Speaker 1 (00:00.747)
and I was like,
You know, when I say we, I mean like black people, black communities, marginalized people in communities. And so being, you know, black in a corporate space and worrying about being twice as good and how do I look and what do I sound like on top of? Choosing my words very carefully.
can get scary real quick. A lot of us be making some good money, but I was fighting for a job for so long. And I'm not a nat person. If a larger platform wants to pick up your podcast, right? And have it as one of their shows, like whether you're allowed to do that. I want to be part of the efforts to develop a system. Business is relationships.
I've like looked at all your content.
I learned how to listen to my body as a mother, which is crucial to not be burnt out. And as a business owner too.
Speaker 1 (00:52.364)
The beauty of the homeschooling was that we would have flexibility. I'm like mentally tapped. I don't have to do everything between nine to five. You should be having people sign appearance agreements. And I was like.
My mental health started to separate. It was already suffering at the other law firm.
I don't want to end it yet until I ask you about your favorite mommy hack.
Speaker 1 (01:16.002)
Welcome back to the Mami Mogul Mastery podcast. We are here today with Ms. Liku Amadi. I am so excited to have you on the show. One, because you're brilliant. And I've like looked at all your content on LinkedIn and I'm so excited to have you here. So before I get on my soapbox about how amazing you are, I would love you to tell the people a little bit about who you are and who you serve.
Thank you so much. Yes, my name is Liku Omadi, founder and attorney of an Asa Law Firm where I work with coaches, consultants, and expert service providers to help them establish a solid legal foundation for business. I am a nerd when it comes to contracts and just making sure people keep it legally tight in their businesses because we have all these great ideas, these visions, these goals, and...
A lot of us be making some good money, but the legal part can really trip us up or hold us back. So I'm here to make sure that we have that in place.
Yeah. Listen, I wish that like when I first started my entrepreneurial journey, I knew that like that is a major thing. I knew I had to get my trademarks and all of that. Um, but at the time I was like, well, I can't afford to get a lawyer. got to do the pay marks myself, but I wish that I would have invested in a good contract right up front. Um, I did not realize how important that was. was like, oh, well we'll just throw something together. This makes sense, right? You know, I'm dealing with reasonable people.
Right, it's on the beach.
Speaker 1 (02:45.58)
And then I got burned and I was like, I thought, and I couldn't even be mad at the, well, I mean, I was mad at the person, but I couldn't be. It was on me. Like as a business owner, I had to take responsibility. Like my contract was not very clear. So thankfully now that is not the case. and I have contracts for everything for everything.
But then I saw online recently, um, that as a podcast, you know, if you have a podcast or something like that, or if you're even going on podcasts, you should be having people sign appearance agreements. And I was like, at first, I mean, it was good information, but at first I got a little snappy. I was like, this another doggone thing that I have to do. Like just can we, I'm trying to take things off the list, you know, not add them, but tell me a little bit about like what that is and.
Why do people need it, you know?
Yeah, 100%. What is it? So a contract, right? You're going to have me get in my bag. A contract. What I like to tell people is...
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Speaker 1 (04:18.67)
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It's the foundation between any relationship. Right? So when I'm talking to my clients, I'm like, you need a client agreement because that contract is going to dictate how you work with that person. lays out the relationship. Like you said, people are reasonable. Sometimes we're cool with people, you know, they're the homie and whatnot, but it is those, those aspects that trip us up because they're not part of business. Businesses or should be very black and white in a lot of senses. So we want to have something in place to tell us.
how we're going to work together, what the schedule is going to be, what the payments are going to be, what happens if we're not able to work together, when edits and amendments and all of that needs to be made, right? We want some type of structure in place. Otherwise we fall to like, that person burned me or dang, I got to give a refund and you know, because this issue wasn't resolved or I didn't know how to resolve it or I'm escalating this to legal, reach out to my attorney, right? It can get scary real quick.
When it comes to podcasts and having guests on, when it comes to podcast agreements or like media releases, those types of things, like you have a lot of experts that come on your podcast, right? people want guests who are experts who know their stuff and they are producing content. So a lot of it has to do around like intellectual property, right? So there's a part where it's like.
Yo, this is how we run the podcast. These are our policies, right? No cussing during the episodes. Like if we give you, you know, a copy of the podcast recording, we want you to use it in this way. So number one, it's going to tell you who owns the intellectual property, which is all this content we're producing, right? You're the one right now. It's your podcast. You're the host. You're the one who's recording your intellectual property. So that part right there is already a default that goes to you. But if we were to share the content, right? If you want it to somehow
Speaker 2 (06:39.454)
license the content to some other platform because of a collaboration you have going on or you want to host it on someone's website. If a larger platform wants to pick up your podcast, right, and have it as one of their shows, like it's those things when you're looking back at those agreements that say whether you're allowed to do that or what restriction around doing that, right? You want to make sure that you own your content and you also have control over it because we can talk about something.
I'm not even going to use us as an example. Let's say there's a political podcast and you know, times are sensitive. Certain people, I just say that, you know, to cover it. But that content may be very timely now, right? But later on, maybe like that's something that's an episode that you want to take down. But if in your contract, you have terms with someone to keep it up for a certain amount of time, and then maybe later you develop like.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (07:36.664)
policy or on ethics and it just doesn't align, right? Like there's all these things that can go wrong that you don't anticipate now, but just can later. So in a nutshell, your contract keeps those things in line. it's, it's your way to lay the foundation and say, when it comes to my podcast and bringing guests on here and the content that we produce, this is how things are going to work. This is what I'm going to own. This is what they're going to be allowed to do with it. If anything, right? Like.
It lays out that structure for the relationship.
I love that. See, this is, I told y'all she was brilliant. I told y'all.
Yeah
That's so good. we were listening, you clearly, you were very brilliant and you were also a mom, right? This is a mommy mogul mastery podcast. So most of my guests are biological moms. although you can mother in different ways, but you have started your business and you've started your motherhood journey all kind of simultaneously. like walk me through how that journey has been for you.
Speaker 2 (08:46.606)
How has that journey been? So I mentioned before we started recording, I just kind of been popping out kids and building a business. And what that's looked like is I was in corporate for a few years, my first two, maybe three years of practice. And I finally landed my dream job, what I thought was my dream job. And right after that, the pandemic hit, like, I mean, a week later, we got the order, everybody worked from home, going off of this.
About like three to six months in, was just, you know, I was fighting for a job for so long and I finally landed it. And then just like that, it could be gone with all these layoffs in every industry, right? So I didn't want that. And my mental health started to suffer. It was already suffering at the other law firms being, you know, black in a corporate space and worrying about being twice as good. And how do I look and what do I sound like on top of?
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:45.984)
doing excellent work, right? And I just wanted to focus on my work. So my mental health was impacted. The pandemic was brewing. The pandemic on top of mental health was just different. And I decided like, I don't want my life to look like this, especially as I build a family. Like I want to be available to my children and I don't want to be stressed out. want to set a good example. And so I decided to leave and several months later I found out I was pregnant. Now old me would have been like,
I'm going to sit my butt right back down so we can get this check. I don't need no problem. I can sit down and close my door like to the office. Like, but I didn't react like that. I was like, this is even more confirmation for me to go out on my own so I can build a foundation so I can build a business that was so I can build a lifestyle. you know, aligned with what I wanted versus everything being based on the business. Right.
I can get the job.
Speaker 1 (10:37.742)
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:44.302)
So first trimester, I was pregnant. I left. was like, you know, let me make a website. Just started doing all those little things. That first year was slow because then soon after I popped the baby out, you know, had a very strong maternity leave because I was kind of just excited. But I was very tired. I've been very tired just to be able to just like breastfeeding, physically using my body.
Yeah
Speaker 2 (11:10.732)
to nourish my child. And I do that for a little bit over a year. That's a lot. Taking your kids to their doctor's appointments and here and there and just having another person's schedule to consider and to create, really, right? Because those are my kids. They can't do nothing for themselves but ask for a snack, right? I have to everything else.
And so it's not just me creating my personal schedule, but now my business schedule and my child's schedule and considering like family dynamic, my husband, myself, my child, and then also having my relationship with my husband on marriage. So just all of these extra layers have been something to consider at the same time. And so my journey has consisted of instead of me being overwhelmed by everything,
Trying to figure out how I can put myself in a position therapy to learn how I can receive these things, not as interruptions and disruptions, but just as something that I'm taking on. Like this is what we got to do and we're going to do it. And this is how I can make that happen. Yeah. I just had baby number two and I was hinting at a little bit earlier before we started recording. I've also learned how to rest. Right? Like law firm means like.
We working, working, working, grinding, hustling. I'm going to go above and beyond. But mom, business owner me is like, I need a nap. I need a nap. And I'm not a nap person, but having children and being pregnant, like number one, being pregnant, like I had no choice but to take a nap in my first trimester. I mean like a seven hour nap. Like it was insane.
Yeah, like you said.
Speaker 1 (12:58.894)
Your body's like, sit down. You're like, but I don't want to. Sit down.
Exactly. I learned how to listen to my body as a mother, which is crucial to not be burnt out. And as a business owner too, I can carry that in. So long story short, because I could go on and on. It's been a journey of figuring out what works for me in motherhood and what's good for me and how I can apply that to business and also vice versa. Because as an organized, very structured person, I can add that to motherhood as well.
It's been very much of an integration versus a balance. And I'm okay with things changing the way they need to, even though they're difficult because they're only difficult in a season. And long-term, it'll be the most rewarding.
Yeah, I find that sometimes it's difficult if we're trying to stick to what we think it should be rather than just kind of letting things flow. So for me, I homeschool my girls. They're teen, well, they're preteens.
I have an 11 year old and a 12 year old and a 13 year old. God, I keep messing that up. Every time they hear that, they're mom, I'm 13. Okay, all right, all right. So, I homeschool them, plus I have the business and I'm a single mom, so I'm like running my whole household by myself. It is very like stressful to be like, oh, I got to wake up at like this time so we can start homeschool at this time. I've just given myself grace that
Speaker 1 (14:28.236)
The beauty of the homeschooling was that we would have flexibility to learn on our own terms. And the beauty of the business is that I can run my business on my own terms. So I had to really like run back my thinking on it has to be from nine to five. Like that is your day, nine to five.
I've elongated my day, you know? So if I want to take an hour nap in the middle of day, if I need to, I really, I try not to nap because then it messes up my sleep schedule going to sleep at night. But sometimes like after doing homeschooling with them, I'm like mentally tapped. I'm tapped. So trying to go right into doing work is like, no sugar, who's that working for? Nobody, nobody. So if I need to take a rest and I will take a rest and I've just like.
I don't have to do everything between nine to five. I can make my day longer. And if I'm up, you know, like I usually stay up pretty late. I'm a night owl. Maybe there's something wrong with my cortisol and I should probably get the checkup. I don't know, but for now, like I'm a night owl. So I usually go to sleep. started getting sleep around like 3 a.m. So going to sleep at 3 a.m. How am I waking up at like 8 a.m. to take my children? So I was like, okay, Shani, why do keep doing this to yourself? You're
putting more pressure on you than you really need to. So I adjusted my thinking. If we start school at 10, if we start school at 11, that's okay. Right. So, so there's so much freedom in, the decisions that you've made for you and your family and having your business and making sure that you can be present for them. And I think it's something that, people should think more about, you know, it's not as hard as we, as we think it is. We just have to.
Still.
Speaker 1 (16:11.488)
shift our parameters.
What works for us, right? As for some business owners, that nine to five might be the sweet spot. Me, I'm tapped out by like after this podcast interview, do all my work and you know, took all my calls, like must've gone make me some tacos. Like, like you, I'm mentally drained by certain things. you know, I had to figure out what schedule and structure works for me. I'm also late at night, like working on my stuff now because my child is figuring out her sleep schedule.
Right. So this is a season where things look different for me in a few months, it's going to change again. So I think also just finding like what that structure, what that freedom and flexibility looks like for each person just makes it easier versus like you said, trying to stick to the nine to five or the typical structure that we're used to.
Right, right. I like that. Making sure that it's for you. Cause there's so many things also besides like our schedule and all of that, the success, we need to define that on our own terms. there's just so many like ways that we need to break free of letting other people, society, family, all these people determine what works for us because
Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:26.338)
Constantly told, well, you're an individual, you know, there's no one like you. So then why does everybody else schedule? Why does everybody else's, you know, idea of success have to be for me? No, I have to find that for myself. I have to lean into that. I think a lot of us are like, maybe breaking those generational norms. Cause we're doing things very different than it's ever been done before, but we're embracing that. I am unique.
I'm not gonna have to explain.
Speaker 1 (17:53.642)
And I need to do uniquely what works for me and my family. So that is awesome. I want to know like a day in the life of how you're doing. what, you know, we're talking schedules. So like, what does that look like?
Yeah, yeah, I laugh because I'm like, which day? But what does that look like? So I've.
I figured out a few things, right? So I like to keep things as consistent as possible, where possible, and then just fill in the rest of the day. So some of those consistent things are, you know, I get my best work done in the morning. Like I'm an early bird, like I hash it out, get on client calls, consultations. So I typically do all that between like eight to one, nine to one.
If I have a client like on a different side of the country than me, and they really need my time, I'm happy to be flexible, but that hardly ever happens. So limiting that, that active time, that brain time to the morning is good for me. I do my best to work out. The gym has been a non-starter these days because it's just been harder to get there. So now I have to, to let me go work out in the garage. Let me just get dumbbells.
some things off Amazon and get a little workout routine in and that's actually been great. So I'm satisfied with that. So workout in the morning, get that time in, get those calls. Of course I'm breastfeeding throughout. I've learned that my little one, my big one goes to daycare, fortunately, full time. So he gets out of the door with dad and that's really helpful. Me and baby are at home and she sleeps, takes a short nap like around eight or so.
Speaker 2 (19:47.47)
which allows me to get ready. And then around this time, like around 11, 1130, she'll take her big nap, like her three, four nap. And that's when I'm like, oh, it's lit, right? Like, I some good stuff. But of course, after I finished calls, like I eat lunch and then I'm tired myself. So that's kind of like rest downtime. And then for the rest of that time, I try to fill in like just getting some work done here and there, going outside and getting some sun. If there's some...
things I need to book for an upcoming vacation, or I need to research something, whether it's on a personal family level or business level, then I'll put those things in. I'm very structured with keeping a to-do list and making sure that these are items that need to be done and kind of just fitting them in where they fit, where I can fit them, versus getting the whole list of 15 things done in one day, because that's what I feel like doing. that's typically what a day in the life.
looks
Like, yeah, I used to be like a to-do list junkie. What? I'm still a to-do list. Everything is on a to-do list. Like we're actually going out of town today. So I have like a whole, you get your work stuff done, pack this, clean this, do that. Like I have a list before we leave here today. And I, but what I found that I was getting so stressed out because I wanted to like everything on the list has to be done today. And when it wasn't, I felt like I didn't do anything. I'm.
Every
Speaker 1 (21:16.182)
I'm working on that being, not being an all or nothing kind of person. I'm working on it. so my friend actually helped me to get my calendar together. She was like, you need, she's like a world-class executive assistant and like, he was awesome. I wish he does. And she says, I'm going to help you get your calendar together. And it has been such a game changer for me. I was like, I don't want to be on a schedule. I don't want to time block. That's not me.
Right.
Speaker 1 (21:45.932)
But listen, turns out it is me, right? Turns out it is. And like you say, whatever, you know, you can fit in, then you fit it in, whatever you can. It's okay. You breathe it out and it'll go on another day. But I feel like now I can accomplish what tasks are on my calendar. So even if it wasn't checked off on the to-do list, it was still like, but I did all the things I was supposed to do today. So I mean.
May.
Speaker 1 (22:13.432)
There you go, there's little ways that you can, because we do have to celebrate ourselves, right? We're doing all of this work. As moms, it's, I won't say a thankless job because we do get those, mommy, I love you, you know, and those hugs and like kiss my boo boo. you feel like superwoman when you kiss, well, I'm not kissing any boo boos these days, they're too big for that, but they have bigger boo boos. So when their feelings are hurt and all of that, they come and they're like, mommy.
you this happened and I love that they still come to me and I just hope that that keeps happening. You hear the horror stories. I have two girls and you hear the stories of like, and they become teenagers. They don't want to deal with you anymore. But fortunately we're not there yet or maybe we'll never be there. hope not. Man, I just lost my train of thought.
I'm like, yeah, we're gonna come back to that. I'm not sure. But we were told with children and their knees, look at my mom rain like.
It happens. All right. Well, you know what? Let's just start something new.
It'll come back in like seven minutes, no problem.
Speaker 1 (23:30.478)
It will. know that happens all the time, but I'm not the happy before I was even a mom, right? Like I would forget what I was saying right in the middle of my sentence. And I have learned it just because my thoughts are going so fast. Sometimes it's like, well that thought is gone now. Like it'll come back around. Don't worry. yes. Anyway, so we're talking motherhood and we're talking business and all of that. So we've walked through like what a typical day is for you.
around soon.
Speaker 1 (24:00.622)
and I, but I, and we talked a little bit about why you even started the practice, but why law? Like, I'm just curious. Why law to begin with.
Honestly, I've never thought of anything else. I don't know if I came on the womb, they were playing law and order in the background or something. that's always what I wanted to do. And I think part of it is when I was younger, I liked to go back and forth, not with my elders, not with my parents, just like in the...
never never never
Never. I was smart, okay? But just like, you know, the gift of gab and I was like, man, that would be really cool to, to fine tune the way to argue. And I really appreciate it. At the time I already wanted to be a lawyer, but once I was just learning more, I appreciate how you see in the court cases on TV, like you can take a set of facts and one person tell this story and another person tell a whole different story. And I thought that was fascinating.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (25:06.99)
And I've just, there's so many interesting parts of the law is such just like a vast area, such a necessary area, such an interesting area with regard to systemic oppression in history. We'll table that for another podcast episode. But also, you know, because we need it. And you know, when I say we, I mean, like, Black people, Black communities, marginalized people in communities. And so I also felt like if I could wheel that type
Yes.
Speaker 2 (25:36.14)
knowledge, how many people can I help? and what big ways could I have an impact on them and what they're trying to do and their livelihoods and their generations and all of that. And so that's how I feel about it now is just like, I have this expertise. Now let me go figure out ways where I can benefit others, because this is also a space where like, if you don't have the knowledge, you get tripped up real bad. we're talking, we're talking about just.
not just in a business context, lawsuits, bankruptcies, businesses getting shut down, scandals, but on a personal level, when it comes to not knowing your rights and incarceration or inadequate representation, not just being fully informed the way that you should be, it can have very dire consequences, not just for a person, but their families and their loved ones and generations to follow. So I want to be a part of.
Ahem.
choosing my words very carefully here. I want to be part of the efforts to develop a system that helps to correct those things.
Yeah. Yeah. And so primarily like now you work with coaches and consultants. Now, what was that decision? Was it? Yeah. What was that decision? Like, why did you choose coaches and consultants? Because with what you do, you could help anybody. So why coaches and consultants?
Speaker 2 (27:06.124)
Yeah, I started off in the criminal law space, like when I was interning in law school and my first internship after taking the bar exam. And I was kind of just like, this is too much. Like the way the attorneys I was working with have like second phones and clients calling them from jail at 1 a.m. I was just like, the way I desire my work-life balance to be set up, this doesn't align with me, number one. And then number two,
I have a lot of emotions and frustrations and just things that I feel about the criminal justice system. And I didn't want to put those aside just to do a job. And I applaud the people who are able to do that. Me, I don't want to have to do that. And so I actually found a way to, I used to write like research, law review articles, research-based make arguments. And I have...
two publications based on that. So I figured like that could be my avenue where I can, you know, help inform that area. But the way I got to coaches and consultants was I started my practice and I was basically like, Hey y'all, everybody, business, like who want me? You know, I worked with, worked with some coaches, some online coaches, some online consultants, and I really liked it. I liked that, you know, you can,
be a coach or a consultant or a strategist or advisor in so many different areas and do it in so many different ways. I also appreciated that unlike the legal profession, which is highly regulated, like the coaching profession, consulting, like those aren't regulated areas. And so there was an even more of a need for legal, right? To make sure you have your things together because you don't have.
standards and procedures to tell you how you're supposed to have your things together. So I wanted to help correct that space in that sense, because I do see later down the line, some regulations somehow, some way will come. But anyway, I wanted to be part of that. And I wanted to help people strengthen that part of their business because these are people who do very impactful work. I've had a life coach, I've had a business coach.
Speaker 2 (29:24.514)
money mindset coach, like I'm like, this is saving lives. So let's make sure your business is set up to save lives from a legal standpoint. And I really just enjoy the creativity in that space.
So what are some of the things that like you would focus on with a client that's maybe outside of like trademarks? Cause I know that's the one we hear all the time. Like when you're starting your podcast or when you're starting your practice, your coaching firm, you need to have trademarks, trademarks, trademarks. Yes. Okay. But what other things should people be considering when they're trying to really make sure they're having a legal business?
Yeah, great question. think at the outset is a legal entity, most commonly an LLC, corporation, whatever you want to call it, but you want to have some type of legal entity in place because when you start transacting business and getting into partnerships, collecting people's money, you want to make sure that that's protected. A legal entity separates your personal assets from your business assets.
whether you have like a nine to five and you're getting paid from that, whether you have like stock options, your car, your house, like your personal assets will not be in jeopardy if something goes wrong in the business. And that's what that, that's what that, that legal entity does is kind of draw like a line between those two areas of assets. So only your business assets will be on the line. so I say that first and foremost, I don't care if you're just, a lot of people say,
A lot of people say like, I haven't made enough money in my business yet to justify getting an LLC. And it's just one of those things where it's like, you can have a hundred dollar transaction and let's say you're selling soaps or something like that. And somebody has a severely negative reaction. Like they're coming after you for more than a hundred dollars, right? You know, suffer like death.
Speaker 1 (31:22.456)
they are yes they are
hate the word, like, you know what I'm saying? Like the real consequences. So, um, it's, it's better to just have it upfront and be proactive with it. And then if you don't need it even better, because that means like issues aren't coming your way. definitely a legal entity. And then next is contracts, you know, as a contracts nerd, like I have to say contracts, but also because business is relationships.
So when you're having guests on your podcast, when you're getting into partnerships and collaborations, I don't care if you're an influencer, like when you have clients, when you have customers that buy digital products or physical goods from your website, you need to have some type of terms in place to dictate that relationship. What you're going to do for them, how you're going to do it, payments, refunds, shipping and handling like, know, postings, privacy, course, confidentiality, like.
All of those things should be in place. Otherwise you just get into situations where you're working with people, you're taking the money, you're making sales, you're making money, which is great. But a lot of things could come back to bite you. A lot of things could be out of whack because having a contract also helps you have structure in place. have policies and procedures. Like it just, it helps your business run in a very organized fashion. So your legal entity definitely contracts.
And then just like, since a lot of business is transacted online, should say just your privacy policies, website terms and conditions, like those types of things as well. But overall, just a conversation with an attorney. I get to take you a long way because a lot of times people don't know what they don't know. They don't know if they need a trademark right now. They don't know if, you know, there are certain type of business requires something else, right?
Speaker 2 (33:19.084)
Like business insurance isn't really legal, but it's also something I suggest people should get. so those are like some of the basics, really a legal entity, your contracts for whatever business relationships you have, because those are different types of relationships, clients, customers, partnerships, employees, team members, all of that. hello. What was the last one that I said? A conversation within the time. That's how a mom breaks the word.
wait a minute, who erased it off the board? A conversation with an attorney to figure out what else you need because every business is different and so everyone's needs are gonna look different too.
Yeah. One of the things, like I loved everything that you said, but one thing that like really jumped out to me was that having that contract also allows you to really determine how you're going to conduct a business because it takes a lot of thought. Like you really have to think it out before you even establish this contract. Like, what am I going to do if a person goes over a certain amount of recording hours, right? For my business, for example, what am I going to charge for those additional hours? Like, is there a fee for those additional hours? What is it? It needs to be specified because.
If it's not, then they're like, well, you didn't tell me. So record what I want. So these are all the things that you have to think about. It really does hold you accountable because as business owners, sometimes we want to give, we started this because we want to make an impact. want to help people. And so we have conversations and we want to like, blah, blah, blah, give all the game. But if we have our contracts in place and it holds us accountable to no honey.
Don't be giving all that stuff away because someone else paid for that. And so you can just be giving it away for free over here. You know, like it kind of keeps you on track too. So that's one of the main things that I learned about my contract.
Speaker 2 (35:14.678)
Yeah, because it is too. Like a lot of people think it's just for the client. They need to act right. They need to do this on time. But it's like, it's for you too. So the next time someone's like, man, you know, I just need seven more days to make the payment. You looking at your contract, like, actually, you know, it's not going to be possible here or this policy says this or like, you know, and you don't have to on your own be like,
You need to act right.
Speaker 2 (35:40.935)
I feel bad about this or, this is so annoying. And, know, start responding from that emotional space, like that contract to tell you this is how you conduct business.
Contract is the boss, right? The contract is the boss. So like when I was in government, I would send those emails per manager, so and so. This is what we have to do. And so whenever something comes up, I'm like, per our policies and procedures, this is what it is. So yeah, the lifesaver, the contract is the boss now.
kids.
Speaker 2 (36:19.158)
It was a contract. Heavy on the policy and procedure. Yes.
Yeah, it's really got to be a thoughtful process. for, for like coaches and consultants, cause you've done, you've actually talked about this recently online, like there is a subtle difference. So what is that difference?
Yeah, yes. Talk about it. And the difference I was talking about is what I wanted to highlight, right? When I talked about that in my content is that everyone defines it differently. Right? So you can go to one strategic business consultant and another strategic business consultant and ask them what they, what they do. And you can get different responses and you usually do get different responses. Same thing with coaching.
So what I wanted people to understand is number one, you need to have a definition. Like you need to be able to clearly articulate what it means for you to be a coach, what you do for people and the outcome that they're going to get from working with you and investing in your services. Same thing with being a consultant. think coaching is a little more important in this aspect because
Hmm.
Speaker 2 (37:35.436)
because it can be so intangible. Like when you consult, you have like data documents to review, maybe you got a revenue goal or something like that, right? It's a little more black and white, whereas a coaching space, things are a lot more gray. So I think one of the examples I gave on my live not too long ago was if you're coaching someone to improve their mindset, right? that, the result improve their mindset. what does that mean?
Like, you know, we got the three-step framework so you can improve your mindset. And we go through the framework and you're like, job well done. And I'm the client and I'm like, well, I don't feel any different. Like, I still think the same things. Like my mind is still not set, you know, like, like how do you measure it? Like, how can you be clear about what you do? So a better way to define what you do in that instance is not say, you know, we'll help you improve your mindset or we're going to improve your mindset after 90 days.
Instead say something like, we're going to provide you tools for your situation that you can use to improve your mindset over time. Right. As from a responsibility standpoint, like at the end of that, I may not feel like, huh, my mindset is improved, but I'll be able to look and say, okay, I have this toolbox of things that I can use. Let me start implementing them now. So my mindset can improve over time. Like those things are totally different. So.
I want people to understand that they need to have definitions for these things for themselves so that if something were to come back to them, they can point and say, yes, I did do my job. Or, know, no, I didn't do my job. But you want to be able to say, yes, I did my job. And, you know, this is exactly what that person was supposed to get. This is how we do it.
And that actually impacts a lot, right? Because it impacts even the copy that they're putting on their landing pages, that they're using in their content. If it's not, we've defined like exactly what it is, then you're putting things out there like, well, we'll help you get this almost guaranteeing a result that as you say, sometimes is intangible.
Speaker 2 (39:48.386)
Yeah, we to, you know,
Right. So it's managing expectations of what the results are through your content by clearly understanding what it is that you do. Damn girl. That's good.
Because of the... You might have to. might... I actually, I don't know if you should. don't know. I wouldn't do it twice. But I mean, you're talking like you're going. You're talking because you're right. Like it's about managing expectations. Because if you're like, let's say a fitness coach, right? Whatever that means to somebody and you're posting before and after pictures and...
I definitely have to do it.
Speaker 2 (40:31.682)
You know, in one picture you got Shrek as the before and in the after you got Beyonce, like, you're telling people like, work with me, work with me. you're, you know, like communicating to them, like, this is what's going to happen. But your language is not saying like, you know, Hey, we're not guaranteeing this, or this depends on your body type and the food that you eat and da da da da.
We're only going to give you this structure, but with that structure, you also have to do X, Y, and Z on your own, right? Like that's totally different than come here, let me get you some already. Right? Like we want to be. Right. Because if somebody, if I see those pictures and I'm like, listen, I want the Beyonce now, like staff. Hey, and if you don't give that to me, I'm suing like my feelings. I didn't get the pink for my buck. Like I felt like.
You
Speaker 2 (41:24.526)
I basically, my investment was wasted. I felt like you're doing a little bit of fraud, like I'm suing.
So, do you think that it needs to be like an outright disclaimer or should it be in an outright disclaimer and also woven into like the actual language that they're using, like on those landing pages and through their content.
Great question everywhere, everywhere. I say be as clear as possible in as many spaces as possible because I think like this because I'm the attorney, right? If we were to ever get into a legal dispute and we were to look at, know, did this person make it clear that the results weren't going to be from Shrek to Beyonce, right? Like, where did they do that? Like you want to be able to point when I made the social media post in November and then I made another one in January.
And it's there on my, what is that? My Instagram stories, right? It says, read first disclaimer. It's a disclaimer page on my website. There's a disclaimer on the landing page of the disclaimer on the checkout and in the terms and conditions, right? Versus, I mean, yeah, I said it on the post, but you know, they should have known from that, right? Like you just can point to so many places. That's part of like just doing the CYA work is covering yourself, right?
what's the best way to cover yourself if someone was to sue you and now you have like not just the $3,000 they paid that's on the line, but for other things maybe that was $50,000. Right? you got like legal fees and you got the stress of even showing up and having to deal with that and how it's time consuming, right? It's not just the lawsuit, it's everything that comes with it. Like you can easily help avoid that or just like minimize the impact of that.
Speaker 2 (43:13.006)
by having those disclaimers wherever you can put them. And since we're on that, because we started talking about motherhood and not legal stuff, I should put my disclaimer that this is not legal advice. It's legal information for educational purposes only. If you need legal advice, please seek an attorney and talk to them one-on-one.
Yeah. Awesome. I'm so glad. Yes. Make sure you give your own disclaimer. love it. it's very, I'm loving this conversation by the way. I just feel like there's so many places that we don't even realize that we're vulnerable, in the coaching and consulting space as service based providers. We get into it. We want to do good. We want to help people. we're like, yes, I have a business. I got my LLC. I'm legal. Right.
And then you realize, there's so many other little things. So do you think, your professional opinion, opinion, right? Because it's not legal advice, but in your opinion, that one of the first hires that a business owner should do is to get an attorney?
Yes. But, yes, yes.
Yes, and.
Speaker 2 (44:25.838)
Yes and, is it a what or is it an and? Okay, I'm going to say yes, period. Also, it depends. It depends because I say yes because you should have a conversation with an attorney. Whatever business you start, whatever plans you have, just one conversation. You don't have to put them on retainer. You don't need to pay them monthly. You don't need to drop $5,000. Like some people will hop on the phone with you for free.
say, yeah, you know, got this 30 minute consultation, tap in, tell me what you're going through. Some people have like a one hour, two hour session that's paid for a few hundred dollars. And I think that people should have those initial conversations with attorneys and just say, this is my business plan. This is where I plan to do. What do I need in place? So they can at least have the knowledge.
and the information, right? So that's the yes part. And then the second part is just, it really depends on where you're at in terms of hiring, right? So if you just started your business and you need like three different contracts to do what you're doing, then yeah, you want to work with an attorney to make sure you have those things in place. If you have a lot of IP or NDAs or you got an invention or something that's secret and you're talking to potential partners about it, like those are things that you want to have covered.
hiring an attorney could look different just for people. You may need an attorney for just like a month or two. You may need an attorney for a year or two. You may get to the level where you have one on retainer for whenever you need him, or you might have one that's full-time in-house. it depends on what hiring looks like, but at the very just basic, have a conversation so you understand what you at least need to have in place or what that looks like.
Yeah, I actually had a conversation with a potential client and one of the things they mentioned was, well, we need you to be like super hush hush about this because like we are still going through the process or they were like right on the cusp of getting their trademark or the title of their podcast. I have to wait. Like, is it the thing?
Speaker 2 (46:32.774)
my God.
So like now I'm curious, like, is this a thing where people are, what are the aspects? Let me ask that question. What are the aspects of a business that need to happen before you even announce that you have a business?
It depends.
The Fur Coat. You're a consultant.
Speaker 2 (47:00.904)
If you were talking about the online space, right? And you have a website, you want to have your disclaimers, you want to have your terms and conditions, you want to have your privacy policy. If you plan to collect people's phone numbers or emails for mass marketing purposes, you want to make sure that you have the privacy policies in place for those things, right? So if you have those types of things, then yes. If you're planning on signing up clients immediately, whether it's...
You're going to work with them for three months or maybe you're going to do like one-off strategy sessions. need to have some type of terms in place for, for those types of things, right? Whether it's like full client contract or just like a set of terms for those one-off strategy calls. I would say those are, those are the main, those are the main things. And I say it depends just because like,
How are you going to jump into things, right? Are you just going to have one offer and work with clients and you're going to, you know, be on social media marketing your business. Then all those things that I said, like you want to have in place, the client contract, as well as the website terms and conditions of privacy and all of that stuff. If you're jumping into business and you have.
let's say a one-on-one coaching offer, but also a group offer, but you do some consulting as well and you host a series of workshops. Like you, now you need terms for all of those things, right? If you're going to be partnering with certain organizations or maybe you're jumping in and there's going to be a speaking arm of your business. Now you need a speaking agreement and you need to understand like, you know, the IP implications. If you're talking about your signature framework or method, I will also say that if you're planning on starting your business while
coming from a nine to five, you want to make sure that that transition is aligned with the rules of that nine to five. So in particular, like what it means to like be on social media, period, while you have a nine to five and you're talking about things. Cause some people may start talking about their business, right? Like, are you going to get fired? Are you going to get in trouble? Does your, does your employer need to know that you're starting a business? Some employers require like, tell us everything that you're doing.
Speaker 2 (49:09.966)
When you're working for us, whether that's at the start or in the middle of it, like we need to know, right? Whether it, and if you're doing something that's closely aligned with your nine to five and that profession and you're starting a business based on that, need to be careful with the intellectual property and the things you're creating for your business. Cause your job can be like, hold up based on the IP policy and section eight of your employee and it pays 57. We own a piece of that. Right? So.
Yeah.
That's another aspect to consider. That's why I just, so many scenarios, like it can vary, but it really depends on like, what are you going to start out doing? And if you're leaving from a place where it's already, you're an employee somewhere, part-time, full-time, you also want to make sure that that aligns with your business, whether you're going into a full-time or you're to be running your business part-time.
So at minimum, there needs to be some type of conversation had with an attorney. At the very inception of your business or I'm thinking about starting a business, what do need to have in place? There needs to be a conversation. So it cannot be avoided. Even if, like you say, it's a like five, $600 conversation with someone that can set you up and put you on the trajectory to be a fully legal and sustainable business. I think it's worth it. It's worth the
Yes.
Speaker 1 (50:31.116)
I'm telling you, like, having been, it was one of the scariest things of my life. I was like, my God, am I, is my business ruined? Like, it was so scary for me going through that experience of not having my contracts be like where they needed to be. So don't be around here.
know, hurting your heart. Like, get together as much as possible, seek that assistance. And so this has been really good. We didn't... Oh, no, before we go, I don't want to end it yet until I ask you like about your favorite mommy hacks. Usually I... Yes.
Mommy hats, okay. So you know that thing, you know that thing, I don't know what it's called, but like my family's Tanzanian, right? And so like we have what you call a conga, which is like a...
large cloth and wrapping the baby to your back, you know what saying? So you can sit there and like tie it and like, yes, that is a hack. That is a hack. You are a busy mom. I take it with me to Target, you know, it goes everywhere. So I know a lot of times like what stops us from doing our work and just getting things done. It's like, the baby is there. The baby is there. He's there. Like, so that's a huge hack for me.
So the baby can still be close, but I'm not like, you know, just...
Speaker 1 (52:00.844)
my hands are free to do all the things and yeah.
done, can move around. Next mommy hack is help. Babysitter, family members, grandmas, like just leaning into a village. And for those who don't have a village, because a lot of moms say that too, not everyone is blessed to have a village. Creating it, right? Creating that village like with other moms or loved ones.
But having people to lean on is a huge hack so you can get time to yourself, so you can be around people who get it, so you can have time with your spouse or your friends or, you know, just you have to, you're still a person first. You're not just a mom. Like we're individuals, right? Like we're still out here and we need to live our lives in a way that is joyful to us because motherhood is hard. So having a village is...
is huge when it comes to that. Another favorite hack is just anything that helps you organize and structure your time. Calendly, I love me some Calendly.
When I learned that they were black on I was like, baby
Speaker 2 (53:17.422)
It's the fat ass.
Y'all I'm a client for life. I was like, oh, work that one because I was looking at other platforms, but I was like, that's huge for me. want to have, you know, tech app technology in my business. And that just, you know, scheduling is like that. I used to spend so much time going back with emails. What works for you? What about you? What about you? Not everyone is efficient in that too. So it's also just like, come on now. Like, so that's
helpful and I also use that to kind of like if anyone wants to talk about business, particularly people who have my number and like want to text me, I always route them to my calendar. Always route them to my calendar and sometimes people are like, dang, I just got a question. I'm like, yeah, go ahead and know, book that time. Let me know what works for you. Because you have to be able to separate, right? And just have an organized fashion. were talking about just organizing your calendar.
A lot of motherhood and business ownership is just like, how do you manage your time? So that people get what they need and the household gets what they need and you get what you need and your clients get what you need and all your passion projects and you're healthy and thriving. And so is everyone else. Like it's about valuing your time, seeing how you can leverage your time, being able to organize your time. So anything that helps with time management and organization is asked.
And even like a little mini hack inside of Calendly. When I first started, I was like, well, I got to keep my schedule open every day for consultations. And then I was like, wait, first of all, no.
Speaker 2 (55:00.397)
Right?
the heck was I thinking? but I didn't, in my mind, I just felt like, nine to five, Monday through Friday, right? Like I was still thinking that way. So then I realized, well, wait a second. I don't really want to do Mondays because I don't want to start my week with like, I have a ton of meetings today. Right. I want to like ease into it because homeschooling is a priority for me. So Mondays is like, this is going to be in the afternoon. Then I realized, well, I want to record on certain days because I want to make sure that I
at my best to have these conversations. So do I want to do consultations like right after I do this? So I really, I figured, I can set it the way I want to and Calendly allows you to do that. Like if you don't want to take it on the money, you don't have to do it. If you want to take a week off, you know, you can like put it in there and people will say, she's just not available this week. Don't gotta know your business. Don't even know why you're not available. You're just not available. Book me next week. You know, so I love that there's,
all that flexibility in there, but like little mini hack, like you don't got to do conversations every day. You can do things on Tuesdays and Thursdays if you want to, or you know what I mean? Like set it up how you want for what works for you.
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (56:11.936)
Agent 2.
Absolutely. And I'm just, here's my little thing. If you are looking for some productivity hacks specifically around podcasting, I do have a link for that in the description box below. So make sure you grab that. cause I put my heart and soul into it. So to really help moms who are looking to do podcasting and all the things we need to figure out how to make it work for our busy schedules. Lee-Koo this has been great.
Don't understand.
Speaker 1 (56:42.274)
I've learned so much and I appreciate you taking the time to be here. and I'm going to let you go so that you can have some time by yourself and make them tacos before your, before your beautiful child wakes up. So thank you so much. Is there any like words of wisdom? I mean, you've dropped so many gems, but is there anything else you want to leave the people with before we go?
Yes, thank you for having me, first of all. And what I want to leave people with, in particular, is you can't have it all. Just like we were talking about, you just have to figure out what that looks like for you, how to define that for yourself. So keep being encouraged and know that you can do anything.
Yes, I always I love to say you can do anything. Maybe you can do everything right. Like so as you mentioned earlier, outsource something right. You can do anything. We know it mama. We know it. You're like I can do this and I can do that. Maybe you don't have to do everything. So outsource some stuff. There's a link in the description box for poplin, which is one of my favorite things. Um, like as a laundry service, it's like a dollar a pound baby. If laundry is not your thing, we'll get you $20 off your first.
You know?
Speaker 1 (57:59.758)
your first set of laundry. Yes, ma'am. I will definitely send that to you. So thank you so much for being here and we will catch y'all in the next episode. Bye.
So, that's we got, we lianed.
