The Business Millennials Podcast

2.15 2024 Reflections & Personal Updates

• Ashley Dreager • Season 2 • Episode 15

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In this raw and reflective episode, Ashley and Safa dive deep into their personal journeys through 2024 - a year marked by economic challenges, personal transformations, and profound life changes. From international moves and new motherhood to business adaptations and finding renewed purpose, they share an intimate look at how challenging times can spark incredible personal and professional growth. 

Key Takeaways: 

  • Economic pressures in 2023-2024 pushed entrepreneurs to get creative, reassess priorities, and find new ways to sustain their businesses
  • Major life transitions (like having a new baby or moving internationally) can create unexpected opportunities for clarity and intentional living
  • Personal support systems and reducing operational stress are crucial for maintaining both business productivity and family well-being
  • Entrepreneurial success isn't just about hustle, but about creating strategic space for meaningful work and personal time
  • Regularly "auditing" your life and business helps you stay adaptable and aligned with your core goals

Timestamps:

  • 0:58 - Reflecting on the challenges of 2024
  • 5:28 - Discussing perspective shifts through difficult experiences
  • 10:18 - Ashley's insights from new motherhood
  • 11:24 - Safa's international move and seeking support
  • 22:47 - Discussion on intentionality for 2025

Is your business just not the vibe right now and you can't seem to get it going, even though you feel like you're doing #AllTheThings? Fill out the linked audit form to give us the inside scoop on your current situation, challenges, and goals. That way we can spot your strengths, opportunities, and outline next steps, keeping a sustainable & scalable business in mind.

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Intro:

Welcome to the business millennials podcast. This show brings you strategic insights through raw and unfiltered real world advice to accelerate your business growth for longterm success. I'm Safa Harris, and I'm Ashley Drager. We're the founders of scale and thrive co a full service marketing and business development firm, helping visionary companies scale sustainably. Expect us to have the uncomfortable conversations that no one else is having. We'll break down what it really takes to grow and scale your business beyond six Even eight figures as well as inspiring interviews with diverse leaders across marketing, product development, sales, and more. Be a fly on the wall. As we conduct strategy sessions with business owners, experiencing issues such as plateaued income, burned out, and generally dropping the ball, giving you the tools and resources to break through your own roadblocks, but also personal development methods to grow you as a balanced conscious leader amidst business growth, let's jump into this week's episode.

Ashley:

So we made it to the end of the year,

Safa:

Oh, what a year.

Ashley:

2024 in the books We got a

Safa:

Yeah.

Ashley:

Um, but this is a, this is a big year for us. This is a, I mean, this is a big year for a lot of

Safa:

Yeah.

Ashley:

is a, I think a lot of people are ready for a fresh start, but I thought that it would be fun to kind of reflect back on of our key, key lessons, takeaways. Mm hmm. Mm

Safa:

was a really hard year for a lot of people. I think coming off the high, especially business owners, especially in the online space, but like also not in the online space because As a trucking business, too, and that's very much not in the online space, and it's very plugged into the economy and the market, um, it's like, coming off the high of, like, 2022, 2020, 2021, and then, like, the first 9 months of 2022, and then going into an adjustment and a slowdown in 2023, and then nothing really changing from there. And kind of maintaining at this low point, going through 2024, it led to a lot of people running out of resources of getting in finding creative ways to keep going. And. Making things work, um, in ways. And it led to, I would say a lot of exhaustion for people and made the years hard because it wasn't just, Oh, the economy's bad. Oh, people, the sales aren't the same. It wasn't just, Oh yeah, things are kind of expensive. It was kind of. The buildup, like snowballing of slow sales, things starting to get expensive, all of that from 2023 and it's building and it's building and it's building and it's building and you're getting to a point of 2024, people are like, it just. The economy just keeps getting worse. Good sales just keep getting harder. And the groceries and everything just keep getting more expensive. I've been creative and scrappy to this point. Like, how much more can I do? I'm running out of ways. And I think it's made it not in terms of just physical being hard, but also hard in terms of solutions and options and just sheer mental, like I have, I have no more, but on like the positive flip side of that, it has, Allow for I think ourselves included, um, a lot of personal growth, understanding and getting creative and realizing what actually matters and what can be let go of and letting go of, like, especially in business, like attachments to. I need this or I don't need that. I can do this and I can't do that. Or we can go into like, kind of a specifics on this, letting go. But then also even in business, like, okay, well, what is important? What actually does need to say? What will keep this going? sustaining. Okay, what are we doing to keep this going and moving forward and things like that? So while it might be a, I just cannot do anymore. I'm completely exhausted. I've run out of everything. It's allowed for a lot of just kind of like how we started off the episode of like, Of just reflection and understanding and clarity of what is important, what isn't important and where you really want to be spending your time and effort as far as. Business goes and life goes.

Ashley:

hmm. Yeah, there's like a, there's a phrase that's like, um, I'm gonna totally butcher it, and maybe the, you'll recognize what this phrase should be, but it's like you, you don't know what you want until you have what you don't,

Safa:

uh, you don't have you don't know what you've lost till it's gone or something. It's one of those like sappy love songs Yes,

Ashley:

Like, I think when you're in, like, the weeds, when you're in, like, the deep, the throes of everything, and, like, you don't really know which way is up, you don't know which way is out, and you don't really even know what needs to change, like, you don't know what you want to be experiencing until you have, like, the stark contrast of it.

Safa:

yes, yes,

Ashley:

You know, and that, that was something that, um, that I really got to experience during my maternity

Safa:

yes

Ashley:

And I think you got to experience that too with your, um, with your

Safa:

Yeah

Ashley:

After she was born though, that's when I like. you've ever if think most of our audience is probably moms Mom business owners If you haven't had a baby, there's this like shift that happens Even after you've already had kids, but like when you, after you have a baby, like everything just slows down to like a stop. you're not sleeping the way that you were. All of your priorities have completely shifted to this tiny little being that you obviously need to keep alive. And it's just like everything around you, all of your perspectives shift. At least that's been my experience. Like every time.

Safa:

I would say that like I would describe it a little bit differently, that it's um, like I wouldn't really say it's like a slowdown, but it's kind of like this tunnel vision focus of like everything else is still kind of happening around you, and you're isolated in this situation where your main focus is this like. New little human that you brought home with you that you need to take care of and everything else is kind of like existing or anything like that. But there's also, like, This is my one focus and it has to be a primary focus, but it's also something you're a little bit forced into because the demands are so high of this tiny, tiny human being that there is no other, it kind of forces you into this kind of bubble of needing to only be focused in this one thing versus all of the other things kind of going around and like the buzzing and the activity and things like that, like.

Ashley:

Yeah.

Safa:

You're literally just, that's all that can happen.

Ashley:

Yeah. Yeah. So, like, to be more specific, like, before she was born, I have a three and a five year old, too. So, they're home with me basically full time. Um, but they're obviously much more independent than I am.

Safa:

Baby.

Ashley:

is and so like life could go on at a much different pace

Safa:

Mm hmm.

Ashley:

before she was born because like my multitasking There was a lot

Safa:

Yeah.

Ashley:

at one time because they can eat on their own I don't have to be watching them. I don't have to be holding them. I don't have to be like watching them like obviously I have to be plugged into what they are doing because they're still like toddlers, but it's, it's just not the

Safa:

Yeah.

Ashley:

So then after she was born, I was like, Oh wow, like this is what space looks like to actually just focus

Safa:

Mm hmm.

Ashley:

thing at a time versus paying attention to my kids and the chores and the business and this message and this email and my hobby

Safa:

hmm.

Ashley:

like my fitness and my tracking, like all this kind of stuff. It was like, no, like I have to sit in this chair and feed her. can't do anything that is not on my

Safa:

Yep.

Ashley:

Like, so literally everything else around me had to like,

Safa:

Not.

Ashley:

just

Safa:

Yeah, exactly.

Ashley:

and so then I was like, oh wow, like, this is the type of space that I want to be creating in life. Like, this is what I want to experience a lot more. And she was born in August, so like, this awareness didn't come to like, towards the end of the year for me. Um, But there was during that time, like, because I was like stuck in a chair, like defeat her, which I love doing. Like, I don't want it to sound like, I'm miserable. Like, I wouldn't have chosen anything else. There's just, it gave me a lot of time to like sit and

Safa:

Mm hmm.

Ashley:

I'm a, I'm a big thinker anyways. I like to reflect and just like contemplate life like on my own. So there was a lot of that that went on. Um, and it was just, it was just a really interesting.

Safa:

Yeah.

Ashley:

like reflect on the business and we've come, how far we've come, where we still need to

Safa:

Oh, yeah.

Ashley:

and like that kind of stuff.

Safa:

Yeah, um, and then on my front, um, we made a, I think there's kind of like two parts of like one, why we made the move and then like kind of the result of the move for myself, we decided to make a huge international move. Um, and in that we. We still have our life in the U. S. Like we still have our house there. my husband still has his business there. He's Still operating it and things like that. Um, and then we decided to move internationally so, we moved

Ashley:

Yeah. Yeah.

Safa:

to have access. To a lot more support

Ashley:

Yeah.

Safa:

life and things like that as far as um, Hired help, uh, family, things like that. There's just more access to it. And as far as like the cost of living goes, it is much lower than the U S and, um, partly because the dollar is stronger and we're earning in dollars. So we have the privilege to be able to spend in dollars. So it makes it a lot less, but in general, the cost of living is lower here compared to. Like 1 for an egg in the U S it's like 5 cents for an egg. Um, and part of the reason we did the move was because I was like. I can't do this anymore. I was like, I, they're like my children. I am not the mother I want to be for my children because I am in this crazy hustle rat race all the time. When I would literally wake up in the morning being like, I cannot wait to go back to sleep because it was Groundhog Day every day. You wake up, you do breakfast, well you get ready, you do breakfast, you take kids to school, you come home and then you juggle trying to get work done, clean the house, take care of the kids, go pick them up, do that, get dinner, and it's just like constant all the time, doing all that, and I was like, I need to get things off my plate so I can have dedicated times of Working and then dedicated times of being like a present mother. And there's just the only answer I had was like, I need the higher health to be able to do this. It's like completely unfeasible. For me to do it on my own and both of us being entrepreneurs and getting hit by like, 23, 24, all of that. It was just like, well, we have to work more to get more of what we need to one survive. And then now we're asking for like, Luxury items to keep going, let's make a drastic move. We're moving across the world and we're going to find ourselves more help so we can work more really, and not sacrifice our kids and things like that. Um, but. The move coincided with two hurricane evacuations, back to back, and then I went straight into, um, having to do a full international move. We rented out of our house, so that included completely emptying everything out, um, getting it shipped. And then getting everything else that we had left packed and over here, um, and it was like juggling the budget to do all that timelines, making that work on top of like just normal day to day survival. And even looking back now, I've like blacked out that entire month. This is like the month of October and Me and my husband were having a couple of conversations. He was like, we talked about this. He was like, this is like what happened. I was like, zero recollection. So, like, he went back to the U. S. for a while. Work things and then he charged our personal card for the uber from the airplane from the airport to His truck and I was just like I was like it was a business expense Why'd you charge it on the personal card? Whatever and he's like, oh my god, we talked about this He's like we talked about it three times one time. We even talked about it at the airport And like, this is, I was like, honestly, I don't even remember anything until we got onto the plane, like, completely, like, so stressed out, so overwhelmed, and it was a, it wasn't just a culmination of like, I went through two hurricane evacuations. and solo with two kids and then an international move because I'm so stressed out it was a culmination of like all of that ongoing stress for so long over time and then just like adding

Ashley:

Mm-Hmm.

Safa:

all of that on top of it and then Intentionally, those last, the, obviously the hurricane evacuations was like on an unintentional time off for me, but the last two weeks have been intentional moving into like the first couple of weeks of November. I'm like, yeah, I'm going to be off to get a settled, like to get, and then I get all of our, like, furniture straight, all of those things kind of done. And in that time.

Ashley:

time off for the hurricanes isn't like fun. Time off. I

Safa:

Oh, yeah.

Ashley:

room

Safa:

I was. Yes.

Ashley:

kids. Like this isn't like a Oh yeah. I'm just gonna take time off. Let me just unplug.

Safa:

Oh, no. It was awful. I was like, I'm freaking, I cannot be in the same room with these children. And then, like, I feel like this is the most relatable thing I'll ever say. It's like, one of my kids has his own bed because he was older, but the younger one, like, to make sure he didn't, like, fall asleep. fall off the bed. He was in bed with me because like my eight year old can't make sure my two year old doesn't fall off of the bed. So he's with me, but that means I'm constantly being touched. And you know, being touched out is like a huge thing when you're a mom, but like the fact that like, I can't even like not be touched while sleeping. It's just like

Ashley:

Mm-Hmm.

Safa:

two weeks awful.

Ashley:

The overstimulation

Safa:

was just like constant. Yeah. So like we got to move whatever we like showed up and i'm like, oh I can finally Breathe, but we still have to like get settled here and do all of those things. Um, but In those, in that time, my only focus was really like, okay, let me go run these errands to get these things and get this sorted. And I have the luxury to like, just get up in and pray and like sit and like enjoy breakfast and all that. And like, life is slower here. You really can't get anything done before 10 a. m. anyways. So. Yeah, so like nothing opens before 10 a. m. And then especially on Friday, Muslim country, so nothing before, Zohar prayer, so like midday. So you're not looking at anything happening before 2 or 3 on a Friday. So, like, a perspective would be that, like, oh, nothing opens up on Sundays until after church.

Ashley:

Mm mm-Hmm. Mm-Hmm.

Safa:

Yeah. So, but people. And like, if you're going to go to a store or anything like that, there's like no point in going or leaving anything before 10 a. m. So like, you wake up, you pray, you spend your time reflecting, whatever, you have a good breakfast, you drink your tea, whatever, and then you're like, okay, well, what am I getting done today? Like, what's the one thing, what's the two things that I'm getting done today? And then you go and you do them and you're not worried about like, Oh my gosh, I got that done and I forgot all of these things and I have to do all of that because you do have help at home. They like, you do have. Someone that's like going to come and clean someone that's going to, um, help with food. It's going to do all those things where you're just like solely focused on taking care of your life. Right. And in the fact that along with that, I didn't really have to be like, okay. I need to balance going running in this errand and taking care of that with like making sure I'm Taking care of xyz that needs to be done in the business To do it and the fact that like, I could just come home and just like sit, I was like, oh, this is so nice to just have like life to worry about, you know, and even then it's just like a too, because if we had been settled and we had our routines and we had all our things and everything was already taken care of in those moments when I was doing that and everything was taken care of, it would just be moments to like, enjoy life.

Ashley:

Mm-Hmm.

Safa:

Right. And like, really have gratitude for all the things you have and really reflect and enjoy those. And I was like, this feels so, this is like the most peace I've had and felt in years, in years. Um, and one that was like really sad, but it was also, this was really nice. So it's like, okay, what do we need to kind of do to get us to that place and move things forward and do that. Cause now. Obviously back to work, clearly. So, and while it is, I am in a much better position now than before the move, because I do have more help now. I, I have been able to. Like revitalize my ability to like spend money as like a solution for like life things

Ashley:

Mm-Hmm.

Safa:

That has helped a lot with me. Just having more time and space and things like that where Balancing work and the kids doesn't feel so In conflict for one with one another, I can still be like, okay, yeah, I'm done at like, I'm done at two or i'm done at three whatever and then after that it's dedicated kids time Because i'm not being like, oh, well, I still got a month before so I still have to sweep I still have to cook. I still have to reset the kitchen. I have to clean up this huge mess I have to do xyz and all of that kind of stuff.

Ashley:

Mm hmm.

Safa:

But there's still kind of like a, okay, well, let's get a routine so I can have that dedicated time. And I'm also homeschooling. So it's like, okay, well I have non toddler time until then, but then that also means I need to like split that between like work and, um, homeschooling..

Ashley:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think, um, going into 2025, going to be a lot of intentionality for both of us, like, lives became, at least for me, became very, like, reactive.

Safa:

hmm.

Ashley:

Like I was, we would be very proactive with the business, but then on the personal side, personal life and experiences, things became very reactive because of, for me, the lack of supports that we have, um, here. This is something that we talk about a lot in, in our content is that you always have to, like, Auditing things

Safa:

Mm hmm.

Ashley:

business.

Safa:

Gotta audit your life.

Ashley:

not about having, yeah, exactly. Like you, it's, it's not about having things right the first time or like sticking to something forever just because that was the decision at one

Safa:

Mm hmm.

Ashley:

was, you know, got to test and refine and like, that doesn't change ever really. Like that's not just a business. Um, Like, business lesson. Like, that's for your personal life, too.

Safa:

Yeah. And I think, like, to be kind of specific about it for our, like, relation and, like, correlation from this is what was happening in our personal lives and this is what we noticed and this is what we saw and this is what we. Felt and what we wanted and needed and things like that. And like what that translated to and looked like in our business is that our business had gotten to a point where it was like, okay, well, we can do all of these things because we've built this business that's able to do. Everything and all of these things and we are able to build it in a way that will be or is scalable. It is able to do all of that thing, but that requires kind of, and we've had episodes about this where it's like, okay, well, like. To gain this, we're willing to give this up personally for the moment to get to XYZ, and there was a lot of that that we were willing to do, which was fine. We're like, okay, yeah, yeah, that's fine, like, we're able to do that, we can make that work, or, um, oh, yeah, we can take that out and outsource this and, you know.

Ashley:

Mm hmm.

Safa:

it may be and not to be like, oh, yeah, like we were in a completely

Ashley:

Mm hmm.

Safa:

position where we're doing all the work and that's why it's like so crazy and bad and all of those things. But we have built our business into a point where we're really able to say yes to a lot of things.

Ashley:

Yeah, so, I think it's always fun, like, when we get to the end of the year. Like, the end of the year and the start of the year are always big, like, reflection points, naturally. I just always think it's really interesting to see, like, where you were January 1st versus December 31st, and, like, all the experiences and stuff, so. Yeah, it was, uh, hopefully when you guys are reflecting back on your year, there's, you can see the positives in things, even if it was a very hard year. Um, just because there are quote failures doesn't mean it's a failure. It's just a lesson, a redirection, it brings clarity if you're looking for it, so. Yeah. If you're, uh, open to sharing, you want to share a story and tag us. Um, we'd love to see what your biggest takeaways were from 2024.

Outro:

And that wraps up another episode of the business millennials podcast. We hope you found this conversation, thought provoking, inspirational, and helps you make a larger impact with your business. Growth is not just about profits or revenue. It's a journey of personal development, contribution, and bettering ourselves in society. Our challenge for you take at least one key lesson from our time together today that you can apply not just to your business. But your relationships, creative expression, wellbeing, and personal evolution to, we appreciate you tuning in. If you enjoyed this show, we invite you to pay it forward, share it with an entrepreneur, creative student, or community leader who needs an infusion of insight or inspiration right now. And make sure to subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. So you never miss a single episode. And if you like what you heard, leave us a five star review. See you next week.