151: Designing Your Lifestyle with Stephanie Wise

Hey there, friends. Bjork here. And today is an especially exciting podcast intro because I get to announce something kind of exciting, and that is that we are coming up to an enrollment period for Food Blogger Pro. Now, for those of you that aren't familiar with what Food Blogger Pro is and what we are all about, we are the podcast, right? So we have this community here of people that follow along and listen to the podcast once a week. But this podcast is actually just a tiny little sliver of everything that they're is to learn out there as it relates to Food Blogger Pro. Because we also have, and this is where we spend the majority of our time and energy and focus this incredible community. And it is@foodbloggerpro.com we have almost 3,000 members from around the world who are a part of the Food Blogger Pro community. And we have been building this community since 2014. And it started out as a place for Lindsay and I to put everything, everything that we knew about building and running a successful website in one place in video format. Later on, about a year after we launched, we also added in a forum component. And that's one of the things that people love the most about Food Blogger Pro. They love being part of the community there and connecting with other people on the forum. And we also added in the experts, and we have a lot of experts that we have interviewed on the Food Blogger Pro podcast. As a matter of fact, all of the experts that are a part of Food Blogger Pro have been interviewed on the podcast. And what's happened over the years is Food Blogger Pro has been built into this really, really incredibly valuable community. And we want to welcome you to become a part of that community. I'll tell you a little bit about it and I'll say this right now, if you are interested in joining, the best way to join is to go to foodbloggerpro.com join and that will redirect you to a page that has more information about signing up. You could also just go to foodbloggerpro.com and that will have the information about Foodblogger Pro and how you can sign up. But I will say this. Over the years, as we have added more and more value to Food Blogger Pro, we haven't raised the price. So when we first launched many, many years ago, it was $25. And then we increased the price once to $29 a month or $279 a year. But since then we haven't touched the price and it has continued to layer on value on the site. And what I think you'll find when you join is that you will have an immense amount of payback on the investment that you have into Food Blogger Pro. There's the video courses, there are deals and discounts. So a lot of the tools that I talk about on the Food Blogger Pro podcast or that other people talk about are available to Food Blogger Pro members at a discount or an extended free trial period, if you want to check it out for a longer period of time. And we can do that because it's not a public discount that we offer. We also have the community forum like I mentioned. And one of the things that a lot of members like is we do a live call once a month. We call it a Q and A call, where we do an update on any questions that people have. And we work through some of those really sticky things that people are trying to figure out, whether that be related to photography or video or just managing your blog. And then we also have what's called a Happening now video. And this is kind of like if you and I were to sit down at a coffee shop and have a conversation on what we're doing behind the scenes, where team members on Pinch of Yum and Food Blogger Pro and Lindsay and I as well sometimes jump in and say, here are the things that we are doing behind the scenes to grow our site, whether that be a certain tool that we're using or maybe it has to do with an update that we're making to the blog that has increased performance. And all of these things are available to anybody that signs up to be a member of Food Blogger Pro. Now, enrollment starts on the 24th, so if you want to make sure that you are getting notifications about that, you can go to foodbloggerpro.com and when you go there, there'll be this little waiting list. You can sign up for that waiting list. And that's where we'll notify you about enrollment when it officially starts on the 24th, Thursday the 24th. And it'll only enrollment will only be open for a week. So make sure if you're interested in joining, that you do that, because after that, we close up shop. And if you are listening to this podcast, podcast after the fact, which a lot of you do, and maybe we are into June, we will be past enrollment period. So you can hang out on that waiting list and we'll notify you the next time that enrollment happens. But this is something we don't talk about often on the podcast, but when we do talk about it we want to make sure that you know that this would be the time that you can join the Food Blogger Pro community. And I think if you do, you will not be disappointed by the amount of information and the amount that you will learn and be able to take away. I just came back from a conference where I was able to meet so many Food Blogger Pro members and it was so inspiring to hear how they took the information, applied that, and really used it to help grow their blog. Whether it be the things that we talk about, the tangible, implementable things, or the fact that they were able to connect with other people that are doing similar things and what those relationships meant to them and how that was able to impact their growth as well. So if you want to learn more about it, you can go to foodbloggerpro.com, again. Enrollment opens on the 24th. We're super excited about it. If you want to see what other people have said about it, we have this list of testimonials that you can see by going to foodbloggerpro.com testimonials again, you can just go to foodbloggerpro.com if you want to find out more. And if you are listening to this between the during the enrollment period, which is between May 24 and May 31, you'll be able to sign up and otherwise you'll have to jump on that waiting list to wait until we officially open in just a couple days here. So super excited about the enrollment period for Food Blogger Pro to continue building this community and creating incredible content with incredible people and continuing to learn a little bit every day for an extended period of time. It's something we talk about all the time on this podcast. The idea of 1% infinity and getting a little bit better every day over an extended period of time. And one of the best ways to do that if you have a food or recipe site, is to do that with other people that are in your niche because they speak your language. And that's the purpose of Food Blogger Pro. It's helping creators level up their game in order to then reach more people. And we are excited to offer that to you if you are interested in checking it out, which I think that once you do, you won't be disappointed. And even if you're a little bit on the edge, we have a 60 day policy where you can, after signing up, if for whatever reason you say, hey, this isn't a good fit, super easy, all you have to do is follow up and let us know and we can offer you a refund on that. That rarely happens with Food Blogger Pro members, but we know that for some people, they want to get in, get a feel for it, see if it's the right fit for them. So we want to make sure going into it that you have that so you can feel good about it and not have to worry if it's a good fit for you or not. Last thing that I'll say about it, if you sign up for the yearly membership, which comes at a discounted cost, you also get one year of access to nutrifox, which is the nutrition tool that we use. And you can see that on Pinch of Yum. Whenever we include a little nutrition information with a recipe, all of that's calculated with Nutrifox, and that's usually $89 a year. But if you sign up for the yearly membership for Food Blogger Pro, that comes along with your membership at no extra cost. So that yearly membership is a super good deal. And you can find that by going to foodbloggerpro.com, jumping on the waiting list. Again, if this is before Thursday, May 24, or if it's after Thursday, May 24, and we are in the enrollment period, you can just go to foodbloggerpro.com join and you'll be able to sign up. And I am so excited to welcome in the new members. Like I said, we don't talk about it often on the podcast, but when we do have these enrollment periods, we want to bring it up, make sure that you know about it because we are super proud of this community and honored to be a part of it. All right, let's talk about today's podcast interview. Today I am interviewing Stephanie Weiss from Girl vs Doe. And Stephanie is a close friend and she's doing some really fun things with her lifestyle design. And what is lifestyle design? Well, I wanted to interview Stephanie because this is a really important concept for people that are thinking about building their thing. And all of us on this podcast, we are builders. And one of the things that we are building is a business. But a lot of the time, oftentimes the reason we're building a business is because we want to craft our lifestyle. We want to design our lifestyle in a certain way, and we want to be able to create when we can create. We want to be able to work when we want to work, and we want to be able to do the things that we want to do. And a lot of that has to do with how we're designing our lifestyle. And my encouragement to you. The thing that I would challenge you with is to think about not just about business building, but about lifestyle building and how are you going about building your business and your life in the same way, because sometimes the thing that's best for your life isn't best for your business or vice versa. And sometimes what's best for your business is also best for your life. And Stephanie's going to talk about some of those things as it relates to blogging and some of the big ideas she's had around stopping her blog, the reason for doing that, then starting it back up again, and then also what's next for her. She's designing her life along with her husband Elliot and their two kids. And it's some really cool things that they're doing, and I think it'll be really inspiring to hear what they're up to and how intentional they've been in crafting their own path. So let's go ahead and jump into this interview with Stephanie Weiss. Stephanie, welcome to the podcast.

Hi. Thanks for having me.

Yeah, it'll be fun to chat here because we are friends irl. I had to think about that in real life. So, Steph and then your husband Elliot, we've hung out multiple times. You are a Twin Cities person and Twin Cities family, but not for long. But before we get into that, I wanted to start in kind of an interesting way for this podcast. Usually what we do is we'll ask people to go back and hear a little bit about their origin story, the way that they started their blog and how they, you know, things they implemented along the way and things like that. But for you, what I would love to start with is I would love to start with last year, kind of January 2017, when instead of starting the blog, you decided to wind down your blog. And you didn't shut it down completely, but you published a post and said, hey, you know, I'm kind of adjusting my passions, is what you said, and shifting a little bit. So take me back to that point when you made that decision to stop blogging. Why was that and what were things like for you at that point?

Yeah, that was a really tough decision for me because, I mean, for the reasons that I had come back into blogging recently, I really loved certain parts about it, and I really did not love other parts about it. And I think at that point I had been blogging for, oh, gosh, eight years maybe, and just never had a break. And I didn't really know how to pump the brakes on that for myself. I'm Very much. Like I have to be all in or all out of things. So, you know, my husband had been suggesting, well, maybe, you know, just slow down on it, you know, just blog like once a month or whatever. And I don't know, I think for me, like, that wasn't going to be enough at that time for me to feel like I could take a good respite. And to be honest, at the time, I did not think I was going to come back to blogging. I thought this was it and I was just done and ready to move on to other projects and other things and have other focuses, like you said, adjusting my passions and just. Just taking a time to kind of find myself again. I think I just got. I got so into the, the. The hamster wheel of blogging, if you will, and needed to step off for. For some time. So I just felt really burned out and it just was time for me to, to step away from my Internet life for a little bit. And it was a little interesting because at the time I still had a brand partnership that was contracted through April of 2017. So I, I was still kind of popping in on my blog for about once or twice a month for those posts. And then, yeah, then early April, I think, was when I officially closed the doors, so to speak, on new content. So, yeah.

What was that? At what point in the process? So that was January 2017 that you published that post, had a couple other obligations that you had to fulfill throughout that year. But if you go pre January 2017, at what point did you kind of have an inkling of like, this something is off here and it doesn't feel like it used to feel? Was it years before that? Was it months before that? How quickly did you turn around that thought process into this is something for me at this point, that's not a good thing?

Yeah, I would say it was probably a good year before I made that official decision. I remember I went to a blogging conference, actually, like, I think that was November 2016. And I was talking to my blogging friends and I already just felt stretched thin and just like, I don't know, I just was in that, in that community that was like so familiar to me and just like such good friends that I had made through blogging. And I was, I was miserable. Like, it just was not. It just wasn't jiving with my values at that time. And I, I remember talking with them, like, seriously about being done blogging at that point. And then 2017 came and things kind of evened out again. But it just. It still was just kind of in the back of my mind that whole time. Like, this isn't what it used to be for me. And I remember, like, calling my mom that following November and just being like, I know. I know what I need to do. I'm just like, I needed somebody to tell me it's okay.

And this was in 2016.

This was 2017, actually. This is a whole year later that I see. Yeah. Talking myself into this decision. And she obviously was very supportive of me doing that, and everyone I talked to about it actually was very supportive. And it was hard. It was really hard. But. Yeah, but I think I needed that whole year to give myself that permission to take a break.

Got it. And so you're saying the whole year of January 2017. So last year was processing through the decision of not blogging.

Yes.

Got it. Yep. So even after publishing that post, there's still a lot of processing that was involved.

Yes. Oh, yeah, Definitely. I would say. Well, and I. I'm sorry, I actually misspoke. It was the whole year of 2016. Got it. When I was still vlogging, but really, in the back of my mind was not loving it like it used to. But again, like, once I published that post in 2017, January 2017, saying I'm. I'm stepping down from this. Yeah. I think the processing at that point was different because I finally gave myself that permission and was able to have some breathing room and focus on other things in my life. But then it kind of shifted because then I had those other things to focus on, and I didn't have the blogging, and I was missing the parts about blogging that I had loved all along. You know, just as an example, like, it was funny to me to. To like, make something, you know, some sort of food. And it was so beautiful.

I'm like, yeah, and so good. And share it.

And, like, share it.

Yeah.

And I felt like I didn't have anywhere to do that, so I would, you know, text my mom and be like, mom, look at this. Like, it's. Yeah, it's so good.

And.

And, you know, she's like, being sweet and was like, oh, this is so great, you know, but she gives it.

A thumbs up, which is like a.

Like, yeah, Emoji.

Yeah.

Yeah. So, you know, it's just. I think. I think it took all of 2017 even to process it in the other direction and be like, okay, maybe I can find this happy medium, you know, where I am blogging. But I'm doing it for me. I'm not doing it for the numbers. I'm not doing it because it's a job or whatever, you know, factors that I thought were the reasons that you should be doing it.

Yeah.

Just decided, I'm gonna try this a new way.

Yeah. And context for listeners that are tuning into this. So one of the. We often talk about on the podcast some of those metrics. So ideas like advertising and building traffic and social media tips and tricks. And I would assume that a lot of that is the type of stuff that was tension creating. And also for the listeners, I would assume for you, there's that potential that it's tension creating. And for some people, it's, It's. They love it, and it's exciting to think about. And for other people, it's not. It's not in alignment with what they're interested in doing. And again, context for this conversation. One of the things that I hope comes from this podcast, when people listen to it, is not that you need to be doing more or hustling more or achieving more. We want to encourage people to do what they love doing and to do it as deep and as intentional as possible, but to also be reflective on what it is that you're doing so as to not be doing the wrong thing. Because we're trading our lives, our time, our energy, our dollars for this thing that we're doing. So if we're not loving it, it's worth reflecting on that and thinking, what are the things that I do love and what are the things that are worth doing? So in that year of reflection for you in 2017, what were some of the things that you learned that you applied as you now are starting to come back into blogging again?

I think I learned to. Well, I think the biggest thing for me was I learned that I could step away from the blog and it would not just collapse. I think I had this thought in my head that I was going to stop publishing new content and it would just fall. Like, everything I built up would just fall apart. And that's not the case at all. It helped study and. And I think it also allowed me to focus on the kind of content that I really wanted to put out there. So I think going forward now, I'm really wanting to focus on food, obviously, because I do love writing about that. I do love creating recipes, but just maybe doing it from, you know, what I really actually enjoy making what I'm actually making in my kitchen instead of saying. Saying that I enjoy that. And, And. But, you know, the truth is, yes, it's what I think is. Is good content. So I guess, I guess, I mean, there's no, like, a specific formula for how I'm planning to go forward, but it's just mostly like freeing myself from, from those metrics that you mentioned that for me are not fulfilling. I'm not like, that was not at all the part about it that I enjoyed. And so I'm trying to blog without those boundaries. Yeah, that makes sense.

And that's a hard thing to do. Do you have any advice for people that want to move towards that more, that state of mind or that state of blogging as you've gotten back into it? How have you been able to maintain some of those, you know, adjusted expectations as you've gotten back into it?

Sure, it's not easy because I think I, you know, and I know there are many bloggers feel this way where there's this whole, just this gamut of things that you're being told that you should be doing for your blog. So it just gets ingrained in you when you're blogging. And so I, you know, I'm not, I'm not sitting here by any means saying that those things don't matter to me or that I don't pay attention to them or think about them, but I, but I do also then stop myself and say, you know, before I, before I start typing up that blog post, like, really stay in tune with myself and what I really want to write, not. And not have those exterior, those outside voices coming in saying, oh, make sure you've got enough SEO language in there, whatever it is. So I guess my advice then is just to really check in with yourself and really try to think about why you're blogging and why you love it and, and just, I mean, really just let yourself be okay with blogging for you, you know, I mean, I know. And all of this to say, like, I still highly value, you know, my readership and interacting with my readers. I mean, that's a whole, that's the whole community aspect of it that I really enjoy. So I'm not saying that I'm just typing up these blog posts and just putting it out there for everyone to read. And I don't want to talk to anybody or have any interactions of any kind. That's not at all the case. I think just for me, it's that I'm not that it's more organic. It's more of an organic interaction rather than, yeah, feeling like I need to, you know, constantly keep a presence going that I Had before.

Yep. That's great. One of the things that I did, it's from this book called Designing youg Life. And they have you chart out all the things that you're doing in a day, and there's this little speedometer and it says, did that deplete your tank or did it fill your tank? And I think there's all sorts of activities that we could keep track of with any creative endeavor, whether that's time on social media or creating a blog post or taking photographs. I have a friend who had a blog, and he said, I realized that I just hated taking photographs. He was like. And that's when I realized the food blog wasn't for me. But there are other people who love that. They would do photography all day long. And I think that self reflection piece is so important to really understand who you are and how that relates to the work that you're doing. For me personally, it's like I feel depleted when I use social media. And so what are the ways that we can build an online business where I'm not spending a bunch of time on social media? Whereas for Lindsay, she finds inspiration and obviously there's like, things that she needs to be intentional about with spending time on Instagram. Like, she'll talk about having to unfollow a certain account because of, you know, how it makes her feel or something like that, but also finds inspiration and creates beauty from that inspiration. And so for her, that's a really good place for her. So it sounds like in this year for you, you were able to do some of that reflection and say, okay, what do I want to take with me as I start things back up again and start to lean into this a little bit more. So what has that been like for you as you've started? So you had this year a couple. Couple posts in between kind of those obligations, but then you made this decision to come back into it. You spoke to that a little bit. But can you talk about why? The reason why, what is it now? Moving forward, kind of the. The intention for your blog moving forward?

Yeah. So, yeah, I think. I think I just came to a point where I had to make. I felt like I needed to make another decision, deciding, you know, I really do miss this. I really want to get back into it. But again, I want to do it on my own terms. And so I just, you know, I just kind of. I. It was funny. Like, I felt like I had to kind of like, re is like learning how to ride a bike again a little bit, trying to get that. That first post back up being like, oh, yeah, I sort of remember doing all these things, but I don't. I don't really remember how this worked. And, you know, just trying to reacclimate myself. And so much has changed too. It's so funny. Like, I. Like a dinosaur, you know, it's like eight months. Yeah, I know it's been like no.

Time, but at the same time, it moves so quickly.

Just so quickly. So. Just trying to catch up with all that. But, yeah, So I think, anyway, I just decided to just give it a shot. And I. I posted a recipe for cinnamon rolls because I really wanted to make them, and I. They were delicious. And I was like, okay, I feel inspired to post this. And that was like a scary moment for me in some ways, too, because, I mean, I don't know, I guess I just. I think it's because I put so much of myself into my blog and, like, it's such a part of who I am that to, like, go back and like, type a post, you know, in any other way, it's like, okay, you just put a post out on the Internet along with the millions of other content out there. It's not a big deal. But to me, you know, it's like bringing myself back into this fold and how are people going to react? Or, like, how. How am I going to feel about it? You know, like, is this the right decision? Like, did I think this through enough kind of thing? But I think. I think going into it with the new mindset that I have was really helpful for me, and then the encouragement that I had from the people close to me, you know, going back into it the way that I did. Yeah, I think all of that.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And one of the things that is interesting as you read through that post, where you kind of talk about this girl versus dough 2.0 and then share that recipe as well, is kind of setting that expectation of, here's what it's going to look like moving forward. This is going to be something that, you know, it's not like I'm going to post every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and I'm going to be doing this, like you said, more on my terms and doing it for the reasons why, doing it for reasons that bring me joy. And I think that is also important to point out, because I think sometimes we can think that we have to be doing something because we are serving a greater metric, whether that be traffic or social media or brand sponsorships or whatever that that might be. And that is one Hundred percent awesome if that's a path that you want to go down. But there's lots of people that play basketball, and they do it because they love it, not because they want to boost their stats in order to get, you know, featured on ESPN or SportsCenter top 10. And the other thing that I think is interesting and worth talking about and would love to dig into a little bit is kind of this idea of we talk about the American Dream, and obviously that phrase applies to anybody. We have people that listen to this from all around the world. But for those that aren't familiar with it, the American Dream being kind of this perfect painting, fairy tale ending, kind of story of you grow up, you have kids, you have a dog, you have a white picket fence and a nice house. And that's kind of what people say, hey, the American Dream. And I think there's a version of that that exists for blogging where they say, this is the blogging dream. And I think people each have their own version of what that looks like. But I would encourage people to reevaluate what that is for you, because it doesn't have to be the thing that people have told you. And this is actually a quote from your blog post, and this is you talking about Shannon Nyquist's book, Present Over Perfect. And we did an interview with Shauna recently, which would be a great one for people to check out, but she says the world will tell you how to live if you let it. Don't let it. Take up your space, raise your voice, sing your song. This is your chance to make or remake a life that thrills you. And I think that's such an important concept to understand and to apply as people think about the work that they're doing and the way that they're spending their time. And you and Elliot have done that as you think about this kind of new iteration of your American dream. So can you tell the listeners what this next phase of life is for you and how you are kind of pursuing a new type of dream?

Yeah. So, yeah, this is kind of caught us even by surprise, but just kind of in this whole year of reflection, really, we got to a point in our life where we more or less achieved that classic American dream in the traditional sense. And, you know, we built a new house, we completed our family, we have our two children, and we have a cat. We don't have a dog.

Yeah. Equally as good. Yeah, well, yeah, depending on who you ask.

Right, right. And we kind of were just sitting there and we're like, okay, do we feel happy and fulfilled and now all that to say, like, life, you know, I mean, obviously pursuing happiness is super great and important, but we're also, you know, Elliot and I and our family values. We realize, like, life is also not perfect and we have to take the good with the bad. And we're not. We're not trying to, like, spin our wheels and try and jostle our family around to just be pursuing happiness. I was pursuing more joy and fulfillment just in our. In our life as a family. But anyway, so just having a lot of, like, deep conversations about what we wanted our future to look like, what we wanted it to look like for our family and for ourselves. And kind of as an aside to that, Elliot works as a physician assistant in an emergency department. And it's just a very, very stressful, very trying job. And, you know, he chose to go in that and has been doing it for years. And. And kind of like with me, with blogging, there were parts of it that he really enjoyed, but there was a lot of it that he didn't. And it was just starting to just wear him thin to the point where we just felt like it was best for us as a couple and a family to maybe pivot away from that career for him. And so we had conversations about that and how that was going to look. And. And actually, one of my really good friends from college told me just out of the blue, like, randomly a couple months ago or several months ago actually, that she and her family were planning to move into an RV and travel the country full time. And at the time, I was like, oh, that's great. Good for you. That's a really good idea. And didn't think anything else of it. And then, I don't know, just, I would say maybe early February, we, Elliot and I were having one of our conversations, and the things just started clicking. And I said to him, like, what if we lived in an RV too? And I don't know, it was almost kind of like this light bulb moment for us where it's like, wait, we can do that? And why don't we think about that more and see if that fits into kind of what we're trying to figure out for our life going forward. And long story short, it does.

And that is what we're doing, which is awesome. We were talking about this before, but we have. Lindsay and I both have friends, both distant and close, that have done kind of alternative living situations. One friend who has a blog, John, he does a lot of our design stuff called Tiny Shiny Home we also have some friends that moved into a tiny home, not as mobile. So it's awesome that you're doing that. So where are things at right now with that process?

Well, so we, we sold our house and we have an rv. His name is Harvey.

Nice. You have to, you have to name him.

And yeah, we're putting, we're kind of renovating him and making it feel more like home on wheels, I guess. And then in the process of selling most of our stuff to friends and family, we're going to have a huge garage sale in a few weeks. And then. Yeah, our goal is last weekend of June that we hit the ground running and see where we go.

That's awesome. And I want to go back to something that you had said before, because people that are listening to this might be able to relate in some way. And that was the conversations that you started to have with Elliot and saying, hey, are we happy and fulfilled? And for people that might be feeling like they are in that place and are having those questions, what would your advice be to them either if they have a significant other in their life or if they don't, if they're processing this on their own and not as a family or as a couple? What would your advice be to people that are processing that kind of significant question and anything that you can, any guidance that you can give them to help sort through that?

Yeah, I would say, I mean, I think this, it kind of all ties in with, with even how I was processing my blog and just I, you know, and I don't know if it's getting older or just, just the timing where, where I am in my life, but just really taking the time to have self reflection and making time for that, because it's extremely important. I think it's so easy to just go through the motions of life and then you've retired and you don't even know what you enjoy. I think one of the things for me, just as a particular example, was talking to my friends about what our hobbies are. And I was like, oh my gosh, I don't, I don't really know what my hobbies are. You know, like just I was working or I was taking care of my family or you know, and all good things, they were all good things, but they just, I just wasn't, I guess, finding there was no other outlet for me or there was no other fulfillment for me in, in a, in the way that it would be, you know, self reflection or doing something for myself and trying to grow myself as a person. So I would just say, you know, just making. Just, you know, if you have somebody to talk to about that, whether it is, you know, your significant other or a best friend or a family member or just, you know, whomever, just really being willing to ask yourself the hard questions about, you know, are you happy? Are you okay with where you are in your life? And if you're not, what are some things that you can tangibly do to change that, to try it out, you know?

Yeah.

A new way of living. I think. I think we get. We get so used to living a certain way maybe that we, or we worry about, you know, what other people are going to think or how things are going to shake out down the road and that we just don't. We don't try it. And I think, you know, and all of that to say, like, I know that not everybody has that opportunity, you know, in the same way that the next person does, but if you do have that opportunity, I think it's important to. To really think about it.

Yeah. And I think there always needs to be that acknowledgement and appreciate that this reality that almost always in some way, whether through how we're thinking about it or externally actually making a change, we can impact our circumstances. And like you said, easier for some people than it is for others, but worth, regardless, regardless of where you're at, worth taking that time to look inward and say, what are the things that maybe are misaligned and how can I adjust those? And maybe it is something radical and very different and counterculture and why not? And there would be some reasons why not. And people, I'm sure, have talked to you about that. And my next question would be, how do you work through the conversations or the pushback that you get from family or friends who are resistant to the idea, or maybe I would assume in some ways impacted the grandioseness of the idea, maybe makes them look inward and feel out of alignment a little bit too. What is that like for you guys to work through that and to be forced to deal with that? Any advice for people that would maybe have similar situations?

Yeah, that has been an ongoing process. And we knew going into this that we would receive all kinds of feedback. And it's completely understandable. But I think for us, we were sure, especially because we knew that this would change not just our lives, but so many, like our children's lives and then our family members lives, that we were very careful to make sure that this process was the right thing for us and that it aligned very well with our values. Before we made any real decisions. And even that being said, we knew we would get criticism. And all of it is valid. A lot of people ask us about our kids or they ask about just logistical aspects of it, or, you know, the fact that we're getting rid of our house and, you know, just all sorts of things. But I think just for us to stay aligned with what we've decided are our values and being able to defend those and, you know, answer people's questions if they have them, to the best of our ability. But it's not easy, you know, I mean, it would be lovely if everyone was completely on board with this and we had no problems, you know, but we. But that's not realistic. So, yeah, I think it's just. I think it's just being sure of yourself and sure of your decisions the best that you can, and knowing that if it's right for you, that your family will, you know, at least in our case, our family will come alongside us if they know that this is good for. If we feel this is good for us, they trust us. And. And I think friends, too, that have had questions also feel that way. So.

Yeah.

Yeah.

One of the things you had talked about a couple of times, and it's interesting that you said this because I was having breakfast with a friend just this week or last week, and he talked about wanting to craft a mission statement and core values for their family. And one of the things you'd. You've mentioned a couple times is the values that you have as a family. And I think that's such a cool concept. Is that something that is an official. Like we have written down, we have these values and this is what we value as a family. Or is that more of, hey, we understand that we value this type of thing.

A little bit of both. We actually, last year, in these big conversations we were having, did. We had a shared Google Doc.

Nice. Yes.

That we contributed to it, where we just took some time to be like, what are the things that we want out of life in the next 5, 10, 15 years or forever? And they weren't exactly, like, cohesive thoughts, I would say. But it was mostly like, I want to go on more vacations with my family, or I want to, you know, value experiences over things or, you know, things like that where we really.

Yeah.

Just what's important to us. So it's not like we have this official mission statement for our family that's, like, written on a chalkboard wall in our house or whatever. Although I would like to do that at Some point. Because I do. I love that idea. And I think that that's something that's so special for your little family, you know, whoever that might be, just to, you know, when things feel like they're chaotic or you don't know the right answer necessarily, that you can kind of go back to that, like, that's your. That helps center you and remind you, like, okay, these are the things that mean the most to me.

Yeah, that conversation with my friend and then hearing you say that has made me realize how important that would be. And also I think on a personal level, you know, it's really easy to talk about doing that for a business. The, hey, this is our mission statement. This is what we value as a business. But I think, strangely enough, it's less common to do that on a personal level, but to really understand who you are and why you do things in the world. And I think maybe we kind of loosely understand that, but how valuable to actually have that concretely written down or even, you know, this idea of sharing a Google Doc and let's just put down on this document the things that we want from life and even that simple act, you know, you think of all the things that we do in a day and all the things we spend time on and you know, we spend time on TV shows and I spend time on reading the news and I haven't ever spent time on writing down the things that I value as a person or Lindsay and I as a family and how, how incredible that would be to have that. And for me, that will be my action item coming out of this podcast is to spend some time doing that. So that's great. So what does that look like from a work perspective? I think that will be the big question that people have. And I know people that, you know, will have an RV or they'll, you know, John and his family travel in tiny shiny. Their tiny shiny home, which is the name of their blog, and work remotely. But what does that look like for you? And do you have a concrete idea of what that looks like?

Yeah. So I will be. Thankfully, I work for General Mills on a remote basis for the most part now. And so they are graciously letting me continue my job with them. So I'll be able to work on the road for them part time. And then I'm also going to continue blogging if I can. You know, not. Not from a work perspective, but that'll be part of it. That'll be an interesting adventure in itself because I don't really know how a Propane oven works.

Sure. Camp cooking versus cooking, which is part of the story. I think that'll be part of what's valuable about it. Yeah.

So that's all tbd, but my hope is that I can keep the blog as true to normal standards as possible. So I'll be focusing on those things, and then Elliot will be focusing. We are in the process of working on a business idea, and we're pretty close to being able to share more about that, but he'll be focusing most of his energy on that.

Awesome.

Around the road. Yeah.

And because I have IRL connection with you, I know what that project is. I'm super excited for you guys for it. It's. But for those that would want to know, when you release more information about it, where can they go to be in the loop on what that is? Because I think that's an important part of kind of you building this next version of your dream and what your life looks like together.

Yeah. So as soon as we're able to be at a point where we can share more about it, I will post about it on my blog and then we'll have a website and other ways of communicating directly for the business when it's more official. But definitely grow versus dough will be the first place to know what's going on.

Cool. Great. Last question. Seth, for you. What advice would you have for people that are looking to do a big pivot like this, that feel like they need to take some time and approach life in a different or fresh or new way? You and Elliot have done that, and you've done it with your blog once, and now you're doing it kind of an overall kind of sweeping pivot with your life. What advice would you have for people that are looking to change things up?

I think. I think it just goes back to giving yourself that time to look inward. And, you know, and that can literally be like deciding to, you know, write on a Google Doc instead of watching a TV show at night. Just one night, you know, just taking a moment to be more mindful about really thinking about what you. What you want out of life and what's important to you, and then, you know, aligning your. Your lifestyle to those values. And, you know, whether that's an extreme change or, I mean, it could just be as simple as like, oh, I'm. I'm going to give up coffee because I want to sleep better, because I feel like, you know, I feel like that that's an issue that I'm dealing with. Like, I mean, it can be that simple to something more complex. But I think just being able to allow yourself the time to step back and take a breath and really find value in finding your values or, you know, recognizing what they are.

Yeah, that's great. I love that. And a great note to wrap up on. So, Steph, if people want to follow along with you online, obviously Girl vs Doe is the site. Are there any other places that they can catch you online?

Yeah, I'm on Instagram. Um, it's Girl underscore versus underscore Doe. And that's. Yeah, that's usually where I am most talkative these days, so they can find me there.

Awesome. Thanks so much for coming on the podcast and sharing your story. We're really excited about what's next for you guys and we'll be sure to follow along.

Hello, beautiful listeners. Alexa here bringing you the reviewer of the week. And this one comes from Alyssa from the blog Simply Quinoa. And it says, I've had so much fun listening and can't wait for more episodes. As someone who's been blogging for quite some time, it's always refreshing and inspiring to hear from other bloggers who've gone through similar challenges and have been able to build a business doing something they love. Thanks so much, Alyssa. We really appreciate it and I feel like this episode was the perfect example of that. Stephanie's advice and her experiences, I think are something that a lot of us as bloggers, influencers, business owners can all relate to. So I really appreciated her honesty and just her story in general. So I hope you enjoyed this episode as well. Thank you so much for tuning in. We so appreciate you. And as always from everyone here at FPP hq, make it a great week.