Episode #100: Ruth Is Interviewed to Celebrate 100 Episodes (Lessons From the Last 3 Years)

Ruth Poundwhite 0:00
It is the 100th episode of The quietly ambitious podcasts. So for something different, I am actually the one being interviewed today. And I am sharing all the behind the scenes mindset shifts from the last three years.

Ruth Poundwhite 0:15
You’re listening to quietly ambitious with conversations about how it really feels to build a business that honours your whole self unapologetically. And that includes who you are, how you feel, what you really desire, the impact that you want to create, and importantly, the money you want to make. I’m your host, Ruth Poundwhite. And my superpower is supporting sensitive and ambitious humans to make more money by fully expressing and owning all of who they are. Let’s dive in. Hello, and Happy New Year. Welcome to the 100th episode of The quietly ambitious podcast, I cannot believe we have made it to 100 episodes. I mean, honestly, as you’ll hear me reflect on in the interview, I am just so proud of this. And it was really great to intentionally celebrate. And actually, I think that celebrating the milestones like this are so key for us as business owners and as humans in general. But it’s so easy right to be busy to go ahead with our lives to focus on the next thing, focus on the next thing, we need to take a moment to acknowledge how far we’ve come. And actually, that’s a pretty important thing to remember, especially at the start of a year. Now I feel like last episode I released it was kind of famous last words, I was saying, Oh, maybe I’ll release some bonus episodes and all of that. Well, it turns out that my family got COVID I had no childcare. I actually didn’t get COVID. But my husband and son did. And I had to finish work for the year earlier than planned. I had planned this like super spacious three weeks off. And it turns out, I really needed that three weeks, but it wasn’t used in the way that I imagined it was going to be used. But that’s okay. So yeah, we’re ready to dive back into the podcast for 2022. But I know that a lot of people could probably relate to me when I say that I’m feeling a bit slow starting this year, and I have been doing some gentle reflections of 2021. But I am certainly not organised and don’t have everything together for 2022. And that is okay, so I just wanted to mention that quickly. The other thing I wanted to say is that when I recorded this episode, which I should say is an interview with me with my lovely friend and mastermind sister Daniel Brooker. And actually, there is an episode with my whole mastermind group talking all about rest. That was a few episodes ago. But when I recorded this with her because it was a couple of months ago now, we talked about so much. And it was so wonderful to reflect on the last three years of my business because interestingly enough, I’ve had quite a few people come to me DM me and asked me what this journey looked like over the last three years like how did I go from just starting to where I am now, you know, earning good money, being fully booked, having all these courses and stuff. And it was really wonderful to reflect on that journey. But at the same time, there was so much more that we could have talked about. And so I’ve decided that I’m going to continue this conversation in the next couple of episodes or so. So look out for some more lessons episodes from me in the next few weeks, especially about some of the key things that really made the difference in taking this from something that was just starting out and that I was trying to make work to turn it into a real business. So yeah, I just wanted to say that at the start. And also, interestingly enough, when Danielle asked me about what quietly ambitious means to me, near the end of this episode, I totally failed to mention the fact that quietly ambitious is the name of my book that is coming out very soon. I can’t believe I didn’t mention it to her. But yeah, that is on the way as well. So I wanted to do it justice and actually tell you on the podcast, the book quietly ambitious, the book is coming soon. More details will obviously come about that

Ruth Poundwhite 4:28
in the near future. And I’ll probably record an episode all about feelings is brought up for me because there have been a lot of feelings, but I just wanted to acknowledge it here and let you know it should be coming within the next couple of months. Okay, so yeah, in this conversation with Danielle, we talked a lot about the journey of the podcast, how it was a catalyst for a lot of things I did in my business what I thought I was capable of and what it turns out I really am capable of. We talked a lot about the mindset shifts that have taken place over the last three years including my feelings towards money. pricing. And yeah, just the juicy details of the journey that I’ve been on, which is not all about the podcast. Although the podcast kind of serves as a kind of a bookmark. I don’t know if that’s the right word. But yeah. And actually, there are two more things I just need to say before we dive in. Firstly, please go and check out Danielle’s website or Instagram. She is the de the daisy patch dot code at UK or at the daisy patch on Instagram. And secondly, we bring up this, our mastermind a few times in this conversation. And basically, if you want to hear more about the mastermind, go listen to episode 27, because that was the episode where I literally recorded a conversation with my mastermind group. But I do have a free guide at Ruth poundwhite.com forward slash mastermind, if you want to learn more about how to set up your own mastermind group, and this is a co lead mastermind mastermind group. So I’m in different coaching programmes and things like that that I pay for. But I also have this mastermind group that is run by all of us and not a painful thing. So if you want to learn more about that, go to Ruth poundwhite.com forward slash mastermind. And let’s dive in to the interview.

Danielle Brooker 6:14
I’m so excited for this conversation, Ruth. And it’s such a pleasure to be able to be on this side and be interviewing you on your own podcast today. We are 100th episode. Yay. Thank you. Sorry, you’re feeling?

Ruth Poundwhite 6:29
I feel like it feels a bit weird, because we’re recording this in between seasons. But I’m so I missing my podcasts a lot. And that shows me like how important it is to me. So it is amazing to get 200 episodes. Yeah, yeah, amazing.

Danielle Brooker 6:44
I know. It’s something that, you know, we talk about in our mastermind group. And there’s lots of conversations that go on, you know, in this world that we all hang out in, you know, the business self development world, about really celebrating and acknowledging our progress and our milestones. Yeah, so I’m curious about, you know, I love that you reached out and said, Hey, let’s do something different for the 100th episode to really acknowledge that, given that you are in that in between phase, I’m curious if you’ve had a chance to just I don’t know, like, just pause and reflect or whether that’s what we’re going to essentially achieve today. But to really take in the moment of 100 episodes. It’s what a three year two to three year journey, right? Yeah, yeah. And there’s been lots of milestones along the way, in terms of business and podcast. So anything that’s coming up immediately, just taking that in, what’s coming

Ruth Poundwhite 7:36
up for me is basically how I needed this break in order to because I feel like I’m only just getting to that point of recognising it, because I think I was, I can’t remember who I was talking to. But I was just sending a message to someone the other day, and I just came out with like, oh, it’s the three year anniversary of my podcast. And I was like, hang on a minute. It’s about to be the three year anniversary of my podcast, I didn’t even realise that. And that, for me was like a catalyst for so much stuff. And it’s also the podcast is kind of a thing in itself that I use as an example of, it’s kind of the embodiment of my journey with visibility and using my voice as well. So celebrating three years of really, like actually speaking and using my voice is so cool. But I think that I needed this break in order to even acknowledge it. This is probably like the longest break that I’ve been on for my podcast, actually. And the reason I took the break is because I have so much going on on my business and like a really good way. But I have to radically prioritise and the podcast sometimes requires a lot of stuff from my brain, and I needed this break, but it’s really nice. Isn’t it nice when you have a break, and you actually start to miss something and like crave to do it again. It’s such a nice feeling.

Danielle Brooker 8:49
Yeah, I really get what you meant. I mean, this is like, such a random example. It’s just come up to me. But it’s kind of like that feeling. You know, because just you mentioned that word breaks. And this is something we talk about all the time. And I know you talk about it with your community as well. I imagine that feeling of like, where you just had a run up, you know quite quite a bit going on in your schedule, and you just haven’t had that night on the couch to just curl up and watch your favourite TV show. Like, to me, that’s that same kind of juiciness, I get to return home, I get to pretend to that level of deep comfort. And so I love how you describe that as your podcast. Like that’s what it feels like in your business.

Ruth Poundwhite 9:24
Yeah, yeah, it’s lovely to reflect on it like this as well. Like we do just we do just get on with stuff, right? And keep going keep going and and when you don’t have the breaks and you don’t have the time to reflect you don’t you don’t know exactly what the purpose is of what like in a business context of like we’re showing up in all these different places and all these different ways creating content, putting out there and then we forget like, what the real intention behind it, what the real purpose is or what the real value it has in our lives. So yes, definitely to reflect on that.

Danielle Brooker 9:57
Well, as someone who’s you know, being Part of witnessing the journey, I just want to acknowledge you for the journey for the 100th episode and exactly what you said before in terms of using the podcast as the way in which you embody the work embody what you teach. And that is exactly what I see in you. So I love that that’s your channel for showing others how to be quietly ambitious.

Ruth Poundwhite 10:24
Thank you. Thank you.

Danielle Brooker 10:26
So welcome. Sorry, today, the intention is really just to, you know, I feel like I’m in a really unique position, I just get to open brief up listeners. So I’m quite excited. And I am just going to trust it of channelling all of your juicy, curious questions as well. And I know that you’ve shared much earlier on in your podcast, essentially, like your business journey. You’ve been in business in the online world for over 10 years, you shared a little bit more about like how your previous business develop, but you haven’t necessarily shared the journey of this specific iteration of business in terms of your business mentoring, in terms of quietly ambitious, which has probably been, if I’m right over a more like the last three years. Is that how you see it?

Ruth Poundwhite 11:08
Yeah. So three years ago, well, just at the time of recording, it’s almost three years ago, I started this podcast. And when I started this podcast, I didn’t even like have a new business yet, I was still doing the old business, I knew I wanted to do something related to what I talked about on the podcast, but I didn’t have the products and services. So I officially my official kind of start date in my brain, for this business. So business mentoring, and coaching is kind of February 2019. So it must be like two and a half years officially of working with clients. So yeah, and obviously I’ve been like sharing the journey as I go in, in bits and pieces in the podcast, but net like, it’s really interesting, like a few people recently have asked me they want like the kind of bigger picture story like how did i How did I quit the business? How did I go from there, to here, and like the overall journey. So that’s definitely something I haven’t spoken about in one go on the podcast before.

Danielle Brooker 12:12
So I’m excited to get into that a little bit today. And what I’m really hearing a bit, you know, even when we were chatting about doing this episode together, is that the podcast in itself almost feels like a catalyst for a lot of those those those changes in your business or even I don’t know if you know, maybe you can share what you think about this. But to me, it feels almost like you’ve used the podcast maybe subconsciously, as a tool for exploring when next in business. And you know, what, what’s the next evolution or phase? How do you feel about that?

Ruth Poundwhite 12:43
I think so. Because I think a huge part of the journey of having these pockets. And I do have an episode that I recorded all the way back in season one, which is about kind of my journey to setting it up in the first place. And just like getting those first few episodes out. Obviously, there’s a lot more to the story now. And I will say that, yeah, the journey of finding my voice on the podcast. I mean, setting it up in the first place thinking I’m not the kind of person who does that I’m not confident enough to do that. I’m too awkward, interview people, all of this stuff. That’s all the stuff you’ll find in that earlier episode. But the kind of bigger story of it is like, it’s, firstly been interesting to practice it, get better at it and recognise, you know, I’m actually quite good at it in my way. Like, I might not be the energetic. I mean, I never described myself as charismatic. Like, I might not be that energetic, charismatic person who’s you know, loud and bold and whatever, on their podcast. But actually, I do feel I’m good at it in my own unique way. So even that, in itself is such a journey to add, like set, like when you have when you come from that space of thinking, I could never do that I’m not one of those people over and to actually accepting I’m good at it. But yeah, more than that, it’s like it’s a vehicle isn’t it to, to show in your thoughts out loud things come differently in different mediums. And I didn’t realise how, because the way I I don’t know about about you, but the way I record my solo episodes is very much actually just me talking. I don’t make that many notes. And I never thought that would be how I did it. I thought I would write it all out and read it. But it turns out I mean, I have to be in the right, haven’t been the right mood. But it turns out I actually quite liked just talking and so it’s been a new way to explore my own thoughts. I guess they you know, they come out differently when you’re talking and there is a feeling when you’re podcasting of of talking to someone you know, you’re talking to the listeners it is intimate even though when you’re recording it you’re literally on your own and in my case sat in front of my wardrobe to bounce the sound. But yeah, and I think that the the part like to go back to your question more specifically like the role that play In can’t remember the exact words used, but like experimenting or directing my business or playing around with things is definitely in the conversation. I started, I guess that I start the conversation on the podcast and people respond to me in various ways. And while I know that, you know, I mean, I always say My thing is like you’re the right person for your right people, like the right people will find you. That said, it’s not a one way conversation. It’s not like I decide what’s right for me, I put it out there. And then my right people come and find me. It’s it develops over time. And it is quite a conversation I find with the podcast, I mean, excluding the literal conversations you have when you have guests on, when I’m doing the solo episodes and stuff and just exploring my philosophy. I think that’s the key is the philosophy, isn’t it? And the whole, it’s just getting fleshed out and fleshed out and more more clear over time. And just having these conversations with people. I feel like that’s such a long winded answer. But yeah, I guess it makes sense. To me.

Danielle Brooker 16:02
It is it’s part of that evolution. So

Ruth Poundwhite 16:04
evolution. Yeah. Do you?

Danielle Brooker 16:07
Do you remember what your very initial like, take us back three years, you know, what you’re very initial intention was with the podcast specifically?

Ruth Poundwhite 16:18
I think there was two things, I think. One is that I wanted. It sounds like cheesy, but I wanted people like me to be seen and heard and understood. I wanted the people who didn’t want to be the loudest, and didn’t want to do all the things in necessarily the way everyone else is doing them. So at that time, I didn’t have the language, I didn’t describe myself as quite ambitious. I didn’t have that language. But basically, I wanted that to be the people who resonated with that to be seen, understood, like, we want to do things, we want to make things happen in our business, but we’re not relating necessarily, to all the voices we’re hearing. And there was definitely people already podcasting who I felt seen and heard by but I didn’t, I felt like there was more to add to that conversation. The second reason, the second intention, and I think this was something I wouldn’t have been able to recognise at the time, or I would have felt bad for but now, you know, I’m okay with is my own desire to be seen and heard as an individual. So not just people like me, but myself as well. And I probably would have felt like, that was a bad thing at the time was like some sort of attention seeking stuff. I don’t think it is that I think it’s some, you know, it’s one of these like, deeper human needs. And it’s like this hierarchy of needs thing, actually. And I had, I had loads of my needs, like, well covered from like, the way I was living and the business I was running, I was doing well, I was making good money. I was I was doing well, in that sense. And then there was this higher need that wasn’t being fulfilled something about the self expression and belonging, I think, yeah. So I think that’s what it was, you know,

Danielle Brooker 17:54
at the time that the podcast was, you know, essentially the start or the opening of an entirely new business? Or was it simply just that further expression of yourself and you are still, you know, happily going along in your previous business?

Ruth Poundwhite 18:09
I definitely knew I wanted to start a new business. I knew I wanted to support business owners. Yeah, I definitely know I want to support business owners kind of like me, who didn’t necessarily want to do things the way that certainly the loudest people I saw back then were doing it. But I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t know what I wanted it to be. I really definitely didn’t think I would be working one on one with people, which is really interesting. Because at this point, you know, I’m fully booked with clients, and I have groups and have courses and stuff. So it was really interesting. I didn’t think I wanted to do that. And the podcast was definitely something that built my confidence, to think actually, I could totally work one on one with people, like, Why did I do that? And actually, even just starting the podcast, in itself isn’t always an example in my brain of things I thought I couldn’t do, but ended up doing and loved. So it’s, it’s an example I will come back to all the time. Like, if there’s something I’m really resisting, it’s like, Well, okay, well, I’ve never tried it before. It could be like the podcast, I could end up loving it, I could end up thinking I’m good at it. It was just, it’s just the perfect, it’s the perfect evidence to just have locked in your brain of something that you tried and actually ended up really good.

Danielle Brooker 19:23
I love that. I love that you keep coming back to that example. And I’m imagining listeners are just kind of craving to know a little bit more about that, you know, I hear that kind of transition between this is what I am doing, and this is what I want to do. But you know, when you’re stuck in that middle part way that there is no clarity, it’s just ideas and it’s like maybe I’ll do a podcast, maybe I’ll work with people on like, you know, I know it with my clients, I suppose sometimes it’s just this feeling of like, I just want to help people. Yes, but it’s such you know, so give us a little bit more like invite us into what was going on in your in your head and your heart at that time and terms of that murkiness? Like, were there strategies that you were using to help figure it out? Were you just trusting like, how did you do? That is kind of the question that’s coming up. You know, how how did you move through the murkiness of wanting to do something, but not really knowing exactly what the channel would be?

Ruth Poundwhite 20:19
I like that question. Because I didn’t I mean, now I think about it, that you’re putting that question to it. It’s like, yeah, oh, my goodness, that was just like, so open, I could have done laser things. I will say, I think it’s really important for me to say that I had this idea to start this new business for probably two or three years before 2018. And I was just like doing blog posts and stuff about running a business. That’s the extent of where I got up to before. And 2018 was up just after my son. So I have my son at the end of 2017. This story is definitely in the early episodes, so I won’t go into loads of detail about it. But that was like the catalyst for like making me be a bit a bit more bold, and like doing the things that scare me. But in terms of like, yeah, figuring out what I wanted to do, figuring out what this business would actually be, honestly, I would say, I was in it, I was in a privileged position, because I had the income from my other business still. So I didn’t just like outright quit that business, then I actually ran two things side by side for quite a while. And which is probably something we’ll get onto later. And so I was in the fortunate position, I had the money sorted, I started getting coaching, I had one to one coaching, and then I was in a group. So that really, really helped. I had never had coaching before, not properly. So that was really important. But I had to have that kind of had to go through that thing with like having my son and then that being the catalyst for me to put myself out there to even to even sign up for those coaching things. But that really, really helped. And my mindset, especially back then, and I always have to lean into it a bit more now, but back then it would just came so naturally to me, I think because of because I because I started my Instagram account, I started my podcast before I actually had a business, it was so much easier to just experiment. So everything was an experiment. And I really followed my feelings a lot with what I experimented with. So for example, although I say that my official start date in my business was February 2019. It’s technically not true, because I started this podcast in October 2018. And I also released a course I launched a course around that time, October November that year, it’s just that it didn’t sell. So I don’t count it as like I didn’t earn any money. But technically, I did start with the offerings then. And I did it. It was about email marketing. And I do still have that course now. And I’m pleased to say it has sold over time. But I just did it because that was the thing that was on my mind. I was like, Okay, I’ll do cause biting my marketing. I’ll just experiment with all the ideas. And it’s like, it sounds like a bit of a vague answer. But honestly, it was just a process of experimenting, following my feelings about what I want you to experiment with. And then following my feelings about how I felt during experiments to see what worked, what resonated.

Danielle Brooker 23:19
So I love that this example of something that didn’t sell has come up, because when I heard you say everything was an experiment, and I followed my feelings and like That sounds so beautiful and luscious. And I also I also wanted to know, like, Well, can you think of any examples maybe during that time of like, where the feelings weren’t great versus when they weren’t, were great, so that we can get a bit of a feeling for what that experimentation was like, and some like practical examples.

Ruth Poundwhite 23:44
So I would say really early on, I actually didn’t have many expectations. So I mean, it’s I’m probably going to be forgetting stuff like looking back and probably remembering the good stuff. But I didn’t have any expectations and I think that’s because I knew I was still have my other business I’ve sorted for money and I was just like, I went in with the mindset of I’ll go I’ll like build this up over time. It’s fine. I’m safe. So early on, I don’t remember feeling too bad about like, I definitely felt bad when that didn’t sell for sure. And I’m really grateful to my past self for for launching it again the next year, which I did, but I probably waited longer than I perhaps needed to because it didn’t sell the first time but definitely so the early days I don’t remember feeling too bad about the money stuff and not making the money because I went in with that without the expectations but I have definitely definitely had. It’s been a roller coaster the whole time. Honestly, the whole time. Some moments I feel like full of possibility. Full, you know, like the sky’s the limit, like anything can happen with this kind of business. Right? And I’m sure you resonate with how I feel like sometimes I sit there thinking honestly, anything is available to me. Isn’t this incredible? Like and then other times I’ve definitely thought, Well, I mean, the big thing, that feeling that came up for me is, I am so reckless to be wanting to quit this old business that is doing good in terms of money. I’m so reckless. I’ve built that business up to, you know, six figures. Who am I to let that go and start from scratch in another business. Knowing that, like, when I first started that other business I was, I was young and free, and I didn’t need to make much money. When I started this business. I was the breadwinner. I had a baby. Yeah, that came up a lot. That was really, really hard. So the two main feelings like Will this ever work? And even if it does, I mean, the reckless feeling came up, obviously, when I was thinking, will it ever work, but even when I think it would work, I still felt kind of guilty, I still felt kind of ungrateful and reckless for leaving that behind. And yeah, it’s been like, I would say that the income I was making in my old business, I still haven’t matched it yet. And that is actually it kind of when I remember it, and when I’m in the, I’m in that kind of mood, I sometimes dwell on it a bit even now. But I’m definitely like, I’m making really good money in this business. Now. It just hasn’t matched the old business yet. So we’ve all got that thing. We’ve probably all got that thing is like we’ve had an old job or whatever, that we want to match it. And it’s a bit of a like, it feels like a bit of a ceiling at first, and I really want to smash through that ceiling still. Yeah.

Danielle Brooker 26:34
So do you have any examples of when things just felt really great? And you’re like, Oh, my God, I’m going to do this, I’m going to launch this course or work in this way. Or, you know, was the podcast one of those things that just felt really good? You know, what, what was one of those

Ruth Poundwhite 26:47
podcasts was a bit of a mixed bag, I would say, because it did feel right. It definitely felt right. In terms of the nudge, I was getting the feeling. But it was the anxiety that came with it. That was really hard because I am someone who gets anxious about things. Let me think what felt really good. You know what, when I, when I first started working one to one with clients, I did feel really good about it. And it was really exciting. Like getting those first clients is just like the best experience when people see what you have to offer. And I want to work with you like, isn’t that amazing? I definitely wasn’t charging enough back then. So after a while it did. It did come to a point where I was like, Okay, this isn’t sustainable for me to keep charging what I’m charging. I think I charged like 750 pounds for my first client, which I remember at the time feeling like a big deal. So it was a big deal at the time. But yeah, I quickly realised that that wasn’t sustainable with the way that I work with people. So that felt good. But in terms of like, I can remember. You know what, everything’s such such a blow, and I look back, it’s interesting, it’ll be interesting for me to like, make some sort of timeline for so maybe I’ll do that to go along with this episode. But I definitely know that the way I’ve released courses and or like workshops or courses has always been, that’s probably been the place where I’ve really just had the most fun in terms of like, I’ve had a feeling to do this. And I just put it in motion, put it out there. It’s just so much fun. Obviously, sometimes they don’t sell the way that you hope. But yeah, I would say that the the way the ideas come to me. And the way that the way I take them to fruition is so much fun.

Danielle Brooker 28:32
I can certainly acknowledge that like from a witnessing point of view within our mastermind as well. Like when you get a new idea in terms of the energy around and you’re like, oh, you know, I think I’m just gonna start talking about this because it feels really good. Or I have half an email marketing course. So I’m just going to wrap it up. And yes, we’ll have conversations about okay, is this a priority? Or like, do you need to rush or what have you, however, like, there is a difference in the energy around it as well. So I can really see how you do with like, particularly with like those courses, or, you know, we’ve we’ve had conversations about pricing, which we can totally get into today as well. So I love hearing that in terms of following the feelings and perhaps, you know, for listeners, maybe that’s just kind of something to pause on. And if you’re going over what does she mean by following following her feelings today? Is just to kind of pause in those moments and just acknowledge Yeah, the energy of you know, what’s coming up, you know, whether it feels exciting or not, or I was curious I wanted to kind of jump back a little bit I know we’re kind of jumping around in terms of a timeline so yes, if you end up doing a visual timeline maybe that’s yeah, to hear hear a little bit about this bridge then about letting go of the previous business and stepping into this one full time you use the expression before when I you know when I quit my old business I’m curious you know, if that’s what it felt like, like that you’re actually like quitting something took us through the transition from, you know, fully into this new business. Yeah.

Ruth Poundwhite 29:59
So I don’t know if listeners will be surprised to hear this or not, but I only quit. And I do say quit because it was an absolute ending of it. I only fully quit it about a year ago, or just over a year ago. So July 2020. Is that right? I remember the day I quit it, because I went and bought myself three bunches of flowers because I was like, I really want to remember this moment. So before that, so that’s a that’s like a period of like nearly a year and a half since I first is it or just over a year since I first had my my clients in February 2019. I was winding it down. So it was earning less and less money, I was working less and less on it. And it came to a point where it’s like, despite the even though the time it’s taking is not loads, the capacity it’s holding in my brain is something that I need to get rid of. And what happened is I had some like digital assets and content and stuff. And I was like maybe I could sell this, maybe I can get some money for it. And I did. And that in itself was very, because I didn’t want to sell the business as a whole because it was basically just my contacts and stuff. And I just, I didn’t want to do that maybe I left money on the table, maybe I could have worked something out. But I didn’t want to do that. But I did sell these like digital assets and the content I created. And that felt like, I mean, I’d never done anything like that. Before that felt very scary. I had the support of my coach at the time, which was very helpful. I don’t know if I would have done it. If she hadn’t supported me. Where was I going with that? So yeah, it was? Yeah, yeah. So the timeline was I had been winding it down for ages, I was still earning money from it. But I was like, a kept all like, every few every couple of months, like through this whole time period, I kept making little plans for like quitting or winding it down. And then every couple of months, I’ve made plans for like making more money in the old business and like, okay, maybe I’ll get a cash boost. So I was flipping energetically. It’s like, sometimes I was in in it with the new business. And sometimes I was like relying on the old business and like going back on myself, which I, you know, is very hard, it’s a hard place to be in because you’ve got a safety net. And that’s important. But at some point, you need to take the leap. So I felt ready to take that leap in July 2020. You know, I had been, I’ve been building up my income in this business, you know, I was earning consistently, I think I was earning like, consistent like 5k months by then, which felt really good to me, obviously, still less than my own business. But that felt like a really decent amount. And I’d had a few months that were like quite a bit more than that by then, as well. I think if I’m remembering rightly so I felt like money wise, I could do it, especially if I got a chunk of money for selling this stuff. And I didn’t anticipate how many feelings it would bring up. So I think I had been so focused for so long on getting rid of that business. So it you know, there’s that difference between having a goal where you want to escape something and having a goal where you’re moving towards something and celebrating something, I was in that mindset of escaping it and looking at all the bad stuff. And then when I finally came to the time, I was like, Okay, I’m gonna get to do my new business full time. I was like, Oh, I really not recognise how much I’ve achieved in my old business like, and it was quite emotional. And I wasn’t really I didn’t expect it. And so, yeah, it was important for me to kind of take that time and acknowledge my crusade. Right at the beginning, I acknowledge what I had Bill acknowledge what I had created, even though I had decided it ultimately wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I still did something really good. I still worked with so many people, the person who I sold some of the stuff to was so excited. That was amazing. And just acknowledge me stretching my comfort zone to even like ask for money for that stuff as well. Which, you know, it’s yeah, it’s interesting. It’s just, it’s just because I’ve never done that before. But yeah, lots of feelings came up. But once I had done that, it that was it. That was the clean break. So since July 2020. Absolutely. Like basically nothing to do with the other business. Yeah, nothing to do the other business apart from like, you know, it’s still in the bookkeeping for a bit to all my tax return. But that was it. So yeah, it was a gradual shift, and then a clean break. And it felt like a big moment in my life for sure.

Danielle Brooker 34:36
Yeah. And it sounds like just in how you relaying it, like there was a lot of mind. stuff, you know, mind chatter going on. Until that point at which you were like, hang on a second. I loved I love the example you gave like, instead of trying to move away from this thing, how can I move towards the thing that I really want? It sounds like that was the moment that really shifted things for you because yeah, Like, can you tell us tell us a little bit about the feelings that were? Yeah, maybe coming up at that time,

Ruth Poundwhite 35:07
I think what comes up when you make a decision like that is basically, you know, for ages that you want to do it. And then when it comes time to actually make this decision, that’s when your brain will try and convince you that you actually didn’t want that in the first place. And maybe you should, maybe you really shouldn’t be doing the thing that you’ve wanted to do for so long. And I remember, I’m pretty sure I came to a call with our mastermind group. And you probably asked me about like, what are you moving towards? I remember that, I think it was either you or someone else in our mastermind. And my coach at the time, both asked me that same question. And it was so interesting, both asked me that, like, you’re really focusing on what you’re losing, can you focus on what you have to gain by making this decision, because clearly, I was going to be losing out an income stream, at least for the short term. But I had so much to gain and that really, really helped me. The other thing that helped me is just and this is a lesson I’ve had to learn a few times in the business journey, but you know, when you’ve got a decision to make, so it’s not just, you know, quitting a thing. It might be like, you know, raising your prices or whatever, no one can come to you and just say, this is the perfect moment to do it. It’s all going to work out, everything’s going to be easy. Do it now. No one’s going to do that except for you. Like you’re the person who has to do that for yourself. And it definitely felt a bit like that. I was in. I think I was in a programme with Suzy Ashworth at the time. And one of the questions she was like is how can you act in alignment with, like, the big vision you have, or the goal you have? And I was like, this is to not quit is to be a gift, like, what’s the word like against it? Not in alignment with the vision I have for myself out of alignment with the vision I have with myself? So yeah, it was a really yeah, basically, all this mindset stuff going on. The practical stuff is basically just knowing how much money you have, and knowing if you can afford to quit it. And I could, the mindset stuff was was the much bigger piece of the work at that point.

Danielle Brooker 37:12
So what has been one of the most fun and freeing moments for you in the past? Let’s call it three years to really encapsulate that early phase beginning this new business.

Ruth Poundwhite 37:24
Fun and freeing. You know what, what comes to mind is last year, after lockdown in the UK started, you know, in March. And I had a bit of a freakout for a while and didn’t put anything out, which I think was fine. I think a lot of us did, then then like May time I was like, I just had this idea to put out this course quite ambition. And it was just going to be like three weeks of audios like guiding people through and it was going to be really mindset based. And that was like a shift in my business because I hadn’t. I definitely talked about the feelings. But it wasn’t so mindset focused, it was more practical stuff that I’d released up to that point. And I just like put it together really quickly sales page designed the programme so that I wouldn’t have to be there interacting much. So there was no Facebook group. It was daily audios that I could like pre record and schedule via email. And there was just one live q&a. So I designed the programme that it didn’t take too much for me because I felt like my capacity was massively reduced at the beginning of lockdown. And it literally was because I had no childcare. I mean, I have my husband, so I did have him taking care of my son. But yeah, it was it was different. And I just put it out there for two days. And I was just like, come join my thing. It’s really like about the journey. And it was kind of vague, like what it was about. And it was just so fun. And people join it, and people love it. And that. I mean, I definitely had moments like that beforehand. But this is the example that really comes to my mind when I think about the fun and playing and how it can have such tangible impact. And just people love that course like people just love it. And when I created it, I resisted it quite a lot because it felt too easy. I mean, that’s what I noticed, when I just allowed myself for it to be easy. It basically wrote itself, it was so interesting. I had never had that experience until then, actually, when people talk about like downloading and things writing themselves, I had never quite had it until then, which was really interesting. And that was so fun.

Danielle Brooker 39:23
I love that so I’ve had tonnes already in our conversation today. So I’m just curious what your answer is when I ask you this What have been three of the biggest mindset shifts then in the past three years to get you to where you are now.

Ruth Poundwhite 39:36
Oh what a juicy question

Danielle Brooker 39:40
and listeners can change your mind anytime so I’m putting putting her on the spot here. So there might be a few a future podcast episode. No, wait, there’s three more.

Ruth Poundwhite 39:49
Yeah, yeah. Okay, so what comes to mind right now, the first one is definitely what I touched on earlier. I can do I’m the right. Look, I can’t I can’t Don’t get the words, but I can do things that I thought I couldn’t do. I am the right person. It’s more specific than that. It’s like I am the kind of person who can do these things that I thought I couldn’t do. So the podcast, I can do the one to one coaching and stuff, I can do the live stuff like yesterday, I was delivering a live training, it’s so much fun. I, I tweak it and mould the way I deliver stuff in my way. But I can actually show up and do stuff and have fun delivering stuff live and talking and all of that so I can do I am the right kind of person to do the stuff that I didn’t think I could do. That’s definitely one of them. Okay, now we’re gonna have to think other mindset shifts. I’ve definitely had a lot of a journey around money. So I know for sure I could have earned a lot more money in my old business. If I had done more of this mindset work. I mean, I was earning good money on that business, but I could have earned more for sure. I’ve been on a real journey with the whole like, money wanting to make money isn’t ethical wanting to make money makes me a bad person. It’s bad for the planet, all of that stuff. Because I care about the planet. I care about the environment. I care about the you know, social justice issues, and I care about making difference. And I definitely I’m so on board with like making money and making a difference now, absolutely on board with it. And I would say that that has come about through doing like, I’ve done like Denise Duffield Thomas’s programme. I’ve worked with Ray Dodd who’s like a feminist money coach. And the book, The soul of money has just I recommend that to everyone, for if anyone’s got these kind of judgments about money, basically, like I did, and I now think, I don’t know if I’ve even said this properly. Because I’m always a bit, I do still get nervous about talking about money, even though I’m okay with wanting to earn a lot of money. I actually think that the amounts that most of us are playing with and worrying about that too much are actually tiny, you know, in the grand scheme of things, I think they’re tiny. I think that, you know, we’re business owners. You know, making like 10k in a month actually isn’t that big of a deal. But it is a big deal for a lot of us, right? So I think that that’s a massive journey. So now just connecting the dots as I’m talking, I think that this has probably played into the whole thing about raising my prices the way I have, I don’t think I’ll be charging what I’m charging Now had I not gone through this journey about money. And like, don’t get me wrong, there are still times when I worry about people who aren’t in my world like that aren’t in my business world. Seeing my price on my website, and judging me definitely comes into my mind, like, oh my goodness, they see that I’m charging however many 1000s of pounds for my one to one clients, and judge me, but that still comes up. But I feel a lot more confident within my business to charge that I feel so much more confident. Like I feel quite blase about how much I charge. And until I get myself in a moment I catch myself like, Oh, my God, past me would have been so amazed by this and never thought I could charge that much. So yeah, that’s interesting.

Danielle Brooker 43:37
What’s the thing that you tell yourself most about money now, to feel that way that you’ve just described?

Ruth Poundwhite 43:47
That’s interesting. I, the thing that really comes up is I don’t need to tell myself that much about money. Whereas more it was more like I was having the stories coming up quite loud. And now it’s like, it just doesn’t come to me so much definite actually, there is something that comes to me, it’s okay to have more than enough because I have always been able to have enough really easily even when things have looked really bad in the past sometimes they’ve just suddenly become okay that I’ve had enough that seems to be my, my, my set point. So although I definitely have gone on a journey and I know that the mounts that we’re playing with are actually quite small in the grand scheme of things. Yeah, in practice, it still seems to suddenly balance out like some I’ll have like great months and bad months and then it balances out to it’s just enough and then my lifestyle might change that enough, you know, gets raised but then I still making enough so yeah, more than enough is definitely is definitely the thing. At the moment, I would say

Danielle Brooker 44:55
that feels, you know, spacious and expensive, expensive to me. What’s the third big money? Not money? Well, maybe it was money. But what’s what’s the third big mindset shift? Then over the last three years

Ruth Poundwhite 45:07
mindset shift

Danielle Brooker 45:08
to do to be where you are now?

Ruth Poundwhite 45:10
Yeah. What’s come up for me? Is this whole, like being the right person for your right people? So I definitely thought it I thought some version of this when I first started, but it is a whole different story now. Like, I didn’t know what that exactly meant. Yeah. And, and I didn’t, I guess the version of me starting out would have thought, okay, that means doing the things I’m comfortable with now. And that’s the right and now the version of me now is like, that means doing so many uncomfortable things, in the name of being myself, so I’m not changing who I am, I’m being more of who I am. And that’s very uncomfortable. Yes, very, like I have been stretched so much. Owning what I want to say owning, you know, just like I created my new version of my group programme earlier this year, rest and rise. And the first time I launched it, so I’ve launched it two times. The first time I launched it, I’m sure you will remember, for all our mastermind chats or Voxer. WhatsApp notes, but I was just it was such a stretch, because it was really me owning like, what I want to say about the programme is the programme for sensitive business owners, like quietly ambitious business owners who want to grow, but they want to do it the way I really like. And I own that more and more now. But at that time, it was like, I own it, and I don’t I own it, and I don’t and it was just like such a Oh, the emotions that were coming up for me with that programme. But that’s just that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. That’s what I know. Now, it doesn’t mean it’s wrong, it means it right. And I’m just like, it’s a new level of owning what I do. That’s absolutely what I’m sure of now, but past me probably would not have gone ahead with it. Probably wouldn’t have even, like created it, which is okay, it’s a journey. But yeah, being the right person for the right people does not mean that it always feels easy. Sometimes it feels, sometimes it does feel super easy. Like the quiet ambition programme I talked about.

Danielle Brooker 47:09
And the difference between, like, easy versus stretching out of that comfort zone. Like I love that you said that, you know, right person, the right people means that for you, you know that stretching yourself to the next level that’s getting uncomfortable. That’s, you know, trying things you may never have thought to do before, which kind of ties into that first mindset shift that you were sharing in terms of knowing Hang on, I can do these things that I thought like, yeah,

Ruth Poundwhite 47:31
you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, I,

Danielle Brooker 47:35
so I really love that. So I know, I mean, Ruth, I’ve got about like three more episodes in me. I’m like, I want to know more, I want to know more. But this this, two more distinctive questions I want to kind of touch on before we close our conversation today. And one is to really kind of touch in on this phrase of quietly ambitious, or sensitive business owners. Because that last point that you just shared and how you describe it really hit home to me in terms of you wanting to be more quietly ambitious, really like you wanting to stretch yourself to really show up in that bigger way. And knowing that that’s not always comfortable, right. So could you share with us a little bit if you haven’t already done so I don’t think you have gone into depth on this on previous podcast episodes. Like, how did that phrase come to you? Like why quietly ambitious, and where is that going next? If that makes sense? Yeah.

Ruth Poundwhite 48:30
So I actually have recorded an episode on this. So it’s, it’s the last episode of I always forget how many seasons I’ve done. Most recent season, season four or five? I don’t I don’t remember. But yeah, I’ll write that down in the show notes. But basically, like I said, at the beginning, I didn’t have the language for being quite ambitious. I knew. I mean, I didn’t even recognise actually in myself that how driven I was. I’m so driven and ambitious. It’s just kind of funny that I didn’t recognise it. I think I mistook not wanting to do it the way of like, like, some of the people I saw were doing it, I mistook that, for me not being ambitious. It’s totally wrong. I am really ambitious. But the phrase quite an ambitious has really helped me own it, because, and I know a lot of people resonate with it, because they’re driven and they want to make things happen, but it’s not quite the way they see traditionally being ambitious. I’m actually okay with calling myself ambitious, full stop now. But it was useful to use that to give language to how I felt and also how others feel. So yeah, I just started using it, it came up, I have these business meetings with myself, which have sort of gone out the window a bit during COVID, but I’m about to start them up again. I just take myself usually to London, like you know, because I’ve met you for a coffee there occasionally. And I’ll just like get out of my normal surroundings. And I’ll just like do some journaling or specific questions like I’ve outlined it all in my course clarify, that’s basically the process I use. And that’s when it came to me the phrase quite ambitious, which Here’s why I love these like big picture business meetings because myself new ideas come to me. And but where it is now, and this is something I did not talk about in that last podcast episode. And I noticed something I’ve just started to mention in our like WhatsApp conversations is I definitely see it as a bit of a brand. I don’t know where that’s going to take me. I don’t have much capacity to be creating new things at the moment. But I definitely in my heart, see it as a bit of a brand. So I’m thinking like, you know, maybe some products, but maybe just yeah, a brand in and of itself. I don’t know. But that’s definitely like the nudge I’ve been getting. Because and the reason I feel that is because I feel like it’s a phrase that a certain type of person connects with. And I just feel like there could be some sort of commute like community in and of itself, though, that isn’t that isn’t necessarily the same brand I have now. I don’t know. But it’s a bit of a like, open ended answer with that stuff anymore. I feel it.

Danielle Brooker 51:04
What do you feel like the mission is beneath that, like, beneath that quietly ambitious feeling

Ruth Poundwhite 51:11
is definitely what I talked about earlier, in terms of when I started the podcast, it’s just people being seen, heard, understood, and belonging. So it’s, yeah, it’s definitely that belonging, I think, I think there’s so much power and just being seen and heard and feeling able to express yourself. And there’s a journey that you go on, in order to learn how to express yourself, and to even to even learn what you’re really fully thinking and believing and desiring in the first place. Some of us kind of shut that stuff out. I know that I have. So it’s really about that. But yeah, it’s more of a feeling, I guess, at the moment than a than a business plan.

Danielle Brooker 51:54
Yeah, I love that so much. And by all accounts, the success of your business over the past few years, has very much been feelings based and part of that experimentation, right? So I’m not surprised that you’re saying, Look, this next big thing, or, you know, whatever this is evolving into is very much about how I’m feeling about supporting people to feel seen and heard supporting people to feel like they belong as well. When you take a moment now to kind of pause at this point, and reflect back on that journey over the last three years, and knowing maybe having this inkling of what’s to come as well, what are you most proud of

Ruth Poundwhite 52:31
stuff. I think I’m just most proud of all the ways I have faced the things that I found hardest, not in a way that I’ve tried to be someone else. But in a way, like I said, I wrote about just in the name of being myself, but it has been hard. I think I’m very proud. Like I’ve put in a lot of work there, personally.

Danielle Brooker 52:57
Yeah. And that has definitely shown up in conversations that we’ve had, you know, anytime that you’ve been feeling that I don’t know that pressure or stress, or you know, whatever, there’s a there’s a turning point or a decision to be made. You know, I love some of the milestones we’ve really talked about today, as well, in terms of you know, I, I have this feeling this nudge to raise my prices, you know, and I need to go and get a coach, I need to go to these, you know, group development programmes, all of those things have been you completely stretching yourself into, you know, but in doing so showing yourself more as well, like really showing that, you know, ambition, like I love that you’re, you know, almost what I imagine there’s like this phasing out of the word quiet. It’s just like I am ambitious, and ambitious can show up in these different ways. I know that listeners would have, you know, absolutely. Just laptop, everything that we talked about today. And I’m already kind of pinging off ideas. And like, Oh, I hope Ruth talks about this on a future podcast episode and this one here as well. So I just, you know, I want to give you an opportunity to, you know, close with any final words or anything that you really wanted to leave listeners with marking the occasion of 100 episodes. And for you know, before I do that, just to sort of say, from my point of view, I’m so proud of the journey that you’ve been on. I’ve been so grateful to be a witness within our mastermind group together on that journey pretty much for like, I think that almost that whole time, like I think I like my diary as well. So

Ruth Poundwhite 54:33
amazing, isn’t it?

Danielle Brooker 54:34
And I just want to wish you so much fun and joy and stretching for the next 100 episodes.

Ruth Poundwhite 54:41
Thank you, Danielle. So what came to mind when you’re like, What do I want to say to people listening is really it’s the big picture of the journey. This is something that I’ve built in building this business over the last three years. I have had had an advantage throughout the hard times, because I know what it’s like to build a business in the past, like I’ve done it before. And like using the podcast as an as a specific example, there is such power and showing up and just, you know, keep keeping on showing up. Like, when you start a podcast, you don’t really imagine getting to 100 episodes, do you? I mean, you know, you’ve got a podcast do Danielle, it’s just like, you just focus on the first season or the first few episodes right, and you put it out there and you see what happens. There is such power in consistently showing up for something. And when I started my podcast, I didn’t set myself any targets, I decided, like, I’m going to stick at this, I’m not going to have any expectations. I think that’s probably the hardest thing in the business journey, isn’t it? One of the hardest things is when we don’t meet our own expectations when we disappoint ourselves. But it’s a part of every single person’s journey. Like every single person doesn’t meet all their goals. Every single person disappoints themselves at points along the way. I often think that one of my jobs as a coach is just to tell people to keep going. And that’s obviously very simplified. But honestly, whether they’re at the early stages, and it’s just like, just keep going because it will pay off, or whether they’re further along, and you’re just like, just keep going because it will get easier, or it will be the way you want it to be. It’s just Yeah. So the importance of looking at the bigger picture, the importance of taking this time out to look at the journey you’ve been on. And then embedding that into your brain so that you know when it gets Rocky in the future, you remember, you’ve done it done it before, you’ve disappointed yourself before, but it’s always lead to something you’ve learned or improved on. Yeah, and a lot can happen in three years, a lot can happen in three years, I’m charging so much more than I ever thought I would charge I’m fully booked at that price. I’m about to raise my price, probably by the time this goes out, I will have I’m working with incredible people that I never thought I could work with. I think of myself, you know, earlier on, I remember thinking Will I ever be fully booked, fully booked. We’re just like this holy grail thing. And then you get there and you’re like, Okay, this is normal. Now. It’s just the same with everything. So I’m going on such a ramble about this. But I just want to say like it’s the, it’s the journey you’re meant to go on. And the question I often ask my clients is, if you knew this was all going to work out, you just didn’t know exactly when? Or how, how would you feel about this moment in time right now. And often it changes. So that’s why with hindsight, it’s so much easier to look back at the failures and the disappointments because you know, it did work out or you know what happened? But when you’re in it, it’s so much harder to see it in that way. But yeah, I think that’s what I want to say. And hopefully it encourages someone listening who’s at a certain point in their business where they’re freaking out, you know, just keep going. It will all work out. Everything’s working out everything serving you even the hard stuff.

Danielle Brooker 58:08
Yes, everything is serving you even the hard stuff and listeners as your beautiful mantra to close the episode. We’ll keep going. Ruth, thank you so much for sharing so openly and honestly about the journey. I’m excited for the conversation that this episode will spark inside your community and such an honour to be here drawing drawing out this juiciness from you.

Ruth Poundwhite 58:33
Thank you, I so appreciate your questions. Danielle. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to another episode of quietly ambitious. If you have a moment to rate and review know that it really does make a difference. And if you’d like to carry on the conversation, then you can connect with me on Instagram at Ruth Poundwhite Join me in the Facebook group or my personal favourite. Sign up to my newsletter letters to quietly ambitious humans. Just go to a Ruth poundwhite.com forward slash newsletter to subscribe and keep doing what you’re doing because your work really does matter.