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- [00:00]
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I am so excited to announce that.
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I am doing my first in person retreat in over two years. If you have been feeling like your message wants to expand, like your voice that you've been using no longer matches the woman that you've become and the leader that you've become, I want to personally invite you to my in person retreats unscripted. It's a two day intimate retreat in Nashville, Tennessee on February 5th and 6th, 2026. For the women who are ready to speak, to write and lead from their highest identity, not from performance or from pressure. No more over explaining, no more shrinking, no more sounding like an older version of yourself. This is where your voice and your message and your identity come back into alignment and pure refinement. Who you really are and who you are meant to serve. Spots are limited and it is application only as we want to make sure that that room is just so primed and ready for the work that we're going to be doing. So you can learn all about it and apply by going to juliesolomon.netunscripted. and if you felt this, you already know my friend. I can't wait to meet you and see you in that room with me and these incredible other women again. That's juliesolomon.net unscripted.
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Welcome to Woman of Influence. I'm Julie Solomon and this is where high level women come to recalibrate their message, realign their leadership, and rise into the next era of impact. If you're ready to align your visibility with your true authority, if you're called to speak to women at the level you now lead, if you're ready for your business to feel as elevated as the woman running it, this is your space. Because real influence isn't built in the algorithm, it's embodied in your identity. Let's get started.
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I want to start today with a sentence that has been sitting in my heart for years. Happiness is wanting. What I already have.
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But recently this idea came rushing back to me in a whole new way. A friend of mine shared something recently that was about gratitude and how most of us miss the contentment that we're seeking because we don't practice gratitude. And he said something to me that stopped me. He said, it's not good stewardship to complain about what God has already given you. And that hit me right in the chest because there have been so many moments in my life where I have done exactly that. Moments where I've prayed for something, fought for something, believed for something, and then once I finally received it, I immediately started looking for what was missing. And that's the sneaky part about success. You start to measure your joy by what's next instead of what's now. So today I want to talk about this truth that's been transforming my life lately. That happiness isn't something, something that we chase, it's something we notice. It's something we practice, and it's something we already have. When I heard that line, it's not good stewardship to complain about what God's given you, I immediately thought about all the things in my life that were once prayer requests. Things like my marriage, my family, my business, my home, even the freedom I have to sit here and speak with you like this. At one point in my life, every single one of those things was something I prayed for. And now they're part of my everyday reality. But somewhere along the way, I stopped treating them like miracles, and I started treating them like they were something that needed maintenance. And that's where the gratitude gap begins. Because when we forget that what we have was once what we wanted, we start measuring our lives by what's missing instead of what's present. And I'll tell you what happens when you live that way. You start chasing happiness instead of living it. You start worshiping growth instead of God, and you stop being a steward of your blessings because you're too busy managing your burdens. That's why this message hit me so deeply. Because I realized that for a long time, I wasn't actually practicing gratitude. I was performing it. I had routines, morning prayers, journaling, quiet time. But they were all things that I did, not ways that I lived. And that's what I want to get into today. The difference between a routine and a practice, the difference between ownership and stewardship, and just how gratitude changes not just your energy, but your entire identity. Let me take you back to a season not that long ago. Everything in my life looked good. Business was thriving. My marriage was strong. My kids were healthy. I wasn't in crisis. And that's exactly when it happened. Because when everything else was fine, my focus shifted to the only thing that I thought still needed managing my business. I started pouring every ounce of my energy, my emotion, my worth, into work. And it wasn't intentional. It was gradual. I'd pray when I needed clarity. I thank God when a launch went well. But I wasn't in daily relationship. I didn't have a practice. I had a routine. And that's the thing. Routines are predictable. But practices are what are alive. And when you have a routine you're still in control, but when you have a practice, you surrender control. You make room for God to move into in the details. And that's where everything shifted for me.
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Most mornings before I check my emails or open Instagram, I put on a lesson from Masterclass. It has become part of my daily ritual. And lately I have been listening to Daniel Pink's class on sales. Now if you don't know who Daniel Pink is, he is the master when it comes to sales. And let me tell you, it is like having a high level mentor in your ear. His approach makes sales feel like a service, not pressure. And this is why I love Masterclass. It gives you a bite sized lesson taught by world class experts. You'll learn from the names like Bob Iger, Aindra Newey and Chris Voss whether you want to be a leader, negotiate better or sharpen your creativity. And what I love most is that you can download classes and watch offline, which makes travel or downtime really productive. I've applied what I've learned to my own launches, client calls, how I teach sales inside my own processes, and really how I show up in my business and outside of it. Right now our listeners get an additional 15% off of any annual membership@masterclass.com influencer that's 15% off@masterclass.com influencer masterclass.com influencer One.
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Morning I was journaling about why I felt just so spiritually dry, so disconnected, despite the fact that everything in my life looked like it should feel abundant and the words that came out of my pen were jaw dropping. I literally wrote, you've made your business your idol. And I just sat there because I knew it was true. I had made my business the center of my world. I had made growth my God. I was confusing the stewardship with control. And that's the thing. When you believe you own your success, you also believe that you're responsible for maintaining it. But when you remember that everything you have has been entrusted to you, you get to breathe again. And that was the start, the literal beginning of one of the biggest recalibrations definitely in my business and a lot in my life too. Because when I finally let God be the sinner, not the business, not the goals, not the metrics, but the center, everything changed. My relationship with my husband got deeper, my parenting felt lighter, my nervous system calmed down and my business started flowing again in ways that felt fruitful and, dare I say, effortless. Why? Simple. God was back at the wheel. I wasn't striving anymore. I was truly Coming from this place of stewardship. So during this recalibration era, three things became very clear to me. The first was that gratitude is stewardship in motion. It's not just saying thank you. It's literally tending to what's already here with reverence. And it's not good stewardship to complain about the very things you prayed for. So when I find myself frustrated with a client, overwhelmed by work, or just irritated by a family moment, I stop and remind myself, you prayed for this. And that gratitude instantly softens everything. The second, joy and jealousy cannot coexist. I can't be grateful and resentful at the same time. And I'll be honest. There have been so many seasons where I look at other people's platforms, their visibility, their growth, and I think, why not me, God? But what I've learned is this. You can't argue with God about who God chooses to bless. You can only ask God to help you steward what's yours with integrity. Every time I shift from resentment or comparison to gratitude, the peace has a place to return. And the third happiness is proximity. It is not a place you arrive at. It's a presence you live in. And that presence is built through practice. Proximity with God, communion with yourself, devotion to what's already been given to you. That is what healed my obsession with control. Because I realized that every time I tried to fix, manage, or plan my way into peace, I was actually moving further away from it. The thing is, peace was already here. I just wasn't present enough to see it.
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So I have to admit, I was.
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Skeptical about skims and the hype of it at first. When it first came out, I was just thinking, okay, another celebrity that's just slapping their name on a brand.
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But.
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But after years of trying bras that just weren't fitting me, as I got older, I finally gave in. And now I am literally that person who has replaced her entire drawer with skims. And I love their new Fits everybody collection. It is so good.
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I love the thong.
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I love the panties. They're so light, seamless. I literally forget that I'm wearing anything. And the bralettes. I have been an avid, obsessed fan of these bralettes for at least four to five years now. They are flattering, breathable, actually supportive without the underwire. And it's what I wear literally every day at home when I'm working on flights, Even under dressier outfits, they just get it. Shop Skims Fit everybody collection@skims.com and after you place your order, just be sure to let them know that we sent you, you can select Podcast in the survey and then select our show in the dropdown menu that follows.
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I built my business around what I believe in clarity, alignment and serving from your highest self. But even the most powerful message needs a platform to carry it.
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That's why Shopify isn't just a tech tool.
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It's a literal extension of your brand's integrity. From product delivery to customer experience, Shopify handles the details that matter with built in automation, smart design templates and support for for everything from shipping to returns. It's built to scale with your vision. Turn your big business idea into.
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With Shopify on your side, Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.cominfluencer go to shopify.cominfluencer shopify.cominfluencer.
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And here's the thing that I've noticed most in my own life. There are three things that will steal your gratitude faster than anything else. Money, property, and prestige. When you put yourself in the driver's seat of those three, when you start idolizing your money, your property or your prestige, things start to get shaky. Because that's when you start thinking you're the source of it all instead of the steward. And I'll give you a tangible example. Five years ago we bought this fixer upper house. We knew it would take time and multiple renovations. But the 2019 Julie that walked into that project is not the same 2025 Julie walking through a renovation project now. Back then I threw money at everything. Designers, contractors, details that didn't work matter. I let other people tell me what to do, what was in, what would impress people. I wasted thousands of dollars on nonsense door hinges, drill pulls, whatever the trend was. Because deep down, it wasn't about the house. It was about proving something. If I could show off this perfect property online, then maybe it would mean I'd finally made it. That was ego disguised as design. It wasn't stewardship. It was self protection. And looking back, I realize it came from survival. I didn't grow up with much. My mom and dad married as teenagers. My dad came from poverty. He was a blue collar working person doing whatever he could to make ends meet. My mom came from a small town, working class family. So when you grow up with that story, it's hard to be willing to surrender control. It's hard to trust that if you loosen the grip, the blessings won't slip away. It's hard to be willing when you've confused net worth with self worth. It's Hard to be willing when you're still trying to impress a bunch of people on the Internet that you don't even know. That first renovation was me saying, God, I've got this. I don't need your help. And let me tell you, that is the quickest way for God to humble you. Because the moment you start acting like you don't need God, God will show you just how expensive that lesson can get. The second renovation that we've gone through, though, completely different energy. I've done it from a place of stewardship. Not striving, not proving. Every purchase, every decision, I have paused. I have asked myself this really good question. How important is. Is this really? Do I need the label that costs five times more? Or will the simple version serve just as well? Do I want to spend from pride or invest from peace? How important is it really? And that difference has been day and night. It hasn't been perfect, but it's been peaceful. Because this time, I'm not trying to prove that I have something. I'm just trying to protect what God's entrusted me with. My relationship with this home has shifted from property ownership to property stewardship. And that's the key, because gratitude pours like a steward, but pride clutches like an owner. Ego will protect and chain you. Stewardship releases and receives. And when I finally stopped managing the blessing like it was mine to prove and started honoring it like it was God's to guide, guess what? The gratitude came rushing back in. So here's what I've been doing lately to keep myself in that state of gratitude. Not as a mood, but as maintenance. Every night before bed, I do what I call the reverse gap list. I write down three things I already have that I once prayed for. And it could be as simple as the sheets on my bed to my husband's sobriety, the home I live in, the work that I get to do every day. And sometimes I'll go even deeper. Peace in my mornings. Oh, I used to pray for that so many times. Clarity in my message to be able to do the work that I'm doing. A deeper reverence and relationship with God, the God of my understanding. And it's amazing how quickly your nervous system shifts when you look backward at the gain instead of forward at the gap. Then every morning before I open my phone, I do what I call the proximity prayer. It's quick, but it's super powerful. It's me saying this, God, please recalibrate my eyes today to see what's already here. Show me where I'm trying to own what you've asked me to steward and remind me that it's not about what's next, it's about what's now and then. The other thing that I love doing every single day is I practice what I call catch someone doing something right. Every day I text one person just to tell them what I appreciate about them. There's no agenda, no reason, just gratitude. Because people rise to the prophecy of what you say about them. And when you speak gratitude over others, you start living gratitude within yourself. So here's what all of this looks like. In my life right now, I've been honoring a day of rest on the weekends. No work, no email, no social media, any of that. I know I've mentioned that before on previous podcast episodes, and I can't even tell you how much peace that's brought back into my life. I've started waking up earlier not to get ahead, but just to be still, to let silence be the first sound of my day. I continue to remove Instagram, Voxer, Slack, and emails from my home screen on the weekends. Not because I'm trying to be disciplined, but because I don't want my devotion competing with the distraction of what all of that brings. And here is what's wild. My business has not slowed down. It has actually grown because I'm no longer in this place of forcing it. God doesn't need me to hustle harder. God needs me to trust deeper. And when I trust deeper, the blessings flow faster because God knows I'm not going to fumble them out of fear. And that's the shift. That's when stewardship really gets to come into play. It's not about control. It's about trust. It's about saying, God, I'll take care of what you're giving me, but I'll also let you carry what I can't. And that's when happiness started to feel easy again. Because it wasn't something that I had to chase. It was something that was already here. It was something that I already had. It was something that I needed to remember. So maybe happiness isn't about arriving somewhere new. Maybe it's about coming home to what's already there. To the blessings that have been waiting for your attention, to the prayers that have already been answered, and to the joy that's already alive inside of your now. If this conversation has resonated with you, if you've been craving a space to slow down, to reconnect to your voice, your message and your identity, I would love to invite you to unscripted my two day retreat here in Nashville, Tennessee this February. It is where we'll bring everything that we've been talking about gratitude, stewardship, presence and literally integrate it into how you speak, how you lead, how you live, how you create your messaging. You can learn more and apply@juliesolomon.net unscripted. There's also a link in the show notes below. Because happiness isn't out there in the next goal or the next launch or the next season. It is right here and wanting what you already have.
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If today's episode served you, don't forget to hit subscribe, leave a review and share it with a woman you know is ready for more. You can now watch every episode every week on Spotify and YouTube and continue to listen on the platform of your choice. And if you want behind the scenes updates on business, messaging, leadership, special promos, the first access to what's happening in my business, in my world, I would encourage you to join my weekly email circle@juliesolomon.net newsletter.
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That is where all of this goes.
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To down that is not normally shared publicly. This is where your next era begins and I'm so glad that you're here.