Business Pivots & Identity Shifts w/ Meg Yelaney
The entrepreneurship journey is not for the faint of heart! But there’s so much available to you when you fully lean in.
Meg is NO stranger to pivots—of the professional and personal variety. Her journey has looked a bit like…
Network marketing » business coaching » 1:1 to 1:many coaching » business owner + mom life
Change is scary AF. But change as a business owner? Triple scary!
And yet… there are times when it is so painfully obvious that this. ain’t. it. anymore. So how can we as entrepreneurs 1. be more aware of what’s not working & what that means, and 2. embrace changes like business pivots & identity shifts?
Allow me to introduce my friend & very first business coach, Meg Yelaney! Business remodels are her jam! (I mean… you’d have to be good at them after going through so many, right?)
Her entrepreneurship journey has shockingly NOT been a straight line & she wants to normalize that bumpy ride. Most of all, Meg wants to support you in creating a business that supports the life of your dreams! Bust out the notepad friend, you’re gonna need it. 😉
Topics covered in this podcast episode:
Why Meg loves storytelling for sales & marketing
Some of the big business pivots Meg has experienced
The impact these shifts in business had on Meg’s personal life
What “symptoms” to look for that indicate it’s time for a business shift
What to do once you notice where you have these “symptoms”
The biggest resistance to pivots Meg has noticed with her clients
How to support Meg’s big 2024 challenge for herself
Meet: Megan Yelaney
Meg is a business coach who helps women re-build their online businesses to get their time back so they can create core memories with the ones they love. And she’s served over 500 clients already!!! She’s a podcaster—host of the Pretty Awkward Entrepreneur Podcast—which is chock-full of business & life insights. Meg is also a wife & mom of the CUTEST lil twin boys! (If ya wanna see more, make sure to follow Meg on socials—links will be in the show notes!)
Mentioned Resources:
Related Episodes:
Stories that Stick (Book Review)
Nervous System Regulation w/ Kathleen
Connect w/ Meg:
Instagram (business coaching)
Instagram (twin motherhood)
Connect w/ Brittany:
This episode of The Basic B podcast is brought to you in partnership w/ Leah Bryant Co.! Help me reach more service providers like you by following the show & leaving a rating or review on Apple & Spotify!
The unedited podcast transcript for this episode of The Basic B podcast follows
Welcome back to the Basic Bee Podcast. I am here with one of my favorites, one of my friends, my very first business coach, Mag Yolaney. We're gonna be talking about big business pivots and identity shifts, and it's really funny because it wraps up into both of our work and our lives and things that we've lived through and just done. So I'm really excited to have this conversation because I recently had that realization that I wanna work with people in these seasons of change and transition. So I'm excited to see where the con. Before I bring her on, here's a little bit about Meg. Meg is a business coach who helps women rebuild their online businesses to get their time back so they can create core memories with the ones they love. And she's served over 500 clients already. She's a podcaster, host of the Pretty Awkward Entrepreneur Podcast, which is chock full of business and life insights. She's also a wife and mom of the cutest little twin boys. And if you want to see more, make sure to go follow her on social. We'll have all the links and things below. Hey, Meg.
Megan Yelaney: Hi. It's so funny listening to your intro. I'm like, oh, my gosh, that's me.
Brittany Herzberg: Every single person is like, I'm pretty cool.
Megan Yelaney: Yeah.
Brittany Herzberg: Like, this is neat.
Megan Yelaney: Look what we're doing. It's a nice little confidence boost.
Brittany Herzberg: No, it totally. I think we all need to just record one podcast a week and have someone read our intro.
Megan Yelaney: Right?
Brittany Herzberg: Like, okay, you're doing okay.
Megan Yelaney: You're doing okay. Stop being so hard on yourself.
Brittany Herzberg: Especially on a Friday. This is a really good thing to do on a Friday. I'm proud of us.
Megan Yelaney: Very true.
Brittany Herzberg: We did not plan that.
Megan Yelaney: No.
Brittany Herzberg: All right, I'm going to hit you with a question that I ask everyone, and then we'll get into the meat of the interview. So there's no wrong answers. Disclaimer. But which do you believe is the most important for sales? SEO, storytelling, or social proof?
Megan Yelaney: Oh, that's a good one. I want to say all three. Of course you can. I want to say SEO for you, but for obvious reasons, this is probably not a surprise for you. I'm going to say storytelling. And should I say why or.
Brittany Herzberg: Yes, please.
Megan Yelaney: Okay.
Brittany Herzberg: I had a feeling this would be your answer.
Megan Yelaney: Yeah, I mean, I literally did a challenge called mastering Sales through storytelling, so I'd be very hypocritical if I didn't say that. I think because even when you're doing SEO, even when you're doing social Proof you're storytelling. It's really hard to find good sales copy. And the people that work with you long term, they probably came from something related to your story. Uh, we're just. That's how we're wired. So I think it's just in everything. Even if we don't realize it, it's literally in everything.
Brittany Herzberg: So that's why I love it. Yeah. And actually, I was giggling as I was reading that because I was like, of course you're going to say storytelling. And there's an episode I recorded about stories that stick with Kendra hall, because you talked about it and I geeked out on that book.
Megan Yelaney: Oh, my gosh. You got her on the podcast.
Brittany Herzberg: Well, no, that would be really cool, though. Pipe dream. Yeah, I'll add that to the list. No, I did, like, a review of the book.
Megan Yelaney: Gotcha. Okay. Okay. I was like, whoa, I love her. Oh, my God. It's such a good book.
Brittany Herzberg: Right?
Megan Yelaney: She's awesome.
Brittany Herzberg: So good. Great. Well, I feel like there's no better place to start the conversation about, like, pivots, transitions, change than with you and your story. So what are some of the pivots and changes and transitions that you have moved through in your business? And you can take us as far back as you want.
Megan Yelaney: Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I would say there's been so many. I think there's been, like, three pretty pivotal ones. So I'll just do those. Otherwise we'll be here forever. Because there's been like, many, many, many little ones, like little, tiny niche changes, and I know client changes and all that. But the first big pivot was when I went from network marketing to my own business, essentially, like completely starting a new company in. Even though that was like a big pivot, though it probably felt the least big in a sense, because the client I was serving was very similar. So I went from being a health and wellness coach with now they're called Bodi, but Beachbody at the time. Instead, I branched into my own programs. Same kind of client, though. Someone with health and wellness, helping them through that. A little bit more specific in emotional eating and mindset realm than, like, workouts and things like that. And so that pivot was not as obvious on the outside, but very obvious on the back end and to me. And so that was the first that lasted about six months because I realized very quickly that's not what I was meant to do. I grew that business in network marketing to a very, very successful business because of the business aspect. And that's what I loved. I Love, love, love that part. Love health and wellness. It's such a part of who I am. But it's not my passion to do it or promote it or talk about it all the time. And I realized that pretty quickly. And so this was the biggest pivot for me was from health and wellness to business coaching. And it was very gradual behind the scenes. I was coaching clients behind the scenes while I was publicly doing health and wellness. I had a bunch of people. I actually had like almost a full roster of business clients behind the scenes. So it felt very gradual. But on social media it was very like rip the bandaid. Now I'm a business coach, by the way. And that was the biggest pivot, I would say, as far as like complete different industry. And then my third one, I mean, there's probably four, I guess, because now having babies, I'm kind of in my fourth pivot. So my third one was after my husband and I, we separated, got back together. And about six months after we got back together, we're like, okay, we've got to change some stuff around. And I really needed to make changes in my business. And so I went from being a very, very high touch, high ticket business model to introducing more group more, one to many, little bit less high touch, some courses and things like that. And so I just had to, had to change my model in order to have more time back. So that was a really, really big pivot. And now I have babies. And so we're in the middle of the remodel, which is very inceptiony because I'm helping people with remodels. That's what I do now. So it's very, it's very strange, but also really fun.
Brittany Herzberg: Yeah, I feel like that's the season that I'm in because you and I were talking on Voxer the other day and I'm in the middle of like, I was like, things aren't changed on all of the platforms, but this is what I'm doing and this is what it's growing into. So I'm very with you. Like, we're in the doing of the thing that we also help other people do.
Megan Yelaney: And the cool thing I think about this topic is every single person listening to this will go through it if they haven't already. Because it's just inevitable you're going to change. Your business might not look completely different on the outside necessarily, but I believe when you change to your core, something in your business is going to change a little bit. It's inevitable. I've never met anyone who hasn't had something change in their business when they have had, like, such a core identity shift? Right?
Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. And even just, like, big life things, which we both had and, like, in rapid succession, you know, it couldn't just be one thing. It was like, one thing and the next.
Megan Yelaney: And then rains reports. Right.
Brittany Herzberg: Gosh, it's crazy.
Megan Yelaney: It was like many years of coasting and then boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I'm like, okay, we're done. Can you stop now, please?
Brittany Herzberg: Thank you. Kelly, where's the off button? This isn't working. This thing is broken.
Megan Yelaney: This is very stressful.
Brittany Herzberg: Yeah, it was quite a lot. So, I mean, with all of those shifts and chains in your business, you talked a little bit about the why you were making those changes, but what was the impact that it had really, on you and your life?
Megan Yelaney: Oh, great question. I would say the impact when the first one, I would say it was more so, like, my confidence and my purpose and excitement. When I shifted to business coaching, I woke up with such excitement for my business. Whereas when I was health coaching, I was like, oh, I gotta check in with clients today. Like, it was so not what I was supposed to do. And I never want to feel like that going to a client, you know, it's just. That's a sucky feeling. That's not fair to them. It's not fair to you, but especially not fair to them. And so I was just excited. I was so excited about what I was doing. I was naive about it in a great way. Like, I hit really crazy goals that I didn't know were goals. Like, I didn't set goals. I just had fun and put things out there and tried things and didn't care how I looked. It was a glorious, glorious time. And I really, really love that. So that was huge for that first pivot. The second one was a little bit more structural. It essentially, I don't wanna say saved my marriage. That sounds very dramatic. Like, therapy and coaching and time saved my marriage. But it gave us the time to do all that, and not just the physical time, but the actual energetic time, because I was working. Not a crazy schedule in terms of, like, someone who goes to work eight hours a day, but the amount of energy that a lot of entrepreneurs put forth. If you're working eight hours, you are zapped, and you probably don't have much else to give. And that's what was happening. And so it gave me my energy back. I was able to give more and be there and work on my marriage and just be a happier human and so that was huge. Right? It gave me that. Which ultimately led me to having my twins. Now, like, I don't know if they would be here if we didn't have that time and that space to work on our marriage. Also have the finances to invest in coaching, to work in our marriage. I'm so grateful for the business, for doing that, and then be able to have these babies and take a step back and fully be a mom. Like, all of it. I. I really. I've had a lot of. Lot of time to think about it over the last eight months that they've been here. And it's pretty incredible what entrepreneurship can do for your life if you are willing to make the changes. This is why I think you and I are probably both very passionate about it. I have seen so many people quit, and I get it because it's so hard. And I was so close to quitting this year. Like, I've been close to quitting many years, but not really. Like, if I'm honest, I'm like, I was never going to quit. This was a moment where I was like, I don't know if this is for me anymore. Maybe I'm not meant to have a business. Maybe I'm meant to just be a mom. And I think I knew deep down that wasn't it. But it wasn't the version of the business I had. Wasn't it what I was talking about? Wasn't it? And I realized, oh, no, no, no. I love having a business, but not this version. Now, as a mom, something has to change. So now the remodel is giving me back. I wouldn't even say time I had the time in my schedule, but more so that purpose and that passion. Because if I'm going to spend time away from them, it's got to be worth it. It's got to be something I love doing, or it's got to be making me buco bucks. Like one of the two or both. Ideally both, right?
Brittany Herzberg: Yeah, both plays. We're just going to put that out there in the world. Yeah. It's been really fascinating as an outsider, but like, also a friend watching you and seeing this growth and evolution of you as a human and your family and your business, because this is one of the things we were talking about before we hit record. It's really refreshing to just see the nitty gritty behind the scenes. I'm like, sure, that could be a negative thing, but I find that at least with you, and when I watch things happening with you, it's more of A like, this is what's going on. And it gives the rest of us permission to go, oh, okay, if she's doing it, I can do it too. And you also have, like, the buy in of all these people. Because even me, I'm like, I want to help you reach this goal.
Megan Yelaney: Yeah.
Brittany Herzberg: I want to help you do these things. And that can't just be a me thing, like you attracting these people. And this is like a very. Hopefully I'm making sense, but this is very, like a circular type of thing where it's happening because you are listening to yourself. You are noticing something's off. You are then making adjustments, and that you get to show up as, like, the biggest, brightest version of yourself. And that's bringing in all these people.
Megan Yelaney: Yeah, that. Oh, I love that.
Brittany Herzberg: Which is beautiful.
Megan Yelaney: Yeah. It's so true. And you can feel it. Like, I just knew. I came back, I was only off, really, for two months for calls. And then when I came back, it was very, very light. It wasn't a ton of calls. But even when I did the two months I was back, I was like, this isn't it. This isn't it. And I can't ignore it anymore. I'm very good at being consistent and pushing through, but to a fault. And I was like, no, this isn't something you should push through anymore. You need to listen to this nudge. And then I took two months off. So it was like, off for two months for maternity, Two months on, two months off again. I was like, okay, we're gonna take some more time. And I'm so glad I did. I had, like, some clients and stuff that I was still serving, but I didn't post on Social. I just really took space and that's when I started to work on, okay, what is next? And I realized I love, love, love helping people at a macro level remodel their businesses for these big life changes.
Brittany Herzberg: I mean, that really resonates because, like, I've had, like, my background is as a massage therapist.
Megan Yelaney: Yeah.
Brittany Herzberg: And then somehow I ended up becoming an SEO copywriter. So now I'm doing this stuff added on the podcast, and it's like, what. What happened in there? So let's explore that a little bit. Let's say, like, someone is hearing us talk and they maybe feel like things are off, but they're like, I can't quite put my finger on it. Are there any, like, quote unquote symptoms that you have noticed with your clients or you're okay? Yes. You're leaning in. Tell me More.
Megan Yelaney: Yes. Oh, my gosh. I like how you put it, actually. Yeah. And it's usually things that have probably been going on for a while, but you're ignoring. You're like, no, I'm not sick. I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm just going to power through. Right. One of the biggest ones I kind of just alluded to it is starting to feel that, like, resentment, or maybe not resentment, that can be a very dramatic word, but a little bit of, like annoyance at things that you're like, that didn't used to annoy me. Maybe a client's messaging you a little more than normal, or you have to show up for a call or answer an email and things that you used to, you know, be excited about. You're like, I dread this. Like, really dread it. That's a sign because we're all going to have those days. We don't want to work. No matter how much you love your business, there's days you're just going to want to chill, watch TV or go play or do whatever. Right? Go play. You can tell I have children now. Let's play. But that's normal. But I'm talking, like, consistent. Like, you're constantly feeling that and you constantly feel like you're forcing, forcing, forcing. You shouldn't feel like you're forcing. It should be hard work. Yes, but hard work, you're like, I'm waking up excited. Like when I was in that zone of, oh, my gosh, I am working more hours than I really should long term, but I'm excited. All of the hours I'm working, I'm jazzed, energized, Right? So that's a big sign. If you start to feel that resentment, then second is physical. And I have seen this happen and manifest in so many clients. And I'm like, something needs to change. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they don't. I'm like, oh, my gosh. If you notice your physical health is starting to really deteriorate, but you're quote, unquote, taking care of yourself. Like, you're eating healthy and you're exercising and you're, you know, doing all the things. Why? What's happening? Right? It's funny because this happened to my husband when we were at a really hard point in our marriage. He had really bad stomach issues and he tried gluten free and dairy free and all this stuff. Second we separated, his stomach issues went away. I was the cause.
Brittany Herzberg: You were the stomach issues. He's like, it was you.
Megan Yelaney: Luckily, we got back together and his stomach issues are still gone. So, you know, but it was the stress from our relationship that's what caused it. The. And I mean, I'm preaching at the choir here. You know that. And I'm sure most people who are listening know that. But it is wild how much stress impacts your body. So if you're just noticing your body's like shutting down in some ways, or you're just so energetically drained, no matter how much sleep you get, or you're like, I didn't even work that much today. Why, why am I so tired? Right. That's a really, really big sign. So I'd say those are probably the biggest ones is just like not enjoying it. But the third all I will add in, it's kind of lumped in. In the first, it's maybe not resentment necessarily, but it's more so leaning on that. Forcing to do things like forcing yourself to work, forcing yourself to launch, forcing yourself to rinse and repeat what you're doing with zero passion.
Brittany Herzberg: Right.
Megan Yelaney: Because resentment for clients and passion is a little bit different. So I would say those are two separate things. You could have just a nightmare client. And maybe that's one thing. We've all been there. But not having any excitement for what you're doing, that's also a red flag. I think again, after you've been in business for years, there's going to be redundancy. But even on topics that are a little redundant and maybe boring, there's ways that you can spice it up and feel good about. But if, like everything you're doing is making you go, nope, I'm so bored. This is not it. This, there's something else there, then that's a big sign. So I'd say those are the biggest three.
Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. A couple of different words just to add to what you were saying. Yeah. That were coming to mind. It's like the pressure. Because I have noticed that with myself, it's the forcing, the pushing through the pressure. And that was coming from me inside myself.
Megan Yelaney: Yep.
Brittany Herzberg: With all of the stories and the self talk and all of that kind of thing. So like, if you notice that you're putting pressure on yourself and then like a terminology that I've come into recently is like energy leaks. So talking about like how you were saying, like, where's your time going? You're feeling tired, like what situations are you stepping into? Or what even offers are you stepping into? Or even talking about the offers where it's just like, it's not lighting you up, it's not filling you up. It's like, literally, it just feels like this leakage. Yes.
Megan Yelaney: It's such a great visual too, when you say that. Like, literally see it. Which is crazy. And I love that you said that. Something that just popped in my head is platform specific too. And I'm not just saying this because you're an SEO person.
Brittany Herzberg: But it's fine, though.
Megan Yelaney: Perfect plug for SEO. And I noticed it so much. Like, people are so sick of quote unquote showing up. And I know for me, not as much now, but for me, for a while, Instagram stories, which people would be very surprised to hear. That's like, when I do share this, they're like, what? You're natural at that. I hated it. Like, I was like, if I have to post on my stories for my Megan Yolaney account, my Magda twin motherhood is just pure passion and fun. So that all was all day. It's completely different. But for this one, oh, my gosh. I was like, I do not want to. I will write an email. I will make a great post and be super excited. But for some reason, like, for I was forcing myself. So also, it could just be platform specific. Maybe you've outgrown it. Maybe you're approaching it in a way that, like, for me, I was approaching it too strategic. I was, like, trying to be so specific with my strategy. I needed to just kind of go back to the old school. Like, just hop on and talk and be yourself, you know? You know the strategy, it's in you. You don't have to think about it too much. And so that was a red flag for me. Just a platform specific thing. And I was like, I hate this. Why do I hate this? And then you end up spending so much time on the thing you hate, it would take me like an hour to post on it. And now with these boys, I'm like, I don't have that time, so something's gotta change, right? So, yeah, that's just another thing that popped into my head.
Brittany Herzberg: No, I'm glad that you brought that up because as you were saying that. Okay, so we're recording this in September, November of last year. I was like, I'm done posting reels, posts, carousels. I was spending, like, you're talking about an hour or two finding the video, finding the images, creating the carousel, writing the caption, finding the hashtags. And I was making it this big, giant production. And I was like, is there anything that I'm actually happy about on Instagram? I love doing stories. So I continued doing that. But I also gave myself, like, I don't have to post, like, X amount. I can just show up as much as I want to show up and whatever. And there are certain things that I want to make sure that I'm doing. Like, I want to talk about free things that I'm doing and paid things that I'm doing and also my life and, like, the elements that I want to show. So I kept doing that. And then just a couple months ago, I was finally, like, I had that realization of working with people in the seasons of change and transition, and I was like, okay, I'm excited to show up again. Still haven't posted a reel quite yet, but, like, I've at least got the inspiration back. And I have this whole idea for a series I'm gonna do. And, like, just like, you're talking about, like, I'm excited to do it again. And it's that fun and that play that I wanted to bring back in. And Threads has been so just, like, a fun spot for me to be at. And it's driven so many links to my website just to weave SEO in. So that's been really, really fun because so many people are just over there. They're like, I'm tired of this crap over here. I just want to, like, throw spaghetti at the wall. So we're all over there throwing spaghetti at the wall and having, like, the biggest food fight ever, and it's just fun.
Megan Yelaney: I love that. That's TikTok for me. I'm actually not really on Threads much. I forget about it. And then I go on and I'm like, oh, yeah, I forgot this existed. But that's TikTok for me. I'm just like, oh, it's a place I could just, like, have fun and enjoy. And. Yeah, I'm with you.
Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. So we have our mutual friend Christina Hall. I tagged her a whole bunch on Threads, and I messaged her this morning, and she's like, oh, my gosh, you really do tag me. I was like, yeah, will you come hang out over here sometime?
Megan Yelaney: Now she's like, she's on TikTok with me.
Brittany Herzberg: Yeah, exactly. She's hanging out on TikTok. I know.
Megan Yelaney: It's so fun over there.
Brittany Herzberg: I think we talked through, like, how, you know, you need some kind of shift of something. Let's actually ask you, what could it be that needs to shift?
Megan Yelaney: Yeah, great question. A remodel. When you hear that word, it sounds like, oh, my gosh, like, big. And I will say the majority of the clients I've worked with. When it's higher ticket long term, there are pretty big shifts. They might look tiny because we're taking the small steps first. Because they don't want to necessarily burn everything to the ground. They want to keep their stream of income coming in while they make changes, stuff like that. But it's like totally redoing a program, totally redoing a product suite. I mean, those are big changes. Those are some. You could be getting rid of an offer, creating a new one. Maybe you're capped at your one on one or you're done for you and you want to go to one too many or group and things like that. That's what I see. But the other things that could be happening, another big change is an industry change. Right. If you're going from fitness and health to business, I've had a lot of clients that I've worked with do that, but smaller ones. It could be that you are way more clear on your ideal client. You're still doing SEO, it's not like that service has changed, but you now know who you're speaking to. You knew who you were speaking to before, but it's even more clear and niche now. So you switched your focus a little bit on who you're serving. So niche could change, identity of client could change, pricing definitely could change. I would personally lump that in with offer change altogether. Right, because you want to make sure you communicate the value of the offer and why it's changing. Right. So that could be one. Those are the most common. An industry, a niche, a business model, again, one to many, offer, offer, suite, things like that. And I don't know if I'd consider this a remodel or a pivot. But is your message that's more so just I think refining than a remodel. Because if everything else is the same, if the client's the same, the niche is the same, the industry, it's more just, okay, the message is clear now. So I wouldn't say that's a remodel, it's more just a clarifying or a refining.
Brittany Herzberg: Yeah, no, I agree with you. And that was the thing I did last summer was refine the messaging. And then it's like, I don't know that. Me personally, I don't know that I'll ever be done with the shifting and the changing and the refining really. Maybe there are people who will get to a point and they can have this business for like, I don't know, 10 years or something like that. But for me there's Always something. And that just might be me as a person. Like, there's always something like getting spiced up or getting tweaked or getting, like, even more clarity or something like that.
Megan Yelaney: Totally.
Brittany Herzberg: So let's say that someone is listening and they've identified that, yes, they have, like, an energy leak and they're ready to change, like their offer suite or something like that. Any of the things that Meg has mentioned, what would you recommend as a good first step or first couple steps?
Megan Yelaney: The first step, and I. I do this in the process that I take clients through, is an audit. And I think, like, people want to skip this for some reason. And it's just like, anything that's broken, like, this is dramatic. Your business isn't broken. But let's say you're a car and it's not working. They're not just going to start changing things. They're going to take up the hood. I'm obviously not a car person. I don't know why I use this analogy. But they're going to take the hood off. I think this is what they do. Figure out what's wrong. Right? Like, my car was not working last summer for a little bit, and I brought it in and they couldn't figure out. Couldn't figure it out. And they were like, it's fine, it's working. I'm like, it's not, but okay. I went to another place. They tore it apart. They finally figured it out. It was like the simplest thing, by the way. It was so annoying, but I was like, okay, thank you. And so they had to do the audit. Right. So you have to figure out what is going on. And how I like to do audits is I have my clients do their life audit first and then their business audit. Because you want to build your business to match the life you want, not the other way around. Like, oh, I got to fit my. My life into this business model, because that's just not sustainable for most people at least, unless you have no responsibilities to anyone else, then great. But I really don't know many people who don't have at least one person that they have something that they have to give to. And so first you're going to look at your life and you're going to go, where are my energy leaks? I love that you said that. I don't ever phrase it that way, but I think that's a great way to say it.
Brittany Herzberg: I have my full permission to use it.
Megan Yelaney: I just say energy. But leaks is perfect. Like, where are the leaks? I also do Say though, what is giving you the most and most energy too? Like, yeah, what reenergizes you? Right. Essentially looking at how much time you've had available in your life, how much more time you want available. This again is life, not business necessarily happiness audit. Like, when. What moments have you been most happy in the last year? What moments have you. Not when any correlation. Right. That way we can look at the business part of it too. There's a couple others that we audit during that. But if you can take a look at just like overall happiness, energy, time, space spent in your life experiences, things you've done, like really just a reevaluate your last year and like rate it in all these areas. If you even Google the Wheel of Life, it's a life coaching tool that a lot of people use. You can use that. I think there's eight pieces of that. That's a great place to start. Then you do a business audit and you go, okay, great, let's look at my business. What programs give me energy? What programs are energy leaks? What kind of clients are. What kind of clients give me energy? What kind of sales system have I been using that I've been liking? What has been working, what hasn't? What's bringing in the most profit? What's bringing in the least profit? Like, really get nitty gritty. And then you look at those two audits together and that's when you can go make the remodel plan. But you can't until you, like, you kind of break it down to build it back up in a sense.
Brittany Herzberg: Like, are you seeing with your clients and even, maybe even in yourself any areas of resistance? Like, you do the audit of your life, you do the audit of your business, and then is there any moment.
Megan Yelaney: Where people are like, but yes, oh my gosh, so much so, myself included, a lot right now, I think the biggest resistance, if you've built a business and a brand that is recognizable in any amount, it doesn't have to be a million followers. That doesn't mean you could have a thousand followers and have a recognizable business and brand, something you've built a reputation around. It's so hard for us to like, kind of let go of that a little bit and switch. And it can be really tough on the ego and like, but what if it doesn't work? What if these changes don't land and then like, my credibility is gone? I mean, I'm going through this right now with sharing my goal of hitting a hundred K followers on my other account by the end of the year, very, very far from that. And it's a huge goal. And I'm so like, why am I doing this? And I know why I'm doing it, but why am I publicly sharing it? Oh, and I might not hit it, you know, and it publicly might not hit it. And that gets kind of embarrassing. And that's kind of like, oh, gosh. But I would rather go for it and really take people along the journey and say, I did it. And I probably gained more followers than I would have if I didn't set this goal and I didn't publicly hold myself accountable. The only reason I share that is I think that is really the resistance that people have is they're so scared what other people are going to say or think about the changes or think that they're a flake or less than for making the changes. And the biggest thing I'll say is people are not paying attention to you as much as you think they are.
Brittany Herzberg: They really are not.
Megan Yelaney: Like, in a great way, like, we're obsessed with ourselves because we are ourselves, but no one else is. Like, oh, my gosh, do you see those changes she has make? Like, they're not. I promise you, it's so wild how much we think people are, like, microscope on us. So, yeah, that's at least what the resistance I came up to is. Like, what are people going to think?
Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. The moment that encapsulates it really, really well for me is Instagram. When I opened my Instagram account, I think it was like, 2019. It was pretty late into having my massage practice. And then in 2021 was when I was really like, all right, I'm shifting over into SEO copywriting. And I had the biggest resistance going to change my profile because my bio had to change. That, like, old part had all those things had to change. And I was like, people are going to think da, da, da, da, da of me. And really, they were like, oh, this is so cool. But I had to actually take the action and do the thing and give myself that chance to, like, blossom into this next season, to not really care so much about what the other people were gonna say or to just be, like, prepared to block it out or whatever.
Megan Yelaney: Exactly.
Brittany Herzberg: Because I needed that for me. So it can be really, really, really, really scary. Big ego, death, big challenging moment for you, but it's worth it on the other side.
Megan Yelaney: It is. And something that helped me that, I mean, I guess people would disagree with this thinking, but it helped me do it. So I say whatever works. Go for it. Is When I switched from Beachbody, that was a really scary jump because I was essentially going, I am pretty much pausing working on this. And in that business, like, I still make money to this day from it, which is amazing, but not something I could live off of, right? And so when I stopped working, the income started plummeting, and that was like, oh, my gosh, I gotta get this other thing going, right? I kept telling myself I could always go back. I could always go back. Like, you can always start it again. And that's what's so awesome about what we do. Like, Mike and I were just talking about. My husband and I were just talking about this. Like, if we need an extra X amount of dollars for something that we didn't plan for, it's not guaranteed that you're going to get it, but we can literally go, okay, I'm going to create this offer, I'm going to price it this way, and I'm going to go sell this many spots, right? And we have the opportunity to do that. It's so fricking cool. So you can always go back. You can always say, oh, just kidding. I do miss the old thing. That kind of helped me go, okay, I feel like I can go all in now because I have that to fall back on in a way. Even though I knew I wasn't going to fall back on it, it was there. And that just helped me regulate my nervous system.
Brittany Herzberg: Honestly, no, same. I went from working at, like, Starbucks and working at a chiropractic office where I knew I had a certain amount of income coming in. And then I went off on my own for my massage studio. And I was living in this tiny little community. I had my apartment. I could walk to my massage practice. It was in a yoga studio, and there was a Starbucks in there. And I had worked at Starbucks. So I had a backup plan for my backup plan for my backup plan where I knew that I could work at this business, I could go or get that business. I was like, if I have to fall back on anything, I love it. I've got options. So like you said how that was supportive for your nervous system. Same.
Megan Yelaney: I'm glad we're talking about this because I know a lot of people who give the advice of don't have a plan B. And I've literally said that. And I wish I didn't say it like that. One, it's just funny how much we change. But two, I had a plan B. So I'm like, how hypocritical of me. And I think When I say that, I mean it's more so the people that aren't going for it because they're like, oh, well, I have this thing that I still have to work towards. Right. And if you have a job that you have to go to to build your business, don't quit your job. Like having no income is going to add undue stress to your business. But I really encourage you to try to treat your business like it is a full time job. And that does mean you're probably going to work more than you want to in the beginning. And that's okay. It's going to flip once you can be full time if that's your goal. So that's just something that I just remember being like, don't have a plan B ever for your nervous system do, but go for it. Like this is your full time thing and act as if it already is and then you will produce those results.
Brittany Herzberg: So yeah, that's the thing is like not just leaning on that crutch of the plan B. I think that's probably what you were. If I'm putting words in your mouth, it's like, just don't act like that's everything that you need. Take action toward the thing that you want because it's worth it. Just go for. I'm watching a couple friends right now and they're like, yeah, I'm doing this thing. And like maybe one day I'm like, have you posted about it? Have you like told anybody? Do you have like spots open in your calendar and there's just like thing after thing for why they can't in air quotes. And I'm like, okay, you could totally go for it. And as soon as you do, I'll be over here like being your cheerleader and like shouting you out.
Megan Yelaney: So. Exactly.
Brittany Herzberg: Gosh, it's wild. Well, okay, Anything else you want to add as we wrap up?
Megan Yelaney: Last thing I'll say is if you're in a remodel situation or series or just like thinking about it, give yourself time, like give yourself space. A true remodel, if it's big, is going to take time. Sometimes a year plus. Right, Years plus. It could. Even if you have a big brand, but even if it's something small, like don't rush it. It's better to be intentional and take small steps towards that remodel or that shift or change. Then try to just do it all really quick because you want to get it done, because it's not going to get done the way you want it. And then you're going to have to just go back again. But on the other flip side of it, it's don't take too much time either. Don't overthink it. Like, there is this fine line of, like, take messy action, but really do the work and think about what you actually want so that you're not just constantly, constantly, constantly going back to the drawing board. Because you could have done that the first time, if that makes sense.
Brittany Herzberg: Oh, totally. And I'm going to take that as a personal reminder because we know how fast. I like to just be like, I have this idea, boom. And I'm really taking my time with this. So thank you for that. Just, like, encouragement to keep taking time because I needed it. Thank you. All right, where can people get more Meg in their lives?
Megan Yelaney: Yes, you can follow me over on Instagram. Egan Yolaney. And then I have another account also called Meg Does Twin Motherhood. It's more influencer style. And I'm sharing my life as a twin mom. It's really fun over there. And we are trying to build that account up. And so even if you're not a twin mom or want to be a twin mom, we have a lot of fun. And my boys are really cute.
Brittany Herzberg: They're so cute.
Megan Yelaney: Also on TikTok, and then we have the pretty awkward entrepreneur podcast that you've been guest on. So it's a great podcast. A lot of fun and talking a lot about remodels over there. So if you're into this topic, head on over there too.
Brittany Herzberg: Look how smart we were. I didn't even think about that. Well, I'm excited to keep following along over there. Thank you so much for carving out the time. I know it's like a big deal now for you to carve out time. Like, at least to me it is, because I'm like, oh, my gosh, you've got two little humans to take care of.
Megan Yelaney: Aw. So worth it. Love connecting with you and your people are awesome. So I'm happy to be here.
Brittany Herzberg: I mean, ditto. All right, we'll catch you later, people.