Entrepreneurs Over 40 Episode 1 with Lise Cartwright

0:00:00.0 S1: I first heard about our guest today when she was on the Side Hustle Nation podcast discussing Kindle publishing. She started off her career in the corporate world working as an admin assistant, but felt unfulfilled, then she discovered location rebel, it was turned on to the world of freelancing at sights like oDesk and Elance. While freelancing, she discovered chamber bolt sell publishing school. She enrolled in it and went on to publish over 30 books on Amazon, so an on the founder on-site, author basics dot com, the site to help struggling authors with their books. She eventually joined the self-publishing school as an author coach and program manager, where she worked until September of 2020. She is now the CEO of her own site, hustling dot com. There, she helps others start online businesses that are easy, fun and profitable, all based on their unique personality and human design, by our own estimation, she's helped over 20000 students and listeners and readers, she's gotten over 100... Oh my God, you made it so easy to understand reactions and consumed over one man candies and sweet tier, unique creative flow. Without further ado, let me introduce the one and only at least Corinthians

0:01:15.3 S2: For that great intro.

0:01:17.4 S1: Granted, you're very welcome. Can you take a few moments and fill in the gaps from that intro though, and bring us up to speed with what's going on in your own

0:01:29.2 S2: Is... No problem, I'm sorry, you did a pretty good job of filling in most of that, but I will say that I quit my job in 2012, and I think it's helpful to understand that I don't have any special degree... There is no degree that I took that allowed me to see into any of the things that I've done. I'm also multi-passionate. So, great, just walked you through a whole bunch of different things. I've changed my business all the time because I have different interests, and when you dive into something like human design and you understand your unique way of approaching things, it allows you to step into that, and I've done that, so it's just amazing to speak all those different things... And I sit here and I go, Wow. You could either think I'm super flighty, I can't stick to anything, or you could be just like me and be like, Wow, I can do lots of different things and still be successful. So I would say that where we're at right now is last year, he was 2020, a year that is probably going to go down in history for everybody as just a crazy year, and I don't even think I can really describe it.

0:02:47.7 S2: And for me, it's when I kind of hit a wall in my business around March, and I went, Okay, this does not feel good. Something is out of alignment. What does that look like? And so for the rest of 2020, I spent the entire year experimenting and trying different things, I literally launched a new offer every Monday, so I know that sounds like a lot, and it was... I'm not gonna lie, I... Ari wanted to test, I wanted to see what my audience wanted, I wanted to see what I felt equipped doing, and it has just loved me through a space where... Now, I really focus on doing things that are easy and fun, because there have been points in my business where things have not been easy and fun, I've made them hard and complicated, which is crazy when you run your arming business, why would you make it hot and complicated, but I just feel like sometimes we think we have to do things a certain way, or we see somebody else doing something and we're like, Oh, that's the way that you do it, and as you grow in your vein and business for a while, you start to understand that actually, you can decide what it looks like, and there is no one-size-fits-all way to approaching your online business, so I think that probably brings us to where we are right now.

0:04:18.6 S1: Okay, now, did you come from an entrepreneurial background? If anybody in your family have their own or...

0:04:24.9 S2: Not at all. I like the unicorn in my family, and in fact, my family don't even understand what it is I do like mom and dad are great, but whenever I say to them, I'll explain, even when I'm coaching, they don't quite grasp it, all they know is that I'm sitting in front of a computer with someone on the call or something like that, and that's the extend of their understanding.

0:04:51.1 S1: Okay, and now you mentioned human design earlier, can you expound on that A... That is and how it relates.

0:04:59.4 S2: Yeah, sorry, human design was something I discovered around February, March last year, and I am someone who is big into personality profiling, so I have done all the personality profiling available. I've done nearly Briggs, I'm down Clifton Strength Finders, I've done Enneagram, I've done numerology, I've done four teams and sees, I've done the color options, I've done all these different things, and when I discovered human design, wow, here is a system that pulls all of those personalities into one place I really saw it. Now, human design is both astrological and science-based, so you'll... For anyone who's out there going, I'm not into any of this stuff, it has a lot of scientific grounding in it, but basically human design is unique in that it is based on the exact time you are born, so you need to know that in order to get your kind of human design chart, but it's focused on five different types and strategies and being your... What they call your inner authority, and basically your strategy and you're in our authority, are what allow you to make decisions based on what is right for you. And the best thing that I've learned about human design is that we do not as human beings make decisions with our heads, yet that is how we are taught, we make decisions.

0:06:40.2 S2: The head is for processing only, it's for receiving ideas and processing information, it's the computer, but it's not where we make decisions, and I feel like that is the biggest problem that moves phase is that when we're operating from here, things aren't online, things don't work, and we get so frustrated. 'cause we're trying to make things happen. Yeah, and so I could literally talk about human design for the next hour. Greed wanna go too off-topic, but basically, if you're struggling at all, if things feel off, I highly recommend getting your free human design chart, I'm not affiliated with this website, but it's my body graph dot com, and it's a good setting point as long as you know your exact date of first or time of birth... Sorry, you will get a blueprint for how you can operate in life that also in business, that's what I learned is, Well, now I actually have a way that I can show up in my business that's easy and fun for me, because what's easy and fun to me... Might not be easy and fun to you, and once you understand what that looks like... Things become a lot easier.

0:08:01.4 S1: Yeah, I took the test. The test as well, I came up the same as you as a manifesting generator, although in all fairness, I kind of guessed at the time of birth, so that... I may have to go back and do that.

0:08:14.4 S2: Yeah, 'cause it does... It can adjust

0:08:19.3 S1: The Myers-Briggs, I'm an I and J. And I believe you are an entity...

0:08:26.6 S2: I think it is, yeah. I lose track of all the things.

0:08:32.3 S1: They're all kind of blend in, I think I even saw where Ray Dale has a new one out. I read that earlier today, so... Just another one there. Do you use that with your potential clients in city...

0:08:48.8 S2: So when I'm working with a one-on-one client, I always run their human design chat and we sit down, purest people who are coming to me are either at the starting point where they have an idea, they're just not sure how to execute, or they've been in business, but like me, things got out of alignment, so I always throw the human design chat and run through fear strategy in authority, because at the end of the day, those two are the other key points that if you can just do this, your a percent there in terms of understanding human design and how it works, that being built within your own body chat or your body graph on nine different centers, and you will either have those defined or undefined and define just that they're colored in... Undefined is that they're white. And the defined senses dictate the energy that you have access to at any given time, so depending on what seems as you have, also allows you to determine the types of offers you are uniquely here to create, but also indicates who you can uniquely help because of those defined centers because you can tap into that energy at any given time, and then with the O-consumers, those are where you are impacted by other people, so you receive image in from someone who has a defined scene to where yours is undefined.

0:10:23.0 S2: So it's just a really great way to step back and go, Okay, we'll hear are the things that I am uniquely able to do because it's inherent within me and nine times over team when I am running through someone's who design that. I get a lot of nodding as I'm going through and I'm describing and explaining things because it's not that you don't know what you're doing, this just gives you a much clearer stamped in the sand that this is who you are and how you can really help people based on... More based on the time that you were born. So that's how I use it is, it's a good starting point to create a custom business strategy to help you determine there are always gonna be foundational things that you have to do in business, but how you do them is largely up to you, once you understand what is easy, and Frank

0:11:23.2 S1: Gives me a little bit better of an idea. Do you use it to actually match somebody up with a potential opportunity, or do they still have to go out and kind of seek the...

0:11:31.8 S2: So yeah, normally what I do with... Call it a custom business strategy is from the Divine will either continue to do one-on-one coaching with me or dive into... I have a group program, which walks them through using their human design to do different areas, and like I said, I took that easy, fun, and profitable, and that means that you need an audience, you need an offer and you need a way to present those offers, how you do that is largely dependent on your human design it... So once you understand that, my group program really walks you through How... Okay, well, now that you understand what your human sins, how do you get people into your world? Now you know what your human design is, what offers... Are you going to create... What does that all look like? But also just reminding people to be constantly teaching in with your authority, because at the end of the day, your inner Harty is the way that you make decisions, so as long as you're always checking in and going, Is this my right course of action to be me on your authority, there are so many different authorities, it depends on what you...

0:12:46.5 S2: You is that if you're a manifesting generator or a generator, you will typically have a sacral authority, which is your gut, and that is a yes or no, there is an or in between, it is as This is for us, or it's a hard no. And so I'm always just checking whatever I'm doing, I'm just making sure that it's aligned and that this is something that I actually am excited to do, so that I don't go down the path of hat and complicated again. Yeah, 'cause you could definitely go into something that might make money, but it was just runs counter-arable, and I think that's really important to understand for generators and manifesting generis, and the reason why I'm using those two... We're talking about The Lois, that the Seventy percent of the world population are either a generator or a manifesting generators, so the chances are a large portion of you listening to this are going to fall into those two camps, and the generators are manifesting... Generators are work horses because the sacral energy that the piece that is defined is a life force and workforce, meaning that you have energy at all times, which means that you can go and do things even if they don't excite you or let you up for Antoine, but you will feel drained from those types of activities, so yeah, it's important to understand it because while you can do things, unless they like you up, they're just gonna drain you and just make you feel...

0:14:23.5 S2: So why am I doing this? But you can still do. I think that's the important thing to understand is that you have that energy and you want to use the image, but you wanna make sure you're using it on things that excite you.

0:14:38.1 S1: Okay, now you mentioned also, you mentioned the acronym of just a lot on your site, can you elaborate on that and tell us what it is and how it's helped you and your just...

0:14:51.3 S2: Is simply just just sit via, it's a mindfulness practice. And I did not create this is that I learned this from my coach, and it's just a practice of stopping and being on your arm, I do what I call active, just which is going outside, going for a walk, whether it's on the beach along the river, and the forest, whatever that looks like. The point being that you're on your arm, that is the whole purpose of just... And that you're not listening to anything when you're doing it, the whole purpose is to just be... To literally just stop. Now, when you do this, you have a couple of different ways that you can utilize it, and particularly as from a human design perspective, just works extremely well if you're out of alignment to be able to tap into your inner authority... So for me, and how I've used it is when every... Just feel like something isn't working, I know that I need to take some time, and typically I will do 30 minutes, 60 minutes is great if you can do it, but 30 minutes is generally more doable and literally, I am just putting a site at the time or on my phone, but I put my phone away from me, so I'm not tempted to scroll or do any of those things, so I'll put my phone on the opposite side of the room if I'm doing it inside.

0:16:21.9 S2: I have pen and paper. But that's it. Literally for the first five, 15 minutes, your brain is going to be going through a whole to-do list generally, that leaping does... It's like, What are we doing at finer? Because I have energy. My body is like, we should be doing something. And I'm like, No, we need to be still. And now literally what happens after that 51 minutes is that tools as being run through and you're just kind of in the state of observation... At least that's my experience. You can't stop thinking, or anyone that meditate nurses is that the goal isn't to stop thinking is to start attaching to the thoughts that come through your mind, and that's a much easier thing to do than to try and stop any thoughts coming in. So it's more about observation and just paying attention to what is coming, and then you can ask yourself questions, particularly if you're using your inner authority, so for me, what that would look like is, with a sexual authority, it means that I need to ask yes and no questions or options. I do not make a decision like if someone was to say to me, What do you feel like for dinner? I'd be like, I don't know it.

0:17:48.8 S2: I have no idea. I'm not here to kind of think that that up, but if someone was to the interred, say Hales, Do you want Chinese or Italian? Then my sacral has something to respond to, then I'd go Italian, that would be my initial reaction. So the same thing goes for when I'm doing day, is T, I'm going to ask you and no Christians or options. And this might look like from a business perspective, let's say I have about three or four offers that I'm thinking about that I've had some ideas about, or I've seen my audience talking about it. I'm like, I should create this, if I'm not sure, then I will literally do some day state and just ask my sale, which option do I feel the best about? And it will tell me, I have the space for that to happen. But also if I'm just really not feeling like I'm dealing with anything, I can also just sit and see what comes to me, I have an open heart center for coming back to human sin, so my kid center is open... It's white, which means that I have no shortage of ideas coming to be at any given time, so I sometimes will just do this if I'm not sure what I want to doing, what direction I'm heading and just allow stuff to come to me and I'll just drop them down, but at no time will I take action on any of those unless I am responding to something externally, and all of that means is I'm waiting for a sign to come to me that this is an idea for me to take action on, so...

0:19:29.3 S2: Yeah, so JST is really just at the... It's a mindfulness practice, it doesn't need to have any major structure other than you're not to be listening to anything you're on your own. And you can say the time of FISA minutes and see what happens. That's what that is.

0:19:47.4 S1: Okay, I know some of my best ideas have come while either being in the woods out of the river or at the beach, so I'm envious of you living in the beach. It's very helpful. That's what your gears slightly and so... Are you still pursuing Kindle publishing personally? I know you've got over 30 books on Amazon, but the most recent that I could find was 2019, which was your book, Capture a convert Captivate, how creators use email marketing to connect with their tribe, make an impact, and create consistent and

0:20:25.7 S2: Are... So yeah. So any longer, anther is 2020. I did not write a book that just creatively wasn't there, and like I said, I had that experiment of doing something every... Launching something different every Monday. But I am writing another book at the moment, and I'm still playing around the title at the moment, the working title is empowered or it could be The Empowerment Plan. I'm still still deciding on what that looks like, but the word Empower will definitely be in the Assam is... Yeah, so I actually now probably more help people launch and publish their book versus me writing as much, I certainly don't feel the need to write a ton of more books have... I do have a back catalog of books to be written, but I'm very, like I said, multi-passionate, so I generally follow what I feel excited to do at any given moment, and that can sound like it's not organized, but it is, it's just... I have a few different things always on the Gary, and so I'm just choosing what I work on on each given day, so... Yeah, so I'm in the middle of writing a book right now, but I also work with authors and helping them get their books out there, probably more so now, where I specialize is helping people with their book funnels, so helping people, particularly from a non-fiction to speak or it will have a massive caveat that I'm a non-fiction author, I work with non-fiction authors, the fiction is a whole other ball game, and I just completely different approach when it comes to launching.

0:22:21.6 S2: So I really specialize in having people from the back end of their books, like once the book is written and down, making sure all the marketing and funnel pieces are in place, and then what does it look like to create a business on the vacuums? Because I've done that. That's literally why hustle and Grove exists now.

0:22:42.5 S1: Okay, why the name of...

0:22:44.4 S2: Yeah, sure, it's interesting. I originally started out as a freelance writer, and so my site was originally cold outsourced, freelancing success, and when I transitioned out of being a freelance writer into something else, I wanted a different name, and so I went through all these different... I can remember what all the ideas were, but I landed on hussle and Grove because I fit so well, manifesting generator is... Hustle means to... You do, and roast. To me, that's what it means, is to me, boys be doing, always taking action, moving fast, that is definitely me as a manifesting generator, and we Grove fits in with the easy and fun side of things, like your fears, hustle, but you also need a balance. So that's really how that came about. And my audience helped me decide, I can't remember what the other two naming continues were, but at the ease of the day, they liked that one, the Molina was the one that I was drawn to as well.

0:23:52.6 S1: That's awesome. How are people finding your side or... A lot of them, obviously, your books are in an open cells or lead magnets, are they coming through there? Is there a lot of organic?

0:24:07.8 S2: Think is, I prudently do organic. I only ever run lead generation ads, I don't run conversion ads, traffic heads or anything like that, purely lead generation, and if you're wondering what I'm talking about, I'm talking about Facebook, they have a specific lead generation ad campaign, so our only ever run those and everything else is organic, and I have 400 plus blog posts on my website, so I have a lot of data and essay, it's already out there, or being in business for 10 years now, so that my website has remained the same, the name has changed, but the content is still on the air. So typically, people are finding me either through my books or through a Google suit, or they've found me through something else, I do podcast interviews, I've written and Denis posts everywhere. So yeah, so I get found. Organic is such a great long-term strategy, but it takes a little bit of time, but... Once it's in the air, you don't need to pay for traffic. Okay.

0:25:21.2 S1: Very good to know. So I saw your intention card online. Can you discuss that a little bit in depth? And how you got the idea for it? Or how you were exposed to it?

0:25:34.1 S2: Yeah, so it was previously called a goal card, and this is from... And accused plan Asan, she runs this every year around October November, and I've been a participant for probably the last five years, I highly recommend it. So they do like something similar and it's called a Gold Card, but for me, I found the word goal was actually a hindrance for me, so instead we could... And this is mainly because I'm multi-passionate and I want flexibility, so instead, I was like, You know what, this would be much better if this was an intention versus a goal, a goal feels far more inflexible to me than an intention. So when I'm sitting down and planning, and because I do the plans in the octagon over time frame for the next year, these are my intentions, but I know that things are going to change because I only give a plan solidly 90 days out, I'm only ever kind of ever working in a 90-day plan, and that just allows me flexibility and the ability to change course if I so desire to. So yeah, so that's really what the intention card is, and so it's a combination of an income, intention, and then potentially some offers to get there and then the value that I will provide to support all of that.

0:27:08.3 S2: That's really what that comes down to.

0:27:10.5 S1: I'm definitely gonna borrow that sometimes when you set out a goal, it seems to be confining, I guess I found that, right.

0:27:21.6 S2: And the intentions team to North into... Or it's not necessarily that they completely change, but it's just knowing that there is a flexibility in there that gives you the freedom to not be so hung up on things, I think as online dossiers, we get really hung up when we see it a goal and then if we don't meet that goal or something happens, we feel bad, I don't find that a section, when I see an intention, it's a different framing of something that's similar, just a different approach, and anything you can do to trick your mind into not self-sabotaging...

0:28:04.2 S1: Right, you're not only a coach, you're also a client of various coaches, or how did you make the leap to go in some of the high dollar coaches internally?

0:28:16.9 S2: I think for me, how I've always made a decision about working with a coach has always been fairly intuitive, I've always just known... And again, without knowing my human design piece, when all of this is happening, I've always just listened to my gut when it comes to those things, now they are having true instances where I've ignored my guts and still invested I have... In 2019 is 59000 on working with a coach who was not the right fit for me, I didn't deal at all with anything they were advising to do, but at the time bought into the hype, so it's a warning so we never... You, particularly because most of the investments that you're making to yourself when working with a coach at those higher dollars, we mean jumping on a call with someone that's generally how those higher ticket offers a pitched... And I bought into the hype and just 100 ignored all of the signs in my body, like all the signals, everything and 10ers made a decision with this, which set me off on a ridiculous path, anoint to a point where three months in, I was like, What have I done, I hate what I'm doing.

0:29:44.7 S2: And so there are times where you can or that, but for the ones that have worked for me, the ones that have always been a positive type of situation has always been because it felt really good, it felt aligned. I just really deal with what I was saying and I move quickly, so I will make a decision pretty quickly, like if I feel it like everywhere, I make the decision really quickly, so yeah, there's no kind of hot and fast... I'm not someone that goes and researches and all those types of things, it's more the experience that I have with that person at a level where the content is free, that then impacts the decision I make to actually work with them. So if I get a lot from someone just from the free content that the sharing, I can only imagine what it's like to work with 101. That's kind of that decision, but at the end of the day, that decision is definitely gut-based, does this feel aligned? Because if it doesn't, then like I saved 9000 like that and you're in the hole for that, and things are not feeling good, so...

0:31:03.2 S2: Yeah, so that's literally how that works.

0:31:05.8 S1: Do you think you were just a bad fit for that particular program... It

0:31:10.0 S2: Just wasn't how I wanted to run my business. So generally, whenever I've enlisted in a coach, it's because I've been inspired by the way that they run the business, I really like the business model, I really like what they're doing, but to this particular one, it was more on the sales call, really coerced and this person isn't a bad person? I'm not saying that at all, but really covers really... Sales tactic heavy. And I was in a situation in my business at that time where nothing was working, so I ignored the signs that my gut was saying, No, this isn't me, even though things aren't working in your business right now, at least this is not the answer. I node that and just lean, okay, I'm gonna do what this person tells me, so I did all the things, it's not that that I didn't... It's not like I got in and was just like, Okay, this isn't... I'm going to give this a shot, but three months down that path, and I was like, none of this feels good, all of this feels hard and complicated, it just doesn't gel. And then when I raised that vet-ween, things went sour because they disagreed, and that's why as a coach, I would even tell someone how to run the business, it's why I brought human design in because we are all different and unique, and the way that something works for you, might not work for me.

0:32:44.6 S2: And that's totally fine, because there is no right or wrong way to approach having an online business, it's entirely up to you, as long as you know what up to look like for you.

0:32:56.7 S1: Right, I imagine that they were probably pressuring you to change your phone, be a little more salesy than you were wanting to

0:33:06.5 S2: Eat, 'cause I'm not... I'm not, I'm not... And it's not that sales was bad, it don't get me wrong, it's just that I'm not a sale, I don't need to pitch... That whole terminology is just not something that I need to do, because at the end of the day, if you are doing things that you are excited about, the fact that you're excited is often enough for someone to be like, You know what, I want... What a lease is doing, I mean you then that they go off on the path of finding what you do or... Quite often, when I do have something to sell and I'm intentional about doing it, I'll include a link. Like if I do a Facebook Live in my private Facebook group and I have something, I would say, hey, and if this is something you wanna do more or go deeper, and here's a link to check that out, and that's it. It doesn't have to be salesy because I'm not Sousa at all.

0:34:05.7 S1: What book do you currently recommend to move someone either to start their business or move it on to the next one

0:34:12.5 S2: That... Christ, and I'm looking around the room, and it's probably true that I would recommend... They're not necessarily business. How to books. The first one is The Go-Giver, and it is... I know it's one of my favorites. It's a great story with business application, it's walking you through five stratospheric Steps To Success, I can't remember the full things, and the first step being Give more in value than you receive in payment, and if you just know that one, you will be fine in business. It's my number one value, and how I approach things is give more, and you'll be taking care of... Really, that's what that looks like in the lines with me, I'm sorry, highly recommend the girl Give up and then the other one... And just trying to see if I can see it here. Would be the big leap. I think it's... Henry talks about your genius son sound. It's a really good combination with human design, right, it really helps you just zero in on the things that you are inherently good at, and we quite often ignore the things that we're good at as being a genius song, because it's easy for us and just because something is easy for you, doesn't mean it's easy for somebody else, and it's just that understanding that allows you to create a business that's easy and...

0:35:50.5 S2: Because it doesn't have to be hard. So yeah, so The Go Giver and The Big Leap, I throw that I refer to over and over again all the time. Okay.

0:36:01.5 S1: I'll have to check out the big leap. I have not read that one, I really enjoy that, that's really good. And

0:36:05.9 S2: Both the shorts I, The Big Leap is about the same size as The Go-Giver, there's literally two hours of your time

0:36:13.9 S1: At what piece of software or app do you find indispensable... Eases

0:36:17.8 S2: My gosh, I've got a few. I don't know if this is... Oh, I was gonna ask you, yeah, So Canva is probably my number one tool that I use every single day, is if you have zero graphic design capabilities, this will be your savior because you don't need to... It has templates already built in... Sorry, Amber, I use every single day. And then I also use click-up, which is a project management tool. I used to use Trello and now I've transitioned to click-up just because as a visual person, it just has more visual capabilities in terms of collecting or you can kind of look at things from a against chart perspective, if you're that way inclined. Or you can switch to a can ban view or a calendar use. So it gives you a lot of flexibility. So those are probably the two that I use daily. Okay, lastly, what's the number one piece of advice that you can give for our listeners is a piano and kind of where you're at, but I think what I want everyone to understand is that you can do something that is fun, you can do something that...

0:37:36.6 S2: You're actually excited about when it comes to... And I'm always coming at this from an online business perspective, I don't see the reason for starting a business if it's not something that you enjoy now, the caveat to that is, is that sometimes you need to set like a bridge business... And that's exactly what I did, like I was in a job and I was like, I have no idea what I wanna do, but I know that I don't wanna say here. So what's something that I can do? That's like a stepping stone to get out of this. And so, freelancing is deftly one of the best ways to get yourself out of a full-time job, and then give you some brazing space to team figure out what you actually wanna do. So that's the one thing that I would say to that, but just know that you can create something that is easy and fun, none of this has to be hard at all. You just need to know what that looks like for you.

0:38:32.2 S1: Okay, well, that's a wrap. Thank you, lease, for being a guest on entrepreneurs over 40. Be sure to check her out at the hustle and grow and at least as promised to post when her book is going to be leased. I will... Did you have anything there.

0:38:47.6 S2: And if you are kind of at the starting point and you're trying to maybe predict your income, that is probably one thing that I've had lots of people say to me, or How do we know how much money I wanna earn? Or how much is it even possible? So I have an income prediction calculator that I would love to share with your listeners, and you can find it at hustler dot com calculator, and you'll be able to download that.

0:39:13.8 S1: Perfect, well, thank you again. Thanks, great.