This week’s Women Branching Out interview features Michelle Nickolaisen of Let’s Radiate. Michelle uses her talent with details, structure, and organization to support creative entrepreneurs in their best work.

Comment to win Michelle’s 2012 Workbook & Planner Pack

To win a copy of Michelle’s 2012 Workbook & Planner Pack comment below by 12 noon CST, Friday November 18th. One winner will be randomly drawn and announced Friday afternoon. Please leave your email address with your comment so we can contact you.

In this interview, we chat about:

• How Michelle supports creative women entrepreneurs and solopreneurs in executing their big visions.
• The Cave of Wonders worksheets Michelle offers (for free) to help you get clarity about your big ideas and workflow.
• Michelle’s 2012 workbook & planner pack (you can win by commenting).
• Michelle’s favorite tools for recording ideas, planning workflow and projects.
• Why self-care is important for women entrepreneurs.

Listen in or read the transcript below.

[audio:https://jewelsbranch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/MichelleNickolaisenInterview.mp3|titles=MichelleNickolaisen]

Michelle Nickolaisen of Let’s Radiate helps creative biz-peeps infuse their workflow/business with more ease + action. She does this by enabling them to create, do, and (most importantly) finish their fabulous work, while making that process no harder than it has to be.
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Transcript

Christie: Hi everybody, it’s Christie Halmick and I have with me today Michelle Nicolaisen. Hey Chelle, howdy. Michelle is from Let’s Radiate.

I wanted to read to you a little line from her email this morning, from her blog post this morning because I think it describes what she does better than I can probably describe it. So, Michelle said what she does is about “supporting,  enabling, and creating a space for you to do your great work in.” and then she says, “From what I understand, it’s actually very similar in nature to what a doula does. Just, you know, for a business vision instead of a birth.” So, I thought that was an awesome way to describe what you do and I’m going to let you even describe what you do a little bit more for everybody. What your business is about and who you serve.

Michelle: Thank you. I’m glad you liked that. I came up with that after taking to a woman named Ije Ude she’s totally awesome and I would highly recommend her. The reason…the way that metaphor sort of came about is that what a doula does, for those who are a little vague on it, is basically talk to the women at the beginning of the pregnancy and they find out the woman wants the birth experience to be like, the logistics of it, where she wants it to be and then they set everything up so that it happens. Like if problems occur, they fix the problem, they do additional research if necessary they support the support team and make sure the support team is getting clear instructions that they understand from the doula and they take action where ever the action needs to be taken. So that’s where I was coming from with that and that’s sort of what I do with people.

Like we talked about a little bit earlier before we started the call, I’m testing some different things right now because I want to make sure that I have a really comprehensive service that I can actually describe well to people so that they know what they are getting into when we work together. Because I would really rather work with people in a more deep intense manner and sometimes it can be hard to describe that adequately. You know.

Christie: So who would you say is your idea client…what kind of clients. I know you are working with a couple of people who are in really creative businesses.

Michelle: Yes, I would say like creative women entrepreneurs or solopreneurs who really, really care about what they do their work… I’ve noticed that the people that I work with and that I get the most out of with… their work is about empowering people at its base level. Whether that’s through design or teaching or branding or business learning or whatever.

Christie: What are some of the…I guess… what are some of the problems that you are solving, the things that keep coming up that get people to say “Michelle, I need you!” What are those things that keep coming up?

Michelle: Well the thing that I’ve noticed is that the people that I like to work with and the people who have the really awesome work that I can dig into, they’re big picture people and they need someone who is a detail person. I don’t think of myself as exclusively a detail person. I like to switch back and forth and between the big picture and details, but I am honestly pretty obsessed with the details. I’m a perfectionist and I can immediately spot if something isn’t going to work or if it is out of alignment with the rest of the big picture. And I can see how the little pieces of the big picture work together to create that big picture. So that’s when people come to me is when they are like “I have this big idea and I just don’t know how to handle all the details of making it happen. I have no idea where to start.” and I know where to start instinctively.

Christie: Right now you are kind of working on a project basis, kind of thing?

Michelle:  Yes, right now I’m working with Shenee Howard on a specific project with her and I’m also working with Rhiannon Llewellyn of Brand Harmony Studios and we are going to be working together in a longer-term capacity more of an overall business thing. My plan when I refine this and put it out into the world for the public is to have it available… to have what I do available on a per project basis. But also in a longer term basis of like 6 to 9 to 12 months.

Christie: Cool. I know that what you do is really…it’s really custom. I don’t….I know we had talked about before lots of people say, you’re an idea wrangler, or your an organizer but the work that you do on that level is very custom for the person that you are working with. So how do you go about, um, getting to know somebody and their work patterns and the way they work so that you can help them get out of their tangle that they are in?

Michelle: Well I have to… this has been a learning process for me because part of it is really intuitive and part of it is about the questions. But I’ve learned that you have to be careful with the types of questions you ask when you are figuring things out. Because the people I am working with…  the questions that I would be able to answer are not the questions they will be able to answer. So, like for example, when I started working with Shenee I sent her some questions and she was like I love the first part of these questions when I got to the second part where you were asking for percentages of progress on my projects and stuff it made my head hurt. I didn’t even think of that. So part of it is just asking a lot of questions and then making sure that you are asking the right kinds of questions. I’m learning what those are and part of it is just sort of getting inside their heads. I’ve had people send me time logs, detailed time logs of their work day and like I’ve got a set of worksheets that are designed to help them start spotting the problems by themselves so that they can describe them to me instead of me having to find out what the problems are if they are unclear on it, first. That’s…I think I answered your question.

Worksheet Information

Christie: yeah, yes. I was just wanting to know about your process for getting to know somebody. You mentioned worksheets and I wanted to say you have your whole Cave of Wonder worksheets and one of those worksheets is “For When You Don’t Know What to Work on Next.” I did that worksheet and I really appreciated it. So I wanted you to talk about some of the other resources that you have, while you are working on revamping your services, that people can check out.

Michelle: Yeah, so I’ve got…I might even have to pull the page up so I can describe them all because there are several things. The worksheet For When You Don’t Know What to Work on Next there’s the Idea Refinery which is for when you have an idea but I’ve noticed that part of the problem with people feeling like they are unable to act on their ideas is that they aren’t really clear so the goal… the whole goal of this worksheet is to help you figure out what is the best way to express this idea and to just get really, really clear on the endpoint so that you can start taking the action that you need. There’s also the Big Vision worksheet, which is probably my personal favorite. Just because I really like it. That walks you through the process of figuring out where you want to be in a year and in five years and then taking a look at what you are doing right now and seeing what’s supporting that vision and what’s not supporting that vision. And I think the reason that that’s my favorite is because that what a lot of the one-on-one work that I do is. And then there’s some daily and monthly dry erase template planners. And I say dry erase, but they are not technically dry erase. The idea is that you print them and then you can put them in pretty picture frames and it turns them into a dry erase board that isn’t horrifically ugly. Because most of them are. And then there are daily planners with self-care and check in practices so that you can get in the habit of asking yourself what you need and what you need to get done at the beginning of each day so that you are preventing burnout.

That’s another thing I’ve noticed…is that if people don’t have a specific practice of checking in with themselves before the start of the work week, before they start up their work day then they get really, really burned out and not the kind of burned out like, I need to take a rest after finishing this project, but the oh, my God my brain is broken I can’t even get out of bed level of burnout. Which can usually be avoided.

Christie: So, did you kind of create these as you’ve gone along figuring yourself out? Is that how these came about?

Michelle: Some of them have been… the Idea Refinery worksheet is like a piece of the process that I use for getting ideas clear and so I created that just because I thought people might like it. Daily Planners, I had been asked for those and I think Shenee also suggest I make those. The Big Vision Checkup worksheet was actually something I created from the intake questions that I’ve been giving client that I work with one-on-one. Also, I’m not sure this is relevant I’m getting ready to launch, next week…it will be a very quiet launch. I’m getting ready to announce my 2012 monthly and weekly planners. Monthly and daily planners that tie into the Big Vision worksheet.

Christie: O.K. So if somebody wants to get those they need to sign up on your list, is that how they get those?

Michelle: All of the bonuses, the Cave of Wonder stuff is on the list. The 2012 planners, the idea is to have a self-care planner pack and worksheets and that will be like $15.

Christie: O.K. Alright, I’ll have Michelle’s website and all that info below the video, so you guys can go check that out. Because they are really great resources that are free and she also has her planners for 2012 coming up which aren’t going to cost you very much but they are going to help you out. What else did I want to talk to you about? We talk a lot about ideas and I think… I guess we aren’t supposed to use this overwhelm word but, um there is idea overwhelm. there are … in any day … I have tons of ideas that, um … I don’t know what to do with. So one of the things that you talked about is what do you do with those ideas, what do you do… do just leave them hanging out in your head until they are gone, or do you write them down? what’s your way of dealing with the ideas that you get.

Michelle: I like to…and my system is probably not going to work for anyone because I’m a little neurotic about my systems. Just by nature of my personality but I like to keep track of them, I’ll write them down as soon as I get them and transfer them to Springpad. Which I like because it is searchable and I keep my project scrapbooks for lack of a better work, resources, notes and stuff so I transfer then and I’ll put them either in my references folder which is just general stuff to come back to later or a place where they are applicable. But even if… and I try to go back through them on a regular basis. The reason I have where I like to take care of something even if I don’t know if I’m going to use it. is because, like you might end up using it in part later, there have been times where I had an idea and I probably would have just forgotten it if I didn’t do something about it but because I did something about it and I took care of it and kept track of it I remembered it and then like six months or even a year down the line I’m like “oh I can use a piece of this in this and it just filled in the blank it’s like the missing puzzle piece to an idea that you might have later.

Christie: yeah, something that you already thought of that you would have forgotten.

Michelle: it’s a lot easier that way.

Christie: so you mentioned Springpad and I know….I think you have some tutorials on Springpad on your site?

Michelle: yeah, I’ve got a video.

Tools and Tips

Christie: What other kind of tools, do you have, do you work with, to… I won’t say organize yourself, but it is really sort of organization.

Michelle: yeah, uh, I use the dry erase planners that I mentioned earlier, that I made, I use those and those are like total lifesavers and I really like them just because they are something almost ritualistic about at the beginning of the morning before I even open my computer, I wipe off the stuff from the last day  and then I write everything. It is very intention setting and refreshing in my opinion. So those are a big thing for me and they are big part of keeping me on track. I also have, I actually have a paper planner, too that I keep because I like to map out  my month on the dry erase planner, or Charlie Gilkey’s planners which I also like, then I map out my week in my paper planner and then every day I transfer things from the weekly planner to the daily planner. Like I said I’m neurotic about my systems and I  will totally admit that. I love Springpad I used to use it almost like for task managment and I’ve kind of fallen off the wagon I just found something recently that I’m going to give a … it’s on my to do list to put all my project in it, either today or tomorrow called Trello. It looks like…I like it because I’m visual.  I’m a big fan of visual tools and being able to see things at a glance, so I’m planning on still using Springpad as sort of like a scrapbook or a resources place because it’s so handy and it’s visual like I said and it’s searchable and it’s really, really useful but I will probably…I’ve been looking for something else to use for like project or task management.

I’m trying to think. What else, oh I also like notebooks, I’m really big on making time to write in notebooks because I find personally that when I make a point of doing brainstorming or outlining in notebooks I have more ideas than I would have otherwise and there was actually a study done that showed that when you are writing it lights up more areas of your brain and  it lights up your right brain and your left brain as opposed to typing They think it’s because each letter is comprised of so many individual emotions and swoops and so because of that they postulated that writing would make it easier for people to be more creative and have more ideas while they are writing, which is my experience.

There’s a trick, a nifty little trick that was in the Accidental Creative that has like saved my notebooks and it’s so simple I wish I would have thought of it. At the beginning of the notebook you just take the first page and you draw a line down the middle and that’s your index page. And so you go through and number the pages, you put the page numbers on the lefthand side and whatever you are writing about on the right hand side. So I was doing outlining for a workshop presentation yesterday and so it was pages 31-35: Day of Genius workshop and all that stuff it’s super useful, helps you find stuff at a glance and it’s awesome. I’m really happy with it.

Christie: That’s great. I’m glad you told me that  because I have like four notebooks and then today I was trying to find something I knew was in one of the notebooks that I had folded down the corner of the page to remind myself  But I guess in the course of time I had unfolded the page so I could not longer find the folded page and there was like 15 minutes of time spent searching for it.

Michelle: Yeah, I have had the same experience. Especially because I really like pretty notebooks so I’ll like….I have all of these notebooks and most of them are in various states of fullness, but if I don’t have something like that to keep track of them, there’s no way I’m ever going to find anything.

Christie: That’s a great idea. So you mentioned the … brainstorming on the Day of Genius. So I want to pick your brain about what that is.

Michelle: The idea (for Day of Genius) is for it to be a digital workshop/retreat, which is something I’m doing with Melissa Dinwiddie of Living a Creative Life and we are planning it for the first weekend … the date is January 7th, we haven’t put up registration yet, early bird registrations will be the last week of November but it’s sort of a digital workshop/retreat day where you can set the tone for 2012 and to have time to think about you and your project and have time that’s set aside in this nice little contain already to figure out how you can support yourself in meeting your goals for 2012 and doing what you want to do in 2012. We’ll have…there will be a couple of different guest presenters we are going to have a yoga presentation and I’m really excited about it I think it will be a lot of fun.

Christie: So it’s sort of like a group day and where everyone’s doing their own creative endeavors.

Michelle: yeah

Christie: OK that sounds cool. So we’ll be watching for some more information from you and Melissa on that on your websites, also.

Michelle: Yeah, definitely.

Christie: Cool that sounds exciting. What else would you like to talk about? What do you have on your mind?

Michelle: I’m thinking. I don’t know, I think we covered everything I could think of to talk about.

The one thing I would say is … that I’m sure because of what you do most of the people watching this are going to be women entrepreneurs and the one thing I want to say is “Take care of yourself!” because we are really…especially women we are really bad about saying no to demands on our time. A lot of people tend to see self-care as like frivolous or unnecessary or even like selfish and it’s totally not. If you don’t make an effort to take care of yourself so that you can support yourself in doing the work you want to do it’s likely that your work quality is going to decline, your happiness is going to decline, and it will just be a big mess. So make sure that you are taking time, preferably every day and at least every week to check in with yourself and see what you need and what you can get so that you are not pushing yourself to the point of no return.

Christie: Great. I’ve been hearing that advice from everybody I’m talking to. So, I’m trying to take it to heart.

Michelle: It seems like…yeah…I remember when I was listening to the worlds biggest summit, Willo O’Brien from WilloToons.com that’s what her website is, she was talking about something similar and it makes me really happy to see that we are talking about this because I get frustrated because I feel like a lot of people became entrepreneurs because they wanted to escape that workaholic attitude and then I see people like bragging on Twitter about pulling 12 hour days or working through the weekend or whatever and it’s like that doesn’t make you a bad ass. Don’t do that. So I’m really happy to see that we’re…that people are talking about a sort of more balanced and holistic and maybe even feminine way to actually get your work done without necessarily cracking the whip and being mean to yourself because that’s not necessary and it’s not effective over the long term.

Christie: Yeah, this just really ties back into the work that you do in supporting people in getting systems and structures in place so that they can have a life outside of their entrepreneurial life that is still fulfilling. Awesome, I so appreciate you stopping by and having a conversation and I will have Michelle’s website and everything beneath the video and information on the Day of Genius will be forth coming for those of you who watch Michelle and watch Melissa Dinwiddie from Living a Creative Life that would be a great thing for everyone to take a day and care for their genius, which is what they would be doing. And also be sure to check out the worksheets that Michelle has if you sign up for her list she has a great…huge amount of stuff for free and also some other stuff coming out for sale in a few weeks. Great…  I’ll say goodbye to you now.

Michelle: Thanks for having me.

Christie: Bye.

Comment to win Michelle’s 2012 Workbook & Planner Pack

To win a copy of Michelle’s 2012 Workbook & Planner Pack comment below by 12 noon CST, Friday November 18th. One winner will be randomly drawn and announced Friday afternoon. Please leave your email address with your comment so we can contact you.

Financial coach Christyna Lewis talks about money in such a calm and centered way that you’ll relax and start planning for your own Financial Fridays (instead of avoiding your bank balance). You’ll see what I mean in this Women Branching Out interview. (transcript below)

My side of the video wasn’t cooperating, so you’ll hear me, but not see me.

Enjoy.

Financial Fridays

Join Christyna for Financial Friday, November 4th, 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Central on Twitter. To participate search for the hashtag: #FinancialFriday and join in the conversation. Plan your own Financial Friday dates with your business finances every week. For added community support, connect with Christyna the first Friday of each month on Twitter.

Christyna Lewis of BEE Ventures is a financial coach. She specializes in strength assessment, financial skill building, and reframing challenges to reveal their empowering possibilities. You can learn more about her work at BEE Ventures and by following her on Twitter.

Do you have a date with your business finances?

What strategies do you have in place to stay calm and centered about your finances? Share below! If you like this post please like it, tweet it, etc.

Interview Transcribed

Christie: Hi everybody. I have with me today Christyna Lewis (who also, I think goes by Christy a lot of the time, too) with me from BEE Ventures. Christyna is a … I would call her a financial guru, because that’s what I think about when I think about her. She helps entrepreneurs get really grounded and be empowered and informed about their finances and she helps other small businesses do that, too.

You can find her on her website which is beeventures.org and I’ll have a link to her website below the video or the audio. You can also talk with her on Friday, November 4th on Twitter she’ll be tweeting out financial information and answering your questions at the hashtag #Financial Friday. I’ll have that information posted below, too. So, hello Christyna!

Christyna: Hi Christie!

Christie: Hi! I’m going to let Christyna talk a little bit about her businesses and who she really loves to serve and what she does and we’ll start there. So, go ahead Christyna.

Christyna: Thank you so much Christie. So my business is BEE Ventures and the best way I can describe it is financial coaching. The people that I love to serve are idealists, they are healers, they are artists, they are the creative people who have this huge heart and this huge vision and they just want to leap out there and make it happen. They are the true innovators in our world.

A piece that my people often get tripped up about is numbers or this idea that with finances you’ve got to set all of your passion and values aside and it’s simply not true. So, I help them to get the basic skills and also the confidence to look at their numbers and be able to make the money and numbers really serve their larger purpose.

Christie: I know that you work with a lot of local companies there in (Houston) Texas. Do you also work with online people as well?

Christyna: I serve small businesses where ever they are. So we can do Skype. I got my beginning here locally because I’m such a community builder.

I think creating a network of people who are supportive of you and really know you is a humongous resource for any small business or anyone with a mission in the world. So, I started here and I definitely work nationally and internationally.

Christie: We were going to talk a little bit about what Financial Friday is. It’s November 4th and it’s on Twitter. Can you talk a little bit about what people can expect if they come and search for that hash tag #FinancialFriday.

Christyna: Oh, sure. Well Financial Friday got its beginning as one of the cornerstones of what I teach my clients: to be present to what is actually going on with their finances. So, I have them set up a date.

I like Financial Friday because it’s an alliteration. I like being able to finish up the week, it kind of ties up the week with a bow.

So, just once a week go in and see what is actually going on with your cash flow, what your needs are, what’s happening. From that state of knowing where you are … instead of just knowing that it’s awful, which is what a lot of people assume … then you are able to have peace and let all the worry go and make decisions based on what’s actually going on. There’s a lot of power in that and it just clears space for you to be more creative.

So this Financial Friday where I’m throwing open the doors, is a space for us to go through that together as a community. A lot of times people, especially creative people or people who are just getting going in business when they go to do numbers they close the shades. It’s late at night and they don’t want anyone to see it and they are not sure of themselves. So, here’s a space where they can ask any questions they have and we can celebrate any progress that they are making. Just to know that you are not alone in this is a humongous opening for peace.

You know, our finances are one of the last taboos and I’m creating a safe space to really take charge and have supportive structures for my community. So that’s Financial Friday.

I encourage people to do it every week. But our big open celebration is the first Friday of the month.

Christie: OK, great. What would you say is a good first step for somebody who has been ignoring their business finances?

Christyna: That’s a great question. I get that a lot actually.

The first thing to do is to just … you know … declare an amnesty and say whatever it is is fine. From there just begin to gather. Do you know what is in your checking account? Make a list of what you have and what you owe.

You don’t have to do this all at once. Go for 10 minutes and then if you get overwhelmed you put it away. You go deal with your favorite client or do something fun. But then come back to it and do another 10 minutes. Maybe the next day, maybe in a couple of hours so that first thing is just to know what you have.

You know, right alongside that mix in what you have as your vision for the impact that you want to have in the world. Does that make sense?

Christie: Mmhm. So that you are looking forward.

Christyna: Yeah, ‘cause I mean it’s not fun for a lot of people to get in and look at their finances. Right? There’s a lot of fear, there’s a lot of worry. We make it mean all kinds of things about who we are as people. And it doesn’t mean that. But if we are going to go to this place that’s not comfortable. Like for me I want you to be very clear that you have a powerful reason that you are doing it. Does that make sense?

Christie: Yes, yeah.

Christyna: I have a client who I’m thinking of right now. She is a marketer and she does a lot of back end stuff for online people. When we first started working together she was like “Oh, I need more clients. I’ve got to figure out what to do.” and she was just in this worry and was like needing more.

Once we got to where we could look at her numbers, we realized that she had had this beautiful five-year plan for moving her business forward and we cut the time frame of what she needed in half. So, it’s been a year now since then and she is halfway through her five year plan.

Because she actually had a much stronger financial foundation than she was even aware of.

I find that happens a lot, that people take their successes away because they don’t look like what we think of as financial success. So I’m here to celebrate that.

Christie: Cool. You’ve already given us some really great tips. What are some things that you see especially women doing with their business or personal finances that they need to give themselves some space on or some time to work on those things?

Christyna: That’s a great question. I see that especially women tend to either discount their savvy or say that the money doesn’t matter. It’s one thing to say that I’m living for this vision and I’m here … Mom’s are a great thing.

Mom entrepreneurs they are in businesses often so that they can create the life for their children that they want, so that they have time for everything that’s there. I want people, especially women entrepreneurs, to take small steps and create structures so they can have the capacity to have all the pieces that matter to them. And to recognize how far they’ve come.

If you are a mom and an entrepreneur, you have already stepped outside of the rat race that so many people are still stuck in. You are reclaiming the value of your vision for the world and for your children and that really matters. Stand strong in who you are and then from that space look at what is next for you financially. You know… we are so quick to heap on the needs and the wants and the oh, I should have or I wish that we had. I would like us to be just as quick to celebrate the steps that have already gotten us here.

Christie: That’s great. That’s why I like talking to you.

Christyna: Yeah, peace of mind is the biggest reward I think that we can get from taking good care of our finances. When you know where you stand and you are not worried about it then you are able to make decisions. Like actually saying “right now this is handled” and I’m going to go play with my children or take a nap that I need. Or just give you space to be creative and really the spaciousness to do a client project the way you would like to do it because you are not worried about the money.

Oftentimes my clients incomes do go up. But that’s because they’ve created the space. The peace of mind and the space open up first and the money follows. Does that make sense?

Christie: yeah, that makes total sense.

Christyna: That’s really upside down of what a lot of … how people think that money works … you know. We think that I need to make the money first and then I’ll have the peace or then I’ll be able to do what I want. But really standing in the power of what you do have and what you are already capable of, from there is where we are able to create more abundance.

Christie: Cool, thank you. Do you have any other advice you’d like to give? Or any other little tips.

Christyna: I’ve talked a lot about the big picture views, so let’s end with one real practical simple step.

I always recommend that you have a separate savings account, if you’re an entrepreneur then have one in your business. So you’ve got your business account and then you have a savings account (or it could be structured as a second checking account depending on how your bank fees work). You have a separate account that is money that has a name, that’s not ready for you to spend it yet. I pay my taxes quarterly. So every month I take money out of my main business checking account and I put it aside so that I’ll have the money there for my taxes.

Christie: Right.

Christyna: It’s a great way to save up for going to a great conference, or you know, there’s always taxes, there’s usually insurance. Any of the long term things take it out of that account.

There’s such a temptation to see something that looks amazing and you go check your checking account balance and say “cool I’ve got the money” without stopping to really think about oh, half that money is set aside for the deposit for my new office or for taxes or something. Because in that moment we are so excited about the opportunity in front of us that’s what we see.

So if we have a separate space, we won’t be as tripped up by that.

Christie: Great. That’s a great tip. Thank you so much, Christyna and everybody I will have Christyna’s email…or not email… website and her Twitter handle and the information about Financial Friday and how to participate in that below the audio/video, whatever we decide to do. So thank you so much.

Christyna: Thank you Christie. It is such a pleasure to be able to talk with you again today and to hopefully meet a bunch of your community, too. That would be really, really great.