Frozen 2 and Breaking Into Male-Dominated Industries | with Ashley Luke

0:01 We are really excited to bring you this next episode with Ashley Luke, who is a franchise owner of Pink's Window Cleaning. It was great having the opportunity to visit with her about her journey throughout her life, new challenges that she took on that really prepared her to be able to take on a male -dominated industry and to find great success in doing something different and unconventional. And we look at that through the lens of Frozen 2. And we're also taking a look at maybe an unconventional pick for the character that we will look at as we see this idea of taking on these challenges through the lens of a wonderful movie, Frozen 2. Really looking forward to this episode. in pursuing your goals or your dreams that you sometimes have doubters or sometimes you're pursuing something that's maybe a little unconventional. And so today we're visiting with Ashley Luke. of Pink's window cleaning. Very excited about the conversation today and kind of talk about her unconventional journey to this business that she owns and is really thriving in. And I think it's important because you chose to take this unconventional journey into something that maybe you had some doubters, maybe you had some people who didn't think you'd be able to make it happen the way that you did. So really excited about where that

1:32 conversation is going to take us. And today as we talk, we're going to talk about about that journey through the lens of frozen 2 and a little bit maybe unexpected Character that we focus on in frozen 2 which is on out instead of Elsa So I was kind of preparing for this and as we talked it really seemed totally appropriate that it be the unconventional character talking about this I think a lot of people have assumed to be Elsa, you know talking about stepping into the unknown or something like that, but I think Ana's journey here in Frozen 2 perfectly captures the very topic that we'll be looking at. So very excited about where that conversation takes us today. So welcome to the program, Ashley. Yeah, thank you. Thanks for having me. Yeah, of course.

2:14 So today as we get started, and that briefly mentioned, but... What I'd love for you to talk a little bit about is how in the world you got into this business. Like what happened? What was your kind of career arc that took you from whatever it was you were doing before and what your life looked like before and then why you decided to step into this new challenge that you're doing and thriving in now. Yeah, so I'll start kind of a little bit with my background of how I got to where I am, how we chose pink, all of that good stuff. So I was born in Ohio, the youngest of five. We moved around a lot as a kid, moved all over the US about every two years. Eventually we settled in Chicago for four years, which felt like a long time. It's where I graduated high school. I moved to Utah for college, went to college for a couple years, tried to do the traditional path, went to dental assisting school, got married. We bought a house.

3:09 We had our first kid. We thought, oh man, we're living the American dream. Turned out the American dream wasn't for us. We were pretty miserable. So we so unconventionally, we sold everything. We sold our cars and we moved to France with our daughter who was one at the time. You moved to France? We did. No kidding. We did. Wow. Yeah. So we both had great jobs. I was at the Veterans Hospital. He was at American Express. We thought, man, we're... We're on a great path, but it turned out it wasn't for us. So what spurred that? Why did you decide to do that? And why France? Great question. So why France and why did we decide to do that? Definitely France had always been on the table for me. I had always loved it. I traveled there in high school and it had just been a dream. I wanted to live there. I thought I'd live there as a single person, but I didn't.

3:59 So I quit my job. I stayed home with our daughter and then. Trevor was finishing his MBA. So that was an adventure. But it turned out that living in France was probably the place that I felt myself the most. The culture, the pace, we lived in a downtown. I loved that. We didn't have much. And we found out we were a lot happier with less than we were with more. When you said you lived in downtown, were you in Paris? We were in a different city. It's called Grenoble, a lot like Salt Lake, in the foothills of the Alps. Yeah. OK, fun. It was a lot of fun. How was the food? Amazing. Once you learn what to order, it's amazing. Did either of you speak much French? I spoke a little French. School was in English for him.

4:41 So we learned quickly because a small town doesn't have a lot of English. How's your French now? Not great. Did you feel like you got pretty comfortable though while you were living there? I was pretty conversational and normal day to day. Experiences. Yeah, did you did you go experience what I mean you hear about because I never lived there and don't know a lot about it but You hear about people like going to the market every day to get fresh bread and get fresh produce and that kind of stuff Was that something that you experienced there? Yes. Yeah, you're everything smaller. So your fridge is tiny. So you don't have storage So we did yeah every day I would go to the market You can't you can't buy bread that lasts more than a couple days It just gets hard In my head is just like replaying like Beauty and the Beast and like the opening scene, right? We're bells walking through the town and like Maureen the buckets, you know, like that whole like that's what I'm seeing you doing Like you're walking around this town. You're like getting bread shopping doing stuff. It sounds like magical It it is a little bit life in Europe's a little hard.

5:41 We didn't have a car. Oh No car. No car. Oh man. So you're walking everywhere public transportation. Yeah with a one -year -old Was it a lot of bus bus and then there was a train. Oh train. Okay. Yeah, so we would use whatever was convenient. But yeah, I loved living in France. It's hard. It's a very hard transition to go from comfortable suburban life to downtown. What do you feel like you learned from that experience? It was the first time that it opened my eyes to a different way to live. You know, American lifestyle is very different than French lifestyle. They really respect quiet time. They would prefer to sit in a park with a baguette. and a bottle of wine on a Sunday, then go on a boat or have all these four wheelers and other things that we look for in American lifestyle. So I learned a lot. And did that kind of change your perspective once you then move back where you you guys haven't pursued those same things and you have a little more contentment with what you have? Yes, definitely.

6:42 We have since we've been back. Experiences are more important to us than than things for sure. Yeah. So how long did you end up staying in France? We were there a little over a year. The first year's the hardest for sure. So I wish we'd had another, but we were there about a year. And was that kind of the design going into it as you thought you'd be there for about that time or you just weren't sure and then after a year you were like, we're good, let's come back. We would have stayed longer if we had found a good job opportunity. So when we initially planned it, we'll be there for the year and then we'll come home. And what year was this? This was 2010.

7:22 Okay, a little while ago. A while ago, yeah. So then you do there for a year and then where do you go after that? We moved back. So we were back here. To Utah? To Utah, yeah. So after France, we moved back here. I went back to school. I hadn't finished my bachelor's degree before we left, so I went back to school. We had another daughter, so we had two at that point, yep. I graduated with my bachelor's. Probably one of the proudest moments of my life is having my girls watch me cross that stage and finish that when they're little. That was tough. And then at the same time, I also helped my parents start a short -term property management business. So I started that with them. So was that something that they had been doing for a while where they had that need and that's where they saw it and decided to start it? Or how did that play out?

8:14 They had just started it right as we were moving back from France. So they had been kind of looking around at what to do and they had just kind of decided on that. Had they been in the real estate industry or working with? Nope, that was a total shift. There's like something brand new. We're gonna go do this new thing. Yeah, my dad was in office products. So he sold office products for 30 years. Okay, so he was like on the office. Yep. Exactly. He was Michael Scott. Maybe more like Jim. All right. Maybe more like Jim. Definitely not Dwight. Yes. Maybe not Michael Scott, but he's like Jim. I'm gonna go with that. In my head, that's what I'm gonna say is Jim. That's more accurate. Good. Which makes your mom Pam.

8:56 Yes. That's a great combo. Your parents must be amazing. Yes. They are amazing people. Yeah. And they really forge that path of entrepreneurship, watching them do that and kind of doing it alongside with them. I'm sure. Yeah, it was huge for me. And so, how long did you do that? I'm still doing that. Okay, so still going. Yeah, so 15 years we've been doing that. When you started doing it, how did y 'all get going on it? Because you're starting a business from scratch in an industry you're not in. Like, how did y 'all go about finding success in that and sticking with it? It's a great question. So, my dad had been looking at lots of different opportunities, lots of franchises. He looked at... all different kinds of things, restaurants, sports cuts, all those wonderful things. And he landed on this one. This one is a franchise as well. So he landed on this one.

9:47 He just saw the growth opportunity for this was untapped really. So we work in Park City almost exclusively. So yeah, so that's kinda how we did that. So he took a path of franchise, which also might... Help explain why you decided to go the route of a franchise as well because you saw what value there could be in starting with the franchise For sure as opposed to just completely from scratch Yeah, which has a lot of challenges. So that's really smart. So you do that with them and then you're finding some success What led you to taking on a new adventure? That's a great question. So My background is kind of diverse. So we were doing property management. We had the opportunity to move to Malaysia So yeah, so we moved to Malaysia y 'all aren't afraid of a challenge we are not Now we have three daughters at this point and Malaysia is Still very different than here women are still second -class citizens.

10:48 So for the first time in my life I saw what it felt like to be treated less than a couple great examples Everyday life going out to a restaurant we would sit down and I would try to order for myself and they would look to my husband for approval of what I ordered. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. One of the most extreme examples was I had longer hair at the time and it was so hot in Malaysia. I wanted to cut it. I was just done. So just like here, I made an appointment, went to get my haircut. My stylist, he said, I can't cut your hair. And I said. Well, what do you mean? It's my hair. I want it cut short. And he said, I have to have your husband's permission. No way. Yeah, to cut your hair shorter. He said, I've done it in the past. And I've had husbands come in and yell at me that I didn't ask for permission. So Malaysia really opened my eyes to what it could be like where we don't have these opportunities. So that pushed me to think, OK, what do I want to do with my life? I have all this opportunity. What am I going to do with it? So that led us to my husband and I both to thinking, okay, well, what do we want to start?

11:54 Where do we want to go? I saw Pink's and I loved the opportunity. I loved the thought of stepping into an industry that's male dominated to create safety for women. Yeah. So explain maybe a little bit about what Pink's is. Yeah, great question. So Pink's is window cleaning, exterior cleaning, pressure washing. that kind of stuff, gutter cleaning, solar panel cleaning. Which makes sense, right? You're doing that, so it makes sense that that's been historically dominated by men. And you saw that as an opportunity. For sure, yeah. Which I think is great. And so then you start doing that, or you're researching, and you find this opportunity to do this franchise. And is it... You that decides that you're going to do it and run it. Does your husband do it alongside you? Is he kind of like, hey, honey, you do whatever you got to do to make it happen. Yeah. So we do it as a team. I definitely have taken the lead. He still works a corporate job, which means I've taken the lead a lot. But he's still definitely a team member. We do it together. He's very supportive of everything that I want to do. I pushed pinks for sure in the beginning. I loved the branding.

13:08 I love the thought of. Being in a male dominated, you know shaking it up. Yeah, so yeah, I love that So we're gonna get back to more of that here in a minute But what I want to do is let's take a look at kind of through the lens of frozen 2 yeah and understand a little about Anna's journey and kind of some of the parallels that are there and then some of the lessons from both That wonderful story and then also what you what you've done and kind of that the tie -ins there. So if you can Can you kind of set the stage of the kind of the overarching story of what frozen 2 is in case anybody hasn't seen it? Are not familiar with it You can't get that overarching storyline and then we can kind of dial in some of the specifics about honest on his journey Yeah, that'd be great.

13:54 I hope I don't butcher frozen 2. Let's see. That's all right We're here as a team. We're teaming this and in this podcast episode So I'll fill in the gaps if I see him or we can make sure we get there Okay, so it starts with back with Anna Elsa Christoph's been Olaf, in Arendelle, right? They're back in Arendelle. Things seem to be going very well, but Anna, no, Elsa, starts hearing a voice, right? Yeah, exactly right. Yeah, and she hears something calling to her that there's something going on. We hear a little bit more about their mom and dad, find out their mom is from the Magic Forest, is that right? Yeah, she's from the... I guess whatever that area is up there that she's actually from, which nobody knew. Nobody knew it, and they found it out. Yeah, and they discovered this through this voice leading Elsa into the forest. Elsa kind of ends up on her own adventure. Anna ends up also on her own adventure, starting off with, I think she's with Olaf in the beginning, and then he ends up melting away because Elsa's magic disappears. So Ana for the first time is completely alone. And then it's kind of interesting how Ana and Elsa each are on their own adventure, but they are each helping each other, actually.

15:10 They don't realize it. So that was pretty, that's an interesting piece of the story. And they both work through the magic and what's happening. And I'm trying to remember the ending. Yeah, and so then once Ana realizes the wrong that needs to be righted, which was actually their grandfather. who betrayed the people of Northuldra and then built this dam to, in essence, harm what they were doing and the forest and the health of the river and that whole ecosystem there that he did it selfishly to try to harm them. And so they needed to right that wrong. So once they realized that, once Elsa realizes it through taking her journey and she kind of sends this magical message to Ana, she realizes that she needs to destroy the dam. So she calls upon the, um, these, these spirits, which ends up being the rock creatures, right? That's right. Then it's helping her kind of destroy the dam, but doing so believing that that would then, you know, completely flood Arendelle, uh, which is where, where they lived. But, but doing that, she knew was the thing that needed to happen.

16:20 Um, and so they do it together in essence, because she does that. And then it awakens Elsa. Who is able to come down with the water spirit ends up stopping Arendelle from being flooded? So again then taking their separate journeys, which I love you describe it that way I hadn't even thought about that. They're taking their separate journeys, but really they're still doing it together and coming together You know, they're taking those those journeys separately. Yeah, and so yeah, I mean it's just such a It's such a great story for a lot of different reasons and when we look at on his journey When she first kind of starts out, you know, she's got Lot of great things like you said like life is good at the beginning where she has her family there She's they've they've overcome the things from frozen one, right? Yeah, and now they're there But then Elsa is having this call in this poll to go somewhere else and do something else Yeah, but doubting on his ability to help her. It's true, right?

17:16 Because that's what she's doing at first is she doesn't tell on us. She's having she's hearing this voice call her Yeah, and then she says she wants to go alone, but on is like No, like, we're in this together. I wrote down, yeah, I wrote down one of the things she said. Anna said, I climbed the North Mountain, survived your frozen heart, and saved you from my ex -boyfriend. I think I can handle myself. Like, it's such a good line. She's like, look, I, yeah, I don't have magical powers like you, but I still, I love you, and I'm here to help, and I can. And so I don't think Elsa was doubting her to be rude or unkind, but she just was. And Anna knew what her worth was and knew what she could do, which I think is a little bit like when we look at your particular journey, right? You have this male -dominated industry, window cleaning business, but you find this great brand that you believe in, that you're passionate about. And you believe that you can do it and that you can do something different, even though it might be dominated by other people, which I think is a really nice parallel there. For sure. In those situations, both for Anna and for you, where do you think that comes from of that strength to be able to take on a challenge when maybe other people doubt?

18:27 Yeah, that's great. So where does the strength come from? Definitely comes from action. The more you do, the more confidence you have. People have underestimated me probably my whole life, being the youngest. Moving a lot, no one ever knew who I was. Moving across continents, it's pretty hard. And there's a lot of confidence, though, just like Ana said, in doing all these things that you don't think you can do until you do it. So, yeah. Before we jump back in, can I ask you a quick favor? If you're enjoying the journey so far, will you like, rate, and subscribe to our show? It helps us reach more people like you. We can design and create and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it takes people to make the dream a reality Through those experiences we prove to ourselves that we can yeah exactly But we have to be willing to because if you don't if you don't take those on you're never gonna find out You know if if Ana hadn't tried to do those things she never would have realized that she was capable of those things Yeah, for sure and that's an interesting thing about her journey that like that you had mentioned is so She kind of starts going down this different path than Elsa because Elsa separates her unfortunately, even though like at first like okay We're gonna go to this magical forest together, right? Okay, we're gonna be in this together once Once Elsa realizes she's got to go to at the Holland to figure out like what really happened She unfortunately like pushes on away again In the end that turned out to be

19:58 the right thing because Anna needed to take a journey and do something But there's this, you know It's a really sweet scene that you mentioned, where she gets stuck in this cave and she's there with Olaf. And that point in time, Elsa had basically become frozen because she went too far. I think that's kind of how the song had described it, right? If you go too far, then you're going to lose yourself. And so in essence, she was frozen. So her magical powers start to go away. So of course, like you mentioned, then Olaf starts to. And Olaf has these really sweet lines in there. and I won't get your take on these and kind of what that may be meant to her. So she's in there, he starts to flurry away and he says, I'm sorry, Ana, you're gonna have to do this next part on your own, okay? And so were there ever, has there ever been times where you kind of had to do that? Where it was like. you're going to have to do this next part on your own.

20:53 Yeah. Doesn't mean that there aren't people to support you, but for the most part, it's something you're going to have to do. It's only you that can do it, and you're going to have to dig deep to do it. Yeah, for sure. Starting new schools every couple of years. That was hard. My mom and I were very close. My dad and my whole family and I were close. But every time you step into a new school, that's all you. There's nobody else with you. Doing that was hard. Moving to different countries. It's all you. As much as you're doing it as a couple, my husband has his thing, I have my thing, and that loneliness you feel, that's all you. That's 100%. You just have to step into that and figure out how to handle that, the cultural differences. Nobody can react the way you're going to react, so you have to learn how to handle that on your own. And then starting pinks. They always say, as you're building a business, you're building yourself. And as much as we've done it together, we've done it individually as well. So there's been some loneliness.

21:55 There's definitely darkness. And starting your own business, it breaks you in ways you didn't expect. So yes, so being on your own with starting a business, walking into meetings where usually I'm the only woman. Yeah. It's a major challenge. And you are. You're on your own. You're like, this is me. And I've got to step into my power to do this. Yes. You don't go in always with confidence, but the more you do it, the more confidence you definitely build. But you do have to step into that and just kind of own it. And as you grow, the confidence grows for sure. For sure. And I think what it ties nicely to here is actually the next line from Olaf as he's ultimately in on his arms and he's fading away. And this kind of comes on, there was kind of foreshadowing at the very beginning of the show, right? The very beginning they had this song as some things never change. Of course, the whole idea is that everything changes. And Olaf actually says that at one point in time. We said nothing changes, but since then, everything has changed. And when he had that kind of realization, then he comes to this line, which is just such a great line, maybe the best line in the show. He says, hey, Anna, I just thought of something that's permanent, love. And so when you think about, for you, having to do some of these things on your own, how do you feel like? that applied for you and your situation with you and your husband, right? Because you go and you move to France and you did have to do things separately, but you also still had

23:27 that for each other. Same thing with Malaysia, same thing with pinks. How do you think, what you're gonna take on that, both for this story here, but also more specifically, of course, for your own. Yeah, I think it's interesting as you grow, love changes. When you're first married or first together, it's very... surface level, if that makes sense. And then as you face challenges together, you really learn how to love each other on a deeper level. And that doesn't change. So as much as you're changing, you're growing, your relationship's changing and growing, there's still that foundation that hasn't changed, like they say in Frozen 2. So I think through everything, all the challenges, it makes us stronger.

24:11 I think if you don't face challenges as a couple, it does kind of stay on that surface level. And everything stays the same, but changes is kind of the theme, I guess, for sure. I think that's exactly right. And it's when you know that you have that love from somebody else. that even if you're taking that step like Ana was, where she was alone doing it, she could still draw on that love to know that she was loved, to know that people did care about her. For sure. I would say my husband has more faith in me than I've ever had in myself. And so I do rely on that love that's behind everything I do that I know that I've got a strong rock foundation behind me that will support me. that's amazing and I mean that's it ties in perfectly with then the song that Ana sings next right and kind of the end of the song says I'll make the choice to hear that voice the one of love and support and do the next right thing and when when we have the the love that goes really deep because we've taken the time to build that deeper love that really does help us make the right choices make the next right choice and the next hard choice because again Running running this this business that you have like I mean, it's just I can just imagine it being such a challenge because you're walking into rooms where you're the only woman and you're Doing something that other people haven't done. Yeah, like it's something that's new. That's unique. That's original And having

25:44 the strength to just take the next right step even if you have dadders or even if you doubt yourself You still take the next step. Have you ever had that time where you've doubted yourself? Oh, yeah I doubt myself all the time. And what do you do when you have that? Because I think that's something that I think everybody can relate to. We have moments where we do, and so when you have, what have you done to dig deep and be able to still take the next right step? I often think of the phrase, do it anyways. Whether I doubt myself or I don't doubt myself, you typically know the next right step, if you will, and you just do it anyways. something I'm learning as I grow into this business is you just learn that you can handle it. Having the confidence that even if it goes wrong, I can handle it. That's really been huge for me as we've grown the business.

26:34 We've had lots of big projects, things have gone wrong. We've had to do a lot of gymnastics to get what the customer's looking for and expectations. So yeah, you just have to trust yourself that even if it goes wrong, you'll handle it. And so circling back to what I mentioned before, which is specifically about how you've used this industry that's male dominated, but you being a female owner, female led organization, how have you actually turned that into a real strength for your particular business and for your clients? How have you done that? For sure, so one thing is you're memorable. That's great. If you go into a room where they're expecting a male, they're going to remember that it's a female. But the other great thing about it is creating safe space for women. When I show up for a quote, it almost drops a barrier for most women, that it's me, that I'm going to make sure everything and the job is the way that they would expect it to be.

27:36 Details matter to me. There's just a different eye that I have. So I've taught my teams different things. Normally in a male -dominated industry, they wouldn't notice I think Yeah, just creating a safe space for women knowing that a woman is behind it has really been huge For us as we've grown. Yeah, because there's I mean, there's tons of female business owners and female Building, you know landlords and people who are gonna want to be using your services Yeah, and so it's probably a huge breath of fresh air for them to realize like I'm a strong powerful woman And look, I've got somebody else here, his two, and I can trust them. I can trust them to take care of this space that they're going to be, you know, taking care of for me. Like, I can have that trust with them because I trust her. Exactly. Yeah, and the care just, I care so much. So I think that really goes through, you know, when I'm speaking to other women as well. Yeah. So there's a couple of quotes that I... Came across in preparing that I kind of want to run by you and get your thoughts. Okay, so we haven't talked about these Okay, so I'm just gonna kind of spring them on yet, but they're great ones ones from Brene Brown And she said you can choose courage or you can choose comfort, but you cannot choose both a hundred percent So how is how has that been the case for you? So every time you grow it takes a little bit of courage it does and it is not comfortable And then you look back and you think I'm really bad about giving myself credit. So

29:06 I look back and I think, well, that wasn't hard. I didn't need courage, but you really do need, when you step into these new things, it does take a lot of courage, and it's not comfortable. Moving's not comfortable. Starting a business is definitely not comfortable. Having kids is not comfortable. All these things, all these milestones that we do as humans really do take a lot of courage. Yeah, you can't be comfortable and courageous at the same time. Yeah, and you know what? We're here to grow. Yeah, right like that's how life gets better. That's how we You know in the pursuit of growth finding joy in the journey is kind of what life's all about But we're not going to grow we're not going to have those opportunities if we're not courageous about you know stepping out of our comfort zone stepping out of something that's really comfortable It's really easy to get in getting around where you're just doing the thing that's just super comfortable because it's easy. Exactly. And that's what's so interesting about your stories. I didn't know all these other things about you. Moving around a lot and then also taking these opportunities to move to different countries, but yeah, it's just completely connects I'm like, well, yeah, that's she's built over a lifetime showing that she's courageous to take those steps and then she'll step out of her comfort which makes also sense why like you've been so successful as a business because you've constantly challenged yourself. You've grown through those experiences, and so this is like just the next one where you're like, yeah, of course I'm gonna take on that challenge. Exactly. Of course I'm gonna do that.

30:37 Of course I can be successful, even though you'll have your doubts. Even though you're gonna have, you know, as we sometimes do, that imposter syndrome, like, oh yeah, all right, it can't be me that's successful in this. Can I really be the one that is successful in this? Oh, definitely. Yeah, we all have that, for sure. Even moving around, you know, can I really be successful in living in... Southeast Asia. That was a big one. But you do, you look back and those are the moments that you actually feel the most happy, are the moments that you're being courageous, that you're stepping out of your comfort zone. It feels scary when you're in it and then you look back and you think, man, I was really happy. Yeah. Isn't that interesting? A lot of times we have these ideas and I think it comes culturally from growing up the way that we do and seeing... People be celebrated for an accomplishment that we think that happiness is through the accomplishment, you know You see sports and you see somebody with a championship and that's where everybody's super happy here You know see somebody getting an award for something and that's where it always when in reality life is really more about the journey For sure, you know you're looking back you're like man. Those were times where yeah, they were hard Yeah, but I was I was happy doing those things taking on those challenges for sure challenging myself One more quote I have for you. Yeah take on it Adam Grant, who I'm a big fan of, he said in his book Originals, he said, originals are non -conformists, people who not only have new ideas, but also take action to champion them. Oh, that's good. So I would look

32:07 at you and say you're an original. So tell me what that quote means to you. How do you see that fitting into your story? Yeah, great question. I think naturally I am not an original. I would like to conform to society. I'd like to fit in. But my whole life, I feel like I've been pushed out of the normal, I guess you could call it. So I've really had to step into being more original, being more myself. Who am I as I grow? Because I'm definitely more on my own than I think a lot of other people. What was the second half of the quote? Sorry. that says people, so originals are non -conformists, people who not only have new ideas, but also take action to champion them.

32:49 Which is where I think, like with Pinks, it's exactly what you've done. Yes, so finding Pinks was huge for me. It just spoke to me, the values, the 1950s throwback, I loved all of it. And I saw it and I thought, well, I can do that. I can do window cleaning. I can do this. And really, the more steps I took towards it, I realized I can champion this idea. I can take it, I can run with it, and really succeed. It wasn't easy. No. No, not at all, because I think a lot of people would have doubted that that was something that you could do something different, right? I love the idea that you're connecting and providing a safe place for your female customers. Because now that you say it, it's like, oh, well, of course. Yeah, of course that would be, but like, you didn't know that. Exactly. That wasn't like in the franchise manual, like, here's what you need to do because you are a female owner now of pinks. This is the angle you need to take.

33:47 No, you had to figure that out. Yes. And now that you have, you're not just doing it. I would say, just from afar, that you're championing that, which I love. That's just something I get really passionate about when you have something great that you're doing and you champion a cause or a purpose you believe in. It's just really, it's really inspiring, right? I think, and I think one thing I'm hoping that people take away from this is just like the willingness to step into something that maybe they're a little bit nervous to do or that might seem a little bit different and in knowing that like, no, you can do it. You can do it and not just do it, but you can really thrive with it. And then you can champion that cause and help other people as well, because what you're doing to help these other female clients that you have, and you certainly have male ones too, but specifically the female ones, the confidence and the safety and security they feel because they're using your organization makes a difference in their lives. Yeah. Right?

34:50 Absolutely. And I agree that just stepping into things that feel hard, that's where you're really going to thrive. And stepping outside of that norm and that comfort zone, we need disruptors. Yeah. So I agree for sure. Okay. So what I want to do next is take us to a little bit of a couple of fun segments here Yeah, we're gonna first do a this or that So I'll just give you two things and you tell me which one it is Okay, and then after that we'll take you to a rapid fire Well, you'll just the first thing that comes to your mind. Okay, so first of this or that. Okay. All right, so Arendelle or enchanted forest Arendelle. Okay. Okay. Good. How come just Peaceful so as I have so much chaos in my mind. Yeah that having somewhere peaceful is more appealing Yeah, I like it. Yeah Olaf or Sven. Oh, that's a tough one Olaf. Yeah. Yeah, I do I mean look Olaf's got some great song He does get a great personality.

35:44 Yeah, like and I love said don't get me wrong. Same. Oh, I just got a little more Yeah, he's got a little more there. Okay, frozen one or frozen two. Oh, I think I did enjoy frozen two more Okay, yeah, it might be a hot take. Yeah. Well, yeah, I think they really built nicely on what it was and Being just great. So this one is related to that but let it go or into the unknown Well, that one's tough probably more let it go on that one. Yeah, I think so too. I mean that's iconic Yeah, right like everybody knows let it go. Yeah Okay, last sister that Anna or Elsa Oh Anna Always. Always. There you go. You're like, heck yeah, that's what we're talking about today, right? Exactly. I love it.

36:26 OK, here's our rapid fire. OK? Yep. Favorite Disney movie? Beauty and the Beast. Such a good one. That's a good one. Such a good one. I mean, there's a reason why it was nominated for Best Picture and not in the animated feature category. Like, overall, all of the movies it was nominated because it was amazing. Yeah. Favorite Disney song? Oh. What's the Little Mermaid one with her thingamajigs? Part of Your World. That one. Yeah. What a great song. Yeah, that's a good one. Little Mermaid is such a fun song. Such a fun movie. And all of the songs in that movie are really, really good. They are good. That was the start of the Disney Renaissance, where they'd really been struggling for a little while in the 80s with a bunch of non -hits. Then Little Mermaid late 80s really catapulted it back in the Disney Renaissance us great great song Yeah, favorite Disney princess though though Back to Beauty and the Beast which also I didn't realize but of course the the france tie -in there right totally makes sense doesn't say it favorite Disney hero or heroine oh Interesting I gotta think about that one for a minute Probably the fairy godmother in Cinderella Okay, seeing her as a hero. I like this I hadn't I hadn't looked at it from that lens, but you can absolutely call her a hero Yeah, take it was great taking Cinderella from where she was to yeah be something that

37:58 she thought she couldn't be was That's a definitely a hero. Yeah for sure She she took her on you know this she helped guide her through the journey. She needed to go on. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I love that favorite Disney villain Let's see, the godmother in Tangled. Oh, Mother Gothel. Mother Gothel. Oh, she's such a good villain. She's such a good villain. She makes it seem like she's sweet, but really it's not at all. Oh yeah, like her song. That's another good song. Oh, it is. Such a good one. Okay, we're going to step outside of Disney and say favorite book. Just any book.

38:38 Oh, favorite book. Oh man, there's so many. Let me think. It has to be... It's about the Women in War. I think that's what it's called. Women in War? By Kristen Hannah, yeah. About the Vietnam War. Okay, yeah, that's what I'm gonna have to add to the list. It's a good one Okay, I'm gonna have to look at that one based on a true story or it is it's not a true story Okay, but based on historical facts. Okay, so they've got like fictional characters based on the stuff that actually happened Yep, exactly. Okay, that's kind of fun. Yeah, and then how she comes back from Vietnam and okay Some historical fiction. I always like a good historical fiction. It's a good one. Okay And the last rapid -fire is your ultimate dinner guest. Oh my ultimate dinner guest anybody dead or alive Would actually love to have dinner with can I have to sure the Obamas?

39:27 Okay Okay, it'd be I mean be a really interesting conversations. Yeah, sure. There's a lot I'm sure a lot of experiences they have that you could get them to share They've made a lot of change a good change in the world and then they Maintained just being good people through it all the chaos be really interesting to hear. Yeah, no doubt their stories. So as we kind of bringing around back to Frozen 2, to your story, you know, kind of closing thoughts for you on, you know, what it means to have the courage to take an unconventional path when you have doubters. What are kind of your closing thoughts on that? And then after that, we'll wrap it into our three actionable takeaways. Great. So closing thoughts on being unconventional. Yeah. Yeah. And having the courage to do that, to take this unconventional path that people doubted you on. Great. I think you're always going to have haters in life. There's always going to be naysayers. Doesn't matter what you do. Someone's going to say, that's not the right thing. And so if that's the case, you might as well choose a life you want to live.

40:34 So that's how I've always found the courage to just keep going, is people are going to say, this is a horrible idea. And maybe it is, but you're never going to know until you do it. Yeah, and I love that that the idea of just doing it anyways, right? Like they're gonna you're gonna have doubters no matter what steps you take You're gonna have somebody that is you may as well do what you'd like to do exactly make the life that you want Notwithstanding the doubters. Yeah, that's great Okay, so what are what are three actionable takeaways that somebody listening could put into effect? Today or this week? to start making the changes or finding the courage to do something unconventional, set aside the doubters and really step into something great.

41:16 That's a great question. So what can you do today? First, I would start with taking 10 minutes and writing what success looks like to you. Because success can be a million things. And really looking at what success can be to you and not listening to those naysayers or other people. And just envisioning that and picturing that, manifesting that, if you will. That's the first step that you can take and probably should take in finding all of this happiness. And then the next one is to do one small thing that scares you this week, whether that's speaking up for yourself when you shouldn't have, when you wouldn't normally, sending the email, sending the text, even just doing an experience that scares you, trying new food, trying a new restaurant. things like that.

42:04 You start to build you start to build up the ability to do that if you'll do those little things so that when the bigger things come you've built up a belief in yourself that you you can do that scary thing. That's great. So then that leads into the third one which is reflect. Reflect on the times that you did feel the most yourself and that helps lead into what was I doing in that situation that made me feel courageous or good about myself and that's really going to help you find your path of Where you want to be and what makes you feel the most alive? Yeah, absolutely fantastic. Those are great things I mean that's something that anybody could do you just you know tomorrow, you know, just take the time to Create that list right, you know take those ten minutes write that list down Look at your week. I mean certainly in even a day, but certainly in a week someone can find something that scares them Yeah, they just wouldn't have done otherwise and then reflecting on those things and the time where they felt themselves most Wonderful takeaways there. Well, hey listening a great conversation Really appreciate you taking the time to to visit with us Take a look at frozen to you know, see what awesome lessons there are from on in that and really but more importantly the vulnerability you showed to explain kind of what your journey was and times where you took on these new challenges and I think it's really going to be inspiring for those listening to say like hey I can do it too right I can I can take on these challenges I can do something unconventional challenge those things I can be

43:36 an original and find success in doing those things so hey really appreciate your time today yeah thank you thanks for having me As you leave this conversation, remember that yes, the past can hurt and you can either run from it or you can learn from it. So here's to learning and finding joy in the journey. See you real soon.