, let's do this. Let's give it a go. And so maybe pushes you outside your comfort zone a little bit. that's why we do a variety of events. I think. We're probably different from another type of community, let's say, a running group where everybody there is pretty like minded and that they run. They do that together. We are trying to be more broad in, the types of events and activities that we're doing so that we can appeal to a wider audience, but the pillars that are consistent around all of them are some element of self growth or, like we said, self discovery. Play because I think we all like, don't let our inner children out enough and just dance and create like art or just movement and play. But then also, tapping into our local community and spotlighting people here who are doing very cool and unique things. And how can we highlight that or bring a light to these people? So those are the three pillars. of our events. And I think that actually gives us more of a variety of things we can do because you can work that into many different types of events and things. So there's something for everybody. Truly. Yeah. Yeah. But as you're talking about, it sounds so great. And sounds like it would just help with making life a little bit lighter. like more emphasis on play, less emphasis on the prof, the professional, what is my, what are my longterm goals? all that stuff that is very common in San Francisco as well. so yeah, so that's really lovely. I'm like, as I'm thinking like over. The years post college that I've had, when you're trying to connect with friends or make new friends, it's you almost have to do the brainstorming on your own of what's something fun we could do. That's not like maybe going out or going to get a meal or whatever, or just going somewhere to spend money. And it's it would be nice. Yeah. If there's more resources that kind of like assist with that. Because sometimes it's okay, then I like, I have to brainstorm another thing to do. So like taking the mental strain off, like just another resource for people to be like, Oh, I know that community does like a bunch of cool random stuff. yeah, very cool. Do we try to make as many of our events like free or low cost as possible? Obviously, there are some costs that we do, take on. So we, yeah, for some of our events, but a lot of our events are free. Like we're doing, we have a group height coming up. We're going to be, starting. Something soon that we're just calling coffee chats, and it's going to be once a month where we have a different, like I mentioned, we really want to spotlight local friends and business owners and people that we know in our network experts in a certain realm. Yeah, it's like a little mini Ted talk. So just to love vocational, whether it's your, your rights in the workplace or your rights as tenants, or we have so many interesting. People in our network. So it's like giving them an opportunity to teach others what they know. And again, no cost, other than maybe buying a cup of coffee if you want. but just making it accessible, like you said, so it's not at the door and spend, you already, we already feel like every time I leave the house, I spend a hundred dollars. I know. Yeah. 12 on a bagel sandwich last weekend. I was like, Oh, I spent like 12 on a coffee and I was like, wait, what is in there? It's crazy. Yeah. San Francisco. No, it is not. It is not, but it is so beautiful. But, okay. So on that note, like how do you come up with the different event ideas and then like maybe what's an example of. One of your favorites that you've hosted so far and why? Honestly, we are just constantly so one of the perks of being roommates We're always together and best friends like we're always texting or messaging each other just like a rapid fire of ideas Yeah, it'll be six in the morning and i'm at the office and i'll just like text caroline a bunch of like random ideas I have i'm like, sorry to spam you at 6 a. m. I know you're not awake yet And then she'll just respond back and we'll just have rapid fire. So it's we're both big dreamers. Yeah. Like visionary. He's what if we could do, Delulu is the salulu in this case. It's yeah, we're both so willing to like, if Taylor comes to me with an idea, I'm like, yeah, let's try it. Like why not? And see what sticks. So we don't have a lot of like resistance to that. And even something that seems sort of like. A big endeavor. we're trying to plan a pickleball tournament right now and we're like, I barely even remember what was a pickleball because I forget everything. So I'm like, we can do that. it can't be that hard. We can make rackets. We'll have prizes. it'll all work out. We just have, yeah, unlimited belief, that, we can do anything. We hosted what we call a vibe alchemy and it was this holistic celebration of breath work, sound bath. We had a DJ. Yoga instructor, dance party, bonfire with the sunset at the beach. It was great. We wanted to build this like stage for the DJ and we had no clue really what we wanted it to look like, or, what the execution would be or how to do it. And we were in a group chat and I was like, ladies, I'm going to Home Depot, stay tuned. And I come back with a six foot piece of wood, some tools. And we ended up making this really cool stage or this booth painted it. And, now we can use it for the rest of our events. So it's just like, we have a vision. I think we're both really good at making it happen. So I'm trying. Yeah. I think my favorite event that we did other than by Bacchus, which would be an ongoing event. we actually have another one coming up, at the end of the month or next month, was our clothing swap. So this is Taylor's idea and I had never been to a clothing swap before, but me either honestly, both are really big, proponents of like sustainable fashion and trying not to support fast fashion retailers. We do a ton of thrifting. we do a clothing rental subscription service called newly that, I'm obsessed with. But when she said that, I was like, absolutely. I love that concept. Like just getting all friends and people in our community together to, retire something that you once loved, but no longer maybe fits your wardrobe and finding it a new home where someone will be really excited about that new item. And we got. So much positive feedback from the event. Everybody walked away with at least one to two to maybe 10. Some people had a lot. Yeah. We had a DJ there as well. Is that a really cool coworking space nearby. And so it was. Yeah. That was one of my favorite events too. And these events, I don't know how to explain it, but they're like sober events where you provide non alcoholic drinks. And I always feel high on life after. It feels like I'm, drunk on drugs or something because it just fills you up with so much energy. I'm like, this is exactly what I need and what I want. And yeah. I think it's something about that, execution being, you Seeing that like idea of something like Taylor sending me a voice memo, like we should host a clothing swap to then actually bring that to fruition and seeing how much people were like, I didn't even, I never thought about something like this is exactly what I needed. I needed a bag of good clothes. I was going to take to good. Can you guys do it again? this was, you know, the coolest one we've been to. We're like, yes. that makes us feel so happy. So yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. So fun. Yeah. The clothing swap is like genius. Like that is something that. I feel like, honestly, it's been on my mind for a while, and I've always been like, oh gosh, it's a lot of that, that's a lot to organize, I don't know, and I was just, waiting for someone to, like, make that a thing, doing it seasonal, hopefully, Yeah. Yeah, no I think that's so smart, cause again, something I've chatted about many times with friends is like, they don't know what to do with their clothes, maybe they want to sell it online but it's too much work, I feel like every girl, or like most girls have this problem, so, yeah, bringing them together. Amazing person wears an item of clothing only 7 times before they discarded or like never wear it again, which is not that many times. If you think about the grand scheme of life and all those clothes end up in a landfill or in the deserts and Chile, what can we do to be more sustainable and be more conscious consumers? And so I think getting that message out. A lot of people don't know, right? Fast fashion has kind of taken over. We want to keep up with the trends. We want to be cute and cool, but we can do the same thing just with swapping clothes with a friend or, shopping vintage or thrifting or. It was my favorite comment that someone made too, was that like, this is so great because it's like no risk. They're like, this wouldn't normally be something that I would buy in a store because I don't know if I could make it work. It's not really my style, but. I'm going to, you know, take this home today. Cause I'm going to try to experiment. So that was like the unintended, really cool effect of the event too, that I hadn't thought about, but yeah, it's again, element of clay, play with your style, change up. Try on something that's not your normal, you know, mold go for it, you know, just, I think, yeah, powering and confidence building to, which is again, kind of like an unintended effect that we didn't think about, but that was really special. Just a quick break in the episode to talk about the second hand shopper's best friend, which is called Benny. It is a Chrome extension you can add to your browser for free that suggests second hand alternatives available on different resale sites to whatever item you are looking for. I have been using it for a couple months now, and it is incredible how accurate it has become in matching to the same items as what you're looking for. So if you're looking to shop more sustainably, but don't always have the time to thrift or sift through everything available on Poshmark, eBay, Mercari, et cetera, et cetera, then Benny is your new best friend. Just click my referral link in the episode show notes and happy shopping. Yeah, definitely. I'm like, how often are you in an environment where, There's a bunch of people or like girls and like clothes and you're like, it's like a creative environment And you're like trying other people's stuff on and that's just so fun. Like usually the experience of clothes Like it was amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so that is phenomenal. So I applaud you guys for that but Yeah. So what have you learned through putting on these events and like, what have been some challenges so far? Like, I'm sure since you started, you've noticed some things that like maybe didn't work as great as like other things and things that like, you're like, Oh, we're going to keep doing that. That's a good question. I think the things that we've learned have been, one, we're always learning about ourselves from doing these events. And I think again, testing the limits of what's possible. And once every time we prove to ourself when we host a successful event, we're like, we could do go, that was easy. We could do that again. Yeah. Like let's do it bigger. How do we, you know, make it better? but I think one thing we've talked a lot about is like anytime you're doing any sort of entrepreneurial venture, I think you are sort of changing and. It's a hard line between, you know, you have your friends who are, our friends are so great and so supportive, but you do start to notice the people that don't, show up or don't ask how things are going or don't encourage. So it has been a little bit of a lesson in just evolution and changing and. Just who are the people around you that are rooting for you in your corner? Because it definitely stands out more. Like we've had so many amazing people who have helped for no reason other than just being the kindness of their heart, helped us with set up or clean up for events or reached out and just affirmed what we're doing. And that means so So, so much to us. So it just makes us, I think, a little bit more conscious of our environment and the people and the things that we are surrounding ourselves with. and I think it's a challenge because yeah, what, what we're doing, it is hard because I think. It's a lot of work. It's like having two jobs in a lot of ways. And, yeah, some people get that and some people don't, I think. So it's just been interesting for sure. And even just like promoting our events and gaining followers, right? Like we have been doing most of it word of mouth or Instagram right now, or. The nudge will promote some of our events from time to time. And so just being more creative with the content that we're creating, like how to reach a wider audience. I feel like that is something that we're also constantly learning and figuring out as we go. And it's definitely a challenge. we have grown pretty quickly in the last three months or four months since we started in January. And our friends have been there to support us for the first few events. And now we're. Reaching a wider audience and, reaching people that we don't know and friends of friends or just people that have found us from Instagram or, whatever it is. And so that's been exciting and just figuring out how to tap into that more as well, for sure. I guess I didn't think about that piece. I don't even have a personal Instagram. So we started January. Taylor had to literally go back and show me like, this is how you post a story. This is what this means. This is how you do this. I didn't even, I was like, so I'm a grandma. I don't know any of that. So it's really cool to, to me, like the growth means so much more. Cause I like, look, we have, 500 followers now, six at Whoa, so crazy. Cause I've really no concept. that has been a challenge because I don't think either one of us have a ton of background in social media. Like I have my own Instagram for fun, but I've never like trying to, How do we grow? How do we find a wider audience? And so, but I know that you have some great content about that. And listen to your episodes, mutual learning, you meet new people. Yeah, it's been super. Yeah. It's an unintended really. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. if you guys ever want to chat about that, like I am like, I think about that all the time and I think like something like your business is like perfect for it because there are literally people who might not know about what you do and like you have a way to reach them. It just takes making those videos, making those reels. And sometimes it's yeah. Very annoying, but I think it's so powerful, And that's been like, I would say it's just the time, right? making the content, posting the content, planning the events, setting up for the events, taking down for the events, brainstorming, coming up with the business plan and the business models. And it's like time consuming and it can be very challenging. And, I think I absolutely love Caroline and I trust her with my whole heart. And so our communication and her strengths are my weaknesses. My strengths are her weaknesses and we just balance each other out. So it's just, even though they are challenging, I'm like, we got this, like no matter what, it's fine. Like just together. I think it's the part that we haven't really talked about what's so cool is that we are doing this together because I think, in your case, in a lot of our good friends that are starting entrepreneurial ventures or businesses, a lot of times they're doing it alone and that is really hard and isolating. And I feel so lucky and blessed that we're doing this together because I really feel like I've got a true partner in it. And the days when my cup might be running a little low, or I'm like having doubts or like, Oh my gosh, I don't know if we can pull this off. Taylor's right there and hype me back up and saying no, we've got this. And it goes both ways. So I feel like this is such a unique, like journey of that. We're doing this together and, helps a lot. Having two people. Yeah, to rain. Sometimes that's why we're in flow state. It's it's a rapid fire back and forth, back and forth. yeah, that's so huge though. And that's so helpful for sure. but I also want to say before, we move on, what you said earlier about how, you've noticed. I don't know like almost changes and like yourselves and then changes and like others response or whatever Like definitely find that so so relatable. I have talked about that in previous episodes for sure and it's definitely an Uncomfortable experience I think because like again, it's just like change and I just don't know like quite how to handle it but I would agree that when you embark on an additional venture, It forces you to then make changes in behavior, be much more organized, be on top of everything. It forces you to grow. Like it really does. And then things kind of change sometimes and it's just. I don't know, that was an unanticipated effect, I think, for me as well. Yeah, just keeping those reactions to it, because I think, because we are so busy, we're not that we ever really went out a lot, but we don't have as much social time to, go out and be out all night, and some people who are maybe used to a past version of ourselves when we had, Let's say we're late or we're being boring or, again, they get, they're used to an old version of you. And when you grow out of that, becoming a new version of yourself, they have resistance towards that. And it's just like a classic case of, people outgrowing each other and that's the ebb and flow of life, right? You can grow back, but it has been interesting just seeing the friendships or. the relationships change and evolve as well as we're changing and evolving and growing this. And I think, you know, our attitude about it has just been to keep a lot of love and, you know, of either side, it's just like we said, change is inevitable. And I think, we're becoming more of our best versions of ourselves and. We're going to attract a different kind of a person or friendship or just opportunities in general because of that. and it'll likely repel, you know, also, but it doesn't. Yeah, natural process that you go through. yeah, just having again, detachment, I think is huge and just saying, yeah. It's okay. everything's working out as intended and people that you aren't in your life anymore. Like that's okay. Like again, they might come back boomerang. yeah, no bad vibes, just looking at just looking ahead, just taking it day by day. Yeah. okay. yeah. So back to the fact that it's so lovely that you guys have each other and you founded it together through Similar values. What is it like, like working with your best friend and then I'm curious if you've noticed any specific, unique gifts that each of you have that kind of balance each other out? Definitely. Yeah. Like I feel like Taylor is one, she's an energizer bunny. I never, she's never stressed. I just, we just talked about that last night. I was like, I never see you stressing. I'm a little bit more. I'll get a little more stressed or like in my head I feel like and just seeing her unwavering positivity and true belief that Everything will work out is So positive for me because you need that. Like I said, if I'm like having a bad day or I'm stressed or it's getting a little bit overly logical about something, she pulls me out of that and reminds me that yes, everything is possible. And if you have the right mindset and attitude, you can literally move mountains. With that being said, sometimes I can be a little d Lulu and I like dream so big and have these crazy visions. I like, we can do everything right now, like easy, and then Caroline's like, okay, okay, let's breathe and get back a little bit. Mm-Hmm, do it. But let's do, we need these steps first. I'm like, okay. yes. Call. Yeah. So we have different yeah. In that, and I think even to some of the events or what we bring to the table for events is Taylor, I think, has a more unique experience of, even living in San Diego and then, living in Europe and just what you've been exposed to and your ideas are different than I'm probably. A little bit more, not like narrow minded. I just hadn't had that many examples. So I feel like she's a big, we're both big dreamers, but she has a lot more creative examples and things to build off of that I hadn't seen. So she helps me like, she'll say, Oh my God, I went to this event one time in San Diego and it was like this, and then it spurs my creative process. It's like putting a template out there of what's possible. And then it helps me. Think more because otherwise it's like almost too broad and be a little lost like you kind of ground and center and then we build around that. So that's like a lot of our creative process comes from that. I think I'm Caroline is definitely the writer of the 2 of us. she is an amazing. An articulate speaker and writer and so I think my more creative side is like photography and maybe like photos and the Instagram and then you really hone in on the newsletter and the blog and it's like the perfect balance, the perfect mixture. And even when we've had some conflicts come up, we just talk about it and, good at hearing each other's side. And so it's never from a place of, bad intention. It's always I respect you. I love you. I want to hear your side. I want to hear where you're coming from. And likewise, and then we always end up. Moving forward and like at a better place because we've yeah, there's something we solve some problem It also spurs creativity where neither of us are really Sometimes we're conflict avoiding just because we don't care like I'm the kind of person like I really never have like fights with people because I'm just Like it's not worth it. Like it whatever. Yeah, everybody's fine But we're also not afraid to have conflict and we don't see it as a bad thing, especially for our business. I personally think every single time we've had a moment of not really seeing eye to eye or just maybe disagreeing about something. We sit back and think about it and then we're like, okay, wait, no, we can find a solution forward. And it's even better. And I think, we've had a lot of examples of that. And every single time I've been like, wow, like the way we navigated that was really great. And it's like a true partnership and a true like best friend relationship. It's. Yeah, it's been great. yeah, that sounds really healthy. And yeah, I think it is important to have the open communication that it sounds like you guys have, especially when like you're spending so much time on something. you're probably, working harder than you were when you just have your day jobs, yeah, it is a lot, but it's also nice to hear, like, how well you seem to know both yourselves and each other, yeah, I feel like when you're talking, it makes me think, I've noticed throughout this, as I'm getting more and more, Used to working by myself. I'm very like, I'm very like logical, rigid, like intense at times. So it's I have to go seek out ways to like, bring it down, relax, bring in more like softness. It's very interesting to think about what it would be like, working with someone versus working on your own. So that's why I ask. That really reminds me of a conversation Taylor and I have been having a lot lately, and it's talking about like feminine and masculine energy, I'm sure. It's a very topical, conversation right now. And I think when you are building something that tends to lean towards your masculine energy and we both are in, very, sales cultures, We work with all men, who have always been very competitive, very driven, which is your masculine energy. Yes. And Yeah. Check ourselves to exactly what you're talking about. Anytime we're feeling a little bit too much in that head space of just bringing in that feminine energy, which is more of like your creative side. That softness, that receptive. Yeah. Like very much slowing down. Mm-Hmm.. And how do you do that while building Exactly. Business? It seems a little bit counterintuitive in some ways. So it's something that we try to strike a balance with and just keep top of mind. and that's where a lot of the play comes in, right? Art night, a lot of the art that we've made in our house is just as painting. And so we'll put on music and we'll have a night and a lot of our creative juices flow from those instances. And we're really tapping into our feminine side. And so I think the masculine side is like the business, like the go, go, how are we going to build this and grow this? And that feminine side is we get into the creative element and like, where can we take this? Like, how can we expand it and, make it sustainable. So it's been a, it's a balance. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. It is tricky at times, but yeah, it's nice to know like you have encountered something similar. and yeah, same like coding, male dominated vibes just from one, one thing to another. Yeah. yeah. So I know that you mentioned at one point, in the future, you want to maybe look into, starting a podcast or email marketing, and so I was curious about your thoughts on these, mediums or ways to communicate with, your audience or, maybe reach more people with your intended impact or, whatever events you're planning. so I was wondering if you guys like what your plan was around those or how you see them like helping you out in The future or like even maybe what your thoughts are on Building those . Yeah. we have a newsletter right now that we're really trying to get on. Okay, because I think that Newsletters went away like they weren't as prominent for a while, but I'm seeing we use, sub stack and there's definitely community on sub stack. I think it's, there's always like little, micro communities now, and you can be like, really niche and find what you're looking for there. But there's also just a really receptive, amazing. Group of people on substack that are really willing to like share and help cross promote and I've run into Several other writers in the Bay Area that we're actually going to host a collaborative event with a colleague that runs something called writing the wave And he's got like a really great network. He's teaching us the tips and tricks of that because it's I've always written, but not necessarily in a medium that way, but, it's a lot of fun because it's a great tool for education and that's a piece of soulful of really wanting to give back and teach people what we've been learning. So that is a huge avenue for that. And then I know Taylor also as a podcaster has a very strong faith in that. Presence and voice. So I have my microphone's actually right there. And so it's been something that's been on my mind. I did like a test run a while, a couple of years ago, filmed a few episodes and then I don't know what was like holding me back. I think maybe it was a fear of being seen or a fear of being heard. And I've really worked on that. And I think I've really honed in on what my vision is with that. And so coming soon, it's going to be called spilling the tea. Cause I'm Taylor. So tea and I always say spilling the tea and it's going to be just a podcast about. My truth, my experiences, soulful, interviews, people that we, highlight in the community as well, and sharing the good stuff, the wisdom we've learned along the way. yeah, coming soon. The two biggest things we're working on right now, but we're also trying to get our head wrapped around, threads. Which is, oh yeah, it's pretty good on Twitter. Yeah. But I've, I've been just kind of like observing and like just reading posts and seeing what kind of people post on there, what people are interested in. And it's also another community where people are seemingly very trying to uplift each other and say Hey, this is my goal. This is my business is what I'm doing. And then we're, I'm reading a lot of people being receptive, yeah, like, how can I help you with that? yeah. A lot more to learn in that element, but I'm trying to see how we can even leverage that as a tool would be. Our next focus probably too after that. yeah, very cool to hear your thoughts on that. As I'm like, in the midst of trying to decide which ones I should focus on. It's almost do I really do all of them? Cause that's a lot and I worry about not being able to make significant process in any one if I am just like, we're doing them all. So there's also just something about honing in on one and like really being an expert industry. And so I think, again, it's like trial and error, right? maybe try all of the avenues and see what works and what doesn't, what hits and what fills you up and what fills your soul up. And then, Go after that and put all your energy into that. Yeah. It's especially challenging the concept of we're building a community and there's people, people that are like, we don't have like members in the sense that we're not like a paid like subscription in that way. But, people that come to our events and frequent them. some other communities have, like a Slack channel or, so a WhatsApp that everybody can like talk in because that obviously fosters that communal spirit more. that's a whole other, thing to manage. So it's a little stimulus overload at some point. You're like, okay, to like successfully run and do on a consistent base, haven't dabbled with that yet, but maybe, just seeing, I think it's just like asking the feedback of the people that come to our events. what do you want this to look like or feel like, or be like, so we're open to it, but it is to your point, like really challenging to, a little bit of everything as opposed to going deep with, maybe your primary mediums. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And I hope that in theory, you play around, find like a couple that work and then you just go with those for the foreseeable future. That seems much more approachable, and then maybe like when you're able to like, maybe bring more people like onto the team, you can like expand or something. I'm not sure, but that's the goal. Okay, so what are your biggest, most wild dreams for Soulful and why? That's a good question. I think we've really like always been like the sky's the limit. We see this as it can have unlimited potential if we want it to. Yeah. I think what would be really cool is always keeping the community element. Embedded in soulful. So we started, we live in San Francisco now. So this is in theory, like the San Francisco chapter, but I do would love to see, you know, a New York chapter, San Diego chapter, Bali chapter, whether that's an evolution of us picking up and moving because we both say, who knows, maybe we'll have another minute or what have you. But. if we can leverage it enough, big enough, maybe there's somebody else who feels inspired and can use our template and our branding and, examples of the events that we're running and start, their own chapter so that we foresee, being an element of it. But then beyond just thinking of community in the physical sense, we really do want to try to grow soulful as. A digital community too. So that's where the newsletter and some of those other mediums play bringing together, even like what you're doing with your podcast, you know, you're bringing like probably other entrepreneurs or other people who are interested in these topics together. And you're creating a community of followers in that way. So promoting, products or brands that we love with our whole heart, another vision for me is a hosting retreats, all over anywhere, like local Nicaragua, Bali, Costa Rica, and just, Having our pillars and collaborating again with local communities to create a space where people can come back to self, have fun, refill their cup up and just, I don't know, reignite their passion for life. I feel like a lot of times we're just so drained that having a week off and going somewhere where you're really just meeting people and. Again, filling up your cup and like putting back into yourself is so important. yeah. Just rethinking what community even means outside of like our little San Francisco bubble. This is like where it starts, but I do think there's potential to make it a lot bigger, have more reach. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's really nice to hear. And those all sound like great ideas. I'm really glad. I did not skip over that question because yeah, it's good to hear. okay. One question about finances. Cause I think this is a big boundary for a lot of people who might have an idea and want to start something. but they're like, how does that work? And so even when you have a day job. sometimes these things, they require a bit of, investment, cause, for me, it was, like, podcast equipments, subscriptions, etc. And that's, relatively manageable, but it's still something, and, speaking from personal experience, I don't know when that's gonna, turn into paying me back in any way. I'm curious, from your point of view, How your approach has been with Soulful, have you just been, like, investing any of your own money, and then, is that, pretty manageable so far, or, like, how has that been for you guys? Yeah, we've definitely been investing our own money so far, right? A few of our events have been, paid, right? But the payment really just supplies the products that we're using for these events. So the vendors, the space, the, clothing racks or whatever we're buying for these events. To set up and so any money that we have made from events goes directly back into the events. So we haven't made a profit yet. and so I think that's also been like a business goal of ours is to figure out, how to make a profit of it and pay ourselves because we are. Putting so much time and effort and energy into this. And it does fill us up, but we also want it to support us and, grow it that way as well. yeah, no, yeah, it's not easy because you're putting a lot of your own finances at risk, but I think it's because it's so rewarding to us. We don't necessarily view it as. This is what we love to do. So yeah, no better way that I'd rather spend my money. we work hard in our nine to five and live a full life outside. And so I guess it's just like our mindset about it. we trust and have a lot of faith that we will be able to figure out a way that we won't have to worry like that truly, like we are resourceful enough and have a really healthy mindset about money, Like it comes back. Money is energy. We talk about this a lot because I think we both grew up. Yeah. Maybe without the healthiest concept about money. money was like, not really talked about in my family a lot. I think it was a very like hush, hush topic and your mindset around money is formed when you're like five or six years old, how your parents treat money, if they're super spenders or super savers or. whatever it might be about money, I think, yeah, and it ingrains in your brain. And then you have to almost unlearn a lot of those behaviors and realize that money is everywhere. Money is energy, you can create it doing really anything. And so just kind of like, and not feeling resistance. Cause I used to even, you know, if I wanted to buy myself, let's say like a nice purse or something, I would feel. So guilty about it after and be like, Oh my God, I just spent all this money. Or we'd have a big weekend coming up. I'm gonna spend all this money. And, just thinking about it with a lack and a scarcity mindset. And, again, this is one of the things that we've learned. And one of the things that we talk about all the time is a mindset of abundance. And then you get to spend this money or. Oh, I get to spend a hundred dollars on groceries. Like it's going to feed me. Like I'm so lucky. And so just instead of, Oh, I just spent a hundred bucks on groceries. Like just a little reframe. Yeah. So we really built that into soulful. I think too. It's like, when we do have, a lot of expenses for an event, like how lucky are we that we get to put on this great event or invest in this community? And we know, and we just trust that it'll come back. And maybe that sounds a little unnaive in some ways, because it's like, you know, rationalize out there and be like, you have to have a, Way to make money and stuff. and we do, and we think about that. We were not completely like naive to those realities, but we just are big believers in mindset being, everything. Yeah. Paramount to that success. So yeah. Yeah, so interesting to, think about, and I don't know, I feel like you could be, like, closer than you think sometimes to, making money, I try to think about that for myself as well, and, especially when I look at what you're doing, you're literally, offering this, these lovely events for people,, I feel like it makes sense at some point in the near future where, you're able to Profit off of that. And I'm glad you also brought up your, mentalities on money from upbringing. I think about this so much and I definitely resonate with what you said about like your mindsets, except like for me, it's been really interesting because I think there was a scarcity mindset. And then when I started getting money, I didn't know how to like, Manage it. So I like went way the other direction, but like with a podcast investing money in that, it's like similarly to you, it's this is an excellent use of money. this is a really good use of money. Like I have no qualms about this is great. Like it's also like an investment in self that feels like sometimes, Yeah. Like sometimes we're so easy to spend a hundred bucks at dinner or, for drinks or going out, but then when you want to invest a hundred dollars in yourself for a podcast equipment or, you're like, wait a minute, should I be doing that? And then it's like, wait a minute. No, no, no, no, no. Again, the best investment is in yourself. And if you haven't read this book, you're a badass at making money by Jen Sincero or not exactly sure. Great book. And it has some prompts in there and it just rewires your money mindset mentality. Yeah. Okay. I'll check that out. Okay. One piece of that also is just I feel like a lot of what we view as like appropriate ways to spend money is just what society tells us. if somebody was like, I'm going to go to grad school and, be. 50, 000 in debt or whatever. Don't really question that. And they're like, wow, that's a good point. So great. And you view that as you're going to get a better job and this and that, but what better investments there is like the school of like life. So you are trying an entrepreneurial venture and you were going out there and you're learning how to do that. Use tools that you've probably never touched before. You're just using life as your teacher, or maybe it's an online course or what have you, but what's any different about that? You're still learning very valuable, applicable skills that you could translate not only into another job if you wanted, but into any relationship, like anything that you do. It's just saying yeah, like this is equally as an a worthy and an investment and not, thinking about it. just the way that society tells you to like, that's not a good use of your. Yeah, I agree so much. Yeah. And I feel like, yeah, putting yourself in a position to, embrace this part of you. That like maybe you haven't been able to embrace previously, like that's going to bring about so many realizations about yourself and so much growth and so much like just like room for opportunity. So yeah, it's like very worth it to me. but Yeah. Okay. I would love if you could give advice for aspiring entrepreneurs or those who have an idea. To start like a group or an organization or something community based or just anything really, based on your experiences so far. I think it's totally, this is what we talked about in the beginning, is not letting, letting your perfectionism get in the way. I think we both, When we were just thinking about soulful and we're like, maybe we should get a website first. Maybe we should do this and all this. And we're like, if we wait until everything, we have a perfect logo and perfect brand colors and waiting forever. We won't just do it. We're like, we trust you'll work those things out, but let's just put something up there and just do it and just go for it. Because Yeah. You'll be waiting forever. There's always going to be something that you need to do and a logistical thing in the way, but. At the end of the day, you have to start somewhere you can just go and do. There's something about the power of now, right? It's actually a book by Eckhart Tolle, again, I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that but if you have an idea, run with it, just do it. If you say, Oh, I'll get to it later. I'll get to it later. Like you're never going to do it. And so if you have that idea, Put it on a piece of paper, write it down in a notebook and just make it happen. And so don't worry about the perfectionism. It doesn't have to be perfect. And so you learn as you go and just, I think taking that initial leap, no matter how scary it is, that's typically where you find the most reward is like on the edge of the comfort zone and, some of the, something that's a little bit scary. Yeah. And the other hard thing is because you're doing it on yourself, it's not like a job or school where you have these deadlines and timelines that are handed to you and imposed. You have to do that yourself and that can be really challenging. So I think The other thing too, is being vocal. Like we use our friends as mirrors and accountability partners. And we have an idea or something. we will start talking about it and tell people like, we're going to do this or whatever. And it almost by saying that out to existence, like we, this pickleball tournament is perfect example. there are a lot of logistics we need to figure out about it, but we've been starting to tell people like, Hey, yeah, we're doing a pickleball tournament. And that's our own way of actually committing saying we're going to figure out the details of the how, but. Putting it out there so that people could say like, aren't you doing that? Pick a ball tournament and kind of hold us accountable. Give us a little bit of a timeline and a deadline. Also, the idea that you're constantly manifesting, I think you're always creating your life with your energy. And so being conscious of your energy, right? Like what is my mind telling me? Is it being my own worst enemy? Am I having all these doubts or fears? And am I telling myself a narrative that maybe. Isn't supporting me. And so being aware of our subconscious mind and reprogramming it, if you need to, like hyping yourself up, saying your affirmations, writing them down, saying them in the mirror, whatever it is to really rewrite that narrative and have that like sense of self and sense of confidence to really boost you off as well. And so I read somewhere that worrying is a form of manifestation too. So if you're constantly stressed, what's preventing you from, Starting your business or accomplishing something or what's going wrong. You're actually creating a more likelihood of that being the case. So it's managing your thoughts and your energy on both ways. really, I call her my inner roommate. And sometimes you have to tell your inner roommate to shut up. If they're like, Oh, like you're ugly. Like you can't do this. no one's gonna follow this. You're going to fail. No, we're going to judge you. You wouldn't let someone else talk to you that way. Like, why are you going to let yourself that way? So you sometimes you just have to tell them to be quiet and rewrite those thoughts and then just run with it. Yeah. Yeah. All pieces of great advice. And yeah, I would agree. Like it's definitely been A process, my mindset on the podcast when I launched, launched, a little over a year ago, was, like, nowhere near what it is today, but that's only because I've been doing it for that long, so now I'm like, I know I'm gonna do this because I've been doing it, so it's fine, but before, it's scary, it's hard, it's weird, and all the doubts are like, creeping up and very loud, so you just, I don't know, it's a process. Well, it's like a conundrum too of like, when you're starting out, you're like, I've done this before and I don't really know what I'm doing, but we got some really good advice, through a woman that we, saw when we were in Mendocino and she said, you only really need to be one step ahead of the people that you're teaching something to, or you're doing something for. If you're doing brand new and to you, or maybe all these other podcasters, you're like worried, you're going to be compared, but the people that are listening are probably, one, even two steps, three steps on a podcast. They don't know. They're not going to judge you through that lens. They're just going to appreciate, your content, what you have to share. So you don't need to be as far ahead to do some of these things as you think you need to. You don't need to be the expert. You just need to be one step ahead of whatever you're trying to teach or do or share. Yeah. Yeah, that's such a good reminder. I completely agree. but okay, I'm gonna finish up, wrap up with the last question, which is what is a question you have for my next guest? Not knowing what exactly they do. Let me think. Let me think. Can we, do we both get a question? Yeah. Two questions or one question? Yeah. You can do two questions. I'll just, yeah. I love the concept of, you know, you learn more from failure than you learn from success and you learn from failure. You don't always really learn from successes, but, just what's the biggest failure that you've experienced that you've learned from, or that, has propelled you forward would be my question. Okay. Mine would be whoever, your next guest is knowing everything that they know now. Is there anything they would have done differently when they first started out? Yeah. Yeah. Both of those great questions. It's going to start. I really like this now. This is my first time trying this, but it starts off the interview on a good note. It's like, okay, let's like, let's get into that. Yeah. You go to order like a Starbucks or whatever, and they're like, I'm going to pay for the person behind me. And then like they start the train. So it's kind of fun. I like that. Yeah. And I like how I can start off asking like a maybe like intense question and be like, it's not me, it was my other classmate back in the day. No, it wasn't my classmate. Yeah. Yeah, because sometimes I like to ease into it. Yeah. Yeah. okay. those are all the questions, but that was so lovely and so helpful. So thank you guys so much. I'm so glad this was so much fun. You're such a natural. This was a really fun session and thanks for creating the space for us to share some of these things because it's unique. Like you don't always get the opportunity to do that. So just affirming you that what you're doing does really matter and is really cool and hopefully will help a lot of people. So thank you for having us. Thank you. I feel the same about you guys and yeah. It's good to know that you think I'm a natural. it's been a long journey and it still is, so Yeah. Every day. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, for sure. if you're back in San Francisco anytime soon, definitely let us know. Yeah. We'll get together or come to one of our events. It would be great to have you dinner. Yes. Yeah. Come to an event, so it'll be fun to meet in person and hang out. Yeah, that sounds amazing.