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At the time of this recording, I am currently experiencing a 2 week stretch of 90 plus degree heat and a broken air conditioning unit. Being overheated makes me cranky, and it also makes me cranky. How in the heck did I grow up without air conditioning? But I digress. Hydration is the self care tool I want to discuss with you today. Hydration is good for all things, your body, mind, and soul. According to an article on the Harvard School of Public Health website, drinking enough water each day is crucial for many reasons, to regulate body temperature, keep joints lubricated, prevent infections, deliver nutrients to cells, and keep organs functioning properly. Being well hydrated also improves sleep quality, your cognition, and mood. Thank you, Harvard Public Health website.

I know from personal experience The when I am properly hydrated, I have fewer headaches, I feel less bloated, and it's so much easier to poop. Here's my hack to ensure I drink enough water every day. I always carry a big water bottle, at least 40 ounces, and it has to have a straw with me wherever I go. I set the goal to fill up the water bottle 3 times daily and I feel great. When I feel great, I have more capacity to absorb life, like living in a hot house, and I'm less likely to flip the bench switch on. So be sure you drink plenty of water. And if you're looking for other random self care, gifts, tools, and information, be sure you sign up for my newsletter at thefireinsideher.com list. Welcome to The Fire Inside Her, a brave space to share stories of navigating life transitions with authenticity.

Using our inner fire to light the way and self care as our loyal travel companion. I'm your host, Diane Schroeder, and I'm so grateful you are here. Welcome, friend, to another inspiring episode. Today, I sit down with entrepreneur and author, Livia Jenvey, to explore her latest book, Soul Compass. It is a practical guide for female entrepreneurs looking to reconnect with their inner guide. In our episode, Livia shares her invaluable insights on overcoming fear and self doubt, the importance of knowing your big why and the power of collaboration over competition among women in business. We talk about the significance of community, having clear financial goals, and finding the balance between professional ambitions and personal well-being. Livia's journey is relatable.

She battled self doubt and came through emerging as a successful entrepreneur. It is a testament to her resilience and being empowered. She imparts practical advice on time management, financial decisions, and most importantly, the pivotal role that intuition and feminine energy has played in her business. Her story is sure to resonate and inspire you. Without further ado, hello, everyone. Today's episode is another incredible episode with a fantastic guest. I have the pleasure of speaking with Livia Jenvey, and we're just gonna see where this conversation takes us. She is an incredible entrepreneur out of California.

So, Livia, thank you for being here.

Thank you, Diane. It's a really pleasure to be here. I'm really excited to be hanging out with you today.

Yes. And I always like to ask random questions of my guests. So my question for you is, what was your favorite childhood cartoon?

Oh, god. There were so many. I was a big cartoon fiend as a kid, I should say. Probably just The classic, like Bugs Bunny was always my favorite The, probably. It was between Bugs Bunny and also Pinky and the Brain. I think those are the 2.

Okay. Okay. Thank you for sharing. My son loves Bugs Bunny and all things Looney Tunes. My dad introduced it to him when he was probably 2 years old, and they'd watch it on the iPad and they would giggle and laugh, and there's just nothing quite like that.

There really isn't. I actually was watching a couple episodes each other day. So

I am probably gonna date myself by saying this, but there was a time in the fashion world where the Warner Brothers store was quite popular, and I actually had overalls that had embroidered Bugs Bunny and Tweety Bird and all the characters that I wore out. I loved them.

I'm around your age, so I totally know of that store, and I totally know of that outfit. So yeah.

Alright. Well, you know, kindred spirits. Alright. Well, let's dive in. So share with me and my guests a little bit about your journey and what made you want to write a book that we're gonna talk about, you know, towards the end. But what's your why? Why did it

start? It started because I became an entrepreneur at a young age, and I had no clue, no support, and I did every single thing you should not be doing when you first start. You know, going on your own, doing everything. I did so many things that were not I should not have done that I did to the point that actually put me in the emergency room because I end up collapsing because I just worked way too much and should not have happened. And I wrote this book because I wanted to support other female entrepreneurs who are just doubting themselves, doubting their own decisions, having fear on what to do next, having a goal but not feeling as if they can actually do that goal, their thoughts are just all over the place. I created a book that I wish I had when I was much younger to really help me realign with my inner guide. Like, that was the biggest lesson I wish I Her learned really early on is that your inner guide, which was the thing that actually got you to wanting to be an entrepreneur in the first place, is the best thing for you to trust. It is your inner compass. It is your soul compass for you to know what to do next and we, unfortunately, live in a society where we're told not to listen to our own inner guide.

We're told not to to use its advice even though its advice is based on work-life balance. Its advice is gonna give you the most profitable results. Its advice is gonna make your life so much easier, but we're taught to listen to everyone else. And, yes, there's a ton of great information out there, but it's starting with being aligned to our inner guide and using that as the compass to direct us to that information out The. That's gonna really help benefit us. And that is really the reason why because, like, I I don't wanna see other fellow female entrepreneurs who are, you know, going into the hospital because they've worked themselves to the bone or I see a lot which is they have to go out of business, which is what I had to do at the same time because I'd worked myself too much. Mhmm.

Thank you for sharing The. And then you are speaking directly to me. I started my entrepreneurial journey almost 11 months ago when I left the fire service, and it has been quite a ride. And I will tell you that it's just been within the last couple months that I've really started to listen to me and my gut and my intuition, my inner compass. So thank you for writing a book that, you know, sidesteps a lot of the the struggle. I feel like in the beginning, I told myself the struggle is part of it. It's part of it. You know? Just be gritty.

Just keep doing it. And I didn't burn myself out too much to the point I had to go to the hospital. However, I became not very nice to be around pretty quickly. I was I was just overwhelmed and exhausted, and then sometimes that was before lunch.

Yeah. I think this is the falsity that's out there is that, okay, yes, you are going to have to work hard and hustle. But if you're doing it in a way that's not aligned to your compass, that's actually taking more energy out of you, and it's gonna make that hustle 10 times harder. Like, if you are actually listening to your inner compass, sure, maybe you do have to have those days where you may have to work work some long hours to get out whatever you need to do to grow your business, but it's not gonna feel like a toll. It's not gonna drain your energy. It's actually gonna energize you in the opposite. And also too, you'll know how to balance out, like, maybe you're gonna work, like, a very long day, you feel energized, but then you also know the next day you're gonna give yourself, like, you know, you're not gonna work as much. This is where it really comes down to really empowering you, and that's where I feel as if I wanna empower more women to understand, like, your gut feeling, that intuition, that feminine side of you is super powerful.

Like, own it, embrace it, and use it, and listen to it even when everyone else tells you otherwise. I see this very often where, you know, clients that I work with, they've got, you know, partners, family members, who are all telling them to do all this other stuff, and I, you know, would've felt The victim of that very early on too. And you're thinking, okay, well, they may know more than me, so I should take their advice. But something in you is like, no, I shouldn't. Listen to that something inside of you. Because that is that guide that says, well, that might be good for them or maybe someone they knew that did it, but it's not the right thing for you. Your inner guide is connected to your heart. It's connected to your whole being, your soul that knows more stuff than you realize.

Like, it gets into those other senses that maybe have you realize that, okay, if you do go to this path, it might be completely crazy from everyone else. That's actually gonna be the most lucrative, the most abundant, is gonna be the one that's gonna make your life 10 times better very quickly. And so I always just want to help support women. Just know that. That's really because if you're gonna be an entrepreneur, that you are already gonna change the world. So I really wanna support you going through that.

That is beautiful, and so much wisdom in that because I think we do. We're like, oh, we have to follow this person or this person. You know? So pretty soon, you're following 10 or 15 people, and you're so busy trying to get advice from everyone. You get advice from no one, and you're exhausted and burned out in that inner wisdom. And I think when you the feminine qualities that we don't listen to I spent most of my life in a 96% male dominated career, so my masculine energy game is real strong. It's really trying to, like, pull out that feminine energy and and finding that balance. And used to really not like the word balance, but, really, that's what it is. It's both are equally as powerful, and giving voice to your intuition, magical things happen.

So what would you tell my listeners if they're thinking about becoming an entrepreneur? Like, what what are some of, like, the first things they should consider besides starting to really get a good relationship within themselves to start the journey?

It really comes down to, like, defining why you're doing this. Right? That I think that's your big why is the number one thing because I talk a lot about in my book about how, like, that's your rocket fuel. Like, that's gonna help you go through what you need to go through. So you really need to be clear on the why. Also, I always like to and I I see this unfortunately more with female entrepreneurs and men that I've worked with over the years. Men have a clear idea of how long The wanna do this business for. A lot of women don't actually set that time window, and I say that you should. And not even you should.

I I say it's required, to be quite honest, because you wanna really give yourself that ability to know that, like long do you wanna run this business for? Is it something you wanna do a short time? Is it something you wanna do, like, a mid time of your life and then do something else? Is Is it something you wanna do forever and have as a legacy business and you give to your family and friends? Right? You need to be very clear on that because that actually helps solidify the type of things that you wanna move forward with, the type of business, your goals. Those are really the clear things. And then, you know, definitely being clear on your why, so the whole purpose of why you're doing it. Clear on how long you want to do this business for, and realistically, how much you want to make. Like, I see this often, like, oh, I kinda wanna make note. Like, be clear. Like, listen to The inner guide and don't, you know, take anyone else's opinion. Like, what is the end money that you wanna make? Because if you figure out by the time you end this business, what is that top dollar amount you wanna make? Is sky's the limit.

You wanna own that. And so these are the clear things that I think if you're thinking of starting a business to really get clear on first before you get forward. Because this is gonna help you figure out, is this the business that you wanna do or not? Because I had that in the beginning. My first business I started was a business that everyone told me it'd be a great business to do. And I did it, but I hated it. Because it really wasn't aligned to, you know, my purpose and my passion. It wasn't aligned to what I really wanted to make. It wasn't necessarily aligned to how long I wanted to do it for.

Like, you need to be very clear on The. Because other people might say, like, oh, you got this great way of, like, making food, so you should be a chef. Do you really wanna do that? Like, maybe you wanna make cosmetics. Do that Inside. Like, be really clear. This is gonna really help you decide what's gonna be the right business for you. And you can always choose. If it's a short term, sure.

You can do this one now and do another one later.

That is so simple to just ask yourself. I love that question. How long am I gonna be doing this for? You know? Like, I feel 5 years, I wanna be done working. So, I get The. That's it.

And that's totally valid. That's so valid. Like, that's your like, own that. That's valid. Like, I think that is where there's a lot of lack of letting women know that you can start a business for as long as you want. It could be like a side side hustle. You wanna start a side hustle and you wanna do it for a couple of years so you can learn something else. That's all that you're gonna do, but you wanna be clear of how long you wanna do it for.

And I think that's where us as women just need to help empower each other to know that, like, it's totally okay. Like, there's this whole thing about, like, being a lifelong company.

I love that, and I think it's it's been a beautiful shift to see the collaboration over competition with women. And I think it's happening more and more, and maybe it's my rose colored glasses, and I've just been really fortunate and grateful to be surrounded by amazing women as I've started this entrepreneurial journey The, really, we help each other out and lift each other up, and it's that all boats rise, and it's just glorious to see. Because from my world and experience, it wasn't always the case. Like, there's some pretty mean girls that have traumatized me throughout my life that I was just like, oh, I really hope that entrepreneurial is different. And it has been. It it's just been this welcoming community. Like, I see you, and I wanna help you, and I wanna support you, and there is just beauty in that. You've been an entrepreneur for quite some time.

Has it always been that way for you?

No. It is not. I think there's definitely a huge shift right now because there are more women as entrepreneurs now. I think that's where the biggest shift came through. When I started, there was not as many women as entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs. It was definitely much more masculine, much more male, much more, like, go after get beat your competition, kill them kind of thing. You know? The whole, like it's but I think also to the reason why I became a coach for women because when I had coaches before that were men, they didn't understand that, like, what I was looking to do in business was not only to take care of myself and my family, but it was also to take care of my community as well.

And that's where I find with a lot of women, and as more and more women get into business, that's really what it comes down to. And I think that there is some still that are competitive, but I think because they're still really aligned to this whole very masculine, you need to fight each other. But in reality, like, all of our businesses are very different. You know, I'm a business coach, but I know a lot of other great business coaches that are also female entrepreneurs who do something completely different than I, and I'm supporting them. They support me because we're unique. We have special type of skills that we each have, and we're here to help to support those who are the right for each of us. So I think it's just really helping support each other because for me, personally, I think the future of business is female. Like, it's it's time for more women to be because when we are given money and the resources, like, we're we're utilizing, we're changing communities.

We're helping children. We're helping the elderly. We're helping each The. And I think that's where things are shifting. And you're also seeing this in the big corporate world as far where a lot of these bigger companies The ones who are taking care of people. They are actually making more money. So I think this is gonna be a huge shift. We're gonna see a lot more of going forward.

It's the women that ran the show, and especially for, like, indigenous tribes and, you know, it was an eglitarian society where all the big decisions came through the women. And, you know, there wasn't as much war. There wasn't as much violence. So side note. I could not agree more with that. How do you build your community? What does community mean to you? It's a big word, and it can mean a lot of different things. But for you specifically, what does your community look like?

My community is I like a really diverse community because for me, it has just always been that way. It's it's helping others. Like, I'm all about helping support and lift people up. Like, I am that cheerleader. I am that person who's that connector. That's where I really build my community and I bring those into my life for that and that's where I really think of it. It's just that, you know, those who wanna be part of my community, who are not into, like, supporting each other, they're not, you know, they're into going into themselves. Like, they're they're not part of the community that I want to because, you know, I was talking to someone the other day about the whole analogy of, like, the crabs in the bucket and how, like, you know, you put a bunch of crabs in a bucket and one tries to get out and then the other ones are pulling that crab down to get out.

Like, I wanna get out of I wanna be able to be, like, you go into a hole, but we're the ones who help lift you up. We get that you up out of that hole, and then you also help each other, you know, get out of that hole too. Like, that's really what, to me, is the community. Because I look at it as I want to see others shining bright as they are. I want them to have healthy lives. I want them to have lives where they you know, life is already stressful enough. Like, why do we need to create wars between each other? That's where I feel like, for me, a community is all about taking care of each other, and just knowing and honoring each individual is who they are and unique, and how that uniqueness actually brings something very valuable to the table.

Yes. The is so well said. And it's adding value, not fitting in. And I think that it's a slight distinction, but a very important one. I would like to surround my people myself with people who add value in my life and in my community. I don't want the same thought. I don't want the same, like, experiences because that's boring, and and it doesn't honor, you know, like, everyone's true self and their authenticity. So how do you take care of yourself? What does your self care look like being a an entrepreneur and an author and just a busy person?

A lot of stuff going on. Yeah. I always make sure I have 3 key things Inside any given day. I make sure that I start my day for me. So even if it's, like, I gotta get up early and, like, I gotta do things for people, like, I may even give myself an extra time where I just, like, sit and I meditate. Even if it's just 5 minutes, like, I will do that. Like, just something that grounds me to start my day. So it's usually, like, you know, some moments of meditation.

I do a little bit of yoga in the morning, and then just journaling, and these are, like, things to really, like, ground me in, like, space. Sometimes it's, like, I gotta go hide in a bathroom to do this. I will do that, you know, because I know it's my time. Right? And then my end of the day, I always set a, like, ritual of, like, my day is ending. You know, I learned this when I was young when I used to work in, like, as a waiter, and you'd close out your day. I do some very similar where it's just, like, at the end of the day, I just take notes of, like, all the things I didn't do, get it all on my head because if I keep them in my head, I will think about them in the rest of the night. So I put it all down and I say, focus tomorrow, and that's it. Like, it's the closeout of my day.

Like, I make sure that always happens. And then I also put in moments for me throughout the day. My calendar is my sacred thing. I schedule, like, in between times of, like, today I'm tired. I need a nap time. I got my, like, I need to go for a walk because I need a distress time. Like, I put these little moments in there because what I found is that if I'm gonna work really long, I need to make sure that I have things that are gonna reenergize me in my day. And for me, things that reenergize me are going for a walk, just, you know, quick little brisk in nature, getting some oxygen in my lungs, that reenergizes me.

You know, taking a 15 minute nap, closing my eyes that relaxing that reenergizes me. Sometimes it's just like I'm just gonna sit and doodle for 5 minutes. And that's gonna reenergize me because it's just this is where I think the balance really comes in as a busy entrepreneur is that, yes, you're gonna have days where you're gonna be busy, you're gonna have deadlines, you're gonna have people running around, all that type of stuff, but it's making sure you clear boundaries for your day to day. That's for you. That's the biggest biggest lesson I had to learn. Is The, like, my oxygen mask needs to be put on me Fire before I take care of anyone else. So I got some clear boundaries. I set things.

Clients wanna email me. They know that I will not respond to emails until the the next day I'm working. Someone will try and text me. I don't pick up in a text. Like, I I make sure that those little things for me are really gonna help me to feel that I can do things every day.

Thank you for sharing, first of all. I really appreciate your genuine answer, and thank you for validating me because I'm the same way when it comes to email and text message. And my calendar, it's sacred time from 6 AM to 8 AM every day at a minimum of how I start, and that is just I learned several years ago that there's no even before I left the fire service, I've gotta have that me time or I cannot do anything for anyone else. And even energy management is so important that I don't think we talk enough about. Like, you can manage your time, but if you're a nighttime a night owl and you force your schedule so that you're up early in the morning, you're just working against your intuition. You're working against that inner voice. And so I I love that you brought that up because I just think it's so important, and there's there's no shame in that. There should not be especially when you're your own boss.

You get to make up the rules. Especially when you're your own boss. You get to make up the rules.

I commend, you know, like The 5 AM thing and all that type of stuff. But I think the reality is that, like, yeah, you gotta listen to your intuition. Like, I know for me, like, there have been certain times in my life where I've actually been more of a night owl, and there's no way I'm gonna wake up at 5 AM no more. My creativeness will be, like, up late at night. So I need to make sure that I set clear boundaries, clear schedules, like, do that, you know. And also to your life changes, you know, you start having families and you've got the kids. Like, you've got to be able to be flexible for what feels right because it really is energy management. Like, you know, clear examples are, like, I do most of my, like, speaking and networking in the afternoon because for me, that's, like, that right time that is energy efficient for me.

I would never do that in the morning time. Right? Because that's the time I need to do other things. But, like, someone who I've worked with clients, like, they're completely opposite. Maybe they need that morning time to do the speaking. You gotta listen to yourself. And, yeah, I totally agree with you. It's you're actually the most valuable person in your company. If you are running a business, just look at, like, a business standpoint.

Most big corporations have giant insurance policies on the key level executives of the company. Right? Because they are very valuable. You are no different.

I feel like we might be in church. That is so true and so accurate. Thank you for sharing that. We talked about your book a little bit in the beginning of the conversation, but I would love for you to share a little bit more about your book and how my community can find you and where you're at in the virtual world of life. Sure.

So you could find me on most, like, you know, the standard social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook. I'm also on YouTube at Empowered Star Boss is my handle. My website is empoweredstarboss.com, and it's all about the name of my company is Empowered Star Boss LLC, and the name is really empowering star bosses. Like, you are a star as a female entrepreneur. I want to empower you. That is all about what this company is all about. So I wish I had someone who is helping support me and guiding me in that. So this is where I really came down to that.

My book, Soul Compass, is shows you just five key strategies and how to get you reconnected to that inner guide. Maybe you've lost connection to it. You're feeling a lot of fear, a lot of self doubt, you're completely lost, you've got a lot of indecisions that you want to make, and so the book is filled with a lot of great exercises to help empower that inner guide connection again. And you can go through different parts of the book wherever you feel like you're at, but it's just a lot of stuff that I use for myself and a lot of clients I've coached with over years to help them when they're having those moments where, you know, I feel like I gotta do a ton of stuff, like, you're not connected to your inner guide. Try this little exercise to help you with The, like, that rocket feel I talked about, like, how to give you that. Also to, you know, what's the real story of the life you wanna live? I see this too often too with a lot of women entrepreneurs is that they have this, like, life that they wanna live, but it's actually not the life they want. It's someone else told them to live. And it's like, I have an exercise in there that's, like, I want you to really write it down.

Like, I'm your fairy godmother. I've granted you the wish. Money is no object. What truly is the life you want to live? Right? Because this really helps empower you with your business. As you mentioned before, you're starting a business. Okay. You wanna have, like, a baller lifestyle. Okay.

Maybe the first business is a small one where you make a lot of money in a couple years. You sell it, and then use that money to create another business where you make more money. Like, there's opportunities out there, but it's just listening to that inner guide because, you know, I give some examples of the book of, like, you know, Spanx. Right? She sold our company for a good deal of money, and it was her own inner intuition that she used for it. Another one is Poo Pourri, I talk about in the book. She created a viral video that no one believed in, thought she was crazy, but she listened to her own inner guide and it seriously became viral and made this into a very lucrative company. So it's just a lot of guidance and support to help empower you so that you're feeling those moments where you're just not sure if you wanna keep running your business, you know, pick up the book, try the couple exercises, and see because maybe you just need to reconnect to the inner guide to help give you that feel you need to go forward. Do what you need to do.

That's awesome. I'm gonna order it as soon as we get off this call. And I I just wanna thank you for being a leader and a role model. And, you know, you'd said it's the book you wish you would have had, so thank you for paying it forward. And, you know, I feel like we learn the most from our experiences and challenges that don't always go the way we want them to. So to take that and to drill into a positive says a lot about who you are as a leader. So thank you very much for for doing that and helping women like myself and all the other women out there who wanna be badass entrepreneurs, get rid of those blocks, and really just trust themselves. I really appreciate that.

Oh, well, I really appreciate you, Diane, for doing this because, you know, I I wanna see more women succeed. You know? Running the businesses I've been running over the years, like, I was meeting women who were just they had such amazing ideas, such amazing things, and they were not moving forward with it. And I was just like, that's a disservice to the world because you have that gift that's gonna change people's lives in such a positive way. Like, I wanna see more of that. Like, we need to shift the world in such a positive way and I feel like more women have these ideas that come into their inner guide and is, like, you know, divine inspiration that's gonna be, like, making better things. I I really want to see more of that because, you know, even my book, I read it sometimes because I need to get reminded, you know, when things come up, and this is where I wanna see just more empowered women who have that inkling to start a business. I want them to succeed because, like, a large number of companies don't go past 5 years, and I wanna change that. I wanna see them be as long as I need to.

I love that. I love that goal. And I will also throw out there, when you listen to your inner guide and you follow what that inner knowing is and you take those steps of courage, you're really honoring your authentic self, and you're, you know, taking away all the noise. And it's messy, and it's hard, and it's not easy because you're gonna have doubt and fear and all those companions that are with us at all times, yet you can overcome that because of your unique gifts. So I appreciate that there are more women inspiring other women in the world. And to wrap up the conversation, I would love to know what you would tell your 12 year old self if you could go back and talk to her today about any piece of advice you could give her.

No matter what anyone tells you, become an entrepreneur as soon as possible. Because I was hustling at the 12 year old, doing my little side gigs, and no one empowered me at that young age. And I really wish that, you know, I had someone come up to you at 12 years old and said, you know what? You got this little side business you're doing right now. You're meant to be an entrepreneur. Let's keep it going. Because, like, that's where I feel like we wanna shift things. And I wish someone said that because you know what? I would have been a really baller entrepreneur by this age. So

No. That's perfect. I think that is fantastic advice because I wish I would have listened. You know, I didn't listen to yeah. I just listened to what my parents thought I should do and told me I needed to do to fit into the world, and I never really fit in. So it's just easier to blaze your own trail. Awesome. Livia, thank you.

Another great conversation. Thank you for giving the valuable gift of your time and listening to The Fire Inside Her podcast. Speaking of value, one of the most common potholes we fall into on the journey to authenticity is not recognizing our value. So, I created a workbook. It's all about value. Head on over to thefireinsideher.com/value to get your free workbook that will help you remember your value. Until next time, my friend.