Pursue You: Recent Episodes
Mandy Friend Gigliotti
The Pursue You Podcast encourages you to pursue you so you can give the gift of your best self to your family, community and your business. Join the conversation as Mandy Friend Gigliotti shares her journey as a wife, mom and passionate entrepreneur. From handling pressures of parenthood to scaling your business, each episode will be a deep dive into strategies, tools and powerful questions that will set you on your own personal journey to pursue you!
One of the things I love most about this podcast is that I can have content that is all over the place! Yes, there is definitely value in a niche, but it is necessary, in my opinion to discuss a range of topics to best relate to listeners. Today I am excited to talk about marriage advice! The topic is always nerve-wracking, but these 2 powerful pieces of marriage advice have changed me and my marriage. I am not going to NOT share this message!
One surprising thing a lot of people do not know about me, is that I was a high-level lacrosse player. It was a big deal in my life and a huge piece of my identity. Being in athletics has shaped the way that I think. Today, I am using this background as the way I make decisions, how I think about things, specifically about failure.
I have some news! We have become foster parents! I kept feeling God calling us to not get pregnant again so we began looking into fostering! Here we are 2 years later- we have placements and I feel like we are ready to share a little about our experience. Today I brought on Laura, a close friend of mine, Laura Edwards! She is an Ontario County Home Finding Adoption Extraordinaire! We ill discuss 5 things that I didn’t expect when becoming a foster parent. Laura is going to add her experience as well as common misconceptions.
"Hustling" is a topic I am super passionate about. And the growth of social media and entrepreneurship has really pushed the conversation to the forefront. I have never had trouble working hard, but my struggle began when it came time to STOP. But, if you don’t know how to stop, the cost can be damaging to you and those around you. I will discuss 4 ways to stop hustling and start begin to pursue you!
Christy Wright runs “The Business Boutique.” She did a podcast on identity and one piece to her chat has been on my heart. “You are not your season.” She was referring to 2020 and how hard that season was. Data is coming out that a lot of the pressure families faced in 2020 had to do with children- activities, childcare, lack of support. I wanted to share some of my aha’s around this idea- the concept of your identity and how it relates to the season you are in.
A message I have been feeling and hearing most recently revolves around my cell phone and the idea that takes control of our lives like handcuffs! But, these particular handcuffs are self-inflicted because we are making the choice to have our hands on our phones. To "handcuff” means to make ineffective or powerless. What else does our phone make ineffective or powerless? Our phone can distract us from life and take things away from us, robbing us of important things. Today we discuss how to break your phone habits and get your life back!
Today I share a thought I had after driving past a sign during a recent visit to Florida. It read, “Its 12:00 o’clock somewh…just kidding! It’s 2021. Come on in!” It made me laugh but it also got me thinking. There is no denying 2020 was super had. Maybe you lost your job. Maybe you were able to keep your job. Either way it was a hard year for everyone. Today I discuss 6 ways you can reset your habits and, in turn, bring you back on the path of pursuing you.
Today I am discussing how to love your “night-before-self.” I was inspired by my younger sister Abbey. Loving on your night-before-self lays the foundation for tomorrow. Tomorrow quickly becomes today and today is your life! If there is one thing that you can do today that can change the course of your life, I believe one of them is taking care of your night-before-self. I share a few ways that I do!
Today I am discussing something that has been a passion project for me: the path to presence. My journey as an entrepreneur, a woman, a wife and a mother has completely evolved from where I was a decade ago...even last year! Seeking presence is a journey. I refer to presence as, “[being] fully focused on or involved in what one is doing or experiencing.” Although your body might be present; is your mind? Is your soul? I share some tips on how to jumpstart this journey.
“If the Devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” My business coach shared with me on a coaching call recently. My word for the year is “listen.” You may know that I LOVE talking. Previous words for previous years were always something like “finding my voice” or “sharing my message,” aka something about talking. As I move into this new season of life, I feel like, for this year, I want to make it about listening. I share 3 questions to ask yourself.
If you know my story, you know that, as a former athlete, I am competitive. I have always been competitive with others, but also with myself. I love working hard being better than I was yesterday. The drive that comes from this competitive nature is good...until it’s not. In Simon Sinek’s book “The Infinite Game" he explains the concept of competition versus inspiration. Do the things we surround ourselves with encourage competition or inspire us to be better? I discuss and share some strategies for growth.
2020 was very difficult but there were many gifts that came from this past year, too. As many of us may have faced financial hardships over the past year, we are faced with hard conversations, many involving money. We have learned we may need to be smarter with our money, both from a business and personal standpoint. Today I am going to discuss my wealth journey. I will chat about what I have learned, mistakes I have made, successes I have found as well as 5 common wealth building mistakes.
This past year, my family has planned and completed two large business renovation projects. Aside from the time invested and the challenges 2020 presented, the mental and emotional loads were astronomical. After completion, I truly felt a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. When I do any big thing or have a lot on my plate, I realize I have to put new systems in place to survive. Said in another way, I learn that I either DO something, I DELEGATE something or DUMP something. Today I want to focus on the second two: Delegate and Dump. I believe there is real skill in developing your not-to-do list.
Today’s episode is inspired by my sister, Ashley. I was watching her with her kids, 2 boys and a little girl. One thing I recognized as I watched how she handles her kids and lives day-to-day as a mother figure to them was her ability to rebound or recover. If her children tested her patience, she did not let it affect the rest of her day. I personally feel this is a challenge for me. If I get frustrated, it takes me a while to recover. Today I discuss how I am practicing overcoming these challenges.
A big focus on my heart right now is this idea to think small and to dream small. I am a dreamer. I am constantly thinking as big as possible. So, it sometimes feels counterintuitive to what I have always known and what is in my soul. As a result, dreaming big has been a tough balance for me. Today I discuss dreaming small and how it can help you succeed.
I hope my title today caught your attention! 2020 has taught me so many things but one thing I am highlighting today is the fact that 2020 made me realize how much I loved my life BEFORE all of this. How much I was intentional with so many things that helped me reset and re-center. So many things will never be the same, but I am excited to get back into certain intentional activities, such as vacationing. I share why planning that next trip is so important.
Last episode I discussed setting goals amidst the uncertainty and how self-care needs to be a priority in times of uncertainty. When there are so many unknowns, having your cup filled provides this strong foundation to face whatever comes your way. Having a full cup means you are centered. So, what do you do if you are off-center or out of alignment? Today I am talking about building your very own re-centering toolbox.
Today we are discussing goal setting. We are in the season of setting goals for 2021! 2020 has been very unique. 2021 will as well. I am sharing thoughts on how I am working with my businesses and how we are setting goals in 2021 amidst the uncertainty.
As I’m starting to think about 2021, setting my intentions and goals for next year, I’m feeling this resistance. I think there are road blocks every year that come in all shapes and sizes. I want to name some reasons that goal-setting might leave you feeling afraid. I believe that when you name the things you fear, they seem to lose their power. I find myself able to look at these challenges or fears or worries differently. And that’s what I want today to be about for you.
Maybe the title today got your attention because you aren’t an “early riser.” You might feel that because you are not a “morning person” or someone who gets up early, you cannot be successful! This conversation today is about how you can be wildly successful even if you do not wake up early. I share key characteristics that we might consider applying to our lives and can set us up for more success.
Some of my favorite episodes that I get the honor to share with you are my Pursue You Picks. I love to share information on this platform and I love to inspire you to consume more information. Today I am discussing the book, “Attention Management,” by Maura Nevel Thomas. I hope the tidbits I share inspire you to consume the book yourself!
52! Episode #52! I have successfully completed 1 podcast per week for 1 year! I feel this is a perfect time for us to dig into the vault and highlight some of the episodes that made the most impact on you as the listeners and our community as a whole. One of my favorite parts of this podcast is how all-encompassing it is. I hope that today’s episode can serve as a starting point, as inspiration to give you an idea of what episodes you may want to listen to next!
Today I am discussing internal shifts vs external shifts. As I record this podcast in mid-September 2020, I notice, as I have in years past, that my “thermostat” is a bit low. I notice am not feeling right. So, I took out a pen and paper and journaled. I learned that this has been a difficult time for me for at least 5 years! Maybe it is emotions. Many of us may not think emotions are valid enough to be worthy of working towards an external change or shift. But sometimes those internal shifts are more important than we think!
This is Episode 50! I made a commitment to myself that I would premier 1 podcast per week! I am reaching a full year of the Pursue You Podcast and have learned so much along the way. Today I discuss how having kids connect and relate with business. I believe having children has actually helped me grow and scale my businesses and has positively impacted my life. I used to think you could not successfully have both. I share 10 reasons that having kids has helped me grow my businesses.
Today we are talking about time. Specifically finding more time in your day, in your week, in your month, in your life! We know we have a finite amount of town. I know for so long, I never felt like there was enough of it. I began to think about time differently. Finding more time is not just about being able to do more but making time for yourself to pursue you.
As I sit here and record this podcast in August 2020, I can’t help but think about a quote: “We have been springing a marathon for the past five months.” How would we have behaved differently if we would have known that this would not be a two-week ordeal? How can you think about this in your life? Are we striving for something but perhaps overlooking the enjoyment of the journey itself? We might need to stop, to pivot, to slow down.
The more I learn about money and financial wealth, the more intriguing it is to me. First, how you feel about money is often traced back to how you were raised and how your parents handled money. Second, I find it is challenging to find someone else to discuss money with for risk of judgement one way or the other. My goal for you today is to focus on your net worth as a baseline to start a conversation about money.
You may have heard a quote from Jim Rohn: “You're the average of the five people spend the most time with.” So, when you think about “your people” it is important to note those that really make an impact on your life. Today we will discuss my experiences with the hopes of helping you better understand who YOUR people are.
Today we are talking about the pace of your life. The impact pace has on my life is astounding. When my life and my business are at a sustainable pace and in alignment, I can feel the synergy and balance. I am sharing 3 tips how you can be intentional about your pace.
Today we are talking about goals. One thing I am learning as I get older is how different we all are. We have different backgrounds, experiences, childhoods. It is our differences that make the world go round. But, differences in perspectives and opinions can make it difficult for us to understand one another. Today we will discuss how we navigate these differences in our businesses by setting clear and concise expectations.
Today I am discussing from of my favorite points in the book Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist. It is a book so many friends recommended to me. I am going to give you some of my favorite points throughout the book with the hope that you will enjoy some perspective shifts and takeaways.
I am so excited to share Sheena Saydam with you today! We have known each other for a while now and has a fantastic real estate team (Saydam Properties Group) in the Maryland/DC area. Most of her team is entirely remote and has been for 10 years! I am so excited for you to hear her advice because she has been doing this for such a long time. This episode is full of tactical and practical advice.
Today I am excited to share with you my journey starting and growing this podcast! You have asked me such great questions and have shared such great thoughts, which have fueled me so much along the way. Surprisingly, I get asked a lot about this, so I hope this discussion can serve as a resource for you or someone you know.
Leadership is a big word. There are so many types of leaders, levels and styles of leadership. Most of the time these conversations come about with regard to how one might lead other people. Today I am discussing how leading myself first has positively impacted my ability to lead others. I explain how it has shown up in my life and my business with the hopes that you will recognize the power of leading yourself first in your life.
Today we are talking about how to get rid of “Mom Guilt” – Part 2! In Part 1, we discussed why it is a problem. We discussed the impact of social media and the way we consume other’s lives. We also talked about the importance of deep relationships to better and how we define what it really means to be a good mom. Today, I discuss the next step. After we create our list of what things we think defines being a good mom, I share the importance of understanding how that fits into our lives.
Today we discuss “Mom Guilt.” This is the first podcast of a 2-podcast-series on the topic. It is something that ties us together as women and moms in the form of a constant inner monologue. I share tips on how to overcome it.
Today I address a question I have been getting from my community. I am asked what advice I would give college graduates as they transition into the “real world.” Whether you are a recent graduate, transitioning occupations or crafting your “best normal” following a long quarantine, I share six tips to help along the way.
Today I welcome Jay Niblick, the co-founder and CEO of WizeHire and an expert on the DISC profile. In times like these, it is more important than ever to understand one another and how we best interact with those around us. Jay shares his knowledge of the DISC and how we use it to thrive in times of stress.
On Mother’s Day, I was so honored to preach at my local church, Trinity Communion Church in Rochester, New York, where my family and I have been members for over 7 years. Today I am sharing that sermon. I was nervous, excited, honored and flattered…but mostly terrified! I worked hard, I researched, I prayed, and I did it! I realized I want to share this because I said “yes,” even though I felt so far outside my comfort zone. Hopefully it encourages you to do the same thing.
Marriage is especially difficult right now, especially when tackling challenges like the ones we are facing right now, in quarantine. I welcomed David and Laurie Re to the podcast, a beautiful couple that has been married for almost 14 years. They have two amazing boys, ages 9 and 12. They always say, “When opposites attract, they’re right!” We will discuss their challenges over the past decade and a half and how they worked together to overcome them. They believe every single marriage has hope and the ability to thrive.
We have all had our lives impacted in one way or another by this quarantine. However, it has allowed us to see a life from a different perspective. My husband and I chatted about the phrase “new normal.” Instead I want you to think about your “BEST normal.” All the things you are decided to invest your time in become your life. Don’t be a bystander. I want to help you build your best normal.
One of my favorite quotes is “don’t compare your insides to other peoples outsides.” I have always found myself comparing myself to others, not so much in a way of being better than others, but learning from others to be my best. I have always wanted to reach my maximum potential. After a lot of work over the past decade, I have been able to name my never-good-enough feelings and emotions that I was unable to pinpoint before. I have come to accept that the path I have taken in life is that path that was meant for me.
Every small decision we make is powerful. Every accomplishment or achievement is a result of a series of smaller choices. No small action will make a difference on it’s own. But, it will set you up to take the next small step and then the step after that. When we take smalls steps, they are less intimidating. And when they are less intimidating, we are more likely to do it. It is the constant consistent progress that brings confidence. That brings joy. That inspires us to want to continue that small but mighty progress. Today’s episode is inspired by a bike ride I took last week and seemed so fitting to share because of where we are in the world today. Long story short, a simple trip outside to play outside the snow with my daughter evolved into a brisk jog up a main road while she biked alongside me…all because of a few small decisions!
Today I am chatting about a very important topic: Expenses. Whether you own a business or manage the business of your home, expenses matter! They are especially important with what we are going through right now. I am sharing my keys on how to get real with your expenses to allow you to survive (and thrive) in this challenging time.
Today we are going to talk about work-from-home hacks. This quarantine life has thrown us for a loop in so many ways but one of the biggest ways (especially for those of us that are used to working outside our home) is being thrown into working from home! As a Realtor, I spent many of my days working from home so I definitely feel I have a lot of experience with this. I want to share some of it with you so you can learn to navigate how to work from home: How to set expectations, design your days and communicate with those in your world and become the most efficient and productive.
I am so excited to share with you my friend Katie Henderson Clark. I just knew she would bring such value to all of you, especially during all of the new stress in our environment as we are all impacted by this quarantine. I personally know that I work so hard designing my days and weeks so that I am releasing my best self. That is very much shaken up right now. I hope you are ready to release the power of your minds in any situation that we face and especially in the situations and environments we are facing right now…in active quarantine.
What a time we are in! I try my hardest to keep my episodes “evergreen,” which means, no matter when you listen to them they are relevant and valuable. And then the Coronavirus entered our world. It is dramatically affecting the way we are living. In Episode 27, I discuss this pandemic and chat about what I am personally going through in the hopes that you might relate. It may not be “evergreen,” but it applies in any challenging situation. I want to discuss how you might grow from fear to faith; from helpless to empowered. I am taking you along on my journey and discuss what this experience has been like for me.
On Episode 26 I discuss 5 Steps to Rock Your Morning Routine! I have been practicing better sleep habits for some time now and have been prioritizing sleep. I never realized the impact not getting enough sleep was impacting my body and the way I was interacting with those around me. I discuss 5 steps I have found greatly impact how I create a productive morning routine and how it has impacted my days and my life.
On Episode 25 I discuss a topic may be something some of you are experiencing: “What To Do When You Are No Longer Motivated By “Money.” Notice “money” is in quotes because I want to use it as a placeholder. “Money” is basically whatever has motivated you in the past but it is now "empty." You could be motivated by fame or fear of failure, for example. However, there can come a point when your motivation can shift from a healthy motivation to something empty. Today I want to discuss what you can do if you are lacking motivation or no longer motivated by “money.”
Today’s episode is inspired by Mother Nature/Daylight Savings Time! This past year, especially, I have been so in tune with how daylight affects my nighttime routine. So many people talk about waking up SO early to get everything done! That never worked for me. I would wake up exhausted and, by the end of the day was beat! This year, I had the simplest revelation: a smart nighttime routine! You can’t have a strong morning routine until you have a strong nighttime routine! I am sharing 5 steps that helped me make my nighttime routine extra productive! So even if my morning routine hasn’t been great, I am setting myself up for a great next day!
Today I am talking with a special guest, Claire Ficker to discuss the Enneagram! The enneagram is a personality assessment. You may remember when I brought my husband on the podcast to discuss the DISC assessment on Episode 11. This is totally different, but equally as amazing. I am so passionate about connection and the enneagram is a wonderful way to learn more about yourself, more about others and to better connect with those around you.
This is Episode 22 and in this episode we are talking about leadership! You might say, “I am not a leader!” John Maxwell says “leadership is influence.” Whether you stay at home or you run a crazy big business or maybe you just have friends…you have influence! You are a leader! One of my favorite concepts I have read about in the past few years is from an incredible book called Multiplier by Liz Wiseman. It is a Wall Street Journal best-seller. The subtitle reads, “How the best leaders make everyone smarter.” Today I outline 8 ways we may be accidentally diminishing those around us.
I just got done recording this episode with Maryellen Dance, a licensed mental health counselor that I met years ago. We just recently reconnected in a local mastermind group and I just knew she was someone I wanted to bring on and share with you all. You’ve all heard me talk about therapy and what an important role it plays in my life, my development, my growth, my relationships and its funny because with me being so open about it, I really have seen how many preconceived notions we carry around about what it means to go to therapy, what qualifies us to have to go to therapy, etc, etc, -- so get excited, because this episode is jam packed full of good tid bits about what therapists wish you knew about therapy and how it might change your perception of who therapy is for, and how to go about getting started.
Today we’re talking about video. If you’ve been in a business or you’ve had some big growth, even if it’s just been a little while, it’s always so fascinating to go back and look on what you were doing years ago. Whether it be 10 years ago, 5 years ago, even last month, what did your days consist of? What were your priorities and your habits? How did you run your life and business together? One of the things I look back on so often is the early days of my real estate career. I was 22 years old. I had moved out of my parents’ house and joined a real estate brokerage and was clueless about it. One thing though I am so proud of, though, is that early on in my business I started to incorporate video into my branding, my marketing, my service to clients, and it has always been a big part of my business. Over the years, it’s morphed. Whether it be from the business growing, myself growing, or just technology and the change in modern marketing, but I feel like it’s had a dramatic impact on my business and that’s why I want to share it with you today. I want to show you how you might be able to incorporate it into your world and business.
In Episode 15, I shared about asking for what you want. I went through the simple steps of understanding why it’s important to you, getting clear on what it is you want and then making a plan to just ASK for it. But, in our conversations, and from what I know to be true in my own life, there’s this extra LITTLE piece that presents a huge challenge to us. We can literally do everything right, we know exactly what it is we want to ask for, why it’s just so, so important to us, but sometimes, our fear of what the reaction will be on the other side, paralyzes us. Today I want to share some advice I’ve learned about how we can help ourselves overcome this fear of rejection and it’s in the form of a little game called rejection therapy.
Today’s episode was inspired by one of our listeners, Bethany. Bethany and I were talking about organizing our thoughts as we were listening to podcasts and audio books and I started to share with her some quick tips of how I organize on the go and she was like MANDY, THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO HEAR! So, maybe you’re the same? You’re starting to do more ‘thinking’, maybe more reading, or consuming of content, but feel like it goes all over the place. Maybe you feel anxious about to do lists and are worried that you’re going to forget something because it’s written all over the place. Well this episode is for YOU. Like I always say, this isn’t an episode on the BEST way to do something, it’s all about what I’m doing and what works for me, but I share it to hopefully inspire you to figure out your best way. So, here’s how I’m organizing on the go, as of January 2020. I hope you’ll listen in, find your system and come join us in the Pursuers Community and share what challenges you have, what successes you’re finding, and all that good stuff!
If you’ve heard me speak, you know that I LOVE being busy. I love activities, productivity, and efficiency. After four years of pregnancy and nursing babies, I was so excited for 2019 to ‘max out’ my life and jam pack as much possible into my life. And you don’t have to have had a human to have gone through this experience, it could have been from a sickness, challenging family situation, etc. but you might be able to relate to when you literally, physically cannot ‘max out’ your life the way that you think you have to in order to succeed. I knew that margin wasn’t a luxury, and I knew that it was a necessity, but I had no idea how to implement it in my life. I didn’t know how to go from my life of exhaustion, chaos, and a mindset of I have to be working, to having margin and rest. Learning this and creating this margin wasn’t easy for me, it was a process and a journey, but I’m going to share with you some questions to help you reflect on your current life so that you can design a life of margin in 2020.
I am starting today’s episode with a story about my daughter, and I hope that this story about her inspires you to not be afraid to use your own voice in your family, in your job, or anywhere else that you find yourself wanting to ask something of someone else. I want us to not be afraid to ask for what we want. Sometimes it takes us awhile to figure out what we want, but when we do, what do we do with it? What do you do when you’re wanting a promotion or a raise, or when you need something from your clients or your spouse? What do you do when you want something from your friends? Once we identify what we want, how do we get closer to getting it or making that happen? In today’s episode, I’m sharing six steps for asking for what you want.
In Episode 14 last week I shared my top 5 personal reads of 2019 as well as my history with reading and how it’s been a journey for me to become a “reader”. Today I’m re-enforcing the important things to consider as you start or continue on your reading journey, and also sharing with you the top 5 business books I read as a part of my goal to pursue growth in my business. I hope this list will help you tune into the conversations these books and their authors are starting and maybe add a few of them to your own reading list for this year.
I’m going to start today’s episode with a question? What was your favorite book that you read in 2019? What if I asked what was your favorite book of all time? What would your answer be? The reason I want to ask you this is because a few years ago I would have had to think back to college when I was forced to read books, and I would only read the cliff notes version, and after an assignment I’d forget it all. Once I got into business, I read books here and there, but I want to share today how I used to think about reading, because I don’t want you to feel intimidated by a personal reading list and just skip over this episode. I want you to know that reading wasn’t always a natural thing I loved to do. I was too busy. You’re probably feeling the exact same way. As I’m recording this year in 2019, however, I have read more books this year than I have ever read in one year. Reading impacted me in such a positive way this year that I want to inspire you and share with you some books that you may want to check out in 2020.
Goals, goals, all types of goals! Any SNL fans out there? I love the skit Back Home Baller and the song “Bowls, bowls, all types of bowls”, and if you haven’t seen it you might want to watch it, but today, we’re not talking about bowls. We’re talking about goals! Like many of my stories, I had one of my most amazing revelations about goals at a retreat I went to in October. This message is applicable any time of year if you are thinking about setting goals, but I wanted to share it now as we’re approaching the beginning of the new year because I know many of you are deep in goal setting mode. Now, I’ve been the person who always knows what the next goal is and I’ve been the person who has no time to even think about setting goals, so whichever one you are right now, I hope this will help change the way you think about goals, and let you see that when you care about the goals it will be much easier to work towards achieving those goals.
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I’ve been on a roller coaster with sleep I would dare to say my entire life, and maybe it’s because I’m getting older (I just celebrated my birthday), or maybe I went through a period of sleep deprivation with two littles; but the more I read, and study, and actually live in a way where I’m conscious of my sleep, I’m still blown away!
Sleep is important. We’ve all heard it, but I wasn’t listening. I never really had it sink in, so that’s what I want to chat about today. I’m going to share tidbits about my sleep journey in hopes that you can hear the importance of sleep in a different way, so it sinks in for you. When I say this is life changing, I’m not exaggerating. I think you’ll understand if you’ve ever been sleep-deprived that it’s also INSANELY real and something I’m finding so many of you in my community struggle with, so yes, I’m spending this entire episode talking about sleep!
I can’t thank you all enough for the support of this podcast! It makes my heart soar to hear how it’s impacting your life and business! Your reviews are so helpful to make sure I am providing the valuable content you’re wanting to hear. Leave a review, screen shot this episode, and share it with others!
Today is a really big deal! I love listening to interviews and I love to share and learn from other people who are excelling. When I recorded Episode 3 – Three Reasons You’re Not Making Your First Hire, I got the idea of who my first guest would be, and it was only confirmed when you guys asked for more information on hiring. I knew I had to bring on my husband, Eddie, Ed, Papa, aka Dr. Ed Gigliotti. Before I bring him on to share his favorite hiring tool, I have to share a little about him. He has grown his chiropractic office from the ground up. He knew no one here in Rochester in 2013, and today, he's one of the top chiropractors in the state. In the six years he’s been open, his business has exploded, and he has perfected his systems and hired an incredible team. Today, he’s on to share his favorite hiring tool, the DISC assessment along with practical tools for making your next hire.
[4:55] Eddie and I start off sharing a little about what the DISC assessment is. We talk about the theory behind it that centers on four personality traits: dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance.
[5:45] Eddie shares how he got into learning about and studying the DISC assessment. He shares how his own interactions with his team lead him to search for a way to hire the best people for the work he needed. He wanted to best serve the people on his team, so they could provide the best service to their clients.
[8:05] Eddie and I spend the next several minutes digging deep into each of the four characteristics and what different traits tend to show up in each category. We discuss their strengths as well as their fears. We also share stories of how we’ve learned to better interact with these different people on our own teams as we’ve become more understanding of the DISC assessment.
[17:00] We recommend you start by taking the DISC assessment for yourself. You can take it for free at www.wizehire.com. Find out who you are and how you’re showing up, and then offer it to people on your team, whether that’s business or family.
[18:00] Eddie and I introduce four ways you can use the DISC assessment as you begin to figure out roles you may need to fill on your team and how to find the right person to fill it.
[19:00] 1. Look at your job description and decide who would find the most success in that role. You want to make sure that you are putting people in the right role, otherwise you’ll have great team members get burnt out because they are doing the wrong job.
[24:40] 2. When you get a good resume in response to your ad, request that they take the DISC assessment and send it back to you. This will give you more clarity on who is excited about the job and who would be a good fit.
[27:00] 3. Review each person’s DISC assessment before setting up a phone interview with them. Review the information so that you are able to communicate with them in the best way possible, and so you can decide what additional information you’d like to find out on the phone interview.
[27:40] 4. Have a phone interview to validate the DISC assessment. Use pointed questions that will allow you to clarify and validate the results of their assessment. This will allow you to make sure you want to take the time to bring them in for a full, in house interview.
[29:27] – Eddie shares one last piece of advice on how to start using the DISC tool now, with your current employees and team members before you start implementing it as a hiring tool.
Utilizing the DISC tool when you are looking to hire, and with your current team or family has unlimited value for you. Remember, do not label yourself your one DISC trait. It’s great to know yourself better, and it helps the relationship you have with your team, but you can also use this information about yourself to grow and change as you pursue you.
Today I want to talk to about pruning, and before I get into it, I have to call out the elephant in the room. If you know what pruning is, it has to do with gardening, but don’t be fooled into thinking I know what I’m doing when it comes to gardening. In fact, I’m so bad at gardening that I once killed a cactus. But today, I want to talk about pruning as a metaphor for your life. Pruning, by definition is when you trim a tree, shrub, or bush by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, for the purpose of increasing fruitfulness and growth. Today, I want to share with you four areas of your life that might need pruning in order to increase your ability to pursue your best self, and thereby give the gift of your best self, to those around you.
[1:50] I share a story about when I first came to understand the idea of pruning as a metaphor for life, and how it prompted me to realize that I needed change in my life, no matter how hard it was going to be.
[5:35] I introduce the four areas of life that I am going to challenge you to reflect on and see where you might need to do some pruning in your own life.
[5:50] 1. Commitments: The things you have committed to, be it committees, family, church, etc. are either fulfilling you or draining you. I share some of the excuses I made before I finally made the decision to leave the committees that were draining me, and I challenge you to examine your commitments and see which ones you need to step away from.
[10:52] I ask the question, “How do we know if something is fulfilling or draining?”. Then, I challenge you to ask yourself these questions in relation to your current commitments: How did I feel doing what I did today? How did I feel on the way there, after it was over? How do I feel about it at the end of the day? Did I show up better or worse after?
[11:45] 2. Habits – Which habits are positively or negatively impacting your life? This one is hard because they are small things, like hitting the snooze button, or checking email in bed, or not hugging your spouse enough. They aren’t massive, but they compound, and they turn into bigger problems. Ask someone else to help you notice these things. What is consuming your time at each segment of your day?
[16:20] 3. Content Consumption - You are in control of what you consume on social media, tv, movies, etc. I challenge you to reflect on how the people you follow on social media make you feel, how you respond to watching the news or certain T.V. shows, etc. Find the content that lifts you up and empowers you as you go throughout your day.
[23:00] Relationships – If you met the people you spend the most time with at a party today, would you see them and want them to be the people that were influencing you? Do a relationship check to make sure your close, close friends are all people who fill you up. Are there people in your life that aren’t serving you? If they aren’t serving you, you can’t serve them.
Pruning is hard. It takes a lot of work, reflection and self-awareness. It takes counseling and experimentation to see what’s serving you and what isn’t. Here’s the harder part, for me at least. As you start to prune, you may go into panic mode and try to hold on to things that you need to be letting go of. Until you really reflect, you won’t have the confidence to do the hard action of pruning. Pruning can make you feel so empty, but what feels like emptiness at the time, that emptiness is really space. It’s space to make active choices on everything from your commitments, to habits, to relationships, and as they slowly fill back up, you realize your life is now filled with things that empower you and fulfill you. All your energy and time is being put to the best use and that focused energy goes towards the right things. I challenge you to see how pruning can change your life. It will give you space to design and pursue a life that allows you to give the gift of your best self to everyone around you.
Welcome to the Pursue You Podcast, where we are empowering you to continually reflect, design and pursue who you were created to be so you can give the gift of your best self to your family, community, and business!
Today we’re talking about the Rise Business Conference I attended that is put on by Rachel Hollis and her husband Dave Hollis through the Hollis Company. While they have held multiple personal development conferences, this was their first ever Rise Business conference, emphasis on business!
In a nutshell, it was awesome! It was fabulous, and not just in that emotional high feeling where you feel like you just want to live in an imaginary bubble after a great conference, but I was able to leave with very real, tactical takeaways. Now that I’ve had time to think about my experience, review my notes, and summarize my takeaways, I want to share them with you, and hopefully pass along some of the amazing wisdom I heard during the conference.
3:00 I start off sharing my story of how I discovered Rachel Hollis, who she was, what she was about, and my internal struggle with being excited about her and her mission, but also feeling like I couldn’t pursue what I wanted to because she was already doing it.
6:50 I introduce the “bean dip” (Rachel’s term) or Ladder concept that the conference centered around. Each rung represents a different topic that we covered during the conference.
7:29: Rung 1 - YOU - You are the problem, but you are also the solution. We spent nearly an entire day focusing on this topic. I’m sharing my biggest takeaways from all of the speakers that covered this topic, but ultimately, I want to share Rachel’s 5 points – humility, hard work, health, honesty, optimism.
17:42: Rung 2 - Product and Service – The big point that hit me was that they helped us realize the businesses that were really succeeding were offering a product, service, AND an experience and that experience is key. I challenge you to ask yourself: what can you do to enhance your experience opportunity?
19:20: Rungs 3 & 4 - Branding and Customer Experience – In order to create a better product, service or experience you need to listen to your customer and respond to what they are asking for. Let’s work on this practically by creating a circular flow chart that outlines your customer’s journey in order to assess how you can offer a better customer experience.
22:00: Rung 5 - Marketing – Amy Porterfield hit on this topic so well and her biggest point was about having an email list that allows you to constantly engage with your customer base in an personal and authentic way, while delivering original content that you are creating (like a podcast!) to them each week!
25:00: Rung 6 - Sales – Most of us are selling something because we want to help our customer when they are in need. In order to do this successfully, we have to be passionate about what we are selling. If we aren’t, we shouldn’t be selling it.
28:14: Rung 7 - Finances – This is often a difficult subject for business owners, because they honeslty don’t know their numbers. I’m here to encourage you from this conference that you need to know your numbers, and it’s okay to ask what they are and to learn how to understand it better. Once you do this, you’ll be able to figure out simple things you could change or tweak to make even more money.
32:20: Rung 8 - Systems & Processes – The best way to establish your systems and processes is to figure out what your goal is, and then, work backwards to outline a road map to get there.
33:38: Rung 9 – People – Define what success looks like for you and then make sure that every decision you make supports that goal. Otherwise you will never be able to stay rooted in what you value.
37:25: Rung 10 – Servant Leadership - A great leader makes it all about the team. A servant leader asks questions: How are you? What are you working on? How can I help? Then, follow up and follow through. You are responsible for providing the trainings and resources your team needs to grow.
This conference was an incredible experience and I was excited to break it down the 10 rungs of the ladder for you. I am just siting here after going through this, and I remember the overwhelming sense of joy I had there, and I think about hoisting a business conference just like this in the future. I know you guys that are here listening are excited about that with me, and you are the ones that give me so much fire. You’ve shared about how you’re using these episodes to grow you and think bigger in your business. I don’t know how long it will take to do this, but I know that I am going to be pursuing it! I am excited to pursue this big, crazy dream. Thanks for being my hype tribe and get me excited about this “Pursue You” business! Having you on this journey makes it even more enjoyable for me. Thank you!
Welcome to the Pursue You Podcast, where we are empowering you to continually reflect, design and pursue who you were created to be so you can give the gift of your best self to your family, community, and business!
I am so excited to share one of my favorite books I read in 2019 for today’s Pursue You Pick. It’s called Do Less, by Kate Northrup. I first heard her on the Goal Digger Podcast with Jenna Kutcher, a podcast that I absolutely love - and so I of course fell in love with Kate’s message and wanted to dive into more of her work.
Kate is an entrepreneur who supports ambitious women to light up the world without burning themselves out in the process. CAN I GET AN AMEN!?
There’s a quote on the insert of her book that says, “In our culture, the way we’re working isn't working. Our addiction to busyness and obsession with always trying to do more leads us to feel like we're always failing our families, our careers, our spouses, and ourselves. We need to revolutionize the way we work.”
The overall premise of the book is the idea of doing less, so that we can have more, or rather, experience more.
[3:45] I start off sharing a bit of Kate’s personal story that she outlines in the book, and what led her to the conclusions she shares in her book.
[7:20] I challenge you to think about things that are restricting your time today and try to start brainstorming how you can do those things in less time.
[11:50] I share with you Kate’s explanation of how our energy levels and productivity can be related to our 28-day menstrual cycle. I outline the four phases that Kate discusses and share with you how she relates them to our energy and productivity.
[15:20] For those that don’t currently have a cycle, I briefly discuss how you can look at your energy and productivity in relations to the four moon cycles.
[17:45] I share how recognizing these phases and cycles and what my body needs at the time allows me to give myself more grace and helps me to plan my business and life accordingly in order to maintain maximum productivity without busyness and burnout.
[22:00] I share my top three favorite experiments of the 14 that Kate shares in her book. I challenge you to grab a copy of the book so that you can see which experiments will help you boost your productivity while also finding more time to experience more of what you love.
I related to this book in so many ways, and I feel like it just gave me permission to look at productivity the way that my body was telling me to. Hopefully, this episode has peaked your interest, and encouraged you to pick up this book (hard-copy or Audible) for yourself and try one of these tweaks or experiments to see how it fits into your life. Then, I hope you’ll be able to pursue YOU as you do less and experience more!
Subscribe to the Podcast I am grateful you were here for today’s episode! To make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, I encourage you to subscribe to the podcast. Click here to subscribe on iTunes.
In order to help others find this podcast and help inspire them, I would love for you to leave a review of the podcast. Share something that motivated you, or something that helped you re-frame the way you approach your life and goals. I’d love to hear how you’re pursuing your best self. Click here to review the show on iTunes. You can go to “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”. Your comments are greatly appreciated!
More Episodes You’d Be Interested In Episode 7: Screen Time Hacks
Episode 5: Pursue You Picks: The ONE Thing
Episode 2: Why Self-Care is NOT the Answer…and What Is!
Let’s talk about screen time! No, I don’t mean for your kids...I mean for you! As a realtor for the last 10 years, screen time has been a huge challenge for me. I need to be by my phone for other realtors, for my clients, to monitor new listings, to reach out to a new client wanting to work with me, etc. And when I was on it 24/7, my business grew! It was this self-perpetuated addiction to my phone. Today I want to share with you some screen time hacks along with some perspective that I have found ultra-helpful as a parent and entrepreneur. My goal is that you’ll see that there are tactical tools and mindset shifts that, wherever you are with screen time, so you can feel confident that you are in control of how technology is influencing your life and how you’re showing up in the world.
I am grateful you were here for today’s episode! To make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, I encourage you to subscribe to the podcast. Click here to subscribe on iTunes.
In order to help others find this podcast and help inspire them, I would love for you to leave a review of the podcast. Share something that motivated you, or something that helped you re-frame the way you approach your life and goals. I’d love to hear how you’re pursuing your best self. Click here to review the show on iTunes. You can go to “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”. Your comments are greatly appreciated!
The total nerd in me, that I now 100% embrace, is coming out in today’s episode. If you haven’t recognized yet, I LOVE attending seminars and conferences. I love that feeling of being immersed in a world of other growth minded people. One of my favorites that I work hard to attend every year is called Global Leadership Summit. The mission of the Global Leadership Summit is a community that is committed to learning from each other and using our influence to accomplish God’s purpose on earth. Now while it’s hosted at a church, the focus of these two days is very much leadership and growth focused. The first year there was my first-time hearing about Craig Groschel. From the moment I first heard him talk I was in absolute AWE. A little more about him, he has the Craig Groschel Leadership podcast, and he is the founder of Life Church, and creator of the YouVersion Bible App. He’s also a husband and father so his speaking really resonated with me. This past year when I attended his opening talk was called Bend the Curve, and one of the topics he shared with us was this idea called GETMO. G-E-T-M-O. And when I first heard it, I was like get more? Nope, it stands for “good enough to move on”. GETMO. Get it?
SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST I am grateful you were here for today’s episode! To make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, I encourage you to subscribe to the podcast. Click here to subscribe on iTunes.
In order to help others find this podcast and help inspire them, I would love for you to leave a review of the podcast. Share something that motivated you, or something that helped you re-frame the way you approach your life and goals. I’d love to hear how you’re pursuing your best self. Click here to review the show on iTunes. You can go to “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”. Your comments are greatly appreciated!
Up until a few years ago, I wasn’t what you’d call a big reader. I’d gotten through a few books here and there, but as a realtor, entrepreneur, wife, and mother, my day to day schedule was crazy! Books or professional and personal development took a back burner. It wasn’t until my life and business hit a wall that I realized I needed to step it up a bit. My original business passion is real estate and Gary Keller is the author of a book I was introduced to as a result of my career with Keller Williams, and though I had read it before, I decided I needed to read it again after I had this mindset change, and it ignited a fire in me! I saw how consuming this content actually converted into me being more productive and feeling more confident in myself. It allowed me to live proactively rather than re-actively!
Because of the impact this book made on my, The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan is my first Pursue You Pick! This pick is a book or podcast that I love and think you would benefit from. I’m going to share my big takeaways, and how it’s impacted me, and I hope it will encourage you to check it out for yourself to dig deeper.
The ideas of this book aren’t earth shattering, they are mostly simple, and it finishes with some tactical advice on time blocking and recognizing when you need systems to break through dead ends and avoid burnout. Despite its simplicity, however, this book helped me move from merely entrepreneurial to purposeful. After spending the last few years reflecting and working on my productivity, I realized it wasn’t the grind that brought me success, and it wasn’t necessary. The problem with the grind for me was that I lacked the awareness of the damage it was causing in the other areas of my life. The takeaways from this book had a big impact on helping me recognize this and reorient my business and life to allow me to pursue my priorities in the best way.
I hope you’ll grab the book, check out the podcast and dig deeper into materials that will present you with small tweaks that will allow you to pursue you and have a greater impact on those around you.
Links
The One Thing Book
The One Thing Podcast
Subscribe to the Podcast
I am grateful you were here for today’s episode! To make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, I encourage you to subscribe to the podcast. Click here to subscribe on iTunes.
In order to help others find this podcast and help inspire them, I would love for you to leave a review of the podcast. Share something that motivated you, or something that helped you re-frame the way you approach your life and goals. I’d love to hear how you’re pursuing your best self. Click here to review the show on iTunes. You can go to “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”. Your comments are greatly appreciated!
More Episodes You’d Be Interested In
Episode 4: The Antidote to FOMO
Episode 3: 3 Reasons You’re Not Making Your First Hire
Episode 2: Why Self Care is NOT the Answer…and What Is!
We’ve all heard of FOMO right? It’s the fear of missing out. It’s a classic phrase we kind of joke about, but it’s pretty real. It has a big impact on us because we say yes before we consider anything else we’ve made a commitment to. It affects our businesses, our families and even the opportunities we have to serve. It’s often overwhelming and can be debilitating.
Don’t worry though! I have the antidote for FOMO: a little thing called JOMO, the joy of missing out. I saw this and fell madly in love with it, so I’ve gone really deep into it. Life is a bunch of small decisions that are all about what you’re saying yes to, and what you’re saying no to. This makes up how we spend our time and that is what our life is. So how do we make sure that what we say yes or no to is leading us to find JOMO?
I am grateful you were here for today’s episode! To make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, I encourage you to subscribe to the podcast. Click here to subscribe on iTunes.
In order to help others find this podcast and help inspire them, I would love for you to leave a review of the podcast. Share something that motivated you, or something helped you reframe the way you approach your life and goals. I’d love to hear how you’re pursuing your best self. Click here to review the show on iTunes. You can go to “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”. Your comments are greatly appreciated!
So, while I love talking about life and hearts and souls, I also LOVE talking business. One topic that I this is so important is to me is delegation. When people ask me how I’m able to do what I do, my answer is always “I have a lot of help”.
But getting started in this process of bringing someone to work for you can be flipping terrifying. I made my first hire at 24 for my real estate team, and I was completely clueless. Since then I’ve learned a lot, so as I was thinking about how to share about my passion for delegation, this ‘1st hire’ thing came to me because it’s not just for solopreneurs building a business. This is also for the stay at home parent who is drowning coordinating all the activities, housework, errands and life in general, and it’s also for the corporate exec who has hired so many people but maybe is in a rut of how to identify a new role or new way of finding talent.
Today I want to inspire you to think about the obstacles holding you back from making a hire, work through the questions and exercises I mention, and find one way to take action towards getting the help you need.
I am grateful you were here for today’s episode! To make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, I encourage you to subscribe to the podcast. Click here to subscribe on iTunes.
In order to help others find this podcast and help inspire them, I would love for you to leave a review of the podcast. Share something that motivated you, or something helped you re-frame the way you approach your life and goals. I’d love to hear how you’re pursuing your best self. Click here to review the show on iTunes. You can go to “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”. Your comments are greatly appreciated!
I recently read this blog of a woman talking about how frustrated she was with the conversation around self-care. She talked about how a bubble bath or a solo trip to the grocery store wasn’t going to take away the expectations, or perceived expectations that society has for us.
I really enjoyed the post, and I mostly agreed with her in that self-care is not the answer, but it’s still very important. The reason it’s so important is because it’s actually the opportunity to ask the question. Prioritizing reflective self-care is what I truly believe will help produce answers that you can then take action on.
I am grateful you were here for today’s episode! To make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, I encourage you to subscribe to the podcast. Click here to subscribe on iTunes.
In order to help others find this podcast and help inspire them, I would love for you to leave a review of the podcast. Share something that motivated you, or something helped you re-frame the way you approach your life and goals. I’d love to hear how you’re pursuing your best self. Click here to review the show on iTunes. You can go to “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”. Your comments are greatly appreciated!
While I’ve been preparing to launch this podcast, I talked with a few other podcasters about what it’s like, and they all agreed that getting the first episode out is the hardest part. I feel like that aligns with so many things in life. The first step can feel like a mountain. So, why is it so big? Why is this first episode so hard? Because this first episode is the foundation of this podcast.
Today, I want you to feel inspired. Whether you’re joining us and listening on launch day or you’re just now discovering the show, I want to inspire you to Pursue You!
In today’s episode, I’m sharing the journey that led me to re-frame the way I think, and ultimately led me to discover what I’m calling the three foundational pillars of this podcast. Reflect. Design. Pursue. I hope that you’re inspired to pursue you as we walk this journey together each week on the podcast.
The Pursue You Podcast encourages you to pursue you so you can give the gift of your best self to your family, community and your business. Join the conversation as Mandy Friend Gigliotti shares her journey as a wife, mom and passionate entrepreneur. From handling pressures of parenthood to scaling your business, each episode will be a deep dive into strategies, tools and powerful questions that will set you on your own personal journey to pursue you!
Subscribe to the Pursue You Podcast, launching October 11th, and never miss an episode!
Connect with Mandy, discover resources, and browse the show notes on the Purse You Website!