Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Kim Daly: Welcome back to Create wealth through franchising podcast and Kim Daly tv. In my studio today, a longtime friend, Melissa Lewis. Melissa, welcome to the studio of Kim Daly tv.
[00:00:16] Melissa: Thank you. I'm so happy to be here, Kim. We've been friends for how long?
[00:00:21] Kim Daly: Like a long time. Like 20 years maybe plus years.
[00:00:23] Melissa: So, yes, great to be here.
[00:00:26] Kim Daly: And I think this might be a daily double.
I think you've been here before, girl.
[00:00:33] Melissa: Yes, I have been here. Happy to be here again.
[00:00:37] Kim Daly: Oh, so good today's show. We've got an action packed show for you today because Melissa is not just a franchise consultant like Kim Daly. She's also a student in The Zee Suite because she's leveling up her life. She's leveling up her growth in the area of work life balance. Who out there wants work life balance? Every single working parent, mom, dad. We want more time with our kids. We want more like, time to just be instead of do all the time. And Melissa and I have had this ongoing conversation since the minute she became a mom because I'm a little bit ahead of her. And so the minute she became a mom, she came asking questions. And so when I finally opened The Zee Suite and said, you know, I want to, I want you to come, I want to, I want to offer you some coaching. And this is the thing that she wanted help with. So before we talk about work life balance, though, Melissa, please share with the audience a little bit about your background. What brought you into franchising?
[00:01:37] Melissa: Even before I get there, I just want to bring in because The Zee Suite. You said that, you know, we came in to The Zee Suite.
I honestly think I manifested Kim Daly in The Zee Suite.
I would take credit for that right now, but you did not have to ask me more than one time. I was sitting here waiting for this because this is what I actually needed. I knew I needed it. And it has been everything that I've wanted and more. So, yes, I was ready and willing, but yes, I've been in Franchising for 25 years. I've been a franchise consultant side by side with Kim for since 04. So 22 years. I'm a mom. My kids are 8 and 11, almost 9 and 11. So very busy life and love. All things franchising, all things family, faith, I mean, fitness. We are very connected in all of these ways. But sometimes it gets to be a lot, right? It's a lot on your plate and how you keep all the plates spinning and how you show up in life in all of these places. And that's. That's what I was battling with of just some, honestly, some exhaustion, some of what do I actually want in my life? And not understanding, you know, what that could look like. Even though I help every day, people wanting to get more out of their life, sometimes you go through those blips as well in your own life. And that's. That's when we found the. Or I found The Zee Suite with you.
[00:03:08] Kim Daly: So good. So what's so interesting is that. So we get into business ownership for freedom, and then we find ourselves, like, trapped in, like, prisons.
Mostly they're in our mind. That's the work of The Zee Suite, right? Mostly they're in our mind, but we're still stuck.
So there's so many. Not just Melissa, not just, you know, Kim Daly at times, too. There's so many people who. They come into business ownership for the total freedom, but then they end up feeling like they bought themselves a job. They can't figure out how to take vacation. They can't figure out how to take a day off. The weight of the world is on their shoulders. And that's really a horrible place to be when you've invested your time and your life savings, in some cases into, or in all cases into owning a business and owning your life, and you can't quite get there. So that's where I want to go with this, Melissa. So tell us a little bit about, like, let's go to before The Zee Suite. You've owned a business for many years. You became a mom in the process of that. And so tell us a little bit about. Take us back to, like, when you first had a baby and your life just felt a little bit out of whack.
And let's build the story from there, because I think it's very relatable for a lot of working moms and dads
[00:04:29] Melissa: a little bit out of control or a lot out of control. So, you know, becoming a mom was so important to me, wasn't the easiest path. And so just going through different things with, you know, having miscarriages and whatnot, I realized, okay, I have to take care of myself. I have to make sure I'm okay to be a mom. And so it also made me start thinking through my schedule, you know, work, life, balance, if there is that.
So through that process, and then after I had my son, you know, working up until that point, but then taking some time off with him after that, and then when I had my daughter, I mean, to be honest with you, my second child, I feel like the wheels fell off then because one kid, you can kind of like take that kid along everywhere with you. But now when you have two, it's like instant family. And you have to really have different, I don't know, just boundaries in life and time and schedules and so what, what had always been like work and work and always thinking about that now with the family and wanting to be present and all the things that I had worked so hard for. I remember that was a good time. I took six months after I had my daughter just to really understand like, what is this new paradigm of my life as a mom and a working mom and do I want to be a working mom? I want to do something that feels good and gives back of service and fuels my soul. Because if you're taking yourself away from your kids and it's not filling that part of your life, then you're resentful, right? And then you're why are you doing it? So a lot of that of like, what did I actually want? And honestly, I love what I do. I wanted to help people, but I wanted to do it on my terms so that I wasn't taking away from the kids, taking away from the family and finding that so called balance, if you will.
[00:06:17] Kim Daly: So have you found balance?
[00:06:23] Melissa: Isn't that the question? Well, some days maybe it's like a
[00:06:26] Kim Daly: daily, it's a daily balance, depends on the day of the week and.
[00:06:33] Melissa: And so Kim had asked a question about this of like, do you believe there's work life balance? Because everybody says they want work life balance, but I believe it's.
I believe it's kind of a myth. I don't really think there is like a balance that's completely perfect because that's not reality. Like there's some weeks, I mean, if you're a working mom or. No, I'm sorry, if you're just a parent and you go through May in December, you know, like that's mayhem. There's so many pieces and so many plates to keep spinning in the air. So maybe that week there's graduation and kids and you know, dress your kid in every single different color and outfit.
[00:07:11] Kim Daly: Spirit week, right?
[00:07:13] Melissa: Just oh my goodness, like that month maybe or that week or that day, it's a little bit more based on school and what your kids need. Other times it's full on work and that you've got great people and things are moving great and you really want to focus on that.
The key, I think, to the balance is knowing what's important to you and then making the Time for what you believe is important, not for what somebody else tells you is important to you. So I don't really believe in the balance so much, as much as each day, each week, each month is going to be different, but you're in charge of that.
[00:07:49] Kim Daly: That's it. It's the clarity in your mindset.
So I love every single thing you just said. So we're going to get to, like, practical ways that maybe you've changed your schedule or things that you now do to be able to prioritize what's important to you. But I want to stick right where you left off for a minute. I want to stay there.
So I believe that work, life, balance is a thing and. But it's only a thing when we control the story that we're telling ourselves in our head.
So most of us feel out of control, not because we're actually out of control, but because our mindset is out of control. Because there's a hundred things to do and we don't know where to begin. We don't have clarity, we don't prioritize.
And most of us, especially if you work for somebody else, your priorities are not even your own, which is why, again, you want to own the frame franchise business. So you get to say what's important.
But that's the point I was making in the beginning of the show, that now you're in a business and we're still not prioritizing what's important because there's so many priorities. We don't know how to prioritize, how to stick up for what we want, how to want what we want and get it. That's like the key thing in The Zee Suite. You have to be willing to. It's courageous and it's bold to want what you want and to know that what you want wants you. And the reality is you won't be happy having it any other way.
You'll, to Melissa's point, you'll be resentful, you'll be frustrated. So how good are you? How present are you when you're doing what you should be doing versus what you want to be doing if you're frustrated and resentful? Right, Melissa?
[00:09:40] Melissa: I couldn't agree more. And the one thing that I will say about The Zee Suite that has taught me and is the one lesson I wanted is to want what you want and know it wants you to and have the guts to want it. And the clarity of what you actually want, not what someone tells you, should be important to you.
That's life Changing right there. But it does take work.
Because most people and most employees, most executives, I mean, they're told what to want, where to live. This is your priority, Right? So now I'm free.
I get to want what I want. What do I want?
It's actually work. It's crazy, but it's so beautiful and freeing, too. It's amazing.
[00:10:23] Kim Daly: It makes me laugh every single time I have to write on a piece of paper what do I want to get clear about what I want. And if you want work life balance, it can be achieved. But the first thing to getting there is defining what work life balance means to you. So Melissa's point is, for her, it's prioritizing. And sometimes work life balance means more balance or more more work. And then other times it means more family. It depends. It's a day to day or week to week or month to month or season to season fluctuating circumstance.
And that's the win. The freedom is in the win that you get to control that. Correct.
[00:11:09] Melissa: You get to want what you want, and then you make it happen.
[00:11:12] Kim Daly: Yes. So clarity is heaven's first law. So clarity equals what do I want?
And what are the priorities for this day? And then to allow yourself the grace and to have the courage to say, I'm going to do that today.
Because if you come at the work, one thing we study in The Zee Suite is it's always about the effective way to build a business is about being before doing so. That means I have to be very aware of the state that I'm in.
Because I'm going to be much more effective at communicating with my team. I'm going to be much more effective at communicating in a sales process when I'm clear and I'm confident and I'm focused and I'm on. You know the feeling. Everybody knows the feeling, right. You have days when you're just totally on. On the days when we're not on or our head is really muddled, we might as well just not even show up to work because everything we do is just not effective.
And so when you come to The Zee Suite, we have to get you clear on being who you need to be, who you want to be first and then taking action from there. And because when you be who you want to be, all of your action is that much more effective. This is how I cut my hours in half and still made over a million dollars the. The first time I tried it. Right. Because I was made myself in the 20 or fewer hours a week I was working that much more effective. I didn't work harder, I worked less.
And I still achieved everything I was achieving when I was working 40 or hour or 30 or 40 hours a week to achieve that same result.
So I changed who I was being.
That changed how I showed up.
That changed the results. It made me that much more effective. So I love that. So we get to want what we want, prioritize what we want, be bold and daring, that what we want wants us. And when we want it, we're going to be that much more effective at getting it because we're clear, we're not resentful, we're not frustrated. Our state is open and clean. Our vibration is good.
And then when you. If it's focusing on your kids because they need moms in the classroom for a project, doing that and being present for that, knowing when you come back to your office, you feel good and not resentful that you missed that because you had to be in your business.
[00:13:38] Melissa: Yes, you get to make the choices. And not comparing yourself to other people, I think is a big part of it, too. Like, comparison really is the thief of joy. And so knowing what you want, then you're not comparing yourself to other people because their stories are different, their lives are different.
[00:13:54] Kim Daly: So good. That's. And that brings up the point that when you first come to the idea of wanting to invest in a franchise or in a business in yourself, you need to take the time to really define what wealth looks like and means for you. Because all of us have different definitions of wealth. This is why there is no one perfect franchise for everybody. There's no such thing. Right. When you're clear on what you want out of the business, you're buying the outcomes. Personal, professional, and financial outcomes. The business is the vehicle, the way to those outcomes. So the business doesn't really matter. You could achieve the bit. You could achieve your goals through fitness. It could be through a home service, it could be through a pet service. And somebody else could achieve the very same results. You're getting through through a very different vehicle. It's not about the vehicle. It's about the clarity. And so having the clarity in your mind of what wealth means to you.
And I love this because at different times, different seasons of our life, wealth could mean different things. Back to you, Melissa, on that one, because I see you shaking your head 100%.
[00:15:06] Melissa: I mean, there's just different stages and phases of life and seasons. And, you know, when your kids are young or when they're moving out of the house, you know, you're in charge of that. I think that's the key. But also knowing what you want and knowing you're worthy of it. So there's the other part of it, of I'm worthy of this, I can have this. And that's work, too. That is. You know, one thing I say to people and have for 20 over. Over 20 years is business is an inside game. Everybody thinks it's an outside game. It's an inside game. If that. If you get that, the outcomes will come to you. Because once you believe you're worthy of it and you know what you want, it's going to find you. Because now you've opened yourself to that. Right? And however you define abundance, everybody's different. And we get this question all the time of like, oh, yeah, everybody wants the same thing. They really don't. No, you don't really want something different. A new thing that a lot of people want is that flexibility during the week. I don't know if you're hearing this, but I joke around that candidates all the time tell me, I want to go to the grocery store on, like, Tuesday afternoon.
I don't know what it is about the grocery store, but there's a reality of just.
[00:16:21] Kim Daly: I take these things for granted. So that's fun that you, you know, people say that to you. You're right. Because if you're stuck in a cube or you're stuck in an office and just.
[00:16:29] Melissa: I want Friday afternoons off. I mean, I've been taking Wednesdays off since before I had my son. So 12 years, 13 years, something like that. That's my day. That's my mom day. Right. That takes away all my resentment because I work two days, I have a day off. I work two days, I have a weekend off. So I know no matter what's going on in my life, I'm gonna get a break, I'm gonna focus into the kids. I'm gonna, whatever, meal prep, go to school, maybe just get a massage, like, whatever it is. But I have time for me, which is able to fill my cup and then be there, present for everybody else the other four days.
[00:17:01] Kim Daly: I love that. Let's. Let's flip that to that, like, ways in which you manage your schedule for that. So this is a very important point also to. Everybody wants the freedom of business ownership, but then you have to take the freedom, right? And that means that you have to be effective on the days you're in the office. But the reality is you'll be more effective because you're not resentful so if you work for somebody else and your list of, you know, personal care things like getting your hair cut or just things you want to do to feel and look your best, go to the gym, they never seem to you, never. By the time you get to them, you don't have the energy or there's no opening in your schedule. You're not allowed to leave the office. So there's a lot of energy and resentment built up in your physical body because you can't attend to the things that are important to you. So that's the freedom we know we want when we buy a franchise. So then we invest in this franchise. But then you've got to take the freedom, you've got to set up your schedule to where you are comfortable and know that you're worthy. I want to go back. I have a question on that, Melissa. That you're worthy of the free time because I think there's some guilt in there or shame like I shouldn't be taking this. I invested my life savings in a business. This isn't how I'm going to get to my success.
Not true.
But that's the story that a lot of our minds will tell.
And so then we stay again stuck in that prison of we're tied to our business and we're still pushing off what's important to us. And the whole point of this show, the whole point of this episode with Melissa is to say, nope, that's not, that's only a story that you've. You're telling yourself. I'm not judging. We're humans, we all do it.
And that you can change that story, you can get clarity, you can prioritize, you can become more effective so that when you are in the office, you're completely getting everything and more done that you need to get done. And so on the days you have off, you get to enjoy and relax and know when you come back you're even going to be more effective because your cup is full, because that's what we want.
[00:19:12] Melissa: You were just saying you can be that person when you also fill your own cup. I mean we've always heard the put your oxygen mask on first or fill your cup up first before you give to the world. If you actually let yourself and once again know that you're worth it to do that, you're going to show up better on those days now then those days because of that. You're going to do more and be more and, and really give more and serve more because you didn't let yourself take the back seat. And I think that's the beauty of what you teach in The Zee Suite.
I love it.
[00:19:46] Kim Daly: So beyond you having the schedule that you've designed where for you it's midday day, off to yourself while kids are in school and husband's working and it's just a Melissa day. I love this idea. I used to do that too. I'm a big skier and I used to take Wednesdays off for years.
I'm not doing it at this present year, but I did it for years too because there's no lift lines on Wednesdays and half price tickets on Wednesdays. Like all the things, right. Drop the kids off at school, head to the mountain, ski all day, come home and like, oh, what did you do today? Oh, I went skiing all day. I used to love those Wednesdays. Okay, so what are some of the other hacks or tricks that you've implemented, I'm sorry, into your work week that other working busy professionals maybe could benefit from hearing what you do.
[00:20:33] Melissa: So, I mean, Wednesdays are my big thing. Also. I designed my schedule about. Around my life, right in the. That's boundaries. I think of just, this is when I'm available, this is what works for me. And it's different. You know, Monday afternoons, my son and I, we, we box together. We take a private boxing lesson. So I start earlier on Monday so I can make sure I'm done. We have that and he's getting, he'll be. He's 11. So I just think that time with like mom is really important. Other days it's very important to me to work out every day. I've been.
And this week will be two years that I've worked out every single day. And so finding that time and once again choosing myself first, the discipline of that. Right. We always hear about motivation. Motivation is fleeting.
But discipline, I really have learned is the highest form of self love is to put yourself first and to give that gift to yourself. And for me, that's through, you know, working out any kind of fitness. So I schedule my days around that as well because I need to be able to take time for me and then also to slow down a little bit. Right. To have the time to be clear and still.
And so making sure that I stay in my hours, I have dinner with the kids every night.
Just making sure that my life reflects my values and what's important to me.
And you can do that if you're the one in charge of your schedule.
[00:22:04] Kim Daly: Yep. So you've defined what's important. You've defined Wealth. For you, this is all a definition of wealth. You've defined it with clarity and you've been courageous to then develop a plan, and then you've held yourself to that plan. Discipline, these are all principles that every single human can do.
It's just what we know and what we do sometimes very different.
And that's what we study in The Zee Suite. We study human behavior.
We study what makes us so human and so amazing and sometimes getting in our own way. A lot of times the things we do that get us, get our, you know, stuck. And most of it is happening right here between our two ears. Most of it is this intellectual mind that was designed to survive this human life that we're living. And so it comes from scarcity and lack in judgment, and it tells stories that aren't true, but that they play so often in our ears that we believe that they're true because anything that we repeat into our mind over and over and over, we form a belief around and it's true. And so then from that truth that you now believe, you will either take action or you won't take action. And so in The Zee Suite, we're unpacking all of that and getting back to our original DNA. Original, you know, like removing all the filters that life and time and jobs and bosses and experience and parents and teachers and past hurts and disappointments have put on us. That's a lot of filters so that we can become the supernatural person that we were born to be, that has unlimited, unlimited power where all things really are possible.
And we see it, don't we, Melissa? Inside The Zee Suite. I mean, crazy, miraculous stories, turnarounds, businesses that were, you know, people that were almost at the bottom of their franchise. And within four or five months, becoming the number one franchisee. We see closing rates without any new sales training, going from 20% effective to 80% effective. I'm not changing their sales scripts. I'm changing how they think about themselves.
And when you become a more confident you, when you understand what's actually driving the result and that sales process, it's not a perfect script. It's not a better lead. Well, sometimes it can be that.
It's you being better at being you, you freeing yourself to be you and showing up fully present in the moment. You have no idea how impactful those simple things are. They're simple in idea, but they're endlessly complicated to live. Correct. Correct.
[00:24:51] Melissa: 100. I mean, I, I. The other, what? A week ago, I sent Kim a text of just stuff going on in My mind, right? And she texts right back, is that story serving you? I'm like, no, of course not. It's not serving me. But now I've learned to look at it and say, it's not serving you. And then even the other day, I had something replaying in my mind, and I could not get it out, and I knew it wasn't true. So I rewrote the script, I got on my phone, I pulled up notes, and I just wrote what I wanted to be true. Because I was like, I have to take control of these thoughts and change the story. And that is so beautiful and freeing when you realize you're in charge of that. Because we have a choice of the story that we're going to tell ourselves.
Why are we choosing negativity? Like, we do more than we do positive? If you have a choice, choose that one.
So this is awesome.
[00:25:43] Kim Daly: Let's end on that. So is work life balance possible, then? If it's a choice, depends on how you see it.
[00:25:52] Melissa: I still don't. I still think it's completely up to what you believe work life balance is. Because I just think that somebody thinks that balance means it's perfect, perfectly balanced. Like the scale. I just don't think that's life. But that's also the beauty of life, is that it's okay. I think it's more of the story of, like, it's all right for weeks to be like this or weeks to be like this, because it doesn't. You don't always want it to be perfectly like this. You know, nothing in life is perfect. It's beautifully imperfect, and that's the beauty of it. And being okay with that and not comparing yourself. I think that's a key point of not looking at somebody else and saying their Instagram life, their perfect mom or dad life, it's not real, right?
[00:26:33] Kim Daly: Or even within a franchise. When you're looking at, like, if you're. If you're balancing being a working mom and you have priorities that are not just driving revenue through your company and hustling and grinding that money, you're balancing. And you're balancing your life because you're raising children, that may, it may or may not impact your income in that moment. Who cares? Because your definition of wealth is not to be the number one franchisee in the system right now. When the kids are grown, maybe you have a little more time and energy to devote to your business, and that extra energy gets you to the number one spot, but it doesn't really matter, right? Because when you're if you bypass all the years when you have these children and you're not the parent you wanted to be to them, well, what good was just being number one franchisee, you know, in your system and making all of that money if you don't have a relationship with these beautiful humans, you got the opportunity to create. Right. So it's all a stage. I believe that when your mindset is balanced, that's the balance. It will never be a physical balance.
[00:27:44] Melissa: Yes. That's a great.
[00:27:45] Kim Daly: We're saying the same thing. I needed to say it that way so that we come to the same
[00:27:51] Melissa: because that's very true. And that's the story and that's the settling of your nervous system and being okay and knowing what you want.
That is a great point of when your mind is balanced. I love that.
[00:28:03] Kim Daly: I love it. And that's what we do in The Zee Suite. So if you're out there, whether you own a franchise or not, and you're thinking about this conversation of how do I get control? How do I spin all the plates and stay sane?
How do I do all the things I have to do I want to do so I can live my most abundant life, Please follow the link in the description right now. Reach out, talk to Kim Daly because I would love to meet you in The Zee Suite. Thank you, Melissa, so much for being our special guest today.
[00:28:37] Melissa: Such an amazing place to be. I'm so grateful for you bringing The Zee Suite. I was asking for you. You showed up. It's changed my life. And it's not just the results that have changed. It's the internal me. It's the joy, the peace, the calm, the knowing what I want, asking for what I want, being okay with asking for what I want. I didn't even have goals in the last couple years. I had just forgotten. And I was asking for Kim because I needed someone to say, you can want more. You're allowed to do that and you're allowed to receive it too. And it is just been life changing. So thank you for all of that and come, come join us. It's a great place to be.
[00:29:19] Kim Daly: Oh, you make me cry. Thank you so much. Well, if you feel the call to learn more about The Zee Suite, you can follow me by or you can find me by following the link in the description below. Thank you so much for joining us on this live and to your work life balance. Good luck.
Talk to you later. See you next time.
