How to Get Over Your Damn Self to Be Successful with Romi Neustadt

My guest today is Romi Neustadt, a former lawyer and award-winning PR exec who traded in the billable hour to become an entrepreneur, author, speaker and business coach. For a dozen years Romi has been helping women find more time, purpose, money, balance, authenticity, fulfillment and possibilities. And (I quote) she’s having a freaking blast doing it!

Her first book, Get Over Your Damn Self: The No-BS Blueprint to Building a Life-Changing Business, received a GOLD AWARD from the Nonfiction Authors Association. And her latest book, You Can Have It All, Just Not at the Same Damn Time was published last year and was a SUCCESS Magazine “Must-Read Book for the New Year." Romi has been featured in Forbes, Inc., Fast Company and Success, and has appeared on Fox Business News and morning shows around the U.S.

I invited Romi to be a guest on my show to talk about her brand. I wanted to learn how she differentiates herself with her “No BS” approach. And I was curious to learn how a former lawyer who grew up in Montana, became a successful entrepreneur, best-selling author, in-demand speaker and “petty damn good wife and mom”.

💥IF YOU WANT HELP GETTING YOUR CLIENTS TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR BRAND,  REACH OUT TO ME ON SOCIAL AT BRANDING_BADASS OR EMAIL ME AT JGOODSON@GENUMARK.COM

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About Me
Hey there, I'm Joelly - the Branding Badass. My badass superpower is helping you build a brand that matters. From branded merch to brand consulting, when you work with me, you get results!

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Transcript

Joelly Goodson : 0:10

Hi, I'm Joelly, your Branding Badass, and welcome to season two of Branding Matters. Today you are in for a real treat because my guest is someone who when I decided to launch my podcast, she was at the very top of the list of dream guests that I wanted to have on. And full disclosure, it took a bit of time but she finally agreed and I am so thrilled to have her here today. Her name is Romi Neustadt and she is a former lawyer and award winning PR exec who traded in the billable hour to become an entrepreneur, author, speaker and business coach. And for a dozen years Romi has been helping women find more time, purpose, money, balance, authenticity, fulfillment and possibilities. And I quote she is having a frickin blast doing it. Her first book get over your damn self the no BS blueprint to building a life changing business received a gold award from the nonfiction authors Association. And her latest book you can have it all just not at the same damn time was published last year and was a Success Magazine must read book for the new year. Romi has been featured in Forbes, Inc, Fast Company and success. And she has appeared on Fox Business News and morning shows around the US. I invited Romi to be a guest on my show to talk about her huge brand. I wanted to learn how she differentiates herself with her no BS approach. And I was curious to learn how a former lawyer who grew up in Montana became a successful entrepreneur, best selling author in demand speaker, and pretty damn good wife and mom Romi. I am beyond thrilled to have you here today. Welcome to Branding Matters!

Romi Neustadt: 2:01

I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having me. Oh, it's just so lovely to see your beautiful face in least four years when I first met you in Nashville. What an amazing trip. So I'm excited to hear all about you. I want to start off by talking about your amazing career, you've seems like you've done quite a few things. You went from lawyer to PR and then now you have your own business and author and speaker. Can you share first of all, what did you do in law? What kind of lawyer were you? I was a business litigator when I was in law school, I had aspirations of giving a voice to the people that didn't have one and, and I had some really great internships and then I had law school loans. I went into private practice, and I loved the gentleman that I was working for. But I hated litigation. Joey, it turns out that I wasn't meant to fight with people for a living, I was meant to create things and build people up. And that wasn't happening. So I went into the wrong type of law for me. And that is why among other reasons, I'm encouraging our two children to take time off before grad school to be out in the real world and figure out who the hell they are outside of academia.

Joelly Goodson : 3:15

Oh, wow. Good for you. My son graduates this year in grade 12. And he's already told me he wants to take a gap year before he goes to university and I'm like, Okay, well,

Romi Neustadt: 3:23

Okay, you know what, first of all, huge congratulations. But as a mother with a sophomore in high school, my heart goes out to you. Because this is so hard right to watch them grow. But just like we know, with ourselves, you know, get real quiet. Listen to what I call our heart voice. It tells us what we need our kids tell us what they need. Yeah. And if your graduate is saying, You know what? I'm not ready for that. I think you know, we got to respect it. Yeah, for sure. And it's funny. So you I think you have a daughter whose big time into the arts right into theater. Is that correct? So Bibi is our 12 almost 13 year old

Joelly Goodson : 4:02

going on? 20 probably

Romi Neustadt: 4:04

Going on 30. We have two very old souls in the house are raising me I like to say so BB is huge into dancing. And she's been in musical theater, and she's got a great voice and dancing is just her life and she really wants to go pro. And so it's really fun to see our children who are so passionate about their respective things and and to see where it takes them. And I'm so so grateful that I was able to build a life that is allowing me to be so present during these years of middle school in high school where I found the kids need to more mentally emotionally right when they were itty bitty, we could kind of phone it in right we could. We could be doing other things and as long as we were physically present, that's what they needed. But once they To hit a certain age, you got to be all in. I'm very grateful that I am able to do that now, especially with how fast it goes, right? It goes at warp speed. Oh my god so fast. I have my son who is the graduate, and he's hugely into theater too. And he does everything. So that's his passion. So that's why I can relate to what you're saying. Yeah. And he does drag, but that's a whole other episode. We got to talk more about that offline. Yeah, he's a famous drag queen in Calgary. But anyway, that's our kids. I just wanted to so you went from being a lawyer? So how did you go from being a lawyer then to into PR, Because I want to get the hell out of law. So I was miserable. After just a couple years in law night, I was looking around at all of the partners, and especially the female partners, and this was back in the mid 80s. Yes, I'm dating myself. I'm 51.

Joelly Goodson : 5:51

Okay, I'm older than you, by the way.

Romi Neustadt: 5:53

Damn, don't we look good girl.

Joelly Goodson : 5:55

Oh, it'sour skincare, right? Anyway.

Romi Neustadt: 5:57

So I was looking around. And you know, when, when you're in an environment, a career environment, you're looking at the next steps up from you, you never really love what you see, because that's where you're headed? Well, I didn't love what I was seeing. And I knew if I allowed myself to get what is called the golden handcuffs, you know, find the life partner and have the kids and get attached to the income and whatever, go on partner track all of it, it would be too late, and my soul was dying. So I thought, What the hell am I going to do? And I had a background in journalism from USC School of Journalism, go Trojans, if anybody's listening, we've gotten a little bad rap lately, but still a damn great school. And I thought, okay, maybe I can talk myself into PR job. Because I know how to write I know how to speak. I know, all that kind of stuff. And I'd always wanted to live in New York, but I didn't want to be a New York lawyer. So I sold everything and moved to New York and talked my way into a PR firm. And that started a 12 year award winning PR career.

Joelly Goodson : 6:58

That's amazing. So you had no experience, you just went and sold yourself and good for you.

Romi Neustadt: 7:03

Yeah, you know, like with everything Jolie, I thought, Okay, what's in it for them? What's in it for these agencies? And it turns out, I had a lot to offer them, you know, oftentimes we think, Well, gosh, I couldn't possibly do that, or throw my hat in the ring. Because either I don't have direct experience, I don't have the right thing on my resume. But if you really think about your broader experience, and the skill set, and the intrinsic things that come with each of us as individuals, what could be of use of service to this person, or entity or company, or nonprofit or whatever, or cause it's a whole different conversation. That's what I did.

Joelly Goodson : 7:46

And so did you know anybody in New York when you went or you just packed your bags and went by yourself?

Romi Neustadt: 7:50

So I had a couple acquaintances, not super, super close friends from law school, but a couple friends, nobody super tight. And I figured I'll just meet people. And another thing I did, which I've done my entire life, and John and I always encourage our kids to do is I went through the mental exercise of what's the worst thing that could happen. I write about this in my second book about, you know, fear can completely paralyze us. Right. So if you ask, okay, what's the worst thing that could happen and come up with this fantastical notion? I mean, make up the wildest, most catastrophic, scary story. And then okay, but what do you know, factually, what do you know to be true right now? And it's always Oh, so back then it was. So I move. I

Joelly Goodson : 8:42

Love that. Yeah. I love that. That's great. And we're gonna totally get into your book, because that book changed my life in so many ways. And I loved reading it. But first of all, talk about your first book, because that was my introduction to you. You know, back in 2017, I started doing side business. So somebody recommended this book called Get over your damn. So I had no idea what it was about. Where did you come up with the title? And then can you share a little bit about the book?

Romi Neustadt: 9:07

Yeah, so all props for that title. Go to my dear, dear friend, and one of my most important direct business partners in my skincare business props go to Bridget Kavanaugh. Here's the thing, writing books is really effing hard.

Joelly Goodson : 9:24

You're not the first to tell me that. I've had a lot of authors and they say that

Romi Neustadt: 9:26

Yeah, it's like this masochistic love affair. And people come to me all the time. So I'm thinking, Should I write a book? Should I then my answer always is if you have something in you, whether it's fiction or nonfiction, that you have to get out. Like if you don't get this out, it is literally going to choke you. Okay? If that's what you're feeling, absolutely. Put your took us down in that chair and write the damn thing. Okay. If not, don't do it because it is ag and me, but I love it. And I can write books What I'm not good at, I can title the chapters like nobody's business, but the titling the actual books is so effing hard for me. So I went to Bridgette, who is just such a brilliant marketing mind. And I just, I love the way your brain works. And she talked to me about, well, let's talk about all the things you actually say. And she says that I've actually said this on numerous occasions. So get over your damn self is the book that I wrote, I think it's over five years ago, now. It was released, I wrote it to teach people how to build a business like I had done in a way that I don't think had been done up till then in the way that I think and talk, a No BS blueprint to how to build a life changing business. And I had to do it, because of the size of my organization had grown so large, in addition to the hundreds of 1000s, in the greater field that's working with our skincare company, I just wasn't able to answer all the requests, and all of it tonight, I love more than anything to help serve and help be some kind of a change agent for other people, even if it's the smallest little spark, whatever. And I couldn't do it. So I just had to sit my ass down and write it. And you know, whenever you're doing something that is audacious and scary, you know, it's not something you absolutely have to do. It's not life or death. Or, you know, I mean, I didn't have to write the book. What finally got me to do it Jolie is that I figured, you know what, I could tie this to fundraising, the sales of this book, because I knew there was a need for it. There was such a great need for literacy programs, both abroad and domestically. And that was the thing that finally got me to sit down and do it. Because that became my why for doing it. Even though I had so many other things that I could have spent my time with. And based on the sales, we've been able to create literacy centers in South Africa and help with schools in the United States and during hurricanes, put proceeds toward medical supplies and things like that. It's just felt really good and a way for me to continue to pay forward the success of my business.

Joelly Goodson : 12:24

I didn't know that about the book. That's amazing. Congratulations. That's great. I want to back up a little bit, because I think we skipped a step from PR to direct sales. So I never going to please but that's okay. You mentioned your book. So you did the PR. So then how did you go from that and what inspired you to then get into direct sales.

Romi Neustadt: 12:41

So I had done pretty much everything there was to do in PR in 12 years, being a part of the industry, you know, from the big flashy New York firms and, and then later on, I moved to Seattle. And that's where I met my husband to hanging my own shingle and being a PR consultant. And I've done every types of thing, fortune 500 startups, international nonprofits, getting cupcake wrappers on Martha Stewart cause related stuff, litigation support, I mean, everything. And when our son, Nate was three, and our daughter Bibi was six months old, I just remember saying to my husband one night, okay, I'm kind of on board. I think I've done everything there is and I'm tired of being at the beck and call of my clients, I really want to own my time. And for me, I was hitting my head against an earnings glass ceiling, because that was the billable hour, the fee for service model. My husband, naturopathic doctor, he was in the same fee for service model. And I didn't want to work more hours because I had these little ones, I couldn't find leverage in PR, meaning the only other option would be to open my own agency and be able to profit off of the work of others. So I remember to saying John, to John, I don't know what the hell is going to be but I gotta find something that I can use all of my skills and experience and, you know, talents and things. I'd love to actually be able to have more flexibility and I do want to earn more money and I want to make a difference. And my husband is the kind of guy who says as he did, okay, you got to have faith. It's out there. You just have to just keep your eyes open. And literally, I think it was 1012 days later that the company that we work with landed in my lap, and at the time the founders of our company, first of all, it was skincare and I was what the hell was it 38 Almost 39 And you know, two little kids and all in If I wasn't looking so good I'm sure. I mean you look great. I'm just saying as a woman I started using when I was 50. So yeah, I right now I get compliments on my skin all the time. So I'm sure you do too.

Joelly Goodson : 15:18

Yeah. And my skin was never my thing. I've always had great hair, you know, great teeth. I used to have great boobs before. But I liked the idea of, okay, skincare makes sense. It's a consumable product, and people want this stuff. But the other thing that got me and here's why I didn't even think about, oh, what are people gonna think? It was because the company was founded by already established physician, entrepreneur global success stories. And I just figured, again, what's the worst thing that could happen? I just figured, okay, these two women can afford to screw with their own reputations and their fortunes. So this has got to be good. And at the very worst, my skin will look better. And even if we have just enough to start really funding the college funds and the retirement funds, because even though we were to professional household, we weren't getting ahead. It wasn't happening. And now all you got to do is talk to people. And I figured I could do that. So what happened was in the most unlikely of places for a UVA law grad who ended up being a PR executives, I ended up finding the most fulfilling and lucrative career doing something that was never on my radar screen, which is connecting people with skincare products, and building and mentoring a team to grab whatever they want out of an opportunity and become better versions of themselves in the process. Well, you're very passionate about it. There's no doubt about that. And obviously, that's a huge secret or not a secret. But that's a formula for your success. I've seen you speak. I don't know if you remember I saw you speak in Nashville, actually. And you are just incredible. And I can see how all your talents have prepared you for this journey in this business that you're on now. So congratulations for all your incredible success. So that's a great story. So then you wrote your second book, and 2020 20 I think I read in 2020. Was that right? Yes. So you know, it's funny, actually, I when I was reading your second book, so your second book, you can have it all, not just at the same damn time. Love it. I actually pre ordered this, by the way, when it first went. And I wrote it and I read it when I was in Vegas. This is a great story. It was February as my boyfriend's birthday, we were in Vegas, and I was at the pool. And I'm reading the chapter, don't you remember this where you talk about how you had to escape, and you went into a hotel room in Vegas. And I was reading that at that hotel about you being there. And I think I actually did a post about and tagged you because I thought oh, that's ironic. I couldn't read this book fast enough. It was such an amazing book. And I really think this book is for everybody. I just want to read this. You talk about how in your forward you say "For every woman with big dreams who want to live a fulfilled authentic life without feeling stressed, exhausted, inadequate, or batshit crazy - this is my love letter to you. " Well, is that not every woman pretty much?

Romi Neustadt: 18:16

It absolutely is! I wrote this for every woman because we're all suffering from an epidemic called unrealistic expectations. Yeah, about who we're supposed to be how much we're supposed to get done in a 24 hour period. And what we're supposed to look like, well, we're doing it and unfortunately, what's happening is we're not taking the time to figure out what is it that we really want what's truly important to each of us at any given point in our lives because it changes all the time, right? Totally. Yeah. And really learning how to figure out where to spend our time. And what to say no to and I had to learn to do that. That's what led me to that hotel room in Vegas when I ran away from home with encouragement from my house. Yeah, because I was experiencing this meteoric success. You know, from the outside. I was just I was living it baby. I was so stressed, exhausted, overwhelmed, saying yes to too many things. I had lost the ability to hear inside of myself, what is it that I'm doing? What do I want? And I had to create and gather the tools, the habits, the mindsets to recalibrate my life. And so once I was able to do it, I knew that I had to share it. Remember I talked about if you've got to get it out? Well, at the time, I didn't really want to write another book. I had other stuff but it was choking me. I said if I don't share this with women, I feel like I'm being negligent. And so that's what I did. And I share exactly what I did and still do all the time to create a life filled with all I want without the stuff that I don't

Joelly Goodson : 20:13

One of the things that I loved in the one of the many things I loved is when you talk about your time and how all your time is worth something and put a price tag on your time and all of it not just I love that you say not just the working time, but even you know, if you want to sit and watch Netflix, put that in, that's a priority. And you need to put that in can you elaborate a bit more on that, because I thought that whole concept was really helpful.

Romi Neustadt: 20:36

We spend so much of our days doing so many things. But if we truly understood what our time was worth, it would make it a lot easier to either delegate or delete certain things. Now this time exercise, it's a formula that I came up with years ago. It's so important, I put it in both books, quite honestly. But I found that it's not as powerful as if you do the entire exercises that I lay out in my second book, which is before you figure out what your time is worth, you got to figure out what the hell your priorities are. And then what are the goals that serve those priorities. Because Jolie, here's what the problem with me was. And what I found with 1000s of other women, is that we've never taken the time to figure out our priorities. My whole life up until I was in my early 40s. I had confused priorities and goals. I thought they were the same thing. I was a goal setter and Slayer. I mean, even as a little kid, I would set a goal. Dammit, I would hit but here's the thing, a goal is something that you work toward in the future that you're trying to hit a priority is something that's non negotiable to you right now what is so important to you that not serving it is simply not an option, and you say it in the present tense. And then the goals that you set? Well, they have to serve those priorities. And whenever I take people through this exercise, and the beginning of a new year is such a great time to do it. Whenever I take people through it, they find that wait a minute, they've been setting these goals, saying yes to things going for things making thing, you know, certain goals important in their lives that actually aren't really important to them. It's things they think they should be doing or something they've always done, but it's no longer feeding their soul to getting them where they want to be. And this can be in your personal life, relationships, health career all over the place. Once you figure out that stuff. And in the book I walk you through exactly Okay, once you figure out what you want, then how do you relentlessly edit your life and take away all this stuff, then the calculation of what your time is worth is the mathematical proof that you need of where to delegate and delete and it takes the emotion and the guilt out of it. Definitely. It's just numbers baby, it's great.

Joelly Goodson : 23:10

And I love that it's a bit of a workbook too. I mean, you were you make the reader and I felt accountable to fill out you know the sections where you're like, Okay, don't read on until you do this part, right? And then you do that part. And then you go on from there. So such a helpful book. And like I said, I couldn't get through it fast enough. So I want to talk about branding, because this podcast is about branding and I think that you have such a such a strong brand. I can be completely transparent here. I have a girl crush on you. I'm not the only one I'm tons of people I know are in love with you. So what is it about Romi? What is your secret sauce that you connect with your audience and that you get them to fall in love with you.

Romi Neustadt: 23:47

Okay, so this may surprise you. It may surprise some of the folks listening granted, I came from the PR world PR marketing all of it when it came to launching my own business. And our business is unique in that we're working with another brand. And we're a source for those products. But we're also offering our services to help others be entrepreneurs, right turnkey entrepreneurs, as I put myself out in the public, whether it was one on one meetings or on social or in front of large audiences, I never thought about how am I going to brand myself what was so freeing and so exciting for me was instead I thought now I get to fully be myself is actually the truest form of branding whether your company right I see it with my husband's dietary supplement company, I all of it. He's reached such heights because he has shared his authentic self that is imprinted throughout his entire company. I just was myself and the more I gave myself permission to be unabashedly unapologetically me, the more I found the people that I was put here to serve, I'm not everybody's cup of tea, you're not gonna be whether you're a company, an individual, a service provider, you're not gonna be for everyone, your job is to find the people you were put here to serve. And the more I just lean into everything I am, well, I found my peeps. That's what it's all about, though.

Joelly Goodson : 25:27

I mean, every I've talked to, you know, CMOs and leaders of huge brands and big industries, and it's all the same thing. It's, the more authentic you are, the more you're going to connect with your audience. You know, I have to tell you, when I saw your speech in Nashville, and you did that presentation, I don't know if you remember, and you told the story about how you went, and you have this woman that she wants to do business, but she wasn't sure. And then you did some posts with you pick it up dogshit in your backyard, and no makeup. And then she's like, okay, I can relate to you I want to work with you now can't be any more authentic than that. And real than that. And so yeah, so what advice would you have, then for someone who's listening, who is an entrepreneur, whether they want to get into the direct sales industry, or any sort of entrepreneurship, based on your experience?

Romi Neustadt: 26:08

Well, I think you first have to do the work, the hard work of figuring out who it is you are, what you stand for, and what you want in this life. Because if you don't know yourself, or aren't at least actively engaging in the exploration of who you are, and who you're evolving into, because we're always in an evolution, right, if you're not doing that work, you can't possibly put yourself out in authentic way. Because you don't know that's the first most important thing. And whether it's using my books as a catalyst for that, or Brene, brown or whatever podcast or whatever it is, but do the work therapy, I'm a huge fan of therapy. Yeah. Figure out who you are, and know that you have to share that. And I think it's really important to look to your left and to your right for inspiration, but not for direct modeling. Don't think you have to do it like somebody else, you got to do it like yours, even if it's scary, because here's the great thing, especially in this day and age of social media, and 15/32 reels we put out there, it's over and done with and gone. And you can keep playing and evolving and messing with it. It shouldn't be scary. It should be exciting. And you get to learn what resonates.

Joelly Goodson : 27:31

That's great advice. And you know, you mentioned earlier about how you're part of this big brand, and then you're your own, I know you didn't go out to create a brand. But ideally, you have one and it's because you're so authentic and what you do, what about the idea of working for I love what you said about working for a big company, whatever industry you're in, or whatever company you're in, but then still having your personality shine through. Like you said, if everyone is doing this, then don't blend it lean into what they're not doing and take that and run with that and do that. And that's how you're going to differentiate yourself. What do you think about that? Do you think that there's people who tend to just follow along, like, if we're always doing it, then I'm going to do it because she's successful, I'm gonna do what she's doing. And I'll be successful.

Romi Neustadt: 28:12

I think it's important. And what I've always coached people to do, not just in our profession, but in a multitude of careers is that you've got to understand when you're being conservative about sharing yourself, whether it's in a large corporation, or if you're a solopreneur. On social, I think too often people are stuck trying to fit into a mold of what they think they should be. Yeah, and there's that should word. Everyone needs to stop shooting all over the place. And it's really about figuring out what do I bring to the table, even if it's the way that you think what you have to offer a different perspective, in a big meeting with a whole bunch of people in your corporation, you have no idea where the great ideas gonna come from. And if you just keep showing up as you like, I have in this gig, I came to be known for certain things, and people kept coming to me for those certain things. I attracted the people who were looking for more of that in their lives. But I've always said to people who say, you know, I just want to be like you. No, no, no, no, no. You want to be the best version of you. Yeah, if I'm putting out some things that are igniting something within you and making you grow and stretch and think more and work on yourself more well then hallelujah, that's why I'm here. But you have to become the best version of you. We need all different voices. We need all different perspectives in every aspect of our society. Right? problem right now is everybody's in their flippin silos. I think it was Steve Jobs who defined great intelligence he measured some of these intelligence by What kind of a different intersectional perspective that they could bring to the table. And that comes from being able to connect disparate things based on you know, your DNA, your life experience, the lens that you viewed and gone through the world with.

Joelly Goodson : 30:18

I love that, again, I go back to the word branding, because that's my wheelhouse. When you look at all the successful businesses or entrepreneurs, that's what really helps them is that they've tapped into their uniqueness and use that to help leverage that. Is it fair to say that you're pretty a type personality? Do you tend to get everything you go after and succeed at it? Is that fair to say?

Romi Neustadt: 30:36

Oh, good God. Yes, I'm Type A okay. I'm a recovering control freak. As you know, from reading my latest book, I am a recovering perfectionist, and I can grind like nobody I should ask joking about that. Nobody's German, he'll be he'll be very honest with you. Oh, I see what you did. You did that. Just having a little fun. Cheeky Canadian.

Joelly Goodson : 31:02

I know, just having a litte fun.

Unknown: 31:04

So I think it was Brene Brown, who recently talked about the difference between grinding, you know, doing the grind, and grit. And so here's the thing, I can grind like nobody's business, I can work to the bone and get the results get to that goal, the whole thing, I can do that, and I've done that. But the difference with grit is when you're doing it, because you are doing it because of something intrinsic to you. I connect that when I heard Bernie said that I said, Oh my god, this is like my priorities, exercise, figuring out what your priorities are, what's really important to you, and what are those goals, when you're working on that, as opposed to trying to serve these external expectations or demands, or the made up bullshit in your head. That's when you're developing grit and resilience and all that. And I hope that what I'm putting out in the world is teaching women how to stop the grind, which even if you do reach those goals, Jolie, even if you do reach success, I was living proof that it doesn't do you any good because you're exhausted and unfulfilled anyway, instead of going for the grind, to create grit, and then to pass these skills, these habits, these mindsets along to our kids to create a whole other generation of people who are showing up authentically and make the world a better place.

Romi Neustadt: 32:33

I love that I've never really heard the description between grit and grind like that I had an ego. That's great. I love that it was amazing. Brene Brown is pretty awesome.

Joelly Goodson : 32:42

She is pretty awesome. I have to say I was overjoyed. I was on one of my speedy walks with our Labradoodle. And it stopped me in my tracks because I was so overjoyed that something I put out in the world actually works in concert with something she Yeah, That's amazing. Okay, okay, that's really great advice. Okay, so before you go, I do have to ask you this question. I know you're on a time crunch here. Can you tell me about one time in your life where you failed really big, and then how you overcame it and what you learned from it.

Unknown: 33:13

So my biggest failures have come from not listening to what I call my heart voice. My biggest failures have always come when I'm moving too fast, or listening too much to the loud noise that's either coming from again, the bullshit stories in my head, or the external demands or expectations. So I'm not listening to what it is that is truly important to me who I really am. And I see this happen to people all the time. That's why I devote an entire chapter in you can have it all to quiet. Because if we don't get quiet, we can't hear that boys. And we women are really bad at giving ourselves quiet time, especially in this age. And I know I know many of you are listening to us having this conversation because you're fit this in while you're walking or on the treadmill or whatever. I get that. But we have to make sure that we are taking time without inputting stimuli into our ears and our brains are constantly that's so important. So when I look back, I can't give you one because I can look back and see a whole multitude of things. I went to law school. It wasn't the best fit, but I did it because of the noise and I didn't get quiet.

Joelly Goodson : 34:35

Did you want to be a lawyer originally? Or was that a family thing that was expected.

Romi Neustadt: 34:39

I wanted to go into journalism when I graduated USC School of Journalism. I was the top journalism student. When I told my journalism professors most amazing veterans in the profession when I told them I was going to go to law school. They were so sad and pissed. But I was too scared to pursue it because I thought that I'd go to Podunk market and not be good enough to work myself out of it. Because I was listening to all the noise. And then I picked law because my father God rest his soul. He always wanted us for kids to have a profession, something we could really fall back on. He wanted that for us. And I couldn't stand the sight of blood didn't like math and science. So there was no med school, no engine, and I could talk I could write I could advocate Okay, so I go to law school. So that was a mistake relationships. huge mistakes before John, of course, of course, do many different things. What led me to that Las Vegas hotel room having a breakdown, that was a culmination of a series of mistakes. But see, here's the great thing Jolie, but it was like a breakthrough.

Joelly Goodson : 35:48

What didn't you say though? Total breakthrough.

Romi Neustadt: 35:50

Yeah, my Jerry Maguire moment. But Oh. But when you look back at all of the mistakes or failures, I see the dots, all the dots are connected, and even the failures are moving you closer to where you're supposed to be, and who you're supposed to become. So I don't regret any of them. Because that's why I'm here right now doing what I'm doing. Having done what I've done, and having this I think wealth of harder and wisdom to share with others. The trick is, whenever we make a mistake to stop and review, revise, release, review it. What the hell happened? Okay, what can I learn from this? And what am I going to do differently next time, and then let it go? Letting go is the key Oh, I have a hard time letting it go. But I That's great way to end it because letting it go is key. I just want to say I love your energy. I can see the passion in you. You've got so much energy and especially when you're talking about John who by the way, I think looks like Stanley Tucci. Has anyone ever told you that?

Unknown: 36:58

Oh, all the time. And he my husband is he used to have this long fab. Do you really care? And I guess living with me. He's pretty damn bald right now. But he recently got these fabulous glasses. And he looks so much like to announce since Tucci is having his mega moment with the CNN series. Yeah, all over the place. And it's bad.

Joelly Goodson : 37:23

Everybody's calling him one of the sexiest men by the way. So that's a compliment to your husband.

Romi Neustadt: 37:27

And that's what I say to John all the time. I said, Honey, you're getting better with time and no, it's a doppelganger.

Joelly Goodson : 37:34

Yeah, I met him when I met you in Nashville. And I remember that was one of the first things I thought and he was super generous. And you guys are so lovely together and you can see the love between the two of you. And so kudos to you and thank you so much for joining us today. I would love to keep talking with you. But I know you have a full day so Romi if people want to learn more about you and they want to connect with you. What's the best way?

Romi Neustadt: 37:54

The best way is to go to Rromineustadt.com. ROMI NEUSTADT.COM You can find me there you can also find me on social media. I'm having a lot of fun these days on Instagram. Of course Facebook

Joelly Goodson : 38:11

Are you on Tik Tok?

Romi Neustadt: 38:12

You know what? I am not on tick tock I'm holding out and some people say I'm a schmuck for it. But again, I know right now right now Tik Tok is a should and I will not do any should so I'm not ruling it out. But for right now, it just isn't a thing. And another reason is our 12 year old doesn't have a phone doesn't have social media. And I'm not gonna go on tick tock until she can do it responsibly. And so that's another reason why because I'm trying to model really good stuff.

Joelly Goodson : 38:47

Wow. Good for you. That's amazing.

Romi Neustadt: 38:49

That's the right decision for me, right? I mean, yeah, everybody has a different thing. And people are doing amazing things on Yeah, yeah. So for right now you can't find me there. But you can find me lots of other places. And thank you so much for having me he putting your incredible light out into the world. It was so worth it. So worth it. Thank you again, good luck with everything and with your children. And I'm so excited to be connected with you and we will definitely stay in touch. I would love it.

Joelly Goodson : 39:21

And there you have it. I hope you enjoyed the conversation and maybe learned a few things to help you with your branding. Most of all, I hope you had some fun. This show is a work in progress. So please remember to rate and review on whatever platform you listen to podcasts. And if you want to learn more about me and what I do to help my clients with their branding, feel free to reach out to me on any of the social channels under you guessed it, branding, bad branding matters was produced, edited and hosted by Joelly. Goodson awesome. So thanks again and until next time, here's to all you badass is out there