Reflections from my first cross-country business tour

In my work I focus a lot on the concept of redefining success. I feel that to be truly successful in life and in business we first have to Define for each of ourselves what that truly means and what that truly looks like. I was blessed that at a very young age I felt like I was successful in my parents' eyes and in the world's eyes and yet I realized it didn't feel good to me and it wasn't what I truly wanted. Since then perhaps I've been on a constant journey of redefining success from myself and creating a life that Echoes that.

 When I think about defining success for my first ever California tour I think the obvious metric we all want to use is money. How much money did you make Haley? But even before I left for the tour I knew that money alone was not going to feel like success for me. 

Future Casting: True Tour Success Will Look Like This

On September 7th (a week and a half before the day I left for Cali) I spelled out what true success for the tour will look like in my journal:

• Increasing soul aligned connections (partners, friends and clients)

• Helping people feel seen - connect to themselves

• Healing myself and others

• Elevating other heart-centered businesses

• Sharing the magic of AI (I clearly was fresh home from an AI conference)

• Enjoying Cali nature, yoga and friends

• There and back safely

• Returning with fresh ideas, energy, perspective and financial resources to invest in my home and hometown

• Business elevation, clarity, and healing for myself and others

Now, past-Haley wrote this before the tour. If this is truly how my soul wants to measure success for this tour, then I have to say I absolutely freaking nailed it, though not at all in the way that I thought I would. 

What was this tour about anyway?

That was what I was wondering after the fact, on my last week. Did I do what I set out to do or not? I think to accurately answer that question you have to first understand how the tour came to be.

How did this whole thing happen? 

Contrary to what you may think I didn't actually plan for this tour to happen, manifest it (consciously), or go out of my way to work really hard to make this thing happen. it actually “fell into my lap”, as I like to say.  perhaps it came to me because it knew it was exactly the medicine that I actually needed. Regardless, here’s the back story.

There's this really great artist her name is Sarah Gardner and she's based out of San Diego she wrote a really cool book about mixed media shareable art a few years back and rather than wait for her publishing company to create a tour for her she got the great idea to take her own book and art workshops on tour across the state of california. in the creation of this tour she found my good sweet friend Emily, owner of The Playful Space Bakersfield, and reached out to her via email inquiring if Emily would be open to hosting an art workshop at her Studio that Sarah would be leading and obviously using to promote her book. I can't tell you exactly when the workshop happened but I believe it was around January of this year. 

Fast forward a month? 2 months? I'm not actually sure when I got the phone call from Emily hey but I do have the scribbles in the back of my planner that I took as she excitedly told me that she had a bit of vision for my business and that I would go on tour across the state of California sharing my artwork shops and journals along the way. I told her I thought it sounded fabulous and so I told her I was in! She shrieked and told me to put down a date for September, which was when her big event was. She wanted that to be my first stop. I loved it! And also, I kind of shrugged and moved along with my life. I put the date down and then I released it to the universe. If it was meant to be, it would be. 

 I usually tell people that it costs me at least $1,000 to travel from Oklahoma to California. That is simply airfare, gas and transportation to get there and back. You see, I live in very rule Oklahoma. The nearest airport is 2 hours away in Oklahoma City though I prefer to use DFW which is 3 hours away because my brother lives nearby. by the time I drive 3 hours then fly across the country and drive wherever I need to drive in California and do it all in reverse all of that adds up quite quickly. In fact I should really say that it's about $1,500 to $2,000 by the time you include food accommodation and whatnots. I share this to say even though I absolutely love visiting California it is not a small or inexpensive adventure for me. Each time I go I try to make it worth my time, energy and money. This is perhaps why I loved the idea but was unattached to it at the same time.

 Then things got a little interesting.. sometime later (again I don't have an exact timeline for this but it felt like maybe a month? 2 months? after my initial call with Emily Hay),  I then received two phone calls: one from my good friend Emily Schickli in the Bay Area and one from my heart-sister Kim Brodie, in Sonora. Both of these wonderful humans were hosting retreats in the fall and both graciously wanted me to host an art workshop at their events. keep in mind that none of these ladies know each other nor did they know about my tentative plan to Tour California. the magic comes in and that all of these dates lined up perfectly back to back on my calendar.  With easeful confirmation from the Universe I knew I was definitely going to California in the fall. I'm guessing this was sometime around late spring, maybe May?

Once I was confirmed on my trip I then reached out to the Valley Sierra SBDC, whom I do business Consulting for in California. I told them I would be in the area and would love to visit their office while I was in town.  To my surprise they were so excited I was going to be in the area that they quickly booked me to do four in person business workshops all nestled within the dates that I would be in California. What a blessing! 

I think most of this fell into place around early August. Now, full disclaimer: although this was all easeful and effortless, there were a solid two weeks toward the end of August when I definitely started to panic.

Was this going to work?

Who the hell was paying for all of this?

Would I make enough money to cover this trip??

What about my bills back home?

OH and to add on to alllll this…. At the same time I'm having these thoughts I (surprisingly) bought a building in downtown Frederick (without being able to secure a loan from the bank) putting a HUGE down payment of blind faith and optimistic intuition and ambition. (That’s a great story you’ll have to remind me to tell you later. 😉)

Obviously my logical mind was trying to kick me in the pants. But my intuition was all rainbows and groovy peace signs, reminding me that all the crazy adventures in my life tend to work out for my best interest because I’m in the flow with God, not people pleasing. Ha! What a wild mixture of feelings, excitement and hesitation!

During this craziness I began madly reaching out to all these random art studios and thin connections around the state of California. With desperate energy I begged - I mean asked - them if I could come teach workshops there too. I think my logical mind wanted a full roster to ensure financial success (although looking back those things don't guarantee one another). Plus, I already had a VERY FULL roster, but scarcity mindset is real y'all, and when you’re about to leave a building you just bought with faith-money and travel across the country and be on the road for 6 weeks, I think it’s kinda okay to freak out.

The funny thing is, NONE of those workshops that I tried to book from that energy actually panned out. In fact, late in the tour I actually canceled a workshop! (More on that later.) 

So really, the tour came to me initially, then I put in a lot of work in August and early September to prepare for it.

Prepping for the tour

The preparation for this was way more stressful than I thought it would be, but when you’re organizing art workshops for half a dozen locations you need specific art supplies. Yet each venue has different rules. Unfortunately, NO ONE, ANYWHERE wants real paint in their venue, so paint was out, even though it was my favorite. I inquired to one host about glitter (they basically said it was paint’s evil cousin), so I had to get crafty (pun intended). How could I bring the full magic of my abstract art workshops to life without using my two best mates: paint and glitter?  I worked and reworked the ONE workshop I would repeat across the state. I finally got it nailed in, but then came setting dates and times with each stop.

After that I created a sales page and link for each stop, plus graphics and swipe copy for each host to use to help market the event.

*Note: The idea of partnering with a host venue in an area you don't have a following in, is that they utilize their following to call in a room full of people, so you can just show up and do your magic. It is incredibly hard to promote yourself to people in an area you’ve never been to or lived in, and where you don't know anyone. Partnerships = magic.  Well, when they’re done right.

I have done a lot of partnerships for workshops over the years and I thought I had a pretty good idea of how to navigate them, however, looking back there is A LOT I have learned on this tour. 

Notes to future Haley or anyone going on their own workshop tour:

• Be very picky about how you want your set up to be. What size tables? How many tables do you want your host to provide? Is there anything else the host should provide for setting up?

• Set a minimum number of participants for each workshop. How many would be worth your time? Even though you’re in the state, you’re still driving to get there, paying for food and board in that town and spending your time, energy and supplies. Make it math! 

• What are your marketing expectations for the host? How often do you want them to post? Should they share your content? Is there a swipe email copy you want them to send?

• Prepare your ending pitch well and pitch it proudly. This is where the actual money is. Then follow up with your participants via email (or whatever platform you use) and continue strengthening the connection after the event. I did this after just one art workshop and felt good about it, but because of my poor communication with hosts elsewhere I wasn’t able to build a connection with most participants, which is a loss for my business and kind of the whole point of the tour, right?

• If a host asks you to teach a workshop ask up front if it is paid or volunteer. I assumed multiple times that gigs were paid and more than once they were not. The host had assumed I was a volunteer. This was incredibly frustrating for me since I drove across the country to be there, but hey - I assumed and I didn’t ask for clear confirmation. I’m the only one I can blame and I can only commit to doing better in the future. 
  

Yeah…So what was the tour about?

Right, back to your question. Now that you understand that the tour found me, not the other way around, you can see how laid-back I was in the production of it. (Yes, I painstakingly spent hours building the webpage, sales pages, social media graphics, emails and heavily promoting this), but beyond that I was in full-trust mode with it.

I had visions. I wanted this to be a HUGE money win for me. I started asking for this to be a $20,000 tour, then I asked for it to be a $50,000 tour. Who knows what magic would happen! Maybe I would meet someone wealthy who wanted to work with me in a big way. Maybe I’d meet a strategic corporate partner. Maybe I’d book 20 new clients at my first stop! Anything was possible!

Measuring Success

If Success isn’t measured purely by wealth, then what is wealth? 🧐

These two themes go hand in hand and it’s no surprise I talk about them both in my work often. It should then also be no surprise that I am discussing these concepts here, now, in the middle of my tour review! Ha! Yet somehow I’m surprised a little. Are you?

How I define financial nourishment today

In many of my art workshops we share journaling prompts designed to get to the heart of what makes you tick. The questions are designed to uncover your truth, which often is equated to your joy. Your joy points you to your path. Your path is where you find fulfillment and satisfaction. 

Through some of these journaling prompts I was able to guide myself in an exercise on defining financial nourishment for myself. For whatever reason I did this in my journal on September 7th, a couple of weeks before the tour began. Here’s what I came up with.

For me personally, financial nourishment looks like having more than enough (plenty to share) in the following categories:

• Food - healthy, plant-based, nutritional meals either cooked out or created at home.

• Drink - delicious wine to sip, enjoy and share. Quality ingredients. A beautiful assortment of herbs, spices and teas. 

• Foundations met - all of my bills are paid up and out with ease (rent, insurance, home improvement projects, insurance, IRA contributions, savings and investments)

• Generosity - easeful ability to buy beautiful quality gifts for loved ones on holidays, birthdays and just for fun. Also the ability to donate to worthy causes as I feel called.

• Luxury Expression - ability to easefully purchase clothes, shoes, accessories, pedicures and manicures, facials, massages, etc. whenever I want. 

• Art Supplies + Books - I want to have enough resources to always buy art supplies and books that call to me. This is how I grow and expand and stay relevant with my craft.

As I reflected on what true financial abundance meant to me I was amazed. These are the things that repeatedly make my gratitude list. These are truly the things that bring me lots of joy, peace and expansion.  Of course there are lots of people and places that make my list too, but those are intertwined in my list above. When I take a step back and look at my list of what abundance looks like for me at this moment in my life, it’s truly very simple, and for that I’m grateful. 

Before I share the numbers behind the scenes of the tour with you, I want to dive a little deeper into defining abundance. Allll of these lessons unfolded within me and around me before and during the tour, so I do believe there is correlation and a message that wants to be shared. 

✍️How do you define financial nourishment?

Lakshmi’s 8 types of wealth

While in Nevada City for a yoga retreat (end of week three on the tour), I wandered into a spiritual bookstore and found lots of books I needed, of course. One of which was about the hindu goddess Lakshmi, who has often intrigued me though I know little about her. The book was very thin, a great intro for someone like me. 

As I began to read the book a few days later, I learned that Lakshmi is the goddess of luck and abundance, but that money was only one of eight types of abundance she rules over. How fascinating, I thought. We all want to water wealth down to meaning money, but it really is so much more than that, isn’t it?

In my own words, here are the EIGHT types of wealth that this goddess rules over:

1. Wealth of money and riches

2. Wealth of vehicles and transportation

3. Wealth eternally, never ending

4. Wealth of victory, perseverance, courage and confidence

5. Wealth of strategy and planning

6. Wealth of nourishing food

7. Wealth of education and knowledge

8. Wealth of legacy, family and friends 

What a beautiful list.  

✍️How many additional types of wealth could you add to this list? Can you find gratitude in each category for the blessings already found in your life today?

When we take a broader understanding of wealth, abundance and prosperity I think we can quickly shift our vibration from the lie of lack and scarcity to a higher frequency matching appreciation, joy and gratefulness. From this space we are much more magnetic toward people and things that we desire. 

When I review Lakshmi’s eight types of wealth in relation to the tour, I have sooo much gratitude. She was with me all along. I experienced all eight of these types of wealth in abundance. I can’t even begin to share the depths of sweet gratitude I carry for each of these things. Safe transportation is so big in itself. I also found people who gave me nourishing food and safe places to stay. I enjoyed rich conversations and wonderful wine and tea. My cup is truly full. 

Thank you, Lakshmi. 

Money follows Joy

“Money follows Joy”, she said. I leaned forward on her gorgeous navy blue couch. The living room was beautiful but the real treat was the rest of the house - a kitchen she designed to use as the backdrop for her new cooking show, the private outdoor shower that felt like a literal wet dream (ha) and the european-inspired guest house she was renovating for a total and complete vibe away from the rest of the country.

This woman was my friend. She shared her heart on how she had made success happen for herself. It wasn’t by following the rules or working a job she hated with consistency for years. In fact, she had done some similar things as I had except on a larger scale and with more gumption. I wanted to be more like that. She told story after story of feeling called to do something, committing like hell and then letting the magic work itself out. She never had the money until it appeared at the last minute. She turned her money into more money so she can fulfill more dreams. And through all of the hardship and risk-taking and magic making, she had created a beautiful life for herself - a life that rippled out into her whole community and made her corner of the world a better place for everyone to live. 

She was living proof of the principles I teach and live by. When we follow our bliss and have faith that the universe is for us living this bliss, it all works out…always. Sure there are ups and downs, but overall it's all for your growth. It’s all for a reason, sweet soul. Don’t lose hope. 

The more fun you have, the more money.

Put another way: live to chase pleasure not avoid pain ☀️

Our job is to say yes to our yessss bc that is our divine curriculum 

Say yes to the desires of your heart. That is your path. 

(Loosely taken from an interview with Kate Northrup and Preston Smiles.)

Week by Week Review of the Tour

Along the way I wrote a private newsletter to folks who had subscribed to stay in touch with me on the tour for behind the scenes content. I thought about offering you links to view the week by week breakdown of the tour here, but at the moment I’m feeling like those sweet emails were very vulnerable, very raw, and written to a very small, intentional audience who wanted to be my pen pals along the way. It’s neat to read because I’ve shared my emotions from each moment of being on tour, which would come out all differently if I were writing it from today’s perspective. Anyway, I’m not going to share these letters now, but maybe someday. 🙂 Thank you for understanding.

• Week 1

• Week 2

• Week 3

• Week 4

• Week 5

• Week 6

Top Personal Takeaways from the Tour

Was the point of the tour for me to expand?

As I reflect on the tour, I wonder, was the whole tour a big reminder from God that I should be going after what I truly want, no matter what.  I asked myself, “If you really want this, then why are you chasing that?” 

This truly seems to be a theme of the tour. Knowing my truth, owning it and speaking it or acting it into existence. That’s how we create a life worth living. 

That’s how we create a life of true abundance, not empty riches with unfulfillment. 

I pulled three cards to summarize my tour, and over the past few weeks as I’ve ruminated on them, I have found their wisdom to be infinitely true of what this tour was about, for me, personally. 

1. I asked what the gift of the tour was: success/completion

2. I asked what the lesson of the tour was: step into my intuition

3. I asked how to integrate the teachings of the tour: speak my truth

I guess I wasn’t prepared for how much this tour was actually going to be about me and for me… Despite my illusions that it was all going to be serving other people. While it was very fun and fulfilling, it was also super hard. I was lonely a lot of the time - working silently across the country in a place where I love and belong but no longer call home. I spent a lot of hours on the road, not just driving to California, but driving all around it from place to place (one week I did 500 miles between cities!). I also learned a lot about stepping into my power and my boundaries. 

Success + Completion

This message felt right in my body. Something about the tour felt like closing a chapter. Maybe I’m closing the chapter of the life I lived in California. Maybe I’m leaning deeper into art and saying goodbye to the way I’ve been approaching my business the past few years. 

Only time will tell, but something in my gut felt complete at the end of this tour. Like I could close this book and take a breather before starting a new one. 

Step into my Intuition

In the world of “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit“ it can be really scary and vulnerable and endearing to actually say out loud that you want more.  Yes this is often the path for recovering people-pleasers like me. Particularly in week 5, I went through a lot of hard things that asked me to step into my power and speak my truth. I wrote about this week fully in my Week 5 Review, but here are the highlights:

• I canceled a Workshop to protect my energy

• I told a new client “no” and she fired me before our first session

• I showed up to the biggest private workshop of the tour and found that the room was empty due to a failure in communications on the host’s side. 

• I broke up with the most kind boyfriend I’ve ever had

• I realized I really want to be an artist, but I don’t believe I’m good enough or worthy so I hide behind lots and lots of other activities. 

Each of these things were huge in their own right, and yet to experience them all in one week felt like a flood, destroying everything that wasn't foundationally strong. When it ended, only what was true for me was left standing. I felt naked, vulnerable, exhausted and yet somehow underneath the shock of it all I also felt very empowered and more in my own skin than ever before. 

On the drive home I channeled these words to myself:

Love yourself so much that you hold out for what you want most.

Love yourself so much that you don’t settle.

Love yourself enough to stand true in who you are and what you stand for

Love yourself enough to say no. 

Love yourself enough to say yes. 

Love yourself enough to commit to extreme self discovery, self pleasure, self ritual and understanding.

Self loving

Self accepting.

Self becoming. 

For me, I think I may have been sacrificing my greatest unique ability (creative expression) in exchange for external approval, survival, and self protection.  But if that’s what my soul is really calling me to do, then I really have no choice but to do it. The scary part is releasing others' opinions and expectations and holding true to my own. Which makes sense of the integration lesson.

Integration: Speak my Truth

Like I said before, a few days before I left to go on tour I actually closed on a building with an apartment in it in the downtown of my hometown. It all happened quickly and surprisingly in late summer. For the first time in my life I was as excited to return home as I was to be on a trip. I had something to look forward to when I went back. I had a project that was all mine and waiting for me. That felt good.

Yet the thing with having your own project is that you are in control. You have to be the one who calls the shots and makes the decisions. If you get weak and let someone else make decisions for you, you may very well end up living with regret. The gift of the building is that it’s all mine to do with whatever I wish - from the decorating and designing of my personal apartment, to the endless business ideas that come with owning the front commercial space. I’ve wanted this level of freedom all my life, and now I have it - so I must be immensely mindful to stay in my body. Listen to my intuition. Speak my truth. I must care and look after this place just as it will care and look after me. 

I’ve spent a lot of my own time and money and energy donating my services. Doing things for free just because. The problem with that is that no one is going to put money in my account and food on my table but me. If I'm not taking care of myself I cannot keep taking care of others. I can’t be a powerhouse artistic healer if my own needs aren’t met. 

Sounds like: boundaries, standing in my truth, speaking my needs, realizing that my needs matter, speaking my voice

These are scary things for recovering people-pleasers, and yet it’s the medicine that will alchemize everything.

You are stronger than you think you are.

You are smarter than you think you are.

You are wiser than you think you are.

You are more badass and powerful than you realize 

The Numbers

Ah yes, now what your western mind and logical brain has been waiting for. The numbers. If you haven’t already figured it out, I want you to know I crafted the order of this report very intentionally. I’m not ashamed of my numbers. I simply believe that abundance comes in many, many different forms (see Lakshmi section above) and in all the ways I’ve spelled out true abundance for me and the tour, I’ve been fully satisfied and taken care of. That is worth so much more than any number on a page ever will. Yet, I also taught two bookkeeping workshops on the tour. I work with numbers weekly in my business. I teach other entrepreneurs not to hide from their numbers. And so, I know I have to share these, but I share them with the context that the tour was about much more than math. 

1 Journal Sold ($20)

14 journals donated or gifted (each costs me $20)

+4,750.1 miles

I had to put the plus sign because I didn’t account for a lot of miles. I should have done an odometer reading at both the beginning and the end of my trip but I didn't. I manually tracked miles from destination to destination instead, which gives a close estimate but doesn't account for all the little stops and turn arounds and what nots. I’m definitely closer to the 5000 mark for the full trip.

6 weeks (Plus a 7th week was spent in Atlanta for related business reasons) 

9 Cities

*not all the cities I visited but only the cities where I taught a workshop of some sort

• Bakersfield

• Sonora

• Tuolumne

• Ceres

• Turlock

• Modesto

• Sacramento

• Sunnyvale

• Carmel Valley
  

9 Total Workshops

4 Business Workshops

5 Art Workshops

*3 out of the 5 were donated.

Expenses

Total spend on gas: $631.94

Total spend on hotels/lodging: $890.83

Total spend on food:  $1108.92

• $463.82 of that was “personal food”, not necessarily business related, but consumed on the trip.

Art supplies, journals, office supplies, etc. Spent before the trip to prep and during the trip to keep things going. - $689.01

Total Tour Expense: $2856.88

Income

To protect the private organization that hired me for a workshop, my partners (hosts) and the SBDC I consult for, I’m not going to do a breakdown of where the income came from, but rather a lump sum from all of it.

This sum does not include money that I made from business activities that were not related to the tour. For example, I continued coaching clients in between workshops and tour events while on the road, however I’m not including that money as “tour income”. 

Total Tour Income = $2702.50

Profit

Total Tour Income = $2702.50

Total Tour Expense: $2856.88

Total Tour Profit = $-134.38

Now, I was THRILLED with this profit. Obviously I wanted it to be $100,000 in the black, but think about it. I spent 6 weeks in California marketing my business, meeting people, catching up with sweet friends and sharing my magic. Strictly from the tour I basically spent $134.38 for six weeks of expansion, growth and exposure. What would $134 worth of Instagram ads have gotten me? 

Additionally, you must remember I was still “working” normal work stuff outside of the tour activities, so if you were to factor that in, I would say I did very well. It costs money to stay home and work just like it does to travel and work, to see that it was actually very close to being a wash is phenomenal, especially for a first-timer. I guarantee you if I do it again I’d be more profitable simply because I’ve learned so much (see entire article above.) 

IG Metrics

It’s funny. I’m actually somewhat anti-Instagram. I teach marketing methods that do not utilize this platform or social media as a main strategy, and yet… After my first day in Bakersfield it was like a tide-a-wave of new followers and mentions. It seems those girls are VERY active on the gram and it’s working for them. Amazing, because I’ve never seen much traction in my own use of it for business. I guess their excitement rubbed off on me because I posted a lot throughout the rest of the tour because of these sweet friends. 

*Disclaimer: I only use organic social media in my business at the time of writing this. These stats and the full story shared below are a result of organic efforts purely. No ads were used or created before or during this tour. 

*Metrics are Based on the tour dates (September 16 - October 24th).

• 84 new followers

• 16 unfollows - This is a normal rate of flux for the gram. I assume it really wasn’t related much to the tour at all.

Top locations of followers:

• Frederick, OK (7.4%)

• Altus, OK (4.6%)

• Bakersfield, CA (4.5%)

• Oklahoma City, OK (2.7%)

• Modesto, CA (1.5%)

Okay, check out the difference between Altus and Bakersfield followers. Literally they are almost the same, which is amazing considering this tour was my first time actually being in Bakersfield. I told you they were a welcoming community!!

• Accounts reached: 10,170

• +26.6% growth from followers

• +1061% for non-followers

• Impression increased by 266%

• Profile views up by 170%

• Profile visits up by 174%

• External link taps  up by 80%

• Accounts Engaged:  211

• +92.2% of followers

• +12.8% of non-followers 

• Content interactions: +208%

• Reel Interactions: +5,650% (um, wow.)

So, these are the IG stats, which may seem fun, but I wouldn't be a proper business coach if I didn't discuss ROI and ROE.

ROI (Return on Investment)

As stated above I didn't pay to play on Instagram during the tour. Those new 84 followers were 84 actual humans I met in real life and enjoyed conversing with. GRATEFUL!!! Those profile views and website clicks, all from humans who evidently were interested in what I’m doing on a human level. Very cool right?

So how about the sales?

During the tour I was promoting my online intuitive art community experience, Soul Sparkle. I thought it was a great promo in tandem with doing live art workshops across the state. Not only did I promote the program on Instagram but also at the end of my in-person workshops where people were very captive and had just experienced the exact container that Soul Sparkle is designed to be.

I’m not going to give a full rundown of the launch of this program, but I will say I launched it slowly and with intention and I feel very, very satisfied in how I shared this via email, Instagram and IRL. All that to say, I only made one sale, and that sale was not at all related to the tour. 

We can converse all day on why that was. Maybe I needed to have more clear messaging, some testimonials would have been helpful I’m sure. And intentional follow up emails with workshop participants are a great idea too. However, I’m not disappointed in myself. I’m one chick running this business and to be both on-tour AND promoting an online offer at the same time is a heck of a lot of work and I’m proud as hell at how I handled it all. There’s always room for improvement but you have to celebrate your success where it is. 

ROE (Return on Efforts)

I feel like time will tell on this. I tell my clients business is built one relationship at a time and relationships take time. I met so many wonderful humans and I feel that many of them will come back around in one way or another. I like to call this “the ripple effect.” I think alllll the efforts put into this tour will ripple out in many different ways.  I can’t give you math for this one either, unfortunately…it’s just a feeling. 

So….was the tour successful?

I return to my original question. What is success? How you define success may be different than how I define success. 

Is Instagram a clear measure of my success? You be the judge.

Are Soul Sparkle sales an accurate measure of tour success? You decide.

Would I have written this article differently if the numbers were different? I’m not sure I can answer that, but I can say that my journey has always been one of re-defining success and in the incubator of this tour I did that again for myself even more deeply. I think that has to be the true gift of it all, money or no money. If I would have made $100,000 on this tour, would I have spent as much time reflecting on the non-monetary gifts? I’m not sure I would have. I may have been excitedly dancing onward and upward, not slowing down to integrate the true lessons and meaning behind this wild adventure. 

I believe success is living a life well lived that feels good to you. It doesn't matter if everyone on the outside thinks you’re amazing and successful. What matters is how you feel in your soul. Are you doing what you were born to do? Are you listening to the spirit within? Do you know your truth and speak it in honor? Are you satisfied at the end of every work day? Do you have peace in your soul?

Success isn’t a number, my love. 

✨If you want to redefine success for yourself, I have two options for you: Dream Big is a journal that helps you get clear on your life’s desires and purpose. I also created Sparkling Success which is a similar journal except it’s designed to help business owners find clarity and truth in their business. 

What’s next for you, Haley?

I’m ready to stay home for a while. I want to work on my building so I can move in it and step into this next chapter of loving myself more deeply and honoring my needs. I want to serve others in a way that’s more deeply ingrained with my spiritual gifts through the utilization of art. 

I want to host art healing workshops in my new building. I want to attract people from all over the world to come and heal with us in person in my beautiful, quiet, and friendly hometown.

I hope you’ll keep following my journey as it unfolds. 

Thanks for stopping by. Any questions left that I didn’t answer? Feel free to drop below. 👇