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    💛 Yasmine & Team Coaches & Co.

TRANSCRIPT

Yasmine  0:02  

Hello friends and welcome back to our next episode of do business better 2022. Today I am here with Catalina del Carmen, Cat is an incredible wife, mom, first generation Guatemalan American and multiple six figure Latina business coach, who supports and teaches other women and women of color in creating their own businesses, their own coaching businesses, and creating impact within their communities. Cat is all about getting more money in the hands of women and women of color everywhere, which you guys know is also my jam. We are here for all of that. And we are especially here for our guests Cat today. So thank you for joining us Cat.

Cat 00:50

Yeah, thank you for having me. I’m so so excited to be here and talk with you and just like be in your energy. 

Yasmine  0:57  

Yes. Likewise, I love it. Thank you for joining me. So for those that are not familiar with you, if you wouldn’t mind, please share a bit about you your story, who you are and what you’re all about. 

Cat 01:18

Yeah, so you gave a little bit of my story in the intro, but I’ll give you a little bit more of my business story. So around 2017 I, well, one, I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur, I never knew what that was going to look like I love business, I went degrees in business. And I spent quite a few years in 2017 2018 and summer 2019 really figuring out what I wanted to do trying different things, started a YouTube channel fashion blog, really exploring in that time, I also built a career in tech, I’m from the Bay Area. And tech is like where the money is that and I’ve always been very, like very driven by the six figure salary because that was always, it was always told to me as a first gen. American that like that’s like the goal. And in that time, I built a wonderful career at a fortune 500 company, really have the best job I traveled, I had a wonderful day and all of this, but I really, really did want to build this business and I started a podcast. After many failed attempts of other types of content, and the content of the podcast stuck in at that time it was called follow that fear. Now it’s called Latinas booked out. But that podcast helped me really practice a lot of business skills, and get experience in marketing and later on experience in selling. And that turned into a coaching business, which really led me to put out a course and group program. And it really, really helped me get into a space where I decided I wanted to invest fully in becoming a coach, a business coach. And I really was driven by seeing more and more women of color. I work with mainly Latinas and helping them create money in their businesses, because I saw so many people get stuck where I got stuck in my business where you wanted to share, you wanted to build this business, but you also care deeply about your community. And I had to learn that hump that that you can make money and help your community. But you are going to have to change your mindset on a couple of things when it comes to creating coaching business. So that has been thriving for the last two, three years. And well, I should say one to two years in terms of the thriving part. The first year was hard. But um, now I support women of color coaches full time I quit my job. And I teach my clients how to make money in their business through sales, marketing and mindset. So it’s really a blessing. 

Yasmine  3:53  

I love it.It’s one of the things that I love about you and your work is your marriage of strategy and mindset and how neither one really overshadows the other both are important. Yeah, both are important, both are necessary. And I really love that you are leaning into supporting of other women of color, because I see it too in terms of access to resources, access to information access to support, you know, the type of support that each individual person needs, and can really be catapulted forward if they are supported by someone who understands their unique circumstances, their unique experience. And as you know, and as many of our listeners know, this digital landscape and this type of business model that you are supporting others in creating and really to simplify it further is it’s not so much the, you know, creating digital products and courses and a group program I’ve been hosting workshops, and it’s not all of that, you know, it’s really more so you the person creating income for yourself through whichever, you know, vehicle, yeah is in alignment, whether that is a mastermind program, whether that is a live workshop, whether that is, you know, one on one coaching or a group print whatever that looks like leveraging your skills. And that brings me to another thing that I love about your work and your philosophy is it’s all about the simplicity. You don’t have to you know, overcomplicate things, it can be very simple. And I think it can be very easy to get overwhelmed and get into the thick of it very easy. Yeah, it’s like, I need the website, I need the branding. I need the video, I need any like five offers, I need the five different art Whoa, okay, I have plenty to say on that from my in terms of you know, that the too many offers going on, especially if you see others doing that. And you think that that’s what success looks like? You’d think that that’s the right blueprint. But there’s a lot to be said on that. So I’m really excited. Yeah, I’m really excited for our conversation today. And I’m really looking forward to, to diving deep into your insights and what you’ve seen through your work in supporting other women in creating the same or a similar type of business, ultimately, creating financial freedom, by way of leveraging their own skills and, you know, leaning into the impact that they really want to create within their communities. So all right. All right. So let’s hear it these three mistakes. I know these are this is likely a combination, all the other speakers say the same thing. They’re like, this is a combination of mistakes, I’ve made mistakes I see my community making. So let’s start with number one cat, please. Yeah,

Cat  6:52  

so I was thinking about this list. And I thought so much of I thought about my clients, I thought about myself. And I put together a couple mistakes that I’ve seen, you know, either new entrepreneurs make, but it’s also something you just have to like, recommit to. And the first one I put is that by or the first one I like thought about was really, here’s the most important like, I think one of the most important part as a new entrepreneur. And as an entrepreneur, as you’ve won, you have to continually commit to testing and learning in your business. I think people move from one strategy to a new strategy, one coach to another coach, and really trying to find this magic pill that’s going to give them all the revenue and all the success that they hoped for. But the honest truth is, I believe that when you stick to one for at least six months or a year, and I would give it at least six months, I would say a year is probably more proper, but really learning how to make decisions in your business, learning how to stick with them with the purpose of testing, learning, evaluating what worked, what didn’t work, I think people will immediately assume things don’t work if they don’t get the goal that they want. Or if they don’t see the success that they want. Or sometimes they do hit the goal. And then they’ll change everything. Like this is what I see all the time. It’s like they have an offer. It’s super successful, they have a wonderful launch. And they’re like, oh, I should change the name. I should create all this new stuff I should do. And it’s like, no, no, no, I want you to, I want you to evaluate what works, I don’t want you to change what works, I want you to just change the things that didn’t work. But to do that you have to slow down and not move from strategy to strategy to strategy strategy. One thing I talked a lot with with my clients is the reason you don’t want to stretch your strategy so much over and over and over again without the testing and the learning is because you if you switch it all the time, you won’t have any evidence to back up the change, or you won’t have any thing to prove like this worked or didn’t work because you changed your business so much the second time, right? Or the third time around. So I think people, entrepreneurs specifically, I think when they want those results, fast, I want you to think more long term in your business. And really consider slowing down deciding what you want to do with your launch or with your business and whatever that looks like. And then literally evaluating what worked what didn’t work. What what gave clients amazing results. What didn’t what what do I want to shift the second time around or this next month or whatever that looks like but testing, learning and editing and doing that over and over and over again. So you can really create something great instead of moving from strategy to strategy. I say that’s number one. These are all different orders, but 

Yasmine 09:56

it’s deserving of the number ones. I mean, I haven’t heard the rest yet. Right. But I feel that that is so relevant. Yeah, so relatable. I mean In, regardless of what it is you sell, regardless of matter, yeah, what it is, what your plans are, what your intentions are, you know, it can be very easy to get wrapped up in, you know what they call shiny object syndrome, where you’re like, Oh, I’m gonna launch this new offer, Oh, I’m getting maybe you’re getting bored or you’re feeling bored with what you’ve been doing, even though it’s working, which I think that’s something I hear a lot from my clients members might be like, I’m bored. I’m like, It’s okay. It’s working. If you’re bored, go out to dinner with your husband. Do it right. Yeah. Oh, yeah, exactly. It’s just, it’s working. Okay. Yes, yeah. And double down on that. And I mean, that has been, my experience throughout my entire career has been a cycle of planting of seeds, nurturing the seeds, sowing the seeds, nurturing the seed, continuing to nurture the seeds. And then ultimately, a harvest will present itself. But, you know, if you are planting the seeds, and then moving the seeds to another pot, and then picking those seeds out and moving them to another pot, and then taking them again and move, you’re not going to get to the point of harvest. Ease back. Exactly. It’s so important to like, be patient with your business and let it grow and, and see what it grows into before you get around. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you for sharing that. All right, number two. 

Cat 11:26  

Okay,number two, I think this one’s like a very popular one. You’ll probably have many people share this, if you ask them the same question. But what I see a lot of folks in the beginning when I did a lot of in the beginning was overcomplicating my business by focusing on a lot of different things. So from a it could be things like a website and branding, from a marketing side, even like people will, literally I was this person, I thought I had to be everywhere. And that was like the way that I was gonna grow my business because if I wasn’t everywhere that I was missing out. And if I wasn’t on LinkedIn, and Facebook and Tik Tok when he was thriving, and if I didn’t hop on reels when Instagram had him available, like if I was in this area of lack, and overcomplicating my business because of it. So what I see so often is people will overcomplicate their business focus on a ton of different things that are that literally comes from scarcity and lack that literally comes from insecurity literally comes from places that that it’s it doesn’t come from a place of like, I want to grow my business, it comes from a place that I’m missing out, I need to be everywhere, I need to do all the things I need to look professional, I need to blah, blah, blah. But the honest truth is, the most important pieces of your business, are really learning how to get great at sales, as an entrepreneur, right? If you don’t get good at sales, the lights are not on in your business. Yeah, focus on client results, like making sure your people are taken care of, that they’re happy with the product, that they’re getting results in whatever way you serve them. And then lastly, taking care of yourself, like you were the biggest asset, which I’ll talk about in the next one. But that is the most important part of your business. And as new business owners alike, I think for new business owners specifically, it is incredibly important that you just get good at sales and marketing. And when I say marketing, one thing that really jumped started my business in terms of money in 2021 specifically was I made some really hard decisions, to only market [my business] in places that felt easy, easy for me. Now, that took a lot of marketing beforehand. So if you’re not good at marketing, I will I will suggest marketing everywhere and kind of testing the waters. But if you’re in a place where you feel like you need to be everywhere, you’re making money in your business, but you really know that like you’re getting spread thin from like, let’s just say a marketing standpoint, double down on what works for you and just decide I made a decision and 2021 which was hard because tiktok was poppin in 2021. In the beginning, I made a decision to not do reels. I just made a decision to not do tick tock. I stopped focusing on LinkedIn, I stopped focusing on Facebook and I double down on what worked for me and for me, and I’m not saying this works for everyone. It was Instagram, and only certain things on Instagram, my email list and my podcasts, and I just doubled down tripled down on that. And I was like if I can just mark it on these. It helps my brain just keep things simple. But it also expanded my business so much my quality of my content became so high because I wasn’t thinking of being everywhere. I was just focused on the most important things for me, my business, my clients. And that’s how I uncomplicate It’s my business. So I would say, if you’re in the beginning of your business, like, just focus on growing an audience, learning how to sell making offers, and really getting money through the door, like that is the most important part. And when you’re scaling your business, just realizing that, like, you don’t have to, I just did the first launch of my mastermind recently. And the mindset I went into it with is like, all all my first launches, is practice for my second set. I don’t need to do all the things perfect. I just don’t, doesn’t have to be that way. So the second one is going to be better. May 3, one, even better. This one even better, right? So keep things simple. That’s love it. 

Yasmine  15:48

I’m here for the path of least resistance. Okay, I’m not here for the resistance. I’m here. There’s always a path of least resistance. Okay, first of all, can we call up the hoops really quick, I love ya. Love who?

You know, as far as your approach, I love that you chose your podcast, your email list and Instagram. So you have a social media platform in there. You have a platform within which you can create your original content, your podcast, right? And then you have your email list. Yes, yes. So the long form content on your podcast, and then you have your email list where you can correspond with your people. And I imagine I would love to hear more from you on this. As far as how the three came together and really complemented one another. There was just teamwork between the three and others can possibly, I mean, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Instagram podcasts and email list is the winning combo for everybody. But yeah, I certainly think it’s possible for you to create an ecosystem. 

Cat 16:54

For sure. I mean, I started with a podcast, which is highly on recommended, no way to start with a buddy. So I was a little stubborn, then I mean, it worked out in my benefit, because I spent a whole year getting good at marketing because the here’s the thing about podcasting, as podcasts need marketing, they don’t have an algorithm that’s going to like lift your podcast to the top like, you have a podcast, you better become great at marketing it or nobody’s going to listen, that’s who is your audience at the time. At the time, I mean, I really focused on building an audience in the first eight months of that podcast. I, I mean, I tried everything I collaborated with people and I use Instagram to market it, we actually came out with a course called podcast marketing lab. I don’t sell it anymore. But I at that time, to be honest, it was a diary of starting my business. And what I would do is I would learn about business, I would take action on it, and I would report back on my podcast. Hey, guys, here’s what I learned by doing this. Here’s what I learned by doing this. So the beginning of my podcast is a lot of people who wanted to start their business people who were into personal development, it was focused, I didn’t think I said women of color. But it was definitely reason why I started it. And it trans, I mean, now it’s a little bit different. It really focuses on sales, helping my clients get great at sales and marketing. But in growing an audience, it was just so important for you to one hold the identity of a podcaster or a coach or whatever you do, like you have to own that identity first before anything else. Like I stopped saying that I was this like tech professional and I started saying I’m a podcaster that’s what I am first. And then I’m bla bla bla bla bla, but like holding on to that identity and talking about it all the time. I think I even at work like people get very uncomfortable talking about their like, like their side businesses. I actually got really comfortable with that and just kind of like very unapologetically get myself out there and, and go through all the emotions that comes with being new at something. And yeah, and then that that was a blessing in my heart. I do think that email having some like, social media part having long form content and having email is it it really was a good you know, trifecta. But I also have clients who make a lot of money, different ways. So I would say depending on where you are at in your business, really double down and this is for the people who have some type of resistance with marketing because they’re either overwhelmed or tired or like whatever. double down on what works for you. I have clients who just do who love tiktok’s and like that’s just what they do. and it works for them. And then once you get very good at it once it feels easy for you, then maybe add on one more. But I would say don’t, I would say the best time to add it on is not when you’re in a place of my business is ruined, like I need. I like a 911 scenario, like that’s not when you start a podcast, make commitments. So I would say have some type of game plan of like, okay, I’m gonna do this one step at a time, I’m gonna get great at this, then I’m going to add on this, I’m gonna get great at this. And I’m going to add on this. And that’s what I did with email, like, email I was very sporadic with for a long time. And when I got really good at podcasting,and very comfortable on Instagram, I decided to recommit to email and start using it more as a marketing platform. And I also see it all as different audiences to like, I don’t think all I think all there’s like people who only listen to one. And like, I owe them good service on each one. So that helps me show up for them as well. 

Yasmine 21:08

Yeah, yeah. Oh, there’s so much there that I want to unpack. But I feel like maybe, maybe we’ll get into it in our in our third point. 

Cat 21:19

Yeah, this one actually, it’s a big one. Yeah. So can I say number three, please, this is, this is a big one. And it’s one that I always have to remind my clients to go back to. And when I always I always have to go back to. And the biggest mistake I see. One of the biggest mistakes I see with entrepreneurs is that they disregard mindset work. And when I say mindset work, what I’m saying is your ideas, your mind, your thoughts are your biggest asset in your business might sound a little woowoo. But and I’m not even very woowoo. But it might sound a little woowoo. But everything that you’ve created in your, in your business just came you from your thoughts. One day you decide, well, good idea. And you created into something real, like all everything in your business came from your thinking. And I think what a lot of people don’t recognize is that when you’re growing your business, and you’re scaling and whatever part of your business you’re in, you’re going to have to grow even more self, you’re going to have to grow even more self aware. Get to know your mind and your brain, the way the dialogue happens in our mind, right? Like it is so important that you are able to slowly but surely start recognizing it and looking at it from the outside. Because so much of who we are, is this like child’s that grew up when we have a lot of everybody has their own trauma, I don’t care what background you came from, but you all have insecurities, we all have lots of scarcity in different areas. And all of that stuff is going to come up at every level of your business. So it’ll come up in the beginning, when you’re just starting out, when you hit these milestones, it’ll come out in new levels, when you hit half a million when you grow a team, like all the milestones in your business will force you to it oh, just, you know this, you have a business. And I’m sure a lot of the people watching this, like it all know, at different levels, there’s going to be new, new levels, new devils. And it’s true. Like we have to learn how to do how to really do mindset work. And when I say mindset work, what I mean is just making sure you’re aware of what your mind is telling you, and that your thoughts aren’t always true. And a lot of the time our thought people think their thoughts are just like true. And people aren’t buying because of this. And really learning to recognize to look at the dialogue in your brain from the outside looking in, instead of letting our brain because you know, letting our brain keep us safe in thoughts that just don’t serve us. So it’s of our business don’t serve are, what we want to do and all of that. And I think this work is what transforms my business. I used to think that actions was the reason I got results. And I held on to that until I almost quit my business because I was so overweight, I was overworking myself to death. And when I just decided like, Okay, I’m just going to like work on my mindset and talk to myself nicely. And I’m going to focus on like growing this business thinking long term and just stop shaming myself for not being perfect. And when I changed my mindset and I gave myself a whole lot of permission. My business just thrived and it felt so much easier than it ever had before and it’s I see it in my clients to they’ll like work themselves to death until they’re just like, Okay, fine. I’m just going to be nice to myself and my brain. And then their business booms.

Yasmine 25:16

And I don’t think it’s a coincidence. It’s definitely not. Yeah, coincidence that one of my favorite quotes, if you will, or sayings or philosophies really is to speak to yourself like you speak to somebody love. Yeah, it’s we you would never speak to your spouse or sister or brother or child or friend, client, the way we speak to ourselves sometimes are some of the thoughts that enter the the mind is a wild creature. Right? And it needs to be reined in at times. And that is the that is the beautiful thing about it is we are in complete control of that we we can be in complete control of actually living specify we can many times we’re not, yeah, it requires that self awareness. 

Cat 26:05

And in practice, you have to practice that self awareness. Yeah, every single day, because what happens is like, even with the last two pieces that I shared, like, the reason we overcomplicate our business, is because we don’t have that self awareness, right? Because will complicate our business. If you get on a sales call and two sales, five sales calls, let’s say in a row, and all of them say no, your brain is gonna be like, Oh, my God, you’re a piece of crap. Nobody wants to work with you that don’t have a lot and go down this like road instead. And then you’ll be like, Okay, I must need a website, it must be because I don’t have a workbook, it must be because of that. And then you start overcomplicating because of you’re just accepting the things in your brain is true, right? And same with testing and learning. Like, there’s that shiny object syndrome. And if if we don’t get the result that we want, our brain is going to start seeing this. And when it starts saying this, you’re like, I’m just gonna move to a new strategy, I’m gonna do what they’re doing instead. And it’s like, no, understanding what your brain is telling you and why your brain is telling you that and like actually, having a dialogue with your mind is so important, because you’ll make better strategic business decisions when you know what your brain is telling you. It’s so insightful. Yeah, I mean, your answers are, like the best quote, I’ve heard. I thought I forget his name. Kwik, is his last name. Cute. I mean, Kwik he like studies the brain. James quick, I forget, but he says the answers you are looking for are in the questions. You’re not asking yourself. Ask yourself questions. Ask yourself questions. Don’t accept your brood as thoughts as rude. Questions as questions? Yeah. Um, I have one more, but we don’t have to move on to that. You’re good. 

Yasmine 28:09

I was gonna say so in asking yourself questions, you know, is it is it a matter of starting with why you know, if you hear if you if you have those thoughts coming up, or if you’re facing this belief that you’ve held on to for so long, because it was what you were taught? And now you’re hearing this and you’re thinking, Okay, I want to ask myself questions, I want to develop myself, awareness is starting with why 

Cat 28:33

I think Why is a great place to start. I like to also, I’ve grown this relationship with my mind that when my brain is being like, just saying mean things. One is the awareness, like you have to understand like, holy crap, like, if you’re having emotions, like negative emotions, your brains telling you something that isn’t pleasant. And it might feel like you have 10,000 thoughts at once, I want you to just pick one, like, just pick one. And when you pick one, I want you to look at that thought, right? Like, actually say it out loud, or write it down. And then ask yourself from like, like, you’re outside of it. Like I always, I always, it’s almost like this alter ego that I’ve created, that I’m like, oh, like, I have, like empathy for that part of my brain that’s telling you to really try to keep me safe. So if my brains like nobody wants to work with you anymore, this is why the launch sucks, right? Yeah. A real last thought, like nobody else is going to sign up in the last three days. Right? And when your brain tells, I know so rude, so rude. But then I want you to say, Huh, like, okay, one except that it’s not true. You actually don’t know what’s gonna happen in three days. And you just it’s not a fact. These aren’t facts. They’re just thoughts and then say, I wonder why I’m feeling this way. Right? That’s where the why comes in. Well, why am I feeling this way? Well, I haven’t got the numbers that I want. I nobody’s reaching out to me. My like, my posts aren’t getting enough likes, whatever your brain comes up with, right? Like all these reasons. And then I want you to ask yourself, have these reasons actually been actual evidence to your past successes? Because what I find is, no, it’s the past success actually isn’t because of these reasons. Like, there’s plenty of times clients come out of nowhere. And that’s the truth. That’s the effect, right? Like, then I want you to collect the facts of why that thought is actually completely false. And collect facts. And that’s the time I like to spend in, right, so like, instead of like, I didn’t get as many likes as I want. You could just say, Oh, I only got 20 likes that I only need five more people. So shit, I guess like I’m doing right. Yeah. Like, I like learning how to switch that mindset. But it’s so hard to do that if you don’t slow down your brain to begin with. 

Yasmine 31:13

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I totally agree. And I love that you I was hoping you would take things down the road of evidence and collecting evidence, the lawyer in me was like, what? Yeah, I want to see the track record, like, shown us data

Cat 31:33

what’s like the brain, the brain, your brain saying like, Oh, you have three days left, and only so many is gonna sign up? Like, there’s no evidence in that, except that this many people signed up and you have these many days left, like, yeah, that’s not a problem. 

Everything else is just an assumption or a thought, just like it’s just, it’s not that aren’t 100% True. Like, they’re not? Our thoughts aren’t facts, unless we actually question them. And like, really, really, you know, or so. And then when you get in the mindset of like, oh, everything’s actually fine. My launch is going well. Maybe I do, maybe I want to, like, do something fun the next three days to like, generate some excitement. It’s so much more fun doing that, instead of a place of scarcity and plaque where you’re like, Oh, my God, I need to do this, because, or else this is gonna be a failure. Like, it’s such a different mindset. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs do not take the time to either invest in their mindset or do practices that support understanding their own mind and their own brain and how that plays a role in their business. Because it’s like, trust me, you’re going to everybody watching this, by the time you’re a millionaire, if you choose to be a millionaire in your business, by the time you get there, you will still have these thoughts that are like, this line shoe, you know, it’s only pay instead of 600, you really did something wrong here, like those thoughts aren’t going away. And one thing my coach says to me, my business coach says to me, up to me talk to us, is whatever thoughts you don’t handle at six figures, they’re going to multiply as you grow your business. So you better handle those thoughts. 

Yasmine 33:31

And it’s back to what we were talking about earlier is it’s about the practice. Yeah, the continual practice and strengthening it like a muscle and I feel like this might be the perfect time to, to address this beautiful message behind you. If you’re listening to the audio. Well, we’ll give you a visual for sure. But I see the sign behind you, that says Be Your loudest hype woman. Could you add on that and how it fits? 

Cat  34:02  

Yeah, you know,I’m, I’m a business coach, but I’m a mindset coach as well. And I have, I mean, it’s gonna sound like repeating myself, but I’ve just learned that in your business, we know if you’re an entrepreneur, which you probably likely are, if you’re watching this, it can be a very lonely, lonely road. And it is so important. And one thing I talk about a ton with my clients is learning self trust, because there’s absolutely no coach, there’s no curriculum, there is no there’s nobody out there is going to give you the answers. You need to grow your business. You have to decide on them. And it feels so much better. When you learn how to lift yourself up with your own words and with your own mind. Because that’s what you’ve got to wake up with every single day. So learning how to talk to yourself gently and kindly and really give yourself I mean, I was sharing earlier, I’m pregnant right now. And I’ve had to give myself more grace than I’ve ever had to give myself like I had to make it okay to nap every single day. I had to make it okay to put this work aside even more in what feels like procrastination to me. But instead, I’ve had to really reframe that to like, no, no, the priority right now is for me to take care of myself. And I think I’m doing an excellent job. But the reason why is because I’ve practiced talking to myself nicely. And being my own hype woman, like I hype myself up of like, this is a long term business, you don’t have to do all the things now, a lot. And I talked to myself that way. And I think it’s, I just think it’s incredibly important to every single entrepreneur, especially if you don’t want to, like buy into the, you know, hustle, hustle, hustle, you got to work day to night, you got to beat the person behind you. Like if you don’t prescribe to that, then you’re really gonna have to learn how to be freakin nice to yourself on this journey. If you want that success. Absolutely. What is our bonus tip? Oh, yeah, one. So quickly, just like the newbies or people who just feel like they’re, they feel like they’re not hitting that revenue goal over and over and over again. And this is specific to my community, or anybody who, who, who can relate to this, is I sell high ticket coaching. And the reason I do, one of the reasons I do is because so much of who I was, in the beginning of my journey, I cared so deeply about my community. And I made up a whole bunch of thoughts about my community, assuming that they couldn’t afford my coaching or afford my products or afford what I was selling. So the last little bonus tip in terms of like, the mistakes I see entrepreneurs make is they pry at least in the communities, I’m a part of, they prioritize making things affordable, or making an offer that is x what they’ll call accessible to a certain to their certain community. And all I ask is, or the advice I would give to myself, back then is a business needs cash. Yep, it’s gonna pause after that. A business needs revenue. And what I find so often is, you know, people care deeply about the community that they serve, they want to grow a business that they want to grow a business, but what I see is if they don’t see the success, because they’re not making as much money in the beginning, because their prices are so affordable or accessible, they get to this place, that they think that they’re bad at business, because they’re not getting the revenue numbers. And that’s what I hate to see is because like, I want so many people to hear this, who maybe have really low prices, because they have this belief that their community can’t afford it. I just asked you that Your Will one I tell you’re not bad at business, but you will, you aren’t a TD like unless you have this full team working for you who can support your lifestyle. If you are a solo entrepreneur, it is very important that you keep your energy intact in charge prices that are sustainable for your business that can keep the lights on for your business. In the beginning, you will get to when you have all the money in the world and a team to support you. Like that is the time to create something super accessible, you could do whatever you freaking want. But in the beginning of your business, and if you if you don’t have that type of support, and if you’re a solo entrepreneur, you’re a mom, and you have a partner, maybe you have kids, or maybe you’re single and you just like your life is important, which it shouldn’t be. It’s so important that you charge prices that are going to bring revenue in and you get good at sales and marketing and keep things simple and don’t spend your money on like all these things just to look like a professional, just get really good at you know selling and keeping a price that is going to keep the price the lights on. I’m very passionate about this. Because I just don’t want you to think that it equals you being bad at business because that’s not the case. You just you do have to bring in some cash in your business for to get things going. 

Yasmine 40:00

Absolutely. Absolutely. And I would want to add to that I think at everything that I absolutely agree with it, I think focusing on getting cash in the door is of the utmost importance. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, otherwise, it’s not a business. Yeah. Or at least it’s not one that is, you know, thriving in any way, if you’re not hitting that those numbers or, you know, generating revenue consistently, yeah, focus on the results you’re helping your clients get, like I was saying that right there is if you help your client, if you truly support your clients in facilitating or creating results for them or with them in your search through your service, that will, that can be one of the best forms of marketing for you, you know, so focus on that making sure that they are so well served, and that they are so well supported, and that they are really experiencing working with you to the fullest possible. And that my friend will turn into more business, your way more referrals your way more value for you to provide to future clients, because you’ve seen, you know, from beginning to end, whatever that process or transformation is that you’re helping facilitate. And so yes, absolutely focus on the sales, get the sales through the door, and make sure that you are serving them to your highest ability and your the best of your abilities. And that, in terms of sustainability, I feel like that’s definitely the the formula.

Cat 41:40

like hands in hand like Yeah, yeah. So, so important. And if you do serve a community, that you have thoughts, that they can’t afford your services, I would really, really check your thoughts about them and ask yourself if those are true. 

Yasmine 41:58

That that part right there, and why you think that and have some real conversations with folks, you know, get some real? I’ve been there. I have made assumptions about my I think we all have, right? And then when we actually form the hypothesis, which is not bad. It’s I think, to form the hypothesis. Yeah, based on your knowledge based on your research based on your experiences, but then actually take that to the to the lab, right and test it and have the conversation.

Cat 42:23  

Certainly people and just to be clear here for whoever’s watching this, I’ve sold $97 products, and I sold $10,000 offers like, no joke. And I serve women of color, like the women that bought $10,000 one on one coaching with me. That was these were women who are incredible women of color, right? Like my and that’s my community, your community could look different. And that’s okay. But regardless, I had and trust me, there was a lot of mindset blocks to get me there. But I’m, I’m not just saying this to say it’s like, I’ve had to learn to sell things that were very uncomfortable for me. And, and I had to learn how to get there and like, have conversations with my brain and the thoughts that I had about that as well. So it’s not like I’m just not preaching this. It’s it’s real conversations that I had to have with myself along the way. I don’t sell one on one coaching anymore. But yeah, so like, just know that like, this is a process and you’re not gonna get great at it like this. Like you have to completely have these dialogues with yourself over and over and over again. 

Yasmine 43:42

There’s no shortcut. It’s a shortcut. You know, I know it’s consistency. It’s a day in and day out. And there’s something you said Cat that I absolutely just I don’t know that it can be said enough is that you are building a long term business here. You want longevity in this business. This is not a get rich quick scheme. Yeah, this is not an overnight empire. Yeah, this is going to be today, tomorrow, the day after the day after the day after and after. Each day, you have an opportunity to strengthen the muscle of your mindset, you have an opportunity to further nurture those seeds that you’ve planted and create that impact over time. 

Cat 44:33

Take care of your people like you said, like your people that you take care good care of your people. They will be the best marketing for you. 

Yasmine 44:38

Oh, absolutely. Cat thank you for being here and thank you for sharing. Sorry about my squeaky chair. I need to resolve this issue. No, I didn’t even hear it. Okay, good. I’ve been trying to be quiet. I so appreciate you being here and sharing your insights sharing from your experience and I know that our community is gonna want to connect with you further. So all your goodies will be in all your links will be in the, in the show notes. Yeah, or the description of this video. But where are you hanging out most of the time? 

Cat 45:10

Yeah, I hang out in two places most of the time. So one is Instagram and you can find me at Cat Del Carmen with a Cat Del Carmen or my podcast and latinos booked out. That’s my OG podcast I’ve had since the beginning of my business. So that’s really my bread and butter. Like where? I mean, you go to the first one that was that’s a whole other the humble beginnings. Yeah. You’ll see how the whole business started. 

Yasmine 45:44

I was gonna say, that’s actually a great perspective. I mean, you can see the evolution, you know, you’ll see the evolution. 

Cat 45:50

I have a whole episode. That’s like, how I made my first $1,000 business, no matter where we you know what, though?

Yasmine 46:05

We all begin. Oh, we all had our first $1,000 I remember my first $1,000 I remember the first. Yeah, I remember my first client and I literally remember like, getting off the phone with her. And then she signed the contract and paint the invoice within like an hour. And I was just like, holy shit. And then I went and I served the hell out of her. I was like, so yeah, that’s actually that inspires me reflecting back on that. I feel like we should be serving each and every person in that same way like they’re your first client. I love that. Because what an honor it is to serve. 

Cat 46:39

Write that down. Again, treat every client you’re like your first client. 

Yasmine 46:44 

Yes. Like the honor of serving this person. You know that theychose you to accompany them on this journey. We should we could. Oh, all right. You’re right. Okay. Okay. Well, you’re on Instagram. You said @catdelcarmen. You guys got podcast Latinos booked out. And I love following you on the gram. Yeah, I’m here for I’m here for all of it. I’m here for the mission. And thank you for being here to support and to share. And I will talk to you soon. 

Cat 47:20

All right, thank you so much for having me. 

Yasmine 47:23

Thank you. Bye cat. Bye