Ask Us Anything: Navigating AI, Team Growth, and Entrepreneur Life Live at ICON 2025

Briana Dai [00:00:11]:

Hey. Hey. Welcome back. Okay, so I'm genuinely so excited about today's episode because I am pulling back the curtain on something that we only do once a year live on stage. Because every year at our conference, also known as Icon, the three of us, meaning myself, my mom, my dad, AKA the trifecta, who founded eWomenNetwork, sit down in front of a room full of women entrepreneurs, and we do an Ask us anything segment. So there's no script, there are no slides, there's no safe questions. It's just real women asking the real things they're stuck on. And then the three of us go off answering completely unfiltered.

Briana Dai [00:00:50]:

And this year's was so, so good I had to bring it to the show. And the whole thing is going to be so amazing. We're going to get into all of it. We're going to talk about, is AI actually coming for your business? How do you keep up without burning? How do you let go of micromanaging your team so you can finally grow? We talk about growing your podcast listeners, growing your revenue and your views, and adapting to technology that refuses to sit still. Right? We get honest about finding yourself and losing yourself inside of your own business. I answer a question about my vision for the future of Ewomenne Network, and we go there on what it really takes to work with your spouse, especially, especially when things get hard. It's really juicy, y'.

Sandra Yancey [00:01:32]:

All.

Briana Dai [00:01:32]:

It's real, and it's the kind of conversation you just can't have over a screen. So here's the thing. This happens live every single year at Icon, and you can be in that room for the next one. So I'll drop the link to grab your ticket in the show notes. So if any of this hits home, go and claim your seat. But for now, pull up a chair or turn up your headphones and let's get into it.

Sandra Yancey [00:01:54]:

Okay, so this is what we call our ask us anything. And so we've got the Some of the cards that you have all submitted, and we've all kind of looked through them and picked some cards that we think will provide some really great advice for you and support and also will appeal to many of you. Make sense. Okay, so, Briana, would you like to take it away?

Briana Dai [00:02:22]:

Sure. All right, so this first question was from Rory Grossa. Gross. Rory Gross. Are you in the room, Rory? Yes, maybe. Well, I do think that this is a question that appeals to everyone, so I want to address it, and hopefully she can hop back in here and hear the answer. But her Question was AI scares me as it reminds me of robots taking over. Too much sci fi.

Briana Dai [00:02:51]:

Anybody relate to that? Yeah, I'm willing to embrace it. How do I start and with what type of info? Content creation, newsletters, etc. Help me out.

Sandra Yancey [00:03:05]:

So

Briana Dai [00:03:08]:

I don't think that we need to worry about AI taking over. To be honest, I think that AI is really more so of like our supercharged assistant, not necessarily a sci fi villain. Right. It is really there to support you. And I think that the biggest thing that we as entrepreneurs need to recognize when it comes to using AI is that we are in the driver's seat. We are the thought leader and it is nothing more than our thought partner. So as long as you're utilizing AI as the leader and you're not completely abdicating your knowledge, your brilliance, your everything to artificial intelligence, then I think that we have nothing to worry about. It's here to amplify us.

Briana Dai [00:03:48]:

It's here to make our lives faster and better and more efficient and higher quality. I'm going to be talking a lot about that tomorrow during my session, so make sure that you're in the room because I'm going to be sharing some really valuable insights about that. But yeah, I'm not worried about it taking over. I think that we all should be using it. There's three main verticals that we are using with an eWoman network and I'm a train you on them tomorrow. So I don't want to take up too much time, but marketing and visibility is obviously one of them. Content creation like she mentioned. But you can also use it for decision making and innovation and create getting using it as a tool to help you brainstorm ideas.

Briana Dai [00:04:25]:

And it's also incredible for helping you with your systems and your operations. And I'm going to, like I said, we're going to get into all that. But those are the three areas. If you're trying to figure out AI, where to start, that is where you should be starting.

Sandra Yancey [00:04:36]:

Okay. Marky Reed, is she in the room? There she is. Hi Marky. Also a graduate of my SOAR program. How did you learn to really let go of micromanaging staff and trusting that they can handle the big strategic decisions and projects that move your business forward? I'm going to tell you that it's been a hard one for me over the years to learn to let go and it still is. Sometimes it still sneaks up on me. So I've always got to be, you know, on my P's and Q's paying attention the staff has permission to just actually say to me, is that something that only you can do, Sandra? Right. And that's sometimes because I just want things done a certain way.

Sandra Yancey [00:05:24]:

But truly, what I've really learned over the years is that you have to be very clear on what the deliverable is and what the outcome is. What are your expectations for the outcome? And trust then that there are many ways by which to accomplish the outcome. And it doesn't have to be your way. It's kind of like whether you're going to take, you know, the tollway. We have the tollway here. We have the access roads. We have. We have all the ways to get home, Right? And I'm learning to get less attached to how people get things done.

Sandra Yancey [00:05:59]:

Now, if we have SOPs, right, we want everybody to follow the SOP, but there's always some creative freedom. I mean, you don't want to micromanage everybody. They feel like they've got to do, like little soldiers, everything you want them to bring their creative spirit, and hopefully they make it even better than what you wanted. So if they are really clear on what is the actual outcome, what is the deliverable, what is the outcome, your expectations, then you have to learn to release. Now, the thing that we've learned is that we've hired people and we've, like, thrown the entire rope to them and said, have at it. And then when they disappoint, then it feels. Doesn't feel good. When you start pulling the rope back, they start feeling that tug, right? And so we've learned to let the rope out a little bit, right, and praise the great response.

Sandra Yancey [00:06:52]:

And then give them another foot. Oh, this is even better. Great. Give him three feet. Right? And so we've learned to. Right, Briana? That's been a thing that we've had to learn. So because you just want to. People want to come in and you just want to go, here, have at it.

Sandra Yancey [00:07:06]:

What do you think? And we've just learned that we do have set expectations, we do have our brand, the way we want things to look and feel. And, you know, people will take real creative freedom, but. And that isn't in alignment if you don't give some kind of direction. Is that helpful? Yeah.

Briana Dai [00:07:25]:

Is it Picasso? There was some artist that said there was, like, this really great quote, I'm probably going to butcher it. But it was something along the lines of, first you have to learn the rules like a professional before you can break them like an artist. And I think that's the case with your team. Like, you want people that are going to come and innovate and bring new ideas to the table, but they need to understand how things work first and why they are that way, and know that before they can innovate it and take it somewhere else.

Sandra Yancey [00:07:51]:

Right. Lovely. Okay, Kim.

Kym Yancey [00:07:55]:

All right, so this is from Mary Elkins. Mary, where are you? Is she in here? Okay. Oh, there she is.

Sandra Yancey [00:08:06]:

Okay, there she is. There she is.

Kym Yancey [00:08:08]:

So please give us Late Boomers, your recipe for our success in gaining a million listeners and viewers and a million in revenue. Thank you. First of all, first of all, I love your concept. I really do. And you know, you've got aarp, which is there are people who just, first of all, just really need to know about you. I love the photography I saw on your card, the way you guys are positioning yourself. But, you know, you're in a situation and, and where you can interview people. But the key is, is to make sure there's a connection to your Late Boomers concept.

Kym Yancey [00:08:52]:

In other words, everybody that you interview and talk to. Because I know you guys talk to a lot of people, but, but you want to be more strategic in what kind of guests and what problems they're solving for late Boomers. And a real cheat for you is to take a magazine like AARP and I promise you, their editorial staff is picking the hottest topics out there right now every single month. When that magazine out, all you have to do is start looking at the, looking at some of their topics and getting people who you see in that magazine and others that, that are in the Late Boomer category to get them on your show for interviews. And what you're going to do that's going to allow you to take advantage of all of the action happening with AARP and their huge audience, but also building a brand identity for yourself, that's just one, you know, one way you can do it. I also think it's important that you're. You're networking more, you know, with, with your brand, where people, you know, whether it be celebrities being out in la, especially whether there are celebrities that you can tie into your brand for interviews that you can, that you can talk to, which would be really beneficial. The other thing is, I'll tell you this.

Kym Yancey [00:10:07]:

I, I really think you guys need some real strategy around all the different opportunities that you've got. You've got to have a lot of opportunities. It's very sponsorable. I mean, when you can go to a sponsor and tell them, you know, very specifically about Late boomers, the kind of guests that you have on, especially some of the things that you bring to your listeners and then go after sponsors who are also targeting that audience. You can get away with not having millions and millions of followers. You can. If they see that you've got a, an audience of loyal listeners, they're going to pay attention to you because they're looking for ways to break through the market as well. And we can talk more because I love you guys, love what you're doing.

Briana Dai [00:10:52]:

Oh, Right. Moving on. Is Penny Bigelow in the room? Woohoo.

Briana Dai [00:11:05]:

Hi.

Briana Dai [00:11:07]:

So I loved your question. It says, how do you work with those of us that are not tech savvy and teaching the nuts and bolts of digital marketing for how do you get us comfortable and expert in this area of our business? And here's the thing. I've got a five year old and a five month old. I think I'm pretty patient and I think that that's the biggest thing. I think, you know, my generation, I don't know if you've. I'll speak from my experience with other people. My generation that grew up in the more techie, you know, generation, they're pretty tech savvy and so they can move really fast. We move really fast because we learn really fast because we grew up with it.

Briana Dai [00:11:49]:

And so depending on where you're at in the spectrum, it can be kind of intimidating talking to somebody that maybe grew up with technology to feel like, oh, I can really have an eye to eye conversation with you about what I'm struggling with. Because sometimes we can move really fast and we're explaining or you can almost be like, man, do I. We kind of go through this sometimes. And I feel like I'm honestly working with you both has really helped me hone in on this skill because.

Sandra Yancey [00:12:24]:

Is that a compliment?

Briana Dai [00:12:25]:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you're not shy. You aren't shy about acknowledging that you kind of struggle with technology.

Sandra Yancey [00:12:33]:

I don't struggle with technology. Technology struggles with me.

Briana Dai [00:12:37]:

Okay?

Sandra Yancey [00:12:41]:

It has an issue with me. I know it does. And you know, I'm just not, I'm just not gonna give up. It's gonna fall in love with me someday.

Briana Dai [00:12:52]:

And in the meantime, I'm the one who troubleshoots all of her technology issues. And so I think it's just a matter of taking the time and slowing down. And so whoever you're working with, whether it's me or someone else, if you're working with somebody that's making you feel like you have a stupid question or that you're not picking it Up. Or maybe they're using an abbreviation that you've never heard before, like, you know, roas. Like, what's a roas? What's the return on something? Or like, what. What does that mean?

Sandra Yancey [00:13:17]:

Spending.

Briana Dai [00:13:19]:

Yes. Look at you. Right on.

Sandra Yancey [00:13:22]:

Ad spending.

Briana Dai [00:13:24]:

Turn on ad spend.

Sandra Yancey [00:13:25]:

Next one.

Briana Dai [00:13:26]:

Yeah. You've had a good teacher. No, but that's. I think that that is the thing. There's a makeup artist I used to work with back in the day, and she had this jacket, and I love jacket, and it's a quote that I live by, and it is don't ask, don't get. If you don't ask the question, you're not going to get the answer. And so when it comes to learning and adapting technology, especially at the pace that it's moving now, you just have to be willing to ask the question. And if somebody's not willing to slow down and give you the answer, then you're just talking to the wrong person.

Briana Dai [00:14:00]:

But I feel like everyone in this room wants to help each other. We don't have that kind of environment here. So that's what I think is the key to working with somebody that's not tech savvy. Find somebody who is and make sure that they're just dumbing it down for you. Just move slow. Ask the questions, ask for the clarification. Ask again. Ask to record it and have a documentation of it, because not learning it is not an excuse.

Briana Dai [00:14:25]:

That's not an option for us in this room.

Sandra Yancey [00:14:30]:

Good. Okay. Lori Jones, Fearless Financial Advisors. Lori Jones, there you are. Hi, Laurie. You said, I ask all of my podcast guests, successful professional women, what are you most proud of? And I would say, Laurie, what I'm most proud of is, as it relates to business, is that I both found myself and haven't lost myself. You know, this business really has taught me, you know, what I'm supposed to be here doing. And what I know is you can lose yourself in it, too.

Sandra Yancey [00:15:25]:

And so staying clear about what's important to you and not losing that has taken work. It hasn't come naturally. There's a lot that tugs at you. Yeah. Yeah, that was a quick one. Can I do another one? Do I get to do another one? Can I do that? Okay. If you could do anything over again, what would it be? It's a great question, isn't it? The first thing that I would do is I would start creating a relationship with a banker sooner. I can't even tell you how important a great relationship with a banker is as you grow.

Sandra Yancey [00:16:18]:

I mean, it's just so powerful. And, you know, the thing about it is, is that bankers don't want to help you when you need them, right? They want to be there for you when you don't need them. It's just the way the business world works. And so, you know, getting that relationship early in the days and just making sure that you're parking the car and you're going in and you're making, you're signing that paper and you're waiting to speak to someone and you're asking to have your own, you know, business banker and you're getting that person's card and their email address and you're making sure that they know your website and maybe even you're printing in color the color page of your website. Or, you know, if you have a blog or a newsletter that you've printed a copy off and you've taken it to them, if you've gotten an award that you make a copy of that award, even if it's a crystal award, slap that thing down on the copier and make a copy of that crystal award, right? If you've written a book, the COVID of your book or an actual book, but make them make a file on you, right? Because you're going to want those relationships to grow over time. I can't tell you how great it's been for me to. And Kim knew that because he had an ad agency and we owned the building that the ad agency was in. So I intuitively kind of watched all of that, but I felt like if I could do it all over again, I would have done it sooner.

Sandra Yancey [00:17:51]:

I waited until I thought I really mattered, you know, and you matter now. You matter in the beginning. And so I think that's because as they see you grow, they become very proud that you are their client within the bank. They are very prideful of that. And they become great advocates for you because they see the consistency of the work that you do. And so when you need a business credit card or you need a, you know, line of credit, or, you know, you need to call them and you say, I need a one year credit card, I'm buying something, I'm going to pay for it over a year, I need a one year credit card, interest free. You know, those 12 months, no interest kind of thing, I mean, come on, it's like they're giving you access to free money, right? And then, you know, you might need a line of credit, right? You might. They could help you with an SBA loan, they could help you with the PPP I mean all the things that they have so much positional power to do for you I think is really important and I just didn't understand that at the very beginning and if I were to do it all over again, boy I would have done that right out of the chute.

Sandra Yancey [00:19:09]:

So your always team is your banker. Do you feel like you're drowning in your business? Like you're doing everything and something has to give but you're afraid it might be you. What if I told you there's a network of over 500,000 women entrepreneurs all dedicated to supporting each other. A network of women helping women. I'm Sandra Yancey, founder of Ewomenne Network and I'm inviting you to join us and become a member. Ewomennetwork.com we can't wait to meet you left I would say to that make it a local bank. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what they called us and we had a 300000 loan out and they said we want that paid by the end.

Sandra Yancey [00:20:04]:

Yeah, they can call your loan. Right, right. So and this is really important what Laura's saying. So I'm just the opposite. I've been with a mega galactic bank for 25 years and we just this year in January and it's been an arduous process have moved to a local banker and let me just tell you I am in awe of how much I matter to them. In fact they were the ones that said you, you need to go out and buy your own building and we're going to help you with all of that. And there's some special programs that are going on for owner occupied buildings and all of that kind of thing and we will support you and help you navigate all of that. And actually we have some real estate agents that we work with that have really helped some of our clients and we'll put you in contact with a commercial real estate agent and just I mean I would have never have gotten that a B of A.

Sandra Yancey [00:21:07]:

I just really wouldn't. So there is some truth to finding a really good community bank that really caters I mean ask start networking that really caters to the small business entrepreneur. Well. What'd you say? Oh yeah. I always, I tell everybody I know a banker to be on your the five. One of the five of your always lists critical relationships. Yep.

Kym Yancey [00:21:41]:

Yeah. You know what's interesting about these questions is especially these marketing and branding questions because the, the responses can be do this or do this one thing when the reality is a plan has to be put together. And there's a lot of questions. There's a. I mean, questions such as, what are you doing now? What's working for you now? What do you, what do you know? Like what. What have you tried and how effective was. Was it? Who's your number one competitor? And that's taking the business from you. What's in the way of that? For example, here's this question I do.

Kym Yancey [00:22:19]:

I can't do everything, so what's the one thing I must do to be seen to be the person everyone in Denver thinks of when you say great dentist? Yeah. And so this is Dr. Westbard. Yeah. So, you know, think about your own habits in your own neighborhood. Like, what would a dentist have to do to get your attention? I mean, just think about that for a second. You know, would they. Would it be a postcard in the, in your mailbox? You know, would it be an ad in a local newspaper? You know, first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to check with the clients that I have now and find out how they get information.

Kym Yancey [00:23:02]:

I'd be looking into a referral program, something that can happen on the referral side in your particular case, I happen to know you've done a boatload of new videos, which I think are excellent. You know, getting those out and getting those up on YouTube and getting them on your website as well, but getting them up on YouTube because you can, you can geo target there as well into your, you know, your actual area. But I think it's very important. They're just. Yeah, I know. I don't want to see you go out and just do one shot of something where it's not built on a strategy that makes sense. You know what I mean?

Sandra Yancey [00:23:35]:

Right.

Kym Yancey [00:23:36]:

And that's the, that's the tough part about it. With all the options that you have in the marketplace right now.

Sandra Yancey [00:23:42]:

Yeah. You know, the one thing that is Kim's genius, if I can just say, is that he's not into all these cookie cutter branded things. I mean, he's. You're really getting that concierge, you know, eye of somebody who wants to create just the perfect brand that only you can have. Right. And, and they are powerful. I mean, it's just powerful thinking.

Kym Yancey [00:24:13]:

But think about what we went through, though. I mean, like when we started email network. See, it's, it's, you know, and all of us can say this about our. It's so different now, you know, I mean, we all have that poster. You know, it's different now. But, you know, we went Out. And we got on radio right away. Today, it's podcast, but we got on radio right away and was doing a radio show every single Sunday on the largest ABC affiliate in the country.

Kym Yancey [00:24:37]:

And we paid for that to get

Sandra Yancey [00:24:40]:

7,000amonth to get on that show.

Kym Yancey [00:24:43]:

But what we did is it gave us a platform to promote members, and then we're talking the magazines. What's different now is not only do you have to break through, but you've got to, you know, and you guys are in a room networking, so you get this, but you've got to network. You've got to make that a part of your success. Hygiene, for lack of a better word. You know, it's something like every single week, you gotta be thinking about what major networking opportunity am I gonna be going to, to introduce myself, meet people and talk to people, You know, but it goes. Listen, it goes on from there. There are so many moving parts to your marketing and branding. Be a good, you know, person who knows how to ask the right questions, you know, but definitely, I'm gonna.

Kym Yancey [00:25:34]:

I'm. I'm gonna tap the customers I have now and find out what's working. You know, we do that with you guys. We find out. We constantly surveying, constantly talking. And you know what I'm finding? Just a couple of phone calls. You can get a lot of information that represents hundreds of people, a couple of phone calls, two or three phone calls to your existing customers. Their answers will represent literally hundreds, if not thousands of people.

Kym Yancey [00:26:00]:

And Nielsen ratings are built on that, though. You know, most of you have pro. In fact, has anybody here ever had a Nielsen diary in their home? Anybody? Okay, you have. See, Nielsen will put a diary and all that. And all that happens with that diary is that they're tracking what TV shows, what you're watching, what you're doing in your home. All right? They'll have three or four people, represent, you know, 100,000 households, and they've. And they've learned that that's been pretty accurate. You would find if you talk to two or three of your customers, interview them.

Kym Yancey [00:26:35]:

Why do you do business with me? You know what? You know, just get into that, to that whole experience. But ask them why they're doing business with you and how have you helped them? They'll give you some good answers. I mean, Felicia, you had some great response, you know, from. From our discussion, and you went and asked questions, and it changes. It's actually changed the way you're going to be marketing. You know, the answers that she got and the surprises would you mind if she shares some of what she. What she found out? You feel like it? Felicia, can you share with the audience here? Let me take.

Sandra Yancey [00:27:12]:

We get a. Can I get a catch?

Kym Yancey [00:27:14]:

Do we have a mic?

Sandra Yancey [00:27:15]:

Here we go. Here comes.

Kym Yancey [00:27:16]:

I mean, it was an aha moment, really.

Sandra Yancey [00:27:21]:

Thank you, Megan.

Briana Dai [00:27:25]:

Yeah. So my question at the, you know, when something bias for Pinnacle, right. I was asking Kim about filling webinars and reaching out for speaking, and he's like, well, you got to get clear on what it is that your ideal client is struggling with, right? And I thought I had a sense of it, which, you know, obviously I did, but he gave me. You gave me some wonderful sentence stems. And I just reached out to a small handful of people. I was able to talk to six people altogether, and I was number one, surprised, but not surprised at. And they were some potentially some difficult questions, like, if you're completely honest with yourself, what would you say that you really want? And then what is it that's keeping you from having success? Why are you not experiencing the success that you want? And the depth of vulnerability that people were willing to go to. And what I was able to glean from that was that people think they know what they want, but when you really dig down, people really don't know what it is that they really want.

Briana Dai [00:28:45]:

And then dig down even deeper beyond that, they don't believe that they can really have it, which then clouds clarity, right? And you and I had this great conversation and I loved what you did this afternoon, that this word clarity is thrown around. But now to step back and to really think about, okay, what is it that I do to really help my people get clear and what is it that they're getting clear around? And why is this foundational? Why is this so important? So, yes, then we had a quarterly, you know, where I got all three of them. And y', all, it's wild, right? Sandra's doing her thing where we're going back and forth. There's Brianna on ChatGPT, like, looking like she's totally not paying attention, but, you know, she's 100% in it. And then Kim just lobs these brilliant statements and within 30 minutes, you know, full on marketing plan with messaging, with a outline for a webinar, all based on those interviews that I did.

Kym Yancey [00:29:57]:

The interviews were real. I mean, both of us were really cheering each other because it was a real. Aha. Because it allowed your. In your case, Felicia, you To go deeper and touch the heart. And, you know, it's. I gotta tell you guys this isn't necessarily the real, what I call the sexy part of branding and marketing. You know what I mean? You like it when you're doing design stuff and all that, but what I'm finding is the most important stuff is the stuff that we got to ask these questions and it feels real.

Kym Yancey [00:30:29]:

And your customers knew how sincere you were, you know what I mean? And the way you ask the questions, I mean, it all makes a difference.

Sandra Yancey [00:30:38]:

So good. Yeah, it's beautiful. Kim, honestly,

Briana Dai [00:30:44]:

I love this question. Is Jenny Archer in the room? Jenny Archer. That's a bummer. Oh, man, I really love. I'm going to give you it. Anyway, I loved her question. It is, what is your vision for E Women network for the next 10 years or even 20 years? That's a good question. I thought it was a great question.

Briana Dai [00:31:14]:

I mean, let's go there. Y' all haven't even heard this yet. All right. No, I. I want to hear it.

Sandra Yancey [00:31:23]:

I'm excited to hear it.

Briana Dai [00:31:25]:

So I. I see global expansion. I feel like there should be a community of heart centered, like minded, entrepreneurial women in every single corner of this globe. You know, we gotta figure out how to expand this community because it's incredible and there are more of us everywhere and I don't know about you, but. But a conference in Europe sounds really fun.

Sandra Yancey [00:31:57]:

What'd you say?

Briana Dai [00:31:58]:

Yes, Right.

Sandra Yancey [00:31:59]:

Offable too.

Briana Dai [00:32:01]:

Right, Offable. Talk about international conference icon. If you didn't know, now you know. Icon stands for international conference. Let's go international. Okay. I mean, we already are, but let's go global with it, right? And then I think that's the big thing is I really just want to help our community grow as much as possible and get us in every corner of the world. And I also know that technology is moving at a rapid pace.

Briana Dai [00:32:26]:

We're actually already working on this and it's going to be a long project for sure. Not too long, hopefully, because we need to really get it together and get this out there. But I want our members and our managing directors and our prospects to have access to help from us 24 7. So we're in the process of training chatbots right now so that if you need help with your profile in the middle of the night, because that's when you're on network.com, you can have access to that. But it has to be trained. It has to know our values, it has to know the answers, it has to be smart. So we're working with Chantelle and our customer service department to start to train that model, There needs to be a model for our managing directors. When you have questions in the middle of the night, outside of office hours, or no matter where you're at in the world, if you're on a completely different time zone, that's going to empower us to be able to.

Briana Dai [00:33:16]:

To serve you so much more deeply and efficiently than you having to wait till someone's in office to talk to them. And of course, we'll always have that human element. I think that that is so incredibly important. We're not going to ever replace that, but it's to amplify what we're able to do and how we're able to serve you. So I think that that's the next step for us and the third big one. Are you ready? We need an EOMA network app. You know, we need an E Women network app. We have the conference app.

Briana Dai [00:33:47]:

The website would be a whole other beast. And I haven't even told the tech team this. They're probably going to lose their mind. But how cool would it be if we were able to look at each other's profiles from our phone? How cool would it be if you could browse the events and be able to sign up for an event from your phone? How cool would it be to be able to message each other through the app? Like, that's. I see so much potential in taking our online model and bringing it to your phone at your fingertips. Sure, we have a mobile optimized website, but it's not the same as being able to tap a button in the app and go to exactly where you want to go. So that is, I think, a more long term goal. It's going to take a lot of work.

Briana Dai [00:34:25]:

With all of the infrastructure, people don't realize what you see on the front end is honestly just the smallest, smallest piece because that back end is thick. She got a thick back end. There is a lot going on back there. Okay. And so it's going to be, be. It's going to be a huge lift. But I know that we can do it and I know that that's in our future because that is where the world is going and that's where that's what the future demands. It demands different.

Briana Dai [00:35:06]:

Ooh,

Sandra Yancey [00:35:09]:

a mic drop. Okay, so mine was to me and Kim and it is Elizabeth Damaris. Where are you, Elizabeth? There you are. Beautiful. She said, my husband and I have decided to go into business together. What is one piece of advice you would give to keep our relationship thriving? When challenges come up in business, you

Briana Dai [00:35:39]:

get to go first, she makes the big. He makes the big decisions.

Kym Yancey [00:35:44]:

Make all the big decisions. Man. That's very. That's very even. I, I don't know how we navigated some of this stuff, you know, I mean, like, how we. We did, you know, I mean, I don't want to sound corny or anything like that, you know, but Scott M. Peck, in his book the Road Less Travel, said something that really applies to me and Sandra, etc, and he talked about real love. And he says that when you get to that point where you're so low and you feel like, you know, I can't.

Kym Yancey [00:36:21]:

You can't go any further, that that's where real love materializes, that, that real love is in those points where you think you're done. And so we joke with each other, but that we've been married seven times, you know, seven different people, seven different wives.

Sandra Yancey [00:36:39]:

You've had seven different wives?

Kym Yancey [00:36:40]:

What'd you say?

Sandra Yancey [00:36:41]:

You've had seven different wives.

Kym Yancey [00:36:42]:

Seven different wives. Yeah. You haven't had seven different husbands?

Sandra Yancey [00:36:48]:

Yeah. I mean, you've been, you've been probably a little bit more consistent than me.

Kym Yancey [00:36:55]:

I think so.

Briana Dai [00:36:57]:

What do you say?

Sandra Yancey [00:37:00]:

I think so.

Kym Yancey [00:37:01]:

No, no, but I, I'm, I'm just saying, you know, I took a year, basically a year off in 2014, was it 15, to run live happy magazine.

Sandra Yancey [00:37:14]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:37:15]:

I had a friend of mine, and I really love the whole concept. He would work, you know, he was. Well, he worked on this whole thing around happiness, and he asked me if I would do it with him. And, And I found myself really missing E Women Network. It was an incredible thing. Like, as much as I loved the mission behind Live Happy and the magazine and what it was all about, all based on psychology, I found that I really appreciated what it was like to work side by side with my wife, what it was like to go and travel together. I mean, you know, I got to tell you, I'm really thankful and celebrate what we do on the journey, you know, not the destination. And the destination is fun, but it's the journey.

Kym Yancey [00:38:06]:

When we go traveling, the places we go, the things we do and, you know, we're able to. I mean, I love E Women Network. I absolutely love E Women Network. And so doing it, that's sense. And doing it and doing it with Sandra, I mean, I, I, I couldn't have conceivably a better partner. You know what I mean? I mean, I know that my wife has my back 100%, and I hope. And my goal is that she always knows that she's respected. And she never has a bad idea.

Kym Yancey [00:38:44]:

She has. You know, I mean that. You know, we. We just. It's just over the years, I just really come to appreciate it at a. At a new level. But it's hard, but it is difficult. I think when the kids were younger in particular, because you guys wanted us to stop talking, you know, at the table, you could feel the kids looking at you with a.

Kym Yancey [00:39:07]:

Like, a dead stare. Like, Like.

Briana Dai [00:39:10]:

But also, you're welcome, because you started to have your marriage. You started to have the business bleed into the home life. And I think what Ryland and I did is we were like, can y' all stop talking about work? And it forced you to get into family mode and to kind of compartmentalize the two. And you really did master that skill, and I feel really grateful for that, because now Ryland is our anchor to continue that, to not let work take over that family time so that you have those separate relationships, you know, And I. And that's what I admire the most about your dynamic. And that, I think, is the biggest takeaway is really creating those boundaries so that you can compartmentalize your. Your marriage and your family life with your work life. That wasn't a question for me, but.

Kym Yancey [00:40:00]:

You got. You have to understand the kind of family we have, though.

Sandra Yancey [00:40:05]:

We be careful.

Kym Yancey [00:40:06]:

It was Saturday. It was. It was Saturday. I was working outside. You know, I had my outdoor garden shorts on. Wait a minute.

Sandra Yancey [00:40:16]:

Are you gonna tell this story?

Kym Yancey [00:40:18]:

You guys want to hear this story? So I got a. I got a. I got. They're like painters. I mean, they look awful. They looked really awful. And they were hungry for lunch. And so we all jumped in the car to go, and I said, listen.

Kym Yancey [00:40:34]:

I said, listen, guys, I'll go to lunch like this, but you guys, Sandra, you're gonna have to be in front. Brianna, you be on the side, and Rylan, be behind me. Cause I don't want the woman at the restaurant to see my. I want anybody to see my pants. I'll be too embarrassed. You gotta do it. This is the kind of family I got. So we go to the restaurant, we get up to the counter.

Kym Yancey [00:40:57]:

I think I'm protected. They're all flanked. Woman says, how many? She says, a party of four. She says, party of four. She says, right this way. She says, oh, wait, please. Whatever you do, who don't look at his pants? That's what I dealt with. It's unbelievable.

Kym Yancey [00:41:27]:

I never forgot.

Sandra Yancey [00:41:33]:

Oh, my gosh. We do pull pranks on each other. You know what I mean? Okay. I don't actually know what my answer is. How I can. I think Kim and I have. You know, we've certainly. I mean, I've known Kim from the day I met him.

Sandra Yancey [00:41:53]:

When I was a senior in high school. I was 17 years old. We've never been apart, and I. You know, we've gone through a lot of phases. And I think the most important thing that I have learned is that we sometimes deal with things very differently. And we just have to remember to honor those differences. That he does not have to see it always my way. And I don't have to see it always his way.

Sandra Yancey [00:42:23]:

But what we really need to do is be really clear on how do we get our. How do we both get our needs Method. How do we find a way that we both. It's not a compromise. It's not about compromising. Where it's, you know, less than 100%. Then there, if we can just sit with it, you know, we tend to find a way in which we both get our needs met. And, you know, now we have these little grandchildren.

Sandra Yancey [00:42:50]:

And, you know, for me, it's just. I'm yet a new, different person. I'm just different, you know, with that, with both of them. I mean, it's just incredible. But Tatiana will always have my heart. She's the first one. And we have what I think is an incredibly special relationship. I mean, you know, she asks me.

Sandra Yancey [00:43:15]:

I spend the night on Thursdays. And she asks me to never leave, you know, and are you gonna be here when I get back? You know, lovey, I don't ever want you to leave. It's really. I mean, it's really special. And Kim respects that, too, because it's crazy in the office. And it was a week before the conference. And I was like, I gotta be over there. I just gotta be over there.

Sandra Yancey [00:43:45]:

And it was the one time you said, don't even bother cooking. Cause I love to cook. And I go over to cook and have dinner. And Kim comes over and. And then he ventures home because we've got the dog. And they've got three big dogs that'll eat my dog. And so. But I love spending the night and.

Sandra Yancey [00:44:04]:

Like clockwork. Like clockwork. Between 3:15 and 3:30 in the morning, Tatiana comes and climbs in bed with me and snuggles up to me. And I just rub her. All she wants me to do is rub her back. And I can hear. She falls asleep in five minutes. And I've just got this tiny little body.

Sandra Yancey [00:44:21]:

And it's just so wonderful. And I set the alarm, and we wake up together and, you know, come out. And that gives Briana a little bit of a break with, you know, the baby. And Travis is just such a rock star, and it's just, you know. You know, and with all that, we, you know, we had just the most tragic of moments that really rocked my world and rocked my whole everything. I was talking to Dr. Tiffany a little bit about it, you know, just physically just messed me up. You know, it's going to take me a while to, you know, get through it and.

Sandra Yancey [00:45:02]:

But makes me appreciate it. I think we've just figured out just a way. I don't think it's any one thing, you know, you make my coffee every morning for me, you know, and, you know, I come into the office and, you know, flash you. I do.

Briana Dai [00:45:24]:

I was not.

Kym Yancey [00:45:24]:

I mean, really? Really.

Briana Dai [00:45:27]:

I'm telling hr.

Sandra Yancey [00:45:31]:

You want to say something? I do.

Kym Yancey [00:45:34]:

Have.

Sandra Yancey [00:45:34]:

You want to catch? Box Pri wants to catch.

Kym Yancey [00:45:37]:

Where's a. Oh, yeah.

Briana Dai [00:45:43]:

Okay. Can y' all hear me? Hey, I'm Priscilla. I've been traveling with Sandra Yancey, Kim Yancey, and Brian Yancy for the last, like, six, seven years. And to answer Elizabeth's question, how do they do it as a couple? Because I've been with them, and they've treated me like one of their own. Is my favorite story is when we were in California and we were all leaving dinner. So the answer. The short answer is that they always have fun. They know how to laugh.

Briana Dai [00:46:08]:

And we were. We were all in the car together, and we're about to pull up to the hotel, and Sandra goes out of nowhere, she goes, hey, guys, you know, be really funny. And me, Bri, and Kim are like, what? She's like, let's. Let's pretend when the valet guys open the door, let's all fall to the ground and act like we're, like, drunk or something. And, like, you would never expect that from her, right? And we're. And then. And then me, Bri, and Kim are like, okay. Like, we don't even question her.

Sandra Yancey [00:46:37]:

We're like, absolutely.

Briana Dai [00:46:38]:

Like, there's less than 60 seconds before the guy comes to open our door. So we're like, Sandra said, okay, we'll do it.

Sandra Yancey [00:46:44]:

Okay.

Briana Dai [00:46:44]:

So the guy goes, valet guys. They're like, it's a nice hotel. So, like, there's a valet guy. It's one of the doors, okay. So he opens, like, the multiple doors, right? Multiple guys open multiple doors. All of us fall to the ground. We all commit to the pit. It was the funniest and one of my most fun favorite memories of traveling with them.

Briana Dai [00:47:01]:

But I can attest that they're just freaking hilarious.

Kym Yancey [00:47:17]:

You know, something we've. We've talked about and we'll just ask the you guys we had talked about, should we do a couple panel? Because I think of Mike and Laura Herring and think, you know, believe me, you'd want to hear their stories. But I've wondered how that would be received if we did, like, because they had a lifetime of working together as a couple. Right. We've had 25 years. You know, I mean. Yeah. Like a lifetime.

Sandra Yancey [00:47:48]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:47:49]:

Do you think that'd be valuable? So Q and A kind of thing. Laura, Mike. Yep. Yep. For 2026.

Sandra Yancey [00:47:58]:

Okay. What a great way to bring this to a. To a close.

Briana Dai [00:48:01]:

I want to close with one more thing, though, because I have an AI talk tomorrow. So those of you, everybody should be in the app. And if you were to go into the app right now, there's a feature that's been enabled called polling, and I'm going to be training on AI. I've gotten a stack and they're basically all questions around AI. How will AI have an effect on business in next two to five years? Or what should I plan for? And AI's effects on business aren't happening in two to five years. They're happening right now. Right now. And if you don't catch the wave and figure out how to ride it, then you're going to crash and you're going to get left behind.

Briana Dai [00:48:40]:

It is happening right now. It's big, it's major. I'm going to be training extensively on it tomorrow morning, and I want you to define what I train on. So there's a poll inside of the app and you get to vote on what you want me to train on. And when I get back from the foundation dinner tonight, I'm gonna look at those results and I'm going to cater my demo that I'm gonna be presenting live on the stage tomorrow to what you asked for. Sound good? I want everybody to go in the app. I want everybody to vote on what you most want to see. And that is exactly what we're gonna do tomorrow.

Briana Dai [00:49:11]:

The Ewomenne network icon app. The event app. That app. Yeah. We don't have the other. We don't have the Ewan network app yet. That's in the future.

Briana Dai [00:49:22]:

Right.

Briana Dai [00:49:22]:

But the event app. Go in the event app and go to the polling feature that's been enabled. It should be on the first screen now.

Sandra Yancey [00:49:31]:

Okay.

Briana Dai [00:49:31]:

It's called polling.

Sandra Yancey [00:49:33]:

Polling?

Briana Dai [00:49:33]:

Yes, polling. You click on it, you'll see the poll, answer the poll, and that is what we'll train on in the morning. Sound good? How good was that? That right there is exactly why I do what I do. A room full of ambitious women, real questions, real answers, and the kind of honesty you just don't get scrolling on a feed. And every bit of that happens live on stage once a year at Icon. The conversations, the connections, the version of you that walks out different than the one who walked in. You can hear about it or you can be in the room for it. So here's my invitation.

Briana Dai [00:50:09]:

Go grab your ticket for the next Icon. The link is right in the show notes. Or you can just go to ewnicon.com and make sure you use our promo code SMM, short for she means millions to go and get a discount. Because let me tell you something, the seats are really going fast here, and I would genuinely love to look up that stage and see you there. So until next time, she does not just mean business. She means millions.