38. Pamela Jean - A New Life on Cashflows

Hello, entrepreneurs, dreamers, business owners, and happy people with high hopes. Welcome to Cash Flows with your host, Cash Matthews.

All right. Welcome to Cash Flows. Good afternoon. We are glad you're here. I am Cash Matthews. I'm the host today, and this show is sort of named after me a little bit, Kenneth. Just a little bit. But, you know, it implies that I'm talking, which is something I do. A little bit.

A little bit.

Yeah. So let's. Before we get going. How are you, sir?

I'm doing great. How are you?

I mean, I just. I'm good. Everything feels pretty good. I obviously look pretty good. Yeah. And that's.

That's what I was. That was the first thing I was going to say right there.

Still living indoors, and, yeah, things are going according plan.

Awesome.

So glad to be here today. So Cash Flows is here today to promote, you know what. What we would call the good life. And so whether it's business or personal, financial, physical, we bring leaders in from the community that they can share their story, that you might glean one or two things that could help you build your story. So we're glad you're here. The show is Cash Flows, and I'd like to officially introduce my good friend, coconspirator in cash flows, Mr. Kenneth Bauckham. Hello, Kenneth. Hello. Officially now introduced.

Oh, I'm so glad I could be here for that.

Yeah. This has been a lot of fun, huh?

Yeah. Yeah.

Working with entrepreneurs every day.

Oh, yeah.

I. Last night, I was on my Commodore 64, and I was online, and I got into. Well, I'd received a new AOL disc in the mail, you know, the thing, and that I kind of put them all together, had an extra 15 minutes online. Yep. Yeah.

Yeah.

And so I, you know, I did my dial up, made sure I didn't go over my minutes. Right. And I got into an entrepreneurial chat room.

Yeah.

For country entrepreneurs.

Oh, okay.

It was pretty awesome.

And primarily, those who still have dial.

Up, I would guess they were all on dial up. They were all digging the new Commodore 64. All right. It's a little bit older.

It is.

And anyway, I got into one of the chat rooms, and one of the guys on there, a guy named Stu. Bob.

Stub.

Stu Bob. You know, he.

I feel like I've met him somewhere.

Apparently knows you and wanted to ask you a question before we got the show going, and he said, could you ask Kenneth a question for me? And I went, yeah, I'd be happy to do that. And so his question for you was Kenneth. And I'VE got it right here. Here's his question. From Stu Bob to Kenneth. Hey, Kenneth, what's a guy like you doing in a nice place like this?

Well, Stu Bob, thank you so much for your question and for your interest in my life and my whereabouts, apparently.

Yes.

So here's the thing. We keep running into all these, like, secret society kind of things. Right, Right. We've joked about a couple of them here on the show. And these questions keep kind of blowing my cover, too, because, honestly, I've been promoted again.

I get it.

It's a new thing every day. I'm now the undercover agent for the secret society of politeness. So I'm kind of, you know, just checking on people, making sure we have all the mannerisms the way they need to be.

I like it. And I think politeness is kind of secret these days.

It seems to be, especially for those on the anonymous interwebs.

Yeah, yeah, we need to work on that. It'd be nice if we had a little bit nicer country to live in. Just, you know, be nice to each other.

Yeah, be nice to each other.

All right. So you are in charge of that?

Well, I'm an undercover agent, so not in charge, But I report to the people, and they pass it on to their people and.

Got it. Yeah, the people. All right.

The people. Yes.

Well, very cool. Well, we are excited today to have a local business coach in our midst, Mrs. Pamela Jean. I'm going to mess this up many times, I'm sure. Pamela Jean, welcome to the show.

Thank you so much for having me. Cash, it's an honor.

We are glad to have you. Before we go too far, if you want to reach out, you'll love this show today because she coaches entrepreneurs on balance and business and other things that are relevant to your life. And these are things you probably put down on your goal sheet recently. So we are so excited about this show. You can reach Pamela Jean new life. Am I saying it right? No, give it to.

Sure. It's Pamela Jean a new life dot com.

There. You left out an A.

They wouldn't have found me without the.

A. Pamela Jean a new life Dot com. Pamela Jean a new life dot com. Thank you for that correction. And, well, thank you for being here.

My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Well, we were excited to meet you. Now, we met through this business owners networking group.

Yes. Correct.

But we only met online.

Correct.

And so this is kind of that awkward first date that we're having here. Videotaping for all the.

Exactly. This is a little awkward, but it's good. It'll be good.

Well, one of our goals this year as we were doing our goal planning was to do like 1151 on ones before the middle of January.

And you're doing it.

And we're videotaping.

I'm glad we are.

And you're doing it. That's so good.

Like it's actually happening. Okay. Well, we're excited that you're here. Well, Pamela, we want to hear about your story. Now, when did you find the Bong Group? Have you been a member there for a while?

Probably about two years ago. I found the Bong group or a year ago. I'm not sure exactly, but I've been a lurker and a reader when I have time. My client schedule is really tight and busy, so I don't have a lot of time to make the coffees or the lunches and things like that because my calendar is quite full. But I love watching the camaraderie and the group come together in unity and support one another. And that's what it takes in business, is we have to have support. Being an entrepreneur is a lonely thing. It's a very lonely, isolating thing at times. So having a group where you can network and talk to and find all of the solutions to the problems you have is really amazing.

So you've been able to see it grow up from probably almost nothing to where it is today.

Exactly, yes. Every time I turn around, welcome new members. Welcome new members. Growing so much. But what I think is so amazing and inspiring, honestly, a person puts out a call and there's probably 25 responses almost immediately talking about, oh, I know this source. I have a person. I know a guy. I know a girl, I know a woman. There's no question that doesn't get answered in the Bond group.

Yeah, it's. You know, we had. We've had so many of these things come through and just to watch the answers. And I'm, you know, even though we started the Bond group, I look at it and we're amazed by how many people come on and solve problems for other people.

Exactly.

And I think we all need people.

We do need people. And that's the thing. The group has gotten so big, there's no way you could humanly possible navigate all of it. But the entrepreneurs, I think, are givers. Entrepreneurs are people that are willing to step up to the plate. They're workers, they're visionaries. They're. They're going to step up and help who they can help.

Yeah. And so that's been not just on a business level, but on a personal level. Two months ago, I lost my dad. The bond group shows up and they did a food thing, and people are showing up at the. I mean, it was beautiful. Not as a business thing, but as a human thing. And the human side of entrepreneurship. It is beautiful.

It is. It's about relationships. And that's something that I learned a long time ago when I started my first company was it is about relationships. It's relationships first. Always.

Yeah. And that way, after the business, you have something.

Exactly.

You know, and so we're glad to be part of the bong. And one of the things I like about it is just that I get to be one of the guys, not the guy.

Right.

And, you know, that way I meet people like Kenneth and Lori Zeller and many of these people that now make my life a lot better.

Right.

So anyway, well, we're glad you're here. So let's talk about how you decided to go into business, and I want to hear a little bit about your business history.

Sure.

I know you've done a lot of things. I know you and Laurie were good friends or still good friends many, many years later. And what inspired you to be an entrepreneurial type person?

Well, I think like most entrepreneurs and small business owners, not all, but a lot of entrepreneurs start out with the love of something. They have a passion for something, whether it's taking care of animals or photography or whatever it is, we have a passion for something. And it was no different for myself. I worked in a marketing, marketing company for a bank, local bank up in northwest Iowa is where I started. And I was working in marketing. One of my assignments was to work with a commercial photographer and get all of the shots we needed for the annual report. So I'm following this photographer around and showing him, here's our family to do a. For the real estate section, et cetera. And I got to thinking, photography is like a business. I could do that and make money and make a living. Oh, my God. It never occurred to me that that could actually be a business. So that's where it really started, because it was a hobby of mine for most of my life. And I started playing with the idea of, you know what? I'm going to quit my marketing job at the bank and I'm going to start a studio. But here's the thing, Cash. I didn't know anything about anything.

Right.

And I think at 21 years old, ignorance is bliss when it comes to starting a business, because I didn't know what I didn't know. And there was a lot of power in not knowing what I didn't know.

A lot of freedom in that.

Oh, my gosh, so much. And I wasn't really down the wisdom trail long enough to really think about the things I should be worried about because I didn't know they existed yet. So there was a blessing there for sure. But I started my studio when I was 21 years old. Didn't even know how to open a light stand. I knew how to compose and how to light, but I didn't know a lot of the mechanics. And I dove in with both feet. I mean, head first.

So. And I have so many questions I want to ask you. I love entrepreneurship. I mean, when did it really hit you that you had. That you were an entrepreneur at heart? Was there a moment where you went, this is how I am?

Yes. When about three months after I had left my bank job, my supervisor of the bank, the VP of marketing, came back to me and said, hey, how's it going? Do you want to, you know, we can find a spot for you if you want to come back. And I'm like, I am never going back, so find someone else. Your position. I'm where I'm supposed to be. So that was a very. It didn't take me very long to realize that that's what I was meant to do.

Wow. I mean, that's a test as well, because those first three months of entrepreneurship, they can be kind of scary.

Kind of. Oh, my gosh. Well, but it really wasn't because I was doing something I loved and I was working towards something that I knew I was meant to do. Not just as a passion for photography and a love for something, but I knew I'm a lover of the Lord, and it was a God move for me that this is what I was meant to do. And here's something that I think is so important as a photographer. For 34 years, I got to be the very first person to create an image for a tiny human, for a baby. And I think about families sitting around the table looking at pictures of their grandparents and great grandparents. Who was the person that pushed that button for the first time? Who was that that got to document this, this person's life from day one and create those legacies. So I knew that it was a legacy driven business. It was about relationships. It was about creating something for people that they couldn't create for themselves.

Right. I think that's beautiful. And the story, you're 21 years old, you Leave a decent job.

It's a great job. I loved my job.

And then they loved you enough to come back and try to get you to do it again. But you had the wherewithal and maturity to go. You know what? No. This is what I'm supposed to do exactly. Well, in that timing of you being a young entrepreneur by choice, were there coaches like you out in the world that you could go to? Did you have anybody to turn to, right?

Oh, my gosh. Not. There's not. There was no Internet then still. I mean, it wasn't like it obviously is today. So there were, you know, conferences I could go to, groups that I could connect with. It was a lot of learning from school of hard knocks, to be honest. It was just learning by making mistakes and figuring it out and then don't make that mistake again.

Right.

And okay, can I just share one other thing on that note? Because what I think made my business successful in the beginning early is because I didn't have a choice. It wasn't optional to not make money and income for my family. So I learned really early on that good, solid business decisions were necessary. There wasn't an option of, oh, well, if I don't succeed, it doesn't matter. Failure wasn't an option. Not succeeding was not an option. But I also knew if this gig doesn't work for me, I'm employable, I'll go get another job. But I wanted it to work and it had to work. So I made really good business decisions early on and learned that that was the key of long term success.

Okay, So I love, I love, yes, I love the attitude is, I can't fail. I don't have an option.

Right.

And most people, that. A lot of people come into entrepreneurship because they love something. There's another number of people that come in because they're just left no other choice. And we see that here in this communities of people. They lost a spouse, a job, and the world has changed so drastically. We see lots of people entering entrepreneurship. Not, I mean, maybe they have something they love, but they got thrust into the role. And it's so great that we have coaches for those people now because these times are very different. Like, I didn't have a business coach. I was 20. And the people that brought me into my business all quit and they're like, hey, shut off the lights when you leave. And yeah, that was like week number one. I'm like, oh, man. But it's great that you can do that. But you had to have challenges along the way. You're determined, you're good at what you do, you have something you enjoy doing very much. But talk about the challenges. There had to be another side to this story. And what were they and how did you manage to overcome them?

Right. I think one of the biggest challenges was keeping all of the spinning plates spinning.

Oh, man.

Because there's so many of them. And in business you have, you know, the pricing, the sales, the client care, you have the taxes, you have the marketing, the budgeting, you have everything to spin. And when you're new, you don't have the luxury of, oh, I'll just hire someone. Because I don't like doing xyz, so I'm going to hire someone to do everything that I don't want to do.

Right.

That's not really an option either. You have to have certain levels of income before you can afford an employee. And that's where a lot of entrepreneurs get that wrong, is they think, oh, I'm going to hire someone to sell because I hate sales. I don't want to do sales, I'm going to hire someone. Well, you don't have enough money to pay anyone for anything, so you're going to have to learn to love it for a while until you grow at a certain level. So I think the challenges were in the beginning is establishing a balance. Obviously, when I started my studio, I did everything, everything and anything. You know, it's like, your dog needs a picture. I'll take it. You know, you would do anything just to keep the cash flow coming. But what I realized was cash flow just not to play any.

There's a reason we named it this Play Off.

You know, cash flow is different than what stays in your pocket. Cash flow flows through your business. It's not your profit level. But what I understood is getting to figure out what was just flowing through the business and what actually was staying and focus on the areas of my business that were creating the profits that stay stayed in my pocket. So that became more of a niche. But balancing all of those plates, plus my family, and I'll be the first to admit I didn't do that well in the beginning because I love to work so much. I praise God that I don't need a lot of sleep because I don't sleep a lot. So I would put my. When I had my son, I would put him to bed at 8 o' clock and I would stay up and work until his two o' clock feeding. I would feed him. Then I would go to bed and get up at 6 and start all over. So I'm grateful that I don't require a lot of sleep, because I don't. But I worked a lot, and getting that family balance was important. Not always the easiest, but it is doable. You have to be a planner, a block scheduled planner. And I'm incredible at planning.

We've had several people talk about block planning, and so I think that must be a thing.

Yes, it is a thing. But here's what's really fun, is raising kids while being an entrepreneur and bringing them into the fold of business. And they were responsible, my children, of giving me their schedules, their calendars. So if you have a basketball schedule, turn your schedule into mom as soon as you have it. As long as I know ahead of time, I can schedule my work around your activities and be there for those things. It required them to be responsible of turning in their schedules to mom to make sure I've got it in plenty of time to mark it on my calendar and be there for those events. And that was important to me as.

A mother, well, as. As a father, a guy that I've been an entrepreneur my whole life and. But I also, when we finally had children, like, you can't get that time back.

Nope.

And, you know, I think you're left with that choice of how do I balance? I really. I like, I enjoy, I love what I do. I always have. But how do you balance? I love what I do, and I love my family, and I love myself, and I love golf. I mean, how do you. And, you know, the phrase I use is, you don't want to be who's who in business, but who's he at home?

Correct.

And in a little bit, I know we're going to talk about balance. And I think work life balance is maybe an overused phrase. And it sounds to me like, you know, how to actually plan it in a way that you can accomplish it.

Well, I want to preface one thing. If you're listening to this podcast and you're a new entrepreneur and you're thinking that, oh, I can just work whatever hours I want, I can do whatever I want to do. That is just such a lie. It is such a. It's such a lie. Don't let anyone tell you you can do this and, you know, work, you know, 12 hours a week and make it. That's a lie. That is just false. So anytime I took off to be at a kid's event, that time had to be made up somewhere. So if I took off early at 4 to go to a ball game, of my kids. Well, I still had to make up those hours that I missed at the office. So I don't want people to get a misconception of, I'll just go open my own business and I can work whenever I want to. Well, you can. That's actually true. However, it still requires a heavy load of hours to make a successful business. You just get to allocate when you work, so. Which is why I would work till 2 in the morning sometimes by choice. But it was also out of necessity as well.

Cool. So was there a pivotal moment for you? Was there one thing that happened that really changed the trajectory of you, your business?

I think pivotal moment. I think a pivotal moment is when I got to see the momentum start happening. When you work. Reality is, if you're a new business, if you make it to five years, you're pretty darn lucky.

Yeah.

If you make it to seven years, you're even luckier. If you make it to 10 years, you're there. So I think for me, that first time of really seeing the sales shift and seeing the momentum start happening, that was pivotal to me because it's like, it's happening, it's happening. I was very well aware that if I made it past five years, my chances were pretty darn good.

Sure.

And if I made it past seven years, that's when you really got to see the momentum and the growth.

Right.

And I think I'd really want to pour into people that are thinking about starting a business or in business, and it's hard. Just know that those metrics are real. If you can make it to five years, you're going to be okay.

Right.

You've weathered a big part of the storm. You're going to be okay. Doesn't mean you don't get to stop working at five years, but you're going to be okay after seven years. There's something magical about seven years because that's when you start to see the income just. It just starts coming. I can't explain it, but it happens. And after seven years, that's when you really get to define exactly where your business is going.

Okay, so your pivotal moment then was really just recognizing that you had built momentum.

Exactly.

And momentum is precious in any business. I think we're all trying to figure out how do we build momentum in whatever we do, and we work real hard and then we, you know, we're spinning all these plates. And momentum comes from a lot of places, and sometimes it comes mysteriously. I know in my own career, like I looked up one day and went, oh. And it was at about seven years.

Yes. Isn't it cool, though? You're like, there's something about seven years. It's just. It's crazy, but it's so true. But momentum for me is consistency. It's being consistent in what you do every day. That consistency does have to start with a very clear vision of where you want to be, who you're serving and how you're serving them. Because it's not just about photography. For instance, I started my first studio. Gosh, I was horrible. I was a terrible photographer. I didn't know what I was doing, but I was good with people and I made them feel special and I made them want to be in front of my camera. That was important. I had that figured out. That's something is part of me making people feel very welcome and comfortable. That is something I can do well. But having that consistency and knowing what my goals were and my vision for my business, having that clarity, and then you dig into your consistency and don't deviate, because if you get off your consistency, you're just going to implode. It's not going to go well.

Is that something that can be taught, like how to best. I guess it's communicating with people, but maybe just to view people that they're. They're legitimate people and we should be friends with them and be patient with them. Is that a thing that can be taught to a guy like me who's impatient?

Well, I think anyone can be taught and I think anyone can be influenced and impacted, but it happens in different ways. I think if you're genuine to your belief system and to who you are as a human being, that impact is going to weave its way into Cash and one way or another.

Well, I did. I want to say that I did figure it out.

Good.

And I think the great value in all of. At least in my business and the endeavors that we're all mutually entwined in in the networking world, I think the real beauty is just people and the friendship.

Yes, a thousand percent. And I think what's so interesting is when you as a human, stop taking things personally and you love who you are as a person, nothing else around you impacts you.

Right.

You get to just be the impactor, not the impactee. And you may or may not like me, but Cash, I like me.

Right.

That's all that matters.

And that is all that matters in the relationship.

Exactly. God loves me, and that's all that matters. All I can do is pour my best into you, but it's up to you to. To let it come into you or not.

I like the phrase that God loves me. And I had somebody that was in my world that had wisdom. And he said, cash, God loves you just the way you are. I'm like, yay. I know. And then he said, but he loves you too much to leave you that way.

Exactly. Oh, my gosh.

And that sort of tells of the journey of maturity.

Yep.

Absolutely. And, you know, I think back to when I was 20, when I started my business, and I'm in the financial world, and I had about $3 saved up, and, you know, just that journey, though, of seeking wisdom, seeking maturity, and. But once you find that you've achieved those pieces, I think you and I would agree that it's a lot easier to have confidence moving forward.

Absolutely.

Okay, so I want to ask you, how have you in this world of change? You know, we're all endeavoring great things, but there's a world of change. How have you kept up technologically in this world of change? Because I know that. I mean, we're doing a podcast. There were. There weren't podcasts, you know, 40 years ago when I started.

So fun.

But here we are doing it, and we have, you know, that's a mouse. Whoa. I mean, how awesome is that?

That's fast.

I think everybody, like, they say, oh, you know, the amount of technology in your wristwatch is what we launched the Apollo missions.

Right?

The amount of technology in my mouse is what we launched the Apollo missions. Yeah. I don't know if that's true or not.

It's close, though.

Good selling point for the mouse. Well, yeah, so I'm sorry I interrupted there, and I blame Kenneth. So how do you stay innovative in what you do? I mean, that's technology. That's belief. I mean, innovation comes in a lot of areas. How do you stay innovative?

For me, I think it's always mindset and the intentional ability to accept change and to look at how change can benefit me and. And also recognize how change doesn't benefit me. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Just because there is AI in the world doesn't mean that you should use AI in every area of your business. I think having the ability to recognize what is for me and what is not for me, and that's really important. But that goes back to that consistency and the clear vision of what my business is meant for and the mission behind my business.

So from a technical standpoint, were you shooting on film when you first started?

Yep.

I had a photographer that we used. I love the guy. And, you know, and I remember him telling me how this digital thing was on the way.

Yeah.

And he wasn't going to embrace it.

Right.

And then he embraced it because he.

Didn'T have a choice. That's why he was forced.

Yeah. I don't have a dial up phone anymore and I don't have a CB radio anymore.

Right. Those were cool, though.

They were cool.

What was your handle? Did you have a CB handle?

I don't remember. I wish. I'm going to make up something at the break, but we'll come up with something. Speaking of a break, Kenneth, hey, why don't we say hello to one of our advertisers while we take a moment? Sure. Yeah.

And you can think of that CB handle while we're doing it.

I'm going to work. I need a good CB handle. Like, I don't know. I was a bad driver, but I did have a CB radio. It was the coolest thing ever. When I'm 16, I got like one of the handhelds. Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, I would have been like, I think it was like Captain Neck Fat.

Well, I was thinking like train wreck or something.

Yeah, even that.

Okay. All right, well, let's go ahead and talk to one of our sponsors then.

All right. Thank you.

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All right, thank you, Kenneth. I appreciate that. We are here today with Pamela Jean. Pamela jean a new life.com. she is a business coach. And for those of you who are entrepreneurs, I know you're loving this session we're doing today. And this is probably somebody that we all ought to get to know a little bit better. Because there's a battle between success, significance, and being a good dad or a good husband or a good friend or even take care of ourselves. There's a phrase floating around that I'd never heard before called self care. And is that something you speak into for business owners about making sure to take care of themselves?

Absolutely. If you're not taken care of as a person, if you're not well, nothing in your life will be well. Nothing will be healthy. It all starts with you and I want to speak to the working moms. And I know I'm not a working dad, so I don't know what it's like for you, but as a working mother, it was really difficult to find time for me.

Right.

When you're taking kids from, you know, soccer to basketball, to dance to whatever, you know, there's, it's this, this crazy cycle. There's not a lot of time left for me. My time for me came really early in the morning. Thank goodness I'm an early riser and I don't sleep much. So those are benefits. But the self care time for me is really, really important. You have to have time for you. If you don't make time for you, no one else will and you will burn out, you'll drain out. You will not be at your best. You're not going to grow your business in the way that you want to. You will not grow and nurture your family in the way that you want to. And honestly, you don't want your family, your children to have what's left of you. You want your children to have the best of you. So if you're not doing self care now, that could be everything from taking 30 minutes a day to go sit in a park and read a book, take 15 minutes in the morning and spend some time with God. It could be very small things. It doesn't have to be big, giant things. But as we kick off a new year, go to your calendar right now, today, and schedule vacation, schedule time off period, intentional to be with your kids. It doesn't mean you have to go on an expensive vacation. It could be a staycation. Stay home. There's so much in your backyard that you can do that your kids would love to do. But more than anything, they just want you. They just want you. You are the most important thing to your children. It's you. So schedule your vacation, get it on the calendar, figure it out, make it happen. And that is a hard stop. Nothing. There's nothing that can come up that week that you have scheduled that is more important than your family, Period.

I agree with that 100%. You know, one of the great breakthroughs I had in my business was when I realized that I didn't have to answer the phone on weekends. You know, cell phone technology has been wonderful that we can all run our business from an airplane or a beach or somewhere else. But it also carries with it the.

Equal, problematic blessing and a curse. For sure.

It took me a while to realize, you know, It's Saturday at 1 o' clock and I'm on the golf course, I don't have to answer my phone. And that was liberating for me.

But I think it goes back to establishing your business foundation. I have business hours. I have hours that, that I am working my business. If it's after hours, you will not hear from me. I will not answer my phone, I will not answer my email. If I'm out of the office, I'm out of the office. Now, that doesn't mean I don't peak, because sometimes I got to see really quick. But I'm disciplined enough to know that my family is first. My time off, my self care is really, really important. But also, as a business owner, it's our responsibility to teach our clients how to do business with us. Because cash, if you teach your client that, oh, two o' clock on Saturday, he's gonna respond to me, they're going to expect a response from you every Saturday at 2 o'.

Clock.

If you respond on a Sunday, Sundays are like sacred to me. That is my day and that is my family day. You're not gonna hear from me on a Sunday. But if I respond to clients or do business on Sundays, I'm setting a precedent and an expectation that I will be available for them on Sundays. Now, obviously, you may have a, from time to time that you have to break that rule, but you have to figure out your business fundamentals and your business foundation and stick with it. Because at the end of the day, you're the gatekeeper of what comes into your life and what comes into your home. And you have to follow your own rules.

Truth. Very, very good. I hope people are listening to this, mostly me. Yeah, I'll go back and replay this one first. Well, so we just talked about technology, but what role has technology played in your actual business? Because once again, you said it perfectly. It's a blessing and a curse.

Yes, it is.

Talk about. I mean, surely it's helped you grow your business substantially.

Yes. You know what was really interesting is I started my coaching division about eight years ago, planning it 10 years ago, dug into it eight years ago. So pre Covid, I was already zooming. I was already working with people from all over the country when Covid happened. All of the technology for me was in place. I didn't have to learn Zoom or Meet or whatever the other platforms are. I already had Zoom in place. So that has allowed me, instead of traveling all over the country to meet with businesses in their business, we can Zoom Meet. That cuts down so much on expenses. The expense of traveling to them. I can offer better services for my clients at a much better value than what I would have been able to if I had the expenses of traveling to them. To be able to work with people anywhere, anytime is. Is been really helpful. And that's the coaching side, plus the AI opportunities. You know, I think AI is something that should be embraced. It's. It's like the. You know, think about when black and white film turned to color. Oh, my gosh, think about that. When film turned in digital, that was such a pivotal moment in that industry. It made or make or break for a lot of people. There were some photographers that, you know, I am not doing it. I'm out. I'm done. I'm not learning one more thing. And they chose to close. The people that embraced it. It cut down on our cost of goods by so much. It was insane. Cut down on cost of goods. So as photographers, we could actually be more profitable and not change one thing, not change our pricing, not change anything. Just the cost of goods went down because of film and not processing proofs and all of that. So there were so many benefits. And I think if you look at technology as an opportunity, not as a curse. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you have to do it all. But look at where technology is there to serve you and help you grow your business.

Yeah. Amen. You know, technology has been phenomenal for me, but it's. You know, you can also get lost on the Internet. It's easy to go lose an hour because you went to look up an email and then you check, you know, fake book and cat videos. Cat videos, yeah, yeah, yeah. We have all the technology to change the world and positively impact every human. And we use the Internet for cat videos and arguing with strangers.

I like how you said pausitively, positively.

Yeah, thank you for that.

But the reality is, cash, if you are disciplined in your business and you are loyal to your time, if you're disciplined and loyal to your time, I'm.

Gonna write that down. Loyal to your time.

Loyal to your time.

There's my takeaway right there.

Because if I look at what I have on my calendar today, and you will probably attest to this, I was not the easiest person to schedule, and I apologize for that. But my time is so specific and so detailed, and I'm loyal to my time that I can't do at hen because I already have something there. I don't go down the rabbit hole of Facebook. I mean, hey, I'm down for a Good cat video, right?

Same all of us.

I am so there. But I'm disciplined enough as a human being and as a business owner that I'm loyal to that time. Time, oh, my gosh, is the most precious commodity that we have. God gave you today.

Right.

He. He decided that cash. Your eyes are going to open today, Pamela. Your eyes are going to open today. He decided that I got to wake up today.

Right?

Not everybody got to wake up today.

That's true.

And I am going to be loyal to that time that I've been given. And I'm not going to go down the rabbit hole and waste my time while I'm at work. Because if I waste my time while I'm at work, it's taking from my kids, so taking from my husband, it's taking from my grandchildren. So if you say yes to cat videos, which, hey, I'm down. But if you say yes to cat videos, you're saying no to someone else. That's more important than. Than that rabbit hole.

So I think we have a great summary of what we would call work life balance in your life.

Absolutely.

You know, I think a lot of the people that are watching this today that are friends of ours in the networking group that we're all a part of, maybe they suffer a little bit from that, and I think we all have a lot to learn. Loyal to your time, Kenneth.

There it is.

I think that is our phrase that pays. Ooh.

Phrase that pays.

Phrase that pays well.

And there's four things to pour into the consistency. There are four things. Four habits or things. Whatever you want to say that if a person would do, would do every single day.

Right.

Is life changing.

Can you share those four habits?

I'd be happy to.

Oh, I'm writing them down.

Let's go get ready.

I'm a student right now, the first.

One is get up at the wake up at the same time every single day. Every single day. No snooze.

Life does not have a snooze button.

There's no snooze. So 4:40 is my time every single day. Move your body. Get some form of exercise every single day. I'm not saying, cash, that you've got to join a gym and go bulk up. I'm not suggesting that. But move your body. Get some intentional exercise. Go for a walk. And if you are not someone who's physically fit and physically well, walk around the block once. Do meet yourself where you're at, but move your body intentionally every single day. The third day thing is make an Appointment with God every day and do not deviate. God's on your schedule. You don't miss a meeting with God if he's on your schedule. So he's on your schedule every single day. Spend time, spiritual, reading the Bible, being in the Word, talking to God. The fourth thing is journaling and establishing and understanding what your gratitudes are. Because the more you look outside of yourself, the more you will be able to serve other people. But the more focused you are on outside of you. When you focus outside of you, it's always a good thing.

That is beautiful. Wake up at the same time every day. Move your body, make an appointment with God because he's there whether you are or not.

Exactly.

And he will find you.

Yes.

And then journal and share your gratitude with yourself. That's beautiful. We appreciate that. So tell us real quick, what's your mission? Why are you doing all this? Why are you still. Why are you still the way you are? Because the way you are is beautiful.

Oh, thank you so much. I love that. And it's been a process because I've learned so much over the years of being in business and tough relationships and tough life journey. Nobody's journey is perfect. Right? We all have a story. But what I've learned from my story is God's not done with me. And he wants me to pour into other people in the way that would serve him best. And we have an opportunity to bring him into our businesses to be able to pour into others and help them. With all of the knowledge that I have, I've gleaned a lot from the ups and the downs of my life. And it's my mission to pour that into other people. I want people to be successful not only financially, but relationally, socially, financially, their businesses, their careers. I want everyone to have that feeling of accomplishment and success. Because the more abundance that I have cash, the more abundantly I can give to other people. And that is my mission, is to serve other people. When I shifted from photography to coaching, it was a God transition. It wasn't me just deciding on a whim to do something. It was a guided mission. And I coach one on one. Primarily my key course is balanced life Balance business. It's possible to have a balanced life balance business. It truly, truly is. And that's what I want to share with people.

Very good. We're going to get a nugget from you just in one moment. Pamela jean. A new life.com balanced life, balance business and coaching for the entrepreneur. And if you are not today where you want to be. Doesn't it make sense just to get a coach? All the great athletes we admire and a lot of the great film and movie people, they all have another set of eyeballs on their progress, on their behavior, on their habits, and on their money as well. They have coaches.

It doesn't matter how successful you are. You need a coach. I've had a different coach for the last eight years. Every year I hire a coach and I study with one person for a year each year, focusing on a very specific area that I feel I need a little bit of work. I want to get better with a certain area. So I'm going to find a coach to help me focus on that area.

Very brilliant.

And I've done that for many, many years.

All right, well, let's walk away with a golden nugget from Pamela. What do you have for our listeners?

Tell us something exciting, my golden nugget. I want you to expect failure. I want you to look forward to failure. Because what happens when something doesn't go right? Let's say you create a marketing plan totally bombs. What do you get from that? A lesson.

Yeah.

You learn a lesson. You learn.

Yeah. Don't miss the lesson.

You learn what doesn't work. Every single failure, every complex circumstance that you're in today is there on purpose. It's meant to happen to you, and you are meant to learn from it. So if you start looking at the hard times, the failures, the things that go wrong, the things that are really that you're struggling with right now, whatever that is, whether it's in your business or your life, if you look at that as an opportunity to learn and grow, and you pause long enough to say, okay, what am I supposed to learn in this moment?

Right?

And if you can focus on that, take the lesson, apply it to your life, apply it to your business, you will grow. Growing comes at a cost. That's why there are growing pains. We've all heard the saying, we have growing pains, right? When you're a little kid or your business has growing pains, right? There's. There's pain and growth. It's painful. It's not meant to be easy. You're meant to learn a lesson. If things are going smoothly, you're not going to learn. You're not going to push yourself out of your comfort zone to learn. So the painful moments are there to teach us a lesson. And if you can embrace failure and look forward to failure and dig those golden nuggets every single time, truly, you're going to find your balance.

That Was beautiful. Expect failure. I think God tells us, consider it pure joy when you face trials where they serve the strength in you in the way of the Lord.

Absolutely.

And I think most entrepreneurs have probably had some share of that, but I think it's important to recognize it's an excellent part of the story, that it's necessary and that you don't want to miss the message.

Absolutely. The message comes from the mess.

Right.

And that's where you're going to get your message is in the messiest times of your life and in your business, that's where you get the biggest message.

And what better person to share that with than your coach?

Absolutely.

And we are here with Pamela Jean. Pamela, thank you. Today, Pamela Jeanneannew life.com talking about balance business, balanced life. I may have that backwards. Balance life, balance business. We all need to be in balance.

Absolutely.

All right. Well, very good. Well, Mr. Kenneth, this was a great show.

It was a great show.

You have to be loyal to your time.

That's right.

Because it's your time.

That's right.

All right. Well, I appreciate that. Are you ready to take us out of here?

Do we have to?

You know, I could go another couple.

Hours, but we need to be loyal to our time.

Yeah. I've got to go do things. Yep, that's true. My redoing a passport for my young daughter so we can travel some.

Oh, sounds exciting.

Yeah, I'm excited about it. Well, let's. Let's wrap this up.

Sounds good.

All right, well, first, I want to say thank you to our sponsors who bring this show to life. Elevate Co working here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, providing us the space, CM Customs for the signage and the Friendship Shop. Cmcustoms.com I think I have that right. Yes. And, Kenneth Bauckham, thank you so much for your photographic and video and podcasting excellence. For those that want to learn more about either of those, Mr. Kenneth Bauckham is the guy to go to. And I want to say thanks to the people watching, listening, and sharing this show. Thank you. We hope you enjoy the Golden Nugget. We hope you'll share this with people that you like. If you hate the show, share it with somebody that you don't like. Maybe that is the answer. And I want to say thank you to our four listeners down in Shawnee, Oklahoma, my relatives down there, thank you all very much. And to Ernie Crago and Stu Bob, my three buddies that are waiting for us down at KWIK Trip. They are having. I think they got Red Bull and Beef Jerky half off today. So today's the day. We'll meet you all down there. Thanks for watching Cash Flows, and you all have a great day.

That's our show for today. Stay tuned for another riveting edition of Cash Flows.