#23: "Best Business Advice You Chose Not To Take and Why?"

The tables were turned, and we had a question about our business experience. 

“What was the best business advice that both of you have received in your entrepreneurial journey that was really great advice, yet you deeply chose to ignore that advice anyway, and what did you do instead, and why?”

For Amanda, it was closing down the childcare aspect of her coworking space, and for Callie, it was hiring Amanda when offered. The self-reflection brings up feelings like a fool, feeling overwhelmed, feeling not worthy…all those fun things.

Key Takeaways:

• Amanda’s realization that she felt like a fool when pivoting her business
• What are you ignoring that keeps you in the same place year after year?
• Callie’s moment of feeling ‘freedom.’

Got a question/suggestion/or want our advice on a topic?
We’d love to give you our unsolicited advice, so please submit your question here.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

This is the Unsolicited Business Advice Podcast. We're Amanda and Callie, founders, moms, and friends who believe your heart is valid and your way is good enough.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Around here, we skip the buttoned-up LinkedIn talk and dive straight into real conversations about growing a startup, balancing motherhood, and rejecting the hustle culture. Consider this your weekly reminder that business can actually feel joyful again.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Welcome back. Yay. Okay, today we have an anonymous write-in. Okay. Okay. So, and it's fun because it's a question for us. Cool. Yeah. Okay. Aren't they all well, like they want our own personal for advice for them?

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Who should we be passing these along to? Probably somebody else.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Sometimes definitely somebody else, yes. Okay. Um, what business, what was the best business advice that both of you have received in your entrepreneurial journey? That was really great advice, yet you deeply chose to ignore that advice anyway. And what did you do instead? And why? You go first. Oh gosh. Okay, so immediately when I read this, I was like, two people. This is when I had the hatchery, co-working space with on-site childcare. Two people. One, it was, what I wonder what the day's gonna be like when you close down the childcare aspect of it. And I was like, I'm never gonna do that. That's what makes us who we are. And then the other person, when they knew we were struggling financially, said, Do you think you could close down the child care and make that a private office? And I was like, How dare you? No, that's what makes us who we are. And I chose not to do that because, well, one, like that was the business, and it didn't matter how much it was costing us. And I just was afraid that I was going to let the people that used it let them down. And that like, I think now that I'm actually saying this now, it was I'm gonna look like a fool if I close that down because it means it didn't work and it failed. And so I chose not to until I had to. And lo and behold, very quickly after I repainted that room and like got it ready, somebody rented it for like a year for a private office where we made money on that room. Well, it went towards the income rather than more towards the expenses. So how'd you feel about that?

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Once that were you a little bit like dang it, I They were right.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

I don't know. I don't know what the feeling was. I remember walking around that place, probably in my high heels, because that was smart. Because I was had to look put together, calling the members who had childcare and calling them to say, I'm really sorry, but we have to close down the child care room. And I know that you have credit, so I will refund you. You can put it towards a like a credit toward your membership, whatever you need to do. And most of them said, I mean, we knew this wasn't going to last. And we're very surprised that it lasted this long. Because they're they were business owners. Yeah. And they're like, we know how much we pay, we know how many kids are and are not in there.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

And we can imagine how who you're what you're paying the person to be back there.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

And just like, if that person couldn't come in, like I had to be back there, or our other employee. And like they just they already knew. Yeah. And they're like, we just appreciate that the fact that you've had it this long. I thought they were gonna be mad, they're gonna be disappointed. I thought they were just gonna like have all of those, and they were like, Thank you for being here when we needed it to be here. Yep. That was mine. Lessons learned, you know. Thank you, Amber Amber, my friend, is was the one that was like, Why don't we close that down?

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Let's get that together.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

Not Amber Waltimate, another Amber. Another Amber. But I was just like, uh, no.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

That's not gonna do it. That's I'm actually glad that you have a memory of something that you should have done that you didn't do. Because mine would be, I'm pretty sure you've talked to me a few years ago about small business cultivator, about the quick launch program, but not in the not in the sense of you were trying to get me to do it, but more so in the fact that you're like, okay, friend, get your crap together. You need systems and processes, and you need you need a lot of things that you're basically not doing. You would never say it that way. But if it I know that you wanted me to get that kind of help years ago, and I kept thinking, one, I'm not big enough for that. I'm not my issues are just because I'm I'm not trying to be self-deprecating here, but because I'm just dumb. Like most people would get this, like, but my issues are kind of silly, and I could just, if I really wanted to just figure this out, I could figure this out, but I don't really want to or have the time to, or this is what I was thinking the whole time. And then I thought, I'm certainly not worth what that would cost us because I'm not making any money right now anyway. And so I wouldn't, I would never, I would never assume that I would be a good client because of that. Like I would, I would never assume that my problems were worth it for you. And it's so funny because you just kept weasling your way into helping me.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

I would like to pull out all of the compliments that Callie makes and put that as a reel. Would you call that a compliment?

SPEAKER_01 6:37

That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Compliment with air quotes. Right. Yeah. Um because ling your way in, because you know me, because you knew that I needed your help, you came to me and said, I need some family pictures. And I said, Sure, of course, no problem. And I took them and you said, Okay, we're gonna trade. I'm gonna do something for you. And I was terrified to get the help. I was terrified. So I love that question because it's like, well, what what advice did you the best advice you ever gotten and you didn't do anything with? And I not only did I get that advice and I didn't do anything with it, but I was trying not to do anything with it because the that crap is scary. And like when you get really good business advice from somebody and you feel like you're not gonna be able to fulfill that or or do what they said, or it's it's overwhelming to you. That's what it was, overwhelming. Like, you just kind of put your head in the sand and you're just like, I'll just figure it out. Uh, I'll I'll make it work. Well, then a couple of years go by and you're like, God, why am I in the same freaking place that I was two years ago? I work harder than anybody I know. Why am I still here? And newsflash to everyone. Um, we have started that program, or essentially very much like that program. Yeah. Right? Getting all the systems and processes to in almost like the pre-work. The pre-work, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

It's essentially just in a different way. It meets you where you are.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Yes. Yep. And I hear you on that, but I was afraid that wasn't gonna be true for me. Maybe it was true for other people, but I was afraid that wasn't gonna be true for me because I wasn't very far. And I was scared of that. And I'm saying all this to say yes, it's still yes, we're doing it. Yes, it's still scary for me, but the amount of freedom that I found just within saying, Yes, for God's sakes, please help me is I had no idea I was gonna feel that way. I had no idea. And if I had known that, I would have done it years before because I would not be in the same place that I am right now had I done this three years ago. I would understand my business better, I would know what my actual costs were, I would have again systems and processes, I would have better communication with my customers, I would have uh there would be so many things that I would have which would eventually create more revenue. And instead, I put my head in the sand and I tried to do it myself for the past three years, and I am in the same place. You know? I mean, it's up, it's it's trending up.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

But you know what I'm saying. Like it why? Why the heck do we do that to ourselves?

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Well, I don't think it's has I don't think it had anything to do with me and uh everything to do with you. You didn't feel like you were worthy of the success that it could bring.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Yeah. That's definitely true.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

But thank goodness And it really is easier to ignore it. It really is. It really is.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Until it's not. Until you can't when it's the comfortable is no longer comfortable. Yeah. You know, that would be my hope for every business owner everywhere, is that the uncomfort comes faster than you think.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

Yeah. Well, and I think that kind almost kind of goes back into this last episode. Is like you have to be aware of what you're doing and how you're doing it and why you're doing it. Because if we're just if we go through it not asking any questions to ourselves, not being curious, just feeling like, well, this is just how it is, and having like the opposite of a growth mindset to be like, man, what could this look like? And I think sometimes we make things so much more difficult than they actually are. It's almost like we create chaos because that's where our like thermometer is set. So if it's calm and like things are good and we've got money in the bank and like we're being proactive, and we've got like we know inventory's coming this day, and we know all of that stuff. Yeah, it's we're very uncomfortable with calm. Yeah. And I think that's just because, like, whether it's childhood or whatever, like we're so stuck in this chaos mode that like and maybe it's because we see everybody else overwhelmed and busy and chaotic that it's like, I must be doing something wrong. This is coming way too easy. Yeah. And I don't deserve easy. Yeah. Cause who am I to deserve easy if that person over there is like a tornado going through? Well, they probably caused half of the tornado.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Yeah. I mean, the overwhelm is like a I wouldn't say comfortable place, but a normal place. Which causes some comfort. Yeah. So I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

And like we can distract ourselves with everything. Right. You can just like I had a discovery call the other day, and this one, it was it was me three years ago. No joke. And I was like, oh, this is interesting. Like, this isn't about all of this stuff. This is about you proving to your parent that's where this is coming from. And she was like, oh. And I was like, and this is not my category. Let me refer you on. I can help you create XYZ, but like it's just gonna come back up again. And so yeah. It's interesting because like my view of wanting to help so badly is because I can see it. I can see the success and I can see the ease that could potentially come.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

And that's why we get into these conversations with people where people give us business advice and it's like, my God, that's genius, and that's brilliant. And but we push against it. For sure. That's why. Well, think about it.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Like you have to stop what you're doing, you have to figure out how it's gonna work for you, then you have to implement it, or then you have to pay somebody to implement it, all the while you have this other laundry list of to-do list to do.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

And we would be lying if we didn't, if we said it didn't have something to do with ego too in there. Like somebody else knows more about my business than I do. That sucks. What does that say about me? But sometimes, no, all the time, we need help from other people with everything.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Yeah. I mean, there's this imagine like imaginary world where everybody has everything figured out to ourselves. Like, they seem to know what they're doing. When really, like, nope, they probably just That's not real. Googled it before five seconds before they did it. Yeah, yeah. Or they jacked it up 14 times and now you're seeing it's like the iceberg picture of like here's what it looks like. Sean and I were just talking about this the other day because he's done this, his has been the same business for like almost 16, 17 years, and everybody sees the now. Nobody sees Sean when he first started. Yeah, nobody sees like the 98 Corolla he drives, he drove like that rather than like the 24 forerunner that he drives now. Yeah, nobody saw him floundering over things and like us being real close to not paying the bills, like, or that I was actually the support, the one making the money. That's funny. Um, but like nobody sees that stuff. We just see who people are now, and that's a bummer. And I think people like don't share those evolution stories because it's like, oh, I just looked so ignorant and so dumb and so blah, blah, blah, back then that I want people to see me now. Yeah. But like, we need to see those stories for sure. Because like, we can't compare our chapter one with somebody's chapter 14. Yeah. I'm glad I weasel my way in.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

I'm glad you're my friend and you stuck around long enough to make me make me get some help. I needed that. Yeah and uh and I I don't want everybody to hear this podcast and then go out and start giving a bunch of advice to people and expect them to follow it because that's not how that works. No. But um, you might alienate some friends that way. Um But I I do think it's important to if you see something that you can help someone with, even if they don't follow through on it, have a conversation about like, you know, have you ever thought of this? Yeah. I mean, it goes back to our feedback conversation a long time ago. But if you're coming from a position of goodness, yeah, feedback feels different than if you're coming from a position of, well, I'm right and you're wrong.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Yeah. So for sure. I now say I'm like, this is completely unsolicited. Yeah. So throw it in the trash can. I just thought of it and I thought of you, and so I'm just gonna say it.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Which most people just love hearing that you thought of them.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

So I didn't think about that. But yeah, I'm like, hey, have you ever thought about this? Yeah. Or like as a customer, this is something that I would buy or I would do, like would nourish what they used to like their, or I think they still do like their clean eating resets, and you have to like fill out a form, and then it's just kind of clunky, and that you have to be there or you have to call in. And I was like, Can do you have an online way to submit this? Like for me, it would be much easier. And I would think for your staff would be way easier. And she's like, This is the old owner. She was like, I want to, I just haven't sat down to make the phone call. My God, I totally understand to be able to do that. And so it's like it's that Jeff Olson slow down to go fast. Yeah. Or like have an employee figure out.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

The water hyanthesin, whatever it is. You know, nope. That's a story for another day. Okay. Hey, stay tuned. We'll talk about this later. The water high what? Yeah, I don't know how to say it. It's the flower thing that grows on water. You know this story from his book.

SPEAKER_00 17:01

Oh, yeah. Uh yeah. Okay. I can't think of it, but I think I know what you're talking about. We'll talk about that next time, hopefully. Cliff Hanger. Woohoo! Stay tuned. All right. Thank you for the submission. Yeah. And for the listener, uh like we would love for you to get curious about that same question. For sure. Not just what it was, but why. Why did you not listen? Yeah. And what's how's it been since then? Yeah. Enjoy. Good luck. We've officially run out of unsolicited advice for today. Shocking. We know. But don't worry, we'll be back. In the meantime, slide into our DMs with your business questions. Seriously, no question is too weird. And if you want to keep us caffeinated enough to record, drop us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps a lot.