The Floral CEO

 Hello flower friends. This is Jen, and it's that magical time of year that people are getting their planners out. They're hopefully thinking about next year, enjoying the holidays, enjoying their family, but I often at the end of the year really try to dive into clarity, unlike. It's not 📍 that I never need a day.

I never need like the end of the year to make change or to evaluate something. But I think it's a nice kind of conduit for somebody who doesn't normally have this. Awareness built into their life and their business to really figure out like what's working, what's not working, and to really just audit.

So I today am gonna kinda walk you through and if you guys have a pen and paper, I would love for you to grab it so you can really take down notes. What to do when you're auditing your life and business we're, I am a certified life and mindset coach, but if you guys are loyal listeners to the podcast, you've heard me talk about if you have a life problem.

You are gonna have a hard time making your business successful. And so if I was meeting with somebody and they were telling me their life is a shit sandwich and all of these things are, I would and they're really wanting to ramp this business up, your business isn't going to fix your life. You need to make sure that you have clarity, that your life is thriving and your life is supporting a business and really.

A lot of times people think that their business is going to be their bailout because they think that their problems are going to be answered with money. And while money is a very real issue, and I totally get that. You need to have this fundamental strength in you to be able to have a business to be able to do the work.

And so we're gonna really just start with auditing that. And it's not to judge your life, it's not to shame your business, but it's really to see clearly what's working, what's draining you, and what needs to change. This is about alignment, sustainability, and intentional growth. Okay. So the first thing is we gotta figure out where are we now?

And there are different like areas that I really wanna look at. And for one is energy. You wanna an energy audit of your life and business. Really ask yourself like, what gives me energy, what drains me every single time? There are people in life that every time I talk to them, I feel like. They took my batteries out.

I have over the years basically give, retracted their access to my batteries by distancing myself or changing our relationship because I do not need things that drain me. And then really, what feels heavy before I even start, if there are things. And these are things that I actually, I feel like I've gotten really good at finding people who are really good at these things to help support me.

Or really offloading tasks that don't require my input or my energy so that I can take that input and energy and invest them into things that really are going to be impactful. So here's some areas I'd really love for you to rate. On a scale of one to 10, one being, holy shit, we need to hit the reset button.

And 10 being, it's amazing. Okay. How are your workdays? If you have a day job or if you have structured and you are working in your floral business, how are your workdays? How are your client interactions? Do your clients like fuel you or set you on fire? Are you attracting people? Who are the people that are your people?

There are those people that are just your people. Are you doing the creative work that is inspiring, that is you're lit up about the projects that you have coming up or the things that you have in store. How about your home life? Like, how do you feel your home life is? Is there, is it full of drama?

Is it full of chaos? Is it full of calm peace? Is there a part of it that isn't? What about the mental load? The mental load is something that I really struggled with in. 2025. Because even though I run a multiple six figure floral business and I now run a farm and I take care of animals, and I moved my whole business, my storage units it was a lot.

And then I've gone through a dynamic of. Having to work with teachers again, that are learning my daughter, that has special needs. I've had to navigate, like my son has just exploded with all these friendships at this new school and birthday parties and social dynamic. And I've had to navigate now because now I used to be 20 minutes from pretty much about anything and now I'm about 45 to an hour from.

Almost anything that I wanna do. So like the mental load, like how is that feeling like in 2025? I would say my mental load is like a four. And so that's something I've really been thinking of. And even in the last five, six weeks I've said like the mental load of also keeping the house, in order I need help and I don't need a ton of help, but I want a little bit of help.

How about your physical energy? Any, anything are you actually. Feeling completely physically drained. Do you have a, like being a florist is a physically draining job sometimes. And I, I know some, sometimes, like I'll go and I'll work out three or four times that week and then all of a sudden, like on Saturday it's set date and I'm like, and it's like, what the hell was I thinking on Sunday?

Are you feeling like that all the time? Does your body just feel exhausted? If any of these are under a five, they need attention. And really it takes energy to come up with a solution. And what I think most of us do is bandaid, because we don't feel like we have the bandwidth to even deal with it.

Sometimes I, like my husband's like, well, what about this? And why don't we, to fix this or do this, or whatever. And I literally, and I've gotten so much better about it, just saying, I do not have the. BA mental or physical bandwidth to take that on right now. And that is not something that I've ever really said.

I've never been a good, no person, especially with somebody that I'm in a relationship with and I care about and I love and I wanna make them happy and all those things. And I. I've just realized that like I need to have boundaries. Otherwise, my mental load feels like a two and my physical feels like a two, and I just, I can't be in that spot anymore, especially not in my forties, not.

With all that is on my plate. I just, I wanna feel better and I wanna try things to I just ordered some cortisol teas to see, does that make me feel even 1% better? Do I feel a little bit better after I do that? I like, one of the things that I tried was holy basil. And I feel I, and maybe it's just mental but I feel better when I'm taking it and I can't say what feels better, but something feels better.

So are you evaluating and then trying to improve? That's what, if you need a new year, new you, that's what this time can be. And this audit can be for, all right, time audit. I remember going a couple weeks ago, I went to a holiday party with a bunch of vendor friends and they were like, how are you? I'm like, oh, I'm so busy.

Everything is so busy. Is it really for the last three to five days or just reflect really honestly? Where's your time actually going? What am I busy with versus what really moves the needle? How much of my time is reactive versus intentional? And then really dive into like when you're looking at your time and where you're spending it, how much of your time are you spending on revenue producing work?

Admin or busy work, marketing, family, personal, getting lost in the endless scroll of Instagram or TikTok, and how much time you actually resting. And then when you step back and look in, these are the, are these times the times you're spending in alignment with what you actually thought you were doing? Or are you really, is your time aligned with your priorities or is it just your habits are keeping you stuck and on a hamster wheel of staying where you're at?

📍 People will come to me for coaching and they're like, yeah, I've been really. Around this, revenue mark for a couple years now, and I really wanna turn it up a notch and, I just, it doesn't seem like I've been doing, uh, able to do it. I just don't know why I'm stuck. And then when we start to dig in, like all of these things, you're still doing the same thing.

It sometimes it takes. Big shifts to make big changes, and a lot of times those shifts are scary. But if you don't change anything, how are you expecting different results and. I know that it is easy to stay in the warm, fuzzy comfort zone of your current life, but if that is not the life that you are dreaming about, if that is not the life that you look at and you go, I really wanna do all these things, then not investing your time.

Where your priorities are. If your priority is to get to that end goal, to get to that big I mean, maybe it's financial, maybe it's having a family, maybe it's owning a farm. Whatever it is, are all of those things in alignment. All right? Money, audit, and this is where everybody loves to avoid. And as females, I think everybody loves not to talk about in general.

So I would love for you to look at what did you actually pay yourself? What parts of your business are actually profitable? What am I doing that looks successful but pays terribly? What looks really great on the gram, but you make shit money. Where are you leaking money? Time equals money too. I love, I listen to the Gold Digger podcast with Jenna Kutcher, and one of my favorite phrases that she says is, time is my currency.

And we don't look at it often that way because time doesn't cost actual money, but time is one of the only things that we actually can't get back. And so if you keep losing time to things that are not in alignment with who you wanna be, you're actually losing money because you lost time. So then I would love for you to also ask and am I building a business that supports my life?

Or a business that requires sacrifice without a return. And especially when you look at those like things that you're doing that look really good and pay terribly who are you doing this for? Who? Who in the end really matters? And this big vision of yours, this big work that you're doing.

All right. Now the next part is what's not working anymore. So really digging into like what's your tolerance? And my tolerance for BS used to be so high. Like you guys, like I used to just, I was, I am. A very calm, very patient person to begin with. And so when I was younger and dumber and like less wise and worldly as I am now I had a lot of tolerance and I would love for you to go into this and think about what you've normalized but shouldn't have.

And so finish these sentences. I've, I'm tolerating this, I keep putting up with this, I know this isn't working, but I haven't changed this. And examples of these could be a friendship. It could be underpaying clients last minute, chaos, disrespectful planners, hustle, seasons that go on and on and on, or being available for everyone and never having space for yourself.

But the truth is what we tolerate is our standard, and if we are, are really like creating a standard for a new year. And honestly. That like making change and actually saying like I am done with this is a lot harder than, than it. Then in, in concept, I can just say, no, I can just do this. There's all these feelings.

And then like when you get there and you're actually gonna go say it, or you're, you're gonna do the big bold action and then you're like, heart, like kind of beats a little bit and like you wanna sweat and you're just like, fear. And what if my business fails because I've done this?

Like, and all these faught feelings come in, but without. Those big moves. Again, your business will probably be here next year and I, I'm guessing you don't want it to be, especially if you're listening to this because you deserve better. You deserve a life that is just, feels fucking good. And makes you happy and gives you freedom to, like last night I am cleaning up after dinner and I'm, hanging out with the kids.

The kids are running around and then Bella said to me, mom, what are you gonna do? What are you doing right now? 'cause I would love to snuggle with you on the couch. And then Bodhi says, mom, I would love to snuggle too. It's if I didn't create space for that, I wouldn't have got to snuggle with two Blankies and two Cuties and watch Spider-Man, which God, the Spider-Man's so bad you guys, but Bodhi wanted to watch it and he got to pick, so I went with it.

You need to create space for magic. You need to create space for you to become in alignment with who you wanna be. All right, now let's do a little alignment audit. Does your business reflect who you are? I had somebody say, you are the green goddess. And I thought about that and like my business name really encapsulates like who I wanna be.

'cause I don't wanna be ordinary, I want. I, I love creating beautiful just magical things that and I love being that person. I love being the face of my business. And I feel like I've captured that more than I ever in the last year. So I'd also have you ask who I used to be. Like if your business isn't reflecting who I am now, is your business really reflecting who you used to be?

Because my business definitely reflected the old version of me before and I had to make a lot of changes to get it to be where it is now, but. Those are small changes. They don't have to be big ones. They're saying no to this person. They're raising your prices. They're starting to work with material that lights you up.

They're coming up with custom designs. There's so many ways that can really light a little bit of fire. And then another question to ask yourself is, if I built this business today, would I build it the same way? Would I build it with the same values, my same family life, my nervous system being the same, my creativity, my health, my long-term vision?

Would all of those be the same? All right. I'm a person who really believes in embodying the person that you, your future self, and not just the person that you are today. So I'd love. For you to really dig in and do a bit of an identity audit, I would love for you to ask, who have I been acting like I am?

Who do I want to be? What does that version of me say yes to? What does that version of me stop doing? I want you to shift from, I'm trying to. To, I am someone who, or if you're trying to do something, I'm going to this is happening. That's often why when I really decide to do something, I publicly say it because once I put it out there, it's happening.

I don't back down. And are you that person who does that same thing? Do you literally like just commit to your success? All right, next part. What needs to change? Audit. Before adding anything, I would love for you to dig into what you should remove, what you need to subtract. What can you remove? What can you simplify?

What can I stop by offering? What can I really stop tolerating? Stop chasing growth doesn't always mean more often. It means less and it means less. That is just executed better, done better, and often is just more in alignment with really the direction you want. Your business to go. All right, let's talk about focus.

And really the the three thing rule we often, it's like spaghetti noodles, sorn against the wall. We're just trying to see what sticks. I would love for you to really choose three priorities in your business and three priorities in your life, and ask, if I focused only on these, would my life improve?

Would my business improve? Or are you running around with a chicken with your head cut off and therefore those results are commensurate with that? Anything outside of that can just get paused, can get delegated, can get simplified. Then do you have the support to do the things that you want to accomplish?

I want you to ask yourself. Because you're really not meant to do this alone. Where do I need support? What am I carrying that I need? I don't need to I care. I've carried so much over my lifetime that I inevitably discovered was not my burden to carry, but no one was holding me accountable.

Everybody was fine with dumping because I was this person that could just handle anything. Who holds you accountable and who helps you think? Bigger support for that? Could be a therapist, could be systems, could be boundaries, could be a coach. Could be the floral CEO mastermind. We li I literally just, I'm super excited about a new member and like, they just want to not do this alone.

They want another ear in their business. They want another, just like another person. Like we all need someone to do life with. And honestly, what better than a bunch of florists that are all trying to do the same thing, build businesses. Check out the floral ceo.com/mastermind to learn more. Otherwise check out the so show notes, but it is a game changer if you are looking for serious support in 2026.

All right, and then how do I move forward? Plan micro momentum instead of fixing everything or concentrating on this big, huge fucking thing that feels suffocating, what one 15 minute change can I make this week? What one boundary could I set? What one system could I tightened? Small shifts equals big identity change.

People do not get enough credit for what 15 minutes can accomplish. They always think like, I need hours. I need days. 15 minutes on a regular basis is going to change your business. All right, next future. Check-in. Ask yourself. What will future me? Thank me for changing right now in one year. What will you, your future self say to you that is thank you for doing that, and then next, what would make next year feel lighter?

I try to feel. If something feels heavy, I feel it in my chest. I usually get like a headache and that's like a signal to me. So do you have any signals that it's like, let's, we need to figure this out when this happens, that is on your radar that this needs to be, be evaluated. All right. And then your decision filter.

Every new opportunity must pass through these questions. Does this align with my values? Does this align with my energy? Does this move me towards my goals? Am I saying yes out of fear or intention or, you know, a million other excuses that you might be giving yourself? If it's not a, if I, it's not a fuck yes, it's a no.

Or a not right now. Your energy is so important in growing your business and having a life that is really fulfilling and one that you're just. I can get outta bed, excited to do chores. I can get up out of bed, excited. My children are going to a, a school that, that I'm just, I'm so excited about in comparison, I can get excited about snuggling, my mini cow about driving a tractor, about growing flowers, about living my life like I've never lived before.

And. That look will look completely different to you, but whatever that is, it is out there. It is out there for the taking, and I want you to go get it. If you need a little clarity and plus I would just like to hang out with you, I would love for you to join my goal planning party on January 5th at 1:00 PM Central Standard Time.

Go check out the show notes for the link or go to on Instagram on any of my posts and hit the word goal. We'll get you signed up. You're gonna get amazing workbook. We're gonna meet on Zoom. Hang out and really dig into 2026 and get some clarity on what your goals are. You are allowed to change your mind.

You're allowed to want something different. You're allowed to build a business that feels good and pays you well. You are allowed to choose alignment over chaos. You deserve a life worth living, and right now it's your time to hit the reset button. Please go check out the link 'cause I would really love to see you at my goal planning party.

Plus I just wanna be with a bunch of awesome florists, like learning all about what you guys wanna do and how you wanna like dominate 2026 because it's out there. Thank you so much for listening, flower Friend. And you have an amazing flower filled week.