Grit, Grace & a Game Plan: Building a Life Without Regret with Julia Arpag

WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.399
Welcome to Loud and Lifted, the podcast where

00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:04.440
we don't just talk about women supporting women,

00:00:04.580 --> 00:00:06.580
we dig into the real stories behind the strength,

00:00:06.860 --> 00:00:09.339
the scars, and the sass. I'm your host, Betsy

00:00:09.339 --> 00:00:11.800
Hamm, and today I'm excited to chat with Julia

00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:15.000
Arpegg. Julia is the dynamic founder and CEO

00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:18.320
of Aligned Recruitment. Julia transformed a challenging

00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:21.219
setback into a thriving, values -driven tech

00:00:21.219 --> 00:00:24.160
recruitment firm. She's continued to scale all

00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:26.300
while staying true to her values of integrity,

00:00:26.739 --> 00:00:29.320
faith, and service. We're going to dig into Julia's

00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:31.879
journey from uncertainty to entrepreneurial success,

00:00:32.179 --> 00:00:34.159
offering insights and building a business that

00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:36.579
aligns with personal values. Whether you're an

00:00:36.579 --> 00:00:39.380
aspiring entrepreneur or navigating career transitions,

00:00:39.859 --> 00:00:42.399
Julia's story is a testament to resilience and

00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:45.039
purpose driven leadership. Let's get loud and

00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:57.469
left with the unstoppable Julia. Thank you so

00:00:57.469 --> 00:01:00.210
much for being here. Thank you, Betsy. I'm so

00:01:00.210 --> 00:01:01.950
excited to be here. Thank you for having me.

00:01:01.990 --> 00:01:04.250
My gosh. You have a few things going on, so I

00:01:04.250 --> 00:01:07.730
love that you still take time to have an amazing

00:01:07.730 --> 00:01:09.909
LinkedIn schedule of posts, but then also do

00:01:09.909 --> 00:01:11.870
podcasts. I don't know how you do all of it.

00:01:12.230 --> 00:01:14.189
It's my pleasure. Honestly, this stuff is fun.

00:01:14.310 --> 00:01:16.510
I love it. I'm happy to be here. Nice. Well,

00:01:16.769 --> 00:01:19.370
I'm sure any podcast you do starts with your

00:01:19.370 --> 00:01:24.530
story of the shock of how you got into your current

00:01:24.530 --> 00:01:26.629
career. So if you want to take us back a few

00:01:26.629 --> 00:01:29.829
years to how you decided to go from a steady

00:01:29.829 --> 00:01:32.230
job working for another company to starting your

00:01:32.230 --> 00:01:35.569
own thing. Oh my gosh. Yeah, no, my story is

00:01:35.569 --> 00:01:40.099
a crazy one. I was laid off five weeks postpartum

00:01:40.099 --> 00:01:43.439
with my fourth son. So I have two foster sons

00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:46.000
who are 14 and 15. They moved in when I was six

00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:48.159
months pregnant with my first biological son.

00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:50.980
And then my second biological son was born in

00:01:50.980 --> 00:01:54.079
July of 2023. So we just have to make sure that

00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:55.719
people caught on to that. You were six months

00:01:55.719 --> 00:01:58.920
pregnant with your first baby. And you decided

00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:01.560
to foster two, what were they probably? They

00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:05.840
were 10 and 11. Yeah. So you went like from a

00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:09.349
quiet house Zero to three overnight and actually

00:02:09.349 --> 00:02:11.250
they're older so they have a half sister who

00:02:11.250 --> 00:02:13.349
lived with us for a year too So yeah, we had

00:02:13.349 --> 00:02:15.449
it was crazy. I'm not gonna lie to you. It was

00:02:15.449 --> 00:02:17.650
crazy If I'd known I think God intentionally

00:02:17.650 --> 00:02:20.129
doesn't show us the future because we'd all be

00:02:20.129 --> 00:02:24.469
too afraid if we But you we just felt like oh

00:02:24.469 --> 00:02:26.330
my gosh, there are kids out there who need homes

00:02:26.330 --> 00:02:28.490
Obviously older kids are really hard to find

00:02:28.490 --> 00:02:31.229
homes for so it just broke our hearts So yeah,

00:02:31.229 --> 00:02:33.729
we opened up our home. I got real crazy real

00:02:33.729 --> 00:02:37.460
fast So then fast forward to 2023, we've had

00:02:37.460 --> 00:02:39.800
those three boys, my first biological son and

00:02:39.800 --> 00:02:42.020
our two foster sons for about two and a half

00:02:42.020 --> 00:02:45.659
years. Then we have our fourth son. And then

00:02:45.659 --> 00:02:50.840
I get laid off five weeks later. My CEO, I really

00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:52.479
don't hold this against him because he called

00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:54.219
me and he was like, listen, like I'm laying off

00:02:54.219 --> 00:02:56.780
the entire team. I haven't paid myself a salary

00:02:56.780 --> 00:02:58.719
in months. Like he's like, there's just no money.

00:02:58.780 --> 00:03:01.120
Like I, I can't conjure money out of thin air.

00:03:01.139 --> 00:03:03.810
So I truly like do not hold it against him. Like

00:03:03.810 --> 00:03:05.870
I'm not mad at him, but it was like, your timing

00:03:05.870 --> 00:03:07.729
could have been a little different. Yeah. I was

00:03:07.729 --> 00:03:09.569
definitely like, okay, this puts me in a tough

00:03:09.569 --> 00:03:12.270
situation. The good news is though, I had already

00:03:12.270 --> 00:03:14.990
been for about a year considering what it would

00:03:14.990 --> 00:03:17.289
look like to go out on my own because recruitment,

00:03:18.349 --> 00:03:20.990
you would, you can do it from anywhere. If you

00:03:20.990 --> 00:03:24.930
have the people skills, you can you can be very

00:03:24.930 --> 00:03:27.110
successful. And I had been very successful. I've

00:03:27.110 --> 00:03:29.909
been a tech recruiter for about six years now,

00:03:30.009 --> 00:03:31.889
six, seven, something like that. And so I was

00:03:31.889 --> 00:03:33.449
like, I could do this. Like I could totally,

00:03:33.610 --> 00:03:35.110
I've been the top performer and every time I've

00:03:35.110 --> 00:03:37.990
been on, I was like, I got this. So I was already

00:03:37.990 --> 00:03:39.469
thinking about it, but then he laid me off and

00:03:39.469 --> 00:03:41.090
I was like, okay, now seems like a good moment,

00:03:41.590 --> 00:03:44.669
but it also seems like a scary moment because

00:03:44.669 --> 00:03:47.000
I was like, wait, like I kind of like having

00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:51.159
a salary. Like that's nice. Yeah. Right. So a

00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:53.199
couple of my former clients actually reached

00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:54.960
out when they heard I got laid off and they offered

00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:57.139
me jobs at their companies, which was awesome.

00:03:57.520 --> 00:03:59.840
So I actually took one. I literally took one

00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:01.699
and I was like, great. Thank you. Yep. Done.

00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:05.780
But my former co -founder also offered me, you

00:04:05.780 --> 00:04:07.460
know, she was like, just, just come help me build

00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:09.419
a line to recruitment five hours a week. Nothing

00:04:09.419 --> 00:04:11.120
crazy. Just need your expertise. Almost like

00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:13.280
more on an advisory capacity. I was like, sure.

00:04:13.419 --> 00:04:15.889
That sounds great. No problem. we get like a

00:04:15.889 --> 00:04:18.610
month in and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so

00:04:18.610 --> 00:04:21.029
much fun. Like I would way rather run my own

00:04:21.029 --> 00:04:24.569
business and not work for someone else. So I

00:04:24.569 --> 00:04:27.269
told that client whose job I had accepted, I'm

00:04:27.269 --> 00:04:29.389
so sorry, but I've just got to move forward with

00:04:29.389 --> 00:04:31.629
this. And he was like, no problem. Let me become

00:04:31.629 --> 00:04:34.189
your next client. So they literally became, we

00:04:34.189 --> 00:04:36.170
had two clients by then he became our third client.

00:04:36.750 --> 00:04:39.189
So it was such an incredible transition. I could

00:04:39.189 --> 00:04:40.949
not have asked for it to go better. And then

00:04:40.949 --> 00:04:43.769
even better, honestly, about gosh, eight months

00:04:43.769 --> 00:04:46.870
later, I bought out my former co founder, because

00:04:46.870 --> 00:04:49.589
again, I, I, we just came from different worlds,

00:04:49.730 --> 00:04:51.990
right? Like she was strong operationally, but

00:04:51.990 --> 00:04:54.389
I knew recruitment, I learned sales, I brought

00:04:54.389 --> 00:04:57.649
in 99 % of our revenue. And I was like, I don't,

00:04:57.689 --> 00:04:59.670
no offense, I don't really need you. I can just

00:04:59.670 --> 00:05:02.310
go out and do this on my own. So she's been gone

00:05:02.310 --> 00:05:05.089
for about a year and I totally stand by that

00:05:05.089 --> 00:05:07.389
decision. It's been such a blast. So yeah, that's

00:05:07.389 --> 00:05:09.430
what brings us to current day. We've been running

00:05:09.430 --> 00:05:11.889
the business for about 20 months and we're just

00:05:11.889 --> 00:05:13.930
at about a million in revenue. So I'm very grateful,

00:05:14.029 --> 00:05:16.529
very excited. Amazing, in less than two years.

00:05:16.810 --> 00:05:20.220
Less than two years, yeah. That's wild. And how

00:05:20.220 --> 00:05:21.899
confident were you in your decision? Or was it

00:05:21.899 --> 00:05:23.699
that it just kind of continued to build that

00:05:23.699 --> 00:05:26.139
you're like, okay, this is picking up steam or

00:05:26.139 --> 00:05:27.379
were there moments where you're like, Oh my gosh,

00:05:27.459 --> 00:05:29.360
what am I doing? I have four mouths to feed.

00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:34.740
Oh, yeah, for sure. So yeah, like I said, I was

00:05:34.740 --> 00:05:36.800
so unconfident in the decision at first that

00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:38.319
I thought I would just do it a couple hours a

00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:40.079
week and have a full time job on this, like in

00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:42.500
addition to doing this on the side. So definitely

00:05:42.500 --> 00:05:45.600
unsure initially, when we hit such early traction,

00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:48.750
though, And I was hitting my financial goals

00:05:48.750 --> 00:05:52.230
basically immediately. I was like, Oh, maybe

00:05:52.230 --> 00:05:54.870
I can actually do this. And so that confidence

00:05:54.870 --> 00:05:57.709
has grown as I've shown myself what I'm capable

00:05:57.709 --> 00:06:00.329
of. So obviously, there's two months that have

00:06:00.329 --> 00:06:02.170
lower revenue than other months. So those months

00:06:02.170 --> 00:06:07.079
are scary. But I keep coming back to I know I

00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:09.579
can do this. I have the track record to prove

00:06:09.579 --> 00:06:13.100
it. I know God is with me. And whatever that

00:06:13.100 --> 00:06:15.079
looks like, right? I'm very open -handed in my

00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:16.920
life. I'm like, if God continues to bless the

00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:18.879
business, awesome, we'll keep going in this direction.

00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:21.019
If not, great, I'll follow him in a different

00:06:21.019 --> 00:06:24.240
direction. But it's been a very stretching experience

00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:26.699
not having that stable income and really having

00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:29.740
to fight for it every month. It's made me even

00:06:29.740 --> 00:06:32.680
more intense than I was before, to be honest.

00:06:33.209 --> 00:06:35.129
which I didn't think was possible. You didn't

00:06:35.129 --> 00:06:38.709
think you needed to do? Yeah, yeah. So I honestly,

00:06:39.069 --> 00:06:41.970
whenever I am like, man, this is tough, my executive

00:06:41.970 --> 00:06:44.910
coach and I laugh about. Sometimes we both just

00:06:44.910 --> 00:06:47.050
longingly look at the people who work at Trader

00:06:47.050 --> 00:06:49.069
Joe's like bagging groceries. And we're like,

00:06:49.230 --> 00:06:52.529
they're so happy. That'd be an awesome job. And

00:06:52.529 --> 00:06:54.430
they're always happy every time I've ever been

00:06:54.430 --> 00:06:55.829
at Trader Joe's. Right. And I'm sure they get

00:06:55.829 --> 00:06:58.350
huge discounts on those amazing like peanut butter

00:06:58.350 --> 00:07:01.430
cups. Like y 'all have got it made. So there

00:07:01.430 --> 00:07:02.970
are moments like that where I'm like, there are

00:07:02.970 --> 00:07:06.149
easier paths to this. Ultimately, I value freedom

00:07:06.149 --> 00:07:09.230
and flexibility so much that that has really

00:07:09.230 --> 00:07:10.949
been my driver in the two years I've run the

00:07:10.949 --> 00:07:13.160
business. Was it hard to have that switch from

00:07:13.160 --> 00:07:16.160
like the employee mindset, right? To being the

00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:18.339
boss, the entrepreneur, responsible for other

00:07:18.339 --> 00:07:20.740
people? I mean, how was that shift of a mindset?

00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:23.379
I did a ton of mindset work, like a crazy amount.

00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:29.800
So I had a lot of fear. I was like, man, I have

00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:33.620
no, I've never sold a thing ever, ever. Not one

00:07:33.620 --> 00:07:36.089
thing to anyone ever. So I was like, the only

00:07:36.089 --> 00:07:38.110
way I'm going to make money is if I sell my recruitment

00:07:38.110 --> 00:07:40.269
services and get people to buy them. Like, it's

00:07:40.269 --> 00:07:42.389
so easy to hire someone. You're like, hello,

00:07:42.550 --> 00:07:45.009
would you like $200 ,000 to do a job for this

00:07:45.009 --> 00:07:46.889
person? They're like, yes, I would. That's so

00:07:46.889 --> 00:07:49.209
easy. Sales, like going to a company and saying,

00:07:49.290 --> 00:07:52.360
hey, can you please give me? thousands of dollars

00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:54.500
to fill this role for you. That's a whole different

00:07:54.500 --> 00:07:57.439
ballgame. So I was terrified. I was very nervous.

00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:00.819
So I did a lot of mindset work around confidence

00:08:00.819 --> 00:08:04.600
and my value and my worth and my ability and

00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:07.740
the abundance mindset. Like just the belief that

00:08:07.740 --> 00:08:11.060
there is so much opportunity and I'm just going

00:08:11.060 --> 00:08:13.019
to walk into it. Like I don't have to go fight

00:08:13.019 --> 00:08:15.120
for scraps. I'm going to have more than enough.

00:08:15.180 --> 00:08:18.139
So really that shift was what I had to do to

00:08:18.139 --> 00:08:20.939
be successful. I love that. And so when you say

00:08:20.939 --> 00:08:23.240
mindset work, like what does that entail? Like

00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:26.220
what did that look like for you? So I found a

00:08:26.220 --> 00:08:29.720
bunch of affirmation recordings on Spotify and

00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:31.959
stuff like that. But a lot of them, I would resonate

00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:34.600
with like four or five of the statements and

00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:37.470
not the others. So I recorded my own. Like I

00:08:37.470 --> 00:08:40.049
took my favorites from a bunch of different affirmations.

00:08:40.190 --> 00:08:43.429
I literally recorded myself saying them. And

00:08:43.429 --> 00:08:46.070
I paid a guy on Fiverr like 20 bucks to set it

00:08:46.070 --> 00:08:49.049
to like meditation music. And every morning it's

00:08:49.049 --> 00:08:51.330
a 17 minute recording. Every single morning I

00:08:51.330 --> 00:08:53.289
listen to it while I do my makeup. And you still

00:08:53.289 --> 00:08:58.980
do this? Yeah, girl. I thought two years into

00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:01.259
like, yeah, I got this. I don't need to be. Oh

00:09:01.259 --> 00:09:03.799
my gosh. No mindset is every day and you keep

00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:05.600
leveling up right like right now I have a team

00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:07.899
of six. So it's very different to run a team

00:09:07.899 --> 00:09:10.360
than to be a solopreneur. It's very different

00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:13.139
to be a co founder than to be a sole CEO like

00:09:13.139 --> 00:09:15.480
every new level up I've done for the past two

00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:18.580
years has required more affirmations more mindset

00:09:18.580 --> 00:09:20.440
shifts more like right now I'm reading the book

00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:23.740
10x is easier than 2x like I keep 10x saying

00:09:23.740 --> 00:09:26.860
every like month basically so I have to keep

00:09:26.889 --> 00:09:30.110
Re retraining my brain and re coaching myself.

00:09:30.529 --> 00:09:32.169
That's amazing. And you just mentioned a book

00:09:32.169 --> 00:09:34.389
I was gonna ask is there any other tools or anything

00:09:34.389 --> 00:09:36.750
else you did beside the affirmation to help move

00:09:36.750 --> 00:09:39.129
you forward? Yeah, I'm a voracious reader. So

00:09:39.129 --> 00:09:42.169
I read minimum probably four bucks some four

00:09:42.169 --> 00:09:46.389
bucks a month Do you sleep because I'm catching

00:09:46.389 --> 00:09:52.730
Like do you sleep like I sleep a comical amount

00:09:52.730 --> 00:09:56.120
we can walk through my schedule in a second a

00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:59.360
lot. My friends all make fun of me because on

00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:02.200
Amazon, there's this banner that says, thanks

00:10:02.200 --> 00:10:04.919
for coming. Please leave by nine. That is literally

00:10:04.919 --> 00:10:07.639
my energy. Every time we host people, we kick

00:10:07.639 --> 00:10:09.320
them out of our house at nine o 'clock. I'll

00:10:09.320 --> 00:10:11.519
start brushing my teeth and be like, bye. I'm

00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:13.899
just like, nope, you're done. So yeah, I sleep

00:10:13.899 --> 00:10:18.860
a lot. Yes, I hear you. So another book I read

00:10:18.860 --> 00:10:21.259
that was very impactful, it's called The Ruthless

00:10:21.259 --> 00:10:24.639
Elimination of Hurry. And the idea is basically,

00:10:24.940 --> 00:10:27.559
We feel so rushed and so hurried because we're

00:10:27.559 --> 00:10:30.100
letting our phones fill every single spare minute

00:10:30.100 --> 00:10:34.659
of our day. have my phone in the other room as

00:10:34.659 --> 00:10:37.399
often as I can. I need it for a lot of the work

00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:39.340
I do. So it's not always realistic for it to

00:10:39.340 --> 00:10:41.600
not be with me. But when I log off at the end

00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:43.639
of the day, I put it in another room. When I

00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:45.519
sleep, it's in another room. I'm really trying

00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:47.700
to train myself to not check my phone between

00:10:47.700 --> 00:10:50.440
every activity I do because that really is a

00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:54.039
time stack. So I just have a handful of priorities

00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:58.139
every day. And I just do them. Well, let's talk

00:10:58.139 --> 00:11:00.009
about that because I think you have to have a

00:11:00.009 --> 00:11:02.230
good schedule and must be time management and

00:11:02.230 --> 00:11:04.870
you still are taking care of yourself and you're

00:11:04.870 --> 00:11:06.370
like taking care of your business, your kids.

00:11:06.610 --> 00:11:08.909
So talk us through how, and I hate saying I never

00:11:08.909 --> 00:11:11.090
use the word balance because balance isn't real

00:11:11.090 --> 00:11:12.929
because that would mean everything's even and

00:11:12.929 --> 00:11:15.610
equal and that's not life. So how do you handle

00:11:15.610 --> 00:11:20.649
all of the priorities that you have? Yeah, right.

00:11:20.809 --> 00:11:24.789
Well, I never said I maintain my sanity. But

00:11:24.789 --> 00:11:26.690
I hear you like, how am I still here? Right?

00:11:26.690 --> 00:11:29.230
Yeah. So I have gone through so many iterations

00:11:29.230 --> 00:11:32.009
of my schedule. So we're two years in. I'll probably

00:11:32.009 --> 00:11:33.830
if we do this podcast again in six months, I'll

00:11:33.830 --> 00:11:35.509
probably have a different answer for you. So

00:11:35.509 --> 00:11:37.230
I've gone through iterations where I woke up

00:11:37.230 --> 00:11:39.830
at 430 every morning. That worked for about six

00:11:39.830 --> 00:11:41.830
months until I got so exhausted. I couldn't do

00:11:41.830 --> 00:11:43.909
it anymore. I've gone through iterations where

00:11:43.909 --> 00:11:46.090
I've worked like 10 hours a day. That didn't

00:11:46.090 --> 00:11:49.019
work. I have four kids. Right now, I'm in an

00:11:49.019 --> 00:11:52.080
iteration where I sleep until my kids wake up,

00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:54.139
which is usually 530 in the morning, so I'm still

00:11:54.139 --> 00:11:56.320
waking up pretty early. But my littles get up

00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:58.759
around 530, my one and four year old. So we get

00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:01.799
up, we play, we hang out. They both go to a Montessori

00:12:01.799 --> 00:12:04.279
day school. So I get them up, get them out the

00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:06.740
house, my husband drops them off at eight. And

00:12:06.740 --> 00:12:10.080
then from eight to 10 is my me time. So from

00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:12.580
eight to nine, I work out. From nine to 10, I

00:12:12.580 --> 00:12:15.399
spend time with God. And then at 10, I hit the

00:12:15.399 --> 00:12:17.769
ground running with my work day. And my work

00:12:17.769 --> 00:12:20.490
day entails my number one priority. So like you

00:12:20.490 --> 00:12:22.409
said, LinkedIn marketing has been very effective

00:12:22.409 --> 00:12:24.409
for my business. So I make sure I put up a LinkedIn

00:12:24.409 --> 00:12:27.629
post every day. I make sure to send 15 sales

00:12:27.629 --> 00:12:29.490
touches per day just to make sure I'm keeping

00:12:29.490 --> 00:12:32.009
my pipeline going. I make sure that I'm interviewing

00:12:32.009 --> 00:12:34.710
at least three, two to four, let's say two to

00:12:34.710 --> 00:12:36.470
four candidates per day just to keep my pipelines

00:12:36.470 --> 00:12:38.669
running. I do have recruiters and sources on

00:12:38.669 --> 00:12:40.929
my team as well. But for my personal desk, I

00:12:40.929 --> 00:12:42.889
make sure I always have interviews every day.

00:12:43.210 --> 00:12:46.250
And then I time block like Mondays are for internal

00:12:46.250 --> 00:12:49.649
team meetings. Wednesdays are for client meetings.

00:12:50.009 --> 00:12:52.669
Tuesdays and Thursdays are for heads down work

00:12:52.669 --> 00:12:56.210
time and ad hoc sales calls. And then Fridays

00:12:56.210 --> 00:12:58.769
are for fun stuff like this, like podcasts, networking

00:12:58.769 --> 00:13:01.789
events, stuff like that. So by chunking out not

00:13:01.789 --> 00:13:04.250
only my hours, but also my days, that helps me

00:13:04.250 --> 00:13:08.649
actually focus on one kind of set of calls or

00:13:08.649 --> 00:13:10.570
responsibilities for that day. And then something

00:13:10.570 --> 00:13:12.370
I've just started doing the past couple of weeks

00:13:12.370 --> 00:13:15.720
is I log off at three. So I now only work 25

00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:18.879
hours a week. And the reason that's worked so

00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:22.419
far is number one, I have a great team. Number

00:13:22.419 --> 00:13:24.960
two, I flex that as needed. Like luckily I have

00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:27.320
flexibility. My kids can stay at school till

00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:29.960
five if need be. So I have that option if something

00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:32.299
does run late. But I think having that boundary

00:13:32.299 --> 00:13:35.259
makes it so I am ruthless with my prioritization.

00:13:35.399 --> 00:13:37.240
Like if I only have five hours a day to work,

00:13:37.659 --> 00:13:39.879
again, not checking my phone between stuff. I

00:13:39.879 --> 00:13:41.679
have a clear to do list where I'm like, these

00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.610
are the must do priorities today. And I just

00:13:44.610 --> 00:13:46.149
bang it out. I just go from thing to thing to

00:13:46.149 --> 00:13:48.070
thing to thing. So you are super intentional

00:13:48.070 --> 00:13:51.889
about every hour literally of your week. Yes.

00:13:52.690 --> 00:13:54.909
And what happens if you fall off your schedule?

00:13:55.380 --> 00:14:00.860
I'm like, God dang it. I'm obviously disappointed,

00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:03.039
right? Yeah, and I had this perfect schedule.

00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:05.840
How am I going to stay on it? Like yesterday,

00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:08.440
for example, I went up to Atlanta. I live in

00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:10.659
the suburbs outside Atlanta. So I went up to

00:14:10.659 --> 00:14:12.500
the city to meet with a client. We had lunch.

00:14:12.500 --> 00:14:14.519
It was a good time. But obviously that eats up

00:14:14.519 --> 00:14:17.299
several hours of my day. So I didn't have time

00:14:17.299 --> 00:14:20.000
to do my typical sales activities or my typical

00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.000
candidate screening activities. So I'm like...

00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:24.799
that's okay. Like not ideal. But I'll get those

00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:27.080
I'll get those in another day. So basically,

00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:29.559
I've tried to have the mentality of I'm in a

00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:31.559
unique position. I'll be honest, I don't know

00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:33.879
any other recruitment or any founders in general,

00:14:34.179 --> 00:14:38.399
who have biological little kids, older foster

00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:41.279
kids, run their own business, like I don't know

00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:42.960
anyone else who's doing all these things. So

00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:46.399
I don't really have a mentor or an example to

00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:49.220
look up to. So I've just really had to be really

00:14:49.220 --> 00:14:53.389
intentional with myself with my walk with God.

00:14:53.850 --> 00:14:56.009
Like I asked God a couple weeks ago in our prayer

00:14:56.009 --> 00:14:58.870
time, I was like, what would you have me do with

00:14:58.870 --> 00:15:00.730
my business? Like I was very open handed. I was

00:15:00.730 --> 00:15:02.769
like, in general, what would you have me do?

00:15:03.409 --> 00:15:06.470
And clear as day, I've just felt this sense of

00:15:06.470 --> 00:15:08.610
log off at three. That's why I started doing

00:15:08.610 --> 00:15:10.830
this. And I was like, no, literally, I didn't

00:15:10.830 --> 00:15:12.649
do it, Betsy. I was like, that's ridiculous.

00:15:13.129 --> 00:15:16.029
That's absurd. No, I'm not doing that. And then

00:15:16.029 --> 00:15:19.590
two weeks later, I was reading a devotional by

00:15:19.590 --> 00:15:22.450
a Christian entrepreneur. And she was just like,

00:15:22.590 --> 00:15:24.049
is there something God has called you to do in

00:15:24.049 --> 00:15:25.409
your business that he knows he's called you to

00:15:25.409 --> 00:15:29.269
do that you're not doing? Yep, 100%. Oh, that's

00:15:29.269 --> 00:15:31.909
wild. So I just, I literally just started doing

00:15:31.909 --> 00:15:34.289
this like maybe two weeks ago, the laundry thing.

00:15:34.370 --> 00:15:36.590
And so I've really had a let go of if there were

00:15:36.590 --> 00:15:38.070
things that I wanted to get done that day that

00:15:38.070 --> 00:15:40.210
I didn't like just trusting that I'm walking

00:15:40.210 --> 00:15:42.330
in obedience and I'm doing what God told me to

00:15:42.330 --> 00:15:45.230
do. And then, like I said earlier, the favor

00:15:45.230 --> 00:15:48.450
will come and whatever that looks like, I accept

00:15:48.450 --> 00:15:51.230
that. And I'm very grateful for the clarity of

00:15:51.689 --> 00:15:53.909
there's no one to tell me how to do this. So

00:15:53.909 --> 00:15:55.850
I have to tell myself how to do it and I have

00:15:55.850 --> 00:15:57.450
to listen to God as I do it. And then I have

00:15:57.450 --> 00:16:00.129
to ruthlessly execute on that clarity that I

00:16:00.129 --> 00:16:02.549
receive. And I love, I love the boundaries piece

00:16:02.549 --> 00:16:05.389
because I think especially if you work from home,

00:16:05.429 --> 00:16:07.750
right? It's really easy. Oh, even home technology,

00:16:07.909 --> 00:16:09.470
whatever it is, it's so easy for everything to

00:16:09.470 --> 00:16:12.289
be so blurred and meshed together that we're

00:16:12.289 --> 00:16:15.990
multitasking to like a painful point where sometimes

00:16:15.990 --> 00:16:17.710
you're like, Oh my gosh, am I paying attention

00:16:17.710 --> 00:16:19.610
to anything that's going on, whether it's work

00:16:19.610 --> 00:16:23.409
or your family life. I used to think I was really

00:16:23.409 --> 00:16:25.029
good at multitasking, but now I think it's a

00:16:25.029 --> 00:16:26.889
negative thing. No one's good at multitasking.

00:16:26.889 --> 00:16:30.110
Yeah. It's not a thing. It's not a thing. Yes.

00:16:30.529 --> 00:16:32.789
We can only do a bunch of things badly. We cannot

00:16:32.789 --> 00:16:35.070
successfully multitask. Yeah, yeah, because you

00:16:35.070 --> 00:16:37.230
just don't give it everything you have or your

00:16:37.230 --> 00:16:39.730
full attention. And yeah, I've caught myself

00:16:39.730 --> 00:16:41.570
doing that, especially when my kids were younger,

00:16:41.570 --> 00:16:43.309
like you notice when they're trying to do something

00:16:43.309 --> 00:16:46.149
or play and now they're on their phones too much

00:16:46.149 --> 00:16:48.129
that they're older, but it's like just being

00:16:48.129 --> 00:16:50.289
present and being intentional about how you're

00:16:50.289 --> 00:16:52.789
spending time. It does make sense that you can

00:16:52.789 --> 00:16:55.450
shrink down your work week or make sure you're

00:16:55.450 --> 00:16:57.710
present with your kids. So I think that's great

00:16:57.710 --> 00:16:59.830
advice. And I'm sure you have days where it probably

00:16:59.830 --> 00:17:01.789
gets a little off track and there's always a

00:17:01.789 --> 00:17:04.519
next day. Then I just get back on. Yep, exactly.

00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:07.460
That's interesting. Let's talk about your why,

00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:10.819
because this is very cool to me. When you start

00:17:10.819 --> 00:17:12.819
your own company, you obviously get to make it

00:17:12.819 --> 00:17:15.579
that's around you and your values. And you have

00:17:15.579 --> 00:17:17.599
this front and center on your website, which

00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:21.180
I love. So talk to us about your why. Yeah, yeah,

00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:23.700
I actually have a page on my website literally

00:17:23.700 --> 00:17:26.720
that says our mission and I go into I'm very

00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:28.680
transparent about my faith. I'm very transparent

00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:30.880
that I'm a faith filled entrepreneur that everything

00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:33.700
I do in my life is because of my faith. And I'm

00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:36.220
a very mission oriented person. So like I said,

00:17:36.279 --> 00:17:37.859
we've been foster parents for four and a half

00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:40.140
years. That is something that has been radically

00:17:40.140 --> 00:17:42.519
important to me even before I married my husband.

00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:45.440
I just couldn't believe there were hundreds of

00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:48.460
1000s of kids who needed homes and the vast majority

00:17:48.460 --> 00:17:50.640
of people aren't willing to give them the spare

00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:52.220
room they already have in their house. Like that

00:17:52.220 --> 00:17:54.579
just blew my mind. So the moment he and I bought

00:17:54.579 --> 00:17:57.000
a house and actually had space for kids, we started

00:17:57.000 --> 00:17:59.859
the process to get certified. So my goal with

00:17:59.859 --> 00:18:02.920
being so transparent about our story is. Number

00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:05.000
one, I think people think it's like an out there

00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:07.440
problem. It's not it's a right here problem.

00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:09.940
And number two, I want to be clear that you can

00:18:09.940 --> 00:18:12.380
be a profit driven entrepreneur, you can be a

00:18:12.380 --> 00:18:16.960
for profit company, and use your money to serve

00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:20.160
in some philanthropic way, and make that something

00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:22.640
you discuss openly. So I'm very transparent on

00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:24.660
my website, I talk about our experiences, foster

00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:27.339
parents, and then we've also started a ministry

00:18:27.339 --> 00:18:30.200
where We do health projects for single foster

00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:34.059
moms. We provide meals for foster families. We

00:18:34.059 --> 00:18:36.880
have a 15 passenger van because we're a big road

00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:40.339
trip family. So we load up like a dozen moms

00:18:40.339 --> 00:18:42.619
and drive them down to Florida for this annual

00:18:42.619 --> 00:18:44.900
foster adoptive moms retreat. Like there's all

00:18:44.900 --> 00:18:47.349
these things we do because The reason a lot of

00:18:47.349 --> 00:18:48.529
people don't do this is because I think it sounds

00:18:48.529 --> 00:18:50.390
so scary. Like, oh my God, you want kids from

00:18:50.390 --> 00:18:52.329
hard places to like live in my house? Like, no,

00:18:52.329 --> 00:18:54.890
that's too hard. So we do everything we can to

00:18:54.890 --> 00:18:56.769
empower the people that have said yes to this

00:18:56.769 --> 00:18:59.109
really hard thing. We lead a weekly small group

00:18:59.109 --> 00:19:00.950
in our home on Wednesday nights. They were just

00:19:00.950 --> 00:19:04.049
here two days ago and we just all sit out and

00:19:04.049 --> 00:19:07.670
have a glass of wine or a glass of whiskey and

00:19:07.670 --> 00:19:10.210
we just chat. We're just like, what's good? What's

00:19:10.210 --> 00:19:11.950
bad? What's hard? What's ugly? How can we help?

00:19:12.029 --> 00:19:13.509
What do you need? What's going on? And then we

00:19:13.509 --> 00:19:16.420
just fill those needs as we can. That is amazing.

00:19:16.579 --> 00:19:18.079
And again, back to like, are you sure you sleep?

00:19:20.700 --> 00:19:22.759
Like you didn't put that into your weekly schedule.

00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:25.220
I know, right? Well, I never got past three o

00:19:25.220 --> 00:19:27.220
'clock. So past three o 'clock is like this fun

00:19:27.220 --> 00:19:28.880
stuff, right? Like getting to hang out with my

00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:30.339
family, getting to have people over, getting

00:19:30.339 --> 00:19:32.819
to do this kind of service. So yeah. That's amazing.

00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:35.279
And we were talking earlier, the fact that you

00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:38.000
have teenagers and you have little ones. I mean,

00:19:38.099 --> 00:19:40.640
you're in two different worlds, like the need

00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:42.900
and the expectations and their schedule and the

00:19:42.900 --> 00:19:45.259
time and what... they have a need from you from

00:19:45.259 --> 00:19:47.420
a relation standpoint. I mean, that's, that's

00:19:47.420 --> 00:19:50.099
a lot to be able to have to focus on two different

00:19:50.099 --> 00:19:53.140
worlds of kid age. I appreciate that. Yeah. And

00:19:53.140 --> 00:19:56.190
it is different because Our littles go to bed

00:19:56.190 --> 00:19:59.650
at 7, 7 .30. My four -year -old's getting pushy

00:19:59.650 --> 00:20:03.829
about bedtime. So 7 .30, 8, 8. Whatever, I can

00:20:03.829 --> 00:20:06.430
get them down. So then we do have some time with

00:20:06.430 --> 00:20:08.450
just the bigs to kind of check in. To your point,

00:20:08.650 --> 00:20:10.470
they'd typically rather play video games or be

00:20:10.470 --> 00:20:11.950
on their phones or go to their friend's houses.

00:20:12.410 --> 00:20:14.190
But we do have that chance to just kind of like

00:20:14.190 --> 00:20:18.509
check in with each age group of the home. And

00:20:18.509 --> 00:20:21.730
then like I was saying earlier, we... We are,

00:20:21.809 --> 00:20:24.150
I am so intense about my sleep. Like I know that

00:20:24.150 --> 00:20:26.789
there's no chance for me to be the person I want

00:20:26.789 --> 00:20:29.509
to be if I don't sleep. So our big stay up later

00:20:29.509 --> 00:20:31.970
than us. Like I'm in bed by nine o 'clock, nine

00:20:31.970 --> 00:20:35.009
or nine 30 every single night. and we let them

00:20:35.009 --> 00:20:37.150
stay up. They don't have a bedtime, right? They

00:20:37.150 --> 00:20:38.890
just have to be off their devices, but they can

00:20:38.890 --> 00:20:40.309
stay up. I don't care if you're up all night,

00:20:40.390 --> 00:20:42.730
as long as you're reading a book or going to

00:20:42.730 --> 00:20:45.950
school. I don't care. Yeah, whatever. So that

00:20:45.950 --> 00:20:48.250
was a shift. When they first moved in, when they

00:20:48.250 --> 00:20:50.390
were 10 and 11, we were like, you have to go

00:20:50.390 --> 00:20:51.950
to bed at nine because we have to go to bed at

00:20:51.950 --> 00:20:53.269
nine. But now that they're older, we're like,

00:20:53.809 --> 00:20:56.049
okay, you do you, but we're going to go to bed.

00:20:56.309 --> 00:20:58.769
So that's how we've made it all work, to be honest.

00:20:59.500 --> 00:21:01.740
So I think you personally have a great value

00:21:01.740 --> 00:21:04.960
system and you're living what you believe and,

00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:06.559
and, and being able to do it professionally and

00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:09.200
personally. So how do you instill that into your

00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:11.420
kids, whether it's the littles or the bigs, how

00:21:11.420 --> 00:21:14.039
do you make sure that they understand that? And

00:21:14.039 --> 00:21:15.619
it's obviously different in different ages, but

00:21:15.619 --> 00:21:17.160
how do you, how are you instilling into the boys?

00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:18.859
Oh my gosh, that's such a good question. I think

00:21:18.859 --> 00:21:21.480
about this every single day. So the bigs, they

00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:23.700
came from a really hard background. Obviously

00:21:23.700 --> 00:21:25.500
you don't end up in foster care because you have

00:21:25.500 --> 00:21:30.019
model citizen parents, right? So they, the Themselves

00:21:30.019 --> 00:21:33.980
need so much that I've really balanced like like

00:21:33.980 --> 00:21:36.180
emotionally right like they're very emotionally

00:21:36.180 --> 00:21:38.099
Broken to be honest by what happened to them.

00:21:38.460 --> 00:21:41.559
So I'm like, okay How much do I press into like

00:21:41.559 --> 00:21:44.420
discipling you and and showing you like now that

00:21:44.420 --> 00:21:47.039
you've? Come out of your trauma a little bit

00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:48.559
like obviously it's a lifelong healing process

00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:50.500
But you're in a different place than you were

00:21:50.500 --> 00:21:52.920
before you went into foster care What can I do

00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:55.759
to help empower you to serve other people? Balancing

00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:57.700
that with like they still have to do a lot of

00:21:57.700 --> 00:22:00.140
healing. So one way we figured out to do that

00:22:00.299 --> 00:22:02.980
And this is an imperfect system, but we have

00:22:02.980 --> 00:22:05.359
compassion international kids. So it's basically

00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:07.339
a program where kids who live overseas and don't

00:22:07.339 --> 00:22:09.640
have financial resources, you can become like

00:22:09.640 --> 00:22:13.099
their pen pal and like their buddy. So we send

00:22:13.099 --> 00:22:14.900
the it's like a monthly amount that you send

00:22:14.900 --> 00:22:16.799
us to make sure you can cover basic necessities

00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:20.099
and then you write them letters. So our two boys

00:22:20.099 --> 00:22:22.039
have they each have like their own little pen

00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:23.779
pal and they just like write letters back and

00:22:23.779 --> 00:22:26.220
forth. So that's one way just to kind of show

00:22:26.220 --> 00:22:29.390
them like, yes, you have not had a great hand

00:22:29.390 --> 00:22:31.509
of cards dealt to you but neither have these

00:22:31.509 --> 00:22:33.329
kids and like this is the way that we can serve

00:22:33.329 --> 00:22:36.049
these people so that's one way and then the other

00:22:36.049 --> 00:22:39.710
way honestly is they especially the 15 year old

00:22:39.710 --> 00:22:45.210
he is so compassionate and kind like he comes

00:22:45.210 --> 00:22:47.269
home all the time and tells me stories he's very

00:22:47.269 --> 00:22:49.369
outgoing he's very well liked he's very popular

00:22:49.849 --> 00:22:52.990
He tells me stories of hanging out with the kid

00:22:52.990 --> 00:22:55.250
in his class who has autism or the kid in his

00:22:55.250 --> 00:22:57.529
class who's in a wheelchair. Like he's very intentional

00:22:57.529 --> 00:23:01.069
about that. One of his best friends, a good friend

00:23:01.069 --> 00:23:03.670
of our family, one of their boys has autism and

00:23:03.670 --> 00:23:06.329
he's the same age as our foster sons. He calls

00:23:06.329 --> 00:23:07.970
him one of his best friends. Like our foster

00:23:07.970 --> 00:23:10.009
son is like, oh yeah, I love him. Like, and he's

00:23:10.009 --> 00:23:12.630
not, he's not like, oh, but he's kind of weird.

00:23:12.650 --> 00:23:14.450
He's like, no, like he appreciates people for

00:23:14.450 --> 00:23:17.349
who they are. I think that's huge. Like I've

00:23:17.349 --> 00:23:21.220
really seen that just. kind of make compassion

00:23:21.220 --> 00:23:23.740
their own and in their context be something that

00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:27.019
they value. For my littles, my one -year -old's

00:23:27.019 --> 00:23:29.779
a freaking lunatic, so I have no idea. You have

00:23:29.779 --> 00:23:31.779
to have at least one. I'm just trying to keep

00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:36.420
him alive, honestly. My four -year -old is also

00:23:36.420 --> 00:23:39.220
extremely thoughtful. I've noticed he's very

00:23:39.220 --> 00:23:41.380
much in the phase of really trying to understand.

00:23:41.859 --> 00:23:43.940
He used to ask why just because kids ask why,

00:23:43.940 --> 00:23:45.599
and now he asks why because he really is like,

00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:47.000
wait, what's going on there? What's happening

00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:50.269
there? Like, for example, being so close to Atlanta,

00:23:50.890 --> 00:23:52.750
we have a bunch of people who are homeless who

00:23:52.750 --> 00:23:55.109
live in Atlanta. So we drive around. My husband

00:23:55.109 --> 00:23:59.349
packed hundreds of bags that have food, information

00:23:59.349 --> 00:24:02.509
about local resources, water bottles, cleaning

00:24:02.509 --> 00:24:04.769
supplies, toothbrushes, whatever. So we just

00:24:04.769 --> 00:24:06.769
keep those in our cars. And so whenever we pass

00:24:06.769 --> 00:24:09.130
someone, we're like, hey, would you like this

00:24:09.130 --> 00:24:11.769
bag? So my son sees us do that. So he's like,

00:24:11.769 --> 00:24:14.990
oh, why is that man there? What's the screw here?

00:24:15.089 --> 00:24:17.930
So we just explain. We just want him to understand,

00:24:18.329 --> 00:24:20.549
Not everyone has the same resources. Not everyone

00:24:20.549 --> 00:24:22.369
has the same access. So those of us who have

00:24:22.369 --> 00:24:25.650
more than enough, we support those who have less

00:24:25.650 --> 00:24:28.009
than enough. And then the goal is as much as

00:24:28.009 --> 00:24:29.730
possible level in the playing field and whatever

00:24:29.730 --> 00:24:32.109
ways we can. So those kind of like - Absolutely.

00:24:32.250 --> 00:24:34.549
Just being a good example. Yeah. And that's things

00:24:34.549 --> 00:24:37.789
even up. maybe not one, but at four, he can understand.

00:24:38.230 --> 00:24:40.289
And so I think starts to plant seeds as they

00:24:40.289 --> 00:24:42.329
grow of supporting and taking care of the people

00:24:42.329 --> 00:24:44.329
and helping however you can. So that's awesome.

00:24:44.430 --> 00:24:46.829
Yeah. That's very cool. You talk about the faith,

00:24:46.910 --> 00:24:48.609
your values, like do you have any advice for

00:24:48.609 --> 00:24:51.549
women who maybe it's a little bit harder if you're

00:24:51.549 --> 00:24:53.930
in a big company, but how do you hold true to

00:24:53.930 --> 00:24:56.069
yourself if you have any advice for women how

00:24:56.069 --> 00:24:59.420
to do that? I do. Yeah. So for my whole career,

00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:02.500
prior to this moment, I worked for other people

00:25:02.500 --> 00:25:04.559
who didn't share my same values, right? So I

00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:06.400
definitely have thought about that a lot as an

00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:09.720
employee. As far as I know, I've been the only

00:25:09.720 --> 00:25:11.819
Christian in a lot of the teams I've been on,

00:25:11.859 --> 00:25:14.500
and I've been the only foster parent, I think,

00:25:14.579 --> 00:25:17.059
at every company I worked at before. Good chance.

00:25:17.700 --> 00:25:19.759
Right? Like shocker, right? No one does this.

00:25:20.039 --> 00:25:23.579
But I think for me, I've just always been very

00:25:23.579 --> 00:25:27.829
honest. I've never hidden who I am, but I've

00:25:27.829 --> 00:25:31.410
also been respectful. So now I have to do a ton

00:25:31.410 --> 00:25:33.609
of personal marketing and personal branding to

00:25:33.609 --> 00:25:37.009
sell, but I didn't before. So I wasn't like,

00:25:37.009 --> 00:25:39.579
you know. shouting from the rooftops. I'm a Christian

00:25:39.579 --> 00:25:41.500
and a foster parent, everyone to do this. Now

00:25:41.500 --> 00:25:43.079
I tell my story because it's just part of my

00:25:43.079 --> 00:25:45.740
story as a business owner. But basically, I just

00:25:45.740 --> 00:25:48.240
have always tried to be very relational. One

00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:50.680
of the offices I used to work at, I had to be

00:25:50.680 --> 00:25:52.640
in office four days a week, which drove me crazy.

00:25:52.680 --> 00:25:54.319
I'm a huge fan of remote work. I thought that

00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:57.019
was the dumbest policy ever. But I did it. And

00:25:57.019 --> 00:25:59.759
I put verses up on my wall like Bible verses

00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:05.640
to remind me like I am a child of God. My first

00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:07.920
priority is not to be your employee, not even

00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:10.059
to be a wife or a mom. My first priority is my

00:26:10.059 --> 00:26:12.420
obedience to God, just to remind me, no matter

00:26:12.420 --> 00:26:16.160
how stupid I think this rule is, I am to act

00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:18.539
with excellence, integrity, honor, kindness,

00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:21.420
goodness, grace, all those kinds of ideas. So

00:26:21.420 --> 00:26:23.759
I think no matter what your values are, they're

00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:26.200
more about how you act, not about what you say.

00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:29.220
So it's always possible to infuse your work with

00:26:29.220 --> 00:26:32.119
the character values that matter to you. That's

00:26:32.119 --> 00:26:34.240
great advice. That's a great point. So I have

00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:37.180
to ask you as a recruiter that you've spent years

00:26:37.180 --> 00:26:39.500
of your life doing, what do you see that women

00:26:39.500 --> 00:26:41.660
can do better when they're going for another

00:26:41.660 --> 00:26:43.519
job or trying to change a career? So is there

00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:44.900
anything that you see that you're like, wow,

00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:46.900
and I don't know how much. you're dealing with

00:26:46.900 --> 00:26:48.940
women in tech. I can be super stereotypical and

00:26:48.940 --> 00:26:51.059
assume it's a lot of male in the tech industry,

00:26:51.140 --> 00:26:54.019
but just as a recruiter, what do you see? Yeah,

00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:56.279
I would, I would have to look back at my numbers

00:26:56.279 --> 00:26:58.880
to pull this for sure, but I really think about

00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:01.119
50 % of the candidates we've placed have been

00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:03.440
female. So that is a very relevant question.

00:27:03.980 --> 00:27:06.039
It takes some digging on our part, right? Like

00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:09.059
sometimes I tell my sourcing team, like for this

00:27:09.059 --> 00:27:11.960
week, let's only focus on female candidates because

00:27:11.960 --> 00:27:14.400
to your point, male candidates are much more.

00:27:14.509 --> 00:27:18.789
uh, present in tech. Uh, but, but I think my

00:27:18.789 --> 00:27:22.230
best advice for a woman looking for a job is

00:27:22.230 --> 00:27:24.990
do your research, like find out what the worth

00:27:24.990 --> 00:27:28.190
is of the job that you're going after and ask

00:27:28.190 --> 00:27:33.950
for it. Like that is for me, that's a non -negotiable.

00:27:34.150 --> 00:27:38.170
Like I, I hate when I see people and I get it.

00:27:38.190 --> 00:27:40.490
If you're, if you've been laid off and it's been

00:27:40.490 --> 00:27:42.609
six months and you just have to keep the lights

00:27:42.609 --> 00:27:45.799
on in your house, like, Okay, that's a different

00:27:45.799 --> 00:27:49.319
situation. But if you're in a position where

00:27:49.319 --> 00:27:53.500
you can ask for top dollar, do ask for top dollar.

00:27:53.900 --> 00:27:55.700
And then even when they offer it to you at the

00:27:55.700 --> 00:27:59.279
end, I would ask for more personally. Honestly,

00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:01.059
that's what I always did as an employee. Like

00:28:01.059 --> 00:28:02.700
whatever offer they came to me with, I was like,

00:28:02.779 --> 00:28:05.319
awesome. And then I would ask for typically like

00:28:05.319 --> 00:28:07.759
10 % more on the offer they gave me. I never

00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:11.269
got it, but I would get like 5 % more or 3 %

00:28:11.269 --> 00:28:14.049
more, right? So like, there's no reason not to

00:28:14.049 --> 00:28:15.910
ask. And if you do it respectfully and kindly,

00:28:16.130 --> 00:28:19.069
even if they say no, there's no negative to that,

00:28:19.190 --> 00:28:21.789
right? You don't know if you don't ask. My favorite

00:28:21.789 --> 00:28:24.890
sentence is don't say their no for them. So always

00:28:24.890 --> 00:28:27.890
ask, always put it out there. Always try. If

00:28:27.890 --> 00:28:29.970
they say no, who cares? You're in the same position

00:28:29.970 --> 00:28:32.569
you were anyway. But if they say yes, you're

00:28:32.569 --> 00:28:34.289
in a way better position. And sometimes it's

00:28:34.289 --> 00:28:36.109
just on the approach, right? Like me being in

00:28:36.109 --> 00:28:39.210
the The ceo end in the past and people negotiated.

00:28:39.230 --> 00:28:41.670
I learned a lot by how others negotiated good

00:28:41.670 --> 00:28:44.029
and bad But you know there was it to your point.

00:28:44.049 --> 00:28:46.769
I ask and you can be I don't want to say casual

00:28:46.769 --> 00:28:48.910
about it, but you can have a great approach about

00:28:48.910 --> 00:28:51.069
it that you're not feeling like you're attacking

00:28:51.069 --> 00:28:53.670
the company or the HR person. So, you know, I

00:28:53.670 --> 00:28:55.130
think a lot of times it's just the positioning,

00:28:55.130 --> 00:28:57.289
the approach, this is my value. And hey, if I

00:28:57.289 --> 00:28:59.269
get five percent, I asked for 10, I wanted five,

00:28:59.410 --> 00:29:02.049
that's better than zero. But I do love the fact

00:29:02.049 --> 00:29:04.089
that you have to ask because I realized actually

00:29:04.089 --> 00:29:07.490
how terrible I am at negotiating on the other

00:29:07.490 --> 00:29:09.170
side of the table through the years. I'm like,

00:29:09.509 --> 00:29:11.859
man, I should have. definitely pushed back every

00:29:11.859 --> 00:29:13.920
time. I'd be like, okay. And I'd be like, okay,

00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:16.799
great. Thanks. You know, that was sort of a response.

00:29:16.839 --> 00:29:19.559
Like I was grateful or thankful. I don't know.

00:29:20.119 --> 00:29:22.380
So yeah, I realized through the years, I definitely

00:29:22.380 --> 00:29:24.039
could have been a better negotiator, especially

00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:26.819
in those early days where it was just, you didn't

00:29:26.819 --> 00:29:28.900
know. You didn't know better and thought what

00:29:28.900 --> 00:29:31.799
they offered was it. And that's certainly not

00:29:31.799 --> 00:29:34.000
the case. And the best book I've ever read on

00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:36.299
negotiation is Never Split the Difference by

00:29:36.299 --> 00:29:39.819
Chris Voss. He was an FBI hostage negotiator.

00:29:40.099 --> 00:29:42.539
So he's coming from the freaking trenches. Oh,

00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:45.559
gosh. But it applies so well to business. I read

00:29:45.559 --> 00:29:48.180
that entire book in a weekend because I was like,

00:29:48.180 --> 00:29:49.940
this is going to change my life and my business.

00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:52.960
That's how I bought out my former partner. That's

00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:54.859
how I've negotiated all my client contracts.

00:29:54.940 --> 00:29:56.220
That's how I've negotiated all the employees

00:29:56.220 --> 00:29:58.420
I've brought on my team. Whenever one of my candidates

00:29:58.420 --> 00:30:00.450
does negotiate the offer, I give them free. another

00:30:00.450 --> 00:30:03.329
client, I that book helps me have that conversation.

00:30:03.549 --> 00:30:06.150
So if you if anyone listening to this feels like

00:30:06.150 --> 00:30:07.569
you or they're like, I'm just not good at that,

00:30:07.630 --> 00:30:11.089
like, okay, learn. Right? Do I'm literally gonna

00:30:11.089 --> 00:30:13.269
order that? Yeah, we are literally about to like

00:30:13.269 --> 00:30:16.230
go order. It's fantastic. Yeah. Could always

00:30:16.230 --> 00:30:19.089
improve a negotiation. Yeah. That's awesome.

00:30:19.250 --> 00:30:21.009
I feel like we could get advice from you for

00:30:21.009 --> 00:30:23.890
the next couple of hours, but we know you have

00:30:23.890 --> 00:30:27.650
a schedule to keep. So any other last advice,

00:30:27.809 --> 00:30:29.890
parting words? I think you are just doing so

00:30:29.890 --> 00:30:31.630
many amazing things personally and professionally,

00:30:32.130 --> 00:30:35.089
so congrats to you. But any other parting advice

00:30:35.089 --> 00:30:37.569
for our listeners? Thank you, Betsy. Yeah, I

00:30:37.569 --> 00:30:39.509
just think the number one thing you have to do

00:30:39.509 --> 00:30:41.430
before you execute is you've got to get clarity.

00:30:41.909 --> 00:30:43.970
So something I do, I didn't even mention this,

00:30:43.990 --> 00:30:46.289
but I also have a once a month calendar block

00:30:46.289 --> 00:30:48.789
where it's just my monthly reflection and planning.

00:30:49.029 --> 00:30:51.789
And so I have to have time to be quiet and just

00:30:51.789 --> 00:30:54.369
be like, okay, what do I need in this next month?

00:30:54.450 --> 00:30:56.029
What does my business need? What does my family

00:30:56.029 --> 00:31:00.150
need? What does my husband need? You cannot live

00:31:00.150 --> 00:31:02.130
a thoughtful life if you don't have time to think.

00:31:02.410 --> 00:31:05.269
So you have to give yourself time to think before

00:31:05.269 --> 00:31:08.250
you can execute. That is amazing advice. That's

00:31:08.250 --> 00:31:09.549
going to be one of our highlights. I know it.

00:31:10.089 --> 00:31:12.980
That's so awesome. Julia, thank you so much for

00:31:12.980 --> 00:31:16.000
being here. And if you could come over and help

00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:18.700
me schedule out my next couple of weeks, that

00:31:18.700 --> 00:31:21.059
would be awesome. I love your blocks every day.

00:31:21.160 --> 00:31:23.200
So thank you. Thank you so much for being here.

00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:25.680
Huge thanks to Julia for showing us what it looks

00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:28.599
like to turn rock bottom into a launch pad. For

00:31:28.599 --> 00:31:30.579
reminding us that power doesn't come from titles.

00:31:30.900 --> 00:31:33.140
It comes from knowing who you are, what you value

00:31:33.140 --> 00:31:35.759
and not apologizing for either. She's proof that

00:31:35.759 --> 00:31:38.240
you can raise babies and raise the bar. You can

00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:40.940
pray, profit, protect your peace and still be

00:31:40.940 --> 00:31:43.099
one of the fiercest ones in the room. If you

00:31:43.099 --> 00:31:44.700
love this episode, share it with a friend who

00:31:44.700 --> 00:31:46.579
needs a little push, a little pep and a little

00:31:46.579 --> 00:31:49.240
permission to design a life she actually wants.

00:31:49.779 --> 00:31:52.619
Until next time, stay loud, stay lifted and stay

00:31:52.619 --> 00:31:53.799
true to who you are.