Leah: [00:00:00] Do I have you intrigued? Okay, so in this episode, I really want to do a life update, and there’s been kind of some big things. I sold my business, I canceled Thanksgiving, kinda, and I dyed my hair, and it looks black. Alright, am I having a midlife crisis? Is everything okay? Let’s jump into it in this episode. 

Leah: So let’s start with Thanksgiving. So [00:01:00] So yeah, we did not celebrate Thanksgiving in the traditional way at all this year. And you know what? It ended up feeling so great.

Leah: So let me kind of give you the backstory and explain what happened. My oldest, she is the driving force of Thanksgiving. I mean, she loves to cook. She loves food. It is her love language the same way I joke that it is mine, but maybe even more so for her. And right now, she is serving a mission for our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.

Leah: And so this is the first Thanksgiving that I have had without her in 19 years and it made me really sad because she is such a huge part of Thanksgiving. I mean, since she was itty bitty, she was in the kitchen cooking. Finding and coming up with insanely complex recipes that she wanted us to try and just been a part of it.

Leah: We have a tradition in our home where [00:02:00] everybody contributes something to Thanksgiving dinner. Whether we’re hosting or we’re going somewhere else, I just thought it would be fun to get the kids into it. And so they each have their traditional thing that they Contribute. Addie makes Nanaimo bars, Ella makes, uh, homemade cranberry sauce that is divine.

Leah: It is so good. And Payson makes a pumpkin roll cake. And they have been making these for years and years. I mean, since they were little, little, little ones. Well, the idea of having Thanksgiving without her, it just felt sad. And then there was this other component where We had been trying to figure out a time for our middle who graduated high school last year to get to go on a special trip with her grandparents.

Leah: It’s something they do for each of the grandkids when they graduate and they were trying to go to Disneyland, but because of her schedule over the summer and these obligations that she had, they [00:03:00] just couldn’t make it happen. And so they kind of mentioned, well, what if we did Thanksgiving or Christmas break and I’m thinking she is in college.

Leah: She is hours away from me. You are not taking my girl from me on these little, little snippets of time that I get to have with her. So we were like, well, what if we went with you? So this year instead of going Well, normally hosting. That’s what really happens. I typically host Thanksgiving. Instead of hosting, we jumped on a plane and flew to Anaheim and we spent Thanksgiving in the park, in Disneyland.

Leah: So we totally cancelled traditional Thanksgiving.

Leah: And you know what? It was amazing. Now, would I do this every single year? No! I still love my traditional Thanksgiving. But, was it for this year something really special and fun, and did it just remove so much stress, and did I go on a million rides, and even eat a turkey dinner with stuffing and cranberry sauce [00:04:00] and mashed potatoes and gravy, even though I’m going to be be honest, it was not nearly as good as ours, but I got to have those two and it was really, really great.

Leah: And next year I’ll go back to a big ole traditional, I’ll be hosting it Thanksgiving. So there is my canceling of Thanksgiving, but I just want to share that because I want to give each of us permission to do things a little different when we need to. When something feels off or hard or We just need a respite, that it’s okay to just completely shake things up.

Leah: And it doesn’t have to be forever, it doesn’t have to be always. But this one year, I took a break from normal Thanksgiving, which comes with a lot of work. And I went and played, and I laughed, and I rode in Credit Coaster and The Guardian’s Ride, because those are my two favorites, over and over, and ate way too much food, and walked 20, 000 steps a day, and [00:05:00] it was magnificent.

Leah: It was so fun. All right, next thing is my hair. Okay, so my hair is, it’s, it’s getting a little more dark brown instead of black, but when I first did it, it felt black. And it’s kind of hilarious because I tried to do this in like phases so that it wouldn’t be so. I wasn’t trying to get all kinds of attention of like, Whoa, look at your hair.

Leah: Right? So I was trying to do it in these phases. So over the last several appointments, I’ve been bringing more and more brown in. This is the reality. This is actually my real hair color. Like this is. It’s my natural hair color. I’ve just been faking blonde for a really long time, I think 14 years maybe.

Leah: And I have really, really thin hair, like really thin hair. People try to say they have thin hair and I’m like, sister, no, I have thin hair. I mean, I can use those little tiny baby. like ponytail holders, you know, the [00:06:00] little, little itty bitty ones you do and in little infants and toddlers, no problem, whole head of hair, no problem at all.

Leah: So I’ve been bleaching it for a really long time. And of course that means it’s getting more and more damage. And I started noticing I was having. more and more breakage. Like I look like I have all these layers, but I don’t actually have layers. It’s just broken hair. And since I already don’t have enough hair, I don’t want to be losing more.

Leah: So I decided it was time to try to start making it more healthy and just go back to. Kind of like real Leah. Isn’t that funny? Because when I think of me, I’m a brunette my whole life, you know growing up I have really dark hair and so going back to going back to my roots and so I went in to bring more brown through and we just went for it and it is It is dark, dark, and it’s, it’s kind of calming down a little bit.

Leah: I feel like this is getting closer to my, my real color, but, [00:07:00] um, I’m just laughing at myself because, you know, within a week I’m like doing all these crazy things and I’m like, Oh my gosh, am I having a midlife crisis? No, no, I’m not. But it could look like it from the outside. So my hair is back to dark. I am now on a hair journey of trying to work to grow my hair.

Leah: The algorithm clearly heard me saying this to some girlfriends and so all of a sudden it was filled with all these ads for like supplements and all these different things for, you know, getting thicker, faster growing hair, and I’m not even going to lie. I jumped on them. So I am like taking the supplements that are supposed to make my hair grow.

Leah: I’m doing like castor oil because I truly think that castor oil is like. the Windex of, of our generation. If you don’t know what I’m referencing, I’m talking about my big fat Greek wedding. You know how he like puts Windex on everything. That’s me. I’m going to put castor oil on everything. So I’m doing hair [00:08:00] mask for that.

Leah: I have another supplement that I’m, that I’m adding in that’s supposed to also help with hair. Like I’m doing it all. I’m just going to do everything. If you have any tricks for me that you think really help thicken hair and make it grow, please. Please tell me. I want to know. Alright, so there’s, there’s my hair journey.

Leah: And then, there is that I sold a business. Which is It’s just crazy and it happened in the most amazing way. So some of you know this, but I don’t know if everybody knows this. I started a business back in, uh, 2016. I don’t know exactly, uh, called the CEO kid. And essentially we traveled the world for a year with our kids, right?

Leah: When they were a kid. Um, 11, 10, and 8. Is that right? So, we took a year, and we traveled the world. We spent about one month in [00:09:00] each country, and it was incredible. And it also meant that we had to homeschool our kids. Because, you know, you can’t get them to drop off. And so, we homeschooled our kids, and I was so scared.

Leah: Oh my gosh, I was so nervous. I was like, I’m gonna, like, ruin them. They’re gonna have no chances of college. And guess what, two of them have gone to college. It’s been okay. Uh, but I was totally nervous. And as I thought about it, there was one thing that I knew I was really good at teaching and that’s business, right?

Leah: I don’t know how good I was going to do at math and science and the rest, but I know business. So I decided that I would teach them entrepreneurship. And when we got back from our trip, we had a bit of time before they would like go back to school. And we were finishing out the year and we actually ended up continuing homeschooling in like hybrid models.

Leah: But anyways, all of that to say. I decided to create a curriculum for them that was how to start a business and literally teaching the same way I would teach adults, just, you know, [00:10:00] maybe a few less big words. And and I built this, this business in a box that was called the CEO kid. And it gave them this workbook and you go through the workbook and by the time you finish the videos in the workbook, you have your active business plan.

Leah: It helps you generate ideas, figure out how to price, how to market. How to think about your personal brand and the way you present yourself and all of these things. And it was just this absolute labor of love, passion project that I really made for my kids first. And then ultimately was like, well, I’m sure lots of other parents would love to have access to this.

Leah: And I had a lot of friends asking for it. And so I created the CEO kid. And so I’ve had that for years. And the last couple of years, honestly, it has just been like, One of those things where you’re constantly thinking about it and feeling guilty that you should do more, but you don’t really have the capacity.

Leah: And it’s just not even the phase of life I’m in anymore. I mean, it was one thing when my kids were little. It was great, [00:11:00] right? They were building their businesses. I was thinking about it all the time. We were using it and I would share it. But in the last few years, I mean, I have two out of the house. My last one is in high school.

Leah: I mean, it’s just, it’s not my phase anymore. So I don’t really do anything with it and I haven’t for a while. And sales come in and honestly, I’m like, huh, amazing because they don’t market it or anything. Well, I had someone reach out a school who wanted to bring the CEO kid in, into their curriculum and offer it as a class and, uh, with this co op.

Leah: And so sat down to talk with the. Principal, owner of the school, and the mom who would be teaching it. And at the end of the conversation, uh, the mom was like, Would you ever think about selling it? And I was like, Actually, yeah. Yeah, I would. And it was crazy because I literally had just made a plan that week with what I was going to do with all the [00:12:00] inventory.

Leah: Uh, cause there’s like physical boxes that get sent out. And, um How, like, I, I, how I was going to kind of get rid of the rest of the inventory, um, making like a 50 50 plan with someone. I had this whole plan and then she reached out and Um, I just overwhelmingly felt like this, this is the answer. This, this is what you’ve, what you need to do.

Leah: And this is going to be great for them. And, and so like, okay, moving forward and, and it went really quickly as we went through the process and, and created the terms and contract and going back and forth and, um, and it was hard and it was scary. Like I’m going to be so honest that the day. The day we were signing or the day before?

Leah: I almost blew the whole thing up. I did. I was really starting to panic. I, um, you know, think there was a lot of emotions connected cause I did make it for my own [00:13:00] kids and, uh, also was worried about like time commitments and. You know, I’m trying to take projects off my plate and was I adding a new one and um, I just got so, so nervous and I almost, I almost got in my own way and, and blew the whole thing up.

Leah: And it’s so interesting to think about because I think that that often happens, right? Good can be at our door, but it’s also new and new is scary. And our brain so often wants to protect us by being like, no, no, no, we don’t want anything new. We don’t want anything scary and, and tries to, to get in the way.

Leah: And that almost happened. And thankfully I literally just took a moment of courage and was like, just. Just do it sent the final email and then it was like boom it it was done and and it’s been [00:14:00] Such a great thing and looking at these three different things some of which are actually pretty small and some are big just realizing that there are opportunities for big changes in our lives, but we have to be looking we have to be willing to And we have to step forward.

Leah: It doesn’t mean we’re ready. That’s the thing. I think so often we think about, Oh, big changes. You’ve got to be ready. I didn’t really feel ready. I didn’t feel ready for my hair to go to black. I didn’t. It’s not really black. But in every Zoom that I’m on, it looks black. And so like, I, I, you know, did it.

Leah: And then the next day I’m on a Zoom and I’m like, Oh my gosh, what have I done? Um, but I’m getting more and more used to it. And I love that my hair is getting healthier again. Right? I didn’t I didn’t. necessarily feel ready to sell the CEO kid. I wasn’t trying to sell the CEO kid, but the [00:15:00] opportunity came and I acknowledged and recognized that it was really exactly what I’d been wanting, just packaged a little different than how I was expecting.

Leah: When we think about transitions in our life, like having Or in a new stage and trying to figure out what do things look like now, it’s okay for us to pivot and to adapt and to switch things up and to change things completely. You know, there was fun, cute, little traditions we did when they were little, but they don’t make sense anymore.

Leah: And there’s big traditions I want to keep doing like hosting a very elaborate giant Thanksgiving. But you know what? This, this year, this time, I took a break. I took a rest and that’s. It’s so powerful, and it makes me even more excited for next year, right? For the next time that I get to. When we’re thinking [00:16:00] about personal growth, we need to understand that first word, that it really is personal.

Leah: It’s about what Each of us individually needs, and so we have to self identify, we have to look at and recognize what are the things that I need, that I want, that I’m hoping to become, and then how do I build a plan around that in my life? Looking at even how we balance personal and professional life during transitions.

Leah: Right? How do you keep this, this little dance going of knowing when to pull back and when to move forward? Because it really is a dance and you’re going to get it right sometimes and you’re going to get it wrong. Sometimes you’re going to trip and you’re going to mess up the steps. And other times you’re going to feel like, look at me go, I am gliding.

Leah: And that’s the reality of it. As we’re trying to adjust and pivot and figure these things out, it’s, it’s a dance. It just is. And [00:17:00] so being okay with realizing. Sometimes I’m going to look really clumsy and other times I am going to look really graceful.

Leah: I think a huge part of being able to stay more on the graceful side is following our intuition. Following those, those promptings, those little, little feelings that you get. It was so fascinating because right before the offer to buy the CEO Kid, showed up. I had shared with all of you that I was going to work with three private clients to implement their entire anti social marketing system for them.

Leah: And I had every intentions of Booking three, right? I was like, okay, I’m going to work with three clients. I don’t want to do more than that because I don’t want to get out of balance, but I have the capacity for this. I can do it. And I had two people immediately schedule [00:18:00] calls, uh, for the first two available openings.

Leah: They both were like, oh my gosh, yes, I want to do this, and they booked. And it was awesome. And then I had this feeling, don’t do a third. And I really questioned it because, you know, A, income, and B, like, I had looked at everything. I knew I was okay. I knew I could balance it all. But I just felt like I should not take a third.

Leah: And so I, I emailed all of you and I said, Okay, I’m, I’m stopping it too and here’s why. And I thought I knew why. I thought it was like, so I knew I’d have the time to be able to be building the DIY version, like this course version that I want to create for you, while I was doing hands on. Implementation for these private clients and then the CEO kid sale popped up out of nowhere seemingly nowhere.

Leah: And all of a sudden for several weeks that was taking up a ton of time as I’m negotiating and then getting everything together to send to them both. [00:19:00] Um, the physical inventory as well as all of like the brand and the trainings and the workbooks and the courses and, and. And the website access and just a million things.

Leah: And it was like, oh my gosh. I’m so grateful I did not have a third. Because I would have absolutely shifted over to Overwhelm. No question. Absolutely. It was still a tiny, tiny bit pressing, right? But nothing like if I would have had a third private client that I was working with. So, you know, as we’re thinking about these different life transitions and Uh, trying to, you know, do the dance of staying in balance.

Leah: I really, really can’t stress how important it is to trust ourselves, to trust those promptings, trust that intuition. Trust, trust that gut check when you’re like, ah, I don’t know, trust it, and then look for the signs that, you know, yep, that’s exactly what I was supposed to [00:20:00] do and why. And then, you know, as we’re wrapping up and talking about these different things, I am such a fan of tradition.

Leah: I am such a fan, I hope this is obvious by now, but of putting family first, that we can absolutely have successful businesses where you are making that impact, you’re making that difference, like that thing that was put on your heart to do as a business, it was not on accident, it is on purpose, I believe that, but I also believe that it should never be at the expense of our homes, our health, or our happiness.

Leah: And when I’m talking about our homes, I’m talking about our families, right? So, understanding these, these family dynamics and these family traditions and, and holding onto them and cherishing them, but not so tight that they become a stress or a restriction, right? Like being able to be willing to shift things around just a little bit when they need to [00:21:00] so that you can keep that happiness over that hustle, right?

Leah: Like, Oh, we do this every year. We have to fit it in, even though it’s going to be really hard and really stressful. We’ve got to do it. That’s just such a silly way to look at. And yet we do that. We do that to ourselves. Okay. So there you go. There is my life update. You guys, I sold a business. I sold the CEO kid and I am honestly so excited for this new owner.

Leah: She is amazing. She’s already has new ideas of huge things she’s doing for it. Like she is going to take it to the next level. And the CEO kid is going to finally have someone who has the time and the energy to. Bring it to the next level like I’d always thought it should but just didn’t do so I’m so excited for that I don’t know if I’m excited for my dark hair.

Leah: I’m gonna be honest I don’t know the jury is still out, but I am excited for it to get healthier. So, you know, we’re on this journey We’ll see what happens. And yeah, I canceled [00:22:00] Thanksgiving this year. I guess last year. We already had Thanksgiving But, you know what, it means I’m even more excited and ready for next year.

Leah: I’ll be ready to host, I’ll be ready to make all my dishes that take days to make, and it’s gonna be awesome. I hope that just in me sharing my own little silly life things, that it just A, maybe helps you feel closer and more connected with me, but B, it gives you some ideas. For maybe some little, some little things that you want to do for yourself and for your life and for your balance.

Leah: Thank you so much for being part of the Balancing Busy podcast. If you’re like, uh, Leah, we want to see your hair. I will have a picture in show notes. So you can just go over to 126. balancingbusypodcast. com. I will make sure there is a picture of my new hair in show notes so you can see it. All right, that’s it for today.

Leah: Thank you. Thank you so much for [00:23:00] listening to this personal episode. It just shows that like you really are a true Balancing Busy podcast fan if you’re even listening to my crazy personal episodes. So thank you, thank you, and I’ll see you next week. 

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