Angela Proffitt:
She's going to share with us all about podcasting, but more importantly, which is something that is super, super close to my heart, growing up in healthcare, that was my first real job in mental health, she's also going to be an open book today and share with us some of her experiences, as far as battling mental health and being an entrepreneur, which I think is going to be way, way insightful for those of us who sometimes feel like, oh my gosh, am I the only one feeling this way? Really, you're not because it can be an absolute roller coaster just in entrepreneurship and then also battling something that a lot of people don't understand. I'm excited, Scout, that you reached out to us. Thank you so much for being here today.

Scout Sobel:
I'm so excited. Thank you for having me.

Angela Proffitt:
Yay. Before we jump off and start talking about everything as it is today and how you've gotten your entrepreneurship journey start and all the inspiration for your podcast, as well as helping other people get on a podcast, take us back a lot and tell us, where did you grow up? Where did you get the inspiration? How has your journey gotten you to where you are today?

Speaker 3:
Welcome to Business Unveiled, the podcast designed to help you thrive in the creative community. Here's your host, events, and productivity consultant, Angela Proffitt.

Angela Proffitt:
What's up, GSD leaders. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of Business Unveiled, where we share expert tips and secrets from top creative industry professionals. We're going to take you behind the scenes of our experiences, share with you what we've learned from them and how it's made us stronger because no one said it's easy owning a business, but it's a lot more fun when you've got a strong support team around you and that's exactly what we do at GSD Creative. We're right there by your side. I'm so excited that you've chosen this podcast to take the first step in growing a productive, profitable, and successful, wildly successful business within the hospitality and creative industry.

Angela Proffitt:
Today's podcast is being brought to you by one of my favorite platforms, Kajabi. Stop trading your time for money. Kajabi provides digital entrepreneurs an all-in-one platform, which enables you to create a life of freedom on your terms, whatever that may be. Everything is housed under one platform, so there's really no need for multiple services. Kajabi really has all of the tools that you need in one place. If you're looking for a home to share your knowledge and build online courses, you have a community of like-minded people with proven success in selling knowledge online. The support with Kajabi is amazing. Give it a try today, bit.ly/apkajabi.

Scout Sobel:
I grew up in San Diego, California. I went to a very small Jewish private school my whole life, so the people I knew in kindergarten were the same people I graduated with in 12th grade. Their parents were best friends with my parents and so it was a really tight-knit community. I mean we had 28 kids in our graduating class. In that-

Angela Proffitt:
Wow.

Scout Sobel:
I know. It was crazy. There wasn't a lot of room-

Angela Proffitt:
Small.

Scout Sobel:
Oh yeah. Oh yes. Everybody knew what you did on Saturday night. Let's put it that way. There wasn't a lot of room necessarily to find people that were so much like you. The women I met, my friends from high school, are my soul sisters forever, but when I left, it's when I really started to dive into who I am and what I like, and my passions, but it wasn't until actually … I didn't really show signs of being an entrepreneur when I was younger. I wasn't hustling a side hustle at 15. I always wanted to work and be financially independent, but I never dreamed of starting my own thing necessarily, but it wasn't until I was 22 that I was sitting with a friend and just in that state, I had dropped out of college.

Scout Sobel:
I was suffering with bipolar disorder and just working. I was finally able to hold a job after years of not being able to hold a job as a barista. I was sitting across from my friend and I had this magazine that I had bought. I was just coming back from a trip to New York. It was an Independent Magazine. I had always loved magazines. They had always been my retreat growing up. I got Teen Vogue every month to the door. I would run into my room and not leave until the whole thing was read.

Angela Proffitt:
That's awesome.

Scout Sobel:
Working. I told people when I was younger, I said, “I'm going to be the Editor in Chief of a magazine.” And people would say, “Why would you want to do that?” I was just sitting with my friend and I looked at her and I said, “Hey. Do you want to start a magazine?” She was like, “Yeah, for sure.” It started super small in the sense that we were just going to print it at Kinko's and take all the pictures with disposable cameras and just pass it out to the homies really. Something in me, it was a light bulb. I felt an energy I have never felt in my life. I went home and researched for hours. All of a sudden, I had appointments with the highest quality printers in town. I set up a Kickstarter for $10,000.

Angela Proffitt:
I love it.

Scout Sobel:
Started my first entrepreneurial thing. That's really where this all started.

Angela Proffitt:
That is amazing. Was this before digital? Was this before iPhones and nice cameras? Did you use disposable cameras?

Scout Sobel:
No. We just wanted to be vintage.

Angela Proffitt:
Oh, got you.

Scout Sobel:
We were coeds

Angela Proffitt:
How long did you guys have the magazine and how did that play out?

Scout Sobel:
The first magazine, we just dropped off at coffee shops for free, for people to take. Then we signed with a distributor for our second edition and so that issue was sold across the country. I was 22 at that point.

Angela Proffitt:
Wow.

Scout Sobel:
Then our third issue, we actually got an email from Barnes & Noble that they wanted to sell it and I responded back saying, “I just want to clarify you're Barnes & Noble and you're asking to sell my magazine.” They're like, “Yes. That is the email we just sent you.”

Angela Proffitt:
I love it.

Scout Sobel:
We got a musician, Halsey, on the cover of the third issue. It's sold in Barnes & Noble newsstands across the country, but what happened was that I did a business plan with my dad and it really looked like I would need a lot of investment to really move it forward. It wasn't necessarily the hottest investment print, so I sold the company. A woman invested in it and I helped her relaunch it as a women's digital media site. Then once I had helped launch it, I moved on and I found podcasting, which then created Okay Sis with my sister, a podcast we have together, which then created Scout's Agency, my company today, which then created my new podcast SCOUT Podcast.

Angela Proffitt:
Oh my gosh. I love it. How did you decide that you wanted to help other people who … Do you help people completely ground up like, “Hey, I want to start a podcast?” Or it's more like, “Hey, Scout. I have a podcast. I need to get it out there and get the word and the branding, and the message. Can you book me on other podcasts?” Did that come before your own podcast or you started with your own podcast first?

Scout Sobel:
Yeah. We launched Okay Sis Podcast first in August 2018 and we really treated it like a business. I found these tips and tricks that really helped us grow and gain a reputation in the space. We actually hired a PR agency to help us spread the word and get us big guests, and all these things. Long story short, the partnership didn't work between us and I was very underwhelmed with the results that I had paid for and so I actually had to last-minute book 10 guests in four days because we were doing a trip to New York where we were just interviewing people. I had to step up.

Angela Proffitt:
Wow.

Scout Sobel:
Get it done. I booked these amazing women and it just hit me, oh, I love doing this and I've always loved PR and so I launched Scout's Agency with just three services and I decided to hone in on the podcast niche because that's where my base was. We book guests some podcasts, so sometimes we have a new podcast that come to us and says, “Hey. I want to launch with a bang, with a really great roster of guests. Can you book out my first three months?” We'll reach out to really big guests. We've gotten Brian Grazer on the podcast, Sophie, Emma Rosso, Randi Zuckerberg, Byron Katie, Jolene Michaels, Ben Higgins, lots of amazing people there, Colbie Caillat. We've been able to book pretty big A-listers on people's podcasts and then obviously, big influencers as well.

Scout Sobel:
Then our second service, which came about because I saw that every time my sister and I went on another podcast, our numbers grew. I said, “Wow. Being a guest on podcasts is really a new form of PR.” We started doing podcast tours. We have people that aren't even in the podcast space that are authors, that are business owners, whatever it may be. We book them on an average of four opportunities a month on podcasts. Then our third service is traditional PR. We've gotten our clients written up about, who, what, where, Mary Claire, Vogue, Forbes, Entrepreneur, BuzzFeed, stuff like that. Over time, we've really niched down into women's voices. We do have some male clients, but 90% of our clients are female.

Angela Proffitt:
That's awesome. I love how you tried to service and then you're like, “This isn't … I could probably do so much better.” Then taking it to the next level and then figuring out through your own journey and through your own experiences like, “You know what? I don't want other people to go through this. Why don't I just fix it?” I love that. That's actually how we've started a couple of projects because it's like … In fact, I think almost every client that comes to us for branding and marketing, just from the psychology angle, they all have had a bad experience.

Angela Proffitt:
They're so jaded and they're so pissed. They've spent a ton of money and there was no Return on Investment. They just feel like they were taken advantage of. It hurts even worse when we dive in to look at their analytics and look at the backend because it's not set up or it's not set up appropriately. It literally breaks my heart, but at the same time, I'm like, “If you hadn't had this experience, you wouldn't have gotten to where you are right now.” Everything happens for a reason.

Scout Sobel:
Oh, 100%. I can so relate to that. I have so many clients that are like, “Well, I've been burned by a PR agency and they really didn't believe in me and all this stuff.” That also breaks my heart because I care so much about my clients that I can't imagine them going through an experience that was negative, that someone didn't show up for them.

Angela Proffitt:
Is your sister older or younger?

Scout Sobel:
She is three years younger than me.

Angela Proffitt:
Are you all best friends?

Scout Sobel:
Yeah. Mads and I, we always were close growing up. We had a little bit of emotional tension when our parents got divorced, a little bit of growing pains, but when we started the podcast, I really didn't expect us to grow as close as we are. Now she is my girl. I mean I've always been protective over her as an older sister, but now I cry thinking of anyone doing anything harmful to her.

Angela Proffitt:
Wow.

Scout Sobel:
I will protect her until the end of this earth, for sure.

Angela Proffitt:
That's awesome. I have a little sister. She's five years younger. I mean she's not little. She has four kids, but people are like, “You still call her your little sister.” I'm like, “Yeah.” I have a little brother and he owns a business, but I will always call them my little sister and my little brother. I get it. To shift gears a little bit, through the entrepreneur journey, you were also really, I mean I use the word suffering because I worked in a mental hospital and I worked around a lot of people who truly were suffering until they were able to find help. When did you realize, okay, something is not right and I need to get help? Take us through that journey.

Scout Sobel:
I had my first depressive episode at the age of 14.

Angela Proffitt:
That's young.

Scout Sobel:
I started cutting myself and restricting food, and not showering, and wearing sweats all day, and just really not taking care of myself. My school found out that I was hurting myself and so they told my parents who immediately put me into therapy. I have been in therapy since I was 14. I'm 28 now, so 14 years.

Angela Proffitt:
Wow.

Scout Sobel:
It was interesting. I don't think my other friends were in therapy. Everybody knew there was something up with me, but also, in high school, it's a little bit difficult to diagnose, just because you're not sure if it's hormonal or if it's high school stuff or whatever it is. I'm really happy they didn't diagnose me at that time because being misdiagnosed is really dangerous. I went up and down in high school a lot. I was really depressed a lot, but it wasn't until I left for college, that I started developing a sense of paranoia and psychosis that men were following me home. They were under my bed. They were in my closet, on my balcony, waiting to rape and kill me. I would plan escape routes and I wouldn't move a finger because I was afraid. I didn't want them to know I was awake. People had to check my car before I got into my car. It got to a point where I was really losing touch with reality.

Angela Proffitt:
Wow.

Scout Sobel:
That's when I realized that my brain was working in ways that were not healthy, that were quite toxic and quite dangerous. We got a little bit more serious, my family and I, with the situation and started playing around with medication, which is a whole other topic. I've had a really long journey with that. Then it wasn't until I was 20, in my junior year of college, yes, in my junior year of college, I was formally diagnosed with bipolar disorder type II. I got on the next plane home. I was in New York going to school. I got on the next plane home and moved in with my dad, went through outpatient, and went through a few years of being what I call unfunctioning.

Scout Sobel:
I couldn't hold a job. I couldn't hold an internship. I couldn't go to school and it was a really dark time for me because my parents and my therapist, and my psychiatrist weren't sure if I would ever hold a job or make something of myself. I had a lot of suicidal ideation. I was hospitalized. I had catatonia and voices in my head. It got really out of control. I started to turn my life around when I met my husband who was then my boyfriend. He comes from the recovery world. He will be nine years sober this month.

Angela Proffitt:
Yay.

Scout Sobel:
It's super great.

Angela Proffitt:
Yay.

Scout Sobel:
He looked at me and he said, “I don't care if you're depressed. If you're depressed and hopeful, I can work with it. If you're depressed and hopeless, I can't do this.” It just all of a sudden sparked something in me, just that decision to make that magazine. What if I just infused a little bit of hope and faith into my life? I had lost so many things, my college experience, work, jobs, internships, opportunities. I looked at him and I said, “I'm not going to lose him either.” He helped me. I went to support groups and I started reading books. That doesn't mean that in a year I was better. I had a depressive episode last year, but what's changed since that moment is that I've been able to not only work a job for somebody else, but start my own business and have multiple projects going on at once. I've become an actually very high functioning human being that knows how to manage her bipolar disorder.

Angela Proffitt:
That gives me chills. That is an amazing story. Thank you for sharing because I know it's not always easy to talk about all of those things, especially to people that either don't understand or they've never been around it or they don't have any friends or family, but in this day and time, I feel like every single person that I know has someone that is affected by something. It's just finding out what that something is and making people understand it's okay to not be okay and let's figure this out. Something very important that you said that I want to point out is yes, at the time, you didn't know probably who's going to be your future husband, but at the time, it's someone that said something very small, very powerful to you that did give you hope. Obviously, he understood you if he worked in that area or was going through something himself and that's awesome because it sounds like now, you guys are each other's rocks. I love that.

Scout Sobel:
We actually dated in high school and then lost touch. Then he said that he wanted to marry me on week two of dating and so I was like, “Okay. I got to get my shit together.”

Angela Proffitt:
I love it. For any of you listening and you're like, “Entrepreneurship is hard. It's hard,” aside from that, the number one thing is if you have a dream and you have a goal, that's great, but you have to take care of yourself. You have to take care of yourself first. Otherwise, you can't take care of anyone else. Scout, just in listening to you, I mean you know that you missed out on all of these things that all the other kids were doing, as people would say it now, but look at how amazing things have come out for you. Again, not that it's not always easy because it's never easy.

Angela Proffitt:
If it was easy, everybody would do it, but I mean I have several entrepreneur friends that suffer and they don't like to use the word suffer because they're like, “I'm not suffering. I'm handling it and I'm killing it.” I'm like, “I love that.” I love that attitude to make sure that it's always a positive outlook, but to always have the therapist and a positive relationship with your husband and with your sister, and family support and all of that instead of going into a hole and being a recluse and not wanting to talk to anybody. I mean do you think that's the worst thing someone could do, is to recluse themselves?

Scout Sobel:
Yeah. I think I have different levels of what recluse means in the sense that isolating when you're not feeling well is not a good idea, not getting out of bed or canceling on social commitments. Of course, there's a time and place where you have to say, “I just needed a day,” but if it goes on past that, you need to really evaluate, are you avoiding because you're afraid and you aren't feeling well? Or is this actually a rest day for you? I always say to reach out to anybody who you know, that is in your support group if you're not feeling well, just to let them know what's up. Also, when you say it out loud to somebody else, it holds you to a certain level of accountability. I always like to say, “At the end of the day, you have yourself and you're the only one that's going to be able to turn this around.

Scout Sobel:
You're the only one that can change the thoughts in your head. You're the only one that can change your perspective and your mindset on your day.” In that sense, it is a little bit isolating because you have to learn how to be your own rock. There's only so much people can do for you. Let them do what they can, but understand that there are boundaries there and you have to develop a relationship with yourself that is so strong, just like we develop relationships with our significant others. We put so much time into that, but we don't put time into creating a relationship with ourselves. If you're suffering from a mental illness or any sort of illness, you have to create a relationship with yourself and know that you can show up and fight every single day because you love yourself that much.

Angela Proffitt:
I love that because I hear this all the time. You can't love anyone else if you don't love yourself first. Accept the way you are. Then how can you, not necessarily change, but how can you enhance or more positive with whatever you're dealing with? You mentioned a little bit about medication. I know when I worked in the hospital, one of the things that we battled a lot with some of our patients was they just wouldn't take their medication and it was really important. That's one of the reasons that they would end up in inpatient because they were hurting themselves or they did have suicide attempts. How do you feel? Is it just a magic pill or is it diet and exercise? What is your combination of, okay, this is going to work for me? Because I know you said you experimented and it's not an overnight fix.

Scout Sobel:
It actually took me in 10 years, maybe a little less, eight, maybe eight-

Angela Proffitt:
Wow.

Scout Sobel:
Years to find the right medication for myself. I, unfortunately, had a very bad experience with many medications over the years. I, for whatever reason, reacted very sensitively to a lot of them. One, I couldn't get out of bed until 1:00 PM, every day. I was forgetting things. I would wake up and my dog's food would be in the microwave. It was not good. The other one made me gain 25 pounds. Then the withdrawals were so bad that I was crying straight for two weeks. I was actually at a point where I was going to get electric shock therapy because I was done. It was putting my body through so much and making me even sicker. I had a psychiatrist. He says, “You haven't tried the two-days yet.” I said, “Fine. I'll try one more.” That one actually really did the trick for me. It's not that I can just let the pill work its magic and I'm good.

Scout Sobel:
If I don't work with it, it's a dance. If I don't work with it, I get depressed, but it gives me just the first step to then apply all of my tools. I do so many things. I journal first thing in the morning. I meditate with essential oils. I move my body, Pilates, yoga, whatever it may be. I pray to God. I practice gratitude. I do emotional check-ins throughout the day. I really listen to my body in that sense. I constantly sometimes think, oh my God. Why do I have to work so freaking hard every day just to be okay? That's a victim mentality that I slapped myself out of real fast. I get to do this self-development work. I get to create a relationship with myself. I get to be in tune with my emotions. Yes, the medication … I've seen a significant difference in my life, but if I didn't show up for myself and do the work, the benefits would be very minimal.

Angela Proffitt:
It's just not a magic little pill and you're going to feel better. It's all those things that you mentioned and again, taking time for yourself, and then strengthening relationships with others, which then you're able to have great relationships with clients for the business. I know you've mentioned a few things that you already do. Are there other …? I know you shared a little bit about a routine, but aside from a routine, how can you really maintain focus and the vision for the business when you have other things going on that can distract you? How do you stay focused? Guys, everybody that I talked to, it doesn't matter who you are and what journey you're on in entrepreneurship, the word focus is fucking hard. People are like … The F-word, I'm not talking about a bad word, as the kids would say it, it's focus. Are you focused?

Scout Sobel:
Yeah.

Angela Proffitt:
What are some things to help others? Just how do you maintain that focus?

Scout Sobel:
I think that if you are starting a business or you're in a career, you might not be the owner or the entrepreneur, you might be the Vice President or the Account Executive, whatever it may be, I think that you really need to pick carefully because if you're fighting against a current, you're going to be exhausted and the focus is not going to be there, but if you're going with the current and you're stoked about that current, the focus is going to be so much easier to obtain. The work I do, I love, so I wake up excited every morning to do it and so therefore, it's something that I love to do. When you love to do something, you hone in on it. That doesn't mean that every second of the day I'm focused.

Scout Sobel:
Sometimes if I'm not focused, I just stop. I will not work. I will not work if I am exhausted or not focused because I don't like fighting with myself and I don't like fighting with my work and creating that negative connotation with it. I really work with my biology and with my mental state and so if I'm not focused, it's a walk around the block. It's going on Instagram. It's calling a friend and chatting. It's running out for a coffee, whatever it is. I just need to switch gears real quick. Sometimes it means I leave the office early and take a nap and then work later after I wake up. The first thing you have to ask yourself is, do you actually like what you're doing? Because if you don't like, what you're doing, focus is hard.

Angela Proffitt:
Stop. Get out.

Scout Sobel:
First of all, just don't even go there, but I would just say tips for focusing is to definitely set up a routine. I have a very strict morning routine and so my body knows I do this, I do this, I do this. Then they get into work. I always do to-do lists. That keeps me really on track, a nice little map for the day, of what I would like to accomplish. Therefore, I do it first thing in the morning so that I can map out my day, how to move. I'm really into Google Calendar, so every night before I go to bed, I check my Google Calendar, just so I know what calls I have the next day and where the flow of my day is going to go.

Scout Sobel:
From here to here, I'm on calls, and then from here to here, I'll work. Really mapping out your day, to-do lists, all that good stuff. If the passion is there, it should flow. If it's not, be kind with yourself and allow yourself maybe a 30-minute refresher, whether that's doing a little bit of Pilates or calling a friend, whatever that may be, but figure out the routine that works best for you and your focus will follow.

Angela Proffitt:
I feel like some people that we work with, and I mean, my gosh, even myself, people are like, “What's your routine?” I'm like, “Every day is different.” That's the reason I like owning businesses, is because I don't like to do the same thing every day. However, when I say that, I mean that client work, it's always a different challenge or a different goal, but in terms of routine for myself, like you're saying, it may not be that you leave and take a nap the same time every day. You may not do it every day. Or the fact that you have to do things this way. I do think that there's something to be said, to have a morning routine and a night routine in terms of trying to get up at the same time every day. I've always battled with sleep. I don't have sleep apnea, but I never was able to sleep really well, just because my mind was turning constantly.

Angela Proffitt:
It's funny. My primary care doctor, she's like, “Let's try Ambien.” It did the reverse. It didn't work. I didn't sleep. I was anxious. It gave me anxiety. I would sit up and write to-do notes down. This is before I had an app where I could jot down notes or do a voice memo. I actually had to train myself to turn my mind off. I did take melatonin for a little bit, which actually worked way better than taking Ambien, but I would stay up till 4:00 and work. Then if I had to get up at 7:0 because I had an 8:30 meeting, that wasn't exactly healthy. Trying to find a sleep routine has made all the difference in the world. Do you ever get the question where people are like, “If you could go back and tell your 20-year-old self something, what would you tell yourself?” Do you ever get that question?

Scout Sobel:
Yes, I have.

Angela Proffitt:
What would you tell yourself if you could go back eight, 10 years?

Scout Sobel:
I would tell her that she's going to fall so deeply in love with herself and with her life and that she'll go to bed knowing that she always has herself to fall back upon and that the strength that comes from that is going to create some pretty awesome things.

Angela Proffitt:
I love that. mine is just sleep is important. It's really important.

Scout Sobel:
Oh, I don't mind sleep. I've always been really intense with my sleep routine because if I don't get sleep, my bipolar flares up, so I have to get eight and a half hours every single night and it's non-negotiable for me my whole life.

Angela Proffitt:
Sometimes people just don't realize that there's young entrepreneurs. They're like, “I can't sleep. I want to stay up all night,” dah, dah, dah. Or what I used to do, I would stay up all night working on client stuff because I was so flipping excited. Then it's like I became more excited with their ideas and their events, and their weddings, and they were excited. Then I'm like, “Is something wrong? Why am I …”

Scout Sobel:
Totally up.

Angela Proffitt:
It's like you really have to learn. Unfortunately, for me, it took a lot of ungracious people who don't even know how to say thank you. I'm like, “I stayed up all night for you.” In my head, I'm like saying this, and then I'm like, “Well, it's my own fault. No one told you to do that.” Like you said, taking a step back and having a conversation with yourself like, “Okay. You should not do that.” I love that. Jumping into the whole podcasting world, share with us some ins and outs.

Angela Proffitt:
Did you know, going into it in 2018, that this is where it would be taking you, your life, your business, your entrepreneur journey, everything that you're sharing, the outlet for what you're sharing? You're being vulnerable. I'm sure you're helping thousands and millions of people over time, that listen to these things because it's people like you who are able to feel comfortable and open up. That's going to help others change. What are you thinking now with the ins and outs of being part of the podcast world?

Scout Sobel:
When I started it, I obviously treated it like a business and took it very seriously, but what has happened has been so wildly unexpected. With Okay Sis, we have garnered up an amazing community of women that we are in contact with all the time, that are really invested in our community. We hosted our first live event in January and we had over 100 women show up to that, which was amazing. We've been able to meet some of our girl crushes and our heroes, and our role models, and people we've watched on reality TV for years. It's been a very surreal thing of who we've been able to meet and who we've been able to network with. The women that come on our podcast, we really ended up being friends and their biggest supporters. Whether they have a spa or an athletic wear line or a skincare line, we become really big cheerleaders of them.

Scout Sobel:
We've entered the space of this whole women entrepreneur, millennial world, which has been amazing, but no, I had no idea that podcasting was going to be my thing, that I was going to work in it, that I was going to learn the ins and outs of it. I mean it has definitely just … One thing happened. Then the other thing happened and then this happened. With a lot of consistency, Mads and I have never missed an episode in the past year and a half. Sometimes we do two episodes a week. Falling in love with this medium, I think was inevitable though because I have always written my whole life. I'm a big storyteller and this really gave me the platform to talk about my disorder as well. I've had a lot of people reach out to me, that listen to my podcast, that have mental health issues, and want to be an entrepreneur. I could bridge that gap for them. I wanted it to be successful, but I did not know it would take this insane of a shape.

Angela Proffitt:
It's just awesome. It's almost like when I'm in this business group and they want you to create an annual plan and then a five-year plan, which is a big gap. I'm like-

Scout Sobel:
Yes.

Angela Proffitt:
“It's really hard” because one phone call or one podcast or one email that you respond to, you think may be spam. You're like, “What is this? You're Barnes & Noble. Is this real?”

Scout Sobel:
Yes.

Angela Proffitt:
It's can really give you the opportunity to write it and make changes, and it can change your life. Then your life takes turns. You're like, “Well, shit, that wasn't in my business plan.” I look back to the very first one I wrote. We didn't have the Internet. I was in a library. I don't even like to read. I like audible. Nothing on there is accurate of a five-year plan. Not only did we exceed what I thought, because I do believe in writing your goals down, but the opportunities that come to you, sometimes you're creating those opportunities for yourself, just by sharing and you don't even know it. Those are the awesome relationships, like you said, that come out of all of this. Do you have your top three like, “Oh my God, I cannot believe that this is really how this works, kind of thing, with a podcast?”

Angela Proffitt:
If someone told you … I'll give you an example. I was out of town doing an event and one of the largest podcasts conferences was coming to Nashville, which is where I live. I sent my team in place of me and they all looked at the schedule and they're like, “We're going to go here and here and here.” My brother actually, because he was a new business owner, went. He's all into true crime because he's an undercover PI, Private Investigator. He's like, “This guy that's the number one podcaster in true crime does it from his kitchen table with a Yeti. It doesn't have to be fancy.” I think his jaw was on the ground. Your content has to be helpful and good. You said it a minute ago, the word consistency. You have to be consistent. You have to, but do you have your top three like, “Oh my gosh, I didn't think it was like this?” Because I didn't think you could just sit at your kitchen table and do it.

Scout Sobel:
Mads and I do not record in a studio. We record on our mother's couch in Los Angeles.

Angela Proffitt:
I love it.

Scout Sobel:
We just got all of our equipment together, so we never had … I would say the thing that shocked us the most was how easy and approachable so many of our guests are. We thought they would never ever look at our DMs or our emails or answer us and they have, which is amazing. That's been the biggest shock in the sense we've been able to … I think the shock really was that we had a community because when you do a podcast, you just see numbers on a screen like, “These many people are listening,” but you don't know who they are because it's not like Instagram where you can look at who follows you and who likes your stuff and whatever.

Scout Sobel:
When we started our secret Facebook group and did our live event, that really put a face to our community. I think that was the biggest shock, that we actually had people that were invested, but some of my career moments where I've been like, “Totally pinch me” is when I signed Catt Sadler and did her podcast tour. She used to be an anchor for E! News and she quit because she found out her co-host, who was a male, was getting paid more than her. She's amazing. I just saw her at a coffee shop in LA and I didn't want to bother her because I've been following her for years. I emailed her. In the subject, I said, “I saw you at the cafe.” Amazing things happen by just asking.

Angela Proffitt:
That's the thing. It's like either two things are going to happen, or three. One, no one's going to respond. Or two, they're either going to say no. Or they'll come back with some crazy-ass response like, “It's $150,000 for me to sing one song at your wedding.”

Scout Sobel:
Yes.

Angela Proffitt:
Not mine, but a client. I'm like, “What? Oh my God. You live five minutes from my client.”

Scout Sobel:
Oh my God. That's crazy.

Angela Proffitt:
Or like, “Absolutely. I would love to collaborate.” One thing that … Are you on the TikTok app? This is so random.

Scout Sobel:
Oh my God. I am loving TikTok. I just did three yesterday.

Angela Proffitt:
It's something I was like, “Oh, that's cute. I would never do that or do it for business. What a waste of time.” My sister has four kids and they're homeschooling. They're obsessed with this app. One day I'm just like, “All right. What are you so obsessed with?” It's all these little dances. I am a dancer at heart. I grew up dancing and so I'm like, “Okay. Well, I'll just learn these dances.” Then instead of singing the words to the rap songs, we'll make up words for school so they can remember how to do good on tests. That's how I made it through college, making up rap songs in my head to biology and anatomy, and all that crazy stuff, and flashcards. Now it's this whole new thing of, they're excited to work out and do schoolwork because you relate it to something fun that the kids like.

Angela Proffitt:
Actually, there's a lot of, you said, “A-list celebrities” on there that are just normal. They're totally normal. They're trying to do the dances, just like everybody else. It brings a sense of norm. The other day, I saw some stuff. Jessica Alba came up. I love her as a woman, entrepreneur, not so much as an actress. I don't really watch movies that much, but then when I was in Target, and my brother has a new baby, I'm like, “I should get some Honest company stuff from her company.” It does make you think about their products and a good thing about why they're doing it. People would have to go look up Honest Company, but it just gives you a sense of norm. Do you find that on the app too like, “Oh, who is this?” They're just normal people.

Scout Sobel:
Yeah. It's so joyful. I just scroll through and I just smile. Everyone is just having a good time. There's no negativity on TikTok. It is all positivity.

Angela Proffitt:
The other day, Mark Zuckerberg put out this big announcement for something and there was so much negativity around it. Then someone put on the comments that if Facebook would go away for 10 years, the world could be a happier place. Then someone said, “Just get on TikTok.”

Scout Sobel:
Oh, for sure. Especially right now, just being home, it is so nice to just learn a dance and move your body, and get going. It's so nice.

Angela Proffitt:
It is just fun. I mean it flat out really is fun. I know you said that you really practice gratitude. For people who don't know what that is or how to practice that, what exactly does that mean and how do you practice that?

Scout Sobel:
Essentially, I have been writing down three things that I'm grateful for, for a very long time. The way I practice it is I practice it in a few different ways. In the morning when I journal, at the end of my journal entry, I'll always write down three things that I'm grateful for. That's how I end the journal entry. Then I also do gratitude meditations if I feel like I need a little extra. Then I also text my sister what I'm grateful for. Every few days we'll text one another and say, “Here are three things I'm grateful for. What are you grateful for?” It's a nice, little back and forth exchange that we have. I always feel as if, if you're really coming from a place of gratitude, it's very difficult to be in a place of pain or suffering. Also, it's so easy to forget what is so beautiful about our lives. I am huge on expressing gratitude. It is 100% a daily practice that I do.

Angela Proffitt:
You were saying that you sometimes have to slap yourself out of it. Don't play the victim. Have a mindset shift. Do you feel that by practicing gratitude, that helps your mindset get to where it needs to be?

Scout Sobel:
100% because I can be so bogged down in anxiety, but then I realize that I have coffee and that I have my dog, and that I have a roof over my head, and that I have my husband in the next room, and that I have breakfast. It doesn't have to be huge things like I'm grateful that I got this much money. It doesn't have to be a huge thing. For me, it's usually really small things that really make my day-to-day so lovely. I really try. Every now and then, I'll throw in a big thing, but for the most part, I really try to focus on the small things.

Angela Proffitt:
That's awesome because it is. It's the small things count. It really is. I love that saying. It really is true. If people want to reach out to you and work with you to grow their podcast or to do PR, is the best way for them to follow you on Instagram, @scoutsobel?

Scout Sobel:
Yeah. Follow me on Instagram. There, it has all of the handles to Scout's Agency, to both of my podcasts. It has my email on there. You can DM me whatever you want. All of the information is on my personal Instagram, @scoutsobel.

Angela Proffitt:
Then also, you guys, check out her website, scoutsobel.com. If you say all the Ss really fast, it can … When you hear it.

Scout Sobel:
Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me.

Angela Proffitt:
Thank you so much for sharing.

Scout Sobel:
This was so fun.

Angela Proffitt:
This was awesome and so helpful. Everyone that is listening, be sure that you go and follow scout and check out what she does, especially if you have a podcast and you're trying to grow it. This is probably the quickest way, I would say, to grow when you're working with someone who understands being accountable to consistency. As a business owner myself, if I didn't have people helping me, I don't think I would be able to do it because it's a lot of work. Like you said, when you're having fun, it's not really work.

Scout Sobel:
Yes. Amen.

Angela Proffitt:
Amen. Well, everybody, thank you so much for listening today. Be sure to tune in next week for more juicy details, at Business Unveiled, on how to grow your business. Have a great day, everybody. Bye. Now that you have all the tools you need to conquer the world and GSD, just share this with your friends and your fellow GSD leaders. Be sure you're a subscriber so you never miss the juicy details of Business Unveiled. You can ask Siri to listen to the latest episode, but you got to be a subscriber. Before I go, I have a huge favor to ask. It would mean the world to me. While you're listening, snap a quick screenshot, post it to your Instagram Story, tag me, @gsdleader_, and share with me your top takeaway from this episode and how it relates to you. Until next time, remember, stay productive and profitable.

Speaker 3:
You've been listening to Business Unveiled with Angela Proffitt. Join us next time as we share our experiences to help you be more productive and profitable in your creative business. For more great resources, visit angelaproffitt.com.