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Gen Z's Self-Designed Careers
682 Plays1 year ago
If a dream job doesn't exist, go create it. That's what many Gen Zers would do. Episode 48 features a conversation with Abbie Stasior, founder of Be About Being Better and content creator. Abbie shares her insights and experiences in building a business and designing a career.
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Transcript
Introduction to Hashtag Gen Z
00:00:07
Speaker
Welcome, this is Hashtag Gen Z, a podcast that explores Generation Z, who they are, how they're different from other generations, while also being an incredible blend of those who came before them. We explore what they think is cool, what moves them, and why they do what they do. I'm your host, Megan Grace.
Gen Z in the Workplace
00:00:23
Speaker
As you know, season five of hashtag Gen Z is all about exploring careers and Gen Z in the workplace. Last episode, we focused on the rising interest among Gen Zers to live a digital nomad lifestyle and to work super remotely, like all around the world remotely. Leaning into that mindset of what Gen Z wants in a work lifestyle, we're going to continue to explore how Gen Z is creating careers that are characterized
00:00:47
Speaker
by flexibility and autonomy. I'm not talking about wanting to work flexible hours and have a relative amount of say over your work. This episode is focusing on how many members of Gen Z are driven to be their own boss and forge an entrepreneurial path to designing their own career. While I like to call it a DIY career, not like crafting, I think this takes on so many more shapes.
00:01:10
Speaker
For some, this could be a content creator, others it might look like being a freelancer. Others are drawn to the idea of creating a business and employing others, but having control of their own destiny seems to be the common thread here. Earlier this year, Fiverr, a freelance and independent worker platform, conducted a study that found 40% of Gen Zers want to own a business or freelance for their whole career. This same study found that for 71%
00:01:38
Speaker
Flexibility was a top factor when looking for a new job, and 73% of Gen Zers see freelancing as a smart option in an uncertain economy. One way that Gen Z sees freelancing and flexible work is in the space of content creation or influencing. A study by Higher Visibility found that one in four Gen Zers plan to become social media influencers for their future career planning.
00:02:01
Speaker
While this comes as surface level bad rap, there's actually a lot of money in content creation and social media. For the Meg influencers, that can mean millions, but for many influencers, it can be multiple thousands of dollars that supplements or eventually replaces an income from a more traditional career path. No matter what path Gen Z is taking, the design your own destiny or be your own boss mindset of looking at work is certainly shaking things up.
00:02:27
Speaker
It's not for everyone, though. In this episode, we're talking to someone who's been doing it for a while and has lived the design your own career lifestyle that many Gen Z are looking for.
Featuring Abby Stass
00:02:37
Speaker
This episode's guest is a special one, not only because she's talented and very credible at her job, but also because she's someone I get to call a friend. Abby Stass here is a non-diet registered dietician, certified intuitive eating counselor, and has a master's degree from Columbia University.
00:02:55
Speaker
She's the founder of Be About Being Better, a non-diet coaching company specializing in helping individuals develop a sustainable and diet-free healthy lifestyle through an intuitive eating and health at every size approach. Abby's a published researcher and has been featured in notable media outlets such as Medium, Thrive Global, and Lady Boss Blogger.
00:03:18
Speaker
Abby is here to share more about how she's crafted her career of providing guidance and expertise to help others embark on a journey of self-discovery, nourishment, and empowerment by embracing a more joyful and vibrant life free from diet culture. Before we get into the conversation, I have to share about something that is a mainstay when I travel. Being busy and on the go means it's hard to stay hydrated.
00:03:47
Speaker
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00:04:15
Speaker
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00:04:48
Speaker
Well, I am so excited. I'm always excited. That's just a blanket statement. I'm very excited to have my actual friend, Abby, joining us today. Abby is just a delightful human that I met through a friend of a friend. Shout out to Amanda for introducing us and have been so thankful to be able to know you and be able to follow you and see even just in like the last year, kind of your career evolve and change and grow.
00:05:11
Speaker
all these amazing things you're doing. And then one day we found out that you are actually a member of Gen Z, which I think you're like one of my first few Gen Z friends, which makes you the coolest. But Abby, I'm so excited to have you. Welcome.
00:05:23
Speaker
Yay, Megan, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited too. So Abby, I know you, but I want to know, and I know other people want to know a lot more about your story. Really, who are you? What do you do? And kind of what was your journey in getting to where you are today? And that's like such a loaded question. There's so many years and things that have gone on in your life to getting you to today. But walk us through that journey and kind of how you found this path. Yeah. So I come from a very medical family.
00:05:51
Speaker
And my parents are very traditional in the sense they're like, it's MD or nothing. And they are very much about having a traditional, more corporate career. And I was always planning on going to medical school. My dad and my grandfather had a private practice together. So I thought I would join that. And I took the MCAT twice and I had my applications all ready to go to medical school. And I felt very strongly called to pull my applications and not go to medical school.
00:06:20
Speaker
and to instead invest the entirety of my savings into launching my own health and life coaching company be about being better. And I found this random business coach online.
00:06:32
Speaker
And he gave me a blueprint for starting an online business. And this was five years ago and I started my online business and that has grown over the last five years. And my parents are somewhat coming around to me being an entrepreneur and being in the online space. But it's been, it's been so fulfilling. And after I spent a year in my business full time being in the,
00:07:00
Speaker
entrepreneur space, I was like, I really want to do more than just health coaching. I'm very passionate about helping people cultivate a sustainable healthy lifestyle. So I knew I was like, we really need to get away from diet culture if we want anything that's sustainable. And I want to stand out in the online space and actually know have the evidence based knowledge behind me and know what I'm talking about when it comes to nutrition, being able to support people with chronic health conditions. So in addition to running my business full time for the last five years, I've also
00:07:29
Speaker
been in graduate school full-time. I got my master's in nutrition and exercise physiology from Columbia University. I became a certified intuitive eating counselor. And as of last week, I'm officially a registered dietician.
Abby's Online Business Journey
00:07:42
Speaker
So we're just out here doing all the things.
00:07:46
Speaker
There's very few people that like match my like, let's do all the things energy and you're definitely one of them in the sense of like, I couldn't just go to grad school either, right? Like that's like just a small little thing on top of all the other stuff. And we're not out here being like overtubers. We both like very much so agree. Like there's times when we got to scale it back, rest, chill, but you are such a driven person. I think that that is a big piece of how you've been successful.
00:08:12
Speaker
And now I've been able to see your, even just in the short time that I've known you, kind of your career in fold. And I know we'll definitely talk a lot about your business today. And the really great work you do. I love following your stuff. It is so inclusive, right? Sometimes people think like health and diet and coaching and nutrition is like the clean girl aesthetic and the
00:08:34
Speaker
We got to be a stick to have that that moment of health and you're just kind of like move your body Get some food you like love yourself, right and like that in itself as a diet. I think we all need to get on Because I think that's really positive and we can certainly talk about that But really what I'm so fascinated I'm always fascinated by people that do kind of similar things that I do which is like go against the not the status quo but like
00:08:58
Speaker
doing something a little different that most people would be like, how are you going to quit your full-time job? Or how are you not going to go to medical school when you're living in an entire family of medical professionals? Really going against what you've been told is the path for you. And we've really designed this career, and that's kind of why you and I are having this chat today, is you designed your professional lifestyle.
00:09:23
Speaker
really created and you're a content creator that really you are managing like this online educational space for people to improve whatever aspect of their health they're looking for. So I sometimes think of you as a content creator, but sometimes I don't. I think content is a part of that really what drew you to this lifestyle because you could certainly go be a health coach at
00:09:42
Speaker
a clinic or you could go be a dietician, nutritionist at a clinic or provide that service within what would be considered a more traditional setting. So what drew you to this, I don't want to say ambiguous, but this professional lifestyle that you're in. Yeah, definitely. Because you're right. I could be a health coach at some sort of clinic or an in-person setting. I think what drew me to the online space was the online
00:10:06
Speaker
aspect of it, the content creation aspect of it. I am a creative. I love creating content. And before I started my business, I already had a little Facebook group going with just some friends and some sorority sisters. And we were doing accountability challenges and holding each other accountable to hitting our water goal and cheering each other on. So I was already kind of doing that sort of thing online and sharing how
00:10:31
Speaker
In my like I guess one corporate job I worked for my sororities headquarters as a leadership consultant for a year And I was traveling all over the country every three days staying in different hotels being on different college campuses So I was sharing my health journey very organically online like hey while I'm on the road How am I working my healthy lifestyle into this? So the online space just fit naturally because I was already doing that and
00:10:57
Speaker
Being in the online space allows you to create your own schedule versus being somewhere nine to five or eight to four, whatever that clinic looks like. And I also wanted more ownership and autonomy. Once I stopped working for my sorority's headquarters, I did take a job in the medical field to confirm if I wanted to go to medical school or not. So I was working as a medical scribe.
00:11:23
Speaker
basically you're just doing all the medical charting while the doctor can make eye contact with the patient and fully focus on them and not have to have their head behind the screen. So it was actually a good, from a patient care standpoint, gave me a lot of clinical experience. Do I really see myself being this doctor? Do I want to work with this patient population, et cetera, et cetera? But I was like, oh, I don't like being beholden to the clinic's schedule. I want to make my own schedule. I want to do my own thing. And I realized I could make
00:11:53
Speaker
even a wider impact for people if I wasn't just seeing them for a doctor's appointment for 15 minutes every three, six months, once a year. If I was talking to someone online and I designed my own coaching program where they could have messenger access to me and be
00:12:13
Speaker
talking with me throughout the day, that would serve a patient or client so much better than just having a follow-up appointment every couple months and then not talking to their doctor in between. I think people, what I was seeing in that primary care physician's office was that people needed that accountability. They needed that follow-up. And if they had that and that personalized health support, it probably could prevent a lot of the conditions that this doctor was treating or prescribing medications for. So I'm like, oh, the health coaching is actually what people need.
00:12:42
Speaker
the amount of follow-ups that people need is most easily accessible with an online virtual private practice model.
00:12:51
Speaker
I'm like sitting back listening. I was also, no lie, eating my lunch as you saw, which I'm not gonna apologize for because you're like, eat your food, girl. Like that's your thing. Like eat your food. That's like your whole thing. So I do not apologize for eating my lunch while you were giving us that beautiful kind of walkthrough of like, what dream to this lifestyle? Cause it's not for everyone. Like, you know that. And some people look and be like, that's a lot of navigating ambiguity. Like that was the thing that I showed the most. Trying to get into this. I would say we do very different things, but like different,
00:13:21
Speaker
flavor of work. You do have to be very self-disciplined and you also have to be a leader. And that was something else that drew me to it as well is that I wanted to run my own company. I didn't want somebody else as my boss. I wanted to be my own boss and lead a team. So now I have several employees that work for me and that's really fulfilling. And there are some people that that doesn't appeal to them and they truly just want to be an employee. They want to be led.
00:13:49
Speaker
So I think there's a difference there. So yeah, it's definitely not for everyone.
Gen Z's Work-Life Balance and Advocacy
00:13:53
Speaker
No. And as you were sharing this, there's just some things that you said that I couldn't have planted better. But as we've been studying Gen Z, and I got to narrow in on the whole point of this podcast, it's not just Megan and Abby hanging out, although that's fun. But this idea of Gen Z and what they're looking for in work. And I think there's a few things that you shared that really do align with that of this work structure of, I don't know what we want to call it, being your own boss, create an online community,
00:14:21
Speaker
create an online service, really building your own business, DIYing your workplace, if you will, aligns with Gen Z. And from your perspective, I know you engage with your peers and some of your clients or your peers. How do you see kind of the lifestyle that you live in your career aligning with what we're seeing with Gen Z and what they're looking for in careers, whether they're doing similar work that you're doing or they're not, but it's just something they desire?
00:14:49
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I think Gen Z is really looking for that work-life balance. They want to avoid the burnout. They're definitely high achievers, but I see that Gen Z is very creative and they realize they can get to the result that their boss or whoever is looking for whatever the deliverable is, if they have their own flow. But sometimes if they feel constrained by that, it can actually block their productivity or their flow.
00:15:19
Speaker
So I think we're craving this more flexible work schedule so that we have that work-life balance. We're not burning ourselves out. We can actually show up and be more productive, get more done in less time. So I think people are just really craving that. And I also see with Gen Z that there's this rise in advocacy and social justice. And I think the way,
00:15:48
Speaker
to reach people is through social media and being online because that's where people are turning to get their health advice on TikTok and Instagrams. That's where we have to be. That's where we have to be hanging out. And we're just living in such a really unique age where
00:16:07
Speaker
people are growing up with social media and they don't know what it's like to not have social media. Like we kind of, I'm not kind of on that cusp, like I was born in 1995. So we're kind of on that cusp where, you know, I know what it was like to not have social media and I know what it's like to have social media. And I'm like, I know that there are risks to social media and some downsides, but I'm also like, I also love this and have learned to monetize it. So I think there are so many benefits. And if we can use this medium,
00:16:33
Speaker
like we're gonna get the right health information, or not even just health, any information, but the right news, the right advice. We can advocate more for whatever social causes you're passionate about. It's easier to do that and spread the word online. So I think that's why it's definitely appealing to do your own thing for Gen Z, because social justice is just really huge right now. And I think like you even,
00:17:00
Speaker
whether you were thinking like social justice or just impact on others, like you saw that even when you were working as that medical scribe, you're like, I could sit for 15 minutes with someone once a year, and maybe make an impact on their life, or I could be posting three times a week with that reminder of you don't have to be doing like an intense HIIT workout every day, like a walk around the block and getting some sunshine is equally as important to your body, right? Those are things that you go to the doctor once a year, whereas like you've got followers and people that are parts of your programs that
00:17:29
Speaker
are getting that positive messaging. And so I can see that and you wanted to create greater impact for people that was outside of that traditional scope. And I think that in itself is super Gen Z. Why would I just have a set amount of patients that I see 15 minutes
00:17:45
Speaker
Uh, once a year, twice a year, or if they're in, let's say crisis or they're have like, we're needing to respond to something. Um, I'm a person that comes to my doctor, like whenever they're like, you need to come in for this. I'm like, sure. I'll be there. Like, like, I love going to the doctor because I have an amazing care team, right? Like that's how I feel.
00:18:01
Speaker
I can't move because I love my care team too much. Um, and they all know each other. They talk to each other. Um, and like, I'm, I feel like an anomaly, but what you're doing is you're providing a like a all the time care team without burning yourself out to people. And I think that that's important. Like that in itself is a really key defining aspect of what you're doing and what other people that are in this. Again, we'll call it like DIY, your career is being able to create the impact that you have the capacity for.
00:18:28
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And that you are able to tune into. If you are not feeling the juice that day, you're giving yourself the grace to be like, well, I might have to hit it harder tomorrow and getting the things I need done, but I'm not going to push myself. Maybe you would if you went to a corporate job and you were like, I got to church today for the next eight hours and I'm not really going to be a helpful human. Absolutely. Yeah. And just as my health coaching philosophy,
00:18:52
Speaker
of we are so much more than a body. We're more than what the number says on the scale. We are just worth so much more than that.
00:19:01
Speaker
There are so many people in Gen Z that are like, I am so much more than my job. My job doesn't define me. So I need to have more flexibility in my work schedule. I maybe need to DIY it so that I'm not so locked in to this corporate schedule that is absolutely grueling and doesn't allow me to explore my hobbies, other relationships, other passions, side hustles. That's just not accessible to us when we're working 100 hour weeks.
00:19:31
Speaker
Well, no, it's not. I've lived on both sides of it. It's absolutely not accessible, right? So let's talk a little bit about, I mean, every work style, there's no, like, there's perfect ones for each individual, but there's no, I wouldn't say there's any work style that's like,
00:19:47
Speaker
100% sunshines and sunshine and rainbows all the time, right? So let's talk about some of the more rewarding aspects of your job and kind of like how you structured your professional life. And then like, let's be also frankly, what are some of the more challenging aspects? So give it a go for those that might want to know more about the pros and cons of the kind of work style that you are living in.
Abby's Productivity and Impact
00:20:07
Speaker
What does that look like for you? I it took me a lot of years of trial and error to figure out what exactly works for me. But
00:20:16
Speaker
I love the flow that I've been able to create. And what works best for me is having certain days that I do certain tasks. And this might sound a little woo woo, but I am very cognizant of my energy and the energy that it takes to do different tasks. So when I was in grad school full time, it's a different energy.
00:20:41
Speaker
to be in class versus when I'm studying versus when I'm on a coaching call with clients versus when I'm on a sales call with client or potential client versus when I'm leading my team creating content. All those things require different hats.
00:20:56
Speaker
And also they have a different energy associated with that. So I realized very early on when I started grad school while trying to run my business full time that I was burning out very quickly because I was trying to switch hats every multiple times a day. And that's where I was losing steam. It wasn't, I was doing too much in a day. I was switching to switching hats too much. So the way that I changed my schedule to find a flow that I really like is I really try and minimize
00:21:22
Speaker
how many times I switch hats in a day. And I really just try and either switch once, maybe twice. So I'll save certain tasks for certain days. And so I only coach clients or take skills sales calls on Mondays and Wednesdays. If I really need to stretch it, maybe Thursdays, but most of the time I'm doing most of my call days on Mondays and Wednesdays. So that leaves me open to
00:21:46
Speaker
I really like to create on Sundays and Tuesdays because I don't have a lot of calls those days, but I can just get into a creative zone. I do more admin on Fridays. Saturdays, I always take off even when it was finals week.
00:22:02
Speaker
I was in grad school, I always took Saturdays off and that was my like Sabbath Saturdays. And I would just have a date with myself and do other things, totally unplug, wouldn't really post on social media. And that was my opportunity to recover. And I highly recommend that you really have one full day dedicated to doing absolutely nothing because you need that for sure. So hopefully this is answering your question, but it took me a while to figure out the different buckets and
00:22:33
Speaker
the different tasks that I did and how could I minimize the amount of time that I'm switching tasks and switching hats because that really does conserve my energy and it makes it so I don't, I'm not doing everything every single day and I'm not stressing out about all of the things that are on my plate or on my to-do list, but like, okay, that's just on Wednesdays to-do list. I don't have to worry about that right now, but I'm going to put that on Wednesdays to-do list.
00:22:57
Speaker
It's context switching is what I think the cognitive is. When you're zoning in and out, I have to do it a lot for my job and I can attest that it is tiring. When you're like, okay, I have this meeting, then I got to take this meeting. These are about two very different things and they're back to math. It tires your brain out. I can 100%
00:23:18
Speaker
align with when you're like, Oh, I do content creation on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I would give large sums of money to clear my Tuesdays and Thursdays to just write things and be in a creative, like innovative space. Um, so I love that you're able to do that. That's definitely a challenge. And I think that's important that we're sharing with people. Like that's a part of the life is there's a lot of context that people that are creating their own job, creating their own path, like that is a piece of it. Let's talk about the most rewarding part or rewarding aspects of
00:23:48
Speaker
this kind of lifestyle in your professional career. For me, the most rewarding aspect is the impact to getting the messages from my clients or even just people in my audience. They're like, wow, like I never thought about health that way. Wow. That really, like I had someone message me this morning. They're like, wow, that one, um, real that you did about how to optimize your evening routine to get better quality quantity sleep.
00:24:14
Speaker
totally changed the game for me. I'm finally sleeping seven hours. I'm like, that is amazing. That makes it so worth it. And especially for me, now I have all Tuesday and Thursday to create content. But when I was in grad school full time, I didn't. I only had a couple hours for the whole week that I had to create content. So we were really streamlining and just doing, honestly, doing the bare minimum to get stuff out there and delegating as much as I can and having somebody else. I'll record the podcast episode with somebody else. We'll chop up the clips.
00:24:43
Speaker
and post those. So you know, definitely it takes a village. But so I didn't always have a lot of time. So to see that impact with the content that I was making the little time that I had motivates me to keep going and to have clients say to me, you know, this
00:25:01
Speaker
totally change the game in my relationships or I can finally go out to eat with friends and say yes to plans because I don't have as much food anxiety. Oh, I can finally wear a top without sleeves because I feel confident in my body. I'm not afraid to show my arms like that as just
00:25:17
Speaker
Oh, like, that just gives me so much joy. And that that is my why. So that's probably the most fulfilling part of my job. But I also really like the opportunity to lead a team. I'm very energized by collaborating with others and seeing my team members win. And I have one team member that is just so excited and energized by
00:25:43
Speaker
how our emails perform and just the metrics that we get, how the podcast is performing and the opt-ins that we're getting. Obviously, yes, I care about all of those things too, but she is so techie and admin-oriented. She loves all of those metrics and she's very emotionally invested in those things. To see her win and to show up to meetings so excited, that gives me so much joy. It's like, wow, I'm not micromanaging her, I'm empowering her and I have her in the right position.
00:26:12
Speaker
on my team where she is just, you know, literally living her best life and loves what she's doing and in her zone of genius. So the fact that I can employ people, number, I was able to keep all four of my team members employed during COVID. And I'm really, I'm proud to say that because we know that obviously COVID was a difficult time financially for so many people. And I was living in New York city at the time. So it was definitely a struggle, but I was able to keep everyone on my team and didn't have to like lay anybody off or
00:26:43
Speaker
you know, anything like that. So the fact that I could do that and give other people that opportunity and another employment opportunity where they can create their own schedules, like two people on my team are actresses in New York City and they're doing other side jobs too, like that just gives me so much joy.
00:27:02
Speaker
I mean, as someone who also loves to get lost in the data and be very excited about it, like, hold on to that team member because we're unicorns, like, very few people are like, okay, the metrics are metric-ing. It looks great. Hold on to that, human. But it's, I can attest, I oversee a team in my full-time job as well.
00:27:20
Speaker
When you see people hit their stride in their work, you're like, yes, I don't have to do anything. You're thriving. And I was a small part of it, but new thriving helps me thrive and we're all thriving together. And I think that's what some people get wrong about leadership is that it's not about making everything
00:27:39
Speaker
your vision and your thing. Sometimes it's like truly empowering and setting other people up to succeed. That helps you get a little bit closer to what you're trying to succeed. Exactly. And that is, it's a long game, but like if you do it right, it is a very worthwhile game, I will say.
00:27:55
Speaker
So you really hyped up this, you don't have to sell me on it, I'm already kind of doing it, but you've really hyped up this mindset of like pursuing a career that is kind of self-designed, being your own boss, whatever you want to call that work style. I know that what you are doing is of interest to people that are potentially in Gen Z themselves, and maybe you want to follow in your footsteps in kind of creating a career kind of
00:28:22
Speaker
in a similar fashion. What advice would you have for those individuals?
Financial Literacy and Business Insights
00:28:26
Speaker
My advice first and foremost is you need to have like a pretty high degree or increasing a willingness to learn about financial literacy. We're not taught this in school. We know this, but running your own business, you got to know your numbers. You need to be financially responsible. You need to be a good steward of
00:28:50
Speaker
the money that you're taking. If they're paying you for services, they are trusting you with their money. If you have team members, they are trusting that they're going to be paid and paid on time and paid well. The Gen Z wants to be paid well. Hello. You want to make sure that you're paying your team members well, but you need to understand taxes. Yes, I do have a tax person on my team and we do have a bookkeeper, but
00:29:13
Speaker
I'm not totally relying on them to do everything. I'm making sure that I'm tracking my own things and it's like, okay, does my spreadsheet match with their spreadsheet in the report that they're sending me at the end of the month? What am I missing? And I have learned a lot about investing and high yield savings accounts, all those things. And it's taken me a while and I still have so much to learn for sure. But if you're going to run your own business,
00:29:38
Speaker
You cannot depend on other people to do those things for you. Especially from a finance standpoint, you need to know what's going on and have a good pulse on that because ultimately the pressure is on you. So if you're discerning if you should start your own business or not, you need to understand that there is a lot of pressure on you.
00:29:58
Speaker
And for me, I hate this expression, but I don't have another, maybe you can help me come up with another like alternative, but like we eat what we kill. Like I hate that expression, but, um, you know, it's on me to make sure that I'm creating the content and getting on the sales calls and signing the clients and, um, so that financially we can keep the business going. And there are, there have been some days and some seasons where that has been an immense amount of pressure.
00:30:25
Speaker
And it literally is by the grace of God that we're still here five years later. But it's, yeah, it's a lot of pressure. And if you are not able to handle that, it's just something, a factor to consider. Now, I didn't think originally I could handle that, but you grow in that skill over time and you don't need to start your business. And I actually don't recommend it with team members right away. Like be in your business. You have to wear all the hats. This is another piece of advice. Do not hire somebody
00:30:53
Speaker
to do a task that you have not already done and tried yourself because you need to, number one, appreciate that task and you need to understand the scope of work so that you could teach somebody else how to do it. Even if you're hiring someone that knows how to do that task, like copywriting, for example, you need to be able to teach them about your voice and what you're trying to do and what you would have them copyright about and then they'll be in their zone of genius to help you out. But you need to at least try everything
00:31:22
Speaker
before you hire somebody else and just outsource it, especially because your business is your baby. And you just need that degree of ownership. So I think one of the hardest parts of being an entrepreneur is it humbles you immensely. And at the end of the day, very grateful for that. I have had to be very,
00:31:50
Speaker
raw and honest with my team when I'm going through personal seasons where I'm like, look, this is why content has been lower. This is why I haven't producing. This is why it was late to this DFT meeting or this coaching hall. This is what I'm going through. It's a very personal thing and being a leader and having your own business requires you to lean into that authenticity. And that's really hard to put yourself in a vulnerable place.
00:32:18
Speaker
But I also think that Gen Z appreciates that and they want more supervisors and bosses that are transparent and are real and not just domineering cold and distant.
00:32:31
Speaker
Absolutely. So many good nuggets there. As you were talking about, like learning the finance, a book that I have that I suggest to everyone that's like, I need to start a business or I want to do this. It's called the money book. And it's big green book. And it's like thinking anonymous on and it just breaks down all the stuff for people that are self employed entrepreneurs, building a business of like,
00:32:51
Speaker
one day yeah you will probably have someone that can manage your finances but until then like you still gotta pay taxes my friend and you still gotta pay expenses and that money needs to come from somewhere and there's lots of little tips along the way that can help so i suggest that deeply but um i think your advice is spot on is like this building a business sounds like really sexy and fun and i love that your advice was like
00:33:11
Speaker
the least sexy but like so important because it's like know your know your money be aware of what goes on in your business and don't expect all of a sudden to like you're gonna shoot to the top and be like I'm a CEO and I run this team but I don't know how my team does their job like because the reality is this one day your team could walk or people on your team could walk but does that mean your operations have to halt?
00:33:33
Speaker
You can't do that. Someone has to be able, you have to either be able to fill into that role or you have to be able to train someone very quickly to do that role. And so it's kind of this interesting is everybody wants to be their own boss until they actually start being their own boss. And they're like, oh, that's not what I expected. That's not that much fun. It is. It's a lot of work. But as you've identified, it's super rewarding. And
00:33:54
Speaker
And just because you aren't your own boss doesn't mean you can't be a part of rewarding work, which I think you're really good example of that. Like you've provided rewarding work for 14 members through a time when a lot of people are like, what am I gonna do with my life and my job? And you kept four people employed during the pandemic, like good on you. Good on you, Abby. Well, I've got one more question for you before we get going.
Admiration for Gen Z's Activism
00:34:13
Speaker
And I asked this of everyone, but what is your favorite thing about your Gen Z peers? My Gen Z peers is that they are such activists
00:34:23
Speaker
and advocates for different social causes. And I know I mentioned that earlier, but I just really, I have learned so much from my Gen Z friends. I'm the type of person like people that know me. I'm like, I don't watch the news. I don't know what's going on. And I don't know stuff about pop culture.
00:34:39
Speaker
I don't know, geography. I'm the smartest dumb person you would ever meet. Ask me anything about nutrition, biochemistry, I got you. But when it comes to any street smarts, anything with politics, I'm just so out of it. But I would say actually not so out of it anymore because I feel like I'm being educated by my Gen Z friends.
00:35:03
Speaker
They have really taught me a lot and opened my eyes to so much and it's so much better for me to have open dialogue with them about social justice issues and different
00:35:14
Speaker
things that they're advocating for than me watching the news. It's so much better to just talk to someone one-on-one. So I think that's probably the thing I love the most about them. And then my gents, I feel like they are just the best hype people. When they reply to my stories or comment on my posts, they just say the funniest things. And I'm like, thank you so much. It makes me feel so good about this piece of content. And just the way they word things, I'm like, this is just hilarious. I love it.
00:35:43
Speaker
I 1000% agree. I think Gen Z has made me smarter, because they share all their knowledge online. So they thank you, young people of the world. And they definitely make you feel good about yourself. Like if you've done, like you've gotten a compliment from a Gen Z, specifically a teenage girl in Gen Z, like you ride that compliment out to the grave, because like, like she meant it, she cared about it.
00:36:06
Speaker
like you were actually cool like that's always my goal is and not to be like I need to be cool among the kids it's specifically Gen Z teen girls like if I'm on trend with them I'm like I'm the coolest person in the world but they do they hide you up because they just they realize we're all humans on this floating rock in space and like what's the worst thing that's gonna happen you'd be kind of nice to someone and make their day like how how terrible would that be so I agree they are I would agree with you on that one I think they are
00:36:33
Speaker
fantastic at being inclusive and making people feel warm and welcome in that space. And I'm sure you have seen that tenfold in the work that you're doing with people, especially the kind of work that you do. So, Abby, thank you so much for being here. I know people are going to want to follow along with your work and the wonderful messages that you share. I will make sure to put stuff in the show notes so people can find you, but we're in the similar best places that they can hang out with you and keep up to date with the great stuff you're doing.
00:37:02
Speaker
Yeah, Instagram and TikTok is where I am mainly, abby.stacier for my personal Instagram and then at be about being better for my business one. And that's where we're posting the majority of our nutrition health coaching content where my personal account is, we're making the transition. That's going to be more personal and we're wild and over there. So yeah, Instagram, TikTok, that's where we're hanging out.
00:37:26
Speaker
Well, fantastic. We'll send people that way. I know I'm a loyal follower and can attest Abby's message just even as a friend is positive, but also educational. And I think I was like dying when you're like, I'm the smartest unforeseen. I'm like, uh, no, you know, so many things. Like we all can't know everything about everything. That's impossible. The human brain doesn't work that way. But I know that if I had to ask you like, Abby, how does this
00:37:51
Speaker
one thing interact to my body, like food wise, you'd be like, this is how it's metabolically going to break down and how you're going to feel about it and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like, you know, science, you know, science girl. Um, and that's important science. It takes so much time to learn. It's okay if you don't know. There you go. Thank you. I appreciate that. I don't know what's going on in the news. I was doing science. I'm sorry. Um, well, Abby, thank you again for being here. Um, you were just a delight and I'm so glad you could be here to share a little bit about yourself.
00:38:21
Speaker
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00:38:51
Speaker
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00:39:14
Speaker
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00:39:40
Speaker
A big thank you to Abby, who is a human ray of sunshine, if you couldn't tell. She's so giving with her warmth and joy and truly radiant positivity. While I looked at her for so much personal health advice, she's such a great example of a Gen Z who's taking a passion, forged their own path, and built something meaningful. It's a blueprint of what many Gen Z are motivated by.
00:40:05
Speaker
Abby has grown her business in the last few years. And even in the time that since we recorded this episode, she's revamped and relaunched be about being better. As Gen Z evolves and grows into their careers, we're likely to see more young professionals taking similar paths to Abby's, which is certainly going to change the way we think about work and engaging talented individuals. So far, we've gotten into some really great stuff this season and Morgan is on the way.
00:40:31
Speaker
If you haven't yet, hit subscribe so you can get notified when new episodes become available. And while you're at it, go ahead and share this with a friend or a colleague. As always, you can reach out to me with any suggestions for topics or guests you might want to learn about and from. I can be reached at my website, meganmgrace.com, and you can also find me on Instagram, threads, and LinkedIn at meganmgrace.
00:40:54
Speaker
This episode was produced by me, Megan Grace, and edited by Leah Kramer. Thank you again for stopping by for this episode. Let's continue this conversation. We'll chat soon.