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You are a business owner who wants to prioritize people and planet over profits (without sacrificing success). That can feel lonely—but you are not alone! Join host Becky Mollenkamp for in-depth conversations with experts and other founders about how to build a more equitable world through entrepreneurship. It’s time to change the business landscape for good!
Becky Mollenkamp (00:01.132)
Welcome everyone. We are joined today by a guest from our Feminist Founders community, which we're really excited to feature some of the amazing folks that are in our community and do a mix of sort of learning a little bit about you and your business and then talking through some of the challenges you're facing and doing a little spot coaching and conversation about that. without further ado, we are joined today by Amanda Laird. Can you tell everyone a little bit about yourself, about your business? And then we'll
kick things off.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (00:32.174)
Yes, I would love to. Thank you so much for the invitation to be here. My name is Amanda Laird and I'm a growth marketing strategist. My business is called Slow and Steady and I work with solo creative entrepreneurs, primarily women who are doing their own thing. So building creative service based businesses their own way and
I try to bring a feminist business lens to that work. And I also had training as a holistic nutritionist. That's a whole other podcast. And I, but what that taught me was to really look at symptoms and root causes. And I bring that holistic approach into my work so I can help folks shift their relationship with their business, shift their relationship to marketing and
help reach their goals, which is like make more money, right? That's what we're trying to do.
Becky Mollenkamp (01:38.116)
Perfect, love that. And I didn't ask you your pronouns. I'm realizing so I want to make sure that we know those as we go into this. Okay, excellent. And I believe Faith and I use similar pronouns, so we're good. All right, well, Faith, do you want to kick us off on the, because let me just a little behind the curtain moment. We sent a survey out to those who applied to be guests in the series.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (01:44.108)
she her. Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (02:01.196)
asking you a few questions. It wasn't many, but asking you a few questions. And so I think we're gonna use that kind of as a little guide to start the conversation. So if Faith is referencing that, that's what it is. So I shall turn it to you, Faith.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (02:09.72)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Faith Clarke (02:13.261)
And I don't have it in front of me because you know, Riverside, I'm in Chrome and then I'm in Safari somewhere else. I, Amanda, so good to meet you. When you said that you support your clients through a feminist lens in terms of businesses, what are a few of the core principles that you use to support core feminist principles that no need for like fancy names, but just like.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (02:29.175)
Uh-huh.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (02:37.902)
Mmm.
Faith Clarke (02:41.665)
in your heart? What are some of these ideas that feel important to you that you guide people to integrate?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (02:43.47)
UGH
Mm-hmm.
Well, my core business value is integrity. Actually, it's like my core life value too, right? Integrity. And, you know, I'm, so I'm always thinking about purpose. And I don't just mean that purpose in that like fuzzy kind of like feel good way that we talk about purpose or in that like,
kind of soul expansive, like this is the reason why I am on earth in this moment kind of purpose. But really thinking about like, what are we doing? And why are we doing it? And being very intentional about all of the things that we do, right? Especially in our business. I...
have studied a lot with Jennifer Armbrust from Sister. And so I love her teachings and I love her frameworks. so I also really look at the big picture, why and purpose of slow and steady as advancing the feminine economy, which is the paradigm, a new economic paradigm that Jennifer, you know, writes about in a lot of her.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (04:11.566)
teachings and I look at my role in that big picture goal as I know things, I went to school for communications, I have 20 plus years of marketing communications and I am so, so, so passionate about that segment of entrepreneurs that is like...
the solo service-based woman entrepreneur doing her own thing, wants to do things her own way, building a business to like live a good life, not necessarily to like be a billionaire. And I want to use my skills and my talents to support those businesses. Because to me, that is who is holding the key to that new economic
paradigm and that new reality that like I want to live in today, right? And so thinking about like, and I'm, you can see off camera, like I have a graphic of the feminine economy that sits over my desk that I look at every day to remind me of things like generosity and then yes, exactly. I've got that in my desk too.
Becky Mollenkamp (05:32.078)
For anyone not watching on video, have the 12 principles of prototyping a feminist business from Jennifer Armbress, which also sits right next to me every day.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (05:39.646)
Yep, yep. And so, you know, that graphic of the feminine economy and, you know, creating a business that is, you know, based on integrity, based on generosity, based on embodiment, not using extractive practices, right? And like, we can think about that in so many different ways, right? And it goes through all the decisions that we make in our business from like, what tools are we using?
Although to go on the internet in 2025 is to compromise on your values a thousand and one times, right? But you know, what tools are we using? What words are we using? How are we talking about our business? And then how also are we showing up in our own business? know, Kelly Deals, who I also learned a lot from and studied with over the years, she always said, if the feminist,
Becky Mollenkamp (06:25.678)
Mm-hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (06:38.686)
in the business is not thriving. Like not a feminist business. Right? So.
Becky Mollenkamp (06:45.528)
This feels like the perfect place. And Faith, tell me if I'm wrong.
Faith Clarke (06:48.279)
This was, yeah, I was just like, yeah, this was, cause I was just like, this is, this is exactly like where we came from with this. How are we taking our own medicine? You know? And so as you completed the form, you kind of highlighted a couple of things. was taking some notes while you were talking based on what you just said and your memory of filling the form out. Where are you not taking your own medicine?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (06:59.502)
Mmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (07:06.542)
Mm-hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (07:14.702)
Mmm.
gosh, how long do we have to record this podcast because the list is long. I know I sometimes.
Faith Clarke (07:24.975)
Let me just say, if you could choose the most, like the area where you know by the time you've turned around, you've dropped into a pothole, and it's like, wait, I keep, it's the same pothole, right? That place in your business, and then perhaps we could play with a specific example of that.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (07:45.814)
Yeah, yeah. This is so funny and it's so embarrassing, right? Like, do as I say, not as I do clients, right? But for me...
Becky Mollenkamp (07:55.958)
And same here.
Faith Clarke (07:56.077)
Sorry, Commander, I just want to say, and for anybody that's listening, that we are swimming in this water. We are breathing this air. We are our mother's children before we can even say, don't want to be like my mother. And so just our own engagement in this work, it's our own hearts that we're healing while we support other people. So no embarrassments at all.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (08:04.462)
Yes.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (08:12.91)
Mmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (08:19.022)
Hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (08:22.43)
There is nothing you're about to say that I have a feeling Faith or I or both of us aren't going to be like nodding our heads saying me too.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (08:24.174)
Thank you. Thank you for that for that solidarity. I appreciate that. I do feel you right there with me. I mean, I feel like I am stuck in like the next thing, you know, like it's just the next thing, the next thing, the next thing, you know, and it's like
I know intellectually, you know, I need to slow down. I need to like long-term planning, thinking about what the next move is, thinking about like the big picture. And I feel like there are so many, just like the tiny little things of running the business, you know? Like we're recording this on like a Monday morning and
You know, I was sitting down this morning with my notebook and like looking at my to-do list and it's like, I need to, there's like so many things that I need to do, like figuring out my welcome sequence and like thinking about the next sales campaign and like some of these like big picture things. But then also it's like, I have to send this week's programming email to like the group participants and like.
that has to go out at 10am, you know, and it's like, I have this, I can feel in my business and like, especially that when I wrote that, when I filled out that form too, I was like, really feeling it where I was like, I feel so busy and overwhelmed and kind of like, feeling crushed under the like,
task list, but also I am like, if only I could go to a hotel by the airport for two nights by myself and I could just like crush it, crush my to-do list, you know? And that is usually a big tell for me when I start like daydreaming about the like solo retreat where it's like, I need to get myself organized and resourced and thinking about that long-term planning. But I...
Amanda At Slow & Steady (10:50.094)
feel like I can never keep up with the long term because that email has to go out at 10 a.m. You know, or I have to get money out of the bank machine for my daughter's tutor before 5 p. 15, you know? So that's kind of like...
That's my sticky spot, right? That's my pothole, right? Is falling into that overwhelm of tasks while also trying to balance long-term thinking and strategy.
Becky Mollenkamp (11:27.492)
When you mentioned on the survey, I think that we gave you a list of quite a few choices of statements of what resonates with you and that if you were able to more fully embody it, that it would feel like it would give you that energy that you're looking as we go into the new year. And the one that you said really hit with you was, am rebuilding my capacity so that my leadership flows from restoration, not exhaustion. Because in so much of what you were just describing, I don't know, Faith, if you're hearing, I'm hearing that exhaustion.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (11:32.961)
Hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (11:39.758)
Becky Mollenkamp (11:57.612)
hearing the like, I just, it's just one, it's like the waves are just crashing in and there's no amount of being able to have space in between to breathe before the next wave is like it's crashing. And they may be small waves, but there's just so many of these little waves that you don't feel like you can really breathe. And what I heard you, sorry, I just wanted, there was two things, two words you specifically mentioned, if I could get more organized and have more capacity. And I'm just curious and feel free to interject too, but.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (12:08.238)
Mmm, mm-hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (12:16.494)
Mmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (12:26.732)
if one of those feels more true to you, if it's an organization issue or a capacity issue. Right.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (12:29.582)
Woo.
Faith Clarke (12:33.133)
or something else.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (12:36.334)
Hmm.
You know, that's a really great question.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (12:49.618)
and I feel like it's all of the above. Like if I could expand my capacity, I would be more organized, you know? Or if I could get more organized then I could expand my capacity. it's, and I find this is like always really tricky to kind of like parse out because
I okay, so I love parts work. I am a big, big fan of parts work and internal family systems and like a therapeutic setting. And I find parts work comes into my work with clients a lot too. And like I have a very strong manager part who loves to take the wheel and loves to like
update the Notion dashboard and the to-do list and like color code it and assign all of the dates, right? And then that like makes me feel really great. But then actually none of those things are actually moving the needle forward. And so I'm pausing at that question because
There's this part of me that's really like, well, the whole problem here is that I don't have a good planner. I don't have the right planner. I don't have the right system. You know, my notion is a mess. I'm just writing to-do lists on like random sticky notes. I need that like, that one planner, you know? That's gonna like save my life.
And, and I know myself enough to know that like, okay, that's like a towel there. That, you know, that manager that is coming out and is like, we need to get the to do list together is also like a default operating system that I also know does not serve me all that well, you know?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (15:10.924)
So.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (15:15.768)
So yeah, I'm gonna pause there.
Faith Clarke (15:18.383)
Can I suggest something? Let's see if this is a path that we could take. If I find myself in a this creates that, which creates this, which creates that, neither of these things are the answer. So it's not capacity and it's not organization. So if we move them two off the table, it sounds like they both belong to the manager anyway.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (15:31.203)
Hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (15:36.366)
Mmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (15:48.335)
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Faith Clarke (15:48.527)
I wonder, I wonder, so there's one of two paths that my system wants to go in. It's the whose voice, which part is in the closet? Who have you talked out in the back? Who's not getting to speak? So that's one direction. And the other direction is, yeah, what's your,
Amanda At Slow & Steady (16:05.07)
Mmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (16:10.126)
you
Faith Clarke (16:17.305)
heart craving, independent of this business.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (16:21.806)
Mmm.
Faith Clarke (16:23.245)
And that might be the person who's locked in a closet. I don't know.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (16:27.694)
You know as I was actually talking through all my to-do lists and also listening to you talk now like what actually came up for me is like I feel like I need help.
And more than anything, that's what is actually coming through for me. I, you know, the to-do list and the strategy stuff, that, those things are like real, like, because, you know, deadlines, I mean,
And it's a different podcast to talk about like the illusion of time, but like the systems that we operate in, right? Like the article needs to be submitted by this date. You know, that's like a real thing. And so those are real, but I just feel really this exhaustion.
feels like it's coming from just carrying all the things of, you know, being in business, being a solo practitioner and being, you know, the office admin and the chief marketing officer and the product specialist and the person doing the delivery. Like, I'm feeling a little bit tired of
holding it all myself and actually what I would really love is for somebody to tell me what to do.
Faith Clarke (18:14.315)
So I'm going to ask you to respond to me telling you what.
And you know, it's okay, whatever that response is, let's hear it. Put three things down.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (18:32.27)
I mean, babe, we are our mother's children. So that feels... Like, my God, I can't put three things down? Like, absolutely not. Like, that is not the answer.
Faith Clarke (18:39.567)
Just hear what your mother is saying or what was that? What hit you in your chest just now?
Faith Clarke (18:55.439)
What would happen if you put three things down?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (19:01.248)
Faith Clarke (19:03.747)
But that's even a manager question. Pause that question. What's the thing that you're afraid of will happen if you put three things down.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (19:06.798)
Hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (19:16.59)
Hmm, interesting. You know what's actually coming up for me is that I feel like I can't even put three things down because I haven't done enough.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (19:35.798)
You know, like there's so much urgency around figuring it out. You know, figuring out what the next campaign is, where the next client is coming from, like real urgency around money and generating revenue and getting some, you know, lingering.
projects and so it feels like like if I I can't put three there aren't three things that could be put down because I haven't done enough to earn that
Faith Clarke (20:24.463)
So there is a way that your rest and your capacity needs to be earned.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (20:31.701)
yes. Yes.
Faith Clarke (20:33.067)
because empire, because empire, right? That your worthiness of rest and restoration isn't innate, it has to be earned. And the marker that we're using to know when we've hit it, can we swear on the podcast, Like it's an elusive bastard. It's just like,
Amanda At Slow & Steady (20:41.774)
you
Amanda At Slow & Steady (20:47.278)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (20:56.374)
Of course we fucking can! It's our podcast!
Amanda At Slow & Steady (21:02.638)
Mmm.
Faith Clarke (21:03.053)
The moment you're close, it's disappeared and then you're gone. It's right. So, so you must earn it and it can't be earned. so I was listening to a real recently where this woman said that's the definition of a cult. They give you an aspiration that can not be So that's how you keep being caught.
Becky Mollenkamp (21:14.18)
Can I?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (21:20.846)
you
Amanda At Slow & Steady (21:26.08)
Yes.
Becky Mollenkamp (21:26.116)
cult of capitalism. Yeah. Can I ask one quick thing too then, Faith? to piggyback off of what you said. So I want someone to tell me what to do. Faith proposed one idea, the immediate reaction is I can't. Another, what if the answer or what if the thing that we then say do this is those same three things get help getting them done? What's your reaction to that?
Faith Clarke (21:27.705)
Right?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (21:49.504)
Yeah.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (21:54.946)
You know, okay, I am the eldest daughter. You are of an eldest daughter, okay? So you are really putting my feet into the fire here.
Becky Mollenkamp (22:05.092)
I'm one elder's daughter to another. Elder's daughter's in the room, all of us.
Faith Clarke (22:05.916)
I'm an elder toddler. I'm an elder... I already know what...
Amanda At Slow & Steady (22:15.182)
I mean, health also feels impossible, you know, because...
And this is where like
like to get more businessy into things, right? Like there is not, there is not revenue, there is not cashflow for hiring somebody to do things, right? I mean, and it's not even like, like the little things too. That feels like easy, like what I want.
is I want to map out a bigger picture for my business. And I want help with that, right? Like I want to sit down with another person who has like knowledge and expertise and to bring human design into it as well. Like I'm generator and my
strategy, whatever. I don't know that much about human design, but I'm a generator and my strategy is to respond. And so I can really access my own
Amanda At Slow & Steady (23:46.454)
Like, I think when I hear somebody make a suggestion or tell me what to do, I can be like, hmm, no, it's actually this, right? And that's really helpful for me. And I feel like really stuck where it's like, I don't feel like I have literal like, like revenue capacity.
to bring in some help to do that, like strategic planning and visioning and to hold that. And yet it feels so needed. And it's, you know, it's just a really tricky place to be, which is where I think a lot of people are.
Faith Clarke (24:33.913)
Can I also?
Faith Clarke (24:38.797)
Yeah, and I just want to kind of reflect this back to you again, because I know this is what you help people with. That the solutions that we come up with for the problems that we're dealing with are also the solutions we've been told to come up with.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (24:56.896)
Yes.
Faith Clarke (24:57.901)
Right? It's the system, again, talking to us. And since we know that we don't fit the system and the system wasn't designed for us, it's not a solution that can be helpful because it's for, you know, those people the system were designed for. So I'm going to go back to the person who's in the closet or the part of you that's closet.
Becky Mollenkamp (25:02.596)
Thank
Amanda At Slow & Steady (25:08.91)
you
Amanda At Slow & Steady (25:17.294)
Mm-hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (25:23.086)
Faith Clarke (25:24.951)
And so as I'm listening to you, Amanda, also I'm noticing that you have quick access to, this doesn't work because what I really want is aspirational thing that's out of reach. And there's a person that's in the closet that has the answer for today and for this week. And I'm curious about what she or they might want to say about what your heart is craving right now.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (25:36.394)
Uh-huh.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (25:56.419)
you
Faith Clarke (26:00.791)
before you get into as soon as she starts speaking, you're to shut up that version that's going to say, Hey, that's not going to work because you'll be with them in a second. We're going to.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (26:08.3)
Ha ha ha!
Amanda At Slow & Steady (26:13.271)
You
yes.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (26:23.522)
Okay, sorry, it got a little bit noisy in there. So yeah, she's going to step away, but she is not going to do it quietly. So can you repeat the question for the person?
Faith Clarke (26:41.423)
person in the closet, there is some wisdom that this person has. That's an answer to what your heart is craving. And that would be nourishment for you today and this week versus 2026 or 2027 kind of clear runway. What is she saying that she's not getting a chance to say because she's kind of been locked away?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (26:54.798)
Mmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (27:10.094)
She's saying to tap into my network.
Mmm.
Faith Clarke (27:18.211)
Thank you, got excited.
Becky Mollenkamp (27:19.842)
I most certainly did. I did. I don't want to stop you though. What else is she saying?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (27:20.159)
Yeah!
Faith Clarke (27:25.355)
No, no, yeah, keep She's saying tap into your network.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (27:25.516)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. To tap into my network and to think outside of the box and that there's resources that are available to me. I just need to ask for that.
Becky Mollenkamp (27:47.652)
This pleases my heart. I just want, well, I wanted to observe that going back to when I first asked you the question about which of these things that you mentioned were true, being organized or being resourced, the word resource got lost. You shifted it into capacity, which made it a personal issue again.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (27:49.294)
Mm-mm.
Faith Clarke (27:50.765)
So why is this so wise? I'm sorry.
Becky Mollenkamp (28:13.962)
I don't have that capacity, right? I'm not creating that capacity, I have the capacity. And that's where that went versus resourced, which can be very external, Resources coming to me being provided to me being afforded me, which I found very interesting. But then we continued and I love that your brain has now gotten to this place of community because when you said I would like, when, you know, then it was like, well, I would like to have hiring, but I can't afford that, whatever. And I wanted to know like,
Amanda At Slow & Steady (28:25.1)
Mm-hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (28:29.332)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (28:43.8)
where, whose voice was that or is that saying, help has to look like paying for it.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (28:54.094)
That's a really good question. mean...
Amanda At Slow & Steady (29:07.406)
I think that there's multiple parts, right? There's, you know, and like part of it is like this part of me that's like, pay women, you know? Like.
Becky Mollenkamp (29:20.58)
Mmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (29:24.846)
Hey women. And so there's a part of me that feels like that's like a values piece, right?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (29:42.34)
And also...
I can also feel this part kind of like tingling at the edges that I really do not want to talk about on a podcast, but we're here. There's like a shame piece to it. You know? And I think it's multi-layers. Like there's shame that, you know, that the
There just isn't that money in the coffers to be like hiring help. And also like...
So there's like that business layer, but then on a more personal level, you know, it just feels like a little bit more acceptable to pay for help, you know? It's so funny that like what I was going to say was it feels less transactional.
even though it is a literal transaction in the way that we use that word in 2025, right? There is something that feels like a little bit less alive to just like put your credit card down and like buy a thing than it is to say, you know, hey, could we work out a reciprocal kind of exchange, you know?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (31:19.566)
we sit down for half a day, we do my business, we do your business or whatever it might be, that just feels, you know.
less risky, you know? Sometimes I'm going to say no if you're buying the thing. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's what I mean. That's what I
Becky Mollenkamp (31:39.044)
The playing feels less risky.
Yeah. Can I, because I'm to go to this really quickly in faith. I want to hear what you have to say too. but I just want to bring this back to you. I'm holding up again, Jennifer Armbrust's, 12 principles for prototyping a feminist economy, which I know you said is a model that matters to you in your business. And I'd like to point you to just a few of them. Number seven, consider every, I'm throwing it back in your face. Number seven, seven, consider everything in experiment. Number 10, cultivate abundance consciousness.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (31:49.005)
Hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (31:53.326)
Mm-mm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (32:02.659)
Yeah.
Ha ha ha!
Becky Mollenkamp (32:14.232)
Number 11, a business can be a healing for yourself and others. And 12, a business can be a model for a new social and economic order. I think all of those apply to what you're saying and to what that voice that faith is helping you bring out. She's in there saying these things to you.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (32:14.237)
Mm-hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (32:27.681)
Yeah.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (32:33.474)
Mmm, yeah. Yeah, yeah, you know.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (32:45.518)
For a lot of reasons too, you know, I'm thinking about this iteration of my business. I I have been doing my own thing for a long time. first kind of iteration of business was like back in 2016, right? So I've done a lot of things. And...
You know, there is a part of me that feels like my...
Amanda At Slow & Steady (33:20.11)
like my faith and belief that we can prototype a feminist business in 2025, you know? It feels a little shaken, you know? And even thinking about when Slow and Steady launched in 2022, it really felt like...
Remember 2022 when we used to have like hope? It felt like it feels like it feels like so far away, you know, it just feels like
Amanda At Slow & Steady (34:11.01)
hope and that faith and that
vision just feels like it has been shaken, you know, a little bit.
And even like when I was introducing my business and I'm like talking about all of the things, there was this part of me that was like, really? Do we, you know, like there's this part of me that is sometimes is like, what is the even the point? Like, maybe I should just throw in the towel, play the game.
go get a job, I could be the director of communications at an insurance company and you know, everything would be comfortable and you know, in some ways it would become at least like financially and.
And then there's a part of me that is like, are you insane? Like you would hate that. You would wither on the vine so quickly, right? And so, yeah, I think part of my exhaustion as well also feels a little bit like having to every morning when I come to work in my workspace to kind of like gather up all of that will.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (35:46.058)
you know, to like keep going.
Faith Clarke (35:53.819)
I am curious about the intersection between the words, the slow and steady, and this idea of us living in a chronic, toxic environment. Like when, so I have a son, adult with autism, and really early on,
Amanda At Slow & Steady (36:12.718)
Mmm.
Faith Clarke (36:20.705)
I had to figure out, wait, actually hitting it with everything I have, super not sustainable. doesn't, fixing it, curing it, solving it, it doesn't work. And I took a lot of wisdom from women, mothers with chronic illnesses. And it's like, what's the way?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (36:34.446)
you
Faith Clarke (36:49.153)
to be in an environment, let's call it your body, but let's call it the world or the current context that is actively fighting against you.
And how then do you hold on to or even anchor to, why am I doing this again? You know, for the 15th time that I'm trying to get my son to do it for the 38th time, why am I doing this again? What's the, so I'm, I'm the queen of the long run on question, by the way. So, what's the, I'm curious about this connection between.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (37:14.605)
No.
Faith Clarke (37:32.975)
Know and study your business name and what's required to live in this world 2025. This here.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (37:35.818)
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (37:42.828)
Well, listen, here's the dad joke that I have told a thousand times, which is I should have actually called this business Fast and Furious if I had known.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (37:56.738)
You know, way to call me out on my own bullshit faith. Because, you know, when I named my business Slow and Steady, it was as much an anchor and an aspiration for myself. Because we have only known each other for a short time, but I am sure that it is apparent to you both that Slow and Steady is actually not my
default operating system. And you know when I think about what slow and steady means
Amanda At Slow & Steady (38:42.412)
And how I think about slow and steady is we go slow to stay steady. And I've been doing a little tiny bit of research on the word study and the etymology to chat about it on my friend Nicole Cloutier's podcast, It's All Poetry.
in a couple of weeks and it's funny that to stay steady is actually a paradox because or like the term a steady state is actually a paradox because
steady is actually like an action. It's like an active state, right? And in our language, and in English, we often say like, yeah, you want it to stay steady, which is very interesting. And what I generally mean about when I say go slow and stay steady, it means like slowing down, taking
Faith Clarke (39:27.247)
you
Amanda At Slow & Steady (39:55.084)
that step back and that big picture so that actually we can stay in integrity or stay in alignment or stay resourced. That's what steady means when I think about steady. I'm not talking about like hockey stick growth in terms of a business.
It was originally the reminder to stay resourced, you know, here and internally. And so this is all just not lost on me. How I seem to have gotten so far from my own wisdom.
Faith Clarke (40:39.54)
I mean, our wisdom is there to be our medicine. You we are the point and that we as we let our wisdom work on us, then we can be the change. You know, so this.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (40:49.71)
Mmm.
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (40:54.562)
Yeah, and how far you've been pulled from your wisdom. I just think it's also there's a, I can sense this feeling of continuing to internalize to bring everything back to self and sort of disregarding external, whether that is external forces, or, you know, then and repelling external supports.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (41:07.598)
Mmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (41:11.854)
Mmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (41:18.902)
It's all this, it's that myth of the, gotta do it all by myself, the eldest daughter conditioning, the capitalist conditioning, all of that. So when you think about slow and steady or steady and resourcing, my mind goes back to this image of the waves, right? This like feeling waves that are just keeping you sort of stagnant. And when we think about
Amanda At Slow & Steady (41:26.018)
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (41:36.824)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (41:42.922)
actually supporting ourselves or moving, making forward progress or staying safe when we're in that situation. What doesn't work is fast and furious, right? That actually causes us to sink. Right? So what would resourcing look like for that battery of waves that feels like it's there? And I invite you to think beyond the internal. That's where that manager voice goes.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (41:55.328)
Yep, yep.
Faith Clarke (42:10.965)
And listen always in the closet when you're answering this question. What does resourcing look like for this battery of waves?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (42:27.278)
Good question. Okay. Okay, I am feeling a little bit more open to the putting down suggestion.
Faith Clarke (42:42.051)
I was coming back with it. Don't feel like I forgot it.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (42:45.198)
Perhaps?
I could.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (42:54.67)
Take a look at the to-do list that I have been carrying around.
the to-do lists that I have been carrying around that have like, you know, aspirational projects, but like when I sit down to write the daily to-do list, you know, rework like entire welcome sequence is like just one line on it. So perhaps I could actually review that big list of things and move
things that are not actually priority to move the needle right now into the not right now list, go and put them somewhere else. I think I need to be a little bit more realistic about what is actually going to be done between now and you know, when
we kind of close things down for the holidays. I think that there's that.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (44:16.91)
I do want to, it does feel like very kind of pressing or important to do some of that big picture thinking and planning. So I could ask, you know, tap into my network of incredibly smart advisors and coaches and see who might be able to help me.
with that. Because I think that
Amanda At Slow & Steady (44:54.422)
I think that part of the reason why I often get trapped in the waves too.
is when I kind of get into that autopilot, right? Where it's like...
Why am I doing this? Why is it important? You know, I haven't actually sat down to think about what's kind of like next for my next 90 days or my next leg of time in my business, but I feel like urgency to like keep writing a weekly newsletter, but then I'm not like really talking about anything and it's not really leading to anything. So.
I need a little bit of to get out of that kind of firefighting mode. That is, I think also there's a part of me that is like, wait a second. We're taking our own best, we're not taking our own advice here, which is to think a little bit about like what is important and why. And
So I really do feel like that part of me that is like, no, we need to do some like thinking and planning.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (46:17.108)
also does have a job to do because when I have that kind of clear plan, I don't actually feel so in the waves. You know, it's like, okay, it's like the GP, I've, I've set the GPS and I know where I'm going. And we are using waves, not Google maps. So it might detour and that's going to be okay.
but I'm feeling a little rudderless, you know, in this exact moment too.
Faith Clarke (46:55.881)
So, someone said you said two things and I was just hearing even your wisdom from the very beginning when you're like, I just want somebody to tell me what to do. That's what you're saying here again, but you want the clarity on the turn by turn and that would just free your brain up from this constant like, what am I doing? What am I doing? So that there's that spiral that's using a lot of your energy and your capacity. That first piece about this
Amanda At Slow & Steady (47:04.834)
Mm-hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (47:21.645)
Thank you.
Faith Clarke (47:24.175)
to-do list that has one item that's really 35 items in it, all hidden, just hidden in, you know. I want to offer that the list is also missing items. You know, one of the quotes that helps me and that, you know, as if I'm doing it, but I'm trying. Like 50 % of life needs to be lived and 50 % of life needs to be spent in reflection on how life is being lived.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (47:31.059)
Hahaha
Amanda At Slow & Steady (47:39.406)
Mmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (47:52.366)
Mmm.
Faith Clarke (47:52.397)
And that's not the latter 50 % of life. mean, like in four hours of work and four hours of reflection, know, so as, as a business leader, that's my job in my business to be thinking about how, know, just, just the same way as if I'm facilitating, I'm, I am ridiculously committed to the debrief, but I'm not committed to the debrief with myself. So the question here is,
Amanda At Slow & Steady (47:58.229)
Yes.
Faith Clarke (48:22.037)
Number one, what should be on the list, what's missing? And it sounds like whether you need support or not, this whole reflection piece and this letting yourself hear that wisdom isn't on the list at all. And then number two, what else, what should bubble to the top of the list is anything that feels energizing. So I guess my question or thought or suggestion is how can we reorganize this list?
So it has fewer items, yes. It has the right items. And particularly it has items that are nourishment to you. So if when you think, write the Wednesday newsletter, you drop into the, belly drops down, you know, and you lose your will to live, then I'm thinking that's not on the list. Because when we have a chronic situation,
Amanda At Slow & Steady (48:51.31)
you
Faith Clarke (49:19.977)
everything matters in terms of creating energy.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (49:21.934)
Hmmmm
Faith Clarke (49:26.009)
So I'm curious about the reorganizing as we wrap up. Becky, it looks like you might be chatting to me, but I have no idea where the chat is.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (49:26.35)
Mmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (49:32.772)
You're right, I just let you know that I mute you because there was some background noise. Sorry. There's some production behind the scenes for everyone.
Faith Clarke (49:36.705)
Uh-oh. But yeah, so reorganizing the list, choosing items that are energizing, where in there do you fall? What would bubble up to the top for you if you were doing that?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (49:38.798)
Ha ha ha ha.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (49:53.23)
You know, I'm actually thinking about what I wrote in my response form. Now it's all coming back to me too, which was, you know, I used to be back when I first started my business, when I didn't have all that much work to do, right? I used to be so good at like alignment before action. That was like my daily mantra where it was like, take a...
take a walk, do the journal, do the morning pages, know, do the workout, take an everything shower on a Tuesday morning, you know? Like I used to be so good at that and then once I'm like, you know, ready for my day, then I would do my, I would do my things and I've gotten so far away from that.
You know, where I've really become like, I gotta be at my desk ASAP and like, kind of forgetting myself in my task list, you know? And so I wonder.
every day feels like too, too much. But you know, on those days where, you know, I don't have calls or I don't have something booked, like, can I get back to that like slower kind of morning? So after my people leave the house in the morning, I have some actual time and not like...
this morning where it was like two paragraphs of the morning pages, then checking the email and then two paragraphs, and then, you know, losing myself in TikTok for five minutes. How can I actually like lay a foundation, like a resource foundation to then go into my day feeling much more grounded?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (52:09.42)
You know, I was going to take a walk this morning and then I didn't because I sat down and made my to-do list over breakfast while my kid was eating breakfast and I was like, no, no, there's no walk today. You need to get, you need to get upstairs. Now have I had a great productive morning?
Becky Mollenkamp (52:30.446)
That's that manager's voice, isn't it? Is the manager more willing to allow for resourcing time when it's in the calendar?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (52:31.822)
Yes.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (52:47.372)
I don't know. No.
Faith Clarke (52:48.879)
think the manager's overworked though. Yeah, I think she's overworked though. So she's kind of tight.
Becky Mollenkamp (52:52.3)
a break.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (52:53.87)
The cal- too much, you know, too open of a calendar, not good. Too scheduled in the calendar, not good because then I'm just gonna be like, mm-mm. Because the inner teenager is very strong too. That is like, no, I'm doing my own thing. So that generally doesn't work for me. But it could work to be like Friday mornings is like my time.
Becky Mollenkamp (53:24.164)
about that voice that's the silenced voice who says, let's talk to let's incorporate community. Let's turn to our network does some of this resourcing some of these resourcing activities could they be done in community that then starts to feel like for lack of a better way of looking at it, but for the manager's viewpoint, an external obligation now that you that's on your counter because you're not missing those calls.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (53:26.894)
Hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (53:40.814)
Mm-mm.
Becky Mollenkamp (53:52.14)
I hear the manager saying, you have a call on your calendar. So I'm curious if, if community.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (53:52.482)
That's true. That is true. That is
Faith Clarke (53:58.959)
reputation piece, like protect your reputation, you never know, you know, so that might be, I actually have a slightly different direction and I just want, because I know we're going to be wrapping up soon, that I'm also wondering about this negotiation for the person in the closet, five minutes every day, what's one thing that you can do in five minutes every day? It could be, and when I say every day, it could be five days a week, it could be four days, whatever your work week is.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (54:04.195)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (54:07.96)
Yeah, I know what you need to wrap.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (54:08.888)
Yeah.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (54:26.478)
you
Faith Clarke (54:27.993)
But what's something you will do five minutes every day that takes you closer to this alignment before action, closer to this, know, creating a new paradigm for the feminine economy, which is you. You are the feminine economy. But if we can listen to her for five minutes every day, what's a practice?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (54:36.27)
Mmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (54:53.19)
she was right there. It is my tiny sketchbook. And I've made it so small. I got such a tiny sketchbook because it is a much more approachable size. you know, pulling out my book and doodling or doing a doodle prompt or some type of like, you know,
intuitive journaling practice that always does.
Faith Clarke (55:27.309)
I'm gonna, I'm gonna give the manager a task and I'm hoping that she will agree. I would love some evidence of this five minute task at the end of next week. you know, tell her whatever you need to tell her so that it feels like it's important. Some photos of the doodles, some, some, you know, some sketches, you know, I think that we're now on Monday.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (55:39.118)
Hmm?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (55:51.433)
Okay.
Faith Clarke (55:56.631)
I think by next Monday, it will be cool for there to be at least three entries. And we have some photographic evidence, and I will be, we're kind people, we'll just look, we're on critique. But yeah, how do you feel about kind of...
Amanda At Slow & Steady (56:01.934)
you
Amanda At Slow & Steady (56:09.102)
you
Amanda At Slow & Steady (56:14.51)
That the response was challenge accepted. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yeah.
Faith Clarke (56:14.923)
Let's do that.
Ooh, all right, good. We found a middle road here.
Becky Mollenkamp (56:27.036)
I that. And I know we have to start to wrap up. I know we could continue. This has been such a great conversation. I want to know after hearing some of these things, thinking through that voice that's in the closet, some of these ideas around this daily practice and the to-do list and tapping into your network of advisors, these sorts of practical, for lack of better word, things that we've talked about.
How does that feel as you think about rebuilding capacity so that my leadership flows from restoration, not exhaustion? Do they feel aligned with that? Does that start to feel like I can see a path?
Amanda At Slow & Steady (57:02.574)
Mmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (57:11.456)
Yes, yes. I mean, I don't know if it's like very obvious to you two or to listeners, but to me, that does actually feel very aligned, you know, because
And the last thing that I will say is like, this has been like, personally, like this has been like a real life school kind of year where all of the heart I mean, I don't think I'm the only one, you know, I've, I've come a long, long way. And I do feel like I'm stepping into a new
kind of more expansive role of leadership. And I also recognize that to do so, these old patterns and these old ways of being are not gonna support that. And...
I feel like I'm getting stuck into the, you know, the ridges of the record. Like it's a record scratch in terms of like, how are we operating? What are the habits? Like what is the, what's the like, you know, kind of framework around that? But this is a good reminder that there needs to be some shifting in order to actually fully step into that.
that next roll.
Becky Mollenkamp (58:52.782)
Fantastic. Anything you want to say Faith as we finish up? Any reminders?
Faith Clarke (58:58.115)
I mean, I have, you know, so many thoughts, Amanda, and I, after we're done recording, I'll probably share one or two, but I...
I have a dominant mother archetype that will show up. And so as I hear myself thinking, I'm so proud of you. I know who's speaking. I'm so proud of you because you did a hard thing. You kind of went in and you felt the resistance and you kept, you have stories about yourself and they may not be super accurate. And so I just want to reflect that in less than an hour.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (59:18.523)
Hahaha
Amanda At Slow & Steady (59:23.054)
Hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (59:33.806)
Hmm.
Faith Clarke (59:37.539)
You stayed with the hard thing and kept moving through and you got those answers for yourself. And I just want you to celebrate that about you as you continue to create the resourcing that you want for yourself.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (59:44.942)
Hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (59:52.622)
Thank you. Well, I appreciated you reflecting your reflection.
Becky Mollenkamp (59:59.406)
I love that. And I just want to offer to as one white woman to another white woman, one thing that I have really learned from Faith and from Taina and just a culture of amazing black women that I've been able to be in space with that I think often as white women, we are very conditioned into this very individualistic way of showing up. I think we all are, but I think especially white folks.
And I just want to keep encouraging you in the same way that faith has encouraged me and has just reshaped the way I show up. We don't have to do everything alone. Like there is community and resourcing doesn't have to look just like I am resourcing myself, but is resourcing can be external. And I just want to keep encouraging you that, that little voice, she was there saying, I have people, I have this community and we have to let ourselves.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (01:00:36.878)
No.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (01:00:45.87)
Hmm.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (01:00:50.766)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (01:00:54.5)
be okay with using tapping into that. I want to say using that because it's not that it's allowing that. So I just want to encourage that. But yeah, thank you so much for this. Thank you for being vulnerable and open and being.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (01:00:59.054)
Mmm.
Thank you. Thank you. Yes, it was equal parts of harrowing and absolutely fun blasts. So.
Becky Mollenkamp (01:01:14.558)
Thank you for being here. And we'll put information on how to check out Amanda's business slow and steady and go learn more about that work, not fast and furious, but slow and steady. All right. Thank you.
Amanda At Slow & Steady (01:01:22.927)
Slow and steady. Yes, yes.
Faith Clarke (01:01:22.991)
Slow and steady.