#awinewith Christine Matheson-Green
MEET Christine, Founder of Remember Press.
You can find them here:
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:07):
So good. Christine, welcome to Spark tv.
Christine Matheson-Green (00:11):
Danielle, it's an absolute pleasure and I really, I love what you're doing. I think it's amazing and more power to us.
Danielle Lewis (00:20):
Yes, definitely. What a great way to start. I love that. No, thank you for being here. Let's kick things off by telling everyone who you are and what you do.
Christine Matheson-Green (00:30):
Okay. Christine Matheson Green. You can join me. Please do. On Facebook or LinkedIn. And at the moment, I'm a non-tech founder of a startup.
Danielle Lewis (00:43):
What a great place to be.
Christine Matheson-Green (00:46):
Sometimes. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
Danielle Lewis (00:50):
Which I'm sure we'll dive into because I totally agree. So good. So what does your startup do, Christine?
Christine Matheson-Green (00:57):
Okay. It's called Remember Press, and I'll give you the why, because backstory is what drove me to this. I write, I've been at all sorts of things throughout. I've had a huge life, A lot of that was a journalist and newspaper editor in chief and all that sort of thing. So I was hired by Julie, who is Tassie's top diamond expert, incredible lady. We've become really good friends and she travels all over the world to Antwerp and South Africa and everything, checking out diamonds. And she hired me to write her dad's memoirs. Oh wow. Yeah. And her dad, Daryl was one of the, he was 86 and living in the house he was born in only in Tassie, which I thought was
Danielle Lewis (01:50):
That's hilarious. Well, it's funny, my parents currently live in the house that my mom grew up in, so I was like, there you go. I know someone that does that as well. There
Christine Matheson-Green (02:00):
You go. My God, it is so rare now though, isn't it? We all shift around so much. Totally. Anyway, so he was depressed. Daryl was depressed, and Julie really was dying of emphysema, but had had a huge life. And he had been sort of a similar ilk to me, I guess, instead of saying, why not? And he was very humble. He started out as a wood turner, hence the emphysema, and became a builder and build hotels and all sorts of things. He could do any sort of mathematical equation in his brain. Extremely clever man, but not educated at all. And at first he was rum, why do you want to record my story?
(02:53):
Of course, of course. Because they're brought up to be humble and not push their barrow, especially that generation and the journey of doing this. And it took over a year actually, of my working with him, not every week, but a lot of the time, couple of hours at a time. Honestly, his increase in mental health and wellbeing was extraordinary. Really? Yeah. He went from here to here, go to go, and he got the whole family involved and the family became euphoric. And Daryl had had motivation and validation and elevation. He just felt validated. And he had a euphoric final year. He really did. And I put both my parents in nursing homes, and I think I'd love to see young people suddenly come to grips with the fact that if you're very lucky, you'll get old, but look at what's facing you. And to me, it's awful.
(04:06):
You get stuck in a room, in a bed to die and it's, its so challenging for the families as well. And so I thought, I know the publishing industry. I started out as PR manager at Jacaranda Press, 1969, and I used to launch books. And so I got to know authors and the publishing industry. And I've published Self-published, I've been headhunted by Oxford University Press. They've published three of my literacy textbooks. And I suddenly thought, I know the publishing industry. It's in the dark ages. It seriously is still, and it's difficult, even even Amazon and whatever. You have to make all these decisions. And there's this bumpy road that you have to go along to publish a bloody book. And I thought, I'm going to do a better, streamlined, easier way. So that's what remember press is and apropo that developing that and working with clients, I got to realize that they actually really need a book writing coaching course that's a bit different as well. And as you would know, now, I'm different.
Danielle Lewis (05:17):
I love it. I love it already.
Christine Matheson-Green (05:20):
And so I wrote The Busy Page and out there now that's a six workbooks, six video book writing course. And it's funny, it's outrageous. I use a lot of really outrageous images to really click and nudge my students and my clients. And so that's what the busy page is. And I'm also running a high-End platinum part of the program, which is very, very small groups and one-on-ones to get people. And it's really, it's people like us, business people like you, Danielle, and the members of Spark who have businesses who actually understand the incredible platform that you get from publishing your own book. If you have a look at Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi, they publish your book every year, minimum. They keep going because it sets 'em apart. It gives them this authenticity and authority. I mean, there's a reason why it's author and authority, isn't it really? When you think about it.
Danielle Lewis (06:39):
And I was just going to say, there's something so crazy about books in this Instagram world that we live in where everything's just no attention span. Just scroll past, scroll past. When someone has a book, you're like, oh, they must be important. They must have something to say. Exactly.
Christine Matheson-Green (06:53):
Exactly. And it's one of the things on Facebook, I've been making little tiny short videos with nudges and prompts and advice on how to get moving and ideas about writing and what to do, what to focus on, because imposter syndrome's enormous. We all face it. I face it. Think I'd be the most confident person on earth. I'm not at all. I don't
Danielle Lewis (07:22):
Believe you.
Christine Matheson-Green (07:23):
No service and imposter syndrome is riding its horse.
Danielle Lewis (07:32):
But it's difficult, isn't it? I, so I have a book that I've started, so I have a very short book, like a book of quotes that I've published on Amazon, but I don't consider that a real book because it's not kind of novelish. But I'm sitting on a novel. I've started it and I, I know everyone struggles with this, the writing process, getting this stuff out of your brain and onto paper, and you're so right. There's some kind of resistance that happens when you sit down in front of your laptop and you've got to focus and get the things out.
Christine Matheson-Green (08:08):
Exactly. And I mean, look, honestly, I'm going to send you my first workbook because it'll blow you away. It sets everything. It gives you schedules and it really gets you moving. And from then on, it's just an incredible fun ride where you set up this program and a plan because the old saying, I mean, the chestnut, those who don't plan fail. And it is so true. And people forget about that with writing. They honestly think they've got to just sit down and bash out. Something like jk. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (08:54):
Hundreds of, I'm just going to sit down, pour a strong coffee, and it will all happen.
Christine Matheson-Green (08:58):
Yeah, no, absolutely not. So that's what my busy page book writing course does. I
Danielle Lewis (09:06):
Love that.
Christine Matheson-Green (09:07):
Yeah. And it is amazing. The feedback I've had is just incredible. So yeah, because it really does, it takes you on this journey, but it gives you the bloody ladder to get there. And one of the videos I made, I actually went and sat in the passenger seat of my car and I said, here, I'm the navigator, the passenger, but you are the driver. And I never forget that you ever forget that because it's your work that's really important to remember. And I showed this empty seat.
Danielle Lewis (09:51):
Oh, I love it. I love it.
Christine Matheson-Green (09:53):
And I had a fantastic reaction to that, because people don't normally do that sort of thing. No. Well,
Danielle Lewis (10:00):
We're all usually just in front of a plane background with the greenhouse plants.
Christine Matheson-Green (10:06):
And I've been posting a lot of videos walking on the beach because, and using beach scenes as nudges and prompts for ideas and tips. So it's been a lot of fun. Mind you, very lucky. I'm in Hobart and I'm on the Eastern shore. It's
Danielle Lewis (10:24):
Gorgeous.
Christine Matheson-Green (10:25):
And the beach, the best beach in Hobart is at the end of my street. Oh,
Danielle Lewis (10:30):
Wow. Well, you've got to use what you can, right?
Christine Matheson-Green (10:35):
Absolutely.
Danielle Lewis (10:36):
I love it. So we have the course, the Busy book course, and then you do, sorry, busy pages, sorry.
Christine Matheson-Green (10:44):
Yeah. So
Danielle Lewis (10:44):
You have the course, then people can kind of upgrade and get more of a one-on-one mentoring from you as well,
Christine Matheson-Green (10:52):
Which is the platinum program because, and later this year, I'll be doing a retreat in Bali. Yeah, amazing. Because, well, it's a way of everyone getting away and getting that huge kickstart in five days. They're not going to finish a book normally unless they've got it mostly written or whatever, which is fine, but it will galvanize all the information and in groups as well. Even my platinum course is a maximum group of five, because I love having other people there and other members of that little tiny community come up with ideas that I don't, I'm not the well of everything. Well, I'm not, and I really, you'll love this. And in one of my workbooks, I write about Mark Twain, who, that wasn't his real name at all. Oh,
Danielle Lewis (11:55):
I did not know
Christine Matheson-Green (11:56):
That. Yeah. Yeah. Mark Twain actually meant the second mark on a Measure in the Sea from boats. What? Yeah, the second Mark Twain.
Danielle Lewis (12:10):
How's that? How's hilarious? And how often is Mark Twain quoted everywhere?
Christine Matheson-Green (12:15):
Oh, I know, but do you know what he used to do? One of his ways of testing out what he wrote, he used to read his latest writings to his family. He'd sit them down in the lounge and he'd start reading. And he noticed if they leaned forward and were really riveted on what he was saying, then that stayed onto
Danielle Lewis (12:39):
Something.
Christine Matheson-Green (12:40):
And if the kids and the wife are looking around, whatever. Cut.
Danielle Lewis (12:46):
That's very clever though. And it's interesting asking people for feedback, especially when they're close to you, I think they always want to give positive feedback.
Christine Matheson-Green (12:56):
So
Danielle Lewis (12:57):
Watching body language is actually a super smart idea
Christine Matheson-Green (13:02):
Without having that confrontational criticism that people just dread. But I say to everyone, and this is a warning to all the incredible spark women out there. If you can't take criticism, don't come with me on this journey because I'm ruthless.
Danielle Lewis (13:19):
I love that though. I was literally just having this conversation with my husband about, especially when you're in a leadership position, people just want to say, oh, yeah, that's a great idea. And you learn nothing from that.
Christine Matheson-Green (13:33):
Exactly. And I always say, I dish it out, but I can take it. And that's how I was brought up. I did have an incredible upbringing. My dad was a genius and spoke six languages, even though our background was Scottish, so we didn't have a second language at home, but he spoke six languages and was the first policeman in Queensland to have a degree.
Danielle Lewis (13:56):
Oh, wow. Awesome.
Christine Matheson-Green (13:57):
And he hated the police force, I have to say. He really, in those days, it was extremely corrupt. And this is in Queensland just before the Fitzgerald inquiry. Oh, God. And incredible. But yeah, and he ended up, when he retired, he was head of a O. So yeah. And he knew everyone's secrets. And that's what drives me more than anything is my dad died without telling his stories. I want to say to everybody, whether it's your dad or your granddad or your grandma, tell their stories, get them down. Because all of a sudden, later in life, I've noticed boomers are all looking at family histories and doing that, because for some reason it's like, you need to have this idea of heritage. It's like, okay, well just do it. Don't leave it till it's too late. Because well, as I keep saying, there's nothing worse than loss, except Brett.
Danielle Lewis (15:02):
Yeah, that's very true. That's very true. So we have the course, we have the one-on-one Platinum or the group Platinum within then thinking retreats. Now you've been talking about Tech. Talk to me about what the tech component is.
Christine Matheson-Green (15:19):
So with Remember, press, what they get is a fully formatted book building tool. It's like this. Oh, wow. Yeah. It's like this big template where you can upload your text and your photographs and it's formatted you. Oh, cool. Yeah. It's as few decisions as it's humanly possible to do. And then when you've set up the chapters and all of that, very, very, very streamlined and easy, then if you're happy, press a button. You get sent a beautiful, a proof copy, a hard copy. You also get as part of the system, a soft copy link to the ebook and a QR code to share.
Danielle Lewis (16:08):
So
Christine Matheson-Green (16:09):
It's really easy to share this book anywhere you like. And that started out, because that's what I was doing with Darryl's book. I thought, let's stick a QR code on his gravestone.
Danielle Lewis (16:25):
Oh, wow. That's an interesting idea.
Christine Matheson-Green (16:27):
I know. And you could go through a graveyard and click on all these QR codes and read these people's histories.
Danielle Lewis (16:34):
Oh my God, that is awesome.
Christine Matheson-Green (16:36):
Yeah, we got to do it. We just got to do
Danielle Lewis (16:38):
It. That's such a clever idea. I mean, you think about it, I feel like you see in movies, people going to see their loved ones, and you think about that. Well, we have all of these spaces of graves, and they're just there. No one's visiting them. No one's understanding about it. You just drive past them and think that's a cemetery. But what if you could go in and actually listen to the stories? Wow, that's super cool.
Christine Matheson-Green (17:05):
I know. And that's down the track is yes, we're going to use AI to allow people to set up the actual person telling their story. Yeah.
Danielle Lewis (17:24):
Oh, that's so cool. I know. I'm just picturing futuristic. You're walking in and the holograms of the person. That's so cool. I love that. You need to make that happen. That's great.
Christine Matheson-Green (17:39):
Absolutely dreams. But it's going to happen. It is going to happen. So yeah, so that's what they get. And they can get as many printed hard copies as they like. And it's miles cheaper than, in fact, it's a better deal than Amazon, because Amazon still take royalties.
Danielle Lewis (17:57):
Oh yeah. They're so expensive.
Christine Matheson-Green (17:59):
I know. I know. And there's no royalty. So all you pay for is the printing and shipping of your books. That's it.
Danielle Lewis (18:06):
That's so good. I love that. What's it been like being a woman in technology and building a tech business?
Christine Matheson-Green (18:14):
Fucking difficult.
Danielle Lewis (18:19):
Oh my gosh. I can imagine.
Christine Matheson-Green (18:22):
And honestly, Danielle, we all do. We all do. As women, we face sexism all our lives and often from other women, which staggers me. Yeah.
Danielle Lewis (18:33):
It's so frustrating.
Christine Matheson-Green (18:34):
Oh, they blow you off. But they'll listen to a stupid man say Crap for hours. Wonderful. Look, clearly. Yeah. So it, it's been so challenging. And I've been through two incubation cohorts, one with both great, one with Enterprise in Hobart through the government, and then Blackbird Giants, of course out Sydney and Melbourne. Got some great mentors. But at the same time in that with the admin, I faced sexism and ageism.
Danielle Lewis (19:12):
Really?
Christine Matheson-Green (19:13):
Yeah. And that pissed me off. It's like, you know what? I'm just over this. But it's just
Danielle Lewis (19:22):
Really frustrating, isn't it? Because I guarantee you, there's no one who's 20 who has this idea. You have the experience of your career, of a lived experience, and that's how you've come to this idea. And you just need a little support on the thing you don't have experience with, which is the tech or whatever it might be. And yet there's this discrimination that goes on.
Christine Matheson-Green (19:46):
I know. And well, it's just typical, isn't it? It's shockingly unfair. But I guess I keep saying to myself, just put your big girl pants on, Chrissy. Get moving.
Danielle Lewis (19:59):
Yeah, I know. And it's so frustrating, and I agree with you. So I remember, so my other business, scrunch for Anyone listing is a tech business. We built a piece of software. I remember the first networking event I walked into was a room full of men. I think there was three girls. And this, I will never forget this experience of this guy who was drinking a beer. And as he spoke, he was spitting, and he was like, oh, a blonde woman in techie. I don't think this is, you'll never make it. And I marched out of that room and I was like, I'll show you.
Christine Matheson-Green (20:32):
Yeah. Eat my dust.
Danielle Lewis (20:35):
Oh, I was just furious. And I was like, fortunately, I'm the type of person that takes setback as motivation and fuel, but I'm like, how many people go, it's too hard, or no one's going to take me seriously and kind of put their dreams on hold because they do face all of these obstacles.
Christine Matheson-Green (20:56):
Oh, look, absolutely. But I guess in a way, I have been toughened up throughout my life. I did. I started out learning ballet at three, and so I was on stage for all my young life. Then I became a TV star as a kid. I used to sing and dance.
Danielle Lewis (21:17):
Excuse me. What TV Star? Talk to me about
Christine Matheson-Green (21:22):
This. This is a long time ago. This is in the sixties, early sixties. I was a TV star, and I used to sing and dance on Katy's Happy Hour, which was the forerunner of Johnny Young's Talent Time. And I was earning more than my dad at 12 for, but anyway, and I loved that. I really did. It gave me this huge creative outlet, which I just adored. But then I became a professional actress, and then I ended up leaving that because didn't like mixing with other actors a lot of the time, because in those days they acted 24 7, which just gave me the shits. For me. It was a job. Give me the script. I'll end the script. I'll go and do the role. That's it. I don't need to act 24 7. But anyway, and I went teaching or bar mating and did all sorts of stuff in those days, but then went teaching and two degrees, and I hated teaching. It wasn't me.
(22:33):
And one of my lecturers at Teacher's College told me, he said, said, you won't last. You're a free spirit. He said, I can set you up with a job lecturing at university here when you graduate. I was a mature student. I was married when I was doing this. And I said, no, no. I've got to go teaching. I've got to change the world. I lost the two terms. I hate it. Anyway, but you know what I ended up doing? I started my first restaurant as a female owner chef, and I had 10 successful restaurants over 25 years. Wow. And I think that just toughened me up because as you know, almost everyone's kitchen handed or waitress or whatever through uni or whatever, as a part-time job. And that toughens you up. It's a tough business.
Danielle Lewis (23:28):
Yeah. But owning a restaurant that's way tougher than waitressing in a restaurant, my God.
Christine Matheson-Green (23:34):
Oh, it was. And staff did stuff to me they'd never dream of doing to a guy, a woman, going to do beat them up. I don't think so. And I had three contracts at Expo 88. That was just massive. Yeah. And for me, I have this massive business background, and I set up the first fashion factory outlet in Tassie, which is still
Danielle Lewis (24:02):
There. Really?
Christine Matheson-Green (24:03):
That's cool. Small change. And I've lived in Japan for two years and taught over there and lived in Malaysia. So I just want to say to all these gorgeous women in Spark, don't hold back. Just grab life by the shoulders and shake it and just look for opportunities. And yeah, don't bumble in feet first. Do your homework. Yeah, do your planning and everything, but just go for it. And we all face obstacles, but it's like, yeah, as I said to one guy in the incubation cohort, I said, just eat my dust.
Danielle Lewis (24:53):
I love that. I love that. You're like, just watch me. Just watch this.
Christine Matheson-Green (24:57):
Yeah. It's going to be, remember press will be global, and I do, I want it to be the publishing site that everyone goes to if they want to self publish the one. I love it. Yes. The one,
Danielle Lewis (25:14):
And that's incredible. What's next in terms of development? Can somebody go on there now and get it done, or is it in the infancy phase? Where are you up to for all the people listening in that are like, oh my God, I need to go here right now.
Christine Matheson-Green (25:28):
Well, you can go to the busy page that's there, the writing courses there. But remember, press is probably a couple of weeks still away from MVP launch because the book building tool has been massive.
Danielle Lewis (25:43):
Yeah. Oh God. When you said you were building that, I was like, oh my God, this is incredible.
Christine Matheson-Green (25:47):
The coding has been exceptional. And then there's the UX and the whole customer journey and all of that, the payment gateways and stuff. And that's being set up at the moment. So the book building tool is sort of ready, but getting into there and everything, and I've held off launching until it's ready, because I don't want to burn early adopters.
Danielle Lewis (26:18):
Of course.
Christine Matheson-Green (26:19):
And that's one of the things that irritated me in the incubation cohorts, because all these guys in the tech industry keep saying, just put something together and launch. And I would say, no, I don't want to burn early adopters. I think that that's why so many tech startups fail.
Danielle Lewis (26:39):
I could not agree with you more. There's a fine line between getting something out there that's not perfect and shipping crap, and you're so right. There's so many industries. If you say to a customer, come and use my thing, and it's early and it is crap, it actually impacts their life. I think about that from a scrunch point of view, where you sell to marketers. I'm like, if I don't enhance their life and make their job easier, they will hate me and never pay me again. You can't just go, dad, just accept it with all of its flaws. Some flaws, absolutely. But when it is a tech business that's supposed to solve a problem, you do have to be a little bit careful, I think.
Christine Matheson-Green (27:20):
Yeah. It has to solve the problem. Absolutely. And we've been investigating printing companies as well, and that's been really hard to do. And we so didn't want to have to go offshore, but it looks like we might have to just purely for price, because
Danielle Lewis (27:44):
Well, and you have to be able to offer that benefit to the end consumer as well. And we don't do everything fabulously here.
Christine Matheson-Green (27:51):
No.
Danielle Lewis (27:52):
Can't get canceled for saying that. But yeah,
Christine Matheson-Green (27:54):
And we don't. We've tested them out and this is what, it's taken four years, Daniel, to get here, really? Because we test religiously, endlessly. And we're still testing, well, actually, I show you the book.
Danielle Lewis (28:14):
Oh, cool.
Christine Matheson-Green (28:15):
This is Darryl's Foot, right? This is, yeah. And it is. Oh,
Danielle Lewis (28:20):
Beautiful.
Christine Matheson-Green (28:21):
Yeah, that's his photo. He was an amazing guy. Flew in a helicopter down to the south of Tassie to strip a Jeep because he used to from Oh, that's, and I mean it's Carla as well. There's a lot of Carla photos, but that's him there.
Danielle Lewis (28:40):
Wow.
Christine Matheson-Green (28:41):
Awesome. Yeah, so that's the format of the book that we're starting with. And we're developing a novel sort of soft cover as well. But that's what we're beginning with. Just one size fits all. Beautiful, beautiful format, glossy pages, just easy layout, everything. Love it. Yeah. So anyway, but the printing,
Danielle Lewis (29:12):
Yeah. And that's the interesting thing I think as well, isn't it? People say the words, just ship it. But when you're in a business that has all of those different steps from a technology point of view, you've got to get a customer in, they've got to be developing something. There's a physical output, can't just, I dunno. It's a fine line I think between shipping things and getting things right.
Christine Matheson-Green (29:35):
Oh, absolutely. And it's why I ended up doing the Busy page, because I keep telling everyone, look, don't worry about publishing just yet. Write the damn book first. Get it done, get it written. Just use Word or pages. And as you know with pages, you can use a microphone, so you can just talk and it'll transcribe, which is going to be fantastic for aged care facilities where I'm desperate to get into. That's a
Danielle Lewis (30:09):
Great idea.
Christine Matheson-Green (30:11):
To provide it as a service. So cheap. It's so cheap. We charge, it's a subscription and there's three tiers, and the first tier is $49 a month. And then of course you pay for the book as well, but you still pay way less than any other because you own it. There's no royalties going out to anyone else but you. And this is what I'm obsessed with. It's the user journey and the writer. I want writers to really feel ownership of what they've got. You don't have that with the publishing company. You don't.
Danielle Lewis (30:52):
Well, no. And it just makes me think about so many creative industries, even musicians who lose all so much of their revenue to the distribution and the publishers and the agents and the this and the that. I didn't think about it before, but I guess that's the same with authors. If you have a publishing deal, a book deal, or if you're self-publishing, Amazon's taking half the money, why do creatives get all their money taken away from
Christine Matheson-Green (31:20):
'em? Because it's all about big business. It really is. And that's one of the things I learned at Expo 88, because my three contracts at Expo 88 we're enormous, and it was through the Wrath Industries, which is a massive American business from New York. Robert Wrath flew out in his Learjet and flew us up to Newso and we holidayed and partied and all that sort of thing, because my boyfriend at the time was his vice president.
Danielle Lewis (31:52):
I love that. Excellent taste clearly.
Christine Matheson-Green (31:56):
I know. Yes. And Emerton had a presidential appointment at the White House and everything. So interesting. But Wrath Industries build expos. That's what they do. They build space around the world. That'ss their big thing. And Robert inherited money. He owns the Gotham City restaurant in New York. He owns blocks in New York. But the thing is, the way they did business disgusted me. It's ruthless and the dollar is king. And it's one of the things that I do want to say to everyone here, watch out. If you are doing business in the US on any level, be careful. Know that they have, it's all about the deal here. It's still all about the relationship, but in the US it's all about the deal and it is ruthless. So you just have to, and they'll just walk away because they think you're weak. It's like you've got to be prepared to walk away too. You really do. Yeah. That was what I learned in EX by 88. So that's a massive business lesson that I took with me. And look, I will go, I be in the States, I've got a lot of connections in the us, but I'm going to make sure that I keep control. And it's always still headquartered here in Australia, passionately Australian.
Danielle Lewis (33:22):
Well, and I do love that because I think that's another thing that you kind of get taught at some point, especially in tech startups, is that, well, you've got to be in America where the size is, the scale is,
(33:35):
And it's like maybe we don't. Exactly. And that is something that always interests me, and especially I'm interested because you've been through the incubators. There is that relentless scale at all costs. Everything has to be bigger and better and empire, and don't get me wrong, I want to take over the world. I'm definitely in that camp, but I don't think everybody does. I think that there are plenty of people who want to build a business that supports a lifestyle that they want and that is great. Do that. You're not failing because you're not entering the US market or raising capital or doing this or doing that.
Christine Matheson-Green (34:14):
Oh, look, totally. I couldn't agree more. I mean, yeah, and it is. It's like, yeah, just smell the roses. Take time and smell the roses because life is bloody short. I will never forget sitting with dad in the nursing home, and he was 80, right? And he looked at me and he said, Tina, I blinked and I'm 80.
Danielle Lewis (34:40):
Wow.
Christine Matheson-Green (34:41):
That's how it is.
Danielle Lewis (34:42):
That's crazy.
Christine Matheson-Green (34:44):
Yeah.
Danielle Lewis (34:45):
Oh my God. Puts things into perspective, doesn't it?
Christine Matheson-Green (34:48):
Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, I
Danielle Lewis (34:51):
Love it. Christine, you and I could talk all day, so why don't we leave the beautiful sparks with one last piece of advice. If there's anything that you, any piece of advice that you have learned over the years and would offer up to a fabulous woman in business, what would it be?
Christine Matheson-Green (35:13):
Oh, I know, I know. And it's something I keep doing in my videos is find your eagle and your lighthouse,
Danielle Lewis (35:21):
Your eagle and your lighthouse. You're going to have to explain.
Christine Matheson-Green (35:24):
Okay. And it could be both. In the one person, I have a coach, of course, we all have coaches. Coaching's the big thing now for very good reason because, okay, the eagle, what are we? We are the mice down on the forest floor. That's what we are doing. We are running around scrambling for a feed, trying to find stuff and doing our business. And we are so involved in it. Our heads down and bumps up. The eagle has this oversight. It's flying around. It can see the entire forest, but it can also zero in with its eagle eye to the mouse and see what you're doing from a distance and up close. So if you can find someone who can do that, and then that's gold, honestly. So always look for that mentor or support person who's outside you, but supportive at the same time, who've got that ability to see the big picture and the little picture at the same time. The lighthouse, of course, shines the light on your pathway so you don't hit the rocks.
Danielle Lewis (36:48):
Oh, I love that.
Christine Matheson-Green (36:51):
Yeah.
Danielle Lewis (36:51):
Gorgeous. Find those support people. That is beautiful. Christine, thank you so much for being here on Spark tv. You are absolutely incredible, and I'm so grateful to share your story.
Christine Matheson-Green (37:04):
Oh, my pleasure. Have a wonderful day, Daniel. I'm going to look up Scrunch straight away. We need to.
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