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Tiffany-Ann Tells all: Season Two Kick Off 

Guys welcome to another episode, super excited that we are back with Season Two of the podcast. You know, I must say the podcast journey has been something I didn't know, and I would love as much as I do. And it's opportunity to connect with some incredible people, both as guests and as listeners. And it's become this part of my business that I just absolutely treasure. So thank you so much for being here and tuning back in for season two, we have some incredible guests lined up this season. And business is going through some shifts. And you know, dare I say the word pivot. I know that you know, through COVID, there was such a, you know, there was such a misuse or an overuse of the word pivot. So it honestly makes me giggle a little bit just using it. But we're talking about some big changes. And I just love the energy and the vibe. And so I thought I would start on two, with a tell-all episode, because as much as we haveoken to some incredible entrepreneurs about their journey and their stories and whatnot. Over the past episodes, I haven't my journey. And you know, the kind of solo episodes have  more on business pieces and whatnot. And so while this will still definitely be business relevant, I also wanted to take the time to share a little bit about my own story in more than just little snippets and pieces. And, and out, you know, how my business is supporting service-based entrepreneurs, and how that has become. 

So, you know, you've heard me t being a mom. And there's this piece where, you know, I'm sure we've all heard, there's this meme that has gone around on Facebook since the beginning of time about raising kids, like you don't have a job and working in a joblike you have no kids. And I really, that always resonated with me so much when I was in corporate. And I have worked  try and break what almost was kind of conditioned or created as just typical, you know, it's interesting. Many years ago, between high school and going to university, I was a nanny. And so I had several different families in my time being a nanny, but I remember one of my first larger families, they have three kids, two boys, and a girl, just like I have now. And the kids at this time, I was surprised. I was, you know, in my very late teens, and the kids had a bowl of vitamins that they had with their breakfast. And at that time, I remember being shocked that this was normal at their house. And you know, they had their breakfast and they had this little bowl of vitamins. And it to had thatt moment that normal is whatever your normal is. And you know, I was recently at a conference and there was this discussion about how, you know, there is what your normal is, and then there is what someone else's normal is. And you know, the example that was given was, you know, there are the people who climb Mount Everest. And so you know, you go out and this might be a lifelong ambition to climb Mount Everest. And so you know, you plan and train and path and do all of these things, so that you can go up to the top of the mountain and take the picture, but there are also the people the guides that go up there, and they're with these people and whatnot. And so the joke was that picture at the top where they are potentially holding the camera. AnotherAnother isjob. But if you you know, we're at the top of the mountain and the guide said, Oh my gosh, we made it, we you would be a little concerned, you know? And so it's the comfort in knowing that someone else has been where you are, can do what you do, or are these different pieces, you know, trailblazing the unknown can be uncomfortable. But it is, whatever your normal is. So people who trailblaze often and kind of, you know, beat to their drum or follow their vision or do those, you know, whatever that truly means for you, if that is your normal, that's very different than the person who is, you know, very black and white, very habitual, you know, taking that step, and doing something different, is often, you know, a bigger shift, it's not every other day, it's not, you know, every Tuesday, that can be a big shift. And so for me, leaving my previous role was that big shift, I spent my entire adult life working towards a goal of climbing the corporate ladder. And I did that very successfully, only really to realize once I got to the top of the ladder, that I didn't want to be there. And that was a big shift for me, and, and battled for a long time internally knowing that I no longer wanted the same thing. But ultimately, not knowing how to make that shift, how to make that change, feeling a little bit, you know, like, well, this is what I committed to. And so, you know, if I reflect, though, that isn't what I always wanted. 

Normal is whatever your normal is.

So I grew up riding horses, extremely competitively. That was my whole life, I wanted to make the Canadian team I, you know, the term Eat, sleep, breathe, horses was my life. I didn't want to go to university, I didn't want to do any of those things. I wanted to ride horses; my eggs were all very much in that basket. And so when I was in a very serious car accident, when I was 18, a lot of things changed. And it didn't all change at that moment. I don't think I fully understood as a kid. I mean, I was in my late teens, but kid mentality of living at home with few responsibilities, I just didn't how much it would affect my life forever. And so, you know, it was I kept trying to follow my goals and whatnot. Because again, it was that same feeling that I had in corporate where, well, I've committed to this. This is my life. I didn't know life any other way. And it wasn't until basically, I realized that anytime I sat on a horse, my legs went completely numb. And I tried to ride like that for a while. But I became more and more frustrated with myself that I couldn't, I couldn't ride. I couldn't do the job that I knew I could do previously. So it became frustrating. And ultimately, you know, I decided to quit nannying, and go back to school. And that was a big shift. So, you know, up until that point, I had been a nanny to multiple families. So you know, childcare provider, I was living out, I didn't live in, I did not live in the home, I was a life out childcare provider nanny. And so I would, you know, ride and childcare. But when I wanted to go back to school that didn't work as school was during the day. And so, you know, I looked at the schedule, and I often, you know, people who go back to school during night school or whatever, the experience that I had was that it was really hard to even get the classes that I needed to finish my degree, never mind, try to only do them at night. I remember being in class with people who were working full-time during the day. And you know, I would, of course, do some night classes, I did Saturday classes, you know, it was so hard to get into classes that I just took whatever I could get into to finish my degree. Because people were, you know, like, oh, I'm just doing this part-time. And I thought this is four years if you go full time, and to go part-time, that just really felt like the never-never plan. And not to say that that isn't the right thing for certain people. I know for myself; I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel during that part-time. 

Making the Big Shift: Leaving the Corporate World

So, I left being a nanny, I said goodbye to the kids, which was to date that was, you know, at that time in my life was a really big thing. I mean, I love and adore those kids, all of them. And so I knew at that point, I wanted to be a mom in the future. I didn't know what or when, but I knew that that was going to be a part of my life. And so I decided that to make my schedule work, I was going to be a server in a restaurant. And so that was going to be my nighttime plan. But what I didn't factor in was that basically, everything was a unique experience. It was like experience required. And I tried and tried and tried and could not get a job. This was like a frustrating piece. Because it's like, here's my schedule, and I need to make this work. And so in the end, I delivered pizza for a little while. And, you know, that was pre, you know, fuel. I know, gas prices across North America right now are high. So this was, you know, years and years ago. So I delivered pizza for a while, but I kept applying for those server jobs. And in the end, I will never forget it, I got a job interview. Finally, I for a job, and it was about 45 minutes from my house. And so I walk in, and at this point, I'm just so excited to finally get this interview. And I remember meeting with this person, I don't even really remember seeing the place. During the interview. I was just so excited to finally get the interview. And so it was a Friday. And she said, Have you ever been here? And I said no. And she said, Are you from here? Like referring to the area because it was a different town than I lived in? And I said, No. And she said, Okay, you start tonight. And so I started that night, Friday at 10 pm. I'd never carry a tray, I'd never gotten any kind of training, and I had zero experience. And I just thought okay, but the part that you know, I didn't necessarily, you know, I was really shy. I mean, shy. I am an introvert by nature. And I would say as I have grown and become more comfortable with just who I am in my authentic journey and whatnot, that often people mistake me as an extrovert. And so I heard a term recently the ambivert, who is an introvert who seems more like an extrovert, but I wasn't, I wasn't necessarily the person who was going to march up to a group of strangers and start chatting to them. This was not in my comfort zone at this point. But I knew that if I practiced it at work, this could help change my ability to do so. Because when you have a job to do, you can do just about anything, you know, when it's just part of your job. 

And the part that, you know, was interesting to me is that I didn't know anybody I didn't it wasn't there wasn't any, you know, pre context, there was no oh, I went to high school was so and so or, you know, that person was from this club or that I didn't know anyone. And so I went in with a clear outlook. And I must say that I learned so much in working at what I would now call the dive bar. You know, at that point, I made some good income to cover my, you know, going back to school, and the hours worked. And I also met some incredible people at that time and learned how to walk up to people that I didn't know and talk to them. And in the end, you know, I worked there until the place closed down, they did a big, huge renovation and whatnot. And in that time, I had already found another job working much closer to home and whatnot. But I would say that you know that time that I spent there really changed my outlook and my ability to do certain things. 

Leaving my comfort for the unknown

Last year, I got on a plane and headed to meet someone that I had been working with online for many months but got on a plane and off we went to share a weekend working on a project also then added a second stop to my job and went to work with one of my clients into kind of a like intensive weekend. And at that moment, it that day hit for me that hey, like this kind of like starting a restaurant all over again, where I don't know what's really in store. But, you know, I got on the plane and went and you know, I remember knocking on the hotel room door or, you know, the other person I met picking me up at the airport and kind of having that same moment of like, oh my goodness, I don't know what I'm doing here. But it worked out. So like I mean, it was an incredible trip. Incredible. And so it's being willing to show up and do things completely outside of your comfort zone and try to continue flexing that as much as I am habitual and whatnot. I have tried since working at that dive bar have tried to continue not to be restricted by an unwillingness to change, grow and be uncomfortable when I left when I decided to leave my previous role. And you know, I often referred to it as, you know, my time in corporate but, you know, the part of that journey that is more than just my time in corporate is that when I started at that company, it was a very small organization. I think there was you know, maybe There were less than 10 people, you know, probably six or seven, the office was really in what you know, was more like a closet. And, you know, over the decade that I spent there that business grew and, and saw all sorts of growth and change and opportunity. And, you know, by the time that I decided to leave, I had become a partner there, I had, you know, hired, you know, upwards of 50 people, we had scaled to seven figures a month, we had implemented some massive system changes and, and done some very cool trend-setting, industry-changing moves. And so really, as much as I want to change, leaving that life was as big a change as leaving, you know, the decision to ride horses competitively and go back to school, it was that same big shift all over again. And, you know, I reflect, and I often joke, I haven't seen my comfort zone since then. And I haven't. 

I have connected with some incredible people. And I think that that would be the most surprising part of my journey, is that I always joke that I, you know, hi, I don't really like humans, I like computers, more than humans. And I think that the difference is now is that have, you know, connected with my humans, like, you know, and I know that that may sound funny, but it's, it's connecting with, like-minded people who, you know, laugh with you, not at you who embrace your differences, who admire your strengths. And, you know, I have met in the last, you know, 18 months or so have met people that I will remain close with for the rest of my life. And so as much as the entrepreneurship journey, you know, people refer to as lonely, I would say, you know, it's, it's also not as lonely because I was in a group of a lot of people when I was in my corporate role, but I felt very alone, I referred to it, you know, as the old boys club, I will never forget, sitting at this boardroom table with three very, very talented, very respected, you know, upper executives to, you know, two CEOs, one vice president, and it was, it was really, it was this moment, because A, I still am not super chatty. And I know that sounds funny, as I'm sitting here chatting away on a podcast, but I listen. But I don't enjoy being put on the spot. That's something that I you know if you remember, an episode from season one, about the, you know, the little black book that changed my life, again, being put on the spot, I would say that embracing things like that has come with entrepreneurship. But back as I was sitting at this boardroom table, that was not something and I also, you know, don't necessarily in a room with so many very powerful, charismatic personalities. They're all, you know, very passionately talking, I, I, at that moment, really struggled to interject in a way that I could add value to the conversation. And so I often felt like I was, you know, watching versus participating because I didn't necessarily know how to find my voice and say, what I thought you hear you have people who are so talented, and if I, you know, I still have such a huge deal of respect for all three of the people who are sitting at that table. And I think that that is the difference is that the people I've connected with on podcasts and whatnot, who I would consider more minded aren't necessarily, you know, not driven by ego, those kinds of conversations are very different, I feel I can contribute more, I can bring more value, I can offer more in a different environment. So I would say that that has been a significant shift. And I you know, that feeling of being alone, you know, being with a lot of people, but being alone is easy to feel like it's just you at that moment, but sometimes it's just that change of environment. 

I knew I made the right decision.

It's the change of scenery, it's, you know, the power of proximity and putting the people who inspire you, the people who make you feel good or surrounding you, you know, it's entrepreneurship does not have to be lonely. It can be, it can be lonely, but you have to find the people that you're sharing that journey with the people that are on that journey with you. You know, it's the people online who like your posts, it's the people you connect with in the DMS. It's the people you join Facebook coming to Interviews with or that you interview on podcasts. I just, finished yesterday interviewing someone for an upcoming episode, I am so excited to release this episode. Truly so excited. And when we were finished, I connected with her and said, Hey, like, I want to, I want to do more of this with you just hearing her story, hearing her value hearing all of these things I knew right away, this was something more that I wanted. And I, you know, she and I chatted about it super excited, we've decided I'm going to, I am going to do some work with her. And we're going to share some of what we were working on in a live. So you know, stay tuned for the details on that. But it's finding the people that make you feel empowered, that make you feel heard, and that you can bring that value. 

One of the, you know, different pieces that our agency offers is business mentorship. So our agency works with people in three ways. We do business mentorship programs, which are the operations meetings, the test management, all these different pieces, the guiding, one of my clients recently referred to it as the Caddy. So if he is the golfer, you know, the business mentorship is the caddy piece, it's knowing which club to play with, it's knowing the weather, it's, you know, the suggestions and whatnot. And I had to laugh a little bit because at first, I didn't as a nongolfer I didn't completely understand. But people often say that golf is a solo sport. But, you know, he explained that that is not accurate, that, you know, the caddy plays such a big role. And he said that the transformation of having that Guiding Light. 

So you know, we do weekly meetings, 90-minute meetings, and help, you know, facilitate the transformation and progress in his business. And so, you know, we work with people on this mentorship piece, but we also offer services for you. You know, things like social media management, bookkeeping is a big one, digital marketing, website design systems, and Process automation. So those are the services where you know less about the guiding and more about us just diving in and offering that result. And then we offer, you know, a full-service package, which truly is a combination of the two, where we are 100% of the part of your business, our team is your team. And we are, you know, helping the growth and progress, whether that is through the bookkeeping, a common process or progression for our clients is, you know, starting with getting the books cleaned up, a lot of times, bookkeeping falls behind or incorrect. And as the business starts to scale, people run into these needs for additional data or, you know, they want to dive into project profitability or these types of things. And then, you know, there's this realization that the bookkeeping is not what it needed to be. 

And so, you know, often we start with, hey, let's dive in and get this bookkeeping sorted out, let's set up an annual budget, let's look at laying out some objectives, key results, these types of things. And so from there, it is solving, you know, the challenges that they come up if, you know, we implement something called the data-driven method, once we've sorted out the bookkeeping or sorted out the business metrics, highlights, you know, okay, so we have an SEO issue, we have a business visibility issue, then our team can, you know, be deployed to solve that SEO issue or solve the business visibility issue. So, you know, these are the different ways that you can work with our team, but the mentorship piece and connecting with like-minded entrepreneurs has truly been the most incredibly rewarding part of becoming an entrepreneur, and that shift into really an authentic journey. 

You know, in the beginning, it's interesting because people would say you need to be your authentic self. And I thought at that moment, I am being my authentic self. And you know, I heard over and over again at the beginning, no, like who you are with your friends and I said, This is who I am with my friends and you know, no, no, like who you would be at home and this is who would be at home. I think, though, at that moment that that truly was the accurate actual answer. That was who I was at home, that was who I was because my work had consumed me and I had become conditioned to be this very vanilla person. And if I think back through that progression and the process, you know,  I joked about four months into my business that you know, even if I was vanilla, I wanted to be like the fancy vanilla you know, when you get the vanilla and has like little bean flakes in it that I've just been a little bit I was like the premium vanilla, the flakes. And you know, when I started my business, my branding Colors were black, beige, gray, and white, a neutral palette. And if you, you know, compare that now, in contrast to our agency branding has a beautiful bright orange, which is so so you know, people still to this day are shocked that our branding has this vibrant color. And you know that that is the progression from you know, beige to orange. And as much as I was being authentically myself there was a shift, and there was a growth and almost an embracing of this new entrepreneur energy, where this is that the authentic person has changed. And I think as you know, when I was writing, I felt like I was all in on that, that that was, you know, I didn't know how to make that shift. And then I was incorporated, and I didn't know how to make that shift, I was all in on climbing the corporate ladder. And now I didn't know how to not be all in on being this just plain vanilla. Because if I reflect on that I mean, I might have transformed into the more premium vanilla with the flakes but when I started it was very plain vanilla. And it was my authenticity that wasn't me not being authentic that was who I had become. And so, you know if I can reflect on even the previous year of the podcast, and my business so much growth and transformation and change has occurred and I just appreciate so much everyone for being a part of that journey, so much growth and progression and I am here to enjoy the journey. Embrace being uncomfortable because I have truly found that life is incredible when you embrace being uncomfortable. 

Well, we are all out of time for today. If you guys have not joined the service-based business society Facebook community, make sure you head on over to Facebook and we can continue the conversation. Be sure to also follow the show by going to any podcast app and searching surface-based business society. Click subscribe, click the fifth star, and leave us a written review. Have a great week and we will see you soon!