SAMIA: Hello, Salaam, Shalom, Namaste, Sat Sri Akal, Aloha, Holah, Ciao, Bonjour, Buna, and Privet! It's really good to be with you again and I'm so happy that you're joining us today... And I'm sure you will be really happy you're joining us today because we have a very special guest and it's Charlotte Barrett. And Charlotte helps women expand into the She-eo's that they desire to be... I thing that is so cool! Welcome Charlotte...

CHARLOTTE: A massive welcome and thank you for having me on the show Samia... I can't follow suit with saying all the languages but I would just say a massive hello to everyone listening… it’s such an honor to be here today and have this conversation with you. Thanks again for having me on...

SAMIA: Oh it's my pleasure.. and I'm so excited to have you on because we are going to be talking about: How to transition from your nine to five to having your own business. And I know that this is a topic that will be so exciting for our listeners… because you know, our audience is an audience of change-makers as I like to refer to my tribe and to myself and my people... And change-makers are people who have a passion to create massive positive change in their lives and also in the world. And you can rarely do that when you're stuck in a job, especially if it is like a job that you don't really love to do... and so a lot of change-makers, you know, it's really their calling to start their own businesses... start their own organizations… and that can be a huge struggle. So I can't wait to learn more from you on how we can make that transition and make it more fun and easy...

CHARLOTTE: Exactly… it's one of my favorite topics... I'm so excited to just delve right in. And as you said there… one of the reasons I'm so passionate about this work is because you can just start to make these changes and so many people are there people absolutely love their jobs which is amazing and it's great... But there are so many people who are not living up to their full potential because of something I'd love to discuss today. Because of a lot of invisible structures that we have on us… and sometimes when you're in that corporate world or in a job that you are you've then just come to thinking that this is where you are at... so this is where your future is going to be. That's why I love the work that we do… that I do at my company… and it's really about showing and expanding so you can actually lift your full potential. Do what I love to call do the work of your God's calling and be able to profit really well from it as well and go out there and make a change… and it is a transition and there's many unlearning's that needs to be done but it's such a beautiful journey and I also advocate that you can do both as well... You can do… take that time... learn the skill... learn the craft and transition really nicely. So very excited about where we're going to go today's conversation.

SAMIA: Awesome... Okay, so I guess my first question for you is just like when you think about all the people that you've worked with and maybe you've made this transition yourself... What do you think is like one of the big challenges that come up in people's way when they're trying to make this transition from nine to five to having their own business?

CHARLOTTE: Yeah... So there's so many different nuances and everyone's circumstances is different. But I think I'm just touching upon what I leads us here at the beginning... I think what has happened is, as we grow up in society and, you know, with some you talking a lot of people growing up in the society, you go through the school system, you go through the university, college… wherever you may be in the world… but there's a lot of systems, a lot of societal pressure, and a lot of that is imposed on who you need to be... So as you even go through the employment career maybe you've started to develop a corporate career... what happens is you then start to take on all of those views of who you need to be, and you take that on a persona and that then becomes your identity. Now when you maybe you've listened to a podcast like this, you've really interacted with change-makers like there are in your community and that spark's been lit and you're like okay... I want to now start my business. The biggest obstacle... and this is why I always start with this work first before we go into the strategy... is the identity of seeing who you... who you can be as well. And that's the massive block is really looking at identity of where you can go and that where you are right now doesn't dictate your future circumstance… and there's something that I always say to people… you know if you're building your business we can test where you are in terms of identity and what you believe... By simply seeing… if you went into a networking meeting or you went into maybe a dinner party… someone asks you, what do you do? What are you gonna say first? Are you gonna say I'm whatever your job title is or you're gonna say I'm an entrepreneur... that's actually tells us if you… you've really brought in to identity as an entrepreneur… and it could be really scary because we don't know what we don't know. A lot of it comes down to adapting that you know maybe you're made for so much more and also that belonging… I think worthiness and belonging that you can go out there, you can be a change-maker... it's not just for someone else that you've seen, that you've listened to, or you've watched on a YouTube video, listened to a podcast… actually that can be you. That's the biggest block… and there's something, this come up… just love to share this... one of my mentors said that a lot of the times we will take the long way around to something… maybe it's our destiny calling our business because we don't feel that we belong and you know that could look like self-sabotage... But when we work on our identity and we really take in that actually we belong over there... we are entrepreneurs... we're change-makers… we can operate from like all of whatever it's going to be, then you're going to take the quicker route to that…. but we don't feel like it, so that's why identity is such a massive piece of it for me as well.

SAMIA: That is such an excellent point... and you know in some ways... I wasn't expecting you to give this answer. Because in my head you know if you had asked me that question... I would have been like you know… it's the fact that most of us actually don't have any education around business... like, for example, myself… I became a coach and a trainer and a healer that I am… and I started my practice, my business, around that work because I love coaching and I love training and I love healing... and I got trained in how to be a coach and a trainer and a healer... but I never got trained in business. And so I personally, in my head, was used to thinking that was the biggest hurdle… but as I've listened to you, oh my gosh, you are actually right Charlotte... that identity is a deeper and more root cause part of the struggle because if truly there is a lack of knowledge, I mean that's a really easy problem to solve... like, it's so easy to get knowledge, especially when it comes to business… there's so many trainings and books and gurus out there that you can work with and learn from... So getting the knowledge is not the hard part... but to own the identity, to figure out your identity as a business person, that indeed... that literally took me years to figure out.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah... and you're so right… we’re in the information age... And this is why I say to clients... don't worry about giving out your free tips or things… that's not actually what people are buying. You can get as you said anything... we can go and find out about any single thing… we can even learn to build a house if that was our desire... but what we… what coaches are meant to come into is that space to be held to transform and really own that identity. And so for a long time I did miss that but it is… that's why we skirt around… we buy a program and won't do it... because we haven't aligned with that identity to actually execute what is in the program …subconsciously at least, us executing is going to give us the results which means we have to step into that identity of that business...

SAMIA: Yeah...Oh my gosh... So when you talk about, you know, sort of becoming grounded in our identity and so forth... how do we actually do that?

ADDS HERE

CHARLOTTE: Yeah... so it is a mixture of tools and it's a process and it's dependent on where you are... But one thing I will say, it's ongoing… because every level you get to in business, if you're going to look at monetary or impact… there's going to be another level or layer to that, to really build and then go to that identity... so something just practically, some of the things I like to do with clients when they come on board and I start working with them… I ask all my clients to write a letter from their future self to where they are now. Just because we actually… that identity is part of us… we just haven't merged and fully formed into it… and if we have that in us we wouldn't have wanted to take the steps in business… but take… we're talking in this example, we would want to take the steps to start that business... First and foremost to get in tune and just start to feel and sense what that identity may look like… may not have embodied it yet… and embodying does take a process… but writing a letter from your future self to where you are now, if you sit and you tap into yourself and you just sort of like speak to your life, you can get so much wisdom… that's just a practical first step… and that's what I get everyone one to do. Then there's things… it's going to be like at first it's going to be little things… like building your self-esteem as well… so I say, every promise you're making to yourself, keep it, even if it's something minute… I remember I used to have this thing in terms of, okay Charlotte, you are going to not leave dishes in the sink overnight because that's a promise you want to make… And you know that's part of what I did, and that's something I was always working on… so just keeping those little promises to yourself... and it can be as minute in terms of domestic stuff, but it can be a big thing like you're going to attend that webinar, you're going to listen to this podcast every week... whatever it may be… keeping those little promises to yourself… we think it doesn't make an impact… that starts to build your self-esteem... Once you build your self-esteem... you start to build the confidence... once you have the confidence you're gonna go out and start to implement and do and take on that identity of the business owner... you're gonna execute even if you're in your nine to five… maybe you're taking on the hat of the employee where you are waiting for permission… when you go and start work on your business maybe eight or ten, you're gonna take that hat off and you're gonna realize that actually you don't need permission… you can go and execute because you've built that confidence within yourself… they're little things… but they build up really strong and start to help you with that transition and the ownership of identity.

SAMIA: That is so wonderful... that is really... oh my gosh, like I… pretty much everything that you mentioned, I think it's so on point… and when you were talking about writing the letter like from your future self to your current self... it actually made me realize… that was actually one of the very first things… I did it in a slightly different context. But that was actually one of the very first things that I did that started me on my entrepreneurial journey… and what happened in my case was that I was actually taking this class… I was about to graduate from college… it was my last quarter... and I ended up taking this amazing, amazing class called, "The most effective methods of creating social change"... and yeah... and it turned out to be structured sort of like a leadership development class… like, I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I took that class… I just knew it was going to be awesome because so many of my peers had taken it and they were all raving about it... but in any case, one of the things that they had us do was this really really cool exercise where they were like... "okay imagine you're 30 years into the future and you've come back to your college reunion... and now you're seeing your classmates after 30 years. And so you're going to enthusiastically and happily and, you know, just with great energy greet each other because you're so excited to see each other after 30 years... and you need to tell each other everything that you have been up to for the last 30 years".

CHARLOTTE: Yeah...

SAMIA: So like the context was a little bit different, but it was basically us, you know, as our future selves... telling our younger selves in a way, like, what we had been up to and what we want to be up to...

CHARLOTTE: I love it. So much wisdom… and it yeah... no matter how you sort of implement it in the different variations, it's just, it's powerful because us as human beings in this busy world we don't often get a chance to connect with ourselves, our future self, ourselves wherever it may be, wherever we are on a healing... so when you do that it's just like, well, actually there's wisdom, there's connection… and when you start to commit that's when you really start to fight as well. And one thing I do with my private clients... I get them to sign that letter when they start, and then I post it to them at the end of us working together... yeah… which is… because we just we need reminders all the time, because...

SAMIA: Yes... that is so beautiful... I love those kinds of exercises too. And there's I believe actually websites where you can go and, you know, you can write I think emails to yourself and have the… basically… email scheduled to be sent to you at some future date...

CHARLOTTE: Amazing… love that... that's probably a more digital tech way than the letters… but yeah... I love that. So that's really good actually.

SAMIA: Yeah... it's really it is cool because I think when you're doing these kinds of exercises, as you mentioned... this knowledge... these desires... these visions... like, they're already inside of us, you know… and but our conscious mind is not always aware of them and is oftentimes putting up obstacles in terms of, you know, it has its fears and so forth that it's dealing with… and so it might not be able to realize what they are... so if you can do an exercise like this that sort of helps you get out of your mind a little bit, and I think it helps you connect more with your heart... your spiritual heart… so then you're able to... ah! It just comes up... so amazing.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah... absolutely. I'd love for the listeners… if you try it, let us know how it goes as well...

SAMIA: Yes please do... Okay, so Charlotte, do you have any other amazing this time to share with us... is there like another big problem that people have to deal with… so once they have a sense of their identity and they've started working on getting grounded in their identity... what challenge might come up next that they need to deal with?

CHARLOTTE: Yeah so the massive one which always comes up time and time again... is time actually. It's always, do I have time… and I think even when you have all the time in the world you still wonder do you have time... it's something I think as human beings always battling with time… but practically there's some things we can start to really do to hone in if you're building, particularly building your business alongside a nine-to-five… and the first thing I always say is that... it's going to be reassessing your priorities... you're not going to be able to do everything that you did before as well as build this business which is your future, which you're working towards whatever goals or desires they are. So it's going to be learning to start... start to set boundaries… saying no to things… An analogy I use… I say to clients… think of it like you are going on a long journey... you're walking along a path... you've got this backpack... You don't want to walk on that long path with a really, really heavy backpack... you want it to be as light as possible so you make it to the end of the journey. So it means you're gonna have to start taking things out, dropping it… whether it's, okay, maybe you can't help at the charity you're helping as much... reduce your hours… whether it maybe you're going to have to ask your partner, family or friends for support with children… whether it’s that you're going to need to drop that being admin of the family chat or the organizer... whatever it is, some things are going to have to drop… Not a lot of people will tell you this, but you can't do everything… we're not superhuman as much as we'd like to be. So making priorities, understanding what's going to be a priority… then it's going to be I say, just like you have your office hours with a job... you need to have office hours with your business… because it's where the compound effect really takes into place… so yes, it… you can start as little as an hour a day… but it needs to be committed, it needs to be consistent… and also the most practical talks… I want to give some practical stuff as well …is just putting an alarm in your phone… we all have our phones glued to us... so think of your office hours, put that in the phone… put it as an alarm… and if you've got office at home, put that on the outside so everyone knows this is what's happening… and then practically, then enrolling your friends and family around you and your vision… they need to… it becomes much more easier that way if everyone knows why all of a sudden you're not doing as much, why maybe you don't seem as fun… why maybe you can't listen to podcasts in the car on the way… whatever it may be... so enroll everyone on your vision and then you get that support and it becomes much more easier… and then time doesn't seem so much of a barrier… and then there's some more practical things… just being dedicated to your daily non-negotiables… which are the stuff… because everyone forgets… we're in different seasons when we're in our business… you're in the startup phase, you're in the growth phase, the momentum... so understand when you're starting, particularly that is about really improving your concept, getting clients in… and know which season you're in… then you can really focus… and you determine your daily non-negotiables like that... hopefully that's helped with some practical stuff.

SAMIA: Yeah... I loved everything that you were sharing, again... and my gosh several things I would love to follow with you but I guess the thing... the first thing that maybe I'd love to hear of some of your perspectives on is… like, I am with you that you know we need to get some support, we need to you know enroll people in our vision… because you're right, you can't do everything... you're going to have to change all kinds of things in your life… and so you have to be able to enroll people in your vision. And I'm wondering, like, I know like for me when I began that process, I met a lot of resistance… like not everyone was ready to support… and a lot of people were very skeptical and a lot of people were like… I mean, people have this tendency to think you're… like why would you leave your secure nine-to-five job you know... you're getting great benefits, you have a steady income coming in, this and that… and so why would you leave all that, it's so risky to start your own business… and you know just all of this... I mean, it's discouragement you know that you're getting from people… and a lot of it, I mean, it's coming from the people who are closest to you, and they're scared for you, they're concerned for you... and so it can be really challenging to deal with. How… do you have any tips on how we can do that...

CHARLOTTE: Yeah... absolutely… and it's so common. I remember one of my clients was like… I've had a best friend for years and all of a sudden now I'm doing business she's just stopped speaking to me. I don't know what happened... And it's something that does happen. I've had to you know have my own encounters with family and friends… what I will say, you stick… I'm going to give you some tips, but you stick in it long enough and watch the tables turn… I've been doing this for years and years and years now, and now I have so many people coming back to me, friends family… oh, how do you do it? what do you do? wanting to be curious... but first and foremost a lot of it starts because they've known you for a long period of time, they've known that other person of you, that person that maybe has switched careers or businesses every two… a couple of months or every year… so they haven't had seen you be in something sustainable and long term… and often we just have to be able to prove that this is it, this is what we determined… the passion… and then people go where we lead first as well… that's usually a big thing... In terms of sometimes why friends and family often are maybe skeptical… and I share this because sometimes it can help us understand why... but a lot of the times family members, dad, and mum or someone, it's usually because a they're concerned about you… why there's that discouragement… and they haven't usually done that thing before. So they… if they see you've got someone… you see someone else going into danger and you can't help them, it's going to make you feel like you're incapable…. so often they're trying to even protect their feelings… like, they're not gonna be able to save you or help you if you do this business, it goes awfully wrong, whatever the worst can happen… which usually isn't as bad as we think it is as well... so often it's because it's out of protection and love… but they don't know how to help you or save you. And sometimes it can be a trigger with those around us that you have actually taken a step to jump out of your comfort zone go and do something that they actually wish they did… which can be why some people will not address that and maybe not speak to you anymore because it's like a trigger to them… it's like, oh my gosh, they've actually taken the guts… but they haven't arrived to that point, which is perfectly fine... so we have to take that on board… and the biggest thing I always say when you're jumping into entrepreneurship or even whether you're further down on your journey, no matter where you are... really surround yourself with other people who are doing the same things… because as I talked about that identity, it's going to take time for you to build like that layer of armor where someone else's opinions doesn't matter because you've got so much faith in yourself… but that doesn't come overnight... so you really need to be putting yourself in situations with people who are doing it, or who are a step ahead of you, that can hold you, when the doubts start to come in… because they do come in… I'm not going to say they don't, but you need a… you need to see other people doing it… you need people to speak into you and say it is possible for you to… and see you in your highest form, in your power... and then afterwards when that does start to happen it affects you less and less and less… but you have to give yourself a fighting chance… because a lot of people will say they're starting a business, but that's the easy part… staying in business is the much harder part. So I hope that's helped and that's given some context around why and what you can do to support yourself doing it…

SAMIA: sorry about that (24+ mins) Yes! for sure that was very very sensible... and I'm on board with you... Okay, so I… you know, just because of constraints of time… I think we're gonna have to bring you back Charlotte because you have so much more to share with us and we are running out of time... but do you have any like last tips, or last words, or like a last problem that you would like to highlight… and we can quickly address what the solution to that is as well...

CHARLOTTE: Yeah... So if you… you're choosing your business, you've decided… we've talked about the actual practical tips for moving forward is in terms of just being committed... Commit to it for at least a year... whatever you're doing, you can always tweak it… but commit to it for at least a year if you're going in business… and then have some sort of accountability… because I say particularly women, we always put ourselves to the bottom of the list… if things come up, you're like, please, put your dreams on hold, put your business on hold... but commit to it for you… be all in. And I'm saying this… “all in” doesn't mean you need to leave your 9-5 immediately... but be all in on this is your future. And this isn't just a dream… this is the future and you're going to figure out every way that you can… you're going to find information and support, the resources… you're going to do implement some of the tips we shared about… going to connect with the wisdom inside... but be all in… because when you're half in, I'm there, I'm this and that …you're not going to get the results. It's gonna take you longer to get where you're getting as well… so just the commitment part… and it's really really… I mean, the consistency is probably the most boring part of business… Many people going into business are creative, so they want to do this and that… and it can be counterintuitive, but that's going to give you the stability to be able to go out there and really excel and do things that you want to do and be able to bring in support to help you with things that maybe aren’t your strengths so much as well. So I just want to bring that around to that because that is also really instrumental in you staying in business...

SAMIA: Yes! Oh my gosh... oh my gosh… every time you share something… oh my gosh... I'm like, I love this… there's so much I want to follow up on... The point you made about commitment… that is so true... and like for me I know that it's like I had to keep reminding myself of that vision, that goal, that dream, that my about to graduate from college self showed me, about the change that I wanted to create in the world, you know... and not just for me, but like I really, you know, I was like I want to help people, and you know... And so like to remind myself of okay, how is it that I wanted to help people? what's the most meaningful way that I can help people? and what was that more specific vision that my future self showed me… to keep going back to that… because otherwise it's like so easy to get caught up in the everyday drama that happens in life… and sort of… and then those other things begin to seem more pressing, more urgent and this is like... oh… makes me think about the seven habits of the most successful people... I hope...

CHARLOTTE: Oh yes... do you mean Steven Covey? Yeah...

SAMIA: Covey... and he said you know one of the biggest mistakes that people make who are not successful, is that they spend a lot of their time taking care of things that are feeling urgent… and not to say that they're not urgent... but what they ignore in the process are the things that are really important but don't feel so urgent. And so he was like, actually, the most successful people, what they do is that they will deliberately carve out time to first do those things that are really important but may not be so urgent... but they're really important. And so you just have to commit to doing them and carve out time to do it consistently, like you were saying Charlotte... so...

CHARLOTTE: Absolutely yeah... well, urgent things can sometimes be a distraction, but I think that could be a whole another podcast we can talk about...

SAMIA: Indeed... indeed... So for sure I would love for you to come back and share more of your wisdom with us... but in the meantime I'm just so happy and grateful that you joined us today, and shared everything that you did share with us today... And I just want to remind all of our listeners to please check the show notes... make sure you check the show notes because we're going to be adding Charlotte's links in the show notes so you can reach out to her and get some help and support if you are going through this process of transitioning from your nine to five to your own business because yeah, that will make change... this change… a lot, a lot, a lot more fun and easy for you...

CHARLOTTE: Absolutely… my ethos is exactly that we want it fun and easy. Thank you so much Samia for having me... it's been such a good conversation and we just scratched the surface but loved every minute and its been an honor ...

SAMIA: Awesome... so until we see each other again, or hear each other again... I just wish you lots and lots of peace and joy:).