S5E12: Navigating Creativity & Connection with Eve Earley

In this episode, Ellie interviews Eve Earley, an American living in Ireland, about her journey as a business owner and the impact of their collaboration over the years. They discuss Eve's transition to Ireland, her approach to teaching creativity through workshops, and the importance of connections.

Eve shares insights on career counseling, finding creativity in unexpected places, and the power of systems and templates in business. The conversation delves into setting boundaries, timezone challenges, the evolution of Eve's business, and the joy of helping people discover their potential.

Tune in for an inspiring discussion on embracing change and building a supportive community.

Transcript below!

You can connect with Eve here:

• Website: empowering-change.com

• Membership: https://empowering-change.com/member-access

• Transcript

  Ellie: Welcome back to the Capable Collective podcast and the Calibrated Concepts YouTube channel. I'm kind of cross posting this series and I'm really excited because today I have Eve Early and fellow American living over here on the island of Ireland.

  Um, both of us are in Northern Ireland at the moment and, uh, Like we've both, we've worked together off and on for years at this stage, um, from the time from back in my VA days. And I'm just really excited to do your business journey as well as kind of what you feel working with me over the years has helped your business with.

  Sounds like a plan that you want to kick us off by telling us a little bit about what you do.

  Eve: Sure. I, um, I relocated to Ireland and in late 2008, um, without having a plan beyond, uh, starting a business that, um, um, I actually had planned a retail business, but because of the crash was just not going to happen.

  So I was, was working at a guest house doing admin work and, uh, really. Networking and finding out that, um, I was best known for being a cheeky American and that that came down to the fact that I, I was doing what I thought was networking at a time and in a place where that was really new. Uh, so it was an invitation for me to explore.

  Um, you know, how to teach, uh, getting out there in a different way with a different vibe at the height of the crash, uh, I would have described myself as a career counselor. I had trained in it. What we would have called out placement counseling in the early 80s. And I thought to myself, wow. Perfect timing.

  You know, in those days, there were no jobs. We taught people to become consultants to go by their skill set, not their job title. And, you know, wow, that's what's going on here. But culturally, that was a hard sell. First of all, because I think we're more socialized here than stateside to aim for a quote unquote, pensionable job.

  I don't know if you had ever heard of a pensionable job, but I had actually never heard of a pensionable job. Anyway, um, the idea that you could counsel someone as opposed to be an agent was foreign, so, so my work was cut out for me. Um, and yet, I had launched my children. I was well past midlife. I don't know what I fell into, uh, was a reasonably good fit for my skill set, even if I didn't have a name for it.

  So yeah.

  Ellie: Very, very cool. And these days you're You teach things like vision board workshops, you teach people, you walk people through programs that help them to harness and, I guess, nurture their creativity, um, and you, as you say, are a connector of people. You are one of those people that know everyone, you're always introducing me to people, uh, making those amazing connections, so you are someone that is amazing to have in their corner.

  Uh, well,

  Eve: thank you for that. It's, um, it was one of, you know, back to cheeky American woman that, you know, I, I would meet people and I would say, oh, you have to meet so and so they do such and such. And it would be a good connection, but not something. Someone would have thought of themselves. I think I do have a capacity to, um, really see possibility.

  Um, you know, and again, I think that goes back to those initial days in learning career counseling, where you are really focused on what people's gifts and talents were not what they told you. They could do and and I and I know with folks like yourself who design websites It's very hard to convince someone to Communicate not what they think they can do for you But what people at the other end?

  Say you've done for them and that that liminal or medial space between Who we think we are And how other people see us is, is really where I live in my practice. Um, yeah.

  Ellie: That's so cool because we need people that can really see both sides of those things. And I think the world typically has like visionary people and people who are like, I guess, practical people like me, like people that I see the details.

  I'm so detail oriented. I think you have big picture people. The world also needs the people that talk like speak both languages, right? We need the youth

  Eve: Yeah, and and part of that um I worked for many years in admin Because that was quote unquote a proper job And it wasn't until I went as an administrator to a career counseling firm That one of the counselors senior counselors recognized the fact that maybe I was faking it Um, and and I'll never I'll never forget.

  I had actually taken the admin job. I was pregnant. I was living in in Rhode Island. We were going to move to Philadelphia. I didn't have much time, but I didn't want to be on the road anymore. Anyway, long story short, I took this job temporarily, but I had to fake a Myers Briggs to do it. I had to sound like a detail oriented person versus me.

  Ellie: So yeah, I think knowing you, like you, you can see the admin side, but that's not where your skills are.

  Eve: Yeah. It's faking it with style. So I, so, so I, I get the job. I think it well enough for the six weeks or so that I work there. I had the baby, we moved to Philadelphia and I was like, job done. I'm going to take time off with my infant.

  Okay. And the firm that I was working for bought the franchise in Philadelphia. And I get a call that says they want you to come work for them. And I had been traveling and I said, Oh no, I can't do that. I don't have childcare. And my ex husband said, Oh no, I've already arranged it. So he had essentially accepted the job for me.

  I start whatever. And, uh, the senior counselor invited me in one day and he said, so tell me what's your Myers Briggs? I said, Oh, the real one or the one I took to get this job. So I will be forever grateful to, to Penn Wagoner who, who really, you know, saw Yeah, I saw that piece and it was a gift because I didn't lean into it until I moved here.

  So, uh, so he gave me the skill set I needed for my do over 30 years later.

  Ellie: I love that. And I think that's the thing is it can be so easy to put yourself in a box. Um, you know, I know that I'm detailed, a detailed person. I know that I'm really good at creating structures and systems. I, Done that my whole life, right?

  It's a, it started as a coping mechanism for my anxiety disorder. Like, I know that that is what I do, but because of that, growing up in a family where people could play really good music and like people who were really good artists and all this stuff, I always told myself I wasn't creative. And it wasn't until like, I had a different medium, like I can design websites and I could design graphics until I had that medium that I was like, Oh, like I can do this digitally.

  Yeah, I can't get what's in my head to my hand to do that, but I can on a computer

  Eve: and and And for me the vehicle that I use um to introduce people to that juxtaposition between who they think they are and what they're really capable of is the work of a woman called Julia Cameron. The original book was called The Artist's Way, but there are many others in the series.

  And the first thing people say, like yourself, I'm not a musician, I'm not an artist, I'm not creative. And the reality is we are all creative. We're composing this life. One note. One. Brushstroke one day at a time. So, um, so yeah, it's that embracing the, and I mean, look at the websites, look at like everything you've done for me in terms of, um, resisting my resistance to systems and, and getting me started with some really basic ones.

  I mean, I still have not, you know, project management. Systems. They're going to have to invent one that speaks to me. Perfect personally. Um, but I've been able to plug into enough other ones that what needs to be automatic is. So, yeah. So thank you. Thank you for seeing your way through that.

  Ellie: Well, over the years, we've set up things like Trello for you.

  Because it was a really simple project management, and it was visual in a way that worked a little better for your brain than some of the other options out there. We've set you up in Mighty Networks. Um, I was not alone in with that project, but I did help with that project. Uh, we've also got you moved over to Squarespace and got some of your tools and things over there.

  But. Can you tell me like back, like back before we were working together, what do you feel like some of those biggest challenges you were facing that kind of brought you to working with me?

  Eve: So the, the first obstacle to overcome, um, was that it didn't matter how much I knew, you know, and at the time you were doing mostly VA work.

  Um, it didn't matter how much I knew I needed a virtual assistant. I couldn't imagine how a virtual assistant could help me. And you and a couple of other VAs, VA heroes, um, did a presentation where all four of you spoke to the different kind of clients that you worked with. Oh, I've done this for so and so, I've done that for so and so, and you all made it real.

  And then the other thing that, that collectively you did, and you personally, was you figured out how to work with packages. So instead of saying, as an awful lot of marketers do, and I have a real problem with it, this is what I charge an hour. Well, that doesn't help me. I need to know what my end product will be.

  So what you are able to say is, here's this package. When you start, this is where you are, and when you finish, this is where you will be. And I could, I could wrap my head around what I was getting and what I needed to budget and, and was that worth it to me? So, even in my own practice, packages are really the thing that made the difference.

  Setting expectations. You know, and and I know for me, the single most important tool has been scheduling because someone makes that connection via the website or a link I've sent out or something in a newsletter and they're on my calendar. I'm on their calendar. The reminders go out. I know it sounds silly, but I need to be managed.

  As much as my tasks need to be managed and

  Ellie: yeah, yeah, I think that's really, really normal. I think it's really common for people to need boundaries and have a hard time. I think this is especially like any anybody and everybody has, I think, trouble creating boundaries because we're socialized. We're social species, right?

  But but then on top of that, you add the way that women are socialized, right? And how we're caregivers and we're not supposed to really say no, we're supposed to provide for everyone around us. And then on top of that, you have the way that Ireland works, which is different in itself. And, uh, I think having Ireland is, is, again, it's very much a, a culture where it can be very challenging to set those boundaries.

  So having a scheduling tool where you, this is, these are the days and hours I'm available. That's it. Um, and you have a few different schedulers. So for example, you know, we scheduled this call through my scheduler and yours, because we were trying to find a bit of a thing, but, um, but also I have one for client calls, potential new client calls.

  I have one for, um, when someone wants to pick my brain or, you know, a business friend wants to grab a coffee and these are all easy to just say, and, you know, I can set the days and times I want to take those calls. It connects to my calendar. I can't be double booked and it's just so good, right?

  Eve: Well, and I have to be honest with you.

  I use mine for friends and family because 15 years later and Please the three weeks between daylight savings time here and there. Oh

  Ellie: my gosh I know

  Eve: no one can negotiate the time differences and I and I now actually have a a client base in australia and i'm incapable like It comes up on Calendly and I'm fine.

  Otherwise, I'm useless.

  Ellie: So yeah, I think that's the other thing is managing time zones and such can be really challenging. I'm in a thing this week. I'm in a bundle and even I, who's really pretty good at getting the time differences all right and checking them. I was off by an hour. For one of the, for the launch.

  I thought it was happening at one o'clock. It was two o'clock, not a huge blip, but I think that's one of those things. Or I have a client in the U S right now that I'm helping with, uh, their meta integration with their Squarespace website. And again, they were like, what time is that in the U S just like, just book, please just book me in this lane.

  It's going to make our lives so much better.

  Eve: Yeah. I mean, what do you mean Phoenix doesn't go on daylight savings time? Oh, wait, you're mountain now and you're central that no. Yeah,

  Ellie: no, I know. And then it changes every year because some countries are deciding to opt out of daily savings time. And yeah, yeah.

  So are there other systems in your business that you feel like have made a big, big difference for you?

  Eve: I'm, you know, it's funny. Some of them are just so integrated that, um, I don't even notice them anymore. So it really through Squarespace and the, uh, and booking, um, uh, courses and payment systems that go right through.

  I rarely invoice now. It's all part and parcel of, uh, what sits out there. So, um, so yeah, and. And the interesting thing is, uh, even with Trello, I, I don't work well with it, but it works well for me because the VA that I work with essentially is happy to keep me updated by email or, or, or reminders or whatever.

  Uh, but when I need to have that picture of the history, It's there so so I guess my reflection would be that even the systems that you're not actively using do hold the necessary analytics that you're going to require in terms of, you know, things like not reinventing the wheel. You know, things like being able to say, Oh, yeah, we did do that ad campaign here, there, whatever.

  So, um, I, I really would encourage people, even if they find themselves resistant to imagine that there's an easier way and that just really, as with everything, just getting started, just like, really just getting started.

  Ellie: Yeah, and I think the thing is people really struggle, I think, to reach out for help with these things because oftentimes it's a they don't know what they don't know situation, right?

  They come, they're overwhelmed, they're doing too many things manually. They might need, know that they need help. To be sending email marketing campaigns, but they don't know how that works or really what that looks like, or they know that they're having issues with the time zones and don't, and they, they need a solution for that, but they don't know exactly what that looks like.

  Um, and I think that, I think it's okay to not know those things. That's why there's people like me out in the world. Um, and it's okay to trust that somebody else is going to. Really dig in and make sure they're finding the right tool and resource for your business because most of my clients, I would push towards Asana and in some cases ClickUp for project management, but that just, I, we both knew that wasn't going to function for you.

  Exactly. Yeah.

  Eve: And, and I think there's also the part Um, you reach a life stage and hopefully people get there with a shorter learning curve than I did, um, where I don't really have to show up in the way that it would be nice for me to show up at this point. No, like this is what works for me. This is what doesn't work for me, you know, and, and even, um, you know, like one of the most, uh, powerful things that I have found, um, in our relationship has been that power hour.

  Uh, once a year, um, I who goes back in and looks at their website. You're so done by the time you get it up and running. You're pleased with how it looks, but it needs tweaking. It needs a dive into the analytics that says. Oh, yeah, this isn't showing up the way you could show up. Um, you know, what I found helpful is, yeah, let's change that banner around.

  Let's freshen this up. Let's, you know, and it's an hour. It's an hour of other eyes, both on the design, um, but the usability. So, uh, so I'm, I'm particularly grateful, not just for the tools, but for the way that you work, for the way that you show up.

  Ellie: That's really cool to hear. Yeah, I think my power hours for websites are really powerful because I think I can get a lot done in an hour, right?

  Like I can get quite a lot done. And so having somebody to go ahead and make all those tweaks, make those suggestions, and not only are you getting to maybe let your website evolve with the times, but also take use, part and use, and some of Squarespace's newer features, um, because they're constantly changing and things that we had to do two years ago with code and CSS.

  Like, you can do it now natively, and it's so much better.

  Eve: Yeah, and it serves as a training tool, uh, making me a little less intimidated each year, you know, the fact that I have a recording of it says, yeah, let me go back and look at what she said about this or that, uh, so, so it's, it's not just the, I build the website, um, but I can.

  I can make this an important tool in how you show up in the world. You know, it's no longer this static thing that sits out there. Um, But it's it's a vehicle. It's you know, it's part of the process And that's how I feel about

  Ellie: all systems like I my clients I never ever want you to feel like you're you don't know what you're doing with it So all of my clients with Squarespace get a whole suite of tutorials My power hours are all recorded for you to learn from with the simplicity solution.

  Uh, the, the two hours each month are all recorded, but then anytime that you ask me a question, I record you a loom and you end up with a suite of searchable loom videos. Um, we actually import those, your recordings in the loom at the end as well. So you have a searchable library that you can use. So it's, I, cause I believe that in the education piece so much, and I believe that while none of us.

  Should be doing everything in our business. We should be able to do the things we want to in our business.

  Eve: Yeah, I think it also makes, uh, you know, in my case, I, I work with the VA, um, and, and just, just a shout out to people who are thinking about that. Consider working with someone in a different time zone.

  Um, so in this case, Angie is in central U. S. time. Well, six hours time difference means at three o'clock in the afternoon, I can put something out there and I wake up the next morning and it's done, even if it's something complex, you know, and we used to sell the advantage of the island of Ireland to, to the production lines in Asia and the creative forces out in, in, um, In, uh, whoops, in, um, California to be able to say we can solve your problems in the middle of the night.

  So, you know, everything is global now. Let's take advantage of it. Yeah,

  Ellie: yeah, absolutely. So speaking of teams, how did you find the experience of working with me and my team over the, over the years? How did you find that to be?

  Eve: So what I'm going to say is that it was easy. Um, and there was a real grace around, uh, accepting the fact that I'm all over the place.

  Like, I could not describe what it was. I needed. And I never once felt like I was apologizing for that and that may not sound like a big deal Um, but i'm but i'm going to revert back to those Uh, you know, they whether you use an enneagram or a myers briggs or all that there are those people Who are or colby let me highly recommend if folks are out there in the entrepreneurial space They take a look at what their type is so they have language to describe it But I am someone who is always in process Well, let's not make that decision yet.

  And there's Ellie going, we can make the decision and change our mind about it tomorrow.

  Let's just give it a go. So, so honestly, um, it, it's been the ease, the acceptance, uh, but that willingness to be flexible, you know, as you were saying, this is not necessarily the easiest tool, but it's the one that's going to work for you.

  Ellie: Yeah. I think that that's a really, really good advice is being able to. To try. And I'm really glad that it's been easy and not like that. You find found working with me easy and not judgmental. Um, I really, that's, I love that. That's I love my work. So I hope that that stuff shines through. Um, okay. So can you tell me on now kind of going, we started kind of back here, but now years later, what do you feel like is different in your business?

  Eve: I, it's easier. Um, you know, I describe myself as a reluctant entrepreneur. I would, you know, and, and there are days where I really just want someone to do the marketing and the admin and just see that I have a book to show up for because there's nothing I like better than my face to face client work, my group work.

  Um, and. So taking, taking away the pain of the admin end of the business means I can just show up and do the business. Um, I know now that there are four times a year when I'm going to have to put on that admin hat. But I don't have to reinvent the wheel every year. It's It's done. Um, so, so life is just easier.

  Um, yeah, life is just and it's that system piece. When I, when I first started, I did not realize there was, you know, like, when you work as an employee your whole life, you have no idea what went into setting up the structure of that business. And being able to check into my business as opposed to having to reinvent it, um, that's been really the, that's been the key difference.

  That's been the key difference.

  Ellie: I think it's been a lot because while we've set up these systems in your business, one thing we didn't really talk about a lot was that we also did set up some of these templates almost. We set up templates and structures for how you do these. These courses for the content that goes out for these courses at any specific time, but the graphics that go along with those, I haven't, again, been a part of every single one of those, but I've helped with those structures and those programs quite a lot.

  And so I think, yeah, you get to show up and do the creative bit and the connection bit, as opposed to having to do the admin bit, which I think is so, so cool. Yeah.

  Eve: Also, the once those systems are in place, I no longer have to do it all. You know, I, I can say, oh, those Canva templates need updating. Oh, I need a new newsletter format.

  What does that look like? And at this point, I can simply deliver what I deliver well, which would be the actual service delivery or the writing and ask someone to format it or formulate it. Um, so definitely. Definitely.

  Ellie: Yeah, I think that's the other key piece of creating systems is you can then outsource, right?

  Yeah. You, you, you have a way that things are done, and that can be better communicated when, then when it's all in your head or it's all in, All in your emails, maybe, or whatever, your notes app on your phone, like, those kinds of things.

  Eve: There's also, um, I do not have the capacity to communicate necessarily what I'm thinking clearly.

  And then suddenly, someone hands it back to me. In a form that goes, Oh, look at that. It's visual. And yeah, that's exactly what I meant, you know, and, and I think that we, we don't value that to the extent that we need to. So, you know, my grandmother had an expression. 2 heads are better than 1, even if 1 is a cabbage, I need to say, I always felt like the cabbage, but.

  In any event, it's that piece that says, you know, like, where are there two heads working on it? It's their solution and I'm not responsible to find it.

  Ellie: Yeah.

  Eve: Yeah,

  Ellie: definitely. Yeah, definitely. That's so good to hear. All right. Well, now tell us as we're wrapping up here a little bit about where your business is headed.

  Do you have a plan for like kind of what you want to do over the next year or two?

  Eve: So I, um, it's the first time in my life I have ever been ahead of the curve. Um, pre pre COVID, um, back in 2019, um, all three of my daughters were starting families in the States. And I imagined wanting to, to, uh, travel more, um, and perhaps go back and forth.

  Uh, so I put my groups online. And the immediate response from my existing clients who were for the most part in Dublin and Belfast, I would travel up and down the motorway and run groups in both places was, oh, we have to do this work in person again, largely group work, um, people working for 6 or 12 weeks together on accountability projects or creativity journeys, whatever, writing groups, a lot more writing groups than I ever did and memoir storytelling groups.

  Eve, we, we have to do this in person. So I drove up and down the motorway for the whole of the last quarter of 2019 when I thought I'd be online. Um, I did have one group online. Um, and what was amazing was the groups were no longer homogeneous. So I had people from the North and the South, as well as a few Americans, as opposed to just these very local, uh, people.

  Groups, so there was this whole other dynamic and I loved it. But again, there was the resistance and then coven happened no more resistance. So I'm very excited about the number of groups that I'm that I'm running where folks are coming. again from all over the world. Um, yeah. So every quarter, uh, new groups start.

  And because, uh, Cameron's work has evolved to six week books and six week groups. Um, I, I get to interact with more people in, uh, with more starts. So now it's not just quarterly, it's really every two months, a new group starts. Amazing. That's so cool. Yeah, really is. Uh, there's, there's something about working with people who have no idea how amazing they are.

  And when that penny drops, it's, yeah, it's, yeah, I, Love my work. It doesn't feel like work doesn't work.

  Ellie: I love to hear it. I can't wait. So where can people find your work?

  Eve: So empowering change. com There's links in there to the Mighty Network. I'm on Twitter at empowering change with no a in the In the change, um, or eve early, but he really on Twitter's a little more snarky and less professional Behind me on Facebook at empower eagerly empowering change There's a group called the artist's way and the prosperous heart Um, and i'm on instagram, but i'm probably not as effectively as I need to be I really love to be in touch with people via email or again.

  We were talking about setting up a discovery call You So head over to the website and book a call

  Ellie: fantastic. And I'll make sure all those links are in the description on the website for this as well. So yeah, definitely head over, find Eve, find her work, get in touch, book that call because She's going to connect you to some awesome people.

  That is what she does.

  Eve: Thank you for that. It's that, honestly, that's the most satisfying piece. So, so Margaret, the Margaret Mead, the famous Margaret Mead quote about a small group of people are going to change the world. I have never been so arrogant to think that I was one of those small group of people, but I would like to think that I could Introduce those people to each other, so

  Ellie: yeah, I love it.

  I love it. Well, thank you so much for coming on and chatting with me today.

  Eve: Oh, you're very welcome. Thank you for all your help.

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