Christine Schlonski [0:02]
Hi Gorgeous. This is episode number 148. We have the wonderful Lauren Bath back on the show, Australia’s first professional Instagrammer.

Lauren Bath [0:11]
Hi, This is Lauren Bath and you are listening to Heart Sells! Podcast with Christine Schlonski. Enjoy.

Christine Schlonski [0:19]
I’m so excited to have Lauren back on the show today and she actually shares with us today what she had to do to make her business work and what kind of challenges she has been through where she really had to learn how to trust and when she really had to do the work to make it all work. Deemed Australia’s first professional Instagrammer by national media, Lauren Bath pioneer the Australian influencer industry. She has over half a million dedicated followers on Instagram, and she’s one of Australia’s most powerful travel Instagrammers and also a savvy social media consultant and teaching her people how to get paid to travel. She also takes her clients on photography tours to Zimbabwe. But I personally love about her tours is that she is supporting the anti-poaching efforts and she’s supporting conservation and raising awareness of the misuse of animals and tourism. Today, we are set for another amazing episode with her story of not just being a chef behind the kitchen stove to influencer but also the challenges on the way and how Lauren overcame those. So have fun tuning in. Well, I’m so excited to have you back on the show. Lauren, welcome.

Lauren Bath [1:44]
Thanks for having me back.

Christine Schlonski [1:45]
Yeah, and I loved our first conversation. Thank you so much that you shared so openly, your path and the struggles that came with it when you just jumped and had faith and left your job, so to speak. And then just recently, really investing all of your savings, investing in coaches, investing in building a program, a business partnership with two other amazing powerhouses to get more impact and to change the world. But one thing that’s really important, is to change your world. To make sure that you not get burned out at some time that you have more time with, you know, just maybe a little bit relaxing and spending time with people you love. And what would you think was your biggest learning that you could share from being in those situations that fell tide, that gave you some kind of worry about where you are now? What would be a piece of good advice for entrepreneurs because we do have those ups and downs, like most of the time, right? It’s kind of a roller coaster. What can you share with somebody that might not be on that roller coaster for so long yet to inspire them?

Lauren Bath [3:04]
I would say if you can, whether you’re starting out and you’re not at that point yet or whether you are at that point where you’re very overwhelmed, I would definitely, definitely give the advice to get help. Work with coaches, rely on your support network, do the mindset work. I just started trying everything. I was doing meditation, I still do journaling, sort of art therapy. I started even seeing a psychologist getting to talking about some childhood stuff that I believe was holding me back. And ultimately everything that I’ve done has helped to just clear the cobwebs, helped me realize my strengths and help me not be so busy and so overwhelmed all the time. The funniest thing was when my coach, well, our mindset coach out of the two. When she first, she did an exercise with us where she taught us about overwhelm. When she asked me about my overwhelm, my response was, “I don’t get overwhelmed. I’m fine. I have good days and bad days, but ultimately it’s all good.” She worked with my business partners first and as they were talking, I started to think about my behaviors at various times when my workload is heavy. I realized that actually holy shit, like I get super, super overwhelmed. I go into denial, I start binge-watching TV shows when I should be working. I feel sick to my stomach all the time because their work is not getting done. Then I go into these mad frenzies of work and then know things lighten up, and I start to accept more work again because I’m feeling good and the whole cycle starts again. So it has just helped me in ways that I cannot even express to. I’ve gone from being someone that’s quite scared. I’m still done lots of scary things and what I’ve been achieved is not to be underestimated. But now I genuinely feel like the sky is the limit. There’s nothing that I can achieve. I’ve got solid business relationships. I’m very comfortable with vulnerability. I’ve got strong boundaries. I’ve got work-life balance. And all of this has really happened in the last 12 months. And the other thing is that I’m pregnant. So my life is changing in ways I never thought that I would be a mother. And I think that if it hadn’t been for all of this work, I wouldn’t have been ready and I wouldn’t have been a good parent. So I’m now just so much of my heart has opened up because of the mindset work that I did, because of business. So it definitely helps.

Christine Schlonski [5:40]
Yeah, I love it. Well, thank you so much. Yeah, and big congratulations again on that new journey. Bringing life into this world and being prepared to inspire and to motivate and to set another human being up for success. I think it’s so important because children are watching us. I mean, doesn’t need, I don’t have any children, I just have fairy children. I have a niece and her kind of looks what I’m up to and the children of my friends kind of have an idea. I think it’s really important that we show kids how beautiful the world can be and what’s possible if you believe in yourself. If you have a good mindset that doesn’t hold you back, but that helps you to move forward. Do you remember the very first thing that you have ever sold in your entire life?

Lauren Bath [6:39]
That I’ve ever sold?

Christine Schlonski [6:40]
That you’ve ever sold. Where you were like asking for money and there was a transaction that happened

Lauren Bath [6:46]
I can, I can. My mom always likes to joke that I was very entrepreneurial when I was little. And it’s funny, my partner was bringing it up the other day because it’s almost like I was on this track for so long and this trajectory and I finished high school. I was in the wrong relationship. I moved to North Queensland. I was just drinking and shopping and having fun, everything stopped dead and it wasn’t until I quit my cheffing job to do this, that all of that started to unlock again. We lose so much of our childhood creativity because of what society teaches us and what school teaches us and conformity. But the story is when I was very young. I would say 10, maybe even nine or 10. I used to sell potpourri bags to my neighbors. The funny thing was, I had the idea, I wanted to make some pocket money. I knew that potpourri bags smelled good and they were flower petals so I would walk around the neighborhood and steal everybody’s flowers. I’m talking I would just rip rose bushes up out of people’s gardens. I tried to dry the flower petals. I had enlisted a couple of my neighborhood friends. I realized that that takes a long time. I had them out for half an hour they weren’t dry, what’s going on. So we microwave them. I don’t know if you’ve ever smelt microwave flower petals. Then we just stole some of my friend’s mom’s perfume, sprayed that on the mochi rotten microwave flower petals that would steal, wrapped it in little muslin bags and tied it with red string. And then I had the audacity to go and knock on the same doors, whose flowers are stolen and I was a genius. I was a genius. I didn’t have a price. They would enter the door and cute little redhead girl at the door. And I would say I was selling potpourri bags. They would ask me how much and I would bet my eyes and say, “However much you can afford to give.” These people would give me like, this is going back nearly 30 years. Some people would give me $5 for a rotten, stinky stolen flower potpourri bag. I was raking it in. So yeah, that’s the first time apart from pocket money that I can remember making my own money. I thought it was a good idea

Christine Schlonski [9:09]
What a story. Well, I love it. You know coming back to especially the first episode where we talked about the passion and the product you’re believing in and the good you make and doing the one. I mean, that’s a big shift

Lauren Bath [9:28]
I didn’t think I had the passion for rotten potpourri bags, but I definitely wanted the money.

Christine Schlonski [9:33]
Well, I think you found a pretty good path now. You really deliver amazing value. You don’t need to steal from your neighbors. You’re making a good amount of money too, creating the lifestyle you desire. I just love that story. I think it’s the funniest story I’ve heard so far.

Lauren Bath [9:57]
Everybody has that story.

Christine Schlonski [9:59]
No, not everybody has that story. That’s, that’s totally true. But it does show that some people are maybe a little bit more entrepreneurial, and especially creative, it comes down to creativity. Because if we don’t have people in our lives and you talked about the environment and the importance of your environment, the people you surround yourself with as a kid. Well, I don’t know that kids are aware that they can actually choose. But when your parents don’t show you how it works to happen a business or to be entrepreneurial, you’re not going to pick it up in school. You’re not going to pick it up when you go study somewhere because you are prepared to be a good person and the workforce, which for most of the people, that’s not really how they fulfill their dreams. For some people it’s perfect, and I have nothing thing against having a job. I had one long enough. But for some people like they want more freedom, they want to travel more. They want to explore more. They have that curiosity, that playfulness, that creativity and workplace like a regular job are just not giving that to people most of the time. So yeah, I really love that story. Thank you so much for sharing. When you grew older and started your own business, how did you deal with this rejection? What happened when somebody said no to you?

Lauren Bath [11:39]
I was pretty good with rejection, I have to say. I did understand that I was doing something, offering a service that was very new. I did realize very early on, that in order to do my job well, I needed to understand a lot more about tourism marketing, and I went to some efforts to try and understand that But in saying that, that would definitely handful of opportunities that I really wanted at the time that fell through. And I can remember sort of dwelling on those rejections, all those losses for a lot of time and using a lot of energy, thinking I’m not good enough, which has thankfully, massively passed. I really understand the timing. I understand that if it doesn’t work, there’s a reason for it. And in particular, I understand that our biggest lesson is by our failures. For me, I just look at everything as, I’m grateful for everything, the opportunities, and the rejections because they all helping me to get to where I need to be. And yeah, rejections, as I said, you actually learn more, I think, from your failures than you do from your successes. So I have a very, very healthy, positive mindset around rejection these days. I know there are so many opportunities out there.

Christine Schlonski [12:58]
Yeah, totally. So it has been a process for you to learn how to handle rejections basically.

Lauren Bath [13:04]
Yeah, absolutely. Nobody likes to be rejected and when you don’t, when you come from working in the workforce where there’s not really much you can get rejected for Yeah, it was a hard pill to swallow for a while, but now I’m all good.

Christine Schlonski [13:18]
Yeah. Okay, so that’s good news you can get over it. And you know, we touch injection quite often in these interviews, just to see the different mindset people have around it and learnings because you don’t need to love rejection, but getting something out for you understanding, being grateful that you even had the opportunity to pitch or to invite the person to buy from you. That already shows you’re doing the work. If you wouldn’t do the work, there wouldn’t be any rejection. If you sit on your couch and binge-watch next Netflix, then there’s not much rejection you can get but if you’re always conquering the world and making your dreams come true, then there is a lot of rejections and challenges. But you can take them, you can learn, you can improve, and you can maybe find different creative ways, to get there if one path doesn’t work out.

Christine Schlonski [13:32]
Yeah. And one of the quotes that I love at the moment is that 80% of life is showing up. If you don’t show up, you’re just never going to get ahead, especially in your own business. If you keep showing up, keep doing the work continuing to put yourself out there. Eventually, it wasn’t be rejection, it will be there. Yeah.

Christine Schlonski [14:41]
Yeah. And just what you mentioned, like your past was in the 12 months, the last 12 months, is showing that exactly. You kept showing up. You kept building you kept creating, and then all of a sudden, it clicked last minute, but it clicked. I’ve been in those moments totally where like, all of a sudden, you know, you invest, you spend money, and then you realize, “Well, I don’t even know if that was too wise” like nothing is coming in at the moment. And then like last minute, you have two clients signing up for private coaching or something like this. So I’m a, I’m a true believer that it works, even though oftentimes, it’s, it just really feels uncomfortable. But that’s something you have to get over with. And you said, just like a minute ago, you said the word gratitude, being grateful. Is that something you learn? Or is that something that was like always on your path? Because I know that some children really learn early on to be grateful, and some might not ever learn it and learned later. How is this gratitude piece? How did it come into your life and what do you feel it has done for you?

Lauren Bath [16:05]
I believe that I have always been a very optimistic person. I’ve always been relatively happy, grateful. But something that I definitely wasn’t conscious of, again, like I was too busy being busy to understand that I was grateful for everything. And like a lot of people that are successful, we really not that good at actually stopping and appreciating where we’re at. And being grateful for where we’re at right now. It’s always the next thing. And a big thing that our coach has worked with us on is the fact that, think back even two years what I have imagined that I am where I am right now. And the answer is absolutely no, I would have no idea. So two years ago, what I have imagined that I am where I am right now. And the answer is no. So that one piece that I’ve worked on with my coach but in general, I started to become more familiar with the importance of being grateful on a day to day basis. I’d say a couple of years ago, I even did a 365-day grateful project. I actually have some ideas around how to bring that to the world down the track. But in general, now I’m very conscious of it and conscious how, how good it is for my mindset. So every day I really stopped to appreciate the things that are happening around me whether I’ve just stepped over a feather, on the grass or whether I can take my shoes off and sink my toes into the grass or it’s a lovely fresh breeze or whatever it is, is countless moments throughout the day where I stopped and I just think how grateful I am for everything that I have in my life and my success and my partner and yeah, I think it’s it really helps in your life but you know, in business as well. There are so many, so many things that I wouldn’t have expected to help me in business that have and gratitude is one of them.

Christine Schlonski [18:00]
Yeah, yeah, I’m a big believer that gratitude or gratitude really helps you to up-level not just your life, but also your business. And I think it’s especially important when you are in places where you don’t feel that comfortable, where maybe you’re worried by your next clients are coming from or how you’re going to pay your bills, or if the new project is gonna work out or whatever it is, stepping into that peace of gratitude and really getting clear what you have achieved, what was given to you, the connections you have all the money you have ever received in your life. I think that it really helps too, to put your energy up and to put you on a positive path of thinking. That doesn’t mean that everything is rosy and everything is wonderful, but it gives you the opportunity to approach things from a different way of just being you. I got so far why wouldn’t I come even further?

Lauren Bath [19:09]
I agree.

Christine Schlonski [19:12]
Do you have a gratitude practice? Like how do you remind yourself that you want to stop for a moment even when you’re so busy to give gratitude?

Lauren Bath [19:24]
I don’t have a process. I just let myself feel it. I let myself slow down and have that experience in my mind. I spent quite a lot of time in Zimbabwe. My partner is a Zimbabwean. And I mentioned that I’m running towards over there. But it’s you know, Zimbabwe has been a big piece. I think for me in how I’ve changed my mindset over the years. Because of the time I spent over there with my partner’s family, they are not wealthy. They’re living in a country that is on the brink of civil war. There’s a lot of unrest and instability and the economy. The living conditions are quite basic. There’s often no running water, there’s often no electricity, it’s cold water bucket showers, and you know, I’m living there for sometimes a couple of months on end. But you stop and you think, well, I’m grateful that I have water, you know, I’m grateful that I’m able to have this path even though it’s cold. I’m grateful that I have a full tummy. That I’ve had a beautiful meal of fresh produce. I’m grateful that I’m surrounded by people I love and smiling, laughing children and that I have the time to have this experience. I’m grateful for the sunset and you know, taking that experience and then applying it into the Western world. How can you not be grateful? Multi five-figure deal just fell through like, “Oh, poor me.” I’ve just come back from not having any running water for the last six weeks. So it really helps me to put things into perspective as well. Having that connection to that country.

Christine Schlonski [21:00]
Yeah, yeah, I love that. And it’s a good reminder that we are so fortunate where we grew up and what we get to do that, you know, like smaller things that seem to be big for us. It’s just something that somebody else wouldn’t even get to think about or worry about. Yeah. So we were talking about you being so busy, like do you feel like you have more like a balance and harmony in your business and life right now?

Lauren Bath [21:33]
Yeah, absolutely. One of the biggest skills that I’ve taught myself, and you know, with my coaches, support is around planning. So every week now, generally on a Sunday night or Monday morning, I put together just a weekly check-in where I write down everything that has to be done during the week. And then every single morning that I refer to that list, and I take three to six tasks that need to be done during the week. I write them onto my list. And that’s all I do that day. So I generally try, I try to do the worst thing first. If it’s bigger jobs, I will actually schedule it into my calendar giving myself ample time. So there are no excuses. And every day I feel like I’m progressing. And doing that, you know, working in chunks, knowing exactly what you’re working on having the time scheduled, knowing that it’s all sort of feeding into your week’s responsibilities. And, you know, hopefully even better having a sort of a more overarching vision, one to five or 10 years ago, it actually helps to keep you on track because every day you feel like you’re moving forward, you’re not the sort of lost in the business and the scrappy errands. I could spend countless hours just doing emails or spending time on something stupid, that should take me five minutes. So just really plugging away, getting those things done. It means that I have time every day, especially when I’m at home, obviously, to have some time in the morning with my partner. We will, I do intermittent fasting. So when I’m in my eating period, I like to eat just beautiful fresh meals, I still love food. So every day, we have at least an hour where we sit down together and share a beautiful meal that I’ve prepared by hand cooking, like meditation for me. So I prepare something lovely, we eat together. And every evening I sort of try to knock off at a reasonable hour and we go and photograph sunset together, he’s getting into a video at the moment. And then we’ll watch an episode of whatever show we’re watching. So we have a pretty nice life at the moment. And that would not have happened under the old ways where I would just have this never-ending to-do list that literally never got shorter. And every day would just be chaos, panic from when I wake up to when I go to bed. But realistically, a lot of the time I was at my desk I would be procrastinating or not using the time the best way. So now I’m very, very clear about what I have to do. And I get it done. Much more productively.

Christine Schlonski [23:59]
Yeah, and focus that comes with it, right? So basically what you’re doing you sit down on a Sunday on a Monday, you decide about the most important task of the week. And then you break it down so that it’s per day. It’s like about three tasks.

Lauren Bath [24:14]
Three to six.

Christine Schlonski [24:15]
And you start ready to say. Yes, three to six. And you need least you said that I love it. Yeah, I don’t know who said that. Like, eat the frog first or something.

Lauren Bath [24:26]
Eat the frog.

Christine Schlonski [24:32]
Okay. So that’s, that’s really, really good advice. Is there anything you would love to, like any parting piece of guidance that you would love to give to our heart-centered, mission-driven community?

Lauren Bath [24:49]
Well, I would assume that with the name of your podcasts that most of your listeners, very driven, very hard and passion-driven with the work that I do. So my advice would definitely be to trust that, you know, I’ve always trusted my passions. I’ve had countless opportunities over the years to sell out and to make a lot more money doing something that I hate. You know, I’ve talked quite a bit about business in this episode. But ultimately what I love the most is photography and travel. And everything that I’m doing with my business is for the end result of being able to travel as much as I want, with who I want, with complete freedom, financial freedom, and having a lot of impact, specifically in Zimbabwe, around conservation, and you know, helping the socio-economic conditions over there with my family and the people of Zimbabwe. So if you stick to your passion for long enough, and you’re consistent and you continue showing up, and you unlock your creative brain that we it’s almost like an unlearning process that I’ve been going through, you know, unlearning all of the conditioning that I’ve had over my life to go back to that childhood. Anything is a possible mentality. You know, if you do that and you show up and do the work, you just can’t lose. So trust yourself.

Christine Schlonski [26:02]
Thank you so, so much. I will put all your links in the show notes so people can connect with you. The most important place or the place where they probably get the most from you is Instagram. Can you give the Instagram handle again and then we’re going to finish off.

Lauren Bath [26:21]
Instagram handle is @laurenepbath. And I generally post everything there, around my courses and my conference and all, you know, obviously my photography and my tours, it all ends up going there before it goes anywhere else.

Christine Schlonski [26:35]
Cool. So if you want to be the first one, you need to be connected to Lauren on Instagram. And thank you so so much for sharing so openly for letting us see the processes you went through recently and obviously in your life, and I think it’s really inspirational and support for people. So thank you.

Lauren Bath [26:58]
Thank you so much for having me.

Christine Schlonski [27:00]
Well, I just love these episodes and I’m so inspired by all the different stories my guests are sharing here on Heart Sells! Podcast. Hop on over to https://christineschlonski.com/ Find the podcast tab. And there you find Lauren’s episode with the show notes, with all the resources we talked about. And most importantly, with all the links to connect with her, make sure you connect with her on Instagram. She has beautiful pictures to share. And once you’re over at https://christineschlonski.com/, sign up for the empowerment notes. This is empowerment right into your inbox about once a week. And also it has all the updates to Heart Sells! Podcast. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for tuning in. Wishing you a wonderful day wherever you are in this beautiful world. And I’m saying bye for now.