Motivation with Camille & Ciera

CAMILLE WALKER [0:00]

I have always been creating online because I care about women and I care about motherhood and that has always been what has driven me into creating and sharing online.

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CAMILLE [0:18]

So, you want to make an impact. You’re thinking about starting a business sharing your voice. How do women do it that handle motherhood, family, and still chase after those dreams? We’ll listen each week as we dive into the stories of women who know. This is Call Me CEO.

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CIERA LANCASTER [0:38]

Hello, my beautiful, beautiful listeners. Thank you for tuning into The Confidently Beautiful podcast. I am your host, Ciera. Today, we have a very, very special interview that I am so excited to share with you. I got to talk to Camille Walker. She is literally probably one of the kindest people in just the 30-minute conversation that we had. I have followed her for, I don’t know, it seems like years and I’ve listened to her podcast.

And so, I feel like I know her already, but I know it was only my first time actually interacting with her and she was so much fun to talk to. She is just so down to earth, extremely caring, and very, very motivating. She has a way of explaining things that just I hope is going to really inspire you. We talked a lot about motivation and she shared some of her best practices and best tips for feeling motivated and remembering to take care of yourself and feeling balanced.

She is a mom. She has a blog called Mommy Style blog. She has a VA coaching program. She matches her graduates with her program to business owners. She just does so much. I think you are going to learn a lot from her and be inspired by her. So, let’s go into the episode and dive right in.

Thank you so much for joining on the podcast. I’m really excited to be talking to you. I’ve followed you for forever and I just admire you and I just think you’re awesome. So, I know you, but tell the listeners a little bit about you because they haven't been following you as long as I have.

CAMILLE [2:03]

Okay, yeah. First off, thank you. I think I’ve been creating online so long now that sometimes, I feel like are people really listening? Am I talking to the void? So, hearing that is always such a compliment and I truly mean that. I have always been creating online because I care about women and I care about motherhood and that has always been what has driven me to creating and sharing online.

So, to give a little background, I have been blogging now for almost 12 years at www.mymommystyle.com where my whole mantra is embrace the mom you are, that no two mothers are the same. We’re not meant to be. And trusting your gut and your instinct is what it’s all about. But on that website, there are tips and tricks and recipes and lifestyle and travel, yes.

CIERA [2:51]

All the mom things, yes.

CAMILLE [2:53]

Fashion, interior design. So, it’s like a little bit of everything, which has been beautiful because I’ve been able to build a wonderful business from home that I absolutely love. And as my kids have gotten a little older and wanted a little bit more privacy and we’re not talking as much about nap time and tricks for potty training and things like that, I started to lean more into how I could help mothers in business.

Because my husband and I have paid off our home and that was a big, big goal for us where I thought, man, I love being a mom. That’s my number one everything, but I really find a greater sense of satisfaction in who I am in allowing myself to discover talents and hobbies and share online. So, that’s why I started the blog in the first place.

So, in the last two years now, I’ve switched over to helping women in business. So, I help women build their own virtual assistant businesses. And I also coach busy entrepreneurs who are moms trying to balance it all and I help them hire virtual assistants that graduate from my program. So, it’s become this beautiful machine.

So, my weekly episode podcast is Call Me CEO, which is where I share stories of mothers building business. So, every week, we talk about life lessons or specific industries of businesses you might be curious about building yourself or tactical tools.

Each episode includes all of that, but I just think the journey of a mother and a woman is so fascinating because we all carry so many attributes and talents and gifts. That’s my favorite thing is learning about people and sharing and realizing that it takes a village in all aspects of our lives. And I think that that’s where we can truly enjoy all aspects of ourselves.

So, a little bit of a personal side, I’m married. I’ve been married about 18.5 years. I feel so old. And I have 4 kids. And I’m right in that crazy taxi mode of I have a son who’s 14, daughter who’s 12, and my 2 little boys are 9 and 6. So, that’s it. I live in Utah. I love to be outside. I love people and I love learning. So, that’s me in a nutshell.

CIERA [5:15]

That’s awesome. And I will say about your podcast, even though it is a mom with running their business and you do talk to a lot of business owners, it’s so applicable to just moms in general. Yes, I do have my own business and I’ve dabbled in a whole bunch of different things, but there’s so many things you talked about. And I love all the guests that you have on there. So, if you’re listening to this and you’re like I don’t have a business and her podcast isn’t going to work, no way, it totally will because we’re all the CEOs of our own home.

CAMILLE [5:46]

Yes, which honestly, I’ve thought about changing the name because I’m like I don’t want it to deter any mom because it does apply to everyone in so many aspects. So, thank you for saying that because that’s what I hope to portray.

CIERA [6:01]

Yeah, it’s awesome. So, go check her out. Okay, so we are going to talk a little bit today about motivation. So, you obviously are extremely motivated. You’ve paid off your house. You have businesses. You’ve trained and you coach people to own their own businesses and run their own businesses. So, tell me what do you do every day to stay motivated? What helps you?

CAMILLE [6:21]

Yeah. You guys, so here we are at the end of January, January is one of the hardest months for my husband and his work. He comes home nearly every day saying, “Ugh, I hate January.” And for me, my birthday is in January. So, I’m like, “Come on. It’s my birthday.”

CIERA [6:41]

So is mine, yeah.

CAMILLE [6:44]

Yay, happy birthday!

CIERA [6:44]

Thank you. You too.

CAMILLE [6:45]

So, that redeems it a little bit. But here’s the thing about motivation is that we all go through slumps of having times that we don’t feel motivated. And I first and foremost want you to remember that that is perfectly normal and maybe this is faux pas to say, but I think it’s normal to feel those moments. And it should be that way where there are times where our system is shutting down where your body is telling you you need to check your balance of what’s going on.

In fact, this came to mind because we were having technical difficulties just before we were recording and I said, “Let’s just unplug and reconnect. Let’s unplug and reconnect.” And it was on the second, third time that the system was like, “Okay, yeah. We’re into this now.”

And I think that’s how we are that there are times where we need to unplug and reconnect, unplug and reconnect. And that is perfectly the way we were designed for moments of taking times to rest, and then coming back into it with refresh energy.

CIERA [7:58]

Yeah, I love that so much. So, is there something specific that you do like something that the listeners can take and be like, “Okay, I can do that to help me to unplug and refresh?” What do you personally do? I know it’s going to be different for everyone, but what do you do?

CAMILLE [8:12]

Yes. I love this topic. So, I could talk about this for a long time. So, first and foremost, I would tell you to create a list of things that make you feel joy. I call it a joy list and you need to have this at the ready. So, for me, I do like to write on paper. I feel like there’s a really cathartic mind body connection when you do that.

However, we don’t always have that paper with us. So, I would start on paper, but then I would suggest to put it in the notes of your phone so that you have it and you have access to it. So, if you’re feeling a slump and you’re like, ugh, today’s just garbage, which sometimes, they are. But you’re like, I need to refuel. How can I unplug and reconnect? How can I refuel? How can I feel joy? So, for me, something that that would include and this can change through the seasons of your life depending on if you have babies at home or teenagers or both.

CIERA [9:07]

Yeah, in your case.

CAMILLE [9:07]

Some people have both. I’m out of that baby phase and wow, it’s crazy having a quiet house during the day. It really is bizarre. But listen, over the past decade when I’ve been building my business online, it hasn’t been that way and I’ve never had a nanny.

And not to toot my own horn, that’s a super woman thing. I think that women are very good at multitasking, but they’re also really good at taking on too much. So, okay, we’re going to talk about that in a second because the joy list. So, joy list is something that makes you feel or hear or taste or smell that makes your body come alive, your soul, your spirit, all of it.

So, for me, a big piece of that is getting outside, even if it’s cold, even if you’re tired and breathing fresh air. Maybe you don’t have the energy to walk or hike, but maybe you have the energy to walk through the snow or the grass and breathe in the air and just connect and slow down and just think your thoughts. So, that’s one for me.

I also have go-to music that I really love that either pumps me up or I have this I’m in a hurry and I have about 3.5 minutes, but I don’t want to stress about it. I just want to have a timer where I’m like, okay. So, for me, this is weird, but it’s Between The Lines by Sara Bareilles.

But if I’m in a hurry and I’m like, okay, I have about 3 minutes and I’m going to hurry and clean up this kitchen or I’m going to hurry and finish my makeup or my hair or whatever, I’ve put that on Alexa and I sing to it as I’m finishing up that last bit. So, I’m not like, ugh, really panicky, but also, I can sing through this. And by the time I’m done with this song, I’m going to be ready to go. And it’s weird.

CIERA [10:53]

No, I think it’s awesome because probably especially having the same song, I would imagine it cues your brain like this is okay. We can do this really quick and power through and it probably really does.

CAMILLE [11:07]

Yes. And for me, a lot of times, it’s like at the end of the day where my kids, it’s like dinner’s over, I’m cleaning up the kitchen, I hate coming down to a messy kitchen in the morning. So, I really try to power through no matter how tired I am to get that kitchen cleaned up by the end of the day. And so, if my kids complain, I’m like, “This is my zone to do the dishes or whatever. I’m going to turn this music up as loud as I need to because I need to power through this.”

CIERA [11:36]

And you can survive for 3 minutes listening to this, yes.

CAMILLE [11:38]

And so, they know. They know the soundtrack of my life. If there’s a way of saying that, they know the music and they also see that. So, that’s one, music. Another one is what I call a walk and talk, which is I get together either on the phone, on a treadmill or in person on a track or outside and I walk and talk to some of my favorite people who help me process hard things where if you mentally feel stuck or maybe you’re just busy and you’re just like, ugh, I need to work this out.

And I think a lot of times, hearing ourselves talk out loud and process things, it’s like therapy, but it’s also physical. So, you’re able to move your body, sort through your thoughts and get through something hard. So, I would say those are my top 3 is the walk and talk, the music, and then a joy list.

And of course, joy list, that can go and on. That could be things that bring you joy, whether it’s moments of peace, meditation, reading a book, talking to a friend, eating a special chocolate, watching a special show. But the thing about watching a show and I be careful about that is that you can easily slip into the Netflix binge or you can easily slip into the TikTok scroll or the Instagram scroll where you’re like where did that last hour go? You know what I mean?

CIERA [13:10]

Yeah. So, pick something maybe a little specific.

CAMILLE [13:13]

Yeah, or put on a timer.

CIERA [13:16]

Yeah, a timer’s good.

CAMILLE [13:16]

If you really love TikTok or Instagram and you’re like, yeah, I call it a brain fart moment where you’re just like I just need to binge here for a minute and that’s totally fine. One of John Lennon’s quotes that I love the very most is time enjoyed wasted is not wasted.

So, I think if it’s purposeful and you’re like, no, I’m going to set this timer and I’m going to respect that time, then do it. If that’s the thing that makes you feel awesome, then do it. But if it isn’t, then recognize that, really take inventory of your life and how you feel.

CIERA [13:50]

That’s really good. Thank you for that. So, going along with something you do every day, do you have a morning routine? Do you do the same thing every morning? What does your mornings look like?

CAMILLE [14:00]

I believe in The Miracle Morning, if you’ve ever read that.

CIERA [14:05]

Yes, I have.

CAMILE [14:07]

I don’t wake up at 4:30. That’s just not the phase of my life. It’s funny because I think as moms specifically, nights are not always are own. We can’t always predict how much sleep we’re going to get or if a kid’s going to have a nightmare or if someone’s going to wake up sick. And so, I feel like as mothers or parents in general, we really need to be respectful of recognizing that.

But I do know that if I give myself time for myself before I engage with my kids, I‘m always better. I’m better for them. I’m better for myself. So, last year, I would get up every morning and go to Pilates at 6:30 in the morning and I get back and I was ready to attack the day. I recently had a surgery in August. And so, that’s not my routine anymore.

So, now I get up in the morning and I’ll put workout clothes on, but now I’m walking. And I am taking time, I usually listen to audio as I’m waking up. I always have a book that I’m listening to, whether it’s in the morning or the night. So, I do audio. I do prayer. I’m trying to make meditation more of my daily routine. And I can’t say I do it perfectly, but that’s something I’m trying to do better. And then, I get some movement in. But I think the key is to create time for yourself. So, you can ground yourself. And so, whatever that looks like, it could even be just 5 minutes.

CIERA [15:37]

That’s good. I did a podcast episode. It was one of my very first episodes and what we talked about morning routines. And over the last little while, I have really tried to find a good morning routine. And something that really hit me as my kids are 6, 4 and 1, they’re little. And I get a good morning routine and I have another baby.

And so, it was always frustrating to me. When am I ever going to have that time for me in the morning? And then, I realized just what you said. It doesn’t have to be this big 1-hour, 2-hour morning routine. It could even be just 5 minutes. And so, I talked about that in that episode that I did.

So, what I personally do is I do the same things every day, but the amount of time that I spend on each thing is different depending on the season of my life. And so, summer time, I can usually have a longer morning routine because my kids are just entertained playing with their toys whenever we’re not rushing to school. But early morning school times, I’m not going to be able to spend a significant amount of time doing the morning routine.

So, I think that’s really important to know and I think it really helps to feel like you didn’t fail. Sometimes, I feel like I’ve already failed and it’s morning. So, I love that you mentioned that that even if it’s 5 minutes, it’s still really good, okay.

There’s so much and I think sometimes, it can be really overwhelming to hear all of the “You should do this morning routine or this workout or this macro counting or be this kind of parent.” And there are so many really, really good things. They’re not bad things, but it sometimes can be a little bit overwhelming.

And then, you sometimes can lose your motivation because you’re like I’m just not going to do anything. And so, do you have a tip for somebody who there’s something that they really do want to do it or they feel like they need to be doing it? What’s a tip for you to help them to get that motivation to just do it?

CAMILLE [17:28]

Yeah, okay. So, I have 2 parts that I really love about this. So, one of the first things that I do when I’m coaching moms because I do coach moms about balancing life, even if there’s not a business involved. This is one of my passions that I love is that I would start with where you want to go first. What is the reason why you want to get this certain goal? That’s the number one thing because I think that you need to figure out where am I going so that I know how to break this down?

And then, the next thing is to figure out what is the next best step every single day so that you’re not always thinking about that and this is exactly how I’m going to break it down and it’s going to be perfect and it’s going to be just like this. Maybe some days, you wake up and your kids are all sick. And yeah, you have that end goal and what your reason for wanting that goal is, but for today, you have to reevaluate and just figure out what that next best step is. And maybe that next best step for that day si to rest. And so, that’s part one.

Part two is I believe that movement creates motivation. So, if let’s say you’re mentally blocked, maybe you’re in a spinning cycle of a thought or maybe you’re in a cycle of just something has you in a funk, whatever that thing is, maybe you have a kid that’s tantruming or maybe you have a thought of not feeling like you’re not enough or maybe you’re feeling physically where you’re not where you want to be, whatever the thing is. I feel like movement creates motivation.

So, even if it;s just physically moving yourself from one couch to the upstairs to let’s fill up our water and go get a drink, I feel like that helps get you out of spinning cycles of that moment because I feel like sometimes, we just get stuck physically. And so, the actual physical movement is now, I’m thinking new thoughts and I have a new trajectory and I’m feeling more motivated. Does that make sense?

CIERA [19:39]

Yeah, that totally makes sense. And probably also, I would imagine a change of environment. You’re moving from one room to another room. Yeah, you’re in the same house, but it probably does a lot, just that movement.

CAMILLE [19:49]

Yeah. And it applies to that tantruming kid. Because you could even turn to them and say, “I know you’re having a really hard time right now and that you’re feeling upset and I’m feeling upset too. I need a minute. So, I’m going to sit in this other room and I just need to think quiet for a moment and I’ll come back. And I just need a minute here.” And so, I think it signals to your child too like, “I’m not leaving far. We’re trying to figure out what this solution is that we need to sort out together, but I need to remove myself for a minute.”

And I think that that allows them because I’ve done this with my kids and as they’ve gotten older, a lot of times, it’s like, “Okay, I need you to go to your room and think about this and I know you’re upset. And when you’re ready,” usually it’s they need to apologize. “But when you’re ready, when you’re calmed down and you’re ready to apologize, come on down. We’re excited to have you back, but this isn’t working right now.”

And so, I think that just giving that motivation of either for yourself or for your kid or for whatever that is, I feel like it’s removing yourself from that situation, getting a new environment, allowing your body to think new thoughts, it’s good for everyone.

CIERA [20:57]

Yeah, that is good. Do you have any advice for, like I mentioned, all that noise, all that, “Do this, do this, do this,” and to not be overwhelmed and to stay motivated in what’s actually going to be beneficial for you and your time of life right then? Do you have anything to say about that?

CAMILLE [21:12]

Okay. So, I feel like we live in the fire hose generation where it’s like if you hop online, you’re going to find people telling you everything you should be doing. And like you said, it’s not that it’s bad. It’s just it’s a lot for our mind to compute. Can you imagine any other time of any other era of anyone living on the Earth ever that could turn on a little box or turn on a screen and have someone telling them, “These are the 18 things that you should be doing to be living a better life as a wife, sister, brother, father, coach, trainer, teacher, whatever?”

And I think it’s a lot for our mind to compute. It is. It’s just a lot. So, I think that that’s where you really need to evaluate, this goes back to what I was about to say earlier before, what are 3 things that I really want to focus on in this season of my life? And for women, I like to look at seasons either as a month or 3 months. What is this season? What are those 3 things that you really want to move the needle in and you need to let everything else go? Does that make sense?

CIERA [22:28]

Yeah, it does. And it’s encouraging because it’s like okay, I’m not going to focus on my fitness, for example, in this month and this season or this 3-month season. But I’m not throwing it out the window completely. And so, I like that because it can help you stay what you need to be motivated because all those things online are not bad. We’ve said that. They’re not bad, but maybe just ignore them for 3 months. Is that what you’re saying?

CAMILLE [22:53]

Yeah. And here’s the thing is that you don’t have to unfollow that person, you can mute them. There have been times in my life where I have known mentally I’m not in a space where I can compute the information that they’re sharing. It’s just not a good time for me. And so, you can mute them and say, I’ll see you in a little bit and that’s okay.

CIERA [23:17]

Yeah, it is. I love that. Thank you. It has been so fun talking to you. I can literally talk to you all day. It’s so fun. I like to end all of my interviews with this question and it does not have to be motivation-related, just whatever comes to you. But what is one thing you do each day that helps you to stay confident and bring your confidence out?

CAMILLE [23:37]

Yes, what a good question. I think a really good sense of confidence is knowing who you are. And so, for me, I really love to surround myself with people who know who I really am where I have built this public persona where I create so much online that I feel like I need to filter that space and really give myself time to remember who I am.

So, for me, building that confidence, I feel like it’s a lot of little things that I do every day, but probably one big one is staying connected with God and having a source of that inspiration where I know He knows who I am. And so, connecting with Him through prayer and meditation, not that I’m perfect at it, but I think just having a sense of surrounding yourself with people who know you and that you know you, really investing that time in your value and your worth. And I feel like people around you can be a mirror for you. And so, just surrounding yourself in that positive light is where I build that confidence because I really try to create a sense of who I am that way.

CIERA [24:57]

I love that. Thank you so much. Can you tell our listeners where they can connect with you?

CAMILLE [25:03]

Yes, okay. So, I am at www.camillewalker.co. So, if you’re interested in coaching or you’re wanting to build your own virtual assistant business or hire a VA, all of that information is there. That’s also my Instagram handle on Instagram. However, I have a second Instagram handle @callmeceopodcast, which is specifically about people that I’m interviewing and sharing their stories and motherhood tips. And you can also, of course, go to www.mymommystyle.com if you’re looking for website stuff for motherhood, recipes, and all the things.

CIERA [25:35]

Yeah. Do you still update that blog?

CAMILLE [25:38]

All the time.

CIERA [25:39]

All the time, that’s so fun. Yeah, I didn’t know that about you.

CAMILLE [25:41]

We have a team, yeah.

CIERA [25:43]

You do?

CAMILLE [25:44]

Yes. That’s how I’ve been able to build my business is I trained people to help work and build out what I have built, and then I was able to branch off into talking more about motherhood and business.

CIERA [25:56]

That’s awesome because you can only do so much. You’re super woman, but you can’t do everything. So, that’s awesome. Thank you so much, Camille. This has been so fun to talk to you and I hope that we can maybe have you on again someday again. I don’t know. I know that you have so many good things that we could talk about. So, thank you so much.

CAMILLE [26:14]

Yeah, thanks for having me.

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Hey, CEOs. Thank you so much for spending your time with me. If you’ve found this episode inspiring or helpful, please let me know in a comment and a 5-star review. You could have the chance of being a featured review on an upcoming episode. Continue the conversation on Instagram @callmeceopodcast. And remember, you are the boss!

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