Creative Freedom Rebellion: The Whole Story

Nicole Begley (00:00)
You may or may not have noticed that we missed a week or two of the podcast around here. And that is because it has been a busy, busy summer here at NBHQ. my oldest daughter dropped her off at college. so that has taken a lot more time than I anticipated to prepare for that. and J.Nichole Smith and I, also known as Nic,

have been building something absolutely incredible that I am so, so excited to share with you. We're digging into some of those details here inside this episode, and I promise I will get back to more regularly scheduled podcast episodes, but you're definitely gonna want to listen to this one. Stay tuned.

Nicole Begley (00:46)
I'm Nicole Begley, a zoological animal trainer turned pet and family photographer. Back in 2010, I embarked on my own adventure in photography, transforming a bootstrapping startup into a thriving six-figure business by 2012. Since then, my mission has been to empower photographers like you, sharing the knowledge and strategies that have helped me help thousands of photographers build their own profitable businesses. I believe that achieving $2,000 $3,000 sales is your fastest route to six-figure businesses.

that any technically proficient photographer can consistently hit four figure sales. And no matter if you want photography to be your full-time passion or a part-time pursuit, profitability is possible. If you're a portrait photographer aspiring to craft a business that aligns perfectly with the life you envision, then you're in exactly the right place. With over 350,000 downloads, welcome to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast.

Nicole Begley (01:45)
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast. I'm your host, Nicole Bakley, and today we have an amazing crossover episode with my dear friend Jay Nicole Smith. And we are going to be digging into, well, some stuff that I am really freaking excited for and stuff that really I have not built before, and I just can't wait to share with you. So stay tuned.

Hello. my gosh. I am so excited. I'm about to jump through the screen. my gosh. Yesterday after the call, I was like, I need to like, how do I get to Nicole's house? How can we like? I was like, I need to record something. I need to write a video and we need to get on a call. Like it was so good.

Well, there were signs neurodivergent programming. I'm sitting at Colin's soccer game last night and I'm like, that's a triple seven over there. I'm like, and I pull up my flight radar twenty-four F and I'm like, that's the flight from Heathrow. So you could have been on that plane. Hashtag there were signs. Hashtag there that continue to be signs. Anyway, anyway, I digress. Hi, I'm Nicole and I'm Audi HD. Hi, I'm also Nicole and I'm also Audi HD.

Anyway, that's not what we're talking about today, but it would actually be a really good future episode because I did one recently because I was diagnosed as ADHD at 48. It got in right underneath the 49. Under the one last year. And then, you know, you start peeling back the layers of the onion, you're wait, there's more. So we should definitely have this conversation. But today, today we are talking about like it I don't want

Say it's a pivot in our business because it has been something that you and I have both been building really the whole entire time. And it's like we've been building it without really knowing what we're building, and then all of a sudden, like the fog lifted, and we're like, this is what we're doing. I see. that's a really, really good way to describe it. I feel like it is this like.

Totally brand new and also the most familiar thing that feels like coming home. It's so weird. It's this new, completely new direction with all these new facets and features. And also, as you say, like the embodied work that we have always been doing. And I think both of us have like, you know, you recently branded into Freedom Focus Formula, and I recently rebranded into Joy First. And I feel like we have been like

narrowing and narrowing and re getting closer and closer to the thing. And like you said, I think the fog has lifted. And I think definitely we'll talk about this for sure. But I think so much of that has to do with the circumstances around us. We're in a massive joy crisis. Obviously the world's literally on fire. And as I spoke about yesterday doing a lot of the anti-racism work gave me a really different lens to see the world and how it's built and the structures.

And just how systematically unfair it is and the advantages that I have. And it really radicalized me. And I know you've been going through your own kind of radicalization as well. And I think, yeah, I'd I'd be interested to hear what how you would describe this. But for me, I feel like I've been in that state of I've got to do something about this for ages. And I know a lot of the people we spoke to yesterday feel the same, but not knowing what that thing is. And when that thing dropped in, and then I was like.

Yeah, this is way too big for me to do alone. I can't I can't hold it. I I won't I can't do this alone. And the first thing I thought was like, Nicole. Nicole needs to do this with me. And I remember bringing it to you and be like, just you're just hear me out, just give me ten minutes before you say no. I know, because I was very much like

Cause I have been over the past year and a half like streamlining everything. I'm like, there's too many things, too many programs, like streamline, streamline, streamline. You're like, so I have this idea. And I was immediately like, no more things. No. Streamlining. I'm always bringing chaos into your world. but in the best possible way. But then chaos. Then like after the first 10 minutes, and then as I'm starting to sit with it. And then like after like hearing the bigger mission and vision of this, I'm like

I am so freaking in there just is not even I just yes, yes. We should find if we recorded that conversation because it'd be so funny to do like a sp a sped up like video of your face changing. I know. I'm probably like and of course I have no filter with my facial expressions. I remember just I just kept looking at your face and then I'd look away because I'm like, just let me get it out. Just let me finish the thought.

Before you say no. And and I remember starting the conversation with like, okay, now I know the first year is gonna be really tough. And I know this bit is gonna be quite complicated. And I know there's probably some like legal implications for this bit. And I know that I just don't like stacking the like caveats. But let just let me finish and then decide. But just wait. I promise it's worth it. And then to my shock and delight, not really shock, I knew I just had a feeling.

But I watched your face start to change and then I watched your body start to like nod and lean in. And then you're like, okay, actually, okay, yeah, actually I see that. And then it was like literally like within 10 minutes, like, I am so in. Yes. Yes.

So funny. Classic. And I should say, just for full transparency, this was like not that many weeks ago. No. Well, actually, let's back this up because Nick and I, gosh, I've known each other forever. And we teach the commercial pet photography academy. That's kind of our joint program that we would always teach together. And we usually launch that in the spring.

And life was life in this year and we're like, I gotta push it back a little bit. I'm gonna push it back a little bit. And I think this was like maybe June, where we're like, We're gonna launch commercial pep chak free academy in July. And we're like, wait, no, maybe we're just like completely gonna totally revamp this entire business and like all the ideas and basically my whole business and your whole business and all of it. We're just gonna revamp all of it in in like eight weeks, ready go.

And our teams are like, I'm I'm sorry, what? I know, I know.

love the vision and and and yeah and my team they're like you do realize that's in like three weeks I'm like yeah I know we're good we got it don't worry I got this I got this I know Tracy was like you realize I'm on holiday that week. I was like okay all right well we'll figure it out so I feel like we do need to back it up a little bit because people who have no idea what I we're talking about have no idea what we're talking.

talking about. I don't want to leave them in the dark too long. So actually I think it's really interesting that it must have been like maybe a year, maybe two years ago, we actually bought the domain name for the Creative Freedom Rebellion. Originally, I think we were talking about doing it as like a mastermind, but we couldn't quite nail down what we wanted it to be. We knew the vibe and we knew some ideas around what we want to help people do, which is what we've always helped people do, which is create more freedom, fulfillment, joy, profit.

To be able to actually build the lifestyle that they want while being an entrepreneur. And I think both you and I have always been in that mission because entrepreneurship is hard by default. It it is not freedom creating by default. It is misery creating by default. I think we've all had the, my gosh, where you like go to get coffee and you're like, Must be nice to be a barista and at the end of the day and you're done. I was at a food tour in Paris. I mean, this is just like a year and a half ago with my mom.

And our tour guide was like, We're like, What are you doing afterwards? She's like, I'm gonna take my book and go down and sit and read by the sand. I'm like, I I I'm kinda jealous. I think I just want to be a food tour guide. You're like, is this a French thing? Or I know, like, wait. And and also I'm like, wait, I'm allowed to just rest? No, I can't can't never, never. On a weekday, you're just gonna read a book by a ripper? Like, what? I does not compute. How very non American of you.

Yes. my God. Yes. That is another conversation for another day. Yeah. I think you and I have both been so passionate about this because of our own both struggles and successes, I think, in the space of being able to build a profitable, successful, by many measures, business as creatives, as artists, as people selling ourselves and our work in the world. Obviously, we both also have had a teaching element of that and some retreats and other

revenue streams, but I think we've both been on both sides. We both have felt the struggle. We've both felt so much frustration and and how to push past those big milestones that entrepreneurship brings and the personal growth piece and the practical, tangible revenue spreadsheets, cost of goods stuff. And I think once you get over the mountain of that, you do kind of want to like just hand out the

the guidebook to everybody who's still climbing, right? You're just like, here, don't do this, do this, don't do this, do this, don't do this. And I think what has become really true is that as those of us who are so keen to help try and simplify and make things easier for people, we sometimes are creating these frameworks that are maybe too simple or too prescriptive.

And what we talked about yesterday was one of the big learnings that I think both you and I have really embodied over the last couple of years is that there is no one right way. There is no one way up the mountain. And what is so important, as we're all getting our like late life neurodivergence diagnosis, as we're hitting perimenopause, as we are, as I put it yesterday, entering our our I don't give a fuck era, like we just don't have time to

people please or follow other people's plans or just spend any energy at all on things we don't want, basically. And I think we're all realizing that maybe all that time spent trying to follow someone else's plan of what worked for them isn't working for us, not because we're defective, but because we need a different plan and we have different values and we want a different outcome. Well yeah, and I wanna say like you're like there's more than one way up the mountain.

I was gonna say there's 8,000 different mountains. So, like, there's so many different ways up each of those mountains. And for so long, I mean, you guys know if you listen to my podcast, I have been screaming from the rooftops that there is no one pricing strategy, there is no one way to run your business, there is no one right full time, part time. Like it can look like whatever the heck you want and whatever suits you. And anyone that's telling you otherwise, run.

No, yeah. There there are so many different ways to do all of this. And one person's version of joy is, you know, somebody else. They're they're different. Same thing with freedom. Like we have both of us have people in our world that are gonna say, No, I actually like my corporate job and I just want to do this creative thing on the side, or I am so burnt out with this corporate job, I want to go full time creative. Like

There's no right or wrong. I'm gonna go get a barista job because that looks pretty good. I'm gonna do food tourist in Paris. I can't speak French, but you know food out. I'll be English. There'll be English tour guide. That's fine. English tours. Yeah, such a good point. And like maybe mountains aren't your thing, right? Like there's rivers and there's sky and that like there's infinite, infinite possibilities and infinite ways to do it. And I think the most important part of that is that we stop.

looking at ourselves as the problem that we're broken or incapable because we keep running into the same blocks. And I think those of us who are seeing this neurodivergence lens, we're like, okay, okay. Makes so much more sense. And I had that experience because I've had a membership since 2016. It used to be called working with dog. And then I changed it into the 12 month marketing makeover. And then I paused it for a minute.

And then came back as the planning circle, which then became the Joy First Founder Circle. And I've been doing like the same five things in this membership for a decade. And some very specific things, teaching some very specific sort of habits and using some very specific tools that worked for me and my clients. And it was only this year that I was like,

This is not how to do entrepreneurship. This is how to do entrepreneurship when your brain is hyperconnected and you struggle with all these 27 things. Like, I see, I see, I see, I see. Which is why you probably hear me talking so much more now about neurodivergence, because you just all of a sudden have the language and you have the lens, just like I was talking about with the anti-racism stuff, where everywhere I look now, I'm like, I see a headline that's dehumanizing. I see a story on the news where I'm like

Yep, that person's clearly white. Yep, that person clearly was black because I can tell how you're talking about it. You know, I can tell what you mean by that. I can read between the lines there of what you're actually saying. And once you have these new lenses, it's the same with color that I notice with my clients who start to see color in the personality type and color psychology lens. You can't not unsee it. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. And I think the

importance of being able to find a space, find a room, find mentors, find peers who are all on the same journey is so important. Yes. Yes to all of the things. Okay. So circling back, as I mentioned, we are in the middle on my podcast of these top 10 joy first decisions.

And and what is your podcast for people that are in my podcast listening? 'Cause this is a crossover event if they want to find your podcast. good call. It's called the Joy First Podcast. I love it. And what is your podcast called, Nicole? Freedom Focus Photography Podcast. Perfect. There it is. Yes. So yeah, I've been breaking down these like top ten joy first decisions. The very first one is very relevant to your audience because I talk about making the choice to be a pet photographer instead of a veterinarian, which I think is a choice that

I don't know, ninety percent of pet photographers' face at some point because we wanted to work with animals and didn't know pet photography was a job. Yep. Yeah, mine was was assumed I would be a veterinarian. And then I did my senior year of college and internship at the zoo. And I'm like, I I can train animals at the zoo? okay. Yes, please. That that's cool. Yes, please. I had a really similar thing. I started taking pictures of the animals at the vet clinic.

And the vet was like, you're not gonna have time for photography in vet school. I was like, sure, I'll have a lecta. She was like, No, no, no. Math and science, math and science. I was like, I hate math and science, but that's gonna be a problem. Yeah. Anyway, so what I wanted to do today is interrupt her regular scheduled programming. I am not gonna run the episode I was planning to run today because I want to run this conversation instead. And what I would like to explore today, because

Doing this with you, creating the space and the many, many ideas that we have for what we want to do with this group in space is definitely climbing up there in terms of like one of the major top three joy first decisions of all time for me in my life. And the fact that you said yes, which I had no control over, which is like an extra sweet, sweet bonus for me.

So I wanted to start by asking you actually about this decision for you. The conversation we already talked about, where we watched your face change over about 10 minutes of like letting it sink in. It might have been fifteen or twenty. I think I was just like, I mean, I like it, but like, no, no, I'm simplifying, no, no, I'm simplifying. Like there was an internal, like raging battle in my brain, like, simplify. I like it, simplify. Well, this is interesting.

Yes. Yes. And I think it's a really good example of how these decisions happen where we have those things where we're like, I said I would do this. I am doing this. I've been working really hard to do this. If I move away from that, then I'm being flaky or I'm not finishing what I started, or all that like judgy shame stuff from all the things we never finished. And then there's the like space that we hold for.

Making strategic decisions in the direction of joy where we're like well and and I have found like looking back at my life, I have never been led wrong leaning into something that felt so aligned. Like leaning into the alignment always works out. Maybe not immediately, but long term, yeah. It's always for the best. And that's what I told my daughter's freshman in college.

And she's majoring in environmental science. And you know, again, just like I got into animal training, you're not getting into that for the money. You're getting into it for the love of the game. And I told both my kids, I'm like, listen, like major in what you love. You will find ways to make money at it. Who knows what the landscape looks like in four years, 10 years, 20 years? I mean, when I went to college, can I remember my roommate? And this was I graduated high school in '94. My roommate asked me,

Freshman roommate, do you think we'll have email? And I said, What's email? So, like this whole job that I'm doing now that I've been doing for the past 17 years didn't exist. So yeah, leaning into that joy I have felt like is and then alignment has has never led me astray. So once I got done arguing with myself, it was like, no, this brings together all those other pieces that I've been like wanting to do, but it never fit. So I didn't.

Like spoiler alert, I'm a nerd. I thought I would at one point I'm like, well, maybe I'll be an accountant. Like nerd. Hi. Like, let me get my glasses. Here we are. I need my spreadsheets. I need my spreadsheets and numbers. And I really like personal finance. And I am sat down and hyper focused one night for two and a half hours and created a Monday board with every single one of my credit cards and all of their earnings and all of the extra.

bonuses that you get and the credits and the due dates and how often they go and so then I have different views so I can use all of those. Hi. Yeah. And how many points do you have right now, Nicole? How many was it? I I I mean I have like close to a million chase points right now, which are burning a hole in my little pocket. Million points. I'm like so the spreadsheet has paid off. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well and also then like my Amex platinum. I mean

That this is why you need the spreadsheet. And this is why the game is for everyone. The game at the level I play it might not be for everyone with like twenty. You need to find and delegate to a Nicole. Yeah. Yeah. But like my Amex Platinum, I think that annual fees $795 or $8.95 a year. Like it's it's not inexpensive. But I get probably twelve hundred dollars of credits back. Like you get $300 Lululemma credits, you get $400 of Resi restaurants. I'm like,

Yes, please. I like to eat out $600 of hotel credits. Like you get so much back as long as you have a system for using them. But anyway, I digress. These are the things I love to talk about. And one of the things I'm so excited about this space is that it's holistic joy and freedom in the way that the vehicle that we're all using right now is our business, whether it's photography, graphic design, whatever.

Most of the people right now are photographers because that's a lot of both of our audiences. Is we have a fair few coaches as well. Yeah, and coaches. And that's another thing. I'm like, man, I love helping people do what I do. Like, let's help you create a digital product that you can sell business consumer, business to business, whatever. We all have knowledge. And if you enjoy that teaching piece, like that's definitely a another way you can add more revenue to your life. So

I'm just so excited to expand the conversation beyond just like, here's how you get a photography client, here's how you price your photography work. Like, no, let's talk about retirement planning. Let's talk about doing that dream trip that costs fifteen thousand dollars that you're gonna get for three hundred. Those are the things right now that are just lighting me up. And yeah, let's figure out what revenue streams do you have now? What are other additional revenue streams we can add to your life to help support the life that you want to live without

pulling too much of your time. How can we streamline and focus on what the best return for your time is and a and and what brings you the most joy doing like it's there's just so many conversations because they're all related. Yeah, they are. And I think you brought up something really important there where it's like the freedom to talk about this stuff, but in a container that still allows for focus. Because especially those of us who are a little bit scattered, focus is the problem. And I know like that internal battle where you're like, nope.

Focus, focus, focus, focus. I said I would focus. I need to focus. Like I can't just start a new shiny object. It's really interesting. Like two years ago, I got my business into some really big trouble because I kept saying that to myself, like, focus, you said you would finish it, get it done, do it. And I was building entirely the wrong thing. And this is not the first time this has happened to me, but I was so like blinders on, like, just get it done because you said you would get it done that I went way further down the path of this.

Building out this product and this plan and building everything around it. And I skilled up team for it. Like there was so much expense associated with it. And I kind of got to the finish line and I was like, shit. Like, I think the world has moved on and I don't think this thing is actually what needs to happen. Now, that thing has fed other things, which has made it make sense, but I think we have to be, especially in this joy-first decision making, which is one of the big things that I talk about.

Our fear can be really helpful a lot of times. And also it can be, especially when it echoes these stories of guilt and shame where we're like, I can't, I shouldn't, it's bad. and we we honor that voice rather than really letting that alignment voice, that joy voice, like kind of have a have a say. I think

Those of us who have been told our whole life that we are flaky, that we don't finish things, that we need to focus because we're multi-hyphenate, because we're multi-passionate, because we like to start and not finish things, it can lead to some real difficult decision making, I think, because we never know what is our voice and what is the good voice and the bad voice and the what we should actually listen to. So I'm curious.

As you went from that initial conversation we had, and then you had to step back and look at your whole business. And we had to make some really big decisions really quickly about actually merging existing assets and resources and software. And like we're actually going on a journey. We decided that pretty quickly. Now I will caveat that by saying we already have an operating agreement, we already had a business, we already had a solid partnership that had solid structure, legal structure as well. Although the funny part is earlier in the year,

I was like, hey, I think this like because before we had some other aspects to it and like then it was just the commercial course. And I'm like, I think we need to shut the business down. And then the commercial course just gets sold through my business and I pay you as an affiliate. Like, because we have these two do you know, we're paying two accountants to do both. We're doing this. We're paying like, you know, our our feast North Carolina every year. Like there's just so much many extra moving parts. And that's when you're like, but wait.

Before we do that, we just talk about it. And I was like, anyway, so so it's just it is funny how it is just literally 180, but in the most aligned possible way. So I want to ask you, as you went back from that initial conversation, but wait, before before we do, before we simplify, let's complicate.

And you went back to your own business and you stepped away from that conversation and you had to make some decisions. I'm curious, like the conversations that you had with yourself, or what made it for those listening who might be going through similar kind of pivots, choices, big leaps, d hard decisions, what were the kinds of things that made it feel like I know this is alignment? Like how did you recognize alignment? The mission and the vision, hands down, done. I was like, Okay, so tell us about that, because we have not talked about that at all. Yeah. I am in.

The mission really, and it's again one of those things that it it's a path that you just keep going down and you're just not sure where these paths are gonna lead you. You know, like like a lot of pet photographers, I start off and I'm like, help the dogs, help rescue. And I still love some rescue. I got my little island dog right next to me. But then I created the conservation fund and

Okay. I just need to mention that really quickly because you're like, I just created this conversation like no no no. Nicole created an entire five one three C and has already managed to fundraise over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to help conservation for animals in the wild. So let's just that's that's the conservation fund, yeah. It is amazing. It it it's incredible. But like

You feel like, this is like my my main mission in life. And then life keeps lifing and you keep looking around at things and you're like, my mission is bigger. Don't get me wrong. I like I the conservation fund will stay. I will always have a place for protecting wild places and the animals that live there. But also when we were building that, one of the main things that I wanted to make sure that we worked into our mission and vision there and also our grant giving schema of like make sure that

This supports the local community too. Because all the conservation work, if the local community is not supported, like it's why bother? Because if you're a family and the only way you can feed your family is by poaching a rhino horn, you're gonna do it. So like 'cause you need to feed your family. Absolutely. So like you have to support the community as well. And then I'm a woman and I

want to support like I think there is nothing more important than supporting the rise in the matriarchy period then. End of story, the matriarchy. Yeah. And like that's one of those things too. Like when my kids were little, like I I felt like it was really important. A hats off to you stay at home moms. I I I cannot. That is not a job. I like my yeah I bow to you there's yeah yep.

I love my children. However, I like I I need the creative outlet of my business. and I'm a better mom because of it. Like I always wanted to make sure my daughter had that role model of like, you don't have to choose. You can still have a family, support your family, and have your own thing. And I never wanted her to be in a position where she is dependent on another human because even if they were the most wonderful person in the world, something could still happen to them. You know, so

All of those pieces, but then continue to fast forward and compound the 2020s. And I'm just like, I want to help bring as many women along on this business ride to help them live a life that they freaking love because I hate with white hot passion the society, like,

Just get a house. Just do this. Just do that. You know, I travel a lot. I come back from a trip. And what's the first thing anyone says? Welcome back to the real world. I'm like, who says this has to be the real world? My real world is actually leading retreats in France. Thank you very much. But I want to help more women find the joy that I have found in my business and the

financial stability that that business also helps bring in. And the way that financial stability also supports the joy as well, because there's abundance, there's overflow. And and then ripples out. Like you were saying on our call yesterday with the ripples that Richard Manson always says. You start with yourself and your family and your community and it just keeps getting back out. And then sooner or later all the ripples are overlapping and and everyone is uplifted. So

Once we have more women that are stronger in their business, making more money, more joy forward, they're able to help more people. Our business, part of the mission of this business as well, the Creative Freedom Rebellion, is to give back, and I think we're gonna call it like a 5% ripple of give back top line profit to support women locally, globally. Yes. That that is what got me so excited, besides the fact that I'm like, wait.

'Cause you're a branding genius and you've got all that. And we both have good marketing knowledge. And I'm like, but I get to talk about systems and money and travel points. Yes. And pricing. Pri yeah. And and like those pieces. yeah. Time me up. Yeah. Yeah. yeah. Yeah. So I I think there's a c there's so much of what you said that is so important there. And

I think there is this white hot rage that A, most of us are feeling. B, women have been socially conditioned that anger is bad. So we don't many of us don't have an outlet for that rage. Mm-hmm. And C, the thing that really gets me all pissed off is the number of rooms I've been in that are supposed to be like supportive containers, all these rooms, usually white women, let's be honest, where their the attitude is we don't talk about that here.

Mm-hmm. So when something major that happens that affects members of that community, what we saw happen when George Floyd was murdered is a great example of what this can look like. And the people who hold that space, instead of inviting conversation, healing, being able to support members with resources because they have a lot of resources to give, it's a shutdown. It's a

It's a fear of not knowing how to hold that conversation and not having enough experience being in that conversation and not wanting that conversation to spiral into criticism of of them. And that never that never works, obviously, as as we've seen. But also it's so harmful. It's so harmful because when we create a room and we're like, we want to keep it nice, we wanna keep it polite, which is like a really like white culture thing to do. so

You know, you just bring this piece here. We just we just talk about this piece here. And I totally respect that we've gotta have containers and we've gotta have niches, and not everybody, most people are not equipped to hold a space that and hold those conversations safely. So that's probably the right thing to do. But I think the only people that that protects is the people with all the privilege. The people with the privilege to ignore these conversations because they don't have to have them at home. They're not affected by them. And so having one more space where this conversation isn't happening.

He's like, just keeps them really comfortable while everybody else suffers. And everybody else feels excluded and everyone else feels unsafe because nobody in that container knows how to have the conversation. So that conversations can get really hurtful really quickly. And not only have I been in those containers, and the more work I've done, the more I understand the the harm that is caused kind of on accident by that exclusion. And then I've been in a lot of conversations with a lot of women of color who have told me some really horrific stories about.

spaces they've been in and and things that have been said and done to them in those spaces because people just don't understand. They just they're ignorant, they don't get it. And and that not knowing is harmful. And I think that was one of the biggest takeaways from my my first foray into this anti racism work is that there and and we're seeing it now of course in like the Trump era is that there is no neutral.

And that is a really, really inconvenient truth. There is no ability to be a good person and be like neutral. If you are silent and neutral and not participating, then oppression wins, right? The power dynamics you don't like, the patriarchy, the the exploitation, all that stuff wins because if good people say and do nothing, the power structures win. That's all they need is for us to be quiet and compliant while they carry on running these. But it's overwhelmed.

Quite frankly, overwhelmed. And and that's on purpose, right? Like I think that's one of the the biggest things too, because everyone, not everyone, but you know, the the the rooms that don't want to talk about or don't allow anyone to like, hey, I am feeling really freaking heavy today. And also, by the way, spoiler alert, a lot of people in the creative work are also neurodivergent too, because I And highly sensitive. Yeah. And so we're highly sensitive, highly sensitive. Yeah. Yeah.

And and we are entrepreneurs. So like all of this affects everything because I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with people over the past couple years where they're like, I just don't know how I'm supposed to like see the headline on my phone and then go and post like, Hey, do you want pictures of your dog? Like there's just a massive disconnect in our head because we're like, How?

But like what we do does matter because we are still spreading joy, but we need to be able to do it and like we need an outlet to be able to connect with other people like ourselves and and it makes all of us stronger and it makes us be able to support the ripple around us stronger as well. Yeah. And I think the other really important piece of this is that if everyone's having this feeling like they want to do something but they don't know what, and we're all sitting with that and not able to make a lot of progress, like

Isn't it nice when someone opens a door and is like, here's what I'm doing, here's how you could participate if you wanted to. Wanna come along? Like that's the only reason I got into the anti-racism work in the first place is because the wonderful, amazing Dr. Lynn Maureen Hurdle created a program called On the Matter of Race and opened the door to white people and was like, You need a place to have this conversation, let's go. Which is at great personal cost to her because it is exhausting and depressing and harmful sometimes.

Because when you don't know, you don't know and you say horrible things that you don't realize are horrible. And I think if there is someone, anyone, and in this case, we're talking about this thing that this container that we're trying to create, not that we'll get it perfect, not that we'll get it right all the time, we won't. But I think when someone steps forward to say, I think we're all thinking this, I think we're all believing this, I think we all need this, what if we came together to try and do it together? Because

Not only can we help provide a little structure and a little support for how you can do this in your own life, business, world based on the stuff we've learned, the stuff we know, the container that we're holding. But also if we all do it together, we can have a lot more hope that the impact is actually gonna be pretty significant. Like this 5% that we want to give, I'm hoping that number gets obscene, just ridiculous, and that we can invest that locally.

in women in the places we live, we can invest it globally, we can invest it in gender fluid people as well. And I think like part of the reason that's so important is because the data, the research shows us when women have that fortification, when women have cash, when women have power, when women have safety, they make the community better. That's what they do with that money and power. They seek to give back in ways that the patriarchy, let's be honest,

Seems to not be so interested in, right? And so I think the impact of investing in women, and this is something millions of people are saying every day, all the time, everywhere, this is not a new novel idea, but I think it's an idea I'm excited about having a way to do in my life, in my business. And I'm excited, very excited to do it with you because I think we have so much in common, but also I have no desire to sit and talk about systems or travel points. So thank God for you, because

These are important things I want and need in my life. Amazing. Yes. yeah. For people that are like, okay, this is amazing. They're leaning in, but they're like, what what exactly is it? What the heck are you talking about? Because I've even found out when I was explaining it to my team, I was like, but how how do I explain what this is? And

I should we just send them, should we send them over to to watch the call where we go a little bit more deeply? Do you want to cover those four C's just really quickly of like what we have found? Cause you and I have been coaching people for I mean well over a decade, almost more almost two. and there are our four C's that we see that all of our clients that hit success pretty much go through. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Okay, so.

well, first of all, let's just take a look at this bit from the call yesterday. I feel like so many times I've gone to chat and I said, It's my dog's birthday and I want to celebrate, but some massive shooting just happened. How do I like how do I still express joy without being tone deaf? I but I've also been working through this idea over the last two years that

Because it it got real dark there for a while. And I was like, ultimately, me staying dark does not help anyone. It's the world's only going to get brighter if we continue to shine rather than dim our light. And that has been something that has helped me. And whether it is sitting on the couch and texting my friends silly dog videos, till we laugh, till we cry, like we need more laughter. And it doesn't diminish the bad.

But I now look at it as a form of surrender, if I withhold joy from my life. so yeah, I love this. Love you girls. Thanks for sharing that, Tara. I feel like there was at least four excellent sound bites in there. Like so good. Yeah. And you know, I've been doing joy work for the last, you know, five years researching. I'm writing a book called Joy First, and I've been researching positive psychology for probably a decade now.

And the difference even just between happiness and joy is important, which I'm not going to go into now because it's a massive rabbit hole. But I think that idea of joy as a revolution, joy, joy as rebellion, joy as medicine, that comes from the work of black women in the civil rights space, right? Where it's like things are bad, things are hard, things are ugly, things are not going well. But me withholding my joy, me not participating in joy.

makes it worse. It makes things worse and not better to withhold. And so I'm really glad you made that point because I think it is the whole point. And I just want to speak really quickly to this rebellion idea because I know many of us in here feel like natural rebels. Many of that us feel that way because we felt different our whole life. Some of that is neurodivergence, some of that is being creative, some of that is being an introvert, some of that is being an animal person and not really a people person. So there's so many reasons

I have come to believe that I think we all feel like an outsider. I think there's something as we go through that childhood experience of discovering the ways that the world thinks we're not enough, that we all decide the ways that we are an outsider and the reasons we are unlovable and we build a personality around that. But when I think about the rebellion in particular that Nicole and I have been sitting with, and the one that's been brewing for me.

Personally, I think about things like silence and conformity and powerlessness and stuckness, those are the things that I just I just can't sit with. I just can't accept. So when I think about a rebellion, I think about it as a rebellion against stuckness, against powerlessness, against frustration and hopelessness, against.

The beige and gray of it all, right? The blandness, sadness. Okay, so that gives you a little flavor of what yesterday was like. I think the exercise of us looking back at our clients and the ones who had really you know, when we looked back and were like, What did freedom look like? What does success look like? All these different versions, right? Like hitting those six figures, buying the property, moving to the farm, keeping the corporate job, feeling great about it and having a profitable business at the weekends, like

deciding to run purely on mini sessions and not do the boutique model of photography. So what we found basically when we were looking at all this is these kind of four things that all of these people had in common. And they've kind of gone about it different ways. But ultimately it was unlocking these four things that I think we decided probably was the cause of their biggest breakthroughs. So the first one was clarity. That looks like clarity around pricing, clarity around their why, their purpose, their mission, vision, that alignment piece that you talked about. And

One of my favorite reflections from one of my clients, she said to me, Once I knew the why, once I understood what was motivating me, that driving mission vision thing, the how just didn't matter anymore. I stopped obsessing over like tactics and strategies and softwares and and stalling out basically because I was so motivated. I was like pulled forward instead of dragging myself along. And I think

I have seen that over and over and over and over and over again, that flip from like dragging to feeling propelled. And I there's just no, there's no way to duplicate that, I think, without that level of like clarity. And I think it's so connected to that alignment that you mentioned earlier, which feeds right into the next one, which was confidence. And as we said yesterday, like confidence is not something you're born with. You gotta practice it, you gotta do it. It's a it's a skill you do, you practice.

over time and you'll probably if you feel like you're someone who isn't very confident, you may never feel confident, but all of a sudden you're projecting confidence because of some alter ego you put on or because you do it for your business or because you're really excited and you get really lit up and glowy and chatty because of this thing that you're so excited about. But I've seen it a lot with rebrands. I'm only now realizing that one of the biggest takeaways that people get when I do a rebrand is how it makes them feel and how it changes how they operate as a result.

And before I've always just been like, what are the tangible business results? You know? But actually the way a founder changes when they get a really psychologically sound, strategic, deep, and beautiful rebrand is is huge. And I think that your that pricing piece as well, being able to say your pricing out loud, feeling good about it, even if you find it a little bit scary at first, like feeling like you can represent it and getting over some of that imposter syndrome and those other things we face on that journey of knowing what we sell, being able to talk about it.

And being able to stand behind the pricing that actually builds a sustainable, profitable business is a huge piece of that as well. The next thing that we looked at was connection, basically, that unfortunately we are animals that really need each other. And we just don't work without other humans. And I think when you're someone who's an introverted or you're less of a people person, that can be challenging because people also exhaust you. And obviously, right now we're in a state where we find a lot of people really.

Maddening. On the call yesterday, my mom was there and she was talking about Margaret Wheatley and her islands of sanity theory. And I just love that. We just need people who are on our same island of sanity, right? And I don't mean that like an echo chamber, but the way she talked about it was this idea of clumping, where we are drawn to each other when we have similar ideas. And that is such an important way for us to thrive as human beings in our little ecosystems. And I

For one, and not a person who thinks we should only exist in that tiny echo chamber bubble. That's not what I'm saying. But feeling supported. And in my world, I've talked about this as above, around, and below support, where we're getting like held in all these ways. And I just don't think there's a way to find freedom or real success as an entrepreneur without getting some of that support. We are not, you know. Can't do it alone.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Turns out that's a trauma response. And not something we want to build our whole personality around. yeah. Okay. Sure. Hands up. I did for 30 years so many things the past couple years. Yeah. Yeah. But again, like most of us never experience what real community looks like. I think this is another thing, not to make it not to go there again, but especially as white people, I think, we end up not having some of the same sort of level of community because when you are marginalized and society's always coming for you.

You t you tend to find strength in numbers, right? You have to support each other. And so if you are not from a marginalized group, if you weren't very religious and never had the experience of like being part of like a church family, if you don't have a really close knit family of origin. I feel like I'm one of these women, but I've met a a lot of women, white women in particular, who have just never felt what it's like to be in community that actually feeds you and that you actually want to give back to. And so

You have always been like, Fierce independence is great. I don't want to answer to anybody. I don't want to bring anybody along. Like, I just want to go. And that's what America teaches us to be as well, to be fair. We come by it really, really honestly. But when you get that first taste of community and being like, these people get me, they see me, they see the bit that I think is maybe not so shiny and they still like me anyway, and they actually wanna see me win. Like

I do want to help them back. Like I do want to participate in their success as well. Like what a wonderful, safe, joyful place this is to be. And we can have so much more impact together. So that connection piece is huge. And then the last one I think is probably the hardest for those of us who are neurospicy is consistency. This is something I've battled with my whole life.

and I think the conversation we had earlier of like when do I know if I'm being inconsistent or when do I know if this is the right move to make is a hard one. It's really hard for me because I have so much guilt and shame around inconsistency because of the way my brain works, right? So I think the big one here is that both you and I have created containers where we made it easier for people to be consistent because they actually wanted

To be in the room. They wanted to use the planner, come to the co-working. It wasn't about homework or pleasing the teacher. You know, it was about like how can I create rituals and habits around these things that feel really rewarding. So I keep doing them instead of discipline or punishment or judgment or forcing myself. And that's worked really well in this membership I mentioned. I've had for years because I needed those containers. So I built them for myself and others, right? And

Yeah, they've worked really well. Things like coworking and body doubling and rules of threes and other things that we have in that space that it turns out were built for neurodivergent founders, which I didn't realize for the first eight years. that makes consistency. Hashtag there were signs. Hashtag more signs. It makes consistency easier. And it's so rewarding and gratifying right now because I've got some gals who came into the membership two or three years ago in its most recent iteration and

They're having these incredible wins, just one after the next, which is kind of our bonus C, which is this idea of compounding. If you can do all these and you can sustain them longer than you think you should have to, long before there's proof that the that it's working, then all of a sudden things just start working. And we have several members right now who are like, this opportunity. And I've like, I've had so many people say to me, like, I am working less than I ever have, and I am making more than I ever have.

And I feel like that's one of those things that there is like every like coaching sales page has that on it. And it always feels like such a line to me. But when I see someone who I remember being tearful, who I remember struggling, who I remember like not feeling like maybe they'd ever be able to do it now, enjoying this joy where they're just like, I can't even believe it. I get to hang out with the kids, I get to work less and make more. And it's incredible. And it's like, yeah, well, you put in

You put in the effort that made that happen and you believed in yourself long enough to see the results. And that is that is It is the best. It is why I continue to do this too. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. So that was kind of some of the core takeaways from what we talked about yesterday. But there was so much more in this conversation. And I really want to encourage anyone, if you've been like nodding along, if you've been having a giggle with Nicole and I today and you're like, you are my people, you get me, definitely go watch this replay.

Because I think you will find it. We got so much feedback after the call that people found it so fulfilling and and just so nice to be a part of. So definitely go check out this call. And Nicole, being the beautiful tech wizard systems geek that she is, made it not just a video, but it's an audio that's broken into like easy little sections. So if you want to listen to it on the go and not just sit in a computer, you can easily do that on a on a dog walk or something. But I I definitely suggest you check it out. And if you want to join us in the Creative Freedom Rebellion, we want you there.

If you feel aligned with the stuff you've heard today, then watch the replay, fill out an application, and let's fucking go. Let's go. Let's go. And there's two levels and just pick the one that's right for you and let's go. you can go watch that replay at Nicole Bagley Edu dot com slash rebellion and it's spelled N-I-C-O-L-E B-E-G-L-E-Y E-D-U.com slash rebellion. We'll put the link down below this too in the show notes. Yeah, go take a listen.

Go take a watch. Come join the rebellion. I am so excited. The icing on the cake is the branding around this. Like I said, you're a branding genius, but like how fun is this branding? And then it brings joy. I mean, any excuse to build another brand in about five minutes, I will I will take it. But no, there is actually we have a private Instagram. When they register to watch the replay, they'll get a invite. Great. So

Come into that private Instagram because I think it's a fun little exercise in kind of this brand coming to life. But one of the things I shared yesterday was the was the story behind our logo, which started in like twenty seventeen. Like it's not new and it's a Pegasus. And actually there is like so much juicy meaning behind this Pegasus logo that I just as I was writing that thing the other day, I was just like, so good. So good. I know when we were looking at this.

Brianna's like, we have to keep the Pegasus. Yeah. He's a cool dude. I love that guy. Yeah. so anyway, yeah, the brand has been really fun. But I think again, the reason it feels so good and so effortless and so aligned is because it is the culmination of of years and years and years and years of what we're here to do. And yeah, it feels feels great to do it with you. It feels great to do it with the people who've already asked to be in the room. I'm so

So excited. So excited and overwhelmed by this. We might actually have to close applications early. I'm not sure. On the response has been really strong and much stronger than I anticipated. is really exciting to know that we've touched a nerve and yeah, people are excited to be in the room. I love it. Yep. Go check it out, guys. Nicole Bagley Edu.com slash rebellion. We'll link it down below. Talk to you soon. Bye.