Reina: So excited, thank you for having me.

John: Yes. Reina is the founder of Reina and Co, a life and biz success coaching practice for creative entrepreneurs. She’s a certified professional co-active coach with over 1000 coaching hours and she also co-hosts the and Creative Empire podcast, where she interviews leaders in the creative industry. Reina, take a minute, fill in some gaps from that intro, and give us a little glimpse of your personal life.

Reina: Sure. I am a mom to an almost-3-year-old. I’m a military spouse and a scuba diver. I’m a proclaimed candy junky, and actually, my background is in social work. I got my masters degree in clinical work, and learned pretty early on in that journey that if I didn’t have a creative outlet, I’d burn out.

Like any good social worker who needed a creative outlet, I studied my own wedding planning business because you don’t take a painting class; you go and start a business.

I now help creative entrepreneurs. I’ve made the leap to full-time coaching, and I now help those wedding planning and other creative build profitable, sustainable businesses, and a lot of them come with the craft, but not necessarily the business mindset or strategy.

I find that a lot of those entrepreneurs have lot of ideas, but not enough time syndrome, and they’re focusing on way too many things, and I help them focus on what’s most important so they get to the next level in their businesses. Basically, I do all of this by coaching one on one. I lead group masterminds and a retreat called Introvert’s Paradise, which is a specifically curated experience for introverts.

John: Well, first off, thank you for your service. Military spouses are incredibly important, so just wanted to make that note for sure, especially since when we’re recording this, Veteran’s Day was just a few days ago.

Reina, what I wanna move into is what you consider your area of expertise. Break that down for us, just a couple sentences. What do you excel in?

Reina: Yeah, so I help create a lot of connections. My biggest thing is to help people feel seen, to help people have community where they belong to, and not to squander away their talents, their success, and their gifts.

John: Within that, break down one value bomb. Give us something that we don’t know about that area of expertise that as entrepreneurs, we really should.

Reina: Yeah, so I think you can build your empire from nothing, from no list, no connections, and with very little money. I think that people typically believe when they’re starting that success is achieved by blasting your stuff everywhere. While that’s one technique, it often gets lost in the noise, and it’s also really overwhelming for somebody who’s starting.

In order to gain some genuine traction, I think it’s really important to leverage a marketing skill that I call social glue. At the core of it, social glue is good for people who are established and for new entrepreneurs, and it’s the belief that you have something to share, something to add value, before you have something to gain from somebody.

The driver of this is to create connections and to deliver this method. It’s around the quote Mia Angelou about people will forget what you did, people will forget what you did, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.

John: Yeah, love that.

Reina: It’s really around leveraging how you can help people feel connected, you understood, and supported. I do this by one on one connections, and talking to people who are “lower,” at the same level, or higher than me, and if you can create opportunities where you understand what they’re looking for, how they’re wanting to connect with something else in their lives, so you can connect them with a person, or an opportunity, or something that they’re really looking for.

John: Give us a real life example of either you doing this social glue, or maybe even one of your mentors or mentees, one of your clients. Give us a real world example of this social glue.

Reina: Yeah, so one thing that I love to do is when somebody’s talking about something, when my mentor, Adrian [inaudible] [00:03:58] was talking about wanting to connect with a type of person, and I looked at my mental rolodex, I guess, and said, “Hey, I just talk to this gal on the – I just had a coffee connection chat with her, and I think she would be really great on your podcast, and I think she would bring a lot of value to your audience,” and just made those two connections.

She just had this woman on the podcast, they had a really great chat, and I’ve heard a lot of great comments from her audience about how valuable this speaker was.

John: Love that. I can actually give you a real world example, Fire Nation, is a bunch of months ago, I was in New York City, or I was going to New York City for the Biggies basketball tournament.

This was back in March, and I was excited to to. I just put out on a couple podcasts or even on social media that I was looking forward to my trip to New York City.

Well, past guest, and who’s now a good friend, Salina Sue, reached out to me and said, “John, you’re coming to the city." Let me set up a dinner for you,” and she did this.

She got a lot of amazing connectors to come to the dinner, like Jonathan Fields and Kimbra Luna, and just some other great, awesome entrepreneurs I was able to sit down at dinner with and just have a great time.

It was all put together by Salina, and I’ll never forget that. That’s social glue, Fire Nation, that you can do by just keeping your ears open, and then jumping up and becoming that person the value when the opportunity arises.

Now, Reina, for you on the flip side, let’s talk about your worst entrepreneurial moment to date. We just talked about some things that you like doing and how I find successes, but what was the worst day, entrepreneurially? What was that moment? Take us there.

Reina: Yeah, so it was when I was still in my social work life and my wedding planning life. I felt like I was cheating on my real career being a social worker, working in trauma care and foster care, and turning round and working on five-figure weddings, so poverty and total abundance.

One of my mentors came to talk to me and asked me, “How are you doing,” one of those, “Tell me the real deal of how you’re doing,” and that morning, I had just spent two hours driving from home to my work, and dropping off my son screaming for two hours, and just trying to keep calm, and feeling so utterly helpless because he was screaming the whole time.

In that moment, I remembered what was most important, why I was even building this business in the first place, and why I was trying to struggle to, I don’t know, balance all the things, like every mom experiences, I think.

I loved my job, I loved my business, but I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore, so I quit both of those cold turkey after the last wedding I had on the books, and I made the full leap to coaching ever sense then, building the life that I really wanted to have.

John: Fire Nation, we’re all gonna come up with these moments where there’s forks in the road when we just really look at the direction our life is heading and we’re like, “Wow, this isn’t what I signed up for,” or, “This isn’t really turning out how I wanted it to be.”

Just because you’ve made past decisions doesn’t mean you are committed, and locked in, and “in jail” to continue going forward in that in the future. That’s called the sunk cost theory.

I’m sure Reina put a lot of time, energy, and effort into wedding planning, into social work, all these things. That doesn’t mean because of the past work that she’s put in that she has to continue to committing herself to that journey if it’s not the journey that’s making her happy because this is her “one journey.” What are you doing, Fire Nation?

By the way, if you’re listening to this and you’re like, “Well, John, I like the journey that I’m on,” well then awesome, keep going, that’s the whole point.

If you’re not, take a step back and say, “Hey, do I need to pivot just a little bit, add a little bit of this, a little bit of that, change it up a little bit, or do I need a complete overhaul in my life,” and then start taking the steps that you need to take to put this into motion because Fire Nation, this is your time. Reina, that’s my big take away from your story. What do you wanna make sure Fire Nation gets in just one or two sentences?

Reina: Yeah, I think that’s spot on. I think there are so many goals that we are in our minds, and then there are barriers between us and that goal, and it’s to really look at what that is and say, “Is it worth it for me to hurdle over that, or is it okay for me to stay in this comfortable zone?”

John: All the magic happens outside of your comfort zone, Fire Nation. Just remember that. Reina, let’s talk about an ah-ha moment. Let’s talk about one of your greatest ideas to date. Take us to that moment when that idea happened, and tell us that story.

Reina: Actually, this is not probably the most mind blowing moment, but for me, it was a big mindset shift. My big ah-ha moment was when I was talking to my friend, Lacy Craig, who is a business coach and my mastermind sister, and I could not figure out ho to go from a few thousand dollars each month to making $10000.00.

I felt like this $10000.00 goal was the elusive goal, and the big ah-ha moment came when she looked at me and said, “All you need to do is to raise your price to $1000.00 per month and get ten of those clients.

I remember thinking to myself, “Oh my gosh, it seems to easy to be able to do that,” and why was I not thinking about it? It was just $10000.00 felt like $1 million, and now knowing that you can just break to down, ask the universe for ten clients, and then move along to your next big task and next beg goal.

John: Fire Nation, we’re not being woo-woo here. We’re not saying, “Just say something and it appears.” No, you commit to verbalizing something to friends, to family, to loved ones, to mentors, you put it out there, and then you do everything you can to commit to work towards that, and the universe does help you align with those thoughts, with those feelings, with those outcomes. That’s just what happens, but you have to put it out there first, and then physically, start moving towards that.

That’s my big take away, Reina, is just we need to really understand what success looks like for us currently in our business, set that bar, set that goal, set that success standard, plant that flag in the sand, and then move towards that. What do you wanna make sure Fire Nation gets from your idea?

Reina: Back then, I didn’t have any kind of list, and you don’t need a huge list. You don’t need a ton of employees. You don’t need crazy launches in order to really start.

If you’ve had any excuses about starting, go ahead and do that. If you’re way beyond that point, that’s cool. Figure out was is that big goal, and break it down into smaller chunks.

John: From you having that idea, that you wanted ten clients at $1000.00 per month, how long did it take from making that conscious decision into actually succeeding in that goal?

Reina: I think it was two months.

John: Two months, Fire Nation. Wow. Reina, I was gonna talk about what you’re fired up about most right now. A lot of good thing going on, but what are you most excited about?

Reina: Oh my gosh, I’m so pumped. In May of 2012, my coach, Adrian [inaudible] [00:10:38] pulled me aside and was like, “I have this big five-year goal of raising $35000.00 for Pencils of Promise to build a school in Guatemala.

I’m super-fired up about this because just five months later, six months later, we’re over 30 percent in our goals. It’s most excited because our clients are partnering with us. We’ve also partnered with four companies to produce products that will contribute its proceeds towards our school. It’s not just my company; it’s really a lot of people who are really excited about this goal and mission, and building a school.

John: Fire Nation, this goes from going from just being successful to being significant as well. You can be successful, but you can also be significant. What are you doing in your business to achieve that success, but then also to be achieving significance?

Reina, it’s actually kind of crazy, but I’m wearing – I wish this was a video interview right now because I’m wearing my Pencils of Promise t-shirt right now. I love that organization.

When I was in New York City, that’s where their headquarters is, I went to the headquarters and hung out with them for a while, got my shirt, did some really cool things. They’re really experimenting big into virtual reality, which is cool, at Pencils of Promise because you can actually but on this headset and you’re at the school that they’re currently building at that time.

It’s really crazy. You feel like you’re being transported there, and it just makes things so much more real to actually see the faces of the people that you’re inspiring because I’m such a big fan of education. If we could just educate people, we’re just giving them that gift where they can learn so much, and they can apply their passions. They’re just not limited because of where they live or the location, et cetera.

Love Pencils of Promise. It’s something that it’s a passion of mine. It’s something that’s obviously a passion of yourself, Rena. What’s your passion, Fire Nation? What do you have as that overreaching goal? Maybe you haven’t hit that initial goal of the ten clients at $1000.00 each like Reina did, or whatever that is for you. That’s okay. Hit that goal first, but what is that next goal that you’re gonna have to move from just being successful to also being significant?

Fire Nation, we have a significant value bomb coming up in the lightning round, so don’t you go anywhere after we thank our sponsors. Reina, are you prepared for the lightning rounds?

Reina: Let’s go.

John: What was holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur?

Reina: I don’t think that anything was holding me back. Like I said, I quit cold turkey from both things that I had going on, so I always this that entrepreneurial spirit, I just didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do.

I think a lot of people have this feeling of not knowing what they wanna be known for, and not knowing what their thing is. I took a really winding road to get here, and searching or your thing, and searching for your right thing. This season right now, what you’re going through, serves a purpose in whatever it is that you’re looking for in the future.

John: What is the best advice that you ever received?

Reina: My business bestie, Jessica Rasdal, who’s a keynote coach and a national speaker, says to me, “Share your stories that are your scars, not your wounds.” It just means to me that you can’t handle telling the things that are not yet closed and healed over. People also don’t wanna witness a train wreck, so just share your scars, not your wounds.

John: What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success?

Reina: This is pretty similar for me, but I shape my calendar around my boundaries first, and then my client. In a four-week month, Weeks 1 and Week 3 are client weeks, and Weeks 2 and Week 4 are content weeks where I’m creating podcast episodes, or courses, or products, or whatever other content that I need to do. It allows me to stay focused in whatever tasks I am doing, and so I’m undisrupted and can keep my head in the game.

John: Boundaries first, Fire Nation. I love that. Share an internet resource like Evernote with Fire Nation.

Reina: Oh my gosh, I am obsessed with Typeform, and if you are using Google Forms, please drop it quickly, even though I love everything Google Suite. Use this beautiful tool for surveys, client feedback, intake forms, whatever you need for feedback. It’s the most customizable, beautiful tool I’ve ever used.

John: Wow, well, I just wrote that down because I do use Google Forms, and it’s a little to be desired, to Typeworm it is.

Reina: Typeform.

John: Oh, Typeform. Even better. I was like, “Typeworm. That’s interesting.” Typeform makes a little more sense, so Fire Nation, Typeform, not Typeworm. I will Google Typeworm, though. I’m kind of curious about that. Reina, if you could recommend one book, what would it be, and why?

Reina: Sure. It’s called Write, Publish, and Market, and it’s by Jody [inaudible] [00:15:09]. It’s a brand-new book, and she’s a long time traditional book publishing editor, and now she’s an editor and book coach for smaller business owners who wanna publish their own book, but still wanna cultivate that full creative control.

She shows you step by step how to plan out your book writing, your publishing options, and how to successfully market that book so that you hit your goals. If you have write a book on your future list like I’ve had, I really recommend you check it out.

John: Love it. Well, Fire Nation, while Reina was breaking that down for us, I did actually Google Typeworm and all that came up was tapeworm, so apparently that’s not really something that people are jumping onto as a word. Then, I did go to typeworm.com and it’s pretty interesting.

There’s just two words on the page, just type and worm, but the header does say, which is just at the top on the actual nav bar, gutsy fonts. I will say, the font of type worm is pretty gutsy if you wanna check that out. Again, there’s just two words on the page, type worm, then it’s all white. Pretty interesting stuff.

Reina: Wait, did you check out Typeform?

John: No, I did not which can out Typeform yet because I don’t wanna completely derail the interview.

Reina: Okay.

John: We’re gonna move into what a lot of people consider the doozy question, and it’s you imagining that you woke up tomorrow morning in a brand-new world, identical to earth, but you knew no one. You still have all the experience and knowledge you currently have. Your food and shelter is taken care of, but all you have is a laptop and $500.00. What would you do in the next seven days?

Reina: Oh my gosh, this question is crazy. I would pay for a beautiful template WordPress website and pay for hosting and all of that jazz, and create a solid launch plan around it so that I can get my fame out and create a lead magnet so could start a list sooner.

I would buy a Blue Yeti mic and start podcasting and edit myself, which I hate, so that I can loose my name in recognition by adding lots of value into the community.

What money can’t buy is the relationships, and so I could really spend my time building relationships on Instagram and Facebook groups, and get on the phone, meet people in person, build networks. If I have any money left over, I would go to a conference where I was relevant.

John: Relationships, relationships, relationships, Fire Nation, and Reina, let’s end today on fire with a parting piece of guidance, the best way that we can connect with you, and then we’ll a bye-bye.

Reina: Sounds good. Remember what is duh to you is potentially mind blowing to others, an we often doubt whether we have value to offer to somebody, or somebody in the community, and especially to somebody you respect.

I think it that it’s really important to remember to keep speaking up and sharing your message because you never know who’s listening. By using something like the social glue method, you can create connections one on one, add value, and, this is really pertinent to introverts, you can create relationships that are meaningful and life changing even if you feel shy or feel like big groups are not your thing.

I feel like the social glue method is good for people who are brand-new and for people who are well established, and you can use it for people who are further along to get to know your audience better, to get a sense of what their priorities are and creating an even more loyal following.

John: How can we find out more about you?

Reina: Yeah, we actually have a free gift for you to get started in the social glue method, a little script, and how to get the social glue things off and running. You can go to Reinaandco.com/eofire, and it’s R-E-I-N-A-A-N-D-C-O.

John: Love that, Fire Nation, and you know this. You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You’ve been hanging out with RAP and JLD today, so keep up the heat. Quick side note, Reina. Did you ever thank your parents for not giving you the middle initial I? Because RIP, I mean, you can’t have that sewed onto a bag. I mean, that just gets creepy. People are like, “Are there heads in that bag? What’s going on? Right there?”

Reina: That would be really creepy.

John: R-A-P is your initials. Head over to Eofear.com and just type Reina, that’s R-E-I-N-A, into the search bar, and her show notes page will pop up with everything that we’ve been chatting about today. These are the best show notes in the biz, time stamps, links galore. They’re awesome. Reina, one more time, give us that URL to the Fire Nation gift.

Reina: Sure. It’s Reinaandco.com/eofire.

John: Love it. Again, Fire Nation, that’s R-E-I-N-A, but, of course, we’ll have that linked up on the show notes page. Reina, thank you for sharing your journey with Fire Nation, and for that, we salute you, and we’ll catch you on the flip side.

Reina: Thanks so much.