Entrepreneurial Resilience: Insights from Claudia Cordova Rucker
Claudia Cordova Rucker is a grounding presence for resourceful and resilient first generation entrepreneurs ready to define success and encompass a bicultural approach to Profitability and Presence, Profitability and Presence in their lives and businesses with their values and well-being in tow. Claudia is a seasoned entrepreneur with a multifaceted career in the textiles, garment manufacturing, real estate, mental health, and beauty industries. She started her entrepreneurial career early, launching an organic chicken business at just 16. Claudia's second business venture, Aqua Nail Bar, was repeatedly voted best of by The Independent for 13 years in a row. Living on the unceded territory of the Chumash people past and present, which is also known as picturesque Santa Barbara, California, she embodies the ethos of her practice, finding joy and presence in every aspect of her life. She shares with her husband, Mark, her fur baby, Dixie, and their family and friends.
Listen to the full episode here.
LINKS
SHOW RUNDOWN
[00:01:55] Claudia Cordova Rucker on what she is most passionate about
[00:02:37] Claudia Cordova Rucker on her tips for staying present
[00:05:41] Claudia Cordova Rucker on her journey and what lead her to her passion
[00:10:11] Claudia Cordova Rucker on what her life looks like now in terms of her business and finding a balance
[00:12:34] Claudia Cordova Rucker on starting Beyond Ordinary Business
[00:16:23] Claudia Cordova Rucker on her consciousness, how her family’s legacy played into who she is and what she does
[00:20:36] Claudia Cordova Rucker on her 16-year-old self and the chicken business
[00:26:46] Claudia Cordova Rucker on working with her sisters
[00:27:29] Claudia Cordova Rucker on starting her own business
[00:33:01] Claudia Cordova Rucker on how people work with her
[00:35:33] Claudia Cordova Rucker on the common theme she sees in her clients
[00:41:29] Claudia Cordova Rucker on her advice to women entrepreneurs
[00:48:01] Claudia Cordova Rucker on questions that people should asked her but haven’t
[00:50:30] Claudia Cordova Rucker on her dream for herself and women
[00:52:53] Claudia Cordova Rucker on advice she would give to 16-year-old Claudia
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Passionistas: Hi, we're sisters, Amy and Nancy Harrington, the founders of The Passionistas Project. We've created an inclusive sisterhood where passion driven women come to get support, find their purpose, and feel empowered to transform their lives and change the world. On every episode, we discuss the unique ways in which each woman is following her passions, talk about how she defines success, and explore her path to breaking down the barriers that women too often face.
Today, we're talking with Claudia Cordova Rucker, a grounding presence for resourceful and resilient first generation entrepreneurs ready to define success and encompass a bicultural approach to Profitability and Presence, Profitability and Presence in their lives and businesses with their values and well being in tow.
Claudia is a seasoned entrepreneur with a multifaceted career in the textiles, garment manufacturing, real estate, mental health, and beauty industries. She started her entrepreneurial career early, launching an organic chicken business at just 16. Claudia's second business venture, Aqua Nail Bar, was repeatedly voted best of by The Independent for 13 years in a row.
Living on the unceded territory of the Chumash people past and present, which is also known as picturesque Santa Barbara, California, she embodies the ethos of her practice, finding joy and presence in every aspect of her life. She shares with her husband, Mark, her fur baby, Dixie, and their family and friends.
So please welcome Claudia Cordova Rocker.
Hi, Claudia. We're so excited to have you back. You're one of our favorite people on the planet.
Claudia: Ditto. Ditto. And I'm really excited. I'm really excited to be here.
Passionistas: Excellent. So Claudia, maybe this is, we don't know if this has changed or not since the last time we asked you this question, but what are you most passionate about?
Claudia: Yeah, I think I'm very, it has changed quite a bit. Um, uh, I am most passionate about, um, Passionate about, um, being fully present in business and life and, uh, entrepreneurialism and profitability, uh, because of course that supports being fully present in business and life. And yeah, I'm passionate about how to figure out that puzzle and help people for myself and to help, um, my clients figure that for themselves.
Passionistas: All right, so let's get into it right from the get go. What are some of your tips for staying present?
Claudia: Oh, I, I have made, um, a deep dive into that question that, uh, I was thinking about it. I, with the accountability coach that accompanies me on figuring out how to be accountable to being present and, and profitable in business and life.
Um, I think you know, for me, I'm a very, um, I'm a person who could get really lost in staying busy. Let me just say that right off the bat. I, I, one of, one of my, one of the things that I love about myself is that I'm very generous and you guys have experienced that generosity. But in my generosity and my love for learning and all my strengths.
There's like a shadow side to that. And so I think that for me it was really exploring that. And, um, putting in practices that serve as a foundation for that. Right? So, um, my tips and tricks would be that giving yourself space. To explore and create self awareness on what you are really good at, what you really like, and then coming back and looking at, okay, there's a shadow side to all of this.
And so let me be just really aware of that. And how do I find balance? Because both of those truths are, both of those truths are true at the same time. And so, how can I sit in the middle? And this is where, um, embracing, um, my, my heritage and being Mexican and American, um, where it used to be very painful, just embracing that and understanding I can be both at the same time and how that is.
How loving myself for being both at the same time has like just translated into everything, but that only comes if you give yourself the time and build the practices of being, um, self aware, reflective, uh, giving yourself time to rest and play and have space and all of that in the busy world that we live in, especially as entrepreneurs, um, take some structure to it.
So that would be my tips and tricks. What does that, what does that structure look like for you? Do a deep dive, give yourself space to do it. And, and then clarity will come through action. It's not a destination. It's actually like they always say it's a journey, but being fully present to, you know, that exploration is what I feel gives joy and adds value to my life.
Passionistas: That's beautiful. So you, you said that this passion is fairly new to you since the last time we talked. So what was the journey? What, what happened that led you to finding this passion?
Claudia: Well, um, as y'all know, because we were, um, accompanying each other through COVID, it, it really, it was, starts there because, um, and the first time you guys interviewed me, I was a successful spa owner.
Well, we fronted as a spa, but we were really a personal development company, uh, for women who were in the beauty industry and starting their career off in the beauty industry. And you know that I was very passionate about that. Um, And you could say, well, how do you go from being a spa owner to, um, now, uh, founding Beyond Ordinary Business, which is about mindful financial advising, management advising?
Like, how do you make that connection? It really, it really does start in COVID as we were accompanying each other, because what I, What COVID gave me the time to understand was that although I was very passionate about Estetica Mia, the spa, and we had won a lot of awards, um, what COVID took away from me was the opportunity to be in my happy place.
And really it gave me the time to say, okay, um, I'm so much more than this business. Because I really went into crisis at the beginning. I was like, what am I without Estetica Mia? That is my whole, um, that's my whole life. That's, that's who I am is this, this, um, award winning spa owner who people come to, uh, for business advice, where, um, uh, new, Uh, women, women new to the beauty industry come in to gain, um, experience and skills to be, uh, able to self direct their life.
That was my whole understanding, my whole universe. And when COVID hits, that's all stripped away very quickly because as, as you guys remember, um, I got the call from the lawyer that said, lay everybody off. And I was like, no, I will figure this out. I have been through a labor code change, three fires, one mudslide, a walkout.
I, I, um, I have figured out how to get through life with a father who had a, an accident and a major brain injury. And, um, it was really having everything taken. from me as an entrepreneur, not by choice, that I had the time to reflect back. And it was really sad because what I realized is I was doing a lot for others, but not necessarily understanding, um, how to be fully resourced, meaning having the support to having well being for myself.
So that's where this exploration actually happens, and it's, it's taken me a while to get to the point where I could come back and say, what I really love is to accompany women. And helping them figure out their profitability and, and, um, being fully present in life and how that comes back to being their version of what success looks like.
Because I honestly feel most entrepreneurs, they want, they want that. Because I hear them say, I want balance. Well, or harmony in my business. And what I translate that into is, and I want to be profitable and make money because I want financial independence. And, but I always feel like there's that tension point of like, they can't both exist at the same time.
And And it does, but it takes some time. It takes some financial management practices and systems and deep personal exploration, reflective practices to put in place to always figure what does that look like for you and what does success look like for you. Because, um, For me, success before I started this journey was, um, yeah, I do have to be profitable and I drove profitability, but much too much to me missing out on other areas of life that were important to me.
Passionistas: So now that you've learned that about yourself, What does your life look like now in terms of business and finding that balance?
Claudia: Yeah, it's, thank you for asking that. I feel like there's days that it looks like it's It's like, wow, I have so much time available to me. How can I fill that? And then I catch myself and I'm like, no, that's exactly the point.
Um, it's scary sometimes, honestly, it really is. I will sit there and I'd say, wait, I'm not really busy. I'm not stressed out. And then I'll have a freak out moment. And then I come back and I say, yeah, that's what I, that's what I've been working towards. And I'm actually living this beautiful vision, but sometimes I have to say it, it feels a little scary and uncomfortable because my tendency will be to go and try to fill that space with things to do.
And, and then I'm back to overwhelm. So it's this constant ebb and flow of adjusting, locating. Redirecting, um, myself, uh, to, to be here as much as I can make that happen and to also be very, um, aware of when I'm out of, um, harmony or balance that I trust myself that I'm going to get back there because I have all the practices, systems, tools that I, I support that, um, in place to help me get back to harmony.
So it's an ebb and flow. Um, and it all starts with a plan and well, it starts with understanding my values, my vision, and then having a plan, working the plan, because the plan allows me to locate myself and then figure out an emergent strategy as change happens and then come back to that harmony. Place.
So that's a, that's really what it looks like. There's a lot more, there's a lot more ease in that. Um, but life happens, life is messy and change happens. And so I don't want to paint the picture of like, Oh, now I don't have any issues or problems. I, I just am very aware of the support that I have to, to create wellbeing in my life.
Passionistas: So how do you share that with other women? Tell us about starting beyond ordinary business and what some of your programs are that you offer.
Claudia: Yeah. So there is a framework to this. It's called the present and profitable framework. And it really, it. It's based on the seasons. So, um, there is, I don't know if you know this about me, but I do have, um, my, um, I have some roots, uh, in, in the Indigenous community, and I feel like as soon as I accepted that as part of my identity, um, this, this This became very apparent to me, very intuitive, the way that I live my life today.
And it's really, I live my life in tune with the seasons. So, in the, um, in the winter, I have a lot of practices that I put in place that are about visioning what I want for, um, my next year. And, uh, in, uh, The Spring, I'm doing more strategic, mindful, you know, using my mind, mental energy to write a plan and who's going to support me with this plan.
In the Summer, my plan has already been set. birth. So now I'm executing the plan. And then in the fall, I'm coming back and doing really beautiful harvest review sessions, where I'm really going deep within what worked, what didn't work. And then I'm coming back into the winter and envisioning. And I've translated that, my, what I do for my personal life, and basically I've shifted that to how do we do that with business strategy and money?
And how do we do it in a complementary way that it's not at odds with what we want in our life? So I would say what makes me different than maybe some of my colleagues is we talk a lot about capacity. What does capacity look like? For me, capacity with everything that I have going on as a caretaker for my elderly parents, um, as a, as a wife to my husband, as a sister, as a friend, it means that I have about 20 hours to really work intentionally, fully, deeply in my business, and, you know, I have to write a cash flow plan and a sales strategy, a forecast, um, have cash flow, you know, wrap my, an understanding of what that means.
But with my capacity that I have, and you know, it's, it's led to some really beautiful decisions, some hard decisions, but I have the plan where I've mindfully intentionally created it to how I want to grow my business. Now, I personally, at the stage of life that I'm in, I'm not going to drive sales.
That's not my season of life. I'm in my current career. I wanted this to be very delicious, very intentional, very connective. And that seems to be what is being fully present in business and life and profitable looks like to me in this stage of my life. And the season of my life. So I hope that answers the question.
Passionistas: Yeah, it does. And I also, you've spoken now a few times about your heritage and the Mexican part of you and the Indigenous part of you and the American part of you. Were you always so conscious of your, of how your legacy, your family's legacy has played into who you are and what you do? Or is that something that's become more significant to you over time?
Claudia: Yeah, so I would credit my mental health journey, and I'm going to get really, I'm getting flooded right now, because, um, this is a really painful exploration for me. I have always, up until like maybe my 50s, tried to assimilate, and it wasn't until this season of my life where, um, through my, um, through my mental health challenges, And I'm going to be very vulnerable and say, you know, suicide ideation was part of that, of being so stressed out because of, um, the stress that being an entrepreneur puts on you.
Besides life stress, right? Um, and my family challenges, like when my dad getting the, um, having that major fall and having the brain injury, uh, Entrepreneurialism, we're under so much stress and what I learned through my own mental health journey was that um, when we're under so much stress that leads to, that leads to trauma.
And so going, going to seek the support of a therapist really, at first, what we were, what we were working on was the trauma that I, that, that the mudslides, the, the, um, labor code changes, all that, um, trauma that I had experienced as an entrepreneur. That's the first layer. The second layer became the generational trauma that I carried with me and how, um, and how the experiences as a child being bullied for being, um, Mexican, uh, impacted me.
And then it's a beautiful exploration of like, I can really love that little girl in her full totality and, um, I don't have to assimilate. I, I can choose to come out and be authentically who I am. And Beyond Ordinary Business is a beautiful, um, tribute to, um, really how do we help people be fully who they are, authentically who they are, and run profitable businesses that allow them to be fully present in business and life.
But this, this comes from a beautiful exploration and really, um, working, making my mental health as much of a priority as I was making my physical health. You know, all the other bits and pieces of it. So, um, yeah, it's something fairly new, I would say, over the past five years. It's definitely new since we first met each other.
Um, because as you know, before I was out there to conquer the world and, um, you know, it was I think back on that beautiful person or iteration of myself, and I have a lot of compassion for her, a lot of compassion. And, um, and I'm grateful for my mental health journey because it actually brought me down to where I could be fully present in life and not have to escape into, you know, taking over the world. And, um, I hope that, I hope that there's some light.
Passionistas: Thank you for being so open and vulnerable and we love you and this summer we're making up Santa Barbara to give you an in real life hug. Thank you.
Claudia: I really look forward to it. Well, I've already had a hug from Amy and it was pretty spectacular during the event though. It was like the air hug, right Amy?
Passionistas: We were inches away from each other.
Claudia: We were inches away from each other, out in the open. Um, but I can't wait to get that hug from you, Nancy, too.
Passionistas: Absolutely, absolutely. So, I have this vision, you're talking about little girl, Claudia, and I learned something about you by reading your intro today, about your first entrepreneurial venture. Can you tell us about 16 year old Claudia and the chicken business? Thanks for having me.
Claudia: Yeah. So, 16 year old Claudia, um, we come back to the simulation, right, store. I mean, like how I deeply wanted to belong. And, um, you know, I'm, I wasn't academically gifted. Right. So I didn't belong in, you know, the, like chess club or any of those clubs in high school.
So, um, I wasn't particularly, uh, coordinated and athletic. So I wasn't, I didn't, I didn't, um, let's say thrive when I would try out for the tennis team or try it for any kind of sporting, um, club. So. Where people kind of ended up that didn't fit in those mainstream, um, communities in high school was they all ended up at Future Farmers of America, right?
It's like the, the motley crew of, of people ended up at Future Farmers of America and I just ended up there. And, um, but what I found there were these two amazing mentors. One is George Brooks. That guy is the saint for all of the lost and confused high school students. And the other person was Ms. Linda Corley, who was just such an awesome feminist now.
I realize, such a mentor. She was like the first woman FFA, um, Future Farmers of America, uh, teacher. She broke so many barriers, but of course I'm 16 years old, and I'm not really, um, I don't really know about feminism at that time. I don't know what a mentor is. I don't have this language because it's not something that in my family, in my familial home, we speak about, right?
We speak a lot about food, about family problems, and um, how to just And these two mentors were just really wonderful, and they saw something in me that I I did not see in myself. So they kind of took me under their wings. They, they really are the reason I went to college because they walked me through that college journey, application journey.
They talked to people at universities to make sure that I, um, was able to get in. So I just want to give you context to like how I end up becoming, um, an entrepreneur with like, not really wanting to be an entrepreneur. And this is kind of a pattern that you'll see in my life. But, um, Mr. Brooks comes to me and says, Claudia, there's this wonderful competition that you could, that you could be a part of.
And I'm like, competition? Yay! You know, I want that outside affirmation, right? And he was going to spend some time with me, which I really needed mentorship in that moment. Um, and so he said, what do you think that you could do as a business And, um, you know, that, that we could write this application for and enter this and enter this competition.
And I remember my aunt telling me that she was living in LA. She says, Claudia, can you believe in LA? Um, all the Hollywood stars, they pay like 60 for like an organic chicken. And of course she was over exaggerating, but, but she was kind of like, baffled that that Hollywood stars would pay for an organic chick that much for an organic chicken when like at the ranch back in Mexico, right, which is that's like a common thing.
So I remember her having a conversation with me because she had read this and I don't know people magazine or one of those magazines and she just was baffled and that thought I connected to that thought and I said, well, I could raise organic chickens. Now, I'm in El Paso, Texas. Um, you know, just no one's going to pay for organic chickens.
Nobody knew what organic chickens were back in 1986. Uh, so, but I told them, I go, I want to, I, I want to raise these chickens in an organic way. Um, I want them to be able to, I'll start them in the garage and then I want them to be able to free eat because that's what I had seen at the ranch. My mom's ranch in Mexico.
So I had that vision for the chickens that they would be not in cages, but they would be free roaming, eating worms and, you know, living their best life at our FFA farm. So the, you know, Mr. Brooks was okay, that's fine. But I wasn't really understanding that, that we'd have to kill the chickens, we'd have to pluck them, I'd actually have to go out and sell them.
So at a certain point, our refrigerator is full of like frozen chicken carcasses. And, um, you know, my parents are out there trying to peddle chickens. I'm peddling chickens. And, um, of course I did not win the award because I really didn't know what I was doing. But, you know, it was a, it was a great experience.
And That really is the beginning of like, how as a family, we have always embraced entrepreneurialism, because what I do want to share with you is my entrepreneurial journey is never mine by myself. There's always my mom behind it. Pedaling Chickens, my dad is behind it. Um, you know, Pedaling Chickens, reaching out to their, their whole network, and they're supporting me with, you know, the finances to get it started.
So it's always been, Everything I do as an entrepreneur has always had my family, um, supporting me 100%.
Passionistas: And you worked with your sisters as well, right?
Claudia: Yeah. So Aqua, Aqua, the spa was started for my sister and my mom asking me, Hey, you know, you have business experience. Can you start something for your sister?
She's a single mom. She needs a way to, you know, um, provide for her daughter. And so that's how Aqua, Aqua is born. The, the nail spa.
I think Beyond Ordinary Business is the first time that I've started a business where it's actually, the goal is really not to meet somebody else's needs, but to meet my own, my own needs.
Passionistas: So how does that feel to start, this first time, start this business that's completely your own?
Claudia: Oh, it is, it's At the very beginning, it was terrifying, right? Because when you, when you are come from a communal perspective, it's like, that's just what you do. Um, I'm going to start a business for my sister.
Uh, I'm going to start my, I'm going to start a business, you know, to, for someone else, right? Because the FFA thing was really like, we could win awards for the, for, for our, um, chapter. Right? Uh, it's, it's scary because I, I had to do the deep dive and what did I want? Now I had the time. I had the money. I had the experience, but it had to be about what I wanted and how that would support me in, um, you know, living this chapter of my life beautifully, intentionally, mindfully.
And it's, it was a scary exploration. I'm going to be straight out honest with you because for the first time, there weren't limitations. And that was also a new, I was in that liminal space of knowing and not knowing, this was a new space for me that I didn't really, I had never explored before. And, um, It was just a beautiful exploration and a lot of frustration, a lot of, you know, spending money on, um, you know, how to learn to be a marketer on something that I wasn't really truly clear on.
But I am a firm believer that if you take action, clarity will come. And, you know, when it did come, it was like, oh yeah, it's, you know. I've been there all the time, you know, helping people, uh, understand what authentic success looks like for them and what does life look like, what, what will help them be more present in life and be profitable, but then coming back to let's reverse engineer that.
And my clients are typically, um, women who are in the, um, growing success or, or take off point. of their business where, um, I feel you guys can relate to this, right? Um, you've worked really hard, right, uh, to, to, to get to that point where everything is working, but that drive, that dedication, now the next stage of it is how do you do it more strategically?
How do you, um, have an understanding of forecasting, cash flow, and A strategic plan that's going to help you get to that next level. And what I'm adding to that is without losing sight of the other areas of your life that are important. And so for some of my clients, that means, um, the ones that are in the surviving part of their business, like straddling success, it means.
Um, understanding their financials just, and, and if their business is viable so that they can say, okay, it's all working. It's okay. It's going to get better. I can make little tweaks, but the majority of my capacity, my energy has to be focused on my mental health. So I can, um, wrap my arms around not feeling overwhelmed.
Right. And what I learned in that stage was like, build systems. Write a cash flow plan. Work the plan. And for me, I'm saying no, um, be resourced. Understand what kind of support you need to live, uh, to have well being in your life. That's the, that's what I'm pointing them to, right? Um, in the building success, it's Um, have a financial understanding, have a cash flow plan, a strategy, a way to, um, manage your capacity and profitability.
Um, and then the ones that are in the takeoff stage, um, the, the advice is how do you delegate? out now, um, maybe forecasting cashflow planning where you're getting support from one of your team members that is, has a, has a, um, a strength in doing that, that can support you in doing it. So you can stay in the more strategic higher level decision making, um, pieces of the business.
So I have a beautiful quiz online, if any of the listeners want to take it, at Beyond Ordinary Business that really helps people locate themselves so that they understand that, um, yes, there's the business financial advice, but there's also the people, person advice. And I'm trying to look at entrepreneurialism more from a holistic lens than just like a narrowed silo business lens.
Passionistas: That's beautiful. Um, so how do people work with you? Is it one on one coaching? Are there other programs available?
Claudia: Yeah, I have a, I have different offers because I want to meet people where they're at. So if you're in the surviving, uh, phase of your business, probably what would be better is just to do a deep dive and understand your, um, your profit and loss statement and just see is your, is your business financially viable or understand what, what it would take to get it to be viable.
So that the focus can be more on having time and capacity for themselves to get resourced. So that's called the Deep Dive Offer. The, um, The Present and Profitable Framework, that's about building a cash flow plan. So forecasting, um, for cash flow and profitability. And it's a lot about writing strategies that work with you being present in your life.
So we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, Doing a capacity assessment, how much energy do you really have to focus and build this business? Because we can re engineer the profitability plan to that and work with that as opposed to be at odds with that. And then for the um, for the entrepreneurs that are in the, Um, end of growing success and in takeoff, it's, I work with their emergent leader to teach them cash flow planning skills, how to understand the business forecast and build in all of the, um, meetings that they need and structures and systems to be able to be part of the conversations of the wellbeing team, like the CPA, the bookkeeper, and lead those.
For the, the, uh, the entrepreneur. Cause they have to step into leadership at that point, right. And lead a team as opposed to be working in the business so much. And so that piece is more about working with the emergent leader. Uh, and I would say I'm probably spending most of my time, um, teaching people how to write a beautiful cashflow plan and create a sustainability, uh, financial session, um, sessions for themselves to integrate the plan and work the plan.
Passionistas: What do you see as the common theme when these people come to you? Women come to you with their, with their cashflow financial, like, is there, is there a big stumbling block there? We don't like to talk about money. That's what I'm trying to get to. .
Claudia: Yeah. Um. I think for 99.9 percent of my clients, they come to me because they're very committed to being successful. And for them in that moment, success is, is equal to many because that's societally as entrepreneurs, if you're making money, right? Profit, um, then, then you're deemed as a success, but there's overwhelm because there's conflict there with life.
Right, with their vision that they have for their life. So they usually come pretty overwhelmed. They have been committed. They've tried other things. Um, mainly they've tried marketing, and that kind of hasn't worked out, right? That hasn't found out. Um, and then, and then they'll come to me, and what I hear from them is, I'm really overwhelmed and I started this for flexibility.
I started this to be financially independent. I started this, you know, for whatever reason they started their business. Usually it wasn't for money. It was for some other reason because they're passionate about something usually. Most of my clients are trailblazers that have businesses that are, that to me, are going to change the world.
Um, but because they have that dedication to the business, because it does have that trailblazing aspect of it, they've tried a lot of different things. And then they'll come to me and I'll say, okay, well, tell me what's going on, right? Um, and I'll give you an example because I like one of, all my clients are my favorite clients, but I'm going to give you this story of this favorite client.
Um, she is a lawyer and, um, she's my shero, I will say. Uh, she has this vision for her business that she wanted to have a law firm, a law practice, but what she saw was that it's so expensive. It's so extractive being a lawyer and you're basically solving people's problems and, and everybody's angry. And, you know, she, she wanted to have a different vision for herself and for her employees.
So she mainly works with women who have children who want to be lawyers and want to be, um, practice law, but not at the cost of being fully present mothers. Um, that is a beautiful vision because typically in law firms, they're working like god awful hours and hers was like, how do I help women be lawyers and moms?
And be fully present with their children and their husbands. And so she said, I have a niggle every night. She's English. She goes, Claudia, I have a niggle every night. And I had to go look up what the word niggle meant because I was like, I don't know what she's talking about. But I think it's like, it's keeping her up at night.
And that's something that's very typical of my clients. 3. 30, three o'clock rolls around and they're up thinking about how do they figure out the money piece. Well, she came to me and she says, I have a nipple and, you know, we, she had already done a lot of personal exploration. So she's already worked with a lot of personal coaches, is already kind of figured everything out, but couldn't figure out the financial piece of it.
Like, how does she make that work? And so, um, we had our first session and she said, I'm not going to do that, Claudia. I just know myself, I'm not going to sit there and write a cashflow plan and work this out. So I was like, okay, well, how do we work this out? Because this is, this is what you're coming to me from.
And we found someone on your team. I trained the team member and that team member does all the strategic planning. I mean, financial is in the plan, working the plan, community of the plan, communicating the plan for her. And they are both making decisions together. To support being profitable, but still having this beautiful work, um, environment for their team.
And, and she gets to have extra time to be fully present, to be, uh, uh, fully present wife to her husband and to her grandkids. that live on the other coast of the United States and has a tool that always helps her figure what that looks like in the moment because it's always changing. And yet, you know, when I talk to her, she says, I'm so grateful.
I'm so grateful that you helped train George. I'm so grateful that we have this tool. They call it the Bobby Plan. Then the acronym for Beyond Ordinary Business is B. O. B., but they're English. So they call it the B. O. B. I. Plan and the B. O. B. I. Plan helps them be fully present in life and make decisions, mindful, intentional decisions to get to that bigger vision that they have for their business, but also to be profitable and present in life. And so that's a beautiful example of like how most of my clients come to me.
Passionistas: So, so many of the women in this community are entrepreneurs who are doing it on their own. And so they don't have someone that they can turn to, to work the plan that they're not good at. Um, you know, they're wearing all the hats.
They don't have those people to, to take up the parts that they, they're not best skilled at or don't like to do. So. What advice do you have for them until they're they get to that point where they have the people that they can rely on?
Claudia: Yeah, so you know, I'm going to give you an example of, instead of advice, I'm going to give you an example of like another client that I have, the client that I work with this morning.
Um, you know, she's, she's fair. She's, It's fairly young, you know, she's about 27. This is her first business. She comes from, um, she has a Filipino heritage, right? So we're navigating with her. We're navigating a lot of cultural, cultural, um, expectations. In addition to just being an entrepreneur, uh, which I love, because of course I have that lived experience and I can coach her in that way, um, because I understand when we're talking about like, um, well, this is the right thing to do.
For my culture and for my family and for my values, which that's what authentic success looks like to her. Um, where I help her is how I helped her was really helping her understand what her values were. We created a vision for, for what she wanted for her life and for her, um, for her business. And we wrote a plan and for her, I, I just help her Every, um, week reflect back to her through sustainability sessions.
What she's doing really great, because she's doing a lot of really amazing things. And when she's feeling like she's off track, I hold space for her and reflect back to her. She's an auditory, um, processor, right? Verbal processor. So we have to adjust to her style. And that's where I can come in. And I mean, we're talking about, we're talking about KPIs, we're talking, we're looking at her financial plan, her, um, her strategy, but I'm adjusting to whatever it is that she needs in that moment.
Because here's the thing, we can only be successful if we ask for support. And, and for her, what this meant was, She was ready to be committed to be profitable. And so I am supporting her on her profitability journey. She, she knows what, um, her authentic success is to her. I mean, she's amazing. She has a, she's clear, but I'm just helping be, helping her be present to what profitability looks like.
In that moment of trying to get these two pieces to coalesce. So I would say for people in your community, is Who is that support person or that support group? Because doing it alone is just, it's, you feel isolated, you feel like it's just you, but I promise everybody in this community that we, if we all sat together, Our stories would be very similar.
Now the, the, the context and the nuances of those stories, but the, the underlying themes would be very, very similar. And that's what I really love about the Passionista community is when I, when I dip in there, I'm like, oh yeah, you know, I've experienced that. Oh yeah, you know, I remember when I was there, right?
And sometimes it's like I'm going through something and I'm like, that's what I'm going through. And to be able to, um, have sisterhood, even though it's virtual and I, and I don't have a relationship with a lot of the women in the Passionista group, I feel, I feel connected. Because one, I know we share a passion for business.
One, I know that our businesses are, are doing good in the world, right? We're not just here just to, you know, uh, exploit for profit. And, and that there's deeper meaning in our business for ourselves. So it's, it's like a business and a personal growth journey all at the same time. That's what I see The Passionista, uh, women going through and, and being in sisterhood with me.
So I would say. Being vulnerable to ask for support. That, that's the, that would be the recommendation that I would have. Wherever that is, if the financial resources aren't there, having the courage to call somebody like me and say, hey, the financial resources are not here, but could you point me in the direction of some, um, resources that are accessible to me?
Because everything that I teach, you can find on the internet. Everything. It is just a matter of, I've kind of connected a couple of dots and built a framework, but that doesn't prevent me from pointing people in the right direction and saying, hey, you know, maybe you'd really want to go talk to your CPA about that.
And sometimes people aren't ready to work for me, but I love that they will book the chemistry conversation to say, hey, I just need some resources. Because I've been on the other end of that. And I've had, I've been very lucky to have women who, um, like my CPA, one day I went and asked her something and she was, she was having a bad day.
And I love her. She's, she's my mentor. She's the reason why I'm doing that. One of the reasons why I'm doing what I'm doing. And she threw down her pen and she goes, Quiet. I am not your bookkeeper. I am your CPA. But I was so naive. I didn't even know what the difference was. And yet the next day she called me.
She goes, can I take you out to lunch? And can I share with you how you could speak to your bookkeeper to get the information that you're looking for? And I hope to be that. I hope to be like, her, that I know something and I can, I can share that. Maybe I, maybe it's not the time for me to fully accompany people, but you know, if I can point them in the right direction that will, will help them, then I feel like I'm, I'm living my passion and my purpose.
Passionistas: Oh, you are such a beautiful soul. I love you. Um, what's the question we're not asking you that we should be asking you? What else do you need us to know?
Claudia: Wow. I always ask that question when I speak to advisors. Or I'm like the, not the, not the most experienced person in the room. That is the question that I ask.
And, and I think it just comes back to what we just talked about, um, trusting and vulnerability, and that, that there is an abundance of support out there. If we're willing to be vulnerable. And ask. Maybe somebody will say no, right? But, but I come back to, we all need support. This myth of being successful by pulling ourselves up by the bootstrap, I think that's what I would say that I would want to share with someone.
That is a myth. None of us are successful unless we have, um, unless we have a sisterhood, um, that's the wing behind our wing, uh, that's the wind behind our wings. And for all of us that are feeling really isolated and alone out there, um, this is not something that happens right away. It's like a muscle.
It's like what I tell my clients, right? We are building, um, confidence in making financial decisions. And we start with little wins that in a, in a process that we celebrate, and then those, we gain more confidence and then we're more courageous to take bigger risk and bigger decision, making decisions that have bigger risk.
But we got to start off with the little small piece. And I think for, for us as entrepreneurs, that's going to the people who are supporting us and being vulnerable and saying, hey, I might need you to really Kind of simplify the way that you're speaking about this, because I'm really trying to wrap my arms around it and seeing how it helps me in the bigger context of me being, um, a profitable, uh, business owner.
So, so that to me would be what I feel gets left out of the conversation is really more like, how does that actually look like in real life, right? And having, having real. Like vulnerability conversations.
Passionistas: So what's your dream for yourself? And what's your dream for women?
Claudia: Oh, my dream for myself is to really, well, I am living my dream for myself.
I have to, I have to say that, um, the, the dream that I have for myself is really where money won't be Like, look, through my work, right, is that in my time and my capacity, every, all the resources that I have, that I can contribute to changing the narrative on money equals success. And that money is just a beautiful resource to be able to be an exploration of life.
And, and, um, to have the capacity actually to be an exploration of life. Uh, my, my dream for women is that they have their own dream and that this kind of reframe on what success means, um, will allow them to find ease in life and explore in the, in that exploration.
Basically, because, um, I feel like it's, it's very presumptuous of me to, to have a dream for other women.
Um, what is not presumptuous of me is that my, that my work can contribute in some small way to accompanying them beautifully and intentionally in, in hitting their, their dreams. And that's the way I'd say when I start with my clients, um, it's really not at all about me. It's, it's, it's really 100 percent about, about them and how can I beautifully accompany them.
I just have to, to have lived experience and these, these, these, these, these, these, these, This really beautiful, um, Excel spreadsheet, uh, at my disposal. And, um, just this propensity to just like really sit there and listen and reflect back what, what I hear. And that comes, of course, you guys know that I, I practice nonviolent communication.
So that, that comes from, from that practice.
Passionistas: If you could go back to talk to 16 year old Claudia, what advice would you give her?
Claudia: That is, you can tell it's like that she has these really amazing strengths and that generosity is, is not, um, the generosity is really what connects us in life, right? Trust and generosity and that nothing has to be. Fixed or yeah, that there isn't, there isn't fixing that has to happen, that, that to trust in the process of life, that life is an exploration, and that there isn't a destination, right?
That it did not have to, um, try to hit all those markers. Right, even at 16. Right. Um, I would say that that's what I would tell her and that it's all going to be okay, as long as we trust that this is that we're in an exploratory process. And that that's the fun of life, right? To just be an exploration.
That's what, that's what I would tell her. And I think, um, if I do, if when you were reading my bio, when I, when I was hearing it, what became clear to me was that intuitively, I have always been guided by life as an exploration, because as you can see, I'm very, like, I've been in the medical industry. I've sold mobile medical clinics to the government of Ghana and USC.
I don't know how I ended up there, right? Honestly, that is like, how did I do that? I don't know. But I was just willing to say yes, let me explore, let me try. If I, if I can't figure it out, I trust that. I trust in the process of exploration and that, that it always ends up working out somehow. I always end up taking something from that previous experience that helps me, um, just be a better explorer through, through life.
Um, and if you hadn't read the bio out to me, like, and heard it for the first time, because it is a new bio, um, then I, then I think that at 16, I didn't know that. But now I know that that's always been like a common thread in my life is just to be curious and explore and all that leads you to where you are at right now.
Because like right now one of the projects that I'm working on is with a mental health agency that provides residential services and then one on one services to people with um, mental disabilities and How I landed there, honestly, I don't know, but the amalgamation of my life experience made me the perfect candidate.
For that position. And at a time when I was, you know, had, was feeling really kind of down about myself because I wasn't getting projects and I wasn't getting clients fast enough. And then this happened and I was like, yeah, I just have to trust that, that this beautiful amalgamation of experience, somebody is going to find value in it. I have to find value in it first.
Passionistas: Thanks for listening to the Passionista Project.
Since we are not only business partners, but best friends and real life sisters, we know how unique and truly special our situation is. We know so many solopreneurs. We're a community of people, leaders, activists, women seeking their purpose and more, who are out there doing it all on their own. They often tell us they wish they had what we have.
So we've created a space for them and you to join our sisterhood where trust, acceptance, and support are the cornerstones of our community. By joining, you become part of our family. We'll give you all of our SisTips on building meaningful relationships through the power of sisterhood and all the tools you need to thrive in three key areas — business growth, personal development, and social impact. You'll learn from our panel of Power Passionistas who are experts on topics like transformational leadership, letting go of perfectionism, the power of community, and so much more. You can connect with like minded women and gender non conforming, non binary people who share your values and goals in chat spaces, at online Passionistas Pajama Parties and virtual and in person meetups.
And, you can register for our exclusive series of online courses designed to help you tap into your intuition, find your purpose, bring your mission to fruition, and integrate diversity equity inclusion in every aspect of your plan. Be sure to visit ThePassionistasProject.com to sign up for our free membership to join our worldwide sisterhood of passion driven women who come to get support, find their purpose, and feel empowered to transform their lives and change the world.
We'll be back next week with another Passionista who's defining success on her own terms and breaking down the barriers for herself and women everywhere. Until then, stay passionate.
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