Elke Feuer stumbled into entrepreneurship. As a young girl, she always had a passion for writing—and after spending a long 18 years in project management, she made the jump and took her writing life full time in 2015.
Elke started off wanting to help and connect writers with the resources that they needed, and as an author of traditional and self-published books herself, she knew exactly how to do that. She’s sharing how her business has morphed into what it is today and how she helps frustrated writers ditch the blocks stopping them from creating the writing life of their dreams through her business CayWriters.
Elke’s website: https://www.caywriters.com/
Jessmyn:
All right. Hi guys, welcome back to Interacts Creator Stories podcast. So excited to be with you here today as always. I’m your host Jessmyn Solana. And with me today, I have Elke Feuer. Elke hi, thanks so much for joining us.
Elke:
Hi, I’m so great to be here. Thank you for having me.
Jessmyn:
Of course, of course. So Elke I actually found through our Facebook group community, if you guys are not in there yet, but we got to talking and after getting to know her and her business a little bit more, I was like I have to have you on the show. And what’s really exciting is she is actually a fiction book coach, and we haven’t had any one in that industry on here.
So I’m really excited to dig in and get to know more about what that’s like, how you got started and all that good stuff. But just to give you guys a little bit of a background on Elke, she is an author of traditional and self published books in the romantic suspense genre. She helps frustrated writers to ditch the block, stopping them from writing their damn books, and creating the writing life of their dreams through her business Cay Writers.
It’s funny because I’m reading this and I wasn’t expecting it to say damn books, in case anyone didn’t know. But Elke is also a mother of two who took her writing life full-time in 2015 and hasn’t looked back from her 18 years in project management. She loves the flexibility of being her own boss and building a lifestyle that’s filled with quality family time. She’s a former freelance writer with articles in Cayman Skies and Cayman Parent Magazines and her books have been nominated for the Ron award. That is so exciting.
Elke:
Yes. Thank you, it’s been an amazing journey so far.
Jessmyn:
So tell me a little bit more about what you’re currently doing and how you serve your clients. And then we’ll go back to the beginning from there.
Elke:
Sure. It’s funny how it got started because I like to joke that I kind of stumbled into everything that I’m doing with my writing that’s outside of writing books. And it’s the same with my business. I just started off just really wanted to help and connect writers with the resources that they needed and it kind of morphed from there. And then how I transitioned is I helped them to write their books from start straight through to the end. I do this with my group coaching program called Write the Damn Book, which is where the damn came out from.
I just wanted to, because I know that damn comes from the frustration that I know a lot of fiction writers feel at trying to get their books done. And then I also help them out with VIP sessions, which basically is just helping them with their specific needs and creating an easy journey for them to get from wherever they’re at with writing their books to launched, whether that’s traditionally published or whether they want to pitch to an agent or a publisher. So that’s what I do, and I just try to provide them with the resources, the support, the encouragement, everything that they need in order to get their damn books written.
Jessmyn:
No, I love that because I mean with your own experience, you’re able to connect with them in that way. Like hey, I totally get what this feels like. That’s why I built a whole business around it. You can I guess empathize a little bit better with that experience because you’ve also probably been through it yourself.
Elke:
Oh yeah, I go through it with every book that I write. So yes, absolutely. I love to say that my own journey helps you to avoid some of the frustrations because the whole journey in itself, whether you’re writing, editing, pitching, publishing, each one poses a different challenge. And what I try to do with my coaching is to help you avoid as many road bumps as possible.
Jessmyn:
I love that. Take us back to the beginning. How did you get started in writing and then also, how did that take you to that decision of I want to turn this into a business.
Elke:
I actually knew that I always wanted to be a writer from the time I was nine years old. My parents gave me one of those electric typewriters or not even electric, ribbon typewriters, that’s where I’m dating myself here now. And I wrote my first story when I was 12.
Jessmyn:
Wow.
Elke:
I started pitching books when I was 17. Of course the publishing world was completely different. There was no self publishing, all those. So I got tons of rejection letters and I kind of gave up for a while just out of being discouraged. And then early sort of mid 2000s, I kind of stumbled upon a list of goals, I do one every year to say this is what I want to achieve. And one of them was become a published author and I’m just like I need to get my crap together and get this done because this has been a dream of mine for forever. So I started figuring out how was I going to fit writing into my schedule? Because I was already in project management and then taking some online courses.
Those were just starting to do that on how to find time to write as well as how to become a better writer, how to pitch. I attended my first conference and I actually pitched to an agent there, which was an amazing experience. She didn’t accept my book, but it just sort of opened the doors and was just an amazing experience. I pitched another company and they accepted and I was published in 2012. So that’s how my publishing journey kind of started and in January, 2013, I was still living in the Cayman Islands at the time. And I just had such an amazing experience with the authors that I’d connected with, that I wanted to create that same thing in my community because Cayman is a really small island.
And there really isn’t a lot of opportunities. There’s not online classes, things like that for writers there. I just wanted to be able to connect with them, provide them with the resources that they needed, answer questions from my own experiences. I just formed a writing group. And then that’s how the whole Cay Writers got started. And then when I moved here to the States is when I kind of it morphed into coaching and the same with my freelance writing.
As I said when I started pitching to freelance writers, I pitched Cayman Airways, which is our Cayman Skies Magazine, which is the magazine for national airlines. And it was just to help promote local writers because I discovered in connecting with other writers, there was so many of them that people didn’t know about in such a small community. So I just sort of said, “Hey, I had this great connection with these writers. If you’re interested in promoting them.” And suddenly they sent me a contract saying, “Hey, how would you like to write for us? Here’s a contract.” And I was like okay.
And from that one opportunity of being published in the magazine, I had other magazines reach out to me as well too, to do either one off articles and Cayman Parent was a more consistent basis as well as the Cayman Airways Skies. So that’s really how I kind of stumbled into it. And then when I moved to Florida is when I started the whole coaching side of it because people were constantly coming to me or referring me to other people saying, “Hey, if you need help with how to get published.” And it just kind of morphed from there. So, and here I am today and I’m loving every minute of it.
Jessmyn:
Wow. That is awesome. I always love hearing stories like this. How you weren’t actively looking for it, it just kind of happened.
Elke:
Yes, absolutely. It’s kind of you take those first steps and the universe is like, “Okay, this is what you want, let’s throw you some more stuff.”
Jessmyn:
So I heard you say, and I read it in your bio that you used to work in project management. So you did already have some kind of like a business background. It sounds like, is that correct?
Elke:
I did, yes.
Jessmyn:
Go ahead.
Elke:
Sorry go ahead. I was going to say I did, but it was funny because I worked for a large company. So it wasn’t a business in the traditional sense, it was for a company. So we didn’t have a budget or anything like that where we had to make money. That wasn’t the object of it. It was basically to … It was privately owned, so it was an interesting, but it’s still a business background is just a different dynamic.
Jessmyn:
Interesting because I was going to say how did you kind of be in project management and you were like I know I want to be an author, I want to publish a book. How did you manage doing both?
Elke:
It’s a funny story because by then I was actually married with two kids and the biggest thing for me was trying to figure out how was I going to fit writing into my schedule. And that’s where this online course really helped me to do that. And at the time, the biggest takeaway for me was you didn’t need hours and hours of time to write your book. So I would fit time in because I’m such an early riser. And then I was at work really early. So my husband at the time would drop the kids to school.
So I would go to the coffee shop in the mornings. I would go there at lunchtimes and I had my kids have an early bedtime. After they went to bed, I would write. So I literally would squeeze every minute that I had out of it. And it worked because they were younger. So I was able to do that. I know not everybody has that flexibility. So that was really how I was able to do it.
And then on the weekends as well too, I would go to yoga for an hour and then another two hours of writing while my husband was taking care of the kids. So I was very blessed in that respect but that’s how I did it. I just kind of decided that this is what I want to do. So I had to make … I always tell my clients you can’t find time. You have to make time if you want to achieve anything that you want to achieve.
Jessmyn:
Yeah, because I think it’s really interesting as I’ve been talking to more people, a lot of people are doing this sort of double job type of idea where they have their passion job, which is their business or whether it’s writing or their own actual entrepreneurship. And then they have their day job to actually pay the bills. And I always find it interesting how people can do both because at the end of my day, I’m like I’m out of here. I don’t have time for anything else.
Elke:
Oh yeah and I still have days like that. Absolutely. And I think what you really have to do, at least what I do for myself is just to find ways to recharge in between. And also maximizing the times when your energy level is the highest as well too. For me, it was in the mornings. So those morning writing times were so much better. Some of the evening ones were a little bit harder as you can imagine especially after taking care of two kids. But it’s just one of those things where it’s just being able to look at it and say, how can I recharge? What are things that I can do? How can I look at my time and say when am I the most creative and taking advantages of those opportunities?
Jessmyn:
I love that. When you started to get into your own business and building data up after stumbling into it, what were some of the differences that you noticed from just casually having a writing group, giving people some advice here and there versus okay this is actually something that I’m building so I can make money off of it.
Elke:
Oh, wow. The mindset was huge. It was a huge shift for me because I don’t consider myself a salesperson. It’s easy when you’re saying you’re helping people and you’re basically doing it for free. Whereas when you’re saying this is my fee and this is what I charge. I had a real problem with that. And one of the things that my business coach thankfully helped me with, she says, “Think of selling as service and love.” So you don’t have to think of it. Like you’re not a sleazy salesperson. If you’re not there, they need your help. And if you’re not reaching out to them and saying, “Hey, this is how I can help you. You’re actually doing a disservice to the people that you want to help.”
Thinking of it that way really made a huge difference for me so that I was still doing what I loved with helping and servicing, but just thinking of it that that’s what I’m continuing to do, it’s just there’s a fee behind it.
Jessmyn:
No, but I love that though, because I mean, I think, especially in our lifetime, we’ve been … Big corporations are such a big thing. And there are those kinds of sleazy sales.
Elke:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jessmyn:
Talking that there’s those commercials that are just directed at making you think you need something or making you think you’re lacking in something. So you have to buy this product. Whereas like in this sort of small business space and coaching space, it’s totally different because it’s like I actually am here for a purpose and it works. It’s just that I need something to keep it going which is money.
Elke:
Absolutely. And I think that once you … I always like to say once you know that people understand where you’re coming from and they know that you have their best interests at heart. So I’m not like, and I the way that I pitch is really different. I don’t say limited time, jump in now. I don’t do any of those things. I do it the way that feels comfortable and good for me. And then those are the people and the clients that I attract because they know me and they feel comfortable knowing that I’m not trying to sell them something. I really genuinely care about the journey that they’re on and helping them to achieve what they want to achieve. It’s not I need the money because I have bills like everybody else, but it isn’t just about that for me.
Jessmyn:
Yeah. No, and I think that’s great because especially with people who are … The people that you service or the writers that you service, when they reach out to you, they probably are already in a space where they’re really frustrated. And this is kind of that point where they think, “Okay, I could go one of two ways. I could do nothing and then drop this whole project, it’ll never get done.” Or I can actually reach out to somebody who can help guide and give me and so on. So it’s nice and refreshing to hear that that’s how you do it because I’m sure they’re already in a place where they’re like, “I don’t want any BS.” Not sure if I can cuss on here, but I don’t want … I was almost going to say it. “I don’t want any BS and I just need somebody to give me that accountability. I need that help, but I want someone who’s authentic. I want someone who’s going to be kind and understands what I’m going through right now.”
Elke:
No, absolutely. And I think being a writer myself really makes a difference. And I think I like to nurture people when they come through my Facebook group, that’s where I make a lot of contact with or people who are in my emails, so that they get to know me and they feel comfortable with me because that’s really important for both sides of the story as well too. I think that that’s important. So for me, I love meeting people. I love hearing about writers’ stories. So a lot of times I actually end up getting on calls and I am listening to the story and getting probably more excited about the story than the writers themselves are because I just love hearing about other writers stories, is just wonderful for me.
Jessmyn:
So I guess from here, what my question is you work with writers, you are a writer yourself. And I remember from our first call, you mentioned something about helping them with their own mindset and what some of those challenges are. Do you also practice those same kind of positive mindset and what you teach these people in your own business in your own writing?
Elke:
Oh, absolutely. And it’s a struggle just like I know other writers have, I struggle with my own mindset issues as well too. And I think the that’s another reason why it’s easy for me to sort of say, “Hey, I understand where you’ve been. This is what I’ve done that has helped me.” I think one of the things that I discovered this year, especially with mindset is a lot of times with writers and people in general think, it’s fear, I feel fearful and they pinpoint one thing. They think it’s just I’m worried about what people are going to … They’re not going to like what I have to say, or they’re not going to like my book. And I find that when I actually sort of pull back the layers a little bit with the client, I find that it’s actually coming from something else.
And that’s something that I discovered ironically enough with myself and my own journey and just journaling and really asking some hard questions. And then I just basically took what I learned from that and just helped … I was able to help other clients with that and let them have their aha moments of where the fear was really coming from, what was triggering it and also how to … What I like to call unpack it and deal with it so that the fear is never going to go away. I think that’s another thing too. A lot of times we think that if we deal with it, we know what it is, it’s going to go away and it’s going to be great. And I’m never going to be fearful again, when in truth the fear never really goes away.
What we have to do is to figure out tools and strategies of how to deal with it when it does rear its ugly head, we can say, “Hey, I see you.” This is why I feel this way. But in spite of that fear, in spite of that doubt, in spite of that anxiety, this is what I’m going to do instead.
Jessmyn:
I love that a lot because I think that works true for almost everything. I know that’s so general, but that’s even something that I learned in marketing. I work for a startup company, it works for writers, it works for people who are in their own entrepreneurship trying to build their own business or maybe you already started scaling and now you’re like I don’t know what to do from here. This mindset stuff is so important to keep in mind in order to kind of keep going.
Elke:
I think that it’s a component that’s now starting to come more in the limelight because people are starting to realize how important it really is in every area of your life. Because I think once you learn how to deal with it within your business, you can deal with it in your personal life and just your life as a whole. So it’s a really important component and something that I always encourage writers to really get a hold of because you could figure out how to write the book and write the best book ever. But if you haven’t dealt with that fear, then getting to that next step and that next stage it’s going to create a roadblock. And I think that’s what happens with a lot of writers.
They had that first success with that first book and then that’s it, nothing happens after that. And it’s usually because they haven’t dealt with the underlying fears that they managed to push aside when they were writing this book. But then suddenly here we are again.
Jessmyn:
Wow. That would be me. I’d be like I’m going to stop while I’m ahead. And just kidding. Don’t do that. You got to keep going, got to keep pushing.
Elke:
Absolutely.
Jessmyn:
I guess, I mean something when I think of when writing, just in general and especially a book and whether it’s fiction, nonfiction, a biography or whatever, it’s there’s a big sense of vulnerability to it because you’re kind of giving a part of yourself into this story. So what are some of the ways that helps or you work through that as you’re writing this story and as some of the writers that you work with are kind of struggling with moving forward?
Elke:
That’s a wonderful question. I love that. I had my own experience as well with a client who was writing … She was trying to turn a fiction book into some personal things that had happened in her own journey in her own life. And it was so emotionally triggering for her when she was trying to write it, that she was really struggling with each chapter. And one of the things that I suggested that she did is to really just take a moment when she’s in that emotion of that and get it down, then take a break when it was too much and too overwhelming to deal with because it can be.
That’s the first thing. The second thing is to think about that. If you don’t get this book out, if you don’t finish it, who will be missing out on this? Your message, your theme, everything that’s in this book that could help someone else. If you’re not sharing it, then that’s something that could be not in the world that could be helping, encouraging, inspiring others with the story that you’re sharing, even fiction does that. So I think those are probably for me the two things that I have used and recommended with my clients.
For myself, one of the last books that I wrote, it was on a subject that was really near and dear to me. And I mean, I was crying while I was writing this book. It was so emotional and then moments of anger and frustration and just with the whole thing. So it was emotionally draining, but at the same time, I knew that it was such an important topic that had to be discussed that even though it was in fiction format. I think the revelation for me and for my client as well, too, that they had people that came back and said, “Oh, this just was such a great topic. It really needed to be talked about and expressed and told.” It inspired me, it encouraged me. And I think when we hold onto those things, that’s what helps us to get through those difficult moments of writing things that are emotionally challenging.
Jessmyn:
You never know who’s going to connect with it.
Elke:
Absolutely. Because sometimes we think I’m just writing this for me. This is for me when the truth is it’s really not just for you, it’s going to connect and impact and make a difference in someone else’s life. And when we hold on to that and don’t share it, we’re taking it away from those people that it could inspire or encourage and impact.
Jessmyn:
Would you say that that’s also been something that’s really helped you in your business, whether it’s how you help your clients, how you kind of strategize what you’re going to do for the next year or how you’re going to market and so on?
Elke:
Oh yeah, for sure. Especially when I kind of get caught up in thinking, okay, how am I going to … I get caught up in the business side of it and then I’m like but … And I just feel like, “Ugh, this doesn’t feel good.” It’s like this isn’t why I’m doing this. I just have to step back and say, “Okay, why does this feel yucky to me right now? Why don’t I feel aligned? Why am I feel excited about this?” And then I have to remind myself, why am I doing this? It’s because I want to help people. I want to inspire people. I want to help them inspire others, make an impact. And when I do that, it’s like, “Okay, yes, this is why I’m doing this.” And it just flows so much easier and so much better. And I think that when we do that, we align with our purpose and why we’re doing this. It just makes it so much easier to take those next steps. Whereas when we’re just focused on the doing and not why, that can suck away some of the joy.
Jessmyn:
Totally. And I think there’s a lot of parallels between how you can take these sort of strategies in writing and apply it to your business where now everybody wants authenticity. They want these authentic stories, they resonate with it. They want to connect with it and they sort of see themselves in that. And so I don’t know, I just had this thought of like it’s really interesting you being a writer, but also you can relay this or convey that message in your own business.
Elke:
No, absolutely.
Jessmyn:
Yeah. I think it’s awesome. So what are some of the challenges, I guess for you now that you love helping people, you love running this business, but you also are still a writer at heart. How can you, I guess, sort of balance or juggle the two in order to do both but still kind of get somewhere like have some type of finish line for it
Elke:
At the moment for me I had to take a step back. I was trying to do too many things and provide everything for everybody. I was spreading myself so thin to the point where I really wasn’t writing, which is what I was passionate about and I wanted to do. So rather than providing all these products and all these services, I basically just dropped a lot of them and just said, okay, I’m going to just stick with just the group coaching and just the VIP, because that’s really the core of what my clients want and need, so that I can then continue to have time for the writing, which is something that I still love and I enjoy doing, and it feeds my creativity, which makes it easier to do this other part of the helping other writers and helping make an impact.
And that’s the way that I’ve done. I’ve also actually gotten help. I just hired a VA who’s going to help as well too. I think sometimes we think we have to do it all ourselves and the truth is we can’t and that’s how we burn out. So it’s okay to ask for help and to get help so that we can grow our business and do the things that we love to do. So those are the two main things that I’ve done recently and it’s just been amazing.
Jessmyn:
It’s so funny because I feel I’ve been doing these recordings with a lot of people and the common theme has been knowing when to not do everything yourself. It’s just really interesting how that played out because last I guess season I was doing this, our common theme was community and finding those people and now it’s just know you don’t have to do everything yourself. And I do think that is so important to kind of continuing to move forward. Especially if you’re in a spot in your business and you’re like, I’m burnt out and in your case, you have this sort of business that is passionate, but pays the bills. Whereas writing is your true passion, you want to do both. So you have to kind of figure out where do I want to invest most of my time in and I love the strategy that you had of like okay what am I willing to kind of let go of right now?
Elke:
And you have to be able to do that because I think sometimes with that desire to want to help, we feel that we can’t say no or we can’t not do this because this person wants it. And we have to say, is that really aligned with what I want to do? And what’s going to keep it passionate for me. I think that’s why we have to step back and say what’s really important. What do I really want to do with my life and what am I passionate about? And just always looking at that, because otherwise the truth is, is that for me, I had to step back from non-fiction as well too, because I was doing non-fiction and this and when the truth is it wasn’t my passion.
I loved hearing about their stories, but helping nonfiction, it just really was not my passion. So I had to say no and that allowed me to get back to the passion, which was helping pushing writers and writing. Oh my gosh, I had missed it so much. So I think it’s really important to know that it’s okay to say no as well, too, and to stay focused on the things that are important to you for sure.
Jessmyn:
I remember when we talked last time and you mentioned though that now you have this opportunity. If people do come to you about non-fiction, you have people that you can recommend for them. Like, “Hey, I’m not your person, but here’s someone who can.” And so then that’s kind of where I guess a community sort of comes in where you can work together with other people and still support each other without burning yourself out.
Elke:
Oh, absolutely. I love connecting people especially writers with the resources and the people that they need. And I’ve found … I’ve been very blessed, the community of writers that I’ve connected with, whether they’re coaches or writers have been phenomenal. So I love just saying I might not be the coach for you, but “Hey, here’s two other coaches that are amazing and would love to work with you.” So yeah that community is so important. I’ve been really blessed to just have an amazing group of people.
Jessmyn:
So earlier you mentioned letting go of some I guess things that you could sell as a product or service in your business, did you first try some of those stuff out, like having some sort of a course or product where they don’t really talk with you directly, but they still have some kind of connection to you or did you just kind of lay it all out? And you’re like, “I’m just not going to do that.”
Elke:
Actually I ironically enough started with the whole not talking to me because coaching scared the crap out of me one-on-one, and then I just didn’t think I’m like, I’m not a coach, I’m just a writer. I’m happy to answer questions and connect you with other people, but I just didn’t feel that I had the skills to be a coach. So I started with just creating a course called jumpstart your writing routine. And it was sort of like, here you go, here’s what you can do. And then from that, I realized that a lot of my clients were like this isn’t enough. I need more. So that’s where it kind of came in and just seeing the results that my clients were getting as I was helping them was just like, “Okay, well, yeah, maybe I can do this coaching thing.”
And just, it really helped my confidence as well as seeing their successes and that I love to see other writers succeed. That just gets me excited. So that was a big thing, but it started out as just online courses before I jumped into the coaching side of it. Now I do a little bit of both, but mostly my passion is just really, I love coaching and connecting with the writers now.
Jessmyn:
I love that. It’s really interesting though, because so in the sort of author writing space, would you say that courses, not that they don’t work, but they’re less effective than this one-on-one time or does it just kind of depend on what kind of author coaching you do or writer coaching?
Elke:
Right. I think it depends on two things, the individual and how disciplined they are, because as well as what it is that they’re to get coaching on, maybe they just want to know how to build better characters. So an online course that just shows you how to build better characters would be a good fit because you it’s four modules, you can get through it quickly. But I think if you’re trying to write an entire book and you’ve been trying to do it for years, convincing yourself that an online course is going to do it, I just don’t think it’s realistic, to be honest, not to say that it isn’t possible, but I think without some kind of coaching on some level, I think for the accountability, for the encouragement, for the support, I think that that’s the missing piece.
And I think that’s what people want because I find like when I just know in my own personal journey how many of us haven’t signed up for like a million online courses that are still sitting that we started and never stopped. And the reason why is because we just lose that momentum for whatever reason, whereas when we have somebody that we’re working with and that there’s a pain point from a personal level, as well as a financial level, then I find that people tend to be more committed to getting it done as well too.
Jessmyn:
That makes a lot of sense because I know I’ve done that.
Elke:
Guilty.
Jessmyn:
And whoever’s listening is probably like me too. Everyone raise your hands if you’ve been victimized by online courses that you never finished, but no, I think that’s a really great way to kind of put it because like I said I haven’t really dived into this industry before and it isn’t something that I think a lot of people talk about is sort of the writing space, but in a business perspective.
Elke:
And it’s interesting because you have things on a huge spectrum because it’s funny when people say, “I need help with coaching my book.” And I’m like, “Ooh, can you be more specific? Tell me what you’re looking for because everybody’s perception of what a book coach does is different.” There’s coaches that will do like help you write a book in a weekend, launch it, write it, publish it, right down to just helping you do one component of the book. So it’s a huge range of things because each writer’s needs are very different. So it’s a very interesting industry that is definitely starting to flourish for sure.
Jessmyn:
I remember when we first spoke, I was like what exactly do I call you? [inaudible 00:35:22] coach, a writing coach? And you’re like all of them. There isn’t really just one word yet.
Elke:
I know. And it’s so funny that I had to break it down even further and just say a fiction book coach, because I would just say book coach, and I would have a lot of non-fiction writers come and just say, “Oh, you’re a book coach.” So I think first of all, you have to know what you want to do and what your zone of genius is so to speak. And I think that will help you with connecting with your ideal audience and for the writers out there as well too, is just knowing what is it that you want help and coaching with. And that will help to help you find the right coach as well too.
Jessmyn:
Which is actually, I mean, I’m not even sure if you realize this as you were thinking of it or like as you had strategized it, but that is a really good way to kind of figure out exactly how to market your own business and kind of figuring out okay, sure. I have this niche, it’s coaching writers, but there are so many different genres out there. There’s so many different types of people. There are so many different types of needs. So just like kind of to add onto that is when you are trying to figure out who your audience is and you know how to figure out how to run your business, you got to figure out okay what exactly is my exact ideal person that I want to speak to? And how do I want to portray my business as that?
Elke:
I know a lot of people struggle with that because they feel like they want to serve and they want to help everybody when the truth is you really can’t. And when you really start to niche down is when you really connect with the people who you can help the most.
Jessmyn:
So in your business right now, are you able to kind of I guess, I think, sorry, you might’ve mentioned this already, that you can’t write right now as you’re doing your business or you were able to do that because you kind of let go of some stuff.
Elke:
I just started writing back again. I’ve been sort of writing off and on because I also work part-time at a non profit because hey why not?
Jessmyn:
You’re doing a lot.
Elke:
But no, I just started writing again. I was writing at the beginning of the year, then it kind of stopped and then started back again because it was just a lot of stuff going on. And I had to sort of balance between looking at how I can do it every day, as well as for the whole week. And being flexible like that because which was a challenge for me because I like structure, I like to schedule and plan and when it doesn’t go to plan, it’s like ugh. So that was a bit of me letting go as well too.
Jessmyn:
Yes. I was going to ask, I was like how are you doing it all?
Elke:
A whole bunch of time blocking and I use my Google Calendar, I love Google Calendar. So that’s really how I try to do it. Everything and anything goes into that.
Jessmyn:
Is it hard to sort of … I feel like pivot might not be the right word, but go from writer mode to coach mode. And then you also mentioned that you also go to non-profit, but that mode like between … I’m assuming you don’t do all three in one day, but how do you go from one to the other?
Elke:
Actually the time blocking really helps.
Jessmyn:
Wow, okay.
Elke:
Because there are some days where I am forced to do or not forced, but I need to do all three in the same day. Like for instance, I wake up at five and when I don’t have … Well, whether I have my kids or not, then I have a routine that I have and then when I have my kids, it’s less writing time, so maybe half an hour. And then that takes a certain amount of like you said, your brain is functioning differently. So I’m in my creative brain when I’m writing. And then thankfully I have time once if I have my kids, I drop my kids at school. And so I have that mental break before I go to my part-time job, which is using another part of my brain. And then when I get home because I only work there till one, I’m able to … I fil it with activities that kind of help me shift to the next part of my brain, which is the business side.
Because that’s not creative, really. I enjoy it, but it’s not creative. So it’s really giving yourself for me, giving myself those breaks in between to allow me to shift brains. And then sometimes it just doesn’t happen easily. And I have to just give myself a little bit more time, or I have to say, you know what? This isn’t happening today. Let me just switch it with something else and do a different task. So it’s just really-
Jessmyn:
You do that?
Elke:
Yeah, it’s just really being flexible. And ironically my productivity coach helped me with that and just learning my energy levels throughout the day and what tasks I can do if the creativity isn’t working, that there are other non creative brain activities that I can do when I’m in these energy levels. So a lot of trial and error and just finding what works for me.
Jessmyn:
Because I was going to say how do you make sure that you don’t get too overwhelmed or you want to of course prevent burnout because once you’re there, it’s hard to bounce back.
Elke:
And I try to make sure that I’m … Like I just signed up for a eating service as well, too. And it’s healthy meals because I wasn’t eating healthy, which was affecting my performance. I was having a lot of brain fog. So just doing things like that to try to keep those things from happening. So I’m basically being proactive instead of reactive. So I try to do a lot of that as well to exercise or if I feel like this isn’t happening, I live right on a golf course community. So I go for a walk, clear my head, just being outside is just amazing. Or I sit on my patio and play with my cat for a few minutes.
So it’s just a matter of recognizing when you are getting to that point. So you’re being proactive about it instead of when it’s too late or you’d say I’ll deal with it later. I had a physical breakdown when I was 24 from stress. So it’s very important for me to listen to my body triggers because I know how bad it can get.
Jessmyn:
Because I think it’s just such … I mean, I don’t know why, but I feel maybe people didn’t talk about it before, but I just think it’s so common to hear people talk about how tired they are, burned out they are, overwhelmed and then you listen to their schedules and you’re like yeah-
Elke:
That might be why.
Jessmyn:
I could totally see how you got there but I just kind of love that. How you said be proactive rather than reactive. And I think kind of recognizing it, or always checking in with yourself and like you said listening to your body triggers. I haven’t heard that one yet. And I think that’s a good one.
Elke:
Absolutely because like I said, even it was over 20 years ago when I had that physical breakdown from too much stress and after it happened, I realized that my body was sending me triggers and I was completely ignoring them. So now it’s like, okay, when my body triggers me, I listen and I pay attention. Because it’s like, “Hey, don’t do this. You’re not doing this.” And when I do ignore it occasionally, I suffer for it. And it’s a reminder that, “Hey, you need to listen to your body.” That’s so important. I think so many people don’t
Jessmyn:
We were just talking about it before we hopped on to record how I was like I was so tired this week. I don’t know what was going on. And I was taking off of work around 3:00 or 4:00. Usually I work all the way up until 5:00, 5:30 and I was like, got to start practicing what I preach and listen to my body. I’m just going to rest and actually rest, like sit down, turn my brain off and get refreshed for the next day and try and pull through.
Elke:
And I think learning what things energize you as opposed to drain you as well too, because there are activities that we do including resting that can energize us. For sure.
Jessmyn:
Really interesting. How you talked about what you eat too though, because I don’t think we’ve talked about it on the show at all. I mean, at least not with me, focusing on what you put in your body because I guess like if you’re just eating really greasy foods, I imagine that your energy levels are not going to be very well though.
Elke:
And trust me, as you get older, it gets harder and harder.
Jessmyn:
I’m in this space right now where I just didn’t grow up eating vegetables. I think it was more a cultural thing. And anyone who’s hearing this and is very shocked, I was also shocked when I realized vegetables are important. You do it all the time you know it, but if you’re raised a certain way, it’s hard to break that habit. And so now I’m kind of in the space of how can I get more nutrients into my body? So I started making smoothies with fruits and vegetables in it because I was like this is the quickest way I can think of that, actually eating it and feeling like insanely full. I don’t know how much I love taking supplements to be honest. So I’m like drinks, smoothies, juices.
Elke:
Well, to be honest, that’s what I have to do to get my kids to eat their vegetables because they don’t like vegetables. They really don’t, it’s hard. It is, but smoothies, they love the smoothie. So I’m like as long as they’re getting it in their bodies, for me, it’s like, I love mixing all different kinds of things. So that’s where the meal service comes in. It’s like it’s already prepared. I don’t have to do it. That’s convenient.
Jessmyn:
Exactly. I was going to say that. I was like there’s sort of this trade-off where you want the convenience, but you also want the benefits of eating well, and it’s surprisingly hard to do it on your own, to have to cook. I don’t know for me, it’s like now that I’m … God I sound so bad, but I’m thinking of now that I have to make my own meals, I don’t live at home anymore. It’s like, okay I’m actually thinking about what’s going into my stomach and I’m like oh shoot I need to put more vegetables, what vegetables, do I need to cook it. How can I cook it different so that I don’t get bored of it. And it’s just a lot.
Elke:
That’s why I do meal prepping when I have my kids. That makes a huge difference. Sunday I just cook enough food for the week and that way it just saves me so much time.
Jessmyn:
I’m sure that helps a lot too. Just eating well with your energy levels, journaling different responsibilities that you have to do. And then also just making sure like okay if my energy levels or my emotions aren’t doing too well, at least I’m still eating well. So the physical part of you is still doing okay.
Elke:
Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, it goes back to just looking at how to be proactive instead of reactive. And it’s a habit, it takes time. Trust me, I still struggle in certain areas.
Jessmyn:
I think that’s one of the things that I really learned from doing the podcast is we talk about all these different things that we try, but what we don’t mention a lot, which I probably should start doing is these are all practices that go in and out of did great this week, didn’t do great last week, maybe next week I don’t know but hopefully we get back into it. And trying to figure out that schedule.
Elke:
I think it’s important that you keep trying because sometimes when we fail, we think I’m not good at this or I shouldn’t do this or I can’t do this when the truth is, is that’s part of the process of building habits, is there’s going to be ups and downs. The important thing, if you want it to stick is just to keep going.
Jessmyn:
And keep that positive mindset as well.
Elke:
Absolutely.
Jessmyn:
That’s a big one. All right. Well that’s all I had, we are coming up on time a little bit here, but I do also have my last two questions that I ask everyone to kind of wrap it up if you’re up for it.
Elke:
Sure, absolutely.
Jessmyn:
Awesome. So what are three things that most people would not know about you?
Elke:
I love to sell sedans.
Jessmyn:
Oh, nice.
Elke:
I love sci-fi movies.
Jessmyn:
Me too.
Elke:
Marvels and that I used to read comic books.
Jessmyn:
Cool.
Elke:
I was huge comic books. X-Men, Wolverines, Spider-Man all those things. So huge nerd. Let me kind of put it that way.
Jessmyn:
I love that. I’m not the biggest reader. I’m not going to lie, do try to read here and there, but I love sci-fi fantasy movies and shows. Everyone laughs at me because I will start a show and if I love it, I will finish it in two days.
Elke:
Oh, wow.
Jessmyn:
I mean obviously if there’s seven seasons, that will take a little longer but I can do a season in a weekend if I don’t have other plans or I will watch it while I’m cooking, I’ll watch it while I’m cleaning, I’ll watch it while I’m walking the dog.
Elke:
I get it.
Jessmyn:
It’s too-
Elke:
For me it’s ironing.
Jessmyn:
That’s so cool. So my last question for you is what is a single piece of advice that you would give to yourself at the start of it all?
Elke:
I would say get into a community of people who are like-minded, who are encouraging, who are at a different level than you are. For sure because that’s one thing that I know that I wish I had when I first started, when I first started. Thankfully I was able to connect with them later on in my journey, but that was a huge. They already had their own experiences. They were always willing to help and share, encourage, support, connect you to other people in the industry. So I think that is a huge thing because I think sometimes as writers, we want to stay in our little bubbles or we feel we need to, but the truth is that when we spread our wings and connect with other writers, and communities is really when we flourish and grow.
Jessmyn:
I love that. And you also never know who you’re going to meet by doing that.
Elke:
Absolutely.
Jessmyn:
And what opportunities you can get.
Elke:
Yes.
Jessmyn:
Well, Elke thank you so much for being on our show with us today.
Elke:
Thank you for having me. I had a wonderful time.
Jessmyn:
Of course. And can you also, before I forget, let everyone know where they can find you online in case they’re looking?
Elke:
Sure, absolutely. You can find me at my website www.caywriters.com.
Jessmyn:
And that is with a C by the way.
Elke:
Yes, C-A-Y-W-R-I-T-E-S.
Jessmyn:
Sometimes I think about it and I’m like oh shoot. I have to clarify that because you just don’t know who’s going to do the wrong one. It’s 50:50.
Elke:
And think it’s K. No, absolutely.
Jessmyn:
All right guys. Well, thank you so much. We’ll also link it if you are finding this on our website or if you’re looking at the description and you see the transcripts. Otherwise, I will see you next time. Bye.