Coffee Social | Social Media Marketing, Content Creation, & Entrepreneurship

Game-Changing Mindsets: From D*ck Brain to Breakthrough Success | S2 E4

• Jonathan Howard and Mimi Langley • Season 2 • Episode 4

Share episode

Send us a text

DID YOU LOVE THIS EPISODE A LATTE? 😂
Give the podcast 5 STARS & write an awesome review! It helps your hosts so much! 
PS: Mimi loves stars

What happens when you gather five entrepreneurs and put them inside of one podcast episode? Magic, laughter, wisdom, tips… The list goes on!

Joining this episode of Coffee Social is Erica Reitman, Monica Monfre, and Marc Ronick! And each of them brings a tapestry of experience: Mark shares podcasting insights, Erica lends her flair for business coaching with a fashion twist, and Monica dives into the enlightening world of human design.

Through personal stories of pivoting and self-discovery, this episode sheds light on the empowerment found in redefining one's career path.

Learn about the strategies that our guests employ to maintain positivity and resilience, even when faced with unreliable clients or the comparison trap.

Grab a cup and enjoy!

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
: Mindset is crucial for entrepreneurial success.
: Community support can uplift during tough times.
: Success is a personal journey, not a competition.
: Celebrate small wins to maintain motivation.
: Learning from others is more beneficial than comparing yourself to them.
: Finding your unique path is essential in business.
: Mindset challenges are common among entrepreneurs.
: Adapting and pivoting is part of the entrepreneurial journey.
: Establishing a morning routine can enhance productivity.
: Self-awareness is key to understanding your strengths and weaknesses.

FOLLOW OUR AMAZING PANEL
Erica Reitman: @ericareitman / https://ericareitman.com/
Monica Monfre: @monicamonfre  / https://www.monicamonfre.com/ 
Marc Ronick: @marcronick  / https://ironickmedia.com/ 

FOLLOW
Instagram: @coffeesocialpodcast
Jonathan: @jonathanrhoward
Mimi: @mimilangley_

WATCH THE PODCAST
YouTube: @coffeesocialpodcast

ADDITIONAL BUSINESS RESOURCES (our sponsors for today)
Signature Membership (Instagram, Storytelling, Signature Style)
bit.ly/signaturemember

LinkedIn Audio Like a Pro Training (instant access)
https://bit.ly/3yVsy7P

Signature Style Playbook (examples of ways to make you standout in your social media & business)
https://sunny-builder-4038.ck.page/9a29bc2df4 


*  Podcast Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. We are not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast. We may earn a commission from the links listed in this description.



Keywords
entrepreneurship, small business, mindset, community, success, personal growth, podcasting, coaching, business strategies, human design, networking, limiting beliefs

Speaker 1:

Welcome everyone to Coffee Social. Hi Jonathan Howard, hello Mimi Langley.

Speaker 2:

It's a big one today. No, literally there's a lot of people on this episode, this is more than we've ever done.

Speaker 1:

I don't know if you noticed this, but we have three guests in this episode and in season one. All together we only had two guests.

Speaker 2:

So in one episode we beat season one's guest count, yeah, and we have three amazing guests today too. We'll get into that in a second. But, mimi, you did something different this weekend.

Speaker 1:

Okay, well, I'm so stinking excited for this episode, but, yeah, let's talk about this. Okay. So I just got done dog sitting. Have you ever dog sat before?

Speaker 2:

I have, but I have dogs. So dog sitting is kind of like hey, I'm going out of town, can you watch my dog?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's normal for me. You have cats. It's so funny, I have cats, but I don't know if you know this about me. I used to have a doggy bakery.

Speaker 2:

I did not know that about you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, I used to sell at farmer's markets and on Etsy. Oh, and I had a dog. I had a boss interior. But it's been a long time since I've had a dog and had that responsibility and let me tell you guys, there's so much that goes into being a dog owner. I mean, they're not like cats. Cats it's like they're very independent and like they like to cuddle. So my cats like to cuddle but like they're not all up on me all the time. You know what I mean. And it's different with the dog. You got to take them out, you got to cuddle them, you got to give them treats, all the things.

Speaker 2:

Yep, you got to make sure that you're their best friend, and so mine will push screens away from my face, like if I'm working on my iPad. They will push that out of my face and they'll lay next to me.

Speaker 1:

It's like hello, look at me, Look at me.

Speaker 2:

I'm here. What the hell is wrong with you?

Speaker 1:

But now and first of all, I love the dog. Like I agreed, I was like, oh my gosh. Yes, I was so excited and it was a great time we only had a weekend together. But the dog is gone now and so it feels like almost like your little kiddo has gone off to school. Do you know what I mean? Yep, yeah, now I'm like I can breathe.

Speaker 2:

I can breathe now. It's all good.

Speaker 1:

Oh my goodness. Well, jonathan, real quick. Do you want to do a quick intro of who you are, just in case this is someone's first time here at Coffee Social, and then I'll go Okay.

Speaker 2:

My name is Jonathan Howard. Over to you, Mimi.

Speaker 1:

Oh, my goodness, you would love our intro to be that, wouldn't you?

Speaker 2:

I know you would Take a deep breath, relax, roll the shoulders out. My name is Jonathan Howard, I'm the owner of Success on Social and I help successful female coaches reach their ideal clients on social media through developing their signature style, sharing their story and reaching their ideal clients. And over to you, Mimi.

Speaker 1:

Thank you Well, hi everyone. I'm Mimi Langley. I teach women in business how to host rooms, how to moderate on social audio. That includes LinkedIn audio, clubhouse, chatter, xspaces all of them to grow your business from the ground up.

Speaker 2:

Jonathan, this wasn't the speed round. We are doing a full episode today. I know Mimi, who do we have today as guests before they come in? Come on, we got to do it quick before they show up you guys.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so we have Mark Ronick, who is all about the podcasting world. He's going to bring a ton of advice. I already know.

Speaker 2:

Who else do we have Jonathan. We have Erica Reitman, who is my business coach and a business coach for people who want to be a category of one business.

Speaker 1:

And she has fantastic fashion style.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, she does, she's very unique.

Speaker 1:

And then we have Monica Monfrey, who's all about human design. So I'm really excited too about Monica, because I know we both know her from Clubhouse. So, it's really cool to see her evolve.

Speaker 2:

Yep and I see. Do you see what's coming in?

Speaker 1:

Oh, they're here.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, hordes of them. Okay, well, we better go, like three whole people coming into our studio.

Speaker 1:

Are you guys ready?

Speaker 2:

We're about to start the round table for entrepreneurs.

Speaker 3:

Let's go, the Entrepreneurial Roundtable. Let's go, it's Coffee Social.

Speaker 2:

The podcast all about social media and business. And now here are your hosts, jonathan Howard and Mimi Langley.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Coffee Social. You want to cheers Everybody grab your cups Cheers, welcome, welcome, welcome. I have my Taylor Swift mug.

Speaker 2:

Here we go. You're pretending to be a Swifty Yep.

Speaker 1:

Is everyone drinking coffee? I am, or do we have any tea drinkers?

Speaker 4:

Okay, I love getting to know you a little bit, like I have it, even though I know you're from New York, even though I have family from New York. It's funny every time I hear you say some of the key New York words, like talk, I just I don't know. True, it catches me off guard because I don't notice the accent any other time.

Speaker 1:

But when you say some of those words like talk, and it never leaves me, mark. It never leaves me. I haven't been in, I haven't lived in New York for a long time I love it.

Speaker 2:

You're not supposed to say that.

Speaker 3:

Okay, I live in New York, right now in my imagination because I've lived in New York for two years, my gosh.

Speaker 1:

You guys, thank you so much for being here. We appreciate all of your time and we knew that the three of you would be perfect for this roundtable. So, jonathan, do you want to go ahead and kick?

Speaker 2:

us off. Yeah, and actually this first kind of question goes question slash intro goes to Erica. So, erica, we were just talking about it, you worked for the real life, mr Big. You've had your own six figure interior design, uh business. You've written for HGTV, you've opened the icon agency and you're and, yes, all of these things, and you're a coach for those of us who want to be at category one, like me. But my question for you is what would you say your biggest accomplishment is as an entrepreneur?

Speaker 5:

Biggest accomplishment? I honestly feel like my biggest accomplishment is getting to know myself as an entrepreneur and really not being afraid to lean into that. Getting to know the things that I like to do, that I don't like to do, that I'm not so good at doing. That I'm really good at doing Because I think that most of us, when we start out, we're typically coming from some type of corporate background and for me, none of that shit matter. Like nobody cared what I like to do, what I didn't like to do.

Speaker 5:

My job was my job and I needed to just figure it out. I think like finally, like getting myself to this point where I realized like I am sitting in the CEO's office in the penthouse suite, with the glasses over, with the glass, like overlooking the entire city, and I get to decide what I want to do every single day is just the most fun and the most empowering place that I've reached in my business. I do have to sometimes remind myself that that place exists and get myself back there, but that really feels like an unlock that I just always go back to as a business owner.

Speaker 2:

I love that. So for me I feel like that's like getting finding yourself and understanding that you can do what you want to do in your own business, because we didn't ever have that freedom before. So I love that, mimi. I'm going to throw it to you because I know you want to ask Monica a question.

Speaker 1:

Okay, Monica, so you have worn many hats, All right. So you were a teacher, a yoga instructor. You're a keynote speaker, You've been featured in the New York Times. You are a six-figure business coach, entrepreneur, like girl everything. I love it. And now you're teaching about human design and how you can incorporate that into your content and your course creation as an entrepreneur. So I love that. Human design is like the thing right now. Here's my question to you Well, obviously you've perfected like the power of the pivot right. You've done multiple things. So what would you say to an entrepreneur? You know that's thinking about pivoting, and how did you know that that was the right move to make?

Speaker 3:

I think as a teacher, right, we pivot all day long and I'm still back in the education space, so it just felt it feels really natural. And then when I was an entrepreneur, when I was running my business, I actually kind of stopped pivoting and I found myself really not excited because I was following all the gurus who were saying, like one offer, do this. You can only be known for one thing in the marketplace. And I actually think that what Erica says when she talks about the being one it has to go along with pivoting, because when we're known for one thing in the marketplace, we start to sound like everybody else. And so for me, how I knew it was time to pivot was when I started to realize that I just sounded like everybody else, like I sounded like every other course creation coach who was out there. And then I was really unhappy and I actually was having a very successful run of my business and I decided to close it. Close it took a sabbatical and I leaned in.

Speaker 3:

I'm a three five projector in human design. So if you know anything about human design and you're listening, the three means that like we're truly the F around and find out folks like we're, we're faculty all day long and I just decided like it was time to stop doing what I was doing it wasn't making me happy and to just pivot and lean in. And I think that that's not everybody is like. Not everybody's design is just go and pivot and turn around. By the way, I was a dancer too, I don't know if y'all know this. So like I pivot, I used to pivot was my favorite step. I think it's just important just to do it. And so for me, I think it's just important just to do it. And so for me, it was stopping everything, not listening to everybody who was telling me you know, do this, do this and just do what feels good.

Speaker 3:

And the reality is, when I pivoted, I pivoted right back. I actually worked back and forth. It's funny when Erica's talking about that. I work as an educational consultant and I traveled the world teaching curriculum and it's exactly the right job that I needed. And I had to pivot into something that the unknown so that I could see if it was right for me. And I think sometimes, as entrepreneurs, you weren't afraid to walk out the door and start your own business. Don't be afraid to, if your business isn't making you happy, to stop, put one foot in front of the other and only do a half pivot. You don't have to pivot all the way around, just half pivot and see what happens when you try something different. You did it when you left your corporate job. You can do it in your business.

Speaker 1:

Can we all just like breathe for a second, like that was like some permission. Thank you, monica. And first of all, I feel like I'm a projector. I don't know if there's multiple projectors in human design. That word just speaks to me. So awesome girl, jonathan, we have Mark, she just likes that word.

Speaker 2:

She doesn't know what it means, but she likes the word Mark. You have done equally as many things in not only the podcast industry, but in other things. So you co-founded a promotional products business. You freelanced for Red Bull Records, which I did not know that. You were hired to develop and grow fantasy sports, which was very cool. You're a fantasy sports fan and you've worked on a whole bunch of other popular podcasts. Now you're hosting a daily every single day daily podcast the Podcasting Morning Chat, and you hosted your very first podcasting conference. But I want to ask you, what would you say is your most significant impact on the world of podcasting?

Speaker 4:

and business On the world of podcasting. That is really tough, I would say. Probably I'm looking to honestly still make an impact on the industry. I actually for many years kind of kept to myself. I had clients, I worked with different podcasts, like you pointed out, and as far as the industry goes, I kept quiet. I felt like at the time and again this was years ago but I felt like there are competitors and I don't want to associate with competitors. That was my attitude and once I actually started my business Ironic Media that I started a handful of years ago that started to shift for me, especially because it happened right when I started, right around the pandemic and I realized that people needed help podcasting. I wanted to help people and it's hard to say.

Speaker 4:

I think really what I ended up doing was impacting individual podcasters by proving to them that really anyone can indeed have a podcast. It's a matter of multiple factors, including planning, knowing who you're talking to right and developing content that those people really want or feel that they need in their lives. So I think the way I'm impacting the industry is by working with one podcaster at a time, and in my morning showcase there are multiple podcasters at one time that I'm helping, but really helping people recognize that anybody can do this, and all you need is the blueprint how, and that's where I come in. So I think that's probably the most significant of an impact I've made on the industry.

Speaker 2:

I would say it's a pretty significant impact and this show here wouldn't be around if it wasn't for you, because that's cool. You get us working on these things and making sure we're doing them right, so can.

Speaker 1:

I point something out, an impact and this show here wouldn't be around if it wasn't for you, because that's cool. You, you know, get us working on these things and making sure we're doing them right. So can I point something out? Sure no. Do you see what I?

Speaker 4:

have right here. Do you see what I have right here, mark? I was going to point that out. I was going to point that out earlier. I noticed it right away. She's got a mic, a mic stand, an actual arm that's holding the mic, instead of her human arm holding the microphone. I love it.

Speaker 1:

I was like I have to install. It's been sitting in a box, I kid you not, for almost what? Seven months.

Speaker 4:

And I'm like I need to do this for at least Mark's episode. I need to have this thing. Congratulations.

Speaker 2:

She said she was going to.

Speaker 5:

It looks very professional.

Speaker 1:

Okay, thank you. I see I Luke's married for a fact. Okay, thank you. I see I only take my fashion advice from Erica. I love that. Okay, awesome you guys.

Speaker 4:

That makes a big difference, like Erica just pointed out. Right, it shows some professionalism. When you're just sitting there doing your podcast, holding the mic and it's making all sorts of noise as you're holding the mic, there's a lack of professionalism, even though I know you are a pro at what you do. But it's the image, right.

Speaker 1:

So to Erica's point yeah, there's something to that. Yes, and now I just need to get one of those. You know it says coffee social on it.

Speaker 2:

You know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I need to get one of those, and then we'll be all set.

Speaker 2:

All set.

Speaker 1:

All right, Jonathan, I know we have a fast round of questions that we want to ask our entrepreneurs Did you want to kick off the first question.

Speaker 2:

I can. You made me close all my tabs and then I had to go back and open them, but it takes a lot to have a successful business as an entrepreneur. So what would you say? And we can all answer this question what would you say is the most important thing to pay attention to if you want to have a successful business?

Speaker 4:

I guess, I'll go.

Speaker 4:

Okay, I think for me it's paying attention to the amount of time that you're spending on all of the different things that you do throughout the day, because once you can recognize that time that you're spending and maybe spending poorly, right where this could be something that I could contract out to somebody else or hire somebody else to do that task I think that was the biggest lesson I've learned so far, because initially I just felt like, well, I'm the entrepreneur, it's my business, I'm supposed to be doing all the things, and I got overwhelmed pretty quickly and, as you guys know from podcasting, that editing piece alone can take hours sometimes if you're not careful, and that, as an entrepreneur, is not where I should be spending my time. I need to be spending it more on my clients, on building my business, etc. So that's what I would say is paying attention to how much time I'm spending on stuff and then identify the things that I can farm out.

Speaker 2:

Since I asked the question, I guess I should give an order for so we'll go to Mimi and then Erica.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I'm participating, yes, you are. Oh, I said everybody Against these three seasoned entrepreneurs.

Speaker 2:

I'm a little nervous now. It's not against, it's not a competition.

Speaker 5:

Okay, okay, speak for yourself, Jonathan. I think for me.

Speaker 1:

well, you know I speak a lot to new entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, and so for me I have to pay attention to what I define success to be, because I find myself comparing myself a lot. I'm always in the comparison trap and you know, pay attention to your mindset. Work on the mindset, I think, will help you go far. At least that's what's happened so far for me is getting that under control.

Speaker 2:

Mindset and I'll let Erica say it, but Erica has a saying about that mindset. So, yes, it is very important Over to you, erica.

Speaker 5:

Yeah, I mean not to be boring, but that was what I was actually going to share about too. Probably my most known catchphrase that I say a lot on social media is your brain is a dick. And as much as it's not necessarily the sexiest or most fun answer, what I have found again and again for myself is there is no skill that I could learn, no automation I could set up, no sequence I could have in place for myself. That is ultimately really going to matter if I cannot figure out how to wrangle my dick brain, because, because it is just always at work, I am like a ninja level, you know, at anything that will potentially mess me up like third degree black belt, and it all kind of comes from my mindset.

Speaker 5:

So this is something that I have spent probably the most time working on practicing, because that's something else too. I remember thinking like, as I started to figure out how to wrangle my dick brain, I thought like, oh cool, I can solve every problem I will ever have now, so I probably won't have problems anymore. And I just like I figured it all out and you never figure it all out. It's something that you will always continually have to work on, but for me stuff that would kind of like knock me out for two weeks, two months back in the day, I can now kind of deal with in a couple of hours.

Speaker 5:

So, progress there, but that really has been for me the most pivotal and important thing as a business owner Jonathan.

Speaker 3:

does that mean, I go?

Speaker 2:

last. Oh, I was going to have you go next.

Speaker 3:

Thinking what I was going to say, because I was like I could say energy, I could say this, but I think the number one thing is to pay attention to is your money, and I don't mean like, how much money are you making, but the cash flow matters. I think I did understand. So I started my business as a side hustle, so I never really worried about cash flow because I always had a salary right. So even though I was making six figures, I had a salary.

Speaker 3:

The minute I went into entrepreneurship full time, I didn't think about cash flow, and I think so many of us, who are not us, but so many entrepreneurs and I would say I'm in this space right now too cash flow is tightening up and so if you're not paying attention to your cashflow, then it is hard to stay, it is hard to like wrangle your dick brain I love when Erica says that like it's hard if you're not, if you think that every single day it's like I have to go make a thousand dollars today or I have to go do this, but you're not really thinking about cashflow.

Speaker 3:

Uh, and that's something again I didn't think about because I had a salary. It was a side hustle and that's a challenge. When we talk about pivoting um is like know your money and also recognize that $10,000 a month in entrepreneur speak is really not much. If you're paying attention to your cashflow, it's not the most fun thing in the world. And again, I don't talk about how much money do you make, but what's the in and out of your life and how does your business play into that?

Speaker 2:

I think that's really important because you have to have it balanced. In order for it to work period, you've got to have money coming in if you have money going out. So mine was going to be I had two I was playing with because I figured I'd go last and would have to have an alternative. But I'm going to say your goals, having realistic goals, celebrating those wins and understanding what you can and can't do in a day, because many times, as an entrepreneur, we think that we can do 25 things on our to-do list and really what we can do is one. So those other 24 keep getting pushed and then we keep beating ourselves up because those 24 never get done. So that would be the one that I would say is just making sure you set realistic goals and then celebrate the wins, because that's important. So, mimi, what is our next question?

Speaker 1:

This one, I'm not answering.

Speaker 2:

You're not answering? Okay, well, you're asking it so you can set the rules.

Speaker 1:

Can you guys remember a time in your business when you're like I have made it, this is the moment I've reached it. When was it? Can you describe that feeling, if you remember? I mean, I'm assuming you would, because it was like the moment, but I'm sure there was multiple moments like that, but yeah, Mark, I heard you.

Speaker 4:

I don't think I believe there's ever that moment. I mean, there are moments that I can be proud of. If I were to have to pick one, I would probably pick that conference that Jonathan brought up, that we did at the end of June, which started really from a community of what was probably a handful of people, a couple of years later turned into a full-fledged podcasting conference in another state. Yeah, I think to me that was one of those moments where I looked around and said, wow, I made it, because I look at the first year in business and feeling very alone. I referenced earlier how I used to kind of just keep to myself, feeling very alone.

Speaker 4:

And then, to your point, mimi, playing the comparison game for the next few years, finding lots of people doing what I do and doing it really well, and wondering, you know, am I ever going to be at that level? Can I do that? And then, boom, here we are this past June and I have 150 people at this conference. That really all stemmed from an idea that I had, and I think I remember walking around, looking around, saying, wow, this is, this is what I was aspiring to, even though I didn't even know. Yet in my first year, this is what I was hoping to do is make, create community and make an impact on that community. And then there I was. So that would be it for me the Empowered Podcasting Conference.

Speaker 2:

Anybody else? I've been thinking about anybody else, have they? Have you thought you've made it yet?

Speaker 3:

I've made it.

Speaker 2:

I will say that no it's so funny.

Speaker 3:

So projectors are like way of success, it's like our thing, um, but I often like to think of that as recognition, so I used to think that it was like the number one, but really it's about recognition. So I think there's two things two times. One of them was when somebody I used to be a member of a community that Rachel Rogers founded and I couldn't make the calls because they were during the day and I opened up, I was teaching and I think I was. It was during. I was actually I wasn't even teaching. It was I had to go get my covid vaccination.

Speaker 3:

I lived in New York City at the time and I was walking back from getting my first covid vaccination.

Speaker 3:

I lived in New York City at the time and I was walking back from getting my first COVID vaccination and my friend's like oh my God, rachel shouted you out in her like state of the business and I felt like, oh, that was like really cool, cause here I was, um, my was not very far on my business, but I was a high school teacher and so to be recognized was really like that was really cool. The last time I was joking I said just watch, someday I'm going to walk into one of these teacher trainings and somebody's going to be like hey, you're Monica from like Instagram. And I was swear to you. I was six o'clock in the morning getting your favorite thing, starbucks coffee and this woman is like looking at me and I was like this is odd and I like say my name. You know Starbucks. You say your name and I said, like they're like what's your name? I was like Monica, and this lady next to me, she goes are you Monica from Instagram? Well, that depends, and it was somebody from that same community.

Speaker 3:

She was actually a fellow entrepreneur. So that was kind of a moment when I felt like not having made it for like being successful in that way, but like just how far reaching because of social media we are, and that's what success has felt like for me.

Speaker 1:

Did you give her your autograph?

Speaker 4:

That's my question.

Speaker 1:

Now you're dating yourself because no one does autographs anymore. It's all about taking selfies. I have a Sharpie in my purse. I'm ready to go If anyone needs my yep, that's what they do A little bit behind. All right, anybody else?

Speaker 2:

I know I have a couple actually maybe, but go ahead, erica.

Speaker 5:

Well, I was going to say, and I love I. I love that we're talking a little about human design, because I love it too and I am a manifesting generator, so the pivot is like part of who I am. I used to look at pivoting like, oh, I failed and I can't stick with anything and you know, I just always have to be doing something new. And now I know like this is literally like a part of the fabric of my being. I need to be pivoting and doing new things all the time.

Speaker 5:

But I think for me it was when I got recruited by HGTV, who had discovered my interior design blog, that I just kind of started because I was bored and I wanted to do something fun and that really, for me, was such an example and like a slap in the face that I had not been dreaming big enough for myself.

Speaker 5:

I really I think that that experience like opened my eyes to the fact that I can do anything. I can do whatever I want. I mean, I was an interior designer. I had no training, did not study it in school, had never even worked at an interior design firm and so, as you can imagine, it felt like a crazy idea that anyone would actually want to pay me for this thing that I seemingly knew nothing about. But that wasn't the case and it actually led to this whole period of my life that was so much fun and so inspiring and was really that like first chunk of time that proved to me that I can do the crazy thing. I can try, you know, the thing that makes sense to nobody else but me, because it's what I want to do and how I want to show up in the world, and I'm just so grateful for it because I think about it constantly and that has led to so many more exciting things that I just I really am forever grateful.

Speaker 1:

I don't think you could top that, Jonathan.

Speaker 2:

I can't top that. She was on HGTV.

Speaker 1:

Okay, that's your favorite network.

Speaker 2:

Like the only network I watch on TV. So true story. So no for me. Since Mimi's not answering this question, I would say I had two really big ones. One was and this was my past life when we opened the Barnes Noble at Catholic University, which I still can't believe. They hired me to run that store, but it was a $10 million store. We built it from the ground up and opening that store was like okay, this is real. And then, all of a sudden, I was running a $10 million store and I was like, oh crap is real. And then, all of a sudden, I was running a $10 million store and I was like, oh crap, how do I do this?

Speaker 3:

You were a rock star. Most people don't know Jonathan and I worked at the university at the same time and he was a rock star. We didn't know each other at all.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we didn't know each other, but yeah, apparently people talked about me, I don't know. So it was very, very cool, you know, cutting the ribbon and all that stuff. It was like, oh okay, that's kind of awesome. And then, secondly, kind of like Monica said when we were at the podcast movement, when multiple people recognize me now they recognize me because of the hat, but multiple people recognize me, so I'm going to go with that. Well, I appreciated that, jonathan, that was a win.

Speaker 4:

I mean that's that, that speaks to you and your branding, right? I mean that's your message, right? That's what people remember you by, and so I embrace that and I absolutely agree with you that. That I mean that's it, that's your thing. So, yeah, let's, let's just celebrate that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, no, it was very. It was like oh, I am doing the right thing, I do know what I'm talking about and people actually know who I am, so it was a big that was a big win. So we've talked about this already, but a little bit more about mindset and how it's impacted your business and what you would say to other entrepreneurs if they were struggling with mindset issues, which I think, even if they don't recognize it, they probably are in some way. But what? And we can go, let's just go. Mimi, erica, mark and Monica yes, mimi, you're first.

Speaker 1:

I'm still struggling right now. No, yeah, we talked about this earlier, but I think it's important to dedicate a section of this to this, because a lot of people kind of skip this part, and this is a very big part of being an entrepreneur. I think for me, it's important to have your go-to person or people that will lift you up when you can't lift yourself up, because sometimes it can get really hard and you just want to throw in the towel and you talk bad about yourself and you just feel very defeated. So it's nice to have somebody else who can kind of come in and lift you up when you can't lift yourself up. So I would say that when you're struggling, have that go-to person. It doesn't have to be a ton of people, but have somebody who understands. If you can find an entrepreneur friend, I always say if you don't know anyone in real life, go on social audio, use Clubhouse, use LinkedIn, audio chat or all of them X spaces, and you can find someone virtually and talk with them.

Speaker 2:

Find a coach Find a coach.

Speaker 1:

Well, I can't speak on that.

Speaker 5:

Yeah, I would say so A couple of things. Number one this is something that I don't care who you are, how successful you are in your business, how much money is in your bank account. If you tell me that you never struggle with mindset stuff, I know that you're lying Like, yes, you can get better at it. Yes, there are lots of tools you can use, but it's something that we all struggle with. For someone like me, like you know, a neurotic New York Jew, I will say that there is this level of mindset drama where I often will get mad at myself for having the same issue again. So it's not even that I'm having like dealing with mindset stuff. I get angry at myself for having the same thoughts again. We already covered this, I already got through it. Why are you doing this again? And it's like this extra layer of ridiculousness that our dick brains will add on to things that I just you know.

Speaker 5:

I think if you're someone who is kind of deep in your head a lot, you do sometimes, maybe, like me, spin out a little bit. I just think it's good to be aware that you might be doing this too and instead of beating yourself up for having the mind drama. I would highly suggest you just leave that alone and spend your time figuring out how to deal with the mind drama, because you're never not going to have it. It's always going to be there. It used to feel to me like I would eventually get myself to the top of this mountain, and what I realized is I'm never getting to the top. However, I've now figured out like I can bring a nice picnic. I've got a charcuterie board. I'm climbing the mountain, I have my iPad, we'll watch some Netflix movies, but we are never going to get to the top. And that's just how it is and that's totally fine.

Speaker 4:

Am I next? You are next.

Speaker 2:

And I saw you raising your hand as Erica was talking.

Speaker 4:

Yes, I'm one of those entrepreneurs that I'm always in my head, yes, and that's something that I work on regularly and that was going to be. I don't know who said it, but getting a coach is one that's big for me. I'm always working with a coach. I've had different coaches. I find that, after a certain amount of time, moving on to a different coach just for new perspective and new challenges, works very well for me. Another thing that I do to work on mindset is I save the positive feedback that I get as often as I can and use it in those moments where my brain is being a dick and where I am having a hard time throughout the day thinking, oh, what am I doing? Is this really what I'm meant to be doing? All those questions. And then I go and look at this feedback and that's my reassurance, that's my reminder that, yeah, I am making an impact, I am doing things that's helping people and that can sometimes help Not every time, but it does help a lot. So I like to go back and look at those. And the biggest thing for me as far as mindset that I've incorporated in my life over the past few years was right around.

Speaker 4:

When I started my business. I created a morning routine for myself. It's pretty much a non-negotiable. It's Monday through Friday. I give myself the weekends.

Speaker 4:

I am naturally not an early bird but I have trained myself to be one. I read a book at the 5am club and that really changed everything for me. I get up at 4.45 every morning. First thing I do is drop and do some push-ups just to get myself awake, and then I start my morning routine at 5 am. I start with a workout 20 to 30 minutes. I follow that with usually meditation, sometimes meditation and journaling.

Speaker 4:

But I've gotten kind of. That's an area I need to work on again. I've kind of gotten out of the journaling habit and I know how powerful it's been but meditation at the very least. And then that last pocket is to spend some time on growth, on personal growth or it could be professional growth too. But it's giving myself another half hour or so to focus on those things that I want to improve upon. That might get in the way if I try to do it in the middle of my workday. So having that early hour or so in the morning to focus on things like that I just shared is usually the best for me, because otherwise I won't do it. Even if I say I'm going to do it at 12 o'clock at lunchtime or what have you, I just won't do it. Even if I say I'm going to do it at 12 o'clock at lunchtime or what have you, I just won't do it. So the morning routine has really been a huge help for me and keeping my mindset in a good place.

Speaker 1:

I feel like Mark was looking right at me when he said the 5am club, because he knows I'm such a morning person. Yeah, you're such a morning person. I'm not you guys, you think, with a little running around, I would be up really early, but no, I'm like, let me see. But I love that, mark, because you know that's not the first time we've heard that a lot of successful entrepreneurs are morning people. So I heard him on, I think, jay Shetty's podcast and talking about this book and it just all made sense.

Speaker 4:

It all finally clicked, like why are these entrepreneurs and business people that are so successful constantly talking about a morning routine? And he really, he explained it so clearly that it was a no-brainer to at least give it a try. And it was tough. It was 66 days straight to get into it and again as the more of the night owl, that really felt impossible and that first week or two I was cranky as hell and I was going to give up as well.

Speaker 4:

And actually my coach had told me listen, I give it. I think this was a week in. He said give it 21 days and at the end of those 21 days, if you still feel miserable, if you still feel like you're not getting enough sleep, if you don't think it's working, then reassess and make that decision. But give it 21 days. And once I gave it the 21, the next, however many, to get to 66, because I don't do math. Uh, that that really I was all in. At that point I didn't need to even stop and assess because the challenge was 66. I was almost halfway through and I I just went all the way through it 45 Mark Thank you.

Speaker 3:

Thank you Um he's our math guy.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, monica, did you have anything you wanted to add?

Speaker 3:

I mean, I think that we can actually don't work with a coach right now like a one-to-one coach, but I think what helped me with mindset was finding a tool that allowed me to see myself, because a lot of my mindset was conditioning. I was told, like you're too loud, you're too this, you're like dim your light a little bit. And so some of my mindset shit was really other people internalizing what I had heard. So that I could be successful in society, in teaching, I needed to get a four on my evaluation. And so, for me, what helped me and again, not obviously I use this with clients, but I loved human design and it helped me see.

Speaker 3:

I think we live in a space right now where you know people are talking about ADHD and autistic adults and so much of this, and for me, human design helped me to realize, like, why I was disruptive in status staff meetings. I'm a projector, like I've got a lot of ideas and I really think you should know my ideas because they're really, really good ideas. And then being told to be quiet, to like dim my light, made me feel like I was less than so. Understanding my own, um, my own personality, my own self, was really key, and then, instead of trying to get better at like being quiet in staff meetings, it was just realizing that here's what I'm really good at. How can I put myself in more situations where I get to do that?

Speaker 3:

And so I have to say, like I know that we're all entrepreneurs here, but I actually going back into a full-time job that feeds my projector self, has allowed my mindset to be, really to be stronger, and so I think part of that, too, is not saying that you should go get a job, like I did, but know what lights you up and do more of that. So, for me, traveling and talking in front of large groups of people lights me up, so I do more of that. So if, if we like honestly, mark, I wish I could get up early If waking up early it helps, let you have to do more of that. If working out, do more of that, do whatever more, because the more of what you love to do, I think that's a key part of a positive mindset as well.

Speaker 2:

Love that, monica, and excuse me, still, some things that I always tell people is to make sure that you're doing more of what's working and less of what isn't. It's going to make it a much happier place to be in. So for me, I would say, in the last two years I've been doing a lot of mindset work. I needed a lot of mindset work done. I've been through a lot and just kind of pushed it down and let it happen, and you know so I had some work that needed to be done in the last two years. I have.

Speaker 2:

But what has actually made my mindset much stronger is challenging myself every day to do something new. Every single day, I challenge myself to do something new, something different. Of course I journal, of course I think about things. Of course I have to get on my dick brain for being a dick, but trying something new gives me new wins, it gives me new opportunities and it gives me just a different perspective on things. So that has been one of the biggest things for me. That's helped. But again, we're all different. So I have a lot of questions for all of that. You have a lot of questions for me. Yeah, after this behind the scenes, oh, okay, trying something new.

Speaker 1:

I'm just kidding. No, I love that. That was really good. We're so close. I didn't even know that that's something that you do, so I think that's really awesome, honestly. Okay, yes, we are wrapping it up shortly, but first we have our last fast round question. This is one where we kind of just want you to think back to when you if you can think back to when you first started your entrepreneurial journey.

Speaker 1:

Too long ago to when you, if you can, think back to when you first started your entrepreneurial journey. You know what would be, what is a piece of advice you would give to yourself, to Erica and Mark and Monica back in the day, right.

Speaker 5:

I think for me, I and this is sure it's business related, but it's also really life related is I have come to a place I feel like I'm older than you guys, and maybe this is something that comes with age, but I've come to a place where I've just decided to let people be who they are, including myself, and so I. You know, we sometimes find ourselves in situations it could be in business, it could be with relationships, it could be with friends where we are interacting with people. They're doing things a certain way and we want it to be different. We wish it was different. We might even request that it be different with them, and as much as I believe that people can change if they want to and they want to put in the time and the effort For me, I have just enjoyed my life and have found so much more peace by allowing people to be who they are.

Speaker 5:

So an example of this would be I, four or five years ago, had a client who I just knew.

Speaker 5:

No matter what we had planned in terms of our meeting, no matter what the date was, no matter what the time was, she was going to cancel it. It just wasn't going to happen, and it was so frustrating to me because I don't ever do things like that and I eventually reached this point where I was like your choices either don't work with this person anymore or just assume that every single time there's a meeting on the calendar it's going to get canceled. Expect that to happen, because that is what has happened before, and either you're okay with it or you're not. You know, I'm not going to like keep sending you know pieces of my contract or the agreement that we made about cancellations and things like that. I finally just said I'm going to let her be who she is and things just worked out as they did. So this is something that I remind myself a lot. I do often think of this in business, but I also think this is one that works really well in life too.

Speaker 1:

It's a hard one for me, Erica.

Speaker 5:

It is for most of us.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I know I'm like why can't you that's with?

Speaker 2:

me and.

Speaker 2:

Jonathan, why you do this to me all the time and I'm like because I don't want to. And that's kind of how I am, and that's something that I learned with age One. You just don't do the things you don't want to do and you do the things that you're really good at. Lean into the things you're really good at and enjoy doing, because the things that you don't want to do and you do the things that you're really good at, lean into the things you're really good at and enjoy doing, because the things that you don't want to do, you're never going to get them done. That's why, mimi, that's why I am the way I am.

Speaker 1:

I love you. I saw Mark.

Speaker 3:

Oh, go ahead, I was just going to say something that kind of builds off of what Erica said too is like accepting that I'm always going to be ahead of the curve. Um, I think that's been like a really uh again, part of my design is like being ahead and I've been doing things that people now are like popular for doing it. I'm doing it like two, three years ago and I sometimes would be really upset and hold grudges about that. And I think it's just better to say the younger Monica and say to anybody like you're ahead of the curve and also there's no new ideas. And so I was ahead of like using, I use, I teach a lot about a member. I was using a member to meet up and all of these things like ages ago.

Speaker 3:

I was like doing lots of these things ages ago and then people would tell me, oh, don't do that, it's like not worth it. And you'll hear that a lot in the entrepreneurship land. Right, like this works, this doesn't work. And I think I would just say to Monica like be ahead of the game, be ahead of the curve, and like just keep on being ahead of the curve sometimes there, but the people who are ahead of the curve, they're the happiest folks, the people who are looking behind their shoulder. They're the ones who aren't happy in life. So I would say be ahead of the curve, be okay with it.

Speaker 4:

I like that, monica, and I feel like my answer kind of blends, because for me it's kind of a twofold thing. One is to stop comparing myself to others and instead learn from them, right, like if there's somebody who's caught your eye and you are feeling that comparison thing coming on, stop, take a breath and then ask yourself what is it? What's triggering me about this person or their content? What is that? Because oftentimes what I have come to learn is there's some envy there, like I want to be, I want to do something like that. Right, it's not that I want to necessarily do the exact thing that they're doing, but there's something that they've done that has stopped me in my tracks and made me say, huh, that's a really good idea and instead of being mad at them for it, learn from them, right. And and really, the comparison I would tell myself, the only comparison to focus on, is between me and myself Look at my past self and my progress and and see how far I've come.

Speaker 4:

If I'm not making a lot of progress, yeah, I might be a little annoyed at that, and it gives me a chance to pivot or readjust, find that way to get to where I do want to be. So I like to do my best. It's still a work in progress. I like to stop and look at year one of my business. Compared to this year or last year, have I come far? Have I made those strides? Have I hit those goals that I set for myself each year? That makes me feel a whole lot better than making up a story about that person I see on the other side of the screen and thinking that they're doing X, y and Z and they're such a success and then feeling bad about it when I don't know shit about those people. All I know is myself. So that's the person I should be focusing on.

Speaker 2:

I love that, Mark and Mark, what did you write down for us in a big black marker? It looked like.

Speaker 4:

I was writing down my notes and I wrote oh yeah, I wrote down learn from others was one of the things I wrote down here instead of it looked like you got a big black marker out and wrote something on a piece of paper. I was like what is he holding up? Was this?

Speaker 5:

I think that was your favorite cup that I have here the snarling mug I can't believe you brought I can't believe you brought that mark it's so terrible to erica, I just wanted to say I wanted to share a little mindset trick that's based on exactly what Mark was just sharing about, and I call this my add to cart trick, and this was specifically something I put together for a client years ago. She actually, even though I was her business coach she really was at a place in her life where she wanted to find a partner and be in a relationship her life where she wanted to find a partner and be in a relationship. And it felt like everywhere she went, every friend she had, every time she went onto social media, everyone was coupled up, getting married. Like she just couldn't go anywhere without feeling like everyone's in a couple and I'm not. And she told me it started to feel like the universe was just like laughing at her and throwing this all in her face. So I have this trick.

Speaker 5:

I call it add to cart, and the way I like to reframe this is when you are feeling a little bit of that imposter syndrome or you are seeing somebody who has the things that you really wish you had in your life or in your business. It's the universe showing you proof that this thing is out there, it's available to you and it's on its way to you. And so we reframed things for her so that every time she saw a friend who was getting married and she got an invitation, she just would say in her head add to cart. And it became this thing where it was now fun to look for these examples. It was fun to share in the excitement of all of these other people who were in couples or falling in love or doing all of that, because she knew the universe was going to be sending this her way and she was seeing the proof of it everywhere.

Speaker 5:

So I do this to myself all the time. I literally am saying in my head add to cart. And I think of it kind of like we think of Amazon packages. Like I don't fully understand what sort of things are involved in getting me a rando thing that I order on Amazon 24 hours later to my door in Hudson, new York. But I know it's going to get there and I don't need the details. I believe fully it's going to come to me. So this is kind of what I do with the add to cart stuff.

Speaker 4:

That's awesome.

Speaker 2:

And I want to yeah, it's so good, but I want to point something out as we kind of wrap up this episode. All of the things that we talked about how to be successful, you know, all of it came back to mindset, and I think it's something that's really important to note is it always seems to come back to mindset. So figuring out how you can get your mind, your head on straight is really important if you want to be successful in business, because everything we said came back to that.

Speaker 4:

And to understand that it's going to continue Right. Like I don't remember who said it, but earlier we talked about that that you know, look, there are layers, right. So we work through whatever it is that we've worked through and we feel like, ah, we're there, we did it, but now there's another layer, there's a new challenge, there's more complicated things to have to learn and go through, and I think we have to learn to accept that instead of getting frustrated and banging our heads against the wall. I thought I fixed that. Why am I here again? It's just as we grow, there are new challenges and that can really our dick minds can really play tricks on us. So, I love, I'm going to literally print out an add to cart button and put it up on my monitor here. So every time I get that, I'm just going to press it on my monitor.

Speaker 3:

Well, and something so key about success in business, and I would just say that everybody's level of success is different, and I think for too often we heard 10K months is success or six figures is success. And I just want to remind everyone here success for me in business has been going back to a role that lights me up, so that I can continue to show up for my clients, and so that feels successful, and so success there's like, not a. There's a denotative meaning of success and a quantitative. I taught high school literature. So figure out what your success is and go for the connotative meaning of success for you, not the denotated meaning of success according to us.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Jonathan, make sure you put those words in the show notes. I will, yeah, I'll define those for Mimi.

Speaker 2:

The other thing. The other thing is just remembering that everybody's on their own journey and it doesn't look the same, and I don't want to follow Monica's journey because I'm going to learn lessons that Monica needed to learn, not the lessons I needed to learn, and that's just going to put me further behind. So follow your journey, do the things that you need to do in order to get to where you want to be in life, and you decide that nobody else can decide that. You decide that, jonathan, yeah, nobody else can decide that you decide that Jonathan.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I don't want this to end.

Speaker 4:

I was going to say can we do this every week or something? I'm enjoying this a lot, yes.

Speaker 2:

I've been wanting to do one of these on Instagram regularly, so yes, no, all of you are coming back.

Speaker 1:

We hope you do come back.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely Okay, yay, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

I'm always a heck. Yes, okay, good, okay, so we love you, okay, so we want to have you guys. Tell us where can people find you, because all three of you are brilliant, so would love for you to tell the coffee social audience.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, where they can find you, Eric.

Speaker 1:

You're okay, Eric? I would love for you to go first.

Speaker 5:

Yes, you can find me on Instagram and on TikTok. Just my first name and my last name E-R-I-C-A-R-E-I-T-M-A-N. Would love to hang out with you in either of those spots.

Speaker 4:

Mark. You can find me on Instagram at Mark Ronick, and that's Mark, spelled with a C and Ronick R-O-N-I-C-K. You can find me on Instagram there. Or you can find me on TikTok, and yes, I need to just pick one handle TikTok. You can find me at ironicmedia I-R-O-N-I-C-K. Media. You can find me there. Otherwise, my website would probably be the best place to find all the things I'm up to. That's ironicmediacom.

Speaker 3:

Monica the things I'm up to. That's ironic. Mediacom monica also on instagram and my other favorite platform, which is threads. I'm at monica monfrey everywhere. I need to get more consistent with tiktok, but I love to drop some fun things over on threads, so come say hi there. And on instagram at monica and I'm on linkedin too.

Speaker 4:

Are you guys on linkedin?

Speaker 5:

yeah, no, but I yeah I'm shocked.

Speaker 1:

As entrepreneurs, I feel like we should be saying yeah, yeah, okay well, we'll make sure everything is in the in the description, in the show notes. You guys can click, click away um to follow these three amazing people, um jonathan, I think we should just go into the most important question of them all.

Speaker 2:

We should because I have to go I know I have a session like three minutes ago.

Speaker 1:

We need you to be honest, and you know it's going to be the first option, uh, are you team? Team, mimi, or?

Speaker 2:

team jonathan, which hello are you guys?

Speaker 4:

asking us erica I favorite parent right now.

Speaker 1:

I mean, I know he's your client, but Erica, yeah.

Speaker 2:

You lose that one.

Speaker 5:

I object to this question but I got to go with.

Speaker 4:

Jonathan.

Speaker 5:

Sorry, Mimi.

Speaker 1:

Okay, come on Mark. Sorry, Mimi and don't hit that arm, Mark. I'm going to take this off and throw it across the room if you don't say Team Mimi.

Speaker 4:

I think my sound doesn't work. You can't hear me at all.

Speaker 3:

Sorry.

Speaker 2:

Very smart, Clearly works with. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Okay, Monica, come on, girl Jomie.

Speaker 2:

Monica and I used to run like reels reels rooms on Clubhouse and we were way ahead of the game.

Speaker 3:

We were Jomie, jomie, jomie, what'd you say?

Speaker 2:

Jomie, she's team, jomie.

Speaker 1:

Oh, okay, okay, We'll accept that. No, seriously, thank you all three of you. We appreciate you so much, jonathan. Any last words before we close it out.

Speaker 2:

No, thank you guys all for being here and lending your perspective to this roundtable. Being here and lending your your perspective to this roundtable, if, if it all comes out great which I think it will we're going to be live launching it. So we'll be. This will be the one that we live launch. So look for details on that and, uh, yeah, all right.

Speaker 1:

Well, thank you everyone for listening and we'll do one last cheers, thank you, everyone for watching and listening cheers.

Speaker 4:

Thank you guys.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Jonathan R Howard

Host
Head Shot

Mimi Langley

Host

Podcasts we love

Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.