From Struggling Immigrant to Franchise Rock Star: The Story Of Amanda Barkey

Amanda Barkey  00:00

To make it fun. So I would I would suggest for any entrepreneur, any person who has a goal to identify appropriate rewards identify what is worthy of that reward. So set those those mile markers or those milestones. And even along the way, if you have that BHAG or that big, you know, 10 year target, there’s going to be signposts along the way to achieving that big goal. Set those signposts up and make sure that when you hit them that you celebrate.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  00:41

So Good Morning, and Welcome to another edition of Better Business, Better Life. Today, I’m super excited because I’m joined by one of my my fellow EOS Implementers. Amanda Barkey not only as your professional EOS Implementer, she has a wife as a mother of five children. But she’s also an owner of four franchises of soccer shots with her husband, who is the visionary in that business. Is that right? Remember?

Amanda Barkey  01:03

You got it.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  01:05

Well, look, thank you so much for joining me. I have followed you with interest on social media, I saw you winning your award the other day. And so I’ve got to have this lady on the show, we need to talk about, you know, how you got into EOS and what you’ve been doing with your life. So, really pleased to have you here.

Amanda Barkey  01:19

Absolutely. Thank you so much, Debra. And likewise, I follow you. And I’ve listened to many, many hours of your podcast. So I’m so happy to be here. Thank you. It’s a pleasure.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  01:28

Oh, that’s great. Thank you. So I’ve we’ve just been having a quick chat, as we always do before the podcast and that you’ve just told me your story. And you know, you’re both from a refugee and now you’re immigrants in the US living the American dream. Would you mind sharing a wee bit of your story as the listeners can get a sense of who Amanda is?

Amanda Barkey  01:46

Sure. Yeah. So my grandparents were all political refugees. My parents are immigrants. So I’m a first generation born Canadian. I grew up in Canada, very humble beginnings. My parents were both blue collar workers worked multiple jobs, just to make ends meet. I met my husband up in Canada, we got married and then dove into the entrepreneurial life. So I think my husband was probably born coming out of the womb with a business plan. He he’s an entrepreneur through and through much more of a risk taker than I am. But he’s imparted that, that drive and that passion onto me. So we moved down to America in 2009. So that was about 13 years ago now left everything that we ever knew everything that we had lost our house during the housing recession, the housing crisis, and put everything we had in the back of a car and just started a new life in America. And that was 13 years ago. And now we are successful. Business Owners, we’re entrepreneurs, we have multiple businesses, multiple children, five children later and just living a beautiful life in California and doing what we love with people we love with time for other passions, making a huge impact. And being adequately compensated so can’t complain us life. Yeah, for sure.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  03:12

That is fantastic. And you just recently won the award for franchise Rockstar of the year. Is that right? We did. Yeah. Yeah. Well, congratulations on that. Thank you.

Amanda Barkey  03:22

It’s a huge accomplishment for ourselves. We, we’ve been part of this franchise, our soccer shots franchise for 13 years, it’s been an amazing journey, really rewarding and fulfilling life, but to be nominated. Out of all of the franchises in our franchise system. There’s over 200 individual franchises across the country and in Canada. And then to win out of 300,000 nominees was just incredible. Such a such an honor. So thank you.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  03:52

I’m really, really, really proud of you. It’s great to see, hey, so you you actually run on EOS and your business? Is that right? Yeah, you got it. Yeah. And you were a self implementer to win here. So tell us a little bit about what what happened. How did you come across the IRS and why did you decide to self implement EOS into the business?

Amanda Barkey  04:10

Yeah, well, so really plainly, we decided to self implement, because we didn’t have any money. We couldn’t afford to hire an implementer we were, it was really in the beginning stages of our journey. We really were really a young business at the time. And it’s funny looking back now, obviously, as a professional implementer I know the benefits of hiring a professional, I like to say, you know, you can self implement, just like you can remodel your bathroom, if you want to you can do it yourself. But it’s going to take a lot longer, it’s going to be a lot harder than if you hire a professional. So looking back and there’s always you know, everything’s hindsight hindsight 2020. Looking back, I would definitely take out credit cards a line of credit and ask beg anybody for a loan so that I could hire a professional and and do it the right way. But we just did whatever we could to, to get EOS into our business and start running on EOS as soon as possible. We read the book, and it just, it just was a light bulb moment. For us. It was a huge aha moment. And we knew that this was what was missing in our business. So we self implemented, I have such a heart for self implementers, because they’re just such gritty, determined, wonderful entrepreneurs. And so they’re actually some of my favorite clients to take on. Because they’ve been trying they get it, they’re hungry for it, and they love it. But they just can’t get themselves to that next level. And so I get to help them and take them there.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  05:43

Wow, that’s wonderful. It’s funny, isn’t it? Because I actually, I had been coaching for many years and running businesses for even more years before I came across EOS And I had that light bulb moment myself as well read the book and just went, Oh, my goodness, this brings together like, everything I’ve done in terms of running pretty large businesses over here. All of my study that I did in my MBA, and then the frameworks around you of being an entrepreneur, and it was just it was like, Wow, this was the best fight ever. I think for me in terms of just bringing together a really simple frame where people can actually use.

Amanda Barkey  06:13

Yeah, for us, it was really an aha moment. Because we didn’t even know anything like this existed. We, we were just going along to get along, we decided to start a business and just was we were learning as we’re going along and learning from our mistakes growing by our reputation. But we really didn’t know what what the heck we were doing. And we really felt frustrated and out of control. And when we read traction, it it just was a game changer for us. We didn’t know what we didn’t know. And you know, when you find that, that golden ticket or that key and run with it, it’s just it’s a game changer was life changing?

Debra Chantry-Taylor  06:57

So what was the biggest frustration? Do you think in the business before you came across traction?

Amanda Barkey  07:03

Yeah, you know, I think, in life, and in business, for me, the biggest frustration has been lack of opportunity. I’ve never had anything handed to me. And I’ve had to create opportunities for myself, and my husband has been in the same shoes. And so we were constantly trying to create opportunities from these obstacles that we were facing in, in our business and in our life. And I feel like we were fire fighters. And now we’re fire preventers. So we were coming across all of these train wrecks and these these obstacles and these challenges. While we were running our business and trying to just like pick up the pieces and and trying to fix things. We were fixers. And once we implemented Eos, we were able to step back and see things before we it’s like looking stead of looking when you’re driving in the rearview mirror or looking at things that are coming that came behind you. We’re looking through the windshield, and we could see things 100 miles ahead. So yeah, so that’s what really, really solved those those frustrations of really just trying to pick up the pieces when things fell apart, we were able to predict really well. And that’s that’s just changed everything for us.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  08:31

That’s great. And is there a favorite tool? Do you think of the EOS sort of? I know, it’s a complete framework. And I know that obviously, it’s important to strengthen all six key components to get the results, but also something that just you know, you started using and immediately had an effect for you.

Amanda Barkey  08:45

Oh, absolutely. So I my favorite tool. So I think I think there’s a two part question the thing that for us, changed everything immediately was the level 10 meeting. We weren’t even having meetings before. So we just just to start having meetings, have an agenda, and follow that and and be able to really identify, discuss and solve issues was a game changer for us. Because like I said before, we were solving issues and making them go away forever, so that we didn’t have to put out those fires again and again and again. For me as an implementer. My favorite tool is the people analyzer. So values are very, very important to my husband and I we have core values for our soccer shots business, you know, we have core values as US implementers. With us worldwide. We have family core values, and I’ve done a personal core values assessment. So I have my own personal core values and using those core values, is integral to who we are as people when we’re making decisions in our lives. decisions that have to do with relationships, where we spend our money who We support the organizations and donation projects that we pour ourselves into. And I think that people analyzer is just a really important tool to, to really put your core values into play so that your core values come to life. Because you know, you can have core values, you can define your core values or discover your core values and post them up on the wall, and they’re lovely. But if you’re not actually using your core values, they’re simply core aspirations. And so I think that it’s very important to use your core values everyday, we use our core values in the way that we speak with our employees, the way that we speak with our children, and so we use them to communicate and then using the people analyzer, we use them to assess people in our lives, and we use it in our business and also in our personal life. So I think that the people analyzer is my favorite tool,

Debra Chantry-Taylor  10:57

your favorite tool, I tell you what, so the people who maybe have not come across this, the people analyzer isn’t the EOS tool, part of the framework that actually just gives you a chance, firstly, you define your core values, and then you put them against the people and you get them out, give them a chance to say that that their plus means that 90% of the time they actually exhibit that core value, a plus minus means they tend to flip flop, and then a minus means they don’t exhibit that core value. So that’s kind of how you score people in there. But it enables you to have a conversation with those people doesn’t it around, you know where they’re at? So can you give me an example of where you’ve actually use that in your business and the value that has brought?

Amanda Barkey  11:30

Yeah, so you know, the people analyzer is used to assess whether or not your people black or white, there’s no gray area are aligned with your core values and who you are at the core as an organization. And as people and And better yet, it helps to facilitate that communication. So we use it in our interviewing process, we, we use the people analyzer, we show it to our newest hires, and we say look like these are our core values. And we almost use it to try to Ansel them. And we try to sort of have them second guess or question whether or not they actually want to work for us. And we say look like if these are not your core values, that’s okay, there’s no good or bad core values, right? They just are. And so these are ours. And if you align with these core values, you’re gonna love working here. If you don’t, this is not the place for you. There’s probably another place that has core values that align with who you are. But it really from hiring, reviewing, rewarding firing, it helps us to, to really facilitate that communication with our employees as to whether or not they’re aligned with who we are. And it’s really served us well. So in our industry with soccer shots, a typical soccer shots coach will work for soccer shots business for, I’d say, six to 18 months at the most, there’s a high turnover, low retention rate. Most of these people that we’re hiring are college age kids. So there’s a lot of different factors that play as to why we can’t retain coaches, as as long as some other businesses might retain their employees. But with soccer shots, Orange County hiring, reviewing rewarding firing with our core values has produced this culture in our organization that is second to none, we have this year for employees who are celebrating 10 years with soccer shots, Orange County, so we’re very, very proud of that. We built a very strong culture. And I think that is because we’ve leaned so heavily into our core values, they know who we are, as an organization. And as people, we live out our core values every day. And it really has helped us to retain employees and to attract the right people who align with who we are, we love the people who work with us, like family. I have five children, as you had mentioned. And I would say 90% of our coaches, our uncle and aunt to our kids. So we have a strong culture in our organization. And I really, truly believe it’s due the fact that we’ve lean so heavily into those core values.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  14:14

And I think you’re absolutely right about it. It’s a great tool for kind of managing the people that day to day but it is really a tool for making sure you get the right people on board to have you ever had anybody who, you know, might have said that they have the same core values as you but then discovered that perhaps they weren’t quite on the same page.

Amanda Barkey  14:32

Yeah, we have had doesn’t happen often we’re very candid with our employees, but it does happen once in a while and, and that’s okay, we we don’t take it personally because we’re using this tool, you know, so it’s, it’s a great way to sort of take the emotion or take the ego or you know, any of that stuff out of it. It just it is what it is. It’s very plain and simple. So Oh,

Debra Chantry-Taylor  15:01

yeah, fantastic. So going back to the other tool that you said, kind of as a game changer in your business, the level 10 meetings, I have to say this probably one of my favorite tools only because when I’ve ever I start with a new client, I just see that it’s one of the first tools that we teach, and they start to implement it immediately. And literally within three to four weeks, the way the business runs is just completely changed. And then within three to four months, you’re seeing results that are just unheard of. So a little bit about the level 10 meeting, what can you tell us about the level 10 meeting? Why do you think it is so effective?

Amanda Barkey  15:30

Well, it’s just an agenda that’s so effective. So I like to look at the level 10 meeting at you know, it’s a 90 minute meeting, it’s a big chunk of time, it’s the probably the most expensive time in your week. And it to me, it’s a time management tool. So you’re using this time together, effectively and efficiently. So that you can avoid those train wrecks and you’re saving time later in the week I can, I can’t even count the hours that we’ve saved in in the weeks that that have followed the level 10 meeting, because we’ve spent that time in those 90 minutes, really assessing our business IDs, seeing and solving the big issues in our business before they become those trainwreck. So it’s a time management tool. I can’t imagine having a meeting without an agenda. That’s just nutty to me at this point. So yeah, I’m just it’s invaluable. And and the thing that I love the most about it is that anyone can do it, you can you can change your meetings tomorrow, you can start using this agenda. It’s very simple, it’s simple to understand, and it’s simple to use, and it will change your business from the get go. So you run that meeting using this agenda, walk out of there, and your business is going to start to change. Yeah.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  16:55

And so the IDs for those who may not have heard of it, it’s what we call the issue solving track, it is a process that we go through to actually really truly identify what is the real issue with with whatever you’re talking about. And then we spend the time to discuss it with the intention of solving it. And then the SS the soul, which is where you actually come up with things to do, though, there’s a big chunk of that meeting that is actually based around that 60 minutes of that nine minute meeting is all based around IDs thing or solving issues. And I think it’s really key. It just It changes the way that you view the business doesn’t matter to me when you start to actually list your issues and start to work through them and really understand what the real issues are. That fundamentally changes the way you approach the business.

Amanda Barkey  17:35

Sure, yeah. And, you know, in my own personal life, my my husband and I have IDS, certain challenges or obstacles with our children. We used the IDS concept in family meetings. And it’s just so effective and so important, because what it does is it creates will just the issues list alone creates this culture where people aren’t afraid to call out an issue. You know, there’s no sense in sweeping things under the rug, I believe in personal or business life. That’s not going to move anything along, you know, if nothing changes, nothing changes. So I really believe in the open and honest and just getting it out there. And that’s what the issues list and IDS thing does. And moving to that solve is so empowering. So yeah, it’s just it’s an incredible tool.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  18:31

Yeah. And I think it’s really important. We talk about issues, I think people kind of tend to see that as being a negative, like you said, actually better that you have these things out, then you’re dealing with them. But it’s also opportunities, right? It’s not necessarily it can be issues, it can be opportunities, it can be challenges, whatever it might be, but just actually having those conversations. Yeah, yeah. And so some people will be sitting here listening, going, Oh, that sounds really, really great. But 90 minutes a week, I don’t have 90 minutes a week to put into a meeting. What would you say to those people

Amanda Barkey  18:58

You do trust. You know, if you don’t make the time, if you don’t take that 90 minutes, you are going to be spending so much more time putting out those fires. So like I said earlier, we want to be fire preventers, rather than firefighters. And so if you’re happy, being a firefighter and putting out those fires, you know, all day every day, by all means don’t take the time, but 90 minutes is a short amount of time to get what you need to get done to avoid all of that if you really look at the grand scheme of things, it’s really not that that big of an ask so you have the time you you just need to make it a priority. And if you can’t make it a priority, then you’re probably not in enough pain. When you really, Yeah, once you are that and then you try the level 10 meeting you’ll realize what, what an efficient and effective use of time it really is.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  19:57

And I think over time I’ve seen with my clients is that you know over time as well. He removes all the other little ad hoc meetings that you are having as well. So in theory, you can get your meetings down to no more than sort of two meetings in a week, unless it’s based around projects and things, which means you’ve got rid of all the additional. I mean, some some, some of some of my clients have meetings for Africa at the FBI. Actually, let’s get rid of all of those. And let’s have one really good meeting that actually produces the results that you require. Absolutely. Oh, so what else have you seen changed? I mean, 13 is a long, long time. So you know, again, congratulations on going for so long. What else? Have you seen change, since you brought EOS into the business?

Amanda Barkey 20:36

Yeah, I mean, everything has changed for us. So we implemented EOS in 2014. And, you know, our business has changed, we’ve we immediately saw exponential growth in our business, we ended up in the top five of 125 franchises at that time in the country. And we’ve been able to stay at the top of the pack over the course of time, but it also has given us much more than just profit and growth, it’s given us tools to be able to, to get the life that we want to live a life by design. So we were in a partnership with a business partner. And we went through a really brutal, devastating split of our partnership in 2018. And it was really hard, I’ve never been through divorce, my parents are still together, I’m with my husband, I’ve never experienced divorce. But this is as close to a divorce that I could imagine. But we wouldn’t have been able to get there, we wouldn’t have been able to make that decision and work through that split, if it wasn’t for the EOS tools, revealing the areas of our business that that we needed to change. So it’s given us the framework to make really big important decisions in our business and in our life. It’s smoked out those issues, like I said, and then also, it’s given me an opportunity to completely work my way out of operations. My husband isn’t out of operations yet. But it’s because he’s the visionary of our business. And he’s absolutely in love with his role. He, he chooses the amount of hours that he works, so he’s definitely not a full time employee by any means. But he is the driver of culture in our organization. And, and he loves it. And so he’s doing what he loves, which is great, but I’ve been able to work my way out of operations completely. And, and that’s how I’ve been able to, to capitalize on this opportunity to become a professional EOS Implementer. And, and that’s only because of EOS and, and also, you know, it’s given us opportunities for freedom and other areas of our lives in 2018. After that split, we adopted our oldest son. And we hosted him first, in the summer of 2018. He came and spent five weeks with us that summer. And we were able to take those five weeks completely off and just spend them with our children. And then four months later, we traveled to Colombia to go complete the adoption and pick him up. And we took another month off. And during that month, actually my integrator had her first child, so she took time off to have her baby. And then one of another leadership team member of ours, his wife had a baby. And so there were three of us on the leadership, technically four, because at that time I was on the leadership team that were completely out of operations, we were out of the country. And our business broke through a ceiling that month, and we hit a milestone revenue milestone that we we had never even dreamed of hitting. So if that doesn’t show you how EOS works, I don’t know what does. So

Debra Chantry-Taylor  23:59

I’m happy that very very clearly demonstrates it. And I think it is important because sometimes we believe that we have to put all these hours and that we have to be there consistently. But in actual fact, that’s usually a symptom. There’s something not quite right in the business. And if you actually strengthen those key components, then you can elevate yourself out. And so you’re now purely in the owners box. Is that right? You’re not on the leadership team anymore. You’re not involved in the operators, the business. Yeah, yeah. And so you’ve managed to, you know, go and become a professional EOS implementer. Tell me a little bit about that journey. So what what made you want to do that?

Amanda Barkey 24:31

Yeah, you know, somebody asked me this yesterday, actually, I just got back from QCE,  QCE is or our quarterly lady, collaborative exchange, and another implementer asked me, What made you decide to do this? And I said, I don’t know that that’s a bad answer. But I’m really truly I can’t really put my finger on it. I just knew in my gut that this was for me. So um, This year actually in January, we had our annual planning meeting, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day that’s here in America. It’s on a Monday, the following Thursday, we had our same page meeting. So myself as the owner, my husband’s the visionary, and then our integrator. Nancy, she’s been with us for the last eight years. We’re very close to three of us. We affectionately call her a third wheel. So we had our same page meeting. And, you know, they said, Amanda, like, the kids are all in school full time, all of our kids are school aged. The business is back, we really suffered during COVID. Were a children’s extracurricular program. So yeah, we when the schools shut down, we shut down and California was, was restricted for a very long time. So we were officially back in January, we were 100%. healthy again. And we just kind of had a moment where we were like, you know, what’s next? What’s next for you? Because we know what Nancy is going to be doing. We know what Jovan is going to be doing. What is Amanda going to be doing? And, and they really held my feet to the fire. Nancy became a fractional integrator during COVID. And so she’s had a lot of success with that. And with that, she has a surplus of clients. So she was saying, Look, you could become an integrator, and we could start some sort of a firm here. And I could refer all these clients to you. And I thought about it, probably for about 30 seconds and decided, no, that’s not for me. I’ve seen Nancy literally sit at my dining room table and do l 10. And after l 10. For her clients and get on all of these one on one calls. And I just knew that that wasn’t for me, I’m not interested in in doing that. But, you know, the next thing sort of the next next natural progression was implementer. You know, the three of us said, we have an integrator, we have a visionary. What about an adding an implementer to the group? So, so yeah, I never really considered it before. And it just was one of those moments where lightning strikes. And you’re like, of course, this is this is what I meant to do. So I watched the webinar the next day, and 17 days later, I was at boot camp, and, and I’ve never looked back. So it’s this year has been the most incredible year of my life. It’s been the best year of my life. And that was just one of those momentous occasions that I will never forget sitting in that cafe and making that decision.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  27:33

Yep. Yeah, I had a similar thing. I mean, I actually don’t know if you know, but EOS actually use my events center in Parnell in Auckland here to actually launch EOS into New Zealand. And I couldn’t actually attend the launch. But because it was my event center that I obviously saw the booking I thought, Well, why not this EOS is. And they left a couple of books. When I read the books, I just immediately pick up the phone to Fran and said, Look, I’m I’m really keen to find out more about this. And she said, Well, you’d be an awesome implementer. And literally within I think it was three weeks I was on a plane going into my boot camp. And then that was it. I’ve been an implementer since almost three years now. But yeah, it’s a great decision. Hey, tell me about the type of clients that you’d like to work with? And when what is, you know, what are the what’s the ideal client for you?

Amanda Barkey  28:13

Yeah, I don’t think I’m quite figured that out yet. As far as ideal, our target client is open and honest, willing to be vulnerable with themselves and the people around them more afraid of the status quo than they are of change. That’s who I am. I’m an entrepreneur, and I connect with other entrepreneurs who are wired to like me, I really love meeting people who get it, you know, you can just tell when an entrepreneur gets it. And, and I’ve, I’ve especially enjoyed working with other self implementers it’s been a joy to be able to work with people who get it, and they’ve experienced, experienced a taste of EOS. And, and they just, they know what’s available. And they know that there’s more more to this that they just can’t quite get. And so to be able to help them get that is just a joy for me. So I really enjoy working with self implementers. And really just real gritty, genuine salt of the earth entrepreneurs who have started something from nothing and grown this amazing, beautiful business and are ready to take it to the next level.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  29:35

Yeah, I think it’s one of the things that also made me fall in love with the OS two is that all of our implementers we are all entrepreneurs ourselves. We’ve all run businesses we’ve all had the challenges that come with running a business, we understand what it’s like to be in the shoes of our clients because there’s a lot of coaches out there around the world who you know, might well be good coaches who can say but they’ve not had that experience. I think unless you’ve actually been there and done that sort of you know, walked in those shoes it’s it’s It’s difficult to understand what your clients are going through.

Amanda Barkey  30:03

Yeah, I was just actually saying this yesterday, you know, I became an implementer after using an experiencing EOS in my business for eight years. So I am not coming into a session room and teaching a tool and saying, Look, this is the level 10 meeting, I’ve watched a video about it 100 times, I’ve sat in 100 level 10 meetings, I’ve experienced using this tool. And so I I’ve seen the effects of it. I know it inside and out. And I think that that’s almost a superpower that I have, that I can share with my clients. Because I’ve been there, I’ve been in their shoes, and I can relate. And I have that ex that real world experience.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  30:46

Absolutely. Okay, so now, it’s been already half an hour. It’s amazing how quickly this time goes on. And I’m really conscious, I like to try and keep these things nice and short and sharp to listen to on the way and into work and whatnot. But we always ask for three tip top tips or tools, because I love for the listeners to be able to go away and do something with the stuff that we’ve talked about. So would you share with me your three top tips or tools?

Amanda Barkey  31:06

Sure, yeah, I did put some thought into this. I’ve listened to your podcast, so I knew it was coming. And I shared on Instagram recently my eight don’ts. So you know, people like to share the things that people should do the do’s and and I came up with a creative post. And I’ve been sharing my don’ts. So I have my top eight don’ts. And I took three don’ts from that list. So my first tip is don’t wait to feel ready. So figure out what you’re passionate about and do that thing. If you wait to do anything meaningful with your life, you’re going to be waiting forever. So don’t wait to feel ready. I really think that doubt killed more dreams than failure ever did. So if you’re sitting there and thinking about something that you want to do, and thinking about that dream, or that big idea, and not taking action on it, and doubting yourself, it’s just gonna die. So don’t wait to feel ready, that would be my very first tip. And you know, you don’t have to have all your ducks in a row, you don’t need to know, you know, the game plan. You know, years out, you just need to know what the next step is. And take that step really put, put your put your money where your mouth is and, and put your feet to the fire and get uncomfortable and take the risks and just go for it. If you have that dream, then don’t wait to feel ready. So that would be my first tip. Number two is don’t back down once you’ve decided. So, you know, I think that our minds are very powerful. And when you decide to do something, and then back down, there’s something psychologically that happens where you, you make yourself small. So there’s power and keeping promises to yourself. And I think that, like I said, you need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. That’s where the massive growth happens. So you know, even if it’s scary, or it’s uncomfortable, take that leap and stick with it. Because that’s where you’re going to grow. And just start small, take those small steps, but keep doing them be consistent, whether it’s starting a business, moving to a new country, joining a gym and starting a fitness plan, just do it, just do it start and then stick with it stay consistent. So don’t sit down once

Debra Chantry-Taylor  33:38

Decided button for a second. That’s really interesting. I love doing my podcast and I’ve been doing this for a little bit over must be almost two years now I think. And it was interesting to see that a lot of people who start podcasts, they don’t get past the first sort of 567 episodes and then they kind of give up We’re almost up to 100 now and so it is part of that power of just consistency. And you know, the more and more that and it’s just like going to the gym the more and more you do it the more it becomes a habit the more you enjoy it. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Amanda Barkey  34:05

Listen, half the battle is showing up. So just show up, stay consistent. And then you’ll see awesome results. So yeah, I think if you’re persistent, then you’ll get it and if you’re consistent you’ll keep it so stay consistent. Love it and then third I would say you know I don’t want to do anything if it’s not fun. So make it fun and make sure that you don’t forget to celebrate your successes. So so often I find that entrepreneurs the they forget to celebrate a you know nobody is making me Employee of the Month nobody’s giving me that plaque or putting my my picture up on the wall and celebrating my progress and my my success. So I have to do it for myself. And just like we have to schedule in our clarity breaks you You need to schedule in celebration. So we realize this really early on. You know, when my husband and I started this business, one of our very first milestones that we wanted to get get to is to build our business to six figures. And we did that we reached that six figure, revenue milestone, and we were in no position to go celebrate go on a vacation, or, or, you know, do any of that by any means. But we did it, we said that we were going to celebrate when we hit that milestone, we got my mother in law to come in and watch the kids. And we took off and went to Mexico for a week. And during that week, we lost two employees, we lost three accounts. It was there, there was a lot going on back here at home. But do you think that I remember the names of those employees? Or are the accounts that we lost? No, but I will never forget that trip, it was really important. And we actually experienced some major breakthrough moments during that trip, some some big realizations happen. And I think that that happens when you remove yourself from the business, and you take that time away. And so it would have been really easy for us to not take that trip, there were a lot of things standing in the way, but we put it on the calendar and we put it we put that plan into motion before we even reached that goal. And we didn’t back down from that commitment. So life is too short, you need to make it fun. So I would I would suggest for any entrepreneur, any person who has a goal to identify appropriate rewards, identify what is worthy of that reward. So set those those mile markers or those milestones. And even along the way, if you have that  BHAG or that big, you know, 10 year target, there’s going to be signposts along the way to achieving that big goal. Set those signposts up and make sure that when you hit them that you celebrate what and it doesn’t have to be a big trip to Mexico, you know, you can go by yourself, your favorite coffee, or take yourself, go get a massage, or could be something small along the way. But make sure that you’re celebrating your success, it really is something that is important to do. And people who celebrate their successes are generally more motivated, they’re more optimistic, they’re less stressed. And so it’s going to benefit you along the way and in the long run. So don’t forget to celebrate,

Debra Chantry-Taylor  37:35

I love it. And I think particularly as entrepreneurs, we can be quite tough on ourselves, too. So I think that you know, that we, you know, that’s what also what keeps us going and keeps us motivated and probably makes us achieve, but at the same time, we have to take that time out to ourselves.

Amanda Barkey  37:49

Absolutely. And I was saying to my husband, you know, not only that, but there are so many people that are rooting for you, that are watching you and they’re they’re watching your journey. And when you don’t celebrate you, then you are doing a disservice to the people who are rooting for you. So you’re not just doing a disservice to yourself, you’re doing a disservice to all of those people. And so keep that in mind. Celebrating is not a selfish thing. It’s not a selfish act. You deserve it, you’re worth it. And and yeah, as an entrepreneur, nobody’s going to do that for you. You need to make sure that you you make that a priority.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  38:29

Yeah. Hey, look, great tips there. So I mean, so don’t wait, don’t wait to feel ready. And don’t back down once you’ve decided and don’t forget to celebrate your successes by way, a man it’s been an absolute pleasure to finally get to speak to you. I’m hoping to see you when we come over for the QCE in Dallas next year. So I can’t wait to meet people in person for the first time. But thank you for taking the time. Thank you for sharing with us your journey. Again, congratulations on all that you’ve achieved on the awards and, and for becoming a professional EOS implementer. Because I I have no doubt you’re gonna love it to pieces. This is what I love to do. And I know that all of us in the community are very passionate about what we do. Thanks so much,

Amanda Barkey 39:09

Debra, likewise, I just I appreciate you. I appreciate this community. And I’m so grateful for this time together. So thank you. I can’t wait to give you a big hug in Dallas.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  39:18

Me too we’re looking forward to it. Thank you very much. Enjoy the rest of your day. And we’ll talk again soon.

Amanda Barkey  39:22

Likewise you too. Thank you