YPATT Episode 13
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[00:00:00] Welcome to The Love What You Do podcast. I'm Kelly Dugan, former HR executive turned career coach, and I'm here each episode sharing strategies and stories to help you discover your unique value, leverage your personal brand, and take action to create a career you love.
Welcome back to the podcast everyone. If I am laughing, it's because this is the third time I have done this podcast In intro. We've done, I had a few technical difficulties, uh, this afternoon, but I am so excited to be joined by Ashley Langer with me here today. Ashley is just an incredible, inspirational person that I can't wait to introduce you to.
She ha is a master networker. She's an expert community builder. She's an event strategist, she's an entrepreneur, and she has just launched her brand new line of heated vests called Hot Tommy's that I'm sure she's gonna talk to us about. Uh, Ashley, you've done a little bit of everything. Welcome to The Love [00:01:00] What You Do podcast.
Oh, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. Thank you. Thank you. Well, what you kick us off with the question that I ask pretty much all of our guests right at the, the start. Can you just take me through a little bit of an overview of your career and how you got where you are today? Sure.
So, um, I used to work corporate, you know, once upon a time before kids, um, on a marketing team. And with them I used to host, um, different networking events, but it was more like for men in suits with like, you know, the khaki chinos and like the blue shirts. And then, um. You know, I had a baby. I took a pause, really started to think about what I wanted to do, and during that time I got certified to be a health coach.
Then I was. Him, me and hawing about starting the health coaching business. Meanwhile, we moved to Connecticut and I was like, you wanna know what? I am just going to start an Instagram Macau. I'm gonna like meet new friends about being an entrepreneur. I didn't have any entrepreneur entrepreneurial [00:02:00] friends, so I was kind of like, lemme just like find my people and then I'll start the health coaching business.
And so I started my Instagram account and in January, 2021, and then by June I had hosted my first networking event, which. Which was meant to be like a girl's night out networking vibe. 'cause I felt like networking, I had gotten so stale. It's like you sit with a bagel and a coffee, you're like talking, you're stuck talking to like one person who you pray has a personality.
And I'm like, you wanna know why? I wanna do something that's fun and lively. I want girls to dress up. I want there to be shocking shopping. I want there to be a speaker panel. Like, let's, let's like make this an entrepreneurial girl night out. So that's. That's how my business started is just filling in the gap basically.
Um, and then from there I was hosting networking events and workshops and I decided to launch a membership that would [00:03:00] better connect all the women in between the events that I was doing. And through that they had, um, trainings and intimate meetups, and it was all about getting them resources and funding and stuff like that.
Um. Local to Connecticut and. I loved it. I know, I, that's actually how you and I met was through one of your, um, it was the business search Lisa Shark Tank event that you held, which I believe is one of your last events before this pivot season that I think you're in right now. Um, but I can just so vouch, your events are so much fun and put such a different spin on networking.
'cause that's something you and I share is just this, I think mutual hatred of the stale mm-hmm. Networking event and. I think it's, there is such a negative perception around networking that only ends up affirming ourselves because networking is just gonna help us. But nobody wants to be at those stale [00:04:00] bagel meetings.
Nobody truly, no. Truly, uh, I think that, you know, people have such social anxiety and especially coming out of COVID, you know, it felt like something that people didn't really want to do or feel excited about. And I feel so passionate about networking because I really believe that like your network and your community are what?
Help make you successful and you know, and that just, that goes a lot for entrepreneurship, but also like becoming a mom. Like, how much do you need mom, friends? It's like, you get married, you have a bridesmaid party, right? It's like we are really meant to do things in a cohort and to lean on each other.
And, you know, back to the ancient days, right? Like the people always leaned on each other and to, to think now you're gonna start a business and have to be all by yourself. Yeah, is incredibly daunting. It makes it so much more difficult and I think a lot of times with women, you know, people, there's, there always seems to be a little bit more competition with women than men [00:05:00] and it's like if we can break those, those walls down and come at it with like a fun nature.
That makes it, that makes connecting and meeting each other so much easier and it helps conversation start 'cause you're doing an activity rather than just like, so what do you do today? Like, you know, so you talk to me a little bit about where you are right now, because you, from what I understand on your instrument, your Instagram count or like mid career pivot it sounds like, but still holding onto all of these pieces that you love.
Yeah. So talk to me about that. Um, I decided. To pivot? Well, I decided to close the doors of my membership in November and kind of in, I actually wasn't really sure I was closing the door officially at that time, but there was something inside me that was making me feel like there's more, like there's something else.
And I, I kind of struggled with that. And I think a lot of times in entrepreneurship, and maybe you've heard this through your journey, is that there's a lot of shame around pivoting. A lot of, you know what I mean? And, and yeah. To anyone who's [00:06:00] built something, anything, um, you know, you, you invest so much time and money and heart and your tears into something and to think that you're gonna change it is such a big commitment.
Yeah. Um, and I think, um, there feels shameful. Like it almost feels like you have to be failing in order to do something else. And I think a lot of people are multi-passionate, but for me, I think, I felt like bringing people together is something that I do in my core, I do in my personal life. And it's something that was so easy for me in that case to, to make it a profession.
But I think I also started to feel a little resentful of it because I was doing it so much, both personally and professionally. I had this inkling, something else was, there was something else out there and I really couldn't put my finger on what it was at the time. And I, and I think a lot of people also do this, where you kind of go to your friends and your network and you're like, I'm feeling this way.
What am I going to do? And a lot of people were trying to. I don't wanna say convince me, but like help me [00:07:00] generate ideas, if you will, about what I could turn business social leases into. Like all that I had created. What are we doing now with this and is it going to be more coaching? Is it going to be, you know, more events?
Like how are we going to spin this? And I was like, and so, and said to me, I think that you're like looking for permission. To close the door. It feels like you're trying to get permission to do something you already feel in your heart. And it was like this light bulb moment. Oh, I have chills. I love that.
Oh my gosh, that's so real. It was so, it was so like, oh my God, Emma. And I was like, wow. And she was like, you know, the truth is it's like. One door, like once you close one door, another door will open. And you know, you spend so much time, you know, you build something, you've got something, it's a membership.
I have something to do every month. You know, I have a, I have hundreds of people who are paying me every month that I like owe that, you know, and it's like, uh, I didn't wanna half-ass it, [00:08:00] you know? I didn't wanna like come in and not give it my all. And so I made the tough decision to close the doors thinking like the next thing is going to find me.
So I had this idea, how, how did you do that? How did you get the courage to just trust that that next thing was gonna come? Honestly, I don't even know the answer to that question. I, I, that's fair. You know, it's like, it was just like I had to really kind of trust the process. I had to take it one step at a time.
Like I knew I needed to close the door. It doesn't mean that I can't ever host an event again. It doesn't mean I can't ever participate in networking events. It doesn't mean I can't do those things, right. It's just like maybe those things just need to be on pause right now while I like search a little bit internally, you know?
Yeah. Um, so I totally know and I love that. I love that mindset of coming about it of. With not this sense of finality, right? Like it's just, this is the next step. Not every step from here till forever, [00:09:00] right? Like it is just like you knew that that was the next best step to take and that the cards were gonna unfold as you went.
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And I took it like I tried to really lean in, like I closed the doors in November and then, you know, December's Christmas, which we're all crazy anyways. And I was like, you wanna, maybe this is the timing for me, you know, maybe it's a good time to take the pause. And just leaned into it. Yeah.
And then through the winter, I had this idea, well, I'm always cold. I'm a person who's always cold. And um, we were a ski family and I started buying all these like heating products, like the boots, the gloves, the vests and everything I bought, which was just really geared towards the outdoors man. They have female products, but they're just basically the man's product, like slightly different for a female.
No fun colors, no fun branding, nothing like nothing and everything. Yeah, I walked out in my husband's heated jacket all winter. Yeah. [00:10:00] And it's like huge. It's got some weird logo on it, like this name you can't pronounce. You're like, what am I wearing? And so I'm like, there's got, and there's cute vests in the world.
Surely there's cute vests, but nothing that's heated. So I'm like, there has got to be a way, like, where is this? And so I started complaining about this and a friend of mine was like, I think you could be the one to solve that problem. I was like, me? Oh, she was like, yeah. And I was like, whoa. And then that was the other light bulb.
I was like, can I, and she was like, yeah. And she said, um. If I were you, I would go on Alibaba and I would start messaging people for samples. And I was like, well, I'll do that. And so literally I just started messaging people for samples. I started collecting the samples and then I'm like, well, what am I doing with these samples?
So I mess. I got one that I thought would. Good enough, a good enough start that had like good enough material and quality behind it. [00:11:00] Not the style, but the quality. And so I asked her if we could make some tweaks, like could I make this into something? Could I do this? Could I do that? And she was like, yeah, we can do all of that for you.
That's actually what we do. Gosh. And I said, oh gosh. I said, now I gotta think about what I want this thing to now. Now I'm a vest designer right now, now. I'm a service girl. I'm an events girl. I'm a service girl. I'm like bringing the people together, girl. I'm like the connect girl. I'm, I'm into marketing, but I'm like, whoa, I have to.
So I had to really, and that's how it started. It's really just like one foot in front of the other. It was just like, I'm just gonna start, and then I thought. Well, the good news is, is that I'm not a product person, but in my community, in my network are lots of product people, you know? So that's when I started figuring it out, like, okay, I started taking coffees, I started reaching out to people.
You know, when people think about networking, it's like [00:12:00] kind of like you have this idea, you wanna keep it a little quiet, you know, you're like, I don't know if I'm ready to tell the whole world. And but who are you telling? Because you can't really grow anything by yourself. So it's like, who are you te telling?
And I'm telling people who are ahead of me, like people who could be mentor, type of people who have built products who are already successful. And then I'm reaching out to the people who are in similar spaces as me. Like, what did they do? You know, they're kind of like a little bit more tandem in you, maybe slightly ahead of you.
And I just started reaching out to people taking coffees and now we're doing it. Now we're doing it now. I now, I had prototypes made, you know, the back and forth, the prototypes and I pressed order, send two thou, 2000 units, two colors. Congratulations that, thank you. That is incredible. I scary. I talk about this with, it's so scary.
It's so scary, but it's so exciting because [00:13:00] it is something that is totally yours. Yeah. And I talk about this with my career coaching clients a lot around you. Like when you took that pause in November, you didn't take a pause to start a heated vest. Luxury line. He did not Right. That was not it. Um, but you knew that there, that what you were doing, wasn't it?
And you had the courage to kind of figure out what that is. I, what I love about this story is that your network that you already had built through all of this time was kind of a key to success in helping you get to where you are now with your, with your vest. Like talk to me a little bit more about how you leveraged that network and like.
How you even went around building that network that ended up being so valuable at this time start. I think I, you know, building the network takes time. It takes, you know, repetition and relationship building. You know, it's not just going to one event, it's about keeping up and following up after the [00:14:00] fact.
And, you know, I just kept in touch with people who I felt interested by, people who I felt like were doing different things, people who had similar energy to me. Um, and then when this started to kind of take shape for me. Even to find out if it would take shape for me, I started reaching out to people, you know, other product people and having the coffees and, and I would literally show up with bullet points of questions and say, you know, asking them questions about manufacturing, about insurance, about what kind of legal do I need for something like this?
You know, how much money am I going to need to start this? Because the thing about a service-based business is like. You can just, you know, there's not a lot of overhead. Oh yeah. It's beautiful. It's, it's, yes. Yeah, it is. Right. It's like, you know, yes. Your website is like the main overhead, I think, starting off.
Mm-hmm. You know, you have [00:15:00] Canva that puts together so much for you and, um, you know, of course it's the, the website, but that product risk isn't there. Yeah. You don't have the risk of, oh man, I got a thousand extra units. Yeah. Oh, that upfront money, you know, to pay for the product. Um, and then there's a whole like op like operation side to it all.
That I'm like Shopify TikTok shop. Um, when I get all these units, how am I keeping track of them? Like what, where does that go? Like, um, and so, you know, thinking about. Who, how I'm doing that? Am I hiring someone for that? How much time am I willing to invest in that myself? Am I willing to learn it all?
Like, um, so that these were all the questions that I was asking. And, you know, the product comes from China. Um, I researched doing it here in the United States. I researched [00:16:00] when it comes from China, like who, who is insuring the product before it gets to me if something happens in the ocean. Is that, am I liable?
Does that mean now all my products, like there's so many more. Something I never would've thought of, right? But I'm like, okay, so these are, this is now what's happening. So like, you know, and I would show up to my, you know, coffees with all these questions. Like, what is custom Also, like what do you ask for?
Like, what can you negotiate? Do people negotiate? Am I gonna be like the cheap girl who's like, people don't wanna work with me? Like. Just like industry standards. What what is standard? Yeah. Um, so I think like choosing people to meet with and then coming prepared to the meetings to get the most out of them.
And other people love to connect too. You know, it's like, who did you use to build your website? Who helped you on Shopify? Do you have a Shopify person? Um, who's best for photography? [00:17:00] You know? 'cause I need product images. Like when I did my first website for social Lisas, like I took photos of myself with a timer on a tripod, like, you know, and now it's like I'm selling a product and we've gotta get this outta here.
We gotta move this. We gotta, we have to, we have to put together, all of a sudden, marketing looks totally different. Different, I know. I wanna jump back into it too a little bit around when you launched, now you are. Launching something new mm-hmm. To this community that you have spent years building.
Mm-hmm. How's that process going for you? How are people seeing you as this product person versus the services girl? Um, I think people are excited. For me, I think they were surprised by my closing my last business, and I think that they are here for the journey. You know, we, I feel like my community and I have been on.[00:18:00]
This journey together for a long time now. So it'll be, I think they're excited. I think people are enthusiastic about the actual product, so it's exciting. As one of your followers, I can say, I'm so excited to see this kind of new venture that you're going into. Um, and I think it relates to a lot of our listeners who are who, when you're going through a career change.
You know, there is this moment where you're realizing, wait, everybody has always seen me as this version of myself. Mm-hmm. And now one, we have to convince ourselves that we can do this other piece, but then we also have to share with our communities the why and, and really be perceived as this other version of ourselves too.
Um, which is such a fascinating part of the journey that you're on right now. I think. Thank you. I think a lot of people. Are inspired by the, [00:19:00] I think, um, I've got a lot of feedback saying that they're, that they're inspired, that they've, a lot of people have come to me and been like, they have ideas like, how did you make your idea come to life?
Because I don't, I don't know what to do. And I, I got the impression that a lot of people are stuck and not sure what to do and are doubting themselves and not sure how they're gonna make it happen. And they're inspired that I took the leap on it, which makes me feel so good. Um, because I do recognize that it's hard and I'm feeling, I mean, I feel that, yeah, you're like, I know it's hard.
I am. I just had to figure out how to get units from China and what happens on the boat on the way over here. Exactly. So are you still continuing building communities while also building hot Tom? Good question. So in this interim, I have been doing, um, some consulting calls, helping people build their memberships, um, [00:20:00] event strategy.
I am so passionate about that and I truly believe that being connected to your community can make, make or break your business. So I am doing some of, but for now I am. The bulk of my work is really towards building hot Tommys. I feel a little bit more excited about that and lit up by that at this moment.
Uh, it's funny because I think, you know, when it comes to my Instagram, I had 10, you know, 10,000 followers on my business social list page, and people were like, well, you should just turn hot Tommys into or turn business social leases and to Tommy's and I'm like. But every good founder has their own page and I think that the community will enjoy the behind the scenes following along with the journey that doesn't come necessarily with a polished [00:21:00] brand product page.
I totally agree with that. There's something about the messy and in the, and seeing. The journey that people really connect with more than connecting with. You can love a vest, but you're not invested in it. Yeah. The same way you're invested in the founder. Yeah. Yeah. And that is my work there, that page and all the content that's gone on, you know, for years there.
And I, I wanna keep that, you know, so well see. I mean, maybe I'll go back to it. Maybe I'll go back to hosting events. I mean, I, you just never know. Maybe I'm gonna get bought out for some astronomical price and I'll be happy I have that account. Right. We gotta manifest, we gotta say it now. You gotta throw it out there.
And I think what you've done in your career so far is just shown don't close any doors. Right? When you are keeping doors open and keeping your eyes open, you then attract opportunities that transform your career. [00:22:00] Absolutely. I, I really truly believe that. Yeah, me too. I'm like a say yes person. I believe in saying no for focus, but yes.
To all the opportunities. Yeah. Yeah. You, you never know when that, and I love what you said, saying no for focus, because sometimes the Yes does not look, it's more of a yes and right. Like sometimes you can't do the yes to a hundred percent. Yep. At that moment. Always taking the call, right? Like, I, I don't, I always take the call.
Me too. Always make sure that you least have that initial conversation. And 'cause also what you're doing is networking, right? Even if you can't do the thing, um, by talking to that person, now you have another connection that might be able to help you, you know, in three years when you are launching a product you never even saw on the horizon.
Absolutely. And you never know who that person knows. Right. It's just not even just like the immediate people you meet, but [00:23:00] you know their network and their communities that can change your business, your life. You never, I mean, you never know how someone could change your life, so. It's so true. So obviously you pulled from your network that you've spent all of this time building mm-hmm.
To be able to build your, to launch your business today. What other lessons have come up throughout your career? Because you have done so many different things from the corporate life to building business Socialist does Gal to Hot Tommys. What are some of those lessons that you find pulling from kind of ghosts of careers paths?
So one of them is start before you're ready. Everything with Hot Tommy specifically is like I am, I'm trying to move so fast with all the momentum and understanding that not everything is gonna be perfect and accepting that in myself and everything else to do with it. Like the website, not be exactly how I picture it or the photo shoot, or all the marketing, um, [00:24:00] but we just have to keep the wheels turning is like.
My absolute number one for this and um, like another big one is just
keeping the blinders on in terms of like your own happiness. I think a lot of times people get really worried about outside noise or what other people think, and just like staying true to myself. Just like, even though sometimes I feel silly or I'm not sure how things are gonna land, but just like really trusting myself in the process is a big one for me.
And I think sometimes it's hard, but, oh, it's so hard to do that. I mean, we. Live in a world where we're so much more connected to other people than we ever have been. And as we've talked about, that's a huge asset, but there's a basement to that [00:25:00] balcony of greatness. And it's that we are just intimately aware with people's thoughts about us that just we're really, truly none of our business.
Right? Like we, we don't need to be bothered by what other people are thinking, but because of the world we live in. There's a lot of that noise. Um, and I think when it comes to our careers that when we listen to that noise too much, like it ends up actually coloring what we think we're capable of, 2000%.
Um, you know, it's like social media's such a double-edged sword because, um, I like to look at social media for inspiration. But then it's like you start going down this rabbit hole that other people are doing better than you. You'll never be able to create content like this. You don't wanna copy them.
And it's like, it give, you know, and then it swirls. It swirl. So you have to [00:26:00] like, I like to write everything down, like when I have ideas, whether it's like a slogan or. Content idea or just like a color I like, or a song like I try to write all that stuff down so that creating is easier for me and I don't have to worry about so much about what everyone else is doing or thinking.
'cause like I feel so excited about these little things that I'm gonna put together. Oh, I love that tactic. That's something I need to personally get better at. I will be like in the shower and be like, oh, that's a great thing. I wanna record a video on that. Clearly I'm not gonna do it at this moment, but if like I'm not somewhere where I can just record or then it, it goes to the ether, I really need to write it down.
Yeah, you have to write it down or you have to record, you have to like push yourself into the cringey recording session, or you have to be like meticulous in how you're writing it down. Hundred percent. And honestly, it's always better when you just record in the moment because like [00:27:00] that energy spark that you have, when you have that idea tomorrow when your makeup's on Yeah.
Is not, it's just gonna come off more manufactured and it, it, it, yeah. Always That is always the case. Yeah. No, 200, 200%. So one of the things I talk to a lot of career coaching clients about mm-hmm. Is in 2025, we have to build our personal brands like we are real brands. Mm-hmm. Right? Because. That is how you are going to build an online community of networking folks that you can reach out to.
Um, but it's also just how people perceive you. So for the, our listeners who are sitting at their nine to five job right now and are like, I don't want to have an online presence, but they feel like they need to Right. Because of the job market that we're in. What advice do you have for them for like starting to step out into the online space and, and have a personal brand without a business brand?
That is such a good question. Um, I think you just have to start. I think you have to start before you're [00:28:00] ready. And I think, um, there's other ways to start without this, like immediate, like talk to camera, like staring in the camera. Um, I think you can do voiceovers now. I, which is a great way to start, you know, you can get videos in the, while they kind of talk behind it and, you know, maybe.
Talk quickly where it's not this rapport type of video. I would start there. I think Canva's a really great tool that can help you create incredible content that isn't also this like super facing content. And, um, I ha I think every, I do think every business needs a social media. I do. I just think a lot of times now people are searching on social media even before they look up a website on Google [00:29:00] and now that reels are coming up on Google, you know, I think we're only heading in that direction.
Um, but I do think networking and, you know, going to networking events, hosting your own events, you know, are really great ways to build community. Without making social media your main community source, your main connection source. Um, so I think you can get creative with how you reach people and you can, you know, post minimally.
Um, I think, you know, sometimes we search for a business on social media and it's like, oh, their last post was in 2 20 21. You're like, are they even in business? You may not reach out. So I do think it's nice to have things that are fresh on there, or you can even have something in the bio now, like I don't actively create on social, but I would love to [00:30:00] hear from you, like, shoot me a damn much chat.
Um, I also think that you can do a lot of outreach on social media where you can comment on other people's posts and send dms to people and try to build rapport that way. I think people do wanna see your face on, you know, on some levels, especially the profile photo, so they know you're not just like a bot or like some creepy guy hiding besides a woman.
But, um, I think there's a lot of ways you could do it without showing up five times a week on Instagram. I could not agree with you more because I think, yeah, I think we see a lot of the creators out there and when we think about building our own personal brands, we think we have to come in at that level.
Um. But most of those folks didn't, they didn't even come in at that level. Right. Like, it, it takes so much, so much time, um, and comfort. Right? I know when I first started [00:31:00] posting on social was in 2020 when I started your place at the top and I, TikTok was not quite what it is today. You know, it was like boomed in 2020, but it was still like kind of niche to be on TikTok and I.
That's where I started doing videos because I knew nobody I knew would be looking at those videos. And it was where I was able to get more confidence in talking to the camera. And that's nice. Before I ever started in Instagram, because I was like, well, it's. There's people that I work with, there's people, you know, now I'm starting to really step out into a place where people could see me.
TikTok, I was like, I, I could talk to strangers all day long. Right. And um, so I love those tips that you shared of just kind of how you start slowly building, building the presence and then letting your confidence build with it. Um, and another thing you mentioned there around like throwing your own events like.
I, I think I heard Gary v talk about this, but like the be the person who throws the [00:32:00] party, right? Like networking and building your personal brand Yes. Can look like a huge online presence. It doesn't have to it, but it does. It does have to exist, but it can exist in your world and you could be the one that is kind of creating that storm.
Um, and, and it, you don't have to wait for somebody else to do it, which I think is something that you are a master at my friend. Yeah, I think just thinking about, you know, and also Substack is new and is a great way for people to use social without like creating content as we know content now. And people who don't really love, you know, talking to the camera and creating, you know, people who do better, you know, writing, um, are doing really well there.
So, you know, considering doing that, but I think no matter what platform you're on. You need to really think about your engagement style, most of all. And I built, um, business socialist, 200% on [00:33:00] engagement, on just showing up on other people's accounts and you know what I mean? DMing them, creating conversation, building rapport, not just on like pumping out content, but actually being the girl that shows up for other people.
People recognize that. Because that's what we all want. We all want, you know what I mean? We're creating content so people engage with it, and it's like, well, no one's gonna engage with you if you don't engage with them. So be the, you know, if you don't wanna be the content creator, be the feel good girl who's out there commenting on other people's stuff, and immediately people's first thoughts of you will be something positive, which is such a great gateway into your business.
A hundred percent. And I think LinkedIn is actually, I'm little one, a phenomenal place to be. The engager. Yeah. Like you're describing, like if you are someone who is slow to wanting to step out there, like get on there, [00:34:00] comment, engage, like I, I find LinkedIn to be the friendliest social platform. Mm-hmm.
Because it's like, it's like going to work, right. You everyone is nice in the office on some level. Yeah. You get that kind of decorum on LinkedIn that you don't get in other places on the internet. Yeah. Um. And you have less people creating content in that space too. So you can create content or a small post, and it can take you a little bit further than an Instagram where the whole world is cranking content cranking constantly.
Constantly. Yeah. Yeah. So Ashley, for folks who are in a point of career pivot right now, or they're on the precipice of. Wanting to, they know they don't love what they do today. Yeah. But they want to find something that they love to do. Mm-hmm. I, this sounds like a, a scenario you have found yourself in mm-hmm.
As we've talked about. What advice do you have for those people? Um, I think listen to your gut is [00:35:00] obviously the number one phrase that gets thrown around a lot. And I have to be honest with you, people would say that to me and I'd be like, but I don't know what she's saying. Uh, but I think the crux of.
Well, that's why I started talking to people and being like, what do you think? And um, I think that what the gut was saying was that I needed to pivot, right? I needed to change and taking steps forward to make that change. Now, maybe that's closing a door so the next door can open. Maybe that means, you know, educating yourself on what other options are for you.
You know, maybe you're really reliant on your income. You know, luckily my family wasn't relying on my income, um, so I was able to do that. Um, but maybe if you are [00:36:00] reliant, it's about taking time to look into other businesses, speak to other people who have other businesses and in niches that interest you.
Do you wanna be a health coach? Is that a pivot you like to be? Do you wanna be a cosmetologist, an esthetician? Do you wanna be a coach? You know, so I think it's just like really getting informed about what that could look like. Do you wanna be a product creator? Where would you start? Get on Alibaba? You know, it's just you.
Sometimes I think we, including me. Have like waited for ideas to come to us, but I think that ideas actually come through movement. So it's what are, what actions are you taking to figure out what the next step is for you in this career or another one. Ashley, I love that. That's a huge takeaway I am taking from our conversation is just do something.
Yeah. Right. Like [00:37:00] you put one foot in front of the other. 'cause you very easily could have gone down this road and been like, you know what? I don't wanna make a vest. But there would've been something else. Right? Hopefully. And yeah, there would've been there 100 because look at where you are. You've been through so many iterations of your career.
Mm-hmm. And that is, I think, just a huge piece of advice for people is that. If you feel stagnant, start moving. Like just do something like, do not get into analysis paralysis and start waiting for like the best thing. Um, because I'm willing to bet that first time you reached out on Alibaba, you were, you still even at that point were not like, I'm doing this.
No, definitely not. But you wouldn't have gotten here if you never just reached out. Yeah. This small steps, I think sometimes the paralysis comes from like this big picture we're envisioning. And all the things it takes to get there, which is so overwhelming. And it's not that I'm, that I don't experience overwhelmed because I very much do, but it's just like just doing the small things every day, [00:38:00] the small steps, the baby steps as they say, it really does add up over time because time is flying.
The older we get, the faster it goes. And now, after recently becoming a mom, I can attest, I feel like I have been. I feel like April is, was 15 minutes ago. Crazy. And we're in August. I don't know how this has happened. I've been on a speeding train and time just means a whole new set of things, truly. Um, but to your point, yeah, you, you run outta time.
Like you have that feeling of running out of time. But I do think what, when you go in motion and just kind of throw yourself into it, instead of fighting against it. It's amazing what you find time to be able to create and do and change in your life. Like if you just start trying to, to move with the current instead of against it.
Yeah. Clarity and confidence come from action. A hundred percent. So Ashley, how can people find you? How can they follow you, uh, with your personal [00:39:00] account? How can they get their hands on one of your heated vests? What, how can people get ahold of you? That's so nice. So, um, you can find me at Ashley Langer Connects.
Or Hot Tommy's, H-O-T-T-O-M-M-I-E-S. And we will launch Hot Tommy's products, um, beginning of October. Oh my gosh, I am so excited for this. This is, I. Side note, not to give away something. Hopefully my sister won't be listening to this podcast. But there you say you're someone who is always cold. Yeah. I've never met someone who is more always cold than my sister.
And as soon as you she's my people, I'm like, counting down. I'm like, I know. I'm like, yeah, this is, she comes to my house, we have the air conditioning on. She's someone who in 80 degrees meets a sweater like, oh, that's me. Um, you, I gotta set you two up. Look at you. But, uh, I'm counting down till these become available.
Thank you. 'cause I'm like, oh, this is the perfect gift. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us today, Ashley. I really appreciate it. This has been great. I so enjoyed our conversation. Same. I did too, Kelly. Thank you for [00:40:00] having me. I'll talk to you soon.
Thanks for joining me on today's episode. As always, if you're looking for coaching support or would like to submit a question, you can drop me an email at info at your [email protected]. And if you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review. So this podcast can find its way to other amazing listeners just like you.
