Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready with Paige Griffith

Akua: The biggest takeaway from today’s episode is to stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. Paige Griffith, who is a lawyer and CEO of The Legal Page, sits down for a open conversation about one of the hardest years in her business and how her perseverance led to her building a multi six figure business in a matter of months.

She also walks us through some of the major lessons she has learned, how coming from a place of service. Always pays off and how we as business owners can work with what we have to build the business of our dreams. Now let’s get into the episode. Hey everyone. This is your host Akua Kanadu, and you’re listening to the independent business podcast.

More people than ever are working for themselves and building profitable businesses in the process. So on this show, I get to sit down with some of the most influential authors, entrepreneurs, and creators to break down the science of self made success so that you can achieve it too.

Hello page. How we doing? Hi, I’m good. I’m excited to be here with you. I know we were just talking about, it’s been a minute since we’ve like personally seen each other. So I’m just, I’m just excited to have you here and just talk about just life since the last time I saw you in 2021 to now, I feel like so much has happened.

I feel like a lot had happened before then and a lot has happened after that. And so I’m excited to have you here.

Paige: Yeah, I’m excited to talk through this because it’s gonna be it’s it’ll be fun for me to kind of give a little bit Of behind the scenes look at what my life is like with a little bit of TLP sprinkled in and what the legal page is up to But yeah being a little more vulnerable here.

Yeah, and this will be this will be fun

Akua: I know. I’m excited. You know, so you have built a multi six figure business in months, but let’s go back to that in like 2019. Okay. What was going on that? Cause you were, you were a lawyer, photographer back to an online lawyer. So, I mean, I just, I’m excited to hear all of this.

Paige: Yeah, 2019 was it was an interesting year. So I started the legal page in 2018 I was still working as a federal clerk for a federal judge and I was kind of doing both right Kind of two full time jobs full time photography. So in the evenings on the weekends I I think I probably had 20 to 30 weddings a year doing lots of family sessions We kind of did every single day Everything in photography world here in Western Montana, at the same time of having a nine to five legal job.

And that is kind of where I decided, okay, do I want to go the traditional path and kind of go law firm route? I had this really. specific moment with the judge that I worked for and I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life. And it was in 2018 and he kind of sat down with me and just said, you know what, Paige, I think you’re going to do something different with your law degree.

And I don’t think you should take these interviews with these law firms that you have. It was kind of this permission slip that I didn’t know I needed, but it forever changed the trajectory of my entire life. So if you take anything from this episode, just remember that there are moments in time that you might be talking to somebody that maybe isn’t your best friend, maybe isn’t like your partner, maybe isn’t your, your family members that you think are going to give you like that.

extreme advice that kind of changes everything, but I’ll, I’ll never forget it. And then I really kind of was like, okay, I’m going to give this a go with the legal page, started a blog, didn’t really do a whole lot with it. And 2019 was like, I’m going to give this a go. And I know he wanted to talk about 2019.

And it gives me a little bit of PTSD, to be honest. Um, cause it’s this year that I’m like, Oh, so many bad things. So many bad things happen. If I’m going to like work backwards, I always think about new year’s Eve on 20, like moving from 2019 to 2020. And it was such an intense year for me that I have never, ever been so excited for new years.

And I remember like crying tears of joy, moving into 2020. And I’m like, this is going to be the best year ever. And it’s funny thinking about now, because it was 2020 that I was going into, nobody knew, right? January 1st, 2020. So um, it’s just, I chuckle thinking back on it like, Oh Paige, you think 2019 was bad.

Like let’s, let’s give you the world that occurred in 2020. Let’s take it up a notch. Let’s take it up a notch. Uh, yeah. So 2019, I feel like I was. Hiring without a lot of income. So I was definitely in the red. I was trying to build a business that wasn’t just like a solo owned solo ran wearing all the hats business.

It just, it wasn’t feasible. I had to be a lawyer and do the lawyer things and write the contract templates, write the blogs, and I needed help, you know, running the actual business. So that was a different. That journey for me in business and entrepreneurship, a lot of us kind of just run things ourselves.

And that’s what I did with photography. So that was an interesting shift of, okay, I’m going to put a lot of capital into the business, but it’s, you know, probably not going to turn and I’m not going to get a lot of ROI from it right away. And then I feel like I was throwing things at the wall and seeing if they were going to stick.

One of them being an online course, it flopped, it didn’t go well, it’s kind of the dentist effect in the online world, or the online legal world, where you’re thinking, okay, yeah, let’s teach people how to be their own lawyer, and They don’t really want to be their own lawyer. They just want you to do it for them.

And I was going to say, I know I don’t. Yeah, they want you to fix it. So that was eyeopening. I spent, you know, tens of thousands of dollars trying to build a course and hiring like a course launch coach and the way that they did things and that works well for other businesses that they had helped launch courses for.

Like it just didn’t work for me. So we were all dumbfounded by that situation. Yeah. And. I started my podcast in 2019. So was an interesting period of time. I just feel like I was trying to do everything to be very honest with you. And it wasn’t really until the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020 that I really got clarity on what the legal page is, what it’s for, who it’s helping, and really zoning in on the one thing, which was contract templates for me.

And now since then, it’s been It’s all we’ve sold. It’s all I do. And it’s the only ROI we have in the business. People always ask me, like, tell me your streams of revenue. And I’m like, there’s one, there’s just one. So we can dive a little deeper. There’s that’s service level. What happened?

Akua: Yes, yes, yes. And the thing is, I love your contrast girl, cause I, I, I, I’ll be ready for them that Thanksgiving sale.

That’s when I get it. That’s when I get my, and I know you have multiple throughout the year, but anytime Thanksgiving, I I’m always like, put money away. Like just to double check. Like, are there any other contracts that you need? I every single year, this was even before I met you, everybody was like legal page contracts.

I’m like, all right, dope. And so even when I started Monaco, that’s where we got our operating agreement, like, you know, just stuff like that. So I’m just putting a shameless plug in them contracts. Y’all are a lifesavers.

Paige: Yes.

Akua: Yes, but I just, number one, I just want to highlight that. I think it takes a lot of courage just to try.

And I just love that you still did. You’re like, look, I was just trying different things and seeing what would work and every single time that you try something, it was just a collection of data and just an experience. But when you’re going through it, it’s not easy, especially when you are like, I know, I know on my heart that this is what I’m supposed to do.

And, but you’re not tangibly seeing the results yet. And it’s so hard to still go through that every, like to still show up every single day. So how did you like. Keep going. Cause you’re spending thousands of dollars building this course and you don’t see the results on that. Then you’re spending money building a team and you don’t have the income to maintain that.

Right? Like those different types of things. Like what still kept you to keep going and figuring this out?

Paige: Well, I loved what I did. So I feel like when you’re really, really passionate about what you do, you, Always know that there, there might be another path forward. It might not be this. And then I like to think of myself as the queen of pivoting pivot page here.

Like I can pivot so quickly and it doesn’t, you learn lessons and you move on. And you, you pick back up and you just try something else. I truly in my heart of hearts. knew what I wanted the legal page to be and how many people that I could help. And I cared so much about small businesses. I cared about them doing things the right way, the legal way, but doing it in like an effortless.

Way, so they didn’t have to be so stressed out and I I had talked to business owners And I I knew I was helping them. I just wanted to help more So even though like a course didn’t work, it’s fine. You can you can think of some other offer You can think of something else that you can do to help people another thing that I truly feel like Was a good launch to the business was our affiliate program and just networking.

So I knew early on that the, the approach of having affiliates for the legal page and being able to serve their audiences very, very simply. Specifically kind of helped me keep going. So I didn’t just niche down into one specific segment of the industry. Of course I was helping photographers first. I was a photographer.

I had that expertise. It was kind of this unique selling proposition that I could have selling contract templates is, you know, I know what’s going on in the photography world. I’m in it. Um, and then, you know, as we started expanding into other industries, I would work with an affiliate who was a mentor for, you know, their students, and it was just eye-opening what I could do for that lot as well.

Um, so yeah, I, I would say that’s kind of what kept me going was just my connections in the industry. Having all those people be like, no, you can help me and here’s how you can help. And just learning from them on, okay, maybe this is. The way that I should approach this through the legal page and doing a lot of free education.

I would say I’ve moved. I moved very quickly from let’s do like a paid course, get into this paid course versus, you know what, that’s not what people want. I’m just going to give it to them for free. And I’m going to do it on every webinar. I’m going to do it in every guest experting, you know, masterminds, workshops, retreats, all I, I just did things for free for years.

I still do. It’s, you know, a huge part of what TLP does. I love, love, love doing free, you know, expert sessions, but back then it was like, how many can I do in one week? Yeah. And it, and it worked, right? Because I felt like I was selflessly giving as much legal education as I could with my background and knowledge, but, um, it, it was helping people and they didn’t have to, it wasn’t a pay to play situation.

Akua: Yes. Oh my gosh. I love that. And I think I just want to highlight for people that are listening of just with you, like you worked with what you had, right? Like things were not working and you were like, all right, this is, this is all the skills. This is what, this is what I can do in this current season right now.

And I’m just going to make it work. And I think sometimes we feel like, well, once I get this, then I can do this. And it’s like, no, like you have everything that you need. And I say this all the time. You have everything that you need in this season to do whatever it is that you want to do. And that was exactly what you did.

And right. And so you’re like, look, all I’m I know right now I’m in a season of like where all I want to do is serve. So here’s how I’m going to do it. And even just. What I, and it’s just so interesting because yes, the contract, it’s literally your only one and that is how you built this multi six figure business, which is just wild.

But I think again, it speaks to the fact of like, when you keep just seeing the vision and keep trying and just, you’re going to find something that really sticks. And I think that’s why I just love so much about your story because now we fast forward into 2020. Right. You’re like, all right. Here we are.

Brand new year. Brand new me.

Paige: Yeah, I was like, let’s go 2020 and then 2020 hit. Um, but the beautiful thing is the, I was really thinking through, you know, before we press record how I wanted to go about this episode, because I always say like, there was a silver lining in 2020 and I was at the right place at the right time with the right resources.

But when we really talk about, okay, what was happening in 2018 and 2019? And you know, what is the business advice that I want to give people? It’s just that like, if you have a heart for serving and you have a real true passion and you, you want to take the journey through your business, it’s not about the destination.

Um, it’s about you truly believe in the business that you’re building. It will happen. It will happen for you. And, Now, four and a half years later, I can look back and be like, you know, mine was a lot, a world event that, uh, really helped the business. But I think for other people, it might be you, you booked that one client, that one client that then helps you soar to places you never believed you could, or maybe you’re networking with that one person who’s going to help you tap into their audience.

And that’s your catalyst. For the next step in your business. Um, so just know that like, there’s going to be lots of failures. There’s going to be lots of ups and downs. Um, but I, I always think that people do have one moment in their business. That’s like, this is it. And are you going to take it right? Bow by the horns?

Are you going to just ride that for as long as you can? And for me, it was an entire industry. I didn’t want to fail. And I was so worried about the wedding and event industry in 2020 as lots of us know, uh, I’m sure I’m giving some people some PTSD right now that are listening in. It was, it was a really tricky period of time, you know, March, April, May of 2020.

I was helping, Tens if not hundreds of thousands of business owners think every single vendor at a wedding and event and then all of their clients as well really navigate waters that had not been navigated before. And there was a lot of force majeure situations that there was no case law, there was no precedent.

I mean, we were really trying to dig into the legality surrounding it, but also the ethics and the morals surrounding it as well. And I didn’t, it was pre kid page. So I had lots of time. I had, I had the ability to work 16 plus hour days and just, I just cared so much. I didn’t want all of these businesses to go down.

That’s where I was at. That’s where my head game was is, you know, they all have contracts with clients. They’re not the best contracts. It was, you know, that’s my silver lining is everyone was laser being focused on contracts at that time. Clients were, they were trying to figure out how to get out and reschedule or, you know, change or not lose money, maybe get some refunds.

Clients really wanted refunds at the time, but then that would hurt. All of these small business owners and service providers who are vendors, like their businesses would go down if they had to refund everyone. Uh, so the name of the game was really keeping the, the industry as cohesive as possible with steps moving forward.

Um, so clients kind of knew, okay, this is what all vendors are doing. This is normal. And this is how we’re going to approach this. And I really think it worked, honestly, if I’m looking back at it, I think we all banded together in a really amazing way where a lot of businesses didn’t go down and it could have been a lot different.

So, yeah, it was, that was an interesting period of time. And then I just built resources that everybody needed, right? Nobody had a rescheduling contract. Nobody had a cancellation contract. I remember doing them and. overnight, like I was up till really early in the morning, um, kind of putting together this bundle that everyone needed.

And that’s where the legal page just kind of exploded, which is crazy to think about. I know. Yeah, that, that’s the 2020 story. The early 2020 story because then it kept continuing on throughout the rest of 2020 and 2021. And I think we’re still in post COVID era, but we’re slowly creeping out

Akua: of it. Yeah, no, I agree 1000%.

And you wonder what, Paige, your story kind of reminds me of this, like saying, I would say this all the time, like, stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. I feel like, like, yeah, like that’s what your story, like that moment. Right. Because you always have to think of like, Just again, back in 2019, right?

Like everything’s failing, but everything’s preparing you for this next moment, though, it doesn’t feel like it. So then when that moment comes, you ready? Cause you’ve already been through this rodeo multiple times.

Paige: Yeah, it’s so true. I mean, I was instilled like early on, like, don’t give up page. Don’t give up.

Something will happen or you’ll, you’ll figure out what’s, what’s going to, you know, come next, but you’re right. It’s like, stay ready. So you don’t have to get ready. If I would have had to get ready, it, that would have taken way more time and it was so, it was so immediate. Like, you had to have things so quickly for people because they were all reeling with what was going on with the shutdown and weddings and events and in person gatherings not being able to occur.

Akua: 1000%. I know you said like, obviously, two, you were at the right place at the right time, but then also two, I do think it’s just like, Also alignment, because you had literally been preparing for this, like you already knew early on that you were going to start focusing on contracts based on all the failures from 2019.

So you were already moving in that direction, right? So if you weren’t moving, you wouldn’t have had it. So that even like, yes, right time, but I think it’s a moment that you prepared for because that moment was yours regardless. You know what I mean? Like it was never going to pass you and that type of thing, because it is, it’s so needed now.

Cause like, even for, Like, I literally bought my first contract from you that year. And I think so many of us did. Because know she’s so A lot of people. A lot of people. And like, I just felt so confident afterward. Because I was like, look, I’m not a photographer. But like, look, I remember being like, let me see if she got something from me.

I was like, oh, lo and behold. Here it is. Jess was like, And just because I saw what, how much it affected the photo, like the industry, the photography industry so heavily, but, and it started, and obviously to other people marketing, like so many different things. And you’re one of those businesses that yes, it affected a lot of, um, a lot of businesses definitely took a hit, but you’re one of those businesses that like saw a lot of growth that year.

So even through 2020 into 2021, like what were some major things that you just like really learned as a business owner?

Paige: Hiring, finding a team that could really help support the legal page and support all of our customer base behind it. Uh, I just, I knew really quickly I couldn’t do all of the things that I had been doing.

And I think that was a learning lesson too, is I was worried in 2019 about being in the red and like, having You know, team members on board. And there was a lot of back and forth, right? A lot of contractors like, okay, I’m going to hire you now. And then this isn’t probably the best time. So then I’m going to let you go.

And there was just a lot of back and forth. And in 2020 and 2021, I was like, I need to hire some really big key players here for the business. And February of 2021, I hired two of the best hires I’ve ever had. And they’re still with the company now. Um, I learned a lot of leadership. And manager lessons in 2019 as well, I’ll take responsibility for I was young and you need a lot of failures to be a better manager and leader.

And so every instance of that through the legal page has been, you know, I just want to, I want to build a team. That’s all about the team and all about what we’re doing, uh, and loves their job. And I just want the culture to be, you know, great for everyone who works for us. So, yeah, that’s, that’s what I did in 2020 and 2021 at the same time.

I, Decided to have a baby. So that was like a pivotal shift in 2021 as well. I had my first kid and then I was bouncing kind of motherhood and entrepreneurship and that was, that was a whole new , adventure. . But yeah, I think again, I, maybe I was, I was preparing myself again for what was to come in my personal life without really knowing it.

I was like, I need a lot of support here in the business. Because my, my personal life is going to shift so drastically. Yeah. Yeah. So that’s kind of what I was doing. And at the same time, I mean, we were just growing so quickly, like keeping up with that pace, um, was, was challenging in and of itself and all of the other industries because imagine, you know, I was helping the wedding and event industry very specifically for those three or four months at the very beginning of the pandemic.

Um, but then, you know, Everyone and their dog wanted to be their own boss, and people were shifting from corporate into entrepreneurship like wildfire. Yeah. And so there was so many other industries that people were like, do you have a contract for this? Do you have a contract for this? So we were just also churning and creating as many new industry specific contract templates as we could.

Yeah, that that’s kind of . Yeah,

Akua: I know. But there’s like so many, I have so many questions in my mind. I’m like, okay, slow down. Ask away. I know. Because I’m like, oh my gosh. Okay. But let’s talk about that though, of like. Okay, you started hiring, right? But then also to like the success that was so quickly. I don’t think we talk about that enough of like, how as business owners are we maintaining when the success comes?

So what did you do where you just were like, Oh my gosh, like I’m assuming systems automation is like, what did that look like for you?

Paige: Yeah, I mean all of that. Everything was, you know, in my head and in Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets. So the very first hire I made was an operations person. I called her an operations assistant.

She quickly became an operations manager. She was like, you do not know what you’re doing behind the scenes of your business. I was like, I mean, I kind of do, right? She was like, I got you. Like, sit down. Yeah, yeah, and so hirings, that was, I mean, it was, Such a specific hire, but I needed it so much. And so did the business.

And I think that also really helped align the rest of the team members that we had at that time. Um, because I needed to be the visionary and the legal expert. And that is what I needed to focus in on. I mean, you know, what they, where they say like, what are the 25 an hour jobs and what are your hundred dollar an hour jobs in the business?

And I got a lot of clarity on that very quickly, uh, because I needed to do. X and I needed to hire a bunch of people to do all of those other things. And, um, yeah, that was, that was huge. And since then, that particular person has moved from operations assistant to operations manager. And now she’s like my number two in the business and basically run ship.

Uh, and now does a bunch of marketing and, you know, directing everybody. So that’s fascinating. I could not live without her in the business. She’s, she’s such a wonderful human. Um, and. One of the other big, I was trying to clone myself and I realized pretty quickly I need to hire another lawyer and I need someone else to do a lot of these legal things.

With me and alongside me versus me doing all of it. Uh, and we, I also hired that person at that same time. And so, yeah, it, maybe I hired, that was like, might’ve been the end of 2021 into 2022. And I was like, I, we have to find somebody that’s similar to me. Um, and there’s a lot of them out there, if you can believe it.

There’s a lot of lawyers that don’t want to like work for a firm and maybe have experience with it, but they, they see this kind of like new age of virtual online. You know, legal world and yeah, she’s been with the company since then as well. So those are two big hires where I was outsourcing a lot of what I was doing.

Akua: I personally feel like trying to figure out what your first hire is going to be is so difficult. Did it get easier after you hired, like once you made that first hire, does it get easier to know, okay, what do I need to hire next?

Paige: Yeah, it does. I would highly suggest that you find like a business mentor to help guide you because if I’m looking back, I think I made a lot of like not so smart hires at the very beginning, like 2018, 2019, beginning of 2020.

And when the business was doing super well. And I need to hire, I needed to hire really fast. I felt like I was hiring too frantically and just for positions that I thought in my mind, the business needed versus having a third party come in and be like, okay, give me your org chart. And I was like, what’s an org chart.

I don’t know.

Akua: I’m just

Paige: like, I’m an entrepreneur. I’ve been doing this grassroots. I have no idea what an org, I’m my org chart. What are you talking about? Um, um, and When they saw that, then they can see a lot of the holes, right? They’re experts at what they do and figuring out how to build a very successful team and who should be, um, talking to who and how I can get out of a lot of the conversation so I can get back to doing what I need to do.

And we’re all learning that every single day when we hire certain people. But I would say making sure that you’re hiring the right people. It might not be your decision to make, it might be someone else telling you who you need to hire. Uh, and that, that came, that came to me over the course of time, right?

So, I, it took me a couple of years to really hone in on, okay, why did I need to hire this person? Who’s managing this person? Is this a specific person? Role or do I split this role? Like a lot of unicorn roles were in my business. So there was too many people doing like in all kinds of different lanes of TLP.

And those are not really, those aren’t great hires. Um, those people aren’t going to have longevity in your business. They’re going to get bogged down. They’re going to be doing too much, too many tasks and doing it at, you know, it’s just. 10 to 20 percent level versus hiring people very specifically for one task and them doing it.

You know, 80 to 100 percent. So I think over time I got a lot of help, got a lot of insight from people, so that I wasn’t making those hiring decisions. Of course, I’m the one who interviewed and like, Found the right people, but I will say as well, we have a duality between employees and contractors. And I truly believe in that.

I think there is a time and place for an employee in your business who’s loyal and that’s all they do. So they’re not thinking about all these other things. And then there’s a time and place for contractors. And we still have contractors in the business that have been with us for a very, very long time, but they really do well at still working for other companies and working for TLP.

Akua: Yes, oh my gosh, I love that so much and I just really want to highlight of how you said that it really takes a lot of time And I do appreciate even two year transparency from earlier We were like look It was a lot of back and forth I would have people on for a short of my time and then i’d have to let people go and I think i’m also guilty Of that where i’m like, okay I think i’m ready to like build my team and then it’s like going for a couple months and i’m like I don’t have like It trying to manage your team requires a whole nother level of time, right?

Cause I was just like, I’m also letting go like things. I’m still figuring out myself as a business owner of like, how do I want to delegate? And what do I want to automate in my business? I’m like, who am I comfortable delegating to? I’m still navigating that. So I really appreciate where you’re like, It takes time, but then also to, you were like, you went to seek out help, like who are doing it really well, like mentors of like, who’s doing that really well, running a team very well.

And like, how can I lean into that to figure out more resources? Because that vision again, was very clear to you. I was like, okay, I know this is what I need. And so now you’ve built this team. Now things are starting to run without you, right? Where, where you’re required as heavily. And then you’re like, boom, like I’m ready to start a family.

You’re starting a family. How has that even to transition of, you know, Starting a family and then running your own business. I’m like, that’s a huge shift as well. Like you were working 16 hour days and you know, and now your time and your focus is required somewhere else. So,

Paige: yeah, I mean, time management, it becomes your best friend.

And I, I, I’ve reflected a lot over the past. year. I had my second child eight months ago. And so I feel like now mom of two, I’m really figuring out these waters a lot more than with one kid. I feel like it’s a little bit easier. I hate to say that like publicly. Um, but I do, I feel like it’s just easier because there’s like usually two parents and one kid.

So you’re on two on one, which is a little easier than two on two. And Yeah. Time management is my best friend. Delegation is my best friend. I feel like I’ve had to find a lot of help and support in my personal life versus just my business life. And I was always trying to find a lot of support in the business aspect of things, but realizing I might need that as well in my personal life because I’m a mom, but I’m also a business owner and I’m trying to straddle both of those.

Uh, you know, having a really good, Yeah, support system as much as you can and being okay with having, you know, child care providers be a part of my life. Um, and I, I’m not able to be, you know, a full time stay at home mom and that’s okay. I’ve chosen, you know, a work path as well. And so navigating through all of that personally has been Kind of what’s been going on the past, you know, 12 months or so.

Uh, but yeah, it’s a balancing, it’s a juggling act, right? There’s never, you’re never going to have everything weighed perfectly. It’s, it’s never going to balance equally. Work life balance isn’t really a thing, you know, work life integration. And I always think of it as like, you’re going to be thrown something while you’re juggling things every, every day, whether that’s like a personal thing.

You know, object that you’re going to have to then juggle or whether that’s a business object that’s going to be thrown at you. And you just kind of have to realize like what balls are going to be kept in the juggling act, or if you have to drop a couple of balls and that’s okay. I’ve also realized this is a big, big realization as I’ve become a mom is I’m not going to get everything done.

Like I’m just not. It’s, it’s an impossibility for me to get all my tasks done every single day. So being okay with sitting in the uncomfortability that that task might have to wait till tomorrow or next week or next month, and I’m not going to be perfect. I can’t, I can’t check all the boxes. And I was trying so hard to do that for the first few years of my business.

Like the hustle culture. And I, I truly believed in that and motherhood has really given me a whole new outlook on that’s not worth it.

Akua: Uh, it

Paige: can wait, it can wait. My babies are more important and being present and being with them and having a cutoff time for work. I, you know, I think we’re all working on that as moms who are on doors and running, you know, a business it’s, it’s, it’s.

It’s a constant battle that you’re facing, trying to shift your mindset from work back to your personal life. But kids really help with that. Yeah. Yeah.

Akua: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it’s just a really good reminder of like. Why we started our business, right? A lot of us started our business because we wanted freedom.

And you know that I always bring up that, uh, that, um, like, Oh yeah, I started my own business because I didn’t want to work for anybody else, but I’m working 24 seven. And I think a lot of us, we all naturally fall into that, but it’s like, we all do. I mean, but it’s like, you’re building your business. It’s just that reminder of like, you’re building your business to support your life.

Not like your life is supporting your business, right? Like it’s the other way around. And I think that’s just such a good reminder of it. No matter what season in your life that you’re in, to really check in with yourself and really take that time to be like, what do I truly want? Um, even future, because I just think of our episode two with Shea Cochran, and I keep bringing up her episode because it’s, it’s truly such a powerful, powerful one.

And we’ll link that in the show notes, but she says, build the business today that you want tomorrow. And I think your story too, is a whole testament to that of like. Though I don’t, I don’t know, like you knew like, okay, maybe I’m gonna start, I want to start building a family. So it’s like you made those shifts, right.

In order to be able to do that. And so again, like really think about your vision, your future of like, what do I want this business to be? What do I want my life to also look like so that my business can support that? And I think that’s just like your story, whole story in general is just such an amazing, amazing testament to that.

So I appreciate like your vulnerability of like, I’m in this major season of motherhood now. And how does that look like in entrepreneurship? Because I think there’s a lot of business owners who are parents. that are still navigating that feel maybe guilt. And I love that you were like, I’m not going to get everything done and that’s okay.

So I love that you highlighted that because I think even me myself, I needed that permission. Like I’m not going to get everything done and that’s not, and that’s okay. Not me being like, and that’s not okay. And that’s okay. So I really, really appreciate you sharing that. So thank you.

Paige: Yeah, she’s a good friend of mine as well.

And I, I have loved listening to her, you know, outlook on how to run a business and how to navigate that with a family. One of the things I will say that maybe this will help people is having a seasonal. Approach to your business is something that I really set myself up for knowing that, okay, I wanted like slower winters, slower summers, but I could go a little bit harder in the spring and the fall.

And what did that look like for running sales or running different offers? And when it just kind of ties back up this conversation with you were saying, I wait till the Thanksgiving sale. And we did that. I did that very specifically being like, I’m going to have a mid year sale. It’s going to be sometime around may or June, and then I’ll take a slower summer.

And then I’m going to have, you know, a lot of time to work on the business in the fall. Then we’re going to have a really big sale kind of around Thanksgiving. And then I’m going to take a slower winter and be able to do a lot of back end work. And I have done that. And I haven’t changed that with the legal page since we began.

I have not changed it. And that has really, really set me up for success in motherhood. If I’m thinking back now, I didn’t know that it would, um, but it’s allowed me to spend a lot more time with my family and my kids during those, um, off season, so to speak. I mean, we’re still working during off seasons, just not as much.

And I think Shay would be proud that I’ve, I’ve done that at least like knowing, okay, we’re going to have a seasonal approach. There are going to be some like work hard seasons, but knowing that there’s The play hard is coming

Akua: is coming. Oh, I love that. I love that so much. And so what is what’s next now, you know, uh, for, for legal page now, you know, after everything that you walked through, what’s next for you?

Paige: Yeah, I, I mean, we have some things in the pipeline that I’m very excited about. Oh, what is next? Um, can’t share that yet, but I think, you know, helping people implement the contracts into their business as seamlessly as possible is something I’m really looking forward to. forward to in the future. Um, so, you know, getting a little bit more techie in the business versus just, you know, having it is like word documents and google documents that we’re giving these templates to to people trying to really just make business in the contract part of it and the quote part of it or the invoicing part of it a little bit more seamless.

Um, so that’s in the works. I don’t really know what that looks like yet, but in my head, it’s in the works. I, I think just continuing to build a team. We’ve worked really hard this summer, actually hiring even more people. Um, so I’m letting go of a lot more and giving a lot of management and leadership opportunities to other people on my team so that I can take a step back.

You know, focus on the things that are really important to me. We’re working really hard on building our law firm, which is separate from the legal page. So I have a law firm that myself, and now my attorney who is helping me with the legal pages, we’re going to band together and support people a little bit more one on one custom approach is I think a lot of small business owners need access to that and not just contract templates, like the people who are scaling and growing.

They’re looking for more custom approach, like custom legal approaches to things. So we’ve been working on that and yeah, I mean, expanding, helping as many industries as I can and fueling them with legal education and knowledge. That’s what’s in the future. Just continuing on, continuing on.

Akua: Yes, I love that so, so much.

And I have loved this conversation, honestly. Like, thank you so much for just giving people just the real tea, like a real glimpse of what it truly takes to build a business. And so every question we love to end with is what do you think is the biggest differentiator between the businesses that succeed and the ones that fail?

Paige: Okay, I would say being prepared for the next steps before the next steps occur. Yes. I

Akua: love that. And you’re like, and cut. But I mean, truly, you’re literally, your story is a perfect reflection of that. And I think that’s just so, so important. Like I said before, stay ready. So you don’t have to get ready. So when things are hard as a business owner, Keep showing up.

Keep doing the work because it is going to pay off. Like there is a reason why you have the dream of running your own business on your heart. Like there’s a reason why it’s there. And so don’t ever let up on that. So Paige, thank you. Thank you so much for being here. And for people that want to connect with you, uh, where can we support you?

Where can we find you?

Paige: Yeah, you can find me on Instagram at the legal page P A I G E and the legal page dot com. Same. I don’t hide the boat there. Um, and Another really good way to kind of get accustomed to what the legal page does is we have a free contract class. You can go to contract class. com.

Learn a little bit about what you may be doing wrong with your client contracts and some tips and tricks for you to do better and have better client contracts. Uh, and that’s all at the contract class. com. And I’d love to see you there.

Akua: Yes. Oh, well, thank you. Thank you so much page. And for everybody listening until next time, that ends our episode of the independent business podcast.

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