[00:00:00] Shilpa Lewis: Welcome Joe. I am honored and excited to have a conversation with someone I've been following for, I don't know how long, but quite some time. And you caught my attention with an email recently. So I have you just chime in and share what's going on with you and we'll take it from there.
[00:00:22] Shilpa Lewis: Sounds good. Well, thanks so much Shilpa for having me on the podcast.
[00:00:26] Shilpa Lewis: I, I love this theme that you're doing, um, with energy awareness. I think it's something that. Um, a few years ago, I would have probably felt like pre pandemic Joe was very, uh, like manner a certain way. Um, and then like when I was at home, uh, my wife's a nurse. And so during the pandemic, I was watching my kids at home most of the time.
[00:00:50] Shilpa Lewis: And, um, when the, the rubber meets the road, right. You really find your values and, and who you are as a person. And I realized that, um, you know, [00:01:00] whatever, um, I thought a man was, Um, before then I realized that the most important thing a man could be to, uh, at least in my situation is, is there for his family and supportive of his family.
[00:01:13] Shilpa Lewis: Um, and energy awareness is something that, uh, I've been. Focused on because I do run a business full time. I run three podcasts. I have three small kids and I want to be fully present for them while also being able to support them in my work and my wife, of course, but my wife's in there. It's like she's, you know, she's better than I am.
[00:01:38] Shilpa Lewis: So,
[00:01:42] Joe Casabona: well, you certainly are aware of the value of each of those Um, parts of your life and clearly, I mean, your wife is probably holding up a huge part of this energy awareness facet of the family. I mean, being a nurse is no small feat, but [00:02:00] also I, I think it's enlightening that you, you express less, you have three podcasts, three children and all those things require energy.
[00:02:09] Shilpa Lewis: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Um, and you know, it's, I mean, as we record this, I was recently asked to, you know, Um, kind of lead the home and school association for my, for my oldest, well, for my, my two oldest now school. Um, and, you know, that's a, that's a time commitment, but it's also a way for me to be active, uh, in the school community, um, and in their lives and maybe have a role to play in the, uh, extracurriculars that they get to be a part of, and so, um, You know, as I approach my business, right, you reached out, but, um, I think the week that I, uh, rebranded my podcast from, uh, how I built it to streamline solopreneur.
[00:02:57] Shilpa Lewis: And, and one of the reasons that [00:03:00] I did that was because, um, I realized that the way I was running my business with no kids or one kid. Was unsustainable as the number of children, uh, my wife and I have grew.
[00:03:20] Joe Casabona: I'm a mother of one. And even with that, I find it, and I don't mean that in a negative way, but I do find it challenging to do all the things you want to do. And I'm an older mom. So there's the desire to truly be present from a different perspective, because you've lived a life. out there. Like before I hit record, I mentioned I spent over 20 years in corporate and the challenges of being a solopreneur has been overwhelming.
[00:03:52] Joe Casabona: So when your email came out a few weeks ago, I believe about going, um, into this realm of [00:04:00] Solarpreneurship streamlining. I, I believe that it caught, it piqued my curiosity immediately. I think it was moments later. I'm like, Hey, Joe, do you want to talk about this on my podcast? And I'm coming at it from a very, I, I, is the word selfish, right?
[00:04:20] Joe Casabona: Maybe it's selfish. I'm like, I want to know, and maybe my avatars, my listeners, who are often, I could consider them soulful individuals, whether it's women or men, who are pivoting, transitioning, or as solopreneurs, they want to know, how do you streamline life? So that you can be more present in the now.
[00:04:42] Shilpa Lewis: Yeah, this is a great question. And I want to start by saying like it, I think as a parent of any number of kids, it could feel self it like self care could feel selfish, right? Like I just need a few minutes to myself, but my kid needs me. Um, something that really sticks out for me [00:05:00] is I went to a Jesuit college, uh, and we learned about St.
[00:05:02] Shilpa Lewis: Thomas Aquinas. And something I learned about near 20 years ago at this point, uh, that has stayed with me this whole time is St. Thomas saying, um, self care isn't selfish. You need to take care of yourself. If you're going to effectively take care of others. And so, um, I think it's really important and it's, it's not selfish to be like, Hey, I need some time to myself.
[00:05:30] Shilpa Lewis: My wife and I have a, like a little code that if we can tell one of us is getting frustrated or we're not being our best selves, we'll say, uh, for our kids. Um, we'll just be like, Hey. It looks like you need some time, right? And most of the time we will accept that and walk away and let the other take control of the situation.
[00:05:53] Shilpa Lewis: Cause they're a little bit more fresh. Um, and then all it takes is a little bit of time for you to settle down and kind of. [00:06:00] Uh, find your center and then be able to be fully present. So, um, I just wanted to say that right off the bat because, um, I think it's, I think having that mindset is really important.
[00:06:15] Shilpa Lewis: Um, because it is easy to be like, oh, well. I'm, I'm going out and, you know, my kids said they miss me and I feel selfish now, but you, if you want to be there for your kids, um, then you need to be a little bit selfish and take care of yourself. Uh, and this, this is what kind of led me to rebrand my podcast and focus on this because I, I think now this is anecdotal.
[00:06:41] Shilpa Lewis: I obviously didn't do the research on this, but it really feels to me that a lot of the advice that we see online is grow higher team hustle. Um, wake, you know, I wake up at 4 AM and I meditate for two hours. Then I take an ice bath, then I hustle. [00:07:00] Um, I wake up at 530, try to do yoga before my kids wake up and hope I have a hot cup of coffee.
[00:07:08] Shilpa Lewis: Like, those, so, I feel like a lot of the advice we see online is not for parents. Um, at least like in the business world, we'll say, right? Cause like, I mean, Instagram, like, parent Instagram is one of the realest things on the internet. But, in the business world, We don't see a lot of parent centric advice, and I, I want to change that with my podcast.
[00:07:32] Shilpa Lewis: My target audience is busy, solopreneur parents.
[00:07:36] Joe Casabona: As well as for myself, um, while not everyone would be a parent necessarily, I coined the term soulful, those who are in a stage of life. That they, um, are aware they're, they're aware, like sometimes you become aware because you're a parent and you're witnessing this beautiful soul blossom and you want more [00:08:00] there and more now, but it could also be later in life for some others who are transitioning or pivoting and you're like, you know what, I, I'm not going to necessarily want this.
[00:08:11] Joe Casabona: to do these unrealistic things. And maybe they're realistic for business people. But like you were saying, the 430 in the cold shower and the hustle and the going to the high intensity gym, I've at different stages, tried all of those things, but, um, The reality is, and here's the funny thing, Joe, I feel like the reality is, goes back to my word of the year as well, aside from what I mentioned, streamlining.
[00:08:38] Joe Casabona: I came up with this phrase early in the year, I call it holistic harmony. And it's because there's only so many, think of it as a circle, right? And how many areas can you put your energy in for your life? You can't put 100 percent in all sections of your life. So having said that, go deeper into your streamlining, [00:09:00] um, method.
[00:09:01] Joe Casabona: I think you said there's a framework you've created.
[00:09:04] Shilpa Lewis: Yeah. So there's, I mean, there's a couple of things that I, I focus on here. Um, Cause I want to be a solopreneur, right? I don't want to run a business or an agency. I don't want to get calls in the middle of the night. Like I left my agency job because big, busy agencies don't often jive with family life, in my opinion, right?
[00:09:25] Shilpa Lewis: People will dispute that. Um, and so I want to remain a solopreneur. I want to remain flexible. And so I knew that if I needed to maintain solopreneurship while also being a present father and husband. I would need to automate as much as possible. Uh, and I would need to delegate as much as possible. And so I have a virtual assistant.
[00:09:50] Shilpa Lewis: She does, I'll tell you, I say this all the time. She knows she has leverage over me. Uh, if she leaves, I feel like my business will crumble and [00:10:00] we have really good, uh, documentation in place. But if she's like out sick and I need to do something that I've, uh, Tasked her to do, uh, I, I know that she's much more efficient at it than me at this point.
[00:10:15] Shilpa Lewis: So I delegate my podcast. I edit my podcast, or I don't edit my podcast rather. I have an editor for my podcast. Um, and so I really just get to talk, right? And so on the, let's say the backend of my podcast, people, delegation takes hold. On the front end of my podcast, it's mostly automation, right? I do the outreach myself because I am a human being and this is about relationships and I'm not just going to like let a robot do it, but once they are kind of in the pipeline, automation happens every step of the way they fill out a form, the form goes to Notion, Notion kicks off a thing.
[00:10:55] Shilpa Lewis: I get a document, they get a document. Um, and. And then on the, [00:11:00] after we record to Dropbox and other automations kind of manage the communication between my team so that I've removed myself from most of my processes, unless I actually have to write words or talk or record a video. Um, and the reason I can do that.
[00:11:21] Shilpa Lewis: Uh, which I think is maybe the framework that you were alluding to, uh, is because I have been able to, um, monetize my podcast and, and generate income I need to do that, right? It's a little bit of a chicken of an egg problem, right? How, when do you, if you don't have, if you don't feel like you have the money to invest, when do you invest in these things?
[00:11:42] Shilpa Lewis: Um, and so I'm happy to dive deeper into, um, my podcast monetization framework. But as far as. Streamlining goes automation and delegation, um, are the things that solopreneurs can do to properly manage their time and their energy, right? Because if I [00:12:00] was editing my podcast, it would be poorly spent time for me as far as like billable hours go.
[00:12:07] Shilpa Lewis: And it would frustrate me because I hate editing. So, uh, I'd be just like in a funk the rest of the day and I wouldn't be as effective in the things that I'm really good at, that I love doing, which is interviewing and making videos and writing.
[00:12:24] Joe Casabona: I can so relate to every element. I have been at least until now, and hopefully next time you and I chat, this will evolve and become more streamlined while I have, um, I think they're called SOPs, like basically, yeah.
[00:12:39] Joe Casabona: Standard
[00:12:39] Shilpa Lewis: operating procedures. Yeah.
[00:12:40] Joe Casabona: Yeah. I have several of those because from a very early process stage, I had the right. I would say friends. They were necessary, not necessarily mentors, but friends who would say, Hey, Shilpa, you're going to need these things. And I took it seriously. So I have those, but those things, it would be [00:13:00] so lovely at some point in the near future.
[00:13:02] Joe Casabona: If I could hand off so many aspects because like you. I like the creativity part. I like engaging and having these type of conversations. Um, and so much comes out of them, like instant moments of inspiration where you're like, Whoa, here's a collaboration opportunity or here's a talk or here's, something that can be done with it.
[00:13:26] Joe Casabona: So having said that, um, I have one question that kind of goes big picture and then you can go deeper. The big picture is for those who are listening and going, well, okay, they're talking now deep about solopreneurship and podcast or business. How, um, does this apply though? Perhaps maybe just a one suggestion or tip on a more bigger scale as a parent or You know, just whatever stage you're in, in your life, you're like, well, how do I streamline so that I'm focusing on my, why my purpose?
[00:13:59] Shilpa Lewis: Yeah, [00:14:00] that's a great question. Right. And it's, it's something that, um, I'm, uh, I see a therapist weekly. Uh, this is another one of those things that like pre pandemic Joe would have been like, you don't need that. Um, and one of the, one of the things that she has taught me about is, uh, overstimulation, right?
[00:14:18] Shilpa Lewis: As a parent, uh, especially, I mean, I'm going to say, especially a parent of three little kids who are like, kind of always up your butt. Um, cause again, on the nights my, My what are the days my wife works. She doesn't, she works three 12. She's home after dinner and bedtime. And so I pick up the kids. I'm trying to make dinner.
[00:14:35] Shilpa Lewis: Um, I'm maybe listening to a podcast, which is not the smartest thing to do. Uh, what I'm trying to do, these other things, but, um, In that moment, it's really important for me to be focused on those tasks, right? Because if all of that is happening, and then I'm also thinking about that email I should have sent, or this quote that I have to do, um, that is [00:15:00] when I get most frustrated.
[00:15:02] Shilpa Lewis: Because, and it's all my fault and now I'm like taking it out on my kids. Right. And so no matter what stage of life you're in solopreneurship, um, whether or not you're a parent, you probably have like a bunch of different areas of your life. And so something that's really helped me is my shutdown routine.
[00:15:22] Shilpa Lewis: I have a shutdown routine, right? And so, um, I try to do this before I leave my desk. But sometimes it's just kind of like word vomiting to my phone while I drive. Um, hands free of course, I don't like people who use their phones, but, um, you know, like when I'm in the car and I'm just like kind of dictating stuff to my phone.
[00:15:43] Shilpa Lewis: Um, and I generally like to ask. Um, a couple of questions and everybody's going to have a different shutdown routine. Um, you know, there, there's like the, the point, the 10 points framework or something like that. But I like to ask [00:16:00] myself, uh, these things, what did you accomplish today? Right. Cause that forces me to consider.
[00:16:09] Shilpa Lewis: Maybe I didn't do everything I wanted to do, but I got stuff done. Right. So like one day I just wrote, I know I'm going to wonder what I did today, but there was a lot of business development. Like there was a lot of sowing seeds for future growth. Right. Um, and that's not a video or a podcast episode, but it's, it's progress and it's necessary work.
[00:16:30] Shilpa Lewis: Um, so what did I accomplish today? What's on my mind. This is the place for me to just be like, I didn't send that quote yet. And I'm still waiting to hear back from this client. And I think I want to do like one more, uh, review of the script for my next video. And, oh, I should probably do a solo episode on this.
[00:16:49] Shilpa Lewis: Just everything is there just to download it from my head. To someplace. Um, then I write goals for tomorrow. Right. So what are the things that I'm, I'm, I think I want to [00:17:00] try to do tomorrow. Um, and open threads and open threads is like, this is, this one has been crucial for me, um, because it's similar to what's on my mind, but they're like really concrete.
[00:17:10] Shilpa Lewis: So if I'm halfway through an edit. Right. Um, of a video, cause I do edit my videos. They're very simple edits and they're pretty easy for me. Um, or if I started to redesign my coaching page. But I didn't hit save yet, right? I'll just write it there. Um, need to finish coaching page, need to finish edit. Uh, that way again, by the time I pick up my kids from school, I have.
[00:17:38] Shilpa Lewis: brain dumped everything onto, I use day one, it's a journaling app. You can use a piece of paper. If you, I mean, you can't dictate to paper, um, use whatever works for you. And that kind of clears the deck and clears my mind so that I know I don't have to just remember these things. And that has been so helpful for me.
[00:17:59] Joe Casabona: [00:18:00] And Joe, what was the name of that app? You mentioned the very end.
[00:18:04] Shilpa Lewis: Day one, uh, it's a journaling app. Um, but this could be just like a notes app too, right? I liked it. Like I use day one for a lot of things. I do my personal journaling there. Um, but you know, if you, if you just use like Apple notes or simple note or whatever, Um, Evernote, if you use that, um, just a place to get that stuff down.
[00:18:27] Shilpa Lewis: That's not just in your head, right? Cause when we are distracted, we're not fully present. Uh, and we feel that, Oh, we don't feel, um, well, we don't feel streamlined, but we're also, we're not focused on where we're putting our energy in the right place. Right. Um, I can, I can tell you that, like, I watched my wife worked Saturday.
[00:18:49] Shilpa Lewis: Um, as we record this, she worked on the previous Saturday. And, um, I was very distracted. I was trying to finish a thing, uh, and our [00:19:00] refrigerator died. So I was researching refrigerators and I was not at my best for my children. Um, and so I guess also it's a work in progress, right? You're going to. Have setbacks, but you know what?
[00:19:15] Shilpa Lewis: Saturday or Sunday, um, my wife could tell, I mean, anybody within like a five mile radius probably could have told, could have been able to tell. Um, but my wife could tell, and she's like, Hey, the Yankees are on. Why don't you go to the shed, smoke a cigar, take some time for yourself. Uh, and then I came back like a new man.
[00:19:33] Shilpa Lewis: So it's being mindful of that is really important.
[00:19:36] Joe Casabona: Yeah, I, everything you said resonated so deeply. Now, what I would love to ask is this approach that you take where you have, you log things like the shutdown method or you call it, right?
[00:19:52] Shilpa Lewis: Yeah, yeah, shutdown routine, yeah.
[00:19:54] Joe Casabona: You're set down to which I love.
[00:19:57] Joe Casabona: Can you share, when do [00:20:00] you then review or reflect on it?
[00:20:04] Shilpa Lewis: Great, great question. Um, so I will usually, honestly, sometimes I'll do it after the kids go to bed. Um, that's like if my wife is working late or like she just wants to veg and she's like cross stitching and we're like not talking. As we record this tonight, we have porch time.
[00:20:23] Shilpa Lewis: So we're going to enjoy. A beverage and just chit chat on our porch. But, um, sometimes when the kids go to bed, otherwise it's kind of the first thing I look at the next morning. And the thing that's really keeping me tied to that is my goals for tomorrow. Like, I know I wrote down what I wanted to do today here.
[00:20:43] Shilpa Lewis: And so I'm going to go check that and then I'm going to see everything else. Right. Um, and then as I process those things, I'll move the to do lists into my to do app. I'll move some of the on my mind stuff into my proper notes app. Um, and [00:21:00] so like the, like day one is a place for me to just, again, dump everything and I'll do the review either after the kids go to bed.
[00:21:06] Shilpa Lewis: That's like around my kids go to bed too late. It's like around nine o'clock, but, uh, um, or the next morning, like, Kind of my, my startup routine, right? Is look at the shutdown routine from the last morning, write down the meetings I have and write down the things I want to accomplish today.
[00:21:27] Joe Casabona: I love that you and I might have to do a, just a workshop, just going deep on that.
[00:21:32] Joe Casabona: Cause I have a similar routine. Um, and I'm constantly refining it because my. challenge. I wonder if other people have this is I'm too much of a perfectionist. I'm like, well, this has to be the routine. It has to be perfect. Why am I not sticking with it? So that self sabotaging starts happening because you become your own worst perfectionist victim.
[00:21:56] Joe Casabona: However, when I do try is it's [00:22:00] continual, like you use the word work in progress. I'm work in progress. I'm continually trying to improve. And the night, um, in the morning what I do is right after the meditation, which is my non negotiable,
[00:22:13] Shilpa Lewis: a 20,
[00:22:14] Joe Casabona: 20 minute meditation. And then I do like my gratitudes. I literally allow myself to read and add to that list.
[00:22:24] Joe Casabona: Um, thoughts, aspirations, what I accomplished the day before, what will I accomplish the next day, wins. And sometimes I just want to skip over it. But honestly, just the act of doing it in the mind dump. So the mind dump happens in this note, what I call the wipe notebook. I write it down. You know, like I write it down each day has a theme.
[00:22:48] Joe Casabona: So Monday is always admin day to Tuesdays are training. Wednesdays is always podcasting. So all of these methodologies, what you described and what I have as my sort of. [00:23:00] Ever evolving approach, constant refining. I think we all need them. I'm sure a lot of us have it, right? I mean, to stay mindful, how else are you going to get there without some procedures?
[00:23:13] Shilpa Lewis: Yeah. I mean, I think it's, it's probably a little bit mindset. A lot of it mindset, because I think it's easy, at least for me to, to think this was, I mean, before I had kids, um, the way things are today is the way things are always going to be right. Like, and so I'm going to set this thing today and I'm going to do it for the rest of my life.
[00:23:38] Shilpa Lewis: Um, but then you realize that like, You know, uh, you change jobs and your, um, your routine changes, or if you're a student, right, your summer looks so different from your school year, your first semester in college looks so different from your second semester in college, right? Maybe you have an 8 AM in the fall, [00:24:00] uh, but you have like a 5 PM in the spring, right?
[00:24:02] Shilpa Lewis: Your routine has to change because of that. Um, and for me, like what accelerated that is. Um, when you have small kids, like they're in daycare, then they're in school, then they're in different school. If they get sick, your whole day is blown up, like blown up. And that used to make me mad. But like, who am I mad at?
[00:24:24] Shilpa Lewis: Am I mad at my kid for getting sick? Yeah, that's ridiculous, right? Am I mad at the school for sending my kid home for being sick? Absolutely not. Um, and so I realized like, again, and this goes to like energy awareness, like, I have all of this negative energy directed nowhere. Like it's just there. Um, and so for me, it's like, there are a couple of things I try to do every day.
[00:24:51] Shilpa Lewis: I'm not going to beat myself up. You know, I, you know, I, I have like a, I was having some neck pain this morning, so I didn't do yoga. Right. [00:25:00] Um, and that's. Okay. I'll do it tomorrow. Right. Um, and so, uh, I think that understanding life changes, things change depending on how old your kids are or how old your parents are.
[00:25:16] Shilpa Lewis: Your day to day can change pretty quickly. Um, and rolling with it and having just like something. anchoring you, um, whether it's a shutdown routine, a startup routine, setting an intention for the day. Like it's like, okay, well today, if I don't do anything else, I'm going to do X, Y, and Z, right? Um, that can go a long way into like feeling productive, right?
[00:25:43] Shilpa Lewis: Or feeling like you're making progress.
[00:25:46] Joe Casabona: Yeah. The two things come into mind. One is the word grace. I've learned to continually Learn to give myself grace because I too have gone so difficult on myself and beat myself down and particularly the [00:26:00] dynamics and routine of your lifestyle changes in different stages of your life like by the time my son was born like If he's at home sick that will change things like last week.
[00:26:11] Joe Casabona: I remember I had this clear agenda, what it was going to get done. I finished my last podcast in the school calls saying your son is sick. And so that, that shifted everything. The second word that comes to mind is, um, consistency though. Cause like you said, if you have this shutdown routine, And you have the momentum going with the intention you've set that is pure energy and that will carry on to the next day that cure good energy and how you want to manifest certain outcomes, even if it didn't get done the day you would hope for it to get done.
[00:26:53] Shilpa Lewis: Yeah, yeah, I, I agree. Um, I think that we [00:27:00] need to give ourselves a little grace and this is like the anti hustle culture, right? Like. I remember reading in one of Gary V's books. Okay. Um, I didn't read the book. I read this excerpt. So, um, but you know, he basically said like, Hey, if you want to start a business and you have a, a nine to five, like the idea was like, you got to hustle.
[00:27:17] Shilpa Lewis: And it was like work and then come home and have dinner and then work at night. And I'm like, yeah, just work. All you do is work. Don't think about anything else. Right. Um, I know people who I would say like, Oh, like, what do you like to do? And they're like, Oh, well, like I'm a web developer. So I like making websites.
[00:27:31] Shilpa Lewis: And I'm like, no, but like, what are your hobbies? And they're like, Oh, my job is my hobby. And I'm like that I said, point blank to someone that is the saddest thing I've ever heard, like It's great to love what you do, but have other interests. Like, don't you, you are not your job, right? Like what's the quote from fight club?
[00:27:55] Shilpa Lewis: Um, you're so much more than that. And to just like distill [00:28:00] yourself down to one thing, um, It means that if you stop doing that one thing, well, you look like you're going to have like an identity crisis, right?
[00:28:12] Joe Casabona: I I've known people that, um, I, we knew a couple whose wife have was forced into early retirement during the pandemic.
[00:28:21] Joe Casabona: And is her husband would tell us like, she's having an identity crisis because work was all she could do. And, um, this is why, like when you mentioned you do that. The yoga in the morning, allowing yourself that space is something that maybe another generation ago, they didn't recognize that as you are actually giving back by giving yourself that space.
[00:28:47] Shilpa Lewis: Yeah. And again, like, uh, you know, it's, I should also say, cause I keep saying that, like, uh, like, male, like typical male, like John Wayne's style. And like, don't get me wrong. I like John Wayne's movies. [00:29:00] Um, my dad was not like that. Like, I just learned that from society. Right. Um, but like eventually I learned that like I am, I am my own person and everyone's their own person.
[00:29:11] Shilpa Lewis: And yoga is one of those things like that. My brother Phil does yoga every day. My brother. Bill is the exact opposite body type of me. So he's like built for yoga and I'm like built to be like a brick wall. Um, but like when he was like, when he was like, you should do yoga. I'm like, that's stupid. Like men don't do yoga.
[00:29:30] Shilpa Lewis: Um, I just think about like how dumb I was like five years ago. Um, and, but it's been great. Right. First of all, it's challenging. Like if anybody's like yoga is easy, like you've never done yoga before. Um, but it's also. It's like, there's a nice on ramp where you warm up. You do, I do 20 minutes. So it's like three minutes to warm up then like a solid, like 15 and then like two to.
[00:29:54] Shilpa Lewis: You know, one of the instructors says like set your intention. One says, give yourself gratitude, right? [00:30:00] Um, you know, focus on your practice. And it's like, some of this is like kind of head in the cloud, like, like head in the clouds for me, but the ideas are there, like set an intention. That's great. I'm not going to freak out on my kids today.
[00:30:12] Shilpa Lewis: Like there, there we go. There's the intention. I've said it. I have it as a goal for me today. Right.
[00:30:19] Joe Casabona: And those, uh, intentions, whether it's to be more present in your body or be more present in any aspect, it's really going back to recognizing that's the energy and how am I going to, Master that energy because you know, often we think it's out of our control and that's where the ego and the anger and the restrictions come in.
[00:30:41] Joe Casabona: But what if you are in control, but it takes these tools and allowing yourself space and grace to get there. Now, I have now more of a business question. We need back into the less, less spiritual, more business. One of the things that caught my. [00:31:00] Attention a long time ago is when you talked about sponsorship, and I haven't had the chance to go deeper into that topic, but I did share a little.
[00:31:08] Joe Casabona: A bit before I hit record. Maybe you could spend a few minutes enlightening those who are solopreneurs. Maybe take a start from kind of high level then bring it down. One of the biggest challenges that you probably may have experienced is that when you transition from say a corporate experience to becoming your own solopreneur, what have you, is the signposts are a little bit different.
[00:31:34] Joe Casabona: Sometimes there are no signposts. Sometimes there's no road. Sometimes it's a very dirty, muddy road. And you're trying to figure out how to get from here to this vision you have. Because it's different when you're, somebody's paying you day to day versus you're designing it. The good news is you're designing it.
[00:31:54] Joe Casabona: It, it does not exist. It could be anything, anything. Right. But tell us [00:32:00] about your journey and then how sponsorship then came into play. Because for myself, as I shared, that's a huge source of stress.
[00:32:11] Shilpa Lewis: Yeah. I it's almost like buying a house versus building a house, right? Like you've got. Oh, I can pick between these three houses or what do you mean I can build a house?
[00:32:22] Shilpa Lewis: Like, how do I even do that? I get some wood. I like that one. Can you build that one? And while we can't really build that one. Um, so yeah, I, I absolutely resonate with that when, uh, when I would talk at colleges or early stage, like aspiring business owners or solopreneurs or freelancers, um, they would always say like, what's the best piece of advice?
[00:32:48] Shilpa Lewis: That you could give me, right? Um, and I would say build your network. Cause my network saved me. Um, I left my agency job in June [00:33:00] 2017. My first child, my daughter Teresa, was born in March 2017. Um, and I got a month paternity, which is something that I, then back in 2017, like you weren't, men weren't always guaranteed that, uh, and so I'm grateful for that, but when I got back, it was chaos.
[00:33:23] Shilpa Lewis: Um, we were struggling to find work. I'm happy to say like things are a lot better. Over there now, but you know, we would hear things like, if you want to be paid on time, you're going to have to work this weekend. And I'm like, that's not the social contract that we have. I work for you for the steady paycheck.
[00:33:41] Shilpa Lewis: If I wanted to get paid based on the jobs I complete, I could do that myself. And I had done that myself. Um, and then, uh, I think the final straw was like, I had to work super late one night. And then I was told I had to work that weekend, and my wife and I were celebrating our [00:34:00] anniversary. We had tickets to Hamilton, and so I was like, hard no on that.
[00:34:04] Shilpa Lewis: Uh, I'm like, sorry, you won't see me until Monday. Um, and I think in that moment, I was like, okay, I could say no to that. I, I could say no to this. In general. And so I talked to my wife because again, we had a three month old at home and she was on, she was, I think she took six months. Um, and we were approaching like her unpaid leave, um, which is another thing that upsets me and bothers me.
[00:34:34] Shilpa Lewis: Um, but I knew I'd be the sole breadwinner, right. And she was fully supportive. And so I left my job. Um, and I quickly realized that side hustle money, which is what I was making is not full time job money. And so, um, I reached out to my network and I said, Hey, I miscalculated like how much work [00:35:00] I'd have lined up.
[00:35:01] Shilpa Lewis: Um, is there anything that, is there anything I can do for you? Right. And, and my friend, Sean needed video work done. Um, so I, I worked with him for a while. He's a friend and mentor. Um, and then. I had my podcast, my podcast was a little over a year old at this point, and I had some sponsors here and there. I was sponsored from day one, um, but a company, again, a net, a company in my network, um, reached out to me, and I should, I should say network, like people I've met at conferences, um, and they said, hey, you reach our audience, we'd love to sponsor your podcast.
[00:35:42] Shilpa Lewis: And I was like, Oh, great. Um, and I just said like, what about 10, 000 for six months? Uh, and they were like, yeah, great. And they paid it upfront. And that gave me enough runway to actually put a system in [00:36:00] place and get client work and get more sponsors. Um, so my network and my podcast saved my business. Um, since then I've come up with this, I call it the smash framework for how to make money podcasting.
[00:36:14] Shilpa Lewis: Right. And I think. Um, I've been talking for a long time, so I'm going to pause right after this and in case you want to get in some thoughts, but, um, I think that if you're going to streamline your process and automate. And delegate, especially like you do need some funds for that. And so I, I want to, I like to try to square that circle, right.
[00:36:38] Shilpa Lewis: And, and help people make money as well.
[00:36:43] Joe Casabona: And Joe, do you, and we'll go deeper into the smash framework in a moment, but do you also now have other source of income or is it strictly from the sponsorship for your podcast? How many podcasts do you have at this point? [00:37:00] And. I'd like to understand that model that then applies to Supporting other, um, projects, so to speak.
[00:37:09] Shilpa Lewis: Yeah, this is a great question. Um, if you had asked me this three years ago, I would say like, yeah, 50 percent of my income comes from podcast sponsorships. Um, that's not the case today, right? Economies change, budgets, budgets change. And. I think having any freelancer who had one big client who left them will tell you, don't just have one big client, right?
[00:37:33] Shilpa Lewis: Cause that's, that's worse than just having a full time job because at least if you get fired, you get a severance, right? A client can leave you. In the lurch, right? Like one big client. Um, and that's where I was at with sponsorships last year. I realized that most of my income relied on sponsorship and nobody wanted to sponsor podcasts last year, or at least nobody wants to sponsor small podcasts last year, um, And so [00:38:00] today it's probably like 25 percent sponsorships, um, 50 percent coaching and services, things like that.
[00:38:09] Shilpa Lewis: Um, and then the other 25%, like a hodgepodge of like courses I've made, LinkedIn learning, um, and, uh, a couple of other things, but all of this ties into the smash framework, right? Um, and so. I think there are five ways that you can make appreciable money with your podcast. Uh, I'm going to exclude products, right?
[00:38:34] Shilpa Lewis: I was at a career day for my kid's school the other day and they're like, Oh, do you have merch? And I'm like, no, because my audience is not huge and doesn't, they don't want to wear my logo. Like they don't want to pay to wear my logo. Right. Um, and so. I don't have merch. I think you need a very, very big audience to have merch or like a particularly clever design.
[00:38:53] Shilpa Lewis: Right. Um, so the first S in smash is sponsorship. Advertisers [00:39:00] pay you to talk about them on your show. This is a tough road, but there are ways that we can make it easier. M is membership. This is where your listeners pay you directly, uh, for benefits for your show, either ad free shows or longer shows, or just bonus content.
[00:39:17] Shilpa Lewis: This is tough. If you have a small audience, you're going to need a high dollar, high value membership. If you have a bigger audience, then you can get away with like a 10 or 5 a month membership. Uh, I have a 7 a month, a month membership that is. Um, if, if it was within Google, they'd kill it, right? Like the, the, it wouldn't be a product for them, uh, worth offering, but it's worth it for me for a couple of reasons.
[00:39:44] Shilpa Lewis: Um, a is affiliates. So, uh, you, um, get a commission for products you promote. The trick here is finding good affiliate programs. Uh, you don't just want to do like Amazon affiliate links, cause you won't make any money off of that. But like [00:40:00] ConvertKit's affiliate program or Circle's affiliate program are very generous and recurring and like 30%.
[00:40:06] Shilpa Lewis: Um, the second S is selling. Right. Um, or maybe like today I would probably. Um, change, no, selling is probably still the right word. Uh, you're either selling a product or a service. Um, and so your podcast, um, helps you do that, right? You're talking about, uh, you sell water bottles. And so you talk about all the times that, um, you might need a good water bottle.
[00:40:37] Shilpa Lewis: Right. Or like why the a hundred dollar water bottle is really good for people who hike. Right. Um, contrived answer, but that's. You're using your podcast to, to sell what you make. Uh, and the H is helping, right? And this is coaches, consultants, course creators. Uh, you are using your podcast to establish [00:41:00] your authority and expertise in your space so that people know, like, and trust you faster so that they're more likely to hire you.
[00:41:08] Shilpa Lewis: That is how I best help people. And that is how you can, um, how I think that most business owners can make money Not the easiest way, but the best way for them. Um, and that's part of the reason for my whole rebrand and realignment is that my podcast was mostly interviews and I wasn't really promoting my expertise.
[00:41:37] Shilpa Lewis: I want to do that more effectively.
[00:41:41] Joe Casabona: So, um, oh, so much of this really just completely makes sense because I, I've been refining my own approach to podcasting. It's up till now, it has been conversation with experts, and then on occasion, solopreneur, like a solopreneur solo. [00:42:00] So to speak now, the last thing that you mentioned though, that making that shift in the paradigm for you, does that mean fewer conversational, um, guests, podcasts, or you going in as an authority on a topic and going deeper?
[00:42:21] Shilpa Lewis: Yeah, that's exactly right. So I, um, I have moved from a hundred percent, well, we'll say like 99%. Interviews to last year, it was like 80, 20 this year. It's close to 75. It's like 75, 25. I want it to be 50, 50. Um, and there's a few reasons. One is because I want to present myself as an authority. Um, but the other is that interview podcasts are time consuming and there are a lot of them, uh, and I say this as somebody who's [00:43:00] doing more guesting.
[00:43:01] Shilpa Lewis: Um, and like, we're on an interview show and I have an interview show, but I think that a straight up interview show is, um, not the best way to go today. Uh, it is good to have interviews and mix it up. You're not locked into one format, but a, I call it a mini podcast, but like a solo show, um, I think is a really good way for you to create content, to establish yourself as an authority.
[00:43:34] Shilpa Lewis: And then, and then you can. focus on the content versus all the logistics of getting a guest and figuring out, Oh, does their mic work? Do they have headphones? Is it as how's their internet connection? Now I have to edit. I have to combine these. This is going to be a pain in the neck. They went on a weird tangent that I need to cut out.
[00:43:52] Shilpa Lewis: So I think that, um, yeah, I'm trying to get to 50, 50 for that exact reason.[00:44:00]
[00:44:01] Joe Casabona: And Joe, can you, um, maybe educate me when you say 50, 50, like, I get it. Cause I do like one or two solo casts. When you choose to do those solo casts, are you very intentional, systematic in the sense like, you know, I, I mentioned earlier that I have themes and seasons and then I go deeper and then each one potentially.
[00:44:26] Joe Casabona: to something that I could potentially monetize off of like an evergreen course, I'd like to understand that model. That
[00:44:33] Shilpa Lewis: would be really smart. Uh, um, I, I, I view, uh, the streamlined solopreneur, those solo episodes as more of a build in public type of thing for me. Um, and so right now for that podcast. No, those solo episodes are not tied necessarily to a launch, right?
[00:44:58] Shilpa Lewis: I always promote my mailing [00:45:00] list and my automations. Library, especially I talk about my membership. Um, but for me, those solo episodes are really about building trust, getting people to understand my process, maybe getting their ears to perk up and be like, Oh, maybe Joe can help me with that. And so, uh, this year is a little bit of an experimental year for me because I am doing more solo shows.
[00:45:28] Shilpa Lewis: Um, you know, the next one coming up as we record this is. Um, it's called why we're not doing summer camp, right? Um, or, and, and how it's affecting me as a solopreneur. Um, and I think it's just really helpful for other solopreneurs to see that and understand, you know, what they're going through is possibly what I'm going through and vice versa.
[00:45:51] Shilpa Lewis: How am I running my business at the same time? And then I talk about how I've automated stuff and how I have these systems in place. And the [00:46:00] subtext is, and I can help you do that too.
[00:46:05] Joe Casabona: That is so awesome. Now you mentioned you have three podcasts, the 50 50 approach. Is that for the new Streamline Solopreneur podcast?
[00:46:16] Shilpa Lewis: Yeah, that's exactly right. Streamline Solopreneur is 50 50. Podcast workflows is 100 percent solo episodes. Um, and they're usually, um, narrated versions of the articles I write for the website. Um, and then Start Local is a podcast me and my friend run, um, or me and two of my friends run, uh, where we interview business owners and non profits in our area, uh, and that is 100 percent interview.
[00:46:43] Joe Casabona: Wonderful. A nice, nice blend. And that gives me plenty of ideas as well as I evolve my own. Now you mentioned that, um, the there's, it's a generation currently, at least the way I heard it is [00:47:00] a solo podcast that are interview based may not be necessarily, um, I don't know, as, as popular or did I not understand correctly?
[00:47:11] Shilpa Lewis: I mean, I think it depends. I think that, um, there's a lot of them, right? And so if you're going to do that, you need to differentiate. Um, you know, I think, uh, uh, um, so, but that you described this to me as a casual conversation. I think that, um, if this is working for your, first of all, if this is working for your listeners, great, keep doing that.
[00:47:38] Shilpa Lewis: Um, I think listeners. want more, uh, than like maybe a raw, casual, unedited conversation at this point, right? Um, people look to like Joe Rogan and Dax Shepard, and they're like, well, they're doing it that way, and, uh, maybe, we don't know how much editing goes on behind the scenes for them, but also there are celebrities interviewing other [00:48:00] celebrities.
[00:48:01] Shilpa Lewis: And so people are just kind of inherently interested in that, right? Uh, nobody would watch Keeping Up with the Casabonas, but they watched Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Um, And so if you want to deliver value and impact, then if you're going to do an interview show, you should weave it in some sort of story where there's a very clear outcome, especially if you're a business owner.
[00:48:30] Shilpa Lewis: And I think that having a podcast mission statement really helps with that. So, uh, when I help people with their mission statement, it's usually something to the effect of. Uh, my podcast helps specific audience solve the problem of specific problem they're having by and then the goal of each episode, right?
[00:48:52] Shilpa Lewis: So, uh, the mission statement for The streamlined solopreneur, I wrote it down and I can read it to you, uh, [00:49:00] verbatim, um, is my podcast. Can I read it verbatim? It's somewhere around here. Um, my podcast helps, uh, busy solopreneur parents solve the problem of spending their time properly by showing them how they can save 12 hours each week working in their business.
[00:49:23] Shilpa Lewis: Right. And so the people I interview, hopefully help my listeners do that in some way. Right. By telling, telling them, forget, like, don't worry about the tool you're using. Think about how you're using the tool. And how it helps you achieve a goal or with my solo episodes, right? One coming up on time tracking, why you should time track, what tool you should use to not make you overwhelmed and how this will help you in the long run.
[00:49:51] Shilpa Lewis: Right. You'll see that you waste a ton of time. Um, so that that's the mission statement. And whenever I have somebody on the show, I [00:50:00] have that in my mind. And I think, what story can we tell around this and how are they helping my listeners achieve their goal?
[00:50:09] Joe Casabona: That's wonderful. And I definitely feel like this, this sort of reaffirms that while I continually fine tune my approach, you know, just this month will be on energy awareness and just the, the notion of how are your workflows?
[00:50:24] Joe Casabona: What are you, Using the what tools, how can you refine them? That is applicable most definitely to solopreneurs, but also like you were saying, parents and those who are in different stages in their lives.
[00:50:39] Shilpa Lewis: Yeah, absolutely. Um, and you know, I, again, I think this works for anybody and everybody. But the people that I'm helping specifically are parents, because that's where I'm at.
[00:50:51] Shilpa Lewis: And, and I, I feel like that's an underserved market in some senses.
[00:50:57] Joe Casabona: Wonderful. So, um, [00:51:00] before we part ways, Joe, one quick request. I really feel this was immensely fruitful for myself, my target audience, which are Uh, soulful female entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and those who are pivoting or transitioning in life and wanting to just really time manage.
[00:51:20] Joe Casabona: Could you take just a short moment? Would you be open to leaving a review that, uh, like a testimonial 15 to 20 seconds, so that when I showcase this podcast, others can also hear it. And since we're recording might as well. Not hit stop.
[00:51:38] Shilpa Lewis: Uh, yeah, so you want me to give a testimonial about this show or about our conversation?
[00:51:43] Shilpa Lewis: Uh, both. Alright, well, uh, yeah, I had a great time talking with you, Shilpa. I think we covered a lot of really great and helpful topics for your audience, as well as anybody who's struggling to, um, kind of optimize their time so that they can [00:52:00] be fully present for, um, every aspect of their life. Because this is something I think that We are losing in the age of having a little piece of glass in our pocket that can interrupt us at any moment.
[00:52:14] Shilpa Lewis: And so, uh, thank you for asking such great questions and for giving me this platform to, to share my story. I really appreciate it.
[00:52:22] Joe Casabona: I appreciate you, Joe. Such value came out of this podcast, and I just loved your personality coming through, your authenticity, and I would love to have a follow up conversation in the future.
[00:52:34] Shilpa Lewis: Sounds great. Thanks so much, Shilpa. I appreciate it.
[00:52:37] Joe Casabona: Yes, absolutely.