Creativity & Magic

Kathleen Shannon 0:05
Get your business together, get yourself into what you do and see it through

Emily Thompson 0:09
being bosses hard. Lending work and life is messy. Making a dream job of your own isn't easy,

Kathleen Shannon 0:17
but getting paid for it, becoming known for it. And finding purpose in it is so doable

Unknown Speaker 0:23
if you do the work.

Kathleen Shannon 0:26
being bossed is a podcast for creative entrepreneurs. Brought to you by Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon. Hi,

Emily Thompson 0:33
I'm Emily. And I own indie typography, where I help passionate entrepreneurs establish and grow their business online. By helping them build brands that attract and websites that sell. I help my clients launch their business so they can do more of what they love, and make money doing it.

Kathleen Shannon 0:50
And I'm Kathleen, I'm the CO owner of braid creative where I specialize in branding and business visioning for creative entrepreneurs who want to blend who they are with what they do narrow in on their core genius and shape their content so they can position themselves as experts to attract more dream clients.

Emily Thompson 1:09
And being bosses a podcast where we're talking shop, giving you a peek behind the scenes of what it takes to build a business, interviewing other working creatives and figuring it out. As we go right there with you.

Kathleen Shannon 1:21
Check out our archives at loving boss calm.

Emily Thompson 1:25
Welcome to episode number 44. This episode is brought to you by fresh books, cloud accounting.

Kathleen Shannon 1:33
Emily and I are back from our New Orleans trip. And today we're going to share what we learned while on vacation with 75 other bosses.

So I recently asked our Facebook group to fill in the blank here,

money is late.

So think about that for a second, what is your answer? Money is. So a lot of our bosses in the Facebook group said things like money is a necessary evil and some even said money is freedom. And if you've been listening to this podcast for a while you know that I believe money is energy. And it's just a way to easily measure compensation. I think money is really emotional, but also super practical. So today, I want to encourage you to think about money from a more objective place. But also notice how you feel about it and dig a little bit deeper into those feelings. I also want to encourage you to get real and just crunch the numbers. I use fresh books to do this in my own business and I want to invite you to do the same freshbooks is the easy to use online cloud accounting designed specifically for creative entrepreneurs who have all sorts of feelings about money, but ultimately want to get paid doing what they love. Try fresh books for free today. Go to freshbooks comm slash being boss and select being boss in the How did you hear about us section?

All right on to our show. today. We're talking all about New Orleans, Emily.

Unknown Speaker 3:06
We had so much fun.

Emily Thompson 3:08
Oh my god, I feel like Okay, so this legitimately happened multiple times I'm walking around with my sunglasses on. And when I Love New Orleans, like it is a part of me in a way that I cannot explain to people and walking around New Orleans, which I love anyway, but then being there with all of you guys and having these people be so jazzed and excited and open. I cried multiple times, literally just walking down the street and start tearing up and was so grateful that I had sunglasses on. But it was it was absolutely magical.

Kathleen Shannon 3:43
And you're not really require Are you

Emily Thompson 3:47
as I'm getting older, I cry about everything. Traditionally, not a crier. But certainly over the past couple of years. It doesn't take much these days. Which makes it really hard to watch TV with people because sometimes commercials Just get me truth. So yes, a little bit of a crier. It's probably it's probably a little more surprising that not more people saw me cry. But it was it was just it was super emotional. And it wasn't like sadness, obviously, or anything. It was just like happiness. And, like so impressed with us and what we've done and then all of these people who came to enjoy it with us.

Kathleen Shannon 4:29
Yeah, I was impressed by all the bosses who were showing up. And so that's one thing that I just wanted to make note of whenever it comes to New Orleans and what that experience meant. I think that our Facebook group is great and the emailing back and forth and even the Skyping but there is a certain kind of magic that happens whenever you get a bunch of bosses in the same room together. And so I felt that happening over coffee and conversations I felt that happen in smaller groups or get togethers. But whenever you get 75 of us together, it was amplified and it was explosive. So that was pretty incredible. I don't really know how to describe it

Emily Thompson 5:17
energizing I think it was just energized. I've I've been the big things like you and I have both been to all summit and I've been been to conferences and and just sort of these gatherings of people. And it was it's usually draining like those things usually drain me so much and but this one I left and we were just talking about this like neither of us have crashed yet. I would expect me to crash I didn't sleep for basically a week and we went and went and went the entire time. Yes, yeah. And and I feel fine. Like it was so energizing to be around so many people being so open. And so happy to be there with everyone the the first night you didn't go to this one. But we even had other bosses like putting together little events like before it actually started, one of the bosses put together like a dinner for some of us and we went and and someone brought swag, like I got new swag at an event that we put on. And so even like them picking up in and making it better for everyone. It was just literally the most giving, energized, amazing event I have ever been to. And I'm saying this as a coordinator, like I'm supposed to be coming back dead. I don't feel that way at all.

Kathleen Shannon 6:45
You know, sometimes I go to events, and I come home inspired but also feeling like I have so much work to do. And I'm sure that a lot of the bosses attending felt that way too. And even, I guess I feel that way a little bit too, but not in like that. I'm not good enough kind of way. Because I think that everyone was just lifting each other up and supporting each other in our own creative endeavors so much that I feel like I have a lot of work to do, but that I can actually do it.

Emily Thompson 7:17
Yeah, exactly. I don't feel like I don't feel like I'm not doing enough. I just feel inspired to keep doing what I'm doing, which I think is a very important differentiation. Because usually whenever I go to big events, I've come back thinking my God, I'm not doing anything right sort of thing where, you know, I should be doing more blogging, or I should be doing more social media or why the hell Don't I have blog sponsors or whatever. But instead of coming back feeling like I'm missing so many pieces of the puzzle, and you know, feeling inspired to do them, and coming back, knowing that what I'm doing is badass and amazing. I just need to keep going.

Kathleen Shannon 7:51
I hope all of our bosses that came feel that way. But then also the bosses that weren't there. I hope that they all feel that way listening to this show. And I think that's the spirit of what we've been trying to create this whole time is just that we're all in it together. And that we all do a better job whenever we're helping each other out. And collaborating than whenever we're trying to just do it in a vacuum. So one of the things that you mentioned that I can want to touch on is feeling energized versus feeling drained. And a theme that I saw come up a lot over the being boss New Orleans vacation was this theme of people kind of labeling themselves introverts or extroverts, extroverts. And it's something that comes up in the Facebook group a lot too. And I feel like a lot of us bosses who are running online businesses are in fact introverts. And so Emily, would you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?

Emily Thompson 8:51
I am an extroverted introvert.

Kathleen Shannon 8:55
What does that mean?

Emily Thompson 8:57
It means like I need I need my alone time I need to I'm very withdrawn, I think with a lot of things. But I'm also super capable of being outgoing and out in the middle of it and just sort of doing what I need to do. I don't know it's, I hate those labels. A time like there is nothing more. There's a few things that are more of a turnoff to me than people who introduce themselves and then immediately tell me if they are an introvert as an X or an extrovert, like I almost feel like they use it as an excuse for being the way they are instead of just being the way they are. So that's sort of my view on that. But I am a bit I am a bit of an introvert and but I don't let that keep me from getting out there when I need to.

Kathleen Shannon 9:47
I recently so I always thought that being an extrovert just meant that you have a wild and big personality. And then I thought that being an introvert kind of meant that you were maybe quiet and shy but I recently learned That the difference between introverts and extroverts, it's really just in how you get energy. So I used to think that I was probably exactly 5050. But as I'm getting older I'm learning that I'm definitely an extrovert because I get energy from being around other people. And hopefully you're not no vampire always. So they're like vampires. drain your energy by just kind of like taking, taking taking. And I think that we've all had friends or frenemies like that before that just kind of take take take. But for me, I'm lifted up and I get energy by hearing what other creators are doing, what they're passionate about what they're excited about. Or just going out and having fun. It definitely fills me up. Now granted, whenever we're on Bourbon Street surrounded by five bajillion drunk people. I was like, Oh, my God, is this what introverts feel like all the time? Because it was a bit overwhelming. Yeah.

Emily Thompson 11:03
So Bourbon Street was amazing. I was. So we, I spent seven I spent a week in New Orleans. You were there for five days, I think. And I was very proud. I was very proud of me for not getting dragged more than I did, quite honestly. Because New Orleans is usually a place where I just go and really let it loose. But we had so many like boss things going on, that we didn't. We all kept it relatively tame until that last night.

Kathleen Shannon 11:32
So let's talk about that last night.

Emily Thompson 11:34
So I keep sending Kathleen photos, just like one at a time of these really great photos and videos that were captured that I'm sure she don't remember. I have a couple more for you that I'll be sending sending over the next couple of days. Maybe we should post them in the Facebook group after this episode goes. I certainly think so.

Kathleen Shannon 11:54
I Alright, if you want to see some of our secret photos from the trip sign up in our Facebook group.

Emily Thompson 12:02
Yeah, we're gonna put a couple because they are magical. So we, what do we do? We got done with dinner that night. And dinner was fantastic. Was that dinner night? No. Okay, so let's begin with the ghost or the ghost. It was amazing. We went out we got what Lord Lord Chazz of the underworld to do our ghost tour. And he was impeccable. Like, what an entertaining like two hours. It was so much fun. I almost got

Kathleen Shannon 12:33
So wait, and I didn't do can I let me tell this story for So first, we're meeting up all 75 of us at a bar to go on a tour. And they are kind of splitting us up. And I feel like I got there after a lot of other people did. So I'm going up to the bar to get my drink. And all of a sudden I see a friend that I had to leave. I was a little kid. And we used to do the medieval fair together. So that might that's something a lot of people don't know is I used to be a medieval fair nerd.

Emily Thompson 13:06
I was too.

Kathleen Shannon 13:08
But like were you performing in the medieval? No. Or would you just dress up and

Emily Thompson 13:13
dress up and go, my mom usually had a booth and I worked at someone else's booth at one point like i was i was a merchant.

Kathleen Shannon 13:21
Okay, so this is interesting, too. I'm going to out another one of my friends as being a medieval fair. Nerd is Meg keen from a practical wedding way. So yeah, we totally bonded over this at alt summit one year. And she told me that working as a merchant, I want to say her family worked as a merchant at a medieval fair, Renaissance Fair. And she actually built her entire business model for a practical wedding, around the same concepts that she learned working up medieval fair is not while of that story. So it's kind of like looking at how merchants at the medieval fair are actually a part of the experience. And she's really done that with her sponsors and partners in a practical wedding, which I

Emily Thompson 14:06
just think is so fast, like the coolest founding story ever.

Kathleen Shannon 14:09
So anyway, I started doing the medieval fair whenever I was around eight years old, and I learned how to juggle whenever I was very young. And I actually taught my brother who is now a sideshow performer, how to juggle and he quickly went on to learning how to juggle cleavers, and chainsaws and fire and all sorts of crazy things. But anyway, so I see my friend Vivian, and it was her first night of leading the ghost tour. And she was so so nervous, and then we locked eyes and she told me whenever she saw me, okay, everything's gonna be okay. It was just a totally Kismet moment for her to be seeing me from going from a little kid to being a total boss. And then me seeing her you know, leaving this ghost for it was just was really incredible and magical. It was awesome. So Jill's fine. So um, anyway, I got my drink. And yes,

Emily Thompson 15:06
well drink. So I had to go up there. See, I

Kathleen Shannon 15:10
feel like you got special treatment because your name was on the contract.

Emily Thompson 15:13
I did. I totally did. Like we got one in our room one night, which I still have that we can still split that one day. And who

Kathleen Shannon 15:19
was that from the hotel. Um,

Emily Thompson 15:22
so that was from the hotel, but no Lord has got me a drink. And we sat and chatted for a while. And then we split up the group. So I was the one who like gave, like some people tickets, and then they left and then everyone else went with the last group. And we started this crazy, crazy, awesome tour and where we get entertained by these, like, really horrific stories of things that happened in the French Quarter around the French Quarter, you know, years ago. And so it was really entertaining. Love that. And then so we're all jazzed up. And by that point, I was, I was getting kind of lit because I had I had went up to love feats bar, which is up like Louisa Lafayette's blacksmith shop, which is the oldest bar in the country, that bar that we stopped at in the middle of Oh, yeah, I would love that goes towards the oldest bar in the country. And so in def tour, we all head out to Bourbon Street. And there was a I guess, a smaller group of us who found this bar and danced the night away a little bit.

Kathleen Shannon 16:28
Well, okay, at one point, I don't think any of us have eaten dinner. So right, I was starving, and also drunk and wanted some pizza. So one of the locals was like, I'm going to take you to pizza. And okay, here's the deal. I'm used to eating fancy pizza like not fancy pizza, $25 pies, you know, interesting combinations. Made with flour from Italy, like really nice pizza. This was like the equivalent pizza. So she grabs her hands, and we're all just like grabbing each other's hands and weaving our way through a mass of drunk people. It was almost like zombie apocalypse, basically. But drunk frat boys, and right, really, what is the difference? So we ended up in this place, it's kind of like, I don't even know how you describe it.

Emily Thompson 17:25
It's almost like a convenience store slash it's meant to get me to drunk people quickly, like,

Kathleen Shannon 17:32
so that and that's exactly what. So we're online getting really cheap pizza, but I swear to God, it was the best slice of pizza I've ever had in my life. And the music was actually

Emily Thompson 17:45
started, I just danced in the middle of the pizza place.

Kathleen Shannon 17:48
We're just dancing. All of us just dancing. It was so much fun. It was kind of a lost in translation moment, which is my thing. Yes.

Emily Thompson 17:57
Yes. Well, so so I have to tell you about what I ate, though, because I did not eat that pizza. So before the ghost tour, I had went on a walk through like, I guess the north western part of the French Quarter with Erica midkiff. Like her and I just went out for a stroll, we went up to my feets and got a drink. And then on the way back, she hadn't had dinner yet. And I hadn't either though I ate so much food, this pet like I could have not eaten and would have been fine. But I knew that there were going to be drinks and I needed some food in my gut. So we turn the corner on to bourbon and the universe hands as a hot dog truck. And it was one of those things where we both see it because we're both like, okay, we need to pick up some food before we go to this ghost tour. Like, what are we going to do? There's lines everywhere. And then there's the hottest hot dog vendor and we're like, Thank you universe. This is fantastic. We walk up and we're talking to this man. And he is a crazy person. He starts telling us about how he killed him and the week before by picking him up and breaking his neck and Eric and I are just sitting there going, Oh, okay. That's I guess we know not to mess with you. Like how do you have that conversation with because he's being very aggressive about like, you don't want to mess with me. I killed a man last week. And we're just like,

Kathleen Shannon 19:10
oh, wait and wait. Like you guys went up and we're all getting me a hot dog now. And he's like,

Emily Thompson 19:17
honestly, I don't remember how this conversation like yes, I want a hot dog and he goes into the story about how he kills a man. And so then he hands us a hot dog. I don't know what was in that hot dog. It could have been a man dog. But we ate it and it wasn't horrible. And now I have a really great story of a crazy man at a hotdog stand.

Kathleen Shannon 19:40
I would not have eaten that hot dog.

Emily Thompson 19:42
I was really hungry and it was really good. So yeah, man dog. So anyways, so I have my hot dog. You guys have pizza. We're we're dancing in the middle of of this pizza store. And then we go find a bar and then we just dig in Sit up there we have this really great video of Kathleen feeding me popcorn which, yay for them to have

Kathleen Shannon 20:06
corn. But wait, hang on before the popcorn. We're out on the balcony. Yeah, I have never experienced Bourbon Street right? The whole Girls Gone Wild situation right? So we're on this balcony and Emily all of a sudden has like a bag of beans that just manifested from nowhere and she's all Hey lady

Unknown Speaker 20:35
lady

Kathleen Shannon 20:37
said oh my god this is so degree feminist in me was dying.

Emily Thompson 20:45
I know I was telling someone about that then I was like I can't believe Kathleen did that. Like she's got some feminist in her in that couldn't have been happy in that situation.

Kathleen Shannon 20:54
No, not at all. So then but you know, like people are walking by so then I decided start yelling at the guys and I'm like, Hey guys, nice Sapna like, hey, and they'll like do the motion to lift up my shirt. Like they were wanting me on the balconies. Yes. I'm sure it works. Yeah. And so I was like, Oh, no, no, no. So then when I was trying to do my goal was to get two straight guys to make out. Oh, yeah. Then I get on saying no make out you to make out. And they'd be like, what? No. Ah, so and that was kind of fun. No dudes made out a lot of girls flush their boobs. It was very degrading and sexist, but also a really good time.

Emily Thompson 21:37
Amen to that. I know. It's, it's really funny. A friend of mine hasn't has a balcony and downtown in downtown Florence. And we always joke about like, we should go get some beads and totally do this. And not do that in any other city in the world. Like,

Kathleen Shannon 21:53
okay, here's why I am okay with what happened.

Emily Thompson 21:58
Have you had an internal conversation about this guideline? Have you felt bad about it? Okay,

Kathleen Shannon 22:02
tell me because like everyone is in on it. If you're a woman on Bourbon Street, you know what kind of environment you're going in, and no one's making you do anything, right? And it's like fun, like everyone is just kind of in on the joke if that makes sense. It's not like you're walking down the street and being harassed by construction workers or random dudes. Like you kind of know what you're getting into to

Emily Thompson 22:28
do that on some level.

Kathleen Shannon 22:31
And then I also want to mention actually, beyond the guy's asking you to flash them. Everyone is actually especially the guys atmosphere in New Orleans, at least from my experience, everyone is really respectful. Yeah. Or, like really funny whenever they would hit on you. It wasn't just the typical like, Hey, lady, it was like, I know, funny and, and nice and respectful. So even on Bourbon Street, I never once got felt up or no, like nothing

Emily Thompson 23:03
happened. I've been to New Orleans and Bourbon Street every year for the past three years, and I've been once or twice before the past three years. And though I know things like that happen, I have never felt unsafe, or like something inappropriate was happening around me. Or especially to me, and so yeah, for that reason, like I never would have taken people out if I was afraid someone was gonna get raped or something like that just would not have been a thing. But I'm sure

Kathleen Shannon 23:35
that hasn't been everyone's experience. I'm

Emily Thompson 23:37
sure it hasn't been either but but even on this trip, and that was one of the things that I was so so happy and impressed with was because we were were so like kind of crazy. I just knew we were going to end up like having someone like just get crazy shit faced drunk or something really glad

Unknown Speaker 23:54
someone did one person did but she

Emily Thompson 23:56
was totally taken care of. And you know who you are. Yeah, and I mean, it was so entertaining though. And nothing happened. Like it was a completely an utterly safe and happy trip and it's something that that I am super grateful for and part of it's like, part of it is certainly New Orleans in this like, this vibe that's there that I just attribute so much to but then also we just had such a great group of people. That it went swimmingly.

Kathleen Shannon 24:29
So let's talk about that a little bit New Orleans and the five and having 75 bosses together. The biggest theme and the biggest takeaway that I started to see unfold on the trip was this theme of magic and spirituality and intuition,

Emily Thompson 24:46
man. These girls are whoo as fuck. Like on hysterical, amazing level. And like it really made me want to like almost like, I don't know, fly my freak flag a little higher. like knowing that so many of these girls have come in like not intending it to happen this way but I think the the time you share the story about you going and getting your your readings done. Everyone who every one I would say, I would say easily 75% of the people who were there either got their tarot cards read, or went to see a psychic or just something a little woowoo or like went and bought crystals and tarot cards, like, these guys are in it, and I loved it.

Unknown Speaker 25:33
It was so much fun.

Emily Thompson 25:35
Yeah,

Kathleen Shannon 25:35
so did you get a reading at all while you were there?

Emily Thompson 25:37
I did. I went my last day I went and saw velvet in Jackson Square, which is a girl that like a tarot card reader that a bunch of the girls went to and and I got my cards read and it was it was magical.

Kathleen Shannon 25:52
What What do they What did she say?

Emily Thompson 25:55
My favorite part? My favorite part? Was that like, I'm a very, very like sweet kind person. That's the part that I think a lot of people see. I know, but that I have an inner ghetto girl that will take care of me.

Unknown Speaker 26:07
It's totally me. Yeah.

Emily Thompson 26:10
Loved it. And then you went you install?

Kathleen Shannon 26:14
Yeah, so I saw Jessica, at Earth Odyssey. Uh huh. A few people went and saw her. And she was 26 years old and so good at what she does. So what I really liked about her is, she just kind of, for lack of better words, she's a little more plain Jane, like, she wasn't like what you would expect a tarot card reader to look like. And, and she, she was really, she just laid out the cards and told me what she saw, but use a little bit of blend of like, Here are the facts. Here's what I'm reading, here's what I'm seeing. But then also a little bit of intuition. And so, so whenever she laid out the cards that I have picked from this tarot deck, one of the things that she really saw was that I have really strong leader leadership qualities and decisiveness, which is true and Okay, so sometimes when I'm having this stuff done, I'm like, Well, duh, yeah. And then I think well, but that wouldn't be true for everyone, if just anyone had gotten those cards. So anyway, one of the things that came up, though, was this idea that loved one, she said, in three to four months, we're gonna have a project that is just amazing. Awesome. So that might be Yeah, and part of our goal in going into this weekend for you, and I was figuring out what we want to create next. So we'll have to talk about that in a minute. But she also, there is also a blend of having to sacrifice something for have maybe a little more time at home, or to, to embrace my role as a mom. And so it was interesting, because she was I would never ever tell anyone this because it's self care. First and foremost, take care of yourself. But there is something that's got to go, you have to let go of something, it might either be letting go of some of your desires in order to feel really good, where you actually are.

Emily Thompson 28:22
Oh, that's heavy.

Kathleen Shannon 28:24
I know. So it was interesting. And then after that, I bought a bunch of crystals to aid me in that. But I thought one thing that came up for me, a big thing that came up for me in New Orleans was I've always believed in magic, and the mystery and the universe and all of that. I did have a brief stint as an atheist, but you know, or even a longer stint as an agnostic. But I think that the big thing that's coming up from now is that, for me, my spirituality has always been just kind of this fun thing on the side. You know, whether that's crystals or Tarot, or meditation, or even the celebrations and rituals that I have in my life, it's always just been the fun thing on the side. And I think that what I really learned from this trip is that I really want to integrate that into the way I live my life. So that was my biggest takeaway, and I'm really going to start focusing on

Emily Thompson 29:28
I love that. How are you going to do that?

Kathleen Shannon 29:31
I'm not sure yet. Good. I think I think for me, it's actually just as big issue of faith, especially in the face of uncertainty, right. And I've talked about this before on the minisode that I noticed that a lot of the really successful creative entrepreneurs that I see have this faith in something whether you're Christian, a Buddhist, you know, an agnostic that just has a strong rooted faith in your own groundedness This, this element of faith really fascinates me. And it's something that I'm ready to live and oh, I'm reading Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Big Magic right now. And she talks a lot about spirituality and creativity and faith. And so I'm really excited to see what I learned there.

Emily Thompson 30:21
I think that's wonderful. So during I kind of feel the same way, I had a stent as agnostic. And at this point, I don't know. And I'm not going to pretend like I know, by any means anything. But that was something that came up a lot for me. So the Monday, Monday, I went to see Gary Vee talk. And it was a really, really great talk. Like, I had super mixed feelings about Gary Vee. And then hearing him speak local around here like in Chattanooga, and like seeing him live totally kind of fell in love with him a little bit. And part of it, and he that he never used the words, but he talked extensively about, about his intuition without actually saying the words intuition. Like he may not have been comfortable enough actually calling it that. But it was something that I picked up and really made me think a lot about it. And it was a conversation that I had extensively with some of the girls one night at dinner was this idea of like how your intuition plays into everything that you do, but also how it makes you a stronger entrepreneur. And Gary Vee has obviously proven that his creepy intuition has made him super successful at what he does. And it's something that I attribute a lot of what what I have done to my intuition is sort of like gut feeling to keep going even when you don't want to go and and then whenever I was in my reading, in my tarot reading, that was something that came up this idea of like, now more than ever, I'm really getting in touch with my spirituality and all that jazz. And again, I don't know what I'm going to do with mine either at the moment, but but it is, it is something that I think came up for a lot of people while we were there. And what a funny place like somewhere as backwards and crazy as Bourbon Street. We all found our spirituality by but it was a thing. Like we had so much fun talking about talking about crystals and, and getting our tarot cards read I had several people asking me, you know, where I had picked up some tarot cards. I, one of the girls, whenever I left, like gave me a crystal, she had bought me like, just really amazing things like that. It came up for a lot of us, I believe in magic. I think that weekend, or that whole week, for me, was like one of those magical turning points in my life where I both gained insane clarity on multiple fronts in my life, but also opened up the doors to all kinds of fun opportunities that like, I don't New Orleans was magic.

Kathleen Shannon 32:56
You know, I want to say something for the people that weren't at New Orleans and might have some FOMO right now, which is fear of missing out you missed a couple of weeks ago, a couple of weeks ago, I was 18. I mean, probably about a month ago, really, this last year and a half has been a little low for me. I mean, definitely I have high moments, but there's been some darker times. And about a month ago, I was like, I just want these to feel magical again. And I I want to say I even said it out loud. So I really asked for it. And I feel like I asked for this weekend's to be magical. And it's funny, because going into it, we didn't know what to expect. I mean, it could have crashed and burned. And, you know, we learn and we go, but um, but I am asked for, I am asked to see the magic, like, I want to see it. And I saw it and I felt it in New Orleans. And I just want to figure out a way to continue to see it and feel it in my everyday life. So if there's something that you want, if you want to see the magic, ask for it, and just see where it comes up and how it shows up for you.

Emily Thompson 34:05
Yeah, but then also also recognize it like I feel like so many people go through life without realizing that they're getting the things that they asked for. And I think that that was one of the magical things about having us all together was you know, I've been to New Orleans like I've done that. And I could have went into this weekend with like, with my head like filled with hotel issues or with this, you know, sadness that I left a home that I just bought and I was really sad to like leave for the first time ever. And or even being like overly concerned with if everyone's having a good time. Yes. Oh, yeah, that could have certainly been a trap that we fell into, but instead we both like sat back and watched it happen. We were able to recognize and open enough to understand that the things that we've asked for we totally got and I there is not a drop of the Radiation that's going, that's going to fly under the radar here. Hi, guys, Emily here with a bit of a confession. I may be a total boss and even have the geography degree in my pocket.

Unknown Speaker 35:14
But I suck at timezones,

Emily Thompson 35:17
I couldn't tell you the number of times I've showed up an hour late or early for client meetings because I simply cannot wrap my head around who's an hour ahead, who's an hour behind and what that even means. and bless my soul. When I book an international client, my calendar Wrangler, Chris cannot glare at me and that is until we started using acuity scheduling to set meetings with our clients at Indy typography. Their automatic timezone detection and conversion has saved my goat more than once. And I'm grateful that I never again have to laugh off my geographic incompetence, or apologize for being late, ever again. Schedule clients without sacrificing your soul. Sign up for your free trial at scheduling sanity at acuity scheduling.com slash being boss. Now let's get back at it.

Kathleen Shannon 36:15
What else do you learn about yourself in New Orleans?

Emily Thompson 36:19
Oh, I've learned that I need new orleans in my life. And maybe not even just New Orleans except, except I will go to New Orleans until it is underwater, which is a thing that will probably end up happening in a couple of decades. Oh, global warming is the thing. Water is rising at New Orleans is under sea level. Like at some point that's probably going to happen. And so I was in New York. I was in mobile whenever Katrina happened and we had went to Mardi Gras and oh five like before we were under legal drinking age. I was totally DD and we did Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street when I was like 19 I guess

Kathleen Shannon 37:04
I mean, I can't even imagine Bourbon Street just on a Saturday night was insane. So I can't even imagine Mardi Gras. It's crazy.

Emily Thompson 37:12
I had to go home and throw away my pants like

Kathleen Shannon 37:17
gusting

Emily Thompson 37:18
I had to go home and throw away my pants. It was it was the most crazy thing I had ever I had ever been to. And it made me love that city a time. So that was the first time I had ever been. That was a year before Katrina hit. Katrina hit the know that Katrina hit six months later. And then we went back to New Orleans while you know living in mobile the year after so one year after Katrina, it was the weekend that the aquarium opened back up which we stayed right next door to the aquarium this past week. And it was a completely different place with the quarter was empty, like a year later, and it was still absolutely empty. And it was the most gut wrenching thing I had ever seen. And then we moved from mobile and we didn't go back for a couple of years and then three or two years ago, we we went for my birthday It was me and a couple of friends and David and it was the best weekend ever. So we recreated last year and then again this year like New Orleans is necessary for me and I don't know if it's like a culmination of like that weird time in college and the crazy disaster that it went through and how it has rebuilt in a way that blows my mind. But the micro culture that is created in especially the French Quarter of New Orleans gives me energy in a way I cannot explain

Kathleen Shannon 38:44
I mean I never sing me like that before

Emily Thompson 38:47
I belong there like like Dave and I have my second house which will happen saying this out loud to many people. I will own a home in New Orleans at some point and probably not for very long. But I absolutely will I will live there for some portion of my life and just sort of take it all in so for me it really made me realize that whether it's New Orleans, which is important to me, or or just anywhere else, like my keen eye, you know flew off to New York earlier this earlier this year, like doing things like that, like I need some element of like staying wild and my life and like getting into the job of being a creative entrepreneur and being super responsible and you know doing all these adult things I have to pair that with legitimately letting it loose sometimes and I'm glad that this time my letting loose was in the middle of this crazy thing that we had planned and organized with 75 people I got to share it with all of these friends and event that went swimmingly so like pairing super responsibility with really letting it go was something that I realized is very important in my life and Not impossible things to pair together very well.

Kathleen Shannon 40:06
All right, so do you want to have another being boss vacation?

Unknown Speaker 40:11
May?

Emily Thompson 40:15
Absolutely, yes. I we have already had emails and like and messages from people who want to know the next one. There was one someone who emailed I was like, Where can I give you my money? Like, even know where care? What do you mean?

Kathleen Shannon 40:30
What do you think about doing two a year?

Emily Thompson 40:33
I think I think we can swing that hardcore. Do you want to absolutely want to?

Unknown Speaker 40:38
Do you want to? I do

Emily Thompson 40:40
good. So okay, let's talk about style style event. Because I loved this.

Kathleen Shannon 40:49
I know. And he was so funny is that I had the hardest time explaining to people what it was, and this is my job as a living is helping people explain what it is that they're doing. But I didn't know if it was a vacation or a retreat, or a conference, because we had originally planned it just as a vacation. I mean, I would be going on. And we would see if anyone else showed up. Well, whenever 75 people show up, that's almost the conference. So it wasn't a con it wasn't,

Emily Thompson 41:18
it was so so I think it was a boss vacation. And I like calling it a boss vacation. Because it pairs this idea of like this idea of work with something that is a vacation, which is what we did, we had two events. I mean, they were about what, four hours a day, two hours in the morning, two hours in the evening, that was like organized being boss event. And then everything in between it was just people wandering the city and going on their own adventures. And like even someone said to me, like I don't want I'm so glad this wasn't a conference, because you paid to go to a city that you never leave the hotel to go see. I never want that to be the thing like my like, one of the cores of my being is this necessity to travel and, and roam streets, it is one of my favorite things to do is just go out into a city and roam the streets. And I know that I'm never going to plan an event where I'm not free to do that. Because even though we plan this, and we put this on and we coordinate and we were there, you know, we did the bags, we made sure everyone was happy. I went out and I wandered, I had plenty of time where I could enjoy this vacation just as much as everyone else. And I can imagine that putting on something a little more hardcore. I would not enjoy it near as much as I enjoyed.

Kathleen Shannon 42:39
I don't think I would either. And that's not to say that maybe in five years, are human kidding. Maybe in two years, we'll have a being boss conference, right. But I think that we should always have. Well, I mean, if it's like this, we should always have boss vacations because it was so much fun. So where do you want to go next? I was asking people in the Facebook group where our next class vacation should be. And part of me after this weekend was like, maybe we should just always do it New Orleans.

Emily Thompson 43:07
I was thinking or maybe one of them a year like that can just be like our tradition. I was thinking that because I Love New Orleans and everyone loved it. Everyone loved it so much. And there were tons of people that were there for their first time, which Thank you for letting me pop your military. And there's so many people who had been there before. And we're so excited to go back again. I feel like I feel like the whoo magic in New Orleans is so real and thick. That it would be a really great I would not hate doing it there again. But I also love the idea of being boss being the platform that allows us both to travel to new and exciting places twice a year as well.

Kathleen Shannon 43:51
All of our bosses to travel Yeah, to places. So something that keeps coming up for me as the Pacific Northwest. I just feel drawn to it. I get it.

Emily Thompson 44:03
Let's go.

Unknown Speaker 44:04
All right.

Emily Thompson 44:07
Where exactly are we going?

Kathleen Shannon 44:10
Well, I mean, probably either Seattle or Portland.

Emily Thompson 44:14
I like that.

Kathleen Shannon 44:15
But I'm feeling Seattle.

Emily Thompson 44:17
Good. I'm game. We were up there you know this summer crazy roadtrip and Pacific Northwest was one of the regions we did not get to be in near as much as we want it to be. I am 1,000,000% game to do that.

Kathleen Shannon 44:35
I'm also super feeling though and if we do this Prezi or some other cities that I'm really feeling right now are Miami. I've never been Me neither. I

Emily Thompson 44:44
would love to do that. Me too. Yeah. Moab was one of mine. I think I think the desert was amazing.

Kathleen Shannon 44:55
Wow, I forgot that you had said no, because I was thinking Sedona but I think I like the idea of no So maybe if it's not a city that we can go explore, maybe it's like a cool, it's still the desert.

Emily Thompson 45:06
It's still I maybe we should do like nature city, like one each, every year, I think I think the opportunity to upload blah, blah, blah, like the opportunities for me to speak are going to improve. But I think the opportunities that we have doing this and knowing everyone had such a great time, because again, the feedback that I have received, has been overwhelmingly loving. And like, we had our issues. And this is our first event. And I was telling someone the other day, like if this was wrong, like if, if this was the one that we that, you know, started us off and probably wasn't our best, it was so right, that like, I'm really looking forward to what the next one's come to, and using it using it as something where we can just go and see awesome things and connect with people and experience the magic all over the world.

Kathleen Shannon 45:59
Yeah, this is this is a point that I actually wanted to make to any boss listening. I never went to school to learn how to throw events. I never went to school to learn how to podcast, I never went to school to learn how to blog. I never went to school for anything except graphic design, and print production in which I do I know exactly so. But I just want to say that you don't have to have all the training in the world to do the things that you want to do, you will figure it out.

Emily Thompson 46:33
Well, and I want to point out here that I did go to school to do this. Like, I did that crazy geography degree that I have, yeah, had multiple glasses in tourism and national parks, and cultural geography, and all of these things that now I am getting to us in the most roundabout bout messed up way on the planet. These are things that I went to school for and totally interest me endlessly. But I'm doing it in the most non traditional way possible.

Kathleen Shannon 47:09
And that said, we're still hiring an event planner.

Emily Thompson 47:11
Yes, nation. Thank you degree for giving me the skills to make this first one amazing. I'm happy to hand it off real soon.

Kathleen Shannon 47:19
So if any of the bosses listening are event planners and would like to help us out, shoot us an email. Yeah, another that was another thing that kept asking or that kept coming up was how to hire and we should maybe do an entire episode on that. But I like hiring people who are already supporting what I'm doing. So putting a call out on Instagram or a shout out on this podcast. I like hiring that way. I agree. All right. So we'll probably figure out the specifics about our next vacation as soon as possible. I would say that we'll probably let people know within the next month.

Emily Thompson 48:00
Oh, certainly within the next month, and make sure you're on our email list. Like those are the people that will hear about it first. So go to love being boss comm sign up for our newsletter, and go ahead and join our Facebook group too. Because again, we shouted out the other day asking people's suggestions for cities, and I mean, they are our people. So if you're not in that group, go there. And you can you can be tapped for info as well.

Kathleen Shannon 48:24
Um, we talked a little bit about size, and we're going to get some more feedback. We're doing a survey for our bosses that we know let's just see about things about pricing and size and all of that. But I think we agree that 75 is a really good size because it's not too big, but also big enough that a lot of people can meet a lot of different people. So I think that it will probably sell out again pretty fast and that we are going to open it up to our newsletter subscribers first. So again, be sure to sign up for our newsletter.

Emily Thompson 48:57
Yeah, I thought it was a fun size. I'd be interested. I'm interested to see how that survey comes back. The end and the thought

Kathleen Shannon 49:10
and thought, um, what else about New Orleans? Um, or about what you learned about yourself there?

Emily Thompson 49:21
I think oh, two things. We talked about clarity of purpose and our masterclass which yay for those people who are getting like to do that that was the first time Kathleen and I've ever done anything live like that. And it was so much fun and the conversation was really great. Like the masterclass was awesome. So, so know that it wasn't just booze and beads, but it was also like balls conversations that were planned and legit. But one of the things we talked about was clarity of purpose where Okay, where you came out with the fact that your clarity of purpose is how is is helping people be themselves 100% Right, which I think was hysterically culminated in your story of how you tried out for America's Next Top Model. Like I'm pretty sure so many of your life events calm at that moment like, I'm so glad I was able to put you in front of 75 people so you could share that craziest story

Kathleen Shannon 50:21
and that was on our last episode The Live from Noah.

Emily Thompson 50:24
So go listen to that day to hear Kathleen tell a story that she has wanted to tell like that for a really long

Kathleen Shannon 50:34
Well, it's a story that I tell all the time in real life.

Emily Thompson 50:38
It's a great story really great. She can't walk down the middle of our of our live podcast recording that actually happened. Um, but then so mine being the idea of, of, of helping people do what they love. And it was something that came up for me multiple more times, I

Kathleen Shannon 50:55
would say get paid to do what they love to Yes,

Emily Thompson 50:58
yes, absolutely getting paid to do what they love. That's that's how I help them. But it really is a drive for people to understand that they can get paid doing what they love, so that they should pursue it. And it was something that I noticed several times about are several times talking to people during the trip is literally just watching people light up whenever they're talking about the thing that they're actually passionate about. So there was a couple of times I was talking to people who had side or like their side hustle was a thing that they were passionate about. And they'd be talking about their job, which is usually what they opened up with. But then whenever I asked them like what they wanted to do, and they lit up talking about those things. It was just sort of like reaffirmation that that this is what I should be doing. And like both making people light up that way, but also recognizing that in them is a skill that I have that I look forward to exercising.

Kathleen Shannon 51:54
Yeah, I was talking to a boss named Lauren at the freshbooks mixer, actually, which was the night before everything was started the place where I met the spy. Anyway, I was right spy. So we still may or may not get on the show. I did save his card. So. So anyway, and I was talking to Lauren, who is a creative entrepreneur, and she can do lots of things like lots of us can but what she was really passionate about was art. But she didn't know she I have two websites, should I maybe position myself as both and, but then she started talking about art and it was clear that's where her energy was, and just to be able to be there and you're back to her. Okay, whenever you talk about art you light up, like, it's obvious that that is a thing, why don't you put your energy there and see how it goes? And she was like, Yeah, you're right. You're just, I think being able to have someone to hear your words and for you to speak to and to hear what you're actually saying is so important. So anyway, and I've been reading like I said Big Magic and it's not that you have to one of the things that Elizabeth Gilbert says in there is that her dad is very practical and voted for Reagan twice and and worked as an engineer but then he also just did what he wanted to do. And he lived a creative life by starting a Christmas tree farm or getting a couple of goats and bringing them home and the Ford Pinto and he kind of folded these side projects and these this creativity into his life. So again, I don't think that you have to sacrifice everything to follow your art. It doesn't have to be painful and it doesn't have to make you broke. But if you have energy around something and whenever you speak about it, you get excited. Follow that theme see where it goes. Yeah, I

Emily Thompson 53:56
agree with that. I think that um I think that one of the things that I've realized more this summer and sort of I guess ended no it did not end with New Orleans but came to I don't know that I realized period is that is that life is just as much of a hustle as work is and I feel like that's something that creative entrepreneur, entrepreneur, no entrepreneurs period have sincere struggles with is this idea that you get to hustling this work like this, this work that you're doing one way or the other and you hustle life to like we did the trip we did our we bought a house. We we started painting this house like we have hustled out life just as much as we've as we've hustled out of work. And for me this trip was a crazy blend of life and work where the two separate things came together in a weirdly seamless way. So like on that same thread, it's not just about like hustling out the work stuff. It's about putting that sort of passion drive behind your life as well. And occasionally blending them in such a messy way that magic simply happens.

Kathleen Shannon 55:15
Yeah, I love that. One of the things that I started thinking about a lot, especially since having a baby and be so tired all the time is that doing fun stuff takes energy. And it takes work, it takes just as much work to do fun stuff as it does to build a business or anything else. So do more fun stuff like that was there is a huge playful element in New Orleans. And I think that a lot of bosses don't take the time to play as much as they should.

Emily Thompson 55:48
Oh, I know, playing is important. And again, it's something that I've learned in this idea of balancing like life hustle with work, hustle. I mean, just just the other day, David and I were like, We have to plan a mandatory lazy day, which is, which is a thing at our house, we're like, we have to plan out one day where we do nothing and just sort of like recoup and rest. But it's something we have to plan out. And we just watch Netflix all day or whatever. But like that fun is just as much of a hustle. And so like I hear, I've heard some negativity around this idea of like, oh, screw the hustle. Like, you just want everyone to overwork and whatever, like no hustle is just what happens when you're getting shit done. Like and you can do it in a bad way so that you're not taking care of yourself. But you can do it in a way that you're making sure that everything that you need is completely taken care of from rest, to travel, to getting your client's shit done. And all of that stuff. I think that I think that a good life has all balancing out your work, hustle and planning for fun and lazy. And all of those things is how you create a really balanced like life. Balance takes work to and is not something that I'm going to apologize for. Snap.

Kathleen Shannon 57:04
So true. And a few years ago, I thought a lot about I was thinking a lot about work life balance, which is funny because I was talking so much about work life balance before I had a baby. And I'm not saying that, if you don't have a baby don't struggle with work life balance, like probably in some ways, having a baby has thrown me into the life part more anyway, like whenever I didn't have a baby, I could just work 80 hours a week, and it was no big deal. But now I've got this little human demanding my attention. Anyway, all that to say I was thinking a lot about work life balance years ago, and one of the things I thought about was balance versus alignment. And if I can get aligned with what it is that I'm doing and my own clarity of purpose, it makes the balance so much easier.

Emily Thompson 57:57
Yeah, it's important it, we should probably just have a hold gab best. Because I think there's so many important things there. And I feel like I almost feel like the conversation is a little one sided sometimes but but for me, New Orleans was a place where I understood or became aware of a whole other level of balance in my life. And it's something I've worked my ass off for, like, so many hours, so many days, not always mindfully, which is nice that things would have culminated to be this without me even necessarily knowing it was happening. But again, I think it is one of those things still going back to a conversation earlier where you just sort of like say the wish out loud. And like you years ago, we wanted to have a really great networking and like, amazing event with people that were our tribe. And we set it four years ago, we won't we launched it and it wasn't ready yet. But it still happened. And so I that's a good point, I think to do too, is you know, you make these plans for things and timing is the hardest piece of the puzzle.

Kathleen Shannon 59:06
I've been thinking about timing so much lately.

Emily Thompson 59:08
Yeah, like you can make these wishes and you can you can set goals and you can do the work and and we're still all a slave to time and so it's one of those things like time is gonna pass anyway and just do the work and see what comes of it. And don't get discouraged if you don't get the things as quickly as you

Kathleen Shannon 59:24
say like there's also when it comes to time, this element of patience that I have a really hard time.

Emily Thompson 59:30
Yeah, I do too. That's a hard one for me is you

Kathleen Shannon 59:34
know earlier when rice Tajima living in a more spiritual and faithful way. I think for me, a lot of that has to do with patients for the things I want to actually manifest. Because I found now I mean, imagine if the thing that we had done four years ago at business success, it would not have been as magical as New Orleans was this weekend like I don't think we were ready for it. And I don't think that the the idea or the project itself was ready to be manifest I

Emily Thompson 1:00:07
don't even think that the community as a whole was ready for it. Like and not that not that you know, the same people aren't following as now as they were then because there are a lot of those people but I think that it's just I think that doing business online and like the way we're doing it has come even so far in the past couple of years that it's it simply would not have been anywhere near the same event and may have been so horrible we never would have done one again sort of thing so it wasn't meant to happen and it didn't and it made room for this one to be even better than we could have ever imagined then let alone now I think isn't zero round of appreciation is certainly necessary for for making new orleans happen. I think that even with those that schooling, I never could have done this without my team by any means between between you know Corey who does our our podcast editing, David, who made sure that we had money in the entire time and kept us really updated and how things were going there. And then Chris, who came with us and helped me like box up tons of swag and, and take care of us the entire time. And then you guys brought Caitlin, who was amazing. I fell in love with Caitlin on this whole other level.

Kathleen Shannon 1:01:30
I mean, I feel like

Caitlin and Chris were machines for us. They were amazing. Worse so then of course having Tara there was so crucial. It was so good and are so excited for all of our bosses to meet Tara.

Emily Thompson 1:01:46
I love Tara Yes, I had so many people come up to me and say like how unex not not unexpected it was that they liked Tara so much but how like surprised and excited they were that Tara really is as great as she is and I'm always like I know she's she's the best

Unknown Speaker 1:02:06
drama show

Emily Thompson 1:02:08
I completely agree well and she's she's on the last episode, the one the Live podcast where you are telling your America's next

Kathleen Shannon 1:02:15
no matter how you told us but then also a huge huge thank you just to our entire being boss tribe. Yes. And our sponsors fresh books, cloud accounting for sponsoring the dreams, the masterclass and the podcast and then our ongoing podcast acuity scheduling but all of our bosses a drink as well. And then all of our swag contributors. I cannot believe how amazing it always I just want to listen out again here including Laura Palmer, Simon and Ruby kind snacks. For in pretty apothecary creative route. tumbleweed. apothecary delicious skin. Cognitive team, Christina Capello wildwoods, apothecary parcial sterlet and lcsh designs to dress so much good swag. It was incredible. I agree.

Emily Thompson 1:03:13
I also want to throw in ginger tonic botanicals in there.

Kathleen Shannon 1:03:17
Oh yeah. As

Emily Thompson 1:03:18
well as 11 and West who collaborated with us to do the calligraphy mugs that we that we gave to the bosses as well.

Kathleen Shannon 1:03:27
Thank you so much to all of our bosses for our listeners. So the whole tribe. Were kind of smitten with you guys absolutely smitten. Well, we

will be keeping you guys updated on where we're going next and when that will

be and all the details. So just be sure to sign up for our newsletter for more information.

And yeah, that's all we got. Thank you for listening to being boss. Find Show Notes for this episode at love being boss calm. Listen to past episodes and subscribe to new episodes on our website on iTunes, SoundCloud or Stitcher.

Emily Thompson 1:04:08
Did you like this episode, head on over to our Facebook group by searching be involved in Facebook to join in on the conversation of other bosses

Kathleen Shannon 1:04:16
or share it with a friend.

Emily Thompson 1:04:18
Do the work. Be boss and we'll see you next week.

Kathleen Shannon 1:04:37
I think that's a good place. I don't have anything else to say.

Emily Thompson 1:04:42
Kevin, you always have more to say