76 ⎸ Being Present is The Most Profitable Thing You Can Do with Katie Fleming

I interview Katie Fleming, an intuitive business coach & podcast host of The Ambitious Mom Podcast, and we talk about how your presence is the most profitable thing you can do, bridging your life with your business, and the number one thing you can do to level up in your business.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• why radical responsibility is important to your success
• looking at things objectively to find the meaning
• what the both and life is all about

Katie Fleming is the founder of the Ambitious Mom® Brand. She is known for Profitable Presence™ and what she calls the “BOTH AND LIFE”. This is her unique ability to build a wildly successful and profitable business empire & a family legacy at the SAME TIME and her deep belief that we don’t have to choose “either or” but we can choose the “both and life” and have it all, NOW. No delay required. From the beginning of her journey she had a Divine Intuition leading her to be BOTH the CEO of a global brand AND the leader and partner on the Homefront leading the legacy within her family and own four walls. BOTH AND. Early on the phrase “pursue your calling both in and out of your home” led her brand and led her evolution BOTH personally AND professionally. Today, her community of ambitious heart centered entrepreneurs are creating impactful and revolutionary businesses that are changing the world while also changing the world within the stewarding of our homes.

Connect with Katie:

Instagram

Website

💻 Ambitious Mom® Brand

📖 Leadership & Self Deception

Thanks for listening. If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram stories and tag me, @ambitiousbookkeeper and Katie @katiefleming

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Podcast Publishing Tools we use:

• Podcast Editing: Ian Gilliam: iangilliam.com
• Descript (affiliate link)
• Buzzsprout (affiliate link)

Transcript

[00:00:29] Serena: Welcome back to the Ambitious Bookkeeper Podcast. Today I have a very special guest Katie Fleming, who you may have seen online. If you follow me, you may also follow her. Often we share things of each other and tag each other. So there's a very high possibility that you might already know of Katie Fleming, but would you like to introduce yourself to our audience?

[00:00:52] Katie: For sure. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to dive in with your audience today. I love accountants because that is like my first. Trade was like in learning accounting right outta high school. 

So yeah, I'm just kind of go back to the beginning. I'm Katie Fleming, my husband and I live in the Dallas Fort Worth area. We've got two kids, nine and six, and I have from the beginning desire to build a business that could fit. Into my life. That wouldn't be something that would take me away from what I desired, which was to be really present as a mom, raise my kids, support, my husband and his endeavors, all that stuff. 

And so from early on when I started my podcast, really, this is when this phrase came to me. I don't, I don't think at the time I realized the depth of this phrase, but it was pursue your calling both in and out of your home. So like those prepositions and the placement. And out it starts in the home. And so I've always kind of led with this, like, if I'm leading myself well in my life, it's gonna translate into business.

And so then as I kind of came online, did the content creation thing, started to coach, it just was a natural extension of who I was and the growth that I was having. But I started to walk alongside of women. And so today I, I helped. Coaches, agencies, women, ambitious moms, as we've called it, build six and seven figure businesses while also being wildly present and profitable in their life.

[00:02:12] Serena: I love it. Uh, That's definitely one of the things that drew me to you, and if we take it all the way back, it was. And I, I think I've, I've shared this story with you. It was near the beginning of my, when I started my bookkeeping business, which really, it was like a side hustle to motherhood. But I felt like I really needed this to find this community of ambitious moms.

So that is , literally what I typed into the podcast player, ambitious mom or maybe ambitious mother. I can't remember. It was a, Something along those lines, and I found your podcast, and so I was like, Hmm, I guess I better listen. And I just fell in love with. Everything that you talked about, the messaging that you had and then you had some guests on your podcast that I ended up following and getting into this whole world, of course creation. So like, it's kind of, it's kind of interesting that like I didn't even, that wasn't even on my radar. I just wanted to find other. Moms in the virtual space, I guess, that were building businesses, and so it was like your fault that I'm here online.

[00:03:29] Katie - audio: I love that. And yeah, it was, especially in those early days when it was one K mom, at the beginning it was. I, I was nothing really. I had just made a thousand dollars online. I was starting to build a six figure business that's in the early days and it's like I just was into taking my audience for the journey and I love that.

Like you, by my extension, got into this whole world and got to see some of these, these names, these, these courses. These just like the way in which things can work for us. And we've kind of been able to, over the last few years, build our own economy. Is not gonna be shaken in the same way that the rest of the world is gonna be shaken.

And it's cool to see how we've kind of been on the front lead of that as the, the world kind of now shifts and looks and says, okay, online money, social media, money, this is real, this is real. Um, And they start to come back around and then you as bookkeepers getting to support that industry is, is huge. I love

[00:04:21] Serena: Yeah. Yeah. Then there's that too. Because I was introduced to that industry, I became part of lots of communities within it and have kind of positioned my firm in a way to support that industry. So it's very interesting the way it all works out.

[00:04:37] Katie - audio: It really is. 

[00:04:38] Serena: But yeah, so you pretty much call yourself like an intuitive coach. I feel like we had this discussion maybe at the retreat, like what do we even call ourselves? But what would you say that you mainly focus on at this moment in your business journey? Because it's a journey, right?

[00:04:55] Katie - audio: Oh yeah, so it's interesting my, like I got trained in this industry, well, in just general. So I started in sales and marketing inside of like a corporate real estate brokerage side where I kind of ran the finances. It was so funny, I say this like finances, but I also was sales and marketing. It was one of those positions where it's a pretty big small business, so everybody kind of wears all the hats and especially me as like the, I guess you could say the financial director or the cfo, I was kind of right handed the ceo. So I got to dabble in Photoshop, design, marketing, sales, supporting the agents, all that. So that's kind of where I got like that initial burst of like, you're more than just the finance, you actually have a really good eye. And mind for messaging, marketing, sales, relationships, all that. 

So that kind of catapulted me that direction. And when I came into the online space, it was similar where I'm starting to get trained in like, okay, funnels, direct response, marketing, copywriting like noticing, okay. There's actually formulas to the stuff that I'm really doing pretty intuitively. And same with coaching where I'd have people go, have you been trained in nlp? Have you been trained in this, that, and the other? And, No, I'm, this is intuitive. This is just natural. This is like God, and I believe God working through me as a vessel. And then come to find out there are structures, there are modalities that kind of are like how I coach. 

So, It's interesting coming from like that strategic side, the more I got into success and coaching people and also having my own success, the more I realized it was less about the strategy and it was more about the embodiment and the energy and the heart of the entrepreneur. And so that's kind of where the both and started to come in where I realized like I am both strategy and energetics and intuition and all that. It's both of them. It's not one or the other, it's, both. 

And so this is like the joke in my house. It's like it's always both. What do you wanna do? You wanna do this or that? Both or even with my kids. Do you want mint chocolate chip ice cream or do you want cookie dough? Both, we can get two scoops. You know what I mean? So it's just I think we've, especially in motherhood, it's motherhood and business. It's not one or the other. It's we get to choose. So I've really lived this paradigm of both and in all the things. 

And so that's kind of in the last year or so, I've really embraced this idea of like intuitive business coach, business and life coach. It's both of those things. I can't, I don't even wanna coach an entrepreneur that isn't willing to go into life with me, cuz I, especially from like a one-on-one standpoint, if you're in one-on-one or mastermind like we are in it together. And that is something I value and that's what I want from these containers. So like, I can't separate those things. Don't ask me to, you know?

But the entrepreneur, I think there comes a level, and you can, I'm sure you can speak to this, but there comes a point where you're like, I don't necessarily need more strategy. That's not what I need. I just need to be around more like-minded people. I need people who push the edges of what I believe is possible. I need just examples of what peace and presence look like, but it's not necessarily. What's the latest marketing hack or trend or webinar strategy that's working? I mean, we can talk about that. That's fun. I get high off of that too, but it's not really what actually is the thing that pushes the needle forward at the end of the day. I've never saved my life or changed my life from a funnel strategy, but I've changed my life from healing the emotional ridges and residual things that I have from the life that I've lived and also from the generations that I've inherited through my family. So that's, that's what I love. And I think being able to bridge it together with the business strategy and the intuition is, is kind of my magic.

[00:08:26] Serena: Yeah, I can definitely speak to that. And it's like people come into my world and my program for that strategy, and then there's a whole bunch of like mindset stuff that we're doing because it's, it really doesn't matter how perfect your workflows are, how perfect your systems are. And that's the other thing is like, we strive for this perfection, but it's like once you let go of it being perfect and be flexible and start working on like the emotional stuff, like generally it's not an issue. Yes, some of our clients have issues, but like generally, like if you're struggling with "bad clients", it's usually a reflection of something within yourself. So it's like if you're attracting clients that don't wanna pay very much, well there's something within you that you need to make an adjustment around your money mindset or your pricing strategy is a direct reflection of your own, you know, money stuff, right? So it's like, if you feel like you've hit a plateau and you wanna reach that like next level, it's like, okay, now what else do I need to heal inside of me?

[00:09:34] Katie - audio: Yeah, it's this like this radical personal responsibility that it takes a lot of bravery to be ready to be that responsible for what comes up in your reality. So like, if the client does default, it's being so radically responsible with your emotions that you sit here and say like, what is this showing me, what am I here to see through this? How am I being asked to change and pivot? Versus the way the world likes to do it, which is like, well they this and they that. And I should have never done blankie blank. And that's why I always, whatever. And it's like, that's that blame game. And, and of course, like I'm not saying like there are those times, and you've been witnessed to some of my moments where it's like we need to have a moment to just kind of hash it out and let all of our feelings out and kind of just have that talk. But then there comes a moment where it's like, all right, why is this here? What is this here to show me? What is this calling forth in me? And then what can I shift and, and change? And that's really where the evolution and growth comes in, is where we can be so radically responsible for ourselves and the self-awareness. Those two things are such key pillars of like how I should choose to show up in my.

[00:10:40] Serena: Yeah, that just reminded me of a book that I had to read in college in my business degree program. I think it was, it was our business management class and our professor had us read a couple of like, now, I would say they're kind of like self-help books, you know, like the, the stuff I like to read now. That was like my very first taste of that type of book where it's, it's, I guess it's non-fiction, but it's like in a story format type of, you know. It was called leadership and Self Deception, and i, I still have a copy of that book and I've read it multiple times. I haven't read it for a few years, but I read it a few times while I was in corporate.

When I was asked to step into a leadership role and offered no training, and like that was all I really had to fall back on. It was nowadays, I'm like, now, if I was in that position, I would've just hired my own coach. But you know, we didn't really know. So I had this book as a tool and it really went into that, like looking at yourself and taking responsibility for the role that you play When you end up having bad hires and you end up having employees that aren't doing what you need them to do, it all comes back to you and how you are showing up. And that was probably the most valuable, the most valuable textbook I had. It wasn't even a textbook, but you know what I mean? And it's like she did such a, such a service to us for giving, like having that as a, an assignment, a book to read. And it wasn't like a long book. It was short. But that has definitely stuck with me. 

And that's one of the things that, like when I work with other bookkeepers and accountants who are into that, in getting in that position where they're ready to hire and most of us end up. Our first hire, like end up hiring too quickly. We feel desperate, like we just need help. And then it ends up in a situation where it's like they're not performing or they're not doing the thing that we needed and we're having to train too much. And it's like, I definitely ended up in that position multiple times in corporate. Have ended up there now too, like, not currently, but like in my small. Entrepreneurship journey and I try so hard to like, get people to slow down. Now it's like, I know you feel the desperation and the need to hire, but if we don't do this correctly and take our time, you will end up with a bad hire and you're gonna think that you're not capable of being a leader because those were the thoughts that that creeped into my head is like, I can't hire a, you know, like very well. So it's just easier to do it myself. Like everyone falls into that trap and um, yeah, we're kind of getting on a little tangent, but...

[00:13:44] Katie - audio: But the energy in which you do something is the energy in which it's gonna go. So like if you're hiring out a desperation, lack scarcity, oh, need it, need it, need it, like this real CLE vibe, most likely the relationship is gonna be very similar, where they're gonna have that same kind of energy mirrored back to you. 

So. Yeah, like take a look and see like if there's something you're kind of walking through now that's a little mucky look and see what the energy in which you were in when you brought on whatever situation you were looking for. If it's a higher grade, if it's a new relationship, like whatever it is, and just take note of it, not like any kind of judgment or anything. Just kind of look at it and be like, okay, that's interesting. Now I can see why this is showing up. And then you can choose differently in how you would wanna engage inside of this relationship and it might change and morph to kind of fit that, or it might fall off. And that's typically where we sometimes can get clenching, especially with clients. If we start to elevate ourselves as a leader, then we start to have client fall off and we go, oh, wait a second. Wait. Well wait. I must be doing something wrong. But actually this is just the fall off that needed to happen. Just like a rocket ship. They drop the thruster as they thrust even farther into the atmosphere. It's a part of growth. But if you look at it from the perspective of like, everything's falling away, everything's dying, we're the business is failing, like that's that. You'll see that, or you can see it as like there is client fall off because I've elevated to a new level and have a new minimum for what client I'm able to hold in my space.

So yeah, it's natural.

[00:15:14] Serena: Yeah, it is, and it's, it's so powerful to be able to look at it objectively like that instead of with the like grasping to hang on type of situation. It's like just if you kind of step back and you're like, okay, this is happening for a reason, , and what can I do differently in my next client relationship so that it doesn't end this way or whatever. Like whatever you can do to kind of step back and look, at things objectively is going to be so powerful.

So that is one of the reasons why it took, it's so interesting cuz I followed you for so long and you had multiple, like iterations of your coaching and offers and things that you had out there and it took me years to actually like jump into a container with you cuz it just like, it never felt like the right time. It's so funny. It's like, it's not like I had you. Pedestal, but I knew that what you had was so powerful and I knew I wasn't ready for it yet. Like I needed to get my systems and my processes and my whole like a rhythm and a, a way of working. Like, and my, my craft kind of nailed down before I, like, I knew I wouldn't be ready for what you had to offer. And so it's just so interesting like, I don't know how many years in, six years in or something now that I was like, okay, I'm ready to like actually work with you

[00:16:46] Katie - audio: It's so wild and I didn't even know that you were watching for as long as you were like, I think I'd probably been aware of Ambitious Bookkeeper for three years, maybe two years. I don't know. But to say that you've been with me since the podcast started and that I introduced you to this whole world is just wild to me. Absolutely.

[00:17:05] Serena: It's, it's so interesting. And um, one of the things that actually came up in our Voxer, our mastermind Voxer this morning was one of the other women was like, I don't know, like if I, you know, if I should be publishing my podcast or whatever. And one of the things you said is like, no one's gonna hear it if you don't publish it. And it's like, you honestly don't even know who is listening that you're already impacting, because we just don't get that visibility into our analytics, like you can see how many downloads you have, but it could be that one person that needs to hear what you have to say for the next three years, and you could be wildly changing somebody's life. So like just publish the dang thing.

[00:17:46] Katie - audio: Yeah. Not even to mention the ripple effect of like the lives that you're changing by changing that one. That's what I get jazzed about and most of that stuff we're not gonna know about Earth side, you know what I mean? Like we're not gonna hear about-- I hope and pray that there's moments, and I love those moments where we get these little glimpses of like, Hey, you've changed my life this way, but for the most part we're not gonna get that. So it's just operating in faith. It's a hundred percent of faith activation every day to show up and, and say the words that are being asked of you to say,

[00:18:14] Serena: Yeah. Yeah. So powerful. So What is on the horizon for Katie Fleming?

[00:18:22] Katie - audio: That's a big question.

[00:18:22] Serena: What are you currently like stewing in and all the things?

[00:18:27] Katie - audio: Oh yeah. Um, Oh man. It's been, it's been a lot for somebody that's, that's a natural doer and action taker to be asked to sit still and wait is really kind of excruciating and I've resisted it for probably way too long, which is perpetuated the waiting. But I'm finally kind of sitting in it and realizing like, this is a season of me.

Being a, an even deeper embodiment of what I believe, which is that your presence is the most profitable thing you can do. There is a level of me that knows and believes that strategy is valuable and can get clients, and I could turn it on any moment and do that, but it's interesting at this moment, like. It's almost like I'm trying to disconnect from the source of social media being the source to allowing the infinite to be my source. And I've done this at different times in my business, but it's never been like a continual. Operating system like this is now the way it works, if that makes sense. So it, it feels like I've been unplugged from the social media online matrix kind of a world, and I'm building like a new operating system within myself. And when that comes fully online, That'll be a But it's, it's just 

so I know I'm kind of being, it's hard to articulate this. It's all very energetic right now. Um, And just in my spirit and just some things that I'm walking through with God, but like, I don't just wanna create for the sake of creating anymore. It's fruitless. I've done it before. I've forced myself to produce things. I've, put the content out for the sake of putting out the content, and now I want whatever comes out to be. This, like I said, this vessel like where God is speaking a word and is saying, Katie, will you share this with the people? Yes. Cool. Here it is. And if it's on strategy, it's on strategy. If it's on embodiment and whatever else, it's on that. But like there's just this pure trust and relationship that comes from this like constant moment by moment connection. And so that's kind of. The, the, I guess the short story of what I'm walking through um, what it's gonna look like in the 3D is gonna be like more writing, more speaking uh, a YouTube channel in 2023.

But really just, kind of stepping into this role of, walking women into what it looks like to have a peaceful and profitable and present life that's not tied to any systems. Cuz what we, we leave one system, like a job and then we come into these businesses and we create another job for ourselves. And we're still tied to this thing. We're still like energetically yolked to it. And that's not what it was ever meant and intended for us in the first place. So I've built my business to where it's like it molds and evolves with me and what I'm walking through. And so it'll just be kind of cool to see how it shifts as I shift into what feels like a 3.0. I've evolved so much it feels like, but this feels like 3.0.

[00:21:19] Serena: Yeah, I am super excited to. To hear and see and follow along up close and personal. So one of the things that like, can we dive into like the Profitable Presence piece in case people don't follow you and don't know what that's all about?

[00:21:36] Katie - audio: Yeah, yeah. So this is this idea that. You can be and make money and be, and be profitable, be in this like state of abundance. And it isn't just about money, it's about just provision in general. Just through your pure presence, like your existence is enough. And so with, when it comes to businesses like this is figuring out how we can monetize your, your essence, really, that's what coaching is for me. Like that's what coaching is for you. It's, people are walking alongside of you to get a glimpse into what it looks like to think and just be with you, right? But it's also building these businesses that allow us to be more in our life than we are in our businesses. And even when it comes to marketing, how can we be in more in our life? And then just show that part online, but not creating things for online, but living and being an embodiment of it and just projecting it online. Does that make sense?

[00:22:31] Serena: Yeah. Yeah. I think that was, that has always been a big draw of me to you. Is that like, the permission, I guess, for lack of better word, permission to be ambitious, but also like be present with my family. Like, not that I'm very good at it all the time. I try, but that's part of the reason like I was drawn to finally work with you because I knew that that was like the missing piece. Like I can work a lot, like I'm a workhorse. Like I could just like put my head down and get a lot of stuff done, Because it's, far easier for me to work than to like be a happy mom. 

So it was like, it takes effort for me to like be there with my children and present with them, but it's something I always have longed for. That's why I have not gone back to corporate, you know what I mean? Like, I, I wanted this to work and, and I know it's possible cuz I see you doing it. So like you are a great example. And I was like, I just need to be around. And so that I can actually like absorb how to do it. It's very interesting how that works. But uh, 

[00:23:43] Katie - audio: interesting.

[00:23:44] Serena: Yeah, that was, that was one of the things that I was like, okay, this is like the missing piece where like I've finally gotten my business to a place where it can kind of sustain. And actually, it was always at a place where it could, it could sustain. I've never worked fulltime in it, but now it's at the place where it's like it's a full-time income with me not working full-time like it was intentionally built that way and I feel like I finally arrived. So now I can like refocus my energy and it's really interesting to see that like the past probably-- well, how long, how long have we been working together? Like six months. Has it been longer than that? I

[00:24:26] Katie - audio: It's been like nine.

[00:24:27] Serena: Okay.

[00:24:28] Katie - audio: Yeah.

[00:24:29] Serena: nine months. For the past nine months of like stepping more into being present with, there's been definitely been phases of me not being present, so let's just like, Clear that up. But for the most part, like being more intentional of to be present with my family and just watching the business like kind of take on a life of its own without me having to be involved in every little aspect of it is wild.

[00:24:55] Katie - audio: Yeah, and it's so key to know like you're like where you're at cuz like in those beginning startup phases, You can't necessarily, I mean, you can build it with the intention. Like, I've always had the intention, mostly from a place of need. I didn't have any more than 20 hours a week that I could work. So it wasn't possible.

So even when the bro coaches that I did hire told me to get on discovery calls, you know, 40 hours a week, I'm like, cool, yeah, no, not gonna do that. Or, you know, to do whatever other strategy that involved hustling 24 7. It just never was an option. So like, there is that startup phase where you might not be heavily focused on the presence. It's more about like how do we get the business off the ground? But then there is that moment where you kind of look around and go like, what am I doing this for? What's the point? And that's where I come in. That's where we really settle in. 

And you know, James, my husband and I were talking about this last night. He's like, had you, had you not needed to work from like a financial standpoint, when I started my business, he was a police officer making $34,000 a year. We needed my income. We just did. And now he's, his career is very different. We live in a different state. It pays very differently and it's more of just his career in general. And he's on his path that has nothing to do with my finances, but it's like, he's right. I did need the business, the income. We did need that. And so he's like, had you not needed to do that, would you have still done it? He's like, cuz I feel like you would've gone crazy. And I was like, you know, I think I would, I think I would have from a place of like, I don't think I would've been able to sit still. Like I would've been very uncomfortable and unhappy just being in those young motherhood days, you know? 

But I think now could be different. I don't know. It's just interesting cuz like, but we grow and evolve and I think like my level of acceptance of stillness or mundaneness is probably another word for it. And just the monotony of motherhood is different. Like it's more fulfilling. I think I've even told the mastermind this where it's like there's moments where you could never imagine sitting here and juicing oranges to make fresh orange juice because it just takes way too long to get way too little of juice. It's just worth it to go to the store and buy the fresh school used orange juice. But then there's seasons of your life where you're like, this is actually really fulfilling. It's actually really cool to go in my backyard and pick this off my tree and sit here in my kitchen. And even though I only get like a tablespoon of juice for like five terms, it's worth it. It's fulfilling. So like there's just different seasons and different payoffs with certain things where like it may not be the time for you to fresh, squeeze your orange juice . 

[00:27:22] Serena: Hmm. 

[00:27:23] Katie - audio: going with this analogy, but in a couple years. When things are rocking, the business is cranking and like everything's kind of got unlock. You do have time to do that. It does make sense for you to spend an entire day baking sourdough bread or homeschooling your children or like whatever the desire of your heart is. So it's just it's seasoned self-awareness. It's knowing where you're at, it's knowing what you desire, being real with yourself and what you desire. It may not look like mine or Serena's goals or dreams, but just getting real with yourself and asking like, what do I truly want? And why? And then allowing yourself to kind of step into that.

[00:27:55] Serena: Yeah, that's been a difficult question to answer for me, and I think if you're a woman listening to this, you might relate because so much. Our lives have, have been kind of decided for us, like in just the structure of society or maybe our parents. You know, mine, luckily, I'm so grateful my parents did not push a career on me like I chose this.

Weirdly, no, it was, it was handed to me by my circumstances. Still something. Not that I not, I didn't really choose it, but it, like, it appeared for me. But like some of our parents will push us toward A certain career path, or maybe it's kind of like the expectation of your family to be a stay at home mom or whatever. There's lots of things that, like, we kind of just step into because it's just the way things are supposed to be, but we don't really know exactly what we actually want. Like that's been

[00:28:54] Katie - audio: Its so Its true.

[00:28:55] Serena: It's been a thing for me to like figure out what I enjoy and what I want to be doing with my time, and allowing yourself to not look at what someone else is doing and be like, oh, maybe that's, What I want. It's okay to try things on. That's totally fine. To be like, okay, well if you really don't know what you enjoy, try things on like, well what is so and so doing? Maybe I could try that. Okay, so let's try that. Like I tried adult ballet cause it was something that I, I've always wanted to do and I quit, by the way, that's another thing of like allowing, like I'm a high achiever, right? So quitting is never like an option for me to just like, it's just. I committed, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna see it through type of situation. But allowing yourself to quit doing something that maybe isn't right for you right now, or like a book that you don't enjoy. Just don't keep reading it. Like, give yourself the permission to move on to the next thing.

But yeah, it was something I enjoyed for a little bit. It was very challenging to do the adult ballet, but then I kind of realized like I would actually rather be focusing on my own music or whatever, like, let me grow the talent I already have and enjoy doing during that timeframe instead of suffering through a class that I like. It wasn't all that physically challenging, but it was kind of physically challenging, but it was more mentally challenging because like I don't have the muscle memory that other dancers have cause I didn't do it growing up.

[00:30:30] Katie - audio: Yeah. And I think, I think though too, like putting yourselves in situations where you're a beginner is actually really good. Cause it'll show, like, I actually resist that. I resist not knowing, I resist being a beginner or seen as a beginner. It's an edge for me. So if I can put myself into those situations where I'm not the smartest one in the room and I don't have any idea what all these acronyms mean that they seem to talk in, it's actually, even though it's uncomfortable, it's, hyper fast growth.

[00:30:54] Serena: Yeah.

[00:30:55] Katie - audio: And then like you said, the trying on different things cuz sometimes we don't know, but maybe we can, play around with somebody else's, like we're in some real estate networking groups where people will say their goals all the time, and I'm like, Ooh, I like that. I didn't even know that was possible. But then the more you live and the more you kind of do your life, you know, you can kind of start to figure out like your personal goals that do fit with you. Like, for example, James and I have no desire to have like an Airbnb business, like where we, that's all we do is have Airbnb's. But I did tell 'em, I was like, you know, I want five.

5 million houses. That's it. Just five And he's like, okay, tell me, tell me more. And I'm like, yeah. And they're gonna be in strategic places across the country based upon where we wanna go with our family. So there's gonna be a mountain west home, there's gonna be a mountain east home, there's gonna be a couple houses in Florida and different parts of Florida.

There's probably gonna be a tennis seat in on. I tell 'em in all these different things. And, and so it's not an Airbnb business where we have a portfolio of hundreds of houses. There are five very strategic homes that provide. This very specific dream for our family, which involves traveling with our greater family and having all these different homes and assets across the country that can pay us short term, but also pay us in experiences and moments, which is really what my dream is.

[00:32:12] Serena: Yeah. I love that because like there's something really like magical when especially for little kids, like if you think back to like your childhood memories, if you had a place that you frequently vacationed with your family, even if it was just like visiting another part of your family, like your cousins or whatever, like having the like consistency of the place that you go. Like a lot of people in New York go up to. Whatever the beach, I don't know, like they have, you know, like a beach house or whatever. Or like the Hamptons, right? If you're like super bougie. And I only know this for movies, but like having that one place that your family always vacations, it's like it's really magical for little kids to have that like consistent vacation spot. Because that's something that I've thought about too, of like the amount of money that it takes to invest in a home. It's like we could go to like Bora every single year,

[00:33:07] Katie - audio: Ha,

[00:33:07] Serena: or like all these different places, but like there's something really special about going to the same place. That's what we did with our house here. Like before we moved out here we just came out here to vacation in it and it was really special for the kids cuz it was like familiar but different. But it was always the same spot, 

[00:33:27] Katie - audio: Yeah. And I look at things like the financial return, but I also look at like the emotional return, like to be able to have an asset. That is a blessing to us financially in the short, like the now, but also to be able to bless our family with like their time there moments and memories there. Like that is, that's next level to me. That's what I love. So like again, like back to the both and how can we weave in both a financial assets and then also these relationship assets as well.

[00:33:56] Serena: Yeah. Yeah. So cool. So you are. Thinking about real estate, I think it's, it's been really fun to like listen to you talk about what you guys are doing or James more, but

[00:34:11] Katie - audio: Yeah. It's, it's his, it's his baby

[00:34:13] Serena: Yeah.

[00:34:14] Katie - audio: But I, I'm definitely like, Supporting him from like the intuitive and strategy side, like that part, the visionary side, cuz he's very integrator. Those of you that know like the Rocket Fuel book, actually he's both, he tested and he's like 50 50 both. But he is, we have just a very interesting skill set where like, If I set up a system, I'm really good at setting up systems, but I can't run the system and then he can't set up the systems, but he can run it. So it's like this really good little dynamic between the two of us and it's yeah, it's mostly his baby, but it's me going, this is what I want. Now go figure out how to do it. is the dream. Now go do it.

[00:34:49] Serena: Yeah, that's exciting. So what do you have going on in your world right now if someone wants to work with you or connect with you even? Like what, what's the best, what is the best place to send them?

[00:35:04] Katie - audio: Yeah, the best place to come hang out with me is on the podcast, the Ambitious Mom Podcast. You can catch up on hundreds of episodes there. And then Instagram. Yeah, send me a dm. There's actually a couple of ways you and I can start working together behind the scenes, whether it's my mastermind, the Shift, inner Circle Mastermind or private coaching.

There's lots of different kind of behind the scenes ways we can judge private coaching. Or the full on one-on-one container, which is. My favorite. But, but yeah, that's, that's a little bit what's going on and as things kind of start to evolve more with like the YouTube channel and that Instagram will be the first place to know.

[00:35:37] Serena: Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on today. Any, any other parting words you'd like to leave the audience?

[00:35:44] Katie - audio: I don't think, thank you so much for having me. It's been awesome.

[00:35:48] Serena: Thank you.