How To Run Multiple Businesses AND Maintain A Healthy Marriage | Lisa Mont-Ros | WLAM, Episode 30
In this episode of "Work Like A Mother," host Marina welcomes Lisa Mont-Ros, a powerhouse entrepreneur and mom of five, to discuss the delicate balance of managing a successful business and a bustling blended family. Lisa shares her journey from selling real estate to becoming a sought-after business consultant, fitness coach, and mastermind leader. Discover how Lisa overcame the challenges of entrepreneurship while raising a family and learn her strategies for creating time freedom and recurring revenue. Tune in to hear Lisa’s insights on habit stacking, the realities of working for yourself, and the importance of clear expectations in managing a team. Whether you’re a mom looking for inspiration or an entrepreneur seeking practical advice, this episode is packed with valuable tips for creating a life you love.
Mentioned in this episode:
Lisa Mont-Ros
IG: @lisamontros
IG: @stepupmethod
Marina Tolentino
https://www.marinatolentino.com/
YT: @marinatolentino
Newsletter: sign me up!
Listen to Work Like A Mother
Or any of your favorite platforms!
Affiliate Links to Save You $$$
Transcript:
Lisa [00:00:00]:
You work a lot, right? Because you love what you do, and there's also always work to be done. And so I got very, very unhealthy, very out of shape.
Marina [00:00:08]:
When you're in the middle of it and you think you're doing fine, you don't even have the mental capacity to think about yourself or what you're putting in your face. It's just food, fuel. It must all be the same.
Lisa [00:00:17]:
But what I learned through that process is that I never want to work for someone again. Like, I will hands down work 18 hours a day as long as nobody else runs my schedule. So, yes, working for yourself is significantly harder than showing up to work and collecting a paycheck. It is so worth it.
Marina [00:00:32]:
He's like my little shadow. So he's with me through business conversations, and he's hearing me on the phone, negotiate deals, and, like, that's priceless.
Lisa [00:00:38]:
You know, if they said they're gonna do it, and then they're not, just figure out what's in the way, because there's something like they're either scared to get on the phone, they don't know scripts, and then you can coach to whatever is in the way. The norm is actually, you put in the work, and then you get the success.
Marina [00:00:55]:
All right. Today, I have someone super new and super fresh that I think is gonna be great to introduce to all of you because she's got so much experience in her background pocket. So welcoming. Lisa Montrose. She's from Arizona, I believe, which is super nice. But this woman comes with a pocket full of motherhood experience, business creation, selling a business marriage with in business together, and then, honestly, health and fitness. Like, you are super fit. So I'm excited to ask all those questions, too, about how to do it all, but you're doing it.
Marina [00:01:26]:
So your Instagram profile reads, helping businesses create time, freedom, and recurring revenue. And you're a business consultant, helping people with their course and membership creation. So welcome to the show, Lisa.
Lisa [00:01:36]:
Thank you so much. Like, I forget I do all of those things until you mention it, and I'm like, oh, yeah, I do do all of that.
Marina [00:01:42]:
Exactly. So how old are your kids now?
Lisa [00:01:46]:
So I have five. We are a blended family, so we're his, hers, and ours. I have 22 2018, and then the ours are ten and eight.
Marina [00:01:54]:
Oh, my gosh, you are. Yeah, that's a lot like.
Lisa [00:01:59]:
No, we have 810 and 18 are still living at home. My 18 year old keeps promising me she's going to move out, but she's still here, so it's coming. It's coming.
Marina [00:02:09]:
And I feel like this is good context, too, because a lot of my friends, we're still in, like, that middle school and younger age, so we don't have any advice from someone who is in the high school and older. So that could be good to get into, too, today. But needless to say, I'm sure you have a packed schedule and you find a way to do it all. How do you do all the time stuff? Do you time block? Like, what's your system?
Lisa [00:02:29]:
So I'm not a huge fan of time blocking, and I've taken 175 coaching courses, and everyone says to time block, and for some reason, my brain, as soon as there's something like time blocks on my schedule, I get super resistant. So I'm like, it just doesn't work. And it's an amazing tool. I'm very routine. So you talk about the health and fitness. Like, my morning routine does not vary. Like, whether I'm at home, whether I'm on vacation, like, we're going on an alaskan cruise in a couple of weeks, and I already know my routine will stay the same. And so pretty much from 05:00 a.m.
Lisa [00:03:00]:
until about 09:00 a.m. nothing changes. In my world, every morning is the same, but I don't have to think about it. And so that's how I get a lot of it done is because it's just. It's just what I do. I don't have to think about it. I remember looking like years and years ago. Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.
Lisa [00:03:18]:
I think both of them wear black all the time. Right. And I do, too, but for different reasons. But it sort of has panned into the same reason. Like, I literally don't know how to dress myself. Like, I have no idea how to wear color, and, like, I don't know what to do. So I'm like, a black halter top tank sounds great. And in the winter, a black long sleeve t shirt.
Lisa [00:03:35]:
It just works. But they wore black because they didn't want to have to make decisions. So it was just like, there wasn't that decision so that they could focus on other things. And I think that's how my routine has gotten us to where we are. And my husband and I, fortunately, are so aligned that we're not battling each other for that. Like, we go to the gym together, we eat breakfast together, we get the kids ready together. So it's very much a team effort.
Marina [00:03:59]:
Yeah, I love that. Okay, so instead of a time blocking master you are a habit master. You have, like, habits stacked your whole morning, and then after that, you kind of just figure out what needs to be done. And I think that's so important. It's not just one thing you're doing. Like, you're probably doing 30 things in that habit stack, but it's just routine for you now. You don't have to think about it.
Lisa [00:04:16]:
Yeah.
Marina [00:04:17]:
Were you always, like, super into health and fitness or when did you get into it?
Lisa [00:04:21]:
So I was, when I was younger, and then I had a bunch of babies, and we also, when we were running a business, and I think you may relate to this as well. Like, and anybody on the. Anybody that's listening to this, that's an entrepreneur, you start. You work a lot, right? Because you love what you do, and there's also always work to be done. And so really, in the midst of having the babies and then also running our business, I got very, very unhealthy, very out of shape, very everything. And the funny thing, my husband and I last night were looking at pictures, and I'm like, we didn't even know. Like, we, hands down, didn't even know. And I look at these pictures, and my face was, like, twice the size that it is now.
Lisa [00:05:01]:
And, you know, I mean, we ate McDonald's and we ate, you know, it was, like, fast, and we're like, oh, Burger King's down the street, and we would just grab it. So I was. I always thought I was into it, but now that I actually understand how much better I feel when I focus on that, I really am. Now, plus, in all fairness, my little ones are a little bit bigger, so they hit that stage right around age, like, five.
Marina [00:05:24]:
Okay.
Lisa [00:05:25]:
From my experience, right around age five, where your kids just don't need you to do everything for them or they don't need you to guide them for everything. And so that frees up a little bit of that time to focus on yourself. When you have little littles, it's just hard because you are responsible for so much for them, and they don't know.
Marina [00:05:43]:
What independence is yet. It's me, myself, and I.
Lisa [00:05:46]:
No, 100%. They're like, the world revolves around me. Like, why are you not paying attention to me?
Marina [00:05:51]:
Absolutely. Yeah. No, that's so good. And I think you mentioned that point about when you're in that, the middle of it and you think you're doing fine, it's. You don't even have the mental capacity to think about yourself or what you're putting in your face. It's just food, fuel, it must all be the same. So that's a good point. And we can talk about, like, what you eat and stuff later on, too.
Marina [00:06:08]:
I do want to hear, though, your entrepreneurial journey. Like, how did you get to where you are today? You're a coach now. What did it look like to get to here?
Lisa [00:06:16]:
So I actually would say I was an entrepreneur from a very young age, when I was, like, five. Do you remember? You might be too young. Do you remember Columbia records? Like, they used to send me packets in the mail and they had little stamps in it, and you could lick the stamps, put them back. You'd mail it back in and they'd send you ten cds or whatever it is.
Marina [00:06:34]:
It was like the original Netflix, sort of.
Lisa [00:06:37]:
Like, you get ten cds for $0.01 or whatever it was. But anyway, you get these in the mail all the time. Anyone? Like, I'm 46, right? So I sometimes forget. Like, I. I lived a different childhood than a lot of people, especially with kids that are kids my age, because I have young kids for being 46. But anyway, I would take those stamps and I would sell them to the neighbors, like, at age five, because I was like, if I can get fifty cents, I can buy a candy bar. So I'd walk down to the street to the neighbors and I'd sell them these little stamps for $0.05. They had no value.
Lisa [00:07:06]:
My mom, actually, when she found out I did it, made me take all the money back, and I was like, what? But they bought them. That's not my fault. So that really started when I was really young. Like, I just knew that if you wanted to make money, you just had to figure out a way to do it. Like, mo lawns. I mean, as kids. Kids, it was amazing. If you wanted to go buy an icy, you just go find a way to make $2 or whatever it is.
Lisa [00:07:31]:
But my adult entrepreneurial journey really started. I was selling real estate, and it was right when my husband and I got married and they found out I was pregnant with our now ten year old. And we always said we were super committed to family being the number one thing for us. And for anyone who has ever sold real estate, you understand that, like, it's a 24 hours a day job. And so I. And I sold at a high level. Like, I was incredibly high producer. I was building a team.
Lisa [00:07:59]:
I had five people on my team, and I was working around the clock. And so there was this, like, tug and pull inside of me where I was like, I keep saying my family is the most important thing. But I'm not living that way. And so, fortunately, he had. His job was amazing, and so I was able to become a true stay at home mom, and I made it two months. I was like, this is the hardest job I've ever done, and I've been working since I was five. Like, I got my first real job when I was 14. Stay at home moms have hands down, the hardest job.
Lisa [00:08:32]:
And so what? I ended up as a productivity coach for a real estate company and then doing transaction coordination work just as a side hustle. And that was really only intended to primarily keep me busy and to keep my mind working while I was a stay at home mom, because I really, really was committed to that because of the quality of work that we did. We ended up growing that transaction coordination company to a team of 30, and that's the company that ended up getting acquired. So I did it for a couple of years just as a side hustle. And then when we actually launched the company, it was April 20, 2016, and my youngest was born May 20, 2016. So we launched this company, and I'm the size of a house, and my husband is the person who could sell sand in the desert. Like, he could.
Marina [00:09:18]:
He.
Lisa [00:09:18]:
He could convince anybody to do it. So he did sales for our company. So here I am with this brand new baby, the only employee that's actually doing the work, and my husband's out selling it to everybody. So it was absolutely wild. But what I learned through that process is that I never want to work for someone again, ever. Like, I will hands down work 18 hours a day as long as nobody else runs my schedule. Like, I don't. I just don't want that.
Lisa [00:09:46]:
And I also know that you're capped when you work for someone else. So, yes, working for yourself is significantly harder than showing up to work and collecting a paycheck. It is so worth it. It is so worth it because I get to do stuff like this, and no one can tell me. I can't. I'm like, what time do you want me there? I'll be there because I run my own schedule.
Marina [00:10:09]:
Yeah. And that's so true. When you're in sales, there is no ceiling. Like, if you want to make $500,000 plus a year, go do it. If you want to make a hundred thousand, do less. That's it. Like, end of story, you know? And for me, like, we just started homeschooling my third grader, now fourth grader, in the spring, and I'm like, I don't want to go back. Like, now that I know what it looks like to do this, like, why would I ever go back? You know, it's a whole different level of freedom.
Marina [00:10:31]:
Whereas before, we were so chained to the school system and the schedules and, like, all the things, and I'm like, we can do whatever we want. If we want to play hooky and go to the zoo, let's go to the zoo.
Lisa [00:10:39]:
But that's educational.
Marina [00:10:41]:
Absolutely. Everything's educational.
Lisa [00:10:42]:
It's 100% educational. And if you ask me, like, I'm not sold on the whole school thing. Like, as our kids get older and they're going into college, I'm like, oh, you don't have to do that. Let's talk about what else is possible for you. I love the idea of homeschooling. Also, I mentioned I did not make a very good stay at home mom, so I don't feel like I would make a very good homeschool teacher either. You can convince me otherwise since you're doing it, but I think it's cool for the families that can do it because you can get your kids real life experience.
Marina [00:11:11]:
Exactly.
Lisa [00:11:12]:
We're not going to read a book about animals or watch a discovery show about it. We're going to go to the zoo and we're going to see them. That's so much more valuable.
Marina [00:11:19]:
I mean, honestly, just, he's like my little shadow. So he's with me through business conversations, and he's hearing me on the phone, negotiate deals, and, like, he can't. That's priceless. You know, it's. I'm so excited to see how it evolves over time. Okay, so now we're coaching. This is your primary business model. Who do you help? Like, who's the woman that calls you? What are they feeling with their situation?
Lisa [00:11:40]:
So I run a couple of different things. I'm actually in the process right now of deciding if I need to let something go, but I don't want to. It's really, really hard. I do fitness coaching, and the reason for. For that is because I know that when you physically feel better, the rest of your life feels better. So there's no other reason for it, except I just want people to know, and women especially, to know, that, like, just take care of your physical body. Everything else will feel better. It.
Lisa [00:12:06]:
I mean, it's just. Yeah, you can't deny it.
Marina [00:12:09]:
You gotta go. Yeah, yeah.
Lisa [00:12:11]:
So I do that, and then I also run a women's mastermind for female entrepreneurs and leaders, most of who are moms, but not all of them. And part of it marnez similar to, like, why you do what you do is because I wanted to create a space where we as women could come in and talk about our experiences as entrepreneurs and be vulnerable. Because I think so often, as, especially as leaders and entrepreneurs and as women, we feel like we have to put forward that face that, like, everything's amazing. I'm doing so great. Life is wonderful. And it's not always. Sometimes it's hard. Sometimes it's like you have, you know, like, I have a sign on my door right now that my kids can't bug me.
Lisa [00:12:51]:
I don't like that. Yeah, but I mean, but it's part of, part of the world. And people who don't do this don't understand. So I run that mastermind for that. That reason is just to create that space where people can come and just be authentically them. And it's okay if you're having a hard day, your social media doesn't have to show it, but, like, you can come here and show it. And then our primary business is consulting and coaching for businesses. And we work a lot with service based businesses.
Lisa [00:13:18]:
And our goal with that, because with our transaction coordination company, when you run a service based business, in order to make more money or to grow, you have to, you can do two things. One, you can do more. And you know this, like, you're nodding your head because this is what you did, too. You can do more, and which means you work more, or you can hire a team to help you do more. And that brings a whole different realm of skill set and what you have to do and different challenges. And so our goal is really to help service based businesses streamline their business so they don't have to trade time for money, so that they can, they can scale without having to physically do more or take on more responsibility. And so that's really what we focus on now, because we went, we did it the other way.
Marina [00:14:03]:
Yeah.
Lisa [00:14:03]:
And it was really, really hard.
Marina [00:14:06]:
Yeah. Oh, yeah. When you're working around the clock, because everyone needs you and you haven't built, like, any barriers there, it can feel super overwhelming. Hey, ladies, real quick, if you are looking for a mentor, I just wanted to remind you that I offer mentorship to entrepreneurs. So if you're someone who has a never ending to do list and you're spiling out of control and feel like your business doesn't have a track plan, I want to work with you every single week for a month at a time. It's super simple, but I come from over ten years of experience doing this myself, and now I'm willing to give that information back to people. So I've mentored real estate agents, I've mentored wedding photographers. I've mentored other business owners, and they've come from a place of overwhelm, mostly.
Marina [00:14:45]:
And they really just needed clarity and a couple of action steps to move the needle. And we've seen gigantic leaps and bounds in their business. Like, I can't even tell you. So if you're interested and you want to know what that looks like, I want you to go to marinatolentino.com, and there's a calendly link there to do a 15 minutes discovery call with me just to see if we're a good vibe check to make sure we're on the same page. And I would love to work with you one on one to really boost your business to the next level. Let's dive back in. So I would love to talk about that, because I think people don't say when you hire a team, it actually means more work, but there is a way to do it where you can do less work there. What is the skillset needed? So it's managing people.
Marina [00:15:21]:
How do you teach someone how to manage people if they'd never done that before?
Lisa [00:15:26]:
Where people run into problems? And this is any relationship, this is not exclusive to a manager employee type of relationship, but it's expectations. So it's being very, very clear. So what a lot of people do is they hire a team, and they're like, okay, here's the five things I need to get done. Go figure it out. And then, especially if you've been a solopreneur, your way is the right way. And then when they go and do it, you're like, oh, I might as well have just done it myself because they're not going to do it. Right. So the biggest thing to do, especially with that first hire as you're managing people, is to set those expectations and be super clear.
Lisa [00:16:03]:
Like, here's exactly what this job needs to look like. And if there's freedom for them to do it certain ways, be open to that freedom and then be okay with how they do it.
Marina [00:16:12]:
Yes.
Lisa [00:16:12]:
And so it's expectations.
Marina [00:16:16]:
Yeah. Oh, that's so good. And now that you're saying that, it's making me reflect. So when I started my real estate career, I joined a team, and then I had the quick success, and so he put me into a management position, and I didn't know how to manage people. Like, I've just been a solopreneur this whole time. And then there was a lot of, like, just not enough communication on the expectations. So then there was, like, resentment building up between people and then it just gets out of control until someone, like, ropes it in together. But then there has to be accountability with those expectations, too.
Marina [00:16:43]:
So that was sliding on some things. And so it's like, yeah, the expectations that we're here, but if we're not going to hold anyone to them, what's the point of the explanation? So you have to learn kind of how to discipline in the sense of like, what do we do when those expectations aren't met? You know, what is the repercussion of that? How do you teach people that part of it? Because I feel like that was so challenging for us.
Lisa [00:17:03]:
I feel like that's the easy part. And I'm going to tell you why is that? When you set those expectations in the standards, like, if you and I were working together and I was like, hey, here's the expectations we have. Here's the standards we have. Do you agree? And you would say yes because you want to continue working together, say yes. But then when they're not being met, it's an easy conversation because you already agreed to the standards and you agreed to those expectations. So it's like, hey, I noticed we're not hitting. We're not hitting these. Tell me what's going on, because, like, you agreed to it.
Lisa [00:17:34]:
So is there something else going on that's like getting in the way and that's an easier conversation than disciplining because it puts the ball back in their court.
Marina [00:17:40]:
Yeah.
Lisa [00:17:41]:
And oftentimes what you find is they have something external going on. Like if they initially agree that, yes, I absolutely want to do this, I'm going to live up to those expectations. Like in real estate, I'm going to make phone calls every day for 2 hours. Right. That's the hardest thing for people to do in real estate, is lead gen. If they said they're going to do it and then they're not, you have to figure out what's in the way because there's something like they're either scared to get on the phone, they don't know scripts, and then you can coach to whatever is in the way.
Marina [00:18:08]:
That's true. Yeah, that's a good point. Okay. And then you're doing the mastermind and you're also doing one on one coaching.
Lisa [00:18:16]:
So two separate some one on one. The one on one is more for just the business consulting, not as much for one on one type of life coaching. I found out early on I'm not great at life coaching. Like, I tried to do it, but then, like, because I'm the type of person where I. If someone tells me to do something, if I'm working with a coach and they tell me to do something, like work, do this exercise, I'm just gonna do it, and then I'm not gonna complain about that thing again. Or if I'm not willing to do it, I'm not gonna complain about it again because it's like, I didn't do the work, so I can't keep complaining about this area of my life. Most people don't function that way like they liked. Most people actually really, really like to make up excuses, and I just.
Lisa [00:18:56]:
I had a hard time with that, so I don't really do one on one coaching anymore.
Marina [00:18:59]:
Yeah, it's like, you're so disciplined that you're like, I don't need this anymore. Like, I love the transparency. You figured it out.
Lisa [00:19:06]:
You gotta be honest, right? I mean, that's. And it's not for everybody. There are some amazing life coaches out there who do a fantastic, wonderful, amazing job. I'm just not that person. So if that's what someone's looking for, I'm definitely like, ooh, let me refer you to somebody.
Marina [00:19:20]:
But that's great, because, you know your lane and you. You rule and Rock Lane, and so what they come to you for is literally like, this is my business problem. How do I fix it? And then you come in, and you're like, the surgeon that makes it all work again. That's great. Okay, awesome. So you also talk about creating courses. So I know this is, like, it's been trending. I feel like since the pandemic, everyone and their mom is making courses.
Marina [00:19:41]:
Why is it still so relevant in 2024? What do you think?
Lisa [00:19:44]:
We live in such a digital age. Plus, I think why it's so relevant is it 100% doesn't matter if there's a million people already doing your specialty? Each person is unique, and that's really what we focus on when we help people create courses and memberships is, like, what makes you unique? Because there's an audience of people that are going to resonate with you that don't resonate with the 15 other people that they're following on social media or whatever it is. So if you can identify what makes you unique, you can create impact in these people's lives because they're already relating to your story, and you can also make money while doing it. So I just. We live in such a digital age that if there's people who are not yet taking advantage of this and they've had any level of experience in their lives, I think they're missing out because it is going to get saturated. I don't believe it is yet, though.
Marina [00:20:37]:
I agree. Yeah. I think everyone, and it doesn't matter what industry you're in, you have something to teach because you are a professional. You're doing the work with the day to day with your clients. So then you can teach the next professional or teach the client in whatever capacity that you want. I think immediately, though, the thing that pops up in people's heads is that just one more thing I got to do, and it's going to take me hours and months to create this whole curriculum. Like, it's just too. I'm too busy.
Marina [00:20:59]:
I'm already overwhelmed. How the heck am I supposed to do that? What do you say to that person?
Lisa [00:21:03]:
It's a lot easier than you think. The overwhelm comes in because people don't know what to do. It's this idea of, like, I have to create this course. I have no idea what to do. And so that's why we stepped in. And, like, I'm not here to pitch a program by any means, but, like, I love what we do because we do it so differently. We literally take people from, hey, I have an idea, or I want to start a course, but I'm not even sure what I want to do. Like, people that are like that, we dive into their story all the way through, helping them build out their landing page, helping them build out their membership or their course, and make sure that the platform is completely set up.
Lisa [00:21:37]:
So when they finish our program, we've walked them through every single step of the way, held their hands every single step of the way, and then at the end of it, they literally have something they can sell. Yeah, it's like, here it is. And they have the copy because we did all of the exercises on their story and how to market it and everything. And so I think. And we. It's an hour a week. Like, the most it takes is two. Most it takes is two to three, depending on how much time people take on homework.
Marina [00:22:05]:
Yeah.
Lisa [00:22:05]:
So it's really not that much. And then the cool part is once it's done, it's done.
Marina [00:22:09]:
It's evergreen. Yeah.
Lisa [00:22:11]:
And then you're. Then you're done.
Marina [00:22:14]:
That's so good. And I think, honestly, if you've never created a course, you do need help your first time, because you're not going to know what you don't know. And there's just so many elements to it, like creating your funnel and then your ad, all of it, all of these things. And it's like, I've had to take so much classes and courses about each little thing, and then even that, it changes over time. So what we're last year might not work this year. So you want someone who's in the space doing it with multiple people, not just like some book that you read, like three years ago or whatever. What's a realistic timeline for someone that's like, okay, I understand, I should do this. Let me take the plunge.
Marina [00:22:45]:
When would they get their course actually live and published?
Lisa [00:22:49]:
We recommend, especially for people who are, if you're not working and this is the only thing you're going to do, you could get it done in a month. But that's not anybody that we work with. Like, that's no one that we work with. Everyone we work with is usually an entrepreneur already. And so it takes about six months, and that's so that it doesn't get overwhelming and so that you can continue living your life as you're living it and just adding this small element.
Marina [00:23:14]:
Yeah. But again, if you think, okay, I'm going to make this commitment, I'm going to work hard for six months. Just a little supplemental here and there, baby steps to get something on the other side. Like, what's a good expectation on the ROI when you start to create a course? Like, do you have initial goals that people set? Like, what is that?
Lisa [00:23:31]:
It sort of depends on what their audience already looks like. The way we teach it is before pouring money into ads is go organic, and there's different methodologies to use your own audience. Use other people's audiences, you know, I mean, key is to tap into other people's audiences because there's a few people that we've worked with that have Instagram followers of 100,000 or more, but that's not the norm.
Marina [00:23:52]:
Yeah.
Lisa [00:23:53]:
So they don't really have their own audience yet, and so it's really tapping into other people's audiences. So a lot of it just depends. We've had some people launch and they got 20 founding members. We've had some people launch and they get three. But then they.
Marina [00:24:06]:
What?
Lisa [00:24:06]:
The great thing about some of it is, is they get to start to test things and then you can start to pour money into ads.
Marina [00:24:12]:
Yep.
Lisa [00:24:13]:
But we don't recommend pouring money into ads. Like, right off the get go. Just because you do have a natural audience you can tap into. Mm hmm.
Marina [00:24:21]:
Yeah, absolutely. That's so good. Now, I think. And it's something people just got to look big picture at your business, like, what's working, what's not working. What do you like about your business? What do you not like? For me, I like actually seeing the conversion happen of someone where they used to be and where they're going to go. So, like, in between that progress is really where I enjoy it. I don't just like hearing people's wins all the time and, like, doing transactional things. I want to see the work.
Marina [00:24:44]:
Um, and so if that's you and your business, too, whether you're service based or whatever, like, find your sweet spot and then just spend a little extra time diving into how you can help your person even better. And that's your course. That's your first product.
Lisa [00:24:55]:
Um, well, and some of it, it doesn't even have to. This is so many cool stories about things that people are building. I more, like, I feel bad charging for what we do because I get more inspired by everyone we help. But we have a gentleman in our course who's. He's a finger amputee, and his. And he's building an entire course in membership on helping other finger amputees right out the get go of how to get through the post traumatic stress disorder that they go through, how to get back to being whole. And when I hear him talk, like, I didn't even know there was a market for that. But there's 60,000 people a year, right? Like, I had no idea.
Lisa [00:25:34]:
I didn't even know that existed. And I also didn't know there's, like, tens in the tens of Facebook groups for these people where they're. They're already talking on these Facebook groups about, like, is it normal that I wake up, you know, wake up panicked that I lost another finger? And I'm like, oh, my gosh. I didn't know that was a thing. I've never lost a finger. How cool that he's creating this for this very particular audience. And 60,000 people a year is a real audience.
Marina [00:25:59]:
Oh, yeah. You only need ten a year, honestly, to have a great business.
Lisa [00:26:04]:
Right? So it's just, I'm so inspired every day by what our students are creating, and more. Even more than, like, I sit on these calls and, like, they probably get sick of me because at the end of every call, I'm like, you guys are so amazing.
Marina [00:26:18]:
No, that is true. That is so inspiring, because you hear what people's passions are and everyone has a different perspective. And that goes back to the niche, too. Like, you almost can't be niche enough. Like, just be you. That's the biggest thing because everyone has a different story and a different, like, we serve the person we used to be. Right? So we look back, where did we come from? So. That's so true.
Marina [00:26:38]:
Um, I want to kind of dive into you working with your husband. So you guys do business together? You've always done business together when that started?
Lisa [00:26:44]:
When started with our company in 2016.
Marina [00:26:48]:
Okay.
Lisa [00:26:48]:
Um, yeah.
Marina [00:26:50]:
What advice do you have? Because I also work with my husband and we've had, like, a previous business experience, the one that we sold. And then now we're going into a new phase, starting our nonprofit together. Like, what advice?
Lisa [00:27:00]:
Well, so you and I have parallel stories because we worked together on the business we sold, and now we're finding a new groove with our new business and how we do it together. No, honestly. So we started it and our little guy was probably six months old, so our business was seven months old. Like, it was the same, the same age as him. And we were like, okay, we're going to go out to dinner and we're not going to talk about the kids, which, first of all, any married couple, like, I challenge you to, that it's almost impossible, but we're not going to talk about the kids and we're not going to talk about the business. And I'm not kidding. We sat at that dinner for 45 minutes and had nothing to say. And I go, we have to fix this, because if our life, if our marriage has become our kids and our business, we're never going to make it through.
Lisa [00:27:43]:
And so two things that we did. Number one, we made sure that we committed time to us like Alex and Lisa. Not business owners, not mom and dad, but like Alex and Lisa. This is us. And I'm. We've been married for eleven years. And I can honestly say I'm probably more in love with him now than I was the day that we got married. Like, which there were.
Lisa [00:28:03]:
I mean, he's probably going to see this, so he's going to know. But there were probably some times that we did not love each other very much because it's hard, like running a business. But the other thing, I go back to the expectations and standards. We really clearly defined our lanes in our first business where this is what he does and this is what I do. And we did not overlap. And so there what we could both do everything, but we just defined our lanes of what we were going to do, and we're in the process of doing that again. The challenge with what we're doing now is we're both so good at all of it. Like, we both love doing all of it that we're like, oh, I don't want to give that up.
Lisa [00:28:42]:
I don't want you to do that. I want to do that. And we're fighting over who gets to do what.
Marina [00:28:46]:
What an amazing opportunity, though, to, like, have both of you guys so gung ho about everything that you're fighting over doing it all. That's so funny. And then with date nights, are you guys, like, scheduling that in advance or, like, how do you make that happen? Because I feel like it's so easy to just back burner, oh, we're busy again or whatever.
Lisa [00:29:02]:
Um, well, we do the gym together every morning. I think that's super helpful. Like, that's definitely, like, I mean, I know we're working out, but at least it's something together, so we definitely do that. We don't really schedule date nights. We just make sure that we do it. And then we oftentimes, like, the kids will go to bed and we live in Arizona, so it's the surface of the sun. So it's not until the sun goes down right now, because, I mean, I'm looking at 110 degrees right now. So the sun goes down and it gets down to 95.
Lisa [00:29:26]:
So the kids will go to bed and then we'll just go sit out on the back patio and, like, enjoy 95 degrees instead of 110. And that's our chance to just talk. So we're pretty good about on a regular basis, making sure we have that time to just visit. And the date nights they just have, I mean, we're, we've gotten pretty good at making sure they happen without scheduling them.
Marina [00:29:46]:
Yeah, that's good. You just, like, have this intuition of, like, oh, it's been a while. Let's get one in.
Lisa [00:29:51]:
Yeah.
Marina [00:29:51]:
I think that's another key to having older kids. It's like you actually have time to think by yourself instead of someone always, like, following you around constantly and you're like, oh, my gosh, I just need a break. It does change over time. Like, I'm starting to get there. Like, starting to get there, but I'm excited for that season. And then, honestly, empty nester is the next phase. And I don't know how that's going to go, but it's like, if you haven't worked on your marriage this whole time and then you expect to know that person. You're in for a rude awakening, and that's what I don't want to happen.
Lisa [00:30:18]:
Right.
Marina [00:30:19]:
So it's so important. So, so good. Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt and I hope you're enjoying this episode of the work like a mother podcast. Real quick. I just want to remind you guys, if you are worried about missing an episode, you don't have to worry anymore because we are creating a weekly email that's going to go out automatically every single time there's a brand new episode. And this email is going to have everything you need to know about this week's featured guests. It's going to have all of the links and the resources that we're going to talk about in this episode. So you don't have to go around and fumble through the show notes.
Marina [00:30:49]:
But it's me served in your inbox every single week. So if you guys want that access, be sure to click below one time in the show notes today. Sign up for that email and then you'll never have to worry about it in the future. And bonus, if you really love this, we'd love it if you share this with a friend. Give us a review on whatever platform you're listening to, and we'll continue to bring new episodes and new information that's going to help you level up your life every single week. Okay, so do you guys have an assistant?
Lisa [00:31:15]:
We have. We are trying this time around as we're building a new business and we're two years in, so it's not really new anymore. But we are trying to have as few hires as possible. Okay. Because that management piece is takes up. It's a full time job. So we're trying to have as few hires. So we have a va team in Pakistan.
Lisa [00:31:34]:
Actually, that so far has been beyond amazing. They're very tech knowledgeable. So when it comes to like, all of the funnel building websites and all of the community building websites, they know it. And so we can throw a lot of stuff over the fence that we don't have to train them on, which is amazing. So that's all we have right now. And we're trying to stay away from hiring anyone. We're not going to be able to do that forever, hiring a team.
Marina [00:32:01]:
So you're doing it. But wait, now I have so many questions. So I hear a lot about filipino assistance, like in the Philippines, but I haven't heard about Pakistan or like the Middle east. So how do you find these people? How do you.
Lisa [00:32:12]:
My husband does it. I have no idea how he found them. But when he came to me and he's like, here's everything they can do. And I was like, hire them now.
Marina [00:32:18]:
Yeah.
Lisa [00:32:19]:
And we've been, they've been, we've been with them for almost seven months and we've referred them to so many people because we have been beyond pleased with the quality. And even when it comes to, like, design, like, we have marketing pieces and we'll send it to them and it's, they'll at least take a stab at it and they know our branding and so there's kind of a few revisions, but it has taken a lot off of our plate.
Marina [00:32:41]:
Wow. Incredible. Because I think so often we again put up this limiting belief that, well, they're going to scam us or I can't trust them, or like, they're going to steal my business and my bank account information and all this stuff. There are ways to set this up so that it serves you and literally for the task that you don't want to deal with. It doesn't have to be this whole position. It's just like hourly, you know?
Lisa [00:33:01]:
Yeah.
Marina [00:33:01]:
That's amazing. Wow.
Lisa [00:33:03]:
It's so good.
Marina [00:33:04]:
It's also proof that it exists and.
Lisa [00:33:05]:
It'S really, it does, I mean, it does exist. And we've been super happy. We've referred them to a handful of people and they've all been happy.
Marina [00:33:12]:
So, no, I'm going to have to get that from you because we are in the process of. So Rose, the one that you've been communicating with, she's our EA, our primary assistant, but then now she's been doing so much on the marketing side because of the podcast collateral that I'm like, this is almost a whole new position. Like, it's distracting you from what your sweet spot is. Do we need a marketing assistant position? And I think we just need the team to do it.
Lisa [00:33:33]:
And like, I will email you, you let me know how you want the info, I'll send it to you and you can interview them and see what you think.
Marina [00:33:39]:
Yeah, absolutely. I'm always just curious to see what's out there too. So that's super cool. Um, okay. And then about creating, creating community. So you've created a fitness community, you've created your entrepreneur community. I would love to create a community, but I honestly don't even know where to start other than like creating the Facebook page. And then what, like, how do you, are you driving people to the community and then fostering people once they're in there?
Lisa [00:34:01]:
So a lot of it is, I mean, it's getting them in there, but a lot of it is showing people that you care about them. So a lot of social media is not, not going on social media posting and then walking away. It's showing people that you care about their lives. Because social media to me, can be, I'm going to make sure I phrase this properly to not make anybody mad, but it can be very narcissistic, especially for those of us that are promoting businesses. Right. We're like, look at me, look at me, look at me. But if all you're doing all day is saying, look at me, and you walk away, what draws somebody to you? Like, they want to know that you care about them. So it's caring about what people talk about on social media and really caring.
Lisa [00:34:40]:
Like, you can't fake it. But I think part of it is that and actually just engaging with them, you have an opportunity to engage in person. That's amazing. Of course, we, I have a friend here in Arizona who is the guru at building community. And so I've been very fortunate to tap into her community as well. And I love all of them. Cool. So that, that's been great.
Lisa [00:35:01]:
So in person, I get to do a lot with her and her community. But I think it's getting them into your world and then once they are in your world, is continuing to provide value for them. But it really starts with, before they're even in your world, they have to know that you care.
Marina [00:35:15]:
Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think, yeah, just being like a sponge online, not just scroll, but like actually read the comments and be like, what is this woman's problem and how can I solve it for her? That's super good. It's just intention. How long would you say that it takes to build a community? Like, what is some realistic expectations, do you think?
Lisa [00:35:35]:
Two plus years.
Marina [00:35:36]:
Okay, see, so it's like delayed ratification. You're just continuing on, trucking, on, building that habit. It's not going to be instant. And I think so many of us, we just the towel because we're like, I don't see any movement. Why would I keep going? I mean, I'm kind of in this, like, plateau. I feel like with the podcast where it was like great on the launch for six months in and now we're just kind of like steady. So I want to get that, like high on another growth phase again. But right now it's just like, you know what? We're just going to stick it out.
Marina [00:36:01]:
And I've had women tell me it's taken them five years to get it going.
Lisa [00:36:04]:
It's ten years.
Marina [00:36:05]:
And I'm like, you win for a decade without feeling like it really took off. But it's because they were doing it to help the greater good. They had that motivation to just help the one. I'm like, okay, that's where I'm at, too. Like, I can do this, but it's going to take time. And just that consistency. Absolutely.
Lisa [00:36:21]:
And I think that's the challenge as an entrepreneur, too, is we see overnight success. Everybody has overnight success. They really don't like it is grinding. I mean, and I'm not big on the grind and hustle culture. Like, I don't. I don't believe that is what we have to do. But there is an extra amount of work you have to put in for a number of years. Hands down.
Lisa [00:36:41]:
You have some people who strike it. Like the hawk tua girl. I don't know if you've seen this, but my husband has seen her all over TikTok and she like, it's. It. I don't do TikTok, but my husband does. And he's like, check this girl out. She has like 107,000 followers because of some silly comment she made on something that's not the norm.
Marina [00:37:00]:
Right?
Lisa [00:37:00]:
Like, this girl now could start selling stuff and she would have people who would buy from her just because she grew so fast. The norm is actually you put in the work and then you get the success. And, like, we follow Alex Formosi quite a bit, who I. Absolutely. And you mentioned Ed Milet earlier. And, like, those are all our people, too, which is why, like, I know you and I would definitely get along because those are all our people. But it's the years that you have to put into it and the massive, like, things are really good, things are really bad, things are really good, things are really bad, things are just okay. And I think the hardest time is really when things are just okay because you're like, is this it? Is this what I did everything for?
Marina [00:37:36]:
Yep. And we lose that motivation. So, I mean, that is the big differentiator between people who are successful and who are not. It's the ones who stick it out. It's consistency. Same thing with your fitness. You're not going to look if you just do it once a month. You got to do it three times a week, four times a week, whatever.
Marina [00:37:51]:
That's so good. And I wish just more people got that and had patience and also appreciation for where you are in the journey.
Lisa [00:37:57]:
Because I think, oh, my gosh. Yes.
Marina [00:38:00]:
The happiness doesn't come from achieving the goal. The happiness comes from doing the goal, like, the progress. And so when we look at how far we've come, even just yesterday to today or last week to today, you probably made some leaps and bounds in your business. You just don't actually stop and look back. So, so good. So I do want to hear your fitness routine, in a sense. You said every morning you do the same thing. Are you eating the same thing every week, too? Or, like, what is your overall, like, snapshot, if you could?
Lisa [00:38:26]:
So for the most part, I, there's two things. Like, I dieted since I was little. My mom always dieted, so I always dieted. We really do follow our parents, and so we're really cognizant with our kids of what we do and how we talk about food and fitness because I want them to grow up in a very healthy culture with that. But I've tried everything. The two things that make the biggest difference are strength training and protein. And if you can nail those two things, it really does. Everything else just works.
Lisa [00:38:57]:
So I eat around 140 grams of protein a day. That's the biggest thing I focus on. I do my best to minimize sugars. I am also the person, though, that can sit down and eat an entire package of oreos. So I, and I wish I was kidding. I'm not.
Marina [00:39:12]:
Full transparency.
Lisa [00:39:14]:
Like one sitting, no problem. Full package. I will not feel well for hours afterwards, but I'll do it.
Marina [00:39:19]:
Yeah.
Lisa [00:39:20]:
Yeah. But my, if I, if I focus on the protein and I get it. So I eat the same thing, almost the exact same thing every day up until about noon. My mornings, if you can't tell, like, my mornings are so clockwork.
Marina [00:39:30]:
Yeah.
Lisa [00:39:30]:
Because I don't know what's going to happen the rest of the day. So I hit about 70 grams of protein by lunchtime, and then I know I'm good for the rest of the day, so I don't really track anymore. Yeah, but, like, but I just hit that in the morning and then the rest of the day. And I don't worry so much about fats and carbs and calories. I don't worry about all that. I just hit my protein and then I do. I lift six mornings a week. I hate cardio.
Lisa [00:39:51]:
I used to run marathons, and now, like, running around the block, I would rather poke my eye out. So I hate it. Like, there's, I don't want to sweat. Like, I just, I don't know. I.
Marina [00:40:04]:
There is a lot of people think you have to go to the gym and get drenched, that's. That's like old nineties thinking that you have to cardio it out, stairmaster it out. Like, no, no, no, no. So I think for the woman who doesn't get this yet, they're not doing it. Kind of break it down. What is your, like, what are you doing in the gym for? And have. For how long? A day?
Lisa [00:40:20]:
So for three days a week, I do three full body workouts. It's an hour long, hits all of the major muscle groups, and also focuses on, like, some of the smaller ones. And then three days a week, I do. Shorter workouts are, like, ten to 20 minutes, and then I do. In all fairness, I hate cardio, but I do, like, a ten minute hit workout. That's about all I can stomach. I'll do intervals for, like, ten minutes, and then I'm like, gotta get out of here. Yeah, but I do a full body workout three days a week that hits all of the major muscle groups, and I don't focus as much on living lifting heavy.
Lisa [00:40:51]:
I focus on form and just really being intentional about that. And it's been. It takes time. I mean, I've been doing this consistently for, like, 18 months, and, I mean, I still. My legs don't look like I want them to yet, but it's just. It takes time and time and time, and that's it. And it's. But it's good.
Lisa [00:41:10]:
I feel better than. I feel better at 46 than I did at 26, and I look better. Like, physically, you look amazing. So it's like, thank you. But, like, I just. I. It's just different. But, yeah, it's just three full body workouts.
Marina [00:41:24]:
Okay. So for the woman who's like, I have to be on the stairmaster. And, like, no, no, no, no. And when we're lifting weights, it's actually a really good mental exercise, too, because all you can think about is lifting weights. You don't have time to think about and worry about all the what ifs or all the things you have to do. You have to count reps. Like, we're focused, honey. Like, you know, you're like.
Marina [00:41:43]:
And I think that was really good for me because I would come out of the gym and I'll just be like, okay, that was my time. Like, now I can the next thing. But, like, when I enter this door, I am on workout mode. Everything else is an abstraction. We're not checking emails. We're not responding to texts. We are focused on our body and, like, think form. You have to think about how everything feels.
Marina [00:42:02]:
You're checking the mirror. Like, it's just. It's a practice of presence, and more women need to understand that.
Lisa [00:42:08]:
It's so good. So, like this. I think we're over time. I'm so sorry. But, like, this morning, my husband and I got to the gym and we sat in the car, and I was like, I don't want to do this today. Like, I would so much rather, like, drive to Walmart and go walk through the aisles. Like, I don't want to be here. And he's like, I know.
Lisa [00:42:24]:
I'm like, we're going to go do it anyway. And so I walked in, like, just heavy, right? So I was like, I don't want to do this. An hour later, I walked out and had a spring in my step. And I was like, okay, what are we going to accomplish today? It's like, it's a natural antidepressant. It's amazing.
Marina [00:42:39]:
Yes. And people call us crazy because we're so optimistic and whatever, but it's because of the things we're doing. It's not like we just naturally with this sunny, everything's like, rose colored and we're ready to tackle the world. It's like sometimes we have to force our freaking selves to do it right. No one jumps out of bed and is like, let's work out this morning. It's that discipline and consistency over and over and over again. So good. Well, every episode I wrap this up with a fun rapid fire.
Marina [00:43:04]:
So I'd love to ask you a couple of questions, but what is your Starbucks order? If you go to Starbucks?
Lisa [00:43:09]:
Um, I'm super boring. It's just a black Americano. That's it. Like blonde roast? It's a blonde roast, but I'm super boring.
Marina [00:43:19]:
You like it hot or iced?
Lisa [00:43:20]:
Hot. Always hot. Even when it's 110 outside hot.
Marina [00:43:24]:
I don't know if I could do that, but good for you. Okay. What do you make for dinner? If it's last minute and you're in a bind?
Lisa [00:43:30]:
Tacos.
Marina [00:43:31]:
Okay. You just always have things ready to go in your fridge.
Lisa [00:43:34]:
Easy. Tacos are easy.
Marina [00:43:35]:
And those are Arizona. That's like, part of Texas. Makes sense. Okay, what's your favorite? Go to department of target. And do you have a favorite designer?
Lisa [00:43:44]:
I do not have a favorite designer. My favorite. Go to department at target. I don't have one.
Marina [00:43:51]:
Okay. There's no, like, place. You're like, oh, I got to check this out every time.
Lisa [00:43:55]:
Maybe the. Is it the magnolia home section? That would probably be the one thing that I always have to eye.
Marina [00:44:01]:
Yeah. Just, like, tabs on trends.
Lisa [00:44:03]:
Just. Just to see. Just to see.
Marina [00:44:06]:
Yep. Same name. A book or a podcast you'd recommend to the audience and why.
Lisa [00:44:12]:
My favorite podcast is actually mind pump. It's about working out. Do you listen to them?
Marina [00:44:17]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Lisa [00:44:18]:
Okay. I love them. They spend an hour talking about random life stuff and an hour talking about workout stuff, but they're incredibly entertaining. So that's what I do when I'm at the gym, as I listen to them talk about working out while I'm working out.
Marina [00:44:30]:
Yeah. Love that. Another habit stack right there. That's good. And then you said, TikTok or Instagram? You don't do TikTok. Instagram is the one.
Lisa [00:44:36]:
Instagram.
Marina [00:44:37]:
What is your handle for everybody at Lisa Montrose?
Lisa [00:44:40]:
No dash.
Marina [00:44:41]:
Awesome. And we'll add that in the show notes, too, so it's easy to click.
Lisa [00:44:43]:
Thank you.
Marina [00:44:44]:
And then where do people find you online right now? Like, where's the most place you want to drive them to? What do you want them to do from this?
Lisa [00:44:49]:
Call Instagram. And then if you have any questions about anything that I talked about, just dm me. I do not have a Va team that answers all my DM's. I do everything on my own, so I think that would be the best place.
Marina [00:45:01]:
Yeah. I love it. Well, Lisa, you're so inspiring. It's so encouraging. Thank you for being you and just showing up fully every day. I feel like you really just attack life and you and your husband and our powerhouses. So we need more examples of this, I think, in everyday life, and you're doing it. So thank you, Madeir.
Lisa [00:45:16]:
Awesome. Thank you.
Marina [00:45:17]:
Yes. And we'll be in touch soon.
