Solo: Slowing down to level up | Episode 204

Stacy: I really value rest and connection. I really encourage my team to fully disconnect when they take time away. I believe deeply that to show up at the highest levels for clients and for my family and my friends, I have to show up for rest as well. So I’m really excited for this break and this time away.

Stacy: Welcome. I’m really glad to be with you this week. This week’s episode doesn’t have a guest. There’s nothing to learn. There’s no insightful stuff. It’s just me and you. I want to give you a little update. I want to share what’s going on with me with the team and tell you about my vacation coming up or as they say in Europe, my holiday. We are taking a break from the podcast so that’s number one.

Stacy:It doesn’t mean I’m going to be gone. We’ll be having some replay episodes throughout the next weeks until September. So in September I’ll be back with brand new episodes. I will be continuing the format that I shared with you already where I will be publishing a full episode once a week and then a shorty but goodie once a week as well, which is my YouTube videos that I am publishing on the podcast as a shorter episode every week. I am so excited about what’s in store for September. The team and I have been working really hard to be incredibly intentional with our content. We have brainstormed and redesigned and really are focusing on the things that serve you best. So what is that? Well, first and foremost, my newsletter. That is truly the place where I connect with you.

Stacy:If you are not there, you should be. You can go to stacey ennis.com join we are just shy of about 4000 of you on that email list. I love my email community. I truly enjoy writing those emails. I hear from so many of you every single week that reply to my emails. It makes me feel less alone in this whole content creation space because a lot of the time I’m talking to a camera and I picture you on the other side. But it’s not really the same as actually getting to connect with you. So go to staceyanis.com join. That’s where you can join my newsletter. On my email newsletter I send one email a week that is a very thoughtful, often story based email.

Stacy:Usually I’m also sharing something you can learn, an insight, a strategy, a tip connected to book writing and really that book writing that’s connected to your big vision, which often involves location independence, which is of course the other piece that I talk a lot about on this podcast. I also send every month a really meaty, robust, useful email that you really should save into a folder because it has all of the content that’s come out over the past month, which is one wild. Actually, when I look at this email, I cannot believe the amount of value that our team is putting out. It’s pretty awesome. I feel really proud of all that we’re doing. And I also showcase authors I’m working with. I give writing tips again, I write something meaningful and really connect with you.

Stacy: So that’s that monthly newsletter again, you go to staceyanis.com join, get in with me with our team and really connected in that way. So the newsletter is one way that we provide value to you that I show up for you. Of course, the other way is my blog on staceyanis.com and this podcast, which of course is a huge area of focus for me. I love doing the podcast. I do feel like I’ve kind of stepped into my podcaster era and all of the things that I’ve done before this really have prepared me to be a podcaster. I was a ghostwriter for a very long time. As a ghostwriter, you have to be an incredible interviewer. It is really outside of writing the primary thing that you need to be excellent at.

Stacy:Because as a ghostwriter you have to interview people and you have to get meaningful answers from them, you have to connect with them, you have to make them feel comfortable, you have to redirect them sometimes when they get a little bit off topic, which happens a lot when you’re interviewing for ghost writing. And then of course I speak a lot. So then that also serves me well in this podcasting. So the podcast is a place I am going to lean even more time and attention into what that looks like practically. Again, we’re going to be publishing a long and short podcast every week, which is very ambitious, let me just say. I am really leaning into a space of creation that is more abundant. So I’m really excited about that.

Stacy:We have the newsletter, and then I will also be publishing a blog every week. Let me be super clear about this. I am personally writing the blog posts with some exceptions. Sometimes my team will step in and write some on their specific areas of interest or expertise. But the vast majority of the blog posts I personally write, I personally record these videos. Obviously, I do all of that. But my team is behind the scenes getting it all out to you, and that is incredible. In fact, Rita Dominguez that produces this podcast is the engine behind getting this out into the world. We also have Andrew on our team. Andrew Dare is the one that helps keep everything functioning and flowing in operations. We have Kayla Lewis that is really supportive with connecting with guests, making sure that everything flows on my calendar.

Stacy:We have Katie King that runs our community and really makes sure that she is making that a vibrant, amazing space. That is another way that I support you and I connect with you and I provide value to you. And then of course, we have Kim Foster, who is our editor extraordinaire, writer. She’s the reason that things come out without typos, because if it was left to me now, I was a proofreader, but because of the volume I create, it would be impossible for me to also review and proofread everything. So we have a whole team behind this content engine. So that’s what’s happening in the content space. And in August, we’re really using that time to reset, recalibrate, lean into our content, make sure we’re being really thoughtful, strategic. We’re listening to you, we’re creating for you.

Stacy:And I’m taking a vacation in August as well, which is a lot of the reason we’re doing replays. So I will be taking three weeks off in August, with a couple of little exceptions for events that with the community, the way the community works. I had to organize during that time, but otherwise I’ll be completely off. I also this year did something a little different where in the past I have taken the full month of August, but I felt really stressed right before my trip and then I felt really stressed after my vacation. So this year I’m experimenting a little where I do a down week, the first week of August Limited calls, except for clients really focusing on transition. I’m essentially on vacation, but not officially yet. And then I’m taking those full three last weeks of August off.

Stacy: And I actually brought my list to share with you. This is so on a side note, but in case you’re interested in knowing what we’re going to be doing over this vacation. So I booked a couple of nights at the YMCA summer camp in the north of Portugal. Actually, I think it’s more. It’s not north, it’s central Portugal in a beautiful national park. I brainstormed a list of activities with my kids of what they want to do because we’re not going to go anywhere. Major main reason for that is their visas expire August 1st and it’s all backed up here and we cannot get them renewed. So technically we can’t leave the country. We could, but we’d run the risk of, you know, getting in trouble and potentially not being able to come back in. So we’re staying close to home.

Stacy: Here’s our list of planned activities. We’re going to go to the water park. The water park here has a roller coaster that goes into the water. So we haven’t been to that one yet. We normally go to a different one. So that’s super exciting. I am planning to get tickets to this candlelight concert that is Coldplay and Imagine Dragons that do like a duel in this candlelight concert. My daughter really loves Imagine Dragons so that’s why I picked that. So that’ll be really cool. I’ve never gone to anything like that. It’s apparently it’s like hundreds if not thousand plus candles around these performers. It sounds amazing. That’s just here locally. We’re going to do the adventure park, so we’re going to go zip lining. We’re going to do a beach day.

Stacy: We’re going to spend a day at one of our favorite restaurants that has a pool. So we’ll eat lunch there and then we’ll go swim. We’re going to try to organize horse riding. We’re going to go to ice cream. This was added by my son and I’m super happy because we have a new place here that has gluten free vegan ice cream and he doesn’t eat dairy or gluten. So it’s really nice to have a place that we can go to every so often for a little sweet treat. We’re going to do a parent swap day. So I’m going to hang out with my daughter one day and then my husband and my Son are going to hang out. This is the first. Half a day, half of the day.

Stacy: And then we’re going to swap kids so that we have some unique time with both of them. We’re going to go out to Sagres, which is on the western side of the Algarve, and eat at a restaurant called Three Little Birds, because we ate there a couple weeks ago and had a really nice time. I’m sure we’ll walk around Sagres. Maybe we’ll catch the sunset out there. It’s so beautiful. And I want to go to a fado performance, so. Which is a traditional Portuguese music. It’s very romantic and somber and kind of. I feel like it’s not really opera at all. I wouldn’t say it’s opera, but it has opera vibes with, like. I don’t know how to explain it. I’m sure that when Rita hears me describe this, she’s going to let me know how I should actually talk about fado.

Stacy: But it does have more of a deep kind of carrying sound when you listen to it. And that’s it. That’s our plan so far. I’m sure we will add to this as our as we continue brainstorming. But more than anything, I just want to be with my kids and my husband. And I really value rest and connection. I really encourage my team to fully disconnect when they take time away. I believe deeply that to show up at the highest levels for clients and for my family and my friends, I have to show up for rest as well. So I’m really excited for this break and this time away. In September when I’m back, you will be getting brand new episodes. I will be in the thick of enrolling for idea to draft. In fact, we’ve already started enrolling.

Stacy:We’re 20% full for our fall cohort, which is super exciting. I love when people make decisive action. I love when people go, I know I want to do this thing I’m in. And I just find that so beautiful and inspiring and exciting. A lot of times what I find is authors wait. Future authors wait until the very last 11th hour, when even sometimes when enrollment is over and they’re like, wait, I really want to do it. Which is great. Welcome in. I’m super happy to have you. And there is something really incredible about just going. I’m doing this. I’m investing in my dreams, and I’m going. And I’m going to organize my calendar. I’m going to plan. So our cohort starts in October. It’s already got a couple of incredible members in it. I cannot wait to see how this comes together.

Stacy: Maybe you will be part of that. Let’s see. So that’s pretty much it for this week. I want to connect with you, give you a little update on what’s going on, tell you what we’re working on. I hope that the vibe that you get from this is that we care. We try so hard to create meaningful content. We work really hard to listen to you, what you need, what you want, what will help you. I know that I have a lot of listeners that will never join a program. Maybe there’s financial reasons or other reasons. I know that I have a ton of people that read my blog, which is very much, which for sure has even more traffic and engagement than the podcast that will never purchase my self study course or join my community. And that is perfectly okay with me.

Stacy: I want the people that are excited and ready to join my programs and I also really want it to serve and support future authors that don’t have the financial resources to hire me. So I hope that this podcast, if it’s reaching you, that it’s helping you. I really hope that. I hope it uplifts you, I hope it educates you, I hope it inspires you, I hope it motivates you, whatever it is that you need today. I hope that this episode has done that for you. Since you’re still listening to this, let me make a little request which is to hit that five star rating. Leave me a short review. It could be one sentence, love this podcast, something like that.

Stacy: And be sure to subscribe because the more that I because the more people I reach, the more it supports my ability to create more content that serves you. And you also don’t want to miss out for this podcast and you also don’t want to miss out in getting this podcast into your feed. So all that said, have a beautiful summer while I’m away and I am really grateful to get to be in community with you. I will be back with you in September with new episodes, but do tune in to August because as always, we have thoughtfully curated episodes that we truly hope will support you in your life. I want to thank as always Rita Dominguez for her production of this fine podcast.

Stacy: As I mentioned earlier, she is truly the engine behind getting all of the work that I do in my content and in all of the things that you see, hear all of that. It’s because she has been behind it to get it out. I am so grateful. And I’m grateful for you for spending time with me. And I will be back with you before you know it.