Speaker #0Have you ever taken a massive chance on yourself and your dreams? I am in the middle of that right now. Creative Cutie, you're hearing from me on my first week of being fully self-employed after 11 years in corporate America. Had to think about that for a second. I wanted to quickly tap in for a little mini-sode, which probably will turn into a maxi-sode, and share where I'm at, my self-coaching takeaways from my first week in entrepreneurship, and what you can expect from me going forward. Welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative. This show helps you claim your birthright to creativity and go after your wildest dreams. I'm Lauren LaGrasso. I'm your host. I'm a singer-songwriter, podcast host and producer, creative coach, public speaker, and business owner. And I'm coming to you live from my first week self-employed. And to keep it 100 with you, I am very excited and very exhausted. My last day with the company I worked for the past eight years, Odyssey, was on Thursday, April 30th. And it's still a little surreal that after so many years of having what I fondly called my job job, in addition to my creative jobs, it's gone. It's strange and exciting to only live in one world. It's wild to have really taken the sleep and be working to make my business a success full-time. As you know, I've been doing it concurrently for many, many years. I'll get into it all, but my business is going to be really a lot of the same things I've been doing. Podcast coaching and consulting, creative coaching, speaking, this podcast. But to fully take the leap and stop toggling between realities and just be in my own space is wild. and exciting and strange. And wow. First off, I just want to say, drop in and say, I'm really proud of myself. I cannot believe that after many, many years of having this little flicker of a dream in my heart that started out with a maybe and ended up becoming like a burning yes has to be that after all of that, I'm finally doing it and going into business for myself. I'm so grateful that God in the universe conspired to help me have this faith, this opening and the financial ability to take the risk and that I, instead of getting scared and small and just like jumping to another job that I knew I could do really well, took the opportunity to do it. I was really scared for a time as much as I wanted this, that I was never going to fully do it, that I was going to let life pass me by without. ever fully unleashing this desire, even though it's a thing I talk about every single day. Because as we've talked about on the podcast many times, we teach what we most need to learn. I was still scared though, even after almost 400 episodes of learning from these incredible creatives who have put themselves out there, that I was going to stay small. Because I really do love security. And it's scary to completely go off on your own and to share you Not only share what you want, but then be like, I'm betting on myself and I'm betting on myself to be able to support myself and my growing child in my womb and my family financially. But here we are and it feels really hopeful. I do want to say creativity always begets creativity. And this is where the microdosing courage thing comes into play. I credit this podcast. a lot with giving me the courage to finally make this leap. Hearing the stories of so many brave creatives throughout the years, of people who had made way bigger leaps than this, who did it quickly, who did it without a backup or a safety net, that gave me the faith to inch by inch believe that I could fully unleash and do this for myself. A great deal of why I'm also doing this, and I need to say this again, creativity begets creativity, and why this job actually was so important to me. While I was at Odyssey, or at the time, Cadence 13, I produced Sofia Amoruso's show, Girlboss Radio. That show and Sofia were really the first ones to put in my mind that I could step out on my own and go into business for myself. I don't know why, but I never even grew up thinking that was a possibility. And then going to school, majoring in theater. That wasn't really an idea that was put into my head. It was more like you go out, you audition, you hopefully get a job, you work a day job. I never... had the concept that I could do that for myself until I worked on that show and it opened up my world to see, oh, I could be a business person. I'm meeting all these people that are business people. And if they could do it, maybe I could do it. It was instrumental in building up my self-belief. And I just need to say that because I really know I wouldn't be here had I not gained the inspiration from that show, the tools from that show, the network from that show, and just like the belief from hearing these stories week after week of brave women who went out and created their own businesses. So now that I have said a little bit about the gratitude and the excitement, I do want to go into some things that I'm honestly working on. Like through this process, through the process of starting my own business, I want to be really honest with you about all the joy, all the expansion, and All of the challenge too. I do think, you know, something I learned from another person I produced, it's like life is hard and it's about choosing the kind of hard you want that, you know, all rights reserved to Glennon Doyle. She came up with that one. And so, yeah, like it's really, really hard to start your own business and take a chance on yourself and to have that risk. But it's also hard to work for somebody else and work within those constraints, especially when you're a creative person. And so, I'm balancing gratitude with being honest about challenge and also like the optimism I'm genuinely feeling. But some of the top things I'm working through right now are just like, I'm no longer toggling between two realities, right? I had for so long, my job, job, my job as a producer at Odyssey, and then my creative life. Now, just one is here. And while it feels good, it's also really weird because I'm There is a certain level of productivity that comes through when you know you only have a certain amount of time to do the task. Now, I know that's going to come back when I have a kid, so not to worry. And also, I know I'm going to get to a place where I can create those time constraints for myself. But I'm so used to being like, okay, I have to work till five. Now I have from five to 10 to work on my stuff. And sometimes that push gave me more energy to do the other things. But it's just, it's weird. It's also weird to like not check another email after so many years of checking both emails. And then there's a feeling too of like when you leave a big company or brand of wondering like, will people still care if it's just me? I've had some great reception. I've had a lot of people supporting me, but that is a doubt and something that I'm working through right now. Also just like this time has way too much going on all at once. So I wrapped up my job on Thursday the 30th, which was a week ago. Then I immediately had my brother-in-law's wedding and all those festivities. And we visited with family Friday through Sunday. Monday, we traveled back to Detroit. We're back with family. Then I was immediately on Tuesday taking many meetings, finishing up proposals for potential coaching and consulting guests, writing an upcoming speech that I have in a couple of weeks. And there's a big part of me and I think that I would recommend for others. if you have the ability that wishes I had a period of rest right now. I really don't feel like, first of all, I can't take it because I have this speech coming up. I have potential clients that are coming through that I want to serve. But I do think from a creative standpoint, it is important, again, rest is part of the creative process, to give yourself a little space. After you come off of a massive project. to give yourself at least a few days of rest. And I'm going to see how this coming weekend, I can finally incorporate that in. I kind of just have to push through this week and it is what it is. But I recognize that in an ideal world, I would have taken like, you know, two days off, not to just to be with family, but like to be with myself, to hear my own thoughts, to recharge, to journal, to just play music, you know, I think that that's really important. So if you are ever to take one of these leaps or you have space between projects, I would highly recommend just taking at least a few days to come back to yourself and hear your own voice. And again, I think that that is really important to come back to yourself before you dive into something else. So I'm excited to do that this weekend because I recognize not taking the time this week while it didn't feel possible and honestly wasn't, wasn't ideal. Also, there's a little part of me, obviously. That feels slightly insane to be embarking upon this new journey while I'm almost six months pregnant. And there's a part of me that feels like it's weirdly exactly the right time. You know, there's something to doing the most creative thing, which is literally growing a life from scratch in your womb and growing a business from scratch or a project from scratch out in the open. And I've heard, you know, I just came off of the last show I produced at Odyssey was Emma Greed's podcast, Aspire. And we heard from so many women on that show while I was working on it who talked about how they built businesses either while they were super pregnant or freshly postpartum. I think there's something about bringing that energy out in the world about motherhood that is naturally generative and creative and inspires you to be creative. And so I feel a little insane doing it while pregnant just because the baby, like I keep saying like, oh, I'm full of baby. The baby is just growing and expanding and like stretching my stomach so much. And I like literally feel that pressure as I'm working. And also like just the level of being tired and needing to rest more while you're pregnant. But I also feel so inspired to do this because I want to show my son that he can take a chance on his dreams and believe in himself and take leaps and be the person he says he is and wants to be. And so, yeah, there's a lot to it. There's a lot that I'm holding. It feels a little crazy and it feels also really right. The other thing I'm working through is feeling like I have to have it all figured out today. This is something I always struggle with. Doesn't matter what the project is. But of course, doing something this big is obviously even more extensive. But knowing that any creative project takes time to grow. and, and evolves greatly. And a business is a creative project. It's one of the biggest creative projects you can ever do. So really giving myself grace and having a vision and knowing what I want and also having the faith. Like this is something I'm going to get to in my little self-coaching session that's coming up next, but I just really need to like double, triple, quadruple down on my faith right now, because I think it's kind of the only way you get through when you're starting something new that. feels risky or scary. So that's a goal. Okay, now to my greatest takeaways, self-coaching moments and calls to action for myself in this moment, which again, I'm like a few days into the journey. So I'm very fresh, fresh off the press. But the first thing is, I really want to take time to feel more gratitude as I go throughout this process. Again, I have wanted this for years. The first time I thought... I need to go into business for myself officially beyond just like the little flicker that I felt when I started Girlboss Radio was probably spring 2021. So this has been something that has been on my mind, on my heart for a really, really long time. So feeling gratitude, taking stock of the fact that I am going after one of my biggest dreams right now, and I'm doing it and I'm being vulnerable enough to say how badly I want it and to put myself out there, to ask for help, to you yeah, believe in myself enough to take this leap. And I think anytime the fear comes up, I want to feel it and let myself like acknowledge it, but also couple it with like, hey, I'm really proud of you, Lauren. And I'm grateful that you're taking this leap. And, you know, couple it with a prayer. So that's something that I really feel I want to do. The other thing is making space for more pure creative time. That is a big part that's missing. Again, because it's so busy right now and there's so much work that actually has to be done. I mean, it really shows me how much I was working multiple full-time jobs because I still feel super busy just working for myself right now. But I need that pure creative time. Just the way I know I need more rest and I'm going to start implementing that this coming weekend. I know that I need more creative time. One way I did it today, which was super helpful, was, you know... music is probably the purest place of my creativity, right? So a lot of times when I feel like I need to get back to being in creative flow, I just play music with no purpose for a while. And I did that today before I started working on my speech. And I have been a little blocked on the speech. It's a speech I've done before, but I want to customize it to this audience that I'm speaking to. They are a medical transport convention, which is so cool. And I love that they want me to come in and talk about unleashing creativity in their workforce. But, you know, I really think it's important every time you go in and give a speech to wrap it around the specific needs of the organization or the conference or the college. And so I'm doing that, but I've been a little blocked probably because I've been so busy. And today I was like, OK, I need to take a different approach. So I played music before I went into writing and that unlocked something for me. So if you are going through something similar where you're feeling maybe a little burnt out, maybe. overloaded, maybe just creatively blocked, try going to another form of creativity before you go into whatever sort of creativity you're trying to bring forward, whatever you would say your purest form is. So for me, for you, it might be writing, it might be any number of things. So try doing that form of creativity to get yourself into flow and then see if whatever you're trying to do next that you've been blocked on doesn't flow out more easily. That was a wake-up call for me today that I just need to make more time to just play music, to write freehand, no intention for it, and just get it out because that's what actually helps you be creative when you have to be creative. And it's also, it's just fun. What's the point in life if we're not doing that? Oh yeah, I've talked a lot about rest so far. Obviously, I'm very tired because it keeps coming up, but this is another self-coaching. Make more space for rest, I could do that now. I could lay down at 1 p.m. on a Tuesday and I don't need to berate myself if I take a 15 to 20 minute rest. There are so many times in my life where I've made fake rules for myself because I think I was afraid like if I didn't adhere to the strict set of rules, I was going to drop my guard and stop pushing and stop being ambitious. That's never going to happen. If I lay down for 15 minutes, I'm only going to come back better. I want to make sure that I'm not adhering to fake rules of a rigid work culture that I am not a part of. Like I am my own boss. I have the opportunity to be a good boss to myself. And so I want to make more space for rest and not make fake rules and not be a drill sergeant to myself. On that, relish not having a boss anymore or any more specific rules. or regulations on you. For many years, I felt like I had to crunch myself up and hide. And I want to be clear that the people I recently worked with, I didn't feel that way. But there were people along the years that made me feel that way. And I think there is an essence of just working in a corporate environment where you do feel like you have to shrink up a little bit. So I want to just say, I don't want to hide anymore. I don't want to feel afraid anymore. I want to let myself. be fully seen. And now that I am only representing myself, you know, I don't have to say like anywhere, these opinions are only my own. Like that's clear because I only work for me. Letting myself take up space. I find myself still feeling like, and again, maybe it's the exhaustion or whatever, but still feeling a little afraid to step out and to like go out there and like say as a bold opinion or post a video and I have nothing to hide from anymore. And maybe I never did, but there were people, you know, along the years that made me feel that way. And someday I'll share the full story of everything that I've experienced in my whole life. No, but everything that I've experienced over the past several years. But for now, I just want to say like, I'm only representing me. So yeah, my takeaway here is let yourself. be seen. And I think that's something I'm going to keep working on and like healing that piece of me that feels like I need to hide. Okay, here's the next one. Number five, not that I've been reading out the numbers. Do not force, do not push. The more open you are, the more it will flow. I think this is just true in life in general. It's certainly been true in my life. The more I force, the more I clutch, we talked about this a few weeks ago, but the more I clutch my fate, the more I'm like crunching up and being like, it has to happen, it has to happen, the less it does. The more open I am, the more I have my arms open and I believe and I let myself be in flow, I let myself rest when I need to, I work hard when I need to, the more good comes to me. So just a general note, don't push, don't force. The more open you are, the more it will flow. Note to self, of course, but if it resonates with you, feel free to implement that one. Okay, here's another one. Asking for help pays off. Go figure. The interview I did with Carly Valanci really influenced me. I have been reaching out in a major way to people and I've been so heartened by the way most people are showing up for me. So I've been asking for help, asking for meetings, telling people what I'm up to. And I have gotten so many opportunities just from sharing in that way, just from... telling people what I want to do, just from updating people on my life. It's beautiful. And you know, here's the thing that's really interesting. A lot of times when you are in a time where you've got a new creative project out, you're launching a new business, you need help in some way, whatever it is, it's often not the people who you think would help, or really the ones that should help, that do help. It's like a random person that either you've never met or that's on the outskirts of your life. And that can hurt that the person who really should help you didn't or wouldn't. But it's also okay. And remember to focus on the people who are supporting you and what they are doing to support you instead of the people who you felt a little bit hurt by. And during this time, I think that, you know, karma doesn't just... crop up after you die. It's also balancing out in real time. Remember to, while you're asking for help, be helping other people too. So not just the people that you're meeting with who you're asking for help from or taking meetings with, but also people who randomly reach out to you or people who you see could use a little bit of help, like offering that up freely. That energy always comes back. The golden rule, treat people the way you want to be treated. Because it's the right thing to do and it feels good and the energy balances out. It always does. Whether it's from that person or another person down the road, everything good always comes back to you. Okay, said this earlier, but number seven, going back to the numbers, double, triple, and quadruple down on your spiritual practice. For me right now, it is just so important to be doing my morning pages, be doing my prayer. Anytime I feel scared, be praying to God. Like one of my prayers right now, I really recommend it if you've... ever engaged with spirituality, if you even think like the real Jesus is a cool guy, or you like what he stands for, this prayer, the sacred heart of Jesus has never failed me. I've been saying it every morning, praying that my business will be a success and like asking for specific things within it. And then at the end of my ask, I also say, please, like, anytime I feel scared, let me put my faith back in you, back in God. Let me just pray about it. And I really feel like that has been helping me so much. So Whatever your spiritual practice is or self-care practice, when you are going through a major life change, when you are taking a big chance on yourself, you got to double, triple, and quadruple down. It can be a time when you kind of feel like you don't want to do it, but I can speak from experience just today. I did do my meditation when I woke up and I did my prayer, but I skipped out on my morning pages. I'm like, oh, maybe I don't need it. Honestly, my day has been a little off all day. And I'm not saying, I don't believe in being rigid. Sometimes you're going to have to skip something. obviously like those of us out there that are parents or that are working multiple jobs, like you're not always going to have the energy or time to do it. But especially if you have a day where you need to be highly creative, which I did today, that wasn't the move. I had time this morning to do it. I just chose not to because I didn't feel like it. And I really wish I would have journaled this morning. It would have helped me tremendously. So this is not a time for me to be getting like lazy about my spiritual and emotional and mental health hygiene. I got to you I got to be on my shit right now, you know? So yeah, if you're in the middle of this, just have that piece on lock. Know what works for you. Try new things if it feels good, but make sure you're having something that helps you keep your sense of calm and like outside world noise down and regulate your nervous system and give you that faith that you need to keep going. Okay, something I learned in my experience as a producer and then just like recently is, wow, you really have to sing your own praises. And I really didn't and haven't talked enough about how many amazing shows I have executive produced. There's a variety of reasons for that. At some point, I'll get into all of that. But the truth is, I'm so effing proud of all the shows that I've worked on and helped bring to life. Number one hit shows. I've done And... some amazing things in the podcasting space outside of this podcast, which I am most proud of. But there's other things too I haven't been super vocal about. And I just, I really realized I live in LA, but, and right now I'm in Detroit actually at my parents' house, if you couldn't tell if you're watching this from the background in the room. But I'm still in my heart and my soul, a Midwestern Italian Catholic girl who wants to be humble, right? Here's the thing. Nobody is going to know your accomplishments or know what you want to do if you don't tell them. So don't be shy. Share your success. Share your desire with anyone who will listen. And if you do it from a pure place, if you do it from a place of excitement, people get excited about it. It's not boasting if it's true. So that's something that I'm really going to take into this next phase of my life that you're probably going to hear me talking about a lot more. And I want you to do too. Remember to tell people who you are, what you do, what you're proud of, what you're trying to do. You know, be honest about the things you're still working on, but be honest about the things you have done too, because... If you're not, if you don't sing your own praises, no one's going to fully do it for you. Besides maybe your mom. And no one's going to trust her because she's your mom. I don't know. I feel like people will trust you more than your mom. But your mom's still really important. Nobody sings my praises better than my mother. Maybe we'll get her on. She can give my full resume. This is back to the thing I said before, feeling like I have to have it all figured out. Just take one step at a time. all you have to do is put one foot in front of the other. And that over a prolonged period of time will get you where you want to go. Pretty simple. And here's the last one, number 10, for those who are counting, because I haven't been consistently. It's so important to make goals and a list every day. You are your own boss now, speaking to me. And because of that, you have to give yourself tasks and keep yourself on task. So So. I think it's really important right now that I have administrative and management time where I'm telling myself basically what I need to do, what the goal is for the week and for the day of that week, and creative time where I'm just executing on the things that need to get done creatively. So that kind of sums it up. That's where I'm at in this exact moment. I mean, this is really the first time I'm talking super, super openly about my business and what I'm up to. I need to make an official announcement on socials, LinkedIn and my newsletter, but I feel safest doing it here first because you are my people. You are my community, my creative cuties. Going forward, you can continue to expect me to come on the pod and share honestly about where I'm at, the victories, the challenges, the lessons, all of it. I want to share because I want you, the same way Girlboss Radio did for me back in the day, the same way so many of the people I've worked with, with over the past 11 years have helped me see that you can do it too. So I want to share about how I've done it so that you know if working for yourself or creating your own small business is something that interests you, you can do it too. And I want to share whatever tools work for me, have on experts that can talk about this. I really believe and statistics are showing that more and more of us are going to be self-employed in the next several years or at least fractional workers. So these are really important skills for us all to hone and to know. I don't think you should ever rely on one place or one person for income. I think we all need to be thinking, how do we have as many buckets as possible? Like creatively designing our careers in addition to being as creative as possible in all that we do. So anyway, I'll be sharing all about that coming up over the next long period of time, hopefully. But to wrap up the show, I want to read you the announcement I'm planning to make on my Instagram and other pages. So this is going to be like a voiceover that's going to live over this really cool video. And so I want to share it here first, because again, you are my everything. And if you want to support my new venture, tell someone about you what I'm doing. If you know somebody who wants podcasts, coaching, consulting, or creativity coaching, send them my way. Or if that's you, please book a free discovery call with me on laurenlagrasso.com. You can always leave the podcast a rating or review. Share my posts when it comes out on Instagram. There's so many things. Subscribe to my sub stack. So many things you can do to support me and what I'm doing next. And I truly appreciate it all. If there's anything I can do to support you, I'm here too. But in the meantime... I'm going to share the voiceover for this post I'm doing that will announce Lauren LaGrasso Productions. So here it is. Ever since I was little, I've been a leader. When I was five, I got all my friends together to do the talent show and choreograph the performance. We sang hits such as I'm Just Desperate for a Dog by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, all rights reserved. When I was in sixth grade, I went out for the lead in the school play, even though everyone said only eighth graders ever got it. But I knew I could step up to the plate and lead. And I did. I beat out all the eighth graders. Suck it, upperclassmen. When I was a sophomore in high school, I ran to be the treasurer of my class. And my slogan, Lauren Lowe will watch your dough, charmed the nation. It also won me the title of money lady three years in a row. In college, I got two degrees, hosted on the local radio station, was the vice president of my performing arts organization, and the communication director for our student production company, The Telecasters. Since then, I've gone on to lead bands, lead my own podcasts, manage teams of producers, and lead over 30 hit shows. The truth is, I've been leading all along. I've just been too scared to fully take the reins myself and step into something that was completely my own. That changes today. I am beyond excited to announce that I am officially launching my company, Lauren LaGrasso Productions. Lauren LaGrasso Productions is the creative house that will hold all of the podcasts I produce and consult on, the people I coach, the speeches I give, the songs I write. Everything creative I do will live under this roof. And you can too. Come to my house. To work with me, reach out on my website, laurenlagrasso.com. I'm currently accepting new coaching and consulting clients, speaking clients, podcast guests and collaborations, and music collaborations. After almost eight years of producing a show called Unleash Your Inner Creative, I'm finally unleashing myself. It's a good day to remember who you've always been and to share that with the world more fully. Unleash your creativity and authentic self. Work with me. Love you. So yeah, pretty exciting. I cannot thank you enough for all your support, your belief, your love. So grateful for you, Creative Cutie. I hope you have the best day. This podcast was produced, executive produced, I should say, and hosted by me, Lauren LaGrasso. with music by Liz Full. I love you, and I believe in you. Talk with you next week.
