Tea with the Queen - Emma McQueen

106 - Emma McQueen (EDITED)

Thu, Nov 14, 2024 7:31AM • 46:08

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

freedom and adventure, business travel, self care, incredible guests, Aboriginal acknowledgment, business coach, human resources, World Vision, entrepreneurial flame, selling narrative, business development, pricing strategy, community support, travel mindset, thriving women

SPEAKERS

Emma Lovell

Emma Lovell 00:00

Emma, do you want to live a life of freedom and adventure? Are you wanting more than the daily grind? Me too. Welcome to the Emma Lovell, show a place where we talk about living a life you love. Now I'm your host, Emma Lovell, and my number one value is freedom. I've spent the last 14 years running a business and traveling the world, and now I take my husband and toddler along for the adventure too. It's possible, and I know you can create a life doing what you truly love as well. This podcast will inspire, motivate and encourage you to go after your dreams, to create a life you love and to live it now, not wait for a time and or someday in the future, I'll be sharing episodes weekly about how I harmonize business travel and self care. I'll also bring on incredible guests to share their journeys, the wins, the challenges, and how they're creating a life they love. Let's jump in and get dreaming. This is a space for you to manifest a life you love. I would like to acknowledge and recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first peoples of this place, now known as Australia. I am grateful for the continuing care of the land, waterways and skies where I work, live, listen, learn and play from here on you, Emma country and from wherever you are listening, I pay my respects to the elders past and present. Hello and welcome to today's episode. I'm so excited to welcome another Emma to the podcast, Emma McQueen. Emma is known as a true go getter, and she wrote the book, and she's a results focused business coach. It might get confusing this episode, as we both Emma and refer to each other as Emma, but by no mistake this, Emma is certainly unique. Emma has had her own business for seven years, after spending many years in a human resources director role traveling the globe with World Vision and coaching executives, she now sits on three faculties and coaches women who have their own service based business, because she believes that more money in the hands of women means more money in the hands of the community and women underestimate their own potential, and she wants them to own their amazingness in her spare time away from her three kids, Dog and Hubby, Emma is a roller skating bandit, not really, but she does take lessons and is currently learning how to speed skate and skate backwards, and this is a direct throwback to her teens having spent one too many nights at the roller skating rink. Emma and I have a fabulous conversation, and I can't wait for you to join in. Please welcome the wonderful Emma McQueen, welcome to the podcast. Emma McQueen,

02:47

thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here the two Emma, Emma squared,

Emma Lovell 02:51

I know, and it's been a while we had a few false starts, but we've persevered, and we are here on the screen. So that's fabulous. Now, I always like to ask people, you know, just the Easy, breezy question of, who are you? Oh, who

03:05

am I? Oh, yeah, okay, well, I'm Emma McQueen, and most people, I have a brother called Steve McQueen, which everyone finds fascinating, brother in law that's named Steve McQueen. And I am a business coach. And my background is HR. I used to run some HR departments, and I also worked for World Vision Australia, which is amazing.

Emma Lovell 03:26

That's our common thread, yeah. Worked with World Vision Australia. So it was one of the lovely people there who said, when I sort of LinkedIn, Lovell LinkedIn, she's like, oh, you should probably connect with Emma McQueen. She used to do work with World Vision, and I was like, Oh, who is this?

03:44

Who is this? Emma McQueen,

Emma Lovell 03:48

he also worked at World Vision, but took us a while to get to be in person, and I think was Osmo last year, yes,

03:58

yes. Two years, yes, yes. It knows. Finally. I mean, I had seen you all over the socials and bits and pieces, and we done some DMing and stuff. But it's not until you meet someone in real life that you really get their vibe, isn't it?

Emma Lovell 04:10

Yeah. And sometimes people aren't what they end so you sort of go, Yeah, I'm gonna meet Emma. And then you're like, Oh, I mean,

04:21

you didn't do that with me. Obviously,

Emma Lovell 04:25

use what you see is what you get, which is great. Yes, it's been lovely to then enhance that afterwards. But tell me a little bit more about how you've got into your business journey. Because, yeah, you were from having that HR, and when did you take the leap and and how did that all start?

04:41

Yes, well, my littlest one was three, and she's now 10, so we're about to celebrate seven years at Emma McQueen Pty Ltd. And I used to coach the execs at World Vision, so I have been through the Executive Institute for coaching and leadership, and I also am on three faculties. One. Being women in leadership Australia. So I love helping women, and I had done all the HR jobs, and I was like, what's next? What's next? And I always had this little flame, an entrepreneurial flame, I think you would call it. And I was like, maybe I'll go do my own thing. Yeah, I'll go do my own thing. That'll be fun. It'll give flexibility. At the time, I had a male boss, or for anyone who's had a male boss, they don't quite understand. Sick kid gotta go. You know, kids thrown up all over Kinder floor, gotta go. And I just hated having to go and say, I have to do I have to go. So I went. You know what? I'll do my own thing, have my own flexibility, create my own reality, and do work that I love. And so here we are, seven years later. So good, so

Emma Lovell 05:43

good. And so you'd already done the coaching training before you left. Yes, I

05:49

have been coaching for about 15 years, which really gives my age away.

Emma Lovell 05:54

I love it, but, you know, but then to you, I think sometimes people like I'll start a business, and it's recognizing where you had those skills already, and you're already doing the thing. And yes, the push,

06:08

the only thing I didn't have, is knowing how to run a business. So, you know, that's like jumping into from the what is it, from the fry pan to where the oil to the fry pan, or whatever it was like, Oh, my goodness. Where do I even start? And I had this narrative running through my head that I couldn't sell. And so I had a very interesting director of one of my jobs. We'll call him Greg, because that was his name, and he basically told me I couldn't sell. And so I had this story in my head I can't sell. And so I finished with World Vision on the 30th of November, and I started the business on the first of December, and everyone said to me, oh, everything's corporate. Australia's closing down. There's no point in doing anything. Even my husband said, why don't you take a few weeks off? I'm like, No, I'm pounding that pavement because I've gotta learn how to sell. And so sell. We did. We pounded the pavement for three to five copies a day for three weeks. Yeah. And then we came back and we did it all over again. And, you know, I got rid of that narrative because I started having conversations and building relationships with people and going, Oh, okay, that's your pain point. I can probably

Emma Lovell 07:11

help you with that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was selling, like, means something different to everyone, doesn't it totally and you potentially talking about closing, as opposed to selling, promoting. And

07:26

we're great at promoting. You are great at promoting.

Emma Lovell 07:28

I'm great at promoting. Um, I think sometimes, for me, it's the like connection, then to like because, yes, own, yeah, I can, you know, if it's I'll close. I think sometimes it's the here it is, yeah, the pain, okay, you need it, or I can help you. Then the clothes so, like, they're already sort of 90% there. Oh, not even close. And I can definitely make them very aware. I think it's then that like. But why should I do it?

08:01

You know what? This is interesting, right? Because I've just finished a business development sprint with 55 women, and they did BD for an hour for two weeks, and it was amazing. But one of the things we talked about was, how do you go from that transition from connecting with someone to then having a clean conversation with them to then having a commercial conversation with them. And I reckon it's all in the setup. Because I think what a lot of what I see a lot of women in business do, is they go, Hey, let's have a coffee and have a chat. And then you get there and it's too Ick. You can't actually bring up what you need to bring up, versus saying, hey, let's catch up for a coffee. Let me tell you what I'm doing. I want to hear what you're doing, and then we'll see if we should work together. So then the framing is really different. So when you come to that coffee, you're both expecting that commercial conversation, but yeah, it's very interesting watching that unfold over

Emma Lovell 08:51

the last two weeks. Yeah, and sometimes it is, sometimes it is a get to know you. But I know definitely, like, I'm a very if somebody's, if I want to work with somebody, I'm I know, like, I'm probably going to say, just, just tell me the price. Just tell me the author. Just tell me it, because that's I've got that Maverick profile. So I'm a yes or no. It's gut or a no. And I, I'm starting to now tell people No. And it's not a I was listening to, it was Zoe foster Blake took the day, and you don't say, oh, maybe later we'll see, like, if it's a no, just make it clear, because that's actually kind or, you know, it's not for me.

09:29

Yeah, don't string someone along, because they'll keep if they're good, if they're a good salesperson, they'll follow you up. If they're not that good a salesperson, they'll just think you've posted them. Yeah,

Emma Lovell 09:39

yeah. Want that because, you know, I have great relationships with some of my clients, and it's, you know, we've worked together, and then there's been another thing, and they've said, not right now. And I'm like, that's fine, and we can continue to have a relationship. It's not, yeah, I don't want them to ever feel like I'm always selling. But you know, you're also like, you're saying you're the problem. I'm gonna have a thing that can help that problem. So the

10:03

solution, if you want it, I think the other thing is, our mindset is about sell, sell, sell, versus service, service, service. And so I think sometimes it's how you bring yourself to a conversation, like, Can you turn up in service and just go, what's your problem? Do I actually have the credibility, the tools, the solution, or do I not? And if you don't being in service, it's actually saying I'm not the right person. We we are very blessed at year seven. We've been saying no for a few years now, so we're very blessed that we're at that place. So I don't work with startups, and we know that really clearly, we've got a program for startups if they want it, and I can refer them on, but we just don't work with startups, and that's a decision we've made as a business, and that's okay, you know, like, be clear about who you do and who you don't serve.

Emma Lovell 10:46

Yeah, yeah. And I think sometimes, you know, we were talking as well about pricing, which is obviously struggle at the moment. I mean, it's always it feels like a struggle for one to price themselves, but it feels the narrative at the moment, in October, November 2024 is no one has money. Nobody's buying. The economy, hard write it out. I guess it's like, but that's just not true. Because just not true. People are buying. And where, I know my where the issue is. It's like, okay, well, it's a communicating of value, yes, and though, I think there's ways to support people with potentially, potentially, the price is high. But then in saying that, I went to an event recently, and I can see in terms of where the pricing was at, who was attracted. And I know in terms of what I want to deliver, I am trying to attract a different audience, and a signal to that and correct, yeah, you know. And I said to someone who I know is interested, I said, Look, I'm thinking about changing the price. And she said, At that price point, what's a couple $100 going to do? And I'm like, oh, no, I'm like, Oh no, I'm talking about 500 1000 and she's like, even. So I think if you're already in this price range, yeah, that's not the decider,

12:09

yeah. I mean, you know, everyone's cup of tea, right? So, you know, you just make sure that you know who your market is, and you kind of go from there, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think there's a lot of doom and gloom out there at the moment ends, and I'm not buying into it. So I understand that there's that. We're watching it on Instagram. We're watching it through socials, people closing down their businesses and doing things, and you can either buy into that narrative or you choose to actively work against that narrative. And, you know, tell me I can't do something, and I will do Yes, true. So I'm working really against that narrative. And the BD sprint that I was talking about that's worked against that narrative for the last two weeks, and they've had some great success. So I mean, yes, I'm not saying that it's not difficult for people. I just think it means we need to have more touch points with people. We need to just be a bit more in service. We need to be generous with our time, and you just need to tweak a few things in the sales process, you know, yeah,

Emma Lovell 13:06

yeah. And it's that thing and I'm reflecting upon because someone's just giving. I did ask you can seek feedback.

13:15

Don't have to listen to it, though, right?

Emma Lovell 13:18

But, yeah, a lot of people don't read that's really fun. He likes, yeah, yeah, the bottom of the page. But someone said, you know, oh, it's, it's giving this vibe. It's not attracting this and my first reaction was, like, well, two years ago, that same thing worked, and it's like, that's two years ago, right?

13:37

Yeah, yeah. I know. I know what worked two years ago isn't working now. And so you have to change, hey. So

Emma Lovell 13:42

you go, okay, alright. Noted, yeah, noted, I'll

13:47

think about it.

Emma Lovell 13:49

Just keep pushing uphill, but we'll see. Look, don't do that. That's fun. So you're in the middle of something at the moment, so you your program is Thrive women. So how long have you been running that

14:03

thriving women has been going, Oh, 2025 takes us into our seventh year. Oh my gosh, which is incredible, right? It's been very Melbourne centric, and I make no apologies for that. I was trying to get the model right. I just wanted to, I don't travel very well, which is hilarious, seeing as I'm at chapter 14 of your book. And what I find hilarious about your book is I've got a travel ban on myself this year, and then I'm reading your book. Hilarious Anyway, next year, next year, I might be traveling, and next year we will open it up nationally, and so we're in the middle of that, and so far, people have just loved it. It's been amazing. We've got a beautiful community of women that are going to get stuck in and get stuff done together. And you know, I think that's the best thing, right? You gotta find your community or a number. You're in a number of communities. So you know what it's like to be in community, right?

Emma Lovell 14:56

I do, and I know what it's like to be in too many and i know i. To be in a season, though, as well, and I think it's good to evaluate and you don't have to stay in something just because so potentially being in a community, and that served you for this time, but as you grow into the next stage, and I know where I'm at, I've just been gravitating towards authors speakers. I went back to my writing like, one of my favorite conferences last year was a writing a conference for content creators and writers. And it was like, because that's kind of speaks to my heart, yeah, you know, I was writing a book. So it was like, right room to be in. And then yeah, I'm just Yeah, anywhere where there's people who, yeah, doing similar to what I'm doing. Because going to a new level, yeah, go to that next level, there are going to be people who fall away. And so, yes, it's not that's okay, you know? And so if someone comes to me and says, Emma, you love networking, you love groups, communities, where should I join? And I do really consider it, because not every room is for everyone and where they're at at that time. Also, you know, we've talked about investment or the price point, like, for some people, you know, that's gotta be a real consideration. And you don't want people feeling like ripped off, but it's like, what you need. And then, you know, and then I think about the host or the program operator, and I'm like, does Emma want to deal like, nothing. The person is Emma McQueen want to deal like, is this thing that she is this her person? You asked me, yeah, if there was someone in Queensland who I'm going to send you an email after this? I'm like, yeah, actually, you know, yeah, oh, that's alignment. And I could just go scatter guard and go, Hey, everyone in Queensland do this, but it's like, yeah, are they? Is it going to be right for you and right for them? And yeah,

16:49

totally, it's gotta be right. I mean, I've talked maybe five people out of thriving women this year, so I've just said no, it's not the right time, or it's not the right season for you, or it's with the community that I'm curating, I think you'll feel a bit fish out of water, you know, like I'm really honest with people, because I, I, I really respect that people are willing to come join us and spend their money. And also, I'm not. My community is not, it's lovely, but it's not soft and soft and fluffy and no business talk. It's a lot of business talk, right? And so you don't come in and and just like chatter and have a lovely networking thing. You actually have to do the work. And so some people are not up for that, necessarily. That's not what they need, no? Yeah, they need support. They need a bit more hand holding than we can offer them or whatever. So yeah, it's really exciting. And of course, we've licensed thriving women, which is very exciting. So we're going global, baby.

Emma Lovell 17:46

Yes, that is very cool. So I am such I'm shifting, but, and speaks probably my early days of business and naivety, but I was such a short term focus, and to sit to hear you talk about, like, testing something for seven years. I'm just like, what?

18:05

Like, no crazy. I'm boring,

Emma Lovell 18:10

but like, different. I think it's just the long game. I did an episode the other week about the long game, and I think once you've been in it a while, you're like, oh, I can see the return on investment. I can see the time. I can see where the I planted those seeds, and now they've sown. But like, in, like, when you're initially, you know, and we do in are in quite an instant gratification sort of time, it's hard not to be like, Well, what I've done the thing, like, where is it? And, I needed to do that, to do that, to do that, to be here, okay, but I think this is wonderful to hear that you've Yeah, and you're very like, intentional

18:51

Yeah. And we've also, we've evolved so much, right? The first year to year seven, there's so much learning and evolving, and me leveling up, and people looking at thriving them and thinking, Oh, this is easy. And people taking it and putting out their own version of it. And me just not getting bitter, but just getting better and just leveling up and leveling up. And I also think that there's this thing that happens where, because you've been in business so long, people stay with you. So we've had our retention rates like 86% or something stupid, in thriving Moon, which is amazing. It's amazing, but it was a really small group, so it was easy to keep and then, you know, as you get bigger and bigger, and this, this year will be no different, or 2025, will be no different. Will will be a bigger crew, and that is a new thing for me, but I have incorporated a national program that I've been running for the last two years now into thriving women. So I know how to do the national community. I've tested it out in a small way, so now we're ready to go in a bigger way. But it's just so exciting to level up and just to watch it evolve. It's just so cool. And seven years is a long time for me. Ms, like, I didn't think I'd still be rolling out. Driving them in when I first started.

Emma Lovell 20:01

Yeah, but as you say, it's evolved, and it has that room for growth, and it's going in a new direction, and the new people and the new flavor, I think that's sometimes I like, you don't have the right thing, so then you get bored of it, you want to do a new thing, but also that alignment, it doesn't fit with you. And then some things don't have room for growth, because, right, we also create things that we need to help. Totally, totally.

20:25

That's exactly why I was, right, creative, thriving women. Obviously,

Emma Lovell 20:30

it's continuing to up level with you and grow with you, whereas, like, you sort of go, you know, like, let's think about a business that serves pregnant women. You're like, Well, my kids 12, I don't really talking about pregnancy anymore, you know? Or, yeah, I yeah, I was doing that thing, but it's like, I've gone on that journey, and I'm through that journey, and I'm on to the next level. I don't want to stay in that place with you. Yeah, essentially, there's that and so, yeah, I just think the evolution and the journey, and, like you said writing, my writing the book, like, it's so interesting to stand back and it's like, whoa, like, whoa, like, how have I got to this place? And you wrote a book.

21:11

I did. I wrote a book very early on, wrote very early on, called go getter, and we still run go getter days. It's hilarious to me. So that's, that was the first year, I just thought, I'll write a book, you know, it's, it's a lot harder than that, everyone who's listening, yeah, but, you know, and so now we have go get a days, and they happen three times a year, and they're in Melbourne, and it's just for women to get stuff done on their business, yeah, and to also do some networking. So we had one a couple of weeks ago, and it was sold out, 50 women in the room, and like, half of the room was brand new, into the Emma McQueen world. And I was just so excited, because the energy was just in the room. The vibe was awesome. And also they can see and touch and feel all the other thriving women, and they can see and touch and feel me, and they can comment on how short I am, because Emma, you know how short I am, very short in real life. People the

Emma Lovell 22:00

only surprise, yeah, you're just like, you're like, Hello. We also Abigail was wearing probably big heels, and yeah, anyway, but it was actually,

22:10

it was more like, hello,

Emma Lovell 22:13

she's pocket sized. I'm

22:15

a pocket rocket, that is, for sure. And that surprises everyone, which makes me laugh. But yes, we get a lot of compliments about how real I am on Instagram and how, how like that in real person I am as well. And that's, I reckon, that's the biggest compliment you can get in business, if the on screen translates to in real life, don't you reckon?

Emma Lovell 22:34

Oh, absolutely. The the it's so jarring otherwise, and it just, there's all of that, everything you've built, and if you can't sustain that. And I said to had someone said Today we had a conversation. She said, like, are you okay? I'm not, you know, sort of not getting the sparkly. And we do talk. And she's heard me go through ebbs and flows. And I said, you're just getting concentrating, Emma, yeah, through

22:59

to resting face. Emma, Emma, yeah,

Emma Lovell 23:04

um, you know. And it is reflective as well when you're doing so sometimes I said, Yeah, like, you still, still me. It's just um, it's just my concentrating, sort of like, I don't need to

23:16

be sparkly all the time. Come on. I am human. Sparkly cup,

Emma Lovell 23:19

all right, I'm still, I've always got dia Montes at within arm's reach, so don't worry, just as Emma's got pink jumper on and yellow frames, we're like, we'll always have a little bit of it. But you know that there's levels and there's a dial up and a dial down, yeah, but the essence is always there. And that's, that's

23:38

exactly right. It's like, volume up, volume down, depending on what the situation calls for, right? Yeah, not,

Emma Lovell 23:44

not on, off. That's, yeah, that's right, you know, that's, that's too jarring, but yeah, so the book well, and the day wasn't, so you called them, go get a days. But this one was called day with the Queen, or they day with the queen. Go get a

24:00

day. Oh, so we get, we've, we do three go getter days. And then earlier this year, we did day with the Queen, which is 120 women in the room. You would have seen the pictures of that EMS, wouldn't you?

Emma Lovell 24:10

I did, oh,

24:13

you had FOMO, yeah. Like,

Emma Lovell 24:15

you see, got new people in the room. I was like, I know that person and that person and that person, like, Hey,

24:21

I'm pretty sure you in the US of A when that happened. So I'm pretty sure you didn't have FOMO.

Emma Lovell 24:26

I did. I had FOMO. I was like, you can enjoy what you're doing, but also like, Okay, next one. I need advance notice so I can Yeah, I

24:33

heard what we only do that. We do that big day every two years, and then on the off year, we do dinner with the Queen, which is a bit more of an elegant sit down situation, but it was full on, like Silent discos, you know, keynotes, fashion shows, mocktails, you name it. We had. It was incredible.

Emma Lovell 24:51

Yeah, it was the next level. It was very, very impressive to see. And I was, we've had a chat, and I was like, how do. Too poor. Like, I run events, but you know, like, like that,

25:03

don't run events a lot. And

Emma Lovell 25:08

I was listening to podcasts yesterday about, like, making things easy, and it's like, what is what, you know, and they're not, it's easy, but it's like, well, what's what's a way to make this easier for you. So if you sort of like going, well, I couldn't do it like that, but how could we find a way? Or if it's like, no, that's all just too I really want to do it, but I can't do any of those bits. Find someone who can help find your link so that you you don't have to figure out the how you just go. And I did. I was like, Oh no. I was like, Emma, I would I like this? I wouldn't take it and do this and be like, cool. Here's some, here's some. Back generous. Um, yeah, I

25:49

think you can do it with ease. I mean, I outsource a lot. M's like, that is my secret. If someone says to me, what's your secret in business? How you superhuman? I firstly, say I'm not superhuman. And two, I do two things. Actually, I do three things. I think about strategically, about my business. I build really solid relationships, because I love relationships, and then I deliver, well, that's it. Everything else is a distraction to me. So day with the Queen, whilst it was beautiful, I had Steph from Carter and CO, who's an exquisite events person in Melbourne, and she did all the running around. I had Serena, who's my sister, and my business manager, doing all the bits and pieces. And then we have people on the ground. I like personal touches, so we basically had what I called huggers and hosts on the day, because I don't want any woman to stand on their own. So I wanted to have masses of people to come along and just stand with people, introduce people to each other, hug people, because that's our vibe, right? That is totally our vibe. And yeah, so we did. We pulled it off with ease, and it looked, probably looked easy. I mean, there's a lots of details that go into moving parts that go into that stuff, but I could not have done it without Steph, who was a my on the ground support, and she wants to take it on the road, which is full on EMS, she wants to take it on Farah wants to take it on the road. Nicole Byron wants to take it on the road. Jane Anderson wants to take it on the road. I'm like, Okay, girls, we can, well, maybe if someone else organizes it, and I can just rock up,

Emma Lovell 27:17

which, you know, once you've got the model, then perhaps. So,

27:21

yeah, yeah. It was fun. It was so much fun. The day was awesome. I was on a high for weeks after so it's perfect,

Emma Lovell 27:27

yeah? And that's, that's what you want, not the the exhaustion and the fatigue. Why did I do this? I think there's always one moment where you're like, What are they doing? Yeah,

27:37

I think that happens, like before the event, when it all but on the day, when you're there, I stood back and I was like, Yeah, this is, this is my vision come to life. This is pretty cool. And I'm actually match fit, like I thought I would be exhausted after the day, and I'm like, I'm, I'm match fit. I've been, I've been working on my energy, my health. That's why I've stayed home this year. But I, you know, I really felt like I I got up at four that morning and dropped into bed about nine o'clock, 10 o'clock at night, and I was still good the next day. And that's quite unusual for me. I'm getting used to that feeling.

Emma Lovell 28:10

Yeah, amazing. Yeah, that's, that's a season, isn't it, as well. And I think want to come back to something that you said about the the book, and you said it's, you're up to chapter 14, and you my book, The Art of pleasure, and that you haven't been traveling, but you're currently reading a chapter about traveling mindset. Yes, I know. So, you know, I think the sometimes people look at the what the travel that I do, and they're like, well, but I don't travel like you. And I said, and I say, I'm not asking you to travel like me.

28:41

No, you're not. You're not the view, you know, finding

Emma Lovell 28:45

what you like, and there are, will be seasons where, yeah, you don't want to get on a plane, or you don't want to do long road trips, or you don't want to do the big, extravagant holiday, but yeah, think being able to find ways to experience or and wonder, and potentially that's through your business and trying a new activity or meeting up with somebody new. You know, for me, they're the things that I love about travel that it forces you to do because you are in this new location. And so everything is like seeing it for the first time. So you can get into it, but you can bring that in on it daily. Yeah, new experience. About new experiences. And this, I would, you know, sort of challenge that there would be so many places even in your town, like restaurants, shops, totally.

29:36

I said that to my husband the other night. We had a date night, which is very, very rare. And we went out for dinner, and I'm like, we need to come back and just explore the city of Melbourne, because we just, we need to be tourists in our own backyard, you know, because there's so much to sit and do, isn't there?

Emma Lovell 29:51

Yeah, someone comes to visit and they're like, oh, have you I went here and I did this and I did that, and you're like, oh, no, what that is? Yeah, we said that.

29:58

He's like, Oh, my husband's like. Oh, I've never been to the aquarium. I'm like, neither have I. We need to do that. It's very basic. Let's do that.

Emma Lovell 30:05

Well, I lived there and I never went, and then I moved away and I came back, and so that's hilarious. And yes, the penguins there are very cute. It is a good aquarium, easy to access, but we get caught up in in life, and, you know, but that that little activity to go and do, that little thing, you will feel like you're traveling, and you can have those eyes on and that, like, wow, look at that new building. Oh, isn't it a nice day? Like, yeah, that's the having the the traveler eyes. So I'm sure you've, you've you've been able to, but there's part of it also that is the self care, and you don't want to be going and doing these things, like playing so hard that you don't actually even get to enjoy it. So and you know, when we're thriving, we've gotta make sure that, yeah, we're not just surviving. So part of

30:59

thriving is not just about business success, and that's what everyone seems to forget, right? It's not about hustle, hustle. Hustle thriving is about what does success look like to you, and are all the parts of your life complete? It's not like you're doing so well in business, but you have broken relationships. You're doing so well in business that you're not having the ability for flexibility doing so well in business, but you've forgotten to have any fun, like, that's just boring, you know? So, to

Emma Lovell 31:23

me to

31:24

bed every night, because collapsing into bed every night. So thriving, to me, is actually a more well rounded view of life versus it's not just about thriving in one element. Yeah, that's why, you know, like, I take people through the wheel of life exercise and like, where's the balance? Are you getting the balance so and, and I'm not a life coach. I am actually a business coach, but life happens. And I was on a call with one of my clients today, and she's like, I just didn't get to this. I'm like, it's fine. You're in a season. It doesn't matter. We can pick it up again. Now, if we do that three times in a row, we'll be having a different conversation. But, like, it's just one, one session. I mean, yeah, yeah.

Emma Lovell 32:02

And when, you know, in terms of that seasons as well, you have, you know, you said your child was three when you started, now they're 10, so that's print season. So like, what does that look like for you?

32:15

And Well, see, we took her on her first overseas holiday when she was five. So we went to Berlin, and we went to Switzerland, and we went to England, and it's hilarious, because you'll get into a lifting because, hey, mummy, remember that time in Berlin? I'm like, it's so funny. And so the next iteration for us, I'm all about flexibility, right? Because my husband's a school teacher, so we have school holidays off, and we have a big break over Christmas, and we've got a holiday place at a beach, and we just go down there, and it's delightful. And next year, we've decided to go to, I've got some clients in New York, I've got some clients in Canada. So we're going to go and do a little travel, travel, and that will be amazing. And she'll be 11, and that will be amazing for her, the experience of just coming on, getting on a plane, doing a long haul flight, all the fun and excitement of that, also all the throwing up because my I don't travel very well, and neither does my daughter. So there's that as well, which does actually put me off travel a little bit. M So I won't lie right two hours in the car and I'm cactus. So you know, you gotta make sure that you're you're up for it, but we're so excited about that, and that will be another one of our family trips. But I'm not prepared to give up flexibility for that, like I'll do that as well as because the facts is really important to me,

Emma Lovell 33:35

yeah, but that's totally the pleasure. Like having your reason to go and getting to see those clients, and then taking family, I think that's that combo, and making it work for you. And I guess my only top tip to you will be like planning those down days. So

33:53

no, right? And my husband is proud of that. My husband in when we went to Berlin, so she was three, so you know, she's like, little, no, she wasn't sorry. She was five when we went. It's just before lockdowns happened anyway. And my husband was like, I'm in the city. I want to see everything. And I'm like, I'm knackered. I'm going to take Evie back to the hotel room. We're going to sit there for a few hours. You knock yourself out. I just need to rest. And so it's interesting, because you travel differently with partners when you travel on your own, right? So, yeah, we've got that, yeah. And children, it was

Emma Lovell 34:25

so interesting. See, we went to Italy in August with friends, and they were a couple, and they don't have children yet, and they were like, you know, we would go and do stuff together, and then it would be like, four o'clock or something. We'd be like, Oh, we're going to go back. And they're like, Oh, we're going to go explore. Like, you sure you want to do this? And we, there was one day we were going to go hire a boat and go out. And I just kept suggesting things. I suggested this walk to the god, the walk of the gods. I wanted to do it for years. I just woke up and I was, I thought, I can't do it. I'm so supported. And I said, you guys, go. So I just kept, like, going, we should do this. And then, oh, actually, I'm gonna bail, but you two have fun back, like, late every day and so. And then come, like, a week in, my friend was so exhausted. Yes, she they had a day where they had like, 20 minute gap because they had decided to stay, like, we're gonna go for a swim. Why are you standing? We're like, um, we're just going to catch an earlier ferry. And, you know, we had a leisurely lunch. We got back to the hotel, and they were like, the later ferry was totally packed. It happened earlier. And we're sort of, we're just like, We can't risk meltdown, exhaustion. Yes, simply didn't want to as well. It's like, we've had a good time. We've had enough. Yes, lovely hotel. We're going back. Yeah. And she was just so fatigued. And I was like, Babe, just stay in bed.

35:48

It's okay. No one feels like they can, EMS, do they because they're like, I'll miss things. Who cares? You're embedded in a beautiful city. Who cares?

Emma Lovell 35:57

Yeah, look out the beautiful window. But you're like, you're so it was so stressful. You're so exhausted because you're trying to squeeze more in. Yeah, did have the energy. Whereas I'm like, think about future Emma. Like, future Emma is going to pay for these. So I feel okay, but I don't want to get to a point where I'm not coping. And that is the only benefit of, at that time, having very low energy as well. Yeah, that is the the benefit of having a time where you haven't been thriving to go like that. And so, I mean, now you don't want

36:34

the holiday to get over the holiday like that's not a holiday. To me, you should come back from your holiday feeling refreshed. And if you're not doing that, your holiday wrong or, you know, each to their own right. But I'm like, I go on a holiday to actually have a holiday,

Emma Lovell 36:48

yeah, and just that buffer, not so great. Sometimes it's been a learning, slow and long learning.

36:56

I get everything right, Emma, so you can learn as you go.

Emma Lovell 36:59

I've got, yes, I've got a few more years to go. But I'm going to ask you one more question before we wrap up today, and that is my favorite question that I ask everybody. And that is, what does living a life you love look like now? Like to start with the easy and end with the easy? Yeah,

37:19

okay. I mean, I feel, I feel I was saying to my husband this morning on our walk, I feel very blessed with our current situation, life as it stands, right? I've worked really hard, and sometimes I've worked too hard. I've burnt the candle at both ends. Hustle, hustle, hustle. I'm not in that stage of life anymore. I've got time that I can spend with Evie, I've got time that I can spend with my husband, I've got alone time, I've got friends. So I'm like, I feel like it's just very lovely and balanced, and I feel very content. And someone asked me on another podcast, are you always happy? And I'm like, I mean, I have some days where I'm not happy, but majority pretty happy. Actually, I'm just an optimistic person. That's just who I am. And so I feel really content on where we are, and I don't feel the need to rush anything. I don't feel the need to slow anything down. I'm just like being present, which is just awesome, man, yeah, and I think that's all I like. Is that for me? Right? Yeah. And

Emma Lovell 38:22

that's the the now question, because you can ask yourself that every day, and you can check in point, it's like, you know, and whether it's the word, is, you know, happy, or is it, am I living what I love, or do I feel successful? Whatever I mean, success feels like a point, but it's like, it's just a question. And then you go, do I and then if you don't, we can do something with it, right? What's okay? Well, what am I not loving or, you know, part of it for me is spending time with my husband and son, and I'm sitting over here going, Oh, they're making so much noise over there. And it's like, well, that's not really loving our life. So it's like, what's Why am I feeling frustrated with the noise that

38:59

they're making? Yeah, what's going on for me there?

Emma Lovell 39:01

Mm, what needs to start is it, do I need to have some time by myself? Or do I need to, like, put down what I'm doing, or let go of this, you know, and then, or, you know, it's just a, it's such a nice little check in, and it's really to go, okay, yeah, like, cool. We can plan for the future. We can get excited about that, and we can look, but, like, right now, in this moment. Is this what I want? Yeah, yeah.

39:23

I think it's a great question to ask yourself, because I think we just get wrapped up in our whole stack of other stuff, right, and where we don't necessarily think about it. I mean, after day with the queen, I stood on stage with Farah, Nicole and Jane, and I was just, I was thanking them for just being with me. And it was the first time in a long time where I've gone, oh, I quite like this collaboration thing. I quite like working with other people. Is that's what, you know, like, what was going through. My third is, is this what's missing? Is it missing? And so I had to just do some deep thinking about it after day with the queen. And I thought, You know what, I'm ready for collaborating. I. Think I'm good. So I think, you know, even though I'm content, have I got some things that I want to do absolutely? Have I found my new big, big word for next year? Yes, I have you heard it here first? There

Emma Lovell 40:11

you go. Well, yeah, and that's you can be yes, you can have contentment while still having ambition. Correct?

40:19

That can live together, yeah,

Emma Lovell 40:22

and that's that I've you don't want to always be like, Thank you Next, thank you next, thank you next. So there's that sitting in celebration, but also, especially when you achieve a big goal. I mean this with the book, like there is a come down, or a yes, a sort of energetic because it's just a big it's an ending, like the big project, even though it goes on. But you, you know, you've had this thing that you've worked towards, and it's finished, yeah? Come down. And so, you know, just the way my approach to holidays, what's the best way to get over the holiday blues book, another holiday, yeah, like that. Have another goal, you know? And it might be a tomorrow goal. It could be a five year goal or a one year goal, or a, you know? Yeah, rest today and I'll do that tomorrow, but it's something, it's anticipation and looking forward to and purpose, yeah? Well,

41:10

you know what? As I'm reading your book, I'm like, GMs has a lot of energy. I don't know if I have that much energy, right?

Emma Lovell 41:19

I've broke busted that myth. Because when you Yeah, together, you okay,

41:24

I know, I know, but you know, that's just in a moment, right? But when I could, I could feel your energy and your vibe in the book, and I'm like, oh, to have that much energy. But I thought it was awesome. I think it's terrific. You've done an amazing job. It's just such an effort writing a book, and no one knows, and I'm so glad that you're still talking about it, because as soon as I wrote go getter, and it released to the world, I mean, my book launch was planned for March 2020, we all know what happened there. But you know, as soon as it was launched to the world, I'm like, never want to see the book again. I fell back in love with it. But you know, as you go through it, you're like, painstakingly, you know, all the edits and all the you know, you know how it is, but you've done an amazing job. Thank

Emma Lovell 42:06

you. And I guess a bit like childbirth, I think I heard that many horror stories, and there was so much that I was prepared for the like to not in a way like, but maybe going through some challenges in the like through it I was ready for it, but I don't know. I think it's the shared joy and having shared celebration. And I thank you for sharing in it with me, every person that shares it back, because that's why we write a book, to be read and to have actually read it, and we don't know it's not a business card. It's we want it to be helpful. Otherwise, what's did you do it for?

42:48

Exactly? Exactly? Why? Why would you do it if you didn't want to get it out in the world? I hear you. I hear you. Where's that? What's next stop for you? For the book? Where are you going next?

Emma Lovell 42:58

Adelaide? They want to do a subtle plug. It's probably going to be the round the week that we this episode comes out, yes, so it'll be the 20th of November in Adelaide. And yes, I'm percolating on way to make to do more next year in an easier way. So

43:19

yes, but how

Emma Lovell 43:20

can we roll that out a little bit more easily and a little bit more energy conserving? It's a lot, yeah, but, but I do have a lot of fun with it. So, yeah, you know. And I know that the book is, is a form of business card. It's not the only thing, but I know that I'm the best business card. Yeah, totally. I get the energy from it. But like you said, it's what's the support structures in place, and what's the village around that? And what does that look like? But timing and planning, you know, that's also a huge part of it. And I was very reactive. I've been very reactive. I'm really looking forward to stepping into being proactive. So that's, yeah, that's a very as I said, I really admire the the strategy and the future vision and the I have a card on my table that says there's all the time in the world, and it hasn't felt like that. So yes, that like there is time and space. Yes, if we have time and space, what does it look like and very different? That's

44:25

a good question. Actually, if we have the time and space, what does that look like? Because would you do it differently? Would would it? Would it happen differently? You know, yes,

Emma Lovell 44:35

yeah, in between, how can we find you? And thriving women is open just for another, oh, just over a month or so, two

44:45

weeks by time everyone gets this episode, yeah, um, well, you can find me at Instagram, at Emma R McQueen, or just on LinkedIn I'm floating around, or just at Emma mcqueen.com.au,

Emma Lovell 44:57

love it. Love it. Thank

44:58

you so much for having. Me, you're such a little legend. Love it.

Emma Lovell 45:03

Well, I love that collab. That collab note is pinned so

45:07

I knew I noticed it as I said it, you

Emma Lovell 45:10

my eyes, you're like, you're like, yes, but there's time in the room. Yes, this time. How

45:18

about next week? I love it.

Emma Lovell 45:22

Thank you, Emma.

45:23

Thank you, darling.

Emma Lovell 45:26

Thank you for listening. Lovell one. I hope this has inspired you to dream big and start creating a life you love. Today, if you love what you're hearing, don't forget to follow and rate on Spotify and rate review and subscribe on iTunes. It helps other awesome people to find this podcast and get motivated and inspired as well. Want to stay connected, come and join the live a life you love, group on Facebook or connect with me on Instagram. Emma lovell.au the same as my website, but all the details are in the show notes. Lovely. I'll see you. Next episode for more inspiration, motivation and freedom, seeking. Now go out there and live a life you love you.