The_Tiffany_Han_Show_423_Elise_Cripe_V1

===

[00:00:00] Tiffany Han: Hey, hey, hey. Welcome to the Tiffany Han Show podcast that teaches highly ambitious people how to have lives that feel as good on the inside as they look on the outside. If you are ready to dive into discovering delight in your life starting today, be sure to check out my free five day radical delay Kickstart over at tiffanyhan.com and while you're there, you can also find extended episode archives, show notes, and more. Thanks for being here. Now onto the show,

Hi everyone, it's Tiffany, welcome back to the podcast. I have got a treat for you today. I was able to sit down with my good friend, Elise Baha Cripe, and talk about a really big change that she is making in her life. This is also a change in her business in that she is closing things [00:01:00] down over at Get to Work Book.

She is also taking an undefined, perhaps extended, perhaps forever, break from being an internet crafting paper person, influencer, artist, voice, and for someone who, as you'll hear, has been active online, sharing her life for 18 years, y'all, this was not a decision that she came to lightly, and I was so excited to talk with her about what brought her to this decision, what the transition has looked like for her, and what happens next.

We get into the finances of this year for her , into why things happened the way they did, and I can't wait for you to hear it. So here you go.

Oh my gosh. Elise. Hello. Welcome. Hi.

[00:01:53] Elise Cripe: Hi.

[00:01:53] Tiffany Han: Hi. I was thinking as I was thinking about this interview, and I actually started my [00:02:00] podcast after you interviewed me for your podcast in 2014.

[00:02:05] Elise Cripe: Yep.

[00:02:06] Tiffany Han: And I remember doing that interview on my bed, like baby twins. I think I was probably in pajamas, and I was like, that was so fun. I wanna start a podcast. So. Thank you.

[00:02:20] Elise Cripe: Yeah

[00:02:20] Tiffany Han: It feels like this like really interesting full circle moment, especially because I haven't podcasted in a while. I've took a, a maybe unintended break and now you are here taking on right on the precipice of like a really deliberate break.

Do you want to, for everyone who's listening, give a little preface of why we're having this conversation and

what your break is?

[00:02:43] Elise Cripe: Yeah. So thank you so much for having me. I, full disclosure, I messaged Tiffany and I was like, you wanna do a podcast episode? Like I, I have some stories, you know, to tell my story.

Um, I am the briefest quickest thing for anyone who's unfamiliar: I have [00:03:00] been online since 2005, publicly sharing my life and my work online. I started my blog Christmas Day, 2005. I was 20 years old, a junior in college. And at the time I started a blog because I followed a few blogs, like four, and they just felt amazing, and I wanted to like be part of that. I wanted to tell a story, I wanted to post. No one obviously read it back then, but people kind of could find it. And the way we found blogs back then was so fun and magical, and the opposite of algorithm. And um, so my career always kind of went from that.

Right? In 2005, I started a blog. I've had some real jobs, but for the most part, my blog has kind of turned into a marketing tool that I could use to sell all the things I've sold over the past 18 years and for a very long time that was very good. And then for other times it was like kind of crappy, but then I would like adjust and I would do something different.

And when some [00:04:00] things would not work, I would just stop them and I'd move on to the next thing. And I just kind of did that. I thought of it like I would be like riding a horse and then I would jump to the next horse. The horse was like, I'm running, the next horse is running. And I jump, right? Like I was like jumping from business to business, never stopping.

[00:04:15] Tiffany Han: Never stopping.

[00:04:16] Elise Cripe: And what I'm preparing to do right now and what I've been really actively working on for 15 months is stopping the horse and just getting off the horse. Um, I don't know that I'll never ride a horse again, but I am like absolutely not interested in jumping on another moving horse while I'm still moving.

And so I have just been really, you know, closing down all of my work, all of my businesses, all of my selling. But then as part of that, if I'm not selling, if I'm not actively selling something online, I'm not really sure the value of me harvesting my life for the internet. And so I am, um, you know, choosing to step back from just sharing online as well as we go into 24.

[00:04:59] Tiffany Han: I [00:05:00] often think, you know, there's that friends episode where Chandler has to quit the gym, and he goes in and he's like, I wanna quit the gym. And I often have that thought to myself of like, I wanna quit the internet. But like you, you're getting to, and maybe not quitting forever, right?

But you get to take a break. And, and what I suspect is that to a lot of people listening right now, whether they've followed you or they know me or both, or they're, they're new to us. Like I suspect there might be a little bit of like, can you do that? Like, right, like for freedom, but also like, wait a minute, is that allowed?

Especially when I mean really like your entire adult life almost.

[00:05:42] Elise Cripe: Yes. My entire adult life, all of my marriage, you know, I haven't known my husband outside of me also sharing publicly online. Obviously I have not been a mom outside of that. I don't know, I don't know my creative work outside of sharing it.

You know, [00:06:00] Austin Kleon, who you've, I think, interviewed, his book, Show Your Work, I read that, but it's a great book, you should read it. But that like was 100% my practice. Like my work, my creative work doesn't exist without me also being like, look, look at it. And I think a lot about how it's gonna influence my creativity.

That's what I'm much more like I'm super interested in that. I'm really interested to see, um, if I still have the drive or if I'm like, what?

[00:06:31] Tiffany Han: It's fine. Take it easy.

[00:06:33] Elise Cripe: Yeah.

I don't know. I don't know. I literally have no idea how much of my creative work is—it's a hundred percent influenced by the internet— but I don't even know what, I don't know how it exists without the internet.

And that is like deeply exciting and yeah.

So do you remember when, um, when Taylor Swift released Folklore in 2020? We texted and [00:07:00] you must have said something or I said something like, normally with her albums, there's so much lead up and there's so much hype and there's so much mystery and like hints and clues and then she drops it and it's like amazing.

But I remember you were like, this album just could speak for itself, like this work could just exist and it didn't need all of the, like, all the hype. And I'm, I'm interested to see like, do I have work like that? Like do I have something in me that might just be better because I don't have to do all the things. I, I don't know.

I literally don't know. I wish I knew, but I think about that a lot.

[00:07:38] Tiffany Han: Right.

I, I still think about Taylor Swift during her prolific Covid years where she just like made these, not only did she make those two albums, folklore and evermore, but she, they were so different from anything she had done and it, and like the, the thought, the [00:08:00] vulnerability that would show up for, I think, the average person of like doing something so different and then also keeping it secret and putting it out there.

I mean, she's still, I'm still so inspired by her. And I think about that a lot and the idea of, I remember saying to someone a few years ago, like, I just wanna have some secrets from the internet.

[00:08:21] Elise Cripe: Oh my gosh, huh. Right.

[00:08:23] Tiffany Han: Because like I have put so much out there and then I took last year off and have been kind of slowly coming back into things this year on social media.

But it is this place of like, as we grow up, right? And then as things in our lives change, and then also as the internet has changed, like the internet has changed a lot. I was saying like, what, how much is too much and, and what is it, I think too, like what is it giving me is such a big question.

[00:08:56] Elise Cripe: So, you know, we'll talk more about like the, like the [00:09:00] business aspect closing down.

I think that's something I've had to think about a lot is like, what do I get from this? And I genuinely like I, I do like sharing. I find like great satisfaction in, in the sharing, not even necessarily for people to like it.

Like, so an example, I have a private Instagram account that is like my outfit of the day that no one follows.

It's literally because I am deeply satisfied by the little grid and like learning from my own patterns. I cherish it and I never want anyone to ever see it, you know? And so that part of it is like very exciting to me as far as like documenting. Mm-Hmm. I do enjoy documenting my projects, but I kind of cannot stand how much content I consume and I'm completely addicted.

Like, I, if there was a way that I could just like, go on Instagram and like only see the people I followed and not click over to the explore page and just scroll and watch random crap, [00:10:00] which I totally do, it's my fault. I would do that, but I can't do that. And so I, I need to, I need the break because I'm so exhausted from all the content..

[00:10:09] Tiffany Han: And what is your, what happens in your creative channel when that fire hose of content is not coming at you all the time?

[00:10:20] Elise Cripe: Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. I dunno.

[00:10:21] Tiffany Han: Right? I'm so curious. I'm so curious. I, I know for me, like I thought that I was gonna go off Instagram last year and just be like writing all the time and doing all this stuff, and what I found was that I needed like a year for like healing.

[00:10:35] Elise Cripe: Yeah.

[00:10:36] Tiffany Han: Quiet.

[00:10:37] Elise Cripe: Yes. I think that's, I, I remember you emailing about that maybe in like the spring. About how something along the lines of like, you were just sort of finding your groove or like it hadn't been as productive as you had thought up until then. And I think about that a lot.

Also 2021 [00:11:00] was my total burnout year. 21 was my just nightmare. Financially, I made a ton of money. My business did great. It all looked real good, but I was a shell of a human. And at the end of 21 I wrote, you know, how do you wanna feel next year? And I literally wrote opposite of this, like, not like this. And it has been two years. Like I made that, it's like, I wanna quit the gym, right?

Like right. And December 21 I screamed into the voids. Yes, yes. I wanna quit the gym. And finally, now I'm like, holy shit, I get to quit the gym now. You know, like finally I'm quitting the gym. And so it took that long. And I think what's been the most interesting to me over the past two years has been my, like disinterest in productivity, has been, my disinterest in goal setting, has been my disinterest in using a planner.

I mean, it's just like a total pullback as I've like fought to get over that burnout. And that's why I [00:12:00] can't sell a planner anymore. Yeah. Like I can't, if I can't even use a planner, how can I can sell a planner?

I dunno.

[00:12:06] Tiffany Han: And I think that there is, right, there's this thing that happens because when we get to that place of like "anything but this," and it's so hard, Elise when like everything looks beautiful from the outside.

I've been having some conversations recently around business stuff and wanting to make some changes. And Meredith, when we were in Palm Springs was like, oh, what's worked in the past? And I was like, oh, well here are all the things that worked, but I was an empty shell of a human. Like I was so driven by anxiety, I was barely hanging on.

It was not good. And I was like, I can't go back. Right? You get like kind of like, don't make me go back there. But often we've known that for a while, but we tell ourselves you can't. Oh, no, no, no. You've gotta keep going. You've gotta keep going. And if I'm remembering correctly. This was like Covid kids and Paul was deployed,

right?

[00:12:57] Elise Cripe: Yeah. So obviously 20 Covid and Paul, [00:13:00] my husband was deployed and he got back September of 20, late September. And at that point I decided I was gonna do this project called Make 36, which is when I do the monthly limited edition products for a year. And so I was like deep in the planning for that when he got back.

And my marriage is like actually a really interesting part of this. Like, um, where we've gotten like together has like really shifted over the past couple years and I think every time he comes home from deployment - that's been three times- we've had to rework our entire marriage, like put it all back together, which is an event and ultimately like so great but so hard.

And so, you know, we're kind of doing that, but I'm like fueled by this new work project I'm gonna do. And so then 21, I'm doing that. And like I said, it works really well, but it all kind of caught up to me at the end of 21. Like, I think I, I like mourned [00:14:00] covid, I mourned him not being here for me during Covid. I mourned all of it.

You know, I was able to like, kind of put off that grief until I got through this work project. And then it was like, oh my gosh, you know, and then, um, he got out of the Navy in May of 22, and we had been together for 16 years. We'd been together for his whole military commitment.

And it had been this milestone for our relationship. Like we were working towards these 16 years and we hit it, like we hit the milestone, and I felt deep relief and contentment and suddenly I was like, oh, like I don't have to strive anymore. Which sounds weird, but like yeah, I felt like I can just, just not. Like, because basically to me the greatest fear is reaching your goal that you've had for so long and reaching it and being like, now what?

And I reached this goal and I was like, yeah, dude. Like did it and felt just [00:15:00] so good. And it's not that I like, don't wanna like set goals. It's not that I don't wanna improve, but I also am like, I just, I don't know, I just, I just felt so, just done.

[00:15:11] Tiffany Han: Yeah.

[00:15:12] Elise Cripe: Yeah. In a really good way.

[00:15:14] Tiffany Han: Yeah. And I think too, right, for anyone listening to this, number one, let's be clear, this doesn't mean that goals are bad or that people shouldn't have goals.

[00:15:22] Elise Cripe: Definitely not, right?

[00:15:24] Tiffany Han: Have goals. Yes. But I also suspect, I mean, I know for, for me and my business went through a tremendous change during Covid because for me it was like, oh my God, I have to stop saying yes to things. Right? I literally changed my podcast so that it was no longer called Raise Your Hand Say Yes, because it was like, holy shit y'all start saying no, we need to say no. We need to say no so much more than we think. And what I was hearing, the conversations I was having was like, the striving is no longer sustainable.

So for you, because you have been very online since [00:16:00] 2005, you've written a book, had it published with Chronicle, you launched a planner business in 2015, which also feels like it became like this whole other thing, but you kept doing your Elise other, other things, right?

Take us back to 15 months ago when you were like, I'm gonna quit the internet.

[00:16:24] Elise Cripe: Yeah. First I do wanna definitely like massive pin and circle. Like of course I, I still like support goal setting. Yes. I think I, I truly think that goal setting is like, can be deeply healthy and such a part of a rich full life.

And that's like important to say. Yes. Not like,

not like to cover my ass, but like,

[00:16:45] Tiffany Han: no, I don't. And I don't think you were saying that at all. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I just, I know sometimes we can like get in our heads with things and I, I just feel like I wanna clear that up for everybody. Like I still use a planner.

I still have, it's good. It's okay to have like all of that is okay and we're not, we're we're talking about like your personal,[00:17:00]

[00:17:00] Elise Cripe: I still make to-do list, like I make a to-do list every day. I just make it on like a random piece of paper that I found. And so I think, okay, so let's see. So what happened:

2020

okay, so I launched the, the business in 2015. Unbeknownst to me that was like kind of a planner, boom. Planners had a bit of a- and I didn't really realize, but I kind of like lucked into that- at the time there was like a more people were, um, doing more documenting and journaling in their planners and Get to Work Book was such a plain blank journal that it gave a lot of space for that. So it really, it hit the niche in the right way, which was very cool. Didn't realize, but worked out well. Um, and then as with any boom, you know, more planners got in, like cheaper options, got in. Target, had like really cool ones like. There became a lot of really good planners.

So the, the, um, market saturated a bit, which on the whole is still good, but , so Get to Work Book in, um, 15 and 16 just, just was crazy, like very successful. 17, [00:18:00] like fine. 18 I think I, uh, 17, 18, I started to realize like my audience isn't growing, like I'm not expanding my reach, but I have these consistent customers and because it's a repeat business, like this can work. I definitely started to think that.

Something I've learned about myself throughout this process is I'm like, not, I'm not good at the repeated hustle of marketing. It's just, it's not interesting to me. I don't have any fun with it. I really enjoy, I like marketing and I like talking about my stuff, but I can't do the same thing over and over. And so like I like kinda lost ways to talk about Get to Work Book and I lost ways to like reach new people. But that was okay because I had my current people. In 18, I got, I think 18 things really started to kind of slow, but I got paid for my book in 18 was when I got my book advance. And so it was hard to notice the numbers. Like I didn't notice like, oh shoot, you know, this is rough.

And then 19 I could see like, okay, things are going down, [00:19:00] but I had a ton of overhead and I got rid of my warehouse. I changed how I did so many things, so I made my expenses like (small sound) and everything was () fine, right? I fixed it.

2020 was wild because, um, people couldn't plan, you know?

But then at the end of 20, people were excited to like kinda get back to stuff and so I did okay. I finished out 20 okay. Um, and then 21 for Get to Work Book was terrible because all of my expenses were through the roof, right? Paper, printing, inflation was just massive in 21, and I've never raised my prices, but every single cost I've ever had has just near doubled, you know? But I haven't changed my prices.

But 21 was okay because I had Make 36 and I had a lot of other income, so I got through that year. And then 22, I have no Make 36, Get to Work Book has such a small audience, and my prices are so high that the money is just [00:20:00] pfft.

And to just kind of like real quick explain like if I order, you know, 4,000 planners, I pay a certain amount per planner and then my markup is great.

If I can only order 500 planners, I pay so much per planner and my markup is dead. So not only am I not selling much, my markup per book is tiny. Um, and that's how, that's how it like, gets bad as quick as it does. Okay. So I knew like, this is over financially, you know, probably like October of 22 and I knew my interest was not there anymore.

And then it became how do I end this?

And when I very first launched Get to Work Book, like very first, I announced it on my blog in 2014. I remember getting a comment from a gal who was like, you always start projects and then you don't like, keep them going. If I buy this planner, like how do I know you're not gonna just, you know, give up on this?

Basically like, why should I [00:21:00] trust you with this? Kind of . That's how I internalized it. I do not know if that person ever bought a planner. I don't know if that person ever thought about that comment again. Mm-Hmm. But I have thought about that comment every day of my life, you know, for nine years.

And the amount of like work I had to do to be like, you can end this and still be like a perfectly fine person was a lot like too much. I wish it had been less, I wish I had spent less time because I, you know, like definitely like, ha and we could talk more about this, but had it not been for the undated planner that I was able to launch, like I would've ended this year in debt, like, for sure.

And all of the other closures that I've done this year, like I, I stopped my e-course in like spring. That was to pay for books. I stopped the cross-stitch stuff in the summer. That was to pay my [00:22:00] credit card for books like. I, I was like burning stuff to make fuel, to keep Get to Work Book alive. And you know, I took a loan from Paul and I to be able to, to pay off this stuff and like, I'm able to have this conversation now because I've paid Paul and I back and like, I'm gonna be okay.

But man, like it just really sucked and, and I kept it going because of just, just guilt. That's it. Like straight up. That's, it's it, that's

it. Just guilt.

[00:22:31] Tiffany Han: I mean the, the, like, I just, I just like, I just wish that I was sitting beside you so I could give you a giant hug because it, it, it's, it's vulnerable and it's hard.

It's also so hard to be like, it's not making money like that sucks. And especially when, honestly, Elise, I feel like everyone I know who does internet business has seen like exactly what you described in terms of, of revenue. Right. And, and at some [00:23:00] point we can talk about like the internet being a very different place in 2023, but the thing where that one comment stays with you forever and then also like not wanting to let people down, right because there is a connection formed is is a, like it's a lot to carry.

[00:23:18] Elise Cripe: Yeah. Yeah, it is. You know, and yeah, it's, yeah, it's so difficult. It's, and you know, we all, we know all of these things, like, it's so much easier to just let yourself down than it is to let other people down. It just, it's not, but it is.

And I think for the mo, like everyone has been so supportive, of course, and I am so in my head because it's my product, but like there are many things I have loved over the years that just go away. Businesses close, people change their interests and I'm like, oh, sad. And I move on and it's very like. I was very in my head [00:24:00] about it, that I let this become such a big thing and I feel very grateful that my business has had the ups and the downs that it has over the past 18 years because I, I was able to separate my value from Get to Work Book's value.

Like I didn't, I thank God, you know, didn't struggle with like, oh, like I'm worthless because this business is worthless. I never did that, and that was only because I've seen those ups and downs and, and I know how real they are and I know that it's just, it's part of it. It's part of what this is. And I'm, you know, I'm, I'm glad that, that I've just had enough experience to be able to like separate that. Sometimes people say, Get to Work Book is your baby. And I'm like, no, I have human children. Like those are my babies. This is my work. They're different things.

[00:24:49] Tiffany Han: I think that's so, it's so important and it's so, it can be so hard when like we are, we are the brand too, right? Yeah. And for you, so much of Get to Work Book marketing, was [00:25:00] you using the book to do these other creative things and then it became this sort of like you perpetuated it with like, you kept it going with your things that you were doing and we got to see those.

But we also got to see how the book, like the planner helped you hold your goals and all of that. And as a paper person, like I always loved peeking under the curtain of like, oh, how do you keep things organized? you know.

[00:25:23] Elise Cripe: Same. Yep. Love it.

[00:25:24] Tiffany Han: You know, I, I will forever highlight to-do list when I do a task because of you.

Yes. From however many years ago. And I think that there is so much power, especially as we work towards letting go of striving of. Not making our work and our business and our success and our whatever we're doing online, whether it's a business or just a social media, whatever, like becoming our entire lives.

[00:25:50] Elise Cripe: Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm.

[00:25:51] Tiffany Han: Because it can, it can, and then things get really blurry really fast.

[00:25:56] Elise Cripe: Yep. Yep. A hundred percent. Yeah.

[00:26:00] Yeah.

[00:26:00] Tiffany Han: So October of last year, you realize this, did you consider just like, this is my last year and we're done?

[00:26:08] Elise Cripe: Yeah, I definitely did. I'm trying to think. So at that point, the planner was, I was already in presale and numbers were like, and I definitely, financially that would've been the better move.

Like I should have, I should have been like, we're done like this is it surprise. My people pleasing person could not do that, but that would've like, my husband, like my parents were like, get out. Like, right. But it's like, no, dude. Like you're, you're not the face of this brand. Like you're not. And, and I, and that has been like a real thing, you know, this entire year I've like, really, there's been many parts where I've been like, gosh, like I am just so messed up on, I'm so deep in this.

And like, finishing strong, like, yeah, man, maybe too vulnerable, but being [00:27:00] able to finish in a way that I can come back if I want to, has been very important. I don't wanna burn it down. I don't, you know, and I've tried to be incredibly respectful and I am, I feel, I feel deep respect for the brand. I feel deep respect for, you know, the customers. And, and it's very important to me that like, I'm able to deliver a successful product or, you know, for them until the end. That is like an actual thing.

And so like right now as we talk about this, you know, I'm kind of giddy because I'm so close to this thing that I've waited for and I am proud that I've been able to, um, you know, to do it.

Although no one would've advised me to if I had showed people my books.

That's the other question. Like so many people have been like, why haven't you sold? And I just wanna be like, do you wanna see my spreadsheets? Like, and it's not that I don't think that someone else could do a great job with this. I 100% believe it.

Like, I believe if I sold the name and the files, [00:28:00] someone could do a really good job. Um, but I don't have, I didn't have it in me to do that. I, I, I didn't, you know, there and there's not a good reason other than I didn't, I didn't wanna sell it. So.

[00:28:14] Tiffany Han: Um, you, you mentioned something on Instagram one day recently about you haven't taken a salary this year.

[00:28:23] Elise Cripe: Yep.

[00:28:23] Tiffany Han: So this really has been like a volunteer.

[00:28:27] Elise Cripe: Oh yeah. A hundred percent. For you? Yeah. I mean, it wasn't like, so in December or January, you know, my business is like obviously separate, like I have a separate business account from my personal, and I was like, my paycheck. So 21, like I said, was good money.

And I took a like larger paycheck in 21 and then 22 I really brought my paycheck like way down to like just so low. And then in 23 I like looked at my account and I was like, I'm not gonna be able to pay myself this like for the next couple months and [00:29:00] or year or get to get through the year. So I talked to my accountant and I was like, we got like, we gotta stop doing this.

So I fully like stopped paying myself. And then in March I had to, I had a bill that I had to, didn't have enough money, so I borrowed from Paul and I, um, and then like I said, it's only been like a couple weeks ago that I realized, okay, I'm gonna have enough money to pay back my printer for the most recent planners. Like I can do that. And then like literally Friday, I wrote Paul and I a check for what I had borrowed in the spring.

So I'm in the black now and I will end the year, you know, with probably $10,000, like, probably, which I'll keep in the business account because I there, you know, to keep, just like, to keep my blog up, to keep Squarespace up, to keep, um, the podcast hosted.

Like there's just these fees that come out just like exist even if you do nothing, you know, so I'll, and [00:30:00] probably someone's gonna need a refund, you know, so I'll keep the business like, I have to keep the money there in case.

Yeah. Ugh.

[00:30:07] Tiffany Han: It like hurts. It hurts. It hurts me and my, like, I just, it's so hard.

It's so hard.

[00:30:16] Elise Cripe: Yeah. And, and there's so many ways and, and I have to acknowledge, you know, the privilege and the okayness that it is that my family. We've been a two income household since day one, and this is our first year that we're not a two income household. And that's fine. You know, like Paul and I have savings and he has a good job, and there's ways that make this okay for us.

The fact that I could borrow from us, you know, and I didn't have to do some sort of predatory lender situation is a huge deal. Like, Paul didn't charge me interest, I didn't charge myself interest. Um, so those are huge advantages that I extremely recognize, you know, and, but from a like accounting left brain side, it's just devastating. From a right brain creative side I'm like, [00:31:00] oh my gosh, like how free that I'm gonna just get to, I don't know what I'm gonna do. I literally don't know. I don't know what I'm gonna do when I don't have to like pack orders or when I don't have to deal with customer service or answer questions in my dms. It's like, I, I don't know what I'm gonna do with my life.

[00:31:15] Tiffany Han: Right.

So what, like what is your, what is your wrap up plan? So it's, we're recording this on November 29th. Exactly. This podcast. And then, you know, like, you're gonna ship out, like hopefully ship out the rest of your inventory. Are you keeping a few undated planners for yourself? Like, are you, are you like, I I wanna keep this tool for a little bit?

[00:31:38] Elise Cripe: Yeah. Oh, hard yes, for sure. I am keeping probably like 10 undated planners for myself. I, I, so I will say when I announced the closure in March, um, I had a person on Instagram or someone say, can you make an undated planner? You know, again, like, I was so dumb, but I still was like, that's interesting. Like, I like, okay.

And, um, then I kinda, I thought about what that would look like. [00:32:00] I put it together, you know, I, I did the design on that, sent it to my guy and my printer and the pricing was like gonna be doable. If I ordered a lot, it was gonna be doable. And I think he sent me a hard, he sent me a hard copy. And before I'd committed to how many I was gonna order, and I opened it and I was like, yes.

Like it was good, you know, I was gonna sell it regardless. But when I opened it and I actually liked it, I was like, okay, thank God this will be easier to sell. Um, so I'm definitely keeping a bunch of those. I showed Paul, 'cause I'm doing one for my, um, like garden, like a perpetual garden journal, and I showed him and he was like, are you keeping a lot of these?

Like this is, this is cool. And I'm like, oh, good. He doesn't, we're not really into each other's jobs. And so I am keeping a bunch of those. I have like, and I, I'm keeping decent track of this. I have like 1,700 ish units to sell of product, of everything that I would love to get out the door. And so my current plan, this is like not a secret, I'm [00:33:00] going to just, everything will be normal.

Christmas day is the 25th, the 26th I think I'll mark things down 10%, then 20, then 30, then 40, then 50 until the 30th. The shop will close the morning of the 31st. I will pack every single order that day, and then post office is closed on the first. But I will mail everything on the second and then that will be it.

And then I will, of course, like I'm gonna like close the site. I think you just put it inactive and it'll just say like, email me with any customer service, and that'll be it.

[00:33:30] Tiffany Han: And then are you like deleting Instagram? Are you gonna check email? Like, will you listen to Spotify? Are you getting a flip phone?

Like how, what happens? What happens on November 3rd?

[00:33:41] Elise Cripe: I know I'm going to definitely delete Instagram. I'm going to check my email. I definitely listen to Spotify, but much more songs. Podcasts are harder. It's really hard for me to listen to podcasts right now. I feel like people are trying to, no matter what I'm listening to, I feel like people are trying to make me do [00:34:00] stuff and it makes me, it gives me like anxiety. I respect that we're saying this on a podcast, but it makes me just. It makes me feel like I should be hustling.

[00:34:07] Tiffany Han: I agree. Like I think this is part of why my podcast took such a pause was because I was like, I don't know what I have to say right now. And, and I know for me, like with Covid, my podcast listening changed so much, partially because I was never alone.

And it became like, I don't need to keep, I don't need to be learning all the time as much as I love to learn, but like I can't keep cramming information into my head. And it was this summer when we were on our trip to France that I was like, oh, it would be actually really interesting to, if I bring back the podcast, to start having some interviews with people that I talked to previously who changed because I think that like change is actually a really interesting thing to talk about, and a lot of us are sitting on change, or we're in change, or we're gonna be coming I mean, we keep changing all the time, right? Because we evolve and and that we [00:35:00] aren't letting ourselves, or we are where you were in 2021. Like, no, you just have to keep, just keep going. Just keep going. Just keep going.

Don't stop. So I, I definitely feel that in a lot of ways. And I don't wanna just give people more homework.

[00:35:14] Elise Cripe: I know. I think I definitely, I think part of it is covid. I think part of it is this, you know, the millennial generation, as we turn 40, as we get our kids a little bit more on their own, they don't need us quite so physically.

There's, you know, as our marriages hit 10 years, whatever are the things, you know, very, I'm speaking so specifically I guess for me, but, you know, whatever, there is this part where you're kind of, you're able to take a breath, right? And you look around and you're like, is this what I'm, is this what I'm doing?

Like, you know, do I wanna do this? And, and I'm, I'm so interested and like, so encouraged. I feel like my, my Instagram right now, I just see so many like 20 year olds doing challenges and [00:36:00] like, I don't care. You know, I don't wanna see it. I do want to hear more from people who, like, are shifting or are okay with shifting or are okay in the gray, you know what I mean?

And I think too, I saw this as well recently, um, how our algorithm has become so like, what they think that we want, people have become so used to seeing what's relevant to them, that when they see something that's not relevant, they're like, they wanna attack it. Like, this is not for me. How come this is not for me?

Like, I wanna see what's for me. And so as a influencer, right, or as a content creator, you're doing this dance of like trying to like make sure that you're relevant to the most amount of groups and it's just so chaotic and bland. It's like chaotic and bland at the same time. That's how the internet feels.

And I. I'm tired of, of consuming it, and if I'm tired of consuming it, I [00:37:00] just don't feel like I can create it very well either.

[00:37:03] Tiffany Han: Right. Yeah. There is kind of a, I think about like when you stage a house to sell it and it's like you have to remove everything personal and you have to cover up that wallpaper and it that, that can't be painted green.

Like you've gotta like kinda beige everything out. And I even feel like, I feel like I recently have gone through this like awakening just in the last like few weeks of realizing that like I all of a sudden was looking in my closet and it was a lot of like gray and black clothing, which is fine if that's your thing, but I was like, wait, no, but I love bright colors.

Why, why am I wearing black? Even my kids one day were like, yeah, mom. Like we always joke that like Tim wears a lot of gray. And they were like, and you wear black? And I was like, and then I was like, oh, that's so weird. Yeah. When did that happen? Right. But I think that it is, right? Like the color can get like stripped out of our lives and whatever that means.

Or variations. Yeah.

[00:37:58] Elise Cripe: Yeah. And I think [00:38:00] for me, I have spent, so first of all, you should, have you done a color consult?

[00:38:04] Tiffany Han: No.

[00:38:05] Elise Cripe: You should. Okay, so, so I did it. I did it. I'm a light spring and I got it. I got my thing and I was like, absolutely not. I was so angry. It was like reals color, right? It was like this what I'm wearing right now, right?

Yeah. And I was like, oh no. 'cause none of my closet was, that was so beige, black and gray and neutral. And so I, of course I like rebelled and then I like slowly have incorporated more color and now I feel better. It's wild. Which I totally lost my train of thought there. Anyway. You should do,

it's okay.

I'm gonna, I'm gonna write that down.

[00:38:36] Tiffany Han: Do you think that you'll still document things? Like if we look back, I remember at least when I found your blog, I was working at Paper Source and I worked with a woman named Sarah who was a student at uc, Berkeley. And she was, I don't know, we were talking about like stamps, there's projects or something.

And she was like, oh, I need to show you this. She pulled up your blog and she was like, this is Elise's blog. And she [00:39:00] writes a paper source and she makes the coolest stuff. And I was like, who's this person? But then, you know, it was cool, but like that was instagram. I think it just, it was like when we were doing those awful filters on all of our Instagram

pictures.

[00:39:14] Elise Cripe: Yes. Honestly, if I was still at Paper Source, there was no Instagram, so it would've been like oh nine.

[00:39:19] Tiffany Han: Yeah, yeah. So it was like early days of the internet. We were dinosaurs and we rode to paper source on our dinosaurs. Do you think you'll go back to like scrapbooking, documenting, doing things with your hands, but like, not like in the analog?

[00:39:35] Elise Cripe: I think about that. I think I, I took a lot of film this summer Mm-Hmm. Of my kids. Mm-Hmm. And my garden, and was just deeply fulfilled from that. And so I hope that I take a lot more film, not because I think that film is, um, superior, it's not. But because of that, like, that detach from the instant, like, look at us, look at us right here.

[00:40:00] Um, and I, I find that everyone looks better on film and like, truly, like, you just look better. And I think it's because you don't have, when, when you take a film picture, you know that you're not gonna see it for a while. And so you're not like, I don't know, we, we look at ourselves. So I don't know. We have this like, idea of what we look like.

I'm not sure something happens with film that's better for the capturing the trueness of people, I think. And so I am, I think I wanna take more film. Um, I definitely will document like my garden because it's just the most life-giving thing I've ever done in my entire life. Besides from like, actually my kids.

And I, I think that, um, I, I think that having, like seeing my favorite thing about what I've done online is that I can go back and I can see the growth and I can see the change and I can see how I have, you know, adapted or, uh, developed as a person I guess, or you know, my creative style. And so I wanna keep [00:41:00] doing that in some way.

I don't, I don't think I'll ever go back to scrapbooking, only because I don't, I don't know, doesn't, just, doesn't, doesn't do it for me anymore. But I do think that I will take pictures. I, I hope I do take pictures and I hope I keep, you know, really good track of this garden so that I can, you know, learn from it and, and do more next year.

But yeah, I don't know.

[00:41:24] Tiffany Han: You use the phrase life giving. Hmm. I mean, gardens are literally life giving because we eat it and then it helps get blah, blah, blah. Of course. But I think that's, um, and I'm also, I will say, I think my favorite thing you've ever made on the internet was you did, like, you just picked up your cat, but you did like a cat, Hamilton, sing-along.

[00:41:44] Elise Cripe: Oh my God. Yeah.

[00:41:45] Tiffany Han: Elise, I was like, this woman and her content is so brilliant. It was like, like made my day for like an entire week. It was so fun. Yeah. So even if you wanna like come back and be a Cat Instagrammer, I'm,

[00:41:58] Elise Cripe: I have, I've literally been like, you know what I would [00:42:00] do? I would just make an account for the cats because they're, they're like the best.

And I, and like I've really stopped sharing my kids online obviously over the past couple years. And now I just share my cats and it's like, it's just so much better and I don't have to worry about their privacy. But I, I've thought about that. I mean, the thing is, is like, I fully believe everyone is better offline.

Like we have this like- it's like so ridiculous- but the, the, the working theory is that when everything online is fake and like everyone is just like pretending their life is perfect. And like, that's true. But in reality, when I meet people in real life, like real people, they're so much better because there's so much more dynamic and funny and sarcastic and like interesting and vulnerable and in a way that, like when we put ourselves online, I am so uninterested in, I'm so uninterested in controversy, right that I am so careful because [00:43:00] I just, I don't wanna offend anyone. And, and I, and I, you know, like truly, I just don't, I don't wanna offend people. And I think online in a tiny square, in a tiny caption, it's so easy to offend. And I think in real life it's kind of harder to offend, you know 'cause most people in general are just doing their best and they're trying.

And so, I, I don't, I kind of, I'm forgetting what you even asked other than

[00:43:22] Tiffany Han: we were talking about the cats.

[00:43:23] Elise Cripe: Yeah. And I just, that's who I am. Yeah. The cat video. Mm-Hmm. With the Hamilton is my actual personality. Mm-Hmm. And I just wanna be my actual personality. Right, right. Yeah. I don't wanna be

Instagram

[00:43:36] Tiffany Han: and I got distracted with the cats, so, which is my personality.

I got distracted with the cats because I will always be distracted by the animals forever and ever. Um, but the, the idea of life giving and the idea that, and I think that we, I think that it's easy to get to this place, and I actually want more people to get to this place, right. Of, I don't want people to [00:44:00] get to the point where they look at their life and they're like, none of this is giving me life.

I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't want people to get to that point, but if they're at, if they have things in their life that are not contributing to their life force, then how do we turn the volume down on that so that we then have the resources and the attention for the things that are going to be life giving within whatever opportunities we have, right?

Like, not everybody can just walk away from their job, of course. But I also think that there's this huge subset of people that we are voluntarily draining our life force for the sake of the status quo, internet algorithms not wanting to let people down, like not wanting to make change because change is hard, not wanting to say the vulnerable thing.

And we've gotten so used to being like, I'll just absorb all of the hurt and all of the hardness 'cause I can do the hard things. Which [00:45:00] is like, great. And also maybe we need to be less good at doing hard things.

[00:45:04] Elise Cripe: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think about this a lot because, you know, when Paul was in the Navy, we, I never, I'm, I'm always careful to like, um, we lived a good life. Like our life was full. You know, our 16 years in the Navy, our life was full and there was still deep relief and satisfaction when he got out because suddenly we could make any decision that we wanted. Right?

We were really lucky we got to stay in San Diego for a very long time, right? We were there for like 10 years, which is insanely unheard of.

But what I mean, nine years at the end, it doesn't matter. Um, what people didn't see is that every two to three years they could have moved us. And so we still lived our life in two year chunks, three year chunks, two year chunks. Um, even though we lucked out, you know, things would fall through or he deploys. We got to stay.

There was different reasons that it worked out, but it, we felt, we were constantly on this like timeline of like, we could get moved around, [00:46:00] we could get blah, blah, blah. This gets switched and so our choices didn't feel like ours, and I think that my coping mechanism through that was the goal setting.

You know, not even the goal setting necessarily, but, but how can I, how can I build control over this unbelievably uncontrolled situation? Um, and it was a tremendous benefit, right? Like coping mechanisms are good because they help you cope. And so I think, I know that a lot of it came from that. And so I guess, you know, you in the, in life you need different things at different times.

And for me, goal setting, sharing all the things was incredibly life-giving during this season where I felt so un in control of my life. And now that I have what feels like, you know, it's always feels, it's not real, but feels like more control. I can look for life-giving things in different [00:47:00] places. And that might be like something to think about. 'cause I, you know, I, I, I just, I recognize like the, um, I remember when you were moving, you were, you were trying to decide if you should move to Colorado. And I remember we had a call about it. This was like long before you guys did, and we got off the call or I sent you a text or something and I just said, you know, I envy that you guys get to decide.

Like, I, I wish I could do that. Yeah. I wish I could decide to move somewhere, you know?

And so I, I just have like deep respect for people who feel like they're in a, feel like they're stuck, you know? Like I know that, I know that it's really hard and I think, yeah, I, I think you kinda have to find, find your things that helps you help, help you feel less stuck.

Um, the biggest thing for me has been over the past couple years telling myself, like allowing myself to believe different stories about myself. And I think in some ways that's why I need to pull back from the internet is all of these people know my story. It's really difficult [00:48:00] to tell a new story when people are expecting the same story.

[00:48:05] Tiffany Han: God,

that for me was like so huge when I quit drinking.

[00:48:08] Elise Cripe: Oh

yeah. Tell me more.

[00:48:10] Tiffany Han: I mean it, because I like, I mean, you know, right? You were there in the before times and like I feel like I had even like you made popping champagne like part of my brand and there's this place where like I felt like, am I allowed to say this is no longer serving me?

Right? And there's a saying in the recovery space of like, it works till it doesn't. But I think that can go for anything. I can go for a planner business, right? It can go for striving, it can go for ambition, it can go for relationships or ways of being or habits. But I was so scared, Elise, because I was like, are people going to feel like I've been like tricking them this whole time?

Right. Nobody. I mean, that was all made up in my head. Like nobody, if [00:49:00] anyone felt that, they did not say anything to me. But, but there's also, I don't know, there's just so much grace that has to be given to ourselves and, and like the permission to change our minds. And also like, reminding people like that doesn't, it doesn't mean that the conversation I had with you over a glass of wine wasn't real.

[00:49:20] Elise Cripe: Right. Right, right, right. It doesn't mean that, it doesn't mean that who you were before was fake. You weren't fake.

[00:49:25] Tiffany Han: Yeah.

[00:49:26] Elise Cripe: You know, you were, you were being who you were and you changed, and now you're being who you are and you could change again. You know, drinking is, you know, less of a potential, you know, I'm not saying like you're gonna go back to drinking, but, but, you know, different seasons call for different things and the, I think the failure is obviously not in the change.

The failure is in not, um, allowing yourself to change. You know, and not giving the space for that. But [00:50:00] because this has been so deliberate, like I have obviously changed in the past 18 years, but I've always changed from a point of momentum. Like I've never stopped and changed. I've always, I'm doing it right and then I jump and I've, I've talked about that in depth.

I've talked about, I've talked about you're spinning a plate and you, you can't just like start spinning five plates. You spin one, then you add another and you spin, suddenly you're spinning five plates. And so I have spun five plates for a long time and it's fine. I'm good at spinning five plates, but I wanna see what happens when I stop spinning the plates, you know cause there's a good, very good chance like, I decide, you know, I really, I, I like, I like it. I like being online, or I want to be online and then I'm back, you know? But I have to make sure that that's a deliberate choice. And it's not just because I've done it since I was 20 years old.

[00:50:51] Tiffany Han: And

then it, then it becomes also a deliberate choice of how do I want to be now?

Right. So that you also [00:51:00] get permission, I suppose, to like start fresh, which I think that we, I think I wish the world I allowed more fresh starts for people except for, you know, in instead of just like graduation and marriage. I know. And then you have a kid and then like good luck to you, like you're now.

[00:51:19] Elise Cripe: Yeah.

[00:51:19] Tiffany Han: You know, even for me moving to Colorado, when I got here in 2018, I had been, I had been sober at that point for like a year and a half I think. And we got here and, and to everyone I know here, I mean, some people know my backstory, but a lot of people I know here, it's just, oh, I don't drink. Like, no thanks, I don't drink.

And some, well, like if people ask questions or sometimes it'll come up and we'll go deeper into it, but it's not as like when I quit drinking, right. It was like a thing.

[00:51:48] Elise Cripe: You had to like explain.

[00:51:50] Tiffany Han: Oh my God. Yeah. Yeah. I did. Like, 'cause my friends were like, no, you didn't. I mean, nobody believed me. They were like, what are you talking about?

Because it was so part of who I [00:52:00] was. Right. I was, and I was like the instigator for the festivities a lot of the time. And so people were like, 'cause I always drank with my friends. So they were like, what do you mean you don't drink? Yeah. You know?

[00:52:11] Elise Cripe: Yeah. And so then it's like, you know, you're trying to, you're trying to change your story personally, but then you're also, you know, having to invest a lot of energy, like telling, like retelling people and then like, no, you didn't.

And then you're like, no, like, like you have to like prove your own truth, but you're also like kind of trying to prove it to yourself. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of work to try to, to try to make it make sense. And I think, you know, if I sum up my work online, my work has been explaining what I do like through everything, right? Explaining a craft, explaining how to use my products, explaining, just explaining, like, just answering questions, endless questions about everything. And I've, you know, like I'm [00:53:00] good at it. I know how to do it. I, I've become a better communicator because of the internet. I 100%, like I've become a better maker because of the internet.

There's so many ways that this has been like a huge benefit, but I also don't, I don't even know, I don't think how, when I, when I stopped my blog, I felt like such a relief, even though I was still gonna be active online, that commitment of six posts a week was gone. Um, and it felt really good. And so I think often about how this might be like that, you know,

[00:53:35] Tiffany Han: I mean, I,

and I don't, I just wanna say as someone who I.

Has known you for a long time, but, but, and also been through a lot of change myself and also watch and help people change and all of that. Like, this is going to be good for you I think in so many ways and in ways that we don't even know. Right? Yeah. And for like years to, like, these kinds of things tend to become really [00:54:00] expansive and often in like kind of surprising ways, right?

Like one of my favorite things is, oh, it like favorite and also sometimes unfavorite like to continue to be humbled by how little I know.

[00:54:12] Elise Cripe: Yeah, I was just thinking about that. I feel like right now in my head, I think I know less than I thought I knew at 20 when I published that first blog post. And that is just like, oh my gosh.

You know? So tell me like what, how was being, like, how was being offline for you last year?

[00:54:34] Tiffany Han: Yeah.

Oh my god. It was so great. It was like I, I deleted Instagram from my phone. So what I did was New Year's Eve, I had had someone archive. I wanted all my posts to go away. I remember that. And I was just gonna put up a grid, like a nine post grid to just say who I was and explain things.

So I found someone on Fiverr to archive my grid, [00:55:00] and it was like almost 3000 posts, which also is just like, oh my God, that is a lot. New Year's Eve I put up my grid and I deleted the app. And I was like, okay. And then we, we were visiting family in Arizona there. Tim and I were sleeping on an air mattress.

It was like, it, it wasn't I wasn't necessarily present to like my social media cravings, right? I was just distracted. We drove home. We took two days to drive home. We got home. We had left our house a day after Christmas. I remember this was our first like post covid travel. We had left our house a day after Christmas, so we come home in the new year.

All of the Christmas stuff is everywhere, and the girls went back to school the next day. So it just was like whip lashy, like, wait, what? And so I don't even think that it, I think it was like January 10th or whatever that I [00:56:00] found myself getting a little twitchy and like, I feel like the first month or so was just me.

It reminded me of when I used to smoke cigarettes and I would, when I quit smoking back, nobody smoke. It's so bad. It's so gross. Don't do it. When I finally quit one of the things that struck me was how often I used smoking as a thing to do during transitions.

[00:56:25] Elise Cripe: Yeah.

[00:56:25] Tiffany Han: Right. Like, oh, I'm 10 minutes early. Oh, I got outta class.

Oh, you know, you're making a phone call or whatever. And then I realized how much social media replace that. And so during transitions or I get off a call or, you know, sometimes I like, will walk away from my computer and like pick my phone up and start scrolling as I'm walking and it's like, Ugh, what are we doing?

Right. So that, that was just like, oh there's quiet. And I was really struck by, I missed people. I missed you. Right. [00:57:00] I missed, like last year one of my friends' holiday cards got returned 'cause I didn't know they had moved ' cause like we talk about that stuff online. Right. Like, I missed, I missed interacting with the humans.

There's nothing I missed about the noise. There because I also took the year off of like being influenced. I didn't buy clothes, I didn't buy skincare. That was great. Like it was great to realize how much I can live with Without that we, things seem so urgent.

[00:57:30] Elise Cripe: Yeah.

[00:57:32] Tiffany Han: But, but I also like, it's been fun ish to be back.

Right? It's, it's, the other thing I realized in being gone was how much people talk about Instagram and social media and I was like, oh my God, this is all people are talking about. Which the, from a business standpoint for them, for Instagram, they're like, they're doing all this on purpose, right?

[00:57:58] Elise Cripe: Yeah. I mean, [00:58:00] I, I am, I'm already sad about like the friendships because I have, like, my, my friends in real life are on Instagram and like there's like the group

you know, they're all private accounts, but we all like chat there. So my, my, my real life friends, I, I'm already missing them online, but then my online friends who have become my really true, good friends, most of our communication is dms, you know, and seeing their family or their house or whatever, their job, their work.

And I'm sad to miss that. That is why I think I'll come back probably as a private account and just be a normal civilian not trying to sell shit and not trying to, you know, do it because I, I wanna be part of my friend groups, you know? Mm-Hmm. I don't wanna be an influencer at all, and I don't have the hustle to be an influencer and I anymore.

Um, and I, so I think if I, if I come back in a public way, I can't even fathom it honestly at this point. But that's fine. That's not my problem today. That's next year's problem. Yeah, absolutely. But as a [00:59:00] private, just normal person. I think that would be fun.

Yeah.

[00:59:04] Tiffany Han: And there's something really freeing, I just wanna emphasize for you right now, and for everyone listening, like for you right now on November 29th to be like, I don't know, right?

Yeah. That was my thing for almost my entire year off Instagram. And people would be like, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna quit forever? And I was like, I don't know. And even this year, how are you coming? I don't know. And like, podcast, I don't know. Like, I just don't know. And giving, I think we like, as, as we need to give ourselves permission to change, we can also give ourselves permission to be in that, in-between space and to not know and have other people like, just imagine the difference between people being like, but how are, when are you gonna decide?

Versus like, cool, that's okay. Right? Like, yeah.

[00:59:51] Elise Cripe: Yeah. It's really cool. I, I mean, I just, I, I took a oil painting workshop and I, at the last one, one of the older guys, it's like all those [01:00:00] retired people. And one of these guys was like, oh, you know, like, what do you do? And I said, oh, I'm a mom. And he was like, oh.

And it was just like so nice to not be like, well, I sell this planner and like, yeah. Like, yes, paper planner, you know, like a calendar. And like I know like you have an app. I know, but like, like I, this whole like hoops that I jumped through, um, just to explain it and just bam my mom. And he was like, oh, that sounds you must be busy.

Yes. Very. It is really nice. And, and I think kind of that, again, the stories that we tell ourselves are often so different than the stories that other people are talking about us or thinking about us. They're not thinking about us frankly. 'cause they're thinking about their own stories. And so kind of recognizing that for myself has been so, such a part of this process.

Before we wrap up, is there anything that you wished I had asked about or anything that like, you, you want. The chance to, to [01:01:00] say while we're

here?

Hmm. I think what I would want to say, I think there's people who are listening who are like, what, what am I, what did I just hear? Um, but I think there's also people who are listening who are like, gosh, like I feel like her in that I don't, I don't know what I want, but I know I don't want this.

Um, because that was me in 21. I did not know that I wanted to end everything, I just knew I couldn't keep going. And I just wanna acknowledge you because it sucks. And also say that if you had told me at the end of 21, it's gonna take you two years to get there, I would've been like, no way. I don't have time for that.

I'm not waiting. Um, or, or like, no, I would've just been like, no, I can't. But obviously, you know, you do little things at a time. Little tiny chunks at a time. And that was what this was. That is what I've been [01:02:00] doing. I've been taking these tiny bites out of the apple for two years to decrease this. Um, and to be able to get out of this in an okay satisfying way.

And so it feels so long and it feels like you're making like little tiny baby steps, but you are making real progress. And, um, I don't wanna say the two years go by in a blink because they don't, that's not how life works. But they do go by and so much of it is just like acknowledging how you're currently feeling.

And you don't even have to know how you wanna feel. You just have to acknowledge how you're currently

feeling.

[01:02:32] Tiffany Han: Yeah. And, and telling the truth to yourself, right? Like, oh man, that's so hard. I, I, for me, like with, with drinking when I was like, this needs to change. It was, it was so hard. And there are these like layers, right?

Like tell the truth to yourself and then like slowly whisper it to a couple people in your life and then like, maybe you wanna tell a little bit more and, and bringing yourself along I think is so [01:03:00] important. And, and letting your, letting your truth be true, no matter how hard it is, is like such a big, powerful step.

And, you know, yeah. It's, it's, I don't know. I feel like two years is pretty quick. Well done. Sorry, people, but, but also, right, like when we do get to live in these micro moments, I mean, your book was is called Small Daily Joys.

[01:03:24] Elise Cripe: Big Dreams, daily Joys.

[01:03:26] Tiffany Han: Big Dreams, daily Joys, right?

[01:03:27] Elise Cripe: Yeah. So, so you're like living and honestly, like, I still, like, my whole life right now is Big Dreams, daily Joys.

Uh, it's just straight up daily joys. And my big dreams are like raising my kids and being married and having this great garden and being able to practice art. And I, my God. Yeah. Deep dreams.

Thank you. Like you're do.

[01:03:48] Tiffany Han: Yeah. You're doing it. And then, and then if something else public comes on, like, cool. If not, yeah.

Cool.

[01:03:56] Elise Cripe: Yeah. Yeah.

[01:03:57] Tiffany Han: Right? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Ugh, [01:04:00] Elise, thank you. Thank you, thank you. This was, this was so fun to get to have this conversation with you. I've forgotten how much I enjoy talking to people in, in this space, but also I've just missed you friend, so

Same. Thank you. Yeah.

[01:04:14] Elise Cripe: Yeah. Thank you. It's, it's a honor and a pleasure.

And I, I am struggling right now already 'cause I'm like, gosh, I really hope I explained it right. And then at the same time I'm like, it's not your job to explain it right. I told the truth. Yeah. Mm-Hmm. And that's my job to tell the truth.

[01:04:30] Tiffany Han: Yes. I think that's, that's like, I mean, my God, just imagine if everybody in the world just did

just

Yeah.

And then we lost space for other people. I mean. Anyway, that's a whole other conversation that maybe we'll have someday. So yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much for this.

Yay. Thank you.

Thank you for listening and if you liked what you heard, please be sure to tell a friend or spread the word about this show. [01:05:00] In addition to that, ratings and reviews make a huge difference in helping me get my work into the ears of other people. So thank you for everybody who has done that, and thank you for everyone who is about to do that right now.

Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Also, don't forget about my free five day radical delight kickstart my private five day podcast that is designed to help you infuse your days with delight as quickly and easily as possible. The Tiffany Honcho is a production of Say Yes Creative, LLC, with editing and sound mixing from podcast edition and post-production and ongoing support from Jazz Depas at her podcast club.

Thank you again for listening, and I'll see you next week.