Full Transcript

Sari 0:00
Welcome to your Food Business Success. This podcast is for early stage entrepreneurs in the packaged food industry ready to finally turn that delicious idea into reality. I'm your host, Sari Kimbell. I have guided hundreds of food brand founders to success as an industry expert and business coach, and it's got to be fun. In this podcast, I share with you mindset tools to become a true entrepreneur and run your business like a boss, interviews with industry experts to help you understand the business you are actually in, and food founder journey so you can learn what worked and didn't work, and not feel so alone in your own journey. Now let's jump in!

Sari 0:49
Welcome back to the podcast. I am so glad you are here and on today's podcast, we are talking about something that I don't think I've ever talked about, at least not directly. And I don't know why, because it is so important. We are going to talk about the company you keep, the people and the influences that you surround yourself with. Because these people, these influences, they are going to shape your mindset, your habits, and ultimately your success, or at the very least the speed of your success, I definitely see in my own experience as an entrepreneur and many of my members, I see that when they surround themselves with other like minded people who are on the entrepreneurship journey, who are in a positive mindset and working on supporting and lifting each other up, that you will get there so much faster.

Sari 1:53
But it isn't just about the people. You know, there's this Iconcept. It comes from Jim Rome, who's like an OG kind of personal development coach and mentor, who's since passed away, but he had a quote that said, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And I think that there is truth to that. However, I think it goes beyond that, and I think that can be a little bit problematic. I mean, we're not numbers, we are people. And how do you, how do you have an average of a person? But nevertheless, I think it's still a good concept to kind of keep in mind, right, that who you are spending time with, including the things that you are putting into your brain, like the books you read, the social media you expose yourself to and for how long, the podcast, the other influences around you are going to make a really big impact on your success, and on your ability to do the hard things that entrepreneurs need to do. If you are not accessing other entrepreneurs and people who have gone on this journey before you, you are only trying to build from your current knowledge base and the people around you, and if nobody's ever done it, you're missing out on huge amounts of information that are going to help you. You're also going to notice like your resilience will depend on the environment around you, the influence around you and your standards, like we need to raise our standards as entrepreneurs of what good enough looks like, and potentially the people and the influences that are surrounding you are not good examples of that. And I think I can illustrate this with a non food example, but it's really powerful.

Sari 3:59
Okay, so let's say that you have been a smoker, and I will let you know that I was a smoker in my 20s, which seems bonkers to me now, but I can relate to this story really well, and you can just insert whatever fits into your own life. But I think this is a kind of an extreme example that will illustrate my point. So let's say that you have been a smoker and you want to become a non smoker. You no longer want to smoke. One of the hardest things is that you are probably surrounded by people who smoke, and it is the scariest thing to go and step outside of that, right? So your desire to become a non smoker has to be stronger than the desire to conform, and you know, be similar to the group that you're hanging out with, you probably are also surrounded by an environment that is conducive to smoking, right? Whether it's in your car and you have lighters and you have cigarette packs, you might even be influenced by advertising. You know, I know you can't advertise a lot around cigarettes, but they're still going, you know, you might have t shirts that have brand names on them. You're probably going to seek out more of that stuff, and it has become a part of your identity, right? You have an identity as a smoker, and so you decide, I want to become a non smoker. The hardest thing for people doing this, or whatever it is for you, to eat healthy or to start a business, you are going to now separate yourself from the group, the group that you are familiar with. And I can tell you from experience that when I decided to become a non smoker at 30, like literally, on my eve of my 30th birthday, I was like, I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to be a smoker. And immediately a lot of my friends, or some of my friends, had to fall away. And it's not that I was like, get out of here, you can't hang around me, but I raised my standards, right? I now was like, I want to focus on my health. I want to feel better. I want to do activities that don't trigger that smoking urge, right? I'm not going to go to the coffee shop where we all hang out at the time when you could smoke inside. I'm not going to go to that coffee shop and get coffee and hang around all my smoker friends, right? Like, of course not. And so it can be a little bit lonely at first. And so what you want to do is make sure you start filling that void with other people who value not smoking, who are excited about working out and eating well and living a healthier life, and this is the biggest challenge I find for entrepreneurs, is that you may find yourself surrounded by people and other content and influences that don't like that you are becoming an entrepreneur that are mad about you spending so much time on your business or at the farmers market, who are a little bit more pessimistic or negative about life, and you're like, hey, in order for me to do this really hard thing like start a business, I need to be surrounding myself with positive influences by other people who are ambitious, who have big goals, who are excited, and so I want you to take some inventory about the influences around you. This could be people, right, of course, but it could also be books, podcasts, other content you consume YouTube, things like that, and hopefully you're watching here on YouTube, or you're listening to the podcast, and this is meant to be a really positive, uplifting podcast, like you're filling your ears, your brain, with good stuff that's going to get you excited. Social media is a huge one. Social media news, right? Like really limiting, especially the negative stuff, because this is a hard time in our country, and I'm certainly not going to go political, but if you just spent time on the negative, you could spend all day there, right? And we need to be having you out in the world, putting your products out there, really showing your stuff and doing the hard work of that. And you need to have a certain amount of excitement and belief and hopefulness. It also could be the physical spaces that you find yourself in, you know, cleaning up your office, putting in some plants, like things that you have control over that aren't a ton of money. But can you, you know, spruce things up a little bit. Can you make it a more engaging place, a more positive place to work, wherever your office is, whether it's the kitchen table or that kitchen countertop, and then watching your words, watching the language that you are thinking. And are you thinking in lack and negativity, or are you thinking in possibility and positivity? And so is what's rolling around in your brain and coming out of your mouth, is it creating a sense of engagement and excitement, or is it bringing you down? And so it's really important that you start taking some inventory.

Sari 9:56
Now, I am not saying very clearly, I am not saying that you need to stop hanging out with your family, who maybe are like, what are you doing? This is crazy. Why are you doing this, right? Who maybe just don't get it at all, or who maybe are like, downright, this is dumb. You're wasting your money. You're wasting your time, and I have had clients share that with me, it's not easy. So I want you to hear I'm not saying don't hang out with those people ever, but there is a certain amount of protection that you're probably going to have to enforce, and some certain boundaries, and you may find yourself hanging out with those people less, right? Your friend who is like, can you stop doing that farmers market because I miss you and I want to hang out with you. And it can be really hard when it's your spouse or partner or even your kids, right? And it's like, you can't just stop hanging out with those people, but there are ways that you can help buffer against that by engaging in groups and situations where you are putting yourself in the room with other people who are entrepreneurs, who are excited. I will tell you that my business radically changed when I put myself into the room with other entrepreneurs who were positive, who were excited, who were learning and growing, and I took myself out of spaces, or I did not engage with people who were like, you're crazy, what's wrong with you? Don't you just want a standard, regular paycheck? Like, why are you working so much? Why are you so excited? You know, they just didn't get it.

Sari 11:43
And so of course, I want to invite you to come into Fuel, to become a part of our membership, to get access to resources that are going to help you skip the line. So if you're starting a packaged food business, or growing it or scaling it, I have programs that can help you, and the memberships that can help you, they are super important. But you can also go and find in person groups. Go look up Naturally Networks, see if there's one in your area. There's other online groups like, start surrounding yourself with other influences that are like telling you you can do it. This is possible for you. So here's your takeaways from today. I want you to audit your current environment. Start just noticing, who do I spend time with and how do I feel afterwards? Really start to notice and review the content that you consume regularly. Again, notice in your body, how do I feel after that, and I've talked about the model on a podcast, but basically, your thoughts create your feelings that are going to generate the actions or inactions that you take. And if you notice that your feelings are generally ones that are more negative, that are more pessimistic, you're not going to take the action that is required of a successful entrepreneur. Really, if you're still doing the hard thing, like putting yourself out, you're like, well, I did the 18 reels, but you do it from a place of negativity and hopelessness, and why even bother? They're going to come out really different, and they're not going to attract people who are excited, who are aligned with what you are offering. I also want you to audit the language, the patterns, the beliefs that you are holding in your brain. Is it based on scarcity and not enoughness and negativity, and why even bother? And who am I to even try, or is it based on, are you starting to change the language to be more positive, more belief in what's possible. Seek out entrepreneurial communities. Come join us in Fuel, look for industry events, trade shows, other places where other entrepreneurs, and if there's no CPG specific, then go just find other networking groups. Go find positive places where people are hanging out. Go find masterminds or other accountability groups, and definitely go seek out mentors and advisors, people who are ahead of you on your journey. I really want you to upgrade your information inputs, really curate the podcast subscriptions, the books you're reading, the social media like, if you notice that you are feeling like, really start noticing the feelings in your body when I read that, when I look at that account, when I listen to that podcast, how do I feel? And then also audit your physical spaces to see maybe, like create that vision board that's right there on the wall, that you see it every time you sit at your desk, that you have your mission and your vision and your values nearby, that you say when I sit down, I'm like, this is what I'm working for, right? Like, really raise your standards of your space. And again, I'm not saying you need to go spend a ton of money, but you can create a very cool vision board on Canva and have it printed for not very much money, and just those little things are going to remind you of why you're doing this when it's hard. And then, of course, lastly, looking at your relationships, and you might need to start managing them, putting in some boundaries. Maybe you're not going to talk about your business with certain people. Maybe you're going to look at this season of your life and say, I'm actually purposely going to spend less time with them, not that I don't love them, and I can love them from afar, and I can engage with them kind of a little more superficially, but right now I got to go focus on me. I got to go work on my business. This is a season of getting down and doing, putting in the hours, doing the work. Because on the other side of that, when you are successful, of course, people will be like, oh, yeah, of course. Well, some of them will, some of them will not. And just like the smokers, you might end up having to cut off friendships, or seriously reduce the amount of time that you spend with people, I think that we often will say, well, it's like I left them behind, like I wanted to grow, I wanted to become an entrepreneur, I wanted to go after some big goals, and they didn't. And now I feel like I left them behind, and we feel guilt about it. I want to offer a little different take on that. I heard this from a coach a long time ago, and I really resonates for me, you didn't leave them behind, they chose not to come with you, and that's okay. We can let them, right, in the words of Mel Robbins, we can let them. That's just where they're at. It's this particular season of their life, and your life, it's not a match. You are on a new journey of growth, and you need to go surround yourself by people who are excited about that growth, who want to support you, who are uplifting, and those other people have a choice. They can come along, but if it's not their time, then it's okay to let it go for now or forever, and either way, it's all okay. And you can certainly feel your feelings, and you can handle your feelings, maybe disappointment, of sadness. I will tell you from personal experience, members of my family do not understand what I do, and they never will, and I can still love them, and sometimes I am disappointed that they're not more engaged or involved or like really want to know what I'm doing, but I will tell you, I'm also surrounded by amazing friends and colleagues and members in Fuel and we're all like, let's go, let's rally. They're excited for me. They genuinely care. And that's what gets me excited, right? And that's what gets me up off the couch and says, let's go. Let's go and do the hard things. Let's do the entrepreneurship thing. Let's become a CEO. Let's create a successful business. Alright, that's what I have for you today. Take a little time to start noticing, how do I feel when I engage with that person or that content, and start making some decisions to raise your standards. Because that is the name of the game, to become a successful entrepreneur, start surrounding yourself with other people who are doing the same work, who are excited about it, and lifting each other up. Until next time, have an amazing week.

Sari 19:01
The smartest thing you can do as an entrepreneur is to invest in a who to help you with the how to speed up your journey and help you skip the line. When you are ready for more support and accountability to finally get this thing done, you can work with me in two ways. Get me all to yourself with one on one business coaching, or join Food Business Success, which includes membership inside Fuel, our community of food business founders that includes monthly live group coaching calls and so much more. It's one of my favorite places to hang out, and I would love to see you there go to foodbizsuccess.com to start your journey towards your own food business success.