Say Yes!

Welcome to a girl in sweaty spandex, I'm Lauren Truslow and I am here to be real, breakdown the impossible standards of women, all while turning up the positivity.

Today let's dive in for YES! Go for it and say yes! 

Take out a piece of paper, and write your name right in the middle. I want you to make a bunch of lines going out from your name and write down all the things that you are passionate about, that you love. It could be baking cupcakes, or scrapbooking. 

It could be all sorts of things, make this little spider chart colorful and fun. Then I want you to circle things that light your soul on fire, maybe it's fitness, you love to workout. I did this a few years ago, I circled fitness. I thought I could own my own studio. I could be an instructor, what are the things I could do with my passion? Is it your job or is it a hobby? 

I think sometimes we settle as women because we feel like this is what we should do. No matter if you’re in the working world or a stay at home mom, you still have to find things that you're passionate about. Things that make you tick and that that keep you alive in your soul. 

I thought about the positivity fitness had brought to my life and how I could impact others by taking a leap of faith, by saying yes, and opening my own studio.I did it and it brought so much joy to my life. I think sometimes people just don't know where to start and that is their greatest barrier. I remember when I went to the bank, and I was like, “Can I take out a loan to start a fitness studio?” They said, “No, what is wrong with you, no, absolutely not.” This was when people had no idea what boutique fitness was. I remember somebody came into my studio for the first time, they said, “Wow, I feel like I'm in New York,” because in South Carolina we had nothing like that. I remember the bank guy said, “just go to the gym, you know the gym down the street does that.” 

Yes, in your head that you can do this. Don't let people tear you down. I remember when I was going to open my second studio and one of the girls that was on my team said, “Oh my gosh you already have so much going on! You just had twins and you have your other daughter. I mean, life is so crazy… no you should not open another studio, don't do that.”

But, I’ve really found that everyone has different thresholds of the things that they can have on their plate, and if somebody tells you no, it’s because they have no idea what your threshold is, and no idea what you're capable of. So you have to say yes yes yes to yourself, believe that you can do it. 

Opening my fitness studios, there were a lot of people that if I would have listened to them, my whole life would be different. I was in corporate America before this, and it was not my passion. I was so big on following your dreams, on finding what will make you the best, the happiest. Life is too short. One of my really good friends, she has been through it, and she's such a wonderful human. She had cancer, and she beat that, but  her chemo treatments had lasting effects that messed with her heart, causing a heart attack. Long story short, she had to have a heart transplant. She's such a testimony to positivity, doing the things that you love and following your dreams. She never takes a day for granted, and I think we all should have a little bit of that in us. Following things down a path of love, happiness, and passion because you never know what's gonna happen. 

Another of my close friends, she has lost both of her parents and she is really The Yes Girl. You ask:

I love that because those are all things that are happy things and following your passion. Together, we love to go to concerts together, we went to Lady Gaga in Atlanta. Following the word of yes, and not letting people look at us and say no. 

When I opened my nail salons, it was after I had my 4th baby, and it just kept nagging at me. I wanted to open them because it was something self-care wise that I thought people needed. A lot of people ask, “What in the world is wrong with you?” l literally remember them asking that. I thought I could do it, and I wanted to have that better option for myself and for others, so I thought what's the worst that can happen? Maybe you fail, maybe you kick ass and succeed. So why not just give it a whirl? I think that fear of failure, it's healthy in some ways. You want to have a little fire in your belly to go after your passion, but sometimes you will fail, and that's okay. Finally I told my husband, “I'm just gonna really go for it, cause you know, I'm in my 30s and I have plenty of time to make up for it,” and he's always one that says yes, which you definitely need to have people in your corner that will say yes to you. 

There are “yes people” that give you a sense of confidence and push you to dream bigger. Then you have people that are “no people”, and you have to weed those people out. You don't need “no people” in your corner, they're not necessary. They just drag you down, and so over the years I really have just watered my flowers not my weeds. Surround yourself with those yes people. 

There are sure things in life that you have to do, not everyday can be rainbows and sunshine, and full of passion and excitement. You’re not going to jump out of bed in the morning. I have plenty of tasks on my to-do list that are just the day to day, but big picture looking at the big plan, go and just say yes.

Give it a try, follow the big dream. Dream bigger. Don't let people stand in your way with roadblocks. There's no reason you can't jump in and give it a whirl. I have done that my whole career. There are people who second guess me at every turn, like during COVID people judged me asking, “Why are you starting a new business, this planner business.” I knew people needed this. I need this. I wanted a place to take care of the whole me. If I’d listened to all those no’s, my life would be nothing of what it is today. You’ve got to at every single turn, at the end of the day, just say yes to yourself and keep rolling down that path that brings you the most fulfillment. 

I love spending time with you, thanks for joining me! Leave here and write your name in the middle of a big piece of paper, and draw a bunch of lines. Draw all your passions and then from those passions, write different ways you can fulfill them. You obviously are not going to do all of them, but that is a good jumping place. Just to feel like, okay… I can do three of these things, or I can do one of these things. To be truthful, as women, enjoying my day-to-day life doesn't have to be a job. It can be a hobby, it can be anything but finding some passions that really fulfill you and making them a part of your daily life. Remember that you are beautiful, and you are strong, and you are enough. I will see you next time!