194. Ash Unplugged: The Rebrand, My Red Flags & Everything I Hate Right Now

Welcome to Ash Unplugged, the behind-the-scenes monthly episode where nothing is off the table and the real shit gets said.

In this episode we’ll explore the full rebrand reveal, the complete list of things I hate right now, the red flags me and my husband built together, and how I’m actually running our summer successfully.

TOPICS WE EXPLORE:

• The rebrand
• Everything I hate right now
• My red flags and what l’m doing about them
• How I’m structuring my summer to be present, but still successful in my business
• The guest series coming up. 

THE POINT:

The things that make me successful are not just the pretty ones… it’s the walks at 6:30am, the plan that never waits until morning, the self-coaching loop I often use on myself, and the willingness to say exactly what I think, including the things I hate.

MENTIONED:

• Rebrand team: Catie Cupples (copywriter), Christina at Gem Creative (designer), Katie at 26 & Then Some (naming strategist), Dallas (VIP strategy session)
• Work with me

MORE ABOUT ASH
I am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.

LINKS:

• Become the Regulated Woman
• Get emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).
• Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7
• Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)
• Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

Work with Ash

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So, as I was thinking about this episode, obviously I wanted to share all things, rebrand what I'm doing, and just highlight these incredible women who have been epic for me. So I was thinking yesterday I was driving. And it's summer. I'm gonna get into that in a moment. It is summertime. All the kids are home. And I was thinking about the things that I hate. And I want to share them because maybe we're same-same, and maybe you just need somebody to say these things out loud. I don't know. Sometimes maybe it's at ADHD ruminating along the drive, like just ugh. Hello and welcome back to the Shamelessly Ambitious Podcast. I am currently walking around my neighborhood. It is 6 30 in the morning, recording this episode, because we are in full summer swing. And I'm getting the majority of my work done before 8 30 a.m. in order to be the mom I want to be over summer. Now that does not mean that I'm not working during the day. Sometimes I certainly am, but I'm finding that having one or two things to accomplish during the day feels a whole lot better than trying to get done a workday that traditionally, you know, I had five to six hours to do and now have the kids around. And so I'm doing a lot in the mornings, but it's also feeling really, really good. Yeah. I mean, right now the birds are chirping. One thing I love about Colorado that I deeply, deeply missed when we did not live here because we lived in so many beautiful yet very hot places was that mornings were still really hot. And in Colorado, mornings, no matter how hot it's going to get during the day, are always really crisp and delicious and lovely. And I'm just obsessed. And same with nights. I just love that we still get this like reprieve. And so it's beautiful. It's probably, I would say like 65, maybe 65 degrees. It feels amazing. So hello. Welcome to the podcast. This is kind of funny because the last time that I recorded a um personal kind of update podcast behind the scenes thing, I had told you that I was naming it from where I'm standing. Well, since then, so much has happened. I believe I mentioned on that particular episode, which I don't remember what number the episode was, but I do know that it aired April 21st. And we are now in some crazy world already in June. And I believe I shared that I was going through a bit of a rebrand, and so much has transpired since then. The rebrand is not done. We are so close though. So, so close. I cannot wait to reveal everything. Of course, I will update you when things are revealed. If you're not already on the email list, that is where you're getting most of those updates. So definitely get on the email list if you aren't already. But to kind of start things off with a little update of what's been going on, I've been going through this rebrand. And I have to give a shout out to the ladies who are supporting this rebrand because they're absolutely extraordinary. And it is just, it's better than I could ever dream of. So my amazing copywriter, her name is Katie Couples, she has just been extraordinary from beginning to, we're not even at the end, but she has really captured my tone. You know me, I'm not anti-AI, but there are a lot of things I will not even touch with AI. And copywriting is one of those things. Like, I just, I feel personally like I can instantly tell when somebody's using AI. And I love that. Like I want you to feel me in my website copy. So we started with a smaller scope, as one does traditionally, and it has just grown because her writing is so I feel like I'm gonna use the word delicious a lot today. So just roll with me. So delicious. And I'm just thrilled. I'm thrilled with how it's turning out. It's so good. I've had great copywriters in the past, and I'm not here to dog on anybody. However, I feel that the copywriters I have worked with in the past, while the writing and the copy has been really good, it never quite felt like me. Like a little bit, but not entirely. And part of that I think is because traditionally anybody, including myself, really has this idea of what a therapist should look and sound like. And if you know me personally, or just even on this podcast, like you know I'm not your traditional therapist. And so you've probably heard a thousand or thousand one curse words. You've probably noticed just the way that I kind of carry myself. And I always felt like there was just this softness, almost this. Um, I mean, a lot of what I've had to undo since grad school, this idea of being neutral, right? Of being something that is very safe for everybody. And it's not that I don't want to be safe for everybody. I just want to be safe for me first. And safe for me is being me and being myself. And so, anyhow, she has just done such a fabulous job. And then I hired a gal who I was so lucky to meet in person before I ever hired her, which obviously played a big role in me hiring her. And she has a business called Gem Creative. Her name's Christina. Again, just blow my freaking socks off. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. Everything is just so stunning. And she has really helped me to bring to life sort of a nostalgia that I'm constantly trying to capture in my everyday, that like 90s, 2000s era, and bring it to life on my website, which it just feels so, so good. And then, so I also worked with a dear friend in a VIP coaching session. Her name is Dallas, and her and I kind of came together before I started this whole rebrand to get on the same page with like what it was that I was looking for and what it was that I wanted to do with my business. And this wasn't like a remake everything. It was more of a like, let's refine some things, let's up-level some things. It's been a few years since I've done something like this. And a big part of the project initially was the SEO, really, just because the world has changed so much and because my life has changed so much. I'm not on socials anymore. So my marketing strategy has to adjust, obviously. And so I wanted, you know, some better SEO. I wanted to, the funny, ironic piece of this is make sure that I am, in fact, searchable on AI. And so that was originally why I hired Christina and Katie, and then it turned into so much more with both of them. But I worked with Dallas to sort of get to a clarity of like what it was that I wanted so I could really articulate it well. And she helped me to make sure I was filling out all the, you know, the copywriting questionnaires with clarity and the strategic part of things. So that all started in April, and we have moved through May starting the projects. One of the things I ended up doing, which was a surprise, and I'm so grateful for it. I swear I'm gonna get to a point here, was that I ended up hiring a naming strategist, which I didn't even know was real. She was actually referred to me from Katie, and then Christina had known her as well. And her name is also Katie, but with a K. And her business is 26 and then some. And her, from what I understand, the majority of what she does is help people to name things. And so as I was kind of feeling like, oh, I'm so clear on my offers, I'm so clear on my brands, I'm so clear on my messaging. I was like, I just want cohesive names for my offers. Like I want it to, I love when you land on a website and every offer feels like it's got this vibe. There's not like, you know, it's not necessarily clear in the sense that like you know exactly what everything is, but there's like a vibe to it. And I was like, I really want that. And so I hired her and she came in and it was just like the, it was like the seal on the envelope, the kiss on the envelope that just made everything so, so good. And so originally, this podcast, the personal behind the scenes that I planned to do here and there was going to be called From Where I'm Standing. And when she came in and helped me to really reimagine kind of going along with that nostalgia 90s, like music, punk rock, like my vibe brought to life, we decided to rename all of my offers. So while my offers are not necessarily changing, they're being rebranded and renamed to follow this vibe. And to go hand in hand, this particular part of Shamelessly Ambitious, this episode that's a little bit more personalized and behind the scenes is now called Unplugged. And part of that is because the whole kit and caboodle is it's so epic. I'm just gonna share it. I don't necessarily have to, but I want to share with you what it is. And so you you'll get to see this come to life, of course, which is very exciting. But I think of it like this shamelessly ambitious. This podcast is my band. Okay. This is my band. So when I come on and give you the behind the scenes, that's why it's called Unplugged. Think like MTV era, if you're my age, right? And my one-to-one offer, which will always be known as business therapy, but will now have a new name, Deep Cuts. My intensive session, which I love so much. I've done so many recently, and I'm just obsessed with them. It is a 90-minute call and then two weeks in Boxer, but man, the amount of shit that we get done is insane, is called the studio session. My VIP, so I did VIP days for years, and then they kind of took a back seat for a couple of years, and I've been wanting to bring them back out. So they're getting a whole new sales page. I'm so thrilled. Once upon a time, when I did these, I did a lot of them virtually, but I had a few people ask, like, can we do them in person? And so there will always be an option to do them in person. They're my favorite. Kind of imagine going to an Airbnb. It's 24 hours. So traditionally, virtual, the virtual ones are like six hours. So three three-hour session, three-hour session. You also get two 90-minute calls, one leading up to our VIP, one post-VIP, and some virtual support in between. But the in-person one also having the two 90-minute calls before and after, looks like you showing up to an Airbnb. If you come to me, we're in Colorado. If I come to you, if we go somewhere special, whatever the case may be, we start at 9 a.m. and we work together. So it is still the same in the sense that we're kind of trying to fit it into two three-hour like hard work sessions. But obviously, it bleeds when we're just together. We go out to lunch together, we go out to dinner together, you stay the night in the Airbnb, we wake up together. Obviously, before you even say the night, we're having like girl talk going to bed. It's just, it's so delicious. And it's not just me supporting you strategically, it's me actively working in your business with you. It's Chef's Kiss. It's my favorite thing ever. I'm so excited to bring them back. So those are returning, known as the Green Room. So obsessed. Regulated Woman has been an offer in my offer suite for a while. It is my only sort of DIY, do it yourself way that you can work with me. It is getting completely updated. So a lot of episodes, they are delivered to you in a way that you can listen to them audibly. So it's kind of like an audio course. A lot of them are staying, but I'm adding a whole lot more and I'm even recording some, re-recording some, excuse me. It's just, this is sort of the creme de la creme of what I teach and what I do and what I personally utilize in my everyday life. And I'm so, so in love with this offer. So it's previously known as the Regulated Woman, it will now be called the Mixtape. And you get nine different tracks. It's so good. I'm just so obsessed. So I can't wait to show you as it comes to life. Yeah. So that's just like some of the behind the scenes of this amazing rebrand that I've been a part of. And the goal as of today is to be able to launch it out into the world July 1st. So it's kind of like building a house where you really hope that the timeline works out. And then sometimes it doesn't. So I'm prepared for that. I'm also just so stoked because if I'm gonna be honest too, I feel a little paralyzed during the rebrand. Obviously, it takes time for me. I'm reviewing things, I'm having calls with these gals, I'm providing them with more information if they need it. So it is a little time consuming. So it takes some of the time. But it also just feels uh, and it's so silly because it's not really totally accurate. But I feel a little paralyzed in my business outside of obviously working with my current clients, but like sharing stuff and selling stuff, it's like, hold on, everything's getting a refresh. It's like I can't sell a house that you can't come see. And that's a lie. We know this is a lie, but also I'm just really excited to have it done. So as I was thinking about this episode, obviously I wanted to share all things, rebrand, and what I'm doing, and just highlight these incredible women who have been epic for me. I also was thinking yesterday I was driving, and it's summer. I'm gonna get into that in a moment. It is summertime. All the kids are home. And I was thinking about the things that I hate. And I started to write a list. Actually, I started as a voice memo because I was driving and then turned into a list of all the things that I hate right now. And I want to share them because maybe we're same-same and maybe you just need somebody to say these things out loud. I don't know. Sometimes, you know, maybe it's at ADHD ruminating along the drive, like just, ugh. I hate grocery prices right now. I hate them. I hate how much I'm having to work to try to remain inside of the most astronomical food budget. Of course, now my kids are home too. So anybody else's kids just like constantly hungry. I was telling my husband yesterday. I feel like summertime is making a meal, feeding the kids, cleaning up after that meal, finally getting everything cleaned up, doing a further tours. And then somebody's like, I'm hungry. And you just do it again. And then you do that on repeat the whole freaking day. It's so obnoxious. I'm hating grocery prices. I really, really want this summer. My goal is to massively reduce my summer or my summer budget, my food budget. Because we have been spending upwards of like two to three thousand dollars a month on groceries alone. This is not our restaurant budget. Now, yes, I do have very high standards for the type of food that I feed my family. And I do not have picky eaters, which yes, I am grateful for this. I am, I know the grass is always greener on the other side. But I have adult eaters. I have my seven-year-old daughter eats two, three servings of every meal that we feed her. And then I've got boys who are eating three, four servings and a giant husband, and I'm not a small eater either. And so we have to use if I'm making like taco bowls, okay. I need four pounds of ground beef, and then we usually still do not have leftovers. What the hell? Like, what is going on? I just can't. And so, you know, I've just been kind of rolling with it and getting groceries, and I still track everything. And I would really like to spend like $1,800 a month. So that's a goal this summer. Whatever that has to look like, I'm like, I do I go buy a cow? I also like pay for raw milk. So that's more expensive than store-bought milk. There's a few things that I do that I know, but there's those are things I'm not willing to sacrifice. So we'll see what happens. I'll give you an update later. But I hate grocery prices. I also really hate limited school options for our kids. My kids are all changing schools. This is all based on their own preferences and desires. I'm big on like letting my kids be empowered to make their own choices. And I don't think it's like, you know, I'm not miserable about it, but I'm miserable about the idea that everything is subpar. Aside from maybe a private school where you pay like $45,000 a year to send your kids to school. That is not a lie. That is legitimately what it looks like. And even then, I don't know because then I feel like they're surrounded by elitist kids who have no fucking concept of anything. You know, they're driving their BMW. I don't want my kids at a school like that either. So I just, I feel like there's just very limited options for school. And I hate that. I hate one-way strategies. I know I've talked about this before, but within business, gosh, every time I work with a new client, they come to me with like, but so-and-so said this, and this person told me to do it this way, and I've been doing it this way because it's the only way. And uh, I just I want to shred things when I hear stuff like that because there's a million ways. Like, whether we're talking about visibility, or we're talking about marketing, or we're talking about nurturing, or we're talking about like how you support your client. Like, that's the coolest thing about being an entrepreneur is how creative you can be and how many options there are. I really hate lazy people. This might make me sound like an asshole, but I really hate lazy people. I hate people who just live to complain. And trust me, like I do my own fair share of complaining. I'm not pretending like I don't complain, but I fucking solve my own problems. Okay. So when I complain about something, I hear that complaint and then I do something about it. Hence the I hate grocery prices. I'm gonna go figure out a way to make it less hateable. Okay. I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna take action. And if I can't find a solution, because that very well may be the point, I will stop complaining about it because I did all that I could do. You know what I mean? So I just really hate laziness. I feel like at the end of the day, one of my greatest assets is being a scrappy ass bitch who's just unwilling to accept anything that's not good for me. If I'm uncomfortable, if I want a bigger life, if I want to, I will do it. You know, if it's something that takes financial means, like I have been known to sell a piece of furniture, to take on a part-time job, to do whatever is required of me to change that. And I'm I like that about me. And I hate people that are lazy. I really hate social comparison. I do. I hate social comparison. This is one of the biggest reasons why I love social media because I am not immune to it. I hate this idea of either consciously or unconsciously comparing yourself to other people. I hate it. I hate last-minute sport schedules, which is the bane of my existence right now. I do understand that there's probably no way around it, but being somebody who is so planned and so organized, I can't help but think like there, if women ran this, I just because we're, I mean, we, my middle son won both championships of his football. And so now we move on to, or no, he won the playoffs. So now we move on to championship. I don't know. We're moving on to something this Saturday. And it's like two days away. We still don't know what time, we still don't know where. We have no information. What the hell? Like, how am I supposed to live my life? Right. It's also my son's, my older son's birthday on that day. So I feel really guilty that I can't like make a plan yet because I have no idea what the football schedule will be. I hate interest rates. They're the worst. I just think they're ridiculous and absurd, and it's so crazy to think about what life used to cost a couple of years ago. I hate being social during my luteal phase. I hate it so much. I hate small talk, speaking of social stuff, which is interesting in the sports world because I spend like 80% of my time on the bleachers or in on a field or wherever my kids are playing sports, and a lot of people do want to do the small talk. The good thing is I am maybe good, maybe bad, maybe late. This is about me. I am the mom on the sidelines. I am her. I am loud. I if my son gets the ball in football, the likelihood that I am running alongside him on the side screaming is very high. And I understand how embarrassing some people think this is. The really cool thing is my kids don't and they love it, and they always say things like it makes me go faster and it makes me really proud that you're my mom. And I'm really glad that you're always there doing that. So for that reason alone, anybody who has an issue with it can just go ahead and fuck right off. But so it does prevent a lot of people from talking to me, which is great. I hate cruises. If you listen to any of my past episodes, we went on a cruise, hated its guts, it was the worst thing ever. And I really hate tech issues. Y'all, I am not a techie girl. I mean, I can figure just about anything out. I just don't like it. I do not like it. So those are my hates. And as I was writing this list, kind of came to my attention. I was like, while I air out all of the things I hate, I probably should also share some of my issues because this isn't like, oh, these are all the things that are bad and I'm just so good. Like, I got problems too. And funny enough, I was thinking about them and I decided. I decided to ask my husband. I was like, What are my flaws? My oldest son literally sits up from the couch and goes, That's a trap. Don't answer that. It's pretty funny. But I was like, no, I like I can handle it. Tell me. And so we came up with this list together, which I think makes it even Better. You can take this as good or bad. I thrive under pressure. Good, sure. The bad of that is I tend to take on way too much and continue to pile on. And the more stressed out I get, the more I decide I'm gonna do. And it's a vicious cycle. Nothing's ever enough. I have very, very high standards. Again, maybe you can see this as good, but if you think my standards are high for you, as a client, as a friend, as a husband, partner, child, you have no idea how high they are for me. My standards are so high for myself. And it makes my inner language pretty tough, which I have to constantly work with. I also see how challenging it probably is for like those in my inner circle. Um, I don't, I have a lot of acquaintances, but I have very few very, very close friends because I have incredibly high standards for what it looks like to be a close friend of mine. And almost nobody can fit the bill. That sounds awful, but it's just true. And again, I I hold myself to that as well. I'm sure my husband has a lot of opinions. In fact, very exciting news. This is kind of an ADHD spiral, but I have a new series starting next session, next session, next session, next week, next episode. I have a series starting. So every once in a while I do a guest series. I have some of the best guests ever. And we are actually talking about grief in a lot of these episodes. So you can expect to hear about grieving the aging process. So, like us aging, me aging, and me and uh client, friend, colleague talk really candidly about the good, bad, and ugly of aging and the hardships that we feel looking in the mirror and seeing somebody different. It's so good. I have another gal who we talk about divorce and reinvention after divorce. And she is epic. I'm obsessed with her. It's amazing. I have a past mentor that I bring on who talks about deconstructing religion and some of her religious traumatic past and what that has looked like for her, the grieving of that. I have a dear friend who comes on and talks about building business while grieving the loss of significant ones, her mom to be one of those people. I have a gal who comes on and talks about motherhood and the really, really hard transition from being a CEO and not having kids to being a CEO and having kids. And just again, as always, very honest, very vulnerable, very transparent. And she's specifically speaking to the grief of it all. What else? I know there's more: a friendship, grief in friendship, grief in aging parents. So, you know, kind of having expectations of what your parents would be like as grandparents and instead what they are. Again, really honest, very candid, such good conversations. Well, one of the guests, specifically on the 200th episode, is my dear, dear husband. So speaking of hearing his perspective, I'm so excited to, I haven't interviewed him yet because we just haven't had time, but we are going to chat and I am inviting him. He's been on that podcast once before, and it was a hit, huge hit. But I wanted him to talk about what it's been like to be married to me and to witness a lot of the grief that I have experienced as a CEO, as a mom, as a woman in all of those categories. The grief that I've experienced going from not being a mom to being a mom, the grief that I've experienced in losing babies and still running a business, in not having support and still running a business, in, you know, whatever the case may be. But also what's been really hard about being married to someone like me. I'm just as excited as I'm sure you are to hear the real reel of what that looks like. So, yes, I'm a little tough on people. I get personal too quickly. So remember the whole thing about how I hate small talk? So you could imagine then that because I hate it so much, I'm normally like right into the trauma. And some people love it, some people hate it. I talk a lot and I talk very fast. I also listen very fast. So when I listen to Voxer for my clients, I am a hundred percent on 2x, 3x, 4x, mostly 4x, if I'm being really honest. Every once in a while I have a client who talks fast and I gotta go down to three. I never listen to a podcast normally. And I cannot listen to myself on 2x because I talk so fast normally. So it's pretty funny. I over-exaggerate. I actually got that award in high school, most likely to over-exaggerate. And again, take it or leave it, but I mean, I do. It's like I haven't slept for 10 years, or I've been working on this tech issue for an entire week, you know, and it's been like 15 minutes. Like I'm pretty much in the over-exaggeration category anytime that I speak. Moreover, I do tend to speak rather confidently about things that I don't actually have full facts on. And a lot of times I'm right, but I don't really check my sources sometimes. And that really bothers my husband. I'm very impulsive. I have to work on that a lot. I am very impulsive in decisions, in investments, in I mean, you could just look at my history and be like, well duh, so impulsive. I am addicted to adrenaline. I like speed, I like rush, I like high energy, probably the like I thrive under pressure piece. I am a clean freak. I'm killing slowly my entire family because I have such high standards in our house. And I do have a problem with like if it's not clean, I have a hard time existing. Like, I really, really like things to be clean. I am, oh, I hate this one about me. And this was definitely one my husband brought up, and he's 100% right. I still hate it. I'm offended very easily. I cannot, I cannot exist with rejection. It really bothers me. And I'm just offended real easy. I take things personally, so that's a tough one. And obviously, I'm highly outspoken and shameless about it. So I turn a lot of people off. I find that people either love me or they fucking hate me. And that has been, that has been my truth. So that is unplugged for today. One thing I did mention that I would share that I will share is how we're kind of handling summer. And one thing that we did, so school ended. We went on a camping trip. It was epic. I love camping. It was so good. I had such a blast. Then we came home and I carved out the whole first week of summer to actually sit down and make a plan together. A plan around rules, guidelines, expectations, bucket lists. We got a big calendar, we hung it on the wall, we made a really cool poster board of our summer bucket list, and then we wrote a screens rule. So if you're like me and you have kids who want to be on screens whenever they can, I just did not, I did not want to be the screen police. I did not, you know, I want my kids to have autonomy, I want them to have freedom and choice, but I I also know that my job is to make sure that they are making proper choices. And so first we did the bucket list, which was so fun. Everybody got to participate and add things. My oldest son added delivery night. Oh my God. So he wants to have a night where everybody gets like $20, $25. This is really gonna hurt my budget, and gets to order something on like DoorDash or something, and we can all eat whatever we want. I'm like, whatever, sure. So that's on the bucket list. We have like movie in the park, camping we already did, which is awesome. Pool days. We found this really interesting uh recipe where they have this tiny, tiny little almost looks like an ice cream scoop, but it's very tiny that makes little balls and you make like a ball fruit salad. For some reason, we all thought that'll be really fun. We're gonna do that. We're gonna go to Waterworld. There's a Waterworld out here. Trying to think of the others, but I can't think of them because I'm not in front of it right now. But it was a very, oh, they want to go camping in the backyard. Yeah, fun stuff like that. I'm super excited. So that was a really fun part. And then I asked the kids, like, okay, I want you guys to help me determine what the rules are around screens. And traditionally, so during the school year, my kids cannot do screens at all Monday through Friday. So don't even ask. It's not an option, it's not on the agenda. If you ask, you'll usually get consequences. Like, we just, it's not there. You know, I had to make it hard and fast. And the weekends, we had done sort of a not a free-for-all, but like our weekends are somewhat busy with sports. So we are not home a lot anyhow. So it felt good to just say, basically, you make the decision, but I I really want to see you doing it consciously and with intention, meaning like you've moved your body first, you know, whatever. Summer, obviously, we're home a lot more. And I need to work, and I don't want to just be like, I can only work when you're on screens. I want them to also be active. And so one thing we did during that week is we actually went to the bookstore and we found a few activity books for everybody. If you've never heard of like Summer Bridge, we've been using those for years and they're epic from fourth to fifth grade or from first to second grade. It's basically you do a couple pages a day and it helps you to keep your brain working and remembering all the stuff that you learned the previous year. And so I wanted to get some of those. Baylor was a little bit different because, you know, he's going into middle school. And so it was more like, is there any area that you feel that you're struggling with and you would feel much more confident going into middle school having this? And he actually was very honest about like reading comprehension. So we found some activities for that. And he wants to learn Spanish, which I'm obsessed with. They all know a little bit of Spanish, but he's like, I want to take it to the next level. So we got all these kind of books, and ultimately I was like, okay, kids, do we have like days where there's no screens? You know, I gave all these different options. And ultimately, they were all like, you know, we want to do, we want to be able to do screens any day of the week that we want to, which of course I'm like, uh-huh, tell me more. And they decided that they want, so they get up to this kind of sounds crazy out loud, but they get up to three hours every day, up to three hours every day that they can use screens. I did purchase them little timers because they're responsible for tracking this time. I'm obviously overseeing it to some extent, but they can't do screens before 10 a.m. They cannot do screens after 7 p.m. And in order to do screens, there's a few other things they have to accomplish. They have to do a minimum of 45 minutes of movement. They have to do a minimum of 30 minutes of brain activity, which can be their workbook or reading. They have to do their normal everyday chores. So my kiddos obviously like regular stuff like getting dress, brush and teeth. They also have to make their bed and clean their room. My oldest son has to make sure his bathroom is always clean as well. So those kind of things, plus one. So it's like regular chores plus one, meaning they have to come find me or their dad and say, what is one thing I can do extra? They don't earn money off of this. This is just what we do to participate in the family. And so they have to do all those things before they can do screens. And it's been going really well. It has been going really well. And it's been interesting to see them go, oh, I'm just gonna do an hour right now because I want to have time later to do screens. And then they'll like play with their friends and the day will come to an end because it is and it's seven, and they're like, oh, well, I'll have it tomorrow. And it's actually worked really well where they're not actually using the full three hours every day. Sometimes they are, but ultimately they feel their freedom. Like they know I get it every day as opposed to I only get it these days, so I have to fit it in. So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out come school year again, too. Cause I am realizing like maybe that's why they were kind of aggressive with screens on the weekends, you know, when they could. Traditionally, we'd be out like all day Saturday. And so Sundays, we'd do some family stuff in the morning and then they'd be on screens, which I didn't complain about because then my husband and I basically had date days. Anyhow, that's what the summer is looking like. And to be honest, the things that are just not sexy that make me feel better are walks like this, doing my work on walks, whether it's calls or recording podcasts, or it just feels good to get outside and have a minute. Less stuff. So obviously, we just landed and I'm really grateful for the fact that we just don't have a lot of stuff. We don't have a cluttered home, and I'm very conscious about not having stuff. Not being on social has been a game changer. I'm it just a game changer. I can't say enough about how much it's impacted me positively. I personally, one thing that really makes me successful in my day-to-day, but especially during summer, is I always have a plan to always know what two to three things I'm doing in the morning, what one to two things I'm doing throughout the day, what, you know, I look at the summer bucket list, like what activity we're gonna go do. I have a plan. I don't just wake up like what should we do today? That makes me successful. I have a meal plan. I know exactly what we're eating all day. I don't have to think about this stuff. So obviously I do have to carve out time to do those things, which I've been doing for years, but my plan makes me successful. These family rules make me successful. The consistency of it all definitely plays a role in my success. And I can't go an episode without mentioning the self-coaching loop. The work that I do and teach with my clients and I use on myself is what makes me successful because I am not immune to my own dick brain. I'm not immune. She comes, she has opinions, she makes me want to fall flat in my face. She's afraid of everything and everything falling apart. So she's constantly trying to protect me by ruminating on shit I don't need to ruminate on, and I have to come back to the same things I teach my clients all the time. So happy summer! Happy summer, my friend. I hope you are off to a great start in your summer. I hope you have so many adventures. We're not doing a whole lot of traveling, we're spending most of our time here in Colorado. But my husband and I are doing that one-week road trip to Montana for a music festival. We have a ton of concert tickets, so we're just having a good old Colorado summer. Truth is, the best place to be in the world during the summer is Colorado, so it's not the time for us to travel. I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day. Thanks for tuning in, and I cannot wait to show you all the amazing things that are happening behind the scenes.