Season 2: Episode 19 - Creating the Life you were meant to LIVE

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Welcome to the Joy-Inspired Podcast. I'm Nikki Cruz, and I'm thrilled to explore with you what it means to walk in a faith-infused business. This is your space to find powerful tools and insights, to build with resilience and to create impact through your unique purpose. Discovering a joy that only God can provide. Together, let's embrace a business journey anchored in faith and empowered by joy. Let's jump in. Well, hello, beautiful friends, kingdom builders, joy seekers, and powerful kingdom entrepreneurs. I am super excited to be back with you today, and today this conversation is gonna bless every single entrepreneur who's ever grown fast. And maybe even some of those of you who are just wanting to grow fast and in a hurry. Because you know what? Sometimes we realize that that fast growth isn't meaningful. If you don't know me, my name is Nikki Cruz, often known as the Joy Junky. And this podcast is all about bringing godly inspiration so that you can keep the joy in your business when you align your faith, passion, and purpose. So we're sharing stories from entrepreneurs who have seen God work in their lives, work in their businesses. And perhaps this episode, you may just hear something and think, gee, I get to share this with someone. Don't hesitate to do that. And also don't hesitate to drop a comment in at the end. We do come back and look at those comments, and we'd love to be able to interact with you. So let's get back to this joy thing. Let's just remind you all that joy is not what you get at the end of everything. It's not once everything has been successful, once you've launched your program. It's not the glitter at the end of the party. It's the glitter that you put out at the beginning. The joy that sustains you all the way through to the end. Because joy is a choice. And Melissa has been so sensitive to her joy, and you're gonna hear her story. Melissa Broughton, our guest today, is the founder of Busy Bee Advisors. I love that name. And the creator of the One R Bookkeeper. She teaches her moms, dads, and military spouses how to build profitable bookkeeping businesses from home. Oh yeah, I need one of those, don't you? With the potential to earn 60k or more in their first year. Now I know I've got your ears all perked up now, and that's why we are going to learn so much from her as we delve into this episode called Creating the Life You Were Meant to Live. You know, what I love about Melissa's journey is she didn't just build something successful like that for just. She had the courage to slow it down. When success started, costing connection. And therefore joy. And we're going to talk about that today. So, Melissa, welcome to the Joy Inspired Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

Thanks, Nikki. It's always a joy uh to talk to you. I I feel lucky I got to talk to you a few days ago and now again today. But I I love you're probably one of my favorite people out there to connect with. So it is truly a pleasure to be here uh today with you.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Well, thank you so much. And I tell you, you know how there are divine connections, and there are divine connections, and we connected in a really weird way, and it took a totally different turn. And from the moment we connected, I just knew that this lady was incredibly special and going to be special in my life. So stay tuned because I'm excited what we're gonna do together in the future. Me too. It's it's there's so much there, Melissa. Take us back way back to 2016. You have said that God led you into every aspect of your journey, and he gave you the courage to start Busy Bee Advisors. What did that season look like for you when this little seed sprouted slightly?

SPEAKER_00 4:50

You know, I think the seed had been there under the surface for quite a while. Um, back in 2016, I was uh I was working in uh in corporate America, if you will. I worked as a controller for a manufacturing company. It was truly um, you know, my my biggest of all of my big girl jobs. I remember, you know, the day that I drove up to this facility for my interview and and almost wanted to drive away because I felt uh somewhat intimidated. And then, of course, fast forward five years later, I felt as if I was sacrificing too much uh for a job that I loved, but I still felt that I was sacrificing too much. And I felt like my husband and I were completely existing on it, it felt like two ships in the night. He uh he was a nurse at the time and he would often work nights. I worked days. It felt like we were uh becoming more transactional in our marriage, which really felt like it wasn't working, but I had no idea what to do at the time to change that. And my kids were growing up before my eyes. You know, somebody once told me we have 18 summers from the month that they're born. We have 18 summers, and my do those summers go by fast. And um at the time, so 2016, my oldest was a sophomore in high school, and I remember feeling as if I almost had to beg anytime I had to take time off for a play or a sporting event or for, you know, parent-teacher meetings or anything um along those lines. And my youngest, he was, gosh, he was just a little guy at the time. And, you know, it it killed me to, you know, to drop him off at daycare or to really leave either of them uh, you know, and drop them off at school on a daily basis. But I did what I thought I needed to do and what I needed to do to help support my family and all of those things. And so for my um for my 40th birthday, my husband surprised me with a uh a trip, a cruise, and it was um it was a much needed vacation. It was much needed for us to reconnect with each other. It was just it was wonderful. And so we uh we went to Mexico, we had been on the water for uh for four days, and when we finally got to Mexico, we just had this amazing day. Um one thing led to another. I decided to be a responsible employee and call into work and the proverbial, you know, I'll say poop, had hit the fan. And through uh a quite a quick conversation, I I will say, you know, it was as if um it was as if God's hand had come down on my shoulder and said, now is the time to take the leap. And so I remember looking into my husband's eyes and seeing um all the love that I always see whenever I look at him. And it was as if there was this feeling of reassurance, although he had no idea what was going to come out of my my mouth. And I I simply quit my job on the spot. And you know, this was this was the job that probably um you know supported our family 80%. So it wasn't um it wasn't something that was not a big deal. It was a very big deal. Uh and I you know, I left and I knew that there had to be something more. And I I talk to a lot of people every day who feel that same way. And we'll we'll get to that a little bit later on. But um, my my journey led me to uh to starting a bookkeeping firm. We launched BusyBe Advisors in 2016 and had incredible growth. Um, in 2018, right before the pandemic, I had another hand on my shoulder that said, uh, you know, my dad will say from the big guy. Uh yes, from the big, I've had another hand on my shoulder that said, you know, you two should really be walking this journey together. Eric should be a part of this with you. Um, so I asked him, I said, you know, what would it look like if you left nursing? And this still gives me goosebumps. You know, if you left nursing and we ran this business together, we ran this company together. And I truly didn't expect him to say yes. I or, or at the very least, I thought it would maybe take a few more conversations, but he said yes. And then, you know, three months later, had he stayed in nursing, he would have been on the front lines of everything that was going on with the pandemic. And so, you know, I was able to um to help orchestrate that. He helped orchestrate that because he said yes. Um, but just really um it's amazing how uh how how God comes through when we're willing to listen, right? And that um that is what I would say two huge points in my life that I was willing to listen and to take that jump. Um in 2024, I really felt the need to help others. I feel that I have had so much fortune and so much um, you know, so many things that have just fallen into alignment for me and for my family since we decided to take the leap. Not only me starting BusyB Advisors, but Eric uh coming on board uh just a few years later. And so in um in 2024, my thoughts for giving back was to start teaching others who felt like they didn't have other choices or who felt limited by their situation how to become bookkeepers and how to do this as a viable career where you truly can work from home and earn$60 to$100,000 your first year in business. And it really can grow from there. And I just get incredibly excited about talking to, you know, stay-at-home moms who are passionate about being there and actually being an active participant in raising their own children or dads who are fortunate enough. Now, I do work with far more moms than dads, but I love the dads that I get to work with. And I will tell you, it's a very different style, the way that dads manage things versus how moms manage things. But I think the the group, if you will, that I feel the most excited about are the military spouses. And that becomes, um, or I should say that came to me as an opportunity because of my son, my oldest son's service in the military. And the friends that were reaching out to me, you know, my buddy's wife needs a job, or my buddy who may be female as a service member and her husband needs a job. But one of the things that I found that I had no clue about because I did not grow up as a military kid, was that there are certain countries that our service members can be stationed at where they take their spouses, they take their families. But oh, you know, the jobs in this country are only for citizens of this country. And so if you're, you know, if you're stationed in Japan or quite a few other places, there are no jobs. And that becomes very challenging, not only financially for our military service members, but but on the emotional side, because their spouses are home all day in a country they don't know. They don't really have a huge, you know, social life anymore. And a lot of times they're they're moving from base to base, you know, as often as every two years. And I've seen um, I've seen a lot of marriages of my son's friends fail. And I just felt like I have this gift of being able to teach someone how to become a bookkeeper. And with technology that was brought about as a result of the pandemic, everybody now is connected to um to being able to, you know, log on to Zoom or Google Meet. People are far more familiar with, you know, getting online than we ever were before. And so if we marry these things together, it really becomes an opportunity for all of these people to uh, you know, to work as um as bookkeepers, to start their own bookkeeping businesses and to be able to serve small businesses anywhere in you know in the country, no matter where they are. And so I believe it's not about that you have to um feel incredibly passionate about bookkeeping, although I am, I I absolutely love everything about bookkeeping and accounting. Uh, we we used to joke when Eric and I were first married, uh, one of the things, and and the book is no longer published, but one of the things he would get me every year for Christmas was this, and it was always like this 500 page guide, but it was the the guide to paying zero taxes. And it is just 500 pages of tax code. And I would be up, he'd be fast asleep, and I would be up with my light on and reading and you know, reading tax code and just so I guess that's where I'm a little bit of a I'm a tax nerd, what can I say? But um crazy. No, God made us friends. No, I know what God made us friends. There you go. So and he's an even bigger tax nerd than I am, which is awesome. Our conversations, we we have a hot tub, and every night we, as we get older, we find it's more and more necessary to kind of relax our achy bones from sitting all day in our hot tub. And we will have these heated, passionate conversations about tax and tax law. And occasionally our neighbor will poke her head over the fence and just tell us how ridiculous we are. But you know, I think we're definitely made for each other as far as that goes.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

So um I'm just gonna pause you there because there's so much that has come forward in this, and one of the things that I feel like God just wants to emphasize here, situations that seem impossible, the sparse in a foreign country, there is an answer. If you are someone, no matter what it's about, sitting in a situation that you feel is impossible, be at a job, be it spiritually, be at a relationship, just see that God has an answer. Because here in something that looks totally, you know, unsolvable. And I know when I first came to the States, I came on a spousal visa. I couldn't work, so I know that idea of suddenly losing your self-work, losing everything else. But there was there is a solution that God has brought forward. God answers that. Why? Because Melissa followed her passion and she didn't just hear God. This is the other big thing I felt like God was dropping a big time here. It's not about hearing God, it's about stepping in obedience once you've heard him. And she's done that over and over and over again. So your yes is important. And her husband's yes was important, but she got to ask him the question. And that doesn't mean all of you get to go and rush out there and all you lady entrepreneurs, you don't get to ask your husbands to quit their jobs. You know, that is something that God brings into the bear, into effect, because otherwise it doesn't work. But she said yes, she had the courage to say, hey, why don't we do this together? And I must say, that alignment is powerful, but you don't get that kind of hearing from God when you're not in alignment. And she confidently stood up in there into that. And there was so much. And I hope you guys are seeing it. You see her passion, you see her energy. Well, of course that's gonna be contagious. So you started off, you went on your cruise, and when you said you know one thing later to the other, I thought, please don't take that where I think you're going. Um she quit her job, folks. That's where it led. That was where it led. That's wild in my world. So and then she went on to continue to serve other people out of her passion. And was that your one-hour bookkeeper, or did that come later?

SPEAKER_00 18:04

So that came a little bit later. That came in 2024. And I I felt like um I think all of us have a desire to be challenged. I think we we achieve certain things and we we have an urge. It's what keeps us alive, it's what feeds us and keeps us passionate and and just keeps that joy in our lives. And I had really hit the point where um, you know, the the my business was no longer keeping me as excited as it once had. We had we had hit all of our benchmarks. We kept growing, we continued to grow, and it was wonderful. And I never wanted God to make uh to to you know to think I, you know, I have a healthy respect, I will say, for him. And I never wanted him to feel or think that I was ungrateful in any way, but I needed to have some additional mental stimulation. And I also felt that the message that I kept dreaming about and what I kept thinking about was really like, what is my plan? How big do I want to grow this? Do I do I really want to be so far away from servicing clients that all I'm doing is, you know, hiring new bookkeepers? And and I will say that one of the things that had always been my stance was that if any of the bookkeepers that came to work for me ever decided that they wanted to leave, that they wanted to venture out on their own, that that it was an open door. And I say that because I felt as if I could approach it in two different ways. I felt as if I could have all of these things in place that would stop them from leaving and you know would keep them tied to us, which that just leads to uh an unhappy employee, or I could support them in going out on their own. And we really truly didn't have very many bookkeepers that left, but because of our growth, we were always, always, it felt like every week I was onboarding at least one new bookkeeper. And I took that because I had all of the systems in place. I took that and I uh I actually had one um bookkeeper who had left me who reached back out to me and she said, I'm, you know, I'm really excited to be growing my team. I'm hiring my first bookkeeper. So it felt like I was having a grandbaby or something like that, right? I'm hiring my first bookkeeper. Will you train her? And I, you know, I'm thinking about all the different plates I have spinning. Of course, I want to help this woman, I want to support this woman, I know her story. I um I just wanted to be there to support her. And so she said, and you have to charge me for it. And so I think I charged her maybe$25 for this course that I had put together. And it was like put together, like it was, oh, she needs to know this information, and oh, she needs to know that information and this put it together. It worked, and you know, in talking to Eric, um he really encouraged me to look at what it would take to um, you know, to to sell a bookkeeping course. And uh, you know, I had a lot of other people that were in my corner that were encouraging me as well. And uh we we looked, I I looked, I researched, I found someone who, and I'm very thankful to this person. I won't say his name, but I found someone who was definitely uh, I'll say a guru in the marketing space. And you know, we uh we launched in August of 2024. By August of 2025, I had just over 3,500 students that have gone through my course. I looked at the numbers and And our profit was about$2,000. So if you look at that, that doesn't really make sense. I mean,$3,500 or$3,500 people going through a course, there should have been more of a profit in there. But between his agency fees, which I feel were worth it, but between his agency fees and the marketing tactic that he wanted to take, we were spending just a ridiculous amount of money in ads. And the kind of the wake up point for me was I was on the phone with uh with a brand new student. And, you know, I really go there with people. Like I want to understand what makes you tick. I want to understand what it is you're looking for in your life. It's it's bigger than just bookkeeping. Bookkeeping simply becomes the vessel that I get to use to be able to help people see that they have a choice. And I'm talking to this woman and she said, Yeah, well, I have to make a decision this month between paying my rent or paying for your course. And I thought, we are so out of alignment. Like, how did I get to this place? Well, I got to this place because my marketing person's vision for my company and what this course could become and what my vision for it were very different. And so I um definitely prayed on it, definitely, definitely prayed on it, definitely thought about it, definitely had a ridiculous amount of dreams about it because I think, um, I think in many ways God speaks to us in our dreams and helps to guide us through our dreams. And I pulled the plug on everything. We like, we hit pause. I, I let go of the marketing person. I, you know, of course we parted as friends, but I let go of the marketing person. I let go of my team who had been working with me on the course side of things. And we really just, I wanted to get back to basics so that we could rebuild from there. And I wanted it to be something where I was able to make those um, those individual connections with people to ensure that the people who were going through the course and who were drawn to the courses that we offer were really in alignment for what um what our values are.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

And that that is such such a huge step and big decision to make because wow, that's a lot of students. How many of you out there would like to have served that many people? But you know what? When you walk away from that alignment with what God has called you to, and when you are no longer actually serving people, those numbers don't matter. And to step back from that and take that reset is so there's so much wisdom in that, Melissa, and you know, you you saw that that was leaving you disconnected from the people you were called to serve, and although you love numbers, you're not just a numbers person, you are a people person. I know that just from the interactions we've had. And what was the defining moment beyond that? What was the internal recognition? Was it that this is just out of alignment? This isn't my purpose in calling.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

It was part, this isn't my purpose in calling, but it was also, you know, it had never been my um my desire to be the you know the Walmart of uh online bookkeeping courses, right? I wanted there to be quality. I didn't want to feel um, I wanted to know all of my students. I really did. I I I wanted to feel a connection with them. I wanted them to know that I that I genuinely cared about them. Um and with, you know, with the the marketing coach, his kind of his benchmark was that he wanted us to be selling a minimum of 30 courses a day. That was the benchmark we were, we were striving for. And with those numbers, there's just no possible way to know those people. And um, and so by kind of putting the brakes on everything, I mean, we put the brakes on every, I put the brakes on everything. I went all the way back to uh the the, you know, the site that my course was hosted on and moved it to a different site that aligned more with what I wanted, which was to be able to provide not only, not only paid content, but free content to people who are just getting started, who are just curious, who are just looking, right? And so we were able to find a new home. We got I got everything moved over as far as that went. Um, what happened that was also interesting was that the uh alignment of starting all of this came perfectly with my son, my oldest son, who had been the reason really why I had started all of this, with him retiring from um from the military. He was medically retired. We joke, we have matching uh spinal scars. Um, his was he was injured in the line of duty and medically retired. Mine was from, well, from trying to run and uh having that, which we won't even go down there, uh, having that horrible accident and my uh my spinal cord was actually um was crushing itself. And so the two of us, we we now have matching scars for very different reasons. But um he had retired from the uh from the Marine Corps, and now all of a sudden I have this person who, well, I've known him since birth. He knows me, he knows the way I think, he understands my values, they're the same values he has. And now I almost have this like this partner that I can do this with. And so there were a lot of conversations, and I can tell you what, I also got to tap into the knowing everything because you're 25. And there's nothing that can replace that. And so, you know, having these very frank conversations with him, getting his input on, you know, on trying different things, and we looked at everything. We, I mean, we looked at everything and then started to rebuild. And so we uh we the first thing that we launched was our self-study course, and that is something where you uh anybody can jump in there, take it at their own pace, you get through it, you still have the support of the community and you still have the ability to reach out to our team if you have questions and stuff like that. And then once we launched that and got some fantastic momentum, which really surprised me. I mean, I was really prepared for the okay, we're gonna open the doors and nobody's gonna show up. Um, got some momentum with that, and then we were able to launch what I really feel like is is kind of my um my my dream program and definitely my passion project, which is our um our bookkeeper in a box program.

SPEAKER_01 29:13

That's absolutely amazing. And is that the one that serves the military spouses, etc.?

SPEAKER_00 29:20

Well, either can serve uh the military spouses, but it is really the one where, you know, the idea behind Bookkeeper in a box is it is a completely done-for-you business. So we of course provide all of the training and the support, but what we're adding on to it is we're adding 10 clients. So we talk to you, you and I are having a conversation, we're figuring out, you know, what you feel passionate about, what industry you feel drawn to. And that's always an interesting conversation because I'll I'll send out, you know, a questionnaire before the call because I can talk a little bit and I can't have four-hour conversations with everybody. Nobody would ever want to pick up the phone when I called. Um, and so I send a questionnaire to kind of get to know them, but then I find that there's so many additional things that people will share when we're actually on the phone and to connect those two things and help them to see what um what niche or what specialty I would I think they would do very well serving is, you know, is is just amazing. And so we were very selective in who we work with. We only work with four people at a time. Uh we launched, you know, it was another thing where I kind of took a leap and we launched last weekend, we launched officially on Friday. And my thinking was we're gonna have to give people a few weeks to, you know, have calls and answer their questions. Um, we sold out by Sunday. So we sold all four spots by Sunday, and we actually have our March group as with four sold sold out as well. So I feel like the excitement is that not only are we teaching them the skills, but we're also providing them with 10 clients. This is income. This is, you know, this is over$3,000 a month of income that's coming into you every month. And all you have to do is show up and serve those clients. And, you know, if you feel like you have a, I don't know if it's a senior moment or what, or a moment where you just forget everything. Does that ever happen to you where you know you know how to do it? And then you're like, I don't even know what yeah. You have the full support of our team. You know, we we have um office hours three times a week where they can jump in and in a kind of a group setting, they can ask questions so so people can learn from each other. Um, they have weekly calls with me and others that have started at the same time as them. So there's that learning together. And then there's monthly calls that I have with each of the students where it's just one-on-one and it's working through um, you know, specific things to help them move along in the process. So it's it's structured and non-structured at the same time. I it's very structured as in I know the journey I'm taking you on, but it's unstructured in the way that everyone's journey really is, as unique as you and the unique skills that you bring.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

So powerful. And look at the impact that's gonna have on those lives. Whereas you could have been having very little impact on 3,500 lives, you know, that's what it's all about, and the courage it takes to stop, take a breath, and look. So for the woman who's listening, who's in rapid growth or praying for rapid growth and not actually looking at where she's at, what would you tell her right now?

SPEAKER_00 33:11

You know, we've got, we talked about it before the call, but I have a resource that I've created. And I would say for anyone who's listening that just feels like they want to be more intentional in their own lives, right? We've we very much are trained as a society that this is the path we're supposed to be on. And all of a sudden, some of us will wake up and go, uh this is not the life I wanted to live. And so if you feel like you're wanting more, I remember that moment. And for that moment, I created uh I created a three-step guide. It's a resource that's available to anyone that's listening, but it takes you through the process of not only figuring out what it is you want, but of course, there's math involved, assigning the dollar that it takes. So, what does it take to achieve what you want? You know, maybe you want, gosh, I remember growing up, my family took a vacation generally twice a year. We would go on family vacations. Now, they weren't necessarily lavish places, although um my parents were divorced. With my dad, we would do like fun, not necessarily lavish trips, but just fun, awesome family vacations. And then when I was home with my mom, uh we had we we actually have vacation homes. So we have places that we would go to. But I I don't talk to anybody today that has regular family vacations or is able to do that. And so maybe the goal for you is to be able to have a vacation with your family or to be able to, you know, once a quarter take your sweetheart, because your spouse has to stay your sweetheart, whether you've been married for a year or been married for 50, to take your sweetheart away for a little, you know, a little weekend getaway, to just have fun and to laugh and to not think about all the stress that surrounds us all the time. Or maybe it's to, you know, who knows? Maybe it's to pay for braces for your kids. I talked to a woman this morning, she has triplets, they all need braces. Well, that's a that's a little bit of a break, a bank buster, right? And so that's her reason for for doing um my program. But whatever it is, if you feel like you're searching for something more, let's figure out the math. And this guide gives you that ability. And then I simply present bookkeeping as a potential for what you may want. And you know, if it's not, if it really isn't, that's fine. We can we can absolutely part as friends. I won't even know that you've read the read the guide and that you've said, this is not for me. You are crazy. But if it is, then I would love to be able to have a conversation with you and really dig a little bit deeper and you know, have that one-on-one connection. So that's what I would love to be able to offer to all of your listeners.

SPEAKER_01 36:03

That is absolutely beautiful, and thank you. And don't don't forget, folks, that if bookkeeping isn't for you, it doesn't mean the rest of that resource isn't gonna help you get anywhere. And Melissa's put her heart into this because she was at that place, and so many of us get there. We want this big growth, and then we think, hang on, how does this fit in? Especially as entrepreneurs, we become entrepreneurs so that we can be our own boss, not that we can be an employee of our business, and so many of us become that, so we get to look at how we find that freedom, and yeah, a lot of it does come down to the figures at the end of the day, how you manage your time and how you manage your money, and God has given us those two things and we get to steward them well. And for those of you who are sitting there going, okay, well, well, how do I get hold of this incredible dynamic woman? I'm gonna tell you in a moment. But if you are driving, you don't have to stop and grab for a pen. It will be in the show notes as well. So if you're listening and you want to write it down, you can, but you'll also see it in the show notes. Melissa, how can people get hold of you?

SPEAKER_00 37:22

The best way to get a hold of us or to get a hold of me is to jump over to our website and it's onehourbookkeeper.com. So the number one, ourbookkeeper.com. You'll see my face talking, my hair was super good on that day. Um, yes, but that's the best place that you can go to for more information about uh what we offer and what it could mean for you.

SPEAKER_01 37:50

Well, that is beautiful, but before you go, you have gone through different areas of success in different ways, and God started preparing you for where you're at now from way before you even thought. But how would you define success?

SPEAKER_00 38:10

I think success is having a choice in your life. I really do. I think success is living an intentional life. I think success is being able to have a hand in raising your own children and not feel as if you have to um, you know, drop them off at daycare and have your heart broken every day. I I think success is being able to have a you know sleepy, poorly behaved dog uh at your feet as you work all day. And you know, I I think success is for me is being able to, you know, work uh hand in hand with my with my husband every day.

SPEAKER_01 38:52

Oh, beautiful. And for those of you who haven't thought of that before, I hope that this and the energy that Melissa's brought has helped you turn that dreamer on, opened your mind up back to the vision of the purpose that God's given you and how that is possible. You don't have to work for somebody else. If God's called you to that, great. But I believe there is so much in so many of us that God wants to bring forward. So please don't hesitate to reach out, contact Melissa. Let her know that this episode touched you because it's not just about the math. Maybe for her it is, but for the rest of us, it's not just about the math, it's about the creed, it's about the vision that God has planted in you and the freedom we have in Christ. And we often don't find that when we are hustling, when we are being led by the things that aren't true success and don't bring us freedom, and that's where we lose our joy. So remember, folks, choose joy every day. Choose the paths that are gonna lead you to happiness, lead you to live and leave legacy that's empowering and god aligned. So, with many thanks to Melissa for showing us that it is possible to create a life that looks exactly like you wanted, which is just where she's going now. She's gone, she's turned round when things didn't feel aligned and rebuilt. And sometimes we get to it and do that. Stay in joy, stay in alignment and build the life of your dreams. Any last words for our listeners, Melissa?

SPEAKER_00 40:42

No, I just really feel grateful and thankful to have had the opportunity to speak to your listeners, and I agree, you deserve. If you're out there listening, you deserve to live a life filled with joy.

SPEAKER_01 41:01

Turn your dreamers back on, folks. God gave us dreams for a reason, and funnily enough, I think it uh maybe it was while we were recording this that Melissa said, I do believe God speaks to us in our dreams. He absolutely does. And if you stop dreaming because you don't believe in the possibilities, you're limiting God quite a lot. And you know what? Bookkeeping in a box might be a thing, but God in a box isn't. So, with all joy and lots of love, I look forward to seeing you next week. Share this episode with friends and be blessed. From Nikki Cruz, the Joy Junkie, joyful blessings. Bye for now. Thank you so much for joining me on the Joy Inspired Podcast at www.joyinspiredpodcast.com. Make sure you hit that subscribe button so that you can get this and every other episode that comes out. We have lots of great stuff coming, and you don't want to miss it. So make sure to hit that subscribe. I am so grateful for all the reviews and comments, and I look forward to serving you for next week's episode.