Episode #51 How to Find Your Why to Feel More Fulfillment with J. Nichole Smith

Intro (00:01): When you give smart women a five-year plan, simple business strategies and a positive mindset. It's amazing how fast your business can grow. Welcome to the fast track woman podcast with your host and business strategist, Terra Bohlmann. She helps women business owners stop winging it and board the fast track to success. When she's not making high flying dreams, the reality you can find her traveling to random destinations, desperately tracking down Chanel, broaches, or sipping overpriced coffee drinks. Her purpose in life is to help you build a profitable first-class business, smooth out the bumpy ride, and finally have more time, energy and freedom. So buckle your seatbelt because this episode of the fast track woman takes off right now today.

Terra Bohlmann (00:53): Hey, we are going to talk about all things foundational in your business and talk about getting to the root of your why and building a brand around that with my awesome guest. And I'm going to formally introduce her to you so I can give her the respect that she deserves because she is a total powerhouse rockstar. So Jane Nicole Smith is a branding consultant and author who specializes in helping entrepreneurs find their big why and apply it, creating freedom and fulfillment by building brands that matter. Instead of just businesses she's been mentioned in USA today, real simple, and the LA times her expertise comes from a lifetime of building her own brands, helping solopreneurs and billion dollar corporations grow their impact and their revenue. Nick also has a masters in marketing with distinction from one of London's top business schools. She believes hashtag and chanted rebel entrepreneurs will change the world.

Terra Bohlmann (01:51): She aims to help them. You can join her on her Instagram at J Nicole Smith. That's J N I C H O L E Smith, and at working with dog. So please join me in welcoming Nick to the podcast. How are you today? Oh, I'm great. Thank you so happy to be here. So happy to have you and to talk about why. And we were doing some chatting as we often do before the podcast. And I was telling you that, you know, as a business strategist, it helps me so much to be able to get further with my own clients when they are rooted in their why and super powerful. And it's so foundational. So I'm love that. We're going to talk about this today. Well, it is my very favorite subject, so it is my absolute pleasure. It's your why? And that's so cool. Your why is to help everyone else figure out their why and do something with it? It's so cool. Let me ask you this. So where are you calling from today? Where are you from? Give us a little bit of background on you. Sure. Yeah. So I grew up in the Pacific Northwest sort of Seattle area, and then I moved to LA to be closer to one of my businesses. And let's be honest

J. Nichole Smith (03:00): To get some sunshine

Terra Bohlmann (03:02): From Seattle. Yeah.

J. Nichole Smith (03:05): And then like six months after I moved there, I met a guy who is now my husband who happened to be British. We met at a wedding and six months later, I moved to London. I live in the UK. We live in Southwest London and we now have one baby girl and a dog who is very spoiled.

Terra Bohlmann (03:24): That's awesome because I have, well, I had my baby girl, dog and Skyler the AustLII and then I loved her so much that we just recently got a puppy at during 4th of July and we named her Liberty bell. So I'm like in the puppy stage. So I've got the two babies. Oh. And then I have like three human babies, but that's like a yes. And then I'm also married to an amazing guy. So I don't mean to mention him third. He never listened to this podcast. So I get away with everything talking about him. So it's perfect. So what is on Instagram working with dog? Is that just you and the pup?

J. Nichole Smith (04:00): So one of the things we'll probably touch on today is the idea of having a niche and how important it is. And my career began in the pet industry. So I was a pet photographer and graphic designer for pet parents and pet businesses and launched a lifestyle brand. Like, you know, t-shirts hats apparel for dog lovers back in 2007, called dog is good. And that brand is, that was the one that is in California. It's still going strong multi-million dollar lifestyle brand. And sort of, as my career grew, I started working with bigger and bigger companies in the pet space. And then when I moved to the UK, ended my masters in marketing. I started to kind of expand outside of pet cause all the same rules apply. But I do think it's really important to have a niche. So working with dog is my membership for pet entrepreneurs.

Terra Bohlmann (04:46): Ooh, very cool. So can I ask you, cause I, what breed is the craziest dog owner? Oh my God.

J. Nichole Smith (04:54): There's so many, to be honest, but let's see, probably tying top awards, go to doxins and pugs.

Terra Bohlmann (05:00): Okay. Interesting. And I think like I just interviewed recently and I have a couple of friends that have Frenchies and they're kind of a little obsessive too. So

J. Nichole Smith (05:09): I have a friend. See, I'm one of those for sure. You're

Terra Bohlmann (05:12): One of those too. I'm an Aussie girl. I love Australian shepherds. I'm like obsessed and I never even liked, I didn't love dogs until you get the right one and we rescued her and then it's just been like, Oh my gosh. Like I don't even, can't even believe I've never experienced life without a dog. Okay. Well, we'll do a whole separate podcast episode on dogs, but yeah,

J. Nichole Smith (05:34): I got into the pet industry because of a great Dane. So every there, yeah, people are crazy about their or their rescue.

Terra Bohlmann (05:41): Were there rescues or are there months or are there ever, I mean, I'm like in, cause you know, cause we're crazy and I'm in like my whole Facebook feed is basically Australian shepherds. Cause I'm in multiple groups, Facebook groups, one's called a little wiggle, but I, I love my butt because Aussies is always wiggle their butts. And then, you know, we've got like a Houston Australian shepherd group. And so I've purposely just bombarded my feed

J. Nichole Smith (06:08): With just logs all

Terra Bohlmann (06:10): Day. So I totally get it. And I get the obsession and I've got to like stop or I'm going to end up the crazy lady with 14 of these dogs.

J. Nichole Smith (06:20): They come in different flavors

Terra Bohlmann (06:22): And colors and I want one of each and so crazy, so crazy. So,

J. Nichole Smith (06:27): So I love that. So very cool. All right. So let's

Terra Bohlmann (06:30): Dig into some things. So talking about your why. Right. And I think it wasn't Simon Sinek who started, who had the books start with why wasn't. Yeah. So, and I, I read that book. I mean, how long has that been out? It's been out for a long, long time and you know, even in my own business, I, I love to always use myself as an example because I'm an open book and really struggled myself with lack of clarity on things. But yet in my zone of genius with my clients, I can see it. Like it's a puzzle, you know? And so, but even for myself, I was like, okay. And as I was transitioning out of the corporate world, I read that book and I was like, whew. Yeah. Like everything in our life happens to us like our, for us, not to us. Right.

Terra Bohlmann (07:16): So, and you often look at your life, like some people, it just feels like, why did this? And then I did this. And then, then I totally did a one 80 and went here and what is the purpose of this? And it wasn't until I got really clear with my, why that a fire lit up inside of me to just be unstoppable with creating a business that really fulfilled that way. So will you talk about what you've seen in working with women entrepreneurs around the struggle to find their why and how they can actually go through the steps to discover it?

J. Nichole Smith (07:52): Mm. I love so much of what you said. I love your language about having this fire lit within you. And that really resonates with the experience I see over and over again with the women that I work with and you know, it is hard. It's not like a simple fast process. And so I think when you finally have that click, I often hear it described as a click or like a lightning bolt, and then it unlocks this tremendous state of flow because everything just opens up. And that idea that you sort of mentioned of suddenly being propelled forward, instead of having all this resistance is what I see happen over and over and over again with people who finally kind of click into that aha moment of like, Oh, this is why. Yeah. And that does take time. It takes time because it takes delving through different layers.

J. Nichole Smith (08:42): And one of the things that I hear a lot when I, especially when I go to different niche groups and I'll use the pet industry as an example, is that, you know, a lot of people think that they know their why because they're in a niche already. So when I talk to people in the pet, they'll say, Oh yeah, I know my why. I'm really passionate about the relationship between dogs and people, for example. And I always have to giggle because I'm always expecting that answer and I always get it. And I'm like, yeah, you and the other 8 million pets

J. Nichole Smith (09:08): Businesses that you are competing with, we got to go deeper. We got to go deeper. Yeah. Yeah. But that's our

J. Nichole Smith (09:14): Trill inclination like that, you know, we're like, okay, good tick. That box let's move on. Right. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So everyone has a different journey. And what I love about the process is that you don't have to have it all figured out in order to move forward. So I have a lot of conversations with people because I'm a branding expert about procrastinate branding.

J. Nichole Smith (09:37): I love that. Like using

J. Nichole Smith (09:40): Your why finding or your branding as an excuse to not do the work in your business. And I know that's a big part of what you talk about in this, you know, getting your five-year plan down into one year and like not letting all these other stupid distractions stop you, which is so easy to do, however that doesn't negate the importance of the work. So there are some kind of quick hacks and we'll talk about some of those today to give you something that I call a work in progress. Why, so you can get something working for you. And we'll talk about what that means and why that works while you continue to do the deeper work. And what I find after the deeper work has been done, or at least done for a period of time, is that people either, typically we'll either do a big rebrand or they'll sort of leave behind something they were doing before and start something fresh, which is more aligned with their why their purpose.

Terra Bohlmann (10:28): I literally feel like you're describing my entire business journey over the last decade

Terra Bohlmann (10:35): Alone when I did, I had an alive,

Terra Bohlmann (10:38): I think last year and I just put it out there cause I'm like, you want to talk about living and running a business around un-clarity let me show you how, what that looks like. And I went to way back machine time and I grabbed snapshots of probably the six different websites I've had over the last like eight years, you know? And it was like, no, this is the new me. And then I would work with a branding person and I'd be like, no, this is me, you know? And it was like, and what's funny is when you work with the right person that pulls it out of you the right way versus how they want you to be seen, like the big missing block is exactly what Nick's saying is you have to get in to root of who you are. Right. So much so versus what do I think everyone wants to hear?

Terra Bohlmann (11:25): Right. And it's like, I have to be okay to fight for my why, to a point where I will put a stake in the ground and I get angry about it if it's like, you know? So that to me was when I knew I was onto something, when you're willing to go to battle for your why, and you can polarize people. And I used to be so scared that I would hurt anyone's feelings that I didn't want to be polarizing. Like, eh, whatever, you know, that's cool. Like the people who are against you or don't believe, you know, they're not going to be part of your, your mission in life anyway. So that's fine. There's someone else for them.

J. Nichole Smith (12:01): Yeah. So true. And we, you know, we have been so conditioned and programmed to fit in and to get along like right. Everything in our Western culture in particular obviously has sort of conditioned us to say like, just do what you're told. Don't rock the boat. Like don't stand out. And the problem with building a brand instead of just a business, is that like foundation number one is your first job is to stand out. Right. It's different. And for me, a lot of, especially working with a lot of women who are building personal brands or who are, you know, building a mission from a very personal place, even if that brand is more of a lifestyle brand, they're digging into their deep passions. And oftentimes they're deep traumas and life experiences and basically the skills and resources and stuff that makes them exactly them, which makes them exactly suited to compete, doing this exact one thing for this exact group of people. And that whole process

Terra Bohlmann (13:01): It's terrifying. Right?

J. Nichole Smith (13:04): Getting at all that stuff, admitting that it's special admitting that it makes you special admitting that this is who you are, and this is what you care about. And then using that as the flag that you, you know, fly on your mountain that you're willing to die on is like so intense and so counterintuitive to what we've been conditioned to do.

Terra Bohlmann (13:22): Yes. So true. And it's like, it brings up all this, Ooh, all this inside junk. Right. And I think I say it almost on every podcast, but I say to my clients all the time and just probably stayed on the podcast all the time too. But it's so true. And I know you can back me up on this, but if you disagree, that's totally fine too. All your personal insecurities start a business because man, they come rising up. As soon as you have to start doing things, especially things that you're passionate about. Ooh, all this like inner stuff comes out and then we start distracting ourselves with like building six websites. I'm in branding, I'm rebranding, I'm re I think the rebranding thing is, is like such a, it's just common in our space. Right. It's like, I'm doing a rebrand and it's like, Oh, so now it's like, after this last round, I'm like, this is me.

Terra Bohlmann (14:15): I mean, even down the photos and like the whole process and whatnot, and you it's an investment. Right. And when you really get to this point, there's other ways I'm sure net can give us on, like, you know, if you're just more starting out or transitioning from your corporate job, you can't go in and do the $10,000 photo shoot right away. I mean, this is evolving, like make some money first and keep reinvesting in it and whatnot. And then I was, I often say I'm like, ah, the new photos or the photos I have, I'm going to look that young for another decade because they're just so like on brand, you know? So, Oh, I love that. So cool. So what advice do you have for that woman entrepreneur that feels the knock? Not like the, I think Oprah used to say that it's like your, why will find you?

Terra Bohlmann (15:01): And we try to rush it sometimes. Especially us fast trackers were like coming out. Like I want to do my thing, you know? And it's like, sometimes it comes as the little knocks as even my own dead and it's like, and then it gets bigger and bigger until you're just like, you don't have a choice. Right. And I think people have seen the why. I know I did. I expected it just to follow the sky and hit me like a ton of bricks and I wake up and I'm like their dose. And then it doesn't, it wasn't that way for me. What are your clients experience whenever they're either not getting that momentum to really, you know, if you ask them, like, I don't feel like I have a why or they have the, why that's 8 million other people have where you're like, Hmm, we need to go deeper on this. Like, what advice do you give them on like the first step in order to start finding the real way?

J. Nichole Smith (15:55): Yeah, it's a great question. I find that most of the people end up in my world when they're at some sort of crossroads. And typically that is either I, what I'm doing right now is working, but it's not working for me anymore. Or I've fallen out of love the money, isn't enough, you know, that kind of thing. Or I'm leaving my corporate job and I want to do something, but I want to start out doing it right. Or some other sort of life event that has forced them to reevaluate and actually look at something as big and bold and scary as purpose, which, you know, the why basically is. And for some people it's, you know, wanting to transition into asking questions about what is their legacy and, you know, with all of the incredible, you know, social justice conversations going on right now, you know, sometimes it can be world events or personal events where we have brushes with our mortality, that, that remind us that money.

J. Nichole Smith (16:48): Isn't the only thing that matters. And then we start to look at, okay, what else is there? And I think the start of that journey is really scary because like you said, it touches on all of that personal development, personal growth stuff. The other thing, you know, there's being an entrepreneur, being someone in business is so triggering for all the reasons that you mentioned, being someone who wants to build a brand, the way I talk about it and define it is about a thousand times worse because you know, it starts with wifi meaning and you got to go there. And that going there starts with asking a few really key questions. And these are some of the sort of quick hacks that I mentioned. One of the most important questions I think we can ask ourselves is how do we want to spend our time? Because I have so many conversations with so many entrepreneurs about so many ideas and brands and businesses and domain names and products and all the things. And it's so easy and I've done this. I started a completely wrong business for myself. I spent

Terra Bohlmann (17:50): Our practice business is what I call it.

J. Nichole Smith (17:53): Yeah. I spent a lot of money. I've got a space that did all this stuff that was like, kind of, for me, the beginning of really starting to do this, why funding work for other people was having to go on that journey. So I have been there and it's because we get caught up in the idea or the, you know, the love of the idea basically. And very rarely do I hear people stop and ask themselves, how do I want to spend my time? Because what you'll often find is a particular business or idea has a lot of requirements that go with it to have absolutely nothing to do with this sexy vision you have of how it's

Terra Bohlmann (18:25): Going to be totally. Right. Yes.

J. Nichole Smith (18:28): So I think that that question is so simple, but so important. How do I want to spend my time? And it can be as simple as I want to be outside, or I like being at a computer by myself without having to see people or, you know, I want to be face-to-face with incredible women or, but you can get a sense of what that looks like for you pretty quickly. If you kind of dig into that question a little bit.

Terra Bohlmann (18:53): Yeah, go ahead. I was going to say my very first dig into it was why do I want to be an entrepreneur? And I was like, well, I would like to work from home. I hate sitting in traffic to go to my office. And that was like, okay, well, terrible, hello. You're a consultant. You get to work from home a lot of the time. So I had to go deeper because it wasn't, I did get to work from home, but I still felt under the thumb of a boss, or I felt like, you know, if I had to, then I live in the outskirts of Houston. If I had to go inside of the loop, you know, and sit in traffic for 45 minutes and this and this and that. And I felt that need always have to multitask. Right. And prove my worth and whatnot, then I'd go deeper and deeper.

Terra Bohlmann (19:33): And I think I can imagine, like, this is so powerful, the work that you do, I wish I would have had someone like you in my life back then, because it is the fast track and this stuff is really important and, Oh, it's so good. It's so good. And when it comes to the why that you will dig into, right, and you just, I would imagine you can just keep getting deeper, like an onion, like peel it back and peel it back to get to that core. And then what happens and how do you align that it could be a personal why into the business model.

J. Nichole Smith (20:10): Yeah. Great point. So I have course that I call find your magic. And a big part of that is, you know, the first step in your wife finding journey is finding your personal why. And that's really hard for people sometimes to step out of like what they know about themselves as a business, or, you know, as a brand or, you know, the products and services that they sell. But the point of a, why isn't that it has anything to do with anything you're doing right now. It has to do with who you are, right. Being or who you want to be. And that it can be really hard to separate that being and doing when obviously we are, again, programmed that the doing is the only thing that matters. Oh my gosh. So I mean like,

Terra Bohlmann (20:48): Everything you're talking about is so true to my own. Why is, yeah. This need to have to prove that we have to work hard in order to prove your ROI.

J. Nichole Smith (20:57): Oh, right. Okay.

Terra Bohlmann (20:59): I know that. That's what made me go on this mission. It's like, okay. My goal, what do I, cause I come from a corporate consulting background and you know, so I been put in

J. Nichole Smith (21:10): Very linear, very, I have to

Terra Bohlmann (21:12): Say, I have two sides of my brain. I'm mostly logical. And I've got this creative side that I couldn't exercise very much when I was in consulting, especially I did a lot of technology and it consulting. So it was very, like, I worked in a mostly male dominated industry. I loved, Oh, so left-brained, and I'm married to an engineer. I think I'm, I have my kids, I breed engineers. I have three boys that I know are going to be

J. Nichole Smith (21:37): Like, Oh yeah. So

Terra Bohlmann (21:39): I'm like living a linear world. Maybe that's why

J. Nichole Smith (21:42): All the dogs, but probably balance. Yeah.

Terra Bohlmann (21:47): I need some feminine. And they're both girls too, because I was going to be like,

J. Nichole Smith (21:50): Come here, girls come inside here.

Terra Bohlmann (21:54): But anyway, what was I saying? So, and it being around that. And so when there would be a female new consultant that would come in, or I worked with a woman, like on a consulting project, it was like, we had this like little inner secret, like, okay. You know, my favorite thing was like, okay, you can, you could go to the bar after work, but just have one drink. Don't be, you know, it was like, we had to like help each other, maneuver this. So we didn't look less than right. And that is really what started my own journey. And then finally I'm like, you know what, forget it. Like I knew after, I mean, it took years of course, like, but it was really like, I want to elevate how this world views women so that we don't feel this need to work so hard to prove our worth. And then it was like, it was women in general. And then, you know, once I got in the entrepreneurial space, I was like, Ooh, this is even deeper for women entrepreneurs. Right. Cause we really feel that need to, you know, quote unquote hustle, you know, which I don't like that word. And I know some people love the work. I know like there's a lot of drama around the world house.

J. Nichole Smith (22:58): Do you feel compelled? Yeah. That's what we're supposed to matter. Yeah. Yeah.

Terra Bohlmann (23:02): So it was just like, whew. And then once then I became on a mission, you know, it was like give a smart woman of plan, which I call business maps, give her a business map and just be consistent and be accountable to taking action on that map. You're unstoppable. Like, it's go time. Right. And you can do this in a way that doesn't, you don't have to work a million hours. Like why do we want to do that? Like go back and get a job. You only know you get benefits and you get like, you know, paid vacation. Right?

J. Nichole Smith (23:33): Yeah. It's like, I want to work less than 40 hours. I don't know about you. But yeah, a lot of what you said kind of comes down to the other thing I think is really important at the start of the wifi learning journey, which is, you know, having a pretty vision of what freedom and fulfillment looks like to you. And like one of the things that I talk about all the time is this idea of finding your, why. And you mentioned this idea of the enchanted rebel. I believe that inside of each of us is what I call an enchanted rebel, which is that part of you that both deserves and desires freedom more than anything else. And for some of us, like I was able to find that rebel early, I've never had a corporate job. I've always been an entrepreneur because I had two entrepreneurial parents and that was normal. Right. That, that was something that was modeled for me. But a lot of the people that I work with are, you know, in their forties or fifties, and they're just now allowing themselves to listen to the call of this inner enchanted rebel. Who's like,

Terra Bohlmann (24:32): Hey, Hey, Hey, when you buy, like where's the

J. Nichole Smith (24:36): Of it for us, you know? And that, that inner voice is so passionate about your freedom and your fulfillment and where the branding comes in is that it's my belief that entrepreneurship in particular is such can be, and is statistically in, in, across the world, an incredible tool for empowerment to raise economic circumstances. And so in the world where, you know, in the capitalist societies that we live in, where we have to make money, to have choices and to feel safe, that entrepreneurship can be a very empowering tool to do that. And if you're just going to build a business, that's pretty hard, right? You're going to build a brand, you get to take all of this personal stuff, all the needs that you have as a human being, to feel connection and purpose and belonging, and to care about the people that you work with and put that on top of a business, which let's be honest.

J. Nichole Smith (25:30): The only reason a business exists is to make money. Like that's the definition of a business, but most of us, that's not enough for us, right? So if you're going to build a business, you might as well build a brand. So you can put all that stuff. That's actually gonna motivate you in there. And by being able to operate as a brand, by pulling all that human stuff in there, you're able to kind of have all of your energy pointing in one direction and having your human energy and your why and your purpose and caring about people and taking care of your customers and all that stuff, sort of pushing the business forward, but especially in your marketing and your communications, which is a lot of what I talk about in why finding, having language, where you're talking about human things, talking about your purpose, talking about your why, which also attracts people like a magnet. So all the marketing stuff is then easier. The whole thing is just like a hack for business to me, much easier and also more profitable. I'm like totally laughing.

Terra Bohlmann (26:29): I mean, we had talked on the pre show, which I should probably record. Sometimes stuff comes out about that. And I think you had said, sometimes we just start with you creating a belief or I believe statement, right? Yeah. And it was so you're like, I'm just gonna just say, like be transparent. She's like, sometimes I'll put you on the spot and ask what yours is. And I was like, Oh, okay, cool. So I was like, I used to have the words down, but now it's so ingrained in me that I have to, like, I don't even think about it because it's just part of my, who I am. And so I went back and found the statement and whatnot and everything. Okay. But everything you're saying is like, you're going to freak out. Like at the statement, I didn't literally just write it in our conversation.

Terra Bohlmann (27:12): I've had this for years. So I am going to, I am going to prove your point and make you look so good. Like, cause you are all right. So my, what I believe is I believe for an idea to become a business, you have to have a rock solid business map and for your business to become profitable, you need to take consistent action. That's my belief and idea is sometimes just a hobby. If it's like she had said a business is when it's making money. Right. And I believe that when you have a plan, which my business maps are, your executable plan is like, when you have that plan it's Oh, and you just take consistent action. It's a lot simpler, simpler. And we make it so complicated because we're trying to just manifest our way to millions without having a plan in place. And you know, I do manifestation techniques, affirmations, all that stuff. It is amazing tools. But when you're really clear with your why, and you're really clear with what you believe to be true, and then you have your offerings around it, like that's where all of it feels really easy. And it doesn't feel like work. It's like the stuff you would do for free anyway, but you're getting paid for it. So I guess

J. Nichole Smith (28:25): I told you, I might put you on the spot and I'm going to do you mind? Okay, sure.

Terra Bohlmann (28:29): I'm nervous. Now this is so good

J. Nichole Smith (28:33): In India. This is really fun, but always the best stuff comes out of it. And you're going to love this and your audience is going to love it. Okay. So you just told me a great, I believe statement about your, essentially about your products and services, right? That this is how I believe this thing works. And this is what I believe it takes to make it work, which is awesome. But you've also already said what I consider to be an, I believe statement. That's more connected with your why rather than your, what, which is that you want to help women not have to work so hard to prove themselves. Right? So if I, based on this short conversation, you've had, if I were going to dig into your, why I would go there, and I would say that your, I believe statement that is going to be powerful and it's going to attract people and help you be magnetic.

J. Nichole Smith (29:19): And the reason people choose you is because you believe women shouldn't have to hustle so hard for love, for proof, for whatever the language is, and you help them start off with a perfect, you know, business plan that enables them to XYZ. So they can Y right. So combine it. Yeah. I would combine it because what, so I'll, I'll talk about this. I believe statement, because it's the, I believe statement is at the beginning and you know, you'll hear people talk about a positioning statement, which is usually, basically, this is what I do, who I do it for. And this is oftentimes they'll try and get the transformation in there, right? Like I help people achieve this transformation, but often what's missing is kind of the juicy, why purpose been? So you've given us that language around, I believe that women shouldn't have to, or that women should or can, or whatever that specific language ends up being that is the mountain that you are willing to die on. You're not willing to die on business plan mountain. You're willing to die on helping women not have to hustle so hard mountain. Right? Yeah.

Terra Bohlmann (30:27): It's true. I'm more willing to die on the mountain of, of women not having to work so hard. However, at one time I was willing to die on the plan thing.

J. Nichole Smith (30:36): Well, mountain is a product mountain. Yeah. This is the right way to do this thing. That's promising. Gotcha. Yeah. So that's the what, and sort of the, how the, why is all about this change you want to make in the world? It's all about this impact that you want to have. It's all about, that's the stuff that lights you up. Yeah, for sure. I'm not saying you're not geeky and passionate about the planning because

Terra Bohlmann (31:02): Yeah. To a point where, and I could, I remember sitting in the audience at a conference, right. And someone got up and one of the speakers or whatever, and was like, talking about how you don't need a plan. You just get out there and start doing and why waste your time? Banks don't even look at them. Remember? And I was like, started shaking. Like it was like, Whoa, like, why is she putting these lies in people's heads? You know, like, so, but I didn't for like, I wasn't willing to get up and like have a comp I wasn't willing to necessarily die on that mountain, as you said, but I was shaking. And that's how I knew it was important to me. So it's very important, but it is the how the, why is,

J. Nichole Smith (31:40): And that stuff is important to us too, especially when you've seen the results. Yeah. People right. And the same with branding, I hear, you know, I have to fight the branding battle all the time, all the time. I think that from my own sense of not enoughness, I've spent so long in my career focusing on building a profitable business, right. Et cetera, et cetera, building a great no-brainer deal and easiest pricing and all that stuff. Because, you know, my definition of a brand is human plus business equals brand. And half of that brand is business. And if you can't get a business working, you're never going to have an awesome brand. So it's important, but I've been so sort of brainwashed as well, by how you know, that brands are fluffy and you don't need them. And you know, that even I have spent so long not talking about this, the why finding and the niche branding and how important it is because we are so, you know, led to believe that the stuff that is big and profound and meaningful and quote unquote fluffy doesn't matter as much as the cold hard. Right.

Terra Bohlmann (32:40): Isn't it would you say? And this just totally came to me like, you know, please be willing to disagree, but I would just say like, from a woman's perspective, right. You look at, like, to me, I feel like is the feminine energy and where the business can come across, like feel more like a masculine energy. And if we can combine that, it's like so powerful.

J. Nichole Smith (33:02): I would totally agree with that because the conversations that I'm having, I was nervous. No, I would totally agree. It's that divine feminine for sure. Because the conversations that I have with people and you'll read this in a marketing textbook is that, you know, people, and this was in the Simon Sinek, in a Ted talk and book as well, is that people make decisions from an emotional place, period. That's a fact that's data. That's no one's arguing with that. But what we as business owners, often struggle to do is to have the right communications messaging, Facebook ads, blog posts, homepages, whatever that are speaking to the emotions. And so many of us are taught about these, you know, quote unquote manipulative marketing tactics, where we go straight for the pain points. And we like, you know, I love Jeff Walker, but you know, talking about all these psychological principles of reciprocity and these other things that were triggering people is, you know, it's brilliant and it works, but it can sometimes make people uncomfortable.

J. Nichole Smith (34:00): And it can be a little problematic, especially in the conversations we're having now about trauma and about, you know, systematic racism and a lot of these other things. This can be a very triggering thing. And I know a lot of people who struggle with marketing and struggle with sales struggle to adopt these sort of complex psychological principles to sell, because they're like, Hey, it shouldn't be this hard. And B I feel slimy. So the way around all of that is to have a genuine purpose to be authentic in yourself and what you care about and to talk about it. Yes. And then people will just want to buy from you. And I know that sounds really simplistic, but it's true. And it, and you are using a lot of the same psychological principles, but it just works from a place that's much more organic and much more authentic.

J. Nichole Smith (34:46): And that is that divine feminine, it's nurturing, it's caring, it's loving. And it comes from this deeply emotional, you know, sort of water element place. And yeah, I definitely think that's true. And the, so getting back to sort of the hack that I'll give you guys, which is helpful is the whole point of having an I believe statement is it enables you to do the one thing I recommend everyone try and do when you're on this wifi learning journey and you're in your work in progress. Why, and even if you don't want to go down the wifi new journey, just do this one thing and it's going to help you make more money for sure. And it's going to help fire you up, get you more excited, get your people more excited is trying to start every conversation, every piece of communication. And I mean, all of them with your why instead of your what, so focusing on your purpose, focusing on why you do what you do, who you do it for and what, and them and their story and this purpose and the change you want to make. And then you can get to what you do and how you do it for you've already got people or you've turned them away. They don't want to know you. And that's great because as you mentioned at the beginning, brands have to be polarizing. People need to be in or they're out. And one of my mentors says like, love me or hate me. There's no money in the middle.

Terra Bohlmann (35:59): I love that. And it's so, so true. And you, until you get okay with people, not agreeing with you, you're going to always stay stuck as the, you know, just kind of blending in with everyone else. And when I worked with my last brand strategist, it was, that's what I said is like, look at all my photos, all my, whatever. I look like a me too coach that has been sitting in the coffee shop with my coffee. And I'm like, I don't ever work from a coffee shop because it's too loud. I could never work from a coffee shop. Why do I have images of me fake sitting in a coffee shop? And it was like, like every other coach out there, it's not me. And then when we went really deep with it, it was like, Ooh, okay. This is how I can be uniquely me with my story layered in with travel and this and that. And then it just goes, and you're just like, Oh my gosh, this is so cool. And it feels so good. And I love this because it all becomes rooted in the why. So, you know, for me, I don't want to work hard all the time because I want to be able to travel and do more things. And I don't, I used to think I wanted the number, like the laptop lifestyle.

J. Nichole Smith (37:07): You're talking about the coffee shop. I was thinking of like stuff on the beach, right.

Terra Bohlmann (37:11): Beach money, all that stuff. And I'm like, okay. And what I found was when my husband and I would, we went to Thailand, you know, wherever we go on these trips, I don't want to be thinking about work. I want to disconnect and actually enjoy the trip. I was resentful if I had to go in and do like six coaching calls or be on a webinar or whatever, I just wanted to go, like, I don't know, feel free to roam. And so I was like, okay, that's cool if that works for some people, but that's not me. Like, I'll work really hard. So I can have some time off to go.

J. Nichole Smith (37:46): Part of that, like freedom and fulfillment and understanding what that is early is, and this is like a whole other conversation, but it's realizing that if you never define or decide what your freedom and fulfillment looks like to you, you're never going to have it. And guess what? You can have a lot of it right now. I don't work on Fridays. And you know how I did that. I just marked all the Fridays off on my calendar. I only do

Terra Bohlmann (38:11): On Tuesdays and Thursdays and that's coaching calls, podcasts, this and this and that because I decided, and that's when I opened my calendar. It's only available for Tuesdays and Thursdays to book. So, and I'm with you Friday,

J. Nichole Smith (38:23): So simple, but like, we just don't set these boundaries because of all the things you've talked about, proving and what we're supposed to do and how it's supposed to look. And I, a hundred percent agree. Like I don't want to be on a laptop on a beach. I want to be on a, like,

Terra Bohlmann (38:37): I don't want to do this context switching all the time. I want my brain to relax. And I love what Nick said. Like, think about that. You can have everything you want now, even if it's in little doses, right. So, you know, for example, I've got the best one. Like, but you can't do it unless you do the work to decide what it is and understand the why behind it. So then you can start going for it. And mine forever was I want to pull, my husband would be like, I'm like, honey, what's it going to take? Like, I want to build, we need to put a pool in the backyard. All the neighbors have pulled. I just want my own pool. He's like, we have, have two amazing polls as part of our neighborhood that we pay money every year to be part of these schools.

Terra Bohlmann (39:18): I'm like, Nope, not the same. I want to be able to just go in the backyard and the pool. And he's like, Oh gosh, you know, so, and then I was on a mastermind and I was talking about how, Hey, give me a goal. Like, I'll do a launch. I personally don't work for the money. I work for what the money brings. Right. Well, Y right. So I don't want the money, money, money, energy. It doesn't fire me up. But what will fire me up is if I do this launch, I can get a pool. So I'm like, I'm going to get the pool. And then like a week later, I was like laughing because I got the pool. But it was like, it's not the pool that in my head, I thought it was the a hundred thousand dollars custom pool, whatever. No, we got a stock tank pool.

Terra Bohlmann (40:01): Like, they're the biggest trend. Now there used to be like on for cattle, right? Those metal big the round. And they're like a big thing on Instagram right now. And so I saw my friend had one and I was like, I had a stock tank, police, calm, horse trots. We had a horse trough pool growing up. It was like our neighborhood bathtub and like so much, many fun memories in those pool. And so I'm like, and people are building decks around them and like decorating them and umbrellas. It's so cute. And Instagram-able, and I was like, that's really what I'm craving. I just want the stock tank pole and a deck around it that this cost me maybe like a thousand bucks. And so my husband's like, Oh, I was like, Oh, tomorrow it pulls me into Lord. He's like what? I'm like, yeah, no, I bought a pole where, you know, Hey, good news.

Terra Bohlmann (40:49): We don't have to get the built-in poll that I've been talking about. Where's this going to get? I just want to soak and have a glass of wine and lay on a raft. Sometimes let's be honest. We're not going to do laps. Thank you, Nick. Not in this to be an Olympic swimmer. No, I mean, I'm good. That's a great example of like, and you could upgrade at some point, if you decide that you want to, you can decide you want the whole pool, or you could just have scratch this itch. I love this. And you know, what's funny is all the neighbors with the fancy pools whose pool do they want to come to the one with the wine one? Yes. And the one with the cute unicorn floaties and the deck with the rain. It's like so cool. So I love that. And if I hadn't have gotten to the root of seeing those sock tank pools and going, that's what I want. I want that community. I want somewhere to sit with my husband at the end of the night and have a glass of wine. I want to watch my kids make Whirlpool Whirlpool, you know, in the pool. And that's all I wanted. And wow. Was I like making it a lot harder than it needed to be. Oh, that's a whole nother podcast. Yes. We've got like,

J. Nichole Smith (42:03): So we have to put in there, like,

Terra Bohlmann (42:05): Just go there, go there, just go there. Well, awesome. This has been just so good. So good. And before I ask you the final question that I asked everyone on the podcast, will you let people know where can they learn more about you? Yeah,

J. Nichole Smith (42:18): Absolutely. So my website is Jnicolesmith.com. And that is J N I C H O L E S M I T H. And as you mentioned at the beginning, Instagram is a great place to hang out with me. We do some cool stuff there, and we have a really awesome free daily ritual that you can sign up for where I send little wifi, finding prompts to you every morning to give you some connection. And it's rooted in some language and the four elements, which is what my branding and messaging is all based in as well as some applied color psychology, which is a really fun aspect of branding and being able to kind of connect with energy through an element like color. So that's something that you can sign up for there or through Instagram as well.

Terra Bohlmann (43:00): So cool. And I totally stalked her website. It's amazing. So definitely go to J Nicole smith.com and I love we spell our names almost the same. So my middle name's Nicole and my whole life, I, my maiden name is boo. So I know it was Terra, Nicole BU, and my best friend's name was Nicole. And she's thought it N I C O L E. Well, I always assumed that's how I spell my name until like I was telling my friend this and she's like, girl, me too. Like we were laughing. So the whole time until I was like 14 years old, I thought that's how I spelled my name. Right. Cause that's a quote, unquote normal spelling until I found a birth certificate at home. I was like, mom, my middle name is spelled N I C H O L. She's like, Oh yeah. You know, I guess I didn't really know how to spell it. And was I was in the hospital and I had you. And I was like, Oh, this whole time. So it was good way. It's pretty funny.

J. Nichole Smith (43:58): My middle name as well. The J is for Jessica, but I've gone by Nicole since I was 12.

Terra Bohlmann (44:03): That's so cool. I always say, people are like, what's your middle name? I'm like, it starts with an N and they always go Nancy. And I'm like, Nope. And it takes them like 18 times to get to me. I'm like, it's Nicole. Like, Oh yeah. The things that we do, I don't know, but I love it. So go to J N I C H O L E smith.com and she has an amazing loads of resources available to you. And you can learn more about next mission to get women to understand their why so they can build it into their brand and make a bigger impact. So thank you. I, before we wrap up, so the name of the podcast is the fast track entrepreneur. So, and it's for women entrepreneurs who obviously want to go faster in their business. So what do you say to that high achieving woman who is, who really expects that she should be further along in her business than she is right now. And she's frustrated like, well, I'm smart. Why can't, I don't understand like why I'm not further along in my business journey. What do you say to her?

J. Nichole Smith (45:06): Oh, I'll say two things. The first thing is that, and I'm sure this is probably a fairly common answer that it's time to look at the stories. Like there are stories that you were telling yourself about what is and what isn't possible and what you do and do not deserve. And those are defining your reality. And I think, you know, a big part of, of why finding is starting to uncover some of those stories and being able to create that freedom and fulfillment plan that sort of blows all that stuff out of the water and allows you to create a vision of what you really, really want. And then they come to you to figure out the plan of how they're actually going to get there, finding that vision, finding, getting clear on what you want and just leave the, what you think is possible behind for a minute and leave what you think you deserve or what is for you behind. And just really get clear on what you want, like the pool. And some of those stories will start to uncover themselves.

Terra Bohlmann (46:08): See, do you understand why I do this podcast? Because it's advice like that, that like, yes, this is what women entrepreneurs need to know is just anything we can do. And I know you probably, you went through your journey. I went through mine and she went through,

J. Nichole Smith (46:23): I was just going to say, I've been there and I will be there again because put up leveling is all about exactly.

Terra Bohlmann (46:33): So I say, it's like, when does it get easier? Like when you, unless you're willing to stay at this level, like when you're, and I fill it, I'm sure you fill it all the time, but you start getting those knocks where you feel like you're being called up, called up to like next level. Let's climb that mountain a little bit more. You know, we get, cause I'm a baby stepper. And then I like to anchor down and hang out for a little bit. And then I get back on and I like go further. And I do it scared a lot of the times just like everyone else. And you know, but it's what you have to do to like fulfill this.

J. Nichole Smith (47:07): Right. I just add something on the back of that really quickly, which is, was a huge profound aha for me the first time I ever invested big in like coaching, which, which was terrifying for me because it was way more money than I had. And I felt really irresponsible and it triggered all this other stuff. But what I realize of why that is so powerful and as people say, you know, the transformation is in the transaction is because when you invest money in, you know, a coach or a program that is really suited to you, that really can help you. There's the leap of faith that you have to take, that this is that you trust yourself, which is part of it. But what you're actually investing in is someone else who's further along than you, who can see how simple and easy it is for you to get where you want to go and they've done it and they've been there and you borrow their experience, their lived experience of what's possible and what's easy.

J. Nichole Smith (47:58): And you cling to that until you have that experience for yourself, because we are so defined by the experiences we've had. It's so hard for us to see what we haven't had or experienced. And so part of what, you know, coaching and mentoring and being part of big, scary masterminds is all about, is borrowing other people's lived experience until you've had it yourself so that you can just get through those steps that are so hard until you've had the lived experience. And then it's you, it's a part of you. You can repeat it all day long because you know that it's possible for yourself. You got it. And oftentimes I say, my job, even as a coach is I have to hold space for women that are working through the mindset, the business strategies, and you know, the plan and, you know, I hold space for them until they're ready to step into that. And like, like you I'm sure I like to work with people when they're ready to go. Right. And it's like, not the ones that are, we know we don't want to just take anyone's money just to do it. It's like, I haven't invested in the transformation. Like I want to see. Oh. And my job is to coach you out of coaching with me so that you can

Terra Bohlmann (49:04): Go on to the next person we're done then.

J. Nichole Smith (49:07): Yeah. So very, very cool. Well, this has been fantastic. There is never an accident on the people that you meet in your life, Nick. And honestly, I felt like we were meant to have connected and done this episode for women, not relievers. And I just appreciate you and all the goodness and good stuff you brought to this. So thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

Outro (49:28): And there you have it. Another jam packed episode of the fast-track woman podcast, don't forget to visit Terra Bohlmann.com where you can get more business tips and strategies learn how we can work together to accelerate your business success or access this podcast. Episode show notes with a full transcript and links to resources mentioned today. And if you enjoyed this podcast, I invite you to leave a review so that we can help serve more women business owners like you until next time here's to owning your time and valuing your word.