Episode 143: Building Bold Businesses Without Selling Your Soul | Farrah Haidar & Hala Yassine
Farrah Haidar and Hala Yassine know what it takes to lead, scale, and sell companies... and they’re not doing it the way they were told they had to. With roots in Lebanon and Syria, they’ve navigated burnout, imposter syndrome, and bias to build brands that reflect who they are and what they stand for. This episode is a real talk on what happens after a major exit, how to choose the right people to build with, and why purpose still matters when you're trying to grow. If you've been wondering how to lead without losing yourself, these two have lived it.
“Every place we landed growing up we tried to create a sense of community. That’s what we’ve created with the store, too. ”
“As we’ve redefined the role of women in society, we haven’t redefined the role of men in society. That’s the opportunity.”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters
00:00 Meet Farrah and Hala
01:15 Redefining leadership through lived experience
03:30 Why burnout changed everything
05:45 From culture shock to community building
07:30 The myth of the solo founder
09:00 Lessons from launching and selling companies
11:45 Staying grounded while scaling fast
14:15 What they wish more founders talked about
16:45 Building with purpose over ego
19:00 Arab representation in entrepreneurship
21:00 Choosing values over hype
23:30 Advice for staying true to your mission
26:00 What powerful means to Farrah and Hala
We thought we had hit truly the big time at that point for, you know, somebody we're very small, uh, family operations. Mm-hmm. So for to be considered for QBC was something that we, you know, we never had. I don't think I even dreamed of that.
That's Yaha Ene at Faha of Seven Sisters Scones, and this is The Powerful Ladies podcast.
Hey guys, I'm your host, Kara Duffy, and in this episode I am happy to introduce you to the two sisters behind the Delicious seven Sisters scones company based outside of Atlanta, Georgia. From moving around the world, surviving civil war, having multiple career journeys and more, these sisters never imagined working together or owning a bakery.
In this episode, we discuss all of that as well as what it means to be resilient. How to work with family and why long-term business plans are not worth the effort.
Hi guys. I'm so excited to have you on The Powerful Ladies Podcast.
We are excited to be here as well. Thank you.
Of course. Let's start. Please tell everybody who you are, where in the world you are and what you're up to. Well, we're, um.
I'm Kara Haar, and this is my sister Holly Ene. Um, we are the co-owners of Seven Sister Scones and Seven Sisters Kitchen out in Johns Creek, Georgia, which is a suburb of Atlanta.
Amazing. And of course, everyone's gonna know how they can get scones for the holidays, so can people go online right now and buy them before we even talk about the whole story? But
yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you just go to www.sevensisterstones.com and you can ship them nationwide. You can even schedule delivery.
So if you wanna do early Christmas shopping and just schedule it for later, you can do that.
Perfect. Okay, so now that everyone's gonna be online and looking at your delicious scones and everything else you have, let's tell everybody where Seven Citrus Scones came from. How did this all start? Okay, so it's a long story.
Uh, do you wanna tell it? No, you tell it. I tell it enough times. All right. So Hala, um, wanted a quick and easy breakfast for her husband. She used to be a chef, but then she became a psychologist. But then moved to Georgia and she had her first child and decided to make this portable breakfast for her husband.
And it was this beautiful cranberry orange scone. And then people started getting a hold of it and asking for flavors. And then of course, the sisters got involved. Yes, there really are seven of us. Um, and each one of us had a request, I want chocolate, I want lemon and poppy. I want this. And she kept creating all these flavors.
So I came to visit her. I was living in Boston at the time, and all I saw was people walking into her house, grabbing a bag of scones and leaving. And I said, I'm gonna start charging entry fees. Like mm-hmm. We have to do something with this. So she ended up visiting, most of the sisters lived in Boston at the time.
She ended up visiting us. Mm-hmm. And it, the, the idea was born. The name was born, we all got together. Um, and she just, just like, oh, I'm gonna prove this to you guys. It's not gonna sell. You'll see.
No. My thing was that if you had to pay for it, then you weren't gonna want it anymore, you know, because people always take free stuff.
Yeah. So that was where I
was coming from. Mm-hmm. So she did her first farmer's market and she called me and she's like, I made a hundred dollars. I'm like, that's great. And she's like, I paid $300 to be there. I'm like, well, we gotta fix that. But, um, we ended up, she ended up going from one to six farmer's markets and then, um, you know, outgrew a shared kitchen and everything that we were in, and ended up opening doors to the cafe on September, in the September of 2015.
Um, but we were already shipping at that point, so it was, it's kind of like that's where it all came from. Yeah.
Well, I think everyone's very curious about when you bring a business idea to seven Sisters, that's not like a five minute meeting.
No, no, nothing's ever a five minute meeting with seven girls sitting around talking.
Nevermind the meeting itself and what you're trying to figure out. It's all the side conversations that occur in the interim period too. Um, biggest mistake was my going to Boston to begin with, but you know, actually great things have happened from that meeting. So I'm, I'm very happy.
You know, our brother-in-laws always laugh at us because they're like, you know, what are your plans?
And we kind of look at them like, what do you mean what are our plans? There's seven of us, we're gonna sit around and talk about life. And that's kind of become, it's actually in on, printed on our boxes. Mm-hmm. You know, we hope you enjoy these like we do out on the deck with a cup of coffee talking about life.
Mm-hmm.
Um, so it's everything in the, everything in the business actually is kind of inspired by that. Our conversations and sisterhood.
Mm-hmm.
When you guys were eight or kids, did you ever imagine that you would be in business together? Did you ever imagine that you would be, you know, that seven sister scones would be a thing?
No. No. What did you imagine? I, she asked me this seven or eight years ago, I would've said, no, no way. Mm-hmm. There's an 11 year difference between us. So when I was eight, she wasn't even born yet. But, um, yeah. No, not at all. I mean, I, it would've been the furthest thing from my mind at that point. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. What were you imagining at that time? What were you gonna be
a doctor? I really, well, I am a doctor, not that kind of. No, I really was going to go into the medical field at that point. Mm-hmm. And, um, then, you know, certain things happened with life and I changed direction and, um, I actually went into the hotel restaurant industry for a bit and then changed my mind again and went into psychology, got my PhD in clinical psychology, became a psychologist.
Mm-hmm. And then decided, you know, to have kids and wanted something different in the interim period. And Seven Sisters was conceived at that point?
Yeah. When I was eight I wanted to be a lawyer. I was all about justice, merger, acquisitions, you know, that kind of thing. Um, I wanted the big corporate office and then.
I grew up. Um, and then it was like I wanted to be a journalist and that didn't work out. So I ended up as close as you could to journalism without being in journalism. I was a marketing business major.
Mm-hmm. Um,
got my MBA and did a bunch of corporate jobs and then decided to freelance
for a while and then did this.
Yeah. Yeah. And did you move from Boston to Georgia to run this, um, with her?
Yeah. You know, it's kind of weird how it all came together. Mm-hmm. So she, um, you know, started going to the farmer's markets. At the time I was really settled in Boston. My husband was working, um, full-time and I was freelancing.
And then she called me. She was very smart. She waited till I was under nine feet of snow and said, Hey, do you wanna move to sunny Georgia? And like literally within the same week my husband's job had gone completely virtual.
Mm-hmm. And
I was already completely virtual. With my freelancing and my freelancing.
I had actually started to taper it off. And I was like, well, it's the perfect opportunity. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, and that's, that's how we hap it happened. We moved.
Well, and I love hearing from both of the journeys we've heard so far that you never know what's coming next. You're going to have so many different careers and iterations of, of what you're doing and how you're spending all your brain power.
And for families who are close, we can't help but like braid each other in and out of what we're up to. Absolutely. Like, it, it never ends. Like this is a podcast I do with my sister, she's my audio engineer. It's because she moved to la I finally started it after talking about it for years. And you know, when you come from a family where everyone's a little bit involved and everybody, you see each other's gifts, you're like, Hey, you can do this.
Hey, help me. Or, you know, it just keeps happening. Um, how are the other sisters involved today?
Oh, they love to give their opinions about everything. Um, no, actually, you know, most of my other sisters are, I are in finance, actually. I'm banking, banking in banking. They're own banking. Banking. And so whenever we need business advice in terms of, um, you know, banking advice or things of that sort, they all step in.
But they also have been phenomenal. Like when we've, when we did QVC and we desperately needed hands on deck, everybody made, you know, took vacation time and came down and helped us. Um, yeah, so whenever they're needed, they all. Find a way to show up. My sister, um, last Christmas, um, had a gazillion things going on in her life, but made time to come down for a week because she knew how desperate we were mm-hmm.
For hands on deck. Mm-hmm. So that's the beauty of it. It's, it's, they, they see the need. They know that, that they're wanted and they just step up. You know,
even with COVID, I mean, when the, all the PPP planning was coming out and stuff, you know, sorting through all that, they would just call us and say, Hey, this is what's happening in the PPP stuff, you know, this is what you need to know.
Mm-hmm.
So, yeah, they're really awesome.
Well, let's talk about QVC because that is something many business owners dream of. How did that happen for you guys and how did it, how did it go?
Well, we were approached actually, initially, um, to see whether that was something that we were interested in doing. And we thought we had hit truly the big time at that point for, you know, somebody, we we're a very small, uh, family operations.
Mm-hmm. So for, to be considered for QBC was something that we, you know, were never had. I don't think I even dreamed of that. And so it was sudden. And so anyhow, we went, we got, we went through the interview process. Um, they loved us, they loved the product. Um, and then they told us how much they were gonna order.
And I looked at Farhan and I said, are you serious? Um, yeah. Yeah. So we went from baking, you know, maybe a thousand to two, uh, to 2000 scones a week to baking 25,000 scones in four days. Mm-hmm. Um, hand by hand by hand. We are completely from scratch by hand operation. And so logistically that was an interesting, uh, time to kind of figure out everything.
'cause you know, we're short on space, ingredients, need, you know, we don't have the refrigeration, the freezer space, so we had to bring everything and put everything together. Mm-hmm. And I, you know, this is where I believe education, uh, is, is, is, yeah. Underrated for a lot of people because had we not had the backgrounds that we did in terms of education and so forth, I don't think we would've had the wherewithal to put it all together.
Mm-hmm. Um. So that helped us a lot. Um, for, for me, it really was a dream come true. Will I ever repeat that experience? No. Hands down? No. Only because, honestly, this is nothing against QVC. Um. We were very naive in how we did it. Mm-hmm. Um, so the cost of a, the extra costs that we had to mm-hmm. That we incurred to make this happen, um, were ended up not being beneficial to us at the end of the day.
Um, and then we found out that, you know, we thought it would be great advertising and, um, all of that, but what we truly found out after the fact was the customers of QVC are loyal to only QVC. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So if you're looking at it as a way to get your name out there and kind of build a customer base, um, I would say really reconsider and talk to people that have done, been there, done that.
Mm-hmm. Because you'll find that that is not really the truth of the matter.
I think the, the silver lining of it was that it gave us a crash course in operations. Exactly. Exactly. And it really set us up for bigger and greater things. Um, and on top of that, like if I. I think we would reconsider it if we were set up operationally differently.
Differe. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and we would be able to do some of the things that we had to outsource in-house. Yeah. We might reconsider it, but it would be an addition, not a main business strategy. Like there are people that, that's their main, this is all they do business strategy. They, they are on QC. For us it would always be just a like an extra channel.
Yeah. Yeah. And I have to, I have to augment all of this because we are a perishable item. If we were a non-perishable item, oh, this would've been a breeze. Yeah. Yeah. But because you, we are a perish. We do sell a perishable item. We are perishable too. No, but we do sell a perishable item. Uh, and that, that has to be taken hugely into consideration.
Yeah. 'cause all the math changes, the scheduling, the everything changes when it's that way. Right. Yeah. Um. You know, it's, I've worked with quite a few clients in the beauty space, and it's the same that you forget that beauty skincare products are also perishable. Mm-hmm. And it's, it's a whole other calculation when you're trying to figure out what you can do and you can't optimize everything the same way as if it wasn't.
No, that's right.
Yeah. So, on a day-to-day basis, how are you guys working together? What's your flow? You know, do you get in fights? Like what is it like to be two sisters running a business that. Is hands on and hectic. Yeah.
Um, so here's the thing. There's a, there's a, there's a lot. Um, so first, first and foremost, when you're working with a family, I think it's so important to have early, honest and really hard conversations, and that's where her.
Background as a psychologist really helps. Yes. Um, so when we first got together, we had some really tough conversations. Mm-hmm. And we agreed on specific guidelines. Um, and we also agreed like, like who's the tie breaker? What if we disagree? What's the tie breaker like? And you know, how we, we agreed that hall was the tie breaker 'cause she is the majority shareholder, et cetera.
Mm-hmm. So that's the first thing. Um, we are lucky in the sense that our skills are very complimentary. So Laura, so Hala is an, a phenomenal, you know, chef for production, all that kind of stuff. My job as the marketing and mm-hmm. Sales and ops and customer service part of it. So we compliment each other in that way.
Mm-hmm. And we, we have enough respect and trust for each other that when we come to, to the other, it's like when we're just talking about a topic that's in my wheelhouse, she's gonna. Make sure that, you know, she's gonna acknowledge the, the extra knowledge that I bring to the table mm-hmm. Versus other way around.
Um, so there's definitely that, uh, that's the way we work around each other is we have defined areas, we have defined guidelines, and I also think that we do take time out to just be sisters. Mm-hmm.
Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Absolutely.
There's such, it's so hard sometimes when you work with someone, you know, then you see them at dinner and you're like, oh, just, just one thing and I'll just Yeah.
But to be really disciplined about saying, this is sister time.
Mm-hmm.
And let's not talk about the business. Um. Is really, really important to preserve that relationship. And we had agreed from day one absolutely. That the relationship was more important than the business any day of the week. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. I think also if you're gonna work with family, um, define goals, honesty, all that kind of stuff, but also exit plans. Yes. What happens when one of you wants to leave? Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Or, or changes. Um, have, and those are hard things to think about 'cause you go in so optimistic. It's kinda like when you first get married, oh, I'm never gonna not like you.
Yeah. You know, there, you're always gonna not like someone at some point. Mm-hmm. And what happens when that happens. Mm-hmm. So, I don't know. Do you have anything to add? I love you far.
No, actually, uh, she's, I think we definitely do compliment each other. Mm-hmm. And we do respect each other and trust each other. So I think if you have those things in place and guidelines in which, you know, if I have a shift or she has a shift, you are free to come and talk about it. And the sisterhood has to come first at all times.
I mean, I, I know we're both invested in this business and we've put gazillions of hours into it, but at the end of the day, we both each tell each, we both tell each other this all the time. Both of us can walk away and it's okay. Mm-hmm. And, you know, yeah. That's probably why it works so well for both of us.
Yeah.
Well, and, and speaking back to your PhD, right, I think everyone's trying to get back to respect and trust. And if you guys already have that, you're light years ahead of what most business partners are trying to figure out. Yeah. And you have the advantage of the, the secret language that you can have with family members.
Like, you know how to read each other, you know what's going on. You probably know each other better than you know yourselves. Right.
Well, one thing we definitely agreed on in the beginning was honesty. No matter how much it's gonna hurt, at least I won't be second guessing what you're saying and you won't be second guessing what I'm saying.
Yeah. If, if we put all of the stuff that we have on the table on a cost of basis, then there's no, oh, what is she thinking? What is she doing? Is, is she okay? Is she not okay? She's not okay. It's her responsibility to come and tell me I'm not okay. And just as it is mine to tell her the same. Mm-hmm. I think that's why we have a really good working relationship.
Yeah. I trust that she's gonna be honest.
We also like, just like we separate our sisterhood, I think we separate also when we're in the scon, there's a sense of professionalism there. Yeah. Right? Mm-hmm. Like, yes, we do understand each other and stuff, but there's a professionalism. Like I would never call her like a a mean nickname or something in the Scon, you know, like that.
I see, I see family members do that to each other, and I'm like, you know what? Leave that at the door. There are employees there, there's command, there's, you know, there has to be a certain amount of professionalism when it comes to the workplace.
Yeah. And as you mentioned earlier, you guys had such great background and having business experience and having, you know, uh, high level professional careers where you knew what that environment was like.
Mm-hmm. It's really interesting. Oh, go ahead. Oh, sorry. I
think we also come from like, you know, we're originally Lebanese. We come from a background where we've seen a ton of family businesses. Mm-hmm. And we've seen them go really wrong. I mean like, and, and I was, that was actually one of our fears when we first started, we're like, listen, we've seen this go sideways.
Yeah. You know? And that's, we never want that to happen to us. So I think coming also from that background mm-hmm. Gave us an extra level of understanding in terms of what to avoid. Yeah. Yeah.
Well I imagine with a business like you guys have, your customers are so important and you get such great direct feedback from them all the time.
All
sometimes a little too much. I'm only kidding.
What does that mean to you? Like the regulars that are in the cafe, the people who order every year, who order regularly. Like what does that mean to you guys and what have you done to really make those relationships matter? Just like the relationship you guys have matters.
Oh,
wow. I, when we, when I first opened doors, I, Farrah and I were both, were under the understanding that we're trying to create community. Mm-hmm. Um, we come from a community of sisterhood, of, uh, we both have extended families, friends, so that is essential, at least for me, and I know it was for her as well, uh, to maintain.
Mm-hmm. So every customer that walked into the door. We try to create that whole, you're part of our family now, you know? Mm-hmm. We talk to people. I can't tell you how many lonely people are out there. Oh, yeah. Uh, we take the time to extend ourselves. Um, I was telling Farrah today, actually, I called her the paddock today.
I had a, I had an, an older lady called me saying she had not received her scones, and she was wondering when they were coming because she had missed them. And, um, the scones were a gift from her, um, grandson, and it was part of a subscription. Anyway, long story short, in the, in the context of her, you know, talking to me about this, I spent 10 minutes talking to her because she told me about her life and how much she enjoyed them, and mm-hmm.
All of a sudden she's like my best friend, and I'm thinking to myself, I've gotta figure out how to get this next shipment just comes to you now. But that's how it feels. It feels like, mm-hmm. It's personal. Yeah. Because you look somebody in the eye and you know, I spent 20 minutes today talking to a mom who had just put her son in residential care, uh, for various different reasons.
Uh, I don't need to do that. You need to, you know. Yeah. We extend ourselves. Those are small stories. I mean, this is stories that just happen today. These are mm-hmm. Regular stories that happen with us. So when people walk in, uh, uh, customers that have been coming from day one, they feel they're coming, they're coming in home.
Mm-hmm. You know, that they know it's kind of, um, cheers. Yeah. Yes. Where everybody knows your name kind of thing. They really do. And they have these special orders. We say who it's for. Everybody knows what, you know, what they're, you know, asking for without even having to write it all down. But I think it's that personal touch.
It's that saying, Hey, I recognize you. I know who you are. Um. How is your, you know, son doing? Mm-hmm. How is your daughter doing? The fact that we remember little different things about people, uh, honestly, that's building community for us and that's what's kept us going and kept people coming back.
Mm-hmm.
And it's, and we extend that online too, in the sense like, every time an order comes in mm-hmm. You know, we'll call someone if they have like, let's say Merry Christmas and it's shipping out next week, we'll call someone and say, you know, the message says Merry Christmas, are you sure you want it to ship out next week?
And they'll, they're completely floored that we did that. Mm-hmm. But it's a conscious choice to not just. Be acceptable and do what mm-hmm. Asked of us, but rather to deliver an experience to the customer Right. That they really appreciate and enjoy. And I'm, I'm really hoping we can continue to scale that.
So far we've been, we've been able to do it, but I mean, we, we had a customer commission, a, uh, like a chicken like Ood and, uh, from, from China because we had fulfilled so many of her, like customer, you know, she had gifted, et cetera, et cetera, so. Mm-hmm. It's, I think it's just a matter of, you know, I always hearken it back to the fact that we've lived in a lot of different places and we mm-hmm.
You know. We, she was born in Lebanon, lived in Africa for a while, and then we moved to the States. I was born when we were in the States, and then I moved back to Lebanon. Then we were in California, and then we were in Boston. Then we were in the, it's just been like in every place we've gone, we've landed, we've tried to create this sense of community and family.
So it was just a natural that when we opened the store, we do that as well.
Yep. We move my entire life as well. And I think there's something about, you know, people get so afraid to move their kids around. Mm-hmm. And I'm like, why? Like, you learn how to meet people. You know, you have to generate community yourselves.
You just, okay, we're new. Let's create it. If you wanna, you create it. We just did a, a whole, we're in currently a month of customer service for my group coaching and we just had a workshop on it and we were talking about it. I'm so glad you reinforced it, like why these relationships matter. You know, we think customer service is telling someone when it's shipping, but No, it's the relationship piece, right?
Like there's transactional customer service and there's the kind that dazzles and wows customers and you guys are exactly doing all the dazzling and wowing. So it does not surprise me that you have loyalty and commitment and, you know, it becomes a full circle love language at that point. 'cause you're giving so much and, and getting it back.
Absolutely. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
So of course definitely inspires
us.
Oh yeah,
yeah.
Say that again? I said it definitely inspires us to do better, you know?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Because you realize that people are, are watching and, and holding you accountable, not just for delicious food, but also you know, everything else that comes with it.
Mm-hmm. Definitely.
So you guys, I'm sure, are very well versed in what it means to be surrounded by lots of powerful ladies. Yes. In be in addition to your sisters. Like how else have women impacted your life and gotten you to where you are today?
Oh, wow. So here's an interesting twist to that question for you.
Mm-hmm. Okay. So my mom was a very traditional, quote unquote, uh, Lebanese woman in so many ways, and so untraditional in so many other ways. Mm-hmm. Growing up having kind of that, um, both energies playing. Mm-hmm. You kind of get a little confused. I'd never really understood her until I was much older in terms of the power she really had and the power she imparted on us in terms of, you know, be yourself.
Mm-hmm. Um, you can do, um, push yourself harder, work harder, um, reach for the stars. Mm-hmm. Um, so I, I think the gr as a young individual, I didn't realize how important that was until I got to be a parent myself, actually. Mm-hmm. Um, that was one aspect of it, but it was also my father, um, who being the Middle Eastern guy that he was, you would expect it, you know, seven girls, two boys, that the boys would get everything.
My dad pushed us harder than he pushed the boys. Mm-hmm. Um, and so I think. That gave us also, um, the, the, i, I wanna say the net from which to launch, knowing that no matter how high we flew, if we fell, there was always something there to catch us. Between the both of them, I think we thought, we all grew up thinking we could reach for the stars.
So I think that would be the first powerful kind of display of relationship, at least from my perspective growing up. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And then I had a lot of woman mentors in my life. Um, I was very fortunate to, I mean, I still remember Mrs. Williams from high school who adored and celebrated Shakespeare every day and talked about Shakespeare, but she was such a phenomenal, powerful woman in her own right and kind of imparted that Maryanne.
Um, another friend of mine who, another teacher actually, I mean, I've had so many people in my life be great. I'm not, I'm, I'm talking individuals day-to-day individuals. Mm-hmm. Not, you know, anybody famous or anything like that. Those are the people that I would, that I'm thankful for. Mm-hmm. Because as a woman, they showed me that I could be bigger and greater and not be scared of the power that's within me.
Mm-hmm. I think Mom was, was such an inspiring example in a lot of ways. And again, I think as I grow older, I appreciated her more and more and more. I mean, this was a woman who, you know, finished ninth grade and was considered highly educated for
her time. Um, and who wanted to continue by the way. But those times you don't, women didn't, you know, um, women didn't, we didn't need it.
They didn't need it. Her job was to get married and have kids. Mm-hmm.
And she did, she did get married and have kids. And then she, she led, you know, nine kids around the globe. I mean, massive moves, you know, from Beirut to London to to Nigeria, to, to the us the us. So, and she did it all with this. You know, militant organization.
Mm-hmm. And that was amazing. So, and then, you know, I remember one of the great, um, moments of my life was when I decided I was 19. I was living in Beirut, you know, could have had very comfortable life. And I decided to leave, come back to the US and, um, I thought my mom would really resist. And she was the one that actually looked at me and said, you're never gonna be happy here.
Mm-hmm. And she paved the way. Um, and that was such a lesson in, in teaching people how to fly, like letting people go when they need to. Um, and I've also had some really super inspiring, I think I grew up, you know, between nine and like. I would say 14. We were in the Civil War in Lebanon was 85 to about 90.
Mm-hmm.
And um, you know, I went to a CS, which is American Community School. It's an expat American school. Mm-hmm. Obviously there weren't a whole lot of Americans there at the time, but the principal was this American woman. I remember she was. Like six foot two blonde, you know, blue-eyed, completely American, had married a Lebanese van, decided to stay and she, this was a woman who had the Syrian army at her door saying, we want to take over the school and use the space.
And she negotiated a way to have them only take a part of it so she could keep the school open. There were so many inspiring, like during that time, I think. Mm-hmm. You know, a lot of Lebanese men traveled because there wasn't a way to earn money in the country. Mm-hmm. So a lot of times when, you know, when things would shut down, for some reason, every time our mom left the country, the airport would shut down.
We'd be all with my older sisters who poor things, had to manage everything. Mm-hmm. Um, including us. Like I was like 10, 11, you know, they were in their, what, early twenties. Mm-hmm. Um. But it was the woman, it was the woman that kept things moving and operating. Mm-hmm. And, and, you know, kept people safe and going.
So there's been so many inspirational women along the way. Mm-hmm. And I, I truly believe we, we don't realize how much our, our everyday life is affected by women.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's, there was a whole conversation we had the other day that was very provoking. 'cause this woman was in her late thirties.
She's been a professional her whole life, has never, hasn't had kids yet. And she goes, I'm a working female professional. I'm so glad that I have the right and the access to get a job and provide for myself. She goes, but I think we missed the mark when all women started working of everything we would be losing that we had to like cover for.
Mm-hmm. And I'm like, yeah, like we're never giving women credit at all for how much they've handled, taking care of kids, taking care, care of elderly family members, taking care of all the volunteer opportunities. There's like a breakdown. Mm-hmm. Um, at least in my community here of having enough volunteers at all the organizations in the community, because typically volunteers would've been mothers who are at home.
Mm-hmm. And now they're not. And now they have so much else on their plate. Like there's, that's the last thing that's available. So I totally agree with you that there's so much that women do every day that they're not getting credit for.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
And, you know, just, you know, it's changing people's lives.
You know, I, and speaking to the both of you and the how, um, the education experience you've had that's allowed you to be successful in, in your business. There was a, I used to live in Boston and we were having a conversation, 'cause it was controversial at the time when Harvard was debating, like having requirements for after you graduated from medical school, how long do you have to be, uh, providing your services for the degree you have.
Mm-hmm. Because they, people were getting upset that women were becoming doctors and then not practicing. Yeah. And they're like, yeah, but they're what? Like, you can't lose the, what goes into your brain? It's going somewhere into the community. Absolutely.
Absolutely.
You know what I think the real challenges, Kara, is as we've redefined the roles of women and expanded opportunities for women, what we haven't really redefined is the role of men and other people in society.
Mm-hmm. We've kept that stagnant. Yes. But the truth is, is that it, it's a, it's a yin and yang. As we mold and change, they have to mold and change. And we're seeing that now. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. I
mean much, much more. Like I look at some of my peer group, um, where women are the main breadwinners in the family, so you know what the guy, the man's doing, pickup.
Um, my husband, you know, volunteers. Like, there have been times when I've signed up for volunteering and then it explodes at the bakery and I call him, I'm like, you know, you gotta take my place. And he would walk into these spaces and these women would take pictures with him and send it to, to their spouses saying, it's time you did this.
Mm-hmm.
Um,
but we're seeing more men volunteering. Mm-hmm. And, and you know, we're going to more flexible work schedules and maybe this hybrid work from home that COVID has inspired will help with that. But I think that until we redefine how men are allowed to operate in our society and what's expected of 'em
mm-hmm.
It's
not enough to be the little league coach anymore.
Yeah.
We're gonna continue to, to put all this on women and it's, it's just gonna continue falling apart.
Yeah. Yeah. 'cause the, I think the quote recently was like, the women's to-do list has never gotten shorter. It's just gotten longer. Yeah. So. Mm-hmm.
Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely.
When you were both growing up and of course traveling the world and having your sisters and, you know, having these dynamic parents, what did you hope for yourself and your futures, and how have you fulfilled those wishes? Uh, as adults,
you go first.
Oh, difficult questions here.
Um, you know, I never, it, it's. As we moved from country to country, I think for us the focus was more on establishing and building communities. So mm-hmm. You, you were always focused on the here and now mm-hmm. Of what you needed to do, uh, to kind of make the space home, um mm-hmm. Build a community, um, you know, kind of excel at whatever you were doing at that moment in time.
So I, you know, we had, you know, you had aspirations and dreams. I wanted to become a doctor, but I never really thought more than, I just wanted to be a doctor, because that's something that I really, really thought of my, that I really wanted to do, but mm-hmm. I think the focus was so much on the here and now that the future seemed like it was inevitably, I mean, inevitable in the sense it was just gonna happen, right?
Mm-hmm. Um. I don't recall thinking, uh, beyond that, to be honest with you. And then as you know, things shifted and changed, and I grew decision making. You know, everybody says you have to have a future plan, you know, five years, 10 years, I stop at five, honestly. Uh, and that's even, that's like even stretching it.
Yeah. Because I have no idea what's gonna happen tomorrow. I hate, I, I hate to be the one that had all these, like, solid plans that I worked out before COVID hits because mm-hmm. They're all gone. Um, so I, I just say live in the moment. Um mm-hmm. And that's been truly, I mean, you have to plan. It's not that you don't have to plan for the future, but not the way I, I see people planning, like, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna go this and I'm gonna do that.
I'm like, pivot and change. Change and pivot is a must, otherwise you're just gonna fall apart, kiddo. Yeah. Go for it. You know? Um. And I think what I see in this generation coming up is the fear of pivot and change. Mm-hmm. There's such, there's such high anxiety about what's next for them. Mm-hmm. And I think it's because the demand to figure it all out is so hard on them.
It's like you, you can't figure it out. You don't even know who you're gonna be in 10 years. You don't even know what, no. You know what, what opportunity's gonna be there, pivot. Look at what's around you, be in the moment. Take, grasp it and move on. You know? Mm-hmm. I couldn't foresee QBC happening. I couldn't foresee the Today Show happening.
I couldn't, you know, so I may have planned and done, and, but the reality of it is, is you, you, you, you put seeds and you hope that they, you know, plants come out and sometimes you grow a tree, sometimes you grow a bush. I, you know. Yeah. You just hope for the best. And I think that's, I don't know if that answers your question, but that's always how I've been.
No, and I'm so glad you said that because it makes me, I feel so bad for other entrepreneurs who are like, I haven't gone past a business plan. I'm like, throw it away. Throw it away. Like you need a to-do list, not a business plan right now. Like, people get so stuck and, and, and speaking to young people, I've had so many young people be like, help me find my purpose.
I'm like. I, I don't think you can pay anyone to help you find your purpose, but I'm like, go do anything, right? Like, literally go do anything. Because I think we forget, as you said, being present, there's so many options right in front of us that we're not looking at, and I, I don't know what's happened, but if you choose what looks like fun and there's an ounce of responsibility mixed in there mm-hmm.
It tends to lead to something like, what's more fun making scones or, you know, doing something else like, I don't know, I kind of wanna make scones. Okay, let's go do that. Like,
mm-hmm.
We, I think they think sometimes that there are these profound conversations happening in these Fortune five hundreds, and I can tell you they are rarely happening.
So it's like, what makes sense? What do we need to do now? Like, okay. Like there's too many steps to look at all of them at once.
Right.
Yeah. Yeah. Agree. It's funny, like, I think from a
very young age, I was always very ambitious. My mom tells this, well, I used to tell this whole this, um, great story about me that she's like, are you gonna take care of me when I get older?
And I said, no, I'm too busy. I'll be too busy. I was like, five. Um, but like, so I was always highly driven and ambitious, but then, you know, I, in my teen years, I was growing up in a civil war and it was mm-hmm. Everything was chaotic and changing all the time. So that gave me, you know, the silver lining was, it gave me flexibility.
Mm-hmm. And then, you know, I was really driven and I, I went, I put myself through, you know, BS and then an MBA and it was like all this corporate track. And I took my first corporate job and I said. Oh my God, this is not me. And I think that sometimes, you know, for me, when people are highly, you know, very driven or very intellectual, they forget to sometimes just check in with their gut.
Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Because I remember when I took that corporate job, I was actually after my MBA offered two jobs at the same time, and my gut was telling me to take the other one. But, you know, the logical, this is the plan part to made me take the first one. And it, it was the, i, I don't know if it was the wrong decision, but definitely didn't end up working on, and that was the job that said, that made me say, I'm gonna go freelance for a while and mm-hmm.
And figure life out. So. Yeah, I think that sometimes, you know, just say having a loose idea mm-hmm. Of what you wanna do and then seeing what comes up. Because sometimes, and, and people forget this, they always think that if they don't have a plan, they're gonna fall on something less. And they forget that sometimes the universe offers you something more than you ever could have thought possible
or dream of.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah. How, you know, I think about being someone who has not grown up in a civil war, and I hear that and I just think like. I think about the scare, the most scared I've ever been. And I'm wondering, is that how you're operating every day or does it become something that is you're present to and it's a little bit removed?
Like how close does it get to you and how, how do you operate in that condition on a everyday basis?
You operate normally Yeah. Until things erupt. Yeah. Mm-hmm. That's basically it. And then you, uh, gather yourself and you protect yourself until things, you know, smooth out. Mm-hmm. It is, you are con it's, it's heightened anxiety on a constant basis.
Yeah. That kind of just becomes the norm. Um. And you live day to day. Mm-hmm. It it teaches you to be present. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, obviously that's silver lining because a lot of people will go through P-A-T-S-D and you know, get a whole slew of issues. It depends on we Okay. So she told you right earlier, my mom would travel and the whole country would shut down and fighting would erupt in the streets, and here's my sister and myself taking care of the rest of the siblings.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um. And so what we would do is, because you know, the fighting was down the street bombs. Um, you, you could hear bullets, bombs. We would jack up the music Yep. Start a dancing session, play monopoly and you know, we would be in a place that was safe. Mm-hmm. Well as safe as possible. Yeah. And then we would just enjoy the three days that we were locked up.
Mm-hmm. Uh, and that's what we tried to create for the younger siblings. And I think that gave them, gave them some assurance. Yeah. Where the rest of the building that, 'cause you know, in Lebanon and Beirut itself is it's buildings, right? Yeah. So the rest of the people building in the building would go down to what we call a basement shelter.
Mm-hmm. Shelter. Yeah. And the mothers would be yelling at us, I can't believe you're not taking your sisters down there, your brother's down there, and what are you guys crazy? You're on the eighth floor, blah, blah, blah. And we're just looking at 'em. When the building falls, there's only two stories above us, but there's going to be T 11 going down at you.
Yeah. Right. No, as a joke kind of thing. Mm-hmm. But for me, at that point, it was about trying to create some normalcy in, in all the chaos that was, we were constantly surrounded with because you never knew what fact, you know, who was gonna fight with who, who's gonna do this? So nothing was safe. Mm-hmm. Yet you, you, you create an environment where you function the best that you can under that umbrella.
Yeah. And I do. You did a good job. You did a phenomenal job. And I, and I do think that you adapt, like, I remember when I first moved back to the US I remember two things very distinctly. I went into the supermarket and I wanted ketchup. I'm standing in front of this aisle and all I see is these ketchup bottles.
I'm like, how many bottles of ketchup do you need? Like how many varieties? Like just mm-hmm. In, in Lebanon we had two, you know, hees and Libby's, and that was it. And you know, so like the, the amount of varieties you have to adapt to having, you know, more and more mm-hmm. Abundance, but also you had to adapt.
Like, I remember the first time I made an appointment with someone, they were planning like three or four weeks out. And I'm like, who knows what's gonna happen? Are we gonna be alive in three, four weeks? Like, what do you mean, three or four weeks? But you adapt and then, you know, your, I think your nervous system just gets used to the fact that, oh, it's safe here and, and you heal and things, you know, go back.
And then there are things that trigger you. Like, I gotta admit, when COVID happened and my kids were home. That was about the same age that we went through like a major part of the Civil War and I was home. Mm-hmm. You know, remote schooling as well. And I'm like, I left Lebanon so my kids didn't have to go through this.
And now we're here again. Which just goes to show you, you can plan as much as you want. Yeah. But what's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. Mm-hmm. I think the greatest thing, the greatest gift and the greatest silver lining that I learned from the Civil War is people rise.
Mm-hmm.
And I tell this to people all the time, especially to, to, to people at the, you know, scum with some of the younger kids.
And I'm like, but I don't know if I can do it. I'm like, you will rise, rise to the
occasion.
You will always rise to the occasion and as long as you believe that you'll be okay.
Mm-hmm.
And that's, uh, and I think that's also why we, we didn't look at the QVC thing and go, there's no way we can do it. We said, we will rise and we rose.
And that's just, I think the greatest gift you can give anybody is telling them that.
And I, and I think when, uh, leaders asked me how to manage people on their team, we have to come back to that because no one ever gave us extra training. No one ever even showed me where the bathroom was half the time at a new job.
So there's so much power in giving people figure it out. Yep. Like we, we, there's this approach of having to like teach everyone everything and let me show you all the things. And I'm like. No, like you're hurting yourself and your team because you're not letting them rise that way. It's like the joke of like, what course can I take to get more confidence?
I'm like, you can't buy it. You can't buy it. Like go else scares you.
You stifle their creativity. Right, exactly. You hired this person because they had something like every, a lot of people are qualified, but you hire that person 'cause they have that spark. Mm-hmm.
And
if you sit there and dictate to them how they're gonna do every single little thing, you don't let them bring their own judge to the table.
Right. Yeah. Their own special something. And, um, actually I, I follow Jesse Atler and Sarah Blakely a lot, and they have this great thing where they ask people, if you didn't know how to do your job, or if no one told you how to do your job, how would you do it?
Mm-hmm.
And I think that's such an empowering and great question, and it inspires so much innovation.
Mm-hmm. It's really like just the way to go.
Yeah. Because people are smart and capable if, if they're given the space to do those things right. Yeah. Uh, so as we're going into 2022, what are you guys excited about for the business and for yourselves?
Well, okay. I just became an empty nester and, you know, all the talk about all the drama and the sadness and stuff, like, I, I adore my kids, but it feels so liberating.
Mm-hmm. Um, I dedicated many, many years towards, you know, their caretaking and so forth. So now I feel like, oh, this is the opportunity for me now to do kind of all the things that I've set aside because I want it to be a really, a very available parent to my kids and all that. So I, I feel like the world is kind of shifted a little bit where opportunity is like everywhere.
Mm-hmm. So there's that aspect of it on a personal level, um, on a business level. We are in the process right now of looking at the whole business model and trying to figure out exactly what we want, where we want to go next. Mm-hmm. And so we've decided not to just keep everything open. Mm-hmm. And then at the end of this year, we're gonna sit and we're gonna talk it through and kind of look at what's working, what's not working, do shifts, changes, so that mm-hmm.
When we hit January, it, it's kind of a new and improved seven sister scone slash seven sister kitchen. Yeah. Um, so it's nice to, to feel that anything's possible. I think that's where I'm at right now. It's like the world is my oyster and, and I don't know if it's because somehow, you know, we've been kind of so contained with COVID and everything that it feels like it's almost there.
Yeah. I can almost feel it, but, um, that's what I feel right now. It's like the world is just about. Anything can happen. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So my kids are still at
home, so I don't
have a
bad way or so thing, but, um, um, I'm excited to see what, where they go, but I'm not nowhere near that anyways, so, um, co what I feel like, I'm really excited to see where the business will go.
'cause I do think that COVID rearranged the game, especially for us. Mm-hmm. I mean, we were kind of lucky that we had this shipping arm
Absolutely right.
And then COVID hit and our retail traffic tanked and our catering disappeared.
Mm-hmm.
But our shipping arm really took off and we were just in the right place at the right time.
And that's really rearranged how we do everything in, in, in the store. And I just, I'm, so, I'm excited to see where that puts us next.
Mm-hmm.
You know, um, so that's what I'm excited for in 2022.
Yeah. I call it the year of reinvention, and that's really what I'm calling it. For me, I call it freedom.
Well, and I see a theme, right? For, for all the businesses who made it through 2020, and they're, they're bouncing back now in 2021, and it's, everyone is feeling that itch to, you know, either balance getting more thriving happening of like the business working and their lives working, or really dedicating to the next level because sometimes the next level is an easy, doesn't mean working 10 times harder.
Mm-hmm. No, no. And I think that's part of the, um, reinvention that I feel. Mm-hmm. Um, I've dedicated, um, six very long years. Yeah. I mean, this is, the last few months are the first few months where I've actually had no enforced, I must have a day off. Um, I have been working six years practically straight outside of like, you know, Christmas vacation holidays and stuff like that.
Mm-hmm. Um, and so that's why I think it's not about working harder. It really is about working smarter and how to, you can work as hard as you want to work, and that's great and wonderful, but if the working harder is not giving you what you need in terms of the balance between personal as well as business, then you're losing Yeah.
Yeah. You're not gaining anything. Yeah. You can have all the money in the bank, but then what you, you don't have to, you don't have the time to spend it. You don't have the, the, the will or the energy to do anything with it, so. Great kudos to you, you know, but I think right now the focus is on that balance for me.
Um. Mm-hmm. And you
know what? I think this new generation, they really enforce that. And I have to admit, it's very inspiring. Like, you know, I come from Gen X Euro Europe, boomer Gen Xer, and, and it's like, she just called me old, by the way, just fyi. So yeah. So we, we come from generations at like, you know, 60, 80 hour weeks.
Mm-hmm. Were just the norm. You know, hustle was the norm. Um, but this new generation where they're like, you know, why should I hustle so hard if I can like work half the time and still have a life? And it's like, you know what, you're right. Because now I'm looking at it and I'm like, I don't know. Like the hustle is great, but.
You gotta have a life at the end of the day.
I mean, that's what I love. I think it's so inspiring. Um, the CEO of Citi, which she came up with recently mm-hmm. In terms of, um, saying there's got to be a, a work life balance mm-hmm. And things that she's, I don't think they've announced everything they're going to put into place to ensure that that happens.
But you, you, you see that trend, you see it more. Mm-hmm. And I think COVID was the one that created that major shift mm-hmm. Where people started realizing, wait a minute, there's gotta be balance somewhere here.
Yeah.
You know, if I'm having kids, but I can't see my kids because they're, I'm, I'm working 80 hour weeks and they're in daycare, that's just not gonna work for me.
And I think having those hard conversations is, it's about time.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. For, for all of
us.
I mean, I think it's been a decade now that, that the Nordic countries have had the studies where it's like 25 hours a week is when the most productive you can you max out after that? Mm-hmm. Yeah. It goes downhill.
That's the peak. And so if that's, I'm glad that the US is maybe finally listening to how we can step into, have like having the American dream doesn't stop at a hundred hours a week. Exactly. Like it should be everything else. Yes. That, that came with it. So I'm really curious how the, how the balance is gonna swing back.
'cause there are some companies that like yours have to be in person 'cause you're making something and you're together and there's customers and it's, it's all in person.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and then it's really interesting with you guys having that hybrid model 'cause you basically have half a digital business and half a brick and mortar business.
So great news for, you know, risk diversity for you guys. But I think it'll be interesting too to see, see how it shifts. Like you're, you're a great case study actually. Thanks.
We'll let you know.
Well, this community is very big and loves to help each other, so I also like to ask guests, is there something that you guys are looking for or need big or small, that we can put it out there?
It maybe somebody in the Power Ladies universe has or knows. Wow.
Oh wow. I wish I knew that question before. I would've really given it a, I
have a list. Oh, wow. We'll put it in the, in the blog post. Yeah.
I've had a lot of women mentors and a lot of male mentors in my life that have helped me personally.
Mm-hmm. I think what I would love right now is a mentor in business. Mm-hmm. Um. Not so much. I, I think to just somebody who's been there, done that kind of to say, you know, not necessarily handholding through a process, but to ask the right questions to make us, I think, think a little differently because mm-hmm.
What often happens is, I think when you, especially because we are brick and mortar and we are mm-hmm. We have to be there, and sometimes our day is really, truly about putting out one fire after the other, right? Mm-hmm. So your focus kind of gets into this tunnel vision kind of thing, where you're just moving from one thing to the other and you can't kind of open up and think big.
I, I think the one thing that I would really, that I would really love, love right now is somebody to step in and say, Hey, I love your story. Let's talk. Mm-hmm. Let's see where you guys wanna head. Let me ask you a couple of questions here. Mm-hmm. Let me get you thinking, um. I think that's, I would
love that right now.
Yeah. I would love that too. Okay. Someone who really knew the industry and knew where it was going too. Yeah.
Because honestly, when, if, if somebody told me when I first started this business, all the little minutia of details mm-hmm. I promise you I would've said, thank you. See you. I'm outta here. Yeah.
Which is great. I mean, I think it's nice that you don't know it, because I think very few people would actually do it if they did. But, um, it's been a wonderful learning experience in that se, but now I think I'm looking for something richer, bigger, um. Mm-hmm. And that's where the mentor, I think. Yeah. For, I mean,
yeah.
No. Would you agree? Yeah, 100%. I, I would absolutely love that because I think mm-hmm. You know. I think we're great in terms of strategy and stuff, and we execute perfectly, but it's just, well, maybe not perfectly, but very well. Um, but
yeah, we look good. That's the important part.
We always, like, someone actually called me yesterday, he placed a corporate gift order and he's like, I just wanna let you know I'm in digital marketing and you guys look really huge online.
I'm like, yeah, but that's the point. We
don't
the point. Mm-hmm. But
yeah, we try not to at least very hard.
Mm-hmm. Well, good, good news is I actually have a list of people that I'm gonna connect you to, so
Thank you.
That's why. So it's important to ask those questions, right? We even had some guests on who have been on this podcast before who, um, have similar family businesses that are maybe, I mean, they're probably about 20 years ahead of where you guys have been, so Could be perfect.
Mm-hmm. Oh, love it. Yeah. Yeah, of course. Well, where can everybody find you? Follow you place your orders today. Seven
sister stones.com is the best place to find us. Um, if you're in the Atlanta area and you wanna check out the cafe, it's just the number seven s kitchen.com. Um, but online, we're seven Sister Stones everywhere, whether it's on Instagram or Facebook.
Um, those are probably the best two socials to follow us. Um, and yeah, that we're very easy to find. If you just go, go Google scones
Atlanta, you'll probably find us too, too.
Yeah.
Perfect. And then I ask everyone on the podcast where they put themselves on the Powerful Lady Scale. If zero is average everyday human and 10 is most powerful lady you've ever imagined, where would you put yourself today?
And where would you put yourself on an average day?
Oh, you know, I look at power, power maybe a little differently. I look at power as being, um, coming from the inside. Internal, uh, being okay with who you are and not really caring so much about a lot of the noise that society puts on you. Mm-hmm. And kind of holding true to your belief system, your value system, what you love, um, and just kind of going ahead and moving, um, not in a destructive way, by the way.
Mm-hmm. A rather a building way. I think the more you build, the more powerful you are. I tend to find a lot of, um, power comes from, you know, divide and conquer. Mm-hmm. Especially in this culture. Um, where had we just stopped and looked at power coming stemming from, or at least told people, the more you build, the more powerful you are.
Um, it would be a very different society today. So I look at power, you know, powerful women from that perspective. So I would say I'm at about five or six.
Oh, that makes me a two.
No, because it's a journey for me. It's, it's such a, it's such a journey. I mean, I feel like the older I get, that's why when people go, you know, I wish I was so much younger.
I, I'm like, hell no. I don't wanna be young. All this I have today's because of my experience, because of my age. Mm-hmm. Yeah. My body may not function the way I want it to some days and blah, blah, blah. But you know what, this is more important to me than anything else. And so she can still, I still can't power walk with
her.
I don't wanna listen to her. I, I'm like, I like, you know, half a mile in, I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna go get my coffee. You can just,
no, but the thing is, is that it, it, it, it really is something I, I feel like is a journey. And I hope, um, at the end of my journey, whenever that may be, I can come and tell you, you know what?
I think I'm a nine or a 10. Yeah. That's my hope. That's my hope for the future for myself to come to that place.
I, yeah, I, I would put like at a two three, like, just because I, I'm similar to her in the way I see women. I see women's role as so sacred in, in society. Mm-hmm. Um, and highly undervalued. But I think that, that I am, every year I discover more and more and more about how much I have to kind of integrate and mm-hmm.
Really listen to. That's been one of my great challenges in life, is listening to my, my own internal wisdom, my own internal, you know, not being so externally focused. Um, and that's, that's something I'm continually working on. I'm getting better, at least now I know when I'm like externally focused, it still happens, but, um, learning how to integrate them and really have.
Just be, you know, and feel the worth in that. It's, uh, it's something I'm working on. So
I would say I'm a work in progress. Yeah. And some things I've failed miserably, but most days I think I'm okay.
Yeah. It's, it's all about the resiliency, right? Absolutely. Just keep going. Mm-hmm. Well, it has been such a pleasure to talk to both of you.
I love your stories. I cannot wait to be ordering my box just after this is recorded. Um, but you guys are lovely and I hope to have you on again. Thank you very much. You have a great day.
Thank you for listening to today's episode. All the links to connect with Seven Sisters Scones are in our show notes@thepowerfulladies.com slash podcast. There you can also leave comments and ask questions about this episode. What more powerful ladies, come join us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies, where you can also find some free downloads to start being powerful today.
Subscribe to this podcast and help us connect more listeners like you by leaving us a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts. If you're looking to connect directly with me, please visit kara duffy.com or follow me on Instagram at Kara Duffy. We will be back next week with a brand new episode.
Until then, I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. It'll be awesome and up to something you love.
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Episode 267: She Launched a Gourmet Food Brand at 60 | Kristin Middleton on Bougie Gougies and Starting Over
Episode 304: Fighting Food Waste and Building a Mission-Driven Startup | Kari Morris | Co-Founder of Martie
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Website: sevensisterscones.com
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Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
