Finding Your True Power - From Unemployable to Owning 16 Companies, with Bunny Young

Meet Bunny Young, not just my coach. She’s a mom, a serial entrepreneur and a source of inspiration. At 14 she was diagnosed with a heart condition and told to choose a quiet life. She didn’t, and chose to test the limitations instead.

Since then it feels like she has lived multiple lives: stuntwoman, therapist, she built 16 companies while raising 4 kids. But the real story isn't the companies or the resume nobody would understand. It's the lessons, like that in every situation you have a choice.

What you’ll hear:

• what happens when you stop orienting your life around the diagnosis, the limitations
• the questions most of us avoid: What is my choice? Will I argue for my limitations or for my dreams?
• how she took her power back
• why building trust in yourself is one of the most valuable assets in your life.

Want to follow Bunny's journey or reach out directly? Find her on Instagram: @thebunnyyoung

If this conversation sparked something and you're ready to explore your own crazy idea with expert guidance and a community who gets it, go to https://humancareers.com/podcast and join our next free Turning Point Lab.

Transcript

Meet Bunny Young, how we connected

SPEAKER_00 0:07

You're listening to the Easy Crazy Podcast, the show where we explore crazy ideas turning to career and life success. Every episode, I bring a different guest from around the world, an entrepreneur, a leader, someone who has inspired me to show you how diverse careers can be and to help you build a career on your own terms. I'm your host, Eleonora, and today for our third episode, I sit with Bunny Young. Bunny is a third-generation entrepreneur and founder of multiple companies. She's a mom of four and she works about 10 hours a week. That combination alone made me want to choose her as my business coach, and I had no doubt that I wanted to bring her story to you. We traced her journey, and I really wanted to understand how she got here. Because she's not someone who had a perfect linear plan at the start. She had a hard diagnosis at 14, became a stunt woman in China, built a therapy practice from scratch, and walked away when it was at its peak. Her resume made no sense on paper, and yet her magic doesn't depend on that to create incredible impact. In this conversation, Bunny shares what it actually took to stop building a career and start building a life. And why those two things are not the same. Let's dive in. Bunny, I'm so happy and honored you're here. You are someone that I admire deeply for professional reasons, of course, because you're not just a coach, my coach, but you own, you've grown multiple companies, yes, to all of that. And just like your podcast is called, you have created a career around your life, and I've met your family, your children, your dogs, I've been in your house, and I admire all the experiences that you get to live this fight, and because of your full on life. So we'll tell more about today and welcome here.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Thank you so much. I'm so honored to be here.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Yes, yes, it's perfect. And I want to give just a short background of how we met because you are based in the in the US, in California. When we met, I was living in Thailand, and I think the possibilities of the virtual world, of course, are endless. And we met for the first time during a call in a coaching program that I was part of, that we both were part of. Is it usually what people connect you for?

SPEAKER_01 3:38

It's different things. It's, you know, it's very different things. Hearing you reflect that back to me, it's interesting because my thought is I I'm not on my Instagram stories from marketing. And this is something that I've shared with you from a coaching perspective, is my perspective on content is that content isn't something that you create. Your responsibility is actually to live your life and

Authenticity: Creating content vs documenting life

SPEAKER_01 4:07

document it for others. Because there's there's things that I've overcome, there's obstacles that I've overcome, there's wisdom that I've gained. That if I document it and if I share that recipe of what I've been through, hopefully that decreases your learning curve. And so rather than especially female entrepreneurs or women in business and in careers, for us, like I think back to the aspect that I just had a conversation yesterday with somebody that I said 100 years ago, what I'm doing right now would be illegal. In the United States, like women didn't have business loans and credit cards and couldn't own their own company without having like a co-signer of sorts. And I said 200 years ago, I'm pretty sure I would be burned at the stake. So it's like my desire is to document my journey to make your journey smoother. I'm not gonna say easier, you know, it is a very simple journey, but smoother. And so as I document my journey, there's parts of it from the travel, there's parts of it from, you know, um, there's a lot of people that are into designer handbags and luxury vehicles and all of that. And I mean, I have a really sexy Lexus. So I I love my car, but my favorite vehicle is an F-150, right? And my most expensive bag is probably hundreds of dollars, not thousands, and it's Disney. Um, you know, and I wear a hoodie 90% of the time. And so I I think that for my biased opinion is that I'm documenting the journey and that frequency of authenticity and who I am resonates with my people. And to your point, because of what we do in DeFi and inviting you into my home, I feel like it would be really unfair and dysregulating to your nervous system to have you fly across the world and show up at my house and realize I'm not as advertised. So for me, part of it's documenting my journey and also it's just easier to be authentic because whether I'm sending you a voice note or we're doing a retreat in my house, or you come and watch me speak, or you're listening to my podcast, that's the version of me that you're going to get every single time. And it's just so much simpler for me to be me versus to create content thinking, okay, if I hold my baby and I take this trip to New York City or I take this trip to Costa Rica, then Elle may want to work with me. Like, no, I'm doing that for me for purely selfish reasons. And that's triggering people, and that's also inspiring people. And that's my goal is in order to inspire somebody, there's also the opposite of that truth that you're going to trigger somebody. And can you be okay holding both? And yes, absolutely. I am I am absolutely fine with triggering people because those people are not but like that's a gift for them. And sometimes those triggered people come back to be my very best clients. And whether that happens or not, I'm still gonna live my life. You know, I'm still enjoying my babies, and my backyard looks like freaking Hawaii. Like, I I'm going to enjoy my life and document the journey.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

And I can testify that's absolutely true. Like the same funny that I've witnessed in real life and uh through the screen. So this is a great example. And and I want to like I invited you here, as as you know, like the concept of the podcast and the stories is not to share things from a pedestal and things that are perfect, but to show what has been the

The key pivotal moment: heart diagnosis at age 14

SPEAKER_00 8:15

journey. And and you have lived many lives, we can say that. So, can you tell us about that? What have been some of your key transitions? And is that an easy, crazy moment for you?

SPEAKER_01 8:34

You know, we did this exercise actually of like documenting your journey and kind of the key pivotal moments that that stand out for you. And so um I'm thinking about what I put on my post-it notes when I did that journey. And I would encourage everybody to kind of map out, like I don't it's it's interesting because when you're living it, it doesn't seem that exceptional. And yet, even as you like read my bio out loud, I'm like, wow, that that sounds straight out of like a Netflix series. Um and so definitely getting diagnosed with my heart condition at age 14. That was something that was this pivotal moment where I asked myself, like, you you have a choice. You can live life now being careful and being cautious and kind of constantly having this energy of restriction and can't, or you can use this as your permission to say, you are probably not gonna have 80 years. What are you gonna do in the time that you are gifted and treat each and every day as a gift? And

Not buying into limitations

SPEAKER_01 9:50

it's it's like also not buying into the limitations, you know. They're like, you you're not you're probably not gonna make it through college. I got my master's degree. Uh, you definitely won't be able to have kids. I have four, you know. Um, you need to choose a less stressful career, like you need to choose a very, you know, simple and non-stressful career. I was a stunt woman.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Like, you know, all the opposites. All the like defined by.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Yes, but I didn't do it to be the opposite. I didn't orient myself around the diagnosis. And that's the point, is that I'm like, I don't know if I can't do something until I try. Otherwise, it's just a mindset. Otherwise, it's a thought that's telling me that I can't do something. I don't know until I can try. Like, I don't know that I can do a cartwheel, but I don't know that I can't do a cartwheel. And what energy do we kind of want to like walk through life and navigate life with? I don't know that a million dollars is a lot of money, you know, until I knew. And P.S. It's not. It's not actually a lot of money. And then it was interesting to like unlock that kind of achievement and mindset and energy in my life because then I get to hold that for my clients and say, like, a million dollars and and really just break it down. And so I think the heart condition of the heart condition or the heart heart diagnosis really allowed me to kind of question my reality and choose and take my power back. And then, of course, um when I went to college, I was playing volleyball at my university, and I had this experience with this assistant coach where in front of the entire team, she told the team that I didn't belong to be there or I didn't belong there. I didn't um deserve to be there. And I chose to allow that to break me in that moment. And I was asked to play on a championship team for softball for the number one team in the US, for the number one coach, the Olympic coach in the US.

The assistant coach, quitting on herself, and taking her power back

SPEAKER_01 12:14

And because of what the assistant coach had said to me, not even a head coach. She's not the head coach, which is ironic, but the assistant coach, I chose to throw away 16 years of experience and knowing how good I was, and chose to believe you're gonna hear a lot of things in your life. People are gonna have a lot of stories about you. And her story about me was a projection of her own shit. But it's like the 17-year-old version of myself, the 18-year-old version of myself heard that and allowed it to trigger this wound of wondering if I was good enough. And instead of wondering, just like I did with the heart condition, what would it be like if I showed up as good enough, despite what she said, I just chose to believe her and quit on myself. And years later, we ended up having it's like she sent me a message and said, like took ownership of how crappy that conversation was, and said that she wanted to have a conversation with me about that and apologize. And then she never followed up. And so it's like by that point, I had already gotten to the to the place in my life where I didn't need her apology. Yeah, you know, I didn't I had already taken my power back, and um I had already acknowledged that I gave my power away in that moment, too. Do we have a hungry baby? Oh, okay. You say hi to Elle?

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Oh, hello, cutie. Oh, okay. I love this moment of life and yes, and having the little baby in our calls. It's so normal.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Here's here's here's the pivotal moment, right? Is you know, um like there's just moments. So that moment, and then there's also moments in your life where I've asked myself, and this is happening right now. There's a huge retreat next week, or um, not next week, next month, where it's something that I've invested thousands of dollars to be a part of this group, and there's two retreats a year. I don't go to the monthly calls. I I want you guys to hear that like you get to choose how you get value out of life. Like you can't

You get to choose how you get value out of life

SPEAKER_01 14:47

miss anything that's for you. So rather than the stress of in this membership, in this mastermind, trying to make it to every little thing that they book. And I've I've owned this with DeFi is that sometimes my desire to overgive to you guys ends up putting on stress because your calendar is packed with calls that I perceive as value. And there's a balance between value and busyness. And so my intention with joining this mastermind for the third year is just to attend the retreats. And they moved the retreats location to a resort that is adults only. And I'm nursing and I have a three-month-old. And normally it would be great. I would love to go to a wellness spa in Arizona and spend the weekend just laying in mineral baths and receiving spa treatments and connecting with these women. This very short period of my life, though, is dedicated to providing this baby with something that no one else can. And the when I said to the facilitator of the mastermind that I was disappointed that it wasn't considered that there's moms that even if you're not nursing, will have to spend a week away from their like kids. Not it's not even that every mom wants to bring their kids to a retreat, but it's that I was I didn't even have the option. Right. Yeah. And so she said, Well, I mean, that's your choice. You could pump, that's your choice, you could stay off um property. And I thought to myself, I'm gonna choose my daughter. I'm not gonna choose this retreat and then like figure out how to include my daughter. I'm gonna choose my daughter, which is my choice. It doesn't make what she's doing right, or it doesn't make it wrong if I did choose to wrap my nursing around this retreat. But it was so clear that that's a pivotal moment for me because the there's a younger version of me that would be like, you paid so much money to be a part of this community and you're gonna miss out. Yeah, you have to go with you. Exactly. And like I said, with the conversation with the assistant coach, it's like I don't need anything from you to be okay. I'm okay. And I'm gonna make my decisions on my life moving forward from that energy. And so knowing that I'm okay, it's like this version of me, what am I going to regret later in life? Am I going to regret missing out on a four-day retreat in Arizona? Or am I going to regret whatever impact it has on my nursing of my last baby and connection with my last baby? Like, I know, I know the answer to that question. And it just became so clear. And everything in your life, everything in my life changed when I realized that I had the power to choose. So I often hear people talk about the safety of a paycheck.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

And I find it ironic. I have the benefit of being a third-generation entrepreneur. However, I find it ironic that there's a perceived safety in outsourcing your safety more so than betting on yourself. I don't know whether or

Paycheck safety vs betting on yourself

SPEAKER_01 18:28

not, even if I have a job at Google, that tomorrow I will have a J O B at Google. And like the sense of empowerment and embodiment to know that whether I have a J O B tomorrow or not at Google, that I am generating my own paycheck, that I am the one that's coming to my rescue. Even when I take a J-O-B, like I'm the one creating that. I'm the one choosing that. There's a very different energy in that, L. There's just a very different, for me, like a really clean energy to, and I I don't want you as a listener to hear that I'm judging a J-O-B. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that the perceived value of a paycheck, you're the one creating the paycheck, whether it's working for Google, working for Nike, or running a multi-seven-figure coaching business. Like you're still the one creating the paycheck. I was still the one that was choosing to give up on myself. Like, I'm I'm not in my power saying that my coach is the one that made me give up on myself. I I still chose that. Obviously, meeting my husband and you know, moving to China and living in China

From stuntwoman to child protective services

SPEAKER_01 20:06

over over a year and being a stunt woman. Um, that was that was super interesting.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Um and then I also just remember as far as my career goes, um, I worked in child protective services, so social services in the United States for about six years. And then I left that position as a therapist because I felt like no matter what I did, that it wasn't enough. There was always going to be another kid that needed me. It felt like I would get a breakthrough with one kid and then 10 more would pop up. And so I just I didn't feel the fulfillment, the sense of fulfillment. And I was also making under $40,000 a year and working about 120 hours a week. And I think I've shared with you that like I ended up having phantom buzzing where I had like a cell phone, a BlackBerry, that I I never quite got a really good night's rest. And even two years, up to two years after I left that position, it was still an issue because I was constantly anticipating my phone ringing and buzzing. And so even when my phone wouldn't ring, I'd feel it ring. And so I decided to leave that position for my nervous system and I started my own private therapy practice. And I only did private pay, and I built it up to about $300,000 in annual revenue in six months. And it was at that moment when I realized two things. One is everybody that I went to school with that wasn't a third-generation entrepreneur was looking at. Me being like, how did you do that?

SPEAKER_00 22:02

You didn't think it was unique. No, you thought, yeah, this is just operating.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

I'm like, you went to the same school I did, and they said, Yeah, they didn't teach us business. And that that was my first realization is like business is my ocean. Like I grew up in it. It's not something I went to school for and learned. Like I grew up in it. I mean, you know, from being at the retreat, like I had my mom there, and the wisdom that she shared, you guys are blown away with in 20 minutes. I've had 20 plus years of that. You know, I guess almost 40 now.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

And you didn't realize how special it was.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

No. And and I also didn't realize that the relationship with money as well, where there's there was literally no limit that existed because anything that I wanted, my mom could create that value in her business and didn't have to wait for the next paycheck, which it's just like that's a whole separate podcast.

$300K practice, and still not being fulfilled

SPEAKER_01 23:07

The second thing though, the second thing that I realized is now I had the money, like $300,000 a year for uh in my 20s, that's a ton of money.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

And nothing changed. Like I still didn't feel fulfilled. So again, it's like it wasn't the job, it wasn't the career. There was just something missing, which was a gift. Because if something's a no, that means that you're closer to your yes.

unknown 23:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

And so hold on.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Because I think there's so many people that live and resonate with that specific moment of I've I made a change and I'm trying really hard, and I'm doing all the right things, and I'm even increasing the revenues up to a level that I thought it was my goal. And yet, why don't I feel the satisfaction?

SPEAKER_01 24:13

I'm the only thing that those two things had in common. Right? Like I'm the only thing that those two careers, I had 10 almost 10x my revenue. And so it and my solution was to just not be a therapist because that clearly must be it, is I'm just not meant to be a therapist. So I went to my supervisor. You've heard me tell this story. I went to my supervisor and I said, I'm gonna quit being a therapist. I cannot sit in a room and listen to people complain about problems that they're not willing to do anything about. And I think it's probably a really poor business model to have a therapist that doesn't care. And she said, Well, what do you want to do? I said, I don't want to sit in an office. I think I just want to like play horse, play with horses all day, but I can't be a therapist and play with horses. And she said, Well, my husband is a brain surgeon, and he happens to be wanting to study the therapeutic impact of working with horses, doing therapy at a ranch outside with horses. I and I remember like telling people that I was going to be doing equine therapy, and they're like, Are you like talking to race horses about how they feel about not coming in first? And I'm like, no. And so I was I was on the very cutting edge of this. There were only two programs in the entire world that you could get any kind of a certification or any kind of a degree in equine therapy. And ironically, like Dr. Hamilton had come and spoken at my college. And so he's a brain surgeon and his wife is a psychologist. And so um she ended up being my supervisor. And so she said, I don't like horses, and he needs a therapist. Will you, you know, do some work with him? And we did for years. We developed a ton of different equine therapy programs to the point that we ended up um having a really successful executive from a Fortune 50 company come out to one of the retreats, one of the treatments, and said, you know, I want to bring my team here. And this was my first kind of mind-opening experience of the impact that we were doing, and that there's a difference between therapy and therapeutic. And I think that there are therapeutic moments in our careers that then we can unpack with a therapist, right? But I'm not violating anything by holding a therapeutic space and not providing you therapy. Like I just think that that's a really good distinction. And so he brought his team and then he said, Can somebody come back um to Chicago to our headquarters and help us kind of further unpack these therapeutic realizations that we had as a team? And I hadn't thought about this. I hadn't thought about the fact that every single business has people in it and that people have issues. And that they will thrive in an environment of mental health and in communication, and that when they feel whole, they end up being more productive, having higher sales, all of the things that companies actually want from them. So I hadn't actually thought about business therapy up until this point. And so he made that request, and Dr. Hamilton said, you know, I'm a brain surgeon, like I'm not gonna, I have patience, I have like real work. He didn't say that. But he's like, I I have this thing that I'm responsible for, these careers

The question that changed her life

SPEAKER_01 28:25

that I'm responsible for. So I'm not going. And I said, Well, I'm a therapist, so I'm not going. And that's when he asked me this question that was this pivotal moment in my life. And he said, Can you hold a safe space for transformation? To which my response was, Yes, I went to school for that. And his response is really what changed my life. The question, and then this response. He said, Bunny, that's not what you went to school for. That's who you are. And that's weird. It allowed me. He doesn't, I don't even know if he remembers this, right? Like it wasn't impactful, it wasn't like super impactful for him, but for me, it was like all these dominoes that just kind of fell into place where I realized as a stunt woman, as an EMT, working in child protective services, doing private pay therapy, like all of this stuff, babysitting, being a lifeguard, all these things had one thing in common, and it was working on supporting people to make the world a better place. Like I wanted to help people. And I chose, I chose my career. And since I chose my career, if it wasn't working for me, I could choose something else. I still had that power. And that was a really big moment for me to realize that the power wasn't in my title, the power wasn't in my degree, the power wasn't in my school or how much money I was making, or like a piece of paper. I'm the one who created all of those things. Those don't exist without me. And so if that's true, yes, if that's true, then what else can I create? What else can I do? Like I had that Encanto moment where I'm like, what else can I do? You know, and yes. And and it was that moment that through, you know, just a series of opportunities, I ended up building this really successful organizational psych and well-being in the

What does it mean to build a life-first career?

SPEAKER_01 30:52

workplace kind of um organization before it was actually a thing. And what was also beautiful about that is I still have that company and I also choose to not do that work anymore. I choose to work with individuals, small business owners, mainly female entrepreneurs and coaches like you, that are like my mom, where it's like I get to help you craft this business around what's important to you, versus just like we said with the retreat, having this immovable thing of a J-O-B or of a career, and then having to craft your life around that. I believe in a life first model to a career and to business.

SPEAKER_00 31:44

Wow, who there's so many moments of the things that you shared that I would like to go so much deeper on, but a couple of things that I will reflect back to touch on these moments because I think they're so important and I see them in careers all the time, but we don't realize it in the moment, we only realize later. So, one thing that you said is I didn't know when I made all these choices what was gonna be next. But the things moved, things happened because you didn't stop, you didn't just suck it up and went on ignoring the voice inside that was telling you there should be something else. Why you're not fulfilled how to really feel like you're bringing your best self and what about your purpose? And you could only find that in connecting the dots. And and one thing that is even so fascinating for me, and I see it a lot of the times that probably you couldn't have been able to design the perfect career like on a desk, on a like pen and paper. This is going to be exactly the thing that I will do, especially when you told your supervisor, well, I want to spend more time with horses, and I love helping people. Like you didn't exactly know what was gonna happen by putting them together, and yet life gave you a solution when you asked for it.

SPEAKER_01 33:19

Yes. What's interesting is I didn't want to work with people, I was burnt out on people. Like that's that's exactly what I told Jane. That's what I exactly what I told Dr. Hamilton is like I'm burnt, I don't care. That's literally what I said. Like, I don't care about people, and that's probably not a great thing for your therapist. And you know, she had reflected back that I was like burnt out on this. It wasn't, it wasn't all people. It was just this aspect of dragging myself into an office every single day and being tied to my revenue equals my butt in this seat. I started to resent the office. I started to resent the business model. I I didn't love that, you know, it was basically building a business around people's diagnoses and focusing on what was wrong with them. And that the the longer they were sick, the more I got paid. I was just like, this is broken. This is completely broken. So she was able to reflect that back to me that it's like I said, I don't want to work with people. And she was like, Well, what do you want to do? I said, I just want to play with horses all day. And so there was probably a year, if not more, that Dr. Hamilton allowed me to be focused on horsemanship instead of being a therapist. There's there's hundreds, if not over a thousand people that came through the ranch that never knew I had a degree. And we would have these really profound moments that I perceived were about the horse. But it's actually this relationship between the horse and the person. And that was really healing for me. It was really healing for me to show up every day and have these horses that were providing such valuable life lessons to me. And then also to have a psychologist and a brain surgeon that have these careers that are building this, these programs and this ranch and this global movement that I get to be a part of that there's like documentaries made about the work that we did at the ranch. We we created an entire equine program for a resort that still exists today and has been replicated literally all over the world. And so it's like Dr. Hamilton's did this part-time. You know, like they did this on the

If you're not fulfilled, do something about it

SPEAKER_01 36:08

side. And so I love that I got it was modeled to me like, hey, if your career is not fulfilling, if you're not fulfilled over here, do something about it. And it doesn't always mean quit your career, right? Because that's the other thing is that wherever you go, there you are. And I see this so much, even in the individuals that I was counseling as a therapist, is they would come in and they would tell me how terrible their boss was. They would come in and tell me how terrible their coworkers were. I I had a patient when I was a therapist that works in massive banking financial institutions and went through four different leadership positions at four different banks before they finally realized it they were creating the same pattern. It wasn't like, oh, when I get away from Bill, my life will be better. That was the thought. And but then guess what? Bill works it everywhere, you know.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

To your point before of what do all have in common.

SPEAKER_01 37:19

Exactly. And you're responsible for that. And so there was nothing about me being a therapist or working in an office that was wrong. It and I'm not saying that I quit that and my life got better. I'm saying that I learned so much about what I wanted out of my life. And to your point, there was a moment where when we were doing this corporate work, that I'm like, well, I don't have the degrees, I don't have the certifications that these other business consultants do. Yes. And I have three generations worth of business experience, not just entrepreneurial experience, but business experience. And business is pretty simple. And I have a master's degree in human behavior and psychology. Right. So like you can argue for your limitations or you can argue for your dreams. And I remember thinking always, what am I gonna put on my LinkedIn profile? Actually, like a friend of mine who is really great at writing and copy and all of that, she supported me with my LinkedIn because we had this really funny moment where on LinkedIn, most of you that are listening are familiar with this platform, you list like the position that you held, the company that you worked in, and like a little bit what you did and the time. If I did that for those of us playing at home, it's like I during my college, during my my university years, started a swimming company that taught lifeguarding and swimming instruction for over two years in Tucson, Arizona. So it's like lifeguard. And then right after that, I sold that company and went to China for a year and worked as a stunt woman. And I had about six months of being

From unemployable to serial entrepreneur

SPEAKER_01 39:18

an EMT right before that. And then while I was in China, I I'm an American, like that is perceived as being totally white, that got a J O B in China on top of being a stunt woman as a seamstress. Like I was sewing things and repairing clothes in China because I just I was so dialed up from being busy. And then I also did EMT work on our set because we did stunt shows that we didn't have an on-site EMT or an on-site medical team. So imagine putting all of this into LinkedIn. And then when I came back, I did child protective services and then I had my own. Like I became what I lovingly call unemployable because my resume was all over the place. And oftentimes I was doing two to three jobs at once, on top of maybe having my own company. And I'm grateful for that because the moment that I realized that I was unemployable, I'm like, well, I have all these skills for a reason. And that's really what that conversation with Dr. Hamilton taught me is that it's not about. So if you go to my LinkedIn right now, you'll see, and I haven't updated it in forever, but instead of listing the companies, I listed the skills. I listed being a speaker, I listed being a coach, I listed being an author. And it's all under the brand of my my largest company, which is a better place consulting. But I have like serial entrepreneur there because it's not about the if I was trying to get a J O B at another company, that would be different. But also all of the J O Bs that I've ever had in my life have come from relationships. And those relationships still need to know who I am and what I value and my vision and my mission. And I just feel like for a lot of the clients that I was working on, they would turn their LinkedIn into something that represented what they thought that the company that was hiring them would want to see. And I'm not saying that's wrong.

SPEAKER_00 41:27

But the theme of what we were talking about starting point.

SPEAKER_01 41:31

Yes. What the theme of everything that we've talked about over the last 40 minutes is really like how do you take back your power? Like, how do you own your power? And so there was so much freedom in realizing that I wasn't gonna list the title, I wasn't gonna list the the company name, I wasn't gonna list that timeline because from 2005 to 2026, I've been becoming this version of myself and picking up these skills and these tools and this wisdom that I'm now monetizing and bringing value out into the world. And that's me. And so, like, I guess I could put my bunny young company as the company. However, it's like the value is me, and that's something that no one can take away from me.

SPEAKER_00 42:27

Absolutely, and this is the reframe that that I wish more people would consider and really take and like seriously, that you don't have to fit yourself into someone else's expectation, but really what we talked about from the beginning really go into finding what's your unique about you, unique about your your life and your skills, rather than just listing A, B, or C. And I think you've managed to do it really well. And I love that you also show different things and different possibilities because really careers get to be what we want, and something that I like really learn from you and and and we get to explore together is more and more. But what does it really look like to put your life first and see how your career, some people call it purpose, some people call it impact, how that shapes up as a result. So then this is this is very rich what you share with with uh with us today.

SPEAKER_01 43:38

Yes, and the thing that I want to leave you with is that it's not about what you do. Like what you just said, L, I wanna I wanna like really spend some time there because it was gold, and I want to make sure that everybody hears what you just said in the aspect that it It's it's about you. It's about your vision. And I think what we fall into in a lot of Western societies and possibly other societies as well is this is something

No one can stop me without my consent

SPEAKER_01 44:15

that I can do. There's a ton of things that I can do. It doesn't mean that I want to do them. So rather than fitting myself into a possibility, dream big, create a vision and allow life to meet you there. And even if it's not exactly what you asked for right now, trust that as long as you hold the vision that this is curriculum that is showing up to support you in building the foundation of what you're building your life on and what you're building your dreams on. I'm I'm not an overnight success. And yet I am in a lot of ways, because the reason that I'm so successful is that no one can stop me. Because that 17-year-old learned a really valuable lesson that day in the aspect that no one else can stop me without my consent. And I'm the only one that has enough power to do that. And I have this big, beautiful dream for a reason. Getting really clear on that is the first step, though, because otherwise you're just orienting around what's available currently in front of you versus what's going to get you closer, move the needle 1% each and every day towards your big vision. It was very simple in my life when I could orient around does this move me closer to my dreams or not? That's what I say when business and life get simple versus having all of these opportunities in front of me. Like even having a better place consulting or our largest company and saying, I don't really love doing this corporate work as much as I used to. I really want to work with entrepreneurs. It doesn't mean I have to shut that company down.

SPEAKER_00 46:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:03

It doesn't mean I have to fire my team. So what was in alignment with my dreams was actually to have this company that's supporting my lifestyle and supporting my revenue and supporting other team members and their families, which is a beautiful feeling. And it's so blessed. I feel so blessed to have that. That can exist without me. And I get to go pursue this area over here that just lights me up and I'm so inspired by.

SPEAKER_00 46:30

Yeah, beautiful. And we could go on and on talking about business and what it really means being a third-generation entrepreneur and your love for Disney. Because I learned from you, by the way, that Disneyland is an incredible source of inspiration for business. And yet today we focus more on you, your story, and how you learned through life curriculum what really you needed to get out of it. So I have one final question for you.

You're here for a reason

SPEAKER_00 47:09

Is there anything else that you want to share with your audience? What you really who you're really, really hoping that would hear this message? And um what is your message about this yes and life that you learn to live?

SPEAKER_01 47:27

Yes. The thing that I would love to leave you guys with is that you're here for a reason. You're listening to this podcast for a reason. Like there's millions of podcasts out there, and you're in Elle's world for a reason. You're listening to this podcast at this particular time in your life for a reason. If you listen to it in a year, this podcast is going to hold a different meaning than it does right now. And so there's something that within this podcast you were inspired to do, or something that was awoken in you. And my ask would be that you take action on that, whether it's reaching out to Elle and connecting with her about the support that she provides, or whether it is, you know, making an investment in yourself that you've been contemplating, or calling an individual and having a conversation that maybe you're inspired to have or that you've been avoiding. Take that action, trust that intuition, because building that trust in yourself is one of the most valuable assets in your life is when you have those intuitive hits to trust yourself and take action and build on that trust. And I'll leave you with my favorite quote, which is from the Lorax. And that is unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's ever going to get better. It's not. And the one thing that I would add to the Lorax is that unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot about you, you're the source of energy that makes everything in your life possible. And so you it's true what you're told that you can't pour for an empty cup. And don't wait for your job to fill that cup, don't wait for your spouse to fill that cup, don't wait for your partner, don't wait for your coach to fill that cup. That's your responsibility, and that's the best news in the world. So that's what I want to leave you with.

SPEAKER_00 49:21

That's incredible. And Bonnie, thank you so much. If anyone in the audience wants to connect with you and really witness your uh you and know more where they can find you, and do you have any invitation that you want to share with the audience?

SPEAKER_01 49:41

I mean, you know where I live. Um I love we'll leave the link in the show notes. Yes. The only real place that I am at on a fairly consistent basis is on Instagram. And it's my Instagram. I'm the one who's in the DMs and being able to support and love on you. There's times where somebody will get a resource through my DMs, and then I send them a voice note and they're like, You're really here. Yes, like that's super intentional. So um, my Instagram is at the BunnyYoung. And we'll put that in the links below. And my invitation to you is to just send me a voice note. Let me know what you thought about this podcast. I love it. I think you do too, L. When you guys tag me and what your takeaways are on your stories. I love getting those notifications. I love it. I like, I love it. That that's a conversation that I want to enter into and in a relationship and connect further. So, yes, that's that is where to find the bunny young.

SPEAKER_00 50:47

Absolutely. So if anything moved, yes, take action and let us know what resonated. Thank you, Bunny, so much. It was an incredible conversation. Of course. Bye. Thank you for listening. It truly means a lot. Before you go, if this conversation opened up something for you, I'd love to know what it is. Feel free to share it with me or on social media. This is how stories travel. If you enjoyed this episode, you're already part of this community. And this is how you can help us grow. You can leave a review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or whatever you're listening from. You can follow the show or you can turn on the auto download so you never miss an episode. Any of it helps more than you know, because it helps other people find the stories when they need them the most. And it really does take just one of us acting on a crazy idea to change not only our life, but the lives of everyone around us. And if you two have a nudge, a crazy idea running in your mind, and you're looking for guidance to turn it into reality, follow the show notes to connect with the guest and find more resources from human careers. Thank you for being here. And see you in the next episode!