Episode 28 - Why Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone is Key to Your Success | Nikki Rogers

It’s never easy to step out of your comfort zone, is it? 

It’s far too easy to take the path of least resistance and allow your doubts and fears to control your future. That’s what I did for a long time when I avoided starting this podcast. 

However, as I discovered for myself, if we want to grow and reach success, we need to step out of our comfort zone and see things from a fresh perspective. There’s simply no other way. 

It wasn’t easy. In fact, it was scary as hell! 

But there’s no way I’d be where I am today, enjoying this level of global success if I hadn’t taken that first step, faced my fears and pushed myself. 

My guest for today, Nikki Rogers is testament to the power of following your dreams and breaking out of that comfort zone. 

By setting her mindset, focussing on her goals and dreaming big, she has become CEO of Bladen Group and host of the Women Thriving in Business podcast. In this episode, she talks to us about her experiences, her inspiring journey as an entrepreneur, her company’s vision and purpose, what pushed her to start her own business and how she started her podcasting journey. 

Join us in Episode 28 as we talk more about goal-setting, time management, visioning workshops, maximizing your income, and so much more!

Eleshia’s Essentials:

• Community is really important. Some of us try to do everything on our own but sometimes you just need to have that person to get a different perspective. 

We also learned so many lessons from Nikki:

• You don't have to be an entrepreneur who's struggling and putting in a lot of effort and not seeing a lot of reward for it.

• You may have a negative net income, to begin with, but there should be a plan in place that at some point you're making all this money and actually turn it to profit. 

• Community is really important. Some of us try to do everything on our own but sometimes you just need to have that person to get a different perspective. 

• Living great lives is not about it being better. It’s about the best life that you could be living.
• The only way you can grow your wealth is by actually attending to it.

Other resources mentioned:

• Women Thriving in Business Podcast
• Bladen Group
• Newsletter
• Women Thriving in Business Four-week Activation Program
• We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth and Gaining Economic Power by Rachel Rogers
• The Soul of Money: Reclaiming the Wealth of Our Inner Resources by Lynne Twist

More about the Guest:

Nikki Rogers is a strategist and transformation coach who believes that life is too short not to do what you love. She is passionate about helping entrepreneurs build sustainable companies and supports business leaders in developing the mindset, strategy, and connections to create thriving businesses and build legacy wealth.

Nikki is the CEO of The Bladen Group and an alumna of North Carolina A&T State University and UNC-Chapel Hill.

Connect with Nikki:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Website

Connect with Eleshia:

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook

About the Show:

The Eleshia Show is an exciting new podcast that helps empower female business owners to put their well-being first whilst building their businesses. Tune in every Wednesday as my inspiring guests and I discuss strategies, share stories and experiences and dive into how you can build your business whilst trying to navigate real life. The host, Eleshia Harris is here and ready to share her decades of project management and wellness experience to help you start saying ‘Yes!’ to your business and life.

Show Transcript:

Nikki Rogers: It's important to make those connections with great people. Share the knowledge, because that person's going to come back to you the next time. Or the person that you've referred them to is going to refer people to you. We all win when we share. There's enough for everyone. 

Eleshia Harris: Hi, I'm Eleshia Harris and I am your host of The Eleshia Show. I am also the founder of eleshialifestyle.com, and I'm so excited that you're here with me and I am here with you. I'm also really appreciative. Each week, I'll be sharing strategies and stories, and insights to help you enhance your wellbeing and to build your business while still navigating life. Because sometimes we often try and separate the two, and let's face it, if you are not well, you have no business. So let's try and work with these two things combined because we can, to enhance your lifestyle. Again, I'm really excited to have you here. I have wanted to put together a podcast for over two years, and so here I am ready to share. Let's get into this week's episode.

Hello, and welcome back to The Eleshia Show. Today, I'm so excited because I have one of my clients joining me today for a conversation. Nikki is amazing. Nikki and I met in March of 2020, and we have literally become really good friends ever since. She was a huge cheerleader and an inspiration in me getting the podcast put together and launched. Ever since we've worked together, Nikki has launched her own podcast, Women Thriving in Business. If you haven't listened to it before, I would highly recommend it. She's developed digital products and ran various workshops and completed three speaking engagements, and has contributed to two books. Nikki is a powerhouse. So let me tell you a little bit more about Nikki. 

Nikki Rogers is a strategist and a transformation coach who believes that life is too short not to do what you love. And in this episode, we are discussing why Nikki decided to leave her role in corporate to run her own business, The Bladen Group. We're going to be talking about the challenges that she had at the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey, why she's dreaming even bigger about her financial goals next year? And also, why is she so passionate about working with small business owners? She is passionate about helping entrepreneurs build sustainable companies. She also supports business leaders in developing the mindset, strategy, and connections to create thriving businesses, and to build legacy wealth, and so, so much more. This was such an amazing conversation because I just love that we get to cheer each other on our business growth journey. So I really hope that you enjoy this episode. I also want to shout out to all of my UK listeners. I see you. I look at my stats, and I can see you listening from all over the country. And I'm so excited that you're here with me and supporting, so thank you. I really hope you enjoy this conversation with Nikki and I. Let's get into it.

Eleshia Harris: Hello, Nikki, and welcome to the podcast. We've been saying that we are going to do this forever. And I'm just so excited that we've made the time to sit down and have a conversation about you. So welcome, welcome. Tell the listeners a little bit about yourself, Nikki. 

Nikki Rogers: Thank you, Eleshia, for having me. And yes, we are finally doing this. I'm so excited to be on the other side of the mic. So as a real introvert, this is getting out and talking about myself, so I'm excited to do that. To the listeners, so excited to be here with you today. My name is Nikki Rogers. I'm the CEO of the Bladen Group and the host of the Women Thriving in Business Podcast. 

Eleshia Harris: Yes. Yes, yes, yes. And if you haven't listened to Nikki's podcast, I suggest you do. It's got a wealth of information. She's had some really amazing guests. And Nikki has done some really good solos as well. So we're going to discuss a little bit more about the show later on. But I want to know what made you decide to go into business for yourself. I know that we've both come from a corporate background. So what made you decide that corporate is not for me anymore. I want to run my own business. I want to do things my way. 

Nikki Rogers: Great question, and it has so many layers to it. But I think it started with me really realizing that being in corporate is limiting, one, my earning ability. There was going to be a cap at some point to how much I can earn. And I was starting to really see that while my organization appreciated me that I wasn't feeling that they valued me. So I was a go-to person. I was always the first one to ask to lead something, given the challenging assignments. And we come in and we take care of things. I had really good relationships with my clients, and I had really good relationships with my team. Like the team that I managed, as well as the peers that I worked with. But I just really didn't see that translating into moving up at the rate that I saw others moving up. And honestly, there were times where people were promoted in order to fill a position because it required that promotion. But I was still doing the work without the promotion. So it was really like, I have to prove things before I get the recognition and accolades, and other people were more grown to grow into the role.

And so I just started thinking about how I was spending my time, and how I could best leverage the efforts that I was putting in. I started to think if I'm putting this much work in for someone else, I can do this for myself and remove some of those limitations as well as taking back control of my time and my career path. So I got started already thinking about that. And then, my mother passed away suddenly. It was unexpected. It was really shocking. And she had worked all her life and had been retired for two years. What I didn't realize and I found out after she passed away is that she was working on a business plan for this shoe store that she had always wanted to have. So all my life, my mother loves shoes. She always talked about having this shoe store and now, after she retired, she was actually putting the plans together. And after she passed away, I saw the beginnings of her business plan in her house. And realized right then that life is too short. It's too short not to do what you love. And I didn't want my son to define a business plan of mine and think like, oh, well what happened? 

That's when I realized that I had the responsibility to take control of my life, my wealth, and really the legacy that I went to leave for my son. And so those two things, just starting to feel like I was not in my place and I wasn't doing what was highest and best good for me along with realizing that life is too short not to take a chance. And those are really the two things that spurred me on to start my own business to go out there and make my own way.

Eleshia Harris: Yes, and you owe money and do not have a cap. For me, that is a huge desire. Just being one, a woman of color but also having a daughter as well. So when you said about leaving the legacy for your son, I can totally relate. So tell us a little bit about your business. What do you do, Nikki?

Nikki Rogers: Yes, so my business is the Bladen Group. It is a management consulting and business coaching firm. And I really focus on organizational transformation, so helping organizations, whether they'll be large government or corporate entities, really understand the human side associated with change. So often, there's a lot of initiatives happening, there's a lot of change happening in a lot of organizations. They're bringing in new technology, new processes, and procedures, but there's a human element associated with that. So you actually have to help people understand what they're doing, what's the purpose of the change, or what is actually changing for them? Why are you changing? And then how to actually make the change. And so it's really focusing on that sustainable change that actually transformed the organization. And so that when you're spending lots of money, lots of time in creating a different way of being with an organization, you actually have to have the people come along with you.

The other piece of my business is helping small businesses really build the infrastructure they need in order to be sustainable. And so you don't have to be an entrepreneur who's over here struggling and putting in a lot of effort and not seeing a lot of rewards. Or the other side is a lot of people create really great businesses, but when they grow, they don't actually have the infrastructure in order to support that growth. So they think about a small manufacturer, someone who's created a product. If they get that big order from that big box company and have their finances, or they don't have the infrastructure in order, they don't have their supply chain in order, that big opportunity can actually kill their business. So the other side is helping small businesses prepare and be ready for the growth that is coming to them. 

Eleshia Harris: I love that because you're capturing both elements of the business. So you've got your established businesses that know how to grow, and you're taking that information and passing it on to your smaller businesses. I love that, Nikki. I love that. So when it comes to just working on the small business, because I guess your consultancy side was established already. That's what we’re used to doing from a corporate background perspective. But when it came to really start to run your other side of your business, what challenges and what really made you sit back and think to yourself, I know I can help these clients get to where they want to get to? 

Nikki Rogers: One thing is, I am constantly reading. I'm constantly taking classes, constantly researching resources that are available. There are a ton of free resources available to help business owners. But a lot of people don't know about them.

Eleshia Harris: No. 

Nikki Rogers: It is amazing what people don't know. And I think people are busy creating the business and running their business. If you don't come from a business background, you just think, oh, I need to go out there and sell things, and it'll all work out. And that's great. You can be making a lot of money. You can generate a lot of revenue. But if you, again, going back to this infrastructure, I always say the rules of business still apply. And so, if you think about it from a financial standpoint, you could be making a ton of money. It's not about how much money you make, it's about how much money you keep. And so down to that bottom line and you're negative, you don't really have a business. You have a really expensive hobby. And that's not to say that you won't be negative at some point in your journey, which you also need to have a plan. There's a projection that you're going to turn that around at some point. You may be investing a lot of money at first to get off the ground. And so you may have a negative net income, to begin with. But there should be a plan in place that at some point you're making all this money, you're actually going to turn a profit. So I think just realizing the questions that even established business owners have, realizing that if you just make this slight tweak, a slight tweak in maybe your procedures but it's also a tweak in your mindset that this business can be great. And so, just recognizing that there's so much potential out there that people can realize without a whole bunch more effort. Because I would say that most small business owners are doing the work. They're putting in a lot of hours. They're doing all the things, and they're not seeing and they're not reaping the benefit. So that's what really made me know that. People ask me questions and I'm like, oh, here are the five places where you can go find that. And they're like, how do you know this? Again, because I read, I researched, I'd take all the classes.

Eleshia Harris: This is the thing, and I think that's a very good point. People like yourself and myself, we do all the research so that we can help you lessen your learning curve. That's what you pay us for. 

Nikki Rogers: Exactly. Like curating the information because, again, I understand there is so much out there. There are so many people who will say that they can help you when they really have no idea how to help with your specific challenge. And so it's hard to discern who's the right person. And so I think for me, curating and saying, hey, you know what, that's not my area of expertise. Like marketing, I'm never going to tell you why I can do their marketing, but I've worked with three or four different people. I've had conversations with these 10 other people. I've read these five books. I think this is the person that can actually help you with your issue. 

Eleshia Harris: And this is what I love about you, and I've said this to you previously. You are a great connector, and you are not afraid to share your connections with other female business owners or just business owners. And that for me is really key because you see people who are in the positions that you're in, and they want to hold everything to themselves and how are we all going to grow that way. 

Nikki Rogers: Right, because my goal is that everybody wins. So if I can refer you to what goes around, comes around. I always tell people that if you do business with me, I'm bringing three or four or five other people. to Trust and believe, if you're doing something great and wonderful, I'm going to tell my five friends about it, and you know what? They don't want to look up the information. They don't want to do the research. So they're going to come to you because I've already said they're great. You'll have no problems. And so I think it's important to make those connections with great people, share the knowledge because then that person's going to come back to you the next time, or the person that you've referred them to was going to refer people to you. We all win when we share. There's enough for everyone.

Eleshia Harris: This is it. Over 7 billion people in the world, we can all get some. So tell me how you decided that you wanted to be a podcaster, and you wanted to talk to, specifically, women thriving in business? 

Nikki Rogers: I think it grew out of, initially, I had created a weekly newsletter where I was just sharing information. What was I reading that week? What was I doing that week? I was just sharing that information, and it felt like a very one-way conversation. And I am always the talk show host. You get to talk to people and you get to ask them all these questions, and then come on willingly. So I just started to think, when this idea of podcasting came about, I just thought in the back of my mind, that it would be interesting. Just listening to a lot of podcasts, and engaging with different podcast hosts. And then I'm really saying, you can do this. Anyone can do this. It just started to become more of a thing in my head. And then I took a podcast in class and completed the course. But I didn't launch at the end of the course, because I just think that I'm not ready. I don't know people. I don't know what's happening. 

And then, I think you and I were talking and I was like, I wanted to do this podcast but I'm not sure. You're like, okay, we're going to do this. Let's put a plan together. And I think once going through the course really helped me focus on who I wanted to talk to and what I wanted to talk about. After that, it was just the mechanics. And then, I think the mechanics are something that you can easily delegate. And so once I realized like, oh, this is not that hard. All I gotta do is figure out who I want to talk to and schedule a time to talk to them. Yes, let's do this. So I think ultimately for me, it was a way for me to indulge my curiosity because I like to ask questions. And it was a way for me to produce something like in my first episode, I was like, oh my God, I felt like I'd given birth. It was out here in the world and I created that. So I would say there's a little bit of ego, but more like a little bit of, can I do it? And yes I did, that made it happen. 

Eleshia Harris: And also the great guests that you've had on the episodes. 

Nikki Rogers: Including yourself.

Eleshia Harris: Thank you. It's a way of sharing as well. It's a way of serving your listeners. And it's not just about ego per se, it's about being out there and giving people the information that they need and letting them be informed. I think that's amazing. And for our listeners, now, we both launched podcasts this year. And we both held each other accountable for doing that. I just want to say here that you have been a great inspiration this year for just the things that you've achieved and the way you've gone about achieving them, and just being able to celebrate with you. The fact that you are so open to share, and I think that's really important as businesswomen is community. Community is really important. And I think some of us forget that we try and do everything on our own. Sometimes you just need to have that person that you can speak to, pick up the phone to, and just say, hey, what do you think about this? And just get a different perspective. And I'm really happy that we've been able to do that for each other, so thanks. 

Nikki Rogers: I would say, Eleshia, and I've told you this before and I think we said it on the podcast when you were a guest on my podcast that this would not have happened without you really being like, we're doing this. So I probably would be launching now, because you were just like, no, no. You said you're going to do it, you're doing it. So I just really appreciate you for pushing me for it. And I opt and say, you're like me for me. So I realized how my friends felt when I'm like, no, no, you said you're doing this, we're doing this. And so I really appreciate you doing that for me. And just to be like, no, Nikki, we'll do it. We can do it. And helping me stay organized and focused to move forward. And then I really say, your podcast is really an inspiration to me because you are putting it all out there and just really, sharing what's going on with you and your life. And I think that it is really therapeutic to others to be able to realize when they're not alone, that someone else is going through what they've been through, and then you actually create space for them to engage in conversation about it. So I really appreciate that about your podcast.

Eleshia Harris: Thank you. I'm trying to hold back the tears. Thank you. 

Are you also looking to grow your business? If this is you but you don't know where to start and you feel overwhelmed or you're procrastinating and then end up doing nothing, then I'm here to help. Before launching my wellness and coaching business, I used to work in corporate for over 15 years in project management. And so I love to use both my project management skills and my wellness skills to really take a holistic approach to help other entrepreneurs ditch the stress and the confusion, and instead run their businesses from a place of ease and excitement.

Today, I have worked with business mindsets and wellness coaches, consultants, business analysts, Pilates teachers, fitness professionals, holistic health therapists, healers creatives, and startup companies. It just lights me up to be able to help others move their businesses forward. So if this is something that you know that you need at the moment, then check out all of my services at eleshialifestyle.com. I can't wait to see you in my diary soon.

Eleshia Harris: So Women Thriving in Business, the podcast is all about helping women thrive in business. What makes you so passionate about helping these women? 

Nikki Rogers: It goes back to the fact that women and particularly black women are creating businesses at an astounding rate but they're not necessarily, again, reaping the benefits of it. So my thing is to show people that there are folks who are actually creating businesses that support their lives. 

Eleshia Harris: I love that. 

Nikki Rogers: So not that they're just making a whole bunch of money, but know that they are working towards their purpose, that they are able to generate the income that is necessary and sufficient in order to support the life that they want to live. And not just pay a couple of bills, but actually support their lives. And then they are working with people that they love. So I bring people on who are doing those things, or they're helping other people do those things. And so it is really a joy field conversation that does not gloss over the heart stone. So one of the things that I always ask people on the podcast is about the challenges that they face. And it's interesting because a lot of the time the challenges are within. By far, I would say more people talk about the challenges within themselves versus the external challenges. Now the external challenges are always going to be there. But you can't overcome those if you're dealing with your internal challenges. And so, that has really been eye-opening as I've had conversations with guests. 

So back to answering your question, it's really because I really wholeheartedly believe that if you're out here being an entrepreneur, you should actually be reaping rewards. You can go back to work. It's a lot less risky and it's consistent. And that might be bad consistent, but it's consistent. So if you're out here and you're not reaping the rewards of taking this risk, then I really want to help you. 

Eleshia Harris: So as you've asked all of your guests, Nikki, I have to ask you the question. What were some of the challenges that you faced when you started your business? 

Nikki Rogers: A lot of it was internal. And I think coming from corporate, you're used to a structure. So there's a structure to your day. You get up in the morning, you do XYZ, and there's an in point. And it's punctuated by, you might have daily meetings, you might have weekly meetings like there's a structure. So I think the first thing for me was, oh, I don't have anywhere to be. So I think the initial part was going from this, literally a hundred miles per hour to, oh, you don't have to work that hard. You don't have to run that fast. And going all the way over to, oh, do I have to take a shower this morning? All the way there. And I think trying to come back to that middle was important. And it took a while even though I had clients right away, I just didn't have the demands on my time that I have previously. I think the other piece was about thinking big, thinking bigger. And I said when I left that I don't even have the capacity to conceive how big this could be. So I didn't have this big vision. It was more like, I'm going to see what turns up. But one of the things I did say is that I wanted to replace my income, and I wanted to have more time for myself and for my family. And the funny thing is I was looking at my finances recently, and that's what I did. I replaced my income. But just that. 

Eleshia Harris: Right. 

Nikki Rogers: So I was like, oh, again, words are powerful. Thoughts are powerful. And I was like, so what if I had said I wanted two times or three times my income? And just thinking about where I could have been had, I said that. So I say that to say like, think about your goals. And I was setting my bar too low. But that was the bar I needed in order to move from where I was to where I am now. But now looking back on it, I'm like, oh, I could have five times this. So it's just thinking big. And so I would say that those are my two challenges, time management, and structure. And then just really thinking big thoughts, having big dreams about what I can accomplish in my business. Those were the two things I would, at this moment, say were my challenges. 

Eleshia Harris: Now that you've said it out loud, those are two things that are really great things that you can work on. As you said, you know what I'm like, Nikki. You've now told me five times, my head's already going. How am I going to help her get to that? What are we going to do? What other digital products are we going to work on now? So my brain is, thank you. But you know now what that means for you. But I love that because we do that especially when we've just left corporate. I did the same. Because you're still finding your feet you're like, all I want to do is just make the same money as I did when I was in my old role. But then there are so many different ways of making money. And I'm not even going to say passive income, because what people forget is that you have to put some time in for that to become passive. It's not just going to fall into your lap. 

One of my goals, and I don't want to go to the strip club. But I want one of those money guns. Those money guns, but just for jokes. But it's just having that time to think big. And they think, I love the fact that you do visioning workshops so that you can help people think about the big picture, dream about their desires. So tell us a little bit more about how that works. 

Nikki Rogers: Yes. So I do call them visioning workshops because the goal is to help you expand your mind to help you really imagine what your best life looks like. And a lot of us are living good lives, and we could be living great lives. It is not about better, it's really about the best life that you could be living. So are you doing what you're supposed to be doing and not what everyone else pushes on you? What you and your heart were born to do, are you doing that? And so these visioning sessions are really to help you imagine what your life looked like if you were living your best life. And then the goal is to build a plan in order to get you there. It's not just this enormous dream that's out there, it's not just fantasy. But it really is being attuned to your vision for your life. And so I love these workshops. People always discover things about themselves, and it really makes it tangible and possible. So it's all about living into the possibilities. Everything's possible. 

Eleshia Harris: Yes. I love that. I love that as well, because I've been starting to look at next year, and there are certain aspects that as business owners, we need to let go of. We're running the business, but also looking after the family. Doing all of the housework and the laundry, and all of those things. And yes, sometimes we have to just recognize that. As you said earlier, it's time to delegate and time to really focus on our desires and our goals as well. And just give ourselves that time, that clarity, that focus to be able to get some of our big dreams out there into the world because people are waiting for them. 

Nikki Rogers: And I would say to all the things that go into making a home unless you love cleaning and doing laundry, there are people out there who actually are professionals, they get paid to do this. And if you think about how much you can make in that hour that takes to do the laundry or the five hours it takes you to clean your house, whatever it is. If you think about how much money you could be making in that time versus how much you're going to pay someone else to do it, you're losing money because you're trying to save money. 

Eleshia Harris: Exactly. 

Nikki Rogers: And so I would say particularly to women, don't feel guilty if you get help. You're doing something as generating income instead of something that's not. 

Eleshia Harris: Exactly. You're giving somebody else the opportunity to make some money as well.

Nikki Rogers: Contributing to the economy. 

Eleshia Harris: Exactly. So Nikki, are there any lessons that you have learned over the last 18 months that you were like, okay, that is not coming into the next year with me. I am leaving this behind. 

I think for me it is, I'm leaving behind, leaving things up to chance. I pride myself on being very intentional, but I wasn't necessarily being intentional in my business. And I've been lucky enough and I've had some great partners that I've been able to generate business just through those relationships. And going forward, again, when I continue the relationships, but also being more intentional about generating or fostering new relationships, and then actually going after business like true business development. So I'm leaving behind those drift-along processes. So another thing I'm leaving behind is not talking about money. Particularly as black women, and to say that for myself, I think we don't talk about money enough. And I think we get even more secretive to some extent when we're talking about our businesses because there's a lot of discomfort in talking about money. Because you don't know if you're making a lot of money or a little bit of money. So you don't want to be the first person to say, oh, well this is how much I make because you don't know how people are going to react to that. And people are going to act differently depending on whatever their perception is. People absolutely are going to act differently. Yes, and I think also just to add to that, sometimes it comes back to generations where you were told not to talk about money. And that has been a stigma. Going forward, I don't know the book, We Should All Be Millionaires, but yes, we should. And I love the way Rachel Rogers talks about the fact that we should be talking about it with our girlfriends and out there. And we should be really trying to get to a place where we are millionaires because when we look at it at face value, yes, we can all say that we want 100K. We want to get to our first six figures. But when you look at the pricing, I know over here in the UK, a 100K is not getting you that far. So it goes back to what you were saying about dreaming big.

Nikki Rogers: When there are these inflationary aspects. So barely six figures is not the same as high six figures, and so there's a difference. But I actually do another workshop that is a money salon. That is all about your relationship with money. 

Eleshia Harris: I love that. 

Nikki Rogers: Because it does have generational aspects. What were the first things that you were taught about money? How did your family manage money and talk about money? Or not talk about money? What was the perception of people with more money or less money? Because a lot of us have these images in our heads about what money does or doesn't do. And so, there's a couple of books that I have around. We Should All Be Millionaires is a great book. There are other books like The Soul of Money, Your Money or Your Life, Can't Wait. There are so many books that if we have to talk about it, we have to learn about it, we have to read about it because that's the only way that you can grow your wealth, is by actually attending to it. And we don't want to talk about it. So as much as folks want to be altruistic and they want to help the world, you know what, it takes money to help the world. So you can help more people when you make more money. And so money shouldn't be a bad word, money shouldn't be a dirty word. And that's why we're in business, to generate revenue. 

Eleshia Harris: Exactly, because otherwise, we wouldn't be. Yes, we are there first and foremost to help others, but we need to be paid as well. And we need to be paid correctly.

Nikki Rogers: Even when you talk about that, your relationship with money impacts how you price. It impacts whether or not you follow up on your invoices. It impacts whether you invoice or not. A lot of people just don't even ask. You really have to have, I think, a healthy relationship with money if you want to thrive in business because otherwise, you will make decisions that are not necessarily aligned with what's best for you. 

Eleshia Harris: I love everything about what you just said. And I feel like we need to do a collaboration and do a workshop around the money because I just know that there's a lot of people that would benefit from really just having those conversations, and having those conversations with people who look like them. I think that's really important to say that sometimes people who are starting to think about being in business, they need to aspire to somebody else that has been there and that is able to help them on the path upwards. 

Nikki Rogers: And I'll say this one last thing about money. What I realized about myself, I was really good at managing my money, controlling my money, but I wasn't necessarily thinking about it from the perspective of it being a tool and the way I was making decisions. So it was really about, oh, well, I have this amount of money. Let me manage that. But not thinking about what is the money that I actually wanted to have in order to fund my dream, so to speak. And so I would say one of the things I did when I left my company, my goal was to replace my income but also to be able to have the time to take all the trips I needed. So when I left my job, I actually had five trips planned that year. I had no way, no clue of how I was going to pay for it, but I did. I would set the intention and I was like, whoa, I have to figure out how to generate enough revenue in order to do the things I want to do. And that was a total switch. 

Eleshia Harris: Yes, but you did it. And that's the testament that you did it. You put it out there and you were like, right, I'm going on these five trips. I need to find the money to pay for them. And you did it. And that's golden because again, as you said, it comes to that mindset shift that these are the things that I want. And I need to do the work to get them. Sometimes people feel that being in a business, it's easier than having a full-time job. And at the beginning, it's not always easier. Especially as we discussed, if you want to make sure that you've got your infrastructure in, you've got your foundation set, your systems, and everything in place, you're going to take some time to get everything done. But then you can get to a place where you're working less and making more. 

Nikki Rogers: You're going to have many days, or you're going to be like, why am I doing this? You have to have a good answer. What is driving you? What is propelling you forward? It can't just be about money because you can't cuddle money. Money doesn't give you a hug, so it can't just be about that. There has to be a bigger reason that, again, is going to keep you going because having a job is less risky and more consistent. But I will say that being an entrepreneur, you control your life. You decide how much money you make based on your efforts. You decide when you're going to go on vacation. You decide how much vacation you're going to take. Where are you going to work from? You decide how you are going to work. You decide who you're going to work with. All of those are decisions that you get to make, and the price of that is taking the risk. 

Eleshia Harris: Yes. I love it. I love it all. We could sit here and talk for hours. And sometimes we do, but my last question for you is, where can the listeners find you and what have you got coming up in the next coming months? 

Nikki Rogers: Yes. So you all can find me on my website, bladen-group.com. You can check me out on Instagram @nikkirogersofficial. And also I would love for you to check out the podcast, it's Women Thriving in Business. You can find it on Apple, Stitcher, and Spotify. Coming up, I have visioning sessions coming up. Those will be in December and January. Before that, I'll be doing some master classes around helping you move your business forward. Those will be coming forward in November. You can find all that information out on my website once they are open for registration, and you can find them there or on Instagram. 

Eleshia Harris: Fantastic. And I will be linking everything that we've discussed and all Nikki's information in the show notes as well. Nikki, thank you. It's a pleasure to work with you. It is a pleasure to have been able to really build our friendship over the last 18 months. I know we have still yet to meet in person but isn't it a wonderful thing that we have the internet and we've been able to really just hold space for each other and cheer each other from across the ocean. And just to help both of our businesses to flourish, thank you so much. And thank you for being a guest today. I've really enjoyed this conversation, and I can't wait for many more partnerships and collaborations.

Nikki Rogers: Well, thank you, Eleshia. I am so delighted that you invited me on the show, and humbled to now be a part of your The Eleshia Show ecosystem. So I really appreciate it. And I've loved getting to know you over the last 18 months. And once these travel restrictions are done, we will find a way to meet up somewhere and have a couple of glasses of Prosecco and enjoy each other's company. Thank you so much. Thank you all listeners. This has been a great time. 

Eleshia Harris: Thank you so much. I look forward to that Prosecco. Take care, Nikki. 

Nikki Rogers: All right. Bye-bye.

Eleshia Harris: I told you it was going to be a fantastic conversation. I hope you had your pen and paper ready, and you were taking notes of some of the amazing things that Nikki and I discussed. Don't forget to share and rate, and subscribe so you don't miss an episode. We go live every Wednesday. And I am so, so excited to bring you more of these really open conversations throughout the rest of this year and beyond. I have been there for a lot of Nikki's journey over the last 18 months. And she always says that, if you're going to work with me, you have to be prepared to work. And we have had such an amazing journey together.

One of the ways that I keep Nikki on track is by using ClickUp, a project management tool. I've mentioned it before, but it is a lifesaver. And you can sign up for free. It can be free forever, and that gives you a really good basis of what you need. And then obviously, they've got different options. I'm going to link in the details in the show notes so you can have a look and make a decision for yourself. But I would highly recommend it. If you're trying to keep on track with everything that you need to do within your business, ClickUp will be for you. Until next week. Have a good one. Bye.

Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of The Eleshia Show. If you know somebody who needs to hear the conversations that we are having, please share it. Take a screenshot and send it to them. Also, I would really love for you to rate and review the podcast as this really helps, and I'd love to read your comments. Lastly, remember, you need to invest in yourself first because you are important and amazing. Take care. Until next time. Bye-bye.