INTRO
Phoebe Sherman:

Welcome to the Girl Gang Craft Podcast where we dive in deep to all things business, wellness, creativity, and activism for artists and entrepreneurs. We talk with impactful female driven companies and founders for an inside look at the entrepreneurial experience where you'll come away with tangible steps to elevate your business. Are you ready? I'm your host, Phoebe Sherman, founder of Girl Gang Craft artist and designer, and marketing obsessed. We're here to learn together how to expand our revenue, implement new organizational techniques, and cultivate best business practices as we work towards creating a life doing what we love. Let's get started.

00:00:45:11 - 00:01:14:11

Hello Creatives! Welcome back to Girl Gang Craft, the podcast. I'm your host, Phoebe Sherman, and it is a solo podcast episode today and we are talking about bravery and boundaries. I've been thinking a lot about these two concepts, and so we're going to dive right into all that good stuff. But I wanted to share a couple of things that was going on right now in the GGC world of course, or working on events for you. I know you all are so anxious to get those event dates, and I promise we're going to announce them so soon. We don't have exactly a date that we're going to announce, but it is soon. So promise. And we're going to get the app up soon after we announce the date. So hang tight with that.

And this week we are launching our email marketing class. This is our last launch for this specific class format. So it is generally $57. It is 20% off this week and it will never, ever be at that price again. We are giving it a little bit of a makeover after that. I'm going a little bit more in-depth. So if you've been wanting to learn email marketing and dive into how to build your list, how to talk to the people on your news list, and how to sell. So email marketing is so so so so so important, and the ROI - Return On Investment - is much stronger there in email than in social media marketing. Social media, Your posts. You might have seen your posts, you know, maybe not getting seen by as many people as you are. That engagement rate for social media is about 2 to 5%. An email can be like 20 to 30 on average. So I mean, some of our emails get opened by like 40%. So that is a huge difference. And yes, maybe your social media following is larger on social media than your email marketing list, but let's build a list and let's get that percentage higher. It's also really important to make sure that you're not just creating content on something that's owned by someone else, aka Meta aka Facebook aka Instagram, right? Email, you own. You own all that subscriber info so you can always get in touch with your email subscribers. And that is so important because things like Instagrams are getting hacked. I had a friend Pat Bayley shout out. She had about 100,000 followers on Instagram and her account got hacked. I think she ended up getting some of it back, but all of her content was deleted and so maybe she had her follower count, but none of her content, and she just took it as a sign to restart. But I always tell that story because you never know what's going to happen. There's hackers, there, you know, who knows if Instagram goes under someday? Who knows if that algorithm gets a little bit more complicated or your posts get seen by even less than that 2 to 5%. You want to make sure that you are connecting with folks in their own inbox. And this is so, so, so important. People in their inbox are often more action oriented. They're more likely to take action to buy. And those conversion rates are higher than on social media. I know things like TikTok shop and social media shop and instagram shop are happening. Yes, I think people are more, getting more comfy making purchases on their phone, but I think people tend to be more action oriented when they’re in their inbox. Like, think about your own inbox situation and you're going through on maybe your computer and you're, you know, sitting at your desk and your (typing sounds) going through your inbox, maybe you're more apt to take action on purchasing a class, right? Or purchasing that sweater you've been eyeing, or as if you're just like scrolling on your phone. Perhaps you're a little bit more, you know, in resting mode and you're not really ready to take action. So that like even that energy of the inbox is a very different energy. Plus, when you're engaging with your newsletter subscribers, these are people who all signed up for your newsletter. These are folks who have raised their hand and said, yes, please, I want to know more. So that is a customer that you want to talk to rather than maybe like a follower who's just casually following you on social media. The subscribers in your list are more apt to purchase.

Anyways. Okay, let's not talk about that anymore. Email marketing. We have other stuff to talk about for this episode. I could talk about email marketing for forever. It is the reason I am making money. In our business. We send out emails. That's where people are purchasing our things, our products, our classes, or signing up for events. So email is really important. If you want to take our email class, you can go to girlgangcraft.com/classes. Click on the email marketing one and use code email20 for 20% off. And we're going to stop offering that Tuesday. Tuesday, February - How's that it’s February already? - Tuesday February 6th at midnight Pacific Standard Time. So go ahead and make sure that you sign up for that because we won't offer it afterwards.

So and then if you are looking for email platform, maybe you're not satisfied with the one you're using. Maybe it's too expensive, maybe it's clunky and it's not pretty enough. We love flodesk. you can get 50% off your first year of flodesk at bit.ly/GGCFLODESK Flodesk is caps as well, and we'll put that link in our bio.
You can also always message us for it or find it on our website as well so bit.ly/GGCFLODESK We love flodesk. Woman owned San Francisco based initially, and we love them. Really easy to use. Really aesthetics oriented. Our email templates are like so easy to use and they're beautiful and really a great way to start to get into funnels or workflows, as they call it. These are automated emails. If you don't know what that is, that's fine. Take the class. We love automations. We want to carry our customer along a journey. An intentional journey. So that's why we use automated emails. Anyways. bit.ly/GGCFLODESK and then email class girlgangcraft.com/classes (code EMAIL20)

00:07:21:10 - 00:07:56:19
Okay, let's talk about boundaries and bravery.

I've been thinking about bravery and what it means to be brave. Running a business in itself requires bravery. It also requires boundaries. That's why we're talking about boundaries and bravery today, because I think that these are two essential ingredients that you need to run a business. Bravery isn't about like feeling confident the whole way through something. Instead, it's about maybe you're feeling fucking terrified and you do it anyway. It's about showing up when people you know or don't know are going to see you and maybe not like you or what you have to say or like your art and you show up anyways. It's when bullies are bullying, trolls are trolling and you stay on your path regardless.
So I've been thinking about this bravery and how it applies to running your own business and a social media context and like continuing on your path context. And it is so terrifying and scary all the time. And I think bravery, the act of doing something that you're scared to do gets easier when you're consistent, when it becomes a practice, when you do it over and over again and you show up regardless of the consequences, regardless of the fear, regardless of what people are going to say and think. This idea of cringe, I don't know how I feel about the word cringe because I actually think it can be really potent. It can be really powerful just to be yourself and to do something silly or to be, you know, raw or to try to do something that you're not necessarily comfy doing, and to do it anyways. So if we take this sort of like content example, you know, and I'm not saying you have to have content in a certain way and you have to be super great and dance blah blah. I'm just saying that you're going to show up and do the thing regardless of what other people are going to say. I've seen a lot of sort of chit chat about people not wanting to post because they're scared of white people from their old high school are going to say, or you know, even like from a political stance, maybe like showing up in a way that might be uncomfortable for others, showing up in a way that might be, I don't know, like in contrast, politically, maybe, and these feelings of uncertainty and like being scared and being nervous about other people are going to say they're real, but you can't let that stop you. If running a business is what you want, if showing up in a certain way is in alignment, if you want to show up in a way that creates sales or creates eyes on your work or whatever, you kind of have to still do the thing. And again, I'm not saying you show up in a certain way and I'm not saying you have to show up a certain amount of times, but I am saying you have to show up regardless of how other people are going to perceive you and you will find the right people that are going to be aligned with your content, your mission, your ethos, product.

And it can hurt when someone perceives you in a way that doesn't feel good when someone is rude, when someone is trolling. Also, if it's someone you know or someone you even care about and you know, perhaps they say something that doesn't feel good, it can be really disheartening. It can be really harmful to your creative process. It can suck. Really, really sucks when someone says something rude or even says something that like doesn't feel true or like not in alignment or brings something up that like, isn't what you're trying to do. Whatever. It can suck. It can really, really suck. And I've been there. I've gotten pushback around all sorts of kinds of pushback from our events, from like the political angle, from like showing up in a certain way, people saying they don't like my voice from people calling us a scam or like, it's giving MLM. Like, none of these things are true. Like we're not a scam. I'm sorry you don't like my voice, like, whatever. And then the brave thing is like you have to still do the thing. The brave thing is like, okay, you guys don't do well at my event. Maybe you didn't like how we did something. I'm going to host the event again.

And this is different than listening to feedback or, you know, people making helpful suggestions or even pointing out, you know, like that something is racist or something like whatever– that's different. It's the people pointing out things that just aren't in alignment or misunderstood or just rude. And it's not not taking that to heart because maybe you fucking take that to heart. Maybe you have like a three day depressive spiral. Like I have been there. I've had comments and feedback really take me down and you're allowed to feel the things. Please wallow in those feelings. Please, like, sit with those things. But the great thing is, and you have to still do the thing if you want this to be your business, if this is your passion and if this is whatever you care about this thing, like you have to still do it. And that, I feel, is bravery and it is a necessity to run a business in this modern age. When businesses are so visible, there's going to be pushback, there's going to be mean things said and like you're going to still show up. And that's what being a business owner is. Yeah, I think that's all I have to say about bravery.

00:13:13:06 - 00:13:53:14

And so how are boundaries connected to this? They both start with B, they make a good pairing. But I think being brave is having good boundaries, and there's a couple of ways that I look at boundaries. So boundaries for others is often saying yes, saying no. I think you all get that, right. Boundaries for, you know, saying no when things don't serve, you say no to toxic things, you know, being intentional about what we say yes to, maybe saying yes to things that really fill us up and no to things that don't serve us or say no to things that you need to do or you don't have to do.
But I think boundaries, and this is hard in itself, having boundaries with other people is hard, but I think having boundaries with yourself is harder. And there is that push and pull between others and yourself, right? Because really when you have boundaries with others, it's actually a boundary with yourself as well. It's the same with the trolling situation, right?
Having that boundary like, okay, this person can't hurt me in this time. Or maybe this person can make you feel sad, I'm going to still choose to move forward. I think that's a boundary. And in addition, I think boundaries, while having a lot to do with your mission and self-worth and like being intentional and being aligned with yourself like what you're saying yes to and what you're saying no to. I also think time is really integrated into boundaries. Time is a wild thing, and I think a lot of people can agree that time is the most valuable resource. And so to run a business, you really need to have some sort of mastery with time. And I think, you know, no one's ever gonna be a master of time. It's going to take work always. But time management is so important and boundaries are so integrated with that. So for me, this is the opposite of multitasking. I used to think, you know, put it on my resume like I'm a great multitasker and like, you know, I could multitask all the tables when I was waitressing and blah blah. And now I think multitasking is not a good thing. I think it's really important for me at least, and maybe a lot of you listening, perhaps it's a good thing for you as well to really be intentional about your time and to focus on one thing at a time. So focusing on one task and not doing all the other tasks at the same time. Right. And being intentional about the time and not checking your phone, not checking your inbox, not also managing your team, whatever. It's having one task and being intentional on that. Obviously there are times and places where it makes sense to do more tasks at once. I've recently gotten back into knitting again, so I'm knitting while watching TV. Like that's a different thing. Gives me something to do with my hands while I consume media. But when I'm working and specifically like today, for instance, I had to prepare for this podcast. I'm doing a lot of writing projects, so for me it makes sense to focus on those tasks and not also be messaging my team. Looking in my inbox like those are distracting mechanisms, tasks, distractions from the project at hand. So I think having good boundaries helps fulfill good intentional work, and it feels good to focus on one thing at a time. What's it called when you like– like a flow state, right? You can actually dive into the task. It can even be like meditative, right? But when you get yourself in and out of that task, like texting or inboxing or whatever, the quality of that work may not be as good. Okay, So this is all kind of esoteric. We're just we're going with that today.

But so, concretely, boundaries as a small business owner it’s so important for how we're scheduling our time. And this can apply to folks who just run their own business. Or maybe you run your own business and you have children, or maybe you have a 9 to 5 and you have a side hustle. Like boundaries can apply for all of this, and all of it is about time management. And I don't want to talk about rigid binaries here. That's not what I'm trying to do. Scheduling and then something comes up and you don't do that thing. But creating scheduled time for projects, for creative time, for even things like your inbox, all of these things create a container so you don't do something else. These create the container so you know that thing is going to get done and you don't have to think about it. And the other moment when it's not scheduled for that time. So some of the ways I do this is schedule days for the week. And again, I don't want to think of binaries like this is wrong. And if this thing comes up like you don't do that thing. But instead having these days serve as containers for certain themes so things don't get muddled. So you can make sure you have time for all the things, so you can make sure that you can focus on all the things that for me, Mondays, CEO Day, and most often recently that has been about projects, big projects that I can have focused work on. And I don't have meetings on Monday if I can help it. Tuesday is internal. That's mostly team focused. Sometimes I have partnership stuff on Tuesday. Wednesday is creative, so sometimes that's content. Maybe it's like writing or like even some final work, maybe like some email work. Thursday is community day, so that's like, I'm in my inbox. I'm talking to people, people like outside GGC and then Friday is financial or maybe like there's some stuff that I don't get finished for the week. So by creating these containers, I can stay more strongly in that flow state. I can create those boundaries so that other distractions don't pop into those days. And then to further take it deeper. If you've listened to my episode, I'm not sure which number it is. I have an episode called The to Do List is Dead. This is also a class I teach and it's all about how the to do list is designed to make you not feel fulfilled because it is never done. The to do list is designed to continue to continue continue. And by the end of the day, you have a bunch of things still on your list that you haven't done. So I'm anti to do list, and instead I am pro scheduling. So everything on your to do list you could start with a to do list if you really want everything get scheduled to a certain day. So let's say you have a project that's not due for two months instead of it's sitting on your to do list. It can be scheduled on the calendar from like a month from now in. Check it out and know that it's going to get done. So I put all my tasks on my calendar corresponding with theme days for the most part, and make sure I have time to do my projects, make sure I have the time to go on my inbox, make sure I have time to do outreach to my partners, make sure I have time to ship, to outreach to wholesalers, to retailers, etc. It is so important to have these boundaries and to have this focused time for these project, because otherwise you're just going to be responding to emails your whole life. You need to set aside time again, whether you're doing this full time or whether you have a side business, you need a schedule time for the tasks that are important and you need to create boundaries so that these tasks take your whole focus. So you're intentional about your time. I just saw like a video and I don't remember the creators name, sorry, but they were talking about wanting to go on a run and was like, how to make sure that you leave your house to go on a run and then they like, show the mess around the house and they're like, that is a future You problem. You have made time to go on a run right now. You're not going to clean your house right now. You're going to go on a run.

You need to make time for the things that are priority and then the future you problems. You can also have time for that. But otherwise, we're always cleaning our house for always doing the dishes. We're always doing. And but you have to create intentional time and prioritize the tasks that need to get done or that you want to get done. Have these boundaries to create intentional work and the rest, the distractions can be saved for another time. Another way that I create boundaries with my time is I leave my phone in my living room and I go to bed. So I have my charger outside on the couch. I don't bring my phone into the bedroom with me. I go into my bedroom around like ten maybe, and the phone stays out. I read to get to bed in the morning so I’m not scrolling. I sort of like give up on this for a little bit. This is something I've been doing for a couple of years, on and off, and I give up for this. And I was like, this doesn't feel good. I'm spending a lot of my time scrolling. Let's reestablish this boundary. So that boundary for yourself is so important. I don't want to wake up in the morning and then to scroll. That's not how I want to go to sleep. So I've made the decision and created this boundary for myself to have my phone outside of my living room. I have an alarm clock in my room, an actual alarm clock, so I don't need to use my phone alarm. It's about giving yourself the tools to create the boundaries, in this case, a place to put my phone, the alarm clock. Maybe a boundary for you is limited in your time of social media, maybe a boundary for you if you have 9 to 5 and a side hustle is like making Thursday be about those that you may be about creating products. And Tuesday is about shopping and social media. You know, whatever can be small, it can be big. These boundaries are so important. Okay, I think that's all I have to say about boundaries and bravery for now.
Let me know if you liked this episode. Let me know what else you're interested in hearing about. I know I've been getting some rumbling about my wedding episode. I'm going to do a wedding blog soon, and the wedding episode soon as well. Remember every other week it's a solo episode with me. Every other week is an interview with a fem creator. Please go ahead and rate this podcast Share it with a friend. I love you so much thanks for listening!

OUTRO
Thank you so much for listening to the Girl Gang Craft Podcast. Head to Girlgangcraft.com/podcast for shownotes and more. See you next time.