Thrilled to be joined today by Emma and Carla Pappas, of The Merrymaker Sisters. These two are super energetic, fun and refreshing and I know that hearing their story will absolutely inspire others to take action, make changes in their lives and do the things they’re passionate about.
When The Merrymaker Sisters created their online business, I learned that they never really thought about the perfect avatar that they were trying to attract. (Something we're often told to do as business owners). Instead, they just created the brand and business that they knew people would find value in, and learned and made changes along the way. Their inspiring and health conscious brand, attracts mostly women of all ages, and these women have realized that there’s a different way of living that fits each individual. Emma and Carla have honed in on how to help each woman discover exactly what is right for them.
Born DOERS, Emma and Carla know that the best way to make changes in your life is just to take action. Their best advice for new entrepreneurs: Get started now and put yourself out there.
Just do the best you can do right now and make tweaks and improvement as you go. Equally important is to not get so tied up in what other people are posting – compare and despair gets you nowhere. Everyone’s content (from Marie Forleo to Gary Vaynerchuck) had room for improvement when they were first starting out. “Compare to yourself, don’t compare to others because that’s paralyzing.” You may just end up hating what you’re doing and sucking all the joy out of it.
An integral lesson they learned along the way is the idea that “what you focus on grows.” At the time they worked horrible jobs with toxic people and constant negative thoughts swirling in their heads. Realizing that spending 8 hours per day in this situation was getting them nowhere, this gave them the courage to leave their jobs as soon as possible to devote more time to their brand. Making the business their priority, spending extra time on it and jumping into action led to incredible growth and success. Momentum is everything.
It’s obvious from this interview that Emma and Carla are full of energy and are super positive people. But, like all of us there can be times when they fall back into a negative space in moments of sadness, sensitivity or being overwhelmed.
“It’s okay that we do fall back, it’s just how fast we come back to where want to be in our mindset that matters.”
Yoga, meditation, walks outside or expressing gratitude are some of the ways that the sisters get out of this type of funk. The girls are big fans of practicing gratitude and say, “It’s such a simple thing, but it’s magical.”
To grow their business from a simple idea to a strong brand, Emma and Carla have had to do many scary things; quitting their jobs, putting themselves out there, public speaking and writing their first cook book just to name a few. They know first-hand that as you do more, things become more normal to you and you don’t realize how big and bold you’re actually being.
Speaking of putting yourself out there, One of the things I ask Emma about is her public relationship with fellow entrepreneur, Dan Norris. She shared that deciding to this was all part of putting forth her real, authentic self on social media. Some people put up a front and pretend to be somebody else on social media, but that’s pretty hard to keep up.
“Being you is so easy and way more fun.”
Emma and Carla were so much fun to talk to and I’m thrilled that they’ve shared their brand and incredible relationship with the Bold Life Movement audience.
SOME QUESTIONS I ASK:
What did the evolution of their brand look like? How do the sisters bounce back when they're not feeling exceptionally positive or energetic? How do they decide what to share on social media? Is there such a thing as being too authentic? What were some of the big takeaways they’ve gotten from the guests on their podcast, MerryBiz?
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:
Why taking action trumps all. How the name of your brand might not be as important as some claim it is. How our thoughts attract and decide what we’re going to do in the future. How training your brain through meditation and yoga can get you back to a positive mindset more quickly. Plus much more…
DON’T STOP HERE…
Connect with The Merrymaker Sisters: Website | Snapchat | MerryBiz Podcast ‘Make it Merry: A Healthy Cookbook’: Website 2017 Starters and Makers Event: Website