Welcome to Take Control with Nicole. As business owners, we experience firsthand the fine line between our personal and business lives. During our conversations, we will look at simple hints and tips to create time, reduce overwhelm, and help you to navigate through your journey to where you want to be. If you’re looking for smarter ways to work, and create space and time freedom in your day, then you’re in the right place. All right, let’s go.

Hello, Hello, and thank you for joining me for this fabulous episode of Take Control with Nicole. Today I had the amazing Jess Williamson here with me. And we are going to be exploring and talking about all things unleashing your potential. But firstly, I would love to introduce you to Jess. Jess is an award winning mindset and business coach and serial entrepreneur. Having run four businesses in the last five years, Jess has found her true passion in her work as a business coach. When Jess is not supporting her fabulous female entrepreneurs to unleash their potential. She loves to explore go on adventures and relax at the beach. Well, doesn’t that sound amazing?

Nicole Smith
Hello, thank you for joining me today. Lovely to chat with you.

Jess Williamson
Thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to chat today.

Nicole Smith
It’s gonna be a fabulous conversation. I was just saying before we pressed record, I’ve done a little bit of Insta stalking before. And there’s some beautiful videos, or Instagram lives that you’ve IG TVs, whatever they’re called now, that you’ve got in there and share some of your story. And I’d love you to share that with us today right now actually. Tell us all about you.

Jess Williamson
So my journey started when I was 22. And I was, well I mean, probably started the day I was born. But let’s start it from the point where I was 22. And I started my first business. So I was working in digital marketing at the time. And I used to just actually start Instagram accounts for fun. And so people are like you’re crazy, that’s not fun. But I used to start them for fun because I just loved digital marketing. I love trial and error and figuring things out. And I actually used to have this Instagram account called osby’s designs or something like that. And I used to just share all Australian interior designs and grew it to 5,000 followers, and I probably could have been a massive interiors influencer at this rate, but look, I deleted the account and started new ones. So I loved Instagram and then I also always wanted to work in marketing, but also fashion in marketing. And so the challenge is, Perth doesn’t have too much fashion. I mean, there is, there’s small businesses, but I wanted to work for ones over in Sydney and Melbourne. And then I would apply for jobs and no one would give me a chance because I hadn’t worked in fashion. So I thought, look, I know I’m capable of so much more than I’m being given at this current job and so much more capable than people, you know, people underestimate me my whole life. So I’m just going to create my own business and I had different ideas from homewares to clothing to swimwear, and because I love the beach, I love travel and I love fashion. I thought swimwear was the perfect choice. So I know we’re going to chat a little bit about mindset, but mindset really played a role from day one for me. Because firstly, I believed I was capable of it. Secondly, I actually set out and I said to myself, I’m going to make a global swimwear brand. I never said let me just practice, let me start a small one and see if it goes global. It’s never going to go global if you don’t decide it’s going to be global. And so therefore I took actions to make it global so I went and manufactured overseas. No experience, no knowledge, no clue what I was doing, but I made it up. I thought to myself, what is the best way to communicate my designs and just did it. And so then I actually created, I went to Melbourne actually and did my very first photoshoot because there was a model and photographer there that I just loved and I thought was perfect. And I invested in that photoshoot because that would then portray the brand as a serious global brand. So we did an amazing photoshoot. And these are still some of my favourite photos ever. And so then I built up my following online I’d used all my skills from the Instagram practice that I’d had and my background in marketing and I launched within seven months and for anyone that’s listening that does a manufacturing business or a fashion business, you know that you are pulling it pretty tight to even get a collection made in six months, let alone when you have zero clue what you’re doing. So I’d launched online built my website did everything, flew to Melbourne, all of the above in seven months from the idea. And so I launched in February 2016. And then one week later, I received an email inviting me to New York Fashion Week. And people like, I thought it was a scam. I was like, who the hell is inviting me to New York Fashion Week, I’ve only been here for a week. And so I asked some other brands that had been in past years, and it checked out and I was like, right, okay, this is a real opportunity. And firstly, I just spent my life savings on my first collection. I hadn’t sold many either, I was on very minimal wage at my full-time job, had zero annual leave. I, you know, I was brand new. And here I was being invited to an Australian showcase with all other Australian brands that I’ve looked up to for a long, long time. But I said yes. And I was like, I’m going to figure the heck out how I’m going to get to New York, how I’m going to pay for this, how I’m going to, you know, do all of that. I’ll figure it out. I’ve got to make a whole new collection as well, in six months. And I have only just made my first one. So, it was a pretty crazy time. But I said yes. Because I knew that this opportunity was not one that was going to come around, probably again, or, you know, not too often. And I had to do it. So, I said yes. And I just wanted to quickly touch on the mindset aspect of that.

Jess Williamson
So, it’s just organically how my brain thinks, this is a great opportunity. Yes, I’ll do it. I’ll figure it out. But I realised not everyone thinks like that. And a lot of people would have seen, oh look, it’s just not the right time, or it’s too hard, or I don’t have any annual leave, or what am I going to say to my boss, I was like, I’ll say whatever the hell I need to, you know, and I lied, a lot, which I probably shouldn’t have. But look, you do what you’ve got to do until my boss saw me on the news. And then he didn’t tell me until I quit a year later. But there I was on channel 9 news talking about going in New York Fashion Week.

Nicole Smith
Just on that, though, like, I think that’s I’m very much a gut feeling person. And a take action person and people look at me like in that same, like, how are you doing all these things and I’m like, I see opportunities. Yes. And I do the gut check. And like, oh, is this or is this not? And if it’s a yes, then let’s go ahead. What’s the worst that can happen? Yeah, it doesn’t work out, but actually, what we find is we learn from that right? So, and then you take it to the next thing.

Jess Williamson
Absolutely. And like, I could have said, who am I to be on the stage with these brands? And, you know, I’m just Jess from Perth, like, who am I to be doing any of this. But none of those thoughts actually crossed my mind. And the only reason that I can look back now and see, wow, it really is mindset. Because if I didn’t have that mindset, I would have said no. And I would have only saw the challenges because there were a lot. There were a lot of challenges, and it was not easy. And I hit my rock bottom right before going to New York Fashion Week as well. It was not an easy time I was having adrenal fatigue, severe burnout. I was hating going to my full-time job, I was not eating properly. I was just like working. So it was a challenging journey. But it was a pretty exciting one. So my first business was my swimwear brand. And I’ve actually recently sold that. So I ran that for five years, I grew and scaled it. So we ended up having quite a big audience all over the world. We were had customers in over 46 countries. And then we started to focus mostly on America. So we had a US warehouse and a Hong Kong warehouse and our Australian warehouse. And so I grew it to a really awesome point. But what started to happen was I started to lose the passion for it. And I got it to a point which was pretty awesome. But if you start to lose the passion, then I wasn’t being as innovative. I wasn’t trying to grow it I was, it was ticking along. And so it was great because I built it to a point where I’d automated or systemized or process driven things. And my warehouses and everything was just syncing to my website. And it was all happening, which was awesome. But I was losing the passion. So I was still only spending like one to two hours a day on it. And it was making a fair amount of money. But at the end of the day, and this is something that I’ve shared on my podcast as well. What’s the point in money, you know, if you’re not enjoying it anymore, and even just that one to two hours, it was taking up that much energy from me and just brain space and renting a space in my brain, you know, for that time. And so I thought, well, if I’m not pushing it to grow, it’s going to flatline and then it’s going to eventually go downhill. And then I’m going to be stuck, you know. So I thought right, now that I’ve got it to this really great place. I’m happy to pass it on to someone else who has a new passion and new drive and who can really take it to that next level and I’ve built a pretty awesome business because it’s pretty much running itself. So I got it to a really great place to be able to sell it

Jess Williamson
And I sold it in, I think it was June this year. So about four months ago. It was probably one of the best things I did. But it’s kind of like a breakup where you’re like, oh, but all the good times, and then when you’re in it, you’re like, Get away from me kind of,

Nicole Smith
Like I just need my, it’s not you. It’s me,

Jess Williamson
Yes. Then you like, ohh the good time. It was honestly the most amazing journey. And like, I’m so proud of myself for what I did as well. But at the same time, I decided to start three to four other businesses while I was doing it all. So I learnt to slow down. And now I’m only doing my coaching business, but I started an influencer travel agency. So I was taking influences all over the world to, we partner with the Fiji Marriott group, and we got to tour all the hotels there and, you know, promote brands and do all of that through my experience of working with influences in my own brand. And then I started a, an events venue in Perth. And that was fun, but it caused me a lot of anxiety. I didn’t love, you know, people were like smashing the venue up. And I was like, having anxiety about that every weekend, which I try not to work weekends. And it was not fun, so that when I exited it as well. But that business, I grew to a point where it’s booked out every single week without me really doing much as well. So I’ve not just built businesses, because I think anyone can start five businesses. But I made them really successful in a very short time. But the reason why I don’t look at those as failures is because I did, I built them quite successfully. But also, I just realised that that wasn’t my passion. And that’s not what lit me up. And it’s not what my purpose is. So, a lot of other people would see, oh, you did five businesses and now you’ve only got one or, you know. I did that events venue caused me a lot of anxiety, and I sold the business and then there was a whole drama with the landlord. So I ended up just closing it down, selling off all the furniture and, and letting that one be. But for me, the piece that it gave me, I lost some money at the end, you know, but the piece and the stress is not worth any amount of money for me. So just really defining what success meant to me, and what really lit me up. But if I didn’t do those things, I also wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have the experience to then share with my clients and all of that as well. So I feel like my past five years is probably been equivalent to someones like 20 years. I go fast, but I move on fast as well.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, I am, I’ve been just people have said to me, you’ve got this accelerated experience. And I’m two years in and still going through that discovery phase of what The Artisans Business Solutions is. And I’ve landed on it now in the last month, and so really exciting things to come. But it’s just you know, that journey of knowing that it’s okay and that as a human, we know what we need and what lights us up. And by looking internally versus for that external validation, which sounds like it’s exactly what your journey has been created on. Knowing that yeah, how fabulous that I’ve created this business, or I’ve grown this business, but it’s not serving me anymore. And if I continue to do it, which I couldn’t, I could probably continue to grow it. It’s what is the detriment that I’m going to experience because of that? You know, so yeah. But what a journey to yeah, you’re right. Like that is a, quite a lot going on in a small space of time.

Jess Williamson
Yeah, I didn’t know how to slow down and now that’s become a massive part of my, my life lesson, I think, to learn to slow down. And just really instilling that into my life and just making sure that I look after myself as well, because I was someone who would wake up at first thing in the morning, get straight on the laptop, and my brain would forget about everything else, forget about eating breakfast until three o’clock, would forget about everything else. So I’ve had to really retrain myself to slow down. And selling the business and things like that has given me a bit of space. But I’m someone and I’m sure you’re the same we quickly fill up the space the spare time. If we don’t structure it in the right way.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, well it’s understanding the what are the behaviours that we need to look to create in our world that’s going to support the way that we actually want to be. So like a process that I do with my clients is designing your day. So what is the ideal experience that you want to experience as a human? Regardless, the work stuffs all part of that. You know, they talk about work-life balance, but I actually think about it as an integration of all the elements together, create your world. Yeah, identifying those important ones. The personal stuff though, coming first because if we don’t look after ourselves, then. You know, you don’t want to hear arrive at that burnout stage or yeah, exactly. Oh, goodness, wow. Okay. We have touched on mindset a lot. And it is you, you alluded to the fact that not everyone has that, like, we have a similar mindset. But you’re right. Not everyone has that innate function of just go for it. Is that something that you work with your clients on, on how to sort of lean into that a little bit more or to, how to use some tools and techniques to give yourself permission to do that?

Jess Williamson
Yes. So in addition to obviously, like just having business experience in my background in digital marketing, I’ve done a lot of levelling up on the mindset side. So I’ve done NLP I’ve done hypnosis training, I’ve done live coaching, I’ve done like so many different types of coaching certifications as well to work on the mindset side, and the subconscious, and all of that, because, really, our brains create our reality. And so if we’re not working on that, then we’re just, you know, I don’t even know what a saying is. But you know, we’re just, I don’t like this saying, but flogging a dead horse or something like that. It’s a terrible saying, but I can’t think of another way to demonstrate. But it’s like, you can’t just keep trying harder. And I think so many people see problems in their business, and they just keep trying harder. And they always go to marketing. And they think I’ve just got to do more marketing, I’ve got to try a different marketing hack. People are telling me to do reels, better spend all my time on reels. Oh okay, now you’re telling me to do emails, oh better do all of my emails. And it’s like, none of those things matter if you don’t have the right mindset. So, I am so passionate about working, about the strategy and the mindset, because if I just said to my clients, right, in order for you to not burn out and so we can grow your business and hit your goals, you’ve got to 10 times your price. They’re not going to do it, they’re not going to 10 times their price, because they don’t believe they’re worthy. They don’t believe that anyone would pay that. They’re scared to sell, like so many things could come up. And so everyone’s is so different. And that’s why I love working one on one with my clients because I can really work with them on what is coming up for them. It might have been a past experience. So, one of my clients that I worked with, actually she had a dream to start a kid’s swimwear brand. And I’m an open book.

So I took on quite a few swimwear brands and literally gave them my factories and things. If I had anything that could help them I’d give it to them. But she had this dream to start a swimwear brand. And she kept coming back to me, this was before she was working with me. And she kept saying, I want to do it, but no, and then she would keep coming back and forth. And I was like, right, what is holding you back here because there’s something going on for you. And so we figured out for her, she’d actually had a business in the past with a business partner. It was a different industry. But what happened with that business is that the business partner ended up being addicted to drugs, and got, you know, all hell broke loose. If you could think of the worst things that could happen. It happened to her. And so what she did was she associated business with losing a tonne of money, heartache, stress, like the worst things that could ever happen. And so we had to rewrite that reality for her before she was ever going to take that leap into her new business, but also so that she could have success in that new business and not self-sabotage. Because if she started to see, oh, I’m getting so successful, but that’s going to cause that heartache, then she would just be self-sabotaging. And she would be thinking it’s the marketing and thinking as the product and thinking it’s the factory, but in reality, it would have been her mindset. So sometimes I can see things in my clients that they don’t see. And that’s the point. Because if we knew what our mindset challenges were, we would overcome them. But most of the time, our brains work in a way that have probably worked that way for their whole lives. So how do we know any different?

Nicole Smith
Yeah, I say the same with my work with what I do with my clients. So, I look at the foundations of their businesses, right, the way that they’re operating it and a lot of it does come down to the person. It’s very human-focused, because you introduce any systems and structures, but unless they’re built to actually support the way that your business wants to run, and you as a human and your team likes to run, maybe not going to be so successful. But I have the same experience with the, I look at a business from the outside when you’re in it. And you’d probably be the same with your businesses when you’re in it, it’s almost cloudy. The things that are actually right in front of our faces we can’t see, because we’re focusing on all the other things and then someone comes and like have you thought about this? Oh, yes, okay, yes, I can see how that would be a thing. And finding those people who can support you, in an, and empower you and give you that confidence to know the decisions that you, you know, are right for you, deep down, come back to that gut feeling. Having that supportive space for them to discover that. So powerful.

Jess Williamson
Absolutely.

Nicole Smith
Just interrupting this episode for one little message, if you have been listening and love what you hear and want to come in connect, we have a Take Control with Nicole Facebook community, right over there on Facebook, that I would love to invite you to come and join us. We are a supportive community, we are looking to really take action in our businesses, and change the way or evolve the way we’re working right now. So I invite you to come on over and join our community and connect with us all. Community is the essence of everything in business. Being able to really build those relationships that you can nurture, and grow and support and celebrate each other. Oh, how fabulous. I hope to see you over there, pop on over to Facebook, Take Control with Nicole, see you soon.

Nicole Smith
Now, part of that, and I know that you just mentioned one of your clients had a dream about the thing. Goal setting and vision setting, is that, like how do you see that that is a powerful part of the whole process of going from the nothing or the imagination to the bigger picture?

Jess Williamson
Yes, definitely. I think the biggest problem is, so, most clients that come to me or potential clients, or just people that I’m chatting to, they don’t know what success means to them. And so most of the time, they’ve plucked a number out of thin air. And what I say is, people don’t want to be a millionaire, they want the symptoms of being a millionaire. And the symptoms look different to everyone. I don’t care about Gucci handbags, I care about holidays, and the beach and doing what I want when I want. And so some people like Gucci handbags and that and you know, people want to just spend time with their kids or, you know, everyone has a different idea of success. But what we see told to us on mainstream media, social media is, right, my first goal is six figures. And then okay, great, I’ve hit six figures, so my next goal must be seven figures, or great, I’ve hit 5k months, my next goal must be 10k months. And there’s like, no, like, why, like yes, but why? And where is that leading to? Because I’ve been there. I’ve been, you know, in those places, I had hugely successful businesses, and none of the other stuff, no lifestyle, nothing. And so now I’ve built my business in a way. And I can come back to that as well, when I start to stray from it. And I’m like, why am I feeling so stressed or out of alignment? And it’s like, oh, because I’ve lost my freedom. I’ve lost my flexibility. I haven’t been to the beach or haven’t gotten any sunshine for a while. So it’s, the first step is really redefining what success means to you. And I did a whole podcast episode on this over on couch chats. But that’s exactly where people get stuck firstly. Because they come to me and they’re like, Jess, I know my goal. No worries, I’ve heard you talk about it. I know it, and it’s to grow my business. And I’m like, well, firstly, how much do you want to grow? And then secondly, why? And I think ‘why’ is the question that most people miss. So people are pretty clear on, oh my goals have to be specific. So how much do I want to grow? Oh, I want to grow to six figures. Again, that’s not very specific. But they don’t know why. Yeah. And when I asked them why they don’t know. And if we don’t know why. I mean, you can grow and you can have a tonne of money and not know what you’re going to do with it. That’s great. But if you don’t know why you’re doing it, then you’re not going to feel in alignment. You’re going to lose motivation when times get tough because there’s no purpose, it’s just money for money’s sake, or working for working sake. And you’re going to lose that. So really understanding why. Is it that you just want to spend more time with your kids, maybe actually need to do less clients and then factor in more time with your kids. Or you know, you can weigh it up and so for me moving into 2022, I’m already doing less like most afternoons I try not to work, most Fridays I don’t work. Technically, like sometimes I’ll work if I want to but I don’t have to.

Nicole Smith
It’s choice, though, right? I think that’s something that I always talk about is that there’s no illusion here that business is easy, or there’s no work to do. Because business is business. But you can build it in a way so that there is choice in there. So if you decide on if you have the day plan to not do something, but actually, you feel like doing it amazing.

Jess Williamson
Absolutely. Yep. And that’s why I’ve literally had to block out my calendars. So every Friday is a non-negotiable. I can either do learning or upskilling. And I love doing that that fills my tank, or I can catch up on work if I really need to. Because for me that relieves stress. And it means that I can enjoy my weekend. I never work weekends anyway, but it just relieves that stress, that I don’t have to deal with it next week. Or sometimes I’ll just go to the beach like this Friday, I’m putting my calendar it’s going to be 33 degrees and I’ve put ‘beach’, that’s scheduled in my calendar. So I schedule in all of these things around it because then I can clearly see, right, nope, that’s beach time, or nope, that’s catching up with my friend time or things like that. And then I have to fit my work around that as well.

Nicole Smith
And structure, and structure isn’t solid, right. Structure actually is support. Because it gives you the options to do the things to make the choices you’re aware of your priorities. I love, I talk about non-negotiable blocks of time in your diary all the time. If it’s gym, if it’s going to the beach, if it’s whatever it might be, time with the kids, lunch with, it was my birthday over the weekend and I went for lunch. But yesterday, a Monday, is my day of no client work and no bookings and Charlotte, my daughter’s not at daycare on a Monday. And so I have a decision or choice of what I want to do. So yesterday I went for lunch with my Mum and my Nana and Charlotte and went to the park and it was sunny and beautiful here in Melbourne. And I just felt so just filled. Just from those few hours just together in the sunshine. And normally, in the old world. I’d be like, oh, I can’t possibly just have some, you know, I got things to do. No, I don’t. Today is my time. And it’s just such a beautiful thing to have that structure already created in your world, those behaviours to allow you to say yeah, hey, this is cool. This is good. This is what we need today.

Jess Williamson
Absolutely. Yeah.

Nicole Smith
So, limiting beliefs. How does that play into business? In particular around I know you mentioned about increasing your rates by your cost by 10 times, like, yeah, that is a confronting conversation, especially when you’re starting early out in business. And you know, if you’re a service provider, and maybe you’ve been in the employment space beforehand, transitioning over here and working that all out. That yeah, talk to me about that.

Jess Williamson
1Yes. So when it comes to limiting beliefs, I mean, they’re just beliefs that limit you. It’s pretty, pretty simple definition. But,

Nicole Smith
I love the language, right, if you just look at the words, that just tells you what it is.

Jess Williamson
And the thing with beliefs are, you’ve decided, at some point to believe that. And so when you realise that limiting beliefs are a choice, they’re not reality, then you can choose to believe something else. And so just understanding that alone can shift a lot. But the first step is finding out what your limiting beliefs are. And that is sometimes the hardest part. So that’s what I work with my clients on. And I do have a free resource on my website, which takes you through four steps on finding out your limiting beliefs. I’m not sure if you wanted to share that as well.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, absolutely. We’ll pop that into the show notes for you

Jess Williamson
Yeah, and I’ve got a little video lesson that goes with it. So the first step is finding out like what are your limiting beliefs? And so some areas that you can look at is like, do I keep coming up against the same challenge? Or is there something that I’m avoiding? So looking at your behaviour. Is this something that you’re avoiding? Or maybe putting off or procrastination. I just released a podcast episode called self-sabotage is bullshit because I don’t believe it’s bullshit. It’s, it’s your brain trying to protect you. So when you think about limiting beliefs in that way, procrastination doesn’t exist. It’s a belief that is trying to protect you from whatever it is, or self-sabotage doesn’t exist. So those leave clues if there’s certain things that you’re procrastinating or self-sabotaging on or avoiding or just coming up against the same challenges. So they leave clues. You might even just know, look, I’m afraid of failure. I just know this. And I’ve never actually written it down. So just getting really clear on what that is, but even a fear of failure. Why? Like digging deeper into why. Why you’re afraid of failure. Because if we just try and push past, let’s say, procrastination, and people have all these tips for procrastination, they’re like, schedule it in your diary, work harder, you know, do this, that’s not going to solve anything. And so one of my clients came to me and she was feeling really deflated around not getting as much done as she would like. And I said, Guess what I’m going to make you do, you’re going to go and take a two day holiday, go to Manley, book yourself a two day holiday away from the kids away from your business, and that’s what you’re going to do. And she was like, Jess, I thought, you’re gonna tell me to toughen up and work harder. But when I understand that, it’s the mindset, it’s got nothing to do with procrastination or productivity, I’m not here to treat that I’m here to treat what lies deeper, because that then solves everything. And so, she went and had that two day reset, because she needed a reset more than anything. And we’d been working through some things.

So it’s really understanding what lies deeper. So it’s not a fear of failure, it might be a fear of judgement from others, it might be, you’ve told you’re not good enough in the past, or, you know, digging deeper, and the deeper we can get, the more we can get to the root. And that will solve everything that comes above it. So limiting beliefs, we’ve all got them. We’ve all got, you know, everyone’s got different variations, different stories, different experiences. So your beliefs are as unique as you are. And so that’s why I love working one on one because we can dig deeper, but through that resource that I have, you can start to unpack that. So just for one more example, because it might help people relate to it. I recently ran my retreat, and I had a lady there that I’d worked with in the past one on one, and we’ve done some amazing work, but there’s still always more and there’s a next level. And so she was coming up against the challenge of not booking clients, she got quite a few inquiries, but no one ever booked her. And so she said to me, Jess, I need help with my sales strategies and my marketing. And over the course of the weekend, there was a few things that I picked up on in her languaging. And it turned out that it was her lack of confidence. Not her sales and marketing. And so then she worked on that confidence. And it’s a very intangible thing. So she was very resistant. We had a bit of a you know, back and forth on that.

Nicole Smith
Isn’t that fabulous, something that I’ve experienced recently is when you have that instant, ‘no’ reaction or I’m fine. Uh-huh. Be a bit curious about those responses or those reactions. Absolutely. Because that means actually, hmm, I answered that a little bit too quickly, what’s going on there? I need to like dig down to the surface.

Jess Williamson
Yeah, definitely. And I gave her the space, but also pushed her a little bit. And it came down to confidence. And guess what, that very day, she got two inquiries for the exact same date. It’s like, what are the odds of that firstly, so that just shows the energy that you put out to the universe because she didn’t actually do any marketing or anything. But then I worked with her on her confidence on the response. And the response was super confident. She not only booked one of the clients that weekend on the retreat, but she upgraded them to her top level package, because she was then confident in her services and confident as the expert, and what was best for them, when they actually only wanted the cheapest option. So, she just tripled her income, she pretty much made her monthly goal of income from that one thing, shifting the confidence. So the thing is, sometimes we don’t want to do it. Like you said, sometimes we don’t want to hear it. But I’m, I’m here to push people and nurture people. But I’m not here to be people’s best friend at the same time. And that will be the same with you. I’m sure you know, we’ve got to tell people what they need to hear not always what they want to hear.

Nicole Smith
And, all we can do as your support crew, let’s call us that. We can support you to make the right decision for you. I will never tell someone what to do.

Jess Williamson
Absolutely.

Nicole Smith
Because the moment you’re doing that, or if you’re working with someone who does do that, maybe take a moment to think about if they’re the right people in your space, because we’re the only one that knows the direction we need to go in. Yes, we need that support to be able to sometimes feel confident or empowered to make those decisions in those, you know, that step forwards.

Jess Williamson
Absolutely and if someone’s telling you what to do, what are you going to do when they’re not there? You know, for us, you know, it’s guiding and even when it came down to that confidence when she said I need sales and marketing. She thought she knew but I picked up on wording throughout the weekend where confidence came up. So I didn’t say look, you’re lacking confidence. I coached her through it. So that was just an abbreviated version. But yeah, it’s all about helping people unearth what’s inside of them, and that they can’t always see. But when it comes to limiting beliefs, the first step is just understanding what it is because if she didn’t know that there was a confidence issue, then how can she work on that and even just being aware of that helped her gain that client By the end of the weekend, she was thanking me for that push. But if we’re not aware of it, how can we solve it? So becoming aware is the first step. And then we can work on, you know, rewiring the brain and building out new thoughts and processes in our mind.

Nicole Smith
Awareness is key, right? And I know on my journey, my journey, full stop, there’s none of those things. But as soon as I become aware, I’m like, oh, light bulb moment, okay, so if I am working with my clients, and the value and the level of experience that I want to create, is not matching the exchange of you know, dollar tree exchange, then a, it’s not level, it’s not right, it just feels a bit ichy, because then I don’t feel lalalala and they’re not gonna fit. And all of a sudden, you’re like, oh, okay, I need to increase my prices. Because by doing that, I can actually sit in the space that I know and love. And I’m going to be, I’m going to be in that space and I’m going to be giving off a different energy and a different experience. So then my clients are going to be empowered to take those, that feeling on to their business as well. And imagine, like what they can then do, by the feelings that you’re, you know, it’s just a continuation of support and all the fun stuff. But to get to that point, becoming aware, allowing myself to go through that journey, as well. And language has been a big part of that. I do some work with Kathy Rast, who was a linguologist, I’m not sure if you know Kathy, but she’s amazing. And I, a lot of the language techniques that we have been working on the last year has been such a key part of my, my journey in awareness and being able to make those big, big things.

Jess Williamson
Yeah. Amazing.

Nicole Smith
Yeah. So fun. Well, I think that is fabulous. Is there anything else you want to talk about or share or?

Jess Williamson
I could talk all day, I think, I think we’ve kind of we’ve captured a lot. And I just wanted to reiterate, you know, everyone is looking for the latest hacks. And usually, they’re looking for marketing. And there’s no such thing as an overnight success or a quick win the very, very few will get success with that. And so really just working on it long term, looking for how you can grow yourself and every 1% increase in mindset or confidence or whatever it is, is going to flow on to everything, not just in your business, but in your life.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, very, very, very solid advice there. Those one-percenters, especially the personal development is just so good. So good. Yes. Right. Well, we got the three questions. Are you ready?

Jess Williamson
Yeah.

Nicole Smith
Okay, I’m interested to see what your answer is to this actually, what is your go-to app that creates ease in your day?

Jess Williamson
Oh, Todoist. So if anyone hasn’t heard of Todoist, it’s a to-do list app. But what I love about it is you can schedule certain tasks for certain days. So my to-do list has usually 60 to 90 tasks on it. And, you know, in the past, I would have looked at that got through five, and then you just keep working. And so then you net, your list is never done, you feel guilty because you haven’t done it. And there’s still 50 things on the list. So what I love about it is I’ve got my five or so tasks today that I cross-check with my Google Calendar, see if I’ve got space for them all. And if not, then I move them to another day. And then when I’m out having fun, or I’m doing tasks, the idea pops in my head. Oh, Jess, did you forget about this? Or when are you going to do that? I don’t know when the heck it’s scheduled. But it’s scheduled. It’s in there. I don’t have to know when until it’s the day. And so it just gives my brain that time, then my brain says “no worries, I’ve got it handled, out you go”. I’m having fun right now go away. So I really love that because it just helps for the mindset side of it. You’re not feeling guilty about not getting everything done. It allows me to prioritise and schedule things for future dates as well, when they’re due.

Nicole Smith
Perfect. And that’s fabulous. Yeah, sounds great, I haven’t heard of that. So, Todoist?

Jess Williamson
Yeah. And it goes on your phone and your computer. So when I’m out and about I don’t have to think oh, let me remember that or put it in my notes. And then it’s just messy. I put it straight in. Yep, put it on a day. And it’s, never have to think about it again.

Nicole Smith
I have a few clients, so my tool choice is Clickup but you may or may or may not be aware of but I’ve had a few clients that have been the note-takers in the phones and I introduced them to a tool like Clickup or Todoist and it’s just that like, oh my goodness. It’s now a, in a central location that can be actioned. But also, I don’t have to worry about forgetting it. It’s out of my brain. So like you said, all that motion that comes ohh that trigger, have I done? You know that you’ve already got that captured, and it’s going to be scheduled to be actioned, so you can just feel easy and leave the space for something else, the new creative idea or the new thing that you want to do? So absolutely. I think we may have answered the next one. But are you an online or paper to-do lists level or a combo?

Jess Williamson
Online for sure, I used to be paper, but then again, I’d be travelling all the time. And then I’d have to put things in my notes. And then make sure I write them in later. And it’s like, then you just scribble and messy, too much no one’s carrying around a planner, all day.

Nicole Smith
I used to, I used to love paper planners and I, even the last few years I bought them with you know, I don’t know, trying to, I don’t know what it was.

Jess Williamson
They’re just so beautiful but it’s not helpful for productivity.

Nicole Smith
No. So now I channel myself into journals instead. That’s a new thing. I can still buy my nice notebooks. Um, what would you do if you created more space in your world?

Jess Williamson
Oh, look, I’m ready to travel. But look, I don’t know how long that’s gonna be. But I am just, I feel like I have created the space I need now. I’m just waiting till I can leave the state or the country, to be honest. I’ve been, you know, travelled around the state, but um, it’s a little bit different.

Nicole Smith
It’s funny all through COVID. I haven’t had the urge to travel until maybe the last few weeks and keep having this vision of me sitting in the south of France in the sun, in the garden, ahh gosh. I don’t know if you’ve been over there, but they, the rose over there is just amazing.

Jess Williamson
I haven’t been but I love a rose and I’m dying to go to Europe in summer. And just I know it’s not going to be probably for a little while. But we can hope.

Nicole Smith
Yeah exactly, we put that goal out there right.

Jess Williamson
Yeah.

Nicole Smith
That, think about the little steps that we’re going to take to get there. And,

Jess Williamson
I mean, I’m ready to go. I’m just, the borders aren’t open. So we’re not even allowed to leave our state yet. I mean,

Nicole Smith
Noo, you’re not, are you! See Victoria,

Jess Williamson
Well, we can go to Queensland, but we can’t go, if we go to Victoria we’re not allowed back in even if we live here. We’re not allowed to quarantine not allowed back in at all.

Nicole Smith
So hopefully things will start to become whatever the words are to the thing, The Thing.

Jess Williamson
The thing. Don’t even say the words

Nicole Smith
No, we’ll just say that thing. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. I’d love you to just share where we can connect with you. Where are you, hanging out?

Jess Williamson
I am hanging out mostly on Instagram. So @jess.williamson8. You can find me over there and definitely come and connect, my DMs are always open, we’d love to hear from you. And also on my podcast Couch Chats.

Nicole Smith
Love that, fabulous. We will pop all the details in the show notes. So pop on over and say hi to Jess, as I said, go and do some Insta stalking in our IGTV backlog there because there’s a fabulous few conversations that you’ve shared that I loved to watch, so go ahead and do that

Jess Williamson
Thank you so much.

Nicole Smith
My pleasure. Well, thanks so much for again, coming in and joining me today and hope you enjoy that beach on Friday.

Jess Williamson
Ahh, thank you.

Nicole Smith
Well everyone who is listening, have a wonderful rest of your day and enjoy creating space and time freedom bye now.

Nicole Smith
Well, there we go. Thank you so much for joining me today. It’s been such a pleasure having you onboard. Have we connected on social yet? If not, please come on over say hi, I’m on all the platforms @theartisansolutions. So I’d really look forward to seeing you over there. And if you enjoyed today’s episode, don’t forget to tag me and I’d love it if you could leave a review. And of course, share this with others so others can come and join us next time. All right then, everyone have a fabulous rest of the week. And until next time, see you then