Expand Your Fempire Podcast #60 Transcript

Finding Your Midlife Moxie with Gail Scott

Welcome to Expand your Fempire with Caterina Rando, the podcast for women in business on a mission. Sharing ideas to support you to grow and thrive. Now here’s your host, Caterina Rando.

[00:00:00] Caterina Rando: Welcome back to another episode of the Expand Your Fempire Podcast. I am your host Caterina Rando, and I am blissing to be with you because I have with me today, my new BFF. The Instagram Reel queen, Mid-life Moxie expert. Gal gorgeous extraordinaire, Gail Scott. Gail, I’m so happy to have you with us today.

[00:00:57] Gail Scott: I’m so glad to be here, Caterina. Wow that is quite an intro, my friend.

[00:01:02] Caterina Rando: Hey, you know what? I got something to say before we even get started. Gail and I met on Clubhouse. I loved her vibe. I loved her energy. I started following her on Instagram. She has the most fabulous reels that you’re going to want to check out. I had her come to my group and talk about reels. Here’s what I want to say though. You know, sometimes people have this attitude when they’re older, that they can’t make new friends.

[00:01:30] And I want you to know that you can make friends at any age. I mean, I’m only 56, so I can only speak to that age. I’ve made a lot of new friends this year. I expect to be making new friends for as long as I’m above ground. And Gail, I am blissing to consider you a new friend.

[00:01:50] And I want everyone to hear this though, because a lot of times women start to have this attitude, like, “Well, I don’t know anybody.” Okay. Well, if you don’t know anybody, just go meet some gals. There’s a lifetime supply. Gail, before we dive into our hot topics for today, what are your thoughts on this?

[00:02:06] Gail Scott: Well, I have a belief that my parking lot for friends is never full. And if it were to become full, I would just pave more space. I just can’t imagine someone saying, “Wow. I have too many friends.” What I find a lot of times in midlife, also, is a lot of women who are lonely and they really want friends, but they don’t know how to make them in this season of life.

[00:02:30] Because the avenues that produced friends naturally and organically like through our children, through our children’s schools, things that happen in different seasons of life are absent.

[00:02:41] And we have to find new ways. And that’s part of what we talk about in Midlife Moxie, is learning to talk about what you want and learning to ask for what you want and to be transparent and honest about that.

[00:02:54] Caterina Rando: Love it. And the other thing, Gail, I want to say related to this, is you know, I have a criteria for who gets to be my friend. And what my criteria is: positive disposition, up to something, kind, gracious, generous, operating with integrity, and it feels great to be with them. That’s my criteria. What’s your criteria?

[00:03:22] Gail Scott: I’m laughing over here at “up to something.” Cause I’m usually up to something. I want people who help me to be better. I love that in a person.

[00:03:30] You know, if you’re around someone and you leave them feeling poorly or you feel less about yourself. That’s not someone I would want to be in one of my inner circles of friendship, which is this concept I have that it’s like the rings around Saturn. And people move closer and those are smaller groups and the rings get bigger and those have larger amounts of people.

[00:03:53] And depending on, how we relate, how I feel when I’m around, you. What the just deep organic connection is, that’s it for me. I love the girl that I can disagree with and walk away, smiling and hugging. And I just love people who challenge me and allow me to challenge them. And dang, you’ve got to be a lot of fun and laugh.

[00:04:17] Caterina Rando: You gotta be a lot of fun. You gotta laugh at all your jokes. And I love that, Gail, about, “hey have to be able to challenge me and we can leave hugging or I can tell them and we can leave hugging.” What I would say about that is that’s that they’re being authentic, that there’s no malice there in the challenge.

[00:04:37] Because sometimes people, they are putting people down. I don’t vibe with that. I do, absolutely, like you, always want to be upgrading. Always want to be learning, always wanting to be getting better. Beautiful.

[00:04:53] Gail, we have a lifetime supply of things we can talk about. I want to start though in getting the report on your entrepreneurial journey.

[00:05:05] Gail Scott: Well, when I thought about my entrepreneurial journey over the years, I realize it goes back further than I thought. I’m 54 now. I’ve been a true entrepreneur in the current business that I’m in since I was about 27, 28, I think if I do the math. But when I thought about how I wound up here, it goes back to my childhood.

[00:05:26] I really think I came out of the womb this way. And I think if we examine what makes someone an entrepreneur at heart, it’s that inner drive, that desire to not have confines and constraints. It’s that desire to be in an environment where you can be your best, you can make your own rules. I’m a rule breaker, so that’s a good one for me.

[00:05:49] But I can remember as far back as being a very small child and my mom getting me one of those little weaving looms that you use the little rings of look like t-shirt fabric, and you could weave potholders out of these things. Well, that wasn’t good enough for little Gail.

[00:06:05] Gail decided she would sell those to her grandparents. So here I am trying to turn a profit off the elderly at a very young age. And I just remember kind of always being that way. Plus I’m super competitive and I just, I enjoy that hustle. I really do, Caterina.

[00:06:23] Caterina Rando: I hear you. When I sell something, it makes me very happy. When somebody is depresso, I say, “Go sell something. It will make you very happy.” Of course, we have to sell with integrity and only sell to people that we know we can serve. All that said it feels great when you sell something.

[00:06:43] Gail, you have been a top leader with your beauty company for 26 years, you have won five cars, is that right? If I’m not mistaken.

[00:06:55] Gail Scott: 15.

[00:06:56] Caterina Rando: 15. Oh my God. 15. You won 15 cars! You told me last week you were getting another diamond ring. Wow. Clearly, you are a high-achieving woman. My question to you, what are two of your guiding principles, let’s start with one, then we’ll get to the next one, for being a successful woman in business?

[00:07:23] Gail Scott: Well, I want to preface this by saying I have been blessed to be part of the Mary Kay company. And she founded that company on some unique principles and those have been a big part of my entrepreneurial journey and my life as a businesswoman. And I think, had I have been an entrepreneur of a different kind, I might be different.

[00:07:44] I like to think I would have gotten there on my own, but I can’t say for sure. So I want to give props where props are due.

[00:07:50] But for me, one of the things that has guided my principles and the way I work is that when we meet someone new, whether they be someone you’re mentoring, someone who is a client, in the beginning, there’s going to be things they don’t know.

[00:08:06] And my policy has been, don’t behave in a way that when they find out details or they’re more involved, that they would look at the other side of that and say, “oh, so she was this or that.”

[00:08:22] Caterina Rando: My friend, you have to explain because I’m not following you.

[00:08:25] Gail Scott: So for you instance, sometimes, I work with women who come to me for makeup help, but then, then they decide they want to be a part of this business. And once they become a part of the business and they learn the ins and outs, I don’t want there to be anything that I do, that they look back and feel somehow mistreated as a client or taken advantage of.

[00:08:48] Like when they’re on the other side, the curtain of Oz has been opened, that they don’t feel any kind of funny way about me or my integrity. Because I’m here for the long term and my reputation and my integrity mean everything to me. And I think when we keep that the focus and we protect that, it’s going to guide us to the right decisions.

[00:09:12] Caterina Rando: Gail. I love this idea of integrity and reputation because that is the truth. That’s all we have. Our reputation, our integrity. No wonder I like you so much, my friend. Bing bing.

[00:09:27] The other thing is what I heard in there, you didn’t say it overtly, I heard was that you’re operating with authenticity also. You’re being yourself, true and true.

[00:09:38] You’re being yourself when they’re a customer, you’re still being your same self when they become a part of your team. Is that accurate?

[00:09:47] Gail Scott: Yes. Now, of course, we have better versions of ourselves. I know how to behave in public. My mother taught me that, you know, when we first meet someone, we’re going to give them our best side, but I just don’t want anyone to ever feel taken advantage of in a time when they didn’t know all the information. And then they come back later and say, “Gosh, she really took advantage of me in what I did not know.” And I had almost rather be respected than liked. And I’m a person who enjoys being liked. So that’s saying a lot.

[00:10:15] Caterina Rando: I hear you. That is saying a lot, Gail. You’re respected. You’re operating with integrity. You’re paying attention to your reputation. Let’s talk about your next guiding principle. I know you’ve got more.

[00:10:28] Gail Scott: It’s taking people with you. And that’s when it does come directly from Mary Kay Ash, is she had an idea that, if you have an idea and I have an idea and we share those, we both have two ideas.

[00:10:39] And so she actually created a reward within our company called the Go Give Award. And I am blessed and humbled to receive that twice, which is, I didn’t know you could even get it twice. But it’s when you give without necessarily getting that immediate payback. She said it would come back to you tenfold.

[00:11:01] And I think when we pour out, there’s something just very satisfying about that. Now we have to be careful to fill our vessels or we wind up empty. But I really enjoy taking people along the path of success with me. I enjoy walking the path of success with other women, and I enjoy reaching back and helping pull other women up.

[00:11:22] And I think especially with women, versus men, that’s super important. There’s some women who just won’t rise up on their own. They just don’t have that power within themselves. And when you’re a leader and you’re a successful person, if you can turn around and look back and identify those sparks in people and actually reach back, reach back behind you. Don’t demand that they come up to you, but you can reach back and pull them up. There’s something magical about that. And it just elevates us all.

[00:11:55] Caterina Rando: I agree. I like to say a rising woman lifts all the women around her. Gail, I have to tell you, I’m not sure if I have told you, I used to be a jewelry lady. I used to sell jewelry for a direct sales jewelry company. I won trips. I loved the trips.

[00:12:15] I loved getting rewards. And now that I am not in a direct selling company, there are no trips for me to win. Actually, I’m going to have to look at that because a few years back, I did win a British Airways essay contest, which let us fly anywhere in the world British Airways flew.

[00:12:37] We went to London and then we went to Paris. It was very exciting. Okay, you’re you’re motivating me. I got to find some more trips to win because that’s always really, really fun.

[00:12:49] Rewards are great in business. And if we are not with a company like Mary Kay or another direct selling company, look at how you can incentivize people on your own team to get something. Or you can use incentives with your clients to reward them because women like to win things. Would you agree with me?

[00:13:15] Gail Scott: Yes. And some people like things, they like objects. But some people just want to be recognized. And, you know, giving someone recognition is free. It’s free. Compliments are free. Recognizing where they shine, even if she’s a flower who hasn’t blossomed yet, If you just recognize some spark in her that could just make her whole day and it can start her journey all for that week, that month, that year.

[00:13:42] Caterina Rando: I love it. Gail, let’s see if we can remember. I think there’s six or seven different reasons why women join direct selling companies. One is of course money. One is sisterhood. One is personal growth and transformation. One is recognition, like you said. One is incentives the car, the trips. Okay, that’s five. What else do you have? My friend.

[00:14:10] Gail Scott: Freedom, baby. Freedom. Freedom and choice. I love all those other things you named, but I am an out-and-out freedom and choice girl. And working for myself, that’s just my jam.

[00:14:23] Caterina Rando: Bing bing! Those are all great reasons for people to get involved with direct sales and even start your own company.

[00:14:32] You know, I do want to pause here Gail, because I am very pro direct sales, not only from my own personal experience, but I have spoken in parts of the country to women in direct sales. One place I’ve been, the unemployment rate in that community was over 25% and the direct sales company was supporting so many women who wanted to stay home with their children or they didn’t have any other opportunities for jobs. And that company has made a huge impact in that community where they are. And of course, across the nation.

[00:15:17] I do want to take a moment to give a rave for direct sales. Now, of course, this is a whole nother topic you want to make sure you have your criteria. You look for a company with a track record, that has good integrity and has no legal action against them.

[00:15:34] The other great thing about direct selling is that you can learn so much. Your company gives you so much great training. Gail, let’s give another perspective.

[00:15:45] Why would you recommend a woman takes a good look at direct sales. If she wants to have her own business?

[00:15:52] Gail Scott: You know, Caterina, if we’re being honest, being an entrepreneur is great, but most of us don’t have a hundred thousand dollars lying around to go start a franchise or buy a store.

[00:16:03] Caterina Rando: Ok my friend, it doesn’t take that much, but yes, it can. If you want to buy a franchise.

[00:16:08] Gail Scott: For some of these, like I forgot what my friend looked, one time she was looking at franchises and she started with like the one she really wanted. And it was so expensive. She kept going down and down the chain. And I’m not going to mention where she wound up, but it was low-end. But you know, most of us don’t have exorbitant amounts of money lying around.

[00:16:29] Now those who do gosh, good for you have lots of choices with your life. I was a working mom and I knew that I wasn’t reaching my full potential and I knew there was more in me. But life had happened. I got married young. We had our first child in the first two years, which was not the plan.

[00:16:47] The plan was for me to finish college and I was on the Dean’s list. I was a good student. But once my child was born, I just couldn’t handle working 40 hours a week and going to school full-time. And I also started to say to myself, “Gail, why are you going to get a degree for something that you’re going to spend 50 hours a week doing when spending 50 hours a week away from your child is not what you want to do?”

[00:17:12] So I think that started the wheels turning. And I can’t say when my company walked into my path that I was necessarily actively looking. But there was something in that subconscious that wanted something different and something more. But trying to find the more, you know, even if you had the finances, sometimes it’s hard to get a business up and running.

[00:17:34] And the benefit to direct sales is that the business is up and running and you’re joining into a moving train. You become another rail car. So it’s the benefit of being an entrepreneur, but you’re not doing it alone. And I think for most women that’s very comfortable.

[00:17:50] Caterina Rando: Absolutely. The community is so important and you get that when you are with a good direct sales company. Gail, I do want to say I started my business with $5,000 when I sold my cafe, after everybody was paid off and my dad who was also owning the business with me at the time. I had $5,000 to start my business. So you don’t need gazillion dollars.

[00:18:17] You can start where you are. You can start small. If you want to buy a franchise, yes, you’re going to need a lot of money. And the reason people do buy franchises is because, like direct sales, it’s a proven system. That is why franchises work also.

[00:18:35] We’ll have to save that topic for another day because what I want to talk to you about, Gail, really big time is Midlife Moxie. Because you, my friend, are the cover girl of Midlife Moxie. Because you are doing reels all the time on Instagram. You are having fun, you are embracing this stage of life unapologetically.

[00:19:07] I love the reel you did where you said, “Most men don’t like bright lipstick.” And then you said, “Hey, if they don’t like it, they don’t have to wear it.” That was a good example of the Midlife Moxie attitude that you’re having. Let me ask you this, because you’ve been doing your thing for a long time, what has had you step into being a loud and proud advocate for Midlife Moxie?

[00:19:36] Gail Scott: I think what the stimulus was was realizing I was there. I’m in midlife. That was a wake-up. I’m 54 now. And when I started to cruise into my fifties and I always was good in math, I started to realize, “whoa girl, you have fewer years left on this planet than you have lived,” most likely, you know, if we listen to the studies.

[00:20:02] And I just thought, you know, there’s a lot more you want to do and accomplish. And you know, we always say that to ourselves, “One day.” How many times have you said “one day?” Well, the one days are getting fewer and fewer.

[00:20:16] When my son turned 19 and I say 19, because at 18, they’re usually still in high school. And mine was, I had been homeschooling him since first grade. That’s that was a commitment. And that was a large piece of the time in my day and my mental energy.

[00:20:34] So during this season, you know, realizing what age I am, what’s left, and having the newfound freedom that you’re not responsible for a child on the daily. That really made me start to think, you know, with all this desire I have left, I need to get my energy intact and I need to do the darn thing. There’s nothing holding me back. I need to do it and I need to do it now.

[00:21:00] Caterina Rando: Gail, love it. Do it now. What advice do you have for a gal, at midlife, who is ready, or maybe even not ready, but at least willing to embrace her Moxie?

[00:21:21] Gail Scott: Just do it. I mean, we are the age that, people have talked about us. People have been negative you know, towards us. We’ve been through a lot, by the time you were in your fifties.

[00:21:35] And so to sit back in fear anticipating that someone might speak negatively, or we might get some negative pushback, just seems kind of silly to me. We’ve experienced that and we didn’t die. We’re okay. So why would we continue to let that hold us back in this season?

[00:21:55] Midlife women have the wisdom and skills that are unparalleled. Absolutely, the men, our age have not done what we’ve done. We ran the homes and raised the kids and had a career all at the same time. That is incredible, Caterina.

[00:22:11] Caterina Rando: Absolutely. You are incredible. Every woman at midlife has massive value to bring. What advice do you have, my friend Gail, for a gal midlife in business, or maybe she’s midlife, doesn’t have a business, but she’s feeling shlumpadinka. She’s feeling like her best years are behind her. She’s feeling like, sorry for me.

[00:22:45] What advice do you have for her?

[00:22:48] Gail Scott: Oh boy, this is one of my favorites. You’ve perked me up here on this. It’s stop judging yourself by the standard that would tell you your best years are behind you. Yes, my best figure, the years where I was my thinnest, that’s probably behind me. But that’s not the whole of who I am or what I am.

[00:23:10] And like I said, with that combination of skills, talents, and wisdom in a lot of ways, we are our best in mid-life. We are absolute just crescendo. Now, if you’re judging by a gray in our hair, that may not be the case, but there’s a lot of ways to judge, how we’re going to look at ourselves. Plus there’s a lot of things you can do.

[00:23:31] Ladies you can up your game, appearance-wise. I’m living proof of that. This spackle and lashes goes a long way to making me look and feel better. But I just want women to think about, do you have something else inside of you? Is there something that is itching to come out to get out or that you feel the need to do before you leave this planet? And if there is then gosh sakes, get about it, girl, the clock is ticking.

[00:24:03] Caterina Rando: Love it, Gail. I’m waiting for your Midlife Moxy retreat, by the way. When you do it, I want to come be a speaker, okay? Because what I love is to get ladies together at any age. A lot of the ladies in our community are forties, fifties, maybe even sixties.

[00:24:23] I know we have a couple of gals that even in their seventies. And it’s so empowering to come together and be in a room of other amazing women on a mission just like you.

[00:24:36] I do want to say if any gals, if you’re feeling not where you want to be, first, go watch Gail’s Instagram reels. They will lift you up.

[00:24:47] Second thing is, get together with other women. Get in a community of like-minded, like-hearted women. Of course, check out our community, go on a retreat because this will be transformational for you.

[00:25:01] Gail, I wish we could chat all day. I love chatting with you anytime. Let’s, though, move into a few tips, insights, ideas around getting our midlife gals, embracing Instagram reels to grow their business like you’ve done. What are your thoughts?

[00:25:24] Gail Scott: Oh, goodness. Well, a lot of us have been told a pack of lies, especially like I have that 19 year old, that sassy little thing just basically told me that this platform was not for me. And he was horrified that I was going to step into it.

[00:25:39] But here’s what I found out. There’s some incredible statistics out there like about Instagram in particular that women over 60 is one of the fastest groups of people joining Instagram.

[00:25:51] And I don’t have the document for this, but someone shared with me, so I’m trusting that they know what they’re talking about. That last year, Instagram was only second to Amazon in driving purchasing decisions. That got my attention of why, as a businesswoman, I needed to be in this space.

[00:26:11] As far as Reels, you’ve got to look at what Instagram wants, and Instagram is going to play ball with you when you do what they want. And what they want is video.

[00:26:22] Caterina Rando: And when you do videos that lots of people view, they’re going to show it to more people. Okay. Now, hopefully Gail, we’re getting everyone open to embracing Reels. They’re open to embracing Reels. Okay. I’m open to embracing Reels, what do I do?

[00:26:43] Gail Scott: Well, let me start off by saying there is an audience for you. There’s an audience for everyone. And the people that are going to be your audience are going to be very different than the people who may be my audience. And the idea is to connect with your audience.

[00:26:57] And then here’s the other thing. It is the most wonderful space to be authentically you. And I have loved that part because I get to show my personality and who I am and bring out the skills that I have. The things that make me special, the things that I can help women with, the things that are my jam.

[00:27:16] And so what you have to do first is just jump in. You got to just mash that little button. It’s on your home screen. And what I recommend you do is watch some Reels. See how they work, see what they are, which if you don’t know they’re little tidbits of video, usually set to some recorded sound or music that lasts from 15 to 60 seconds.

[00:27:38] So we can do anything for 60 seconds, right? I mean, what’s going to happen, what’s the worst thing that could happen? And here’s the other thing. It seems to be the sillier, the funnier, the goofier, the more really you that it is, the more people seem to like it.

[00:27:55] There’s Reels that I have spent so much time perfecting and I had so much content. Yeah, it’s great content. And nobody cared. And I can dance to something stupid and show that I had one of my earbuds down in my bra, people love it. I just don’t even know what to say about that Caterina, but it’s beautiful.

[00:28:16] Caterina Rando: Okay, my friend. Well, what I would say about that is perfection is not required. That even the less perfect, the better because people appreciate your authenticity and the fun that you’re having.

[00:28:31] And Gail, what I know happens for me when I watch your Reels is I’m lifted up. And guess what? That is good for sales bing, bing, bing!

[00:28:42] Let’s leave our fabulous listeners with any final tidbits you would like to share with them.

[00:28:50] Gail Scott: Well, here’s what I want to tell you about Reels and all social media. We get all worked up when we see that, you know, Susie McQ has a hundred thousand views on her Reel.

[00:29:01] Here’s the thing, guys, especially if you’re in some kind of sales platform, if three people watch your video, that’s three people you didn’t have any contact with yesterday. So let’s keep it in perspective.

[00:29:13] And let’s realize that this is a tool in our arsenal. It’s not everything. And you can use it in the way that works for your business. It may be a very small portion of your business. It could be a huge portion of your business. It can lead to other platforms. This may be the platform that others were led to through your social media.

[00:29:33] But you can use it for so many things, entertainment, education, connection, and here’s what I’ve also found. I have customers who are watching my videos. I didn’t know they were watching my videos. They didn’t like, they didn’t comment, they didn’t say “I want to buy that.”

[00:29:49] But when I chat with them later, like literally this happened to me recently, the girl says, “Oh, I have some screenshots from your videos of things I want to get.” I’m like, “girl, you’re watching my videos?”

[00:30:01] So we’re reaching a lot more people than we even realize. And never in my lifetime, in this generation, have we had a megaphone like this. So girl, if you don’t pick up that megaphone and talk about yourself and your business and life, you are losing an opportunity that past generations did not have.

[00:30:24] Caterina Rando: Love it, Gail. Gail, I’m blissing to be with you. I’m going to get going on my Reels. Okay, I just said it publicly. Everyone, you can bother me if you don’t see any Reels from me, because I want to be like my friend, Gail. You want to be like my friend, Gail.

[00:30:42] Gail. We’re going to put it in the show notes how everybody can connect with you. Let’s take a moment though. People there they’re on their device right now. They want to check you out, how do they check you out?

[00:30:52] Gail Scott: The easiest way to find me is on Instagram at Gail, G A I L, S Scott, S C O T T. People say I say that Southern, and they don’t know what I’m saying. So I hope that’s helpful. That’s the easiest way. And then that’ll lead you to my other connections.

[00:31:09] And, you know, I just want women to know they can do this, too. There’s nothing special about me, except that I can be a little courageous and a little quick triggered sometimes.

[00:31:19] But there’s a place for you on social media and here’s the other good thing there’s help. There’s a million people out there that are posting help on how to do Reels, how to be successful on social media, follow them and do what they say. And just jump on. Nobody dies. But great things could happen. I love you Caterina. Thanks so much for having me. We’ve got to do this again.

[00:31:45] Caterina Rando: My friend, I love you too. Bing, bing, bing! And by the way, Gail is launching Midlife Moxie podcast, also. You want to follow her so you can be in the know when the Midlife Moxie podcast takes flight.

[00:32:00] Alright everybody, remember you got massive value to bring. There’s a lifetime supply of people to serve. Be loud, be proud about your massive value.

[00:32:11] Today we’ve discussed, do it with Reels. Get some support. Because the more you can be loud and proud, the more you get to sell, and what does that mean? The more you get to serve.

[00:32:25] Bing, bing, bing! Talk to you next time.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Expand Your Fempire with Caterina Rando.