Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Cut the Tie podcast. Hi, I'm your host, thomas Helfrich. I'm on a mission to help you cut the tie to whatever it is holding you back from success, and that success is something that you define for yourself. Today's guest is Frances Shagan I think. I sometimes butcher your last name when we meet Frances. How are you?

Speaker 2: 0:18

I'm great, thanks, it's good to see you, you as well.

Speaker 1: 0:21

Take a moment. Introduce yourself and what it is you do. See you, you as well. Take a moment.

Speaker 2: 0:25

Introduce yourself and what it is you do. Sure, I'm a serial entrepreneur. I'm a digital slow mad, currently in a small Caribbean town in Mexico. Been here for a couple months. I'm working with AI to help other business owners get the life and business of their dreams so they could live this lifestyle or any other that they want.

Speaker 1: 0:49

That's me commitment to digital nomad. There are a lot of people in your space and I always ask this question. This is a way for you to um center, like to get people to understand who you are, but like what it is it that makes you unique yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:01

So what makes me unique is a I'm a serial entrepreneur. I've been in a lot of different industries. One of my businesses was a bookkeeping business and that meant I got to dive deeply into hundreds of businesses, so I know a lot about how people do different things in business and actually how they play out over time. I also have a project management background, so I'm very good at being able to see the systems in a business and again seeing how things play out, which is kind of unique. I've also got sort of an engineering, science and accounting background, so I do come at things very data driven very. You know like I want to know what it is very dispassionately, but just like, what is the situation here? Okay, let's deal with that. Having said that, I also have an alter ego called Lady Willow, so there's a little bit of that. You know we're all dichotomous. We all have multiple sides, um and and finally, uh, when people work with me.

Speaker 2: 2:13

So I own my bookkeeping business. I'm I was really good at bookkeeping Very. You know all that meticulousness and I asked my customers what is it that you like about me? And I thought they were going to say stuff like that and they didn't. They said coming to work with you is like getting a warm hug. It's like having a cup of warm herbal tea as we talk through my numbers. They say you know for the first time I understand what's going on and I know what to do. Say you know for the first time I understand what's going on and I know what to do. So I've got that ability to see it the way it is, look into the future, see what's going to happen and, at the same time, talk to you in a way that makes you feel like you can you can do this, that you understand it.

Speaker 1: 2:59

That's a that's great. Having the insight into business makes you definitely much more effective when you're helping them you know, understand what they need to go do next. And not everyone has that. Some people come from like a marketing background or something else, but they don't have that business of running one, let alone a scene house. You know several hundred ran and I love. I think that's. That truly is a distinguishing factor when you work with somebody is the insight they bring and that the distinguisher then becomes you.

Speaker 2: 3:26

So I like that. How do you define success? Can I just? I'm just going to show you the pool. Please, that's a good way to do it.

Speaker 1: 3:33

She's buying it and she decided to go there a few months for fun.

Speaker 2: 3:37

Yeah. So success for me is I get to live life on my terms. I told somebody a joke the other day. I said do you know what my alarm clock sounds like? I don't know either, exactly. So I mean I live life on my terms and my business supports my life. Versus me, my life supporting my business. So that to me is success versus me, my life supporting my business.

Speaker 1: 4:05

So that to me, is success. Right, and you know I've had a conversation offline but you're working to deliver the lifestyle you want, not working to have the things you want Like it's much more an experience-based versus.

Speaker 1: 4:20

I need a giant house and a nice car and whatever else, so I guess and you can have those things too it's just a matter of not right now. I want to experience life and be nomad and meet people and do this stuff, love it, and you're up. Tell me a little about your journey and tell me what the biggest tie is. You had to cut to achieve that success you defined.

Speaker 2: 4:40

Yeah, you know, it came in stages no-transcript. Do some creative work, come back, read another chapter. And I found myself the next day, like Monday morning, in my office and I'm kind of like drumming my fingers because I had cut so much stuff that I realized wasn't important that I didn't know what to do. And so my first lesson was if you're going to save time in your business and life, figure out what you want to do with it, which is kind of the lifestyle here. So you know, kind of like the short of it is for me, travel is really important. My kids are grown, they're launched and it's all about travel for me, and so I've had to get rid of most of my things. People, you know I'm in a community where there's a lot of travelers and they ask me like where's your stuff? Like in a suitcase in my Airbnb. I don't have stuff anymore.

Speaker 2: 6:07

Having said that and one of the reasons I can do that is I have literally schooled up a household four times from zero in the last 10 years. Most recently, I rented an unfurnished apartment last fall, near where my kids are, so I had to furnish it and then leave. After three months the building was literally being torn down. So there was no. It just it had to happen that way and it was just a real interesting exercise in learning what's really important and what's not like. What do what? What are the basic things you need in order to live, and and um, yeah, it was really. It was so cool and very empowering like you, like I, like I.

Speaker 1: 7:00

If I don't want this stuff anymore, I can literally just go buy something new that I do want.

Speaker 2: 7:06

Exactly that's what I learned those four times. It's not that hard, especially these days with a lot of you know there's a lot of recycling and reusing, repurposing. There's a lot of you know. There's value villages and Salvation Armies and places like that where you can get whatever you need, like a lot of my kitchen stuff. That's exactly where I got it. So, yeah, you can do it and don't be owned by the things that you owned, because that's what happens.

Speaker 1: 7:37

What's that Neil Young song? It's not the world that's heavy, it's the things that you save. I'm drifting, I'm drifting away. Yeah, it's a good line. What was your moment, the aha moment, when you knew you were going to go do this? Is it the quilt when you're doing it, or was it something before that that sparked you Like I don't want this life, but I don't know what it's going to be?

Speaker 2: 8:00

Yeah, I don't know that there was ever a moment, because I've always known I was going to do this. I got sidetracked by raising four kids. You know we did do some travel, but not travel like this. I call myself a slow mag versus a nomad because, like I said, I've been in this town now for five months bumping up against my six-month visa, so you're going to have to do something about that. So, yeah, I'm not sure there was a real aha moment.

Speaker 2: 8:32

One of them was with that four-hour work week, that whole idea of you know there's a lot of stuff in our lives that we do that we don't have to do, do that we don't have to do. One of the business lessons I got from that was that whole idea of just-in-time learning versus just-in-case learning, and I see so many business owners do this where they think they have to learn how to do all of it and you know, in case they need it later on, or they're looking forward and they're saying, oh, I'm going to have to know that and you know it just slows you down. You need to focus on what you need to do right now and learn it just in time, and or you know, find the people to help you do it.

Speaker 1: 9:20

Yeah, I agree, it's solid advice because it's more functional. There's things you need to master you have to commit a little more time to, but you just got to know it. It's different. Yeah, so you said you did this. Talk about the how, how you made the move to for yourself of things provide the, you know, the ability to travel where and how you want yeah, well, um, so it started.

Speaker 2: 9:48

I mean, like I said, I've known I was always going to do this and so I've kind of been moving towards it for a couple of years by, you know, moving online for my work, by not having too much stuff and by practicing not having a lot of things. But, yeah, covid hit the last of my kids moved out and I was living in downtown Toronto in a two bedroom condo, paying two bedroom condo prices in downtown Toronto and not being able to enjoy it because of COVID. And so that's when I started my journey and what I did. I had a Volvo wagon at the time and I just put whatever I could fit into that and that was what I was going to have. And I just started Airbnb-ing near where I was. So I was near family, you know, if anything happened I could just pop home.

Speaker 2: 10:42

It was a really good way to practice what it would, what it feels like, to like roll into an Airbnb and set up your home office. You know, set up a kitchen from you never know what you could get in an Airbnb kitchen. They're all very different, um, they all have a language, but there's, you just never know, um. So here's one tip if you're going to do this kind of thing, have a budget to pick up a few things. Um, I I just know that any, almost any time I'm going to roll in, I'm going to need, I'll go and I'll buy something, you know, just just to make my life easier. Don't be afraid to to do that and don't be afraid to ask. Sometimes I'll just give it to you too. That's happened many times. But that, yeah, small steps.

Speaker 2: 11:31

And then for me, I was really lucky because when, six months later, I decided I was going to try Mexico and I reached out to a friend who's living in Mexico and I said, can I? She said, sure, we'll pick you up at the airport. And they you know her, her husband picked me up at the airport. They set me up in an Airbnb with a friend that they knew. They took me around to the bank, you know, got my SIM card, the whole thing. So soft landing in international travel nice.

Speaker 1: 12:05

So you know, lean on your friends. What's been the impact?

Speaker 2: 12:12

oh, wow, um, I've always been pretty good at making sure that my life is giving me what I needed. Um, impact is holy crow, I'm living, I'm living. You know, a lot of people have screensavers. I'm sitting on that beach or walking through that colonial town or, you know, climbing that volcano Like that's my life and at the same time, I get to help business owners get their dream life. Like I'm literally living the dream.

Speaker 1: 12:50

I love that you are too, and I think people should realize like you don't need as much as you think to do that. You've got that style. Like you know, if you're married with younger kids, it might be much harder to do what you're doing. If you're married and you both are on the same page page, you probably don't need as much as you think you need.

Speaker 1: 13:07

Still, um, specifically, do you ever feel, uh, like I don't have anything. Like you know they do that. Or creep into you like oh my gosh, I don't have anything. Like you know what I mean. Like like yeah, there's, there's no nesting. Like I have nowhere to go, I don't really have a home. Like just, do you ever have those kind of feelings, that kind of pull you back and make you feel a little bit weird, like no, that's not the point of this. Like tell me about that a bit, because I think I had a feeling, I think I could get around it, but then I'd feel like I don't really have anything or I can't be like you know. So how does that? How do you deal with that? Or how would you describe that feeling? Maybe?

Speaker 2: 13:45

yeah, um 100. I do every once in a while. You know I, you know I. So some of the things I miss when I'm traveling, you know, obviously, family. You know family right on the top. But certain foods you know, like mayonnaise and ketchup, tastes different here, um.

Speaker 2: 14:06

So I get to a point where I'm missing the food and I'm thinking, okay, I'd like to go back to canada, but I don't have a place, so that there's that sort of like huh, I don't have a place, um, so I have to make a place and you know it's the same as when I'm. So I have to make a place and you know it's the same as when I'm traveling. I have to make a place. So, yeah, there is that time where it would be nice to be able to go back to my kitchen with all the things that I like in the place, I like them in the way I like them there is. You know, there is that Absolutely. But I get over it pretty quickly when I look back out at the pool or wander down to the beach and, just to be clear, like, this is my dream life. It doesn't have to be the same for everything else.

Speaker 1: 14:58

Like you, know it's like well, I, my wife I have discussed this before. I said, you know, when we get empty nest zone here about eight years potentially I'm like it'd be great to just go be able to live somewhere for three months with remote work and do like a work life, like, hey, what time have you done today? Two Great. Let's go get a coffee, rock the beach, go to the mountains whatever we're going to be doing and just enjoy a place and then come back to some kind of home where you can reset, get you know, be grounded. Kids can visit if they choose to. Ours would probably be a mix of the two, I bet. But um, but my. This comes back to a question of kind of. That was probably more logical to ask, for. I did my own little autobiography there. What are you most grateful for in this moment?

Speaker 2: 15:39

Yeah, Um, what am I most grateful for? At this moment I have a gratitude practice where I you know the Tony Robbins absolutely grateful for the fact that I'm in a place because I'm dog sitting for a friend. So I'm grateful that I get to hang out with this wonderful little doggy in this amazing house, in this really cool town, surrounded by just the most wonderful group of friends. Like this is something I don't experience anywhere else in the world. It's why I keep coming back to this town. It's this amazing group of friends and I'm grateful to myself for having done what I needed to do to get me to this place. It doesn't happen on its own. You have to make it happen step by step and you just do it. So grateful for all of that. And, in memoirs, I'm grateful for my kids, because they think I'm awesome and because of that I don't ever want to let them down. Because of that, I don't ever want to let them down. So it always it pushes me to be my best self so that I can continue.

Speaker 1: 17:14

They may join you on this adventure at some point in their lives, when they're ready. Yeah, exactly. Or at least get some advice from you. So give me a lesson. So what's the lesson you would give to the listener?

Speaker 2: 17:59

um, you don't need anywhere near as much as you think you need. Um, yeah, I made some notes because I wanted to make sure that I kind of, and this is a good specific.

Speaker 1: 18:11

So let's just give them like a real world. If you want to come to mexico for six months, what's the financial what's? Give me the high level on that one. I'm not looking at your details, but like, really, what can you do to enjoy yourself and feel I'm fine? Like this is easy.

Speaker 2: 18:25

Yeah, um, listen to people who who are here, not the people who aren't. Um, cause, everybody you know they, I, everybody you know I can tell you so many people think that I'm in danger when I'm here, and I'm not. You know, I'm not in danger here at all. You need way less than you think. There's lots of levels of travel, so pick the one that makes you most comfortable and fits your budget. It is pretty cheap to live here. Be generous when you're here. It just makes your life so much easier when you make the lives around you easier. That's just good advice everywhere.

Speaker 2: 19:06

The hardest part of the whole thing is to make the decision to do it and once you've made that decision, then work towards it. It's like the infrastructure for people coming here and staying for months on end here in Mexico is really good. So it's easy. You know Airbnb, the rentals. It's really quite easy. You do need to be on WhatsApp, because everything is on WhatsApp. You can order pizza. I contacted the vet on WhatsApp. Be on whatsapp, because everything is on whatsapp. You can order pizza. You're, you're, I, I call. I contacted the vet on whatsapp. Um, yeah, so just like, do it and and know that the night before you leave or the week before you leave. You're gonna get that moment of what have I done?

Speaker 1: 19:57

oh no what am I about to go do?

Speaker 2: 20:01

yeah, yeah and and it's okay, you're gonna get it. Just know that it's gonna come and you'll get over it. And every time you do it, that feeling is going to become less and less. But yeah that that first time it was like that horror in the middle of the night that you get when you realize, oh my God, I think I've done something really stupid.

Speaker 1: 20:24

What's up? Who gives you inspiration?

Speaker 2: 20:28

Yeah, you know what I'm going to? Go right back to my kids. They inspire me to live my best life so that I can show them how to live their best lives. Um, I don't. I've always told my kids like you do whatever you want. Whatever you do want whatever you do in your life, I'm going to be good with it. So I kind of want to show them that I can do that too, so that they can do it. Um, yeah, at one point, my, my daughter, daughter, um, she was in Paris for Paris Fashion Week and decided because she's model, and she decided she was going to go to Barcelona.

Speaker 2: 21:03

And she messaged me and she said oh, my god, I'm in Barcelona, I just got here, I'm alone. Um, the person I was supposed to got, the person who was supposed to have gotten the Airbnb, I, I can't find them, I don't know what to do. And I said, okay, first thing you do is go to a cafe, grab a coffee, sit down and and take a breath, and then you'll, you'll figure something out. She contacted me like four hours later and she said um, yeah, well, I was having a coffee and I met some people and they're staying at a hostel. I'm in there, it's all good, we're all hanging out for dinner. Now it's like baby. You know, that's so cool. And she knew because she had seen how I travel and she knew that I could do it. So she could do it. And there's so many times where I've wanted to do something and had been kind of timid about it or thinking, oh well, it's so much easier not to, and then I think, no, I want to be able to tell her and tell her brothers, I did this. So, yeah, they're the ones that inspire me to live my best life.

Speaker 2: 22:15

What's the must-read book, the book that you need at the moment, that you know. Whatever book you need to give you what you need. So you know there are some good overall books. 4-hour Workweek, e-myth, you know those kind of things. Having said that, bear in. I'm a reader. I, you know. I read at least 50 books a year. But the other day I came across a book and I can't even remember what it was, but I knew there were things in it that would apply to me right now. So I took the title and I dropped it into my, into Alfred. That's my chat. And I said Alfred, what do we need to know from this book, give me a quick summary and what parts of it apply to me. And and he did so even if you don't read books, sometimes you can do go that way. Sometimes I'll also, like you know, go on YouTube and watch somebody's interview. If I know that there's, they're talking about something that's relevant to my business right now. Um yeah, don't read stuff just in case. Read it when you need it.

Speaker 1: 23:28

I like that, that's perfect. If there's a question I should ask you today and I didn't what was that question and how would you answer it?

Speaker 2: 23:36

Yeah, so I came up with a really good question should ask you today and I didn't what was that question and how would you answer it? Yeah, so I came up with a really good question. I'm not even sure about the answer, but, um, how do you know you've done enough? Like I'm telling you like, drop stuff, drop stuff, drop stuff. Um, but how do you like, especially in your business? Because there's a lot of things that we do in our businesses that we don't need to do, but we're told um.

Speaker 2: 23:58

So, for instance, you know, most marketing advice is around how to reach a whole bunch of people, and most of us don't need to reach a whole bunch of people. We need 100 people or 500 or 50. That's right. Um, so there's a lot of stuff we can cut. But how do you know? You know the stuff not to cut and I guess the way I do it and I'm not recommending this, but what I will do is I will drop everything and then just add things back slowly and see what results I'm getting, and if I'm not getting results, I'll drop it again and pick up something else.

Speaker 2: 24:38

So you've got to be aware that there is an enough, and you know it's hard to hit the exact, but you know, just be aware that there is't enough. There is no such thing as perfection. If you're aiming for perfection, you're not going to get there. So it's just a way to procrastinate. Recognize that the last 10% of anything can take as much resources, time, energy, brain space as the previous 90%, and that a lot of times, getting to 85 or 90 is perfectly the right amount you don't have. It doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't have to even be close to perfect.

Speaker 1: 25:26

No, that's great, Frances. Thank you so much for joining on today. How should someone get ahold of you and who should be the person to contact you?

Speaker 2: 25:34

Sure, linkedin is where I hang out mostly. I've got a newsletter on there that I write about AI. Yeah, if you're 2 am in the morning and you're thinking, I built this business and it's running me, it's running my life. I am not able to do what I want to do in life. Talk to me. That's who should reach out to me. That's who I help the most. I've got a whole bunch of really practical things you can do right away to free up some time, which will then give us some time to work on the things that will make your business a lot easier to run. So, yeah, I can take you from completely overwhelmed I don't know why I'm doing what all the things I'm doing to. I've got this. I know exactly where I'm going and I can start reaving in those things I want out of life.

Speaker 1: 26:33

Wonderful. Thank you so much for joining today. I appreciate you always.

Speaker 2: 26:36

My pleasure. Yeah, it's always fun to hang out, yeah, awesome.

Speaker 1: 26:40

Uh, it's inspiring. So anybody hasn't. Anyone who made it today to this point. You rock. If this is your first time, I hope it's the first of many. Get out there, go cut a tie to something, hold you back, find the success of what you have to find for yourself.