Mahara Wayman [00:00:05]:
Welcome to the art of badassery where I explore what it takes to live life on your own terms. Break free from the status quo and unleash your inner badass. Whether you're a rebel at heart or simply seeking inspiration to step outside your comfort zone, this podcast is for you. I'm your host, Mahara Wayman and each week I dive into the stories, insights, and strategies of those who've mastered the art of badassery and are living life to the fullest. They smile when no one is lucky. Welcome to the Art of Badassery podcast. I'm your host, Mahara Wayman. And I'm really excited today to introduce you to my guest, Emily Jane Saraf.
Mahara Wayman [00:00:49]:
She is a powerhouse in business, marketing, and branding. She is a business alignment and mindset coach who is all about investing in yourself, taking radical ownership of your life, having guilt free fun, and embracing those tough conversations. She is an authentic badass. Emily's story is one of bold moves. She dropped out of her architecture master's program, invested her life savings in a business coach, and made a hundred k in just eight months. But with that success came burnout and the need to heal from a toxic relationship, which led to six months of solo travel and deep self reflection. Now Emily is stepping out to share more of that personal journey with us. Welcome to the show, Emily.
Mahara Wayman [00:01:36]:
I can't wait to dive in.
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:01:37]:
Thank you so much for having me. I'm looking forward to the conversation.
Mahara Wayman [00:01:40]:
So let's just jump right in. Girlfriend, what makes you badass?
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:01:45]:
Oh, I would say the first thing that comes up
Speaker C [00:01:48]:
is my resilience. My resilience is one of the things that makes me badass because I just never quit on the things that I commit myself to, and I'll continue to show up and push towards the things that I've, like, made that commitment to creating for myself. And then I would say the other thing that makes me badass is my willingness to take messy action. So taking risks and jumping in, you know, head first, even if I'm not fully equipped or fully confident in the area, I'm always willing to give something a try.
Mahara Wayman [00:02:20]:
Okay. Resilience and messy action. Were you always that way, or do you think in retrospect that that was those were skills that you learned along the way?
Speaker C [00:02:32]:
I feel like there were skills that I learned along the way, but also I was quite young when I really was able to put both those skills to the test for the first time. Because when I was 22 and I took that big leap to leave my degree and quit my job and all of that, that was, like, the first real milestone where I recognized, okay, I'm, like, really having to embody these two things. But in the lead up to that, there was always smaller, you know, occurrences in life and and experiences that were opportunities for obviously strengthening those two things. So, you know,
Mahara Wayman [00:03:04]:
we I just was with a client today, actually. We were talking about the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. And what you're describing sounds very much like a growth mindset. At the time, did you realize that this particular thing or that particular thing was actually an opportunity, or was it like, what the hell? What the hell? Oh my god. What the hell?
Speaker C [00:03:25]:
Yeah. Well, I guess early in life, I never really, I I've always been quite an optimistic person. Right? So whenever there is a challenge that's come my way, I guess I have always looked at it with that positive and growth mindset of being able to look at this as, like, okay. It's fine. We'll get through this. I'll grow through this, whatever that may be. But there weren't too many tests, you know, that I would say were major tests of that, optimism in my early life. It was more so stepping into my adult life where it was really like, okay, some of the bigger challenges really started to roll forward there where I'm when I'm no longer in that safety net of my parents who were always so supportive of me growing up.
Mahara Wayman [00:04:10]:
Good call out that quite often when young adults branch out and grow up and move away from what's safe and secure and what they're used to, we can create, and of course, I include myself in that, we can create situations that are like, what would my mom do? Wait a second. She's not here. But okay. So let's you're in school. Take us back to that inkling that you that something was gonna have to change. What brought about that that sort of tragic the change in trajectory for you?
Speaker C [00:04:42]:
Yeah. So I was basically at the finishing line when it came to my studies, because I had already finished my bachelor's and I was six months away from getting my master's degree. So I had been pretty well committed to that path for almost five years after coming out of high school. And so I knew in my final year of my bachelor's, I knew there was this little inkling that was coming up of like, oh, I don't know if I really love what I'm doing. I don't know if this is for me, but it also wasn't loud enough to make me go, okay, well, I'm not gonna continue and start my masters. I also had no idea of anything else that I would wanna be doing at that time. So I kind of ignored that inkling and just continued following on the path that I did know because I didn't really think of anything else at that point in time. But then once I was six months into my master's degree, the inkling was more of like a scream, and it was like my body.
Speaker C [00:05:38]:
So it was like my head was pulling me one way and my body was pulling me another way where my head's saying, stay in the degree, finish the next six months, get the piece of paper, you'll be a master of architecture. And then, you know, you you've you've done that thing. But then my heart was pulling me in this other direction where it was saying, no. Explore something new. And at the time, I had started my own podcast, the Empower Within podcast, which was, like, my passion project, and that's what my heart was pulling me towards. It was saying, no. Explore personal development, do the podcast, figure something out on social media. But, again, I didn't really have the big picture really laid out or a clear plan laid out around what to do with that.
Speaker C [00:06:19]:
And so that's what created that conflict was, like, head's saying go this way, heart's saying go this way. But then logically, I don't know how I'm going to move in that direction yet. So I did allow myself, to sit with the emotions that were coming up because they were quite intense. And I also started to sit and think about, well, if I'm to continue moving on the path that I am right now and continue to, I guess, like, deal with this inner conflict that was happening, where am I gonna be? What is that going to look like? And when I future projected, what I could see was my mental health really deteriorating. You know, I was very unhappy in the position that I was in, and I knew that was only gonna get worse and worse and worse. Like, the pull that was happening with my heart, it wasn't gonna go away. It wasn't an inkling anymore. It was like a pull.
Speaker C [00:07:08]:
We need to change. We need to move. And I knew that if I was going to ignore that, then it was going to keep me in a place of deep misalignment and just feeling, very unhappy and unhealthy within my life and my own mindset.
Mahara Wayman [00:07:24]:
Okay. I I love what you're what you're saying. And, of course, as I I'm a coach for living as well, so I recognize a lot of what you're saying. But sweet mother of god, how does a 22 year old know about alignment?
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:07:37]:
I have no clue. Do you
Mahara Wayman [00:07:40]:
see where I'm going with that though? Because okay. Can I share? I've got a 21 year old and a 26 year
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:07:45]:
old.
Mahara Wayman [00:07:46]:
Well, they maybe know about it now because this is what their mother does for a living. But back to that time, does it come as a surprise to you that you were able to step into your badassery in such a fashion at such a young age?
Speaker C [00:08:01]:
No. It actually doesn't come as a surprise to me because I feel like always, and this is this comes back to as well. I'll touch on, like, why I think I was able to to see what I saw at 22. During schooling, like, during my high school and I I refer to high school a lot, and primary school a lot when it comes to sharing this piece of my story because, obviously, that's, like, the bigger chunk of my life that had happened up until that point. I was always that kid who would put my hand up for any opportunity that would come. I was on the debating team. I was, you know, school captain. I would do the public speaking competitions.
Speaker C [00:08:36]:
Like, I looked for every single opportunity I could to be speaking, to be stretching my comfort zone, to be aiming for something higher than, you know, just settling for for the norm. And so I'd always seeked those sorts of opportunities. And I think when I had started podcasting, obviously, that was tapping into that part of myself who loved speaking, and it really made me see clearly the potential of what I could step into with that. And I, like, future project it again, and I would think about, well, like, I wanna be a keynote speaker. I wanna be inspiring people on global stages. And so when I felt that inner conflict happening, I really just anchored back into that vision. And I was like, well, I can stay on this path of my degree, and that's gonna lead me to sitting in an office, which I already know I'm not loving. And it's really feels really claustrophobic and boring and dull, or I could try to lean into this path that could potentially lead me to that point where I am speaking on global stages.
Speaker C [00:09:38]:
I'm making an impact through having, you know, global influence and so on. So, yeah, I feel like me just having already felt an inkling of the potential that was within me because of all those opportunities I had given myself to really be unintentionally, you know, growing myself as an individual. I feel like that's what really it came down to for me. So it wasn't really I didn't understand the concept of alignment there, but I did have a vision. And I had, like, that I could see the potential of what I wanted to be stepping into. And I just I guess I just trusted in myself to really follow that.
Mahara Wayman [00:10:15]:
So much stuff that you shared here, which I know goes along with being a badass, I just wanna call it a couple. Number one, what I heard you say was you had never were afraid to get curious. What did that experience feel like? How will I how will I do in that experience? How will you said it yourself. Step out of your comfort zone. So curiosity is a big component, I think, of being a badass because we're not afraid to ask the tough questions. We're not afraid to go, oh, what if? And truthfully, asking yourself the question, what will happen? You said you used the term future project, but giving ourselves permission to imagine the best and the worst. Like, what could it look like? That's also, I think, a component of being a badass because we're willing to go there. Right? We're willing to step.
Mahara Wayman [00:11:02]:
Another thing that you said that I think is really powerful is this idea of trust. Mhmm. Would you say that your trust really was nurtured by your environment, or was it something that you had to fight for?
Speaker C [00:11:16]:
A bit of both. A bit of both, definitely. So, obviously, the environment plays such a big difference because I was surrounded by people who did believe in my potential as well. So I was very lucky to grow up in a house where, like, my mom and dad, like, they supportive. They would always push me to, you know, stretch my comfort zone, to do challenging things, and that helped build a lot of self trust for myself. And so I would say, yes. Like, the environment plays a massive role in that. But then also the opportunities that you choose to step into as well, because you you can lay your horse to water, but you can't force it to drink it.
Speaker C [00:11:51]:
So my parents could lead me to all of these opportunities, but they can't force me to do anything that I don't wanna do. And so I had to be the one who in class would put my hand up to do the public speaking or to join the debating team and to do all of these extra things, like, that had to be a decision that I made. But I definitely do believe that your environment makes a massive difference in your level of self trust because, in my experience, so I obviously went through this whole journey of building my business, making my first hundred k, and then I was in a toxic relationship following that. And what I noticed is that toxic relationship destroyed my self trust. So I had, you know, twenty twenty four years essentially of positive trust building experiences, and then one negative environment absolutely crushed that for me. And so then coming out of that relationship, it became this massive journey, which I'm still even on now of reanchoring into that self trust that it never went. It just felt a little bit further away based off experiences that I had gone through. So environment is massive.
Mahara Wayman [00:12:55]:
Yeah. It sounds first of all, I'm sorry you went through that. You know, from one badass to another, from one woman to another, I'd just like to drop kick that that person. Yes. Growth mindset with with being badass, you are able to look at it as an opportunity for growth and learning. But before we before we get there oh my god. Okay. I'm an entrepreneur.
Mahara Wayman [00:13:17]:
I've only been doing this for a few years, and I was blown away by those figures. Take us from leaving architecture, leaving your master's program to setting up your first business. How what was the time frame? What did you do in between? Like, give us a little bit more detail on that if you wouldn't mind.
Speaker C [00:13:37]:
Yeah. So it's interesting actually because even though coaching the coaching business was my first, like, successful business, I can't really say it was my very first business because there's a couple of little experiences I did have that kind of, like, gave me the entrepreneurial, you know, bug. Right? And so this goes all the way back to, like, when
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:13:55]:
I was 12 years old. My first business was selling horse poo on the side
Speaker C [00:14:00]:
of the road, and I would go into the paddock and I'd shovel up
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:14:02]:
the horse poo, put it in bags, and then I'd bag it and sell it for $2 a bag on the side of the road. So that was like Yeah. I'm sorry. Wait. Sorry.
Mahara Wayman [00:14:11]:
You'd sell it to use as fertilizer? Yeah. Alright. That's totally badass. I've never heard that before.
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:14:18]:
Because we lived on the outskirts of the city and we had horses, and so I was like, oh my god. This is a cool way to, like, make some, quick change. But I came home from school one day and I thought it was gonna be
Speaker C [00:14:28]:
my biggest payday because there was this guy loading up all of the bags into his car and he drove off and I ran over to the honesty box and I opened it
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:14:36]:
up and there was no money in there. And so that was the last day that I ran that business, but, you know,
Speaker C [00:14:43]:
it wasn't the last business I ever ran. I then in university, tried starting a graphic t shirt business with one of my friends because we're both artists, and we were, like, doing art and just slapping it on t shirts. And that didn't really go anywhere. We, you know, liked the idea of it, but neither of us were really invested in the vision of it. So we just weren't really putting out all in it around the studies we were doing. So we stopped that one, and then I came across network marketing. And network marketing was the real gateway drug for me into the online space because that was where I learned about personal development that then inspired me to start my podcast. And I never really got a lot of traction in the network marketing space, though, and I I believe it came down to the fact that I was selling someone else's product instead of my own.
Speaker C [00:15:32]:
And that's why when I shifted into the coaching space, I already had somewhat of a social media community built. I had already established a brand and, a community through my podcast. And so when I had decided what I wanted to be selling and I was a % connected to what I was selling because it was me, then I was able to just absolutely hit the ground running and get that massive traction that I did get in my first year of business.
Mahara Wayman [00:15:58]:
Okay. So another component of being a badass peeps is, and she said it earlier, determine determination never gives up, kept going no matter what. And just in that story that you shared with us, I could see the determination just like this didn't work, but there's something from it that I needed to learn. This didn't work. I'm not quite right. This I like this part of it, but not that part of it. So, yeah, determination and really being able to you did mention this as well. Really have a clear vision of what you wanted.
Mahara Wayman [00:16:28]:
I do that many of I know that many of my clients struggle at first with getting clarity on what it is that they want. They just know that they're not happy. Right? I just what do you mean what do I want? I just know I don't want this. I don't want what I've got. I want less of this and more of something else. They don't always know what that is, though. Yeah. Would you say that you were always crystal clear on what you wanted?
Speaker C [00:16:52]:
No. I didn't even know what coaching was. You know? Before I even stepped into the coaching space,
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:16:58]:
I had no clue. I,
Speaker C [00:17:00]:
you know, it's like you gotta be open to just trying opportunities. And the biggest thing that like brought me to where I am was just saying yes to trying different things. You know, like if I hadn't said yes to trying to build a graphics t shirt business, I wouldn't have known that I didn't wanna have a, you know, product based business where I have to create the products myself. I didn't say yes to network marketing. I wouldn't have known that the online space had so much potential, then I wouldn't have opened the doors to step into the coaching space. So and even now that I'm in the coaching space, like, because I've been in this business mentorship space, now I'm starting to see my next direction of potentially even bringing an agency component into the work that I do down the track as well. So you've got to say yes to opportunities in order to start to figure out what you do want. And you can't expect yourself to have crystal clarity on exactly what that is from the get go if you haven't actually allowed yourself to explore or even discover new things.
Mahara Wayman [00:17:59]:
What a great call out. Do you remember have you ever seen the movie? And, of course, I can't remember the name of it because that's just me, menopause brain. But I think Jim Carrey starred in it, and the premise of the movie was he had to say yes to any everything that was asked of him.
Speaker C [00:18:13]:
Yes, man. Yeah. Yeah.
Mahara Wayman [00:18:15]:
It's called the yes, man.
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:18:16]:
Yeah. Yes, man.
Mahara Wayman [00:18:17]:
And, you know, on the face of it, it's just a slapstick humor from Jim Carrey, but, really, it had a very powerful undertone to it. And to your point, we don't know what we don't know. And if we want to experience badassery, as the show is talk is is named after, then we need to be willing to say yes.
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:18:37]:
Mhmm.
Mahara Wayman [00:18:38]:
Opportunities and yes to ourselves. So okay. You got into coaching. Yep. And how long have you been a coach?
Speaker C [00:18:46]:
So almost four years. It'll be four years in December that I've been coaching for now.
Mahara Wayman [00:18:52]:
Biggest thing you've learned about yourself as a coach?
Speaker C [00:18:56]:
Oh, biggest thing I've learned about myself as a coach because there's so many things that I've learned, but I would probably say resilience is still what's coming up. I was like, maybe there's something else coming up for me, not but still the resilience. Like, just that I am a very resilient individual and not much in fact, nothing really will stop me from going after what I want. It can slow me down, but it's not gonna stop me.
Mahara Wayman [00:19:28]:
Okay. So when you say resilience as a coach or in the coaching business, I want I'm gonna invite you to be really tell us a little bit more about that. Resilience as in you're going after building a bigger business, resilience in feedback from clients on your coaching, resilient like, what do you need to be resilient with?
Speaker C [00:19:50]:
Yeah. I guess everything really. But to be more specifically, like, you know, we set these big goals. So let's say, for example, I wanna build a multimillion dollar coaching business, and maybe your listeners wanna build a million dollar business or even just a 6 figure business, like whatever it may be, there are gonna be so many tests and challenges that come up along the way to creating that business. Because if the version of yourself that you are right now had that business and was, like, fully equipped to hold that business, you would have it right now. I would have the million dollars right now, but I'm not fully equipped to hold that level of business yet. And so I'm gonna be handed every single test and challenge possible that is ultimately going to expand me into that version of myself who then can hold that 7 figure business. So, really, what you need to learn to be resilient with is actually, like, resilience towards staying committed to your goal because you are gonna be thrown tests.
Speaker C [00:20:50]:
You are gonna be thrown challenges. You are gonna have team members that you're gonna need to marry manage. You're gonna need to fire people. You're gonna have lead issues some months. You're gonna make a ton of money some month and then no money at all the next month. And so it's like the resilience of being able to hold it all, like the duality of the highs and lows in business. Because in order to get to that point that you do wanna get to, you have to be able to withstand all of those withstand all of those tests and all of the weather that's thrown your way so that you can ultimately create that.
Mahara Wayman [00:21:20]:
Really good call out. And, you know, it's a it's a lesson that I'm still learning. And I'll be honest, a couple was it a year ago? Maybe two years ago? Maybe it was a year ago. Time flies. We're having fun. But I remember thinking, oh my god. I don't know what to do next. And a bit of an epiphany, and I ended up saying to myself, okay.
Mahara Wayman [00:21:40]:
What would future CEO Mahara do in this moment? Because current Mahara doesn't know does not have the answer. And I just kinda prayed, I guess, but sort of projected to when I was Yeah. That person. And I got an amazing answer, and I'm like, oh my god. Why didn't I think of that? Because I wasn't in the mindset of the current Mahara. I allowed myself to jump into the future, Mahara. And, you know, I had this great idea, and it it worked out really well. But I think one of the things that you're highlighting about feeling badass, regardless of whether you're an entrepreneur, doesn't matter what you do for a living.
Mahara Wayman [00:22:16]:
But this idea of giving ourselves permission to be our best and recognizing that that is a journey. We're not born our best. Right? We're not we don't come out of the womb knowing everything, and that's just not that's not being human. But along your journey, have there been anything has there been anything up until this point that really tested your resolve?
Speaker C [00:22:44]:
I would probably say the biggest thing that comes up is that relationship that I was in. Yeah. Because that was right after the first year in my business. I had just built the 6 figure business and now I was in a state of burnout. And then I got into a relationship which pushed me even deeper into burnout. And I was in that relationship for about a year and a half before I actually left, and that's probably a year longer than I should have been in that relationship for. And that became the biggest test for me because I was I didn't even have the energetic capacity to hold myself, let alone continuing to hold a 6 figure business, hold a team, hold my clients, show up on social media and pretend that life is still great. You know? And so that was really a massive test for me, and it forced me to actually expand the capacity of what I could hold and stretch myself beyond what I thought was possible for me to hold so that I could continue to maintain the 6 figures, maintain the clients, maintain the team, and just maintain, you know, my myself.
Speaker C [00:23:52]:
Right? Keep myself alive.
Mahara Wayman [00:23:55]:
Good call out. And, you know, it's interesting because I was with a client today, and we were talking about fear. And she came to the conclusion or the understanding that her energy is so tightly woven into her ability to navigate her fears. And it sounds similar to what you just said. You were burnt out, energy's low, then you are in a situation that you really didn't have the physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, any type of energy really to navigate what ended up being a a very challenging situation. Would you say that's the same for you that you are now very cognizant of your energies? Your energies?
Speaker C [00:24:35]:
Yeah. Yeah. Energy has been a massive focus for me for the last year and a half that I've been out of that relationship. And, like, the first, after the first six months of coming out of that relationship, like I actually went and traveled the world for six months and that's how I wanted to really start to refill my own energy, you know, refined that joy and that passion and that fun for life again. Whereas now this year being in business as like my number one focus again, now that I'm like rooted back at home, now my energy is centered around, well, how can I regulate my nervous system more so that then I can actually expand even further in the capacity of what I feel safe to hold? So, yeah, energy is a massive focus for me particularly and, you know, wanting to go from six to seven figures in my business.
Mahara Wayman [00:25:26]:
I remember learning, and it seems silly to say this, but or to admit this, but I I used to be very athletic. I used to be a professional dancer for a short period of time. Mhmm. So I sort of grew up thinking that there was only one kind of energy, and it was physical. Right? And I wanted more energy than I either had to eat well or rest or you know what I mean? Like, I was very much it's my body. That's it. Now, of course, I'm much more in tune and aware, and I recognize that I have mental energy or lack thereof. There's spiritual energy, and I have emotional energy to navigate as well.
Mahara Wayman [00:26:04]:
And I mean, can you speak to your how you currently navigate all of the different types of energy that you know you need to to sustain the bandwidth that you have decided you are going to have to create and maintain the life that you want.
Speaker C [00:26:21]:
Yeah. And you hit the nail on the head when you said there's the different types where there's the mental, the spiritual and the emotional. I would probably even say for me almost like the spiritual and the emotional, I almost like group them into one together. And so then the third one for me is the physical. So it's like the mental, the spiritual, and the physical energies that I need to look after. And so obviously, when it comes to the physical side, for me, it's making the commitment to exercise and to move my body. And that changes the way that that look changes depending on the goals that I'm working towards. Like there used to be a time where I would love to go to the gym five to six days a week.
Speaker C [00:27:00]:
But now with the goals that I work towards, it's like that's a lot of energy going towards the physical that's then then is being taken away from other buckets. Right? And so like where you put what you need to know about energy is that it's where you put it pour pour energy into one area, it can take away from other areas, particularly for me and the way that I function. I don't know too much about human design, but I know different types of human designs manage energy differently. And me being a projector, once it goes out, I need to, like, stop to actually fill it back up. So if I'm pouring all my energy into training, lifting weights five to six days a week, then mentally and spiritually or emotionally, I'm gonna feel a bit depleted. So for me right now, it's like, okay. Well, I'm gonna lift weights three times a week to make sure that I'm moving my body and I'm fueling my body in that way. But then I'm also going to allow myself to save plenty of energy for the mental capacity that I need to bring to business in problem solving, serving my clients, managing stress.
Speaker C [00:28:07]:
And then on that spiritual note, the emotional note for me, that's really about, like, I nurture that within my relationship. So, like, emotionally, after a big day of work, I know curling up in bed with my partner, like, that really helps nurture that energy. But also for me, art is a great way to be filling that source of energy back up. And so if I'm maybe very, like, in my head about something or feeling a very strong emotion, I'll go and I'll, like, paint that out and, like, express it through the art that I do. And then I know that that, really, like, emotionally and spiritually refuels me.
Mahara Wayman [00:28:45]:
Sounds so good. I'd love to see some of your artwork. But I this. When you found yourself in the toxic relationship, how did you navigate your way out of that? Because Yeah. You know, I I I'm sure that I'm feel I'm thinking, god, this girl's got her shit together, man. She's all like, how do and how did it happen? First of all, you got there when you're there, but now how did you get out? Because, you know, that's life. And I really appreciate your sharing with us. But what did it look like when you were, like, you know, sort of struggling?
Speaker C [00:29:19]:
Yeah. Oh, well, I didn't even look like myself. Like, all of my friends, my my closest friends of, like, ten years, you know, like, they didn't even recognize me. I had become a shell of a human and, like, like, my essence of what made me me was gone. And like we spoke about with these different buckets of, like, nurturing energy as well, I hadn't gone to the gym in a whole year, so I had gained weight. I didn't feel good in my body. I didn't feel good energetically in that sense. I hadn't picked up anything to do with painting or drawing in that entire time as well.
Speaker C [00:29:56]:
So I'd become very distant from those things that, always did fuel my energy, and I wasn't even spending time with my friends and nurturing those quality relationships that I had. So I wasn't filling up my cup in any of those areas that I know, like, really supports me with thriving. And so naturally, like, I was just becoming more and more depleted and very, very distant from myself, very disassociated from myself is really the biggest thing that happened. And so for me to actually leave that relationship, I didn't have the strength to leave it on my own because there was so much psychological abuse that had happened where I was, like, deeply believing that I was the problem and that it was my job to stay in the relationship in order to fix the relationship. And that if I was to leave the relationship, well, I'm the problem. I meant to solve it. I meant to stay in this for his sake because I've been done so much wrong by him, for example. Right? So that was, like, the distortion in my own mind that was really happening.
Speaker C [00:31:00]:
And it was only because of a community of people that I had come across that I actually left that relationship. And so these are still my closest friends today. Like, I met them all at the dog park because I got a dog when I was in that relationship. And essentially, they started to really bring that that sense of joy and fun back into my life and slowly started to connect me back to myself that it made me realize that, okay, I've got a choice to make. Do I want to stay with this person who's making me feel miserable and keeping me so distant from these parts of myself that I I love? Or do I wanna move towards these people who even though they're new and, it's different, I'm feeling that excitement and that joyful life that I haven't felt in the last year. And so that was really the thing that kind of gave me something to gravitate towards. I knew that if I was moving away from that person who was draining me, I was moving towards something that felt so much better. And I didn't really have that before coming across this group of friends.
Speaker C [00:32:08]:
And so me moving away from my ex before that felt like I was just moving away from him and not moving towards anything positive. Right? So it was like that light at the end of the tunnel, I could finally see it, and now I had something to move towards.
Mahara Wayman [00:32:24]:
Another cool call out for being badass is recognizing what fills your cup. Sometimes we can just get so caught up in living and doing and being, being as in being other things that
Speaker C [00:32:37]:
we
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:32:37]:
have
Mahara Wayman [00:32:37]:
to just be. And I know for a lesson for me was really remembering how much I love to write. Write what got me into this into what I'm doing right now, but remembering how much I love to write and be creative. And I know that art, whether it's whatever type of art you like or do or enjoy, it's important. You know, being creative feeds our soul. And even if you're not creative yourself, allowing yourself to enjoy the arts, whether it's theater or dance or music or you know, all of those can help us to fill our cups. So little to feeling badass peeps is figure out what fills your cup. Whatever it is.
Mahara Wayman [00:33:18]:
Right? Whatever it is. Figure out what what fills your cup. Okay. So you had the burnout, had the bad relationship, the toxic relationship. You are now out of that. Tell us a little bit about what you're doing today.
Speaker C [00:33:31]:
Yeah. So it's been a bit of a journey since coming out of that relationship. It took me a little while to really refine my feet and just kind of also, like, reconnect to the vision of what I ultimately wanna be doing. Because when you are in a state of survival, you can't tap into that creative energy. And if you're just focused on surviving, you're not really thinking about anything beyond that. So for so long, like I had it was so foggy trying to look ahead and try to see what my vision was and try to emotionally connect to that vision as well. It was very challenging. And so after going through those six months of, traveling and, you know, as cliched as refining myself and finding that spark again and really enjoying life, then it was able to bring me closer, to being able to see my vision more clearly again.
Speaker C [00:34:20]:
And so this year I've been very focused on creating stability for myself, because obviously I came out of a very unstable environment. And then traveling is another thing which has a lot of instability that comes with it. So this year, it's really been centered around creating stability, focusing on creating wealth for myself in life, you know, planting those seeds, being 26 now. Like, I wanna have a family by the time I'm 30. And so that means really pushing hard towards these goals of building that 7 figure business, and really, like, helping continuing to expand the impact of the business owners that I'm serving and helping them really stand in their power, realize their potential, and express that through their marketing and branding.
Mahara Wayman [00:35:07]:
Sounds wonderful. How can people reach out to you? How can they connect with you?
Speaker C [00:35:11]:
Yeah. The best place to find me is on Instagram. I'm just at empower with them on Instagram. Or if you wanna listen to my podcast, which I started all the way back at 22 years old, you can go and listen to the empower with m podcast.
Mahara Wayman [00:35:25]:
I can't wait. Emily, this has been such a delight chatting with you and hearing your story. Could you leave us with a few tips? What are some tips you'd like to share with our listeners regardless of where they're at with a business? They may not even be entrepreneurs or business owners. But what are your top three tips for feeling badass?
Speaker C [00:35:44]:
Oh, I like that. Top three tips for feeling badass would probably be, one, allow yourself to experiment and allow yourself to try new things and, like, really bind, discover your strengths, discover your weaknesses and and build trust through that path, but that that process, that would be step number one. Tip number two is one that I always, always, always tell my clients. And that is don't wish that things were easier. Just wish that you were better. And what I mean by that is when you find yourself going, I wish business was easier. I wish it was easier to hit this goal. I wish lifting weights was easier.
Speaker C [00:36:24]:
I wish running 20 kilometers was easier.
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:36:26]:
Instead of wishing that it was easier, wish that it was wish
Speaker C [00:36:26]:
that you were better and ask you Instead of wishing that it was easier, wish that it was wish that you were better and ask yourself, how can I actually become better at this thing? What parts of myself do I need to develop? What skills do I need to develop? Because when you focus on asking that question, you're then going to find where you need to put in the work in order to then make things quote unquote easier for yourself. And then the third tip that I would give is to just have fun, I think, because, you know, we can get so focused on working towards our goals that, you know, you can ultimately end up sacrificing everything that brings you joy and and that that actually fills your pop up. And if that happens, you know, the success that you create is gonna be unsustainable because they will reach a point where you're completely depleted. Right? So in your journey to reaching the goals that you wanna reach, yes, make sacrifices in order to get there, but also incorporate a healthy level of fun along the way and make sure you're still creating space for the things that you really value. Otherwise, you're gonna get to the destination, and you're not even gonna wanna you know, you're not gonna see the point in being there because you're gonna feel so unfulfilled in the physical reality that you're living in.
Mahara Wayman [00:37:38]:
Good. Good tips. And I can really attest to the third one because that's what got me to doing what I'm doing was I had a successful career, realized it wasn't doing it for me anymore. And I I kinda grappled with how come I'm not happier when I've worked so hard to achieve so much. So tell us okay. Do you go by Emily Jane or Emily?
Emily Jane Sarroff [00:37:56]:
Well, Emily Jane's the official, but then, you know, once we've done the official, it's just m. M.
Mahara Wayman [00:38:04]:
Tell us who you work with.
Speaker C [00:38:07]:
So there's two level of clients that I work with. The first level of client, they are the beginner business owner who isn't who is making under 10 k per month and is really wanting to build towards 6 figures in their business. And so I serve them inside of my ten k academy, which is where we cover all of the foundations of how to actually build your business and get you to that point of signing consistent clients so that you can go and scale beyond that. And then the second type of client that I work with is in my one to one creative consulting. And so that is for the business owner who is already making 6 figures or more. And essentially, I bring my creative mind into your business, and I build out all of your branding and help you really solidify and refine your marketing message so that as someone who's already creating success in their niche, we can really position you as an expert so you can start landing international speaking gigs or even be seen as just a, global expert in the niche that you're in.
Mahara Wayman [00:39:15]:
So so good. Thank you for sharing that with us. Folks, I hope you've enjoyed listening to this episode of The Art of Badassery. My name is Mahara. This has been The Art of Badassery podcast. Join us next week when I interview another total badass. Thanks again. Thank you.
Mahara Wayman [00:39:33]:
Thanks for tuning in to another badass episode. Your support means the world to me. So if you enjoyed what you heard today, don't forget to like, share, and rate the episode on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback keeps the badassery flowing. And, hey, if you're ready to unleash your inner badass and conquer whatever life throws your way, Why not book a complimentary badass breakthrough session? Just click the link in the show notes to schedule your session, and let's kick some serious butt together. Until next time, stay fearless, stay fabulous, and of course, stay badass. This is Mahara signing off.
