5 mindset shifts happening behind-the-scenes in PoppyLead during 2021 that changed everything
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The sun was beaming down on me around a year ago on Sunday, January 3, 2021. It was in the mid-fifties, and I was outside on the patio with Mitchell enjoying one of Denver’s “300 days of sunshine.” It was also the day before the first “working day” of 2021 and I was journaling and reflecting on the absurdity that was 2020, and what I was calling in for 2021.
One of the desires I claimed for 2021:
It’s also evident in my 2021 vision journaling that I was claiming support and abundance. Looking back now, 2020 really opened my eyes to the availability of support and community around me (even virtually) and 2021 was about accepting it and actually letting others (and the Divine) hold me.
2021 was a year of becoming and embodying who I came here to be. It’s the year I turned 30. It’s the year I started treating my business like a business. It’s the year I figured out how to communicate and share my magic with the world. It’s the year we bought our first house (going from first-time looking, to offers-offers-offers, to closing in a span of 7 weeks). It’s the year Mitchell and I both celebrated entrepreneurship by driving across the country to visit our Midwestern family. It’s the year we kicked it deep in the mountains with backyard streams and hot tub abundance. It’s the year we made our house a home and adopted a second dog into the family.
It was a year of leaning into changes (sometimes huge and sudden, and other times slow and subtle) and looking back now, I see 5 mindset shifts that were happening behind-the-scenes over this last year which changed everything in my business.
1. I realized — I am worthy of feeling safe inside my head and therapy is supportive to my growth.
In February of 2021 I started therapy with a spiritual therapist who understands my brain like few people do. She’s helped me heal old wounds (to the level that I could feel the immediate ripple effect of the healing into the present moment). She’s helped me understand the people in my life and my relationship to them as a highly empathic person. Our weekly conversations are one of the meetings I most look forward to.
Through this healing, I have found a safety in myself like never before. In fact, when I first started working with her, I felt the fear of “letting in something bad” by opening myself to more spirituality. In exploring this with her, my eyes were opened to the reaches of the Divine support around me and the God-given power within me. My spiritual backbone has been reinforced and I know the power of those who protect me. “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.”
With this level of certainty in the Divine, and the safety and trust I feel in myself, I am unstoppable. This ripples into my business in tremendous ways and without doubt all of the remaining mindset shifts I will share are in direct response to the fact that I started therapy and found safety and love for myself.
One of the first major mindset shifts that stemmed from therapy was…
2. I realized — I am capable of making money as an entrepreneur and deserve to do it full-time.
Perhaps a little known fact about me (unless you’ve been here awhile) is that PoppyLead is my second major foray intro entrepreneurship. Like most, I started as a side-hustler while working a full time corporate sales and marketing job.
In 2017 I’d just gotten certified as a coach and spent every evening and weekend working on “Uncaged Coaching.” I eventually went part time in corporate and Mitchell was offered a position in San Francisco. In the summer of 2018 we packed up our Madison, WI life and moved to smack-dab-in-the-middle-of the big city and I decided to go full time into my business. Looking for a job in San Francisco never even crossed my mind as an option.
Into the fall of 2018 my niche danced around from competitive athletes, to new moms, to techy-CEOs and it became obvious that I had no idea what I was doing as a business owner. I’d gotten certified as a coach… but had no idea how to “sell” that. It got to be too much and I couldn’t handle it on my own any more. The full story is in an IG post here but with broad strokes, my mental health took a turn and I entered a season of healing.
At that point, I wasn’t ready to try entrepreneurship again. I retired “Uncaged Coaching” and knew I’d come back to coaching someday.
I wanted my business visions to have room to grow without pressure… so I got a job. I needed structure, and wanted it to be incredibly aligned and juicy feeling. So about 3 years ago (December 2018) I started a personal assistant role with a phenomenally powerful woman who was starting a wellness center in South San Francisco.
During 2019, she and I launched the Center and I learned countless lessons about building a community and connecting with an audience. I eventually transitioned to a sales and marketing consulting position within the martial arts training center that the wellness center was part of.
Even though Mitchell and I quickly moved to Denver in early March 2020, I worked with the training center throughout 2020 and helped make a lot of the transition to running their classes virtually. I held onto the position into 2021 because there was still so much lingering fear about my ability to generate income as an entrepreneur. If I went full-time into it, would I crash and burn again?
However, largely because of therapy (and #5 on this list) I learned how to make this business a business and started seeing success. My mindset shifted and I realized that I am capable of making money as an entrepreneur and deserved to leave the consulting gig. So, in March of 2021, I left and entered back into full-time entrepreneurship. (And guess what — I brought in income as an entrepreneur every single month of 2021. Believe it, receive it.)
Speaking of making money….
3. I realized — I am well-equipped to help clients experience massive transformation and can sell high ticket packages.
This year in one of the group coaching programs I participated in we discussed that sabotage often rears its head when we’re uncertain and in doubt. This opened my eyes to a new limiting belief I didn’t even realize was on the field.
I doubted my ability to actually support clients through the transformation. My ego got involved, took one look at the “claims“ I was making, and said ”we can’t do that!!“ So, naturally that came through when I spoke about my work. I’d be wishy-washy and vague. I didn’t want to own my power.
However, feel-deal-heal… I felt how triggered I was by this situation. My ego was NOT feeling confident in our abilities at all. So, to deal with this, I looked into the reasons I was afraid to own my power. (Oh hey old people-pleasing tendencies!) I looked into the depths of my imposter syndrome and asked why I didn’t trust myself to be a leader.
In my curiosity, I found my answers. I found my clarity. I started meditating more and speaking to the results I could help people get (clients, money, collaborations, “success“). I became crystal clear on my purpose in the world and how I support people. It became vividly apparent that I am here to be a conduit of change for people and their power.
Once I saw my purpose on paper like that, I couldn’t contain the offer and signed my first high-ticket clients and started bringing in money every month. In fact, I more than doubled my income from Q1 to Q2. And then I 4x’ed that in Q3. And while Q4 dropped a little… it was still 3x Q1.
Part of the reason I believe this happened is because I stopped “grinding” and…
4. I realized — It gets to be ease-y and joy-filled and I can do and care way less.
Notice I didn’t say “easy.” Unfortunately it isn’t always “easy.” There are days and times where it feels a bit more like “work,” however with the right mindset and some planning… the “work” days are few and far between. This year I learned to invite ease. As a chronic over-achiever, this was tricky at first. The world is full of hustle-culture messages to work hard to make it worth it.
Pair that “work harder” messaging with nothing seeming to bring in any clients for my business and all of a sudden I found myself spread in a bunch of directions. I was trying to sell Energy Readings 1-off sessions and 1:1 packages, fill a membership and run weekly events, host a podcast with guests, be on IG, YouTube, and LinkedIn, host challenges, have a blog, network constantly, and I was still adding more to my plate.
In 2021, with the stress of having to move suddenly in March, I felt a strong desire to pare it back. I could feel my desperation and asked myself what I needed to heal. I reclaimed my power and simplified my business dramatically — shutting down my membership program over the summer (even though it was recurring income), and shutting down my podcast. I got very protective of my time and became really intentional about events I attended and people I connected with. I was introduced to the idea of potency and start focusing less on being everywhere to keep everyone happy and I focused very specifically. 1 offer. 1 platform. Consistent messaging.
Now, my mindset is tuned to the frequency that everything is working out (and it is). I am finding myself caring way less what other people think because I know I’m not here to serve their egos. I’ve learned that the answer is not “do more”, and when I feel that urge, it’s simply an invitation to reconnect to my ease.
This growth is a result of seeing myself differently. My entire self-image shifted, largely because…
5. I realized — I deserve to invest in myself and my business in BIG ways.
I invested a lot of money in myself and my business in 2021. Between various virtual weekend retreats, 3 high-level group programs, 6ish membership communities, countless virtual events, photo shoots, intensive sessions here and there, and even a Sacred Reset retreat in San Diego, it comes to just over ~$22k. Some people pay this much for coaching per quarter, and others balk at the idea of ever making an investment that size, so my ego is pretty detached from sharing it.
For me, it feels expansive and exciting. This is the year that I realized that I deserve to invest in myself and my business in BIG ways. It puts me into a curious, student mindset. I plugged into supportive communities and felt myself get up-leveled in coaching sessions. I spent time around people who are crushing it. I treated myself to abundance. I put myself in circles where success is inevitable. I allowed myself experience wealth without the old messages of being wasteful or frivolous.
When I invest in myself at this level, I am sending powerful messages directly to myself.
“I believe in your ability to change the world. You deserve support at this level to achieve this. You are worthy of this investment with no ‘ROI’ strings attached. I love you enough to give you this space to transform and grow as you are meant to.”
The concept of “wasting” money that I invest in myself entirely fell away this year because I have transformed my relationship to wealth.
So, needless to say, these mindset shifts led to some of my biggest “wins” in 2021. If that doesn’t speak to the power of mindset work, I don’t know what does.
I am overjoyed and elated to enter 2022 with clients on the books and a plan to share my magic with you all. If you are ready to transform your mindset in 2022 and bring in self-safety, high-ticket clients, impact & abundance, supportive boundaries, and a healthier relationship with conflict and discomfort, I would love to connect and see if we’re a powerful duo for working together. There are a few phenomenal options for working together in the new year and it all starts with a fun application for me to get to know you here! Or you can get started right away by booking a Quarter 1 90 min Energy Leadership Reading here (includes a savings + bonus session till 12/31!)
Thanks for reading. Let’s go into 2022 with a roar together!
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