#133 Is HUSTLE a dirty word? with Emma McQueen
A lot of negative connotations seem to be attached to the word hustle. But today I want to explore this concept a little deeper to understand if hustle really is a dirty word.
I’m joined by special guest and seasoned entrepreneur, Emma McQueen, to talk about why hustle has gotten such a bad rap and explore the perhaps overlooked benefits of hard work and determination.
Emma McQueen is one of my business besties and a coach who helps women achieve incredible results in their businesses. Through her coaching program, Thriving Women, Emma has created a vibrant community where exceptional women can forge connections, ignite inspiration, and embark on a journey of continuous learning. She is also a woman who is not afraid of hard work, with ‘hustle’ being her favourite word.
In this episode, Emma and I discuss what hustling means and how at its core, it’s about working hard and getting things done. We talk about how some people see hustle in a negative light because they associate it with cutthroat competition, taking advantage of others, or prioritising profit over ethics and values.
Emma shares how she views hustling as a positive force when it’s balanced correctly. Hustle can coexist with a healthy lifestyle, mental well-being, and personal growth. It’s about having the determination to work hard towards a goal and the flexibility to go with the flow when things change, as they often do in business.
We talk about an important aspect of being an entrepreneur and that is understanding that business has seasons. There will be times when you need to work harder and hustle, and there will be times when you can slow down and take a breather. It's about finding the right balance for you and being flexible in your approach. Sometimes, what worked yesterday may not work today, and that's perfectly okay.
Hustle isn't inherently negative. It's about working hard, but it should be balanced with self-care, flexibility, and adapting to the different seasons in your business and life.
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[00:00:00] Tracey: Hello everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Rise Up in Business podcast. Today's episode is fun. It was fun recording it, and I hope you love it as much as I do. I'm joined on the podcast today by special guest Emma McQueen. Emma is a business bestie and friend of mine, and Emma's a business coach who specialises in supporting women to be.
[00:00:42] The best selves in business and life, and to really hit some stellar goals. I have some fabulous chats with Emma. We talk a lot. We bounce off each other and we're a support for each other in our respective businesses. And I wanted to bring him onto the podcast so that I could start sharing some of our fabulous chats with you, because I just know from the things that we talk about, that there's so much value to be shared here. Hence why M's coming onto the podcast. And we're going to do a few of these over the coming months. So stay tuned. I hope you enjoy today's episode is potentially triggering for some people. It's not intended to be.
[00:01:21] So I just want to say that we're going to talk about the hustle. We're going to talk about the hustle and in particular, I'm going to dive in to this conversation with Emma to dig deep in relation to hustle and how it's used and answer the question, is hustle a dirty word? I don't think it is.
[00:01:37] And I'm going to share why, and you can hear for yourself what Emma has got to say on this topic as well. Without further ado, let's get into it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
[00:01:48] Em, I want to talk to you today about something that's coming up so much, and I just want to call out the narrative around this. What I want to talk to you about today is, is hustle a dirty word?
[00:02:04] Emma: It's my favorite word,
[00:02:05] Tracey: Well, I think the conversation needs to be had because there's a lot of talk around the hustle being negative and hustle means different things to different people. And you know me, I've done some research and let's have a look at the traditional definition of hustle. Shall we?
[00:02:25] Emma: Shall we?
[00:02:26] Tracey: traditionally hustle is a term that has evolved over time and it generally means at its core a strong and determined effort or drive to achieve a goal or make something happen.
[00:02:41] Now, I don't have a problem with that. I think that all makes perfect sense, but if you dive a little further and dig, as you know that I would. Some people view it as negative because they see it as cutthroat, competitive, taking advantage of others, or prioritising profit at the expense of ethics and values. So that's really interesting.
[00:03:03] I hear a lot, and I wonder whether you do, is people are really looking down upon the term hustle because they're associating it with burnout, with fatigue. With the grind, all the negative things, and we don't, we don't stand for that. I use it though freely. And I believe that the term hustle needs to be taken in context and sure. It means different things to different people. It means different things to me, to you, and probably the next person, but business has seasons. Don't you think?
[00:03:34] Emma: totally. I think hustle's got a bad rap. I mean, it's my favorite word, and I have the definition at the very beginning that you talked about, which is, it's about working hard. It's about getting stuff done. It's not about ripping people off, it's not about putting profit before people. But I also think that. We hear different messages. So if you think about movies, if you think about a movie called Hustler, what are they doing? They're hustling people out of things, right? They're being secretive. They're not being transparent, you know? And so I think that that has put a negative connotation to the word hustle.
[00:04:10] I also think that there are a lot. Of online people talking about, I did 10 hours and I've made a million bucks. And so therefore I'm a hustler. And so I don't think that's helped either. For me, it's just, there's seasons in your business where you hustle, you work really hard and then there's seasons that you slow down and you just chill out a little bit and I don't see anything wrong with hustle, but it's definitely got a bad rap, which I think isn't fair.
[00:04:40] Tracey: And that's why I wanted to call it out and have this conversation in my email to my list a couple of weeks ago, I called it out there I'd asked a question of a guest on the podcast recently.
[00:04:49] You've built a global name for yourself. You're at the top of your game and you've been there for a long time. What's the secret? And his answer was really simply. Hard work, there's no shortcuts. And I really wanted to call out this negative connotation around hustle because we feel guilt. And I think as business owners, there is so much noise in the online space and holy moly, there's so much guilt that we carry when we're not doing what we think we should be doing, because this is how people are framing it, or this is what people are saying.
[00:05:19] So what I wanted to share here for, for listeners is. You do you, hustle isn't a dirty word. According to Emma and Tracy, hustle is not a dirty word. it's all about working out what's right for you and going with the different seasons in business. And that means sometimes you're gonna work harder than other times. That's okay. It's all about that balance and that fluidity and being flexible.
[00:05:45] Emma: I also think that Hustle's got a bad name because people do burn themselves out and they do hit that fatigue when Hustle becomes more of a priority than health. I think it turns into a negative connotation because we still have to look after ourselves. You can still hustle and you can have health.
[00:06:10] It's not an either or choice. You don't have to go, yeah, I'm hustling. Therefore my health is bad. You can say, no, I'm hustling. I'm working hard and my health is good. There are those two things can work together. And I think people. Kind of feel like they have to make a choice. It's either my own mental health, my own physical health, my own spiritual health, or it's hustle.
[00:06:28] No, it's not. It's hustle and you can still work on your own mental health. It's hustle and you can still have good physical exercise, boundaries, et cetera, et cetera. It's not an either or, it's an and.
[00:06:40] Tracey: I like that work-life balance. It's an and I like that. So feel really proud about the way that you take on or the way you tackle your, your workflow, your priorities, your calendar. It's different for everyone. I dunno about you, but I'm still constantly tweaking it and I've recently gave myself permission to say that's okay to constantly be tweaking the workflow and the demands and the days and the weeks because.
[00:07:07] There are seasons in business and because things change. So somebody that I work with in my business has a concept called the winning week. And when the very first time I ever did it, I thought this is brilliant. It's Michelle Broadbent for listeners. She's been a pillar in my business for years and the very first time she ever showed me her winning week, which you can find on her website. I was so excited. I, you can imagine, I beautifully color coded my winning week.
[00:07:33] You can imagine, and it looked so good. And then a couple of months later, I freaked out and I said to Michelle, Holy moly, it's not working. So what do you mean it's not working? So she said, Tracy you're allowed to change it. You're winning week's going to look different in the school holidays to a really busy season in the business to over Christmas to when you're having some downtime. And that's when I realised giving ourselves the permission, which is very much what it was to me to go with the flow a little more and lean into the different seasons.
[00:08:07] And that's where I became really comfortable. Learning how to be flexible. I mean, it doesn't come easy to me. That'll be no surprise to anybody who knows me. It doesn't come easy to me. Our household's one of those households that has organised fun and
[00:08:24] Emma: I think that's right though. I think you can have a plan, but just be flexible with the plan. Like I've got my days kind of sorted out. I have Mondays and Fridays where I do admin facing stuff and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday where I do client facing things and that normally works. But then there's some weeks that it doesn't work and you just have to be flexible and just know that it's okay to shift from the plan depending on if it works for you.
[00:08:48] Because I think what we do is we hold onto a plan a bit too long and then it doesn't work for us anymore. And we're like, wow, this. Doesn't work. Or I could just tweet this one thing and it would work more beautifully. yeah, I think we get attached to those plans. Don't we
[00:09:02] Tracey: Well, speaking from experience, yes, to the art of leaning into the seasons and changing. So what I really want listeners to take away from this, because I think it's so valuable is giving ourselves the permission as business owners to ease the pressure, to be flexible, lean into the seasons. And if you want to hustle, you hustle.
[00:09:21] Emma: hustle to your heart's content, whatever that looks like for you. For me, hustling looks like lots of relationships, lots of conversations, and that gives me energy and energises me. So if I'm having a week full of conversations, I'm like just a happy camper and that to me is hustling. someone else's idea of hustle might actually be just ripping through their to do list at a phenomenal pace. You know, there's no rules here, but I do love a good hustle.
[00:09:46] Tracey: That's me. I'm the to do list person. Rip through the to do list. that's me for hustle.
[00:09:51] Emma: you're the ying to my yang.
[00:09:53] Tracey: I am. I think we knew that. But what I do want to say really proudly is I think the hustle works when we've got the balance. we don't want to drive it such that we do get into that burnout.
[00:10:04] Now, and I know that you've got balance and I know that you work with women and you teach them balance. And I just want to share a little bit about thriving women if you could for listeners, because I think that it's so valuable. And I've, the reason I think that is because I know you, and I speak to so many women who have either done it or who are doing it. So can you tell us a little about that?
[00:10:22] Emma: Oh, I love Thriving Amen. Thriving Amen is my baby. It's been going for five years. I can't believe it. And in 2024, we're open for intake for 2024, but for 2024, we've brought in three different layers, I guess you could call them, which is meeting. Women, where they're at in their lifestyle and in their business.
[00:10:41] So historically, thriving women has been about workshops and retreats and coaching and all the things. And if you've got a 1, year old. Um, It's kind of hard to do all of those things, right? You're in a different season in life. And so this year I went, what else can we do to make it more inclusive for women?
[00:11:02] Different price points so that they can enter where their lifestyle lets them and where their business lets them. So we've got three communities within Thriving Women. We've got the community piece, which is literally you come to dinners, get connection, you come to go getters day That is what you need in your business right now, community.
[00:11:19] And then we have business and that includes the workshops, some hot seats and a retreat. And then we've got the all in, which is almost full already trace, which is pretty
[00:11:29] exciting. that includes. All of the above and coaching sessions with me and VIP access to me. And it's for women who really want to get results.
[00:11:38] So they just need that extra bit of support it's my baby and I love it. And we try to instill in everyone that everyone's different business is so different that sometimes we just need that unique. Person on the other end of the zoom to say, all right, let's try a, B and C. And that's what I love about it.
[00:11:58] And that's what I love about this year or next year that we're going to have three different layers. But all of them involve community and we get to impact one another's lives in a beautiful way. And just by having that community means you've got like all these buddies, business buddies that makes it less lonely.
[00:12:17] Tracey: Oh, I'm not surprised that one of your teasers almost full, to be honest. So there are three different tiers of the thriving women program, and I love hearing you talk about it. You just love it. And it comes across so much and I know you and I've known you for so long and I know that balance and respect and nurture are just, they underpin a lot of what you do.
[00:12:38] And that's why I thought it was really lovely to be able to just share that in this episode because what we're saying here to our listeners is hustle's not a dirty word. Do what's right for you, find the balance, and if you want some community, or if you want to work with Emma and some other incredible women in different tiers, you've got different options, again, all about flexibility, jump over to Emma's website and you can check it out. We'll put the link in the show notes.
[00:13:00] Emma: Oh, I think Tracy, I love talking about hustle with you.
[00:13:04] Tracey: Thanks, Sam. This has Thank you so much for joining us on this episode. I really hope you've enjoyed this conversation with Emma.
[00:13:10] As you can tell, it was a lot of fun recording. And as I mentioned earlier, there's more to come. So. We dive into these topics with the intention of sharing value, with the intention that's something we share will resonate and that you can take that and implement that in your business to help move the needle and to help enhance your journey.
[00:13:28] Emma and I are both very active on Instagram, so if you're not following us, we'll put the links in the show notes. Please do. So there's a lot happening over there always for both of us, and I would love it if you would follow along. I'll catch you next time.
LINKS:
Connect with Emma McQueen:
Website: https://emmamcqueen.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmarmcqueen/
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmamcqueen/
Connect with Tracey:
Book a Strategy Session with me here
Get your copy of my Annual Legal Checklist here
Join Me on Social:
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