Empowering Authors and Entrepreneurs: Patricia Wooster on Books, Business, and Community

🎙️ Welcome to another enriching episode of the Timeless Vitality podcast, hosted by Amber Stitt and Kate Beck! 

📚 Today, we're joined by the inspiring Patricia Wooster, a prolific author, seasoned entrepreneur, and expert in fostering community connections. 

🛤️ Patricia shares her remarkable journey from corporate life to becoming a published author with Simon & Schuster, and how an unexpected health challenge reshaped her path to selling out her books at Barnes and Noble nationwide. 

🎧 Listen in as Patricia discusses her innovative use of Clubhouse during the pandemic, leveraging this platform to grow her business and connect with like-minded individuals. 

🦵 She also jumps into her latest venture and the importance of building a legacy through impactful actions, regardless of age or circumstance. 

😲 This episode is packed with insights on overcoming fear, embracing community, and pursuing purposeful projects at any life stage. 

📻 Tune in and discover how you, too, can create a lasting legacy and live a life of vitality and resilience!

🌟 Highlights of this Episode:

1. Leveraging Books for Business Growth: Patricia shares her incredible journey from corporate life to becoming a published author with Simon & Schuster. Listen in as she details how writing books can be a powerful tool to enhance your business, attract clients, and establish thought leadership.
2. Overcoming Major Life Challenges: Patricia reveals the personal and professional challenges she faced, including a significant health scare and the impact of her marketing person leaving just before her book launch. Her resilience in overcoming these obstacles is truly inspiring.
3. The Power of Community: Learn how community and networking, especially through platforms like Clubhouse, played a crucial role in Patricia's journey. From breaking isolation to forming impactful connections, community has been key to her success.
4. Creating a Lasting Legacy: Whether through writing, volunteering, or just being intentional about your actions, Patricia emphasizes the importance of thinking about your legacy. It's about making impactful changes and leaving a positive mark on the world.

This episode is packed with actionable insights and motivation for entrepreneurs, writers, and anyone looking to make a meaningful impact.

📝 Key Takeaways:

• How to utilize writing books as a strategy for business growth.
• Overcoming personal and professional adversities.
• The importance of community in achieving success.
• Building a lasting legacy that transcends your lifetime.

📽️ To watch the video podcast: https://youtu.be/2-UuYkzzl-w 

🔗 Connect with Patricia Wooster:

📲 Website: https://www.woostermediabooks.com

📲 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patriciawooster

📲 Facebook Group: https://web.facebook.com/groups/speakersandauthors/?_rdc=1&_rdr

📲 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patriciawooster

🔗 Connect with Amber and Kate:

📲 Website: https://www.timeless-vitality.com

Make sure to share your thoughts in the comments and let us know how this episode has inspired you to think about your own legacy! 

#TimelessVitality #PatriciaWooster #AmberStitt #KateBeck #BookWriting #BusinessGrowth #OvercomingChallenges #Community #LegacyBuilding

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Transcript

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Kate Beck  [00:00:03]:
Welcome to the Timeless Vitality podcast where co-hosts Kate Beck and Amber Stitt explore the unique journeys, inspiring stories, and timeless wisdom of those who embody vitality and resilience.

Amber Stitt [00:00:17]:
Together, we discover what it means to thrive well beyond 100, sharing insights that empower you to live with purpose and create a lasting legacy.

Kate Beck  [00:00:27]:
Let's get started with today's episode.

Amber Stitt [00:00:30]:
Welcome to the Timeless Vitality podcast. I am your host Amber Stitt, along with my co-host Kate Beck.

Kate Beck  [00:00:36]:
Hi everyone, welcome.

Amber Stitt [00:00:37]:
And we welcome today Patricia Wooster to the show today. Welcome, Patricia.

Patricia Wooster [00:00:42]:
Hey everyone.

Patricia Wooster [00:00:43]:
Glad to be here.

Amber Stitt [00:00:44]:
So excited to have you here. And I know I've told you I'm going to take you down a little bit of a memory lane for us, but not a lot of people know where a lot of people found you back in a timeframe of COVID and I don't want to go down that pandemic title. But Clubhouse was a place to go and a lot of people that I followed, like Jasmine Star and some of these others that did a lot of marketing would talk about Clubhouse. And I was saying like, "Who wants to go into this room where you're just listening to people? Like, who would do that?" And then here I go. You know, at the time, the media was crazy and I was like, you know, I just want to go in and listen to people from all sides of the tracks. And it was like the global community, too.

Amber Stitt [00:01:26]:
And the idea of being a writer and author, I was like, "Oh, one day, that'd be so amazing." So I find you somehow in this room and I was so nervous to even speak up. I actually never spoke in a long time of listening on Clubhouse. Never did. And I found your workshop, "The Write Plan". Well, conversations around that. So I want to start there because we talk a lot about empowerment, lots of entrepreneurship in this grouping of our guests and thought leadership. And at that time, you already had a business, or two, but you were really grounded in this business.

Amber Stitt [00:02:02]:
Life was great. You're on Clubhouse, you're meeting more people. I want to start there because you've added to that in the last decade, or last five years, we'll say. So how did you even begin adding to this platform, this clubhouse, to then leverage your business?

Patricia Wooster [00:02:18]:
Well, Clubhouse was really crazy because I'm an introvert and I was doing one-on-one book coaching. My entire business was referral based. Like I had social media for high school friends and family. I wasn't posting about myself, or I don't like doing that kind of stuff. And so somebody who had been a coach, I got this random invitation to this random app, you know? Cause it was invitation only.

Amber Stitt [00:02:41]:
I forgot. Yeah.

Patricia Wooster [00:02:42]:
So I went in there, and I was, you know, I'd listen to stuff, like I was taking a walk, like you do a podcast. And then I was just like, "You know what? I don't care, because I'm not attached to social media." So it's like, if I go up there and embarrass myself, I'll just delete it, or I won't go back. I never put that much importance in it, right? So I just opened a room one day when I was walking, and I just titled it, "Q and A on Writing Your Book". And all these people started coming. And I think at some point, I had 10,000 people in my club.

Amber Stitt [00:03:12]:
No way.

Patricia Wooster [00:03:13]:
It was crazy. So I ended up organizing it so that every Tuesday and Thursday I went on and I actually started a panel. I had Dre Baldwin, who is this mental toughness, you know him, and he wrote a lot of books. I had somebody from a major publishing house. I had a PR person. I just kept finding these people, and I'm like, "Hey, do you want to show up on Tuesday? Because I do this thing at 4, and I'll make you one of the experts." And it was literally just Q and A rooms. And at first, I let them go until the last person left.

Patricia Wooster [00:03:40]:
And it'd be like six hours, and I was dying. I'm like, "Can we answer this question again?" And so, but when you do that, I did that for like 12 months, twice a week. And what happened was other experts or people started pulling me because they saw I now had a following. They would pull me into their rooms, right? So then I'd get this new audience, and my business was blowing up because people were sitting around with their kids doing homework, and they're like, I guess I'll finally get around to writing that book, right?

Amber Stitt [00:04:07]:
Yeah.

Patricia Wooster [00:04:07]:
So I'm like, "Well, this is a good thing. I don't, love it, love it, but I'll just keep doing it because it's working." And then I was pulled into the Breakfast of Champions room, which had, I don't remember how many followers, but it was a big deal. And that's how I started meeting some kind of really heavy hitters. And that's where I really started opening up to the idea of not just being a coach, but kind of like really being a business owner and business creator. But, yeah, it's where I met you. It's where I met Wendi. It's where I've met a lot of my clients.

Patricia Wooster [00:04:35]:
It's really crazy. And now I've traveled across the country to meet some of these people. It was the event. Covid was the event. Everybody kind of jumped in there and yeah, it was amazing. So...

Amber Stitt [00:04:48]:
Well, in multiple books that I've read that you've had your stories in, you talked about really...I felt like you had built a business, or two. We can talk about that more just to make sure I have the facts right. But you were very systematized. You had structure. Things were good and the reason I'm bringing that up is it's not that things are not good now, but you took some leaps and you've partnered and done some different things since that point. Before Clubhouse, were you already a public published author at that time?

Patricia Wooster [00:05:14]:
I was a published author before I was a coach. Okay. So, yeah, I had been published for quite a while because I was in corporate. And then when I was like 31, I had my first kid and I said, "I'm gonna stay home for a while. I'm sick of doing this software sales." And my dream had been to write books. Always, always. And so I ended up getting a book deal with Simon and Schuster, a three book deal with them.

Patricia Wooster [00:05:35]:
But everybody I knew was in corporate and they were coming to me for advice on writing books. So that's kind of how that transition took place.

Amber Stitt [00:05:42]:
I'm seeing some between other guests too, on our podcast. But you and Wendi, if you have something that somebody wants, they're coming to you for this advice. That might be your next business.

Patricia Wooster [00:05:53]:
Yeah.

Amber Stitt [00:05:54]:
And that role with that, that could be the side hustle to the corporate and your gateway, right?

Patricia Wooster [00:05:59]:
Yeah. I mean, it's one of those things where nothing was that planned out. It just keeps happening. You know, I started coaching. That happened because a lot of people were getting bad advice. And I was really fortunate to publish with one of the big five publishers, so I could bring those standards to self-published people. But I also had the benefit, I had worked in corporate and my clients were corporate, so they had certain concerns, or ways they wanted their book to be presented.

Patricia Wooster [00:06:27]:
They also were very protective of making sure their job wasn't impacted by what they were going to be writing about, like all of these things. And then from there, I want it to be a launching point for something else is what everyone wanted to do. So I would just figure it out. Like, "Okay, you want a course? I'll help you create a course. You want your program college certified? Sure, I'll figure that out." And so it just kept directing where my business went based on what people wanted. And see, I'm a dork. I love learning new things.

Patricia Wooster [00:06:56]:
I will sign up for every certification, training, coaching program on the planet. I will never run out of things I want to learn. So if somebody wants something, I'm like, I'll go do all the work and learn it because I kind of interested anyway, you know, and figure it out. So that's kind of how it keeps like iterating. And Wendi, I think is very much the same mindset as well.

Amber Stitt [00:07:15]:
Have you said things something like, "Don't wrap everything in bubble wrap?" Was that something that you have said before?

Patricia Wooster [00:07:19]:
Yeah. Yep. I mean, I think, you know, people get so married to their ideas and they haven't tested them and they haven't gotten feedback. They just decided that this is what their trajectory is going to be. And they miss out all these amazing opportunities and things that are happening around them because they've just insulated themselves into their one lane. That's what we like to do is really break people open and make them understand that we're all experts at something, multiple things. And we can use that expertise in so many different ways. You just turn it on its side just a little bit differently.

Patricia Wooster [00:07:54]:
If you know finance, or insurance and you work in a corporate structure, that same knowledge, if you decided you wanted to help people starting their first business and what they need to know, it's the same expertise. You're just talking about it a little bit differently. And so we really like working with people to realize that. That they can get where they want to go with what they already know.

Amber Stitt [00:08:14]:
Yeah, and I know you do a lot of work with entrepreneurs, but it's also working with that employee, that corporate person, so they can see that other creative side of things. Can you tell us a little bit about how in the world you got into producing a business line for colleges?

Patricia Wooster [00:08:28]:
Design Genius? So I met somebody on Clubhouse and me and her and my husband became business partners. My husband has been in software forever. And we did a B2B and a B2C company actually. We built two companies side by side. And it was to address the engagement issue that was happening in the workplace that was on the business side. Then we had the personal side. So we built a platform that was actually the audience would be HR professionals, would be, you know, the ones that would roll this out.

Patricia Wooster [00:08:59]:
So we actually went out and got investors. But it started with the book. We wrote the book first that laid out what our idea and what our thought leadership was on it. And then we got investors and started working with developers and developed a whole SaaS software company and kind of went from there. And so my husband and I exited that business this last March. You know what I mean? It starts the book and you're taking the expertise and then you put it into the product, or service that you're, as the leader, most interested in pursuing.

Amber Stitt [00:09:27]:
Well, I think that's why obviously you're amazing and we've worked on projects together, but I want the audience to meet you and know you because you're doing this not at 30, you have grown kids, you're, you know...And so as we work with people and want them to know that we're heading into our 50's and beyond, go create amazing projects, life, community, and it can be whatever you want it to be.

Patricia Wooster [00:09:50]:
Yeah, I mean, I just started my fifth business at age 52, literally from scratch. March 1st. Started from scratch.

Amber Stitt [00:09:57]:
Yep.

Patricia Wooster [00:09:57]:
Because my publishing company, I'd kind of let that go when I went to go build the software company. And so, you know, 52, I'm like, you know, it used to be like, I don't know what I can say on here, "Oh, crap, like, I can't believe I'm gonna start over." But, you know, it was like, "Oh, wow, this is amazing." I literally exited the business by 11:00 am and at 12:00 pm I was on the phone because I'd been doing all these side projects with Wendi for so long. And I said, "You remember how you said you'd like to do more with me?" I'm available literally an hour later. And we said, "Okay, let's go." She lives 4 hours south of me.

Patricia Wooster [00:10:33]:
I mean, I was in the car, I started spending weeks at her house at a time and we just started building things, whiteboarding and doing the thing. But the thing is, you get faster at it every time. The first time you have to set up an LLC, it's like, "Oh my God, where do I go? What do I do now?" It's like, "Okay, where's my credit card? Because I know it's cost, you know, I know I just entered my credit card and I've got a business." But so we were able to move like really, really fast and we set really, really aggressive goals and see her background is in sales, too. So, you know, it was like, "Okay, we're all in now." The hesitation and all that stuff that happened the first time you become an entrepreneur starts to disappear. It becomes more excitement.

Patricia Wooster [00:11:11]:
It's less fear based, I think. And so it's been really, really fun.

Amber Stitt [00:11:15]:
Yeah. It's really interesting that sometimes we don't want to let go of what we've built. There's something else. But at that time, it's the right choice and it's all okay. You get to make the calls.

Patricia Wooster [00:11:24]:
Well, and you learn every time, even if you think that the business was a failure, either it was a financial failure, or you didn't like doing it or whatever it was, you're always learning something. You always take something away from that. And so I've taken something away from it every single time. I mean, the one thing I learned is when I had the publishing company by myself, is I don't want to be in business on my own anymore. I don't want to build things by myself because I'm really good at what I do. But I need all these other pieces to make the business work.

Patricia Wooster [00:11:58]:
You know what I mean? It's a sliver, it's not the whole thing. It's like I've got this piece and I need this and this, you know, and so I don't want to be accumulating skills I'm not interested in. You know, my time is worth something now.

Amber Stitt [00:12:10]:
Yeah.

Patricia Wooster [00:12:11]:
So I want to go deeper into the things I'm good at and kind of pass off the things that I'm not.

Amber Stitt [00:12:16]:
Kate, it sounds like when we meet through a different organization years ago, a couple years ago, and we pop in and talk to each other about some other things. And then I guess the point is there's no excuses anymore. Go where you're interested, these different groups, but that's where you can extract and find amazing partnerships, friendships, community. And that's how we came up with this podcast.

Kate Beck  [00:12:36]:
Yeah, with purpose. We were both at a conference, a financial services conference. And Amber was out there at that time. She was recording live at the conference, her lead....Lead her...Excuse me. Lead on Her. What was the name of the podcast?

Amber Stitt [00:12:51]:
Counting On Her

Kate Beck  [00:12:51]:
Thank you.

Amber Stitt [00:12:52]:
We're leaning. They all lean on us.

Kate Beck  [00:12:54]:
Let's just say Counting On Her podcast. And I showed up and we were both nominated, I think at that time, we were both nominated for an award, the Woman of the Year award. And so here we are, nominated for an award, our faces are all over this campus. And I'm in this bright emerald green suit. I remember. Same as Amber's wearing today.

Kate Beck  [00:13:15]:
She just had her little Zoom recorder. And we went out there and I said, "What do we say?" She said, "Well, just say what you brought to the President's Circle this morning." And so that's how it started. And then she invited me to be a guest on her Amber Stitt Show, which happened in January, or February. And our energy was so electric together on that particular episode, which is now live, if anyone's interested. We decided that we wanted to create Timeless Vitality, and it didn't happen by accident. We had to take purposeful Zoom meetings because she's in Arizona, I'm in Oregon. And then we were so excited.

Kate Beck  [00:13:50]:
She had such great experience with you and Wendi with the books that she had written. And I thought, "Me, too. I want to join you on that." So she just put her hand out and brought me up on that stage, and I didn't even question it. Remember, I called? She said, contact Patricia. I called you up, and I said, "Let's go." I didn't ask any questions. "When do I start? What do I do?" And I filled out my application, and I was lucky that I was selected and approved.

Kate Beck  [00:14:14]:
And I'm very excited to be part of this new project.

Patricia Wooster [00:14:17]:
So yeah, we mostly actually just talked about common interests. We talked about biohacking and all the health and wellness and all that kind of stuff. So Amber's a good connector. For sure.

Kate Beck  [00:14:28]:
She's a good connector. And what I love about Amber, Patricia and Wendi, everyone all together, is that no one's walking around like, "Oh, I wonder what I should to do next." We're making really purposeful actions here, and we're overcoming challenges. I mean, today we've talked about many challenges. Just real quick for a recap, Patricia, could you just hit for me the biggest challenge that you overcame that supported your pearls of wisdom that you've just shared with creating books and things? What was the overall theme of challenge for you?

Patricia Wooster [00:14:58]:
Well, I mean, I think there's the obvious just of learning entrepreneurship and stuff. But, you know, what happened for me and really was the turning point for me was I worked my ass off to get that Simon and Schuster deal. And it's a long story, but I went through the back door. I had no following. Nobody knew who I was, and I really wasn't that important. But I clawed my way to get that deal. And it had been a lifelong thing for my stepdad that I become a published author. And unfortunately, he passed before that happened, but that was something that I had always pushed for.

Patricia Wooster [00:15:32]:
So I got the book deal, and it was like, the end of 2015. In 2016, I had a massive lung collapse and no health issues, just nowhere. I actually thought I strained my back and then it kept happening. Meanwhile, my book is at Simon & Schuster. Going through editing, going through these things, and I wasn't going to tell them because I was afraid, I'm a nobody, they would just pull production on it. They're not going to put any money into some gal who's laid up in the hospital. And so in 2016, I had a major lung surgery and my book was coming out in January.

Patricia Wooster [00:16:03]:
So this happened at the end of October. My book was coming out in January. I didn't tell anyone. And so I had a two month recuperation period. I don't even remember an entire month. It was pretty bad because I had to create workbooks and stuff for the publisher still. And I don't remember doing it, but I guess I did them and I delivered them. They were setting up events for me,

Patricia Wooster [00:16:23]:
I'm getting emails, I'm not even walking at this point. I'm not even leaving my house. And so the day my book was released, I was actually sitting in a dark room with a computer. My mom, who had taken care of me during my lung surgery, ended up with a brain tumor. We found out as soon as she came back from my recuperation. And so then I was taking care of her. And I was sitting in a dark room with my computer hitting refresh on Barnes and Noble website, waiting for my book to come up.

Patricia Wooster [00:16:46]:
My book came up. I was like, "Okay, great," shut my computer and went back to caretaking. I mean, it was like a storm, you know? So at the same time, the marketing person assigned to me at Simon & Schuster quit a week before my book came out. My fault here, naive thinking. The marketing department does the magic and the works on making sure your book is...no, they don't. It's on the individual who has to sell the books.

Patricia Wooster [00:17:09]:
But she left. I was like, "Oh crap." Because I have two more books riding on that deal. It was a three book deal and they put it in every Barnes and Noble in the country. And I was like, how the hell am I going to sell one-to-one? I don't have any following. I don't have anything going on. I'm just getting my energy back to go out and do things. And so what I did was, and this is what I tell my clients to do now, is quit selling one-to-one.

Patricia Wooster [00:17:31]:
Like if you're a fiction writer, yes, go sell one-to-one. Go do Goodreads, go do Amazon ads, or whatever, do TikToks I don't work with that audience. It's contact, make a list of the corporations, the non profits, the schools, the event planners, all the people, and sell many-to-one person. You could do it via email. And so I sold almost 4,000 books to the WE Day event, which was hosted by Selena Gomez and Harry Styles. And you know, that was sold out shows at Madison Square Garden. They were handing out my book, they paid for every single copy.

Patricia Wooster [00:18:04]:
I sold hundreds to school districts, hundreds to associations. And I was like, "Whoa, okay." You know, and I remembered that when I started working with my business clients. But it was really, for me, that moment was the most high stakes moment to me because that was the one thing I had always been certain of, is that I wanted to be a traditionally published author. And I knew how hard it was to get that deal. And so I think pushing through that, everything else has seemed pretty easy, between the health and the marketing person. And I actually ended up selling out of every copy at every Barnes and Noble in the entire country.

Amber Stitt [00:18:39]:
So cool.

Patricia Wooster [00:18:40]:
It's pretty cool when you have a deal, you can see where all the books are and how many and you can see them start to turn off as they have nothing left and so that was really cool. But yeah, I mean, we all have our things, our ups and downs, but for me that was a big moment to me.

Amber Stitt [00:18:55]:
Well, thank you for sharing all of that. I mean, I remember hearing a little bit about the lungs, but I didn't know all of that. Thank you for trying to celebrate and holy smokes, and having resilience again goes back to community. And I know that's part of what your passion projects have been lately is to bring people together all walks of life, because then you can support each other and learn from each other. And some of these events were the catalyst for it.

Patricia Wooster [00:19:19]:
Yeah, I didn't really appreciate community until Clubhouse. I still had that old mentality in my head of these networking events where you show up with your business card and you sit there and you're like, "I hope I know someone here and I'm not standing here talking by myself." And it felt so like, "Ugh." And that was my memory of that's what community is. That's what it's like if you leave your house and you go meet people you don't know. And so it's been really amazing to curate communities. Yeah, to me it's really fun because then you're choosing who's in the community and you're finding people, like Kate was saying, that are very purpose driven, they take action. We're interested in wellness and health and we're interested in learning and we're curious about each other.

Patricia Wooster [00:19:59]:
And also really that I don't have to make you less than, to elevate myself. We all rise together. Actually the higher you rise, the better it is for me as far as I'm concerned. And so I like finding those like minded people, too. Where we're collaborating, we're not competing.

Amber Stitt [00:20:15]:
It's important, too, especially if you have parents that are going through something, kids going to college, that's going to help us transition. Sometimes I call it the later list. Things that we want to do. Maybe it's for later because you might need that outlet and that community to help you through life's challenges. But then maybe you can monetize, too, while you're at it.

Patricia Wooster [00:20:35]:
Right.

Kate Beck  [00:20:35]:
Take those challenges and write chapters. Now we have pearls of wisdom. We've expanded and leveraged.

Patricia Wooster [00:20:43]:
Exactly.

Amber Stitt [00:20:44]:
So, Patricia, I guess this is a perfect time to ask you, what do you think makes somebody timeless, or something timeless?

Patricia Wooster [00:20:50]:
I mean, I think really thinking about your legacy and in a way, that you only have to impact one person. But if you are an expert in something or you have an interest in something, taking the time to lay the groundwork so that it multiplies. So if you write a book, it lives forever. Your chapter lives forever. You don't know exactly who it's impacting. But we hear these stories where it's like, "I read this and then I passed it to my son because I really thought it would be cool if he read this, too."

Patricia Wooster [00:21:24]:
And that's really cool when you start to see the chain of that happening. But we see the same too is when you start volunteering and stepping up. You may feel like, well, I'm only donating $10 a month, or whatever, but you don't realize that that $10 could be everything to somebody. And I think one of the books you and I worked on, Amber, the money from the proceeds from that went to the RIP Medical Debt. You know, I don't remember what the dollar amount was, but it was like every dollar that they get, eradicated I think a thousand dollars worth of medical debt for somebody. I mean, think about that. That's incredible.

Amber Stitt [00:22:00]:
I really liked that part that you guys were initiating that.

Patricia Wooster [00:22:03]:
Yeah, so I think to me, what makes somebody timeless is when they think about their legacy in how that impacts others, not like how much you have. Money you have in the bank, or any of that kind of stuff. What you do with what and what you have the capability of doing to help other people is really, you know, you live on. But then also, you're giving other people the opportunity to flourish as well.

Amber Stitt [00:22:26]:
I mean, Kate, that's really what this is about. Each listener connecting with some of our guests, maybe not all...some, that they can take that and pull them, that attitude into 100-year-old life, or more.

Kate Beck  [00:22:39]:
200. We're living to be 200.

Amber Stitt [00:22:42]:
200.

Kate Beck  [00:22:42]:
I'm saying. I've been saying 120 since I was 20. That was more than 20 years ago. And now I'm saying 200. Because here's the thing. We're limitless, and 200 is not unreasonable. And over 100 is actually realistic. Many people are living beyond.

Kate Beck  [00:23:00]:
And we're just attempting these new ages as new chapters of life. So let's have fun with it.

Patricia Wooster [00:23:08]:
200. Oh, guys, I'm like, 25% done, then. 25%.

Kate Beck  [00:23:13]:
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Amber Stitt [00:23:15]:
That's what I'm saying.

Patricia Wooster [00:23:16]:
My retirement plan might need to go longer then.

Amber Stitt [00:23:20]:
Really Patricia, yeah, it should. And, like, you're not retiring at 65, 67, because you've created financial freedom for yourself. And then you just keep working on the projects that you want to, and then your boys are seeing it. Whether or not they want 100% into the same thing, it doesn't matter. They're seeing you go through challenges, like the health and family things, and then you keep moving, and action is so important.

Patricia Wooster [00:23:42]:
Yeah, and I think also having that transparency and honesty in your family, because there was the generation of the separation of parents and kids. You don't really know what's happening with your parents. You just know sometimes they're grouchy. And then you find out later, "Oh, we were going through..." like, your dad had lost his job and we had no money. But you find out 30 years later, then you had this, let's put our kids in the center of the universe, and we're all gonna just orbit around them and not have a life that didn't really work out.

Patricia Wooster [00:24:10]:
And so now, I think, integrating to me, I like this idea, I have this visual of you're all orbiting together life. Life is in the middle, and you all orbit together. And so, I mean, certainly we insulate our kids from certain things because it's not age appropriate or it's none of their business, but it's all being equal within the family. And also it gives you an opportunity to transfer information. I mean, I have a son who's 17. He's had a business since he was in 3rd grade. Little different businesses. But now he's got,

Patricia Wooster [00:24:40]:
he's had a T-shirt and he wants to be a fashion designer and hoodie brand. And he's had that for 3 years. And it's cute. He asked me questions about business, or we've been able to help him with stuff where he sees what's going on. He also sees that it's not all fun. There's Saturdays and Sundays when the traditional people are not working, or there's times when you're like, "We need to hire somebody," but the money's not coming in at the same rate, or everything's up and down. We're very transparent without really getting into the weeds of everything so that he understands what the lifestyle is of going into this, and so I think it's really important whether it's that or, there's a health challenge, or any kind of stressors, or things going on that you're really more open about it because they're more apt to share with you.

Patricia Wooster [00:25:29]:
Then, when they don't feel as great about what's happening to them at school or, this or that, it's because you've got that kind of relationship with them.

Kate Beck  [00:25:39]:
So where you're talking about the easy stuff and the difficult stuff, I love that.

Patricia Wooster [00:25:44]:
Yep.

Amber Stitt [00:25:44]:
Well, and Kate, I didn't tell you this, but, we could flip it the other way. My mother has worked at a job to get healthcare. Now that she has Medicare, I say, "You don't have to be there anymore." And she's like, "Well..." And I can see her being worried that there's nothing else that's structural. She's not a free spirit to be like an entrepreneur. She likes knowing she shows up, she's got a certain role, and she loves animals. So I said, we can create a business.

Amber Stitt [00:26:07]:
We'll call it dog walking, whatever it is. And we have this cute name that works with her, like the logo. The branding would be so perfect on the other side. Part of this podcast is to show on the other side, though, you can create whatever you want and do it on your own terms at any age. And so the stories and the messages, like you said, it can always impact others.

Patricia Wooster [00:26:27]:
Yeah.

Amber Stitt [00:26:28]:
Yes.

Kate Beck  [00:26:28]:
And as a specialist in the transition to Medicare, you can continue to work and enroll in Medicare. So maybe she wants to get her feet wet and say, "Hey, I'm going to waive my employer sponsored coverage while I keep my job and I'm thinking about this." And enroll in part B. Enroll in the appropriate supplemental coverage. I don't know what state, or county she lives in, so I'm not providing advice without a scope of appointment. However, if you would like to talk about it, I could either introduce you to someone, or to show you how much it would actually cost on the coverages because then it would eliminate her fears. Because if she hates it, okay, fine, go back to work, to your average job, or do something you really love.

Amber Stitt [00:27:06]:
The point is there other interests she has, it is not being a lunch lady for an elementary school. So my point is, what else do you love to do? Go do that and then tell your grandchildren, "I'm available for babysitting on Tuesdays and Thursdays." You get to build your schedule if you're a business owner.

Amber Stitt [00:27:26]:
Then there's financial freedom if you don't need that.

Kate Beck  [00:27:28]:
Yes.

Amber Stitt [00:27:29]:
You know, so like trying to get off that corporate employment mentality and go keep that Medicare, but trying to feel good about, "I've never done this, but let's give it a try and start with this."

Kate Beck  [00:27:40]:
Start with this, what is your deductible, your out of pocket maximum, and your monthly portion of the premium you have to pay on your plan? Now you give me those 3 pieces of information and then we look up on medicare.gov what is the cost of this insurance? And you will be shocked how inexpensive it is to be on Medicare and what terrific coverage it encompasses. So I am happy to be of service. And if it's too close to the circle, I can give you someone else. But let me tell you, I love to walk people down that road.

Amber Stitt [00:28:09]:
Well, that was the thing, because when you go into business for your own, like Patricia. Okay, there's no health care, right? So, what do we do?

Patricia Wooster [00:28:17]:
We're paying for four right now.

Amber Stitt [00:28:19]:
Yeah. But until that point, it was shocking. The whole point of working at this job was to get these benefits. And so many people do that. And then they're not living their life though the way that they want to. And so that was the surprise. You know, this Medicare was cheaper than what the other stuff was. And we're like, wait a minute, what? So that's where I was.

Amber Stitt [00:28:36]:
You need to go be doing things you love. And so all of our listeners should hopefully find that outlet and a community that can support that.

Kate Beck  [00:28:45]:
Well, I'm hearing another theme here though, too. I'm hearing this theme of fear. How much fear is embedded in our daily lives and in our daily routines. It's like, "Hey, why are we putting fear in the closet and shutting the door?" Let's turn on the light, invite fear to the table and talk about it and be like, "Okay, let's have a candid conversation about what is a fact and what is not a fact." And how do we address this fear and say, "Hey, is it really that scary or is it just a way things used to be that you're familiar with?" And it's like you're putting on this sweater that you're familiar with and it's, it's part wool, it's a little scratchy. Well, take it off if it itches. Stop wearing the uncomfortable yet familiar sweater. I'm telling you right now, it's so easy to do.

Amber Stitt [00:29:35]:
Is there pearls on that one?

Kate Beck  [00:29:36]:
This sweater is cashmere.

Amber Stitt [00:29:38]:
So, it's not scratchy.

Kate Beck  [00:29:40]:
It's so soft. And like, if I was in a scratchy sweater with all my sensitivities, I would be turning red. And I'm like, look at this. Ivory, I'm so soft.

Amber Stitt [00:29:52]:
But Patricia, I mean, Wendi talks about fear and like, you have to overcome it. And we all go through it and that's what this community is about, and so...

Kate Beck  [00:29:59]:
But identifying it, first of all, it's like, okay, we feel it, you have to understand it.

Patricia Wooster [00:30:06]:
We're fear based without the real information, without doing the work, the investigative work of really finding out is that even true? What I think? Yeah, is it even true? You know, and we found that also, like with our community, we all know the tactics to be successful at business. We can find them online, we can watch a YouTube video that will tell us that we need to make so many sales calls, or we need to have a CRM, or we need to be on social media. All the things, we know those things, we can write them down. We've been in coaching programs for them now it's whether we do them, right? And I can tell you I'm going to be saying the same thing to them two years from now. And they're going to be giving me the same answer and doing the same thing they do now, even though deep down they know that that's the thing they need to do. There's a difference between a business owner and an entrepreneur.

Patricia Wooster [00:30:52]:
A business owner is somebody who owns the business, who started it. An entrepreneur is somebody who looks for opportunity and pursues at all costs. They're going to do it at all costs. And they're somebody who likes to build new things. So they're usually somebody you've seen, or will have multiple businesses. They will not be working for somebody else. If they go work for somebody else, they have to be the idea person. And the business owner mistakenly calls themselves an entrepreneur.

Patricia Wooster [00:31:19]:
And you need to understand your limitations. If you're a business owner and you don't want to do the sales things, that's fine. Then you need to hire that person to do it if that's what you need to be doing. We've all been told everyone should go out and be an entrepreneur now. Everybody should have a side hustle. "I've got 10 side hustles, and I'm an entrepreneur. And I've got a Lamborghini." And whatever, we're told all these things, but without really understanding that there is a mindset thing that's involved there.

Patricia Wooster [00:31:46]:
And you could still be a business owner, but then you have to really recognize that you're good at building maybe. And you need somebody else who's out there as a visionary, we see it. I can tell you who's an entrepreneur and who's a business owner in our community. And it's not always the most successful person at all. I mean, I work with somebody who's a business owner that just sold his company for $12 million. So obviously very successful.

Patricia Wooster [00:32:10]:
But now he's done, you know, he's done.

Amber Stitt [00:32:12]:
Well, you've talked about...to kind of wrap this up, delegation, you know what your strengths are. But it's true, know who you are, find that balance, and then partner with those that are different than you, that bring that same purpose, but can balance everything out. And that's what you're obviously trying to show your family, too, is like, "Hey, here's the good, here's the bad." And then once you get to a certain level, then you can delegate out. So thanks for sharing all of that. Tell us how people can work with you and your partners.

Kate Beck  [00:32:39]:
Yes, yes.

Patricia Wooster [00:32:39]:
So you can either go to PatriciaWooster.com or WoosterMediaBooks.com they both go to the same place. And we're on Instagram and LinkedIn and as people are speakers and coaches are interested in being a speaker and coach, we have the Speaker and Coaches Networking Society on Facebook. It's a free Facebook group. But we're kind of...we're everywhere, you know.

Amber Stitt [00:33:00]:
Yeah.

Patricia Wooster [00:33:00]:
Or trying to be.

Amber Stitt [00:33:03]:
We'll definitely link up everything so people can work with you. And thanks for sharing all the amazing tidbits.

Patricia Wooster [00:33:09]:
Yeah, thanks for having me.

Amber Stitt [00:33:10]:
Thank you for being here.

Kate Beck  [00:33:11]:
Thank you, Patricia.

Patricia Wooster [00:33:12]:
Awesome. Thank you.

Kate Beck  [00:33:14]:
Thank you for joining us on the Timeless Vitality podcast. We hope today's episode has inspired you to embrace the journey of thriving well beyond 100.

Amber Stitt [00:33:23]:
Remember, your story is still unfolding, and every step you take adds to the timeless legacy you are creating. Until next time, stay vibrant, stay empowered, and continue living with purpose.

Kate Beck  [00:33:35]:
We'll see you on the next episode!