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You Are the Asset: Stop Waiting for Permission and Start Moving Like a CEO - She's So Lucky | Wave AI Podcast Notes

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You Are the Asset: Stop Waiting for Permission and Start Moving Like a CEO

She's So Lucky

Tue Mar 03 2026

Summary

She's So Lucky
Host: Les Alfred
Episode: "You Are the Asset: Stop Waiting for Permission and Start Moving Like a CEO"
Date: March 3, 2026

Episode Overview

In this solo episode, Les Alfred kicks off March and a new thematic series focused on “The Business of You”—inviting listeners to adopt a CEO mindset in their own lives. Les candidly shares her personal and professional evolutions, reflects on what it means to be the asset in your own story, and offers practical, actionable mindsets for navigating life, business, and self-worth. Throughout, Les brings humor, authenticity, and plenty of food for thought, especially for women wanting to build agency, autonomy, and success on their own terms.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. “Take Two” and Personal Backstory (00:01–07:00)

Les opens the episode confessing it’s a re-record, thanks to a string of illness and antiviral side effects that made her previous version unusable.
This fresh start leads to deeper, more timely reflections on her career, business, and self-understanding.
The month’s focus: translating lessons from entrepreneurship into broader life skills for all women.
- Quote:
  “There’s so much about business that we can apply to our lives... even if you don’t want to own your own business, business and more specifically capitalism is going to do us all.” (06:23)

2. Evolving Identity & Navigating Feedback (07:01–19:30)

Les discusses her shift from “OG Internet wellness girly” to a multi-faceted creator interested more in conversations than routines.
She addresses audience feedback: sometimes it’s unclear what her “thing” is, and she acknowledges feeling in-between categories.
- “It’s because I don’t have a tangible thing... I think I’m someone who has a talent for facilitating conversation, but that’s not easy to see and understand at a glance.” (09:15)
Les embraces not fitting in a box, and details her discomfort with “packaging” herself for clarity’s sake.
She encourages listeners to reflect on their own identity, vision, and what success looks like for them.

3. Inspirations & Reinventing Success for 2026 (20:00–27:45)

Les shares her entrepreneurial inspirations: Oprah and Martha Stewart.
- Appreciates their longevity, reinventions, willingness to walk away, and building empires from authenticity.
- Acknowledges the current landscape is “democratized” but dominated by metrics (followers, reach).
She questions whether becoming a mega influencer is the only pathway to platform power—and admits it doesn’t feel authentic or desirable for her.
- “Everybody claims that they want authenticity, but for some reason, we only think things are authentic when someone is literally down horrendous. We don’t find authenticity in power, in joy...” (24:35)
Les rejects performative messiness and commiseration as a growth hack, vowing to stay true to her vision of uplifting and connecting women meaningfully.

4. The Pressure to Be Everything (27:46–34:30)

Opens up about pressure to always have answers as a public “big sister”—yet is currently in a season of questions.
Reflects on boundaries: “What if what I have to offer is never ‘enough’?”
Discusses the uncomfortable influx of unsolicited advice and external critique after soliciting feedback about her business.
Rejects the narrative she must manufacture drama or messiness for engagement.
- “Do I need to create mess to be seen as interesting?...I’m showing up week after week being authentic, and being who I am, and yet I’m told that’s not good enough.” (33:45)
Emphasizes the value and dignity of being prepared and articulate, challenging the notion that “mess” is the only authentic content.

5. The Business of You: Becoming the Asset (35:00–44:30)

Les pivots to the episode theme: what does it mean to treat yourself as the asset?
Shares a personal story about losing her voice before a keynote and how it illuminated that her voice is her number one asset.
- That led to investing in vocal lessons: “That experience of losing my voice last year showed me what my most important asset was.” (38:50)
Stresses the importance of identifying and investing in your own assets—whether talent, looks, skills, or traits.
Candidly notes she invests in her appearance for her video content, and encourages listeners to recognize what assets move doors for them.
Reminds everyone to play the cards they’ve been dealt, not obsessed with what they lack.

6. Business Acumen for Every Woman (44:30–46:30)

Les insists that business acumen isn’t just for entrepreneurs:
- “The business of you is not about being a girl boss. It’s about being the asset... and understanding what your assets are to help you live the version of life that feels best to you.” (45:45)
Advocates for agency, autonomy, and not relying on anyone else (partners, families, institutions) for long-term security.

7. CEO Mindset: How to Move & Decide (46:31–49:50)

A CEO doesn’t wait for permission—she assesses, decides, and acts.
“Who are you hiring, firing, promoting, or demoting?” Applies not just to people but to habits, beliefs, and self-image.
Action steps for listeners:
- Identify your assets & liabilities. What’s costing you more than it gives?
- Make one CEO-caliber decision each week.
- Don’t outsource important life choices to people who don’t share in the consequences.
“A CEO would not outsource the most important decisions of her life to people who do not have stake in the outcome... The business of you is always open.” (49:15)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“There’s so much about business that we can apply to our lives... even if you don’t want to own your own business, business and more specifically capitalism is going to do us all.” — Les Alfred (06:23)
“It’s because I don’t have a tangible thing... I think I’m someone who has a talent for facilitating conversation, but that’s not easy to see and understand at a glance.” — Les Alfred (09:15)
“Everybody claims that they want authenticity, but for some reason, we only think things are authentic when someone is literally down horrendous. We don’t find authenticity in power, in joy...” — Les Alfred (24:35)
“Do I need to create mess to be seen as interesting?...I’m showing up week after week being authentic, and being who I am, and yet I’m told that’s not good enough.” — Les Alfred (33:45)
“That experience of losing my voice last year showed me what my most important asset was.” — Les Alfred (38:50)
“The business of you is not about being a girl boss. It’s about being the asset... and understanding what your assets are to help you live the version of life that feels best to you.” — Les Alfred (45:45)
“A CEO would not outsource the most important decisions of her life to people who do not have stake in the outcome... The business of you is always open.” — Les Alfred (49:15)

Key Timestamps

00:01–07:00: Introduction, personal catchup, transition to business themes
07:01–19:30: Evolving creator identity, audience feedback, “my thing”
20:00–27:45: Inspirations (Oprah, Martha Stewart), modern platform/influencer dynamics
27:46–34:30: The pressure to perform, authenticity vs. messiness
35:00–44:30: Treating yourself as the asset, personal health and branding investments
44:30–46:30: The case for business acumen, “the business of you”
46:31–49:50: Practicing the CEO mindset, actionable steps for listeners

Closing Challenge

Les invites listeners to:

Think like a CEO of their own life
Identify their key assets and liabilities
Make one CEO-level decision each week in March
Report back and share their progress with the “Clovers” community

Stay tuned for next week’s episode with Alex Hill of Just Add Hot Sauce, diving into building a solo food media business and what it means to bet on yourself.

This episode is a candid, motivating call-to-action for women to assess, protect, and invest in themselves—not waiting for permission, applause, or external validation—and to move through life as the true asset and CEO they are.

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Transcript

A (0:01)

The following podcast is a Dear Media production. Welcome back to she's so Lucky. My name is Les. I'm your host and it's a new month, so if you're unfamiliar with how things work around here, at least how we've been doing things in 2026, I've been starting off each month with a solo episode. I know for so many of our Clovers, which is what we call our community here at she's so Lucky, they love our solo episodes. And then for the new, they like it so that they can get to know me. So that's how we balance. Like first week of the month, solo episode, the rest of the month, interviews with our amazing guests. And I feel like it's been a good balance. Shout out to the previous name of this show to get a good mix of both. And what's funny about this episode, this is actually my second go round at recording it because I recorded what was supposed to be today's episode a few weeks ago, and I went back and I reviewed that footage and I said, girl, what the fuck are you talking about? Because in late January, early February, I was down horrendous. Could not catch a break. I kept getting sick time and time again. I had a terrible cold. And then after getting over the cold, I then got shingles. 0 out of 10 do not recommend. After getting shingles, I then got put on an antiviral medication to help me heal from the shingles. And I was not familiar with antiviral medications. I, in my mind, I thought it was like an antibiotic because I'm not a doctor, and in my brain those are the same things. And I thought, okay, antibiotic. It's like that. No, it's not. I was taking this medicine and I was actually out of my mind. Not only did it make me incredibly dizzy and gave me, like shooting headaches, but I would speak and I would make no sense. And while I was on that medication, I thought that it would be a good idea to fly to Los Angeles and record four podcast episodes. And now after getting those podcast episodes back, I realized it was actually not a good idea to do that. Some of the podcast episodes I was able to use, some of them I was not. And so here we are again doing a take two for our beginning of March solo episode. But I actually think that it's a good thing that I'm rerecording this episode because I've had a lot of things happen over the past couple of weeks since I initially recorded it that I think will be really Good to incorporate here because for the month of March, the theme of the show is going to be all about. About the business of you, how to be the CEO of your life. Because around here we take care of business. If you have been following me for a little while, you've probably seen that I have been incorporating a lot more talk about entrepreneurship and business into my content, particularly over the past two years, because it's something that has become incredibly important to me. And I've just been exploring my own entrepreneurial interests a lot more and I get really excited to share that. And the more that I learn about business, the more that I realize there's so much about business that we can apply to our lives. There's so much that I wish I knew even when I still worked in corporate and I didn't know that entrepreneurship was going to be on my radar. That absolutely still applies from learning about business in different ways. And I actually think whether you're a corporate girl, whether you are a stay at home mom, whether you are also an entrepreneur or a side hustler, or you aspire to be, there's so much about business that you can learn that can help you and that you can apply to whatever it is that you've got going on. The same way when people say, oh, I don't do politics, and we're all like, but politics is gonna do you. I feel that same way about business. Even if you don't necessarily want to own your own business, business and more specifically capitalism is going to do us all. And I think really understanding how these things exist and how we all exist within these structures is incredib. I also think now more than ever, it is incredibly important to support businesses of people who are like us, of women, of black women we know right now times are spooky, ooky, especially for people who are building things without a lot of support, without resources, without institutional structures behind them. And understanding how that works so that we can understand where we all fit within that system, so that we can help one another rise up, is incredibly important. So all month long we're going to be exploring different themes, themes of business, but also themes of what it looks like to really be the CEO of your life. So I'm very excited to be sitting down with business owners who are kind of across the gamut, whether that is solopreneurs who work in media. I have some entrepreneurs who are kind of just within the first year of their business who are creating package goods, as well as different advisors who can just give us an understanding of what business looks like across the spectrum and where we fit into it. Whether we want a business ourselves or whether we are somebody who merely just wants to support them and see that win. Because I don't know about you, but I am so sad and sick and tired of seeing incredible businesses of ours not make it for reasons that shouldn't exist. Not because these founders aren't amazing, not because what they're creating isn't wonderful, not because they're not smart and they're not strategic, but because what they're up against is just so tall and difficult to overcome. And so we're going to talk about how we all fit into that ecosystem. I wanted to take a step back and to talk a little bit more about how I got there, because when a lot of people met me, I was like the OG Internet wellness girly. I started creating content in 2014, started this podcast in 2018. During both of those periods of time I was peak wellness. I ate and breathed and slept, fitness and nutrition and supplements and wellness like to the nth degree. And that is where so many people met me. And particularly over the past few years, I've moved away from that. Not in the sense that like I don't care about wellness, because I do. But I think even I got a little tired of having 87 step routines for every little thing. And it began to feel a little bit redundant to me as I started growing and evolving and getting into other interests, I wanted to lean into other topics and other conversations more. And I realized I was never really as clear with bringing you all along for the ride as I thought I was. Now lately I've been getting a lot of feedback on the Internet, which is very helpful as an Internet person because the people who are the consumers and end users of my content are the customer. My content is the product. You guys are the customer. By listening to this and watching this, you are consuming the product. And I've been getting a lot of feedback. Sometimes it's a little bit much, sometimes the delivery could use a little bit of work. But what I have realized and what has been a consistent piece of feedback is that sometimes it's unclear to you guys what my thing is. And I think for myself it's been a little bit unclear what my thing is because I'm not somebody who has a super distinguishable talent or angle. And I don't mean that in a self deprecating way at all. But I mean there are people who it's like a very sticky, tangible thing that they are able to offer you somebody who is really good at makeup and is a beauty girl down can show you how to like use a product and beat your face. And that is like very tangible. That is very sticky. It is very easy to see and understand that at a glance. Or somebody who is a fashion girly can show you how to style something and do that really well. And that is very tangible and easy to understand at a glance. For somebody like me, who is not necessarily one of those things, I think I'm somebody who has a talent when it comes to facilitating conversation and being here and having conversations like this and being able to interview people. And I'm not saying that's not a talent because it's something that I've cultivated and I've worked very hard to be good at. But that's not tangible. It's not easy to then say, oh, this is who she is and this is what she does and this is what I go to her for. Because the average person isn't necessarily looking to be a better interviewer or be a better conversationalist in that way. They're not looking at the art of conversation. They're looking at what can I get from the conversation. And because so much of my work spotlights other people who do have more tangible expertise, where I sit gets lost in the shuffle. And what my thing is gets lost in the shuffle. But what I'm realizing is it's because I don't have a tangible thing. I don't necessarily fit into a specific package. And I thought that I needed to. And for a while I have tried to fit myself into different packages. I think wellness was that package for a while, especially way earlier in my career when I did more of like the fitness training and the fitness ebooks and creating workout plans that felt very tangible, it felt very sticky. It was easy for people to hold on to, but I actually kind of hated doing it. And I didn't necessarily see the business that I wanted coming out of that, which was a big part of the pivot. Even when this show was Balance Black Girl. When I thought about what the potential for a business could be as Balanced Black Girl, what made the most sense was doing something like having a wellness community and hosting wellness retreats and things of that nature. And those were all things that I had either done in some capacity, had never done a retreat, but I did at one point have a membership that, you know, had little self care resources and we would have little webinars and journal prompts and stuff like that. I realized that that's not the business that I wanted. I I don't want to host wellness retreats in Costa Rica. Wellness retreats in Costa Rica are great, by the way. I've been on them and there are people who do a phenomenal job at that. But that's not who I am. That's not the work that I want to do. I don't wanna host retreats. I don't want to have a gated community doing content that way. And so I've really had to come back to the drawing board and say, who am I? What do I want and what is my vision? And even though initially those questions came to me from a business standpoint, and I still think of them mostly from a business standpoint, I also think that those questions can apply to your life. Who are you? What is your vision? What do you ultimately want, and what makes sense in your soul to be able to deliver? Foreign.

A (11:46)

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I have been a paying Nuuly member for years and it has actually been one of the best investments I've made in myself to help me improve my style. Whenever you want to try a new style, let's say maybe a new cut of jeans or a different color or silhouette that you're not used to renting it is the best way to try something new. Because if you're not sure how something's going to look on you, it's amazing to be able to rent it to try it out before committing to adding it to your wardrobe full time. I also love that I can rotate in seasonal pieces into my wardrobe, whether I want to have some really cute kind of funky coat options during the winter, or let's say I'm going on a trip to somewhere warm during the winter and my summer wardrobe is stowed away. I'm able to add different seasonal elements to my closet with Nuuly, and they don't have to take up space all year round. You get access to thousands of pieces from brands you already love, like Agoldi, Lioness, Farm, Rio and Gani. Sizes are inclusive, shipping is fast, returns are free, and everything comes professionally cleaned so it's ready to wear as soon as you get your shipment. Nuuly is an amazing value at 98amonth for six styles and clovers can get $28 off their first month with the the code LUCKY. So go to n u l y dot com and use the code LUCKY at signup to get $28 off your first month. That's Nuuly with two U's, n u u l y dot com and don't forget to use the code Lucky. Now I don't have any answers here because I have not fully figured that out for myself, nor for my business. But these are all questions that I am exploring, and I'm exploring them in real. I am exploring them out loud because I'm realizing that I am a person and a creator who cannot fit into a box. I can't tangibly teach you how to do anything. I can't teach you how to beat your face. I can't teach you how to do your hair. I can technically teach you how to work out, but, like, I don't really like doing that anymore. Scroll back to my content on the Internet from, like, 10 years ago, and it's still there. That's just no longer my ministry. I can't tangibly teach you how to do anything. I can have compelling, interesting conversations. I can introduce you to really dope women who you may not know, who are doing cool things that can help you. And I can live out loud and authentically. And I'm trying to figure out how to grow that into an empire. And a question that I raised on social media recently is, can I do that without being a mega influencer? When I think about the people who I most look to in business, who are my biggest inspirations, the first couple that come to mind would be Oprah. When I was a little girl, that was what I wanted to be when I grew up. I used to love watching the Oprah show. I loved that she could just ask people kind of whatever she wanted and get in their business and be nosy. I remember how much my mom was always reading, like, the Oprah Book Club books or Oprah's Chef made a cookbook of salads. And my mom would, like, make salads from this cookbook all the time. And I thought that it was really cool that she was so involved in books, and I just loved that. And so from a very young age, I was very drawn to journalism and media and storytelling because I saw her do it, and I wanted to be like that when I grow up. And also now that I get older, I see a lot of things about her life that I'm also like. Yeah, I also really like that. I like that she knew when to walk away from things like her daytime talk show when she was ready to move on to a different challenge. I like how open she's been about the challenges of growing and having her television network. I like the different ways that she's pivoted. I like that she has this big, beautiful house and garden and that man lives out in the backyard. All of these things. I'm like, yeah, that still tracks. I still like that. And I wanna be like that. So she's a big career inspiration for me. And then another big career inspiration for me would be Martha Stewart, minus the jail thing. But I first of all, as a Leo queen, respect her down because she is the most Leo of all Leos. But she took being herself and turned it into by now an empire that has spanned like five decades and continues to evolve and pivot and still be an incredible media figure. Here's the problem. Both of my biggest inspirations are like 70 plus. And both of them built their empires in the 80s and in the 90s when the world was incredibly different. Here in the year of our Lord 2026, it is not the same landscape and world that the Oprah's and the Martha Stewarts built their empires in. 2026 is very different in the sense that it's democratized in a lot of ways, which is amazing. Anybody has a phone, Internet can create and do anything. That's how I've even been able to get this far, which I'm so grateful for. I see where I want to go and it feels like the only way to get there in our current landscape is to be a mega influencer. And that is not what I am looking at the numbers, looking at the opportunities, looking at the people who are getting the opportunities that I would like to be a part of. They are people who pull in higher numbers to do different types of work. But the core of it is numbers. Having a bigger platform where those juicy guests want to come on because they know that the eyeballs are consistently there. Having the opportunity to be media figure and a media head for a lot of these platforms because that person has enough eyeballs to bring with them to that platform. I am not somebody who has enough eyeballs that I would be considered for these things. Because a platform is like, yeah, you don't have enough eyeballs to bring people with you. So no, you don't. You don't get to be a part of this. You don't get this. And so the question that I've been asking is, do I have to do that? Is that the only path to get there? Or is there another path that I can take to get to where I want to be without having millions of followers? Because I actually know what I could do to have millions of followers if I were to get online and cry about all the different ways that a man has done me wrong. I guarantee you it will go viral. I guarantee you I will get followers. I've done that. I've posted stuff like that. I've gone viral for stuff like that, and I hated it. It was the worst feeling because I didn't want that to be the reason why someone resonated with me. Even though, yes, I know you know, these emotions and all of that stuff is what helps people connect. And I get that. And I don't think that there's anything wrong with vulnerability. But if the only thing about me that can compel you is heartbreak and misery and publicizing ways that I've been mistreated, like, there's nothing else I can do that can compel you, there's nothing else I can do that's interesting, that moves you, then those aren't the people that I want to attract. And I know for me, it's just not genuine. It is incredibly performative. And everybody claims that they want authenticity, but for some reason, we only think things are authentic when someone is literally down horrendous. We don't find authenticity in power. We don't find authenticity in joy. We don't find authenticity in things that are uplifting. So while I know I could do numbers off of those things, it would be the wrong numbers. It would be the wrong things. I don't think that that would get me necessarily a step closer to my Oprah Stewart empire. I think it would get me a community of commiseration, which is the opposite of the vision that I have, when ultimately, my vision for this space is to uplift, and my vision for this space is to amplify women who are doing really cool things and to make you believe that you can do cool things. What is tricky is that what works in this space, when it comes to podcasting, when it comes to media, is hopping on whatever the latest reality show is, is hopping on whatever the latest mess is. And so I have to now sit with, is it worth holding on to my vision and my intention if my vision and intention are not going to get me where I want to be? And it's a really tricky question because it can be so easy to say, hold on to your values and don't sell your soul, and da, da, da. And it's so easy to say that when it's other people, but when it's yours and you realize that, like, you can have a really beautiful vision, but you don't know if that vision will actually go anywhere because that vision may not necessarily be what people want. It's a lot to sit with. And so that's kind of where I am right now, when I reflect on my business and my life and where I'm going. And again, I don't really have any answers. All I have for myself is questions. Questions that I'm hoping to uncover sooner rather than later so that I can figure out where to go from here. But I think I'm also becoming more comfortable with not having the answer, with having just questions. I feel a lot of pressure to have the answer all of the time because I feel like I'm often put in this role of being a big sister, which I quite literally am from a family standpoint, but also from an Internet standpoint. I am somebody who is supposed to be able to answer every DM and answer every problem and let everybody pick my brain and know exactly what you should do in every situation. And it's a lot of pressure because I'm now in so many situations in my life where not only do I not have any big sister figures who I can turn to, but I also can't even do that for myself at this point. And I have to sit with who am I if I feel like I can't provide any sort of tangible value? What is the business of me if it feels like what I have to offer you guys has never been good enough? And after posing the question of like figuring out what am I going to do with my business, I got this influx of unsolicited advice was, was very well intentioned and most of it was very constructive. And then also some of it were people just coming in my DMs to tell me I ain't no diva. Which by the way, you're wrong, obviously. A lot of it was also very accusatory of pointing out all of the ways that I fall short and all of the things that I do wrong and why I'm not more popular and why I'm not more interesting. And so much of it relates to a lot of what I just said, which was like not being messier, not talking more about reality tv, not talking more about dating, not crying on the Internet. But like, those things are genuinely not who I am. I fucking loathe. Love is blind and that's no shade. If you like them, you can. I hate them every time I sit and watch them. I'm. I want my time back. So it doesn't make sense for me to be on here talking about them because I despise watching them. You know what I mean? Like, and so. Or somebody told me that my platform wasn't messy and I was like, yeah, but my life isn't messy, so do I then need to create mess to be Seen as interesting. Again, we say we want people to be authentic and to be who they are. And I'm showing up week after week being authentic and being who I am, and yet I'm told that that's not good enough and that's not interesting enough. I'm not somebody who feels the need to be super polished all the time. And I think when people say that about me, it's not that I'm showing up trying to be perfect and polished. It's that I like to be prepared. It's that I'm not Cam Newton making up words. I like to use real words. I like to be respectful of my guests. I give a shit when I'm talking to people, and I let them talk. And the fact that being prepared and articulate is seen as being inauthentic, I think is really weird and something that I really disagree with. It's just a lot. And I'm trying to figure out what meat to take and what bones to leave. It's super, super tricky. And I think probably a few months from now, I will look back at this point and I will be in a much better place, and I will have figured out what path to take, and I will probably look back on this time really fondly. But right now, while I'm in the thick of it, I'm like, girl, no wonder you had shingles. You were so stressed. Just with the sheer amount of things kind of thrown at me, I look at the business of myself and what it looks like to build what it is I want to build in a year, like 20, 26. I don't know. I think I just have a lot of discovery and a lot of reflection to do. And I think my natural reaction is to do more and is to work harder and is to try more. And I think it's probably beneficial to take a step back and to do less and really figuring out what is the balance between what I want and what you guys want. And I think for a long time, I only prioritized what you guys want. You guys would say jump. I would say how high. You guys would want. This I would do. I did everything that it felt like other people wanted me to do for so long. And now that I'm wanting to lean more into my vision, it feels like the only way that I can keep you guys happy is by betraying myself. And for myself as a business owner and as an Internet figure, there's gotta be a way to have peace with both. I'm never gonna be able to make everybody happy. But I can't be something that I'm not to appease other people. But I also know that the vision that I have for my life is so grand and so great that I'm not willing to accept something smaller because I have to do things my way. Because if what it is I want to bring to the market isn't what the market wants, there also has to be adjustment there too. And that is where business and life weave in and intersect in such weird, interesting ways. So I've been thinking a lot about the version of me that I'm building, the lucky version of me, and she does not sacrifice on sleep. But in order to be well rested, I have to have a solid night routine. Because sleep is not optional. Sleep is a strategy. When I'm rested, I'm sharper, I make better decisions, and the way I close my day determines how I start the next one. So for me, that usually involves a really relaxing nighttime shower followed by skincare from the OSEA Dream Collection. I use their Night Serum and the Dream Night Cream as a signal that the day is complete. Powered by bioretinol and clinically tested, they work overnight to visibly remove dryness, fine lines, dullness and loss of firmness. And what I love is it doesn't just feel like skincare, it truly feels like a nervous system. Reset the textures, the scent, they all signal that it's time to wind down and relax, which is just as good for my nervous system as it is for my skin. They also just launched the Dream Retinol Bio Serum which has been the perfect addition to my post night shower body care routine. Because we all know how good retinol is for your face, but it's also really great for your body. It's a full body restorative treatment, but also has red seaweed, magnesium and lavender to visibly firm, smooth and support your skin barrier with less irritation. But more than that, it promotes a sense of serenity and calm that makes falling asleep even easier. Because your night routine should work for both your skin and your nervous system, give your skin a rest with clean, clinically tested skin care from osea. Right now we have a special discount just for our listeners. Get 10% off your First Order site wide with code bbgocamalibu.com We've all had points where we have felt like we needed to be incredibly strong. Whether we are the strong friend, the high functioning one, the woman who does it all and handles it all, the one who says I'm fine and keeps moving but white knuckling your way through life isn't strength, it's survival. And survival is not the same thing as support. But when you decide, okay, I'm ready to go talk to someone, I'm ready to start therapy, open your laptop. You start looking for therapists. The whole process can be incredibly overwhelming. Finding someone in your area, finding someone who takes your insurance and fits with your schedule, it can be so, so confusing. It shouldn't feel that hard. Which is why there's Rula. Rula partners with over 100 insurance plans, making the average copay around $15 per session, sometimes even $0 depending on your benefits. It's a real therapy with licensed professionals covered by insurance the way healthcare is supposed to work. And what I love is they don't assign you to whoever has an opening. Rula really works to match you off of the right provider based off of your goals, your preferences and your background. They give you a curated list of of in network professionals who are actually aligned with what you need and appointments can be available as soon as the next day. They even offer medication management and ongoing check ins. Because care shouldn't feel transactional, it should feel supportive. Thousands of people are already using Rula to access high quality therapy that's actually covered by Insurance. Visit rula.com Lucky to get started. After you sign up they will ask how you found out about them and please let them know that I sent you that. That's r u l a.com Lucky lately I've been thinking about momentum and how it's not built in giant leaps but more manageable steps. Small, consistent choices that say I take care of myself. And one of the easiest upgrades that I've made is keeping R.W. knutson juices in my fridge. It sounds simple, but what is in your glass matters. Whether it's a part of my slow, grounded morning routine or a midday reset to overcome an afternoon slump, these juices make even the most basic moments feel intentional. They're 100% juice with no added sugar, just clean, high quality ingredients that don't need dressing up. So in the morning, while I'm getting ready or after a workout, I pour a glass of the R.W. knudsen Organic Beet juice. Beets are known for supporting circulation and heart health, but more than that, it feels like I'm choosing longevity. It's earthy, it's grounding, and it's a way to help me feel steady before the day really picks up. Or if I want something brighter, I'll reach for the organic just pineapple juice. It's naturally Sweet, refreshing and pineapple is associated with helping digestion and immune support. And it genuinely feels like energy in a glass. Here's the thing. R.W. knudsen crushes only the best ingredients so that you can crush your day. You don't need a full life overhaul. Sometimes it just starts with one aligned choice. So go ahead and crush 100% of your day, morning, afternoon, evening and all the in between moments with 100% juice and no added sugar. Pick up a bottle of R.W. knudsen at your local grocery store today. So what does this mean for not only the business of me, but the business of you? I am a firm believer that every woman needs business acumen. Again, whether you're a corporate girl, whether you are a stay at home mom, whether you are an entrepreneur, whether you work in corporate, but also have a side hustle. I think that business acumen is incredibly important for all of us to have. And I want this to be a space where we can talk more about that and almost have our own like she's so lucky b school so that we can learn side by side. The business of you is not about being a girl boss. It's about being an asset and truly understanding what your assets are to help you live the version of life that feels best to you is about understanding that you are actually the asset. And when you think about what an asset is, it is something that deserves to be protected, it is something that deserves to grow, and it is something that needs to be invested in. It's also why I am such a loud person about saying how looking for something like the soft life without a financial foundation is a trap in the society that we're in. None of us can escape capitalism and a man cannot help you opt out of it. I think that the best bet we have with where we're at is to have as much agency and autonomy as possible. And I think that the key to having as much agency and autonomy as possible is really understanding what your best assets are, leaning fully into them to get to where you want to be so that you have as much power and control over your life and your outcomes. And so y' all already heard my existential predicament that I'm in as I'm figuring out how to next move in my business and in my life in realizing that the business that I've built is not necessarily in a position to get me to where I want to be next and to get to where I want to be next. And so I've thought a lot about how I Am investing in myself. I think a lot about the work that I do and the parts of my work that help me get ahead. And when I think about some of the assets that make the most sense would be my voice. As a literal podcaster, my voice is very, very important. Last year I had an experience where I had this really bad cold the week that I was supposed to give my very first keynote. And I had absolutely no voice. It was shredded. I couldn't speak, my throat was on fire. I was able to still give the talk, but I sounded horrible and I was devastated. I'd spent months preparing this talk. It was a 20 minute keynote at a huge conference with so many online business leaders who I have looked up to for many, many years. And I delivered the talk and people gave me really great feedback and appreciated the message. But when I got the footage back, because I had hired also a team to come and capture content and record it, and it was supposed to be a part of my speaker reel, I got the content back and I was like, none of this is usable. I sound like I've been smoking a pack of new ports a day for the past 25 years. That experience taught me that my voice is my number one asset. I literally cannot do my job without my voice. So recently I invested in vocal lessons to help me have a little bit more strength and power in my voice. That experience of losing my voice last year showed me what my most important asset was. And so I think as you're thinking about the business of you and thinking of yourself as an asset, Think about any examples that you have where maybe that happened, where maybe you were down and out or you got sick or you got injured, or you weren't able to like, move about and do things as you usually would. What was that thing where you were like, oh, yeah, I gotta keep this, I gotta take care of this, I gotta protect it. Like me when I lost my voice. Think about what that is for you, because that is probably one of your number one assets that you want to invest in and make sure that you protect. If my voice is one of my assets, like my face is another one of my assets. Not even saying that it needs to look amazing all of the time. But I do notice that when I look better, my content does better. When I present a more put together, looking cute, good outfit situation, that is what people tend to focus on. Even last month's solo episode where I talked about how to get what you want and I was wearing this sweater with like the furry thing. So I got more comments about that sweater than I did even about what I was talking about. It was case in point, especially now that the podcast has been on video. It made me realize that how I look is important. So I've invested more in my looks over the past two years than I ever had if you saw me on camera in 2023 when I first started doing video episodes versus if you see me now. I do look different now. I'm obviously older, but yeah, I am a little bit more put together. My hair looks a little better, my makeup looks a little better, my skin looks a little better. I have some fresh Botox right now because listen, nothing will show you what you're working with than being on HD cameras every single week and I see enough of a return from it that I do think it's a worthwhile investment. I also did just mention that I got Botox recently and I had a really good experience that I want to share with you because I went to Peachy here in nyc. This is also not sponsored but just sharing because I do have people ask a lot where I like to go for different things. In New York I hadn't gotten Botox in several years because when I moved here I didn't know where to get it and I had been served like ads and content from Peachy and I really liked their model of flat rate Botox and I went recently and actually had a really good experience. They have locations all over. Basically how it works is you go in, they scan your face, they give you a recommendation of where you can get different injections and then it's flat fee. So instead of paying per unit you get unlimited units where you would like placed in your face. You can come back within two weeks for a touch up if you decide that you want something a little bit different. I think that I still look like myself. It just kind of softened some of the expression a little bit. I don't feel like I look like a different person, but it is something that helps like my skin look a little bit better. And just for presenting on camera is something that helps me feel really good. So just sharing that as a little side note if that is something that you're interested in. They also did give me a code to share with you guys. I believe it's less 50 for $50 off if you decide that that's a route that you want to go. For me, investing in my assets has looked like getting a shinier forehead and having vocal lessons because I literally cannot do this job without my But I really want you to Think about what your assets are that can help you really leverage whatever your advantage is for that business of you. Again, for me, that is my face and my voice. Those are the two things that can help open the most doors for me. Think about what is going to open the most doors for you. As we think about building the business of us, I think we can get very hung up on what we don't have and the things out of our control. I have absolutely felt that way. I feel like I spent a good chunk of the beginning of this episode kind of talking about that things that are outside of my control or what I don't have, where I don't have necessarily a platform where the types of opportunities that I really want see me as a good candidate for it or I don't have anyone really supporting me or subsidizing what it is I'm doing. I'm really on my own making a lot of these decisions and building. I don't have a partner to rely on for support or financial. I don't have a family who have the means to help me if shit goes south. And I know a lot of us are in that boat. We can't get so consumed by what we don't have. We have to focus on how to best play the cards that we have been dealt to win. When we think about she's so lucky and being a clover and what lucky girls do, that is what lucky girls do. And still something that I struggle with, right, is feeling frustrated by the cards that I have been dealt. But how do we play the hell out of that card so that we can continue making better and better plays? That is the core essence of who we are and what we talk about. And the business of you is the ultimate place to really dive in on that. And so when we think about the plays that we can do, the things that are within our control, I think about the importance of really understanding long term vision of where we want to be in our lives and really positioning ourselves to get as close to that as possible. I think about not undervaluing ourselves, which last week on the show we talked about that with Cameron. We talked about negotiation, we talked about contracts, we talked about feeling confident, walking in with, receiving what it is we know we should be getting and not undervaluing ourselves and like bringing it to the table. We think about leaning into our assets, we think about strengthening our weaknesses and getting even stronger on our strengths. How can you double down and zero in on making the next best play out of the cards that you have been dealt. And when we start thinking that way, that is how we start moving through our lives. Like CEOs of our lives, right? We think about having executive presence and making executive decisions, even if we are not executives at work. You are the executive of your life. So who are you hiring? Who are you firing? Who are you promoting? Who are you demoting? Even if it's promoting and demoting some qualities within yourself or some beliefs that you may have about yourself and what is or isn't possible for you, how can we move like a CEO in how we do that and how we approach that? So what does it mean to actually be the CEO of your life? What does it mean to actually move like that? Most of us have been conditioned to be employees. We think about school and we think about how we need permission to do everything. We are designed to look to one person to have the answer and to affirm what the answer is. And we are supposed to sit there and only be poured into. We're waiting for permission. We're waiting to be chosen. We're waiting for someone to give us a raise or give us a title or give us a thing. A CEO doesn't do that. A CEO doesn't wait. A CEO assesses, they decide, and then they make moves based off of the information they have. If you look at any CEO of a sizable business, they actually do very little of the work that's down in the details. A CEO's main job is, is to collaborate with other people who have done that work and who can bring them data, can bring them information. They assess the data, and they are incredibly decisive to lead what's next. So what does that actually mean for your life and how you apply that to your life? We talked about knowing your assets and what that looks like, but you also need to know and understand your liabilities. What is costing you more than it's giving to you. That could be a habit, that could be a belief. That could be a relationship, that could be a job, that could be a situation, that could be a situationship. Anything that is costing you more than it is bringing you is potentially a liability. That doesn't necessarily mean you just, like, cut it completely. But understand how does that weigh against what your assets are? Can your assets overpower what the liability is? And if they're not, what can you do to improve that balance? Next is making really strategic decisions, not necessarily emotional ones. And that doesn't mean you can't be emotional. That doesn't mean that you can't express emotion, but that means that you don't make decisions when you are in the heat of that emotion. It means you feel the feeling, you express it, you cry it out, you vent, you do what you need to do. But it's not in that moment that you make a decision that you will then have to deal with the outcome and the consequences of later when you don't feel that same emotion. So really think about what it is you're building and is this decision going to move you closer to it or further away? And then the next thing is really protecting your equity. Think about equity like your reputation, your peace, your financial well being. These are things that are non negotiable but really pay dividends when they are truly stewarded and cared for and protected. So if you really think about moving like a CEO and how a CEO would move, A CEO would not outsource the most important decisions of her life to people who do not have stake in the outcome, to people who do not have to deal with the fallout of the decisions. And again, this can apply to you. Whoever you are. Regardless of what your work is, the business of you is always open. So as we navigate through the Business of you series for the month of March, your homework this month is to start thinking like a CEO and being the CEO of your life throughout the month of March. I want to hear how it goes for you. I want to know what your assets are and how you're playing into them. I want to know what your liabilities are and how you're limiting them and handling them. I think that you should aim to make one decision per week that the CEO version of you would make for your life. And if you can do that one decision per week like the CEO of your life by the end of March, you could have some very lucky things happening. So if you're excited about the business of you and about what it means to really be the CEO of your life, make sure you're subscribed to she's so lucky. Wherever you get your podcast because I'm dropping new episodes every Tuesday on Spotify, on Apple, on YouTube. Leave a comment below. Tell me one way that you plan to be the CEO of your life this month and share this episode with a friend who you think would enjoy the show. I will be back next week with an amazing guest, Ms. Alex Hill from Just Add Hot Sauce, who is going to be talking all about what it's really like to be a solopreneur, to really be building her own food media business off of her likeness herself, her authenticity. She and I actually had such a cackle recording this episode. This was like one of the very few episodes that in my recording trip to LA I was able to actually use and I really credit that that to her being so wonderful and it was like even in my antiviral haze she was able to pull me out of it and we had such a great conversation. So make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss that episode. Thank you for tuning in and I'll see you next week. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of she's so Lucky. If you're ready to create your own luck, hit that subscribe button button wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube so you don't miss an episode and head to the show. Notes for resources, links and discount codes. And if you are really feeling lucky, we would appreciate your rating and your review. It really helps us be able to improve the show, to get great guests and to understand what you want to hear more of. Thank you for tuning in and I'll see you next week.