Powerful Women Rising - A Business Podcast for Female Entrepreneurs

From Stuck to Inspired: Strategies for Brainstorming Creative Solutions w/Lizzy Moffett

• Melissa Snow - Powerful Women Rising, LLC • Episode 104

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Feeling stuck?  Struggling to make a decision?  Feeling like you've tried everything and none of it has worked? 

It's time to unlock the power of brainstorming to help you find solutions to even the most overwhelming problems.  

In this episode, I'm chatting with my friend Lizzy Moffett, a former music teacher turned web designer, to uncover how brainstorming and creative problem-solving can help you get unstuck and make better decisions. 

Lizzy shares her journey from education to entrepreneurship and the specific  strategies that have helped her (and her clients!) turn challenges into opportunities.

What you’ll learn:

  • Tips for how to brainstorm effectively, even when you're overhwelmed
  • Simple strategies to spark creativity when you're feeling stuck
  • The power of finding the “third option” beyond simple "yes or no" decisions

Whether you’re facing a tough choice or just need a fresh perspective, this episode will leave you feeling inspired and equipped to tackle decisions in your life and in your business with confidence!

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Melissa Snow is a Business Relationship Strategist dedicated to empowering women in entrepreneurship. She founded the Powerful Women Rising Community, which provides female business owners with essential support and resources for business growth.

Melissa's other mission is to revolutionize networking, promoting authenticity and genuine connections over sleazy sales tactics. She runs an incredible monthly Virtual Speed Networking Event which you can attend once at no cost using the code FIRSTTIME

She lives in Colorado Springs with two girl dogs, two boy cats and any number of foster kittens. She loves iced coffee, Taylor Swift, and Threads.

Speaker 1:

Hello Lizzie, welcome to the Powerful Women Rising podcast. Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here. Yes, me too. I'm excited to talk to you. You and I have known each other quite a while. We have a long history together. Good friend of yours, I love our friendship story because we didn't even know each other and I was like hey, want to go to this thing and then this other thing and spend like 14 hours together. And you were like sure, and we did, and we still love each other at the end.

Speaker 2:

We love each other more Exactly, and I met people that day that have ended up being in my life also, so you just opened up a whole world for me. Yeah, I love that, the power of networking right.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely Okay. So let's dive in today, Before we get started.

Speaker 2:

tell everybody a little bit about you and about what you do. Okay, so I started out actually as an elementary music teacher. I spent 15 years doing that, and then I made a dramatic shift over into web design, and the thing that's the through line between those two dramatically different jobs is that they both are. For me, we're all about creativity. As an elementary music teacher, I got to actually like help the kids write their own programs or write their own music, and now as a web designer, I get to help people actually sit down and pull together all these different ideas they have and make them into one vision for their website. So that's why this is the topic I'm so excited about.

Speaker 1:

That's so cool and I know I, you and I've talked about this before cause I was also in education and I feel like I've met so many women, recently especially, who left education and are now pursuing entrepreneurship. You have a whole networking group for women who were. Is it women or people? People yes, people who were involved in education and now are pursuing entrepreneurship. And it's interesting because all of those people that I talk to, there's so much carryover from whatever they were doing before to whatever they're doing now. Like I think about that a lot, like I still use a lot of the things that I learned to be a good teacher in my business now, just when I'm talking to adults instead of talking to high school kids.

Speaker 2:

That's absolutely true, and sometimes it takes a little while, when you're making that transition, to appreciate all the skills that you're actually bringing into your new job. That it takes there's some rejigging your brain. That has to happen. Yes, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so today we are talking about brainstorming. We're talking about ways to brainstorm to help yourself when you're feeling stuck, to get out of that space of like I've tried everything that there is possible to try, none of it has worked. And so now where do I go from here? And I know that you've used a lot of these skills and strategies in your own business and to help the people that you're working with. So tell me a little bit about how brainstorming has shown up in your business, how it's helped you, how it's helped your clients Awesome.

Speaker 2:

So the most important thing that I think brainstorming can help us do is, as business owners and just in our personal life, we get into a very fixed mindset when we have a decision we have to make, that we start looking at this very binary this or that, and we forget to even stop and think like, could there be a third option that I haven't been looking for? That's one thing I'm going to give my dad a shout out because he deserves it. Growing up, if I asked my dad should I do this for this option, he would always make me come up with a third option before he would even weigh in, and that way of thinking has really carried over my whole life. So I think the first thing as business owners that we need to do is acknowledge the fact that we're probably seeing limited options, even though there's more available to us. So that's part of what I wanted to bring in strategies for is to help us find those other options.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely, and I think that we I talk about this a lot on the podcast is that we see all of these business coaches and experts and books and all of these things that are like here's the way to do it. And we're like, oh, okay, that's the way to do it. So we do it that way. And then it doesn't work and we're like, okay, but that's the way that was supposed to work. So now what?

Speaker 2:

Right, right, and that is. We're looking for that third option seeing what else is out there that I haven't evaluated can be so helpful.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so let's talk about some strategies for brainstorming, some ways that people can actually do this, because I think usually when I think of brainstorming, I think like, ok, I'm just going to sit down and write, like, everything that I think for the next 10 minutes, or I'm going to make a web, right, like, isn't that what we did in, like, high school and elementary school, even like, well, let's make a web. So what are some of the strategies or tools or skills that you have learned that would be helpful for people who are listening, to help them brainstorm with their challenges?

Speaker 2:

Awesome. Well, since you actually talked about making a list, I'm going to jump in on that one.

Speaker 2:

first because I think it's an over-cliched but still really useful idea. No-transcript, and for me I find that the low hanging fruit gets put on the paper really easily and quickly. But the farther I go, the more I have to actually take like disconnected ideas and combine them, and by number eight I started finding the magic. So I think actually going back to that, but revisiting how you do it and making it kind of a game for yourself can actually still be a really good strategy.

Speaker 1:

And do you recommend listing like everything we can think of, or is this? And then later we think like, ok, maybe number four actually isn't really feasible, or are we only listing eight that we're like yeah, this is actually a good idea and might be doable.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. List everything. List the silly ideas too. Give yourself your brain that moment of play to think about that silly idea that doesn't make any sense. But enjoy that moment of coming up with it and it might spur the next great idea. So all of the ideas are valid.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely Okay. So list eight options, or however many options we want, but it needs to be more than like two or three, because the two or three are like the first two or three that you think of and then you have to really push your brain for the other ones.

Speaker 2:

That's exactly it. That's the key. Okay, what else? Okay, all right. So another thing that we do is that, when we are faced with a decision, we often impose a deadline on ourselves. That's coming out of nowhere.

Speaker 2:

We just say I have to make this decision before I leave my computer or I have to decide before I pick up the kids. But we're doing it because we don't like that sense of limbo that we're in right. So we give ourselves a deadline that we didn't need and we're cutting off the time we could be brainstorming, gathering more ideas, feeling how it feels in our body like taking that time to actually make decisions. So I recommend actually stopping and evaluating when is my real deadline? When do I actually need to have a decision? Why I'm giving yourself that time.

Speaker 2:

I had, um, one of my besties got invited to a wedding recently and he just got the save the date. That's it just to save a date? And he went spinning of like am I going, do I need to take time off work? Do I need to buy my plane ticket? There was no need to actually make a decision yet. He had so much time to still sit in that and decide what he wanted to do. So reframing how you see that time and that feeling of limbo as gifting yourself that time is huge.

Speaker 1:

That's a really good one. And that's a good one for decisions that have anything to do with anything right, not just business. Like I'm thinking about the decision that, like should I stay in this relationship or not. Like should I join a gym or not. Like all of these things that we think. Like I got to make this decision by January 1st, cause that's when my new year's resolution start. Or like I have to make this decision this week because all of my friends and family are looking at me, like when is she going to leave him? Right? Like, but and all of that feels true at the time Like it feels like a real deadline, but I love that reminder that it's actually not. It's not.

Speaker 2:

And you're gifting yourself that time and that perspective shift. So it's a it's restructuring how you imagine it in your head, that it's not limbo, it's freedom.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and one of the things I have had to learn I really learned this last year too is that there doesn't always have to be a deadline. I mean, sometimes you have to make yourself a deadline because otherwise you'll never make a decision, and then other times it's like I'm just going to decide this when I decide it, or like the answer is going to come to me when it comes to me, and I'm not going to push it, I'm not going to force it, I'm just going to let it come when it's ready. Yes, and I think that's important too.

Speaker 2:

Deadlines are so super tricky with creativity, because sometimes they give you a parameter and they help force ideas to happen for you, but sometimes they cut you off from ideas. So it's really a moment of playing into which one is this Is this going to help me make a decision or is this hindering the time I could have to make a better decision?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely Okay. So listing your options, being realistic about when your deadline is what else?

Speaker 2:

Okay. So the next one is brainstorming with a buddy, but I have a specific way I like to structure this. I got this from a lady on Instagram and I wish I could give her credit because I wish I could find it. But the structure is called get excited with me for three minutes, and that's how you're going to roll it out to the person you're brainstorming with is say I just want you to get excited with me. This is not the time for you to say have you thought about how much this is going to cost or how are you going to actually make this work. Just get excited, because often in that excitement, that's where your best ideas are going to come in and you're really going to have your best creativity. And you can always come back to the logistics of it later, but your best ideas come when you're like on the edge of peeing your pants, excited, having fun, laughing with a friend.

Speaker 1:

I love that. I've never heard that before, but it's really true because a lot of times I think we think like we're going to brainstorm with a buddy because we need someone to really help us like think through the logistics of it and the realisticness of it and the analytics and is this really a good idea? And what you're saying is like there's definitely a time and a place for that. But let yourself be in that space of like oh my gosh, this is the best idea, with somebody else who's like yes, it is the best idea, and see what comes.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. It's an especially good strategy with, like a business partner or a life partner that you're like I'm not saying I'm going to redo the whole backyard and make it a garden, but like let's just play this out for a minute, Like just just stay with me for a minute, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that. Any other strategies?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So the other one, this one's really fun. This is called think about the opposite, and this is one that's really fun when you are annoyed at a person or a situation. So what I do is I actually let myself picture my most passive, aggressive, not my best self doing what I would like to do in the moment, like sending that really passive, aggressive social media post or something like that. So you play that out in your head. How would they respond? You kind of imagine the whole thing. But then the trade-off with that is that now you have to imagine the complete opposite, so you have to go to the positive. What could I do instead? Now, I'm not saying you have to do the positive, I'm not saying you have to do the negative. Often, what you end up wanting to do is something in the middle. But by taking the time to think about both ends of the spectrum, you find where the middle is and it often results in a much better outcome.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's a good one too, and it's good because it doesn't force you into like, no, I have to. I have to be the nice person, I have to be the person that I want to be, even though you've still got that thing inside of you. That's like. I really want to just tell them right. So like, let yourself live in that space, let yourself live in that space and then make the decision, knowing what it's like to live in each space. Exactly, that's really good.

Speaker 2:

And again, it's just following. You find that third option right. That's really what all of these are for is finding that thing that you weren't seeing before.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Can you share with us a story from your own business, or maybe somebody that you've worked with recently, where one or many of these strategies have come into play and helped you solve a problem or make a decision?

Speaker 2:

Sure, so an easy one is that listing and iterating idea is how I start with a new wireframe with people just like coming up with as many options as I can so that they have options to look at and see what the possibilities are, especially with a logo. That's a great way to sketch out all the different versions. Get excited with me is kind of the space I get to live in every day, which is why I love my job. People come to me, um, starting a new business or entering a new phase with their business, and I get to help them translate that into their website. Um, so I, yeah, I get to be excited with people all day.

Speaker 2:

Every day. It's great, um. And then brainstorming with a buddy. This is one that's worked really well with my husband that we can sit down at dinner and I can. I'm always an idea person. I'm always head in the clouds and it's been a really good way to help us bridge what um our conversation that he can be thinking logistics and I can be head in the clouds and we can meet in the middle.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I had a feeling that I'd like to turn the whole backyard into a garden was not a made up scenario, not so much. You came up with that example real quick.

Speaker 2:

That one could actually happen to that. We got excited for three minutes and it turned into three months. So we'll see. Oh, my God, I love that?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm excited to see that, yeah, so what is? You talked a little bit about this in the beginning too, about you know the advice that your dad gave you about like finding the option C. Can you talk a little bit about how that has been important in your business decision-making?

Speaker 2:

or your personal decision-making, yeah, so actually I have a really great story that shows that and you're in it. So I actually, when I was leaving teaching, had a very binary mindset that I could be a teacher or I could work in corporate America, and those were my two options. And so I got invited to what I thought was just like a social evening and I went to it and sat down next to a lady who needed a website. I had been making websites on the side, so by the time I left that meeting, I had a client and a business and I was a member of that group and everything had shifted because I found a third option and had been open to it. And thank you for hosting that event, because that's where that all happened.

Speaker 1:

I love that. I had no idea that you didn't like. Actually, you hadn't already decided to have a business at that time.

Speaker 2:

No, not at all.

Speaker 1:

You were just like oh, fun people.

Speaker 2:

Well, it was a. It was a way of it was a way of living that I hadn't even considered. I was like look at all these strong women owning their own business. Why didn't I even think that that could be me? Yeah, it was interesting.

Speaker 1:

Eye-opening. Yeah, I've had conversations with women who come from families of entrepreneurs and you know their parents owned a business or their mom, you know, started her own business or something like that, and so it's always been something that's on their radar. But I came from the same place as you. Like, I remember realizing that I could make a decision whether I wanted to get married or not, like we could just live together and be committed to each other and not get married, like that was an option. I remember having a conversation about, like, whether or not we wanted to have children and like, wait, that's a choice, and same with entrepreneurship. It was like I always just thought, like this is what and I recognize this, there's a huge amount of privilege being reflected in what I'm saying right now but it always was just you're going to graduate from high school, go to college, get married, get a job working for someone else, have babies that's your life, yep, and this realization that, like, actually there's a lot of other options was really freeing.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And looking at both of our lives through the perspective of this talk, I think it's funny how often we both chose option C right. Looking at it that way, we've lived this creative life that we're talking about.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely All right. Anything that we haven't touched on.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I know this is a big topic, so there's probably a lot we haven't touched on, but anything that I haven't asked you about that you really want to share when reminding people that we often think of the word creativity and brainstorming for like artists and poets, and we give it to others and don't claim it for ourselves, when really all of us are making creative decisions all day. So if somebody doesn't think of themselves as being a creative person, I would really encourage them to pause when they're doing everyday things like substituting ingredients and dinner, because it's what their family is going to like more, or realizing there's a better way they can structure their laundry routine. Even in like the most basic things in our lives, we're making decisions that are creative all day, every day, and the more you recognize those little decisions, the stronger you're going to feel, the more creative, more confident you'll feel when the big decisions that need to come up, that require a lot of creativity.

Speaker 1:

Yes, absolutely. That is a really good reminder because that is so true and people will ask, like well, what are you, are you creative? What do you do to to let like leverage your creative side? Or, you know, when we're talking about, like work-life balance, like do you do that's creative? I'm like I don't know. I like color once a quarter right, because I'm always thinking like I don't draw, I don't act, I don't sing. Well, I do sing, but it's not very um, you know, I'm not a painter, like that's always what we think when we think of creativity, but I think, really, you can't be an entrepreneur without being creative. Anytime you have created something that wasn't there before, whether it's your business or a website or whatever. That requires creativity. Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. That's a really good reminder. That requires creativity. Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. That's a really good reminder.

Speaker 2:

And so often in life we don't claim so for me. I didn't consider myself a runner until I ran my first 10K and then I was a runner. So often we just need to claim the label of like okay, no, I am creative and I am practicing my creativity so that when the big decisions come up, I'm ready to go.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I shared this story. I used to share it a lot when I was doing like more personal life coaching and dating coaching. But I remember an early, early business coach that I had asked me do you know what the difference between canned tomatoes and premium canned tomatoes is? You know what the difference is?

Speaker 2:

I'm going to guess the price, but I want to know. Yeah, probably.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and also someone decided to make a label calling them premium canned tomatoes. Like that's it. And that's kind of what you're saying about creativity too. It's like there's no creativity police. There's no like certification tests you have to pass to prove that you are creative. Like you can just decide today that you are creative and find evidence of that. Like you can just be premium canned tomatoes if you want to be, and charge more for yourself.

Speaker 1:

Yep, yep, that's awesome. Okay, so if people want to learn more about what you do I've seen some of the websites that you've built that are beautiful and amazing Um, or they just want to connect with you because you're awesome. What's the best way for them to do that?

Speaker 2:

Thank you. Well, it's no surprise I'm a web designer. My favorite way to be contacted is on my website. I would love it if you would link that for me in the button down below. But I've got. I'm also going to list a whole bunch of my favorite creativity resources. So if you're just looking for a place for, like good books to get you thinking, favorite games that I play, like, I'm just going to list those there also Awesome.

Speaker 1:

That's great, and tell us about your networking group as well, cause I've been sharing that with a lot of people recently too.

Speaker 2:

I really appreciate that. So it's called educator to entrepreneur, but we shorten it to E2E, with the number two, networkingcom, and it's meant for people who are transitioning out of being a teacher into entrepreneurship in any way that that looks. That can mean I taught karate and now I'm selling Mary Kay. We are not exclusive, we're open to everyone and we're also great for people who are transitioning maybe out of nursing or something like that, anything that it was a very like hard job that's difficult to leave and to claim your new life.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that. I've been to a couple of your meetings. One of the things that I loved was having the opportunity to talk about teacher stuff, like I haven't talked about those stories or those things in a long time, and being with people who can relate to that was very nice.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I found myself in a networking group. The origin story of this is I was in a group that happened to be in a breakout room with all former teachers and the discussion topic in that room was finances and we realized all of us had earned our first year teacher salary, the first year of our business, and I was like there's so much to unpack when we make that transition and I was like there's nowhere to do that. So that's the purpose of this group is just to really celebrate what we accomplished as teachers. We're not negative on teaching, but also, how do we use what we learned in our new life in entrepreneurship?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely. It's a brilliant idea and it's a great group, so anybody who's listening that wants to check that out. I will put the link for that in the show notes as well.

Speaker 2:

I would appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

Yes, thank you so much for this interview, lizzie. These are great ideas for us to use because, lord knows, we all have moments of entrepreneurship where we feel stuck, we feel confused, we feel overwhelmed, we have a decision to make no-transcript.

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