1
0,00:01,000 --> 0,00:32,000
Welcome to the Never Been Promoted podcast, where we're all about helping you cut the tie to all that holds you back. The excuses, the fears, the people, that sense of entitlement. Cut the ties so you can unleash your inner entrepreneur. Your host, Thomas Helfrich, is on a mission to make more entrepreneurs in the world and make them better at entrepreneurship.
2
0,00:32,000 --> 0,01:52,000
Hey. Welcome to the Never Been Promoted podcast YouTube channel. I, Thomas Helfrich, your host. I say that because if you're listening and this is your first time listening, you'd be like, who is this guy? I I appreciate being coming here. I wanna be really clear on our mission. It's to help entrepreneurs get better at entrepreneurship by, kinda cutting that tie to all the shit that holds you back. And that's, like, the fears, excuses, senses of entitlement, people in your life, and and maybe yourself. We may have to kill your former self and become somebody new to get there. And today's conversation is gonna extend that, talking about entrepreneurship on your own terms, kinda how to build that entrepreneurial life that you really want. You know, and, you know, our guest today is Chelsea Husum. She's, you know, founder. She's a, builder own construction company. You'll we'll talk about this. Best selling author, speaker. I I can't do too many more or the AI will pick up too long and the list is gonna look weird on this description. So we'll bring her on here to. Before we do, though, one shameless plug, please subscribe. Youtube.com/neverbeenpromoted. I'm gonna give Chelsea a minute in the background to go do that on her phone, and then I'm gonna bring her on stage here. Just kidding. Chelsea, how are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm good. Thank you. I appreciate coming on. Where where do you, where do you where do you reside as home? Not not your exact address. That'd be it. Yeah. That's creepy. Don't show up at my house.
3
0,01:52,000 --> 0,01:54,000
And I live south of Denver.
4
0,01:54,000 --> 0,02:14,000
South of Denver. Okay. Yep. You know, you guys have had an explosion of of construction in in, Colorado due to the weed thing, man. Yeah. But you wanna take a few moments here just to do a brief introduction of yourself and, you know, set up the credentials, and then I'm gonna do an icebreaker after it.
5
0,02:14,000 --> 0,02:57,000
Sure. Yeah. So I'm Chelsea Husum, live in Denver. I own American GPR and Coring, which is a we work in commercial construction. So we do, ground penetrating radar, which is, this little really expensive little machine that scans concrete floor or wall. So if you're thinking, like, on a high rise building, we're scanning that to make sure there's nothing in there that can be dangerous or hurt someone. And then we do core drilling, which is the circular cutting in the floor of the wall. So I might go into a building and cut hundreds of of holes in this building, and then we mainly work with electrical and mechanical companies, and then they come in and put whatever it is they put in
6
0,02:57,000 --> 0,03:08,000
there. I like it. And you're an author and and a speaker too. So what what are you what are you what are you talking about on stage and Yeah. Write down the book. Yeah. So my book is called Real Vibes Only, Unapologetic
7
0,03:08,000 --> 0,03:53,000
Confessions of a Hot Mess Mompreneur. It is a bunch of short stories from my life of things I've gone through. You know, some talking about building a company, running a company. Some talking about being a mom, trying to juggle a million things. Some stories are about some pretty traumatic things I've been through in the past and kind of how do you overcome that. And I know everyone's been through adversity. Right? This is just the guarantee of human existence. But, you know, I I have that spirit, and I I know a lot of you listening have that spirit of you wanna you wanna dig out and get through and get stronger and better. Right? We're always trying to be better and grow. So, hopefully, the the book is just to inspire people and hopefully give them permission to be authentic and real and own their stories.
8
0,03:53,000 --> 0,04:05,000
Alright. So here's here's kind of the icebreaker piece. Right? So this is there's a lot of who wanna write a book and and be on stage. Tell me about the first time you went on stage, like a really good size straight, like at the the one you wanted. Yeah.
9
0,04:05,000 --> 0,05:27,000
How did you So I I spoke for the first time nationally in Dallas. I've spoken a lot in Colorado, but I spoke in Dallas in April. And, honestly, I was I was practicing the day before with my hairbrush in my room my hotel room, and I was like, this sucks. This is so bad. Like, I was so nervous. And then the next day, I got out and not honestly on stage, like, I kind of I didn't, like, blackout and pass out, but I kinda just, like, blacked out and just it came out of me. And then I watched the video. I'm like, oh my god. I actually did it. I said pretty much everything I wanted to say, so it went well. And I kinda just did it. Thank god. And I didn't throw up or pass out. That was, like, my biggest worry. But yeah. And my I had my girlfriend come with me, and I said, hey. If I look at you and, like, give you the the crazy eye like, the eyes, like, hey. I I don't remember what I was gonna say. Hold up my little three bullet points, you know, for me. And afterwards, she was like, hey. I was holding up your bullet points for you. I'm like, oh my gosh. I didn't even notice. I, like but I just did it. And I was like, oh, that's cool, but I didn't even look at you. So I look up a special. I would be like, hold on. I got a great memory of it short, so I wrote it down in my hand. I was saying that I I honestly thought of writing it on my yeah. I obviously thought of writing it on my hand, but then I was like, oh god. It's probably gonna, like, smear on my face or something stupid.
10
0,05:27,000 --> 0,05:33,000
Did you find that in writing your book, 99% of it was procrastination?
11
0,05:33,000 --> 0,06:13,000
Yeah. A little bit. And I never wanted to write a book, to be honest. Like, it wasn't a dream of mine. And then for some reason, I met this woman who's a publisher. I'm like, I I kinda feel like I could do that. What I found is if I'm so I office out of my house. So if, you know, I'm sitting here. I have a construction company calling, emailing. There's all the stuff. Right? So for me to actually get stuff done on the book, I had to take my laptop to a coffee shop and just change the environment and be like, okay. For the next hour, I am just writing the book. You know what I mean? And that really helped me, like, bust it out and and get moving on it. Yeah. Well, and it it's funny you say that because, you know, I'm in the process of writing a book that I started probably last summer. Mhmm.
12
0,06:13,000 --> 0,07:40,000
And then personally for me, I, you know, I I had a it very I think it's very similar to how you described it where it's, it's called never been promoted, but it's it's it's really about how I was thinking and feeling and the struggles you face internally with, you know, being present for your wife, your kids, with how you deal with customers and just life. And not not a do these, do your ads, here's your formula. It's more of like, hey. This is the side entrepreneurship I didn't know really existed of how emotional ride it was gonna be and how Yes. You know? And so I wrote it with the idea that, hey, kids. This is what's going through my head. So if you go do this journey, learn from it. I wrote about that. And, and the idea is here these become little ties you have to cut, right, of how you think and the former self and Yes. Wasting time and all the little things that you know you know you do. Mhmm. And and I I found, though, when I was writing the book when you said said that, I I admire you for going to sit somewhere. I found that I I was using, GBT to really gonna help me. I dump my brain and say organize it. Mhmm. And then I'd read it, like, that just sounds so mechanical, and it's like so I had to find the right ghostwriter to say, can you help me do what I could talk about, but man suck at putting it paper in it? It sound good. Can you help me tell a story of which I can speak to? Yeah. Alrighty. When I go to write it, it just falls apart and, like and I was like, I'm just a 100% sure my brain didn't work that way. So I admire you if you're gonna do it because mine does not function like that at all. And no matter how much headspace I could commit to it, which wouldn't be enough, I couldn't do it anyway. So good for you. Thank you. A long winded way to say good job.
13
0,07:40,000 --> 0,07:52,000
Thank you. That's smart. That that's smart because you see, like, hey. That's not my strength. Oh my god, man. I I can tell stories, but I need to bring someone in to really make it what you want it to be. Right?
14
0,07:52,000 --> 0,08:25,000
Right. And and so, like, you were talking about be on stage. You know, I I was recently on, the the block season 18, which is an entrepreneurial, competition. And, also, you something you should probably consider. It's really fun. It's good. It's exciting. It's hard. But you're on stage if you win your pods and you do these things. Uh-huh. And lots of people were very scared of the lights, the green screen, and, like, I mean, huge stage light. And I'm like, man, I am right in the middle of this. Like, this is I know what you mean by blackout, but you already know what you're gonna go do in command. Yeah. And I love that space. But if you told me to go read the book, I'd be like, hold on. This is gonna take a moment.
15
0,08:25,000 --> 0,08:40,000
Yeah. It's almost like an out of body experience, which I guess is good. Right? Like, whatever's gonna please, like, whatever needs to come out, come out. Right? But yeah. What do I But then I get done and I'm like, I don't know what I just said. I have no clue.
16
0,08:40,000 --> 0,09:56,000
Right. And I will tell people you do need to practice because what happens is sometimes your nervous self takes over and you say something like, I cannot believe I just blurted those words out of my mouth. Yes. You'll learn how to not do that. You'll take a pause and go, don't say any stupid jokes right now. Yeah. Maybe that was my problem. Yeah. And I I'm leading to somewhere with this because we're talking about entrepreneurship on your own terms. Yep. And the reason I say that is because I realized that my form of entrepreneurship, I wanted to be speaking. And after being on this show, a few weeks ago, I'm a 100% sure, and I wanna be on stage more because I have an advantage there. I have an advantage there because I'm completely comfortable there. I love the idea of crowd. I can work humor in. I just need no more opportunities. But what I did realize also is the book will enable that. I don't expect to sell 1,000 and millions of copies. It's more of, like, there's a there's a accreditation that goes with it. For sure. But the entrepreneur life that I wanted to build was one that, even I haven't achieved yet, which is I I don't want my brand to always be the one that has to do that. And and so you have to make pivots and stuff. So maybe set up the idea of how you thought through this entrepreneurship on your own terms in the context of, you know, the would you call it the mom? What was it? The Oh, hot mess mompreneur. Hot mess mom. Like Mhmm. Take it take what you've learned and and set up kind of the conversation for us of how how do you how does it what does that mean to you?
17
0,09:56,000 --> 0,12:43,000
Yeah. So, I mean, I guess, I was a high school Spanish teacher for 10 years, and then just didn't think I was I didn't think I was well, actually, the last year, I was just like, I don't like this. I gotta move on. So got into construction. So, really, with that, you know, I stepped in. I don't have business training. I don't have a business degree. I I, like, learned the hard way. I asked questions. I googled a lot. I cried a lot. It it was, you know, early on, I I remember those days. And now I could do it in my sleep. I could talk about it. You know, I'm teaching my clients more about it. Right? But, it was deciding to build a company my way. And, for example, in construction, obviously, if you don't know what you're doing, it's people could get hurt or die. It's like a it's a big deal. You need good people. You need experts. So for me, it was, you know, making sure I'm hiring the right people that know what they're doing so they can just they know more about it than I do. They go out. They do their thing. It's like an art. So I, decided to pay my employees for 40 hours a week whether they were working or not. Now I, you know, pay them weekly. I pay them very well. And they're making good money, but, like, they could be sitting at home on a Wednesday just chilling, you know, if if we had a slow day or whatever. But for me, I know, like, in constructions, you have, like, kinda really busy times and then some slower times. So if you're I these people would have quit if I wouldn't have taken care of them and understand they have families. They have bills to pay. Right? They need to be solid and know that they're taken care of. So I decided to do that, which I don't think anyone else that I've heard of does. My employees are like, no one else does this. So it's important to me to take care of them so they're good and they are happy, and they know that I'm not micromanaging them, but I'm here if they need me. So, I mean, that's an example of doing it on my terms. Like, I know what's important to me, and so that's what I make happen. You know, and then I my book came out, this year in February. And, really, I like I said, I never wanted to write a book, but I now feel and know that I have all these stories and experience from life, whether it's business or whatever, to share. And people need to hear it because there's so many people out there feeling scared, unsure. They're suffering in silence. They feel like everyone else is perfect, and they're not. But Right. No one's perfect if you're being honest. So let's cut the crap and just, you know, find find your people and live your life authentically and real. That's where the beauty is, especially building a company because we all know there is some ups and downs in this. Like, we're special kinda crazy. Like, truly, most people aren't like, let's go have everything I own on the line and, you know, if I mess up, you know, I mean,
18
0,12:43,000 --> 0,15:06,000
we're, like, truly crazy, but I love this life. Like, I can never go back. I just can't. You know what I mean? So, you know, I'm trying to keep Let's be clear. No no one's taking me back. I'm I would get fired the first day. I would never even get hired. I can't even get an interview, at this point. I I blame ageism, but that's my excuse for being a nonchalant. It's true. But here here's the thing. You you it's, it's, and I'm not like a gambling thrill seeker, but there is a degree of adrenaline being your own Yes. Company, and and and and it is a lot to figure out. But but, typically, the people I see who do this, I I call it entrepreneurial ADB. I'm not sure if it's what it is, but the truth is they love to have a lot of things going on. And if it's all centered around something that can make money, that's like everything in there. It's, you know, they need, it's when you get out of bounds of that even, it's a little bit crazier. But but you're you're right. Most people, you know, hey. I'm gonna risk it all. But I would tell you this. Once you've figured out something Mhmm. And you stay focused and you truly are on a strain of focus, you're you're executing a process for growth or whatever you're doing, The risk is derisked over employment because you say the wrong thing to a kid in in in Spanish or in English. Mhmm. You're out. It doesn't matter where you are. They're gonna get rid of you, and it could be just the complaining mom or dad or whatever else. They'll put on mom's always, but, like, you can be a complaining parent. Yeah. You're out. If you're in a company and it starts really going down, like, even though, like, if you if you have for whatever reason here in your business, you're the guy, I'm gonna be the last person standing. But the thing is, for you personally, you will be the last person standing. You'll still probably figure out a way to make enough to get through. Yeah. And that's the difference I think that I love about entrepreneurship on your own terms is that you have to understand you actually control more of it once you've gotten a certain level of unleashing, I say, where you've kind of learned how to depend on it. For sure. Now that being said, I have amazing wife that does remind me as much as I shit talk corporate. She's like, you do realize we kind of you live on my salary for 2 years while you were burning through our I'm like, yes. I'm aware of that, but we're not gonna talk about that publicly. Aware, but we're gonna be a millionaire someday, babe. Come on. Yeah. On paper. It's gonna be great. That that doesn't buy food. No. So in your in your own and think, what was a couple moments where you're like you started down a direction and you quickly saw, nope. Not going down that kind of entrepreneur path. Like, what do you have any of those kind of, oh god. Yeah. That's a long way to go. Yeah. I mean, I I did,
19
0,15:06,000 --> 0,16:03,000
some network marketing a while ago and, you know, drank the Kool Aid. Like, oh, that looks really cool, and you can make a lot of money. And, but I never made the kind of money I was led to believe. And and I'm a really hard worker, so I worked really hard. And I had a decent team under me, but I I learned very quickly that a lot of people aren't hard workers or don't take it to the extent that you do, I guess. And so I really just hated depending on other people for my success. Now my success it it yes. I'm depending on my employees, but, like, ultimately, I'm in control of the decisions that are being made with, you know, hearing their feedback, of course. But, you know, the the success or lack of success literally just comes back to me and making it happen. Right? Yeah. So it's it's a very interesting interesting thing, but, that's, yeah, kinda where I'm at right now. Yeah. Well and and I think, you know,
20
0,16:03,000 --> 0,17:14,000
the fact that you know there'll be aspects of your of your life that, you know, like, the the kind of lifestyle you want is you know, I'm not sure how you usually had kids, but as they go through or you're in your you know, like, I don't really wanna have this boat anchor of a house anymore. What do I wanna do different? I wanna travel. Exactly. You'll start you know, in in person, like, I look at our our we have a my main company is instant relevant. Right? And and you may not know that, but the we're we really traditionally help people on LinkedIn use it correctly without spam or automate to grow business, a presence, a brand awareness, an executive presence. And that's great, and I get to interact with lots of people 1 on 1, but it's not scalable. And long term, I'm like, I don't wanna be doing this at 58, 60 years old, like 10 years. Yeah. Yeah. And so now I'm kinda like, alright. But what's a bigger problem? So we've pivoted to, like, helping, you know, agencies prove that they can do what they say they can do by verifying their services. And and there's other people who do it, but the truth is it's a business model that's better for me because long term, I don't have to have my personal brand. I can focus more on never been promoted and helping entrepreneurs do this. So as you look forward, do have you identified, like, oh, I am definitely gonna move towards full time speaking or authorship? Mhmm. What what is your kind of beacon of light you're chasing,
21
0,17:14,000 --> 0,18:09,000
and why? Yeah. Well, it all lights me up in in different ways, but I think as my long term goal is to hire someone to take over more or less for me. I mean, I do I have a part time assistant who sends out invoices, but past that, I literally do everything for the company, which is obvious obviously a lot. So I and then I have my technicians in the field. And, god, I will not be doing that because buildings would fall down. It would be horrible. But, my long term goal, yes, is to be speaking nationally, speaking throughout the world. I'm very close to starting my own podcast. And then I have 2 more books that I already wanna write. I've kinda had the outline for those. So that's kind of where I'm going. And, yes, I will still always own the company and be involved, but just maybe not on the day to day as much and then, you know, kind of step into the other stuff more.
22
0,18:09,000 --> 0,19:04,000
Yeah. Absolutely. I I could see that. And I think, you know, advice to entrepreneurs, right, is you're forming your company. And and I wanna hear a little bit more about what your guys are doing in the construction world because and how you can't because I more on the thinking of, like, I solve this problem. This is how I've you know? Yep. But as you think about how you're building your company, you're gonna need to do things that are revenue focused first so you can get stable, and and then it creates enough headspace to say what you wanna go do next. Very few people, especially in their 1st run, get it right out of the gate. Like, I'm building this company, and this is what like, and if you do, good for you, and you'll still probably evolve it. So so just take that as a as a advice to anyone out there to have in mind of what lifestyle it's like lifestyle first which is backed up and then my revenue and your time. Yes. And yours, how did you get started on the construction side a little bit more? Dive into that a little bit because it's you're a Spanish teacher over there and it's like I maybe I missed it. Oh, how did you do that move? Because that's a that's like a ninja flip.
23
0,19:04,000 --> 0,19:48,000
Random. Yes. It's so random. So I like I said, I was a teacher for 10 years. The last year, I just I wanted out. I so I have a Spanish degree, a broadcast journalism degree, and I have my master's in education. I in my 10th year of teaching was applying for all these jobs. No one called me at all. Like, I it was just crickets, which was very discouraging. I'm like, I'm smart. I'm hardworking. Like, why? I don't understand this. But, the only job I got offered was a an office manager for a different construction company. So that got me into commercial construction. And I'm gonna tell you, whoo, it is a learning curve. There is so many weird, crazy things through the government or different jobs or whatever that you're like, what is this?
24
0,19:48,000 --> 0,19:54,000
So I cried a lot. I learned I got And you can't wait. Wait. You get the school school industry, the sled, the state local education
25
0,19:54,000 --> 0,21:55,000
world, and you're like, that's crazy enough. But then this goes to This was way worse. I was like, oh my gosh. What is this stuff? It's like crazy. And, so I got I really I got trained for, like, 2 days and got thrown in, so I learned the hard way. But working for that company got me into that industry and learning the pieces that then I had to do for my own company. Right? And, also, I'm gonna say it taught me a lot of stuff not to do because it was a very poorly run company. It it very quickly and I'm very organized and hardworking, and so it was clear to me when I started my company, like, I'm gonna do this, and I'm not gonna do that. Right? So that helped. That was very helpful. And then just, I saw a niche in Denver with had had some conversations in construction and saw a niche. I just started the company with the concrete scanning. And then I would you know, I'm in the field just a little bit, and then people would be like, well, you're here. Can you just do a core drill? And I'm like, oh, sure. I'll just buy a little core rig and throw it in the van. But now I do, like, I don't know, 8 times more core drilling. You know, like, I do so much core drilling now compared to the scanning, but they do go hand in hand. So it's like to be able to send one guy out to scan and then cut, you know, that's people like that. They don't wanna they want to have pay 1 company, you know what I mean, and pay one minimum. They don't wanna hire 2 different people. So it really works out. But yeah. I mean and I've just seen we've over doubled every year. Like, I I think I did 17,000 my 1st year, which it was 2020, March 2020 when I started the company. Wow. And I I really just built I kind of set this the you know, did the foundation of, like, setting up the company and doing all that. Right? And hiring, getting training, blah blah blah blah. And so 17,000 at the end of 2020, and last year, we did 706,000. So, I mean, we've grown very quickly.
26
0,21:55,000 --> 0,22:56,000
That's great. That's really quickly. And you decided to hire people and pay them full time, which is great. Mhmm. I I know, like, you know, the autobiography a little bit. We I made a decision. If I was gonna build a company, I'm not gonna build the one that I came from either. Yeah. 4 day work weeks. You know, we measure value not time. So if you can do your job in 3 hours somehow, awesome. You still get paid the same amount each week. If it takes you all week, you there you go. Yeah. Do a side hustle. Just make sure it's not competitive. Work you know, the team itself works out when they cover who and and, and outside of, like, occasionally being like, hey. Listen. I really need some help today. I know you're out. I don't really I don't bug with it. And and the reason is because it it's kept a stable team for 4 years. Yeah. And and I can tell you people, if you're out there and you're building your teams, you gotta have trust from the beginning or you're gonna build a just a you're just if you don't trust people and you're hiring people, unless you can't verify what they do, but, like Yeah. You have to have trust or it it you're just setting that yourself up for a horrible experience on the employee side. And and I'm it clearly, you trust your employees.
27
0,22:56,000 --> 0,23:37,000
Yeah. They they know more than I do. I'm like, I call them for questions. I'm you know, I know a lot now too, but, like, it's an art to them, and they know. I I couldn't go out and do what they do, but they can assess the situation. And I want I wanna say too about, you know, like, now, you know, I'm in my, what, 4th year of this, and I work less now than I ever have because I work really hard when I do. I work in weird little spurts. Like, last year, I went to Italy. I turned 40, and I was like, I wanna wake up and be 40 in Italy. So I went for 10 days. I ran the company from Italy with the time change by myself for 10 days, and I did it. And it was fine. Or I go skiing with my kids on a Tuesday,
28
0,23:37,000 --> 0,23:56,000
you know, and then I throw them in the pool and I work. I work weird hours, but I You know, I'm to just be clear. Oh, well, yes. They haven't drowned. I I don't know if that was, like, an entrepreneur metaphor. Like, listen. We just throw in the pool. They're gonna this is how we used to do. They're, like, drowning. No. They don't know how to see either, but you still take them and throw them in the back. Like, hey, guys, get up. Let me down.
29
0,23:56,000 --> 0,24:34,000
But, yeah, it's like, what? I don't want down. You know, you see this company that's successful down the road, quote unquote, it appears successful, but you work 80 hours a week. Your your spouse hates you. Your kids hate you. You're getting divorced. Your health sucks. Right? That is not like what you said. Build your life. What are your nonnegotiables? What do you want your life to be now? Build your that here, and then build a company around it because you actually can do it. I'm really unconventional in kinda how I work, when I work, whatever. But, like, I'm running a successful company, and I've proven it works, and I'm really happy. I'm happier now than I ever have been.
30
0,24:34,000 --> 0,25:22,000
I love that. And your your your approach on, the balance, like, hey. Let's go skiing as you can. Yeah. You know, even on the micro level. So I I've said this some, you know, you know, just a few times. And so if you've heard before listening, you can go get a cup of coffee and come back. We hear yeah. I I like, you know, forever when you're building a company, you feel like you can't take your foot off the gas. Yep. Like, you're like, in in some in some points, by the way, you can't because you're you gotta get momentum. Mhmm. You can't just be golfing or skiing or swimming. Yep. But one thing I didn't do is really kinda take care of health. So Yeah. Because I felt like I really couldn't find that hour during the day to work out, which is such a stupid excuse because you could just do push ups on the floor and go walk. Yeah. What I found was I had to get a block of time, and I had to accept that I was gonna let the gas off. And what I find is that I can go faster and more focused because of it.
31
0,25:22,000 --> 0,26:53,000
Absolutely. And you don't realize that feel good. You feel good. If you are if yeah. You can maybe work less than a day, but you are I go to the gym usually at 6 AM because my phone starts ringing at 6:37 sometimes. I mean, it's construction. It's like, oh my god. You know? So but I feel so much better. I'm so much more energized. I'm in a better mood. I'm a better mom. I'm a better boss. Everything. And it's like, can can those emails go unanswered for another hour? Yeah. They can. It's we I literally was thinking about this recently. When I first started the company, it'd be I remember I'd be getting emails and calls, and I'm like, I felt I was creating this feeling of chaos and kind of frantic you know, this frantic feeling. And now I'm like, I took that away, and I'm like, oh, it's Monday. Cool. And, yeah, I got some emails and calls. But or if I don't I can you know, if I'm in the middle of something, I'll hit decline, and I will get back to them in an hour or whatever. I'm still very responsive, but, like, I realized I was creating I was, like, getting myself worked up in, like, creating this chaos, this feeling of chaos when it really didn't need to be that way. And now it's, like, chill out, bring it down the level. It's fine. You can go then bust out all the emails and and voice mails in an hour, and you're gonna be just back to where you were. You're good. But isn't it interesting, though? Like, I how I used to create that, and now I'm like, no. I'm good. I just want peace and calm.
32
0,26:53,000 --> 0,28:28,000
I remember one, like, 5, 6 months ago. Now, I I was like, I was having trouble just finding that 30 minute when I had a 30 minute window to focus on what I needed to focus on. So I was like, yeah, I'd be in email. And I was like, oh, my God, I'm always in email. Yes. And whenever I and I remember this, whenever you feel like you're doing emails, you're doing something wrong. If you're part of your email. So I was like, I tried an EA and like, she, you know, she's awesome, but she's like, what do I do with this? I'm like It's almost too much work to tell them what to do. I go, let me solve this differently. It's not a reflection of you. This is just a reflection of the problem itself. Yeah. Okay. I got an AI inbox thing. It's called, and I don't make any money from it. It's called Sane SaneBox. And they and it looks how you use your email and it kind of you know, you train it a little bit. But I say 5 and a half to 9 hours a week per inbox. So just for my one company and so relevant, it's, like, 5 and a half to 9. For for never been promoted, it's, like, like, 4 emails. What's that? I get I have, like, 4 emails, so I totally get that. Oh, I agree with that. And then it it just brings forth I went from, like, a like, several several 100 down to 30 that would they'd put in my inbox. Yeah. Just delete them. It just puts them away. Yeah. And and then that way, if you put in your, you know, your, your signature, like, hey. Listen. If you're waiting on a response and you haven't seen it, just text me. Oh, yeah. That's smart. And then that way that way, you can get the sort, and it's really been effective. We're not missing proposal questions or I love that. Customer follow ups or, you know, request to come on a podcast and things like that. And and it's been a game changer because it's literally freed up a whole week. Yeah. That's crazy. For me. Per month, I'm getting, like, an extra week of time
33
0,28:28,000 --> 0,28:48,000
to focus. On Well really deal. I don't know if you're like this, but, I mean, I think just as entrepreneurs, we have a million things on our brain. And then, like, oh, I forgot my kids this stuff, that stuff. Right? There's, like, a lot of people running at home. Well, okay, I forgot my kids. I've done it. I've had it. For the sports,
34
0,28:48,000 --> 0,28:53,000
you know, thing I have. I I have absolutely forgotten to pick it up. I've I've done it. Yeah.
35
0,28:53,000 --> 0,30:22,000
I I have to set alarms on my phone to, like, stop working and go get them. I would just work through it. Out of the year. Did not pick up a child where I was supposed to. Yeah. Well, we have so much on our brain. And I so many times lately, I pick up my phone to I'm picking it up to do one thing, like check a timesheet or go into the bank account. And and then I 5 things later, I set my phone and I'm like, oh, yeah. I forgot to do this. Like, I did 5 other things, but I didn't do the thing I was supposed to when I checked on my phone. And I'm like, oh my god. Is this just because now I I do I have ADHD of now or is do I just have so many things on my brain? So last week, I started. I'm like, okay. Because I I do get overwhelmed. I have a million to do lists. I have, okay, a book to do list, a podcast to do list, a speaking, personal, construction, like, a 1,000,000 freaking to do list. And so I would be like, I just get overwhelmed with all the things to do. So last week, I started, okay, I'm setting a timer for 30 minutes. I'm just I'm gonna, like, focus and see bust it out how much I can get done in that 30 minutes. And then I I might set it again for 30 minutes, but, like, the amount of things that I got done that I needed to do that I've been been kinda, like, putting off was really great. And I was like, okay. This might be a thing for me because I think I just I get distracted really easily, especially when I'm going on my phone and you see the notifications, and you're like, what's this? What's this? It's like it drives me insane.
36
0,30:22,000 --> 0,31:11,000
You're you're, there's a lot of time wasted there. Yeah. The other piece I think people should realize, and and for those of you who are married to entrepreneurs and don't think like them and you look at them like, why can't they just be happy in a job every day? Don't don't try to understand it and your best scenario is just to accept. I can't say you can't guide or steer or accept. Mhmm. And I'm I'm this is gonna sound like a defensive excuse, but we don't mean to forget things. Just gonna say that, like, you're like, it and it's gonna happen. Sometimes the detail, sometimes you're talking, and you're, like, trying my best to get this to hit the memory board, but I am my mind is still in this article that was downstairs I was writing. And Mhmm. So anyway, we have the entrepreneurs have to, you know, wanna cut it off and, like, truly shut it off. We do. Try as much as we can,
37
0,31:11,000 --> 0,31:33,000
but I have, like, literally sticky notes and notes Yep. Everywhere. I write notes. I'm like, if I get told more than 2 things, like, I gotta get my notepad out. Oh, yeah. I I will not remember it. It's gone. I'm like, babe. Or I my kids are like, mom, did you look at this? I'm like, no. Because you keep telling me when I'm driving, and I can't write it down. Like, I'd no. It's out of my brain. Go and ask me at 5 o'clock to 7 o'clock to do anything No. That requires,
38
0,31:33,000 --> 0,32:29,000
a decision because I'm I'm I'm toast to that point. Like, don't fight either. I'm gonna lose my shit. So it's on be quiet. Actually, I know you're home. Just go and talk for Just go away and be quiet. Hey, guys. I know this is for talking about entrepreneurship on your own terms. These are the things that you're trying to solve. So let me come back to that because it's gonna be stressful. You're gonna create your own stress for some reasons. It's gonna be, you know, the more success you find, create some new problems. Mhmm. You'll have a 1,000,000 ideas, and you'll have to manage that. But I think some of the things you're talking about is it comes back to your day to day life with family, your friends, finding time to enjoy the life. And I cannot say this much, you have to enjoy the little successes because you're gonna have so many little failures and setbacks. If you haven't found balance there, it's gonna be a negative experience. So, like, getting your first customer or solving a customer problem or writing the landing page copy, it's a win. It, like Yep. Celebrate everything.
39
0,32:29,000 --> 0,33:04,000
I'm not saying go, like, you know, go on a cruise for a week because you wrote, you know, your landing page copy, but, you know, you have to celebrate these small ones. I do I assume you do that as well. Do everything or do the celebrating? Yes. Absolutely. I, like, for I'm trying to. And even if it's, yeah, just like something little at home or yeah. I mean, I wish we could go on a cruise for everything we celebrate, but that would create a whole another issue. But, yes, you do have to because it is, like, such an up and down, and, you know, you you just have to or you're gonna lose your mind.
40
0,33:04,000 --> 0,33:12,000
Now this time in the show, I always ask, like, you know, generally, who do you want right now to get ahold of you, and why do you want them to get ahold of you? And how do they do that for that matter?
41
0,33:12,000 --> 0,34:26,000
I would say, you know, the best place to get a hold of me is my website, just chelseahouston dot com. Anyone who, you know, is looking for maybe their tribe or looking to feel connected and and, you know, hear stories from like, I put all these crazy stories in my life out there. Like, people are probably like, oh my god. This lady is insane. But I do it because I know people are like, oh my god. You're saying things that I'm thinking, and I don't feel alone, and I don't feel like I have to be perfect. So, you know, the stories from my book, also, you know, if you are needing a speaker for I I like you said, I love to throw a little I have some really funny stories from my kids, like, hysterical that I will be sharing on my podcast and on stages. But, you know, I I love to share about being an entrepreneur, how I've built a company and now an award winning company from nothing, talking about, you know, being a mom, juggling a million things. So I just and if you need a speaker to connect with women and things like that, I would love to be considered. And then, yes, I will be starting a podcast soon. And, there, I just wanna share people's inspiring stories of how they've overcome things, how they've worked through stuff, and and make people laugh and cry and feel all the emotions.
42
0,34:26,000 --> 0,35:41,000
That's great. Bleed on the table. It's good. And, I I do wish you luck in a podcast as one who's started gone through a couple now, and this is the second one. Thank you. Hunker down. It's it's gonna be it's gonna be fun. It is a lot of work, I will say. It's not it's not as easy as Oh, yeah. I keep hearing that. I keep hearing that. It's hard. You know what it is. If you're out there thinking of doing a podcast and you're you're doing it, so I'll give kind of general advice from my perspective. You have to make sure you already know you have a fusion reactor for content. And what I mean by that is an endless supply of I can always come up with content. Because if you think, what am I gonna say after 10, 15, or 20 episodes? Don't do that. Yeah. Because because that because right there because it will end, if not sooner. You'll feel like you're repeating yourself or become salesy. If you can't have a thing on your if you're bringing guests on and it's not around a theme that's very specific, it's not you're gonna burn out because it'll it'll just it'll go flat. And not that we do ours perfect, but ours is around entrepreneurship. It was very clear from beginning, and that's the whole theme. Yep. I didn't do that on another podcast. I gotta tell you, it was fun, but it was worthless. I mean, because it doesn't have any value. And so if you're out there. You gotta focus. You gotta know what it is. And you don't need a lot. You just need to be able to be consistent with it. For sure. Yeah. They say most people give up after, like, 30 episodes.
43
0,35:41,000 --> 0,35:51,000
You gotta I would say have the goal to have at least a 100. And then at that point, you figured it out and you've gotten the flow for sure. But, yeah, there's so many people that quit.
44
0,35:51,000 --> 0,36:51,000
We've, we're we so I signed up when I've done the signed up, so to speak. I said, hey. I think I can handle 1 a week. Yeah. That's what I'm starting. People. Yeah. So many people sponsored their episode. I have to do 10 to 15 a week just to keep up. Jeez. And and I'm like, I didn't count that in my scheduling for the week. So what happens is what I'll give you an example of, like, entrepreneurship of your own terms. Right? That was my term. 1 week, that'd be good. It would be 50. That's quite a few. We've already filmed 300. We're about to just release the 100th. Alright? Yeah. And by the way, in every 100, we pivot to a slightly different, more focused format. So, yeah, about every 100, you'll figure it out. Yeah. But we during that journey, right, you're you're doing it. What what it discovered was, hey. I really like this. This is something I wanna do long term, but my current company's business model doesn't support it. Yeah. It's the epicenter. To sleep. I gotta sleep a little bit. Exactly. And you're also like I think what we're doing in selling though valuable is not what I wanna do long term because it it's just I'm so time constrained into it. Mhmm. And and that's what happens when you see these opportunities, other things you do. It starts defining
45
0,36:51,000 --> 0,37:38,000
what really matters to you, and so you start making pivots on the other side to make it happen. It's not something that's gonna happen overnight. It's a long term game. Sometimes it feels like starting a whole new company when you pivot a service line. Yeah. And so if you were, like, still in the field, you're like, I can't solve that problem, you probably would look to something else. But it looks like you got it covered, so it's good. Yeah. And you just you learn to pivot. You know, you think we can all think, oh, I'm gonna do this. And just in entrepreneurship in general, you have to be willing to pivot. How many times do we go and say, we're gonna do this? But then something might come at us that we have to change that or we have to reassess it or just pivot in a way. Like, that is our life. We are always pivoting. So and and, again, too, if you're going along and you're a 100 episodes in, you're like, I gotta I gotta pivot this and change this a little bit to speak to my soul and to still light me up and do it. That's fine. Right?
46
0,37:38,000 --> 0,38:16,000
You you have to do that as you go. You have to have your soul lit up from it. And and so Yes. Let me both kinda close with this idea. The the in any entrepreneurial journey, you're gonna have a calling. Mhmm. I'm I'm sure you have had one, and I'm sure you ignored it initially. Mhmm. It's probably like after the little bastard little Johnny talks too much, never shuts up, and his parents suck, and I get no support. I'm quitting teaching, and that might have been year 2. You probably thought I wanna do something like so whatever it is. Yeah. Yeah. Not to say every Johnny's a bastard, but you know what I'm saying? You had that kid. That probably made you question. Was your 10. And I was like, okay.
47
0,38:16,000 --> 0,38:17,000
Okay.
48
0,38:17,000 --> 0,39:34,000
And, you know, like, what what those guys did there, it is comedy show. He's like, those are the days you drive home with the music off, and you really Yeah. You're like, I can't. I just can't. Why? And that's a calling. And and usually, you don't act on that calling as an entrepreneur. Mhmm. But what becomes then a passion or a deeper interest where you then find capabilities allows you to launch or there's an event like you lose your job, you just quit, whatever happens. You need that passion plus the calling Mhmm. Plus the ability to make money because you'll need a resilience. That's the that's the fusion. Grit. You need Mhmm. Energy reactor for resilience, and you're gonna need it because it is a it is a it can be rough. Yeah. And so if you don't have that, discover figure out what your passion is and and the idea of that calling into another calling. But you have to and it sounds like you did that as well. Like, you had a moment, then you said, I think I could do this. And Mhmm. Actually, no. I'm really interested in this. And then Mhmm. And now I love it. It's crazy. I would never think I would I never wanted to own my own company, and I never would have thought I'd be in construction, but it's like how it's funny how life takes you, and then I'm like, I I love this. Like, I love it so much. You know? What's next for you? Where's your, what you know, do you have any crazy ideas you're working on now that you're like, I might do this? Well,
49
0,39:34,000 --> 0,40:03,000
half the time it's like I'm like, okay. What's my next dream? Because when you think about it, 5, 10 years ago, what if I told myself I'd be doing what I'm doing now, you'd be like, no. You're not. I mean, it's like I've already done more than I've ever even dreamed, which it's crazy. So sometimes I have a hard time of, like, well, what's next? Right? But it is like I've already I have a I got chosen to speak in Scottsdale in September. I'm going to New York to have my me and my mom are getting her books on Times Square
50
0,40:03,000 --> 0,40:10,000
on the, the How much do that cost, to be honest? Let everyone know how much it cost to go on Times Square.
51
0,40:10,000 --> 0,41:01,000
I I it's around a 1,000 ish dollars. Thousand? That's not bad. That's not bad at all. I would've guessed it's, like, 10 k minimum. I thought it'd be way more, so I was like, what? I'm doing that. As soon as my book is, I am going to New York, we're making it. Do it. Yes. And then, yeah, like, you know, I wanna have a top podcast, and I'm and then I'm speaking in Dallas next year already. I've been asked to do speak there. So it is I think I've I've invested a lot of time and money in myself and and connected myself with people doing what I wanna do, and they're doing it very successfully. So it's like I'm learning and growing from them and and have all these new mentors now. So it's like now I gotta just get to work. I I have all these events. I'm gonna pitch myself just as a speaker. And so I think, you know, I personally have done the work, and now I need well, I need to keep doing the work. I've done the learning, do the work, and now it's gonna blow up.
52
0,41:01,000 --> 0,41:42,000
How long do they put it on the, billboard for? The it's, like, 24 hours once an hour. That's pretty good. Yeah. I know. I was like, what? I thought it'd be way more expensive than that. Because that way, you can actually, like, get a a a photographer, and and it's on both, like, 10 seconds or something. Right? It's like Yeah. It's great PR. I'm like Trap. Paper clip. Trade it up. You know, if you really are if you really are clever, you just could take any picture of it, have somebody Photoshop you in, drop the background, make it look like you were there in the audience. Could. But it's more fun. Me and my mom, she wrote a book, a children's book, a bestseller. I wrote my book. So I'm like, mom, I, I was just gonna do it. I'm like, you want to take a trip together and do it together? So it'll be really cool. Yeah. Yeah. It's gonna hold the camera now too, which is good.
53
0,41:42,000 --> 0,41:44,000
Awesome. I know.
54
0,41:44,000 --> 0,42:43,000
Chelsea, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you. This has been fun. This is wonderful. I appreciate Chelsea Husum, it's h u s u m, dot com. Check it out. I appreciate you coming on, the show. This is wonderful. Thank you. I feel like we could chat forever. I mean, if I, if I didn't have these back to back We gotta go to work though now, guys. I don't wanna back to work. I mean, it's not even I'm gonna put you in the periwinkle room. There's no snacks or beverages because it's digital, and I may have eaten them all anyway. But I'll be I'll be back right with you. I'm gonna say goodbye. Thank you. Thank you for anybody who's made it this far in the show. I appreciate you listening, watching to the Never Been Promoted podcast. We are here to help you get better at entrepreneurship. You know, go to youtube.com@neverbeenpromoted. Take a follow, you know, take a gander, look at it. It's fun actually. We have a lot of more content coming out too in the future, so, give us a subscribe. You listen to the podcast. Please take a moment to do a 5 star review. It's super important for the guest and for, our mission. Till we meet again. Get out there and go and lead your entrepreneur. Thanks for listening.
55
0,42:43,000 --> 0:42:45,000
Thank you for listening to the Never Been Promoted podcast. If you liked today's show, subscribe at youtube.comforward/at never been promoted. Until next time. Get out there and go unleash your inner entrepreneur.