187 - Design, Live, Thrive: Preparing for a Transformational Summit

Episode 187 of the Life Coach Business Building Podcast

In this week's episode, I invited six speakers from the Design, Live, Thrive Summit to share their insights and learnings in preparing for a transformational summit.

These six speakers will deliver talks, covering topics from overcoming stubborn weight gain, expressive writing, and blending families to knowing your strengths, managing self-talk, and navigating the next chapter in midlife and empty nest. 

We'll also hear some of their personal experiences and beautiful takeaways from the Business Building Boutique. 

It gives me goosebumps hearing all the wisdom shared by these incredible women who teach, coach, and generously draw from their life experiences.

So make sure to stay tuned until the end for a dose of inspiration that will empower you to continue the amazing work of changing the lives of the women you love and adore.

👉 Don’t miss the chance to Immerse yourself in the wisdom of 27 expert female coaches to helping you create the life you've always dreamed of this 2024! Sign up for the FREE Design Live & Thrive Summit here!

👉 Create a profitable business that looks good and sets you up to be respected through the Fast Track Business Building Boutique Program 

👉 Check out my FREE Canva Workshop and learn how to create stunning graphics for your coaching business! 

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave me a review and forward this to a coach who is building and growing their coaching business. CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A REVIEW

Don’t forget to connect with me on social media: Instagram | Facebook

Transcript:

Preview:   If you're a coach listening, you're seeing that you're not alone in how you feel because what each one of these ladies has described, they're all very smart women who are very successful, have had very successful careers and whatever they've done, that the reality is building a coaching business is a different kind of thing. There are real hurdles and there is a real learning curve to learning how to even do basic things like write emails to potential clients versus all the emails or to be on zoom. You've been on zoom for years, the last few years, but you haven't been on zoom doing this. So, I hope y'all that are listening now see that you're not alone in how you feel. Everybody has experienced the same kind of thing as they've built their business. 

Intro: Hello, I'm Debbie Shadid, the host of the Life Coach Business Building podcast. If you are ready to have more clients in your life coach business, then you're in the right spot. Each week I'm gonna teach you super simple strategies to grow your business without feeling overwhelmed and without spending money on paid ads. If that sounds interesting. Stick around and let's get started.

 Debbie: Welcome to today's podcast. I am so excited to introduce you guys to six of our summit speakers. I first want to take a moment and talk to you about the Design, Live, Thrive summit. This is the second annual summit happening on January 12th and 13th. 

So, what is this summit all about? Let me give you the backstory. When I think about my clients and the work that we have done together inside of the Business Building Boutique, there were two problems that I wanted to solve for them. And number 1 was I wanted to help them establish a reputation as being an expert in their field, and I wanted to help them have a reputation and expert status with even people like their family members who thought that maybe coaching wasn't the best move for them. I also wanted to make sure that friends in their world, maybe past coworkers or current co workers, really understood what coaching was about and could see the value of their coaching. So that's the reason why I decided to help them become a speaker at the Design, Live, Thrive summit. 

The other opportunity was to help them grow the know, like, and trust factor of their coaching business and also to grow their email list. So to help get them in front of their ideal clients. So if you're listening to this podcast and you have not signed up for the Design, Live, Thrive summit, you want to do that. We're going to have 30 speakers who are going to be talking about all the ways that you can make 2024 your best year ever.  Let's get going. Margie, why don't you start out? 

Margie: Well, thank you. I'm Margie Setterlof and I help women, 50 plus, who are frustrated with failed diets. They're frustrated with the low energy that they feel around this time. And they're also frustrated with their medical doctors or conventional doctors who just don't seem to get them. And they've tried everything to reach the results they want without success and to fix their health problems. And my topic for the summit is called Beyond Hormones: Cracking the Weight Loss Code for Women Over 50.

So that in a nutshell, basically is how to help women discover the real root cause of their stubborn weight gain, as I mentioned, and then their low energy and other common symptoms that tend to show up right around that menopausal age. And we address the thoughts they think, how they move, and most importantly, their gut health in terms of how that impacts their hormones and how getting to the root cause involves more than just looking at the surface in terms of those hormonal changes.

So we take a science-based and faith-centered and nutritional approach to helping them reach those goals without using drugs, without relying on traditional approaches and just allowing them to do it in a natural sort of way. That's basically, the women I reach and the topics that I'm talking about so that they can age with grace, vitality, and not have to go down the same path that their parents went down in terms of how they spend their fifties, sixties and beyond. 

Debbie: That's right. Great. Thanks, Margie. Linda, how about you?

Linda: Okay. It's good to be here. My name is Linda Jones. I go by the Writing Doula. I'm an emotional wellness and writing coach, and I help my clients use writing to become better storytellers, legacy keepers, and also to use it to practice self care. My specialty is in working with black women to help them rebound from emotional setbacks that could be caused by grief, microaggressions, and life challenges in general. The name of my topic for the summit is called Writing to Exhale, but it's how expressive writing can help ease the impact, the emotional impact of black grief, a topic that's sort of understudied, but a condition that's pervasive in our community. 

Debbie: Oh, so good. I have to stop for a moment and say, Thais and I have listened to every one of these talks. And I have to tell you guys, you are really in for something special because every talk is so informative, so enlightening, and so inspiring. So thank you, Linda. All right, Ms. Amy. 

Amy: Hi ladies, I am Amy Ambrosich. I am a blended family coach and strategist. My company is Dare to Parent and I work with blended or beginning to blend couples engaged in blending those that are in the first stages of how are we going to do this just right? And I work with the couples together, helping them build a stronger parenting partnership and parenting plan. Make sure they're on the same page for discipline and expectations, things like that. And I really help them focus on those step family relationships that are really a challenge to not only work through, but to understand each other's perspective within that whole dynamic.

So my talk with the summit is Stepmom: From Wicked to Wonderful, because we all know that these poor stepmom step in and everybody's got a judgment upon them already before they even meet them. So I want to help women understand where that came from, what they can do about it, and how they can really own their own role as a stepmom. So happy to be here. Thank you so much. 

Debbie: That's awesome. All right, Andrea. 

Andrea: I help nurses discover more job satisfaction from the career that they've been dreaming of and that they've worked really hard to achieve. I will help them become more resilient and more self compassionate, get better aligned with their purpose in their life and in their career, and improve their relationships at work and at home. 

My topic for the summit talk is Knowing Your Strengths to Make Stuff Better in Your Life. I think it's really important to come from a positive start where you focus on what's going well and start from there rather than what's going wrong with your life. 

Debbie: Thank you, Andrea. All right, Karena. How about you?

Karena: Hello, I'm an empowerment coach for single women in midlife. And I help women figure out who they are, why they think they're stuck, where they want to go next, and create the plan to get there. And my talk is How Self-Talk Can Change Your Life. And I chose this topic because we hear a lot about self-care rituals and you should pamper yourself or, you know, do you go to the spa, do you get your nails done, do you take a bath, do you read or nap, and you do those things every once in a while to treat yourself. But I've heard women that I work with or even in my own family and in my own brain how we talk to ourselves and it's not always so nice.

And I think self care, the main self care ritual that we can really practice is self talk and being our own cheerleaders and giving ourselves a positive outlook and how it builds on each other. Each comment will build and grow and give you more strength and empowerment within yourself. It's really got a cumulative effect. So that's what I'm going to talk about.  

Debbie: That's awesome. Really great point about self care because we do think about it sometimes as like going to get a manicure, and that's not what we're talking about. So that's great. Thank you. All right, Anne.

Anne: I'm Anne Thomas. I am a life coach for women in that changing dynamic of midlife and empty nest. And so I help women make that transition from being mom to being whoever you are. And so, I came to that work because I had to go through it myself. It's a very heartfelt time for a lot of us, and we don't spend a lot of time really thinking about the other side of that bridge. And I'm here to tell you that it can be  just as rewarding as the journey to get there. So saying that, the topic of my talk for the summit is Momentum That Matters: Utilizing the 4 Pillars of Connection to Create a Life You Love  and that just gets the clients or the women to think about what are the best parts of you? And let's take those and bring them into the next chapter.  

Debbie: All right. Thank you, Anne. I want to take a moment now and introduce you to our Mindset Coach and our Client Success Coach, Thais Glenn. Thais, why don't you take over?

Thais: Yes, thank you, Debbie. I am Thais Glenn. I am the Mindset Coach here and the Client Success Coach. And I just absolutely love coaching all of the members in this community. And we're doing such beautiful work. I'm so excited for the summit, so excited for everything that we are planning here. The talks are amazing, and I just can't wait to have it all out there for everybody together. 

So I was wondering if some of you could come and talk a little bit about this preparation. How was it preparing for this summit? Anne, why don't you tell us? How did this preparation help you as a coach? 

Anne: Well, it gave me that chance to take a pause because we're doing a million things, right? We've got great ideas. We have execution that we have to do. We have to create. it's all these plates that are up on the cane as a business owner and entrepreneur that we're trying to keep spinning, right? So, the opportunity to prepare a talk for the summit let me take a little pause on a lot of it and just really wrap my brain around 30 minutes. If you have 30 minutes,  what do you need your people to know? And how are you going to get that information through to them? And how are you going to put your slides together? How are you going to record that? How are you going to create some kind of value for someone who's going to give you  that lovely price of time?

And so I thought it through. I put together a lot of my experience from coaching. Last year, my clients and I just took the very favorite parts of it, the things that even I learned along the way, and I wrapped it up into a 30-minute signature talk, which I now have recorded and ready to go, which I think is so valuable. Also, I had help. When I got stuck doing something, at first I was recording with notes and that was really kind of awkward for me. And then I had some mindset coaching from this mindset coach named Thais. And she said, Forget the notes. So I said, okay, and boom, I hit record and it just fell out. I felt like I grew as a coach. I felt like I grew as a presenter along the way. 

Thais: I agree with you. Sometimes we are so stuck on how to do it perfectly that it becomes so robotic. And the goal is just for you to be you. We love you as you are. And yes, I'm so excited for your talk. It's a beautiful talk. Another thing is that it is only 30 minutes, right? How can we add all of this knowledge in a 30 minute session? It's amazing. So Andrea, why don't you tell us a little bit. How was the experience for you? 

Andrea: I am grateful for this experience because a year ago, I graduated with a university degree in Christian life coaching, and I kind of floundered for about seven or eight months, trying to figure out how to put the pieces together to build a business. And was listening to lots of different people who had nuggets of helpful information, but coming to Debbie Shadid and the Business Building Boutique has put those pieces together clearly and in a community of women who are positive and enthusiastic and the icing on the cake is having Thais to sort of not just along focusing on our projects and Believing in ourselves.

It was really pretty cool to me because I was a nurse educator and I saw what Debbie had created and that was this culminating project that we were going to break down. The expectations were made perfectly clear.  The project was broken down into baby steps, and lo and behold, at the end of this project, we have everything we need to succeed. really, no ifs, ands, or buts. we've got what we need. What we needed to put together or finesse. And I'm grateful for that because this was the nudge I needed when I wasn't making progress before. 

Thais: Oh, that's wonderful. Yes. I love the example you just gave. It's almost like all these puzzles that we have together. Here, in this coaching group, we really put all those pieces together and then you actually have something, right? You have your business ready to go. And that is such a beautiful thing that we get to do here in this boutique. I love it. Thank you so much, Andrea. So Linda, how about you? How did that help you as a coach?

Linda: It helped me organize and gave me structure because before I came here, I was in my head a lot because there was so much information swirling around. I didn't know exactly what to do with it. I had a bunch of lists and notes here and there and, I just knew it really felt strongly that I needed to take a step and get some help. So it really gave me clarity. Debbie talks in such self assured tones, that everything's gonna be okay. And she  appears to have an answer for every crisis. So it's like, I'm all set up to be panicked and I just waste all that time. panic energy because  she has.  Okay, let me show you how to do this, right? And that is settling. And she helps you see that you have what you need in front of you, just let me help you point what needs to go where.

Thais: And even knowing what you need to prepare a talk for a summit, right? We all know. We all know what we need, but it's the direction, right? Like the actions that you need to take. What is the very next step that you need to take to organize all those notes? Sometimes you even have the clarity, but we don't really know what to do with it.

So, yes, that was such a great example. Thank you for sharing this. How about this, like the whole experience of preparing for this summit? I'm curious to see how that goes for you? Karena, would you like to share a little bit of the full experience of preparing for it? 

Karena: Like Linda said, it does help you get organized to have the deadlines and structure and everything laid out. So that was good because I thrive on structure. but the experience was really tough, you know, in my former IT career I was on video all the time, especially since the pandemic. You know, we were forced into Zoom and Teams calls and no big deal. I could share my screen and, you know, do show and tell whatever.

But I didn't realize it would bring up all of my past drama about public speaking. And it really, really pushed me out of my comfort zone, forcing me to get more coaching from Thais. Thankfully you were there to hold my hand and save me and tell me it was going to be okay. And like Ann said, ditch the notes. ‘Cause I was trying to be more robotic and perfect. I had to ditch the structure in that sense and just let it flow from my heart. So it really helped me grow and think about who I'm talking to and why I'm doing this in the first place. 

Thais: Even the level of trusting yourself as the coach, right? You know what you're talking about. You don't need all those notes to read to make sure it's perfect. Trusting that you can make it perfect just because you were such an amazing coach. So getting back to the whole trust in self. and you all did it so beautifully. I'm so proud of all of you guys. Amazing work. How about you Margie? 

Margie: Well, I would just have to, first of all, ditto everything everyone has said because it is so, so true. The experience of preparing for this summit for me was probably one of the best things I have done since I've opened up my practice. You know, as a practitioner and a clinician, we're not really trained over the years to do marketing. Marketing is just something that never had to do. And now it's the biggest thing in order to, to get our message out there we have to do this. And so, how am I ever gonna have the time to really do this summit with all the different things that we were learning? But the really important part of this for me was everything I was learning. 

The summit allowed me to put it into practice and I could then just take what I was learning. And all of a sudden now I have a finished product. And it was a big confidence booster for me because I knew who I wanted to reach and I knew what I wanted to say, but the organization and the clarity that came out of this to really get it down there so that it can go out was beyond anything I even thought possible. and then the coaching both you Debbie and Thais have helped get me through many of the hurdles and then the group, you know, having the group around too, but, but mostly just having that confidence to say, yeah, I've got this now and I can get out there and present it. Yeah. That was really the biggest takeaway for me 

Thais: I love that confidence, right? We all know we are capable of doing it, but it's not until you actually do it, sit down and take ownership of this project. And then you really look back. Oh, yes, I am that good. I could do this and I can do it even more. So amazing. Thank you so much. How about you, Amy? How was it for you? 

Amy: Ditto everything everyone else has already said. I'm like, oh, yeah, you know that and that and that. For me, though, and this came from both the mindset work that you gave Thais and Debbie, you just got on my case about it, which I needed was that ownership of who I am as a coach and taking my credentials out there and my degrees out there, because that all is a part of who I am as a coach, but owning it, because, you know it's very easy to, you know, poopoo that stuff. Yeah, I've got these certifications, blah, blah, blah, but really stepping into that and owning it and stepping in front of, you know, everyone's going to watch these talks and go, no, this is what I do. And I'm good at it. And it's okay to say that. 

The other thing is the getting kind of a cycle or routine of social media that was really helpful for me because I don't know why, but that mindset of I really don't want to do this. And now it's like I'm just inviting people in and Thais you were the one that threw that phrase out there. And it got me over the hump of I don't want to be bothering people which is a phrase I know Debbie catches us saying all the time. I don't want to be a bother to people but being in this program allows you to grow in your confidence, but it also allows you to get those changes of mindset, which really helped like I'm not Bugging people by telling them about my blended family blueprint. I'm inviting them into support and strategies for them. So those mindset things, I think, were the biggest takeaways for me in this whole process. For sure. 

Debbie:  All right, can you guys see how good these talks are going to be all of these ladies and what they're talking about? Their topics are so good, but also if you're a coach listening, and I know that's my audience, you're seeing that you're not alone in how you feel because what each one of these ladies has described, they're all very smart women who are very successful, have had very successful careers and whatever they've done, that the reality is building a coaching business is a different kind of thing. And there are real hurdles and there is a real learning curve to learning how to even do basic things like write emails to potential clients versus all the emails or like Karena said, to be on Zoom. you've been on Zoom for years, the last few years, but you haven't been on Zoom doing this. So, I hope y'all that are listening now see that you're not alone in how you feel. Everybody has experienced the same kind of thing as they've built their business. 

So, I want to talk about the Fast Track. You guys are all part of the Fast Track which is one of our programs in the Business Building Boutique. And so I want to talk to you guys about that. Also, I'm going to wrap up this today by talking to three of our last year summit attendees so you guys can hear why you want to attend the summit. 

Let's start, though, and talk about the Fast Track. Maybe you guys share a couple of your biggest takeaways from the work we've done together. Everybody's kind of at different places in their business. And one thing that's unique about the coaching that we do in the Business Building Boutique is that we coach people on any niche and at any level of business experience in a group setting. So people think, how could that possibly work that way? But I'd love to hear from you guys to share a couple of takeaways. Anne, why don't you start? 

Anne: I'm happy to. That roadmap that you provide, Debbie provides basically a roadmap for any of us, depending on where you are in your business, you jump on where you are, whatever step you're at, and then that roadmap takes you to the next place that you need to be. I just hired Debbie for the 3rd time. I just raised my hand and said, I'm doing Fast Track a 3rd round, not because I didn't do well. Because I did well, I did make progress and I want to go back and alter some things and kind of up my game a little bit here and there. And it's just such a great roadmap to be able to go. Oh, I got to do this next. Okay. Oh, when I'm doing this, make sure I think about this. It's for someone who hasn't ever owned her own business before. It's just really great. 

And I will say, the other thing is the community that we have in office hours and in each other in our Fast Track groups is just amazing. And our Facebook group, we're constantly in there, Hey, look at this. What do you think about this? Is this worded? Right? Is my message coming across? What do you think about these colors? getting great, great feedback from people. And we're women that have all different niches.

And some of us have basically very sister niches, but we're such different coaches. there's plenty for everybody no matter where you are on it. And so I've learned from the people that are just coming in from the very beginning. I've learned a ton and hopefully they've learned me too. So, I guess the roadmap and then the breadth of the community are the two things that I think are the best things for me. 

Debbie: Thank you. Really it's the women in this group in the Fast Track, they're not messing around. They are getting stuff done. They're literally taking Fast Track seriously, and they're doing it. So, it is a great place to be. All right, Linda. How about you share a couple of your takeaways from the Fast Track? 

Linda: There was that roadmap for me. That's one. I call it my blueprint. It really gives me my marching orders. It forces me. It's the accountability, primarily, showing up to Fast Track and talking about the progress. And if I haven't made any progress, it lights that fire under me, progress that I, you know, set for myself. It lights a fire under me and also inspires me to move on. 

So accountability is really important because it is really good to see things emerge out of these sessions that I'm like. Wow, finally, finally all this stuff that I had that I know is good stuff. It's no longer this lump of clay. You know, I'm sculpting something out of it. It's really good.

Debbie: All right. Thank you. Margie. How about you? 

Margie: Yes, I have two definite things. And I've invested in a lot of coaching over the years in the last two or three years, but never have I had the experience. And again, I'd have to say the roadmap was the key to what I needed because of the organizational structure of it. And it takes you to the basics. You know, every other time I would be in coaching, I would be jumping up to this level. I jumped in at this level, but I never really went back to the basics and set up my brand or set up anything that actually gave me a foundation for what I really wanted to do.

So with Debbie's roadmap, that's number one. I know it's a third person that said that, but it's so powerful because of the organizational structure that has taken it from the very beginning and then self pacing through what you need or what you haven't already done. Second is the accountability through the group coaching or through the group office hours.

And when I say accountability, it was really self accountability. It's not like I had to be accountable to anyone specifically, but every week there was a question, what'd you do this week? So it made us really look at what we accomplished. And when we did that, it really brought home, oh man, look what I learned. I learned this, this, this, and this, and this. I was like, whoa. So that was so, so powerful to me. Those were the two things. 

Debbie: So I want to let you guys know that Margie, Linda, and Anne, the last three ladies that I just spoke to, they all came into the Fast Track with businesses. So all of them had sold coaching. I mean, they had websites set up, so they were already established in what they were doing. That's 1 of the incredible things about the process is that they can come in and go through the same processes. Anne mentioned starting anywhere on the road map. You know, maybe they're moving from private coaching to group coaching, or maybe they're adding a new marketing method that they hadn't done before, but really the process works for everybody. Thank you guys for sharing that. 

All right, so let's talk about the progress that you have made. Karena, I want to talk to you about where you feel like you've made progress and just share maybe some results in your transformation through the work you've done in the Fast Track.

Karena: It's been huge. Let me just say that because I didn't have a formal business anywhere. I wasn't online. I wasn't on social media. So I started my first postings during the Fast Track engagement and. Terrified, but did it anyway with love and support from Debbie and the group and, just wonderful feedback. So now I post weekly, sometimes multiple times a week on social media, and I'm clear on my message and I actually have a functioning website, which I never thought I would have. So that's just amazing to me that all these things that I thought were so huge and impossible and mountains to climb, that there is a way to get it done. And it's not as hard as you think it just needs time and dedication and the right leadership and mentor.

Debbie: Thank you. Yeah. I mean, you guys really progress when you come in and work like this. Margie mentioned it when you know, you're going to get asked the question of tell me what you've done this week. And we all know that some weeks you don't do anything because life happens, but it really does change how you show up to coaching because you know we're going to talk about it and everybody is genuinely interested in what you've been doing. So thank you for that. Andrea, why don't you share? 

Andrea: I read or heard something recently about three pillars to business success. And the first was finding your tribe. And I thought, well, I feel like I've done that with a Business Building Boutique. and the second was serving, not selling. And I felt like, well, Debbie does that all the time. She's just you bend over backwards all the time. And I can say that about my colleagues here that this is our desire to serve. And not come across as selling. That comes secondary. What we're trying to do is sort of fill our buckets and fulfill our purposes with our businesses and create our dream businesses. 

The selling really comes later and then the third pillar is doing it through the lens of respect all the time. And I, even when I feel like I have a really dumb question, I'm always treated respectfully and that is a constant theme in this program. And so I thought, wow, this is exactly what Debbie has built is finding your tribe and serving, not selling and doing it with respect. And I thought, this is why I have more confidence in starting a business and want to thank you for that.

Debbie: That is so, so sweet. My desire is that I'm modeling for you guys how you can be in your own business as well. So thank you. The respect part, that was really very kind. There's no question that to me seems like a question that shouldn't be asked because I know over the years.

That's what I wanted was answers. It seemed like I always had a question that somebody could just answer for me. So that is my goal. And, of course, it is the same way. We both want to answer your question. So, thank you, lovely ladies. Is there anything else that you all want to mention about Fast Track or anything about your summit talk that we haven't already talked about?

Amy: So I would say that so many of us feel like we're isolated when we're doing this by ourselves. And there's a million ads for a million different trainings and blah, blah, blah. And so you're running, looking at every shiny object, stepping into this, I've never been more organized and structured. And there's a path. Everybody keeps talking about the roadmap and I stole the idea and I'm using it in my program too, because when you have someone who's going to take you from one to two to three to four and give you the support without you trying to Google this and look for that, and then it's this other thing that you start investing in, which you really don't need.

So it's just that having that structure. This is the first time I have felt organized and knowing what I'm doing and knowing what I'm working on each week and it has been and I don't feel isolated like, you know, as a solopreneur, I'm in my home office by myself all the time. And I'm like, this is all so hard. But then we meet on Mondays and I see our girls and I'm like, okay, I'm not by myself. I have a whole tribe  and we've all been supporting each other through the ups and the downs. but that structure piece that you've given us, Debbie, Mhm. It's been amazing for me. It has been a game changer. I am no longer looking at anybody else's training or anything.

I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I have Debbie. That's all I need right now. She's going to get me where I need to go. So I just, I think it's important because we don't always admit to the fact that we feel isolated and like, we don't know what we're doing. We just keep falling forward. I don't feel like I'm doing that anymore, which is the first. So I thank you and Thais for being there and the ladies in this call. I mean, it's made a world of difference for me and for my business.

Debbie: Oh, thank you.  There is work again that gets done here. I always say this program is not for you if you want somebody to make you do it, because we cannot make you do any of it. But if you want to know how to do it, if you want somebody to give you some honest feedback, if you need the mindset support, if you want to feel connected with women, you want to get your business built. This really is the place to do all those things. You've heard about the progress the ladies are making.

I want to talk again about the summit. and I want to have three of the ladies that attended last year's summit talk about their summit experience, so you guys can see why you want to attend. Thais, you want to start?

Thais: Yes, last year it was so much fun. I was actually presenting too, so I had all the experience of, you know, feeling so nervous and it's interesting because I have always been very confident in my coaching. So that has never been the problem, but then having that confidence and the business side of it was very different. And I think even preparing for the summit was absolutely amazing to see what I'm capable of creating in such a short period of time as watching everybody else. 

I remember I was just listening to all the talks and one in particular, she was talking about teenagers, but everything she was talking about was the mom of a teenager. It reminded me of my little elementary school kids that feel like they're teenagers and I was just taking notes nonstop. Like the talks were so amazing. And I feel like really having this intensive, right? After those two days, I was tired. It was so much information, but it was so great. Like just my mind had opened so much for possibilities, for ideas of how to set new goals and how to just be a better human in general. So it's just, I see this summit as this really big intensive and I love how it's done in January because it's right when our minds are fresh, right? Like all the visions for the year, all of our goals.

And sometimes you don't set goals and you feel so bad for not having the goals set for the year. This is such the perfect time to just grab everything, all this information and really see your ear in a different way. I just loved being a part of the summit last year, but also watching everybody else. It's amazing to see. I think Amy was the one talking in the beginning of how to capture all these amazing ideas you have and put it in 30 minutes and that is exactly what they all did in the 30-minute session. You have all this amazingness that you just don't need to Google anything else about that topic. And then the next one comes in the next one. It was just so much fun watching it. 

Debbie: Thank you Thais. Let's see. Karena, you also attended last year. You wanna share your takeaways from the last summit? 

Karena: Well, I signed up through watching your Canva workshop and because I've got on your email list, the invitation came along and I'm like, I wonder what this is about. What is a women's summit? What does that look like? What do they talk about? So I learned that by watching the summit and hearing perspectives from all different women from different backgrounds, even on ordinary topics that we're in our daily lives, you can really open your mind to new possibilities and new ways of thinking that you might not have even thought of before. And just accepting that there's more out there for you. You don't have to stay stuck. You don't have to accept the status quo of where you are.

And even if you don't think something pertains to you, you can benefit from listening to how other women teach and coach and their life experiences and what they bring to the table. And before you know it, you're gaining all kinds of benefits that you didn't even know you needed. I learned so much and I got several sessions of coaching from these speakers, and I have become friends with several of them and we meet outside of coaching and we text and talk regularly. So I could be in a summit and be successful to this level. And now I'm at the summit. I'm not just on the sideline. And it's just amazing to see how much can change in one year. So stop resisting and just give it a try. 

Debbie: Oh, my goodness. I just want to have a celebration for everybody. All right. Anne, you also attended the summit. 

Anne: Yeah, ditto for all of that. Of course. I think last year I attended the summit mostly out of curiosity. I saw an invitation. I thought, hmm, kind of like Karena, what is that? What is that like? Who's talking? What are they talking about? Oh, I've seen her before. I came to the summit and I was glued. didn't want to miss a thing. It's like, I was so glad that there were set lunch breaks ‘cause I didn't want to grab lunch and miss something, you know, even though I bought the recording and I've listened to it and there was just so much, so many little pearls of wisdom that I was afraid I would miss if I walked away from my desk. So it was that captivating. Like I said, the breadth of knowledge of all the coaches, the terrific presentations that they put together, and then a year later to also be a speaker in that same group of people was just amazing.

It's just kind of a testament to the growth that this program has. I mean, I never thought I would do something like be a speaker at a summit like this. I never thought I would be on a podcast,  but I saw my peers doing it. And I thought, well, if she can do it, I guess I can do it. I'll try it. it just kind of opens the door and there's just this gentle, loving invitation to try this. Come on. I know you can do it. I felt like that summit was the opening of the door for that last year too, for me. 

Debbie: Oh, wow. Beautiful. Well, I want to tell all of you listening that you have a surprise coming. On December 30th I'm going to give you and all of these ladies are going to give you early access to all of their talks. We're going to release free summit talks. We've selected all these to be part of that. Just gives me goosebumps. I'm so excited for everybody to see it. if you sign up now, we'll put the link in the show notes.

If you sign up now, you'll be able to have access to that. One of the other incredible things is that everybody will have a gift for you, that will be some kind of guide or journal or workbook, or whatever it is that fits with their talk for you to be able to take what you learn from them to a deeper level.

I also want to mention that we have a Facebook group and I know you've been in lots of Facebook groups, but this is a Facebook group where these coaches want to also be in there to support you. they're going to be giving away free coaching. They're going to be there just, connecting with you. So I would highly encourage you. It is a free summit. So sign up, join our Facebook group. We are going to be offering a replay that you can purchase. Anne mentioned it. The replay will give you everybody's talks, all 30 talks and their gifts that they're going to give to everybody all in one location and you'll have access to that for a full year for $29.

So you'll get those details later. But just know that coming to the summit is free. All these pre summit talks to set you up for success early in the new year are going to be available for you as well. All right. You guys have been amazing. Thais, is there anything else you want to wrap up today's session with?

Thais: Oh, I think everything was really well said already. Just the summit is amazing. So even you as the coach coming in to learn more and learn new things about your own niche, it's so helpful. But even coming with that, you know, women's hats, right? Where you can really learn things. And as Karena said, I believe you can be in this summit too, right? Like it is an opportunity for you too to come and join us and be a part of the next summit because it is possible for you too. And just as you saw here, you can get so much done in such a short period of time that all of a sudden you have your full business.

This is not the type of program where you are watching videos and not doing anything. It's something that you come, you build your business, you have something almost tangible that you can show everyone and really have your clients and have the dream that you've always had to have that business set up and you get to show it during the summit, it's beautiful. I just, I'm so grateful for you, Debbie, for putting this all together. I know it's a lot of work, but it's such a blessing to all of those coaches and all of the people that come and watch them. So thank you so much for doing this. 

Debbie: Oh, my goodness. You guys are amazing. I tell you, I love and adore each one of you. It's my honor to help you. For those of you who've listened to the podcast today, thanks for being here. We can't wait to see you at the summit. Make sure you sign up today so that you can have early access. You can go to designlivethrive.com and access all the information about these speakers. If you sign up today, we'll be giving you the schedule with all the details about each person's talk and all the other talks that you're going to be listening to as well.

So you guys, thanks again. I appreciate you so much. Thanks for the amazing work that you're doing to change the lives of the women that you guys each love and adore as well. So have an amazing day, everybody. Talk to you soon. Bye bye.

Outro: Okay, ladies, that is it for today. Before we go, I want to invite you to head over to debbieshadid.com. I have this incredible Canva training, specifically designed for life coaches where I'm gonna teach you how to use Canva to create beautiful graphics to market your life coaching. All right. Have an amazing week. I'll talk to you very soon. Bye bye.