Woo and Curiosities Live from NOLA

Kathleen Shannon 0:03
Hello and welcome to being boss,

Emily Thompson 0:05
a podcast for creative entrepreneurs. I'm Emily Thompson.

Unknown Speaker 0:09
And I'm Kathleen Shannon.

Emily Thompson 0:16
Today we are recording in front of 75 bosses live in New Orleans in a sweltering hot yoga studio. You gotta love the south for our 2017 and New Orleans being boss vacation. As always, you can find all the tools books and links we referenced on the show notes at WWW dot being boss dot club.

Kathleen Shannon 0:38
Alright bosses, I hope the IRS isn't listening to this because I have a confession to make. I am really good at tracking my expenses, but I'm not the best at saving my receipts. I know it's 2017 and we still need printed receipts. But get this fresh books cloud accounting has made it easy. You can simply photograph your receipts with your phone, attach them to your expense, and be 100% legit. freshbooks has a lot of features for tracking your expenses including tax friendly categories multicurrency expenses and easy to read categorisation. Try fresh books, cloud accounting for free by going to fresh books.com slash being boss and enter being boss in the How did you hear about this section? Okay, so the last time we were in New Orleans, Emily and I, Emily and myself. What is it? Me and Emily? Okay, this is the best part about Live podcast recording, right? So we were in New Orleans together doing a photo shoot for our book.

Emily Thompson 1:51
It was the best It was the most Boss, I think maybe I've ever felt we had like this full itinerary and like shoot times and places we needed to be and a little bit of time to do some laying out by the pool, then Okay,

Kathleen Shannon 2:05
here's the best part about these photo shoots. So we're writing a book that's coming out April 10 2018. You can pre order it now, if you'd like to help us out. But the funny part is we're doing a photo shoot and before a photoshoot, we're like, Okay, I'm not eating gluten for seven days. And whenever we get in, I'm not eating anything. And I'm not drinking anything. We are going to be sober. We're going to be gluten free. I know, like two hours in and we're like where's the best scale? I need a size rock. Right?

Emily Thompson 2:47
I think I made it gluten free for a little over 24 hours. I did. And then we go to this place called mopho which love it. And I made it all the way to dessert. And then they ordered dessert and it looked so good. And guys, whenever I travel, I travel for food for me. For me. I experience culture and places of the things that I eat and America is founded on wheat period.

Unknown Speaker 3:21
So in alcohol

Emily Thompson 3:23
and alcohol, so I made it a little over 24 hours and then at that point done I'm super thankful for Photoshop

Kathleen Shannon 3:33
I did Photoshop that. I did I was like I'm just gonna make us look pre gluten like this is not over the top right?

Emily Thompson 3:41
Just removed my gumbo baby.

Kathleen Shannon 3:42
I came out of it like a little busty or bother than that. And maybe a little smoother,

Emily Thompson 3:51
right? So we were doing our Photoshop or Photoshop Photoshop to the Photoshop came later we're doing our photo shoot and we go to city park where they have these big beautiful oak trees and I had ordered smoke bombs because you've seen Pinterest smoke bomb photos are amazing. And we get there and I found out something huge about Kathleen.

Kathleen Shannon 4:17
I'm afraid of getting in trouble. I and you wouldn't think it I hate getting in trouble.

Emily Thompson 4:23
Super afraid like we almost like completely botched this photoshoot that we've been planning forever because Kathleen gets cold feet about pulling the grenade style smoke bombs, okay, and getting them going off to like really

Kathleen Shannon 4:35
hold on tight and like pull this thing and it's really scary. it sparks and then the most smoke you've ever seen comes out of this. So we pull the first smoke bomb. It's going the wind is carrying it across city park and if you guys haven't been to New Orleans, or for those of you listening city park is designed by the same guy who did Central Park in New York City. So it's really beautiful. Lots of trees, people laying on blankets, having picnics, maybe a couple overdoses, but it's just beautiful. And then all this smoke starts going across the park and we can see people across the way.

Emily Thompson 5:14
First, we hear people across the way, because they're sharing. And it's one weird colors too. So then Kathleen gets really scared. She's like, Guys, we can't do any more. We need to go

Kathleen Shannon 5:24
to like a police car Driving by like, this is it?

Emily Thompson 5:28
I'm going to jails. But I feel like a New Orleans there are worse things happening than smoke bombs. So next thing we know the people across this little creek that's behind us that the smoke has floated across. They're having their own photoshoot with our smoke.

Unknown Speaker 5:46
So they're welcome.

Emily Thompson 5:50
So what's also talking about the place that we stay

Kathleen Shannon 5:52
Okay, so we say that the drifter which is Sara Becker Lillard hotel, and she also was doing our photo shoot. And we did not know that this was like the party hotel.

Emily Thompson 6:05
Right. And it just opened it. I don't even think get it out as hard open yet. It had a soft open. They had just started having some people and we may have been the first people to stay in our room for sure. Possibly. And so Oh, yeah, it was a little dusty lobby Sarah. And so we get in there. And it was also the week of a music festival. We'd had crazy downpours. I'd been stuck on my airplane, and the New Orleans airport for two hours after I arrived because it was raining so badly. So this music festival gets rained out. It was Jazz Fest, like the music festival, and we get to the hotel and we hear that Tom Petty is playing.

Kathleen Shannon 6:41
We may have made that up. So we hear that like surprise guests is coming to play at the hotel because Jazz Fest got rained out. So there's going to be like this pop up show and it's going to be amazing. And Tom Petty was playing at Jazz Fest. So I assumed it was Tom Petty and started spreading that rumor.

Emily Thompson 7:05
And so Sarah Becca will sell Sara Becker Lillard text Kathleen, and says, I

Kathleen Shannon 7:10
heard Tom Petty was playing. And I said, That's right. And you guys, she owns this place. So like she's now feeling very responsible, and freaked out that Tom Petty is actually coming, and that their shit isn't organized.

Emily Thompson 7:26
But it wasn't Tom Petty. It was a really fantastic artists called boyfriend.

Kathleen Shannon 7:32
So she's like this white rapper that looks 1940s vintage with her hair in like rollers and like a cone bra.

Emily Thompson 7:42
But she's rapping. And it's fantastic. And we're sitting poolside like front row seats, if there is front row seats whenever she's dancing on a little Gangplank across the pool, which was amazing.

Kathleen Shannon 7:53
But meanwhile, people are like starting to jump in the pool naked. Is that kind of vibe. And you guys, I'm a rule follower. I close her on Kathleen.

Emily Thompson 8:01
Kathleen was freaking out about smoke bombs. You can only imagine what she was thinking when people start getting naked.

Kathleen Shannon 8:08
And there was a guy there with a tuba that was on fire.

Emily Thompson 8:11
And yeah, yes. And he was playing along with the music except not. And it was fantastic.

Kathleen Shannon 8:18
Okay, so boyfriend is playing. And we're like, this is magical. We never get to experience stuff like this because we're moms and we go to bed at 10. But we're there hanging out. Our friend Mark is there and he's in the pool. And all of a sudden, we realize that there are speakers and cords sitting in about two inches of water right next to our butts. And we're sitting in the water to our friend is in the pool.

Emily Thompson 8:45
And so Kathleen and I just slowly get up

Kathleen Shannon 8:48
and went to bed and went to bed.

Emily Thompson 8:51
It was fantastic.

Unknown Speaker 8:52
Mac did we mourn you?

Emily Thompson 8:54
Where did he go? Is he going? Good? Good. Good. He left?

Unknown Speaker 8:57
Oh, good. He doesn't know he almost died. And

Emily Thompson 8:59
we left him there. Um, so it was a fantastic night. It was one of those that totally serendipitous moments where we're getting into this really big thing for our careers. And for the book. We're doing this photo shoot, it feels totally boss, we get a surprise, almost like secret performance by this super amazing like, crazy feminine.

Kathleen Shannon 9:20
I know that our mom's head he wasn't there, but I still feel like I made it real in my heart.

Emily Thompson 9:26
It was Tom Petty ish, maybe. So we go to bed though. The party didn't stop

Kathleen Shannon 9:33
until like 4am.

Emily Thompson 9:35
So were the moms laying in bed thinking or thinking not singing, thinking kids these days.

Kathleen Shannon 9:42
So the next day, we're like, okay, let's just eat a little bit of gluten. Let's not overdo it. It's the last day of our shoot. And we go back to our hotel, and there's a little bit of a party happening and it starts getting a little bit louder, but we're like okay, let's go to our room and watch watch a show that will chill us out. And that's whenever we discovered the Great British baking show. Have you guys seen it? It's incredible

Emily Thompson 10:10
is a show about gluten of Coraline

Kathleen Shannon 10:13
gonna be eating all the gluten after that show. So I've been watching it ever since. And I get like a bowl of my son's Teddy Grahams, because that's like the most gluten nice sweet thing I have in my house and I just eat a bowl of it. Pretend like it's really fancy. Like it's a cookie. Right? biscuit. It's a biscuit. Okay, so anyway, we're watching the Great British baking show. And it's so calming because reality contest shows here in the States. It's like drama, like people are creating drama over food that's not drama, or like just glaring at each other at the Great British Bake Off. They're like, Oh, let me help you. Oh, you actually use my batter. It's okay, here. Let me whip up some icing for you to like they are so kind. So it's feeling like really sweet and good. But then we hear like some chatter outside of right outside of our door. Right? Have some girls that are like Should we try mushrooms tonight?

Emily Thompson 11:11
Or no and Kathleen and I are done. Like by this point we've been shooting photos for days that we've been kind to everyone as much as we can be. And we're super super ready to go home I think by that point but also loving the Great British baking show. And so I remember putting on my headphones like my beat so like noise cancelling as much as possible. I wake up in the middle of night like taking the headphones off. Because I'm like sick to my stomach like noise overload all the noise outside noise in my headphones if I get to go to sleep or wake up the next morning and find out

Kathleen Shannon 11:43
that Kristen Stewart was partying in that pool the night before

Unknown Speaker 11:49
way mom's

Kathleen Shannon 11:51
Aliyah Sha cat. You know who that is? Broad City. She's okay. Or Arrested Development. She's the cousin in Arrested Development. They're outside of our door partying may or may not have been the ones screaming about tripping mushrooms. I'm not gonna say that.

Emily Thompson 12:11
But maybe you don't know. We don't know. So we mom lived right through the party,

Kathleen Shannon 12:17
missed Kristen Stewart,

Unknown Speaker 12:19
and then went home.

Kathleen Shannon 12:21
So that was our trip to New Orleans.

Emily Thompson 12:23
Every time I come here it is so magic. Like just the weird little things that happen are the people that we meet David and I met friends from back home on the road yesterday. He's walking by we're like,

Unknown Speaker 12:34
oh my god,

Emily Thompson 12:35
we know this person and stopped and said, Hey, there are so many fun little things to happen. I feel like hanging out by the pool watching boyfriend strat her stuff was one of those, like Pinnacle moments for me for sure of like, this is where I'm supposed to be. And I feel like I always have those at when I am here. And I'm so glad that I'm able to invite you guys to come here. We're hopeful you're having those fun little moments too.

Kathleen Shannon 13:01
Okay, so speaking of magic, we made a little theme for our New Orleans attendees.

Emily Thompson 13:08
And it was the most fun thing we have done in quite some time.

Kathleen Shannon 13:14
Yes,

Emily Thompson 13:15
planning it, writing it, designing it, this sort of thing where no client specs are involved whatsoever. No expectations just complete and utter fun and a little bit of a budget.

Kathleen Shannon 13:28
So if you are listening to this, if you're not live here with us, we will put a PDF of a tarot spread that we included in the Xen. But for those of you who are with us here, we had one of our friends ask us last night like there are no instructions. So this isn't a typical being boss worksheet where we like really spell it out. It's a little mysterious, but I just wanted to explain it to you all just a little bit in case you're Tarot newbies, or if you want to go by your first deck and try it out. We did a little take action Tarot spread. And so this is actually a spread that Emily created just for you all. And we want you to know that Taro what regardless of what you believe, and if you haven't listened to the episode with Bridget from Biddy Tarot, that's a good one to get started. Um, but this take action spread is really fun. So it is a seven card spread. And you're going to look at where you're at now. So that card, you'll lay it down and that card will represent where you're at now. So each spot on the Tarot spread, it kind of explains a different aspect that you're looking at here. So you're also asking your things like where am I on my journey? And so if it's like the ace of cups, that might be that you're starting something new, and what hope is lifting me up? What fear is holding me back, what mindset Should I cultivate? What mindset Should I release? And what's the next action I should take and if you guys didn't notice, the Tarot spread is in an arrow, which I think is super Huge. You're welcome. Good job. And so everyone needs to try that out.

Emily Thompson 15:06
Yeah. And just to clarify, because I don't think you completed your sins, I'm sorry. If you are not listening or if you are not here live with a fantastic spread in your Xen, you go to the being boss Show Notes for this episode, and that's where you can access

Unknown Speaker 15:19
and that's at WWW dot being boss dot club.

Unknown Speaker 15:23
Yes, good job.

Kathleen Shannon 15:25
Someone sent me an email recently saying that she can't breathe whenever I say www. So now I say it as much as possible.

Emily Thompson 15:35
Because I always comment on how fantastically she says I wish my mouth would go that quickly. from the south. It doesn't. Right. Okay, so

Kathleen Shannon 15:45
what's next?

Emily Thompson 15:47
Next up, we have some burning questions. Yeah. So right, Caitlin.

Unknown Speaker 15:53
Where are you at? Hi.

Emily Thompson 15:56
So we're going to do this episode a little differently. In a way we've allowed you guys to interview us, which is fun. So what we asked you guys to get together some questions that you also put in the Facebook group to correct Facebook page.

Unknown Speaker 16:11
I did. Yes. So I put this on the Facebook group, and Instagram. And so we got some burning questions that people are curious about from you.

Kathleen Shannon 16:20
Fantastic. And so someone else recently emailed us and they didn't know who was who. So for those of you here, I'm Kathleen.

Emily Thompson 16:29
And I would be Emily.

Kathleen Shannon 16:30
And if you aren't here live, I'm the one with the curly, reddish short hair.

Emily Thompson 16:39
And mine's long, sometimes straight, sometimes curly.

Kathleen Shannon 16:43
We we look the same. And

Emily Thompson 16:45
to Kathleen is also like three feet taller than I am.

Unknown Speaker 16:48
We tag you guys on Instagram. So you guys look at the tags on Instagram.

Emily Thompson 16:53
Right? We try to make it as easy as possible. But

Unknown Speaker 16:57
Alright, Caitlyn. Okay, your first question?

Kathleen Shannon 17:01
I love that you're busting out your NPR voice. Or like your sexy yoga voice.

Unknown Speaker 17:07
I'll practice that a little more. Okay, first question. I can't I can't keep doing that. Okay. What are you most curious about right now?

Emily Thompson 17:18
I want to go, you go first. Okay. So guys, I actually one little announcement first, I don't think I've told you this, maybe you have, I can't remember

Unknown Speaker 17:27
what's about to happen, right.

Emily Thompson 17:30
As of this fall, I have been air quotes, unemployed for 10 years. 10 whole years, a whole decade of doing my own thing, which feels pretty boss, if I may say so myself. So I'm also really tired of business. not running my own business, for sure. But sometimes I get a little tired of talking about business unless you bring up email marketing. And then I just go at it,

Kathleen Shannon 17:58
like Facebook ads and like, let's zone out,

Emily Thompson 18:01
I like I will gloss over in a second for sure. So I have been very purposefully trying to learn about things and find interest in things that aren't related to making, which is something that I love to do for sure, I will just put shit together all day. or business, which I'm always learning and I will continue to learn. But I've been very adamantly trying to put my focus into things that are not related to putting things together, or business. And the thing that I have found super interesting lately is living seasonally. And not just living seasonally, like I'm going to you know, wrap myself in a quilt in the winter and eat salads all summer like those things are very, very important for sure. But I've been super interested in the idea of creating seasonally and how our creative process attaches is attaches itself to the changing and cycles of the season. I've been reading lots of good books. And also also just considering how I've been creating for years, because again, for a whole decade, I've been in my own cycles of creating and selling and business and all of these things. And so I have a lot of data, if you want to call it that to look back on and see when it is that I'm the most productive. And when it is that I feel the most creative because those aren't always the same thing. And when it is that I just need to turn it all off and go in and really, really rest up for the next cycle of doing things. So that's been one of the things I've been super into lately and doing lots of research and reading and my own like thinking on living but specifically creating seasonally and how I can tap into that a little more to go back to finding significant more joy in the creating and business that my life runs on.

Kathleen Shannon 19:49
Nine and what about Yuka? I mean what am I most curious about? I've been thinking a lot I listened to a lot of how I made how I built this, that podcast. I'm obsessed with it. And I feel like the interesting thing that I've taken away from it is that being a great business owner is equal parts, having good ideas that your potential customer needs, but also kind of being in the right place at the right time. I feel like there's this luck factor to it. And so I've been thinking a lot about how to cultivate more luck and to just continue showing up but like, how do I evolve how I'm showing up because it used to be showing up was posting a selfie on Instagram, and how can I continue to evolve what it means to show up in different ways?

Emily Thompson 20:40
what's beautiful as well, I love it.

Unknown Speaker 20:44
Next, okay,

Unknown Speaker 20:46
if you weren't a boss or creative entrepreneur, what would you be doing?

Kathleen Shannon 20:52
I'd be taking a nap.

Emily Thompson 20:56
And I'm

Unknown Speaker 21:00
gonna drop my my bad idea.

Emily Thompson 21:03
Okay, um, I would be a stay at home mom like the Pinterest kind. The one that makes all the cute cookies, gluten free, of course, the one that has the most fantastic birthday parties for everyone I've ever met. And all kinds of like around my house crafts like that would totally be me. David would probably leave me because modge Podge everywhere. But I think that's what I think I would just be a stay at home mom. I'm a homemaker. And I work at home because I want to be at home cooking, not cleaning. I'm sitting on my porch doing all the things and if I weren't run by business, I couldn't work for anyone else. Like I really don't think I could ever ever do that. Good thing I can be an entrepreneur, but I would be a stay at home mom.

Kathleen Shannon 21:58
Whenever I fantasize about being a stay at home mom, it always involves dropping my kid off at daycare first. And then like going home and watching the Great British Bake Off all day long.

Emily Thompson 22:14
Right. But I will say if I weren't doing this as a creative entrepreneur, and so I'm gonna throw you another question. What would you be if you were an entrepreneur but not doing this or brain thing. So don't say that. But if I were still in business, but not doing this, I would be either a a very angry seamstress of it because I love to sew a ton. But it makes me so mad. And you're gonna ask David, last time I bought a sewing machine. He almost didn't let me buy it because he's seen what I'm like when I'm behind it. For sure. But I love doing it. I love making things and I'm coming to terms with that. Or I would own a very fantastically curated boutique brick and mortar. And it would be great.

Kathleen Shannon 23:02
Wait, so am I printing I'm an entrepreneur not doing what I'm doing. Yes. So entrepreneur. Yeah. Okay, I was like starting to go down into like a secretary fantasy. Or like, I would love to be a personal assistant to like Beyonce. That would be a challenge. Like, entrepreneur, if I wasn't doing what I was doing. I think I would like to be a makeup artist for Beyonce. I if I was an entrepreneur not doing what I'm doing, I would be like surge on that's Beyonce is makeup artists, I would be his assistant. I know that's my entrepreneur. fantasy is not being an entrepreneur. Okay,

Unknown Speaker 23:51
so we know most of your entrepreneurial history, but what's one non work related experience that totally changed or shaped how you approach business now.

Kathleen Shannon 24:03
Um, so Tasha said America's Next Top Model, I did audition for America's Next Top Model. You can listen to our live from New Orleans one for that story. But I would say honestly, whenever I think about a theme that comes up in my life that's non work related that has really shaped who I am and work. It was being voted most nonconformist, six through 12th grade every year. When you're they didn't do it though, because I was getting picked on so much. They're like, maybe we should skip it this year. I was like, No, I like it. Um, but I think that, you know, everything that I do is through this lens of being who you are. And part of being who you are, is figuring out who that is. And it changes every single day. So every single day, I get to wake up and say okay, who am I today? Is it Brittany or Beyonce? Let's make a choice here. Um, but really figuring out who You are and what you like and being enthusiastic about what you like and being brave in the face of, you know, being different. So I think that those moments really did kind of shape who I am as a way to be proud of being a little different or having an identity around not being like everybody else. And so that's something I kind of carry with me all the time to this day.

Emily Thompson 25:24
All right, I had a really hard time with this one. Again, unemployed 10 years. I had my first business when I was 18. So 14 years now, how old am I? 13 years ago,

Kathleen Shannon 25:37
there was a tanning salon. Did you all know this? Okay, good.

Emily Thompson 25:41
If you want to hear the story, I've told the story on terrigen tillys. podcast, feel free to go Wait,

Kathleen Shannon 25:47
what about being a beauty queen? Yeah, let's talk about that. Right.

Emily Thompson 25:55
So I was I was a childhood beauty queen. The one I was when I'm actually going when I was at one. I was actually I don't Sorry, I was having my kid. But let's talk about a

Kathleen Shannon 26:04
baby. Oh, yeah. Forget, forget that about being a beauty queen. Right.

Emily Thompson 26:09
So that one, that one was really huge for me for I don't know, being a cute blonde kid growing up, you learn and doing pageants. At the time that I did them was not like those weird pageant mom shows. It was not like that whatsoever.

Kathleen Shannon 26:26
Our users same age as maybe cut this out. Are you the same age as JonBenet?

Emily Thompson 26:31
I don't how old was she?

Kathleen Shannon 26:33
I mean,

Emily Thompson 26:35
six or seven? I started when I was five. And I went until I was 1012.

Kathleen Shannon 26:42
I'm like, it could have been you. It could?

Emily Thompson 26:45
It wasn't

Unknown Speaker 26:46
okay. So it wasn't that

Emily Thompson 26:47
no, it wasn't like that. So I did I was started doing pageants when I was five. And I did them until I was probably 10 or 12. And, and I learned several really fantastic things while I was doing that like holding yourself, poise, holy ways, holding yourself like you got Kathleen doesn't know what that means, guys. But also the importance of those first impressions, which is something that you definitely bring into business, it made me understand the importance of branding, even though I wasn't the five year old talking and walking around talking about branding by any means. But you also had to back it up like you couldn't just be a pretty face once you got a little older. Like when you're little they just want you to be cute. When you're older. You also have to give interviews and those sorts of things. So it wasn't just about being pretty or looking nice. It was also if you could carry a conversation and, and have dreams and goals and those sorts of things. I did stop doing it because I found Okay, question. Yes.

Kathleen Shannon 27:48
Like whenever you were 12 were they like, what would you do to solve the Iraq war? Like I always feel like they're asking these beauty queens like questions that not even the President can answer right?

Emily Thompson 28:00
Well, first of all, you get the questions beforehand. So you can you can you formulate your answers. And so usually moms would write them out and kids would recite them. That happens a lot. Which is fine. But um, but it was about like, there was a lot of talk of world peace. Yeah, as you can probably imagine. And more like goals and what you what you want to contribute to the world, which is a fantastic thing to get little girls to think about for sure.

Unknown Speaker 28:31
So wait, wait, wait,

Unknown Speaker 28:33
did you have a special skill? Did you throw a baton? Actually, I

Emily Thompson 28:36
quit about the time they started making you perform,

Kathleen Shannon 28:40
but didn't have a dance?

Emily Thompson 28:42
No. I danced. I did dance like when I was a kid so I quit doing pageants like can you show

Unknown Speaker 28:49
us?

Unknown Speaker 28:50
No. Will you?

Unknown Speaker 28:52
Yeah, I

Emily Thompson 28:53
know. I know. Right? So I did stop doing pageants though, because I had so many other interests and because they were getting pretty odd. But I like how,

Kathleen Shannon 29:05
like okay, I'm just kidding. I don't have to go like

Emily Thompson 29:09
watching little girls cry. Over the like that was probably the biggest lesson that I learned was you don't cry because you lose like that you go on to the next one. I remember my mom like holding me afterwards and like pointing out the girls that my mom is shaming these little girls probably pointing them out and saying like, you know, you're never going to do this. Like this is not how you behave when you don't get what you want. And those are really powerful lessons to me watching these other kids sitting around crying because they weren't the prettiest. This is some weird guys.

Kathleen Shannon 29:45
I feel like meanwhile little Kathleen is like watching herself cry in the mirror. Right like perfect how that looks.

Emily Thompson 29:58
She wants to be the prettiest crier. For sure. But no that was that was some really really good stuff for me and like looking back on it I Lily's not a pageant girl, I have not put her and I will not because there it's definitely a whole other world now. But I learned things doing that, between how to carry yourself and like a little Southern girl. I don't know how to walk around and it wasn't taught to walk apparently. or hold yourself or present yourself in ways that are fantastic. But I did learn how important those first impressions were how important it was to follow up first impressions with some, some goodness adds the ability to have conversations and deliver on something other than your looks, which is all things that come into business and how not to cry when you fail because crying isn't always good.

Kathleen Shannon 30:48
I cry every time I fail, and even a radio but this like explains so much because like will come into a meeting and I'm like Emily's like

Unknown Speaker 30:57
no.

Emily Thompson 31:00
Basic now I know thank you beauty pageants

Kathleen Shannon 31:03
and I just get closer to the webcam. I'm like, Look,

Emily Thompson 31:09
she really does she really really. But the next one would be having my kid and after having experienced entrepreneurship. Previously, after I had my kid I knew that I was going to not work for someone else. I was going to run my own business I was going to do it on my terms. And I was going to do it in a way that supported the life that I wanted to live which was me staying at home with my kid and it shaped the way I do business in that I am here for profits because it is business but I'm not here only for profits I will let profits go for sure if it interferes with how I want to live my life. And so for me the big one right sorry Kathleen, you chose the wrong business partner or maybe the best well

Kathleen Shannon 31:48
I'm I made that face because there's like now a bell chime church bells

Emily Thompson 31:53
church is a big moment because preach, right? Um, so for me those two big things, pageants all day, and then having my kid and knowing how it is that I want to live my life and make money in a way that supported it and not interfered with it.

Kathleen Shannon 32:13
I love my kid too. Sometimes I imagine Fox listening to like all these episodes. Like if I like died in a tragic plane crash and he's like, I need my mom. And then like you're like my kid changed my business. And I'm like, I don't know Britney Spears. Like I just need him to know that I love him too.

Unknown Speaker 32:36
Okay.

Unknown Speaker 32:39
Next, all right, because we're in New Orleans right now. What tarot card Do you feel currently describes what you're going through as a boss?

Kathleen Shannon 32:51
Strange. So the strength card is a major arcana? Is that how you say it Arcana. Me I'm looking at Amy Gretzky over here. So strength is the major arcana and it shows the photo of a woman and some decks she's like prying open the jaws of the lion that she's next to looking into its mouth. In a car that I pulled with my blue haired Tarot lady yesterday, she was like kind of petting the lion. And I was talking to my favorite friend Liz about this last night when we had our tarot reading together. And I definitely have this like, I do what I want philosophy all the time. And I was, you know, thinking of the lion as like an external force that I need to, you know, what was Iron Fist velvet glove kind of situation and in getting what I want. And but as I was talking it through with my friends, realize that it's probably more about controlling my own, do what I want impulses and really maturing to this next level of bossiness. And so that would be mine strength.

Emily Thompson 34:04
I get, I have three. So the first of them is the eight of swords. And if you guys are familiar with the wild, unknown tarot deck, it's like a butterfly in a cocoon with all these swords poking up at it. Quite often, I feel like that beautiful little butterfly hanging out of there with swords poking up, and especially in a certain project we find ourselves in at the moment where I have to sort of protect myself and what I believe in and the values that I hold true. And meanwhile I'm petting a lion. And meanwhile, Kathleen's in there here, sorry,

Unknown Speaker 34:39
I'm so perfect. We'll

Kathleen Shannon 34:40
tell you more later.

Emily Thompson 34:41
Right. So sometimes I feel the eight of swords, but I'm coasting right through it. I'm protected and I'm perfectly fine. This week. I'm feeling the three of cups. Right? Which if you guys don't know, I'm thinking particularly one of my favorite decks is the bottle Celli deck. I've seen it around The Quarter in case you guys are interested in looking it up. It's a good one, the three of cups is is from. It's inspired by bata Charlie's muses. And so it's like these three ethereal women dancing around with a cup up in the air. And I feel like those women these these days, like we're in New Orleans,

Unknown Speaker 35:16
Boston,

Emily Thompson 35:19
yeah. Raised dancing around like a bunch of nips, if we need to be, why not? Or muses, I would love to inspire any of you with my cup dancing. Yes, yes, yes,

Kathleen Shannon 35:35
I know, I feel like Amy needs to just come up here and

Emily Thompson 35:37
write, hey, you can interpret our cards for us. I'm like, Can

Kathleen Shannon 35:39
you tell me what you think strength means for me, that's actually usually what I do, which is the cool thing about actually that sisterhood, and getting together with your girlfriends and your business besties and whoever else to kind of talk these things through because it is a collaboration, and you start to see so much more insight even to your into yourself, by surrounding yourself with bosses, okay, sorry, three of cups,

Emily Thompson 36:04
three of cups. And then finally, the magician, which I always feel like I'm around here making something out of nothing. Or at least taking the experiences that I've had and forming them into something that I can share with all of you guys, and taking action every fucking day to make all of those things happen. So for me, it's those three.

Kathleen Shannon 36:27
I love that. Oh, I forgot that Caitlin was asking us questions. Is that it? Oh, I

Unknown Speaker 36:33
have one more question for you. Perfect. And finally, what makes you feel most badass

Kathleen Shannon 36:41
New Orleans.

Emily Thompson 36:43
Amen to that, right?

Kathleen Shannon 36:45
This is my favorite thing that we do. And everyone's been asking us while we've been here, what's your favorite part of New Orleans of the city of whatever. And it's really just getting to hang out with all you like going in getting poboys in the back of a shady bar late at night, or, I don't know, we're having so much fun, it's gonna be so awesome. And just getting to see you all in real life. I feel like so much of our lives as bosses happens online, that is really just so good to connect face to face. And we're constantly trying to bring that vibe to what we do online. This fuels us for the whole year. So you all being bosses makes me feel boss and being here together, it's just the best.

Emily Thompson 37:29
I completely agree. I want to add a non work related experience that's added to my business. And that being the first couple of times that I came to New Orleans, because God knows that has affected my business life in so many ways from having vacations be a part of what it is that we do and how it is that we connect with the people that that connect with us. But also in that we feature the city and our book and every way that we could. So I would say New Orleans has definitely been been a huge part of how it is that I've done business. And it all started whenever we were in college. So I lived in mobile just a couple hours from here for several years as we were going through college, and we came to mobile, or we came to New Orleans a couple of times. I came here the Mardi Gras before Katrina, and I was here about a year afterwards. And watching what this city is capable of doing has definitely been really huge. And how it is that I see hope. And the ability for people to grow and change and heal, and has absolutely been a huge factor in US choosing this place as the unofficial home of being boss. So I just had to throw that in there. Because being here with all you guys does have a very special place. And not only the work that I done, I have done but the life that I have built for decades, New Orleans has played a really huge part in that. So thank you guys for being here.

Kathleen Shannon 38:59
All right,

Emily Thompson 39:00
now I have to actually share mine. Okay, cuz I was just piggybacking off

Unknown Speaker 39:03
No, I

Unknown Speaker 39:04
love it. Um,

Emily Thompson 39:06
so what makes me feel most boss is not only being here with you guys, but the life that I've built in general, that, or the life that my business has afforded me and though like going to work and getting cool emails and doing a book and all these things make me feel boss. What makes me feel most balls is closing it down at the end of the day, traveling wherever I want. Being able to connect with people around the world, both for business and not business. And being able to pull it all together. I see so many entrepreneurs who are busting their ass and doing all these things and have a sucky life and no friends and no family and no relationships, and no fun to speak of. And that's not me. And I don't see that as you guys either. And so being able to build a life like this, it makes me feel super badass. And I love that I'm able to share it with you guys in a way that hopefully inspires you to not fall into that really gross entrepreneur trap that you have to have So, hustle, hustle and not live a life you can you can look at your profit and revenue and all of those things and choose happiness not over them but in conjunction with them. And so for me, my life, including being here with you guys is what makes me feel most boss.

Kathleen Shannon 40:18
Amen. Can I add one more thing? Of course Well, okay, so I have a bone to pick with, like chasing happiness, because it doesn't really work for me. But what makes me feel most bosses being capable and so just making sure that I'm chasing my skill sets that make me feel capable and then as a byproduct of that energy of creating things. That's what makes me feel happy. I don't know I just I've been thinking I've been curious a lot about happiness lately, so

Emily Thompson 40:57
and we definitely want to send a shout out to all of the awesome boss swag bag contributors. We've got shop good for the totes there at shop good OKC calm metal marvels.com for the boss as fuck bangles, love light and legacy.com for that I am power Oracle deck. All of info paper calm for the custom illustrated journals. bohemian mint.com for the watercolor map of New Orleans, Simon and Ruby calm for the hammered brass ring. So a much brighter calm for the intention candle in company co for the custom at Nola postcards at 30 one.com for the headbands, New Moon paper goods.etsy.com for the enamel pins commit thirty.com for the planners, and chipper things.com for the flow chart prints. We have gotten so much amazing feedback over the years from listeners about how our podcast has helped them start to grow and uplevel their businesses. So we want to celebrate you. Here's the boss we're celebrating this week.

Unknown Speaker 42:10
Hi, my name is Melinda and I'm being boss. My business partner Melissa and I own a wellness fitness yoga studio at www thrive wellness and h.com and this week we are celebrating our studio expansion to our brand new brick and mortar home. We've conquered the fear, ate all the frauds and made the leap into the unknown with the help of being boss.

Kathleen Shannon 42:38
If you're feeling boss and want to submit your own boss moment or win go to WWW dot being boss club slash I am being boss. This episode of being boss was brought to you by fresh books cloud accounting, thank you to fresh books for sponsoring us and you guys can try it for free by going to freshbooks comm slash being boss. Thank you so much to our team and sponsors who make being boss possible our sound engineer and web developer Corey winter. Our editorial director and content manager Caitlin brain, our community manager and social media director Sharon lukey and are being countered David Austin, with support from braid creative and indicia typography

Unknown Speaker 43:17
do the work