1021: The Sound Of Business: Balancing Life, Work, And Family with Tori Ellis

Robert Plank 0:05 Welcome back to the podcast, Tori Ellis is here and she has a new mom. She's a serial entrepreneur, and she's a doctor of human and organizational Psych. And she has experience navigating that balance between home and work. And she has all sorts of insights about professional development with a hands on transformational approach. Her website is the sound of business.org. And her excellent book is called the sound of business seeing entrepreneurship through hip hop. So Tori, glad to be speaking with you.

Unknown Speaker 0:38 It's awesome to be speaking with you, too. How are you today?

Robert Plank 0:40 I am fantastic. And I am just I'm always having to consciously remind myself to to be present, to be focused to shut down the distractions and to like consciously and manually kind of apply a little bit of optimism and positivity. So that way, I kind of get those good habits and grain those good paths forged that way. I'm excited about everything I do. And that's where I'm at to answer your question. So How the heck are you?

Speaker 1 1:07 I'm good, you know, managing the mom and the work life. My daughter's in the other room right now. I'm hoping she goes to sleep, when doesn't come into the meeting really quickly. But I mean, I'm here and I'm getting things done. And I'm happy to be on this call with you today.

Robert Plank 1:20 Well, you know, you mentioned being a new parent, and I have a three year old son. And I noticed that as soon as my son was born, maybe like that first kind of newborn phase, like, I found, I took myself less seriously and like say, say my son if say he's at school right now, but if he like, jumped in and and came in and made noise, the old me would have thought like, oh, the interviews ruined and what a mistake, but the new me I just go with it. And so is there anything along those lines, like has your thinking changed at all since having a kid

Speaker 1 1:51 of course, I mean, I have a two year old. So you know, they talk about those terrible twos. I didn't claim those I said terrific too. But I mean, it, my, my mind has definitely shifted a lot and shifted to help, you know, support her and be present for her. But then also, definitely, personally for myself, the self care you need during this time, especially because you have that balance, and you have to pour into them just as much the energy, the time, the love. So you have to give yourself to this, that same stuff to yourself as well. And I've definitely had to work on that for sure. It's

Robert Plank 2:24 like before the child years, then maybe a some things could slip through the cracks. But then now it's it's serious time, right? Like you're you're developing, you're shaping a child's life or multiple kids. And then it's like, there's that whole idea of you want to do the best for them and provide for them. So now it's time to get serious in business and your legacy and what you're building. But there's also that self care you mentioned where you can't pour from an empty cup. So there's this kind of new factors that play and so as far as that relates to your business, and what you're doing for your livelihood, and making money and helping people tell us about that what's going on, as far as being your life and business coach, you have T sob consulting, so tell us about just what you're doing to make money and help people?

Speaker 1 3:13 Well, one of the main things that I do is, as you know, coaching, and I feel like my niche has definitely come into coaching the mom behind the business. So definitely, you know, showcasing that yes, it is okay to still have that balance of the both, but then also to make sure that you are doing what you got to do for yourself for your business to help it grow. So you can definitely help your kids grow and pour into them the same way that you want to pour into every person that you are helping during this time. So my main source of income and my main, you know, focus is definitely the coaching and then I do have youth programs. So I'm giving back to the youth as well, and the parents in that same aspect. And just providing them with some some tools and information that they can use to sustain themselves to stay in a household. And also to literally just, you know, sustain their everyday will

Robert Plank 4:03 exciting. And what kind of tools?

Speaker 1 4:07 Well, a lot more some of the tools we talk about is like mindfulness meditation, definitely that self care that we spoke about, just in the beginning. Also, too, we teach them about like urban gardening, so they can do that sustainable gardening at home and like incorporate that with their kids and also incorporate that like, you know, with their family to make sure that they have those tools, but definitely the financial part as well. So we do financial literacy. And we do entrepreneurship because financial literacy is a very, very key thing and not too many people had those tools coming up to know like, Hey, I have to do and manage or invest or put my money here so my money is working for me. And you know, money is a tool. You don't want it to feel like you're a slave to it and you can't have access to it and you're always pouring it into something and it's not working for you. So giving them all that insight so they are able to balance for sure.

Robert Plank 4:58 And you hear a lot how this whole idea of financial literacy. It's not taught in schools and like, in some ways I understand why because it's kind of like an opinionated topic. And there's a lot of like emotion attached. And even when you look up like, do I listen to like Dave Ramsey, or Robert Kiyosaki or someone like that, it's like there's like four or five sort of paths. And it's like you choose your path. And there's these kind of rules and opinions attached to it. So I can I can sort of understand why schools can't really teach it very well. Because if they did, you'd have to be like, careful about what you say and not be too too aggressive on like, kind of this topic about money. And so what is sort of your your money mindset, like, what's your opinion on money? You have specific like rules or do's and don'ts, just what's this Tory Ellis's kind of thoughts on money?

Speaker 1 5:49 Well, I'd like to infuse the money with the mindfulness. So how are you being mindful of money? Being aware of how you're using it? So are you coming from a place of you know, being in really insecure, like insecure with it are you being in a state of wanting to do fast money and put yourself in these really, really crazy outrageous things to get money quickly? Or are you kind of just keeping it to yourself and not saving or taking not taking even those risks to invest? So it's certain things that we have to do, and I have my daughter at the door right now, there's certain things you have to do in order to be mindful with yourself. Also be mindful with your money. And I think that's one of the key topics that we discuss, and really, you know, put that in there with our parents, but also with the kids, the way you handle it, and the way you're mindful with it, is the way it's gonna work for you.

Robert Plank 6:38 Wonderful, and you're I think you're so right, that that money is almost like its own living thing. And you mentioned there a little bit that like, it kind of gets passed down, but from your parents, and that there's like different different people have maybe approaches to it, and maybe they don't realize, right, right, like, maybe there's the, like you said, but the fast approach, like people, like gamble or do illegal things or pursue the lottery tickets. And then there's even like, the kind of the other misstep where maybe you earn money, but you hoard it, or you don't hang on to it. And there's all these ways that we can go wrong. And so as far as like teaching your daughter and your kids about, like, the way to handle money and grow money, is there maybe like one or two things that that kids need to know these days. And so as far as kind of breaking the just breaking that the bad habits that have been passed down?

Speaker 1 7:32 I feel like one of the main things that we should be teaching our kids, hold on my love, I'll be right there. One of the main things we have to teach our kids with is pretty much just being aware of how they're utilizing their money, how are they really investing in their money, but then also being smart with it. So if they want to go and a lot of these kids want to work and do like amazing things with their entrepreneurial mind, then that's great. But then now, are we saving it? Are we taking like that 30% To save? Are we taking that 30% to invest in but are you also treating yourself too, because, you know, you have to show that you put that work in to get it? How are you treating yourself with it as well. So you can go have like, maybe that nice toy that you want to get, or you know, something that you want to just make yourself feel good, that when you have that balance, you're doing all of the above, but then you're able to do things that you love to do with your money do wonderful.

Robert Plank 8:25 And so So what you're saying is that we need to kind of take these actions that keep the money making sustainable, because if you if you earn it, and you you don't spend it or you spend all of it, then that's not really a good recipe for moving forward consistently. And you're saying that a good solution is to figure out what that pie chart is right? Figure out what amount is to save, what amount is to reinvest, and what amount is to treat yourself. And something that blew my mind maybe just a few years ago, that it was so simple, but I couldn't believe I didn't like come to this conclusion before was this whole idea of like, if you don't make decisions, like you mentioned, if you don't kind of mindfully make a budget or tell your money where to go, then it will just be chaos, and it will just always evaporate. And so I was like, Oh my gosh, the reason why the money went out as fast as it came in was because I didn't have a budget and it's such a simple thing. But so few of us do it. And so was kind of speaking of the problems or the things that people don't do when you do your coaching of various kinds with various people. Do you see like a number one problem these days? Is there like a common thread of just like, everyone does this wrong?

Speaker 1 9:43 I feel like the common thread that I see is GM doubting themselves on that imposter syndrome is a very, very prevalent thing. They have these amazing ideas, but then is that impostor syndrome that kicks in and they're not, you know, acting on their ideas or they're second guessing themselves and Don't let the naysayers to come into their mind and like really just, you know, put them down on what they may feel may be something that could be great for them. And I feel like you know, in order to combat that, they always say, when you have your idea, and especially if it's in that, that very beginning phase, it's better to protect that idea. So that way, you can really build it and grow it and nurture it before you express it with everybody. So that like, No one can come in and be like, Hey, that's not gonna work. Because once you hear that the first time, then that self talk starts to kick in, and it's like, you know, maybe this won't work, maybe I should stop doing it. And it's never about not doing it. If this is your passion, this is what you want to do. This is what you love to do, definitely go for it. But at the same time, you know, build on it, hold on it, you have to master that skill, too. So why not just keep going and putting forth your best foot, you know. So I think that's one of the one of the major things that I see there's a common thread.

Robert Plank 10:52 And I really think that it's a common problem. And I find that to be helpful advice from you where there's, we all have the self doubt. And some of it is the generational curse. And some of it is just the people that we surround ourselves with. And sometimes that's just what led us to this point, right? We have this family and this friends, and it's really drastic and painful to maybe like throw out all your friends, I mean, we can't do that. But on the other hand, if we kind of share too early, then it's kind of like having a little newborn, and you don't want to let them out in the world too soon, right? You want to grow it and have maybe a proof of concept and have some progress. So that way, when it does come time to share with your friends and family, and they might say, Oh, well, that's too scary, or it won't work. Because of this, you can already have a small amount of proof in your back pocket and say, Well, you know, I did do this, and I did get these deals, and I did how this number of sales or this success or this amount of money, or I've already taken these steps. So it's like now they don't have really the ammunition to kill your idea before it grows too big and kind of you get some progress and traction. And so this is wonderful to think about. And so as far as a lot of it's common sense. And some of it is things that we maybe haven't heard it a while a knee, but also just if it's so simple, why don't we take action? And just go ahead and do it? And I think the answer is sometimes we just need to listen to better people, right, such as yourself, and, and kind of actually pursue you as a coach, instead of just relying on maybe friends and family who like for they maybe have good intentions, but they have their own sort of agenda, right? They want to protect you and keep you safe and and all those things. And when we're entrepreneurs, you and I both know, like risk is good. And you don't always want to be saved, because that just keeps you stuck and where you are. And so along those lines, if people they're listening to our podcast, because they want more they they want better. They want some amazing results. And so as far as what you provide, you have the book and the website and the coaching, can you kind of give us the sales pitch like if someone should contact you? How do they know if they're a good fit for what you do? And if they are, what's the offer? What's the next step?

Speaker 1 13:07 I mean, well, the offer is if you're an entrepreneur, if you're a business person, you want to see him put an idea from the concept to now bringing it to fruition. Even if it's something on a personal level, then that's the goal that you want to attain and the goals that you have, in your mind that you want to bring down and actually put forward to this world. It's definitely possible. But if you need that mentor, you need that guide to be that coach, then you can always get in contact with me. I'm one person that can sit here and help you push forward with everything that you have to do. But then also really invest in your well being as well. And that's the main part. So I have an eight week course transformational course, you can always contact me for either the business person or the mom behind the business, we talk about the whole concept of self, but then also your business and your goals. Hold on my love's one second. And I see you got to keep that was that. And then outside of that I had that eight week program, you could always put me on for retainer as well. And I'm here to help you guide from point A to point B to make sure that you're getting everything that you need. You can book on my site for a discovery call and sit down and talk I'm always available.

Robert Plank 14:17 Fantastic. You're always available even with juggling the parents right where they they sometimes are like oh, can I please come in and visit and I won't get a promise to the little girl that it will be done in just a few seconds. We're just wrapping up our podcasts here but having fun while we do it and and it's like we're just kind of showing your personality right and so you so you have this eight week transformative course where you kind of help people to get those aspects of they called the life wheel right all the different parts of their life that maybe need help to get to get things on track to get things on their way because life just gets more complex as we get older. Right? We have the parenting we have more responsibilities. It very rarely gets simpler. And so we kind of need to strengthen the muscle and we need to get that outside help from someone like you. And so if someone wants to look into these things, the eight week transformative course, the discovery call is the sound of business.org, the place to go.

Speaker 1 15:15 Yes, it is, you can go right to the Services tab, and you'll see the two options like they're available. Once you say book a discovery call, it's going to immediately send you out a nice little informational, you can pick the date, and time that fits best for you. And then we can add on those extra questions or what you may be struggling with, or what it is that you want help with. And let's, you know, see how we can fit. It's all about making sure that your unique meet your unique needs are being met. And I'm able to help you to the best of my capacity. Lovely.

Robert Plank 15:44 So it's not just, I've got this hammer, I'll hit a nail, it's already a good fit. And then I also want to make sure that we touch on the book really quickly. So tell us about this amazing book you have as well.

Speaker 1 15:56 So the sound of business and entrepreneurship to hip hop, it came from my Master's course. And pretty much I was told to make a capstone course on what I learned, but what I have applied, and instead of doing the cookie cutter book on just business, I decided to infuse it with the hip hop culture, the pop culture is a big part of me. So I wanted to get there because hip hop culture also is big in the business world, from tech, to the liquors to those clothing, even the business itself of being an entrepreneur and having your own brand as an artist. And in that book, it talks about leadership, what leadership tools and what leadership style may work best for you. For me, it's a transformational, of course, I want to see everyone grow, then we also have the importance of making sure that your internal and external customers are taken care of, and making sure that also the Occupational Health of everybody is secure, too. So that's making sure that that self care is a big as well. And you have that balance between work and life. We're in a new day and age where everyone is more accessible with the devices, but sometimes with devices have to get closed down. So that way, you can definitely balance everything outside of the screen and everything outside of the phone. So that book has it all. And soon, coming soon, I'm going to have workbooks to go along to to so look forward to that and my quarter to 2024

Robert Plank 17:12 Oh, fantastic. So even with all the parenting and the business building and the coaching, you still find time to to teach these sorts of things. And you're so right. I mean, even looking at the cover, like you know, Jay Z and Biggie Smalls and, and Tupac and all of them. You always hear like these like business lessons. So there's so many problems to be solved, right? Even those things you listed, there's just like it can be such a chaotic mess in our mind. But if we have kind of a start to finish book to help us kind of sort and structure these things that can make the process maybe it's still difficult, but a lot easier. And you don't have to go it alone because there's someone like you who has been there and done that, and has seen all the problems that can help us guide us to where we want to go. And so the book is called the sound of business seeing entrepreneurship through hip hop. And the website is the sound of business.org. And as we wrap up our conversation here, Tori, I always like to put my guests on the spot in these final seconds and ask about a quote or lesson that has really helped them and so, you know, you knowing hip hop and being kind of like lyrically kind of developed. And you're well read and you teach and have a lot to say what comes to mind to you as far as a quote or a lesson that can really help us today.

Speaker 1 18:27 A cool lesson that I live by and I stand by it just be authentically you. You can always say either in progress by being yourself, your audience is meant to be reached and they're there for you as well. You don't have to chase the masses, but your audience is there. So be authentically you put your best foot forward and never give up when you're doing because you know the sky's the limit.

Robert Plank 18:48 motivating and inspiring be authentically you embrace those imperfections and those things that maybe sometimes don't fit together, they can create the uniqueness and so the way to find your uniqueness and be authentically you and achieve success and all other things. The place for you to go right now is the sound of business.com or.org Sorry, the sound of business.org So Dr. Tori Ellis has been wonderful speaking with you and thanks for stopping by.

Speaker 1 19:16 Thank you for having me on the show and thank you for your amazing platform. I had a great time and I'm sure my daughter didn't do it

Robert Plank 19:22 just hearing from the cheap seats. Thank you for tuning in to the marketer of the day podcast. marketer of the day is managed by dF why podcast claim your 12 podcast boosters at Def Why podcast.com/free