1708 – Equalizing the Playing Field for Women in Business with Laura Gisborne

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0:58with us right now it's laura gisborne laura you are the founder of limitless women you're found on the web at limitlesswomen.com laura thank you for joining us thank you for having me josh all right tell us what limitless women are who are limitless women and what are limitless women doing in the world yeah well limitless women are ordinary women that are doing extraordinary things They are women that really know that they have a calling on their lives and that their businesses are more than just a vehicle to create revenue for their families and for their communities. They know that they can get back and make a difference with their work.

1:33So we do business training fundraisers and we have education-based platforms where everyone who joins us makes a contribution to the charity of their choice. Often we do fundraisers that are very around a specific nonprofit, but we've raised at this point over$700 ,000 for charity since 2015. And really$10 at a time, you know, just really women coming together, supporting other women and lifting them up. Yeah. And how did you find yourself in this position? Such a good question. My husband was asking the same question. How are you going to have a business where you give away all the profits? I don't understand.

2:10So I've been really blessed. You know, I've founded nine different companies over the last 35 years. I just turned 57 and sold six of them. And I started being asked to speak and lead back in 2009, 2010, that invitations started coming in. And I kept saying, what is this? You know, how can I help? You know, they would say, do you want to come lead a breakout session? I'd say, what's a breakout session? I mean, literally was not in this purview at all. Hadn't written any books. It wasn't on my radar, but I prayed about it. And I kept being shown that the invitations were around women, that the invitations were global and that they were around philanthropy.

2:43be. And so I put my foot in the water and said, how do we use this vehicle to really make a difference, not only for the women that we're educating, but also for those who don't have access to resources. I would imagine when you are evoking, you know, kind of doing good in the world. And then I think that you add to it, you know, the fact that, you know, hey, you know, we're a little bit of an exclusive group as, you know, women entrepreneurs and women leaders. It's really great to have that kinship. Talk about the culture and why this kind of this one-two punch creates such valuable experiences for your members.

3:23Yeah, thanks for that, Josh. I really appreciate your insight in that question. The biggest obstacle I believe that I've heard in my own experience, and I believe this in other places I've worked in nonprofits, really along the time that I was doing my private sector work, I was always working as a volunteer in nonprofits. it's the biggest obstacle for people to making a difference often with their dollars is they feel like they're not ready someday when I'm wealthy, I'm going to give someday when I'm like you, I'm going to give it and make a difference. And so what's underneath that is this idea of not enough.

3:54And if someone comes from a faith-based background, they might already be familiar with tithing. What we understand is that when we give, when we think we don't really have to give, right, just that we give that little bit, we start to become expanded. When you start to realize that we can actually operate and thrive with less than we thought we could financially. You know, I just love what God does with the difference, right? What happens is that these women start to bubble up and start to see themselves empowered. And I was on a podcast a couple of weeks ago and a man reached out to me and said, please, please, can you take me as a client?

4:25And I said, you know, this is what I have going on. And these are the places we can support you. And we are a community of women supporting women. And, you know, every once in a while, there's a few cool guys that will come along that really are turned on that already have that giving gene and love making a difference with their own companies. Yeah. This happens to be an area that I'm such a big fan of. And you think about the business that can get done. And there's something, first off, it's like any time that we can create proximity with other amazing people, I think that that's the path to building relationships and doing amazing stuff in this one plus one equals 11 kind of energy.

5:06But then, you know, I think this is so magical is if you can get two people together and then in an act of service, serving another community, the, the, I don't know. And I'll listen, feels free to get as spiritual as you want on this concept. I can't help you. In fact, maybe you might be able to add some context in a way that I haven't really considered. But this power that comes from service together and it's such a powerful force and I'm such a big fan of it. To our friends that's listening right now and you think that marketing and sales is all about scarcity and or one person winning and the other person, I don't know, maybe not.

5:53But, you know, it's just like, that is just so not my experience of like, what is working well today? Sorry, that was a lot of word salad. All right. Pick and choose whatever you want to talk about on that topic, because I love it. I'm going to tell you, you know, I was reading the interview that was written about you, you know, and your history and how you created your businesses and your story, right? And what you did with the coupon and the giving and the structure. And I apologize, I don't remember all the, you know, the correct terminology, Josh, but But I'll tell you that it is a place of it's fascinating.

6:24It's fascinating what we're capable of. And it's often so much more than we think we can do. And when we do it thinking that somehow it's a zero sum game. So if I win, you have to lose. Nobody wins. And there's something that happens for many people who are talking right before we started recording about me going to college at FIU many, many years ago and studying you in psychology about Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It's this idea that we're in survival mode and we have to grab and then we kind of move up to the other. And, you know, at some point there's self-actualization. I live in the arena with people who are in the conversation about then what?

7:00You know, it's great when we've been blessed. It's great when we've come through, especially those of us who've come through adversity, come through hard times, which is pretty much everybody in their own version. Right. When we really realize that we're sufficient, we really realize that we're capable. What we get to do is we get to give. And I think that happens in business often. There's this blue sky, there's strategic philanthropy where people give to get, right? They want to look a certain way. You know, that's just not our playground. It's our honor. It's our privilege to be able to contribute.

7:31Laura, kind of going through some of your content, and you have, by the way, you are a great follow on LinkedIn. I highly recommend. Just in case I didn't mention this already, limitlesswomen.com. There's actually a lot of great resources here. And then, but again, your content on LinkedIn is pretty fantastic. One of these I wanted to ask you about, and this idea of, you know, maybe someone who in business feels like they're struggling and they never feel caught up versus those that, and maybe we've experienced this like, man, I feel like I'm in the flow right now or versus I am just not in the flow right now.

8:08It's just like, it's just, everything feels like a struggle. Could you maybe talk about your kind of experiences on that? Yeah, I mean, I think I'm a typical overnight sensation at this point, Josh, right? If you would say that, like, you know, I married into a family business when I'm 23, and now I'm 57, you know, there's a little bit of a gap in between there, right? So lots of journeys, lots of mistakes, lots of things they learned. What I find often is that in the work that we get to do, whether we're working in the private sector or for benefit, it's this idea where it's so much more than mindset, right?

8:39The idea that something is holding us back. It's not simply that we're wrong or that we're insecure. There's more to it. There's the doing the right actions in the right order. And that feeling of overwhelm, that feeling of I'm never caught up, usually what's underneath that is an old message, right? There's an old message that we're in comparison with somebody. And I see it's interesting. I see women do this differently than men, right? I mean, men compare, but men just have a different bravado about it, right? And women, we're just often putting ourselves in this comparison game. What I love to share with a woman when she's feeling that way and to a gentleman, if it helps, is instead of comparing yourself to other people, why don't you compare yourself backwards?

9:19You know, compare yourself to where you came from. When I was in college, and it just comes up because we're talking about it, I was severely anorexic. I was in a domestic violence relationship. People see me today with all the blessings that I have. That didn't just happen, right? You know, there's a whole lot of my journey that helped me become who I am today. There's a whole lot of your journey that helped you become who you are. And each one of us that's called to share our message is called that way for a reason. There's another person out there that needs to hear what you have to say. So one of the ways to get out of overwhelm or get out of not enough is to be in the act of service to others.

9:55When you get to lift up another person, it's a little hard to be obsessed with your own stuff. For leaders and influencers, either male or female, what are some gender observations maybe historically or maybe some that you see that still are kind of lingering on that you think everyone should at least acknowledge or be aware of, just so that when, you know, we have the opportunity to use that, you know, that sensitivity or whatever it is, You know, what can we do to equalize the playing field? What can we do to, you know, maybe limit some of the unhelpful aspects of gender differences moving forward?

10:43Yeah, it's interesting. I would say one thing that's going to be interesting for both genders is to really understand what I just said about the power of your positioning versus posturing. What happens often when I'm in a mixed environment with men and women, there's a lot of that kind of bravado where people are trying to prove who they are, right? They're trying to posture, they're trying to get their word out and get their thing out. It's a very different energy when you're just positioned with who you are and who you're here to be. And each one of you has a valid point and a valid voice. Sometimes the quietest person in the room has the most to say.

11:17And I think that's something that's interesting to see when I see mixed audiences. I see how men are married to a man and I have two sons. I love men. But, you know, it's a different energy. And what happens is that women often take themselves out of the game. So a way that a gentleman can be more kind to a woman is to give her her voice. I was on a call earlier today with a woman who is very powerful. She works in franchising and she's really and she's often the only woman in the room. And so it's that place where she said, you know, and I have to pipe up and get my story in, you know, a little more respect for the other, whether it's a male person or a female person is always a good way to do business.

11:54I think it's a good way to build relationships. Are there any books that you find yourself recommending offer? It doesn't have to be a book or book resource, just something that you're like, you know, I think the world would be, or I think that there's maybe some challenges in the world of business or elsewhere, relationships, whatever it may be. And what is something that you find yourself championing often where folks can go from here? Yeah, I'm a pretty voracious reader. So that's a big question. And so I try to read about two to four books every week. So in the personal sector, I can tell you the book that I have recommended for more people than any book is Louise Hay's book, You Can Heal Your Life.

12:37It was absolutely a game changer for me. Someone handed me that book when I was in my early 20s, and it helped me have perspective that life could be different on a personal level. You know, on a business level, I feel like some of the stuff that you probably have because you're working with entrepreneurs and business owners all the time, I think that the biggest game changer for entrepreneurs, if they're looking at entrepreneurship, is Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. Understanding the difference of how you position yourself, a business as an entity. what that looks like, how you're taxed, that's a Bible, I think, for entrepreneurs.

13:12It just really has such good foundation places. And if someone's been in business for a while, my favorite business is Abundance by Peter Diamantis. And it's not always easy to find. And it really talks about leveling the playing field, right? There's no lack of resources on the planet. There's a lack of resourcefulness. And so looking at yourself as a futurist and as a leader in the world, if you're well-established, it helps expand your capacity. Yeah, solid, solid recommendations. Yeah. Share just a little bit more about Limitless Women and how you work. You know, obviously it looks like you have events, but tell me more about how you engage and work with your audiences.

13:56Yeah, thank you for that. So for seven years, we've been giving away free gifts on Friday. So we have this free gift Friday, and we send that out to our email list and use that content to share on social media. And it's kind of a combination of trainings and perspectives that I've learned as an entrepreneur and wisdom that I've gained from other entrepreneurs and things like this. You know, having a conversation with a trusted mentor who's not me often brings good stuff. We offer live events that are business training fundraisers. So those are open to men and women if they are something that you see advertised to the public.

14:33As an example, we have our flow retreat every year. I'm always a little particular about who comes to the room because I think it makes sense that we're all aligned more. It's more important that our core values are aligned than that our gender is aligned, if that makes sense. Yeah. And so what was the last event that you did and what happened? Well, that's a great question. The last event I did was in April. I hosted a private retreat called The Lead Life. And I invited what was supposed to be 12 of my girlfriends to come together and talk about their walk of faith. And it ended up being 19 girlfriends.

15:07And we met in North Carolina. That's actually another book that I'm writing right now. It's all about the walk of faith. So that was the last one. And prior to COVID, we held leadership and legacy events every year in Southern California. And yeah, and so the Flow Retreat is really all around revenue and cash and leadership and flow and the good stuff, all kinds of good stuff. Yeah. Tell me more about maybe the relationship with money that we may have, particularly if you have some insights into if there are any. Again, since I have you, you're an expert in this role. I don't know about that. served, you know, that might be specific to women or might be more likely to happen amongst women?

15:51So, you know, the underlying mission of our work is to heal the poverty consciousness of Western business leaders. And people don't come to me and say, hey, will you help me heal my poverty consciousness? What they say is, I've been in business for a while. I'm really great at what I do. I tend to attract high, fast moving people like yourself, Josh, right? I'm really educated, I've got this great network, but I'm not getting the profitability that I want. Usually that's a sign that underneath there's, again, that not enough conversation. So it doesn't always manifest in the way that we think it does.

16:21And when we go to school, unless we're studying accounting and finance, we don't know what we don't know. And often when I see, you know, traditional accounting and bookkeeping, things like that, it's not even the way that entrepreneurs think about money often, right? So I think that there's a place of finding out that you really are in abundance and remembering that we get more of what we focus on. And I don't mean that just from the woo-woo. I just think that there's something powerful about granular gratitude. If you've had any kind of wake-up call, it'd be a death, a divorce, a disease, anything in your life that had you wake up and realize like, hey, this is what really matters for me.

16:57I think we as a species had a wake-up call with COVID-19, right? We really are more sufficient than we think we are. And if we spend time always, you know, telling God, I don't have enough, I'm not enough. That's why isn't this better? Why isn't that, you know, how do you think you're going to experience your life versus that, that, that simple gratitude of everything we need being provided for us in really small ways, you know, it can be like you get a parking space. It can be that you go to open the fridge. What you need is there, right? And I mean, just little simple things that really are gifts.

17:27When you look at the fact that close to 3 billion people live on less than three dollars a day in the world it's hard to get perspective often we live in the developed world because we have so much you know we have so much abundance it always has created a false scarcity for us yeah i wanted to ask you about something that happened a few years ago um and you had a um well i listen i as someone who has suffered with uh some some back issues And I just have a disc that just, you know, it's I injured it a number of years ago and it gets re-injured fairly easily. And I know you had some back experiences and something kind of powerful, magical to have.

18:11And you mind sharing a little bit about that story? No, thanks for asking. So December 26th of 2020, I'm an avid yogi and I was driving out in the afternoon to go to a yoga class and I drove head on into traffic at 60 miles an hour and created a head on collision that prompted, you know, luckily I was okay. The sheriff pulled me out and said, I don't know why you're alive. I don't know how this works. And I said, you know, God's not done with me yet. And I said that kind of flippantly, but I also knew internally there were some things that I need to pay attention to. Something was going on, right?

18:42So over the next almost two years, I was on a journey. I had four surgeries between September of last year and March of this year. And I have, you know, I have what I have genetically, which is an interesting thing because my son's a geneticist. But I have what I have genetically and then I have what I have in opportunity. And so one of the surgeries that we talk about, two of the surgeries for my back, but I have spinal fusion. So I feel like I'm a bionic woman now. you know absolutely pain-free and I think that what's available is I could have taken this diagnosis and said okay this happened because and now I'm going to carry that or I could take this opportunity and say okay what is available and who can I partner with to heal my body and what this was a big part for me as an entrepreneur Josh how do I pause with my mission and my work and I'm on track and things are moving we've got all these things that we know we have on our agenda.

19:41How do I really take a pause and stay in bed for a couple of months? It was a very interesting adventure. And I can tell you today, I'm pain-free. I'm so very blessed. And it really, it gave me an opportunity to, once again, really evaluate what matters. Yeah. Your website, Limitless Women. I just want to, you know, someone that's been listening to our conversation, I know you offer free trainings, but let's talk about where folks go from here. And I know you provide so much value. Talk about like what that looks like, you know, although, you know, where where someone that's kind of going from here can go next.

20:17Yeah. You know, I think it's that place if I can just if you go to my website, you can figure out how to contact me. It's not rocket science. It's all over the pages. You know what I mean? Contact us and it'll come to me. And if somebody wants to have a telephone call, I'll tell you where my life experience can be super valuable for a business owner. There's a couple of places, again, after having had six businesses that I've sold, I'm really good at exit strategies, at building systems, at building rockstar teams that run your company for you. I love owner-independent operations, and I'm also deeply connected to people who have a calling on their life.

20:50If they know that their work is as a messenger, often people I meet are coming from all different shapes and sizes and different times of life. But, you know, if you're in a mature season of life and you know that you're committed to getting your message out so you can help people, you know, let's have a conversation. Because I know that messaging with a mission changes the world. And I'm always happy to help get you connected. You know, if they're looking to up their influence, I'll send them right back to you, Josh. You're the guy. So, you know, I mean, again, I think it's that place of how do we, a good friend of mine, Sandra Yancey, founded an organization called Evenman Network.

21:27And I love one of her core values, which is lift as we climb. You know, how do we support each other? It's really an honor and a privilege. And I'm happy to chat with anybody who needs some help if I can help. Laura Gisborne, again, founder of Limitless Women, your website, LimitlessWomen.com. Laura, it's been such a pleasure having you. Thanks, Josh. Thanks for your generous invitation and your generous interview. Thank you, dear.

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