Debunking Myths About Social Media, AI, and Hustle Culture

the bossbabe podcast

In this special episode of the Boss Babe podcast, Natalie Ellis shares her journey from burnout to building a multi-eight-figure business with minimal team and resources, while also discussing how

Key takeaways

• Entrepreneurs can scale their businesses with minimal team and resources by leveraging AI tools to automate routine tasks.
• Building a loyal audience requires authenticity and consistency over chasing viral trends.

Main topics

• Social media strategy for sustainable growth
• AI tools in business automation (Wispr Flow, Claude Code, Replit)

Notable quotes

If you can avoid it at all costs, try to get new blood in different ways without bringing in their money.

Conclusion

Natalie Ellis's journey exemplifies how sustainable success is possible

Transcript preview

Speaker 6 (0:00) Welcome back to the Boss Babe podcast. Okay, this episode is different. And this is you getting to listen in on the biggest pinch me moment that maybe I've actually ever had. So in June, I got to sit down at the Godmother's bookstore in Montecito. It is an iconic little bookstore, where so many of the women I have looked up to for years have stood, like Oprah. in front of a live audience. I was sitting in the seat that Oprah has sat in and Jamie Kern Lima, the founder of It Cosmetics, interviewed me. Now, again, this was such a pinch me moment. It was in the middle of so many crazy book events and I flew up to Montecito for the day. And I got to go to Jamie's home and she walked me around her home, which firstly, that in itself was a pinch me moment. She's very private, so I won't say too much about that. But getting to spend that time with her, I just constantly kept pinching myself like, is this real life? Is this real life? And then we get to Godmothers and I get the tour. And so I initially walk in and all of my books are sitting there on the table. I get emotional thinking about this. Above the table, there are these pictures of the most iconic women in history, women who have truly changed the world. And there was a little light above it. And wow, I'm really getting emotional here. And so I walked in and I can still feel this moment. And the woman hosting me at Godmothers, the whole bookstore was closed at this point. I walked in and she said, your book's there. Take a look at who is surrounding it because you are one of these women who is paving the way and lighting the way for other women too. And I just stood there and I really took it in and burst into tears. I have it on video because it was just one of those moments where, again, I'd been busy. I'd been in the thick of it and I hadn't really stopped to think about the impact that... work like this does and we all do this every single one of you that are listening to this podcast you are having such an impact in so many ways that you might not stop to think about and it was just such a visual representation of that so that's how the day started and then we went up to the green room and Jamie passed me the guest book and said well you're here you need to sign this and the first person to sign this was Oprah And then I flicked through the pages of all the other authors who I look up to and just adore. And I'm so grateful that I got to even sign the same book as them. I got to read through and read their messages and then I got to sign it. And then we sat there and we had a tea and we talked. And then I went downstairs and Jamie interviewed me. And it was one of the single most special nights of my life, really. It was such a pinch me moment. It felt so well-deserved. And that's a thing I don't often say, but I remember sitting there and Jamie was kind of pointing out just what I'd overcome to get here. And it was just this moment of like really patting myself on the back. Like, Natalie, you did this. You actually did this. You created this. And again, maybe you're listening to this, realizing you never give yourself that pat on the back. It's so hard for us often as women to admit. that we're doing a good job and we really deserved something, it's easier to feel like an imposter. So it was a really powerful moment for me and I wanted to share this conversation for that reason. And if you didn't already know, my book is out. The Freedom-Based Business Method is officially out and it became an instant New York Times bestseller. And the only reason that that happened is you. Every single order, every reshare, every person who came out to support the launch. Thank you. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart because you made the launch happen. You made the New York Times win happen. And you also made me sitting at Godmothers with Jamie Kern Lima happen. And I'm really, really grateful for that. So this conversation is a bit more candid, a bit more real, because how can you not sit in a seat like that and just tell the truth? So here is a conversation. And I really hope you feel like you were in that room with us. Speaker 3 (4:24) Hello, good evening. I'm Riley Reed, head of storytelling here at Godmothers. And on behalf of our entire family, welcome to our living room. This is going to be a remarkable chat. Are you excited? Me too. You better be. Our conversation partner this evening, who I am personally delighted to introduce, Jamie Kern Lima, is a two-time New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, and founder of It Cosmetics, which she started in her living room and later sold to L'Oreal in a billion-dollar deal, becoming the first female CEO of a brand in the company's 100-year history. She is the host of the Jamie Kern Lima Show, one of the top self-improvement podcasts in the country, and a guest shark on season 16 of Shark Tank. Jamie's work centers on building self-worth and resilience. She is a mother, an investor, a philanthropist who has supported leadership programs in over 100 prisons and shelters and donated more than $40 million to help women facing cancer. Our featured author this evening, Natalie Ellis, is a mom, yeah, you can say that again. Thank you. is a mom, CEO, and serial entrepreneur. She's the founder of Boss Babe, the global education platform for women entrepreneurs with a community of over 4 million, a chart-topping podcast, and over 100,000 students. After navigating burnout and a near-business collapse inside her own multi-eight-figure company, she wrote The Freedom-Based Business Method, her five-part framework for building a profitable business with real freedom and revenue predictability minus the burnout. Please join me in welcoming Jamie and Natalie to the stage. Speaker 2 (6:23) Thank you everyone for being here. Hi. So many friends. Wow. So many people excited. How are you feeling Speaker 7 (6:30) in Montecito? This is like a dream come true. Thank you. This is amazing. It hasn't sunk in yet. Speaker 2 (6:36) So it's amazing how Godmothers has just grown and notoriety in the past couple of years with the events and the founders and just the team that's here. And so I knew you're familiar with Godmothers in the past. few years and then you flew out to be here today and it was fun to be with you when you walked in the front door. And can you just share with everyone how you felt when you saw your book there, the light, you saw all these women up on the wall and your book right there. Speaker 1 (7:03) I couldn't hold it together. Just walking in and seeing the women that have just paved the way for so many of us to dream and to see my own book there was the most surreal moment ever. To even think about one woman Speaker 7 (7:17) reading this book and choosing to go after her dreams in a way that feels really good, just, I could cry over it. It was one of the most surreal moments of my entire life. It was really special. Yeah. Speaker 2 (7:29) And I think those of us that are local never gets old walking in the front door and seeing it. So I see a lot of entrepreneurs in the room. I see people who I have celebrated from afar who've built billion dollar businesses. I see friends in here that are starting companies that are super busy with their families, but launching an idea. On the side, I see icons in this room who, for whatever reason, can never stop working and are trying to figure out. how to enjoy their life also in addition to working. And a lot of people in here too, who I know are interested in learning more about even just what does AI look like in their life right now and social media and how do you sort of incorporate that in ways that work. And so I'm really grateful to share your genius and to celebrate you and your book. And we have a lot of questions tonight that we're going to dive into, and then we're going to open it up to Q &A. So Natalie loves, by the way, to talk about all things AI. And she's known for so many things, but building an eight-figure business with millions and millions of followers, almost no team and almost no money from her living room. How do you do it? How do you burn out or not burn out? What does that look like? What does that look like now with AI? And also, how do you actually do something you love and not burn out? Like, can you do both? Can you do both? So just to kind of kick this off, can you guys raise your hand if you've ever felt burnt out in your job, in your career, in your life, while also maybe feeling like you're still not doing enough? And okay, 98 % of the room. Okay, so I just want to open it up, Natalie. Just off the top, we heard Riley share some of your incredible accomplishments. And can you just share a little bit with everyone in this room about, you know, what inspired you to write the Freedom Based Business Method and sort of how your view of success started in your journey and how it's evolved? Because I think we're all in that pursuit of fulfillment while also not wanting to miss our calling and everything else. Speaker 7 (9:51) So I've been starting businesses since I was 13. So I grew up in a very turbulent household. I moved out when I was 13. And I remember going to careers day and there was many people coming in and out that room. And I Speaker 1 (10:04) was telling myself a story, you know, there was nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, real jobs. And I just had this story. People like me don't accomplish things like them coming from where I came from. And there was, you know, the last careers day of the day. the last woman came in and I heard her high heels come in and she put the most beautiful handbag down. It was a Mulberry Bayswater brown. And I was like, okay, I'm listening. What is she doing? And she started telling her story. And she said, you know, I was crying on the stairs and took a glass of wine going through a really difficult divorce. And I was 13 Speaker 5 (10:34) at the time and where I come from, everything was behind closed doors. You didn't talk about things that were going on at home. So I Speaker 7 (10:39) immediately was really interested because I could see my mom in parts of her story. And she explained that she ended up starting a business and it changed her entire life and created a lot of financial freedom for her. And for me, I told myself a story that my mom stayed in really difficult situations because she couldn't afford to leave. And hearing that there was a way out, I just equated entrepreneurship to freedom and a different life for myself. So I've been an entrepreneur since I was 13. And when Speaker 1 (11:07) I got into it, I just wanted to have enough money to have Speaker 7 (11:12) the choice. It really was about financial freedom for me. Speaker 5 (11:15) And I just got on this magic carpet ride of entrepreneurship and building and... built. And I didn't really ever stop to look around to assess what I'd built. I never had the feeling of, you know, I'm successful, or I've finally hit financial freedom. I always had this fear that it might Speaker 7 (11:32) go away any day. And it just kept me running and chasing. And when I had my first daughter, I went through a really traumatic delivery with her, which kind of brought me to my knees in a... In an identity crisis, Speaker 5 (11:47) I started to question who I was, what I was doing. I felt like my body was stuck in fight or flight. I wasn't functioning the way that I always had. I was so used to no matter what was going on in my life, I'd wake up and I could get Speaker 7 (12:00) it done. Like that was my badge of honor. I could always get it done no matter what was going on. And I couldn't at that point in time. And it had me assess every area of my life. And it was like this. out-of-body experience where I could see the situation I was in. It was like I could see everything and the dynamics I created and the places that I was just chasing, chasing, Speaker 1 (12:25) chasing more and never feeling like I had enough. And in that moment, I got to really see you have a home, you have the freedom of choice, you have a healthy child, you have a... great marriage, what more do you want? And it was that moment that changed a lot for me where I realized I actually did have enough. I was good enough. What I had built was good enough. I had security. And from that Speaker 7 (12:47) moment, it changed the way I looked at my relationship to work and my relationship to my ambition. And for four years now, from that point, my relationship to all of that looks different. And that's what the book is about. It's about that. that building phase after when you actually realize this is good enough and building from a different place, a different level of ambition, a different type of ambition. Speaker 2 (13:12) There's a moment in your book where you talk about how everything looked incredible on the outside, right? You had built Boss Babe, an online platform with millions and millions and millions of followers and so many women and people. that were taking courses and part of your community that you had built and you were getting invited to every event on the planet and you were, I mean, all of it, right? And everything. And then all of a sudden now you have the marriage and the kids and it's like every single thing looked right. And you talked about it being one of the most difficult, like feeling the worst in that moment and also feeling burnt out. Can you talk about what, how you navigated that feeling of like, okay, my whole life I've thought if I have all of this, that would be it. And then you get it and you're like, oh, this isn't it. And then going from that place to going, okay, how do I actually create freedom in my life, still do the things I wanna do and not feel like I'm compromising or giving up or quitting or throwing in the towel or gonna lower my own bar for my life. Speaker 7 (14:29) I just felt like I wasn't present in any of it. Speaker 5 (14:32) I would be in the rooms or I'd be Speaker 1 (14:34) doing the launches. I'd be doing the things and I wasn't present to any of it because I was always feeling like I'm onto the next thing. Speaker 5 (14:42) You know, I can do better next time. Or wow, they're doing that. I should raise the bar for what's possible for me. It just always felt like I was looking outside Speaker 1 (14:50) of myself. And when I really started to look at what I'd built, so much was built from what I thought I should be doing. I felt like... you know, I should have this size business. I should be going to these rooms. I should be taking this on because everyone else has it. Like I just kept building from the place of should. And I don't think I'd really stop to ask myself, what do I want? You know, what would I want if I wasn't, you know, in front of followers? What would I want if I wasn't introducing myself to a room? What would I... One, if I didn't really care what anyone thought of me, because I felt like everyone was judging me based on my success. And that was just my own bias. But I started to ask myself, what would I want if nobody could see any of this? And then I started to build from a very different place. And it was not an overnight thing. This was a long, long process of unwinding, you know. feeling like if I walk away from everything, will I have any friends? Have I built friends based on my success? So much of that, I just had Speaker 7 (15:52) so much of my identity wrapped up in my ambition and success of what I thought I should have. And it's interesting because I went through a phase during this of, I don't want to run a business. I don't want to be an entrepreneur anymore. I just want to let it all go. And it was so deeply unfulfilling. I thought, I want to be a stay-at-home mom. This is just too much. I'm so exhausted. I can't see myself ever getting through postpartum depression. Like I just couldn't see a way out. I'm going to stop it all. And Speaker 1 (16:20) it was really deeply unfulfilling to not have that purpose and drive. And it's been a really interesting journey Speaker 7 (16:27) being able to pair alignment and ambition together. And my ambition is a really big part of me. It brings me so much joy to build something, to impact people. And that has to be part of my life, but I want to do in a way that doesn't sacrifice every other area of my life that I really deeply care about. Speaker 2 (16:46) What you just said, I think summarizes so many of the great takeaways in this book. So I know a lot of you are just getting your copy today. It just came out, what, two days ago. So congratulations on your launch week. It's already a bestseller, already a bestseller on Amazon. No surprise, no surprise at all. But what you said about... Like your ambition and your alignment and bringing those together. Because I know for most of my life, they were not, I don't even know what it meant to be aligned. I was just driving, just like, you know, and it was never enough. And no matter what happened, it was always like, okay, that huge milestone happened, but I don't even think I felt it. I don't even think we celebrated. And it was like, I look back and there's just so much I would do maybe a little differently. And I love so much that at such an early age in your life and career, you're really figuring this out. And this isn't a book that's like, oh, work-life balance. You talk about how you don't like that word in the book, but it's like, okay, how do you not miss out on everything that matters to you and still do the things you really want to pursue? And I think that's a delicate balance. I'm actually curious. for everyone in this room, because one of the things we were talking about is how do you know you're living your dream versus someone else's dream for you versus your parents' dream for you versus all that. I'm curious in this room, raise your hand. And I think this is something you could discover in your nineties. It doesn't matter what age you are, but raise your hand if you feel like you're super, super clear in your life right now about what you want in your career and in your life. Raise your hand if that's you. About 30 % of the room. And raise your hand if you're sort of in that space of being open in the pursuit of that or in the becoming of that. Two thirds of the room. Okay. Okay. That's good. So how do you know from your experience and just everything you've gone through and Natalie coaches, by the way, well, gosh, if you really do the math on how many people take your courses and take your things, it's countless tens of thousands of people. But how do you know if, if you're on the right track in the, in, in your own calling and in the dream, that's really the dream your creator has for you or the universe has for you or you're the dream of who you're. going to be most fulfilled becoming versus society's dream or something else. Speaker 7 (19:13) One, I would say, I think it changes in so many different seasons. I think that purpose, that desire to do something, that calling can change in so many different seasons. And I think it's really important not to resist that. But Speaker 5 (19:27) the second thing, I think we all know that feeling of when you wake up so excited, Speaker 7 (19:32) you cannot wait to jump out of bed to work on the thing or to do the thing. That Speaker 1 (19:37) is like every entrepreneur knows that feeling. And it's... You could work on it, you know, 24-7 and you still have that excitement. It's by no means easy, but it's that life force energy that you get. I think there's a big difference between that and that dread. And it doesn't mean to say when you're doing something really aligned, you don't wake up and you think, I don't want to do that part today, but there's always that big vision. I think you can still tap into that life force energy. And I think it's how entrepreneurs create thing that... create things that people couldn't even imagine could be created because the amount of energy it takes, it just comes from somewhere else. And I think that feeling is very palpable. Do you know what I mean?