Loading summary
Transcript18 lines
- [00:02]
A
Here we are. Hi. I have something to tell you. And I have been keeping this close to my heart for a while now. I feel like I've just been sitting with it and making sure that it was real before I actually said the words out loud. And today is the day that I'm finally ready to share it. And I'm going to be honest. I'm feeling all the things. I feel like my heart is beating out of my chest. I feel nervous, I feel excited. I'm grateful, and most of all, I'm sure. And that's the thing I keep coming back to. I'm really sure about this. What I'm about to tell you, it might surprise you. It might not make any sense at first, but stick with me, because I promise by the end of this episode, I hope that it will. And I think it might be one of the most important conversations we've ever had. So get cozy. Let's do this. Let's dive on in.
- [00:59]
B
I'm Jenna Kutcher, and I help you trade hustle for purpose and build a business that gives you the life you actually want to live. From a $300 Craigslist camera to a seven figure business I run from home, I've learned that success isn't just about what you do. It's about how you live. Here, you'll get strategies that work, systems that give you your time back and steps that turn your effort into results. And if you're ready for clarity, confidence, and a business that feels as good as it looks, you're in the right place. This is the Gold Digger podcast.
- [01:37]
A
I am someone who gets these visions, and oftentimes they do not make sense. It's like this very clear vision that I just have to learn to sit with and hope that someday it makes sense. And I've had this vision for a while, and it's a very specific vision, and it's this vision of me. And I have on this, like, loose, flowy dress, which I'm laughing at because I'm sitting here in yoga pants right now, and I am up on my tiptoes, and I'm putting this book up on a shelf, and I'm just smiling. The sun is shining in. I'm super grounded. I'm super present, and I'm putting this book up on the shelf. I'm setting it there, and there's two things ahead of me, and there's two paths, and neither path is good or bad. There's a path of me that will someday in the future pick up that book again. And open it back up. And there's this other path of me that will just sit and look over at that book on the shelf and think, dang, that was a good one. And I've realized that in this vision, the book is actually this very show. I feel like if I were to look at this podcast as a book, I have been writing this thing for nearly a decade, episode by episode, outline by outline, page by page. It's 968 episodes deep. Not a round number, not a neat ending, not something I'd tie up with a bow. But it's real, and for now, it feels complete. And what's interesting is, with this book metaphor, if we keep going with it, I'm closing it. I'm not throwing it away. I'm not burning it. I'm just closing it gently. I'm running my hand across the COVID I'm smiling at this completion, and I'm placing it on the shelf. And it's so interesting because in this vision, I just see myself looking at it there on the shelf, this thing that we've made together. And I feel so much gratitude, and I feel so much pride, and I feel so much peace. Will I pick it up again? Who knows? Will I open it back up and start writing a new chapter or a sequel? Or maybe even something I can't even imagine yet? Maybe I'm open to whatever magic is coming. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. Maybe I'll just walk past that shelf and see the spine and think, wow, that was a really good one. And you know what? That would be enough. That would be more than enough. And this vision is what has helped give me the courage to finally say what I'm about to say. So I think it's only fair to kind of start at the very beginning, which is so hard for somebody with adhd. You know, over the last few years, I have been doing a lot of untangling. I feel like I have been doing a lot of the very hard work, the work that you don't show on social media, the work that people don't always understand. Feel like I've been doing a lot of unwiring, a lot of introspection, a lot of reflection on business, on my life, on the way I show up online. And I've really been asking myself some really honest questions, the questions that you often don't even ask because sometimes you're afraid to hear the answers to. I mean, hello, I wrote a book called how are you really? Like, I like to go deep, but I've noticed that oftentimes the way that we live our lives is this way to avoid going deep. And so when I really get honest with myself and when I ask myself questions like, what lights me up the most and what types of work do I actually enjoy and where do I feel like I'm performing versus where I can just be myself, I feel like I started to get clearer answers and answers that honestly surprised me. And here's the truth. I spent a lot of years feeling like I have needed to perform on the Internet. As the algorithm has continued to change, as the way that we consume content has evolved, I feel like what used to be a very pure and authentic expression of who I am and what I think and what I do is it's turned into this place where it just feels like you have to perform. And I have been very intentional around untangling that feeling and figuring out where I've been performing, because I thought I've had to versus where I just get to show up and be the full expression of who I am. And when I started looking at my business through that lens, something became really clear to me. You know, I love. Like, I love so deep in my bones, I love so many aspects of this podcast. This podcast has been one of the greatest blessings of my entire life. It has been a huge source of connection to other incredible humans and mentors. It's been a massive revenue source. It's been a huge business driver. It's. I mean, it's on the front cover of my book. It is so. So much of what I've known for. It is so much of the work that I've done. It has been this vessel of the impact that I've wanted to make in the world. And I love it. Like, I hope you can hear my voice. I love this show. I truly do. But I also know something about myself. I am someone who is very prone to stay in places where I am really good at performing. Like, I stay in things because I'm good at them. That has been my history up until now. And I have done things like sports. I have done so many different things in my life, stayed in jobs, not because they light me up, but just because I'm good at them. And the world has told me I'm good at them. And so I started to wonder, like, what would it look like to deconstruct this, to step away from something that I'm good at? Could I really do it? Like, what would that even be like? Like, what would have to happen to do this? And immediately My brain went to, well, first I just need to get to a thousand episodes. I'm so freaking close to a thousand episodes. And I started doing math. I mean, you could see the spreadsheets. My head looks like the matrix in terms of coding of like, well, I could just add in a third episode, or we could push a little harder. I could just hold out until, you know, next year. And that right there was one of the lessons that was waiting for me in making this decision. Because this episode is 968, which is probably the most random number of all time. In fact, the other day, my sister, I was telling her about recording this episode, and she was like, a thousand episodes is so amazing. Oh, my gosh, what an accomplishment. I was like, well, I didn't make it to a thousand. I made it to 968. And she joked, she said, I'm gonna get you a trophy with the number 968 on it. Because that is a feat. And that is also a lesson for so many of us. And it's just so funny because even in making this decision and the process around it, it's like I kept trying to think of how I could hit a thousand episodes, and I almost did it. Like, I almost went back to the old version of me who would push way too hard to make something happen. Because, I mean, let's be honest, a thousand episodes sounds so much better, right? Like, 1000 is a headline. 1000 is impressive. 1000 is the kind of number you do put on a trophy. But that voice that was telling me that I just needed to push a little harder and do a little more, that is exactly the one that I am done listening to. The one that says that the number matters more than the knowing. The one that prioritizes what's impressive over what's true. I mean, I've learned this lesson over and over and over again that more is an hour's more. And let me tell you, that has been a hard earned lesson for me. 968 is the realest number. It's the honest number. It's the number that represents me choosing alignment over achievement. So, yeah, get me that trophy, sister. I'm going to display it proudly. And right when I was sitting with all of this, it was so interesting because something happened that felt like the universe confirming what I already knew. So once I started doing a lot of the untangling work of just this idea of performance and what my dream life would look like as I moved forward, and once that seed was planted of, like, what if I take a step away from this show that I've been doing for nearly a decade. I had sat with it really in quiet for a long time, which is crazy for me, because as somebody with ADHD and someone who is a manifesting generator in human design, oftentimes the last thing I do is sit with a thought. Like, when I get an idea, I am usually 100 miles per hour moving towards it. And for once in my life, I was sitting with it, and something kind of crazy happened. I had gotten back from a trip, and my podcast producer has been with me for years. Christy asked if we could hop on a call. It was kind of rare that she asked that. And we get on a call, and she talks to me just about this vision she had for her life. Now, Christie is a violinist. She teaches violin lessons, she does gigs, she plays at weddings. She's phenomenal. In fact, when I interviewed her, she was on a tour bus playing violin on tour. And I hired her for this job, and she was sharing that she had this vision of going deeper into her musical life. And essentially, she was about to put in her notice, and it felt so serendipitous and so divine. And I said, wait, wait, wait. Before you put in your notice, I have to tell you something. And I shared with her the vision that I was having about putting the book up on the shelf. And. And I asked her, I said, you know, I know you're putting in your notice, but would you consider staying on just a little bit longer so that we can shut this down together the right way? And it honestly felt like divine timing, like the universe was saying, all right, this is your sign. This is your moment. This is your clarity. It was almost like everything was aligning exactly as it should, because let me tell you, as a boss, I take care of my team. Christy is the only team member on my team that works on this show, but I care about Christy. And so when she let me know that she wanted to pursue something different, not go after another job, not leave the company for any other reason, but to pursue her passion, it felt so divine. And so Christy graciously stayed on to help me wrap this whole thing up. And it felt so beautiful to be able to close this chapter together instead of me having to start fresh with someone new or bring in a contractor to help close this thing up. And that felt exactly right. There's something so poetic about ending this season with the person who helped me create so much of it. And once I knew for sure this was happening, I really started approaching every episode differently.
- [13:01]
B
When I think back to when I.
- [13:03]
A
Bought my first little Craigslist camera, I.
- [13:04]
B
Had no clue that it would change my entire life.
- [13:07]
A
Like I didn't have this big plan.
- [13:08]
B
I just took the first tiny step. And that's what the new year is for. A clean slate. A chance to finally start that business idea that won't leave you alone. If 2026 is your year to launch, Shopify makes it feel doable. You can sell online or in person and they give you everything you need to get moving. Millions of people have taken this leap from total beginners to well known brands. You can pick from beautiful templates, customize them to fit your style, and use Shopify's built in AI tools to write product descriptions, headlines, and even clean up product photos. When you're ready to grow, Shopify grows with you. All from one simple dashboard in 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com goal digger go to shopify.com gold digger that's shopify.com golddigger hear your first this new year with Shopify by your side. My cousin's getting married soon and I haven't been to a wedding since I stopped photographing them seven years ago. We're so excited because we're getting our entire family together and booking a home on Airbnb for the festivities. Coco even asked if she can be the flower girl, so now I need to teach her how weddings actually work. After sending a few options, we found the perfect spot. There's this pool table for my father in law to be a pool shark. Enough room so that we can all actually get decent sleep and plenty of space to make memories together.
- [14:39]
A
Where you choose to stay truly has.
- [14:41]
B
The ability to elevate everything and it got me thinking about the hosts behind the stay.
- [14:46]
A
They make sure the space feels warm.
- [14:48]
B
And cared for, which makes these special moments even more memorable. And here's something I learned. You don't need to own a vacation property to consider hosting your own home on Airbnb. You can start with the space you already have and that extra income. It can be put towards future travel or a fun splurge item you've been eyeing. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much@airbnb.com host so I.
- [15:16]
A
Pretty much made this decision back in August. I think the seed was planted way before that, but I feel like I got a lot of clarity and I feel like ever since I made that Decision I have been creating from a very deep well. I am so proud of the episodes that have dropped in recent months. I feel like every single episode, I have been thinking so long and so hard about what I really want to say. Like, I've been asking myself, what is worth saying? Like, if these are the only episodes anyone ever listens to, would they understand who I am? Would they know what I believe? Would they get what I stand for? And it's been kind of fun because I feel like I've been Taylor Swifting it, like, leaving little breadcrumbs along the way. And so if after listening to this, you go back and listen to episodes from the last few months, you will probably see the signs. There were signs all along. I was weaving themes together with every episode. I was looking at every episode as a piece of this story and this legacy, as a way to close this chapter out. I was really thinking through the through line of what really matters. And I was also leaving clues for you. And honestly, I was leaving them for myself, too. But to understand why this feels so right, I need to share some of the deeper work I've been doing. Like, what has been happening. Because this is work that when I look back now, it's been years in the making. One of the biggest things that I've been untangling is that pattern of performing. You know, this tendency to just stay in things because I'm good at them or because they're easy. I mean, a perfect example of this. This was funny. But I dove as a competitive springboard diver, competitively, my entire college career. Even though I genuinely, genuinely in the core of my being, I hate being cold and I hate being wet. Like, I lived in a pool for my whole four years in college. I smelled like chlorine because I was good at it. Not because I loved it, because I was good at it. And to this day, my kids joke that I never want to get in a pool. But, like, I didn't like being in a pool, but I was good at it, and so I did it. That is a pattern, and it's one that I have been really conscious about unwiring. And it's interesting because I have never been afraid of making big moves and big decisions. I have been on this path for a very long time. There have been so many moments in my entrepreneurial journey where I have made decisions to cut back. Like, three years into being a wedding photographer, I said, screw six figures. Like, I was happier when I earned 50k. Like, I am not the type of person who shies away from drastic decisions or going against the grain. But I feel like with the help of therapy and having more time to think and reflect with being a mom and literally seeing, like, my inner child reflected back to me through my daughters, I've been really challenged to look at where I'm wired in ways that do not serve me anymore. That doesn't mean they didn't serve me on the path. That doesn't mean that they weren't helpful at specific times in my life. But, like, these are things I'm ready to shed. And for me, being a mom has been one of the biggest mirrors. Like, watching my girls grow up and seeing parts of myself in them has really pushed me to think about what patterns I want to break within myself and what do I want to model for them. And somewhere in the middle of all of this inner work, I found myself searching for something that I couldn't quite name. And somewhere in the middle of all of this work and all of this deconstruction and all of this untangling, I found myself searching for something that kind of surprised me. It was like something. Something I couldn't quite name. And it's something that I haven't really told many people, but months ago, I found myself going down a rabbit hole. I go down a lot of rabbit holes, But I found myself going online and googling and looking for women who were once in the spotlight or who were at the top of their career and who chose to take a step back. Like, who made a conscious decision to say, I'm done. Women who made that decision at the height of their careers. Women who could have hit the gas pedal, but instead made this, like, very distinct choice to go in a different direction. And you know what I found? It was really hard to find those stories, because for women, this isn't often modeled. Making these kind of choices, when it's not coming from a place of drama or it's not coming from a place of failure, not because your back is up against the wall, but because you're choosing something different. You're making a really mindful, intentional, conscious choice to do something different from a place of peace and not panic. And I think so many women want this, but they don't have the words for it. It's this permission to step back without a crisis forcing their hand. It's this freedom to choose rest before burnout makes a choice for them, or the courage to say this is enough, when the world keeps demanding more. If you have ever felt that quiet longing, like that whisper that wonders if there's another way. First, I just want you to know you are not alone. But I also want to show you it's possible. And for me, once I got clear on what I wanted, I started telling people, like, I let them in. And what was so funny is that the reactions that I got were all across the board, but they surprise me. So I have been sharing this decision with a lot of friends over the past few months, and it's been really fun watching reactions. I mean, I have been met with a lot of surprise. I have been met with genuine shock. People that are really close to me, like some of my best friends, my parents, my team, everyone has been really surprised by this decision. And it was interesting because I had made this decision months ago, and I felt like I had let people in. But there were certain moments I remember calling my parents, and they were in Hawaii, and I was asking my mom if she would come on the show. And she goes, you have so many other people you could interview. And I said, mom, it's one of the last episodes I really want you to come on. It would mean a lot to me. And she goes, wait, what? One of your last episodes? I know you were thinking about it, but I didn't know you decided it. And I told everyone again at Thanksgiving, and I feel like it was just everyone went silent. The kind of silence where, like, your fork freezes midair and you can hear the dog breathing in the other room. And it was almost like people were staring at me. Like, I'd said, you know what? I'm gonna move to Antarctica, and I'm gonna study penguins. Like, that's what it felt like. And it was really interesting because my brother was there, and he gave me my first microphone over a decade ago. Like, he was someone who believed in me, believed in the idea of the show before anyone else did. And he just smiled at me and he said, you know what? That's awesome, Jenna. And it was like he got it immediately. And I will never forget telling my team, like, that was huge. I wish I would have taken a screenshot of their faces because it was just a huge shock to them. But then what was so beautiful is it was met with so much understanding, because the people who know me well know that every time I have this kind of knowing, like, I have this instinct, this feeling of needing to change or to cut back or to free up more time and space, that is when I unlock my next level, whatever that next level is. I'm not talking about revenue or, like, explosive growth. I'm talking about my next level or my next evolution as a human. And here's what's super interesting to me about this decision is I never wavered once I made this decision. I have felt so clear and so confident in it. I can't even think of a single moment where I doubted it. And so it's been really beautiful to let people in, to experience their shock and their surprise, but then also to feel that deep trust from the people who know me so well, to trust that I know what is the next best thing for me and to just trust my intuition. What it really is, is simplicity. I want more real life. I want life offline. I want life where I'm not constantly creating content, but I am just living my life. I feel like I was raised in this era where life was show and tell, right? You show. Show people what you're doing. You tell them what you're learning. And there's so much beauty in that, right? There's so many gifts that come from that. But I want to just live. I want mornings with my girls where I'm not, you know, worried about a recording schedule. I want to be in my garden with my hands in the dirt. I want to sit with Drew in the evening and be present and not feel tempted to crack open my laptop. I want to show up at school pickup, not because I squeezed it in, but because my schedule was built around it. And here's something my therapist said recently that really landed with me. You know, every so often, I renew my contract and my commitment with her, and recently, I was ready to renew my contract. And she said, you know, what are you thinking as we move forward? And I was like, you know, I feel like we have done so much work. I don't think the work is ever done. But I felt like I was just in a really beautiful space, and I just. I love her so much that I was like, I don't want to be done done, but I think we can cut back a little bit. And she said something that I will never forget. She said, sometimes your time out of therapy is just as important as time in therapy, because you get to integrate, you get to do the work, you get to notice things and grow without having to constantly report back, without having to process out loud all of the time. And I realized that's exactly how I feel about podcasting right now, because I get to just live an experience without thinking about how to show it, how to tell it, how to package it up without figuring out how to guide people through it or present it. I get to just live it. And that right now to me sounds like the most luxurious thing in the world. Here's the thing that really caught me off guard though, because both of my girls are now in school full time. And for years, for literal years, since I became a mom seven years ago, I told myself that when this season came, when both were in school all day, I would be ready to hit the gas pedal again. You know, I've had this analogy since I became a mom of like, I'm going to hit the brake pedal and trust that I will remember where the gas pedal is. And I think in the back of my mind, as I had that thought, I always imagined that when with both kids in school, it almost feel like retirement in so many ways as a mom in that sense where I would just be ready and gunning to get back into it. And what has been so interesting to me is that the opposite is true for me right now that I want to keep slowing down. Now that I have this space, I don't want to fill it with more work. I don't wanna ramp up and build more and create more and do more. I want to keep slowing down. My word of the year this year was spaciousness. And I think, honestly, it should be the word for my next year because I think this year was about creating room for spaciousness. And I want to protect it. I don't want to exploit it. Like, I am so curious to see what I will do with my extra time. And honestly, I have no idea. Like, I do not know what it's going to look like. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know what it's going to feel like to not sit down and plan everything out and record every single month. And there is this season, this little phase between making this decision and really getting to this place of groundedness where I feel like all I could say was, I don't know. Like, I don't know what it's going to look like. I don't know who I am without this. I don't know what I'm going to spend my time on. And instead of saying no, like it's this problem, my therapist suggested I reframe it and just say I'm open to whatever magic is coming. And I am. Like, I am so open to it. I'm so excited about it. A few years ago, I had this idea of going on a joy journey of finding the things that I love to do outside of work. You know, there was this time in my life where I really woke up and I was like, I do not know who I am outside of work and motherhood, outside of the roles I play, I don't know who I am. And it wasn't that I lost myself, but it was just that that stage of life demanded almost this duality of, like, you are either working or momming. You're momming or working. And I was starting to kind of lift my head and see my way out of that. And I wanted to kind of go on this joy journey of finding things that brought me joy outside of those roles. And I kind of turned my joy journey into this goal of making my work the least interesting part of who I am. And honestly, I feel like I have been so successful at that, maybe too successful at that. Right? And so this, to me, does not feel like a loss. It feels like a gain. Like, when I think about this choice, it is a gain of time, a gain of spaciousness, a gain of creativity, a gain of freedom to figure out who I am when I'm not behind a microphone every week. And I want to be really, really clear about something right now. I have zero ulterior motives here. Like, there's not some massive secret project that I'm planning. There's no big launch that's waiting in the wings. There's no gotcha moment coming. It's just spaciousness. Just time to figure out what do I really want to do next. The thought of snuggling up under a cozy blanket and writing again genuinely excites me. Like, maybe I will start a sub stack. Maybe it'll be something else entirely. Maybe I'll write another book. I don't know. I don't know. There are zero plans right now. And I am so okay with that. I am not rushing to fill the space. I am letting it stay open. And so here's what I need you to really hear from me. Because what comes next is important. After 968 episodes, after nearly a decade of Mondays and Wednesdays, after showing up in your earbuds while you commute and cook and dream and doubt and build, I am pausing the Gold Digger podcast. Essentially speaking like this episode concludes season one. I never thought season one would have 968 episodes in it. But that is where we're going. And to me, this isn't goodbye. This is a representation of the biggest goal. And I want to be really crystal clear here. I am not shutting down everything. I'm not shutting down my business. I'm not disappearing. I am just pausing. This One channel, this one means of showing up so that I can be more present and creative in the other spaces that I serve. And as I was really thinking about the things I wanted to say as I was shutting this down and ending season one, I really realized that there was something really interesting here. The through line of my entire business has always been about getting back your time. It has always been about building repeatable systems and creating work that works for you and me. Being able to make this choice right here and right now. This is literally a reflection that everything I have taught actually works. Like, this is the purest form of a testimonial I can offer that the things that I've shared with you are true. They're not just marketing angles or good branding. This is literally how I live and this is how I'm choosing to live moving forward. The strategies I teach, they work, they work so well that I actually have a choice here that I'm not being pushed out. I'm not crawling away. I am literally standing in a business that runs, that serves, that generates, and I'm choosing to step back from a very profitable piece of it because I can and because I built it that way. And here's the cool thing. Even in shutting down this seven figure revenue stream, I am still running an incredibly successful company. The work that I've done over the last nine years is still going to be working for me. It's not going to disappear into the ether or get sucked up by another algorithm. This is what success can look like. Not the hustle, not the grind, not being on, constantly being visible. This right here, a woman standing in her business, not exhausted, not burned out, but peaceful and grateful and whole and choosing what comes next from abundance instead of scarcity. To me, the ultimate luxury in life is not a fancy house or a fancy car or fancy purses. Having the freedom of choice. And I have it and I'm using it. And I feel like I have a responsibility to use it. You know, when I started, I thought the goal was downloads and revenue and impact. And yes, those things happen along the way and I am so grateful for each of them. But it turns out that the thing that I was really digging for all along was something quieter, something that doesn't really fit on a stat sheet. The biggest goal I ever dug for was peace. And I'm happy to report that I found it. And I have known for a long time that time is the only real currency we have. I mean, I've been saying that for years. Time is my currency. It is the most valuable thing that I have. More valuable to me than money, more valuable than followers, more valuable than any metric that the business world will use. And I've noticed something about my own life that every major evolution, every big leap, every season of real growth has come after I've made the hard choice to free up more of my time. When I stopped shooting weddings every weekend, I had the space to build courses. When I stopped saying yes to every speaking opportunity, I had the capacity to be more present at home. When I simplified my offer as my business started to run in a reliable, repeatable way. Time creates space, and space is often where the next thing emerges. And so in many ways, this decision is me making that choice again, kind of drawing line in the sand and freeing up time to see what comes through, like, what wants to be built, what wants to be lived and experienced. And I truly am. I'm just so open to the magic that the future has in store. And I'm genuinely like, I am as curious as you are about what is going to emerge when I create this much space. I'm also really curious to see if I'm going to miss it and if I do, what that will teach me. So I'm really just treating this next season as an experiment in spaciousness, in trusting and staying open without grasping. And that feels really exciting. It feels like the most exciting thing I've done in a very long time. And so before I go any further, I want to pause and really quick acknowledge something that is so important to me. I need to stop and say something that I've tried to say, but I often don't think I say it clearly enough. And that is, thank you. 968 solid episodes. Like almost a thousand conversations I've had with you. Almost a thousand times. I've sat down at the microphone, not knowing exactly what to say, but trusting that there was something worth hearing that would come through. Over 115 million downloads. I still cannot wrap my head around that number. Like, that's not just a statistic. When I think of that. That is hours. That's commutes and workouts and late nights and early mornings. That's real people and real time and real attention. And I am so fortunate that you gave that to me. This podcast has been downloaded in almost every country in the entire world. I have gotten messages from women in Australia, in India, in small towns I've never even heard of, in big cities that I've never, ever visited. I have heard from women who started businesses because they heard something here. Women who have raised their prices and launched their courses and left jobs that were draining them and found the courage to bet on themselves. I think about all of the DMS I have received over the years about this show. I think of the woman who told me that she started her Etsy shop while listening during her commute and then was able to quit her corporate job 18 months later. The mom who called Gold Digger her business school in the carpool line. The listener who said a specific episode gave her permission to rest and that permission might have saved her marriage. I'll never forget the woman who told me that she was listening to the podcast while she was in labor. I still don't fully know what to do with that one, but it makes me cry every time I think about it. This wasn't just content, this was connection. Like this was me in my messy figuring it out way, trying to be useful. And somehow in the process, you have helped me so much more than you'll ever know. You have given me space to learn out loud. You've allowed me to grow in public. You've let me be imperfect and still show up. This podcast gave me a voice when I didn't really think I had one. It gave me a beautiful rhythm and a platform and a reason to keep learning so that I would have something worth sharing. It has made me a better communicator, a better teacher, a better thinker, a better person. And now it's giving me one final gift, which is a beautiful, intentional, aligned completion to a season that changed my entire life. And hopefully it changed yours too. Like we did this together. Every single download was you saying, I'm here, I'm listening. Keep going. And for almost a decade I did. So thank you for that. Thank you for all of it. And speaking of all those episodes, I just want to remind you of something really important. There are approximately exactly 968 episodes in this feed. 968. That is not a number to skim past. That is a library that is years of strategies and interviews and case studies and behind the scenes moments and real talk about building a business that actually fits your life. If you're new here or if you've been around but there aren't episodes you haven't gotten to yet, now is the perfect time to dig in. Go back to the beginning. If you want to hear the entire evolution, you can search for specific topics you're working on right now, find episodes that speak to where you are in this moment. It is all still here. It's not going anywhere. It is the best library I've ever built for entrepreneurs. And if you have time, I want for you to go back to the past few months, especially. Especially now that you know that this was what was coming. Listen to those episodes with fresh ears. See the breadcrumbs. Like, notice what I was really trying to say underneath the surface. This vault was built to serve you for years to come. And this content is never going to expire. These strategies still work. And so let it be there for you. Let it be a guide. Let it serve you. Because that's what I want you to understand about everything I've built. The work will keep working. And what's so important to point out here is I have never wanted you to be on a hamster wheel. Not with content, not with your business, not with anything. I've never wanted you to live a life tethered to your computer, refreshing your inbox, feeling like you have to keep running in order to stay in place. And I have built everything around the opposite of that, like systems that can run without you, content that can work while you sleep. A business model that doesn't require your constant presence to generate value. And so now, here I am, literally untethering from one piece, stepping back from the mic, showing you in real time that everything I've taught actually works. My courses are still there. My email sequences are still nurturing. The funnels are still running. The content I created years ago is still helping people today. None of that stops because I stop recording new episodes. And so let me just quick tell you what this next chapter is going to look like. I feel like, in my gut, I'm gonna actually be so much more creative and more present in other spaces. My email list, Instagram, the other ways that I show up for my community. I am gonna have so much more capacity and more energy and more of myself to bring to the party. And so it has been really fun because even as I've been dreaming up this shift, I've been making a lot of changes. And it feels in so many ways like I'm going back to the roots of how all of this began. Like, every word that is getting published from me is written by me. I'm not having my team draft things. I'm not having ghostwriters, copywriters. It is me. It is my voice, it is my heart, is my words. And what I love is, is that everything that is coming is real. Like, it is purely coming from me. And, you know, when I think about starting this business on a free WordPress blog, part of me feels Like I'm going back to that of just what do I want to say and how do I want to say that I'm thinking of the me that just shared because I genuinely wanted to help, not because the algorithm demanded it, not because a content calendar said it was time to publish, but because something mattered enough to say out loud. That's the kind of creator I'm envisioning for myself in this next season. And so it's exciting. So what does this mean for the podcast? So season one is done and complete. The book is going up on the shelf, but I am still here. And honestly, I will be more present in those spaces now. So if you want to stay connected, and I really hope you do, my email list is my home base. It is where I serve. It is where I don't have to think about hooking your attention and keeping it for six seconds and trying to sum everything up in one caption. It is where I am sharing my life. It is what I'm learning, what I'm thinking about, what's unfolding. And remember, every word will be mine. You can find me there. I will link a place for you to get on my email list if you are not currently on it in the show notes so that that is accessible for you. I email about twice a week, and again, I am writing every single thing. Maybe I'm gonna miss this so much. I'll be back in a few months. Maybe it'll be a year. Maybe something completely different will emerge and it's something that I can't even imagine right now. Maybe I'm going to want to live and learn and experience for a while without talking about it, and then maybe I'll emerge in some new way when I have more to say. I'm just as curious as you are to find out, and I think what I'm most curious is to see if I miss it. Like I want to discover what feels important enough to talk about and what rises to the surface when I'm not feeling filling a content calendar every week. Here's what I hope you take from all of this. I want for you to listen to this and I think this might be the most important thing I say today. I think so many women want what I'm choosing right now, but they don't have the words for it or they've never seen it modeled. I think that we live in a world that is waking up and it's happening very slowly, but it's happening very, very surely. I think we are waking up to this idea that There might be more to life than the endless pursuit of more, and that more isn't always better. And that maybe enough is actually just the goal. And I think a lot of us, maybe you included, have this voice inside of us that's wondering if there is another way. Like a way to be successful and to be at peace. A way to build something meaningful without saying, sacrificing your well being on the altar of achievement. I am not here to tell you that I have all the answers to that, because I don't. I'm still very much figuring it out myself. But I do think there's something powerful about seeing it modeled. About watching someone choose differently in real time and not fall apart. About witnessing a woman step back from the spotlight not because she couldn't handle it, but because she realized she didn't need it to be whole. And that's what I hope this moment offers you. Not instructions, just painting a possibility. And here's what I hope you take from this. Not that you should do what I'm doing, but that you get to choose like you get to decide you have more power than you think to design a life that actually feels like yours. And when you do, when you make the brave choice to honor what it is that you really want, whatever it is, even if it surprises people, even if it doesn't make any sense on paper, even if it means stopping at 968 instead of pushing towards 1000, you might just find that you were digging for something different all along. Peace. Maybe it's presence, purpose, freedom. Whatever your goal is that you're digging, I think it's just time to get honest with that. Now, before I sign off, I have two small asks. First, if you haven't already, here's what I want you to do. Hit subscribe on this podcast. Because I don't know what happens next. I don't know if or when I will pick up this microphone again. But if I do, if something emerges that feels important enough to share, I want you to be the first to know. So subscribe and you will get it the moment it drops, if and when it drops. Second. This is a selfish ask, but my mom always reminds me that I need to get better at asking for help. My question is this. Will you leave a review? Whether you have listened to one episode or all 968, it would mean so much to me. As a parting gift, I read every single review. And even just knowing that this podcast has made the slightest difference for you in your business, in your life, in the way you think about what's possible. That is what I want to carry into this next chapter. And so if you would just take a moment, if you have never left a review, and just leave a review, it would mean so much to me and all of the people who have supported the show along the way. Thank you so much for being with me. Thank you for 968 episodes of Trust and time and attention. Thank you for making this near decade the most meaningful work of my life up until now. And with that, I guess this concludes season one of the Gold Digger Podcast and I'm so open to the magic of whatever comes next for both of us. And so I guess for now this will be the last time I say this for a while. Until next time, Gold Diggers Keep on digging your biggest goals. And thank you so much for listening to this episode and any of the past episodes of the Gold Digger Podcast. I love you.
- [46:47]
B
Thanks for listening to the Gold Digger Podcast. I hope today left you inside, inspired and equipped with something you can put into action as you build a business.
- [46:54]
A
That truly supports your life.
- [46:56]
B
If this episode resonated with you, here's how you can help this show reach even more entrepreneurs. Hit follow. Share it with a friend who's building something meaningful, and if you're feeling generous.
- [47:07]
A
Leave us a review. Those reviews help other listeners discover these.
- [47:10]
B
Conversations when they need them the most. This show has become so much more than I ever imagined, and it's because of listeners like you who show up and share. You are helping build something that will inspire entrepreneurs for years to come. For show notes, links and resources, head to gold diggerpodcast.com keep digging your biggest goals. The world needs what you're building.