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[00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:07.360] Look, payday is awesome, but running payroll, calculating taxes and deductions, staying compliant, that's not easy.
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[00:00:34.800 --> 00:00:38.880] And to sweeten the deal, just for listening today, you also get three months free.
[00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:41.360] Go to gusto.com slash beingboss.
[00:00:41.360 --> 00:00:45.040] That's gusto.com/slash beingboss.
[00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:54.160] Welcome to Being Boss, a podcast for creatives, business owners, and entrepreneurs who want to take control of their work and live life on their own terms.
[00:00:54.160 --> 00:01:04.080] I'm your host, Emily Thompson, and in this episode, I'm joined by my friend Amy Koretzky to talk about prioritizing and taking care of your health care as an entrepreneur.
[00:01:04.080 --> 00:01:09.600] You can find all the tools, books, and links we reference on the show notes at www.beingboss.club.
[00:01:09.600 --> 00:01:14.560] And if you like this episode, be sure to subscribe to this show and share us with a friend.
[00:01:17.440 --> 00:01:26.240] It's no secret that I have a soft spot for product bosses, those of you who embark on a business journey that includes making or curating physical products.
[00:01:26.240 --> 00:01:42.320] And even if that's not the journey you've chosen for yourself, there's amazing lessons to be learned for all kinds of businesses from the world of product business, which is why you need to check out the Product Boss, a podcast hosted by Jacqueline Snyder and Minna Kunlo-Sitab.
[00:01:42.320 --> 00:01:47.680] Brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.
[00:01:47.680 --> 00:02:01.960] Take your physical product sales and strategy to the next level to create your dream life with hosts Jacqueline and Mina as they deliver a workshop-style strategy hour of social media and marketing strategies so you can up-level your business.
[00:01:59.600 --> 00:02:05.560] Listen to the product boss wherever you get your podcasts.
[00:02:08.040 --> 00:02:15.000] Amy Koretsky is a breathwork facilitator and business coach working on Dakota and Anishinaabe ancestral land.
[00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:24.840] Her work is focused on helping successful businesses tap into their intuition, trust themselves more, and do business differently so they can fall back in love with their work.
[00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:32.520] She uses the breath as a tool for healing and business building and has led online and in-person breathwork groups all over the world.
[00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:43.560] In 2020, she organized with a group of other breathwork facilitators for more anti-oppression and trauma-informed training as part of the Breath Work for the People collective.
[00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:55.320] Along with her coaching business, she also has a background in acupuncture and Chinese medicine and co-owns Constellation Acupuncture and Healing Arts, a healing space in Northeast Minneapolis.
[00:02:55.320 --> 00:03:02.040] Amy has previously been on this show in episodes number 77 and 271.
[00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:03.480] Hi, Amy.
[00:03:03.480 --> 00:03:05.400] Welcome back to Being Boss.
[00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:06.200] Hi, Emily.
[00:03:06.200 --> 00:03:07.320] It's good to be here.
[00:03:07.320 --> 00:03:09.880] It's good to see your smiling face.
[00:03:10.200 --> 00:03:10.840] I know.
[00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:11.480] I love it.
[00:03:11.480 --> 00:03:14.520] It's been a while, and so it feels really nice to see you.
[00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:16.520] Yeah, agreed, agreed, agreed.
[00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:20.040] I usually when I'm bringing someone, I always do this.
[00:03:20.040 --> 00:03:29.800] Anytime I'm bringing someone back on, I go back and see when the last time I talked to you was, and I cannot believe that it was October of 2021.
[00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:31.480] Yeah, that's wild.
[00:03:31.480 --> 00:03:32.520] Isn't it?
[00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:38.040] I feel like we've seen each other since then because I did that group for the clubhouse.
[00:03:38.040 --> 00:03:40.840] But yeah, we haven't in this capacity since then.
[00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:42.520] So it's been like a year and a half almost.
[00:03:42.760 --> 00:03:43.560] Wild to me.
[00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:46.560] I'm like, I every day, what is time?
[00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:48.320] Time has gotten so weird.
[00:03:48.640 --> 00:03:50.000] I was blown away by that.
[00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:54.560] So it has been a year, almost a year and a half since you were on the show, which is just crazy.
[00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:58.720] Actually, by the time this goes live, it probably will be right about a year and a half.
[00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:00.720] Let's start with an update.
[00:04:00.720 --> 00:04:02.000] What have you been up to?
[00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:03.360] How are you doing?
[00:04:04.880 --> 00:04:07.280] Yeah, let us know what's been happening.
[00:04:07.600 --> 00:04:12.160] So the last time I was on the show, I think we had just moved the clinic.
[00:04:12.160 --> 00:04:15.360] So for those of you who don't know, I run two businesses.
[00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:21.840] One of them is that I co-own an acupuncture and massage and healing space here in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
[00:04:21.840 --> 00:04:36.000] And we had moved from our smaller location that we had been in for four to seven years, if you want to think about it being just my own business or when I merged it with another person, to our new space, which was like three times the size.
[00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:38.240] And we like tripled the size of our team.
[00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:41.280] And we, I think we had just done that when I talked to you last.
[00:04:41.280 --> 00:04:49.520] And so this last year and a half has been like the growing pain that happens when you triple the size of your business.
[00:04:49.520 --> 00:04:56.560] And it has been really high highs, a couple of really low lows, some things in between.
[00:04:57.200 --> 00:05:02.560] But it has been really good and feels like we're in a much more stable place right now.
[00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:10.880] And then in my own personal business, which is, you know, breath work and mentorship for business owners, it's been just like real nice and smooth.
[00:05:10.880 --> 00:05:16.800] I'll say that just in the last couple of months, I started doing in-person groups again, which I really miss.
[00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:17.600] Nice.
[00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:29.200] You know, like that's a big part of why I love doing breath work, is like, breathing in circle with other people and holding that space for them, like in person, not just over a computer screen.
[00:05:29.200 --> 00:05:34.040] And so, you know, at the beginning of the pandemic, that was just not an available option anymore.
[00:05:34.280 --> 00:05:38.920] And so this summer and now into the winter, we started doing that again.
[00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:44.200] I got flown out to Arizona to lead it for a women's retreat out there, and that was really beautiful.
[00:05:44.200 --> 00:05:58.520] And I've been doing some groups at the new clinic space because a couple of our treatment rooms are gigantic, and you can like sardine in like 12 yoga mats into one of the rooms and just like squish people in there and have a group.
[00:05:58.520 --> 00:06:01.640] And we've just been having a great time doing all of that.
[00:06:02.280 --> 00:06:13.000] And then lastly, I relaunched my podcast, which some people listening might have recognized it as Health Fuels Hustle, but now it's called Breathe into Business.
[00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:15.640] And so I've been spending time doing that.
[00:06:15.640 --> 00:06:19.320] So those are all the businessy things that I've been doing.
[00:06:19.640 --> 00:06:20.600] That's amazing.
[00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:21.320] I love that.
[00:06:21.320 --> 00:06:26.680] I love that you mentioned this growing pains thing because that is such a real, real thing.
[00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:35.800] And whenever you do make really big moves in your business, there's always this idea that, like, you know, sort of reach this milestone and like high fives and wins.
[00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:44.840] And yes, you definitely get those, but like, there's a lot that you have to do in and to your business whenever you make really big moves like that.
[00:06:44.840 --> 00:06:46.120] So growing pains are real.
[00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:47.240] I'm glad you brought those up.
[00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:49.400] It's not all sunshine and rainbows, though.
[00:06:49.400 --> 00:06:52.360] There are definitely some sunshines and rainbows along.
[00:06:52.440 --> 00:06:52.680] Yeah.
[00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:57.400] I mean, you figure out what systems are going to break when you triple the size of your business, right?
[00:06:57.400 --> 00:06:58.440] Absolutely.
[00:06:58.440 --> 00:07:02.520] You see which systems are good to go and which ones need a little work.
[00:07:02.520 --> 00:07:04.120] Yeah, for sure, for sure.
[00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:04.360] Okay.
[00:07:04.360 --> 00:07:07.640] And then, and then and then personally, anything, anything you want to share?
[00:07:07.640 --> 00:07:12.600] Like, you're not in Palm Springs right now, which I kind of expected you to be.
[00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:13.800] Okay, good.
[00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:15.360] I'll be there very soon.
[00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:16.960] I'm like, less than 30 days.
[00:07:14.760 --> 00:07:21.680] It's like the countdown is on less than 30 days, I'll be in the sunny California weather.
[00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:31.120] Um, but no, I am still in Minnesota right now, and it's it's actually uh blizzarding outside right now, so it's just like a blanket of snow outside.
[00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:41.360] Um, but it's actually funny when I received your email like a couple weeks ago wanting to bring me back on and talk about health and self-care and business ownership and everything.
[00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:47.200] And I was like, hmm, you know, I know that Emily's intuitive, but like, wow, her timing is quite apt right now.
[00:07:47.200 --> 00:07:59.680] Because about a month or so ago, I actually had a really big kind of shock to my system because I, in the span of one week, I got diagnosed with a second autoimmune disease.
[00:07:59.840 --> 00:08:07.200] Some of you might know that I've long lived with Crohn's disease, which is an autoimmune disease, but I got diagnosed with a second autoimmune disease.
[00:08:07.200 --> 00:08:13.760] And in the same week, I got diagnosed with melanoma, skin cancer, which was just kind of a huge shock to my system.
[00:08:13.760 --> 00:08:17.280] And I'm incredibly grateful that it was caught very early.
[00:08:17.280 --> 00:08:23.440] Everybody, go out and get your moles checked every single year because you've got to catch it early.
[00:08:23.440 --> 00:08:36.000] But so, I've actually, over the last week, been on a bit of a little health reset because I just had surgery this week to remove the cancerous tissue.
[00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.960] And so, I've just been resting at home for the last couple days before I go back to work next week.
[00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:42.480] I am in tune.
[00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:45.360] You really are.
[00:08:45.680 --> 00:08:49.760] No, no, I think that's just, that is so unfortunate.
[00:08:49.760 --> 00:08:51.520] I'm so sorry to hear those things.
[00:08:51.520 --> 00:08:57.360] I know that, you know, the Crohn's disease itself was not your favorite part of your life.
[00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:06.920] And so, to add another thing on top of that, and now melanoma, yes, every, I need to now call my dermatologist and definitely an appointment.
[00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:23.000] I very much so appreciate you sharing those things because as I was writing up the agenda or like my questions for you, I was thinking like self-care, healthcare, like, and not to like poo-boo on the topic because very important.
[00:09:23.560 --> 00:09:28.120] But, you know, we said it before, I just like to do reminders a whole lot.
[00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:34.520] But I have also had like probably the worst year for my personal health as well in a couple of different ways.
[00:09:34.520 --> 00:09:39.880] And it was something that I wanted to talk about whenever you came back and said that, said that you were dealing with your own things.
[00:09:39.880 --> 00:09:46.360] I thought, you know, this gives us the opportunity to do something really different with this episode.
[00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:55.960] Instead of doing some, you know, sort of surface level, and though it's very important, not to diminish its importance at all, but instead of sort of surface level self-care, healthcare, what's the difference?
[00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:57.720] What can we be doing as business owners?
[00:09:57.720 --> 00:09:58.760] All these things.
[00:09:58.760 --> 00:10:08.360] I think it's a really great opportunity to give us or a really great opportunity for us to do some deep health care and self-care things.
[00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:19.560] Like, what does it look like to really have to put your health at the forefront of all of your decision making and what it is that you're doing on, you know, an ongoing basis?
[00:10:19.560 --> 00:10:28.280] Because that is a different conversation from just, you know, getting up from your computer chair every 45 minutes for a quick little walk.
[00:10:28.280 --> 00:10:33.960] Like, what does it look like to really have to stop and take care of yourself?
[00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:37.320] So, an awful thing.
[00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:46.000] I'm very sad to hear all that, but it does give us an opportunity to dive a little deeper in on this in a way that I don't think we would have otherwise.
[00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:47.360] So, thanks for that.
[00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:51.120] Of course, happy to bring this forward.
[00:10:52.560 --> 00:10:54.560] But, you know, you're so true.
[00:10:54.560 --> 00:11:00.960] If you think about, yeah, okay, over the last couple of years, we have all been through the ringer in different ways.
[00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:07.920] Like, we are all bone tired and like burnt out in different ways from the pandemic.
[00:11:07.920 --> 00:11:13.280] Maybe not from our work per se, but just from everything that we have all experienced over the last couple of years.
[00:11:13.280 --> 00:11:17.680] And that has taken a true physical toll on many of our health.
[00:11:17.680 --> 00:11:30.240] Whether it's we had, you know, chronic disease before the pandemic that worsened, maybe people out there who are listening are dealing with the effects of long COVID, which are like really real.
[00:11:30.400 --> 00:11:41.200] Like, I have so many patients in my clinic, and my employees also have seen so many patients in the clinic who are dealing with some really significant challenges from the effects of long COVID.
[00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:53.920] And then all the new things, like, like, imagine if this mole had shown up like two and a half years ago at the beginning of the pandemic, where like, I couldn't really go in and see the doctor for a variety of reasons.
[00:11:53.920 --> 00:12:04.400] And it had gone, you know, and if I had waited way too long, and it wouldn't have been like, you know, such an early stage where it was a fairly simple surgery to like remove it.
[00:12:04.400 --> 00:12:17.200] So there's real effects that are happening in all business owners' lives right now, like that affect their actual health, whether they are dealing with like significant health challenges or not.
[00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:19.200] So it's an important conversation.
[00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:19.680] It is.
[00:12:19.680 --> 00:12:20.080] It is.
[00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:22.160] And honestly, not one that we've had.
[00:12:22.160 --> 00:12:32.120] What does it look like to come into your sort of business space from a place of needing to take care of yourself in a different way?
[00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:43.720] We've, you know, definitely had an amazing privilege to be able to come into business and sometimes have to fix it around to help us sleep better because, you know, our anxiety is getting out of control or whatever it may be.
[00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:48.440] But to actually do it the other way around is definitely a conversation worth having.
[00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:50.680] So I'm glad that we get to do it here.
[00:12:51.000 --> 00:13:06.520] I think to get started, I'm sort of throwing these words around a couple of times, and I'd like to just sort of give a hardcore definition to the difference between self-care and healthcare because they are two different things and I don't want them to be confused.
[00:13:06.520 --> 00:13:13.880] Yeah, and you know, I can only give my own definition for it, but I think you and I have had this conversation before and we're on similar pages around it.
[00:13:13.880 --> 00:13:25.720] And really, I think about healthcare as baseline needs of like what I need to survive, to be alive, to be at a baseline level of health.
[00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:28.440] And then self-care can go above and beyond that.
[00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:42.520] And so like thinking about healthcare, I think about, okay, you know, doctor's visits, you know, preventative cancer checks, like what I did by getting that mold checked, getting an adequate amount of sleep.
[00:13:42.520 --> 00:13:45.240] Honestly, that's huge for me as part of my baseline health.
[00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:50.200] Because if I'm not getting sleep, I'm generally not drinking enough water the next day.
[00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:57.880] I don't have enough energy to move my body in the way that I need to move my body for a baseline level of mental health, which is also included in healthcare.
[00:13:57.880 --> 00:13:59.960] We can't just think about the body in this.
[00:13:59.960 --> 00:14:01.800] We have to think about the brain too.
[00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:08.680] I think about acupuncture and herbs as part of like my own, you know, definition of healthcare.
[00:14:08.680 --> 00:14:16.880] While I do obviously use Western medicine as a big part of my healthcare, I don't think that that is a complete medicine in and of itself.
[00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:28.080] And so I also include Chinese medicine and herbs and more alternative or complementary care as well as a baseline need for my own healthcare.
[00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:30.160] So things like that.
[00:14:30.160 --> 00:14:35.200] And then you can almost think of it as like that, what is that hierarchy of needs?
[00:14:35.520 --> 00:14:35.920] What is that?
[00:14:35.920 --> 00:14:37.120] Maslows.
[00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:38.640] I'm saying this wrong, probably.
[00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:40.400] I think that's it.
[00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:41.760] Maslow?
[00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:42.880] Maslow.
[00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:44.240] Something.
[00:14:44.560 --> 00:14:49.920] But so it's like that bottom part of that pyramid are the healthcare.
[00:14:49.920 --> 00:14:55.200] It's like all the things that we need just for a baseline level of health.
[00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:59.920] And then once those needs are met, then we can start thinking about self-care.
[00:14:59.920 --> 00:15:03.280] Then we can start thinking about like what brings us to that next level.
[00:15:03.280 --> 00:15:16.160] Because when you think about it, you know, like self-care is really only actually even available to us when we have a baseline level of like safety and security in our bodies.
[00:15:16.160 --> 00:15:19.440] And only then can we like take a breath, can we relax?
[00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:23.520] Can we actually find things that bring us care?
[00:15:23.520 --> 00:15:30.080] And so I really think about healthcare as all of those baseline things, and everyone's baseline is going to be different.
[00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:34.240] Like maybe some people's baseline is like, I just got to get up and brush my teeth in the morning.
[00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:39.680] Whereas like my baseline is like, I actually need to move my body for at least 30 minutes a day.
[00:15:39.680 --> 00:15:43.040] Otherwise, I'm going to go into a depressive episode.
[00:15:43.040 --> 00:15:45.920] And so it's like everyone's levels are different.
[00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:46.640] Yeah.
[00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:48.160] I agree with all that.
[00:15:48.160 --> 00:15:53.120] So there's this baseline, sort of human, you as a human being healthy.
[00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:57.120] And I think that is like a mind, body, and soul situation.
[00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:07.400] And let's even like remove the word healthy from it because I don't always even necessarily think of myself as a person who lives in a quote-unquote like healthy body.
[00:16:07.640 --> 00:16:12.680] Like I've got all sorts of diseases that are running through my body and like challenges that I'm dealing with.
[00:16:12.680 --> 00:16:29.560] But it's like a baseline level of yeah, health isn't even necessarily the right word because like I can do all of those things that are part of my healthcare and like still be dealing with Crohn's disease, still like still be dealing with cancer.
[00:16:29.560 --> 00:16:36.040] And yet those parts of that healthcare are like necessities.
[00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:43.560] So I don't know if I can actually like put words to it in a quote like perfect way, but I just want to like name that.
[00:16:43.560 --> 00:16:44.200] Sure.
[00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:49.480] And I, it's funny, you keep bringing in health, but I think it's like baseline level of care.
[00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:50.120] Yeah.
[00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:50.680] Right?
[00:16:50.680 --> 00:17:06.840] Like there's in every so it's not for it is for you to be at a good place in your health, whatever that may be for you, but really it's like just caring for yourself in the ways that you need to care for yourself.
[00:17:06.840 --> 00:17:07.320] Yeah.
[00:17:07.320 --> 00:17:08.360] So that's healthcare.
[00:17:08.360 --> 00:17:14.520] And then self-care being like bring it up a notch, bring it up two notches, three notches.
[00:17:14.520 --> 00:17:15.240] Yes, yes.
[00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:19.000] And you can only succeed at those things really truly.
[00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:25.960] You can only truly benefit from those things, really truly, when that baseline health care has been met.
[00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:26.200] Right.
[00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:29.960] Like how I said that I need like a certain amount of movement in my day.
[00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:32.760] It's like, okay, you know, it's snowing outside.
[00:17:32.760 --> 00:17:37.080] I could go downstairs and get on the treadmill and like walk for 30 minutes.
[00:17:37.080 --> 00:17:42.360] And, like, sure, that's going to hit my level of baseline for healthcare.
[00:17:42.360 --> 00:17:53.680] But if I wanted to, like, actually put on my muklux and put on my big puffy-down jacket and like go outside, that would give me those steps, that would give me that movement.
[00:17:53.680 --> 00:18:04.800] But being in nature, being outside, even like dealing with the elements and like the weird ways that we have to living in these climates, um, like that actually fills my soul in a different way.
[00:18:04.800 --> 00:18:14.640] So that would feel like self-care to me, whereas just like going downstairs and watching an episode of Gray's Anatomy and walking on the treadmill is more just like baseline for sure.
[00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:15.360] Okay, perfect.
[00:18:15.360 --> 00:18:16.320] I love all of that.
[00:18:16.320 --> 00:18:20.000] I hope everyone can see for themselves then what this looks like for you.
[00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:23.440] Because as Amy said, it is incredibly different for every person.
[00:18:24.080 --> 00:18:30.960] And I also think it's seasonal and not necessarily like, you know, seasons like on the planet with the leaves and things.
[00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:36.160] But I think you'll have a couple of years where your healthcare, you know, baseline is in one place.
[00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:42.960] And then you may have a couple of months where it's somewhere else and it may go back, it may not, whatever it may be, completely shift and change.
[00:18:43.360 --> 00:18:43.920] I agree.
[00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:44.720] Okay, perfect.
[00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:55.520] So with that, like baseline understanding of the difference between those two, I think I want to focus a little bit on again.
[00:18:55.520 --> 00:19:02.880] If we're thinking like some deep health care, let's look at what healthcare looks like.
[00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:06.880] I think for entrepreneurs in general, I think that's an interesting conversation.
[00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:21.840] And maybe how our healthcare needs are a little bit different from folks who are not entrepreneurs and then move into a place where it's like, what does it look like when that significantly shifts?
[00:19:21.840 --> 00:19:27.520] So then, how, or what does healthcare look like for entrepreneurs?
[00:19:27.840 --> 00:19:29.120] Hmm.
[00:19:29.120 --> 00:19:30.000] That's a good question.
[00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:40.200] You know, it's interesting because at its most basic level, like entrepreneurs are human beings.
[00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:45.000] And so like we need the same health care.
[00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:47.480] and the amount of care as everyone else.
[00:19:47.480 --> 00:20:03.640] I think where it gets tricky for entrepreneurs is that oftentimes we unfortunately like put our businesses in front of our needs, like put our businesses needs in front of our own needs.
[00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:26.280] And so we don't necessarily give ourselves the care, whether it be the basic baseline health care or the extras as we might need because, you know, kind of going back to this idea of like, well, we can't even really access self-care without that safety and security in our bodies.
[00:20:26.280 --> 00:20:35.640] Okay, well, entrepreneurs are in this unique position where like our labor is directly connected to our safety and security.
[00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:37.800] You know, we don't have a salary.
[00:20:37.800 --> 00:20:43.880] We don't have health insurance necessarily like provided by a company that somebody else owns.
[00:20:43.880 --> 00:21:02.480] You know, like all those things that are innately offered as part of being an employee for whether it's like a corporate company or a government job or something like that, usually those all have like pretty good benefits, which allow for a sense of like stability and security.
[00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:09.160] That's not saying that no entrepreneur has a sense of stability and security, like a lot of us do.
[00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:15.000] However, you know, in the early stages of becoming an entrepreneur, you really are in hustle mode.
[00:21:15.120 --> 00:21:24.480] And like, I wish it wasn't the case, but I don't know a single successful business out there, including my own, where like the first two years that we weren't working more than we wanted to.
[00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:27.200] Like maybe we enjoyed it and we're like, yeah, it's the hustle.
[00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:29.520] Like we really like glorified it in some ways.
[00:21:29.520 --> 00:21:34.240] But looking back, we're all like, you know, do what we say, not what we do.
[00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:35.840] But like, it's true.
[00:21:35.840 --> 00:21:41.200] Like you have to kind of hustle your ass off the first couple years to get off of the ground.
[00:21:41.520 --> 00:21:49.200] And with that means like you're using up the only real finite resource there is, which is time.
[00:21:49.200 --> 00:22:00.320] And so we tend to not give ourselves our bodies, our brains, our, you know, spirits the care that it needs because it takes time.
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[00:23:08.600 --> 00:23:11.400] I sort of broke down three.
[00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:11.960] Yeah.
[00:23:12.280 --> 00:23:13.400] Three sort of things.
[00:23:13.400 --> 00:23:18.920] And like, literally, just really quickly, as you were talking about those things, sort of like pull these into little nuggets.
[00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:25.800] One of them is I think we have to make special considerations for our mental health.
[00:23:27.080 --> 00:23:28.520] And for a couple of reasons.
[00:23:28.520 --> 00:23:31.960] One of them being we're lonely, right?
[00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:34.520] Sitting here doing this work all by ourselves.
[00:23:34.760 --> 00:23:40.760] I think there is like a social aspect that can be easily missing from the entrepreneur's journey.
[00:23:40.760 --> 00:23:48.920] And so we have to make special considerations and make special effort in order to like fulfill that basic human need.
[00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:57.000] And then also like tying our sense of self-worth with what we're able to produce in the world, whatever that may be.
[00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:06.440] So I think those being two big reasons why we have to pay a little more attention to our mental health, I think, than a lot of other people do.
[00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:22.520] Along with that, I think that I'm going to show my bias here that I mostly work with entrepreneurs who are in like service industry professionals that are, you know, service providers as opposed to like people who are starting some tech company or something like that.
[00:24:22.520 --> 00:24:27.800] But, you know, service providers are providing care as labor.
[00:24:27.800 --> 00:24:35.320] And that takes a specific amount of emotional fortitude and energy and all these things.
[00:24:35.320 --> 00:24:37.480] And like emotional labor is real labor.
[00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:41.480] And so I think that goes along tightly with what you're saying with mental health.
[00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:41.880] Yeah.
[00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:46.480] And I can even, I can draw the parallel with creative or like creativity as well, right?
[00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:56.880] There is a lot of like, there's a lot of us that we put into our creative work in a way that, you know, can certainly happen if you have a very creative job, but it's just a little different.
[00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:58.000] It's just a little different for us.
[00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:11.840] So I think mental health is something that we have to think about a little more, a little more purposefully in order to like really stay at the top of our game than a lot of people do in the same way or for the same reasons.
[00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:17.440] I also think this piece of having a self-managed schedule is a big one.
[00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:21.440] Like we think of that as being like, that is like the, that's why we're all here, right?
[00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:24.800] To manage our own time and to do what we want and all of those things.
[00:25:24.800 --> 00:25:42.240] What that usually, what can often, what it can often equate to is that we stop doing the things that are helpful to us so that we can like write another email or check another thing off our list or send that next invoice or whatever it may be.
[00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:45.600] So this is like another billable hour in some way.
[00:25:45.600 --> 00:25:46.160] Indeed.
[00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:50.320] I mean, you're just making money while you're sitting there doing the thing.
[00:25:51.520 --> 00:26:02.400] So it's really easy, I think, for us to really fall behind really quickly because we have the benefit of having a self-managed schedule.
[00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:19.640] That we actually have to be more purposeful with maintaining our health and otherwise self-care practices in a way that if we had a nine-to-five job where we could stop at the gym on the way in every morning and, and you know, grab a smoothie from downstairs every day for lunch or whatever.
[00:26:19.520 --> 00:26:22.880] We, it, we don't all have that as accessible to us.
[00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:38.840] Well, and I think around that, also, there's this idea where, like, okay, if you're a solopreneur, which I feel like I have this interesting viewpoint of both having a solo business at the same time of running a clinical practice with employees, we're like, if you're a solo entrepreneur, you don't get the benefit of just like clocking out at 5 p.m.
[00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:44.920] and not worrying because, like, no one is, you know, dealing with anything if you aren't there dealing with it.
[00:26:44.920 --> 00:26:54.360] And so, that can put pressure on your shoulders to feel like you have to be working a little bit more than your body is able to.
[00:26:54.360 --> 00:27:00.200] And then, on the other side of that, like, maybe you're no longer a solopreneur, you actually have a team.
[00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:09.960] Well, then, the actual livelihood of your team, like financial livelihood of your team, kind of rests on your shoulders in a lot of ways.
[00:27:09.960 --> 00:27:17.720] So, then there is that pressure as well: like, oh, if it's a slow season, like we, what do I need to do to like get things rolling in different ways?
[00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:21.000] And so, there can we can often put pressure on ourselves.
[00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:31.160] Where I'm not saying that pressure isn't necessary, but like, we often will, um, we will make it more extravagant than it needs to be in reality.
[00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:32.440] Or we'll make stories about it.
[00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:35.800] Our brain will make stories about what that actually means.
[00:27:35.800 --> 00:27:36.920] Yeah, for sure.
[00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:40.520] And that even I feel like goes back into that mental health piece for sure.
[00:27:40.520 --> 00:27:51.400] Of like, we do have a lot of pressure, there's a lot of responsibility, we put some on ourselves, but a lot of it is very real, and we have to take extra care in all of those ways.
[00:27:51.400 --> 00:28:04.160] Um, I think another one that makes it really hard is that health insurance isn't as accessible to us entrepreneurs as fucking hell.
[00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:04.760] Right?
[00:28:04.760 --> 00:28:06.920] I could go on a tirade right now about this.
[00:28:06.920 --> 00:28:07.680] Yeah, I know.
[00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:09.840] This is the same, same.
[00:28:09.840 --> 00:28:27.280] Few things make me more annoyed than all of that, and I've been, I won't say lucky because I've worked for it, but I have built a business that can, that is like big enough to even purchase health insurance for myself and my employees because that's a thing.
[00:28:27.280 --> 00:28:34.880] And getting out of some of the more open healthcare options out there because those are a funny and awful joke.
[00:28:35.600 --> 00:28:39.360] But even mine's still a funny and awful joke.
[00:28:39.840 --> 00:28:40.320] Right.
[00:28:40.320 --> 00:28:41.440] In its own way.
[00:28:41.440 --> 00:29:01.680] So we don't have, we don't have as easy access to this like safety net that even makes good health care as attainable to us in a way that if we had a nine to five job, which is why a lot of people keep their nine to five jobs literally just for the health insurance, we don't have access to those things in the same way.
[00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:10.720] And even like, even the health insurance plans that are out there, like think about what is or isn't covered all the time.
[00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:23.520] Like the fact that if you have, if you have someone who needs glasses, that like you have to buy a whole extra plan just for like vision, like come on, you have to be able to see like your eyes, your teeth, your like spine, your mental health, like all of it.
[00:29:23.520 --> 00:29:25.360] Really nothing is covered.
[00:29:25.360 --> 00:29:30.560] There is no coverage at all in any way, shape, or form.
[00:29:30.560 --> 00:29:36.960] I am not insured in any way with an E, not an I, by this insurance.
[00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:37.440] Yeah.
[00:29:37.760 --> 00:29:38.800] A failure.
[00:29:38.800 --> 00:29:39.280] Yeah.
[00:29:39.520 --> 00:29:48.640] And also even think about things like short-term disability insurance, which is something that you can absolutely, as a business owner, buy into.
[00:29:48.640 --> 00:30:09.160] And I actually think it's probably a really good idea, especially for business owners, because depending upon the sort of work you do, like if you were to have some sort of medical situation where you are either physically unable to do the work anymore or mentally unable to do the work, like where is your income gonna come from?
[00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:22.040] And you know, I'm in a position right now where I take great privilege and gratitude in this, but like I have in the past, this is not my first, it's not my first rodeo, I've had surgery before.
[00:30:22.280 --> 00:30:24.760] In the past, I've been able to take time after surgery.
[00:30:24.760 --> 00:30:27.240] I was able to take time right now after surgery.
[00:30:27.240 --> 00:30:29.800] I'm going to be taking an entire sabbatical.
[00:30:29.800 --> 00:30:35.000] I'm going to be taking six months off from patient care at the clinic starting in February.
[00:30:35.240 --> 00:30:42.200] And these were all like decisions that were, you know, brought on by the health crises that I've been going through.
[00:30:42.200 --> 00:30:49.160] And so there's some very practical considerations that go into this.
[00:30:49.800 --> 00:30:52.680] But there's also kind of just bigger leaps of faith.
[00:30:52.680 --> 00:31:03.640] It's like kind of 50%, 50%, like 50% really practical planning that I've gone into doing this and like systems that I had set up going into this that have supported me in making this decision.
[00:31:03.640 --> 00:31:08.200] And then 50% is like a fool's leap, just like going off the cliff.
[00:31:08.200 --> 00:31:09.160] Yeah, right.
[00:31:09.160 --> 00:31:11.320] I mean, and that's, that's a whole thing right there.
[00:31:11.320 --> 00:31:15.880] The fool's leap, the fool's leaps that we do, because it's never just one.
[00:31:16.280 --> 00:31:18.120] It won't ever be just one.
[00:31:18.280 --> 00:31:21.880] And I think you just sort of hit something on the head there as well.
[00:31:21.880 --> 00:31:25.080] It's both a pro and a little bit of a con.
[00:31:25.080 --> 00:31:31.720] A con in that because we have the, it's a pro because we have the opportunity to create our own solutions, right?
[00:31:31.720 --> 00:31:32.440] In a lot of ways.
[00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:35.000] Like you didn't have to ask anybody to take six months of Attlebatical.
[00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:36.360] You're just like, I'm doing it.
[00:31:36.360 --> 00:31:42.200] And then you built the systems that allow you to allow you to do it, which is amazing.
[00:31:42.200 --> 00:31:53.520] The con comes in sometimes we don't even, or the con comes in the creativity we have to use to create our own solutions to these kinds of problems.
[00:31:53.520 --> 00:31:58.720] Like we don't even know what our options are because we make them up as we go, right?
[00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:07.360] So, and so many of us are, you know, working on a model from our nine to five jobs of like, I would never take six months off.
[00:32:07.760 --> 00:32:18.640] That's the belief that we have on how it is that we need to show up and do the work that we're restricted into, I don't know, not falling into these solutions as easily as I wish we could.
[00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:24.960] So both a pro in that these things are available to us, but a con in that we literally have to make it up.
[00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:27.680] And sometimes we don't even know that we can.
[00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:36.320] But I feel like that's so much of being a business owner in the first place is that like we like there was a need that wasn't being met.
[00:32:36.320 --> 00:32:40.320] And so here we are as our little entrepreneur hand being like, hey, I want to fill that need.
[00:32:40.320 --> 00:32:41.680] Like I'm going to create this thing.
[00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:56.480] And so I do feel like as entrepreneurs, we tend to have that as a strength, this ingenuity and this like inventiveness and being able to come up with creative solutions to problems that we've never considered before.
[00:32:56.720 --> 00:32:58.080] But yes, absolutely.
[00:32:58.080 --> 00:33:02.480] I mean, it's a failure of the system, like the social system that we live in in general.
[00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:04.240] And we could go on about that.
[00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:15.920] But, and that's a problem, not just like for us as entrepreneurs, but like so many, so many of us that live in the entire world, if you live in a country that doesn't have social safety nets in certain ways.
[00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:18.080] But I digress.
[00:33:18.080 --> 00:33:19.760] Yeah, let's not go there.
[00:33:19.760 --> 00:33:20.160] Okay.
[00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:26.560] Talking about health insurance is bad enough for one day because, yeah, we could definitely just keep on going.
[00:33:26.520 --> 00:33:30.760] Um, you'll have to have a chat during your sabbatical.
[00:33:29.840 --> 00:33:34.680] We'll just spend three days going down all the rabbit holes.
[00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:42.280] Um, okay, so we laid out why or laid out some unique challenges that entrepreneurs face.
[00:33:42.280 --> 00:33:47.960] And if you haven't thought of any of these, maybe you're experiencing them and you haven't had anyone put them into words for you, right?
[00:33:47.960 --> 00:33:50.440] Of like, oh, you know, I am lonely.
[00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:52.360] That is something that I'm struggling with.
[00:33:52.520 --> 00:33:58.680] And, you know, lonely even within the context of your family and within the context of your team.
[00:33:58.680 --> 00:34:03.160] If you are the boss, you are there making decisions on your own.
[00:34:03.160 --> 00:34:06.120] There are lonely moments for sure.
[00:34:06.840 --> 00:34:09.080] Or the health insurance situation.
[00:34:09.080 --> 00:34:16.680] I mean, I literally worked years for the ability to have enough full-time people on my team so that I could get health insurance for myself and others.
[00:34:16.680 --> 00:34:21.880] And that in itself is a multi-year endeavor in order to get to that place.
[00:34:22.600 --> 00:34:25.400] So we have some unique challenges.
[00:34:25.400 --> 00:34:33.080] And maybe this is a really great opportunity for us to talk about how it is that we have faced some of these challenges on our own.
[00:34:33.080 --> 00:34:35.080] Because, I mean, I'm not going to say I'm perfect.
[00:34:35.080 --> 00:34:39.560] I'm also not in the healthiest state I have ever been in my life by any means.
[00:34:39.880 --> 00:34:43.080] But this is something that I know I'm working on consistently.
[00:34:43.080 --> 00:34:43.880] I know you are.
[00:34:43.880 --> 00:34:47.880] And I think this is a great opportunity to share what this looks like for us.
[00:34:48.840 --> 00:34:50.040] You start.
[00:34:50.360 --> 00:34:51.560] Oh boy, me start.
[00:34:52.680 --> 00:34:57.720] I will actually be really open too, because I haven't talked about this here on the show.
[00:34:58.520 --> 00:35:01.560] I did talk a couple of episodes ago in a review.
[00:35:01.560 --> 00:35:02.920] Actually, this was literally months ago.
[00:35:02.920 --> 00:35:09.400] By the time this comes out, I feel like I recorded this with Kathleen yesterday, but that was also over a month ago that I did that.
[00:35:09.400 --> 00:35:11.320] But I recorded an episode with Kathleen.
[00:35:11.320 --> 00:35:20.640] It's one of the first of the year where I talk about how the year had been incredibly difficult for me, how 2022 was very difficult for me personally, you know, in ways that I had just never experienced before.
[00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:22.720] I entered the year with an injury.
[00:35:22.720 --> 00:35:25.760] I left the year with a physical injury.
[00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:30.240] And along the way, I had some health things come up.
[00:35:30.240 --> 00:35:47.200] I am officially on blood pressure medicine and watching my cholesterol because some genetic predisposition, some genetic predispositions have popped back up as a result of not going to a doctor for three years because of a pandemic.
[00:35:47.200 --> 00:35:47.520] Right.
[00:35:47.520 --> 00:35:54.560] Like if I had gone to maintain some things, I probably could have caught it really early and I did not.
[00:35:54.560 --> 00:36:08.480] And so I'm working on some of those things as well as dealing with some insomnia and anxiety and things just like a culmination of multiple years of really hard stuff just sort of hitting me all in the course of a couple of months.
[00:36:08.880 --> 00:36:16.480] So putting my own health care at the forefront has been something that I've been doing for a couple of months and in the ways that I can.
[00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:22.000] And one of the ways that, let's see, what is what are my examples of this?
[00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:24.880] I got long-winded and forgot what I was going to say.
[00:36:24.880 --> 00:36:30.320] I think I will lead with scheduling the appointments.
[00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:30.800] Yeah.
[00:36:31.120 --> 00:36:36.160] Which is a small one, kind of, but like also a big one, a really big one.
[00:36:36.240 --> 00:36:39.440] It is like necessary for the rest of it to happen.
[00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:40.640] Incredibly.
[00:36:40.640 --> 00:36:56.560] And not just like, you know, your like general doctor, but the specialist, the people you need to see, your dermatologist, your gynecologist, like all of the ologists that you need in your life, just to get things checked out.
[00:36:56.560 --> 00:37:09.000] Because I definitely use the pandemic as an excuse not to go get all of my checkups for a couple of years and was shocked whenever I went back and saw the state of things.
[00:37:09.640 --> 00:37:12.600] And it's like, it takes a lot of time.
[00:37:12.600 --> 00:37:13.080] Yeah.
[00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:27.560] Like, I feel like lately going to the doctor has been a part-time job for me because it's like all of those pre-op visits, all of the dermatologist visits, all of the surgeon visits, oncology visits, like it's a part-time job.
[00:37:27.560 --> 00:37:44.360] And so when we think about, you know, entrepreneurs and like planning their own schedules, like it is, I feel so grateful that I have the ability to take the first appointment that's available because sometimes you can't get in for like six months otherwise if you don't take the first one that's available.
[00:37:44.360 --> 00:37:49.960] And I'm lucky I don't have to, you know, ask for time off from a boss or anything like that.
[00:37:49.960 --> 00:37:58.520] I mean, granted, I have people who are depending upon me for certain things and I always make sure that I'm like not leaving anyone in the lurch for that.
[00:37:58.520 --> 00:38:03.640] But that's part of the benefit of having a team is that like we each hold each other up.
[00:38:03.640 --> 00:38:06.920] You know, we've had a couple team members have COVID over the last couple months.
[00:38:06.920 --> 00:38:17.400] And so a bunch of us have been pinch hitters and like gone in and seen patients on our days off so that our, you know, COVID coworkers can be home and resting and all those things.
[00:38:17.400 --> 00:38:42.920] And, you know, it's really, really amazing the benefits that we have as self-employed entrepreneurs to create a schedule that works for us in times of need, but then also when like things are just chill and smooth sailing and we can actually get ahead of things and like be preventative in different ways.
[00:38:42.920 --> 00:38:55.200] So, like for me, with this whole sabbatical, I'd actually been wanting to do this for like years, like before the pandemic, even.
[00:38:55.200 --> 00:39:06.320] I was like, you know, you know that I go to California usually for a month every winter, and that's like a mini sabbatical, but it's only for a month and I'm still kind of working a little bit while I'm there.
[00:39:06.320 --> 00:39:08.000] I'm just not seeing patients.
[00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:28.320] But that planted a seed that I was like, oh, I want much more time, especially because in the clinic, we grew so fast in that last year alongside seeing patients the whole time that the business side of the business didn't get quite as much focus and care as it really needed for that to happen.
[00:39:28.560 --> 00:39:33.280] There would have been less bumps in the road, let's just say, if I'd like done this sooner.
[00:39:34.240 --> 00:39:37.280] And so it's something that I've been wanting to do for a while.
[00:39:37.280 --> 00:39:38.640] Then the pandemic happened.
[00:39:38.640 --> 00:39:46.000] All these different things just kind of put real, real tangible roadblocks in the way.
[00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:50.160] And just this, you know, the last couple of months, it was coming back into my psyche.
[00:39:50.160 --> 00:39:52.480] It's like, you know, I think this is what I'm supposed to do.
[00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:54.320] And I was like pulling tarot cards around it.
[00:39:54.320 --> 00:39:58.400] And everything was like, yes, yes, yes, sabbatical, sabbatical, sabbatical.
[00:39:58.400 --> 00:40:00.080] And then boom, cancer diagnosis.
[00:40:00.080 --> 00:40:05.680] And I was like, okay, well, I guess this is definitely happening now because this is the wake-up call that I needed.
[00:40:05.680 --> 00:40:07.680] That there's no more putting this down the road.
[00:40:07.680 --> 00:40:09.680] Like this has to happen now.
[00:40:10.240 --> 00:40:18.400] And so there are some pretty, you know, like practical considerations that have to go into it.
[00:40:18.640 --> 00:40:21.440] I'm really lucky that I don't own that business by myself.
[00:40:21.440 --> 00:40:22.720] I have a co-owner.
[00:40:23.200 --> 00:40:24.960] She's incredibly supportive.
[00:40:24.960 --> 00:40:28.720] We are really well aligned and we complement each other.
[00:40:28.960 --> 00:40:31.880] Our skill sets complement each other in different ways.
[00:40:31.880 --> 00:40:38.280] And so I feel very secure in the business, like while I'm stepping back in different arenas.
[00:40:38.280 --> 00:40:40.760] But that was like a big one for me.
[00:40:40.760 --> 00:40:54.360] It was a big, there was a lot of like fear behind it because, like, oh, well, you know, there's the identity part of it of like, who am I if I am not the acupuncturist co-owner of this clinic?
[00:40:54.360 --> 00:40:56.280] And that's like a whole thing.
[00:40:56.280 --> 00:41:03.480] But then there's also the practical considerations, like, how am I going to pay myself if I'm not seeing patients and things like that?
[00:41:03.480 --> 00:41:09.000] So, but it is important enough to me right now that I'm like going to figure it out.
[00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:16.600] Like we, like we were talking about, I'm going to come up with a solution to a problem I've never had to deal with before because it's what I have to do for me right now.
[00:41:16.600 --> 00:41:17.160] Yeah.
[00:41:17.720 --> 00:41:18.920] That's a great one.
[00:41:18.920 --> 00:41:26.200] And I love that, I love that you're finally doing something that you have been wanting to do.
[00:41:26.200 --> 00:41:34.520] I hate that it took something like this for you to finally do it, but if that's a silver lining for sure of this whole situation.
[00:41:34.520 --> 00:41:48.360] And one of the things that I most that I most respect about this is that it really is a putting you first sort of situation, which is not something that a lot of us are really that great at.
[00:41:48.680 --> 00:41:57.080] You know, of like literally just doing something that maybe someone else would even think is frivolous or unnecessary or whatever, but you're like, screw it all.
[00:41:57.080 --> 00:42:01.080] I want it and I'm doing it and I'm doing it for me.
[00:42:01.080 --> 00:42:03.160] And I think that that is, that is perfect.
[00:42:03.160 --> 00:42:08.280] And I feel like, I feel like we all probably have something like that in the back of our heads, right?
[00:42:08.280 --> 00:42:14.520] That is like something that we're not doing for ourselves that we need to be doing for ourselves because we just need it.
[00:42:14.520 --> 00:42:26.880] And it's something that like we would totally encourage any of our friends, our business besties, our clients, our employees to even do if they needed to.
[00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:32.480] And so it's like, okay, if we would encourage them to do it, like why can't I take my own advice?
[00:42:32.480 --> 00:42:45.680] You know, and so part of it is like really stepping into my own integrity around like, okay, if I want this to be a way other people are caring for themselves, then it's a way that I need to care for myself as well.
[00:42:46.560 --> 00:42:48.480] Yes, of course.
[00:42:51.040 --> 00:42:54.080] Being boss is about more than taking care of business.
[00:42:54.080 --> 00:42:56.320] It's also about taking care of yourself.
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[00:43:52.640 --> 00:44:01.480] I also do want to point out, you mentioned the fact that, you know, it's easier for you because you do have a business partner, but I also believe that this is completely possible for anyone, even if it's a solo business.
[00:44:01.800 --> 00:44:08.360] I think with the right, you know, sort of prep work, the right planning, the right setting up of systems, all the things, it doesn't matter what you do.
[00:44:08.360 --> 00:44:10.440] You can put the thing on pause.
[00:44:10.440 --> 00:44:14.760] You may have to sacrifice some things along the way or something, but it's possible.
[00:44:14.760 --> 00:44:16.920] People take parental leave all the time.
[00:44:16.920 --> 00:44:17.480] Yeah.
[00:44:17.480 --> 00:44:27.160] You know, like, granted, that is a totally different thing because you are like keeping another human being alive and you absolutely do need to be taking time off of your work to do that.
[00:44:27.160 --> 00:44:40.120] But like, if you can walk away or not walk away, but if you can take time away from your business to birth another human into the world and care for them, like you can take time away from your business to like birth a new you into the world.
[00:44:40.360 --> 00:44:42.200] For literally any other reason.
[00:44:42.200 --> 00:44:42.760] Totally.
[00:44:42.760 --> 00:44:43.720] Literally anything else.
[00:44:43.720 --> 00:44:45.240] Yes, I completely agree with that.
[00:44:45.240 --> 00:44:49.000] I have one I want to add to this because it's kind of a similar thing.
[00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:52.360] We're like, is it necessary?
[00:44:52.360 --> 00:44:54.120] No, but isn't it yes?
[00:44:54.120 --> 00:44:54.360] Right.
[00:44:54.440 --> 00:44:55.720] Like it is for me.
[00:44:56.760 --> 00:45:05.880] About a year and a half ago, I started going to see my massage therapist every other week.
[00:45:05.880 --> 00:45:06.920] Hell yeah.
[00:45:06.920 --> 00:45:07.480] Yeah.
[00:45:07.480 --> 00:45:08.120] Yes, yes.
[00:45:08.120 --> 00:45:09.080] And that was a big one for me.
[00:45:09.080 --> 00:45:10.680] And I'll tell you why it's a big one for me.
[00:45:10.680 --> 00:45:14.600] There's like two reasons, kind of really just one.
[00:45:14.600 --> 00:45:25.080] Whenever I was a teenager and I owned that tanning salon way back in the day, one of my very best clients came in every single week.
[00:45:25.080 --> 00:45:29.000] And she always came in just after her massage.
[00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:31.960] She was an older lady, retired.
[00:45:32.440 --> 00:45:34.360] I don't know if she was a divorcee or not.
[00:45:34.360 --> 00:45:37.080] In my mind, I've always imagined she was.
[00:45:38.360 --> 00:45:46.640] And her like martini drink, yeah, just walking up and with her martini and her fluffy same, like fluffy stiletto, not stilettos, fluffy pumps.
[00:45:44.920 --> 00:45:52.160] Anyway, so she would come in and she would be like, you know, greasy haired from her massage.
[00:45:52.320 --> 00:45:54.400] And she was always such a delight.
[00:45:54.400 --> 00:45:58.800] And it was like, you know, midday Wednesday or something like that every single week.
[00:45:58.800 --> 00:46:01.200] And that just, that was her life.
[00:46:01.200 --> 00:46:05.360] And I remember at that point thinking that is success to me.
[00:46:05.360 --> 00:46:10.640] Like, if you are going to get a massage every week, you have succeeded in life.
[00:46:10.640 --> 00:46:14.800] That was, you know, 18-year-old Emily's idea and not wrong.
[00:46:14.800 --> 00:46:17.040] And so it's been a really big deal for me to do that.
[00:46:17.040 --> 00:46:24.080] It's not every week, but it is every other week because there's like a teenage dream fulfillment happening.
[00:46:24.640 --> 00:46:31.440] But I started, I've always gone semi-regularly, at least once a month, once every other month.
[00:46:31.440 --> 00:46:36.000] I'm like hurting for it if I go more than a quarter without going to get a massage.
[00:46:36.000 --> 00:46:40.320] And I've been like that for probably, you know, five, six, seven, eight years.
[00:46:40.960 --> 00:46:49.440] And I missed it so much during the pandemic so much because I didn't go for about a year and a half.
[00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:54.560] And so I didn't go to the doctor, but I did start going to my massage therapist again.
[00:46:54.880 --> 00:47:01.760] Well, you're, it's like you're using it for preventative medicine, which I agree with so much.
[00:47:01.760 --> 00:47:15.600] Like if, um, for instance, like, you know, at the clinic, we did shut down completely for about two months in the very beginning of the pandemic when we were trying to like get masks and PPE and like all the things that we needed so that we could safely see patients.
[00:47:15.600 --> 00:47:28.080] And, you know, in doing so, when we opened back up, there were some patients that like really were used to coming every week and their progress really backslid.
[00:47:28.080 --> 00:47:43.400] And it's this difference of like, okay, if we show up regularly, we can maintain a specific level of once again, I'm going to use the word health, but you can even say like management of symptoms in more of this like healthcare setting.
[00:47:43.400 --> 00:47:45.880] Like we can manage symptoms in a specific way.
[00:47:45.880 --> 00:47:49.800] Different patients are on different treatment plans and everyone's situation is unique.
[00:47:49.800 --> 00:48:01.240] But like if you're on a specific treatment plan and you need to be coming in every other week to manage your care, to manage your like pain level, and then all of a sudden you go two months without it, you know, like it can be detrimental.
[00:48:01.240 --> 00:48:06.680] And then all of a sudden you've backslid and you need to be coming like once or twice a week just to get back to that level that you were before.
[00:48:06.680 --> 00:48:15.480] So I love what you're saying that you're doing this and it feels maybe like, you know, like teenage Emily is like feeling successful and like luxurious.
[00:48:15.480 --> 00:48:25.800] But in reality, what you're doing is you're actually like helping preventatively things so that you don't have to go back.
[00:48:25.800 --> 00:48:26.520] For sure.
[00:48:26.520 --> 00:48:30.920] And I will say, like when I started, when I started going back, it wasn't even preventative.
[00:48:30.920 --> 00:48:36.280] Like I was a tense ball of like it was weird.
[00:48:36.280 --> 00:48:38.120] It was real weird and not that great.
[00:48:38.120 --> 00:48:44.920] And I remember going back specifically because I had a pain in my neck that was not going, like I couldn't get rid of it by myself.
[00:48:44.920 --> 00:48:51.160] And so going back to my massage therapist and getting back into the routine of it, it did become preventative.
[00:48:51.160 --> 00:48:53.640] It became this thing of like, I'm not stopping now.
[00:48:53.640 --> 00:48:55.640] I saw what happened when I stopped.
[00:48:55.640 --> 00:48:59.640] I'm never going to stop again if I can help it.
[00:48:59.640 --> 00:49:11.080] And then once I started, once things happened last year, with especially my ankle injury at the end of the year last year, it became a necessary part of my recovery.
[00:49:11.080 --> 00:49:15.000] And I remember, you know, talking to her at one point, you know, it had just happened.
[00:49:15.200 --> 00:49:25.840] I come in and my leg is just in, like, I could literally feel tension from my right ankle into the base of my neck, like all the way up my body.
[00:49:26.160 --> 00:49:31.040] And I remember saying, How do people get over anything without you?
[00:49:31.360 --> 00:49:38.160] Like, I don't, I don't understand what healing would look like if I didn't have you like taking care of these things for me.
[00:49:38.160 --> 00:49:41.440] And so baseline now.
[00:49:41.440 --> 00:49:42.000] She is.
[00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:43.920] She is absolutely a part of my baseline.
[00:49:43.920 --> 00:49:48.000] I cannot, um, cannot go back in quite the same way.
[00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:50.640] I don't always, it's not always every other week.
[00:49:50.640 --> 00:49:53.840] Sometimes it's weekly, sometimes a little bit less, but it is constant.
[00:49:53.840 --> 00:49:58.160] And I have things booked out for like the next six months because I can't imagine.
[00:49:58.160 --> 00:50:25.440] And so that one has become, that one has become that like seemingly frivolous extra that I have recognized is just a part of what I need in order to sit at this computer all day and/or deal with all of the weight on my shoulders because I do energetically hold it right here at my shoulders and all the other things that I have to do to keep two companies running.
[00:50:25.440 --> 00:50:36.480] So that's one of mine is I now invest more intentionally than ever before in that level of my health care.
[00:50:36.480 --> 00:50:39.040] And I don't ever want to have to go back.
[00:50:39.040 --> 00:50:39.600] Okay.
[00:50:40.880 --> 00:50:43.040] I'm over here like giving you some applause.
[00:50:43.360 --> 00:50:44.480] Some air claps.
[00:50:44.480 --> 00:50:45.120] Love it.
[00:50:45.120 --> 00:50:45.760] Love it.
[00:50:45.760 --> 00:50:46.400] Okay.
[00:50:46.400 --> 00:50:48.160] What else do you have?
[00:50:48.520 --> 00:50:51.680] Um, what are some other things that I'm doing?
[00:50:54.080 --> 00:50:58.720] I mean, similar to you, I definitely have certain appointments that like I do not miss.
[00:50:58.720 --> 00:51:02.600] Like, I get my acupuncture every single week or every other week.
[00:51:02.760 --> 00:51:07.720] I definitely go have seasons where I don't go as regularly, but like right now, I absolutely am.
[00:51:07.720 --> 00:51:12.120] I was doing it before the surgery, and I'm doing it as part of my surgical recovery.
[00:51:12.120 --> 00:51:23.880] Um, I also was doing weekly breath work with, you know, I'm a breath work facilitator, I have clients that I work with, but just because I'm a facilitator doesn't mean that I don't need space help for me as well.
[00:51:23.880 --> 00:51:27.720] So, like, I have people that I work with for my own practice.
[00:51:27.720 --> 00:51:32.280] Um, and obviously, this was like a big thing emotionally to work through as well.
[00:51:32.280 --> 00:51:37.880] Like, you know, cancer is a big charged word that like feels really big in the body.
[00:51:37.880 --> 00:51:49.240] Um, and there's a lot of um there's a lot of stuff that came up with it around, like, okay, who am I like helping other people with their health when like this sort of thing happens to me?
[00:51:49.240 --> 00:51:55.640] And like, obviously, that's not a rational thought, but it's like the sort of irrational thoughts that your brain invites you into.
[00:51:55.640 --> 00:52:00.680] Um, and the way that I work through all of that is through breath work because it's like a type of therapy for me.
[00:52:00.680 --> 00:52:05.480] So, that's um, that's something that I do really, really regularly.
[00:52:05.480 --> 00:52:13.640] And then, the other thing for me that is like a non-negotiable is being outside in nature.
[00:52:13.640 --> 00:52:27.560] And so, for me, that's one of those really simple things because I think sometimes people worry that self-care is expensive or hard to access in different ways.
[00:52:27.560 --> 00:52:33.480] And I'm not going to say that, like, nature isn't hard to access if you like live in the middle of New York City or something like that.
[00:52:33.440 --> 00:52:55.680] Like, like yes, nature can be really hard to access, but I think that we all have different self-care preferences that can be free, that can be easily accessible, that don't even necessarily have to take a lot of time because we can think of access as more than just financial access as well.
[00:52:55.680 --> 00:52:59.040] And so for me, it's being in nature.
[00:52:59.040 --> 00:53:01.040] And ideally, I would do it every day.
[00:53:01.040 --> 00:53:07.920] You know, in the winter in Minnesota, that doesn't really happen, but at least a couple of times a week, we'll take the dog to the dog park.
[00:53:07.920 --> 00:53:12.080] It's down on the Mississippi River on the bluffs, and we'll like walk around down there.
[00:53:12.080 --> 00:53:17.760] And there's like the Mississippi River and the bald eagles overhead and all the dogs running around and playing.
[00:53:17.760 --> 00:53:20.240] And it's like totally my happy place.
[00:53:20.560 --> 00:53:27.120] And then in the summertime, I'm we're like going camping, you know, I'm walking the dog just in the neighborhood a lot.
[00:53:27.120 --> 00:53:31.920] We're, you know, exploring, you know, state parks, things like that.
[00:53:32.240 --> 00:53:41.600] And then, of course, I go to California every year in the wintertime because I need some vitamin D like on my body immediately and can only handle so much in Minnesota winter.
[00:53:41.600 --> 00:53:44.560] And so then I go to where the palm trees are.
[00:53:44.880 --> 00:53:47.760] But so nature for me, I think is just like the biggest one.
[00:53:47.760 --> 00:54:12.640] And so, you know, when I'm here working from home on the days that I do that, you know, I really make it a point to have some buffer space in between any like Zoom meetings or any things on my calendar so that I can go for a walk after lunch, even if it's only like, you know, a 15-minute walk around the park that's near my house or something like that.
[00:54:12.640 --> 00:54:14.480] But that's like really important to me.
[00:54:14.480 --> 00:54:16.800] I can't just be at my computer from like nine to five.
[00:54:16.800 --> 00:54:20.480] That's like not going to work for my brain or even for my body.
[00:54:20.520 --> 00:54:22.560] Um, so those are things for me.
[00:54:22.560 --> 00:54:23.120] Yeah.
[00:54:23.120 --> 00:54:25.120] I love that you took it free.
[00:54:25.160 --> 00:54:44.840] Um, and I love that yours is nature because, yes, I've done a lot of research on the effects of nature on your health and literally just like being amongst trees, feet on the ground, like some of those things, it will lower your heart rate, it'll increase the like oxygen to your brain, it does really great things for your mental health.
[00:54:44.840 --> 00:54:52.200] Like, that is something that is really important, both for you, but also for everyone.
[00:54:52.360 --> 00:54:54.120] The more you can do that, the better.
[00:54:54.120 --> 00:54:56.760] And for the most part, free.
[00:54:56.920 --> 00:55:04.440] Mine is also a free one, and this is one that I've shared here before as like a favorite tactic for just like just like chilling out.
[00:55:04.440 --> 00:55:09.160] It's something that I started doing a couple of years ago during the like winter holidays.
[00:55:09.160 --> 00:55:15.160] You know, and any boss who takes a vacation can probably attest to how hard it is to just downshift, right?
[00:55:15.160 --> 00:55:23.240] To like, once you're once you take a vacation, once you're taking any time off, I find it usually takes three or four days for me to stop walking around the house going, What can I do next?
[00:55:23.560 --> 00:55:24.120] Don't I?
[00:55:24.200 --> 00:55:25.240] You know, right?
[00:55:25.240 --> 00:55:36.680] We're just like in this mode of like, I have to keep accomplishing things and like and downshifting is literally a three or four day like timeframe for me to get to a place where like, oh, I can just sit here and be here.
[00:55:36.680 --> 00:55:41.400] So, a couple of years ago during the holidays, I started doing this and I've shared it here.
[00:55:41.400 --> 00:55:49.240] And then it's actually become a part of my like regular healthcare practice on two fronts.
[00:55:49.240 --> 00:55:55.160] Um, and that is just staring out the window, yeah, right?
[00:55:55.160 --> 00:55:58.200] Nice and cozy on my couch or literally in my bed.
[00:55:58.200 --> 00:56:00.680] Um, and it's something that like it is a practice that I do.
[00:56:00.680 --> 00:56:01.960] I try to do it at least once a week.
[00:56:01.960 --> 00:56:03.960] It's usually a weekend activity.
[00:56:03.960 --> 00:56:10.280] Um, there is a like aloneness that I like to have whenever I'm doing it, so it's like quiet alone time.
[00:56:10.280 --> 00:56:17.760] Um, usually laying in the bed, and I like to lay in my bed and do it because I have a view of some like far-off mountains out my bedroom window.
[00:56:18.080 --> 00:56:21.520] So one side of this is literally like eye health, right?
[00:56:21.520 --> 00:56:31.040] There is something like whenever you are just like looking at your phone or looking at your computer, you are training the muscles in your eyes to really only be able to do one thing, right?
[00:56:31.040 --> 00:56:33.520] And that's like look at things really close to you.
[00:56:33.520 --> 00:56:39.200] It's really important for your eye health for you to focus on things that are really far away.
[00:56:39.200 --> 00:56:50.480] And because we don't do that on the regular, we like lose some of our ability to see because we train our eyes to not be able to see in that way.
[00:56:50.480 --> 00:56:53.120] So that when we need to, it's a little more difficult for them.
[00:56:53.120 --> 00:56:57.280] So I'm literally doing it to train my eyes because I know that that's an important thing.
[00:56:57.280 --> 00:57:03.120] I'm like staring far in the distance and trying to like make out all those little houses on the mountains and things like that.
[00:57:03.120 --> 00:57:07.920] And then I'm also doing it for mental health stuff.
[00:57:08.480 --> 00:57:18.000] Just getting quiet, giving myself space to just breathe and not do, which as a busy boss, I can't be lazy.
[00:57:18.000 --> 00:57:19.440] I don't watch television.
[00:57:19.440 --> 00:57:21.920] That is not who I am in general.
[00:57:21.920 --> 00:57:24.720] So I have to very intentionally do that.
[00:57:24.720 --> 00:57:28.160] And it doubles as an eye exercise while I'm at it.
[00:57:28.160 --> 00:57:29.520] I love that.
[00:57:30.400 --> 00:57:33.840] I have one last thing that I want to share that I think is actually really important.
[00:57:33.840 --> 00:57:36.160] So I'm going to like get on a soapbox for a minute.
[00:57:36.320 --> 00:57:37.760] Oh boy.
[00:57:38.080 --> 00:57:38.880] And that's this.
[00:57:38.880 --> 00:57:48.400] Like, I think it's so important, whether you are a solo business owner yourself or you have a team that you have sick pay for yourself.
[00:57:48.400 --> 00:57:57.280] So, what I mean by that is like, if you have a team, that you actually pay them sick time, that they can accrue it in whatever way you want to have it, or they can front load it.
[00:57:57.280 --> 00:58:05.160] There's all different ways, a lot of different cities or municipalities have different legal laws around it, depending upon the size of the team.
[00:57:59.680 --> 00:58:07.080] So, obviously, check into that as well.
[00:58:07.400 --> 00:58:17.640] But also, if you're a solo business owner, like have money set aside that is legitimately only purpose is for paying you for sick time.
[00:58:17.640 --> 00:58:32.600] Because if you, once again, when we go back to this idea that we can only really receive self-care when we have this base level of safety and security, oftentimes in entrepreneurs, the first thing for that is like money, like financial safety and security.
[00:58:32.600 --> 00:58:46.520] And if we feel like, oh, well, I can't take today off, I can't cancel this meeting with somebody, I can't cancel this appointment because I really need that income today, like that's not actually like helpful for you or your own health.
[00:58:46.520 --> 00:58:52.600] And so, if you have money set aside for sick pay for yourself, that's a total game changer.
[00:58:52.920 --> 00:58:58.600] You know, I know you're you're a fan of Profit First, and I'm a fan of Profit First as well.
[00:58:58.600 --> 00:59:04.840] And like, one of my Profit First accounts is basically like for sick pay for myself.
[00:59:04.840 --> 00:59:12.040] Like, it's partly how I'm able to like take sabbatical because, like, I have money set aside to pay myself when I'm taking time off.
[00:59:12.360 --> 00:59:13.960] Nice, nice, yes.
[00:59:13.960 --> 00:59:21.320] Setting up, it's funny, we all create these businesses to support us, and then we don't actually set up the processes totally support us.
[00:59:21.320 --> 00:59:26.200] And that is a great example of one that literally is just there to support us.
[00:59:26.200 --> 00:59:29.000] Yeah, yeah, that's great, perfect.
[00:59:29.000 --> 00:59:48.720] Okay, then I hope that you all can see some opportunities, perhaps, for you to take better care of your health, whether you are doing just fine or if you have, or if you have personal difficulties that you are working through in order to show up and do the work that you're doing.
[00:59:44.920 --> 00:59:50.320] It's all important.
[00:59:50.640 --> 00:59:56.720] It's all important for you to be fulfilling, you know, the purpose of doing all this in the first place.
[00:59:56.720 --> 00:59:59.760] And that is for you to live a life that you want.
[00:59:59.760 --> 01:00:04.480] And when we sacrifice too much of ourselves for that, what's the point?
[01:00:04.480 --> 01:00:05.600] Exactly.
[01:00:05.680 --> 01:00:06.160] Love it.
[01:00:06.160 --> 01:00:15.840] Okay, if we could give everyone one thing that they can do today to make some forward motion for their care, whatever that could look like, what would it be?
[01:00:16.160 --> 01:00:17.520] Ooh, good question.
[01:00:18.800 --> 01:00:26.720] You know, I would say just to start by like defining what makes them feel cared for.
[01:00:26.720 --> 01:00:36.960] Because I think so often, you know, like you scroll Instagram and you look at like the self-care hashtags and there's like all these different things like take a bubble bath or go get acupuncture or like do this, do that, do this, whatever.
[01:00:36.960 --> 01:00:39.200] And it's like, okay, those are all fine and well.
[01:00:39.200 --> 01:00:49.760] But I think the real, once we go back to this definition of self-care is like what makes you feel cared for, like ask yourself, what makes me feel cared for?
[01:00:49.760 --> 01:00:57.520] And then really explore different ways that you can offer that to yourself as a form of self-care.
[01:00:58.080 --> 01:00:58.880] Lovely.
[01:00:58.880 --> 01:00:59.760] Okay, I'm going to give one.
[01:00:59.760 --> 01:01:01.520] So everyone's going to have two.
[01:01:02.160 --> 01:01:03.280] How about that?
[01:01:03.280 --> 01:01:03.680] Sorry.
[01:01:03.760 --> 01:01:04.800] So not sorry.
[01:01:04.960 --> 01:01:06.880] Mine is make the appointment.
[01:01:06.880 --> 01:01:08.640] And you know which one.
[01:01:08.960 --> 01:01:11.200] Everyone is, everyone's like, oh, that one.
[01:01:11.200 --> 01:01:11.680] Okay.
[01:01:11.680 --> 01:01:13.280] Just make the appointment.
[01:01:13.280 --> 01:01:13.920] Yeah.
[01:01:13.920 --> 01:01:15.440] Whatever it may be.
[01:01:15.440 --> 01:01:18.240] And go see what happens for better or worse.
[01:01:18.480 --> 01:01:19.680] Amy, this has been a treat.
[01:01:19.680 --> 01:01:21.200] Thanks so much for coming to hang out with me.
[01:01:21.200 --> 01:01:24.560] Where can folks find more about you and what you do?
[01:01:24.560 --> 01:01:27.600] You can find me online at amykoretzky.com.
[01:01:27.600 --> 01:01:37.080] And if you like podcasts, which I'm guessing you do, look me up at Breathe Into Business and we're on all the major podcast apps.
[01:01:3

Prompt 2: Key Takeaways

Now please extract the key takeaways from the transcript content I provided.

Extract the most important key takeaways from this part of the conversation. Use a single sentence statement (the key takeaway) rather than milquetoast descriptions like "the hosts discuss...". 

Limit the key takeaways to a maximum of 3. The key takeaways should be insightful and knowledge-additive. 

IMPORTANT: Return ONLY valid JSON, no explanations or markdown. Ensure:
- All strings are properly quoted and escaped
- No trailing commas
- All braces and brackets are balanced
Format: {"key_takeaways": ["takeaway 1", "takeaway 2"]}

Prompt 3: Segments

Now identify 2-4 distinct topical segments from this part of the conversation.

For each segment, identify:
- Descriptive title (3-6 words)  
- START timestamp when this topic begins (HH:MM:SS format)
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Most important Key takeaway from that segment. Key takeaway must be specific and knowledge-additive.
- Brief summary of the discussion

IMPORTANT: The timestamp should mark when the topic/segment STARTS, not a range. Look for topic transitions and conversation shifts.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted, no trailing commas:
{
  "segments": [
    {
      "segment_title": "Topic Discussion", 
      "timestamp": "01:15:30",
      "key_takeaway": "main point from this segment",
      "segment_summary": "brief description of what was discussed"
    }
  ]
}

Timestamp format: HH:MM:SS (e.g., 00:05:30, 01:22:45) marking the START of each segment.

Prompt 4: Media Mentions

Now scan the transcript content I provided for ACTUAL mentions of specific media titles:

Find explicit mentions of:
- Books (with specific titles)
- Movies (with specific titles)  
- TV Shows (with specific titles)
- Music/Songs (with specific titles)

DO NOT include:
- Websites, URLs, or web services
- Other podcasts or podcast names

IMPORTANT: 
- Only include items explicitly mentioned by name. Do not invent titles.
- Valid categories are: "Book", "Movie", "TV Show", "Music"
- Include the exact phrase where each item was mentioned
- Find the nearest proximate timestamp where it appears in the conversation
- THE TIMESTAMP OF THE MEDIA MENTION IS IMPORTANT - DO NOT INVENT TIMESTAMPS AND DO NOT MISATTRIBUTE TIMESTAMPS
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Timestamps are given as ranges, e.g. 01:13:42.520 --> 01:13:46.720. Use the EARLIER of the 2 timestamps in the range.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted and escaped, no trailing commas:
{
  "media_mentions": [
    {
      "title": "Exact Title as Mentioned",
      "category": "Book",
      "author_artist": "N/A",
      "context": "Brief context of why it was mentioned",
      "context_phrase": "The exact sentence or phrase where it was mentioned",
      "timestamp": "estimated time like 01:15:30"
    }
  ]
}

If no media is mentioned, return: {"media_mentions": []}

Prompt 5: Context Setup

You are an expert data extractor tasked with analyzing a podcast transcript. 
I will provide you with part 2 of 2 from a podcast transcript. 
I will then ask you to extract different types of information from this content in subsequent messages. Please confirm you have received and understood the transcript content.

Transcript section:
1:00:26.720] You know, I would say just to start by like defining what makes them feel cared for.
[01:00:26.720 --> 01:00:36.960] Because I think so often, you know, like you scroll Instagram and you look at like the self-care hashtags and there's like all these different things like take a bubble bath or go get acupuncture or like do this, do that, do this, whatever.
[01:00:36.960 --> 01:00:39.200] And it's like, okay, those are all fine and well.
[01:00:39.200 --> 01:00:49.760] But I think the real, once we go back to this definition of self-care is like what makes you feel cared for, like ask yourself, what makes me feel cared for?
[01:00:49.760 --> 01:00:57.520] And then really explore different ways that you can offer that to yourself as a form of self-care.
[01:00:58.080 --> 01:00:58.880] Lovely.
[01:00:58.880 --> 01:00:59.760] Okay, I'm going to give one.
[01:00:59.760 --> 01:01:01.520] So everyone's going to have two.
[01:01:02.160 --> 01:01:03.280] How about that?
[01:01:03.280 --> 01:01:03.680] Sorry.
[01:01:03.760 --> 01:01:04.800] So not sorry.
[01:01:04.960 --> 01:01:06.880] Mine is make the appointment.
[01:01:06.880 --> 01:01:08.640] And you know which one.
[01:01:08.960 --> 01:01:11.200] Everyone is, everyone's like, oh, that one.
[01:01:11.200 --> 01:01:11.680] Okay.
[01:01:11.680 --> 01:01:13.280] Just make the appointment.
[01:01:13.280 --> 01:01:13.920] Yeah.
[01:01:13.920 --> 01:01:15.440] Whatever it may be.
[01:01:15.440 --> 01:01:18.240] And go see what happens for better or worse.
[01:01:18.480 --> 01:01:19.680] Amy, this has been a treat.
[01:01:19.680 --> 01:01:21.200] Thanks so much for coming to hang out with me.
[01:01:21.200 --> 01:01:24.560] Where can folks find more about you and what you do?
[01:01:24.560 --> 01:01:27.600] You can find me online at amykoretzky.com.
[01:01:27.600 --> 01:01:37.080] And if you like podcasts, which I'm guessing you do, look me up at Breathe Into Business and we're on all the major podcast apps.
[01:01:37.400 --> 01:01:38.040] Nice.
[01:01:38.040 --> 01:01:41.400] And final question: what's making you feel most boss?
[01:01:42.040 --> 01:01:44.440] That I'm about to take a six-month sabbatical from work.
[01:01:44.840 --> 01:01:47.960] That's the most, that's the most boss.
[01:01:47.960 --> 01:01:49.000] Absolutely.
[01:01:49.000 --> 01:01:51.240] I hope you have the best time.
[01:01:51.240 --> 01:01:53.000] Thank you so much.
[01:01:54.840 --> 01:02:05.640] Settling yourself into the flow of your business from navigating a whole year of ebbs and flows to embracing the energy of each and every day, you're bound to have some ups and downs along the way.
[01:02:05.640 --> 01:02:11.080] For me, this journey of entrepreneurship is made better when my space keeps me focused and inspired.
[01:02:11.080 --> 01:02:20.280] As an example, my favorite way to mark the beginning and ending of the workday is to light a candle when I sit down at my desk and then blow it out when I'm done for the day.
[01:02:20.280 --> 01:02:25.880] It's a little ritual that creates boundaries and a vibe that keeps me focused and feeling cozy.
[01:02:25.880 --> 01:02:28.680] And the ritual candle that we make at Almanac Supply Co.
[01:02:28.680 --> 01:02:30.440] is my favorite for this.
[01:02:30.440 --> 01:02:44.680] In fact, my whole shop is filled with items that I've curated to create the vibe for feeling connected, in flow, and inspired with candles, crystals, and other goodies to help you create a dreamy workspace, bedside table, or bookshelf.
[01:02:44.680 --> 01:02:56.120] Come gather inspiration and check out my favorite in-stock items at almanacsupplyco.com/slash beingboss and get 15% off with code beingboss at checkout.
[01:02:56.120 --> 01:03:00.280] That's almanacsupplycode.com/slash beingboss.
[01:03:00.600 --> 01:03:04.600] Now, until next time, do the work, be boss.

Prompt 6: Key Takeaways

Now please extract the key takeaways from the transcript content I provided.

Extract the most important key takeaways from this part of the conversation. Use a single sentence statement (the key takeaway) rather than milquetoast descriptions like "the hosts discuss...". 

Limit the key takeaways to a maximum of 3. The key takeaways should be insightful and knowledge-additive. 

IMPORTANT: Return ONLY valid JSON, no explanations or markdown. Ensure:
- All strings are properly quoted and escaped
- No trailing commas
- All braces and brackets are balanced
Format: {"key_takeaways": ["takeaway 1", "takeaway 2"]}

Prompt 7: Segments

Now identify 2-4 distinct topical segments from this part of the conversation.

For each segment, identify:
- Descriptive title (3-6 words)  
- START timestamp when this topic begins (HH:MM:SS format)
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Most important Key takeaway from that segment. Key takeaway must be specific and knowledge-additive.
- Brief summary of the discussion

IMPORTANT: The timestamp should mark when the topic/segment STARTS, not a range. Look for topic transitions and conversation shifts.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted, no trailing commas:
{
  "segments": [
    {
      "segment_title": "Topic Discussion", 
      "timestamp": "01:15:30",
      "key_takeaway": "main point from this segment",
      "segment_summary": "brief description of what was discussed"
    }
  ]
}

Timestamp format: HH:MM:SS (e.g., 00:05:30, 01:22:45) marking the START of each segment.

Prompt 8: Media Mentions

Now scan the transcript content I provided for ACTUAL mentions of specific media titles:

Find explicit mentions of:
- Books (with specific titles)
- Movies (with specific titles)  
- TV Shows (with specific titles)
- Music/Songs (with specific titles)

DO NOT include:
- Websites, URLs, or web services
- Other podcasts or podcast names

IMPORTANT: 
- Only include items explicitly mentioned by name. Do not invent titles.
- Valid categories are: "Book", "Movie", "TV Show", "Music"
- Include the exact phrase where each item was mentioned
- Find the nearest proximate timestamp where it appears in the conversation
- THE TIMESTAMP OF THE MEDIA MENTION IS IMPORTANT - DO NOT INVENT TIMESTAMPS AND DO NOT MISATTRIBUTE TIMESTAMPS
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Timestamps are given as ranges, e.g. 01:13:42.520 --> 01:13:46.720. Use the EARLIER of the 2 timestamps in the range.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted and escaped, no trailing commas:
{
  "media_mentions": [
    {
      "title": "Exact Title as Mentioned",
      "category": "Book",
      "author_artist": "N/A",
      "context": "Brief context of why it was mentioned",
      "context_phrase": "The exact sentence or phrase where it was mentioned",
      "timestamp": "estimated time like 01:15:30"
    }
  ]
}

If no media is mentioned, return: {"media_mentions": []}

Full Transcript

[00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:07.360] Look, payday is awesome, but running payroll, calculating taxes and deductions, staying compliant, that's not easy.
[00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:09.360] Unless, of course, you have Gusto.
[00:00:09.360 --> 00:00:14.400] Gusto is a simple online payroll and benefits tool built for small businesses like yours.
[00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:18.400] Gusto gets your team paid while automatically filing your payroll taxes.
[00:00:18.400 --> 00:00:25.600] Plus, you can offer benefits like 401k, health insurance, and workers' comp, and it makes onboarding new employees a breeze.
[00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:28.320] We love it so much, we really do use it ourselves.
[00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:34.800] And we have four years, and I personally recommend you give it a try, no matter how small your business is.
[00:00:34.800 --> 00:00:38.880] And to sweeten the deal, just for listening today, you also get three months free.
[00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:41.360] Go to gusto.com slash beingboss.
[00:00:41.360 --> 00:00:45.040] That's gusto.com/slash beingboss.
[00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:54.160] Welcome to Being Boss, a podcast for creatives, business owners, and entrepreneurs who want to take control of their work and live life on their own terms.
[00:00:54.160 --> 00:01:04.080] I'm your host, Emily Thompson, and in this episode, I'm joined by my friend Amy Koretzky to talk about prioritizing and taking care of your health care as an entrepreneur.
[00:01:04.080 --> 00:01:09.600] You can find all the tools, books, and links we reference on the show notes at www.beingboss.club.
[00:01:09.600 --> 00:01:14.560] And if you like this episode, be sure to subscribe to this show and share us with a friend.
[00:01:17.440 --> 00:01:26.240] It's no secret that I have a soft spot for product bosses, those of you who embark on a business journey that includes making or curating physical products.
[00:01:26.240 --> 00:01:42.320] And even if that's not the journey you've chosen for yourself, there's amazing lessons to be learned for all kinds of businesses from the world of product business, which is why you need to check out the Product Boss, a podcast hosted by Jacqueline Snyder and Minna Kunlo-Sitab.
[00:01:42.320 --> 00:01:47.680] Brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.
[00:01:47.680 --> 00:02:01.960] Take your physical product sales and strategy to the next level to create your dream life with hosts Jacqueline and Mina as they deliver a workshop-style strategy hour of social media and marketing strategies so you can up-level your business.
[00:01:59.600 --> 00:02:05.560] Listen to the product boss wherever you get your podcasts.
[00:02:08.040 --> 00:02:15.000] Amy Koretsky is a breathwork facilitator and business coach working on Dakota and Anishinaabe ancestral land.
[00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:24.840] Her work is focused on helping successful businesses tap into their intuition, trust themselves more, and do business differently so they can fall back in love with their work.
[00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:32.520] She uses the breath as a tool for healing and business building and has led online and in-person breathwork groups all over the world.
[00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:43.560] In 2020, she organized with a group of other breathwork facilitators for more anti-oppression and trauma-informed training as part of the Breath Work for the People collective.
[00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:55.320] Along with her coaching business, she also has a background in acupuncture and Chinese medicine and co-owns Constellation Acupuncture and Healing Arts, a healing space in Northeast Minneapolis.
[00:02:55.320 --> 00:03:02.040] Amy has previously been on this show in episodes number 77 and 271.
[00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:03.480] Hi, Amy.
[00:03:03.480 --> 00:03:05.400] Welcome back to Being Boss.
[00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:06.200] Hi, Emily.
[00:03:06.200 --> 00:03:07.320] It's good to be here.
[00:03:07.320 --> 00:03:09.880] It's good to see your smiling face.
[00:03:10.200 --> 00:03:10.840] I know.
[00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:11.480] I love it.
[00:03:11.480 --> 00:03:14.520] It's been a while, and so it feels really nice to see you.
[00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:16.520] Yeah, agreed, agreed, agreed.
[00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:20.040] I usually when I'm bringing someone, I always do this.
[00:03:20.040 --> 00:03:29.800] Anytime I'm bringing someone back on, I go back and see when the last time I talked to you was, and I cannot believe that it was October of 2021.
[00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:31.480] Yeah, that's wild.
[00:03:31.480 --> 00:03:32.520] Isn't it?
[00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:38.040] I feel like we've seen each other since then because I did that group for the clubhouse.
[00:03:38.040 --> 00:03:40.840] But yeah, we haven't in this capacity since then.
[00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:42.520] So it's been like a year and a half almost.
[00:03:42.760 --> 00:03:43.560] Wild to me.
[00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:46.560] I'm like, I every day, what is time?
[00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:48.320] Time has gotten so weird.
[00:03:48.640 --> 00:03:50.000] I was blown away by that.
[00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:54.560] So it has been a year, almost a year and a half since you were on the show, which is just crazy.
[00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:58.720] Actually, by the time this goes live, it probably will be right about a year and a half.
[00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:00.720] Let's start with an update.
[00:04:00.720 --> 00:04:02.000] What have you been up to?
[00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:03.360] How are you doing?
[00:04:04.880 --> 00:04:07.280] Yeah, let us know what's been happening.
[00:04:07.600 --> 00:04:12.160] So the last time I was on the show, I think we had just moved the clinic.
[00:04:12.160 --> 00:04:15.360] So for those of you who don't know, I run two businesses.
[00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:21.840] One of them is that I co-own an acupuncture and massage and healing space here in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
[00:04:21.840 --> 00:04:36.000] And we had moved from our smaller location that we had been in for four to seven years, if you want to think about it being just my own business or when I merged it with another person, to our new space, which was like three times the size.
[00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:38.240] And we like tripled the size of our team.
[00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:41.280] And we, I think we had just done that when I talked to you last.
[00:04:41.280 --> 00:04:49.520] And so this last year and a half has been like the growing pain that happens when you triple the size of your business.
[00:04:49.520 --> 00:04:56.560] And it has been really high highs, a couple of really low lows, some things in between.
[00:04:57.200 --> 00:05:02.560] But it has been really good and feels like we're in a much more stable place right now.
[00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:10.880] And then in my own personal business, which is, you know, breath work and mentorship for business owners, it's been just like real nice and smooth.
[00:05:10.880 --> 00:05:16.800] I'll say that just in the last couple of months, I started doing in-person groups again, which I really miss.
[00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:17.600] Nice.
[00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:29.200] You know, like that's a big part of why I love doing breath work, is like, breathing in circle with other people and holding that space for them, like in person, not just over a computer screen.
[00:05:29.200 --> 00:05:34.040] And so, you know, at the beginning of the pandemic, that was just not an available option anymore.
[00:05:34.280 --> 00:05:38.920] And so this summer and now into the winter, we started doing that again.
[00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:44.200] I got flown out to Arizona to lead it for a women's retreat out there, and that was really beautiful.
[00:05:44.200 --> 00:05:58.520] And I've been doing some groups at the new clinic space because a couple of our treatment rooms are gigantic, and you can like sardine in like 12 yoga mats into one of the rooms and just like squish people in there and have a group.
[00:05:58.520 --> 00:06:01.640] And we've just been having a great time doing all of that.
[00:06:02.280 --> 00:06:13.000] And then lastly, I relaunched my podcast, which some people listening might have recognized it as Health Fuels Hustle, but now it's called Breathe into Business.
[00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:15.640] And so I've been spending time doing that.
[00:06:15.640 --> 00:06:19.320] So those are all the businessy things that I've been doing.
[00:06:19.640 --> 00:06:20.600] That's amazing.
[00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:21.320] I love that.
[00:06:21.320 --> 00:06:26.680] I love that you mentioned this growing pains thing because that is such a real, real thing.
[00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:35.800] And whenever you do make really big moves in your business, there's always this idea that, like, you know, sort of reach this milestone and like high fives and wins.
[00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:44.840] And yes, you definitely get those, but like, there's a lot that you have to do in and to your business whenever you make really big moves like that.
[00:06:44.840 --> 00:06:46.120] So growing pains are real.
[00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:47.240] I'm glad you brought those up.
[00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:49.400] It's not all sunshine and rainbows, though.
[00:06:49.400 --> 00:06:52.360] There are definitely some sunshines and rainbows along.
[00:06:52.440 --> 00:06:52.680] Yeah.
[00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:57.400] I mean, you figure out what systems are going to break when you triple the size of your business, right?
[00:06:57.400 --> 00:06:58.440] Absolutely.
[00:06:58.440 --> 00:07:02.520] You see which systems are good to go and which ones need a little work.
[00:07:02.520 --> 00:07:04.120] Yeah, for sure, for sure.
[00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:04.360] Okay.
[00:07:04.360 --> 00:07:07.640] And then, and then and then personally, anything, anything you want to share?
[00:07:07.640 --> 00:07:12.600] Like, you're not in Palm Springs right now, which I kind of expected you to be.
[00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:13.800] Okay, good.
[00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:15.360] I'll be there very soon.
[00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:16.960] I'm like, less than 30 days.
[00:07:14.760 --> 00:07:21.680] It's like the countdown is on less than 30 days, I'll be in the sunny California weather.
[00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:31.120] Um, but no, I am still in Minnesota right now, and it's it's actually uh blizzarding outside right now, so it's just like a blanket of snow outside.
[00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:41.360] Um, but it's actually funny when I received your email like a couple weeks ago wanting to bring me back on and talk about health and self-care and business ownership and everything.
[00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:47.200] And I was like, hmm, you know, I know that Emily's intuitive, but like, wow, her timing is quite apt right now.
[00:07:47.200 --> 00:07:59.680] Because about a month or so ago, I actually had a really big kind of shock to my system because I, in the span of one week, I got diagnosed with a second autoimmune disease.
[00:07:59.840 --> 00:08:07.200] Some of you might know that I've long lived with Crohn's disease, which is an autoimmune disease, but I got diagnosed with a second autoimmune disease.
[00:08:07.200 --> 00:08:13.760] And in the same week, I got diagnosed with melanoma, skin cancer, which was just kind of a huge shock to my system.
[00:08:13.760 --> 00:08:17.280] And I'm incredibly grateful that it was caught very early.
[00:08:17.280 --> 00:08:23.440] Everybody, go out and get your moles checked every single year because you've got to catch it early.
[00:08:23.440 --> 00:08:36.000] But so, I've actually, over the last week, been on a bit of a little health reset because I just had surgery this week to remove the cancerous tissue.
[00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.960] And so, I've just been resting at home for the last couple days before I go back to work next week.
[00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:42.480] I am in tune.
[00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:45.360] You really are.
[00:08:45.680 --> 00:08:49.760] No, no, I think that's just, that is so unfortunate.
[00:08:49.760 --> 00:08:51.520] I'm so sorry to hear those things.
[00:08:51.520 --> 00:08:57.360] I know that, you know, the Crohn's disease itself was not your favorite part of your life.
[00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:06.920] And so, to add another thing on top of that, and now melanoma, yes, every, I need to now call my dermatologist and definitely an appointment.
[00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:23.000] I very much so appreciate you sharing those things because as I was writing up the agenda or like my questions for you, I was thinking like self-care, healthcare, like, and not to like poo-boo on the topic because very important.
[00:09:23.560 --> 00:09:28.120] But, you know, we said it before, I just like to do reminders a whole lot.
[00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:34.520] But I have also had like probably the worst year for my personal health as well in a couple of different ways.
[00:09:34.520 --> 00:09:39.880] And it was something that I wanted to talk about whenever you came back and said that, said that you were dealing with your own things.
[00:09:39.880 --> 00:09:46.360] I thought, you know, this gives us the opportunity to do something really different with this episode.
[00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:55.960] Instead of doing some, you know, sort of surface level, and though it's very important, not to diminish its importance at all, but instead of sort of surface level self-care, healthcare, what's the difference?
[00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:57.720] What can we be doing as business owners?
[00:09:57.720 --> 00:09:58.760] All these things.
[00:09:58.760 --> 00:10:08.360] I think it's a really great opportunity to give us or a really great opportunity for us to do some deep health care and self-care things.
[00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:19.560] Like, what does it look like to really have to put your health at the forefront of all of your decision making and what it is that you're doing on, you know, an ongoing basis?
[00:10:19.560 --> 00:10:28.280] Because that is a different conversation from just, you know, getting up from your computer chair every 45 minutes for a quick little walk.
[00:10:28.280 --> 00:10:33.960] Like, what does it look like to really have to stop and take care of yourself?
[00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:37.320] So, an awful thing.
[00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:46.000] I'm very sad to hear all that, but it does give us an opportunity to dive a little deeper in on this in a way that I don't think we would have otherwise.
[00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:47.360] So, thanks for that.
[00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:51.120] Of course, happy to bring this forward.
[00:10:52.560 --> 00:10:54.560] But, you know, you're so true.
[00:10:54.560 --> 00:11:00.960] If you think about, yeah, okay, over the last couple of years, we have all been through the ringer in different ways.
[00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:07.920] Like, we are all bone tired and like burnt out in different ways from the pandemic.
[00:11:07.920 --> 00:11:13.280] Maybe not from our work per se, but just from everything that we have all experienced over the last couple of years.
[00:11:13.280 --> 00:11:17.680] And that has taken a true physical toll on many of our health.
[00:11:17.680 --> 00:11:30.240] Whether it's we had, you know, chronic disease before the pandemic that worsened, maybe people out there who are listening are dealing with the effects of long COVID, which are like really real.
[00:11:30.400 --> 00:11:41.200] Like, I have so many patients in my clinic, and my employees also have seen so many patients in the clinic who are dealing with some really significant challenges from the effects of long COVID.
[00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:53.920] And then all the new things, like, like, imagine if this mole had shown up like two and a half years ago at the beginning of the pandemic, where like, I couldn't really go in and see the doctor for a variety of reasons.
[00:11:53.920 --> 00:12:04.400] And it had gone, you know, and if I had waited way too long, and it wouldn't have been like, you know, such an early stage where it was a fairly simple surgery to like remove it.
[00:12:04.400 --> 00:12:17.200] So there's real effects that are happening in all business owners' lives right now, like that affect their actual health, whether they are dealing with like significant health challenges or not.
[00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:19.200] So it's an important conversation.
[00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:19.680] It is.
[00:12:19.680 --> 00:12:20.080] It is.
[00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:22.160] And honestly, not one that we've had.
[00:12:22.160 --> 00:12:32.120] What does it look like to come into your sort of business space from a place of needing to take care of yourself in a different way?
[00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:43.720] We've, you know, definitely had an amazing privilege to be able to come into business and sometimes have to fix it around to help us sleep better because, you know, our anxiety is getting out of control or whatever it may be.
[00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:48.440] But to actually do it the other way around is definitely a conversation worth having.
[00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:50.680] So I'm glad that we get to do it here.
[00:12:51.000 --> 00:13:06.520] I think to get started, I'm sort of throwing these words around a couple of times, and I'd like to just sort of give a hardcore definition to the difference between self-care and healthcare because they are two different things and I don't want them to be confused.
[00:13:06.520 --> 00:13:13.880] Yeah, and you know, I can only give my own definition for it, but I think you and I have had this conversation before and we're on similar pages around it.
[00:13:13.880 --> 00:13:25.720] And really, I think about healthcare as baseline needs of like what I need to survive, to be alive, to be at a baseline level of health.
[00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:28.440] And then self-care can go above and beyond that.
[00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:42.520] And so like thinking about healthcare, I think about, okay, you know, doctor's visits, you know, preventative cancer checks, like what I did by getting that mold checked, getting an adequate amount of sleep.
[00:13:42.520 --> 00:13:45.240] Honestly, that's huge for me as part of my baseline health.
[00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:50.200] Because if I'm not getting sleep, I'm generally not drinking enough water the next day.
[00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:57.880] I don't have enough energy to move my body in the way that I need to move my body for a baseline level of mental health, which is also included in healthcare.
[00:13:57.880 --> 00:13:59.960] We can't just think about the body in this.
[00:13:59.960 --> 00:14:01.800] We have to think about the brain too.
[00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:08.680] I think about acupuncture and herbs as part of like my own, you know, definition of healthcare.
[00:14:08.680 --> 00:14:16.880] While I do obviously use Western medicine as a big part of my healthcare, I don't think that that is a complete medicine in and of itself.
[00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:28.080] And so I also include Chinese medicine and herbs and more alternative or complementary care as well as a baseline need for my own healthcare.
[00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:30.160] So things like that.
[00:14:30.160 --> 00:14:35.200] And then you can almost think of it as like that, what is that hierarchy of needs?
[00:14:35.520 --> 00:14:35.920] What is that?
[00:14:35.920 --> 00:14:37.120] Maslows.
[00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:38.640] I'm saying this wrong, probably.
[00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:40.400] I think that's it.
[00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:41.760] Maslow?
[00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:42.880] Maslow.
[00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:44.240] Something.
[00:14:44.560 --> 00:14:49.920] But so it's like that bottom part of that pyramid are the healthcare.
[00:14:49.920 --> 00:14:55.200] It's like all the things that we need just for a baseline level of health.
[00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:59.920] And then once those needs are met, then we can start thinking about self-care.
[00:14:59.920 --> 00:15:03.280] Then we can start thinking about like what brings us to that next level.
[00:15:03.280 --> 00:15:16.160] Because when you think about it, you know, like self-care is really only actually even available to us when we have a baseline level of like safety and security in our bodies.
[00:15:16.160 --> 00:15:19.440] And only then can we like take a breath, can we relax?
[00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:23.520] Can we actually find things that bring us care?
[00:15:23.520 --> 00:15:30.080] And so I really think about healthcare as all of those baseline things, and everyone's baseline is going to be different.
[00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:34.240] Like maybe some people's baseline is like, I just got to get up and brush my teeth in the morning.
[00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:39.680] Whereas like my baseline is like, I actually need to move my body for at least 30 minutes a day.
[00:15:39.680 --> 00:15:43.040] Otherwise, I'm going to go into a depressive episode.
[00:15:43.040 --> 00:15:45.920] And so it's like everyone's levels are different.
[00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:46.640] Yeah.
[00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:48.160] I agree with all that.
[00:15:48.160 --> 00:15:53.120] So there's this baseline, sort of human, you as a human being healthy.
[00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:57.120] And I think that is like a mind, body, and soul situation.
[00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:07.400] And let's even like remove the word healthy from it because I don't always even necessarily think of myself as a person who lives in a quote-unquote like healthy body.
[00:16:07.640 --> 00:16:12.680] Like I've got all sorts of diseases that are running through my body and like challenges that I'm dealing with.
[00:16:12.680 --> 00:16:29.560] But it's like a baseline level of yeah, health isn't even necessarily the right word because like I can do all of those things that are part of my healthcare and like still be dealing with Crohn's disease, still like still be dealing with cancer.
[00:16:29.560 --> 00:16:36.040] And yet those parts of that healthcare are like necessities.
[00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:43.560] So I don't know if I can actually like put words to it in a quote like perfect way, but I just want to like name that.
[00:16:43.560 --> 00:16:44.200] Sure.
[00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:49.480] And I, it's funny, you keep bringing in health, but I think it's like baseline level of care.
[00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:50.120] Yeah.
[00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:50.680] Right?
[00:16:50.680 --> 00:17:06.840] Like there's in every so it's not for it is for you to be at a good place in your health, whatever that may be for you, but really it's like just caring for yourself in the ways that you need to care for yourself.
[00:17:06.840 --> 00:17:07.320] Yeah.
[00:17:07.320 --> 00:17:08.360] So that's healthcare.
[00:17:08.360 --> 00:17:14.520] And then self-care being like bring it up a notch, bring it up two notches, three notches.
[00:17:14.520 --> 00:17:15.240] Yes, yes.
[00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:19.000] And you can only succeed at those things really truly.
[00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:25.960] You can only truly benefit from those things, really truly, when that baseline health care has been met.
[00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:26.200] Right.
[00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:29.960] Like how I said that I need like a certain amount of movement in my day.
[00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:32.760] It's like, okay, you know, it's snowing outside.
[00:17:32.760 --> 00:17:37.080] I could go downstairs and get on the treadmill and like walk for 30 minutes.
[00:17:37.080 --> 00:17:42.360] And, like, sure, that's going to hit my level of baseline for healthcare.
[00:17:42.360 --> 00:17:53.680] But if I wanted to, like, actually put on my muklux and put on my big puffy-down jacket and like go outside, that would give me those steps, that would give me that movement.
[00:17:53.680 --> 00:18:04.800] But being in nature, being outside, even like dealing with the elements and like the weird ways that we have to living in these climates, um, like that actually fills my soul in a different way.
[00:18:04.800 --> 00:18:14.640] So that would feel like self-care to me, whereas just like going downstairs and watching an episode of Gray's Anatomy and walking on the treadmill is more just like baseline for sure.
[00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:15.360] Okay, perfect.
[00:18:15.360 --> 00:18:16.320] I love all of that.
[00:18:16.320 --> 00:18:20.000] I hope everyone can see for themselves then what this looks like for you.
[00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:23.440] Because as Amy said, it is incredibly different for every person.
[00:18:24.080 --> 00:18:30.960] And I also think it's seasonal and not necessarily like, you know, seasons like on the planet with the leaves and things.
[00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:36.160] But I think you'll have a couple of years where your healthcare, you know, baseline is in one place.
[00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:42.960] And then you may have a couple of months where it's somewhere else and it may go back, it may not, whatever it may be, completely shift and change.
[00:18:43.360 --> 00:18:43.920] I agree.
[00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:44.720] Okay, perfect.
[00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:55.520] So with that, like baseline understanding of the difference between those two, I think I want to focus a little bit on again.
[00:18:55.520 --> 00:19:02.880] If we're thinking like some deep health care, let's look at what healthcare looks like.
[00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:06.880] I think for entrepreneurs in general, I think that's an interesting conversation.
[00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:21.840] And maybe how our healthcare needs are a little bit different from folks who are not entrepreneurs and then move into a place where it's like, what does it look like when that significantly shifts?
[00:19:21.840 --> 00:19:27.520] So then, how, or what does healthcare look like for entrepreneurs?
[00:19:27.840 --> 00:19:29.120] Hmm.
[00:19:29.120 --> 00:19:30.000] That's a good question.
[00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:40.200] You know, it's interesting because at its most basic level, like entrepreneurs are human beings.
[00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:45.000] And so like we need the same health care.
[00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:47.480] and the amount of care as everyone else.
[00:19:47.480 --> 00:20:03.640] I think where it gets tricky for entrepreneurs is that oftentimes we unfortunately like put our businesses in front of our needs, like put our businesses needs in front of our own needs.
[00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:26.280] And so we don't necessarily give ourselves the care, whether it be the basic baseline health care or the extras as we might need because, you know, kind of going back to this idea of like, well, we can't even really access self-care without that safety and security in our bodies.
[00:20:26.280 --> 00:20:35.640] Okay, well, entrepreneurs are in this unique position where like our labor is directly connected to our safety and security.
[00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:37.800] You know, we don't have a salary.
[00:20:37.800 --> 00:20:43.880] We don't have health insurance necessarily like provided by a company that somebody else owns.
[00:20:43.880 --> 00:21:02.480] You know, like all those things that are innately offered as part of being an employee for whether it's like a corporate company or a government job or something like that, usually those all have like pretty good benefits, which allow for a sense of like stability and security.
[00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:09.160] That's not saying that no entrepreneur has a sense of stability and security, like a lot of us do.
[00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:15.000] However, you know, in the early stages of becoming an entrepreneur, you really are in hustle mode.
[00:21:15.120 --> 00:21:24.480] And like, I wish it wasn't the case, but I don't know a single successful business out there, including my own, where like the first two years that we weren't working more than we wanted to.
[00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:27.200] Like maybe we enjoyed it and we're like, yeah, it's the hustle.
[00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:29.520] Like we really like glorified it in some ways.
[00:21:29.520 --> 00:21:34.240] But looking back, we're all like, you know, do what we say, not what we do.
[00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:35.840] But like, it's true.
[00:21:35.840 --> 00:21:41.200] Like you have to kind of hustle your ass off the first couple years to get off of the ground.
[00:21:41.520 --> 00:21:49.200] And with that means like you're using up the only real finite resource there is, which is time.
[00:21:49.200 --> 00:22:00.320] And so we tend to not give ourselves our bodies, our brains, our, you know, spirits the care that it needs because it takes time.
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[00:23:08.600 --> 00:23:11.400] I sort of broke down three.
[00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:11.960] Yeah.
[00:23:12.280 --> 00:23:13.400] Three sort of things.
[00:23:13.400 --> 00:23:18.920] And like, literally, just really quickly, as you were talking about those things, sort of like pull these into little nuggets.
[00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:25.800] One of them is I think we have to make special considerations for our mental health.
[00:23:27.080 --> 00:23:28.520] And for a couple of reasons.
[00:23:28.520 --> 00:23:31.960] One of them being we're lonely, right?
[00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:34.520] Sitting here doing this work all by ourselves.
[00:23:34.760 --> 00:23:40.760] I think there is like a social aspect that can be easily missing from the entrepreneur's journey.
[00:23:40.760 --> 00:23:48.920] And so we have to make special considerations and make special effort in order to like fulfill that basic human need.
[00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:57.000] And then also like tying our sense of self-worth with what we're able to produce in the world, whatever that may be.
[00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:06.440] So I think those being two big reasons why we have to pay a little more attention to our mental health, I think, than a lot of other people do.
[00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:22.520] Along with that, I think that I'm going to show my bias here that I mostly work with entrepreneurs who are in like service industry professionals that are, you know, service providers as opposed to like people who are starting some tech company or something like that.
[00:24:22.520 --> 00:24:27.800] But, you know, service providers are providing care as labor.
[00:24:27.800 --> 00:24:35.320] And that takes a specific amount of emotional fortitude and energy and all these things.
[00:24:35.320 --> 00:24:37.480] And like emotional labor is real labor.
[00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:41.480] And so I think that goes along tightly with what you're saying with mental health.
[00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:41.880] Yeah.
[00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:46.480] And I can even, I can draw the parallel with creative or like creativity as well, right?
[00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:56.880] There is a lot of like, there's a lot of us that we put into our creative work in a way that, you know, can certainly happen if you have a very creative job, but it's just a little different.
[00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:58.000] It's just a little different for us.
[00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:11.840] So I think mental health is something that we have to think about a little more, a little more purposefully in order to like really stay at the top of our game than a lot of people do in the same way or for the same reasons.
[00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:17.440] I also think this piece of having a self-managed schedule is a big one.
[00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:21.440] Like we think of that as being like, that is like the, that's why we're all here, right?
[00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:24.800] To manage our own time and to do what we want and all of those things.
[00:25:24.800 --> 00:25:42.240] What that usually, what can often, what it can often equate to is that we stop doing the things that are helpful to us so that we can like write another email or check another thing off our list or send that next invoice or whatever it may be.
[00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:45.600] So this is like another billable hour in some way.
[00:25:45.600 --> 00:25:46.160] Indeed.
[00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:50.320] I mean, you're just making money while you're sitting there doing the thing.
[00:25:51.520 --> 00:26:02.400] So it's really easy, I think, for us to really fall behind really quickly because we have the benefit of having a self-managed schedule.
[00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:19.640] That we actually have to be more purposeful with maintaining our health and otherwise self-care practices in a way that if we had a nine-to-five job where we could stop at the gym on the way in every morning and, and you know, grab a smoothie from downstairs every day for lunch or whatever.
[00:26:19.520 --> 00:26:22.880] We, it, we don't all have that as accessible to us.
[00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:38.840] Well, and I think around that, also, there's this idea where, like, okay, if you're a solopreneur, which I feel like I have this interesting viewpoint of both having a solo business at the same time of running a clinical practice with employees, we're like, if you're a solo entrepreneur, you don't get the benefit of just like clocking out at 5 p.m.
[00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:44.920] and not worrying because, like, no one is, you know, dealing with anything if you aren't there dealing with it.
[00:26:44.920 --> 00:26:54.360] And so, that can put pressure on your shoulders to feel like you have to be working a little bit more than your body is able to.
[00:26:54.360 --> 00:27:00.200] And then, on the other side of that, like, maybe you're no longer a solopreneur, you actually have a team.
[00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:09.960] Well, then, the actual livelihood of your team, like financial livelihood of your team, kind of rests on your shoulders in a lot of ways.
[00:27:09.960 --> 00:27:17.720] So, then there is that pressure as well: like, oh, if it's a slow season, like we, what do I need to do to like get things rolling in different ways?
[00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:21.000] And so, there can we can often put pressure on ourselves.
[00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:31.160] Where I'm not saying that pressure isn't necessary, but like, we often will, um, we will make it more extravagant than it needs to be in reality.
[00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:32.440] Or we'll make stories about it.
[00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:35.800] Our brain will make stories about what that actually means.
[00:27:35.800 --> 00:27:36.920] Yeah, for sure.
[00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:40.520] And that even I feel like goes back into that mental health piece for sure.
[00:27:40.520 --> 00:27:51.400] Of like, we do have a lot of pressure, there's a lot of responsibility, we put some on ourselves, but a lot of it is very real, and we have to take extra care in all of those ways.
[00:27:51.400 --> 00:28:04.160] Um, I think another one that makes it really hard is that health insurance isn't as accessible to us entrepreneurs as fucking hell.
[00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:04.760] Right?
[00:28:04.760 --> 00:28:06.920] I could go on a tirade right now about this.
[00:28:06.920 --> 00:28:07.680] Yeah, I know.
[00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:09.840] This is the same, same.
[00:28:09.840 --> 00:28:27.280] Few things make me more annoyed than all of that, and I've been, I won't say lucky because I've worked for it, but I have built a business that can, that is like big enough to even purchase health insurance for myself and my employees because that's a thing.
[00:28:27.280 --> 00:28:34.880] And getting out of some of the more open healthcare options out there because those are a funny and awful joke.
[00:28:35.600 --> 00:28:39.360] But even mine's still a funny and awful joke.
[00:28:39.840 --> 00:28:40.320] Right.
[00:28:40.320 --> 00:28:41.440] In its own way.
[00:28:41.440 --> 00:29:01.680] So we don't have, we don't have as easy access to this like safety net that even makes good health care as attainable to us in a way that if we had a nine to five job, which is why a lot of people keep their nine to five jobs literally just for the health insurance, we don't have access to those things in the same way.
[00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:10.720] And even like, even the health insurance plans that are out there, like think about what is or isn't covered all the time.
[00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:23.520] Like the fact that if you have, if you have someone who needs glasses, that like you have to buy a whole extra plan just for like vision, like come on, you have to be able to see like your eyes, your teeth, your like spine, your mental health, like all of it.
[00:29:23.520 --> 00:29:25.360] Really nothing is covered.
[00:29:25.360 --> 00:29:30.560] There is no coverage at all in any way, shape, or form.
[00:29:30.560 --> 00:29:36.960] I am not insured in any way with an E, not an I, by this insurance.
[00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:37.440] Yeah.
[00:29:37.760 --> 00:29:38.800] A failure.
[00:29:38.800 --> 00:29:39.280] Yeah.
[00:29:39.520 --> 00:29:48.640] And also even think about things like short-term disability insurance, which is something that you can absolutely, as a business owner, buy into.
[00:29:48.640 --> 00:30:09.160] And I actually think it's probably a really good idea, especially for business owners, because depending upon the sort of work you do, like if you were to have some sort of medical situation where you are either physically unable to do the work anymore or mentally unable to do the work, like where is your income gonna come from?
[00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:22.040] And you know, I'm in a position right now where I take great privilege and gratitude in this, but like I have in the past, this is not my first, it's not my first rodeo, I've had surgery before.
[00:30:22.280 --> 00:30:24.760] In the past, I've been able to take time after surgery.
[00:30:24.760 --> 00:30:27.240] I was able to take time right now after surgery.
[00:30:27.240 --> 00:30:29.800] I'm going to be taking an entire sabbatical.
[00:30:29.800 --> 00:30:35.000] I'm going to be taking six months off from patient care at the clinic starting in February.
[00:30:35.240 --> 00:30:42.200] And these were all like decisions that were, you know, brought on by the health crises that I've been going through.
[00:30:42.200 --> 00:30:49.160] And so there's some very practical considerations that go into this.
[00:30:49.800 --> 00:30:52.680] But there's also kind of just bigger leaps of faith.
[00:30:52.680 --> 00:31:03.640] It's like kind of 50%, 50%, like 50% really practical planning that I've gone into doing this and like systems that I had set up going into this that have supported me in making this decision.
[00:31:03.640 --> 00:31:08.200] And then 50% is like a fool's leap, just like going off the cliff.
[00:31:08.200 --> 00:31:09.160] Yeah, right.
[00:31:09.160 --> 00:31:11.320] I mean, and that's, that's a whole thing right there.
[00:31:11.320 --> 00:31:15.880] The fool's leap, the fool's leaps that we do, because it's never just one.
[00:31:16.280 --> 00:31:18.120] It won't ever be just one.
[00:31:18.280 --> 00:31:21.880] And I think you just sort of hit something on the head there as well.
[00:31:21.880 --> 00:31:25.080] It's both a pro and a little bit of a con.
[00:31:25.080 --> 00:31:31.720] A con in that because we have the, it's a pro because we have the opportunity to create our own solutions, right?
[00:31:31.720 --> 00:31:32.440] In a lot of ways.
[00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:35.000] Like you didn't have to ask anybody to take six months of Attlebatical.
[00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:36.360] You're just like, I'm doing it.
[00:31:36.360 --> 00:31:42.200] And then you built the systems that allow you to allow you to do it, which is amazing.
[00:31:42.200 --> 00:31:53.520] The con comes in sometimes we don't even, or the con comes in the creativity we have to use to create our own solutions to these kinds of problems.
[00:31:53.520 --> 00:31:58.720] Like we don't even know what our options are because we make them up as we go, right?
[00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:07.360] So, and so many of us are, you know, working on a model from our nine to five jobs of like, I would never take six months off.
[00:32:07.760 --> 00:32:18.640] That's the belief that we have on how it is that we need to show up and do the work that we're restricted into, I don't know, not falling into these solutions as easily as I wish we could.
[00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:24.960] So both a pro in that these things are available to us, but a con in that we literally have to make it up.
[00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:27.680] And sometimes we don't even know that we can.
[00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:36.320] But I feel like that's so much of being a business owner in the first place is that like we like there was a need that wasn't being met.
[00:32:36.320 --> 00:32:40.320] And so here we are as our little entrepreneur hand being like, hey, I want to fill that need.
[00:32:40.320 --> 00:32:41.680] Like I'm going to create this thing.
[00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:56.480] And so I do feel like as entrepreneurs, we tend to have that as a strength, this ingenuity and this like inventiveness and being able to come up with creative solutions to problems that we've never considered before.
[00:32:56.720 --> 00:32:58.080] But yes, absolutely.
[00:32:58.080 --> 00:33:02.480] I mean, it's a failure of the system, like the social system that we live in in general.
[00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:04.240] And we could go on about that.
[00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:15.920] But, and that's a problem, not just like for us as entrepreneurs, but like so many, so many of us that live in the entire world, if you live in a country that doesn't have social safety nets in certain ways.
[00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:18.080] But I digress.
[00:33:18.080 --> 00:33:19.760] Yeah, let's not go there.
[00:33:19.760 --> 00:33:20.160] Okay.
[00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:26.560] Talking about health insurance is bad enough for one day because, yeah, we could definitely just keep on going.
[00:33:26.520 --> 00:33:30.760] Um, you'll have to have a chat during your sabbatical.
[00:33:29.840 --> 00:33:34.680] We'll just spend three days going down all the rabbit holes.
[00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:42.280] Um, okay, so we laid out why or laid out some unique challenges that entrepreneurs face.
[00:33:42.280 --> 00:33:47.960] And if you haven't thought of any of these, maybe you're experiencing them and you haven't had anyone put them into words for you, right?
[00:33:47.960 --> 00:33:50.440] Of like, oh, you know, I am lonely.
[00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:52.360] That is something that I'm struggling with.
[00:33:52.520 --> 00:33:58.680] And, you know, lonely even within the context of your family and within the context of your team.
[00:33:58.680 --> 00:34:03.160] If you are the boss, you are there making decisions on your own.
[00:34:03.160 --> 00:34:06.120] There are lonely moments for sure.
[00:34:06.840 --> 00:34:09.080] Or the health insurance situation.
[00:34:09.080 --> 00:34:16.680] I mean, I literally worked years for the ability to have enough full-time people on my team so that I could get health insurance for myself and others.
[00:34:16.680 --> 00:34:21.880] And that in itself is a multi-year endeavor in order to get to that place.
[00:34:22.600 --> 00:34:25.400] So we have some unique challenges.
[00:34:25.400 --> 00:34:33.080] And maybe this is a really great opportunity for us to talk about how it is that we have faced some of these challenges on our own.
[00:34:33.080 --> 00:34:35.080] Because, I mean, I'm not going to say I'm perfect.
[00:34:35.080 --> 00:34:39.560] I'm also not in the healthiest state I have ever been in my life by any means.
[00:34:39.880 --> 00:34:43.080] But this is something that I know I'm working on consistently.
[00:34:43.080 --> 00:34:43.880] I know you are.
[00:34:43.880 --> 00:34:47.880] And I think this is a great opportunity to share what this looks like for us.
[00:34:48.840 --> 00:34:50.040] You start.
[00:34:50.360 --> 00:34:51.560] Oh boy, me start.
[00:34:52.680 --> 00:34:57.720] I will actually be really open too, because I haven't talked about this here on the show.
[00:34:58.520 --> 00:35:01.560] I did talk a couple of episodes ago in a review.
[00:35:01.560 --> 00:35:02.920] Actually, this was literally months ago.
[00:35:02.920 --> 00:35:09.400] By the time this comes out, I feel like I recorded this with Kathleen yesterday, but that was also over a month ago that I did that.
[00:35:09.400 --> 00:35:11.320] But I recorded an episode with Kathleen.
[00:35:11.320 --> 00:35:20.640] It's one of the first of the year where I talk about how the year had been incredibly difficult for me, how 2022 was very difficult for me personally, you know, in ways that I had just never experienced before.
[00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:22.720] I entered the year with an injury.
[00:35:22.720 --> 00:35:25.760] I left the year with a physical injury.
[00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:30.240] And along the way, I had some health things come up.
[00:35:30.240 --> 00:35:47.200] I am officially on blood pressure medicine and watching my cholesterol because some genetic predisposition, some genetic predispositions have popped back up as a result of not going to a doctor for three years because of a pandemic.
[00:35:47.200 --> 00:35:47.520] Right.
[00:35:47.520 --> 00:35:54.560] Like if I had gone to maintain some things, I probably could have caught it really early and I did not.
[00:35:54.560 --> 00:36:08.480] And so I'm working on some of those things as well as dealing with some insomnia and anxiety and things just like a culmination of multiple years of really hard stuff just sort of hitting me all in the course of a couple of months.
[00:36:08.880 --> 00:36:16.480] So putting my own health care at the forefront has been something that I've been doing for a couple of months and in the ways that I can.
[00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:22.000] And one of the ways that, let's see, what is what are my examples of this?
[00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:24.880] I got long-winded and forgot what I was going to say.
[00:36:24.880 --> 00:36:30.320] I think I will lead with scheduling the appointments.
[00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:30.800] Yeah.
[00:36:31.120 --> 00:36:36.160] Which is a small one, kind of, but like also a big one, a really big one.
[00:36:36.240 --> 00:36:39.440] It is like necessary for the rest of it to happen.
[00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:40.640] Incredibly.
[00:36:40.640 --> 00:36:56.560] And not just like, you know, your like general doctor, but the specialist, the people you need to see, your dermatologist, your gynecologist, like all of the ologists that you need in your life, just to get things checked out.
[00:36:56.560 --> 00:37:09.000] Because I definitely use the pandemic as an excuse not to go get all of my checkups for a couple of years and was shocked whenever I went back and saw the state of things.
[00:37:09.640 --> 00:37:12.600] And it's like, it takes a lot of time.
[00:37:12.600 --> 00:37:13.080] Yeah.
[00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:27.560] Like, I feel like lately going to the doctor has been a part-time job for me because it's like all of those pre-op visits, all of the dermatologist visits, all of the surgeon visits, oncology visits, like it's a part-time job.
[00:37:27.560 --> 00:37:44.360] And so when we think about, you know, entrepreneurs and like planning their own schedules, like it is, I feel so grateful that I have the ability to take the first appointment that's available because sometimes you can't get in for like six months otherwise if you don't take the first one that's available.
[00:37:44.360 --> 00:37:49.960] And I'm lucky I don't have to, you know, ask for time off from a boss or anything like that.
[00:37:49.960 --> 00:37:58.520] I mean, granted, I have people who are depending upon me for certain things and I always make sure that I'm like not leaving anyone in the lurch for that.
[00:37:58.520 --> 00:38:03.640] But that's part of the benefit of having a team is that like we each hold each other up.
[00:38:03.640 --> 00:38:06.920] You know, we've had a couple team members have COVID over the last couple months.
[00:38:06.920 --> 00:38:17.400] And so a bunch of us have been pinch hitters and like gone in and seen patients on our days off so that our, you know, COVID coworkers can be home and resting and all those things.
[00:38:17.400 --> 00:38:42.920] And, you know, it's really, really amazing the benefits that we have as self-employed entrepreneurs to create a schedule that works for us in times of need, but then also when like things are just chill and smooth sailing and we can actually get ahead of things and like be preventative in different ways.
[00:38:42.920 --> 00:38:55.200] So, like for me, with this whole sabbatical, I'd actually been wanting to do this for like years, like before the pandemic, even.
[00:38:55.200 --> 00:39:06.320] I was like, you know, you know that I go to California usually for a month every winter, and that's like a mini sabbatical, but it's only for a month and I'm still kind of working a little bit while I'm there.
[00:39:06.320 --> 00:39:08.000] I'm just not seeing patients.
[00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:28.320] But that planted a seed that I was like, oh, I want much more time, especially because in the clinic, we grew so fast in that last year alongside seeing patients the whole time that the business side of the business didn't get quite as much focus and care as it really needed for that to happen.
[00:39:28.560 --> 00:39:33.280] There would have been less bumps in the road, let's just say, if I'd like done this sooner.
[00:39:34.240 --> 00:39:37.280] And so it's something that I've been wanting to do for a while.
[00:39:37.280 --> 00:39:38.640] Then the pandemic happened.
[00:39:38.640 --> 00:39:46.000] All these different things just kind of put real, real tangible roadblocks in the way.
[00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:50.160] And just this, you know, the last couple of months, it was coming back into my psyche.
[00:39:50.160 --> 00:39:52.480] It's like, you know, I think this is what I'm supposed to do.
[00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:54.320] And I was like pulling tarot cards around it.
[00:39:54.320 --> 00:39:58.400] And everything was like, yes, yes, yes, sabbatical, sabbatical, sabbatical.
[00:39:58.400 --> 00:40:00.080] And then boom, cancer diagnosis.
[00:40:00.080 --> 00:40:05.680] And I was like, okay, well, I guess this is definitely happening now because this is the wake-up call that I needed.
[00:40:05.680 --> 00:40:07.680] That there's no more putting this down the road.
[00:40:07.680 --> 00:40:09.680] Like this has to happen now.
[00:40:10.240 --> 00:40:18.400] And so there are some pretty, you know, like practical considerations that have to go into it.
[00:40:18.640 --> 00:40:21.440] I'm really lucky that I don't own that business by myself.
[00:40:21.440 --> 00:40:22.720] I have a co-owner.
[00:40:23.200 --> 00:40:24.960] She's incredibly supportive.
[00:40:24.960 --> 00:40:28.720] We are really well aligned and we complement each other.
[00:40:28.960 --> 00:40:31.880] Our skill sets complement each other in different ways.
[00:40:31.880 --> 00:40:38.280] And so I feel very secure in the business, like while I'm stepping back in different arenas.
[00:40:38.280 --> 00:40:40.760] But that was like a big one for me.
[00:40:40.760 --> 00:40:54.360] It was a big, there was a lot of like fear behind it because, like, oh, well, you know, there's the identity part of it of like, who am I if I am not the acupuncturist co-owner of this clinic?
[00:40:54.360 --> 00:40:56.280] And that's like a whole thing.
[00:40:56.280 --> 00:41:03.480] But then there's also the practical considerations, like, how am I going to pay myself if I'm not seeing patients and things like that?
[00:41:03.480 --> 00:41:09.000] So, but it is important enough to me right now that I'm like going to figure it out.
[00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:16.600] Like we, like we were talking about, I'm going to come up with a solution to a problem I've never had to deal with before because it's what I have to do for me right now.
[00:41:16.600 --> 00:41:17.160] Yeah.
[00:41:17.720 --> 00:41:18.920] That's a great one.
[00:41:18.920 --> 00:41:26.200] And I love that, I love that you're finally doing something that you have been wanting to do.
[00:41:26.200 --> 00:41:34.520] I hate that it took something like this for you to finally do it, but if that's a silver lining for sure of this whole situation.
[00:41:34.520 --> 00:41:48.360] And one of the things that I most that I most respect about this is that it really is a putting you first sort of situation, which is not something that a lot of us are really that great at.
[00:41:48.680 --> 00:41:57.080] You know, of like literally just doing something that maybe someone else would even think is frivolous or unnecessary or whatever, but you're like, screw it all.
[00:41:57.080 --> 00:42:01.080] I want it and I'm doing it and I'm doing it for me.
[00:42:01.080 --> 00:42:03.160] And I think that that is, that is perfect.
[00:42:03.160 --> 00:42:08.280] And I feel like, I feel like we all probably have something like that in the back of our heads, right?
[00:42:08.280 --> 00:42:14.520] That is like something that we're not doing for ourselves that we need to be doing for ourselves because we just need it.
[00:42:14.520 --> 00:42:26.880] And it's something that like we would totally encourage any of our friends, our business besties, our clients, our employees to even do if they needed to.
[00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:32.480] And so it's like, okay, if we would encourage them to do it, like why can't I take my own advice?
[00:42:32.480 --> 00:42:45.680] You know, and so part of it is like really stepping into my own integrity around like, okay, if I want this to be a way other people are caring for themselves, then it's a way that I need to care for myself as well.
[00:42:46.560 --> 00:42:48.480] Yes, of course.
[00:42:51.040 --> 00:42:54.080] Being boss is about more than taking care of business.
[00:42:54.080 --> 00:42:56.320] It's also about taking care of yourself.
[00:42:56.320 --> 00:43:00.320] And not just so you can be great at work, but so you can enjoy your life.
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[00:43:52.640 --> 00:44:01.480] I also do want to point out, you mentioned the fact that, you know, it's easier for you because you do have a business partner, but I also believe that this is completely possible for anyone, even if it's a solo business.
[00:44:01.800 --> 00:44:08.360] I think with the right, you know, sort of prep work, the right planning, the right setting up of systems, all the things, it doesn't matter what you do.
[00:44:08.360 --> 00:44:10.440] You can put the thing on pause.
[00:44:10.440 --> 00:44:14.760] You may have to sacrifice some things along the way or something, but it's possible.
[00:44:14.760 --> 00:44:16.920] People take parental leave all the time.
[00:44:16.920 --> 00:44:17.480] Yeah.
[00:44:17.480 --> 00:44:27.160] You know, like, granted, that is a totally different thing because you are like keeping another human being alive and you absolutely do need to be taking time off of your work to do that.
[00:44:27.160 --> 00:44:40.120] But like, if you can walk away or not walk away, but if you can take time away from your business to birth another human into the world and care for them, like you can take time away from your business to like birth a new you into the world.
[00:44:40.360 --> 00:44:42.200] For literally any other reason.
[00:44:42.200 --> 00:44:42.760] Totally.
[00:44:42.760 --> 00:44:43.720] Literally anything else.
[00:44:43.720 --> 00:44:45.240] Yes, I completely agree with that.
[00:44:45.240 --> 00:44:49.000] I have one I want to add to this because it's kind of a similar thing.
[00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:52.360] We're like, is it necessary?
[00:44:52.360 --> 00:44:54.120] No, but isn't it yes?
[00:44:54.120 --> 00:44:54.360] Right.
[00:44:54.440 --> 00:44:55.720] Like it is for me.
[00:44:56.760 --> 00:45:05.880] About a year and a half ago, I started going to see my massage therapist every other week.
[00:45:05.880 --> 00:45:06.920] Hell yeah.
[00:45:06.920 --> 00:45:07.480] Yeah.
[00:45:07.480 --> 00:45:08.120] Yes, yes.
[00:45:08.120 --> 00:45:09.080] And that was a big one for me.
[00:45:09.080 --> 00:45:10.680] And I'll tell you why it's a big one for me.
[00:45:10.680 --> 00:45:14.600] There's like two reasons, kind of really just one.
[00:45:14.600 --> 00:45:25.080] Whenever I was a teenager and I owned that tanning salon way back in the day, one of my very best clients came in every single week.
[00:45:25.080 --> 00:45:29.000] And she always came in just after her massage.
[00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:31.960] She was an older lady, retired.
[00:45:32.440 --> 00:45:34.360] I don't know if she was a divorcee or not.
[00:45:34.360 --> 00:45:37.080] In my mind, I've always imagined she was.
[00:45:38.360 --> 00:45:46.640] And her like martini drink, yeah, just walking up and with her martini and her fluffy same, like fluffy stiletto, not stilettos, fluffy pumps.
[00:45:44.920 --> 00:45:52.160] Anyway, so she would come in and she would be like, you know, greasy haired from her massage.
[00:45:52.320 --> 00:45:54.400] And she was always such a delight.
[00:45:54.400 --> 00:45:58.800] And it was like, you know, midday Wednesday or something like that every single week.
[00:45:58.800 --> 00:46:01.200] And that just, that was her life.
[00:46:01.200 --> 00:46:05.360] And I remember at that point thinking that is success to me.
[00:46:05.360 --> 00:46:10.640] Like, if you are going to get a massage every week, you have succeeded in life.
[00:46:10.640 --> 00:46:14.800] That was, you know, 18-year-old Emily's idea and not wrong.
[00:46:14.800 --> 00:46:17.040] And so it's been a really big deal for me to do that.
[00:46:17.040 --> 00:46:24.080] It's not every week, but it is every other week because there's like a teenage dream fulfillment happening.
[00:46:24.640 --> 00:46:31.440] But I started, I've always gone semi-regularly, at least once a month, once every other month.
[00:46:31.440 --> 00:46:36.000] I'm like hurting for it if I go more than a quarter without going to get a massage.
[00:46:36.000 --> 00:46:40.320] And I've been like that for probably, you know, five, six, seven, eight years.
[00:46:40.960 --> 00:46:49.440] And I missed it so much during the pandemic so much because I didn't go for about a year and a half.
[00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:54.560] And so I didn't go to the doctor, but I did start going to my massage therapist again.
[00:46:54.880 --> 00:47:01.760] Well, you're, it's like you're using it for preventative medicine, which I agree with so much.
[00:47:01.760 --> 00:47:15.600] Like if, um, for instance, like, you know, at the clinic, we did shut down completely for about two months in the very beginning of the pandemic when we were trying to like get masks and PPE and like all the things that we needed so that we could safely see patients.
[00:47:15.600 --> 00:47:28.080] And, you know, in doing so, when we opened back up, there were some patients that like really were used to coming every week and their progress really backslid.
[00:47:28.080 --> 00:47:43.400] And it's this difference of like, okay, if we show up regularly, we can maintain a specific level of once again, I'm going to use the word health, but you can even say like management of symptoms in more of this like healthcare setting.
[00:47:43.400 --> 00:47:45.880] Like we can manage symptoms in a specific way.
[00:47:45.880 --> 00:47:49.800] Different patients are on different treatment plans and everyone's situation is unique.
[00:47:49.800 --> 00:48:01.240] But like if you're on a specific treatment plan and you need to be coming in every other week to manage your care, to manage your like pain level, and then all of a sudden you go two months without it, you know, like it can be detrimental.
[00:48:01.240 --> 00:48:06.680] And then all of a sudden you've backslid and you need to be coming like once or twice a week just to get back to that level that you were before.
[00:48:06.680 --> 00:48:15.480] So I love what you're saying that you're doing this and it feels maybe like, you know, like teenage Emily is like feeling successful and like luxurious.
[00:48:15.480 --> 00:48:25.800] But in reality, what you're doing is you're actually like helping preventatively things so that you don't have to go back.
[00:48:25.800 --> 00:48:26.520] For sure.
[00:48:26.520 --> 00:48:30.920] And I will say, like when I started, when I started going back, it wasn't even preventative.
[00:48:30.920 --> 00:48:36.280] Like I was a tense ball of like it was weird.
[00:48:36.280 --> 00:48:38.120] It was real weird and not that great.
[00:48:38.120 --> 00:48:44.920] And I remember going back specifically because I had a pain in my neck that was not going, like I couldn't get rid of it by myself.
[00:48:44.920 --> 00:48:51.160] And so going back to my massage therapist and getting back into the routine of it, it did become preventative.
[00:48:51.160 --> 00:48:53.640] It became this thing of like, I'm not stopping now.
[00:48:53.640 --> 00:48:55.640] I saw what happened when I stopped.
[00:48:55.640 --> 00:48:59.640] I'm never going to stop again if I can help it.
[00:48:59.640 --> 00:49:11.080] And then once I started, once things happened last year, with especially my ankle injury at the end of the year last year, it became a necessary part of my recovery.
[00:49:11.080 --> 00:49:15.000] And I remember, you know, talking to her at one point, you know, it had just happened.
[00:49:15.200 --> 00:49:25.840] I come in and my leg is just in, like, I could literally feel tension from my right ankle into the base of my neck, like all the way up my body.
[00:49:26.160 --> 00:49:31.040] And I remember saying, How do people get over anything without you?
[00:49:31.360 --> 00:49:38.160] Like, I don't, I don't understand what healing would look like if I didn't have you like taking care of these things for me.
[00:49:38.160 --> 00:49:41.440] And so baseline now.
[00:49:41.440 --> 00:49:42.000] She is.
[00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:43.920] She is absolutely a part of my baseline.
[00:49:43.920 --> 00:49:48.000] I cannot, um, cannot go back in quite the same way.
[00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:50.640] I don't always, it's not always every other week.
[00:49:50.640 --> 00:49:53.840] Sometimes it's weekly, sometimes a little bit less, but it is constant.
[00:49:53.840 --> 00:49:58.160] And I have things booked out for like the next six months because I can't imagine.
[00:49:58.160 --> 00:50:25.440] And so that one has become, that one has become that like seemingly frivolous extra that I have recognized is just a part of what I need in order to sit at this computer all day and/or deal with all of the weight on my shoulders because I do energetically hold it right here at my shoulders and all the other things that I have to do to keep two companies running.
[00:50:25.440 --> 00:50:36.480] So that's one of mine is I now invest more intentionally than ever before in that level of my health care.
[00:50:36.480 --> 00:50:39.040] And I don't ever want to have to go back.
[00:50:39.040 --> 00:50:39.600] Okay.
[00:50:40.880 --> 00:50:43.040] I'm over here like giving you some applause.
[00:50:43.360 --> 00:50:44.480] Some air claps.
[00:50:44.480 --> 00:50:45.120] Love it.
[00:50:45.120 --> 00:50:45.760] Love it.
[00:50:45.760 --> 00:50:46.400] Okay.
[00:50:46.400 --> 00:50:48.160] What else do you have?
[00:50:48.520 --> 00:50:51.680] Um, what are some other things that I'm doing?
[00:50:54.080 --> 00:50:58.720] I mean, similar to you, I definitely have certain appointments that like I do not miss.
[00:50:58.720 --> 00:51:02.600] Like, I get my acupuncture every single week or every other week.
[00:51:02.760 --> 00:51:07.720] I definitely go have seasons where I don't go as regularly, but like right now, I absolutely am.
[00:51:07.720 --> 00:51:12.120] I was doing it before the surgery, and I'm doing it as part of my surgical recovery.
[00:51:12.120 --> 00:51:23.880] Um, I also was doing weekly breath work with, you know, I'm a breath work facilitator, I have clients that I work with, but just because I'm a facilitator doesn't mean that I don't need space help for me as well.
[00:51:23.880 --> 00:51:27.720] So, like, I have people that I work with for my own practice.
[00:51:27.720 --> 00:51:32.280] Um, and obviously, this was like a big thing emotionally to work through as well.
[00:51:32.280 --> 00:51:37.880] Like, you know, cancer is a big charged word that like feels really big in the body.
[00:51:37.880 --> 00:51:49.240] Um, and there's a lot of um there's a lot of stuff that came up with it around, like, okay, who am I like helping other people with their health when like this sort of thing happens to me?
[00:51:49.240 --> 00:51:55.640] And like, obviously, that's not a rational thought, but it's like the sort of irrational thoughts that your brain invites you into.
[00:51:55.640 --> 00:52:00.680] Um, and the way that I work through all of that is through breath work because it's like a type of therapy for me.
[00:52:00.680 --> 00:52:05.480] So, that's um, that's something that I do really, really regularly.
[00:52:05.480 --> 00:52:13.640] And then, the other thing for me that is like a non-negotiable is being outside in nature.
[00:52:13.640 --> 00:52:27.560] And so, for me, that's one of those really simple things because I think sometimes people worry that self-care is expensive or hard to access in different ways.
[00:52:27.560 --> 00:52:33.480] And I'm not going to say that, like, nature isn't hard to access if you like live in the middle of New York City or something like that.
[00:52:33.440 --> 00:52:55.680] Like, like yes, nature can be really hard to access, but I think that we all have different self-care preferences that can be free, that can be easily accessible, that don't even necessarily have to take a lot of time because we can think of access as more than just financial access as well.
[00:52:55.680 --> 00:52:59.040] And so for me, it's being in nature.
[00:52:59.040 --> 00:53:01.040] And ideally, I would do it every day.
[00:53:01.040 --> 00:53:07.920] You know, in the winter in Minnesota, that doesn't really happen, but at least a couple of times a week, we'll take the dog to the dog park.
[00:53:07.920 --> 00:53:12.080] It's down on the Mississippi River on the bluffs, and we'll like walk around down there.
[00:53:12.080 --> 00:53:17.760] And there's like the Mississippi River and the bald eagles overhead and all the dogs running around and playing.
[00:53:17.760 --> 00:53:20.240] And it's like totally my happy place.
[00:53:20.560 --> 00:53:27.120] And then in the summertime, I'm we're like going camping, you know, I'm walking the dog just in the neighborhood a lot.
[00:53:27.120 --> 00:53:31.920] We're, you know, exploring, you know, state parks, things like that.
[00:53:32.240 --> 00:53:41.600] And then, of course, I go to California every year in the wintertime because I need some vitamin D like on my body immediately and can only handle so much in Minnesota winter.
[00:53:41.600 --> 00:53:44.560] And so then I go to where the palm trees are.
[00:53:44.880 --> 00:53:47.760] But so nature for me, I think is just like the biggest one.
[00:53:47.760 --> 00:54:12.640] And so, you know, when I'm here working from home on the days that I do that, you know, I really make it a point to have some buffer space in between any like Zoom meetings or any things on my calendar so that I can go for a walk after lunch, even if it's only like, you know, a 15-minute walk around the park that's near my house or something like that.
[00:54:12.640 --> 00:54:14.480] But that's like really important to me.
[00:54:14.480 --> 00:54:16.800] I can't just be at my computer from like nine to five.
[00:54:16.800 --> 00:54:20.480] That's like not going to work for my brain or even for my body.
[00:54:20.520 --> 00:54:22.560] Um, so those are things for me.
[00:54:22.560 --> 00:54:23.120] Yeah.
[00:54:23.120 --> 00:54:25.120] I love that you took it free.
[00:54:25.160 --> 00:54:44.840] Um, and I love that yours is nature because, yes, I've done a lot of research on the effects of nature on your health and literally just like being amongst trees, feet on the ground, like some of those things, it will lower your heart rate, it'll increase the like oxygen to your brain, it does really great things for your mental health.
[00:54:44.840 --> 00:54:52.200] Like, that is something that is really important, both for you, but also for everyone.
[00:54:52.360 --> 00:54:54.120] The more you can do that, the better.
[00:54:54.120 --> 00:54:56.760] And for the most part, free.
[00:54:56.920 --> 00:55:04.440] Mine is also a free one, and this is one that I've shared here before as like a favorite tactic for just like just like chilling out.
[00:55:04.440 --> 00:55:09.160] It's something that I started doing a couple of years ago during the like winter holidays.
[00:55:09.160 --> 00:55:15.160] You know, and any boss who takes a vacation can probably attest to how hard it is to just downshift, right?
[00:55:15.160 --> 00:55:23.240] To like, once you're once you take a vacation, once you're taking any time off, I find it usually takes three or four days for me to stop walking around the house going, What can I do next?
[00:55:23.560 --> 00:55:24.120] Don't I?
[00:55:24.200 --> 00:55:25.240] You know, right?
[00:55:25.240 --> 00:55:36.680] We're just like in this mode of like, I have to keep accomplishing things and like and downshifting is literally a three or four day like timeframe for me to get to a place where like, oh, I can just sit here and be here.
[00:55:36.680 --> 00:55:41.400] So, a couple of years ago during the holidays, I started doing this and I've shared it here.
[00:55:41.400 --> 00:55:49.240] And then it's actually become a part of my like regular healthcare practice on two fronts.
[00:55:49.240 --> 00:55:55.160] Um, and that is just staring out the window, yeah, right?
[00:55:55.160 --> 00:55:58.200] Nice and cozy on my couch or literally in my bed.
[00:55:58.200 --> 00:56:00.680] Um, and it's something that like it is a practice that I do.
[00:56:00.680 --> 00:56:01.960] I try to do it at least once a week.
[00:56:01.960 --> 00:56:03.960] It's usually a weekend activity.
[00:56:03.960 --> 00:56:10.280] Um, there is a like aloneness that I like to have whenever I'm doing it, so it's like quiet alone time.
[00:56:10.280 --> 00:56:17.760] Um, usually laying in the bed, and I like to lay in my bed and do it because I have a view of some like far-off mountains out my bedroom window.
[00:56:18.080 --> 00:56:21.520] So one side of this is literally like eye health, right?
[00:56:21.520 --> 00:56:31.040] There is something like whenever you are just like looking at your phone or looking at your computer, you are training the muscles in your eyes to really only be able to do one thing, right?
[00:56:31.040 --> 00:56:33.520] And that's like look at things really close to you.
[00:56:33.520 --> 00:56:39.200] It's really important for your eye health for you to focus on things that are really far away.
[00:56:39.200 --> 00:56:50.480] And because we don't do that on the regular, we like lose some of our ability to see because we train our eyes to not be able to see in that way.
[00:56:50.480 --> 00:56:53.120] So that when we need to, it's a little more difficult for them.
[00:56:53.120 --> 00:56:57.280] So I'm literally doing it to train my eyes because I know that that's an important thing.
[00:56:57.280 --> 00:57:03.120] I'm like staring far in the distance and trying to like make out all those little houses on the mountains and things like that.
[00:57:03.120 --> 00:57:07.920] And then I'm also doing it for mental health stuff.
[00:57:08.480 --> 00:57:18.000] Just getting quiet, giving myself space to just breathe and not do, which as a busy boss, I can't be lazy.
[00:57:18.000 --> 00:57:19.440] I don't watch television.
[00:57:19.440 --> 00:57:21.920] That is not who I am in general.
[00:57:21.920 --> 00:57:24.720] So I have to very intentionally do that.
[00:57:24.720 --> 00:57:28.160] And it doubles as an eye exercise while I'm at it.
[00:57:28.160 --> 00:57:29.520] I love that.
[00:57:30.400 --> 00:57:33.840] I have one last thing that I want to share that I think is actually really important.
[00:57:33.840 --> 00:57:36.160] So I'm going to like get on a soapbox for a minute.
[00:57:36.320 --> 00:57:37.760] Oh boy.
[00:57:38.080 --> 00:57:38.880] And that's this.
[00:57:38.880 --> 00:57:48.400] Like, I think it's so important, whether you are a solo business owner yourself or you have a team that you have sick pay for yourself.
[00:57:48.400 --> 00:57:57.280] So, what I mean by that is like, if you have a team, that you actually pay them sick time, that they can accrue it in whatever way you want to have it, or they can front load it.
[00:57:57.280 --> 00:58:05.160] There's all different ways, a lot of different cities or municipalities have different legal laws around it, depending upon the size of the team.
[00:57:59.680 --> 00:58:07.080] So, obviously, check into that as well.
[00:58:07.400 --> 00:58:17.640] But also, if you're a solo business owner, like have money set aside that is legitimately only purpose is for paying you for sick time.
[00:58:17.640 --> 00:58:32.600] Because if you, once again, when we go back to this idea that we can only really receive self-care when we have this base level of safety and security, oftentimes in entrepreneurs, the first thing for that is like money, like financial safety and security.
[00:58:32.600 --> 00:58:46.520] And if we feel like, oh, well, I can't take today off, I can't cancel this meeting with somebody, I can't cancel this appointment because I really need that income today, like that's not actually like helpful for you or your own health.
[00:58:46.520 --> 00:58:52.600] And so, if you have money set aside for sick pay for yourself, that's a total game changer.
[00:58:52.920 --> 00:58:58.600] You know, I know you're you're a fan of Profit First, and I'm a fan of Profit First as well.
[00:58:58.600 --> 00:59:04.840] And like, one of my Profit First accounts is basically like for sick pay for myself.
[00:59:04.840 --> 00:59:12.040] Like, it's partly how I'm able to like take sabbatical because, like, I have money set aside to pay myself when I'm taking time off.
[00:59:12.360 --> 00:59:13.960] Nice, nice, yes.
[00:59:13.960 --> 00:59:21.320] Setting up, it's funny, we all create these businesses to support us, and then we don't actually set up the processes totally support us.
[00:59:21.320 --> 00:59:26.200] And that is a great example of one that literally is just there to support us.
[00:59:26.200 --> 00:59:29.000] Yeah, yeah, that's great, perfect.
[00:59:29.000 --> 00:59:48.720] Okay, then I hope that you all can see some opportunities, perhaps, for you to take better care of your health, whether you are doing just fine or if you have, or if you have personal difficulties that you are working through in order to show up and do the work that you're doing.
[00:59:44.920 --> 00:59:50.320] It's all important.
[00:59:50.640 --> 00:59:56.720] It's all important for you to be fulfilling, you know, the purpose of doing all this in the first place.
[00:59:56.720 --> 00:59:59.760] And that is for you to live a life that you want.
[00:59:59.760 --> 01:00:04.480] And when we sacrifice too much of ourselves for that, what's the point?
[01:00:04.480 --> 01:00:05.600] Exactly.
[01:00:05.680 --> 01:00:06.160] Love it.
[01:00:06.160 --> 01:00:15.840] Okay, if we could give everyone one thing that they can do today to make some forward motion for their care, whatever that could look like, what would it be?
[01:00:16.160 --> 01:00:17.520] Ooh, good question.
[01:00:18.800 --> 01:00:26.720] You know, I would say just to start by like defining what makes them feel cared for.
[01:00:26.720 --> 01:00:36.960] Because I think so often, you know, like you scroll Instagram and you look at like the self-care hashtags and there's like all these different things like take a bubble bath or go get acupuncture or like do this, do that, do this, whatever.
[01:00:36.960 --> 01:00:39.200] And it's like, okay, those are all fine and well.
[01:00:39.200 --> 01:00:49.760] But I think the real, once we go back to this definition of self-care is like what makes you feel cared for, like ask yourself, what makes me feel cared for?
[01:00:49.760 --> 01:00:57.520] And then really explore different ways that you can offer that to yourself as a form of self-care.
[01:00:58.080 --> 01:00:58.880] Lovely.
[01:00:58.880 --> 01:00:59.760] Okay, I'm going to give one.
[01:00:59.760 --> 01:01:01.520] So everyone's going to have two.
[01:01:02.160 --> 01:01:03.280] How about that?
[01:01:03.280 --> 01:01:03.680] Sorry.
[01:01:03.760 --> 01:01:04.800] So not sorry.
[01:01:04.960 --> 01:01:06.880] Mine is make the appointment.
[01:01:06.880 --> 01:01:08.640] And you know which one.
[01:01:08.960 --> 01:01:11.200] Everyone is, everyone's like, oh, that one.
[01:01:11.200 --> 01:01:11.680] Okay.
[01:01:11.680 --> 01:01:13.280] Just make the appointment.
[01:01:13.280 --> 01:01:13.920] Yeah.
[01:01:13.920 --> 01:01:15.440] Whatever it may be.
[01:01:15.440 --> 01:01:18.240] And go see what happens for better or worse.
[01:01:18.480 --> 01:01:19.680] Amy, this has been a treat.
[01:01:19.680 --> 01:01:21.200] Thanks so much for coming to hang out with me.
[01:01:21.200 --> 01:01:24.560] Where can folks find more about you and what you do?
[01:01:24.560 --> 01:01:27.600] You can find me online at amykoretzky.com.
[01:01:27.600 --> 01:01:37.080] And if you like podcasts, which I'm guessing you do, look me up at Breathe Into Business and we're on all the major podcast apps.
[01:01:37.400 --> 01:01:38.040] Nice.
[01:01:38.040 --> 01:01:41.400] And final question: what's making you feel most boss?
[01:01:42.040 --> 01:01:44.440] That I'm about to take a six-month sabbatical from work.
[01:01:44.840 --> 01:01:47.960] That's the most, that's the most boss.
[01:01:47.960 --> 01:01:49.000] Absolutely.
[01:01:49.000 --> 01:01:51.240] I hope you have the best time.
[01:01:51.240 --> 01:01:53.000] Thank you so much.
[01:01:54.840 --> 01:02:05.640] Settling yourself into the flow of your business from navigating a whole year of ebbs and flows to embracing the energy of each and every day, you're bound to have some ups and downs along the way.
[01:02:05.640 --> 01:02:11.080] For me, this journey of entrepreneurship is made better when my space keeps me focused and inspired.
[01:02:11.080 --> 01:02:20.280] As an example, my favorite way to mark the beginning and ending of the workday is to light a candle when I sit down at my desk and then blow it out when I'm done for the day.
[01:02:20.280 --> 01:02:25.880] It's a little ritual that creates boundaries and a vibe that keeps me focused and feeling cozy.
[01:02:25.880 --> 01:02:28.680] And the ritual candle that we make at Almanac Supply Co.
[01:02:28.680 --> 01:02:30.440] is my favorite for this.
[01:02:30.440 --> 01:02:44.680] In fact, my whole shop is filled with items that I've curated to create the vibe for feeling connected, in flow, and inspired with candles, crystals, and other goodies to help you create a dreamy workspace, bedside table, or bookshelf.
[01:02:44.680 --> 01:02:56.120] Come gather inspiration and check out my favorite in-stock items at almanacsupplyco.com/slash beingboss and get 15% off with code beingboss at checkout.
[01:02:56.120 --> 01:03:00.280] That's almanacsupplycode.com/slash beingboss.
[01:03:00.600 --> 01:03:04.600] Now, until next time, do the work, be boss.