00:00:03:07 - 00:00:16:23
Chris
Hello and welcome to the ending body Burnout show. We are your host, Chris and Filly, co-founders of a multi winning functional medicine practice serving busy people with energy, mood and gut issues.
00:00:17:00 - 00:00:24:21
Filly
Well, business, addictive doing, people pleasing and perfectionism might be the norm. It's not normal and it's a major contributor to health issues.
00:00:25:00 - 00:00:38:04
Chris
Our goal with this show is to give you a holistic root root cause approach to healing your body so that you don't have to continue doctor or diet hopping or popping a gazillion supplements hoping something might stick.
00:00:38:05 - 00:00:46:07
Filly
So get ready to heal your body. Get your spark back deeply, connect with yourself, and step into the life of your dreams.
00:00:46:10 - 00:00:56:17
Chris
Let's dive in.
00:00:56:19 - 00:01:24:14
Filly
Hello and welcome to the podcast. Today we have the amazing Donna Hann who came in to talk to Chris and I all about juggling all the things without burnout, including business and work and life and family and self-care. And she's got some really cool gold nuggets. Stick to the end, because I really loved her analogy analogy around juggling the balls, and how to do it without burning out.
00:01:24:16 - 00:02:15:17
Filly
So a little bit about Donna. She is a certified High-Performance Performance Coach and Business Educator on a mission to unleash the potential of Australian regional business owners, leaders, and their teams with invaluable experience, growing three successful businesses and having lived in regional Australia all her life, Donna understands the unique challenges and advantages of remote entrepreneurship. She believes that your location shouldn't limit your access to quality business, education and support, which is why she's bringing it directly to you through high performance concepts, business tools, and mindset strategies, Donna empowers entrepreneurs to master the messy middle of business growth, workplace culture, and mindset where you feel seen, supported, and celebrated without burning out.
00:02:15:19 - 00:02:45:02
Filly
So we, lucky enough to have Donna coming into our ending body burn out method to take one of our root cause workshops in August. She will be taking our clients through her High Performance Mindset Framework, which is called Five to Thrive to help you create success in all parts of your life health, family, work, finances all the important things that enable you to have a healthy, thriving, successful life.
00:02:45:03 - 00:03:01:21
Filly
It's going to be really great and you'll get a really good insight of just how smart, but also intuitive and aligned Donna is. So I'm really excited to share this podcast episode with you today.
00:03:01:23 - 00:03:11:11
Chris
Hi guys, and welcome to this episode of the Ending Body Burnout Show. We have a guest on this episode. We have Donna Hann. Hey Donna, how are you going?
00:03:11:11 - 00:03:14:19
Donna
Oh I'm great, thank you. Thanks for having me on the show.
00:03:14:21 - 00:04:01:12
Filly
Yay! We're very excited. We know each other through a business group that we're in. And I was on your podcast a little while ago. We did the recording, so it's nice to turn the tables and pull out some wisdom from your head. Because I love, I love what you do as a business coach, but you know that there are some business coaches out there that are like strategy, strategy, strategy, do the things very business where as you have been able to integrate this lovely mindset side of things as well, where it's like we can still be successful and do the things that, you know, our heart desires without burning ourselves out.
00:04:01:12 - 00:04:03:09
Filly
So we dive into.
00:04:03:11 - 00:04:33:01
Donna
This stick kind of approach, bringing in the stool business strategy because it has to be there, but we also need to ensure that we're building our vision of success, whatever that is, whilst also maintaining our relationships and our own health and well-being. So and part of that is definitely around mindset. But, you know, bringing in, making sure that we're building the kind of business that supports our lifestyle rather than it being the other way around where our business becomes our lifestyle.
00:04:33:01 - 00:04:36:18
Donna
And that's a sure fire way of going down the path of burnout.
00:04:36:19 - 00:04:57:04
Filly
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm curious because I know that in the past you've had your own, like we call it body burnout. Where do you think burning the candle at both ends for too long and that your body's, like, very much talking to you. And part of that too is integral to relationship stuff that was going on as well.
00:04:57:04 - 00:05:00:10
Filly
Are you happy to. Maybe we'll just dive straight into the personal stuff.
00:05:00:12 - 00:05:27:02
Donna
Yeah. Oh, it's no worries. I am a bit of an open book, so I do not mind sharing at all. Yeah. So my journey, I guess, like I've been in business for a number of years, experimented with a few different businesses over that time. But the business that I had prior to this one, so currently I support regional business women to really step into their potential, and to grow their business to their vision of success, whilst also maintaining their wellbeing and their relationships.
00:05:27:02 - 00:05:54:16
Donna
And I guess what's led me to do that is my previous business was a dance studio and it was in a regional area of Queensland, a small little town, but very quickly, in a short space of time, that business at Dance Studio grew to 300 students in two locations. And I had a team of ten working for me, whilst also I had a six month old and a three year old and a shift working husband.
00:05:54:18 - 00:06:14:09
Donna
So there was a lot going on. But I was really driven. And, you know, we had a lot of success in that business in that short space of time. And we were winning like national awards and local awards, not necessarily for like the dancing, because for us it was a recreational dance school. There was no competitions or exams.
00:06:14:09 - 00:06:39:12
Donna
It was all about building up the child's confidence through dance. But you know, of all the success that happened, there was a lot of things going on on the inside that didn't match what was happening on the outside. So, you know, physically, I was burning myself out. I was teaching lots of classes. I was, you know, when we very first started, I was still breastfeeding.
00:06:39:14 - 00:07:01:02
Donna
And my kids were really small. So, you know, they really needed me for a lot of things. So whenever they were sleeping, I was working. And with a shift working husband, he would, like, do night shift, and he'd be gone from 4:00 in the afternoon. Coming back in the door at, like, seven in the morning.
00:07:01:04 - 00:07:19:05
Donna
And obviously the opposite when he was on day shift. And then that meant that, like, I would, you know, be high fiving the babysitter at the door, racing out to teach afternoon classes, and then he would come back to a baby sitter and then have to put the kids to bed, and then I'd roll in and he'd already be like, it was just a crazy time.
00:07:19:05 - 00:07:35:01
Donna
And I think back and I go, how the hell did we do that? Like, how do we even get to that point? And how do we exist in that space for the couple of years that we did before, it all kind of went went south? Am I allowed to swear or not? Because I can sometimes swear.
00:07:35:01 - 00:07:39:12
Filly
A little bit. Do you little Bleep helps if you do. So you know if it if it comes out let.
00:07:39:12 - 00:07:40:13
Donna
Me keep it clean I.
00:07:40:14 - 00:07:47:13
Chris
Go I'll go like this. When you say a swear word I'll go.
00:07:47:14 - 00:08:13:12
Donna
Yeah. So the burnout part of that, I guess we got to, like, I was obviously feeling tired a lot of the time, and I'd already started to restructure my business because I could see that it wasn't going to work, like the whole thing was going to implode if I didn't do something about it. So, you know, I started working with a really great business coach who was in the dance world, Clint Salter.
00:08:13:14 - 00:08:31:14
Donna
And he was really integral in helping me to create better systems in my business and, you know, be able to sort of work myself out of the business rather than being the one that was the cog in the, in the machine that turned everything. So that was amazing. And that was working really well. I was starting to see the results of that.
00:08:31:14 - 00:09:06:03
Donna
I was still bloody tired because, you know, I've got the little ones and doing all of that, but, my relationship with my husband was becoming particularly strained. So basically we had become like ships in the night, as I explained, and there was just so many nights where I found myself awake at like 1 a.m. staring at the ceiling, where, you know, we've I think as business owners in particular, but I think also as parents in general, like we get to that space where we're like all the things that we haven't got done that day, the things that we still need to do.
00:09:06:05 - 00:09:25:20
Donna
You know, the the overwhelm around running a team and having a whole bunch of families that are paying you for the service that you have said that you're going to provide, plus the guilt in like, oh, but I'm not in the moment with my kids. And, you know, I'm, you know, my husband and I are not necessarily working together like a partnership.
00:09:25:20 - 00:09:50:15
Donna
We're more like housemates with kids, you know, like it was just crazy. And with your head spinning and your heart thumping and all of that sort of stuff coming up, like, I would wake up in the morning and just feel so sick that quite often I would vomit. Just with, I think, just the lack of sleep and the thoughts that were going through me like it was a huge time.
00:09:50:17 - 00:10:16:14
Donna
And we got to the point where I remember having this conversation with him where we just couldn't do it anymore. You know, we got to that stage where, yeah, we'd just become like housemates, and we knew that it wasn't what we wanted. I didn't want to, model that for my kids to be like, well, that's what a marriage should look like, you know?
00:10:16:16 - 00:10:42:01
Donna
And yeah, we just weren't feeling like the love was there in the same capacity. It was different, right? It had shifted. So, we decided that we would have one more Easter together, and we would, then separate, and. Yeah, it was pretty massive. So, and, you know, there was nothing going on, like there was no affairs or anything like that happening.
00:10:42:01 - 00:11:03:13
Donna
It was just that we both looked at each other and realised that wasn't what we wanted anymore, but we didn't quite know at that point how to get to where we wanted. And I think that's sort of the journey that happened next over the, the next five months I moved out, and it also happened around Covid as well.
00:11:03:13 - 00:11:28:03
Donna
So it was crazy, like the march was Covid. Then April we separated. And then a few months later, my dad actually, had a terminal illness diagnosis. So like, there was crazy stuff going on at that time. But the beauty of, I guess the gift that set in with the whole Covid thing at the time was that being a dance studio, we fell under the fitness industry.
00:11:28:03 - 00:11:46:21
Donna
And so within a very short space of time, we had to pivot on what we were doing in that. So we took all of our classes online, which meant it was beautiful. I didn't have to show up and be the face of the business and turn up and pretend to be all good, whilst my world was like in flames behind me.
00:11:46:21 - 00:12:10:09
Donna
So that was great. And also with, you know, sharing the kids and stuff when he had the kids in that time, I wasn't wearing the hat of mum, I wasn't wearing the head of business owner because of Covid. And I was able just to tune in to me and what was going on for me and what I needed, what I wanted, what wasn't working, what I could do differently, all of those kinds of things.
00:12:10:09 - 00:12:28:18
Donna
So yeah, it was a really interesting time. And I actually looked back on a few photos in preparation for our chat today to kind of like go back to that space, because it was like five years ago. And we were all I look at the photos of the kids were all in our own little version of burnout.
00:12:28:18 - 00:12:50:12
Donna
Like, my eldest son had this enormous STI on his eye that was like the size of a marble, but it was like just under his eye, like, not on his eyelash line. So, like, he was just he was like, falling apart like my other little boy. I look at him and like, we were just in such, a state of disarray.
00:12:50:12 - 00:13:12:09
Donna
It was crazy. But yeah, that's, I guess my, my version of business burnout and break up. And that's what makes me so passionate now about supporting women in business, in particular in wearing all the hats and juggling all the things and yes, striving for our version of success, but maintaining our relationships and maintaining our well-being along the journey.
00:13:12:09 - 00:13:30:02
Donna
And it's a really tricky thing to do, but it is definitely it is definitely achievable. But there's a lot of self-awareness that needs to go on, and a lot of things in the toolkit that you can pull from when you find yourself dipping into that. Yeah, yeah.
00:13:30:04 - 00:13:48:12
Filly
So much of what you said, I'm just like, oh my gosh, it sounds like our story in in different bit similar ways. Well, Chris had a gym. Yeah. So you is at at the door at 4 a.m.. Didn't come home until 10 p.m.. I'm kind of like doing my own thing at home as well. We didn't have a babysitter.
00:13:48:12 - 00:14:06:02
Filly
I just lock my kids in the house and I'm like, I'm just going down to the back shed, which is how I started my functional medicine practice. Practice met clients in the shed. And yeah, lots of burn out, lots of health issues. And then our marriage was on the brink of break out to break up to.
00:14:06:08 - 00:14:12:07
Filly
Yeah. So it's it's it's actually a really common story, which is really sad.
00:14:12:09 - 00:14:31:07
Donna
It is. And when I because I do share it quite openly, like I don't share Troy's side because that's his, that's his stuff. But I'll like with his permission, I share mine, you know, because it is obviously it's our relationship. So, you know, and I'm more, you know, publicly out there. Where is he? You know, he does his own thing, keeps to himself.
00:14:31:07 - 00:15:04:13
Donna
So with respect to that, I do think it's important to share because people I talk about it, you know, and yet it's such a common thing that happens. And I, I think the relationships that we have, the way that we show up for ourselves in the way that we show up for others, you know, it can have us going down the path of burnout, particularly if we're in a service provider kind of situation, whether that be a business or just that you're a bit of a people pleaser near a giver and you know, that can take from us as well.
00:15:04:13 - 00:15:30:18
Donna
So, there's so much to unpack, right? And I know that you guys do a lot of work in getting to the root cause of things so that it doesn't repeat again. And I think part of having that beautiful space that was gifted to me because of Covid in the way that we had to sort of, in effect, kind of closed down a face to face interaction with our clients during that time.
00:15:30:20 - 00:15:44:18
Donna
And also the gift of our temporary break up was that it gave me space to kind of unpack myself, to then try and figure out how I could put my world back together.
00:15:44:20 - 00:15:56:14
Filly
Yeah. So that brings me to the next question. When you use the word break, cause like, what was the deepest thing that was happening within you that that led to that situation in the first place?
00:15:56:16 - 00:16:21:20
Donna
Yeah. And, you know, I still reflect on this a lot because I think it's still at play in some ways. And I think, you know, you've always got to, just keep working on yourself in that way. I think for me, self-worth is a big thing. And I think a lot of women and men, too, you know, a lot of our things come from that, I, you know, my, my oh, what would you call it?
00:16:21:22 - 00:16:55:04
Donna
Tenacity. Maybe in going after the things that I feel are important to me, like striving for that success at the detriment of my own health and, you know, sometimes the detriment of my relationships in the past, not necessarily now, but back then, I think was around self-worth because I'm like, well, if I can do this thing, then that kind of like, you know, I get recognition from my clients, like the kids in the parents were coming to the dance studio that were doing really well because it was lack of connection at home.
00:16:55:04 - 00:17:16:23
Donna
I think this is the other part that was avoidance. So the avoidance in the lack of connection that was happening between my husband and I pushed me even more to do better in the business because I was getting some feedback from that side that people were happy and they were loving it, enjoying it, and we were growing and there was all this success sitting over here.
00:17:17:01 - 00:17:35:11
Donna
Meanwhile, you know, my marriage wasn't so great and, you know, my mind was like everywhere. So I think it was the root cause was a combination of self-worth, and also avoidance. I think that kind of was for me when I think back on it.
00:17:35:11 - 00:17:44:12
Filly
Yeah, yeah. Cool. And so then as you started with the words you said, I started patching myself back up. I think you said, oh, yeah.
00:17:44:12 - 00:17:49:10
Donna
I kind of like I tried to unpack everything and then kind of put it all back together.
00:17:49:14 - 00:18:17:06
Filly
Yeah. Like that. I can't remember the, the term the Japanese vase. I think it is that get smashed. And then it's called glue that connects everything back together. So it's, it's, it's put back together again that it's different and better. Yes, yes. Never the same. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So was part of this this unpacking and then restructuring of self.
00:18:17:06 - 00:18:24:03
Filly
Is that then when you changed your business journey like if we kind of moved in together and.
00:18:24:05 - 00:18:51:06
Donna
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, as I said, it was already kind of in motion, and I'd restructured a lot of the business. I'd pay, you know, just put systems in place that meant that I wasn't the one doing all of the things. You know, I was really paying attention to my numbers, tweaking things that needed to be done there rather than just kind of crossing my fingers and hoping that what I was doing was going to work at, at the end of the month or whatever.
00:18:51:08 - 00:19:09:06
Donna
So a lot of that that was already in motion and it kind of was that bittersweet moment where you can already see the progress that you're making in that space, but it's almost like too little, too late because the marriage was already kind of falling apart. So I continued to work on that. And I actually ended up selling that business.
00:19:09:06 - 00:19:36:10
Donna
And I think I know that part of the, the reason for selling was definitely going through this process, of unravelling and then putting myself back together and that putting back together was like really asking myself some big, tough questions about, like, what do I actually want? Or first of all, what are my core values? You know, like, what are the things that are most important to me?
00:19:36:12 - 00:20:08:01
Donna
How do I want to show up in the world for myself, but also for the people who mean the most to me? And what do I want more of? What I want less of? How do I want my world to look going forwards? What do I deserve? I think was a big one. Lots of big conversations with myself through my journal, I think was the best thing for me because I love journaling.
00:20:08:03 - 00:20:33:20
Donna
I don't always feel like doing it, but when I do do it, and when you look back, like when I look back through my journals, there's patterns, right? Like there's always patterns of the same thoughts coming up or the same feelings coming up with the same situations coming up. And then when you reflect back on them and you see it there, in like, you can't deny that those things.
00:20:33:20 - 00:20:49:00
Donna
So then you go, okay, if I don't like those things, I need to make a change. And the only person that can do that is me. So that's, I think, what journaling is so important for me. But yeah, just really getting clear about what those things are working with a counsellor was amazing. Like I had my own personal counsellor.
00:20:49:00 - 00:21:21:19
Donna
Then we had a marriage counsellor as well. And I think that then doing those practices, I did lots of like meditation and stuff. I cried snot, cried ugly, cried a lot, like a lot, a lot, a lot. And then I put a lot of courage in place to speak my needs. And that's massive. Yeah. And then then we.
00:21:21:19 - 00:21:44:23
Donna
Yeah. Our marriage, we we decided to, you know, get back together. Continue to restructure the business, sold the business. And now do things differently. There's always a lot of self-awareness that happens. Like, I'm always tapping into it. Okay. How am I feeling? What am I thinking? What are the repetitive thoughts I'm having? What am I journaling about?
00:21:45:01 - 00:21:48:19
Donna
You know, and changing things if things need to be changed?
00:21:49:00 - 00:22:06:10
Filly
Yeah, I love that. It definitely sounds like like living in alignment is the word that just kept coming into my head as you were describing all of that. It's like, what do I want? What am I deserving of? What do I value? How do I want my life to look like? How do I want my relationship to look like?
00:22:06:10 - 00:22:31:12
Filly
And then creating that? Yeah, yeah. You mentioned before, like I think you said, this is one of the reasons why I love helping women in business and regional women because like, they're juggling so much. So what are what are some common challenges that women in business are facing that is leading to burnout?
00:22:31:14 - 00:22:54:18
Donna
I think juggling all the things, like the expectation that we have in society of how we need to do all the things and do them all really, really well, just kind of sets us up to fail. So that's, that's one thing I think, a in regional areas and this is, this is a bit of a generalisation, but I do think it's true.
00:22:54:18 - 00:23:19:12
Donna
I think it's at least worth mentioning. Right. Is the traditional gender roles I think are a little bit more, sometimes more traditional in regional rural areas as to the expectation of what the woman does compared to what the man does. And yes, we've had a lot of change in that over the years, which is amazing. And can still continues to be.
00:23:19:12 - 00:23:47:07
Donna
But I think there's still the still is that there? And that can be a challenge. The other thing is in regional areas in particular, there's typically a lot of shift working, families and fly in, fly out families, because in smaller areas, obviously there's not always a great deal of employment. So you kind of have to look outside the box for that kind of stuff.
00:23:47:12 - 00:24:09:19
Donna
And that puts extra pressure on as well. And feeling really seen in a small community can be both a blessing and a curse. So, you know, we all have, I think, in business, in small business in general, like we're doing all the things right. We're doing the marketing and we, the CFO, the CMO, we're the CEO, we're doing all of the things.
00:24:09:21 - 00:24:38:15
Donna
But also, it's nice to be able to sometimes be, to just be you without doing the business stuff. And when you're in a small community where everybody knows everybody, it's you feel like you've got to be that professional person all the time, which adds another layer of pressure. I mean, I know we've moved to Perth recently, and we're still in regional area, but it's a much bigger place than where we were before.
00:24:38:17 - 00:24:54:19
Donna
Where we were before in Queensland for the last 15 years was like 8000 people in one town. And then we had a sister town right next door, which was another 8000. That's still pretty small. And so, you know, I'd walk down the street and I'd I'd know everybody and I'd know their kids because they'd be at my dance studio as well.
00:24:54:19 - 00:25:05:18
Donna
And I'd have my kids that, you know, also at the age where, you know, we're going through tantrums and stuff like that, you're like, oh my God, I've got to try to be really professional here. When my kids like slightly rude and don't.
00:25:05:18 - 00:25:08:06
Filly
Teach children and my child's going crazy.
00:25:08:11 - 00:25:40:00
Donna
Yes. Yeah. So I think that adds a level of complexity sometimes. Sometimes to it. And, you know, when we you're that fear of failure and, you know, you're trying to build this version of success in a small community where everybody sees what's going on, sometimes that can feel, like a lot to hold, I think. So in particular, like if we're speaking directly about regional rural women in business, I think those are the biggest things that come up.
00:25:40:00 - 00:26:01:09
Donna
But often in general, people will be like, oh my God, there's so much marketing that I need to do. I think that's one of the biggest pain points for a lot of people. And just the overwhelm, managing that overwhelm, and the mindset, you know, I think we consume a lot. Right. And I love learning myself. And I teach, you know, like I have my membership and things like that.
00:26:01:09 - 00:26:18:06
Donna
So I'm helping people to grow their business by giving them the information, the tools, the business tools. But we also have to have the mindset tools that go along with that, because we can have all of the things that we need. We can know the things that we need to do, but why do we not do the things that we know we should be doing?
00:26:18:08 - 00:26:38:10
Donna
And I think that circles back to a lot of like body burnout. I would imagine in the space that you guys see, like we we know what we need to do. We know we should be exercising, eating healthy, doing all the things. So why do we do the things we do when we know the things we know? We still self-sabotage.
00:26:38:10 - 00:26:53:18
Donna
You still make the wrong choices. So I think the other challenge that may not necessarily be at the forefront of some people's minds, because maybe they haven't kind of done the work in that space before, but it's mindset. I think mindset is the biggest thing.
00:26:53:20 - 00:27:21:10
Filly
Yeah I agree as you were talking about that I'm like yep tick tick tick tick tick. I've experienced all of that as a regional businesswoman. But this year I was a finalist in the Agri Futures Regional Women's Award, which was really, really cool process to being because they're so supportive. But also I learnt a lot as well.
00:27:21:12 - 00:27:49:00
Filly
So at the award ceremony, the woman who won is amazing. Sarah. She has a, a non-for-profit business called A Thousand Hearts. But in her speech, she, pulled out some stats and said that mental health. I can't remember the percentage, but it was it was a significant amount of people in regional areas. Have more mental health issues in those in more urban cities, which was interesting.
00:27:49:02 - 00:28:18:17
Filly
Yeah. Because sometimes you think it would be the opposite. It's like, oh, but hang on, aren't the people in the cities like the disconnected ones? And I bet there's a whole heap of reasons why mental health, issues are more predominant in regional areas. And I think you just explained some of them. Yeah. And because I was talking to a lot of women and in that, that space too, there are a lot of women in Agricole, and, you know, or they've grown up in generational farms or, you know, they're in this space.
00:28:18:18 - 00:28:59:03
Filly
So many of them were like, not all like not all of them, but there was definitely a, a gender issue happening there, like a patriarchal issue. Even one of our clients actually came to us. And her source of burnout, I mean, it came to it like always with our clients, there's a deep root, identity based belief that's been causing the patterns and that overwhelm and then showing up in their body that, like the source of it or what created it, was that she was the oldest child, but that farm was given to the son, without even like a conversation or even as splitting up.
00:28:59:03 - 00:29:19:07
Filly
All of it was almost like you're a girl. You don't matter. Here you go. Have this. And it led to so many patterns down the track of like trying to get external validation to prove that, no, I am good enough. Like I am a woman. I am good enough. And so that yeah, it is actually still quite insidious in the regional area I think.
00:29:19:10 - 00:29:49:13
Donna
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I mean, you know, we we've average like my husband comes from a farming background, in regional Victoria. So like I can see the, the play out that kind of happens in the dynamic particularly down in, in that area. You know, being that it is very much, you know, regional rural kind of space down there, here and in Queensland where we were, it's more like in Queensland is more of an industrial kind of space.
00:29:49:15 - 00:30:11:10
Donna
And then where I am now, it's interesting because we're only an hour, hour and a bit away from Perth City. But this there's a bit of a blend here of both. What you were just describing that kind of, rural, farming industry. And then you've got, like, tourism and you've got some other stuff that are happening around as well.
00:30:11:10 - 00:30:39:04
Donna
But yeah, definitely, I think there's still when I talk to I was at a networking event yesterday and there's still this discussion around like the expectations that, yeah, you can have a business, but you also have to be the primary caregiver and be the one responsible for the after school activities and all of those kinds of things. It's like, yeah, it's just added to the plate, rather than it being more equalised.
00:30:39:04 - 00:31:03:21
Donna
And it's, you know, every family is different. And, I think it's the conversations that need to be had between partners to make sure that that feels more equal, and logistically that it works. You know, different working hours and stuff sometimes just dictate the way that that responsibilities land. But, it needs to be a conversation. I think that happens more often.
00:31:03:22 - 00:31:11:07
Donna
To help, to put an end to that kind of burn out that that tends to happen from just that alone.
00:31:11:07 - 00:31:33:08
Chris
Yeah. Otherwise there's resentment. Isn't that like it just festers. It just builds. We've got to ruin our relationship, our whole family, actually. You have to communicate. If if you hold it in, if you hold it in, you'll get resentment, you get annoyed, you get frustrated. Yeah. We're we're, we've got a clear rule in our family, don't we?
00:31:33:08 - 00:31:44:01
Chris
Like. You have to. If you're not happy, if you've got something you have to say. You want to say, you got to say it. Otherwise, yeah. You bring the whole team down?
00:31:44:06 - 00:31:46:08
Filly
Yep, yep.
00:31:46:10 - 00:31:59:00
Chris
I love I love my favourite line is, you know, if there's an issue, but it's it's kind of like an individual thing by. Well, you got to sort that out, honey.
00:31:59:02 - 00:32:18:23
Filly
But it also we, we, I mean, we had a staff meeting the other day too and it and because we hold a wholehearted about that in our personal family life, it also just like overflows into everything, the staff meetings, even our conversations with our clients. Yeah. Like I could tell that a client had something to say about me.
00:32:19:01 - 00:32:37:20
Filly
Yeah. In this session, she was just holding back, and I'm just like, she's like, oh, I don't, I don't know or I don't know if I should say it. I'm like, I'm a big girl. I've done my work. It's okay, I don't care. Yeah, yeah. And she said it. And then she felt so relieved. And I'm like, oh, is that okay?
00:32:37:22 - 00:32:58:02
Donna
Yeah. And you know that's where mindset so big right. Because probably what she'd conjured up in her mind was far bigger than what she actually needed to say. Yeah. Yeah. So we ruminate on stuff and you know, I think that that plays such a big part in our lives as individuals, but also as like business owners as well.
00:32:58:02 - 00:33:08:18
Donna
So I love that you guys have that ingrained in your family culture, but also in your business culture as well as what you do. It's it's really important. Yeah.
00:33:08:20 - 00:33:31:12
Filly
The other thing that I haven't really thought about this, but, like far out, I used to feel this not so much because I'm, you know, more secure and like, I love myself and I accept myself and trust myself. But before I did any of that, what we call metaphysical work, the deeper rewiring, reprogramming far out the like living in a small town and being seen.
00:33:31:14 - 00:33:47:07
Filly
Yeah. And feeling like, oh, like I'm under practitioner. I have to make sure that, you know, when we're at, at this school fair that all my kids are eating healthy and like, now you can't have fairy floss. And like, I really want a sausage and bread because that smells really nice. And I'm like, oh, I couldn't eat that.
00:33:47:09 - 00:33:50:01
Chris
Or at the airport when I came to us.
00:33:50:01 - 00:33:57:11
Filly
Oh yeah. Like, yeah, there was it, there was an experience of went and got some Nando's chicken and chips and.
00:33:57:13 - 00:33:59:11
Chris
Chris is sitting there all along, I don't.
00:33:59:11 - 00:34:24:04
Filly
Know, we even sat and I can't remember if this was a deliberate on my part because I'm like, if we sit far, far away from lots of people, then there's highly unlikely we'll bump into anyone that we know. Probably whether it was a conscious, it would have been an unconscious thought if it was wasn't conscious. But then randomly in Melbourne, two people from our little town and just like, oh, hey, Chris and Filly.
00:34:24:06 - 00:34:25:06
Chris
Hello, I'm here.
00:34:25:07 - 00:34:44:12
Filly
And they're like, and they're like, you enjoying your dinner? And I'm like, trying to hide that. I'm, you know, I don't do that anymore. But that, like, that is an experience that I think a lot of women would have until they can do this work or it's like, you know, what I can show off is me and I can put my hat on in any space.
00:34:44:14 - 00:34:59:06
Filly
And if someone judges me for that, that because, like, I'm wearing UGG boots and trackies to the supermarket instead of my suit. I don't think many women wear suits these days. Where we are, where we fit. Yeah. So that was that was an interesting point I like.
00:34:59:06 - 00:35:06:17
Donna
Yeah, but it's so true. It is so true. Yeah. So it is liberating when you shed that and let go of that 100%. Yeah.
00:35:06:17 - 00:35:39:04
Filly
Yeah. Okay. So so you are very passionate about preventing burnout, but also balancing also holding space to like going after your goals, having ambition, achieving the things that you want to achieve. So I like some some tips I guess you of being able to to also I love that ambitious part of you in the end, you know, in wanting more for yourself or for your business or for your family.
00:35:39:07 - 00:35:41:21
Filly
Yeah. Without burning out.
00:35:41:23 - 00:36:02:00
Donna
Yeah. And it is hard, right? It is hard because I'm an ambitious person. I work with a lot of ambitious women, and we should be able to be in business and go after what we want. Like that's part of our character. That's who we are. So you can't deny that. Because again, back to your point, Chris, that you mentioned before, if we deny that we become resentful for that.
00:36:02:02 - 00:36:32:15
Donna
So it is tricky. It is tricky to work around. I think, one of the, one of the things that is really helped me personally, and I share this analogy with anyone who wants to talk about it because they always go, oh, that's such a good way of looking at it. Is I kind of grab all of the different elements, and I imagine that they're either a rubber ball or a glass ball, because we always say, are we juggling all these things?
00:36:32:15 - 00:36:52:07
Donna
So let's just flow with that. So we've got these balls. There are the glass or the rubber I like it. Some of those balls, if they're if let's say that they're a glass bowl, if we drop the ball, it's either going to scratch or it's going to shatter or it's going to, you know, dent or whatever.
00:36:52:09 - 00:37:13:21
Donna
If it's a rubber ball, it's going to bounce. Right. So in wanting to be ambitious, you've got big goals, you've got big aspirations for your business. You're also running a family. Maybe you've got a property, maybe you know, you've got your self-care, you've got all these different relationships. And we're not just a partner, we're also a sister. We're also an auntie where, you know, all of we're a friend.
00:37:13:21 - 00:37:35:10
Donna
We've got all these responsibilities. So looking at it as glass balls or rubber balls and understanding the season of life or the season of business that you're currently in. And that's about really checking in with where things are at. I, you know, I am a bit of a wee wee as well as being really strategic and logically minded.
00:37:35:10 - 00:37:55:12
Donna
So I'm always like just taking that time to connect in with myself and go, okay, where am I feeling aligned and where am I feeling really off? And sometimes I feel really aligned and other times I don't. But I'm checking in with myself all the time and also taking note of how everyone energetically is feeling around me, in the family home and that kind of stuff.
00:37:55:14 - 00:38:23:19
Donna
But as an example of how I've recently used this kind of analogy to help me kind of get through a bit of a chaotic period of time. So nine months ago we moved from Queensland to Western Australia and the decision was very, very quick. So it came about because my husband's, company, they offered him a transfer and a promotion and, you know, all of the, the bells and whistles that went with it.
00:38:23:21 - 00:38:44:05
Donna
And I grew up in Perth, so it was like a way of us to get back, to be closer to my family, because in Queensland, we weren't close to my husband's family because they're in Victoria. So we're sort of isolated. So, you know, it was great, but it happened in an eight week period. So from the time they said, yes, you've got the job to the day that I landed here with the kids was eight weeks.
00:38:44:05 - 00:39:02:18
Donna
It was crazy. It was really fast. So we packed up our house. We sold our house. We, you know, wrapped up all the stuff with the kids. We got them into a new school. It was nuts. It was really not. So I had to really go, okay, what can I treat as a rubber bowl and what can I treat as a glass bowl right now?
00:39:02:18 - 00:39:23:06
Donna
So the family became the glass bowl, my kids settling them into a new school, transitioning them away from their friends there to a new place that you know, they didn't have any friends. Troy needed extra support in, you know, stepping into this new role. That was a step up for him. So, you know, there's always that feeling, the fear and doing it anyway.
00:39:23:06 - 00:39:43:07
Donna
And all of the stuff that happens there. You know, we went into a, more competitive housing market, so it was hard to find a house. We were in an Airbnb for five months. Like, it was really crazy. So the business became the rubber bowl, and I allowed that to bounce. I let go of stuff. I stopped doing my podcast.
00:39:43:09 - 00:40:08:22
Donna
I backed off on marketing because I couldn't serve any more clients than I already was. So there's no point in, you know, doing all my marketing. So I pulled back on all the stuff that wasn't necessary, and I allowed my business to bounce for a while. I didn't love it. I would say I didn't love it because the perfectionist in me, like the person who wants to make sure that I'm always putting my best foot forward and I'm always autographing my last piece of work with excellence.
00:40:08:22 - 00:40:27:13
Donna
It wasn't in that space for my business at that time. I was just trying to, like, keep my head above water and serve the current clients that I had. But just making that adjustment in my mind to be like, it's a rubber ball, it's allowed to bounce. It's not going to break. I can recover back. Whatever happens there, I can recover from it.
00:40:27:15 - 00:40:53:16
Donna
Is my financial like, is my revenue going to take a hit? Absolutely. But that's okay for now. I can catch up on that later. Whereas if I drop the glass ball, if I don't make this as best of an experience for my kids as possible. If I don't support Troy in his role by taking the responsibility of the kids and trying to find and he has to buy and, you know, taking the the heat of most of that, he could maybe not do so well at this new job.
00:40:53:16 - 00:41:23:04
Donna
And then where where are we? You know, on the other side of the country now with no job, you know. So that was really helpful for me. And it's been really helpful for me in the past with different things. The other thing that helps is, that question around, is this going to matter in five years time? You know, when you get yourself in a bit of a overwhelm spiral of, oh my God, I haven't sent out my weekly newsletter, or I haven't done this or I haven't done that, is it really going to matter in five years time?
00:41:23:04 - 00:41:35:13
Donna
Probably not. You're probably not even going to remember thinking about it. So it's okay to let it go. Yeah. So that would probably be one of the biggest things that I think has really helped me.
00:41:35:15 - 00:41:37:01
Chris
That's a cool analogy, I love.
00:41:37:01 - 00:41:38:01
Filly
It, I do love to.
00:41:38:05 - 00:41:39:22
Chris
Call glass bowls. Rubber bowls.
00:41:39:22 - 00:41:40:17
Filly
Yeah.
00:41:40:18 - 00:41:59:11
Chris
Yeah. Because the juggling real for so many people like that, they've got so many things up in the air. Some, some of the things they're not even aware that they're, they've got in the air, you know what I mean? Like they're just unconsciously juggling things for just because that's the way it's always been done in their family, in their community, in their business, whatever.
00:41:59:13 - 00:42:01:14
Chris
Yeah. Rubber balls. Glass balls I love it.
00:42:01:16 - 00:42:02:00
Filly
00:42:02:05 - 00:42:29:08
Donna
Yeah. And I think the other thing too is allowing yourself to change if you feel like you need to or change something in your business. And that can be tricky right. Like I'm currently, looking at changing some things inside of my business, which makes sense, but also really kind of doesn't. So like there's part of my brain is like, yes, we're going to do this and it's going to make everything so much better.
00:42:29:12 - 00:42:50:10
Donna
But then the other side of my brain goes, yeah, but that's the opposite thing that you've kind of been working towards for a while. So what, you know, and I've been allowing myself the space to work through that. And yeah, my human design is that I do need to ride the wave until it's a ripple before making a decision.
00:42:50:11 - 00:43:11:23
Donna
I'm not like if I make a fast decision, it always ends up causing some, some chaos or some upheaval, hence making a really quick decision to move across the country. I was also dealing with that in my human design as well, so it was a bit crazy. But yeah, like just being aware that, you know, it doesn't have to be that way.
00:43:11:23 - 00:43:30:21
Donna
Like if your season of business or your season of life changes, if your kids, you know, going from having little babies to priest, primary school kids to high school kids to moving out of home, like, that's a whole season of life change that affects so many other things. Just as a one example to use. It's okay to change things up.
00:43:31:02 - 00:43:32:06
Donna
00:43:32:08 - 00:43:57:21
Filly
Yeah. Yeah, totally. Yeah. For sure. It's it's very timely that we talk about the balls because before we hit record, you like, how are you going? I'm like, yeah, I just got I got a lot of emails that I need to like create and schedule before launch. And this is and like, even as I was talking to you before we hit record, it's like, and if I only get some done, it's okay.
00:43:57:23 - 00:44:17:01
Filly
Where is where is like past fully though, I would have been like, oh no, I have to stay up. I have to like make sure this gets done. I'm going to say, sacrifice my going out for my work and being in nature. And, I don't know, we'll probably go buy some fast food for dinner instead so I can get this done.
00:44:17:01 - 00:44:25:10
Filly
Whereas it's like at the end of the day, I mean, it might affect launch probably won't end. Even if it does, it's like, cool, there's another one.
00:44:25:12 - 00:44:28:02
Donna
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:44:28:07 - 00:44:47:09
Filly
And I feel very the same around house housework as well. And I think that a lot of people like everything needs to be tidy and everything needs to be done this way. And it's like really like, is that a glass bowl? I think probably 95% of the time it's going to be a rubber bowl. Really? Yeah, yeah. And it's just tied up to to self-worth.
00:44:47:12 - 00:44:51:15
Filly
That's like, well, if I have a messy house then I'm no good. Yeah.
00:44:51:21 - 00:45:10:04
Donna
And it'll I'll be there like the next day. You know I think that's it. I used to work, like I said, when the kids were small especially, I'd work whenever they slept. And that included, like, in the middle of the night sometimes, you know, I'd be like, oh, I've just had this idea. Oh, that thing that I didn't get done, I'm just going to go and do it now at like one in the morning while the rest of the house is asleep.
00:45:10:06 - 00:45:32:21
Donna
And now, like, I strictly work between school hours, unless it's like a really, really if it is a glass bowl thing, that really has to happen. But I get to Night-Time and I'm cooked like there's no way that I want to be working at my desk at that time doing stuff or on the weekends. But now it's become more of like an actual intentional shift.
00:45:32:21 - 00:45:52:04
Donna
It's a choice. And that's, you know, just circling back to, like, you can change thing. It's actually more about choice. Like, we always have a choice. And sometimes I think particularly in business, it's like, oh no, that's you can fall into the trap of feeling like you don't have a choice because you've, you know, got responsibilities and stuff.
00:45:52:04 - 00:46:30:18
Donna
And yeah, we do. And maybe then it might need to be change management that happens between, you know, from when you make the decision that there's going to be a change to when you actually roll it out. But remembering that we do have choice and energetically, if we don't make the choice that we know is aligned for us, it's going to show up in other ways, whether it be resentment, whether it be through our health, whether it be through things just not falling into place the way they would have otherwise, because we've gone against the grain of what we know to be true to our like our authentic self or our core knowing.
00:46:30:20 - 00:46:31:11
Donna
Do you know what I mean?
00:46:31:11 - 00:46:56:22
Filly
Yeah, slightly so good. Amen, sister. Yeah. All right. So this is been so good. If anyone has been listening, especially if she's a regional businesswoman and she's like, oh, I'd love to find out more about Donna and how she could help support me, juggle all the things and create a business of my dreams without fanning out.
00:46:57:00 - 00:46:59:19
Filly
Where can people find you?
00:46:59:21 - 00:47:21:17
Donna
Well, up my websites, Donna Hann.com. And I'm on, Instagram. You can find me at Donovan underscore coach on Facebook to have a podcast if people want to. If you're a podcast listener, you can come and catch me in Filly. We've got an episode. That'll be on there soon. It's called the She's in Business podcast.
00:47:21:19 - 00:47:47:03
Donna
And I've put a resource together, to help people. If, you know, mindset is something that, you know, you need to do more on regarding business, which we all do, we all do. It's like a never ending, ongoing thing, that I think requires our attention and, is really worthwhile doing so. I've created like a little resource that kind of just steps through a few things to help around mindset.
00:47:47:03 - 00:48:05:06
Donna
If, you're a business owner. So, that's donegan.com/110 if anyone wants to go and grab it. But yeah. Always open to answering questions and helping people to achieve their dreams without burning out and without burning down their relationships in the process.
00:48:05:10 - 00:48:06:03
Chris
Love it.
00:48:06:05 - 00:48:17:13
Filly
So good. I'll make sure all those are in the show notes. And you are also coming into our ending body fan out method as well to talk with our clients around five to thrive.
00:48:17:14 - 00:48:44:04
Donna
Yes yes yes. So, I'm a certified high performance coach, and part of the framework that sits under that is some, some like five different core elements that ensure that you can reach that vision of success in the life that you want, whilst maintaining your relationships and your self-care and your being. So what I'm going to talk about in that masterclass, so the the five things that you can do to thrive in that space.
00:48:44:04 - 00:48:57:11
Donna
And it's relevant not just for business owners but for people in in general as well. They're things that you can apply to everyday life, which is why I love what I do, because it's so applicable to to so many different people. And yeah, yeah.
00:48:57:12 - 00:49:02:13
Filly
So any clients listening get there be there can be say come.
00:49:02:13 - 00:49:04:07
Donna
To the come to the class. It's gonna be.
00:49:04:07 - 00:49:10:00
Filly
Awesome. Choose. Very good. All right. Well thank you so much.
00:49:10:02 - 00:49:12:09
Donna
So welcome. Thanks for having me on the show. It's been really.
00:49:12:09 - 00:49:18:23
Chris
Thank you. Donna. It was awesome. All right, everybody, have the best week ever. And, we'll catch you on the next episode.
