How to Cultivate Authenticity and Heart-Centered Coaching with Penny Hounsome and Lisa Balsdon

You're listening to the PTA Profit podcast, episode number 281. Today I'm sitting down with Coach Penny and Lisa and we are discussing how to cultivate authenticity and heart centered coaching.

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Let's get started.

Hi, I'm Beverly Simpson, former fitness manager turned online personal training business owner. And this podcast is where smart fitness professionals, including trainers and clinicians, discover how to increase client performance and move, package and position their products and services and get out of their own way so that they can increase their revenue to live a life that they love without sleazy sales. Welcome to the PT Profit Podcast.

What's up coach? Thank you so much for joining me on another episode of the PT Profit Podcast. I'm super excited for today's episode. It has honestly been a pleasure and a privilege to watch the dedication that I have seen these two coaches come to their own personal development and coaching practice and watching how they show up for themselves because it is truly a testament to how they show up for their clients and when they can actually practice what it is they preach. They talk about it inside of today's episode where they really walk through how showing up for yourself in the same way has a ripple effect and how practicing what it is you preach and coming from a place of I'm in the trenches with you, how it can have a profound effect in helping your clients adhere to doing hard things. And I can't wait for you to hear this episode. Penny is a holistic health and lifestyle coach and her specialty is in trauma release, which he talks about in this episode. Lisa is a holistic nutritionist and lifestyle coach with a specialty in Chinese medicine. They're both living in Costa Rica now. Patty has a single mom of an adult and a total Yellowstone fan. And Lisa, who is also living in Costa Rica with four awesome dogs and in her downtime makes incredible jewelry. I'm excited for you to listen to this episode because I think it is a powerful example of what can happen when you actually do what it is that you say you will do and how you can actually cultivate that and bring that into your own coaching practice. So without further ado, let's go ahead and roll that interview. What's up, Penny And Lisa, thank you so much for joining me on the show today. How are you?

Good.

How are you?

Fabulous. How are you doing?

So good. I'm doing so good. I cannot wait to dive in. Like before we hit, before we hit record, I was like, oh quick, we better hit record. So.

This is the thing I forget to do all the time. All the time. Okay.

So for those of you who are new to the pleasure of your work, I'd love for you to please share with us a little bit about who you are, who you serve and how you got there.

All right, go, go first. All right. Okay, great.

Well, first of all, I've been in the industry for 25 years, and when I say the industry, I mean specifically the health and nutrition and fitness industry. I started out as a personal trainer many, many years ago and evolved my business into many different areas of health, wellness, and fitness. So from a nutrition standpoint, from a Chinese medicine acupuncture standpoint, a mindset coach. So we really just, you know, brought it all together, and Penny and I became partners and we started to put together programs that now serve, like, different pillars in our program to help clients move from point A to point B and get really unstuck with their. With their life in general through nutrition and through health and movement and their mindset. That's going to me in a nutshell. That's like, you know, there's a lot to go on in the last 25 years, but I'll let Penny talk now, too. So.

Yeah, you have so much in that n nutshell. It's like amazing the amount of quality what you've got educational wise and experience in that nutshell. So same as Lisa. I've been in the industry for 27 years, and after this year, I'm going to just stop counting. And I also started as a trainer because I was really competitive my whole life, and I was in figure skating and ballet and jazz and in the gym and marathoning, and people were like, you're in the gym all the time. Why don't you just work here? And I was like, how do you do that? So I became a trainer, which led to all the rest of the I. All the rest of it. I actually worked my way up to being a general manager at two club locations in Burlington, Ontario, so. Which I'm no longer living in Ontario. And then I realized that is, you know, that was my dream. And I was like, hey, this is what I want to do in 10 years. Run the company. I did and hated it. Hated it, hated it. So what I really missed was working one to one with clients and really getting to the root of their issues and finding out what makes them tick. And. Yeah. So that. So I decided to actually resign from that job and work my way back down the chain into working with people and then started my own company. And from there, because Lisa And I have known each other for quite some time, couple decades actually. And then we were like, hey, why don't we, you know, during the pandemic, both of us were running these beta tested programs and then we were talking. It's like, why don't we put our programs together and bring the best, like the two best worlds together and then put together a program that benefits so many more people. So that's where we are. And then she was like, put throughout the challenge of what's keeping you in Ontario? Why don't you move to Costa Rica with me? And I was like, okay. And sold all my. And here we are living in Costa Rica, running programs, retreats and, you know, coaching.

So, you know, one of the things I'm curious about, you know, as, as a coach of 20, you know, double, like over two decades, what are some of the things that you do to continue to, to sharpen the saw and when. I mean that.

Stay engaged. Love this. Yeah, love this.

Being a coach.

Well, I'll, I'll kind of head that one up and then Penny can dive on in after. But yeah, I mean, like when I started working on my own personal development, I'll start with that probably over like seven years ago, you know, I really realized that things needed to change and so I started to dive into that. So most of you, most of you who are listening, you know, are probably in that same, same boat. I mean, I don't know any coach who stays stagnant and, and stays in that, that position through a mindset, you know. So I think, and I hope that most of you understand that. And then, you know, as we, as I began to work on my own personal development, you know, getting over things that, you know, maybe, you know, held me back or I felt fearful of or I just didn't know things. And whatever the case was, it comes in many shapes and sizes and many moving parts. And over as I started to do that, then I started to realize that my business also needed to evolve. And then I started looking into doing business coaching as well. So that's when. And I've been through a couple different business coaches. And then my third, my third business coach is Bev and Bev. And you know, along the way, you know, I've been, I've learned different things about my business. I've learned how to evolve my business. I've learned how to look at things very differently in comparison to, you know, when I grew up in the industry 20, 25 years ago, we did things very differently. And you know, and then it's changing that mindset around that. And you know, both Penny and I know I can speak for Penny as well on this, that we really needed to push forward and make other changes in that aspect. And then Bev fell into our lap on social media and then we hooked up with Bev and we've been working with Bev ever since. And that's been a serious eye opening experience when it comes to really diving into the business and understanding it on a completely different level than what we were doing growing up in the industry. We flew by the seat of our pants in our industry because that's how we learned in our industry. And, and I know with Bev's background, understanding that whole gym industry, you know, that's where we grew up and that's how we learned how to do things back then. And so now, now it's definitely moving forward and, and really like really, you know, getting twisted into a knot, as I always like to say. And then Bev helps us unwind that.

Knot and put.

Oh my gosh, we're laughing because, because learning from me is like drinking from a fire hose.

And yeah, there's some tears involved, won't lie. I can't lie. There was some, there was some crying. Oh, good crying.

We send each other these, these videos of cats touching tinfoil.

Jumping all over the place.

Oh my gosh.

Okay.

Penny, did you have anything you wanted to add?

Yeah, so I mean it's. Mine is similar to Lisa's. I also like, you know, when you, we started, if you were smart, both Lisa and I worked for what was a very big company in Toronto, in the surrounding area back in the day, I think it got bought out by Good Life, which is another one back in the day was extreme fitness. So if you were smart enough, you really paid attention to what was going on. And because they were also growing and learning as company owners and again you got trainers who are just going to be trainers for the part time and then you got like lifers like us. So if you really paid attention to what was going, you could see what didn't work and what did work and then you kind of take that into your own and then when you become self employed but to make changes as a coach for me it was the same. Like Lisa, it's like, you know, you experience things in life and you realize that the health looking isn't there. So now you have to go figure it out for yourself and then you've got to learn how to do it. For my past there's, you know, Catastrophic things that happen in my life. And therapy was like one, one, one part of that. But then it was like, it's not working. I don't want to be on medication for the rest of my life. So how do I fix this? Okay, well then my education enhances itself and then like the personal development even has to happen. Like Lisa and I still, like, I mean, we were just tackling some stuff last week and it's like we're still, we're ongoing with our PD all the time looking at, okay, why are we doing what we're doing? Okay, why, what are we, why are we stagnant? Why are we this. So, you know, like, Lisa, I've been through a couple of business coaches that veer my, my third as well. And I thank you every day that we got it. Like we connected with you and that you are. Because you've actually helped us grow so much in the last few months that I mean, that's. I know when I say there is tears, I'm not joking. In that first six weeks I cried. There's like, I'm so overwhelmed. But I will preempt. It wasn't just that I was also packing and selling all of my things to Costa Rica at the same time. So like, you can do it. It's a lot, but it brings us up a level of growing up. Right? Like, so we grew. Like, you have to become an adult when we're running our business, when you're following this, like, you know all the stuff that Bev puts out. Whereas before, like Lisa said, we're running by the seat of our ass. And we were like, because you're self employed and it's no big deal and you got tons of money and you're good and like, you got all your clients. I have some of my clients I've had for 20 years. Right. Like a lot of my clients, the only reason I lost them is because of Pandemic. But now it's like this whole new world of like business is different and it's online and it's different and it's not so much referral, word of mouth or like, oh, here, half my family wants to train with you. Here's five new clients today. Like, that's not happening anymore. So having to, I would say with your program and where we are now, legit grow up and really get into the nitty gritty of learning like this, like this stuff, this stuff's insane. But it's work works while. And it's worthwhile to do it right. So, yeah, It's a constant learning, constant learning, constant changing and allowing yourself to be what I like to call overwhelmed and work through the overwhelm. And it's okay just to sit there and go, I'm going to need a minute to breathe. Oh, my God. And that's okay. That's okay. And just keep going and do it anyway.

Do it anyway.

Yeah, I think, I think for me, Right. And working with lots of coaches is that people who are. Have the skill of coaching forget that they're actually running a business.

Yeah, yeah.

100% like those you're required to do, to use. You know, you're required to use skills that they don't teach you in school.

No, they should. Yeah.

Your options, your options are either I either figure this out on my own or I delegate this. And then what ends up happening to people who delegate it and try and, you know, hire fancy freelancers is that they. They can't. They don't. It's like throwing money at a problem, hoping that that's going to fix it without really being able to look at like, okay, well, what is the return on my investment in terms of my energy, hours, effort and time, or even.

Really, truly how the actual mechanics of it works, like, you know, you've got the problem, but then to, you know, to learn how to figure that out, then you can teach somebody later on to come in and, you know, and help you with some of those other moving parts. Right. If you have to understand it yourself. And that's where I feel like there was always that gap. And then, you know, coming on with you, and then we're learning how to, how to understand those points, how to figure it out. And then, you know, eventually, at some point we can delegate that and explain that to, you know, we also have.

We're a team, which makes it a vast difference. And. And Lisa's husband Jeff helps us with some admin stuff as well. So we have really three people happening. That being said, it's not to say that I don't like, Lisa does better with, like, you know, the Excel spreadsheets and the data, and that's her thing and she loves it and it makes me want to choke myself. And then I like the creativity. I could be on Canva all day making videos and coming up with hooks and, you know, now that I've learned how to do it properly and I could be there all day. But we have to still learn each other's department. Right. Like, we all, like, I still have to, like, get better at DMing and reaching out. And Lisa's getting better at like, you know, like what stories. And so we have to still know each other's stuff. It's not like the job of what some of your coaches are doing all by themselves. So I am very grateful that we have us as a team. That being said, we still have to know, I still have to know how to run that Excel spreadsheet because, because I do. Because that's being an adult as a coach. That's being a grown up with your, with your business. And like you said, it's really a business first. And inside the business we do coaching.

Yeah.

So it's one of the things that I heard you say that I'm curious, you know, because I, I see this happen a lot to a lot of coaches is that you were mentioning your work in terms of your own personal development and that you're continuing to, to, you're continuing to do un. Like peel the layers of yourself, essentially get more present to yourself. Right. And grow. Now what I think that's amazing. But what I, what I often see happen to a lot of high achievers and high performer performers is that, that you know, the, the pursuit of growth is often at the expense of, of recognizing where they are right now and knowing that like, hey, I'm incredible now and I can help people and continue to grow. And so I'm curious for you, in your moments of, of those times where you feel like, have you ever had those moments where you feel like, oh my gosh, who am I to be coaching? Like, when I got my own shit, I got to figure out, like, who am I to be doing this and, and how am I going to help?

Yeah, yeah.

We. Okay. Imposter syndrome was alive and well inside me years ago. Like, you know, even like three years ago, it was alive and well. But as I've leveled up and we call them levels because I don't know what else to call it, and like I, I just believe that you have to be first and foremost honest with yourself of where you are, be real with yourself about how much work you're really putting in and then look at that work and is it really the best that you can do? Yes or no? So like there's times where I have to walk over to lease and go, okay, I dogged it all week. I didn't do what I should have done. I couldn't but that better. And she's like, no, but you did really great. And I'm like, no, let me be honest with myself because I probably could have so could have done better. But what you get to that level of knowing the people that we serve are here and we're here, there's always going to be that gap. I'm not serving somebody who's up over here, because that's not. I'm not there yet. So we can pull people up with us as we grow. And I feel, especially as a coach, we should be pulling people up with us as we go, as we grow. So even. Listen, even if you're working with somebody and you're on the same level of growth, whatever you have or whatever I have to offer is an enlightenment to them. And then vice versa. Like, we've. I've learned things from my clients. You know, like, even still like this, like two weeks ago, I was like, my client made a comment and it just resonated with me and I went, oh, there's a piece that I was missing. But then I. So there's. You always have something great to share with somebody at any level. So as long as you're constantly looking at yourself. And this is the trick, honestly, like, really getting honest about, you know. And you said this, Bev, in our coaching is like, you know, check your 15 minutes. What have you done in the 15 minutes? Did you scroll? Did you, like, look out the window? Or did you actually actively do something for 15 minutes? Then you know, you're in that realm of growth because you're actively using your 15 minutes multiple times throughout the day in order to get work done. Do your personal development, do whatever it is. Whereas you're going to have people that you're coaching may still be down there, but that's okay. I still believe that we should all be pulling everybody up to our level because there's going to be somebody above you pulling that you like, you are. You were above our level, so you're pulling us up to your level.

Right.

I love that idea. Living in the end. Right? That's what it is. It's about. It's. It's the. There's always a paradox. It's. It's both at the same time. You get to coach and teach and be led at the same time. Yeah, I know.

You have to be. I know. People have to be open to it. Sorry, go ahead.

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, yeah, that's open to coaching for sure. I was like, I gotta say, I was gonna make a comment about. Yeah, imposter syndrome. Like, I know. I know a lot of coaches who. Who go through it. I've been through it, you know, personally, myself, and I find. And it's funny, I've kind of checked in on, on that imposter syndrome feeling and, and I've noticed it's, it's a lot less and less and I believe that it also, it also comes very much so with like, the personal growth, but also the confidence and the self esteem and, and things like that that are wrapped up into that as, as well. And just knowing that we have that knowledge to be able to, to help people who are, who are on, you know, on the level of, you know, learning and stepping in and things like that. And I think that's, that's another thing that we have to take into consideration. And, you know, I know a lot of coaches that I've come across with, you know, in the various, the various business coaching experiences that I've had where, you know, I mean, even some of the, some of the members in, in our accelerator group, you know, feeling of imposter syndrome and stuff, but, you know, at the end of the day, they, they help people, you know, build themselves up from, you know, where they're at. And that in itself is a massive reward. And, you know, and you're really helping that person develop themselves and grow and be able to explore what that looks like. So. Yeah, that's kind of what I wanted to say about that.

Yeah, I think that's powerful too. And I also think that when you share, like, like you're, you know, when you share it, it's, you know, speaking to the elephant in the room as opposed to pretending it's not there.

Right.

You just start to push it down and it's like relentless positivity. Just like putting Febreze in a stinky trash can. We all know.

That'S so true.

And it's like, oh, look, there's the trash experience. You know, so, yeah, you know, being able to notice it and name it. And I also just think too, that it's powerful when, when, you know, as coaches, as you continue to grow and develop your skill in, in leading someone else. Is that you. I've had those moments of like, man, I thought I figured this out. You're like, oh, oops, right? It's just another layer, right? Wherever you go, there you are in. Our clients get to be, be mirrors for us to continue to look at it. And it's, it's just important, you know, at least for me. I'm always reminding myself that we're all human beings having a human experience until we graduate from being one, right? So, so people are gonna, people are gonna accept that they're gonna be okay. We know that it's not. No one's perfect.

Yeah, I. I have better. I've. Once I started letting my truth out and letting it out that I worked coaching and that, you know, Lisa coaches me and I coach her. And then, you know, we have other people who coach us as well and different things that we follow and pay attention to. And I let my clients know that I'm constantly being coached. I'm constantly leveling up. I'm constantly. There's. They found that out. They actually tried harder. Right. So even on social media, like, when we talk about, you know, our stories and where we go and, oh, like, we're coaching. Oh, we're learning. And I put out posts all the time. I got like, not all the time, but, like, on a Sunday, it's like, okay, it's another educational day. Like, here we go. We're studying again. And people are always DMing me going, oh, my God, I love that you're constantly here. You're constantly learning. And it just makes them feel like, whether, like, you know, if they come on as clients, great, and if they don't, then they've taken something away, and that's great too. But I find, yeah, my clients get. Are they. They're open to coach, being coach themselves more because they know I'm actually being coached myself, and I'm working on my pd, so they actually work harder.

Yeah. And I. I always find it funny, right. Because I. I pay attention to words and I hear what people say, and I also hear it and see what people do.

Right.

And it's interesting to me because people will be like, well, I just want to help people, but I'm not doing anything for free.

Wait.

Okay. And at the same time, they're like, you know, you need to pay for coaching, but I'm not paying for. For coaching.

Right.

It's like, if you are not willing to do the work, you are expecting someone else to do.

Right.

Like, what are you really communicating? What do you.

Really. Well, yeah. And this was one of the big thing. Eye openers for both Lisa and I. We. We've said this to ourselves in the kitchen multiple times. It's like, you know, like, we have better empathy for our clients, what they're going through for our program, because we're going through yours. And we always remind ourselves to go, oh, well, like, okay, so it's equivalent, like, yes, we're higher in the. In the. On the ladder, but it's. It's still the ladder going up. And our clients are Struggling with, like, the basics the same way we struggled with what the is a hook. Oh, my God. Sorry. I just swore on your podcast. You knew. You knew it was gonna happen. So you knew it's gonna happen. So it's like, what is the hook? Ah. How is the promise of value? Ah. Oh, my God. What do I. Ah. What is it? And then are learning fundamentals and this and why do they have to sleep? And like, it's the same thing. It's just different. It's just different material. But they're going through the exact same process that we're going through with you. So we have more empathy because we're like, oh, right, I had a meltdown over here. Okay. Our client had a meltdown. Okay. Right. So we actually. It's like I say, your program in itself has made us better coaches because we can now emphasize again with them to understand what they're. They're. Oh, the overwhelm, the emotion. They're feeling, the exhaustion, like, all the things. Because we're going through it. So, yeah, it's. I, like, I say, I think it makes you a better coach all the way around to understand that.

Yeah. So I. I'm curious for you as coaches, like, and for your clients, you know, what are some of the hardest lessons that your clients have had to. To learn that you have had to help facilitate that transformation for them? So what I mean is, you know, you know that feeling when it's like, you just listen to me and do what I said, but you know that they have to learn the lesson themselves. So how have you, you know, how have your. How is your coaching evolved in that regard and how you actually facilitate that transformation, you know, for your client when you just want to be like, dude, do it. Just do this thing, and it's going to be fun.

So we, we spend a lot less time saying, if you just pay attention to what we say, that'd be great. Like, I. I've legit said that to clients before. If you could just like, just give me one week of following my way. Let me just let me know how that goes after seven days. And they won't do it. They still won't do it. So it's really about. And I use myself as an example all the time. We storytell, I do storytelling all the time. Because I'll say this to them and I'll pull in an example of my life because I've got quite, like, so many of them. So I'll say, well, okay, this is what's going on in the group, we can see what's happening. I'm like, well, for an example, this is what happened to me. This is what I did, this is what I found. This is what I tried. And I would. And then we leave it. We just let them. And then all of a sudden, you know, they like the resonate on it and they think about it and they're like, okay, maybe I will have breakfast. Oh, maybe that will be better than having coffee first. What a thought. Yeah.

So I find, I find what I try to do is I try to loop things around. So aside from like using a case study or storytelling or whatever as an example, if I'll just, I'll just use like their cravings as an example. So if a client's having cravings, because they all do, what I'll do is I'll lay it out for them. As in, okay, so let's work through it. So, you know, we obviously get them to do some sort of, or couple actions, like journaling as an example. So nutritional journaling, so journaling their food, journaling their times, all these types of things. And then when they're saying, oh, well, I'm really, you know, I have really low energy in the afternoon, you know, I'm craving stuff after dinner, then what I get them to do is I get them to physically look at their journal and I get them to walk me through what happened the day before or what happened the day of, and I pinpoint out the misconceptions or mistakes that they're making and then I ask them to add one correction. And then when they add the correction and then they, I get them to come back and give me feedback on it. And when they notice that the craving or the tiredness or the fatigue has gone away based on that one or two corrections based on what they were doing throughout that day, then it validates to them what their mistake was. So then they continue to, to do that path because it feels better because it moves the markers for them. They're taking action in a positive way, which then creates self confidence and self esteem and momentum them. So I always bring things back around in, based in, based on, based on that concept.

And now do you see why she does the Excel spreadsheets and I do the Canva code? It filters all through our coaching. Yeah.

And I think that that's powerful.

Right.

But it's true though. People do learn through, through story in that regard. And then then also like we just start to, we automate things our brain is designed to automate. So it's easy to think, oh, yeah, well, that didn't matter. That didn't count. I didn't do that. But they. They can't stay present to the compounding effect of the small actions and the small decisions that they're making. Right. It's that concept of, like, a tornado. What is it? A tornado can start from the flutter of a butterfly.

Right. Yeah.

Same. That concept of momentum being built, and people have to see that in order to buy in, in order to continue to do, you know, get, you know, to do the hard stuff.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

And I also think that, you know, for coaches, when you're doing this, though, and you're kind of in the mud all the time.

Yes.

Meaning you are in the mud with people all the time. So it is essential that you take care of you. Otherwise, you're. It's like mud sticks.

And we. We were there, though. Lisa and I were there. Like, we. It took us quite some time, and, you know, a lot of prompting from you and a lot of comments, like, from you and coaching from you. That we finally were like, you know, so was coming to the coaching calls on top of, you know, listening to you, and it's like, okay, well done. Okay. And then Lisa and I would do our thing, and then. And then we were realizing, because we kept saying, like, why are we only attracting people who are stuck in the. Like, stuck in the mud. Why are we attracting this? And then. So Lisa and I both went, oh, because we're stuck there. Right. So we're attracting the clientele because we're stuck. So once we started to recognize, oh, that. And then move up the chain and then start to really apply more, and then, you know, like, Lisa and I are like, she's very good at it, and I'm learning goal setting and keeping track of all the things. She's very meticulous with her notes. So I've been learning to be better that way, which is bringing us up to the next level for sure. But, yeah, like, if you're not doing it as, like, being meticulous as a coach and doing all that stuff, how do you expect your clients to do it? Right. So it's all the same. So now that. And it was like, one of the. I think it was after one of our coaching calls, and Lisa and I were in the kitchen, and we just made some comment, like, out of the blue, it's like, how do we become $10,000 coaches? And then all of a sudden, we went, ding, ding, ding. Light bulb went on. Went, oh, wait, we are. That's Our program, we are like, we're there. And that was a big. Just a huge shift. And it was a huge shift in everything that we did. And now, like, we've taken everything. I've just leveled up in that. Like a huge jump, actually, in the last couple of weeks, so. Which shows in everything that we do and then shows in how we show up for our clients. And it shows up. And now we can see our clients showing up better for themselves because we're showing up differently. So you can see, like, it's just. It's amazing.

The ripple effect. It's so true.

Yeah.

Yes.

Yes.

And it's so, like, it's. It's. It's. It's one of those things that it's, like, hard. It's like the X factor, you know, you can't really name exactly what it is, but this is what sizes you and pulls your people to you because they can't put their finger on it. It's just your energy.

Yeah. Yeah.

But what's interesting about that is that. And I love that analogy that you use with the ripple effect, because I stole it. And I've used it a few times with clients. You know, how when they vibrate at a different level, it ripples into their life, it ripples into their colleagues, it ripples into their family and things like that. And what was interesting is, and I'll just go back to the whole leveling up comment was that when in. Back in August, specifically, we saw you do the same to yourself, but then it rippled, because I felt when you did that, it. Then it rippled to us.

We did it and then our client.

Did it and it was interesting. So it works like. It really does. It really does work.

And.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you know, specifically, too, it. It's this moment of. And for me, you know, and this is also like my parenting part of me too, where it's like, hey, listen, we're all adults here, and I'm not. You're not here to be accountable to me. It's not my business. You're accountable to you.

Yes. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Yes, yes.

And that's the. Hence growing up. Right. Like, growing up and realizing that, oh, like Lisa said before, we just did by the. By the seat of our ass because we're self employed and it's just us and we don't have to worry. But now we're like growing a business, which is. Right. So. Yeah. It's the whole transformation that we've gone through in the last few months is astronomical, actually. And it. And it translates into your personal life, and it translates into. With your friends, and it translates into, you know, how you be accountable to yourself and the boundaries that you set with people. And. And then just like, it's. It's. I. I don't even know how to put it into words that, you know, like, when. Like. Okay, so even for myself, Lisa and I talked about this, like, a few times, like, as being single and, like, the idea of dating. And I'm like, you know what? I'm not ready, because I need. I know. I'm coming. I have more to go. And we have a business. It's more important. But then when I think about the potential of dating, it's like, oh, that guy better be way the up here. Like, right. So as before, like, if you're down here, you're like, you know, I'll be here. Get out of the mud. Right. So it affects. And it's like, with all things. Like, with my kid, when I say kid, she's 30. So, like. Right. Like, and it's like. Like I say to her now, it's like, are we having the same conversation? Are you gonna do. What are you doing? Like, you're an adult. Like, come on. And it's interesting. Like, it just literally affects every aspect of, like, of every category of your life when you make this change.

Yeah. And that can be hard. And your clients have the same thing, right?

Yeah.

Depending on where they are. Because it's like, everyone, you know, will admit they might have one thing in their life that's, you know, locked and loaded, whether it's health, wealth, love, whatever, relationship, whatever. Right. And then other areas of opportunity for them to continue to grow. And so for your clients, their health. Right. So that it's almost like if they could just lock and load their health, then they're gonna have all of it.

Yeah.

The other stuff will settle.

Yeah. Like, better jobs come along. Like, they like. Right. Because they still talk about it. Like, our clients talk about, oh, my relationship with my husband or my friends work sucks, and I'm not making enough money. Oh, my house is cluttered. Okay, well, right. Like, it's all the same, Cat. It's all things. Right. Like, all categories have to be clear.

I mean, or it's just. Or it's just the hurricane within themselves. I have no time to do anything. I'm overwhelmed. Assistant.

But you're running around in a circle. Like, you're not doing. And this comes back to being honest about. Honest with what you're actually doing. What are you getting done in your 15 minutes. Right. Like, Lisa and I break our day into 15 minutes. Now, that may be. We got four 15 minutes times four for study, 15 minutes times eight. Because we're going to, like, you know, put out referral letters and do this, this, and this. But you're committed to that time frame every 15 minutes. Okay. And now you're doing eight of those. Maybe not in a row, but you're going to do eight in that day. So that when you walk away, did you move the needle forward in your personal development, in your business, in your life, in your health, in. In all of it?

You know, one of the things too, that you guys, you know, the. As exceptional out coaches for the over two debt, over two decades, almost three, is that. That you're missing.

Right.

That we're missing. That I think a lot of people struggle with.

Okay. Is the.

Is the being able to be honest and look at outcomes without making it mean anything?

Yeah, yeah.

By staying emotionally or about. By staying regulated. Right. And that is so incredibly easy to say and impossible. I simply just said, like, here's how you lose 100 pounds in three seconds. It is, like, so hard to do. It's part of what. You know, my. My mentor says, living on the razor's edge, where you care about everything and nothing at the time.

Same time.

Yeah.

Because you can't do this work. Nobody becomes a coach because they want to make money. Like, oh, there's the fast way to make money. Manager. Right. So this is not like a quick, you know, you know, you turn your computer into an atm. They want to genuinely help people. So in order to do that, you have to care. That's why it's called personal training. Personal development. Right. No, I think it's a hard fine line to navigate the difference between or not a difference. But to live in that, like, hey, it's both. Like, I'm gonna be honest with myself without punishing myself. I'm gonna be honest about what I'm doing without, you know, shame. And that's hard.

Yeah, it is very hard. It takes a lot of practice. We have. Lisa and I work together with our, like our PD all the time. And I mean, it's cool that we would live in the same area, like, same spot, so that we, you know, could randomly, like, over breakfast, discuss, like a book or a chapter that we read or something. So there's. We do have that luxury. And it is a luxury, and we're very grateful for that. But there's also the understanding that nothing means anything until you put a thought to it. And then once you put a thought to it, a feeling evokes. And once that a feeling evokes, then that's the trigger triggering effect of like, what that one thing is. My phone is in the. In my hand. I might draw. It could drop on the floor and crash and break. Okay. Big deal. It's not good or bad until I put a thought to it. Holy. That's going to cost me 800 to, like, replace. Oh, that's gonna suck. Oh, my God, do I have 800? And then the panic starts and the anxiety and the stress kick in, Right? At the end of the day, it's just a phone. It's not the end of my world. I want to die. And they'll cry, but I won't die. Right? So it's the same as every little thing that goes on with us when we do our. When we look at coaching, we look at our clients and we look at what we do. So, you know, nothing means anything until you put a thought to it. Once you put the thought, the feelings evoke. And then when the feelings, that's when the stress or anxiety or whatever kick in. So it's being able to sit back and go, like you just said, really evaluate. What did I do? Did I do this right? No. Okay. How do I figure out how to do it the right way? Oh, we do this. Okay. Make a call. Like, you know, send the information, send the stuff to you. Okay. Have betrayal. Look at it and then getting over it. And this is just get over yourself. Because we live in this world of like, we have to be perfect. Who says so? Yeah. Yeah, I do 17 stupid things by noon every day. And then I. And then tomorrow I don't do the same one. So kudos, like, right? So it's. We need to all get over how we like how we look and just be authentic. And being authentic means that we're going to screw it up and we need help and we're going to have to ask our partners and friends and family and whoever. Yeah. And like, you know, like we said, being open to coaching.

I love the thought feeling. Right? You. You talked about. It's like the be do have series, essentially, which is like, hey, you have the thought, the feeling fuels it. And then.

And what? And.

And sometimes it's a loop, right? You usually hear it in a linear, but it's usually a loop.

Right.

Pain means pay attention. Then you're like, why feel bad? And then it's be like, oh. Or we look for that evidence of like, I knew this Wasn't going to work. See, and then it's like the feeling, the thought feeling. And either in a vicious cycle or a vicious cycle and.

Right.

Is that you get to be the thinker of your thoughts.

Thoughts. Yes.

You can change them. Doesn't mean that bad stuff isn't going to happen or that you deserved it. None of that is true. But for me, when I know that I can change the thought at any time.

Yeah.

What's more powerful than that?

Yeah, yeah.

You know, and then to teach it to other people.

Yeah.

And that's where the real.

That's the key, though. Right. And that's the. The teaching the concept and then getting the concept, not just talking about it, you know, because there's. There's two different, you know, avenues to that. And, and actually, it's funny because one of our. One of our a guests, we had a guest on our group coaching. She sat in and watched us work one night and. And she's like, you know, I love the way you guys, you know, bring it back around and tie it all together. And she's like. And it's just not. You're just not throwing out the advice or throwing out, you know, here's the piece of information. But never tying or looping it back around. And that was one of her biggest takeaways. And I was like. Because that's our coaching and that's. It's effective, though, like, like you were saying about, like, you know, it's to, you know, be able to talk about it, but it's. Be able to teach it and then make it stick.

Right? Yeah.

One of my biggest things about coaching specifically is that you hear people say, those who can't do, teach. And I'm just like, oh, well, they clearly haven't been a teacher because teaching and coaching, incredible skill thing to say, like, hey, this is how you do it. Go and do all these things. And it's another thing to actually motivate, inspire, and get your client to actually do the action that's required. That their brain is literally going to fight them on doing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like that. I. Yeah, yeah. I stuff. I. I find there's a vast difference from. I used to be like that way back in the beginning as a trainer because, you know, you have an ego and you're running out of an ego base and which is a downfall for all coaches. And because you don't know any better. Right. Like 27 years ago, the things that we did in the gym, I remember the gym I worked at, I had to fight Them tooth and nail just to bring in stability balls. Because they're all like bodybuilders and they're just like, like, who needs to have a stability ball? Well, everybody actually, quite frankly. So. But it was just like the mindset of then to now is, is so different. So back then it was like, you know, it's in my head going, I'm so great. I'm a trainer. Look what I can do. Do what I say. And then you start to learn like, like no one's people are a gonna be totally offended by you. They're not going to renew with you. They don't want you as a trainer or a coach. And then as you grow up and then learn that we're not ego, it shouldn't be ego based. It's heart centered. And if you're not teaching from a heart centered, no one's listening. So if you don't get out of your head and get into your heart, you, your, your clients aren't going to listen to what you have to say because coming from being authentic to and real and when from a heart center as a coach, they hear that, they hear the difference and then they, they're like, well, she really cares about what my outcome is, maybe I'll try that. And if we could just get them to try it, to listen and think about it, that's half our job. The other half. The other half is them doing it. But again, from here, ego, like, you're getting nowhere. If you always wonder why your clients aren't succeeding, it's like, because Lisa and I check in with ourselves all the time and I'll do that. I'm like, oh, this week I think I was ego based. This week I think I need to like, tone it down. So we do check ins constantly about this. Like, where were we? Were we getting on our high horse? Were we this, were we trying to. Okay, we need to come back to heart centered. And then, then we see our clients make the biggest changes.

If you're in your head, you're dead.

Yeah, Yeah, I like that statement. That should be a T shirt, actually. T shirt.

I know.

I'm good. I, I'm all about the graphic teeth for sure. I like that one.

All right, so I, you know, if you could go back to your younger self, you know, if you were starting over again, what are some of the advice that you would give to your as you. That you wish you knew when you were first starting to coach others?

Well, I would definitely say, like, I've, I've seriously have thought about that question before, and I'm like, ah, you know, only if I knew what I know now. And, and there's so much more like to learn and still be able to develop and amaze like in, in that concept. But like, God, you know, if I could go back to my younger self, I'd be like, well, you know, you know, first and foremost would be to dive into the personal development work. Like not, not the education, not like, you know, exercise physiology and all that crap. I mean we have all that right? I mean that's just part and package of what we do, but not, you know, who we are. And, and when I think about, you know, what I've learned in just in personal development stuff over the last seven years, I'm like, oh God, I wish, I wish I had got more into that concept back in those days. I think it would have just been amazing to, to do that. So I think that would be my younger self advice.

Mine's a little different because I've been working on this actually and look, trying to look. I've been looking at it differently lately. My advice would be to pay attention to the lessons and the pain. Like you can't skip your life. The pain is going to come and go the lessons and you either listen, you either watch the lessons or you don't. So my cousin, my cousin, she was amazing. She always said, jose, we all have the same lessons in life to learn and you're going to keep repeating them until you learn it. Yep. And it was very profound. And I remember she telling she, I said that to me, I want to say I was like, maybe my late 20s and I didn't listen. I didn't listen at all because I was in my late 20s and I don't know about you guys, but I knew everything. I was brilliant then, so. But it's like your life, all the things in your life are meant to happen. Good or bad or evil or ugly, they were, but they make up who you are. And 55, I look back and there some incredible lessons that I missed. So had I paid attention, I would have learned them sooner. I would have maybe got to where I were, this, this space. Maybe a little earlier, but maybe not. Maybe this was supposed to be the way it was supposed to be. But you need to learn, you need to pay attention to the lessons that you're learning in the pain. Because we, when we're pain, we're, when we're going through pain, struggle, strife, whatever, we tend to turn our brains off and we do the why me poor Me. Oh, God, me. Instead of going, what am I learning? What is it teaching me? Why am I here? What's happening? And then work through that, because that's where the resilience comes. You have to go through the discomfort, and you have to go through the pain to get the resilience in order to be stronger on the other side of that.

Yeah, it's really. It's a powerful and really hard lesson because it's one of those things that people who are in the thick of pain, you know, hard to see. No pain. You know, pain.

I do. I do.

That is. It's hard to see it when you're.

It is. Yeah. Yeah. And that. So that would be mine. Because I've lived, like you say, I. I've lived through a lot, multiple times, and I wish I had to pay really attention to what was happening then, opposed to now having to go back and look at it, examine it, work through it. Right. Because then you just have to.

So, yeah, human experience, intense.

But there's, like, just as much for as much pain as there is. There's just as much greatness and glory and fun, and this is. It's right. Like, it's what you make it. So I could very well, as you know, and Lisa knows for sure, is I could very well be that person who has, like, this dark cloud over my head and be that person that's negative and horrible. And I. I could very easily just, like, justifiably be that person that's just. Oh, to what ends. Yeah, it doesn't. It doesn't help. Like, it doesn't help anybody else in the world. It doesn't help me. I choose to look at silver lining. I choose to be happy. I choose to look at something great. Not to say, I don't, like, you know, sit there and go, damn it, how do I do this? Right? Like. But I just choose to find the goodness in everything.

Yes.

Hence the choice. And we all have a choice.

Yes.

It's a hard choice to make every day.

It's a. It's a hard choice every day. Yeah.

Oh, my gosh. What a powerful. What a powerful podcast. Like, this is the podcast you listen to when you want to change your life, but serious. Okay, so for. So I wanna. So first of all, I want to be very mindful of your time. So thank you so much for pouring.

Thank you.

I love that. Okay, so what are some of the best places for those of you who want to do this work, who want to go deeper, who feel. Who feel called, who feel connected where are the best places to send them?

I would probably say our website, LuxLifeTreats CA. And yes, it's the AA because we're Canadian. I know we've left, but you know, still can. I know everybody's like, shirtsnot.com. no, we're sure. Yeah. Luxliferetreats ca. Or you can find us on Facebook, Lisa Balton and Penny Hounsome.

You also have an incredible community for women. So tell us about your community, Lisa.

Do you want to say that?

Yeah, I'll take that away. Okay. So our community on Facebook has been running for a couple years now and we, we just recently changed the name and the. Funny.

I pulled it, I pulled it up. Do you want me to.

And anyone is so funny because I, when we changed the name, the name before that, I was, I'd always get tongue tied with it. And then we just changed it again. I'm like, oh my God. I'm like, I have to say it again. So go for the name, Penny.

Health and lifestyle solutions for women. Get unstuck.

Thank you. So, yeah, we've been running the community for two years and we have a lot of great, wonderful free stuff and resources that we've been working on over that time frame. So if you want to hop on in there, become, become a member of that, we'd love to have you. So just go on in and hit the join and we'll, we'll vet you along and move you into the group.

Love it.

So you find stuff. We do live. We do live workshops. We do master classes, recipes. Every week we have a coach's corner. We do quick one minute exercises on the weekend Sunday, self care challenges, fitness challenges, and then our whole. And then Lisa does a post on Wednesday about what we do for holistic living and what we do all the time. So as we're helping people build their holistic lifestyle. Love that.

And we'll make sure we link all of that up in the show notes. So thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Thank you so much for having us.

Thank you for listening to the PT Profit podcast. If you like this episode, chances are your friends will too. So it would be a huge service to us if you would please leave us a review and share with your friends on your social media channels. When you leave us a review, be sure to take a screenshot of it and email that screenshot to my team@infovsimpsonfitness.com and we'll send you a very special Instagram podcast that will, will show you how to create compelling content so that your ideal clients come to you and you go from wanting clients to a wait list of clients ready for your services. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll see you on the next episode.