Designing a Business that Fits Your Lifestyle: Not the Other Way Around - Marie Carrillon

[00:00:07] Welcome to the Owner To Owner Podcast. I'm Michael Kerr, your host, and I'm also the founder of Kerr Capital, where for 22 years now I've worked alongside business owners. Owner To Owner is a business podcast to empower the owners of Australia's small and medium enterprises. Forget the slick stories of tech titans and unicorns. At Owner To Owner we get raw and we get real. Every Owner To Owner episode is a personal conversation with another business owner just like you.

[00:00:37] We explore the everyday struggles they face and the different pathways they tread to success. Practical advice and plenty of one percenters for better returns, less stress, and more enjoyment. You'll find grit, laughs, maybe a few tears, and some hard-won lessons only available from others who've been where you are, whatever your stage of ownership.

[00:01:01] Every owner has a compelling story to share. So join us to listen and to learn. Welcome, Marie Carillon. Thank you, Michael. Really happy to be here. Thank you. You work closely with women, mums, and in business. What got you started there and why?

[00:01:29] Yes, good question. So when I launched my podcast, and I know we will talk about the pivot later, but my podcast was more broad and general podcasts for everyone. I wanted to hear from established founders or business owners. And when I decided to rebrand my podcast, I just realized that ultimately my guests were mostly mum founders.

[00:01:56] And people were reaching out to me saying, I need advice here and there. And most of the people who were reaching out were mums. So I didn't actually stage working with mums in business, but it actually came naturally while building the podcast and while sharing my own journey.

[00:02:17] So I decided to help mum entrepreneurs overcome imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and the fear of showing up online so they can confidently sell their knowledge online and build influence as well online. So you kind of went broad to founders and owners and then noticed that there was this stream of inquiries coming from one niche or vertical or... Yes.

[00:02:47] I think they were really struggling. They were... Especially mum. And I don't know why, because mum are so skilled. Like we are the best CEO in the world. Every day on a daily basis, we are negotiating with toddlers. We are fighting. We are trying to calm, manage the emotion and regulate nervous system. So we definitely have all the skills.

[00:03:09] But mums and women have this thing to... They always wait for permission. Wait for permission to show up online, to start posting online. Wait for permission to call themselves experts. Wait for permission to charge, you know, who is in their business. And I think...

[00:03:30] To take up space. And I think there is really this need of a support behind them to tell them and explain them, you can do it. You are strong enough, you have all the skills, you can start this business. You can move forward with your... You can pivot as well within your business. Yeah. So it really is an imposter syndrome and a sense of not quite sure about myself and... I think...

[00:03:58] Motherhood being so all-encompassing, finding time for yourself, let alone starting a business. Yes. And I think as well, we tend to think that we're very scared, you know, we have imposter syndrome, we have self-doubt, and we are going to think that if I have fear, it means that I'm not capable. But it's not the case, you know, your fear is normal. It's just your brain protecting you because it's something unnatural. It's something new.

[00:04:25] But you are absolutely capable. You just need to believe in you and work on your mindset shift and some strategies to not let this fear take you. You could see there was a demand, there was a problem to be solved, and that's how you came to what you're doing now.

[00:04:45] Absolutely. It's not as well. There is a lot of advice and strategies out there and coach out there. And that's amazing, especially, you know, in today's age, we can find courses and coaches and strategy from very impressive, you know, name or very famous podcaster as well. Steve Bartlett, for example.

[00:05:07] But not many related to moms, because a mom's lifestyle is not a 30 or 40 years old businessman lifestyle. It's completely different. So it's sometimes difficult for moms to apply strategies and advice that actually doesn't fit their lifestyle. They don't have 15 hours, uninterrupted 15 hours of work during the day. They work between nap times, pick up, drop off at night.

[00:05:37] It's a completely different way of working. And I think it's important to understand that you need to find strategy that will fit your lifestyle and not the other way around. This is what I was, you know, coming to is that the purpose of the business that they're founding is to meet various, maybe economic, other criteria or client criteria.

[00:06:00] But it's designed, ground up to fit around the role as essentially or particularly as a mother, which is such an incredibly challenging time. Yes, because you have, you know, you have your full time job as a mom. And even if your kids are at school, I can promise you that it's a full time job anyway. And on top of that, you are trying to build a business from the ground. And you know it, building a business, running a business can be very lonely, very lonely.

[00:06:30] So it's important to have the right advice, the right support next to you to grow this business and make sure that your lifestyle stay purposeful. You still have this purpose. So you work with them as a coach and mentor? Is that your... Yes, yes. So exactly. So I have two hats, podcast host, where we meet with established founders and we discuss as well about their journeys and how they reach their success.

[00:06:58] And then I have a coaching hat where I help mostly moms who started a business or are about to start a business and feel very overwhelmed with the responsibility and the next steps. And I have this feeling of like, I am good enough to do that. I want to do that. But is it the right thing?

[00:07:19] So I just help them remove this mindset, you know, this track, this trap that they keep and give them better mindset shift to believe in themselves and grow their business. If you want to find a course or a guide or a how-to on anything, you can go do that. But it's going much deeper into what's driving that person, what's blocking them. Yes. So, and is the business that is businesses you come across there?

[00:07:47] Yes, very unique, but mostly online business. I'm focusing part of my specialty as well is to help showing up online. So it's mostly online businesses. So it can be e-commerce, it can be as well coaching program, but they have to be online. But yeah, mostly with the need to show up online consistently. Right. By nature as an online business, do you need a personal profile or brand? Yes.

[00:08:17] Yes. So this is what I explain, especially in today's age, like we are in 2026. Most of the businesses out there are online and have a strong digital presence. However, the difference between one that is going to be successful and one that is not going to be, it's probably the personal branding. How the founder and his personal branding is presented online.

[00:08:45] And unfortunately, if you want people to buy your product, we need to understand that now people buy from people. They buy from people who they believe won't let them down. And it's really important for that to have a strong personal branding online. So this is what I say all the time. I said, you need to put your face out there.

[00:09:07] You need to explain your story, your struggle, and why you are solving this problem that your audience is experiencing. And I don't think in 2026, I don't think we can escape this. The founder needs to put himself or herself out there.

[00:09:27] And is that even more the case with the rise of AI and the amount of businesses, content, business models that can kind of look pretty AI, pretty fakey, pretty quickly? So this is the competitive edge. Yes. This is me. This is you. In what I've read about you, showing up online is so vital. It is survival. For your business, it is survival.

[00:09:54] And people are craving for relatability. They want to relate to you. You need to show them that you are like them, actually. You are not the expert. You are like them, but you're just one step ahead. And you are showing them the path. And you can sell products or services. Highly recommend to put yourself out there as you are, just being one step ahead.

[00:10:20] And not the expert who knows everything with perfect, you know, Canva aesthetic on their social media. This doesn't work anymore. It used to in the past. But there is so much competition and so many people out there. People scroll within two, three seconds. So we need to be very fast. And if people can connect to you, can relate to you, can say, oh, actually, she's like me.

[00:10:47] What she's saying, I'm experiencing it too. I need to listen. Then you got them. So when you talk about showing up online on a website or an online business, what does that actually look like? Yes, that's a good question. It can be just sharing your founder story. So putting your face out there in a one minute video, it doesn't need to be long. It doesn't need to be perfect or polished.

[00:11:10] But just you put yourself out there and you explain why, your why, why you started the business, why you launched the business. It can be as well just an education part. So in your industry, there is a big misconception that you really want to tackle. Don't hesitate to talk about it. People are tired to always hear the same advice, the same things over and over again.

[00:11:36] If you are not agree with something, you should say it and share it on social media. You could write as well an article on LinkedIn just to explain what you do and why you decided to launch your business. So you definitely have different platforms and you need to adapt according to the platforms. It doesn't need to be a full-time job.

[00:11:58] I know it takes a lot of time, but if you show up three times a week in maybe two platforms only, stay consistent to two platforms, the audience should start growing. In what kinds of industries are we talking about? I have a client who is a coach as well.

[00:12:16] So I have someone who has a small subscription box, beauty subscription box business, someone who is starting candles, you know, like a special type of candle. So yes, I have definitely different industries, but all selling online. Yes. Okay. Yeah. No, no, no offline presence. No, no, no offline presence.

[00:12:44] I mean, to be honest, who is doing offline presence this day? You know what I mean? We are like, I feel like we need to be online. Some established businesses are still probably doing great by not having an online presence because they are huge already. They are well established. But at some point when you start a business, if you are not out there, how people are going to find you? There was a period early online where there was a progression from offline to online.

[00:13:14] People would go to markets and get exposure that way and build a customer base. But you know, possibilities to be native and just start here and now online are enormous. But you can do both as well. So this lady wears a candle. She's on the Bondi market every Sunday. Every Sunday, she does Bondi markets, you know, like most of the big fashion brands as well in Australia started on the markets. They still have both.

[00:13:43] They sell online, but they still have this presence, you know, on markets, doing stalls and stands and being in every exposition. So to get back to mums and women going through that stage of their being the full-time mum. So are these businesses, you talked about building them to suit their lifestyle.

[00:14:05] Is that then by extension a kind of business that has a natural lifespan of that or is it like something that is set to be different and bigger or better or whatever after that period of time? Yes, that's actually a very good question because ultimately they want the business grow. They want and then, you know, it will require a different structure, different format, you know, hiring team.

[00:14:33] I was talking to one of my clients who is now a CEO and she could not get over the fact that she was a CEO. She kept saying, I'm the founder, I'm the founder. But for her, imagining saying I'm a CEO, she has imposter syndrome. They are not the CEO. The business will evolve automatically. But I guess it depends. It all depends of what success means for these mums. It doesn't mean the same thing for everyone.

[00:15:00] Some just want something that is purposeful enough to let them enjoy what they do, enjoy being able to pick up the keys, drop off the keys and pay the bills. Some others want to grow the business and move internationally. And in the U.S., at the moment I have someone who is expanding in the U.S. And yes, we'll have to redefine what success means now. So I would say it all depends.

[00:15:25] It can start in, you know, the back kitchen or in the kitchen. The office can be at the kitchen first and then it will move to an office, a proper office. But I think they all want this flexibility to be able to pick up and drop off the keys when they need to. Yeah. And for you as coach, that's a key part of getting that right. Like you talk about showing up online and overcoming imposter syndrome.

[00:15:55] I think one of the things that I've bumped into an awful lot with business owners who have been in business for 20, 30, 40 years is still not quite sure what the business is for. A lot of them are quite successful or sustainable. But, you know, when you ask why did you start that or what did you want from it at the beginning, never quite sure. So I feel like with you coaching, that could be a really big part of your work. It's because I've seen it.

[00:16:21] I've seen people, women quitting their nine to five to reach freedom and flexibility by launching their own business. And I've seen them being overwhelmed and burnt out because they push so much with their business. So they quit something because it was not fitting their lifestyle, chasing freedom and finally reproduced the same scheme again. So, yes, it's definitely something that we talk about.

[00:16:51] And I want to understand first what success means for them. What do they expect from the business in a year, in five and in 10? But I as well really, really insist on that point because if you don't define success and if you don't update your definition of success over time as well, you will be burned out or you will follow the path or you will reach a success that is actually not for you.

[00:17:20] That's you saw someone on social media or your friends or this is not the success that you wanted. And you will follow the path that is actually not meant for you. So it's really, really important at the beginning to start with how, what do you expect from your business? What is success for you now and later and go from there? Yeah, yeah, indeed.

[00:17:42] It's a fundamental question, but it doesn't get asked enough or, as you said, even tested every now and again, you know, because things change. Is that why online presents more flexible opportunities? If you wanted to run a cafe or a retail, it's incredibly demanding. I can scale it by throwing more money at advertising if you've got the right formula. Is that part of the attraction? Yes, absolutely.

[00:18:11] I do believe that online business brings more flexibility for sure. So you can work at night, you know, if you want to. You can have as well a part-time job while working on your business. So you have more flexibility on when you are going to work for your business. And I feel like it's as well easier to be successful quicker online.

[00:18:36] If you have the right marketing strategies, digital strategies, and you have a bit of luck, you can become successful very quickly. And then things, yeah, things escalate quickly. So I would say for mom, it's definitely easier to be online. But it all depends on the passion of the hobby of what, you know, they are attracted to as well. Yeah.

[00:19:00] So that is saying that it's be in a business or an industry where you're more aligned to what that industry or business is about. So your purpose is aligned. And what you need to get up every day to do what you're going to do, then put time into your business. It might be marginally easier because you actually care about the service, the product that you're supplying.

[00:19:26] It's always easier when you are doing something that you're really passionate about or you really believe into. I was an entrepreneur before turning podcast host and I had two businesses. And when I shut down my second one, I was trying to reflect on why it actually didn't work that much, why I'm shutting it down. And I realized that I kind of auto-sabotaged myself. And I was not fully, I was not really passionate about this industry.

[00:19:55] I launched a business because I thought it was easy and I couldn't make money easily. But I was actually not really passionate about it. So that showed up in, when it got a bit hard, I'm not quite as committed. Exactly. I don't have this drive. I did the why. I didn't have my mission. And I think it's really important to have a strong why when you run a business because it's really intense. It's exhausting.

[00:20:22] You will spend years with barely, barely income coming in. And if you don't have a strong why, if your mission is not bigger than you, then it will not go anywhere. Yeah. What about your first business? Yes. It was a shop and boutique online. The French brands that I was selling in Australia. Yes. But yeah, didn't work that much. So it was an agency. It was an agency for backpackers. So online backpackers.

[00:20:52] So I was helping them coming into Australia with some packages and everything. COVID hit as well, which didn't help. That made it hard. Yeah. Yeah. When you said you reflected on the second one, I'm assuming you reflected on the first one as well. So is that, you know, that reflection important and the learnings really hard to get other ways other than actually doing it and failing sometimes? Yes, absolutely. I think I always wanted to run a business.

[00:21:21] I always wanted to work for myself because I knew that I'm a hard worker. I work very hard. And at some point, I realized that working so hard for someone else was not going to bring me anywhere. Absolutely nowhere. And if at least I could work that hard for my business, eventually it will work. So I always had this in mind. But when the two first ones didn't really work, I was like, okay, I'm going to give it a break. Maybe entrepreneurship is not for me.

[00:21:49] Maybe, you know, I go back to corporate. No doubt. Yes, you know. Exactly. And I had a break and I always wanted to do this podcast. I'm like, I want to do a podcast, but I don't know what to talk about. What am I going to talk about? And it started there. After I shut down my second business, I'm like, wait a second. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Why don't I create a business about, you know, building a brand, building a business, interviewing founders? And it started from there.

[00:22:19] There's so much, particularly online, about the guaranteed way to 10x your business. And if you're not making $250,000 a month, here's how. It's extraordinary. But the gold from listening to people, legitimate people who have shared their failures or their learning experience. It's a differentiation for them. This is what I'm about. This is my story.

[00:22:46] But also in terms of learning to be an entrepreneur or a business owner and going in assuming it's all going to be easy or it's all guaranteed. That's really fatal that you think that way. Yes, I know. Online can be. That's the problem again, you see. You, people are going to get, oh my God, I will achieve, you know, as you say, this amount of money by month six.

[00:23:14] I will have this amount of followers by month three. I just need to follow what they say. Again, this is a general advice cannot work for everyone. You know what I mean? Like we are all different. We have different business. We have different identities. We have different lifestyle. It's not going to work for everyone. It might work for one person, but it doesn't mean that it might work for you. And so many people are like, oh my God, I got this thing and it costs this amount of money and nothing happened. Yes, nothing happened.

[00:23:43] Because you can follow strategy, but if you are auto-sabotaging yourself, you can have the best strategy in the world. You need as well to get over your own blockage, your old blocks. So yes, it's good, but it might not work for you. I hear you and I'm always suspicious of somebody who's found a formula and is on YouTube and is talking about how easy it is. You need to ask yourself a question.

[00:24:10] If the person is out there selling you a course for $1,000 or whatever it is, it can be way more. Do you think that he's really successful? Because if he's really successful and he found the fantastic formula, why did he then build 10 businesses like that? And so that's why I kind of draw the link. You're saying to your clients, what do you want out of your business? What suits you? What works for you? What are you passionate about?

[00:24:40] And then taking that step to show up online. I'm very honest. There is something as well that I tell them. So I have different stages. I just had someone who reached out a few days ago and we went for a coffee to go if we were the right fit. And she wants to launch a business in wellness. And I was telling her, you know, it's very hard. It's like you see them all, you know, they are because I live in Sydney, eastern suburbs.

[00:25:07] So all the freelancer, all the influencers, you see them in the coffee shop every morning on their laptop taking photos, etc. I keep telling her this is not the reality. Like don't expect things like you will have to work very, very hard. You will have to work for years with zero dollars or very little. It's not going to be the postcard that you see at Bondi and the coffee shop when all the influencers are there. It's not the reality of being an entrepreneur.

[00:25:37] So I try to be very honest as well because there is no point for them to start investing if they can't go through this. It's a waste of time. Well, it comes back on you anyway, right? Yeah. Yes. Because you feel like that was never going to work. You're right. You're testing your future clients. Yes. And if they're prepared to stick it out, you'll be prepared to go to the extra.

[00:26:02] It's an interesting idea that one person could create a brand and be a billionaire. Yes. And I think if you can harness what it is you want to set out to do, why you want to do it, get the right support. There's a lot of tools that are there to really ramp up and scale your operation. It's fascinating. Yes.

[00:26:21] And you see it already, you know, there are already some accounts on social medias of AI women who are just not real, but who are getting partnerships with brands to promote their projects. But these women are not real. It's just AI. And they get thousands of dollars, if it's not hundreds of thousands, just to promote their projects. This is where we are heading, which is a bit scary. I'm not going to lie.

[00:26:52] Hi there. Just a short interruption and a message from Kerr Capital. Kerr Capital specialise in advising business owners who want to get sale ready or, as is increasingly common, get approached out of the blue by a potential buyer. If this is you, I know there'll be plenty of big questions and a lot of uncertainty. We're expert at supporting owners in making significant personal and business decisions and then helping create a really strong plan of action.

[00:27:22] If you want to find out more, contact us at the Kerr Capital website. And then we can book a 45-minute no-obligation discovery call. Now let's head back to the podcast. Just tell me about your podcast. What is it? What's it called? So my podcast is now called The Business Mom Compass.

[00:27:45] And as I said, I help mom entrepreneurs overcome imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and the fear of showing up online so they can confidently sell their knowledge online. But before that, I rebranded maybe three or four months ago. But before that, for almost two years, I had a podcast called Lucky Last Podcast, where I was basically interviewing any fondant male or female or woman, man, who had an interesting journey and an established business.

[00:28:13] And they were sharing their stories of how they built their business, how they grew their business. The journey in between from the moment they started it to the moment they achieved success, knowing that success can vary depending on people. And as I said a bit earlier, I quickly realized that most of my guests were mom, mom in business, mom founders, mom business owners, mom entrepreneur.

[00:28:39] And women came to me way more naturally than men. And it was I had a lot of like contact from mom who wanted to quit their job or just quit their job. And we're thinking about starting a business. And I'm like, I think it's time because at some point you cannot be you cannot keep pushing something that is not reflecting who you are anymore.

[00:29:02] And while I was growing with the podcast, with the show, I was as well definitely more confident as a mom entrepreneur, as a mom in business. And I was sharing a lot about my journey. And I realized actually that this was my people. These women, these moms, they were my people. They were my niche.

[00:29:22] It was time for me to let go of my baby, to finally focus on what I thought would be a way more targeted message. And so I did a big job. I rebranded, changed the name, changed the logo. It was a very difficult decision because Lucky Last was my baby. I like built it from the ground. I was very proud of what it was becoming.

[00:29:49] It was as well very stressful because everyone around me was like, oh, you should not do that. No, no, no. That's not a good idea. You should not do that. But at the same time, like, who are you exactly? Sorry, but you are not in podcasting. You are not in coaching. You are not an entrepreneur. Like, you know, like I was just like I was listening to too, too many different advice. And I don't think it was good for me to listen to this as well. I really needed to focus on my need and the need of my audience.

[00:30:17] And I realized that my audience were now mostly mum entrepreneur, mum in business. And it was time for me to switch. So, yeah, I pivoted. It was not easy. Yeah. Especially after I've done it. I'm like, oh, what did I do? I can't step back. Now it's done. But you know what? I think it was the best decision ever. It was much needed. I think sometimes you need to let go of what doesn't, you know, suit you anymore.

[00:30:46] And I think it was a perfect time to take awareness and realize that, yes, it's time to grow and it's time to pivot. It is easy to even, you know, tell yourself, if I could, you know, something will come of this. Something did come of that. It was a niche that kept popping up that these mumpreneurs coming at you and it's like, come on, Murray, this is the thing that we've been waiting on.

[00:31:13] But it's still hard to say let go of the other possibilities for something that is right there in front of you. You have to be brave. Did you, I'm thinking you had to be brave. You had to put aside the unprompted advice you get from everybody. Really got to be able to say no, thank you or in a respectful way. Were you thinking this is my third entrepreneurial thing? How did that play into it? Well, you know, was there pressure building on yourself to make this land on yourself?

[00:31:42] Listen, when I started, I didn't know how long it will last, but I knew I saw my entourage. I knew they were like, here is she again. She tries again, you know, here is she. She is trying again with another podcast, another business, another industry. Like literally I've seen, I heard it. I saw people. I knew I felt it around me when I launched my podcast. And I'm like, listen, at least I'm trying, you know, at least I'm trying.

[00:32:11] And I'm like, they can say whatever they want. They're still doing their job. They're happy. That's good. This was not for me, but I'm trying. So I didn't have much hope, but I know that I could hear behind me people saying, let's see how long this one will take. Okay. So I had as well a bit of ego and pride to try to keep this one a bit longer. Yeah. And we kind of, yeah, same, same now, but I'm passionate about this one.

[00:32:39] So I knew that as soon as I started, as soon as I started and I really started on throwing it, I'm like, that's it. This is, this is my mission. This is where I need to be. I finally found it. So even if it will take, you know, 15 years, whatever it takes, I know my podcast will be where it needs to be eventually. But yes, you get pressure, especially from your entourage because you tried and you failed

[00:33:05] and you get always more pressure when you're trying in public because you know that you don't want to fail in public. That's the truth. Nobody wants to be seen failing in public. But I guess if you don't try, you will never know. And I prefer to, to try and say, at least I tried than, you know, be on my deathbed and said, oh my God, I wish I've done that. I wish I've done that. At least I don't have to say this. Power to you for that.

[00:33:33] It's, um, sometimes there are practical realities, which, you know, I understand, but if it's there and you can chase it, try and make it work, you know, it's, um, at some point you're going to go, I'm glad I did that. Yes. Whatever the outcome. I was just thinking of the contrast there with, with your, your clients. They want to do something to, that with purpose to make some money to fulfill them professionally.

[00:34:02] Is the, is the, are some of them foregoing the kind of traditional career path and saying, I don't want to do that thing anymore. Even if it's part-time, even if it's flexible, I want to, I want to do my thing. Just last week, I had two moms, um, who came to be one who was in maternity leave and said, I don't want to go back to my job. I want to launch my business. And another one who quit her job already and is about to launch her, a wellness, um, business.

[00:34:31] I think there is something with mom as well is once we gave birth, once we try and discover motherhood, we quickly realize what our real priorities, what was fitting us before is no longer fitting us. We are changing, we're evolving, not everyone, but most of women are. And this is that moment after birth and maternity leave, especially where women are like,

[00:35:00] I don't want to do that anymore. This is not reflecting my values, my, my mission, my why, my, it's not reflecting me. I need to find purposeful business. I need to find something that will make me happy to wake up, get up every morning. And I think there is a huge introspection just after birth, you know, when we are in this phase, we're like, oh my God, we need to go back to work soon.

[00:35:26] And you just realized that climbing the corporate ladder is not actually what you want to do. Yeah. And it's time to, you know, think about something else. So yes, definitely. Yeah. Yeah. There's an innate want and desire to do something. Being a mom is incredibly demanding. And, but outside of that, you know, I wonder if, you know, the, the whole thing of being on, um, employing and being, and staying there as on flexible terms through maternity leave,

[00:35:56] it's still for those that want to explore something that they control. Yes. It's really powerful. Yes. It's more about freedom again and flexibility. I think it comes back to freedom, flexibility and purpose. Doing something that it means something for someone, that it brings some values out there that make the world a better place. And I really do believe that most of moms after experiencing births really want to give,

[00:36:26] you know, to the world because now they have their babies in this world and they want. It's become more pronounced that when you're the guardian or the mother for a child, you want to make the world a better place. Yes. Yes. It's as well very challenging for them. Don't give me wrong. Because, yeah, because, because you believed your whole life or your career life that you wanted to be there. You wanted to be this, you wanted to do that. And suddenly you realize that actually it's not, you know.

[00:36:55] So you are losing a bit of, you're already losing part of your identity when you become a mom. Unfortunately, if this is, and it takes time for you to re-find your new identity again. But when you decide that actually this job, whatever I was doing, my nine to five is not shooting me anymore. This is as well another part of your identity that you are saying goodbye to. And you need to welcome a new one. So there is a lot happening physically, mentally.

[00:37:24] It's a, it's a really, it's a journey. Top of all that, you know, there's, you know, what's needed to start a new business. But why, you know, if it's on purpose and on track with what you want to do, it'd be just maybe a little bit easier. You're focusing on moms in business. Um, there was, your business started because there was, there wasn't the kind of support for this niche.

[00:37:51] I think mom entrepreneurs are definitely lacking of support, of support from organization, from government. Um, and it can be all different type of support, but there is definitely an invisible workload, you know, that is probably not noticed by the traditional business organization. And I think it's really important that people realize this. There is time poverty is real for mom.

[00:38:20] Mom are lacking time. They are lacking sleep. They are lacking support. They feel very, very isolated. So it will be amazing to see more support and funding support for moms launching business, mom entrepreneur, mom business owner, because they're very often holding many, many hats and it, it will bring burnout eventually. Yes.

[00:38:48] We're definitely lacking of support systems. That's for sure. Um, I want to just bring it to small business owners more generally. I think can't see anything that it's not of, you know, value to small business owners, the stuff we talked about, you know, being clear on why you're, why you're in business, getting the right kind of support, uh, you know, showing up. Cause you've been, you've been an entrepreneur and a small business owner. So you have that background. Background.

[00:39:16] Is there anything else that you think is really important? Yeah, I think there is one thing, but you said it is keep showing up, keep showing up even when the results are not there. Keep showing up even when nobody's clapping for you. Keep showing up even when you have zero dollars in your bank account. Because I do believe that if you keep showing up, there is absolutely, absolutely no way,

[00:39:44] no way that you won't get the, the results. The results will pay off. Like it might take long time. It might take a few years, but if you keep showing up constantly, there is no other solution. This is, this is like a normal, you know, mathematic, uh, uh, it will pay off. The results will come, but keep showing up even when the results are not there. And eventually it will pay off. Yes. I can, I can see how determined you are. So I'm, I'm, I've got no doubt.

[00:40:14] This is what I keep telling myself for some days, you know, and it does because I see it. I really see it. Like I, I can spend six months wondering why I'm doing that. And then suddenly like people start reaching out and I'm being invited here and there. And I'm doing like all this talk and I'm like, Oh, actually I'm being noticed. It's working. You know, like I do believe that it really works. You need to keep showing up. Yeah. It's, it's one of those peculiarities of online.

[00:40:45] There's no question. If you put, put things out on online, on social media that you're thoughtful about, that you care about, it absolutely gets noticed. It might not get likes. It might not get celebrated, you know, in a visible way. But it, and it's part of, if you're going to be in business for a long time, there's a lot of little baby steps and you don't get clapped at every, at every turn. And some people won't trust that.

[00:41:15] It just builds incrementally. And yeah, anyway. You're right. Absolutely true. We had to drop what you, I know you love your podcast. We had to drop it to go to Canberra and go to the cabinet table and present three options to really drive the sustainability of small business sector of the economy. What would your priorities be? Probably free or at least accessible business education.

[00:41:42] Giving education so it can be digital strategies, digital marketing, financial literacy, how to work with cash flow. You know, some of us have to learn things from zero, like with no support. And especially as well, some support on AI, how to work with AI, how to build a right AI bot to help you in your day-to-day business task. So we will definitely come back to that.

[00:42:09] Like give education, free education, accessible business education. And if you ask me about women in business and mom in business, I would probably say cheap childcare, affordable childcare, definitely. And more support around mental health. I'm doing more, doing something that is more aligned with what she wants to do is all

[00:42:38] around good on a, you know, mental health level. AI, absolutely. And then the first one about education, I think that comes up a fair bit when I ask the question. Infuse into that some 101 business training. If you adopt a small business mindset, an entrepreneur mindset. Yeah, I absolutely agree. 101 will be very pertinent as well. Peers with peers.

[00:43:04] I think people learn and learn way more when it comes from peers, you know. So being able to put and connect people from the same industry with maybe people who just start their business and people that are well-established, you know, having mentoring program to support these new businesses will be fantastic. Thank you so much for coming on to the podcast. Where can people get a hold of you? Yes. So I'm on Instagram and LinkedIn.

[00:43:34] My name is Marie, M-A-R-I-E-C-A-R-R-I-L-O-N, Marie Carillon. So you can find me on LinkedIn. You can as well find me on Instagram, the Business Mom Compass. And I have my website called businessmom.lovable.com. Very much appreciate your time and go well, Marie. Thank you, Michael. Thank you for your time. Great interview. Take care.

[00:44:06] So thank you very much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Owner to Owner and got some helpful advice and maybe some more clarity on how to make your business work better for you. To subscribe or to listen back or to access any of the resources or information we talked about in this episode, head over to the website, owner2ownerpodcast.com.au. Or you can search up Owner To Owner Podcast on your favorite pod player.

[00:44:36] If this episode or the podcast generally is really helpful, I'd love it if you could leave me a like, a rating or review. But even more than that, I'd love it if you could share it with another business owner. There's a new episode out every couple of weeks. I'll catch you then. I became a crazy Cadillac. Have a production by Alanly Lollwing, and I saw her as a Division of Ninety and I've drugged that if you could save more data opiate athletically, though. Need more data help in the given Selectingiger