EPISODE 50 - CONFIDENCE, COURAGE, AND REDEFINING SUCCESS AS AN ENTREPRENEUR WITH JUSTINE WENZEL OF THE COURAGE QUEEN PODCAST
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE:
Do you wish you had the confidence to step into who you were meant to be?
Imagine yourself at a level 10 confidence, creating a life where your passion can be aligned with your business because you have chosen to take imperfect action rather than staying in the worry zone.
In today's episode, Danielle interviews Justine Wenzel, host of the Courage Queen Podcast!
When you tune into this conversation, you'll learn how to have confidence and courage as an entrepreneur, taking bold action, and how to redefine your own success!
Key Takeaways:
Justine introduces herself as a multi-passionate entrepreneur. She shares how her podcast is an extension of all she has learned in her career. She shares how she left the corporate world and worked with her mom - and how her belief system guided her decisions and perspective as an entrepreneur. She shares how she and her husband both have occupations and passions as entrepreneurs and work together and how Justine has focused on encouraging women in faith.
Danielle asks Justine to share where she found her confidence, and what makes her so passionate about helping women grow in their confidence as well. Justine shares how her childhood trauma and struggle to “fit in” made her look to her mom’s tenacity and grit to persevere in the face of failure and how it modeled entrepreneurship to her. Justine learned to work harder than those around her and just had to resort to being confident where she was already exceptional and sharpen those skills so she was ready to step into them when the time came.
Justine shares that confidence is learned. Confidence comes from your IDENTITY, not your outward appearance. More is caught in your kids than what is taught - a lesson Justine’s mom unintentionally taught her. Confidence was modeled to Justine by her mom, and she stresses that confidence attracts the same or similar levels of confidence; and that is why it’s so important to practice confidence, as it overflows into every aspect of your life.
Danielle talks about how we tend to hold ourselves back because we think we need to be at a “certain level” before taking a leap into a new connection, and asks Justine to share advice for women who struggle with feeling like they “aren’t there yet.” Justine shares that someone’s response to you doesn’t distinguish your value! When we operate in a scarcity mentality, it leaves us feeling that we “aren’t enough” rather than understanding God’s right timing and purpose. Just because you decide to walk out in obedience and do something that is out of your comfort zone, it doesn’t mean that the path is automatically gonna get clearer. It means that you may need to cling to your guide a little bit more. Accept that you are a work in progress. Be bold. Boldness honors God. Be ok that God is going to use opportunities to teach you.
Danielle shares that confidence comes in activity - taking the step, and the confidence follows. Justine shares that confidence comes from God in moments of opposition, and how you have to depend on Him in the hard times.
Danielle asks Justine to distinguish the difference between a closed door and a redirection. When do you push through? Justine shares that it's necessary to GET QUIET and seek the Lord and learn how He speaks to you. If it disturbs your peace, it’s not worth it. Danielle talks about the challenge it is to sit quiet, and asks Justine how to be ok with being quiet in an overstimulated world. Justine says to ask yourself “What is my motive?” when you are wrestling with big decisions - are you trying to get out of discomfort or do the right thing for your faith/peace? God will never ask you to prioritize the important things over being productive.
Danielle emphasizes the importance of knowing your values as you and God wrestle with big decisions.
Justine talks about the importance of women having a confident community - how showing up as the best version of yourself (imperfect and without shame) is the best way to build community. Be honest, be open, be vulnerable, and be authentic and partner with God for the “plan” - things don’t work together because you fail to be you while pursuing the success/gifts other women have.
Danielle asks Justine to share what she is most proud of in her entrepreneurial journey so far. Justine shares that she is proud that she has stayed true to herself and continued to show up and build something that stood the test of time because she never jumped ship because she trusted exactly where she was.
Danielle closes with a question - “Is what I’m doing today going to serve the future of this business or am I just doing this to emulate the success of someone else?” and how you’ll never find peace or long term success chasing accolades or the success of others.
Connect with Justine Wenzel:
Subscribe to Justine's Podcast: Courage Queen Podcast
Connect on Instagram:
Business Babes Resources:
Free Masterclass “How to Scale a Profitable Business without working around the clock”: businessbabescollective.com/masterclass
Join our Signature Course + Community, Action Takers Club: https://www.businessbabescollective.com/actiontakersclub
Learn about our Mastermind www.businessbabescollective.com/mastermind
Apply to work 1:1 with Danielle www.businessbabescollective.com/coaching
Full Transcription:
EPISODE 50
[00:00:00] Hey friend, welcome back to the podcast. I'm so excited that you're here today and just so grateful for you as always. I am so pumped for this episode today. I have an amazing guest with me, Justine, who is a, another multi-passionate entrepreneur. She is a business owner. Coach a makeup artist, a social media strategist.
The host of the courage queen podcast. Her mission is to address the crisis of confidence in women today. And in this episode, we talk about so many different things. We dive into confidence and courage as an entrepreneur, how to get clear on the direction you want to go in your business.
We dive into redefining the, your idea of what success looks like, what it looks like for you and just being grounded in your identity. Justine. And I actually met during a podcasting program that we're both a part of. And we share a passion for business, [00:01:00] for podcasting, as well as our faith. So you are going to hear that in our conversation today, Justina's taking us to church today.
You guys, I may say preach during this conversation and we just have so much fun. So. Before we dive in, I wanted to remind you that we are just over a week away from our free masterclass. This is a training that is happening live on April 13th at 12:00 PM. PST. It's how to scale a profitable business without working around.
This masterclass is not only going to be educational, but it's also going to be a ton of fun. We have door prizes for those of you who show up live, and I'm also going to have some special surprises in store for you. So pause this episode right now. Go to business babes, collective.com/masterclass, and make sure you get rest registered so that you have all the info.
Business [00:02:00] collective.com/masterclass to get registered. And I cannot wait to hang out with you there. All right. So grab your notebook and pen. Trust me, you are going to run, want to write notes for this episode and let's go ahead and get stuff. Welcome to the business thieves collective podcast.
I'm your host, Danielle wheat in this podcast. You'll learn tangible business tips and strategies on how to grow successfully and sustainably. We'll also interview. So you can listen in on their stories and see behind the scenes of what it took to grow and scale their businesses. Let's dive in. As we discussed the wild, exciting, crazy challenging roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship, I just Dean welcome, um, to the business babes collect podcast.
I'm so excited to have you here today. A friend I'm really excited to be here today. It's been a long time coming. We're just going to have so much fun. I know I'm so excited. So, uh, Justine and I actually [00:03:00] met in a podcasting program that we're both book takings. I'm so excited to kind of dive in. We've been kind of strategizing together over the past few months, I guess it's been, and so.
Can you introduce yourself for all of our guests today, for everyone who does not know you yet share a little bit more about you, about your businesses and just what you do and how you serve people also through your podcast. Yeah, I would be happy to, so yeah, I'm Justine, I'm a 30 something entrepreneur.
I have a multiple. Business ventures that I'm really passionate about. So I kind of call myself a multi-passionate entrepreneur gal, but gosh, I have been podcasting for only about a year, but before I got into podcasting is kind of my passion project. That's now becoming this beautiful. Complimentary extension of what I've been doing so long and for so many years, but outside of that, where I kind of started building my businesses was [00:04:00] as a makeup artist and as a educator.
And, uh, what I mean by that is I've been 10 years now in the direct sales. Industry specifically working with skincare and cosmetics. And I actually kind of grew up in that business cause my mom started that business when I was seven years old. And so I really kind of got that front row seat to seeing what it was like to be an entrepreneur and to be.
This kid really excited to start my own business someday and always knew that I wanted to be my own boss, but didn't quite know what that was going to look like. And so I built my business, you know, I was in corporate for a very short period of time thought I was going to kind of climb the corporate ladder, decided to leave very, very abruptly and said, you know what?
I've seen my mom build an incredible business. I bet if I coached with her, she could show me how to do it. I just had a belief. Um, I would have the tools and the resources to plug into and that it would all work out. That's kind of my mindset in a nutshell, but yeah, so that's [00:05:00] kind of how my journey started.
And as I was working that business and grew it all through my twenties, I added the extension of being a bridal makeup artist. Really beautifully complimented that. Cause I was already working with my clients that were asking me for those services. And since then I've gotten married and my husband's also an entrepreneur as well.
So we kind of have this like power, couple entrepreneurship thing going on. And now we do properties as well. And we just did an Airbnb a couple of years ago. So we've just kind of had fun dipping into a whole different, you know, world of challenges. And we kind of tend to be that couple that, you know, we don't have kids yet.
We're dog parents. And so we are always open to new ideas, investment ideas. How do we use our passions to serve and be obedient to what we feel like God's called us to do, which has meant to, you know, serve people out in the world that need more encouragement, you know, need or a binder of really what they have and the greatness that's inside of them.
And. [00:06:00] The opportunity to even do that more specifically with women, with faith led women that want to grow their confidence and, uh, and grow their faith. So that's kind of where the podcast came on. On the other side of that, something I thought I would never do, but has been really an incredible journey so far that I'm looking forward.
That's amazing and so amazing. Well, I have loved listening to your podcast as well. It's so great. So definitely share with us a little bit more about that at the end and where can people can find you, but tell us a little bit more about where this confidence comes from, because obviously, you know, you love sharing about confidence.
You talked about the fact that you have. You know this confidence to leave your job and just pursue this entrepreneurial journey. And you said that you had this, like, knowing that you could figure it out and did part of that come from the way that you were brought up. You said that you, you know, you saw your mom building this company and the inspiration that came from that.
And also what makes you so passionate about. [00:07:00] Helping women with their confidence. Cause I think that's such an important quality of an entrepreneur and something that we continue continually need to work on and grow in ourselves is our confidence because a lot of it comes from there. Right? Like building a business.
It's a lot about mindset. Right. So tell us more about that journey. Yeah. And I'm going to have you remind me of that second part of the question, because I'm like a little bit add. So I'm going to focus on answering the first few along then. Bring me back to that because I don't want to forget because I think that's so good.
You know, I think at a young age, I always, you know, not to get too specifically into this, but I think with where I was at, uh, I had been coming out of a season, you know, which I didn't even recognize until I was in my early twenties, that I had a very traumatic, um, backstory, which is not really necessary to get into a whole bunch as part of my story right now.
I grew up with a lot of trauma, just because of a situation that I was in. And I also was very, again, very add. So school was [00:08:00] very challenging for me. I almost had this knowing like that. I was very smart and intelligent. But I was always trying to figure out, like, how was I supposed to be in the world where I felt like I was different from everybody else.
It felt like going to school, everybody was book smart and they were very intelligent on paper. And I had this deep knowing like, yeah, if you asked me to interview, do videos, I could talk to anybody at any age, I could perform things I could, um, you know, I did a lot of theater and dance and a lot of movement and that type of learning and relationships and entrepreneurship was modeled to me.
So when, as I looked at entrepreneurship growing up and as, I didn't really find a place where I was fitting in, in terms of, yeah, well, I don't really want to go sit in an office all day like that. I can't even sit still. In a classroom. And so, as I was struggling with those things, I started watching the way in which I saw my mom work.
And I learned more from watching her. Fail to be honest with you [00:09:00] than I did when she really succeeded, because I saw that tenacity, I saw that perseverance to keep pushing through and that grit. And although me having some struggles with, um, with learning in the classroom in that more neuro-typical brain, you know, go to school, memorize, take the test.
Although that was always a struggle for me. My parents didn't really necessarily acknowledge that they gave me the tools and the resources to help me like tutors and things like that. But they were there kind of battle cry was always like, no, you're fine. You're good. So that it wasn't really acknowledging that I even had something that was holding me back.
And so I think part of it was just this knowing that, okay, well, if they don't think that there's a problem, then maybe there's not a problem. And I just have to work a lot harder than everybody else. And so that kind of became like how I. I just had to resort to being confident in who God made me. And I started to grow my faith there and started to focus on what are those little things that he's uniquely made me qualified or exceptional [00:10:00] at.
And rather than looking to the right or the left of how I compared to all these other people, I just started focusing on how could I continue to develop my skills? How could I sharpen those skills so that when my opportunity. I'd be ready to step into whatever blessing it was. Hm. And so, you know, I think confidence, one of the most interesting things, and I think that this is worth noting too.
I was having a conversation with my mother-in-law one day when she came to visit and we were talking about my childhood and we were talking about how I did dance and theater. And she goes, oh, well, that must have really, you know, made you help. You know, she goes, oh, I could see that you would do those things.
And that must be why you have such great confidence. And I think in theater, We could look at a lot of people's situations and be like, oh, that's the reason why they're confident. Whereas when she said that to me, nobody had really said that to me before I thought to myself, you know what? I don't really think it's those things at all.
I actually think it was because I had a mom who walked it out herself. I think confidence a lot of times. Right. So [00:11:00] I look back at the times when I was doing dance and theater and all of these more forward facing things where I had external pressures, you know, singing, I was a singer. I was a performer. I was dancing in front of a lot of people.
I was always nervous. I always had nerves. I never had a lot of confidence. I didn't feel like I was confident in myself, but to the outside world, I, I faked it really well. And I think a lot of the times, that's what we don't realize. I have a lot of people in my industry of working in makeup. They'll say things like, well, they're just so gorgeous and put together and they're just so confident.
And as I started to coach women through that recently, I started asking women like, what is it about other women that are confident? What are you noticing? And most of the things that they were mentioning were all external. And I thought to myself, oh my gosh, that's just like the tip of the iceberg. Like, if that's how you are appearing someone to be confident in the way that they look, if they're put together and professional, how they've talked.
I think those are all valuable additions, but I think confidence has to really come [00:12:00] from your identity. And when you know that your identity is in Christ, which I didn't always know that I think that I knew that God had called me to something big. I didn't really know what that was, but I just kept going along one step in front of the other and just trusting along the way that if I would continue to stay obedient to the day, the daily work that.
He would lead me to exactly where I needed to be. And so I do think that it was modeled to me through my mom and seeing her succeed, seeing her fail. I knew that as I was watching her, I was like, she's confident in herself because of what she's attracting. Hmm. Because one of the truths that I've always believed is you'll always attract people that are at the same confidence level as you or
hmm. Most likely you will never approach people that are, have a confidence higher than you have one of those internal things that people don't really think about. And so why is it so important to live out [00:13:00] your life full in level 10 confidence, which is so much of what I talk about encouraged queen on my podcast.
It's because it overflows into every aspect of your. Totally. You can model that and walk that out and lead by example more is caught from your kids than what is taught. And I think that's one of the biggest lessons that my mom didn't even mean to teach me, but she did because she just kept going. She would fail.
She'd get back up. She failed, she get back up. She was attracting people. And I saw the shift in the type of women that she was surrounding herself with over the course of being seven all the way up until I was in my twenties, the type of women that she was attracting and the qualities of these women that she was attracting as her confidence grew.
So I think you have a really unique perspective when you think about, wow, my kids are watching me. People are watching me and it's making an impression. Okay. Wow. I love that. And obviously having a daughter myself now, I'm just like, yes. And it makes you think. [00:14:00] What are you modeling? Right. And what are you putting out there?
And I love that you share it. I have actually really thought about it that way, as far as like, you won't necessarily approach people or maybe, you know, a lot of people on this podcast are obviously entrepreneurs. So it's like, if you want to connect with someone or collaborate with someone or, you know, just make a new connection.
Right. A lot of the times. People hold themselves back because they almost think like, we'll have to be further along in order to even reach out to that person or even to talk to that person. Right. So what advice would you give if someone were to say, cause I feel like I hear this all the time for my community.
It's like, okay, I really want to connect with that person. I really want to collaborate with this other business owner, but I feel like I'm not at that level yet. Or, you know, I just got started. So, so what do I have to offer? What advice would you give to that? Yeah, I think that that's so great. And I guess the advice that I would give is, [00:15:00] well, first off to realize that whether someone says yes or no to you, whether they decide they want to collaborate with you or not.
Distinguish your value of what you bring into the world. Like your identity in Christ doesn't change whether or not Cassie decided she wants you on her podcast, or she wants to do business with you. Or Jenna wants to go into business with you and wants to work alongside you. People are at all times.
Levels of their businesses and parts of your life. And I think that when we operate in a scarcity mentality of which I would say, like, I have to get this person, or I have to connect with somebody who I think is at a particular level, realizing that God already knows the people that you're supposed to connect with.
And if you have these expectations of holding on so tightly to, you have to connect with a specific type of person or a specific person in general, and maybe it doesn't work. Maybe that has less to do with you. And maybe that's just, it's not the person you're supposed to be [00:16:00] connecting with. Maybe there's somebody better niche that you're supposed to be connecting with.
Maybe you haven't met that person yet. I think that goes along with a lot of different things, business, friendships, relationships, romantic relationships, you know, God will continue to work on you and also work on those people so that you are. Ready for each other in a sentence for, in his appointed time.
And I think, you know, we were just talking recently about how, um, you know, even our podcasting program that we're in together, you know, we were having a conversation this morning and I said, you know, I had so much going on in my life at the start of this program. It was not the right time. I'm going to put this in quotes.
It was not the right time for me, but I kept feeling like God was pressing in to say, no, this is the right time. I need you to walk out in obedience. And just because you decide to walk out in obedience and to do something that's out of your comfort zone, doesn't mean the path is automatically just going to get.
Um, it means that you kind of have to be okay with the fact that like you're going to have to clean to your guide a little bit [00:17:00] more. And in that case, it's like, I have to kind of cling to God a little bit more and say, okay, it's going to be blurry. And I have to accept that it's going to not be perfect, that I might not be there yet.
That I'm a work in progress. But, um, I think, you know, just being bold says a lot, you have to be bold and, you know, building that courage muscle, again, something that we talk about on the podcast all the time. You know, I was having a conversation with a friend the other day, same thing too. And she said, oh, we're going to Miami.
Should we reach out to this person? Who's like the top of our company. And should we see if she can meet us? She goes, that would be crazy. We should never do that. I go, why don't we? Why not? Like, she's like, well, that's kind of bold. And I go, well, what's she going to say? Yes, no. I said, does it really affect us that much?
Either way? Like, we're going all the way there. If it works out that maybe she'll honor our boldness and be like, wow, look at these checks. Like, I want to know who they are. I mean, you just don't know true, but you just have to think of yourself as like, am I going to kick myself? If I could have had an incredible opportunity that I made about me [00:18:00] in my own insecurity, it's like, God is bigger than our inadequacies and our insecurities.
And he already knows like who we're supposed to connect with. So I think that, again, it goes back to having that confidence in that knowing of I'm on the right. It doesn't matter. The decisions that I make God already knows them, whether they're right or wrong in the moment, he just promises that he's going to use them to teach us and prepare us along the way.
I love that. And so that's really, the advice I would give is like, stay true to yourself. The more that you can be authentically who you are and step out in that boldness, I think that boldness honors God period. Mm. So good. And I think that. Also, I love that you said that. Yeah. It's not always going to be like a comfortable journey or it's not always gonna feel like everything's going to like align perfectly and just be like, like you said, you know, signing up for the program wasn't necessarily, um, the right time, like you said, but [00:19:00] you did it anyways and.
It's still going to be challenges, right? Like we've all we took this program together. We, we had a lot of challenges, all of us, individually, personally, in our businesses, all of the things, you know, things coming up feeling like we're not gonna finish the homework in time, all that. And, um, but we still push through and it's, it's almost like more rewarding too, when you, when you have those challenges come up and.
You are afraid to do something like, let's say you're stepping out and you're doing something scary and it's not comfortable, but you do it anyways. It's so much more rewarding too, when you actually do it, whether or not you get a yes or whether or not it's quote unquote successful, it's still, it builds your confidence.
We actually talked about this on a past episode of the podcast, too, about how a lot of times. You think you have to be confident [00:20:00] first before you step into something or do something it's like, no, the confidence almost comes after that. Yeah. Comes in activity. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. One of my favorite quotes of all time is, and I hope I'm not going to butcher it, but one of my favorite quotes that I've always kind of lived by is like, um, darken now let's see, uh, negativity is the dark.
Wait, hold on. I'm gonna mess it up. It's like something like negativity is the dark is the dark room where negatives develop or something like that. I'm messing up the first word. But essentially like when you are in inactivity, that is where you will feel the most opposition that is where like, you know, things are, are always going to be happening in life.
And like it says in God's word, You know, if you, if you look and you're going to see opposition or struggles or these circumstances [00:21:00] where you're like, oh my gosh, I feel like I'm having warfare right now. Like, why do I feel like everything's coming against me consider it says in his word, consider it a gift, consider it a gift when you re when you see obstacles, because then you know that you're going against it and you're not doing it on your own, but that God is by your side, going, walking through that with you.
And so just like what you were saying, like anytime. Receiving any of this opposition or we're like, gosh, I don't know if I could do this. Like, why is this seems so much harder? Why is it seem like a lot of people will jump into a pattern of thinking where they'll say, well, I guess this is just not meant to be because I'm getting so much pushback, consider it that you're exactly where you need to be, because this is the difficult push, like having that baby, which I personally have not experienced, but I love using this analogy because I think it's just so true.
You you've kind of just go through those motions of, like, I just got to push through the adrenaline adrenaline in the momentum and not get all caught up in all those details and realize [00:22:00] that if you could do this on your own, then you wouldn't need God. If your goal was not completely freaking you out or what you were going through, you were like, oh my God, I really got to depend on God, cause I really can't do this good.
That's where exactly where he wants. Yeah, that means you're on the right track. If you're getting any type of pushback or resistance whatsoever. Oh, I love that. I think that's so good. So good. And I think, okay. So my question for you then is when it comes to. Knowing what's right for us. And what's not because there's like, I think there's a difference between, you know, um, having a door close for example, and having that be something that redirects us.
So a good example of this would be the pandemic. Um, a lot of businesses had to close the doors, including basically us cause we were doing events. And so what's the difference between that. Being redirected and maybe having to make a change [00:23:00] when it comes to our businesses or having something where we're along on the journey and we're really passionate about it, but like you said, we have that pushback.
So do you have any kind of advice as far as, when is it like, okay, now I need to redirect or you just need to almost push through. Do you kind of get what I'm saying, I get what you're saying. And you know, that's a really difficult one because I think the only way that you can truly discern and I think discern is really the most important word here.
Yeah. At the only point that you can really discern. Is is this closing a door and God wants me to leave and do something else or start something else or get creative and go in a different direction. Or is this a push through moment? Is this the big push moment? I think it's necessary to get quiet. I think there's so much noise today that we have a really difficult time discerning.[00:24:00]
What our decisions are in questioning a lot of our decisions, because there's so much noise. We're like, oh, I'm really, you know, stressed out about this decision. What should I do? And we're like, let me call my best friend. Let me call my mom, let me call. It's like, we always want to call somebody. And in one day I was driving in my car during the pandemic because my husband and I, we were so used to leaving the house.
And now we were like completely at home. And I was so used to like being the extrovert out, talking to everybody. And we were both kind of struggling with it in the beginning, especially. And then we kind of figured it out, but we would just like, go for drives. Like we would just leave and just drive around.
And there was one day where I just said, I got to get out of here. I'm going to go drive around. I was by my. And I kept trying to find like all these reasons to distract myself. I was like, let me put on some music. Let me see, let me see what I can call and have a conversation with because I was just wrestling with like, what am I supposed to do with this?
My business has always been face-to-face I've never gone virtual. I was very resistant to virtual cause I really didn't like it. I'm going to be honest. Like I just didn't like it. And I was [00:25:00] very resistant and I was sitting there praying about. And I'm like, gosh, who can I call to talk about this? That can help me work through the situation.
And I just heard this little voice or this thought pop into my head and it said, why don't you just talk to me about it? And I was like, I'm like, God, are you there? Like all the light comes out. Like what? You know, because I was always very confused as a, as a faith led woman, when people would say like, God spoke to me, I, you know, I'm very dramatic and I'm like in theater.
So I'm like, what does he do? Like come down and like, Hey, I gotta have a talk with you. Like, what's like, I never knew what that looked like. And I think sometimes we over-complicate, it. Sometimes we give ourselves credit for the things that God really has given to us or how he's trying to speak through us.
He'll speak through other people. He'll drop. In my case, he drafts just ideas. And I always know that they're from God because I'll just sit there and I'm like, I couldn't have thought of that, of that myself. So I think a lot of times we tend to veer to this. Oh, it must be just my own idea. Like, I'm just that smart.
I came up with this [00:26:00] idea, like probably not humble ourselves for a second, probably not, but I think the main difference, like kind of pulling this into a close and putting a bow on it. I think having the piece is that. Hmm. If it disturbs your peace, it's not worth it. I think you'll know in those quiet moments where you get with God and you get very bold in your prayers and how you pray, because I think, and for people that maybe are not, don't feel like they have strong faith, or maybe they're like, you know what, I don't really have a relationship like that, or I don't, I don't really walk with God like that.
You know, it's as simple as just getting quiet, pulling out a white piece of paper and just saying, what is something I need to know today? And let me just feel. Let me just feel if I, if this is not the right situation or decision I'm supposed to be making, let me be so unsettled in it. Like be bold enough to ask that.
Let me be so unsettled in it. If this is a situation that I'm supposed to push through, give me peace. That transcends [00:27:00] all. And I truly felt like, you know, kind of getting back to that trauma that I was talking about. This was one of those situations where I had broken the silence after 20 years of, of some traumatic events that had happened, that I'd walked through for a few years of my childhood.
And I was trying to figure out what direction to go in when all this happened, because it was right before the pandemic and had the pandemic not happen. I probably would have never just surrendered all of that and said, I need to work through this stuff so that I can get to the other side. I probably just.
Gone in my normal mode of over busying myself and staying social and pushing down the feelings and just continued business as usual. But I really sat there in that quiet space with that white Peter White piece of paper that I always talk about. And I really got clear, like, do I have peace about proceeding and working through this.
Or do I just want to keep pushing it down. And for one of the first times in my life, I was just tired of, of faking it. I was tired of pushing it down. I felt so [00:28:00] unsettled that the unsettled, this had become comfortable for me. And that was when I truly realized, like I don't have, I don't, I have this unsettling feeling about staying here, but when I think about moving into something different, somehow I just knew that it was all going to work.
I knew that it was probably going to be crazy and emotional and it was going to come with a lot of hard decisions, but I just had an unknowing piece that it was somehow going to get to the other side and that it was somehow going to be resolved. And so I think. Getting into those quiet moments and ask yourself, like, do I have peace about this?
Or am I just wrestling with this over and over and over again, I really have a belief that God, you know, until God tells you to stop doing something, if you're not hearing a clear direction from him to stop doing something and going in another direction, I think it's the obedience of staying put when we're not happy where we are.
Yeah. And if we were really supposed to leave something, leaving at a higher spot, like leave when [00:29:00] you're. In your winning season, if that, if God really wants you to leave, he'll ask you to leave during your winning season. Most likely not during, when you feel like you're questioning everything about your business and yourself, and it's all about you, right?
Wow. That's so good. I love that. And it's. I think that it's so funny because I feel like a lot of whenever I have conversations, like on the podcast or whatever, it's always like tying back to, like, we just had an episode about distraction and comparison and all of that and how we're just, you live in this world.
That's so pulling at our attention all the time. It's like social, emotional overstimulations. It is. And it's, it's such a challenge to. Sit quiet. It's a challenge to make time, even just to reflect on her lives, reflect on our businesses. We're just over busying ourselves. Or we feel like if we aren't checking off our to do [00:30:00] list, then we're not being productive.
And if we're not productive, that means we're not successful. Yeah. There's all these kinds of things that are tied to that. I feel like. And as an entrepreneur, and I know that I I've gone through seasons of that. So many times in my business where I felt like I just need to like hustle, hustle, hustle.
I've talked about this, some podcasts before gone through seasons. So many scenes of seasons of burnout. And I think having that quiet time where you just reflect and if you're someone who prays you pray, like just really getting quiet, because that's the only time when we can, I think truly be clear on and be honest with ourselves on where we're at.
Right. Yeah, I think it's great. We just continue to push through. There's a difference between pushing through it challenges and just pushing through, because we don't want to get quiet or we don't want [00:31:00] to face right. Ask and asking yourself, you know, you brought up a really great point too, like asking yourself what are my motives?
Hmm. Why, why do I feel like I want to move in this particular direction? What are really my motives? Is it because I'm uncomfortable doing the things that are required to push through because you have to remember that when we go back to mindset, our core belief derive, you know, directs every single behavior and action that we have.
You know, your mind is constantly looking for what's a threat and it really doesn't know the difference between a good and a bad threat. It's the same feeling of the anxiousness that comes up of the fight or flight, you know, pops in. And so really ask yourself, like, do I want to shift out of the situation and get to the other side, because it's less about this moment and more about the journey of where I'm being taken, who I'm going to become in the process, or is this [00:32:00] momentary discomfort?
That I'm just trying to, you know, like when a baby is crying and you're like, oh, I, what can I do to get the baby to start immediate, immediately stopped crying. You know, it's like that momentary discomfort that we immediately want them to get out of pain. Our mind is the exact same way. It's like, okay, you're in pain.
Uh, what do I do to get you out of pain? Okay. We gotta pull you back into what's comfortable. And so stepping out and doing things that are uncomfortable more often will start to get you in the mode where again, you're strengthening that courage and that confidence muscle. And you're recognizing, Hey, this is normal.
I think telling ourselves that this is normal to have some stretch and really looking at it as, you know, what is the risk versus reward? If it involves giving up my piece, not worth it. If it involves sacrificing my family, you know what I mean? A long-term not worth it. There's obviously seasons where sometimes we have to work at a different pace, but I think that God will [00:33:00] always honor our priorities being in order.
He's never going to ask you to sacrifice your specific family and those core needs above being productive. Yeah, but the culture that we live in prizes that promotes that. I think that that's why we struggle with it so much. I think that it's not even so much ourselves. I think it's this inner battle of, we feel like we need to be productive because that's what the world teaches.
And that's the throne that the world has work in productivity on. But then when we look at the way that God does it, it's not like that at all. Right. It's about who we are and in our obedience and getting closer and becoming more like him and has absolutely nothing to do with productivity. So we're looking at two very, you know, very counter activities or thought patterns and beliefs.
No wonder we feel this constant push and pull all the time. It really takes being rooted in the understanding of that to be like, you know what, that's okay if that's how everybody else wants to do it. That doesn't mean that that aligns with my. [00:34:00] And if it's sacrificing my peace longterm, I'm just not, you know, you have to get to a point where you have boundaries of one, what you're going to allow to shape and come into your life.
Yeah. So good. And I think that's such a good point of, I think it's important to recognize that you have success. Doesn't look the same for any of us really, because. Success to one person can look drastically different than success to another person. And I, I know that at the beginning of my business journey, I was kind of looking to the world or looking to outsource.
Things to determine, well, what does success look like for me? And it's almost like I borrowed the version of success that other people had for themselves. And I'm like, oh, well, I guess that's what I have to work for. I guess that's what I have to go after. And [00:35:00] so it's so interesting that. You know, as you're saying that I'm like, yeah, that totally makes sense.
Like how we're pushed and pulled in all these different directions. And I think it also comes back to knowing what our values are and what's. To us, because I think, you know, if we don't really know what our values are, of course we're going to be pulled in all different directions. And of course, we're going to feel conflicted when it comes to making decisions around our businesses or how we're growing.
And so, yeah. That's oh, that's so good. I love it. Okay. Another question I have for you. It's just around. What have you found the most challenging in your entrepreneurial journey thus far? Either a season that you've gone through or just in general? Uh, maybe it's an ongoing challenge or challenge that you, that you faced.
Yeah. So the first thing that comes to mind is, you know, what if I [00:36:00] what's been the biggest challenge for me, I think is getting out of my head. Um, so much so that I literally have a sticky note on my computer that says, get out of your own way. It's there every single day. Um, I'm a big visual person. And so, you know, one day I just plastered my house with just a whole bunch of bright, colorful, sticky notes.
You probably even see some of my office here, like the hall say diff different things, you know, excellence, not perfection. You know, the pain that you're feeling is is will never be more than the joy that's coming. Like just all. Uh, words, quotes things that kind of align me into showing up every day as the person that I want to be, which a lot of times is counter-cultural to the world that we're living in.
Exactly like what we were just talking about. And I think that one of my biggest struggles was not only getting out of my own way, but realizing that my authenticity and my unique talents and gifts were my superpower, because I think that when you're in a woman in business, [00:37:00] Women can be so supportive, but they can also be very judgmental, unfortunately.
And this is just everybody in general, but I know people have seen this and I don't want to like only talk about like women empowering women were also great. I think women can also, unfortunately, Very judgmental of other women. You know, we see this a lot in like, okay, well, is she a stay at home mom? Or she worked from home mom there's problems with both.
Apparently, you know, like we want to attack people on both ends. We want to attack people who are just doing what's best for them. And I think one of the biggest shifts that I had, and I was sharing this with a friend recently, is we all just want to be accepted at the, at the end of the day, our core belief is we all just want to be accepted for who.
Yeah, but yet we don't even accept ourselves for how we are. And not only do we not accept ourselves, but we don't accept other people for how they are. Like, we sit there and say, gosh, I don't even, I could never do things like that. Like she's doing like, almost in kind of this like, [00:38:00] judgemental way. Like, oh God, I could never do that.
Like, I don't agree with that. But at the end of the day, Doesn't she deserve the same type of respect and acceptance that you want yourself to just do what you want to do, and you don't want people to judge it because that's what you feel like you've been called to. Do you have a unique walk and unique talents and gifts that only you have?
And the more that we try to all be the same version of. Putting so much pressure pressure on ourselves to perform and to do it all and to not ask for help. And we almost have like this, I don't know if you've noticed, but we almost have like this even women in business when they talk about it. And this is why I like to get like really real and transparent, because I feel like these are the things that women don't talk about.
And I don't know why, because I think that if we did, we would just feel a lot less alone because I think that business can be very low. Totally. And, you know, in my, in my particular business, I have a lot of girl I'm more in the direct [00:39:00] sales field in one of my businesses. And so I do feel like I have a lot of great relationships that way, but there's so many business owners that I come across that don't have that.
And like, they're going to coffee shops to work. And they're, they're feeling like they have a loss of that community because they're a business owner and they feel like people don't understand and get them. And I think we need to start. Showing up a hundred percent authentically who we are, no matter the consequence of not everybody might jive with me.
Totally, totally. You might not click with any, but with everybody, but you know what, when I show up as the best version of myself, which is not going to be perfect, that's not being perfect. Being the best version of yourself means that you show up without constantly reverting back to shame. Of who you are or shame of living in the past.
Like, are you living in the past of what you've done or what you haven't accomplished or are you living forward facing thinking about what you can do, what you're capable of, what God's working on, how your work in progress. You [00:40:00] know, we have this standard of perfection that is unreachable most of the time and.
I think that we just wear ourselves down so much. And there's so many of these things that separate women that really should be bringing them together. If we could get vulnerable and transparent about our struggles and where we're at and being very open and honest about what it looks like to be a business.
That it's a very much an up and down journey that comes with ebbs and flows and different journeys. You're being in the valley. You'll be on the mountain top. Um, you know, the enemy will try to take you down at those mountain top moments when your pride kind of can, you know, start to shift a little bit.
So I think the struggle that I specifically had, I'm just going to use an example is people would tell me how they would, grow their business and work there. And they'd find so much success in what they were doing. And I was constantly looking at other people, like, tell me what you're doing, tell me what you're doing, because I just knew that if I copied a plan that I could get there, but here's the thing.
It never was.
[00:41:00] Because that was their plan. That was their perfectly crafted plan of what God felt like they needed to do, not what I needed to do. So when you're jumping ship on, rather than focusing on what he's calling you to do and using your gifts and showing up a hundred percent as yourself, and you're constantly distracted by everybody else in their plan, you're constantly gonna feel like you don't have what it takes.
You're going to be spinning your wheels all the time. You'll be incredibly exhausted and you'll be disappointed most of the time because. Things don't work together because you are not trying to be you you're trying to beat everybody else. And everybody's second rate version of what you think is going to help you be successful.
And the minute that I, you know, I remember like I was listening to a trading once and this girl went over like perfect example. I'm like the creative video face to face type of person. I love any of that creative type of stuff. And I, and I work in makeup. So I do like makeup videos and all this kind of like.
Why people telling me all the time,
[00:42:00] gosh, I love your videos. I could ever do videos like that. And I'm over here, like, oh yeah, thanks. And I don't even like accept that compliment because I'm too focused on the fact that this girl over here is rocking it out in her business. And I'm like, gosh, I could, I don't even know how to do the stuff that she's doing.
Right. I guess, I guess I don't have what it takes. Like, I guess I, I need to probably figure out what she's doing and like do that when really, if I just like, you know what I mean? Like, it, it sounds like such a simple con. But it's like mind blowing how the minute that I was just like, oh, that's like her thing.
Like we have to get used to saying good for her. Not for me. Yeah. And I think I love that you're sharing that because it's so true. And I was laughing because like, it is so true. Immediately when we see someone else accomplishing something. I think one of the things that I have really tried to like have as a mindset, because I think it's just so
[00:43:00] Important when it comes to business is celebrating other people's success and being excited for them and being happy for them, but not thinking automatically.
Why can't I do that? Or. Well, I haven't accomplished that. So what's wrong with me? Or like, like you're saying, it's like staying in your own lane, staying with your own plan because your plan is going to be different. Like you said, like God has a different plan for you, then he has, for someone else, who's had this huge success in this one area and it's not always going to look the same.
It's not always going to. Like, maybe you're not going to get that big opportunity. That's very public, let's say right. You're going to have this like private, that successful moment. That's just within your family or, you know, it's just like, it's so important to.
[00:44:00] Not look to everyone else and, and everything else to determine what you need to be doing.
So I love that you shared that. Thank you for sharing that. Cause it's just like, I think we all need to hear that. Yeah. So important. And yeah, I love that. I can't believe this. This has gone way too fast. As far as this interview. I want to ask you, what are you most? You've had a really incredible journey.
I feel like in your entrepreneurial journey so far, you're doing multiple different things. I know you're you have multiple different businesses and. What are you most proud of as far as your army entrepreneurial journey so far that either you've accomplished or even just the mindset that you've been able to have?
Tell me about that. I love that question so much. And the first thing that came to mind that made me smile, is it kind of right along the theme that we've been talking about? I'm proud of myself for staying true to myself through and through. I've
[00:45:00] always w either, even when I look to the left or the right and wondered.
Am I inadequate. Do I have what it takes? Can I get there? And I think one of the, one of the other things I wanted to quickly mention too, based on what we were just talking about, that just came to mind. You may look at other people in business and say, oh my gosh, she was successful and she's hit this like, amazing moment, but you don't know the end of her story.
So like, there were so many women that like came through my, one of the businesses that I'm a part of. And they came like right out the gate, like flying in, they're winning all over the place. They're breaking records, they're doing incredible things. They're getting all of this external recognition that like I wanted, because I was very much like focused on now.
A long time. I got distracted in that of like always having to be like recognized for things. Okay. And like the next moment and the next, when, and, you know, whatever it is, the next car, the next, whatever. But then what would happen is I would keep working and I I'd like kind of veer off a [00:46:00] little bit and kind of get distracted with what they were doing, trying to do things differently than realizing I'm spinning my wheels.
And then I would get humbled myself and get back in the lane and God would start to move me back in and be like, no, I want you here. How many more times do I have to move you? I kept showing up and doing the work and I never gave up. And I had that grit and I had that perseverance to say, you know what?
I just kept telling myself I'm in it for the long. I'm not in it for the fast one. I'm not in it. You know, I'm a slow burn type of person. And what's so interesting is so many people that I always look to that I got distracted by that we're doing all this great stuff and getting recognized, uh, publicly and all these great wins.
And it was all external. Half of those people are not even in these businesses anymore. They quit these businesses because they got a big win and either couldn't handle it and weren't prepared for it. And then it kind of spiraled out of control or. They, it was so easy for them in the beginning and they were doing so well in their businesses.
And then the moment that they hit any type of opposition or,
[00:47:00] or major thing that they had to overcome in which they had to push through, they couldn't, or they chose not to. So now they're not even in business. Right. So it's like, I look back at that now and saying to myself, like, is it more important to be all external?
Like, watch me grow, watch what I'm doing, watch how successful I am. You know, you look on Instagram and all these places, and it's all about like money and, you know, hanging around all these people. And I, you know, making 12 K in a day and the conversation is different and like just all this like crazy stuff that I just can't wrap my brain around, to be honest, because I'm like, yeah, that's all fine.
If that happens today. But what about. Yeah. What about when God takes all of that away and asks you to humble yourself? I think that God wants us to really be successful, but I think it boils down to like money at the end of the day, changes people. These situations, when people get into a place of where they're really winning and they're doing well, it can change people.
If they're. Completely grounded in their identity. And [00:48:00] so you may be comparing yourself now to somebody, but who even knows if they're going to be in business five years from now, but guess what you will be because you dug into the hard stuff, you decided that you were a slow burn and that you were going to stay true to yourself through and through, and that you were never going to give up.
And those are the people that maybe they don't have access. Maybe you're not somebody externally who is winning all the time and getting all this recognition. Uh, affirmation, but maybe you just, again, have that deep sense of knowing and confidence in yourself that it really doesn't matter where you're at on a scoreboard.
It only matters where you're at serving God in his kingdom, and that's what truly matters. And that's what you're showing up for. And if that's where the motive is, you can't fail because you're just going to keep every single day. Like, how can I get better? How can I, you know, how can I get closer? How can I serve people better?
So, you know, And getting back to, and I want you to repeat that really quick. Like what, what you were saying specifically. Cause I want to go [00:49:00] into just like a little bit more detail on that last question you asked me. Yeah. About just what you're proud of, of your entrepreneurial journey. Yeah. So again, I'm proud.
I stayed true to myself. I'm proud. I never gave up. Yeah. I'm proud that I. That I built something that will stand the test of time because I feel like I did it right. Even when I saw people around me doing it differently and I was tempted to jump ship and do something different. And I didn't, because I just trusted that I was in the right place at the right.
And that it would all work itself out. And that if, if I wasn't supposed to be there, God would tell me I wasn't supposed to be there or he'd make it come crashing down so that it actually would fail, but that never happened. And so that's why I stayed in it. It's just continued to build and build and build every year.
And I've continued to just develop such a great passion for what I'm doing and how I can show up and serve other people. And I think I'm [00:50:00] proud of, I think I'm proud of the. I think I'm proud of the personal growth that I never knew what had been a part of this really, and that I never really took seriously at the beginning, but I'm proud that I submitted to the growth and those uncomfortable seasons and those seasons of humbling myself and not winning.
I'm grateful for those valleys because they taught me how to really appreciate those mountaintop model. Hmm, as, as cliche as that sounds, but it's really good. And, and I think too, to be able to handle it as well. Cause like you said, I love that you talked about slow growth because it's so tempting. To, you know, everyone wants to go viral.
You know what I mean? It's like all these like courses for like, how do I go viral on Instagram? And it's like, what? I don't know. And [00:51:00] so I think it's such a good reminder of, are you in business as a business owner? Like, are you in business for the long haul or are you just trying to collect athletes?
Right. And I think that's such a good question to ask ourselves is even from it, like on a day-to-day basis is like, what is what I'm doing today going to serve. The future of what this business looks like, or is this just something that I'm doing for attention? Is this just something that I'm doing? You know, because I saw someone else doing it or I saw someone else go viral, so I'm not, I'm going to try to emulate them.
Right. You're going to get distracted and pulled in so many different directions and it's not going to serve you. Long-term so it's almost like working. For the long-term instead of just like short-term success. And I think when we chase those short term things, it's never
[00:52:00] going to give us, first of all, never going to give us the success, but it's also, I don't think ever going to give us that like sense of peace, kind of like what you were talking about before.
And I think we're always going to feel anxious because there's always that next best thing. That's what I was going to say too, is like, you never, you know, people always say like, when I get to this point, when I get to this point, I'll feel like I, and I, and I know that feeling because you feel like you just want to get to a point where you feel like people are taking you seriously.
Maybe, uh, maybe to be again, transparent and vulnerable. Maybe you're thinking like, I want to get to a place where I feel like. And people will understand that I'm important that I've made it, that I have a great job that I'm super successful without really with basically putting a blanket statement on it, to say success means money, traveling and posting a whole bunch of videos and photos on, on Instagram or Facebook, um, flaunting everything that you have, like our culture just does.
Unfortunately, a [00:53:00] disservice. To the people that are living that lifestyle very humbly and very quietly and not needing it to be on a stage for. Yeah, so true. So true. Mike drop. Oh my gosh. I love to having this talk with you. Thank you so much for being on the podcast. Can you tell everybody where they can find you where they can hang out with you and guys go subscribe to Justine's podcast.
It's amazing. Well, thank you so much, friend. That's so sweet of you and gosh, this has just been a pure blessing. Seriously. Uh, to be able to talk with you and yeah. If people want to stay connected, it's, it's always something crazy. It's always Southern initiative. It's entertaining, nonetheless. So yeah, come hang out with me on courage queen podcast.
It's everywhere that you listen to podcasts, apple podcasts, I'm all over the place. I also have my. Other businesses, Instagram, which is J Wenzel 29, J w E [00:54:00] N Z E L two nine. And there, you can find makeup videos that literally don't make you look like a different person that help you to get ready in like five to six minutes.
And actually look like the best version of yourself. Put together, not like a completely, again, different person with like a three hour makeup routine. That's kind of like. You know, we're, we're moving away from that. Hopefully for people who have. Less than five minutes to get ready in the morning. Like myself, when you have a baby and even when you don't like serious, the thing, I always tell people, they're like, yeah, but like you don't have kids and like, your life doesn't look the same as mine.
And I'm like, yeah. Uh, and I still want to do my makeup in five to six minutes, like truthfully. So I think that there are people are craving authenticity. People are not impressed by perfection. I think people are starting to come out of this where they're craving something. That's real. They want somebody that's real that they can actually be like, oh my gosh, I feel like she's in my hedge.
I feel like she's in my brain. She gets me right. [00:55:00] Rather than constantly showing up on social media to feel like you're less than, and all my God, she's got the perfect outfit. Oh my God. How does she have time to do all of her makeup? I'm over here with, you know, spin on my sweatshirt or, you know, over here, cleaning up stuff in my kitchen.
And I've got laundry that I haven't done in three days. And you know, everybody. Trying to not only survive, but they want to get well, get to a point of thriving. Yeah. And social media just does not provide us enough of that. So, I mean, social media can be whatever you want it to be, but I like to bring positive value and wisdom to social media, to.
Curate the type of experience that I want to have when I go into those apps, if that's going to be a part of my life, it's gotta be positive. It's got to add value period. Otherwise it's just draining my energy. Yeah. And you know, if it's an enemy to my body or my mind, it's an enemy to my potential period.
So you got to think of your life the same way. Like what is, what is an enemy to my potential and what am I willingly without boundaries allowing into my life. That's pulling me away from the [00:56:00] purposes that God. So good. So good. Preach it. Great. I love it. Well, thank you so much for being on you are amazing and yeah, definitely go follow Justine and subscribe to her podcast.
I'm going to put all the links and everything below. So, yeah. Thanks for joining us. And I can't wait. Hopefully we'll have you back. Some point and we'll talk to you soon. Alrighty. Thanks Fred. If you love this episode, make sure you screenshot post and tag us on Instagram at business vapes. Co want to know when the next episode goes, live, subscribe on your podcast app.
And while you're there, leave us a review until next time. Keep dreaming big setting goals and taking action. .