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Have you ever met a celebrity in real life? I have (looking at you John Mayer) and let’s just say it’s… interesting.

When the person you come face to face with in real life doesn’t quite match the picture of them you created in your mind, it can feel super disappointing. Unfortunately, the same thing happens in the virtual business world. Just last week, I had a fascinating conversation with one of my coaches who was trained by and worked very closely with an extremely famous person in the personal development space. I was telling her about my recent revelations and a renewed commitment to creating freedom from my business but confided that I couldn’t stop thinking about the quote, “if you’re not growing you’re dying” that this famous coach references often. “Oh Lauren,” she said. “I feel like I’m about to tell you Santa Claus isn’t real.” What are you talking about? “Lauren, he isn’t even happy. Not really. He isn’t well. Not at all.” My heart sank. For him? For myself? I wasn’t sure if I felt sadness or relief. I cannot stop thinking about it, because I had been beating myself up for not achieving something that wasn’t even real. We lie to ourselves all the time: “If I had more money, I could make my business work.” “If I work harder, I’ll land more clients.” “When this season is over, I’ll grow my business.” And it’s up to us to get out of our own way and ditch the excuses to make our dreams a reality. But here’s something I want you to know: I will not lie to you. I will teach you how to make a ton of money. I will tell you the pros and cons of different business models so you know which is most in alignment with your lifestyle goals. I will tell you exactly what it took for me to achieve any of the things I’ve done. I will tell you when I’m wrong, screw up, or fail because hiding it is a massive disservice to you. I will only bring people into our community who I trust and believe add value to your business or life. I will call you out when you need it. And I will always, always hold the space for you. March 25 and 26 we are hosting Free Mama Live. We’ve made huge shifts to be able to bring you both online and in-person options because some of you are dying for real-life connection and others of you are physically unable to get here. We want you “here” no matter what! In fact, we just added two more amazing speakers to the lineup who are going to share with you the inside scoop of what it takes to land those high-paying roles with dreamy clients. PLUS, this week only, you can purchase a Free Mama Live ticket for $100 OFF with code FML100. I promise you, we won’t be doing this again! If you are ready to grow your virtual business, you can’t afford to not attend this event. To grow strategically, you should be bringing in 3-10 times what you are now—without working any more hours. It is possible, and if you implement what we teach you over just 2 days together about sales, revenue streams, and systems, you can actually begin to detach your income from your time. What would that be like for you? Free Mama Live isn’t just an event. It’s a transformative experience for everyone committed enough to show up. Tomorrow I’ll tell you one of my favorite stories of all time about how the first in-person event we hosted changed one Free Mama’s life forever.

When you first start a business, everything is brand-new, because well, you just started. Your first social media post about your services. Your first discovery call. Your first proposal and contract. And when we are new to something, we tend to doubt ourselves.

But giving yourself some grace rather than letting your thoughts spiral out of control could actually save your business. Seriously! Science actually shows us that low self-esteem reduces quality of life, and can severely impact the likelihood of success. In this week’s episode of FreeMamaTV, I’m breaking down how your confidence, or lack thereof, impacts your marketing and sales, and exactly what to do about it – even if you’re brand new.

So, chin up, Mama, and watch this week’s episode for 5 ways to improve your self-confidence and watch your business flourish!

P.S. Love personality assessments? Watch last week’s episode to learn how you can implement them in your business.

And don’t forget to subscribe to Free Mama TV so you’re alerted each and every time a new episode drops!

Hey, Valentine! Question for you: Do you make decisions out of love, or fear? I always thought I showed up in my business coming from a place of service (love) and did scary things (speaking!)  in spite of my fear. But somehow through a series of small, seemingly insignificant decisions over the course of two years, I was left in a scenario that felt undesirable to me, with almost no clear recollection of how I got there. Let me back up for a minute… The Free Mama grew very quickly… not overnight, and there were years of preparation that no one even saw before I started a community with the mission to help other moms make money from home. But still, I went from no email list, no following, no webinar, no course, no coaching experience to a 7-figure business, a team of 5, a published book, and tens of thousands of followers in 18 months. I’m freaking proud of that! Except, my business was growing faster than my mindset. I started to question if I was really qualified to lead the company I had created and felt like it was only a matter of time before people realized I wasn’t. Some call this imposter syndrome. Maybe you can relate? When I first started building the Free Mama Movement, I wasn’t even sure that it would work. Less than two years later I had obliterated every goal I had set for myself and found myself struggling to figure out what the heck I would do next. So… I hired coaches, and in an effort to “get my money’s worth,” I implemented what they told me to do. I hired people, and in an effort to keep them happy, I allowed them to influence the direction of the company. I looked at my favorite students, and in an effort to keep serving them after they outgrew our current programs, I developed new offers. None of these things are inherently wrong or bad. It’s just that I did them all out of fear. Fear that I didn’t know better. Fear that if I didn’t get them autonomy, they would leave. Fear that if I didn’t keep selling, they would move on. Here’s the kicker, though. These things are all true. I wasn’t afraid that they might happen, I was afraid of not knowing how to handle it when they did. In the early years of starting a business, it’s insanely smart to follow a proven model. You simply don’t know better when you haven’t done it, so you walk the path of someone else’s repeatable success. Reinventing the wheel and stumbling through trial and error is time costly, and most people start a business to make money, amiright? But these models only take you so far. The next step is trusting yourself. I realized several months ago that I had been operating things from a place of fear. And as a result, I had gotten really, really far from the freedom I had worked so hard to achieve. Once I had the awareness, I knew I had to trust my instincts and act with love – which also required a tremendous amount of courage. It’s important to share, just because we act with love doesn’t mean everyone will like the choices you make. And in my case, loving myself and my business ended up being a costly choice. In a few weeks, I’m thinking about launching an exclusive limited-edition podcast going into all the nitty-gritty details. But before I hit record, I want to make sure the information would serve you. Would you listen? Hit comment and let me know!

Who are you? We take tons of personality assessments (Meyers-Briggs, DISC, Enneagram, Human Design, etc.) just so we can find out the answer to this question. And although these assessments don’t tell us who we are, they can give us insight into our motivations, strengths and weakness, and the lens through which we view the world. But what if I told you that you can leverage these personality assessments when it comes to making money?

That’s right, you can use personality assessments as you examine your own work style, who your ideal clients should be, and especially once it comes to time to outsource yourself. And I am breaking down how on this week’s episode of FreeMamaTV.

Keep in mind that your personality isn’t permanent and you should in no way base your entire future on enneagrams, DISC, or anything else. Hope you enjoy this week’s episode!

P.S. Needing a self-care routine as the busy freelancer you are? Watch last week’s episode to hear Lauren’s guide for self-care!

And don’t forget to subscribe to Free Mama TV so you’re alerted each and every time a new episode drops!

Tell me, have you ever asked your child to do something only to be met with a typical whiny response? But it’s haaaaaaard! Ugh, I’ll do it later. Or my personal favorite, But it’s so booooring! Well, we are on SNOW DAY 2 here at the Goldens and while I was absolutely fortunate to cancel calls and reschedule work in my business in order to be here with them, my “mom hat” saw this as a great opportunity to tidy up the house a bit. Let’s just say my kids weren’t into it… Sometimes it feels like no matter how much I reward, coax, or even bribe my kids to do the most trivial of tasks, they’re lacking the motivation to get it done. I was about at my wit’s end, ready to throw in the towel and pick up everything myself (because let’s face it, that’s just easier) when I remembered my friend and parenting expert Amy McCready has a resource for this exact situation! It’s called the Ultimate Guide to Motivating Your Kids and take a look at everything that’s included: {Video Training} Why Rewards Don’t Work and What to do Instead {Video Training} Are You Raising a Praise Junkie? {Video Training} The One Motivation Killer You Don’t Realize You’re Doing {Downloadable Workbook} Take detailed notes as you customize the training for your family. {Assessment Quiz} Is Your Kid a Praise Junkie? {Printable} 27 Phrases to Motivate Your Kids You’ll learn to encourage your children rather than handing out endless praise. Your kids will start to rely on their own internal motivation rather than external rewards (or nagging) from you. To say the information in this bundle is worth its weight in gold would be a severe understatement. And at only $19, the price cannot be beaten. If you want to see these same changes in your household, don’t waste another second mulling it over. With instant access right to your email, you’ll soon have everything you need to bring motivation back into your household. Plus, we can go through it together! I can’t wait to see how it helps you, too!

You cannot keep pushing without rest unless your goal is burnout. We, as business owners and moms, tend to take on way more than we can handle sometimes. But we cannot forget to take care of ourselves. We have minds, bodies, and souls, and the maintenance of these things is what keeps us going. It’s what keeps us alive. I think we hear the words “self-care” a lot and think facials and mani/pedis, but it’s much more than that.

This week on FreeMamaTV, I am giving you a self-care routine that will help you stay on top of your game, feeding all parts of you so that you can keep up with your growing business!

P.S. Wondering how to break bad habits in order for your business to thrive? Watch last week’s episode to hear 3 steps on how to break a habit!

And don’t forget to subscribe to Free Mama TV so you’re alerted each and every time a new episode drops!

80% of people will throw in the towel on their 2022 resolutions by February 1, only a month into the year.

Here’s something even more shocking… Over 40% of these goal-setters EXPECTED to give up. What?! Turns out there’s even a name for this. It’s called a self-fulfilling prophecy… when your expectation of failure leads to its own confirmation. And while it may seem kinda crazy, I’ve actually seen it happen in The Free Mama Movement Facebook group. Maybe you’ve failed at trying to make money from home before, and so you hear about this whole Free Mama thing and it seems too good to be true. So you say, you’ll “try” or “see how it goes” so that you don’t set yourself up for disappointment. Except you do, because your expectation of failure results in self-sabotage and procrastination. Think about it! Even language like “take the plunge” sounds like you’re preparing yourself to be awkwardly forced overboard by pirates and fed to the sharks, not about to embark on living your totally awesome, guilt-free life! Have you ever made a decision knowing you were looking for the escape route or waiting for the balls to drop? Maybe you started the New Year caught up in the excitement of a “Fresh Start” and a “New Year, New You!” But honestly? That’s all absolute garbage if your head is actually thinking, “well, this probably isn’t going to work anyway.” So where are you today? Could you use a February 1 pep talk? Join me live tomorrow, February 1st at 11:00am CT (12pm ET, 9am PT) inside the Free Mama Movement Facebook Group. We’re going to talk about making sure your goals are in alignment and how to stay on track for the entire year, without massive sacrifice or obstacles. And don’t miss out on the special Q&A at the end!

We live in a culture that tells us to want MORE, MORE MORE. Lately, I’ve found myself pushing for more, without even being clear on why I actually want it. Or if I even do. I started The Free Mama so I could live freely… and, if I’m honest with you, in the last year or so, I haven’t really been doing that. The Free Mama Movement grew so quickly after I launched it in 2017. In just a few years I accomplished more than I actually knew I was capable of, and I felt a constant pressure to continue to grow and prove myself. Recently I joined a mastermind group that helps businesses scale from $1M to $10M in revenue. I attended an event and was shocked to learn that many of my peers are working 80+ hours a week, flirting with burnout, or are not even PROFITABLE. Social media is a bunch of smoke and mirrors. Entrepreneurs talk about making a ton of money but aren’t sharing the costs of doing business. And worse, they aren’t sharing that they are killing themselves to pull it all off. I realized that if that’s what more looks like, then more isn’t for me. Because of shiny objects, expensive masterminds, and my high-achieving competitive nature, I easily bought into the lie “If you’re not growing, you’re dying.” Except, I was investing in learning how to grow my company at my personal expense. My soul was dying. It’s been a bumpy few months of realizing my missteps and realigning in a way that feels good. Luckily, I’m still SO bought into why I started this movement in the first place… for FREEDOM… And it’s officially time to put the FREE back in Free Mama. I can teach you how to start a virtual business that makes money. I can show you how to outsource and grow a team. I can help you learn strategies for scaling your revenue streams. BUT. Absolutely none of that matters if you lose your purpose in the process. I need to reallocate more of my energy to my family right now, rather than focusing on that elusive more “MORE”. I am choosing to do LESS, but BETTER. That’s why I’ve already started removing some of our offers and stripping back our most popular programs to the most effective, most essential parts of what I know WORKS for you. The purpose is the same: help you get your first or next client as quickly as possible so you can begin to gain financial, time, and energetic FREEDOM. More is NOT better. FREE is better. And I am 100% here for you and committed to helping you find yours. If this resonates with you, please, please do me a favor and email me (hello@thefreemama.com) and let me know 🙂 I’m thinking about putting together an exclusive series diving deeper into this topic. Would you like that?

Your habits set the pace for your entire day. Habits determine your health, productivity and even how likely you are to accomplish your business goals.  Unfortunately, not all of our habits helpful, or even healthy! In last week’s episode of FreeMamaTV, I spoke about toxic habits you need to squash in order for your business to grow and thrive… But how the heck do you actually break these unwanted habits? It’s not as easy as putting your credit card in the freezer or keeping chocolate out of the house.

But I have broken it down into 3 simple steps to follow. And it’s possible to start making improvements today. Head over to FreeMamaTV where I’m breaking these 3 steps down for replacing those bad habits.

P.S. Wondering what toxic habits you need to break in order for your business to thrive? Watch last week’s episode to hear some habits that you need to break ASAP!

And don’t forget to subscribe to Free Mama TV so you’re alerted each and every time a new episode drops!