Answering the Question: What If I Started My Business Over?

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Table of Contents

Podcast Description

I got the chance to briefly chat with Ellen from Cubicle to CEO at the Make Your Mark Live Conference, but I want to expand and elaborate a bit further on the questions she asked.

In this episode, I’m sharing the clip of our conversation where she asked, what’s something I would go back and change if I could and what’s one thing I would keep the same?

So tune into this episode to hear what I said with a bit more perspective on why I said it.

Links Referenced in this Episode:

▶ Ep. 41: 9 Insights from Attending an In-Person Conference

▶ Ep. 42: Inspiring Takeaways from Make Your Mark Live

▶ Ep. 11: Using Strategic Systems to Reduce Your Overwhelm

▶ Cubicle to CEO Podcast

▶ Design Your Brand Challenge

▶ Submit a question or topic for the podcast

Connect with me:

Website | Instagram

Episode Transcript

(Note: This is a formatted AI-generated transcript to make it easier for you to read through, but is not an optimized blog post. Please excuse any spelling or grammar errors and filler words – it’s just how I speak LOL)

Episode Intro

I got the chance to briefly chat with Ellen from Cubicle to CEO at the Make Your Mark Live Conference. But I want to expand a little bit on the questions that she asked. So in this episode, I’m sharing the clip of our conversation where she asked, “what’s something I could go back and change if I could, and what’s something I would keep the same? So tune into this episode to hear what I said with a little bit more perspective on why I said it. Are you ready? Let’s dive in!

Hey, I’m Lucy Reyes, your host of the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast, where I’m on a mission to help online entrepreneurs like you focus on all the right things and kiss overwhelm goodbye. Here, you’re going to learn strategies that will boost your productivity so that you can scale your online biz and impact lives sooner. It’s your time to shine so let’s get started!

Hey, Hey, welcome back to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast.

Make Your Mark Live Mini Series

So I am wrapping up what turned into a mini series about this Make Your Mark Live event. Yes, I had so much to share that it had to be broken down into three episodes.

And actually this one was an impromptu one that I came up with this morning at the time of recording this, I was like, I should probably add this to the podcast. So the first episode, if you didn’t listen to it, it was where I shared some tips and some insights that I came across as I attended my very first in-person conference.

So those tips are very much, if you were going to plan to attend any conference in person, so not virtual, but in person, then you definitely want to check out that episode because there are so many tips in there to help you prepare and the stay organized throughout that, because it is a whole different ball game than attending a virtual summit.

And then the last episode, I covered some specific takeaways from the talks and presentations that were shared because they were just too inspiring and too motivating to keep it to myself. And so I put them into a nice little episode in the previous one, so episode 42.

Short Interview with Ellen Yin from Cubicle to CEO

But today, I want to share something else that I wasn’t even planning on adding to the podcast, but I received a clip from a conversation that I had with Ellen from the Cubicle to CEO Podcast, that was a cool perk of attending this event.

I got to book a little five to 10 minute conversation or slot with her where she asked me two questions. And I want to share it with you because I really like the questions that she asked and based on some responses that have been getting on some, uh, surveys that have been sending out to my audience. I think it would be really helpful for you to know what it is that happened in this conversation.

So I am going to drop the clip here in this episode. I am going to stop recording you’re going to listen to that conversation and then at the end of it I’m going to come back and I’m going to share even more insights.

I’m just going to expand a little bit further on what it was that I said. So without further ado here was my mini conversation with Ellen.

The Interview

Ellen: Lucy, in one sentence, who are you and who do you help?

Lucy Reyes: Hello everyone. I am Lucy Reyes. I’m a Productivity Strategist and I help business owners find more time in their days, get more done in less time with less stress, with less overwhelm. And I focus mostly on Trello systems because it is simple and I want to make business as simple as possible for you.

Ellen: I love that philosophy that resonates so deeply with my heart as a marketing minimalist. I’m like, give me the least amount of things to do that make the biggest difference.

I would love to know, Lucy, as you reflect back on your own business journey, what is one moment or decision that if you could go back in time and change or improve, you would redo.

So that’d be like your remix moment. And then is there also something that you loved how it went exactly as it was, that would be your repeat moment?

Lucy Reyes: Yes. I love that question. So there’s two things. So being a productivity and systems person, I think I waited too long to build systems into my business.

So I was working late hours. I was in Corporate America. it was my side hustle. And so I had very little time to do anything. And so when I implemented systems, I was able to be more efficient with the little time that I had.

So it was able to help me get more of the things done, more tasks done and be more quicker and be able to reach more people. So I think getting systems implemented in your business is so important. It sounds so scary, which is why I personally waited so long before doing it.

But I think if I could go back, I would definitely do it a lot sooner. And because once it’s set up once, it’s there.

Ellen: Yeah, it just, it more than pays off, right, for the time you spent creating it. It’ll save you so much time.

Lucy Reyes: Exactly. And that is something that I always have to share is like, yes, it’s a time investment to get them implemented. But once they’re there, you will save so much time, now months and years to come.

Ellen: Totally. The long lasting effect is really appealing. What about your repeat moment? Something that you’re really proud of that you would do exactly as it was?

Lucy Reyes: So I love my branding!

Ellen: Your branding, that’s amazing! So few people get that right, like right out the gate.

Lucy Reyes: Yeah. So partial branding. So the colors, I think it’s really important to be yourself in business. And, you know, there’s so many different ways that you could brand your business. And I think for me personally, I just wanted to be myself and find colors that I loved because like, I’m wearing my brand colors right now.

Ellen: So beautiful!

Lucy Reyes: You can’t see, but it’s like, that’s just who I am. And it helps you show up more authentically, I believe. So when I say branding, I mean, more of like the vibe, the colors, like what, how you want to show up and not, you know, try to be molded into something else that you think will help you be successful.

But I think just being yourself and being able to show that through your brand is really powerful in just helping yourself be confident online.

Ellen: A hundred percent. Yes. Just like, you know, we just finished a panel about compelling offers and, and that was a huge, like, theme throughout just the visual identity and how people resonate with that, how memorable you are.

So kudos to you for crushing it in that department, Lucy. Thank you so much for joining us.

What would I change in my business if I could go back?

Lucy Reyes: All right. So I am back. I hope that you liked that little clip. I told you it was pretty short, which is why I was like, you know what, I’m going to come back and I’m going to expand on it a little bit further.

So I really like that first question is, you know, What would I change if I could go back and like, what would I go back and change and improve? And I think it’s no surprise, especially if you follow me, if you’re listening to this podcast, which if you’re not, by the way, I’m going to throw in a little shameless plug here to please follow the podcast.

It will really help me and help it reach more audiences so if you haven’t followed the podcast, I would love it if you can just scroll up on whichever podcast app you’re listening to and just hit that follow or subscribe button.

Now, I would obviously change getting my systems implemented a lot earlier. And that’s something that you don’t get taught in business school.

It’s something that you don’t learn in school or business school, or you don’t get taught these things and you don’t get I taught that you’re supposed to keep yourself organized in order to be efficient and all of these things. Like that isn’t something that is taught to us.

So even though I’ve always naturally been more productive- driven. I didn’t know this either. I was not as organized as I could have been from the gate.

And so I really do recommend that you get some systems implemented. It doesn’t have to be what your systems are going to look like 1, 2, 5, 10 years from now, but you really do want to get some sort of system implemented as early as possible, because it just helps you grow that much faster.

Now I have a whole episode and I have actually several episodes where I’m covering why I strongly believe this about systems and getting them implemented early on so that you can go back and listen to episode 11, where I share how using strategic systems can help you reduce your overwhelm. So definitely go back to listen to that if you haven’t. If you’re listening to this episode and you haven’t actually started implementing systems yet, then you need to go back and listen to that episode.

What would I keep the same in my business?

Now the second question, what’s the one thing I would keep the same and I said my branding. But I want to reiterate kind of what I mean about my brand and what I’m really referring to.

And I think I mentioned it a little bit in the episode where I’m not talking about my brand elements, like the specific elements and details of my brand, because that has changed and that’s okay.

Rebranding is so, so common, but when I’m talking about the brand, I’m talking about, like you, yourself, the message that you want to share, the vibe that you want to give off. Like that is kind of what I’m referring to here when I’m talking about the branding.

But also if you don’t know what that is yet, it’s okay. But I really just want you to not focus on trying to copy someone else, or maybe you’re not copying, but you’re gaining inspiration and you’re seeing these bigger names and what they’re doing and the vibe that they’re giving.

Like one common thing that I see a lot is maybe you’re a little bit more introverted, but someone else in your industry that’s bigger, they are extroverted and you see them making all these funny reels and going live all the time and talking. And you’re just like, I don’t know if I can do that because I don’t even like talking to people.

And it’s okay. Like you don’t need to be like someone else. You can be yourself, create your own brand because that will attract the right people to you.

So I want you to focus on yourself, actually have episode number eight, where I’m talking about focusing on yourself and not comparing yourself to others. And this is what you can do from now.

So starting from the beginning, just decide what type of brand do you want to be? I’m not talking about the colors.

If you actually want to help with like the nitty gritty details of your brand, then I have a Design Your Brand Challenge, little mini course that can help you with that. But I’m not talking about that here.

I’m referring to your overall brand, your overall message and your overall vibe that you want to give, while staying true to yourself. You don’t have to be like anyone else.

You will actually attract the right people to you by staying true to yourself and being yourself. Okay. And the details of your brand can be changed later on.

My Mini Rebrand Announcement

And actually spoil your alert. I am actually doing a mini rebrand myself and I have been for a long time.

So many of you may not have even noticed how I had started changing some of my fonts on my website and my course and my courses and all of this stuff. Like you might not have even noticed, which is why I’m saying, like, don’t get too caught up in those details.

It can change later on. But I am going through a mini rebrand right now. I have an amazing graphic designer that is working on my logo.

And as soon as that logo is done, I’m getting it up on my website and I’m changing my domain name. I’m changing my. Instagram handle. I’m going to be changing all of those things and I will keep you posted, especially if you are on my email list, you will see the changes come in through as well.

If you’re not on my email then get on it. And be sure that you’re following the podcast, so that way you know when all of these changes happen, you can stay tuned for new episodes, but just know that that is coming.

So if you’re listening to this, that’s a little spoiler alert because actually haven’t announced this publicly until now.

But that’s just an example of how rebranding can happen, but all in all, it’s still my same brand. Like it’s still me. It’s still, it’s not like I’m not changing colors or anything like that is still very much part of me.

And it’s, you know, I’m, you know, I’m not going to go into the details because then I’m going to ruin the surprise. But those nitty gritty details of your brand can change later on. That’s totally okay. But I want you to focus more on like you, yourself and staying true to yourself and figuring out what that looks like in a brand.

And then that is what is going to help you really shine and find the people that are wanting to learn from you.

Episode Wrap-Up

So that is what I’m going to leave you with today and stay tuned for all of the rebranding. You can follow me over on Instagram at cheerstoblogging. That’s what it is right now.

And then once the rebrand happens, that will redirect you to my new Instagram handle. So come check me out, and follow the podcast if you haven’t yet. I would greatly appreciate it. It helps us reach so many new listeners and it get added to the charts. So I will see you or talk to you in the next episode.

Thank you so much for listening to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast with me, Lucy Reyes. All the links mentioned can be found in the show notes, but before you go, make sure you subscribe or follow wherever you’re listening so you know once the next productive chat is released. Talk soon and cheers to your productivity and success!