Balance is Bogus | Nicole Walters

Okay, can I fangirl for a moment? If you guys were in attendance at the 2019 Boutique Summit, you know that one of our best speakers that year was Nicole Walters. She was hysterical, she was honest, she was raw and she was memorable. And her big personality and business coaching skills online have definitely gotten her noticed with her all new TV show on USA network called she's the boss. You guys, Nicole is real deal. No fluff, no bs, just honest. This is what you do to continue to grow your business and not just retail business, but business and leadership in general. I love her way of thinking and her way of communicating. So you guys, I'm so pumped that she is our guest this week on the podcast. Please welcome my friend, Nicole Walters, entrepreneur, TV show host, reality show star. I don't know how else you would love me to introduce her other than I know you're going to love her. Let's chat with Nicole Walters. Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works from mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub and I can't wait to chat.

Hey guys, welcome back to the show this week. I'm so excited.

Nicole Walters, you're here.

I'm excited to be here.

So many of our community after the Boutique summit because you spoke with us in 2019. Loved, loved it, every minute of it. A I think they peed their pants 55 times over list because they were laughing so hard. Oh, we had a blast. I mean talk about like real world, practical, the stuff that your mama should tell you but sometimes tell you advice. That's what you brought and it's so appreciated by the community. Not just boutique owners, but women in business in general. Thank you for that.

Oh, it was a blast. I mean, it was one of the greatest summits I did. I just love the way that you brought so many different solutions. You know, you had vendor solutions, you had real world applicable experience solutions and then you had motivation and just kind of good girlfriend pick you up type stuff. So it was definitely one of those environments where I was like, this is exactly what every business owner needs. So I can't wait until you bring the summit back hopefully because you know it's a must attend.

We're ready for in person events for sure. Yes, so when you open the summit, and I think this is how a lot of people first got to know you. You were on this blogging journey and had a video go viral, in case anyone hasn't heard this part of the story. And this is how you opened your talk at the summit. Talk to me about that first viral video and leaving your corporate job.

Yeah. So it's crazy to look back on it because it was actually six years ago now and this video was me quitting my job live online in front of 10,000 people. And the video went viral to over 100,000 people in 24 hours after that. So it was bananas, but it looked a lot crazier than it was in real life because, you know, I'd built a place to go. And it's so, so fun chatting with like boutique and E commerce owners because you guys are actually far more advanced than I was at that point because you typically have built something for you to go to so you have a better vision and it's more tangible of what the future looks like, versus me opening up a consulting firm with a couple of clients under my belt and hoping I can grow and scale this thing, you know, So I had my corporate experience, so I was ready. But, you know, I think that people here really understand I built a place to go.

Yeah. Now your parents have given you some feedback. Your mom specifically had some feedback for you during this time. What did she say to you? And you quit. Like, did she watch the video before you could even tell her what happened?

Oh, yeah. My mom, first of all was ringing my phone off the hook. If it was. If there was ever a time to avoid your mama's phone calls, this was it. You know, she was like, what are you doing? What are you doing? You are quitting your job. It was like African. So they're just like, you're crazy. What are you doing? But her biggest piece of advice was, you know, it's great that you're quitting your job, you know, and pursuing your purpose or what have you, but you've got to pay the bills. What are you going to do to make money? And I was like, mom, I got a plan, you know? And she's like, well, then you need to work that plan, honey. And. And she was completely right.

Yeah. So many people kind of fall into that. I'll just say, like, there's a safety trap.

Right?

There's the way that people say, well, you should go, go get a four year degree and you should do all these things that are safe. And I feel like now we're coming to this place where entrepreneurship is more common. Right. Media, which is wonderful. But a lot of us fought that battle of, you should just get a safe job.

Oh, yeah, the should do's will get you right. And I mean, I gotta tell you, there's nothing like sort of, I don't know what it is about getting past 30 where you're kind of like, okay, no one's gonna tell me what I should do anymore, like, because this isn't working. I may not know what I'm supposed to do, but I know that I don't want to be told what I'm supposed to do anymore.

Yeah, you're right.

Entrepreneurship is getting a whole new light to it with social media and all of us being able to have these conversations. But I think everyone's always kind of had a side hustle. You know, the lemonade stand has been going on for years. You know, the mother selling Tupperware out of her home, you know, people setting up yard sales every weekend. I mean, this truly is part of the American framework. It's not something that brand new. We're just hearing about it for the first time.

That's so true. So good. How do you know when you're ready? So when you think about, like, you took this huge leap and I'm sure there's people listening that are like, I want to start a boutique, or maybe I've started, but I still have a full time job. When do you pull the plug? When you go in. All in.

So I always tell people, and Ashley, you're just like this too. This is like your business brain, you know, is. It's math. Right. You know, a lot of times we're basing it off of some magical feeling, you know, where we'll say, okay, I'll get to this point where it'll be assured and certain and I'll have total confidence. Yeah, right. That is not a thing. I have been at this thing for six years and I still don't have total confidence it's going to work out. I'm over here, like, what if I don't, what if this doesn't happen? You know, it's just a normal thing. And, you know, I think since, you know, throw in a little sprinkle of a pandemic, you know, you get a little pandemic and you're like, anything could happen, you know? So I think that the only thing you can expect is the unexpected, but you can do the math to kind of get an idea of what it looks like. So financially I just said, you know what, I'm actually doing a lot better than I thought. And that fear of looking at your numbers is really what ultimately ends up being the downfall of most business owners. Whether it's physical products or service space.

And only attract number grows. Yes, you had mentioned this actually during your talk at Summit. You were talking about the problem of free. Yes. Like we go down this like we're only going to feel good about ourselves and others if we give it away for free. And now you have just a really expensive hobby. Tell me about that. How do we quit that misconception conception of free?

Well, I think that one of the things I had to say to myself was look, I, if I'm saying yes to someone, I'm saying no to something else. And once I started putting it in that context, it became very easy because I'm a family first type of girl. So here I am running a multi million dollar business, I have a TV show, I'm doing all these things. But the truth is anytime I say yes to something else, I'm saying no to, you know, doing a pickup at the carpool. I'm saying no to, you know, showing up at a performance or a recital like or I'm saying no to my own restorative self care, care, personal time. So the same thing applies with doing free. If you refuse to get paid, then how are you going to turn around and look at your family and say, oh yeah, no, I'm sorry I didn't make it home for dinner, but it was because I was doing free for someone else. Like yikes, let's not be that person. You know what I mean?

Yes. That's so it's like worthy. Right? Like you have to understand that your worth is not based on some arbitrary dollar amount that you're going to talk to over this fear of, is it fear of rejection. Do you think why people do discounts and free so often?

Oh, totally. I think that for some reason we feel like if we do free we can be held less accountable if it goes wrong and we think it offsets, you know, some of that responsibility. If there's an issue because we're just so deathly afraid that we're going to have someone reject us or say something back. But I got to be completely honest. If you're comfortable giving the advice for free, that means you must think it's good enough. Or if you're comfortable giving the product for free, you must think it's good enough because frankly, you don't want to give a bad product away for free either. So either stop doing it entirely or start charging for it.

Yeah. Is there when you think people like making this move into going all in in their business. Right. Are there common misconceptions like we were talking about? Entrepreneurship is more normalized on social media, but the same is true of like flashing your Lambo on Insta, oh my gosh. Thinking that you're really rolling in it, but really you're broke and it's not going well. Like there's a yin and yang people have to work out. What are the misconceptions?

I think the biggest misconception is that entrepreneurship means you don't have a 40 hour work week. And that's, that's crazy. I mean all it is is that you get to enjoy the hours that you're putting in more. That's the trade off. So it's not that you're going to work less hours, it's that hopefully the hours that you're working one, you'll maximize them because they're just far more enjoyable and the work feels fruitful and worthy. But odds are you're going to be putting in the same amount of time, possibly more. So I think that is easily the biggest misconception, especially because we've turned into a society that's focus on automation. You know, let's automate it. Let's get this funnel built. Let's set up this thing so that you don't actually ever have to talk to a person. And I just, you know, you can automate systems that you can't automate relationships. And I found that building a business old school, particularly if you're in E commerce and physical product industries, cannot be escaped. And it's actually the thing that's going to keep you around for the longest.

Yeah. It kind of feels like you have to remind yourself to do the hard thing first. Yes.

Yes. Eat that frog.

Get the hard things done.

Yes.

What are, would you say that there's like three mindsets or three things or three skill sets that people should know to really make sure they're launching their business the right way. Like you talked about measuring what matters, right. Reports and numbers. What else do you think is like crucial you have to have this in order for your business to grow?

Well, obviously first thing is the numbers. Always, I mean get, get used to it. Start to love them, get comfort, comfortable. Even if they're bad, lean up in them because your numbers are your guide and they really do help you. So you're not overthinking. So you're not staying in your head and so that you make decisions like a true CEO. So pay attention to the numbers. The second thing is setting boundaries, and not just with your family and your consumer, but also with yourself. It's really important to sit down at the top of every month or the top of every year and really delineate kind of where am I going to be and what is required and, you know, who is responsible for what. And I found that, you know, setting these boundaries and then upholding these boundaries is really, really, really important to make sure that I can actually do what I need to do and be where I'm supposed to be. And then the last thing I think is build a business that is worthy of selling. Because if you build a business that, you know could be sold, it also means that you can delegate easier. It means that you're not immersing yourself in it so much that you can. You can't get yourself out of it. And this is probably the hardest thing for most business owners as we're growing and scaling. When you build something that has a touch of a personal brand to it, or you're just, you know, honestly, you're kind of a control freak, you know, and you just want to know everything's done right. It can be really hard to start letting go. But that's what's necessary if you're going to be honest about being with your family and also living, you know, the life that you've earned based on the work that you've done.

That's so powerful. I think of it like, there's the entrepreneur mindset, and then their CEO mindset is build something worth selling. I'm gonna. I'm gonna make that a quote card for you because we get. So it's like our identity is so wrapped up into what we're creating and, like, can't give it away to anybody else.

Yes.

Just so tied and chained to our business. We can never.

Yes.

How do you unwind the chain so you can start to see scale your business?

Well, from some of the tactical pieces, you know, it's making sure you're doing your legal stuff correctly. So, you know, I have my business divided up, you know, into specific LLCs, you know, that are. Are totally delineated. And my personal brand is separate from my business brand. So all of my products, all of my teaching tools, all those things are under the inherent learning company brand. And then all of my, like, books, appearances, speaking gigs, podcast, TV show under the Nicole Walters brand. And the reason why I did that right out of the Gate instead of trying to mix up the is because Inherent Learning should be a company that could go to the stock market and IPO and get sold and have a different CEO and, you know, then they can pay and. Or hire Nicole Walters as talent for the brand. You know, and there are some tactical things that you can do with a lawyer. Again, just like numbers, we don't have to make it up. You know, there are actual bullet points that you can do to help keep things clean so that, that way, when the time comes, you know, you're able to escape and know that everything will be just fine.

You happen to have some legal help in the family?

Yes, I do. I'm really blessed. My husband is the general counsel for the business, but we actually have several lawyers. So I have like an entertainment lawyer. I have another corporate lawyer that I work with. So, I mean, you know, it's great because my contracts get looked at like four or five times.

So.

So everything's always covered.

Perfect. What other steps do you think people can take just to again, put that CEO cap on and find additional ways to scale?

Yeah, so I think that, you know, one of the hesitancies that people struggle with is hiring because. And there's nothing more CEO than starting to delegate. Right. And it's because I know that this is very common with clients that I work with. When they think of paying someone's salary, they're thinking, I don't have $40,000 today in full right now. And so because I don't have that, I could never hire someone. And part of this is great. It's an integrity thing. Right? You're look, I want to be a person who, if I bring someone on board, I'm able to pay them and sustain and be consistent. But you're forgetting, like a CEO, that you are not paying them their whole salary at once. You're paying them every two weeks. So what the. And that all along the way, they're supposed to be earning their salary. So you should be seeing 3x ROI, right? Three times the return on investment on any employee you bring on board. So if that employee isn't turning you.

Those funds within six months or so, then you can say, look, it's not a good fit. And you only ever paid them half of their total salary. So instead of freaking out and saying to yourself, oh my gosh, I can't do this, remember, people aren't coming on board as W2 full tax, payroll and benefits employees. They're starting off as 1099 contractor vendors at $10 an hour. You know, and what would you do with an extra 20 hours a month because you paid someone $50 a week? I mean, tremendous things. So I mean, those are some of the little things that really help you. Scale shifting from thinking of it, you know, employee style and thinking of it more CEO style.

I love that. It's an investment.

That's right.

It's pretty amazing to run those numbers backwards. Just like you're talking about having the three times ROI. You're right. If you $10 to say for easy math for three hours a week or five hours a week, you've invested in somebody, you had five more hours. Oh yeah. Generating activities. Oh yeah. To make more money.

Oh yeah. It's just a no brainer. Well, and it's funny because we say to ourselves, oh, but why would I have someone coming and sorting my inbox? You know, because that doesn't feel like it's income generating right out of the gate. But I'm like, no. If you are not responding to your emails and you're losing money making opportunities, whether it's through exposure or whether it's through follow up with clients or cold leads, clients that could have been upsold but you just never had time to get to it because it falls on the back burner, well, guess what? They made their money back. You know, and it's simple. If someone you're paying $50 can make you $150 or you could make $150 from paying someone 50 bucks, it is worth it. The math makes sense.

Yeah. Is Eddie the biggest investment on your team?