077 - Happy Launch Day! Antonio Neves Guest Hosts (Part 1)

Hi, this is Charles Michael Davis. Toyotathon is on. So stop by your local Toyota dealer for incredible year end deals on the cars, trucks and SUVs known for their legendary reliability. Like the stylish and efficient Camry. The ready for anything rav4. Or check out a rough and rugged Tacoma or Tundra. All with great financing and lease options available to qualified customers. Visit buyatoyota.com to find out more. Toyota. Let's go places.

You didn't say these words, but I heard you say out loud, I'm worth it. I am worth this investment. Is that accurate?

Yeah. Yeah. I felt like, who's gonna bet on me if not me? Like who? Who? I know me. I know what's in my head. I know what's in my heart.

This is your time. How can we earn twice as much in half the time with joy and ease while serving the high? That is our guiding question here at the Freetime Cafe, your home for heart based business. I'm your host, Jenny Blake. Join me for conversations with authors, friends and fellow business owners as we explore ways to free your mind, time and team to do your best work. Now onto today's show.

Hello. Hello my friends. Happy launch day. It is official free time. Lose the busy work love. Your business is out. What does that mean? It means if you pre ordered, those books should be arriving today, if not this week and I would love your help. Please leave a rating, a review if you can. That is not the point of today. When I was thinking about who could help me launch this book, I'm sick of myself. I. I'm always talking about me and talking about the book. Who can I bring? Who will have this vibrant launch day energy where we could just jam, talk about life, books, business, and without a doubt, it's my friend, Antonio Neves. Tony and I have known each other for 10 years. He did the first video interview for me for one of his shows. He's a career journalist, award winning journalist, world renowned speaker, he's a success coach. He just published his own book, Stop Living on Autopilot and host of his fantastic the Antonio Neves show podcast. But I just love Tony so much. He has the greatest energy, the biggest smile, the brightest personality. I had so much fun jamming. We've had multiple back and forths for our two podcasts. So without further ado, Tony, welcome to the show.

Yeah, I'm taking the reins from you right now. Jenny Blake. Congratulations. It's launch day once again. Everyone get out there and buy this book. I'm lucky enough to have it in my hand right now as we gear up to do our conversation. Jenny, I'm so excited for you. I'm honored to be your friend. I'm honored to be mentioned in the book. You see my quote on the back of the book. This is huge. So you're in for a treat today. And if y' all didn't notice, Jenny made that intro a little bit longer than it probably should have been, because the roles are reversed today. I'm asking the question. So we're about to get real, and we're gonna start with a real question I'm curious about. You know, I've heard you say in podcasts and different things over the years how there are some, like, social media things you've just chosen not to commit to, not to put your energy to, because you got to be all in or not all in. And people do that with different outcomes. They want, et cetera. Here's a question as it relates to your book. What outcome does Jenny Blake want from this book? You know, this is multiple books for you. Do you care about lists? Wall Street Journal list, New York Times list, et cetera. The bigger question, this is a long question to get started, is what does success look like for you with a book today?

Yeah. Ooh. It's such a good question. I think you must be psychic, because I'm here in a recording studio today, and I was just recording an episode on why launch? The stress can snowball during a launch. And one of the things is that I think going for lists, there is an element of gamification, like, who of us doesn't like having a target? Sometimes a numerical target. And we aim and we try to go for it, and there's little hits of dopamine along the way. So it's really hard. The lists are like this magnet that they're like a siren. What's the myth of the sirens in the ocean who are, like, alluring you? Closer and closer? I told myself with free time, with Pivot as well. I was like, pivot was my second book. And I just said, I don't care. I truly don't care. And then with free time, the pre order sales were actually rolling. Thank you all who are here listening, who already bought the book. And someone said, you know, jb, you're kind of close. You could actually make a list. And then, dang it, that part of my brain turned back on.

And I think there's part of me that I just hold it as a paradox. Wouldn't it be fun to try as Long as that does not create unnecessary and additional stress. So, yes, I'm gonna do some things to try to give the launch week a really full feeling, that I gave it my best and I gave it my all, and I generated that word of mouth and that buzz, and I really have no expectations of hitting the list. But I will say that when people do hit the list, I mean, it can be not just an ego thing of, ooh, I got the badge, I have the trophy. Look at me. But it actually can generate a lot of sales because once it's on the list, people see it and they go, what's that? Maybe I should check out that book. And so it is a good marketing tactic, if you can swing it.

Yeah, I think it's an awesome tactic. And, you know, it's good for ego, it's good for sales, et cetera. It can make a big difference in speaking fees, different things that you get. I think when my book came out a year ago and it did not hit any list, in a way it broke my heart. And now that I'm back on the road in a way that I wasn't because of the pandemic and I'm seeing all of the sales that are happening now, I'm kind of like, dog, why wasn't this happening? At the same time, why did this doggone pandemic have to happen? But hey, we're here for a reason. And this book is a success regardless, because you wrote it. You said something pretty interesting right there from a framing perspective. You said, wouldn't it be fun to try? Wouldn't it be fun to try? Can you just talk about that ethos? Because as I think about you, your journey, your career, the pivots that you've made, some people could, I can't believe she left Google. They could be saying that about so many years ago. How has quote unquote, wouldn't it be fun to try showed up in your life?

Well, I say in pivot that high net growth individuals and free time is for high net freedom individuals, that we don't have fomo, we have font fear of not trying. I have some stubborn streak in me that I want to know I tried. I don't mind rejection if I know that I tried. So even with life after college, I remember thinking, I thought I would self publish it, mostly because I was afraid to even try to get an agent and a book deal. I didn't know a single author at that time. I didn't know what the hell I was doing. And I got an agent Through a really magical, serendipitous thing. And I got 27 rejections. One publisher said yes. A traditional publisher, it was a small press called Running Press. And that's it. Even Tim Ferriss four hour workweek, he had the same number of rejections. 27 rejections and one said yes. And I think what I learned from that is that the rejections are all different. So some people will say, your platform's not big enough, you have no hook. Nobody's gonna buy this book. College people don't buy books. This book would only work if you completely revamped it or restructured it. Same thing happened with Pivot. The same thing could have happened with Freetime, though I totally circumvented it by going rogue and going fully independent publishing this one. So I just don't like anybody, let alone myself to tell me what I can and can't do. I would rather try and know that if everybody rejects me, it's still not the end of the story. It just is a sign that I'm meant to go a slightly different way. So that's my feeling. That's been a theme throughout my life. I mean, I thought I would go to college on the East Coast. I applied to all these east coast schools and got rejected from most of them. So I ended up at UCLA and I was quite happy there. But it wasn't my intention to go there. It was always my intention to be out on the East Coast.

Yeah, it's a good reminder that to your point that it's not the end of the story no matter where you stand today. Right. We can start a brand new story. But you said something interesting there about how this book is different than your other two in that you're approaching it from an independent publishing perspective and you're not playing that game. I firsthand know what it's like also to get rejected by tons of publishers. And it's interesting when you finally have that one that does pick you. Like for my book, it was Penguin Random House. And all of a sudden I felt validated, I felt verified because they chose me. But I want to hear about you and your willingness to say, hey, I'm not going to go that direction. I'm not going to play that game. I'm actually going to make a choice to invest in myself. How did you come to that decision?

So you and I both, I think, have been self employed for a similar amount of time. There comes a point I'm going on 11 years in where I am running a delightfully tiny team. With agile operations, with full creative control, with super well oiled systems, machines. And I'm not perfect as a business owner by any stretch. However, it gets harder and harder to imagine taking that joy, ease and efficiency and then plugging it into a bigger bureaucratic system and process. And just like you, when I got the book deal from Penguin Random House for Pivot, the portfolio division, I'm not gonna lie, I felt so validated. That was huge. And I, to this day I'm so proud. And walking into their offices, I don't know if you had this moment at all in New York or la, or when I got to go to their offices in London. Seeing the Penguin logo in the lobby and having that been on the spine of all the books I read as a kid. Just having awe, like I'm here, I'm in this lobby, I did it, I made it and I'm so proud and I would never change that and I wouldn't take it back. And I feel so grateful that I had that at least once. And then with this book, the world was upside down and everything was changing so fast and I just saw the writing on the wall that if I would go the traditional route, the book wouldn't even be out until late 2023 if that. And I just felt that the whole purpose of the book is about joy and ease and efficiency. I wouldn't be living the message of the book. That's kind of what I realized if I tried to fit a round peg in a square hole of the traditional process.

That's a fascinating reminder, I think for all of us, you wouldn't be living the message of the book. And how many of us, and I've been guilty of that as well, of not pressing send, of not pressing publish, of not pressing record because of these external things that we have so little control of, but we have more control than we think we actually do. Let's dig in deeper because I'm a firm believer that all of us, that we all should be our biggest angel investors, we love to seek out sponsors from other people, right? We want this person to co sign this, et cetera. But I know you've been your biggest angel investor for the longest time and how you've run your business and something that's coming up for me is I remember when you just started the Free Time brand and I think the email went out or I saw something and I went to the website and I was just blown away by the design and the thought and the intention that went behind it. And I remember leaving You a voice note or I sent you a text message or something like that.

I loved that.

And I was just like, yo, Jenny, this is beautiful. This is art right here. This is great. And I want you to talk about this a little bit. We won't get into specific numbers, but you basically sent me a note back saying, hey, thank you, because that was not free. There was an investment, a substantial investment involved to make it look so beautiful, which I now can see obviously on your book as well. So can you talk about even those kind of investments long before this book even came out?

Yes. And I don't mind talking numbers. I have to say thank you to you because we had been working on this brand behind the scenes for months, at least four months, with the design agency. They're called Go Together or Together Agency. I'll put it in the show notes. And you were one of the first people. You did leave a voice note and you said something. Gosh, the way you put it. I saved it. I'm sure I saved it. But you're like, I feel elated. Like, when I see your homepage, I feel so energized and inspired and joyful. And you had said the exact words that we had put in the brand strategy of like, how do we want people to feel when they interact with the brand and the site and free time. To me, it started with a heart, the flying money emoji and the blue joe coffee cup. I talked about this with my friend Adam, the co founder of Together. I think it was episode 33 or 34. And to have you see it and just have those feelings was like, we did it, it worked. And it's working. And the fact that you would land there and feel something, be moved, be inspired, have a jaw drop moment, like, oh, it just made the whole project worth it. Tony, I can't begin to tell you, like, your words alone. And I think the reason I talk about money and I know sometimes I hesitate, I'm like, is this tmi? Is this too much? Is this me trying to make myself feel better about how much goes in? But I guess I feel so strongly that as fellow business owners, how helpful it is to share numbers and to say what you are seeing cost this so you could just make some choices. I think you might have even said, like, looks like you got some help. Or I don't know, you. You might have asked something of like, how did you do this even?

No, I think I said, this looks expensive because this looks good.

Yeah. And like, even I've had people say, don't tell people how much it costs to create the book or print the books, but I find it so much more interesting. We're all, at least most of the people here are business owners. The numbers count and there's nothing wrong with them. So I think, I don't know what's wrong with me, but in terms of how much money I invest, especially this year, I think with the pandemic, and I did lose about 70 to 80% of my income right away in those first two weeks, it all got wiped off, just like you, because you and I both do a lot of keynote speaking. And yes, I still have licensing and pivot coaching in the private community, but the vast majority, and I will tell you the cash flow that lubricated my business and kept the lights on the most consistently with speaking. And I was getting paid, you know, 15K, let's say on average, sometimes more, sometimes less. But I was doing a one or two a month. And when that all vanished two years out into the future, it was a tough month. I try not to complain about that time because so many people had it so much harder. But, oh my God, it just felt like riding the craziest rollercoaster. And I felt sick to my stomach. And it was my worst business fears coming true, not just in the moment, but again, two years out into the future. So I think by the time I settled myself and it was about six months later, and I started to get excited about free time, then I got this crazy idea that really, life is short and I'm 10 years in. They say it's 10 years to an overnight success. What would happen if I just went all in now? What would this look like? And I'm so lucky to have mentors and friends that said, bet on yourself, you know, do it. And so I sold a house. I had a property in California that I bought in my mid-20s when I was working at Google. I sold it. I basically gave myself permission not to earn any extra money in the entire year of 2021. And I spent big chunks, like probably 40k on the podcast, an initial brand setup and strategy, and then another 40k on book design for free time and the interior, and then another 40k on, you know, initiating the independent publisher and the editors and the refinements. And then printing is about 100k, all while not earning very much. So this is either like the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life or the smartest and the jury's out. And it could go either way. But I just wanted to know that I tried and I also Sorry, now I'm rambling, but the last thing I'll say is that I wanted to know that once in my life I executed a creative vision fully. Like, this book is beautiful and I'm not afraid to say it because I gave it everything I have. You will not even see a hyphenated word that doesn't already have a hyphen in it on the right hand side of the pages. The ribbon, the gold foil. Like I wanted to know what was possible if I took a vision in my head and made it real. And I was willing to invest in that really for the first time ever of like all out.

We'll be right back just after this.

This holiday season, there's no better place to get cozy holiday gifts for all your people than Aerie. From soft sweaters to everyday intimates and activewear, Aerie has the comfiest pieces made for the real you. And don't forget to treat yourself too, while you're at it. You've earned it. Find your nearest aerie store or shop online@aerie.com Give Love Real.

When the holidays start to feel a bit repetitive, reach for a Sprite Winter Spiced Cranberry and put your twist on tradition. A bold Cranberry and Winter Spice Flavor Fusion Sprite Winter Spice Cranberry is a refreshing way to shake things up. This sip and season, and only for a limited time. Sprite Obey your thirst.

This is an absolutely gorgeous book.

Thank you.

I'm not just saying that. And the fact that you have this ribbon in there, which I don't know why more books don't have ribbons because.

It'S $2 a book. What publisher is gonna allow that? You know, that's why.

Cause you know you didn't use this word while you're describing everything, Jenny. But you approach this like an artist. And I think you're married to an artist as well, so maybe that has had a byproduct on what you do. But you what you just described for me as you were talking. Let's talk about that for a second. Because I didn't hear the mindset of a business owner. What I heard was an artist, a creative, talking about things. So do you delineate, bifurcate those two things? Business owner, artist. When does business, business owner Jenny, show up and when does artist show up? Or are those all just one person?

I know it's an interesting question, and I don't want to sound flippant about the money involved. Again, like I said, I like to just be real about it. And I'm normally pretty conservative and I've been pretty frugal in my life. But, yes, this was a time where I really let the creative lead in a way, also because I had more creative control, also because I didn't want to do it 60% of the way. Like, by the time I'm selling a house to fund my life and the business, that's a really big deal. Because that house I used to picture, like, if all else fell apart, I could be 80. Like, living in this little. I'd have a roof over my head somewhere, you know, and there would never have been a time prior to the chaos of 2020 and 2021 where I ever, ever, ever would have allowed myself to sell an asset just to live or to fund a new project. Now, creating a book, in a way, I've created an asset because that book can now go be a great marketing tool and promote the other elements of the business. I don't know if it's my Libra side. My dad's an artist and an architect. My mom's a landscape architect. So I definitely was raised with an appreciation of aesthetics. And yes, being married to an artist, I think with traditional publishing having done it twice, so much of it is a compromise. And both Life After College and Pivot, I spent three years working on those. And there would be elements of it. Now sometimes that compromises for the best, like they've hired an incredible editor or portfolio is the one that I sold the book to them as the Pivot method. And they said it should just be called Pivot. Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant. But I think I felt that often those projects I would ask for things or little visual touches and just would always hear no. So for the first time with free time, I just wanted to say yes, Let the artist free and things like the ribbon. So many people talk about the ribbon, and I knew they would. The very first question I asked Rohit at IdeaPress, Can I have a ribbon? And he said, anything you can think to ask. The answer is yes. And he approached it as such a collaboration. And that ribbon was this, like, almost thorn in the side of the whole printing process because, oh, the books are delayed because we need to source the ribbon material. Oh, the books are delayed. We need to hand stitch the ribbon. Oh, the books cost two extra dollars each to print because of the ribbon. And yet at every step, I was unwilling to let the ribbon go. And I'm so glad it's this little moment of joy and it's the most practical Application. What does a ribbon do? It saves your place. I'm giving the gift like I'm living the message again. And so I think that you said, why don't more books have this? Because most publishers will want to take that $2 as profit, period, end of story. And unless you are Brene Brown, even then, you know she got this gorgeous four color spread for Atlas of the Heart. But it's very hard to kind of go to bat if you're a mid sized author like me for those creative touches.

I'm so glad you did it. I think the first book I saw with, you know, the ribbon in there was maybe something by Brendon Bouchard quite a few years back. I love, I haven't loved the color that you chose. I love how you describe the relationship sometimes because something is always interesting. For me as a business owner. If I'm working with someone, if I'm paying someone that they can make money off of me. If I feel like when I request something like I'm asking for a favor, like the dynamics are off if you are paying for something but it feels like you're asking for a favor or a solid. And I find myself in some business situations like that, even with people I paid and I'm like, wait a second, something is off. And guess what? Typically when something is off, that means I messed up somewhere in setting the tone. I didn't give clear expectations, so I'll take responsibility for that. But what I heard you say and everything you just shared, which I love, is you said the words I want to know. I tried. And there are so many people listening right now that they probably know that they haven't really, really tried, that they have not gone all in. I'm going to speak for Jenny right now. We are giving you permission to go all in. We are giving you permission to try because you need it. We all need it. I want to nerd for a quick second. Jenny, you used the word invest multiple times and you're a business guru. I love your systems. I use them. There's probably a technical way to answer this, but maybe you can answer however you want. How does Jenny Blake distinguish between an expense and an investment?

I'm going to nerd for a minute. As a verb. That's brilliant.

It's such a good question. Do we ever know Tony? I mean, really? Okay, I learned from Seth Godin and he said an expense is something that disappears once you spend it. So even paying the rent, let's say you're renting an apartment. It's an expense. And then an investment is something that goes toward creating an asset. So I think of an investment, it's really hard to know, and this is something that I wish people talked more about is that we don't always know and what does it mean to take risks in the business. And risks with our investment is that I can feel it's the right thing to do, but I can't know. I feel super happy with the brand strategy. Part of me would ask, shoot, should that 80 grand have gone to a 401k? I mean, should it have gone to my wardrobe? I have no clothes. My clothes don't fit anymore. There's a pre 2020self that the closet is dressing and it's not me. And there are probably so many other things I could have done with that money, but I don't regret it. But it can be hard to know. So I follow my intuition a lot and a lot of people in business say not to do that, but it has always served me. I think of an investment as I just think it's important where the money is spent. Is there a business backend that could 10x the return with printing the books? Not necessarily on the printed book in this case, but if the book does really well and it helps grow the podcast and my private community and free time coaching and licensing and keynote speaking, those are my main extensions, then it could absolutely earn back and then some for many, many years. That's what I saw with Life After College and Pivot. So all these risks that I'm talking about, they're not really out of nowhere. It's kind of like, okay, I've tested this twice now, and both times the book did generate five years worth of income. So could free time generate 10 years? Could it generate lifetime? You know what's possible. And I will say that this feels like there is the most excitement. A lot of people resonated with Pivot. I mean, all of them. Everybody knew someone who was graduating or they themselves were with Pivot. Everybody knew someone who was going through change or they themselves and with free time, who doesn't want that? But this book does feel like it has the most buzz and excitement. I know it's only day one of the launch, but I think that's what will be the test of the investment is can I pay myself back and then show that this has increase my earning power? I guess that's the business investment, not just the soul investment aspect.

I selfishly love that you got your art out because I do view this as art the different part of the brain that showed up. And so I think a lot of us entrepreneurs, business people that like to think only X's and O's, there is art, there is creativity that we have not given ourselves permission to release out there, things we've been afraid to say, you and I, prior to hitting record, we're like, man, we should record on this. But there are hesitations. But more than anything, what I really heard you say throughout, that when you think about selling a home that could generate long term income, et cetera, is one, you're not shortsighted. You think big picture. But you didn't say these words. But I heard you say out loud, I'm worth it. I am worth this investment. Is that accurate?

Yeah. Yeah. I felt like, who's going to bet on me if not me? Like who?

Who?

I know me. I know what's in my head. I know what's in my heart. And by the way, part of this is my stubborn streak that I wanted this book to go to bat with the big boys. As I say, like, I want this book to stand up on its own on a bookshelf. The feeling that you have of that it's an art book, it's a design book, it makes me so happy and I'm so grateful because that's what I wanted to show with this. I actually wanted to show what's possible for books. Something that's an honor to do as well.

That wraps up part one on this conversation with my dear friend Tony Nebz. Stay tuned next week for part two where we talk about how life is like chapters in a book, if not entirely new books. When we go through major change. And the one thing I reveal in free time that I have never shared publicly before, you're gonna hear it live on the podcast if you haven't yet read the book. So tune in next week. And again, if you haven't already gotten your copy, now is the time. Please rate and review, especially on Amazon this week. It would be an enormous help. Thank you so much, everybody. Thanks for being here for listening and see you next week for part two.

If you've listened this far, you get a gold star.

Thank you.

Word of mouth is the most joyful way we can grow this show and it helps us land interviews with the luminaries and insightful guests that you would most love to hear from. Please send this episode to a friend who might find it helpful. And for show notes and related links from this episode, visit itsfreetime.com while you're there. Make sure you're subscribed to the Time well Spent newsletter. You'll get instant access to my Tech Toolkit, a container continually updated list of all the software I use along with the total monthly spend. To run my business where no one works full time even me, visit itsfreetime.com join remember you are running the show. It's time for radical reimagining and everything.

Is up for grabs.

Let it be easy, let it be fun and build with love.

Hey Ryan Reynolds here wishing you a very happy half off holiday because right now Mint Mobile is offering you the gift of 50% off unlimited. To be clear, that's half the price, not half the service. Mint is still premium unlimited wireless for a great price. So that means half day. Yeah, give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront.

Payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow 135 gigabytes of network busy taxes and fees extra cmn.