AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast

The Journey to Becoming a Soul Aligned Owner: Embracing Inner Wisdom with Leighann Lovely from Love Your Sales

In this episode of the AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast, host by Katherine Breuss discusses with Leighann Lovely, owner of Love Your Sales, about how aligning personal values and business objectives can significantly impact success and satisfaction. Leighann recounts her journey of recognizing misalignment in her business and life, particularly after a profound comment from her daughter. She shares her strategy of focusing on 'revenue-generating tasks' and highlights the importance of clarity, personal well-being, and the courage to pivot when necessary. The conversation emphasizes listening to both internal and external advice to maintain a balanced, purpose-driven approach to entrepreneurship. 
 
AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast – www.accelerategrowth45.com 
Katherine Breuss: welcome Leighann. Lovely to the AG 45 Soul Aligned Strategy podcast. It is so great to have you on here. I'm looking forward to our conversation. 
Leighann Lovely: I'm excited to, to be here too, Katherine. And, I was about to say, I'm excited to have you on my podcast. I know. I'm, I'm thrilled to be here and talk with you. 
Katherine Breuss: You have a great podcast, one of which I've been on. And that is Love Your Sales, correct? Yes. Yep. So, I first, before we get into the, the great, juicy questions of Soul Line Strategy and your business why don't you tell or share with the audience a little bit about you and your business? 
Leighann Lovely: I would love to, yes, I am Leighann. Lovely owner. Of Love Your Sales. That has been, well a journey, quite the journey, over the [00:01:00] last. Two and a half years, since it started. Today I will say that what we specialize in is really sales and sales strategies. 
And that comes with a, you know, CRM solution that is really powerful, a powerful tool in order to, get you focused on what matters. And I like to say revenue generating tasks.. Because when it comes to sales, that's what you need to be focused on. Um, so we work with, businesses to help, create a clear path to, to that, to revenue generating tasks in the sales realm. 
Katherine Breuss: Nice. I love it. Uh, and I can vouch for your services 'cause AG 45 has worked with, love your Sales. So I wanna do a big hats off, to you and your, your company. 
Leighann Lovely: Thank you. That means a lot coming from you 
Katherine Breuss: in terms of, soul aligned strategy. And you know, the way [00:02:00] that we see it, at AG 45 is that, you know, whether you're soul aligned, if you are receiving the results and enjoying the journey. 
And so what we find is that many business owners. Are getting one or the other, or they might not be getting either or not high enough in terms of of rating. And in my view, I kind of sit and go, man, we got one life that we know of, so let's make it count. So let's figure out how we can combine both. So when you think about a soul aligned business, what does that mean to you? 
Leighann Lovely: It's such a, a loaded question, yet simple at the same time. Right. Because the first time, you know, obviously you and I have, you know, a relationship beyond just this [00:03:00] podcast, and the first time that you had said that, the, the first thought that came into my heart was. Or ahead was heart. Um, you know, following what my heart tells me is important to me, not only in my business, but also in my home life. 
And having those two come together and I had kind of a. Breakdown not too long ago realizing that those two things were not coming together. You know, a comment from my daughter, which was a slap in the face of, oh, mommy doesn't have friends, she has clients. Um, was quite an eye, right? I know quite an eye-opener when you go, wow. 
Um, do I work too much? Do I work, you know, too hard? Am I too focused? Am I not? Present. What, what is, what does that mean? Um, so for me it's really about going back to the reason I started my [00:04:00] business. I wanted the freedom to work when and where I wanted, and yet I was working way more, way harder, and way more stressed out. 
And that just doesn't, it doesn't make sense. That's, that is completely not the reason why I started my business. 'cause it, it kind of got so soul aligned. Um, taking the, my values, my passions, my love of, of what I do and being able to implement that into my business and then have that translate to my clients and actually having them love sales again. 
Having them love what they see happening in their business. Through the systems and the processes that I'm putting in place for them, and then having that translate into direct revenue. Uh, it's awesome. I mean, I, right, I, I remember the first time I made, like the first [00:05:00] sale I made and I was like, oh my God. 
Like, oh my gosh, like I can write my own ticket like. If I just do this the right way, I, and nobody taught me how to do sales. I was just kind of like thrown to the wolves. Like, here you go. You wanted to be a salesperson. Like, yep, I did. Um, well, I shouldn't say nobody taught me. I grew up in a sales family, but I. 
Katherine Breuss: I was gonna say, you told me that you, you learned from your father, like you, 
Leighann Lovely: yes, I grew up in a sales family, but when real world experience, like nobody taught me how to cold call, nobody taught me, you know, the, the actual process I learned, you know, early on how to network and how to, from my dad and from, you know, my, my mom and from just sitting around the dinner table, listening to them talk about. 
You, the real estate world, and you know, and I watched them do the hustle thing, you know, so 
Katherine Breuss: the hustle. [00:06:00] So what do you, okay, so you, you saw misalignment. Yes. In terms of who, you know, what your heart was telling you in terms of what you want, who you are, and then, and how you're running your business. And there was a significant impact on you. 
Leighann Lovely: It's funny, even people in my network, a lot of people in my network were like, I would love to bring you on as a cli. You know, coaches and, one in particular who really focuses on women's health. It should have been like a major red flag, right? She's like, you, I'd really love to bring you on as a client. 
I'm like, no, no, I'm fine. I'm fine, I'm fine. And then I'd find myself, you know, in a ball crying. It's like, you think there's some misalignment here? Um, you know, and sometimes the most obvious thing isn't obvious to you [00:07:00] until. Until it 
is and you know, and we're laughing and it's not, when you're going through it, it does not feel very funny. 
No, I've been there. I think most people have been there at least once in their life, if not many times. 
And those who are not entrepreneurs. Are thinking about becoming entrepreneurs. Again, I'm not gonna discourage you or encourage you in any way, shape, or form. That's your own decision to make. But so many people are like, are you sure you wanna do this? 
And I'm like, oh yeah, I know all the warnings. Oh yeah, I know. It's hard. Yeah. Nobody could potential or nobody could possibly have explained. The rollercoaster of emotions that you go through of one day you're like, I'm on top of the world, and the next day you're like, oh my God, I'm failing everybody. And it's [00:08:00] so, it's just, it's just that back and forth and, but you, there are significant moments that I can go back to and go, this is the beginning of when I hit this, this last low that was like. 
I mean, I, I was ready to say I'm, I'm done like I am. I'm gonna, I'm shutting the doors, I'm walking away, I'm going to into corporate. I'm, I'm done. And lemme tell you, going into corporate would've been really, really difficult. Um, 
Katherine Breuss: but it's, we love you corporate, but it is a different animal. I dunno that 
Leighann Lovely: corporate has ever, like, I dunno that corporate likes me. 
I'm, I'm one of those people who speaks my mind and says what I think when I think it, and that's not good politics in the corporate world. 
Katherine Breuss: Oh yes, it is a completely different animal. You [00:09:00] know, I love this whole thing of, that you said is that, you know, when things are great, you got your ups and then you know, things are, you know, down, you got your downs and, and, and. 
I hear this so much with not only business owners, I mean with just han beings. And, and here's the thing. When, when we talk about soul aligned, it's really having that strong base, that strong core, and that strong core is you, you as the business owner, and it's internally. Found. And when that internal strength and understanding is awakened or recognized, whatever's hitting you from the outside doesn't seem to have that rollercoaster effect. 
Um, and this is what I call like true alignment. Mm-hmm. [00:10:00] Um, it's not to say you're not gonna have the tough times, it just. It doesn't necessarily feel as rollercoaster. Um, and going down that, oh my God. 
Leighann Lovely: Well, and just being in your orbit, Katherine has, has created that questioning in me of what can I do better? 
Just seeing how you go through your process of thinking about things and identifying different things and seeing things differently has made me start to really think through and, and I'm not one of those people who makes decisions. Like I don't sit on things for months at a time or weeks at a time. 
Like when I make a decision, I make a decision. I stick with that decision. And then if at some point we need to pivot, we pivot. Right? [00:11:00] And that, that's just the way that my brain works. Um, and, and watching you and seeing you strategically think through things and then make those decisions and, and, and solid decisions, not, you know, off the cuff, like, oh, we're gonna do this or We're gonna do solid. 
This is the path we're gonna follow, we're gonna follow it until we see results, and then pivot and then. You know, that really has, well, one, having a strong, successful woman figure to see in your, you know, orbit, in your, you know, that has really impacted my ability to, to just have confidence again in, in where I'm at. 
And so I, I mean, I can't say enough about, about that and where, where I'm at because of that. Um, [00:12:00] you've had a huge impact on my journey as well, just from that standpoint of watching you and you know, how you've done things. 
Katherine Breuss: Well, you know, it's interesting and, and first of all, thank you for that and it's been great being in your orbit as well. 
And,. You know, I make decisions quickly sometimes, when I'm really aligned. So the thing is, is when we are really soul aligned, when we know who we are at the core and know what we want, we, we, we have a better decision making power. Because we know what is going to align with us. And also that when, so with that, in terms of now you saying that you are getting more aligned to your business.[00:13:00] 
What are, what are you doing now differently than what you were doing when you were misaligned? 
Leighann Lovely: I'm finding more clarity in. It is not that. No, it is. I'm finding more clarity in who I am and what I need to be for my family, what I need, really, it comes down to my daughter. She's seven years old. I look at her and I, and, and again, the comment that she made to me not only shook me, it. 
It hurt me to the core. I, I and I, I was sitting in the car. My, my husband was driving and again, she, she's seven. She has no idea. When she was in the back, she was goofing around and she was playing a game where she was pretending to be me. She was pretending to be her father and I. She goes, I'm Leighann. 
And she was then pretending to say things that she thought that I would say, and I was in the front seat and I, I started, tears started streaming down my [00:14:00] face because I realized while this is what my daughter thinks of me, and I mean, I, I got really quiet because I didn't want to. I didn't want her to realize that I was crying. 
You never wanna hurt your child's feelings for expressing themselves on what they, from that point, I realized this is how she perceives me, and that, that was just my God, I was, ugh. So that is where I'm getting true clarity in what I need to be for her. And it feels more and more, the more I realize that the more I'm, I'm okay with giving myself grace in what I do. 
Work if I have to. I, I used to feel horrible if I had to [00:15:00] stop working and go take care of my daughter. 'cause I was like, oh yeah, but my clients are gonna suffer and this is gonna suffer. And then I felt like I was being pulled in two different directions. But the reality is, is that if my family and my daughter are not okay, then nothing is okay because I am doing this work for my family. 
And I think I've had that so confused. Maybe in my head, not so much in my heart, but I need my heart and my head to align. And once those two things finally come together, and I realize that this is the entire reason I started my job, is that I had the freedom to be with my family and be there when my daughter needs me. 
All of the sudden, some of the pressure that I put on myself of thinking, oh, if I, if I go and have to pick up my daughter from school, or if I have to do this. It's okay. Like that's the reason I'm doing this. And if I tell a client or if I tell somebody like, I'm really [00:16:00] sorry that I didn't get to that today because I had a personal thing come up with my child. 
If they tell me to go F myself, well then I don't want them as a client and I'm okay with that now. I would've been okay with it back then. I just put the pressure on myself to think that maybe they wouldn't have been okay with it. And that's on me. That's me not having clarity and understanding of the reason I originally started to do this, and now it, it's, it's just gotta be a discipline of not falling back into where I was. 
And now getting that to be a, you know, a muscle memory of what comes first, where's the priority, and then keeping that, keeping that importance of what I truly wanna get out of this for me and my family, and. I [00:17:00] think once that's all really organized in my head and my heart, everything else will come naturally. 
And it's strange because the minute I stepped back and said, because my business was very, I mean, and I haven't even really announced to the world that my business has completely changed. I haven't even updated my website to, but as soon as I decided I'm dropping all of these services, I'm going to completely step back from. 
Other areas of things that I was offering and downsize. I had more work. I had more work on my plate than I had before, but less overhead, less, less responsibility. 
Katherine Breuss: Gino and to that point, and you know, there's a couple, I mean, you said some really great stuff here and two things came to my mind. You are definitely moving towards clarity and, and one, you know, I would [00:18:00] even wanna challenge you in a, in a friendly way of even reaching a bit further in and, and understanding who you are. 
So without the business, without the family, without anything external. Who are you? What is really important to you? Because when people do that and you really connect, align with that, those areas in your life such as your daughter and and your family and your business there in your life that are important to you. 
It's easy, you know what to choose. It, it, it's, it's not something that necessarily has to be a habit. And what's so, interesting as well is when you said when you dropped, so you're moving towards more alignment for sure. I can see it as well, but you know, when you dropped those other services and started to become more aligned and you got, you know, more work on your plate. 
And less overhead, and [00:19:00] I'm guessing probably more enjoyment in terms of what you're doing. Yes. That is what happens when we are aligned because we do start to attract the people who wanna work with us. You know, we start to attract how we wanna work. And it's not. Now I'm by no means am I seeing her saying like, you just become aligned and then you go, come on work, you're gonna, like, the money's gonna just flow. 
I mean, no, I mean obviously there's, there's, you know, stuff that we have to do, but, it's, it's the first, it's the first step and it's the first step towards real results, but also in sustainable results. So that, I really wanna make that clear as well as enjoying the journey. Um, and with that, in terms of, you know, my last question to you would be, you know, now that you've got this, this more of a flow and alignment with [00:20:00] your business, how well do you understand the value of the business and what is needed? 
Leighann Lovely: Yeah. Um, that'll be the next step. 
So I'm, I, I actually, actually just had, dinner with my best friend who, who is, an accountant. And I, I actually told her this. I said, I am a complete and total mess when it comes to knowing what's going in, what's coming out, what's should be going into my pocket, what should be going to the government. 
I said, I wanna hire you to just monthly. Do my books. And she's like, yeah, I can, I can do that. And she's like, it's perfect because I'm looking for another client and I'm like, [00:21:00] great, will you give me the best friend discount? 
But as far as, as far as that, that is the next thing that I need to really clamp down and get like hyper specific on. Okay, now, now we figure it out. All the things we've done wrong. Not wrong. I, I'm not one of those people who regret. Hmm. I've, this journey has been. You know, it's been really fun at times. 
It's been, like I've said, extremely hard. At some times it's been, I, I mean the amount of people across the globe that I have had the honor and privilege of, of meeting, I wouldn't take any moment of it back. Um, but now it is time to really. Get serious and say, okay, what, what does all of these nbers, what [00:22:00] does all of this look like? 
What can I put a value on this business? And is this business just me as a, basically kind of becoming a, a contractor under a business name? Or is this a sustainable business that could in fact scale and grow beyond? Me and what do I want that to look like? 
Mm. Yeah. I mean, 
Katherine Breuss: that's key. That's key right there. 
Leighann Lovely: Right. Do I want it, you know, because six months ago I was on the like, okay, let's grow in scale. Let's make this, let's continue to add on. And then I went, I don't wanna do that. 
Katherine Breuss: But you know, to that point, and this is what I say when people say, you know, I wanna grow, and when we talk about accelerate growth, it doesn't necessarily mean bigger. 
So it, it's more about the quality. So I've known businesses, they've grown, their [00:23:00] revenue is, you know, a couple million now, or even more than that. But when they look at their profit and what they're taking home, they're actually taking home less and or the same, but their workload has gone up exponentially and their business isn't worth anything at the end anyway, in terms of a sell. 
So it's about being really strategic, not only mm-hmm with your business, but first. With you. Right? And then it's that marriage, it's that aligning the two and ensuring that they fit and that you're not gonna get divorced from it. 
Leighann Lovely: And, and, and that's what happened is that I went through a massive growth period where I brought on a lot of contractors. 
We brought on a lot of work, but that quickly. I was concerned about the quality and my name being attached to it, and I was, I couldn't oversee everything that was happening at every moment, [00:24:00] and I didn't, I, I was getting scared and I'm like, okay, but the quality here, qu Now understand that the contractors that I had, they were amazing, but they were not seniored. 
Contractors, they were not a hundred percent like, okay, you can take this project on, do it a hundred percent on your own. There was still oversight that needed to happen, and that's where I got sucked into the, wait a second, why am I working 80 hours a week making the same amount that I was before? In fact less because now I'm working three times more. 
Mm-hmm. And it's like, this doesn't balance out like this is, this isn't making any sense. And, and three times more stressed out. So. Grow. Yes. 
Katherine Breuss: It's the value in that. 
Leighann Lovely: Exactly. And, and, and if you were to say, could somebody come in and step in and be you so that you can go on vacation, the answer would've been, no.[00:25:00] 
Nobody would want to. I'd be like, Nope, day one, sorry. Peace out. I'm not doing this. So 
Katherine Breuss: what, if, if there was any piece of advice, you know, along the soul line. Strategy that you would give to other business owners, what would that be? Ooh. Besides working with Ag 45, no. Right. 
Leighann Lovely: Well, the, I mean, my gosh, just the amount that I've known. I mean, just, okay. Just from knowing you, you've helped me. Um, but. First, the biggest mistake that I made is not listening to, I guess the, the, the red flags that were going off in my head [00:26:00] along the journey. And, and they were there, there were red flags in me saying, eh, I don't know if I wanna do this. 
I don't know if I wanna do this. Um. So my, my greatest advice is listen to those who are highly respected, vetted people in your network that are willing to offer advice when it comes to personalized advice, personal advice that they have experienced, often. When they're willing to offer personal advice about what they've gone through of, Hey, don't let this overtake your life. 
Make sure you spend, you know, time taking a vacation or time off. Give yourself grace under listen to that stuff. Working more and [00:27:00] working harder is not the answer. Working smarter. Is the true is truly the answer because that is going to follow more in line typically with what you want, typically with the reason you started your business. 
And I, I just stopped listening to. 
Katherine Breuss: Can I also add, you know, you, you said that you had red flags going off internally, so it's not only listening to outside, listen to your own. My gosh. Listen to your own. Because we have, we do have our own internal wisdom when we are, open enough to hear it. And. I love that you said that you had red flags going off, that you Oh, yeah. Just ignored. 
Leighann Lovely: I, I have a tendency to, 
Katherine Breuss: we all do. Oh my god. You know my history, so [00:28:00] I had it for 30 years. A red flag going off. 
Leighann Lovely: Don't jp in that water. I think there's an alligator. There's no alligator. There's, there's no alligators around it. No, don't, I'm, I'm serious. Don't jp in that water. I'm gonna jp in the water. 
Katherine Breuss: Yeah. Um, well, Leighann, thank you so much. This has been a real pleasure. Um, I really appreciate you sharing and, and actually being vulnerable enough to share this with me and also everyone else who's listening because I guarantee you are not 
alone. 
Leighann Lovely: Thank you so much for having me, Katherine. It's been an awesome, awesome talk and yeah, I, I appreciate you and everything that you and your business does. 
Katherine Breuss: Thank 
Leighann Lovely: you, Leighann. 
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