SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to What Would Amber Do with your host, Amber Howard, your weekly dose of guidance, inspiration, and strategies to have your small business and whole life thrive. We bring you incredible guests who share their real life experiences of being an entrepreneur so you can have your whole life work. Now, here's your host, Amber Howard.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Welcome to our first episode of What Would Amber Do? And I'm so thrilled to have my guest this morning, Nina Gangouli, who is a life coach, entrepreneur, and speaker, and author of the amazing book, Confessions of a Cantaholic, How to Go From I Can't to I Can't. And she is just an amazing change agent for her clients and her family and just really everyone who meets her. So it really is my pleasure to have you on the show this morning, Nina. Thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Thank you, Amber, for that uh warm welcome. It's so funny whenever I hear people create who I am, I'm like, oh yes, yes, that is actually who I am. And it's and I think it's even more delicious and delectable when one of your good friends, somebody that you love, says it.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

Yeah, I know 100%. I am yeah, I'm so grateful I get to dance in this conversation with you and just, you know, share about your experience and and what's gotten you to where you are today. And and really, you've had an amazing journey, you know, your life, you know, for everyone who wants to read the book, um, you know, you share very vulnerably and very openly about your story and your life in business. And and you know, I know for me, Nina, I think it's really important, especially in business where conversations about love and fear are not common or it's like frowned upon to talk about the things that we love and the things that we're afraid about, that your willingness to just really speak, you know, the contribution that is to people, it gives them such permission. Um, so what do you what was the impetus for writing that book? Why did you, you know, why did you bear your soul for the world?

SPEAKER_01 2:15

You know, you know, it's funny. There was definitely a journey in uh writing the book. Uh, once I had shared what I had gone through and what I'd experienced uh as a young child into womanhood, uh, you know, and I will tell the people to read the book so that they get an understanding of what I'm talking about. And you know what? Yeah, self-promotion. Right here is the book. Great minds. Um, you know, it was the journey was I knew that people needed to hear. And they needed to hear that, you know, you can go through something very, I'll say traumatic, something that impacts the way you can think about yourself and the world, and you can still end up here where I am right now, and or where I was when I wrote the book, which is five years ago. It's five years since I wrote this book. And the journey actually into that was I was debating should I write the book, should I not write the book? I was so concerned about what my family was gonna think, especially my uncles. And so, you know, I remember telling my cousin, who was the first person I shared uh my experience with, you know, I think I really want to write this book. I think it's important for people to know that it's possible to live a life, a fulfilled life still, regardless of what you go through. And, you know, her first comment was, Well, are you sure you want to do that? Because like I I'm concerned about what that impact is gonna be on my family. And for for me, who is somebody who really is, does care about all the like I really do care about all the people in my life, obviously. Like maybe that's obvious, maybe it's not. Um but I thought I don't want to hurt anybody. You know, I don't want to share my story and out and then hurt someone in the process. That's not the the point of the of writing. It was really to be something like a catalyst to have people see that first of all, you're not alone, secondly, you can have a vibrant life. And for I'd say a good two years, I didn't write the book because of that. But it kept nagging and nagging and nagging. And then I spoke to another friend of mine, uh a childhood friend who'd grown up with me, and she said, Okay, Nina, you know what? Just write the book. Write the book, and whether you publish it or not is irrelevant. But write the book, at least you will go through the process, and then you can make that decision when it's done. So and so I did obviously I wrote the book. You wrote the book. I wrote the book, I published the book, and to make a you know a long story longer, I actually had a family meeting. I called a family meeting with all of my cousins to tell them what had happened because nobody knew besides my one cousin. And so I told them that this is what I'm doing. So I wasn't asking their permission at this point anymore. I was just saying, hey, this has happened in my life. I don't want you to read it about it in a book, and nor do I want your parents to read about it in a book. So, how do you want, how do you want to make this happen where they don't read about it in a book? I can have conversations with them or you can. And they choose, they chose to have the conversations. And what I discovered in all my concern and worry is that they all had an inkling that something was happening. And that the and then there's a deeper story in that, and that story I will be writing in my next book. So then we can you can look forward to the details of that. But when I finally realized that, I thought, wow, how do we can we all get in our heads about what other people think and being really concerned? And then there comes a point in time where you have to be able to let that go and know that the universe is gonna conspire for you. That, you know, if your intention is not to hurt anyone, no one's gonna get hurt. It's all gonna be good. And, anyways, that's the journey for writing the book. It was definitely definitely it took me about three years before I sat down to say, okay, I'm gonna write the book, and then in six months it was done.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

That's incredible. Yeah, that fear of criticism. You know, I'm reading Napoleon Hill's uh Think and Grow Rich, which I know is like kind of a an important book to many of the people in my network and and just, you know, I think entrepreneurs, you know, around the world. Um, and he talks about the you know persistence and and then the the you know the six ghosts of fear and and and he outnut says that fear of criticism is like the the the most damaging fear of all. And I think, you know, I don't know that there's anywhere to get to about fear. I think every time we kind of level up, or you know, whether you're starting a business for the first time or launching a new product, or you know, that fear is there. But you know, what is one of the what is the one one of the things that you do to really, you know, push through that barrier?

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Oh my gosh. Okay. It's it's really called a tribe, a tribe of people to, but you can just lay everything out because when you're in your own head, first of all, never self-coach because that doesn't work. You know, it doesn't work. There's only so many questions you can ask yourself and get an answer to. And you know, your mind is a mind feel of it is a mindfield. That's what it is. Your mind is a mindfield. So you need to really surround yourself with people that honestly, some that are professionals, like coaches, like coaches need coaches. In my opinion, everyone who's out to do something in life, everyone needs a coach that outside perspective that can see beyond what you can see. And you know, aligning with people of the right mindset, whether it's like a mastermind tribe or a tribe of just people that you bring into your life, like for instance, you're part of my tribe, and you are not uh a yes man. You can't have yes surround yourself with yes men because you know what happens, right? Like, you know, there are lots of celebrities who are proof of what happens when you surround yourself with people who aren't who are yes men and they're concerned about you know how they look or not getting business or whatever, however, that looks like. And that's what it really takes. It takes a tribe of people to pull you out of that space and to recognize that you need that tribe and that you're not alone and no man is an island.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

Yeah, I joke, I I tell people that I'm building my Jedi Council because you know I'm a bit of a geek, and that's empowering to me, you know, my Master Yoda and my Obi-Wan Kenobi and you know, all of all of the game. But I 100% just so you know. And you know, you are part of my tribe too. And I think I love what you said because I think one of the important like of our relationship and and the relationships that we form with the people around us is that you know, we put the other person first. So it's like I wouldn't, you know, like I'm gonna, you know, like I don't want to say call you out or but hold you to your bigness, right? Listen to you as the biggest possibility. And uh you can count on me for that because like I'm just so committed to you, you know, all of the amazing things that you're up to in the world. And I and I agree, you know, uh coaches need coaches. Coaching is like it's accountability is my insurance against failure. And uh and I've had I I as you know, I teach at the University of Toronto and I've had a lot of students in my new class on leadership ask me, well, how do you choose a good coach? And you know, how do you know which coach to go with? And I, you know, for me, what I've said to them is I find someone who's a gap for me. Right? I look to someone who's like who's you know, not ahead of the game, but who's got qualities and you know, characteristics or ways of being. And it's like, you know, it's like we're never, we're all in different places, but in these areas of my life where I'm looking to have a breakthrough or looking to cause expanded results, that person can mentor and coach me because they're a gap for me. I'd love to hear like what are your how how do you choose a coach?

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Oh, uh exactly the same. It's exactly. It's like you see someone who's where you want to be, and you know, and then you make that connection wherever that is, you know. So for me, it's like if I see something in you that I aspire to, that I want, I want to be in your, I want to be in your network of people, whether is whether if that's as a client or as a colleague or you know, a contemporary, whatever that looks like, that's where I'm at. And it does take some time to get in your mindset that that's where you want to be, right? They say that you are the combination of the five most influential people around you. So why wouldn't I want to be around people where they're where I want to be? Because they're it's like the magnet, it's like a magnet, right? They draw you into their world, and then you're like, oh, so this is what's possible. Okay, so now I'm gonna align myself with with that person so that they can. Well, I will say, show me the way, open up the possibilities, because you know, I do that for other, like we both of us, we do that for other people. And so, and I remember, I I don't remember who said this, but someone said this. A coach just needs to be that few steps ahead of you, that they've experienced what you've experienced, that they can bring the value, that they have what you need, and they don't need to be like a superstar, but a coach can be someone who's who's been there, done that, and also brings value at the same time, right? So it's funny because a lot of my a lot of my clients think, oh my gosh, like I just turned out this way. I did not, I did not, you don't know that I also pick up the phone and I do with my coaches, you know, it's it's not like that. It is really, I'm just further along in the journey than you are, or I may have experience in a job that I did, or so you know, somebody else that I worked with, whatever, you know, we just bring that to the table. And that I think the best thing is um, like I said before, having the people who won't cuddle you, who won't let you get away with the BS that that you do in your mind. That's the biggest piece.

SPEAKER_02 12:49

Yeah, it's so good. I am yeah, I'm just really moved by how much I value that I have that in my life, you know, in yourself and and and the other people in my life who just hold me and have, you know, I love what you said, you know, it didn't come out of the womb this way. Well, it's funny, right? Because like, you know, we've done some training together. They talk about, you know, that we're all born perfect, whole, and complete. And then we have experiences in life, you know, it's almost like, you know, personal development awareness is like unbecoming, you know, going back to that, you know, to the way so maybe we did come out of the womb this way, but you know, we went we definitely, you know, had to go through a lot of experiences in life to kind of come back to, you know, loving ourselves. And and um, and I think that's really important, right? Because uh it allows us not to get in the way of being a contribution of service to other people. You know, we've talked a lot in our friendship and just about the importance of purpose, like really being clear about our why, you know, and what is your purpose, Nina, and and why is that so important? Why does why do it does being clear on your purpose matter so much to being an entrepreneur, to being a human being?

SPEAKER_01 14:07

Okay, so what is my purpose? My purpose, as you know, um well, you know, but not the people that are listening and and or watching is to make a difference in the lives specifically for me, my clientele would be women who truly believe they can't have what they want. They've convinced themselves over time that the obstacles that they've put in their way are real. And my purpose is to show them that they're just illusions and that they can have the life they want. And I know it's possible because I'm here. So I'm clear that it's all a mind game. So my purpose really is to help these women support these women in seeing that they can have everything that they want. It's just a matter of the mind game they're playing. So to teach them a new mind game is really where I'm what I'm out to cause. Um and why is that so important to me personally? Because I know it's possible. And I see people walking around thinking that it's not possible. People who choose a lifestyle that is not their best life and feel like they don't have a way out, and that actually hurts my heart. Like to see that personally, whether I know them or I don't know them, but it's painful for to me. I was just made that way. Uh, and you know, why it's important for in general to find the find your purpose. Well, you know, I mean, I think Napoleon Hill says it, right? There's the the only way to move forward in life is to have to have that definite definite, what's it called? Definiteness, whatever, however he says it. Definiteness of purpose, you got it. Definiteness of purpose that gives you the persistence, it gives you the the push, it gives you that drive to find the right tribe, to keep going, to get to create resilience. You know, it's it is um I don't know what else to say, but when you are driven by your purpose, you will everything will come to you when when it's when you're ready to have it come to you. It's like, what did they say? What's the saying? Uh when the student is ready, the teacher the teacher.

SPEAKER_02 16:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

I have found that to be so true in my life. And I don't know if I weird off from your question.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

No, you answered it perfectly. I it it just makes everything so much easier. You know, it's like less for it's like getting out of bed is easier. It's like I'm so clear why I exist. And I was having a conversation with a mutual friend of ours yesterday, and I was like, isn't it like sad to think that so many people go to their grave not ever having known why they were created? Oh, yes. Right? Like, and I think you know, you you said that's just the way you are, that you care so much that people have that. Um, you know, I also know that you you're really driven by faith and and and you're really, you know, you you you nurture that in yourself, that being for others and being of service, right? And I think that's one of the things that I love about you so much. And, you know, one of we're kindred spirits in that way. But it's like, you know, whatever your spiritual belief system, you know, whatever is sourceful for you, I really do believe that we all are, we do, we were all created for something. And and it it's different and unique for every single one of us, but you know, to to go through your whole life not knowing, you know, why you were created. And uh, you know, I just think that that's that's said for lack of a better word. I I don't know what else to call it.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

And I think uh I think one of the things that people struggle with is that it should be something so tangible, that it should be this or it should be that, or I should love this and I should love that. Oh look, Amber loves this, let me try this. Oh look, she's let me try this. I think what happens when people are in that space of they don't know what their purpose is, it's they're not listening. They're not listening. They're so busy looking, but they're not listening and and quieting their for their monkey brains, the brain that just keeps talking, talking, talking, talking. You need to have a purpose. If you don't have a purpose, then what are you doing here? What is the point? And there's this circle, you know, with it. And how about you just sit down and say, Okay, universe, I'm gonna listen. Yeah, and that is all.

SPEAKER_02 18:49

And when we could get the answers, it could be like being the best, having the best family that thrives, or it could be delivering the best ice cream to your customers and like just bringing people, like it doesn't have to be. I mean, I, you know, we happen to be surrounded by a tribe of people who are like, you know, systems changers and out to transform what it means to be a human being on this planet. And, you know, that's the games that we're up to. And I think as a business owner, you know, a small business owner, it's so important to get clear like, why did I create this business? Why did I want to be an entrepreneur in the face the first place? And what is this all about? What is this like what is this in service of? Because when you get clear, you it's so perfect what you said about the comparisons. And I find myself doing that too as I'm moving into new phases of my business and like formalizing certain things. And you know, it's funny, the more you you want something, the more you attract it. So, you know, of course, when you're a coach, you know, it's like it's so um so great. One of my mentors said, you know, when you start feeling jealousy or envy, you immediately ground yourself in gratitude for what you have and you bless the other person's success because it's signs that it's coming for you. Because if it wasn't coming for you, you wouldn't even see it. But it's you know, so when we start getting into that, instead of listening, like you said, and that intuition and like knowing, okay, I'm on the right path and the and that the what I need to know will come to me when it's time, you know, we start looking out at what other people are doing and then going, oh, I should do that, or oh, that person's doing that. Maybe I need to do that. And then like it's like squirrels, right? Or running around like chickens with our heads cut off versus like being grounded in why did why did I create this business in the first place? What was it about? How does it serve my purpose? Because you can have more than one business, and this business might not serve your overall purpose as a human being. It could serve a part of it, or it could be on that journey to discovering the expanded purpose that you're here for. But the more you get clear on that, I think, you know, everything, as I said, everything else just becomes easy. Because it's like aligned, the actions to take, you'll know what products, goods, and services to put out to serve the people that you're here to serve, right? I think it really just brings all of that clarity.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

It uh a hundred percent. And you know, people always ask, not people always ask, a lot of people ask, how do you know? You know, it's like when they say, How did you know your your husband was the one? You know, you know. You get to this, I call it the body buzz. You know, that body buzz, like you vibrate at a different level, your whole body does this. Every time every time I get off a coaching call where I'm coaching someone and and I'm with them, when I get off the phone, I have that like being with them has raised my vibration. And I know I'm doing exactly what I'm meant to be doing. It's the same if I'm creating a program or creating a process or you know, supporting someone with their purpose, you know, like I am a part of Team Synergy, right? And being being a part and A managing partner is, you know, um the senior partner has the vision and and and knows what uh she wants, and I'm aligned in that, and I'm aligned, it's not like fully my dream, but it's part of it, and so I get to be a part of that is what exactly what you were saying, you know, you can form partnerships, you can have multiple lines of business, but all of it has to be in alignment with what it is that you're creating. And when it's not, you know.

SPEAKER_02 22:29

Oh, I just you know you don't feel good, right? And that's one of the things, like as someone who for most of their life, you know, I shared about this on social yesterday, you know, for someone in most of their life, you know, ignored my body, didn't take care of myself, you know, soldiered on. I think uh I showed up to work at the airport once with a walking IV because you know, I had to go to work and everyone was like, What are you doing? Like that was how I know she's looking at me like I'm crazy. And I was, right? Because I was just so like, there was only one way to do things, and I didn't take care of myself. But like when you are not aligned, it does not, you don't feel good, like physically, emotion, emotionally, mentally. Um, and the the the clearer you get. And one of my favorite things that a friend told me, I I interviewed her for Synergy magazine, you know, an amazing woman named Tidy Allen, you know, she went through a period of her life where she wasn't, she wasn't aligned and she didn't know. So she just started taking herself out on coffee dates once a week to discover herself, you know, and took a journal and took a book and just like, who am I? What do I want? What's important to me? What matters? And you know, it was in that process of writing those, doing having those dates that she started blogging about it. And then she started developing the positive people army. Like, so you know, you just don't know. But that's the other cool thing is you can actually just ask for the clarity. You can just literally be like, I'm actually like, I'm requesting clarity, and then you give up the how. You don't know how that clarity is going to come. It could come in a call from a friend or seeing a sign or you know, a job ending, because sometimes things don't serve us, and if we don't take action quickly enough, the universe or God will on our behalf.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

They do.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

Yeah, but it's like you don't, you know, but it's like sometimes it's just as simple as being willing to ask and willing to receive, you know, clarity about where it is that you whether that's you know, and anywhere in our life, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Yeah, and I I like yes, 100%. And I also think one of the biggest things that will support an individual is knowing that there's something out there bigger than yourself. And that that is working to align for you and to believe that whether what however you want to look at it, God, the universe, energy, I don't know, however you want to call it, right? You said something you alluded to my faith uh earlier, and it is my faith. And the deeper I get into that relationship with my faith and connect it to my spirituality, the more, the quicker things, the quicker they show up. Things show up, but they show up like this. You know, it's this connection to know that hey, everything is out there ready for me, like it's there. I just have to go get it. I did at one point come from the same place you did. You gotta work hard, you gotta work hard to what you want, and you gotta work hard and prove it yourself and prove to whoever, I don't know who you're even proving it to to get what you want. But the reality is you don't have to work hard, you just have to know that why you do what you do and that it's gonna show up. And and like you said, you know, you and I do another show on Thursdays, and yesterday you said, um, you know, expect it. Expect that what you want is going to happen. And when you expect it, it's gonna show up. The only thing is you gotta be ready. Prep yourself, be ready for that. Sometimes you can get taken out by actually getting exactly what you want, and then you're not prepared for it. So it's really important to prepare yourself. And when I talk about preparation, I mean if you say you want a hundred clients in a month, prepare yourself for a hundred clients in the month because they're gonna come. And then you and then you've got to make sure you can serve those people. Yeah. So that's like really what I mean by being prepared.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Yeah, and I think it's one, like you know, you and I both love, you know, from our corporate work and just in general processes and you know, all of that good stuff, you you know, I think it's is it's the it's the physical structures and reality for how to operate your business, you know, with integrity, but it's also, you know, the internal preparation, you know, so it's like you you can ask for what you want, you know, you can even believe it's possible. And if you're not willing to receive it, if you don't, if you don't feel deserving to receive it, if you haven't made sure that your internal image of yourself is a match for what you're asking for, literally a million, you know, we hear it all the time with like people who win the lottery, right? So they they you know, they attract all of this money to them and then they haven't done the work to be deserving of it, the internal work to to know how to be with that. And you know, and then they end up, you know, the stats prove time and time again that people end up worse off financially after having won the lottery than they did before because they haven't prepared. No, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 27:21

It's it's so funny that you say that because I know, you know, for the for those out there who are listening to get those tidbits about entrepreneurship, it's when you make that decision to step. If you've been working, not everybody's working, right? Every some people just become an entrepreneur and are like entrepreneurs for their whole life, but someone like okay, for myself that I stepped away and I know you did the same thing, there's a preparation that needs to happen for yourself. Your mindset needs to shift from employee to business owner. And I think for many of us, we struggle in that transition. I think that's why what you do is phenomenal. Because if I had what you offer five years ago, like really, I think I would be in a different place. And I have no problem with where I am now. You know, I am where I am, I needed to go through the process to know what I needed. However, you know, you think you have an entrepreneurial mindset until you're waiting for someone to tell you what to do. And then I want to tell you what to do. And that's why you hire a business coach, because that business coach, such as yourself, is able to say, okay, actually, I am gonna tell you what to do. Now it's up to you to do it. Nobody's gonna fire you, you're not you're not gonna lose your job, but you're going to here is the process in which you can have make this happen sooner rather than later. And I think that's the biggest hurdle that um that people face, entrepreneurs face, if they're transitioning out of a job. And they could have been really good at their job and getting paid real great money, and you know, you know, could have been sought after in the in the corporate world. And that usually was the case, is the case, and people are telling you what to do. Like you've got your corporation who's created the vision, the mission, you know, the communication uh channels, all of those things are already communicated created for you. But then you move into an entrepreneur into entrepreneurship, and you know, you go like I know I'm a good coach, but I had no idea that I needed to actually run a business, right? You need to if I didn't run a business, I'm not gonna get clients. I can just stand and go, hey, it's beautiful, I'm a coach. But without the foresight that you need to create so that you can coach, you definitely need to understand the entrepreneurial mindset and what steps you need to take to set yourself up for success.

SPEAKER_02 29:54

Yeah, well, thank you for that acknowledgement. And that really is why I chose to have small business owners and entrepreneurs be my target market, because I recognize that gap, right? So you know, you're an expert in your good products in your domain of knowledge from when you were in work, working for a corporation, but that doesn't mean you're an expert in how to run a business. And there just wasn't a lot of, there isn't a lot of accessible options for small business owners that are appropriate. You know, a small business owner doesn't need an MBA, they don't need to spend 80 grand in two years going to school to be an MBA, and they don't need to know what's appropriate for them, how to manage, you know, do financial management, operations management, you know, sales and marketing. Like what how is that pertain to you? And then, you know, what are the building blocks? How do you get there? And it just really is my my privilege because I get to I get to watch people shine and I get to watch people really have that dream that they created when they imagine what it could be like to be an entrepreneur actually really work versus be something that they, you know, they bump up against or struggle with. And and you know, you said it, people will get results. It's just I think one of the real values in having a coach is like the velocity, the speed at which you achieve the results is just so much faster when you have someone who's not only holding you to account, uh, but you know, can can give you the knowledge, skills, and and expertise and tools to help move you faster.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

Yes. I I couldn't have said it better myself. It's that word velocity. It's it's you know, and then being able to come to someone and say, whatever you need to say, get that out of the way, and then just keep moving. Because, you know, this is where the met many of us get stuck. First of all, we don't actually know what it takes to build a business, and then we have it like you know, we can't do that because we're cantaholics. I'm a professed, self-professed cantaholic, and you know, and sometimes we just like the drama of being in our head. But you know what I mean? Like there is this space where I know that people just like the drama, it's dramatic to be in your head. But um yeah, you know, as an entrepreneur, uh anyone who comes to me and asks me, no, well, I'm not a you know, business coach by any stretch of the imagination. Uh, but when people come to me, I say, get to know what it actually means to run a business. Put aside what you know and your product and your service, right? But get to know what you need to do, who you need to be to be a business owner. Because you're already good at the other thing. Otherwise, you wouldn't, you wouldn't be going out and stepping out onto the skinny branches to be an entrepreneur or small business owner. You know you're good at that, but it's the other piece that's like so important to look at what where do you want to go? What do you want to be in five? Like, where do you want your business to be in five years, 10 years? What does that look like financially? To me, when I started hearing those questions, I was like, no, I'm okay. I just want to be a coach. I don't I don't want to spend 80% of my time marketing. I want to create and I want to coach. That's what I want. And that's what most where we we mostly get stuck. I just want this.

unknown 33:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:18

And look, yeah, I say to my clients, you don't have to create the plan yourself, but you have to have one. Yes. You know, so it's like whether you're hiring a coach or someone to help you write that plan until, you know, or you know, you're working with someone to help you write it until you can outsource that. You know, one of the beautiful things about being an entrepreneur is we get to say the things that we want to do and don't want to do in our businesses, right? And, you know, you still like, you know, to have integrity in the business and have it thrive, you still need to make sure that those things are are getting done. You know, so what advice would you give to someone looking to get out of the corporate world, Nina? Or someone looking to, you know, who wants to be a coach, you know, looking to get into your field.

SPEAKER_01 34:00

Uh I there's two things I would like to say. First of all, um when you're looking to transition out of the corporate world into any sort of entrepreneurial venture, know that that's like know that that's what you want because it takes something to do that. It takes it takes someone who has a risk mindset and is willing to take the risk because it sounds nice. Oh, I'm gonna run my own business, I'm gonna make my own time, and I'm gonna have all of this. But listen, when you start, when you start, you are working a lot of hours. You are there's a I'm not trying to scare anyone off, but just be prepared. Arm yourself with the truth, arm yourself with the knowing, have the resilience, the persistence. Know that this really truly is your burning desire.

SPEAKER_02 34:53

I'm glad that you say that, right? Because like when I start working with people, especially like, you know, like people who want to start a startup, I say like we get clear on their goal. And I'm like, you know, there's there's a hundred ways to fulfill on a goal. It doesn't have to be business ownership. So you have this product, good or service that you really want to like gift to the world. Well, maybe you don't launch a business, you go find someone else who's kind of working in that space and you partner with them. Maybe you buy an existing business that's not doing well. Like there's so, and you know, that's one of the things I got I put on my my wish to my to-do list of, you know, things I want to create is like a guide to for entrepreneurs so that people can really know. Like, if you're not sure, you know you want to be an entrepreneur and you're not sure like what are the different kinds of businesses out there, what are your options? But I think it, I think it's critical. And one of the real values of a life coach is to have you get clear, you know, to have you get really clear on your what you want and what your goals are and what you're gonna be working on, right? Because you're right, it's it's not to scare anyone off. I uh I wouldn't be doing anything else. And I wouldn't be having these conversations if I didn't love, you know, owning my own business and being an entrepreneur. And, you know, I I love that you said persistence, because you know, Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich says like that's the one characteristic. It wasn't intelligence, it wasn't like when he looked at those 500, you know, leaders back in the 30s over those 20 years, you know, that it was persistence. And he said, you know, kind of pointing back to the conversation earlier, that the more your desire, you the the stronger the fire under your desire, the easier it will be to have persistence. Like they're actually like connected. And I know for me, for most of my life, like, you know, my burning desire was to kind of, it didn't come from a positive place. You know, my burning desire was to, you know, I had my family when I was young, I was a teenage mom, like my burning desire was to fix my screw up, you know, and like that, but that propelled me forward. And that, you know, I had that burning, like had me persist in the face of some really not great circumstances, you know, and and then along that way, I got clear about my purpose. And so now that burning desire comes from a positive place of creation and and not from this, like, you know, I've got to fix a mistake from the past, you know. But um, yeah, I think that's you know, that burning desire plus just showing, you've got to show up. And it doesn't even have to be hard work that just show up every day in your business, you know.

SPEAKER_01 37:21

So true. I love what you just said. It doesn't have to be hard work, it's about showing up when you say you're gonna show up for your business. Like, you know, obviously, one of the structures I'm sure you put into place with your clients, as all coaches do, is like creating a structure and creating a schedule and having have that time, even if you're working. So I wrote my book while I was working. I created my system while I was working, but I made the arrangements to make it all work. I got that if I was working 40 hours a week for someone else and then coming home and taking care of my family, I didn't have the time I needed in order to build and structure my business, even though I, you know, I did a mucky job at it, but I got that much. So I went and I had a conversation with my organization, with my boss, and said, I'd like to go part-time. And I was very clear on what I was gonna do with that. You know, I had to show them that I could still do my job part-time and nothing would fall through the cracks, and then I would have that time to go create what I needed to create. I also needed to have an enrolling conversation with my husband because of course my income was gonna go move down, you know, it was gonna change. And so it's it is the things that you are willing to do, create the structure so you can be successful and then show up when you say you're gonna show up. Especially in the beginning, I didn't have any accountability partners. I didn't, I just had to show up. I just said, okay, by October, uh, what did I say to myself? Oh, by the end of September, my book is gonna be written. I've set out my date for when I'm gonna do my book launch, and it that's what propelled me because I was like, there is no way I've already sent out a communication to all my people that I'm launching my book on December the 5th, 2015, and I'm not gonna do that.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

Yeah. I, you know, I just got something for myself about that because you know, I we chatted last night before this morning, and you know, you said you can't wait for my book. And I was like, Oh, I don't know when that's gonna happen. And it's so funny, like being someone who is very goal-oriented and like deadline oriented, it's interesting for me that I haven't actually like set it, set a mark. Yeah, set a mark. What is that? You know, when is that happening? Right. And you know, I've got an e-book launching soon on goal setting, but you know, the book, you know, yardsticks is really about, you know, how do you create a life, you know, based on your own success, your own measures for success and happiness? And and so I'm gonna really look and and I'm gonna create that. So thank you for sharing that. Nina, you are amazing. I guess what what's one question that I haven't asked you, or one thing that we haven't talked about this morning that you might want to share with people, you know, as a parting gift or and blessing to them.

SPEAKER_01 40:05

What is one question? I can't think of nothing comes to mind. I feel like we had we covered a lot of different things inside of this conversation. Yeah. Um nothing inside, you know, I could be fill, I could be silly and and yeah, be silly. You didn't ask me like what my favorite color is. What's your favorite color? Purple, purple, purple, and you wouldn't know it by like everything you see in my house because it's all red. That's a I know, and your website's red. Yes, that's that's my branding because I believe it really drives the the message, the message of power. But my my favorite color is purple, and for years I didn't know why I was so drawn to it, but it's the color of divinity. And now I know why it's my favorite color.

SPEAKER_02 40:58

Yeah. It's so perfect you say that, right? There are no accidents because you know, the work you really do, uh it sounds like a simple thing, right? Move like you know, creating a framework to move people from I can't to I can, but like it's everything because you know, it really is. I mean, it's such a divine purpose because it's it's those areas of our life where we keep saying, I can't, like I can't have what I want, I can't make it work, I can't pursue my, you know, my passions or my dreams, I can't leave this job, you know, I can't end this relationship. It's like such a trap because you know, it's all in our mind and out here in reality, anything's possible. And so, you know, just thank you. I I honor you for the work that you do, especially with women, but just who you are in the world, Nina, you know, you really are such a light and and you're just such a blessing for everyone who knows you. And uh, I'm excited to watch as you continue and be partner with you as we both continue on these journeys as entrepreneurs. For anyone listening, if you want to you catch up with Nina, you can visit and buy her book at Nina Gangouli.com. And I know that this is just the first of many of these conversations that you and I are gonna have over the years. And you know, thank you for being my first guest. It's just been such a delight.

SPEAKER_01 42:15

Um, I wouldn't want it any other way. So I just decided I would be your first. I don't even know what you were asking. I just saw some Calendy thing and I'm like, okay, this is what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_02 42:25

Yeah, you're just such a yes to life. I think that's you know one of the things that makes you really special and unique.

SPEAKER_01 42:31

So thank you. Thank you. And by the way, all those things you said you can't do, I have said I can't throughout the entire process. You hear me say it all the time.

SPEAKER_02 42:41

Yes, and then I remind her that she can.

SPEAKER_01 42:44

So thank you, Amber. Thank you, Amber, for doing this for this unique set of people. Because entrepreneurs are a unique set of human beings, and a lot of times we do feel like we're on our own. So thank you for being who you are so that we can be who we need to be in our businesses and do what we need to do and just fly. So I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_02 43:11

Oh, I love you so much. Have an amazing day. Thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_00 43:17

Thank you so much for joining us for this week's episode. For show info, visit what would Amber Do.com. And for information about Amber Howard and Associates' offerings and services, visit amberhowardinc.com.