I said what I said. Come fight me.
Tanya Fox came on the show and said something that I instantly agreed with and then had to push back on, because that is what we do here. She said her visibility, her sales, her engagement, they are all at their highest when she is genuinely passionate about what she is working on. When she is lit up, she creates this vortex that people get sucked into. And she is right.
But here is where I had to step in: if you only show up when you are passionate, you do not have a business. You have a hobby. And Tanya, who has been doing this for 28 years, completely agreed. Because passion is not always fireworks and screaming excitement. Sometimes passion looks like still going. Still showing up to the gym even when you do not feel like it. Still working on the relationship. Still figuring out the business. That quiet persistence? That is passion too.
This conversation hit different because it was real. Tanya and I went back and forth like old friends, because the best episodes happen when two people are actually saying what they think.
Stop Curating Everything and Just Hit Record
Tanya dropped something that I think every entrepreneur needs to hear. We have been living through what she calls "the Canva-sation of everything", where every post is curated, every image is polished, every story is perfect. And people are tired of it.
"We kind of went through a phase in 2025 where everything was really curated. Everything looked beautiful. Everything was perfect. And now we are starting to see more people who are just showing up, saying what popped into their head, and then they sign off."
I felt that because, true story, right before we recorded this episode, my Canon camera died. Not charged. So we made a plan and just got on with it. And you know what? It was fine. Imperfect action is still action. If you are waiting for perfect lighting, perfect hair, and perfect scripting before you post, you are losing the moments that actually connect with people.
Tanya's advice to her mastery group clients is brilliant: record everything. Even if you are sitting in a parked car with no makeup on and a thought just hit you. You do not have to post it. But capture it, because those spontaneous moments are often where the best content lives. You can always edit later, but you cannot recreate a thought that is already gone.
"Everything we record does not need to be shared. But do not stop the creativity."
That one is going on a sticky note.
Every Idea Has a Moment When It Becomes Brilliant
Tanya told a story that genuinely made me lean in. Early in her career, we are talking 1999, 2000, she wrote down an idea in a notebook: she wanted to own four businesses running simultaneously as cash cows. At the time? Ridiculous. She had just started her first business and could barely keep that one afloat.
But she kept the notebook. Ten years later, she met her husband, who already had a business. She looked back at that old note and thought, "I am at two. I am halfway there."
"There is no such thing as a stupid idea. It just might not be the right time for that idea to be brilliant."
For any founder sitting on an idea that feels too big or too wild right now, write it down anyway. The version of you five or ten years from now might look at it and think, "I can do this in my sleep." Tanya now looks at the idea of running four businesses and does not even blink. Time and experience caught up to the vision.
And here is the flip side that she also shared: sometimes the brilliant idea is not yours to execute. She has had ideas that she gave to friends or clients who turned them into something spectacular. The idea still found its moment, just through someone else. That is generosity, and it is smart.
The Power of No (and Learning to Accept It Back)
We went deep on this one, and it got personal for both of us. Tanya talked about how saying yes to everyone early on was actually valuable, not because every client was a dream, but because it taught her exactly who she wanted to work with. There is a difference between your ideal client and the person you actually enjoy working with, and you can only learn that by experiencing the wrong ones.
But what really landed was her point about saying no getting easier with age, and then the twist: learning to accept no from other people is the harder part. She and her girlfriends have an agreement: if someone is not feeling it, they just say "not feeling it" and there is zero guilt. But if someone texts "having a hard time wanting to go," that is the code for "come convince me."
I admitted on air that I still get my feelings hurt when someone says no directly. It is something I am working on. But Tanya is right, if you want the freedom to say no, you have to give other people that same freedom. You cannot have it both ways.
"The more that I said no, the more I had to be willing to accept no. Because other people in my life were coming into their no era."
For entrepreneurs, this applies to clients too. Not every prospect is a fit. Not every collaboration makes sense. And "no" from someone else does not mean you failed. It means they are being as intentional as you are trying to be.
Quick Takeaways
- Passion is not always fireworks. Sometimes it is just still showing up. That quiet consistency is what builds a business, not the highs alone.
- Record first, curate later. Capture ideas and content in the moment. You do not have to post it all, but do not lose the spontaneous brilliance.
- Write down every idea, no matter how wild. It might not be brilliant today, but your future self, or someone else, might turn it into something incredible.
- Say yes early, learn fast, then get selective. Working with the wrong clients teaches you exactly who the right ones are.
- If you want to say no, learn to hear it too. Boundaries work both ways. Give others the same grace you want for yourself.
What You Do Not Change, You Choose
When I asked Tanya what she is choosing for 2026, she did not hesitate: showing up as herself, uncurated. Saying the things she is thinking and not being scared anymore. Not because everyone will love it, because she knows they will not. But because there is one person who needs to hear it.
"I just need one person to go, 'Thank God I am not alone in this.' I am always enough and what I have to say matters to someone."
If you are holding back because you are worried about what people will think, Tanya, with 28 years of proof behind her, is telling you to let it go. Show up. Say the thing. You are not the only one thinking it.
"There is no such thing as a stupid idea. It just might not be the right time for that idea to be brilliant."
