Freedom Marketing

If you started your business for freedom but somehow ended up with 100 bosses, this episode is for you. 

In this first guest interview, Victoria sits down with “Canadian Freedom Queen” and host of the Freedom Lifestyle Podcast, Sam Laliberte, to explore what it really takes to design a business that supports your life, not swallows it whole.

Together they unpack the gap between the dream of flexibility and the reality of exhaustion, and how to rebuild your business model so that time, energy and income work in your favour.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• The early warning signs that you’ve built yourself a job instead of a business
• How to define what freedom actually means to you using values, triggers and “how do I feel?” checks
• Why specialising and simplifying your offers can increase your income and reduce your hours
• How to set boundaries, spot red-flag clients and confidently let go of the work that drains you
• The power of knowing your “enough number” so you can stop chasing more and start living more
• Why personal branding is such a powerful growth lever, and simple ways to start if you hate being “visible”
• A practical 10-minute audit you can use to review your clients, offers and role in the business for 2026

If you’re tired of being permanently busy, feeling guilty for wanting more space, or quietly resenting your own calendar, this conversation will help you rethink what’s possible and start building a business that truly funds your version of freedom.

Connect with Sam Laliberte:
• Instagram: @sam.laliberte
• Freedom Lifestyle website and podcast: whatsyourfree.com

Grab free templates, checklists and guides at allstarmarketingclub.com/resources - everything you need to market smarter, not harder.

About Victoria: Marketing Coach & Trainer Victoria Vickery serves up marketing advice with fewer buzzwords, more belly laughs, and stories you’ll never un-hear... because memorable marketing starts with memorable lessons.

For More Tales, Tips & Tangents: @victoriav1ckery

Transcript

0:00

For me, when I think about freedom in business, it's really about having a business that gives you the freedom to live the life you want to live every single day. Welcome to what's that Got To Do With Marketing? Where we start with a story you did not see coming. It might be fun, could be funny, or even a little bit frantic, but in the end it will all make sense, leaving you with a takeaway, a to do or a transformational way forward. And I'm your host, Victoria, and you, my friend, are here for unlikely, likely lessons and unforgettable marketing advice. Just for small B2B expert led business owners. Let's get into it. When I first started my business over 12 years ago now, the dream was simple. Leave corporate, set up a lovely little marketing consultancy, do meaningful work for clients and have more time with my one year old twins. In my head, it was going to be just perfect. A cup of tea, laptop work when the kids were asleep, a little bit of marketing magic. Freedom. That was the plan anyway. And the reality actually was, well, picture this. First of all, I'm trying to pop them into their high chairs whilst they're having their porridge and I'm listening to voicemails. At the same time, I'm answering client emails with my little finger on my left hand whilst I'm actually trying to feed the kids with the other hand whilst they're spitting out all of their porridge, I'm changing nappies, I'm mentally writing a campaign for my clients and I'm frantically just trying to get social media plans written whilst the babies are taking their naps, I'm doing bath time whilst thinking about the to do list for the next day and I'm trying to cook dinner whilst avoiding, you know, the, the kids going into meltdown. And in my head, my business was going to be so simple, so, so easy. It was my business. Yet somehow I seem to acquire several different bosses and I'd left corporate life to escape that. And within a year, although extremely profitable, I have to say, I ended up with 100% of the responsibility, zero freedom. And let's be honest, when you're in a small business, you don't have an HR department to go and complain to. So there I am thinking, this is just not what I signed up for, so I had to change it and I had that moment of this cannot be my life, it cannot continue this way. So I eventually built All Star Marketing Club, the company that I have right now, a business that's built more around systems and structure and Simplification and actually being able to build a business that works around the life that I actually want. Not quite all the way there yet, but nonetheless a bit more freedom than I used to have. So what's that actually got to do with marketing? Well, quite honestly, absolutely everything. Because when your business model is stealing your time, your energy, your headspace, your marketing becomes the first thing that actually ends up literally limping along does not have a life. And it makes me pretty sad, actually, because marketing's the lifeblood of any business, and if you don't have it in place, then you end up not having a steady stream of sales and leads coming in the door, and that is just plain stressful. But you cannot be strategic, and you cannot get that done when you're exhausted and you're working all the hours. You. You can't be consistent with your marketing when all you're doing is constantly being reactive, because that's all you can fit into time, and you just can't generate leads when you are basically out of energy and you're starting to resent every single person that ends up coming into your inbox. It's no fun. So freedom, more freedom. Wouldn't that be nice? Which brings me on to today's guest. It's our first guest on what's that Got to Do with Marketing? And a guest that I think you are going to absolutely love, especially when it. It comes to the word freedom. So I would like to introduce you to the Canadian Freedom Queen. That is Sam. Liberty. So Sam has taken the idea of freedom in business way much further than I ever have, and she's actually living proof that you can design your business around a lifestyle that you actually want, not one that's just fell into your lap. And she lives and breathes the idea that your business should actually be the vehicle for your life, the one that you want to live. So I'm going to continue to toot to Sam's trumpet by saying she's a serial entrepreneur. She's certainly been an absolute inspiration in a lot of things that I've done. She's a speaker, she's a business coach, and she's also the host of a podcast called the Freedom Lifestyle Podcast. And she spent nearly a decade now working less than 30 hours a week. So if that's your dream, she's definitely the right lady for you to be listening to. But she's not only working less than 30 hours a week, she's actually doing it while traveling the world, and she's building the business on her terms. And she's here to talk to you about how you can redesign your business so that it supports your life and doesn't actually compete with what you want to achieve. So without further ado, let's get into it. Sam, it so good to have you here on the show. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for such an amazing intro. I love that story as well. My pleasure. So, Sam, let's ease in really, really gently into talking a little bit about freedom. Talk to me about this concept of freedom in business. For me, when I think about freedom in business, it's really about having a business that gives you the freedom to live the life you want to live every single day. Like truly getting to design each day, each week, each month, quarter year on your own terms, from scratch and allow it to be flexible. Because things come up in life that you want to be able to be flexible to. Things that you didn't expect coming, opportunities that seem exciting wherever that you need to be or want to be. You want to be able to pursue that type of life. And so often we create a business that ends up preventing us from living the life we want to live, which we was so silly because that's the reason we got into business, as you said. So freedom to me is being able to design your lifestyle and have your business be a vehicle for that, leveraging your business to have your dream life. So just before we get on to some more questions, I'm just interested to know what was one of the last adventures that you took that you were able to do because you have this freedom in your business? Yeah, absolutely. I just got back from a month in Argentina, which was amazing. I have multiple revenue streams and I leave myself especially open. So as you mentioned, you know, around 30 hours a week. So that if a really cool opportunity comes up, I never have to say no. So I had this opportunity to do a week long work trip in Argentina, all expenses paid. They'd fly me out, put me in a really nice hotel, stay, feed me for the week. I got to do some of my favorite work facilitating speaking. And then I could fly home whenever I want. And so I figured if I'm there, let's go on an adventure. So sometimes it's also like, how can you have work contracts also give you the life you want to live, get paid to go to a conference you want to go to or a place around the world. I think I've also done a good job at that. Fantastic. That sounds absolutely fantastic. So thinking about just terminology that you use, you Often say, what's your. Your free? I think you're well known for that, aren't you? So you just have a look at your website, for example, and it sings and dances. What's your free? So I find that really hard to define, and I think a lot of people do. So have you got any tips and strategies that will help people listening or watching us today to think, well, what does freedom actually mean to me in the first place? You often hear people say to you, well, you need to figure out what your values are. And I agree, that's such a good place to start. But even sometimes, sometimes that can be hard for people to really narrow in on. Okay, like, what are my values? And there's so many exercises you can do. There's games online that help you narrow down. Okay, this is the word that describes what's really important to me. But one thing a coach gave me as a prompt, which I thought was so helpful, is when you think about the times when you get really upset, when you're really triggered and you're really frustrated, when you just like, got more mad about something that maybe someone else in your life wouldn't have been that upset about, that is usually because one of your values was interfered with. And I find that prompt I can always very easily think of sometimes when I was really upset. So sometimes figuring out what you're free is figuring out, okay, what is really important to you. Often when it comes to our lives, it's being able to do certain things, being able to say yes to certain things, or being able to say no to certain things. So a great place to start is to start thinking about the times where you. You were frustrated by not being able to say yes or by not being able to say no. And that can usually be a really good indicator of where your energy is starting to be stifled, where you're not feeling fully free and fully empowered. And usually that already gives people like a checking list of things to start changing up in their lives. And of course, you can go layers and layers and layers deep, but it's all going to come down to really understanding who you are and making like, understanding like the type of person you are, your personality, everything about what makes you you and what makes you the best version of yourself. Like, that's kind of like a forever job for me. And the more I know myself, the better my. My life gets to be because I'm then tweaking it based on that. That is absolutely brilliant. There's some really, really good takeaways from that for me. As well. Because there is that energy, isn't there, where you think, I'm not happy about that. I think that's a really good place to start. Absolutely. So I know that feeling of building a job. I mentioned that at the start of this episode. I know what it feels like to go, gosh, I feel like I've got 100 bosses and I'm not happy with that. So when I started my business 12 years ago, that's exactly what it was like. I've built myself a job. So what do you think really, are the early warning signs that people are actually feeling that way, that they think, yeah, this is a job. This is not creating a business that I love or a life I want to live and the freedom that I hoped for. What are those signs? What can make people think, yeah, I need to change something here? Well, definitely, if you start to resent your business, right. That's like a very obvious sign where you're mad about the work that you have to do or the clients you have to serve, or just waking up each day and you see what's on your calendar. How does that make you feel? Like we're using a lot of words that are based on feelings and emotions. This generally comes easier for women. Right. So for the men listening out there, we'll have some tactics for you too, if, you know, feeling isn't something so easy for you. I know, I know my husband struggles with that. But, like, really for me, waking up, seeing what's on my calendar, how am I feeling about that? Am I, like, excited for today or am I just, like, dreading each day? That is like a big warning sign, I would say. Another one is like, sometimes when I'll be on a sales call, at least in the early days, and I could tell how much work something was going to be, I didn't even really want want it. Right. Like, when you're kind of relieved when you don't get a job or you don't get a client, that's also a bad sign. Right. If you're, like, not excited about new leads coming in and just making you feel overwhelmed, that's not where you want to be. Right. Like your business, you want it to be thriving, an engine for money coming in and exciting opportunities. And if you're, like, actively kind of being, like, hope that doesn't work out, that, again, is another sign. Yeah, absolutely. It's like, where the focus goes, the energy flows, isn't it? And if you're not feeling good, then you're going to attract more rubbish Your way. It's living, living in high vibes that's thinking about lots of people listening to this, watching this back. They're going to be a little bit like all of us. They're trying to be a good friend, they're trying to be a good daughter, wife, sister, brother, whatever it might be to them. And they can't because they are juggling just about everything. And, and I felt like this myself, where you think I want to be good at everything, but actually I'm being less than good, at least average or below at everything I'm touching. So you cannot do everything to a really high standard when you've got so much to do. So I think it'd be really good for you to give us maybe a little run through of some of the opportunities that you can see for key routes or models in business that would help people to get more freedom so that maybe they're, they're living a life that they want and they don't have to sacrifice their, their income from that. Well, there's two parts of that, right? There's the demands of your personal life and then the demands of your work life. And I think both of them should be tweaked. Right. Like I'm also being very intentional about my personal life, being very intentional about what is my definition of a great friend, a great daughter in law, a great granddaughter, a great sister, and also defining that for me and also building my own self esteem that if I miss one small detail or if I don't respond super quickly for a text, that doesn't mean I'm not good enough. And I know and I'm rooted in like what makes me show up in the way I want to show up. And I've like defined that for myself. So often I feel like we even need to do that. We have these expectations of what it looks like to support other people and it usually means abandoning ourselves. You know, the goal isn't to like simplify our businesses and then abandon ourselves in our personal lives and over deliver there. Right? Like you also have to take care of yourself. So that's one thing I, I heard when you said that. So define, you know, your ideal version of being a great friend, mother, daughter, whatever, and knowing you don't have to be perfect and they're still going to love you and that's okay. When it comes to your business, you really want to audit where your energy is going in your business. A lot of the times we create business models that are so much more complicated than they need to be. We create offers that are so much more complicated than they need to be, and we create systems that involve us way more than we need to be. And if I asked you right now, Victoria, like, you know, what are three things you're doing in your business that you probably don't need to be doing? Like, you would know what to do. Like, you have some ideas. Like, we all kind of are aware of it. And one of my mentors said to me, when that comes up, and the reason that we sometimes have this information but don't act is because we're scared, right? We're scared that if I don't do it all, then I'm going to lose something. And so often this, like, overworking, over complicating, overdoing is like our way of feeling like we could control the outcome. And as soon as you, like, release and trust that, like, that is actually the mindset, the first. The first piece. So, like, we keep coming back to mindset stuff because, like, if you don't ever cure your relationship with these things, none of it really matters what I say. It doesn't matter if I say, like, hey, turn that into a digital product or hire virtual assistant. You'll find another opportunity for you to overwork. You'll find another area in your life for you to feel like you're not good enough half. So, like, you gotta ground yourself in that. And then, of course, there's some things to do which we're gonna get into. But, like, I don't know, does that resonate with you in terms of, like, the inner work? Absolutely, it really does. And I've done a lot of coaching throughout the last 12 years in business on mindset. I think it's one of the most powerful things that you can actually work on through everything else. Because if your mind's strong, it just enables everything else, because everything just feels so much harder if your mindset's not in check. So, absolutely. I think that's really, really, really good advice. So we do that. We work on our mindset. We start thinking about what are the levers we can pull to give us more freedom. So what business models have you seen or, you know, what are you using yourself, business model wise to allow you to get this kind of lifestyle that you're leading? Definitely. So I think specializing is like a great general tip I would give anybody. The more specialized, the more niche you are in business, the more value you can actually provide. And therefore, the more your rates, higher your rates can be, which is a scary thing to do to niche down and really focus on a specific audience with a specific offer and just do it so, so, so well. But when you do that, you can actually charge a lot more. You can deliver a lot simpler because it's so focused and everything just gets simpler for you as well in terms of your system. So a big thing I did was specialize. When I started, I would say my podcasting business even I was just helping people launch a podcast, right? So that meant in a given week I would speak with sisters who were just looking for a fun way to connect because they lived in two different places around the world. I would speak with a business owner who wanted to use their podcast for brand awareness. I would speak to individual freelancers who were getting their names out there for their service based business. There was so many different use cases. People who were just like gamers, who had a passion, who wanted to like review games. And every single time I was having to like learn about a completely new industry. Even just that alone, right? Like it's still podcasting. But getting specific about who I support with podcasting made it so much simpler. So now like I only work with service based entrepreneurs who want to have a podcast specifically to build their know, like and trust so that they can build an audience, have an organic social media channel, create long form content that they can repurpose. And not only does it allow me to be provide way more value to that type of person, I also opened up a bunch of new revenue streams because now I can do group coaching because they're so related to each other. And like, that's a great way for you to scale your business and scale revenue and scale your time. So I think specializing was like super, super helpful for me. Another thing is just like making your offers more simple. Like if you think about some of the things that you sell and you do an audit of like, okay, if I sell this one product, like what are the parts of it that people always say they love? Or this they, this really helps them. And then what are the pieces of the deliverables that like people don't even notice or they don't even mention? See what would happen if you just removed some of your deliverables or some of the like complexities in an offer? Does anything change? I bet nothing does other than it's quicker to sell, it's quicker to deliver, and those are just two easy ways that you can also free up your time is like simplifying your actual sell what your offer is absolutely. There's some really great stuff in there, so absolutely couldn't agree more about the niching thing, the more niche you become from somebody like me who's a marketing person, a marketing expert, niching allows you to get so much closer to your audience, doesn't it? Not only to serve them well, but be able to put the right messages to them, to get them to act, to get them to come and work with you. So, yeah, absolutely. Couldn't agree more on that point. So let's have a little, a little chat now about something that I think a lot of people feel, and that's guilt. Such a low vibration place to be in guilt. But lots of people feel that if they're prioritizing themselves, then they should be kind of holding hands with guilt at that time. So how do you think that people can reframe that and start thinking about, well, actually, this is my business growth strategy and this is how I want to move forward. And I do want to have this freedom and this time for me, my family, for others, whatever they want to achieve. Yeah. How do you get out of that guilt mindset? I think you have to realize that taking care of yourself can also be a strategic way for you to show up better for everything else. Like, the better I'm doing, the better my work, the better my relationships. And I know that for sure. That's not just an ideal. It's. It's truly accurate. Even just sleep when I'm sleeping better and sleeping longer, instead of staying up late and grinding and working more, My mornings are way more productive. I have way better energy for the people that I'm speaking with. I can show up way better for my clients, for my partner. We can have moments in the morning that are actually delightful and connecting and a little romantic versus just me. Like, like, don't talk to me. I need coffee immediately. Terrible sleep. Like, I was up all night. Those things work together. So rather than feeling like if I say no to this thing or invest in this, this thing for myself, I have to feel guilty about that because that means less for someone else or less for your work. You have to reframe that and say, like, if I do this for myself, I can give more in these other areas. Like, it's really about increasing the quality, not necessarily the quant. And we're living in a world more and more where people just want higher quality. We don't even need quantity. We realize that, like, that it's about going deeper and having richer experiences. And you radiate that when you're even in a sales call. Like, people can tell when you're Burnt out and exhausted and tired. And like, I know when someone's trying to sell me something, and I just feel like I'm one of a million things that they have going on, you can tell, versus somebody who's calm, collected, taking care of themselves. Like, I feel like they're gonna really prioritize me, that they can prioritize me, that they have the space to prioritize me. So, like, these things completely work in harmony and, and work directly together. So let's just pick up on something you said there. This thing about quality and quantity. Quality and quantity. And there's so much that you could say around quality and quantity. But let's specifically talk about volume of clients when it comes to quality and quantity. What's. What's your view there? My view there is. It's hard to give, like, a specific number. Right. Every single business is going to be different. But I definitely want to have the freedom and space to fire bad clients. Right. Doesn't mean you fire them right away. Some clients aren't used to working with somebody who has boundaries, right? So I've had to. There's been a couple clients, I can picture them perfectly in my mind where I thought, oh, boy, this isn't going to work out. I'm not going to renew this contract. But rather than giving up, right. I just put in place my boundaries. When they were calling me unscheduled at any time during the day, I would just not answer the call. I would text them, hey, not available right now. Do you want to schedule a call on Monday? Little cues that you can do to kind of put the person in place. Say things like, hey, that's kind of outside of the scope of work. I'm happy to expand the project. Let's just talk about what that might look like in terms of our retainer. Things like that. Let them know, hey, you know, I'm not just going to constantly go above and beyond. These are typically the two things that bad clients do. Like, try to have more of your time either for calls or talking or like more revisions or more of your work outside of scope of work. So I think freedom is really about being able to get rid of those clients. When I think about clients and trust that, like, more amazing clients are going to come. And another thing, when you really just focus on your most amazing clients, even if you have less than you want at the, at the beginning, but they're all amazing clients, what ends up happening is you serve, and this is very true, you serve those few clients extremely well. Not only do they renew and come back a second time. So much easier to sell someone a second package than their first. But then they usually bring a friend with them. Right. They usually like, naturally refer you and tell people about you. So your sales and marketing that you have to do to do your business, even that time gets decreased. So that's how I think about clients is just. It's not about how many I want to have. It's about how great my clients are and how much do I enjoy working with them and being able to say no to those bad ones. Clubs. Yeah, I think that's really good advice and certainly something that at the start of my business 12 years ago, I would take on literally anyone and everyone trying to get the numbers up, trying to get the money in the door. And I totally understand and respect that. When people start a business, they have to do that. They're just trying to get the money in. But you quickly realize that this is not the way to go. And I'm not happy. And I think that when you, when you actually make that transition and you start, you know, rehoming clients that you don't want and taking on the ones you do, it, it makes a massive, massive difference. So, yeah, no, that's great. I think the most freeing number you can really learn is like, you're enough number right when it comes to sales. Because you're right. When you're first starting out, you need to pay your bills, you need to have security. You cannot operate in terms of any enlightened state. If you are not paying for your mortgage or your rent or your groceries or your bills or like, all the things, life costs money. Ideally, try not to have your life cost too much money. Try not to throw away your money when you're working so hard for it. That's a whole other conversation. But once you figure out, like, how much money you need to be comfortable and how much money you want to have, then just, you have to be okay with stopping at that. That's like another big part of it. And it's so tempting to say, one more client, one more client, one more client, I can do it. But there's a freedom task. Every time you do that, you are giving up something else. And that is the cycle that we continue to get into. And that is why we aren't living our free, flexible freedom lifestyles, whatever that vision is. So, like, also, like, know what your enough number is, I know what mine is. And if it can go over that and it's a bonus, that's great. And like, over time that enough number might increase, but I can't have my time increase in order to hit that number. Yeah, if you're. If your business model allows it, great. But if it's at the detriment to you and your health and your time and all of that jazz, then yeah, it's not the right move. Okay, so I wanted to get into the subject, and I know it's one that you enjoy talking about personal branding and personal brand when it comes to business growth. So I saw a stat that it showed that 67 of people were more likely to buy from a business if they were aligned and inspired by the person that heads up that business. So by the founder, essentially. I've seen it everywhere. I'm a massive believer in it. And I do, you know, even things like when I'm teaching LinkedIn less major on your personal page. Let's not worry too much about the business page. We do a lot of the work out of kind of the personal profile. So I'm really into the whole personal branding thing. I see massive benefit from it and it does outperform business branding in general. But just would love to hear, Sam about your view on personal branding. You've certainly built up your personal brand, albeit it's also part of a business brand as well. But what's your take on personal branding? I think that when I call myself a serial entrepreneur, it is so accurate. I have been through a number of different businesses. I'm 36 now. I started my first, first business when I was 24. And if I think about that first business, if I had only went all in on the business brand Sam La Liberty, the brand of Sam, when that business ended, which it inevitably did after three years, I would be starting from scratch again. Right. So that is like, even if you just think about the fact that, like, this business that you sell right now might not be your forever business, that alone is a reason to also be building a personal brand while you're building up your business brand. I think that is something I'm so happy I did. I just naturally did that. So when it came to, like the next thing I was offering, I already had a group of people who were following me, who knew me, who liked me and who trusted me. And they didn't really care what the next thing was necessarily like. They were excited to follow along on my journey. And if I was selling something that was relevant to them, great. But if it wasn't, guess what? They were happy to me, to other people in their lives who were a fit for whatever business that I now had and some of my favorite business mentors, influencers, people I follow in the space do that. They have a great business run. When that business ends, it doesn't mean they're a failure. I'm so excited to see what they do next. And that is because they had a strong personal brand. And so like, that's kind of my take on why to do it in addition to all the other reasons of how it can support your current business. It's like thinking really long term about your life. Yeah, absolutely. Love that. So for someone who doesn't really see themselves as kind of a content person, putting stuff out there about them and their brand and that kind of thing, what do you think is like a few of your tips or simple things that people can be doing to start building their personal brand if they're at the moment kind of hiding behind their business brand a little bit? Yeah, I think that not everybody is super comfortable creating content from scratch. Showing up on camera and just talking to the camera and knowing what to say, even though that is really effective. No. Having people see your face, hear your voice talking, having a personal relationship with you. The best way to do that right now is through video content on social media in a way that's authentic and personal and combines like, you know what your business is, but also like why you're building it and like, like your belief system and like kind of the. That is rooted into your message too. Not everybody is great at that. But one thing I truly believe everybody can do in some form is have a conversation. And so even if you don't want to create your own content and your own brand, you can go on to other people's platforms. So that is something I teach is how can you be a guest on other people's podcasts? How can you show up in other people's Facebook groups or communities? How can you be active in someone else's coaching container or mastermind mind and borrow audience is borrow credibility. I think that's something we can all do. And then, hey, you know, you're interviewing me right now. I'm sure there's going to be clips from this conversation that maybe I'm like, hey, yeah, if you just put the camera on me and told me to say that, like, maybe I couldn't come up with that. But when she asked me that in that way, I'm like, I do have an answer for that. And that can be my first clip on social media. So that's, that's, that's something that I teach and Seems to universally work really well. If you're still even scared about that, I totally understand. Another thing that I've had a lot of success with is having profiles on marketplaces. So I am a Fiverr Pro seller. I think that's where you found me. It was. Yes. Platforms like that that are literally designed to connect buyers with sellers, do all the selling and marketing for you. And that's also really helpful for people who are like, I can't even show up on somebody else podcast. Like, I need help with the sales, the marketing, the personal brand. That can often be a really cool hack. And there's so many marketplaces. There's upwork, there's gig salad, trusted house sitters like buy me a coffee. There's so many places that you can go and be like, I'm an expert in this, or like, here's what I'm selling Etsy for product based businesses. And that can also be a solution. Brilliant. Great advice there. Yet again, there's so much value in this podcast. This episode is absolutely fantastic. So, so, Sam, wrapping up with wrapping up the content that you've given us today, which is absolutely phenomenal, what 10 minute task could you give to the listeners and watchers of this episode that would allow them to, you know, take this freedom concept a little bit further? I mean, you've mentioned loads of stuff, but if there were 1, 2, 3 things that they could do, what is it? Mm, it's like ends of years, starts of New Year's. These are really great times for us to audit, for us to reflect, for us to pause and just see how things have gone. So I would encourage you to audit as much as you can. So audit, you know, your top customers from the past year and top clients, the ones that brought in the most revenue, the ones that were the easiest to sell, the ones who brought you more business, the ones who are the most fun to serve. Like, start to get clear on the trends in terms of, yes, you know your niche and you know your specialty and maybe you've made your offer super simple and clear based on that other exercise of like, okay, remove the things that nobody cares about, but how can you take it one step further and, like, start to know the green flags and red flags. When you're even about to take on a new client in your niche, in your specialty, that still doesn't mean they're going to be a good client to serve. It still doesn't mean they're going to give you freedom. This still doesn't mean they're going to make it easier for you to attract new people. So see if there's anything you can learn from your best clients so that you can start to look for that a little bit more as you grow your business. Because something I've learned is when you really start going and you have momentum, it's, it's not as much about saying yes. It's actually about learning to say no and figuring out when something isn't going to be a good fit and when something is going to be a three or six month commitment that you're really going to regret. So maybe 2026 is the year where you get better at saying no. And the best way to do that is like, know what really good looks like, know what great looks like, know what your red flags are. And that's going to be different for every business. So, yeah, auditing your past clients, auditing your offers, how can you make them simpler? And just like also auditing the role you play in your business, like really get clear on what it takes of you to serve those dream clients that you just, just spoke about. Are there things that you can delegate to somebody else next year? Are there areas of your offering that you can just remove and destroy? And are there things that you can just delay? Maybe ideas you have, but they're really not moving the needle. You just push them to 2027. I think that would be all part of your audit. It might take more than 10 minutes, but any of these pieces you can do in 10 minute pieces and you'll be so happy you just did. Absolutely. And then couple that with your values and how things make you feel. That's going to just bring such a rich picture for, for you to be able to move forward with ab. That's an everyday thing. How do I feel today? How does my calendar make me feel? How does this client make me feel? Am I drained? Am I excited? Am I fired up? Green Flag. Am I exhausted? Am I resentful? Am I hoping they cancel Red Flag? We are now in marketing karaoke, Sam. Marketing karaoke. So I invited you to share a lyric or a line from a song that will help people listening or watching us to anchor this episode in their mind. Because for me, that's really important that they think back to that one thing that makes them go, ah, now I remember what that episode was all about. So I'd love you to share, please, what that song is, what that line is, what that lyric is, why did you choose it? And what can we take away from it? So the line is, we are never ever Ever getting back together. Taylor Swift song so good. So good, right? And I think that just speaks to the confidence of walking away from a red flag client. Saying no to business that you just know is going to drain you and not going to give you the life that you want to live and not going back. Having that abundance mindset, no great opportunities around the corner. I don't need to hoard every single thing for myself. Just let it go. We are never ever, ever getting back together. Sam, tell us what is your next adventure? Do you have something yet? Are you waiting for the next thing to come your way? My next adventure is I recently got a dog which has changed up my travel lifestyle a little bit. I've lived in a small mountain town for five years now and I've never spent a full winter here. Every single year we've done back to back summers. We've gone to Costa Rica for three months and it's been amazing. Absolutely love it. This is going to be the first winter that we don't go to Costa Rica. We got seasons passes at our local ski resort. So I think my next adventure is like being a local in my own town and skiing as much as possible. Like can I hit a new record for myself and compete with my friends, how many afternoons we're out skiing, work in the morning, head to the slopes, being a great dog mom, having a business that allows me to take this big husky on like five walks a day because that's what he needs. Like this is where my business really gets to serve me in this phase of life where I want to spend more time on my dog, want to spend more time on physical activities. And even though I'm traveling less, I'm still going to have these adventures in these other ways and my business, business is going to allow me to do that. Love that. That is so good. From me. Down south in Southampton in the uk, we can only dream of living in a small town that's got ski slopes around it. So you are one very lucky lady. It's pretty great. I'm looking out the window and there's snow capped mountains, right? Wow. It's beautiful. Incredible. I know that from visiting Canada myself, arriving in the dark and then waking up the next morning and thinking, thinking, oh my goodness, look at that mountain that I did not see on the way in because it was way too dark. So yeah, you live in a wonderful part of the world. So it's been an absolute pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much for joining us today. Thanks for having me. So good to have you on. And I know that everyone's going to get so much from this episode. Now, if you're listening, if you want to explore Sam's work, her freedom lifestyle podcast and her coaching, the links are in the show notes. And as a little reminder, your business isn't a thing you run. It's the engine that is going to really fund the life that you want. I've taken a lot of learnings away from today. I'm not all the way there yet for sure. It's giving me lots of tips of things that I can think about when it comes to, you know, having more of a, a free life to do all the lovely things that we want to do and spend it with those people that are really special to us. So let's not work ourselves into the ground. Let's take some of Sam's advice there and just make sure that you are building that business that gives you the space, gives you the autonomy, gives you more than anything, energy to, to do the stuff you love, not one that slowly drains you away. So that's it from me today. Again, Sam, thank you so much. And we will see you all on the next episode. It.