Elevating Female Entrepreneurship Through Wellness and Success Strategies with Clara Capano

In this episode recorded in 2021, Nika sits down with Clara Capano, a distinguished Speaker, Author, and Coach with a Master's in Communications and Professional Studies from the University of Denver, as well as an MBA focusing on Organizational Development and Leadership. 

Together, they explore the crucial role of finding clarity in both personal life and professional career. Clara shares her expertise and actionable advice on how to enhance your life and career by gaining a clear understanding of your goals, values, and the paths to achieve them. With her extensive background in communications and leadership, Clara provides listeners with the tools and insights needed to navigate the complexities of modern life and career advancement, emphasizing the power of clarity to transform and improve both areas.

CONNECT WITH THE GUEST:

• Website: https://www.censpire.com/
• Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/CapanoSpeaking

Transcript

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Empowerment Through Self-Care and Wellness

Nika Lawrie 0:33

Hey and welcome to the show . As always , I am super grateful to have you join me and my fantastic guests . I have a wonderful person here today and I can't wait to talk to her because she's got so much great information and we really connect in the sense that if you want to be successful in your career and business , you got to take care of yourself . So , before I get further into it , Clara , welcome to the show .

Clara Capano 0:56

I'm so happy to have you here , Thank you so much and I love what you are doing because you know it is so true . All of us strive for this vision of success and many times we forget that the keystone to success is ourselves , and we have to start taking care of ourselves , and so that wellness is such a key part of success .

Nika Lawrie 1:15

I love it . Yes , speaking my language , totally so . Clara , you are a business coach . Can you talk a little bit about how you got to that point , like what inspired you ? Give us your backstory .

Clara Capano 1:27

Certainly so .

Clara Capano 1:28

You know , I grew up in the field of real estate .

Clara Capano 1:32

That's sort of where I landed as a career and , after being on a team for many years , I went into leadership , and that's how I was introduced to this idea of coaching .

Clara Capano 1:41

What I really love to do is to work with people , traditionally women in business that's sort of my niche group and to work with them on the ideas of finding a harmony between life and business , because I think sometimes we think it has to be all or nothing , so it's , how do we bring them together ? So I really work with women , you know , helping them come up with their , their vision and what they're passionate about , and then working from that to develop what are their core activities that they need to do , how do they really need to , you know , invest and leverage their time ? And you know , now I've taken that on the road . So I'm actually , you know , growing a lot more as a speaker , as an author , you know , and really putting together some , some a lot more as a speaker , as an author , you know , and really putting together some great online programs to help women just kind of step into their strength and their growth and help them build their confidence .

Nika Lawrie 2:28

Awesome . I love that . I think it's so important , especially just to support women , because , you know , I was having a conversation with somebody else a couple of days ago about how different it is for women in business and career because of the pressures that we have at home as well raising children , finding time for ourselves , you know , taking care of our family , our partners , those kinds of things . It really is a different type of challenge compared to and not saying that men don't have challenges and it's not difficult for them , but it's a different type of situation , and I love finding other women that are supporting other women and encouraging them and providing that support system that we need , and so I commend you for what you're doing because I think it's amazing . Thank you , yeah .

Clara Capano 3:13

And it is . It is just different . Again , nothing , you know to say anything , because there's some wonderful you know men , fathers out there that are very , you know , involved and very supportive , but it is just different . And that's where I think it's important that we focus on all those differences . And how can we bring them in ? I think sometimes for women being that they are still at the primary center of running the household , it's making time for that self-care , it's setting the boundaries to say no , this is my time here . Or how do we bring it all together and , you know , encompass it into a family affair of let's bring our health and our wellness Cause . Again , most of them not all of them , but most households are traditionally still run by the female ?

Nika Lawrie 3:55

Yeah , definitely . And and one of the things that I love too is that you know , as women , we have so many dreams and aspirations and goals . You know , even outside of our family we have all these things that we want to do , and one of the most important things to do in order to reach those goals , to really stay motivated and focused , is really to take care of ourselves , to excuse me to , you know , focus on having good health and figuring out strategies to help us kind of achieve that . One of the reasons I want to talk to you about it was because you talk about kind of leveraging our time and figuring out how to make self-care a priority and really figuring out kind of how to set boundaries around that as well . So , if you're okay with it , today I wanted to kind of talk to you about those different topics and pull out some ideas and strategies about how we might be able to do that .

Clara Capano 4:47

Definitely . And you know you asked me earlier how I kind of got into this . And I got into this by not having any of these things and by basically falling apart . And you know , one of the things that you and I were talking about before we hit record was this idea of what is our greatest asset in success . And so many times , you know , we read books or we listen and people talk about you know , your database is your greatest asset , because that's your lifeline to your business . Well , even before that , you have to be your greatest asset .

Clara Capano 5:14

And one of the reasons and I'm not saying I'm perfect by any means , I was actually just texting with my trainer , who's on me to eat more vegetables right now . So , but the idea is , you know , we have to make self-care a priority , because without taking care of ourself , we aren't going to be able to have success in the other areas . You know one of the reasons when I'm on the road training , many times I'm on the road training and speaking for an entire week . I still am up at 5 am , on whatever time zone . I'm on on the elliptical , on the treadmill , not because I'm trying to look good in a bikini , which is also fun , but it's more , because I'm not going to have the energy . I can't afford to get sick , to not show up . I mean , my clients are paying me to be my top of my game and to show up with the energy , the passion and the enthusiasm and I can't have those things if I'm empty . And another thing that I think is really important , and when we talk about self-care , one of the first things that we really need to do , we need to define what self-care is for us , because I think so many people talk about self-care and automatically they go to I have to work out two hours a day or I have to eat nothing but vegetables and wheatgrass .

Clara Capano 6:29

Self-care is anything that brings you joy . So the idea is you need to identify for you what is it that brings you joy ? And then you kind of schedule it and that's where the priority and the time piece comes to it is . You have to carve out time and it has to be a priority and you have to change your mindset around it . You know so many times we think of self-care as being selfish and you know so many times for myself and I see other women doing this they make sort of I don't want to use the word excuses , but they almost have to make justification for I'm going for a massage . You know I don't want to use the word excuses , but they almost have to make justification for I'm going for a massage . Oh , you know I'm going . It was a gift to me . You know it was a gift from my family , or you know I someone told me yesterday you know no-transcript . So I really encourage everyone to , you know , carve out time in every day to do something that brings them joy . It might even be two minutes , yeah , maybe just two minutes , of a meditation process or , you know , going for a walk or reading a book , you know , but do something each and every day that brings you joy and then making sure that you're carving out time .

Clara Capano 7:52

One of my favorite stories from one of my you know , one of my really good friends who I've also worked with , is she has five boys and at the time they were between the ages of like 17 and zero , I mean , and on Thursday she would disappear and I'd be like where are you going ? She's like I'm going to the movie . I was like what are you talking about ? It's like it is the only time I can have two hours to myself . So she would find that first matinee on a Thursday and she would go and she's like for two hours nobody's bothering . Yeah , I love that . That was her time I have a similar go ahead go ahead .

Clara Capano 8:32

No , no , I was going to say it's just . You know , we've got to start understanding that it's okay for us to do that and start putting that together .

Nika Lawrie 8:37

I have a similar story to that , someone I interviewed in the podcast about a year ago . Same kind of thing . She's really all about kind of self-care and wellness and she had gotten pretty sick and decided to kind of make a shift in her life to really prioritize self-care . Same thing entrepreneur , business owner , real busy , had a whole family and she decided to take Wednesday afternoons . So after you know , she'd send her kids to school and she'd have a break and that was her day . She just she would go to the movies , she would go to the spa , she would go work out whatever it is she felt like doing . She had no rules or expectations for that day and she said , making even just that shift to give myself some space , or herself some space , completely shifted her health and wellness , like how she was feeling and how she was showing up in her business and in her family , and so finding those moments , I think is really important .

Clara Capano 9:32

Exactly so . Here are some strategies that I would encourage for the listeners to help them . So , first and foremost , again , define what self-care means to you and define what it is that you want . So , for me , I do like to work out and I do like to get , you know , some cardio in . But the other guilty pleasure that I have is I love my nap , and again , normally non-COVID . I'm on the road a lot more , but when I'm not on the road , I take a nap almost every day . I find 45 minutes is sort of my sweet spot and people know it and I am not ashamed of it anymore . And people even ask me , you know , oh , we're not going to talk during this time , because I know that that's nap time for you and it does . I come back so much more refreshed . It is a reward for me to push myself in the morning , because that's my time where I'm more fresh is in the morning . So you know , but it's in there and I bring these things together . So I think you know identifying , and then the second strategy would be to schedule it .

Clara Capano 10:29

One of the things that I find is especially as busy women is we don't schedule time for our life and therefore we wonder why we don't have a life . Yeah , so you have to start scheduling . And the truth is , the things that get scheduled get done . And a lot of people don't like the idea of having a schedule because they think it's restrictive . Yeah , now I have to do this and again , it's shifting your perception , it's shifting your mindset to a schedule is actually freeing for you , because now you know what needs to get done and there is time set aside for those .

Clara Capano 11:05

So scheduling your life means that you also have a life . So the first things that go into my schedule when I , when I sit down on Sunday and plan my week out , you know the first things that go in there is self-care and time with my son . I'm a single mom , my son's just about 16 , but it's again . What days do I have ? What appointments do we have ? And those go in there because now I know it doesn't mean I can't change them , but they are in there because now if somebody calls me and asks me to do something , I already have an appointment in there and I know that there is time for me .

Nika Lawrie 11:41

I love that

Maximizing Time for Quality Relationships

Nika Lawrie 11:41

. I have actually done the same thing , mostly when it comes to my daughter . I too am a single mom and finding the time to prioritize her and spend time with her , and so we do a Wednesday afternoon activity or a Friday she gets out early activity and I have those times blocked out on my calendar . So I've got lots of time for clients and work and marketing and all those things . But those periods of time are my daughter's time and and there's no compromising on that and what I found is when you switch your mindset with that , it's giving you time . It's a gift , it's not restriction , it's a , it's a gift , it's a bonus of time , that quality time that you wouldn't have had otherwise . You would have filled it up with something else . And so I love that you talk about kind of switching your mindset or your approach to it .

Clara Capano 12:31

Right . And in the scheduling and in this talking about time , it's again it's thinking about investing . You know , when we spend money we think about is this a good investment ? Well , we all get the same amount of time , 168 hours a week , you know . So where are you investing it ? And we want to make sure that , again , if we're investing time , that we're going to be able to get that return . But investing in the relationships , investing in us as our greatest asset , you know , is really key to be able , you know , to do that Because , again , we want to make sure that we're doing that . And then again , this idea of leveraging time .

Clara Capano 13:03

Sometimes it's what can I bring together again about finding that harmony .

Clara Capano 13:08

So when Nicholas was younger , it was okay , rather than having to maybe work and do this over here , and then he had a soccer game over here . You know , it's like , maybe how can I go to the soccer game but then talk to the other parents that are there , because maybe there's some business opportunities in there ? Or now , when I'm working out , maybe I'm listening to a podcast , so I'm getting my personal growth at the same time that I'm getting my cardio in . So it's again how can you find the harmony of bringing these items together , you know , and putting them all in the play . You know , as my son's gotten older now he goes to the gym with me , so I get the quality time of being with him but also doing the other things together and we're sending a message together about doing again , cooking together as a family , grocery , shopping . You know all of these things that you can do to again leverage your time and bringing it all together , because it's not always about doing more . Sometimes it's about how can I do the right things better .

Nika Lawrie 14:06

Yeah , I love that . I think that's so important . I think so often we we forget that . You know , simple , like going to the grocery store . You know , I know sometimes like just going to the store without my kid is like the greatest thing ever , yeah Right , but at the same time , like when I go , we get to talk about different things and I get to teach her about food and what's , you know , healthy and what's not , and why it's important to incorporate those things . And so if you again it kind of goes back to shifting your mindset about things and shifting how you approach things and looking at it as an opportunity , opposed to just a task or a , you know , a busy to-do thing we have to do .

Clara Capano 14:44

Yeah , and every , every dynamic is going to be different . You know , for some people it's about having a date night with their significant other or a family night . You know , I grew up in a family of six , so family dinner was really important . You know , with Nicholas and I it's just he and I , so we can do some different things together that you don't always do with four kids . So , again , find what works for you and invest in those .

Clara Capano 15:09

I know , when COVID doesn't happen , I try to have a quarterly girls' night at my house where we can all just come over and just sit down and talk together . So it's finding different ways to be able to bring these ideas in , because all of that is part of self-care and again , filling ourselves in . So another strategy . So , again , we've identified what it is , we've defined self-care , we've planned it . You have to share it too . You have to tell people , because when you tell people , not only does it bring in the accountability for you , but it shows that it's a priority . Yeah , you know , and it sends a message . You know , just like you were saying , you've got that time booked out and it's non-negotiable . You know , you've got to let people know . You know , no , I'm , I'm doing this at this time . You know , no , that's , that's family time for me . You can frame it in different ways . You might say I have a previously set appointment . You'll get to know my , my ideal clients are also working moms , so they understand when I say no , I have a doctor appointment or I have to go pick Nicholas up , they're like go do it , because they're fighting the same battles and the same challenges . So we can support each other .

Clara Capano 16:12

But I think it's important that you share what you're working on doing and why you're doing it . One you want to be a role model to the people that are around you , because maybe if they see you doing it , it can have that ripple effect . Also , I think it's really important in business that , again , you let people know , because whoever controls your time is going to control your business and your life . So you work on these . I know when I was managing , I had a large real estate office that I was managing and two days a week I would take my lunch hour and go to yoga . So it was an extended lunch hour by the time I did that and people were like , oh , you're going to yoga and I'd be like , no , no , you need me to go to yoga .

Nika Lawrie 16:49

Yeah .

Clara Capano 16:51

I'm doing this for your benefit just as much as my benefit . Yeah , you know , but a lot of them were like you know what we should be doing that too , yeah , I noticed that a lot of them would start taking lunch breaks rather than working through their lunch , and I just think it's , you know , really important to you know , make those , but I think sharing it is really important and it sends a very strong message .

Nika Lawrie 17:10

Yeah , I think also , you know , if you're in a more kind of career setting , like a more corporate world kind of thing , where maybe you don't have the same flexibility as an entrepreneur , understanding that you can still use your lunch breaks to maybe have girlfriend time , you know , eat lunch with one of your good friends , or connect with other co-workers and build relationships in that sense , and really focusing on prioritizing those times in not just a busy go-go moment but instead making it a really quality special moment each and every day , yeah , yeah .

Clara Capano 17:43

And two comments on that is . One is I don't think we do enough of that and we don't step away and I know I've been guilty of it too where it's no , no , no , I've just got to work through lunch or I'm just going to eat at my desk . We need to stop doing that because we need to step away . They are called breaks for a reason , you know , and studies have shown . You know your brain needs that time to just step away . So I really encourage you , even if you're working from home , take a break , you know . Go get some fresh air , you know . Make yourself something to eat . Just take that break , cause you will come back so much more refreshed and rejuvenated and your clients are going to feel it on the other end also .

Clara Capano 18:20

And the second thing I want to talk about is many times people are like oh , I don't have time to get with my friends because I don't have the time to drive to a restaurant and do all of that . Look at the virtual setting we have right now . I'm actually having virtual lunch with one of my friends in California this afternoon and we're both going to get our lunches and have lunch together . I've done coffee . I've done , you know , quarantini parties . You know there is no excuse to not have lunch with a friend right now . Yeah , because we can connect on FaceTime , on phone . So bring these in and not lunch with them . You know , show that you're doing it for you , but tell them no . We got to get away One of my best girlfriends , what we've been doing .

Clara Capano 18:58

She's a corporate attorney , so she does have a traditional job , but she's been working from home . We go to the dog park , oftentimes on our lunch breaks and it's just so good to just get out for 30 , 45 minutes , go walk the dogs , chat , and then we both come back and work for two to three hours . There's lots of different ways to find it and there is time . This is that you have to start being honest with yourself and to find it , and there is time . You have to start being honest with yourself and that is what I would say is the fourth strategy Be honest with yourself when you set up your schedule . Be honest about the time that you have to get where you want to be , because it's not about working 60 hours a week , so many of us can get what we need done in probably 30 to 35 hours a week . The reason it takes us 40 or 50 or 60 hours is because we're not working focused .

Clara Capano 19:45

Yeah , and we don't have those boundaries . But think of it if I had to go and jump on a plane today , I would miraculously get everything done before I leave for the airport . Right , yeah , there really is enough time . We just have to start being honest about it and start holding ourselves to a higher standard , and that's one of the things that I really teach in my classes is , regardless of what you do for a living you got to show up as the CEO because , for most of us , we're not being very good with our time . We're not being very good employees , you know , and for most of us are we would get fired if we showed up the way that we did because we're not being as focused and as strategic as we want . And when you show up and you say , okay , I only want to work four hours today , most of us can get the stuff done if we are really focused and true on what we need to do .

Nika Lawrie 20:31

Yeah , I think that's a huge thing , I know , for me as an entrepreneur , when I decided that I , you know , one of the reasons I really started my business was so that I could spend more time with my child , so I could pick her up from school , so I could be around more , because prior to that I was working 50 , 60 hours a week and was really missing important moments . And when I decided to really focus on having my schedule in a , you know , 30 to 35 hour work week , I got so much more done in my business . I was so focused because I knew my time was limited and so I really started to prioritize the things that were going to create movement , opposed to just that busy work . So I absolutely agree with you .

Clara Capano 21:14

I think it's totally an important strategy and that's why again , the schedule is so important because the schedule is going to make you see they don't have 10 hours to work today . Yeah , I only have five or six hours to work today because now picking up your kids as an appointment , dinner with your family is an appointment . You know , going to the gym or yoga or getting your hair done or whatever it is that you want to do , that's an appointment . And you start realizing , oh , I do only have limited time . And then you have to start again saying no to the things that are going to not support you and having that vision come together .

Nika Lawrie 21:46

Yeah , so a lot of times people really struggle with the idea of boundaries . I know it took me a long time to learn and get comfortable with it and it's even sometimes , I think , I feel uncomfortable with . A lot of times we feel guilt , especially as women , we feel guilt setting boundaries . What are some of the things that you can suggest to help us kind of get more comfortable with it and to make it something we're okay really putting in place ?

Clara Capano 22:12

And it is a challenge and it is a skill set and it will take time . So be kind to yourself as you're doing this . Yeah , I think first and foremost , it has to start with you again getting clear on what your priorities are , what your vision is for both your life and your business , because the idea is , when things creep in , before you agree to them , you got to just take a second of analysis . One of my favorite commercials is the Twix commercial , and a lot of times they'll say , if you need a second , eat the other Twix bar and it'll give you a second to think . You know . So you got to take a Twix moment and before you agree to do something , just run it through your thought process .

Clara Capano 22:47

Yeah , if I agree to say yes to this new thing , what is it I then have to say no to ? Yeah , now does this make good business sense ? Because if I'm looking at it and somebody says , well , can you talk today at three , and that's when I have to go and pick up my son , well , then I would have to say no to that and that's not okay with me . Yeah , you know . So , no , that that's not , or maybe then I would have to cancel lunch with my friend . That may be okay or not Okay . Does it make good business sense ? Well , you know what this ? They're great client and you know what ? Looking at my schedule , I can have a little wood over you know what . Let me see if my friend can have lunch at 1130 instead of 1230 . And if that works , I'm not saying no to my friend , but if that works I can adjust it . But I think we say yes too quickly . I think really just asking ourselves does this make good business sense ? Then what you do is you have to be able to pivot in a professional way . It could be saying things such as I would love to do that , but I have a previously set appointment , I am free at this time or this time . That's still saying no , that's still setting boundaries , but it's doing it in a more professional way and allowing you to say they don't need to know what your appointment is , it doesn't matter what your appointment is , but that's the language that they understand .

Clara Capano 24:04

A really good one is . Many times we are not the best person to answer the question or to be the resource for them , but we try to help them anyway because we want to be kind . Yeah , so being able to have your resources together and say you know what , that's a really great question together and say you know what , that's a really great question . You know that's not really my area of expertise , but let me connect you with somebody who I think really can help you with that . And then that's , you know , delegating it off . Again , you know the idea of are there things that you can delegate ? You know , can your assistant do these for you ? Or maybe do you need to start looking at hiring an assistant ? Right , yeah , you know ? So , I think you know you , just you have to do that .

Clara Capano 24:41

And then again the idea of sharing . I think this is really important on the home front , because I think that's where we can have it creep in . And again , not that anybody's trying to be mean or our families are trying to pull us off , focus directly , but they don't know . And if we don't communicate , how do they know ? So , share your schedules with them . You know , if you have a significant other , talk about where do you need to be , where am I , so that you can work together to have things covered . You know , talk to your kids as they get older .

Clara Capano 25:10

You know I started sharing my schedule , my business plan with Nicholas when he started to be about 10 years old , because I need to make sure , because I can't achieve these things without him on my team , absolutely , yeah .

Clara Capano 25:21

Yeah , I work really hard . It's not perfect and sometimes I drop the ball , but you know , I work with my , my ex and his wife to be like here's the schedule for the year . Yeah , you know , and so we can , you know , be on the same team with each other . So it's always a work in progress , but I think you have to not be afraid , because the right people will support you , and this was a lesson that really was an eye-opener to me . I had moved over to a different company and Nicholas got sick and he actually was in the hospital for about 48 hours , and I remember looking at my phone at one point and it was message , message , message , and I was like , ah , you know , I just didn't even want to listen to the messages because I'm like you know it's going to be everything from there's no toner in the copier to somebody didn't show up for work .

Clara Capano 26:10

And I was like I don't . And when I listened to the messages , it was how's your son ? What do you need help with ? You know , do you want me to take this meeting for you ? And it was like you know what , I'm at the right place ? Yeah , and it was because I had set boundaries and had said I'm going to the hospital to be with my son , you know , and the right people . And that was just a lesson that I learned . Um , they don't need to work with everybody . Yeah , and I think so many times when we are on this , we don't want to say no to people .

Clara Capano 26:47

But when I learned this and Christy Wright , who is another business entrepreneur who works with a lot of businesswomen , she had said an honest no is better than a dishonest yes , absolutely yeah , and we have to learn that saying no is not bad . I remember when I was putting together a mastermind session , I asked one of my really good friends would you be a part of this ? And she came to me and she says you know , I have to say no . I just am feeling very overcommitted and I don't feel that I can show up the way that you would need me to show up and I don't think I could bring the value and I was like great . You know , she called me two days later , feeling so guilty , and I was like no , you know , that was perfect . So don't be afraid to say no , because you have to stand in your truth and the right people will support you in doing .

Nika Lawrie 27:28

I think , too , one of the things that I learned in in kind of my journey as well , is that if a no isn't like if , if it isn't just a gut , like full gut yes to something , it's likely a no . And so if you're not instantly like yes , this is good , then take a minute and think about it , because odds are , it's probably a no or a maybe a later kind of thing . And so really listening to your gut and your instincts and giving yourself enough space to really feel , feel out whether it's a yes or a no , and not just commit right away and it's true , because you a no and not just commit right away .

Clara Capano 28:01

And it's true , because you really can only commit to one thing at a time . Only one thing can be a priority at a time . You know , and again , if you say yes to this , you have to say no to something else . So you've got to start thinking about , you know , what are going to be the trade-off and what am I going to have to say no to , and is that okay or is it not okay for you ? You just have to really be brave enough and trust that you won't lose the wrong business . You know , if you lose the business , it wasn't the right client for you anyway .

Nika Lawrie 28:29

Absolutely yeah . So along those lines , you kind of talk about shifting into success , like you shifted into success . What does that mean and how do we do that ? What ? What is that concept ?

Clara Capano 28:46

Yeah . So you know , I think it all just kind of starts coming together and you know so much of what we're talking about is , you know , all in this idea and I am , I'm getting ready to launch an online class is called being a smart woman , you know , and smart is the acronym , and a lot of us have heard about it , you know for strategic , measurable action , action , reflection and time , and I think those are some great things . So , again , I think shifting into success is you've got to have a strategy . You've got to really uncover what is your vision or what does success look like . You've got to define success for you and making sure that then your plan is doing that . You know you've got to start looking at what is it I have to measure .

Clara Capano 29:19

Time is a great thing , and how am I not spending my time ? But how am I investing my time in in all the areas , not just in the work , but also in the personal ? How are you ? What are you ? You know measuring . You know where your dollars are going , all of those , um , you know taking action , not about doing everything , it's about the right thing . So what do I need to take action on so that you're shifting into success in the right areas with the right people , taking time to rest and reflect Again , doing that self-care so that you're filled up , and then again , always time , time , time tracking it , looking at it , being honest about it and putting all those together and I think again , when you can look at these areas , it really does help you shift into the realm of success , because you're working in alignment . Yes , yeah , absolutely , and you're working with purpose . You're not just being reactive or accidental , you're working with purpose and on the right path to success .

Nika Lawrie 30:22

Are there some kind of strategies or tools that we can use , once we've kind of identified those things and kind of prioritized our life to really maintain that success , to stay on that journey , making sure , because it's so easy to fall off or get distracted or pulled away , how can we stay focused ?

Clara Capano 30:33

Yeah , I think one of the best things and it's been one of my secret weapons is we all talk about creating a business plan . So one of the things that I really hope women do is not just to create a business plan but to create a success plan . And what I do is every week I have a business planning meeting with myself before I go into the next week , and you can do this with whatever type of planner you want . I mean , I have my own planner , you know from my business side of it . But what I want to do is I want to go into the week set and making sure it's set up with the things that are a priority for me . So I have about eight or nine things that I know are the things that I have to take action . They're my core fundamentals . So it's things like you know starting my day with my gratitudes and affirmations , doing handwritten notes , doing my blogs , time for self-care , time for networking , you know . So I have these things in there . So what I'm able to do is I'm able to then strategically go into my week making sure that I have time carved out for these eight or nine activities . But , again , I can put my week together so that it's set up so that when I go into it and I can say , did I run my week successfully ? Did I show up as the CEO that I need to be , my week is set up for success .

Clara Capano 31:43

So that's something that I would really encourage is for them to get some sort of planner together that is reflective . So if I were to ask you , did you run your business like a business this week ? Did you run your life the way you want to run your life ? You know it's . They know exactly what that is defined at and their planner is set up . You know , one of the things that Stephen Covey has always said is , if you want to know a person's true priorities , look at their schedule and their bank account . Yeah , so for me , again , my success plan is not just what are the business things I have to do , but what are also the life things I have to do . So again , on my core foundation , it's the working out , it's the time with my son , it's time with my friends , and you will see all of those things in my schedule .

Nika Lawrie 32:22

Yeah , yeah , I love that I do . It's very similar . So Monday mornings are my the first thing I do I go through my calendar and I have a you know , I have Google calendar , but I also have my kind of daily planner thing where I do all my you know checking off my to-do list , kind of thing . Same thing I go through the week and I organize everything and then I find spots for the you know gaps , for the specific projects or things I need to work on . I then block out time specific for that and that makes sure that I'm always getting those specific tasks done and they're not pushed off until Thursday or Friday when it's kind of havoc and you're trying to kind of get out of the week as it is . You've gotten those projects done early . So I love that . I think that I had .

Clara Capano 33:08

those projects are an appointment . Yes , exactly .

Nika Lawrie 33:10

Yeah , I hadn't heard it as like a business meeting with yourself , but that really is exactly what it is . I think that's a great , great concept . Yeah , so you have two books . I see them behind you on the wall , but I really I want you to talk about them and tell them about the information , the stuff that you're able to share throughout them .

Clara Capano 33:31

Oh , thank you so much .

Clara Capano 33:33

So my first book came out in 2017 and it's called Find your Focus 52 Weeks of Clarity , and it stemmed from I do a weekly blog on Mondays and what I did is I just took 52 entries and I went a little deeper with them and then put it together almost as a journal .

Clara Capano 33:52

So the idea is , each week over the course of a year so 52 weeks is you would read the entry and then do a little journaling of how you can implement it , Because I think so many times we read these great books , we listen to these podcasts and we're like , oh , that sounds good , but we don't have a tool for implementation . So the idea is to hopefully help with the implementation of staying focused in all areas again , life and business . So working with that . And then the second book came out of COVID . It came out in the fall of last year and it's a collaboration with me and 15 other women , so it's called Women who Boss Up and we're all just sort of sharing our stories and our path to success . And then I'm working on my third book right now , which is going to be a guidebook for the mompreneur and , again , just really walking us through how to create success in both life and business .

Nika Lawrie 34:40

I love that . Congratulations on the books and the one to come as well . That's really cool . So you mentioned some other women working on Boss Up . Who are some of your mentors and what are some of the best tools that you found along the way throughout your journey ?

Clara Capano 34:56

Yeah . So I would say some of my virtual mentors who I don't know personally yet , would be people like Mel Robbins . You know Brittany Brown . Oprah , I'd love to follow Robin Sharma . I think he's amazing . You know Tony Robbins . I'm certified with Tony Robbins under his coaching program . You know Brendan Burchard . So I like to look at all of them because I feel that they give very good , real strategy . And then I actually have , um , you know three coaches myself , so I go to them . I have one that helps me in my , my health and fitness area , I have one that's more of an executive level coach and I have one that's helping me on speaking , because I'm looking to grow my speaking business . So I think just some of the .

Clara Capano 35:36

I think some of the biggest lessons I've learned from my mentors is authenticity . I think some of the biggest lessons I've learned from my mentors is authenticity . As I was young , I always felt I needed to show up as somebody else , and so I think it's hard , especially if you're starting your business . You try to duplicate what the other people are doing , but remember that you can learn from them and duplicate some of their ideas , but always bring your authenticity in . Yeah , I think that was a really big lesson I have learned over the course of the years . Boundaries was definitely something that I've learned from my mentors .

Clara Capano 36:07

I look at all the women that I look to and you know they're not afraid to say no because they understand again that they have to . They can only say yes to a finite things if they really truly want to achieve their goals . And then I would say some of the other people . I have a really dear friend of mine who was one of the guests on my TV show and I remember when I first met her her boys were very young and I didn't have kids at that time and I always said , if I ever have kids , I want to be like Carrie .

Clara Capano 36:33

And so you know she was one of my mentors when I had kids , to kind of again say , you know , I think she did it right . So I think you know there's just so many different facets and I think this goes back to defining what does success mean for you ? And then seek out people who are having success in those areas . You know . Seek out the people that are having success , maybe from a target audience . What are the ones that are still able to balance their home life and find the harmony and have great relationships on the home front . And just you know , don't be afraid to ask them and move .

Nika Lawrie 37:01

Yeah , yeah , I love that . So I have one last question for you . But before we get to that , where can the listeners connect with you ? How can they find you online and , hopefully , use your service ?

Clara Capano 37:11

Yeah , I would love it . I love to stay connected . I'm all about just , you know , being a resource and helping to motivate and inspire the masses , so I would love to have you . The easiest way is just to find me on social media . I am on Facebook and Instagram just under my name , clara Capano . I am launching my new website , which is just going to be claracapanocom , so that should be up and running by April 15th , and I have all my videos on there . I have lots of free resources for people on there . They can definitely go and get my downloadable book , which is called the Art of Saying no . And then I do have a YouTube channel which is just called Moments of Clarity , and on there I have a weekly blog that comes out on Fridays . And then I also have a TV show called the Working Women's Channel , which is just me getting together with other women , sharing our secrets to success .

Nika Lawrie 38:03

You got so much going on . It's incredible you got to balance that time and manage everything Awesome . So before again , before I get to the very last question , I just want to once again commend you for what you're doing . I think it's so important . I think the resources you've shared today with the listeners is really , really helpful , because , again , it goes back to what you said earlier . You know , often we read in personal development books and kind of self-help books about here's all the things we should be doing , but then they forget to tell us how to actually implement them or how to use the tools in real life . And so I think you know what you're doing to kind of help people figure that out is is really important and powerful . So I , I I just want to recognize you for that , thank you .

Clara Capano 38:42

Yeah .

Nika Lawrie 38:43

So my last question it's all about it's all about providing the house . Yeah , for sure . So my last question for you , um , it's something I asked all of my guests , but I think it's a really important question , and it's what advice do you have for someone who wants to make change either in their life , in their community or around the world ?

Clara Capano 39:04

You have to take action , you know . I think the first thing is again getting clear on your vision , cause that's gonna , you know , set the stage for anything . But then , don't be afraid , you know , and I am by no means perfect , but you know , there were so many times earlier and even now . You know , sometimes we hold back and it's can be scary , but every , you know , every time I've taken that leap , it's always worked out and I think , just you know , don't , don't be afraid . If you are always on your path and if you are staying true to yourself , um , you're going to be fine .

Nika Lawrie 39:36

Absolutely . Yeah , yeah , love that Well . Clara . Thank you so much for coming on the show , for sharing all of your knowledge and resources with us and just being here , so I am grateful for it .

Clara Capano 39:46

Thank you , thank you , and I'm very grateful for the opportunity . I'm so glad you're doing this and sharing these words of positivity and strength , and I know that you're making a difference in a lot of people's lives too . Aw , thank you .