Time to turn off auto pilot

When you read a lot of self help and personal development and inspirational material, especially as an entrepreneur, you see and hear a lot of reference to "the treadmill" or the hamster ball, there are other colloquialisms as well - mostly pointed at corporate America, or the average person's life. 

All of these refer to the idea of exerting a lot of effort (running) but never actually moving forward. 

I've seen this all around me in not only my corporate life, but also as I watched my friends and family in serious relationships.

So many people just keep moving on to the "next logical step" because they are on a track like a railroad train. Even though they are not going where they want, it's just easier to keep moving on the path that is clear. I'm sure you can think of countless examples of people in positions, some maybe even high level management positions who get there and turn around and ask "How did I get here?"

I've seen it happen to people in my life in serious relationships as well. My sister as well as a dear girlfriend both ended up in a position where they ended up calling off a wedding mid planning. 

That is an extremely tough thing to do. Looking at all of the planning and the time and the money invested into the wedding, it's easier to just go along with it and not disappoint anyone. Not have to answer questions. But how much more expensive in dollars and emotional breakdowns is it to get divorced? 

I talked with my girlfriend about it at length and she related to me that they found themselves looking at one another and asking "How did we get here?". They were dating long enough that it "just seemed like it was time to get engaged". Thankfully, they had the wherewith-all to realize in time that they were really just super great friends and it was easier to keep dating than to not. 

How many people do you know that don't like their job, maybe even hate it, but aren't looking for an alternative because "it's good enough", "it pays the bills" and it's easier to do nothing.

Life's not meant to be that way. I'm not saying life is easy, or that it's supposed to be easy. But it's supposed to be happy. 

It's supposed to light you up. 

It's supposed to excite you. 

Not 10 years from now, not when you retire, not tomorrow, but today and every day.

That's what life is meant to be. 

Is it time for you to turn off the auto pilot on your life and take the controls?   

Baby Steps with Lead Shoes

Life is truly amazing. When you declare what you want in that certain way, when you set a goal or create an affirmation and it is so visceral that you feel a tightness in your chest when you think about it, you know something is different. You know, I knew, something big is coming. 

Those of you who have been following along lately have heard me blame my amazing Coach Christine Suva for my most recent big amazing project. 

It's amazing how when you start building momentum how fast things shift. It was less than 2 months ago that the idea for my first full day event, Whole Self Nourish came out of our first official coaching call. I was scared sick over how or if I would be able to pull it off. Even the day of the event, heck even two days after the event, I was still nervous. 

And yet, here I am today, joyfully, confidently working on the second Whole Self Nourish Day on July 25th. I already have speakers and partners registered and on board and I should have my location secured within the week. Partners I was even a little nervous about approaching were totally psyched to get on board and be a part of the event. One partner went so far as to say 

Im in! Not sure what's going on but whatever you're doing i wanna be a part of it. :-)

Of course, something even bigger was pushing its way into my life. I keep telling Christine, my coach, I'm starting to get really terrified as what my life is going to look like after 6 months of us working together because in just the first month two really huge things already started moving, and moving with purpose. 

So, I'm stepping into the next big amazing project. It requires some self discovery, a little skill and story inventory, and trying to re-connect with that "little braggart self" I talked about last week. A few weeks back, I experienced an amazing presentation from Wendy Lipton Dibner. The replay is up for just a few more days, I would highly recommend investing 90 minutes of your time. You won't regret it! The second assignment is to help you discover your unique gift to the world, the thing that you probably take for granted because it comes easily to you. The message is becoming clearer and clearer that this new direction is where I'm going right now, whether I feel ready or not.

So I'm stepping into it. I'm taking definitive daily action. I'm spending lots of daily time on introspection and trying to change that inner conversation from "Who do you think you are?" to "You've totally got this!". Thank you, by the way to all of you who contributed to my homework assignment with your spectacular words of support. And thank you to my personal cheer-leading squad who spurred this next evolution, you guys totally rock my socks off! 

But I'm taking small definitive daily action. One baby step after another, and I feel like I'm wearing lead shoes! Man what a workout! My quads and glutes are going to look amazing!   

I'm not ready to spill the beans quite yet but you know coming from me it will be FUN, so stay tuned! 

Mirror Mirror

I heard a great statement at a presentation last week

You can't read the label from inside the jar.

What a succinct way to say it. It's amazing to me how we can see things so clearly except when it comes to our own reflection.

Many of you are experts in human behavior or insights in one way or another, and yet, when it comes to shining that light on yourself, you can't read your own label. 

It's too bad that we all grow out of our "little braggart self". 

One of my all time favorite blog posts is about Amelia.

I had several intense experiences last week that are propelling me into my NEXT BIG THING because this journey I'm on seems to have a life of its own.

As I turn my vision to myself and start to claim and step into those unique gifts that are mine to bless the world with, I find myself in that inner struggle between YES I AM AWESOME and I'm not worthy or I'm not enough.

Definitely as I step out onto a bigger playing field and use more of my own voice rather than lending my voice to the backing vocals of another lead, I feel that struggle even more. 

I am SO thankful for my amazing people who support me, and my AMAZING ROCK STAR coach who manages to uplift me in such an uncanny way.

I'm learning to see that one of those unique gifts of mine is that very ability to see that in others. It's tough for me to see because if you asked me, I'd just underplay it and say I just pay attention to information that is there for everyone to see. 

I'm starting to realize that I may see things differently that others do. When I say things, I mean people, situations, business models, plans, strategies, etc. Most impactfully, I think, I see people through a lens of genuine love and support. To me, it just seems like how things are, but I'm learning that it isn't how things are for everyone. 

I look at you and see Amelia with all her quirky brilliance and unbridled potential, what do you see?  What inner voices to you hear as you step into the next steps on your journey?  

It's all worth it!

Today is a BIG day in the Bednowicz household! 

First, Mike is coming home after having been gone almost an entire month straight. He was home, literally, for 36 hours in the middle. 

Second, Mike is coming home as a captain! 

For those who aren't familiar with my / our story, my entire entrepreneurial and personal development journey started with our decision for him to make a major career shift after he was laid off from a corporate position at the front end of the economic downturn.

He really really hated his job. To the point that it changed his personality. He actually had the thought more than once "If I got in a car accident on the way to work, I wouldn't have to go." Mind you he never took action on that thought! 

So, when he got laid off, we immediately saw the blessing in it. Immediately - I mean when we got home twenty minutes after the "news". (We were both working for the same company at the time and they sent me home with him that day) We knew he could keep making the same money by doing what he had been doing somewhere else, but I didn't want him to continue to be miserable. His happiness was more important to me. I committed to make it work no matter what it took. 

It was a risk. We had to invest a lot of time and money in the completion of his training. We went more than a year with him earning no income at all, then more than a year with him earning less than $8K. When he got hired at the regional airline, they were saying the upgrade would be 3 years. It's been 8. 

All this, after 40 years of age, knowing that the mandatory retirement age for pilots is 65. Knowing his window of earning was finite. 

And it's SO TOTALLY worth it. All of it. The people we are today, the life we have today, while not super flush with cash flow, is amazing. 

The lessons we've learned first hand about the joys and blessings of following your dream even when it seems ludicrous have been simply spectacular.

If you think it's too late to go for your dream, you're WRONG. If you are going through life every day sedated and numb, you're doing it wrong! 

Even if it's scary, even if it seems crazy, it is NEVER too late to follow your dream! You are truly meant to be happy every day of your life.   

Sometimes the Leap Takes a Push

As we travel through this journey called life. Each new challenge brings with it new knowledge, new confidence and new self worth. 

So why is it that we resist them each at first? I've been sharing lately about the amazing results I'm experiencing with my new business coach Chris Suva. As I have found in my experience with working with a coach, I am pushed to do or create something bigger than I have before. I am pushed to step into a version of myself that perhaps others see, but I don't completely believe yet. 

As I am working on bringing my first full day event to fruition, I find myself alternating between excitement and terror, anticipation and self-doubt. Luckily for me, based on my very first session with Chris, I can look back and see how that exact feeling in the past has led me to some of my very best moments and finest achievements. 

Sometimes, in order to take that leap of faith, we need a little push. 

  

Stretching

Having been a runner since high school, I am a bit ashamed to admit I'm terrible at stretching. 

When my muscles are really stiff and sore and tight, of course then I do it, but as part of my normal workout routine, I'm horrible and I skip it almost all of the time. 

I got to thinking about it today as I was thinking about how much I'm being stretched by the next project I'm working on. How stretching can be uncomfortable, but it's a very good thing that helps you to perform better in all areas. 

Whenever I work with a business coach, (something I strongly recommend) I find myself pushed and stretched in ways that often greatly frighten me. My husband would admonish me and tell me that it's because others can plainly see "how great I am" it's only me that can't.

Working on this new project, under the banner of my "new" brand, I am alternately excited and terrified. I think that's a good sign that I'm on the right track as weird as that sounds. 

Where are you stretching these days? Or where have you stretched that brought you great results? I'd love to hear your stories!   

If the shoe doesn't fit...

I think we're all familiar with the Cinderella story. Think over the part where the glass slipper has been found and the stepsisters are trying to get it to fit. Not because they find the shoe beautiful, not because it is a comfortable shoe, but because they believe ownership of the shoe will get them their desired end goal, to marry the prince. Of course, as you know, the significant obstacle here is that the shoe simply does NOT fit. No matter how they squeeze and struggle, nothing they do will change that. 

Do we ever unwittingly find ourselves in this same pattern in our business? 

Stay with me here... 

You see an idea, a business model, a strategy and you see how well it is working for someone. You perceive that it even takes them across a goal line that you are eager to achieve. That may be a title, a monetary earning amount, a significant achievement of any kind. 

But when you try to implement the same thing, it simply doesn't work for you, it doesn't have the same result, and you don't understand. 

Say, for example, you are a business coach, and you are trying to grow your practice to a $10K a month practice. And you run across another business coach, and learn that she has a $12K a month practice. (It's magic that you find this out, just stick with me here) And you see that she is active on twitter and even gaining new clients through here twitter conversations. 

So, you study twitter, you model her activity, and after 6 months, you don't have a single new client through twitter. 

For any number of reasons, this marketing model may simply not work for you. There may be more to it than you are aware of, for example, these conversations may have started with a live referral, or her audience may be significantly different than yours.

Now this is an overly simplistic example for illustration sake, but the principle is there. I think that sometimes, we see something and we believe that it is going to get us the end result we are looking for, and we get hung up on that "thing". Maybe it's a vehicle for delivering your product or service, maybe it's a business model, it could be any number of things.

So...

If the shoe doesn't fit, move on. 

I think we get tunnel vision sometimes and we think that the vehicle we are in is the only one that can get us to our destination. That simply isn't true. If you are at point A and you want to get to point B, there are any number of vehicles that will get you there, at differing speeds, and with differing levels of comfort, but they will all get you there. 

Be willing to move on. Try something else. 

How about you? Can you relate? Have you found yourself in this pattern? I'd love to hear your comments! 

What if overwhelm is a GOOD sign?

Life is always throwing a lot at us. I consider myself to be above average in the way that I handle stress.

I have a lot going on, I always do, but I still manage to find plenty of time to relax, decompress, have fun and connect with and enjoy my friends and family.

I'm one of those people that is almost always in an outstanding mood. Not good, or even great, but extraordinary. When you ask me how I'm doing, a typical response for me is Fabulous! or Spectacular! or Fantastic! And it's genuine. People tell me I'm never in a bad mood. (Trust me, just ask my husband, it happens, even to me) 

Over the weekend, I found myself in a state of what I can best describe as overwhelm. Feeling as if maybe I've "bitten off more than I can chew" or that I've dropped the ball because I'm juggling just one more than I can manage.

As a result, I didn't get half of what I had intended accomplished over the weekend and of course, found myself on Monday morning feeling behind the eight ball so to speak. Feeling as if I haven't given my all to some of the tasks on my plate which are manageable tasks because I'm moving into a space of handling new, much more challenging tasks. 

I believe I need to once again, give thanks to my amazing coaching session from last week with Christine Suva. 

I started out by chastising myself silently. I don't accept giving average or even above average. I expect outstanding and extraordinary from myself for all those whom I serve. 

In the midst of trying to organize my "lists of to-dos" to make sure I get everything done this week, I took some time to reflect on where I am and how I'm really feeling about what I have going on. 

I'm getting ready to step into something bigger. I'm doing some exciting but scary things right NOW. I looked back at how I was feeling before I launched the Chicago Over 40 Females chapter and found it felt a LOT like I am feeling right now. 

Doing things I haven't done before, in a way I haven't done them. 
Opening myself up to a new level of vulnerability and service. 
Looking at myself in a role I'm not 100% certain I deserve or am ready for. 

And I come away from this reflection feeling no less overwhelmed, but with confidence and excitement because I know how it turned out before. I know that this level of discomfort, while not pleasurable, is telling me that I am standing on the edge of something magnificent. 

I now step bravely into my journey ahead with fear and courage, confident about what lies on the other side.   

Is your confidence holding you back?

Confidence. 

I wrote several months back about situational confidence. 

Where does confidence come from? I believe we feel confidant when we feel we excel at a thing, and when we feel significant while doing that thing. It's not enough to just be good at something, if we feel that it's a thing that "everyone can do".

I had an AMAZING coaching call today with one of my recent speakers, Christine Suva. We were talking through some blocks and resistance I've been experiencing lately with growing my network marketing business. 

Not only did she do a remarkable job at helping me gain clarity around my "juice" and my bigger vision and passion for my business, but she helped me see that in this case, both of these things were holding me back. At least, my perception of these things in myself. As she helped me look back as some things I've done previously, I realize I have more skill in this area than I give myself credit for. (Aren't we ALL guilty of that!) She also shared with me how she viewed me and the natural gifts I bring to the table which she sees as large contributors to why Chicago Over 40 Females has become the dynamic organization that it has.  

As we closed the call, not only did I feel more confidant, but totally juiced and jazzed to step into a bigger vision of myself and Whole Self Nourish than I had fully embraced so far. 

*Stay tuned for some fun, ultra nourishing really cool announcements coming your way

The lesson for today is when you're feeling less than confidant in an area of your life, avoid the easy road of following the area where you're already feeling confidant. Allow yourself the space to break this area down into smaller components. Think about the areas, and the things that really "give you juice". The areas that come really easily to you, if not right now, than in the recent past. Focus on the aspects where you really shine as your very unique self in that space. Then re-frame your perspective around the area where you are feeling weak. 

I think you'll be amazed at the juice you find! 

Crossing the Line

One of those "catch phrases" I've grown tired of hearing is "get out of your comfort zone", so I find it strange that this is where this week's Nourish your Business Nugget comes from. For the past almost 2 years, I have been growing a women's networking organization in the Chicago area.

We have an amazing group of women who are truly supportive of one another, who are doing TONS of business together, and really collaborating and helping each other grow.

As the director of the chapter, I've always been very careful not to push my other business at events, for fear of looking inappropriate. I have said, I never want to give the impression that I think it's "The Shannon Show".

Sometimes members will ask me about what else I do, and I'm happy to share it with them, but kind of on the DL, so to speak. 

When I started the group in the beginning, with the advice of the coach I was working with, it was expressly so that I would get in front of the right people for my business. I've sent a few offers through a newsletter or a mass email and since I didn't get an overwhelming response, I chose to believe that no one was interested. 

The truth of the matter is, these women love me. I have a beautiful jar full of hand written notes sharing how much they think of me and appreciate me. I know, given the chance, they would love to support me. And, are in my exact target demographic. So, why am I so afraid to ask? 

In an ongoing effort to grow my network marketing business, I have made a commitment to reach out to my chapter members and sit down with each one one on one. 

What close contacts do you have in your life that you haven't discussed your business with out of discomfort? Out of a sense of crossing some imaginary boundary? 

I'll share the formula of my ask in the hopes that you will make a call this week yourself to get share what you're up to. 

1. Make the invitation personal, suggest a time and place that will be mutually convenient. 
2. Start with offering some times and days you are available that you would like to meet. 
3. Be specific with the time you plan to meet, in my case 45 minutes, so they know clearly how much time to schedule.
4. First, offer to hear what they are working on, and how you can support them in their goals.
5. Second, ask for their feedback in an area that you share interest or the connection that you have with one another, or an area where you feel they have expertise and would be willing to help you with research.
6. Third, let them know what you are looking forward to sharing with them, maybe it's your business in general, or maybe it's a program or event you're looking to promote.

I bet you'll find at least 3 warm market prospects you didn't even know you had! 

Reflections

Why is it, as women, that we are so uncomfortable with our reflection? I remember, whenever I encountered one of those horrible lighted magnifying makeup mirrors, even when I was younger and cuter, I reacted with an AH like I'd been spooked and a thought that I didn't need to see myself quite THAT close up. 



Who doesn't love to see those before and after photos where someone has gone through an amazing transformation?


We see those and find hope, inspiration and strength.


There is so much power and triumph in those before and after photos, yet we resist really looking at that "before" in the mirror.



Much more difficult to look at than our physical reflections is our internal reflections. I had a spectacular speaker at one of my events last year, Dr. Shannon Burke, and she spoke eloquently about how difficult we women find it to stay quiet and still, even though our most brilliant inspiration often comes from these very moments.

Every one of those amazing before and after photos exist because at some point, she made a decision to change that before. To stop being that before. But we can't make a decision to stop being the before if we refuse to look at it.





Now, I am not going to tell you to "step out of your comfort zone" because frankly, I think that phrase has been overused so much that it has completely lost its impact. 

Instead, let's beef up the fight in our fight or flight response and lean in to the fear. Put up your dukes and don't back down from the reflections in those quiet moments. 

We all have things, situations, parts of our lives that we tolerate. Things that maybe don't fit any longer or that we've just not been brave enough or inconvenienced enough to really examine and change. 

Lean in, face the fear and sit in the quiet reflection of you. Dare to look at those things in your life that you silently wish were different. 

Dare to imagine your "After". 

I would love to hear your reflections in the comments if you're brave enough to share...

3 Secrets to Look Younger, Look and Feel your Best and Boost your Confidence

When we Look good, we Feel good and we Do good.

Like anything, of course, we can apply the good, better best multipliers, right? 

Women have an amazing capacity to undervalue ourselves. We place a huge number of limitations on ourselves, and the worst part is we don't even realize it. 

There have been a couple of amazing social experiments in the news recently.

The Dove forensic artist experiment that showed the difference between how people see themselves compared to how others see them. 

The Mrs magic mirror "you are enough" campaign. Where women were asked to rate how they felt about their appearance in what turned out to be an interactive mirror. 

As if we don't have enough self imposed issues, the inevitable effects of time and age start to show and thanks to the media, we feel even smaller and less significant and less worthy the older we get.

And while I hope that these movements continue, and women begin to develop a stronger sense of self worth, I know that even though we know it's wrong, we fall back into those self limiting beliefs easily and quickly.

So what can you do? 

1. Find one simple practice that makes you feel good, make it a habit and turn it into a ritual. This can be something small, but it must be something that you do in gratitude to yourself. Meditation, a cup of tea, read your favorite quote, listen to your favorite song. Daily affirm that you are, in fact enough.

2. Take great care of yourself, the best thing you can do to improve how you look and how you feel is drink water. Plenty of it. Every day. It flushes toxins, it hydrates all of you, and brings back health to your entire body including the biggest organ in your body, your skin. 

3. Invest in a skin care regimen that you love that works for you. Everyone has different skin with different issues and different priorities. Find something that works for you and stick to it. Every day! 

When we feel good, we look good, and we can do more good! 


How would you like to look 10 years younger in 15 minutes without laser or cosmetic surgery, without air brushing or photo-shopping, without makeup contouring tricks? Click here to see for yourself.

Let's Get Naked

In the world of social media, interesting and uplifting things manage to hit my radar every so often. Last week, it was this great story, song and video by an artist, Colbie Caillat, who I would never have heard of as it's not the kind of music I typically listen to. 

You can read the story, and watch and listen to the video at the link behind the pic. 

It not only inspired me as a powerful message for our young women, and some of the older women I know too, but it really got me to thinking about some of those universal truths.

We have all known girls, had girlfriends, or even sometimes been those girls who were so desperate to be in a relationship that they tried to be something they were not. Not in an effort to be false, or to hide or be dishonest, but innocently enough, just trying to be what "that person" wanted, or what she or we thought "that person" wanted.

I think we all also know that in the end, that is not only unsuccessful for the obvious reasons, but it is also kind of unattractive. 

People know when you're not being your authentic self. Maybe they don't know they know it but they sense it. They sense your genuine self. One of those things I can look back and remember learning quite keenly as an Over 40 Female, is the process of learning to like myself. Really like myself. 

The other thing I learned is that it's pretty unreasonable to ask someone else to like you if you don't actually like yourself. 

And here's the universal truth part - this not only applies to romantic relationships, but also to family, friends and business. 

The more you really like that person in the mirror, and the more you really authentically show up as that person in the mirror, the more attractive you become, on every level. 

Don't get me wrong, you won't see me out too often with no makeup or my hair not done, but I am willing to put myself out there naked now. 

It even inspired me to put together a special event with Chicago Over 40 Females. 

When you're all alone by yourself do you like you?

I wasn't always this way...

Many of you have heard the story of how I became an "entrepreneur", but for those of you that havent...

My life changed when my husband was laid off in 2005 from a corporate job that had made him so depressed he was a completely different person.

We likened the layoff to when a loved one has been really sick for a long time, and they pass away. It's sad, but it's really a relief that the suffering is over.

We decided it was our last best opportunity for him to pursue his life long dream rather than go back to doing what he hated somewhere else.

We took a huge leap and walked away from a 70K+ income and invested another 70K+ in the additional training he needed.

We decided we didn't need to suffer any more.

My husband's happiness was more important than his income or our lifestyle. I didn't know how, but I knew I'd do anything to work it out.

So I started my business alongside my corporate position to supplement our income. I found in helping my husband make his dream come true, I not only found a dream I didn't even know I had, but I figured out that life is supposed to be good and happy.

Every day.

We learned that it is truly never too late to bring your dream to life. At 43 years of age, my husband got hired as a commercial airline pilot!

We learned that anything really is possible!

And we've figured out that life is about each day, making the most of who we are, where we are and most importantly who we are with.

It turns out it wasn't just me experiencing this - we all get so busy living life, that we forget to Live Life.

Situationally Specific Confidence

As people, particularly people on a journey of personal development, we are growing and improving continually. As Tony Robbins, and many others have stated, if you're not growing, you're dying. 

I started my entrepreneurial journey in January 2006. As I grew my first business, my confidence grew. My personal confidence, my professional confidence, my confidence in my future self, my public speaking confidence, my training confidence. I found myself in one situation after another that was scary, but once I worked through it, became rewarding and even fun. 

But life isn't linear, and the road we are on is seldom straight. In that same business, I experienced challenges with my business growth and more impactfully, with leaders I had viewed as mentors and colleagues I had viewed as friends. Feeling like the unpopular girl in high school once again, I began my retreat. At first, it was so slow, I almost didn't notice. I certainly denied it was happening, to those around me and most importantly to myself. 

Here's the funny thing, at this same time, as my professional confidence was eroding, my athletic confidence was exploding. I ran my first marathon, then my second. I completed my first triathlon, at the Olympic distance. I entered the dirty and physically challenging world of mud and obstacle racing and advanced from the Warrior Dash to the Super Spartan race. 

I also built amazing friendships in a circle that I hold great passion, esteem and love for. A group of people that I respect and enjoy. I get to be one of the cool kids when I'm with them. I advanced to the "in crowd".

I observe, in hindsight as we often do, that I didn't lose my confidence, though I thought so at the time, rather I shifted it to another aspect of my life. We often view people from a distance that seem confidant in one way or another and we assume that they are fully, 100% confidant and competent in all aspects of their life. I wager they are not. How often have you heard an interview with a celebrity who shares something they are really bad at, something maybe even close to what they are known for. Like an athlete who is a terrible dancer, or a public speaker who can't sing in key. 

Working with an amazing coach, she saw my loss of professional confidence and the effect it was going to continue to have on my business and worked with me to take a huge leap in a totally new direction and start Chicago Over 40 Females. WOW has that been amazing. Over the past year my confidence has grown exponentially. I feel loved and respected and recognize those are very important things to me. 

And last fall, I took the leap to resign my leadership position with my direct sales company and shift into a new company. Totally new in every way. It has been amazing, uplifting, and successful. But, this week, I've observed another strange phenomenon in my confidence. I lack the confidence in my role and my connections in this business in an insidious way. Where I have no qualms about talking to anyone about Over 40 Females, in any profession, at any level, asking them for any level of sponsorship or involvement, I find I have some silo'd areas where I have that same confidence in my new business. 

If we're not growing, we're dying, right? 

As I move into the 2nd half of 2014, I embark on yet another facet of building my self-confidence, and learn to accept and embrace that it doesn't always apply in all situations.

How about you? Do you find there are areas of your life where you are confident, and others where you wish you were? I'd love to hear about it!