ericaminadev

Today’s episode is about something I’ve never really wanted to share about…learning hard lessons. 

Learning lessons is great once you’re past them, but they still hurt in the moment (a lot!). It’s so tough to feel caught in that “ugh, if only I had known” feeling. 

I’ve run into some circumstances recently that have made me realize that I could have done things better, reaffirming the fact that I am still a work in progress; I don’t know all the answers, and these are the humbling experiences that prove that to be true. 

All this yuck and heaviness led me to think…what if we thanked the failure? 

We tend to move pretty quickly to forgiveness, but getting all the way to thankfulness is a whole other ballgame. Maybe instead of trying to resist the thing that knocks us down and move on from it immediately we instead put it directly in front of us and really observed it and took something from it. 

This next-level version of me is going to have to learn how to respond to these types of failures at a more rapid pace; maybe this is a test from the universe saying, “do you actually want what you’re attracting?” Focusing on gratitude during the moments that are hard calls in this growth and clarity that has felt really important to me as I’ve been wrestling with this recently. 

Tune in to ponder alongside me and ask yourself what would happen if you looked at your mistakes and failures with a sense of gratitude. 

I plan my time out a year in advance – while that might sound crazy, trust me when I say it’s a complete life changer! 

Now, I don’t plan out every minute (obviously…), but I DO block off times in my calendar for specific things that I know I need to plan in advance, or else they’ll never get done. 

What are these things I plan out so far in advance, you ask? Honestly, I’d encourage you to keep track of EVERYTHING in your calendar; not just your business meetings and doctor’s appointments, but your mommy/daughter dates, happy hour with friends, and financial dates. 

It’s important to plan out the things that will bring me energy. That means self-care, rest, family time, you know, all the things we are tempted to skip when things get busy. But we can’t skip these essentials because they’re what keep us from burning out! 

This week’s episode walks you through how to do an annual calendar audit (looking back) and plan for the year ahead (looking forward). Bust out your color-coding, we’re getting down to business!

Here are the categories to create mentioned in this podcast:

Work

• Development hours
• Meetings
• Finances
• Marketing
• Networking

Personal

• Self-care
• Relationships
• Fun & vacations
• Volunteering
• Books

Listen in for step-by-step details on how to do your own audit and plan for your most abundant year yet! 

Dreaming big – we as women tend to have a hard time letting ourselves do it in the daylight. We often dream in the dark of night and keep our big dreams secret rather than putting them out into the universe. But dreams deserve that respect! 

I’m at a point where I’m wondering “what’s next?” A lot of the things I had aspired to I have achieved (which is awesome!), but it has left me a little stuck as to what to reach for after this. I have been gathering visions of what the next level looks like, so I’ve been making some serious Pinterest vision boards recently. 

I think we need to be better at sharing our ambitions, so today I’m going to share mine! 

I’ve built my marketing agency to a point where it mostly runs itself, and although there is still plenty of room for growth, it will just take time. So rather than twiddling my thumbs, I’m branching out and living out the other visions that I have! 

We’re starting The Mina Collective, a female-centric mastermind community in Fort Collins, Colorado. There is an incredible community of female business owners in Northern Colorado that are so connected and helpful, and I’ve attended so so many networking events with these amazing women. However, networking events don’t allow the opportunity for deeper connection, strategy, advice, and mentorship. We needed a vessel through which we could actually support one another in tangible ways and make real differences in our businesses. 

It’s time we owned up to our dreams and helped each other to make them happen! Listen in to hear more and start speaking your dreams out into the world.

Do you cringe and want to hide every time you send an invoice? Your brain gets so overwhelmed and you can’t see the big picture. 

Today I’m sharing my favorite secret in business growth that I wish more people had told me about when I first got started – money mindset & manifestation! 

And yes, I’m listing them in that order for a reason; before we get to manifesting money, we have to first focus on our money mindset. 

All of us have a mindset around money that was formed in both our childhood and adult experiences, and that’s where we have to start when it comes to reshaping those beliefs. I had to write out all of my money stories (both good and bad) that have impacted my life to determine where my money mindset and the issues with it originated. This is a great exercise to try because it becomes so obvious! Of COURSE you believe these things, you’ve never seen another way! Look for themes and how those translated or overcorrected in your adult life. 

Once you have an awareness and understanding of what’s going on, that’s where you can move forward and THAT’S where money manifestation comes in. 

Any time you’re manifesting something, you have to think of it as a relationship; I think of money as my best friend (and yes, I realize that might sound weird at first but hear me out!). How do you treat your best friend? You spend time with them, you invest in them, and you have a mutual trust that you don’t have to fear they’ll just disappear. 

What is your relationship with money like? Is it flourishing? Is it full of turmoil? Personally, if I don’t pay attention, I can treat it like a dark secret that I don’t want to think about or acknowledge; and that’s what I’m working on changing! 

Write out what you want that relationship to look like. What words do you find yourself saying about money? 

Where you are focusing your time, attention, and thoughts, that’s where your energy shifts. 

When embarking on your money manifesting journey, goal setting is a must. Big, audacious goals are lovely and necessary; but also make some bite-sized goals that you can tackle along the way. Based on that goal, how are you treating your relationship with money to get there? How does that break down into small steps you take with money each week? 

And finally, what does it look like when you DO hit those goals? What do you do? Who do you tell? Because the celebration is just as much a part of the journey! 

Listen in for examples, details, and tips on how to start your own money mindset & manifestation journey!

As a service-based business, scaling up from remote work to an office space or adding team members and learning how to budget for it all can feel daunting, to say the least!

I’ve learned so many lessons along the way in entrepreneurship and made some mistakes that I want to help YOU avoid! Today, we’re diving into why financials matter and discussing some practical tips on how to take charge of your finances and feel confident in growing your business. 

Tip 1: How you price yourself is dependent on your mindset, so there are some big questions you need to ask yourself; What’s the big vision for your business? Do you still see it being around in 10 years? It’s tough to do, but you have to price yourself now to prepare for your big dreams. When you have an idea of where you’re going, it gives you a much better roadmap of how to get there. 

Tip 2: You have to understand your finances; sticking your head in the sand won’t help you (in fact, it’ll most likely hurt you in the long run!). Stop guessing whether you can afford something and start writing checks for your growth in confidence. How do you get started in this? Seek out professional help! Find people who can help you get ahold of your finances and create budgets & financial forecasts. 

Tip 3: Make a list of all of the expenses in your business – subscriptions, marketing materials, ad spend, etc. to determine what your overhead is at different rates.

Next, create a list of what it costs to have clients – proposal softwares, email systems, etc. that you only have because you have clients. 

The overall cost of these expenses should be 30% of your pricing apiece; this is what we call the “Rule of Thirds:” overhead, COGS, & income (including taxes & savings) should each get ⅓ of your total revenue. 

None of us are taught this, which can make it tricky to figure out! But you’re not in this alone; listen in, reach out for help, and watch your business soar. 

When was the last time you truly, intentionally rested? 

As entrepreneurs, we easily get caught up in hustle mode (in fact, many of us feel like we THRIVE in it!), but we struggle when it comes to slowing down and getting quiet with ourselves. 

This summer, I entered into a season of choosing fun over work, and let me tell you, it re-energized me and gave me SUCH greater vision and room to dream.

As a business owner, giving yourself space and peace is what allows you to envision what the next stage of your business looks like and how you can grow. When you’re caught up in anxiety and the stress of the day-to-day, it’s easy to stay there and let your business just coast without intentional growth. 

Here’s my challenge to you: carve out time to find real rest! And once you’ve had time to rest, figure out how you can take that energy into your business without launching too hard and fast into busyness. 

So here’s my take, the #1 secret in business isn’t an action item. It isn’t a magical formula or an online program. Heck, I can’t even turn it into a course. 

Guys, it’s REST. No acronyms here, just plain and simple. 

As an entrepreneur, you have to wear all of the hats. From sales, marketing, execution, product development, invoicing, accounting, shipping…on and on…we can all agree, it’s A LOT. Coaches all over the world want to tell you all their secrets for growth and success but I am here to say that if you don’t let yourself rest, you are going to burn out or even beyond. Yes, there’s a phase beyond burnout, it’s that mode where you stop caring about everything that used to be important. You go to work, push hard, pick up your kids, and you just sit on the couch and scroll your phone until bedtime. It’s not that you don’t care, it’s that you can’t take in anymore. You haven’t done anything that fills your cup, you’ve only chosen to give out your energy.

I’ve been there. As a high-achieving entrepreneur, I thought for years that I could keep pushing and pushing. Until I started seeing success, what I had always dreamed of unfolded in front of my eyes but I was so tired I couldn’t really enjoy it. It just felt like another thing, another moment…nothing special. That was my wake-up call. I thought to myself, “Why on earth did I spend these years working so hard? To get to that point I had always dreamt of and not feel a damn thing?” So I booked a trip. 

I spent 8 days resting, playing with my girls, and letting them choose what our daily activity looked like. We spent the days laughing, napping, staying up too late drinking wine, chasing fireflies, and sitting around fires eating smores. I didn’t post a thing to social media – it was magic! Looking back it was just rest and fun – no agenda, no to-do list. Needless to say, I came back changed. 

There are so many entrepreneurs that are spiraling, they are worried about revenue or achieving their next goal their bodies almost resort to fight or flight – and boy are they fighting. Abundance doesn’t come from fight or flight, the universe can’t show up for you when you are focusing so much on what you lack. So rest. Choose fun, choose to be light-hearted. It takes a leap of faith but choose it for yourself, your people, and your business.

What’s the common thread between successful CEOs? They have the ability to daydream. 

I’m not talking about dreaming of what’s for dinner that night or about what happened on “The Bachelor” yesterday, but dreaming about what the future looks like for their business, their family, their employees, their community…

Visualization & manifestation has been an absolute game-changer in my own business. The goal is to see your vision of the future so clearly in your mind that you’re convinced of where you’re going – it doesn’t matter if others don’t see it as long as you do (it doesn’t even matter if that little voice inside your head is telling you it’s not possible).

My own vision is of what happens when my business hits that half-a-million mark; it’s not me rolling in a pile of money. I visualize all the women our business has impacted at that point and the trickle effect that it has within their own families and communities. You have to find a vision that brings you PURPOSE and chase after it. 

If you’re new to visualization & manifestation, here are some quick tips to get started:

-Start a timer, even just 5 or 10 minutes, to start dreaming about your future that makes you incredibly proud.

-Make a detailed list of what you see in your vision – what clothes are you wearing? Where are you?

-Based on that dream, what can you do right now to get a little closer to it being real? 

-Start making plans of what you need for that dream to be possible; financial needs, free time, lifestyle…

-Visualize who you want in your life – business connections, friends…who is standing next to you?

Tune in for more tips on how to manifest your way to being the CEO you’ve always wanted to be.