Ep 13 Mastering Messaging and Balancing Your Design Business: Insights with Serena Samra

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Welcome to another insightful episode of  my podcast, Design Boss Dialogue, where we uncover the secrets to attracting your ideal clients and mastering the art of high-level messaging for your Interior Design Business. In today’s engaging conversation, I sit down with the brilliant Serena Samra to explore the nuances of effective client communication using her TED framework.

Serena shares invaluable strategies for creating a harmonious balance between business and motherhood, highlighting the significance of sustainable sales systems and the vital need to prioritise oneself. This episode is packed with actionable takeaways designed to empower you to build a business that offers both freedom and flexibility.

Join us as we delve into these expert insights and help you transform your approach to business messaging and client attraction.

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Transcript

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (00:01.102)
Hello and welcome back to day 13 of the Design Boss Dialogue Advent Calendar Podcast, your go-to source for all things interior design and business. I'm your host, Lisa Marie Elkhadraoui, and over the next 13 days, we'll be unwrapping gifts of wisdom, practical tips, and insider secrets to help you grow and thrive in the world of interior design. And today I'm joined by a powerhouse of a woman.

Serena is a business strategist, mentor, certified coach and NLP practitioner, supporting ambitious female coaches and service providers to start and scale their businesses for long-term sustainable success, sign clients with confidence and increase your income with ease. She is your go-to for high-level messaging that attracts high-level clients, strategizing your way to 100K years with aligned marketing and sales. And as a new CEO mom, creating a business that gives you freedom, fun, and flexibility. Welcome to the podcast, Serena. It's really lovely to have you on.

Serena Samra (01:10.476)
thank you so much for having me here. I'm very excited to talk to you and I love listening to you talk through that because I actually struggle with the sustainable success as well. It's like a bit of a tongue twister, isn't it? I do the same every single time.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (01:22.51)
It really is, isn't it? But it's, you are this powerhouse of a woman. And I know when I was first introduced to you, I think it was back in the summer this year, and I binged on your content. It was delicious and amazing. And I thought to myself, she really is the queen of high level messaging to attract.

high level clients. And this is something I want to delve into today amongst many other topics that I can't wait to ask you on. But why is it so important more so now than ever to really focus on our messaging and what we deliver out there as a service based provider?

Serena Samra (02:12.286)
So I would say that with messaging, it's always been, for any business, it's so important for your business, whether you're a service provider, whether you have a product space business or an interior design business, like messaging is so important because, and for context with this, sometimes when I talk about messaging, some people are like, what does that mean? she mean content types? Like, what does that mean? And essentially your messaging comes before your content. Your messaging is all the words that you say and how you say it, how you talk about,

who you are, what you do, who you help and how. And your words can attract different types of people as well. So they can attract in your idle clients, but they can even attract in people who you don't really align with. So it might be that actually you're attracting people right now, but you're in sessions and you're not loving the work with them or, what you might call like nightmare clients. Maybe they're not paying on time or actually sometimes that comes down to the words that you're putting out there. So.

It's always been really important for any business because it can affect the amount of people that you bring in, the type of people that you bring in, the amount of freedom that you have, all of those things. But the service provider industry as well is shifting and it's a really, actually really positive thing. And I used to not like the messaging that I see out there, the industry is changing because I thought it's trying to scare people because people think people aren't investing, all of those things.

It's actually growing like the coaching and service provider industry is massively growing. It's actually quite a big industry now and with that comes change. And because there's more people that do a similar thing to you, it doesn't mean that there aren't enough clients or any of those things. It just means that it's more important than ever to stand out and to cut through the noise and to be different to somebody who also has an interior design business or also is a business mentor or a coach or a mindset coach.

What makes you different and how can you portray that with your messaging? How can you give your messaging an edge to stand out to other people and attract in the right people to you? that is a summary of what messaging is, which I don't think you actually asked me for, but I gave it to you. And also like what makes it, like why it's so important at the moment. It's never been more important than it is now.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (04:28.579)
love it.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (04:36.642)
I know that when I work with my interior design mentor clients, we talk a lot about visibility and how to build a magnetic and visible brand as an interior design company. And when I cover visibility off in our sessions, a lot comes down to the content that's delivered in there. And some say, well, you know,

What am I meant to be saying on this? How am I meant to be, you know, attracting the right clients?

Can you talk me through or give our listeners some advice on, there are several different types of clients and people that are out there. I know that I was in one of your really amazing workshops a couple of months ago and there was four or five different people that you say content is for this person. Talk me through that, because I think that's really interesting. It's something that landed down with me to help me tailor my messaging.

as a service-based business and what it's done for my business.

Serena Samra (05:50.078)
So yes, you're talking about it was the buyer's types training, wasn't it? I'm going to get to that, but actually I'm going to explain something first for anybody listening, is that okay? So for anyone listening that's like, okay, so where do I start with my messaging and how to attract clients and what makes me unique and how to stand out? I want you to think about two things before you think about the buyer's types. And that would be what makes you different?

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (05:54.04)
That's it.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (05:59.264)
Yeah. Yeah, go for it.

Serena Samra (06:19.01)
and how you can create messaging and words that do cut through the noise. And there's two things to think about first. It would be who your client is. And someone might be listening thinking, well, it's, you I help moms in business or I will, I'm an interior design business. So any, anyone, anybody that needs me, but what would be really great is to think about really, really specifically who it is that you help. And when you're really clear on that one person, you're still a track.

other people who need your support, but it means that your message will stand out more than anybody else's and really stand out to that one type of person that you want to work with. Is it somebody who loves luxury homes or country houses? I'm trying to tailor what I'm saying, by the way, to your design. don't know if this is actually correct, but it might be you're tailing to the type of home that somebody has, or it might be that you're thinking about why they want that.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (07:04.44)
Yeah.

Serena Samra (07:14.108)
Like a lot of the time when I speak to people, they're selling the thing, like they're selling business coaching sessions, or they're selling, I'm gonna help you to interior design your house. Does somebody want to have their house interior designed, or do they want a feeling when they go into their house? Like do they want it to feel spacious and it to feel homely and...

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (07:36.728)
Yeah.

Serena Samra (07:41.04)
it to feel like luxury. Like what does your idle client, who are they and what do they really want? So yes, they want an interior designer, but why do they want that? So that is the first thing for you to think about when it comes to your messaging. It's like, what does somebody want and what's the deep desire? So think about that first. And then I have a process that I use my clients at call. It's called the Ted's framework because this makes it easier for me to remember basically.

So tangible, empowered, direct and specific. So messaging that isn't landing all that is just going into the abyss of Instagram right now is basically quite vague and fluffy and sounds like anybody else's. But when you use the TED framework and you create messaging that really is so specific to that client, like I support mums in business who

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (08:14.808)
love that.

Serena Samra (08:34.91)
want to increase their income because you want to work three days a week and on the rest of those days you are at soft play. Like that is really really clear, it's really specific, it's really tangible. How can you do that for your niche as well? And the way that you can do that is first just get clear on who the person is, how you help them, what they want and why they want that thing. Like what is the deep desire? Is it with interior design, it because they want more time back? Like they don't have time to do that in their house but

they also want you to create a space that makes them feel a certain feeling. Like what specifically is that? And when you can speak into that, you tap into somebody's subconscious, the things that they're not even thinking about. They don't realize that they want. So that's the first two things that I would think about when you're creating really high level messaging. And then to what you were saying, obviously came to my workshop and we talked about buyer's types, didn't we? So something that I, this is to do with my background in buying is that

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (09:28.907)
Yeah.

Serena Samra (09:33.586)
people often will sell in one way. So you might be selling, selling your offer and talking about all of the amazing features. Like it's got all of these things, you know, we've got these sessions together. We, you get these designs, like you've got all of this amazing stuff and you're selling in that way every single day. And then if you're one of Lisa's clients, go into and you're like, Lisa, like I'm selling every single day, but the clients just aren't coming. And I don't understand why I feel really, really tired. What's going on. And it's because you are selling every single day, but if you're selling,

the features with all this amazing information, you're selling to one type of buyer. And if you have 10 people in a room, there are actually four types of buyers. So you're only actually speaking to 25 % of the people in there because the others are not even listening. It's going over their heads. They're like, I don't really care about all of that stuff, but they actually still need your service. So the different types of buyers that you can look at.

Most people do sell to that analytical buyer, analytical Amy as they call her. And that is all of the features. Like these are all the things that you're going to get. I'm a bit of an analytical buyer. So you're speaking to me, but there's also the buyers who actually, they don't care what's included. They're buying off emotions. So, you know, if you're speaking to them about, I'm going to help you to create a space that is going to be really homely for your first family home and you're to have your first Christmas in there and

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (10:34.445)
Yep.

Serena Samra (10:57.502)
You know, you're going to create amazing memories with your family in this space that feels incredible. And you're tapping into someone's emotions. That's how you sell to another buyer's type. And then there's some people that they call it the silent buyer. I'm also a bit of a silent buyer. So they are not going to approach you. They are don't ask questions. They kind of a bit of a lurker. So they

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (11:14.542)
you

Serena Samra (11:23.236)
they might have questions, but they're not going to ask them. So for the silent buyers, I would think about putting all the information out there and thinking, what might somebody be asking, but they're not actually asking me and put that information out there. I, know, creating content around, know you might be wondering these things. I'm going to answer these questions in my stories today, or in this post, I'm going to answer all the questions that I know you're wondering, but you haven't asked me yet. Whether it's payment plans or how it actually works or the dynamic of the relationship, something like that.

And then the other buyer's type is called the driver. So they are someone that, again, they love all of the information, but they like somebody who is maybe opinionated, a very strong character. So again, they will have more of like a lurker buyer's type. The way that they buy is probably more of lurker role, but they will absolutely eat up your leadership content. So unpopular opinions, you you saying,

why you have the process that you have. They'll love that because it shows leadership. So those are the four buyers types. So there might be someone listening thinking, do you know what, actually, I'm only giving the information and I'm not tapping into the feeling. Yeah, why somebody wants that. And you could open up like five more sales this week if you start doing that.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (12:34.978)
The emotion. Yeah.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (12:41.91)
I love that because I think it's, it's about educating and broadening people's horizons on yes, you have to show up and sell in your businesses, especially when it's a service based business like interior design, but it's also about education and nurture and emotion with that. So it's about showing the before and after showing, you know, what you get, how this is going to make you feel. I love that.

separating your content into potentially four sections and applying that to all those buyers and making sure we're implementing that into our weekly and fortnightly and monthly content is really good because like you say, it's not only what you're delivering with your messaging, but who you're delivering it to. And if you can cover both bases, that is such a good piece of advice.

I know you've most recently opened up another new business. Congratulations, which is beautiful and amazing. You've got a wonderful son who is 14 months. How do you run both businesses, do what you do and create freedom, fun and flexibility for you? Because this is a big thing that you do in your business to support

new mums, new business owners that are mothers to give them financial freedom, fun and flexibility. What do you do yourself in your business?

Serena Samra (14:18.952)
So I would say, so I run my business Serenity Samara Coaching, which has been running for four and a half years. And I have had to give a lot of structure to that. Like business, something I always say to clients is there's always a level of unpredictability in business. But when you want more freedom, we need to bring in as much predictability as possible. And I'm someone who, you I love just like doing things on a whim, but also I'm very structured.

Like I like to know what I'm doing and when, and I like to have a plan. So over the years, I've like formulated and crafted a strategy that helps me to have more freedom. So I was having that in place for my original business was super important first. So I call it my six to freedom strategy. And it's allowed me to run, like bring in multi six figures in four years, but it's also allowed me to now work three days a week, like had a maternity.

leave, it's allowed me to have a lot of freedom. So wherever you can bring predictability with a sustainable strategy, and I know that these are boring words, but to me, they're so important because predictability and sustainability, that is where your freedom lies. So if you can bring that in with a sustainable strategy where you know what you're doing and when, so you can sign consistent clients, sell out your programs when you've got a product suite where

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (15:27.906)
they're important.

Serena Samra (15:44.466)
Your clients flow from one to the other and you know that that product suite aligns with the life that you want to live. When you've got those things in place, it allows you to increase your monthly income and your time freedom at the same time. And something else that I put into place with the business before I started the other brand was making sure that I always focused on profits first because I'm going to be honest. I used to be so shy of the numbers.

I've got quite a strong money mindset. I just always believed and it always worked out. I've never felt like I didn't have enough. Like it always worked out, but I would shy away from how much I was spending in business. Whereas a really intentional shift that I made a couple of years ago was going for more of like a profit first model. Okay. So how much am I spending in my business every single month? How much profit do I want to make when I add those up? That is the revenue. That is the minimum revenue I am accepting in this business.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (16:12.812)
Yeah.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (16:24.706)
Mm.

Serena Samra (16:41.918)
And when you do that again, you allow yourself to have more freedom. So when I got those two things in place, like the profit first and having this system that I knew was gonna bring in the predictable sales, it allowed me to have more freedom, more fun, be a bit more like playful in business as well in that business. And then this year I had, it was actually last year, I had a craving. Like my business is amazing. It supports ambitious women.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (16:42.605)
Yeah.

Serena Samra (17:09.222)
I've been on this insane, crazy journey of motherhood and I just had this craving to help other mums in business and to create this community. And of course there was a part of me that was like, can you do that? Because you're managing, but you've got, at the time I had, actually it six weeks I had this idea. You've got a six week old. So was like, okay, we're going to hold on a little bit. Like let me, let me at stop breastfeeding first before I think about this. Let me get some childcare in place.

So when I allow my idea to develop, the first thing I had to do was really work on my mindset and step into the identity of somebody who could run two brands and still do that work in three days a week, like still have the freedom, still be present. I had to tell my mind that and step into the version of me that was going to make this possible. So that was the first part. And then,

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (17:50.926)
Hmm.

Serena Samra (18:03.728)
When I thought, you know what, I can do this, these are the people doing it, I can do it too, it's completely possible for me, like I'm capable enough to do this, then came the structure, like how was I actually going to make this happen? And it really came down to time blocking and do plan down everything to a T, whether it, and something that we have in our household is that my husband works shifts. So I'm very grateful that he is here some of the time during the day.

but it also means that when he's out of the house, it's for a very long time. So he's gone for a long time or he's working nights and he also has another job. So sometimes it's like me and Arch taking on the world together. having structures and making the most of times like nap times, like I'm not sitting down for tea and nap times, like I've got my laptop out and I'm like, this is my time. You stay asleep, baby.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (18:35.841)
Yeah.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (18:49.507)
Yeah.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (18:53.686)
Yeah, I'm doing five hours work in two hours and you know it.

Serena Samra (18:57.834)
Yeah, don't you dare wake up. It's like making the most of those pockets of time and being so planned to a T. So I have down like what I'm doing every single day up until the end of the year and well into next year, all of January, every single day happening. And without that, it wouldn't be possible. And I think giving myself some love sometimes when things don't work out, like we I don't get through everything sometimes we have had, you know, a couple of weeks ago.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (19:00.504)
Yeah.

Serena Samra (19:27.742)
I got struck with a sickness bug and then we had a cold and then I caught hand, foot and mouth from my child. No adults ever get that, but I got that. Did you?

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (19:33.314)
Yeah.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (19:36.834)
God.

I got that too from Eden and it is it's vicious. It is not nice because when they start to, like you say, when they're little and they start to get exposed to the world and you go to soft plays and you go here, there and everywhere and play dates, they pick everything up and naturally the mum and the dad come down ill. It's a rough ride.

Serena Samra (20:03.516)
It is savage. Handphone mouth is savage. So I think in those moments, like giving myself love that maybe that week something didn't get done or, you know, sometimes that post didn't go out on the other business or, you know, something was a little bit later than planned and knowing that that's okay because the old me would have given myself a really hard time about that.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (20:07.351)
Yeah.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (20:27.694)
you

Serena Samra (20:27.984)
Again, stepping into that identity that sometimes you can have it all, but you don't have to do it all all of the time. And you don't have to do everything all of the time is so important. And really accepting that if I was going to do everything that I'm doing now, I was going to have to do things differently. Like I have to be way more efficient with things. I'm not dilly dallying over posts. I'm not dilly dallying over like slides anymore. Like things, things have to be much slicker.

I can't be spending time wondering whether this is the right masterclass title, it's out there. Like things just have to change. And I think that's been really good for me as well as someone who would spend a lot of time on everything. Like I would overwork and that for me has been very healing actually to not have that amount of time to do everything that I used to.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (21:14.882)
I love that because for me, I run a very tight ship as well. And I always also use the saying that from the richest man in the world to the poorest man in the world, we all have one thing in common. We all get 24 hours. We get the same 24 hours. So it's what you do with your 24 hours and your time to make sure that tomorrow is.

a better success. And if you can run a tight ship and account for your time and become more efficient, I think you can run multiple businesses, brands. You do actually find you have more energy because you're actually, you're not slogging around and sitting around. And also I'm going to caveat that there's nothing wrong with sitting around. Like I love sometimes of an evening, getting on the sofa and reading a book or

watching something with us or having a chat. But I think accounting for your time and being efficient as a mum, because you know you don't have an additional hour and a half because the baby's going to be up or you've got to go do the school run or you've got to make dinner because you can't say to the kids, you just wait an hour and a half because I'm not really hungry right now, but you can go to bed on a banana. Like that just doesn't work. Like you've got to make sure you are running a tight ship and plan.

who run a business really and it's also about balance.

Serena Samra (22:47.902)
100%. I love everything that you said then. And it's when you don't have that, I don't want to call it gifted time because it's just adapting, isn't it? But I used to work into the evening, Will would be working. I would just work and work and work and get loads of things done. And it was amazing. And then obviously now we've got Archie. I'm like, the day has to finish at that time. then obviously then Archie's in bed and I could start off again. But

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (22:57.485)
Yeah.

Serena Samra (23:12.786)
Sometimes as well, if I'm thinking about energy management, there's days where I can crack on at seven half seven. There are some days where I am quite exhausted from the day. And then it's also like give myself the love that that's okay. But I had actually actually slept at her grandparents, his grandparents overnight. And this morning I got up and had all of these hours and honestly did not know what to do with myself. I was just going for a really long walk around the development. Cause I was like.

What are people doing with these hours before work? Like I could start work, but maybe I should, you know, spend a bit more time relaxing, like I never get this time. So it is really interesting thinking about what we used to do with all the time.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (23:53.77)
my God, if I could go back to talk to myself, like my 21 year old self, which is scarily like nearly coming into like 20 years maybe. But if I could go back and talk to her and give her a slap, if she told me she was tired, like the amount of hours you, obviously both of us come from corporate backgrounds.

And I was in the fashion industry well before going into construction and property and design. And I used to say to myself some weekends or even some weeks, God, I'm really, really tired. I don't even think I knew the meaning of the word tired back then.

Serena Samra (24:41.694)
So, so different, isn't it? When you've got all of the, it's sometimes, like sometimes I'll turn to Will and I'm like, I'm physically exhausted. And we like laugh about it. But then most of the time it's actually more of a mental thing for me. Like, cause you've got so much in your mind and that's why I, for me it's so important that everything is written down. So like I have lists coming out my ears. I've got like a post-it system I have here. I've got A3 planners on my desk. very,

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (24:51.062)
Yes. Yes.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (25:03.32)
Yeah.

Serena Samra (25:11.388)
like physical by the way. I have eight three pounds on my desk, like one for each brand, like by month so can like see what's happening. And then I also have, you know, systems like on here with my team and I use Google, Google calendar. Like, I have to have that because it doesn't all fit in. Like if I had everything in my mind, like I would probably just forget to get Archie out of the car one day.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (25:19.95)
Mm.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (25:29.56)
Yeah.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (25:36.716)
yeah, yeah. Do you know what? It does happen. I've heard it happen to people that they've come into houses and it's like, where's the baby? my God, I've left it in the back of the car on the driveway. Right, I'm going out to get the baby. I'll fully disclose. I've never done obviously that to any of the boys, but you know, it is you, I think as a mom and a business woman, you carry such a big mental load. It's like, I call it the noise.

Serena Samra (25:48.19)
Yeah.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (26:06.284)
that women get that men sometimes don't get. And it's like, we have a million different things running through our head, like the washing, the beds, the cleaning, book that person in, sort that person out, go do that, the social calendar, the play dates, the parties, the business, the to-do lists. And it is, we carry this mental load. So actually having it all down on systems and paper and planners, it means that we can.

afford to maybe give ourselves some grace that it's all there on paper and it's being accounted for. And I think that leads me onto my next question of asking you really support women in building financial freedom and flexibility in their businesses. And one thing I love about you and that I've started adopting in 2024 and there's going to be a hell of a lot more in 2025.

is being able to travel, have the flexibility to travel and work anywhere in the world. Can you give that one woman listening out there thinking, my God, I want that financial freedom and I want that flexibility and how do I make that happen in my business? What would that be?

Serena Samra (27:22.13)
So I would say definitely take action on, you know, I was talking about that sales system, like the sustainable, that honestly has been the game changer to me being able to, like in November, I wasn't in the country for two weeks of the year, the year, the month. I was in the country, like we were off in Scotland for a week and like fully switching off because I recovered from hand front mouth there. And I was off in Florida for just less than a week.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (27:51.053)
Yes!

Serena Samra (27:51.614)
So I wasn't in, I wasn't around and old me that would have shaken me to my core would have been like sales are gonna slip, like, can I do that? Can I take that amount of time off? So the biggest change that I made to go from like working to being able to, I always remember I made the one change with the strategy and the identity. you I was talking about that, say the sustainable system, that change with the identity work, I remember there was such a significant,

difference in from that one year to the other. That first year I took half an afternoon off and then the following year I traveled seven countries in that year. Like it makes such a difference. So I would say definitely look at your sales system. Like do you have some process in place so that you know that you can predict your sales. You know how when the sales are coming in. And for me, the way that I can simply put it is that

It doesn't have to be over complicated. You don't need loads of different platforms. It's making sure that you've always got a marketing system running with high level messaging so that you've always got new people coming into your world. You're nurturing those people. You're selling to those new people.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (28:59.704)
Mm.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (30:34.253)
Mm-hmm.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (30:58.083)
Yeah.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (31:36.822)
Yeah, it becomes desperation as well. You sell from a place of desperation, which is very, very difficult.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (32:06.478)
I love that. I think in the interior design industry, people, some ladies, they do turn around and say, well, I'm an interior designer. I've got to be in the business, on the ground, in projects. And I think it also comes back to working with timeframes and timelines and saying, actually, next year, I'm going to craft out this amount of time to go away, or we're doing this or we're doing that, and build that into your projects and let your clients know.

By the way, at this point of the project, I am going to be away for seven days. I'll check emails if I need to, but this is how your project's going to run. And I think it comes back down to being organized, having communication and seeing how your business can run itself. What small changes do you need to put in place to implement? Is it a VA? Is it reception support? Is it email service provider? Someone to help your business tick over whilst you're away as well to give you that.

freedom and flexibility that you deserve because you didn't start a business to be completely shackled to your desk, you know, more so than being in corporate or PAYE.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (33:27.341)
Yeah.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (34:18.882)
Yes.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (34:36.95)
Mmm.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (35:12.066)
Yeah.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (35:16.43)
I love that. I think having the structure, I love that because having the structure of your business and understanding how you want life to run from the offset and implementing those holidays and those breaks and then, you know, saying to yourself, okay, so I'm not going to do calls or I'm not going to go out and visit clients on the last week of the month. And actually,

I'm going to only work X amount of days. know with my clients that I work with for mentoring, I always say to them, you'll get support between Tuesday and Thursday. I'm not in the business on Monday. I'm on the business. So I'm working on the business on Mondays. I'm not contactable. So that's my personal growth development days for me, my businesses to understand what the figures are doing. Is there anything that I need to flag up?

What do I need to do personally development wise in the business? And also looking at a week at the end, I'm going to start implementing that, that there are no calls. So the calls are actually in the first three weeks of the month. And I have one week where I don't have zoom calls, don't have meetings, don't have anything that is going to be my, 2025 resolution that I'm going to take in business. love that.

Serena Samra (36:37.778)
Yes, I love that too. And it does make such a difference. And I do honestly believe that other people like it as well, rather than, she said she's not gonna take a call that week, or she says that she's not gonna respond to me on a Monday. People like boundaries as well, because it shows them what's possible for them to implement in their own life. It's aspirational. And also it shows that you are self-assured and that you've...

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (36:53.688)
Yeah.

Serena Samra (37:06.77)
you're an authority, like I'm very sure of myself. I know that I can take that time and actually I want that for you as well. Like, and it allows other people to implement boundaries in their own life and in their own business because they're so important and it can actually really strengthen your relationship with clients because you're coming to calls and containers and...

logging into Telegram or wherever you support somebody with a good energy rather than like, I've got them so drained. She's emailed me again or I need to email back straight away like, who feel good?

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (37:37.772)
Yeah, yeah. And I think it's about allowing yourself to breathe within your business and allowing yourself to be like, it's okay. I put these boundaries and structures in place to protect my energy, but also to let clients know that it's okay. I will get back to you in 24 hours or this is going to be fine. So I love the fact that you do that. And that is one thing.

that I'm going to implement in my business moving forward.

Serena Samra (38:08.414)
Let me know how it goes. It's game changing, honestly.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (38:12.302)
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for today's conversation. It has been so amazing to speak to you about your business and structure and messaging and what you do and tailoring your mindset. So many lovely little nuggets. But before we completely leave the podcast, I always like to leave on if you were to give someone listening three little tips to take into 2025 to change their business.

or adapt in their business, what would it be?

Serena Samra (38:45.534)
So the first one would be that you come first. So before you think about what you're doing and the structures and the strategy, you are the person to make those goals happen when you work on you, your identity, what you think is possible. Like that really is the secret, the foundation. Like we were saying earlier, like the mindset work comes first. And when you believe that something is possible and when you stretch that vision,

everything else comes a lot more easy. So prioritize yourself, the mindset work, everything that you're doing in that area first. The next thing would be, please focus on the boring things. The boring things are your freedom. So sustainability, the sustainable strategy, the profit first, because that will allow you to take a bit of a step back and actually support more people as well, because you grow your business, you can take on more clients. And then the last part, yes, is focusing on your words. If you could take one.

like one area to really drill down into in 2025, that's really gonna help you to cut through the noise and stand out to anybody else and really shine in an industry that is growing, but also adapting and changing and getting a little bit noisy. It's to focus in on your words and use that as the thing that helps you to stand out and gives you the edge beyond anybody else out there. As much as everybody is amazing, there's a place for all of us.

We all get to shine when we show what's unique about us and what's special about us. So it's really important that you do that because whatever service you have, whatever business you have, it's incredible and it's really important that other people know about it.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (40:08.302)
Mm.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (40:21.196)
I love that. Thank you so much. I love that so much. It has been amazing, Serena. Thank you for all of your time, all of your words of wisdom, all of your nuggets of gold.

Serena Samra (40:31.986)
Thank you so much. I thoroughly enjoyed it. will hopefully come back again.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (40:36.654)
my gosh, I will have you back in January in 2025 and we will dive into business, mamas and all things mindset.

Serena Samra (40:47.858)
Definitely sounds great. Thank you.

Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui (40:50.168)
Thank you.