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Do you feel like you're racing against an invisible opponent? 🏎️ Our guest today, Amber Aziza, bravely shut down her successful business to start anew with intention and purpose. Amber shares her story of overcoming burnout, finding clarity, and building a business that aligns with her true self. Join us for an inspiring journey towards a more intentional and joyful life.

Phil

Ever feel like you're racing against an invisible opponent? Curious about how to build a business you genuinely love? Well, our guest today is my dear friend, Amber Aziza, who bravely shut down her successful business to start anew with intention and purpose. Amber, today, will share her story of overcoming burnout, finding clarity, building a business that aligns with her true self.

So join us. You're going to love this. It's an inspiring journey that we're all on to a more intentional and joyful life. Let's get into it.

Okay. You're one of our final episodes of the podcast, by the way.

Amber

Oh, I feel so honored.

Phil

You should. What we're doing, even though the podcast will go away, the episodes will not.

Amber

Okay.

phil

The audio will still be available on the website, but I'm building out a more detailed blog post based on everything we talk about, which is super cool.

Amber

Okay. I love that. That's great.

phil

We're gonna, over the next year, starting with the most recent episodes, we'll convert all of our past episodes into like an SEO rich blog post. So, I'll make sure I share that with you. How are you?

amber

I'm good. Excellent. Thank you. How are you?

phil

I'm good. Some days are like, easier in terms of like, Being all lit up and excited about the future.

Other days I'm like, god damn, I don't like my to do list today. I've got to make my way through it, but I don't like it.

Amber

I totally get it. I have this thing where I put my entire to do list on a post it note. And if it can't fit on a post it note, I can't do it in one day.

phil

Why are you and I always the same person? Mine is this old school, journal that I have never actually successfully, sustainably used one of these from the beginning of the year till the end. And so, I like it because each day I'm holding up, our listener can't see it, but what I'm holding up is my, basically like my journal. Anyone who has like a diary as we call it in the UK, which is where Amber lives, I've never understood like, how is this practical?

It's like a, like a mini Bible that you carry it around. For me, it just stays on my desk. And, on one page it has Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. So the page is split up into four days. And if my to do list doesn't fit in the box for the day, then I force myself to move it on to the next line. So you and I are exactly the same.

amber

Yes. Yes. It's, it's, it helps with overwhelm, right? Because like, I used to be that person that would just have my massive, you know, master to do list in front of me. But then I would get so overwhelmed when I would cross out one thing and add two more and then feel like, oh, I didn't get anything done. So separating them and doing them on their own for a day makes it so much easier.

phil

I will even write something down that I maybe just did. I took five, 10 minutes to do, but I'll still write it and I'll highlight it. Now I'm holding up my highlighter. Like, I love a good highlight. Like, I did this. Look how productive I was yesterday. Today's only beginning for me, but it will hopefully, be just as productive.

I didn't write down, talk with Amber for podcast, but I'm going to write that down. I'm going to highlight it. And then highlight it, exactly. So, you and I are in really similar transitional periods in our business. Can you talk about that even before we introduce the name and the project that you're working on now? Because we're going to go into detail.

amber

Yes. Absolutely. So, I have been in business for 11 years now, and for me, I always focused on money. I've always focused on like, build bigger, build stronger, make more profit. And it's worked for me until it didn't. And it wasn't that the business stopped making money.

It's that I stopped having the energy to put into it. I started getting burnt out. I started getting really sick. I started going to the hospital. I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a heart attack. This is literally all within the same, like, 18 to 24 months of each other. And it just felt like the world around me was saying, slow down like who are you racing?

That's something that my dad asked me at one point. He said it just feels like you're racing. But I don't know who you're racing. Like who is it? Who is this phantom? And so I really, really prayed on it. I really meditated heavily. I talked to advisors, people that I deemed as mentors. I talked to colleagues, you know, people who I felt like were my peers.

Phil, you were, you were one of the people who had one of those conversations with, and I just ultimately determined, it's time for a new version of Amber. And so with that, I shut down my businesses, bought out business partners, shut down the companies and said, I want to start over. I want to build something that I love.

I want to build something that I enjoy. And it wasn't that I didn't love my businesses, I just didn't love the work that was associated with them. And more so, I didn't feel like I was walking in my purpose. I felt like I was doing something I was good at, not necessarily something I enjoyed. And that is where you start to feel like you're in an endless nine to five.

That's where you feel like you're shackled to your company is I just happened to be good at building, you know, powerhouse businesses. I just happened to be good at doing speaking coaching. I just happened to be good at doing business coaching, but I did not enjoy it. And that is where the disconnect happened that made me say, okay, let's see, what do I enjoy?

And so, yeah, I, I shut everything down and kind of focused on what do I want to build? And now I built it and, and I'm, I'm well building in process. It's still in progress. Um, I went from having, you know, five businesses and a charity to just having, you know, two businesses and people may say that still sounds like a lot, but it's so little compared to what I was building. And instead of having a big massive team, it's just me and an executive assistant and I like it, it feels fresh, it feels new, it feels like a new way for me to really focus on what my actual purpose is and I'm loving it and I'm loving it and I'm learning that I am.

phil

How do you do that? How do you get the confidence or the clarity to shut down businesses? Knowing that, for example, that might sever some income streams that you might rely on or if you don't rely on them, you like having them. How have you been able to navigate that?

amber

I've always had this It's a running joke between me and one of my former business partners. I always say, Oh, I, I'm God's favorite, therefore I will land on my feet. So I've always just had this like innate thought in my mind and heart that like, I will always make it. And some folks call it manifestation, some folks call it a blessing, some folks call it luck, but I've just always had this belief in myself that I will make it through, like eventually I will make it through. And I think it was betting on myself and it was also looking at like where my current trajectory is taking me versus where I want to be. My trajectory at that point was going to result in me being six feet under. It was only a matter of time. I was burnt out. I was exhausted. I was sick all the time. I couldn't fully recover before I was back at work and getting even more sick. And I just, I just had to say, okay, Amber, is all of the money worth it?

If at the end of the day, you're going to be not around to enjoy it, you're going to be not around to it's like, Oh, well, I'm building a legacy because that's very big, especially in the entrepreneur community, you're building a legacy, you hustle and grind to build the legacy that you need, your kids aren't going to have to work for anybody.

It's like, well, what's wrong with working? First of all, like you have employees, so. Clearly, somebody's, you know, it's okay to work for someone, but there was also this mindset for me of saying, well, what does it matter if your kids don't have to work for anyone if they don't have their mom around to actually help raise them into decent human beings?

And so for me, that was the catalyst that said, okay, this, I can't do this, I need to stop. And, um, When I realized I'd rather be alive and broke than be six feet under. And, and a legacy of tons of money. That's when things shifted for me. My perspective shifted. And I just bet on myself and said, I built it once.

I can build it again. I used to tell people as a business coach, if you can make a dollar, you can make a million of them because you just take that process and you do it again and again. And so I use the same concept when deciding to shut down and start over. It's like, you can build a great business.

You can do it again. You just have to believe that you can. So yeah, that was really the how of how I did it. And it was terrifying. I was terrified. Okay. Like I still am every day. There are days I wake up and I am just shaken. Like, what did you do, Amber? Cursing past Amber's name. But ultimately, I know that this is the best decision for me long term.

And that's what I, I keep reminding myself.

phil

That's so powerful. You answered that question beautifully. You actually gave an answer on how you're able to navigate that. And I think our listeners are already hopefully self reflecting and going, Oh my gosh, that sounds like me. Or oh my gosh, even part of that I identify with, I think you've identified that so many people are in a similar place.

I am one of those people in terms of heading in a direction that isn't entirely aligned with what I find fulfilling. And so you've launched, it's kind of meta in some respect, you've launched a community around something that you've been experiencing recently called Scary But Brave. Talk us through what that is, and I think we already know what the catalyst was for you to create it, because you've described that.

amber

Yes, so Scary But Brave is a community that I've built to support people through, those terrifying moments in life that are like, oh, I'm going to do this. I know I need to do it, but it's scary. And regardless of what that is, whether it's making a friends as an adult, whether it's starting a new business, whether it's quitting your job or asking for a promotion or moving across the world or finally getting out of that toxic relationship.

Everyone knows someone, and that someone might be yourself, who has said they were going to do something for years, right? I have a friend who has said that she's going to write a book. She's been saying this since I've known her. And if you were to ask her, like, Oh, how's it going with the book? She'd be like, oh, well, you know, I'm taking a writer's class.

I'm doing this, I'm doing that. And it's like, just write the book. But it's not that easy, right? It's not that easy to just take the leap and do something because it's scary. It shakes up everything that we've been taught to believe. We've been taught to stay within the confines and the boxes of what you're supposed to do.

And I said supposed with the air quotes because ultimately, this defined path that we were all supposed to take, you know, graduate high school, you go to college, you graduate college, you go into a nine to five, you stay in the nine to five until you turn 65 or 70, and then you retire and you have a couple more years to live your life, and then you die.

And that's the path that we're all supposed to take. Sounds awful. Right?

phil

It does. It just sounds so awful.

amber

But it's terrifying when you take the step off that path, because The world does not design to support you stepping off that path. And you have so many naysayers saying, what are you doing? Whoa, why are you stepping off the path?

This is the journey we all take. And so Scary But Brave is really designed to help people take that leap, find the courage within, making the impossible possible, and saying, listen, you've got this, and providing them community around making those hard steps, but also expertise. So, for example, we're doing a summer of friendship, which is how do I make friends as an adult?

That's terrifying to think as an adult, how do I make new friends? And so we're working with our community, giving them the resources, teaching them how to have those conversations, how to meet new people, where to meet new people, and really even how to discover yourself inside first. And things like that allow people to feel more comfortable and understand that okay, this is terrifying having to meet new people, but I can do it.

It's terrifying, but I've got this. I'm braver than what the fear is.

phil

I love it. It's so nice to see you light up about this new project. You are genuinely so excited about it and it, it translates and that's so awesome.

Amber

Thank you. Thank you. I am. I love, I just, I feel like this is what I was put on this earth for, is to help people feel Empowered, and I hate the word empowered because I feel like it's overused, but to just give people their own inner courage to really push through and do what they're meant to do.

Because someone's waiting on your greatness. And if you're too afraid to truly step into it, they'll never get the message or the transformation that they need.

phil

That one sentence description, go back and listen to this and transcribe that because that should be on the homepage of your website. You're welcome.

Sorry, but I'm always branding.

amber

I love it. I love it.

phil

Do you think the future is this membership model, this community model? I can't help but think that traditional education is feeling more outdated than ever before. This idea that you pay many thousands of dollars to end up in an entry level job and still have to learn from real life anyways.

Versus now people paying 25, 50, 100 a month to be a part of a community that feels like the future to me. Are you feeling the same?

amber

Absolutely, because what's happening is, with the rise of artificial intelligence, with the rise of technology becoming more important, with the rise of remote working, people are longing for a connection of some type.

They're longing for community. They're longing to be around other people who are able to resonate with where they are in life. And memberships do that for you. They create that space for you, for you to feel safe in asking questions that you may not feel safe tweeting or threading or Facebooking because everyone knows that, you know, trolls exist and trolls are out there and you ask one innocent question and it's, oh, you're so silly. Why would you ever, you know, oh, you're dumb. Why would you, you know, of course, this is that. And it's like, oh, I just asked the question, so now I'm never going to ask it again.

But a membership creates that safe space that you can ask a question and be given grace that It's genuinely just a question that you don't have the answer to and then be given that answer and support and that's something that I think we're longing for after years of, of having online interactions, after years of fighting for remote work and now having remote work.

And realizing that it's very isolating, people are looking for ways to be able to connect. I mean, that's why body doubling has become so popular with sites like Flown and Groove. It's because people are longing to have that extra connection with people and memberships are definitely going to see the impact of that.

phil

Tell us more about body doubling. I don't know much about that. I don't know those websites you named. I'm like, oh my gosh, tell me more.

amber

Yes, so body doubling is amazing. So basically what it is, is, say for example, if we're on Zoom and Phil and I are saying, okay, Phil's going to work on a project, I'm going to work on a project, and we're going to mute our mics, and we can see each other working.

And we're working together, but he's in Orlando and I am in London. That is body doubling. And it has become a huge popular thing, especially with those who have ADHD. Because there's something in the brain that says, I see someone else working. I'm working at home. I'm a freelancer. I'm an entrepreneur. I'm a remote worker, whatever it is, I'm working at home by myself. But if I can see someone working out of the corner of my eye in a tiny little video, that triggers to my brain, I should be working too. And sites like Flown allow you to do what they call flocks. So they have set flocks that happen at specific times. And then they also have like drop ins where you could just drop in at any time, two in the morning, three in the morning.

And other people are working and you can see them working and they put what they're working on. And you can say like, you've got this. And you put what you're working on and then you put when you complete it. And it's just really wonderful, or sites like Groove, which is an app on your phone, where they take away the camera feature while you're working, but beforehand, you talk to the people that you're in your groove with, which are 50 minutes long, and say like, hey, this is what I'm working on.

They say, okay, this is what I'm working on. You say, all right, great, let's get into our groove. And then 50 minutes, the camera goes off, you're doing your work, you're able to chat with each other if you need to. And then afterwards, you come back and say what you got done. It adds that extra layer of accountability.

Which people like me desperately need.

phil

I love that. Thanks for explaining that. And I remember you seeing, or I remember seeing you post about some of these sites and tools and I was totally intrigued because I've never actually tried that. But you definitely make it seem like something that's, Interesting to try for people, you know, for people that thrive with that layer of accountability.

It just makes me think about something I've been thinking a lot about, which is just as technology evolves, the technology that's going to last is the technology that's rooted around human behavior. And isn't that an example of like, we know our antics as a human. And so this technology helps humans become better or stay accountable or be productive. Not in a gimmicky way, but in a substantial way. I just feel like that's the future.

amber

Yeah, absolutely. It reminds me of, um, you know, the little chat rooms that you used to be able to go into for like AOL, like AIM, and you'd go into the AIM chat room.

phil

Now we're dating ourselves, but yep, I remember that. Oh really?

amber

I know. I used to go into them when I was like six. This is, but you used to go into them because you, you had similar interests and similar likes and you'd have people that you would see in the group all the time. And, and this is really just the evolution of that memberships, body doubling. It's just the adult evolution. We're all adults now, so we're all in that same desire of having that connection, but it's now just in a different, more productive manner.

phil

Speaking of Productivity, I know that you also have particular interest in AI and AI tools, and I've loved to watch and listen and learn from you. What are some tools, since this is something that I'm talking so much more about these days, what are some tools or practices that you're particularly jazzed about at the moment?

amber

You know, I kind of geeked out over Adobe Firefly. We had this conversation, but I just, I love Adobe Firefly. I just thought it was so cool. The ability to just change something as simple as like a shirt or eye color or change a background or extend the background. I just think it's just, it's really what AI is meant to be in terms of being able to make life easier for yourself without having to fight.

That's what, I don't like technology that makes me feel like I have to fight it to make it do what I want it to do.

phil

That's a good point. And Firefly is cool, unlike other tools like Midjourney and DALI, because a Firefly A is safe for commercial use, but also in many of the Firefly features and integrations and tools that we use, like Express or Photoshop, there's additional style controls.

And that's like, that is creating parameters that are so helpful, right? It's making this technology less overwhelming. Like, how neat to be able to choose a style of an image that you want to create or a certain aesthetic.I like that Adobe gives you those controls.

amber

It's great. I love it. I'm a huge, huge fan. And I'm a huge fan of Descript, specifically using their squad casts for podcasting. I love being able to make videos in Descript because their AI tools are so cool that you can simply just go in and say, Oh, I didn't mean to say this word. Like, that's not the word I meant. And just go in and change it and we'll change the video. And it makes it like, It's just like, whoa, okay, this is great. I don't have to worry about rerecording because anyone, and then I know you know Phil, but anyone who records videos, whether it's for, you know, social media or whether it's for, you know, your membership or your course or whatever, you know that the last thing you wanna do is you have the whole day where you look like a human.

You put on regular clothes instead of your PJs, and you sit down and you record, and then you go back the next day and you look at it and you go, Ugh. Why did I say that? Or why was I mispronouncing that word over and over and over again? But going in and just simply saying, okay, change how I say that. It just, it makes life so much easier.

Or even just being able to notice. So, perfect example. Yesterday, I was recording a video on small talk, which is huge right now for those who are looking for friends. People don't like small talk. And I realized after I finished the recording, I cooked dinner, I'm sitting down and I realized I skipped a whole section, like a whole section just I somehow skipped over it.

And so I just went back into Descript, I clicked in the transcript exactly where I should have recorded it, and then I just hit record. Sat in front of the camera, hit record, recorded it, and it just seamlessly put it in there. I didn't have to splice it together or add it in CapCut or anything. So I'm a really big fan of Descript right now, as well as, um, Motion.

I love Motion because for me, as someone who just constantly has too much to do on her to do list, having Motion be able to go in and say, okay, we passed the due date of this particular project, so now I'm going to make it a solid appointment in your calendar so you can get it done. I just love it.

Anything that helps me, be me, I love.

phil

Oh, those are such good tools. I have so much to say on this. This isn't about me, this is about you, but let me chime in quickly. So descript, I worked on a video about 10 features in Descript recently, and I didn't know like four or five of them. And I was amazed.

Descript basically can do everything. Audiograms, translation, the squad cast, it's a little bit like Riverside, um, if people are used to that. But it's, it's all in one tool. My best recommendation is for someone to just log into Descript or watch my YouTube video, which goes into those details. But like, it can do so many things.

It can do so many things and motion is a great one that you've referenced. I was this close to migrating over to motion for a company wide that I thought, oh, this is probably something almost better for me to just save for my own projects or save for me individually. I know they've got a team set up.

We ended up going with Monday because it also has a built in CRM. So to keep everything in one place. But how interesting. I love, I love Motion and if it was just me and one other in the business, I think I'd probably use it. But I am kind of jealous that you're using it because I love how it's set up for people.

All of these are tools that lean into like, how do we help humans become better humans? You know, like how do we let them focus on the areas of high impact and how can we help complement a workflow or an area of, of, of particular challenge, you know, or weakness. Like, I think it's so cool. Those are the tools that are not gimmicky that are going to last, I think.

amber

Oh, for sure. For sure. And that's, that's really what it's about is make my life easier so that I can do all the stuff I really love doing.

phil

On that note, what are you excited about in the future in terms of business, personal? You can answer that question in any way.

amber

I'm excited about a lot of things right now. I recently have been struggling with depression and I'm excited about getting, I call it the fog, um, I've even started a series on YouTube about getting through the fog and I'm excited about getting through the fog like fully and being on the other side of it. I'm excited about Scary but brave in the lives it'll impact.

I already see the impact now, and it's amazing. I had someone message me and say like, I, I went to a coffee shop, I did what you say to do, and I made a friend, and we have a friend date next week. And so, like, little things like that just make me, just make my heart so happy.

Personally, I'm, excited for just seeing where my life with my partner takes me.

This is my first, like, healthy, happy relationship ever. I'm 38 years old. I'll be 39. Wow. And this is my first, like, healthy, happy relationship where I'm not stressed out all the time. So I'm really excited to see where that goes. We celebrate our year anniversary soon, like, in a couple weeks, actually, so I'm excited about that, and I'm just excited to see where this new peaceful path takes me.

This path that doesn't involve me having to fly all over the world for work, but rather if I want to fly all over the world, it's because I want to do it and enjoy it, not because I have to for work. And to just enjoy being able to go at my own pace and not feel rushed and not feel like I'm constantly behind, or as my dad said, running a race with the phantom.

So I'm really excited about those things.

phil

I love that. Running a race with the fans out. I think so many people can relate to that. And I just, here's the thing about you, you can put your hand to anything and you are going to make it successful. You are so knowledgeable and you have such wisdom for a young person.

We're young. Amber, I'm just reminding you, you're still young. We are, we are young. But you, for a young person, you are so wise. You are so wise. You're one of the wisest people I know. And maybe you just need that little reminder once in a while because particularly navigating new projects, we put all kinds of pressure on ourselves to like, make it successful and do all of these things and do it right away.

But like, so much of your success is going to be the outcome of how great you are in real life. And I, yeah, I'm in that boat. There are things that I'll do in business that I think are rooted around my personality or the way I communicate, the way I teach or what I feel can be helpful for someone. And so regardless of what we go and do, people are going to buy into the idea based on those qualities and behaviors and reputation.

amber

Absolutely. The culmination of that. Absolutely. You know? For sure. I completely agree.

phil

It's just, you're so wise, and I'm so excited to see this take shape, and I'm so excited about how excited you are about this project. Where can people get more information or become a part of Scary but Brave?

amber

So you can check out more about Scary but Brave At Scary, but brave.com, I couldn't believe that domain was available.

I was like, what? well done. I'm impressed. So you can check us out at scarybutbrave.com. You can find me everywhere on social media @Ambe_Aziza. It's A-M-B-E-R-A-Z-I-Z-A.

phil

Thanks for hanging out with me on Brand Therapy. It's actually been a little bit like Brand Therapy. And normally I'm providing that for other people.

But you and I are this kind of constant support for one another. And I just value it so much. You're the best.

amber

Thank you. No, I adore you. And I love you. And I am so grateful and honored to be able to be a guest.

phil

It'll be so fun to touch base a year from now and both be like, oh, my gosh, all these things, all these things, because that's how we are.

Amber

Yes exactly!