In this episode, Lorie Jones sits down with Stefanie Francis, founder and CEO of Hootology, to uncover the twists and turns of her inspiring career. From her beginnings as a Division I volleyball player to unexpectedly launching her own tech-enabled market research firm, Stefanie shares how embracing uncertainty and following her intuition led her to build the company she had always hoped to work for.
Stefanie offers candid reflections on leaving comfort zones, navigating challenges as a woman leader, and her commitment to inner growth through therapy and self-discovery.
Whether you’re forging your own path or still figuring out the next step, Stefanie Francis’s fearless wisdom will spark your curiosity and encourage you to embrace every possibility along your journey.
Show Highlights:
- Finding success in the present on an evolving career path. [07:22]
- A journey to founding the company you couldn’t find to work at. [08:15]
- What does modernized market research look like? [12:31]
- The role of therapy as a transformative personal investment. [15:49]
- Why advice isn’t absolute and needs your unique filter. [18:12]
- Hollow personal branding vs. “warning” signals of authenticity. [21:14]
- The value of understanding your own psychology of money. [29:39]
- Is fear a necessary part of growth? [33:32]
- Exposure to locker room talk as masculine-presenting women. [35:45]
- Embracing the inner voice, fear, and quiet as young women. [39:14]
Connect with Stefanie Francis on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefaniefrancis/.
You can also reach out to Stefanie via email at stephanie@hootology.com.
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to Apple Podcasts and leave a review!
For more information about Lorie Jones, go to https://fearlessfinancialadvisors.com/fearless-females.
00:00.95
Lorie Jones
Good morning, fearless females. So we are on today with Stephanie Francis. She is the founder and CEO of Hoodology. Thank you so much for joining us today, Stephanie. I’m so excited to get to hear your story.
00:13.51
Stefanie | Hootology
Oh, I’m excited to talk to you. Thanks for having me.
00:16.28
Lorie Jones
um My first question is always the same and I love it. What is your favorite book?
00:23.06
Stefanie | Hootology
So I knew this question was coming because it’s the only, it’s the one consistent one that you have. And I historically have two that I default to, but I took a moment to kind of think of what’s most pressing for me in this particular moment.
00:31.91
Lorie Jones
you
00:36.86
Stefanie | Hootology
And I’ll admit, I grabbed a couple. And it’s interesting that all the ones that I was drawn to are all really tiny. And I think it speaks to i was always ah I was always more geared towards math. And so I feel like I have ah to get something succinct and and powerful from a words perspective, I think is harder. so um I always come back to the four agreements and right now it’s it’s standing the test of time time really, really, really well.
01:02.52
Stefanie | Hootology
I have a new one that’s the psychoanalyst meets Marina Mbromovic, which is unreal.
01:02.56
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
01:08.75
Stefanie | Hootology
And I actually had a funny moment at a theater outing where she was actually sitting in the seat I was supposed to be assigned to.
01:09.12
Lorie Jones
Uh-huh.
01:16.03
Stefanie | Hootology
So we had a little chat, which was pretty surreal, a pretty surreal New York moment.
01:16.60
Lorie Jones
Oh, wow.
01:20.95
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
01:21.21
Stefanie | Hootology
And then The War of Art. And there for those of you that are not familiar, it is really um powerful. It’s written by an old straight white guy. So there’s some old straight white guy stuff in it.
01:32.85
Stefanie | Hootology
But really, it really speaks to how hard it is to bring something new to life and the pressures that come with that in a way that I had never thought about before.
01:34.09
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
01:43.52
Stefanie | Hootology
It it it relates a… um It relates things to gravity and gravity being a force that we’re all beholden to, but we can’t see or technically, unless we’re maybe, ah you know, a super intense scientist describe what it is. um But we, but we know we’re all impacted by it. And he talks about another force of resistance. And when we’re,
02:05.98
Stefanie | Hootology
pressing against our you know kind of our our psychological, emotional limits, the the force of resistance that comes to to make something really, really difficult to get over the the finish line, if you will.
02:14.25
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. and
02:19.00
Stefanie | Hootology
The last one was a a book of poetry. I’ve never, 52, and I’ve never really kind of had a moment where I truly got poetry until this um Andrea Gibson book ah came to came to me, and it’s You Better Be Lightning, and there’s a poem in there called The Night Shift that I think as I talk to a lot of my friends who who really like poetry, there’s always like that one poem that sort of is like just turns the whole world on. And I had that moment with this poem that’s Night Shift. And so for those of you that don’t know, Andrea Gibson, she recently passed away of cancer and a documentary was made of her life, her last year of her life. That is, think it won Sundance and is doing and doing quite well.
03:02.08
Stefanie | Hootology
So thank you.
03:02.92
Lorie Jones
Oh, that’s neat. Well, that is a really broad spectrum too.
03:06.04
Stefanie | Hootology
yeah
03:06.18
Lorie Jones
I love that.
03:07.70
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah. Yeah.
03:08.28
Lorie Jones
and I like that.
03:08.38
Stefanie | Hootology
so took the liberty. You said one and i I brought you four, but those are, those are all, I couldn’t decide and I couldn’t, I couldn’t narrow it down.
03:14.25
Lorie Jones
I know.
03:15.78
Stefanie | Hootology
So that’s where, that’s where we’re at this morning.
03:18.30
Lorie Jones
I know. I love that. I actually, that’s how my book list gets longer and longer and turns into like a book mountain that I’ve got.
03:21.82
Stefanie | Hootology
may
03:25.86
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
03:26.39
Lorie Jones
So, well, thank you so much for those suggestions. And I’m definitely going to check some of them out. I haven’t read poetry either really like in general. So I’m really intrigued to start with that one.
03:35.26
Stefanie | Hootology
yeah
03:37.91
Lorie Jones
I think that’d be cool. Tell me a little bit about your journey, Stephanie. Did you always know what you wanted to be? Did you,
03:45.85
Stefanie | Hootology
and then
03:46.36
Lorie Jones
How did you get where you’re at? I know people laugh at that a lot. Like, tell me a little bit about you.
03:52.44
Stefanie | Hootology
Well, I, I, I didn’t, I definitely did not know where I was going and I’m not sure I still, I still i know now.
04:02.33
Lorie Jones
still trying to decide what you’re going to be when you grow up?
04:02.42
Stefanie | Hootology
And
04:04.77
Lorie Jones
Because I am.
04:05.11
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah, yeah. You know, there’s many ways that I admire young folks who are really, really clear, or, you know, even in my generation, folks who really had a high clarity.
04:15.80
Stefanie | Hootology
And that’s just not how it has evolved for me. It’s really been and and still remains and an ongoing evolution. And I feel just more comfortable with that now. of really leaning into this is what I know today and this is what’s true for today and this is the highest and best version of what I could be doing in this moment.
04:25.91
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
04:34.50
Stefanie | Hootology
But I’m i’m pretty confident there’s something else coming, which is really, really exciting to not feel like I have to be sure And if if I could go back, I wish I could let myself be a lot less ah feel a lot less pressure to be sure along the way. So as I think about the journey and as I think about versus like kind of going through you like ah a timeline of of my experiences, i think it really is around, you know, leaving a lot of things and and and
05:07.38
Stefanie | Hootology
And knowing that that in retrospect was so hard and the pressure to stay.
05:11.90
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
05:13.48
Stefanie | Hootology
So whether that be leaving you know where I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, where I didn’t have much exposure to the world, if you will, from from a lot of different angles of that to to ending up in Washington, D.C., four blocks from the White House at George Washington University, where I was fortunate enough to play Division I volleyball.
05:34.49
Stefanie | Hootology
but really be immersed in a world that was so incredible, being so close to the heart of so much that was happening politically and socially and in those times and the early nineteen ninety s um And then, you know, at the time I really wanted to coach collegiate volleyball.
05:46.26
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
05:49.98
Stefanie | Hootology
I thought that was going to be my entire career. I was, I was sure if you will, that, that, that would be the case. And, um, I got a great opportunity and ended up coaching at Iowa state and then at university of San Diego.
06:01.59
Stefanie | Hootology
And you know it was one of those things when you, when you get behind the scenes of something and you realize, oh gosh, this isn’t, um, this isn’t what I thought behind the scenes and, and stepping away from that and from, from kind of leaders, if you will, that weren’t, um,
06:17.14
Stefanie | Hootology
admirable she replie ah and and kind of walking away from what was my dream um and then really getting lucky and falling into social services and being able to work with abused and neglected teenagers. And um i had a moment where I was tasked kind of become the the person in charge of specific program. And my task was to go negotiate budget for the next year and at San Diego County offices. And I just remember looking at the office and being like, I don’t want to go in there. Like this isn’t, I’m so far removed from why I got into this, which is looking face to face with, with young folks and and families that are going through some pretty tough stuff. and And that is what drew me into it. And now I was, you know, dealing with,
07:00.57
Stefanie | Hootology
you know, state employees to try and get what was right done. And that just seemed like a, not, not the best use of my time. um And so I sold that, went to business school and ended up in, in the first job post business school in corporate America, which was, oh boy, not a great fit, which that was a pretty easy one to leave. But then ended up in ah in the business with someone who of the time came where it was just time to part ways um and walking away from what was my kind of heart and soul in that particular moment. And, ended up in New York, which was never on the the life plan. That’s for darn sure.
07:35.50
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
07:35.90
Stefanie | Hootology
I’m working for an agency ah that i amm I’m glad to say I got fired from. i feel like everybody at Meijer has these great like fired you know getting fired stories. If you listen to Kara Swisher, or she’s like, I’ve been fired 20 times. you im like Everybody I admire has all these great fired stories. And I had the the benefit of being fired in such a way where I thought it was my fault. Like I thought I had left. And then it got clarified that no, no, indeed you you were fired. And it’s like, Oh yes, that’s great. i didn’t have to feel it in the moment and really ended up starting my own thing with kind of by, by gosh,
08:15.13
Stefanie | Hootology
I don’t know. What is the right word for this? I started my Hootology. Because um i couldn’t find the person I wanted to work for.
08:24.68
Lorie Jones
Oh,
08:24.89
Stefanie | Hootology
and And so it wasn’t this drive of like, i want to start my own thing and be the one in charge and and create something. It was, i ran out of time. i ran out of rope. And I needed to i needed to to, I guess, create the thing I was looking for.
08:44.06
Lorie Jones
that’s so interesting. Like, like you’re an accidental entrepreneur.
08:48.37
Stefanie | Hootology
100%. Yes. Undoubtedly.
08:51.48
Lorie Jones
Yeah. I think, I think that we find that in our lives sometimes that we, we end up somewhere where we’re like, I did not plan. i like, I never planned on being a business owner.
09:01.88
Lorie Jones
I, it, it felt too risky to me. um But, but I, I couldn’t find the sort of um ethics and ethos and, and draw a vision vision maybe in other places.
09:05.08
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
09:18.54
Lorie Jones
So you’re driven to what Tell me about your company. What do you do?
09:24.98
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah, Hootology is a modernized market research agency, which is the old way that that I kind of by default would describe it. But what it has evolved into is actually accidentally kind of becoming a tech platform.
09:40.74
Stefanie | Hootology
So if you had told me when I was an art major at George Washington University in 1991 that I would ah be the owner of a tech company, i would have laughed quite a bit.
09:41.32
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
09:50.40
Stefanie | Hootology
In fact I probably would have been like, what does that mean? so in Over the course of time, we ended up creating a new way to conduct market research or consumer insights.
10:01.52
Stefanie | Hootology
so Understanding the psychology of Any group of people, right depending on what the the the major business decision that that’s at hand is.
10:02.01
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
10:10.46
Stefanie | Hootology
So whether it be and a strategic business decision or whether it be around new product innovation or ideation or big marketing and advertising, just to be as sure that what you’re trying to help folks understand can come through in a meaningful way that works.
10:26.48
Stefanie | Hootology
um We still conduct kind of full service market research projects, but only on the platform we’ve created and are about to get into licensing it, which is an exciting kind of new moment of of learning for us.
10:39.93
Lorie Jones
yeah You’re like, what? what
10:41.53
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
10:43.34
Lorie Jones
How did end up here? That’s so great. That’s neat, though. i I really like that, you know, the path. And I liked what you said about, like, you shouldn’t have to know who you’re going to be. You shouldn’t have to be sure of things when you’re young. I i find it Yeah, like you’re asking these 18 and 19 year olds, um like, what are you going to be when you grow up?
11:04.09
Lorie Jones
And and expecting them at that age with absolutely zero experience to just know what they want to do. I’m like, I’m like, let them experience.
11:11.58
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think what’s interesting, even what you just said, it made me think about, um and I make it a little existential here, which I am known to do, but you know, you said, you know we shouldn’t know at 18 or 19, we shouldn’t be sure. And ironically, that the background of my screen that I’m looking at you on is is literally a picture of of the Milky Way and and the universe and everything that we know the Milky Way is such a tiny little portion of. And it’s a a I love to think about, like, how can we be sure about anything at any age? Like with how little we understand about…
11:47.48
Stefanie | Hootology
why we’re here and what the bigger the bigger picture is, if there is one. And you know we’re really just kind of all popped out on this this one particular rock in the middle of something monstrous.
11:56.10
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
11:59.54
Stefanie | Hootology
And so I kind of take a lot of pride in and not being sure of anything. And I feel like that is the freedom and that possibly should be, you know it’s my own goal of getting less and less sure the older I get, because that means I’m more and more open to new things and new possibilities than I would be if I was sure.
12:18.74
Lorie Jones
That’s the word that kept coming to my mind is like possibilities. Like if you’re not sure, then there are possibilities out there and curiosity and questions.
12:24.92
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
12:27.50
Lorie Jones
And yeah, ah those are all my favorite thing. ah So tell me a little bit, Stephanie, what is the best investment you’ve made in yourself as you’ve been kind of going along this journey? is there something you’re like, oh, I’m so glad I did that. It just, my life wouldn’t have been the same.
12:46.74
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah, I’m share the first thing that comes to my mind. i imagine if I paused and reflected for a week or so, I but might come up with a different version of this. But the the top answer is therapy. And, you know, I think ah for I’m really fortunate in that the tides move me at an early age into a moments into moments and opportunities where i had kind of fairly early exposure for someone who’s squarely Gen X, right?
13:16.64
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
13:17.81
Stefanie | Hootology
um You know, my coach in college brought in a sports psychologist um to our to our team.
13:18.20
Lorie Jones
mother
13:23.01
Stefanie | Hootology
And that was the first time I’d ever seen or really understood outside of Bob Newhart, right? What an actual psychologist could do and and could be and
13:28.89
Lorie Jones
yeah
13:34.20
Stefanie | Hootology
then I ended up working in, like i said, nonprofit and social services, which was surrounded by psychologists. And, um, at the time i don’t, I, it hadn’t yet been revealed to me how much, um, I had to unlearn and how much I had to heal in terms of things that I thought were my fault or I thought were baked into me as being just, um, a flawed person.
13:59.71
Stefanie | Hootology
And, And that has been ah quite a long journey. it has is reignited of recent in terms of kind of reaching that next level of understanding.
14:04.00
Lorie Jones
Okay.
14:09.67
Stefanie | Hootology
And I’m so grateful that the tide shifted in that way because i don’t um i can’t even begin to imagine where I would be or if I would be or who I would be if if it’s not for all of those gifts along the way.
14:28.20
Lorie Jones
Yeah, that’s really, I think that’s really important. I think that I hear the answer a lot, you know, coaching, but I think that therapy is is’s like it is like personal coaching, you know, it like, it helps you to understand
14:35.59
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
14:40.05
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
14:43.74
Lorie Jones
where you get some of these beliefs from and then work through them. And you’re right. Like as Gen Xers, like we were not, we were kind of taught therapy was a bad word, right? you You didn’t get, you didn’t get help for anything.
14:58.19
Lorie Jones
And i I love that, like the, that your early experiences allowed you to look deeper into that because I, I, you know, I, I fully believe that it changes lives.
14:58.84
Stefanie | Hootology
yeah
15:12.18
Stefanie | Hootology
For sure.
15:13.78
Lorie Jones
What about the worst advice someone gave you? do you Do you remember a time that you got some really bad advice and and did you take it?
15:22.52
Stefanie | Hootology
I sometimes wonder if if the worst advice is being told to to take advice. um You know, I wonder if we shouldn’t like be seeking outside thoughts or like, you know,
15:37.43
Stefanie | Hootology
um perspectives, if you will, from people that we admire who are either ahead of us or are kind of in our, in our, whatever our peer group is at the moment, or or from folks that are younger than us in different ways, and then take all those thoughts and and kind of create our own path forward for whatever the the decision at hand I,
15:58.94
Stefanie | Hootology
um i you know i think about as I’m in this really new world for me of understanding the the investment ecosystem as it relates to startups.
16:08.81
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
16:09.83
Stefanie | Hootology
and um you know when i were like kind of landed here by by accident, by creating a tech platform. um you know I didn’t even understand the difference between you know an an accelerator and a private equity and angels and venture capitalists, and I certainly do now, and I’ve had a chance to kind of peek behind the curtains of all of those and get to know people associated with each of those things. and um In the process, it’s just been fascinating.
16:38.43
Stefanie | Hootology
And I think it’s really a good kind of example around this advice question, because something as simple as like your your pitch deck, right?
16:47.18
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
16:47.80
Stefanie | Hootology
Everybody you talk to has a very strong, very clear um directive about what you should do to change your pitch deck.
16:51.63
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
16:59.24
Stefanie | Hootology
And it’s almost, it’s it’s actually hilarious. not almost hilarious. It’s hilarious because they’re they’re all coming from a certain vantage point, which may or may not be um the best one.
17:10.64
Stefanie | Hootology
and then all that’s going to do is have us, all of us, every single startup a company out there spending time spinning chasing the tail of the thing that the last person told us that has to be done for this thing versus having the next conversation with somebody who’s actually going to get it without a deck, right?
17:25.64
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
17:32.02
Stefanie | Hootology
Or without, um you know, that the the the perfect font size and the perfect flow from the problem, the solution, the opportunity. Like, we like we all We all understand the framework.
17:42.82
Stefanie | Hootology
And a certain point, once you understand the framework or the rules and and and play by the rules, then it really becomes how how can you find the people who get that we don’t need those rules because we understand.
17:57.65
Stefanie | Hootology
And so, you know, i’m im i’m getting to the place where I listen a lot to people, the few people, you know, maybe the 10 or 12 people that I admire so deeply. and And then I know that it’s only me that can put all that together and trust whatever whatever comes forward within me. And so I’m i’m less reliant on listening and executing on somebody else’s idea of what my life should be. um
18:31.06
Stefanie | Hootology
But that’s not to say I don’t to don’t don’t very much value some thoughts. I do have one piece of distinct advice, though, that I got that might be fun for you.
18:41.92
Stefanie | Hootology
And it was when I was earlier and younger and significantly less comfortable in my own skin.
18:42.14
Lorie Jones
Okay.
18:49.36
Stefanie | Hootology
And I was seeking anybody to tell me exactly what to do. And there was a woman who was a, she was much older than me, probably 20 and 25 years older. And she was a
19:03.06
Stefanie | Hootology
a beacon of the community, if you will. And she had a design company and she very much cared about her aesthetic.
19:05.74
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
19:10.82
Stefanie | Hootology
And, and she was, we were having lunch at a fairly prominent place in Scottsdale, Arizona. And she was telling me how I needed to do more to have a a a brand image of my own.
19:23.25
Stefanie | Hootology
And I thought it was hilarious and ridiculous. And And she said that I shouldn’t, oh, I need to wear a belt. That was, that was where we started. And I was like, wait, I’m trying to talk about like the future of my business career. Like, what are you talking about? And she goes, she goes, Stephanie, you’re six foot one.
19:40.22
Stefanie | Hootology
And maybe your clients don’t want you to be that tall. And so if you wear a belt, you will seem shorter. And I was like, oh, this is amazing. And then someone came up to her who knew of her and she, they just, they just,
19:55.67
Stefanie | Hootology
just were like in awe of who she was and I can’t believe I get to talk to you. And I’m sitting there, sitting there just being quiet. Person didn’t even notice or acknowledge me. And then the woman I was talking to came back after the the stranger left and she said, see Stephanie, this is why you have to have an image. And I looked at her and I said, but I don’t want to attract people like that in my life.
20:17.85
Stefanie | Hootology
And so it was ah it was a pretty funny moment. And the the I guess the punchline is when we left, um I accidentally ah was going a direction by where her car was and she parked in a handicapped spot.
20:31.13
Lorie Jones
oh my gosh yeah
20:31.29
Stefanie | Hootology
and And I know her very well. And so there wasn’t some ah hidden disability. Like I’m very well aware. I didn’t want to put that assumption that, you know, if I don’t see it, therefore it’s not. I knew.
20:41.82
Stefanie | Hootology
And it was just this perfect moment where I was like, oh my gosh, you have no idea. that how much I now do not respect you because of that is so much bigger than how much you may not value me because I’m not wearing a belt or not wearing the right clothes.
20:53.99
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
21:00.82
Stefanie | Hootology
So I would say just everyone, let’s just listen to our gut and ourselves and get in touch with that.
21:01.78
Lorie Jones
yeah
21:06.70
Stefanie | Hootology
And we’ll probably all, all the the answers will be easy for all of us.
21:10.84
Lorie Jones
Yeah, i think I think that’s really interesting because i will ask i will ask probably 10, 20 people for their advice on a situation. And then I take that collective and kind of come up with what feels right for me.
21:20.02
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah. Yeah.
21:24.32
Lorie Jones
And my husband is always yelling at me.
21:24.94
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
21:26.00
Lorie Jones
He’s like, why do you ask for my advice if you don’t take it?
21:29.21
Stefanie | Hootology
a
21:30.33
Lorie Jones
And I’m like, well, I did take it into account. And like, I turned it around. And I’m like, is this the you know, is this where I want to go?
21:35.13
Stefanie | Hootology
yeah
21:37.29
Lorie Jones
Or is this not where I want to go? So I can see where getting getting a lot of different opinions. it Like for me, it’s important. But also having the I don’t know, the self inner fortitude to understand that, that the really the opinion that matters is yours.
21:57.40
Lorie Jones
because it’s your life. It’s the way you are going to, you’re going to come across and you’re going to live.
21:59.20
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
22:03.04
Lorie Jones
And i also love that, that what, what you’re attracting with the way that you live your life and the, the decisions that you make, the people that you’re attracting into your life will be attracted to that kind of pitch deck or that kind of fashion sense or something like that.
22:23.51
Lorie Jones
Right. Like,
22:25.66
Stefanie | Hootology
Or not. And also perfect, right? like I said, I have ah i have ah a new person who’s cutting my hair. And I said, i just want it to be a warning. like like whatever Whatever you do, just like I want people to understand like that that like you know what you’re getting. And so if you if you come in here and you’re like surprised, like I told you. like It’s just…
22:48.50
Lorie Jones
but First off, you knew who you were getting. I love that.
22:51.90
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah, yeah, it was your choice. I mean, that’s not, i mean, we’re good, we’re good.
22:57.66
Lorie Jones
I love that. I don’t even know what my hairdresser would do if I’m like, I just want you to make me into a warning. I don’t know what she would do with me. i did that I love that idea.
23:08.78
Lorie Jones
I love that question, Stephanie. You’ve made me think.
23:10.52
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah, yeah, well, it would be it would be the execution of your insides on your outsides as it relates to your hair, right?
23:11.24
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
23:16.24
Stefanie | Hootology
So it would have to be kind of unique to whoever
23:16.70
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
23:19.42
Stefanie | Hootology
whoever you are. And then I think that that’s sort of, that’s actually what I’m asking her is like, don’t, don’t give me something radical for the sake of being radical. Right. And that’s no fun, but, but help, help me make whatever’s happening up here reflective of who, of who I am on the inside.
23:27.43
Lorie Jones
Yeah, right. Yeah.
23:35.44
Stefanie | Hootology
And that’s been a fun journey.
23:36.95
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I probably, i was thinking about that this morning. I probably would have the same hair hairdo. Like it’s very serious. You know, i’ve I’ve always got my hair kind of pulled back in a bun or something like that. Very efficient, very serious. Like that probably is me. So um what about a do-over?
23:55.42
Lorie Jones
If you could kind of look back along your journey and think about, o If I knew then what I know now, i would so I would do this situation differently. I would change the way I did this. What would that be? Is there something you can think of?
24:12.20
Stefanie | Hootology
Oh, so many. There’s… there’s
24:15.61
Lorie Jones
it
24:15.86
Stefanie | Hootology
I don’t, I just had a ah visual of like the, the scroll coming out and just like rolling and continuing to roll of things i wish I had done differently or handled differently.
24:26.61
Stefanie | Hootology
um And i tend to gravitate towards to that um sliding doors mentality of, you know, no matter, no matter what the path we, we would have ended up right here talking to each other today and for the same reasons and for the, um around the same topics.
24:34.11
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
24:43.53
Stefanie | Hootology
And so it’s, it’s it’s hard to kind of look at that one particular moment and be like, oh, I distinctly wish I had done this particular thing differently in my in my quote unquote personal life or in in my my career um because it’s all made me who I am today and it’s gotten me here.
25:04.58
Stefanie | Hootology
There’s sort of one distinct moment where um after I graduated from undergrad, i had a professor who was really phenomenal and
25:07.29
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
25:15.29
Stefanie | Hootology
I, at the time, wanted to coach, as I mentioned. And she um told me about a graduate program at Smith and that was specifically for athletic coaches around, like, future collegiate coaches. And she’s like, look, they don’t take people straight out of undergrad, but um I will write you a letter to to to see if if my advocacy of you specifically could could get you in.
25:42.46
Stefanie | Hootology
And i got in. And I think, and I didn’t go. The decision was to move to Iowa to coach at Iowa State or to go to graduate school at Smith at 22. And that’s probably the most clear, like, oh, wow. Like that would have been a really, really distinct moment. I was at an event last night at Barnard and I turned to my friend who I was with and I was like, gosh can you imagine if our if we were 17, 18 we’re at in an institution like like a Barnard or like a Smith and how different it could be.
26:15.11
Lorie Jones
Oh,
26:16.79
Stefanie | Hootology
And she was like, I think about it all the time. and And yet I still think had i not chosen to go to Ames, Iowa and I had gone to Smith, I still probably would be exactly where I am today.
26:27.98
Stefanie | Hootology
And so, yeah,
26:32.83
Lorie Jones
That’s interesting because I always, I kind of always think, well, there, you know, there’s, there’s two paths that converge in the woods.
26:32.89
Stefanie | Hootology
whatever that’s worth.
26:39.55
Lorie Jones
Right. And like, if you take one, that, that it takes you to a different place than the other one, but the way you kind of look at it is, is they’re all going to the same place.
26:40.65
Stefanie | Hootology
Mm-hmm.
26:51.36
Lorie Jones
It’s just a different, a different way to get there. That’s so interesting.
26:57.69
Lorie Jones
I love that idea. I’m going to think on that. So if you could high five yourself for a really great financial decision in your past, what would it be and why?
27:08.41
Stefanie | Hootology
think little Money. um
27:12.87
Lorie Jones
It’s my favorite. I can’t help it.
27:14.94
Stefanie | Hootology
i know. i know. It’s so interesting. You know, high five. That feels extremely celebratory. and And I would say what’s, what’s most true for me today is that it’s, um, it’s something that I only recently started to take seriously and and quite honestly feel worthy of. And so as it relates to high-fiving myself, I would say, um probably a ah different answer than what you’re looking for or thinking about, which is,
27:52.63
Stefanie | Hootology
um allowing myself to be open to understanding this the psychology of money. And and really that’s become up a Pandora’s box around um realizing that for for a lot of people, certainly in in this country, there’s there’s a really deep ingrained story around money from and and so many different, is ah almost everybody I know dearly has a very, very extremely different
28:18.90
Lorie Jones
yeah
28:24.86
Stefanie | Hootology
um connection psychologically to money. And I think that that that force, if we’re going to kind of go back to invisible forces, really impacts a lot of how we see ourselves and and how comfortable we feel either talking about money, valuing money, um aspiring for money.
28:39.03
Lorie Jones
and
28:45.46
Stefanie | Hootology
And so my only whole five five my only high five I can give myself right now is that I’m really actively diving into that and and trying to um change that’s the story around money. So that that’s my
29:01.43
Lorie Jones
I love that. I actually do. i i do a lot of work around um figuring out what your money story is and kind of living close to your values.
29:09.27
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
29:11.64
Lorie Jones
Because I i think that, um you know, to your point, like money as a as a concept or as a rule or as a, like a reward or like ah a measure of accomplishment like that, that’s never going to make you truly happy as if you understand what your values are and you’re using, you’re using that as a tool to live your values, you know?
29:35.48
Stefanie | Hootology
yeah
29:35.66
Lorie Jones
So I, I love that. i I love that answer at a 10. That’s the best answer, Stephanie. I love it. That’s great.
29:42.84
Stefanie | Hootology
i will well i think the value piece is is great it’s like the from your angle it’s it sounds like youre what you’re saying is the how you deploy your, your, your one specific one resource, which is money. There’s, there’s others of course.
30:01.14
Stefanie | Hootology
um
30:01.24
Lorie Jones
Right. Mm-hmm.
30:02.39
Stefanie | Hootology
And have that be in alignment with your values. um You know, i know Scott Galloway has his big resistant unsubscribe right now, which is really kind of fascinating to, to listen to and understand, and then understand that the ties and the rationale as to where he’s coming from. And, and that action piece around, you know, each person’s,
30:24.51
Stefanie | Hootology
hard-earned money and their decisions as to where to spend it in alignment their values is important. And I still think there’s something big before that, right? um And that’s the deep the deep psychology piece.
30:36.70
Stefanie | Hootology
And you know I have friends who um truly grew up in what would be considered poverty who then went on to get a PhD and there’s a different psychology of understanding and then very different from from my situation where I grew up
30:37.27
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
30:47.55
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
30:52.28
Stefanie | Hootology
in ah in a family that that cared a lot about money and didn’t feel a part of that or worthy of that by by design, i think.
31:00.54
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
31:02.03
Stefanie | Hootology
And then realizing that and the untying that we both have to do in that case. and that’s just two of, you know, 30 stories of people close to me.
31:08.60
Lorie Jones
Yeah, a million examples. Yeah.
31:10.54
Stefanie | Hootology
And that’s the piece I think that we got to get ah get our hands on before we can even consider how do we, how do we execute our values or deploy our values?
31:19.19
Lorie Jones
Right. Right. How do I use it? How do I use it?
31:21.54
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
31:22.07
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Is what are my, va what is my money story? What, what do, what preconceived notions? What, yeah. Yeah. That sort of thing. I love that. I love delving into that.
31:32.46
Lorie Jones
That’s so cool. What scared you the most, Stephanie, as you kind of started down your journey, your career journey? And is it still?
31:42.01
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah, it’s funny. It’s funny you say that in the past tense. and the the i’m I’m terrified still. And and i think the the beauty about that question in retrospect is i feel fortunate to have a lot of times not known what I was getting into as it relates to to my career path. um You know, if I understood everything that it would have taken, what it was going to take to bring this tech platform to life, I i don’t know if I would have started it.
32:12.82
Lorie Jones
yeah
32:14.60
Stefanie | Hootology
um
32:15.15
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
32:16.25
Stefanie | Hootology
But i think that, you know, saying scared, so that’s obviously fear. i use the word terror. um i I don’t know if that’s something to to kind of wish away.
32:31.10
Stefanie | Hootology
um I think it’s something to embrace and to realize kind of back to, you know, we don’t know why we’re here and and what we’re doing. It’s going to be scary. Everything new is is going to be and should be scary. And if we’re no longer a little bit afraid, then how boring, right? It means we we have comfort and command over everything we’re doing and our lives. And no matter what, there’s always so much more to to do and try and get better, whether it be within our own selves or something we’re working on work.
33:04.19
Stefanie | Hootology
um
33:04.26
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
33:07.13
Stefanie | Hootology
So what scared me the most, probably some version of being seen, ah ah like a consistent ah consistent way. um And a lot of a lot of time and comfort spent into
33:24.73
Stefanie | Hootology
what that meant at every stage. And it really is, it’s still palpable today. Like I got, and I was given, I have a keynote in two days and it’s probably the biggest and best a thing I’ve done yet. And I’m terrified.
33:38.04
Stefanie | Hootology
And i wouldn’t want to not be terrified because that,
33:44.60
Stefanie | Hootology
that would, that wouldn’t be true. So.
33:46.42
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I like that idea. Like a little bit, there’s there’s growth there when you’re when you’re scared, when you’re when you have to be just a little bit fearless. um it it does That’s where the growth comes. If you are totally good at everything you’re doing and complacent, like there’s probably not a whole lot of growth there, right?
34:07.17
Stefanie | Hootology
Right.
34:08.08
Lorie Jones
Yeah. What about along your journey? Did you face any unique challenges because you were a woman?
34:16.46
Stefanie | Hootology
I think that’s a great question. so i don’t think i’m a, I, I, this is a common, um, you know, question for women and in the business world. And, I sometimes think I’m not the right person to answer that.
34:28.90
Stefanie | Hootology
Um, mostly, you know, as I mentioned, six, one masculine of center, lesbian. Uh, and so i don’t have the same kind of experience that a lot of, um, my female friends who kind of fall more into the the traditional, um, representation do.
34:46.46
Lorie Jones
right
34:49.12
Stefanie | Hootology
And so I don’t know, I don’t know how to answer that. i think that the the the unique angle that I had, which is not necessarily a favorable one, is there were there’s significant chunks of my career where um I might have been working in a male-nominated industry. And so I got treated like one of the guys, which was which seems great. um And then you know got exposure to a lot of like what we’ll call locker room talk.
35:18.43
Stefanie | Hootology
And it’s just…
35:18.94
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
35:20.77
Stefanie | Hootology
it’s It was discouraging and i i wish in retrospect, maybe this could be one of the things I wish I would have changed is I wish I could have um seen and understood that and been able to to speak up and be a little bit more of an internal advocate that that then felt like it was possible at that time. Yeah.
35:44.44
Lorie Jones
Because you were young or just didn’t want to rock the boat or?
35:49.89
Stefanie | Hootology
Well,
35:52.82
Stefanie | Hootology
maybe neither. it it was It was a different day and age, first off. And also,
35:58.53
Lorie Jones
Uh-huh.
36:00.57
Stefanie | Hootology
i i was i was me, but I wasn’t yet me of today, right? So kind of back to that. i Would I change it? I wish i would have been able to to to speak up more. And yet,
36:16.89
Stefanie | Hootology
Because I didn’t, I’m now driven to do so at a bigger scale today, which feels feels all feels kind of worth it, you know?
36:24.98
Lorie Jones
that makes sense I like I like the way you think of that you you know you can kind of go back and say do I wish yeah maybe but it’s gotten me where I am today and and that’s made me more passionate about whatever this is whatever I want to say and bring yeah um Stephanie what are you most proud of
36:37.17
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
36:43.39
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
36:51.86
Stefanie | Hootology
Peace.
36:57.87
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
36:57.94
Lorie Jones
in your life?
36:59.93
Stefanie | Hootology
Just in my, in my being, um, it’s, it’s been a long journey. it’s had some, some pretty significant lows, um, including somewhat fairly recently. And um,
37:19.06
Stefanie | Hootology
I understand not feeling peaceful um deeply. I understand feeling truly terrified and feeling like you, feeling like I don’t fit to to the point of of that being a painful feeling.
37:36.20
Stefanie | Hootology
I think a lot of us, you know, have a lot of experiences where we we don’t fit or whatnot for any number of reasons that this world creates.
37:40.37
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
37:44.66
Stefanie | Hootology
But, um Having spent so many decades not at peace, I think i cherish and understand how valuable i of a journey it’s been to get to the place, at least at least for the today, I feel at peace.
38:01.75
Lorie Jones
yeah
38:02.78
Stefanie | Hootology
And, you know, no there’ll be there’ll be other ah growth opportunities in the future, but hard fought. So really proud of it.
38:12.99
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. I like that. Any advice for a young lady who is just starting down this path to help her succeed and be successful like you?
38:23.80
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah. Well, I guess if I say that no one should listen to advice and and then i feel like I would say to this young person, well, you shouldn’t listen to mine either.
38:28.41
Lorie Jones
I know. Yeah.
38:32.99
Stefanie | Hootology
And, and i would, I would probably say, listen, get in touch as soon as you can to your inner, your inner voice, whatever that means for, for you, for some people it’s, it’s spiritual.
38:33.05
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
38:45.47
Stefanie | Hootology
And for others, that sounds a little bit too spiritual and woo woo, but no matter what we call it at the end of the day, we all have it. And,
38:52.78
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
38:53.75
Stefanie | Hootology
So i would I would hopefully encourage them to listen to themselves and in all of the ways that that can happen. And the sooner that they can have the connection to whatever source that is for them, the more rapidly they’ll get to wherever they want to be.
39:16.60
Stefanie | Hootology
And just know, I’d say, no no, it’s going to be scary. You know, I talked to a lot of younger folks and who were want the fear to go away. And and i kind of come in with a let’s embrace the fear because it’s it’s not going to go away if you’re going to keep trying to do the next big thing. And so listen to yourself and accept that fear is part of the process.
39:37.24
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I like that. how do you How do you get in touch with your inner light or source or truth or whatever you want to call it?
39:49.19
Lorie Jones
Any suggestions for
39:51.06
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah. Well, it’s, I can only speak for for what has been true for me. And I think that everybody, there’s so many different ways that I’ve heard people close to me that that have kind of gotten there.
40:03.05
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
40:06.03
Stefanie | Hootology
So I know for me, um when I first started meditating, probably 25 years ago, there was no possible way. like it was impossible. Just the thoughts were just so too fast, too quick, too. I couldn’t turn things off. And um kind of just staying consistent with that process has helped me only with a lot of time and in retrospect, be able to say, oh, it’s not about silencing.
40:35.70
Stefanie | Hootology
It’s about understanding. It’s about understanding how your mind works.
40:37.24
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
40:39.26
Stefanie | Hootology
It’s about knowing when it’s activated in in good and and not so good ways to giving it that space where um it was able to, my my own thinking is, I’ll stick to me, was able to kind of reveal itself in the moment of quiet. And even if that moment was a minute in the beginning, there’s still times where, um,
41:01.08
Stefanie | Hootology
you know I can’t ah meditate this for whatever my current sort of target number is, which i which I keep kind of sacred to myself. But even now, I i just cut it back by 75% because things are hard.
41:13.30
Stefanie | Hootology
And to sit down for that long, it just seems impossible. And I’ve been doing it for 25 I…
41:16.54
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
41:18.66
Stefanie | Hootology
i realize I’m like, Oh, wow, i’m I’m fighting against a constraint I made on myself. Like what what, feels good for me? And it’s a single digit number. And it feels great. Because it’s like I now i’m I’m back to kind of keeping it simple.
41:31.70
Stefanie | Hootology
um So some version of being quiet, but I don’t know, that doesn’t have to be meditation. And it doesn’t have to be what but but turning off the noise, especially, you know, for younger folks who grew up in the social media world. Like, I don’t, I don’t know if I could have advice for how to, to, to calm that, to turn that volume down when when um that’s the world someone grew up in that’s so loud. And, and I didn’t have that. So
42:04.20
Stefanie | Hootology
don’t know.
42:04.92
Lorie Jones
ah Yeah, no, that’s that’s good advice. I love that. I think that um I have a hard time. i i joke, I went to yoga one time and they told me to be like silent and thoughtful for 30 seconds and I about died. like
42:17.69
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
42:17.82
Lorie Jones
and and And that it it impacted me enough.
42:18.94
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah.
42:21.22
Lorie Jones
It was years and years ago and it impacted me enough that I’m like, I’ve got to figure out a way to be still with myself.
42:27.49
Stefanie | Hootology
Good.
42:27.80
Lorie Jones
And, and, and I’m still not very good at it, but I’m better than I was, you know, 20 years ago.
42:33.58
Stefanie | Hootology
Love it.
42:34.74
Lorie Jones
So i I like that. I think that’s a really good advice. Well, thank you so, so much, Stephanie, for spending some time with us and just sharing your journey story.
42:39.90
Stefanie | Hootology
First.
42:42.46
Lorie Jones
um Can you tell me if there is a young lady who wants to reach out to you and ask you questions? How does she get in touch with you?
42:49.56
Stefanie | Hootology
Sure. My email is stephanie at hootology.com. I spell my name with an F and not a PH. So F and Steph. It tracks on of a couple levels. Or on LinkedIn, Stephanie Francis of Hootology.
43:03.64
Stefanie | Hootology
Lots of ways.
43:04.89
Lorie Jones
Perfect. Well, thank you. Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.
43:08.44
Stefanie | Hootology
Yeah, appreciate it too. Thank you.