Our Journey Through Career Changes, Entrepreneurship, and the Juggling Act of it All

In this episode, we delve into our personal journeys of facing significant career changes, embracing entrepreneurship, and striving for a harmonious work-life balance. 

We share our experiences of leaving secure, established careers to follow paths that better align with our personal values, ambitions, and the quest for flexibility. 

Discussing the obstacles encountered during our transitions, from dealing with the pressures of sales quotas to navigating toxic work environments, we highlight the challenges and motivations behind our decisions to change direction professionally. 

We also talk about the importance of visioning, planning, and accessing resources designed to support such significant shifts. Addressing common misconceptions, we underscore that career changes are often motivated by a deep-seated need for satisfaction and fulfillment rather than a lack of motivation or appreciation. Through our dialog, we aim to inspire others by demonstrating the importance of betting on oneself, the power of aligning one's professional life with personal values, and the possibilities that open up when one decides to design a life they love.

00:00 Embracing Change and Taking Leaps

01:15 The Joys and Challenges of Spring Break with Kids

05:28 Navigating Career Changes and Entrepreneurship

09:30 The Realities of Flexible Work and Parenting

10:11 Reflecting on Career Paths and Making Bold Moves

16:54 Exploring Reasons Behind Career Changes

22:02 The Dynamics of Career Longevity and Making Shifts

24:58 The High Pressure of Sales Quotas

25:35 Ethical Dilemmas in Sales and the Shift to Real Estate

27:00 Navigating Ethics and Client Interests in Real Estate

31:06 Personal Journey: From Insurance to Real Estate Amidst Health Challenges

32:57 The Impact of Toxic Work Environments on Personal Health and Career Choices

35:59 Embracing Change: Betting on Yourself and Making Career Shifts

40:12 Vision to Reality: Empowering Career and Life Transformations

49:53 Closing Thoughts: Encouragement to Pursue Personal Fulfillment

Transcript

Colleen: 0:00

it doesn't have to be a massive like, Move across the country and change your career. Like I did, that's scary for some people. Everybody's like, Oh my God, that's so scary. How'd you do that? I was like, whatever. It was fine. I was like, bye. I'm out, you know,

Cheryl: 0:48

my

Colleen: 0:49

Hi

Cheryl: 0:49

we're doing it. We're doing this right. Right, Colleen?

Colleen: 0:53

Um, yeah, we're doing it right. And if we're not, it's okay. We'll just figure it out.

Cheryl: 0:58

Just, just wing it.

Colleen: 1:00

Just swinging it.

Cheryl: 1:02

Welcome

Colleen: 1:03

Okay. Yeah. Welcome back.

Cheryl: 1:06

and Colleen today.

Colleen: 1:08

I love it. I love our guests, but I also love just hanging with you.

Cheryl: 1:14

I know I like hanging with you. So this is my last day of a two week spring break with my children. so I didn't do anything fun like go to Paris.

Colleen: 1:22

Yeah, I did. I went to Paris and it was amazing. I took my daughter for her 10th birthday and we went and visited. My sister and my nephew who live there now. So that was amazing. Um, and it was nice to just have some like one on one time with, with one kid. Like, cause that just doesn't happen very often and you know, she's 10 now. So she's like easier to travel older, but, but listen, seven days, eight days in Europe with a child. Even a really awesome one is, is hard. It was just like a lot of walking and, you know, just like a lot, like we wanted to show her everything. And she, she at one point was like, I don't care. We were like, dude, her name is Vivian for those that don't know. And so we're like, Oh, let's go and go to the galleries Vivienne and, you know, we'll go. And it's like just an area that has shops and it's beautiful, whatever. But she was like, no, I don't, I'm tired. I don't really care. Which I get it. Like to take it to do a 25 minute to 30 minute walk to go and just like see some shops that you're not going to buy anything at and then walk back. Like for a 10 year old, she was like, not interested. But we went to Versailles and she loved it. We didn't even go inside. We just like did the gardens. Cause the palace was closed because it was a Monday and it was fabulous. That being said, we came back and David, my husband took the boys to Colorado and they had a fabulous time. But then we came back and it's like, he just like peaced out to work. And I'm like, I also had to work, but then they're here and I'm like, Nuki, we're just

Cheryl: 3:18

that.

Colleen: 3:19

it. We're just doing it.

Cheryl: 3:22

Yeah, we are still au pair less. And so, uh, there was a lot of mom duty.

Colleen: 3:29

mm hmm.

Cheryl: 3:29

I think I was texting you yesterday. kids are so annoying. Like I just am like, go back to school. Go,

Colleen: 3:38

Two weeks is so long.

Cheryl: 3:41

It's really long. And thankfully I had help three days the first week, so I was able to go to work. then the second week my mom was here, so I had help three and a half days, but I feel bad for my mom because three kids is a lot

Colleen: 3:57

It's a lot.

Cheryl: 3:58

see them wipe her out. So I was not working like full days or it's fine.

Colleen: 4:05

I think the hard part of that is that it's just like, when you, and I think you had talked about this in, in one of our calls recently, like, When you're trying to work and their home, you, your attention is split and you're, you're not, not you, but yeah, every, you're just not good at anything at that point. Right? Like, and it gets,

Cheryl: 4:30

getting your full attention and everything sucks.

Colleen: 4:32

everything sucks. And it's so frustrating. And to send one email, it's like, you know, somebody wants a snack or somebody needs help with the thing or, you know, whatever. And you're just like, I mean, I've been there. It sucks. It's not awesome.

Cheryl: 4:47

That's exactly, I was trying to send one email one afternoon. I had at least two, maybe three of them in my bed with me. I have this bed that, or bed desk that I just love. If you, I, I'm still in high school. I still want to do my homework in bed. So I

Colleen: 5:04

I love it.

Cheryl: 5:05

a desk and I love it. So I'm just sitting there trying to like type one email out. And Emmy's kicking the desk and the desk's shaking and like, nobody's quiet. And I can't get through a full thought. I'm like, Ooh, this is so frustrating. But how lucky am I?

Colleen: 5:21

I know.

Cheryl: 5:21

am I get to spend all this time with my kids

Colleen: 5:25

Yeah.

Cheryl: 5:25

and I get to have a career that is flexible. And that might be the perfect segue into career change, which is what we were

Colleen: 5:35

Yeah.

Cheryl: 5:35

about today.

Colleen: 5:36

Yeah. I, I a hundred percent agree. I was in this has to do with this. Like I I chose to leave a job in 2018, to start my own business. But to your point of like being able to have the flexibility, flexibility is a weird word, but you know, like when I was on my way to the airport. I have clients who are like, we want to write an offer. And I put this in my stories, like, I am so grateful for this job, right? Like here, I get to be like in the airport with my daughter on our way to Paris and being able to do my work. Like sometimes that feels really frustrating, but sometimes that feels like a real privilege to be able to like, do this anywhere. And for the most part, you know, so it's just sometimes. Where your mindset is or where your, where your emotions are at that point. Like some people might've found that really frustrating. And I was like, I, I, this is great. Like I can work and be here with her and I would have just been sitting at the airport anyway. So yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yep. My God. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Oh my God.

Cheryl: 6:54

in I only have June the three year old you know, she's fine. She's cool She's fun to hang with so It's normally fine and I can like put on a show and do a little bit of work here and there and my goal was Just I'm not gonna really schedule appointments for Wednesdays Well, I'm also just getting used to that and of course scheduled several showings first Wednesday that it was like this shit. So I brought her and she did really good. And thankfully, you know, clients are, they understand they've, the clients were working with right now that I was showing property that day. They had three daughters. you know, they totally get it. And she did really good. And then last minute they wanted to see a property again that we thought would be off the market before they could offer on it. And it turned out that it hadn't gone off the market yet. And so we went and looked at it again, and it's like 3 p. m. And June hasn't napped. And they're like, yeah, we want to put, we want to put in an offer. Okay, let me call the agent, but I'm gonna have to do this from the car, because I have to pick up my other girls at 345. And then we had a webinar for that day that

cheryl_1_04-05-2024_081806: 8:00

we were leading. the InspiHERed

Cheryl: 8:02

Connection webinar. so I'm like calling the agent from the car with June in the backseat who's like melting down because she hasn't slept yet today. And I'm going to get the girls and the agent's telling us, well, I need your offer by five. And I'm like, well, that's just actually not physically possible at this point, but it's not going to happen. Might be able to swing six and thank God I have a business partner that also is juggling things, but like we're able to like, I'm like, okay, you start this and then we'll do a call after and review it with the clients. And cause also we don't want to like rush and make a mistake on a contract. I, it is my job to be the professional here and do this, right? I'm rushing all over just juggling, juggling, juggling, the webinar, get on the phone with the client, my business partner, pound out the rest of the offer, send it over, assigned, get it to the agent. And like, Oh, I'm supposed to go on a date with my husband tonight. Like the babysitter arrived as I had like sent the email. I was like, Oh, Hey, could have used you an hour ago. It's like time. I've been ignoring the kids for an hour. I'm like, dear God, Alex comes in the phone. He's on the phone for like 45 minutes with the controller from work walking around the house. We have a babysitter we're paying that we're not using yet. laying on the bed. Just like. Uh, comatose coming down from the day. And that's the thing about like the flexibility. Then the next night, you know, we're waiting for the results of the offer while I'm at Bunco. And so I'm obsessively like checking my phone and refreshing my phone. And it's like, it's such a double edged sword because

Colleen: 9:43

Yeah,

Cheryl: 9:44

I was able to do all those things with my kids that I needed to do in that time. And I was able to be at Bunco while I was working

Colleen: 9:51

right.

Cheryl: 9:52

and I was not able to be fully present for anything.

Colleen: 9:57

Yeah, and this is that like Entrepreneur life that some people are love and are built for. And some people would, are, they are going to be hearing this going, well, that sounds awful,

Cheryl: 10:11

Yeah,

Colleen: 10:11

you know, like, but I was never the person. So my career path started in high school, which is like a, such a stupid place to, to make a decision about what you're going to do for the next. Part of your huge chunk of your life, but I really fell in love with sports medicine and athletic training. And that was what I was good at. And it was easy for me. I made a program in my high school. So when I started applying to colleges. That's what I thought that I wanted to do. And I was like, great, this is great. I can do this in college. This is, I can help people. I get to be around sports. I love, I love sports. I, you know, like it's really rewarding, blah, blah, blah. And so I did that. And I was, uh, I got my master's in sports medicine. I was a certified athletic trainer for 13 years. And I worked in as an athletic director and I was like, okay, but. You know, it was really interesting because one, I had chosen this path that. 16 or 17, which is like no decision we made that that point was a good one, you know, and, and I am first generation college graduate. So I didn't have anybody really in my life who had any experience on selecting a college or where I should go. Like I had, I, I had a college guidance counselor at school, but she didn't really, it wasn't like how they are now where they're like super helpful. And so it's just such a stupid thing, in my opinion, to make children decide at that point in their life. Anyway, so I went on this career path and I loved it, but then Once I started having like literally once I started having kids, I was like, when Vivian was a baby, it kind of worked out because I got to be with her half the day. And then I went to work at like one. And so I had a nanny from like one until my husband got home at five or six or whatever. And that was fine. That worked out fine. But then as she got older and then as I had Everett, like I really quickly decided that this wasn't going to work for me. And. That's when I went into sports administration. Like when I went into being an athletic director and I was like, Oh yeah, this will be better, it turns out it was worse because it was more hours and more responsibility and more money. And really prestigious, but I felt so stuck. And I think a lot of people feel this, like when you've, you've Invested so much time in a career and invested so much money, like I had to take out student loans and, you know, I went to graduate school and I had really proclaimed that this is what I loved and what I wanted to do. I always felt like there was a lot of pressure or responsibility to keep doing it. And I probably did it longer. Because of that. Right. Cause there's always less idea of like, well, I said I was going to do this or, you know, everybody thinks that this is what I should be doing or whatever. But it wasn't until I had got pregnant with Jackson and that I really made the decision that this was like, Not good. And there was various things that happened during that career, you know, like some kind of like toxic people and like toxic environments where you're just like, I'm not really interested. Like I, when I was, so I was appointed an interim athletic director position at a fairly young age. And. I had just had Everett. And so I was really trying to prove myself because nobody in the department wanted me to have that position. They literally told me to my face, like, you didn't deserve this. And I was like, okay, well, somebody,

Cheryl: 13:56

sweet.

Colleen: 13:57

somebody thought I did because here I am. You know? But I was leaving the house and I was also postpartum. So I was like, really like, Oh my God, I got to lose weight. And I got to be, so I was getting up in the morning. Leaving my house at five, I had a 45 minute commute. I was coming to work. I was working out for an hour at work. And then by seven o'clock, my phone started ringing. My email started shooting off from parents and other administrators and people. And then I would be at school. All the way until the last sporting event, last game, which would be nine, 10 o'clock. And then I had a 45 minute drive home. So, and I was nursing. So I was pumping four to five times a day at work. Like I had to put it on my calendar, like to go and pump. And meanwhile, I had a baby at home and a toddler. And thankfully my mom lived with us at that time. Otherwise that would have been impossible. But I just got to the point where I was like, Never seeing my kids, like, why did I have them if I never saw them? And then, so I think, I guess the point of this long story and talking about, like, career changes, like, sometimes it takes that, that pivotal moment of, like, a change in your life or a change of whatever. We've talked about this before, like, how babies or maternity leave gives you that opportunity as a woman and sometimes a man. To reflect on what you want. But as I was like pregnant with Jackson, I was like, I can't, not I can't, cause I could have keep, I could have continued to do what I was doing. But I just, I literally said, I refuse, I refuse to do this anymore. I can do it, but I'm making a choice that this is not how I want to live my life. And I think that that is, A really tough decision and not everybody gets the privilege to make that decision and not everybody gets a partner who was a supportive and, you know, I know you and I have talked about like how that went with you and Alex, but I just said to David straight in the face. I said, I refuse to do this anymore. I'm not going back after my maternity leave. And he was just like, okay. And he just said, okay. Like, and then I was so thankful for that, but then we had to figure out what that meant because now we had three kids or we were going to have three kids and one salary and I was making really good money. So it was basically like cutting my salary in half or cutting our income in half. But it was the right thing. And. In that, you know, we talk about Jackson being the game changer. That's what we call him is the game changer. He changed our life in so many ways and he changed my career. And it's, it was really impactful and empowering, but also terrifying and scary.

Cheryl: 16:50

really scary.

Colleen: 16:51

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yep.

Cheryl: 16:54

on a few reasons why people make career changes. This is from Apollo technical. com. It's a career change website. Some of the reasons people make changes, a salary increase. So that's like, you see that a lot. Like the people hopping from job to job to climb that ladder. Philosophy and goals are changing. Um, So I totally can relate with that. Leadership at a current company is unsatisfactory. Hello. That's why I left.

Colleen: 17:21

Yep.

Cheryl: 17:22

one reason I left my career, having greater flexibility in work and that's that flexibility where it's like I could bring

Colleen: 17:29

Yeah. That's

Cheryl: 17:30

with me, but it was, it's hard, it's not easy, but it is

Colleen: 17:37

That's an interesting thing that we, a lot of people associate flexibility with ease and flexibility is not easy. And I think when people are like, well, I want a flexible schedule and they think in their mind that that's going to be really easy and flexible does. Like per the definition does not mean easy, right? Like flexible means like you can kind of move and change and do things, which is fine. But that means bringing your kid being flexible or having a flexible schedule means bringing, you can bring your kid to your showing, you can do the work at the airport or whatever. It doesn't mean that.

Cheryl: 18:11

be up till 10, 11, 12 at night, know, in bed

Colleen: 18:15

Yeah. Yeah.

Cheryl: 18:17

work on the weekends and like

Colleen: 18:19

Yep.

Cheryl: 18:20

write an offer on Easter and

Colleen: 18:23

All of it.

Cheryl: 18:24

all the things,

Colleen: 18:25

You know, you can be like, I remember two years ago or a year ago I was in Paris. I was literally in Paris for my 40th birthday. Okay. Again, in Versailles, like on the phone in the train station being like, congratulations, your offer got accepted. Like it was, that's flexibility, but that doesn't mean easy. Anyway, go on. That's I just thought it was important. Oh.

Cheryl: 18:48

references is unsatisfied in the current career. And then this is interesting. The common misconception that people who want to change their career field are lazy, unmotivated or unappreciative. This couldn't be further from the truth. The reality is people who make a career change are doing it so that because they don't have job satisfaction, they may feel a need to do something different with their life. And I want to touch on that because if you're not feeling satisfied in your job, you're probably not working to your highest level.

Colleen: 19:17

Correct.

Cheryl: 19:17

you're lazy.

Colleen: 19:18

No.

Cheryl: 19:19

you're uninspired. You're unmotivated. And I remember towards the end of my career, when I was in commercial insurance, I took on this side hustle with Rachel, my current business partner, helping people optimize and start up their short term rental businesses. And it was like, finally passion, like I was excited about something, like I didn't mind staying up till 10 o'clock at night working. I didn't, like, it was so fun for me. The kitty's

Colleen: 19:45

Yeah.

Cheryl: 19:45

Watch out you guys. We have a new kitten and she's gonna be a part of the podcast today.

Colleen: 19:50

I love it.

Cheryl: 19:51

so,

Colleen: 19:51

cheddar.

Cheryl: 19:52

if you're on YouTube, cause we're on YouTube. is Cheddar.

Colleen: 19:57

Oh my God. She's so cute.

Cheryl: 19:59

Can you hear her purring? so, yeah, that like finally like lit my soul up and made me feel excited to want to do something again where I was so burned out on insurance. And, with my company. I just was uninspired at work and they weren't getting the best of me. That's for sure.

Colleen: 20:19

you know, one of the things they talked about in there is like changing for financial reasons or like pay raise. And, um, You know, it's really interesting that that takes a certain person to be able to do that, right? Like I look at, so my husband who is really a diligent worker and he's very good at what he does. He's very loyal and we watched, so he stayed with his company, the company he was with for 13 years. It was the company he started working for right at a call as an intern in college and then got hired on. It was great company. But we watched. People leave, like his colleagues leave and then come back and make that a corporate climb or a financial climb that he didn't do. And some of that was because he was afraid. Some of that was because of his loyalty. He didn't want to seem like he was jumping ship or whatever. But that's things that are like ingrained. Yeah. In some people where they're like, well, if I leave, I'm bad. Or if I leaving just to get more money than I'm bad or, and I think that's something that needs each person needs to address because like, you just shouldn't stay in a job if you're unhappy or, and I don't know that he was particularly unhappy, but it's like, he wasn't, but like, But are there opportunities to grow like were there opportunities that he missed it growth wise?

Cheryl: 21:51

Well, and those people that left and then came back, they experienced something different and they brought more back to the company,

Colleen: 21:58

Yeah,

Cheryl: 21:58

what increased their value for the company.

Colleen: 22:01

right.

Cheryl: 22:01

is valuable. Well so the average career length according to this article is 13 years and two months.

Colleen: 22:08

Oh, interesting. Yeah, and so was I as far as my sports medicine career. But I've

Cheryl: 22:14

years.

Colleen: 22:15

yeah, but and then I, you know what that is, though, if that's, if you think about that, that's like coming right out of college. Getting a job and then getting into your mid 30s and realizing like, Oh, I made this decision at 18 or 20 or 22 and this, and your life changes at that point. Right? Like you're, you're maybe getting married. You're maybe having children at that point. Like your peers are doing different things in their life. I, and I think more recently, like we grew up at least in our parents and their parents had jobs, you had like one company that you worked for, you know, like my, uh, my in laws, My father in law has worked for the same airline for like a billion years now that airline changed because it used to be like Pan Am, which doesn't exist anymore. Right? But it's the same company. Right? And then my mother in law has worked at the same school that she went to. That her kids went to, you know, but you start to see it with our generation or maybe even just a little bit older where people are, are more dynamic in their careers. And that idea of explain all these changes as we were coming up, it would be like, explain these changes in your resume. Like, and that was a bad thing, like that you had changed so many times, but now that I don't think that that's a thing anymore. You know, like people being. Dynamic in their careers and having different experiences. It's not, it's not looked at or framed the same way it was 20 years ago. You know, it's giving people more of an opportunity to like, make these career changes. And I think for people kind of at our age, like I'm now 41 and you're still in your thirties. That is tough because we fall in between those. That gap, right? Of the old, older generation that worked for one company and this younger generation that moves three every three, four years, two years or whatever. But I will just say making a career change is super hard. But it was the best thing I ever did. And it, in the trajectory in which it took me was phenomenal.

Cheryl: 24:38

The idea that you just said about explain these changes in an interview, I'm thinking to myself, I'm never going to have a job interview again. I'll

Colleen: 24:46

I know.

Cheryl: 24:46

work for anybody but me ever again.

Colleen: 24:50

I know.

Cheryl: 24:50

I was at the end of, when I was at the end of my career with, with my insurance job, the manager, you know, it was sales. So it was like quota, quota, quota, quota. And if you don't hit that quota, you're always on the choppy block. And it, it was It was no longer fun. And my manager who was toxic and I you next Tuesday. She me one day and she's like, are you going to, are you going to get this done? Are you going to get this done? You know, giving me the pressure and I'm like, I'll tell you what, I'll bet on myself 100 percent of the time. And you know what I did in a couple of weeks, resigned and bet on myself for the rest of my life.

Colleen: 25:27

Yes.

Cheryl: 25:30

don't want to chase your goal anymore. Your

Colleen: 25:33

Yeah.

Cheryl: 25:35

puts me in a position to, and this is sales. And I, when I first started sales, I was like, I'll never have ethical dilemmas. Like it's easy to make the right choice, but when you have this quota and this management breathing down your throat so you can keep your job and there's this one way you could do things that would get you a little bit more. Bang for your buck and like get everybody off your back, but maybe it's not the exact right thing for your clients. started to see where those things happen and where that was actually the culture of the company to push those things. Like, you know, that whole Wells Fargo thing that happened years ago where like they had some incentive where they were like, I think they were trying to open new mortgages or trying to open new accounts and like this whole Scandal came down and, and like, it was, it really shook up the industry. Well, that's like so common in every sales position. Like somebody finds a way to skirt around something that's like, not really hurting anybody, but maybe not in the real best interest. And it's like, I had no idea that that would be presented so many times in my career. And that is one of the catalysts for change was I don't want to work for. The company and be moving the company's forward. I want to work for clients. I want to work for these people that I'm like in the trenches with every day. And I want to do what's right for them,

Colleen: 26:59

Right.

Cheryl: 26:59

for what's right for the company. So why in real estate, this is. Perfect, because I, my employer is my client. I am working directly for you and your best needs.

Colleen: 27:10

Yeah.

Cheryl: 27:10

I, that makes me feel so good. the lines of like what's ethical and what's not are very clear in this role. And

Colleen: 27:20

Well, yes and

Cheryl: 27:22

tremendously.

Colleen: 27:23

yes and no. And like, not to talk about the NAR settlement, but to talk about the NAR settlement, like that is, there was a In my opinion, and remember that this settlement came out of three states only, right? It was Missouri.

Cheryl: 27:40

It has not been approved by a judge yet. So this is all

Colleen: 27:43

Speculate. Yes. Still not clear, but there is opportunity in real estate for the real for the realtor, for the real estate agent to have their best interest in mind. Now that is not We have a fiduciary responsibility, which people don't really understand. And I don't even know that all real estate agents fully understand that, but like, we're supposed to put our needs second to our clients, like our clients needs and financial responsibility to them is, is supposed to be higher than ours. So like, you know, if our budget, if our clients are like. My budget's 800, you know, there are agents who will be like, Oh, but you could stretch it a little bit to 900. Like it's only a couple dollars per month, X, Y, and Z. That's not putting your client's best interest in, in mind. And so there, It takes such a specific person. I think that's the point that I'm trying to say, like, it takes a really specific person to make these types of entrepreneurial career changes. Like, we could talk about career change, moving to different companies, and that's hard too, but when you're leaving a more corporate or more regulated or salary based job, or, and then moving to an entrepreneurial job, like, To really succeed and really do well and really do it in an ethical and, you know, responsible way takes a certain person and it's not for everybody. And I think that that is just something to evaluate. And, and I think that's why people get scared about, about making that jump because you can, especially in sales, right? Like it can happen. It's hard not to do that. Anyway,

Cheryl: 29:32

Well,

Colleen: 29:32

it.

Cheryl: 29:33

and that, that lawsuit really stemmed from agents, not clearly communicating how they were being paid and, and letting people know that the commissions that are being paid to realtors is negotiable, which it

Colleen: 29:46

It always has been. Yeah, it always has been.

Cheryl: 29:49

the media is doing so much clickbait and not doing our industry any service and it's, it's sad.

Colleen: 29:56

Yeah,

Cheryl: 29:58

ethical, moral, good agents should have been explaining this correctly all along. And, and that's, that's a really great change that'll come out of this.

Colleen: 30:10

yeah, I mean,

Cheryl: 30:11

will be explained and people will understand. I mean, that was part of my buyer consultation. That was part of my selling consultation. Like I have a expected cost of this sale, expected cost of this purchase. And in that, my entire career, it has said like. I am paid off a percentage. Typically, this is paid by the, you know, if I'm representing a buyer, typically this is paid by the seller. Now, and typically, you know, what I'm doing for a seller, like, you're going to pay my commission and the buyer's agent commission, typically. You have options on what that amount is.

Colleen: 30:41

right.

Cheryl: 30:41

every negotiation I've ever done in this job. So, on those people that weren't doing it correctly, or, you know, it was just the old way of doing things, maybe.

Colleen: 30:50

We're uneducated.

Cheryl: 30:51

that's great.

Colleen: 30:52

Yeah, we don't need.

Cheryl: 30:53

that that's going to change,

Colleen: 30:55

Yeah.

Cheryl: 30:55

there's a lot about this settlement, that's a little bit of annoying,

Colleen: 30:59

Yeah.

Cheryl: 31:00

mostly the media coverage around it.

Colleen: 31:02

The media coverage is ridiculous. It's so stupid. But anyway, anyway

Cheryl: 31:06

so I'll tell my career change story.

Colleen: 31:08

let's do it.

Cheryl: 31:09

I got into an industry that I, Um, and I would never get into, that was the most comical thing about this. I, I always said like the one thing I'll never do is sell insurance. Cause my dad didn't, he was miserable and you know, wouldn't, you know, the first job that approached me at a college was an insurance company. And they a package that was really hard to say no to at, you know, 24 years old and just graduating college. And. You The opportunity to make money was really crazy and the benefits. And so I ended up selling insurance and for a long time, it was really good. And I was thriving. And then I got sick. I got diagnosed with the kidney disease a couple of years into it. And I was like at the height of the career. Like I had been picked from this group of young. Marketers. And I was going to this like for the best of the best to come give upper management feedback on what's happening in the field. And like, I was on, I was on the path to promotion and moving up in the company. And then. I literally had to cancel because the day before I was supposed to go to that meeting, I was diagnosed with kidney disease, found out I was pregnant. Like my life kind of flipped upside down. I had a manager that was really supportive during that time. And the company was patient with me while I figured it all out. I ended up going on disability leave. They had no, they couldn't tell me no

Colleen: 32:31

Right.

Cheryl: 32:32

Like there was nothing they could do at that point. Came back to work, got well, again at a high level, then started having the kids and I would do really well in the months that I was there, but I would take four months ish off other year while I was having babies. And the company got very impatient with me in that period of time and did not hide it.

Colleen: 32:56

Hmm.

Cheryl: 32:57

became a very toxic workplace for me and there was no family life balance. They wanted it so they're motto was faith, family, and then the name of the company. That was the order in which you were to prioritize your life. And I can say that that was bullshit

Colleen: 33:17

Yeah.

Cheryl: 33:18

they wanted company and then whatever else. So, And like the management team, you would hear them like when it wasn't me, when it was other people. Cause I was, I was like, I am now where I'm a leader and I'm magnetic and I was good at encouraging people. So I was a good person to have on the team, even when I wasn't necessarily performing at the highest level, because I was taking time off to have my babies. still was a valued member of the team because of my dynamic that I brought. But I would hear them talk about other people that, you know, whoever was currently on the chopping block and you'd hear them talk about basically like making their life so miserable that they quit. And this is, this is the management at this company, like toxic shitty management at this company. So I'd hear them talk about that. And then when it became my turn, that, I was the one that she was, I was on her, her radar is the weak link on the team. It, okay. Like, you could feel it. It was palpable how they were trying to push you out. And I'm going to say, fortunately, I am sick. I still like as, as high as I'm functioning at this moment, the time I was under a lot of stress. I was like recovering from having my children. I have several diseases and I wasn't feeling well. And thankfully for all of those reasons. I was able to go out on disability leave again and buy myself a little bit of time. And my manager was like on me about it and was so rude that I was doing this. How lucky are you? I'm like, Oh,

Colleen: 35:04

okay.

Cheryl: 35:05

lucky am I that I am. unwell and

Colleen: 35:10

Yeah.

Cheryl: 35:11

a pause because my body actually needs me to for years and years my doctors have been saying like, you don't have to work at the level you're working if you don't want to. Like they would do anything for me they saw the struggle that I'm I physically go through and as I started to get better And it's not good on my body to feel that amount of stress. And I'm have that, like, there's so much. And I'm like, yeah, how lucky am I, am I that I have this team of doctors that's willing to like write me out on leave whenever I want, because I, they don't even think I should be working.

Colleen: 35:42

Yeah. That is so gross.

Cheryl: 35:47

am I? It just, that was the kind of last straw. That was the night before I went out on that leave. And I was. Not going to come back after that. It was just, I can't do that anymore.

Colleen: 35:59

Yeah. And I wonder, and it's really interesting how, you know, like you listen to both of our stories and there was just like a point where you're just, there is a breaking point, right? Like what, in these big career changes. Right. And I think we talk about not just job change, but career change when you're shifting, like from. A specific career, like your went from insurance to real estate. Right. And I went from, I, I changed, I've had so many jobs, but I went from, you know, the sports medicine education based career to then. Construction and design firm and then to real estate. Right. And I, and when I made the shift from closing our construction and design business to moving, you know, we moved across the country and whatever, there was also a point there where I was like, that was a different, it was different. And, but similar, our business was doing really well. It was COVID it was very successful, but the amount of stress that I was experiencing and, The lifestyle we had where, you know, my husband was working and never seeing the kids and I was working crazy and, but responsible for all of our kids of X, Y, and Z again was a point in my life where I was like, I, this is not how I want to live. And I think that that was a big a big revelation, I guess, is like, I can decide how to design my future. And how to design my life and I don't have to settle. And I think that is just like a pivotal point in your life. And if that, if somebody is at that point where they're so miserable in their life and they're so unhappy, I just, I want to encourage people to just, like you said, like bet on yourself and go for it, right? Because you just are not, you don't. No, or maybe you do know, like, what you're capable of when you're willing to bet on yourself, right? Like those, those opportunities that you can create. And again, it's not going to be everybody. That's going to be really scary. And you have to, you can't just jump off the cliff without a parachute. Like, you have to kind of

Cheryl: 38:23

plan.

Colleen: 38:24

put a plan together, but and do it. You know, in a very thoughtful and serious way, but, but I would just encourage anybody, like, if you are at a point in your career, I don't care what age you are, like, if you're 20, if you're 25, if you're 40, if you're 50, and you are not living the life that you want to live to just bet on yourself and to just believe in yourself. Figure out a plan and also find the people who can help you to do that, you know, because we, I don't know that you and I had people helping us, but there are lots of resources and people helping out there now, but I just, I'm such an advocate for this. I'm such an advocate for looking at your life and saying, like, is this the life that I want to live? And if it's not. Then you have the ability and the power and the responsibility to change it. Otherwise you're responsible for your condition of being miserable, you know, and it doesn't. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, you did.

Cheryl: 39:29

if you die. Your desk will be cleaned out by the end of the week and there's going to be a new butt sitting there. Is that, like, your family, you're, like, you have to, you are responsible for your own happiness and your own life. And you just follow somebody else's goal and dream forever, like, you're dispensable to them. And you're not dispensable to your family and you're not dispensable to yourself. And do you, also the thing, like, do you want to lay on your deathbed one day and look back and you know, are you going to think, I wish I would've worked more or I wish I would've hit that manager's goal that year, like, no, you're not going to, so. true doing this right fashion, we have tangible things that can help you with this. And the first thing I'll tell you is like, when I decided to do this started thinking about doing this, I made a spreadsheet. Cause I'm a freak in the sheet. But I, you know, like you just have to start, you just need to look at the information. You need to start collecting data. So like how much money am I making? How much money do I need to make? What could I cut out so that I could make a change comfortably or uncomfortably? not going to be comfortable to make a change oftentimes. So that just start by collecting data and looking, but also Colleen and I have the vision to reality. Course that you could take to help you identify what it is you want out of your life. And then we give you like tangible steps to take to move towards those visions and towards those goals. So you know, we have a resource available for you. We will give you information if you want it on how to access it and what to do, but it, we've done this course now with a couple of people live, more than a couple of people, like 15, 20 people. And they, the feedback we've gotten. on it has been tremendous. I think it's very eye opening and it's like a very different avenue to like identifying what it is you actually want, like very value based and helping you really align your life with, with your values. And I

Colleen: 41:45

And

Cheryl: 41:46

super valuable.

Colleen: 41:47

yeah, and I think one of the things that it does that I don't know that people take a lot of time to do is like really taking, and it doesn't take long. Right. But really considering what are your personal core core values and what are, what do you envision for your life? Like, what does that look like? What does that feel like? What does that smell like? What does that, you know, and. You know,

Cheryl: 42:15

Sorry,

Colleen: 42:15

and Cheddar,

Cheryl: 42:16

on YouTube, Cheddar's uh, taking a turn on the mic.

Colleen: 42:20

yeah, Cheryl and Cheddar and I are like, definitely going to support any big dream that you have and I just, I think that this is, it's a really great course. It's a really great opportunity. To just see, see the possibility for yourself and to see what could be and what change changes you could make or take. And it doesn't have to be huge. It doesn't have to be, if that's scary, it doesn't have to be a massive like, Move across the country and change your career. Like I did, that's scary for some people. Everybody's like, Oh my God, that's so scary. How'd you do that? I was like, whatever. It was fine. I was like, bye. I'm out, you know, I am like not super risk adverse. But I would say it is important to just challenge yourself to look at, like, is there something more? Is there something that you could change that would make you happier? That would make, and it's not necessarily, you know, not about money. It's not about quote unquote success, but like what would make you feel fulfilled? And how do we get to that goal? And it might be entrepreneurship. It might be a career change. It might be just shifting the way that you think about what you're doing too. Like it doesn't always have to be this like earth shattering, like flipping the table type of change. Right. It can be smaller things that just add to the quality and value of your life. But

Cheryl: 43:54

Yeah, it doesn't even have to be career related. know, one of my big visions that I've defined is about where I live and how, how we live and what we can make the property do for us. And that's going to turn, give us more income so that we can make, or my spouse can make different career choices

Colleen: 44:16

right.

Cheryl: 44:17

what he's making right now. I'm a person that's like, I can jump today. Like I got an idea and I'm going to go. That's just who I am. I'm, I'm married to a person who is going to think about it for four or five years.

Colleen: 44:28

Yeah, same.

Cheryl: 44:29

then maybe, and I'm

Colleen: 44:30

is why you and I are married now, right? Because we're jumping off the cliff and they're like, holding, they're like, the parachute. It's like slowing us down in the best way, right?

Cheryl: 44:42

they've got to say, no, they don't have us anchored. They'd like to have us anchored.

Colleen: 44:46

Yeah.

Cheryl: 44:46

Um,

Colleen: 44:48

Yeah.

Cheryl: 44:48

anchored and it makes them feel comfortable. So, and we're all different. We all have different levels of personality and, but. Alex, when I was building this course out and the workbook that went with it, and I was showing, I was so, you guys, I do things that light my soul on fire. So like,

Colleen: 45:04

Mm hmm.

Cheryl: 45:05

it, I'm so excited and I cast it up to the TV screen so everybody can see what I spent all my hours on working that day, the kids included,

Colleen: 45:11

Yeah.

Cheryl: 45:12

this is valuable for

Colleen: 45:13

Yeah.

Cheryl: 45:13

what mommy gets excited about dorky stuff. And so I'm showing it to my whole family and Alex is like, Oh, I really need this. I really need this. And that

Colleen: 45:24

Yes!InspiHERed him!

Cheryl: 45:26

in the world that my husband was like, Oh, Oh, he sees the value in what I do because I, you know, when somebody sees behind the curtain,

Colleen: 45:36

Mm hmm.

Cheryl: 45:36

get to see this really polished me, it's not that polished you guys. gets to see like the raw, the worst, like me on my worst days, me crumbling in tears in bed, me like snapping at the kids and him because I'm exhausted. And. And I think it can be a little bit harder to like place value in someone when you see like all of it,

Colleen: 45:58

Sure.

Cheryl: 45:59

I think, but he's seeing what I'm doing in this kind of like leadership development and this, these systems, things that I'm putting in place and he's seeing the value in it and that really motivates me and makes me excited because he thinks I'm doing a good job. I must be doing a good job.

Colleen: 46:15

You are doing that.

Cheryl: 46:16

to me, because we all know that age old thing where like your spouse won't hear it from you. Somebody else can tell your spouse the same thing you've been telling them for a year, and then they hear it elsewhere. And they're like, wow, did you hear that? That was really impactful. I'm like, yeah, motherfucker.

Colleen: 46:31

You're like,

Cheryl: 46:32

you

Colleen: 46:32

I'm

Cheryl: 46:33

that

Colleen: 46:33

going to, yeah,

Cheryl: 46:37

however you need to hear it, it's fine. I mean, Rachel and I have a client right now that it's the same. We continue to tell this client like our advice on something and she's like, what? Like, I still want to hire someone, and then we hire someone, and then end up telling her the same thing we said, and then she accepts it.

Colleen: 46:54

it's so interesting and there's a, in, in the ninja selling, uh, philosophy ninja selling is a sales book. It's really good sales book by the way. They, he talks about like, who says it matters

Cheryl: 47:10

mm

Colleen: 47:11

it's so, so It's so real to me and obvi, you know, obviously to you, but like it does, it matters who says it. And I think, you know, as we're putting these courses together and theInspiHERed her groups that we're creating, like it matters who says it and, and we're saying it because we're doing it and we're living it and we're applying it. And we really would love to be able to help thousands of billions quadrillions of women. And men, if they want to do it, you know, to kind of live their best life and to live their dreams and to make those dreams reality and to really have a support system and a, and a process. Like, I think this is where you and I come together in such an amazing way is that like, we can, we give the people what they need, right? Like the encouragement, the inspiration. The energy, but backed up with the systems and steps in the actual tools. Like so often there's like inspirational speakers and you're like, Oh, I'm so pumped now what, you know,

Cheryl: 48:25

Yeah, you

Colleen: 48:26

like,

Cheryl: 48:26

with, like, all this Kool Aid and, like, no logistical way to implement it into your life.

Colleen: 48:32

yeah, no recipe, right. You're like, I'm going to go make the Kool Aid I'm totally in. But then you're like, how much sugar do I put in? What's the water ratio? And. You know, the workbook that Cheryl has put together, and I only slightly edited because she just needed someone to be like, Oh, I put that page in there twice. You know, like, is phenomenal and I just, we didn't mean for this podcast to be an ad, but here we are, like, but you should sign up for it and we will have it very very soon available for sale.

Cheryl: 49:06

of the big missions that I have, that you have in this is like plug and play.

Colleen: 49:12

Mm hmm.

Cheryl: 49:13

because we're entrepreneurs, we're leaders, we're fucking busy

Colleen: 49:17

Mm hmm.

Cheryl: 49:17

down to. And I am always going to give somebody what I would want to receive. And I want to receive the easy button. So like, yes, I'm super motivated, motivated by what you said, and I'm so excited and I want to implement it. Give me the easy button and. And so we've done it. Like, you've got a workbook that's going to walk you through every step that you need to take from dreaming up your vision to your day to day tasks and how to achieve it. So we're really excited about it, you guys. Clearly, that's how

Colleen: 49:48

Really?

Cheryl: 49:48

in this commercial.

Colleen: 49:50

Yeah, welcome to our infomercial.

Cheryl: 49:52

Mm hmm.

Colleen: 49:53

but anyway, I just think, like, I guess I will wrap it up and we'll wrap it up. I just by saying, like, if you are unhappy or you are not quote unquote, where you thought you were going to be at this time in your life, or you feel stuck. There is a way out and there is the opportunity for change and it is scary. The life that you get to live on the other side of that little bit of fear is phenomenal.

Cheryl: 50:26

Mm hmm. I agree. Colleen, you've been such a great guest. Where can people find you? Ha ha

Colleen: 50:32

you can follow me at Colleen Hungerford on Instagram andInspiHERed her,InspiHERed her collective national,

Cheryl: 50:43

Dot Nash,

Colleen: 50:44

dot national.

Cheryl: 50:46

We'll put it in the show notes. We are expanding ourInspiHERed her collective groups. we are going to expand into different geographic regions. So if you're interested in hearing what that's about. Reach out to us. And we can do a little bit of a discovery call with you so you can see what it might be like to create your own incredibleInspiHERed her collective group where you are. And that's all I think. Thank you for coming. Keep doing it right, you guys. And then when you realize you might not be doing it right, just change and it's fine.

Colleen: 51:16

Totally fine.

Cheryl: 51:17

We're fine. Everybody's fine. All right. Love you guys. Bye.

Colleen: 51:21

Bye bye.