Laurent Collective Podcast

We're ending our rest season with one last replay of a popular episode. In this episode we chat about how to say that difficult word “no.”Saying no to new opportunities is so hard because we want to be helpful and to help others. However, we can't say yes to everything. Saying yes to it all leaves us exhausted and unable to help in a positive way.So how do you determine what opportunities to say no to and how do you say no in a kind way? We discuss this by taking you through some questions to ask of each opportunity and some kind ways to say no.

We're revisiting past podcasts as we take a rest break. We have so many questions about living in the UK in this episode we touch on what we've learned from living here. We've lived in the United Kingdom for six years and have experienced and learned so much from the culture here. There are things we have ingrained into our lives now or are at least working on making them part of our lives. We talk about how time is different here, the importance of holiday time, an appreciation for food and travel accessibility. 

We are revisiting some of our most popular past podcasts and this business podcast on figuring out what to focus on in your business has been a favorite. These past two years have provided small businesses with ups and downs that have not followed normal trends. When you look back on your numbers to make informed decisions for the future, it's hard to know what to focus on in the year ahead. There is one thing that will help bring in some focus for you even if the data isn't helping you. It's understanding why you are in business. This will help direct you as you make decisions going forward. We chat about how this has looked in our business and how you can take decisions back to this why and purpose.

We're revising a past podcast on how we get our kids to help around the house. We've had so many questions on this topic and thought it'd a great episode to come back to again.It can be difficult to get your kids to be on board with helping around the house. You want to help them understand responsibilities but it just seems too hard to get anyone to do anything.We've had some years under our belt and have found a solution that has really worked in our family. The kids understand their responsibilities and we work together as a family team to keep the house functioning. In this episode, we share these ideas and how you could take them into your family.

We revisit this episode of how we got rid of almost everything we owned when we moved to the UK from the states. In 2016, we moved from the states to London and had to go through every single item in our house. It was hard to look at every item in our house in a new way and make decisions on what to keep and what to sell or give away.In this episode, we share our experience to help you, whether you're just trying to declutter your home or whether you're moving houses. We take you through a set of questions to ask about each item and share how freeing the process can be for you.

We revisit one of our most popular podcast episodes about fostering creativity in your kids.Does it feel like you are battling technology in your house and you'd just love to see your kids do something creative?We talk with our eleven-year-old son about what he likes about being creative. He shares the types of things we have in our house that he uses to be creative (clue: it's nothing fancy). We also have a little chat about why we turn off the technology as parents to enable creativity to begin.

We all need seasons of rest in our life and in our businesses. As we prepare to enter a season of rest, we thought we'd share why we make space for a more restful season. It's about being intentional as you look ahead and realizing the areas you may need to pause for a season. A season of rest prepares you for new areas to step into and to come back to your business and life with renewed energy.

It's important to teach your children about how to manage finances as it's part of everyday life once they enter into the adult world. But how to teach them at the different stages of childhood can be confusing. We discuss a method we use to “pay” our children for work they do in the house. It's a method of paying them their age in money but then putting percentages into savings and other areas to help them understand some simple finance concepts. We hope this inspires you to not shy away from talking about money with your children and instead be an active teacher to prepare them for the future.

Inspired by Katherine May's book “Enchantment,” we explore how stepping out of your past and into the present of creativity is beautiful. It's an act of trust, uncertainty and stretching yourself.We chat about how we've had to let go of some of our past creations and step into the scary part of creating again. It's worth every step into creating as the best part of the uncertain act of making is what you learn in the process.

Walking the United Kingdom is part of life here. Walking is important to people whether you live in a city and walking is your main means to get places, or whether you live in the suburbs or countryside, and walking is for pleasure. We found the idea of walking to be much different when we lived in the states than it is here in the UK. There are systems that make walking in the UK much easier too, including public pathways.In this episode we chat about the great British walk and how it's ingrained into the culture.

Family traditions provide something for everyone to look forward to but also serve as a time for bonding. Traditions don't have to be too complicated or be to a large scale, instead they can be simple and still be meaningful. We share some of our family's traditions and how these simple moments have become moments the whole family looks forward to having together. Family traditions provide a unique opportunity to create lasting memories and strengthen family bonds.

Perfectionism is a struggle many creatives feel on a regular basis. If you can embrace imperfection in your creativity, it can break you through feeling stuck or getting caught up in a perfection loop. There are three questions you can ask to help you step out of perfection:- When do you find yourself getting caught up in perfection?- What are some practical ideas to help you step past perfection?- When you think about failing, how does it make you feel? How can you put a positive spin on failing?By recognizing the problem with perfectionism, embracing creativity, embracing imperfection, and putting it into practice, you can break free from the limitations of perfectionism.

Setting boundaries is essential for your well-being and relationships, but it can be hard to establish and maintain healthy boundaries.First you have to define what boundaries you want to put in place and then figure out how to implement them. Often boundaries need to be set in the areas of our life that are causing stress.We chat a bit about how to communicate your boundaries, how setting boundaries can be an example to others, and how to pay attention to changing boundaries in different life seasons.By understanding what boundaries are, setting clear and effective boundaries, and maintaining them the best you can, you can improve your overall well-being.

As a business owner, you'll inevitably face tough situations and seasons that can be difficult to navigate. In this episode, we'll discuss strategies for overcoming challenges and thriving in the face of adversity.It's so important to identify challenges and to acknowledge them. We share how we're navigating some challenges and financial dips in our business and how we're implementing changes. Running a business is never easy, but challenges and tough times are a normal part of the journey. By identifying challenges, creating a plan of action, and testing new things out, you can navigate these challenges and emerge wiser, and hopefully have a stronger business.

Traveling with children is just different and it's important to manage expectations. In this episode, we'll discuss the importance of setting realistic expectations when traveling with kids. There are some challenges when traveling with children but that doesn't mean you can't have fun and really enjoy exploring as a family. Traveling with kids can be a rewarding and memorable experience. By setting realistic expectations, you can enjoy your holiday in new ways with kids part of the picture.

What do you do when you feel like your creativity has run dry? We chat about the importance of building creative stamina and how it can help fuel your creativity over the long term. We discuss how creative stamina can help you stay motivated and inspired, even when facing creative blocks or setbacks.We got through a set of questions to ask yourself when you feel like your creative stamina is running out. These questions involve how you feel rested, how to build rest into your routine and how to explore other creative outlets. This episode will be helpful for anyone wanting to look to sustain their creative energy.

In this episode, we delve into the topic of making mistakes in parenting (because it will happen all too often.) We discuss the importance of acknowledging our mistakes as parents and making amends with our children when we fall short of our expectations.We share how we've navigated imperfect parenting from toddlers to teens. We've found it important to be open with our children when we've messed up and it helps them be open to us when they have made mistakes. It's all about communication and openness as we prep our children to launch into the world.

AI seems to be everywhere right now and you might be wondering how you can start to use it in your small business. We've been testing out some different uses for AI to help increase efficiency, productivity, and profitability.In this episode, we chat about how we've tried out AI for SEO, Pinterest, creative ideas and for social media. We had some positive test results that made us think about how we'll continue to use AI. We hope this equips your small business to try some AI tools out for yourself and see what works for your brand and business.

Do you have an area of your life that you never had the closure you hoped for? It's so hard to know how to navigate life without having the closure we desire. We discuss the benefits of forgiveness and how it can help individuals find closure and move forward. We also chat about some ways we found helpful even if we aren't able to directly communicate our need for closure. This is a lifelong journey as we all will run up against relationships and we felt it was important to begin to chat about unfinished business and how it can affect our lives and relationships moving forward.

Becoming a new parent is challenging, beautiful and confusing all mixed up together. When we became new parents we learned some things quickly that we wished someone had told us before bringing our baby home. Each family and each baby is different, but we're sharing what worked well for our family. In the podcast we chat about the five things we wish we knew as new parents. The five things we wish we knew as new parents are:1. You'll have little sleep but somehow you figure it out.2. A schedule for the baby makes a world of difference.3. It's okay to ask for help.4. Everyone's child is different.5. You don't need all the gadgets. These will make more sense as we explain them in the podcast. We hope they are helpful things to hear as you step into new parenting. You're doing a great job...you have entered into the beautifully challenging and rewarding world of parenting. --------We'd love to hear your thoughts and questions over @laurentcollective on Instagram. You can find past podcast episodes and resources at laurentcollectivelearning.com and shop our products at laurentcollective.comIf you enjoyed this podcast please click the subscribe button so you don't miss future episodes. We'd love for you to leave a review too if your podcast app allows. We appreciate it!

Do you get creative ideas in weird places? Maybe you think of ideas in the shower, when you're on a walk, in a dream or when you're working out. It's likely that many of those times you want to remember that creative idea.How do we remember these ideas to be able to come back to them later for inspiration? Whether it's a notebook, emailing yourself or recording a voice note, there are ways to capture the idea. We chat about how to document creative ideas and how to pull them together for when you're in need of some extra creativity. --------We'd love to hear your thoughts and questions over @laurentcollective on Instagram. You can find past podcast episodes and resources at laurentcollectivelearning.com and shop our products at laurentcollective.comIf you enjoyed this podcast please click the subscribe button so you don't miss future episodes. We'd love for you to leave a review too if your podcast app allows. We appreciate it!

Each day we get to wake up and start the new day with an intention, a reason for us to begin and get out of bed. What is that reason for you? Whether it's directly related to your work or something to do with your family, it's a bit of a motivating factor to put our feet to the ground, even on the hard days. It could be as simple as knowing you get to enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning. It's the idea to give yourself something to wake you up and look forward to, even if it's simple. --------We'd love to hear your thoughts and questions over @laurentcollective on Instagram. You can find past podcast episodes and resources at laurentcollectivelearning.com and shop our products at laurentcollective.comIf you enjoyed this podcast please click the subscribe button so you don't miss future episodes. We'd love for you to leave a review too if your podcast app allows. We appreciate it!

We started the podcast because it was something we loved and wanted to try. It didn't have a really strong goal driving the creation of the podcast, but it was a love of creating and trying something new. What does it look like for you to do something because you love it?--------We'd love to hear your thoughts and questions over @laurentcollective on Instagram. You can find past podcast episodes and resources at laurentcollectivelearning.com and shop our products at laurentcollective.comIf you enjoyed this podcast please click the subscribe button so you don't miss future episodes. We'd love for you to leave a review too if your podcast app allows. We appreciate it!

Renting in a big city like London can be a really different process than renting elsewhere. We've lived in three different homes since moving here over six years ago and we've learned a lot about the rental process.We share our experiences and things that would have been helpful for us to know before renting in the UK. If you're moving to the UK and want some UK rental tips, we hope you find the podcast useful. --------We'd love to hear your thoughts and questions over @laurentcollective on Instagram. You can find past podcast episodes and resources at laurentcollectivelearning.com and shop our products at laurentcollective.comIf you enjoyed this podcast please click the subscribe button so you don't miss future episodes. We'd love for you to leave a review too if your podcast app allows. We appreciate it!

What does it look like to show our kids how be healthy in work and life? It's not about balance, because it can never be perfectly balanced. However, we can show them how to be healthy in how much we work and how much we take on in our lives. Modeling health is not about being perfect, instead it's about showing your kids what works for you and what doesn't. It's about an open conversation and finding others who model it too.

As an artist and creative, there is nothing more frustrating than finding out that someone has ripped off your artwork. So how do you handle it when you find someone using your art?We've had this happen to us many times in different forms. We share about how best to handle the situation and point you in the direction of some helpful resources. Art Money Success by Maria Brophy - https://mariabrophy.com/book

It's hard to not want more of certain things in life like more to your home, more clothes, or more idyllic holidays. But what does this wanting of more do to our thinking? We chat about what we have found to be true when we find ourselves focusing on wanting more versus being grateful for what we currently have. It's not about cutting out dreams, it's more about not giving into the idea that more always equals happiness.

We decided as a couple early in our relationship to not celebrate Valentine's Day. It might seem strange to some why we wouldn't celebrate a holiday set aside for love when we're a couple who have been together for a long time. So why don't we celebrate this holiday? We go into this in our podcast and why we've made the decision. We also talk about the importance of couples talking about holidays, like Valentine's Day, to understand expectations and take off the pressure surrounding certain holidays.

Different seasons of life call for different types of learning curves. But do we ever come to a place when we should stop learning or slow it down?We talk about what this is looking like for us as we are in our "middle aged" years. Is it important to continue to push ourselves in learning new things? We're finding the answer is yes. We'll chat about why our answer is yes to learning and examples of what we're pushing ourselves into right now.

Being aware of the finances in your business is so important. It can feel overwhelming of how to step into understanding finances when you start your business, but it is worth the time.We cover some financial questions to ask yourself as you start the year in your business. This is just the beginning of financial awareness in your business to build onto with more detail.  Financial Awareness PDF

The idea of trusting your gut is either something you understand or something that seems strange to you. Many of us have been told it's just us overthinking things when we have a strong gut feeling. So how do we know when to trust our gut? We share a story that has gone on for years and how we're learning from it. We give some examples of ways we've trusted our gut feelings both in our personal lives and business.

We often think big changes are the only way to have a big impact in our lives or our businesses. But really, it's the simple small changes that lead to the big impact. We talk through a simple change we made in the last few weeks that has had a bigger impact than we imagined. It's an example of how simple and small changes can often do more than we expect.

It's the new year which means we're bombarded with messages telling us what we need to change in our lives. We're told to change it all as the new year begins.What if we approached the new year in a different way and didn't give into all that pressure? We could ignore what the advertisements are telling us and instead decide what we'd like to be part of our lives. We chat about our approach to this new year and how to take pressure off new year's resolutions.

British Christmas desserts seem to have one thing in common - dried fruit. So what do we as Americans think of the dried fruit combo in these holiday desserts?We give some of the common UK Christmas desserts a try from Christmas pudding to minced pies and we give our honest opinion. (Spoiler alert: we may not be fans of some of the options).

Do you have a product or service you sell that has been successful in the past? Have you started to think you may need to adjust it? It's slightly scary to adjust a product that has been selling well but it's important to review it each year or season to see if it is still working for your business and for you. We chat about some ways to look at your successful products and how to make decisions on how you might rethink them.

Making a decision can be hard if you're feeling a bit exhausted or busy. To make a clear decision, it's important to take some time to rest to look at things with a new view.We chat about how we approach making decisions by taking time to rest. It's made us be able to approach decisions in a new way and to feel confident in our choices.

Celebrating Thanksgiving outside of the United States is strange, but also fun. People in the UK are fascinated by the American tradition and ask lots of questions, and want to experience it.We share how Thanksgiving has looked for us since moving to the United Kingdom. It's taken on all forms of a super full house to multiple Thanksgivings in a weekend. laurentcollectivelearning.com

We all have our unique interests, ways we like to express ourselves and things that make us light up. Sometimes we feel like we should hide these parts of ourselves.Our daughter had a recent experience that reminded us of the times we've hid parts of ourselves that make us unique. It was a learning lesson not only for her, but us as well.We share our thoughts after the experience and how being true to yourself inspires others.laurentcollectivelearning.com

Disney World is a super fun trip for families but it can also be overwhelming. Our family recently visited Disney World in Orlando and we had a blast but we also learned a lot. We bring our kids on for this episode to share everything from their favorite rides, experiences and tips for anyone planning a visit to Disney World. We also share a few tips on how to get reservations at the most popular restaurants. https://mousewatcher.com/laurentcollectivelearning.com

Holidays take on different forms in different cultures and Halloween is one we've noticed is celebrated differently in the United Kingdom than in the United States.Halloween tends to be more community minded and cute in the states versus a bit more dark and scary here in the UK. We share how we celebrated Halloween in the states and the other differences we've observed here in the UK with this holiday. laurentcollectivelearning.com

Social media was taking up a lot of our business time and we weren't seeing business growth as a result of our time commitment.So what are we focusing on instead of social media? We chat about the focus areas that are showing growth in our business. Some of those areas are longer term growth strategies but will help our business grow past the vanity metrics of social media.We give you some ideas of focus areas and how we're still engaging with social media but in a less time consuming way.laurentcollectivelearning.com

Resting is essential for our minds, our bodies and the growth of our businesses. So why do we feel guilty when we rest? Why can't we just enjoy the rest and the refreshment we feel afterwards?We talk about having a recent restful weekend and how the thoughts of guilt kept creeping in. We felt guilty for not doing more work or having plans. We felt guilty that we watched movies with our kids instead of doing more activities. Rest is needed and we have to step past that guilty feeling into knowing that we must rest for all the other areas of our lives to function well. laurentcollectivelearning.com

The month of October is a popular time for prompts of all kinds on social media. The prompts range from organizing your house to creative ideas for drawing each day.These prompts can be a great way to expand your creativity (or organize your house) but you'll want to figure out what your purpose is for participating. You don't want to feel too much pressure in participating but instead have it be beneficial.We chat about the types of challenges we've participated in and how it's been helpful to have the right approach to the month of prompts.laurentcollectivelearning.com

Celebrating the simple things in life with your kids is not only fun, but it creates family memories. You don't have to spend lots of money or go crazy for each marker moment, but simple celebrations can make a big impression. In this episode we talk about the ways we celebrate simple moments with our kids and also some ways we've celebrated the bigger moments.

You have probably seen all kinds of information and advertising about how to make money while you sleep. But is it true, can you really make money while you sleep?We talk about our definition of passive income versus what you may have been taught about it. Passive income can help you change your business and how you use your time, but it takes upfront work. Is passive income right for your business?

We both grew up in the states and experienced prom, the idea of a community cheering for high school sports and our senior year with graduation, open house and senior portraits. Our kids aren't growing up with these as the normal experience now and it's kind of strange for us.We talk about this in the podcast and how things that are part of the American culture of high school aren't parts of secondary school here in the UK. We don't think it's good or bad, but it's interesting to observe when you're in a different culture.

Trying new things in your business is scary. You have ideas and you want them to be successful, so putting those ideas into action can cause a lot of fear. We talk about how we've tried new things in our business throughout the years and how we've learned from when it's gone well and when it's not gone as we hoped. It's worth stepping past the fear to try new things in your business because you'll learn so much. Mentioned in Episode:Printful - https://www.printful.com/a/2651818:6f5d9fc38ca39ee7637fd4ba16acec9eFree Business Resources - https://laurentcollectivelearning.com/freebusinesstools/

London is a family friendly city to visit as there's so much to do for both kids and adults to enjoy. A bonus is that a majority of the museums are free! We bring our kids along for this episode to share the five things we love to do in London and a couple of tips that make the experiences fun for the whole family.

For fifteen years we've been reading books to our kids and we've compiled our top five books in this episode. All five books are ones not only our kids have loved, but we've also loved as adults. Whether the book has a message we think is important, the illustrations are beautiful or the story will make you laugh, we think you should have these five books in your house to read together.Episode Mentioned: How to Foster Reading with Your Kidshttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/how-to-foster-reading-with-your-kids/id1561946041?i=1000534674420Book Links: https://laurentcollectivelearning.com/childrensbookswelove/

In this episode of our five things summer series, we share the five ways we run our family. It's not perfect but doing these five things helps our family run a bit more smoothly.We share about our weekly family meeting, our weekly marriage check in, meal planning, keeping a dry erase board with our schedule and a chart for the kids' family tasks.Episodes Mentioned:How We Get The Kids to Help Around The House - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/how-we-get-the-kids-to-help-around-the-house/id1561946041?i=1000549034898Working Together as a Couple/Marriage Check In - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/working-together-as-a-couple/id1561946041?i=1000521430991

When you visit Britain there are some fun treats our family thinks your family will love. You may be able to find some of these in the international section of your grocery store in the states. Everything from biscuits to Cadbury fingers made the list that our kids think you should try. YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOVL1DCJXUFYzbga8P0APrw