Money and Freedom with Leslie Kuster, founder of Back from Bali
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About this episode:
Leslie Kuster is a multiple seven figure e-commerce brand owner and I am so excited to have her on the show today. She's going to challenge the limiting beliefs that you may have around money while giving you actionable steps on how you can increase your net revenue today. I also love her take on inner-connection as the foundation for day to day joy. Tune in to uplevel your income and your freedom!
Topics Discussed:
Why you have to be honest about what you want, especially as an entrepreneur
Unapologetically claiming a love of money and breaking down false beliefs
Why you may need to choose only one business to focus on right now
Leslie's lightbulb moment that led her to starting Back from Bali
One thing female leaders can do now to increase their net revenue
The importance of inner-connection for your success
About Leslie:
Leslie Kuster is a multiple seven figure ecommerce brand owner whose business Back From Bali offers women bohemian chic clothing ethically made in Bali. The success of Back from Bali affords Leslie the life of her dreams, and she is passionate about igniting and inspiring other women entrepreneurs to rise while they create the financial and personal freedom they crave.
Leslie Kuster’s well earned knowledge is born from experience. In her mid 50’s, she was able to ricochet her Back from Bali clothing business from 5 figures to multiple millions. She is now helping other women entrepreneurs of all ages realize their dreams and grow their businesses.
Leslie empowers women to live their true freedom by teaching them how to create a business that aligns with their deeper core values enabling women to work in a way that brings ease and flow into their daily lives so they can live truly fulfilled.
You can expect Leslie’s new book, Money and Freedom: 7 Master Keys To Seven Figures For Women Entrepreneurs in the Fall of 2021.
With over 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, Leslie’s passion inspires women to pursue entrepreneurship in order for them to step into their independence, know their value, develop their feminine power, and earn the kind of money that creates freedom.
Resources:
Click here to read a raw, unedited transcript of this episode:
[6.2s] I'm really happy to be here and I'm really happy to talk about how you build something [00:08:30]and, you know, like kind of how how do you have to do it. And I feel like I you know, I don't really have the exact answer of like how. But [13.1s] I do know that for myself, the most important thing was getting honest about what I wanted. And I think that that is how you build something.
Speaker 1 [00:09:00] [00:09:00]How do you think you are not I'm just curious, [2.1s] how do you think you are not honest with yourself initially? Because it seems like you made a shift somewhere.
Speaker 2 [00:09:09] I made a huge shift [00:09:10]somewhere. So [0.4s] I've been an entrepreneur for a really long time, [00:09:13]like thirty years. [0.8s] And I started being an entrepreneur [00:09:18]thirty years ago [0.5s] simply because I didn't want to get a job. [00:09:21]And so [0.4s] I was [00:09:23]like [0.0s] a mediocre entrepreneur for [00:09:26]like [0.0s] a really long time, like seventeen years. And when I say mediocre, I [00:09:31]kind of [0.3s] mean only financially. [00:09:33]Like, [0.0s] my own life was a [00:09:35]bit [0.0s] beautiful and I had freedom and I could do what I wanted, but I was not creating wealth and and money that I felt I knew I can really be doing. And that was the part about getting more honest. [00:09:54]And so it was really for me not until I was in my early 50s where [5.4s] I had this. Feeling of [00:10:04]like [0.0s] being a failure and not living up to what I knew I could be doing and [00:10:10]like [0.0s] I knew I could be doing so much better than I was doing, it was just this feeling [00:10:14]that [0.0s] I was getting more and more uncomfortable. [00:10:17]And it might have been with me for a while, that uncomfortable feeling. But, you know, we sometimes we pushed them away or. Yeah, but and there's second guessing and there's all of that going on. [13.4s] But this feeling in me, I'm not sure it just got stronger and stronger [00:10:35]and stronger. [0.1s] And there was really a pivotal moment. I mean, I could [00:10:39]like [0.0s] pinpointed I was sitting [00:10:41]in her apartment, [1.1s] the old apartment we used to own in a little apartment in my little office, [00:10:48]sitting on my, like, little, you know, a kid table, you know, a desk. [3.4s] And I just felt like there is just no way I am waking up on my next birthday in the same situation I'm in right now. There's no way that I was not going to be making more money. There is no way that I was not going to elevate myself more. There was just no way. And that was the moment. And I began to be honest with what I wanted. And what I wanted was more money and more wealth and more personal success. I wanted more empowerment. I wanted more control. I wanted more independence. I wanted [00:11:36]more. Yeah. Not [1.0s] not to expect my husband to buy the dream apartment [00:11:42]or my husband to give me whatever I wanted. [4.2s] And that's what happened. [00:11:49]And [0.0s] I just got honest with what I wanted.
Speaker 1 [00:11:52] Do you think you just weren't ready at the time? [00:11:54]Maybe. [0.0s] Maybe it took you to this pivotal moment to just be ready enough to say I'm going to get serious and do this?
Speaker 2 [00:12:04] I guess so. You know, because, like, why did it happen then? [00:12:08]So maybe that had happened. [1.1s] It had happened. It happened then. And why didn't it happen ten years earlier or one year earlier? I don't know. But that isn't life like that sometimes that you, [00:12:20]like, [0.0s] get inklings of things. But then you have to get to a point where you're really frustrated or really unhappy. Right. Or you really, [00:12:29]like [0.0s] have had enough in order to make a change. So maybe I got to that point.
Speaker 1 [00:12:36] You believe in unapologetically claiming a love of money. Tell us about that. And how has that mindset helped you in building your business?
Speaker 2 [00:12:46] I realized that a big reason why I was not. So as financially successful as I am now and what happened once I made that decision is because I had so many false mindset, beliefs around money and around my commitment to my, quote, freedom. [00:13:09]So I really felt like [1.1s] I've always said freedom is my number one value and it still is my number one value. But I saw it in conflict with success. So I'm a spiritual person. So therefore, [00:13:23]you know, [0.1s] money's not that important to me or I want to have the time to go to my 00:13:28 [0.0s] retreat in the summer or I want to go to my yoga classes. And if I become more successful, I won't have the time to do those things. So it was sort of like I am this and success in money is going to stop me from doing this that I really want to be doing. And this is all false beliefs that I think many women have that they believe that by being successful or going up their dreams or building their business or having a financial goal, that it is going to take away their free time, take away their connection to their spirituality, or take away their connection to being feminine and sensual or whatever that that means. And now that I'm on the other side of it, OK, because I did build it. I have it all. And this is what I didn't know then. I have the money and the spirituality. I have the success and I have the free time and. I couldn't have it without the money. Hmm. And I couldn't have it unless I became honest that having the money was part of it. Mm hmm. And I've now become 00:14:57 [0.0s] very passionate about supporting women entrepreneurs. I've written a book about it called Money and Freedom, and I am passionate about it because without financial ability to have access to finances, to the economy, we could do nothing. It is so essential that women take control over their money because without it, we can't do anything.
Speaker 1 [00:15:26] You're so right. [00:15:28]So do you. [1.7s] Do you think you were taking in information through that time because there are moments where [00:15:36]I'll call it marinate, [0.5s] I marinate on an idea, [00:15:38]you know, [0.2s] I'm not quite ready to do it to make the leap, whether it's big or small. [00:15:43]But I'm marinating on an idea. [1.2s] Do you think over that time you were thinking about money and thinking about what you wanted to do as far as a focus to get more of it? And then just at that one point, you were [00:15:55]ready, [0.0s] ready to make that leap for me?
Speaker 2 [00:15:58] And it was more I felt that I was under serving myself. I felt like I [00:16:05]could do be [0.5s] could be doing better than I was doing. I was aware that I had a lot of talents that I was not using, and it was just this moment, [00:16:17]I feel like. [0.6s] And also another thing happened in that moment, which I want to mention [00:16:23]to everybody, [0.1s] because I think this will help [00:16:25]all of all of your listeners. [1.3s] I at that time had actually two businesses, [00:16:30]not just one business. I had two businesses. [1.8s] I had the business I have now, which is a women's clothing business called Back from Bali, and I manufacture clothing in Bali, Indonesia, bring it into the United States, and I sell it online, mostly on Amazon and my website. And I had another business called Girl Power, because I also have [00:16:53]my [0.0s] my MSW, my master's in clinical social work. And I ran empowerment groups for young girls who were seven to 13 years old. So I had two businesses. And what I realized in that moment, sitting in that chair in that in our old department was that that was so much the reason why I was not successful is because I was not focused. And when you have too many things going on or [00:17:25]too [0.0s] too many businesses and women sometimes think they're you know, they're so great because they can multitask. Well, truthfully, we're not, because [00:17:35]it it it [0.6s] it just leads to mediocrity. And I realized sitting in that chair that if I wanted to elevate myself, I needed to focus on just one of the businesses. And that was another huge thing that I shifted [00:17:53]and [0.0s] and decided to do. And I did. I let go of one of them and I decided to go all in on one and to focus to know I can do it, to try to do it, even if I couldn't do it, at least to to be honest with myself that I wanted this and I wanted to make more money and I wanted to be more independent and to go for it. And I did.
Speaker 1 [00:18:15] I think a lot of women, particularly female entrepreneurs, can relate to what you just said, because sitting in the nursery, I created two businesses. Also, I created a children's clothing box business and then I launched she built it at the same time. And I thought, these are going to feed my two passions. [00:18:33]Right. [0.0s] And then I had twins, twin babies that I was responsible for keeping alive [00:18:39]and helping. [0.1s] And I thought, I cannot do all of this. I thought, I have to let go of one. And I actually never launched the I even though I built the whole business, the back and everything, I was ready to launch. And I thought, I'm not going to be present at all for anything in my life if I launch [00:18:55]these two [0.2s] these two businesses. So I think a lot of our listeners can relate. But you're so right. If you don't focus, I have a background in business development. [00:19:05]If you don't focus on [1.1s] and I just wrote a blog post on this, if you don't focus on business development and kind of go back to the basics and say, what clients do I want, how do I get them, where are they living? And even just starting with one, [00:19:21]you know, [0.1s] just get one because that momentum will build on itself. And I think it's the same to your point with money and finances. [00:19:28]You know, [0.2s] once it starts to grow, I'm sure for you that became pretty addicting. In addition to doing what you're passionate about,
Speaker 2 [00:19:37] Will, because money enables you to do what you're passionate about. [00:19:41]You know, [0.1s] money is neutral and it's not good or it's not bad. And it just it just is basically and it's here for us to use. [00:19:48]And it's like, you know, [1.6s] there's abundance in the world. There's the abundance of sunshine and water [00:19:54]and [0.0s] and there's an abundance of difficult situations and there's an abundance of money. And it's all available to us. And I just think for us women, we have so many wrong beliefs about saying we're a money person or that we want money or that we want more money to do whatever. [00:20:15]And I don't even want to say the obvious, which is like with with money, you can send your child to a fabulous school and you could support your charity and you could do things for your community. I don't even want to talk about that, because that is what women talk about, [16.3s] I rather say it [00:20:33]so you can buy your six hundred dollar shoe, right? [2.8s] So you buy your dream house so you can leave your horrible relationship. [00:20:42]You know, [0.2s] let's let's start with the how we're supposed to use money. [00:20:46]Like, [0.0s] let's let's get rid of this, because this is where this is why we are not growing enough. And I want to just throw in a statistic for women entrepreneurs that there are only 10 percent of women entrepreneurs that do more than hundred thousand dollars a year in revenue. [00:21:10]Wow. [0.0s] That means that 90 percent of women entrepreneurs. Do less than a hundred thousand dollars a year in revenue, and we need to change this. We really need to change this.
Speaker 1 [00:21:28] [00:21:28]Yes, we do. [1.1s] You're so right. [00:21:32]So right, [0.5s] and it can be a limiting belief, [00:21:35]you're right, [0.2s] when you think there is abundance, when it comes to money, that changes your thinking [00:21:41]pretty much [0.3s] immediately [00:21:44]instead of thinking it's scarce. [1.5s] Instead of thinking the money is scarce,
Speaker 2 [00:21:50] yeah, [00:21:51]sure. [0.0s]
Speaker 1 [00:21:52] What gave you the courage to launch and build back from Bali? And can you tell us about that [00:21:57]and [0.0s] and what led you to the business?
Speaker 2 [00:22:01] What led me to the business [00:22:04]is, as I mentioned earlier, [1.3s] is I didn't want to get a job. I in my early 30s, I had something happen where my apartment was robbed. [00:22:13]That's what happened. [0.4s] And I all of a sudden got [00:22:17]all this [0.1s] insurance money. And so I [00:22:20]when [0.0s] decided to [00:22:21]go traveling and [0.7s] do something I always wanted to do, which was to travel and I wanted to travel to Indonesia, [00:22:27]like [0.0s] I always saw those islands on the map and I thought, I want to go there. And so I went to Indonesia [00:22:34]and I traveled for about seven months [1.7s] and I loved it. And I just had [00:22:39]like [0.0s] the best time and such a freeing and a beautiful country, beautiful people, amazing culture. But I had to go back. I was living in New York City at the time. I had been doing PR public relations for corporate. And I needed to go back [00:22:56]to to [0.2s] to New York and get a job. And I just I so didn't want to get a job. And [00:23:04]I had The New York Times open on my bed because that's how you looked for jobs back then in this newspaper. And I was like looking through all the jobs in [10.1s] there, just there was not one job I wanted. And I had a light bulb moment, literally, and I just thought, wow, I remember seeing all this beautiful clothing in Bali, in particular, children's clothing, colorful and vibrant and hand handcraft because it was batik, which is the craft they used in Bali to make fabric. And I just had this thought, [00:23:42]I wonder [0.2s] I wonder what would happen if I went back to Bali and I bought clothing and I brought it back to the U.S. and I took out a calculator, took how much it would cost me to fly there. And I knew there was all these street fairs in New York City. And I thought, OK, I bet I can sell it. One of these street fairs and tick, tick, tick, tick, [00:24:03]tick. [0.0s] And I just felt like there's just no way I could lose money unless everything was stolen or something on the way back. And I did it. I literally did it. Within a week, I jumped on a plane. I went back to Indonesia, to Bali. I hit the streets, I bought clothing. I rode it back to New York City. And that is how I launched a business. And that was quite a long time ago [00:24:29]that that [0.4s] where I was selling at street fairs. And it's gone through many different businesses and even product lines. So I had this business for a long time. I did markets, I then wholesale, but it wasn't really until getting online and it wasn't until about eight years ago when I really had that pivotal moment that I was talking about, that I decided to change everything and I changed the product line at that time. I changed my mindset, I changed my actions and I changed my business. And at that time, I had just gotten on Amazon maybe within a year or two. This is [00:25:17]like [0.0s] maybe two thousand, eight, nine, ten, something like that. Early Amazon. And I was doing about fifty thousand a year in sales on Amazon, which I was really excited about and thought was pretty damn good, [00:25:31]to tell you the truth. [0.6s] But then I had that moment where I experienced that I told you about. And from then my my business just grew and grew and grew. And I happily can say I'm now at the multiples seven figures in my business and. Right. That's right. And that's why I decided to to also [00:25:54]write [0.0s] write a book is because I started to think [00:25:58]in the last a couple of years, like, [1.6s] how do you do this? Which is why your podcast is so great, how do you build it? And it didn't have a business degree. I didn't go to school for it. [00:26:09]You know, [0.1s] there's so many [00:26:11]I'm not [0.2s] I'm not [00:26:11]even [0.0s] a fashion designer. [00:26:13]I'm not even by the way I sell women's clothing. I don't even know how to sew. [4.2s] All right. So all of these ideas you have have them go to fashion school. You have to go to business school.
Speaker 1 [00:26:23] You have the limitations, the limitations.
Speaker 2 [00:26:27] So. [00:26:29]I it's really everyone has to understand, it's really about [4.4s] wanting it is really the first thing and knowing what it is that you want. So I started to think about how does one do this really? And that is how I came up with my book and [00:26:47]that [0.0s] my book is called Money and Freedom, seven keys to seven figures for Women Entrepreneurs. And I go through the steps, the House steps, which are really selling so many of them is is mind set in one word from the inside as well as action.
Speaker 1 [00:27:07] And you can completely tell by talking to you that you have done that work because the determination it takes to build what you have built, you found your passion and you stayed determined to make it into what it is today. [00:27:19]You know, you [0.3s] I'm sure you had to you spoke about your pivot's. You know, we have to accept that, OK, maybe the business isn't going to look as it grows exactly as we think it's going to look or want it to look. But that's part of growth. And, [00:27:32]you know, [0.1s] being OK with those pivots and changes along the way,
Speaker 2 [00:27:37] it's such a good point. [00:27:38]And I [0.2s] and I want to add to that, [00:27:40]actually, [0.0s] because I think a lot of women on true partners who maybe see other women entrepreneurs as successful [00:27:48]need to [0.4s] I want to remind everyone that it's definitely not a straight path and it's not an easy path. And [00:27:57]that I think [1.0s] part of the success that I've had, part of it has simply been perseverance. It has simply been not quitting and staying. And I can't tell you how many 00:28:10 [0.0s] setbacks I've had and failures I've had and problems I've had in my business. But it's the persevering that over time and the baby steps and all of that stuff that brings you to the right direction. And sometimes it's a whole different direction, but it's some direction. Yeah.
Speaker 1 [00:28:34] And it's finding that joy to, [00:28:36]you know, [0.1s] joy is in the journey. [00:28:37]Not you know, we have this idea to your [2.0s] to all of your points, like we have this idea of where the destination should be. Right. But it's finding joy along the way in those moments. [00:28:48]You know, [0.2s] and [00:28:48]if you [0.2s] if you're doing something you're passionate about or if you're making money, because [00:28:53]I'm sure that, you know, like [1.1s] like you said, that affords you [00:28:56]to do [0.1s] to do those things. It just becomes kind of. More and more addicting to do what brings you joy.
Speaker 2 [00:29:03] So true, [00:29:05]but [0.0s] I think it's also important to to to know that sometimes it's just sucky to.
Speaker 1 [00:29:10] Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 [00:29:12] [00:29:12]And the sucky [0.8s] and the sucky parts also have its value because the sucky parts also can help you, [00:29:20]like, [0.0s] change directions or hire an assistant or, [00:29:24]you know, [0.2s] do something different [00:29:26]or, you know, and so it's [2.1s] it's like 50 50. You have the joy and you also sometimes don't
Speaker 1 [00:29:35] have a lot of time to do it. I think, [00:29:38]you know, [0.1s] if you're doing what brings you joy, it makes those difficult days a little easier, [00:29:42]you know, [0.2s] because we've all been in those, like you mentioned, not wanting to go get a job. [00:29:46]You know, [0.1s] we've all been in those jobs that we really didn't want to do, [00:29:49]you know? [0.2s]
Speaker 2 [00:29:52] Yeah, exactly
Speaker 1 [00:29:54] what is one thing that female business leaders can do right now to increase their net?
Speaker 2 [00:30:00] Oh, that's a great question. And there's one answer, which is no value numbers. So we need to get real intimate [00:30:11]with our bodies, [1.1s] with the inside of us, with our spirituality, with who we are, with what we want and with our numbers. 00:30:23 [0.0s] Your numbers speak OK. Your business speaks. And the only way to know what it's saying is to know those numbers. [00:30:32]So that means having a real bookkeeper. So if you're already have a business, definitely to have a bookkeeper who [9.1s] and I highly recommend [00:30:44]a bookkeeping system, software system that's online, not like a bookkeeper that you like mail invoices to and you speak on the phone, know [10.0s] a bookkeeping system such as zero. I use something called zero x, e, r, o, and so it's online. So I can add every day I can go and I could look how my business is like, how my revenue is my expenses, what the what the net profit is of that particular month. So it's [00:31:16]just [0.0s] really getting intimate with those numbers and knowing the numbers. And that is so incredibly important. And [00:31:23]also [0.0s] one mistake I made such a long time ago when I was 00:31:28 first [1.4s] in the early stages of my business and I was working with [00:31:33]my [0.0s] my coach, my consultant, who, by the way, I still work with to this day the same one. And she said to me, do I pay myself? [00:31:44]You know? [0.1s] So I said, well, sure, of course I pay myself. [00:31:49]Like, [0.0s] kind of I said, you know, I pay for, like, plane tickets when it comes. And I, [00:31:55]you know, [0.2s] pay for vacations. And she said, no, do you pay yourself? And I said, well, am I supposed to do. And this is also so typical that women don't pay themselves. And another tip I would like to give everybody is a fantastic system and book which I read called Profit first written by Mike Miklowitz. And it's a system of paying yourself basically and making sure that you get paid first before anybody else. So those are great tips for increasing your net is really know your numbers and to make sure you are paying yourself, no matter what it is, even if your income is five hundred dollars a month, you still pay yourself a certain percentage of that.
Speaker 1 [00:32:52] That's so smart because it's a mindset. And [00:32:55]I'm sure [0.1s] once you start paying yourself, you want that to grow right and feel good about your accomplishments and what you're doing.
Speaker 2 [00:33:05] So true. Exactly. Because if you're working all the time, which is what a lot of women do and entrepreneurs do, work, work, work. And you're not making any money, you're not paying yourself anything and you're just paying everybody else. That just is going to just, as you said, just destroy your mindset you want to make. And this is a really good point. You want to make yourself feel rich at all times. You want to feel it. And even if you don't have it in the moment, you still want to experience feeling it. And that's where our mindset or imagination are revisioning, are praying or are journaling comes in because we can still feel really rich and abundant at any moment.
Speaker 1 [00:33:56] [00:33:56]Do you think sometimes women can be afraid of the numbers? Definitely, if they're not, maybe where someone wants them to be, you know, but you are right, it is that mine. It's a mindset shift, even if they're not where you want them to be. [14.9s]
Speaker 2 [00:34:12] [00:34:12]Yeah, well, you're probably right. Part of part of it is maybe people women are scared to even look because. Oh, no, racism is it's worse than I think it is. Right. It's better. I don't see anything. But that's just ridiculous, OK, because that's called being a little girl. All right. And it's time for all of us women to put on our as Ali Brown, one of my favorite mentors, says it's time to put on our big girl panties. And that means getting honest with ourselves about what we want and what our numbers are. [35.8s]
Speaker 1 [00:34:50] You say if you want to be successful in business, there are times you need to stop doing business. Tell us about that.
Speaker 2 [00:34:58] Absolutely, [00:35:00]I [0.0s] I have been very dedicated to my own spirituality and my own what I call empty time, and I have been going to a spiritual retreat for 30 years, [00:35:14]like 30 years going [1.1s] in the last two years because of obvious situation. I have not, but up until then have always done that. And I've always gone for about six weeks, at least, sometimes even eight weeks, because I believe that it is actually in the down time, in the empty time, in the quiet time that we connect with what it is we really, really, really want and what we really, really, really yearn for. And without connecting with that, we're taking actions and making decisions based on [00:35:51]like [0.0s] what we think we should do or what we thought we wanted to do. And we're just [00:35:55]kind of [0.2s] on this treadmill all the time. I actually believe that part of my success has been because I've taken so much time to stop. And [00:36:07]so, you know, [1.4s] now with our current situation and everyone is home more, [00:36:15]you know, [0.2s] we have to take this time in any way we can, [00:36:19]you know, [0.1s] early in the morning or late at night or go for a walk by yourself or journal meditation. There's so many ways to do this. But getting in touch with one's emptiness, 00:36:30 [0.0s] to connect to our higher self, [00:36:35]to connect to [0.8s] the wisdom from inside of ourselves into our intuition [00:36:41]is is [0.4s] is [00:36:42]like the juice. It's the it's [1.9s] the fuel. It's the there is no satisfaction in this world without it. We cannot function without it. It's just as important as breathing in food, having that [00:36:57]inner connection and [1.1s] inner connection with something higher than ourselves.
Speaker 1 [00:37:01] You are so right. I my mother taught kindergarten for twenty nine years and I learned from her as she would take one day on the weekend and do nothing [00:37:10]like [0.0s] no housework, no lesson plans for the week, [00:37:15]you know, [0.2s] no work. She would just let her mind just go. And I found that I do that now on the weekends I try to put my phone away. [00:37:23]I try to just [0.5s] I tell myself I'm not thinking about work. I'm not going to organize our life today. I'm just going to take that day. And I understand you're talking about taking it a step further, right. To really meditate and go deep into what you want, but also with homeschooling the twins. And the last year, to your point, like you mentioned, going on walks by yourself. I found the kids just started school. [00:37:46]My son started second grade. Well, [1.8s] the twins started second grade, but my son hasn't been in school since kindergarten, so he's been home. And I found myself the first two days they were gone thinking, oh, I have to do this quickly, I have to do this fast. And then I thought, no, I don't. I'm in the house by myself, [00:38:02]you know, [0.2s] because [00:38:03]I've just been [0.3s] we've all become so used to if we have family around us at all times, not being alone. [00:38:11]You know, so it's and [1.3s] and I'm finding now that I'm by myself that I am kind of sinking into those moments more and I'm realizing what a lack and I know I'm not alone. I know so many listeners are probably thinking they had the same experience. [00:38:25]Right. [0.0s] Just how important to your point that alone time to really think and dove into ourselves is
Speaker 2 [00:38:33] it's so important. [00:38:34]You know, the truth is like the world we live in and I'm talking about in general, like the Western civilization. I'm making a broad statement here. People are so unhappy that most people are are unhappy, they're not content, they're not satisfied. And yet, [21.3s] without having a connection to ourselves, a deeper connection to to God, to spirit, to the divine, to our whatever you want to call it, intuition, nature, whatever it is, universe, the universe, we will continue to be unhappy because it's the only thing that will make us really happy. And so we have to carve out that time, that empty time like we have to. Otherwise, life. Is only partly lived truthfully, so true.
Speaker 1 [00:39:33] [00:39:33]Magic happens when we focus on the part of our business and [4.6s] magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business, that brings us joy. What is one step that you can leave with us today about how you find and live your joy?
Speaker 2 [00:39:51] You have to work at it. [00:39:53]I think I think I think we need discipline over the joy. [4.3s] And what you need to do is know what those things are that bring you joy and from simple things like my grandmother had beautiful 00:40:10 [0.0s] tea set [00:40:13]and [0.0s] and saucer and cup. And, you know, I use this to make really good green jasmine tea and just drinking that beautiful tea with the scent of the jasmine out of my grandmother's cups. [00:40:28]That's green. And my favorite color [2.6s] that brings me joy brings me joy to to go into nature and to hug a tree and [00:40:38]to, you know, [0.6s] to connect with a leaf and in a flower and everything brings me joy. Sitting with my husband in the morning and having coffee and talking and dream building with him brings me joy. Connecting with myself and having those empty moments brings me joy. So we need to do the things. And that's why I said we have to work at it, 00:41:04 [0.0s] because if we waiting for joy to just arrive, it is going to and we need kind of the discipline to bring joy into our lives.
Speaker 1 [00:41:14] So true. And it's so beautiful that you gift yourself those moments. Such good advice. Such as,
Speaker 2 [00:41:22] yes, you have to give this to ourselves.
Speaker 1 [00:41:25] Leslie, it's been so much fun talking to you. Can you please tell our listeners how and where they can find you?
Speaker 2 [00:41:31] Oh, I would love that. So the best way to find me is on my website, which is Leslie Khuzestan dot com. And do check out also I have a great free video and the video is called Three Things to Do Before 9:00 a.m. to reach seven figures. And it really teaches about the interactions and the outer actions we need to take in order to [00:41:55]like [0.0s] have the successes that we want. So do check that out. And you could also find me on Instagram at Leslie questor official and would love to connect with any of your listeners.
Speaker 1 [00:42:09] [00:42:09]Great, this was great. Yeah, so much fun talking to you. Oh. Hang on, I'm going to. Stop recording. The recording has started one second they.