039 How to Thrive as a Small Business Owner in the Time of Coronavirus

The other thing, of course, that I’m doing is taking excellent care of myself and my baby. So, lots of self-care. I’m not canceling my therapy appointments. I’m reading. I’m watching movies. I’m distracting myself when I’m not working because otherwise you get into this place where you’re in fight or flight 24/7.

And, guess what; that is not good for your health either, and stress does lower the effectiveness of your immune system. So, you do want to really get yourself to a place where you can calm down. Stress and panic do not produce any good results, really. You don’t make good decisions when you are freaked out.

Welcome to the Hello Seven Podcast. I'm your host, Rachel Rodgers, wife, mother of four children, a lover of Beyoncé, coffee drinker, and afro-wearer, and I just happen to be the CEO of a seven-figure business. I am on a mission to help every woman I meet become a millionaire. If you want to make more money, you are in the right place. Let's get it going.

Hello, friends. It’s Rachel Rodgers and this is the Hello Seven Podcast. Welcome, welcome. I am coming to you to talk to you about this Coronavirus outbreak and how it might be affecting your business and how to recover.

I really wanted to be able to share what I’m doing personally for myself and for my family, and then also to give you a list of dos and don’ts. So, I have 10 dos and seven don’ts, and some key questions you might want to be asking yourself at this time.

I thought it might be helpful to hear from a seasoned business veteran. I have been in business for 10 years. I started my business in the middle of a recession, and I’ve seen some challenging times both economically and for my personal life, and my business was able to continue to go on, and not only that, but to thrive.

I’ve literally – since I’ve been in business, in 2010 is when I stared my business, and since then I’ve never had a year where my revenue wasn’t larger than the year before. And usually it was doubled and tripled. And that has to do with the number one thing that you need to be doing right now, which is having conviction, having resolve, deciding that you will not be going out of business, deciding that you will be okay economically, financially deciding that you will do everything in your power to keep yourself and your family safe.

It’s about having that conviction. I think, when things like this happen, when there’s a global crisis, it can feel like all of our power is gone, and feeling powerless really leads to hopelessness. And I want you to know that you are not powerless, that there are a lot of things that you could be doing. And I want you to really stand in that power and really trust yourself that you are smart enough and capable enough and resilient enough to get through this time.

Basically, the global economy is about to hit the pause button. And in some places, it already has. And that for sure, there is going to be fallout from that. There will be a recession as a result of this. But that doesn’t mean that your business can’t thrive and that doesn’t mean that your family can’t thrive.

This is truly a devastating health crisis. And there are days – just yesterday and this morning, I woke up feeling super-anxious and really had to take action to go for a walk, ride my Peloton. This morning, we did a meditation for all of our clients across our three different programs, led by my program director Natalie Miller. And it was epic.

I mean, it was 20 minutes and it was a complete game-changer for today. And it’s why I was able to take smart action. It’s why I’m able to record this podcast for you instead of staying in that moment of fear where you just freeze and you don’t know what to do. Panic is not serving you, okay. and I think panic and anxiety and worry are inevitable at this time. We are not going to be able to stay out of anxiousness.

However, we’re not going to be able to just remain cool and calm this whole time, but what we can do is, when we feel that worry and anxiety and panic coming on, we can take action to bring ourselves back into a positive and even state, so that we’re not in freak-out mode. Because let me tell you something; freaking out is not a leadership trait.

So, you are all leaders in your homes, professionally, in your businesses. Everyone listening to this is a leader. And so how are you going to show up as a leader right now? That’s really what you want to do; be a leader of self and be a leader in your community and with the people that are watching you. You have the ability to lead others.

We, as entrepreneurs, and those who have been running businesses online for a long time, those who’ve been committed to personal development and self-care for a long time, we are extraordinarily prepared for this crisis in ways that a lot of other people aren’t. And so, really stand in that and know that.

Sometimes, it doesn’t feel that way. But I want to remind you of that and confirm that for you. We have a lot to be grateful for. This pandemic, as scary and terrible as it is, it could be so much worse. We have never been more prepared as a health community internationally than we are right now to handle this pandemic.

So, I want to share some of the things that I’m doing personally, and for my family, just so you can see, you know, I think it’s helpful to hear what others are doing. And trust me, I understand that I am very privileged. And that is a real reality. And I’ll tell you more about my thoughts on that later in the show.

But I just want you to know that, first of all, I am taking it very seriously. This Coronavirus thing is not a hoax. It’s not pretend. And here’s the reality; there is no upside to not taking it seriously. There really isn’t. There’s no harm in really taking it seriously and acting accordingly.

I truly believe the medical professionals, the World Health Organization, and the CDC when they say that this is really serious. The second thing I want you to understand is that I’ve chosen to self-isolate myself and my family because that’s what makes me feel calm and it feels like the right choice for us right now.

So, my family and I are remaining at home for now and we will not be leaving the house. There’s no one coming to our house. We’ve cancelled all social obligations. We’ve cancelled all business obligations that require us to be in-person. My children’s school has not yet been closed, but they are on spring break until March 24^th.

So, I’m going to keep them home, and if I don’t feel comfortable sending them back to school on March 24^th, I won’t. So, I’m really just choosing to shut it down because that’s what feels good to me. And based on everything that I’ve read – I’ve really tried to educate myself on this , not reading every single inflammatory piece that the media is sharing with us right now, but really focusing on going to the World Health Organization’s website, going to the CDC website to get information, and really relying on science-based research and not people who are in panic mode for my information.

And based on that information, it is really clear to me that’s really important to distance ourselves socially from others. And that is what’s going to slow this virus down and that is what’s going to stop so many more people from getting infected, and that’s what’s going to prevent our healthcare systems and our hospitals from becoming overwhelmed to the point where they have to turn away sick people and people are dying who could have been saved because we don’t have the capacity to serve that many people at one time.

And so, that’s why I think it’s important for all of us, don’t wait for a cancellation mandate from your local government or your child’s schools or whatever. Choose to be leaders in your own lives and choose to stay home right now. We have to pave the way, and that is why I’m sharing this publicly, because I want people to know that it’s really important.

And I’m very grateful that I have the privilege to be able to do this pretty easily. I have worked from home for 10 years and I have live-in childcare because my mother-in-law lives with us. So, I am really grateful for those things.

And I say I’m grateful and I say I’m blessed, but let’s be clear, I worked for those things. I worked for those parts of my life that are making this less scary. It’s scary for everyone. Trust me, I wake up terrified sometimes and I have to calm myself back down. But I’m grateful that I brought my business online years ago, that I saw that that’s where we were moving and that’s what I did from day one with my traditional law practice.

I’m grateful that I have a remote team. I’m grateful that I have live-in childcare. I’m grateful that I live in a comfortable home that has some outdoor space that my kids can be outside, even if they’re not connecting with others. I’m grateful that I know how to use Zoom and how to conduct with people virtually.

There’s a lot that I’m grateful for right now. And of course, number one, I’m so grateful for my health and the health of my children and my family. So, that’s what I’m doing. I rely on my intuition to make big decisions like this and I’m willing to be weird. I’m willing to be called an alarmist or told that that’s not necessary and be scoffed at.

I’m okay with it because this brings me peace, because before I made this decision, what was happening is every single day, I was having to make decisions about am I going to take my kids to soccer practice, am I going to go to the grocery store, am I going to do that meeting that’s been on the books for three months that’s in-person? And just shutting it all down made it so I could stop making those decisions and use my mental space to be there for my kids, to be there for my clients and my community, and to be sane.

So, that is what I have chosen for myself. And if you are able to choose that for yourself, please do. And know that I understand, depending on your job, depending on the kind of work that you do or just different situations that are going on in your household, you may or may not be able to choose to stay home. But if you can, I encourage you to choose it.

If you’re an entrepreneur and if it’s at all possible for your team to work remotely, I highly encourage you to offer that to your team. Remote work is amazing, my team is incredibly productive, even though they are not coming into an office every day. So, do not worry about that if you’ve got the right people there and the right tools, which really all you need is Slack and Zoom. And there are a lot of other options as well. That’s just what my team uses. You can absolutely work remotely.

The other thing, of course, that I’m doing is taking excellent care of myself and my baby. So, lots of self-care. I’m not canceling my therapy appointments. I’m reading. I’m watching movies. I’m distracting myself when I’m not working because otherwise you get into this place where you’re in fight or flight 24/7.

And, guess what; that is not good for your health either, and stress does lower the effectiveness of your immune system. So, you do want to really get yourself to a place where you can calm down. Stress and panic do not produce any good results, really. You don’t make good decisions when you are freaked out.

I’m also going for walks in my neighborhood. It’s a quiet and suburban area, so I don’t encounter other people when I walk. I’m riding my Peloton. I’m tapping. I’m doing the occasional mud mask, you know, reading all of these books that I’ve bought over the years and never had time to finish reading. So, I’m looking forward to that.

So, those are some of the things that I’m doing. And I’m just kind of hanging out with my kids and just trying to have some joy and trying to have some fun each day. And the last thing that I’m really focused on doing is serving you, my community, my clients, and my employees and just taking care of people as much as I can.

My team and I have all run businesses during a recession, both online and brick and mortar, and we made it through. So, my focus is to help my clients do the same. And so that is why I’m recording this podcast. I want to share some of those dos and don’ts to help you make it through this challenging economic time and come out the other side really strong and even potentially thriving.

So, we don’t have to assume that we’re all going out of business and we’re all going to need to file bankruptcy and it’s all over. This is just a moment in time. Take it day by day and don’t assume that we’ll be in the same position a week from now, a month from now. I do believe that this is a short-term thing and I think all of the cancellations, which people are calling online Cancelgate, is actually going to be really good for us because if we just stop the economy and kind of put it on pause right now and put the interaction on pause so that we can slow down this health crisis, then it’s going to be over sooner, which means that businesses and the economy can recover faster.

And I was listening to an economic expert earlier today and one of the things that he said is that the stock market is going to recover pretty quickly. I am not taking my money out of the stock market. I’m leaving it right where it is. And in fact, we contribute to the stock market every single month, and I’m keeping those monthly contributions in place. So, I am not going to stop buying stock and investing in mutual funds because I do believe that those investments right now, while the stock market is low, are going to be really beneficial and there’s going to be a big upside when the economy comes back, which will happen in the next few months, okay.

So, that is what I believe is the smart move to make and that’s been confirmed by a variety of financial experts. So, those are some of the things that I’m doing to stay sane and peaceful; and healthy. And so, I want to share some dos and don’ts with you.

So, let’s talk about how to keep your business from going under during this recession and how to keep it thriving. So, let’s talk about some of these dos. I mean, one of the first things that I would do, if you haven’t done it already, you should absolutely be communicating with your customers. Let them know what’s going to be going on in your business during this time.

They may have questions. They may be wondering, are you still going to be around? Are you still working? What’s changing? You might have live events that are shifting. You might be shifting how you’re delivering some of your programs or some of your services. Maybe timelines or deadlines need to be moved a little bit. So really talk to your people. Communicate with your list. Communicate with your customers. Let them know what’s going on, okay.

And be the rock that they need. Be that support for them right now. We are leaders. Let’s express leadership. And another way to provide leadership is through your content. Think about what thought leadership you can provide to your community right now.

People are going to be consuming a lot of content because most of us are home and everything is cancelled, right? So, what are we going to do? We’re going to spend a lot of time taking in information. And so, what can you provide now that will serve your clients and your community and even potential clients, right?

So, think about how you want to create content, things that you want to do to really lead the way, to showcase leadership, to show your community that you are a strong business leader and a rock that they can rely on. If we are calm then it’s going to help other people become calm as well.

One of the other things I want you to do, from a really practical level, is cut unnecessary expenses. And that might mean you have tech subscriptions that you just haven’t had a chance to cancel but you’re not really suing, just extraneous expenditures that you’re not under contract with.

There may be someone on your team that really hasn’t been delivering for a long time and you keep putting off letting them go. You might want to consider negotiating terms or changing that relationship right now. The main key is preserve cash as much as you can during this time. And that doesn’t mean to cut every expense or to really cripple your business. That’s not what I’m saying.

I’m saying go through your business bank statements and see if there are things that you can trim, just to keep some extra cash on-hand. Maybe there are marketing campaigns that you’re like, “Actually, we don’t need to do that. There’s another strategy that we can do that’s more cost-effective.” That might be something that you want to do.

You don’t want to get extreme with this because you can really get your business in a bad situation if you start slashing everything and your business is no longer able to function at a high level. And you may even want to take it a step further and put student loans on temporary deferment. Maybe start paying minimums on debt payments in the short-term, just so you can lower your financial responsibility on a week to week basis in the short-term. And I really do think that we’re talking about weeks, possibly a couple of months. We’re definitely not talking about years, okay.

So, that is another tip I have for you. The next do that I have for you is really set yourself up for success on the other side of this thing. So, use this time creatively. Create an online course, that course that you’ve been wanting to create forever.

I think now people are really seeing how important it is to have an online component of your business because when we can’t do in-person things, that online component can be sort of like insurance and provide income when your other offers are not producing income.

I had a client reach out to me this morning and say, “I just want you to know that I am so incredibly grateful to you that you made me create an online course a few years ago because all of my competitors are really screwed right now and I so feel for them. They all rely on in-person everything and they’re really in bad shape at this very moment.

And he said that because you made me create this online course, my business is going to be just fine and I’m so grateful that I made that move years ago, okay. So, if you haven’t done that yet, that might be something you want to do, even if you have done it but you need to create, or want to create a new online course. That is something to think about doing during this time.

You could also start writing a book. If you’ve always wanted to write a book, you’ve got some downtime, use this time to write a book. If you’ve always wanted to launch a podcast… You could also host a virtual event. There is a guide on my website – I will put it in the show notes. I have a detailed article of exactly how to launch and run a successful and profitable virtual event; detailed step by step instructions. It’s a long blog post, but it is my winning formula for doing virtual events. So, you should definitely check that out. I will throw it in the show notes. So, that’s another thing that you could work on creating.

So, just think about what are some creative projects that you might want to do during this time. Also, think about what offers your people might need right now. So, don’t assume that no one is buying anything. That is not true. My clients are reporting that they are still making money.

One of my clients is in the middle of a launch today. I’m recording this on Friday, March 13^th. Today, they launched a course and they’ve sold several spots. So, money is still being made. Commerce is still happening at some level, okay.

And to that end, my next tip is do keep working and serving clients. Don’t shut everything down. There’s no need to do that. You can bring your operations online. You can function through telecommunication. So many companies have been doing this for years. for years. You can absolutely operate this way. And just think creatively of how you can make some income.

Even if you have a retail boutique or, you know, a brick and mortar service business, you know, contact your clients and let them know, “Hey, we are here for you during this time. We are not disappearing. We are not going out of business. We are not shutting our doors. We are going to be serving you in these ways,” and tell them what you’re going to do. People are looking for your leadership, okay.

The next thing I want to tell you is probably one of the most important things that I’ve kind of already mentioned, but make sure you’re next-leveling your self-care. This might eb a time where you want to start a daily meditation practice. You might want to do a tech detox. So, maybe spend a weekend or take a night and just put your phone down, put the screens down, take the Apple Watch off and just enjoy some downtime and some mental space.

Definitely use physical activity to move anxious energy out of your body, alright. Really protect your energy and your mental space because we really cannot show up as leaders if we do not do that. So, that’s one of the most important things you can do. Definitely make appointments with your therapist. We are offering a daily mediation to all of our clients and it’s been wonderful.

Today was just the first day and it was amazing. And I’m really grateful to be in a position to be able to offer this to our clients because this is what we need. You don’t necessarily have to have all the answers in the world. Most of us don’t. There’s a lot of us who don’t have any answers. I think most of the world doesn’t have answers about exactly what to do, necessarily, in this crisis. But what you can provide is a space for calm and a space for peace and just some solidarity and camaraderie.

Maybe you could tell some funny jokes. Maybe you can provide some cute pictures of your pets, you know. So, really partake in self-care and provide that solidarity and that peace for yourself and your family and for those around you in your community.

The other thing I want to tell you is you’ve really got to look for the opportunities. When there is a recession happening, when there is a global health crisis and economic crisis, there is opportunity. If you’ve read the book Black Fortunes, which I’ve recommended before on this podcast, or if you’ve read On Her Own Ground by A’Lelia Bundles, which is about Madam C.J. Walker’s life and it’s by her great-great-granddaughter who has been on this podcast.

She was the very first episode I ever did on this podcast. So, if you haven’t heard that episode, go back and listen to episode number one because that is such a lesson in resiliency, hearing about Madam C.J. Walker’s story, who was the first female millionaire in this country, and she’s a black woman. And I didn’t say she’s the first black female millionaire. No, first female millionaire. So, definitely learn more about her life. Lucky for us, the Netflix special called Self-Made, about Madam C.J. Walker’s life comes out in the next couple of days.

So that will be an opportunity as well for you to watch something, be distracted, and also be encouraged by somebody who lived through Jim Crow laws and various economic downturns and hardcore systemic racism. She was born to slaves. She was the fifth, and first child in her family to not be born a slave. Every other member of her family was born into slavery. And she, born into slavery and complete and utter poverty, was able to become a millionaire in her lifetime, which is so incredibly inspiring.

And she didn’t have the internet. She didn’t have Zoom or Facebook or podcasts. She didn’t have the resources that we have today. What she did have was systemic racism and incredible violence and very little economic opportunity. And she turned those lemons into lemonade, let me tell you. So, that is a story that you want to follow for inspiration. I am such a fan.

But one of the things that I learned from reading On Her Own Ground by A’Lelia Bundles and reading Black Fortunes and other books about black entrepreneurs is that there is so much opportunity, particularly in economic downturns. And so, you are an entrepreneur. You are a futurist. That is your job, right, to see the opportunity to create the future that isn’t currently here. So, look for the opportunities.

And it’s not just about opportunities like taking advantage of your people. No one is telling you to do that. No one is trying to do that. Looking for opportunities isn’t taking advantage of people. Looking for opportunities is looking for ways that you can be of service to people. How can you help your people? What do they need right now?

I’ve gotten a ton of emails from people and private messages just this week form people who’ve said, “Hey I know you’ve been talking about teaching women entrepreneurs how to sell their services online, how to create intellectual property in online courses and other methods, and I really need to take action on that now. Do you have any resources for me?”

And so, I will tell you about a resource that I do have for you towards the end of this podcast, but that’s a way that I could be of service. So, think about ways that you can be of service to your people and what are some offers and opportunities that you see arising from this situation. So, always look for the opportunities. Trust me, they are there.

The other thing I want to share is do ask for help. Apply for government assistance if you need it. There are already SBA loans available that you can apply for to help during this recession if you’ve been hit really hard and if you just need it for whatever reason.

There are companies like Convert Kit. I’ve seen a few others. There are local government organizations that are providing relief to small businesses. Small businesses are so incredibly important to our economy and that is one of the reasons why it’s really important to all of us to support small business. So, if you are a small business owner, entrepreneur, freelancer who is really struggling right now, seek out help and do it quickly.

Don’t wait for it to get terrible. Just go ahead and ask for it. There are opportunities and there are options out there for you. And on the other side of that, if you are in a position to support small business – maybe you are very solvent, maybe you’ve got a lot of cash in the bank and you are not afraid economically because you have really protected yourself or saved a bunch or whatever, for whatever reason, if you are in a position to be able to support small business, do keep doing that because that is so incredibly important when we have a recession about to happen.

One of the things that you can do – I learned these tips from my friend Susan Hyatt, who has a great podcast as well called Rich Coach Club, and I know that she’s releasing some resources around this. But one of the suggestions that she had was she said that she’s got a couple of friends who own restaurants and her regular hair stylist and other people in her community. And so, one of the things she’s doing is buying gift cards for the restaurant. And she had services that got cancelled because of what’s happening, and so she paid for those services at her salon and said, “Hey, I’ll use them later, but I’ll pay for them now.”

And those are really beautiful things you can do. I had to cancel my hair appointment with my stylist, who I love and who takes such good care of me all year long. And I know that she’s going to be hit real hard from this recession. And I’m sure it’s already happening with lots of people canceling appointments. And so, I had to cancel my appointment, but I told her, “Hey, I’m going to pay you for this time anyway,” and then I wound up sending her 5X the amount of the appointment because it was just on my heart to help her and I had the ability to do that.

So, that felt really good. So just really look for those opportunities to continue to support small businesses if you can. And lastly, be flexible, be nimble, be responsive. Recognize that you have the skills, you have the ability, you have the resiliency. If you’re a small business, you are small and mighty. You have the ability to move around, to be flexible, to offer different things during this time.

So, allow that to happen. Allow yourself to be flexible. If one of your offers is no longer relevant because the economy has changed and the world has changed, create something new, right? Find a way to meet your customers’ needs and be willing to be flexible. And I’ll tell you a little bit about how I’m doing that as well.

Alright, so those are my dos to keep your business in good shape during this recession. Right now, these are actions that you can be taking this instant and they’ll continue to serve you going forward.

Okay, so, I have some don’ts as well because I see people making really bad decisions that are not going to have a positive long-term effect. So, one thing for sure is do not over-consume media, number one. Put the phone down, my friends. Please put it down and definitely get the fuck off of social media. Just sign off.

Sign off of Facebook, get out of Instagram. Just put it down and walk away. I think physical space is the best way to put some distance between you and what’s going on, on the internet.

So, one of the things that I do is I charge my phone in my office and so it’s not on my bedside and it’s not the first thing that I grab in the morning. And that really helps. And I think we need to put some physical distance between ourselves and being on the internet nonstop during this time. So, really allow yourself to have some downtime from the just inundation of content that’s out there, and especially media, constant hour by hour updates.

If you’ve decided to stay home and really kind of socially distance yourself, then you don’t really need to get any more updates. Just stay home, you can check in once a day, but really allow yourself to have a mental break from everything that’s going on. So, take the night off, take the morning off, take the weekend off from being on the internet constantly.

Another thing that I don’t want you to do, do not fire everybody on your team, please. Do not do that. Do not blow up your entire business. This is a moment in time. We do not know how long it’s going to last. Do not fire everybody on your team unless there’s no way for you to keep them. If that’s the case then it is what it is, but really, don’t do it out of panic and fear, to start firing people because you’re freaked out. I don’t recommend that.

And if you are looking for more strategic advice on that, I offer that in my coaching programs. And I’ll tell you about one way that I can provide some support for you. And there’s lots of free resources as well that are available on my website to help you with that. But definitely get some advice before you decide to do something like that. And really try to avoid it if you can.

And let me tell you why; not only do you want to take care of your team, of course. But it is very expensive, very time-consuming in order to build a team. There is so much that goes into hiring, training people, getting them familiar with your systems, training them up to be amazing at what they do.

It is going to cost your business so much to rebuild that team on the other side of this. So, if you can help it at all, it is in your business’s best interest to keep your team intact for as long as humanly possible. That is my personal opinion on it.

I would say plan to be in business. Don’t plan to go out of business, unless there are dire situations and there are exceptions to this rule, but I don’t think that we should all be blowing up our businesses because we’re freaked out. That is, for sure, not what you want to do.

The other thing you don’t want to do is trash your business plans for 2020. Don’t assume that business is over as we know it today and forever. It is not. And people are still buying things. Even this morning, I had to buy some groceries. We’re all buying things still, right?

Don’t assume that business is over. Do not trash your business plans that you’ve created. You may need to pivot some of those plans, but really, you just want to be thinking about the next 30, 60, 90 days at this point, max. Don’t really start thinking about July and beyond at this point because we just don’t have enough information to be making decisions about the rest of the year.

I’m hearing from people making some big changes and big decisions in their businesses that are for the rest of 2020, and I just think some of us might wind up regretting that. We just don’t have enough information. We don’t know how long this thing is going to last. We don’t know what the long-term effects are going to be.

So, don’t get into this doom and gloom mode and think, like, “I’ve got to shut it down. I have to stop offering things. I’ve got to rework my whole business plan.” Not necessarily. Take it day by day. Look at the next 30 to 60 days and really calm the fuck down, most importantly.

The other thing I would recommend that you don’t do is don’t cancel events that are more than 90 days out. Again, we don’t know what is going to be happening and how this is all going to play out. And so, who knows? We may be in phenomenal shape. We’re already seeing that the number of new cases in countries where this started is starting to go down.

So, I’m hopeful and prayerful and wishing for this thing to be resolved as quickly as possible. And that is still a possibility, regardless of how many doom and gloom emails you might see or articles you might read on the internet. So, don’t cancel all your plans, all your travel plans, all your events that you’re attending or events that you are hosting for the rest of the year at this time.

The other thing I would say too is if you’ve already invested the money in reserving those places and your customers have already invested in attending those events, who does it benefit to cancel it?

I don’t even understand why people are so obsessed with canceling everything that is so far out. It’s like, I don’t know what the point of that is. I would say take a beat, give yourself time to think, give yourself time to plan and pivot and postpone and come up with alternate planning. So, give yourself some time and calm down.

The other thing I would say is do not feel bad for selling. This is something that I think is very common right now, to shame people on Facebook for continuing to sell, for continuing to launch, for continuing to offer their goods and services. I’m not about that life, okay.

There is, for sure, a sensitivity required at this time. We are dealing with a health crisis. Human life is far more important than any amount of dollars. But let’s not pretend that those two things are not connected. Human life and money are connected and a lot of us need money. We need to continue to sell in order to keep our businesses going, in order to feed our families, in order to keep a roof over our heads. So, do not let people shame you for selling. And if they do, feel free to tag me, okay, and I will reply because I think that’s BS.

So, the other thing I would say is please do not start asking for refunds. Please don’t try to get your economic needs met by asking all the small businesses that you’ve already invested with, that you have contracts with to provide you with refunds. I think sometimes that is the first place our brains go. And I don’t blame you for it. I think it’s just a self-protective measure. But trust me, there is another way.

Maybe there are ways to renegotiate terms, but don’t come at small business owners who are also worried, who are also going to be struggling just like you, and ask them to refund things because you’re worried and you’re kind of panicked, right? Have compassion on all sides. We need an abundance of compassion right now all around.

And then lastly, one of the things that I think is really important for you guys to think about is please do not beat yourself up for what you haven’t done. If you don’t have a strong savings account, if you haven’t launched an online course, if you haven’t launched your business and you’re worried about your job, if you haven’t invested in the stock market, or if you have invested in the stock market, there’s so many ways in which the economy going bad and financial distress can make us feel like complete and total failures.

And the bottom line is, you are doing great. You are doing the best you can and you will continue to do better. You will continue to grow. I know that you’re interested in growth because you’re listening to this podcast.

So, if you’re feeling bad about past financial decisions and feeling like those are coming back to haunt you now, I just want you to give yourself some compassion, forgive yourself. We all make money mistakes, all of us. And trust me, I’ve made many, many, many decades’ worth of financial mistakes. I guess it was only a couple of decades, but there were many financial mistakes made in that time. So, forgive yourself. Use this as a learning opportunity and decide how you’re going to do things differently going forward.

Alright, so, I want to wrap up with one thing I want to tell you about and then three key questions to ask yourself. So, one of the things that I do want you to know is that we are reopening our Worthy program. Worthy is a money mindset course for practical women who want to be rich.

And why would Worthy be helpful right now in the middle of a health/economic crisis? Well, Worthy is really teaching you, as an ambitious professional woman how to improve your money mindset so you can literally take over the world.

So, if you are feeling like, “Hey, I’d like to be more on point financially. I want to make more money. I want to have more power and more impact,” then this would be a great thing for you to do. And really at the end of the day, this is a course that’s teaching you million-dollar behavior.

In this program, you’re going to learn how to overcome the pervasive societal, cultural, and historical social constructs that cause women to be fearful and stressed about money. You’re going to learn how to set boundaries in your life and work. And those boundaries are really going to help you enjoy life more and they’re going to help you make more money.

You’re going to gain tools to manage your time intentionally and effectively. You’re going to replace your negative money stories. If you grew up with a any kind of poverty, even if you grew up rich, a working-class family, most of us have childhood trauma around money. And this program is going to help you reclaim your story around money and what you believe is possible for you financially. And that is one of the most valuable pieces of this program. It’s the reason why we created it.

You’re going to learn strategies to trust yourself with money more and to make really smart and strong financial decisions using the Million-Dollar Decisions Matrix. You’re going to be able to participate in a busyness detox and a time management study. You are going to become a skilled negotiating and boundary-setting queen. You’re going to conduct your own work worthiness quotient and really be able to determine the actual value of your work in the marketplace.

A lot of us are going to be reevaluating how we make money, and these are tools that are really going to help you. You’re also going to be able to create a detailed financial plan for your life and really execute it with the practical strategies that I use to make money and to spend and to save with abundance.

So, if you are interested, all you have to do is go to helloseven.co/worthy and you can get all of the details. One of the things that I’m really excited about – and this is the way that we’re trying to serve our people – is we’re bringing back our Multiply course.

So, I created a course a few years ago that is all about how to create an online course, so how to create your services and your intellectual property and your skills and talent and experiences and turn it into an offer that you can sell online. And I am offering this course to you completely free as a bonus if you decide to invest in Worthy right now.

And that course, that Multiply course is a $2500 program, and I’m including it for free because I want you to have the step by step. There’s templates. There’s worksheets. There is video training and it really is a step by step process for exactly how you can create an online program and start to create these online components of your business.

So, I highly recommend it. Worthy is the most inexpensive way to work with us. It is a live coaching program, so you will have live coaching every single week. We’ve got a Facebook community. That’s where we’re doing daily meditation. We’re offering a business brainstorming to really help you get through this economic situation, whether you are a professional or an entrepreneur.

So, I highly recommend that you check out Worthy. Go to helloseven.co/worthy. It will be on offer until Friday March 20^th as the deadline right now. But, of course, that is open to change. If I feel like we need to extend the deadline to just make it available to more people, okay. And we’re also offering a generous payment plan to make it really easy for you to invest in this and just get that business booster shot that you might need right now.

Okay, so, what I want to leave you with are three key questions to ask yourself during this time. Number one, what are you going to do to get your headspace clear so that you can make million-dollar decisions? Really think about how are you going to take care of yourself, how are you going to create more self-care in your life so that you can have a clear mental space and be making smart decisions during this time?

I want you to think about what moves are you going to make to recession-proof your business. Write a list of ideas. Brainstorm with a business bestie and come up with some strategies that can really take- your business to the next level, even though the economy might be in the shitter for a little while.

And lastly, how can you creatively create capital quickly? What are your opportunities to meet the needs of your people and create some quick capital so that you can continue to move your business forward, so that you can add to your savings and your coffers and that your business can continue on and continue to be a resource for people?

So, those are the three questions. That is our episode today. I’m sending so much love to each and every one of you. You’ve got this. We are going to get through this. I have complete confidence. Take care of yourselves. Take care of your families and your communities. Be the leaders that you know you are and I will see you real soon.

Are you ready for a revolution? Then download my free guide called Million Dollar Behavior. In it, you will learn the 10 behavior shifts you need to make to build wealth, claim power, and have an impact. I’ve learned how to play the game of success by my own rules. And in this guide, I’m going to lay out the Million Dollar Behavior required for you to define your own success and chase after your goals on your terms. Get this free guide now at helloseven.co/guide.