Who says woo doesn’t belong in business? (Me. I’ve said it. But I’m changing my tune!)
We make hundreds of decisions every day as business owners and it’s pretty common to not know whether you’re doing the right thing. Sometimes price plays a part in choosing one online tool over the other. Sometimes it’s the opinions of biz besties. And sometimes we rely on intuition.
And sometimes it’s our moon cycle or where Mercury will be during a launch or event.
I didn’t really understand any of this, and that usually means it’s time to have conversations and learn. So I did!
This week on the podcast, I’m talking with Mary Williams of Sensible Woo about all things Mercury Retrograde and the metaphysical, making decisions based on intuition, and so on. If you’ve scratched your head in confusion when you heard a friend or connection talk about any of these and more, you’re going to want to tune in this week.
I ask all the questions for you!
Mentioned In This Episode
About Mary Williams
As the Chief Technology Therapist at Sensible Woo, Mary teaches highly sensitive & neuro-divergent online business owners how to replace technological chaos with a harmonious technology system. Through Digital Feng Shui & Human Design, her clients optimize their business foundation from an emotional and intuitive perspective so that they can delegate and automate without wasting time, money, or energy. She is an accredited librarian with a Master of Science in Information and set the foundation of her career as the first digital archivist for Disney Animation Studios. From there, she has worked with marketing agencies, entertainment technology companies, public libraries, fundraising organizations, and technology start-ups. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow her on Instagram.
Transcript:
Abby Herman 0:08
Hey there, and welcome to episode 172 of the content experiment podcast, a podcast for podcasters that supports the idea that content and marketing are ever moving targets. And it’s okay if you don’t feel like you’re doing it. All right all of the time, you have permission to experiment with little tweaks and changes in your content and your podcast, to find what works for you. What increases value for your audience and what grows your business, and most importantly, what feels good for you. I’m Abby Herman, content strategist and consultant for podcasting. Business owners who want to make their podcast their primary content marketing tool feel easier and more streamlined, so they can get back to serving their clients and making those sales. Because your podcast is your pillar marketing tool, and you want to leverage it to grow your audience authority and business. I’ll show you how, while you do business in a way that works for you. I can help by supporting you through building a content and marketing strategy, taking care of the podcast management for you, or giving you the tools and resources to take this on yourself.
Abby Herman 1:17
So this week’s episode is a little bit outside of my comfort zone. I met the guest, Mary Williams, when we were both speakers at a summit, I was intrigued by how her business merged technology and woo, in a way that made a lot of sense to me, even as someone me who has bragged about not being very woowoo or being very non Woo. You see, I’ve never bought into letting the universe have habits way or doing something because my higher power guided me to that direction. But Mary’s businesses called sensible Wu, which felt really sensible to me. And I should also know that since we recorded this interview a few months ago, I’ve been exploring some more Whoo, I talked about it a little bit on the podcast, and I’ve been learning a lot. So if wondering about how mercury retrograde and moon phases and body design and intuition can impact your business is something that has been on your mind or you just want to know what the heck these things are. Because I ask, I suggest you tune in. As Chief Technology therapist at sensible Wu Mary teaches highly sensitive and neurodivergent online business owners how to replace technological chaos with a harmonious technology system. Through digital function, play and human design. Her clients optimize their business foundation, from an emotional and intuitive perspective, so that they can delegate and automate without wasting time, money or energy. She is an accredited librarian with a Master of Science and Information and set the foundation of her career as the first digital Archivist for Disney Animation Studios. From there, she has worked with marketing agencies, entertainment, technology companies, public libraries, fundraising organizations, and technology startups. And this is such a great conversation. So listen in. Hi, Mary, thank you so much for being here.
Mary Williams 3:22
Hi, Abby. I’m so glad to be here and talk with you. And we finally get to record.
Abby Herman 3:27
Yes, you know, we just talked before I hit record, all of the places that this conversation can go, I’m really excited about it. Because this is so outside of my comfort zone, which I think is gonna be a really good thing for listeners. So before we dive in, can you share with everyone who you are, what you do and who you do it for?
Abby Herman 3:46
So my name is Mary Williams, and my business is called sensible womb. And I am a librarian by trade a technology librarian. So I started on this crazy journey. And now I work with mostly solopreneurs or small businesses with small staffs. And I help them manage their systems and tech, everything from like software decisions to process and workflows behind the scenes, so that we can deliver what we offer to the world more smoothly and more effectively. And hopefully that helps us make a bigger impact. And it’s been really fun to do it my way which talk about ways.
Abby Herman 4:29
Can you share a little bit about what it looks like to work with you and how the way that you work with your clients helps you to live the lifestyle that you want?
Abby Herman 4:38
Yeah, so I work with a lot of Wu curious people. And I call them blue, curious. And also a lot of neurodivergent people and highly sensitive people. So it’s sort of this lovely little intersection of all of us little weirdos running around on the planet. And maybe there’s something weird about us, but it actually not. It’s We were talking about before we hit record. And so working with me is a lot of tapping into how you feel about what’s happening behind the scenes in your business with what software are you using? What process have you set up for your systems. Because my experience having been a technologist for quite a long time through a corporate career, and then now being a business owner is that it’s a very emotional process to work with tech. So for me, it feels really good. Because in my corporate career, I always felt like, I was like a salmon swimming upstream like it was just off, like one of these things is not like the other. And I was one of those things. And now I get to basically design my days how I want, I always had this vision of like, I don’t want to sit in my car and commute. And the whole thing was born during my Los Angeles years and had these long commutes. And I was like, This is so stupid. I’m ruining the environments. And in my car at the top of Mulholland Drive, and I hate it. I want to work with my cat every day at home in my sweatpants and go to the grocery store in the middle of the day when it’s not crowded. And it was the little things. And actually, before we hit record, I literally just got back from Costco, my favorite store in the middle of the day,
Abby Herman 6:12
I love it. I love it well, so your business name is sensible Woo. And your tagline is, Woo is the new you. And this is where we get outside my comfort zone. So you work with people and technology. But where does the wheel come in? How do those two pieces collide?
Mary Williams 6:31
So I had noticed over the beginning of my online business journey, how much people who were very much ahead of me, you know, big names, big dogs, were saying things like, oh, this spreadsheet told me this and that. But I followed my intuition. And I followed my gut. And I did this thing and it felt right. And I realized that people we use our intuition constantly, all the time. When I was in my corporate career, I was making money on the side doing tarot and Akashic readings, and had a lot of business people. It was like the law of attraction, a lot of business people would come to me, and they would say, in the middle of a reading, can ask a question about my business. And I think Sure, and I thought it’d be something about like moon phases. You know, what’s the timing on something? And instead, they would ask a question about, well, I’m about to do a launch. And I don’t know if I should use this thing or that thing. And I’m like, This is not required tarot cards, this requires like, actual business system to chat. And I realized that they were looking for an in between space that I don’t think is still super mainstream, yet, I’ve discovered my audience over time, it was really hard to dial in on them at the beginning. And what I discovered is they they’re like a moving target, they ping back and forth between really practical business building programs, and metaphysical communities. And they’re trying to mesh the two together. And the people who’ve come to work with me, over the past few years have discovered, oh, I can have both, I can be all of me. Most of the people who worked with me do not have outwardly facing super metaphysical businesses. But it’s like a tenant of how they operate. They pay attention to their astrology, they’re totally in this to learn about their human design or the meaning to figure out, how do they best operate. And I think that’s a really powerful space, I think it’s an important one. I know it’s not for everybody buy, it has definitely been enough of a market that I think there’s people who clearly want it. And then the hardest thing has been educating my audience that you can ask for that. You don’t have to have just one or the other, like you can have both. And they can coexist at the same time. And it will be okay. And it will actually feel really good.
Abby Herman 8:40
So what does that look like to? If a client comes to you, they’re coming to you for technology support? Is that right? Or are they coming to you for the whoo piece? What part of what you do attracts the people the most? And how do you get them on board with one thing or the other?
Mary Williams 8:57
It’s usually both. If you think of it like a spectrum, and on one end of the spectrum is like, super Woo. And on the opposite end of the spectrum is like super tech. And people are somewhere on that spectrum coming in, there are some people who will come in and they don’t make a decision if they haven’t consulted their own personal chart. But they don’t have to make a decision between acuity or Calendly. And in order to, you know, actually have a business and then you get people on the opposite end of the spectrum, and they’re like, I’m all processed and thinking about process all the time, I’m going to build my funnel, and I’m going to automate this thing. And they’re like, but I also don’t like the bro Marketing Group, and I want to feel better about it. And it turns out that I do secretly pay attention to moon phases, and I haven’t admitted it to anybody. And so I get I get anywhere along that spectrum people come in, and I think because I hold space for people to feel that they want to feel about something like, Okay, you’re overwhelmed about technology, or you’re mad at software, alright? Feel it, be it like this, that stay there like this do something about it now. But there’s not a lot of other systems based programs that will really help people with that. There’s a lot of I see done for you programs where they’re like, follow my formula and just do it the way I do it. That’s like, but that might not be for you. It just might not feel right for some reason. And sometimes we don’t always know exactly what that is. But I think getting to know ourselves better, can help make the journey more of what we want, you know, like, we started off this conversation with like, how does this help you design the life you want? And why we do it? And so we can go to the grocery store in the middle of the day. Yeah, and, and have that freedom and feel good about it, you know, you’re not gonna feel good about running a business, you’re not going to want to keep doing it. If somebody is just like, shoving a formula down your throat, and you’re like, I don’t know why it doesn’t feel good, but it just doesn’t feel good.
Abby Herman 11:02
Right? Yeah. So you mentioned a person who would come to you because they can’t make a decision between acuity and Calendly. And they want to consult their chart. I want to know what chart you’re talking about. But I also like, to me, that’s just, I mean, of course, it’s acuity.
Mary Williams 11:22
I know, I am very much.
Abby Herman 11:26
To me, it’s weighing because I’m very practical, black and white. Like I like charts, I like things to line up, I like things to you know, be perfect, because, you know, I’m perfect. Just kidding. But I mean, you know, acuity and Calendly they’re both scheduling software. They both have pros and cons. To them. It’s about figuring out what are the features that you need for your business, just like deciding between WordPress and Squarespace or otter and I don’t know another transcription software. So why do you need to consult a chart and what charter we consulting to make that decision,
Mary Williams 12:05
and some people will consult their astrology chart, like their birth chart, everybody has a unique birth chart, some people will consult their human design chart. And not everybody consults a chart or thing, right, I know. But in a sensible world, we do processes that I used to do as a tech manager in my corporate career. And to me, you know, it’s always the obvious thing when you start business like, Oh, I just thought everybody does that. And you’re like, Oh, that’s my business. And leading people through the activity of figuring out, this is the first step and at least into this step. And here’s where there’s a fork in the road, and what are all the things that support each of these steps. And that helps you figure out your technology requirements. And as you grow, your requirements are going to also grow and change, which means you might have to migrate systems at some point, and so on and so on. And for some people, a generator in human design is going to operate very differently from a projector in human design. And knowing how you are naturally wired in being aware of that is a process. And it requires dedication, I mean, in the same way, okay, so my community, I love using analogies, and I love good food. I’m a culinary person. So I’ll say it kind of like getting to know your personal tastes like you know that you like sweet things or savory things or you know that certain foods, agitate your system and other foods suit it, you know, no, learning your birth chart, or any chart is kind of like that is paying attention. Okay, living life and trying things and paying attention. And noticing like, oh, I have an awareness now that I do really well in these certain types of situations. And when these things happen in life, no wonder I’ve been like miserable in the past. No wonder I shut down. And then I won’t take any advice from anybody, my business coach, my VA, nobody can tell me at this point, because now I’ve completely shut down and I’m not going to hear it. And basically, it’s like, the worst thing you can do for yourself as an entrepreneur. And so we’re trying to make sure we don’t do things like that. And I find that it shows up really heavily in tech. It just happens to be the area that I work in. People love to blame technology, they love to use mercury retrograde as the ultimate excuse for why everything’s going wrong. And I’m like funny. Your tech fails with you when it’s not Mercury retrograde and it has nothing to do with the retrograde it’s because your systems out of whack. It has nothing to do with that. And I think that’s where the sensible part comes in. Because I love my metaphysical people and they were a major inspiration for me starting this business because they didn’t have a lot of the practical skills are like, I just want to feel good all the time, love and light and I’m just gonna you know, whatever. They’re like, but I’m not making any money. And I saw that Oh no. We need, we need a little structure here. So I feel like the two things go together and try to get that to people.
Abby Herman 15:07
So talk to me about Mercury Retrograde, because I see people post about it. And I’m like, I have no idea what that even means.
Mary Williams 15:15
We have the planets in our solar system and rotating around the sun. And from the vantage point of Earth, US earthlings, you know, if you’re like looking out at the heavens, every planet goes into retrograde at different points. You see Mercury do it the most frequently because it is the closest to the sun and moves faster, has a smaller or shorter distance there. And it’s not actually moving backwards. But if you were looking at in the sky, and you were tracking the planets, in all the activity, it would appear to move backwards, about three times a year, some years, we get lucky. And it’s four times a year just depends. And so it appears to be moving backward. And when it happens, we call it a retrograde. And every planet has different archetypal energy to it. So very, very short, high level version, Mercury rules, things like communication and technology. And so when Mercury is in retrograde, when it appears to be moving backward, time in around technology, and communications feels like maybe it’s a little slower. Maybe things don’t happen as quickly around that, or we run the risk of say making a communication blunder more frequently. So it’s kind of like cross your t’s and dot your i’s like, save the draft. Read it the next day before you send it out. Are you sure you really want to say that, you know, with technology, things can get a little wonky, I do see an uptick in tech issues during a Mercury retrograde. So I do personally really feel like there is something definitely there. This last one that we had, which was just a month ago from when we’re recording this podcast episode, I had three different people in my client pool, who all had to replace a laptop or computer. Two of them knew it was coming. It’s like, okay, so maybe maybe the energy of Mercury Retrograde helps push you along a little faster, because you just wouldn’t get off your duff and pick them. And I feel like you know, the universe and the energy will encourage us to make decisions like that. You can save yourself headache. By recognizing for months prior to that, I think I need to start shopping around for a new computer. I need to and I’m just not doing it because technology makes people feel anxious or uncertain. And so we avoid the things that make us feel anxious and uncertain. It’s just sort of a natural human behavior pattern. But yeah, I do see things like that Mercury retrograde. I see people stick their foot in their mouth a lot during Mercury Retrograde, which is always amusing. But people blame it a lot on things when it’s actually a beautiful time for reflection. So you’ll see a lot of posts I put them out to like this is a great time to reflect rewrite, review all the reads. It can actually be a really great time to take care of like health related issues. So it’s a retrograde is not a bad thing. And it has a really bad rap for being like, you know, the apocalyptic thing I’m like now is just a retrograde in the outer planets are have Retrogrades to there’s a few in retrograde now I am not an astrologer. So I have to like really look it up. They don’t carry that knowledge around in my head all day. But the outer planets retrograde more slowly. So the lat the Retrogrades will last longer than the planets that are ahead of us in the concentric circles around the around the sun does not go retrograde because we’re Earth centric. So of course, we’re always moving forward, right? I always wonder like, what does the Venetian think when they look at?
Abby Herman 18:53
Yes. So speaking of space and things in space, I want to talk about you mentioned before moon phases. And before we hit record, I guess confessed as the person who claims to be completely non Woo. I heard at a conference recently. And I don’t say that as a slight at all. It just like, like I said, I’m very practical and very like, if it’s not tangible, if it’s not right in front of me. Like, I have a hard time conceptualizing it, I have a hard time thinking through something. But I heard somebody talk at a conference about movies and how she was having a really hard time getting things done. And so she started she took this course on moon phases and designing your schedule around moon phases. So, you know, of course, I went out and bought two books on moon phases to, to, you know, see if I can figure it out because I’m kind of in the same position where I’ve been not as productive as I want to be. And I just feel like something is off lately. therapy helps but like I wanted to go beyond. So talk to me about moon phases and how do people use that information that knowledge in their businesses And how can we use that in our business?
Mary Williams 20:03
I think it gets very personal for people. For women like, I’m going to take it all the way down to biology, we have most of us, not everybody I recommend to everybody, but most of us have menstrual cycles which coincide very closely with moon phases. So if you want to take it down to a menstrual cycle thing to start, you can think about it that way. So you bring it into your body. And we know from having a menstrual cycle that your body goes through sort of this regular rhythm of changes that happens every month, like you know how you feel at different times in the month. And as the years tick on by like, you notice that there’s sort of a pattern to things and you notice when your pattern is off, so that sometimes when you notice, like maybe there’s something wrong with my health or something like that. Now, if you take that out of your body, and you think about your business, there’s still moon phases, and there’s different energies with the moon. And I think it’s really important when you think about this, to think about what’s happening even geologically on the planet, like if you watch Okay, so I love local news, my TV junkie and I love local news. And I love the local weather report. Like I should have been a weather reporter. And, and I love that when and I live on the west coast. So I’m in the metro Portland, Oregon area, and they report weather for the coastlines cities, too. And when there’s a moon phase, it’s not uncommon that they’ll say, Oh, well remember, it’s a new moon. So the tide is going to act like XYZ, because at different seasons, like they get king tides out here in the winter, and they’re like, please don’t basically please don’t be an idiot and take your kids out onto the rocks and get swept away to ocean, which sadly actually happens, like once a winter. And they’re reporting things that sound actually very metaphysical. But it’s actually just like the natural world that we actually are affected by, you know, you can see in your animals, like you have your dogs and I have my cat. And when there’s a full moon, like sometimes you see them, they get a little like
Abby Herman 21:54
I used to be a teacher, I when I was a teacher, we would always say Oh, it’s a full moon. Be careful.
Mary Williams 22:01
Yeah. And you’ll notice it like, you know, I love Costco. So you know, this great, it’s like, the great place to be in and like a sofa, anthropologist, and you watch people in Costco. And if there’s a big astrological thing happening, you can see people’s behavior shifts, like, it’s really fascinating to me. So I feel like there’s a lot of this energetic shifting and cyclical change happening. And some of us pay attention, and some people don’t want to, and that’s totally up to them. But I think in terms of business, if you’re aware of more factors that might feel good to you, then you can make better decisions. Like, if you know that, you know, the upcoming Eclipse is going to make you feel weird. And you’ve already started feeling we were the week leading up, maybe you’re not going to send in that big pitch when you’re feeling like overly sensitive and emotional. Like maybe maybe I’ll wait till the next cycle, maybe that doesn’t really work great with what’s happening in my chart right now. And it’s stuff that you choose to just sort of dive in and learn as you go through things. I think if something like some modality in metaphysics really grabs you, like, go deep go for it. I think a lot of us like to sort of dabble in different things. I have over the last what five years really gotten into human design. And finally, this past year, incorporated it into my programs. Because I discovered people wanted more of that I had a client or she’s still a client of mine. And she said, Oh, well, this makes sense. Because your first system is you. And I was like, Oh, that’s so brilliant. And so we say that, you know, your first system is you like I am my first system. And if I’m not operating properly, in a way that really works, nothing else is really gonna work at full speed. So we’re not going to get the full results we want. You know, sometimes you can get lucky with things, but it doesn’t last. So you know, if you want a lasting, you know, growth to your business, I feel like you have to get to know yourself. And there are all these wonderful modalities that have been around for so long. He did not invent these last night. They’ve been here for a long time, and they’re becoming a lot more mainstream, which is really interesting. Like when I was growing up, I remember it was still kind of hippie dippie in Michigan to be talking about tarot cards, and now people are like, I do my daily card pull up today and think okay, that’s awesome.
Abby Herman 24:39
Yeah, I’ve heard people talk about that, that I was like, What I didn’t know that you did tarot cards or had anything to do with them or knew what they did or I don’t even know. I had somebody pull a tarot card for me at the conference that I was at and she was very excited by the one she pulled and I can’t say which one it was. Because I don’t remember But I kept it. So you’ve said a couple of times, you’ve talked about, like, what feels good for you. And I have to tell you that one of the things that I say in the intro of every single podcast episode is that it’s about you and your business, your lifestyle and your values and belief systems, and you get to do business in a way that works for you. So I’m like, laughing at myself, because I say that every single time, like, if it doesn’t feel right to you, if it doesn’t feel good, don’t do it. You don’t have to do all of the things that the big name gurus and all that are telling you, you should do this, and you shouldn’t do that. And you don’t have to do anything, you can do what works for you, because everybody’s different. Every business is different. I will say that there are some things that you really should do in your business. But that doesn’t mean you have to, you can choose not to and I have clients who choose not to do certain things that I recommend them doing. And that doesn’t feel right. So they’re not going to do it. And I feel like the way you were talking about it really you tied it into intuition. Can you talk a little bit about that? And how do you know like, so for example, somebody doesn’t want to be on video, they say it’s because just doesn’t feel right. Or they don’t want to be the face of their business, or they don’t want to put themselves out there or they don’t like the way they look or whatever. They’re really intuition, or are they just coming up with reasons, aka excuses as to why they can’t do it? Like how do you know what’s intuition and what just, you’re like, Nope, I don’t like the way I look. I’m not gonna do that.
Mary Williams 26:41
And so I, I love that we’re talking about this. Because I feel like we were saying this before we hit record. So many people are afraid to ask these questions, because it’s gone mainstream enough now that people are like, Oh, no, I don’t want to look stupid, or I don’t want to feel stupid, because I asked that stupid question. And it’s like, no, it’s a legitimate question. And, you know, intuition at its core is something you feel it feels good. It just feels like it belongs. But there’s a different things that feel right or not. So Right. Like I keep thinking about how in our sort of recent society, we’ve gotten a lot better at thinking about things not so black and white, but like on a spectrum. You know, we talked about spectrums of like neurodiversity, or spectrums of preferences of any sort. And I think that’s an important distinction because your intuition also exists on a spectrum. And I feel like there are certain areas in life you might be really intuitive about in areas where you’re like, just being a Dingleberry. I see that all the time, I see someone who’s friggin brilliant in business and their personal life. And you see this right, like you’ll see famous people were like, and like they went Oscar after Oscar and like, they cannot hold it down at home when they’re not being filmed. And so there’s a spectrum that we all exist on. And like the whole video thing not being seen, I feel like there’s like an element in there. If you think of that on a spectrum. There’s an element in there of at the moment, yeah, that doesn’t feel right, because something in you is not ready. So it’s not going to land, right? You’re going to feel wrong about it if you’re pushed in a way to do it. But there’s also another part of where you’re landing on that spectrum. That is, well, there’s an area for growth here. Like let’s not make excuses. And let’s not say oh, the moon phases off, and that’s why I can’t be on video right now. Like, let’s not blame Mercury Retrograde, like, Oh, my camera can’t possibly work during Mercury Retrograde, therefore, I can’t be on video again. It’s like, no, no, no, no, no. This is where you have to be equally sensible. And woo. Because if you are being sensible, if you’re being practical, the way you also like to be, then you have a real business strategy. And your business strategy is grounded in math, it’s grounded in numbers, you know, what your numbers are. And when you see your numbers like these things all kind of like, play together in the same space, you have the ability to make space for better intuitive decisions, true intuitive decisions, because you also have facts to work with that are specifically tied to your business. So really common thing that people start out with, when they come into my group program is figuring out like the basics of productivity, time management, calendars, email, all these like picky things, but they just seem to take up a really big piece of the pie during the day. And it’s a large part about you as a system, like how are you going to choose to operate and if you can get yourself to a very practical point of feeling very rhythmic about it and feeling like you’re not being pulled in all these like weird directions. Then you have space to actually hear your intuition but if it’s a noisy room and your pinky pinging from one thing to the next because you’re like, it’s just chaos all the time. There’s no room for intuition and that how do you know that that’s an intuitive decision. And it’s not just your anxiety talking? How do you know? Intuition requires a little bit of quiet and space and ability to breathe. And whenever I see somebody, even if they’re like, I’ve been in metaphysics for 50 years, and I’m amazing. And they’re like, ah, and I’m like, You’re not hearing your intuition in your business. No. And everyone goes through different seasons and cycles in any given fiscal year, like you and I were just talking because we’re recording this in the fourth quarter. And I always say the fourth quarter seems to be like the NASCAR of online business. Like I just feel like I’m like Lupino trapped.
Mary Williams 30:47
And you have that feeling too. So I’m well aware of that for Sam well aware, I am not deluded about it. I’m not pretending like it’s not happening. And when I need time to tap into my intuition, this is a quarter fourth quarter, I have to make space and make space and time. If the turn off the phone, if they turn off the computer, I have to tell people, I am not available right now. And I will sit with my journal and some cards or whatever my tool is it I feel drawn to you at the moment. But in the first quarter, I have a lot of space to breathe, it is the slowest quietest quarter for me. And instead of feeling weird about it being quiet, I’m like, Okay, this is a time where I have a lot of space to breathe. And I can just sort of let the channels flow and really feel out. Are my plans for the rest of the year. Are they feeling right? Is that working? Right? Do I still feel called to put out this offer in this way. And you can get a lot of good information and data in a busy quarter like the fourth quarter, which is like what you and I experience, somebody else listening, that might not be their experience. But there’s this cycle, kind of like like the moon cycle or your menstrual cycle, you know, there’s a rhythmic cycle to things. And you know, let’s say for 10 years, you’re in business, and you’re doing the NASCAR business in the fourth quarter, and then the first quarter, you’re like, sipping umbrella drinks at the beach. And then And then suddenly, one year, it completely shifts and changes. You’d be like, Wow, you’ve officially caught my attention what is happening right now. And you want to be able to pay attention to that instead of thinking, Oh, no, this the apocalypse, things are totally off the rails. It’s like, no, no, what’s been happening here? Maybe there’s an energy shift. Oh, you changed your offers in the third quarter? Because you decided to do this new thing? Don’t you think that might have changed a few things for you. Maybe it’s happening faster than you think? You know, I like to say that we’re we’re doing things to prevent preventable emergencies. And when we’re doing systems in my world, we’re preventing preventable emergencies. And we’re, you know, really trying to give ourselves space and grace to make better decisions. So we’re not making reactions, because intuitive decisions are still decisions. And if you’re making intuitive reactions, it’s still a reaction, not necessarily a decision. In either instance, an intuitive decision or an intuitive reaction can feel good or bad. And they think it’s like up to you to make that clear distinction, as you get better at doing it for yourself. Like, okay, this, there is an intuitive element here, but am I deciding or am I reacting? And that’s where, like the business part comes into play.
Abby Herman 33:35
That’s where the numbers the math that you were talking about? Yes,
Mary Williams 33:39
yeah. I’m always amazed at how often business programs don’t teach people until way later, to do learn how to do basic goal setting and conversion math, like good, better bicycles, it’s like, to me, it’s a little alarming. And some of them are very expensive programs. And, like, you need to know your conversion rates, like you need to have some expectation and know how to pick pricing that works for your audience and learn how to work your way up to your goals. And that’s a very practical thing to do. And at the same time, it has to feel good to you. Just because your intuition says I’m destined to be a millionaire, I totally believe you. And there are steps along the way to being a millionaire.
Abby Herman 34:25
Yeah, and can’t just manifest it and have it happen you actually have to do the work and take the steps.
Mary Williams 34:31
Yeah, like any manifesting program worth its salt will have very very practical steps built into the manifesting goal. So if it’s light some candles and sage and just think about it and wish good thoughts like that, save your money don’t do that.
Abby Herman 34:51
Yeah, I love this conversation and how I mean you really have like, opened my eyes to how the practical side and the woowoo side and really kind of go together. And I feel like I’ve been doing it all along now just not realizing it not putting the wool word to it. Just thinking I’m doing things that are practical and oh, yeah, I’m not going to do that, because that just doesn’t feel good. I feel like I’ve been I’ve been doing it. So thank you for that.
Mary Williams 35:17
Oh, you’re welcome. I feel like everybody is intuitive. A really any good intuitive, you know, leader or teacher will tell you everybody has intuition. Everybody’s psychic, if that’s the word you want to use, I prefer intuitive. And I like to look at business people who clearly don’t seem to be intuitive, like, like Warren Buffett. He wouldn’t look at him and go, Oh, Warren Buffett’s super intuitive. I look at him. And I’m like, he is all Woo.
Abby Herman 35:45
Interesting.
Mary Williams 35:46
Yes, he crunches numbers like crazy. And he’s got just that like numbers brain. But he has an instinct, people call an instinct has an instinct about investments. It’s like, where do you think that instinct comes from? does it all come from spreadsheets? No, no, it does not in leaders, whether it’s world leaders, or business leaders routinely make intuitive choices. You know, it’s the reason why like heads of some corporation might always get along. I started out in entertainment in my career, and you’d hear about studio execs like having huge arguments, in some, you know, meeting and because somebody was just convinced that that director was the right one, or that actor was the right one, or that this movie should be released on this date. And they were having intuitive arguments. Because you don’t really know until you put anything out there. Yeah. And so we do the same thing. It’s just a smaller level, no less important. I would argue maybe a little bit more important, because it affects us so quickly, because it’s our lives are tied to it so closely. But all of us are making intuitive decisions on some level, you know, if you’re like, Oh, I’ve been offering the same coaching program for the past five years, and it just feels tired. Well, why does it feel tired? What is going on there? That’s an intuitive feeling. You know? And if you’re feeling called into something, it’s like, oh, well, I had this vision of XYZ. Like, Yeah, you totally channeled something, you had a vision, that piece of inspiration came to you, and it came to you for a reason. And you can choose to follow it. And you can choose not to kind of like the video, you can choose to be on video, and you can totally choose not to. It’ll just take you on a different road to the same destination.
Abby Herman 37:29
Mm hmm. Yeah. This is so great. Mary, can you share you I know you have a free library with all kinds of goodies? Can you share what is in that library? And where people can find it?
Mary Williams 37:42
Yeah, so it’s right on my website in the upper right hand corner. So it’s super easy. sensiblewoo.com. So woo with two O’s, W O o. And he looks at the upper right, and you’ll see free library. And in there, I have just a bunch of like little free mini courses. I think one of the fan favorites is asked better questions get better answers. And that one is a sort of like a framework, there is worksheets you can download and you can watch the it’s just like a 45 minute or one hour lecture. And it’s one of my favorite talks. I love giving at conferences, it was born out of giving tarot readings, and also having been a librarian on the reference desk for years, people, all of us are generally horrible at asking a clear question to get a good answer. And then we wonder, why isn’t that coach helping me more? Or why didn’t that person help me get that resource? And it’s probably because we framed the question exceptionally poorly. And so the resources made to help us do that better. And it taps into intuition a lot. So we really break down like all the feeling pieces around why we’re asking a question and what the purpose is. I discovered that when I was giving readings to people that they would pay for like an hour reading and spend 55 minutes trying to get to what they really wanted to ask. And I’m like, what a waste of money. And so I started giving out that resource to my first time clients before their first reading. I said, please try doing this before you show up. So you get more out of your hour with me. And it worked. And I saw the same thing happen with people on the reference desk in the library trying to find a book or get through some uncomfortable research topic. And you have to ask yourself these pointed questions about what you’re really asking for. And then you get the resources you want so much faster, and so much better. I feel like it really helps. So that’s a favorite. There’s a whole bunch of other goodies in there. There’s also a seven day energy audit. That kind of gives people a sense of what it’s like to do digital Fung Shui with me, which is I like to say we clean up our digital house. It’s a good way to build a bridge into all the stuff inside the computer. That seems a little nebulous and like it’s not tangible, I don’t know. stuff. So we dig into that and then all adding things to it regularly. I’ve got some things from the end of this year that I need to put in there over the holidays too. So can have fun.
Abby Herman 40:07
Yeah, yeah, I’m excited. So where can people find out on your website sensiblewoo.com,
Mary Williams 40:13
top right hand corner, start right up, top right hand corner free library. And there’s also a link off my instagram at sensible EU, there’s a direct link into the free library from there. And you can post questions in there. So tastic Yeah, it’s not my podia classroom. So you actually still have access to me through the free library? A little known fact?
Abby Herman 40:35
Well, Mary, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it. I appreciate you humoring my maybe sometimes silly questions. But I mean, I figure if I don’t know. And I’m curious. I’m sure there are other people out there who are curious as well.
Mary Williams 40:49
And I love that you asked me to be on your podcast to talk about this. I think it’s so great. I think it’s so wonderful questions like these are the things that have helped me build my program over the years. And I sincerely appreciate that you were willing to do it.
Abby Herman 41:03
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much, Mary.
Mary Williams 41:06
Thanks, Abby.
Abby Herman 41:06
I’ll see you soon. Such a great conversation, right. I really took a lot out of this conversation. And it made the Wu feel a little more sensible to me it made it feel like it was something that I should be listening to a little bit more in myself and in my business. If you found value in what you learned here today, be sure to share it on social media. Take a screenshot of the episode on your phone and shirt over an Instagram stories. You can tag me at the content experiment and tag Mary at sensible Woo. The more you share, the more we can get the podcast into the hands of more business owners just like you who need to hear the message that they are not alone. Until next time, take care
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
