ep. 022 • What Does a Printer (& New Underwear) Have to Do With Success?

Chelsea Stevenson: Welcome to another episode here on the Hennapreneur podcast. Today I am sharing a little bit of storytime with you all about how a simple household printer totally changed my perspective and not only how I view myself, but also how I view my business. So let's jump right in.

Welcome to the Hennapreneur podcast – the exclusive podcast of its kind dedicated to giving you an honest look at the realities of making a living as a henna professional.

I'm your host, Chelsea Stevenson, a tea-loving, shoe-collecting mother of three in constant search for the most popping pair of earrings and the perfect shade of red lipstick.

I'm also a professional henna artist and business strategist who went from barely being able to piece together a fluid design to being the owner of the most celebrated henna boutique in my city.

I'm on a mission to help henna professionals, to harness their skills and grow vibrant, profitable businesses that they absolutely love.

If you want to make more money with your art, you are definitely in the right place. Let's get to it!

Hey, hey, hennapreneurs! Okay. So, last summer, I made the decision to join a program to help push myself a little bit outside of my comfort zone and to try to lean into a better iteration of me. And so there I was minding my own damn business, making my way through the coursework and my coach has the nerve to ask what makes me feel poor.

Now, hold the phone, okay? Let me, let me, let me just— I'm going to pause right here because now I'm going to have to tell you how I went about showing my whole behind for weeks on end after being prompted with that question. But first here's the storytime, okay? So I'm the type of person that enjoys pen to paper processing when I'm unpacking things or journaling or mind mapping, right?

Like, I am the type of person that likes to get my ideas out of my body, out of my mind, and put them on paper because that's how I'm the most effective. So naturally, as I'm working through my coursework, I go to hit print — to download and print off this PDF so that I can start journaling around, you know, the work that I was doing. So I call out to my eldest and I ask him to bring me the pages from the printer and he comes into the room and he brings half of the pages with him. And these pages look crazy. Like, when I say they look crazy, they look crazy. Like, they're janky. They're like sideways. Like, they're half printed on properly. It was just a hot mess okay? So I thank him. Like, I look at the pages and I'm like, "Okay, thanks." I'm like, "You know, there should be like three more pages here." And he's like, "Well, Mom, that's all there was." And so I'm like, "Can you go back and double-check the printer, please?" And so he goes back to my office and he revisits the printer and he's like, "Mom! It's jammed!" and I was.... When I say I was triggered AF, y'all, I mean it.

So like, here's the thing. Let me give you some context, okay? I remember buying that printer. When I bought that printer, I bought it brand new. It was around $70. And these things, I remember them because they were significant. Like, they were very significant to me back then. Back then, that was serious bread that I was spending. And it really cost me to make that purchase. Purchasing the printer was one of my first business investments, actually. I purchased that printer when my son was tiny. Like, it's been around for years. Nine years, actually, at that point. And, you know, it's supported me through those years — both in my business’ operations and in homeschooling my children. And, you know, in short, that jawn has put in work, okay? And it had been, like, on its last leg. So I knew that it was, you know, it was becoming time. But also I'd been putting off replacing it. Why? I don't know. Like, I couldn't give you a solid answer but there I am, all right? There I am. I'm trying to print off these pages so I can write the things down about, you know, what makes me feel poor and this broke-ass printer won't even let me create and complete these pages! It's not even delivering me the pages that I need so that I can do the work. And the irony of that all just kind of like knocked me right across the face. And I just have to say like, listen, when I say I went off, I mean it. Like, I was pissed.

So I take to the internet and within moments, um, which of course I had to do a couple of Google searches because let's face it, I don't know a thing about printers. Like, I'm a tech person for sure. I could build you a website in like 20 minutes, but I don't know a thing about printers. And purchasing that printer way back when was, literally, that was the first time I'd ever purchased a printer. And I was very limited in what I could afford. And so I bought what was best at the time, but even then I was kind of going in blind, right?

So there I am, you know, like I said, I take to the internet and within moments I've got this new printer in my shopping cart. And that bad boy, when I tell you that bad boy had ALL the bells and whistles!  Like, ALL the bells and whistles. And at $400 of an investment, I'm feeling, like, all the come up vibes as I'm side eying my old printer. Like, I'm looking at the busted thing and I'm like, "You 'bout to get replaced today, you know?" So here I am doing this, like, work around my money mindset and whatnot and I'm just like ready to, I don't know, do this victory dance 'cause I'm just thinking, you know what? That damn printer, it's done. It is done making me feel poor. And that's when I just went all the way in. Like, all the way in.

I tossed out and replaced a bunch of household items that gave me those feelings of being poor or inconvenienced or unworthy of having better, right? Like, down to the simplest items. I purchased a can opener and an ice cream scoop because the ones that I had were, like, rusty and busted or otherwise made me feel poor.

I remember giving my husband a list of tasks to be done around the house by that Friday. I'm like, "Listen, there's paint touch-ups that need to be done. There's moving of some things that needs to happen. And like, there are some other items that I need to see be taken care of so that I can feel more happy and so that I can feel less poor in my space."

I went through my wardrobe. Oh my gosh, I remember removing all of, like, frumpy house clothes and you know exactly what I'm talking about, right? You always have that, like, drawer of clothes that you revisit often and it's like your house clothes and you put them on and they're super comfortable. But also if you walk by a mirror, you avoid making eye contact with yourself because you don't feel good in them, right? And they don't make you feel like your best self. So yeah, I removed all of the frumpy house clothes that had, you know, evaded my last purge on the grounds of being like "but maybe I'll need that sometime." Ah-ah! Nope. I'm a grown ass woman and I can wear pajama sets and cute home lounge clothes now. I don't need frumpy house clothes. Period.

I remember that I even went so far that at that point is when I chose to start outsourcing meal planning and grocery ordering to save myself time. And I even went so far as finding, you know, an on-call housekeeper who I could lean on when I needed more support in keeping the house better maintained. I wanted to have a space that was better maintained where I could feel comfortable and feel like I can breathe. I'm the type of person that I really don't like clutter. And once my home space is cluttered, like, I get into when I say a mood, I mean it. Like, I'm in a horrible funk. I'm not productive. And I just don't perform at my best. And I definitely don't show up as my best self for my family.

Listen, by the time I'd made it through all of the journaling around what makes me feel poor and how I can step into this better version of myself, I'd created a list with 15 different action items that I needed to do, or to have done if I was outsourcing, to take back my environment and to really recharge it with focused and wealth-inspired energy. And I have to tell you, looking back at that exercise and looking back at making those changes and taking those actions, it felt really great to check each of those items off of that list. And I remember, like, saving the best task for last. I had made a homework for myself. One of the tasks that I wanted to do was I wanted to revisit my closet and I wanted to buy myself three new pairs of shoes and to buy some new art to hang in my home. Like, I wanted to be surrounded by more beauty and I wanted to, you know, give myself— I was going to say gift to myself, but actually, it wasn't even a gift. I was deserving of purchasing new shoes. And it was one of those things that I continued to put off. And I'll talk to you guys a little bit about shoes and how that all relates to my own money story and whatnot on another day. But this was something that was a fun piece of homework and it felt like a reward, but truly it was me taking action to better tap into, you know, this better version of me. One that felt like she was showing up as her best self.

So what does any of this have to do with henna? I'm sure you're like, what on earth? I appreciate the story, but like, what's this have to do with me? Y'all, it has everything to do with henna, okay? Listen, y'all know how I feel about our actions being indicative of our aspiration. But behind that all there is something else. You have to understand that our mindset impacts our actions, okay? So for me, I went into that exercise and into that experience hoping to actively work towards being more intentional about what things, people, and practices were allowed inside of my space and thus be able to influence my mindset, right?

So for me, what does that look like? My aspirations include creating wealth, period. Okay? So my mindset needs to be aligned with that and my environment should support that mindset as well.

So for me, my personal agenda became to, you know, make changes which would allow for an environment that would be more charged with abundance. That meant getting rid of things that were inconvenient or uncomfortable or otherwise making me feel poor.

So, if nothing else, what I kinda want you to take from this is that if you are wanting to build a business, right? If you're wanting to build a business that generates wealth, if your goal is to harness this skillset that you have and you want to make money doing it, you're not going to do that as your best self if you're showing up in every other area of your life as less than. You are not less than. You are deserving of everything that you want. You are deserving of everything that you desire and you totally have the right to have those things. Period. Like there's no discussion here, okay? But sometimes we need someone to remind us of that.

And for me, having someone remind me of that in such a stark way, asking me, "Okay, Chelsea, what's going on in your life right now? What about your environment right now? What about your experience right now makes you feel poor? Like, that was a question that I was not anticipating, but it was a question that was really valuable and it really changed my perspectives around what I would continue to allow for myself moving forward.

And so I share that with you because if your aspirations are like mine, which if you're here as a Hennapreneur, I assume that they are quite similar, right? You've got these big audacious goals around your art and your business, okay? Well, your mindset needs to be aligned with that. You cannot expect to make money with a mindset that's framed around, or that constantly is giving, you know, thought to poverty or placing you in experiences where you feel less than. That cannot be a part of the equation, okay? Your environment should support the mindset that is going to create that environment for you to chase those aspirations feeling authentic and feeling well-supported.

 And so, if that's not clear—like, if it isn't clear—this is me right now saying: Hey hennapreneur friend! Listen, this is your permission to go and buy that thing that's been in your cart for weeks that you've been putting off because you were saying "I'm not worthy" or you were saying, "I'll get it later" or "the kids needed something first" or "now is not the right time." Listen, I'm telling this to you, and specifically, if it's something that is to replace something else that exists in your life right now that is inconvenient or that is uncomfortable or that is otherwise making you feel poor, get rid of that trash and purchase the thing that you need because you know what? In doing that small action, and again, it doesn't have to be some huge investment, okay? It doesn't have to be the $400 printer. It doesn't have to be the Christian Louboutin shoes. You don't have to replace your vehicle here.

Literally, for me, some of those items that I went in and replaced were as simple as the can opener and the ice cream scoop and a whole lot of new lingerie, if I'm being honest. But, I mean, let's be real, right? When you show up in the world with the good, you know, with good negligee—right?—with good unmentionables under your clothing, you step into the room with a whole 'nother sense of confidence. And so what does that do? That allows for you to take actions that perhaps you would be more shy to take or perhaps you would, you know, come into yourself and retract and choose not to put yourself out there because that confidence was lacking.

No, no, no, no, no. Buy you some new unmentionables so that you can step into the world and really embody the greatness that's in you and allow for that confidence and for those small investments to send those messages to your brain to send those messages to your subconscious about how you are deserving and how you are worthy and how your actions are aligned with your aspirations of creating more money, of creating more wealth, of creating a different experience with your business, okay?

 So with that, I'd love to ask, you know, in what ways are you pushing yourself to make your life experience better aligned with your wealthy aspirations? I want you to roll that question around for yourself and really take inventory of what those answers are. And if you are not doing that right now, then I want to challenge you to do so. I want to challenge you to ask yourself "In what ways can I reaffirm my availability for abundance and my willingness to receive that abundance? and "In what ways can I better embody the alignment between my actions and my aspirations?" As you are moving into your next goals.

Okay, so with that, I will jump off of here. I've told you entirely too much with this storytime, but I hope that my experience with this printer and with this ice cream scoop and with my good old—my good new, I should say —lingerie, I hope that this context gives you also a little bit of a push in the direction towards, you know, allowing yourself to enjoy the things that you deserve and also allowing yourself to affirm and reaffirm the abundance and your willingness to be in alignment with that abundance and your openness to receiving that abundance. And of course, you know, having that willingness to take the actions that are going to align with where you'd like to go, not necessarily perhaps where you are today, but where you'd like to go as well because it's so, so, so important for you to have that alignment in yourself, in your life, and then ultimately in your business as well.

Are you working with me inside of Hennapreneur PRO? If not, what are you waiting for? Go to Hennapreneur.com/pro to join. Inside of the program, you get all of the guidance, motivation, and strategies that you need to start or scale your own 5-figure business as a henna professional.

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Listen, when it comes to operating a thriving henna business, there are so many systems, strategies, and techniques that you likely haven't considered, much less implemented, and I can't wait to teach them all to you, placing you on the fast track for the success that you've been dreaming of. If you're committed to your vision of owning a business as a bonafide hennapreneur, then I'm committed to showing you exactly how to do it. Go to Hennapreneur.com/pro to join. I can't wait to see you and to support you inside!