Sneak peek: September preview + The importance of taking breaks!

0:00Hey gang, this is more like a voice note from your friend as opposed to a podcast episode. I am tuning in here real quick to my loyal strategist and tragedist wondering where on earth has this show gone? If you have missed me, do not fret. I wanted to explain the little break that I've taken here in August. Just this last week, definitely needed a bit of a breather. This is usually a quieter time of the year as well. anyway we will be coming back with a bloody bang starting next week which by the way guys cannot get over the fact that Monday is the 1st of September where has the summer gone where has August gone.

0:50This has been the fastest flying August I have like ever known in my life. And every conversation I've had with other people has been the same as well. But like, is it just a coincidence? Is it just me and my circles? Let me know. How has the summer, how has August been for you too? Am I the only one? Am I in this like small bubble where it's just been like crazy busy anyway but that was kind of the reason I was kind of like it usually is a kind of quieter time of the year I've definitely needed to slow down and just take a bit of a break as well so we have skipped a week hope you haven't missed us too much I want to take this opportunity to also thank you so much if you're tuning into this if you've tuned into other episodes and you've enjoyed them honestly it means the world to me there's so much energy and love and effort and time and money that's put into the whole kind of production of the show, which isn't on you guys, that it means that it's all worthwhile when I receive your messages, when I get these unprompted DMs, comments with you saying that you tuned in, you felt really inspired by some of the stories, that you learned something new, that you just know that like, you're not doing it alone because entrepreneurship is tough, it is lonely.

2:10So this is the whole mission of the show, right? Like I created this to break down the realities of what it actually takes to start, build, grow a business, really kind of bring these down to earth, raw, more authentic accounts from these founders and really dive into like, how did you fundraise six figures off the back of LinkedIn? How did you kind of land your first client, whatever the topic may be, right? So I really want to bring that authenticity and practicality to you too. So the fact that you're enjoying it, that you appreciate it really does mean the world to me. So thank you. Thank you so much.

2:48I really just want to take a moment to again, thank you for that. And I'm all ears as well. If you've got any feedback, if there's anything that you want to hear more about, if there's any particular areas that you're really struggling with, you'd really like to hear from people, if there's particular sort of guest profiles or businesses from certain sectors, let me know and I'll go and find them for you. Like you, you are my boss. You're my boss. You jump, you say jump, I say how high. So let me know. You can find me on LinkedIn, Instagram, on my main two social media platforms. Thankfully, there is only one Stephanie Melodia in the world.

3:27so just search my name and you should find me no problem um and wherever you're listening to this I also caught up with some of the comments on Spotify um or Apple Podcasts wherever you're listening to this as well you can just leave me a quick comment always good to hear from you I'd love to hear also like what have been your favorite interviews so far um yeah any any few I just love hearing from you guys in any case and any feedback is super super helpful anyway so I wanted to just kind of explain the short break and let you know that we are coming back with such a bang kicking off from next bit oh my god you guys I feel like every episode I release is like giving birth to a new baby I feel like every week every Wednesday morning I become a mum all over again and I am swelling with pride and so excited for you guys to see who I've interviewed to hear the story and but like oh my god this this the these next interviews I've got coming up as well I'm like they keep getting better and better I am so excited I cannot wait for you to hear so to give you a little sneak peek um what have we got coming up so the next interview is with another serial entrepreneur and Olympic athlete.

4:53I love, love, love meeting and interviewing athlete entrepreneurs. There is such a close connection between that personal challenge and the challenge of building a business. And there's so much there in terms of goal setting, self-discipline, self-motivation, the extra motivation that you get as well when you do achieve your goals and how it creates the upward spiral. And you know what? Also like fit people are just like, they're brimming with all the oxytocin from all their workouts. So they're always happy to be around. So I've got someone in that profile coming up. We talk a lot about basically kind of just the whole topic of like success, like success mindset, manifesting, setting goals, what gets in the way of achieving certain goals.

5:52Just yeah, awesome. Cannot wait for that one. I've also got a very high profile guest. If you haven't heard of the founder themselves, then I'm going to bet my bottom dollar that you have heard of the brand that they started. I'm very excited about that as well. And finally, I'll just give you a third little hint for another one. I'm really, really excited about a very funny interview where myself and the guest had an absolute blast. Let me know if you can guess when they come out, if you can kind of guess which one I'm talking about. But we got on like a house on fire. They are very, very funny.

6:37We kind of really riffed off each other as well. and I did something very different in this episode. We did something very interactive live in the studio. So I'm very excited about that one as well. So it's a little bit of a hint, a sneak preview of what's to come. So of course, please do make sure that you are subscribed and following wherever you listen to podcasts. I say the same every single time. We've all got to, any content creator, any podcaster, we've got to encourage you to hit that subscribe button and give us a like and show us some love but honestly gang I feel like I say it all the time but it wasn't until I actually dug into the statistics I think there's still a huge majority of you guys that haven't hit subscribe that aren't following gang it doesn't cost a single thing my love don't cost a thing takes two seconds please do it right now if you haven't already it literally doesn't cost anything it doesn't take any of your time please do it please do it right now because there's still such a huge chunk of you that haven't and it really helps me out so please go ahead and do that so that you don't miss out on these future episodes I cannot wait to release and look what I want to end this on as well is I've skipped a week I rarely do this I'm very committed to the weekly schedule every single Wednesday morning but taking a break is so important I know you know I'm sounding like your naggy big sister right now but let me tell you you do not take a break just because your body needs a rest not even because your mind and soul need a rest even though that's very true and there are actually seven different types of rest.

8:35I won't be able to remember all seven of them, but they're like physical, mental, creative, spiritual, and then whatever others. You can find it, put it in the comments if you just do a quick Google and find out what they are. But there's all these different types of rest. Beyond all of the obvious, let me tell you that after But dialing it in this past week, I have obviously still been busy, but it's been a very different type of busy. The perspective that I have gained has been so genuinely invaluable. And I guarantee I would not have achieved the perspective that I've got over these past few days if I had just continued in my routine.

9:25sometimes we really do need a pattern interrupt look gang entrepreneurship is tough you're gonna burn out if you just keep hustling like you already know that so I don't I don't just want to repeat all the obvious you do need to take a break I know you feel guilty taking a break when you're running a business look I am also a proponent of you've got to hustle to get something off the ground like there's no shortcuts but you work in seasons this is the truth right like there are going to be seasons where you're going to have to go at it where you're going to have to sprint where maybe you're in fundraising mode where you're just in beast mode like that's just the reality there's other times that needs to be balanced out like and it's like they are mutually exclusive yeah you cannot have one without the other in order to be able to go at something you need to be recharging the batteries anyway that needs to be said or maybe doesn't because I know that's obvious and you should already know it.

10:24But again, beyond all those obvious benefits, the physical rest, the chilling, the perspective that you get from taking a step back, there are no shortcuts to, and there's no way, like even on just a weekend, like I don't work at the weekends. Or if I do, it's again, it's a different sort of thing and I'm in a different headspace and I kind of schedule things my own way but a typical just two-day weekend even a bank holiday three-day weekend which I know no entrepreneur actually takes but even that you don't get and honestly even a fun jam-packed holiday which is the other thing like this week I was also thinking about going away but I was like actually no because it is going to create a different sort of stress.

11:13I'm gonna have to do all the organizing and planning and packing and, you know, I'm very aware this is also first world problems and playing the world's smallest violin here. So that's not my point. But the fact that I've been able to spend a solid week chilling, being at home, resting, not running about, not making plans, not rushing, has enabled me to reach this perspective that I would definitely not have got otherwise and I'll share separately if anyone is interested on the perspective that I and like some lessons that I've kind of realized it's a little bit it's a little bit private but essentially it kind of boils down to um how I'm just kind of like saying yes to too many things basically um so I encourage you I encourage you to follow suit to take a leaf out of my book uh if you've missed me uh my weekly interviews on wednesday then fret not we are coming back i'm very very excited to pick things back up coming next week first week of september again we've blinked and that has arrived but in the meantime i hope you've had a chilled summer i hope that you have found pockets and moments to rest and find that balance because gang back to school season is around the corner and we are not gonna rest again until Christmas hits so I'd love to hear from you please send me a message if you've listened to this and you have any feedback for me until then guys I will see you soon thanks a lot take care bye