#233 - Find Your Business Bestie with Megan Flatt

Connections are an important part of growing as a business owner, so Emily's business bestie Megan Flatt is on this episode to talk about networking, how to share resources and knowledge, recognizing when relationships aren't a good fit, and how you can find your own business bestie.

Get full show notes for this episode here

---

Listen to more Being Boss shows on Apple Podcasts
Follow Being Boss on Instagram: @beingbossclub
Join the Being Boss Community: beingboss.club/community

---

Listen to brand new episodes of Being Boss on the main feed >>

---

Listen to more Being Boss shows on our website, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Follow Being Boss on Instagram: @beingbossclub
Join the Being Boss Community: beingboss.club/community

Transcript

Emily Thompson: 0:47

I'm Emily Thompson. And I'm Kathleen Shannon, and this is being boss. In this episode of being boss, I'm joined by Megan flat to talk about making connections as a business owner, the importance of those connections and how they weave webs you may never see the extent of and how you can find a business bestie for yourself. As always, you can find all the tools, books and links we referenced on the show notes at WWW dot being boss dot club.

Unknown: 1:19

being your own boss means finding ways to optimize and better manage your time. Have you heard of freshbooks It's a suite of business tools that include things like easy to use automations to help you spend less time invoicing, expensing and tracking projects, and more time becoming the CEO you always wanted to be. freshbooks is packed with features to help you manage your always valuable time. Send automatically payment reminders on invoices, create recurring invoices. And if you want to get fancy use subscriptions for hands off billing. It's all ridiculously easy to set up and use and it leaves you more time to focus on being a boss. For a limited time freshbooks is offering our listeners 50% off your first three months when you upgrade to a paid plan. Go to freshbooks comm slash being boss and enter being boss in the How did you hear about us section that's fresh books.com slash being boss for 50% off your first three months.

Emily Thompson: 2:23

If you've been around here for any amount of time, you know that here at being boss, we believe that every business owner needs a support group. In fact, for many episodes years ago, it was even in our intro, being boss is being in it together. And for years that you've heard from me and Kathleen about our business bestie relationship. We've hosted boss vacations to help you find your business bestie and last year I launched the being the boss community because I know the importance of surrounding yourself with smart, inspiring and supportive people who get what you do. Why? Because being the boss of your own business is hard work and without the insights and perspectives of others, you're going to find yourself working in a bubble, thinking that you're the only one dealing with your problems, spending too much time figuring out something that your peers have already sorted through and otherwise completely missing out on one of the best benefits of being your own boss, making time in your schedule to talk to friends in a way that actually makes you better at what you do. And today's episode I'm joined by my friend and longtime business bestie Megan flat, not only because of where examples of what a successful business bestie relationship looks like, but because like me, she's made it her mission to help other entrepreneurs find their tight knit community of business friends, too. Megan is committed to showing ambitious women entrepreneurs that while they could go it alone, they don't have to. She's the founder of let's creative a business growth strategy firm devoted to making entrepreneurship easier, and helping women owned businesses scale. Let's collective was founded on the principle that your success isn't just possible, it's inevitable. And to get there, you need the momentum that a strong community can provide. You can almost always find magnet with a stack of post it notes at the ready. I can vouch for this myself at Let's collective.co Hi, Megan, I'm so glad you are here with me today. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited. This is going to be maybe the most fun either of us have had all week. Yes, yes, I can pretty much guarantee that to be true. Right? highly highly likely sixth grade math doesn't doesn't top it. No, no. Okay. All right. Well, to get everyone sort of introduced to us they can follow along some of our some of the rest of our conversation I would love for you to start us out with a telling us about your entrepreneurial journey. How did you get to where you are now?

Megan Flatt: 5:00

Yeah, I mean, gosh, like everyone I feel like my journey is you know, convoluted and twisting and paths that and you know, all the different paths but I think my kind of claim to fame is I've actually always been an entrepreneur. So I've never had a nine to five job so when people talk about leaving corporate or you know, their horrible boss or their amazing boss or whatever it is like I don't have those experiences. So I I've always been entrepreneurial. I started you know, I was teaching dance at my dance studio growing up when I was 11 and 12 and 13 I started helping and dance classes and you know, started teaching swim lessons and in family's backyard pools and I've just always been kind of had this entrepreneurial spirit. And so that was definitely, you know, where, where my business started. And then I was in the fitness industry for a long time. And I was working primarily with moms or primarily with women who were either having babies or about to have babies. And I had. And then alongside of that, I was also working for a fitness consulting company that did a lot of business development for fitness professionals. So that was really kind of where I got my start, I was also traveling a lot with those two. With those two jobs, I was traveling a lot i was i was a CEC provider and a presenter on the fitness circuit. So I was traveling a lot. And then when I got pregnant with my own son, who's almost 12, it just got too hard to travel and I and I wanted to just stay home. And I kind of went back to my fitness routes and thought, Okay, well, I'll be, you know, kind of using air quotes, like just a personal trainer. And I realized I missed that business development, I missed that other aspect of business, not just running my business, but helping others build their business. And because I was working with this population that was kind of at a crossroads, they were having babies, they just had a baby, should they go back to work, should they stay home, they were kind of making these decisions. So that was where my entrepreneurial spirit kind of kicked in. And while we were working out while we were doing bicep curls, we were always like, Okay, well, what business? Could you start? or How could you turn this into consulting? or How could you, you know, do this instead, or, or something totally different, like, Oh, you've always wanted to open a flower shop, this is your chance. And so that was really where it started. And I always kind of joke, I used to go to my clients homes. And one day one of my clients opened the door in her street clothes, and not in workout clothes. And I thought, Oh, you know, she must be sick, or something's going on. And she just said, she said, Can I, I'll pay you for the session. But can we just sit in my living room and talk about my business the whole time. And I just went, Oh, my gosh, like I could, I could do this, I can get back to that business consulting that I was doing. And I can do it for myself. And then, you know, the rest is history, as they say.

Emily Thompson: 8:00

Finding basically you found a niche, working with moms or like not even moms of older kids. But you mentioned that crossroads of working with, with women who were just having kids and sort of navigating that transition in their life.

Megan Flatt: 8:17

Exactly. Because I think because for me at that point, that's where I was, by, by this point in the story, I'd had my second child, you know, I would pack her up in the stroller and, you know, take her to Starbucks and work on a blog. I thought at that time, I thought I wanted to have a parenting blog or a fitness blog, or, you know, kind of something like that. And but I found that I was struggling with all of the same things that my friends and kind of clients were struggling with, like how do we build a business? I used to call us like the moms in the middle, right? Like how do we build a business and have this outward expression of ourselves? How do we define ourselves beyond being moms? but also how do we be present for for our kids and for our families? And how do we blend those two. And so that was really where my business started with women who and still to this day motivated, driven, successful women, but want to have a different flow to their life than either a nine to five job or kind of being a stay at home mom route, which both are awesome, and I totally respect and then there's a segment of us that wanted to kind of straddle that line in the middle. And that was who I wanted to work with.

Emily Thompson: 9:29

And this was or this sort of iteration of your business. I also love that you've went through like dance and swimming and all of these things to get you to this place. But that was mama CEO, or That's why you've been sort of going by for the past how long and a rebrand. So Megan and I have been talking together for months, a year over a year. I know. Yeah. Over a year, I think. Yeah. Why? Right. So I've known you all this time is you doing your mama CEO work, right? And then you've just undergone a rebrand that I have I don't even know about Yeah, we've kind of talked about the past. I knew you were working on it. But I didn't know what's happening now. So I want to hear about that too. So tell us about mama CEO. And then I want to hear from me personally Haley's about this rebrand that you've just done.

Megan Flatt: 10:24

Oh my god. Okay. Well, there's so much and it's so perfect for your topic today, just about business besties and about this community that we're that we're building as entrepreneurs. And so, really quickly, I was working with my clients, one on one This was you between 2014 and 2015, I was just doing one on one consulting with my clients. And I found that my that all of my clients were having this, we were having the same conversations, and especially the same fears and concerns that were coming up. I'm the only one who's not doing this. I'm the only person everyone else has it figured out except me. You know, it was like those conversations. And I was having these back to back calls where I was like, Oh, my God, I just had the same call with my last client. And so I knew that I wanted to bring these women together, because entrepreneurship can be lonely. You know, for so many of my clients, they were running online businesses, they were running it by themselves, they were bootstrapping it, their partner didn't understand what they did. Their mom didn't understand what they did. There, you know, best friend from high school doesn't understand what they do. And so you, you could have all of these people in your life that love you and support you. And then you start talking about webinars and, you know, conversion factors and things like that. And people, you know, eyes gloss over. Or I know, I think my husband thought I was like joining a cult for a while he's like, what are you doing? views. So I just realized that I really wanted to bring these people together so that they could see that they weren't alone, so that they could meet other people like them, you know, they could meet other people. And again, at the time that was really focused on moms, but really, it was these women that were straddling this line between I want to do something that is fulfilling to me, financially, and emotionally and professionally. And I want to also be present for the other things that are important in my life. And so that was really where, you know, way back in 2015, that at that point, it was 2015, that I started running group programs and group masterminds, because I wanted to bring these people together. And so as time progressed, and my kids got older, and my clients, kids got older, and things started to shift a little bit and, and my clients, my clients in particular, this is their career, you know, this is their full time job, whether they do at 20 hours a week, or 30 hours a week, or 80 hours a week. They This is their career. And this is what they do in their business is what defines them. And so I started feeling like and actually getting feedback from my clients that the mama CEO label wasn't completely resonating for them anymore, because they were business owners who also had children. But they were really started. And I was starting to define myself differently. And, and it was a really, really hard path. And I think you and I have been talking about it. Definitely since last summer, and possibly before, like, did I want to drop this brand it was you know, everyone tells you niche down niche down niche down. And so it was like, do I want to move away from this, what what and I started, I started by changing the names of my programs, you know, change moving away from Mama CEO just kind of internally. And I then I just kind of had this, I don't even want to say it was an epiphany because I think it took me a year or more to get there. But I had this moment of what's really important to me is about bringing like minded business owners together who are normally alone who are normally, my husband also entered into the world of entrepreneurship A few years ago, but he's a business partner. And so they're always bouncing ideas off each other and supporting each other. And so many of my clients are doing this by themselves. And so what I realized and what I when I looked at my clients, and when I looked at what I'd created, I wanted a way for for these women to have the support of a community have that kind of virtual business partner that they can bounce ideas off of, I wanted them to make more money, I wanted to help them be successful, so that they could make other decisions in their lives. And I realized that that for me personally, as a mother, part of that decision was okay, I want to be able to spend time with my kids or I want to be able to send them to the summer camp that they want to go to or I want to be able to volunteer in their classroom. Those were the other things in my life that I wanted to be able to do. But not everybody, you know, some of my clients, their kids are grown and they're out of the house or they wanted to be able to volunteer in their community, or you know, whatever, whatever it was for them, go back to school, learn it, learn something new. And so that was when I realized that I wanted to bring people together I wanted to make help them make a community and I wanted them I wanted entrepreneurship to be easier. And so that that was really what I was teaching my clients behind the scenes. And so that once I kind of realized that then the mama CEO part became not the most efficient certain thing anymore. So that's kind of where we got to.

Emily Thompson: 15:51

I'm so excited about this, because like you said, we've been talking about this for a long time, you've been really weighing that mama CEO title for a hot minute, and what is it called now.

Megan Flatt: 16:02

So the new brand is, let's collective. And it's all about, let's do this together, let's build momentum, let's make more money. Let's grow our business. And we can do all of this together. So this idea of the collective, this idea that the collective is whole pieces, that that all come together, you know, like part of a collection, right? Like each individual piece is amazing and unique in itself, but it can all come together and work together. So the collective represents my my team, it represents my clients and how we come together and support each other. It represents my clients, clients, it represents my clients, families, and my family and our communities and all of the different pieces that we want to be stronger and more independent, and more wealthy, and all of those things so that we can influence all these other parts of whatever our personal collective is. So I'm so excited for it.

Emily Thompson: 17:09

I can tell you guys cannot see this, but like, Megan's arms really wave in the air. She talks about this, and you're so smiley, and from the chats that we've had, I know, this has been a difficult decision to make How long were you operating as mama CEO? Since 2014? Yeah, so six years, it's a six year old baby, just renamed.

Megan Flatt: 17:33

And I'll tell you what, to Emily, it also, you know, I totally believe that the universe kind of tests us and puts things in our path. And especially when you kind of make a decision, and then a lot of times something will show up to kind of make you question that decision. And who knew what would show up for me would be this global pandemic. But I had made the decision before to start to move away from from Mama CEO, before everything happened with the shelter in place. And one of the things that I've always been really vocal about and really felt really passionate about is this idea of the default parent and how women often carry a huge portion of the mental load. And that was actually a big, a big reason. When I kept coming back to not wanting to move away from Mama CEO, it was that I felt passionate about this, this platform. And this, this idea of, of the default parent in the mental load. And so then to have the the pandemic kind of sit in, in our, in our midst, and all of the research that was coming out and all of the surveys and the statistics that said that women were taking on the majority of the homeschooling and that the women were taking on, you know, even even women that were working full time were taking on more of the responsibility at home and things like that. It was like that test, it was like, Oh my gosh, wait, wait, Stop the presses. But I just realized that I can have opinions and I can have a voice and I can have a platform. And it doesn't have to be the name of my company anymore.

Emily Thompson: 19:17

Billy also great for segwaying into the rest of our conversation, because I knew that whenever it came to talking about what it looks like to find a business bestie define and not even business besties a name for you described what it is, though. It's it's finding someone who can be that sounding board, it's finding someone that you can bounce ideas around with or who will give you like, good feedback, not like super biased feedback. But really with your best interest in mind. I love that you called them sort of your virtual business partner, right? So someone who's going to be sort of in it with you, but not like technically in it with you. I think that's really powerful. And you've been building these relationships via masterminds for several years. And this is an area where you and I connect on. We're both doing masterminds. So you're helping facilitate these conversations with these people or facilitate these relationships with these people with these people. So I'd love to hear from you about what it's like to watch those relationships form. And really the changes that you see and these people and their businesses when they commit to making close net relationships in this case, a mastermind but I think this is probably pretty across the board whenever it's masterminds or finding a single person hanging out with or whatever it may be.

Megan Flatt: 20:39

I mean, it is literally my favorite, my favorite part and I will Love. In my own business, I love when I get to work with my clients one on one. And we're really diving into their business and coming up with a strategy. But hands down my favorite part is when we do like a group coaching type situation, or when we eventually get to meet in person, again, when we when we are on a retreat, and I see these women, again, whether it's virtual, or whether it's in person, from different industries, from different parts of the country, from, you know, babies, teenagers, everyone comes from a different background, a different situation, and I see them all come together, and we have this, this universal language around our business and around our desire to improve our business and improve our business and improve our clients lives through our business. And the idea of getting these people together, you know, in a virtual space in a real room and have them have that moment of like, Oh, my gosh, this person gets me. And we've all experienced that where you've been with, you know, with your friends, or you've been at a party, or you've been wherever you've been, and and the proverbial like, you know, what do you do? And you've had a hard time, not just explaining what you do, but just for someone else to get it. And so to bring these people together, and to have people that just like, Oh, yeah, I get it, I understand what you're talking about either. Like, literally, technically, I said something about SEO, and my husband is like, SEO, what's that, and it's like, I forget that not everybody talks about stuff like that, you know, so to be. So that's my absolute favorite part, is seeing these connections that these women make, and that they make lifelong friends. And that, you know, I'll see, you know, months and years after some two people have gone through my program, and then I see that they're doing a joint workshop, you know, I'll see a social media post that these two people are doing a workshop together, or I'll see a photo pop up on social media that they've met up and that their kids are playing at the Space Museum together, whatever it is, and I just, it just, it warms my heart that I got to be a part of that facilitation.

Emily Thompson: 22:59

Agreed, that is my favorite thing to do. Whenever I think of, you know, the first vacation that we did, and some of the relationships and partnerships that came out of events that we've done, I think, I mean, that is the stuff. That's why we're here doing these things. Yeah. You know, it's really for those bigger picture things that we can't even anticipate, we have no idea what its gonna look like, or if it'll even happen. But we're here hoping that it will and really enjoying the outcome of it years later.

Megan Flatt: 23:26

And there's a ripple effect, I have to tell you the funniest story that just popped into my head, there's this ripple effect that of business friends that and so when you mentioned your vacation, so I actually have two local business friends who I know through a co working space that we can, we can talk about that, because that's partly how you and I met as well. But I have two local friends that I met through this co working space that I'm a part of that went to one of your vacations. And when they were at one of your vacations, they met another woman who lives relatively close to us. And so they kind of folded her because they got to meet her and then they folded her into this circle that we have here. And so even though I wasn't at the vacation, or you know, it was like this, again, this ripple effect of now I have this other person in my life, who again, like minded thinking, wants to attend the same event, you know, wants to kind of attend the same events have that same vibe. So it really trickles out where we really are creating this, this ecosystem of business owners and bosses to support each other. It's amazing.

Emily Thompson: 24:36

It's, it's, it is It's why we're here or why I'm here, at least, I'm okay. There's a couple of things that I want to like, hit on. Yes. Because we're talking masterminds and things and I imagine a lot of people will sort of ask the question of do I need to join a group officially right? To find their people? I would love to hear your take on this and then I have a take on this as well.

Megan Flatt: 25:00

So I mean, I think the blanket, you know, response is no, right. Like you can find you can find a business friend, anywhere. And but if I think about my, my own personal relationships, definitely some of my strongest business relationships came from women that I went through some type of program or some type of event with because I think you start from a common a common vernacular and a common place. And most of these, most of these, you know, I know your mastermind, my mastermind. They have a structure built into them, that you get in the habit of talking to Those people on a regular basis. And I know one of the very first masterminds that I participated in as a consumer, the structure was the the organizer broke us into a small group of there were four of us. And for the three month program, we were expected to meet once a week for the three months of the program. And so these four women who I had never met, we were randomly paired together. We met every week for the three months of the program, because we were told to, and then we met every week for a year and a half afterwards. So I think the fact I don't think that we would have done that, had we not had the kind of structure to start doing it. And the kind of guidelines like here's how you should run your calls, here's how you should make sure everyone gets what they need. Someone should be a timekeeper like we needed that structure and that accountability that we got from the program, and then we continue to do it on our own after that. And that's what I see happen with my own clients too is I pair the group's up, I create the structure, and then they keep going months and years later.

Emily Thompson: 26:55

I agree with this 100%. And they will say to even add to add something to it. Your group continued meeting, like within the same group, or a year and a half. But this also gives you the skill set to sort of make your own group totally, which is what you and I have ended up doing right. Business besties client phone calls partner meetings. Oh, yeah. And that to do list? How in the world do we get it all done? I don't know about you. But I couldn't make it happen without the help of acuity scheduling. When I need to schedule a meeting, I just open up an email, say a quick Hello, paste in a scheduling link and acuity does the rest from showing the recipient my availability to sending confirmation and reminder emails to even automating rescheduling? Leaving me to get back to that to do list acuity scheduling, the scheduling assistant that works 24 seven behind the scenes to fill your calendar so that you don't have to, for limited time only. You can get 45 days of acuity scheduling absolutely free. no credit card required by going to acuity scheduling.com slash being boss. You do remember that you and I were in a group together like seven years ago. What do you remember? Yeah, so shout out to amber McHugh. Oh, my God and freshly implemented. Yes. Right. So and we've actually had this conversation before. I remember what I had for breakfast this morning. So I take no responsibility, right. So and I was just thinking about this too, because when you're talking about joining a group, and sort of gaining that, gaining that habit of doing it, but you also and gaining that vernacular, which I think is very important. You also sort of immediately gain a like a point of commonality. Yeah. So you and I were in Amber mkuze freshly implemented a program. Yours I totally remember. Yeah. And years ago, and the first time we met. Okay, actually, let's just let's share the story. Cool story. So I did come with Kathleen to Mill Valley, California to the high Verghese, which is the CO working space that you were mentioning a minute ago to do a book event whenever the big boss book came. Yeah. You were there. I don't remember you. Well, so we did. Maybe I do but like you do remember I do. Right.

Megan Flatt: 29:40

Well, and we met briefly at that event, because the set the friends that I was just talking about had been part of your community and had been to your vacations and they had kind of helped set up the so like, there was a really quick like, Hi, nice to meet you. But yeah, that's so funny how our paths

Emily Thompson: 29:59

crossed originally hate passing, hey, passing haze. But then a couple months later, I was invited to speak at the high Verghese LX, which also shout out to grace. Grace is the master builder community. She is amazing. One of my favorite people by far. So I came back up to Mill Valley to speak at the hi free event. And there was a VIP dinner and you and I just happened to sit next to each other that night, and we hit it off. And I remember it was that night during dinner that we sort of connected the fact that we had done freshly implemented together. And so that was our connection point like otherwise we would have just been two strangers sitting next next to each other had a conversation before dinner. But because we had that point of commonality, it was able, or we were capable of sparking kind of a more meaningful relationship significantly more quickly than if we were just two strangers sitting

Megan Flatt: 31:00

exactly other. Exactly. And again, I like I hate to even like bring it up when we are still in the middle of sheltering in place. But there is that in person, there is that in person, aspect to the fact that you and I were physically sitting next to each other face to face having a conversation I was just talking about, I can't remember the exact percentages, but I was just talking about this with another client, the whole, like, the only 7%, or whatever it is, of, of what we say is verbal communication. And how important that and that's why you do these, even though this is a podcast, it's why you do them via video so that you can get the body language and all of that. But there's also something about being in person where you're just able to connect with that person on a little bit deeper level, because you're actually seeing them in 3d.

Emily Thompson: 31:49

Right. I know that to be true, completely. So we were able We met at that point. And then at some point afterwards, and I don't even remember when or how if it was immediately after or a month later, I have no idea. no recollection. But you and I started having monthly calls together just getting together one evening, it's evening for me, you're on the other side of the country. So yeah, perhaps afternoon, two o'clock. Yeah. Right, we're getting together once a month, to just sort of keep each other caught up on what it is that we're doing. And sort of seeking advice or opinions or perspective about the things that we're going through. And we keep doing it because we both like it. And we both find value and doing it.

Megan Flatt: 32:35

Yes, I know. And, and I love it. And you know, we were kind of talking about all the different ways that you can have a business friend relationship, and we could talk about some of the other ways that I love that you and I have this kind of standing monthly date, because it also is a marker of time. And it's it's, you know, what, what have we done in the last four weeks? What, what is happening? You know, what, what's happening? What do we want to, you know, I always think when I see our call on my calendar, you know, I'll start to it's not like I'm creating an agenda or anything, but I'm definitely kind of formulating in my head, I'm thinking about like, Oh, great, I want to tell Emily, this, I want to talk to her about this, I want to ask her about this, I noticed on social media this. And so it helps give us kind of a container to start from, which I think is really helpful versus just kind of either doing it more randomly or things like that, it just gives us a really nice container. And a lot of times we'll kind of invite each other or challenge each other to do something or think about something or, or before, okay, by the time we meet next month, let's make you know, you're gonna make a decision about this, or you're gonna have thought about this or launch this or whatever it is. So it gives us these nice markers of time to kind of stay accountable to each other too.

Emily Thompson: 33:52

Yeah, I completely agree, I found him so helpful. And I agree with the monthly ness of it, it's such a good amount of time to really accomplish something, and I can really look back over the past year or so. And like, for you, for example, who knows what you think about where I feel free to share as needed. But I can see over, you know, 12 months meeting a once a month, there were times when things were moving very slowly. And there are times when things really get going like you're really able to sort of see the seasons in business for the person that you're talking to. And for me, that just gives me the ability to kind of be more helpful to you, as we're going through the next 12 months. Like if it's one of those things where it's us sort of slowing down or like hyping up or whatever it may be. It allows me to really get in touch with you and how you do business in a way that I can't do with people that I'm not talking to very often or not very consistently, I think and that also makes me more mindful of how I'm doing business right as well like it all just for anyone who's not enjoying these kinds of relationships. You are missing so much, because your level of mindfulness of your own processes because they can be mirrored back to you sharing them with someone else. I think it really can be detrimental to your ability to really move forward with the kind of speed and agility and not that speed and agility are like the top goals here. But I think it's slowing you down.

Megan Flatt: 35:35

It's almost for sure speed and agility but I would add in like efficiency. Like it's not about you know, it's just about you mentioned grace and grace just shared a story with me that I That I know you and I have experienced to where, when she decided to open the Highbury. She felt like it was this lightbulb moment for her like, Oh my gosh, I know the next thing I'm going to do in my business, and I've never thought of it before. And she shared it with one of her, you know, business friends, and that business friend relate back to her. Yeah, you've been talking about this for 10 years. And so I think that, that I know, you and I have had that experience where we've said, Wait, weren't you? Didn't you mention that a few months ago? Or, or we're also guilty of this right? Or will or will bring something like, Hey, tell me more what's going on with this? And it makes it keeps it bringing it to the front because like you said, a business friend is able to kind of mirror what you're saying back to you. One of my other business friends, we have the same meme screenshotted that we routinely just text back and forth to each other about it. The the meme says, hold on, let me overthink this. And and so whenever one of the whenever one of us is overthinking something, you just get this text message that is that little screenshot of the meme. It's like oh, yeah, you're totally right. I'm overthinking it. And then three weeks later, the other one has to send it back saying Okay, now You're overthinking this. So you get to be that, that mirror for each other.

Emily Thompson: 37:11

Okay, I want to touch on something here. One of the questions I often get from people who are looking for their community, as big or as small as that needs to be a lot of people are sort of filled with this fear of getting too close to their, quote, unquote, competition. And you just spoke a little bit about efficiency. And so I'm going to roll this up into a nice little ball of mud tied up in a bow. I don't know what I'm doing with that. Here's what it is. We fine. Um, because you and I both do masterminds, right. That's sort of the common piece between us. But I think that allows us to really relate to each other significantly more, we both have a very clear understanding, are there more than enough fish in the sea? Absolutely 100%. And because we both have that connection, we're able to be more efficient, because we're sharing so much with each other, right. And so for me, a perfect example of this is, whenever I decided to host my mastermind retreat in New Orleans last year, I was telling you about it, you had recently done one, you sent me a link to some mansion that listings in the French Quarter. And that's where I found my house, I would have spent months googling and trying to find just the right place. And you sent me a link in five minutes. And it was amazing, right?

Megan Flatt: 38:33

Amazing. And then, and then we both just hosted events that were supposed to be live, both of us were supposed to have our own live events, we both took them virtual, your event was first. And so after that, we had a conversation and I was asking you how did it go tell me all about it. And you shared with me two things that you had done with your, you know, virtual version of the event. And I was like, Oh my gosh, that's brilliant. And I implemented both of them for my virtual event. And, and it just, again, it's that near it's like something that was like so not obvious, but it just made so much sense that I just was too close to my own event. And I needed your perspective of that you'd already done it. And yeah, I just agree with you. 100% that there's so many fishes fish in the sea, and that there's so much business for both of us. And that I really believe in the like rising tides raise all boats. Yeah, so I think that, that, and I think that that goes to choosing the human. Right, like, yeah, don't try to be business besties with someone that you already feel some animosity towards, or, you know,

Emily Thompson: 39:54

like, kill him with kindness, like, pick a human being that you want to be friends with. Yes, you know, also for sure, I always find that, again, more of those points of commonality there. The more of those you're going to have with a person both like in sort of history, like the things you've done, but also in what you're actually doing, the more helpful you can be to each other. Because I often find that if I'm trying to be business besties with someone who is a completely different field. I'm often just playing catch up the entire time. Like I don't understand your business model. Yeah. Right like and then I feel I always feel like I'm coaching instead of sharing my experience because like, we I'm not coaching each other not usually, sometimes if there's something hard going on, I'm like, please tell me what to do. But yeah, same, you fix my mindset here, something's wrong, like, sometimes you will get a little coaching. But that's not that's not the purpose of these relationships. And if there aren't those points of commonality, there's no sharing of experience and expertise, that's going to be relevant for the other person. So you have to find people who are in similar things. Another example of this is I am in sort of a larger group of business besties, a sort of self, self imposed mastermind. And we all share very similar businesses, we're all product businesses, we all sell candles and crystals were in different geographic locations. But our business models are really relatively similar. And because of that, we are so valuable to each other, we're really able to connect with the or connect on things, we're able to understand each other's perspective and each other's problems and all of those things in a way that I couldn't do if I were doing that group with anyone else. So for anyone who is worried about competition, let it go.

Megan Flatt: 41:55

Yeah. You know, you know, one thing, though, that I want to I want to point out, because I completely agree, and I think the competition thing. Well, I'll give one quick little side note on the competition thing, I do think it's also okay, to we all have up and down days, and we all you know, like it's okay to also protect your, your own mindset a bit. So I, you know, if there's a day where you're like, I need to not like, I'm feeling a little envious of this really successful launch or something, and you know, you're going to come around and like be super excited for that person. And you need to just like, take a beat, like, take care of yourself, I will say that, but I but I just definitely agree that the pros outweigh any, any cons. The the other concept, though, that that I wanted to share, because it's something that pops into my mind. And it's not that I'm like, interviewing for the business bestie position, but I like to think of to like your board of directors. And when you have like these different business friends, cuz I know you have conversations with other people, I have conversations with other people. And when you think about like your, your collective group of kind of business friends, I like to think of this board of directors like I like to have someone because whatever, whatever you're feeling in your life and in your business, then you kind of have a person to go to. So I like there to be someone who's kind of at my level, like you said, like we're, we have kind of a similar business model, you can speak that same language, you can, you know, you can have those conversations. But then maybe you want someone that's above you or ahead of you, that can be kind of that mentor role. Or you were talking about, you know, the same industry, I have a business friend who runs a bakery, like an in person, brick and mortar bakery. And so yeah, she doesn't know anything, I'm not going to talk to her about a webinar strategy. But man, she knows about hiring and running a team because she's got 50 people on her team. So having people in slightly, you know, in those different seats on your kind of board of directors can be really helpful. Because when you have a question about hiring, I might not want to go to my business friend that is also running a solo business and doing you know everything herself, I want to go to the person that has a team of 50 people that she manages, and has to hire and fire people all the time. You know, so I like to kind of think about it that way too. So that when you have that question, I used to think about it with parenting too, like you want someone who has the same age a kid as you you want someone who has an older kid than you you want, you know, like you want to kind of have a few different avenues like you want that business friend, that's really good at the pep talk. You know, you want that business friend that you can send a text or a boxer or Marco Polo to and being like, man, I am having a rough day today. And you just know that that's going to be the person that just sends you the like, the mindset work and the love and the cheerleading, and like you just then you can kind of pick and choose where you get your support from.

Emily Thompson: 45:00

I love this so much because you don't just have one business bestie this isn't Middle School, you have one best friend, you have like 10 best business besties and I think you're completely right. I also I also love the idea of thinking about them as a board of directors. And along that line. I like to I like to keep mine rounded out within about even streams of revenue are really the areas of your business where you are putting the most energy so you're you're mentioning hiring and sort of team management. I think most bosses you know, a couple years in are going to need a couple buddies who are sort of on that team or who understand that that aspect of business. I also think about for me I have a couple of really close podcasting friends. So people who are really into the podcasting scene so I can, you know, message them and be like, have you guys noticed some weird things going on with numbers lately? Or do you hear that weird update about Apple or like what's working for your content these days, those sorts of things. So you can think about really sort of the areas in your business, as well are those revenue streams or whatever they may be to curate that board of directors for yourself

Megan Flatt: 46:11

Exactly. Like you said, If you run masterminds, if you do one on one work, if you have a brick and mortar store, like having some people that have those commonalities, and then some people that that are different, because they bring you a different perspective to

Emily Thompson: 46:25

business besties, I have a great way of encouraging you to finally do that thing. Like talking you into writing that ebook, or putting together that course. And though your business bestie will definitely have some tips for how to sell that digital product. I'd like for you to listen to this business bestie I'm talking about me, because I think you should check out podia podia is an easy to use platform that allows you to create courses, digital downloads, and membership sites, it's a hassle free way for creators to earn a living from their passion, get 14 days free with no credit card required by going to podia.com slash bosses. I have a weird question for you. Have you ever had to fire a business? bestie?

Megan Flatt: 47:17

You know, I think that it's just, I think that it's just I've never thankfully, I've never had some type of blow up, fight. Like, you're a horrible person, you know, I've never had that. And I think that's because it's not Middle School, and we are all adults. And but I think it's also okay, business besties you know, Mom, friends in person friends, like, I think it's okay that you have seasons of your life, that you connect with different people in different ways. And so I think that there's there can be this ebb and flow. And there may be that someone that you really connected with that you that it really worked for you at that point in your life and point in your business, and then maybe you diverged a little bit, then then you kind of each go off on your own path, or you you know, just different things happen or your business goes in different directions, and you kind of move apart. And then sometimes you come back together, you know, sometimes a couple of years will pass and you'll connect again over something. And then you're kind of back back in it. And you know, talking about like the competition or the you know, sometimes it's like, okay, our businesses are getting too close, we actually we actually really are kind of in the same market. And then, you know, let's you know, and then you just kind of naturally separate a little bit, do your own thing for a while. And so I think that's okay, too. And it doesn't have to be, I avoid drama at all costs. Probably to the point where I probably should have some conversations that I don't have, but like, it doesn't have to be drama. It just it's like, okay, these different people come in and out of your life at the right time. And some people stay longer and some people it's a shorter you know, injection into your, into your, into your life and into your business. And that's okay, too. What about you? Have you ever had to fire someone?

Emily Thompson: 49:16

Never had to fire someone. There. I can. I can think of one actually one of my very first sort of business besties, which I guess was just cutting my teeth. Yeah, as it were. We we talked pretty consistently for probably about a year and a half. And then we went to a conference together for the first time. And so we were meeting in person for the first time together. And we shared a room together and we didn't really talk much after that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. I'll just leave it it was fine. It was not dramatic, but I just learned some things that didn't really sit well with me. Right. Um, that did not equate into a continued relationship. But there have been plenty that have abdun flowed in and out. Sure, sure. And it's like it's never weird each and every one of them I could email to this day and be like, Hey, what are you up to? You want to chat? Or like I'm gonna do this thing can you want to help me help me do this thing or whatever it may be. That is the thing about you just set it like choosing a human being that you want to hang out with. And I will say do those natural ebbs and flows. Whenever you are sharing about your business and in some cases, your life very much, especially in our realms of the kinds of business people that we are people can sense when things are no longer of value to them or not, and you need to be able to recognize that for yourself as well. This idea of understanding When something is still useful for you, and if it's still useful to the other person, also trying to maintain your usefulness. It's always really hard being in a business bestie relationship with someone who's just like, always has all the problems themselves, and they're not really there to reciprocate. It being very mindful of that stuff is important. But otherwise, No, I've never had to fire anyone. Yeah, we just ebb and flow just as well. Exactly. All right, do you have any tips for finding a business bestie specifically looking for that person?

Megan Flatt: 51:21

I think, you know, we touched on it a little bit, we touched on it a little bit, that I do think that, you know, if you're at an event, or you're part of a program, I think that that is a great place, because it's, again, it's kind of a captive audience, you know, that they, you have decided to join this program, because you have a certain set of goals and values, and that person has decided to join the same program. So they probably have similar goals and values. So I think that's a really great place for kind of finding kind of a commonality. I've actually, you know, and then I, when I think I'm kind of thinking through, okay, where did I meet all of my kind of business friends. So I think there is that then that peripheral connection, one of my very good business friends I met because she was friends with another one of my business friends. And then, and it was actually, I was looking for a guest expert for my program. And my friend was like, Oh, you need to talk to my friend Jules. And so I reached out to her to see if she would be a guest expert in my program, and then we became really good friends from there. So I think just, you know, the same way you would, you know, word of mouth referrals. Like, I think it sounds so silly, that we're talking about friendships, but I really think like, if, if there's something that you like about someone, probably someone else that they like, you know, is going to be a good match for you. So I think, and then I think you can, you can, from there, I think you can find people in on social media and free communities, maybe in a local like, again, like I made really good friends at my co working space, or if your community has some type of, you know, chamber meetup or business meetup or something like that, you know, those are probably other opportunities, too.

Emily Thompson: 53:06

I agree. And then I think beyond those things, it's just making the time. So it's showing up in all the places and being open to it, but then to making the time to nurture those relationships. You know, you and I are making time for each other every single month to get together and have conversations. And my mastermind group that I do we meet every other week, so for an hour and 15 minutes every other week, we're getting together to have these conversations, and we're not like checking email while we're talking. We're not like doing we're like chatting, we're doing the thing. We're focused on each other. So it's making that time and showing up. I think being very vulnerable, like these conversations would not be very valuable for us if we were like holding back and not wanting to share things or sort of glossing over what our struggles are, right?

Megan Flatt: 54:00

I think that commitment on both both the time commitment, and the kind of emotional commitment is really important, because I've definitely had weeks, I mean, I would be lying, if I didn't have weeks that were I was feeling really busy or feeling like there was a lot going on. And like you kind of were looking at your call your schedule for the week. And you know, there's that moment where it's like, oh, maybe I should see if Emily can reschedule or maybe I should, you know, and of course, you know, things come up. And we can do that. But like, there's definitely been moments of like, I'm too busy to do that. And but then I say now like, what you're going to get out of it is always more beneficial than whatever the task you would have done. You know. So I think that that's a really important thing. I think that we sometimes it's kind of putting putting ourselves to the bottom of the list when we cancel those calls or reschedule those calls. Because what you're saying is like, whatever this other thing is more important than this, like, personal development piece. So really committing to those as been really important.

Emily Thompson: 55:01

Absolutely, yes. And I'll say too, even to add a little layer to this, a lot of a lot of the bosses in our community are here at all, anyone in every actually every business owner I've ever met. Yeah, they're always saying I have such a hard time finding time to work. In my business on my business. I can never remember which is which like doing the stuff that you want to do on your business. It's on are in it. You guys know what I mean? Yeah, if there's nothing else that I'm doing every week, every other week, at least once a month is getting on my calls with my business besties and if I can do no other working in ORS on my business, I can't remember which then that is happening. Yeah, because that is going to be moving my business forward one way or the other, if it if nothing else is just moving my mindset forward, it's helping me sort of expand my own perception or celebrate my own wins, or actually finally let go and get some advice on my struggles, whatever it may be, I may not have time to implement new systems, I may not have time to, you know, finally hire that person, I may not have time to, like, do some of those things. But I am showing up for those business bestie conversations that will in some way help propel me forward for sure. So,

Megan Flatt: 56:17

you know, most of us, most of us that are that are running our businesses, and they're listening this podcast, we are wearing a million different hats. And so we are the marketing director and the sales team and the janitor and all of the, you know, we're all of the things, but it is imperative to business growth that you make time to wear that CEO hat. And it is, and I think we often I was just talking with a client about this this morning, because for her, she does her best thinking when she's out on a hike. But that feels very frivolous to her. And like, Oh, I shouldn't be on a hike. But like you whatever it is for you, you have to it is the most important thing you can do for your business, is to make sure you have CEO time built into your schedule. And I look at the time that you and I spend on the phone, that's my CEO time. And, you know, if I'm going to if I'm going to cancel CEO time, so that I can do janitorial work, then like, that's not moving, that's not gonna move your business forward.

Emily Thompson: 57:21

That is a wonderful analogy for that. 100%. So yes, I love that. I'm glad we have this conversation. I'm hoping what everyone listening is is able to take from it is how important these are. I mean, Kathleen, and I have been in this space trying to sort of share this with everyone, for years. But even as I continue moving forward in my business, or the crazy time that we just found ourselves in, I could not have made it through any of that if it weren't for the relationships that I have with other business owners who can, you know, commiserate with, sort of hang with share insight and tips and advice in that article they read that really helped them understand the pbb effort, maybe percent. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Right. Oh, my God, I'm so glad you came to have this conversation with me, it is such a pleasure to bring you into the being boss fold to introduce everyone to you. And to share with them what it looks like do an in this case, an interesting thing about this is they've been seen Kathleen and I in our business bestie relationship as business partners. You are just a business but you're my virtual business partner, right? You're someone that I just get to talk business with in a very sort of an untethered kind of way. And that's very refreshing as well.

Megan Flatt: 58:44

Absolutely. No, thank you so much for having me. This is great. And I think it is a really, really important part of running your business. So value those relationships.

Emily Thompson: 58:54

All right, well, you tell everyone where they can find out more about you and the work you do.

Megan Flatt: 58:59

Yes, well, we are in the middle of the rebrand. So the new website is let's collective CO and I'm not even sure if you can find me at Meghan at let's collective co but I'm gonna assume you can. And if you can't find me there try Meghan at Meghan flat, calm. But I am so excited to connect with all of you further.

Emily Thompson: 59:20

Is that the first time you've said your URL out loud? I think so. Yeah, I think so. I love it. What a treat. Alright, my last question for you is what makes you feel most boss?

Megan Flatt: 59:31

This is such a good question. I was thinking about this earlier. And I think I already said it. But I really for me. It's all everything we've talked about today. And it's about building these relationships. So when I see my clients have big aha has, that's such a boss moment for me. And I recently had a client say to thank me for change, like how did she phrase it, but it was like, helping her have an entrepreneurial brain. Or she said, like, I feel like I have an entrepreneurial brain and I just would like that's it for me. If I can help someone feel like they have mastered part of entrepreneurship. That's it for me. That's when I feel like a boss.

Emily Thompson: 1:00:15

Yeah, that feels like a win for sure. All right. Thank you so much for coming to hang out with me. And I guess I'll see you next Wednesday for our business. bestie chat. Yeah, I can't wait. Thanks for having me. It was great. Thanks for listening. And hey, if you want more resources, we're talking worksheets, free trainings in person meetups and vacations and more. Go to our website at www dot beam boss dot club. Do the work. Boss