#awinewith Chiquita Searle
MEET Chiquita
Chiquita is the Founder of Chiquita & Co, Chiquita Eyewear and co-founder of FemmeCon.
Find Chiquita here:
Chiquita & Co website and Instagram @chiquitasearle @chiquitacopr @femmecon.co @chiquitaeyewear.
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:08):
Okay. Well, amazing. Thank you so much for being here. I'm so excited to talk to you. We haven't talked in so long, but welcome to Spark tv.
Chiquita Searle (00:19):
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Danielle Lewis (00:22):
Now, you are a woman of many talents. I knew you from back in the League of Extraordinary Women Days, but since then, you obviously have your own PR company, you have Jaquita Eyewear, you're now launching Fem Con. I'm just blown away by how much you have bitten off, which is amazing. So I'd love for the people who are listening today, how did you get here? So was there a career beforehand? Was there something that sparked going into business? Have you always been in business? Tell us the story. Tell us how we got here.
Chiquita Searle (01:01):
Well, I think I was always destined to be in business because I have issues with authority. I don't like being told what to do. I love that. I think I'm at a point now where I'm actually unemployable. So I don't know. I just always knew that probably having a job for me forever. I mean, I had my first business when I was 23 of my sister, and that failed dismally really?
Danielle Lewis (01:24):
What was it? Yeah,
Chiquita Searle (01:25):
Yeah. We had a unisex fashion boutique in Mackay, which lasted all of six minutes. And I was young. I had really no idea what I was doing, and I was in charge, which was obviously our first mistake.
Danielle Lewis (01:42):
Fine.
Chiquita Searle (01:44):
So yeah, I've had a lot of, I don't know, I've always called 'em failures, and if you look at them in terms of success, if they were successful, they'd still be around. But now I'm in pr, and PR is all about spin. So I just think they'll learn. They're all lessons. Yeah, absolutely. And also because I was younger, I was probably more emotionally attached to the outcome and my identity being attached to it in terms of my competence. And I've always prided myself on being not a high achiever, but somebody who's relatively competent and having failed businesses, you start to question yourself a little bit. Yeah. But I've had jobs. I mean, I studied HR and psychology at uni, and then actually got into HR and realized I bloody hated it. Worked out in I know. I know.
(02:34):
I know. You were out of a mining community. And I remember I was in a mining community in the middle of nowhere in Queensland, and they used to call HR human remains, so we were hated. They just hated us. So hr not for me. I was out there, I think for the first six months that I was out there, 18 months, and for the first six months, I think I was on Seek every day looking for another job. But yeah, I guess the label, my label, I have fashion label called chi, and then that led me to the league, I think. Did we connect through the league? I think I had my label when I met you in Brisbane. You
Danielle Lewis (03:10):
Did.
Chiquita Searle (03:11):
I was doing the label and the league simultaneously, and then I got the opportunity to move to Melbourne for the league and run it nationally, which I accepted and really, really loved. I loved the community, I loved the events. I love purpose behind it. So bringing women together, encouraging them to start businesses or to continue businesses. At the time I, I felt very isolated and lonely in Brisbane. There wasn't a huge entrepreneurial community. I mean, we're talking 2012 now, so 10 years ago, and I just didn't have any support. And I would cry daily. Often I wouldn't know what I was crying about, but I was so anxious
Danielle Lewis (03:48):
That's still happening for me. I was
Chiquita Searle (03:51):
So anxious about making decisions by myself and what if it's the wrong decision and so attached to it being a success, and now I kind of just not don't care. But I just have a little bit more of a pragmatic view of the world in general. And what is success? I think I've recalibrated what my vision or version of success is over the years as I've failed more and more.
Danielle Lewis (04:16):
Well, it's also nice when you realize that success or failure isn't linked to your identity. That when you close the office door and go outside, nobody knows what you do for a living or that you run a business or that you've had a great day or a bad day. You are just as a human going out into the world. So I think you need to have that disconnect at some point.
Chiquita Searle (04:38):
I think so. And I think also there's ego attached to it. I have quite a big ego, so I like to pride myself on doing a good job at things. So when I don't do well at something, I have in the past really struggled with that. And yeah, that's affected my ego slash self-confidence slash esteem, that kind of thing. So it's all a work in progress, and I think we're all learning to some degree. I don't think there's any day that I think I know how to do it all at all. But yeah, I mean, I left, oh God, I think I'm giving you a very long rambly answer to.
Danielle Lewis (05:14):
That's good. No, that's great. Set it up. Give everyone the context.
Chiquita Searle (05:18):
Then I moved to Melbourne and I was running the league, and then I left there end of 2015, and I didn't really have a solid plan. I've often left jobs without anything to go to because I'm a big believer if you're no longer happy somewhere or feeling like it's fulfilling you anymore, I think it's better to leave and to open a new door rather than to stay. I just don't believe in staying anywhere that you no longer feel it's a match. So I just,
Danielle Lewis (05:54):
I wouldn't mind that because also you don't then rush into something bad just to get out. I actually like the idea of done move on. Now I can kind of find something new with a fresh
Chiquita Searle (06:06):
Perspective. Exactly. And I also believe in this is going to celebrate woo woo, but I believe in the universe providing, so I don't believe in coincidence. I think everything happens for a reason. So I think that we are where we're meant to be at any given time. And for me, that was the end of the league, my journey with the league, and I had no plans. And so that left me wide open to something new and something new found me literally within a week. So I just had, a friend of mine had a marketing agency, and she just said to me, she's like, oh, I've got a real estate client. They need some newsletters written you can write, so just can you do these for me? And I said, yeah, yeah, sure. And so she teed that up for me and they liked my work. And so then I became a copywriter. So I was with them for 12 months just copywriting with this real estate franchise, and now were wonderful to me. And the CEO was a woman, and we got along really well. And then after about 12 months, she said to me, can you do our pr? And I just said, well, I've never actually done pr, but if you want to pay me to learn, and by all means, why not?
Danielle Lewis (07:06):
Fantastic.
Chiquita Searle (07:07):
I will do that. And so yeah, that's how it all started. And then I started doing their pr, started running their awards, and then we got some runs on the board. And then I got some new clients through the industry, which is great. And just kind of went from there. I didn't choose pr chose me. I just still to this day wonder what I'm doing.
Danielle Lewis (07:32):
No, but I love that too because, so when you think about, oh, copywriting. Oh pr, these are all foundational skills. I'm a huge believer in a business owner, female or otherwise having sales and marketing skills. I think that people have great creative ideas and kind of forget that someone needs to buy it or you don't have a business. So I actually love being able to go out there and get these skills and improve your skillset. That was only going to make all of your businesses more amazing anyway.
Chiquita Searle (08:04):
Well, with PR also, you have to find the story and the hook, and it's a learned skill. I think some people have a natural ability for that. I'm not one of them. Sometimes I'm very comfortable with property ones and business ones because they've been the majority of my clients. So that's where I tend to specialize nfps. But yeah, I'm about to do some PR for my event, and I've really never done PR F for an event before. So it's kind of something new and exciting for me to learn. And also I have to, which is a bit interesting because publicists, you're behind the scenes, you're promoting everyone else, and it's a really safe place to be. Whereas with this, I have to sell myself as part of this package. And I'm like, how do I do that with something without being complete wanker
Danielle Lewis (08:56):
Personal brand. Got to love that.
Chiquita Searle (09:01):
So yeah, I'm doing the PR for my clients and I'm working on Fcon now, which is taking up quite a lot of time. I actually forgot how time consuming events. Sorry. Oh,
Danielle Lewis (09:15):
We've got a visitor. No.
Chiquita Searle (09:17):
Hi. Hello.
Danielle Lewis (09:19):
Hello. Everyone listening will be like, what the hell? I have just had a little cat visitor. I love it
Chiquita Searle (09:28):
In here. I've got four of them.
Danielle Lewis (09:30):
Oh my God.
Chiquita Searle (09:31):
Yeah. I think I'm probably overcommitted, but I just see them faces and I just can't say no.
Danielle Lewis (09:37):
And
Chiquita Searle (09:37):
I just think, well, I can give them a good home, so why wouldn't I? But I am definitely at capacity, so no more.
Danielle Lewis (09:42):
Yeah, I dunno how you're doing for, that's insane. Well,
Chiquita Searle (09:46):
They sleep 20 hours a day, to be fair. So I don't really have to do a lot except feed them and give them a bit of attention and
Danielle Lewis (09:53):
Clean up after them.
Chiquita Searle (09:55):
Yes, clean up after the kitty leader. Yes. But I don't have to walk them or anything. And it's like, yeah, I mean, but minimal. I think a lot of people have children and
Danielle Lewis (10:05):
Oh my God, that's
Chiquita Searle (10:05):
A far bigger responsibility and one that I don't really want. So cats are probably my maximum. They sleep a lot and I have to do very minimal for them.
Danielle Lewis (10:14):
I love it. That's awesome. I'm on board. I'm very much on board. Have
Chiquita Searle (10:19):
Any, do you have
Danielle Lewis (10:20):
I did have two cats and I struggled.
Chiquita Searle (10:24):
Where are they?
Danielle Lewis (10:26):
I actually rehomed them before we moved to Calgo, so I know it was literally, I cried for a whole day.
Chiquita Searle (10:33):
Oh
Danielle Lewis (10:33):
God. I know. That would
Chiquita Searle (10:34):
Be so hard. Crazy.
Danielle Lewis (10:36):
But yeah, at the stage that I was in in life, I just went, I can't give you everything you need and I want you to have a much more loving home. And it was at that stage right before my partner and I moved in together, so I was spending all my time at his house and then I was like, oh my God, you're so neglected. I'm like, no, it's time. It's time to buy now. I'm trying convince my partner to get a rabbit, but I'm not very successful.
Chiquita Searle (11:02):
Hopefully she'll stop jumping up.
Danielle Lewis (11:04):
No, that's okay. She's always welcome.
Chiquita Searle (11:07):
Lovely. So
Danielle Lewis (11:08):
Then where does Chiquita eyewear fit in?
Chiquita Searle (11:11):
Well, okay, so that happened in 2018. I had somewhat of a mental breakdown, and I think we're all due one or two throughout our time, and that was certainly a big one for me. About June, 2018, I had been going really well with my peer agency. The profit and loss was looking really healthy. And then I got too arrogant. I got too smug and comfortable with Danny. I was like, oh, we're going so well, blah, blah, blah. And as soon as I said that within 10 days, I lost 80% of my income a couple of months. So a few of my clients then hit the skids with cashflow issues. And obviously he asked the first thing to go, a quick expense you can get rid of. And then I just lost, I had to put off all, I had about five or six contractors working for me. And so then I had to put them all off. And then I had a client who was new I had for a couple of months in the, who didn't end up paying. So that was a really good lesson actually, because before then I didn't actually realize that people just don't pay. They literally no intent. I didn't know. That's
Danielle Lewis (12:23):
A really shit lesson you have to learn sometimes. That's a
Chiquita Searle (12:25):
Shit lesson, but a really good one. And because I had people sign contracts and stuff and all of that thing thinking, well, that's watertight. And then I went through the process of trying to recoup the money. And as small businesses, we actually have no, I spent about three K trying to chase this money, and they honestly couldn't. They were not rattled in slightest. They had done this before to a much greater degree as I learned later. And we're very comfortable with not paying.
Danielle Lewis (12:53):
Yeah, I know. It is an outrage, to be honest. I had the same thing with Scrunch. A couple of huge influencer campaigns that we started. We had started contracting influencers, so then we were obligated to pay them, and the client never paid us, so we ended up losing money. It was so bad. I mean, to be fair, it could have been a lot worse. We kind of picked up that they weren't going to pay early on, thank God, but it was so horrible.
Chiquita Searle (13:24):
It's a horrible experience. And then having to chase the money. And then I had to use money that I had saved for me personally, to pay the contractors who'd been working on their campaign for a couple of months. And there were multiple, and it was social media, it was pr, there's copywriting. It was a good lesson to learn though. So now I don't even bother with contracts anymore. And I just say, I invoice everyone on the first of the month. If you don't pay, I stop work. The thing is though, I have really good clients now, very long-term clients really established relationships and I have no qualms about it. But yeah, new clients, it takes me a while to go, okay, well you need to pay and you need to count time. And they're generally really
Danielle Lewis (14:07):
In advance.
Chiquita Searle (14:09):
But it was just a really good lesson to learn because I thought, well, contracts don't matter. And if someone chooses not to pay, then that's that. So I think it's, but good lesson to learn. So no pay, no work.
Danielle Lewis (14:23):
I think that is a fabulous, everyone who's listening get paid in advance as much
Chiquita Searle (14:29):
And don't feel guilty about it. That's the thing, get that money upfront because you need to know they can pay. And so I just send it before I even start work. I always say, you pay the first invoice before I even start work. I don't care anymore. If they want the work done, they'll pay the money.
Danielle Lewis (14:46):
Exactly. And I think
Chiquita Searle (14:48):
Clients who have the money in their be chasing clients, you need to set the boundary and the expectation upfront, which is what I do now, and terms and Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (15:02):
Exactly. It's like the only thing a client's committing to is paying the invoice and supplying any information. You are the one doing the work because it has to be both parties.
Chiquita Searle (15:11):
Exactly. So yeah, so I lost all that was really, and then I think I realized, and I just fell apart. I literally was crying every day. And I'm not an overly emotional person, so I couldn't work out what's wrong with me. And I was crying. I was carrying on pork chop, I just couldn't work out all this emotion. And I think I was just so exhausted that I could no longer, I didn't have the capacity to cope with my own emotion. And then I realized I hadn't had a holiday in literally eight years. I do enjoy working, but I'd never given myself a break. So I, I gave myself three months off and I didn't work. And it was really lovely. And then I went back to PR, part-time for a couple of years. But in that time I realized that only having one income was a risk.
(15:53):
As a single woman, I don't have wealthy parents or parents or family who can provide money for me. I don't have a partner. So I think as women, we need to make sure that we're protecting ourselves financially. And so I realized, well, I need a second income. So the eyewear did start out as, okay, well, is I thought a good business model. We're going to be buying more online in the future. And so I started to look into it. I went to Hong Kong to find a manufacturer, and then obviously I launched it and then Covid hit. So then, because I just started with suns and then Covid hit, so I realized we were at home. So instead of doing more sunnies, I did blue light eyewear.
Danielle Lewis (16:30):
Yeah, nice. That was
Chiquita Searle (16:31):
Fun. So it been around since August, 2019, but I've been working on it for a good 12 months prior. I think I did a small e-commerce course. And I mean, to this day, I still don't dunno everything. I know literally 1% and some people are, but it's become a side hustle. Now during Covid, I hustled a bit with it because I had a bit more time, but now I'm just so busy with PR and fcon that it's become a side hustle again. But I
Danielle Lewis (17:00):
Side hustle is great because exactly as you said, we need multiple revenue streams. We need to diversify, we need to mitigate the risk. So it's smart, whether it's, well, it needs
Chiquita Searle (17:12):
To be making money and it's not making me money because I'm not really doing anything with it. It's kind of sitting there and I'm not promoting it. I'm not spending money on it because I'm also, it's my least favorite child at the moment. So, oh,
Danielle Lewis (17:22):
No
Chiquita Searle (17:24):
Attention. So I actually need to sort of work on it a little bit more steadily and consistently. But I'm just struggling with time at the moment. Fem con's not far away, and there's so much to do still.
Danielle Lewis (17:35):
So let's talk about con. What is the event idea? Who's coming along? Let's talk about that. Cool.
Chiquita Searle (17:44):
Well, I've started with my best friend. So she and I, in December, I was on a walk with a friend and I just came to me, he was like, oh my God, I want to do events again. I really, really loved the league, and I really loved the purpose and the event and the community and everything behind it. And I think coming out of Covid where we're all working from home, we're all feeling incredibly isolated. The events industry is completely decimated. And I think we are connected and digitally connected. I think online we are very, very probably too much to be honest. I think we're a bit overstimulated online, to be honest. We've got too many options now. But I think I'm not a big connector online. What I do enjoy though is the face-to-face. I really struggle with online connection, but I need to feel someone's energy.
(18:30):
I need to see them face to face. I need to be beside them. I need to be able to touch them and hear them. And also, I just really love events. And so I said to Shani, let's do an event. And she's like, okay, let's do it. And yeah, it just started to come together. We've got the name together and we started the website and everything we've got, but we wanted to focus more on, because the purpose of the fem coin in general is to encourage women to embrace their full force feminine power. And we want to encourage women to build a feminine economy and buy from each other. We want them, but also it's not about just about business and entrepreneurship, it's about love, sex, dating. It's about other pillars, money and mindset that I think are crucial to a woman who is living in her power. I think trying to compartmentalize these different elements of our lives, it just doesn't work anymore. I think we need to be able to bring it all together and know that these are some key pillars that we need to be fulfilled in if we want to actually be relatively happy.
Danielle Lewis (19:29):
Spot on. And also, it all meshes rights.
Chiquita Searle (19:33):
Thank you.
Danielle Lewis (19:34):
If you're not personally all over your money, you're not managing
Chiquita Searle (19:37):
Or your mindset, mental health about your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual health. If we don't have that, we literally have nothing. Money is so key. Entrepreneurship, I think that to be, or in my opinion, I think it's good for women to have more than one income. So a lot of women lost jobs during Covid. We're now in the pink recession because a lot of female dominated industries were decimated. Retail events, tourism, a lot of women suffered. And who's to say that they've got jobs now or so? I just think that it's important for women to protect themselves financially. A man is not a financial plan. And also people are in the relationships where potentially they're not supported financially by their partner or they could be controlled and actually there could be financial abuse at play. So I just think for women, it's really important to know what to manage your own money
Danielle Lewis (20:40):
And about the education. I think it's really daunting for a lot of people. Depending on how you grew up, depending on what your values are, depending on the type of relationship you're in, it is quite, money is one of those topics that not enough people talk about having. It's
Chiquita Searle (21:00):
To be in poor taste, isn't it? It's like one of those taboo things. It's I poor taste. You talk about money, how much do you earn? What does a business do? What's your revenue? People are very secretive and they hold these things really close to their chest. And I think, well, that which is fine, but I think also we need to encourage women to be more greedy and to be capitalist. I'm a capitalist. I want to make money. I want to have a comfortable lifestyle. And I feel no shame in saying that because I think money gives you freedom, it gives you choices,
Danielle Lewis (21:30):
It helps you make a bigger impact.
Chiquita Searle (21:32):
It does. And that's the thing about being greedy, because we grew up with a lot of that chatter around rich people are greedy or I don't know. There was a lot of, what were the old sayings?
Danielle Lewis (21:45):
The money doesn't grow on trees, the
Chiquita Searle (21:46):
Money doesn't grow on trees and
Danielle Lewis (21:48):
Stupid sayings,
Chiquita Searle (21:50):
Evil or whatever. I dunno what they were. I've completely forgotten because I want to be a rich person out of my mind. But I just think women need, they should be trying to make bank as much as possible and don't be ashamed of that. Be proud of that and manage it yourself. Don't give it away to a bloody man.
Danielle Lewis (22:15):
Exactly. Long gone are the days where you have to have a joint bank account and he's the breadwinner and you are looking after the kids or staying home. And yes, you can still do those things. I'm not
Chiquita Searle (22:26):
Oh, you can if you aren't, by all means. But I mean it's,
Danielle Lewis (22:29):
Yeah,
Chiquita Searle (22:30):
I've shared money before once and I'll never ever do it again.
Danielle Lewis (22:34):
I don't think I'd do it again either.
Chiquita Searle (22:37):
I don't care. Sorry.
Danielle Lewis (22:41):
I don't find it empowering with doing the shared bank account type thing. I'm like, we can
Chiquita Searle (22:47):
Go 50 halves and things. I don't really care.
Danielle Lewis (22:51):
Well, I got this one. You get next, whatever. I'm a
Chiquita Searle (22:54):
Shopper. Had quite a few boyfriends who have provided a lot of commentary around how much I spend in clothes, and I'm like, well, you're not wearing them. It's not your money.
Danielle Lewis (23:04):
Exactly.
Chiquita Searle (23:05):
I'll spend what I want to spend. Thanks, buddy.
Danielle Lewis (23:07):
Totally. And if it's an issue now, it's going to be a big issue.
Chiquita Searle (23:10):
I'll choose my clothes over you any day of the week.
Danielle Lewis (23:13):
Exactly. I actually have my priorities and
Chiquita Searle (23:16):
Careless, I don't care how you spend your money. Please don't provide any feedback or commentary on how I spend mine.
Danielle Lewis (23:23):
Yeah, well, but I think the thing is women need to be able to have open conversations with
Chiquita Searle (23:31):
Each other.
Danielle Lewis (23:32):
Well, yeah, with each other, with the men that they're in relationships with. But I think we need to start with ourselves so we can feel empowered and we can know what our values around money are. I think sometimes people are hesitant to talk about it. They're not sure where they land, they don't know what the right thing is, what they particularly align to because they haven't had enough conversations or education.
Chiquita Searle (23:56):
Correct. And I'm not great with money. I'm not even going to say that I'm savvy or anything. I'm not even going to take I, I have a lot to learn, but my first port of call is I'm happy to earn it. I really like earning money and I charge for my time. I'm not cheap and I never will be. And fem con's, not a cheap event and never will be because providing value. And the thing is people will, that people always prioritize what they value. And so if someone says to us or to anyone, really, I can't afford what service you're providing. I was like, that's not true. Because if you had the money, we can all find money for things that are, we prioritize.
Danielle Lewis (24:31):
That's right.
Chiquita Searle (24:33):
Just means that that's not a priority for you and that's okay. Exactly. Spend it on great wine down. But yeah, I think it's saying I don't have any money is actually an excuse sometimes.
Danielle Lewis (24:44):
Absolutely. It is. It's just kind of a fallback and it's also really dangerous saying those words. It really puts out into the universe what you do and don't value. And the continual excuse of I don't have money is a really dangerous thing to keep saying for yourself, I think.
Chiquita Searle (25:03):
Yeah, well, exactly. And I try to not say that. And I mean, I hope that I, and also I think we, yeah,
Danielle Lewis (25:13):
There's so much so going on. Be safe
Chiquita Searle (25:15):
Because it's really hard sometimes to have opinions. We live in a really polarizing society where everyone
Danielle Lewis (25:22):
We do,
Chiquita Searle (25:23):
We're becoming more woke and every time you say something that someone doesn't agree with, we're privileged or we're
Danielle Lewis (25:30):
Totally,
Chiquita Searle (25:32):
When I say, I mean, yeah, that's the thing.
Danielle Lewis (25:35):
I would hope that the
Chiquita Searle (25:37):
Opinionated, am I going to get canceled?
Danielle Lewis (25:42):
No. Oh, look, and look, the thing is, so I love the conversation because I've made no secret of the fact that, so obviously there are plenty of so female founder programs on the planet right now. We're all doing our thing for the female founders. Spark, as an example, is all about sales and marketing because I believe the number one skill of a founder or business owner should be making money. Correct.
Chiquita Searle (26:06):
Thank you.
Danielle Lewis (26:08):
There's
Chiquita Searle (26:08):
No point having a business, it does not make money because you are not in business.
Danielle Lewis (26:14):
I could not agree with you more. So I'm super happy to have that honest conversation around money because that's what we do at Spark, where it's all about how do we teach women in business how to make more money. Well, I
Chiquita Searle (26:27):
Think it's empowering as well. You need permission, even though we try and validate ourselves, sometimes you need that permission from another party, an external party who says, yes, go and make that money. Because I think that it gives us that little bit more empowerment, support and permission. Sometimes I feel like we need permission, we don't, but it's that psychological barrier sometimes that we need to get over. And when you've got other women around you who are also like, yeah, I want to make money and I want to be financially independent and I want to have choices, and there should be no apology around that.
Danielle Lewis (27:00):
Absolutely. So when is Fem Con this year?
Chiquita Searle (27:03):
August 12th. So 26 days away. It's imminent. Still a lot to be done, but the gift bags are looking very good. They're worth over $700 each. So we've been very fortunate with our brand partners. They're been incredibly generous.
Danielle Lewis (27:16):
Wow, that's amazing. Yes. Well, we'll make sure we link up everything so that people can the event as well. Perfect.
Chiquita Searle (27:23):
Thank you. You would love that.
Danielle Lewis (27:25):
No, I'm all about it. And again, it's like, I always say this to women in business as well. It's like there is not, it's unlimited. The pie is unlimited.
Chiquita Searle (27:36):
I think as well, if we support each other doing what then I think, I just think there's so much money out there. There really is. I know after Covid, everyone's saying people aren't spending money, that people don't have money. People do have money. There more money out there. There's a lot of money in the world. And if you keep telling yourself that there's no money, then that's going to be the reality for you. But that a reality is not available to me, and we're hoping to sell this out and first event. So it's a tall order and it's a big goal, but if we don't believe that and tell ourselves that every day and keep working towards that outcome, then we're giving up before we even gave it a crack. And we're just not going to do that.
Danielle Lewis (28:18):
That's so cool. I love that because that needs to be everyone's attitude in business. Well,
Chiquita Searle (28:23):
It's bloody scary though. I'm not
Danielle Lewis (28:25):
Going to lie.
Chiquita Searle (28:27):
Every day I'm like, oh my God, are we going to do it? Of course we're going to do it. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (28:32):
Totally. Flip flop back and forth. No, we're fine. We're fine.
Chiquita Searle (28:36):
If we don't give it a go, then how will we know? And I don't even care if we don't fully sell it out. I don't even care. At least we are doing it and at least we're giving it a go. And we're in the arena doing our best. Exactly. We've got some great speakers and we've got boutique popups, got a female dj. It's fully catered. We've got a gelato cart. There's so much happening. We've got kombucha.
Danielle Lewis (28:57):
I'm so devastated. I'm going to be in Canada. I'm so devastated. That's why I'm like, I'm just going to share the shit out of it. So everyone live vicariously through everybody else.
Chiquita Searle (29:07):
Thank you. I would know. I really appreciate the support because coming back into events after a seven year hiatus is I forgot how much there is to do. And when I was working at the league, I actually had a team. I had a team of about four, and then we had interns as well who were amazing. So there was, what is it? The saying many make life, many hands make light work. So at that point I was more delegating and then doing the bulk of the work, and now I'm actually undoing the work. So it's insane. I sometimes wonder what I'm thinking.
Danielle Lewis (29:39):
Well, I mean, interesting segue. So you've got a lot going on, which I love. But actually you mentioned a few years ago when things kind of went awry, having a bit of mental breakdown. How do you manage all of this stuff on the go now? How do you actually look after you as a person in business?
Chiquita Searle (29:58):
Do you know what? I think I was struggling with my mental health then because asked this myself, this question, what am I doing differently now? Because doing PR now, I started the eyewear through the depression and stuff. So I think I got my health under order, my physical health. So during Covid, I started walking literally every day because my house to walk. And so I'd go out and I know I was only meant to be out there for an hour, but I'd walk two hours a day. Well, and it kind of got my mental health back on track and I got fitter. So I started monitoring because I put on a lot of weight when I moved to Melbourne. And I think that was a reflection of my mental state and I just didn't really realize. So I just changed a few of my behaviors to help support myself, get back into a healthier frame of mind.
(31:01):
So that was walking, because obviously gyms were closed for two years. So walking, I did lot of, I engaged coaches, so I did a lot of personal development work. I did a lot of working through my emotional trauma and triggers. I did self-directed healing. I also started working with a coach Talia. And I think I'd felt quite lost since I left the league. And I think a lot of us do feel lost because I'm a big believer in purpose. We have a purpose. We're here for a reason and we, without fulfilling that purpose and our potential, I think we do feel lost and a little bit a drift at sea. And so I did this exercise, which we are actually going to recreate at Fem Con. Actually we are doing it at Fem Con, and it was going to be a surprise on the day, but I did an exercise with this coach, and basically she puts you into your feminine power.
(31:54):
So she takes through a process that helps you envisage your best life. And it's a really powerful exercise, which we're going to be doing is the first thing that we do on the day. So it gets everyone into that mind frame that anything is possible. So we are putting them into a state where they envisage their best life before they then experience the rest of their day. And so that doing that exercise was literally so game changing for me, and it just put me completely back on track in terms of what I wanted in my life because I'd been adrift and I'd lost a lot of confidence. I just wasn't sure what I was meant to be here for. And that was just game changing for me. And it just put me back on track. And I saw things there that I just hadn't thought were possible in my life.
(32:38):
And it just gave me the impetus to believe, yes, actually I can do this. So then I started making decisions based on that vision, and that's where I'm today. So I wanted to get back into events. I wanted to have a bigger PR agency. I wanted to do the eyewear. I wanted to do speaking in mc, and I'm hoping to start that again. I want to write a book. I wanted to do all these things, and I just hadn't given myself permission for a while to believe in myself again. And because I had this coach, she was believing in me so wholeheartedly, and that's a part of this community as well. We want to bring people together. Sometimes I think he needs other people to believe in you as well. Sometimes you just can't carry that burden all on your own. You need other people to reflect back to you what they see in you so that you believe that you are capable.
(33:29):
And so she did that for me. And so I just put me on this trajectory really to get myself back into gear. And I've rejoined the gym, and so I've got my physical health in order. I read a lot. I listen to podcasts. But also the thing that's changed the most for me in terms of my mental health is I'm happy. I'm really fulfilled. I love the pr. I love my clients. I'm loving doing this event. I enjoy my eyewear. I don't know, I just feel purposeful again. And I think it was just these set of steps that kind of got me to that point. But that exercise where she put me into my power, that was just, it was just this moment in time, a core memory now that just set me up. And this is what we're doing at Fem Con. It's the first order of the day. It's the first activity we're going to be doing. It was meant to be a surprise. But now,
Danielle Lewis (34:16):
Sorry. I'm sorry. We spoiled that for everybody. Oh my God. It
Chiquita Searle (34:21):
Was so gamechanging for me. I said to Shani, I really want to do this for other women. I want them to feel what I felt because it's just a so powerful And yeah, we've called it the portal of feminine power. I think portal of feminine power.
Danielle Lewis (34:36):
That is just so incredible. Because I think that just as you're talking, I'm just sitting here reflecting on my businesses, my life, and I think you are right. I feel like we just get trapped in our to-do list and kind of forget what the fuck we're doing here. And I just love the idea that you're giving women the opportunity to kind of stop and really feel and understand what's important and what lights them on fire. That is so cool.
Chiquita Searle (35:04):
We forget that we really do it, especially if you're struggling with mental health. And I think a lot of us do struggle with that, which is I think there's
Danielle Lewis (35:11):
Business
Chiquita Searle (35:13):
Of anxiety or maybe some depression, which is kind of our standard now. But also these kinds of things help with the coping mechanisms in terms of, well, if you feel you're on purpose, 80 is the 80 20 rule. If you feel like you were doing meaningful work for 80% of the time you were happy and fulfilled, it gives you the strength to cope with the 20% where you're feeling a little bit lost or you being, it's a full moon, you're being traumatized by a family trigger or something, whatever. It's
Danielle Lewis (35:46):
No, and look, I love that. It's the answer is you've got to do the work.
Chiquita Searle (35:52):
You've got to do the work. And I know it's uncomfortable sometimes. And I'm not good with emotions. I'm not good with the work in terms of I don't enjoy the work. I don't like talking about my feelings. I detest vulnerability. I don't like any of it, but I'll do it because I know it's going to help me. And I've got a lot more, because I've done some work and worked some really great coaches, I've now got a lot of more coping strategies to actually help me through the times when I'm not feeling a hundred percent. And so I can process my emotion and whatever's happening a lot faster and move through it. Whereas before I didn't, when I had the breakdown in 2018, I didn't have any of these skills. I was not coping at all. I didn't know what was happening. I was so confused and it was horrible. But if we need to seek out people that can help us, and I did, and it's been really, really helpful for me. So I'm actually starting with therapy again on the weekend. I've found a therapist and because I haven't done any of emotional work since December, so I'm like, well, I've had six months off, so now it's time to get back into it and sort of unpack a bit more.
Danielle Lewis (37:00):
And that's so good because the lesson I feel is there's help. It doesn't matter. You touched on so many different things in terms of the physical, the mental, the emotional, the feminine power, the what do I want for my, there's so many things there, and there is a solution to each one of those. There is somebody amazing out there that can help you and guide you and coach you through whichever piece of the puzzle is kind of lacking from your life.
Chiquita Searle (37:27):
Exactly. We're not meant to be islands. We are not meant to do all this ourselves. Women, people in general are meant for connection and real connection and not just digital technological connection can't speak, but we need that face-to-face. We need that engagement. We need the energy exchange. And I just don't think it happens over Zoom or in a Facebook group or whatnot. I think we need to physically hug each other and see each other and feel the energy and the energy of 300 women in a room.
Danielle Lewis (37:57):
Oh my
Chiquita Searle (37:58):
God. Or being empowered and inspired and the female dj. And it is just, we hope to just really provide the feeling that you can do, really do anything.
Danielle Lewis (38:08):
Oh my God, I love that so much. Okay, so last one for you to end the podcast. If you had one piece of advice you could give to a woman in business who might be struggling right now, what would it be?
Chiquita Searle (38:23):
Take action.
(38:26):
I'm very big on the action because I just think when we get in our heads, we can overanalyze, we can overthink things, and then we actually talk ourselves into not doing anything. And I think that's the worst thing we can do. Even if you're not doing the right thing all the time, at least you're taking action and if you need to, and that means that you'll make the mistake faster and then you can redirect your course. But I just think the biggest thing is just take action and don't look too, if something's not going right, don't look to external factors to disempower yourself by placing blame elsewhere. By taking action, you actually can control and take control back and feel empowered. So even if it's scary, even if it's anxiety inducing in your hearts and your mouth, just do it anyway. And don't think, just stop thinking.
(39:10):
I don't think about things very quickly. Otherwise I wouldn't be doing fem con. I wouldn't doing half the things I'm doing if I thought about them. I don't think anything through, it's something curse me. I'm like, if it feels good, my whole decision, my whole strategy for making decision is, does this feel good? Yes, I'll do it. Does it feel bad? No. Yes. I won't do it. That's it. That's it. If it feels good in my body, I'll do it. If it doesn't feel good, I won't do it. I don't think about anything too deeply. I just take action. And if it goes well, I'm so happy. If it doesn't, what have I lost? I probably learned a few things along the way. I might've met new people. I might've got a new opportunity on the other side of that door. Who knows? I, if I hadn't done the eyewear, I wouldn't have met Shawnee and I wouldn't be doing Fcon.
Danielle Lewis (39:52):
Wow.
Chiquita Searle (39:53):
Take action.
Danielle Lewis (39:55):
That is absolutely incredible. You are incredible, Chiquita. Thank you so much.
Chiquita Searle (40:00):
Kind.
Danielle Lewis (40:01):
No, not at all. I'm not being kind enough. You are literally incredible. Thank you for spending your time and wisdom. Wisdom with the Spark community. We appreciate you.
Chiquita Searle (40:11):
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
