Created for This with Danielle Roberts

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In this episode of Created for This, I explain the importance of honoring your current season of motherhood and business, noting that both have seasons (push, sustain, or pull back) and that home life impacts business. Using Ecclesiastes 3, she reminds listeners that there is a time for everything and encourages aligning plans with capacity.

I urge moms to check commitments with a calendar, pray for God's wisdom before saying yes, and seek godly counsel, citing James on asking for wisdom.

I also invite listeners to examine their heart and mind—whether they're walking with God daily, holding resentment, or chasing worldly standards—then anchor encouragement in Ephesians 2:10 and Proverbs 3 about trusting the Lord.

I close by reminding you that you were created for this. That you matter to a God who sacrificed his son for you, and who offers grace and mercy no matter what you've done and who you are.

00:00 Podcast Welcome 00:37 Mid Year Encouragement 01:37 Meet Danielle Roberts 02:12 Honor Your Season 04:46 Business Seasons Explained 05:34 Scripture On Seasons 07:52 Check Your Commitments 09:34 Seek Godly Wisdom 11:19 Examine Heart And Mind 12:49 Created For A Purpose 13:34 Trust The Lord Proverbs 15:25 Coaching Invitation 16:51 Final Blessing And Outro Continue the conversation on Instagram - @danielle.m.roberts

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Recent months had been wearing me down as I solo-parented, homeschooled our four kids, and kept up with the everyday life and needs of our home and family. Exhausted and bone weary, I headed out for vacation with my two oldest kids and my mom. I wanted a great vacation, filled with tasty BBQ and ice cream, sunshine, and a day at the beach full of rest and relaxation. Living in Wisconsin, we cherish our summers. We live for warm days where we can be outside, enjoying our beautiful state. The shores of Lake Michigan are full of prairie grass and dairy cows, calming waves, and clean beaches to be enjoyed.

Upon arrival, we went directly to the bakery. My mom and I had been daydreaming over flaky, fruit-filled pastries. To our horror, as we walked into the shop, we were greeted with an empty pastry case. They were sold out.

Dejected, I grabbed the last loaf of sourdough bread, paid, and left. Would this be how my whole vacation would go? We'd driven four hours, and all I wanted was a great getaway.

The next day, we sat and contentedly munched sourdough fruit danishes. (This time we got up early to be sure they didn't sell out.) Checking the weather, we found rain headed our way. "My beach day," I cried inwardly.

Consulting the radar, we assessed and made a plan. We could drive an hour in the rain, then get there, swim, and head back in the rain. I prayed we'd get our beach time even with the rain. I was desperate.

Arriving at the small town on Lake Michigan, we looked at the sky. "Oh no! We have maybe 30 minutes," my mom reported. We were supposed to have a longer break in the rain, but the sky was darkening before us. We walked out to the old lighthouse, pausing to admire the view. The driftwood peppering the shorelines, the yellow sand, and deep blue waves rolling to their own beat. Yes, my heart needed the wide open spaces that came from being by the vast lake.

Finding the swimming beach, we marched to the water. To our horror, we found gray sludge slopping up out of the waves. What!?

Rain clouds came closer as we raced to the next beach. Drops started falling as we once again marched toward the water. My son barely reached the sludgy lake before the rain started falling harder and faster. Instead of taking a dip in the lake, he and my 64-year-old mother started running for the car. Defeated, I trailed after. Worst vacation ever.

I texted my mother-in-law– "I need a vacation do-over."

All I wanted was a great vacation, rest for my weary soul, and relaxation. What I'd gotten wasn't that at all.

I drove us back to the house and went for a walk after the rain stopped, talking with God. The dark blue stormy sky is a vibrant backdrop to the cornfield and wildflowers in the ditches.

As I walked and talked, I expressed my sadness about my horrible vacation. I pondered why, even though I saw the vast lake and had time relaxing, I still felt weary to my bones.

I didn't get an immediate answer. I had to sit with it–my discontentment.

During the long drive home, I continued to mull over thoughts. My realization came in the silence of sleeping kids and a phone-scrolling mom. My weariness wouldn't be fixed by a weekend away. It would be better if I habitually rested and sought God. My expectation was that a great summer vacation would fix the fatigue I'd been feeling; instead, I had disappointment and frustration.

However, out of the experience, truth struck me. Yes, vacations are great, and time in God's creation is so beneficial, but it doesn't make up for the lack of physical or mental rest. More importantly, even a good vacation doesn't fill your soul the way that time with Jesus does. In Luke 5:16, Jesus shows us an example of going away from the crowds to spend time with his Father, God. The more I look at my summer routine, the more I recognize my lack of this personal time dwelling with Jesus.

As you enter the summer months, I encourage you to plan times to rest your body and soul.

Make time in your schedule to rest. You don't have to take a vacation or trip in order to make the downtime; simply plan for it.
Be intentional with your Summer plans. Leave space for down days when you can relax.
Enjoy quality time with others who encourage you to grow in your relationship with Christ.

Gritty Faith Magazine is a beautiful, year-round magazine with wonderful articles for Christian women. You can get their free daily prayer emails or order a magazine here.

For more writing, encouragement to rest, and running your business from a Christian perspective, follow me on Instagram.

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Introducing my friend Kawaii - a homeschool mom of seven years with past traditional teaching experience and a family of six kids. In this episode, we're bringing our personal conversations to your ears. Listen in as we talk about the following:

Needing a "refresh" in seasons of stress and burnout by returning to Christ as the foundation, praying with my husband, checking in with mentors, and adjusting structure.
We discuss routines/rhythms versus schedules, seasonal refreshes, and customizing family rhythms by season (including teens' late-night openness and the flexibility of homeschooling).
Kawaii explains her "Summer Sanity Guide," focused on time blocking, prioritizing non-negotiables, removing overcommitments, and giving moms ideas for summer and boredom.
We address surrender, limits to "doing it all," community (including social media with boundaries), and the long-term fruit of faithfulness at home and in business.

More about Kawaii:

Kawailehua Pakjake is a homeschooling mom of 7 years and passionate about helping moms find confidence in homeschool and parenting by encouraging them to slow down and prioritize their days with Christ.

Kawailehua spent 11 years in the "traditional" school system teaching both in the public and private sector from preschool to the elderly, and those with special needs.

In her free time she lives simple days with her husband of 23 years and their 6 children who adventure new life in the mountains of Idaho after moving from Hawaii.

Summer Sanity Guide

Follow her on Instagram

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I am going to read you an article that I wrote for the Gritty Faith Magazine.

This one is called Slowing Down and Making Space for Rest. This is the spring version. I wrote four different articles and you'll get to hear them throughout the year. So I'm excited to share these with you. It's each season of the year, you'll likely encounter different challenges. Through each season, you have an opportunity to slow down and make space for rest.

Rest that in rejuvenates, renews, restores your soul, mind, body, and spirit.

Driving our rented minivan into Red Rocks Canyon National Land and Conservation Area. I first noticed all the greens in the desert. There was more gorgeous oranges and tropical reds combined with purples and blues and green cactus. Having never lived in the desert, I stared at the explosion of color standing out vividly against the rust, red, brown backdrop of dirt. It's as if the world were waking up to springtime. My family and I set out to hike further into the canyon following the sound of rushing water. As we passed bees bobbled between the flowers. We paused to drink in its luscious shade. Our northern bodies wilting and sweating on accustomed to the spring heat of Las Vegas, Nevada. When we got to the waterfall, there was even more green gathered around the seasonal water. A gift of life in the desert flowing from snow melting in the mountains above us.

Nature understands the season and the ebb and flow of life in the desert, waiting for the right moment to bloom, spreading their leaves and growing. They seek the life giving water that feeds and sustains each flower pet. Similar to life in the desert, which gathers around the stream of water or waits for wetter seasons to bloom.

Believers too can follow their example and seek the source of life. The psalmist, if Psalm one writes, blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the wicked, nor stands in the way of the sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law, he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by the streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither. And that's from the ESV. Likewise, Jesus in John four 14 says, whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Once my family and I had reached that gorgeous waterfall, we paused and rested. My young sons hot, sweaty, and crabby, put their heads in the stream, anxious for relief from the overbearing sun and heat instinctively they too seek water. We rested in the cool, taking time to refresh ourselves. They visibly perked up walking upright, talking and laughing with joy over the cool water and stopped whining about how hot they were. As a believer, you have access to your living water, Jesus, anytime. All you need to do is seek him and sit at his feet. Resting, which is an act of faith, the Psalmist says, as a dear, pants for flowing streams, so pants, my soul for you, oh God. Psalm 42, 1.

Your soul knows the answer to the longing in your heart. What will give rest in the midst of weariness and rejuvenate you, keeping your body and your mind moving forward? Be intentional this spring about seeking him. Give your soul the living water it needs to sustain your life. Rest isn't just sleeping. It's what rejuvenates, restores and refreshes you. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. Similar to the well watered flowers, decorating the desert, lush and bright, you too can live a life full of color and life that comes from the living water of Jesus.

Some ideas for rest can look like:

Going for a walk or hike while praying.
Planning a day off weekly to rest.
Have a date with a life-giving friend who points you to Christ baking or cooking something to bless others, knit, crochet, or so while listening to praise music or a good book.
Write a prayer or Bible verse or verses or, and journal your thoughts.
Sit in silence and talk to Jesus and friend.

I hope that you'll make room for rest this spring.

I know things get busy. We're heading into May, which is a busy, busy season for so many people wrapping up the school year.

My heart is that you will learn how good rest is and that you will take those times in your day, in your week just to pause, sit at the feet of Jesus. Enjoy your time there. Do things that give you rest. Rest fuels our work. Rest fuels life. It keeps us going. It keeps us from burning out. It helps us to keep going when the going is hard. And it is something that we see biblically in what Jesus has done for us as an example of him resting himself in his busy season of ministry.

We need to constantly be tapping into our life source, and I really, really encourage you to do that this spring.

If you are looking for other articles like what I just read, the Gritty Faith Magazine is full of great articles. There are articles for all throughout the year and it's gorgeous. You guys, the design team is amazing and the pictures are so beautiful. I love seeing how they transform. My words into something that looks amazing. So you can get that over on their website, which is purposegrit.com

I thank you guys for listening and I hope you have a very refreshing, wonderful rest of your spring.

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On Created for This, I interview Anton Krecic, founder and CEO of Seven Weeks Coffee, a pro-life e-commerce coffee company that donates 10% of every sale to local pregnancy resource centers and has raised over $1.5 million for more than 1,000 pro-life organizations across all 50 states. Anton shares how value-based brands are growing as companies increasingly take social and political stances, and explains that a successful mission-driven business requires both an excellent product and a clear mission. He outlines practical growth strategies including digital ads, podcast partnerships, conferences, and partnerships with pro-life organizations and conservative influencers, emphasizing benefit-driven messaging to reach customers. We discuss handling backlash and controversy, including disagreements within the pro-life movement, and highlight current advocacy around preventing renewed Planned Parenthood funding. The host closes by encouraging church involvement, volunteering, starting ministries when needed, and pursuing boldness through prayer, Scripture, and spiritual readiness. Note on this episode - The audio for Anton didn't record about three-forths of the way through. I apologize. I hope you find benefit in this episode. 00:00 Podcast Welcome 00:37 Meet Anton 02:06 Mission Driven Brands 05:20 Marketing Growth Playbook 07:14 Finding Right Influencers 10:18 Handling Backlash 12:23 Shifting Culture Pro Life 15:52 Pregnancy Center Needs 17:58 When Culture Hates You 20:35 Wrap Up And Next Steps 24:07 Spiritual Warfare And Boldness 26:21 Final Thanks And Review To order your own coffee, visit their website. You can also follow along with them on Instagram or Facebook. Please contact your representatives, and tell them you don't want Planned Parenthood funded. Be an active voice for the unborn! At the time this was recorded late 2025, this funding for 2026 wasn't approved. I believe it has since been funded. There's no time like the present to make our voices heard.

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Today, we're exploring three strategies you can implement to start your year off on the right foot. Although it's March, remember there's no magic in January 1st — we can start anew at any time.

Decisive Action The first key to a successful year is taking decisive action. By making clear decisions and sticking with them, you eliminate the fatigue and overwhelm of indecision. Consider pre-deciding aspects like when you'll work, the times you'll check emails, and the mentors you'll follow this year. For instance, I've decided not to work on Sundays, reserving those for rest and family time.

Scheduling email check-ins at specific times also provides boundaries and a sense of freedom. Another valuable tip is to choose a few key mentors to learn from, rather than overwhelming yourself with too many voices.

Intentionality Intentionality follows decisive action and is crucial to achieving goals. This means living purposefully in all areas — from your business decisions to parenting and personal faith. In an interview for a previous podcast, I realized that intentional decisions have been pivotal to my success in both life and business.

As Christians, we must be anchored in our beliefs and commitments to God, ensuring we are intentional about where we spend our time and energy. This might mean unplugging from distractions to truly engage with our kids or aligning business practices with core values.

Structure Lastly, structure is essential. As God created order out of chaos, we, too need structure in our lives to thrive. This includes routines that prioritize rest. We often find ourselves in giving roles, needing to minister both at home and in business. During chaotic seasons, like when my husband switched jobs, structure helped stabilize our home life.

Simple practices like consistent meal planning or creating restful spaces in our week can make a big difference. Rest enables us to tap into God's strength rather than relying solely on our own.

Rest doesn't always mean solitude; it can also involve silent prayer time, even during mundane activities like driving. Jesus himself spent time alone in prayer to restore strength — a practice we too can adopt by intentionally creating time and space for spiritual growth.

Moving Forward As you integrate these strategies — decisive action, intentionality, and structure backed by rest — aim for a balanced approach that honors the life God has called you to live. Remember, real success in business and life doesn't only come from working harder, but from aligning with God's plans and seeking His guidance continuously.

For those seeking further support, I offer a group coaching program designed to help you thrive. We meet weekly to address questions, provide marketing advice, and create accountability in both home and business settings. If you're looking for a community to support your journey, visit my website at daniellemroberts.com/group to learn more. Whether through group coaching or simply listening to this podcast, my mission remains to equip, encourage, and empower you to fulfill your divine purpose.

Mentioned in this Episode:

The Lazy Genius Way (affiliate link)

The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn't, and Get Stuff Done

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In this episode of 'Created for This,' host Danielle welcomes Jordan Eggert, a professional athlete and American record holder in the women's decathlon, who is passionate about integrating her faith with her athletic career.

We discuss the importance of placing Christian identity before athletic identity, the structure of the heptathlon and decathlon, and the ongoing efforts to include women's decathlon in the Olympics. Jordan also shares her insights on maintaining confidence without pride, the value of humility, handling failures and successes, and the significance of intentional rest and Sabbath.

00:00 Introduction to Created for This

00:37 Meet Jordan Eggert: Professional Athlete and Devout Christian

02:49 Understanding the Decathlon and Heptathlon

05:08 Balancing Confidence and Humility in Faith and Athletics

10:47 Handling Success and Failure with Grace

15:06 Living Out Your Calling with Dedication

22:36 The Importance of Rest and Recovery

24:55 Jordan's Journey to the 2028 Olympics

28:04 Conclusion and Call to Action

Follow Jordan on Instagram

Sign the petition to let women Decathlon in the 2028 Olympics.

More about Jordan in her own words:

I'm Jordan Eggerth. I am a professional athlete and the American Record Holder in the Women's Decathlon with a passion for Track and Field and sharing Jesus through my sport! I have been beyond blessed in my life through my walk with Christ and He has helped shape me into the person I am today through trials, tribulations, love, grace, heartache, passion, grief, joy, pain, and His amazing plan with it all. Since He has given me such a platform to reach others, I have decided that I should be sharing Him in every avenue I possibly can and sharing His amazing stories in my life to help inspire and help others. I played many sports growing up including basketball (my passion), taekwondo, tennis, softball, and gymnastics. Even when I wasn't in an organized sport my days usually included lots of swimming, bike riding, tree climbing, knife throwing, gun/bow shooting, and many more activities. Track and Field, however, was not a sport I had the opportunity to compete in until my senior year of high school. In my senior year of high school my mother found Blane Williams with the Heat Track club at Kell High School. Coach Blane allowed me to join his team at 17yrs old and that opportunity has changed my life forever. After a year of running with The Heat I went to school at Kennesaw State University to join their Track and Field team and be coached by Andy Eggerth in 2014. Since then, I have graduated from Kennesaw State University where I was a 10x Conference Champion and 4x All-American in NCAA Division I Track and Field. I have competed at NCAA D1 Championships, USA Championships, the Thorpe Cup in Germany for Team USA x2, The National Women's Decathlon Championship x2, and the Open De France. I was also the Bronze Medalist at the Pan American Games in 2023. I continue with my professional career attempting to gain a spot on Team USA for various events. I am the American Record Holder in the Women's Decathlon, as well as the Women's Decathlon 100m Dash, Long Jump American Record Holder. I am also the World Record Holder in the Women's Decathlon Long Jump I am currently working towards helping get women the opportunity to compete in the Olympics in the Decathlon.

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[01:00] Danielle Roberts introduces her long-time mentor, Ione, about biblical mentoring.

[02:00] Ione explains the difference between mentoring, coaching, and counseling.

[04:00] Emphasis on biblical examples of mentoring such as Moses and Joshua, Ruth and Naomi, and Jesus and His disciples.

[06:00] Discussion on spiritual gifts and their role in mentoring.

[08:00] Ione's personal journey into mentoring and her strategies for balancing it with personal time.

[12:00] Practical advice for stepping into mentoring and overcoming feelings of disqualification.

[16:00] The significance of soul care, listening, and asking meaningful questions in the mentoring process.

[22:00] Encouragement for listeners to get involved in their community and church, illustrating the importance of investing in others.

More Links from the Show:

Episode 121: Incorporating Your Faith into Your Business

Episode 94: Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts with Dr. Tom Rush

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Trigger warning - Childloss

Homemaking and Heartfelt Tips for Autumn Preparations

In this episode of 'Created for This,' I'm joined by my friend, Adrianne, to discuss seasonal homemaking and preparing for autumn. We talk about gardening, homeschooling, and practical tips for meal preparation and home projects.

We also delve into the importance of rest and reflection during the slow winter months, offering encouragement and practical advice for Christian moms managing their homes and businesses.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:37 Meet Adrianne: The Homemaker Extraordinaire

02:38 Adrian's Gardening Journey

03:45 Homeschooling and Family Life

06:17 Preparing for Autumn and Winter

12:40 Indoor Projects and Winter Preparations

19:07 Gratitude and Seasonal Reflections

26:24 Embracing the Outdoors in Winter

27:39 Refreshing the Home with Essential Oils

30:00 Puzzle Season Traditions

32:47 Gratitude and Contentment in Winter

34:11 Bible Study Practices and Faith

37:32 Gardening and Life Lessons

47:30 Conclusion and Encouragement

Follow Adrianne on Instagram

Growth Roots Book - where I journaled my "lessons learned from this past season"

Butternut Squash Soup recipe

My free Essential Home Toolkit: Simplify Your Homemaking

Journal Prompts:

– Gratitude

– Three lessons you've learned from this past season of life

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In this episode of Created for This, my guest Merin Minch discuss the intricacies of color analysis and how it can help reveal a person's best colors based on their undertones and intensity levels. She explains the resurgence of color analysis, its roots in the 1980s, and how it empowers people, especially mothers, to feel confident in their appearance. Merin shares her journey from learning about color analysis to launching her business in 2025, emphasizing the joy and confidence it brings to women. She also discusses the intersection of her work with faith, helping clients embrace their God-given features, and the importance of rest. The episode concludes with practical advice on dressing for confidence and the significance of finding rest in the Lord. 00:00 Introduction to Created for This 00:37 Welcoming Merin to the Podcast 01:48 Understanding Color Analysis 03:06 Personal Journey with Color Analysis 06:02 Impact of Color Analysis on Confidence 07:30 Balancing Motherhood and Identity 09:03 Faith and Identity in Christ 13:19 Practical Tips for Confidence 18:25 Surprising Aspects of Being a Color Analyst 20:21 Finding Rest and Support 22:55 Conclusion and Final Thoughts Follow Merin on Instagram. Go to her website.

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Notes coming soon.

Bible verses referenced:

1 Peter 3:15

John 13:35

Referenced in this Episode:

Mission, Vision, and Purpose - Episode 26, Episode 47 with Natalie Gingrich, and Episode 120 with Corey Gray

Elegantees

Yellow Barn Media and Jamie Samples

Verity and Co. and Lindsey Johnson

Sincerely, Savanna (Savanna Orin)

My (Danielle's) Instagram - you can contact me here or at dmr@daniellemroberts.com

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In this episode of Created for This, Danielle is joined by Corey Gray, a general manager at Beyond Wow Plumbing with a unique career path and a personal journey steeped in homeschooling and trades. Corey shares his experiences growing up as a homeschooler, how it influenced his values of ownership and self-leadership, and his journey into the trades. He discusses the importance of planning and setting goals, using the entrepreneurial operating system (EOS), and how those strategies can help business owners focus their energy effectively. Corey also emphasizes the growing acceptance of trades as a viable path to generational wealth and offers insights on how to integrate leadership skills between personal and professional life. The episode wraps up with a heartfelt message on the importance of supporting systems and legacy in both business and family life. 00:00 Introduction to Created for This 00:37 Meet Corey Gray: A Unique Career Path 02:20 Corey's Personal Life and Family 03:17 The Impact of Homeschooling on Leadership 10:07 Journey into the Trades 17:32 Marriage and Moving for Career Growth 20:35 Focusing on Strengths and Leadership 31:33 Creating Generational Wealth through Trades 42:05 Final Thoughts and Encouragement More about Corey

Corey is the general manager at Beyond Wow Plumbing in Austin, Texas, where he specialize in turning bold visions into systems, scorecard and leadership framework that actually work in the real world of the trades. As he said, he started in his family business, earned his master plumbing license and have since shifted from working in the business to working on the business by building leaders and eliminating bottlenecks. His personal mission is to elevate the trades by creating cultures of relentless ownership or teams, execute with clarity and back without needing to be micromanaged. He's led leadership transformation efforts, built scalable accountability systems, and reimagined industry best practices to align with local organizational culture and built tools that feel deeply human while being operationally rock solid. His faith informs how he leads and builds, and he's especially passionate about helping other men lead with clarity capacity and conviction, both in business and in life He was homeschooled and am the husband to my high school sweetheart Melissa (also homeschooled) for 16 years and new father to our one year-old daughter Gabrielle and soon-to-arrive son Ezra.

His LinkedIn

If you're in the local Austin, TX area and need a great plumber, check out Corey's company, Beyond Wow.

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Well, friends, it is mid-July, I guess, kind of later July, and I did a six-month check-in on my goals. I wanted to share them with you because number one, I know we’re all nosy when it comes to other people’s goals and what’s gotten accomplished, how people are doing what they’re doing, all that good stuff.

Also, I wanted to give you encouragement if you are feeling like your goals just are not happening, or you’re struggling, or maybe you just didn’t even make goals at the beginning of the year because you weren’t sure how to make them actually happen. The first thing that I want to encourage you with is in making goals actually happen.

One of the things that I found that works well and that I coach my life coaching and business clients in is to figure out your areas of stewardship. Where is God calling you to steward, or what is God calling you to steward? I typically say that we have like five to six different areas that were called or given to Steward at a time.

I wouldn’t say that’s something that I’ve found in the Bible. I would say that’s more of a gathering of things that I’ve seen and heard over time, more like a systematic theological viewpoint.

Stewardship and Anchoring Your Goals I usually say that we as women are called to steward our homes, even if we don’t have a typical home. You can take care of your room in your parents’ house or wherever you’re living, your dorm room, all that. Kids are a big one that we’ve been given to steward and take care of as little joyful gifts from the Lord, and that takes up a ton of time as a mom.

We also have finances we can steward. We have our jobs, we have the things that we’ve been given. Everything that you do is stewardship because everything is the Lord’s, and we’ve been given that as stewards. In Genesis one and two, it talks about God giving what. I was given to Adam to keep it and take care of it, and that was a way of God giving the animals and the earth to Adam and Eve to take care of.

So stewardship areas of stewardship. Once you understand what God has given you, I would write these down, have them written as something that’s a reflection. Just so that you know, moving forward, this is something that God has given me to steward, and this is what I need to use my gifts and my talents towards.

Again, five or six different areas. I typically will say everything in the house and within it, or? Yeah, in the house. Everything within it. So, kids, family, money, the house itself. Food. And then my body is another area that I spend a lot of time on. I actually have a folder in my phone because I track my macros.

Macronutrients using a fitness app, a Faster Way to Fatloss, and I have that. And then the app that I use to track my runs or walks and my Oura ring, all in a folder called Steward Your Body. So it’s a reminder when I look at that folder that God has given me my body to steward. Once you’ve accomplished this and you understand what God is asking you to steward, or you’ve brought that back to mind, anchor your goals to the areas that God has asked you to steward.

A lot of times, we see something and we’re like, “Oh, we should have a goal to do X, Y, or Z,” and then we make a pointless goal. Because we saw that from somebody else’s life, but that’s not the area that God is asking us to steward right now, or it’s not as high on the priorities list as on somebody else’s.

Oftentimes, when people are having issues, fulfilling goals, or really struggling to fulfill their goals, I see them drowning in pointlessness. Goals and pointless to-dos because they are not anchoring them in things where God has actually called them to. And we need to align what God has called us to with the goals that we are creating because God has given us all different areas to steward and different lives and different callings and giftings and talents.

Our goals will be. Probably similar, but they’re gonna be different than other people’s. So we can’t just look at a popular influencer, even if they’re Christian, and say, “Oh, okay, their goals should be my goals.” Now granted, there will be some that are similar, but everybody has different areas where they need to work on.

So at this point in time, I wanna give you permission to change things up. I want to give you permission to throw out your old goals if they’re not related to the areas of stewardship that God has given you, and I want you to instead focus on. Anchoring your goals in areas of stewardship and areas that align with what God has called you to.

Journal Questions for Your Own Mid-Year Check-in Now, the second part of this mid-year check-in that I did was I started looking at my goals and asking myself some questions. So I asked myself,

– What’s working?

– What’s not working?

– What does this look like for the next six months?

– What do my goals look like moving forward?

What about the next five and a half months? I have been using this book that somebody recommended. And I absolutely love it, it’s called the Growth Book from Growth Notes Company. And she has an area for faith goals. So it’s Christian-focused, it’s biblical. She’s got different headings for the goals that you could have for your life.

My Own Goals Some of my goals are to have a better, healthier marriage. To sleep more, which sleeping more means having the discipline to actually put away the book at night and go to sleep. Fitness, my goal actually, that I completed, was to run three different road races in three different states. This year.

So I actually completed that on July 4th, so yay. It was one that’s going to be more difficult moving forward because we’ve, we’ve now done the majority of things within driving distance of Wisconsin, and now we just have to get really creative.

The next one is praying for my family. If you look at consistency, the episode that Melissa Whaley and I did on consistency (episode 116), one of the things that we talk about is setting an alarm to remind us to trigger us to do different things. This has been really beneficial to set the alarm to pray for my family.

Typically, I do it. There have been times when it’s not every day that I am doing it because I’m busy at 6:30 or there’s something else that I’ll dismiss the alarm, and then I’ll totally space it out. But for the majority of the time when my alarm goes off at 6:30 PM, not am, I’m praying for my family.

Reading my Bible daily has been something that I am working on. I wouldn’t necessarily say I set out to read the Bible in a year, but the growth book actually has a tracker so you can track which books of the Bible you’ve read, and I think that’s really cool. It’s really helpful to see progress visually and know where you’re at.

The next one is under the heading of learning. I have signed up for a marketing psychology class that I haven’t actually started on Coursera. So I’ve done Coursera has free classes. Hillsdale College, out of Michigan, has free classes online. And then the other one I put in here is reading nonfiction.

I struggle so much with reading nonfiction, especially if it’s longer books. I’m like, I wanna sit there and I wanna think about things. But then I also really love fiction. So I get drawn into the story, and I’m like, I don’t wanna read nonfiction. Or I’ll have kids talking at me all day long, and the last thing I wanna do is sit and listen to an audiobook.

But that is another way that I have been working on getting nonfiction in is by doing Audible, or like online libraries that have audiobooks that you can listen to. So, really looking at learning, growing my skillset, and making sure that I am stimulating my brain.

The last area. For goals are paying down debt and saving money every month. I was talking with a friend earlier, and we were talking about how hard it has been these summer months, and all the expenses and all the things. We’re struggling to save money. But I also know that I have an emergency fund.

I’ve been putting money into, to make up for these emergency spending, whatever the thing on the oven is that broke, that I haven’t had an oven for like three weeks. And the car needs all the repairs and just all the things where it’s like all these things come together and you’re like, okay, Jesus.

I’m trying so hard to steward the money that you give us. Well, but. It’s hard because there’s all these expenses that keep popping up. So those are my goals. Looking forward, the races are done, so any races that I do this next year, or this next six months, we,

when. So, for example, my husband has a work trip to the Orlando area in November, and I’m like, he actually posed it to me. He was like, Do you wanna go to Florida with me and run a race? And I was like, yes. Obviously, I found a race. So if it works out and we can find babysitters for the kids, I’ll go to Florida and run the race.

I will tell you, when we set out to run in every state, I didn’t realize how daunting it was gonna be to do this, and now I’m gonna be 38 in November, and I’m like, oh my gosh. I have so many states left to run, and I feel like time is running out, and I really just need to focus on getting this done.

Granted. It’s not like I acknowledge the fact that I have many years left, that I can walk these five Ks, and some of the most inspiring people, like there was a guy who was running the 10K in Fargo last year. He’s like, I’m 83. I’ve been running this race for years. And I’m like, dude, I wanna be 83 and running a 10K, which is six miles.

When I’m in my eighties, like life goals right there, so I run and I walk, like I use running and walking interchangeably. I walk most of my races. I jog some of them. For you runners, I average between 15 and 19-minute mile. I anchor that goal in stewarding my body. As I said, I want to take care of the body that God has given me.

When you are training for races, you really have to think like an athlete. You have to eat well, you have to sleep enough, you have to muscle train and strength train so you can continue to, uh, use your body well. And it’s kind of a mindset shift. So. Having that goal of stewarding my body and then this, this way of fulfilling that by walking in every state, a race in every state, it goes simultaneously.

So this is a long-term goal. But it’s, it’s a goal in progress, and I am breaking it down to make it manageable. And tangible in a year. It obviously will take me longer than a year to run a race in every 50, all 50 states. I think that we, I just finished my 14th, so that’s that.

The one thing that you guys did not hear, and I don’t know if you recognized that, you didn’t hear it or not, I didn’t say any business goals. That is because my husband switched his job at the beginning of the year, and in January, I really just felt like my business was going to have to be last on the totem pole.

My capacity for coaching several clients was not there anymore. I actually had been serving as an executive assistant to a nonprofit owner, and I gave him my notice, saying that I just didn’t have the capacity anymore. My husband’s job has him traveling a lot. And I was like, okay, Jesus. Like, I need to support him.

I need to be here for my family. I cannot have several, like three, four, or five clients at a time with the way that our schedule is right now, and with me taking on a larger burden while he’s gone.

My sister asked me in June what my five-year plan for my business was, and I was kind of like, uh. I have no idea. And I kind of got mad about it because I was like, I’m a life coach. I have coached six-figure business owners. I should have really good goals for my business. I should do X, Y, and Z. But I was like, Danielle, if this is not where a lot of your capacity is being pushed right now, there’s no way.

That you would have solid five-year goals or five-year plans. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have dreams; I don’t have, uh, the ability to fulfill those dreams right now. And when God called us to homeschool, my business really just took the backseat. I’m still supporting clients. I have the availability for one to two more coaching clients.

An Invitation If you’re interested in helping get or in helping get your goals accomplished, figuring out what works best for you and how you can do what you wanna do. One of the best things about being a life and business coach is that I can help Christian, Business owning moms get from where they want to be to or get from where they are to where they want to be.

And I love that. I love it when we can set up a roadmap, and that roadmap works. I worked with a client two summers ago, or maybe last summer, and she was like, “Okay, this is what the schedule looks like. This is where I need to be. How do I do this?” And so we looked at all the different places, figured out what God was really calling her to do, and where God was providing work for her.

And she ended up leaning into something that was not necessarily what she had planned, but it was where God was providing the work and providing the money for her family. So we got her a schedule that worked for her. Us. She was also a homeschooler, so figuring out what works best for her and how she can maximize her time and energy and still grow her business while taking care of her kids and her home, and it was so cool to see as she just learned and grew and was equipped to do what God had called her to do.

So I don’t want you to think that just because the world is telling you should do something or you should be something that that’s the direction that you need to go in coaching. We can look at your focus. We can create. A path for you. That’s where you’re at, instead of shoulding yourself to death.

And that’s kind of what I had to remind myself of as my sister’s. Like, oh, in 10 years, what are you gonna be doing for your business? And I was like, well, I know I wanna keep podcasting because I love podcasting and talking with people. I would love to keep coaching women, too. Equip them and help them get where God is calling them and pushing them to be.

There are different things, right? Like we all have dreams, but it’s like, okay, if I’m going to let the shoulds of what I should be doing, overtake me, that’s not walking in alignment with God, where God is calling me to be right now. We need to align ourselves with what God has for us as we make goals and as we walk our daily walk.

So we’re walking with him in accordance with what he has for us, following his plans for us, and leaving a margin to do what he is asking us to do. So. If you are looking for a partner, somebody that’s gonna walk with you from where you are at, where you know God is calling you to be, and go that journey with you, let’s chat.

Okay? I would love to see if what I can do is what you need. I can point you in the right direction. Or, I have really great friends, so if I’m not what you need, then I could potentially help you find the right person for you.

And that, you know, it’s, I wanna say it’s as simple as, but it really is as simple as talking. Once a month, and then creating the ideal of where God wants you to be. How do we get there? Making plans, looking at your schedule, personalizing it to what you need, and going from there. So the last thing, and this is kind of, you know, looking at that, what do I, what can I do?

What’s my schedule allow? Where, where’s my margin? How am I gonna do what I want to do?

My overview of my own progression As I’m checking my goals, I want to be honest with myself. So I’m asking you to be honest with yourself. I asked myself, “Am I doing too much?”

Am I doing too little? Which is really interesting because. Doing too little. Sometimes we can get apathetic and just say, “Well, this isn’t gonna happen, so why even bother?” But there are little things that we can do every day or every week that will get us where we want to go. Back to the running example and running a race in every state, I made a goal to do so.

At the beginning of the summer or the beginning of the spring, it was 7,000 steps a day. Some days, I really had to stretch to try and get 7,000 other days. That was no problem. So then I increased it to 9,000 steps a day. But you know what? 9,000 steps a day gets me to. I’m walking a lot for my health. This has been beneficial in numerous ways.

I am now walking more for my mental health because I acknowledge the power of walking for mental health. As my good friend Aubrey will text me. I’m doing a mental health walk, which, it’s been, it’s just been our running joke, like we’re walking for our mental health, but really we know it benefits us in other ways.

And then it’s getting me, building up my stamina for my road races for the 5Ks and 10Ks that I’m doing. So little things can make a big difference, but there are times when maybe it feels like what you’re doing is inadequate. Like, potentially I should, in quotes, be doing more to help my family.

Well, let’s examine that. What more does that look like? What expectations are you having of yourself as you’re going through your day? And lastly, I want to encourage you and remind you that everyday action equals progress in your goals. So think about that every day. Action equals progress in your goals.

And then also with the honesty piece, what extras am I adding to our schedule? Because every yes equals no to something else. That’s a hard one because we wanna keep adding, especially in the summer months. Well, those of us up north, maybe in like California, and down south, you’re like, oh my gosh, I can’t be outside.

But in the north here. We wanna get outside because this is the best part of the year. Unless you enjoy winter activities, which I don’t know who enjoys going outside in zero-degree weather, not me. But that’s something else to think about. And then the last thing is, if I’m not seeing movement, why? This is where we get to check back in with the Lord and say, “Okay, Jesus, why am I not seeing movement here?”

What am I doing that may not be in alignment with what you have for me? Or why am I just experiencing so much blockage when it comes to doing whatever the goal is? So, checking back in with him, those areas of stewardship, and then going with what he says. So that is what I did to mid-year check in with myself.

I shared a couple of things with my friends as to where I was and my answers to these questions. The question that my sister asked about in five years, I probably gave her a flippant answer at the time because like I was frustrated at my inability to make a huge, bigger year, five-year plan, or to tell her my big five-year plan.

But then I went back to her and I was like, okay, so these are the things that I’m thinking the reason why I had such a flippant pat answer. It was because I feel like I’m not able to do as much of my business as I want to be doing. And there’s a podcast episode about surrender that I did a couple of episodes ago (episode 110), and that’s huge.

Surrendering our hopes and our dreams for what God has for us instead. So you can go listen to that one next if you haven’t listened to that. But I hope this is helpful for you. Again, if you are interested in coaching and having that accountability partner to help you in your business or in your life.

Like I homeschool, I’ve been homeschooling the last three years. We’ve done traditional school, we’ve done Catholic school. Um, I have helped multiple six-figure business owners in their own businesses and coaching through that. So I have a plethora of experience I would love to share with you.

Contact me You can hit me up on social media, on Instagram, and then you could also email me at dmr@daniellemroberts.com.

My Growth Book Page I also started making a check-off sheet for inside each month for the growth book. I will share those with you. But I, who has been really, really beneficial for seeing visually my progress.

And I’ve shared that with my accountability coach, my fitness coach, and it’s just a great way for her to see how I’m doing, to check in with her and see myself and say, okay, this next, you know, the beginning of the month was rough with. Not eating enough food because we were on vacation. I want to see check marks for the rest of the month.

Like that is my goal is again, breaking down the small goals to everyday action, to seeing that progress of being healthier, eating the right things, having enough protein, all that jazz. And then I also have my 9,000 steps a day in there. So I will share that in the show notes as well. And you guys can ask all the questions, be all the nosy things, and it’ll be great.

*Affiliate links are present in these show notes. I earn a small commission when you order through my links, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting myself and my family through your purchase.

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In this episode of the 'Created for This' podcast, I share personal experiences of solo parenting while my husband traveled for work, discussing the importance of self-care to prevent burnout.

I highlight three aspects of rest—mental, physical, and emotional—emphasizing that true rest goes beyond superficial measures.

Strategies for achieving rest include taking mental breaks, finding restful physical activities, and managing emotional health through prayer, walking, and journaling.

The episode also delves into maintaining a positive mindset, backed by scripture, and the significance of seeking Jesus for peace and emotional support.

I also provide practical tips for solo parents, such as asking for help and establishing routines.

Mentioned in this episode:

Bach Remedies/Rescue Remedies for Kids

Bach Remedies/Rescue Remedies for Adults

Bach Remedies/Rescue Remedies

For the list of ways to rest, check that out here.

To follow along with me on my journey, head over and and click "follow" on Instagram.

*Affiliate links are present in these show notes. I earn a small commission when you order through my links, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting myself and my family through your purchase.

Bach RESCUE REMEDY Dropper 20mL, Natural Stress Relief, Homeopathic Flower Remedy, Vegan, Gluten and Sugar-Free, Non-Habit Forming

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In this episode of 'Created for This,' Lindsay Swoboda shares her journey as a military spouse, mother, and professional writer. She discusses transitioning from her dream job as a dancer to becoming a mother and author, navigating the unique challenges and grief associated with constant relocations, and finding resilience through vulnerability. Lindsay emphasizes the importance of creativity, trust, and community support in balancing family life and pursuing personal dreams. She reflects on the necessity of adjusting priorities, the impact of solo parenting, and the value of recognizing one's own bandwidth. Offering insights into trusting the process, she encourages listeners to embrace the unglamorous yet rewarding path of slow growth, anchored in faith and community. 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:37 Meet Lindsay Swoboda: A Journey of Resilience 01:57 Transitioning Priorities: From Dance to Writing 02:56 Navigating Military Life and Family 09:13 Embracing Creativity and Writing 17:05 Balancing Motherhood and Personal Goals 20:53 Finding Joy in the Everyday 26:33 Navigating Military Life and Trusting God's Timing 27:37 The Journey of Writing a Book 29:06 Adventures and Challenges of Frequent Moving 34:24 The Importance of Community and Support 35:02 Solo Parenting: Tips and Realities 43:27 Encouragement and Final Thoughts Links to support Lindsay: Book Holding On and Letting Go: a life in motion Instagram

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In this episode of Created for This, host Danielle Roberts is joined by Melissa Whaley to discuss the importance of consistency in achieving success, specifically from an ADHD perspective. We share personal stories and practical tips for overcoming roadblocks to consistency, such as burnout and unrealistic expectations. The conversation provides helpful strategies for prioritizing tasks, engaging in self-care, and using accountability tools. Listeners are encouraged to focus on small, achievable goals and to align their activities with their core values and current life seasons. 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:37 Meet Melissa Whaley: Success Through Consistency 01:28 The Struggle with Consistency 02:33 Mindset and Decision Making 04:27 Balancing Self-Care and Responsibilities 06:22 The Importance of Prioritizing 16:50 Tools and Tips for Consistency 25:09 Prioritizing Marriage and Family Time 26:39 Engaging the Creative Side 28:00 Aligning Goals with Core Values 29:38 The Importance of Taking Breaks 32:09 Adapting to Life's Seasons 34:37 Understanding Capacity and Avoiding Burnout 38:29 The Role of Accountability 41:46 Final Thoughts and Encouragement Melissa can be found on Instagram, or you can get her core values workbook. Please go show her some love. Other episodes Melissa and I have recorded are: Episode 111: Stop Sacrificing Your Marriage on the Alter of Business Episode 104: Danielle and Melissa Share Their Top 3 House Management Tips Bonus: Melissa and Danielle's Favorite Christian Money Books (and Our No List) Episode 83: Lies Women Believe about Money and Business *Affiliate links are present in these show notes. I earn a small commission when you order through my links, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting myself and my family through your purchase.

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In this episode of 'Created for This,' Christian podcast host welcomes special guest, female boxer Sammy Worthington. Sammy shares her unique journey into the world of boxing, revealing how her faith guided her through an unexpected career. She discusses her early reluctance, turning points in her amateur and professional career, and how she views boxing as a form of worship and her calling to glorify God. The conversation delves into themes of faith, perseverance, and the significance of sharing personal stories to inspire and encourage others. Sammy also provides practical tips for keeping one's faith alive and shares insights into her daily routines, mindset, and support system. 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:37 Meet Sammy Worthington: A Unique Career in Boxing 00:55 Sammy's Journey into Boxing 03:57 Faith and Boxing: Sammy's Testimony 09:38 Sharing Jesus Through Boxing 24:43 Keeping the Fire for Jesus Alive 34:12 Daily Life of a Professional Boxer 37:27 Conclusion and Farewell Books mentioned in this episode: Knowing God - J.I. Packer Grasping God's Word - J. Scott Bruce, and J. Daniel Hays Every Woman a Theologian - Phylicia Masonheimer Let the Nations Be Glad - John Piper Desiring God - John Piper Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis *Affiliate links are present in these show notes. I earn a small commission when you order through my links, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting myself and my family through your purchase.

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Verses referenced: 1 Timothy 6:6

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Join LeAnne Ash and I as we talk all things fitness, wellness, nutrition, and mindset.

As requested by you all, this episode is so encouraging, gave insight into getting started, and not getting bored with your routine. LeAnne has a wonderful perspective on how to view fitness holistically and has great insights on resting.

Here are links from this episode:

*There are affiliate links here - thank you for supporting my family and mission, at no cost to yourself, when you order through these links.

Creatine

Collagen

My favorite fitness bands

Join the 6-week New Client Registration for Faster Way to Fatloss

Hang out with LeAnne on Instagram - LeAnne's Instagram

Thorne Creatine - Amino Acid Creatine Powder - Supports Muscle Performance, Cellular Energy Production & Cognitive Function - Gluten-Free - Unflavored - NSF Certified for Sport - 16 Oz - 90 Servings

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Follow Lina on Instagram or check out her beautiful jewelry on her site Chosen and Free Co. You can also sign up for her newsletter and catch the latest from Lina on her website.

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Melissa and I both have seen so many marriages of small business owners end in divorce. We find this heartbreaking. Today we're here to encourage you to stop laying your marriage on the alter and sacrificing it for your business.

Join Melissa Whaley, Christian Life Coach with an emphasis on marriage coaching, and I as we discuss one of the most important things for married women - your marriage.

We look at: - What makes marriage healthy - How women can view submission as good (Eph. 5:22-33) - Involving your husband in your business - Mistakes we've made and how we're doing things differently.

Previous Episodes with Melissa

Episode 104: Top 3 Household Management Tips

Episode 83: Lies Women Believe about Money with Melissa Whaley

Find Melissa and her Freebie

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ohheymelissawhaley/ and https://www.instagram.com/thetrailblazinglife/ Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@thetrailblazinglife Website http://www.trailblazingcoach.com Freebie Family Values Cheat Sheets https://trailblazing.podia.com/family-values-cheat-sheets

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Follow along with me on Instagram

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It’s so good to have someone help you work through this topic when it can be a challenge to know how to care for others.

Kari Bartkus is a Spiritual Director to hurting Christian women but uses a modern-day letter-writing approach perfect for those drawn to quiet spaces and written words.

Kari shares her acronym CARE from her book, Courageous Care: Helping others even when you’re afraid.

C - Courageously compassionate

A - Authentically taking action

R - Relying on God

E - Ever mindful of the other person

How to care for others as either an introvert or an extrovert.

“We want the other person to know they are seen, loved, and taken care of.”

How to care for those who are not in your close group of friends or family.

How to practically apply your spiritual gifts when caring for others.

Spiritual Gifts Survey courtesy of Dr. Tom Rush - Listen to his podcast episode on using your spiritual gifts here.

How to avoid burnout as a caregiver.

Know who your people are to serve in this season. It can be as simple as your family or extended family.
Have a ministry of intercession - pray for those around you. Prayer is the most powerful thing you can do for others.

5 Creative Ways to Rest, Refresh, and Renew

Look at how the person you’re caring has cared for others in the past or how the receive care best - mirror that.

How to work through your own trauma and hurt through journaling in Kari’s program Journal Gently. The program allows you to help others out of your own wholeness instead of your hurt.

Click here to comment on ways you’ve found to give back and care for others.

Buy Kari’s book Courageous Care

Join Kari’s Journal Gently program

Follow Kari on Instagram

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In this episode of Created for This, I’m talking with Ron Simmons who served as a state representative, CEO of a wealth management company, and is a father and grandfather.

We’re talking about Ron Simmons’ book Life Lessons from the Little Red Wagon.

In this episode of Created for This, I’m talking with Ron Simmons who served as a state representative, CEO of a wealth management company, and is a father and grandfather.

We’re talking about Ron Simmons’ book Life Lessons from the Little Red Wagon.

Intentionality - why has it been so important in your life, and why should it be important for others? If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll be surprised when you get there. You have to have an idea of where you’re going so you can get there.

Determining the next step and getting uncomfortable - It’s not a matter of not knowing what the step is, it’s a matter of taking the next step. Ron gives a few steps to help you do this.

A lot of times, the fear of failure is greater than the joy of success.

How Ron’s view of Jesus helps him deal with the fear of failure.

How to overcome perfectionism and move forward. We have to purposefully find people who help us and push us to action instead of staying stuck in inaction.

Ron’s number one piece of advice for business owners: stick with your idea instead of moving on to the next idea too quickly.

Secondly, don’t make your business about you. Make it so you can sell it to others or pass it on to your children.

Listening to the Bible is how Ron reads through his Bible (pray.com). Listening to the Bible counts as Bible reading.

Making room for rest and relaxation. John Maxwell says you’re cheating yourself if you don’t take time to rest. Find what rejuvenates you.

Referenced in the episode:

Life Lessons from the Little Red Wagon by Ron Simmons

Thinking for a Change by John Maxwell

Prayer app - pray.com

Ron’s email: ron@ronsimmons.com

About Ron Simmons

The Honorable Ron Simmons served three terms in the Texas House of Representatives. He served on the Appropriations, Transportation, Elections, Homeland Security, and Business & Industry Committees while in the Texas House.

In business, Ron was the cofounder, chairman, and CEO of Retirement Advisors of America (RAA). RAA is a wealth management company and, at the time of its sale to another investment firm in 2019, managed over $3 billion for approximately two thousand retired commercial airline pilots from all the major airlines who resided in all fifty states and multiple foreign countries.

In 2019, Governor Greg Abbott appointed Ron as chairman of the board of Texas Mutual Insurance Company, an exclusive worker compensation insurance provider located in Texas with over $1 billion in annual revenue serving over seventy thousand companies located in Texas. Simmons is an advisor to the CEOs of The Heritage Foundation and the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Ron is the son of two public school teachers and has been married to his wife, Lisa, for more than forty years. He and Lisa have three children: Justin, an assistant US Attorney in the Justice Department; Daniel, who is on the autism spectrum and a fantastic artist and hard worker; and Allie Beth, a podcast host (Relatable), author, and speaker. Their crowning achievement, though, is their five grandchildren!

You can find Ron on LinkedIn or Twitter.

There are affiliate links in this episode. At no cost to you, I receive a small percentage for recommending this product - thank you for supporting my family and me through your purchase.

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Today's guest, Dianna Kokoska, can be found on Instagram, or her website.

You can order the book through my affiliate link on Amazon.

In this episode, Dianna shares:

How being a wife and mom has impacted her business. How she started her business as a single mom who pulled her kids door to door in a little red wagon.

She found serving people and listening to their stories is how you can add value.

“Make people feel important because they are. Treat every one of us is a child of God. Because we are.”

“Every number or sale represents a person and every person has a story.”

The book is full of step-by-step things we can do to train our brain to have a new story, write that new story, and be responsible for that new story.

How to get people to tell you their story and share how you can add value to their lives.

Love people
Say hello and see if they’ll say hello back
Ask and be curious about them
Practice

“Feel uncomfortable and do it anyway.”

Take that next bold step.

Living boldly as a person of faith understands they have to be the person who is able to do what they want to do and then they can give back to the world. Personal growth takes over and you can retrain your brain.

Our thoughts become our beliefs, or beliefs become our values, and your values become our subconscious mindset coupled with emotions, and that becomes your actions.

Belief is an idea, faith is a conviction. When you put belief, faith, and trust together, you have a winning combination. When we change the way we look at things, it gives our lives a new perspective.

95% of our success is based on our mindsets. There are 14 different mindsets defined in Dianna’s book. There are seven that liberate and seven that limit.

The actions you can take to help your mindset, eliminate anxiety and depression.

How we can change the entitlement mindset and bring them to a mindset of gratitude. Understanding a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. We can teach our kids, and ourselves, how to change our mindset.

Through struggle is where birth comes joy.

What she learned through reading brain scans and the power of writing 5 things people were grateful for.

Dianna’s number one business lesson: “Each one of us is leader in our own right. We are responsible to help empower those people we’re leading. As a leader, empowering those people, look for the greatness in them. Everyone’s been given a gift. The question is, have they opened that up and discovered that gift. Sometimes that means pushing them to open that up. Sometimes that means getting uncomfortable.”

Mentioned in this Episode:

Mindset by Carol Dweck

Dr. Daniel Aman

Becoming More by Dianna Kokoszka

More about Dianna:

Dianna Kokoszka is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker, author, and mentor. As an award-winning business leader, she has established herself as a prominent figure in the business world, developing many leaders during her longevity. Dedicating thirteen years as CEO of KW MAPS Coaching and Training at Keller Williams Realty International, she played a pivotal role in propelling the company to become the largest and most profitable coaching enterprise in the real estate industry. As an innovator, creator, and author of the KW BOLD Experience and Coaching Skills Camp she helped lead the company to be recognized as the number one training company in the world. She is a board member of Growing Leaders, a John Maxwell Leadership Foundation Organization, and captures every opportunity to journey alongside EQUIP Leadership Inc., a non-profit dedicated to instilling values in individuals and transforming nations.

Dianna is a practitioner of Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and a founding member of the John Maxwell Team of Certified Coaches (IMC). As a lifelong learner, she has followed and been mentored by John C. Maxwell since the mid-1990s. Her greatest passions revolve around developing leaders and encouraging individuals to recognize and harness their innate potential.

Amongst her impressive achievements, Dianna’s most cherished titles are wife, mother, and grandmother. Her genuine concern for the welfare of others serves as the driving forces behind all her endeavors, fueling her unwavering commitment to add value to others.

Affiliate links are present in these show notes. I receive a small percentage from Amazon at no cost to you when you order through my links. Thank you for supporting myself and my family with your purchase.

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Today’s guest is Kathy Dixon, founder and CEO of Oh Yes! Communications. Today she will guide us through how to grow a successful business, sharing the importance of organization, flexibility, and staying grounded in our day-to-day through faith and relationship.

In this episode, we discussed:

Addressing our weaknesses in business and how to learn from them
Her background as first generation and how it has contributed to her growth as a business owner
Being aware of what God has for you and your business in His timing
Learning to be flexible and balance life in different seasons
How to delegate and grow a team effectively

“Sometimes you have to be okay taking a back seat…I wasn’t missing out on anything. What God had for me is going to be there, when it’s my time.” - Kathy

Kathy is a fierce boy mom of 3, a military wife, a fluent Spanish speaker, and Owner of marketing company Oh Yes! Communications. Her past clients range from National Geographic, Oprah, and several small to mid-sized multi-generational US-based brands.

You can find Kathy on LinkedIn and @ohyeskathy on Instagram. You can also visit her website at ohyescommunications.com to connect with her marketing team.

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Lewis and I talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI), using it in our business, and how to move forward as Christians. He walks us through what his thoughts are from a technical and theological integrated, biblical aspect.

A few points we cover:

The question of “should AI be used” is one thing we discuss. Additionally, we look at ChatGPT and how it works.
One big takeaway from Lewis is to have caution and discernment when interacting with any type of technology, but especially AI.
Lewis’s advice for business owners on how to think through ChatGPT.
Having a filter on our technology.

“Have a driving reason for saying yes to technology. Make sure it isn’t detrimental to your spiritual growth.” – Lewis

What’s your take – we’d love to have a conversation about this over on Twitter on this post.

Lewis Ungit is the author of “The Return of the Dragon: The Shocking Way Drugs and Religion Shape People and Societies” and writes on a wide range of topics including culture, finance, philosophy, history, theology, and science. Lewis holds an undergraduate degree in engineering, an MBA, and an MDiv degree.

Find Lewis on Twitter (X)

Lewis’s book: The Return of the Dragon

Verity and Co/Lindsey Johnson’s Copy Prompt Kit

http://LewisUngit.Substack.Com

Podcast - Building a Christian Nation

The Return of the Dragon: The Shocking Way Drugs and Religion Shape People and Societies

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God's given us homes to steward, and steward them well. Melissa Whaley joins me to chat about our top three house management tips.

These are tips that are practical and ones that can be implemented straight away.

As moms, Melissa and I have 10 kids between us. We are giving you things that make sense as moms and business owners because we're right there with you!

We also share perspectives from our husbands - these are good! (We want you to talk to your own husband about these things!)

Melissa's found on Instagram over at Trailblazing Homeschool or her personal account, Oh Hey Melissa Whaley.

Referenced in this podcast:

Power of a Praying Wife book
Atomic Habits
Melissa's Values Workbook
Danielle's Time Blocking Notebook or Digital Download

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I often hear “I don’t know how to start…”, "What do I need to do to get started," or “Is now the right time to start a podcast?”

So how DO you know if you’re ready to start a podcast?

Is there an ideal time, audience size, or revenue goal that indicates you are “ready”? How do you figure out when to take the leap?

Who better to help answer this question than Stefanie Gass!

Stef is the host of Online Business for Christian Women, a top 25 globally ranked business podcast which is amazing!

Beyond the success of her own show, Stef has helped over 1,000 women start podcasts with her signature program, Podcast Pro University! Yes, you heard me right - she’s helped OVER 1,000 women start podcasts!

This week, instead of our typical podcast content, I’ve partnered with Stefanie to sponsor an episode.

I’m actually sharing an episode with you today from her show - Online Business for Christian Women!

In this week's episode, Stefanie walks us through 5 ways to know if it's time to start a podcast. It's such great information!

Now, if you already know you want to start a podcast, or if after this episode, you know it’s your time - Stefanie has an incredible free training to help you get started!

You can watch her free training - Learn How to Grow a Successful Online Business in Less Than Two Hours a Week Using Podcasting!

Stefanie Gass is a Christian business and podcast coach, boundary boss, and multi-six-figure CEO. She helps women grow their online businesses and make money online, using podcasting.

Stefanie has helped over 1,000 women start podcasts with her signature program, Podcast Pro University. Her own show, Online Business for Christian Women, is a top 25 globally ranked business podcast!

Stefanie believes it's possible to partner with God to create income and impact without sacrificing your family, faith, or buying into the social media hustle.

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Today's guest is Katie Martinez, founder, and CEO of Elegantees, an ethically made fashion brand. She seeks to honor God through the branding, honoring her employees in the US and abroad, while fighting human trafficking. Katie has seen the brand multiply greatly, all credited to God's favor.

In this episode of Created for This, Katie and I talk about:

What led her to create her own clothing brand
How she's seen God move as she's taken bold steps of faith
What she expects for the future of Nepal (see the special invitation)
How you can support the work Katie is doing through Elegantees

You're invited to help Elegantees in a tangible way - by helping rebuild in Nepal. They are reopened in a new rented space, new machines, with one of our former managers is character, honesty, and work ethic. It seems like we have full control of what is happening.

Several seamstresses have been recruited from the local workforce that are in desperate need to work, but many women who have been making Elegantees for years are now settled in with our new management. Use this link to buy this special bundle or create your own design.

Please spread the word about the work that Elegantees is doing!

You can find them on Instagram (@elegantees) or the website (elegantees.com).

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Hard doesn't mean bad, especially when you look at the season through the lens of Christ.

The Bible verses I read were Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Here are three things that I've learned about hard seasons and what can be redeemed through this season. This season can:

Reassessing your goals and values
Grow your prayer life
Increase your dependence on God and the Holy Spirit to sustain you

I talked about the 4 R's of walking with the Holy Spirit and they are:

Remember: you are never alone
Rejoice: you don't have to work in your strength
Request: spirit guide you in conversations (and daily life)
Renew: daily renew your commitment to keep in step with the Spirit

If you'd like to get a lock/home screen of the 4 R's, you can go to my website

My email, if you need or want to chat, is dmr@daniellemroberts.com

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Today’s episode is one that will talk about periods and girl things – listen with children at your descression (there’s nothing crazy in here, just period talk, but I want you to know incase you’ve got kids around.

My guest is Garnuu founder and is passionate about helping women be the best they can be and that includes how they treat their body with feminine care.

As the Founder and CEO of Garnuu, an organic feminine care company that is on a mission to create periods that don’t cramp your style. She started Garnuu in 2021 out of a passion of helping women all over the world, including using your period to fight human trafficking for girls in Nepal.

Macy and I talk about:

– What she’s encountered as a company with conservative values

– Why it’s so important to use a period product that is organic – hint there are toxins, titanium dioxide, bleaches/dyes, and other unknown things in regular tampon brands

– How Garnuu is different from other period products

– Implementing cycle syncing and how you can increase productivity and feel better while doing so

Phases of the cycle:

Period

– Good for reflection

– Lower energy

– Zero hormones

– Great time to start a new diet

Follicular

– Growing energy

Ovulation

– Best time of month

– You look prettier

– Higher libido

– Better speech

– Good for strenuous workouts

– Eat colder foods because your body temp is higher

Luteal

– Some energy -> lower energy

– Burn more calories

– Higher carb cravings

– PMS can occur if hormones are unbalanced

Links from the show

Reel on titanium dioxide

Alisa Vitti “In the Flow” book

Flo Living Instagram account – I don’t agree with everything they share, but there’s a lot of good education on here!

Cycle syncing Instagram post – Garnuu

Buy Garnuu

There are affiliate links present - at no cost to you, I receive a small portion of the money you spend buying through my links. Thank you for supporting my podcast.

In the FLO: Unlock Your Hormonal Advantage and Revolutionize Your Life

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You guys - episode 100!!!!!!

Thank you for listening to every episode and supporting my podcast. I'm so happy to serve you in this way.

Tune in to hear a very heart-felt interview and have your listener-submitted questions answered.

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Insurance for your business is a important asset.

In this episode of Created for This, Danielle and her husband, Lucas, talk about the ins and outs of insurance for small businesses. As a insurance broker for businesses, Lucas is passionate about helping out business owners protect themselves.

To contact Lucas about insurance, you can email dmr@daniellemroberts.com. He would be happy to help connect you with what you need or point you in the right direction.

You can also find Lucas on Twitter https://twitter.com/addicted2grace.

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In this episode, Danielle chats with Sarah Martin.

We cover:

What stewarding the body looks like.
Why stewarding your body is NOT only weight loss.
Why preparing your body for services is important.
How and why Danielle and Sarah started with FASTer Way and what they love about it.

Sarah Martin is a wife, mom, author, and a Certified FASTer Way Health & Wellness Coach. She is passionate about gathering purpose-driven women and coaching them in health and wellness to love God heart, soul, mind, and strength to be fit for the call He has on your life. When Sarah isn't cheering on her clients, you can find her on date nights with her husband, yelling loudly at her son's football games, or making a mess in her art room. Join Sarah's next FASTer Way round and get info at @sarahmartinvibrantlife on Instagram.

Discover more about FASTer Way here.

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Jena shares about her faith and trusting God in her artwork, and how she came to the realization of needing to rest in order to keep going and creating. This is a powerful episode with so many pieces of wisdom.

Jena's Instagram

A Spoonful of Faith Studio

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Get the list of 5 Created Ways to Rest here.

To join Make Room for Rest, my course on productivity and biblical rest, use this link and discount "getrested" for 40% off.

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Discovering your spiritual gifts is so important! In this episode of Created for This, I'm chatting with my Spiritual Gifts class professor, Dr. Rush.

We talk about:

how you can identify your gifts
what the spiritual gifts are
why rest is important for those of us in serving roles

Links from the show:

Your Reasonable Service: Understanding Your Motivation for Ministry

Dr. Fuller's Theological Classroom

More about Dr. Rush:

Dr. Tom Rush serves an Evangelist with TREAD Ministries and is a Staff Evangelist at Liberty Baptist Church, Hartwell, Georgia. He also serves as a President of Ten Commandments Georgia, a non-profit, grassroots organization committed to the task of restoring a common moral code based upon The Ten Commandments and the founding philosophy of our country.
He is a native of East Point, Georgia, and a graduate of Georgia Tech (BSIM); Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (MDiv); and Immanuel Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin). He is a member of the Conference of Georgia Baptist Evangelists.

He has been in full-time evangelism for over six years and has preached in numerous Bible Conferences and revivals across the country. Previously he served as a senior pastor for 34 years, serving churches in North Carolina, New Mexico, Florida, and Georgia.

He also served as Reserve Chaplain in the Navy and Air Force, serving a total of 28 years, retiring from the Air Force Reserves as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2005. Among several active-duty tours, he served as the Joint Special Operations Command Chaplain in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, 2004-2005.

He has served in numerous denominational positions of leadership, including: President of the 2017 Georgia Baptist Preaching Conference, member of the Executive Committee of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, and currently serves as a Trustee of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY.

Dr. Rush is married to Lesli and together they have five children and twelve grandchildren. They reside in Monroe, Georgia.

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If you're interested in hearing more details about our trip, or tips and tricks for traveling, I posted our video on YouTube and you can access that here.

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A good money mindset as a business owner is so important to growth and success. Furthermore, a biblically-based money mindset is essential for Christian business owners.

Joining me to talk about this important topic is Lindsey Roman. Lindsey is a business coach, social media marketing aficionado, and photographer based out of Lawrence, Kansas. She’s one of the founders of The Heart University and she co-hosts The Heart & Hustle Podcast, a top business podcast for creative entrepreneurs.

Lindsey’s mission is to help women know their worth, value, and identity in who they are and boldly do what they were created to do. When she’s not speaking, teaching, or dancing on Instagram, you can find her spending quality time traveling and adventuring with her daughters Eloise & Annalise and husband Andrew.

We chat about:

Lindsey's view of abundance
Why it's important to talk and think about biblical money mindset
Stewardship
How Lindsey, as a 7-figure business owner, stays grounded in her faith
Studying the Bible is vital for a Christian business owner

Lindsey said "we want to invite God to be co-CEO with us." Her example of this is prayer walking and praying over her businesses.

A few links from the episode:

There are affiliate links present in this blog - when you purchase using these links, it helps provide for my family and me at no cost to you. Thank you.

SOAP Study Method

Grasping God's Word

To grow in your own biblical money mindset, head to my free course on money mindset called Renew Your Money Mindset. Lindsey's Links:

Instagram

Website

Grasping God's Word, Fourth Edition: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible

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You're called to stewardship - in this episode we'll explore what that means and how to live that out.

Bible verses referenced:

Genesis 2:15

Matthew 25

Luke 19

1 Corinthians 9

Free modules of my class Renew Your Money Mindset can be found here.

Recommended resources:

*Affiliate links are present - by purchasing through the links here, a small percent will be paid to me. Thank you for supporting my family!

ESV Study Bible

NASB Hebrew-Greek Keyword Bible

New Dictionary of Theology

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Listen in on my conversation with Brooke Raybould: - Raising young men and controversy that surrounds raising kids in a social media world

Differences between formal entrepreneurship education and practical implementation
Honoring your purpose of starting your business
Running a values-based business
Faith as an anchor
A controversial reel shared by Brooke
Failure and how it can be beneficial
Brooke's new book on teaching kids values

Values resource available from Danielle

Join Brooke on her journey on Instagram.

Order your own copy of The American Dream of Braven Young. (Episode says it comes out the end of January 2022, the date changed to the end of February 2022 and is available to order now.)

Other books mentioned:

Wild at Heart

Raising a Conservative Daughter

*Affiliate links are present in these notes - by purchasing through this link, a small percentage of this sale will go to me at no cost to yourself.

For more on Danielle Roberts, visit daniellemroberts.com/about.

Thank you for leaving a review and spreading the word about this podcast for Christian business owning mamas!

Wild at Heart: Discovering The Secret of a Man's Soul

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Having worked with many 6-figure business owners, there are a few lessons that can be applied to any business to help it be more successful and profitable.

Remember, success is something you define - don't think that just because in the online space 6-figures is the "it" number to hit with profit that it's where you need to be.

_____________________________________________

If you're looking for less stress and overwhelm, more productivity and rest in this coming year, join the Faith and Focus Group Mentoring Program. It closes on January 28.

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Today's guest is Avery Forrest. Avery lives near the Gulf Coast of Alabama. She and her husband planted a church 11 years ago and they have to wild boys. Avery has been an entrepreneur for 10 years and ran a successful wedding photography business. At the end of 2019 Avery felt God leading her to something new so she trusted and followed. Avery has a business where she equips female Christian entrepreneurs for their mission in the marketplace. Clarity to Courage offers in-person retreats and conference to equip these women. The first conference is October 25-27th, 2021.

She shares her wisdom with us about seeking clarity from God as you look for direction.

Pray intentionally with specific targets - knowing the questions you're asking God.
One of those questions can be "what's the next step."
There are more prayer prompts in Avery's Praying for Your Business linked below.
Listen to what God's telling you.
One of the things Avery did was to list out what you're good at and sought wisdom weeding out what things were right for the current season.
She said, "sometimes you have to step out and try it. Clarity comes as you step out and try something."
"God cannot steer you when you're sitting still. You have to move" - shared in a Lisa Brevere book.
"There's no compartmentalizing our lives - our spiritual life, business life, and our home life, it's all mixed together." They all have to be addressed together.
Pray for your business prompts can be found here.
Clarity doesn't mean you get the whole picture.
Clarity comes from time and communication with God.
There are people who need what you have.
Clarity comes from knowing God's promises for you.
Psalm 139
You have to be okay to pivot and shift to the next right spot.
Do the things God asks out of obedience.
God wants us to trust him with the things he's telling us to do.
Where haven't you trusted him or done what he's asked you to do? It's possible this is keeping you from clarity or the next step forward.

The Clarity to Courage Conference is October 25-27, 2021 in Alabama. You can find out more about this great conference on Avery's website. To get $50 off the price of the conference use the code EARLYBIRD.

Avery's heart and vision for her ministry is on her website. You can also join in the Facebook group "Christian Women Entrepreneurs: Growth Through Community" using the link.

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Activities I'm doing in my own business to make it function better:

Updating my Niche and the words that describe my business.
Looking at my goals and asking:
Are they still working?
What's been accomplished?
Do I still want to do _____________?
Examining business finances with my accountability partner.
Analyzing systems to find out what's lacking and adding or improving what needs to be changed.
Looking at what in my business is working or not working.
How to find time to do this:
Think about it while you're doing other things.
Add it to your calendar then stick to it. My favorite planner is my Faith and Focus Planner.
Make a date with your friends or accountability partners.

Inspiration comes for this comes from Abbey Cappa's She's Here for It podcast episode #66 5 Keys to a Side Hustle Reset

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I'm jumping in and telling you my money story. A few weeks ago I posted an episode with Melissa Whaley and her money story. We talked about how she's worked hard to share her money thoughts and attitude. Today I'm going to share my story as we're in the middle of the open cart for my new class series Renew Your Money Mindset.

There's been so much that's gone into this class series. I've loved talking and learning about money mindset in the last 3 or 4 years. My first abundance challenge was in 2018.

It's so cool to see God bring up the same topics repeatedly. In 2016, I wrote in my devotional, Created for This, and day 5 is called Money Matters. In this devotional, I read through the devotional and share the Bible passage Romans 12:13 which says, "Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality."

Additionally, Matthew 6:20-24 says, "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

In this episode, you'll here:

My own relationship with money has taken a lot of work to rewrite my thoughts on money. For me, it has been studying God's word and principles about money. Anxiety and fear over money and what would happen are still things I think about, but not to the same degree.

My childhood money story has impacted my current money thoughts.

My husband and I started our marriage with very little money and we have struggled a lot over the last 10 years.

I share about how I've used money emotionally, resulting in debt and bad spending habits.

How my viewpoint on money has changed as a result of my own need to turn around my spending habits - seeing myself as a steward of the money we've been given.

Combating scarcity mindset with Bible verses. Specifically Philippians 4:19, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Affirmations have been so helpful when facing struggles with money. Meditating on the scripture verses has helped those biblical truths to take root in my heart.

In order to get our money back under order, it's been hard. It's included arguments and frustrations in our marriage because of difficult money conversations. It's still a very emotional part of our lives for me.

My own personal struggle to cut down on my spending.

Following The Budget Mom and using her Budget by Paycheck method to help with overspending and saving money.

Creating a mindset that focuses on generosity.

The focus has been on stewardship which is something I'll be talking more about in the Renew Your Money Mindset classes.

My whole outlook on money has changed. But it's been a heart change.

I don't think it's wrong to desire more money when our focus is to bless others through generosity of sharing what God's given.

I'm inviting you to step in and discover what God has for you, so you can have joy and freedom in an area God desperately wants to capture your heart. Renew Your Money Mindset is for you if you're wanting to learn money mindset from a Christian, biblically-based program.

The live round closes on June 18. If you have questions, email dmr@daniellemroberts.com.

Money book I recommend:

(Amazon affiliate links which means I earn a commission from your purchases at no cost to you.)

Your New Money Mindset

Money Possessions and Eternity

Neither Riches Nor Poverty

How Should I Think About Money?

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To join the email waitlist for Renew Your Money Mindset when it launches on June 14, click here.

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Danielle: [00:00:00] Hey guys. I am here with one of my BFFs, Melissa Whaley. We are going to chat about a recent life experience and change that she has gone through. But first, if you don't know her, you need to know her. So Melissa, can you tell us more about you? And then we will dive into life. Yes, ma'am well, hi, I'm Melissa.

Melissa: [00:00:30] Once upon a time, I would introduce myself as a tax advisor, but that's not who I am anymore, but I am a wife to RJ and a mom of five, and soon to be six kids. And I live in Southern California where it's hot and dry, not by the beach and starting over a whole new, exciting journey of business stuff that we're going to talk about today.

Danielle: [00:01:00] Yay. So let's dive right in. You said he used to Introduce yourself as a tax advisor, you were my tax advisor and I love you for it. You've saved me lots and lots of money. You still have videos that people can go watch and learn all about business stuff and taxes. So tell us what happened, how, what, what's the change?

Melissa: [00:01:26] So I have my tax business for, I want to say six or seven years. I was in the tax industry for about a decade and change. And that whole, the fact that I had that job was like, Totally God slash accident because I didn't go to college to become an accountant that was not on my trajectory at all. But right after my oldest daughter was born, I desperately needed a job and H and R block was hiring.

So that's how I got into taxes. I mean, I'd always helped my parents with bookkeeping in their business, so it wasn't foreign to me. But I fell into that business, ended up starting my own business when I wanted to have more kids and work from home. And so I ran my company from home for about six years and it was awesome.

We moved three times during that, and that is the beauty of online and virtual business is that you can take it with you wherever you go. So it was a big blessing during that season of life. But. In, well, really, it started in 2019. So most people didn't know. Cause obviously when you're going to shut down your business, you have to kind of keep it quiet for a while.

But I actually began and the process and thought pattern of shutting down my business in 2019 I had just had number five kid and was like, This is insane. And part of this was like, I think a funny God joke. Okay. Because I had had four kids and I was like, okay, I'm content. We're good. Like, we're done.

I can handle four kids and homeschool and run my business, which was a total lie in my head. But in my head I was convinced I could do all these things. And then I joked. Oh, if I get pregnant with number five, I'm going to have to shut down the business because there's no way I could do this. And then I got pregnant with number five.

So it was a lot of discussion with my Bible study girls, a lot of prayer, but I was like, okay, God, like, I'm not going to rescind on this. If I said I would quit after five, then I better do this. So I did my last tax season in 2020. It was the most insane year of doing taxes in the 10 plus years, I had done taxes and I started doing taxes in 2000, well, 2009 tax year, 2010 spring.

And so that was with all the brand new Obama tax changes and things. So I was used to new presidents and tax changes, but. All of the COVID tax changes were insane. Absolutely insane. Like worse than when any president got into office tax changes so that I was losing my mind in many arenas and decided to shut it down at the end of tax season, except they extended tax season all the way to July of last year.

So it didn't actually shut down my business until July of 2020. And now here I am trying to reinvent myself a little bit with other businesses because I'm still an entrepreneur. I can't just like, not have something going on. That's it's in my blood. It's in my brain.

Danielle: [00:04:56] Yeah, isn't it funny how it you're just like, I gotta do something and I'm like, I'm sitting over here. I'm like, okay. So I went to this really awesome nail salon in, in Denver. I like big, still look beautiful a week later we can have later. And I was like, yeah. And I wonder if she wants to like, franchise. And I would like own a salon here in Wisconsin business, coach brain. This is how our brains work. I know.

And I was like, Hmm. So I haven't reached out to her yet because I'm like, realistically, Danielle, you can't handle running a salon. You hate driving up there anyway, like the town that I would put it in is, you know, it's 15 minutes, which 15 minutes to like Texans is like, That's next door. So then California, that's like normal.

Like we can't get anywhere in less than 15 minutes. I'm kind of spoiled, but so anyways, but yeah. So there was more that went into shutting down your business than just, just having a baby. Like, tell me more about the backstory of that and kind of how you've seen God change your heart or over the last year.

Melissa: [00:06:13] So one of the big things that I think was I had a huge shift in my theology over probably the last. Three four years. And so part of that, I mean like really cliff notes version here, I grew up in a Pentecostal denomination. So I grew up in a denomination where women could be pastors, women were pastors and my goal, and I went to college to study ministry to be a pastor.

So I was like, Yay, feminist Christian. But over time and like leaving that denomination for a lot of different reasons and not all of them, like negative, just it not being the right fit anymore. Listening to a more varied. Like amount of theology and influence, because I think my understanding was very narrow.

And so I expanded my horizons and learned from all kinds of different places. And I wouldn't place myself in any denomination or a specific place anymore. But I've been positively influenced by both ends of the spectrum of like the hyper Pentecostal and the super reformed. And I'm thankful for all ends of flavors of Christianity, but it definitely, I had a shift in my theology where I realized like that's probably not the most biblical model, true biblical model of like yay women in that sense.

But I was also being fed that same feminism. Stuff in the business world, especially in this like bossy mommy, like you can do anything. You can be a CEO of a six-figure business and be a stay at home mom and not sacrifice anything. And your kids will be happy and your husband will be happy and you'll be happy and you'll still have all this money.

And it was just like, I was totally buying that lie. I was buying that lie that I could somehow. Like be a faithful wife and like actually serve my husband well and take care of my kids and steward my home and run this business and have all this money and I would be completely satisfied. And that would be like the thing that made me happy.

And it was not, I was burning out hard core, so just like all are really bad. Business advice in lies that is totally a worldly advice, totally worldly wisdom. And it was just kind of slowly crushing my soul, trying to do all the things because I realized that I personally was not built to do all those things in the way that I was doing them.

Danielle: [00:09:09] So explain to us more about what you believe the Bible has for us as women. I mean, I, we still agree that women can teach women. Like that's the thing. We still agree that women can run businesses. That's the thing. So explain to us more, just do more clarification about what you, what you mean.

Melissa: [00:09:33] I did not like turn into some like Prairie wife dress and go start up like homestead and hide and the world would take granny chic is a deal like, right. It's true. I do still want a homestead, but that's for completely different reasons. And I did grow up with animals and stuff, but no, I I'm not like. Anti women doing their thing.

I am not like go be little miss submissive housewife at home, which that's a whole nother episode discussing the word submission and the negative side of submissive. We're not going there. We think submission is a positive thing the right way. Yes. So it's actually a mid list of things to talk about.

So, hi. Okay. Coming soon. Nice. See preview, but yeah, so I think really what it was is that I was one idolizing my business and idolizing the business world. And this idea that that more money was going to make me happy. I mean, my husband and I got married literally a week after graduating college. So straight out of college.

Got pregnant. Four months later, ended up living in my parents' house for a year with a newborn, not the most ideal situation. So we were broke as broke can get. And so like, and we were broke for a really good chunk of our marriage. I mean, even up until a couple years ago, we just never had enough income.

So. My brain was like, you have to find ways to supplement the income. And I had worked regular jobs outside of the house, and that was okay for that season. And like, it worked for us, but I thought like this business is my ticket. Like, this is a way to, you know, I can save our family and fix our finances and all of these things.

And. The reality was, is that I wasn't being a good steward of our home. I wasn't like being a good wife to my husband. I was ignoring him a lot to run the business, do business stuff. I wasn't even being good with our money, which was the whole point. It was so dumb that you guys, I mean, I literally wouldn't make all this money. And then I am totally like, if you listen to Dave Ramsey at all, I am the spender of our marriage. Like I spend, I love spending, gifts are my love language. So I just, I have, I've been, I've definitely, the alert has been growing me in self-control over the last decade, but I would, you know, get money from the business and then be like, okay, well, we can use like this much for.

The our family, and I'm just going to blow the rest on Starbucks and this pretty microphone and all this stuff, because it was like, oh, I need these business things to grow my business. And I just got so caught up in so much of the FOMO fear of missing out in the business world and thought like I had to do things I have to buy these courses.

I have to spend all this money. And so I wasn't even contributing to our family's finances in the way that I should have been. And I was ignoring my husband and I got to the point because of the type of business I had. And this was another like big shift is that I had a very service-based business. So even though it was virtual, I didn't have to show up in person with people 90% of the time.

I still had to lock myself away in this office and tell my kids don't bother me. Don't bother me because I had all these meetings. And then like, I personally have an add type burning and I cannot focus very well if there's any distractions. So obviously doing taxes and bookkeeping, it's a very like focused, required job, which I can hyper-focus.

That's a benefit of how my brain works. But that was usually between the hours of 9:00 PM and 2:00 AM. And that worked really great. When I had one, two, three kids. Once I hit four, my brain started to be like, you can't do this anymore. And then I hit five kids and I'm like, what's up? My name part of is just sleep. You don't sleep a lot, but yeah. So. I was just, I, the whole, my whole like point when I started my business was, Hey, I want to stay home with my kids. I want to be more available. I want to have flexibility. I want to, you know, not have to put my kids in daycare if I don't want to, you know, like having the choice.

Right. Cause it's not about that. It's a good or a bad choice to put your kids in daycare or childcare or school, public school or private school or whatever. It's just, I want it to have the choice for myself. Rather than feeling forced into one decision. So yeah, just all that stuff that just like blurted out a ton of stuff, but I wasn't, I wasn't taking care of my family.

I was not basically like when I, when I actually was looking at scripture about marriage and about motherhood, I realized that. Our first calling is to our spouses and our kids. And if we're not serving them well first then whatever, it doesn't matter how much we're succeeding in other areas, whether it's a business or volunteering or ministry. Cause I. Done that too, where I over commit myself in ministry and burnt out there, like all the places. If you're not serving your family first, then you're out of alignment with what God has called you to ultimately.

Danielle: [00:15:27] Yes. And from somebody that's done that as well. It's it's not good. So no condemnation for anybody who's in that place right now. That's not what we want you to take from this. We want you to take the reprioritization and I think that's something that I talk about a lot is like the family, the stewarding, the home. And then business, whenever you see my priorities, it's always going to be family and then home and then business.

So what led you to reprioritize and how was that something that you are working on now worked on? Did? It feel like it's constantly something we have to realign.

Melissa: [00:16:11] Oh, yeah, for sure. Definitely still working on no means perfection or even close to it yet. I think what's interesting is what really sparked a lot of, it was some like really deep struggles that my husband and I were having in our marriage. So even though like having a lot more kids was a big contributing factor. Just like the big struggles we were having in our marriage, realizing that our marriage was not. We were not operating biblical our marriage at all.

We were treating each other like crap and both of us realized, like we need something we need to change. And we started listening to a lot of biblical marriage podcasts. We did a course, I think it was through deal and Veronica Partridge. I don't know if they still have it up. I think it's called ultimate marriage, but We did. We went through that course because it just like, again, it's not like an elaborate thing, but it just breaks down like, Hey, have you actually looked at the scriptures? And what they say about what a wife is supposed to, how the wife is supposed to treat her husband, how a husband is supposed to treat his wife.

So this isn't, this wasn't a one-sided thing, right? Like we both recognize that each of us. We're not doing things well, and we needed to change that. And then I looked at our, this is how our house was running. And I mean, my husband and I are, have very equitable distribution of like household chores and that kind of thing and that's never been a problem. Like my husband doesn't feel like I'm dumping stuff on him. He likes to cook. He likes to do stuff. But also like he got to a point where he was so discouraged. In the point of his career, he was like, well, I'll just be a stay-at-home dad and you can run your business.

And I was like, whoa, that is not what I want at all. Like, and I'm not saying that may not be the right thing for some people. But when I look at scripture, it's like, no, the husband is supposed to be the provider, the primary provider in many ways, not just financially. And I'm supposed to be primarily discipling my kids and stewarding my home. Those are our domains. And then we figure out how to collaborate together and making it all work. Right. So that was eye-opening for me, that he was so discouraged and feeling like. That he had no confidence and all my confidence was fake confidence because it was like, well, I got more clients, but now I'm crying myself to sleep at night because like I said, yes, though, horrible clients and they're super mean, and you know, it was bad.

So yeah, like reprioritizing our marriage. Was a huge factor. And then like in that really studying the scriptures of like, okay, what is my role first? What should I be doing? Like, yeah, I was barely managing the house at all. I mean, like at all, and I realized like, this is not good that I'm just kind of either. Like shoving this off on my husband and my kids, but not even giving them clear direction, you know? So I wasn't managing, there's a difference between just like, Dumping responsibilities off and being the manager like you can manage and delegate versus dump. So I was dumping, I was not delegating. And the other thing was that we homeschool our kids and we started homeschooling when my oldest was in, started second grade.

And so, you know, like I was kind of like, I will say doing a half-ass job with my daughter the whole time. Like we leaned a lot on our co-op and a lot of things, and she entered junior high this year and I was like, oh, dang, I need to step up my game. And then my younger kids are now there's a big age gap between my oldest and then the next one is five years.

So my son started his school. And now I'm like, I have to actually homeschool him. Like I can't just have him do random things and watch TV all day. Yeah. And my kids were like watching TV all the time. And so there was just a lot of things where, when I stopped and looked at the whole situation in my life, I was like, this is not good. Things are, these things are out of control. Nobody's happy. Like we just, something's got to change.

Danielle: [00:20:56] So you realistically took it from like chaos to calm or calmer or, cause if I have kids it's never calm

Melissa: [00:21:08] no, unless there was, there was no structure. Like there really wasn't a lot of structure. It was mom works these days from the so live realistically, even though I was working from home. I was the same as if I was going to an office and working for someone else's business, because I had to lock the door at a hire babysitters.

I had to tell them not to bother me. And then I would not go to bed with my husband and work for four hours at night and just constantly be behind and stress and angry and grumpy. And. It was not pretty, so it was a lot of chaos. And so we've been implementing structure in our lives, which is good thing.

Danielle: [00:21:52] That's a good thing. And having walked beside you, the whole last four or five, whatever years it is now, it's, it's way better. And you're so much happier doing it.

Melissa: [00:22:06] It's true. I was not happy for a while. I was just like, Always upset about stuff.

Danielle: [00:22:13] No. I want to shift our conversation to talk about money because for one of the things that you had said, it sounded like you were in kind of a scarcity money mindset.

And with the mindset class series that I have coming out in June I want to talk about money, mindset and kind of the shifts that you've had, how your business has impacted that and where you are right now. And kind of how you see that as a biblical shift in your mindset.

Melissa: [00:22:52] Yeah, I definitely had we, my husband and I both had scarcity mindset for a long time and some of that is a product of, you know, childhood. He grew up with very little money. I grew up with the appearance of having money and being quote unquote, rich, not really, but you know, in his mind it looked like my family was rich because we had property and horses and computers and things, and he's like, I grew up on WIC and food stamps.

Danielle: [00:23:24] Yes. Before we move on, can you just describe scarcity mindset for me please?

Melissa: [00:23:29] Yes, absolutely. So the way that I've. Kind of unpacked. The idea of the scarcity mindset is that too it's core there's not enough, there's not going to be enough. Like you're always afraid that there's not going to be enough.

And from a Christian perspective, it's really that God's not going to provide and that I have to pick up the slack and like, I can't trust God to meet our needs because on paper or whatever, when I look at the money or when I look at our life, right. It doesn't feel like he's providing and I'm not seeing where he's providing, so I'm just going to have to bootstrap it and, you know, get to work and figure it out myself.

And so it really is it's a, it's a lack of trust. Of the Lord and a lot of ways, which is like harsh. It feels like, oh, that doesn't feel good. But that is where I had to realize, like you're not trusting the Lord to provide. And if you, if I, like there were those moments where I would look back and be like, wow, God has done so much.

Like, look what he did here. Look what he did here. Look how he provided for us. You know, he like made it so that we could move. You always provided a job. And there was even a season where my business was buying groceries. I mean, we were living off of whatever my business made and credit cards for like a year in this transition time.

And I was just like, but God always provided, we were never homeless. We were never without food. We were never without clothes, you know, just so it was the perspective shift of things. So we were, yeah, we were just, I was stuck in this, like I have to work because if I don't work there won't be money for the things that I want.

That was the other thing. It was like, well, I don't want to have to sacrifice my coffee and my target runs and having a second car and, you know, buying new clothes instead of clothes at the thrift store, you know, just like. Ridiculous stuff in my mind, sometimes

Danielle: [00:25:32] the lies that we've been told as well, like this is, this is what you need, like instant gratification. You want to go get something log on to Amazon and buy it like it's right there.

Melissa: [00:25:46] . And that's the thing. Like I had an expectation of what my life and lifestyle should be based on how I was raised. And even now, like I'm 36 and I'm having my sixth kid and my mom had me, her first kid at 36. So now looking at going. I've been married 13 years and I got married young and we had no money. And now in our thirties we're more established. Like my husband has a good career. Like he has his paycheck, pays all the bills and buys all the clothes and the groceries and nobody's suffering. Not that we were suffering before, but you know, like there is, we're totally solid, good on his income.

And so to think that like, I had this expectation of like a thirties lifestyle when I was 24. And I thought like, well, when I was growing up, my mom could take me to fast food every day after school. And when I was growing up, like, I always got the toys that I wanted and we could eat this food and not that food, . Also you remember, you look back at a lot of your childhood with rose colored glasses because my parents worked and my mom worked and I'm like, Hey, a lot of frozen dinners when I was like this age to this.

Danielle: [00:27:07] Yeah. You're like, oh wait, that's true. It's not that good for you.

Melissa: [00:27:11] Yeah. I'm like, oh, I spent a lot of time at my grandma's before I started school because my mom was trying to run a business. I wasn't thinking practically of, of where my life stage was and just where we were at. And then, so because of that, we weren't stewarding our finance as well. We, we were always freaking out or I was always putting stuff on a credit card because I thought I needed it. And instead of finding a way to save and budget, like we were horrible at budgeting and it was bad. And the other thing that was a huge shift for us, and this is, you know, our marriage is, I had always been in charge of the finances because my husband didn't want to.

And I think he was kind of afraid of telling me, no he was afraid of telling me no, like he just, he did not want to make me angry. He did not want to disappoint me. So he would never tell me no. So I would just buy whatever I felt like I wanted or we could maybe afford, but I've included running up credit cards all the time.

When I was in charge of the finances and that was a long time. I was like 10 years. It was not good. Like, and he just, he like, it wasn't, we weren't a partnership in that. We were not, again, operating biblically. We weren't like working together. And so a couple, three years ago I told him I was like, I'm done. You have to take over the finances. Like. I can't do this anymore. There's too many things on my plate. And so that was a big and hard shift for him as he knew he needed to do it. He knew he needed to take that leadership over in our, our marriage, but it wasn't easy and it, you know, caused a lot of fights and a lot of things, but it's also been growing for him in that, now he feels like he has a good grasp of the finances. So there's less fights because he's not like, what are you spending money on? And I have a better understanding of how much money can I spend without us, screwing everything over and getting in trouble. And. You know, I can't go by fast food if we're not going to have enough for groceries by the end of the month, you know, that kind of stuff.

Just learning how to work together and not fight and communicate well has been a huge step both of us doing a lot of personal work on ourselves and a lot of prayer, just to understand that Money isn't bad. The Lord gave us money to manage our home and take care of our family.

So I think we both had this money is just so messy. It's like that there's so much you can do bad. And then the scarcity and never feeling like there's enough. So we've had a lot of huge shifts in our mindset together. That have helped us feel like we can communicate about money, better. We can steward our finances better and not feel like we're always playing catch up and always behind. And you know, so now we're not in that we have goals and we've set them and we're like working towards that and we're actually budgeting and actually saving money. So that's been huge for us.

Danielle: [00:30:40] That's awesome. I think it's so important when we start realizing the fact that money's not bad, like. There's, you know, the money is the root of all evil Bible verse that just gets thrown out there,

Melissa: [00:30:54] which is misquoted it's the love.

Danielle: [00:30:57] Exactly. But people don't want to take that personal responsibility. And I think that's so much, at least in my own money story. Taking that responsibility, as you said, I'm the spender. Like he was the spender. When we got married, it totally flipped and was like, I'm the spender now? Like I am the one that's spending money. And part of it is I am. My parents raised us really well. Like we learned how to save money. We gave tide, we did all this stuff. We had like this amount of money, but. I got used to spending the extra money that we had. And then he got out of the Navy and we lost his income. We lost like all the other stuff and we lost, you know, and then we moved to Hawaii and it was, I was like, I'm so depressed.

It's so expensive there. I was so depressed. I was so like, just not in a good head space. And so spending money was like, oh, at least I can do something. Right. Like I can at least. Make my house, like pretty like for the time that we were there, we were there a year and I'm like, oh my gosh, I spent so much money.

And now like the extra shower curtain is down at a box. They'll really pretty, but in a box. And so having to shift my mindset and being like, okay, like, this is ultimately what you said about the scarcity mindset, like trusting God to provide. And that's. Something that's so important. And that's one of the affirmations that I use is like, my God will provide, like he provides, he has provided in the past.

And seeing that, and I talk about this along with rest, because I think it goes so much in like breastfeeding or kind of woven together because. We look at it. And we're like, you, as you said, that hustle mindset, like I have to work, I have to get this, I have to do it. And we just put ourselves in a tailspin because we're like working so hard to make all the money and eventually it just, you have to face facts.

So it's been, it's, it's, it's been a really interesting, like you've done it, I'm working through that as well and trying to figure it out, like, okay, God, how do I budget this? Like, how do I. What does that even look like for my family and where is my self control? And I'm not going to lie. My $25 at Starbucks every month does not go very far

Melissa: [00:33:34] Amen sister! BecauseI'm pregnant right now. I don't know what it is about being pregnant, but I swear, I go to Starbucks 10 times more when I'm pregnant, even though I own an espresso machine in my house, like I literally have no excuse. I just like driving through and getting pretty drinks

Danielle: [00:33:58] well that, and it's like, I'm not having to put forth effort except I have to drive. Granted the closest Starbucks is 15 minutes away and I'm like, oh, I just don't feel like driving there today.

Melissa: [00:34:09] Mine is five.

Danielle: [00:34:11] my Podunk town doesn't have a drive-through coffee shop. One of the biggest gripes I have with this town.

Okay. What pieces of advice do you have for somebody who either feels like they're in the same spot as you, as far as their house and their wifely duties, like being a homemaker, all that stuff. Or they're in the same place with their money mindset.

Melissa: [00:34:38] So first I would just say like, this is a process, right? So you don't instantly go from like, Chaos and feeling out of control too I'm calm and I've got it all together now. Like, absolutely. Yeah. It's been a process of, of years for me. Okay. So just start with small steps.

I think it honestly starts with a lot of prayer, a lot of prayer, and really just like. Laying your life back down to the Lord and saying, okay, God, what do you want for my life? Because obviously what I want isn't working right now. You know, like then that was, that was a huge thing, is what I want or what I thought I wanted or what the world was telling me that I wanted and I needed is not working.

And this is, you know, it's, it's killing me and I need a shift. So. Has really committed to the Lord in prayer and lean on his strength to be brave, to do the hard things, because I literally shut down my business and its most profitable year Mike and that was six, seven years in. It was finally becoming super profitable, but it was also literally killing me.

So it's, you've got to just make the hard decisions and trust that the Lord will reward those hard decisions. If you're staying faithful to where he's calling you, you know, so, and just being. Open and honest with your spouse to have the hard conversations too, because that's, oh, it's not pretty, it's not fun at first.

But again, just like starting that process and also just like leaning on the church around you, whether that's, you know, the actual church you attend or just other believers and friends who were going to support you in prayer and not like. Just be the like yeah, whatever you say, you know, like the people like Danielle, we're going to call you out and be like, no, Melissa, I don't think you should be doing that.

Or like, that's not a good direction for you to go. And I'm like, oh, you're right. Oh, crap. So, yeah. And just really dive into the scriptures. I think like we lean too heavily on everything outside of scripture. Sometimes it's just easier to be like, well, I'm doing my devotion or I'm listening to this podcast. Or like, I'm watching this teacher on YouTube and we're not actually just going to the scriptures ourselves

Danielle: [00:37:13] or like scrolling Instagram and being like, oh, that's a nice verse that doesn't cut it.

Melissa: [00:37:19] Yeah. I mean, like I literally went to college. And was taught hermeneutics and how an exegesis is like how to study the Bible. But did I start applying that? Not till 10 years later? No. So take, take the time. You know, and it may just be small pockets of time in the beginning, but the Lord will provide it really does. I mean, we do, we have to lay down or cross and trust Lord that he is going to provide, and he's going to do the things cause you kind of just have those like moments where you have to call yourself to the mat and say, do I trust the Lord or not? And you have to determine that answer for yourself. Like we can't tell you, like, yeah, I can see you trust. Like, no, you can't just have a bunch of cheerleaders be like you, like, you just got to lean in and do the hard work. That's the thing. You just gotta do the hard work. So that's. Kind of the, the overarching advice for both like money stuff and business stuff and marriage stuff, like do the hard work because honestly it's worth it.

One of our friends when we were like, Married a couple years. He was a pastor of a different church that shared the building. So it was a little bit older than us. And he was talking to my husband one day, cause we were still in our twenties and he was in his thirties and he said, the thirties are for shoveling poop.

He's like, you're in your thirties. That's when you shovel all the poop and you deal with your crap. And we were kinda like, okay, like, and now we're in our mid thirties and we're like, yup. This is we're shoveling the poop. Like we are doing the hard things because we, you realize like, I don't want to beat 50 and all of a sudden wake up one day and go, I have a horrible marriage.

I treated my kids like crap. We still have no money and I'm not any happier than I was 20 years ago. Like I would rather do the hard work now and really like lean in and be faithful to the Lord so that I can like actually have the life that he has said he wants to give us abundant life. Right. Like he doesn't want us to be miserable our whole life and like our happiness and our joy.

Doesn't need to be tied to how much money is in our bank account or how many cars are in our driver or what, how big our houses. And that's been a huge shift to just like being content in all circumstances. Like how the heck did Paul sit there in prison and say, I am content in all circumstances, like, I want that, how do I, how do I do that?

Danielle: [00:40:05] Right. Well, and the thing is statistically, the people who have more are not happy. No, they never learn contentment because it's always trying to hit that next wicket. Not saying that having more as a bad thing, like, I would love a Jeep Wrangler in my, my yard right now. Like that would be awesome.

Melissa: [00:40:24] You don't want my 15 passenger van Danielle? It's so awesome.

Danielle: [00:40:29] But my husband wants your 15 passenger van. I don't, he's really shaking his head.

Melissa: [00:40:37] Big family problem.

Danielle: [00:40:42] You also wanted like six kids when we got married and I was like, Nope, sorry. Oh, he's saying five. Sorry.

Melissa: [00:40:49] Okay. One more. You're good.

Danielle: [00:40:56] Yeah. So I think because there's so much of that, that goes into the mindset and just, you know, finding your joy in the Lord. And that's another one of the verses that I use as an affirmation is like the joy of the Lord is my strength. All through a bootcamp 10 years ago or 12 years ago. Oh my gosh. 12 years ago. That was like the verse. I was like, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Every day as I was doing pushups, and red in the face and hating life. I actually really enjoyed boot camp in a lot of ways. . There was structure and I was where God wanted me.

Melissa: [00:41:32] Yes.

Danielle: [00:41:34] But anyways Anything else you wanted to add about money, money, mindset.

It's just, yeah, just what I've said. Basically it's hard work. It's not going to be easy, but, but making the shifts and leaning in is so rewarding. Like God has done so many good things. Like we, my husband and I, my kids and I we're in such a better place than we were even a couple of years ago.

Like way better place. And that's not financially per se. But more so what's important to me is relationally and spiritually, like we have better relationships in our family because I'm not seeking after other things. And we have, you know, just better stability, like, and better spiritual relationships, like, because I am trusting the Lord and I'm not trying to lean on my own strength and do it all myself.

And you know, all of this, you are enough on your own. Again, bad worldly advice like that's I was just leaning so much on this worldly business hustle stuff that it was totally crushing me.

Yeah. Awesome. Well, thank you for that. So just quick on your next business venture, tell us what you're doing and why you are excited about it.

Melissa: [00:43:11] It's funny. Cause I'm kind of doing two different things and one of them is that I am doing a business with my husband, which is like a huge thing. Cause we would have never been able to do that before. Ever he tried to help me with bookkeeping one time and it was a disaster. So he and I have started a podcast for homeschoolers because homeschooling is one of our passions and that's what he does for a living.

He's a teacher, he supports homeschoolers. So we have that, we have the trailblazing homeschool podcast. And so that's just been a fun thing right now. It's not like super monetized or anything, particularly. Amazing yet. But it's just like us learning to work together. And then the other thing that I shifted to is actually being part of a MLM network marketing company and doing young living with you, which has been super fun.

And I think it's funny cause you know, like I've been an entrepreneur for , 12 years. And I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. My parents simultaneously ran three to four businesses at a time, so it's nothing new to me. And so a lot of people think that network marketing like it gets a bad rap and, or it's like, it's not a real business. And honestly, the amount of business experience I have, it is so refreshing to go back, like not go back as in it's backwards, but just go to something where I'm not the sole person trying to run a business by myself that like we have a team and it's really just like, I'm using products that I love and I'm sharing products that I love, and we're building a business based off of that. And it is way different in its demands and time for my family. So I can do the things from my phone half the time. And now my husband is so interested in business and he's like, so supportive of the young living business too, that he's like, oh, are you watching a training? Can I watch that with you? Like, Hey wonder are we signing up for convention? Are we like. Oh, okay. Let's do this together because he loves learning alongside me. So that's been just really fun and a lot less pressure and stress then running the business by myself

Danielle: [00:45:33] and you get to work with me, which is the best I know.

Melissa: [00:45:37] Cause like we're the best team ever.

Danielle: [00:45:40] No, really like having, like, being able to do business with your best friend or your husband is amazing like an, I, I think so much of the time, like as a business owner, like an entrepreneurial soul per Nuer, I'm the only one that I talk to about business. And so like having a core group of girls that I can talk to and be like, okay, this is what I'm doing. This is what I'm thinking. Am I crazy for thinking I can do all of this? And then by the way, did you try this oil? Because it's amazing. And these vitamins are keeping me running because vitamin B is like, Life right now.

Melissa: [00:46:22] It is the mom's best friend. Yes. Yes. So it's true. I have an awesome group of people and I think that was the other thing is I'm such an extrovert. And so while it was very like energizing for me, when I was working one-on-one with a client that was only a tiny part of when I was running my business as a solo preneur and towards the end, I had like a team member, but even then, like, it was so lonely. And so switching to a model of business where yes, you're responsible for your income. No, one's going to earn money for you, but you are part of this amazing team and they're all just supporting each other and encouraging each other. And like, you know, We've got leaders on our team that are teaching classes for us. And we've got like, and we're all messaging each other all day long and encouraging and answering questions. And so it's just night and day. It is night and day from going, being a solo preneur in a industry that is not terribly fun to now a bunch of awesome oil slinging moms

Danielle: [00:47:31] who just want to take care of other people.

Melissa: [00:47:33] Seriously, we just. We just want to have fun and give everyone in the world oils.

Danielle: [00:47:38] Yeah. Yup. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for this interview with me. And I'm, I hope that people have found nuggets of goodness. They can take away and just apply them. Because really we want you to apply these things. We don't want you to just listen, like take them and apply them. Even if it's just spend five minutes reading your Bible every day. And then if you really want to work on your money mindset, I'm going to plug up my money mindset class series. That's coming up cart opens in like about a week when this launches and when this podcast posts.

It is called renew your money mindset, a Christian woman's roadmap to becoming a joyful financial steward. So this is the only time I'm running it live. And then it will be just videos. So if you want in, on the live sign up, because Danielle is amazing and we aren't just friends, she has actually coached me many times in the past. And gosh, we've been talking about this money mindset stuff for years three years, crazy. Four years.

This is not our first podcast episode talking about money.

Nope. Obviously we like it. Yeah, but I'm so excited that you're doing this course, so people should do it. That's that's your plug. Don't just listen to Danielle.

Listen to Melissa. She says, sign up now.

Let's get that in writing. I mean that for my sales page, we'll transcribe that, throw that up. Awesome. Well, thanks, Melissa. , oh, tell people where they can find you. So with your trailblazer trailblazer, trailblazing.

Melissa: [00:49:20] Yeah. So our podcast is trailblazing homeschool. You can also find us on Instagram or trailblazing, homeschool.com. So if you want to learn about homeschooling, that's where you can find me. Right now, personally, I'm most active on Instagram and you can follow me at ohHeyMelissaWhaley on Instagram. I'm redoing my website. It probably won't be done until the end of summer. So don't worry about that. Just find me on.

Danielle: [00:49:48] Sounds good. Thank you.

Melissa: [00:49:50] All right. Thanks, Danielle.

Links

Join Melissa and I on our wellness journey and order your own oils today through Young Living. We LOVE the Basic Starter Bundle so you can order what you want, when you want. OR the Kidscents Premium Starter Bundle. Use this link or email dmr@daniellemroberts.com https://www.youngliving.com/vo/#/signup/new-start?sponsorid=27879591&enrollerid=10336789&isocountrycode=US&culture=en-US&type=member.

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This show's sponsor is the devotional for Christian women business owners and entrepreneurs, Created for This. It's based on Proverbs 31 and has devotions relevant to business owning and life as a business owner. You can purchase the book at daniellemroberts.com/createdforthis.

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Vanessa Ungvarsky of Taylor Made Cosmetics joined me for this podcast recorded for a class project. I have a deep admiration for this woman and I'm so thankful she agreed to interview with me about the backend of her product-based business.

There is so much to learn from her in how she sources her business supplies and delivers an astounding array of safe, ethically sourced and made products. Her business also values inclusivity, honesty, and women's empowerment.

Taylor Made Cosmetics sells small-batch, vegan and organic cosmetics that are handmade in our downtown Easton, PA studio. Our beauty culture is based on inclusivity, honesty and women empowerment. The Taylor Made Cosmetics mission is to strengthen the connection between consumers and their cosmetics through communication and hands-on experiences.

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Notes coming.

For more on Jamie Russell and to learn more from her, follow her Instagram, YouTube or check out her website.

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The lyrics for Be Thou My Vision by Audrey Assad

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art High King of Heaven, my victory won
May I reach Heaven's joys, O bright Heav'n's Sun
Heart of my own heart, whate'er befall
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all What is it that's important about a Vision Statement for my business? Lindsay Teague Moreno, business owner and author, says that a vision statement is "by contrast to a mission statement, is a big picture what the company will become in the future." Talking about a mission and vision statement "these two things will serve asthe basis for everything you say and do and put out into the world." If we don't know what our vision is and what we're creating and how that will be portrayed to the world, we're going to be floating around and not really having a direction. If you don't have a vision statement, my encouragement is that you create one. Your vision statement should be consistent with your values, your passions, your strengths and your spiritual gifts. Clear, easy to remember and in every day language. Google's vision statement is to "provide access to the world's information in one click." You might be a visionary, you might not. I think I am sort of a visionary, but I get really intimidated when I sit down to write out a vision statement. You can ask "where does God want me in the future?" "how is my business pointing to the cross?" "where does God want my business in the future?" Because, as christian business owners, we want to be representing Jesus as his ambassadors. We think about the verse like Eph 2:10 says, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." The other cool things about creating a vision statement, we can point to Jesus. I've frequently said your business doesn't have to "look" Christian, it doesn't need to have Christian symbols on it, what it does need, is to be pointing to Jesus. It's about what our business looks like and what we do once we go out into the world. I'm going to help you get super practical - I want you to use the next few minutes and download the worksheet to create your own vision statement. Dream about the direction that your business is going, what are the big dreams that God has placed on your heart? Part of my vision is that I'm going to be speaking to thousands of women which is so scary! But I know that God's got this and he's put that vision on my heart. I'd love for you to email me your vision statements so I can see what you've created. You can email me with those, questions or comments at dmr@daniellemroberts.com. Download the worksheets here.

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Stacy Tuschl is a Small Business Growth Coach, Best-Selling Author, and the creator of Foot Traffic Podcast & Community where she helps small business owners grow their local business Stacy started her first business at the age of 18 in her parents' backyard and turned that company into a seven-figure business she still runs today. She is a mom of 2 little girls and married to her husband Kent.

In this episode, Stacy talks about how her faith influences her company values and the way that she runs her businesses.

She's giving five actionable tips for growing your business from what she's learned as she's grown her dance studio, and her coaching and consulting businesses.

Stacy's five actionable tips are:

Build anticipation - something good is coming. Following the example of Amazon Prime Day and Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale and build that anticpation of the sale coming. We as small business owners don't follow the example of the big companies enough in this area. They have advertisements and buzz growing in advance.
Sense of urgency - a reason to buy right now. Have a cut off time to have someone buy for a short amount of time. People have a short attention span. Use something like today only. People will not come back to the email or to watch something else.
Scarcity - hurry before this runs out. You can do this with time or with the number of people who you will allow in at that price or offering. Give them a reason to buy right now so they don't forget about you.
Giving customers royal treatment - reward current clients. So many people will do a sale for new clients. How can you give a promotion for current clients and new clients. Figure out how you can love on your current clients. It increases their lifetime value and then they will also tell their friends. Starting out with lower expectations and then exceed those expectations. Don't put everything out there at the beginning so you can keep wowing them.
Name your promotion or event - give someone a name to share. It feels like it's another level or scale. If we want people to share, don't make them come up with something themselves, give them something to share. You can create a hashtag for this too.
Make a typical, everyday name people can remember (simplicity is key). Look at the people who are crushing it and follow their example. Have them hear the name and want what that is. Don't lose people because they have no idea what it is you're talking about. Look at businesses outside of their industry.

Another way to grow your business is to add a team member and outsource. Adding someone to your team - give people an opportunity for growth. The more you allow others to take things on, the more you'll love what you're doing. At minimum, everyone needs to have one person on their team.

If you don't have the money, you need to get smart from where the money will come, you might need to cut expenses, sell things around your house, or work extra.
There's also a mindset of getting resourceful to either find extra money or extra time.

Money mindset has been the place where Stacy's grown the most. Others are dreaming a lot bigger and when she's around people who want to uplevel and have upleveled, and where she wants to grow more.

Biblical abundance - God is not a God of lack or scarcity. He's a God of abundance.

There's room for everyone in an area. When you look at successful people, they don't have a lack mindset, they see the abundance.

Follow along with Stacy and learn more from her Foot Traffic Formula website or Instagram.

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Notes coming soon!

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Notes Coming.

Follow Melissa Whaley on Instagram

Check out her website

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Steph is the Founder & Director of City Moms Blog Network (since this recording, they've changed their name to City Mom Collective); growing the network after founding its original site, Scottsdale Moms Blog, in 2009.

Now living in the greater Minneapolis area, she oversees the national network by spearheading growth strategies, sales initiatives and shepherding and encouraging an ever-increasing number of moms managing individual local parenting websites.

What happens when you lean into how God's created you and what he's called you to.

After her first daughter was born, she felt the urge to serve moms in her area. Blogging was just beginning and she helped create an industry. Scottsdale Moms Blog launched about 9 years ago born out of a heart to serve her local community. The heart is to create local communities with motherhood being the center of it.

While it's a secular blog, it's still a ministry. They have women of all faiths that participate and own sister sites.

We grow when we invite others to take part in what we're doing.

Early on they invited other moms to volunteer and write for them. They then brought on entrepreneurs who want to grow blogs in their cities and they bring on volunteer writers and that's led to growth.

At first it was difficult to release control and start to delegate. It's freeing to allow others to do kingdom work. Someone encouraged her to say "you decide" and allow her team to decide. It allows them to believe that she belives in them. It might not be done the way that you would have done it, but it will get done and the results will blow you away.

This is Steph's personal ministry. She started Scottsdale Moms Blog as a way to reach all moms, not just moms in the church. She knew that not every mom was going to step foot into the church, even to a MOPS group. I knew I needed to create a sense of community outside the church.

It's not easy to be a Christian person in a secular business, because culture does not gravitate toward Christian values. She's become good at being PC from a business sense, however, the way I do business and the way I treat people is always based out of the foundational truth of the gospel and the Bible. The values of the business may be a little different than other businesses.

If you don't know what your business values are, you can use this free resource I've created to help you identify those values. Click here to download it.

I always feel like a person's business grows out of what their values and mission statements are. Values and mission statement don't have to be Jesus all over everything. You can live out of your relationship with Jesus through your values.

City Moms Blog's values are not specifically Christian, but they do come out of the Bible. The writers have to adhere to the values with their writing. Steph's prayer is that readers would also pick up on those values.

One of their values is respect and they want to create cultures of respect.

Steph's advice is to always learn. If you are not leaning into a growth mindset and the ability to learn from anyone is that you are not leading. Find the way you learn and make space for that as a priority. The learning aspect of life often goes to the bottom of the priorities, however, it's important. You have to put the important things on the calendar first then everything else around it.

Be open to any criticism that comes your way. Look for the kernel of truth in it. You can learn from it and adjust accordingly.

Seph's social media info: City Mom Collective Instagram | Steph's Personal Instagram

Referenced:

Bob Goff's Instagram

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Jessie Pierce is a Simplicity Strategist who focuses on empowering female dreamers to overcome the overwhelm with simple solutions and strategies for their lives and homes so they can do more of what they love and less of what they don't.

She realized after graduating from college that she couldn't do everything while working full-time. She had to learn what she wanted her life to look like. After doing reading, talking with her friend and self-reflection, she realized purpose as a mindset instead of finding purpose and identity not in a job, but in what you're doing.

We dig into:

Simplifying what purpose is and how to stop managing the chaos of everyday life.
The process Jessie uses to identify her priorities.
Practical steps to declutter and organize our mind and physical spaces. It has to start with the mind before you can ever get to the physical spaces.
Clarifying questions on how to declutter physical things like clothing.
Her tidying routine.
How you have more breathing space when you have less clutter.
Involving the kids in decluttering and teaching them that less is more.

*Affiliate links present in this post. Amazon provides me with a small commission when you buy a product through my link, at no cost to you.

More about Jessie in her own words - I’m all about pursuing what brings you joy, doing more of what you love, simplifying and streamlining what you don’t, serving others with your gifts and skills, and leveraging systems and routines to simplify your home and life so you can invest more in what matters most to you! I equip, empower, and encourage women through mindset work, goal setting, decluttering, organizing, time management, self-care, productivity, routines, and making more natural choices for their personal and household products so they can live a simpler, saner, more abundant life! In my free time, you can find me cooking up new recipes in the kitchen (probably making a big mess), relaxing with a good book and a cup of tea (one of my faves), or spending time with my people (they’re the best!).

Buy Jessie's book, Ready, Set...Now What?: Discovering Your Identity, Gifts, and Purpose in the Real World

Follow along with Jessie on her website, Facebook group, or Instagram.

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Jillian Jones is a recording singer and songwriter. She's been singing since she was 4, played piano and went to school for a music degree. After getting married she put music on the back burner. She spent 5-6 years away from music completely. During her second pregnancy she had a rough pregnancy with months on bedrest, two days her son was delevered healthy, she was diagnosed with a health scare and that was the catalyst for postpartum anxiety.

It was during that time that Jill spent a lot of time in prayer, having to give up control and having to relearn who I was. He made it clear that aside from being a wife and a mom, that I was a musician. She hadn't been a song writer before, but she started there and two albums later, here she is.

More from my conversation with Jill:

What it's been to be a musician and step into that calling.
Getting through postpartum anxiety.
Slowly reintegrating music into her life.
Obedience in the journey into becoming a recording artist.
Life as a recording artist.
The life cycle of recording.
How Jill stays fresh in her relationship with God as a Christian artist.
What her previous album was about.
Struggling with faith and doubt and being okay with that.
What her next album is about.

This is an affiliate link. Amazon gives me a tiny commission for any purchases through my links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for feeding my family!

Own Your Every Day by Jordan Lee Dooley

More about Jill: After her introduction into the music scene in 2016 with her EP album He Is Everything, Jillian Jones recently returned with her first full length debut, Perfectly Clear. Produced by Aaron Ankrum (Aerial View Studios, Minneapolis, MN), the 10-song record features an eclectic blend of piano-driven pop and acoustic singer-songwriter styles reminiscent of Nichole Nordeman, Christy Nockels and Sara Groves with writing that’s honest and accessible for her listeners.

Jillian’s love of music began at a young age while singing and playing piano for area churches, events and festivals. Years later, following the birth of her second child, an experience with postpartum anxiety served as a catalyst for the next season in her life. It was then that music became her healing outlet.

Shortly after, she began writing music with the intent to record and share her story through song. “I believe that music connects us to each other. Through it, we discover shared joys and struggles, and those common threads remind us that we are not alone.” Jillian lives in Minnesota with her husband, Blake and their two children. In addition to music, she enjoys photography, woodworking, and spending time with her family on the shores of Lake Superior. To follow along with her, head to her website, Instagram, Facebook Buy her CDs Perfectly Clear

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Aubrey Mathis is the wife of her cowboy, Robert and mom to two girls. When she is not telling stories, she is the CEO of a business that through the grace of God, the opportunity presented itself. She had the courage to yes and now she has created a life she doesn't need a vacation from. Her family is her WHY ...storytelling is her PASSION...Encouraging women who want to step into their calling and show up every day with feminine courage is her PURPOSE.

What we talk about how 2018 was a year that changed her life forever. At the beginning of 2018, Aubrey took time to reconnect with her family. She was present in the lives of her girls and what they were doing. She also reconnected with her faith which led her through what happened in the rest of 2018.

What else we talked about:

How her husband's accident changed her life.
How Aubrey learned to share her faith and add her faith into her business this time around.
What the word one means for 2019.
How life has changed for the whole family since the accident.
Being strong and feminine at the same time.
How Aubrey felt like she had lost herself and then spent time to find herself again.
Asking God to remind us who we are.
Being afraid to talk about Jesus.
Imperfection.
The power of prayer.

Productivity Intensive - During this in-depth assessment and implementation, we will help you love your business again and allow you to be present with the people you love.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We'll deep dive into what makes you light up, fills your heart and identify your priorities and how you can live them out.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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After 2.5 hours, you'll walk away with a schedule that you love and have your mission and vision statements to give you a clear direction of where you're going and what direction you need to take your business.

Ready to schedule? Click here to schedule a chat to see if this is the right option for you. I can't wait to work with you!

Connect with Aubrey on Instagram, read her blog on her website and join her Facebook group.

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With a heart to see people connected, Elisa Pulliam is a coach, author, podcaster, and speaker passionate about helping women savor life every day and cultivate a meaningful legacy.

She is the founder of More to Be, a ministry devoted to helping women experience a fresh encounter with God and His Word so they may live transformed and impact this world with kingdom hope.

Elisa is also the founder of It Is Well, where she helps women simplify the transition into wellness by cultivating a whole food and toxin-free lifestyle for themselves and their families. She is enjoying the adventure of being married to Stephen for 22 years and raising their brood of teenagers together.

Amazon affiliate links are present in this post. When you buy through these links, I receive a small portion of the profits, at no extra cost to you.

We talked about:

How Elisa began her journey of finding out how to love God and raise Godly children.
Her revelation of Parakaleo and the full circling of mentoring.
How there are not generational relationships happening in the church.
Tips for people who don't feel qualified to mentor.
Being emotionally and physically available for someone to be mentored or to mentor.
Take unrushed time to be present.
Creating margin in our schedules for relationships.
Titus 2:3-5, 11-12, 15
Psalm 78
The Great Commission (Matthew 28) - making disciples and intentionally come alongside others.

Ann Ortlund - Disciplines of a Beautiful Woman

Elisa's Mentoring Training Program

Impact Together, Elisa's book on mentoring

Created for This, Danielle's devotional for Christian business owners was written based on Proverbs 31, specifically for Christian business owners. If you want to get your own copy, go here.

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Comparison and identity are topics that are important for us as Christians, as business owners and as women.

We're going to dig into the Bible and see what it says about identity and how we can use our identity in Christ to remind ourselves who we are.

This show is a continuation of show number 69, Remember Your Identity. If you haven't listened to it, I invite you to go listen now.

One of the things I wrote in my devotional book, Created for This, is how powerful God's love is for you. He calls you his daughter and we can find our identity deeply rooted in him.

Psalm 139:13-16 says, "For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be."

I love the idea that God knows us. We're deeply rooted in him and we have the identity of being his child.

We don't need to compare ourselves because God created us an individual, he created our personalities, our values and what we hold dear. Our priorities.

We might have the same values, but we've had different life experiences.

If you look at the Proverbs 31 woman, she's confident in who God created her to be, and in her identity.

When we continually find our identity in him, we can focus on him and who he's created us to be, instead of people on Instagram and what our competitors are doing. Or those who judge us.

I don't know if you have people in your life who ask you what you're doing. As an essential oils educator and distributor, there's automatically a label. Yes, it's a direct sales business, but God's given me a passion to teach and educate people and SO much good has come out of it.

I can teach people how to use oils to help their bodies for wellness or to support emotions.

He's created me with my specific enneagram number, with my specific life experiences so I can coach Christian business owners so I can say that I've walked this path, let's get you through this too. And helping them come from step A to step B.

One of the things I love to coach on is identity. So that they can be who God has created them to be, as a child of God. So they're able to embrace and love who God has created them to be.

Productivity Intensive - During this in-depth assessment and implementation, we will help you love your business again and allow you to be present with the people you love.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
We’ll deep dive into what makes you light up, fills your heart and identify your priorities and how you can live them out.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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After 2.5 hours, you’ll walk away with a schedule that you love and have your mission and vision statements to give you a clear direction of where you’re going and what direction you need to take your business.

Ready to schedule? Click here to schedule a chat to see if this is the right option for you. I can’t wait to work with you!

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- How do you avoid comparison - looking to Jesus and looking to him as our mirror. Asking him to show us who he's created us to be in a way that allows me to not compare myself. When we're content and we understand who God's created us to be, we understand that we have a value. We know that what we're doing is what God's calling us to. He's telling us to walk in this path. You guys, that's so powerful as we look at others in comparison to what we're doing. I love the phrase community over competition because it allows us to join together. There may be a different life coach who's had different life experiences. I need to be content and competent in who God's created me to be so I can take that to the people who are in my life. I can take that to the people who I'm coaching with. He's placed other people in other people's lives so they can share those life experiences too. I don't believe that any life experience is wasted. I've walked through some really dark and lonely days and he uses that for his good. When we understand that we don't need to be comparing ourselves to others. We can ask ourselves "What do I like about myself?" "What do you think and know about your God-given strengths and abilities?

We're oftentimes doing those things in our businesses. We're probably doing a lot of other things, but we get to operate out of those strengths. God has given us the abilities to do those things. "What picture or image describes you?" "How do you feel about God's love and acceptance of you?" These are great questions say who am I and how do I not compare myself. We ask these things to remind yourself of who God's created you to be. They allow us to remember that God's created your identity and he's given us the ability to bring glory to him. Something else that's really important is the use of affirmations. One of the ways I do this through repeating and meditating on Bible verses that remind us who we are. I've got biblical affirmations that I will share with you so you can print them off and speak over yourself. You can get these here. I read these at night while I'm brushing my teeth. I also repeat them when I'm struggling. I like to remind myself of who I am and who I am. If this is an area that you're wanting coaching around, or you feel like you're stuck and you want to know your identity. I'd love to talk about coaching with you. If you want to schedule a discovery call, I'd love to see if it works and if I can help you identify your identity and what gift God's given you. We can focus on who God wants you to be, so you don't have to be comparing yourself. My heart in talking about your identity is that you come to know God as your creator so God can show up and show himself as your creator so you can shine your light to the world. People need women who are confident in who God created them to be for his glory. I really encourage you to take time to discover your identity and make your own affirmations or grab mine.

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Katie Fleming is the founder of $1k Mom, a community of moms who are building businesses and raising a family, and doing both well. Weekly, she hosts the Ambitious Motherhood podcast where she dives into interviews with other moms going after their calling, both in their home and outside of their home.

She is the creator of the MOM METHOD™ - the methodology to building a profitable business on "nap time hours" without sacrificing your sanity or your family life! She loves handing out permission slips to moms and encouraging them to go after their calling both in their home and outside of the home.

Katie is married to her high school sweetheart and together, they have two little girls.

Today on the podcast, we're going to be talking about personal branding.

Here's what we talked about:

1K Mom is a call for moms to embrace working in their homes and their businesses.
Network Marketing today doesn't work the way it worked a few years ago.

Network Marketers need to connect with people on a personal level, not just sharing your products on social media.

The key elements to personal branding. What are the different pillars you want to talk about?
Creating knowables in your own personal brand.
Addressing the fears of personal branding.
God wants us to show up as our authentic selves. It's how we're going to make the biggest impact.
How Katie has woven their faith into their business/personal brand.
Trusting that at the end of the day, God's the one who provides the fruit for us.
Sharing Jesus through DMs.
Having a polarizing statement. Who do you want to retract and who do you want to repel.
Five steps to getting your social profile up to speed for your business.

You can find Katie over on Instagram or her own podcast, Ambitious Motherhood.

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Identity is something that, as I've been learning more about and dwelling on identity in Christ, I've seen how important it is in the way I do everything. It impacts your business, your household, how you are with your friends and more.

Let's dive into scripture.

Galatians 3 - when we put on Christ, we are in Christ. When we become a Christian, it changes everything.

Sanctification - we become more like Christ, we put on his identity. It defines who you are, your purpose and your calling.

As we think about our identity, I'm going to read you some verses that give me an idea of who I am in Christ, because when we take that step to become a Christian, we may not see an immediate change, it may take time, but change happens. The fruits of the Spirit develop over time. I've become more patient since I was a little kid, and I accepted Christ into my life when I was eight. It's through different things and different life experiences.

Romans 1:5-6 says, "Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ."

Part of our identity is that we belong to Jesus. We are no longer apart from him, we are a part of him.

We can know that the ways we should live because we can see that in the Bible. We can look at the life of Jesus and see how he handled situations. We know God's purpose for us and his will. If you want to learn more about God's will, you can listen to the two episodes I did with my brother on God's will - those are episodes 48: Knowing God's Will with Ben Reedy and 49: Knowing and Praying God's Will with Ben Reedy.

When we look at God's will, Jesus tells us a few things. He says for us to love God and love our neighbors (Matthew 22:37). That's God's will for us. Out of that, we determine God's calling. Maybe we have a specific calling. My calling is declaring freedom for women. In that, as we learn about this whole idea of sanctification, Romans 6:18 says, "You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."

We have freedom. I don't know if you guys love that as much as I do, or if you've grasped that. I'm still wrapping my head around that. It's our sinful tendencies, even though we are Christians, we still have sin that we struggle with. The ability we have to be free and realize that yes, we still make mistakes, but we are not being punished for that anymore, we've been set free (Romans 8:1 says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." The ability to using our gifts, being concorors - we have victory over death.

As I've grown in knowing who I am in Christ, I've become more confident. It's easy to be confident in Jesus when you know that it's not yourself that's being condemned. God is seeing Jesus - it's like a sheer overlay of Jesus being seen over me. That confidence helps me as I'm a mother, as I'm a wife, and a business owner.

I don't need to compare myself and my calling to another person because we have different callings. We are walking two separate paths.

Romans 10:9-10 says, "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."

Those verses are ones that remind us of what we have done as we become Christians. We've agreed that Jesus is Lord and we decide to serve him. Paul talks about being a servant to the gospel. Part of that servant heart is understanding that that's who we are serving. That's saying that we're serving God. We're no longer serving men.

When I was painting our fence this past weekend, it was very hot out, I didn't want to be doing it, but I knew I needed to serve God and have his attitude as I served him and my family. That is the perspective that I've learned as I've learned more about my identity in Christ.

If you're a new Christian, it takes time. If you're an old Christian it takes time. It's not immediate. If we're moving forward in that place then we are able to grasp everything God has given us. If we're able to live out of our identity and be who he has created us to be, we're able to throw off the sinful binds that hold us back. We're able to live for him and bring him glory.

We see this lived out in our businesses as we move forward in the freedom we have in Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:56-58 says, "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

When we are devoting our business to Jesus, when we are living out the freedom from sin, we can be working fully to the Lord and knowing our labor is not in vain. That's never going to be wasted. When we have the values of integrity and servanthood, using Jesus, we know we will be witnesses of Jesus and who he has created us to be.

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

We know as Christians that life is not going to be easy. I was sitting in church this weekend and the pastor was talking out of Psalm 34. he was talking about how there was going to be hard times for the righteous people. God knows. He knows it wasn't going to be easy and he gives us the ability to move forward through that. He's with us.

That's the identity I want you guys to remember that identity.

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I'd love to invite you to a productivity intensive with me. During this in-depth assessment and implementation, we will help you love your business again and allow you to be present with the people you love.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We'll deep dive into what makes you light up, fills your heart and identify your priorities and how you can live them out.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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After 2.5 hours, you'll walk away with a schedule that you love and have your mission and vision statements to give you a clear direction of where you're going and what direction you need to take your business.

Ready to schedule? Click here to schedule a chat to see if this is the right option for you. I can't wait to work with you!

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As we wrap up our focus on health and wellness this month, I'm going to share with you my story about hope through depression and suicidal thoughts. Affiliate links present.

If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts and want to talk with someone, the suicide hotline is 1-800-273-8255 and they do have a live chat option which is https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/.

If you're a veteran, you can use https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/.

My story takes us back to when I was in the Navy. We were living on the island of Oahu. I was having a really hard time processing the fact that I was so far away from my family, I felt super alone and that my leadership wasn't doing a great job getting us/me acclimated to the Navy command.

A command is the headquarters for those Sailors or Soldiers assigned to that area.

I felt like the command was not supportive of the Sailors and there was not good moral in the command. There have been a lot of mental health issues in the military on Oahu because of different things. I know I'm not alone because of the number of people who have had difficulties.

Living in Hawaii was not a good time for me mentally or for my mental health. It was a very dark time. It was difficult to be happy when things at work were not good. I loved being in the Navy at my previous command. I was the top Sailor one of the years I was there. I loved my work, I loved my Sailors, and then to go to another command were things were not that way, it was sad.

It went from struggling with depression to suicidal thoughts to a suicide plan.

One of the girlfriends I'd shared my emotions with ended up telling my leadership and I was not happy with that. I was handling things on my own. For anyone who has been through this, it is possible to handle this on your own. It's difficult but possible. They referred me to see a counselor and I'd already been seeing one. I was working on trying to get out of the Navy at the time because I knew it was not the best place for me to be at this point. The suicidal thoughts were when I knew it was not safe anymore.

I was pregnant at the time so there was a lot of strain on me.

I ended up getting out of the Navy and we flew home when I was 36 weeks pregnant. The baby was born just fine here in Wisconsin three weeks later.

I still had suicidal thoughts when I got home. The psychologist believed that part of the suicidal thoughts and depression was hormonal, and situational because of everything going on at work, and I also believe that there was a spiritual aspect.

I still struggle with depression. Thankfully the suicidal thoughts have gone away for the most part. This is why I'm such a huge proponent of taking care of hormones and treating your body well.

You may have heard that I took caffeine out of my diet about eight months ago because caffeine is not good for mental health in a lot of ways. Because I'm not a doctor, I'll let you guys look up how it helps or hinder anxiety and depression.

One of the ways I've helped anxiety is cutting out that caffeine. It affects my heart and causes my heart to beat faster which is like an adrenaline rush. My natural health provider has treated my heart in a way to respond to anxiety.

I'm also aware of the all of the ways we push so hard and we don't listen to the cues of our bodies. I think one of the ways we can help ourselves is to stop pushing ourselves so hard.

There are people who have chemical reasons for depression and anxiety. Take care of that. Do what you need to do to get help.

Nicole Walters had share the website where you could pay cash for counseling and it's at a reduced rate.

Stress. I also notice when I'm under stress or under a stressful situation, my depression gets worse. I've worked to keep myself out of those situations. We cannot keep ourselves from stress because it happens, but you can help lesson the stress you encounter.

One of the ways I've done this is to give us more margin in our schedules. Margin is a space around yourself or your calendar. I'm digging into a book called Margin by Dr. Richard Swenson and he talks about how our world has not left room for margin at all. If we leave space in our calendar or if we know that we have something happening and we know we're going to be going through a lot, you can create margin. It's like a boundary around yourself to protect yourself, especially if you're an introvert or an ambivert who needs more down time to themselves. Allow yourself to have space to deal with the stressful situation.

For me, that's been important as I've dealt with stressful situations. I've learned this as I've had a few high stress clients. I've found that I need to take a break and actually do it.

Essential Oils. One of the other ways I've found that helps is using essential oils. One of my favorite books is called Releasing Emotional Patterns with Essential Oils by Carolyn Mein, DC. We need to start being proactive about our mental health. The oil called Joy has helped my anxiety according to this book. Even something as simple as smelling orange oil is uplifting and good for us. There are a bunch of other oils that are good for emotions and I recorded a class on oils and emotions.

To access the class I did on emotional oils, click here.

I really believe using oils has caused a positive impact on my depression and anxiety and given me more clarity on the days that I'm dealing with depression. I don't know if you're familiar with depression, but there are days you can have a cloudy brain.

With essential oils, there is so much skepticism, but when you smell them, the smells go straight to your brain. When I smell oils, it helps to clear that brain fog so I can function. If you're searching out answers for mental health, this is a good one.

Faith. The last way I've made a difference in my mental health is to grow in my faith.

That's not to say that I wasn't strong in my faith when I was in Hawaii, but I've grown since then. My church family in Hawaii, Kaka'ako Christian Fellowship was great. There were days when I just told them that I needed prayer and they would pray. They'd give non-judgemental hugs and advice.

When I was there and I was wrestling with all these things and I really believe that it is vital to ask God those questions. I asked him why this was happening. God told me that this would not be in vain. I've been able to share with others and come alongside people.

We need to remove the stigma of depression and suicide. We need to say it's okay to get help. A lot of times there are so many ways to get help. Here's the suicide hotline information again: the suicide hotline is 1-800-273-8255 and they do have a live chat option which is https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/. If you're a veteran, you can use https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/.

I hopped on the chat in November 2014 when I was not ready to take my life, but I credit that to the baby that was growing in me.

I want to leave you guys with hope.

God is right by your side. He's not leaving you, even if it feels like you're all alone.

There was a time when I told my counselor that depression and anxiety felt like being in a box. And through the darkness, there were poked holes shining through the light. There's hope.

If you're going through this right now, there's power in getting help and asking for help. People care about you. I care about you. If you want you can email me at dmr@daniellemroberts.com.

Being active in seeking out help is important. I want you so much to know that God cares about you. I care about you.

Let's change how we talk about mental health and handle it. Let's be proactive and listen and be aware of those who need help because there are those in our world who need help right now, even if they aren't talking about it.

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I'm giving you permission to rest. Yes, you can rest.

There are so many people giving us permission to hustle and work really, really hard. I love my work and I love working, but I also feel like we need to be resting. It's not something a lot of people talk about, it's not something we get permission to do very often.

So, if you need permission, here it is.

Mark 4:35-40 "That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!”Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

There are many stories in the Bible about Jesus going and resting. He would preach to thousands of people then go away and rest. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, during a very turbulent time in Jesus' life, he went away and prayed to God.

Resting can be going and talking with others and fellowshipping with them or prayer and worship time.

We can take steps back from business and rest. Jesus' life is a great representation of how we can take breaks.

It's super ironic that I'm recording this episode today because I took a nap today. It was one of those days that I took a step back and checked in with my body and asked myself how am I really feeling. And I laid down and took a nap. Maybe that's not an option for you but it's one of the ways we can rest.

From a biblical sense, rest is going to be taking time to read the scriptures, pray, meet with others, and worship. That's Sabbath. That's what we're called to as a Christian - to practice that. It's a practice that not only Jesus did, but other disciples and early Christians did.

I've been reading through Acts and it's a powerful view of the early church and how they acted and interacted.

Another way we can look at rest is that it is a chance to do what fills us up and lights us up and fulfills us. That in and of itself will give us rest. When I sit back with a good book, I want to sit back and enjoy that book. For you, rest might be cooking or cleaning. Some people really enjoy watching videos or YouTube. Knitting or crocheting, anything that fills you up. For me, it's also kind of restful to be with my children.

I wouldn't say that resting is going to be working because we need to take time away from our business in order to rest.

The example we see in Exodus 16 is that God tells his people to rest. God gave the Israelites extra food the day before so that they could take a break from their work, which was gathering food.

What happens when we rest. When I rest I feel more creative, I have more clarity and I wind up feeling like I can do more with my time in progress and growth and doing what I need to do. I was able to take a nap.

How do you find time to rest?

You make time for it. Everything that is important you make time for. Now, I didn't necessarily have a nap scheduled into my day today, but I did have margin scheduled into my day.

Boundaries are a good thing. They allow us to do more with the time that we have.

Margin is so important. It's extra time and space in our schedules so we can have down time. We need to have it in our schedule because we stack appointments on top of each other and then don't allow time when we need to take time to rest or take a break.

I want to encourage you to proactively rest and make time for that. Protect time to rest because burn out is one of the worst things that can happen. Take it from someone who has been there.

Two ways you can make this work - margin and boundaries. Make sure you're doing what God has called you to and then create those boundaries around your rest and have margin in your schedule.

If this all seems great, I'd love to invite you to a productivity intensive with me. During this in-depth assessment and implementation, we will help you love your business again and allow you to be present with the people you love.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We'll deep dive into what makes you light up, fills your heart and identify your priorities and how you can live them out.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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After 2.5 hours, you'll walk away with a schedule that you love and have your mission and vision statements to give you a clear direction of where you're going and what direction you need to take your business.

Ready to schedule? Click here to schedule a chat to see if this is the right option for you. I can't wait to work with you!

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Join Women’s Integrative Health Speaker, Writer, and Educator Rebekah Fedrowitz as we have an open dialogue about natural health, wellness, and fitness.

Rebekah is passionate about helping women escape the traps of our modern approaches to health that leave them always striving for better but often feeling worse. She believes that nutrition and other natural approaches are an important part of the body’s healing process, and with the right nutrition, we all can obtain the complete health that God intended for us to have.

She integrates science and scripture for a well-rounded approach to the kind of health women are seeking. It was due to her own health challenges that Rebekah discovered natural health. Amongst numerous certifications and continuing education, Rebekah completed her master’s diploma in nutrition and is board certified in holistic nutrition.

Affiliate links are present.

We talk about:

The Essential Oils Diet by Dr. Eric and Sabrina Zielinski
How God wants us well
Proverbs 17:22 “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” (NIV)
Using food as external satisfaction and how we’re looking at food
Creating a shift in how we look at food
Being rooted in God
Steps for being a more optimally performing person
Hormone imbalance and hormone inhibitors
Dirty Dozen from Environmental Working Group
The biggest changes someone can make
Food sensitivities
Improving physical wellness through exercise

Productivity Intensive – Productivity Intensive is an in-depth assessment and implementation will help you love your business again and allow you to be present with the people you love. We’ll deep dive into what makes you light up, fills your heart and identify your priorities and how you can live them out.

After 2.5 hours, you’ll walk away with a schedule that you love and have your mission and vision statements to give you a clear direction of where you’re going and what direction you need to take your business. Click here to book a discovery chat with me to find out if this is a great option for you.

 To follow Rebekah’, you can choose to do so on her website / Instagram / Twitter / You Are Well Podcast

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I want to share with you something that's so important to us as Christian and business owners.

This is not to add on another layer of things we should be doing. This is important. Please listen to this and don't feel guilty for what you are not doing.

As Christians, our bodies are the temple of God. When we become Christians, that's what the Bible says. Therefore, we should take care of ourselves. It's not a trivial thing that people talk about being healthy and taking care of ourselves.

Get Moving.

As business owners, I know it's hard to take care of ourselves. It's hard for me to find time to prioritize walking two miles.

For me, the biggest driver in taking care of myself is being there with my for my kids and my family. I want to be able to run with them and not to have my back issues. I have chronic back pain from being in the military, and knee and shoulder problems. I also know that if I don't keep moving, I'm going to have a harder time.

Thankfully, we have a treadmill in our basement. If it weren't for that, it would be a lot harder. However, there are plenty of things we can do at our desks or in our offices.

We have lymph nodes. I'm not a doctor in any way. I've been learning about the body and food and diets since I was a little kid. In the lymph nodes, that's where the body fights off infections or bacteria. A few are in the arm bits by the breast tissues. There are some in the neck where you can feel if you're getting sick.

We need to be moving to keep the lymph moving. And drinking water to flush out the toxins. We need to be moving. Sitting is the new smoking and they are saying that sitting can kill you. They're saying to walk for 30 minutes a day to improve your health.

That is one of the ways I'm taking care of myself. I'm getting walking so I can move the lymph out of the lymph nodes and doing what I can to stay healthy.

One of the reasons they say not to wear deodorant/anti-persperant with aluminum is because it holds the toxins into the breast area and it's been known to cause cancer.

I said to get moving. You can do squats and lunges anywhere - in the bathroom, in your office, at your desk - all you need is two feet by two feet space so you don't bump into anyone. I used my bathtub to do dips to work on my triceps. I didn't have to go to the gym because I've got my body weight.

There are a lot of people who have free workout videos on YouTube - one that I love and appreciate for having a wealth of videos online is Robin Long of the Balanced Life. She's got pilates, pre and post natal videos and more online. And I'm trying to get her on the podcast because I really want to share her with you guys.

I was in the military for six years and we did PT (physical training) multiple times a week, and I've done four half marathons and numerous 5Ks. Even if you're just jogging back and forth getting your heart rate up makes a difference.

Drink Water.

The next thing you can do is to drink water. Here in the US and in other first world countries, we have access to clean drinking water most of the time. If you cannot access clean drinking water, it's super easy to buy a water filter. We use the Burke which is available on Amazon.

Our bodies need water to live. We can last for days without food, but we need water. There's a reason why Jesus calls himself the living water and why the woman at the well asked Jesus for his living water.

Most of the time when you're feeling hungry, is because you're actually thirsty.

You can add high quality essential oils, like Young Living which I sell, into your water. Adding the lemon oil to the water helps me absorb the water, but it also helps my body flush the toxins. I was reading how lemon oil can help the kidneys.

There are products like Crystal Light and other drink flavoring packets that are "sugar free". They usually also use aspertame, sucralose and other artificial sweetners that have been linked to cancer. Please reconsider using these drink packets. Look up articles to do your own research. The Environmental Working Group is a great resource for a lot of this information I'm sharing today.

Think about the things you're putting in your body.

Essential Oils

Yes, I'm with Young Living Essential Oils, that's the Essential Oil Educator part of my title. We've been using essential oils for around three years and we've seen a big change in our health.

It's super easy to get started and to learn how to use these in your own oils.

I love lavender for so many things. Look up the uses for lavender on Google. The amount of anti- properties it has, the rest you can get from using it, and how great it is for burns is astounding.

If you want a sample, let me know! I actually just bought sample packets so I can send them to you. Email me at dmr@daniellemroberts.com. I'd love to get them into your hands.

One of the biggest things that I've seen happen with essential oils is with my own personal health and my hormones. The other day I had a huge migrane from my hormones. There's a oil called Progessense Plus which has natural yam oil in it which contains a natural hormone. I used the oil on my wrists and within 20 minutes, my migraine was gone.

You guys, if I had had that oil a few years ago when I was having more headaches, life would have been a lot easier and a lot better.

I've talked about emotional oils. Joy helps me feel better when I'm feeling really blue. And Peace and Calming calms me down when I'm having a hard day.

If you want to know more, let me know, I'm happy to chat. You can click this link to have a 30-minute call with me about oils.

God's given us these oils, just like he's given us water and movement, for our good.

Vitamins and Nutrients and the food we eat.

This is a huge topic and a huge way to take care of our bodies. I love chocolate, and cake and cupcakes. All the sugar you guys. But I also know that sugar is so detrimental to our bodies. I know when I eat sugar, it impacts my body. My mood is affected so much because of the chemical makeup of sugar.

When we at leafy greens, fish, healthy meat, fruits and good food, it benefits us.

If we aren't using those foods to get the vitamins and minerals, we're going to be more tired.

I recommend eating organic foods because the Round Up (Glycosphate) kills your gut bacteria which can make you sick and give you other issues. It's been put into plants that we eat through genetic modification. It's found in Cheerios, on kale and in pea protein among other things.

The Environmental Working Group has a list of 12 fruits and vegetables it recommends to eat organic.

I want you guys to be thriving and I know that these things can make a huge difference for you.

Productivity Intensive - Productivity Intensive is an in-depth assessment and implementation will help you love your business again and allow you to be present with the people you love. We'll deep dive into what makes you light up, fills your heart and identify your priorities and how you can live them out.

After 2.5 hours, you'll walk away with a schedule that you love and have your mission and vision statements to give you a clear direction of where you're going and what direction you need to take your business. Click here to book a discovery chat with me to find out if this is a great option for you.

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Katie Bowling started in business by selling button earrings and her business, One Delightful Shop, has pivoted over the years as she's felt God leading different directions.

Katie candidly talks about how she has listened to God as he's led her out of a business that was going really well and into something new.

She's currently working on another transition and has started working on her passion - home decorating. One Delightful Creative will involve the home decorating aspect as well as some graphic design and hand lettering. She and her husband have a podcast that talks about their creative life.

Part of what she loves about interior designing is bringing joy into the home.

Every move has pushed them to rely on the Lord which as increased their trust in him.

We also talk about marketing and advertising and how it can be difficult as a Christian business owner to want to create a need in people to buy something. Katie shares how she strives for more of a minimalist and capsule wardrobe as she's pivoted.

She shares what they're doing after they move to Virginia (p.s. after we recorded this, they announced they're pregnant with their third child - congratulations guys!).

Whatever they're doing next, they're waiting with open hands.

One Delightful Creative Website / Instagram

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We have been given our platforms by God, to be used for his glory. Your social media platform, your stage platform, your relationships - they all are meant for God's glory.

So how do we do this? Listen to this episode for more thoughts and how-tos.

Matthew 5:13-16“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

To listen to my podcast on being rooted in Jesus, click here.

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Better Life Bags started when Rebecca made herself a diaper bag. When friends and family prompted her to start making them to sell, she started an Etsy shop. She loved giving part of the proceeds of the bags she sold to a company called Kiva loans which allows you to pick a woman to sponsor in a 3rd world company through a microloan. She would add the picture of the woman she was sponsoring to the bag when she sent it to the purchaser so they could learn about the woman who was being sponsored through their bag.

Rebecca and her family moved to Hamtramck, MI where there's a large migrant population. When she started to get too many orders, she looked around the neighborhood and figured out who it was that she would be able to hire. She hired her friend Nadia who was from Yemen. Because of that work, her friend was able to buy bunk beds for her girls. The company now has 15 employees who make Better Life Bags.

Rebecca and I chat about how the business has grown and developed, how she shares her faith with the women and how her faith has grown through the business.

Through the business, she's seen God work and see how he has a plan in mind. Specifically, how we're not in control of our business, we can trust God and rest in knowing that he brings in the orders and the business.

Rebecca has a book coming out next year about the history of Better Life Bags. In the book, she shares lessons learned through the business, about the women who have been impacted by the company and growing slow in business. There is also an anti-hustle theme.

She also dishes on her favorite bags and fabric. The secret menu if you do an all leather bag you can do any fabric on the inside.

You can visit (affiliate link) Better Life Bags and order your bag here and get $10 off!

Rebecca Smith is the founder of Better Life Bags, a custom leather and fabric handbag company whose workforce is made up of local women with barriers to employment. Rebecca loves to encourage and coach young entrepreneurs who desire to use their businesses for good. She is passionate about reminding women that when it comes to pursuing dreams, waiting on God’s nudges always trumps hustling hard. It’s okay being the turtle; life is better when it’s slow. Rebecca and her husband, Neil, live in Hamtramck, MI where they run Better Life Bags together. They have four amazing kids: Jonah, Clara, Corbin, and Gavin.

Better Life Bags Instagram / VIP Group

Rebecca's Instagram

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Three ways a coach can help your business:

Accountability for actually getting things done and making forward progress
A questioning guide who helps you understand better where you want to be going or what you want to do
Mindset and Jesus - we are what we think

Life coaching is forward facing - helping you become unstuck, helping you reach goals, make changes or transition.

Book a call with me to talk about the Priorities-based Productivity Intensive or coaching.

Director of Operations through Natalie Gingrich

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Social media and marketing expert Jamie Samples joins me on this episode to talk about making the most of Instagram. Instagram is such a great platform for getting to know others and creating relationships.

Here are Jamie's tips for growing and using your Instagram well are:

Be authentic with your Instagram
People want to see the faces of who is behind the account
Use direct messages - be authentic with them, but use them
Make it work for where you are - yes, have it be pretty but don't be afraid to share what's happening in your life

Tools to make it easier:

Instazood (DM bot)
Later

Follow along with Jamie on Instagram/Website/Twitter

Her official bio in her own words: I am a social media specialist, marketing professional, speaker and founder of Yellow Barn Media. But that’s only a fraction of who I really am. I am a wife, a mother, a horse enthusiast, an animal lover, an American patriot, a country chick and an eternal optimist with endless energy and a contagious smile. I’m based in Howell, Michigan, not far from the town where I was born and raised. If I could live anywhere else, it would be Kentucky, because it’s horse country and I have fond memories from visiting my granny and granddaddy’s farm as a child. The sweet smell of bluegrass and the tasty chicken tenders and waffle fries from Chick-Fil-A are hard to forget. Staying close to family is a priority, so I’ll be in Michigan for many years to come.

I’m blessed to have the best husband an entrepreneur could ask for. He’s supportive of the business and the passion I have for nurturing it. Eddie is one-of-a-kind and I am blessed to share my life with him. In 2015, we welcomed our first child, Edison into our family. Every day he teaches me to look at the world with fresh perspective no matter what the day may bring and inspires me to strive to be a better person at home and in the office. Our family also includes two and four-legged friends alike. We are owned by a Welsh Pony, a mini-donkey, a flock of free range chickens, two dogs and a handful of cats. All of our four legged animals were adopted from an animal rescue and joined our lives at just the right moment in time.

My Entrepreneurial Roots My father was a small business owner, role model, and mentor. He always encouraged me to dream big and follow my heart. It came as no surprise that I would follow in his footsteps. When I was 13, I started my first business. I bought and resold horse equipment at local weekend competitions. Selling horse supplies in between the classes I competed in earned me to enough money to continue buying more gear for my own horse. My entrepreneurial adventures also included a dog obedience company, showing, raising and selling show quality rabbits and I dabbled in direct sales selling air and water purification units. As a young professional, I worked for corporations in administrative, human resources and management positions. I had many positive experiences and honed my skills managing projects, finding efficiencies, engaging and reaching an audience. In 2008, I was ready to leave my cubicle behind and share my accumulated expertise with small business owners. That year, I launched Yellow Barn Media and have never looked back.

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I'm a certified life coach now!!!! Yes, I'm very excited about it. I'm sharing in this episode why I got certified as a life coach and why laundry baskets were important for me during my own experience with a life coach.

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Join fellow Life Coach, Diana Kerr, and I as we talk about living boldly for Jesus. This episode is full of practical ways to live out your faith and be counterculture while living boldly for Jesus.

Diana Kerr is a Certified Professional Life Coach on a mission to help go-getter Christian women break free from overwhelm and design their time + life for what matters most. She has coached women like Lara Casey, Val Woerner, Gina Zeidler, and others like them who love Jesus and want to approach their lives and businesses with bold intentionality. Diana lives in Milwaukee, WI, with her husband, Kyle, and their son, Harrington.

For her free 12-page workbook, 3 Lies about Time Christian Women Tell Themselves & 3 Truths That Will Set You Free go here.

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I'm talking about a lie today that is prevalent in our society. It's the like that you and I can "have it all." This lie is detrimental to us because we, as business owners know we can do what we want to do, BUT we will never have it all. And, we can't do it all. At some point, we're going to have to be content with what we have. I love the verse in 1 Timothy 6:6-11 that talks about contentment because honestly, being content with where I am can be really hard for me.

1 Timothy 6:6-11 New International Version (NIV) - "But godliness with contentment is great gain.For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get richfall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness."

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Jill McCormick talks with me about learning to work with from our giftings and our strengths, instead of working at a job or doing something we "should" do. We deep dive into how to avoid burn out and using our energy and our time on things that we leave and what we're gifted in so we can move into what God has for us to do. By using what God's given us, we are doing his good works and glorifying him. Busyness brings pressure and that pressure comes from external expectations and internal expectations of what we should be doing. We also have a very strong monologue ticker that has negative critique which is exhausting. When we don't taken into account what God's asked us to do, we end up trying to do everything and we can't live that way. We are not designed to live that way.

As I've studied rest, when we do the things that light us up, we actually get refreshed. We try to fill every void through busyness. And we wear ourselves out.

Some ways that we can figure out how we're wired:

Asking Jesus how he wired us and bring the struggles that we're feeling to him. Jill has done this numerous times. Unlike our inner critic, the voice of God is kind, convicting and gracious. When we hear negative things, that is our inner critic trying to kill and destroy what God's done.
The Enneagram is a personality system which breaks down the good and bad things but also shows you your motivation behind what you do what you do.

When you start living out of your strengths, it's 1,000 times better and there's freedom. When we live out of what we should do, we feel heavy. On the flipside, operating out of our strengths, there's a lightness and we can walk in freedom.

When we talk with Jesus authentically and honestly, and with the real things, we see better results. We can't make forward progress, which is looking more and more like Jesus. He knows it already and he loves us and his grace never runs out. So it's better to do it with Jesus, through his strength and his power. He meets us where we are.

One thing that God has taught Jill through parenting is that she's responsible for obedience and He's responsible for the outcomes. That's hard for many of us to accept, especially business owners. We want to control everything. She says, I'm going to do what I can do and I can obey with his help.

As a public speaker, Jill speaks on stepping away from doing more and trying harder and walking in grace. We easily extend grace to others but we have a hard time accepting that for ourselves. She's working on a talk about idols are for us as an American mom and what happens when we let go of them. She also talks about Luke 10 as a foundation for self-care and breaking down loving the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind.

One of the things that I, Danielle, am writing on in my book is radical self-care. Not just the pedicure, but the healthy habits that we create. Jesus wants us to take care of ourselves.

To find out more about Jill, you can visit her website, Facebook page or her Instagram.

Jill McCormick is the writer behind jillemccormick.com, a blog where she shares common-sense grace with the try-hard girl. Jill grew up in the suburbs of Houston, graduated from Texas A&M with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, and has had a unique career path. She’s worked in professional sports, higher education, trucking, health care, children’s ministry, and now she writes words on the Internet! Jill married her high school sweetheart Ryan in 1999. They have two daughters born 18 months apart. She starts and ends every day with sprinkles: on oatmeal for breakfast and on ice cream for dessert.

This show's sponsor is my devotional, Created for This, specifically written for business women. Based on Proverbs 31, the book studies the topics of identity and comparison, marriage, singleness, mentoring and more. To find out more and purchase your own copy, you can go here.

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If you're new to me, I'm an Accountability Coach, soon to be a certified Life Coach and an Essential Oil Educator.

When I recorded this, we had bedbugs who decided to hitch a ride home with me. While this has not been an optimal experience and a rather pricy one to get them taken care of, I'm glad I learned these lessons. *This episode was recorded pre-house heating and currently we're bedbug free.

Margin. You may have heard of it before, basically, it's leaving enough room in your life for life to happen. I don't ever want to fill my life so full that I don't have room for something to shift or change. My mastermind that I was selling seats into should have happened. With the numbers it should have worked. And there was interest but there was a lot of "it's not the right time" or "I don't have the money or space right now."

Because I haven't had the mastermind, and I'd lost a few one on one clients, I've had the space to deal with the bedbugs and I'll have the free time to deal with the guy coming to heat the house. Having a margin has saved my sanity. Moving forward I want to make sure I've got extra space in my schedule in case someone gets sick or something else needs to happen. 2. Your rest days and rest hours are vital. I'm passionate about intentional resting. Turning off your phone or social media and grabbing a book to rejuvenate or go to church and just be renewed by God, while worshiping with others. I woke up on Saturday feeling exhausted. We had some obligations so I took care of those and then relaxed. It wasn't like I was putting off work, there's not a whole lot you can do. We'd already gotten the mattress encasements on, and I'd spread Diatomaceous Earth all over my daughter's room. At that point, it was better to rest. 3. Our identity has to be rooted in Christ. With the mastermind not selling any seats, I could have said 'Danielle, you're a failure, you could have done more, you could have done something different, your business sucks.' The fact that my identity is rooted in Jesus, the truth is, he is where I'm drawing my worth and my identity. That means I don't need to get down on myself and who says that to a friend. You should treat yourself better than your friend or at the same level.

Who I am in Jesus is not going to change, depending on how my business performs or how I perform as a business owner or a housekeeper. Your identity doesn't depend on how you are as a business owner, it depends on who you are in Christ, who Christ says you are. That freedom you have to walk that out everything you've been created for comes from Jesus. Ultimately, that freedom doesn't come from being a business owner and being able to create your own schedule, which although it's amazing, can change. So what happens if it changes, how does that identity affect who you are at your core. I'll be talking more about this and about the core of who we are. It's been really powerful for me to say "I'm a child of God. I'm free. I don't have any condemnation. I am an image bearer of God. I am redeemed." There are so many "I am" statements from the Bible we can affirm our identity in Christ.

Our identity will bring us down or pull us up, but I'm more concerned about being pulled down by what I allow into my life. I want to make sure my identity is rooted in Christ. He doesn't change. Our relationships change. I've been married to my husband for almost nine years and we've both changed. We're still married, praise the Lord!

If you're looking for Christian affirmations like I talked about, you can click here.

This show is sponsored by my devotional, Created for This. It's a devotional for Christian business women and the topics we handle every single day. You can buy it here, right now.

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Integrating your faith and business - this topic is near and dear to both mine and Lilah Higgins' hearts because we know there are Christian business owners who have so many questions about how to bring their faith into their business and to what extent.

Lilah and I chat about bringing God into your business and how knowing God at a deeper level has brought out the changes that have happened in her business over the last few years.

We also talk about TheForge, a leadership training community that she and her husband, Zach, created which brings together business owners who want to focus on leadership and their faith. You can get a 10% off discount of this community with the code "createdforthis".

Lilah's transparency on life, mental health, faith and so much more makes this an episode you don't want to miss.

Her official bio: Alongside her husband, Lilah Higgins is the co-founder of TheForge, a leadership training community for faith-driven business owners. She also designs and coaches seasoned business owners through her brand agency, The Higgins Creative.

Taking her fine art training & strategic mind into the online space, she helps all her clients and students brand cohesively and effectively across platforms, bringing them the confidence they need to make an impact, preach the word, and walk out their callings in every facet of their lives.

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Looking for ways to be more productive? These are some of my top three tips that you can implement right now:

Limit your social media time. Let's talk about the mindset of social media. Why do we go on social media? For me, when I'm bored, when I don't have anything in my hands to do, or if I'm avoiding doing things then I'll go on social media. I've trained my brain to think that if I don't have something going on, or even if I do, that I need to be going on social media consistently. That's called addiction and that's not being productive.

We're trying to live other people's lives through social media which causes so much discontentment with our own lives. I'm not saying that all social media is bad, I get a lot of clients through social media. We wouldn't say to get clients in Facebook groups if it wasn't effective. If you're looking for ways to help, there are numerous apps you can get. Feed eradicator is one that I've heard of.

Instagram has a way to check and see your usage. Under your activity, it will tell you the amount of time you spend on Instagram per day. You have to think about how much time you're spending interacting purposefully instead of just scrolling.

The Pomodoro Method. This is the idea that you can focus on something for about 20 minutes and after that, your productivity goes down. So you work for 20-30 minutes and then you take a break for 10 minutes. You do this cyclically.

I taught this to my 17-year-old sister who is working on her homework and finishing up high school. She's been having a hard time finishing her work and being productive. She came back to me when she had tried this method and she was amazed at home much she was able to get done. There are apps you can use to do this, go to (affiliate link) Amazon and get a timer or use your phone timer.

This is so helpful for so many clients and what I use for my coworking events. You can get so much done in 20 minutes if you just focus your time.

Time Blocking. I love time blocking so much that I added a full sheet for time blocking to my Faith and Focus Planner (currently available on my website). On those sheets, you can plan out your monthly tasks (or weekly if you download the downloadable version I have for you). Within the time blocking sheets, you can go in and mark off certain times so you're just working on that thing during that time. You're focusing your attention on one thing. With multitasking, you're losing time because your brain is having to switch back and forth.

You have to intentionally focus your brain on one thing at a time. I used to think I could multitask and really it's not. Take time to think about what you need to put your time and attention on. I have a video that I share how I use the time batching sheets using that link.

If you'd like accountability in getting things done, you can check out my Accountability Coaching page on my website.

This show's sponsor is my devotional, Created for This. It's a devotional for Christian business owners with topics that we face daily like identity and comparison, mentoring, marriage, singleness, money and other topics. Buy it on my website now.

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Biblical rest is more than just sleeping. We as physical beings need that rest. However, we also need Jesus. Bottom line, that is how we are going to find rest.

"You'll never be able to fully rest until you're aligned with God." So what does that mean? Our hearts were made to give God glory.

Matthew 22

Psalm 62:1-2 says,

“Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”

St. Augustine says in his Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

We need to be taking that time with Jesus to refill our hearts and give the true rest and rejuvenation.

Resting can be enjoying things with other people, fellowshiping, taking walks in His creation, worshiping and praying.

I want to encourage you to rest in God and put on your schedule to take time with God. Make time to read your Bible and pray.

Put in your calendar a day of rest. This is a gift that has been given to us.

Biblical rest devotional series

The Better Together Mastermind - a Christian mastermind to help you grow and thrive in your business as you get things done and make forward progress on your goals. While being intentional about your time working, you'll create time to take breaks and rest.

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Janine Esbrand is the founder of LightBOX Coaching, a coaching and consulting company which helps ambitious women thrive in their careers beyond motherhood.

Along with her coaching career, Janine has found a love for helping women stand out using LinkedIn as a way to get clients and make connections. She's sharing her tips with us today and I'm so excited to share this goodness with her.

Janine's holding a LinkedIn Accelerator and I can't recommend her knowledge enough if you're wanting to uplevel your LinkedIn account, check out her accelerator! https://lightboxcoaching.lpages.co/linkedin-accelerator/

Janine studied her LLB law degree at City University in London. She then spent a year in New York where she completed the Mountbatten internship program. Upon her return to the UK, she completed her LPC at BPP law school and went on to qualify as a corporate solicitor at leading UK firm in 2012.

After practicing as a corporate lawyer for 4 years, she moved into a sole legal counsel role at an international fuel company. Alongside her legal career, Janine trained as a career and executive coach and is now a member of the Association for Coaching. Through LightBOX coaching, she provides individual and group coaching services to professional women. When she is not coaching or practicing law, Janine can be found spending time with her husband and 2 young children, playing netball or traveling.

Check out Janine's website, Careers Beyond Motherhood Podcast, Facebook group, LinkedIn or Instagram.

To buy my devotional book for Christian business owners, visit daniellemroberts.com/createdforthis.

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Episode 50! This is huge! This is about the one year anniversary too which is so cool. I've been so blessed to bring you so much great content over the last year.

I'm Danielle Roberts, an accountability coach and an essential oil educator.

As I've interviewed all these women, I've noticed a pretty substantial theme. My devotional book and my podcast are both named Created for This. Have you ever wondered what you were created for? We just published a few episodes on God's will and so often I think we wonder "what was I created for?"

It's important to remember that we are created for God's glory. We were created to give him glory. I think it's important to live out how we can give God glory. In everything we do, we are created to give him glory, not because of what we've done, but who he is.

The verses I used in this episode:

Psalms 115:1 "Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness."

Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

1 Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

Isaiah 43:7 "Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

We have to choose to live for God's glory. We have to live intentionally on a mission for God's glory.

God will be glorified in how to we live, if we are living in a way that honors God. We can do that in so many ways, it doesn't have to be in just one way.

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Have you ever wondered what God's will is and how to pray and understand his will? I think most of us have which is why my brother Ben Reedy, a seminary student, and I focus on that this week.

In this episode, we're going to chat about the topic of prayer and God's will. More specifically, we're going to talk about how to pray and move forward after we pray.

I share some of my experiences as I've prayed through life decisions and Ben adds in his biblical outlook on it.

Once you're in motion, God's going to be a lot clearer on the direction that you're going.

We have the freedom to love God and love others and do what we want to do.

Bible verses referenced:

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6

Proverbs 19:21

Proverbs 21:1-3

1 Thes. 4:1-7

1 Peter 2

1 Peter 3

Sign up for the Biblical Rest Devotional Email Series that starts February 19 - As business owners it's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle, the business world that engulfs us and pulls at us.

I am going to encourage you to look at what the Bible says about rest and how to start incorporating it into our lives.

Join me now and get four days of email devotionals plus access to Facebook lives for action tips.

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My brother and seminary student, Ben Reedy is joining me in this episode as we discuss how to know God's will. His will is something that we often wonder about as Christians. It's also something that we strive to know as we make big decisions or set ourselves up for the new year.

Ben and I are giving the following information in hopes that you will better understand how God's will works.

Get to know your Bible. Start to read in the four gospels. Then move on to the rest of the New Testament. We're supposed to be little versions of Jesus, so when we know him, we can act like him.

God gives us so many ways to know his will, even if it's not a flashing sign.

Counsel from godly people.
The Holy Spirit's voice (giving yourself space to listen)
Having a good knowledge of scripture

Listen in next week for more on this topic.

If you want to learn how the Bible views rest and what rest looks like from a Christian perspective, sign up for my Biblical Rest Devo Challenge that starts on February 18.

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One of the women I look up to and appreciate so much in business is joining me for this episode and I could not be more thrilled to introduce you to Natalie Gingrich. She's a wealth of knowledge surrounding systems, organization and creating a business that's mission and vision focused.

I've gotten the pleasure of working with Natalie over the past few years on the Boss Mom team and now as her A-Team Accelerator and Growth Getters Mastermind Accountability Coach. I walk away from every group call knowing more than I did before or having a better way of working a system.

In this episode, Natalie and I talk about creating a business that is based on your mission, vision, and values - something that both she and I find vital to have long term success.

For Natalie's workbook on crafting your own mission, vision, and values, click here.

To join in on the next round of the A-Team Accelerator (a program I highly recommend and LOVE taking part in as the Accountability Coach) click here to join the waitlist.

This show's sponsor is my devotional book, Created for This, based on Proverbs 31. It covers topics that are common for business owners to encounter: comparison and identity, mentoring, anxiety, singleness, married life, the fear of the Lord, and more. You can purchase it here.

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As business owners, we need to rest. Here are five ways we can pattern rest in our life so we can be restored, refreshed and fully focused on bringing glory to God.

Social Media free time - Taking breaks from social media.

Work Breaks - Vacation and time during our week where we are resting.

Time Boundaries - It's not good for us to work all of the time. Schedule time to rest and do it frequently (think weekly).

Self-care - We need to rethink how we think about self-care.

Time in the Bible - Spend time reading the Bible and filling your soul with the water that allows you to never be thirsty.

This show's sponsor is my devotional, Created for This. This devotional was written specifically for business owners and entrepreneurs. Based on Proverbs 31, this devotional touches specifically on experiences that we have as business owners. God has given us so many great answers for Godly responses to how we can live out life as Godly entrepreneurs. Buy your own copy now.

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Boutique owner and mom of a special needs charming toddler and precocious kindergartner, Taylor Hoffman joins me in this episode. We talk about:

How she started her business
How she's grown her business as a military spouse (and now veteran spouse)
How she's a mom and a boutique owner
The birth story of her special needs son
What she's done to advocate for herself and her son

For more of Taylor, follow her Instagram or Facebook page. To buy paint and accessories, head to Dear Olympia.

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Am I resting or am I just lazy? Well, that depends. As I’ve been talking about rest, I was asked what laziness looks like. This is an important topic to talk about because if we aren’t careful, our resting could turn to laziness. Let’s look at the Bible for this. I’m going to give you my best understanding at this point because I’m still learning about this topic and I’ll revisit it later.

Proverbs 12:24, 27 “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.” “The lazy do not roasta]">[a] any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.”

NIV Study Notes – The way of the lazy man is waste. Waste is poor stewardship. Make good use of everything that God has given you and prize it.

In going through Proverbs with my church, our pastor shared that Proverbs is all over the place and there’s not necessarily any clear or defined outlines for one place to go for things.

Laziness in the Bible is also slothful or idleness.

Matthew 25:26-27 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.”

Resting can look like: going on a walk, playing Candy Crush, playing with my kids, sitting and drinking a cup of coffee, enjoying nature.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teachinga]">[ you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.”

NIV Study Notes – Paul is talking about the person who was lazy. The rule that they followed was that if a man will not work, he will not eat. There’s a difference between leisure and laziness. When it comes time to work, Christians should jump right in. Rest is when you should be resting, and work is when you should be working. It’s providing for yourself and for your dependents.

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Home Designer, Becky Dempster, shares how she lives out her mission to serve women who crave homes with purpose. She gives them the tools they need to turn their houses into homes that are beautiful, while meeting the needs. She also reminds them that their homes can feel like a big hug, and represent their style, without sacrificing function or budget.

We talk about living out a mission statement and sharing Jesus through our businesses. Becky also gives practical advice for how to make people feel welcome, loved and blessed when they enter your home (no matter how big or small it is).

If you want to check out Becky's offerings or DIY blog head to Homestead 128.

For Becky's Instagram, click here to follow her.

Today's show sponsor is the devotional, Created for This, written for Christian business owners. Find out more and purchase your own copy now.

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Plant lover, Jesus lover, and lover of women and ministry, Dusty Hegge, joins me on the podcast. She dishes on how God has shown up and reveals his plans and how she sees him in her past and her future. She started her business Revive Nursery on the heels of other business ventures. Gardening is more than gardening, it's about caring for his creation and there are so many lessons to learn from plants. This podcast isn't just for plant lovers, it's about seeing God and following him.

To follow along with Dusty, you can find her on Instagram, Facebook, or her website where you can listen to her new podcast or order your own copy of her book.

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Something that has recently been mind-blowing to me was that when I was recently asked about how business was going, I responded that I was content with where I was. I’m usually the person who wants more money, I need more other things, I want to do more and be more. I’m content about my accountability coaching, teaching people about essential oils, my planner and my other side projects. Contentment is hard for me. I’m a perfectionist and I expect a lot from myself. I feel like I should be further along, or be making more money. As entrepreneurs, I feel like we have to constantly be reaching for more and better.

For me, that contentment comes down to a lot of money mindset work. How is that possible? Well, I’ve been working a lot on knowing the numbers in my business. By knowing how much money we have, how much money I’m bringing in and where the money is going. My husband has a full-time job outside the home and our money is our two incomes combined. I feel in some ways responsible because I’m the one who is choosing to work so I’m the one paying the daycare bill and not paying the daycare bill which is ludacris.

For me, knowing my number is how much I’m spending in my business if I’m not a payment plan if we need to buy groceries, or how much we need for other things. I know that the money that I’m making is taking care of our needs. I’m content knowing that what we’re doing is working and it’s good. I also know that our God is an abundant God. That’s been a huge switch for me recently. Contentment is so much of a heart game. Paul says in Philippians 4, that had learned to be content in all circumstances.

This mindset shift is why I’m so passionate about what Melissa Whaley and I have put together for Know Your Numbers Live (formerly Q4 Financial Fix).

 **Know Your Numbers Live** is a 6-week program with training from Tax Advisor, Melissa Whaley, on

Have a clear system on how to track your income and expenses
Have the tools and skills to get your 2018 income and expenses sorted and ready for tax filing
Gain a better understanding of how you work and how to prioritize the work
The knowledge you need to take your business up a notch

with Accountability Coach, me, Danielle Roberts, so you actually finish the program and start off 2019 on solid financial footing. Join us here now!

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Let's pretend that we are sitting down and having a cup of coffee together. I'll be sipping a decaf Americano. I'm sharing my life and heart on a few different life things and can't wait to share unscripted with you. I'll also be dropping a few hints of things to come from me.

This show's sponsor is my devotional Created for This. It was written for you, the female entrepreneur who wants to dig deeper with Jesus and grow in your faith and business. You can purchase it now for yourself or as a gift.

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When we allow God to be in the middle of our lives, we are able to triumph through challenges. My guest and realtor, Sara Cappechi, shares her story of how she changed jobs during a challenging time and the great things that she did to bounce back during those times. She gives encouragement if you're thinking about changing jobs and if you've contemplated becoming a realtor. You'll be blessed by her story!

Affiliate links are present in this post. That means I receive a small commission from your purchase at no cost to you.

To follow along with Sara, you can check out her website, Instagram or Facebook page.

The Emotionally Destructive Relationship by Leslie Vernick

Homes for Heros program

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I want to talk about preparing ourselves for the holidays, not our business necessarily, although business is important. In this instance, I want to talk about our hearts and in ourselves and what we're doing for our families as we prepare for the holidays if you've got a family or just friends in actuality.

 It's a huge thing as we prepare to go into this season. I think prioritizing our wants and our needs now that might seem really simple that might seem really difficult depending on where you're at with this and what your other priorities and what your other commitments already are. I think it's a really good to check out what it is that you have going on in your schedule and what is you want the season to look like. It's important to remember the reason for the season which is Jesus right? We as Christians have this huge reason to celebrate the reason the reason for the season.       We can expectantly wait to celebrate Jesus' birthday and share the joy of that celebration with others in our sphere of influence.  One way we're doing that this year is by celebrating advent and using All Good Things Collective's Advent Journal and Calendar cards. They are beautiful tools to help us walk through this advent season with intention. You can order some for your self or your family through my affiliate link - you've got 2 weeks left to order.

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God's word is so powerful and when we use those to speak truth over ourselves, it makes a huge difference! I've taken the hard work out of things and created a printable list of Bible verses you can use to speak truth over yourself. You can download that now and start speaking biblical affirmations over yourself.

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Founder of Driven Women and author of the book Christian Cosmo: the Sex Talk You Never Had, Phylicia Masonheimer, is joining me to talk all things productivity!

I have been a follower and admirer of Phylicia for the last few months and I can't believe I got to talk with her on one of our favorite topics - productivity. Phylicia gives some great perspectives and ideas on how to be productive biblically. There are a lot of practical tips for how to relieve stress and make things happen instead of getting bogged down. You'll love how she views her work time and planning techniques.

We talk about stewardship of our home which is an important topic when you view productivity.

Phylicia and I also talk about stress management in both the physical and spiritual realms. She shares what she uses to manage her stress with both prayer and essential oils.

This is an episode you do not want to miss.

About my guest: Phylicia Masonheimer is an author, speaker, and founder of Driven Women. She teaches strong-hearted women how to follow Christ’s call in work, home, and the world. She writes about the Bible, productivity, and sexuality on her website, and offers a 10-hour course on biblical productivity and time management called Driven Women. She lives with her husband and daughters in northern Michigan.

Want to catch up with Phylicia? Here are here links:

(affiliate link) Christian Cosmo: the Sex Talk You Never Had

Instagram

Facebook

Website

This show's sponsor is my devotional book (loved by Phylicia) Created for This. It's a devotional for Christian entrepreneurs based on Proverbs 31. Buy it now.

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Lucas and I share our conversation about what we expected going into our marriage and what we still expect. It's a fun conversation that reveals more of who we are as a couple.

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In the middle of feeling like I have nothing to give, God has shown me that he is enough, through my chronic pain and burnout. I'm sharing about 2 Corinthians 12:1-10.

This show's sponsor is my devotional, Created for This, a devotional for Christian business owners based on Proverbs 31. It covers topics like identity, comparison, mentoring, anxiety, joy and so much more. Buy it today.

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Melissa Whaley joins me to talk about how she is not using her college degree of Youth Ministry but serving business owners as a virtual tax advisor or entrepreneurs. She helps implement financial systems for people who light up over their work and freak out over their numbers. She is a California native, married to her college sweetheart for 10yrs and they have 4 awesome kids together. You can find her chugging iced coffee while geeking out over all things tax.

Q4 Financial Fix - Stop the finance overwhelm and lessen your money anxiety with a three-month program from Melissa and me where Melissa will be teaching three live classes on various business finance topics and I'll be providing four 15-minute accountability calls to ensure you actually get the work done. You'll be ready for tax season 2019 and going into the new year financially stronger. This program closes for enrollment on October 20 so sign up now. The first five people get a free 30-minute strategy and goal planning session.

Hang out with Melissa on Instagram or check out her website. For informative videos and tutorials, go watch her on YouTube.

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Lucas is joining me for another episode (a part 2 of episode 31) as we discuss the answers to more listener questions.

We're covering resentment, trials, jealousy about work, our rhythms, and routines. We have recently made changes to our routines.

Our lessons revolve around watering our marriage relationship and how we are responsible for how we react to things.

The show's sponsor is my book, Created for This, a devotional for Christian business owners and entrepreneurs based on Proverbs 31. You can read more about it, and purchase it at daniellemroberts.com/createdforthis.

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I thrive as a mom and CEO. This is not just a statement that I am making, I can look at my client testimonials and listen to my husband's testimony. I started my business the same week we found out we were pregnant with baby number three. Over the last three and a half years, and another pregnancy and baby, I have kept my business running and thriving.

Running a business is not for the faint of heart. I am writing this while nursing my seven and a half month old and watching my five and three-year-old boys wrestle. That is what daily life looks like for us.

Here are five lessons I have learned that will help you thrive as a mom and CEO too.

Do what you can while you can. I don't save all of my work for naptime, I am not afraid to work while the babies play. Or eat for that matter. What does that look like for my schedule? It's changed over time. I have my older two kids in public school and the younger two in daycare two days a week. I record my podcast, videos, and taking coaching client calls while they are all gone. While they are home I upload show notes, check emails and do other tasks that I can be distracted while doing.
Naptime/quiet time. I actually nap or do something to recharge. Having four kids is not easy. I get worn out and need to fill my tank, just like the kids. I will work when I have to but prefer to take time out for myself. You realize as a mom and CEO that you have to take care of yourself and rest.
I delegate. I have been a huge proponent of outsourcing and delegating since I started my business. And because I started as a virtual assistant, I teach others how to delegate too. I recognize I am only one person and I do not know how to do everything. I love having others help me. By inviting others to help me with my business, I am also investing in their business and dreams.
I steward my home and resources. This idea is new to me, but it has made life so much better. By having days in my weekly schedule where I do not let myself go anywhere, I give myself space to clean, make sure the house is staying picked up, and give myself mental downtime. These days happen because I intentionally schedule them. There is a lot less chaos in when I take this time and focus on my home and those who dwell within it. If you are unfamiliar with the idea of stewardship, it is the acknowledgment that everything belongs to God and we are charged with taking care of it.
I limit distractions. I purposefully do not have the Facebook app on my phone (I upload it to use it for Facebook lives then uninstall it when I am done). I have all notifications turned off on Instagram. If I really want to focus while working I'll close the Facebook tab on Chrome. Social media is a huge distraction for me and by limiting how many flashing, blinking, or bright red numbers are in my face, I am managing those distractions. My work time is precious because I get so little of it and I want to maximize my time well.

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Lucas and I sit down and answer questions about running our household, share how we each do our own tasks and how we delegate to the kids.

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I am a huge reader and fan of books that help us grow personally, spiritually and in knowledge. In this episode of Created for This, I'm sharing what's currently on my nightstand and why I love it.

*All these links are Amazon affiliate links which means when you buy using the link, I get a percentage of that purchase at no extra cost to you.

What's Best Next
Every Good Endeavor
Your New Money Mindset
Always Enough, Never Too Much
Dance Stand Run
Gospel Primer
Do More Better
Profit First
Niche Down

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Creator of She Illuminates, Strategist and Mentor, Chamel Evans joins me on the Created for This podcast today. She's is a faith mentor, encourager, and designer for Christian creatives, and entrepreneurs.

Her brand fuses Biblical truth with creative application to empower Christian women to live out their truest authentic selves, love and influence those in their circle with grace, break free from mental roadblocks, and chase their callings with fire through faith-infused mentoring, strategy/design, and actionable resources.

With a husband, a full-time job, three little boys, and a home to manage, Chamel understands the struggle of making time for God, overcoming fear and procrastination, and the sneaky guilt and envy that comparison brings. Chamel knows how passionate our God-given dreams need our hearts and not our fears, so she is on a mission to help women knit them together, successfully, so that they can live the lives they love. A life full of faith & massive influence -- on God's terms.

In this episode, she's sharing with us how her journey has led her back to a 9-5 job and running her business at the same time. I ask the practical things she's doing to stay on top of life and thriving. I'm so excited to share Chamel with you because she's been a bright light of truth in my life.

You can find her on her website or Instagram.

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It was January. It was cold. I had a baby who was a few weeks old and I was taking a break in the shower, doing one of my favorite shower activities - praying. I found myself praying for my business, for my clients, and suddenly, God called me to quit my biggest client.

I was a little shocked considering we used that money to buy food for the family. More importantly, I wasn't ready to quit working with my beloved client. The thing is, after that, I started to understand that God calls us out of something good so he can fulfill his mission. That mission is the next best thing he's called me to. And that's huge and special.

I continued to pray and ask God for a timeframe and I finally got one. Again, I questioned God if this was right. I also went back and forth with him on the timing, thinking I knew better.

Having a Christ-centered business means it's not always going to be convenient or expected, but it's almost always according to God's plan.

With that being said, I told my husband we would be expecting a financial change. God provided - my husband got a raise and a better paying position in his company. As we prepared for the change, I saw other things fall into place because when God calls us into something, he equips us for that next step.

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Money mindset for Christians are is so important. In this episode, Felicia and I talk about money, owning a business and debt reduction. There are a lot of limiting beliefs in the church about money. I really appreciate how Felicia is open about her own money beliefs and shares how she coaches Christians to coins.

For more of Felicia, here are some places you can find her:

Her website

Instagram

Facebook

Christians to Coins Prayer Facebook group

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I'm getting real about money and talking honestly about our finances. My money mindset has changed and I've had some new revelations and wonderful revelations from the Bible. Listen in as I talk through them with you.

We as business owners can be senders for missionaries as well as being missionaries in our own towns.

Study on Rest "Reclaiming the Sabbath" from Sarah Kootz.

Youth With A Mission (YWAM)

5 Lessons Learned from Rest

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To follow SJ in all of the different places, here are the places and links for her:

Christian Women in Business's website and Instagram

The Automation Girl website and Instagram

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Heather Boersma shares how her life experiences led her to finding a place of rest. As she dug deep in her relationship with Christ, she found her identity and also found that she had been working for love instead of working from love. This realization changed her striving to thriving.

She's teaching the next generation this lesson and others in her upcoming book Letters from a Big Sister, which has letters from Jenna Kutcher, Jess Connolly, Kristiene Dimarco and more.

Join in on our conversation now by listening to the podcast as we talk about rest, identity and how God equips us for what he wants us to do.

Heather is a speaker, author, wife and mom who has shared her story with thousands of teen girls and women across Canada, the United States, and Australia over the last 12 years. She began touring with a ministry for teen girls called Beautiful Unique Girl with singer/songwriter Amanda Cook in 2005 and spoke at over one hundred events, impacting thousands of teen girls. She continues to speak at summer camps, women’s retreats, conferences and more. Heather has a B.A. and B.Ed in High School English and Theatre and has taught in both public and private school settings. Heather wrote for and hosted a TV show called Beautiful Unique Girl that airs on Hope Television and online. Heather published a youth devotional book called Dream Big (affiliate link) (Word Alive Press, 2012), has written 2 ebooks, and has had articles published in Tapestry magazine, Brio, Susie, The Influence Network blog, (in)courage blog and more. Heather currently lives in the Canadian prairies, but dreams of one day living on the coast. She is Mama to three wildly wonderful children, Cohen, Claire and Byron, and their Australian Shepherd, Bailey. Her husband Alex is an entrepreneur and business owner who is always ready for an adventure, especially if it involves playing in the mountains or the ocean.

Follow her on her website or Instagram account.

You can learn more about Letters from a Big Sister and watch the book baby come to life on their Instagram.

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I'm so excited to have Meghan Birt joining me in this episode of the Created for This podcast! She's going to talk about one of my favorite things - taking care of our bodies and minds.

Meghan is a chiropractor, educator, and healthy living encourager. She's also a wife and mom to one sweet girl (with a second on the way). Dr. Meghan’s love of natural health started many years before getting her chiropractic degree. Healthy food and nutrition was the catalyst into becoming a chiropractor and she was able to achieve healing in her own body through natural means. Dr. Meghan wants to inspire a love of health in women and believes every individual has the opportunity to live their healthiest life possible, which can be achieved through natural approaches.

Meghan's top 3 tips for us are:

Fuel your body well. In the episode, we talk about the supplement Fruits and Greens. You can use this link to buy your own. I use this daily and it's made a noticeable difference in the way I feel.
Sleep.
Self-care.
(BONUS) Use the resources available to you. We talked about Meghan's Just Enjoy Health Academy, Young Living Essential Oils (my link to sign up as a Young Living member or check out the oils) and Beauty Counter (Meghan's affiliate link).

Want more of Meghan and her health knowledge?

Join Meghan's Facebook group

Meghan's Meghan's Instagram account

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Inga Lizdenyte shares her story of facing death from an auto accident in Lithuania when she was 19. Her story is truly amazing, awe-inspiring and so encouraging to live a life devoted to God and be recklessly in love with him.

Inga's a life coach and has some great advice for anyone going through life (whether good or bad). Don't miss this episode - I was blown away by her!

Find Inga on her website, Facebook page or her Instagram.

Buy her book now on Amazon - "UNSTOPPABLE. It’s a Choice" (This is an affiliate code and I do get a commission at no cost to you when you buy the book through this link. Thank you!)

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I wanted to pop in quick and share with you what's on my heart for you. These are things that I do when I need some encouragement for my day.

The first one is one that I use when I feel like my kids are crazy, when I need to pray and be encouraged, so basically every day. It's worship music! I pull up my nifty YouTube app and listen. The one that I love right now is So Will I (100 Billion X) from Hillsong United and Rooftops from Jesus Culture.

Worship music is great for when I need inspiration, so I can get in the mood and in the zone. When I start writing something, I pray and ask Jesus for his words to flow through me. It's someone else singing and praising God so I can write and still be praising God.

Secondly prayer. Whether that's with you alone, with your kids or your partner. If you have a friend to type "hey, can you pray for me today" is so good! That's why I talk so much about having an inner circle who is willing to pray for you, for your business. If you have times when it's a rough day when you've been up all night, it's necessary.

My girlfriend and her husband are in town sharing about their missionary journey and what's next so I was up late last night coming up with a few different ideas as to how to do something with what they were sharing. She was talking about wanting to use their experiences to teach kids about mission work so in my head, like every good creative entrepreneur, I was up thinking through writing something up.

It's so powerful to have those people who can pray and lift you up, pray for zest and zeal for their day.

The last thing that gets me excited and going for the day is to make a to-do list so I'm not having to remember everything in my head, but rather, having it on paper so that I can scratch things off as they get completed.

If it's on paper and I've got a pocket of time, I'm able to work on something small. My husband and I were talking about to-do lists. Someone was talking (possibly JP Morgan) and saying something about "show me how to make a million dollars and I'll give you x amount of money." Someone sitting with him wrote on the top of a piece of paper "to-do list" and gave it to him. While making a to-do list might not make you a million dollars, but it makes a difference in how much you get done.

I read The Fringe Hours a few years ago and it made a huge difference in how I view time and productivity. We've got 24-hours in our day and if we use eight of those hours, or if you're like me and you want 10 hours of sleep, that leaves time to cook, eat, go to the bathroom and shower, kids and family and girlfriends who want to go do things. That takes away those hours. So if you write down what you want to do for the day or the week, then set priorities for the day, you get things done.

Jessica's point was that in tiny pockets of time you've got, you can work towards getting things done. It makes me super excited to get my list done. I can do things when my husband gets home, or I got a text for a free Redbox which I'm totally going to go get. I deserve a break and I want to make time for it.

I will always be one for to-do lists, unless you get super overwhelmed by them, then we'll figure something else out for you.

That's my encouragement for today - go make it a great day!

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Basic Girl Marketing Strategist Danielle Cevallos is joining me today on this episode. Danielle is a teacher by day and marketing strategist by night. She helps women start and grow businesses that are both profitable and purposeful. Her experience ranges from missionary to online personal trainer to copywriter to online shop owner and she is now committed to helping women earn more money so they can do more good!

You can find her at her website or Instagram.

Listen in on this excellent interview to find out what steps you can take now to start marketing your business better, what Danielle thinks about manifesting clients and why her business is called Basic Girl.

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If you're a business owner, you need to find ways to rest. Sometimes we need to get creative and this podcast will help you. Listen in to find out four ways to get the rest you need.

This episode is sponsored by my devotional Created for This. The devotional was written specifically for business owners like you. Buy it here.

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NJ Rongner joins me on the show today. NJ is a business strategist who helps female entrepreneurs clear the clutter and get laser focused on what matters most. Known by her signature phrase "I can't sign off on that," she's not afraid to tell her clients when they're going in the wrong direction. NJ is the founder of Working Christian Mom where she provides encouragement and support to women who love their family, love their job and love their faith. You can find out more about her podcast and services by visiting the Working Christian Mom website - workingchristianmom.com.

During the episode, NJ talks about her strategy sessions and you can book your own uber helpful session by going to workingchristianmom.com/workwithme. Having worked with NJ closely over the last few years as a part of the Boss Mom team and her mentoring me, she's been a huge influence in my life and business.

If you want to follow along with her, you can do so on Instagram at instagram.com/nj.rongner or instagram.com/workingchristianmom.

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Have you ever played a video game or a game on your phone and thought about how it relates to business? WELL, if you have, or have not, that's what this episode is about. When I play Candy Crush, I see business strategy.

Use this episode to think about what you're doing in your business, how you're doing it and then what you need to implement.

Referenced:

Episode 12: Who is Influencing You?

This show's sponsor: the devotional for Christian business owners, Created for This, is written just for you, the business owner who wants to dig deep into God's word.

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We know community is important, but do you know why it's important for your faith, and your business? We need a faith community to help refine our faith and having a group of girls who understand business, and are Christians is vital for growth.

Because I know how much having ladies who love Jesus and business as much as I do is necessary, and I also know sometimes that's not available in person. For this reason, I created the Better Together Mentoring Mastermind. Inside the mastermind, I mentor on faith and business for you and other awesome ladies. For more info you can go check out the info page.

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Teresa Swanstrom Anderson wrote her book Beautifully Interrupted: When God Holds the Pen That Writes Your Story. In it, she shares how her carefully laid out life changed course when she whispered to God, Send me. Use me.

This book is SO good and I was blessed to sit down and have a chat with Teresa, and you get sit in on it!

We talk about letting God write your story, building a community where you are and not waiting for perfect, and her advice for business owners.

You do not want to miss out on this encouraging conversation.

More about Teresa Swanstrom Anderson:

Teresa Swanstrom Anderson is living the life she thought she never wanted. With an art history degree and dreams of living in Europe as a curator, Teresa had big plans for herself. After a decision to lay her exciting plans at the feet of Christ, God began changing her heart little by little and began dating the man who eventually became her husband. Teresa’s life is a series of redirected dreams, stumbling, falling, getting up, and wondering if she is investing her time where it matters most. Teresa lives with her husband, Ben, in Denver, CO with their loud and silly brood of six. She spends her days wiping off sticky counters, Instagramming, and blogging at teresaswanstromanderson.com.

Instagram

Facebook

affiliate link You can buy her book on Amazon.

Our show sponsor, Pirate Ringo's Salsa is available now on their website and is so delicious, you'll want not just one jar, but many!

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Today we're talking about money. You're probably either in two camps - you're either excited about money or not excited about money. I am going to talk about money mindset for Christians. I am not a money mindset coach, I'm not a financial planner, but what I do know is the truth of the Bible.

Money does not need to be feared, it does not need to be something we dislike, and I know money is powerful. God has given us money, he's given us currency to do things with.

I see so many people where money is an issue. I do work for Tonya Rineer who is a money mindset coach and maybe that's why these things are at the forefront of my mind because of that awareness and how people look at money, but regardless, money is important to us as business owners. Tonya is a lot on the woo woo side so if you want to check her out, you can find her here.

First I'm going to read to you out of my devotional, Created for This. Money is important. I wouldn't be sitting in my house if I didn't have money. We need it and that's why I'm talking about it.

We need to make a profit or our business would be a hobby. The Proverbs 31 woman knows this and when she finds that her work is profitable, she doesn't stop working. And she's profitable. Then she gives money to the poor.

This theme of giving money continues into Romans 12:13. We're able to give money we earn to others. Our business is not just about us. It can be used by God. But we must not make more of the gift than the gift giver.

As Christian business owners, we don't need to be afraid of money, we can show godly wisdom as we handle our money. I love the fact that money allows us to give money to others.

While I was a missionary, I learned how big of a blessing it is for missionaries to receive support from others.

I want to talk about how we view money, I'm reading out of Luke 12:13-24. Life is more than our possessions. Saving for life, saving for retirement is a good thing, but when we start putting money before our relationship with God, that's not a good thing.

We see a good biblical representation of money. I love how in Luke it says, abundance is more than possessions. I've been preparing for an abundance workshop. It's something that the world has taken and twisted a little bit. In my new book, I'm writing about topics that are important to the Christian faith and in the business world.

As we look at money, what I want to highlight for you guys is that money is okay. Money is good. Money allows us to do so many things. I want you to stop looking at money as something is bad. God doesn't say that money is bad. It can be when we place money over our relationship with God. It can be when strive to attain wealth.

We need to start looking at money as a tool that God has given us so we can work in the lives of other people. I want you guys to be like 'Have you heard that one about money? Money's good you guys.'

There are so many times when money has been a source of anxiety in my own life. But God always provides. There have been times when I've seen God bless people with money, whether bills get paid by other people or we get a job when we need it.

God sees that money is stressful because he sees us struggling over it. God will put us in situations where God will have us rely on him. As he sees our faithfulness and as we return to him, we're able to move forward and have a greater trust in him.

I'd love for you to join me for the abundance workshop. It has blessed my socks off learning about true abundance. I can't wait to share it with you.

Bible verses used:

Proverbs 31:18-20

Romans 12:13

Matthew 6:19-24

Luke 12:13-21

Abundance workshop May 14-18. We're walking through what biblical abundance looks like, why it matters, what it means in our businesses and how to move forward in true abundance. Sign up now.

To get amazing tasting salsa from Pirate Ringo for yourself, your mom, your dad or your BFF, go to their website and order now.

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Whether you're overwhelmed and need to set some boundaries or limits, OR you want to make things better for yourself in terms of your schedule, this episode will leave you feeling encouraged. With practical tips and things to think about, I want to help you move forward and build a solid business.

To get personalized help with building boundaries or other areas that need organization in your life or business, go schedule an Organization Intensive with me.

Our sponsor, Pirate Ringo's Salsa can be found here.

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We're all influenced by something or someone. Who is influencing you?

To get on the waitlist for the mastermind opening, head to my website.

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Your Message is Gold course from Lindsey is one I'll always promote and love on because it's taught me so much about writing and connecting with my audience. Lindsey's ability to convey information and encourage you as you go through the course shines through. Don't miss your chance to sign up today.

Affiliate link present.

To purchase the Created for This devotional, written just for Christian business owners, head to my website.

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I'm chatting with my husband in this episode and SO excited to talk about being married to a business owner and his experiences. From boundaries to expectations and a whole lot of communication, we hit on things that spouses deal with as they support their business owner.

This show's sponsor is the devotional Created for This, for Christian Business Owners. Click here to buy Created for This.

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Today's episode is all about how I batch produce my content. I walk step by step through how I create content.

It's something I'm really passionate about because it helps me get a lot more done in my day with my four kids and the younger ones only being in daycare a limited number of days of the week.

Wednesday is the day that even the 3-month-old is in daycare and the day that I currently use to get everything done. Batching is simply saying that you're going to get everything done in one day or in one set of time.

I'm also multi-purposing my content. I do a video for my YouTube channel, the podcast and create a blog out of this as well.

After I decide what platform I want to develop content for, I decide what I want to create. If I'm recording with a guest, I record with them on Wednesdays. If I'm writing, I try and write on those days. I find that when I'm more focused then I'm able to get more done. If my kids are around then it's harder for me to write.

The things you can batch are things that have an action. For instance, letter writing. If I want to write letters, I'll go in and write at the same time so I don't have to constantly take out cards, stamps, and getting a ton of stuff out every day. If you're Facebook posting for your page or group, you can schedule out posts. That way you don't have to go in every day and schedule, you can do it all at once so it's done.

You can batch cook or clean. It honestly depends on your season of life. Right now I don't have the fridge space to hold that much prepared food but I do like to do all my cleaning at one time.

If you want to implement this and it sounds like something that could work for you, you should try it. It does take time to plan it out and you might need to do a few tries, however, it is worth it.

I take time in the middle of the month to prepare my ideas and themes for the next month so that I know exactly what it is that I'm doing before. Know what you're talking about and how you want to talk about it.

Try to free up distractions - turn off all of your notifications on your phone, close down tabs or computer windows if that distracts you. If you feel like it's not working, see what's going on. Also, if you need some help and accountability, schedule an Organization Strategy session with me. It's a 45-minute call with a 20-minute follow up call to help you create a better strategy and get organized so you can batch your schedule too.

To purchase this show's sponsor - the Created for This devotional, click over to my website and order your own copy.

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Join Sam Munoz, Kid Lit Curator and Tech Consultant, and I as we talk about how business has been instrumental in Sam finding her faith in Jesus again.

You can go hang out in the Intentional Bookclub with Sam or find out more about her tech consulting on her website.

To purchase your own Created for This devotional, head to my website.

*There are affiliate links included in these notes. Through the links I get a percentage of the purchase at no extra cost to you - thanks for supporting me, my business and my family.

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To order your own copy of the devotional, Created for This, click here.

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A continuation of my testimony as shared in episode 5. I'm going in depth in how I've gotten this far in my life with Christ and my business.

To purchase Created for This, head to my website.

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Hi, guys. I realized that I hadn't done a basically "My story" episode of the "Created for This" show, and so here we are. For those of you who are new to me, my name Is Danielle Roberts and I am a business manager, and strategist, author, of the book "Created for This", and I am a mentor for Christian businesswomen as well. That's the typical bio that you all get whenever you listen to a podcast I'm featured on. And this episode sponsored by my beautiful "I was Created for This" mug, with Ephesians 2:10 on there in the beautiful script. If you want to grab a mug, you definitely can over at daniellemroberts.com/mug. And you can get a beautiful mug shipped right to your house. I call it a Christian affirmation mug because it affirms that you were created for what you're doing.

To read more of the notes, head over to my website and read the blog.

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Created for This Devotional

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Being rooted in Christ has helped me be more confident in my business. What God's teaching me in this time of rest which has been so helpful to remain firm in my faith and strong in my God-given identity.

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Capturing our identity can be a challenge, especially when we tend to wrap up who we are in the things that surround us - business, relationship status, parenting status, money and other things. What we are that really matters is a child of God.

In this episode you'll hear:

The why behind this podcast.
Bringing our search for identity back to the Bible.
How to deal with comparison with a biblical attitude.
Reading out of the Created for This devotional.
Inspiration from the Proverbs 31 woman.
What fast food restaurants have to do with identity.
Building and relationships instead of feeling the need to compete.
How affirmations can help you build and reaffirm your identity.

Key quote: "God has enabled you and equipped you as you are in the business world."

Additional Links:

Biblical affirmations

Created for This devotional

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In this first episode of the Created for This podcast, I'm sharing about myself and what you can expect from the podcast. I'm so excited you're joining me!

In this episode of Created for This, you'll hear:

About me (I'm sharing all about me, my business and my family).
My beliefs in the Bible and Jesus.
My reason for having a podcast.
What we will cover in this podcast.
How we can be Christian business owners - created for a purpose of giving God glory.

Key Quote: "I want to have a focus of weaving together our business and the Bible in the Created for This podcast."

Created for This with Danielle Roberts: Recent Episodes

Danielle Roberts