0:27

Hi , I'm Rita Suzanne , and today I

0:29

have my guest , alexis Underwood

0:31

, with me . Thank you so much for joining

0:33

us , Alexis . I'm so excited to

0:35

chat with you . Please tell everyone

0:38

all about you , your family and

0:40

your business .

0:42

Hi , thanks so much for having me . I'm so excited to be here

0:44

. My name is Alexis Underwood

0:47

. I own Alexis Underwood Design Studio

0:49

. I am a brand strategist

0:51

and a website designer , but I'm also , in

0:53

the time that I'm not working , a mama to two

0:55

and a wife and a little

0:58

bit of a wanderer . We are

1:00

a small RV living

1:02

family right now . So that's

1:04

like a very quick snapshot about

1:06

who I am and what we're doing right now

1:08

.

1:09

Yeah , I love it . It's in , especially because

1:12

you're you're unschooling

1:14

, which I am so interested

1:16

in . Like , what does that mean ? How

1:18

is that different from homeschooling ? Like

1:20

, what is that ?

1:22

So I take a little bit more

1:24

of a hands off approach with education

1:26

. We still do a lot of learning my kids , but

1:28

it's a little bit more kid

1:30

led . So if my kids want to learn

1:33

numbers , today , we're going to do math . If they want to bake

1:35

, today , we're going to bake and they're getting

1:37

hands-on experience . And they're still they're five and

1:39

six , so they're still really young but I'm

1:41

kind of letting them take the initiative

1:43

to , one , learn how to learn and

1:45

two , to show me what they're interested in

1:47

doing . I was homeschooled myself all growing

1:50

up . I highly recommend it and I loved being homeschooled

1:52

, but I spent a lot of time being

1:54

nailed to my kitchen table and I

1:56

just don't necessarily feel like at this age

1:58

, especially where my kids are at that there

2:00

needs to be a lot of heavy curriculum time

2:02

, totally , totally a time and place for that , depending

2:04

on what you're doing . But for us

2:07

we just wanted something that was a little more flexible and

2:09

also I'm running a business and so it's

2:11

a lot easier for me to do my work and kind

2:13

of facilitate some playful learning

2:15

, rather than that structured

2:18

, school-like environment

2:20

. Um , so it just it works really well

2:22

for us right now . I'm enjoying it and so

2:24

are the kids for the most part .

2:27

I could see . I could see how that would work um

2:29

really well for those ages specifically

2:31

. I could see how that would work really well for those ages specifically

2:33

. Yeah , so tell us , how did you

2:36

end up starting your business ?

2:43

How did you get into design ? So

2:46

this actually is something that I stumbled upon while I was doing another business

2:48

. I , like many women , started very , very early on in the

2:50

selling different things affiliate

2:53

MLM space , and we all start somewhere

2:55

. I'm not totally proud of that moment , but

2:58

from there I started to really

3:00

dabble and investigate in other business

3:02

models and other creative endeavors

3:04

, and I was so inspired by all these women

3:06

I saw online doing creative things that they actually

3:08

love to do and they were making money

3:11

doing it . And so when

3:13

I became a mom for

3:15

the first time , I decided to become a stay-at-home

3:17

parent for the first time . I'd always worked in medicine

3:19

in the past and I loved what I did

3:21

, but I couldn't really figure out how I was going

3:23

to . It didn't make sense in my mind to

3:26

pay for my kids to be taken care of by somebody else

3:28

, for me to gross maybe 10%

3:30

of my paycheck per month , because I was paying all of it

3:32

for kid care and I wanted to be home

3:34

with my babies . So I

3:36

decided to explore some things

3:38

that I loved doing and

3:41

in my time I started creating jewelry

3:43

that had encouraging and

3:45

inspiring phrases on it and my kids'

3:47

birthdays and things like that and I shared it online

3:49

and that totally

3:51

blew up really quickly and kind

3:53

of became a business that I began to love

3:56

. I realized there were a lot of people

3:58

that were doing something similar to what I was doing

4:00

and so I kind of began

4:02

dabbling in breast milk jewelry and

4:04

ash jewelry and things like that , which is a

4:07

very unique , very niche industry

4:09

. It kind of coincided with what I was doing already

4:11

and so I could kind of continue to share

4:14

that passion of creative jewelry making

4:16

. But it was a lot more niche and

4:18

it allowed me to serve a market of

4:20

women that were kind of underserved

4:23

. There's not a lot of that kind of work

4:25

being created . There are a few amazing jewelers

4:27

, but it was . It was very niche . So it was easy for me to

4:29

grow that way and I loved

4:31

the business . I loved it . But

4:33

I slowly started to realize that I wanted

4:36

to be doing my website stuff and sending

4:38

people emails and designing postcards

4:40

and doing all of the backend stuff in my

4:43

business , rather than actually doing the

4:45

jewelry creating anymore . And

4:47

I tried to push through it and I realized

4:49

you know what , like , my creativity needs

4:52

to be creative . I can't fulfill orders and

4:55

get my creativity from there and I'm not able to

4:57

pour in that same energy into

4:59

what I had originally started and what I was able to

5:01

do in the past . So when we went to

5:03

sell our very big house and move into

5:06

280 square feet of RV

5:08

, I realized that there was absolutely no way

5:10

that business was going to fit into

5:13

my tiny RV because

5:15

I had a whole studio of workspace for this

5:17

jewelry company . So I took the push

5:19

and I just said you know what ? We're going to pivot , we're going to try this

5:21

. I am completely self-taught , but

5:23

I love helping people figure

5:26

out how to find their unique space in the industry

5:28

, in their industry , how to put their own

5:30

unique spin on their business , how to let their

5:32

personality shine , how to connect with people that they

5:35

actually enjoy connecting with in business

5:37

, so that they're not feeling like it's a drain

5:40

to interact with people all the time . They're actually enlivened

5:42

and excited to interact with their clients

5:45

and to talk to their customers and things

5:47

like that . And so I

5:49

made the pivot and I announced and I think

5:51

I um , I got

5:54

a client within like the first week of announcing

5:56

that I was switching my business and I just kind

5:58

of was like all right , this is , this

6:00

is where we're going , and it's kind of . I've just kind of

6:02

pivoted and taken off from there .

6:05

I love it . I love it . So this

6:07

episode is about finding

6:09

the joy in your business . So tell us more

6:11

, a little bit more about that . Like , how do

6:13

you feel like people can

6:16

find the joy in their business ? Because I think that

6:18

a lot of times , you know , the effort

6:20

is really focused on . I

6:23

always say , all the time people start businesses

6:25

because they want to have time and

6:27

financial freedom typically right . So

6:30

obviously , if we could find joy in

6:33

our business , that would be a nice side

6:35

effect as well .

6:37

Absolutely . I fully believe that

6:40

there are so many opportunities

6:42

for entrepreneurship out there . If you're doing something

6:44

you enjoy , that's amazing , and if you're not

6:46

, there's room to pivot and

6:48

either dramatically and drastically

6:51

or just make those little pivots in

6:53

a way that allows you to feel like you're more

6:55

aligned , make you feel more energized

6:57

and more excited to show up in your business . Obviously

7:00

it's work , but it's something

7:02

that , if you can find whatever

7:04

about it , lights you up and focus

7:06

on that and then hands the other things

7:08

off , outsource the other things or choose

7:10

not to do the things that are draining to you . For

7:12

me , I'm an introvert you would never know because

7:15

I show up on social media very excitedly and

7:17

I'm very excited when I talk with my clients , and that

7:19

is genuine . However , I

7:21

very much need my time to step away and

7:23

so , for me , I don't do a lot of live

7:26

videos unless they're in my courses , and I don't

7:28

do a lot of reels because , to me , video

7:30

is just very draining for me energetically

7:33

, and so

7:35

I choose to post and I choose to send emails

7:37

and I choose to be in the DMs and I will voice message

7:39

somebody for two and a half hours in

7:41

the middle of the daytime if they want to ping pong back and

7:43

forth and talk , but I

7:45

will not show up on video and that's just something that I've

7:48

learned to create a boundary for myself . I know that

7:50

that's not something that I , that

7:52

I feel excited to do and that really

7:54

drains me and affects and ripples the rest of my

7:56

business and the way that I'm able to show

7:58

up everywhere else . And so I think , finding

8:00

your boundaries of what

8:02

feels good for you and finding the boundaries of

8:04

what doesn't , and kind of drawing those lines

8:07

and then just leaning into what works

8:09

, because there's a million people out there

8:11

looking for something that somebody

8:13

has to offer , for what you have to offer

8:15

, like whatever , whatever you're doing in your

8:17

business , there's somebody that needs you and there's somebody

8:19

that aligns similarly to who you

8:22

are and how you're comfortable showing up authentically

8:24

. So if it doesn't feel good

8:26

, don't force it because somebody else

8:28

is out there doing something that feels good to them . That's , that's

8:31

different . Does that make sense ?

8:33

No , it does , and I love that you say

8:36

you know , using the video as an example

8:38

, because a lot of people are

8:40

, you know , will share , like you have to be

8:42

on video in order to

8:44

promote your business and

8:47

as long as you're promoting your business

8:49

and whatever you're doing is working for

8:51

you , I

8:56

think that that's you know , that that's . That's good enough , right ? Because a lot of times

8:58

people , especially introverted females

9:01

, are afraid to actually promote

9:03

themselves online and

9:06

that doesn't mean that they have to do it by

9:08

video , right ? It just means that you

9:11

need to do some type of promotion . It

9:13

doesn't matter if it's on video , you

9:15

just need to do something . And

9:17

I love that you use that as an example , because

9:20

if I'm saying like , put yourself out

9:22

there , that doesn't necessarily mean

9:24

get out there on a million videos and

9:27

live stream till

9:29

your heart's content . So I

9:31

love that example . So

9:34

, because you have your

9:37

little ones with you and I remember

9:39

back when I started doing my

9:42

business and I had my littles

9:44

they were , I think , four and six

9:46

and it was . You know , I was doing

9:48

design back then and I just remember how

9:50

challenging it was trying to

9:52

design a website or a brand

9:54

with my with me . So how do

9:56

you juggle that , in

9:59

addition to being in such a confined

10:01

space ?

10:03

You know that looks like something

10:06

different every day for me . There

10:09

are small sacrifices that I'm making now

10:11

to continue to grow my business , that I know

10:13

that probably won't be something that I do for

10:15

the long haul , but

10:17

I get up super , super early in the morning

10:19

. My husband leaves or he gets up at 4am

10:22

and I get up at 4am and my kids sleep till 7 . And

10:24

so I mean , do I love it ? No

10:26

, am I a morning person ? No , do I still

10:28

get up and do some work in the morning , cause it's the only uninterrupted

10:31

time I'm going to get all day . Yeah , and

10:33

you know , in the evening sometimes we put a family movie

10:36

on and I will totally sit down and hang out

10:38

and snuggle , but I might be messaging somebody or

10:40

I might be on Pinterest , scrolling on my phone coming

10:42

up with an idea for a strategy for a

10:44

client or something like that . So I kind of

10:46

try to fit it in where I'm able to . And

10:49

then , um , you know I

10:51

multitask a lot , but

10:54

, uh , you know I try to carve out as much time

10:56

as I can . My husband has been amazing

10:58

and he started to , as he's noticed

11:00

, like some substantial growth in my business . He started

11:02

to be more , not that he wasn't

11:04

before , but he's more of a team player now . He's

11:06

like , oh , you need some time to work . Okay , go go

11:08

to a coffee shop for a couple hours in the morning on Saturday

11:11

. And I'm like , okay . So you know

11:13

, just it's , it's a family dynamic , it's

11:15

a team effort . Everybody knows my kids

11:17

are out there watching a movie right now and I told them

11:19

hey , I'm going to be on an important phone call . This is

11:21

the only phone call I have today . You need

11:23

to not interrupt me for a little bit of time . They have

11:25

snacks , movie , movie , and

11:27

you know we just it's , it's a whole

11:29

, it's a team effort , like the whole family kind of plays

11:32

, plays their role and I do what I can to keep

11:34

it as minimally affecting them

11:36

as possible , and then you know we all kind

11:38

of work together on it , I guess

11:40

yeah , I love that .

11:42

I remember , um , my ex-husband . He

11:44

would always say , like , okay

11:47

, we're gonna pick a day and you can

11:49

go to the library or you can

11:51

go to the coffee shop or wherever , and

11:53

I'll watch , you know , I'll be

11:55

here with them and you can just go . And it

11:57

was so great because I

12:01

just remember the freedom in that and just

12:03

and just feeling like I could

12:05

actually , you know , do things without

12:08

having a million requests at the same

12:10

time , like , can I have juice ? Or you

12:17

know , because even if he would , be there

12:19

, they would still come to me as the

12:21

default . Yeah , that's , you know , I guess , the thing

12:23

. So let's talk a little bit about branding

12:25

, you

12:30

know , because obviously that's one of my favorite things to talk about and it seems like

12:32

it's one of your favorite things to talk about as well . What is ? What do you

12:34

feel like is one of the most important

12:36

factors for a business as

12:39

far as a brand goes ?

12:43

I think I typically work

12:45

with personal brands or somebody that is a

12:47

solopreneur behind the

12:49

face of a brand like a business

12:51

name , and in my

12:53

opinion , one of the most important things to do

12:55

to actually create a long lasting

12:58

brand that's successful is

13:00

to show up in a way that feels aligned

13:02

with who you are as a person and is authentic

13:05

to who you are For me . I

13:07

am an RV mom . I am a casual

13:09

mama . Yes , I have professional photos

13:11

because I absolutely believe in putting myself

13:13

out there professionally and my business is aesthetic

13:16

based , so I want my photos to look nice . But

13:18

if you hop into my DMs , I'm going to voice

13:20

message you and my kid might be asking for a snack in the

13:22

background and that's just like . That's

13:24

just the way it is and I'm not going to fight it and I'm not

13:27

going to get mad about it and that's

13:29

just authentically who I am . I

13:31

serve other moms and typically

13:33

my clients are . You know I

13:35

serve a lot of women , but typically my clients are moms

13:37

and so they understand and that's okay . And I've

13:39

been able to create a brand that is successful

13:42

because I like that is

13:44

real for me and I don't have to fight it continually

13:47

, day in and day out , and that's also

13:50

allowing me to attract the type of people that are

13:52

totally cool with that kind of I

13:55

don't know the way that I the way that I do business . So I

13:57

always recommend to all of my clients if it feels

13:59

right for you , great . If this is authentic for you

14:01

and you are like thriving

14:04

in this , let's like move that way

14:06

, because there are people that want that , that

14:08

, that part of you and that are looking

14:10

for that in a business . And if it doesn't fill

14:12

a line , please don't force it because it'll

14:15

, it'll . It's like pulling teeth . It's like , if you don't

14:17

like to show up on reels , it's like showing up on reels every day

14:19

and you're just like I hate this and

14:22

you don't . You don't want , you don't want to feel that way

14:24

about your business because everybody will pick up

14:26

on it . It affects your energy , it affects how

14:28

you show up , it affects everything and

14:30

it's a ripple effect . And yeah

14:33

, that's what I would say , just being real .

14:36

Yeah , it reminds me of when

14:38

you say that . It made me think okay , so my

14:41

business , I've been in business . I just celebrated

14:43

like 10 years last week , the

14:46

beginning of this month , and so

14:48

one thing that it reminds me of

14:50

is when I first started , and

14:53

for the longest time before COVID

14:55

. Okay , so the thing was is

14:57

everybody knew that you're

14:59

here running your business with your kids

15:01

, right , but nobody , you're

15:04

not supposed to make it seem like you're here running

15:06

your business with your kids

15:08

. It was very much don't

15:10

, don't , don't make a noise , don't

15:13

let anybody know that you , because then

15:15

it wouldn't appear professional

15:17

, right , you wanted people to take you more

15:19

professional , but after COVID and

15:21

after everybody became more

15:24

aware of you know , like

15:26

people are working from home , this is how

15:28

it is . It was more acceptable and

15:30

now it's more people are

15:32

coming out and it's I , and that is

15:34

the one thing , probably the

15:36

main thing that came of that to

15:39

me that it was like now

15:41

we can be more , you know , acceptable

15:44

, you know accepted and embraced by

15:46

, um , you know , being being able

15:48

to work at home with our kids and and

15:51

, and I love that aspect of the

15:53

whole thing , yeah .

15:55

I think that that actually is a selling point

15:57

to a lot of people , especially

15:59

in if you are an entrepreneur and you're

16:01

in kind of this alternative lifestyle

16:03

space , whatever that might look like for you , whether

16:05

that is just I want freedom to work for myself

16:08

, or you're doing something like me , where you're like

16:10

really living , like wildly off the grid

16:12

and outside of the normal beat

16:14

, we're drawn to that . That's what we want , like we

16:16

aren't doing this so that we can be plugged

16:18

back into corporate settings

16:21

. So , trying to behave like a corporate

16:23

business , we're not going to compete . One because

16:25

corporates have the monopoly in that industry

16:27

. And two , because if somebody like

16:29

why does anybody want that ? We don't want that . If

16:31

we want that , we'll go there . If I want target , I'll go

16:33

to target and I do . But if I want

16:36

bespoke and I want , you know , boutique

16:38

kind of stuff , I'm going to go to a small

16:40

shop . So like don't , you don't have to act

16:43

like target if you're going to be that smaller

16:45

business . You know what I mean .

16:46

No , I like , I like all

16:49

of that . So I've been

16:51

hearing a lot about this

16:53

current market . Let me ask you

16:55

, as an entrepreneur , what are your

16:57

feelings about this current market

16:59

? Are you feeling like it's

17:01

a little bit overly saturated

17:04

? What are your feelings about what's going

17:06

on in the market ?

17:08

You know it's so

17:10

interesting because I personally

17:13

just subscribe to the mindset that there's

17:15

room for everybody . I honestly feel like

17:17

there is room for all of us and I

17:19

think the reason why is because each

17:21

of us has a unique story , a unique

17:23

approach to things , a unique strategy

17:26

to how we do things or to the you know , the

17:28

products that we're creating or whatever that might look like

17:30

. I think there's room . I do think

17:32

that online , though , it looks

17:34

like there's way too many people because

17:37

it's kind of a whoever screams the loudest gets

17:39

the most attention kind of situation

17:42

right now . And yes , that

17:44

may set us up for depending on

17:46

you know who's who's getting the attention that

17:48

immediate , quick growth . But

17:50

I think that if you are in it for the long

17:52

haul and you want to grow a business

17:54

consistently it's intimate

17:57

, one-on-one relationships you don't need

17:59

to get massive viewership . You don't need

18:01

to have incredible like interaction

18:03

on your social media . It's not like

18:06

unplug unplug from that space and

18:08

go elsewhere . I've started hosting networking

18:11

events . I have maybe 35 people

18:13

on my email list . The amount of money that

18:15

I have created from those 35 people

18:17

is substantial and

18:19

I started these relationships in January

18:21

and that was a brand new thing that I've started

18:24

doing because I don't love being online

18:26

on social media , like . Like . I love the one-on-one relationships

18:29

If you want to DM me , fine , but I don't

18:31

want to post and have to compete

18:33

with all these other people that are all posting

18:35

, because it becomes like a giant ad

18:37

wall on social media . Nobody wants that and that's

18:40

why it's so hard to get traction . So I

18:42

think that the online space

18:44

, yes , feels very saturated

18:46

. I don't think it is . I think it's just

18:48

saturated on for us to serve individually

18:51

and larger groups of people . But

19:07

I think that it just takes a little bit of a different mindset

19:09

and a different approach and you

19:12

have to really be dialed into your brand and

19:14

who you are as an entrepreneur and how you serve

19:16

people and what you offer and how you

19:18

feel comfortable showing up , so that you can kind of really dial

19:20

that in .

19:21

Yeah , I completely agree . I've been telling

19:24

my clients , and pretty much

19:26

everyone else too , that I feel like

19:28

there needs to be a more well-rounded

19:30

approach to your marketing strategy

19:33

. Right , it needs to be . You

19:35

need to be networking locally

19:39

as

19:43

social media , your website

19:46

and all of your you know , your

19:48

email marketing and your

19:50

, you know business , your Google , my Business

19:53

, all of that stuff needs to kind of work

19:55

in a more well-rounded approach . And I started , you know , it's

19:57

like I feel like sometimes when

20:07

you work at home , it becomes really

20:09

hard to do , or we feel

20:11

like it's hard to do local networking

20:13

because now we have to leave , right

20:15

, and it feels like it's

20:18

such a you know , it's such a

20:21

burden to actually like do all these things

20:23

. But I feel like if you just do

20:25

one day a week , one day

20:27

, you know , do one event a week , then

20:30

it's great and it's not too

20:32

overwhelming and even as an

20:34

introvert , it's not that bad to

20:36

get out there and you know , and

20:38

just put yourself out there and the relationships

20:40

, like you said , the relationships that you build

20:43

will be a lot more

20:45

substantial . And I've started doing not

20:47

even just local networking , but

20:49

I'm , in May , going to do

20:51

like more virtual networking

20:54

as well , because I feel , like like

20:56

you , that these relationships

20:59

are way more important than

21:01

the vanity metrics of

21:03

do I have 100k followers like

21:05

that to me ? Or is my email

21:07

list , you know , 100,000

21:10

, whatever , that's not important . I don't really

21:12

care about any of that stuff . I'm really more

21:14

focused on the one on one relationships

21:16

and how to make an impact with

21:19

more people versus who's

21:22

following me like I could care less , right

21:25

.

21:25

Yeah , yeah , absolutely . I think

21:27

that you , that's really it and you nailed it and

21:29

that's one of the phrases that he uses If you want

21:31

more impact and income , because

21:34

we're talking about actually connecting

21:36

with people . Like the whole point of what many

21:38

of us , especially in business to business , are doing

21:40

is trying to actually influence and benefit

21:43

and grow other people . So if we pull

21:45

back from the like number count and we focus on

21:47

the actual people that we're connecting with , it

21:49

makes things so much easier and , like you said , getting out once

21:51

a week , that's like it's so

21:53

energizing . Honestly , even as an introvert

21:56

, like it sucks to get up and get ready and have to go

21:58

out . Like I totally get the whole anxiety of like

22:00

I'm meeting new people thing . Like I don't like

22:02

that grab a wingman , but

22:09

like you never know who you're gonna meet . Like you might meet your business bestie and this

22:12

might be somebody that you're in completely different areas of the industry or of industries or whatever

22:14

. But you talk every day and you're all of a sudden you have these new relationships

22:16

that encourage you and inspire you and

22:18

like are just a positive influence

22:20

in your life and you know when you go to those events and you leave and you're

22:22

just like I'm so excited , I'm so on fire , I have all these ideas , you know , when you go to those events

22:24

and you leave and you're just like I'm so excited , I'm so on

22:26

fire , I have all these ideas , you know . It

22:29

allows you to offer that to other people

22:31

from your own , like amazing

22:33

, unique , you know abilities , but

22:35

it also allows you to get that from other people as well

22:37

, so it's just like it's a win-win for everybody .

22:40

Yeah , and I think like the number one tip that I

22:42

can give people for networking in

22:44

general , regardless if it's virtual

22:46

or in person , is just go

22:49

in there to make friends with people . Don't go

22:51

in there and like sell something right

22:53

away , cause I really I

22:55

really like that's my biggest pet peeve is

22:57

like when somebody is like hey , I

22:59

own this thing and like coming by

23:02

for me and you know right away

23:04

you're going to just be put off , like just go in there , very nonchalant , just you know right away you're going to just be put off , like

23:06

just go in there , very nonchalant

23:08

, just you know . Just try to make relationships

23:10

is the number one priority , and

23:13

I think that's where you're going to see

23:15

the biggest growth

23:17

for any of your things . Regardless

23:19

of where you're , you know you're

23:22

focusing . So yeah , and like I

23:24

said , I I remember when I got my

23:26

first , very first client , it was

23:28

through local networking . I

23:30

have went through a you know , so you can get

23:33

clients through these groups . Plus , you

23:35

can make friends locally , and that's

23:37

always nice . Um to

23:40

to make people who you know , make friends with

23:42

people who are like-minded and have , you know

23:44

, similar goals as you , I think is really

23:46

important . So , yeah , yeah

23:49

, so super . And

23:51

, by the way , your website is gorgeous

23:53

. I love it . I love

23:55

the vibe . Everything is is very

23:57

beautiful . So not only do

24:00

you have the done for

24:02

you services on there , but you have

24:04

a course on there and you have some DIY

24:07

stuff coming soon for people as well

24:09

.

24:10

Yep , yeah , so I do . I do the high

24:12

ticket , like the very bespoke hand

24:15

illustrated brands , which there's

24:17

absolutely time and place for , and those are my favorite

24:19

. I absolutely love doing them . But

24:21

I also realized that there's a

24:23

place that I wish I was served

24:25

better as an earlier entrepreneur , where

24:28

I was like I know that I need something more

24:30

than like the Canva logo , but I'm not ready to spend

24:32

$6,000 . Like what , like why ? Why that I need something more than like the Canva logo but I'm not ready to spend $6,000 . Like what

24:34

, like why ? Like there's something missing

24:37

in the middle here , like I just need something , like

24:39

somewhere to like bridge the gap for the next year

24:41

while I continue to grow . And so I

24:43

remember wanting that so desperately . And so many

24:46

of the people that I talked to are moms

24:48

that , like since COVID , have started business , they're

24:50

still figuring out they might be pivoting , they

24:53

might be , you know , just trying to dabble in

24:55

it a couple of days a week , so it's sort of a side gig

24:57

for them still , even though they would like to and aspire

24:59

to create that into a full-time thing down the road , and

25:02

they're not ready to dive into this

25:04

like huge project . But they

25:06

need some sort of support beyond . I

25:08

whipped up a logo on Canva because that's

25:10

not my area of expertise and I'm not a visual person

25:13

and like this is annoying and I don't want to do this . So

25:15

I've created a space

25:17

called the Greenhouse Academy and it is

25:20

pretty much an opportunity to come

25:22

into my space for lifetime access

25:24

and you get access to everything that I create . You get

25:26

behind the scenes of my business . You get behind the scenes

25:28

of my email marketing . You get behind the scenes of everything

25:31

I do . You

25:34

get access to my like clarity blueprint , which is what I take every

25:36

single client through , which is essentially everything

25:38

you need to do that you don't know that you need to do

25:40

before you do the visuals of your business . You

25:42

know getting to know who your ideal client is , figuring out

25:44

what you want your business to actually look

25:46

like , what your values are where

25:49

, how you want to position yourself in the industry so that

25:51

you actually get traction , and you know

25:53

how to market yourself against your competitors

25:56

and I believe in community over competition . But

25:58

you can't get attention if you don't know what you

26:01

do well and what your areas aren't

26:04

your forte . So I

26:06

have essentially it's just like a massive , growing

26:09

vault of resources and courses

26:11

and behind the scenes and support with a group

26:13

component , so that you don't feel

26:15

like you're just getting another giant vault of like

26:18

videos . You actually get the help and

26:20

the support in the community to help you implement

26:22

and figure out how to actually take what you're learning

26:24

and make it actually help you be successful

26:27

in your business . So that is

26:29

Greenhouse Academy that I just launched recently

26:31

and I'm super excited about it and the women that are in

26:33

there are absolutely loving it so far

26:35

and it's been really fun . And I will be launching

26:38

some

26:40

semi-custom brand kits where I've already

26:42

curated an aesthetic . So if you know your style and

26:44

your vibe and you just want somebody to do the

26:47

graphic adaptations of

26:49

a look that you already have fallen in love

26:51

with , then that'll be an option as well .

26:55

So , yeah , yeah , I love that . I think that that's super

26:57

smart and I think that it's

27:00

kind of serving everybody wherever

27:02

they are at a certain point . So

27:04

the Greenhouse Academy is that

27:06

just website and branding stuff

27:08

, or is it like more online business

27:11

related Cause you'd mentioned

27:13

email as well ?

27:15

So it's geared towards an online

27:17

business owner . Of course

27:19

, my primary focus is on

27:21

branding and website design , so there's going to

27:23

be how to create your own website , how to do

27:25

copywriting , things like that . But I also am

27:27

planning to bring in experts , and I have some people

27:30

that are on my schedule who talk

27:32

more about mindset and who do talk about SEO

27:34

, which is not I mean , I know how to do it , but it's not my

27:36

forte , and so I want to bring somebody in that can

27:38

give that as a little bit more meaty version

27:41

of it and so kind of creating a space

27:43

where I will definitely pour into

27:45

you my story , my expertise , what

27:47

I'm doing , if you want to see the systems and strategies

27:50

which I wish I could have seen from

27:52

the people that I was inspired by . I was like can I just like

27:54

be a fly on the wall in your business ? So

27:56

that's what I'm opening this space up

27:58

as , but then I also will

28:01

be bringing in experts who can share

28:03

more about email marketing in a more

28:05

technical , like a more official

28:07

capacity and who can talk about some

28:09

of these other things , and so maybe a product

28:11

specialist who talks about product pricing and

28:13

how to actually make money in

28:15

your industry when you're selling products , and how to price

28:18

competitively but still actually make

28:20

sure that it's worth your time and energy things like

28:22

that .

28:23

Love it , I love that . And who's this

28:25

? Who , would you say , is the perfect

28:27

person for this ? I

28:30

don't want to call it . What is it like ? A membership

28:32

site ? What is it ? How do you classify it

28:35

?

28:35

It's , it's a lifetime membership , but , yes , um

28:38

, it's . I don't

28:40

know if it's my , it's my signature thing

28:42

, I don't know . I just don't

28:44

have a name . It's like a group . It's

28:46

like it's like a group . Yeah

28:48

, it's a big group plus a vault . Um

28:50

, this is perfect for the

28:53

entrepreneur . It's mostly women's space

28:55

, obviously , and this is perfect for

28:57

somebody that is either still figuring it

28:59

out and just is trying to

29:01

figure out what do I need to know

29:03

that I don't know yet . Somebody

29:05

that wants that friendship and that camaraderie

29:08

and just some other ideas and to have

29:10

some inspiration , kind of a long-term mastermind

29:12

where they can get encouragement

29:15

and support and brainstorming and

29:17

then also continue to kind of learn and expand

29:19

as they continue to grow . Anybody

29:21

that's like I want to be in an entrepreneur space

29:23

. I don't even really know what I'm doing yet , but I kind

29:25

of like to research ahead of time . Even

29:27

that kind of person would be perfect in

29:30

this , because it is a low priced item

29:32

. It is something that can be bit

29:34

off . You know , I do have a monthly

29:37

option and I have a like

29:39

one-time payment option and the monthly

29:41

is you pay for 12 months and then you're paid in full and

29:43

you're in there for forever . And so I

29:45

kind of want this to be an option where , like , if

29:47

you're envisioning six months

29:49

down the road starting a new business and you just

29:51

want to learn , like how to , how to do the website

29:54

, like how to do the marketing , let me ask questions , let me see

29:56

what everybody else is doing so I can figure out

29:58

, kind of what I want to do . It's

30:00

still a place for you as well , and

30:02

I mean honestly I don't want to say there's a place for

30:05

everybody , but like I have six figure business earners

30:07

in there too who are just like I just want to have

30:09

, I want to learn more and I want to keep practicing

30:11

and I want to tweak things and I just want , I

30:13

want to have those friendships and relationships and

30:16

I don't know .

30:17

Yeah , I love that . I think you know it's

30:20

it depends on what they want to learn and they

30:22

, and you know they want , and I'm sure that

30:24

they love your style because it is so

30:26

unique and it is , you know , so

30:28

beautiful . You

30:35

know the way that your , your aesthetic , is just very gorgeous , but also very simple at the same

30:37

time . It's and it's not like overly

30:40

, you know it's not overdone

30:43

, is my point . It's

30:46

, it's very , it's very nice

30:48

. Okay , so let's , let's wrap

30:50

things up and let's talk about my favorite question

30:53

of all time is always I like

30:55

to ask about how are

30:57

you able to do things

30:59

for you . You know , outside of your business

31:01

, outside of your family , what are you

31:03

doing for yourself ?

31:07

Oh boy . Well , that is a fantastic question

31:09

. I feel like as a

31:11

mom and a business owner , that's one of those

31:13

areas that often gets overlooked

31:16

and it's something that I have to repeatedly

31:18

remember . But for me

31:20

that looks like making little

31:23

changes throughout the day or taking little moments

31:25

throughout the day on a regular basis

31:27

, more than I took a spa

31:29

weekend or I go out once

31:31

a week for a whole day by myself . That

31:33

is just not attainable for my family in this

31:35

moment . So for me , getting up in the morning

31:38

, spending the first 30 , 45 minutes doing whatever

31:40

I want that's Bible study or working out

31:42

or sipping a cup of coffee and just scrolling because I'm

31:44

tired and I just want to chill , Like

31:46

whatever that looks like for me in that morning

31:48

, I give myself that space and that time

31:51

in the morning Don't necessarily want to be awake

31:53

, like I said , but at least I

31:55

get that me time that I

31:57

wouldn't necessarily get otherwise

31:59

, and then just stepping away

32:01

from the work , stepping away

32:04

from the kids space . I try to book

32:06

extra time into my work projects

32:08

so that if I do have a day that I'm just like I'm

32:10

feeling overworked , I'm feeling spent , I'm

32:12

feeling really harried and irritable and

32:15

I just wish I could have the day off that I can do

32:17

that to the extent that maybe that

32:19

looks like my kids and I vegging TV and I just kind

32:21

of have to make space for it's okay if we're all sitting

32:23

on the couch watching TV today , like that's fine and

32:26

just kind of giving myself that permission . So

32:28

it's more a mental and like little actions

32:30

thing for me and

32:32

maybe some of those bigger , bigger

32:35

actions that perhaps might look different for

32:37

somebody else .

32:38

Yeah , I always um . When

32:40

I first started this , I always um . Would

32:43

use the example of you

32:45

know , cause my kids were younger at the time . Now

32:47

they're all teenagers , so it's , it's things

32:49

look a little bit different , um , but

32:52

you know , sometimes it would be sitting

32:54

in the car for a few minutes before coming home

32:56

, or sitting in , you know

32:58

, being in the bathroom by myself

33:00

, you know .

33:02

I actually peed by myself today . It was great

33:04

.

33:06

Literally locking myself in the bathroom

33:08

just to have a few minutes of peace and quiet

33:11

, you know . So it's

33:13

, I think it's just really depends

33:15

, and it can be , it can really just

33:17

be anything that feeds you and makes

33:19

you , you know , like , gives you that

33:21

energy to , you

33:24

know , let you move forward in any way

33:26

, that's , you know , that works for

33:28

you . So where can everyone

33:30

find you , alexis ? Where are you at ?

33:36

so , um , where can everyone find you , alexis , where

33:38

are you at ? So I'm on instagram at alexis underwood design

33:40

studio and I'm also on my website , which is alexisunderwoodcom

33:42

. I have a blog and , um , you can find some other stuff . My little

33:45

newsletter sign up is in there . You could take my quiz

33:47

, things like that . Um , I'm also

33:49

on facebook . You could find me

33:51

probably through my instagram is the easiest way to do that

33:53

, because my handle some funky little , it won't

33:55

let me change it for some reason . But

33:59

yeah , that's where you can find me .

34:01

Well , thank you so much . It's been such a pleasure

34:03

and I appreciate

34:05

you know chatting with you . It's been great .

34:08

Thank you so much for having me . It was wonderful to chat

34:10

.