Emily Merrell  0:04  

Welcome to the sixth degree Podcast, the podcast where we grill our guests about the things that make them tick and find out how human connection plays a role in their life. I’m your host, Emily Merrell.

 

I’m your host, Emily Merrell. And today I’m so excited to have my friend Erin Samaniego, founder of the lady boss lab, on today’s podcast. Erin, welcome to the show.

 

Erin Samaniego  0:33  

Thank you so much, Emily. I’m so excited to be with you.

 

Emily Merrell  0:37  

I love I think my favorite part about podcasting, which I feel terrible that the listeners can’t have it is just staring into your eyes. Looking at the podcast, even the person I’m interviewing space, it’s just it’s it’s such a delight to be able to tell stories. Absolutely. So Erin, before we dive in, do you want to talk a little bit about how we know each other?

 

Erin Samaniego  1:00  

Yes. So I met Emily through Lexie. And they are two amazing women who launched the ReadySet. Coach program. And I think we were like that, Oh, geez. Your first cohort, right?

 

Emily Merrell  1:16  

We weren’t you were and honestly, I think what was so cool. I just want to do this as a teachable moment. I think a lot of people when they like launch a program, they feel like they have to go out into the world into the wild and like hunt potential clients from the unknown, but it’s so much about relationship building. And you and Lexi had this friendship over the years and she had built that like no interest. And then you got me as like a plus one. Addition, essentially. Yep. But I think for people who are building their programs, don’t neglect your backyard.

 

Erin Samaniego  1:52  

Yeah. Well, I met Lexi at a networking event that she hosted in her previous career. So you don’t ever know how those relationships are gonna blossom. So amazing.

 

Emily Merrell  2:05  

Well, speaking of blossoming, tell us about the lady boss lab. I always I love your logo with a little it looks like the science experiment. How you started it?

 

Erin Samaniego  2:16  

Yeah, well, the lady boss lab really came out of years of me evolving as a business woman. I had several businesses in my career. And then I got caught up in the corporate track when I, you know, started a small family. And, you know, I, I also really early on in my career, I was 19 when I really got into personal growth and development. And so I started to be trained as a coach, literally, at the age of 19 years old. And I was coaching people two and three times my age. And it was such an amazing growth experience, because who the heck am I 19 to be coaching people in their 60s, you know, so, um, Anyways, long story short, I just came to this moment in my my business career where I was working in a jewelry company, and as working really hard and had little kids, and I was just tired. And I wanted to build my business around my life, instead of what most of us do, which is to sacrifice everything to have success. And I just was done with it. And I just had, I just knew that there had to be another way. So I had this moment where I just wanted to, I wanted to work with women who were in all different types of industries. And I wanted to leverage my coaching background, from the last 26 years and bring that into business. And so I had also long time ago been a part of a mastermind program. And it just worked. It was so simple, it was more more of a business structure. And so at that point, you know, 27 years later, when I decided to launch the lady boss lab, I wanted to simplify business for small business owners, because we make it so complicated. And we bring this really simple business structure where there is none for most of us. And help women focus so that they can be focusing on the things and taking action in the areas that make the biggest difference for them. And for them to get results. Because it really is not that complicated. It’s not easy, but it’s not that complicated. So we really simplify the process for them. And the lady bought from I love to say is like a place where you can discover and explore and test and experiment on all the things so that you can evolve as a businesswoman and really create your own formula for success. Because not all the templates work for everybody. Oh, I

 

Emily Merrell  4:47  

love that I love Yeah, you can explore you can test you can play and you can create your own formula for success that is so powerful. I’m here and how the hell did you get into coaching at 19 years old? Let’s watch that. If

 

Erin Samaniego  5:01  

my dad did his personal growth and development course, when I was in my older teenagers, and he totally transformed as a human being, and I was like, Oh my gosh, I don’t know what you did, but I want some of that. Yeah. So I, I registered for the program. And it just was so powerful. And I just was, you know, 19 years old, you don’t have a lot of baggage yet. Like, I just had this sense of freedom. And I think I was grappling with whether or not I wanted to go to college, or if I wanted to kind of take a year off. And what I realized after doing this seminar was that it didn’t matter. I could say, like, I got to say what I wanted to do, there wasn’t a right answer for me. And that just sparks such a passion for helping people and empowering them. And yeah, so I’ll type that product in it.

 

Emily Merrell  5:51  

Wow, I love it. i It’s funny. My mom also was very into self help before, like it was more mainstream. I guess it was mainstream, but it wasn’t in my mainstream at that point. Right. She was it like a landmark program. But yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, she did something called land. Lifespring. Lifespring. Oh, yeah. Yeah, lifestyles, I remember being like eight years old, and go into her graduation. And there’s like the wind beneath your wings. And everyone’s crying. I’m like, I’m seven. Like, my dad and his new girlfriend. Were there. And we were all celebrating my mom’s graduation. Yeah, yeah. So that’s so cool. And, um, okay, so then transitioning, I love the fact that you had this aha moment to have you had this all this knowledge and this expertise of coaching people and had these little kids, and then were able to transform it into a business, what were the first steps you took to get your business off the ground?

 

Erin Samaniego  6:49  

Um, honestly, at first, I had reached out to a mentor to license her program. And it because I was grappling with, well do I design my own program, and I thought about it for a while, but I’m kind of impatient. So let’s, let’s get stuck around. Let’s just get this sucker out. And like, let it evolve. And it’s a lot of what I preach. So I didn’t do a whole lot to get it started. I mean, I did the basic site, you know, set up a quick little website and those kinds of things. But I just started to share with my media was involved in my local Chamber of Commerce. So the hardest part was that I was already known as my previous business. So I had to really, like, educate my my colleagues about this thing that I was doing, and then it really wasn’t something new. I had been doing this kind of work for 27 years. So I had to really get them to understand that I’m not new at this, it was actually I’m coming back to my roots. And then I remember just inviting a bunch of people to our weekly meetings and to launch it. And then from there, it just kind of caught on and yeah, it’s, I’m going into my fifth year as Lady boss

 

Emily Merrell  8:08  

lab. Wow. I mean, yeah, I love that. You talk about messy action, because I think one of the biggest obstacles and you you know this better than anyone is that there’s so many perfectionists in, in entrepreneurs. Yeah. And I have, I’ve met and encountered people who are, can’t get past it, or I help statement or can’t get past their title to start. And it’s like, no, figure that out later, and just start, which sounds counterintuitive, which also brings me into like the way you support your clients. So walk me through what it looks like to be a part of the lady boss lab. And my second question for you is, I know you do these quarterly meetings, like tell me about what those are.

 

Erin Samaniego  8:55  

Yeah, so it’s, it’s basically a weekly support structure. And every week we meet as a community, and everybody gets a chance to share their challenge, you know, to share their accomplishments, because you also don’t have a boss is patting on your back. So you have a team of people who are just like you, women, just like you who have businesses, and they understand what it takes. They know the struggles. And so you get that weekly support to show up, get celebrated, and also get real life support and actions to help you get unstuck in whatever challenges you’re dealing with. Even when things aren’t going well. You still have challenges. And so that’s what they can count on. And so, I also do one on one coaching with my clients between meetings, it’s very high touch. They get like eight hours of coaching one on one and group coaching a month. And then we do like you said, the quarterly use every quarter we slow down, take a timeout in our business, carve out the time to gather to do the kind of thinking and planning that we always should be doing but Most of us don’t have time to dig, because we’re so busy working in the business. And so I facilitate a quarterly planning session where we literally plan out the quarter revisit your goals, like take an assessment of what is actually happening in the business to see if you’re on track. And then just to help reassess and strategize what actions you’re going to take. So you have a really thought out plan that’s going to really get you to where you want to be. It’s not just some goal that you’ve set, you really have a set plan of actions that you can follow to get you there. And we did a quarter. So at the beginning of the year, we do an annual planning session. So you’re focusing on what do I want for the year, and then every quarter, we drill it down to what do you want for the quarter. And then every month, we drill it down to what do you want for the month and week, and it’s just like dissecting it into tiny bite sized pieces. So you just take a baby fat and a baby step and ultimately, those compound into real big results, and it makes those big goals more realistic for you to achieve as you’ve dissected it. So, you know, finally,

 

Emily Merrell  11:05  

I mean, it sounds amazing, the fact that you’re offering community accountability, coaching, and also the guidance, which, as you mentioned, like being our own bosses, sometimes, that’s what we miss the most from a corporate world is like a roadmap for? And do you find that the individuals who joined the lady boss lab, they’re all in the same place or just starting their business? What’s, what’s their deal? Um, most of them are, at least

 

Erin Samaniego  11:35  

in their business and established at some level, at least a year or more so because that first year, there’s growing pains you learn so much. And like you said, you know, I wish more people would just jump in and figure that out that first year is so important to just get those kinks worked out. But they’re mostly women who are in business. I have clients who have been in business for 16 to 20 years, and they find this structure so valuable, because, you know, it’s not about what you know, it’s about putting what you know, into action and having that support structure. And if you just focus on those baby steps, it just it works. If I wish I had some secret formula, the formula is that there’s no secret like this work.

 

Emily Merrell  12:19  

Yeah. I love that. And I think it’s it’s so it’s so doable. I think we you set it up beginning and like we overcomplicate everything. And really when you focus, it’s kind of like the when you’re in fight mode or flight mode, like you overthink it, and you can’t see the exit when it’s right there. But when you’re able to digest it and have those actionable steps, it’s that much easier to find the solution to the problem that you had, I think, but

 

Erin Samaniego  12:47  

I find it nice to my clients. When we slow down and let go the task list is when I’m the most creative and the most effective. It’s so counterintuitive.

 

Emily Merrell  12:59  

Yeah. And that’s what we got to do more of. Yeah. And I think it’s, if anyone’s listening and is like, Oh my God, I feel so lonely while starting a business here. And this is exactly what they need, like the idea of this accountability. And it’s not like a quick and dirty accountability. It’s very, very much supporting cheerleading, and action planning along with them. And it’s a long term result, like month over month, accountability as such a digestible time and cost, which I think is awesome. Yep. Got it. Nailed it. Speaking of starting a business, what is something that you wish you had known when you started your business? Which are the No,

 

Erin Samaniego  13:46  

1. I think like going back to what you said, just start and, you know, I My Messages changed so many times. And my, my website’s changed so many times in all the ways i i verbalize what I offer. And it’s a constant tweaking, you know, there’s no perfect, like, let me get it all perfectly packaged. And then let’s go it’s like, no, just go now. And I think that if I, if I had heard that earlier on, you know, probably would have started sooner. And also, you know, when I before I started the lady boss lab, I was working in the corporate world, and I got laid off. And I was really scared that I was going to not have the stability if I had left that job. And that’s probably another thing that I wish I would have known was. There’s nothing, there’s such thing as stability, those suckers they left, they gave me a two weeks severance after all my years of working for the company. And that was what I thought was stability, and it just was an illusion. So I wish I would have left that company a long time earlier. And just have the confidence to jump in. And I think

 

Emily Merrell  14:55  

you need those moments you need to be let go or you need to be at a crossroads where you’re like this isn’t aren’t serving me anymore. And I think that’s such a good lesson to where now your, your opportunity to make money is is endless. It’s not waiting for a boss to say like, Aaron, it’s time for promotion and let’s review. Yeah, that makes my heart hurt. Like just thinking about that. I know. I also want to talk, I want to touch on the fact that you’re a mom, and you’re a mom to feel like you have a lot of kids for some reason.

 

Erin Samaniego  15:27  

No girl I have to and that’s

 

Emily Merrell  15:30  

a lot for you just, I guess they personalities. Um, but, you know, having a mom and being a business owner. I think there’s a lot of like realizations of the importance of your time and your time management. And also being there for your for your kids. So I know it’s summer right now I know you are balancing both being like a present mom, we’ll try and you know, trying to also be a president, business owner, do you have any tips or learnings on? And I hate the word balance? But just managing it all? Yeah, I

 

Erin Samaniego  16:04  

hate the word balance too. Yeah, like it’s an impossible feat. It’s not real. Yeah. Um, you know, I think, you know, it’s hard. I remember being a working mom and kids in daycare, and that was hard. And this isn’t necessarily any easier. But I’m more fulfilled, because I know that I’m serving what I really care about. And that’s my life and my relationships with my family, my kids. And I think that that’s what, there’s something deep that everybody cares about, that they typically have their business be in service of. But then sometimes I get lost. But I’m just as hard as it can be. Sometimes I still just, I mean, I can’t even believe it’s been over five year over four years. Like it’s flown by so much, because I just love it. And it just fulfills, like what I care about. So I don’t know. Does that answer your question?

 

Emily Merrell  17:04  

Yeah, no, I mean, you find fulfillment. Like, in both ways, the both of them are hard. There’s no, there’s no perfect solution to being a working mom. But

 

Erin Samaniego  17:13  

I think I’m way, I’m way more fulfilled this way, then the last way, you know, totally.

 

Emily Merrell  17:19  

And also like the, like you mentioned, to your kids in daycare, that feeling and that stress of leaving work. And you know, I have to pick them up at daycare, but you have the five o’clock meeting and being able, what I’ve always found so impressive about you is you’ve really good boundaries. Really good at boundaries are like I have a hard stop at three because I have to pick my kids up. And it doesn’t matter if it’s an inconvenience for someone else. It’s like it’s just your life. And you’re you’re honoring yourself. And yeah, your family first and

 

Erin Samaniego  17:49  

foremost. Yeah. And I think that came because I just got so burnt out on always sacrificing. And I just came to the point where I was just like, I’m done. I’m done sacrificing like, I won’t return emails on the weekends. I do have those hard stops, because this is why I’m doing it. And I have found that, you know, the people who want to work with me will work with me the way I want them to. And I love that, you know, and I think that’s a great lesson

 

Emily Merrell  18:15  

for people starting their business. Like a lot of people, we go into entrepreneurship, because we crave freedom, yet we recreate the same patterns that we had in the corporate world. So it’s taking that audit and assessment of like, what did you hate about working corporate? Oh, you hated that. You had to work till five every day? Yeah. So why don’t you not work till five every day? And you hate taking calls in the morning? Take calls in the afternoon? Yeah, like you get to drive the ship. You just have to remember to steer?

 

Erin Samaniego  18:45  

Yeah, and I see a lot of people who do start businesses, and they don’t break those patterns. And they don’t keep that in the forefront of how they want to design their business. So they just do it this, you know, basically repeat the same mistakes in their business. And then they become like a hostage to their business, which is not way they created in the first place.

 

Emily Merrell  19:05  

Yeah, exactly. You don’t want to be a hostage of your own business, and then present your business and get this Sunday scaries for your broker, rinse and repeat. And then you’re looking for a corporate

 

Erin Samaniego  19:15  

job. You might as well get a job that pays.

 

Emily Merrell  19:19  

I hate when people are like, Oh, you don’t have a real job. And I’m like, Are you effing kidding me? Like, this is harder than your day. Like, it’s funny that people who are not entrepreneurs, the stuff that we accomplish in a day is usually a normal person’s week. So orally, it’s but you have the flexibility. That’s a whole different bottle of wine. Yeah. Switching gears I want to I want to ask you how can people learn more about you and the lady boss lab and what’s happening in your business and life?

 

Erin Samaniego  19:50  

Oh, well, they can go to my Facebook or Instagram pages at lady boss lab. I have a website they can find me there and And I, yeah, I have I offer consultations talk to anybody who just is looking to explore, you know, finding a support structure. And I just I love to contribute. I love to empower women. So however I can do that, you know, but yeah, so you can find me on how to answer your question.

 

Emily Merrell  20:20  

Instagram website, all the places. So, Aaron, you know, I like to ask questions, and I could probably continue going for like an entire day. So I narrowed it down to six and I have six best questions for you. Are you ready? Hey, I’m ready. First question is tell us an unknown fun

 

Erin Samaniego  20:41  

fact about you. I competed in the junior skating Olympics when I was a kid. Yeah, it was a competitive roller skaters kid three years.

 

Emily Merrell  20:55  

Awesome. What? Yeah, I’m sorry. Roller skating. Do you still roller skates?

 

Erin Samaniego  21:03  

I love to roller skate. I just I can’t quite do the same moves. I used to my my brain thinks they can. But I can’t physically move. I would.

 

Emily Merrell  21:12  

I would like to see pictures and videos sent after this.

 

Erin Samaniego  21:15  

Okay, I will send you a picture.

 

Emily Merrell  21:18  

Thank you. Who would be a dream person to be connected with?

 

Erin Samaniego  21:22  

Um, it may sound cliche, but I think I would love to meet Oprah.

 

Emily Merrell  21:28  

Oh, I know. I know. I don’t know what I’d say to her. But I think like I calking before so we’re kind of.

 

Erin Samaniego  21:38  

Oh, yeah. There you go. Three threes.

 

Emily Merrell  21:41  

Oh, yeah. Yeah, we’re almost we’re almost an overlap that right there. Do you have any show recommendations? Oh, gosh. Ah, what are you currently watching? About that?

 

Erin Samaniego  21:55  

I want someone called loot. It’s on Apple. Yeah, it’s pretty good. I like it.

 

Emily Merrell  22:01  

Yeah, it’s my Rudolph billionaire.

 

Erin Samaniego  22:06  

I can’t wait till I’m there. Having those kinds of problems. Next year, right. Yeah.

 

Emily Merrell  22:12  

Picking up on your yacht, please. What book are you currently reading?

 

Erin Samaniego  22:17  

I’m currently reading The obstacle is the way it’s by Ryan Holiday.

 

Emily Merrell  22:21  

That’s really good. Okay. Sounds like a good one synth. Sounds like a good self help one.

 

Erin Samaniego  22:27  

Yeah. Yeah. It’s kind of fun ones. It says, you know, whatever’s in your ways is that way,

 

Emily Merrell  22:33  

whatever that obstacle is, is the way what? What is your favorite emoji? Or most use?

 

Erin Samaniego  22:41  

The one that’s a smiley hands emoji, like a little hug.

 

Emily Merrell  22:46  

I could see you could see that in person. Yeah. And then my final question for you is Who gave you permission or inspired you to do the thing you wanted to do with your life?

 

Erin Samaniego  23:00  

Would it be my dad, he left his corporate job when I was a teenager, and up until like, just two years ago. And when he turned 70. He retired as an entrepreneur. So yeah, my dad’s been a big inspiration to me.

 

Emily Merrell  23:14  

Yeah, I think it’s, it’s so amazing to have that permission, like to see, I’m sure was probably scary and stressful when you were a teenager but like to see him persevere and to get to the other side of entrepreneurship and retire. That’s huge. Yeah, it is huge, like 40 years in business. Amazing. Was he a coach? No, he

 

Erin Samaniego  23:35  

was a martial arts instructor. guy he taught all over the world. Right? Yeah, he was. He was the student of Steven Seagal. When Steven Seagal was like super cool and popular. Yeah.

 

Emily Merrell  23:48  

That was the master teacher. Have you seen Cobra Kai? Oh, no, I can’t watch that. Come on.

 

Erin Samaniego  23:57  

My dad. My dad training Aikido, which is a self defense style of martial arts is different from karate, but nothing against that karate.

 

Emily Merrell  24:06  

Can you? Are you trained in martial arts? Like are you? Oh, yes. Yes,

 

Erin Samaniego  24:11  

they can kick ass. Yeah.

 

Emily Merrell  24:13  

So literally and figuratively. She can kick our asses. That’s right. That’s right. I mean, I think we should just change your tagline right here kicking masses,

 

Erin Samaniego  24:22  

every badass is not just the concept of

 

Emily Merrell  24:27  

love. Oh, I love that. What a wonderful, inspirational person to be inspired by. Aaron, thank you so much for being on today’s show and sharing your story and your dad’s story to entrepreneurship. It’s always a pleasure to connect with

 

Erin Samaniego  24:43  

you. Thanks, Emily. I appreciate you so much for having me. I love being here.

 

Emily Merrell  24:48  

Yay. And listeners. If you like today’s show, and you want to get some masks, gotten over the lady, bad boss lab, and give us five stars on wherever you’re listening to this Podcast like and subscribe and we will see you the next time on the sixth degree with Emily Merrill Have a wonderful day