Abundant + Aligned
Welcome to the Abundant + Aligned podcast. We welcome women who are ready to live the life of their dreams. Here, we talk all things mindset, manifestation and entrepreneurship. We are on a mission to create abundance in all areas of life and playing small just isn't our jam! So if you are ready to expand your mind to the possibilities, turn off autopilot and live with intention, you are in the right place! We are abundant and aligned.
Abundant + Aligned
"I ordered a Rolex before I even made 6 figures" $100k in 6 months w/ Lisa Sykes
Stop doing more, and start believing more.
In this episode, I’m joined by Lisa Sykes, a six-figure coach who’s built a thriving business in the doula and midwife space and just crossed $100K in only six months.
Lisa shares the number one key to her success: unwavering self belief. We dive into what it really means to become the success before it manifests through identity upgrades, and how to create a standout brand by boldly speaking your truth.
If you’ve ever doubted whether you’re capable of big things, or felt yourself holding back from showing up fully as you, this conversation will change the way you see success forever.
Inside we cover:
- The mindset shift that allowed Lisa to hit six figures with ease
- Why identity work is the missing link for most entrepreneurs
- How to create a magnetic brand without trying to “fit the mold”
- What happens when you stop waiting and start embodying your next-level self now
This episode is your reminder that business growth isn’t about doing more, it’s about being more.
Connect with Lisa:
Website: https://www.lisasykes.online/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisasykesonline/
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Further Resources:
- Follow me on Instagram for daily mindset tips and lots of BTS content of my life (building a 7 figure business, living by the beach, my daily routines and travels)
- Browse the free resources - meditations, manifestation tracks and more
- See what's currently open for enrolment here or browse courses available on demand here
You know that saying success is an inside job. Well, today's guest is living proof of it. In just six months, she crossed six figures in her business and the secret wasn't strategy, it wasn't fancy funnels and it definitely wasn't waiting for the algorithm to bless her the real key unwavering self-belief. In this episode, I'm sitting down with Lisa Sykes, a powerhouse coach in the doula and midwife space. She's built a standout, magnetic brand by being unapologetically bold, speaking her truth and embodying the success she desired before it even showed up in her bank account. Lisa has lived what feels like 100 different lives and her journey is anything but conventional. She's proved that when you upgrade your identity, trust your magic and stop half-assing life, you can create not just a profitable business but a wildly fulfilling life. Get ready for a conversation full of bold truth, identity shifts and the kind of energy that makes you believe truly anything is possible for you.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Abundant and Aligned podcast, a place where you will come to realize anything you desire is possible. I'm Jess mindset and business coach and I'm on a mission to lead women to a life far from average. In this show, you can expect conversations around manifestation, subconscious reprogramming, entrepreneurship and the daily habits of a woman living a life that is both successful and fun. Imagine a TED Talk, but over wine. My wish for you is that you experience an unlimited flow of money, a business that attracts your dream clients and the freedom to spend your time how you choose, and if you stick with me, that will soon be your reality. I'm honored to be on the journey with you, so let's get into it.
Speaker 1:Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Abundant and Aligned podcast. I'm so excited for today's episode. I actually have what would you call us Friends, colleagues Lisa's in my mastermind Mastermind sisters maybe. So I've got a mastermind sister with me. Lisa and I connected in a mastermind we're in and I pulled her on the podcast today because she has had such an incredibly successful year. We were just talking, before we hit play, about her unhinged business advice that lands every single time, and, given we are in the middle of the year and everybody needs a dose of a pep talk by now, I bought on the queen to do that for you.
Speaker 1:So, Lisa, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you, darling. Oh, oh, my god. It's like just after 7am in Paris I've put caffeine eye patches under my eyes especially. I was like what the fuck I'm gonna look like? Somebody dug me up this morning. But do you know why? I said yes to it this time, jess? Because you are the fucking epitome of get up in the middle of the night. If that's what's required, obviously, like on our calls, I'm like I'm over here sometimes thinking, oh my God, it's half six in the evening to go on this fucking call. And then I'm like that bitch is there. It's 3am, shut up, lisa, shut up. So yeah, when, when I made this appointment for us to do this, I was like Lisa, don't even complain that you've got to get up at 6am, just get up, show up and do it.
Speaker 1:I love it. Well, you look fine. It doesn't look like you just rolled out of bed. What is mornings like in Paris? Because here everyone's up at the crack of dawn. The sun comes up quite early. What's the vibe over there?
Speaker 2:Oh, nobody's up. Like nobody's up, they might be, yeah, like they might be rolling over in bed now thinking about you know what time they can spark up the first cigarette. That's probably what's going on. It's 1980, still in Paris, kind of thing. So, yeah, we live in the suburbs so I can see the Eiffel Tower from from my balcony. It's like that. It's tiny, it's in the distance, but it sparkles over there. So we're in the burbs, so it's always generally a little quieter out here. Anyway, it's not so much hustle bustle, um. So it'll be coming to life in the next hour or so, but honestly, actually in the summer. So what, we're in August. Now everybody just leaves Paris. It's like it closes down, um, for August at like everything's open, but the only people around are just tourists. So it's actually quite a cool time to live here and go and do the touristy things, cause there's nobody around.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I guess everyone's what gone to the ocean and the beach places.
Speaker 2:Everyone's gone down south to you know Saint-Tropez and wherever else to get on the beach and you know all that kind of a thing. And also we've got like 35 degrees here. Nobody wants to be in the city in 35 degrees, do they? It's like let's get in the ocean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, 100%, it's always hotter in the?
Speaker 2:Um love that you live in Paris. It's such a vibe. How did you end up in Paris? Obviously not far from Paris, being in the UK, but not when you, when you think about how, what, how far apart things are on your side of the planet, right? Um, so, like, obviously you can tell from my accent, I'm, I'm definitely not Parisian. Um, so I'm, I'm from the UK originally, but we haven't lived in the UK since 2014.
Speaker 2:And that was one of the first major manifestations that we kind of went through as a family, because Keith and I that's my husband we were out one night in Manchester, so we lived in the north of England, in Yorkshire, and we were out one night in Manchester for his birthday and we were actually just contemplating life and how quick life goes by. Right, we've got three kids. At this point, our eldest was just about to start uni, so we were like how is she about to go to university? How has life gone so quickly? You know, keith and I got together when she was nine I was a single mom at that point and then we had two kids of our own and they were getting towards school age and we were like what an adventure, you know, for Emily to go off to uni and it's going to be so cool. She's going to go live with her friends and all that kind of a thing. And I was like why the fuck aren't we having an adventure as well? And that was the seed planted that we were going to go and live somewhere else. So we got her settled in university for a year and we spent that kind of like year to 18 months just not knowing where we wanted to go, but just deciding we were going to go and live in a different country.
Speaker 2:And, very long story short, we went when ended up living in Switzerland for five years. First, out of the gate. That was absolutely amazing. Such a beautiful place to like, have the kids. I'm imagining kind of like a bit of an Australian lifestyle. We were outside all the time, you know. It was just like in the mountains and down by the lake and all that jazz.
Speaker 2:So we went to yeah, we went to Switzerland for five years. Then we got about four years and we were like, okay, this isn't it, should we go somewhere else? And then we went through a whole process of like this time we decided where we wanted to go the first time we said we will go where the universe takes us, but we'll make all the moves in alignment with we are leaving the UK. People thought I would. We were insane. Like I was literally selling all our shit on Facebook like marketplace, and people were saying to Keith so where are you going? He's like don't fucking know, no idea. He was like his mates were like but Lisa's selling all your shit and he was like I know, this is apparent, she's like. He was like apparently this is manifesting. So I was like well, if we move in, we wouldn't have all this shit around, would we? We would be doing things. So we were ready to move. We would be giving that signal out to the universe. That's what we're doing. That's what we did Switzerland for five years. Then we laser focused in on Dubai. So we went to Dubai for two years. That's where we wanted to go.
Speaker 2:Next. We were like different scene, let's try something else. Went to Dubai, lived the life of Riley there for a couple of years, didn't really we enjoyed it. But we were like this is not our forever place. And we actually asked the kids where they wanted to go. We said it was New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, I think, and we were in a cafe in Dubai and we said to the kids right, should we stay for a bit longer or should we go somewhere else? What do you think? And the kids were like, let's go on another adventure. So Keith handed his notice in. He was a principal at a school, he had no job to go to. He just said we're going somewhere else. And then we manifested Paris. So the location is always kind of wherever. He like wants to work and we want to live because I can do what I do anywhere. So yes, that's how we've ended up in Paris. Who fucking knows where next.
Speaker 1:I love this, like the courage, but also, why are people not doing this more often? That's how life should be adventure I get, I get why, like I, I kind of get it.
Speaker 2:But I also think and I think this is a philosophy that I take with me through life, through business, through everything which is you don't fucking sign in blood that you're gonna stay there for the rest of your life. Like when we moved to Switzerland, we knew it was going to be like a big upheaval for all of us, right, but we just said, listen, we're going to commit to sticking it out for two years, because you can't fucking say you've given anything a good go until you've done it, you know, over a sustained period. That's consistency, and consistency compounds, right. You're not going to get instant gratification on everything. It's not Amazon Prime, is it? So we said two years, even if it's hard.
Speaker 2:And people said to us that had kind of like been on that journey or known people. They were like you know, apparently there comes a point where you get really homesick and if you can just like push through that, then on the other side of it it'll all kind of connect. And I remember that happening to us about nine months in and I was like, look worst case scenario into at the end of two years we'll go back, but at least we fucking gave it a whirl right and, honestly, like now, it's just like it just opens up the literally the whole world is your oyster, isn't it? Because you're just like where should we live next, you know? But I think what holds people back is they were worried about making the wrong decision and it's like it don't matter if it's the fucking wrong decision, you just make a new decision.
Speaker 1:Yeah, as you said, you can just go home, just go back home, yeah like start again, yeah.
Speaker 2:Or in our case, we were like, okay, switzerland, we loved it, but we kind of got it. Got where. We were like okay, we're bored of this. Now it's been good, it's, you know, served its purpose, and now it's like where next?
Speaker 1:yeah, and I was going to say it's with. It's like with anything right the first initial move, no matter what it is, it's always going to be the most uncomfortable. It's new. We've never done this before. It's unfamiliar. It's only fair enough that it feels a little bit scary and big. But just do it, figure it out and then it sets the ball to roll into the next places, whether it's locations or businesses or whatever you want to change up in your life.
Speaker 2:Totally. And I mean I left the UK at the top of my game in my business. I was, I was already running my my own business. So I'm a doula by trade, which is a professional birth partner to all intents and purposes, for anybody that doesn't know. And I mean that even getting to that point, like I was a business analyst for years and I walked out of that job with no plan and at that point I was a single mom. I was a single mom. I had a mortgage, I had a car on the drive, I had my kid in private school and all the rest of it and I was like I don't want to fucking do this forever. Like the idea that I'm going to retire in this office scares me more than quitting this job and not really knowing what's on the other side of it and so like that, that was like the first step into like the entrepreneurial game.
Speaker 2:But then fast forward to before we moved from England to Switzerland, my doula practice. I was like the one, I was like the it girl of doulas. People were like calling me when they'd peed on a stick before they told the husband they were pregnant. I remember one of my clients coming back for a second baby and she was like it's Kelly, how are you doing? I was like hi, darling, how are you? She was like I've got some news. I was like no. She went yeah, yeah, I'm pregnant again. I went oh my God, that's so cool. Like, how does Matt feel? She was like I haven't told him. I just wanted to ring and make sure you're available.
Speaker 1:Otherwise this baby ain't coming.
Speaker 2:We're not doing it without you, like I was at the top of my game. So there was also all of those questions about will this work in terms of my business? But I just fucking decided it would. I was like there are people having babies all over the fucking planet all of the time. People need what I have. I will make it work. So I built it again in Switzerland. I built it again, you know, in Dubai. I mean, there was, we were in the middle of COVID there, so it was the context was kind of different. And then came to Paris and absolutely just fucking ripped it up.
Speaker 1:And I love these stories because this is usually how it works out. Things do work out If you just decide it's going to. You make the moves. Most of the time, things do work out. You've just got to trust that. You've just got to trust the unknown, the unpredictability of it, and be okay about figuring it out as you go. I love it.
Speaker 1:So, speaking of your business, so you are now a business coach, obviously predominantly working with doulas and midwives, and you have your membership called 6%, your mastermind VIP coaching days in Paris which isn't that a vibe? And this year I crossed six figures in six months and we're celebrating that together in your mastermind. So you have built an incredible amount of success and, as you've just mentioned, you've kind of done it over and over again. You've just kept building. So I would love to know if you could put that success down to something about yourself as a woman, as an entrepreneur. What would that be? And I mean, of course there's the strategic side, there's the action, and we'll get to that, but I just want to know what about you has made that possible?
Speaker 2:Self-belief like unfuckwithable, unshakable, absolutely unhinged self-belief, honestly, like I just know that I can make shit happen and I think, again it comes. We're all always looking for evidence, aren't we? We're always looking for evidence that something is going to work out. And I think, because I have jumped so many times and the thing is, a lot of people just never take the first leap, do they? And so they've never got any of their own evidence. I always say to people come and borrow my belief in the short term, because I've jumped so many times it doesn't even feel like jumping anymore until you can get yours. You look like I always say look for evidence around you that something's possible for other people. Don't worry about whether it's fucking possible for you. And my like mantra over and over again over the years is like, if, if they can, why can't I? If, if someone else can show that it's possible, why can't I? Like, uh, unashamed, absolute Beyonce super fan and Mariah Carey over here and and look at where they came from. Now, beyonce came from quite a sort of middle class upbringing. Mariah Carey was like not a middle class upbringing, but what both those two women have got in common is absolute, like determination, like blinders on self-belief, like to keep going over and over again and and they've also both said it, you know, one time or another in in interviews like I looked around and thought if they can, why can't I? You know, and I I just think I landed on the planet a white woman.
Speaker 2:I come from a working class background. Neither of my parents went to university. I didn't go to university, I left school at 15. I left school at 15, basically another unhinged story because I had an argument with a teacher and I was like, fuck that, I'm not staying, I'm just going to go get a job. And I went and worked for like the main, like company in town that I lived in. There was an insurance company and a bank and that's. You went and worked in one or the other of those you know if, if you just wanted to get a job, kind of thing. And I was like, right, fuck it, I'll just go get work at the insurance place.
Speaker 2:But even then I was like I say I was 15, I had to go back and do one of my exams. I was still on exam leave. They let me go back. I had to borrow a suit from my mom to go for the interview because I didn't even have any fucking grown-up clothes. I sat on chewing, sat in chewing gum on the bus on the way home. You know your lovely blazer, like I was wearing a blazer of my mom's and I sat in fucking chewing gum on the way home.
Speaker 2:But anyway, the point is, and then when I, when I got there into this job, I was like right, I'm just like shuffling bits of paper, whatever, because I've got no qualifications, like in at the bottom. And then I just kept looking around me and I was like I can do that, I can fucking do that, I can do that. And then the next news I'm just like getting in front of people and saying there's a job here as a systems developer. You're supposed to be a graduate to do that. Give me a chance on the aptitude test, I'll be able to do it. And they were like let her have a go, did it aced? It got the job, kind of thing.
Speaker 2:So it's just that self-belief that if someone else can do it, that's proof, it's doable. Right, just borrow that, keep jumping. Because every time you you jump a bit like moving house. You just like I've got evidence. I've got evidence, I can survive this, I can pivot, I can change, we're told. Well, you know you need this to be successful. You need that. You need to look a certain way, act a certain way, speak a certain way. Talk. You know all of those things you know. You don't sound like me in the UK to be successful, you don't maybe look like me. You don't maybe dress like me. I'm here in my 50 cent t-shirt. Fucking got rich, didn't die. I mean, what the hell? Just decide that you make the rules on that, but keep jumping Like it's. Just keep jumping till you've got so much evidence compounded beneath you. You know that it's always going to be a soft landing because you've got yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I love what you said, that first initial leap. You can look around and see the evidence in other people, but at first there will be an element of unpredictability. But you've just got to jump anyway and I actually pulled a caption or a carousel you created and this is perfect timing to bring this in. You mentioned so many people are blocked in business because they're waiting for something external to unfold before they feel a certain way. But of course, we need to cultivate the identity and the self-belief for the external to shift, and your caption was so many people only move when there's proof. You only feel safe when Stripe is pinging and you believe you're worthy when people are cheering and it's so true where, like, they're paralyzed and waiting for something external. But they're the ones creating the external once they've cultivated that, that belief 100% One of the things like around this that I love sharing about.
Speaker 2:So this is my Rolex that I was 14 when I stood outside a jeweler's window in my hometown. I was 14 before I had an argument and left school like a year later. I used to work in a sweet shop in a market market stall. Every lunchtime I used to go and look in this window of this jeweler's and they had like the Rolexes and the Breitlings and all the different like gorgeous, like watches and jewelry. It's like who fucking like buys these watches in this town? Because the town I came from is not a wealthy town, it's a mill town. You know, it's not like this is not like a city where you would expect to see you know shops selling like high end gear and stuff like next to it is probably like a fucking pawnbroker's or a bookmaker's or a you know pound shop or some shit like that. Do you know what I mean? But I remember thinking one day I will walk out of that shop with one of those watches on, and that was when I was 14. I walked out of that shop with this watch. I could have bought that anywhere else in the end, but I decided that I would go on the list in that shop. I flew back from Paris to get it about two and a half years ago. But what's what this? What does this have to do with, like the identity piece and this like being it before you have the evidence? I walked into that shop. I want to say it must've been like the early 2022.
Speaker 2:And the process for getting a Rolex like off the shelf in a shop is that you go in, you like basically choose your Rolex and then you put an expression of interest in You're not going to walk out with one on that day, right, exclusivity, you know all the way kind of thing. They've like keep that mystique and all the rest of it right. And I put myself down on that list and I sat opposite the guy and he was like so what's you know? Is it a? Is it a birthday gift? You know what's the story, kind of thing. And I said I'm celebrating six figures in my business. And he was like, wow, that's cool. I hadn't made six figures in my business.
Speaker 2:At that point I was like I'm celebrating six figures in my business and this is my that will. That's my gift to me. And I got my name on that I was like because that's what's fucking happening, that's what's happening. And and when I picked it up, I'd crossed six figures and beyond, like I'd done that, and then some as well. But that's the whole thing, isn't it? It's like deciding now I am that person. I don't need to wait for for the six figures to go and get my ass on the fucking list for the Rolex that I'm going to celebrate my six figures with. Yeah and that's. And that's exactly what I did. It's doing it before it's doing it, believing it and fucking being it relentlessly before they're clapping, before the stripe is pinging, before all of that external stuff's going on. I've sat there in crickets when I've raised my rates and changed things around and all the rest of it, but I've just gone. That's where I'm fucking going and that's what I need to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the people will come and again, your identity is what's creating your reality. That's just the reality of this. I did the same when I bought my car. So I've got a Mercedes and that was on my vision board for years and years and years. And I woke up one day. I'm like you know what? I'm sick of this Mercedes sitting on my vision board. I want it in my driveway.
Speaker 1:So I said to Bart we're going to Mercedes tomorrow and we're going to look at cars. And he looked at me like I was an absolute idiot because the business was not making much money. I had gone part-time in my job as a lawyer, so it wasn't really making much money there. Like I definitely could not afford a Mercedes, but, similar to you, I said, no, but I will be, and we're going to look at them and I want to get in these cars. I need to touch the steering wheel, I need to smell the leather, I need to be in that car because there's so much frequency in that ride. And I was like, just trust me on this. Like, just come to Mercedes with me tomorrow. So he was so embarrassed, walking around as if the dealership knew that I had no money, and I'm like anyways, I got. I walked in there.
Speaker 1:By the way, this was my probably second or third time doing this. I've been the girl that has shrunk and felt like the dealership guy or the store assistant in Louis Vuitton knows how much money I have in my bank, but of course they don't. So I've had to work on this identity piece as well. But eventually I did and, yeah, I walked, walked into Mercedes and I walked around this dealership as if I was there to buy the car. I was asking questions when they'd have the GLC in stock. I was asking to take it for a test drive, did not have the money, wasn't sure when I would, but I just knew that I would. I did that. Two months later I bought that car because my business just absolutely skyrocketed. So there's so much proof in the pudding. Like be the woman now and the results will come.
Speaker 2:Without a shadow of a doubt. That's what I've done over and over and over again, and it fucking works. It works yeah it does.
Speaker 1:Speaking of money and getting paid, you actually use that example in Top Tier one day, the Rolex being on the strip, I think you said it's probably next door where the crackies shoot up.
Speaker 1:You were painting the picture of the neighborhood, but the point of that conversation was you were saying there is so much money around. I think one of the girls in there was just talking about feeling like she wasn't making enough money in her niche and she was kind of capped at the amount of money or something like that. And I just love you came in. You were like that's true if you want to believe it, but there's also a reality where there is so much money in this world and people will spend money on the things that they want. So I'd love for you to talk to me about that, because I'm sure there's women listening who know they are undercharging what they should be. They are afraid to raise their rates for fear that they will lose people. What's something they need to hear from you? To know that there is so much money around and people will pay whatever you're asking them to pay if you deliver a good service.
Speaker 2:Well, we'll start with that story, which is, you know, like I already painted the picture the dealership in the Rolex dealership in the town that I grew up, in Halifax in West Yorkshire. Like the precinct that it's on like a little shopping you know pretty typically English shopping precinct like there's nothing fancy on there, and even when I was a kid there was nothing fancy on there. It was like you know, one of these, like I wouldn't know what the equivalent is in Australia, but like I'm sure people can imagine it. You know those those kind of like it sells every kind of all shit. You can go in there and buy like chocolate, but you can also buy like a fucking stepladder and you know any, like any kind of shit in there. It's like DIY slash supermarket vibes, right. So there's like one of those on there. And then there's like you know, a five, five quid barber on there. And then there's like the place, a five, five quid barber on there. And then there's like the place that you go and like probably pawn your um fucking Rolex if you've got one and you don't have any money. You need to buy some crack or whatever, but like just not like a glamorous, glitzy vibe whatsoever. You know what I mean, and that shop has been there since like it's like 100 years. 100 years that shop has been there, and when I went in on that, I think it was the second time I went in with my sister, because there's a whole dance that you have to do as well. When you, when you go to buy a Rolex, I'm on the list for my second Rolex right from the same shop, and every time I go home, I go in and say hi, you go in, you build your relationship with the people in there. It's the same as when you've got a sales assistant that you've returned or wherever else, right?
Speaker 2:I remember talking to him when we popped in with my sister and Ashley said this is my sister. She was like are people really buying these? And he was like, yeah, we've got, like I think they said like 40,000 people on the list there that are actively either looking at buying, expressing interest in all of these like high-end, you know, watches and jewellery pieces, which it just doesn't make sense when you look around you, and I think that that's what everyone's doing. They're trying to make it look like logical, like oh well, logically, if what I can see is this, therefore, that must be the reality. But the reality is that there's, and also we are as well bombarded with messages from our governments and government agencies about how there's no fucking money and you know cutbacks and cost price of living cutbacks and all of that stuff. And I am not saying like hear me now when I say I'm not saying that there are not people hugely affected by inflation and cost of living. But you have to like, think about you, your reality, like your niche, your ideal clients and all of those things, unless your ideal clients and I feel like I can say this and it will not be taken out of context I've worked in refugee camps, right, as a doula.
Speaker 2:I went out to refugee camps in Greece, like and literally was there supporting people you know, moms and babies and families that were having babies in fucking tents, in asbestos ridden, fucking like warehouses and stuff Right. So I am not like being detached from this. I've literally sat and eaten breakfast with these people, right, sat and eaten breakfast with these people, right, unless your key person that you are targeting to help with your service is somebody who genuinely has no resources. You need to park all of that because people will find money for the shit that they want. There's no shortage of people in the fucking off-license getting beer. There's no shortage shortage of people like the cigarette companies aren't worried, right? People are still going to the footy. And what is the demographic of people going to? You know? Sport and stuff like that, working fucking class. You've got evidence all around you that when people want something and value it, they will find the money for it. People that are living on, like you know, low incomes are finding money for shit that we'd go. Why would you fucking buy that if you've got no money? But that's because that's what they value.
Speaker 2:When I was a single mom with Emily and a business analyst, I put her in a private school and I was earning a really good salary for that time, you know, for given like the whole entire picture, right, but there were certain things that were just non-negotiable for me. I would rather budget over here on these things so that she went to the best school in town. I would rather like lower the budget on what I spent on you know food and you know holidays so that she could have the nicest jacket and shoes and stuff, and that might seem fucking shallow, but I don't give a shit. That's what I valued. That is what I valued at that time. So people will fucking find the money for the things that they value.
Speaker 2:When somebody says it's too expensive, that is the easiest cop out of saying I don't really want it that much, I'm not that into it, I don't, I'm not really that into you. I'll say this to doulas all the time and and a lot of the time. I mean we could go on forever it's because it's too fucking low price to start with. So they're having this internal dialogue about well, it probably can't be that good anyway. Really. Do you know what I mean? They're saying it's fucking amazing and it's 500 quid.
Speaker 2:Uh no, do you know what I mean? They're saying it's fucking amazing and it's 500 quid. Uh no, do you know what I mean? So there's also that whole thing, that internal bias that we've got when we think, like how many times like you and I both, you know we love a bit of Louis Vuitton, you know, and like I am, I might not present like it, but I am an absolute Louis Vuitton whore. You need to know like there there's an account this long of the shit I have bought in there Shoes, bags, perfume, clothes, like everything I rock up here in my 50 Cent T-shirt but like I can scrub up right, but I've completely, completely lost my thread. Now what was I telling you about?
Speaker 1:Let me rewind. We were talking about how someone says something's expensive, it's just the easiest, cop out, they don't want your stuff.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly, and oh yeah, that was what I was going to give you as an example. So, like the idea of things being sounding too good to be true will fuck you over, right? Because you sit there and you go I've got this amazing product, I've got this amazing offer, I've got this amazing service, I've got this amazing thing. And then they look at the price and it's wah, wah, wah, because they're just like, um, that can't be that good.
Speaker 2:Keith saw that's my husband, he saw this backpack right and it was like insulated backpack for and we love like going picnicking and you know when the, you know when the weather's good and all the rest of it's like, oh, my god, it's insulated, we can like take, you know, a bottle of wine and do this and do that and the other. And he was like this looks like the shit. And then he clicked on the link and it was $19.99 and he was like it's going to be crap, I'm not buying it. So you're also up against that as well. So, honestly, like it pisses, it really pisses me off and it annoys the shit out of me and I work in a niche, obviously, like you said doulas, midwives, parent coaches you know people that are in and around like that parent in and pregnancy, um, like world, if you like, and you know, and wellness, mom, life coaches and stuff like that. And it really fucking drives me nuts when they, when they're basically but, but you know, like cost of living and people like it's a luxury. And I'm like Louis, trust me, I live in there's about eight Louis Vuitton boutiques and they're fucking all lining around the block and you look at those people. Those people don't judge a book by the cover.
Speaker 2:It's not about whether they do or they don't, they just value it. They just value that thing. And if somebody fucking values it, they'll find the money for it. My eldest daughter is getting to the age where she's probably going to have children if she chooses to right, you best believe, if she wants a private midwife or a doula, I don't care what the price is, we'll find the money. Make it work, we'll do it. We'll make it happen. End of story. People will pay for the things that they value. Your problem's not your price. Your problem is articulating the value of the thing and stop positioning it as a nice to have. Make it a fucking necessity.
Speaker 1:It's so funny we're having this conversation. I'm sitting here doing a training. Before I got on about the fact that high prices are not bad and often the right clients will step straight over your offer if it's priced too low because of what you just said. It's like this illusion that it's too good to be true. It's like you've just made it look like it should be worth $10,000, but I've just clicked the link and it's a $1,000 mastermind, for example, like it's just not stacking up. And so, yeah, we live in a world where it's like discounts and offer the low price, you get people in. But on the other end of that is you're missing out on people who actually look at the price as a way to indicate there's value in there. And this is actually what I'm looking for. Um, and we're actually. We just did the same with a mattress, so we really need a new mattress and this link, of course, when you start having a conversation, your phone gives you all the mattresses and buy a.
Speaker 1:Um add about a mattress. That, again, when you read the fine print, it sounds incredible. Um, you have a trial period where they'll drop the mattress off. You can sleep on it, trial it and if it's no good. You send it back. Well, it sounds pretty good.
Speaker 1:That's good. Clicked the link, saw the price. Immediately clicked back out because we had that same experience. It can't be that good for that price. Like, why are their mattresses priced 10X that if they're the same mattress? So and you know, it's probably not always true Like there probably is good quality products that are priced low. Of course not saying that, but it's this perception that we have. With the price point, our brains immediately go higher price, higher quality unquestionably so.
Speaker 2:It's finding that sweet spot in it of making sure that you're not actually like damaging. You know everything that you've done in terms of like positioning that thing and so on. When they come to look at that like number at checkout, yeah, definitely, definitely, and it's what? What does it like? Don't just think about it as an item. Like you've got to think beyond it being an item, don't you? You know it's not. For most of the people that you're working with, you know and that I'm working with, for sure, we're not dealing in a transaction and an item. We're looking at something that's beyond just a part.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, the experience, well speaking, of being able to position your offer properly in order to get premium clients to buy messaging. You are also the queen at messaging and I was saying to Lisa before we jumped onto this podcast. I was reading some of her captions and, let's say, I think I screenshot it. I just want to read you one out and you'll see exactly what I mean. You guys are going to go follow Lisa, but just the way she talks Okay, this is just a little snippet.
Speaker 1:I don't know what you're talking about here, but I've just screenshoted this. You can think you look like a total twat in the moment and still be showing people that you're the dog's dangly bits and so like. This is the language that Lisa uses online. I've got a frog in my throat. It's authentic. It's. It shows your personality and people just eat it up because it lands and it cuts through the noise.
Speaker 1:I know there is a lot of people that would look at your Instagram and think I would love to be able to create content like that. I would love to be able to use messaging like that, but of course, they're afraid to be fully seen and I know that you've been called out on the language you use. There was like a full thread about you saying all this crap, but you still show up and you do it anyway. So can you talk to us about whether you've had to overcome some fear of fully being seen online and the backlash that you may experience by being someone who expresses her opinion, or is this just something that's always been a part of you? And if that like, what's some advice you'd give for those to to be that person online?
Speaker 2:line. Honestly, like I do think to a degree it's. It is a part of who I am in the I mean, let's just like circle back to like leaving school at 15 because I had an argument with my teacher like I've always been quite forthright, shall we say. But I think you know it's inevitable when you start to think about how you're going to transfer that to like a bigger audience, for people to kind of like get to know you and trust you and all of those things that there's going to be a part of you that is hearing the narratives that are out there about what's acceptable and what's not acceptable, that are out there about what's acceptable and what's not acceptable, and you're gonna like I would be lying if I didn't say that there was a time when I was like is it okay? Like is it really okay to be me? Because that's what we're saying ultimately, isn't it? Am I safe to be me here? Because everything and I think especially for women is like so performative, everything that we're like taught from. I think that the real like crunch point for young women is when you're about like probably it could be, you know, a couple of years either side, depending on how, like you know, mature you are, but around like 14, I was a bit of a late bloomer, but I think probably somewhere between like 12 and 15 is when you start to really notice, right, okay, this is what's okay for women, this is what's okay for girls, this is what's acceptable, this is what's you know palatable and all of those things and you start being really like brainwashed essentially by that. And if I were to say that I've never been impacted by that, I'd be absolutely lying, because you know that's the air that we breathe as women. We're supposed to be a certain way kind of thing.
Speaker 2:So when it came to like showing up on online you know there were in the in the years it was interesting because for a long time I was a Facebook girl. I'm 51 in a week's time, right. So like I'm a, I'm a Facebook original kind of like placed hangout kind of person. I was like, oh God, people were saying you need to get on Instagram and I was like, oh, fucking hell, it's just like pictures of people's tea, tea, like why do I want to go over there? Kind of thing. It's just another thing to do. Now I'm like a total Facebook. Um, like Facebook I've forgotten about, and now I'm just like an Instagram whore, um.
Speaker 2:But there was, ironically, on Facebook. I'd always felt like I was just me, because it was my personal page and I was just sharing, like me, the kids, what I was up to, being mouthy because I'm mouthy, um, and then like blending into that my business journey, my entrepreneurial journey and so on, and then it was really weird to kind of go over to Instagram and start start being like okay, what am I supposed to be over here? So there definitely was like a settling in period. Then when I was like do you know what? I can't keep this up anymore. I mean, I watch old Instagram stories. I shared some with my clients in 6% it's in fact, we shared some, didn't we? Do you remember In the last run, I'm like, hi, I hope that I'm not bothering you today, kind of thing, and I'm like who the fuck is she?
Speaker 2:When you're like what the hell is going on? So, like, I think we all can feel that to a degree. But the moment that you realize actually the thing that makes you magnetic is you and the more that you can just like, bring that forward. I don't think everybody needs to be out there effing and jeffing, like I am, but the truth is that that's what you're going to hear If you're with me having a coffee in Paris or if you're around my house or whatever. Like I do swear, you know, like I always have you know that's how I express myself, always have you know that's how I express myself.
Speaker 2:So, and I am opinionated and I do want to, like, if I see something like it's almost like Tourette's level, I cannot, you know, not say something about it, kind of thing. And sometimes, and even now, I'll be like, oh my God, like did I go too far there, kind of thing. But then I know that my intentions are not to, you know, be honest, to hurt people. It's to be honest, to help people, right, and I think that that's the difference. So, yeah, in terms of like messaging, you know, nobody needs to sound like anybody else, but if you can find the way to express yourself with, obviously, the strategy of the things that are really, you know, going to make that pop in terms of the business side of things, but that that's rooted in who you authentically are, that is a really great place, because then it becomes less. It's not performative anymore, it's just fucking Listen to me, it's just who you are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and a big way to help with that. And we did this. I don't know if you had already done it, but at the start of the mastermind we're in, we all went through and unfollowed a bunch of accounts and stopped following people and I remember the shift in me and my brand was massive. Just by doing that alone. Because you think we are constantly bombarded with other people's personalities and brands and the way they do it, it's only fair enough that subconsciously, you're morphing into them. It is going to happen, it's inevitable. But the moment you just block that out, you've now got this clear runway and suddenly you do know who you want to be online and the captions and the way of speaking kind of just flow off the tongue.
Speaker 2:So much easier because there's space just flow off the tongue so much easier because there's space. Honestly, I think if I were to like pull out one of the most powerful things, like obviously we've celebrated like obvious, tangible, incredible shit in our businesses and we've learned stuff and we've, you know, rolled through things together and there's been the ups and downs and the highs and lows and all the rest of it, but one of the most simple and powerful things that I've done in that mastermind is that exercise and I have not undone it, I have. So what are we now? We're eight months into it and I unfollowed like look, basically anybody. That I felt was like knocking my frequency off in terms of being able to hear myself.
Speaker 2:My creativity skyrocketed because I could hear what I wanted to say and like I went from being, you know, somebody who still would occasionally and I don't think I'm not saying this is wrong, right, but I definitely would occasionally do the whole like scroll for inspiration thing. I haven't done that in eight months. I literally like, if you go in my saved folder, it's all me, I just save my own shit and go. That was really fucking good. I need to do that again in a different way, like, like it used to be saved other people doing similar things and thinking, oh, I'll do my take on that, I'll do my spin on that. You know, like my version of that. I love what she said there. How can I? I've just completely stopped that. That has been one of the most liberating parts of the whole experience of top tier Just switching, switching them off, and I ain't switching them back on any time soon yeah, I agree, I went through and just unmute like muted, unfollowed, so many and still same thing, have not brought them back and, yeah, same thing.
Speaker 1:My creativity, the ideas that I have, um, and it's almost like you just feel like you're the only one in your industry. Now, and when you feel that way, when you feel like you're one of one.
Speaker 2:You're going to show up as one of one, aren't you? Definitely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so there's some homework for everybody. Go and unmute. Go and mute and unfollow people that, uh, yeah, fucking with your frequency and just adding noise that you don't need. Because you have incredible ideas sitting within your own mind. You have a way you should be sharing. They all know what they want to say and they know how they want to say it. But again it's like when you don't see it done by someone else, it's almost like, oh, I better not say it that way, or I better not do it that way. But when that noise isn't there, it's just like, oh, fuck it, I'm just going to say it.
Speaker 2:Exactly Totally.
Speaker 1:Now my final question for you, like I mentioned.
Speaker 2:Well, like we were talking about, you've crossed six figures in six months. Also, how was that moment? Tell us about that moment Honestly. It's kind of it was like a bit surreal because, like at the beginning of this year, I set myself impossible goals. I've always like I believe that that's why you know goals. I've always like I believe that that's why you know I've been able to do the things that I've done.
Speaker 2:When I first left my job so I was a business analyst I left that job, a single mom, to just do something that lit me up, to do something that made a difference in the world. I didn't even know what it was going to be Right and in the course of that journey going to be right and in the course of that like journey, I basically ended up taking a job in a school. It was the worst paid job of all the jobs that I applied for with the skills that I had as a business analyst, and it was a data analyst in a school and I was just like, well, fuck it, you know, like it's, I'm just going to do it, I'll get in front of people again. They'll give me a raise at some point. It'll be fine. They'll just promote me like I'm just going to take the, I'll get in front of people again. They'll give me a raise at some point, it'll be fine. They'll just promote me Like I'm just going to take the job and we'll just wing it, kind of thing. And the first person that I met when I walked through the door is the man that I've been married to for the last 18 years. So, like, taking that leap of faith obviously has had the most incredible impact and so on.
Speaker 2:But then fast forward to like, the whole journey of like becoming a doula. I basically did the same thing. I was then working at another school. I got headhunted to go to another school and I went and worked there. And then I went on this journey when I had my younger two children and I was like this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm supposed to be helping women like see how fucking powerful they are. I mean, ultimately, that just runs through everything that I do, right, it's like I am here to put a rocket up your ass and I'm like you are literally like God on legs. Woman Like you are so powerful, like how you see it. And so, becoming a doula, I did the training. I must have been like the most fucking annoying person on that course Because I was so like like ready to do it. I was like so fucking hungry for it Every question, the trainer, and I'm like the first time that I've ever like been excited about being in school, kind of thing. I left, I completed my training.
Speaker 2:I already knew what my brand was going to be called. The website was poised, the copy was ready to go. Like I was ready to literally like take off instantly and I decided again. I decided I was like like I will be the most sought after doula in my region. That's, that's it. And I remember literally putting it again again. The whole like just be it before you are it? The writing was on my website the most highly sought after doula in, you know, insert our region. I like that was me before I'd even had a book in. I just fucking decided that's what it's going to be. And so the whole six figures in six months thing, it still like feels kind of crazy to think about it. You know, I decided in 2021, I think it was when we first moved to Paris. I said to Keith right, stop the car. We were in Lidl car park. Do you get like Lidl and Aldi and shit over there? Honestly, it's like supermarket, like base level. It's the one that everyone goes to to buy their like tins of beans and shit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, aldi yeah, right, yeah, aldi vibes. So we're in the car park and I was like Keith, stop the car. He was like what, what's happened? And I said by next January I will be doing at least 3K a month in my coaching business, because that's when I started pivoted from actually being a doula going to birth. I did my last birth about three months after that and I was was like the coaching business will be bringing in at least three grand a month by January. I'm gonna stop going to births, I'm gonna focus on this. I'm gonna quit my paid job as a doula trainer, because by this time I was training doulas, I was being paid to do all of that stuff. I was like that's where we're going, that's the direction. He was like right, okay, no problem, that's what we're doing. I guess you know, like when I sold our shit and we moved.
Speaker 2:I just, I just was like decide and I would I'd done six figures in in 12 months, within 12 months of that decision, because it felt like to go from zero to that in that space of time was a big ask. But then I was like, right, what do I? Who do I need to be? What do I need to do? Who do I need to become? What do I need to stop doing? What do I need to start doing? Like, how can I?
Speaker 2:If I'm going to really do that, there's a whole lot of shit that needs to change around here. And so it's been the same with every iteration. But I'm not going to lie, it still is kind of nuts to think about it, because we sat there when I was went past 5k months every month and then I remember saying, imagine if I did 10k months, like we'd basically be millionaires, right, and we were like laughing and and now, like Keith is my CFO, so he, I have a, I have a VA. But I took the financial stuff back off the VA because it needed to be all done in French. We're in France, complications.
Speaker 2:So I was like I'm going to get Keith to do it. He's not French, but like he, he can understand the headache of like French administration. So and I actually love that that he's my like right hand man for all that and he'll be like. So week three on on stripe was a record week running me through the sass, but when that happened I was like Keith, like like three years ago we were sat here going imagine a 10k a month and I've just done a hundred and a hundred and fifteen thousand in six months. What the actual motherfuck it's wild.
Speaker 1:It's wild what we could actually get done when you just lock in and do it. And you know what was funny? When you first started this year, I remember you saying you know what, I think I'm going to have a bit of a soft girl era. Like, I think I'm just going to lean back and just do a bit of a rinse and repeat of programs already have. And you launched an offer you already had. You just like put some marketing behind it and then you went and did that. I think I've just loved being a part of that story because, yeah, you did six figures in six months but it wasn't hustling and you know, burning yourself out and having sleepless nights. Like this was meant to be your soft girl era, but yet you still hit those numbers and I think that you can do like you can't like it doesn't have to be a certain way.
Speaker 2:You know, like I and it's what I love about being in there, cause I can see people that are like you know there's the girls in there that are like no, lisa, I am not in my soft girl era and I'm in my hungry bitch. Let's fucking do it. Stay up until three o'clock in the morning, you know, and rock it out era, and it's perfect for all of us. We can all learn from each other other. But also it just shows there is no one way you can do that in a like don't get me wrong, I'm not like the feminine, lean back, drip honey on your nipples and expect it all to happen, kind of gal. Like you need to fucking like, take action steps.
Speaker 2:However, that can still be in alignment with how you want to live, who you want to be, and you can still have insane results on the other side of it. Like it's not binary, is it? It's not one, or it's not hustle and win, or like sit back and lose. Like you can find a sweet spot that works exactly for you. And there have been don't like, don't it twisted. There have been like fucking times in this last few years where I have been like balls to the wall. You know it needs to happen and there will be seasons within that, even in my what I still believe is like this soft girl you know, soft CEO era type thing that I'm wanting to definitely like embrace. You know, the beginning of last year it was, I was not in soft girl era, I was in grind, hustle, move, do the thing. But you can compound those things and and like merge those things together to find your sweet spot as well and still have fucking amazing results.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love this. It gets to look however you want it to look. You've just got to decide and still believe, no matter what, no matter what the path looks like. Um, very quickly, what's next for you? You've done your six figures in six months. You're just going to keep the momentum going or you're just happy to chill here for a bit, like what's next for you?
Speaker 2:okay. So, like the soft girl CEO is like chill for a bit, but no, obviously not. It was so interesting because the other day I was talking to Keith when we were looking at the numbers and I was like, oh right, you know, like I can just rinse and repeat another six, six figures in six months, and I looked at what that would you know what that would mean and how I would kind of like get there without really doing anything? And then I was like, what are you doing? Like is, if you set a high bar for yourself and an almost like impossible goal, you will do more and better than you would by saying, okay, I'm going to chill here for a while, like I say nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 2:Ultimately, sometimes that's the season that we want to be in, that we need to be in. You know, I, mom, we've got shit going down. Do you know what I mean? Like? But I was like no, don't just like do the same thing again, make an unreasonable goal, because that's what I've done all the time and every time I've done that, I've at least hit it or more. So no, like the answer is it's at least 100. But I sat, sat down and I was like so all I need to do this is this to do a hundred K again in the next six months.
Speaker 2:And then I was like and I literally wrote down how to get to 175 K dollars in the next six months. I was like, no, we need to do that, and maybe double besides. So that's yeah, but I'm still going to do it in a way that feels good for me.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, I love it and like it's so fun to always want more. I think there's probably a programming that kicks in when you do achieve a goal. It's like, all right, we'll be grateful for this and sit here for a bit and you got to enjoy this. But wanting more doesn't take away from the gratitude. It doesn't take away from the fact that you are so proud and so stoked of what you've created. We are just women that want the best of the best and we want this incredible life, as we absolutely should. It's available to us. Why wouldn't we want it? So I think it's like knowing that you can keep moving forward. It doesn't have to lead to burnout. You can still be grateful for what you've created Like.
Speaker 2:It gets to look like this A hundred percent, like everything that I've done is everything that I've done and everything that I do is grounded in the deepest gratitude, and I don't say that just like, because that's what you're supposed to say. One, there was a moment in time I remember we were walking back from we'd been out for dinner, keith and I, and we were walking back through the streets here in Paris and it kind of like like was almost like something shifted in me on a cellular level and I was like I can have anything that I want. I just went, I can have anything that I want. And that was not about like going necessarily all about like I can go and buy something. I just was like I can have anything that I want because if I put my mind to it I will, but I do that from a place of I don't need anything because I've got everything that I want.
Speaker 2:I feel like I in that moment I went from being someone who practiced gratitude to being actual walking, physical gratitude. I just feel grateful all of the time, like unconditionally that, that that I think that if you can root everything in that you can reach and want and desire and move towards, because it's you're not running away from anything. You're moving towards something, even though you know I could stay here forever and have like the happiest, most fulfilled, you know, gorgeous life ever. But why wouldn't I just say there's even more?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's the most magnetic way to create when it's not from lack, you're not lacking anything, you've got everything you need. It's just like why not get it? You know, and that's why things drop in the way they do in your life, because, yeah, it's not like, it's not a need, it's not your entire life resting on that one income goal or that one client. It's just like. I just enjoy it. It's coming from passion and love, not lack. I love this. Well, this conversation has been incredible. I knew it would be. I knew this would be, so. Thank you so much for being here and getting up early for us. Where can they find you? What's happening in your world right now if they want to tune in?
Speaker 2:So, as I said, I've like I left Facebook. What the hell.
Speaker 1:Like you cannot find me there.
Speaker 2:I'm kind of over there, but I'm just like, yeah, I'm so easiest place to find me is on Instagram.
Speaker 2:So my handle is Lisa Sykes online all one word no dots, no underscores, no, nothing. Lisa Sykes online. Um, and yeah, that's the easiest place to connect with me and you'll find like in the link in my bio. Obviously there's bits for my podcast and all those um shenanigans, but, yeah, come and find me, Say hi. If you follow me on Instagram, you will get a message from me. I say hello to everybody who follows me and, just like, strap yourself in, because it is kind of like it is kind of X-rated in the best possible way, though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, as you said, it's all there to make them feel better about themselves. It just smacks me in the face. I love it. Well, thank you so much for being here. Go and give Lisa a follow and for everybody listening. I will talk to you guys in the next one, thank you.