Podcasts about how janine

Back in 2019, Shannon and Janine had a discussion of how to stop being taken off-course by bright shiny objects. The subject is as relevant as ever, so we thought we'd run it again in case you missed it the first time! Like the dog in the movie Up who shouts "Squirrel!", we can so easily get distracted by new and exciting things. This week Janine and Shannon discuss Bright Shiny Object Syndrome and some strategies for resisting it, as well as for harnessing it for good. Discussion topics include: • How easy it is to be pulled away by bright shiny objects (BSOs) • Shannon’s 90-day plans that help her resist the BSOs • The importance of having a system in place to take note of the BSOs so you can come back to them later • Using Bright Shiny Object Syndrome to your advantage • How Janine harnesses her penchant for BSOs by using Trello for task management • Building BSOs into your plan for your day • Identifying why you’re drawn to a particular BSO to help you modify your existing projects/systems to make them more attractive to you • How being kind to yourself fits into the picture Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links.

It can be hard to step out of your comfort zone, and sometimes perfectionism keeps us squarely in it. In this episode, Janine and Shannon discuss a project that has Janine stepping way out of her comfort zone and how she's trying hard to not let perfectionism get in the way. Discussion topics include: • How Janine is stepping out of her comfort zone with the publication and marketing of her new Orderly Roots genealogy guide • Shannon's attempts to help Janine reframe her thinking about sales • How perfectionism fits into Janine's discomfort • The difficulty in calling a writing project finished • The physiological effect of the stress of going out of your comfort zone • Figuring out what tasks merit spending more time • Shannon's introduction of a stressor Janine hadn't even thought of. (Thanks, Shannon.) • The podcast's upcoming third anniversary Janine's enjoyment of being new in a field and her transition into acknowledging herself as an expert • Shannon's insight that Janine's enjoyment of being new means she likes getting out of her comfort zone • The joy of having a challenge that you don't know you can achieve, something Shannon and Janine both love • How perfectionism can get in the way of rising to certain challenges • How Shannon went from being an adamant non-runner to finishing the Boston Marathon four years later • Shannon's husband Mike's rising to the challenge of knitting socks See the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links to Janine's new sales pages.

Back in January 2019, Janine and Shannon had a long conversation about decluttering our wardrobes, with lots of advice on the how's and why's of the process. We're re-running it this week, as we anticipate our next session of Declutter Happy Hour, coming again in the month of April. If you enjoy this episode, please consider joining us for four live-on-Zoom sessions of the April Declutter Happy Hour! (Register at http://bit.ly/declutterhh.) Most people we meet have more clothes than they wear. When closets are crammed with unworn and unloved clothes, getting dressed (and putting away laundry) is difficult. In this episode, Shannon and Janine talk about curating your closet so it's a pleasure to use and contains only clothes you love. This is a long episode--we just had so much to say! Discussion topics include: • How most people we meet have some sort of struggle with their clothes • The domino effect of a crowded closet • The benefits of having a one in/one out policy in your closet • The joy and convenience of an uncrowded closet • Project 333, the minimalist clothing challenge • How Janine really likes wearing the same thing all the time • How Shannon had a uniform that she didn't love--until she went to Stasia's Style School • Janine and Shannon’s recent (painless) closet clean outs • Organizing clothes by color • Folding shirts like Marie Kondo (which Janine has been doing for many years) • How frequent travel can help you pare down your wardrobe • Shannon’s patented DIY closet-clearing method • Why all this matters and how perfectionism plays a part Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for loads of links!

It is so easy to shop online. And that's not a problem, unless it is a problem. This week, Janine and Shannon discuss some ideas for pressing pause on the urge to shop. Discussion topics include: • The online shopping Shannon's been doing, thanks to targeted Instagram ads, and how she's stepping it back • Creating a pause to stop online impulse shopping • How Janine has bought very little in recent months, thanks to the 100-day dress challenge she's participating in • Easing the urge to shop by shopping in your closet (or elsewhere in your house) • The temptation of single-use gadgets • Looking at the deeper need you're trying to satisfy with purchases • Trying on the feeling you're trying to get by shopping without actually making the purchase • The secret weapon that stops us from needless shopping: You Need a Budget (YNAB) • How YNAB can help you save for something valuable and stop you from frittering away money on small purchases • Creating space to think clearly about what you're seeking, the problem you're trying to solve, what you're trying to feel and if there's some other way for you to accomplish it • Shannon's one-in-one-out policy with regard to her collection of graphic tees • How it's harder to get rid of something you already have than it is to choose to get something new • An important thing to remember: There's nothing wrong with shopping if shopping isn't a problem Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links

Making progress, any progress, on a project is so much better than being paralyzed by perfectionism. This week Shannon and Janine discuss the many ways that it can benefit you to let go of perfectionism and make imperfect progress on those things you want to get done. Discussion topics include: • How seeking perfectionism can be paralyzing • How Janine is experiencing this right now as she struggles to make progress on a slide deck for a presentation she is going to make • The benefit of creating an imperfect first draft so you can make it better (if you want) • Shannon's idea that Janine might create a powerpoint and give herself permission not to use it • How it's impossible to bring a creative project into the world in perfect form • Different kinds of progress, like getting started or coming up with a draft to improve upon • How several iterations are sometimes necessary in decluttering and organizing • How perfectionism can make it really hard to finish a project • Rewarding progress rather than waiting to reward until a project is completed • The way that rewards can help you keep going • How progress can be rewarding in and of itself • Taking a "progress not perfection" approach to doing taxes • Shannon's happy surprise while doing her mother's taxes • A diversion into a discussion of shoveling snow

We all need a little ease, right? (In fact, "ease" is Janine's word of the year for 2021!) This week, Shannon and Janine discuss how daily effort makes creating ease all the easier. Discussion topics include: • Janine's revelation during her daily yoga practice about how doing it daily has made it so much easier • How daily action makes so many things easier, like keeping your desk clear • How Janine's financial life has been made infinitely better through daily interaction with You Need a Budget (YNAB) • The miracle of Janine being caught up in Quickbooks for her business, thanks to her linking doing data entry in Quickbooks with YNAB • How perfectionism can get in the way of creating a daily practice (and how rewarding it is to work through the perfectionism) • Another daily practice that's making Janine's life easier: The 100-day dress challenge (she's on Day 63 of wearing the same dress every day) • The physical benefits that Shannon has experienced from 30 straight days of yoga + the benefits of having a yoga buddy at home • Janine's concern about being overwhelmed by her many daily tasks • How Shannon has been able to learn Portuguese just by doing Duolingo three minutes a day • Some advice on dealing with an email backlog on a daily basis • A simple shift that has allowed Janine to drink more water and take her supplements every morning without fail Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for loads of links!

Hey friends! It’s no secret that grief is hard. It comes with so many unexpected feelings and emotions.    My guest in this episode, Janine Kwoh, the owner and artist behind Kwohtations is no stranger to grief.  Her own loss is what inspired her to create a product line to comfort people dealing with the pain of losing a loved one.   In this episode, we chat about her business and how she took it from a hobby to side hustle to her full-time gig. She also shares her experiences running her business as a one-woman show.   Janine and I chat about her process (she actually letterpress prints each card on an antique printing press and hand paints them all). She even shares her advice for other entrepreneurs and how lack of knowledge can sometimes be a benefit as a business owner!    ON TODAY’S EPISODE:   What her mission means to her and how it came about How Janine uses her life experiences as the anchor for her products The response she’s gotten from her product line What identity means to her Her transitions from hobby to side hustle to full time in her business Why you have to work on your mindset constantly as a business owner Her production process for her products Janine’s long term vision for her business What types of products Janine creates Her advice for people who are building their businesses How not knowing how to do things can benefit you as an entrepreneur Janine’s self-help book that she’s working on  For Full Show Notes and Resources, head to bit.ly/PTPEp188 SLOW STEADY GROWTH ARE HOW STRONG BUSINESSES ARE BUILT Building a business is a long game, won with patience, fortitude, intentional decisions and passion.​ Inside Proof to Product LABS, you’ll receive the support, education and accountability to move your business towards your goals.   ​Join Proof to Product Labs, our 12-month group coaching program built specifically for product based business owners. SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app.  WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list.   SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know!  ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, Proof to Product has worked with thousands of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

I'm bringing on a series of women who've worked with me through my Weight Loss From Within program. I get excited when I get to do this, because it's an opportunity for them to celebrate their journey. My work has nothing to do with me; it's all about the women I'm here to serve. I believe in the power of storytelling, and I believe that each of these women will say something that you'll hear and resonate with in your own life. To that end, this week I talk with Janine about her self-transformation as she journeyed through the program. 2:33 - How Janine felt about herself and her body when we first met 9:41 - Our behaviors mirror back to us what is and isn't okay with us within 18:08 - What it looks like for Janine to be in partnership with her body 26:18 - How Janine created her alter ego and what it's changed for her 33:32 - Janine feeling a whole other level of worth since beginning the program 40:52 - Being responsible for your choices without self-sabotage or guilty feelings 44:18 - So many women don't trust themselves but choice is the ultimate freedom Listen to Episode 34: How to Create Your Alter Ego and Become the Woman You've Dreamed About Follow Lisa's journey on Instagram Learn how to see yourself through an entirely new perspective... more admiration, more confidence, and more self-love. The Weightloss from Within waitlist is open now. Make sure you're on the list to join me on this six-week journey.

Since our work and social lives have been curtailed by the pandemic, it seems like it should be easy to get dressed. Not so much. In this episode, Janine and Shannon discuss their challenges around clothing during this special time. Spoiler alert: There's lots of laughter in this one. Discussion topics include: • How much we're enjoying pandemic-friendly comfy clothes • The paradox that it's difficult to get dressed even though we're going nowhere • Shannon's pull between wanting to be comfortable and wanting to look professional • How Janine's standards in clothing seem to have plummeted • How Janine's problem isn't wearing the same thing every day, it's that what she has to choose from isn't very attractive and the pandemic prevents her from shopping • Shannon's "house fleece" • The cowl that Janine knit specifically to wear with her bathrobe • Shannon's layering tips for warmth • The Wool& 100-day dress challenge • Project 333 • How perfectionism is part of this problem • Shannon's desire to dress more professionally when she's working, even though she's on Zoom • Getting in touch with what's important to you right now to get past the perfectionism around this issue • Cutting ourselves slack • The decision fatigue caused by the pandemic • How a little bit of action now can help us feel better about what we're wearing and make it easier to get dressed in the morning Note from Janine: I bought the Wool& Rowena dress and have taken on the 100-day challenge. It is fantastically freeing and I'm feeling comfortable and cute every day! Shannon ordered the dress, but unfortunately the wool was too itchy for her sensitive skin. Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links (and a picture of Janine in her dress)

It can be uncomfortable to try new things if perfectionism makes you worry about getting them right. In this episode, Shannon and Janine discuss a recent class they took together and how it provided a great lesson in letting go of perfectionism. Discussion topics include: • The class on flowcharting that Shannon and Janine took together •How perfectionism came up during this class for Janine but not Shannon • How letting go of perfectionism allowed Janine to get a lot out of the class • Applying flow charting to Shannon’s question, “Is is time to meditate?" • The question Janine flow charted, “How can I design my schedule to write more?" • How Janine was glad she let go of her discomfort over not knowing what to expect and signed up for the class • “Everything you want is on the other side of fear." • How the technique of flow charting can help you let go of a concern about getting things right • The imperfections inherent in flow charting • The benefit of these reminders about the value of embracing good enough • How handmade things are enhanced by their imperfections Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links and for photos of our flow charts!

This week, we're re-running Episode 7, from way back in July 2018. It presents a core message of our podcast that we thought was worth another listen. Enjoy! It's hard to know how to stop at good enough if you haven't identified what good enough means to you. Shannon and Janine discuss why it's important to understand your own standards of good enough--and how those standards are very personal. Discussion topics include: • How standards can vary depending on the importance of what you’re working on • How living with teenagers has caused Shannon to embrace a different standard of good enough in terms of housekeeping (spoiler alert: the word “botulism” is part of her standard) • The challenge of living with people whose standards of clutter are different than yours • Shannon’s technique for avoiding over-researching purchases • How Janine straddles the divide between the future and the ancient ways

The prospect of changing a habit can feel difficult--but it doesn't have to be. The pandemic has given most of us a crash course in habit changing! In this episode, Shannon and Janine discuss some of the habits we've changed recently, along with some ways to make habit changing easier. Discussion topics include: • How under the right circumstances, habit change can be easy • Some of the many habits the pandemic has required us to create • How the pandemic has changed the way we feed ourselves (and our families) • Shannon’s strategy for creating a meal-planning habit • How Janine’s using her Trello daily task management board to re-create a habit of taking her supplements twice daily • The difficulty in remembering whether you’ve done certain daily tasks (and some solutions for that) • How the pandemic revealed our capacity to change • How these new habits are probably here to stay (and that’s probably for the better) • The importance of time of day for certain habits — it can be worthwhile to play with that • The value of attaching a habit to an existing one

The notion of choosing imperfection (rather than striving for perfection) is counter-intuitive to folks with perfectionistic tendencies. But it can be a helpful way to approach things. In this episode Janine and Shannon discuss the benefits of choosing imperfection and the joys of welcoming imperfection into our lives. Discussion topics include: • How Janine chose imperfection when she made a flyer recently • The lasting impact of the confetti reward in our Trello task management boards • How choosing imperfection allowed Shannon to start communicating regularly with her email list subscribers • How Janine has chosen imperfection in her monthly newsletter for more than a dozen years with no ill effects • The fact that inaction, as well as imperfection, can sometimes be a choice • How Shannon is choosing inaction (as well as imperfection) when it comes to her creaky old website • How this topic relates to Janine’s childhood garage burning down • Requiring imperfection in our upcoming Zoom presentation, “The Power of Enough" • The joy of welcoming imperfection into our lives • Choosing imperfection in Shannon’s Vote Forward letters • The value of choosing imperfection before starting a project rather than settling for it at the end of a project Go to the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links.

Shannon and Janine both embrace being authentic. But we understand that if you have a tendency toward perfectionism that it can be hard not to strive to appear perfect. In this episode, we discuss the value of authenticity and how it can make your life easier. Discussion topics include: • How perfectionism can make it harder to show up authentically and be your true self in public • How sharing your own imperfections can help you help others. • Shannon and Janine’s “warts and all” approach to presenting themselves • How this podcast helps us be authentic • The value of being approachable and human • How Janine came terms with being authentic about being messy as a professional organizer • The imperfection that is baked into our podcast • How being authentic is much less stressful! • The self recrimination behind not living up to a persona that you created • Saying what you think even if you think the other person won’t want to hear it • Making (sometimes false) assumptions about what people are asking • Shannon’s trick: She assumes that anyone who asks her something is thinking, “Doesn’t hurt to ask" • The freedom of not caring how you’re perceived as long as you’re being authentic • Shannon’s approach to authenticity when she was dating

Today we’re chatting with a very successful freelance writer, Janine Kelbach.   Janine is a wife, mom of two boys (and two Great Danes!), and author of the book, Entreprenurse: 30+ Nurses Turn Into Business Owners and Share Their Secrets to Success.   She has been a freelance health content writer since 2013 and is the CEO of Write RN. Janine also hosts The Savvy Scribe Podcast – a podcast for healthcare professionals who want to build a profitable writing business. Lastly, her team of RN (registered nurse) writers help healthcare companies with their content and social media needs.   Fun fact: Janine’s an identical twin!   Why should YOU tune-in? Janine’s first paid online gig was just $5(!), but that’s all it took for her to realize the massive opportunity that the online world has to offer. This entrepreNURSE has impacted the lives of so many people – in so many different ways! Find out how she’s built massive success and why she continues to serve as a nurse.   What we’re talking about: COVID, mental health and business Why owning your own online business is less risky than employment Success during a pandemic Making your first buck online Setting goals and rates Getting paid more to write about your career than the career itself Doing work you actually enjoy Chasing down a payment Overwhelm and how to handle it Building flexibility into work-life balance Why we do what we do   Links mentioned in this episode: Janine's website LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube Pinterest 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success (Course) Growth lab courses + mini-courses Janine's podcast   Minute-by-minute breakdown: 1:13 – How would you describe what you do to friends and family? 2:20 – Janine is in all of the things most of the time. 11:46 – Starting a business, babies, puppies and the night shift. 14:23 – 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success and making real money online. 15:30 – Finding the gap 16:17 – Rates and making more than $5 a pop 18:40 – Why are you hanging onto your part-time job? 23:49 – The darker side of entrepreneurship… Thoughts of giving up 24:12 – Chasing down a payment 28:09 – Usually all you need is a little bit of time 31:42 – Proud moments in business 34:08 – What are you most excited about for the future of your business? 35:55 – How Janine lands clients 41:14 – Janine's one piece of advice

Shannon and Janine recorded this episode after experiencing some pretty significant unanticipated events on our September trips. Shannon's eastern Oregon RV trip was disrupted by heavy smoke from the wildfires and Janine, whose stay in Walla Walla was also affected by the smoke, had to grapple with her computer becoming inoperable during her big driving trip. This week we discuss how our careful preparation--and knowing what's important to us--allowed us to adapt with ease when faced with the unexpected. Discussion topics include: • The high levels of wildfire-related smoke that Shannon and Janine were experiencing at the time we recorded this episode • How Shannon’s trip to eastern Oregon was affected by the smoke and the ways she and her husband adapted their itinerary to accommodate it • The considerations they made to allow them to have a successful trip despite the disruptions • Once again, the importance of knowing what is important to you • Janine’s computer malfunction that threw her for a big loop • The 90th birthday video gift for her father that was imperiled by her computer meltdown • How Janine had to embrace good enough to be able to present her gift to her father (it turned out to be a wild success!) • The hand-made thank-you note Shannon left for park rangers to thank them for the cleanliness of the pit toilets • The silver linings of the adaptations Janine’s decision not to visit Mount Rushmore, despite spending the night in Rapid City Note: We delayed publishing this episode by a week because the Get Out the Vote episode felt more urgent. So Episode 123 was actually recorded before Episode 122. Go to www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links.

Shannon and Janine are both taking road trips the first week in September that require a good deal of preparation. This week we discuss how we've been trying to be plan productively without letting perfectionism hold us up. Discussion topics include:  * The paradox of 2020: How can it only be September and also how is it September already? * How we're trying not to let perfectionism get in the of planning our upcoming trips * Shannon's trip next week from Portland to eastern Oregon towing an RV behind her SUV * Janine's upcoming 29-hour drive from St. Louis to eastern Washington for her father's 90th birthday * How Janine is using Trello to help her plan what to pack for her journey * How taking away the unknowns and breaking down the trip into days helped Janine get her arms around the long trip * How it's so easy to spin your wheels while trying to prepare when there's uncertainty involved * Shannon's Post-it note trip planning method * Planning routes based on elevation (so smart!) * Covering contingencies with a paper road map! * The difference between worrying about things you can't control and thinking about those things you can control * How one's perception of a situation can influence its reality Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links.

Sometimes perfectionism can hide from view so we don't even realize it's happening. In this episode, Janine and Shannon discuss that sneaky perfectionism, how it can show up and how "good enough" can be helpful. Discussion topics include: • Shannon’s flying her “recovering perfectionist” flag high in this episode! • She discovered in a coaching session that perfectionism was lurking sneakily behind a reluctance to do something • How something can feel perfect in your head before you start taking action but becomes imperfect when you start taking action, which can stop you from taking action • The clue that perfectionism is at play: thinking you should (or even could) do something in a particular way • How should can come up around the finished product, not necessarily around how to go about doing something • The value of realizing that what you are already doing is good enough. • The provocative question Shannon asked on Facebook: “If you knew you were going to be successful, what would you try?”  • How Janine’s lack of perfectionism helps her pursue the things that she’s interested in • The idea that came to Janine during the recording to help deaf people in Missouri vote • The impact of combining your whys • “All right is the new awesome!" See the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for a link to Shannon's Facebook post!

Setting boundaries allows you to live a life based on your core values. This week, Shannon and Janine discuss getting in touch with what's important to you as a way to help you set boundaries that ensure you're doing the things that align with your why. They use a recent real-life example to illustrate how they recently benefited from boundary setting. Discussion topics include: • How it can be hard for people-pleasing perfectionists to set boundaries • How boundaries can help ensure that you’re doing the thing that most aligns with your why • The keystone of the getting-to-good-enough mentality: getting in touch with what’s important to you • How Janine and Shannon harnessed our boundary-setting skills to make an invitation to present together work for us • Our surprise that there were no objections from the program organizer to our request for an informal presentation • How strange it feels sometimes to podcast without video • The many ways it can be useful to get comfortable setting good-enough boundaries • Getting in touch with what’s important to you as a guideline for setting boundaries • Letting go of a fear of missing out or disappointing people with your boundaries • How having boundaries can save you from committing to something you can’t follow through on • Remembering that when you pass on something you don’t like to do, you’re giving an opportunity to someone who does like to do it • Considering boundaries as gutter bumpers that keep you headed in the direction you want to go • Shannon’s sweet spot in bowling (there’s beer involved)

how do we recover when life hits us with a mack truck (figuratively and literally)? what are the ways that we grow triumph from tragedy? and how do we use curiosity to look up when we are so trained to look down? this and more as we dive into curiosity with janine shepherd. Janine Shepherd is an inspirational speaker and writer whose books have become classics in the survivor genre. A champion cross-country skier in training for the 1988 winter Olympics, Janine’s life changed forever when she was hit by a truck during a bicycle training ride in the Blue Mountains of Australia. Her remarkable life story ultimately captured the interest of a prominent film company, which produced the feature length movie, aptly titled Never Tell Me Never. In recognition of her service to the community and her tireless efforts in raising awareness for spinal cord research, Janine was awarded the Order of Australia, her nation’s highest honor. She is an ambassador for Spinal Cure Australia and Red Bull’s “Wings for Life” and a contributor to Deepak Chopra’s workshops. Janine’s story has been featured on 60 Minutes, This is Your Life and CNN’s Turning Points with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Her inspirational and emotional TEDx talk, “A Broken Body Isn’t a Broken Person,” has been viewed almost 2 million times. Her latest book, “Defiant: A Memoir” was published for worldwide distribution by SoundsTrue®. On the podcast, Janine shares her own story of struggle, success, and surprise. She gets curious about the ways in which she used the power of 'what if' to propel her into the sky and become a pilot. Her resilience and courage took her far beyond what she imagined for herself and the grit she shares is contagious. TIME STAMPS: 3:27 - Janine’s story of suffering from a spinal cord injury.  5:25 - Janine’s emotional experience after her accident. 7:34 - The early insights of strength and how she identified her strength through her body.  12:32 - How do you let go and allow your mind to expand? 13:16 - The importance of loosening up your grip.  14:40 - How Janine transitioned to the role of pilot and how flying saved her. 21:25 - Aligning your goals with your values. 28:00 - How do we move away from defining who we are by our body.  32:20 - Getting curious about why we struggle to ask for help.  37:00 - Gratitude and how it expands us. 41:46 - Seeing life from a new perspective.  42:40 - Human Declaration Quiz.  48:02 - Closing Curiosity. FOR MORE FROM JANINE: www.janineshepherd.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janine_shepherd/ www.drlarapence.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drlarapence/  

Today, we're getting to know your co-host, Janine Mulone, and her business, Spring Tide (now Feel Good Retail as of 2021)! Janine is a business witch who guides thoughtful humans through moments of growth and transformation using equal parts intuition and intellect - aka she helps brands grow without burning out or selling their souls.We talk about:Intuitive business and bridging the gap between left and right brainWhat Spring Tide means and why it was the perfect name for her business

Janine Capaldi on leads from LinkedIn and gaming the algorithm - MAF248 My guest this week is Janine Capaldi, an expert in LinkedIn lead generation. We talk about using LinkedIn to grow your business and some of the myths and truths about the LinkedIn algorithm. Welcome to episode 248 of the Marketing and Finance Podcast. We chat about: ·      How Janine built a marketing coaching and lead generation business with her husband, Jamie ·      Leads from LinkedIn, the dos and don'ts ·      The "link in a post trick" (that's now changed) ·      Whether to use generic or personal connection requests ·      Posts, articles, newsletters and live video on LinkedIn - which works best? Who is Janine Capaldi? Janine is a qualified coach working with Business Owners & Organisations to help them grow their businesses by generating leads & high-value relationships using social media. More specifically, using LinkedIn. Her mission is to help people take advantage of the huge opportunity social media brings and to move away from the mentality of using social media for the sake of it. Links and Show Notes. For links to the books and apps mentioned, please visit  http://rogeredwards.co.uk/MAF (http://rogeredwards.co.uk/MAF)  for the show notes. What is the Marketing and Finance (MAF) Podcast? The podcast for ideas and inspiration on marketing your business and growing your business, and for discussing topics on all things finance. I’m Roger Edwards, a marketing guy and keynote speaker from Edinburgh. Talk to me if you want to cut the BS and complexity from your marketing strategy. The MAF Podcast is a 30-minute radio show you download from  http://rogeredwards.co.uk/MAF (http://rogeredwards.co.uk/MAF) , iTunes or Spotify. Each week you'll hear interviews with business experts, marketers, entrepreneurs and journalists. Interviews to listen to in the car, on the train or on the treadmill. Or even in the bath! We talk about: How you can grow your business using content marketing and social media How you can keep your Marketing strategy and communications simple Topics, issues, products and business models from the world of finance You’ll take away one or two big ideas that you can apply to your business. So, you can keep marketing your business to keep growing your business. Please subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes and I’d be grateful if you would leave a review.  http://rogeredwards.co.uk/itunes (http://rogeredwards.co.uk/itunes) Fancy Appearing on the Show? Would you be interested in appearing on the MAF Podcast? Have you an exciting marketing or finance story to tell? Do you fancy drawing out some inspirational ideas that MAF listeners can take away to use in their own businesses? Do please contact me if you want to get involved.  http://rogeredwards.co.uk (http://rogeredwards.co.uk/)

If you feel overwhelmed by everything that's going on around you, it can be hard to do anything. In this episode, Shannon and Janine discuss how choosing just one thing to do can allow you to move forward. Discussion topics include: • Taking delight in little things in nature • Choosing just one thing to do—and doing it—when you’re feeling overwhelmed • How the current climate can be paralyzing  • Applying the just one thing principle to self care • How Janine’s yoga practice now feels cemented into her daily routine (and is great self care) • Choosing just one thing to help you become an anti-racist • That just one thing doesn’t have to be a gateway to doing more things. You can do just one thing. • How Janine’s one thing (writing postcards to voters) has turned into 3,000 things. • Shannon’s major desk clean: it started with just one thing • How sometimes clearing a physical space can help clear our mental space too • How small things are still important even when big things are going on • An important zen proverb: “Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.”  • The ineffectiveness of so-called multitasking Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links!

Today's episode is another show about incredible exits. We got the chance to speak with Brian Lejeune and Janine Do. They chat with us about their intensely difficult exit and the challenges they faced. Tune in to hear our chat with Brian and Janine about their experiences as entrepreneurs. Topics: Brian's typical entrepreneurial journey. How Janine's parents influenced her career. When they started to see sales. Why you shouldn't get stuck on branding on packaging. Why there are no excuses for working less. When to consider the exit process. Why Mastermind groups are important. How much Brian and Janine made on their exit. Logic over emotion. How their level-headed nature was key to their success. Their emotional response to their exit. Transcription: Mark:       All right Joe, I know that Jason Yellowitz sold your business. I actually sold Jason's business before he came on board as a broker at Quiet Light Brokerage. I often referred to the story of selling Jason's business to potential sellers to explain that sometimes when you're in the process of selling and getting closer to that closing date, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. And that happened with Jason's business. His business that he was selling these baby gates and dog gates. It had the worst three day period of sales in its history and of course, the buyers started freaking out; understandably so. This happens with deals sometimes when you're in that due diligence period where all of a sudden all hell breaks loose and you kind of have to figure out what's going on. I know you just went through an incredibly painful exit with a client who had that sort of scenario but it worked out. Joe:          Yeah, and it wasn't painful for me necessarily because I'm at arm's length so it was okay but, Janine, I think stopped eating at one point. It was that incredibly painful. I remember I was at eCommerceFuel down in Fort Worth this year and we were about to close and something went wrong. And I don't want to give the details away here in the intro because you've got to listen to this. What could have gone wrong; went wrong and to the nth level; this is like deal killer, account close, things are over kind of gone wrong but Brian and Janine; the owners of the business, remained level-headed. Even though, like when I called him from the ECF event trying to cheer him up and like, hey, how's it going today? We got over this hurdle and I could hear it in his voice something else happened. Like he was kicked when he was down on this second hurdle that we had to get over and it was incredibly painful. That aside, these two are incredible people. They are pharmacists by trade. Janine has her PhD and she comes from a family with six children, five of the six have Ph.D. They're immigrants. They lived in the projects in Roxbury, Massachusetts and it's just an incredible story all around; incredible story, incredible exit, incredibly painful with light at the end of the tunnel. And they're actually now under LOI buying another business so it's a full story. They launched another brand, another business before they closed this transaction and so they're already generating another income stream and now they found an opportunity where they're under LOI buying another business. And that's really within 60 days of closing the last transaction so it's an incredible story all around. Mark:       That's fantastic. Let's get to it. Joe:          Hey, folks. Joe Valley here from Quiet Light Brokerage and we've got another Incredible Exits episode here. We've got Brian and Janine Lejeune on the call. Welcome, guys. How are you? Janine:    Good. How are you, Joe? Brian:      Very good, Joe. Joe:          Now, listen, we normally call this Incredible Exits but I want to change that for this episode. We'll call it the Incredibly Painful Exit for you guys because there were certain components of it that were incredibly challenging and painful. And I think at one point, Janine, you might have stopped eating if Brian was telling the truth. Janine:    I stopped eating and I stopped sleeping. Joe:          Well, good. Let's get a little bit background on you first. You guys are both pharmacists by training, I believe, right? Brian:      That's right, yeah. Janine:    I'm the one with a doctorate degree though; he's only got like a normal degree. Joe:          So I need to call you Dr. Janine? Janine:    Yes. Joe:          Dr. J, how about that? Brian:      There's just more responsibility that comes with that. I keep telling her on the plane when they if there's a doctor in the house. Joe:          It's a Ph.D., right? Janine:    Yeah. Joe:          So I have a father in law that has his PhD and he said it just stands for piled higher and deeper. Janine:    Yeah, that sounds about right? Brian:      Yeah. Janine:    [INAUDIBLE 00:05:28.7] loan debts when I graduated. Joe:          200? Janine:    200,000 yeah. Joe:          How incredibly painful, have you paid that off with the sale of your business? Janine:    We're going to. But right now with the stock market doing some fun stuff we're putting some money there. Joe:          Cool. Good for you. All right, well, let's get the background and Brian, let's start with you. Because honestly, Janine's story is much more interesting so I just want to get yours out of the way. Brian:      Yeah. Joe:          What's your story background; the business history, offline business, and then online, I believe, right? Brian:      Yeah, so pretty typical in the entrepreneurial journey. I'm kind of been dabbling in a lot of things for a lot of years. I went to college, came out, and became a pharmacist. So that was the path I took but even in college, I'm kind of always entrepreneurial and just always looking for other opportunities. I think about maybe two years into pharmacy I started saying, okay, I don't think this is quite what I want to do for the rest of my life. So I started looking at businesses; looking at local businesses. I bought my first business when I was about 26, 27 years old and it was a tanning salon. I knew absolutely nothing about the industry. I was honestly just looking for a business. It was five minutes from my house. I learned as much as I could from it and kind of grew it to a really nice level where I was actually able to leave pharmacy completely. And I left pharmacy for about seven, eight years, and in that span opened up other salons, pulled some partners in, did some distributorship. I did a lot of like brick and mortar type stores; bought some, sold some, but have never sold them at the correct time. Always kind of passed its peak like oh, we should sell or something's going wrong with a partner and always getting out not at the ideal… Joe:          A little too late. Brian:      Yeah, so that was a big thing that looking at what we did that was my one goal. Like, let's do this at the right time. You never know when the perfect time is, but you just don't want to do it the wrong time. Joe:          True. When did you jump into the online space? Brian:      Online in terms of jumping in probably not until like 2014, but a lot of little things here and there; trying to start blogs, trying to sell things on eBay or whatever. But that was very, very small. It was always kind of like, oh, what can I do next? What can I do next? But 2014, 2015 I kind of found the Amazon space… Joe:          Was it before or after the young lady sitting beside you, the two of you met? Brian:      Yeah, so before. But honestly, I owe a lot to her because I didn't really get super deep into it until she came along for sure. Joe:          Well, she does have her Ph.D. She's a lot smarter than you are. Janine:    I'm obviously smarter. Brian:      It just takes me a little longer maybe. Joe:          Let's hear a little of your background, Janine. And do me a favor and just tell everybody about the generation before you because I think you've got a fascinating family story as well. Janine:    Yeah, sure. So my family came here in 1989. My dad was 35 years old at that time; seven kids, pregnant wife, no money, no English whatsoever. Joe:          What country did you come from? Janine:    We came from Vietnam. Joe:          Okay. Janine:    Yeah, So he fought with the American soldiers during the Vietnam War. He was of course against the communist people so they put him in jail. Things were just getting pretty rough for us back there and we got the opportunity to come to this country and he decided to take the chance. So he came in at '89.  He was 35. He's making minimum wage, raising a family of probably more even seven kids in random age; so fetus to, I think 17 or 18 years old, maybe even a little younger than that. Joe:          Any idea how much money the family had when you came to the country? Janine:    Oh, yeah, nothing. Not even like a ring that's worth anything. Besides the clothes on our backs, we've got nothing more. My mom didn't own anything that was worth anything. No heirloom ring or just nothing like that. So we rely a lot on government help at the time. We spent 10 to 12 years in the projects. Joe:          In what city? Janine:    In Roxbury. Joe:          In Roxbury. Okay, I spent some time up on Mission Hill myself. Janine:    Well, you know the police station and radio station? Joe:          Sure. Janine:    So I was five minutes walking distance from the police station. That's like the highest crime-ridden place you can think of in Massachusetts. Joe:          Wow. Janine:    That's where I grew up. Joe:          And you did this and managed to have how many PhDs in your family now with all the siblings that you have? Janine:    Oh, so we have a dentist, four pharmacies, three bachelor degrees, and one masters; so [INAUDIBLE 00:10:27.4] more than one. Joe:          A true incredible American success story. That's incredible. No excuses to my kids are now your kids that are second, third, fourth, fifth-generation Americans that don't want to do the hard work that you guys did. Janine:    Well, it's tough to teach them and I don't know how to impart the same wisdom on them that my father did for us. But when I was little he used to tell me if we see someone who was homeless on the street he was like do you see that? If you don't do good in school, that's where you're going to end up and it freaked me out. And I actually believed him. I actually believe him so we are always doing that in school; every one of us. So I was top in my classes on like grade school. Joe:          Wow. And you still married Brian? That's amazing. Janine:    Yeah, and I don't know how this [INAUDIBLE 00:11:15.4] tricked me into in. Joe:          All right folks, I know these guys pretty well at this point. We've gone through a lot together so, yes, I like to give them both a hard time because they give it back to me as well. All right, so your online entrepreneurial journey; and you were obviously a pharmacist. You have a PhD but at some point, you and Brian met. Did you already have online businesses before you met Brian or did you jump into the space when you guys met? Janine:    Yeah. So since I was like 16. My parents opened a restaurant and that's when things kind of got better for my family. And so I saw the opportunity of having a business would mean. I mean, literally, he opened a restaurant and two years later he was out of the projects. He bought a house. He bought this brand new Lexus. Somebody has always want to fall on time. So from that, I see the incredible opportunity of owning a business but I also saw how much it consumed my parents. So they were always there. That's all they talked about and they're literally there; sometimes my dad is there at four in the morning to make this broth that takes six hours to cook. So I see how much it consumed them. So I saw the opportunity in business but didn't like the brick and mortar aspect of it. They were always gone. They were always there. So I stumbled on eBay when I was 18 years old in college. So this is 2002. I was struggling with money, so I looked around my room; whatever was worth selling, I put on eBay. Whatever I can get, like ten bucks I would do it because; you know a college student, typical story. That's kind of how I got into the whole online space and I just never left. I saw the opportunity. I was trying all kinds of things over the next 15 years. I did a feel at marketing. I tried selling cellphones. I tried selling used sports shoes. I did affiliate marketing; just all kinds of things and they made me a decent side income but just not enough to replace a full-time job. And then when I became a pharmacist making over 100K a year, it became harder to justify that $20 or $30 I'm making on the side business. And then I met this guy who told me about FBA. I didn't know anything about it. It was the first time I heard of the word private label. I have no idea what that meant so he explain it to me. We bought ASM. I think you had ASM3. So we got that and that's how our journey began. Brian:      It was that private label route that really kind of changed things. Both of us were always selling other people's products or always looking for that next thing to sell whereas it was like, okay we can develop our own brand. And I had sort of done this in the tanning salon world where like we were private labeling back in early 2000s a line of skincare that we would bring into the salon. And then we started doing tanning beds and we basically brought some tanning beds in from Italy. We put our own name on them and we started selling them to other salons. So I've kind of been familiar with it but the Amazon thing really opened my eyes to kind of like okay, we can do something really big. The volume is incredible. Get a good product, get a good brand, and just try to blow it up and fortunately, it worked out. Joe:          And you learned both the initial stuff through ASM3 I think you said it was. Brian:      Yeah. Joe:          That's a while ago, right? Brian:      Spot on. Joe:          Several years ago and many variations since then. If somebody is new coming into the space and let's say they're a pharmacist working and listening to this podcast right now, what would you suggest they listen to; courses that they take, masterminds that they join, anything that you can recommend? Janine:    I think the most important thing is to take action. There are a lot of courses out there right now and I remember I heard one of the guys spoke on stage and he was like; so this is speaking to the ASM crowd who all paid and all wanted to be there and he said, I know 95% of you here today aren't going to take action. I sat there and I thought to myself, that's so weird. Who the hell spends that kind of money and that kind of time to go there and not take action? I thought there's no way that that's true because I knew that there's no chance in hell that I wouldn't be taking action. But then over the years, I learned that he was right. People just aren't taking action. They buy these courses and then their brand is kind of like they took it off as some I did it, kind of the same thing with when someone signed up for gym membership in their brand [INAUDIBLE 00:15:42.9] release of you actually going to the gym, even though you didn't and all you did was bought the membership. It's like a psychological experiment I read about so much will buy courses and in their brain is checked off as, hey, I did it. The most important thing is just really to take action. Joe:          No matter which course, whatever it is just take some action. Figure it out, get started, and learn from that experience. Okay. So the business that we worked together on that you sold through Quiet Light is in the electronic space. Is this the largest business that you had gotten off the ground and launched? Brian:      Yes, definitely. Joe:          Okay. All right, let's talk about that process a little bit. When did you first launch this particular business? Brian:      So that would have been the last quarter of 2016. Joe:          And did you use any particular tools to research the niche; like a Jungle Scout or a Helium10 or anything like that? Brian:      Helium10 at that time. Joe:          Okay, do you recall how much your initial order was; how much you spent on the first batch of products? Janine:    1,000 units so that would have been… Brian:      About $10,000. Joe:          Did you have the money in the bank for that or did you have debt and use a credit card; what was your financial situation then? Janine:    Well, at the time I was working overtime whenever I could so I literally sat there and mapped out how many hours can I work overtime and how many hours did I work and all that money gets put into the business. Because I could justify to myself that I'm not risking my “own money”, this is extra money. So I was starting over. I was doing like sidestep. I was doing all kinds of crazy things. It was like the second order that I had to use credit card and some of these loans. Joe:          How long did it take between; well, let's actually back up, when you got the first 10,000 units… Janine:    1,000 units. Joe:          1,000 units, $10,000, how quickly did things take off for you? When did you start to see sales and then how quickly did you go? Janine:    It just started selling. Brian:      Yeah, that one started selling really good but it's a little bit unfair to call it like that's when we started, because both of us had products before that time that we're marginally successful in the sense that they would sell but neither one of us could make the products profitable. So we got to decent volumes of we could sell 15, 20, 25 a day type of thing but spending more on PPC than we were getting in and it never kind of went over that hump, whereas with the electronic product that actually Janine launched, it was up to 20, 30 units a day almost immediately. So it was kind of we got sat there and we're looking, okay, what do we do next? And she was trying to figure out because there wasn't a big bank account that had all this money ready to go to invest. So she says, okay, I think if I buy a thousand now and then I save up and I buy a thousand, and she had literally a whole path of what she wanted to do. And we sat there… Janine:    At an ice cream shop. Brian:      We're at an ice cream shop and I said, no, that's not how you do it. You need a hundred thousand dollars. We need to do a big order. Like that's it. This product is going to work. You could see it. It just didn't take a lot of effort. It got bigger and bigger every day. And then it was loans and credit cards and scrounging. Janine:    I thought he was insane. Joe:          He won that argument? He won the argument of more like spend a hundred… Janine:    You know I'm sitting there and I'm like where are you going to get a hundred thousand dollars; like what kind of overtimes do you think I can work? And at that point, I'd already quit my job but I knew that he was right. And this is why our partnership works really, really well. He already knows how the business road works whereas I'm kind of new to it. And this is whether you run a brick and mortar like a tanning salon or online, the principles are the same; the cash flow principles, how to allocate money, how to leverage debt. Those principles don't change no matter what business you're in. And I agree with him, even though it never occurred we would do it. He brought it up and I thought he was right. So I literally spent one day because when you apply for a loan, credit cards will know about it and they're more like three reject to you. So I had one day off of work. I sat there and applied to every single credit card that I could think of and applied to every single loan that I could think of and I scrounged around between credit cards, new credit cards, and a cash loan I was able to come up with a hundred thousand dollars. Joe:          Wow. You actually pulled the trigger and raised a hundred thousand too. So we have a lot of people that say, how do we raise capital? How do I buy a business and raise capital? You just found a hundred thousand dollars through cabbage and multiple credit cards just like that. Brian:      And I kind of told her, I said money is not the hard part. That's the easy part. I think we can all figure out a way to get money, whether it's borrowing from family if you have to or credit cards, whatever. The hard part was done like she found the product. Joe:          She found the product so getting to the point where you buy product. Brian:      Getting the money was always easier. Joe:          Okay, that's interesting. I'm mentoring some students at a local college here and they had a hard time finding money to incorporate. And they need to listen to this podcast and do what you guys did. Brian:      Yeah. Joe:          I said to them, I said look around, just sell something, you need to do it. Come on. Brian;        And I think a lot of people get stuck on I have to set up this first, I need a corporation, I need a logo, I need business cards. And all of that is way overrated. I think people use that as sort of a stalling mechanism. They need to get things set up, they need to be ready and it's not true. It's sell something first and figure out the other stuff after. Janine:    Yeah, I think I was at a million dollars before I had a corporation before I was properly set up, before like a lot of things. I don't even have a domain, I didn't even have a .com. I know you e-mail sequined, I know e-mail list, I didn't have a brand, didn't have a Shopify present, I didn't have any business card. I know a lot of people to keep asking me for one and our packaging was literally this box that had that background on, had a bunch of textbooks, and then on sit Cinderella on it. It looks like someone just kind of like threw something together… Brian:      It was just the stock box from the manufacturer. Joe:          And just for the record, Cinderella had absolutely nothing to do with the product folks. Janine:    Nothing at all. Brian:      Yeah. Janine:    My point is sometimes you get stuck on these things. Oh, I have to get the packaging right, I have to design this, I have to design that, I have to get a domain, I have to brand register and all these things. I didn't do any of them until I'm already well over a million. Brian:      All of it is important but if you get stuck on doing that before you actually have something to sell… Joe:          You have to get out of the game. Brian:      Long path, exactly. Joe:          I'm curious. You had said you'd each tried multiple things and you didn't get past 15 or 20 units a day. Were they all in the same Seller Account as this one or separate Seller Accounts? How did you manage that aspect of it? We'd always recommend separate brands for separate seller accounts. Brian:      Yeah, so at that time we both had our own seller accounts. But then the one that we ended up building with was the one she had set up. And there were multiple products in there and they were… Janine:    Totally unrelated. Brian:      Totally unrelated. A lot of like; it became like test products so like we finally found the one that stuck and then that became the brand and sort of just slowly fades out. Joe:          And the rest faded away. Brian:      Yup. Joe:          Okay, so the biggest challenge you would say is actually finding the right product and getting it to work, and don't let yourself get stuck in the gate trying to get to be perfectly set up before. Janine:    Yeah. That and also, I don't want to our story to make people feel like, oh, I need a hundred thousand dollars or, oh, I need 10 grand otherwise I can't get started. That's totally not true. If I hadn't had four products that failed, if I hadn't had four products where I spent all my time; all the things I learned; photography, how to talk to freelancers, going to Fiverr.com to hire people, how to write a good listing, how to use Helium10, how to use all kinds of software; I learned all of that but all of those products that cost me like a dollar, a dollar 20 cents. I only started with a few hundred bucks. That's when I learned all of those skills so when the right product comes along, I'm ready to go. And I think that's contributed a lot of our success. I imagine if my very first product was a successful product maybe I wasn't ready for it and maybe we wouldn't have gone the trajectory that we were. So even if you have 200 bucks to buy something that cost a dollar or two and you may not make money on it, do it. Joe:          Education; right, you're learning along the way. Janine:    That 200 bucks is worth it. Joe:          Okay, so lots of failure or enough failure or mediocre success before you head to the home run; the seven-figure eventual exit, so to speak. So you found a way to raise money, not an issue for you, as the business continued to grow were there challenges with cash flow management trying to keep up with more and more inventory demands? Well, you don't have a job any anymore Janine, you have an income. Talk to me about those challenges and how you overcame them. Brian:      Yeah, there were definitely challenges but it became; so she had left her job, I was still working for about a year. I left in the end of 2018 so now neither one of us are working in pharmacy but during 2018 when the real growth really started to happen, it was always a struggle to order enough to grow because we're growing 30%, 40%, 50% month over month. It wasn't slowing down so it was always trying to stay one step ahead with inventory. We use Amazon lending extensively. So, I mean, we started with the smallest. They offered a thousand-dollar lone, we took it, and then every time we paid it off, the loan got bigger and bigger. Joe:          Do you always have to wait for them to offer or is there a way that you could… Brian:      Yeah, and as far as I know, the offer is the offer. There's no getting anymore. Joe:          So you take it, pay it off and then you're going to get a… Janine:    Yeah it was really stupid. The first loan for a thousand dollars I would have done anything for us. We were already doing; I can't remember the exact number, but at least maybe 50 or 60 grand or maybe even a lot more than that. So I remember looking at it and thinking to myself, what the hell is this going to do? Why is Amazon giving us such a cheap ass loan like a thousand bucks? But we took it and it went to 10 grand, it went to 70, and it went to 300,000, 500,000. It ended up over 800,000. It just gets bigger and bigger. Joe:          Wow. Janine:    So if you get an offer even if it's 500 bucks or $100, take it. Brian:      Yeah, and they're short term loans so they're expensive to have on your books, but it allowed us to fund the inventory and fund the growth, and it worked out well. Like going back there would be no other way to grow the company too. So when we sold it was almost at five million a year. Joe:          Okay, let's get to the niche itself and the incredible painful exit as opposed to just incredible. It's incredible, no question about it. The whole story is amazing and inspiring and hopefully, it's going to get people in that starting gate to getting out of it and taking some actions; looking around the room and selling whatever they have to, working more hours. I mean, when I was a kid, I was complaining that I didn't have enough money. That was kind of to the millionaire next door, the best friend of my parents. I never know that they are, but they were. And I worked for the company and instead of staying I'm like [INAUDIBLE 00:27:34.5] where I said at some point I was in the room complaining I think probably as my parents were playing Chinese checkers which they do. And he said, just stop your whining. There's plenty of work. Just go work more hours. There are lots to do. Work more hours. And that's exactly what you did Janine. You do the math on how to work more hours so that you can fund that $10,000 purchase. So no excuses, people, if you want to be an entrepreneur, that's what you got to do. All right. So why the electronics space? It's a space that we talk about in terms of risk and that's risk of obsolescence and again, it took me a long time to learn to pronounce that but it means that there's a fear that the product will be outdated someday in the future with changes in updates. So why the electronic space, what attracted you to that? Brian:      I don't think there was a lot of thought as to that we want to go into electronics. So it just came from product research and finding a good volume product that didn't seem to have a ton of competition that seemed to be somewhat new in the marketplace with already a lot of volume. So it kind of checked all the boxes that we're looking for. Also, there's a lot of training and there's a lot of categories, there's a lot of products, there's a lot of things that they tell everybody to avoid. We tend to; especially now that we've developed a better skill set around this and we have more confidence… Janine:    We do the opposite. Brian;        Yeah, we do the opposite a lot of times. Don't always avoid because guess what? I mean, the space is already crowded but the things that everyone is not avoiding, everyone's in those. So the ones that they say don't avoid and maybe it's an oversized, maybe it's electronics. If it still seems like a good opportunity, go for it. Joe:          Take it. Brian:      Yeah, I don't like to use like a definitely do not do this. Joe:          All right, so launched in 2016, 20 million in revenue before you ever incorporated, at what point from your experience selling too late; at what point did you say to yourself, okay, we're going to exit this. We're going to talk to me, talk to Joe, talk to somebody, and learn about the process of selling the business. How long was it and how far in advance do you think other people should consider the exit process or the training or planning, as it's called? Janine:    Well, they always say they won, right? Joe:          Nobody ever does that. Brian:      No. Janine:    No, no one does. Brian:      I think as soon as you know that you have a business. So, I mean, it can't be day one because maybe that's never going to go anywhere but as soon as you sort of maybe feel traction, you've kind of built the brand, it's still growing, and you see like an upside to it maybe start planning. Definitely from the day one keep your books good. That was a major thing. Joe:          Remind me, did you use QuickBooks or Xero? Brian:      We used QuickBooks. Joe:          And did you outsource to a bookkeeper eventually or do you do that yourself? Brian:      Eventually. So we're doing it. I was doing it myself and then when we sat down with you, that was kind of one of the things you helped us with. Joe:          Okay. Brian:      So we used CapForge and they were awesome. So they went back and had to recast all the books to the accrual method. So that was a little long, tedious, painful. Joe:          Yup. Brian:      It's probably more expensive doing it that way than to just keeping it correctly from the start. But, yeah, I think just planning is always better, of course. So as soon as you think you have a business, I think you should at least have it on your radar because who knows? I mean, we're all in this to make money. You own a business to make money and if selling it is going to make you money, that should be part of your plan. Joe:          Yeah, so one of the things; I would just try to shift everybody's mindset. Everybody's always called it plan to sell your business the day that you started exit planning, flip it, and call it training because you're learning. You're constantly learning by your failures and in launching new products until you hit that right last one that launched a seven-figure exit. Think about the exit planning as training as well. If you're going to run a marathon, you've got to train for it or you're never going to get out of the gate. You've got to learn about the process. You're listening to this podcast so that's a great start. Get a valuation. Look at other listings and how they're valued and how the packages are put together. Train as much as you can. Don't make it your sole focus and your mission, but make it part of your overall business plan and operating your business so that you can eventually exit before you get burned out and things turn the wrong way and it's too late to exit at a strong value. Janine:    I think the idea was initially planted in our heads when we had our initial conversation with Ezra on our mastermind group. And then that brings me to another point, the importance of having a mastermind. Brian and I are always a part of masterminds. Sometimes we're in two different masterminds. Right now I'm in three different masterminds, but having a group of people that you can talk to is like super-duper important. So Ezra we talked to him, he planted the idea in our head. We connected with you to get the initial phone call with you. I love that you were not fishy at all. It was just very informative, very casual when we got to talk with you. And we got off that day and we decided, yeah, we're going to do this. But it took us six months to get everything set up; all the books probably correct but it's never too late. Brian:      And like you said about an education, going through the process, I think allows you to learn how to run the business better anyways. So even if you were to keep it, you should be in a better position after going through it. Joe:          I agree 100%. Brian:      Even going through the sale there were things that we learned. So during due diligence, it's like you get asked a question or someone else organizes information in a different way and you say to yourself, oh, I wish we did that before. But now guess what? We'd do it next time. So our next business, we set up a little differently because of things we learned by being exposed to the process. Joe:          Right. Did you make more money on the exit than you made while you were running the business? Brian:      Yes. Joe:          50% of all the money you ever made, 90%? Brian:      Cash flow is a funny thing. So there was a lot of money flowing through our business but in terms of what you end up with yeah, I definitely think the exit; I don't know what percentage, but yeah, a big amount of what we actually ended up with was from the sale. Joe:          Total earnings. Janine:    Every month I'm like where's our money? Brian:      Yeah. Janine:    We had Like 300,000 to 400,000 monthly sales so I was like where's all that money? Brian:      Yeah, we'd laugh as we'd wire money. We're like the Chinese they're taking all our money. I'm like why do you keep sending it to them but yeah. Janine:    So the exit is when the cash came down and it definitely… Joe:          And it comes at a lower tax bracket too. Brian:      It does which is incredible. Joe:          Very, very helpful. All right, let's talk about the painful part of the exit. So we were a couple of days away from signing an asset purchase agreement with your buyer. The CFO of the company bought your product and his wife plugged it in and it started to smoke and catch on fire. Janine:    I don't think it caught fire, it just smoked. Joe:          Just a smoke; okay a minor technicality. Brian:      Yeah, and not a few days before it closed it was literally… Janine:    The day of. Brian:      The day of that we were supposed to close. Yeah. Joe:          When details in your life are incredibly painful, you remember them very, very well. Brian:      Yeah. Joe:          You guys can remember exactly where you were when you got that e-mail or phone call, I imagine, as well. But we overcame that. We were able to sort of get over that hurdle; get around that hurdle. Can you address how that was overcome? Brian:      Yeah, the exact how so we had a lot of confidence in our product and in our business and we didn't feel that the buyer had that same confidence. And I think that's normal, right? So they don't know exactly what they're getting. There's always going to be maybe some reservations, especially like you were talking to electronic product obsolescence, safety hazards type of thing. But we had kind of built it, we had huge volume, and, of course, we had problems along the way that we were always able to overcome and solve. And every time we overcame them and solve them, the company just continued to grow and grow and grow. So all that I felt was like, I just need them to believe in the product. And we kind of really structured the deal to make them feel a little bit more comfortable. We were willing to take a little bit more of the risk on some contingent payments but we're completely willing and confident do that because we kind of know where I think this product will go. And the company that bought it I think can grow it way beyond where we would. So we just needed to kind of instill into them that we're confident so we'll take some more risk and I think it worked out. I think it was a really good negotiation. Joe:          Yeah, I think they've done well with it. They started to grow it immediately after closing. And with COVID more people are staying home and more people are buying that particular product anyway so it's a double whammy for them. So what would you did was shifted some of the risk into contingent payments, meaning that you got paid three months out if things were stable or six months out on another payment. And you also shared some statistics, too, though, in terms of the total number of complaints you had in that regard. Brian:      Right. Joe:          And then I think they did a little research in terms of looking at other similar products in similar categories and seeing that complaints were pretty similar and in some cases even higher. Janine:    Even major brands had the same problems. Apple, Google, and Samsung that fiasco with the cell phones like [INAUDIBLE 00:37:55.6] with the batteries exploding on airplanes or something, it's not unique to our products. Brian:      Right, and I think that's what we just needed to kind of work through to make them feel more comfortable. Joe:          And you did it with logic and level emotion. You didn't go off the rails, you didn't scream and shout, you didn't… Janine:    Well I did. Joe:          Well you did that with Brian, you didn't do it with the buyer. Brian:      Yeah, I'm very patient and I don't give up and I knew that it could be solved and it was something we could overcome. I was confident that we could... Janine:    I thought it was over. Brian:      Yes. Janine:    Honestly, I wasn't eating. I thought it was over and this guy is very level headed. He sat on his computer, thought about it, sent out an email negotiating, and they accepted it. Joe:          They did. They love the logical approach and that you put some risk on you. At the end of the day, you're still going to get paid out but you said, okay, look, I'm going to take some risk just to prove to you that this is not an issue, But the next problem, wow, it's almost one that you could never be able to overcome. So I remember I was at eCommerceFuel down in Fort Worth and I took my phone and checked in with you, Brian, and I'm like hey man how are you doing? You were like, yeah, I'm not so good. I'm not so good. I'm like come on, we're getting close. We're almost there. He's like, well, we just got hit with an IP infringement and all the ASINs are down or all the top ASINs are down. Brian:      Yeah. Joe:          So someone else ended up getting issued a utility patent on… Brian:      Design patent. Joe:          Design patent on the primary SKU; you're hero SKU essentially because you had pretty much a hero SKU here. How did that feel? Janine:    So this happened on the same day that we were supposed to sign; again like we can't even make this up. I remember waking up that morning to an e-mail from the buyers saying hey I'm looking forward to closing today at two o'clock or something like that. Brian:      Yeah. Janine:    And I saw my other e-mails from Amazon that was sent at five o'clock that morning to tell us our ASINs are down. That literally happened within seven hours the same day. Brian:      Yeah, so it was sort of like we got this other problem behind us. We're feeling good and literally the business; I mean this couldn't have been any worse because it went basically to zero. And they took down every SKU except for I think two or something like that and they weren't top-selling SKUs. So I think we went from like $12,000 a day to about a thousand dollars a day overnight and no path to see it being fixed. Joe:          None, whatsoever; it was a patent issued by the US government. Janine, did you say those emails came in from your buyer and from Amazon within about seven minutes of each other? Janine:    Seven hours. Joe:          Seven hours of each other. So seven hours and the loss of seven figures; pretty painful. You're pretty down and basically like you got kicked somewhere that would hurt really bad. Brian, I'm talking to you. But again, levelheadedness, you reached out to your Chinese manufacturer. You looked at the dates, you looked at the history, you looked at whether or not this is patent was issued legitimately or fraudulently; meaning the guy didn't fully share everything with the US government; the US TPL that he should have. What did you find when you did all that research? Brian:      So he had sort of, after the fact, applied for a patent. So we had the product selling in the marketplace first, but there were others so it was shortly after us where there was maybe five or six of us all selling similar designs, same exact product. It never even really crossed our mind that it was a patentable thing because we didn't design it. We purchased it as a private label thing, had our logos put on it, did the packaging, yada, yada, yada. So did this other buyer, so did lots of other buyers. About a year; so after we're already over a million dollars, he applied for design patent. The path he took was… Janine:    Sketchy. Brian:      Yeah, a little bit devious; claiming rights to something that he really didn't have rights to that was prior on this space but none of that sort of matters in the Amazon world because he did actually get granted the patent and Amazon is not going to rule on whether or not that pattern is valid or not. One thing that I did quickly was contacted some of our other competitors. So almost immediately I think we emailed… Janine:    They were also taken down. Brian:      Yeah, so we tried to reach out to our competitor that took us down, but then got no response. And I reached out to other competitors and we kind of all worked together. We're all doing our own research. We all had our own lawyers. And I think that little pact that we formed, in the end, helped as well. Because it was a lot of us working together, even though we're competitors, we kind of all had had one thing to solve. And yeah three weeks; I mean, this was a lot worse than the first thing so this one actually took a lot of time. Janine:    14 days. Joe:          It appeared by all imagination as something completely insurmountable. Brian:      Right. Joe:          But you did, you banded together with your competitors. You also reached out to your manufacturer to reach out to them and put a little pressure on them as well. And you eventually got in touch with the patent holder. I'm cutting this short a little bit and telling the whole story because it's long, folks and it was painful. A lot of e-mails back and forth, a lot of negotiations, a lot of okay, I'll think about this and I'll get back to you and then not hearing back for days on end. Brian:      And I got on the phone with them. I actually was able to speak to them and tried to work it out as just two businesses competing in the same world. It didn't seem like it was going anywhere. It wasn't working, but it did. Finally, cool heads prevailed. Joe:          And so at one point, that conversation led to, okay, I will allow Amazon to put your stuff back up and that's good. So your stuff was back up and selling on Amazon, but your buyer really wasn't willing to close because that issue was still out there, that this person had the patent and they could shut you down at any time. We worked with a buyer who was very good about being patient, understanding, and all this. A lot of buyers would have just walked away. In this situation, they hung out. They hung around. They trusted you guys. They saw the commitment you were willing to put in by putting some risk on your side. And they said see if you can work it out. We're good. And one of the other things that you did is you said, look, we will backdate this asset purchase agreement. Let's go ahead and get the APA signed contingent on getting a mutual release of the ability to sell the product now and forever on any platform and being able to transfer control of that right to sell the product as well but backdate it. I think we ended up closing in March, but we backdated you said effective, I think January 31st as far as the asset purchase agreement. So you are essentially managing the business, not taking any money out of it, and if we were able to close the transaction, you essentially had ended up managing it for the buyers for 45 days or so. So, again, you're putting yourself out there saying, look, we're here, we're going to fix this and it's yours as of that date back there but we're going to run it until this problem is solved and we did. We ended up with a mutual release letter. There was the strangest possible clause in a legally binding contract I've ever seen. We won't go into the exact details, but the buyer's attorney said, I don't think this is enforceable. And I said, really?! Absolutely just a little clause that this person needed to make himself feel better perhaps in the afterlife and we don't know if you could enforce that in the afterlife or not. But the key is that that you worked with him closely to accommodate his personal needs and your own personal needs and you got through it. You remained level headed. And at the end of the day, you wound up with a seven-figure exit. I want to know how you felt not when we finally got that release letter but I want to know how it felt when that first wire eventually hit your account. Brian:      Yeah. Janine:    It couldn't have; so right now we're going through COVID-19, I don't know if you remember, but on March 17 was when the stock market dropped by 20%. The whole country woke up and the stock market was down like 20% or more and that was the same day we got our seven-figure finally hitting our bank. Brian:      Yup, this couldn't have closed at a better time. I mean it put us in such a good position. Obviously, we'd been waiting for it for a long time so it was a relief but timing was just incredible. Joe:          Although the buyers seen a spike in sales because of… Brian:      I mean, we, of course, follow it very closely. Janine:    Oh my God I font know how they are doing it. Brian:      I think they're up over 100%. I mean, they're growing. It's awesome. They're growing the way we thought they would. They have the capital behind it. They've got a good, strong team to put behind it. So, I mean, we know… Joe:          Are you excited for them. Are you glad; you just said it's awesome, are you...? Brian:      Oh, it's so awesome. Yeah. Joe:          Right. So, folks, that's the mentality that will get you a better value and a better deal and a better transaction. Because Brian and Janine ran this business and created something that would be great for a buyer to take over. And a buyer saw that took it over, and now it's up over a hundred percent. Yes, COVID is having an impact but even without COVID, it would be up substantially. That is absolutely the right mindset to have. Brian:      Yeah [INAUDIBLE 00:48:35.2] Like that brand even if we potentially could grow it to, say, 10, 20, 30 million dollar brand, I honestly don't think we wanted to. Like that wasn't our goal. We didn't want to have to leverage ourselves to get there. Take the extra time. Janine:    Things were getting scary. Brian:      Yeah, like we built the business to be kind of a lifestyle brand. We travel all the time. We have a lot of flexibility. In order to take it to the next level, we knew that we'd have to sacrifice a lot on that. Janine:    Probably more people or more agencies, things that would mean that we need to spend more time on it and that wasn't our goal. Brian:      Right, so to see them be able to do that, of course, we would love it. We'd still feel that same pride that it was ours and we built it. She was always like this is my baby I don't want to give it up. Janine:    It was my baby. Brian:      But you know you kick the baby out of the house eventually. Joe:          You have a new baby. It's got seven figures. Brian:      Yeah. Janine:    And we are in the process trying to buy another one. Joe:          Right. Yeah, so you guys did something smart that is interesting. When we were; was it Blue Ribbon? Yeah, we were at Blue Ribbon Mastermind in St. Pete and you had already; we hadn't closed on this yet, we were still working out the details and you had already launched another product on Amazon. Brian:      Yeah. Joe:          On a separate seller account you launched something new. And I think at that point you're already up to 20 or 30 sales a day which I think is brilliant. This business model that you're in has you be able to build, sell, repeat, build, sell, repeat, and continue to do it with the skillset that you have. So I think it's fantastic. It's the exitpreneur process; you all know about the book. It's a little plug for my book but it's brilliant. I'm so excited and pleased for you guys. It's been a privilege, honestly, getting to know you, spending some time with you out in Seattle. I mean, you got to meet my son. We had lunch together with Bronson and then getting to spend more time down in the Blue Ribbon Mastermind. Congratulations. It was fantastic what you guys have done and I hope that people hearing the story from both your angles and approaches will inspire some of them to look around the room and sell something others to have the hutzpah that you had to raise $100,000 because you knew you had a winner; pretty incredible all around. Any last thoughts or words of wisdom that either of you would like to share with potential listeners, both buyers and sellers of online businesses? Janine:    Well, Amazon is kind of like a world where we are kind of secretive about what our product is. Some of us won't even divulge what our category is. And it's like that for a reason but it doesn't mean you can't have a Mastermind, it doesn't mean you can't network with people. And that was one of the most important things that we did. And also going to the process that we did with IP infringement made me realize, you know what? We're not companies competing against each other; we were all families, we have kids, we have a mortgage. All of us are the same so a lot of these black hat strategies where you're kind of doing something to get a competitive edge by sort of burning that person; you know, really just don't do it, because, at the end of the day, you're hurting a person who's probably just like you married with kids, probably with a student loan or a mortgage; you don't know. And I think we got through to the patent holder with our issue because we made him see that and he's also a family guy; a religious man, of course. And I think getting to know them and seeing that we're just another family just like him that's how we got through to him. Brian:      And some of his actions were when we got on the phone, we were actually able to talk about this. I couldn't so much fault him exactly for what he did, because we're all business people. We're all kind of doing things to get an edge and that's what he felt. He felt he needed to get an edge. It's almost hard to fault him for that but it was making him realize that hey, we're not some Fortune 500 company. We're just like you. We're working out of our house. We have a family. This is our business. Joe:          And at the end of the day, he saw that because… Brian:      He did. Yeah, so we have… Janine:    We were lucky. Joe:          Yeah, you took care of each other as competitors and rivals and gave each other the opportunity to continue to grow in business. Janine:    Yeah. Amazon is so big. There's room for everyone. Joe:          Agreed. Brian:      Yeah, there definitely is. Joe:          Guys, I feel like I could honestly talk with you for another hour and a half. Maybe we'll have you back on with your next incredible exit but thank you so much for sharing your story and giving me the opportunity to work with you. Brian:      Thank you, Joe. Janine:    Thank you, Joe.   Resources: Quiet Light Podcast@quietlightbrokerage.com

Today we are bringing back – for the fifth time! – beloved guest, an expert in teaching kids coping skills, Janine Halloran LMHC of copingskillsforkids.com. We discuss: – How Janine is thinking about school work and all this extra time at home with kids and family – The kinds of questions her clients are bringing to her right now, in spring 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic – Why a child's behavior is most likely worse than usual right now – What you can do about that, if that's the case in your home Join us! (Click the following link for the video of our talk, and also notes from today's conversation: weturnedoutokay.com/324) How are you staying positive? Let me know! In our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1607987166145505/ in Instagram: http://instagram.com/weturnedoutokay in Twitter: http://twitter.com/weturnedoutokay All during April's FREE OkayCon 2020 Virtual Summit we're having live watch parties, so we can keep each other company in this era where we all need that! Sign up to be notified about the guests and watch parties: https://weturnedoutokay.com/weekly Join the We Turned Out Okay Facebook group, where the watch parties are happening each Monday and Wednesday all through April, by clicking here. Find out details about the summit itself: http://okaycon.com We will get through this together : ) Cheers! Karen Karen Lock Kolp, M.Ed. of https://weturnedoutokay.com Helping parents change kids' behavior from bad to good, feel happy inside, and TRULY enjoy family time : ) PS Join my email newsgroup for lots of useful, free parenting tools, as well as lots of info on OkayCon, our Virtual Summit that is ongoing right now: sign up at weturnedoutokay.com/weekly If you need some extra support, especially right now with all the madness, I'm offering special membership rates if you want to join our private coaching community, NPC. Click here for details and to join, so I can personally help you through this extremely challenging time!

Shannon and Janine are living the "less is more" mantra this year as Shannon makes it a focus of her 2020 goals and Janine focuses on helping her organizing clients let go of excess. In this episode, they discuss how less stuff can add up to more freedom and happiness. Discussion topics include: • One of Shannon’s focuses for 2020: Letting go of excess • How Shannon feels encumbered by her stuff • A cogent quote from one of Janine’s clients: “I feel handcuffed to my house because of this stuff” • How stuff tends to proliferate when you don’t focus on it • The natural tendency to fill up empty space • How having extra space after you finish decluttering is a good thing • Shannon’s plan to re-embrace a version of Project 333 for her wardrobe • The joy (and beauty) of a not-full closet • How excess can get in the way of people’s freedom and happiness • Janine's truism: The more you keep of a collection, the less special any of it is • Clearing out the excess so you can enjoy and access what you decide to keep • Storing items according to frequency of use • Shannon’s shopping-list strategies that stop her from overbuying • Less is more in practice: How Janine and Shannon decluttered their topics list for this podcast • The keys to less is more: Paying attention to what feels good about it and knowing why you want it Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links.

Money is a source of stress for so many people. One tool that both Janine and Shannon use to help them take the stress out of money and create financial peace is the software You Need a Budget (YNAB). Shannon is a YNAB master! In this episode we discuss YNAB and other strategies for creating financial peace. (And Shannon offers to help any listener  who needs help with YNAB!) Discussion topics include: • The key to Shannon’s financial peace: YNAB (You Need a Budget) software • Rule 1 with YNAB: Give each dollar a job! • How YNAB can help you manage an irregular income by creating a buffer • Budgeting for next month’s expenses • Shannon’s addiction to interacting with her money every day in YNAB (it takes less than 15 minutes!) • Budgeting for annual expenses monthly to eliminate big surprise payments • How YNAB can help create peace in relationships when people share money • Reading a book about YNAB vs trying it out first • How Janine is pairing YNAB and Quickbooks to help her stay on top of her bookkeeping • The peace that comes with being on top of your money • Using Undebt.it to help with debt payoff • How YNAB can help with automatic credit card payments • Shannon’s offer to help out anyone who’s trying out YNAB in our Facebook group • A strategy for creating a buffer so that this month’s income pays next month’s expenses • Making money feel supportive rather than stressful See the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links.

Buckle up for a fabulous interview with Janine Queenin and Nicole Markel, hosts of the Messy Middle Roadtrip Podcast. In this fascinating and very wide-ranging interview we talk about almost everything under the sun from perimenopause to travel, from toxic products to being a ninja warrior! And all things midlife in between.  We cover How Janine and Nicole came up with the concept and the name for their podcast, Messy Middle RoadTrip Getting beyond the invisibility of getting older and the embarrassment of menopause Changing society’s narratives around our worship of youth How midlife women are a huge untapped sector of society How we can sometimes make ourselves invisible by our poor self-talk Fighting against the urge to step back Starting new businesses in midlife Disconnecting through travel Eliminating toxicity from the products we use everyday Finding inspiration for a business in illness Defeating psoriatic arthritis and improving psoriasis through eating clean, using clean products and lifestyle changes, rather than medication How labels can in be incredibly misleading Regulations on products are woefully inadequate and worse in the US than in Europe How the term fragrance can be used to hide a multiple of nasty ingredients In the US only 11 harmful ingredients are banned. In Europe the figure is 1300! How hormonal changes in midlife can highlight issues that need to be dealt and it’s important to listen to our bodies How stress can create a perfect storm of factors leading to ill health How positive natural solutions can be massively transformative The importance of not letting disease define you Trial and error in starting a business and not wanting to have a boss any more The importance of thinking about the environment when it comes to travelling The prevalence of greenwashing – making environmental claims that cannot be backed up How product formulations change when the small business sells out to a bigger company The impact of laundry detergent on skin The impact of inhaling vapours from synthetic cleaning products especially at home when it’s cold outside The importance of checking labels on products The impact of the toxic body buildup of ingredients on fertility and other issues including our experience of menopause The amazing things midlife women are doing and that they talk about on the Messy Middle Roadtrip podcast How little we know about teenager’s lives The spirit of midlife women and their willingness to share The importance of talking about health issues in particular The power behind owning your story and being proud of it And lots more! Find out more about Janine and Nicole, their work and the fabulous Messy Middle Road Trip podcast on their website. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and maybe leave a review on iTunes or wherever you’re listening. Find out how to leave a review here: bit.ly/leavepodcastreview You can find out more information and get the show notes to every episode at magnificentmidlife.com. That’s also where you’ll find strategies, support and resources to help make your midlife magnificent. There’s a midlife wellness program, courses, midlife mentoring to help make the most of your next chapter and our online Members Club. If not now, when?

Overthinking anything--but especially our goals--is really easy to do. And those folks with perfectionistic tendencies are particularly susceptible. This week, Shannon and Janine discuss overthinking, particularly as it pertains to end-of-the-year goal setting, and share some of their goal-setting tools as well as techniques for avoiding overthinking. Discussion topics include: • Janine’s antidote to overthinking, her mantra, “Let it be easy.” • The problem with overthinking: you don’t realize you’re doing it until it's too late (sometimes way too late) • How Janine overthought her year-end planning last year and ended up with less-clear goals • How perfectionism can make it easy to overthink • Shannon’s bon vivant year • How Janine tries to set herself up for success: Step away from overthinking and keep things as simple as possible • The PowerSheets goal setting planner that Janine (and then Shannon!) purchased • Starting out simple and making things (like goal planning and filing) only as complex as required • The power of a Word of the Year • How letting go of the idea that there’s a perfect way to do something can help you let go of overthinking • The importance of taking action rather than pondering • How Shannon tries not to overthink her daily cartooning practice (because it doesn’t help!) Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links and a peek at Shannon's cartooning!

Sometimes when you can't get started on something or you're dragging your feet making a decision, ambivalence is the culprit. It can be sneaky, lurking in the background without your even realizing it. In this episode, Janine and Shannon discuss ambivalence and provide some guidance on clearing it up, so you can make more conscious decisions. (Because not making a decision is actually making a decision.) Discussion topics include: • Our relief over NaNoWriMo being over and what we’ll do with our time • The ambivalence we felt about the novels we wrote in November • The dictionary definition of ambivalence • The ambivalence Shannon used to feel about her goal of walking the Camino de Santiago • How you can feel ambivalent without even realizing it • A clue that you’re feeling ambivalent: You use the phrase, “On the one hand…" • One way to clear up ambivalence: Dig into the positive intention of each side • Shannon’s Boring Change tool (see link), which can help you discover underlying ambivalence • Questions to ask yourself when clearing up ambivalence • How Janine is going to apply this during her annual winter goal-setting retreat • How you’re making a decision when you don't make a decision • The relief of making a decision, even if it’s “no, for now,” rather than living with ambivalence • The fact that “maybe” is a “no” until it’s a “yes.” • Another clue that you’re feeling ambivalent: You’re trying to talk yourself into doing something • Clearing the ambivalence so you can make a decision from a conscious place • The importance of knowing what’s important to you in getting to the bottom of ambivalence • Shannon’s verbing of the noun “surface" • How identifying ambivalence takes away its power Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links.

Over the course of this podcast, Shannon and Janine have made some commitments to changing various things in their lives, inspired by insights in various episodes. In this episode, we update you on how (or whether) we've managed to do the things we thought we'd do. Discussion topics include: • A tornado in Portland! • Our (new) commitment to keeping a list of these commitments so we don’t forget about them • Janine’s re-energized knitting and Shannon’s happy t-shirt drawer • How it’s okay to change our minds • How the problem with a bad memory is not actually having a bad memory but rather worrying about having a bad memory • The amazingly good memories both Shannon and Janine enjoyed when we were young • What Shannon does when she can’t remember someone’s name • A workshop Shannon’s planning to offer in Phoenix about embracing good enough in your writing or creative practices • Our plea to let us know you’re a listener if we ever see you in person • Shannon’s strategies for getting back to her morning routine We gave updates on these commitments: • Janine’s knitting, from Episode 65 • Shannon’s t-shirt drawer also, from Episode 65 • Janine’s desire to become more handy, from Episode 60 • Shannon’s desire to stop labeling herself as a person with a bad memory, also from Episode 60 • Both Shannon and Janine’s desire to become better at asking for help, from Episode 17 • How Janine practiced saying no (to Shannon!), from Episode 53 • Shannon’s progress on her genealogy and inherited items, from Episode 20 • Shannon’s struggles with her morning routine, from Episode 11 (among others) Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links to the various episodes discussed, as well as a couple of photos!

Labels on bins are great. Labels we give ourselves can be limiting. This week, Janine and Shannon talk about the problem with negative labels we apply to ourselves, along with the benefits of positive labels. We also discuss some of the labels  we're trying to shed in our own lives. Discussion topics include: • Words matter: By talking tendencies, not labels, we allow ourselves room for change • How Janine, who is naturally good at good enough, sometimes acts in a perfectionistic way • What should we call people who embrace good enough? (Good enoughers?) • That positive labels can be helpful, but negative ones are limiting • How our self-applied labels don’t necessarily reflect reality (Shannon had run three marathons before she would call herself a real runner!) • How Shannon overcame a swimming phobia as a gift to herself for her 40th birthday • Thinking about which labels can be useful and which aren’t helpful at all • The shift in Janine’s thinking about her self-applied “messy” label • Labels Janine and Shannon hear from their clients • Just-in-time productivity versus procrastination • How if your label becomes your identity, it’s something to explore (particularly if it’s holding you back) • Janine’s label as a “non-handy” person and her strategies for changing it • Shannon’s label as someone with a bad memory and how she’d like to change that Go to the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links.

It's summer in the U.S. and both Shannon and Janine are traveling. Janine has just returned from a genealogy research trip to Kentucky and Shannon is anticipating an Alaskan cruise. In this episode we discuss some "good enough" strategies to make travel more enjoyable and less stressful. Discussion topics include: • How Janine let her recent genealogy research trip be easy • The benefit of building flexibility into the research trip • The beauty of a simplified wardrobe when you’re traveling • The challenges of packing for an Alaskan cruise • Some ideas for creative packing to deal with multiple climates • Various ways we’re using Trello for travel planning • A new-to-us tool for making Trello even better: The Trello Safari bookmark (it feels magical!) • How perfectionism around travel can be so paralyzing we don't go anywhere • Other ways that perfectionism can get in the way of traveling • Building self-care into travel • The value of building in a buffer of at least one rest day after returning from a trip • Planning to do less than you think you can fit in, to leave room for rest and spontaneity Visit www.gettingtogoodenough.com for Trello links!

I had the opportunity to chat with Janine Guerra who opened a Disney inspired Etsy shop, Craft Designs by J9, in 2017 with only two decals! Now, two years later, she has 476 5-star reviews and 2,302 sales. Some of the questions we answer in this interview: How Janine got started from hobby to Etsy shop What was the hardest part of starting her Disney business? How much inventory does Janine keep on hand? Can you run a Disney business just for fun? Can you own a Disney inspired business if you don’t live near the parks? What would Janine do differently? How spending $1 per day has brought Janine sales Janine’s favorite Table Service and Quick Service restaurants Table Service: Via Napoli Quick Service:  Lotus Blossom Cafe and Sleepy Hollow Where to find Janine Janine’s Etsy shop Follow Janine on Instagram

Janine's four favorite words are "Let it be easy" and she says them to anyone who will listen (including, frequently, Shannon). This week, Shannon and Janine discuss the value of that mantra and how we try to let things be easy in our lives. And, as usual, we discover that it all boils down to knowing what's important to you. Discussion topics include: • How Shannon and Janine spent time together in Portland this week, but didn’t manage to record a podcast • How her mantra, “Let it be easy” benefits Janine • The expanded version of the mantra, from coach Michael Neill: “Why is it so hard to let it be easy?” • How Shannon has tried to let it be easy as she deals with getting around on crutches (which is decidedly not easy!) • Janine’s “let it be easy” approach to her photo-scanning project • How Janine’s clients respond when she urges them to let it be easy • Janine's super power • Putting the “let it be easy” filter on the planning for an upcoming genealogy research trip • The value of getting clear on why something is important to you • The fact that complicated systems are doomed to fail (particularly filing systems) • The “let it be easy” approach Shannon and Janine took to starting this podcast (we went from idea to execution in less than two months!) • How recuperating from ankle surgery has helped Shannon practice letting things be easy • The fact that letting it be easy often means embracing good enough Go to the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links!

Since this is the 52nd episode of the podcast, Janine and Shannon are celebrating a year of podcasting and discussing what it's been like living with a "good enough" mentality for a year. (Spoiler alert: It's been great!) Discussion topics include: • Some things we’ve learned from a year of living the “good enough” mentality • How Shannon is more okay with good enough now than she was a year ago • The difference it’s made to allow good enough to be good enough • How Janine feels better about her pre-existing good-enough mentality than she did before the podcast • The benefits of experimenting with good enough • Shannon’s good-enough Reading Trello board • Janine’s good-enough experience buying a new monitor • The freedom of embracing good enough when entertaining • How her good-enough mentality helped Shannon figure out how to adapt to her limited exercise ability • Electric-bike-buying made easy with good enough • Embracing good enough in podcasting (no editing, no rehearsing) • Our excellent division of labor in podcast post-production • How we never could have imagined a year ago the podcast's successes Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com to see a photo of Shannon's Reading Trello board!

Janine K. Iannarelli is the founder and president of Par Avion Ltd. She has more than 30 years of business aviation experience representing numerous corporations and private individuals worldwide with the sale and purchase of business aircraft. Par Avion is an aircraft marketing firm that specializes in the exclusive representation and acquisition of aircraft with an emphasis on pre-owned business jets valued upwards of $65,000,000 (USD). Ms. Iannarelli has extensive experience in cross-border transactions, with nearly 90 percent of Par Avions business concentrated in this area of specialization. The scope of her experience with aircraft sales transactions reaches well beyond the procurement process in that she has in-depth interactions with the OEMs, maintenance facilities and completion centers specific to these aircraft. Ms. Iannarelli also works directly with designated representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration as well as with many other countries civil aviation authorities where she has placed or procured aircraft. As a sought after mentor and inspirational advisor, she often speaks before women and youth organizations about career development and life skill set necessary to navigate the business world. Ms. Iannarelli routinely serves as a reliable source on business aviation for local, regional, national and international media on a variety of business aviation and small business topics. She is a regular panelist and presenter at industry events that focus on current valuations and trends in the new and preowned global marketplace for aircraft. Ms. Iannarelli is a passionate supporter of the arts and charities that benefit children and animals. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Janine’s career path led her to the world of business aviation and to founding a $65 million company How an encounter with a fellow female entrepreneur helped set the stage for Janine’s business success How Janine’s childhood and upbringing helped her gain a sense of satisfaction for a job well done What skills Janine feels are crucial for business professionals to develop to manage stress and get ahead What regular habits and traits Janine developed that helped contribute to her business success How the 2008 economic recession impacted Janine’s business, and how she overcame the challenges she faced What service Janine’s business provides, and how the economic downturn created new opportunities Why Janine’s advice to entrepreneurs is to manage your time well and to trust your intuition What important lessons Janine learned from her first business mentor and former boss early in her career Why Janine draws inspiration and insight from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” and considers it required reading How to contact Janine Iannarelli: Website: www.paravionltd.com Telephone: (713) 681-0075

Most people we meet have more clothes than they wear. When closets are crammed with unworn and unloved clothes, getting dressed is difficult. In this episode, Shannon and Janine talk about curating your closet so it's a pleasure to use and contains only clothes you love. This is a long episode--we just had so much to say! Discussion topics include: • How most people we meet have some sort of struggle with their clothes • The domino effect of a crowded closet • The benefits of having a one in/one out policy in your closet • The joy and convenience of an uncrowded closet * Project 333, the minimalist clothing challenge * How Janine really likes wearing the same clothes again and again * How Shannon had a uniform that she didn't love--until she went to Stasia's Style School * Janine and Shannon’s recent (painless) closet clean outs * Organizing clothes by color * Folding shirts like Marie Kondo (which Janine has been doing for many years) * How frequent travel can help you pare down your wardrobe * Shannon’s patented DIY closet-clearing method * Why all this matters and how perfectionism plays a part

Like the dog in the movie Up who shouts "Squirrel!", we can so easily get distracted by new and exciting things. This week Janine and Shannon discuss Bright Shiny Object Syndrome and some strategies for resisting it as well as for harnessing it for good. Discussion topics include: •How easy it is to be pulled away by bright shiny objects (BSOs) • Shannon’s 90-day plans that help her resist the BSOs • The importance of having a system in place to take note of the BSOs so you can come back to them later • Using Bright Shiny Object Syndrome to your advantage • How Janine harnesses her penchant for BSOs by using Trello for task management • Building BSOs into your plan for your day • Identifying why you’re drawn to a particular BSO to help you modify your existing projects/systems to make them more attractive to you • How being kind to yourself fits into the picture

My guest today is Janine Allis. Janine is the founder of Boost Juice, which now has over 500 stores globally. You might also know Janine as an investor on the TV show Shark Tank. Janine has received a tonne of awards including the Telstra Business Women of the Year. She is also a mother of four kids. Needless to say, she is a very busy person.We cover a heap of different topics in this chat, including:How Janine structures her week to maximise productivityWhy Janine doesn’t believe in work-life balanceWhy Janine doesn’t do back-to-back meetingsWhy Janine doesn’t come to the office before 11amJanine’s system for remembering everything - and letting nothing slip through the cracksThe role that yoga plays in Janine’s life, and how to find a great teacherHer “trick" for making email checking funWhy Janine is more likely to pick up the phone that have a conversation by emailHer mobile phone rules for her familyThe last thing Janine does on her phone every day to help switch offWhy Janine prefers audiobooks to physical booksAnd so much more.You can find Janine at https://www.janineallis.com.au/ and on Twitter at @janineboostVisit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this second "Q&A on the 5s" episode, Janine and Shannon answer some phoned-in questions from listeners. Discussion topics include: • How sometimes ease doesn’t come easily • The perennial problem of perfectionism: It can feel uncomfortable to stop at less than 100 percent • The discomfort of striving and failing to achieve perfection vs the discomfort of letting things not be perfect • How Janine let go of a perfectionistic temptation to rewrite her client’s spice labels • Practicing good enough on less consequential projects • Revisiting tasks to make good enough better • How Shannon gives herself permission to come back to a task, deeming it “good enough for now” which allows her to stop. • The freedom of good enough

Being overcommitted often means being stressed. In this episode, Janine and Shannon suggest the hazards of overcommitting and ways to keep yourself from overcommitting. (Including ways to just say no.) They also discuss the value of building a buffer into your life. Discussion topics include: • How Janine lived an overcommitted life for a few stressful years • Tips for responding to invitations to help • How to create that all-important buffer • How overcommitting contributed to Shannon’s chronic lateness problem (and how she overcame it) • The overcommitment antidote: How to figure out how much free time you have available so you can avoid overcommitting • How to evaluate whether you should say yes (or no) to a commitment

Fans of The Simpsons may remember the episode in which Homer is jubilant about "new billboard day." This 1995 episode happened long before digital marketing became an obsession that in some circles rendered outdoor obsolete. Well Homer Simpson has a new comrade in arms with Janine Pelosi, the CMO at Zoom, at least when comes to the appreciation of outdoor advertising.   In past 18 months, Pelosi and Zoom put forward the simple but powerful message "Meet Happy" to build awareness of their online meeting platform. Then they shared it with the world, but not just through ads on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google. They invested heavily in billboards and transit ads across major US and European markets. The results? 100% year over year revenue growth. 135% year over year user base growth. 1600% growth in weekly web traffic. That Simpsons gag was released in 1995, but Janine's team is proving that billboards and outdoor advertising can still be powerful, as long as the message is right.   In this episode, Drew and Janine talk about effective, honest messaging and how to broadcast it to the world. Janine talks through Zoom's success, its challenges, and her high-level thoughts on the role a CMO should play, especially in being an advocate for their team. Learn from Janine’s journey at Zoom by listening to this episode. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts - Stitcher- or Podsearch What You’ll Learn Zoom’s latest brand awareness campaign is “Meet Happy,” and it works wonders without digital marketing With over 700,000 businesses using Zoom to meet virtually, Janine and her team realized that meetings were a critical piece of modern business. They sought out to create a brand awareness campaign that would generate demand in a unique way. That’s why they stayed away from typical digital marketing strategies such as Facebook ads. Instead, they put outdoor marketing pieces across the world on buses, billboards, taxis, etc. The “Meet Happy” campaign speaks to so many prospects because it encourages a positive emotion and interaction with a product. Delivering happiness and great meeting experiences are what Zoom does best, and it shows. Generating demand is one thing, delivering on a promise is another. Zoom succeeds at both! The “Meet Happy” campaign simply generates demand. It doesn’t capture that demand and turn it into leads and sales. For capturing the demand, Janine still relies on digital tools. By using this form of promise-based marketing, Janine creates positive connections with prospects even before they visit Zoom’s website. Their team follows through on that promise by always focusing on perfecting their product and having exceptional customer service. Internally, the Zoom team keeps “be happy” as a company culture pillar. It focuses everyone around a central mindset and has bonded the team together as they grew. Janine shares her main ideas for successful marketing, company culture, and innovation At Zoom, having a supportive CEO is one of the biggest ingredients in their “secret sauce” of success. Janine explains that without the support and encouragement of top company leaders, organizing successful campaigns is difficult. Are you interested in achieving the same amount of success as Zoom? Janine encourages all marketers to keep marketing practical, keep it simple, and stay focused. Don’t chase after all the tools on the market and don’t overthink your messaging. Simply know your brand, believe in your product, and trust your intuition. Timeline [1:15] How Janine’s work has increased Zoom’s marketing success in just 3 years [2:35] Janine’s Renegade Rapid Fire segment [11:49] How Zoom’s “Meet Happy” brand awareness campaign works wonders for capturing demand [20:07] The “secret sauce” behind Janine’s marketing strategy at Zoom [23:34] Delivering on the promise of the “Meet Happy” campaign [26:45] Learn from the challenges Zoom’s marketing team has faced Connect With Janine: Janine’s profile on the Zoom website Connect with Janine on LinkedIn Follow Janine on Twitter Resources & People Mentioned Zoom website BOOK: “The SPEED of TRUST: The One Thing That Changes Everything” Gartner brand Connect with Drew http://renegade.com/ On LinkedIn On Twitter On Facebook On Instagram

In this episode of Drop and Give Me 20, Lindsey interviews Molly Winkle and Janine Boldrin about knowing when to fold. In military-related business, we see some switching from one focus to another. They shared their experiences as military spouses and how they came up with different and difficult decisions. Molly Winkle is a veteran whose husband and son are on active duty and are currently deployed. She is a realtor specializing in military and long-distance relocation. Janine Boldrin started Military Kids Life after working as a freelance writer in the military space for over a decade. She is currently the managing editor of Military Spouse Magazine. Her husband is in active duty in the army. Important topics they discuss: [02:00] Molly's military background and what her business is all about [03:04] Janine on starting Military Kid's Life back when she was a freelance writer [03:10] Military Kid's life as the first print magazine for military kids [03:24] Janine's family and job background [04:05] Knowing when to fold [04:20] How Janine felt when they had to sell the project she spearheaded [05:20] Molly's experience making a switch from one focus to another [06:53] How she ended up doing real estate [07:46] How Janine knew it's over and it's time to let go of the business and how she felt about it [09:54] When Molly realized the business is not worth pursuing [11:25] The impact being a military spouse has when trying to fold from something [15:00] The possibility of picking back up later the entrepreneur effort they've put behind [17:40] Tips for those who are in the same situation they are in [20:58] Advice to those who are thinking about folding their business Quote: “. . . you’d think that you just have to work harder. And it's hard to figure out what that balance is or that tipping point of ‘Is my hard work going to catapult this or is my hard work in vain?’ and identifying that moment where you can figure out is it really just 'I need to go a few more weeks or a few more months, or even a year, or even I put it in a year . . . it’s really not going to be where it needs to be . . . ” - Janine Boldrin Social: Molly Winkle on Facebook  Molly's Email Address: molly@mollywinkle.com Military Influencer Conference - MIC 2018  Military Spouse  Janine's Email Address: janine.boldrin@militaryspouse.com

It's hard to know how to stop at good enough if you haven't identified what good enough means to you. Shannon and Janine discuss why it's important to understand your own standards of good enough--and how those standards are very personal. Discussion topics include: • How standards can vary depending on the importance of what you’re working on •How living with teenagers has caused Shannon to embrace a different standard of good enough in terms of housekeeping (spoiler alert: the word “botulism” is part of her standard) • The challenge of living with people whose standards of clutter are different than yours • Shannon’s technique for avoiding over-researching purchases •How Janine straddles the divide between the future and the ancient ways

How to Shift Your Business to Align with Your Desired Life with Janine Esbrand. In this episode of the Boss Mom Podcast, Janine talks about being a lawyer and her transition from lawyer to life coach. This episode is sponsored by Organize 365. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes:  In this episode you’ll hear: How Janine went from lawyer to business coach and mum to her sweet baby boy. Why lawyers work so many long hours and why Janine has moved away from corporate law. Janine's current job and coaching practice. Self-awareness, time management and dealing with overwhelm. How Janine finds her coaching clients. Her visibility plan to find her ideal clients. Sponsor: Organize 365 Lisa has the resources to start and finish your home organization. The Sunday Basket is her system for helping you get a handle on all the DAILY and ACTIONABLE papers that are floating around in your kitchen, car, bedroom, dining room, mailbox, etc. Head to Organize 365 to find out more and organize your home. Recommended links and resources: *affiliate links may be present. Trello Asana Passion Planner Boss Mom Facebook Community Can I quote you on that?  Are all the things I really have to do a priority? In reality, what's really the priority and what can I move over? - Janine More about our guest, Janine Esbrand. Janine is the founder of LightBOX Coaching, which helps female lawyers to build careers they are love whilst raising a family. She is also a commercial lawyer and the host of the More Than A Lawyer Podcast. In her free time, she enjoys family time and meeting new people. The Lawyer to Mum Coaching Program helps female lawyers successfully integrate motherhood and their career. This 6-month program helps women to get clear on their definition of success and then craft a plan that allows them to build a life and career that truly reflects their values and what is important to them. Website / Podcast / Facebook / Instagram Connect with Dana: Instagram / The Boss Mom Facebook community (her total happy place) We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community.  We would LOVE it if you’d leave a podcast rating or review on iTunes. We also know it can be kind of tricky to figure out. Here are a few step by step instructions on how to leave an iTunes rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad Launch Apple’s Podcast app. Tap the Search tab. Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review. Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right. Tap the album art for the podcast. Tap the Reviews tab. Tap Write a Review at the bottom. Enter your iTunes password to login. Tap the Stars to leave a rating. Enter title text and content to leave a review. Tap Send.