15 years ago, I gave

up alcohol, cold Turkey.

Everyone thought I was

a little bit strange.

I am a bit strange, by

the way, but anyway, it

turns out it was the best

decision I have ever made.

That choice gave me the energy

to grow my business, walk

into bigger rooms, and become

according to my kids, the

happiest person they know.

Isn't that cool that your

kids think that you are the

happiest person they know?

In this episode, I'm sharing

The Secret Sauces

that have changed my

life and my business

and how you can

find yours too.

How does that sound?

We all want a little bit

of secret sauce, don't we?

In our lives?

I wanna share three

personal stories with you.

These are small but mighty

decisions that have shaped who

I am as a mom, who I am as a

business woman and a leader.

I call them my secret sauce.

They're not actually

that complicated, but

they have huge impact.

And maybe just, maybe they'll

spark something for you too.

Let's start with

the first one.

15 years ago, I gave

up alcohol cold turkey.

Here's the truth.

I thought it was normal to

have a four day hangover

from half a glass of wine.

Aaron, like it's not, turns

out it's not normal at all.

Turns out I was very

allergic, so I stopped.

Cold Turkey at first.

People laughed.

This was a long

time ago, right?

So we didn't have all the

array of non-alcoholic

beverages around.

You had a choice of

water or soft drink.

That was kind of it.

I was the weird one who drank

water at parties because you

can only have so much Coke.

Zero.

but here's what happened.

When I gave up, I

started sleeping properly.

Deep restorative sleep

where I'd wake up energized

instead of exhausted

my moods, evened out.

No more highs, no more lows,

just steadier, calmer, more

consistent energy, and I

do have a lot of energy.

I naturally ate better.

Without the late night

munchies or the sugar

cravings, my food choices

just improved without me

even trying, and I felt

clearheaded all the time.

The fog lifted.

I could think faster, make

decisions more easily, and

I focused on what mattered.

That one choice.

Walking away from alcohol

gave me better health,

a sharper mind and

more consistent energy.

Isn't that what we all want?

That also flowed

into everything else.

My family got the best of me.

I'm always the driver

wherever we go.

My husband loves that

and my business gets

the best of me as well.

So let me ask you,

What's your secret sauce?

What's the one decision

you could make this

week that would give

you better sleep, better

energy, or more clarity?

It isn't about

giving up alcohol.

That was just the thing

that I needed to do.

Yeah.

So I'm not here to preach

I'm just here to tell

you what happened to me.

Number two, secret sauce

is always being the

small fish in a big pond.

We recorded a podcast

episode about this a

couple of weeks ago, and

it's gone gangbusters.

I have had so many

people reach out to me.

You see, when I first started

in my business, I enrolled

in a business school and

it was super intimidating.

I was surrounded by people

making half a million,

a million, even more,

and I was making donuts.

Zero, $0.

Were there tears?

Yes, there were.

Were there moments when

I felt like an imposter?

Absolutely.

But I stayed.

I stayed because I knew

deep down that that's

where I needed to be.

Here's what I learned

in those rooms.

They freaking stretch you

like you wouldn't believe.

You start thinking bigger just

by being around people who've.

Done things that you didn't

even know were possible.

They humble you.

You realize you don't know

it all, and that's exactly

what pushes you to grow.

For me, I had an extra thing

because I have always been

brought up with a narrative

that I'm not that bright.

So it was an extra chunk

on top of that, right?

And I've had to

work through that.

And they change your

standards what once felt

impossible becomes normal.

'cause everyone around

you is doing it.

And as my business grew, I

had to keep finding new rooms.

Rooms where I

wasn't the leader.

I mean, I'm a great

leader, don't get me wrong.

But even leaders need

bigger rooms, right?

Rooms where I knew the

least rooms that made

me so uncomfortable.

My skin was like,

yeah, what am I doing?

But there's magic.

That's where the

magic happens.

The new ideas, the

new connections,

the new inspiration.

That's what fuels growth.

So here's my question for you.

Are you in the right room?

If you are always the

biggest fish, you've

outgrown it, maybe it's

time to find a bigger pond.

Number three, The

happiest person they know.

This third one is so close

to my heart, and when my kids

said it, and they've said it

multiple times, now I have

started to actual believe

that I'm the happiest person.

Out there, right?

My kids often say to

me, mom, you're the

happiest person I know.

Isn't that delightful?

They know a lot of people,

so I feel like that's one of

the best compliments as a mom

you could probably receive.

Now, just to be really clear,

I'm not happy every single

minute of every single day.

Life throws curve balls.

Business gets hard.

Things do not go to plan,

but here's the truth.

Happiness doesn't

happen by accident.

It's the result of the

choices I make and continue

to make and how I manage my

attitude every single day.

I had someone recently

say to me, Emma.

You are well known

in this community for

a couple of things.

One is every day you tell

us, happy Monday, or Happy

Tuesday, or Happy Wednesday.

And this goes back for me 20

years when I worked into a

workplace that was miserable.

And I'm like, I can make

the choice to be the

leader that I am and have

a decent attitude or not.

And so from that moment,

I decided to walk in and

every morning it was.

Happy Monday, happy

Tuesday, happy Wednesday.

And that has carried me

through for 20 years.

Apparently Serena

does it as well.

It's so random that

both of us do it.

But anyway, and what

now happens is when I'm

speaking to my clients,

whether they are CEOs of

a massive organization,

whether they're CEOs in

a smaller organization,

I've got one client, she's

$365 million business.

When I get on Zoom with her,

she like gets on and she needs

to get in first, and there's

always Happy Monday, Emma,

and it's like a competition.

Isn't that lovely?

People choosing their attitude

alongside me is so good.

But the choices that I've

made are this, I've chosen

to look after my health.

The decision to give

up alcohol was first,

prioritizing sleep, eating

well, moving my body, all

the things you have to

look after your health.

If you don't look

after your health,

you don't actually

have anything else.

That's the one problem

that gets in the way if

it becomes a problem.

Right?

I am choosing always to stay

CURIOUS walking into the

bigger rooms, even when it

made me feel uncomfortable

trying to understand someone

if they don't have the

similar point of view to me.

All the things around

trying to stay curious.

I create space for joy.

I don't mean we

go to Legoland.

I don't mean we

go to Luna Park.

I just mean every single

day having a laugh with

my family, enjoying the

little things like a warm

cup of tea, strong, sweet.

That's how I like it.

Just the little day

things that give me

a little bit of joy.

My heated blanket is also

ranked up there, just

saying, and then finally

choosing to protect my

energy setting boundaries.

Carving out CEO

time, saying no.

When something doesn't align

and not feeling bad about it.

It's all around

protecting my energy.

And because of those choices,

my kids don't just see a

mom who's busy running a

business, although I am busy

running a business, but they

see a mom who's laughing.

Uh, I'm present,

I'm energized, and

I'm genuinely happy.

But ladies, it is an

inside job, not an

outside job, right?

You have to make the choice.

And I see so many women

going through life and

they are unhappy, and I'm

just like, just fix it.

You have the

capacity to fix it.

And I wanna ask you that if

the people closest to you were

asked to describe you in one

sentence, what would they say?

if happy isn't there, what

might you change to make

it true and doesn't even

matter if we're happy.

I feel like happiness is like

so underrated, so underrated.

So there I have my three

secret sources, giving up

alcohol for better health

and clarity, and no, none

of those four day hangovers.

Also no lifts in the

back of a divvy van

from a police officer.

But that's for another day.

Another day, another

podcast episode.

Uh, number two, putting myself

in bigger rooms for growth.

And three, choosing happiness

through intentional decisions.

None of these changes

have happened overnight,

by the way, step by step.

They have shaped the way

that I live, the way that

I love my people and the

way that I lead my people.

Right?

So what's your secret source?

What's one decision you

could make this week to

give yourself more energy,

more growth, or more?

And if you're ready to

step in, step into a bigger

room, a bigger space, we

have a couple, just two

spots available in our VIP

one-on-one coaching with me.

That's a 12 month commitment

for people who are go-getters.

You get access to me, we have

monthly sessions, you get

recordings, you get to come

to go getters day, you get

to come to all the things.

And you get to grow, grow into

whatever the next version of

you is, because we don't wanna

just stay stagnant, do we?

Your secret sauce could

change everything.

Find it, honor it, and let

it fuel the life and the

business that you truly want.