Lessons From Behind the Mic: What I've Learned Since Starting a Podcast

Summary

TheUPside Podcast

Episode: "Lessons From Behind the Mic: What I've Learned Since Starting a Podcast"

Host: Teresa Flood
Guests: Rick Davis (producer), Skylar Williamson
Date: May 13, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of TheUPside Podcast is a reflective look at the lessons learned by host Teresa Flood after launching and running her podcast for about six months. Joined by her producer Rick Davis and contributor Skylar Williamson, Teresa offers candid insights into the practical, emotional, and strategic aspects of starting something new—specifically podcasting—with takeaways that apply to personal growth, leadership, and business. The conversation is dynamic, warm, and jam-packed with actionable wisdom, making it valuable for anyone looking to begin a creative or ambitious endeavor.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Action Brings Clarity: Just Start

Timestamp: 01:58 – 04:43

• Teresa describes the anxiety and relief she felt ahead of launching the podcast, emphasizing that getting started is the hardest part, but it's the essential step.
  • "The biggest difference between me and anybody who doesn't have a podcast: the biggest difference is just that I started. Not necessarily better, not necessarily more talented—the biggest difference is that I started." (11:30 - Teresa Flood)
• She admits she deliberately didn't rewatch her early recordings to avoid overthinking or self-sabotage.
• Rick, as a seasoned producer, highlights the unpredictability of talent on camera and applauds Teresa’s natural performance and minimal need for editing.

2. Perfection Comes with Reps, Not Before

Timestamp: 06:32 – 08:59

• Teresa attributes her “one-take” abilities to years of practice speaking in front of groups, noting that she had five years of daily reps from leading team huddles.
  • "Perfection doesn’t exist without the reps... Everything you do is preparation for your next." (06:32 - Teresa Flood)
• Rick adds:
  • "My motto with everybody in my crew is: done supersedes perfect." (07:23 - Rick Davis)
• The group discusses imposter syndrome, reframing it as simply being new at something rather than a permanent deficiency.
  • “I don’t love the phrase imposter syndrome...a lot of times we’re just new. There’s nothing wrong with being new.” (12:42 - Teresa Flood)

3. Skill Stacking and Muscle Memory

Timestamp: 08:59 – 13:37

• The importance of previous experience leading to future competence is underlined.
• The conversation turns to how most people only see finished products online, not the many attempts and revisions it took to get there.
  • “The sausage requires making.” (13:58 - Rick Davis)

4. Consistency Is Key: Commitment Outweighs Motivation

Timestamp: 15:36 – 16:41

• Teresa highlights her non-negotiable attitude toward consistency, setting up systems and accountability to ensure the podcast continues week after week.
  • “If I say I’m going to do something, I put it on the calendar, I’m going to show up….If we take a seasonal break, it’ll be pre-planned on purpose.” (15:36 - Teresa Flood)
• Rick affirms Teresa's approach, referencing his own 71-week live streak.

5. Fans and Influence: You’ll Be Surprised Who Connects

Timestamp: 19:43 – 22:54

• Teresa shares memorable fan stories, like a realtor's son (in middle school) listening weekly and messages from a friend undergoing chemo who finds encouragement in her content.
  • "I am just blown away that she is encouraging me from the chemo chair to keep going." (21:07 - Teresa Flood)
• She notes that encouragement from unexpected sources is deeply motivating and a reminder to offer encouragement to others.

6. Systematize and Stay Ahead: Batch and Organize

Timestamp: 28:33 – 36:34

• Teresa and Rick discuss the logistical side of sustaining a long-term podcast: batching episodes, organizing files, and preparing content ahead. Teresa recounts the relief of discovering she had already prepped episode notes during a busy week.
  • “I’m learning not just to have the episodes filmed ahead of time, but to do as much ahead as possible...you're planning to fail. Meaning you might get sick, you might get super busy...but the commitment is there.” (35:08 - Teresa Flood)
• Rick delves into systematizing episodes and file organization, emphasizing that such systems evolve from past mistakes.

7. Be Clear on Your Why: Process Over Outcome

Timestamp: 30:28 – 32:05

• Teresa’s final core lesson is that clarity of purpose is essential—otherwise, you’ll lose motivation or be disappointed by slow growth.
  • “You have to be committed to the process, not committed to the outcome.” (30:52 - Teresa Flood)
• Rick reinforces:
  • “If you’re doing it just for the likes...you will be disappointed a hundred percent.” (30:26 - Rick Davis)

8. Keep the Promises You Make to Yourself

Timestamp: 38:15 – 39:07

• Teresa and Rick close with how personal integrity and trust are built through consistency.
  • “What builds confidence is when we keep the promises we make to ourselves.” (38:15 - Teresa Flood)
  • “Now you are somebody you can trust, because you did what you said you were gonna do.” (38:40 - Rick Davis)

9. Start Messy, Embrace Growth and Uncertainty

Timestamp: 39:34 – End

• Teresa urges listeners: start small, be consistent, embrace imperfection, and focus on service and impact rather than recognition.
  • “Start messy. Stay consistent, and do it for the impact. If you do it to be of service...you just won’t be disappointed.” (40:02 - Teresa Flood)
• The importance of stepping out of one’s comfort zone and giving yourself permission to try something new is emphasized.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Just Starting:
  • “Action brings clarity. You just have to start.” (01:58 - Teresa Flood)
• On Letting Go of Perfection:
  • “Done supersedes perfect.” (07:23 - Rick Davis)
• On Unexpected Encouragement:
  • “I have a friend...going through chemo...and I’m just blown away that she is encouraging me from the chemo chair to keep going.” (21:07 - Teresa Flood)
• On Confidence:
  • “What builds confidence is when we keep the promises we make to ourselves.” (38:15 - Teresa Flood)
• On Consistency:
  • “I can’t think of anything that I ever started, stuck with, and got worse.” (24:15 - Rick Davis)
• On Support vs. Critique:
  • “The people that judge and are harsh...are the ones who are afraid to step out and do it. The people that have, have started on day one...Those are not the people you get judged from.” (42:02 - Teresa Flood)
• On the Importance of Why:
  • “You need to really understand why you're doing what you're doing and be committed to the process, not just the outcome.” (30:42 - Teresa Flood)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:58 – Just Start: Overcoming Anticipation and Excuses
• 06:32 – Reps Over Perfection: Building Skill Through Practice
• 13:27 – What People Really See vs. The Real Work
• 15:36 – Consistency and Accountability
• 19:43 – The Surprise of Who Listens: Impactful Fan Interactions
• 28:33 – Staying Ahead: Batching and Systems
• 30:28 – Knowing Your Why & Avoiding Burnout
• 38:15 – Building Confidence Through Self-Trust
• 39:34 – Start Messy, Serve Others, and Embrace Growth

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Tone and Takeaway

Teresa, Rick, and Skylar speak with humor, authenticity, and practical wisdom. They openly share “behind-the-scenes” moments, acknowledge the unglamorous parts of the creative process, and encourage listeners to embrace discomfort, value consistency, and seek impact over applause. The overall message: start, stay consistent, focus on growth and service—and the rest will follow.

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For more resources, guides, and podcast content, visit teresaflood.com and subscribe for weekly updates and teaching guides.

Transcript

[Teresa Flood]

I learned. Okay, welcome to the Upside podcast, where we help you get unstuck in your life and your business by elevating your thinking and provoking meaningful change from the inside out. I'm your host, Teresa Flood, and this is my amazing rock star producer in the house with me today, Rick Davis Studio usa, the man behind all of the Upside.

[Rick Davis]

Well, thank you, and thank you for having me. And so now I'm having to get used to the other side of the upside. Meaning, like, the other side of the camera.

[Teresa Flood]

The other side of the camera, yes.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

So here we are on the other side.

[Rick Davis]

Yes. Yeah, this is the upside. But I'm currently on the other side of the upside.

[Teresa Flood]

The other side of the upside, as.

[Rick Davis]

I normally be used to.

[Teresa Flood]

And last episode, I was filming with my cards upside down, and so Skylar told me we were now on the downside. So we've been on all the sides at the upside, gone all the way around the barn.

[Skylar Williamson]

Okay.

[Teresa Flood]

So I wanted today, for this episode to talk about what I've learned so far. Starting a podcast, which we launched. Our first episode, I should have looked up the exact date, but I think it was the third week in January.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah, you're about 20. This will be about 20 episodes in.

[Teresa Flood]

20 episodes in.

[Rick Davis]

And there's still more, you know, on deck, so. Yeah, there's more on deck.

[Teresa Flood]

100%. So really, though, at the very beginning stages of this. But I thought this would be fun just to reflect kind of in the first six months, four to six months of learning, kind of, what lessons have I learned? And then how great will it be to look back in two years and say, okay, did I learn now, two years later?

[Rick Davis]

Amen.

[Teresa Flood]

Coming through it. So I've got six lessons. I thought about doing seven because it's a better number, but one of the lessons I've learned is less words is better. So I kept it to six.

[Rick Davis]

So technically, that's the seventh lesson. The seventh lesson is. There is no seventh lesson.

[Teresa Flood]

That's. That's correct. Yes. But we did the seventh, Leon. The seventh lesson first.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah. Look at that. Okay, we call. We call this riffing.

[Teresa Flood]

We're improvising. We're improvising.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

We're not reading off cue cards.

[Rick Davis]

No, we are not.

[Teresa Flood]

Okay. So first lesson I learned, though, is that action brings clarity. You just have to start.

[Rick Davis]

Agreed.

[Teresa Flood]

And it's funny because we had it scheduled, actually, I think, to launch the second week in January, and we ended up moving it back because I had a launch event for our go network, and we got Iced out. And that moved that event. And so we moved it back a week. And I remember feeling, like, this relief kind of like, oh, my goodness, I don't have to start yet now. I had already been recording, though, right?

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

Because we had started recording, I think, the first ones in November. So we had, I think, probably eight episodes recorded before we ever launched the first one. So there was, like, a lot of anticipation. And I felt, you know, it's like, okay, you've got it in there. I didn't go back and watch them.

[Rick Davis]

And that surprised me, actually.

[Teresa Flood]

Yeah. No. Because I didn't want to call you and say, no, let's redo em, or like, I quit.

[Rick Davis]

We're not doing it.

[Teresa Flood]

Yeah, exactly. I never watched them until. And I still don't watch them actually until the morning that they air. I listened to him with everybody and actually listen to one this week, and I was like, huh, that was pretty good.

[Rick Davis]

What's funny is. Okay, so for me, in regards to the upside that waiting, all the Runway that we had and the snow day, the delay, it was killing me because I knew within the first 90 seconds that it was money. And I was just like, dang, okay, this is really good.

[Skylar Williamson]

And.

[Rick Davis]

And every so often, you know, okay, so to pull the curtain back, I have done literally hundreds upon hundreds of hours and location shoots and people on camera, and it is always a crapshoot. You never know how good somebody's gonna be. And so you kind of have to plan for that.

[Teresa Flood]

Sure.

[Rick Davis]

And it's like, okay, maybe it'll take three takes, maybe it'll take five. Maybe it'll. Or maybe it'll be like this chop suey that we're gonna cut up, and it's a jigsaw puzzle, and we're gonna piece it back together afterwards, which happens often, but it's still doable.

[Teresa Flood]

Sure.

[Rick Davis]

But I think out of the. Because I want to say right out of the gate, you probably did three or four that first day. First off, you came in with the logo cards. Mad impressive, because.

[Teresa Flood]

So if you. Behind the scenes, these are my. Like, bullet point notes. So I take a piece of paper, I slice them up, I tape them on here. Somebody asked me, what do you have on those cards? Like, it's just. It's not word for word. It's just kind of the bullet points so I can stay on track.

[Rick Davis]

Yes, exactly. Just. Just bullets.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

So that's kind of.

[Rick Davis]

Well, and that, you know, hey, one of the first things in this. This world is you're not legit until you have a logo, and then you haven't leveled up, and you have swag.

[Teresa Flood]

And I do have hats.

[Rick Davis]

You have hats.

[Teresa Flood]

But Tommy told me the. The boy. The ones that I got for. For men are too girly, so I'm redoing them currently, so stay tuned.

[Rick Davis]

Well, that's fine.

[Teresa Flood]

When I have family.

[Rick Davis]

There you go. Well, and then that'll make the OG Boys hats like a collector's there.

[Teresa Flood]

There you go.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

Yes, 100%.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

Well, and even, like, the day that. When. And so shout out to Andrea Miller for actually introducing us. So funny, because it was a recurring theme for years and years, and then I'd had this location for probably a year, and you and I both know she works herself to death, and it probably took me six months to get her in here to actually just pop by and say, you know, just check it out. She came in, and I kid you not, within 45 seconds, she's like, oh, my God, Teresa needs to see this. And I was like, okay. All right. Well, I. You know, and then everything happened so fast, and the next thing I know, we're at your office, and it was us walking in, and then you were literally turning the monitor around and going like, oh, wow, here's the logo that I was working on on my podcast.

[Teresa Flood]

I had decided two days before that I was gonna pull the trigger and do a podcast, which that two days.

[Rick Davis]

Before we met blows my mind.

[Teresa Flood]

It was a top thing.

[Rick Davis]

And then you came in. Yes, absolutely. And then you came in with your leadership team, and I was like, everybody's good.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah. Which, like, I was like, kudos to that. So, like, you could also have a job here as talent scout if you wanted, because, again, going back to. Even whenever you first came in that first time, it was like, first off, the logo cards, it's like branding. Yeah. Okay. And then I want to say the first one, you might have just like, okay, how did that. You know, like, you might have started and then stopped, but not because you messed anything up. It was literally you just like, okay, how does that look? Or, you know, whatever, whatever. And I was like, dude. And then you blew through, like, three without stopping. And you also had that. One of the things is a lot of the folks I work with need an editor. It's like, they're fabulous, however, they're too much fabulous. And it's like, you know.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

Like what you said earlier, like, less words, and you automatically had the sweet spot.

[Teresa Flood]

Okay, so that is point number two, though.

[Rick Davis]

Oh, did I. Did I get ahead of the score sheet.

[Teresa Flood]

No, this is perfect. Because the second thing I've learned, and this is something that I have been learning for a while, but I've seen it so play out in this is that perfection doesn't exist without the reps. And you know, from first podcast, I feel like it already looks better. Sounds better. Just 15 episodes in. Right. We've already ended. It's already gotten better. But the reason I was able to walk in and basically do them in one take is because I've been speaking on our morning huddle, doing this exact thing on a Zoom call for 75 agents every single morning. So it was five years of reps. Yeah. Right. To be able to do that. And so I didn't just wake up one day and be able to do that. You just realize everything you do is preparation for your next.

[Rick Davis]

Skill stacking.

[Teresa Flood]

It's skill stacking.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And you came in and you killed it. And then to your second point, my motto with everybody in my crew is done supersedes perfect.

[Teresa Flood]

Yes. And we just got to go.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

Nobody has time. Perfect.

[Rick Davis]

Right. And. And so many people, you know, it's usually fear and perfectionism is just like an anxiety disorder coming out sideways.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And one of the most freeing things is it's like this double edged sword of you get to a level where, oh, wait a minute. Nobody cares. Oh, wait, nobody cares. You know, so it's like, it's like this. You vacillate back and forth between. Oh, it's such a relief that nobody cares. Oh, no, nobody cares.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And I. But whenever. Because every single. You know, so me as like the. The wise old man, you know, the wise old owl of the photography world with. With my guys. Because they are all. And it's like you've met Cruz and they're all. And now you met Austin. So they're all at least chronologically, where they could be like my kids, you know, and so one of the things is. And they all, being creatives or whatever, have that sensitivity attached to the thing. Like whatever the thing is that they're making, there's an. There's an emotional attachment or almost where they're living vicariously through the thing. And so, like, whatever you say about the thing is what you say about them.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And to get to a place where like. Okay, you got to let that go.

[Teresa Flood]

Sure.

[Rick Davis]

And you just got to get it done and get it out there. And then you learn over time. First off, the market will decide whether you're good or not. That's not your call.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

You know, and then after that, you kind of get a thicker skin. And then, okay, after you get beat up a couple times or you get insulted or you have your, you know, your great work.

[Teresa Flood]

My First Hater on YouTube, and I actually felt like I had arrived.

[Rick Davis]

You did?

[Teresa Flood]

Yes. They were so mean. They just disagreed. It was kind of ridiculous. They were wrong, obviously. Oh, but I'm kidding.

[Rick Davis]

Hey, it's a free country.

[Teresa Flood]

It was not somebody I know, just some random person on YouTube. And I was like, somebody discovered me, watched it, and thought enough to actually make a comment to rip on you. To rip on me. So I'm adding that to, like, the.

[Rick Davis]

First that that goes in the wit. That goes in the wick.

[Teresa Flood]

I'm just a couple haters that just haven't told me so. By the way, if you're listening to this and you're a hater, I'm not asking you to reach out. So I'm not, like, keeping him in an arsenal.

[Rick Davis]

And for me, like, hey, if you need that. If you just need to let it out, just at. Because every. So what's funny is, you know, I have the assistants or whatever that put stuff out.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And one of the things I didn't pay attention to or I had never looked at was the YouTube shorts. And, you know, so I have it sort of on a lather, rinse, repeat, or whatever.

[Teresa Flood]

Performs so much better than the long form. It's crazy.

[Rick Davis]

It's ridiculous. And, like, likes and comments and. And every. And there was something about, like, me being old or whatever. Like, gray hair. Like, I was just like, wow, okay. And then I think I replied back. I said, like, father Time is undefeated. Yes, it is what I said, you know, but there is the thing, like, every time I see myself, and that's another thing where it's like, you see yourself and you're like, oh, my God. And, like, now I'm like, oh, get these done.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yes.

[Rick Davis]

I get some stem cells in my head.

[Teresa Flood]

You know, I had to figure out how to do my makeup for the different lightings. We've had some misses. I'm not gonna lie. There's a couple episodes I was like, not even close to enough blush. And then I went a little overkill, I think, the next week to compensate. And I was like, not a great look, but we're getting it. And, you know, what does anybody care? I'm not doing this. So I get comments that I'm pretty. I'm not trying to make tutorial. I'm not doing a makeup tutorial. So I Think everyone has gotten maybe a little better.

[Rick Davis]

Yes. Well, we're all getting better.

[Teresa Flood]

I don't know, you know, but it's in the reps. Right.

[Rick Davis]

Surprised me. Was. Okay, so like at the beginning, you know, we did the set deck, you know, and all that for you, because it was like.

[Skylar Williamson]

I know.

[Teresa Flood]

Because that's what I wanted.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah. The softer thing and everything. And then you did the first interview over here and I showed you that and you're like, I like that better.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

You know, because like this is kind of the Death Star. This is like my happy accident of the Wayfair stick light, the other stuff. And then to be able to have the gimmicks, that was a happy accident. But it was like what 15 year old me would think was cool.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And because he's still alive in there and he. And he comes out probably a few times a week where I'm just. Because like sometimes I'll come in here and I'm just by myself and I'm like, I can't believe I just get to come in here and like play with all the gimmicks. But I love the fact you're like, I kind of like the lighting and the setup better. I'm like, okay, yeah, here's the key.

[Teresa Flood]

We don't go redo episodes. We just going forward because we don't have time. Right. And so I think that's, it's like action brings clarity. You just have to. So I had this thought. What is the biggest difference between me and anybody who hasn't, who doesn't have a podcast? The biggest difference is just that I started. I'm not necessarily better, not necessarily more talented, probably not more talented. The biggest difference is that, is that I've started. And then what's the biggest difference between me and the top rated podcasts in the world? I'm sure there are plenty of differences, but the number one difference is the amount of time we've been doing it.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah, reps.

[Teresa Flood]

It's reps.

[Rick Davis]

It's exactly right.

[Teresa Flood]

Like that's the number one difference now again, but. But the talent, the exposure, the influence, all of that comes in the reps.

[Rick Davis]

Yes. And you get a larger sense of ease and comfort the more that you do it. And it's the same whenever, like, you know, so for example, like Andrea, whenever we first started doing on location during COVID it was just like a total freakout because it's okay. We're totally off the map. We are in uncharted territory. Which way is up, whatever. But then A hundred plus listings later, it's like falling off a log.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

And it's like you get the muscle memory.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

So, you know, I think that I don't love the phrase imposter syndrome. I think we use that for a lot of things, and I think a lot of times we're just new.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

And there's nothing wrong with being new.

[Rick Davis]

It's a verbal shorthand for never having done it before.

[Teresa Flood]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And then we have that weird inner monologue most of the time where it's like, I should be better than I am. But then intellectually, if you, like, charted that out and diagram that sense. Okay, why?

[Teresa Flood]

Right.

[Rick Davis]

What in your backstory and in your background makes you think that you should be better at fill in the blank than you actually are?

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

When you have done it zero times.

[Teresa Flood]

Which, if we're being honest, is kind of an entitlement mentality, that we could show up on day one and be the best in the world, or even the best in our category or the best in our group on a day one. You know, life just doesn't work that way.

[Rick Davis]

And in this particular universe, or this little corner of the universe, because the vast majority of what people see is the finished product.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

You know, so if they're watching this and they're seeing the three camera shoot edited, and it's. Oh, it's jumping back and forth from the two of us. Oh, and now he's looking at the camera. Now he's looking at that camera. Now he's looking at that camera. Yes, exactly. And so all of that makes it look like the sausage just fully formed and it was breakfast.

[Teresa Flood]

Right.

[Rick Davis]

And it's like, nope, the sausage requires making.

[Skylar Williamson]

It does.

[Rick Davis]

And a lot of folks. So it's, it's, it's crazy because you came in with a fully formed idea and like you said, countless, countless reps of Monday through Friday.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

Which I couldn't even begin to place a value on that and how. How much that. But there, again, it's like circumstance and the situation that put you there gave you this springboard to come in and be awesome right out of the gate. But most of my time is talking people out of doing it, because, as you know. Because you will. And again, kudos to you for coming in like you had four ready to go the first day. I'm like, oh, my God, this is. I love this because the vast majority of my time when I'm talking people out of it, it's like, I want to do a podcast. Okay, what's it About. It could be about anything. Well, if it's about anything, it's about nothing.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

Who's your audience? Oh, it could be anybody.

[Teresa Flood]

The earth.

[Rick Davis]

Okay, great. You know, and so a lot of people think that they should or ought to or need to have a podcast, but what they really want is what they think it's going to feel like when they tell somebody they have a podcast.

[Teresa Flood]

Yeah, it's not that great, right? It's not that great.

[Rick Davis]

And you either need to want to do it just because one, you might want to see if you can do it. And then two, like where you have stylistically and through the reps, you've honed it into the voice where you're not coming in here trying to be something that you're not. And you do this already. So it literally is just an extension of what you've already been doing, which I'm sure you would agree makes it a lot easier to keep doing.

[Teresa Flood]

So. And one of my things. So I was actually chatting with a co worker yesterday, another leader in our organization, and she's going on a personal branding journey as well and kind of looking for how she wants to develop her voice. And she's a powerful leader. She's just dynamic. I mean, she could go do anything, speak, teach, write books. She's amazing. And she, she said to me, when we got done, I said, well, let's continue this conversation because I think we can really help each other grow and hold each other accountable on our journeys. And. And she said, she says, okay, great. Well, what do you want help being held accountable to? And I was like, well, honestly, I'm gonna show up. Like, if I say I'm gonna do something, I put it on the calendar. I'm gonna show up. Like, there's no, there's not gonna be a week that we don't have an episode. Like, if I say I'm gonna do it, it'll be, you know, if we take a seasonal break, it'll be pre planned on purpose. So if I commit to something, I'm gonna do it. And I think that's key. But then also I told her, I said, I just need to keep thinking bigger, right? I need to be stretched to think bigger and to think more impact and not to get complacent in just the consistency of what I'm doing, but to continue to push myself and grow.

[Rick Davis]

To ratchet it up.

[Teresa Flood]

To ratchet it up.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

Because now after a while, this is going to become old hat and so it's going to be, how do I Push myself to take things right to the next level. And that's how you don't get bored.

[Rick Davis]

Next will be you go live. You go live out to the universe.

[Teresa Flood]

Yeah, live to the universe.

[Rick Davis]

So one of the things, just speaking for myself and doing so I started. I want to say this will be 71 weeks in a row.

[Teresa Flood]

Okay.

[Rick Davis]

That I've done this. And one of the things I started out was it was just so Cruz and the other guys, I could teach them how to use the equipment.

[Teresa Flood]

Okay.

[Rick Davis]

So when somebody came in that was a legitimate, you know, client and a customer, that it wasn't like a clown car crashing into the wall over there. All the clowns spill out. Nothing works. But the first time we went live and there was no sound, you know, but because I'm the crash test dummy.

[Teresa Flood]

That worked great for everybody who was watching that were lip readers.

[Rick Davis]

Yes, that's true.

[Teresa Flood]

Perfect audience. You had your avatar.

[Rick Davis]

They had no idea. All the lip readers out there. That was great, man. Those guys were fantastic.

[Teresa Flood]

Yeah. So good. Yeah, so good.

[Rick Davis]

And. But like, there. And I learned where reps. So I started getting so actually the funny. So this is how your mindset can be. So my phone's blowing up, but I have it upside down. So whenever we're done, I flip it over and my phone's blowing up, everybody saying, there's no sound. There's no sound. And my first takeaway was people were watching. I was like, what? For real? And so then everybody was here. I said, okay, rerack, go to the restroom, come back. We're going to do it again. And pretend that everything I said, you've never heard before.

[Teresa Flood]

Right?

[Rick Davis]

You know, and it was literally okay. That's just it. That's what happened. And so after doing that, we kind of got in the groove of, okay, every Friday we're doing something. And then I. Then I added the women's show. And then for probably four or five months, I just played the dumbass guy that was on with the women. And then I got a couple of serious topics. I'm like, oh, you don't need a. You don't need me in here. But the thing was, what kept it interesting for me, and this might be for you, is later. So we went live, and so Wayne and I would go live, and we would pick the topic off of chat GPT. So we didn't even know what we were going to talk about until we were live.

[Skylar Williamson]

Okay.

[Rick Davis]

And now it was still in the framework.

[Teresa Flood]

It wasn't like molecular biology.

[Rick Davis]

No, no.

[Teresa Flood]

Or the maths no, there was no maths.

[Rick Davis]

No, no. We kept it in the framework of entrepreneurial, you know, mindset and motivation, but we tried to keep it current events. And there was a lot of stuff where I, you know, I pulled the curtain back on just essentially driving with no map and no directions, but yet still ending up here, you know? And of course, you know, Daniel. So, like, I would get into a bunch of the backstory there, but the thing was, in order to keep it interesting and to keep me showing up every Friday, there was that unknown of kind of going out on the high wire. And then it got up to where, like, we might have 125 people watching live. And then my. My next thing was, like, what for? Like, why? But it's just. Just knowing that that's a thing.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And that it's possible.

[Teresa Flood]

Okay. So one of the lessons that I learned was that your fans will surprise you. Meaning I have been so surprised about the people that tune in. So I have a friend who. She's a realtor at another company. We've been friends for a long time, and her and her son listen every week on the way to school, and her son subscribes to my YouTube channel. I am, like, he is, like, besides my girls, my number one middle school fan. And I'm so honored by that. That was like, how awesome is that, though? That's the greatest thing, right? Never in a million years would I've thought that they would be somebody. And I know this because she reached out and told me. And I'm so grateful to everybody who has shot me a text and said, hey, I listened to this episode, or, hey, you've really been challenging me in this. That has so kept me going. But I've been surprised sometimes about the people that have really connected and latched on and then the people who maybe haven't. And that's okay. There's no judgment. There's people that hear enough of me. They're probably like, I do not need to hear any more. Teresa Flood. I have my fill. I am good to go.

[Rick Davis]

I've been flooded. I'm done. I'm done.

[Teresa Flood]

Yeah, exactly. So there is no hard feelings in that, but it's really been interesting. You know, I have a girl that I haven't talked to, you know, face to face in years. Going through chemo, reached out to me, listens to the podcast.

[Rick Davis]

Wow.

[Teresa Flood]

And I'm just blown away that she is encouraging me from the chemo chair to keep going. Right. Like, I. I'm just. I'm so humbled. By that.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

And that is, you know, there was, there was one time, I don't remember what episode it was, but I didn't, it didn't feel like it was performing very well. Like, it just felt like the likes, like I. And I didn't really think it was that, like one of the best ones. And I felt a little discouraged that week and I got a couple texts of people that just reached out and encouraged me. But what I'm learning in all of that is how important it is to encourage other people on their journey. And you think probably, oh, somebody's already getting a ton of encouragement. I don't need to do it. Or every, like on a Instagram post or subscribe on a YouTube page or comment that you make publicly or private text. It is so valuable. And so I am purposely working to be better myself and looking at people and going, I want to encourage people in that journey.

[Rick Davis]

And now I'm over here going like, oh, I so totally need to do that. You know, because the truth is you.

[Teresa Flood]

Don'T really, I think when you're, when you're receiving it and you realize how impactful it is, you go, oh, yes, I need to be giving more of this out.

[Rick Davis]

Well. And I joke again often with my team or any of the agents or whatever, they're like, did you see how much, how many likes or how many views? I'm like, oh, awesome. And I said, external validation never goes out of style.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

You know, I don't give a hoot what your inner light looks like or whatever. External validation never goes out of style.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And like what you said, where somebody comes out of left field that you even haven't even talked to or thought about or whatever. And then all of a sudden they're like, I saw your thing on the thing and it was amazing.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

You're like, wow, okay. And that's, that's the beauty of.

[Teresa Flood]

And that's so much more powerful though, than a like or X number of like, it's when it's personal and you go, oh, wow, this has actually made a difference in somebody's life. Right.

[Rick Davis]

And the beauty of. Or again, the double edged sword of the world that we're in today is everything that you've done so far is permanently there.

[Teresa Flood]

Wonderful.

[Rick Davis]

I was actually trying to accentuate the upside of that. Of that.

[Teresa Flood]

I do see what you did there.

[Rick Davis]

Yes. Where people will continue to discover what you did 10 weeks ago.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

At infinitum.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

You know, and that's.

[Teresa Flood]

I'm so excited. Like Three years from now, people go, oh, my gosh, I saw your first episode. Look how far you've come. Like that.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

Really fun.

[Rick Davis]

And again, like I said, this is like 71 weeks in a row that I've done this. And part of it is exactly what you said. I said I would do it.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yep.

[Rick Davis]

And gonna do it and full stop, you know, and then anything that comes after that is gravy. Because there's something about the doing. It's exactly what you said. It's like the showing up. First off, it's the starting. And then you realize, like, oh, wow, it might suck or it might be less than I would prefer it to be, however I'm doing it. And name one. You know, I can't think of anything that I ever started, stuck with and got worse.

[Teresa Flood]

Right. You know, it's a good point.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah. It's like the world really doesn't work that way. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like, I practice more and I got worse.

[Teresa Flood]

Interesting.

[Rick Davis]

You know, the universe doesn't work that way.

[Teresa Flood]

Well, it's interesting, too, because I think some of what is most inspiring to people is that they're inspired to see people get out of their comfort zone. Oh, yeah, right. So it's. It's. Some of the feedback I've gotten is not even so much. This one liner you said was so amazingly impactful to me. It was, wow, you're, like, stepping out and doing something different. Tell me about that. Because they're looking for the courage to start their next thing.

[Rick Davis]

They want permission.

[Teresa Flood]

They want permission.

[Rick Davis]

A lot of folks.

[Teresa Flood]

If I can do it, by golly, anybody can do it.

[Rick Davis]

Now, I'm curious if you had anybody that was. So this would go by. I don't have any specific recollections of who, but I remember as a mortgage guy in a previous life, and I morphed into. I went to the Art Institute of Dallas 35 years ago. Yeah. So technically, the schooling was in the back pocket the whole time. But when I morphed out of mortgage and it was purely organic, it wasn't like I woke up one day and that was my quest or whatever. But I got a lot of implied. Well, you shouldn't. Why are you doing that? Yeah, you're coloring. Oh, wait, no, you're in the. You should fit in this box.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

So have you gotten any of that?

[Teresa Flood]

A little bit. I wouldn't say real overtly.

[Rick Davis]

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, oh, what are you doing that for?

[Teresa Flood]

And I think people have wondered that. Right.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

Why are you doing this?

[Rick Davis]

Right.

[Teresa Flood]

And. And a lot of people have just asked, like, so what's your, you know, what are you trying to accomplish in this? What's your end game? Like, what are you looking to do in this? And. And, you know, it's multifaceted.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

Right. It's beneficial for my role as a leader at Keller Williams. Go Dallas Preston Road. It's beneficial for me and my own personal growth. It's part of just what I believe my. My purpose is and my mission that I want to wake up every single day regardless of what quote job I have or what I do, and help people discover who they are and live their. Their to their potential. Right. So there's so many things, you know, it's kind of like, I don't know where this goes.

[Rick Davis]

Right. And now me being the workaholic bachelor with. With no kids, it's like, I have no life to speak of or whatever. But for the ones that do have a family and are very family oriented and all of that, I would say you are making an archive for your grandchildren and your grandchildren's grandchildren that you. You couldn't do it. If you try, if you plan to do it. The. The. The backlog of content topics.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

And that makes me want to cry. I've never thought about that before.

[Rick Davis]

Oh, well, then don't do that, because then I might get squishy. And that's. That's.

[Teresa Flood]

We don't want to get too squishy.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

That's very serious. Podcast.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

Crying podcast.

[Rick Davis]

Exactly. We're not getting emo in here.

[Teresa Flood]

But that is true. And that's really cool. I mean, and I feel like even just I've always wanted to model to my girls that they can do anything they set their mind to, but that it's gonna take hard work.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

That they're gonna have to show up when it's hard. That there's no easy road, that it's gonna take consistency.

[Rick Davis]

All of the things you've touched on so far.

[Teresa Flood]

All of the things. Right. And I think they're getting to see this modeled out for them. They're 13. They're not allowed to have social media. They can go onto YouTube. They. They can watch my podcast. Of course, that is a free programming. Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah, we have. We let that one through.

[Teresa Flood]

The one day I'm going to bring them on and we're going to do an episode with Jillian and Jet.

[Rick Davis]

I would love to hear them. Just.

[Teresa Flood]

We got to figure that out, what that needs to look like.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

I will take audience requests. How should we Should I interview them? Should they interview me?

[Rick Davis]

I would do both. Yeah. I would say you could even just do, like, where it's like one or two questions from either side. But I would be curious. Like, again, I always just put on my. Well, if I had kids, what. What would I be curious about? It would be, what do they think of mom and what mom does.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

Or like, tell us about your mom. Like, what does your mom do? You know?

[Teresa Flood]

Scary. We're not gonna go live on this one. This might be the one.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

Episode that we edit.

[Rick Davis]

This will be so finally edited.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

It'll be gonna be razor thin cuts together. Yes. Razor thin cuts. Or it'll be like Manchurian Candidate. My mother is amazing. Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

She is perfect.

[Rick Davis]

It'll be like AI, where she lives.

[Teresa Flood]

Every word of this to a T. Yeah. No, we'll have some fun with that one.

[Rick Davis]

There you go.

[Teresa Flood]

Next thing I learned.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

It's a lot. So somebody asked me the other day, they go, is it like, is it time consuming? I'm like, yeah, actually, it is. And. And it is energizing to me.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

Because it is the right next step for my business and for my growth. So. And working with somebody like you has made it much less time consuming because you've been amazing and you deal, like, with Buzzsprout and our feeds, and then when Apple podcasts, which, by the way, always has a problem and can confirm, you know, like, all of those kinds of things. You have leveraged that for me tremendously.

[Rick Davis]

Thank you.

[Teresa Flood]

But there's no muscle memory yet. Right, Right. So it's like I'm still having to kind of get in the groove and the gauge of it.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

And so over time, it's already easier than it was a couple years ago.

[Rick Davis]

You're shoehorning it into a rather. Just from the bleachers, a rather full life from. From, you know, from what I. What I could see. So the idea that you would even just have the consistency to be able to do, even if there was just enough to get one out per week, just barely by. But, you know, like.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

By the razor's edge. But that's not the case.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yes.

[Rick Davis]

So kudos for that.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

But you're right. It's a lot where. And that's the thing going back to what I said, where I often am talking people out of doing it, because unless you're doing it because you want to see if you can and what it looks like after you've done it for a while, you will lose interest. And if you're doing it for the likes, or if you're doing it specifically to garner extra external validation for yourself, you will be disappointed a hundred percent.

[Teresa Flood]

Like, because it's never going to be fast enough, explosive enough.

[Rick Davis]

Right.

[Teresa Flood]

And that. That was actually my number six.

[Rick Davis]

Oh, okay.

[Teresa Flood]

I learned.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

Was you have to be really clear on your why. Because if you don't know why you're doing it, and that's the case with anything, anything new you're starting, that's gonna require a long road ahead and consistent.

[Rick Davis]

You just need to be open ended.

[Teresa Flood]

Really. Yeah, that's open ended. You need to really understand why you're doing what you're doing. And you have to be committed to the process, not committed to the outcome.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

Or you're committed to the outcome by way of the fact that you're committed to continuing in the process. Right.

[Rick Davis]

And I would say the outcome being just a show.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

You know, so it's like, okay, I have a show. Okay. So that outcome has been achieved. Now the process of. Of having a show.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

Is. Is underway. And then if you can get in tune and in love with that part of it, you know, because, man, like I said, it's a lot. And for you to stack them, which is the right way to do it.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yes.

[Rick Davis]

By the way.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

Unless you're going live. Live. So. So Daniel Ang shout out to our mutual friend Daniel Ang. And my landlord, he got me into going live. So I will freely admit that going back to the imposter syndrome, whenever I was very first starting, I didn't want to be in front of the camera because I am absolutely aware and will freely admit that I love the sound of my own voice. So I have no problem in just being, hey, look at me and all of that. So I didn't want to do that because then all of a sudden that's what it's about. And you have imposter syndrome at the beginning because odds are you probably are terrible at whatever it is you're trying. And so you feel like a fake only because you can't do it.

[Teresa Flood]

Sure.

[Rick Davis]

And you can't do it because you haven't done it enough.

[Teresa Flood]

Right.

[Rick Davis]

You know, but then as everything progresses, everything gets easier and the hard thing gets easier and you get better. And like those two things kind of intersect.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And somewhere along the line you're like, oh, I can kind of do this. You know, and then doing the live thing and doing it where like, oh, this is fun. Just because I was doing it. One to teach the guys how to use the gear. But the other thing was, like. And I would. I would purposely bring on my friends that are coaches because I would want to throw them a curveball, not because it. Partly because I wanted to see, like, okay, what does this look like if we're, like, live in the right.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

Doing this.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And you don't know, and you don't have a canned answer or anything like that, and we're not talking in catchphrases or whatever, and it turns out that, like, Wayne and I have a blast, and we just go everywhere, and I've said some things about, you know, stuff in business I'd probably rather not be. People rather not know, or I'd rather they not know. And I come away from the cone. Oh, wow. That was rather cathartic, you know, and. Fair enough.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And then we just do it again, do it again, do it again. And then now, with the advent of the clips and the reels and the stories. It's a machine.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

Well, that's. The beauty is, is you spend an hour creating this content, and then you get to slice it, dice it, use it a hundred different ways.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

Forever. Right. Okay. So the last lesson, which was number five, but we kind of did number six first. You know, it's math.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah, exactly. I told you.

[Teresa Flood]

And really, that. That is to be ahead of the game. Right. Which is kind of the. The idea of batching our content and being ahead. So I. So Easter was this Sunday, and I was. Came home from church. We did lunch at my mom's. And, you know, of course, it's like every Tuesday. We drop these episodes every Tuesday, and it comes fast. Like, I feel like I'm still doing reels from the previous episode, and it's already time for the new episode. And I thought, oh, man, I need to go get Skylar Williamson was the upcoming episode. I was like, I need to go grab his bio. I need to go write the podcast description and write all of this up. And I went into my little contact calendar, and I was like, well, doggone it, Teresa, you already did it. And I actually had forgotten, because three weeks ago, every episode that we had already filmed, I went and did all of the writing essentially for it, and I forgot that I had done it, and I just had this wave of relief. And not that it would have even taken that long, but in that moment, I honestly didn't feel like doing it. And so I was like, let's keep it real. This is so great. Like, it's already done. And so I'm learning not just to to have the episodes filmed ahead of time, but to do as much ahead as possible because you're planning to fail. Meaning you might get sick, you might get super busy, you may just not feel like doing it, but the commitment is there. We're going to do it whether we feel like it or not, whether we're sick, like it's going to happen. And so if you can get ahead of it, you know, and even scheduling, so, you know, I schedule with you. Well, this time I didn't schedule with you. I just put on my own calendar and didn't actually put it on your butt. It still counts. It was in my. Well intentioned.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

But I do that to hold myself accountable, to making sure that I've written the episodes, that I've honed them out and that I'm gonna show up and record. Cause by golly, I'm not gonna cancel on you. Your time is precious and I'm not gonna cancel on you, so I better be ready.

[Rick Davis]

And I can neither confirm nor deny that there may or may not have been a Sunday or Monday night where I was up late going like, ah, I forgot to pull the audio. Yeah, but you've seen how everything is organized and, and so like when Colette first saw the Dropbox and the way it goes. You're a marketer's dream. And I'm like, that is from years of not doing it that way. Which ties into exactly what you said.

[Teresa Flood]

All a system.

[Rick Davis]

Yes, it's all a system. Everything goes. Audio only goes in here, finished episode goes in here, reels and stories go in here. And it's all, it's all named the nomenclature and everything is the same for everything. So that way it all follows the same line. And like, like you said, I love when everything's already done and all I gotta do is like, upload, schedule. Upload, schedule.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

It's awesome. I think that is such a key because life is gonna happen and if you're committed to it, you have to figure out how to allow yourself some. Some failure, if you will, to get behind. Right. And you do that by just batching it ahead. Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

Give yourself a little bit of breathing room.

[Teresa Flood]

Absolutely. Otherwise, just be constant. And that's what creates the anxiety and the stress and then to feel overwhelming, like, you know.

[Rick Davis]

Yep. And then any kind of joy you might have had is just sucked right out of it. And then all of a sudden you're being critical of yourself for. Well, it's like, did you think, like, there wasn't going to be some rando life thing happen at some point in your life, you know, it's like, it's going to happen. It's going to happen.

[Teresa Flood]

It's just going to happen.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah.

[Teresa Flood]

Well, you know, somebody said, are you going to run out of things to talk about? And you know, I thought that's like actually a great question because if you think, okay, how many I'm planning to continue doing this until it's time for the next season or what have you. And you think, okay, am I going to run out of things to talk about? But the truth and the reality is if I quit learning. Yes. If I continue to learn and grow and invest in myself, then I'll always have something new to share. I'll always have something new to talk about. So the accountability, not just of filming an episode to get it done, but also of saying I better learn and grow and be investing in myself every. I do it every morning. I'm reading. Right. I'm doing all of those things, listening to other podcasts, filling my mind with content because if I don't do that, I'm not going to have anything to share.

[Rick Davis]

And, and that also there's that double edged sword there where like, so my overarching philosophy in that world is there are going to be times where you're going to mail it in or you're going to be as close to mailing it in as humanly possible.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yep.

[Rick Davis]

But you can suck, but you can't quit.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And I even do that, like on my elliptical. I have to do 15 minutes every day.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

Bare minimum. And there are times where it's 12 minutes, I'm like, oh, be over. Because I do. With a weighted vest. Just a bunch of other ridiculous stuff.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

But like there, it's like you have to do it. If you say you're going to do it, you have to do it, do it. And sometimes it might be crappy.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yep.

[Teresa Flood]

You know, but what brill is confidence. And I believe this just so fundamentally is when we keep the promises we make to ourselves.

[Rick Davis]

Absolutely.

[Teresa Flood]

That's what creates the confidence. The confidence really doesn't come because of the likes or the subscribe or the accolades. The confidence comes because I said I was going to do it and it was hard and I still did it. I said I was going to do it and I didn't want to do it and I still did it.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

That is what creates confidence for somebody.

[Rick Davis]

Absolutely. And that's where your self esteem comes from too, in large part. Because now you are somebody that you can trust.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yes.

[Rick Davis]

Because you did what you said you were gonna do.

[Teresa Flood]

Yes. And so key.

[Rick Davis]

That is a huge part of the whole thing. And then. Well, if I do what I say I'm gonna do, that's very easily transferred out into the world.

[Teresa Flood]

Right.

[Rick Davis]

But, you know, if. If you know yourself, though. I never do what I say. You know, like, if you have that inner monologue or whatever, well, that's a hard thing to navigate with everybody else.

[Teresa Flood]

You just gotta start somewhere. So, you know, if somebody's listening to the struggling, pick something that you can go commit to doing. Doesn't have to be everything. Don't go. Try to win. Win every once. Excuse me.

[Rick Davis]

Cry.

[Teresa Flood]

Moment, please. I was about to go on a powerful monologue.

[Rick Davis]

I was. I was feeling it too.

[Teresa Flood]

I know. Okay. Anyways. But pick one thing.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

That you can. That you can commit to doing. And start small. It doesn't have to be massive. You know, if it's just do. Start with one video. Start with one video a week. Start with teaching a class. Start with just doing something that's gonna push you out of your comfort zone. And then start adding the consistency to it, whether you feel like it or not. Start messy. Yes, start messy. It's gonna be messy. Just start messy. Embrace messy. It really is. Okay.

[Rick Davis]

Ugly's all right.

[Teresa Flood]

Nobody else cares. Nobody else is paying as much attention as we think. Start messy. Stay consistent and do it for the impact. Because if you do it to be of service of others, whatever it is that you're starting, whether it's a podcast or just launching a business or something new in your business, if you do it for other people, you just won't be disappointed.

[Rick Davis]

Amen. And if you do it to get out of your own comfort zone.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

That is then a teachable thing that you can have other. You can help other people with.

[Teresa Flood]

Yes.

[Rick Davis]

Because like we said earlier, we touched on it, a lot of people just want permission to do something that they're afraid to do.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

Like, I can't do that. I'm a fill in the blank.

[Teresa Flood]

Right.

[Rick Davis]

It's like, no, you can do that. You can be both.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

You know, because like, if you just said, like, oh, no, I'm a sales leader. Whatever, whatever. I can't do a podcast.

[Teresa Flood]

Right.

[Rick Davis]

You know, it'd be very easily, you.

[Teresa Flood]

Know, which I thought that at first, to be clear. I mean, so when I was working with Colette, who's our director of Go marketing, and she suggested a podcast, I was like, I want to do a podcast. It felt like so cliche to me. I was like, I'm not gonna do a podcast. And yet, as I really looked at it, it was the next natural step of what I had been doing in these morning huddles. And it sounds so hokey in a way because I talk about these morning huddles all the time. But when I tell you the reps and the consistency have been life changing and it didn't happen after a month, even a year. It was time on task, over time. And so now I, you know, I think, oh, this is exciting because this is just like year one. Let's see what happens in five years.

[Rick Davis]

And that.

[Teresa Flood]

And I'm in it for the long haul.

[Rick Davis]

Yes, that right there. Let's see what happens. Yeah, that is. If everybody could have that attitude, even just for a minute on trying to get out of their comfort zone. Let's see what happens versus, oh, I'm going to be judged on this thing, probably harshly, because nobody ever skews to the, to the, you know, the. Everybody skews to the negative.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And nobody's skews to like the super optimistic outlook. And again, that's just human nature.

[Teresa Flood]

Do you know who's not judging is the people who have been down that road before.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

The people that judge and are harsh and critical are the ones who are afraid to step out and do it. The people that have, have started on day one, they remember their day one. They remember they were nervous. They remembered how messy it was, how imperfect it was. Those are not the people you get judged from.

[Rick Davis]

No.

[Teresa Flood]

It's the people who, who resent you for doing the things that they're too afraid to do. Right.

[Rick Davis]

So that is Human Nature 101. It is. So I've heard. Like one of the things I will teach my guys because it's like, you know, oh, someone, they said this on Facebook or, ah, they're like ripping on my stuff or whatever. It's like, look, nobody that's doing better than you is going to criticize you.

[Teresa Flood]

Right.

[Rick Davis]

And everybody else that is ripping on you is because you're doing something that they're afraid to do and you remind them of that.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yes, yes.

[Rick Davis]

And again, it's human nature and I get it, but I love it.

[Teresa Flood]

Okay, so a year from now, same time, same place.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

And we'll say, what have we learned? A year in.

[Rick Davis]

We'll have at least six more things.

[Teresa Flood]

We'll have at least six more things.

[Rick Davis]

Yes.

[Teresa Flood]

That'll be so fun.

[Rick Davis]

I love it.

[Teresa Flood]

I'm so thankful for you. Thank you for helping me in this journey and being so fun to work with. Everybody should work with you on video, no doubt. Thank you so. All right. Well, thank you everybody for tuning in to yet another episode of the Upside podcast. And thank you. Please, like, please subscribe, please share with a friend. And if you haven't gone to teresaflood.com, that's Teresa with an H. There's a flood.com. i know that. Clever.

[Skylar Williamson]

Yeah, it's.

[Teresa Flood]

There's a flood. There's a flood.com. you can subscribe. And when you subscribe, I will add you to my weekly emails. But you also get a teaching guide for every episode. That's not an interview, so we don't necessarily do one with an interview. But anything that is just me teaching you get a teaching guide which enables you to take that and turn around and teach it to teams that you lead. Or that time where you get called on and need a little something and you're like, I don't know what I'm going to share. You just go to your Upside arsenal and you can pull from that content, make it yours, and hopefully that will empower you in your leadership growth. So thank you for tuning in and as always, see you on the Upside.