Ever felt like there just aren't enough hours in the day? Breanna and I share the keys to mastering your schedule and setting boundaries that empower. We discuss the game-changer that is having no-meeting days and allocating specific times for creative endeavors, ensuring that you're not just busy, but productive. Our conversation is peppered with personal stories that demonstrate the patience needed for gradual progress and the agility to pivot when goals evolve. Through these narratives, we learn the importance of strategic adaptation and how staying true to our vision can make or break our entrepreneurial efforts.
Get in touch with Brieanna: www.brieannalightfootsmith.com
Ever felt like there just aren't enough hours in the day? Breanna and I share the keys to mastering your schedule and setting boundaries that empower. We discuss the game-changer that is having no-meeting days and allocating specific times for creative endeavors, ensuring that you're not just busy, but productive. Our conversation is peppered with personal stories that demonstrate the patience needed for gradual progress and the agility to pivot when goals evolve. Through these narratives, we learn the importance of strategic adaptation and how staying true to our vision can make or break our entrepreneurial efforts.
Get in touch with Brieanna: www.brieannalightfootsmith.com
Welcome to the Spring Forward podcast. I'm your host, spring Richardson Perry, the organizational change agent that is going to help your business achieve the excellence you desire. If you're a business leader looking to take your business to the next level or simply looking for new ways to spring your business forward, then this is the podcast for you. So let's get down to business and spring forward into excellence. Welcome, welcome everyone, to another episode of the Spring Forward podcast. I'm your host, spring Richardson Perry, and today we have a fantastic guest with us. We have Ms Breanna Lightfoot-Smith. She is a business owner, a productivity coach, a system strategist, and she firmly believes in the harmony between a peaceful home and a purposeful brand, and she has some very exciting news to share with you guys, also towards the end. So I am super excited to welcome her. Hey, breanna.
Speaker 2:Hey Spring, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Girl, I'm excited How's it going.
Speaker 2:It's going well. My boys are visiting, they're doing an extended stay in Chicago, so me and my husband have been just living our best boot-up life, I bet, and it's just been so quiet around the house that I know you understand just how golden that is right. As a fellow mama, you're like, wow, silence, what is this?
Speaker 1:What is this Like? This is foreign to me, because my kids were the same. They went, well, they went back to school today, but they were gone. But they were gone by their dad in New Orleans for the Christmas break. I was like, oh, this is quiet, like I don't know how to act. What is this? Seriously? Well, that is awesome. I want to get started and jump right in today. You know, your journey is really inspiring because a lot of it, there's a lot of alignment in what you do and in what I do, and so that was one of the reasons why I was super excited to have you on, from your roles as a business owner, a productivity coach and a system strategist to your personal experience. It's really clear that you're dedicated to helping others find the clarity and confidence that they need, especially a fellow mom for noors, and so can you share a bit more about your background and how you arrived at this unique intersection of roles?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I love that you said arrived, because I often feel like I stumbled into entrepreneurship. I started my first business straight out of college, so it was one of those hey, not really sure what I want to do just yet and I had my aunt approach me and ask if I would consider coming on and helping her nonprofit with like a monthly newsletter and designing their website, and my background is in journalism. So the newsletter part I was like definitely, but the website I was like I'm Sandra, I have no background in this, and she just was kind of like oh, I know you can figure it out and I hate to admit that I proved her right, but I do. I've never been one who like kind of back downs from a challenge and I love learning. I'm a lifelong learner. My mom and I tease that some people's fix is getting stuff from TJ Maxx. Other people are like travel girlies. I'm the person who's gonna be scrolling Black Friday for like course deals and like Udemy subscriptions and teachable and masterclass and those kinds of things.
Speaker 2:So I've always loved learning and I think that's the part of entrepreneurship that I love so much is that it is this constant opportunity for you to learn new things, even as you feel like you're establishing business because at this point I've been an entrepreneur for 10 years as I add new services to my business, or as I have a client who comes to me and maybe they're in an industry that I haven't worked with before, there's just this constant opportunity for me to learn more.
Speaker 2:And so, even though I've done everything under the umbrella of marketing from, like graphic design and posters and you know I've done copywriting now I'm moving more to like the digital production side of things, with podcast production and even helping clients with social media, which is kind of a full circle moment, because that was one of the things that I did when I first began. I think it's just been cool to see just the evolution, and even the productivity and system side came, because I am a mama three, like you said, fellow entrepreneur here, and if y'all know, you know, baby, you're not gonna be doing anything for too long if you don't have some systems in place we'll just let them know.
Speaker 1:Okay, kids, I mean I have four, and so you gotta have your stuff in order if you absolutely if you're not organized, it's not gonna work yeah it's a wrap and then you're stressed and then you're I don't know.
Speaker 2:But I won't speak for you, spring, but I know I can mean when I get stressed, like you know, they're short-tempered.
Speaker 1:The kids are like what's wrong to you, like you don't even want them to look at you exactly nobody benefits from that, and so it's good to have your, your ducks in a row and your things in place. And so, along those lines, bree, I want to talk about your role as a productivity coach, because that's like super powerful, the way that you just kind of, like you said, stumbled into entrepreneurship. But it was like one of those things where you're trying to figure out okay, what am I gonna do after school? What is it that I really like doing?
Speaker 1:I know I majored in journalism, but what does that actually look like? And then you were kind of able to use that to create an avenue for yourself and I really love that. And so talk, to talk to us about your role as a, as a productivity coach, because a lot of people struggle with prioritizing. You know, what does that look like for you? How do you determine your priorities on a daily basis?
Speaker 2:that's a great question. I think for me, the way I love to describe being a productivity coach is kind of like being a second brain. We know we all have 511 ideas and thoughts that we're trying to organize and I remember three years ago one of my friends told me she said you're a thought organizer. She said I can come to you and I feel all chaotic, and then we have a conversation and you're like, oh, you just need to put this year.
Speaker 2:You need to put this year, you don't need to worry about that for like three more months, and then you probably need to prioritize this right, and I really just share my own process for me. I know again that it's easy to get super overwhelmed, but, for something that I've noticed is, if I'm just kind of tackling things from a quarterly basis, then breaking that into a monthly basis and then breaking that down to the week, things are way more feasible for me, right? So I literally, as we're talking, to have a new planner that I got, it's this planner called, it's the top three notebook, and if any of y'all follow Erin on demand, she is the one who came up with this top three system, and it's funny because I think some of us have probably heard like, oh yeah, I just start with three things, and that's really helpful. But I love that she breaks even her journal down to show what are the three things you're doing for the day.
Speaker 2:I like to look at what meetings that I've scheduled and notice that I said I have scheduled, because that's another thing that I try to encourage people to be intentional about is not just allowing other people to dictate what you're gonna be doing and when. Obviously we know, being entrepreneurs, we have that kind of flexibility because we're our own bosses for all intensive purposes. But even if you're working in a corporate setting, you can still set specific boundaries around your time. You can let your team know hey, my brain works best in the morning and so I really want to set that time aside to work on projects, and we can do meetings in the afternoon and I don't take meetings on Mondays and I don't take meetings on Fridays. Right, and those are just really helpful things. I mean, think about it even on Google is a counter invite, meaning that it's an invitation and I can say yes or no to it, and so I think those priorities are really helpful yes, oh my goodness.
Speaker 1:I love that because I think that was one of the things that I kind of struggled with at first in entrepreneurship is like my, my schedule was chaotic and I just couldn't understand why I had so much to do, but I wasn't getting anything done, and so once I figured that out, oh my gosh, like it was life-changing, literally. And so that's kind of. The next thing that I want to talk about, too is because, you know, find and balance is crucial, and a lot of times we, like I just said, had a hard time with doing that, and so what do you think keeps most individuals from accomplishing what they want?
Speaker 2:I think it's not knowing what they want, as simple as that seems people not knowing what they want keeps them from accomplishing anything, oh my gosh Bree, you hit the nail on the head right, because that was the other thing for me, like first stepping out into entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1:It was like I knew I wanted to be in charge of my own schedule. I knew I wanted to have time to do things with my kids but also have that time for work when I needed to do that. But what actually was it that I was going to be working on? What did I want to do? What did I want to accomplish? And just so y'all know, I am going into year three of entrepreneurship and that question constantly gets refined, constantly.
Speaker 2:And so no, absolutely. I think that we don't check in with ourselves enough. We kind of. That's why you know, you hear the whole hamster wheel. And it's very true, because I think, even what you just said we don't even allow ourselves to have that evolution. So when something we start with a specific goal, if other factors around that goal change, then all of a sudden we're like wait, hold on. I don't even know why I got into this to begin with and then we kind of just move to being reactive to everything instead of proactive. And I think another part of it is an unwillingness to commit, either because we don't see the results as fast as we want to see, or we run into unexpected challenges, right. So I'll give you a perfect example.
Speaker 2:Last year was the hardest I've ever worked in my business and I was feeling really frustrated because I'm like this is the hardest I've ever worked and this is the slowest business has ever been, and I was getting so frustrated with that. But and I remember y'all thank God for supportive spouses and ones who will talk you off the ledge, right? Because I told my husband one day I was like I'm just about to drive Uber Eats. I was like I'm just gonna get Uber Eats and like. And he was like, why? And I said because it's more predictable. Because y'all know, if you're an entrepreneur it's unpredictable Even if you have people on retainers.
Speaker 2:Sometimes people's budget changes, sometimes they have things going on personally that shift the way that they need to move around in business. And he said I think you need to be a little bit more patient with yourself and I think you need to open up your mind to these other services that you know. You're like well, no, that's not what I'm doing or that's not what people quote unquote know me for. And he's like but you have a wealth of knowledge that you can provide to people. And it's so funny because I signed a new client within like weeks of us having that conversation and then it was like okay, I'm back off the edge. You know it's, it's fine, everything's fine, right.
Speaker 2:I got a new office space, like all these things came to play and I really feel like God was like girl, I just needed a second, like he was in a rush and I'm not in a rush. So I think that that's another piece that can kind of pique people from accomplishing their goals, because we have these timelines in our head and I know I just talked about the quarterly and the weekly and that's good and that's fine, but in the same way we have to allow ourselves to evolve. We have to be okay with the evolution of the process and understanding that the goals we set at one point can shift and sometimes we set something cause it sounds really good, but then when we actually start working towards that goal, we think, oh, you know what, I don't even know if I want this.
Speaker 1:Yep, and that's okay, and I love that you uplifted that too, because sometimes people think, oh, I can't change my mind because now I'm in it but, you can, and, honestly, that's what makes for a good business when you know when to pivot.
Speaker 1:A lot of big name businesses have become antiquated because they refuse to pivot, and I'm gonna give a big example of this. Let's talk about Blackbuster. Right, blackbuster? For those of you millennials, gen Xers and above, y'all know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:Gen Zers, y'all might not be familiar, but Blackbuster was it Like? Just like how y'all say Netflix and chill, we would make it a Blackbuster night, and so like that's what it was. And then Netflix came along and it was this new thing, and Netflix actually tried to merge with Blackbuster, and Blackbuster just wasn't having it and they refused to pivot into what the upcoming world of movies was, which was streaming, and so they were, you know, blackbuster and Netflix. We're gonna have a streaming deal where Netflix would provide the streaming service, but it would be under Blackbuster's name, and it just didn't happen. And then Netflix dominated the market and so now Blackbuster doesn't exist. And so that's an example of knowing when to pivot, being able to recognize the trend that's upcoming, being able to see what's ahead and what's gonna be beneficial for you and your company, and then being able to make that change, and so your goals can absolutely change.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wanna give another example of that. On the flip side, right, I feel like Instagram is a really great example of this because, we know, in 2022, they were like we are no longer a photo sharing app, we are about the video duh duh, duh, duh. And everyone was really upset about it. And, you know, they kind of initially were like, oh, y'all are just upset because, you don't know, this is gonna be good for all of us, right? And then, as we continue to give feedback of like, no, we don't get on Instagram, because we wanted to be TikTok, we wanted to be Instagram, they were humble enough to say hey, y'all, we missed the mark.
Speaker 2:Like we said that this needed to be a video sharing app, that this needed to be, without saying this is gonna be the new TikTok, this is gonna be the new TikTok, right? And we didn't listen well to what you guys were saying, that that's not what you want. And so they said we are gonna start prioritizing photos again. And I've seen them do that. I really have, and I loved that humility, because it takes a lot of humility also to say, hey, I tried something and it didn't really work out that well. But I think that people resonate with that honesty and I think sometimes we feel like, oh well, we have to just be perfect all the time and we have to. Well, if I pivot, people are gonna think that something bad happened or that made me my money is funny because people always think somebody's checking your bank account.
Speaker 2:Honey, I'm not paying your mortgage, I'm not thinking paying tuition for your kids, so I'm not worried about your pockets, I promise. But I think if we would give ourselves that humility as well to say, hey, I know, I said I was gonna offer this after doing more research, I'm not going to, or I know I said that I wasn't going to do this, but I looked at the trajectory of my business and this is actually something that's been really helpful, and so I'm gonna get that into it.
Speaker 1:That is right on the mark, because people love that vulnerability, that transparency and that realness to say I made a mistake, I'm owning up to it and I'm going to do better, moving forward. And that's all we really ask for. But when you try to cover it up like it didn't happen or you try to act like well, we didn't say this or whatever, that's when people get really frustrated and then you lose their trust. And when you lose their trust, you lose their buying, basically. So I love that example Two perfect example, guys of knowing when to pivot.
Speaker 1:Or on the flip side, saying I want to pivot but it may not be the right time to do it. Or you guys have said that's not what we want, because we like you the way that you are. So a great lesson from this is to listen to the feedback that you get, because Blockbuster was getting a lot of feedback at the time saying, hey, we think you should invest in Netflix and they refused. So again, they're no longer in business. So that tells you how that went. But I want to kind of shift gears, because in season two we are all about community, talking about how you're showing up for your local community. How are you building business, building community in your business, or even building community at home, because, of course, us being moms, we know that community building starts at home. So talk to us. Talk to us, bree, about how being a part of a community has helped you to stay on top of your goals, both professionally and personally.
Speaker 2:On the professional side, I will say that community has helped me so much with kind of that mission creep people talk about, right, where you set a goal and you just start falling away from it or you say this is the mission and vision that I have for my business and like, oh wait, I don't know if that's what I'm gonna be doing, and you kind of end up down this rabbit hole that you never expected. And I feel like community has helped me keep the big picture in focus when it comes to entrepreneurship. But they've also helped me with the minute details. Right Again, I love that you are an example girl too, because I'm like get the people, show them what you're talking about, right. So I am a part of a community called Amplify Amplify, if you're listening and it's a community of other just really phenomenal women in business, and we have a variety of industries represented, from branding to project management. We have some base leaders in there, just all kinds of women.
Speaker 2:And the thing that I love is that yesterday I had been putting off editing some content for social media and I just you know how you just get busy doing other stuff when you don't wanna do what you're not doing right, and so I put in our Slack channel. I say y'all in 45 minutes. I want you to reach out to me and ask me if I have edited these reels. I said because I should be able to edit four in 45 minutes. And I've been dragging my feet and I know, if I know that y'all are gonna be checking on me, I'm gonna start moving expeditiously right and just telling them that this is what I was working on. Here's the timeline and here's what the ultimate objective is. It put the fire under me that I needed. So what I had been dragging on doing all day long took less than the 45 minutes that I gave myself.
Speaker 2:And then I actually ended up taking the next step and actually scheduling my social media content for the entire week, like I took the reels, I put them into Instagram, I added my captions and I was like, see, sometimes you just need that accountability.
Speaker 2:I think that a lot of us like to set goals and silos, partially because, again, that in an unwillingness to commit, we're like, well, if nobody else knows about this, then nobody else knows about this but also there's that feeling of like, well, I want people to judge what it is that I'm doing or I don't want people to question it because I'm not even feeling super confident about what I'm doing right now. So if they start poking holes in it, I might not feel confident. There's absolutely a group of people you just have to find them where you can feel. You will feel like you can show up as your full self and not have to like censor yourself or okay, I'm gonna tell them I'm working on this project, but I can't tell them the full piece because they have a similar business, none of that.
Speaker 2:And then, on the personal side of things, community has helped me through everything from grief, because I had two miscarriages in a six month period last year. Yeah, I had a miscarriage in October 2022 and then had another one in February of 2023. So community has helped me through grief. They've helped me through burnout. They've helped me through fatigue. I have a wonderful husband who was really just big on me communicating things, and he's always like I can't help you if you don't tell me how you need help. And y'all know we are good for a side eye, for a silent treatment.
Speaker 1:We're good for all of that right, yeah, so good for that, and I'm laughing because my husband's saying the same thing and I'll just be like you should just know.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and my dad told me years ago. He said, do not treat a man like a mind reader. And that takes effort, because I think it even ties with that humility we were talking about with businesses to say, hey, I maybe took a misstep right here. It takes humility to tell people what you need. One cause, like you said, you should already know we've been together for how long, come on, like get with the program. But then, two, it positions you in a place of vulnerability to admit, hey, I don't have it all figured out, I can't do this by myself, I need you to help me.
Speaker 2:So I think those two things have been amazing, and even what I was sharing at the beginning of the episode the fact that I, at home school, my children have, you know, more flexibility and so they're enjoying an extended winter break in Chicago and I'm getting this extra time with my boo. I'm getting just extra quiet time. That I'm like fighting to say, girl, you normally don't get quiet time. Stop trying to fill it up with like podcasts and YouTube videos and music Like you better soak this in while you can.
Speaker 2:So all of that has been helpful on the community side of things, because we're just not meant to do life alone, and many times we attempt to do it and that's why a lot of us are struggling.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's the humility part for me, because I think that's where you really have to take a step back and say, okay, you know, I married this person for a reason.
Speaker 1:If I can't be vulnerable with this person, then who can I be vulnerable with?
Speaker 1:And so, ladies, just listen, we kind of know what we're talking about here, especially because me for sure, one communication issue in marriage number one that essentially broke down the entire marriage, and so marriage number two communication is essential, and so prioritize that, it will make your life a whole lot easier.
Speaker 1:Well, I appreciate that and I just, you know, I really feel like number one lifting up community, especially talking about it on the podcast, how you're doing that for your business or in your local community or even at home, is super important, because we always want to lift up the next person if we can, or show our kids what it means to really invest in your community or to really like help people in a way that is productive, because some people say, oh, I'm helping you but it's not really helping, and so I always want to kind of bring that forward when I can in the podcast. So I kind of want to move into this next part because it kind of goes hand in hand. How do you help your clients find harmony between their personal lives and their professional lives? Because I know that's kind of one thing you work on in your coaching.
Speaker 2:I really try to start with auditing what is happening with them right now. Right, like it's kind of like it's so funny, I know, and I keep giving these examples, but it's just it's kind of like when you go look back at your life and you see all the kind of God weeks that were there where you're like oh, I see what you did there.
Speaker 2:Oh, I see Someone said that working with me is like having therapy for their business, because they're like you just come in and you just dump all the stuff that you're trying to do and she helped you to organize it. And I really do feel like that is something I'm big on, because I don't personally believe in trying to provide solutions when you don't even know what the problem is. Right, I think that too, we can even see that you know, tying it back to community. We see that sometimes in friendships where a friend will approach us and they're just sharing they may not even be looking for a solution for something and we immediately start being like oh girl, you need to do this and you need to do this.
Speaker 2:Typically, that's not well received. In the mature friendships we have, that friend will say to you hey, I didn't really like that, you did that. In the immature or just maybe newer friendships we have. Sometimes that ends up being the end of the relationship, and so I'm really intentional when I work with my clients on finding out where they are to begin with. Are you feeling more overwhelmed on the business side of things? Are you feeling more overwhelmed on the?
Speaker 1:personal side of things.
Speaker 2:You know what systems you have in place.
Speaker 2:Do you have systems in place? Are you married? Are you a parent? Does the majority of the housework fall on you? Do you have a team? Are you not delegating things, even though you have an administrative assistant, but the only stuff you have her work on or him work on is social media content. Meanwhile you're drowning under the other responsibilities in your business.
Speaker 2:I really try to get a full blown assessment of just the different hats that whoever I'm working with is wearing, because when I understand that, then I can typically start to see oh, this needs to be taken off your plate. This needs to be taken off your plate. This just needs to be removed completely. This you need to start delegating more regularly. You need to get a little bit more organized over here.
Speaker 2:And so it's kind of a holistic approach to life and wellness and you know it's even ties into the B-Lite brand, my new company. That was part of the inspiration of the company, like it's one inspired by scripture and Matthew. That says come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest because take my yoke upon you, because my yoke is easy and my burden is light. It's that part of okay if we're sharing the yoke if we're sharing the weight of life with the other, with not just with God, him first and foremost, but then with the other people he surrounded us with. All of a sudden, we're not struggling every day, right Like I have a. If any of you all follow Maddie James on Instagram, she talks about how many hands make light work, and I've just seen that. I've seen that in every avenue of my life, and the times that I'm struggling the most, I typically have taken on too much, and I have people around me who want to help, but I haven't reached out to them to ask for help.
Speaker 2:I'll give you what an example One of my administrative assistants. We had a conversation last fall and there was a program that was going to launch for my business and I told her I said, honestly, I'm about to, because I just recently graduated from the Goldman Sachs Black and Business Program that they have for women. And I told her I said I want to launch this program but I don't have to bandwidth Like. I know I'm going to be in the thick of it with this curriculum from Goldman. I know that this is a very intensive program and I don't want to take on launching a new service when I know I'm not going to be able to execute on it. And she literally said give it to me.
Speaker 2:She was like whatever you feel like you can't hit, just give it to me, like I can just tell me what you need and I'll do it. She literally said that and just. But it took me being honest about what some of my apprehensions were with launching the program and it's worth noting that there were some other factors that still resulted in me not launching a new program but I just felt so at peace knowing, wow, I really have somebody on my team who's willing to not just fly into the radar, because we know we have some of those team members too. That's like I'm here to get a check and I'm here to go. Right, I'm all about this remote work.
Speaker 2:You don't have to check on me, we don't have to see each other, but I've really been blessed to find people who are invested in my business as if it's theirs, and so there was an opportunity for me to hand off something that I was hearing that was heavy, but only heavy, because I wasn't sharing the weight with anybody else, and so I think that even that part of it makes my clients feel more at peace. Is that again therapy for your business? They're coming in and they're like, oh my gosh, I can't share this with anybody else, but I don't even like my business right now, like I hate it. This is not the reason why I started it's ghetto out here. Whatever the case may be, however, it is they're feeling they can share in a non-judgmental space and then we can work to get their business to a place where they actually enjoy it again.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. I think, as an entrepreneur, everybody goes through that, where you kind of are at a point where you're like I hate my business because I think 2023 was just the year that everybody kind of lost momentum, I will say, because 2021, 2022 were great years, even 2020, right, and going into that, if your business existed prior to COVID, it was pretty steady and then all of a sudden, 2023 came and it was like er screeching hall, like it just was. It wasn't what we had become accustomed to, so it was hard, it was a hard pill to swallow, and being that you have this amazing team who's willing to work with you, willing to help you, that speaks volumes. Because what I continue to hear from entrepreneurs is that good help is hard to find Because they're just they need an assistant, or they need someone to do manage their social media, or they need just a media person in general, and they keep paying all this money and not getting a return on their investment. The value that was promised to them upfront, or whatever the end product was supposed to be, is not exactly what they were looking for in the first place.
Speaker 1:But what I also want to tell you guys is that, if you are not familiar with what Bree talked about, the Goldman Sachs program. Let me tell you something. That program is a beast and it is very prestigious. If you are not familiar, please go look it up. You get so much value from being a part of that program. I definitely aspire to be a part of that program when I reach eligibility for it. And so trust me when I tell you when she says she didn't have the bandwidth, that's an understatement. When you're going through that program is very rigorous, but what you get out of it is Amazing. Speaking of community, you build this wonderful network of people that Are going through this at the same time, but they also have successful businesses, and you then create these partnerships that you can lean on in the future. And so, again, if y'all aren't familiar with that program, go look it up. And if you are eligible to participate, I would encourage you to apply, because I Think I don't know if their spring cohort has Closed for applications yet, but I know they usually have two cohorts, one at one in the beginning of the year, one towards the end of the year, and so I would encourage you guys to look that up because it is amazing.
Speaker 1:And then I want to go back to something that you said before, to last year when you had to miscarriages. That's what to my heart, because I had this was ten years, maybe eleven years, almost eleven years now when I had a full term, 37 weeks stillborn baby and and that is something that you just it's one of those things were kind of just time. It takes time to cope with that and there's really nothing for me that that could help me in the beginning to get over. That is not something you just get over, and so I truly understand the way, the weight that that, that that is you know.
Speaker 1:And then being an entrepreneur because at the time I was At the time what was I doing? Oh, at the time I wasn't working, my husband was working and I was at home with our oldest at the time he was two, so that made it a little easier for me. I can't imagine having to function at a job or function as an entrepreneur where you have all these other things, as opposed to just focusing on one thing if you worked for someone else. And so you know, again, my heart is with you, bree, and I like, truly understand what that, what that looks like and the weight that that carries on your everyday life, and so I'm definitely praying for you and your family's peace and and Hopefully you know, it's something that you guys Can at least talk about so you can share your feelings to make it a little bit easier, because I think that was one thing that was missing for me was that I wasn't really able to communicate effectively and that sort of weighed down on me as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can absolutely say I Think even having To like the first one was not it was very much what you're talking about like not really communicating a lot, me Processing my own feelings, not really talking to my husband about how I felt about it, and then also being irritated about it.
Speaker 2:Feel like he was asking me how I felt about it and his whole thing was like why didn't bring it up if you didn't want to talk about that, right? And so when we had our second miscarriage, it just opened up all these doors for communication that hadn't been there before and I think I had. No, I did. I had shared after the first one, like, hey, here's how I kind of feel like you fumbled the ball this first time, not knowing it was gonna be helpful Just in a few more months, where it's like, okay, I heard what you said last time about what I didn't do, and so I'm gonna try and be there for you In a way that I wasn't before and I just it was kind of like as much as you would never want something like that to happen.
Speaker 2:I can see even the grace in that, because it just it broke down a lot of walls that I had a, not just between me and my husband, in terms of emotional.
Speaker 2:Vulnerability but just other people like. I am the strong friend, I am the person who's always checking on other people, I am, you know, the person who's gonna get the project done, and all of that. And it just required me to be opening, honest in a way that I hadn't previously. And you know I Was crying more than I wanted to be, and you know crying in front of people that I normally don't cry in front of and all those kinds of things, but I think it.
Speaker 2:It brought me back into a line with Alignment with my humanity, if that makes sense. Because I think even being a person of faith like You're like why would I do this to me? Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:That was another thing that we struggled with too, and I had to tell my Now ex-husband I was like you know, can't, can't blame God for this, because he very much struggled with it, because he was, he was, he was distraught, and so, you know, I had to like kind of get him through that, but then I felt like you know me being there for him. In turn, he, he, didn't provide me the support that I needed, but I didn't communicate.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I needed, and so it was just just one of those things. And we were young, we were like 25, 26, you know, it's just kind of one of those things that you, you live and you learn. But One thing someone said to me that will stick with me for the rest of my life is that God was preparing you for what he has prepared for you. And so there are things that you go through in life and, like you said before, you don't understand it at the time that it's happening, but then, suddenly, one day it could be years later and it all makes sense. You're like, oh, that's why that happened. You have that full circle moment. So, bree, I oh, my goodness, I have enjoyed talking to you. I so appreciate having you on here today. I want to Hear about some of the new things that you have going on, because I know you have some very exciting things that you've been doing, and so talk to us about that. What do you have new and upcoming?
Speaker 2:Yes, so I just launched my new podcast. It's called the be like podcast and the thing that is so wonderful about this, it really kind of ties in what you're saying, like God preparing you for things before you even know you're being prepared. Give me the idea for this podcast Maybe two years ago, really just gave me the name.
Speaker 2:He just was like be like and I was like Anything else I was like nope, that's it, that's what I got you know, and I had a podcast before called the black rose, a purpose podcast that you can still find on all your stream platforms right, we had almost 200 episodes and we did everything from Bible studies to Conversations with women in business and how they were walking in purpose and it was phenomenal.
Speaker 2:I really enjoyed it. But I got to a place where I realized, like man I am putting on for what I feel like people are expecting of me and I honestly even think the miscarriage helped me to release that podcast, because I had had it for five years and I closed it, ended it last summer, really on the heels of that miscarriage, and I, because I was just like y'all, I can't keep showing up here, and I don't really I'm not seeing the value in it anymore, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2:And that was again hard for me to say because I'm like you don't see the value and talk about God's murder. You don't see the value and share women's stories. But it was just kind of like this is where I've been, but it's not where I'm going, and so the Be Like podcast is where I'm going and it's where I am, and I think the thing I love about it is that there's such a wide variety of topics. So some of the episodes that we have for this first season are three ways to lighten your load right.
Speaker 2:Just talking about sharing the weight of things that we have in life. We talk about how we all have a story and how it's really important to share that story, because one you never know who's going to resonate with different parts of it.
Speaker 2:But two, I think we have to be even reminded of, like, the different experiences that we've had and how we've made it through them. And I think that ties even with entrepreneurship, because we hear people talk about imposter syndrome a lot. But in my personal opinion, if you were to sit down and write your experience, even if it's not directly tied to the business that you want to create, you'd be like oh girl, you know, I knew this, you drew this.
Speaker 2:Like you know what you're doing right. Another episode which I think has been my favorite so far is that it's called clarity breeds confidence, because I think that's something else that I see with my clients. It's not that they're not confident, it's that they're not clear. So because they're not clear, they're just out here doing whatever comes, and then they don't feel good about the kind of work that they're producing or about the kind of business that they're building, because they don't. It's like it's out of alignment with them, and so that's another episode I'm really excited about. So that's one of the pieces.
Speaker 2:And then, as I shared as well, now I have a second brand. Brands by Breed is my coaching and consulting company, where I work specifically with moms and female corporate side hustlers to help them start a business. With what Confidence and clarity Y'all you all notice some things here, right. But then the light is really not just a media production agency that's one side of it but it really is a full blown branch for that productivity, because I've been kind of just doing that like on the side, behind the scenes. I feel like it's been like oh you know, if you ask me, then yes, I'll tell you, but I'm not just going to come out with it, and so me taking the steps actually getting LLC established.
Speaker 2:I was like okay, girl we're betting on us and we're saying that we think that this is going to be able to be a good investment. So that's really exciting. And then I even have some fun travels planned for this first quarter of the year. I just got back from Chicago and I'm going to Houston for a pull up and pitch competition by Black girl ventures, and then, prayerfully, I'll be in Los Angeles in March for a podcasting conference, because I am being more intentional this time around with my first podcast, where I again it was one of the things I just kind of fell into, and now I'm like no, this is my objective with my podcast, this is the kind of content I want to create and these are the systems I'm putting in place so that I can continue to keep this thing going.
Speaker 1:I love it. I need to see what this podcast conference is because I might need to attend that. And let me tell you, when you're in Houston, hit your girl up, I'm like two hours away. I'm right here on the coastal bend, texas, so we're like two, two and a half hours away from. Well, depends on what part of Houston you going in, because we're like three or four hours away from, because Houston is huge. And the traffic is redonkulous. Yes, yes, but anyways, hit your girl up because I'm around.
Speaker 2:And if I?
Speaker 1:can get up there to come and meet with you. Yeah, I know I love meeting people in person and hanging out and just continuing to build those relationships and connecting and networking and I would love that.
Speaker 2:That would be awesome, right.
Speaker 1:But I am so excited and thankful to have you on Bree today. Thank you so much for joining us. If people want to get in touch with you or connect with you, how do they do that?
Speaker 2:The best place, kind of my catch all is Brianna, like Smithcom, so that's my name B R I E, a, n, m, a, lightfoot, l, I, g, h, t, f O O T I know it's long Y'all Smith S, m, I, t H dot com and you can take an energy audit assessment. So that's going to help you kind of gauge, like what is on your to-do list, what doesn't need to be there, what needs to be delegated. And then on that website, you'll also be able to get access to my social media pages.
Speaker 1:Awesome. So there you have it, guys. Again, bree, thank you so much for joining us. Guys, thank you for tuning in today and I hope some of this information will help you spring forward into excellence. And until next time, guys, bye, bye, bye, y'all. Thanks for listening to the spring forward podcast. I hope you were able to capture some of the gems that were dropped and are excited to start using the information to help your business spring forward into excellence. I would love to hear some of your biggest takeaways from this episode, so connect with me on LinkedIn or Facebook, or tag me on Instagram at springy underscore springtime, and don't forget to subscribe to the show so you don't miss an episode. And if you'd like to learn more about how we can work together, visit the website at time to spring forwardorg. That's T I M E T O S P R I N G F O R W A R D dot all, and until next time on the spring forward podcast.