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Music. Welcome to design for the creative mind, a podcast for interior designers and creative entrepreneurs to run their business with purpose, efficiency and passion, because while every design is different, the process should remain the same. Prepare yourself for some good conversations with amazing guests, a dash of Jesus and a touch of the Woo, woo, and probably a swear word or two. If you're ready to stop trading your time for money and enjoy your interior design business, you are in the right place. I'm your host. Michelle Lynn, you
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Hey, Hey everybody, welcome back to the podcast. And when I say Welcome back, I mean, welcome back to our guest as well. I'm happy to introduce Andrea libros. She was on episode 80, and she's back today. I don't even know what episode we're going to be on by the time this gets gets released, but
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in the real, in the in the in the right,
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exactly. But yeah, thanks for joining again. So
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thanks for having me. I'm happy to be here absolutely. So
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y'all, we will have a link to the previous, the previous episode in our show notes, because we were talking about price is just a number, and
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it goes with it. But we talked about how you know you need to have really your price, or how you think about your own worth, is a combination of three beliefs. So, yes, go back to Episode 80. Go listen. And I think,
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yeah, but it goes along the same line it does. It's, we're talking about thinking big,
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yes, yes, thinking totally, it totally goes long same, okay. Oh, but let
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me introduce you. Okay, so hold on. Andrea is the big thinking expert for high achieving women entrepreneurs. So you're in the right place. Listeners, Andrea helps these bold, ambitious women make the shift from thinking small and feeling overwhelmed in business and life to getting the clarity, confidence and freedom that they crave. Andrea believes that the secret sauce to thinking big and creating big results such as you're worthy and capable of has just two ingredients, solid systems and the right big mindset. Andrea is the author of the best seller, she thinks big. This is the entrepreneurial woman. Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide to moving past the messy middle and into the extraordinary. She's also the host of the she thinks big podcast. Okay, so perfect. Well, did a good job. You are officially introduced. Thank you. Didn't need to have people go back to 80 to figure out who the heck you are. So congratulations on your book. That's super exciting, super exciting. What? What do you mean by thinking big? What is this? Oh, this
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is a big loaded question, but it's so fun to explore a big, loaded question. We can have a lot of puns on this, a lot of funds. Okay, so I work with female entrepreneurs. I work with a lot of interior designers, a ton, but I work with other people in other industries too, and I find that especially as women, we think small, even though we don't think we're thinking small. Okay, so we like to stay in our box, our safe little box. So I don't know if you've ever heard of the motivational triad, but you know, our brain wants three things, wants things to be easy and efficient, wants things to be safe and it wants things to be comfortable. So even if you feel like you are living or operating in chaos, it's like you're used to it, right? You're used to it like, especially as moms and women. I mean, we're lucky if we can get everybody out the door right. So we're kind of always on this, like, merry go round or a roller coaster and and our brains are just used to being there and trying to juggle all the balls.
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And because we're actually honestly comfortable there, we don't go to the place where, what if i What if I wasn't juggling all the balls? What if I just juggled, in your case, what if I just did the design and something someone else handled all the back office? Yeah, oh, I don't know. I don't know if I have enough revenue to do that. I'm not sure. Or whatever. We can go into all sorts of things. So we don't do it, and we just keep plugging along, like wearing all the hats, right? So I think there's a lot of reasons why big thinking is challenging for women. And what I wanted to share with your listeners today is really like, if you if we dig deep into this, there's really just five things. I've kind of narrowed it down to five tenants that all big thinkers hold, or five things that they do. And I think if you can kind of wrap your head around that, then you're good. Take notes.
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Okay? Do. Yeah. So I want you to first before I dive into the five things. I want your listeners to think, Okay, let me think three years from now. So, I mean, we're recording this in 2024 so probably it's going to come out in 2024 who knows? But let's say it's 2027 okay, and you're the person in 2027 who does not live a chaotic life, or is not feeling confused and overwhelmed in their business, who has it together, who has reached all of their amazing goals, who is working with only the clients they want to work with, whose pricing is right on track, who feels like they have time to do the kind of work in the business that they want to do, not QuickBooks, because I don't know any designers that want to go in QuickBooks and play around in there. Okay, amen. So I want you to go to that person, and that person also is happy, and they're having fun. They're having fun, like, business wise, personally, they're having fun. Things feel simple to them. They feel doable and they feel fun.
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Okay, so go to that person, and as we think about this big thinking framework, that future person has all the answers. So sometimes when we're answering questions or pondering decisions, we're pondering them from the present self, the one that you know, could do all she could to get everybody out the door this morning, right? And we're saying, I can't add another thing to my plate that just, oh my, too much so. But we're answering that from present self. We're not answering it from the person that we want to be or who we want to become, and that future you has become. It. So really, to answer the question of, like, should I invest in hiring another person you are not answering, do not put your today hat on. Go ask future you. What would she say? She'd probably say, like, go for it, because that's, you know, that's a helpful way to get where you want to go. If you've got more hands, I'd love that
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you have to be in order to have the things you want to have, and do the things you want to do. Yeah, and you actually put a face and a name to Yeah, because she's me in three years, she is the listener in three years. Yes,
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I even want like, picture like, what does she look like? Does she look like you today? Maybe she does, but maybe she doesn't. Does she, like, is, are her kids all out of the house? Is she driving people around? Does she have two offices? Does she have two studios or showrooms? Like, maybe she does. Okay. So if that's the case, what would she tell you today, right? Like, what would happen? I love that, yeah. So that's kind of just, that's a framework like that's big picture, right? Dear future self, okay, Dear future self. So, Dear future self. One of the things that you need to recognize future self, or today self, really, is that you have thought options. Okay? So I have this acronym trust in all big thinkers, trust themselves. Okay? So if we go through the letters of trust, think about, like, think about that just like, pause. Like, Elon Musk, he trusts himself. Okay? Jobs, like, they even if they don't got it, even if the next Apple product is a flop, they're like, that's okay, because the next, next one is going to be amazing, right? So they trust themselves. They actually trust their team and all the things around him. So I want you, you know, Miss listener out there, I want you to trust yourself. So T and trust. T and trust stands for thought options.
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I'm going to give you an example of what's a thought option. So a thought option is today at my house, it's like, cloudy and 80. Okay, so I could think a lot of things, but I could think, oh, you know what, it's warm out, but the sun's not burning. It's a great day to be outside, okay? Because it's not like overbearing heat, okay? Or I could think, gee, today I really wanted to lay by the pool, and I wanted it to be bright and sunny, and now it's cloudy, and this is disappointing. Okay, so the facts There are the same 80 and cloudy. But I get, I have two options of how I want to think about this so or how, and I get to choose, like, I could go with the Whoa, disappointing, or I could go with, this is great. Okay, so in your business, there's so many things you have thought options about. You have thought options about the annoying client. You have a thought option about what you know your marketing. You have thought options about how you want to approach things like you got tons of thought options so, but you've got to recognize that there are options. Our brain doesn't offer us up options. It just offers up up the one that's like, safe and comfy and easy,
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yes, because our brain wants to keep us safe, right,
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right? And it's even if you don't really love what's happening, you're used to it. What's safe, right? It's like, yeah, I call it kind of like your happiness. Point
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or Yeah, or your comfortable shoes. They might not be attractive, but they're really comfortable Exactly,
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exactly like you want to wear those heels. But you know, they're not that comfortable, right? So thought options is number one. All big thinkers understand that they have thought options. A good visual for this, because I'm guessing your listeners are very visual. I like to picture at a wedding or some fancy event where there's someone passing hors d'oeuvres, and they go around, and they come to me, and they just look at me, and they say, take one, and they put the tray in front of me, and I look down on the tray and I'm like, Oh, do I want the bruschetta, the spinach square, the shrimp cocktail? What do I want? Okay, that's like a tray of thoughts, a tray of options you get to choose. Okay, so that's number 1t, and trust. R, T, R, the R and trust. Okay, so R stands for real problem. So what is the real problem? Okay, so let's go back to the the shoes. Let's use the shoes as an example, okay. The real problem with the heels, okay, is not that they don't fit you because you wouldn't have bought that they're the right size, right? The real problem with the heels is not that they have a two inch heel versus a one inch heel, okay.
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The real problem with the heels is just that when you wear them, you don't feel great. You there's a negative feeling after 10 minutes. Okay, so in that's it. There's no other problem. It's just that you don't want to feel that way in those shoes. Okay, gotcha, if we go to your business and you raise your prices, this kind of ties into Episode 80, you might get some people that say no, and your brain's going to offer up. The reason they say no is because you raise your price, your price is too high, and you're going to feel not so great, you're going to feel defeated, you're going to feel annoyed, you're going to wonder if you really made the right decision. Okay, so your price isn't a problem, it's how the real problem is just a feeling. So this is like, good news, my friends, the real problem is just a feeling. It is not the price, it is not the shoes, it is not the person, the client, right? It's how you're feeling about the client, like you're feeling like you're I had a client this morning. My client said I just didn't want the husband there. He really made me feel uncomfortable that in there you go. So insult, okay, yeah, like, the husband isn't really the problem. I mean, I'm not saying he's the best guy, but Right. It's just your feeling that you didn't like so big thinkers recognize that 99.999% of the time, there is no problem in taking the risk or putting the big thinking into action. The problem is just that you're not going to necessarily love how you feel when you're doing it.
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So does that tie in with you need to be you need to get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. Yes,
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it kind of goes back to that good old saying, you know, yeah, I always like to say everything you wanted is on the other side of uncomfortable, right, yeah, but it's, it's cheesy, but true. It's very true. It's very true. I mean, like writing my book, I had never written a book, and it really wasn't one of those, like, bucket list items, you know, it wasn't but I wanted to do it for various other reasons. And we can have a whole podcast on that. And it was an uncomfortable process for me, but I was willing to work through it. I was willing to go through it, and because I recognize what would be on the other side,
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your future self, yes, yes. Yeah. So
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I was like, Okay, think about my future self, who's a best selling author who gets to share her message and with 1000s of other people that hadn't heard it before, right? Like, yeah. Okay, so future self is telling me, keep going Andrea, keep writing, keep slogging through. I know it's hard, yeah, but do it. Okay? So, real problem, just a feeling. It's really kind of good news. My friends like, because you know how to do feelings. You know how to do uncomfortable, right? It's like, going
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to the gym, you feel uncomfortable while you're working out because you're sweaty and your body hurts, right, all the things. But then you wake up the next day and you're like, Oh, my jeans fit,
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right? And you know, I'm really good, and you didn't have to want to do things like, you could wake up and say, I don't really want to go to the gym this morning. Okay? But you go anyway, right? You go anyway. So like you're willing to go through that, not wanting that's another misconception I think a lot of business owners have, is that they believe, excuse me, that they have to want to do everything like in a in a it has to feel a feel good thing,
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like a cupcake, like a cupcake,
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alright? So that'd be craving, so that's r, okay, that's real problem. Alright, you so trust t r u used. Stands for uncertainty and unknown. So I'm going to tell you a little story this morning. This is a true story. So few hours ago, I was on a consult call with someone, and you know, she's like, okay, Andrea, I totally think this is, this is this is so ironic. This is exactly what I need. What you're offering is exactly what I need. I totally need to do this, but I just want to make sure that it's going to work. I just want to make sure that I'm not going to, you know, not follow through, and I'm not going to do the things that I need to do. I just want to make sure it's like, okay. So, so Okay. Can I I always ask, can I put my coach hat on? You're giving me permission, sure. How are we gonna know if you're gonna follow through? Like, how are we gonna know if this is the exact right thing at the right to do into time? Is this the right time? How are we gonna know it's the right time? Tell me. Like, what are we looking for? There's no great question. Answer to that question, yeah, like, there's a crystal ball.
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There's no crystal ball. So if you're going to be a big thinker, then you have to embrace and be okay with uncertainty and unknown, which is a little different than uncomfortable. Okay, yeah, this is, like, the I don't know if this is going to work. I don't know if I'm going to get the return on this. I don't know how I am going to react in this situation, but you just have to be okay with not knowing. That's great, yeah. And a lot of times when we're not okay with not knowing, we go into a place of what I call decision or business lag. Okay? So your business lags like, you're kind of almost like, it's like dragging behind you, or you feel a dip in it. You're kind of like in below the surface, because you're not making decisions. It really can picture that, right? Because you're uncertain, like, Okay, another thing I hear people say is, you're not doing anything, no, I just want to be very strategic about this. I don't want to rush into anything. Okay, then noble. Noble, cause I want you to be strategic. Yeah, I don't want you to rush, feel like you're rushing into but I'm really curious, like, what is strategic? Look like? What are we looking for? What are our where's our, what's, what's has to happen. Okay, so, right? We don't know. We don't really know. Dude,
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this has to feel so familiar to so many listeners. I this, this resonates,
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yeah, so it's because, because, when you think about it, when you decided do to do, when
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you just do to do, so you
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can do me, it's okay. When you started your business, okay, I'm gonna guess. And I'm just going out on a limb, you were like, You know what? I really like this interior design thing. I really help, like, helping people in this way with their homes, creating great spaces, all the things I'm going to do it, I'm going to start this business. People want it. People ask me all the time. My friends are always asking for advice. I'm going to guess that you did not say because I want to be a business owner who has to make a million decisions and be in and hire people and outsource things and keep track of the book like no, none of you said that. None of you said that you might be curious about it. Might be a little fascinating, kind of exciting in the beginning, okay, but then it wears off the exciting and the fascinating and so true, right? And you're like, damn, I have to be the designer and the business owner. And you probably make decisions in the with what you're delivering rather easily and quickly, in a sense, like you know that they should go with this piece of artwork and not that you could pick a and b for them, okay, but should you, you know, have a bigger social media presence? I don't know. Do you need it? Do you not need it? Okay, so there's where that embracing uncertainty kind of comes in love. That's what big thinkers do.
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all right, so that was you s and trust, as in trust stands for, I used to say seek support, but now I say secure support, because we could seek all day long. Oh, good
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point.
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Yeah, we could seek, and we can seek in 100 different ways. We can listen to podcasts. We can read books. We can ask other people. We can Google from now until the cows come home. But are you securing for yourself a support network? And I want to go deeper a little bit on this. I i If I ask someone, well, who's like, Michelle, who's supporting you? Okay, you might be like, Well, my family, that's what I usually hear first, maybe my partner or my spouse. Okay, great. I am happy that they are supporting you. Good to know, because if they weren't right, because it was stuck if they weren't. But now I want to know, like, who's really supporting you as the business owner who's supporting your decision making, who's supporting you when it feels uncomfortable, because remember those family members over there, they love you and they as much as they want to see you succeed, they don't want to see you struggle. They don't want to see you like laying up at night wondering whether or not you should be more on LinkedIn versus Instagram. Okay? Like they don't write things that are ahead at 3am right? Like they just want you to get some rest and be friendly in the morning. Okay, so it's not their job to support you in a business way, necessarily
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that. And I'll tell you that most of our spouses, partners, friends, they don't understand entrepreneurship, and they're also in the arena, as Brene Brown would say, and they don't understand interior design as well. So, like, there's multiple layers, right?
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Like, like, what's my husband's a physician, okay? So he totally doesn't get it. He totally doesn't get it. Okay? He only gets paid when he sees a patient. Medicare insurance pays them. You know, there's all sorts of things. Okay, so this is a true story. So my son just graduated from he went to Indiana University, Kelley School of Business go Hoosiers. Okay, so he just graduated. He's in the business world. And I was standing at the counter, and I said, Hey, I'm gonna be gone for a little bit in the fall. I've got three different trips. I'm doing three different speaking engagements. I'm just talking, like, just sharing news with my husband and my son was standing there. My husband's like, really? He's like, is that really worth it? Andrea, like, is it really worth going on these trips? Does it really worth doing these speaking engagements? I mean, I know they, there's a lot of time, their money, their energy, and I mean, and I was like, yeah, they're worth it. Like, a I love I'm energized by it. Am I tired at the end, sure, but I'm energized by it. Plus, it's a great way to it's a great client platform generator right out there. Yeah, right. But before I could even say that, my son says, Dad, I mean, yes, that's a good decision on her part. Like, this is how she grows her business. Like, what are you talking about? Okay, so he gets it, okay, but that's, but that's the world he's in. Like, he gets that entrepreneurship thing. He just studied it for four years. My husband's like, I mean, really, is it worth it? So as much as they love you, and
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it's not like, your husband's dumb. He's a physician. He's so he's
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not dumb, he's not dumb, and he's, I don't have any little kids anymore, so we can't use the like excuse, Oh, who's going to take it's not really more on. It's not more work for him. When I'm gone, we're past that. We were, we did have that, you know, one point we went through that it's not we're not there, that's not happening. But he's still, like, really, sure. And I've been doing, I've owned my business for six years. This isn't like, a new venture here. So anyway, so that's so Okay, so they support your family in a one way, but you've got to really have business support, and that has lots of forms that can be literally people that you outsource things to, or that come in as employees, like people working in your business. But then it could also be advisors, coaches, mentors, mentors that can go off on a little tangent about mentors, but like someone who's going to challenge your thinking a little bit, someone is going to say, Okay, I love you. And is that the best decision? Because Have you thought about X, Y and Z? I
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think that's fantastic, because it's not just commiserating with. Somebody who no stands the pain of your right particular profession, right? But it is pushing you into that place of discomfort, right?
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Right? So sometimes people say, Oh, I have a mentor. I don't know if that mentor is gonna that's a commiserating sharing of stories. Is it really a pusher? Or sometimes people say, Well, I'm in this networking group, and it's it's helpful, but do they get your business? Do they get you? Do they get what it's like to be a female I just had someone say she goes to BNI, and it's a bunch of dudes, yeah. And she's like, okay, so you need to be in a community with a leader that's going to push you and support you at the same time. And that's my little soapbox for that one.
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But, and it's true. I mean, like, I'm a coach, you're a coach. Yeah, I have a coach, and she makes me uncomfortable too, right, right?
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I have multiple coaches for different things, yeah, right. So, yeah,
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like a personal trainer, it's like, they make you lift more than you can imagine, right? And then you get off that bent that leg press, and you're like, holy crap.
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And they also just did like, I don't know if this is sometimes, I just have to talk it like, and as I'm talking, I figure out my own answer, but I have an open forum to do that, and it's not someone who's rolling their eyes at me at the kitchen island. There's no judgment. There is no judgment, there is no love that. Okay? So s and trust stands for secure support. So go back to like the Elon Musk and the Steve Jobs. They have people supporting them 100% we all know that. Okay, last, T and trust, take action stands for take action. So big thinkers are not sitting around. Woe is me, wondering, pondering, pacing. They're taking action. And I'm talking massive action, yes, okay,
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massive can still be imperfect. Action, right? 100% imperfect?
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Yes, it can be imperfect. It can be risky. You don't have to be 100% sure. It can be exciting. It can be a little scary, okay, all, all those kinds of actions. But I, I want you to differentiate in your brain and ask yourself, Am I taking massive action, or am I just in passive action? Okay, so you are listening to this podcast. I am a big believer in podcasts. I have one myself, right? So I I'm in on podcast books. I wrote a book. I love books. Okay, um, Google. I mean, the Googles. What would we do without the Googles? Okay, but all of that is passive action, so you're tricking yourself. You're like, I'm doing something. I listen to Michelle's podcast every week. Okay, are you really implementing the things she's talking about, or are you just saying to yourself as you're driving down the street? Yeah, she's totally right. I should totally do that, but by the time you get to your driveway, you've kind of forgotten about it. So a lot of I see a lot of entrepreneurs, really, they're not not doing anything. But is it, is it massive action?
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I've nicknamed those people the wantopreneurs, the want to preneurs,
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yes, yes. Or I sometimes say spinning. Sally, it's spinning. Sally, yeah. She's just, you know, spinning, thinking about things, but she's not doing anything so
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or looking for the next get rich quick scheme, right? Or
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blaming external things. This is another one, yes, okay, um, when my kids go back to school, then I'll have my act together. Or this economy, I mean, no one's willing to spend money on light fixtures anymore. And I'm just making this up, right? Or, you know, they can't, those clients, they can't make a decision. Well, are you guiding them to the decision? Like that's part of your job, so they're blaming lots of external things? Yeah,
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I love that. So t is for thought options, yep, R is for real problem. U is uncertainty and unknown, yep, S is to secure support and T is to just freaking take action. Yeah,
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like, do it, man, let's
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stop talking about it. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I love that. And those are all so on point and boiled down,
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yeah, really? And if you go back to your future, you remember her, right? She is going to say, Yeah, even though you don't know exactly what's going to happen, go for it. She's going to say, of course, you want support. She's going to tell you, don't just listen, act on what you learned, right? So that's why that future is important. That
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future you That's genius. Now, while you were talking through this, I want to, like, take a deeper question is, like, why would anybody want to be a big thinker? Oh,
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this is such a good question. I'm glad you asked. Okay, yeah. Um. So part three of my book goes into why you would want to be a big thinker. Case you lift your listeners out there. So I think what happens is not always what people expect. Okay, so say that again. Okay? What happens when you're when you do, when you think big? What happens is not always what you expect. That's okay now I am, I'm, I will support you having ideas on what would happen like you're working towards. I like to say you have to have a dream, and then the goals support the dream. Okay? So you're working towards achieving the goals in order to make a dream come true, right? But it may not happen in the way you think it's going to happen. And if we look big picture, when you think big, you gain four things, okay, you gain freedom of time. You recognize that you how you spend your time is really just a reflection of how you're managing your mind, and you start to just spend your time on the right things and not everything. So you create that freedom of time, like everybody's like, I just need more time, or hours in the day that happens when you think big, because you actually sort of start to do less things. Yeah, it's, it's, it gets clearer and clearer and clearer of what you should be doing.
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The key so interesting things that move the needle,
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yes, yes. So that happens you do, I will say you do become you do have that financial freedom that you're looking for. Your revenue is bound to increase, like, if you're secure enough, go back to the security thing. If you're secure enough to say, You know what, I have food on the table and a car in the garage, and I have already have security really, when it comes down to it, you're willing to take some risks, and you're going to show up as the person, like, a bigger person, and people are gonna like that. That's attraction. Like, they're gonna be attracted to that. So, yeah, revenue is gonna grow if you show up as the person with, like, I'm not sure. I mean, you guys think about this. I'm gonna leave you, you know, light fixture a and light fixture B, and you guys go think, and I'll come back in like, six weeks. Like, no, right? You want to, you want them to be like, Okay. I mean, we hired you for a reason. Which one would you go with? Well, I would go with a, B's good too, but I would go with A, and here's why. So that's like and
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even like. So one of the examples I give in the in my interior design business bakery is when you have the contract and you have the client that you just gave your scope of work presentation to, told them all of the wonderful things that they're going to benefit from, yeah, and then you hand them the pen and you shut up.
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I just said that the other day, right? Also,
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don't say, Well, if you need to marinate on it and think about it. It's like they came to you, babe, because they want an interior designer. They've gone through your entire sales process. They want you what? What do you think? It's a marinade on
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exactly that's like, what are you thinking about, right? Like, the, I'm just gonna think about this for a few days. What exactly are you thinking about? Yeah, or what's
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what's making you hesitate and discuss
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it? Or I like to say, Okay, so where are you on a scale of one to 1010? Like, I'm in well, kind of an eight. I'm like, Okay, what would what's between the eight and the 10? Let's talk about that, right? So people, that's
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a good one.
33:35
You will have free, monetary freedom, freedom, money, money freedom, financial, free, whatever you want to call it, when you show up as a big thinker, love that. That's the second thing that happens. Third, people, freedom, relationship. Freedom. You start to get very picky and choosy with who you want to hang out with. You know? I mean, okay, this is funny. I'm gonna I call, this is my cupcake version. I call the moms on the driveway that are so into, like, bringing the cupcakes to school, and that's like, the only thing that they can focus on. I call those, like, the cupcake moms, okay, yeah, okay, I do. So, all right, those cupcake moms, like, if they if you're putting, if you're committed to your business, they might get it. It doesn't mean they can't be your friends, but different priorities, they're just different priorities. Like, I mean, I can make cupcakes, right, but, and I'm happy to chat with them and do whatever, but I'm not gonna. They're not my support network, really, and they're not the people that I want to like, honestly, like, even sometimes, if you're like, Hey, do you want to go have a glass of wine. I don't know. What are we going to talk about? Like, are we going to talk about the we can talk about, like, the how annoying the teacher is and why the mailman goes so fast on the street. Like, what are we talking about? So, nope, that makes sense. Okay, so freedom of relationships
34:58
and also. So something that I'd like to make sure that our audience understands is it's okay to outgrow some of your friends totally. It doesn't mean that they're wrong or you're wrong. It just means that it's just they were at part of your life for a season.
35:14
I say like your relationship with them is complete, right? Like you've like, you know, like you finished first grade, so you're good, okay? So it's yeah, it's like, it's not a judgment thing. It's just like, I've completed that relationship, and I can say hi and whatever, but I don't need you can outgrow. You can tell it to hang out. Love it like, because your kids outgrow their friend, you know, their friends for a season, sometimes through things, right? So you can do that too, all right? So third, freedom of people, relationships. Fourth, energy. Freedom like you start to feel freer and you start to want to do things that make you really happy, you don't feel so tied down. Big thinkers don't feel tied down. They don't feel their business is not heavy to them, right? Sometimes that business feels heavy. I say it's like a Santa sack over your shoulder that you're like slogging along. Okay? It's not heavy. It's light, it's airy, it's fun, like you're excited about it. So that's what happens when you think big. Okay,
36:20
I don't know what else to ask at this point, because I think that that's just like, that's the whole point of today's podcast. That's the point of your book. The point of your podcast is elevating women into the freedom to think big. Absolutely.
36:35
I mean, I want to kind of create, like, a think big movement. I call it. I love that. And movement coming in, okay, you're in, like, is this is who do you want to be? Do you want to just be stuck in your little box? Or you want to go for it? Let's go, like, life's too short,
36:51
well, and I think okay, so that even is, like you said, little box, right? Do you want to be stuck in your little box? Okay? Well, we're small business owners, right, right? So doesn't that go hand in hand? It's like, when you say you're a small business owner, you're automatically kind of putting yourself down, right? Totally
37:10
are. And I hate, I mean, I sometimes use that phrase, because that's how people identify themselves, right? But your business is big to you and to lots of other the iron irony of this is that those cupcake moms, there's probably a little jealous of you, because they're thinking, like, how could I How did she do that? How did she create that? Look at her go. So they're to them, you're big, like, you got a big business, and they just call it a little business. How's that little business going? Because that's what they're comfortable with. Yes, you know, sometimes, like we cringe when, even at Thanksgiving. I mean, you know, Aunt Josie is like, how's it going? Do you like it? You
37:56
know, Yeah, about that, but aunt Josie, poison your cupcake, yeah. Oh, I love that. I absolutely love that girl. We could probably talk for another two hours. We could we got a lot of things we could talk. I know I love this. Okay, so quick question, what is a fast action that our listeners could take, other than going gratuitous plug, other than going to buy your book, what's something that they could do to make them to move forward the goal of thinking big?
38:32
Okay, so yes, go buy the book. Go download the toolkit. So there's a lot of free resources at Andrea libros.com forward slash toolkit. But today, as you're driving around, okay, and you're debating on something, you're thinking about something, I really they're thinking
38:48
about joining the interior design business bakery. They could be that could be the thing that I mean, think big, about 100% 100%
38:58
I want you to think about two things. Number one does are, are you giving equal air time to all of the thought options as you're contemplating something? Okay, so example, should I go to the networking event tonight? You're driving around. It's four in the afternoon. I don't know. I'm tired. Blah, blah. Should I go? Okay, what are your options? You could think I should totally go. This is what I'm supposed to do. Okay, option one, you could think I should totally go. You're never going to know who I'm going to meet. You could think, you know what, I'm super tired. I need to stay in tonight. It's cloudy and rainy anyway. You could think, I don't know. This is not necessarily where my ideal client is. I'm not going to go, alright, so you got, you've got options, and you have to give equal air time to all of them, right? Because unless you give equal air time, you're not going to be able to access what the big thinker might do, what. Future you might do future. You might say, Don't go, because it's a room full of dudes, and you don't want to be in a room full of dudes. Okay, that she's like, you're you want the women. Okay? She might say that and or she might say, go, go see what's there. Maybe your next ideal client is going to walk in the door. You gotta ask her, but you've gotta ask her, you gotta give her all the options. So I think this thought option thing is really powerful. I
40:29
think that's yes, because you start exercising a muscle that hadn't been worked before, right? That is gonna open up so many, so many different ideas, opportunities,
40:40
ideas, right, possibilities, perspective, right, yeah. Y'all are listening, yeah, equal air time, turn
40:47
left or right. You're driving. You could just go if you lived
40:52
where I live, we have more round of I live in Indiana. I live right outside of Indianapolis and north side of Indianapolis, and we have more roundabouts than any other city in the world. So you don't have to go left to right. You can just keep going around. Go Google that Carmel, Indiana. That is awesome.
41:13
Well, okay, so couple questions for you that is not necessarily related to thinking big. Okay, but what do you want to spend more time doing?
41:23
What do I Okay, this is sort of ironic. I want to spend more time honestly just thinking about how to explain things to other people, like I that's exciting to me and to in order for me to do that, it usually has to be like quiet time, or me walking or doing something totally unrelated.
41:42
Yes, that makes sense. So white space in your brain. I want more white space. So is that where you came up with, like, is the T, R U S T?
41:50
Yeah, yes. So the T, R U S T, my friends, is not even in my book. Okay? I mean, the all those pieces are in my book, all those five things are in my book, but the trust acronym came to my brain after the book was published because I was trying to explain, I know, well, that seems to be another book. So I was trying to explain, like, what is big thinking? And I was trying to get, I was getting more succinct with it. It's different about writing it than talking it. So, yeah. So that's exactly where that came from.
42:18
I love that. I love that. What would Um, okay, and one of the reasons, I don't think I've ever explained why I asked these questions. I asked these questions because I think it's really important that we are learning from other people who are leaders in their field. So as the CEO of your business, as the thought leader that you are like, what is one piece of advice you would give to your 20 year old self if you could go back and talk to her,
42:45
because I have a 20 year old girl, there you go. As a matter of fact. Okay, so I think one of the things that I would advise her to do is to like, connect, have conversations. Anyone who's willing to talk to you, do not prejudge. Do not say that they're not like your person or that's not your vibe, whether it's like a friend situation or a business opportunity or job like talk. Keep talking. I just did a podcast with my son, so I've done a podcast with my daughter, and I did a podcast with my son, and I talked with him about, like, graduating and finding jobs and what that's like. And one of the quotes that we pulled out of it is he said something like, networking is more important in your than your grades or extracurricular activities. Ooh, very
43:35
wise son,
43:36
you have there, I know. So you can go listen. You can go listen to that one. She thinks, yes, I guess, but that's there. He's 23 so there
43:42
you go. That's fantastic. Yeah, I wish I would have learned that so much earlier.
43:47
I know. So they hesitate. Like, she like, the other day I said, you know, hey, my son's my friend's son is doing something that I think kind of relates to what you want to do. You should reach out to him. I don't know, mom. I mean, come on. No. Like, Oh, good. So anyway, we're just having those conversations.
44:01
Do you think it's different between men and women, male and female?
44:06
In my because I got one of each, right? No, because I think he, at 20 probably would have told me the same thing. But now, at 23 he would say, Sure, what's his number? I think it's a maturity thing versus a gender. I don't know sense. It
44:25
just took me a long time to mature. But for the record, y'all do not need to talk to men. And men vans like, Okay, if they open the door and says, Hey little girl,
44:34
don't talk to No. You do not. You do not. So true.
44:39
Any books that you've been reading, that you would recommend.
44:42
I just re familiarized myself with the One Minute Manager that's on the right brain, because a lot of my clients, a lot of where their angst comes from, is really managing or dealing with their staff, employees, contractors, yada yada. So. Um, I haven't read that book in years. Yeah, it's an oldie, right? It's an oldie, but goody. It's just, it's simple, it's not complicated book, um,
45:08
go get my code. Yeah, yeah. So
45:10
that's because I think there's a lot of energy there, like that takes up a lot of our our CEO energy, our business owner energy, in the in the managing so that was just one that this week. Good re, re revisited, revisited.
45:24
I think that's a good one for everybody. Yeah, because you're right. Even if you don't have a staff, you still manage your clients, right,
45:31
right? That's apps 100%
45:35
go get it for my team. Yes, I'm going to read it, and then we'll have a little book club at my Vegas.
45:40
I like it. I'm in Alright, lady,
45:43
I know the audience has loved everything that you've shared. Thanks. Will you tell them how they can how they can get in touch with you? You mentioned the toolkit, yep.
45:53
So I got the toolkit. Um, I think Okay, couple things. Number one, you can go get a copy of the book. It's on all the places podcast. They're both called, she thinks big it. Podcast is on all the places. But if you go to Andrea's with an S, links with an S, there's also a quiz on there that you can take, and there's links to my website and my social media. So I will answer your DM. I will answer your DM I will if you DM me in Instagram or LinkedIn or Facebook. I'm not loving Facebook lately, but that's another podcast. So yeah, follow me. Go follow me on Instagram. It's just Andrea dot libros, l, I, E, B, R, o, s, s, that's probably the bestest of places to connect or set up a call. Do you like a complimentary 20 minute strategy call.
46:42
Oh, I love that. Yeah, let's talk about strings and test no
46:46
strings. I mean, seriously, they're not sales calls. They're just like, what's going on, what's your vision, what's getting in the way. Let's
46:52
do it. You're practicing what you preach. Talk to everybody. Just talk to everybody you never know. Okay, well, I will make sure that all of those links are in our show notes. Excellent for those of you listening. If you want to get out and talk to more people, people in your little realm, I say little realm, look at see those things we do. I know. Holy cow. Okay. So if you want to talk to people in your realm, in your industry things, people who are doing big things, people who are just getting started, go join my Facebook group. So yes, I know it's Facebook, but it's the best place to have our free groups. It's called the interior designers business launch pad. So not only will you be connecting with other individuals in the industry, but I go live probably anywhere between two to four times a month with some mini trainings. This is also where we hold our free workshops that we do. Gosh, almost every other month we have a variety of them, so you need to be plugged in there again. It's the interior designers business launch pad for those of you listening, choose to be great today and every day, and Thank you Andrea for being here. So much fun.
48:05
Thank you. Y'all. Think big. Go. Think big.
48:10
Hey, y'all, if you love the show and find it useful, I would really appreciate it if you would share with your friends and followers, and if you like what you're hearing, want to put a face with a name and get even more business advice, then join me in my Facebook group, the interior designers business Launchpad. Yeah, I know it's Facebook, but just come on in for the training and then leave without scrolling your feet. It's fun. I promise you'll enjoy it. And finally, I hear it's good for business to get ratings on your podcast, so please drop yours on whatever platform you use to listen to this. We're all about community over competition, so let's work on elevating our industry one designer at a time. See you next time you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
