Badass Is The New Black (Season 3) Episode #1: Getting Unstuck And Moving Forward In The New Year With Heidi Dawson

mindset Mar 12, 2022

e can all agree that the year 2020 was probably one of the worst years in history. Now that 2021 is upon us, we should push aside the emotional and mental fatigue we've had from such a hard year and get ready for something better. On today’s show, Krissy Chin is excited to have Heidi Dawson as her first guest to help her usher in the new year. Heidi is an author, an interior designer, a lifestyle entrepreneur, and the host of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast. Today, she lets us in on her secret to getting unstuck and not letting our past define us but using our story to move forward.

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Getting Unstuck And Moving Forward In The New Year With Heidi Dawson

Leave 2020 Behind You And Make 2021 Your Most Joyful Year Yet

We can all agree that 2020 was one of the worst years in history in the life that we are living in. We are ready for the better. We're ready to get unstuck. We're ready to push aside that emotional, mental fatigue that we've had from such a hard year and we're ready to not let it define us. We're ready to move past and let our story and what we've experienced, propel us forward instead of holding us back. That's why I'm excited to have Heidi on as our first guest in 2021, to help us get unstuck, to help us not let our past define us and be able to use our story to move forward. Thank you for being here. I can't wait for you to get the most out of this episode.

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Heidi is a lifestyle entrepreneur host of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast. She's an author and interior designer. Her mission in life is to inspire all of us to live our version of an intentional, beautiful, wildly successful life. Girlfriend, you are pulling at my heart here. I love your mission, all about it. Thank you for being here. I'm super excited to talk to you.

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be on here.

Let's tell the readers a bit about your background as an interior designer, you're an entrepreneur. Let us know how you got to where you are.

I am an interior designer by trade. I have been doing that for several years. I love doing that. Part of that is because I love making people feel beautiful and calm in their homes. Since I was a little girl, I've always loved to encourage people and make them feel comfortable in their own skin and feel beautiful. That's why interior design became my trade. I started doing it and I was doing a bit of commercial spaces, mainly residential though. I realized I was like, “I want a bit more.” We travel a lot. I wanted to do something that I could do when we travel. My podcast is a way that I can reach a lot of different people rather than one-on-one because as it is with your clients, our internet, they make money on the internet and they are reaching more people, which is beautiful about the internet, being able to do that. With my podcast, I'm able to reach into people's heads and say, “Don't give up, or here's my challenge to you this week.” If it's an interview, I'm looking for how to make each person think about how they can be better that week or it's about their skin, their interview, their mindset, or their design. I'll do design podcasts as well. It's an entire lifestyle podcast. That's where I am passionate about. That's where my focus is and I love it.

You still do interior design and you do the podcast as well.

I still do interior design. I always will because it is where my passion is and I feel at home when I'm doing it. When I'm in someone's space I'm always thinking about how they're going to be living in it, how they're going to feel when they're sitting there. The highest compliment for me that I can get from a client and I get them regularly from my clients is that, “I want you to know how I'm sitting here having coffee and I cannot believe how I'm enjoying my space.” I tell my clients too and I start with them especially if we're starting in one room which is fine. A lot of times designers will say, “I want to do the whole project.” I don't mind starting in one room because it snowballs. It’s wonderful, amazing. They're calling me back going, “All the other rooms in the house have to go.” My husband's on board because he loves it.

That was my office. I had a designer come in because I was like, “This is my space. This is my creativity where I need to feel good. I'm going to be here all the time. I want it to be bright and feel my energy so we can feed off of it.” It snowballed. It was like, “Can you also spruce up the living room? That's open to the kitchen so we've got to do something with that hardware and this room in the entryway.”

How much happier are your kids and your husband. To me, when your home is your sanctuary, especially you, you work from home and your home office is where you live during the day. It should feel and represent who you are as a person. That's something that I feel is undervalued sometimes by people. They think their home is a place to lay their head. I cannot express to you the importance that I find in having your home feel a respite for you. That means different things to different people. That could be energetic to some people and it could be calm. For me, I'm more calming. I like to have a calm space. We don't have children, it's not full of activity all the time. There are some clients where they have lots of children and they want it to feel energetic and they want people to have creativity everywhere. It's a different feel. Each person can define that but your home should represent who you are and make your kids want to do homework. If it's cluttered, they can't think. There are lots of different ways to look at the design. For sure, your home should reflect who you are.

We're not even going to be talking about this for our topic. It's not about design but I love this. I was picturing like, “What would my house look like if there weren't children and five adults in her?” I was like, “It would be clean.”

Your home should reflect who you are.

We won't talk about design anymore but you can tell I'm passionate about it. It does fall in line with what I do.

I'm home all the time but now that everyone's home all the time, I'm seeing a lot more people get into, “This is my space. This is where I am and I want it to feel good.” I didn't take the plunge until I felt I had the financial means because I couldn't do it myself. I had some ideas but I wanted someone who was a professional to come in and I tell them what I like and make the magic happen. I was waiting for that financial piece to make sense for me to do it but I'm glad I did. If you are creative in the least and like to do that stuff, take the time to do it

For your readers, either because of COVID, they're working from home or because they work from home because they're working on the internet. Being able to have a space that is your own and that you define as a workspace, that is interesting to me. I've seen that change. When I first started my podcast was right at the beginning of COVID. I wasn't going to talk about all of that and then I went, “What do people need? They're at home and they're not used to being there.” My first episode was How to Set Up Your Home Office. A lot of people liked it because they're like, “I need that because all of a sudden, I'm at home, I'm working and I don't have space.” Multipurpose spaces became a thing. That's for which most people are working at home.

I love that you took what you're good at. That's your trade, design, passion for it. You have experience with it. Even transforming into this podcast to create and live the life that you want. You then found this need for, “People need this information about design right there at home.” You brought the two together, not for every episode but at least to integrate it in. That’s powerful. I want to point that out to the readers because I'm all about that. I'm all about taking your strengths, using them, and leveraging them in your business to generate success. When you can incorporate the things that you're comfortable with and familiar with and tie it in, it becomes aligned better.

Sometimes we go to high school and then we are forced to make a decision on what we want to be in college and you're young. I always say to people, “If you aren't loving what you're doing then figure out what you've always done naturally well.” You have a degree in this thing and that's where you're going to make your money for the time being. Why don't you start realizing and thinking, “Maybe I can make money doing this thing I love?” What I did was, I love people and I'm social so I thought, “What can I do that helps me connect with people on top of everything else?” During COVID when the lockdown was, I am social, I don't like to be isolated. I feel connected to my listeners when I'm doing the podcast. That was another thing. We all have weaknesses and we all have strengths. We want to not focus on our weakness. Let's focus on the strengths and let's find out, “Is this something I'm good at? Can I make money at that?” You can. That's what I encourage people to do. Figure out what you're good at and stay at it. Figure out a way to make money at it.

What would you say to someone who's like, “I'm not good at anything?” I hear that a lot.

That's not true. We all have strengths that are natural to us. Look at what you do in your downtime. My brother is a hunter and he loves to hunt. I've always said, “You need to do something either that gives you the amount of time that you can hunt enough to make you happy or do something where you're making money hunting. Maybe you take people on tours or you work something around hunting.” It doesn't matter what you do. You can figure out how to teach someone how to do that. That's the thing, you are good at something. You have to figure out what that is.

We're in an age where people are looking to the internet to find other people to learn from. They're not like, “What degree can I go get and pay all this money?” They're like, “Who do I connect with and vibe with and what they've got going on?” They're showing me a bit of building that trust and that they know what they're talking about. They're connecting with you and they're taking your advice and then they're buying your program or they're after into your membership.

It's helping them. You were talking about confidence and not thinking they're good at anything. That's one of the things that I would love for people to download. We take on labels. People don't have the confidence because someone else is telling him what they're doing and they’re like, “You should do this or you should do that.” You're listening to your husband or your wife or your parents and you're trying to do what pleases them. I am a big believer in the know who you are. Know what you want and work from there like, “What do I want?” I finished the book by James Clear, Atomic Habits. It's a good book. He writes in his journal every day and I've done this for two months, as I heard him say this, “What do I want?” It’ll change but find out what you want. If that means writing it down every day, it might change. It also could be that you realize, “I don't want to be doing what I'm doing. I want to create this.”

That's what I did. I didn't want to be working on massive projects where when we travel, we're in the islands and I'm worried about, “Is that sofa going to come in and be the wrong color?” I don't want to do that. I created a life where I don't have to worry about that anymore. I don't have to take on that project anymore, where I'm going to be in the islands worried about it. That's what I encourage people, to design that your life, the way you want it. That is possible and it is doable and you're making it happen for people through your ability to help them with business online. That is what your strength is.

You are good at something; you just have to figure out what that is.

Heidi’s got a podcast. We’re talking about the system and the process of it. I was like, “The system wasn't working for me.” When I had a bump in the road and had to stop my show for a bit, I was like, “I'm going to take this time to reassess how I do this.” Stressing about the episode releasing the next day and I don't have it is not working for me. I was like, “This is my business. I get to decide how it runs and what I do. Taking a few months off, I'm going to batch record. I'm going to make it work for me.” I love that you were like, “This is not working in my business so I'm going to add this other element to bring in more finances so I can shift and do that so I can travel and do the things.” I love what you said that example about your brother. It would be helpful if you either found something you could do that provided more time to do something you love or create something that you can make money off of doing the thing that you love.

Sometimes people think, “This is what I'm destined to do. I've got a 9:00 to 5:00 job. I can't do anything else.” It’s like, “Can you do that? In the meantime, I know you're tired, instead of watching Netflix, listen to the Badass is the New Black Podcast because you're going to learn how to do something online. Don't quit your day job yet but do something where you can create the life that you want because that's what we can do. We do not have to be miserable.” That's my message to everyone. If you have a dream in your heart and in your mind and you know you're meant for it, I promise you, you are. If you realize that then you'll start noticing opportunities that are opening. Doors are opening and walk through them. It may not be the door. The podcast, the way you were doing it may not have been the way but you're going to figure it out because you know it's well and you know you're helping people. You figure out what does work for you and eventually, you're going to catch onto something and you're going to go with it.

When you started this other branch, with podcasting and whatnot, is there something that you were doing in the beginning and you're like, “This is not working. I've got to shift and rotate.”

One hundred percent. I do my podcasts on Anchor. I was trying to record on Anchor. You can't stop and start because, at the time, you couldn't edit it. I figured out a way to record on a different program like GarageBand or QuickTime. Those are easy to edit. It's easy because I can start and stop. It doesn't matter. It was a nightmare. It was stressing me out. I had a friend who did studio production and stuff. He was like, “Heidi, you're an idiot. Do it this way.” It saved my life. I was ready to throw my hands up. I could think of 100 million things that I could tell you but that was one of the main things that helped me out a lot. That would've been something that could have been derailed my train but I didn't let it because I knew that this was what I was meant to do. When you know that and you know you're on your mission sometimes it takes a minute but when you know, you know. You notice the doors that open and there will be people that come in and say, “Try this.” My advice would be to try it.

Heidi and I are both living proof that you have got to take action and get started. That imperfect action that I talk about all the time in order to figure out what has to be tweaked and modified to fit into your perfect life, to your best life. You only get one. Let's work on keeping, working on improving it.

You only get one and you are responsible for it. We have stories, we have paths and we have things that we want to get sometimes it's justified. Somebody's like, “If that happened to me, I wouldn't make it.” I have a story. You have a story. You can either make that story work for you or you can make it be an anchor. I try to share that with everyone, to take your story. My book, it's not out yet but it's called The Art of Living A Wildly Successful Lifestyle. It's my journey from mildly to wildly. Mildly successful to wildly successful. Don't take your story and let it kill your dreams. Take your story and let it be stepping-stones to your success. Let it fuel you rather than dragging you down. Realize that the only person that can do that is you. You're the one that knows what's best for you inside your heart. You are it. It doesn't matter what you're on things. It doesn't matter what anybody thinks but you. If you are on a mission to do what you want to do, people are going to be like, “What in the world that?” They're going to be in awe of you and they can say, “That's good.” Somebody comes on and on about that.

I'm going to listen to that over and over again. There are many great nuggets. You don’t know what your mom thinks, that will be dull, what your neighbor thinks to stab you.

The neighbors can be trouble.

It’s powerful when you said, “You're responsible for it.”

we don't want to admit that. It's true. You have to decide whether you put that food in your mouth, nobody's forcing it. If you're trying to lose weight, it's nobody's fault but yours if you eat. You got to work on it. Sometimes there are reasons where, you are who you are but that still could be your story. I always say, “Take what you're doing and recognize that you are responsible. There's nobody else going to do it for you.” I had a guest on my podcast, he's a rough guy. He was like, “Nobody's coming to save you.” I loved that because I believe that. You have support but you're the only one that's going to do it for you.

Take your story and let it be stepping stones to your success.

Sometimes we can't control things that happen to us that are out of our control but 100%, the next action that you take, you can control. You can take ownership and responsibility. That doesn't mean that it's easy. You can be super hard and most of the time it is hard.

You control your thoughts about it. Don't deny your thoughts, you've got to feel your thoughts. You also have to realize that at some point you got to say, “Brain, I control you, you don't control me. I'm going to tell you what to think.” It's easy to get into, “If something bad happens.” Those things happen. It's okay to feel it and to process that but it's only going to be up to you. Whether you get through it and use it as fuel or whether it takes you down and people are like, “That happened. It’s justified.” I don't want to live that way.

I love that about you. If someone is like, “I'm feeling stuck. I'm feeling like I don't know which direction is up and down. I don't know where to go. I don't know what to do.” What are some words of wisdom from the amazing Ms. Heidi that you can give?

First of all, make sure to know where you are. Know where you are and know where you want to go. It's easy to sit there and go, “I don't know what to do.” That's because you haven't decided. You're not writing it down. I do vision boards all the time. If I were somebody and I felt stuck, I would want to get unstuck quickly. How do you do that? You think about, “What is the number one version of me? What is the best version of me? What would Wildly Successful look like for me? Not for anybody else, for me.” I would write it down and I would say, “I want to live here. I want to be doing this. I want to work this many hours. This is what that would look like.” I would go and I'd go to Walgreens, CVS or whatever the drug stores are around you and I'd get a phone core and I would get some magazines. I would make a vision board of what I want my life to look like. I would make copies of it. You can do a digital one. I do vision boards on Pages all the time. That's easier but you go online and you can click pictures. What does that look like? For me, I want 18% body fat. There's a certain house on the beach that I want. I love animals.

There are lots of things that I want and they're on my vision board. I also have the three words that are me on my vision board. I changed too. Don't accept other people's labels. You create what you want and you decide who you are because we're adults. We get to do that. That would be my advice. To know what you want, figure out where you are but know what you want. Knowing it, your brain wants to work towards it. It's like the old saying where you say, “If you don't think about the elephants, do not think about the elephant.” You're going to think about the elephant. Have that idea in your brain. You don't even have to take action yet. You're going to notice doors opening because you know what you want. There will be doors that are open and you walk through them. Be sure to take the action of walking through those doors when they pop up. I mentioned Atomic Habits. Somebody out there might be thinking, “I need some new habits.” Go buy that book by James Clear. It's a good book. Sometimes it's that. If you get nothing more from this, it may be that you read a book that told you to start this habit and that catapulted you into the next step of your life.

You've got a freebie for everyone reading.

Yes. There's a link, it's to my website. It goes along with knowing yourself and not taking on other people's labels. Sometimes we’re identified as, “She's the lazy one.” The favorite that I've heard before is, “She is mom's good little eater.” You have to not be mom's good little eater if you want a certain fitness. Those are the labels that we can hang on to. You decide who you are. That’s what this is. It's a process that people can walk through and decide their three words, it has to do with their core emotion, their style and then also who they want to be physically. Do you want to be 18% body fat? You're going to be that. If you come up with three words that you put everywhere, a reminder on your phone, put them on a sticky note on your mirror, remember that's who you are.

Your brain wants to make you right. If you think the world's working for you, it is. If you think the world's working against you, it is. Remember that. Your thoughts and words are powerful. These words that you create with this product, it's a free gift and it is a beautifully done PDF. It's fun to do because it has what are the brackets, how people fill out brackets. It has brackets of words that help you identify who you are. You boil it down to three words that you have. It's a fun process and it's an easy one. If you don't want to go through the whole thing, you skim it and come up with your three words. I'm okay with that too. Take your three words and be that

I have three words that pop up on my phone every morning at 10:00 AM. I view those. I recommend it. What are the projects that you're working on? Podcasts?

The podcast is Wildly Successful Lifestyle Podcast. I'm on Apple and Spotify. I do two a week. On Monday, it's a quick under ten minutes. Sometimes they're five minutes of motivation like, “My challenge for you this week is to know your brain or be a mindset, have a mindset.” If you want to run to the grocery store and listen to something good, that's what's Mondays for. On Wednesday, it's called Wednesday Wisdom. You’re episode number 47 for your readers. If they want to listen to us, do on the Wildly Successful Lifestyle Podcast. It's different, random things of how to be wildly successful. It could be design, business, health, any of those things. That’s that.

You're working on a book.

The Art of Being Wildly Successful: My Journey From Mildly to Wildly. It's an interesting story of my life but also combined with what you can do and the mindset that it takes. It's a fun story. It's not a long book. It's 100 pages. The link will be on my website as well.

Before we go, I've got a little game for us to play. It is going to be like a this or that, mixed with a would you rather. We're going to do it quickly, off the cuff. Answer quickly. If neither option and you've got a different option, throw it in there. This is your life. You get to answer how you want. Favorite season of the year?

Summer.

Go on a shopping spree with Kim Kardashian or the girls from Home Edit?

Kim Kardashian. I like fancy things. I don't even watch the Kardashians. I see her outfits and like, “I would wear that.” Some of them, they have to be toned down. I'd go shopping with Kim Kardashian.

Pool or beach?

Beach.

Would you rather have McSteamy or McDreamy be your real-life doctor?

McDreamy.

Work hard or play hard?

Play hard for sure. The reason why I didn't even blurt out play hard is that I like to work hard. If you had to give me a choice, I'm going to play.

Camping or glamping?

Glamping. My husband and I always say this. We do sailing every January. It's a huge catamaran. We go with three other couples. He's always like, “This is our camping. We're on this sailboat. I'm going. Don't ever say that in front of anybody.” It's funny because he's always like, “We’re not going in a tent.” I want to go in a tent. He’s like, “No. You will get into a tent and then blame me for being mad.” Glamping for sure.

Blinds or curtains.

Curtains.

Justin Bieber or Harry Styles as your personal butler?

Harry styles.

Plane or car?

Plane.

Iced coffee, hot coffee or no coffee?

Hot coffee.

Save or spend?

Both. I do not believe that if you can't pay cash for it, I don't want it. If I can't afford it and I can't pay for it in cash, then I don't want it. It's not fun for me. I'm a saver but I do like nice things. I have to be honest because my friends would be like, “What?” I don't buy it unless I can afford it. I love nice things but I don't feel good if I was to think about buying something and had to put it on a credit card without having the money.

Two more. Would you rather have younger Sylvester Stallone or The Rock be your bodyguard?

The Rock.

Last one, city or country?

City.

Thank you, Heidi.

I grew up in the country and I love the city. That's why. I've done the country. I would like to live in the middle of the City, New York.

It's fun having you here, sharing your wisdom, mindset and all of that. You can find her on Instagram, @TheHeidiDawson. Remember until next time to channel your inner badass and take imperfect action every single day.

I love it. Thank you, Krissy.

You're welcome. We'll see you later, Heidi.

Bye.

About Heidi Dawson

Heidi is a Lifestyle Entrepreneur, Host of the "Wildly Successful Lifestyle" podcast, author, and Interior Designer. Her mission in life is to inspire all of us to live OUR version of an intentional, beautiful, WILDLY successful life!

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