Owner & Founder Of Far From Basic: WendyAnn Hornak AKA The More Boss – S3E12 (#108)

S3E12 WendyAnn Hornak.mp3 – powered by Happy Scribe

Boss Uncaged is a weekly podcast that releases the origin stories of business owners and entrepreneurs as they become uncaged trailblazers. In each episode, our hosts S.A Grant And guests construct narrative accounts of their collective business journeys and growth strategies, learn key success habits and how to stay motivated through failure, all while developing a Boss Uncaged mindset. Break out of your cage and welcome our host S.A Grant.

Welcome back to Boss Uncaged podcast. So today’s show is going to be a very special episode because it’s going to be like the meeting of the mind. Most of you guys already know I’m a growth strategist and today we have a fellow growth strategist on the show. So WendyAnn why don’t you tell our audience a little bit more about who you are.

Oh, my gosh. First of all, thank you so much for having me. I’m super excited to be here. So I am a business growth strategist, but more importantly, I’m the founder of the More Community, where we help family focused online business owners and entrepreneurs learn a simple strategy to really hit that six and seven figure mark income consistently. So that’s where my business is kind of grounded and surrounds great.

Let’s dive into that a little bit. Right. So who would be like your ideal avatar, your ideal customer in that space segment?

So mainly customers who have my clients typically have families or I help inspire those who might have a family and they have that I don’t have time obstacle that they’re trying to get past in their mindset. I have two small children, I have a husband, I have a corporate background. Like, I have all the things too. Right. So it’s very different for people to see things from my perspective because I can bring to the table, here’s how I schedule and get it all done and it is 100% possible and here’s how we’re going to get you there as well.

Wow.

Working with people with small children or just getting started or already in their business and they just don’t feel like they have the time to get all the things done, especially when they’re looking at a block and they’re thinking, oh my gosh, I don’t want to miss all of these moments. But I also want to make I also have this dream and burning desire to help people do X and I just don’t know how to put it all together. So that’s really where my focus and my drive came from. I have 20 years of corporate background experience, 20 plus years actually with working with all of these customers, fortune 500, larger customers and array of different pieces of business and segments, whether it’s HR, customer service, startup, tech. So I’ve had the privilege of learning all of these amazing things and processes and how to do things and what works and honestly what doesn’t. So being able to take that and then bring that to the table to entrepreneurs who are really looking to excel or start or just feel stuck and want to hit that number, but feel like they just can’t find that momentum. That’s really where we bring in ours on the genius.

Nice. Nice. So in defining yourself, if you have to only choose three to five words to do that, which three to five words would you choose?

I would choose loyal. I would choose authentic, energetic, and grit.

Nice. Being that you bought up grit, right. It’s like a grote strategist. People kind of just kind of throw that into kind of like a coach, but a growth strategy is a bit different than just a regular coach. And to your point, earlier, you were talking about all these different principles being left brain, being right brain, being corporate, being creative, and having all these different tentacles. Why don’t you kind of just go into, like, what is your self definition of what a growth strategist should really look like and do?

So I believe it starts at the beginning of the journey and then takes them to the end, meaning we really dive deep with people to understand what their core beliefs are and what really drives them. And you always hear the the why that makes you cry or, you know, why are you doing what you do? It really can be simplified, but it’s tough for people to really niche down. People think, oh, my gosh, how am I going to only help this small amount when I want to help everyone, right? And the people who come into this business with heart, they want to help everyone. They want to reach out to the world and be able to bring all these things in. But the truth of the matter is, sometimes then you get lost along the way, and you lose your true core values are what you really want to do and believe in. Listen, this journey is supposed to be about you as well, right? You have to love what you do. So finding exactly what you want to do and why you want to do that and simplifying that and getting that clarity around it, then you can propel into helping others and serving others and really bringing that all together, being able to say, okay, this is my focus. These are my goals. This is how we’re going to get there. Great. Now let’s monitor that. Let’s talk about that. Let’s go through the obstacles as to things are going to come up, right? How are we going to supersede those? How are we going to break through those issues that might arise, whether it’s individuals or people or the market? What are we going to do to work around that? And I think that it’s a learning process you go through, you know, you go through ups and downs. But as entrepreneurs, we tend to see all of these things that come right, and we all want the shiny, best new thing to do amazing things for us and for our clients. But the truth of the matter is really zoning in on the processes that you need to be able to do and focusing on those and going ten X on those. That’s where you’re going to see amazing results for not just you and your business, but also with your clients. So we really spend a lot of time with people, bringing them back to their core values and bringing them back to the, this is why we want to do things. And then that just shines through and their business just explodes from there. So it’s a process. It certainly takes a lot of work, but I firmly believe that people sometimes get overwhelmed and it becomes a process of I can’t do it anymore because there’s all these things that I have to do. You actually just have to do a lot more of these things to get the same results that you’re looking for.

Got you. I think you’re alluding to like the 80 20 principle, right? In that I think something that you kind of, like, hinted on was there’s going to be hurdles, right? So as being a growth strategist or being in the Coach Spectrum, there’s always going to be like, that one client that makes you want to kind of pull your hair out and no matter what you do, it’s like you’re running on a treadmill backwards and you’re not getting anywhere, right? What is the worst experience that you’ve experienced so far in your business? Dealing with a particular client that maybe not necessarily you weren’t delivering, but the client wasn’t really listening to what you were asking them to do.

So I think that it comes down to and I’ve been fortunate enough that I wouldn’t say I’ve had the worst. What I have had is a huge heartbreak with a client who has an amazing business idea, has an amazing principle, wants to do great things, but they just can’t focus in on the few things that are going to get them where they need to be. And they’re so focused on all of these other things and really veering off from their core value that they tended to all of a sudden start you start to lose clients, you start to lose faith. People start to lose faith in you, and you don’t even see it because you think you’re doing all the right things. But when it comes down to it, when you set a principle and you say, okay, this is the path we’re going to follow. We’re going to do these eight things, this is what we’re going to focus on, and we’re going to measure them, and then all of a sudden, the list turns into 20 things. And the first eight things we’ve never even followed through on. So to know that somebody has a big goal to hit, but they’re not putting in the focus that they need or the trust in others that they need to, right? Because there’s that you can’t always go it alone. You have to be able to open up your heart and your mind a little on your business to do other things. And believe me, I know the pressure on this. I felt this through my entire corporate career, and I do to this day in my own business of being able to say, okay, I need help in these areas because these aren’t my strongest points, but they need to get done. So working together and bringing people up and molding them to be where you want them to be and really shine through in your business, it takes a little bit of a leap of faith. And some people have that scarcity mindset of, this is mine, this is what I’m going to do, and I know best. Yes, I hear everything that you’re saying. Yes, I’m willing to pay for all of the trainings and all of the development and all the mentorship and the coaching, but if you don’t follow the plans that are laid out in front of you, you’re not going to see the end result. And I think that was the most heartbreaking process for me, was you cannot force people to do the things that are laid out for them and follow the plan. You have the acceptance, you have the agreement, you’re all set, you’re ready to go. And then all of a sudden, you look back and you think, wait a second. In a week, the top five to eight things, we’re not even doing those anymore. We’re doing all of these other things. And now we’re starting to lose focus. And then a month later, when all the questions come up about, why wasn’t this done? Why wasn’t that done? You shifted the whole culture. You shifted the whole focus. So again, having that clarity and having that focus on your core values and then following that plan, it’s super important. But my biggest lesson is you just simply can’t force people. They might want it, but getting them to focus in, that’s truly up to them to be able to do so. That was probably the most heartbreaking experience for me.

That’s nice. So let’s talk a little bit more about structuring business. Looking at your LinkedIn profile, you worked at Donna Bradstreet, and you worked in several other corporate environments. So you understand the corporate structure. You understand the entrepreneurial side, hence why you’re a growth strategist. So in your business, is your business more structured as an LLC? Scorp a C corp. What flavor is your business structured as?

So we are structured as an S Corp simply because last year when our growth kind of took off a lot more than we expected it to, we had bought in employees. And of course, I rely on the amazing experts and accountants to tell me, this is how you need to be structured, and here is why. And I feel that that’s really important because I always thought that an LLC structure was just best for me and did exactly what we needed to do. But to find here, you can start payroll, you can do this, you could take these taxes, you could take advantage of this. There’s a whole other world out there. So again, I think it goes back to being open to reaching out to those experts. So that’s where we made that change late last year. So we’re now officially into an escort.

Nice. So with that, I think you kind of talked about systems to a certain extent, like having the right people in place, having the right checks and balances in place. So what systems do you currently have that you’re utilizing when you work with your clients?

So we run everything across what we call the More map. So our process is very simple to be able to get your clarity, get your avatar, so to speak, which everybody refers to. But who do you really want to put in? Who do you want to wake up and work with? What makes you excited when you get up in the morning? Do you want to work with X or do you want to work with Z? What really makes what drives you? Because some people tend to take on the Z when they really want the Y and they’re not happy with what they’re doing. So their production and their progress isn’t as substantial as they would like it to be because in their mind, they’re thinking they’re doing all the right things, they’re bringing in revenue, things are good, but you have to also enjoy what you’re doing. So we really take a deep dive and kind of get to know you and who’s working for you? Are they the right fit? Because sometimes we tend to bring people into the circle that might be friends or family or even somebody from the outside that was referred to us. And they may not be the right fit for you because they might be somebody who thinks a completely different way than you do. Now, I firmly believe that there should be a mixture of people who are really good at processes, people who are really good at but if you have people who have very different core values from you from an ethical standpoint, that’s where we tend to see we run into some trouble. And I started my career. I fought tooth and nail that I was ever going to be in the financial sectors. Both of my parents worked on Wall Street and I had pushed very hard that I would ever be in a position of corporate or financial or do anything. And here we are now. So I guess sometimes parents do know best. That rebellious stage of me I kind of came out of. But it really what that brought to me is I worked in what’s considered a BPO industry business process, outsourcing and in that industry. I got to work with customers in telecom, in transportation, in technology, and I got to see all of these amazing things and what works and what doesn’t. So we really try to bring that back to our clients and say, listen, what works for them doesn’t always work for this piece. You can’t always just take a strategy from somebody else and say, this is what’s going to work for you. You really need to know what you’re looking to do. Make sure you have the right team in place. And then, what are the goals? What are we looking to achieve? What do you want? And then it’s, how do we map that out and get you there? And then we’re constantly in that accountability mode of, are we working together? Are we talking about it? Do we you know, what do we need to change? Because you can put things on paper, but we all know things change, right? So you have to be able to adjust on those ebbs and flows, but that accountability, that ability to turn and measure and constantly refine those numbers is critical in our processes.

Very interesting. So I think you talked about your parents and that last statement that they both worked on Wall Street. So let’s just time travel back a little bit, right? Let’s just go back to your adolescence. How did you get into the area of expertise that you’re in? You’re being influenced by your parents, but when on this journey, did that Eureka moment, that light bulb go off and say, okay, this is something that I want to pursue?

So it took me a long time, I’ll be honest. My parents both pushed very hard, like, oh, this is going to be great. You can go to college. You can learn all these things. And I thought, I’m not doing numbers for the rest of my life. That’s what you like to do. I don’t like to do numbers. And then I decided that I wanted to go to cosmetology school because I wanted to do hair. And that’s just the rebellious teenager that I was. And I quickly learned that what I really liked about it were people. It wasn’t necessarily doing the hair and learning all those techniques. It was mainly being around people. And a friend of mine had offered me, they said, hey, listen, I know you’re looking to get out of the hair sector. I know you didn’t want to do this, but Dean B is hiring. And I thought, wow, this would look great on my resume. Let’s start there. And 24 years later, I started as an agent. I worked my way up to the vice president of operations, and I absolutely loved it. And when I say loved it, I had privileges that I would have never been given in any other ordinary job, sticking with a company for that long. Now, we were purchased, we were spun off. There were different mergers that happened. But the crux of what I did, and I do like that doesn’t that never changed for me. So I had the privilege of working with amazing people from the very beginning and really finding a lot of clients that became lifelong friends. We still talk today, learning their business processes, seeing different ideas, and I thought, this is it. This is exactly what I want to do. And I had actually reached out to somebody for some help with just personal, and they said, do you do this on your own, by any chance? Because I could really use your help. And it took off from there where I thought, well, no, why would I do this on the side, so to speak, when I do this in my career, this doesn’t make any sense to me. So it took me a while to really grasp. So when clients come to me and they’re just starting out, or even when they’re ten years in and they’re struggling with that, here I am, here I was, here’s where I want to be. I can relate to that 100% because I kind of fell into all of this because my intuition just leave me where I needed to go. And working with so many different clients across the globe just showed me that, number one, I have a ton of experience, but number two, nothing likes me more than to see one of my clients say, this is what we want to do. And we get there or even exceed that, and then we’re able to do more in the process. So that’s really how I got started. And then I started taking on a couple of ones, one clients, and then it just grew from there. So I’ve been lucky to be able to impact so many on one side of the fence and then also on the other. So I’m truly blessed when it comes to being able to work with individuals in different capacities and bring a lot of that knowledge and help them really surpass what they’re looking to do.

Very nice. So I’m thinking I’m listening to what you’re saying. I’m processing and the viewpoint of a listener of this bigger podcast. They’re hearing your story, and they’re hearing that you’ve done here. You worked in corporate America, but now obviously you took the abuse, that opportunity when it presented itself, and you joined into the entrepreneur club and you grew your own business from that. But this journey is not an overnight success. The perception it may be a 20 year thing, but in reality, how long did it take you to get from point zero to where you are currently?

So if we’re talking in general, you can use the whole 24 years. And the reason that I stress that and I say it starts from the very beginning is I started learning that far back all of the things of what I did want to do and what I didn’t want to. Do now over the last 510 years is really where things took off for me, where I started investing in myself and really growing and doing some personal development, reaching out to other people and being able to say, hey, listen, I’m not amazing at this, but I’d love to be. So how do I get there? And I’ll continue that journey for life long. And I think that what you have just mentioned, we talk a lot about. You just see people and they just pop up and you think, oh my gosh, how lucky are they? Look at how they’re living their life. They’re an overnight success. And I assure you that that journey and I’ve heard this from so many people who have mentored me in the past, I wish I would have documented the journey better so that everybody could really look back and see it’s not easy. It doesn’t come easy. It’s simple. It’s very simple. You just really have to use a lot of consistency and a lot of focus and a lot of clarity in order to get where you need to be. So yes, my 24 year career certainly has helped me, but it really was in the last eight years, I would say that I started focusing in on how am I going to grow as an individual and what can I do from an entrepreneurial standpoint. And once you catch that fire, it’s really hard to put it out as long as you have the right guidance along the way and you don’t become discouraged, I think is the word that I find people run into. They get overwhelmed, they get discouraged, they see people, they get that FOMO, and they think, oh my gosh, she just started doing this and look at where she is. She or he did not just start doing this. You just have to look past that. There’s a lot behind the curtain. If you really dig in, you’ll see that they’ve been working at this for a long time to become that overnight success that you see today.

So I think everything you said is 100% true, and I want people to really understand that. And to your point, you were talking about individuals that may see someone else and it’s not necessarily jealousy, it’s kind of like, how did this person do it so quickly? Like, how did they pop up on the scene? And to your point, it’s not that they just popped up. They’ve been working at it for a really, really long time. So to kind of help the listener right, with that, if you could time travel back right to your younger self, what’s one thing that you would want to do differently if you could do it all over again?

If I had to do it differently, I would definitely say that I would have reached out for help, mentorship a lot sooner. And I think that the beginning. When I struggled the most, I just surrounded myself with the wrong people. And I think it’s extremely important when clients come to me and they start asking questions, I sometimes get the I’m so sorry I’m asking you all of these questions. And what I really want to say is don’t ever apologize for that. You have every right to vet the person you’re going to attach yourself to. You’re literally laying your entire dreams into their hands. You have every right to ask them questions. And if they become offended or they step back because you’re asking, there might be a red flag for you to find somebody else. You need to find somebody who you know and trust can take you to that next level because you’re going to be working with them one on one for a long time. And if I invested in myself sooner rather than later, I probably would have seen a little bit of that Disney fast pass experience that everybody’s looking for. I probably could have gotten there a little bit sooner. But it is one step that I can pinpoint and say, if I would have invested in myself sooner, I would have seen results sooner than I did now.

Nice. Great. So I’m thinking about your journey, right? And you talked about the different principles. You talked about your parents a little bit, but obviously you’re an entrepreneur and you’ve been an entrepreneur at heart, but then you kind of then accepted that fact and you stepped into that space. But when you go back and think about it, were there anybody in your family like maybe an uncle or aunt that were entrepreneur that you were probably watching from a different point of view as you were growing up?

So not in my family, but there were other people that I looked at and I thought, wow, that’s amazing. How did they come from nothing and go into something so huge? And I think that while I didn’t have anybody specifically in my family, I lost my father at a very young age. And I watched my mom really just dive in and be able to do everything that she possibly could to continue to have me have the less of the bumps in the road along the way because it’s such a tragic event and things can you certainly you always want the best for your children, right? So you’ll do anything to make sure that they feel the least amount of impact. And I really watched her looking back not then, now struggle to keep us afloat and maintain that everything is fine mentality when really behind the scenes she was working very hard to keep that up for us and for our family. But looking into other people and being able to see I had originally I had the mindset of, well, everybody who’s making it today came from money. They were handed something. And when I realized and this was in my twenty s, that people who came from nothing actually could dig in focus in narrowing that focus and grow to be whatever they wanted to be. That’s when the fire started to build, where I realized we need a second. I don’t need to come from a luxurious family background of a ton of money. I don’t have to come back to, you know, from being handed an inheritance of a large sum. Anybody can do this. Anybody who has the desire, the want and the need to have more for themselves and a legacy for their family, they can do this. They just have to surround themselves with the right people. And the one word of caution I will put out to people is if you’re surrounding yourself with negativity. And this includes people who might be very close in your circle and this is a hard pill to swallow, but it’s really time that you start to surround yourself with, likeminded, people and people who might be in a situation that you would like to be in. Maybe they’re a little further advanced because here’s the thing, and it always sounded corny to me for a long time, but it’s so true. You should not be the smartest person in the room ever. You should never be the smartest person in the room because you want to be the one who’s also growing and learning and developing and you’re hearing all ideas from different people. So if you’re constantly in a situation where you’re the one who’s driving the force, you need to bring people in because they’re going to power you up as well. It’s amazing when you can experience it and you see it and you feel it and I can’t stress it enough that and I’m sure, you know, when you get into it, you start to see the people who you may have surrounded yourself with. It might not have been the best choices for you and might have held you back a little bit, but once you start making those hard choices, things start to doors start to open up that magically were not there before.

Yeah, I agree with you 100%. It’s kind of one of those things. I think a lot of times guilty by association, whether it’s family or friends that you’ve known for a period of time. But negative greed is negative. And it’s kind of like I’m at that point in my life, in my career, like once I hear that negative once or twice, I don’t let the third time happen because by that point in time I already cut those strengths and moved on because you have to. I mean, if you’re around two people that are negative, that’s a multiplying factor to you internally. And then you start to complain and you start to be fine. You start bitching about stuff that usually that you shouldn’t spend that much time into. You should spend more time on what your goals and aspirations are versus dealing with drama. So I definitely agree with that 100%. Another thing that. You talked about was just like legacy. So you have kids. How do you currently juggle your work life with your family life?

Well, I learned very early on that there were times that you are going to have to cut some things out that you might be doing today that don’t necessarily bring you forward. And these are one of those hard conversations that I have not just with my clients, but also friends who are growing businesses and trying to do their own thing. You start to look and see what you’re doing with your time, and everybody has the same amount of time. So it’s not a matter of I get more or I’m only sleeping 5 hours a night because my children would despise life. If I’m very big on my sleep. I need that rest and recovery in order to bring all the energy for the next day. But I live by my calendar when I say I live by my calendar. And probably a lot of my corporate background brought me into this. But a lot of mentors before me and who I still work with today are very big on not just the technical term of time blocking, but looking at your calendar and seeing what you need to have done, what’s important. So I don’t want to miss my son’s baseball game and I don’t want to miss my daughter’s basketball game or softball game. So those are scheduled in and then I work my business around that so that I know at 05:00 in the afternoon I have to cook dinner because then we have to get here. So from five to seven, this is what I’m doing. But I’m also not up late at night watching reality TV shows anymore. And I used to love that, I’ll be very honest, I used to love watching TV and kind of zoning out. Those are things that I don’t do anymore. But what I do do is I spend the time with my family that I want and then I spend the time on my business when I’m not doing those things so that it all evens out. And I feel like I still get to do everything because I made it a very strong my time is the only thing I have control over. And I was always a control freak. Growing up in corporate, I always wanted to do everything. I didn’t want to let anything go. I could do it all, I can do it exactly the way we need it to. And I never wanted anything to go wrong. I had that perfectionism syndrome. So very quickly I learned it’s okay to allow other people’s in. And I’ve always been able to surround myself with people. I’ve been very blessed through corporate enter now to be able to say that the team that I’ve surrounded myself with has been amazing to work with. So it’s easier to let things go and delegate, but then also to make sure that I’m spending my time on the things that are really important to me. I only have the same amount of hours that you do. So if I choose to spend two to 4 hours of that time watching television instead of reaching out to clients or speaking with amazing people like you, or talking to people, or spending that time with my family, that those those are days I’m never going to get back and I don’t want to lose those. And I think a lot of people who I talk to who do have families who are like, I’d really like to start something on my own, but how would I ever do that? I have two kids, I have this and I’m like, listen, I have a corporate job, I have two children, I have a husband, I have a house, we just brought in two new puppies. I have all the things too. It’s just a matter of how you structure your time and make sure that you’re doing the things that are really important to you to get everything that you need to get done. So structure and that disciplined approach to this is what I’m doing and this is when I’m doing it, is key in order to make sure you’re able to juggle all of the things. Listen, it is not always pretty behind the curtain and I am always open about that. There are things that just go wrong. There are dishes in the sink that sometimes annoy me. There are times my children have eaten cereal for dinner. That happens.

Nice. Nice. So even with that, seems like your routine and your day is pretty structured. So if I had to assume, I would think that you have a particular morning routine. So what does your morning routines look like?

Morning routines? I don’t know what I did before I had a morning routine. And I think back on this so often and I would honestly love to hear about yours today because mine has changed over time. But my morning routine, the very first rule that the very first thing that I had to break habit was grabbing the cell phone and getting on social media or checking emails. It was always the first thing that I did. I mean, in corporate I have this 24/7 obligation. So I would always think, oh my gosh, well, I was sleeping, what went wrong? And that is how I started my day every day. And you think, and you’re like, oh, it’s not how that affects your capabilities to excel throughout the day. It’s mind-blowing when you change it. So there is no social media for me. First thing in the morning, the very first thing that I do, I get up, I do a little bit of light stretching. I try to walk if it’s not raining or freezing cold out, I cannot stand the cold. And yes, I live in the northeast because I love all of the seasons. So it’s a little bit of give and take, but we are very big and my kids do this with me. We do a goal in gratitude every morning routine. We talk about this a lot in my community where we write down our goals for the day because those small wins, even if it’s something as simple as making their beds, it’s a checkbox that gives you that energy that says, oh, okay, so I got something accomplished and I can move on to the next thing. It would be very, very small. But also writing down what we’re grateful for, that has been a game changer for us. So writing down a little bit of an accomplishment that I know we can get done for the day and then making sure that I’m writing down what I’m grateful for. And then at nighttime I do journaling. I used to do it in the morning, but I have found that so much happens throughout the day that by the next morning some of it gets lost. So I typically do journal at night, but my morning routines and then I get into the emails and then I get into the responding on social and all of those good things.

Nice. So with that, obviously there’s different components to that and I think one of them that I’m going to talk about is just like the journaling and you’re very versed in what you’re doing. So I would think that this next question is a three part question. Like, what books have you read on your journey to get you to where you are? What books are you reading currently right now? And have you had an opportunity to author any books yourself?

So we are in the process of authoring books. We have not done it yet. So that is that is on the list for sure. The most recent books that I’ve read actually are Grant Cardone’s, ‘Ten X” and I absolutely love it. And I feel like if you have not read Mel Robbins “Five Second Rule” and this is the one person that if I could ever or when I let me put it out there, when I sit down and have a conversation with her, that process sounds so simple. And when I tell people, please read the “Five Second Rule”, just pay attention to it, it really does work. That’s what broke my habit on the cellphone and I never thought that I’d be able to get out of bed and I never thought I’d be able to actually put that away and walk past it and be able to. Now I do look at it because I have not put an alarm necessarily in my bedroom. I still use the phone, so I do see the time on it, but those two so right now that’s what I’m currently reading. But the one book that I would say you’ve got to take a look at, it would be the Mel Robins book for sure.

Nice. So this year I started a book club, and we pre planned out 52 books, and the goal was for any entrepreneur to read a book per week. And the first book of that book club was a five second rule, just for that reason. And it was just kind of like, I still like, guys, you got to read this book if you’re going to make it through the other 51 books this series, after the established habit right off rip. So definitely I totally concur with you that five second rule is a game changer and it’s something simple. I mean, it’s just counting down to five, but that chemical reaction changes the way you process and it gives you enough time to be like, what the hell am I doing? I need to be doing something else.

Yes. And she’s so real and raw about how she explains it that it’s super easy to follow. And I’ve listened to that. I actually have that on Audible too, because I’ve listened to it again, just kind of as a refresher to be like, okay, this is why, and this is how, and this is okay, no, I’m on the right path. I’m on the right path. So absolutely love that. And I love that that was the first book of your series. I think that that’s great.

Appreciate it. So where do you see yourself 20 years from now?

So 20 years from now, my goodness, I will probably have grandchildren, which will be amazing because then I can see the joy that my mom and my husband’s mom have had watching. They all say it’s very different when you experience that. So family is extremely important to us, but also knowing where we’ve been able to check off our bucket list. So we have a travel list and we say, obviously this is probably the worst timing to be able to talk about it, however, knowing where we want to go and what we want to do because things are going to change and that’s the upside to it. But we have a lengthy list of things that we want to see and experience. So I know that that’s not going to happen right away. But definitely travel, definitely doing what I do ten x times and then certainly enjoying some time with my grandkids. So that’s really where I see myself in 20 years.

Nice. So just going back into your business a little bit. In today’s world, a lot of businesses are structured in the fashion that they’re relying on some particular platform or software or multiple different platforms or multiple different software. What recommendations of software that you’re using on a day to day basis that you would not be able to do what you’re doing without.

So I would highly recommend that you take referrals from people who are already doing what you do if you have that privilege and you know somebody that’s already like, listen, I use the system, it works. I love it. I think it’s great. I started to jump on that bandwagon as well and pull some things together but I have the privilege. My husband is one of those amazing people who can speak tech and do all those things of coding world which is completely foreign to me. I am the people person. I am not the you can make this, do this and do all this. That sounds wonderful. So we actually run on a platform that my husband has built and that keeps all of my clients in one area. It keeps all of my social media structure in one area so everything is together and automated from that perspective. So when I need things I have the privilege of just walking down the hall and asking for those requests and knocking on the office door. So it’s completely homegrown. It’s Microsoft based and it’s been a game changer for me to be able to have one system instead of the six to seven systems that you have to manage to get to where you need to be.

Sounds like you guys are going into app development soon enough. I see an app platform in your future.

I could see that as well. That would be amazing. That would be absolutely amazing to bring something like this to market and be able to help other people see that it’s totally possible to put it all in one place and have it grow from there.

Nice. So what are the final words of wisdom? Right, let’s just say I’m 28 years old and I’m listening to this podcast and I’m in corporate America and I’m saying, okay, you were in corporate America and you made the transition and I’m thinking about leaving corporate America but I’m not sure if I should. And I’ve had a side hustle for a minute and it’s growing but it’s not growing as fast as I possibly can. What words of wisdom would you give to an individual that’s looking to you for answers?

So I would definitely tell them to really focus in on what they want to be doing and why they feel they’re not getting where they need to be. Right. So look at the time frame. Did you just start this side hustle and did you just think that in the next six months you’re going to hit a number? What is the timeframe and what have you put into it already? What training have you invested in? Where are you looking to go with this? Are you looking to completely walk away from corporate America? Are you looking to stay in your job but then have this side hustle? What does it look like for you? Because not everybody is ready to walk away and do what they want to do or not everybody wants to do that. They might still love what they’re doing currently and just want to be able to build something on the side for themselves to help with investments or help with. So it’s really important why you’re doing what you’re doing and then what your long term goal is. Is your long-term goal to create your own economy? Because that’s really what we talk about a lot, is how are you going to create your own economy and bring that dollar and what do you want to do with those funds. Because it’s not always just about the money. It’s also about how you’re living your life every day and what do you want to do with the time that you’ve been given in this world, what do you want to do with that time? So really understand what that is now. Once you have that, you have to figure out the plan to get you where you want to be and what that timeframe looks for you and what kind of money you need to be setting aside to make sure that you have a cushion before you walk away. I spoke with a very dear friend of mine, and we were talking about she was $500,000 in debt. She did all these amazing things. She had a great corporate career, but she just knew in her heart she had to get out. For her own health, her own sanity, she needed to get out, and she did. She walked away, debt in hand and everything. Now she has an amazing story today to tell people, but not everybody has it in them to do something like that. So if that’s not you and you’re like, listen, I need a plan. I need to have all of this ironed out. I need to know exactly where my money’s going, what I’m doing with this. That’s okay, let’s get that plan together and then let’s work on it. Because when you’re looking at the big picture, sometimes it gets very scary. And I hate to use the word overwhelming so much, but it does. It becomes this thing that builds inside you and you think and it pushes you further and further away from the reality that you really want to pull you in. So let’s put it all on paper. Let’s map it out, and 9.9 times out of ten, we can put a plan together to get you there. And once you break it down, it’s easy. Easy. It’s simple. It’s not easy. It’s simple.

Nice. So I mean, how do people get in contact with you? Obviously you’re talking about social media. You’re talking about a website. How can they find you?

So we’re in the middle of redoing our website, but our website is www.farfrombasic.com or you can find us on we’re on all the things. We’re on the clubhouse, we’re on Facebook, Instagram, and you can just find us under my name, which is WendyAn Hornak and give a follow. I’d love to help with any advice. We also have an amazing free community. It’s basically like a year of training for free. We give a whole bunch of different guidance and all sorts of fun shares in there and really share winds and do some amazing things in there that we just started up actually just a couple of months ago and it’s growing significantly. So we’re super excited about that too and we’d love to have you guys in there.

Got it with that. Is there any offers that you want to make to our listener?

No. So in our community we offer a goals and gratitude, which I talked a little bit about, about our routine. Just to get you started. We offer a PDF, a download that’s for you to take and a bit of training on how we use it, why we use it, why we think it’s important, and just some quick ideas to give you a quick start of a change of that morning routine. Because I too believe that how you start your day will define the rest of the rest of your day and week and month and years ahead. So it’s very important to me that people change. Start small. You don’t have to do all of the things, you don’t have to spend your 1st 2 hours of the morning doing all these things that everybody talks about. Just start small and find something that works for you. And then we also are kicking off a five day master class which is going to be absolutely amazing starting June 14. So yes, get in the community, we’d love to have you there. It’s going to be five days of free training and then we’re going to have an amazing offer there. So that training alone is worth right around three $200 with what we’re giving out during those days. So it’s just a matter of showing up and taking some notes and hopefully it gets people to see what they really want to do and focus in and get some thoughts flowing and get the juices going to really start out on their own because the time is now.

Nice. So I got a bonus question for you.

Sure.

I’m very interested to hear your answer to this one. If you could spend 24 hours with anyone, dead or alive, uninterrupted for those 24 hours, who would it be and why?

Oh my gosh, I’ve already given it away. It’s 100% Mel Robbins and the reason why she’s so authentic, she is very straightforward, she’s very blunt, like myself, but she has a heart of gold and her story and where she is today is absolutely inspiring to me. And I find it so interesting to be able to hear about all the nuances and things that she’s accomplished and why she’s accomplished them and how she’s come over those obstacles. So she would be the person, she would be the person who I would even if it was 2 hours, I would take it. But 24 would be amazing.

Nice. So this is a time every time I interview someone, I would like to give them opportunity and I think earlier you alluded to you had a question for me, so I’m giving you the microphone. The floor is yours. What questions that may have arrived during this episode that you would like to ask me?

So I actually have two. First, I’d love to hear about your current morning routine. Let’s start with that.

So my morning routine, much like yours, have changed here and there. But I’m at the point now to where, when I wake up, the first thing that I do is I activate my Alexa devices. So, like my glasses, I have Alexa toothbrush and I start listening to an audiobook because again, I’m in the book club and trying to train people to understand that there’s always 510, 2030 minutes throughout your day to where you can add up to three 4 hours and listen to an audiobook per week really easily. So I’m living by that rule right now to where once I wake up, I put my glasses on and I’m like, launch audible and then start playing that first book or whatever chapter I left off the night before.

I love that. And it’s funny how you can sneak in that time, right? And it really goes back to being, you know, structured and yes, things happen. Trust me, things come up and you’re going to miss things or things are going to get delayed. And that’s totally understandable, but really knowing that you can find those pockets of time, I think is key. So I love that you’re doing that. And then my second question is, if you look back over the last year, specifically, with everything that’s going on in the world, did you come across personally, any hurdles and how did you overcome them?

I think hurdles are just all part of any lifestyle. Obviously, the COVID thing was a big hurdle per se, but I’ve overcome the hurdles just by mindset. I keep my state of mind consistently, working on whatever projects and goals that I’m going to achieve no matter what the market is doing. And I’m really big into evergreen information, evergreen content. So whether the market is up, with the markets down, somebody’s going to need this information. So I’m always steadfast on that end result. The market is going to crash today, but in five years it will recover. If the housing market bubble pops and I’m talking to real estate agents, then it’s about how do you grow back into now you’re going from a bull market to a bear market, and then how do you utilize that? Because there’s money to be made in both markets. You just have to understand those principles. So for me, every single day is a hurdle. Every single day I’m hit with something. But again, my mindset is always on. It’s not about now. It’s about the tomorrow.

Love that I absolutely love that I do. Well, thank you again so much. I appreciate you offering me the floor because I think that it’s really important for people to understand that mindset is key. How you start your day is key and I love letting other people kind of see a little peek behind the curtains as to how others are spending their time and how they’re getting through those things because people tend to think that there are people who are untouchable by certain things and that’s not the case at all. I think that people are faced with two people could be faced with the exact same thing and it’s just simply what their mindset is and how they’re handling it that really changes that outcome.

Yeah, definitely. Well, I definitely appreciate taking time out your busy schedule and we did it early so we still got a whole day ahead of us that we got to execute and plan for. So I definitely appreciate you coming on the show today, Wendy, and again, I look forward to seeing more from you and see what else you’re going to have and obviously you have upcoming Mastermind that I would like to see. What does that look like behind the scenes as well.

Absolutely, absolutely. Thank you again so much for having me and thanks for spending the morning with me. This was great.

Yeah, definitely appreciate it. SA Grant. Over and out.

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Boss Uncaged. I hope you got some helpful insight and clarity to the diverse approach on your journey to becoming an uncage trailblazer. Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review and share the podcast. If this podcast has helped you or you have any additional questions, reach out and let me know. Email me at ask SA Grant.com or drop me your thoughts via call or text at 76223. Three boss. That’s 762-233-2677. I would love to hear from you. Remember, to become a boss Uncaged, you have to release your inner beast. SA Grant signing off.

Listeners of Boss Uncaged are invited to download a free copy of our host SA Grant insightful ebook, Become an Uncaged Trailblazer. Learn how to release your primal success in 15 minutes a day. Download now at www.bossuncaged.com/freebook.