# Lavendaire Founder: How To Find Your Unique Creator Business Model

Channel: Creator Unplugged with Jun Yuh
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvjoh7F8fBE
Duration: 41 min
Language: English
Words: 9045
Transcript page: https://viewrankai.com/tools/youtube-transcript/nvjoh7F8fBE

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[0:00] We spend so much time like on social media just consuming that we don't let our minds take a break. It's like you're not even in control of your own self. The hustle grinding culture, even the creator culture that's like non-stop grinding, that's like it puts you in that activated hustle mode, you'll burnt out eventually. If you grew up feeling unseen or invisible, of course being seen on social media is going to feel

[0:23] good. But what if the views are low? What if nobody likes it? Then what happens? How do you feel about yourself then? A lot of people still think that views and platform payouts are the only way to monetize or potentially even brand deals are the only ways to monetize. Once you're connected with yourself, like you always know the right thing to do. I make all of my choices based on lifestyle, like the life that I want to live. Not just how much money I want to make, but the life. I think you can have

[0:47] both. I feel as though we as creators think too far ahead into You want it to be big fast. You want to have a big launch. What if you have a big launch and then everything's wrong? With everything that I tried, it was a trial and error to see like does it work for me? Not just does it make money, but

[1:04] am I happy doing this? Do you think it's possible if we can start off with some positive affirmations the way that I seen it in this video earlier. It genuinely the idea of manifestation and also rewiring your brain is something that I've been getting a lot into. Love it. And I didn't even know that I was doing it when I was younger, but the more I'm familiar to the space I'm like, "Oh wait, this is the thing that I actually really enjoy." So I just wanted to see if you would be willing to do that with

[1:28] me to start off this podcast. with some just affirmations. I don't know you can lead me in this regard, but I want you to own it and and let me know what I have to do, but I want you to make me feel really good. sure. How about we close our eyes? Okay, cool. Should you know, should I

[1:41] should I do this thing? Yeah. No, you know, you can use [laughter] the whole space for you. How about we both feet like this and then you can put your palms up. Deep breath in through the nose, out through your mouth, okay? 1 2 3 inhale. Exhale. [sighs and gasps] Let's do one more. Inhale.

[2:05] Exhale. [sighs] I am loved. I am free. I am calm. I am at peace. And you can just repeat those in your mind one time. I'll say it again. I am loved. I am calm. I am free. I am at peace. One more inhale. Exhale. [sighs and gasps] Okay, you can open your eyes. So, you see how your energy is like a

[2:52] little bit shifted? 100%. It's not a little bit shifted. It's a lot [clears throat and laughter] of shifted. Is it? Okay, great. Yeah, I mean, when I was listening to your videos this morning. By the way, you sound exactly the way that you sound on your YouTube videos. I would I'd close my ears and say, "This sounds

[3:06] exactly like I was doing this morning." But, it is a real concern of mine cuz I feel as though a lot of times my life gets quite chaotic and I forget to take a breath. I forget to stay grounded. And so, this morning and this is a true story, I was incredibly stressed out and

[3:21] I felt a little bit overwhelmed. And then because I was watching your stuff and I was in the midst of doing it, it really started to calm me down. And the first question that I really do want to ask you cuz I think it's going to be so helpful for people. A lot of creators out there go through quite, I would call, difficult moments,

[3:36] like low moments that they feel stuck. Are there really good active practices that people can do to actually reset their minds? Oh, yeah. I think most of the times it's like we're too in our heads and we spend so much time like on social media just consuming that we don't let our minds take a break. So, I think the first thing is just to like get out of your head. And for some people, like meditation doesn't work for everyone, and I know that, right? But, I think deep breaths, go out, take a walk,

[4:05] literally just like get off a screen. Like, allow yourself to be bored. Allow your mind to be quiet, and then see what comes. And for people who have an overactive mind, like I love journaling, because I have so many thoughts. So, just try opening up a notebook and handwrite all the thoughts that are in your head, so you're like transcribing it, and you tell yourself once it's on paper, like I don't have to repeat it again in my mind. Cuz we're always thinking of the same thoughts over and over. It's like the same worries, the same anxieties. So, when you write it down, not only do you get it out of your

[4:35] head, but you get to reflect, like it's like a mirror, where you're like, "Oh my god, that's what I've been so stuck on." And then, if you want, you can like do the work to figure out, "Okay, what's the next step? What can I do to to improve this?" Mhm. So, it's kind of like the spark.

[4:49] Yeah. Mhm. There's distance between you and your thoughts, which you don't necessarily get if it's only in your mind. And I have found a lot of times when I'm journaling that it makes me rationalize the moment more than I would have if it was in my own head. Yeah. And I find myself to be calmer, but also more clear. It's fascinating, too, that you're speaking about finding times to

[5:07] be silent, quiet, and in your own head. Cuz if you don't, then we tend to actually have our phones kind of run our lives. Are you intentionally curating moments of your routine to be quiet, to be able to spend time alone? All the time. I feel like I often need that time where I'm not on a screen, and I have my self-care time. So, I love having like slow beginnings of my day. I wake up late. I don't even call it snow more slow morning. It's more like slow afternoon. [laughter] But, I if I have the space in my day, like no meetings or anything, I just I

[5:39] love doing a little meditation, some journaling, and I Those are the two cornerstone habits. I don't try to stack too much, but those are the two that I always go back to to recenter myself so that I feel aligned. It's so important to like be aware of your own feelings and your own thoughts. And when we're constantly bombarded with like other opinions or outside media, we don't even know what we're thinking or what we're feeling. So, I think that's what people are disconnected from. Cuz once you're connected with yourself, like you always know the right thing to do cuz your

[6:11] body's always telling you. That's a really good tip. I need your help with something as well because my screen time has not been so great recently. It's okay. And especially while I've been back at home and we've been in this period where we want to get the podcast up and running. We have so many things going on with business that I sometimes tell myself that I'm researching on my phone,

[6:30] but it just tends to be quite addictive. gosh. I yeah, I've been in that phase too. Uh my screen time's not the best either. Like sometimes [laughter] I'm on my phone for hours. I know. But, okay, that's something that I used to do. Being a creator, it's so hard because the lines are so blurred. You're like scrolling the feed and you're telling yourself, "Oh, I'm I'm researching." Right? I'm Oh, I'm trying to see what's working and what's not, but at the same time it's making you feel not good. So, you need to draw some sort of boundary. You need to have a boundary of like this is work time. For

[7:01] this one or two hours, I'm going to be researching and for the other time, like it's not work. It's just fun. So, with that time, you can choose to scroll if you want or you can choose to do something else, but it's not work. You have to create some that boundary. Otherwise, your mental health just gets so caught up in the algorithm and it's like you're not even in control of your

[7:20] own self. You strike me as someone that has a good calendar. Oh, yeah. [laughter] It's because I feel as though I'm the exact same type where we're both creator operators. We both have businesses behind us. So, it's one thing to have the content element, but we also have all these other calls and meetings and work that we have to get through it. Tell me what an Eileen's

[7:40] calendar looks like. I don't have a set schedule. Every day I have days where I batch what I want to do that day. I It's funny because I'm very into numerology. I'm I'm into all these things, astrology, numerology, feng shui, anything because all of it is like ancient wisdom. All of it is wisdom to help us. Anyway, I use numerology to plan my week. So, there are days um certain days that are better for creating, certain days that are better for admin, certain days better for connecting and meetings. So, every week

[8:08] and this is It's a personal nice to you. It's depending on your birthday and you do some calculations with the birthday and the month and the day. Um it's pretty easy, but once you understand how that works, you like I would plan every Sunday. I'll be like, "Okay, what's my What's What's the energy of this week?" Okay? And then let's say it's So, there's no specific day. It's not like every Monday I'm creative. It's whenever that energy is there, like I'll batch a creative day or I'll batch a meeting

[8:35] day. Um yeah, so I I do have some Like for example, I have an app. So, I have a meeting every Wednesday. But outside of like the random meetings here and there, I try to keep my time very open. Like if I choose not to work that day, I don't have to work that day. And that's how I want that I worked for like an over a decade to get to this point where I try not to stress myself out anymore cuz being a creator, you're in that hustle mode where you're just like grinding, grinding, grinding. You put out a video, you plan the next video, then you put it out, then you

[9:04] plan the next one, then you're balancing, juggling your side project, the other side project. It's a lot. For me, I I learned to not be so like activated cuz your nervous system has a fight or flight activated sympathetic nervous system and then you have the rest, calm parasympathetic nervous system. You need to have a balance of both. So, the hustle grinding culture, even the creator culture that's like nonstop grinding, that's like it puts you in that active activated hustle mode and it's it's

[9:35] you'll burnt out eventually. How do you overcome burnout? You just have to rest and you have to let go of that need to be perfect and the need to control and the need to show up and and do it on time. Right? That So, that's why my schedule is so flexible now because if I am feeling exhausted, I'm not going to push

[9:55] myself another day. Mhm. Right? Like if you're feeling tired, rest. And if you feel like you want to go have fun, go out and do something fun. And then tomorrow you might feel inspired to work. So, I'm more about flowing with my energy. Like if the energy is there to create, I create. And if it's not there, I allow myself to do

[10:12] whatever my energy wants me to do. Yeah, this is something I have to learn. [laughter] This is But it's also it's it's so nuanced because I I built the discipline around certain things where like I'm I know I'm not going to fall off and become like super lazy and do nothing forever. Cuz like I I know where the extremes are cuz I've experienced both. I've experienced like going super hard and then experience like falling off completely and then I'm like, "Okay, this is my

[10:38] happy middle." [laughter] That's what I got to find. Yes. Cuz I am in the ultra grind mode at the moment. Yeah, that's okay. I think in the beginning of your career it it's like you should be doing that. Yeah. I believe it's needed in seasons. Yes, seasons. That's one of my favorite words. [laughter] Okay, so I I permission from your perspective here cuz I do see my life in that way right now that it is a longer quote unquote season though as in for me it's so important the last 14 months to lay the foundations to build our team

[11:08] the way that we have been. And I knew it was going to take a lot out of me. Mhm. But what I've also learned is the ability to say no. Mhm. As in when you're first starting out and you have any level of success, you know how this feels. It's like a hundred different people are like, "You should do this. You should do that. You should

[11:21] do this." Yeah. And it's very overwhelming as a creative cuz you're like, Yeah. "Don't do that. Am I going to be behind?" Ultimately, you're kind of in this mind of scarcity. You're like, "I have to keep going and staying ahead." Yeah. But it's fascinating to hear that on the end of their end of it now that you've been in the space, by the way, you've been creating content for 12 years. You

[11:37] have a lot more experience than I do. How long did it take you to come to this realization that a fine balance is needed? Maybe five or six years ago was when I first started to realize, okay, I I burned out really hard and I was like something has to change. I took a slower year and I that's kind of like I I think around 2019, 2020, I started my healing journey. So I discovered like breathwork, hyp- like hypnotherapy, holistic healing, all like all these different modalities to like help you heal on a body level and release the trauma that you've had since your childhood. So much of it is trauma, too,

[12:10] growing up Asian-American or whatever background you have. You might have like your nervous system is basically designed from your your upbringing and your childhood experiences. So if you didn't feel safe to relax, you're not going to ever feel safe no matter how much money or success you have. So it's about learning to heal that and understand like how to feel that I am worthy without working. And so this can get so deep, but I went through that whole journey and I've been on that journey and I think I, you know, had my phases and seasons of being more active again and then push like pulling back

[12:46] again. But now after a few phases, I feel like I'm in such a good place now. Like I feel like the past two years I had a slow down of like my content and YouTube career. I had a year where I'm like, what am I doing? Like I don't feel like creating content anymore. What what's next? And then I this I was curious about tech, so I went to all these tech and AI conferences and then it led me to have this app idea and then last year I started building this app and then this year I launched it. So I feel like this year I'm re-entering like

[13:17] a a phase where I'm like creating again, being seen cuz I spent last year behind the scenes, not showing people what I was working on and doing something different. So I've had my phases, but yeah, I have so much I can share on this. I Yeah, ask [clears throat] me anything. Yeah, I love it. I When you said this could get deep, I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, let's do it." Because it something that I am trying to get into my own head and

[13:38] understand myself better. And it's because you're right, there's a lot of my childhood that probably plays a role in who I am. And potentially it's this need to be significant that ultimately forces you to work so hard. And you think it's a byproduct of the work. You think it's a byproduct of the thing that you put out into the world that forces you to keep going on this hamster wheel. So, what are some questions that you asked yourself that I should be asking myself

[14:02] in order for me to getting some clarity? I think you should ask yourself why are you doing all of this for? Like what part of it fuels you from the true part of you? Like the part that inspires you, and what part of it is fueled from the part of you that feels in lack? Like the part of you that feels like, "I need people to see me. I need to prove that I can do this. I need to prove like prove something about yourself, whether you're smart, capable, or whatever." Um there there's that if you grew up feeling unseen or invisible, of course being seen on social media is going to

[14:36] feel good. Of course the validation is going to feel good, right? Like when people are watching you, "Oh my views are so high. Oh my gosh." But what if the views are low? What if nobody likes it? Then what happens? How do you feel about yourself then? Like that's where the truth shows. Like if you can get to a place where you still you still feel good about yourself whether or not people are watching. Just because you had fun creating the thing, then that's the goal. Like sometimes people are creating for the validation, for the proving of something because they had some sort of insecurity or lack in their

[15:07] childhood. And this you can see it in all types of people. So many successful people, if they're the type that they just can't seem to stop and they still don't seem happy, like it's trauma. [laughter] Fascinating. Yeah, this is a question. So, I in my journal I've been talking about this a lot within myself. The idea

[15:24] of is it significance or is it impact? And significance has been I believe the answer for the first two three years of my consecration life, also my academic life. It was the idea of I wanted to be significant. I wanted to make sure that I could prove myself. It's funny because you can actually see it in my text messages that I would send with my friends and family. I would say I'm going to make you proud. And I would state that thinking that that was actually an honorable way of depicting it. But it made me now think of have grown to understand it might be significance that was controlling a lot

[15:53] of my life. Yeah. So now especially with the launch of our new business and everything that we're doing, I've always tried to keep impact at the forefront of my mind. But interestingly enough, you you made a really good point. It's actually made me detached from the outcome because the idea of impact is even if a single person sees the work and enjoys it, then I remember my purpose and my alignment. And oftentimes as creators we see these numbers and it's impossible for us to actually calculate that, right? What does a million people actually look like? I have no freaking clue. But even when I go and see one person they might

[16:25] recognize me, get a chance to speak to them like, "Oh my gosh, that just made my day. That was the coolest moment ever." Is that a better a healthier way of viewing it in your opinion to think of impact? Yes, in a way. I also use that as a way that make like to judge how my work feels. Kind of like if I've impacted a person I'm happy and I know that I've

[16:43] already impacted like a lot of people. I've met people in person or just the billions of people online. So I feel really satisfied about my work in that sense. But I also think that that's only half the equation because I think the other half is are you proud of yourself? Do you enjoy what you're doing? If you enjoy what you're creating and what you're putting out, that's that's all that matters. And this is as a creator I see us as we are both artists and business people. So you have to balance both. The artist creates for themselves and the business creates for the customer, for the other. And the creator

[17:18] has to do both. And so, I feel like my whole journey I've just been like a tug and pull between both sides. Like, do I create what I want, what makes me happy, or what people want to see? Um but, I think the beauty is the creator balances it. So, I think there there's both sides, but you have to have both sides. You can't just be doing something for the other person and

[17:35] ignoring your own self. Do you feel as though with the Artist of Life Workbook and your Resonance app that you've been able to claim that middle of understanding that you're developing something that you're you're proud of at the same time you know that it'll leave an impact on other people? Yeah, I think I'm lucky that I was able to find like the sweet balance of what what I enjoy creating and what people enjoy, but it's definitely takes It took so much time getting there. Like,

[18:00] figuring that balance out. Yeah. I've been enjoying your content and watching it because you are integrating your product, but you're doing it very tasteful way. So, this idea [clears throat] of the Resonance app and showcasing the updates and the behind the scenes. And then I watch a YouTube video I saw you packaging and moving warehouse. And that's so cool because naturally you're integrating it and

[18:19] you're making it important in your life. Naturally, the audience is going to see that and think, "Oh, it is important. Like, I want a part of that." And you've obviously done 10 renditions of your freaking book. That's amazing, right? Like, that Most people never get to that level. I just want to get into your brain a little bit as I'm learning this for myself. How do you envision building in public? How do you envision creating content to showcase your business and doing it in a way that doesn't sound

[18:40] salesy? Mhm. I think for me I I have a vision of what I want my brand to be. So, I think through that vision I know what kind of content I want to create. Like, there are certain types of content I don't create because I'm like, "That's not my brand." Like, I'm not like, "Oh, this is how I made sales or this is how I make money" kind of brand. I My brand is like really rooted in this Everything that I share and put out there is meant to give you knowledge or inspiration to help you become a better person and create your dream life. So, that's kind of my

[19:09] filter. If any If my content can give that to a person then then that is basically it goes. And so with my behind the scenes work, I like bringing people along because if you don't share that honest side, like people just like they don't really know what it looks like behind the scenes. They don't know

[19:29] that it's really you doing everything. Like it's you know, for my app, it's really me on Photoshop like designing things and it's really me choosing the colors or it's really me and my boyfriend packing our own orders for our shop and I like showing the real side. Yeah. I believe it's the best way.

[19:46] Yeah. this new age cuz I am always of the belief so I had a very weird relationship with money growing up because we didn't have any. So I've always known money to be the root of all evil. I've known it to be the causation of divorce, of of a lot of negative implication. Now as I've grown up, I've realized that money is simply a tool and an ability for you to change your own respective life and the ability for you to fill your own cup is actually necessary. And so I always felt odd as a creator to sell something and I was like, oh man, like I'm never going to be that way. But

[20:16] it's actually changed because I realized when you do sell something, you're creating impact significance in their life and there's a real transformation that you're ultimately creating. It's got me addicted to this process. And for me, I always think of it like the way that you're thinking of it which is how do I show and bring people into this journey because one, I want them to realize I care about this thing cuz I don't want to just do a quick little get rich quick scheme, right? It's like I want them to know that this thing is significant important to me and let me show you. And then secondly, it's like

[20:43] let me show you the product. Like let me show you how cool it is. Like the thing that I've been working so hard on. And I'm curious, is that a skill that you've recently learned or is that something that you've always known to bring people into your world? You which part though? That building in public. I think I've always had that because when I think back at when I started my shop, like I it started just as like a digital PDF that I sold and then and then we started making the physical products. I think I because I'm a YouTuber, a YouTuber naturally like blogs their life and shares their life

[21:13] journey. And so actually the reason why I started Lavendaire was because I had this like concept in my head. Like the past 2 years I like graduated. I chose not to take a specific career. I chose not to work corporate and I decided I'm just going to pursue whatever interests me because I love creativity. I want to live a life that's more free and open. I didn't want like a set schedule, a set routine every day. And so I just set out to find it and I was exploring and doing all these like odd jobs and had these random experiences. And through that I came up I had this revelation of oh my

[21:45] gosh, we can design our lives. Like we can be the artist of our own life and life is just like a canvas that I can make whatever I want. And so that was really inspiring to me. And so I when I launched Lavendaire, it was really intentional where I was like this is going to be me documenting my journey of becoming an artist of life. I was like 23 when I started so it was like I don't know everything but I had some experience. So let me start sharing and also share as I go. So I was sharing whatever books I was reading. I was sharing my routines. I decluttered my

[22:17] whole life. I got into minimalism for a while. Basically as I was going through life phases I would share it online. And I think that's why it's so natural for me to share the behind the scenes cuz I've always been sharing my journey. What I really love about your experience is that you've done not just Lavendaire, not just your workbook, not just your residence app, but literally every

[22:37] monetization type under the umbrella. And I want to talk to you about this because one, fundamentally you've been in the space for a long time. A lot of people still think that views and platform payouts are the only way to monetize. Or potentially even brand deals are the only ways to monetize. Now it's a slippery slope because a hamster wheel can quickly form there. And I just want to hear your perspective on why did you go from brand deals to ultimately these different types of products? And what have you enjoyed or what have you

[23:01] learned about that experience? Yeah. So, I think the beauty of my journey is because it's long, I had the time to try like trial and error so many different business models. Literally, I think any way a creator can make money, I've tried. [laughter] Um and so, yeah, I think when I started YouTube, obviously the first couple

[23:20] years you're just focused on growing it. But once it got to a point where honestly I thought of like monetizing it pretty early because it was like it had to be my business. Like I was I didn't have a plan B. I was like this has to work. [laughter] Um so, I was it was 2016, end of 2016 that I launched the first digital Artist of Life Workbook. Um and I did like a

[23:41] mastermind program around that as well. But that was also around the time that my YouTube started to get, you know, started to grow. I started to get management and then I started doing brand deals. So, I was like doing the creator journey, doing brand deals, but at the same time experimenting with like side like whatever other products or income stream I could create because I already knew that I didn't want to rely on brand deals forever. I'm a very future-minded person. So, I was like I don't think I'm going to be in my 40s,

[24:09] 50s still doing content and brand deals. Like I I have to build something that's going to be able to become something later on. So, I already had like some you know what I mean? I had that idea. It has to be a business. And I had big dreams for Lavender. I'm like it could be like the Lululemon of personal growth and wellness and it could cuz like meditation and all this stuff is growing. And so, I always had those dreams, but I think throughout that time

[24:34] I was trying everything. Because I wasn't making money, right? I had to try all the ways. So, I've tried like obviously brand deals, affiliates, and then I a bunch of digital products. I like I did for a couple years a community membership, mastermind, like monthly subscription type stuff. And then of course I have my e-commerce shop that now I've been running for like 10 years. Yeah, and it's still alive. It's standing. It It It had its like ups and downs in seasons, but I think it's just something to be proud of that you have a shop that lasted 10 years cuz not many

[25:06] brands last that long. 100% [laughter] that's You're just saying it's a nonchalant. No, that's a ginormous deal. I even saw in one of your videos that Jennette McCurdy was buying How cool how random. It's so funny cuz like I don't even Yeah, there are like famous people or celebrities that buy my workbook and I have no idea, but she showed up on Call Her Daddy. It was like a New Year podcast and she mentioned like, "Oh, one of my favorite planners is The Artist of Life Workbook." And I was like, "Oh my god." And I looked up her name and she was buying my workbook every single year for like the past 5

[25:37] years and I was like, "I had no idea." You're probably making impact way beyond that you could even imagine as the creator / business owner. that's why I already feel very like fulfilled and satisfied with the work that I've been doing cuz I know like the workbook I've been doing for 10 years like that in itself can change someone's year. It can change their year in like their their life in that year and so I Yeah, I'm just grateful for what I get

[26:02] to do. You're phenomenal and I'm curious why the app then so after you've done this I mean, it's been 10 years. I just want to be crystal clear. 10 years is crazy. is the business part that I want to get into. So, with everything that I tried, it was a trial and error to see like does it work for me? Not just does it

[26:18] make money, but am I happy doing this? Like I came out with a course and it did well. It made money its year and gave me passive income for a few years after that, but did I want to reshoot that course? Did I want to make more courses? Not I didn't feel like it. So, I I have to listen to myself and with everything that I tried, there was like pros and cons. With the community membership thing, I was like I showing up to monthly zooms and I was like, "I

[26:43] don't want to show up to monthly zooms. [laughter] I don't like It It was tiring for me to have a schedule." Like I said, "I don't want to have a schedule. I want to build something and let it run and and have the the freedom and the passive income. So, the workbook was great, but the thing about the workbook is that it's a seasonal product. So, I don't know how it's going to do and I don't know how much money I'm going to make that year until October. Like it sells from October to January and it's like I have this huge spike in my income, but it's

[27:12] so unpredictable every single year and it's so hard to predict how much inventory to order. Like I don't know. So, there's a lot and the logistics part of having a product business is really tough cuz yes, you make a lot of revenue, but the expenses are so high. There's so many middlemen that you have to pay when you're doing a physical product. So, the workbook has like it had some years where I was like running ads and trying to grow the shop and it got to a point where I'm like, I don't really think this is a thing that's going to scale Lavender because the product I don't

[27:42] know. Something wasn't clicking and also I didn't I was tired of getting burnt out the end of the year. It's the end of the year. I was like, I want to go on vacation. I'm tired. In November, December, everyone's like celebrating. I was like so stressed out every year. And so I was like, do I want to live my life this way? I don't think so. So, it's more of I do I make all of my choices based on lifestyle. Like the life that I want to live. Not just how much money I want to make, but the life. I think you can have both. You can have I believe

[28:08] you can have it all, but you have to plan it right. You have to design it. You have to design the foundation right. So, like I want to live this life. I don't want to burn out. I still want to create. I still want to make money, but it has to be on my terms. So, that's why like I'm still running the shop, but I'm not pushing and expanding and scaling it at this moment. It's just organic. The people who love it buy it and I'm not, you know, it's it's running. It's maintaining. And then the app came because there's so many like many signs that led me that to to create a app. One

[28:37] is that my meditations and affirmations blew up online and I didn't expect that they would cuz I always made lifestyle and personal growth content, but this is the first time that I made that type of content where people like listen to it on repeat. Mhm. And I I saw like it was really like impacting people and it was just reaching more people than Lavender ever has. So, that was one sign and another

[29:00] sign was like I was I really like tech. I was interested in like tech and AI and the future of things and although I love journaling by hand, I'm a traditionalist, I know the young generation is not going to journal by hand. They're like going to speak into their journal, into their you know, so I know I have to evolve with the times and the obviously like all roads kind of lead to let's create something in tech, in like something digital. So, with the app my goal was to create a tool that people can use in their everyday life to help them make those small internal

[29:31] shifts that can make big changes later down the line. Things like meditating or journaling everyday or listening to affirmations everyday, it makes like a small I mean, you said it was a big difference even from that like 10 seconds, right? So, imagine where you when you start your day with that like really aligned positive energy and you like let's say you something stresses you out or triggers you, you have a tool that can help you come back. Or if you're feeling low, you have a tool that can help you like get motivated. So, Resonance, the concept is like using the power of sound and music

[30:04] Mhm. and journaling, meditation, all of these internal tools to to shift our energy. And so, yeah, I wanted to something people can use everyday that's subscription based and I can create for the app, but you know, once it's in the library, like there's a point where I don't have to create like constantly anymore. It lives there forever. And the app is not just a content app, it's a system, it's a structure. There's like challenges on there, there's like streaks and there's I put this like cute gamification into it where it's like universe theme and the more you listen, the more you meditate, the more like you

[30:37] discover planets and galaxies and each planet, galaxy, star, whatever, they have like a secret message. Fascinating. I love tarot, so it it feels like you're reading like a tarot or oracle card. Like you get like a message. Very cool. [laughter] I love So I put a lot of the things that I love into this app, plus I'm a very visual person, so I made it this like

[30:58] dreamy ethereal universe. Mhm. Um so for me, not only was it something that I like something that I think people needed. Like I want to create a tool they can use, but it was fun for me because it's like a art project. Like I got to make it exactly what I wanted. That's the beauty of tech is like you

[31:18] you have the power to do anything. It's so well said, and I love the way that you even put the idea of pros and cons for every way to monetize. Yes. You're talking about all these struggles with physical products. I had my physical products as well. I always think that the grass is greener on the other side until I'm there. So basically, I first started off with a PDF, and I thought, "Wow, this PDF is so cool, but you know, it's not as cool as a physical book." So I went from a PDF, and then I actually launched a physical workbook

[31:44] called the learning system. It landed number one on Amazon's new releases, which I was like, "Oh, that's profound." But the reality of the matter was I was in my classroom writing a $112,000 invoice to whatever the I was like, "Are you kidding me? Like you know how stressful that was as a college student?" And I know exactly what you mean. The margins start to get a lot smaller, and then it's like, "How do I actually reinvest back into the business if I have no money to physically reinvest back into the business? I don't want to increase the price either." So I was constantly going through my

[32:10] struggle. So then I went back to digital products, and I went to this idea of community, and I've even realized the subscription-based models are also hard. They have its own churn, you have to figure out ways to keep it sticky. Then I was like, "Ah, maybe that's not necessarily the case." Then I've been more into the digital product of is it one-off offers? Is it life coaching? And I've been going through this whole experience. And I'm curious cuz I know a little bit about the app background as well. I've been a part of some of the behind the scenes of it. What are some of the pros and cons of an app? You've

[32:35] mentioned a lot of the pros so far, but what are also some additional pros and potentially cons that you've experienced? Okay, an app a con is you have to spend money to to build it. But the pro is now there's AI coding and so things can get done so much faster. I was able to build and launch the app in

[32:52] about 5 months. Wow. really short because like I think before AI it would have took someone like like six figures and like 2 years to build what I built. And so I think that is there's such huge opportunity there. I learned that when I got into learning about tech, clearly. But another con I'm still learning the cons cuz [laughter] it's been 4 months since I launched, but honestly with the trial and error thing, I think everyone's different. For example, some some people might be like, oh, I love coaching or I love like creating courses. I love helping people one-on-one. I think it depends on again,

[33:27] what you are good at and what you enjoy. Like I might be good at leading monthly workshops, but do I want to do that? Not really. I don't want to show up and give my energy that way. So for me, the app works for me cuz it it fits my style. Um but other cons is like I'm a creative and I'm used like as a content creator, I'm used to knowing how to do every single thing. Cuz I taught myself editing, Photoshop, like you know, designing graphics, editing your videos, just doing everything, doing email marketing and social media marketing. I learned all of that and I know how to do

[33:59] all of that. So I knew how to hire the right people to to you know, build my team. But the thing that's a little hard with the app is I I don't know how to develop. And so it's like hard to know whether you found the right person or whether like if there's a problem, I don't know how to fix it and it's like trusting somebody and being able to rely on actually having a strong team that you can trust that can handle

[34:22] everything. So so that's kind of a con is like yeah, you there's if you don't know how to do it, how do you manage it, you know? For you, are you utilizing mainly your YouTube videos to garner traffic to an email list? How are you effectively getting people from organic to paying for an app? So, I like my app launched 4 months ago and I started really slow. I want to build it cuz the app still has a lot of kinks that I need to work through. So, in the beginning, I just launched through my email list. I have one for Lavender and one for the app. And then,

[34:53] um it was just email list and Instagram and then actually, I would like mention it in my YouTube videos, but just like briefly, but oh, check out my app. But actually after this weekend, I'm posting like my first challenge campaign thing on YouTube. So, basically, and I used to do this in the past where I'd be like, okay, this month we're doing a challenge. Like I used to do like, oh, 30-day meditation challenge or a journaling challenge, something like that. So, I'm doing my first challenge where instead of just doing it on YouTube, I'm driving people to the app to do the challenge in the app. So, that

[35:24] challenge for example is like every day for 14 days, listen to this affirmations audio for manifesting and then there's two journal prompts. You don't have to do all three actions every day, you could just pick one. So, one day you can journal, you can do some scripting, the next day you can listen to affirmations and it's as long as you're doing one thing every day, you get like a streak in the app. So, I'm going to test and see how that goes, but I have like an idea for like a challenge every single month. Like the next month I want to do like an anti-doom scrolling challenge,

[35:51] right? Instead of scrolling, do any of these things. You can read a book, you can journal, you can meditate, you can go for a walk. Like literally any of those things for whatever amount of days and you're tracking it in an app and it's so fun because it gives you a system to follow. And so, I'm excited to like continue doing this cuz it so naturally fits with what I already do on YouTube. But before on YouTube, I would do a challenge, but obviously like I would give them just like a PDF. Okay, you track it yourself, you know? Here's a habit tracker. But now I have a whole

[36:20] system that I can drive people to and I can make it free or I can make it paid, it's up to me. But that's what I'm so excited for cuz the app really is like the extension. It gives you that tool in your everyday life to like bring these teachings and put them into practice. And that's why it's so important that you develop products that are super

[36:37] aligned to what you already do. has to make sense. I see Lavender as like a whole ecosystem. Like Like you Like the workbooks is like if you like to journal physical paper, but the app is if you want something, you know, that that kind of modality. Yeah. It's fascinating cuz when you also talked about, "Do I make it paid or do I make it free?" My mind went straight there, too, cuz this is the fun part. As a business owner {slash} creator, it's up to you to make these decisions, cuz it could work both ways. Are you going to go more volume and you want people to

[37:03] come and access the app so that ultimately becomes sticky and they come beyond that and do the second challenge? Or is it Do you make them get this this And what's fun is you can test all of them. Yes. [laughter] So, I was going to say, which one are you going to test first? Do you know

[37:14] yet? Well, the first one that I'm testing is you do it on the free trial. So, they do have to like kind of sign up for the subscription, but they can still cancel before the free 14 days. So, it's like half free. [laughter] Cuz I'm also I have to be mindful, if you make too much stuff free, you're bringing a lot of users to the app and you don't Oh, this is another con of apps is there's a lot of like back-end

[37:37] server things that you have to pay for. There's so many like extra I mean, they're not big, but they're just extra expenses. So, like the more users are on your app, the more you have to pay for. And if they're all free and they're never going to pay, why are you paying for them? [laughter] That's how I see it. And also, the more people on the app, the more load and more things might break. And so, why am I going to compromise my app when I could just nurture like a strong group of paid people? So, I think in the beginning, that's why I kind of kept it

[38:01] small, cuz I'm still working out the the tweaks and refining the flows. And so, I don't I'm not ready to like scale yet. I'm really Like I want the product to be so solid and the conversion funnel to be so good before I even scale, before I even try to collaborate or market. It's so smart, cuz

[38:17] Yeah. I feel as though we as creators think too far ahead and too quickly. to be big fast. You wanted to have a big launch. But you've never had like what if you have a big launch and then everything's wrong? Everything's on fire. I've experienced that before. It's not fun. You'd rather have the foundation, everything good, everything thought through, all your systems in

[38:37] place before you even scale. This final question that I want to ask you is something that leads me from the very first question, which is this idea of a mantra or an affirmation. And I want to figure out a way for us to develop one or if you already have one that's more creator focused. In the sense where a lot of the times the DMs that I get from these amazing content creators, the

[38:56] ones that I even I looked up to, right? At this point these have millions of followers, hundreds of thousands followers. They're actually dealing with the exact same feelings that a people will maybe just beginning are going through, which is this level of burnout or this level of exhaustion or this constant overthinking or perfectionism. And obviously you've had longevity for 12 years. I got to keep saying that because that's unbelievable. Most people don't make it past like 6 months. You're 12 [laughter] years in. Is there a mantra or an affirmation that the viewers listening into this can actually

[39:23] start to wire their brains with? [gasps and sighs] Okay. I keep coming back to the like you have to keep in mind I create from my pure joy. Mhm. Right? And so and I want to add a second part to it because it's not only creating from your pure joy, it's not overthinking the creation. It's letting it flow. So I create from my pure joy in

[39:49] flow. How about that? That's so good. Thank you. So what that means is like you're creating from like a pure authentic place where you're genuinely inspired and excited. We all love that. That's what we love as creators. That feeling of like being inspired and creating in flow. And then the second part is like we're always so much in our heads. We're overthinking, we're self-doubting, we're feeling like all this criticism whether it's from outside or inside. And what you like honestly

[40:15] the beauty is just creation itself. Create something, put it out there. And once it's out there, don't worry. Don't concern yourself with it. You know, like whether people like it or not, that's not your business. Just create it and put it out there. Create it and put it out there. Wait, that was too good. Let's do this actually. I'm going to have everyone listening to this right now close their eyes wherever they are. And I want you to say it for them three times so that they can get in their brains and the

[40:37] mantra flow. Oh, I'm going to charge you for this one. Potentially. This is really good. [laughter] At this moment, I'm going to hope that everyone has their eyes closed or ready for it. I'm going to let you say this new mantra for the creators out there. a deep breath. Remember, settle yourself. [sighs] I create from pure joy and inflow.

[41:00] I create from pure joy and inflow. I create from pure joy and inflow. Eileen, thank you so much. This was Creator Unplugged. [music]

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