#awinewith Alicia Nagle
MEET Alicia, Founder of Zonely.
You can find them here:
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:07):
Alicia, welcome to Spark tv.
Alicia Nagle (00:09):
Hi Danielle. Thanks so much. So good to be here.
Danielle Lewis (00:12):
I am so excited because we've already spent 10 minutes gas bagging before we hit record.
Alicia Nagle (00:18):
We can't help it. We can't help it.
Danielle Lewis (00:19):
I know. It's so good. It's so good. So look, let's get out of the way first who you are and what you do. So keen to chat to you.
Alicia Nagle (00:27):
Amazing. Thanks so much for having me. I'm thrilled. So I'm Alicia Nagle. I'm the CEO and founder of a company called Zli, which is like, this is the branding which I'm very proud of. Zli is an early stage tech startup in the social sports space. So essentially loneliness and mental health and connection and inactivity. They're all really big serious problems in the world. And so what Z only does is we connect people with each other through a platform called only and to venues so that they can go and play sport and activity. So it's a really easy, seamless way to get people to chat, to connect and to go out and exercise. I think that's really, really important. And so that's the entry level I suppose, the early stage level that we're at. And we're starting with golf, which is one sport that I see a huge growth opportunity, particularly for underrepresented groups.
(01:31):
So I'm a really passionate advocat advocate for inclusion when it comes to gender, disability, and yet people of color and those sorts of areas. So I want to create a place, a community, an active community where everyone can come together and learn and play and access sport and activity. And I want it to go beyond golf into more sports. And so me as a human, my background is actually in customer experience marketing. So I've always been in the world of building really inclusive and best practice experiences for customers, whether it be brands, products, services and things like that. So I've kind of always been in the strategy world in marketing and I'm an ex athlete, I suppose you could say not at a high level, but I've always
Danielle Lewis (02:22):
Played lots of sport. I was wondering where the sport connection was going to come in. Yeah,
Alicia Nagle (02:26):
So I've always played sport and I love the community aspect and the team aspect and the way that we can get fit and just stay healthy. I think it's all about being healthy and that also that sort of sporting background of mine. I'm also from a golfing family, so that's why golf was the first sport that we wanted to launch into. So my grandfather is Kel Nagel who is a pioneer of Australian professional golf. So back in the fifties and sixties he won over I think 80 or 90 tournaments around the world. So I guess what I say is I was born into a golfing family. My blood runs green. I was going to get to a stage where I was working in golf at some stage. It was always going to happen. I feel like I couldn't fight it any longer. And so I created this platform to start with golf as a sport where people could connect and go out and be social. And then I just had this kind of epiphany or it could be bigger than golf actually, and it will be. So yeah, so it's super exciting early stages, but we're going really well.
Danielle Lewis (03:41):
Oh my god, I love it so much. I'm literally looking out at a golf course right now. Amazing.
(03:47):
So this is fantastic. I have played golf once in my life and I've done lots of the, what do you call it, driving range expeditions. I'm horrible at it, but it's so much fun. So it's hilarious. I actually love it. I always thought golf was quite intimidating until, so my husband and his, when I met his brothers, we went out for the day playing golf and I'm like, oh great. What an awesome introduction to family is a day of golf and I'm the most unathletic person. I'll tell you what, it was the most fun I have ever had. I think it helped that they were quite, they didn't care as long as I wasn't going to be a dick about it, they were quite happy for me just to have a go and to try and all that kind of stuff. So that was really good. But it actually surprised me as how social it was. It seems like such a masculine sport and that you do have to be quite athletic. But I was like, no, you can kind of just have a good time. And yeah, it was really, really cool. So I actually love that you started with golf. I mean obviously it's a no brainer coming from a golfing family and such heritage, but I'm thinking my own personal experience with golf, it was something that I was so intimidated by but had so much fun.
Alicia Nagle (05:05):
Yeah, it's funny, isn't it? This is the, I guess the preconception that golf has globally, that it is male, it's exclusive, it's elitist, it's expensive, and they're all the barriers that I'm trying to shift, trying to get more people like you who sat it, you had a go once in a while or go to the driving range or go the part that's sort of the gateway drug almost on course play and that sort of thing. And it is like, yes, it's a really technical sport, but if you get some of the foundations, I'm planning on building a kind of beginners pathway as well. So having lessons in clinics and we've already trialed some of that last year to get more and more people into the sport because it is one of the most inclusive sports there is because of the nature of the way that, I don't know, I don't want to get too technical, but there's a handicap system, which is basically your ability score.
(06:01):
So anyone can play with anyone at any level. You've already got different tees, which when you hit your drive off the for one hole, they're different lengths based on, again, based on your ability. So it is really inclusive, it's just we haven't harnessed that and made everyone feel comfortable. I think it's always had this male domination to it and a lot of sports are that way. But we've seen the change in the way we look at sports like football for example. Look at what happened with the Women's World Cup. Oh my god, exactly. There's so much innovation and transition around gender and inclusion for sport and golf is happening as well. And I suppose it's just teaching people that there are ways to join and have fun and be social. What we say that it's social first and golf second. We're not taking ourselves too seriously.
(06:56):
We have lots of different programs. So we've introduced a day once a month, it's called Ambrose. And that's basically a teams event where the four people that are in the group, you all tee off from the same place and so then you hit a ball and then you hit the best ball. So there's ways that people can actually play together that might be absolute beginners and are combined with a team that has season golfers. And it's actually really fun and it doesn't matter, and I'm trying to say doesn't matter your ability, it doesn't matter if you only hit one good shot a day. We're here to kind of break down that stigma and get more and more people active enjoying life and building that community. So there's a lot of people that have joined Z that haven't found this type of community elsewhere. A lot of social golf clubs are quite male dominated or they might be different types of people and they might not be as welcoming.
(07:51):
It just depends on who you are and what you want. But basically where our doors are open, everyone is welcome. And that's the whole point I think getting people to play together and in a respectful and kind way too that we take our security and privacy and respect really, really seriously. So it's like whilst it's fun, it's also I'm building a code of conduct which is about respect and kindness and making sure everyone's really encouraging. And I think traditionally golf is maybe not been as encouraging when you are potentially, I dunno, hitting it in the bushes or what have you. So there's sort of things that I'm learning on the way and I'm bringing all of my community along with me and they're all wearing the hat of Z only as well. And they're all really encouraging too. So it's almost a self-selection process. I think that some people are like, this is awesome. I'm welcome no matter how good or bad I am. And it doesn't matter actually at the end of the day. And they're just all great bunch of humans. So at the end of the day, that's what community is about. You feel welcome, you can join in and no one judges you for who you are or how you play.
Danielle Lewis (09:03):
Yeah, and it's really interesting. I think you're right when you think about, okay, if I wanted to go play a game of golf, it's something I always wanted to try, right? Perhaps going straight to the golf club, golf course, highly intimidating coming to you. It's like you already know that there are like-minded people in the community that are going to be welcoming and going to, I guess enable you to try something new.
Alicia Nagle (09:28):
Exactly. And that code of conduct, I think trying something new and offering access to people that have may never thought about trying that sport or activity, for example, when we scale, it makes sense to still have the venue based model. So at the moment, golf is that venue based model then so we might launch into all the racket sports, so tennis for example. But then there's things like rock climbing where people, the amount of feedback I get from different people who play or do different sports and activities and they're like, you do actually need for rock climbing, you need a spotter, you need someone to be, it needs to be quite specific. You sort of need to be the same weight or height and things like that. So there's people coming at me saying, oh, there's always signs up at my rock climbing center. Like, oh, I climb on a Thursday afternoon and who wants to come on a Saturday and this is my, I'm really, really good or I'm average. And so imagine if there was one platform where you could just sign up, become a member, and then just try all these different sports and then you do what I mean. It's a no brainer. It's like a booking.com. But for social support, it's just, I love it.
Danielle Lewis (10:42):
It's so cool because you're so spot on, especially if you are an individual who wants to try something new and your partner's not interested or your friends aren't interested or you don't have a partner, you don't have friends, you're feeling a bit isolated, you're feeling a bit lonely and you want to try something new. There's a lot of sports that feel a little bit prohibitive to doing that, like the golf or the rock climbing or whatever it might be. So having a place where you can go and just feel welcome and go, what do I want to try today? I think it's fucking genius. It's awesome.
Alicia Nagle (11:13):
I love it. Fucking awesome. Yeah. Well, I guess that's the challenge. There's so many other sports that have been, or so many other, sorry, industries that have used technology or let's say booking aggregators or even the connection piece. We've got all the dating apps, there's a million of them and we all know how they work. You have a radius of where you want to go, you have age bracket of who you want to meet, and then you need to sift through the commonalities of things. And then obviously with dating, it's a bit tricky because the algorithm that doesn't tell you about chemistry. So I think what we're doing is we're kind taking some of that technology and then creating a platform where people can use the same kind of idea around my location, the types of people I might want to meet and those sorts of things, the type of sport I want to play. And then they just can just book really easily through the platform as well. So yeah, I just think hotels, hospitality, it's all kind of been done, but there isn't this, I guess progression or advancement using technology for sport or activities in a way that's been done with Airbnb, for example. Or like I said, wuh.com. I think there's a huge disruption that's ripe in this.
Danielle Lewis (12:41):
And I love it because there's a huge, obviously you've said social a lot, but I think, and I assume this connects very heavily to loneliness, to mental health. I think about Covid times where we're all trapped inside. And I think about, so my personal experience, I've just moved to a regional location in the last two years. So from a big city for 30 odd years to now regional center and meeting people, especially as an old lady like myself,
Alicia Nagle (13:15):
Not old please.
Danielle Lewis (13:18):
But as you get older, you just don't make friends or those connections as much. And I love the idea of being able to do it around an activity. How daunting would it be to ask somebody out for a cup of coffee if you're just trying to make a new girlfriend in a new city? But going and doing something and being a part of a social group I think is really, really important for a lot of different communities.
Alicia Nagle (13:44):
Absolutely. So you've hit the nail on the head there because again, it's about the commonality. So there's God, Facebook group's galore for every different area and every different activity or thing. And then you can jump in there, but it still isn't easy. You've still got the pain point of messaging that person saying, well, I can play tennis on a Tuesday night, how about you? Or I'm only free on Sundays. And that exists as a pain point across all sports, across the golfers I chat to, one of the reasons they've joined is that they do have some golf buddies that they play with, but they're not all free at the same time. So it's also the traveling piece. So I envision Z only to be global so that if you were to travel to Malaysia or to Ireland and you wanted to play golf with some nice fun people, that Z would be that shop that you could actually for networking too. So there's the social vertical, which we've talked about, and then there's the networking side. So already golf, specifically golf is, so many business deals are done on the golf course, exactly
Danielle Lewis (14:56):
What I just had in my mind.
Alicia Nagle (14:58):
And so if we formalize that a bit more, and it's like a business owner wants to meet an investor or a consultant wants to meet a startup founder or whatever that looks like. And then we combine all that data together and it spits out, well, there's a time at making it up East Lake, which is in Sydney, and here's the four of you, and you can have a chat instead of in a board stuffy old boardroom. So there's that. There's also, I've been chatting to a few different partners, enterprise level partners about only being an employee engagement tool as well. So getting people together that are cross-functional teams potentially, and then taking 'em to the driving range and having a hit and then doing a bit of team bonding or doing it at a tennis court for example. There's so much opportunity, but there's also a huge under utilization of these venues as well.
(16:00):
The B2B side is really strong because they want to optimize their inventory as well. They have free times, free court hire all the time, free tee times that are available. And so how do we help them fill those times as well to maximize their revenue too. So they're sort of like, I'm a bit all over the place, but there's lots of opportunity. And I think the business networking side is really interesting and the employee engagement piece because yeah, naturally underrepresented groups aren't playing as much golf and then they don't have those opportunities to have those business deals or to be around those discussions. And so how do I do that in a way which is gender inclusive, making sure we have quotas or targets and things like that so that then underrepresented groups like women or people of color or people with disabilities can be at these sports and activities and be part of those conversations. So there's sort of a lot of advocacy and a lot of moving parts, but that's my vision and it's a big scary, hairy goal. But I think having a place where there is maximum optimization of venues a way for underrepresented groups to get involved in some of these opportunities and then just have fun doing it.
Danielle Lewis (17:12):
The dream. The dream. No, and it's really interesting. As you talk through the different areas, it's so clear all of the different opportunities, but you're right, it's huge. How did you go about even starting to build a platform, a marketplace, a network? How did that even begin? Obviously taking it from idea stage to getting something that somebody could actually participate in one of these moments.
Alicia Nagle (17:40):
Yeah, it's an interesting question and it's been, so in the tech world, we use the term MVP, which is not most valuable player. It's minimum viable product. And so what that is is just basically a set of tools that you can put together, whether it's digital, depends on your business, but I'm in tech. So whether it's a tech set of tools or a combination of things to then give people an experience that is quite basic, but it gives them an opportunity to experience the service without building a $500,000 website, an app and all of the shiny things eventually need. So I started just doing some research around what's the gap and what do people want? And as a golfer myself, I was almost solving a sample size of one problem. I thought I've just picked up golf a lot more in my later years, much to my PAs detriment.
(18:40):
I think he would hate, he'd be rolling over in his grave thinking you've only played golf more recently. So I think he wished I played more seriously from a younger age. Anyway, that's another story. But I just thought if I'm having this problem where I'm playing social and wasn't really prepared, like you said, to join a club, I wasn't ready to dip into my pocket for a year membership and things like that. And I thought, surely there's other people that are having this problem. And yes, I came across a few people and I thought, oh, I could just run some weekend events, just really kind of low key on the technology. And then I realized that, like I said before, there's Facebook groups and there's Facebook groups galore that are people who golf basically. So they're in different geographic locations and they're all looking for people to play with.
(19:33):
So I just created a Facebook group, but I started it just in Sydney, so New South Wales, so it ISS geo located. So it's quite specific. I didn't want to be that kind of group that people from outside wanted to come in and play, but I just wanted to test the events first. So then I just used a website builder, it's called Wix, but there's Squarespace and Webflow and you name it. And it's just a drag and drop website with an event booking functionality. And then I just integrated it with made sure that the finances were in the right place. So I have Stripe as my financial integrator. The lights have gone out. Anyway, we'll keep going. I'm in here too long, obviously. Yeah, I was just about to say, you need to open the door and shut it again. Yeah, all good. So yeah, I think just with a combination of those things, it was just an easy way to say, okay, well, I'll have the Facebook group as a forum for people to chat and get involved and get to know each other a bit better, and then I'll just have weekly events and then I'll just test it for a few months.
(20:36):
And it was really that simple. I think when people start a business, they sort of think they have to have all the answers and all the technology when actually most of what I've done this year has been more heavily on the social media side and the building them because a marketer obviously. So building the kind of email database, making sure people are aware of when we're having events and where they are, and just talking to people, just getting, just getting all that immediate feedback. And that's why I've been at every event because I just wanted to understand if this was something that people liked, something that they would pay a membership for. And just getting all that live feedback, which is so valuable when you're really early days. I think building a business because if you don't get that feedback, then you just don't know if you're going right or wrong or we have a lot of assumptions with our own lived experience and I prefer to get that evidence base the data behind, well, is this what people want? And so some of those initiatives that I talked about, so the clinics and the lessons and the Ambrose team days and things like that have been born out of a need that people have told me that they want.
(21:49):
It's pretty basic, but I'm in a position now where I'm actually building a better website and a better digital experience because we've outgrown the nine months or however long we've had the website builder because it gets to a point where you actually need to build some more custom code and things like that. And rather than just off the shelf, it might not work for the long term, but it just depends on your business. I think mine's operated as an event, booking portal, an email database, a social media kind of forum, and then it's sort of all wrapped up in this kind of digital world, which is very much still in the physical. So people use their desktop or their phone to book the event, and then they put the theme down and go out and enjoy the activity. At the end of the day, that's what I want. So less time on the platform and more time out in the real world.
Danielle Lewis (22:44):
No, that's so good. And I just love that point as well because I think a lot of people delay starting because they feel like they need to build an app or build a tech platform or build this or that. And oftentimes the best place to start is exactly as you said, whatever you can physically do yourself, whatever you can pull together from tools that are builder type tools or preexisting tools until you get that user feedback. And I love the idea of let's build stuff people actually want by talking to them and getting them in there to experience these
Alicia Nagle (23:20):
Surprise you don't want.
Danielle Lewis (23:25):
It's so funny. It's actually really interesting on my mind right now. I'd had a funny start to the year and I, I think I blame Covid. I had covid last week, but because I think I had a foggy head, I was really feeling unclear about my next steps in business and I have kind of big goals, but the little things to get there, I was really feeling disconnected from how I'm going to get there. And I sent out a user survey yesterday and just reading through the feedback and the answers to the questions, I'm like, oh yeah, that's it. That's the thing. And it's just, isn't it so funny how your whole business is built around customers. You don't have a business if you don't have users or customers in some capacity, but for some reason we avoid talking to them
Alicia Nagle (24:15):
And
Danielle Lewis (24:16):
It makes such a huge difference and really helps the roadmap and knowing what next step to take and knowing if we're heading in the right direction when we just talk to them and listen to their answers.
Alicia Nagle (24:27):
Exactly right. And I think you've also got to understand when you are first building something, your first 20 or 100 customers, they're your super fans. If they keep coming back to you, you need to listen to them. And admittedly, it's been quite disparate. I have, I have seasoned golfers, I have golfers who are using Zli as a supplement, so they already have a membership at a golf course, but they're using this, they want access to more courses. I've got people who have never ever, ever played before. I've got people who are ex-athletes of tennis, and so they've picked up golf now later in life. There's a variety. And so whilst it's amazing to listen to all of their feedback, you then also need to distill that and be like, how can I? You can't do it all. That's the just prioritization of or what's the most important thing, and actually where is my lowest hanging fruit for some of these ideas or some of this data that I'm receiving?
(25:25):
And let's go down that pathway. What makes sense? Because even though they're all your super fans, if you've got six or seven different persona types in your super fans, it makes it really, again, really tricky to decide which direction to go and what to do next, but as long as you communicate with them that you're on this journey. And that's what I keep saying to my wonderful community who are almost like my family now. We've got 70 active members and they're just the best humans and they're like, how can we help? Do you want us to host? There's all these sorts of opportunities that I can get them more involved, but it's so wonderful to know that I've built something where people are returning. I think that at the end of the day, I know it's working, I know it's working, and I have these moments of what am I doing? And you wake up and like you said, you had covid you poor thing and you think, oh my gosh, well, if I was working at a company, I'd get sick leave right now. Yeah.
Danielle Lewis (26:28):
Where's that? My boss is a slave driver.
Alicia Nagle (26:32):
Right, exactly. I'm so
Danielle Lewis (26:34):
Hard. He's the worst.
Alicia Nagle (26:35):
Worst. So yeah, I just think that's the other thing. Listen to your super fans, and sometimes it can be really because you might try something and it doesn't work and they don't like it, but if they like you and they like what you're doing and they want to support you, they'll tell you, yeah, totally tell you the honest truth. They'll say, no, I didn't like that for these reasons. And then you just need to decide what to do next based on your, and just make sure you've got data and evidence because it's gut. If you're just sort of testing your assumptions and your hypotheses, I guess you need some more data to tell you if these are the right decisions. And obviously early on, that's really difficult to do that sometimes because you might not have enough evidence to tell you either way. But definitely just talk to your customers, talk to them, talk to 'em all the time, pick up the phone.
(27:27):
Even I've got every single one of my active members in my phone and I'll be on the text all the time saying, Hey, you didn't turn up on the weekend. Was everything okay? Was that not a venue that you wanted to play? Or inevitably they were just away or something. But I'm always checking in and saying, is this what you want? Tell me what you need. And then I'll build around it because I think they're just so valuable for your business growth, especially in the early days, and they'll be referring your business to other people. It's about word of mouth, especially with something like I'm building, which is very much community based. And so the core piece of only is the community itself. You come for the product, but you stay for the network. And that is the strongest value proposition I can offer in this type of business that I'm building. It's like it's not actually about the golf, it's about the people. It's about the humans and it's about those connections and they all are so supportive of each other, and I don't have to control that. That's just happening because of the code of conduct and what I'm building, which I'm so super proud of.
Danielle Lewis (28:40):
Well, and it's really interesting as well, because I know this happened a lot, what's happened a lot over the last couple of years, but community as a marketing strategy is actually really interesting and something that I think that you can apply to more businesses than you think you can apply it to. You don't have to be building a membership community to be actually focusing in on a specific community of customers and utilizing them as a marketing strategy. And I love it because it is just literally, if I can make their life better, they will be my advocates
Alicia Nagle (29:14):
Just writing that down community as marketing. Yeah, totally.
Danielle Lewis (29:19):
But it's right. It's true.
Alicia Nagle (29:21):
It's true. It's
Danielle Lewis (29:21):
So funny. Decades ago, obviously we still call it word of mouth, and now we have it in so many different capacities. We have influencers and UGC creators, we have, but I feel like at the core of anyone's marketing strategy needs to be their customers. And if you can generate word of mouth, having them as advocates for your business, I just think it's so powerful. It's so funny. We spend so much time going, what's the next viral reel that I'm going to create? And we waste a lot of time thinking about those things and looking at competitors. And I think not enough time actually talking to our customers and getting them to be so excited that they tell inevitably there other people who are like-minded in their communities.
Alicia Nagle (30:12):
Yeah, exactly. And it will save you money.
Danielle Lewis (30:14):
Oh my God, yes.
Alicia Nagle (30:16):
Like the word of mouth referral strategy that any company can have, it's essentially time. You don't pay people to do it. Well, you can, but that's not very authentic. But you don't pay all your super fans to bring their friends along. They'll just do it because they're really loving what you're doing. And so that is 10 times more valuable than putting money into a really cluttered, I don't know, social media paid strategy or Google ads or they're still valuable. But one of the key metrics that, especially in startup land, but anywhere really is your customer acquisition cost. And the lower that is, the better it is for everyone, better it is for your business better. It is if you've got partners or investors, if you can prove that you are building a business off the smell of an oily rag and your friends and your customers who are now your friends, that is so, so powerful. And it's also really profitable. So it makes sense in so many different ways.
Danielle Lewis (31:16):
And I think it's so applicable across so many different industries as well. You think about everyone has people like them in their close networks, even if you are a restaurant, your customers have friends who like the same cuisine. If you are into some kind of sport, you probably have some friends who are as well. If you're a business owner, you probably have business owner friends. There's so many different industries that you can actually apply it to. And I don't know, sometimes it's not that sexy to talk about, but it's sometimes good marketing is just making sure your customers are beyond thrilled with what it is that you're doing.
Alicia Nagle (31:53):
Yeah, exactly. And it can kind of be one of those epiphanies where you just think we're always in the weeds, right? We're looking down, we're just working hard away. And then every once in a while you think, oh, that really worked and my customers are really happy. And so you have to give yourself a pat on the back for that. The celebration doesn't happen that often, I think when you think I've just had a really good win. And at the end of the day, if you're still existing and you're still in business, then it's
Danielle Lewis (32:26):
Like, and you are killing it because that's actually just as hard as every other piece of thing in business.
Alicia Nagle (32:34):
So many startups or small and medium businesses don't survive. And so it's a really sad occurrence. So you just have to be kind to yourself, I think as well as having that support. Sometimes your customers want to help but you've not asked. So having that support as well. And I suppose I'm quite lucky in the way that I have a personal relationship with a lot of my customers. So I see them all the time. I now consider them my friends, and then I get my golf needs met too. So it's win win.
Danielle Lewis (33:10):
That's so good. It's actually hilarious. So I say that about this podcast, I'm like, this is my therapy. This is my business therapy. I just get to talk to amazing people. I always have conversations where I'm like, ah, that's what I need in my life right now. So that's exactly why I've built spa. It's just so I can have business therapy around me.
Alicia Nagle (33:30):
Are we lucky? We're so lucky. And sometimes I'd forget how lucky we are to be able to do this. I mean, I don't have to go to a job I don't love and work for boss I don't like and all those other things. I feel lucky, but it is a hard slog at the best of times. So in 2024, it's all about, so I did my intention setting last night, and the word I came up with was sustainability. So I am an eco warrior and warrior as in concerned, but it's more about sustainability for my life and my work. So making sure that, yeah, I take the help when it's offered or I ask for help or I make sure I look after myself, my mental health, my physical health and wellbeing. Golf is great and I do get out of the golf course, but then it's like during the week, I don't want to suffer from productivity guilt. So how can I just make sure my business is I'm prioritizing enough so my business is moving along, but I'm sort of making sure that I'm looking after myself and that I can build this business and grow it sustainably both for me and for the business. So yeah, it's really going to be a really interesting 2024.
Danielle Lewis (34:37):
I love it. I have huge high hopes of 20, 24, but I think you've made such a good point around call it sustainability, call it prioritizing rest, call it anything. But I know personally, so I know everyone listening suffers from this as well, but we know that rest is good for you. We know that rest is productive. We know that we're humans, we can only do so much. But there is just this guilt that sometimes happens around business ownership. And actually you mentioned it before we hit recording, is this hustle culture that we've all been used to for so long and you just feel like if you're not doing more, more, more, more, more, then what the hell are you even doing? But it isn't sustainable to actually treat yourself or your business like that. And I often find it's only in the times of rest that I actually have the great ideas that I have the business transforming ideas or I have the energy to actually show up for my business. So I think that you have just spot on, picked the approach for 2024.
Alicia Nagle (35:47):
Yeah, I've thought a lot about my energy levels last year as well. You're right. Rest, it's not sleep. I think people get the two confused. Sleep is one part of rest, but rest is many other things. It might be meditation or mindfulness, it might be exercise, it might be slow walk, it might be going into nature. It might be, I'm advocating for it, but yeah, not doom scrolling on your phone, but some people find that relaxing. So whatever floats your boat, but you just need to make sure you're scheduling and I'm getting better at diarizing that time, that scheduling boundary setting and saying no to things that either don't fill my cup or are good for me and my business. So a hundred percent it's about energy. And as a business owner, you need to be able to have those reserves of energy and just make sure that you know that it's a marathon, not a sprint. This business building, it's a long, long time. Expect everything to take longer. It always does, especially with technology and those types of e-commerce and things will always take longer. So just be okay with that and just
Danielle Lewis (37:01):
Keep, it's so funny, I'm starting an e-commerce to Spark this year and it is hilarious, right? I had this brainwave, something I was really excited about. And of course a lot of the stuff I've done to date, so I've got a software platform. So yes tech that fucking took ages and it still,
(37:20):
But a lot of the digital stuff I do, I can have an idea and a landing page built in a day. I love that speed to digital. But it has been really funny. I've really had to temper my expectations with the e-comm because you are doing samples. You're looking at packaging, you've got, okay, I've got to want to test that now. I have to wait a week for that thing to arrive so I can see if it's even the right thing. And I've had to really check myself this week going, you know what? You're not launching this today. This is something that you're going to have to get and it may not happen for a couple of months or however long it's going to be. You're just going to have to be okay with that.
Alicia Nagle (37:56):
I think there's a level of control that we need to let go of sometimes. Oh my god, when you are solo, I'm a solo founder and that's hard in lots of ways, but at least I can make all the decisions. But when it comes to suppliers and manufacturers, partners, customers that you're working with, they're not on your timeline.
Danielle Lewis (38:16):
No. Oh my god, no one's on my timeline
Alicia Nagle (38:19):
Packaging, you name it. Yes, you're right. I'm a non-tech founder, but I built my previous website quite quickly. It was just a one pager. It was so, so easy. But then when it comes to more custom things and like you said, suppliers and third parties, you just have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable about someone else's timeline.
Danielle Lewis (38:43):
Oh, totally. I reckon my decade plus in business is still just trying to teach me patience as a human.
Alicia Nagle (38:51):
I want it now. I'm the most
Danielle Lewis (38:54):
Impatient person, oh my god,
Alicia Nagle (38:57):
To
Danielle Lewis (38:57):
Make bananas.
Alicia Nagle (38:58):
But what's that? That's why we do what we do because so we can get things done. And at the end of the day, it is about execution, isn't it? So lots of people have great ideas, but don't execute on them. So it's just about what I try and this we can probably finish up on this point, but what I try and do is when I get really overwhelmed or impatient, I think, what's the one problem in front of me that I just need to solve now? And then everything else floats away. It's like you can have your to-do list. Sure. But what's the one thing, one problem you can solve that will help get you to your goals or your dreams? Just one thing. One thing. And that helps for anxious minds as well. One of those types too. So one thing, and there's lots of books and things about productivity and whatever, eat the frog and all those sorts of things. Literally what's the one thing you can just get done now to get you on your pathway? Do that for five minutes and you'll find the action builds
Danielle Lewis (39:55):
That Momentum
Alicia Nagle (39:55):
Productivity. Exactly. Yeah.
Danielle Lewis (39:57):
Yeah. I love it so much. Nice. So I have a very similar thing, but I call it the post-it note method. So I write brain dump, everything that's in my brain, all the to-dos, and then I pick the one thing and I put that on one post-it note, and I turn over the to-do list. So I can't look at all of the things otherwise all I do is just look at this to list. I'm like, oh, should I do that? Should I do that? Should I do that? And I just spend an hour procrastinating over what to do. And I find if I just go, okay, well that doesn't exist anymore. This is the one thing I've chosen, and it's the only list I look at with one thing on it until I do it and love it. That just helps me put that first put in front of the other.
Alicia Nagle (40:38):
Yeah. Otherwise, our brains are so connected to these, to-do lists. Oh my God, we know it's there. And you think I'm just going to close that return. It's not. I love it. Just focus on one thing. One thing. That's it.
Danielle Lewis (40:50):
You are absolutely amazing. Alicia.
Alicia Nagle (40:53):
Thank you. Thanks Danielle. Love the chat.
Danielle Lewis (40:55):
Thank you so much for spending your time with us and the Spark community. Best of luck. I can't wait to talk to you again in 12 months and hear how everything is going, have you back on the show to update us. So you are incredible and thank you
Alicia Nagle (41:08):
Again. Thank, thanks so much, Danielle. I really appreciate it. Sorry about the lights, and we'll get you on the golf course too, so I can't, oh my
Danielle Lewis (41:13):
God.
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