This week I spoke with Mimi Bouchard, founder of Activations. We covered neuroplasticity, habit stacking, trusting your intuition, why authenticity fuels innovation, and how Mimi grew her business through word of mouth and focusing on 10x opportunities instead of 2x improvements.
This week I spoke with Mimi Bouchard, founder of Activations. We covered neuroplasticity, habit stacking, trusting your intuition, why authenticity fuels innovation, and how Mimi grew her business through word of mouth and focusing on 10x opportunities instead of 2x improvements.
LINKS AND SHOW NOTES
katie (00:01)
Alright, welcome back. This week is the tenth episode of Comebacks. we've crossed double digits and I'm really happy to be here.
katie (00:12)
I'm talking to Mimi Bouchard, the founder of Activations I really
katie (00:18)
loved speaking with her and as I do, I dove in deep to her work and truly spent the day with her, listening to her on other podcasts, reading her book, and mostly in her app, which is called Activations. And I you know, I even spent the night with her because I was listening to one when I went to sleep. I honestly like
katie (00:44)
This app, man, it really
katie (00:47)
It really hit me hard. and we talk about it a bit in this episode. And so anyway, I'd been listening to her voice so much it was bizarre to finally get to talk to her live. But once I did it exceeded expectations and I'm stoked for you to hear it. Mimi got into personal development about a decade ago and today Activations has over a hundred thousand users.
katie (01:15)
So we get into
katie (01:18)
essentially what her comeback is and how she created activations, which are, I should tell you, a a new category of audio that, you know, as I said, I started using before we spoke just to kind of get the gist of it, and then I genuinely loved it. And I I think you will too.
katie (01:40)
So yeah, you'll you'll hear more about it from her, But she does make us in the I think the middle of the episode, somewhere in the episode, she I ask her for one or she she provides us a discount. it's actually not a code, it's just a link, but
katie (02:03)
It's activations.com slash Katie and it'll be free for you for two weeks and and there's a also a steep discount. I th I believe she said the deepest discount that she offers ever, just for us. So anyway, try it out because you can for free and I'm really curious if you
katie (02:25)
feel the same way that I did. They're also letting me make a playlist of my favorites, so that will be there. And anyway, what's important right now is Mimi's Comeback, which is really about going from n what she said, numbness to aliveness
katie (02:44)
and how in her twenties she was broke and partying and and really struggling. She'd never been in a relationship before. And then she talks about one day sitting on the Murphy bed in her two hundred square foot studio apartment in London and she recorded a voice memo to herself and layered some cinematic
katie (03:07)
music over it and listen to it and that ended up being the first activation.
katie (03:16)
We talk about that and how that all came to be and then why perfectionism isn't the goal, obviously, but what is is increasing what she calls the bounce back rate and we get into Pavlov's dog and she shared some business advice that I really I really like the way she
katie (03:37)
runs her her business in life. She talks about why 10X is easier than 2X, how she met her now husband, and how she's feeling now if she's really on the precipice of another comeback around the corner because, as you'll hear, she is nine months pregnant when we recorded this. So any day now she will have a baby.
katie (04:01)
So congratulations to her, congratulations to you for being here and about to hear this episode. Let's let's get into it. I'm really stoked for you to for you to hear it and I am genuinely excited to hear if you end up trying activations which ones you like.
katie (04:18)
you listen with your eyes open while you're living your life.
katie (04:22)
And like I said, you can try it for free, but you just have to use the link not the app store because it just doesn't work that way. So it's activations dot com slash Katie K A T I E my name, if you didn't know how spell it. And anyway, yeah, let me know what you think.
katie (04:38)
this whole entire concept of these activations really scratched an itch for me.
katie (04:43)
So I've been queuing up, you know, for years Louise Hay and Abraham Hicks and you know, while I was getting ready or running errands and I've been doing that since my early twenties cueing these things up on YouTube and across these different apps, but it's really nice to have it in the activations app
katie (05:00)
all in one place, and there are no ads pulling me out of it and you know, anyway, here's the episode. and one more thing. I'm gonna do a mailbag episode about comebacks. We've done ten of them already. All the ones that I'd recorded so far have
katie (05:15)
Then
katie (05:16)
Out. I just recorded this one with Mimi. You're hearing it very soon after it came out. And all the other ones were kind of recorded before. So yeah, send any questions, any thoughts, or feelings The link to do that is in the show notes, as well as the activations.com slash K-A-T-I-E, and the link to submit your question for the mailbag, all in the show notes. So here's the episode.
katie (05:44)
okay, cool. Well, I I was telling you before we started recording, I've been spending the day with you yesterday and listening to you on other podcasts and listening to you on activations, and then I spent the night with you last night because I listened to there's like I think it's what, five hours?
Mimi (06:03)
Yeah, we have a lot of night tracks. Wow, I I'm surprised you're not sick of me at this point.
katie (06:08)
No. And and that
katie (06:09)
it's a little bit bizarre to talk to you live because I really did a I really did a deep dive and and I'm like excited to be done with the call to go back and listen to you more.
Mimi (06:19)
Wow.
Mimi (06:20)
Well, thank you. I'm honored. I definitely am honored.
katie (06:22)
Ha ha ha.
Mimi (06:24)
I'm so happy that you're loving the activations and I'm super pumped for our conversation.
katie (06:30)
I know, same, same. I'm excited to get to know you more. And we were also saying before this that you're how many months pregnant? You're like kind of any week now? Yeah. Wow.
Mimi (06:38)
Basically nine months pregnant right now. I could give birth today. No, in
Mimi (06:43)
a couple weeks is my due date. But it it feels like it could happen any minute. But I was telling you off air, like I'm actually feeling so good and just really energized. So I'm gonna kind of roll with this.
katie (06:55)
Good.
katie (06:56)
I'm so glad. Did you end up making it seems like you make the we'll get into what they are, but I'm just curious right now. It seems like you make them based on what your experience is and what you need. So are I'm sure I I didn't look, obvious you know, 'cause I didn't need but a are there pregnancy activations in there?
Mimi (07:14)
Well, I do tend to get selfish with my audio team
katie (07:17)
Mm-hmm.
Mimi (07:18)
and my script writer. I when I did get pregnant, you know, earlier this year I actually had a pretty rough beginning to my pregnancy. I had a mild case of hypermesis gravidium, which is like an e extreme sickness, and thankfully it only lasted
katie (07:31)
Ugh.
Mimi (07:32)
for three or four months. But you know, when I got out of that haze, I told my team, I'm like, We need activations for pregnancy, for preconception, for the two week wait, for birth.
Mimi (07:44)
And like we created a whole section for that, but I definitely have an impact and an influence on the content that we get to create. And we have like, you know, such a huge library. So yes, I can be selfish with my my big team of, you know, composers and audio engineers to create the tracks that I need in my life. But yeah, you know, that's that's the perk of having this business.
katie (08:05)
Yeah. Well I think
katie (08:07)
it's le I think it's less than I mean that is that's a great way of saying it and and true to some extent. But I also think the more I found like with doing this show, the ones that I like when I'm working o through something through one of these conversations or I'm curious about it or you know what they say about writing or creativity in general, I think it's like
katie (08:30)
D if you do it for you, it'll probably the personal is universal often. I think if you try to create there's like that great Bowie quote that's like, you know, when he considered the audience the work suffered, but when he was really
Mimi (08:40)
Mm-hmm.
katie (08:41)
selfish about it, the work was better and I think that's so true. It's like what is authentically needed for you, other people will need and if you try to guess the needs of other people it's probably not even as potent.
Mimi (08:52)
Yeah, you know, I've actually
Mimi (08:53)
never thought about it that way. But now looking back on the content that we've created over the past six years of me having this business, like five, four or five years ago, I was in a big like, I want to make more money stage of life. And we created all of these targeted visualizations of like specific amounts of money, specific yearly incomes. And I was so deeply creatively involved with my audio team and my script writing team.
Mimi (09:20)
where I was like, this moment in the activation with this music drop needs to hit when I say this certain
katie (09:25)
Mm.
Mimi (09:26)
word. And looking back, those are some of our like most insanely effective, like state-changing audios. And they are like some of my favorites still. And and it's because at that time I was so motivated to make more financially that, you know, I put like even extra effort into that. So that makes total sense. And
Mimi (09:47)
I can absolutely see what you're saying that I've never thought about it that way though.
katie (09:51)
Yeah, yeah. And I wonder if it's even you know, I know in my experience f the episodes where I'm like, this one is gonna be people are gonna love this one and I'm I'm even kind of iffy about it, but I'm like, I'll try it. Like it's never the one that people love. It's always like they're always it there has to be at least some of that, I think, for something to really
katie (10:10)
really work. but I before we get into the the comeback series is what we're doing here. And so you're gonna take us through a one of your comebacks today. But since we've been mentioning activations a little bit, I guess we should tell people who don't know and aren't familiar with you and your work, which probably isn't very many people, but can you define what an activation is? Because it's a new category of audio that didn't exist before that you actually created. So could you just like top line give a definition?
Mimi (10:40)
Absolutely. So, like you mentioned, it's a new category of audio and it's personal development audio that you listen to with your eyes open in everyday moments. So, unlike meditation, you know, meditation is an ancient practice that is designed to calm you. You need to listen to it with your eyes closed. You need to carve out time out of your day to go sit, meditate, clear your head. Activations are kind of the opposite. They're none of them are meant to clear your head. They're all in
Mimi (11:09)
Designed to inspire you and energize you and help you step in to your potential, essentially. So there's a combination of beautiful cinematic music that our audio team, you know, sources from some of the top composers in the world. These composers make beautiful compositions for movies and TV shows. Really, the music element is such a big part of an activation. It makes you feel like you're the main character of your life. And
Mimi (11:38)
it really changes your state. And then the other fifty percent of an activation is guided audio that isn't meditative or overly, you know, calming and and spiritual even. It's very pragmatic. It's kind of like a pep talk in your back pocket. It's this encouraging persona voice that is human. It has soul, but it just reminds you of who you want to be. And it's simple and it's no BS some of the time.
Mimi (12:07)
But it's essentially a pep talk in your back pocket. And we have categories for every moment of the day, from when you're waking up in the morning, brushing your teeth, getting ready, to when you're cooking or cleaning or running errands or working out or walking, our walking activation category is one of our most popular. So it's really audio that you listen to in everyday moments to make you feel like the best version of yourself. So just like podcasts you listen to when you want to be.
Mimi (12:36)
entertained or learn something new or listen to friends chit-chat. Music you listen to when you're in the mood to kind of like tune out and feel emotion. Activations is just another type of audio you can press play in your everyday moments and it's really good for habit stacking to help you just feel like the best you in these mundane everyday moments.
katie (12:58)
It's so it's it's honestly like really hitting me hard because I'm an auditory learner. You know, I I s I started this podcast when I was twenty two in twenty thirteen. I'm still doing it and the reason I do a podcast is because I discovered them back then. There there weren't as many, but I g s I was we sh we share a publisher Hay House and I yeah, and I
katie (13:25)
was so into self help and personal growth and listening to everything I could get my hands on. And it's like I kind of did this for myself in the and as you did before you created activations in always having on Abraham Hicks or always having on Louise or Ram Das or Wayne Dyer or, you know, something.
katie (13:50)
in the background or mu like creating my own, you know, through across a bunch of different apps, like creating my own activation because I such an auditory learner while I was cleaning or dri driving or you know, still now I do I do that and I cue up. And this really filled a need. Like there's no ads that take you out of it. There's no it it's really incredible and the experience of it is is so great. But what I love the most is like
katie (14:21)
And you touched on this a little bit, and if people are listening to this sh podcast in order, last the last episode that came out with Grace Abbott, we talked about how like addiction to self help and how, you know, we had really taken it so far that it became spiritual entertainment. Like i I wasn't embodying it, I was just listening to it and needed to take a break from that. But still those are so important, you know, for people to
katie (14:49)
learn and and first get into it but I was the reason I was still listening to it was after I knew the information wasn't about learning it. It was about changing my current state and giving me like a tune up and reminding me of the content. And what activations does is it like does that without me having to like learn a lecture or hear an interview that I've already heard. It can change it I think what you're really doing with activations and I don't
katie (15:16)
think I've heard you say it in these words, but I this is my interpretation of it, is yeah, like s changing your state through these mundane moments that you're already doing. And so yeah, I just I'm such a fan. It's like it's really cool.
Mimi (15:31)
How much you get it because a lot of the time when I explain to people what these are, they're like, What is it? I'm like, it's new. So, you know, it's this new type
katie (15:39)
Right.
Mimi (15:40)
of thing. And and I love how how you describe it because that's literally the intention. It's like bite-sized pieces of audio, you know, we have anything from two minutes to 20 plus minutes, but you know, it's it's it's it's a cinematic experience and it is so effective at changing your state. And I think music.
Mimi (16:01)
Is such a big part of that. I remember a decade ago when I first created these for myself. Cause I created this for myself way before ever thinking I would ever tell anyone I even created these. You know, this was something that came from a deep need in my life. And, you know, as you you mentioned the come my comeback story, like I was in a completely
katie (16:23)
Yeah.
Mimi (16:25)
different place about a decade ago. I was
Mimi (16:28)
very insecure. I had serious body image issues, like binge eating, hated myself, very low confidence, had never even found love before. I was in my early twenties and, you know, had never had a boyfriend, wanted to find love, felt very unworthy. Financially I was broke as heck, you know, like living paycheck to paycheck, trying to figure out how to make rent. and, you know, I I
Mimi (16:57)
was partying a lot, drinking a lot, not treating myself well. I wasn't the person I wanted to be. And then I decided to change. And I hit this rock bottom and I decided that this one precious life I wanted to live being the best version of myself. And I listened to that little voice inside of me that I think we all have. And it essentially just said Mimi, you're
Mimi (17:26)
Like you can do more with your life. You are you are meant to do more. You have greater potential than this. You can do something extraordinary. And I believe we all have this. We all can tune into that. And I decided to listen to it. And it didn't change overnight, but I started to slowly get into personal development work. I was the type of person that would literally Google, like, how do I change my life? And I started to
Mimi (17:54)
do more traditional personal development work. I, you know, would dedicate hours waking up at 5 a.m. and trying to do this whole intense morning routine. And, you know, I felt a little different, but I still wasn't becoming the Mimi I wanted to be. And it was a long process for me because I just I wasn't, you know, I wasn't actually changing, but I was dedicating all this time. So finally I had this breaking point within this, you know, transformative time and I realized
Mimi (18:20)
That I had not actually been practicing being my future self, being the woman I wanted to be in my day-to-day life. It was almost like I was waiting for this like one day to transform, and I've just been preparing for it. Like you mentioned, like, you know, just consuming so much, but not actually seeing real results.
katie (18:36)
Yeah.
Mimi (18:38)
So I decided that I wanted to figure out how to feel like I am the version of me I wanted to be now. And I was reading a book at that time.
Mimi (18:48)
About neuroplasticity, about rewiring your brain, about visualization, and about the self-image and how you see yourself creates your life. So I thought, okay, what kind of thing can I do that reminds me to be the new self in everyday moments and that changes those thoughts in my brain in real time. And I decided to whip out my phone. I remember this moment so well, Katie.
Mimi (19:15)
I was in my 200 square foot studio apartment on my Murphy bed. And I just thought, you know what? I'm gonna just make a voice memo and listen to it. And I created, you know, I took out my phone, I I opened the voice memo app and I just spoke, you know, this visualization of how it would feel. It wasn't even like a deep visualization. I wasn't intending to listen to it with my eyes closed. It was just like
Mimi (19:40)
This is how it feels to be rich, to be happy, to be fulfilled, to have an amazing relationship with my body, to have love in my life, to feel the way I want to feel. And I listened to it and it was good, but then it needed something else. And like I mentioned to you, I'm obsessed with music. So I added like from YouTube all this like cinematic movie moment, you know, main character getting what they want type of music into my garage band with this voice layer. And then I would
Mimi (20:09)
Put it back on my phone and then I'd listen to it while I was walking, while I was grocery shopping, while I was on the bus going to one of my jobs, while I was literally doing anything. And I became addicted to how it felt to be my future self with my eyes open, to be listening to this incredible audio experience of just like completely new information and feelings and energy and sounds. And
Mimi (20:36)
If you think about it like a graph, the few years that I started in personal development doing all the things, spending all the hours, not seeing really any results, was kind of like the beginning of this like graph, right? Okay, of the line on the graph. And it wasn't really moving up, but it wasn't, it was kind of moving up. And then the moment really to the month that I started to create these activations for myself and kind of stopped doing everything else. I just would listen to these and make a bunch of them. It was like this bell curve on a graph.
Mimi (21:03)
It was like this crazy line shooting right up. I within months started to see real tangible changes in my life. I started to change. My habits started to change. My thoughts started to change. I would actually find myself about to like binge and I would stop. Or I'd find myself at a networking event, see meeting someone, thinking, that person could.
Mimi (21:29)
Partner with me on this thing, and then that thing made a bunch of money. And then, like, I started seeing opportunities. I met my now husband. This was nine years ago. All these things in my life started to change. And these activations were like this turning point because it was the most actionable, effective practice I had ever done. Cause it taught me to be my future self in everyday moments. So
Mimi (21:55)
That's my story. Five years after I started changing my life just secretly with activations. I actually just posted a few on my Instagram and then they blew up. And then now six years after that, I have like a tech company that has an app with like 900 activations and like a whole team and like it's wild. Like it it is my story is really crazy because of this work.
katie (22:18)
Yeah, yeah. Well so this new series, you know, as you know, is all about comebacks as we define them. So a time where you changed course in your work or your life and whether you were forced to or or you wanted to. And what I usually say is I have people walk us through a comeback where your life was one way and now it's another and you just did that. so we have these four
katie (22:44)
core questions around that comeback, which, you know, it sounds like yours was massive in the sense that it was your work and and your life. But I'd love to talk what I'm most interested about is like the
katie (22:56)
in between the time before no longer and not yet and you were touching on that a little bit. So paint us a little bit more of the picture of what your life looked like right before everything shifted. I know you talked about, you know, your small apartment in London and your Murphy Ben, which I love. were you aware at that time what was happening or what was about to happen?
Mimi (23:26)
I had to develop a deep sense of faith in myself for this to work. And I didn't have that from birth. You know, I was just a normal girl and I was raised in a normal family. you know, my parents are artists. They always kind of struggled. Well, they always really struggled financially. So, you know, I grew up with one of the main things that I wanted.
Mimi (23:54)
as an adult to be financially free because I didn't want to have that same stress that my parents experienced. So I decided, you know, in in my early adult life that I needed to have a different type of situation because I didn't want to be stressed like that. And I think that was my initial motivator. but that being said, like I mentioned, I had to develop a deep, deep belief in myself and
Mimi (24:22)
The beginnings of this personal development work and reading these books and just getting into this world of, you know, self-help, it actually really did give me the tools to just like start that belief within myself. So it started with that. And, you know, I think with that, I just rolled with it. And I thought to myself, I'm gonna give this my all. And
Mimi (24:48)
There was a big in-between period from where I was and where I am today. And every year I grow more and more. So I'm absolutely happy to touch on every single stage of that. But yeah, you know, I was my starting point was broke, unhealthy, overweight, unconfident, very self-deprecating. And then the result now, you know, and and every year that passed after that was just.
Mimi (25:17)
improvements in every single area to the point now where I literally if if Mimi ten years ago saw the life that I was living today, she would have her jaw on the ground and start bawling her eyes out and be like, We fucking did it. Yeah. So I'm extremely
katie (25:29)
Hmm. that's so sweet.
Mimi (25:34)
proud. And I can get into details, you know, it whatever
katie (25:38)
Yeah.
Mimi (25:38)
details you want to know. I'm an open book, but but yeah.
katie (25:41)
Yeah.
katie (25:42)
So I think I I read or heard that you're from Toronto, right? did your and your parents were artists, what kind of art did they do?
Mimi (25:51)
My mom is a ceramic artist and my dad is a
katie (25:53)
amazing.
Mimi (25:54)
glass artist. And they yeah, they met in art school and they're still
katie (25:58)
That's so cool. Awww.
Mimi (26:00)
together and they decided to be career artists, which is very hard. And I definitely grew up in a loving family, but finances were one of those big things
katie (26:11)
Yeah.
Mimi (26:12)
that was like limiting beliefs around that stuck in my mind, you know, for years and how, you know, it just was really tough for them.
Mimi (26:21)
yeah.
katie (26:21)
Yeah.
katie (26:22)
Other than the financial s stress of that, Did their work and them being artists impact you and your trajectory and the way that you see life creatively?
Mimi (26:35)
It's really good question. I I don't think so. I'm actually it it's funny because I've I guess maybe it helped how I see potential in a lot of things, and that's a creative thing to be able to expand your mind and see possibility where it might not always be clear. But I'm I don't I'm not very artistic in in the other ways, to be honest with you.
katie (27:03)
Well, it seems
katie (27:04)
like you live a really creative life and just bring a lot of creativity to tech, you know, to something that typically wouldn't be something that I would want to talk about or engage with. So yeah, it seems like something has has seeped in in the way that you live your life or you know, it just your nature and nurture, but it it seems to be you seem to be a creative I mean we're all creative people, but i it seems to have
katie (27:32)
seeped in in in all all sorts of ways from from my perspective.
Mimi (27:37)
I'll take it. I'll take it. I think from
Mimi (27:40)
an audio perspective, I'm I'm quite perfectionistic with my team when it comes to the caliber of the activations that we produce. So that is an art, I guess. I just I'm I
katie (27:49)
Yeah.
Mimi (27:50)
I think I'm thinking creatively like put. I tried to paint here and there a few years ago, and it's like, gosh, they're so bad, but they're so cute. You know, I tried. So I'm not naturally, I guess, like a artistic
katie (27:58)
Yeah. Visual.
Mimi (28:01)
per yeah, I'm not vi I'm more, I guess, emotionally, I can understand.
katie (28:04)
Yeah, for sure.
katie (28:06)
Same.
Mimi (28:07)
Yeah, creativity. Yeah.
katie (28:08)
Yeah. So thinking through your comeback and like giving a bit now that we have like some more context and placing us where, you know, you're someone who's like moved countries and have like transitioned your life into not just building this business, but from where you come from to what you're doing now. Was there a moment where you realize this old version of you
katie (28:34)
wasn't coming back. Can you kind of pinpoint that pinpoint that?
Mimi (28:39)
Mmm,
Mimi (28:40)
that is such a good question. I definitely think when I started to consistently be her now, be my future self in those moments when I started to listen to these audios in everyday life, and it taught me how to actually move like her, speak like her, think like her. And this her is just the best version of myself. That's my
Mimi (29:06)
You know, I call it future self and my book is called Activate Your Future Self, but really you can use the term future self synonymously with my higher self, my best self, my favorite self. So you be you can be your future self now. I have been living as my future self for years at this point, most of the time. I'm definitely not perfect, but you know, it's I'm majority of the time I am her now. So I just want to I guess clarify that term. But yes, I think it was when I started to actually like
Mimi (29:36)
Be her in the moments of my day that just were so normal. And then I started to feel like, this is actually the person I can be whenever I choose, before all the things I want manifest into the physical. Like I can be her now. And then what ended up happening, which is how it works, you embody the new self-image, you embody the new identity.
Mimi (30:02)
And then the things that you want will come into place, will fall into place. You become the kind of person that lives the life you want, and then the life you want appears. It's not you wait until that life appears to then feel the emotions of bliss, happiness, gratitude, fulfillment, wealth. You have to be her first to then create that life. And that's the biggest disconnect that I see.
Mimi (30:27)
In this world of transformation, because really all my work that I've done the past decade helping the people that I've helped and the community that I've built, it's simplifying transformation and making it not complicated and making it not necessarily something you need to spend hours a day on. And this is the biggest thing. It's be her now and do anything you can to be her now in these everyday moments.
Mimi (30:57)
Whether it's listening to an activation, which is an easy tool to do it, but you don't need an activation to do it. You can listen to music that makes you feel like her. You can remind yourself with reminders on your phone to be her now in everyday moments. You can put a post-it note on your bathroom mirror reminding you of who you want to be and just snapping into it, acting as if stepping into that new identity, practicing over and over with repetition, stepping into that version of you. And then soon enough you're gonna become her.
katie (31:28)
Yeah, yeah, I I wanna to talk about repetition because that's something that you I I love the way that you talk about this through many lenses, whether it's scientific or spiritual or, you know, a c a combination of the practical and the more esoteric, which I I same. I I works for me too, but you you've talked about comparing
katie (31:56)
the how you use activations and you've talked about the Pavlov's dog with in terms of habits and how how does that actually build confidence? Can you talk about that and when you were developing activations or or when you got the idea for activations, what is the rep how does repetition fall into that?
Mimi (32:21)
my goodness, I love this question. So yeah, when I was developing these activations for myself selfishly in my life, because I needed something that was like a shortcut to changing my life without necessarily dedicating so much time and energy and effort. I just wanted something effective that worked. you know, I I was again, like I mentioned, very, very interested in reading at that time in my life about neuroplasticity, about how to actually change your brain.
Mimi (32:50)
And how to rewire. And one of the things that I kept seeing was like classical conditioning. It's like in psychology, the the same Pavlov dog theory that you're mentioning. Pavlov rings the bell, the dog salivates. Okay. The dog salivates because it's associating a certain stimuli, which is the ring, the bell ringing, to food. And my dog does it. She's a little British dog. Every time I say the word, are you peckish? She starts twirling. She knows.
Mimi (33:18)
Food is coming when she's peckish, okay? So we're talking about dogs. So you know, it's funny because that's such a simple example, but in human beings it it's the exact same thing. If we associate new thoughts with an everyday action per se, then we will, you know, soon enough create those ties. So for example, if you listen to a 10-minute walking activation every morning.
Mimi (33:46)
When you go on your morning walk or take your dog out for its morning walk, soon enough, you won't even need to be playing that activation in your ear to feel magnetic, confident, inspired, ready for the day, and just ready to go through your day with energy and motivation. So it's really one of those things because you're these activations are designed to be listened to in everyday moments. You tie them with these everyday.
Mimi (34:14)
You know, in you habit stack it. While you're cooking dinner, you can listen to an activation. Everyone uses it in their own way. I have one user that wrote in a few months ago and she said, I listen to a two-minute pep talk every morning when I brush my teeth. When the pep talk ends, I stop brushing my teeth. And that is the one way I use the app, and my whole life has changed, you know, because she has literally created this in her in her morning routine. You have to brush your teeth in the morning. Come on, it's gross if you don't.
Mimi (34:40)
She has she plays it while she brushes her teeth and she habit stacks that one very simple practice and it sets her up in a very different way for her day and and your mornings create your days and your days create your weeks and your weeks create your months and your months create your years and your years are your whole life. So imagine doing something just for two minutes every morning to set the tone. It's life-changing. So you can habit stack doing this type of practice.
Mimi (35:08)
while you are doing any everyday activity and soon enough with classical conditioning, you're gonna notice you don't even need to listen to that activation anymore to start feeling alive, confident, magnetic, whatever feeling you want to feel, all you're doing is tuning in to your future self.
katie (35:28)
I love I love that so much. I mean I I think that's that's something that I I always love having something on in the background, but the walking ones, I mean walking's kind of like my whole thing. And I I just re I listened to one yesterday that was like it wa th it was like a five minute afternoon like pump up or like reenergize and there's that moment every afternoon where it's like, All right, I have so much to do today but I'm like
katie (35:57)
really not wanting to do any of it at this moment. And it's usually when I go on a walk or I you know, whatever. And it really helped. And then there's another one, I don't think it was the same one, but it was like g maybe it was meant to be morning, but I didn't I listened to it like later in the day, but it was like a motivate it motivated me for my to do list. And it was so cool. It was like think about getting everything done on that list. Get that one thing like it was so
katie (36:27)
Good. I just I really, really love them and I I it's cool that you made, like you said, a a new category and I'm sure that's probably a challenge on the marketing side for you to articulate that to people 'cause they might think it's like a meditation or like something that they know, but it really is unique in a way that w just works for me. I you know, I can't speak to
katie (36:55)
if it will work for everybody, but I I I can speak to the fact that it works for me. And I know that the people listening to this are audio, tend to be auditory learners, especially, you know, this has been now we do video too, but I only because podcasting has shifted in that direction. But most of the people who listen to this show have been listening since it, you know, was a just an audio production. And I think people who listen to podcasts, I would always say this about podcasting. It's really intimate because you're taking people
katie (37:25)
into all these areas of your life. They're with you when you're washing the dishes. Some a lot of people will tell me, and I'm sure you get this all the time too now, that and I know you've had a have a podcast too, but they but but you know, hearing your voice, yeah, yeah,
Mimi (37:37)
Not anymore, but yeah. I have in the past. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
katie (37:42)
hearing your voice, people will tell me like, man, I somebody like a friend of mine was like, I was listening to you when I fell asleep last night. Like your voice just reminds me of falling asleep or, you know, whatever. It's like we it's an intimate
katie (37:53)
connection with people when you're in their ears i within all these different moments. And so anyway, I I encourage the people listening to try it because I'm so stoked about it. Like I'm like I feel like I need to tone it down a little bit because I am like truly like a I I don't want it to be overkill and but I yeah, I'm like really stoked on on this app. It you made something that I I wish existed and is
katie (38:22)
But but anyway, what I was gonna say, it's kind of a probably a challenge on on your end to explain that to people in, you know, the quick way that, you know, social media or whatever or finding something. So it's cool that you're able to I'm sure talking about it on a podcast is a great way for people to for you to, you know, telling this story underst to understand what it is, or even, you know, hearing my experience with it.
Mimi (38:48)
Yeah, we've been really lucky that most of our growth has just been word of mouth. We like I
katie (38:55)
So cool.
Mimi (38:56)
I'm quite a unique founder in the sense that like I'm not a professional marketing expert. I just really am obsessed with like the product. And that obsession with the product has led to this insane like customer.
Mimi (39:13)
like obsession with the product and they kind of become our own billboards in a way. so I hope this continues, you know, and and lasts because it's just been amazing, you know, having such an authentic way of growing a business. But we've never really done like paid ads and stuff like that. Like we've just kind of
katie (39:33)
So cool.
Mimi (39:34)
focused on the product and it speaks for itself. And like a third of our users use it every single day of their lives.
Mimi (39:42)
and even more use it multiple times a week and it's just become one of those things that has like that just makes people feel good. So it's like why would they stop doing it? It's not some like intense practice. Like it's it's just like an easy thing to listen to. And it's you know just like how you listen to your favorite podcast maybe when you have a certain routine, you just kind of
Mimi (40:06)
A lot of our users just have activations on their phone if they are needing a bit of a boost. And it's just one of those tools that they fall f for, you know, fall towards and just pick up when they need it. And yeah, so I I feel very blessed. It's the
katie (40:23)
Yeah.
Mimi (40:23)
business has grown in a very unconventional way. I kind of stumbled into this. Usually founders will like raise millions of dollars and try to find this like
Mimi (40:36)
really solid product market fit and like then you know see how they can market it. I've never raised money, you know, from the moment that I launched these, they kind of went viral. I got pretty lucky and people just became obsessed because it was like it's it's something a lot of people have been looking for. So many people don't resonate with, you know, meditation for example, or they don't maybe not even not resonate with it.
Mimi (41:04)
They just don't need that in their life, you know. Like meditation is amazing to calm you down. And I I meditate before bed sometimes, you know, it helps you clear your head, relax. It's a beautiful ancient practice. But a lot of people, especially us, you know, women in our 20s, 30s, 40s, like we want to create something for ourselves. We want to be motivated, feel good, you know, earn more money, step into our
Mimi (41:31)
Healthiest selves, so on and so forth. Like we want to listen to something that inspires us, that makes us feel like the best version of ourselves. And we don't necessarily need to like calm down. We want to like go towards our goals and like with energy, you know, and and passion and feel aliveness, because that word aliveness really is like the core of what we do with activations.
katie (41:56)
Mm.
Mimi (41:57)
I'm such
Mimi (42:00)
I I'm kind of a helpless romantic in a way. And I really like to romanticize life. And I think the best way to romanticize life is to tune into the feeling of aliveness, which is the purest form of like, you know, juicy presence that you experience. And you can feel aliveness when you're listening to like the bridge of your favorite song, or you can feel aliveness when you're deep in conversation, so connected to someone, looking into their eyes, like.
Mimi (42:29)
Having like a deep soul conversation. You can feel aliveness when you've just done like an amazing sweaty run and you have endorphins flowing through your body. You can feel aliveness when you're in nature and you're just like in awe of life and you know, in awe of just the world that you're in. And I feel aliveness if I'm like in the back of a car and the windows roll down and like there's a song playing on the radio, and I'm just kind of like, you know, like we all have those movie moments. Well.
Mimi (42:59)
Basically, I wanted to bottle up that feeling, create an audio experience that makes you feel that way at all times. Because I was sick and tired of feeling the opposite of aliveness for a huge chunk of my life. And that opposite feeling of aliveness is numbness. When I before I ever started working on myself, I was living in a state of numbing. I was numbing out by over-drinking, doing too many drugs, overeating, binging.
Mimi (43:27)
Scrolling on social media way too long, technology overload, distracting myself all day long. It was like numb numb numb numb. And the more numb you feel, the more numb you feel, and the harder it is to get out of it. So I kind of went the other way. Now I'm like, what brings me this aliveness feeling? That's what I want to move towards. And it makes life so much better, so much more worth living. And I'm just such a happier human this way.
katie (43:54)
what
katie (43:54)
a comeback. It's no, it's it's
Mimi (43:56)
That's a comeback. From numbness to aliveness. Yeah.
katie (43:59)
so good and and and that's no small thing, you know, what you said about fundra not fundraising and the way that you've really organically word of mouth grown this br business speaks to you and and speaks to the amount of value that you provide like within the product, within, you know, in this case the app and like
katie (44:22)
what you're saying about obviously there's so many cat there's so many niche categories, which is really cool. Like we've talked a lot about the walking ones, which is, you know, something that I it's useful most useful for me, but there's so many, like I I heard you talk about a there's a first date one that like a pre like listen
Mimi (44:43)
yeah.
katie (44:43)
to it before a first date, which I loved and there's
Mimi (44:45)
We have bunch
Mimi (44:46)
like that. Like before going into a big meeting you're nervous about before your first
katie (44:49)
Yeah.
Mimi (44:50)
date, like the pre-date confidence track, you know, just to kind of like,
katie (44:53)
my god. Yeah.
Mimi (44:55)
you know, remind you of who you wanna be. Like you already know this is just a reminder.
katie (45:01)
Completely. Like I have a few songs I listened to before First Date, but clearly those aren't working. So this is this is this is about to change everything. yeah, there there's so many. Like there's you know, after like a family art like there's so so
Mimi (45:15)
Yeah.
katie (45:15)
many which is so cool. but
Mimi (45:18)
We should actually
Mimi (45:18)
feature though what you just mentioned r just reminded me. I have to tell my team, hey, before the holidays, we should actually re-feature the like listen to this after a big family argument. Or like there there's
katie (45:29)
Yeah.
Mimi (45:30)
a whole like holiday theme. I like we have so many for like, you know, when you're Thanksgiving dinner, like everyone's arguing.
katie (45:34)
Tis the season for those activations. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
katie (45:40)
Tis the season. Cue those activations up. But but yeah, there's
Mimi (45:43)
Mm-hmm.
katie (45:44)
also science to these different hurts of sound, and they're infused into all of the activations. But there's also this section that just has the music that you can listen to, like there's some to focus.
katie (45:57)
that helps you focus that's I that I've been using that I think is really cool. And it's just nice to have all of these things in the same place. Cause like I was saying, you know, I would sort of curate this stuff for myself across a bunch of different apps. but what was what was so interesting with what you're saying about like this being a unique product or an unique way to use something in your life
katie (46:21)
I I wrote this book that came out in 2016 about journaling. It it's called Let It Out. And in the book I I write about how before really similar to what you said about meditation, before I could journal, or before I could meditate, like I had to journal. I had to let it get it out of my head. And it was a much more active practice. And so I think, you know, we kind of share that. The the way you spoke about
katie (46:48)
needing something outside of meditation to give you w to change your state is is really cool. And there's a there's even writing. There it's like a we can combo both of our our our hay house books into one because there's activations for writing too. jo journaling.
Mimi (47:05)
Journaling has changed
Mimi (47:07)
my life too. I love journaling. So, part of my my book, it's like I talk about how there's a two-step process to transformation, right? The first step is clarity. You need to get crystal clear on who your future self is, on you know, how she talks, how she thinks, how she speaks to herself, who she is, her energy, her identity, her self-image, the life she lives. You need clarity on that version of yourself as step one.
Mimi (47:34)
And then step two is you then need to become her before all the things, you know, manifest into the into your reality. So, you know, clarity and becoming. All of my work with activations is all about, you know, how to become her, how to be her now in everyday moments, a tool to help you do that in a consistent way. Obviously, in the app, we have so much content about clarity and you know, we have these guided writing activations like you mentioned, but really like
Mimi (48:01)
You just journaling and brain dumping on paper, you don't even need any, you know, writing activation to do it. Like that has that's like my number one piece of advice for people that need clarity. That's step one. Because once you have it, you have it. But getting it can be challenging for people. And journaling is one of the best tools to get that clarity. I am a huge believer, I've been journaling for a decade plus now.
Mimi (48:28)
I love the practice and it's one of the most consistent things that I've done other than listening to these activations. So love that you do that.
katie (48:37)
Yeah, same. Yeah, the the book is called Let It Out and it is fifty five journaling prompts and, you know, like I said, it came
Mimi (48:42)
Amazing.
katie (48:43)
out which is crazy ten years ago, but it I always say like, I'm so glad I picked that. I'm so glad I picked something free and like genuinely
Mimi (48:51)
Yes.
katie (48:52)
useful and and that I still do. It ages well, yeah. I I'm lucky 'cause I was
Mimi (48:54)
It will always be so useful. Yeah. It ages well.
katie (48:58)
trying a lot of lot of crazy d wellness things back then. So it could have gone either way. but
Mimi (49:04)
Yeah.
katie (49:05)
But yeah, I I and I really you know, again, like with that I love how y you are talk a lot about the simplicity of things and like it's more about simplifying and I think I heard you talk about, you know, it's not the long morning routine, it's like just doing the things that make the most impact. And I think, you know,
Mimi (49:23)
Exactly.
katie (49:24)
for us journaling and, you know, walking
Mimi (49:27)
Yeah.
katie (49:27)
and movement and changing our state with something like an activation, like knowing what what you need and then taking off all the like shame or
katie (49:35)
guilt or you know not not doing the other things that that you wanted to do. I can't believe it's like already been an hour of like copious notes and so much more to ask you. So maybe we can do a couple rapid fires. But we
Mimi (49:49)
Absolutely.
katie (49:50)
we've been talking about the app so much, so I people are probably gonna wanna try it. So it's it's called activations, obviously, and it's better if you go to the website to to sign up, I think, and
katie (50:05)
Maybe we could do like a discount or something for the for people listening. Okay, cool.
Mimi (50:08)
Yes, a hundred percent. Yeah.
Mimi (50:11)
So often when I do these podcasts, I'll give the listeners a special deal. if you wanna sign up on the website, you can get this special discount because the app store doesn't let us do discounts. So we can make a link for your audience. How about we do just like activations.com slash Katie or something. Okay,
katie (50:29)
Great, great.
Mimi (50:30)
simple. So I'll get my team right after this recording to set up that landing page and I'll tell them to do the biggest discount we offer. But
Mimi (50:38)
We also can put in a 14 day free trial. Cause I always think with this type of thing, like you need to try it. And yeah,
katie (50:42)
great. Perfect. For sure. Yeah.
Mimi (50:46)
two weeks is a really good amount of time to like give it a fair shot. So on that link, activations.com slash Katie, we can do a two-week free trial and then like the biggest discount as well that we offer.
katie (50:56)
Amazing.
katie (50:57)
Cool. Yeah, I agree. I think it's even though you know, it's helpful I think to hear a a maybe people have gotten the gist of what it is, but I didn't really get it until I went got in there, you know, and kinda gave it a go. Yeah.
Mimi (51:09)
Yeah, you have to try it. If okay, we have
Mimi (51:11)
so many activations on the app, like almost a thousand, but I'll tell you the most popular one that like everyone loves. It's a walking activation and it's called Become Your Magnetic Future Self. So how did you like it?
katie (51:25)
I did that one today. I
katie (51:28)
I I'm better. Like you you you can't tell you just met me but you
Mimi (51:30)
Ha ha ha.
katie (51:33)
know the people listening.
Mimi (51:35)
I I love that one. It's such a classic. It ha I think it has like over 300,000 plays on the app. Like it has literally had its own its own moment. so that one's really popular. I also love like embody magnetic manifestation energy. Like I like some of the general ones because I always kind of apply what I want in the moment when I'm listening to it. But we also have super niche ones, like we mentioned, like
Mimi (52:00)
before a first date or like you know any specific moment of your day. but yeah we also have a lot of like you know any type of category that you're if you want to improve relationships in your life, career, finances, body, health, every area we have, you know, a category for. So you know, for example, like the wealth category, we have these targeted visualizations that are like I mentioned earlier in the episode.
Mimi (52:29)
They are so powerful. And it's because at that time I was like, let's let's create audios
katie (52:33)
Yeah.
Mimi (52:34)
that make people literally feel what it feels like to be millionaires. Like, and the music and the words, and like it's this like experience that like injects the energy of like having a huge amount of money like into your body and soul. And it just feels so good to experience what that feels like, especially if you've never felt that before.
Mimi (52:56)
And then that opens up your mind to new possibilities. And it's a really fun category. And financially I've had a massive transformation in my life. And it really does feel like what it feels like to have that financial transformation. So I think we really nailed the emotional
katie (53:14)
Cool.
Mimi (53:15)
aspect of the activations because I've been both places and it's like that is how it feels. So it's it's a really cool category.
katie (53:20)
cool. Alright.
katie (53:22)
I haven't done those yet. I gotta do that next. I'm excited. Yeah,
Mimi (53:25)
You you're gonna love them.
katie (53:27)
yeah. okay, do you have a couple of seconds for some rapid fire? Okay.
Mimi (53:29)
I do, yeah, let's do it. Yeah.
katie (53:32)
I I'm really curious that you might not remember, but s since we've been talking about the comeback and I feel like that first activation that you made for yourself was a a turning point,
katie (53:44)
Do you happen to remember any of the things you were saying to yourself in that one specifically?
Mimi (53:50)
Yes.
Mimi (53:52)
Yeah, it was pretty general because I wanted to change literally every single area of my life. But it was like just going through, you know, every and it they're very similar like structurally. Obviously now we have like a team of audio engineers and, you know, script writers and com comp composers and you know, it's like a full like situation now. But back then, you know, really the foundation was the same. It just was reminding me of my potential.
Mimi (54:20)
you know, very no BS, very like clear, pragmatic, and you know, motivational. And it specifically got me to feel what it would feel like to be where I wanted to be. So really just getting me in a state of like just imagine what it would feel like to be, you know, living in a body that you feel confident in, that you love, that you treat with love.
Mimi (54:50)
Having the habits that you know that version of you has. Imagine what it feels like to have love that you are just like you're in awe of how much love you feel for this person. And I I'll tell you, so I created a lot of activations at the beginning of my journey because I'd listened to one on repeat for like three days and then get sick of it and then want a new one. There was I started creating these activations for myself in 2017. And
Mimi (55:20)
I created one specifically about romance and love and the man that I wanted to find. And again, I had never had a boyfriend at this point. and I actually created that one. I still have it on my iCloud. And I made that one on October 12th, 2017. And
katie (55:38)
Coming right up.
Mimi (55:39)
well, yeah, in a couple of days, but I'll tell you the crazy part. I met my now husband and baby daddy.
Mimi (55:47)
on October thirteenth, twenty seventeen. So the day after. That so coincidence
katie (55:49)
That's so nuts.
Mimi (55:52)
or not, it was wild. That was the first one I had made specifically about love, and I described him. You know, I described how he made me feel. you know, because it was quite general still. It wasn't like I was saying he had he was six foot four in British. Well, I I manifested that, which was a real feat for me as a five foot one. I'm
katie (56:10)
Ha.
Mimi (56:13)
sorry to the tall girl as I got one of the tall ones, but
katie (56:16)
Ha ha
Mimi (56:17)
you know, I I I it was wild that I had literally been focusing on it and I met him the following day. And you know, funny things over the years have happened like that. Like again, it could be synchronicity, it could be coincidence. I don't actually really know. I just know that it happens the first month five or six years ago, about five years ago.
Mimi (56:39)
I was really focused on making six figures a month. Like that was like this big financial goal that I had. It was wild. It's it's wild to most people now, but like at the time it was quite far from where I was. And I was very focused, it was a January. I was very, very focused on, you know, this year I'm stepping into six figure a month Mimi, and I literally became her. Like I felt like I moved through the day.
Mimi (57:06)
in her energy, in her essence for a lot of the day, and I was really focused. That was like the big goal. Anyway, I had this random like I had my business at the time and it was probably making 30 grand a month or something and it's a recurring revenue business. So I knew that I was gonna probably make the same amount the next month. And you know nothing there could have happened dramatically, but I was really focused and crazy random.
Mimi (57:31)
Opportunity came up that was like commission based that I maybe thought I'd make 10 grand from because I had, you know, a social media audience at the time as well that I would be quite engaged in. Anyway, without me ever having expected it, I ended up making like $71,000 from that commission deal, which is really weird because I knew that that was like not something that should have happened, and that I had made like the $30,000 or whatever from my business.
Mimi (57:59)
So I made a hundred grand on the dot that month. And that was the first month that I was focused deeply on that six figure a month Mimi. And from there I've just used the same practices, whether it's with my financial goals, my health goals, my relationship goals, whatever category. And it just seems to kind of work. So I'm riding that wave, I'm going with it. And could be magic, it could be science, but it this work works for me very well.
Mimi (58:28)
It seems.
katie (58:29)
that's I mean that's so nuts. It's so I love hearing stories like that. It it always is just incredibly motivating. and you know
katie (58:37)
doing the thing every day of listening to the audio and and obviously getting yourself into the mindset, but all a lot of it also is action and I think your book really covers that. Can you talk about what to do when things aren't don't go your way or, you know, you're you're doing everything you wanna be doing and you know, it just it doesn't happen that day, which is gonna happen to to everybody. You talk about
katie (59:05)
bounce back rate which I really love. So how do you handle you know, related to that and maybe beyond, like when something
Mimi (59:13)
Yes.
katie (59:13)
the twist in your plan, if you will.
Mimi (59:16)
Well, first of all, all this comes down to a deep radical belief in yourself and a deep commitment to consistency because all of the things that I have achieved and what I've noticed you know, what I've noticed throughout achieving all of those things is that it doesn't just happen exactly the way I want it to in the exact perfect time. You know, the two examples I just shared are coincidental, like synchronistic moments, but there have been so many goals that I've had that I've not just been able to snap my fingers and
Mimi (59:45)
And get, but what I am very good at and what I do teach a lot is to be very, very consistent with this practice. And soon enough you're going to see results. And the bounce back rate is a term that I coined back in the day. And it's in my book, like you mentioned. it's essentially it essentially means that you should not be focusing on perfection when you are trying to achieve a goal.
Mimi (01:00:13)
All you should focus on is your bounce back rate, how quickly you can bounce back after having fallen off track. So it's inevitable that when you decide to change a certain aspect of your life, you're not going to be going down this road and act perfectly and have the perfect routine every day. Heck, even now I find myself, you know, think thinking an old thought or, you know, making a decision I that's not really aligned with the identity that I want to live and the self-image I want to have. Of course I'm human. We're all human.
Mimi (01:00:42)
But perfection is not the goal. There's not one human being on planet Earth that is perfect every day, that eats perfectly organic food all day long, that wakes up perfectly at the right time and does a perfect morning routine. And no, perfection is is not it's not it's not even not realistic. It doesn't exist. So the goal then should not be perfection. The goal should be a quick bounce back rate. How quickly can you bounce back after falling off track? So a very simple example is like
Mimi (01:01:12)
If healthy eating is a big goal for you, I used to struggle a lot with disordered eating. I would be all like perfect for three days, and then if I had a cookie, then I would like be like, eff it, I'm just gonna have the whole box and I'll start on Monday or the first of the month and like create this whole romanticized like starting on this day and then I'm gonna be perfect and then this is the time, it's gonna work. No. You know, it's the exact same example as that. Instead of, you know, having the whole box of cookies after having one, enjoy one, have one.
Mimi (01:01:42)
And then just go back to being your healthy self. It's no big deal. And you're going to get so much farther in life if you follow this whole idea of just having a quick bounce back rate, not this overly perfectionistic way of thinking. Because you're you're always just gonna wait till January 1st or the next Monday. And it's this cycle that it just you're not gonna get to where you wanna be.
Mimi (01:02:08)
It really hurts you. So the bounce back rate is huge when it comes to maintaining this practice and having faith that if you continue showing up as your future self, as your best self, as the person you wanna be, eventually you're going to actually be her and see that in your life.
katie (01:02:28)
Yeah, I honestly think the bounce back rate, comeback, ability to fail or fail fast is like another way I've heard this said. My friend Serena's dad always says, Success teaches you nothing, you know. It it's
Mimi (01:02:42)
Exactly.
katie (01:02:43)
the people who are successful in life, this is the thing that they can do. It's the boun it's the comeback time. Yeah. Yeah. Cause it
Mimi (01:02:48)
They can fail and get back up. Yes, exactly, exactly.
katie (01:02:53)
I think I I heard it
katie (01:02:55)
said to me once in a way that like w kinda made it go ba r like right in where someone was like t to the example you said with with eating is always good and and same. I I share that I think so many people do, but if you do something you don't wanna do, it doesn't have to take twelve meditations, eight activations, four juice cleanses
Mimi (01:03:16)
He has.
katie (01:03:17)
and like, you know, three hit workouts and a yoga class to get you back to like baseline if you just like start
katie (01:03:24)
immediately. And it's so hard in the moment because I think of shame and like we're beating ourselves up. So it really comes down to to that. So anyway, yeah, that that's one of my my favorite things to to hear you talk about. And and that, you know, that's true in business, that's true in everything. And the the last thing I wanted to ask you about is, you know, you've you've spoken about this business that you created and y you've given some really great advice around it.
katie (01:03:51)
from, you know, taking doing focusing on ten X in your business instead of two X. I've I've heard you talk about so many different things. But one of them really landed with me, which was about you just kinda said it in passing, but you were like the years that you or the months or whatever that you've done best in your business have been when you've been doing best in your life.
katie (01:04:13)
Can you talk about that or just any other business advice maybe outside of that that's new that's that's come to you? Because I think it's really cool to talk to someone that we've as we've discussed throughout this is completely self made and has really worked so hard to change the mindset that's necessary to grow to this level.
Mimi (01:04:33)
Thank you. And I I love that you remember me talking about certain ones of these things because th really when it comes to running this business, I d I like I mentioned, do things very unconventionally. I actually only work a couple hours a week, and I have only worked a couple hours a week for a like over a year now, a couple years. And I have managed to make more money than I've ever had every single year. So it's like
Mimi (01:05:01)
There's something there that is interesting because usually people think that the more you do and the more intense you are, the more you create. But I think I've reached a certain level where I've realized that 10x is easier than 2x. This is one big business principle. So just focusing on the things that have the potential to 10x the business, not 2x the business. When I first started the business, I was trying to do everything.
Mimi (01:05:29)
And I made so many mistakes and I wasted so much money. And I wasn't even seeing the growth I wanted to see. So I've simplified things in a huge way and it has worked very well. I've also over the past couple years kind of stepped more into my more feminine energy, which is a whole other topic, and both in my personal life, my relationships, my business, and I've taken a bit less of this like.
Mimi (01:05:58)
more intense masculine energy, which is interesting. This was just kind of a natural thing that started to happen as I entered my 30s. And it has really just like softened me in a way, but also helped create more and more abundance in my life, which was this is a whole kind of podcast episode in itself, but it's been wild. So focusing on on just the things that can actually affect
Mimi (01:06:27)
you know, your income, your your revenue, and cutting out the noise and the distraction has been huge. And then also me tuning in to more of a magnetic energy because I believe my feminine energy is more magnetic. I'm a very emotional person. I took kind of this harshness away that I was trying to be this like girl boss for a few years and it wasn't really working. Well, it was working, but it wasn't working to my potential.
Mimi (01:06:56)
And I wasn't enjoying it as much as I do now. And for some reason that has just really worked for me. And I've been able to lean on certain people in a way that like I hadn't before. So that's a big thing. And then yeah, you know, just my intuition has strengthened over the years since I've developed more of a relationship with myself. Every year that passes, I develop a deeper relationship with myself. And when I do that and I trust myself more and more.
Mimi (01:07:25)
I make different decisions and I don't listen to everyone that tells me advice. You know, this VC bro two years ago told me to do something and I tried it and it didn't work. And I'm like, how do why did I think he knew better than me? I'm the one who created this. It doesn't have to be in the conventional way, but I'm making way more money than him. So, you know, who's to say that his way is the right way? So, you know, just funny things like that you kind of just realize over years of experience, but I have never
Mimi (01:07:53)
Been afraid to do things unconventionally and to lean into my intuition as a founder and a business owner. And I really am proud of what I've been able to build because it feels very authentic and I've done it my own way. So I always say to aspiring founders, you know, try to think outside the box. Like don't, you don't need to do things the way everyone else does it.
Mimi (01:08:19)
And then from a product perspective, the best thing I've ever been able to do is create something new. I've never been a bad copy of something that already existed. And I think that's why this business has been able to grow so successfully, because nothing else out there exists like it. Of course, over the years, you'll have like a bad copy come out, and you're like, god, that's it's just not good because it's just not authentic. And then it fails. And you wonder why? It's like because.
Mimi (01:08:47)
You're not creating something out of a place of authenticity. And you're just trying to find something that worked for someone else. And it's never gonna work for you if you if you're more, you know, if you're not creating it from a place of authenticity. So that's the biggest thing I've I've I believe, you know, the success that I've seen has come from a deep intuition and creating something completely new. And that kind of puts me in a different category because I'm not
Mimi (01:09:16)
competing with anyone else.
katie (01:09:18)
Yeah. You seem so authentic and I I that really shows through and I think your ability to speak to the product and use the product and and make something that is genuinely has so much value too, not only as new but and I think you like you're in you can just tell. I I think what we're moving towards right now is people just have a really low tolerance for or I'll speak for myself for bullshit or for things that aren't
katie (01:09:48)
real and I think the high touch of you being involved in speaking to what you've made and what you've created, which I know is no small thing and you know, takes a lot of your time, but is is one of those things that I'm sure is the a ten X and you know, instead of a lot of the other two X things you could do. So
Mimi (01:10:08)
Yeah. And I enjoy these conversations.
Mimi (01:10:10)
Like I actually I just do what I enjoy doing. So it's yeah.
katie (01:10:13)
Yeah, yeah. And I think that's
katie (01:10:14)
how we figure it out is like following the the that, you know, that following our our feelings. But yeah, this was great. I mean, I I could talk to you. I hope I get to talk to you again. This w I'm so stoked to know you and for this this app and I'm stoked for everybody here to try it. I'm like really excited to hear what everybody else want does, you know, 'cause there's so many options. So I'm I'm I'm probably gonna learn about different activations from everyone listening. So it's
katie (01:10:40)
activations.com slash Katie, which is a big honor that it's just gets to be my name. easy to remember K-A-T-I-E. but I I'm stoked for everybody to to try it and to to hear what we're all doing. But with you know what I'll I'll leave you with comebacks wise, like is there anything that you would say to someone who's, you know, in their studio apartment or you know, with on their Murphy bed or s or or your past self
katie (01:11:07)
other than what you've already said that you wanna leave people with and then, you know, you're kind of about to go into a comeback of your of your own right now, at least like a transition. So this is probably gonna be one of your last interviews before you give birth. Like, is there anything you wanna leave people with? I always think of these as time capsules.
Mimi (01:11:25)
gosh. I look I have goosebumps right now. I look at back at that Mimi sitting on her Murphy bed in her tiny little studio apartment with her bright starry eyes, like just believing so deeply that she can do something with her life, that she can create something different, that she can create this life she's always wanted. And I look back at that time with such fond memory because there is this like energy.
Mimi (01:11:53)
When you're in a phase of life where you are beginning this transformation and you've committed to it and you are believing in yourself and you it's all consuming sometimes. And that energy is so raw and so pure and so beautiful and so addictive that it's like it really is one of the best parts of the journey. It's like the beginning of like.
Mimi (01:12:22)
okay. This is the planning, you know, the the creating, the like that the beginning stage is so beautiful. And I look back and you know, I just have so much love for that version of myself. And I would not be where I am today if she didn't exist, if she didn't believe in herself. So that deep self-belief that I had to cultivate was just like this beautiful feeling that I now remember and I've held with me since. So I I love that feeling. I
Mimi (01:12:50)
But any anyone that's going through that, maybe that feels it like they're more at the beginning of their journey, just romanticize it. That's what I would say. Romanticize it. Because why wouldn't you? Like it's so much fun to like create something out of yourself and to transform an area of your life and to rediscover and to re, you know, create. It's like this beautiful thing that you can do. And romanticizing it will just make the whole journey.
Mimi (01:13:18)
so much more enjoyable when you have those low days when you get rejected. It's like, this is just part of my journey. I'm gonna remember this. You know, I just you you have to, you have to romanticize it. And then to the second part of your question, how I'm about to have my first baby, my first little baby boy, in the next four weeks or so, you know, gosh, I feel so ready. This pregnancy has transformed me.
Mimi (01:13:47)
In even deeper ways. I've never felt more fulfilled in my life. I have such like an awe for the human body. And even though I went through a really hard beginning of my pregnancy, I've been very lucky in the second half and I've actually been loving the third trimester. so I'm excited to go through the intensely spiritual experience of.
Mimi (01:14:13)
birthing no matter how that's going to look. And I'm open to what however he wants to enter the world. And I'm just so excited to meet him. So excited to be a mom. Like I just I'm extremely emotional and sensitive these days in the best way I could cry. Like just he's kicking right now in my stomach and I just like have such a deep connection with this little soul. It's gonna be a wild experience and I'm ready. So
Mimi (01:14:42)
I'm like, bring it on, let's go.
katie (01:14:44)
Yeah, I
katie (01:14:45)
love that. Maybe activations for kids.
Mimi (01:14:49)
I've thought about that actually. A lot of our users will like play
Mimi (01:14:51)
them in the background with their kids running around 'cause it's like just positive subconscious messaging. So maybe we'll have to create
katie (01:14:55)
I'm sure. Yeah.
Mimi (01:14:58)
an app for kids one day.
katie (01:15:01)
Well thank you so much. I'm I'm so happy to to get to talk to you and and this was so lovely and congratulations again and
Mimi (01:15:09)
Thank you.
katie (01:15:09)
yeah, I'm I'm so stoked to be connected. So thank you and and congrats
Mimi (01:15:12)
Me too, Katie.
katie (01:15:13)
on everything.
Mimi (01:15:14)
Love door conversation. Thanks for having me.
katie (01:15:17)
Same, same. This is great. I'm so sorry I kept you a bit longer, but r I really, really
Mimi (01:15:22)
That's okay.
katie (01:15:24)
appreciate it.
Mimi (01:15:25)
I'm all good. I like randomly have so much energy. Maybe I'm about to give
katie (01:15:28)
Great.
Mimi (01:15:29)
birth. That's
katie (01:15:31)
Alright, that was my conversation with Mimi Bouchard. I really loved it, and I really hope you try Activations and get your two week, fourteen day free trial, activations.com slash Katie K A T I E. And, you know, truly what I love about this app is that things that I would queue up for myself are now all in one place and it is so fun. I I just wanna listen to them truly all the time. So
katie (01:16:01)
Check out my playlist of the ones that I've been listening to, but also tell me which ones you gravitate towards and Mimi recommended a few in here. So the link is there. I can't wait to hear what you think. I am so grateful that you are listening all the way to the end. I have a new substack coming out, so if you want to get that or read that, the links in the show notes. And submit a question for the mailbag episode. I would love to hear from you. All right, I will talk to you soon. Bye-bye.