100 Episodes: 5 Highs & 5 Lows
Download MP3Hello and welcome to the Service Based Business Society podcast. I am your host, Tiffany Ann Botcher. On our weekly episodes, we will dig into everything you need to know about scaling your service based business without losing sleep. With my experience in creating over 7 figures per month and a passion for marketing, finance, and automation, this show will provide tangible tips and techniques for scaling your business. Let's get started.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Hello, and welcome back to another episode. Guys, it is season four, episode 22, and our hundredth episode ever. When I tell you that that to me is like a crazy accomplishment, I just I can't even begin to describe. And interestingly enough, it really comes at a interesting time. It was four years ago, April, that I left my corporate role.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I negotiated a buyout. I was a partner there and started my business. So much has happened then since then, including a hundred podcast episodes. And I thought today would be the perfect episode to really share the top five highs and the top five lows. I often talk on the podcast about how business is a bit of a journey, how there's highs and lows and ying and yang and up and down.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And, and that has been my experience. And I think often it's easy to look from the outside and see the highs or be a part of on the, like, inner circle and feel the frustrations or stress or you know, if you are looking to do amazing things in anything in life, it doesn't have your business. It doesn't it it comes. It's it's it doesn't come without struggle. It's not easy.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I hate that saying, but, you know, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. It's true. The fact that there is a lot of people are doing it. And that is how I have enjoyed growing a business because I have had the pleasure and honor of working with incredible business owners all over North America. When I say that I have connected with some incredible people through my businesses, through podcasts, through networking, through events, through, you know, Facebook groups working on similar projects, I feel so grateful for getting the opportunity to work with some incredible people along the way.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:The podcast has truly become one of my favorite parts of the journey. And connecting with our listeners, connecting with our guests, sharing different impactful valuable pieces of information. You know, it it warms my heart when someone reaches out after an episode and says, hey. Like, this was fantastic. This is like I you know, it shares a bit about, you know, how a specific episode maybe just gave them a new outlook on something.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Guys, we are we are we are not done yet. And I am super excited about some of the guests that we have to finish out season four. And then we're gonna have a little bit of a summer hiatus as we typically do. And we'll be back in September for season five. So incredible.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:The hundredth podcast episode is more to me than just an episode. Way back, I've shared, I traveled across Canada to attend this very specific, business event. And I remember very clearly the person who put on the event talking about having one of the people who was a speaker at the event do some speaking from him early on. And one of the questions at that time, it was Seth Godin, He said, I only go on podcast once there's a hundred episode. And in my mind, that hundred episodes to me ever since then now that was long before I ever had a podcast.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Long before I ever even thought of having a podcast. Hundred episodes to me was like, okay. So you need a hundred episodes to feel like you've made it, that you are legit. Well, guys, we're here. We have a hundred episode podcast.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Thank you. Thank you for tuning in every week. Thank you for sharing about your businesses. Thank you for being a part of this journey. So before we get all sappy and emotional, I really do wanna share those top five highs, top five lows.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Not all completely related to the podcast because mostly the podcast has been on the higher end. But my business journey overall, because when I tell you that it's crazy that it's only four years, it feels like a lifetime. We're going to get into some of the really kind of cool surreal pieces that have come to light very recently. So without further ado, in no particular order, we're gonna start with one of the highest. Obviously, hundredth podcast episode is high number one.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Guys, we're here. A hundred episodes. And it's one of the pieces that if I go back to some of the earliest episodes, I think, gosh, I would have done that differently now. And it really is the progress over perfection. Done is better than perfect.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Get it out there. Get it going. Because there were people that I know, I still know, that wanted to do a podcast before I started my podcast, and they are still talking about doing a podcast. We're a hundred episodes in. We've learned.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We've changed. We've evolved. We've done things. But one thing we have never changed since the very beginning is the intro music. Just can't do it.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I I I don't like change. So but we have changed a few things. At one point, we have a Facebook community. And so earlier episodes refer to that Facebook community. We no longer have that Facebook community.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I've talked about my dislike for Facebook communities and managing them on more recent episodes. But if you do wanna connect, I would love to hear about how the podcast has maybe changed your mindset on something, hear about one of your favorite episodes. And also, I would love to hear your questions. You can connect with us on LinkedIn. You can connect with us on Instagram, and you connect with us on Facebook, not in a group, just on a page.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Send us a message. I'm also all over the Internet. You can find me on YouTube, Facebook, etcetera. And connect with me. Send me a DM.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I'd love to hear about how the podcast has affected you in a positive or negative way. Was there something that you passionately disagreed with? I love a healthy debate. So, Rachel. Okay.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:So we're gonna alternate because, you know, we don't wanna do all the highs and then all the lows and kinda finish on a negative note. So the lows. One of the first lows I wanna kinda talk about is ultimately the first time in my business journey that our team and I, like, we made a big mistake. It would be unrealistic to say in four years that we've never made a mistake. We we have.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I can remember very clearly how that went down. Did we learn? Yes. Did we fix it as best we could? Yes.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Do I still remember it like it was yesterday and haunts me a little? I would be alive if I said I maybe. I actually was just talking to my mom about this where, you know, I feel like we get sometimes these things in our brain and it's like it just takes up space. Maybe it's not important. Maybe it's something that happened.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Maybe it's a conversation you had with someone that later you're like, oh, I shouldn't have said that. Why did I say that? That happened to me recently. So they came flying out in a in a social setting. Something came flying out of my mouth.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I was like, I really should not have said that. That was not a good thing to say. And I thought about it all day. Should I reach out to the person? Should I say?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Should I maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I should draw attention to it. I wonder if she noticed. Those are the kinds of things you just gotta, like, get rid of them. Sure.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We need to think about, we need to think about like, what are we doing and, and, you know, use things for growth, but we definitely don't want to be hung up on things. So yes, the mistake happened. One of our employees, one of my team members missed a deadline, just missed missed it entirely. And then it, and then it, it had a bit of a domino effect that negatively affected a number of people. Did we get it fixed?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Yes. Were apologies made? Yes. Have we made that mistake soon? No.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I don't know when that happened. Like, I I can feel it feels like it was yesterday in some regards, but I can tell you we haven't made that mistake since, and it was at least three years ago. So I was on a sales call recently and, a business owner was was sharing the sales call. I was the purchaser and he said, my team will make mistakes. And I I I apologize for those in advance, but I I truly believe it's not just like the ability to not make mistakes, but also how to fix them.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I was like, you know what? That's true. Because sometimes you can take a not great situation and turn it into a good situation. So that first miss, it's, I think it really highlighted the importance of what we were doing. In any organization, any of the businesses that I am a part of when we are a part of a client's business, it isn't a key role.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We are trusted to do a set amount of duties. Now that could be and I always say we don't play chicken with the government. Maybe it's a tax remittance. Maybe it is payroll. Maybe it is, you know, paying vendors.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Whatever that is. A lot of times there's money involved if it's on the bookkeeping side. You know, on the marketing side, perhaps it's, you know, we've got ad campaigns or anything. It doesn't really matter what what it is, but it's important. And so really understanding how much training needs to go into any person that is that in-depth in a business accountability and ultimately realizing that as the business owner, as the leader, the buck stops with you.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I'm sure it was one of my team members who missed the deadline. I that it it's it's it's on me. % on me. So we learned it was a low, but there were also, there were also so many highs. So now diving into our number two top five highs.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Closing my very first client was a high that I cannot forget. Huge part of the journey because ultimately it all starts at one. Russell Brunson on my side is like you're one funnel away. You're always one client away, one decision away, one something away from progress. And I think that there's, there's something to be said for momentum.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:There's something to be said for getting the snowball rolling so that it can grow. And, you know, I have been quite vulnerable at times sharing. I really didn't know what I was gonna sell. And to be honest, I don't sell what I originally was going to sell. Do we have things close to it?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Yes. But has the offer changed? Yes. Do I think that what I originally wanted to sell was looking back on it, was the right thing? I think it I still think it there's spot in the market for that.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I just don't think that the way that I wanted to do business fit in that gap. Closing the first client, now now now you have a business. If you don't have any customers, you're gonna generating money. You kinda don't have a business yet. I mean, you might have a start up, but really, closing that first customer really is the, Hey, I'm legit.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I have a customer. And that customer, I am so proud to say, is still a customer to this day. Still a great customer. I would consider that customer a friend at this point. First customer was an amazing piece and we're still working together four years later.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:So definitely a high. And ultimately the very first step in a series of steps to building a business. Well, a business journey would not be a business journey. Any journey really is not a journey without some love. I often in my life have tried to outwork the problem.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And it's interesting because I love tech. I love automation. I know how to scale a business, how to choose things that are scalable, how to build processes and systems. I would consider this some of my greatest skill, but one of my very best skills and has been for my entire life is my work ethic. And so when all else fails, the work ethic is what we can lean on.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And at times that serves me well. At times, I have had the ability to push through and get a crazy amount of stuff done. I've shared that, you know, my dissertation I was in school for a very, very long time. And if I I chat with the kids about it, my my kids are still young, and we chat about university and school and, you know, because they'll be like, oh, we have, like, you know, this many more months of school or this many more years or whatever. I mean, I went to university.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I did my full undergraduate degree. I did my MBA. I like, I was in school for a very long time. I did not struggle with anything nearly as much as my dissertation. Kicking it across the finish line was rough.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:That last little push, the last 10%, if you will, of my educational journey was rough. It was so hard. And I ultimately, at the end, work ethic, shot or done. I feel like at one point in my life, I I had anxiety about running things. Like, I was I was not a procrastinator.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I was like, we must get it done early. It was actually the shift into adulthood and high volume that I feel like I almost started to get used to running it up against the line. Where last minute didn't bother me as much as it once did. And I remember that shift and it was in my previous career. We were we we did these proposals and they had to be submitted to this, like, web link.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Now these are, like, hundreds of thousands of dollars. These these proposals contracts were worth, and you had to get all this stuff that you had to upload it. And so I mean, you had weeks to do this. There's a group of us that would do it. And the one year literally, we are like the timer is turning down and we are like trying to get uploaded and we are like like, like people are sweating.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Sitting at a desk. Sweating, pressing. This must upload hundreds of thousands of dollars like craziness. It was the following two years later, same contract renewal. You're going in thinking like, Hey, I need to organize this time.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I mean, it was better. We were not like down to the last like twenty seconds, but I didn't feel that same stress and anxiety. And it was really just through the, like, conditioning ultimately that, like, last time is a little bit more okay. The work ethic, the conditioning of, like, hey, we'll fit it in. It'll always fit.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We'll make it work. It also has the potential for love. Last year, I took on a project and I would classify that project as a pretty big glow for me. It affected some personal, like the personal, more personal business relationships and it affected my family. We'll touch on that in another kind of piece of the low.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:But I basically stopped sleeping altogether because I was trying to outwork the problem. And I got to the point and I, I don't share this often, but I, I want to share these lows with truth and honesty. There were many nights where I would sleep on the floor of my office because I knew that I would I I knew that if I went and laid down, I would never get back up, but I only wanted it, like, a a short nap. I remember, like, a little shut eye. And I knew that if I slept on the floor of my office, I would my body would hurt.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We have, like, wooden floors. I knew that my body would hurt and, therefore, I would not be able to lay there for very long. So I would have to get up. Guys, when I tell you, I think of those moments now and think, what was I doing? The funny thing is that, like, that wasn't that long ago.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Feels like a lifetime ago. But I very much was at the thought of I just have to just have to I just have to get a little further. I just have to get this finished. I can just I can do it. No.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Inevitably, I ended up very sick, the sickest I've ever been in my entire life. I don't know what death feels like, but I feel like I was pretty close. I was, like, in the hospital. I, like, liter legitimately passed out in the hospital, like, onto the floor. My mom had to come travel and come and, like, help take care of my family.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:My husband's taking care of me and, like, all of our life responsibilities. Our life operates off two adults, 100%. And so I was down and out craziness. If you're sleeping on the floor of your office so that, you know, it will hurt so that, you know, you will have to get up, you hit low. You know, they say you have to like get to the bottom of the, you know, before you can go up.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I really feel like that was me scraping the bottom. And I I feel like although at the in that moment, I didn't realize that that was the kind of like pivotal, like, okay. We need to make a change here. I was. And so I share that with honesty because I truly think that it's not needed.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:You can create a sustainable business. You can build and scale and all of these things. My weakness though is taking all of the time that I create with automation, with growing the team, and filling it with more stuff. Not not bad things, great things, amazing things, Too many things. I have worked really hard since then not to do that again.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Do I still at times take on too many things? Absolutely. A %. But I always believe that it should be in short spurts. Are we gonna go all out?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Are we gonna do crazy things for a couple weeks at times? Absolutely. I wouldn't feel like me if I didn't, but no more sleeping on the floor. No more counting on discomfort to make sure I get up and a lot of learning there. All right.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Off of the floor and back into one of the wing, crossing the hundred thousand dollars mark in fill. It hit home for me because everywhere in this space. And I, I will say that the marketing has shifted in that length of time. Of course, when I started, maybe the algorithm was just doing its thing, but this whole, like have a six figure business, six figures, six figures, six figures. Now I came from a life where I made multiple six figures in my previous role.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:So for me hitting that first six figures was like a requirement. Had a whole, I've shared before, I had a whole life built on making great money. I had a whole life built upon, you know, that that income level. And sure, I did I I negotiated my buyout and started my business and did all of these things, but ultimately, there's there's only so many ways to cut it. I need to start my business.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I need to do big things. The first one was thousand dollar. Like, it it just I remember and I it wasn't a hundred thousand. Like, we were over a hundred thousand. We were, like, you know, less than and it was like, oh, it's coming.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And then we were over. There was no fanfare. There was no like, woah, we made it. But for me, it was just kind of that, like, we made it. We're doing it.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Back to that snowball reference. The snowball is rolling. We're we're going. We're doing. I and as a person who, like, really the sales, like, stressed me out so much at the beginning because I was like, I don't know how to do this.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:None of what I do know how to do. None of what I spent all those years in school learning none of what I spent over a decade implementing and being my methods. None of that mattered until I could sell it. And to realize that, you know, a hundred skills, all completely irrelevant, unless I was good at the one skill that I had no idea how to do. Selling a hundred thousand dollars worth of things, services, whatever.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:That was kind of like, I feel like there was like a badge, you know, whether, you know, in a video game where you're like, oh, you earned that badge. Oh, you earned that badge. You know, maybe girl guides where you get the little things. I that was like a million years ago. I earned the hundred thousand dollar sales badge.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Yes. That felt like a big wing. We've gone on to sell many more. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of sales. The first one, it just it just hits differently.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I will never forget getting the email that kicked off this low. I had hired a advertising like subcontractor And we had done all of the steps that we needed to do to be working with them. I was actually super excited to be working. You know, they had a great pitch. Overall, I was really excited about it.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I will never forget getting the email that says from this person that says that they worked for that organization that I had hired. That organization had not paid them and I needed to pay them. And it wasn't a super friendly first email. Now my agreement was with the contractor, not with their team member. And so I said they needed to go back to them, whoever employed them.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:It got ugly really fast. Turns out it was all kind of a plot. All that they were doing is they were trashing us online as fast as they could. And they were sending emails saying, pay us and we will stop. If you don't pay us, we will damage your online reputation to the point that you will not have a business.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Now I've watched enough US movies saying we do not negotiate with terrorists in the mind. And I get it. It's a little, it's a little aggressive. But I knew that if I gave them money, they would want more money. Although the first ask was not that much, that if I showed weakness and that I was willing to pay to get out of that spot, that they were not going anywhere.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And they trashed us on Google reviews. They went and they wrote messages on any social media post I'd ever commented on that not even mine. Like, if I had written anything on social media, they were screenshots and and emojis and it was, like, abs it was it was crazy. I it was it was a crazy moment because I what I knew I wasn't gonna be willing to pay them, but I I also didn't know how long it was gonna take them to go away. And so they stuck around for a while.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We had other things going on. I remember there was this this other kind of big business. We were doing this big offer and whatever, and I thought, I just don't have time to deal with this right now. And I remember telling the team, just shut it all down. Every profile, everything that we had online, make them ghosts.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And then he was like, what are you like? But we operate in the online space. Like we that that's how we do business. And I said, too bad. Can't do it right now.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I was literally like getting on a plane to go travel and and and make this big pitch and and offer and whatever. And, like, I just I I didn't have the capacity to deal with it in that moment. They came back a couple of times and our profile stayed down for quite a while. When I put them back up, they did come back around. I said, no, it kinda went back and forth and whatever else.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:But in the end we kept growing. We have a whole podcast episode on exactly what happened, how I got through it. But in that moment of do I pay them? Will they go away? What do I do here?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I feel like Google reviews are like one of the hardest things to get and keep. And it's crazy because we have some % legitimate Google reviews that over the years, Google has taken down as spam. I'm like, those were not spammers. We're all legitimate customers. These spammy one star, like she is terrible.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Their team is terrible. Their organization is terrible. Yeah. Like not customers, nothing. Google didn't deem those ones spam.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:To this day, we battle our Google reviews. A lot of people who Google use up, who takes them down. But never the spam on them. That was alone because I felt like like my business was built in the online space. And so if you cut that, what what was gonna happen next?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We survived. In that moment, when I was getting those emails, when every post that every person of mine like, every person saw online and they're posting and they're, they're pictures of me with big red X's and crazy on every post online. In that moment, I was like, is my business over? Like, can we survive this? Yes, you can.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We are here. All is well. The anxiety in that moment though, that was a low. That was a low I don't wish on anyone. And it ultimately if, you know, if you have a brick and mortar location and something happens to it, we happen to be in the online space, online was important.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:But nonetheless, we're back. Everything is back online. And in the words of Dan Locke, when you have haters, you know, you've made it. So this is what it is. Alright.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:One of the wins at that exact moment, I didn't know it was a win. In fact, at that exact moment, I was like a little bit like panicky, embarrassed. Offering a business really is kind of a a stage, if you will. And I think that depending on what you do, depending on the type of business you have, obviously there's lots of businesses that happen in the shadows that people don't know about. But I knew that in order for my business to be successful, that I had to be willing to show from the rooftops and say like, this is what I do.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:The decision to be on YouTube. Decision to share those videos places. The decisions to share short form content and other things and business things and is being very visible. And as a person who's like fairly introverted and likes to be invisible, that was a really big step. And I it it actually took me a really long time to be willing to share things on LinkedIn.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:LinkedIn for me always represented kind of my old life. All of my LinkedIn connections when I started my business were all I mean, I had lots of connections, but they were all really from my previous corporate role. They were all people I connect with. They all knew me from there. And so now here I am leaving that space entirely and doing something completely different and being this more outward person, which they didn't know me yet.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And so it took a long time for me to be okay. Now we show stuff on LinkedIn all the time. I don't think about it. Now I show stuff on YouTube and podcast and I post those to my personal Facebook page sometimes. Not all of them.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I have a lot of business connections on social media platforms. And then I have a lot of, like, you know, kids support families and parents and aunts, uncles, cousins. And I think, well, I probably beg the the business people when I share a bunch of kids stuff. But I'm a proud mom and I like sharing my kids stuff. Take it or leave it.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I probably bother the family a little bit when they're like, oh, another post, another post about business, their post with data. You know what? I'm just here. I'm just me. And I think that now I, I, you know, almost four years in, it realistically is it's taken to be super confident and just rock it.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Long time. But the moment that was a win, which is gonna tie in a little bit to a loss in a moment, but I went to pick my son up. He was playing with his friend and I went to pick him up and the mom of the play date says to me, I got the tour. I got the tour of your Instagram, your YouTube, heard all about your business. Your son is very proud of you.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And in that moment, I did not hear that your son is very proud of you. I heard my gosh. I'm exposed. The internal panic. I was like, oh, I thought well, yeah.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:She's like, oh, no. He he's gonna make a great salesperson here indeed. He told me all about it. She says, I'm not really looking for any of these services, but if I was, he sold me. We got to see some we got to see some YouTube.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We got the you know? In that moment, I was like, oh my goodness. It was, it wasn't until a little bit later that I was like, hold on the high. He is, he is so proud of me. He knows what I'm doing.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:He understands the vision. He understands and and he's sharing. And and he wasn't thinking like how cringe my mom's on YouTube. I'm sure he'll get there. But he was just proud.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And and I think that the kids because, I mean, I operate my businesses well-being. I operate my businesses, and I'm a mom. And so at at times, does that mean that I'm on my phone while I'm waiting for them at, you know, the sports field? Yes. Does that mean that I'm sometimes when they get in the car, I from school pickup and I'm still on the phone with someone, and they go to open the car door, and I kinda, like, give the, like, hey.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:You have to be quiet when you get in. Hand signal. And they get in and they sit down. And then I hang you know, when I'm done with the call and I you know, I and then we carry on. How's your day?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:All these things. So that was a big win. I didn't know it was when at the moment in that moment, I felt so exposed. But here's the other win. We'll call it, you know, 4.2.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I now am okay with being exposed because every time that I share or do I connect with someone, I have a new client, someone recommends me somewhere else. Our business is growing crazy amounts because of exposure. We spend so much money on brand exposure, to run ads, to do campaigns, all these things. Ultimately, sometimes we just have to show up. And, so I guess there's a a partial learning there that it took me a while to be completely okay with it.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:But now I'm here, and I'm okay with that. Same kid. One of the lows. The same project that had me sleeping on the floor also had me fairly I would say probably the most absent from the mom role that I wanna have since starting my new not because I was trying to shy of being a mom. I literally was to the point where, like, I didn't there's there's no more time.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I was maxing things out in a way that was just not acceptable. We survived that. But at one point, I remember, my son standing there, and he was pretty upset. And he was like, mom, I just missed you. Like, that we just he was just having, like, a moment.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I said to him, when we are eating churros in Disneyland, it will all be worth it. Those words haunt me because in the end that I walked away from that project because I was not willing to do that. I was not willing to make those sacrifices and I time money, whatever I like. I walked away from it. And those words, when we're eating a churro in Disneyland, it will all be worth it.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And realizing that we were not gonna be eating churros in Disneyland and that it wasn't worth it. It was different because I had said it to him. It wasn't just like a personal piece. It wasn't like self leveraging. It was something I shared with him and I used it to kind of justify.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:You know, if they say money doesn't buy happiness, well but it does buy trips to Disneyland and we talked about one year ago. So ironically, this year we are we are we're not going to Disneyland. We're going to Disney World, but we will be having churros. And like this that comment, that kind of justification ultimately was not a is not a proud moment of mine. And, so we will have churros.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:They'll be in Disney World. And in the end, worth it, not worth it. I mean, no one really knows. I regret saying it. It is something that haunts me and I would consider it one of the biggest lows.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Alright. Alright. Top five. Number five. The highs.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:The last one. I think that this one, although it has some specifics, I think it shows growth. It shows progression. It shows that the way life works, interestingly enough, the business that I left, the, the kind of corporate organization I referred to where I negotiated my bio, where my own business, where I left, started my own business. They have now hired my business to do some very specific kind of project work and whatnot, and it just really feels full circle.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:It's very interesting. It's, at times, kind of a strange dynamic is, you know, I'm working with people that many years ago I interviewed, I hired four specific roles and they of course have all moved up and grown and done great things with, and, you know, are very talented people and have gone to amazing things in their careers. But like coming back in and kind of getting the, you know, it's a little bit nostalgic. It's a little bit, it's just an interesting dynamic, but it, what I love to see is that all things kind of come around And there's been multiple situations in my business along the way where there's been some things that have kind of been like an uncomfortable situation. Maybe it was a miscommunication.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Maybe it was just someone that there was just like kind of a weird thing with. And at times, you know, I feel comfortable now to kind of navigate those situations to feel like uncomfortable and to do it anyways. And there's actually been a few situations that I thought were like not good, kind of like, oh, boy, and have been salvaged to be completely fine situations. So I think that there's a win there in personal growth. I think that at times our own anxiety and overthinking, you know, I was kind of talking about things sitting in your brain, taking up brain space.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Our overthinking often gets in the way of just like, let's move on. Let's just get to it. So it's, it's great to be back in a very different role. Now, often people are like, Oh, are you, are you working here again? Sort of.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I don't work. I'm definitely not an employee, but now my team is working with their team. You know, it's very interesting. Some people that I worked very closely with before are now working with people that I work very closely with now. And, yeah, growth.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I like it. The flip side of kind of growth is, and, and those situations that I mentioned really takes us to low number five, misalignment. There's been a few situations that were incredibly misaligned. And I think that as someone who was worried about sales, who wanted to please, who wanted to say yes, who generally wants to make people happy, I don't ever wanna disappoint a team member, a customer, family member. Like, I I that's not my nature.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I want to make people happy. There's been a few situations along the way that it more so than anything, just misalignment. Perhaps it was someone we worked with who, you know, know, we were working closely with, and they just had a very different style of the way that they wanted to do the project. You know, there was a couple of people along the way who inquired about working with us. And on the sales call, it was just it was clear it was just not a fit.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I handle those situations very differently now. I'm just more upfront about, I just don't think this is, you know, gonna work out, which, you know, kind of ties into that being willing to be visible, being willing to be uncomfortable, willing to have tougher conversations. At one point I wasn't, and I kind of think I like kind of danced around things and being less clear creates more confusion and ultimately then leaves things up for interpretation. There was one particular person who I was on a call with, sales call. They had booked into my calendar.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:They were a somewhat referral of someone else we worked with. And I got on the call and this person made some very inappropriate comments that did not align with any kind of values that were okay for me. It's kind of one of those situations where you're just like, okay, but they're like, they're obviously like a connection of someone who work very closely. So I don't wanna, like, grenade the situation. But I knew that that was just not someone that I wanted to work closely with.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:That was not someone that I wanted my team to have to work closely with. And so it wasn't a great fit for a number of reasons outside of that. But when I shared with that person that, you know what? We offer this. You're looking for that.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We're doing this. You do that. I left the inappropriate comments for it. So that person was very upset. They passionately wanted to work with us and it turned into a big thing.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:There was big there was bunch of Facebook posts and comments and this and that. And it was it turned into a bit of a thing. And it really just came down to misalignment. And it's really only one example. There's been multiple examples where there's just not all customers or prospective customers, vendors, team members, opportunities, working relations.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:There's there's been lots of things. Pieces of technology. It's not just customers, but misalignment can bring lows. And if I think to any situation that I look back on and think, gosh, that was just like not, it was not the vibe was not vibing. They have presented some of the darker moments when I have not handled them appropriately.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I think that it's taken a long time to feel comfortable and confident in all situations, whether it's uncomfortable, whether it's, you know, delivering that great news, all these things. But there's still moments that I think, God, I really don't wanna have to deal with that right now. Absolutely. That's life. So my journey has been filled with all sorts of highs and lows.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I share some pretty vulnerable moments here today because I, I think that sometimes we have to just be honest about some of the things that we've learned, you know? And so someone that I respect very much always says you either win or you learn. I hate that saying every time they say that saying. That's right up there with me for the with the you get what you get and you don't get upset that they say in, like, kindergarten, preschool, whatever. Can't stand that one either.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:There's like these little things, but but that one in particular is I think that you can learn well you win. I think you'll learn well you lose. They're not mutually exclusive, but I think that time, you can't learn all those things overnight. And so if you're at a point in your business where you're having a few more lows, that's okay. Keep going.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I will share that separate, like several of the lows I shared today all happened in a very short period of time, like within a seven or eight week period. It was rough. There were others in that seven or eight week period. I never thought about quitting them. So keep going.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:You can do amazing things. If you ever wanna have podcasts, one day you can be sitting there with the saying, this is our hundredth episode. Cause I have so much gratitude, so much appreciation. Like I said, although we don't have the Facebook group anymore, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, shoot me a message. I'd love to hear your comments, have some discussion about any of our episodes, and answer any questions that you may have about business.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Maybe we'll share them on a future episode. So thank you. Hundred episodes is wild and guys for the hundredth time, I will say that's all for today. We're all out of time for today, but
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:the fun doesn't stop here. Make sure to subscribe to the Service Based Business Society podcast on your preferred podcast app. If you're hanging out over on YouTube, search for Tiffany Ann Botcher. Your likes, shares, and reviews reviews really do help the show. Until next time, have a great week.
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