Mom Owned and Operated
Candid conversations with and for moms about the real deal of raising a family, running a business, and remembering yourself.
Tired of the fluff and just want real talk about what it takes to succeed as a mompreneur? Then you've come to the right place.
Join your host, business growth strategist Rita Suzanne, as she dives into the nitty-gritty of building a business while raising a family. With over 10 years of experience helping women entrepreneurs thrive, Rita knows what it takes to make it all work.
In each episode, Rita sits down with inspiring mom business owners to uncover the strategies, mindsets, and tactics that are actually making a difference in their lives and businesses.
Tune in and discover the secrets to building a successful business without sacrificing your family or yourself.
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Mom Owned and Operated
The Profound Benefits of Never Asking Permission with Don Mamone
In this episode of the Mom Owned and Operated podcast, Rita Suzanne and Don Mamone discuss raising a family, running a business and remembering yourself.
Don Mamone’s decade-long career in hospitality culminated with their role as the Director of Events at the prestigious Beverly Hilton. Determined to embrace their creativity and pursue the dream of entrepreneurship, Don and their wife Emily opened a photography studio and have exceeded the expectations of their loyal clients from Dallas to Destinations around the world for over fifteen years.
As a speaker and coach Don teaches audiences and clients how to reach their maximum potential and impact by discovering and embracing their true identity. Having recently come out as non-binary, Don is a committed advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community and consults with companies and organizations dedicated to diversity, inclusivity and representation as well as creating safe spaces that support and encourage unapologetic authenticity.
When they are not traveling the world for creative projects and speeches, Don lives happily outside the gender binary in Dallas with their talented spouse Emily and their creative child Frankie.
You can connect with Don on their website, on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
Send a text message! Email, if you want a reply though. ;)
P.S. You can find more interviews at momownedandoperated.com and learn about working with Rita at ritasuzanne.com/apply/
Hi, this is Mom Owned and Operated. I'm Rita, suzanne, and today I have my guest Dawn with me. Dawn, I'm so excited to chat with you. Let's talk about all the things. Please tell everyone, all about you, your family and your business.
Don Mamone:Oh my gosh, all about me. How much time do you have, Rita?
Rita Suzanne:All the things we have about 20 minutes, let's go.
Don Mamone:Okay, let's go. Hello everyone. I'm Don Mamone pronouns they them. I live with my beautiful and adorable daughter, frankie, and my creative and talented wife, emily, in the state of Texas, in the city of Dallas. I am an identity coach, a professional speaker and an author and I'm really excited to talk to you about entrepreneurship and identity and being a mom and succeeding and all the things.
Rita Suzanne:Love it, love it. So what we want to talk about first is success, like what is your one service, that or product that you have that's been a game changer for you and your business?
Don Mamone:So let me just first say that Emily and I have been entrepreneurs for the better part of two decades, so going on about 20 years. We've owned a photography business. We do large corporate and nonprofit events, and I would say that in that particular business, our huge realization was in 2012,. When we rebranded our company, we understood and appreciated the fact that authenticity in our marketing and creating an offer that basically decommodified what can be considered a commodity Okay, and so let me explain what that means.
Don Mamone:When you're a photographer, I think some people look at you and they're like okay, so you have a camera and you take a picture. I think some people look at you and they're like okay, so you have a camera and you take a picture. And when they do that and that's all they see, then you suddenly become a commodity, which means that you put all the photographers who have a camera and take a picture up on a shelf and suddenly what is the common variable amongst them all? You're the cheapest, your work's good enough and you're the cheapest, we're going to buy you. And so what Emily and I realized all those years ago was if we created a unique product, if we created a special experience, then people would look at us and stop saying, oh so you're just a photographer. They would understand that we provided a service above and beyond and that we had artistic talent and experience that was above and beyond, and therefore they would then pay above and beyond. And so suddenly people would start saying like, oh yeah, you think you want a photographer, but what you really want are the Mamonis.
Don Mamone:And so in that side of my life and in my entrepreneurship that was my answer there when it comes to being an identity coach and a professional speaker, I think what it really boils down to for me is that, once again, I didn't want to just be anything. I wanted to be a linchpin and a catalyst in people's lives, where they walked away completely transformed, and so I think I was endeavoring upon doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and I've found and we're going to talk about this, I'm sure, later, rita I've found clarity and focus in everything that I do on this side of my business, and what that means is I find people that are in desperate need of support in uncovering and unleashing their maximum potential, and that's all I do, and I do it in a very niche level and I do it very personally and it's always sort of really driven towards that unique individual and that has made all the difference.
Rita Suzanne:I love all of that. I especially love the productizing your service, because I feel like a lot of service-based businesses feel like that based businesses feel like that, and I also love how, in your business now, you're really honing in and helping people really get that clarity that they need, because that, I think, is what a lot of people struggle with in general, not just in right, not just in business. Okay, so what is your biggest source of revenue in your business right now?
Don Mamone:entrepreneurs, businesses that are doing really big events. We have become an extension of their team that goes above and beyond photography. We really are a subject matter expert for them, and so we'll do multiple large conferences, um, in a week or a month. That are, you know, four and 5,000 people, four and five photographers on the ground, and so, so that tends to make up the largest part of our revenue.
Don Mamone:Um, for my coaching and speaking brand, it is definitely corporate speaking opportunities in which I have the opportunity to educate them and inspire them to embrace authenticity in their workforce, and one-to-one coaching where an entrepreneur will come to me, rita, and be like I am just stalled out. Typically it's not the brand new entrepreneur, it Somebody who's been hustling and grinding and found some success, and or has kind of found great success, but like, doesn't feel fulfilled or feels like they've put themselves in a place where they're doing a job that they've chosen right. Entrepreneurship is a choice just like any other. They've chosen it, but they don't really love it and they feel kind of backed into a corner. So those are the two things that I do the most, that are the most lucrative for us.
Rita Suzanne:I love, I love that. So how did you get into the corporate events? Is it just through networking and just making connections, because obviously those are going to be the most lucrative.
Don Mamone:Yeah. So it's funny because I'm a big believer in both the nuts and bolts and the hearts and flowers in business, and when I coach people, I talk about that. Right, the nuts and bolts are what you do and how you do it. The hearts and flowers are who you do it with and the ways in which you enrich your experience as an entrepreneur and in your day-to-day life as a business owner, but also for your client. And so what I found was we were doing a lot of weddings and social occasions and we loved everything about it, rita, like literally everything. It was a dream come true right up until it wasn't.
Don Mamone:And I think a lot of people kind of say, well, whether it's a dream come true or not, this is where I'm at, this is what I do, and I said to Emily you know, emily, I think that for the wedding side of our business, I'm really I'm starting to get complacent or I'm starting to get frustrated with not even the wedding day. I mean, that was what it was, but I think it was more about the marketing and the sales process and the saturation of the marketplace. So what I started to do was, when my, my heart and my brain talks, I listen and I said you know I'd really like to expand on our corporate side. I really want to work with companies and businesses and I want to do more of that. And so what we did and I know you're you talk a lot about marketing and and finding your ideal client. I figured out who that client was and I figured out how to find them, and I figured out how to find them.
Don Mamone:And then I started marketing to them much more ambitiously and aggressively and it's really beautiful. It started to happen. Our business might've been like 80-20, weddings and corporate and then suddenly it was 70-30. And it just kind of continued that.
Don Mamone:And then there was a point at which I said you know what, emily, we just didn't book a wedding on a day because we kept raising our price, which basically meant we started doing less of them. Right, and we didn't book this one client. It was a bride, and she said you know, we just decided to go a different direction. It was, it was, I think, the art, it was a little bit different than what we wanted, and blah, blah. I'm like that's great.
Don Mamone:I found out about a week later that if we had booked that wedding, we would have lost out on a seven day corporate incentive destination project in Costa Rica. Wow. And I said, emily, that's it. This is the universe's way of telling me that we don't do weddings anymore. And I said so, we'll serve the brides that have hired us and the couples that have hired us, but after this, right, it's time we're not doing any more weddings. And that was in, I think, 2015 or 2016. So we're going on a decade now of doing largely this and I think that, to answer your question in a slightly roundabout way, when you're an entrepreneur, you get to listen to your heart and you get to listen to your mind and what it's telling you and not feel like you're just doing what you do. Listen to those voices and follow them and be ambitious about it, because you get to change. That's the most amazing thing about being an entrepreneur is you get to change and grow and adapt and create a life you really want to live.
Rita Suzanne:I agree and I love how you slowly pivoted over versus just abruptly dropped everything and just said you know what. We no longer do this because I think that sometimes we get caught so caught up in the burnout or complacency of working with or doing a certain thing and we're just like I'm done Right, and we just give it up. But you know, that's not really the smart thing to do. It's just like when someone quits a job without having a backup job in place. So I think that that's the smartest thing. So what is the most valuable financial lesson that you've learned through this whole process? I feel like we've kind of hit it, but go ahead.
Don Mamone:Yeah, so obviously there's kind of two sides of the balance sheet, right. The most valuable lesson that I learned from an expenditure is that entrepreneurs largely are risk tolerant but not necessarily super ambitious, and so I think that I might have been a little bit more risk tolerant and would have extended myself a little bit more, and what I mean by that is, you know, when we were in the wedding industry, we decided to get a small brick and mortar studio, but it took us a long time to decide whether or not that liability and blah, blah, blah. It was really really a great move, and so there was a part of me that feels like, oh, it would have been nice to have done this earlier. But I also believe that things happen when they're supposed to, so I'm a big believer in that. The other thing is, I think people that own their own business feel like they have to do it on their own, and I would have brought on not necessarily a team, but I may have been more ambitious with training associates.
Don Mamone:I would have been more ambitious with getting a CPA and a bookkeeper from day one. Even if it was the most expensive and hardest thing to tolerate to get my financial house in order. I would have done that and, lastly, I would have invested. I've invested tens of thousands of dollars at this point in my career in coaching and in instruction, and I think before that I was just bootstrapping it. I would have invested earlier, because one of the things I now realize is time is our most valuable commodity on the planet. You can't get it back, you can't make more of it, and so I probably would have invested wisely in people that could help me find my path. Maybe some shortcuts, ways to get over hurdles and through obstacles quicker and with less work.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, well, they say, you invest either time or you invest money, right?
Don Mamone:And sometimes both.
Rita Suzanne:Okay, so what is one marketing tactic or channel that you would recommend that other mompreneurs invest in or take time in?
Don Mamone:So my number one, no questions asked, it doesn't matter what the marketing as a relationship marketer has been by far and away the reason that I've succeeded in everything I've ever done as an entrepreneur. And I don't typically like the word networking, I think it has a slightly kind of cringy vibe at this point. So I say relationship marketing because I believe genuinely in the power of relationships, and so I think that in the advent of social media and the digital online space, that is oftentimes like the wild wild west where there are no rules, and when there are rules, those rules are changed or unfair or they move the goalposts and all those types of terrible analogies about feeling like you make one step forward and 10 steps back. I've been parts of associations, I've sat on boards of directors, I have done things in my career so that when I have a problem, when I have an opportunity, when I have a concern and I need an expert, I can find them, and so that's one side of it right. You literally are building a collaborative team of people that you can go to. And I told Emily, I, like I've never felt like we've had a problem or an opportunity in our business that we couldn't solve with one of the relationships we formed along the way, right, and so that's sort of intangible, in a sense that it's about business operations. But I'm also going to tell you that all of our really great pieces of business, all of our unbelievable leads, all the things that we look at each other at the end of the day are like can you believe this is our life, can you believe we get to do this?
Don Mamone:Every single one of them was somehow brought to us by someone that knew us, someone that referred us, someone that was our raving brand fan. It's from the wedding industry, so it's a little bit older, but I had a bride call me up one Sunday afternoon and say you're going to be getting a call from Stephanie. I was like, okay, who's Stephanie? I was at brunch today and she was sitting with a bunch of her girlfriends celebrating the fact that she just got engaged and I ran right over to her and I give her your card and I said, if you don't hire them, you're silly. And I was like well, thank you for interrupting this bride's brunch. It's very sweet of you, but those are the type of raging brand fans you get when you connect with people on a heart centered level. So, yes, get out there. Get out from behind your computer and or have zoom meetings, coffee chats. Be creative about ways where people remember who you are and want to support you in your growth.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, so that was going to be my follow-up question was what is a tip that you have for people who maybe are a little bit introverted or shy when it comes to relationship marketing?
Don Mamone:So find your emotional support extrovert. I joke around with that. I was like, okay, I'll be your emotional support extrovert because I can go into a room full of people that I've never met before and work the room for hours and get to know people and ask people. So that's number one. Number two the coolest thing about being a relationship marketer as an introvert or even an ambivert and, by the way, if you're an extrovert, take this note too People like to talk about themselves and being an introvert is oftentimes like it's hard to make that introduction.
Don Mamone:It's hard to then have that chat. You can literally start a conversation with somebody and say tell me what you do and how I can support you in that. The number of times somebody says to me oh my God, what a great question. It really does open the floodgates of them being authentic with you, telling you what they do and telling you what one of their struggles might be. And suddenly it's not about like small talk or this or that. Those are definitely the things. That's in person.
Don Mamone:And I really want to tell you the number of people that I've met that take my business card and say, oh, I'm going to send you an email that never follow up that you know, friend me on LinkedIn or Facebook or one of the other social medias, and I literally never hear from them again and wouldn't be able to pick them out of a lineup.
Don Mamone:It's way too often. So that's the other thing I'm going to encourage you to do is find what works for you. I have gone so far as to like, when I meet people that I know I want in my orbit, I will literally send them a Starbucks e-gift card and be like hey, let's have a coffee chat, the coffee's on me, I love that and then they'll schedule a Zoom meeting through my Calendly If you don't have a Calendly or an Acuity or not even Google Mail has it where people can pick time on your calendar that you get to set up and you still own your time, don't worry, do that and just have a coffee chat calendar and have them sign up for 15 or 20 minutes. You would be amazed when I do that, Rita, like there's a flood of inquiries that we see a very short period of time later. So it's 100%. There's a million ideas and if you need more, just have your audience reach out to me. I'll give them a ton.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, I think that that's a great idea, especially the Starbucks thing, because I think that takes the pressure off of them and then almost they feel obligated right to be in kind, to sit down and sit down with you. Especially if it's someone you feel like you really need to make that connection with them. That's a great tip. So do you have any marketing mishaps that you want to share, something that maybe didn't go as well as you had hoped?
Don Mamone:I mean, I've tried email campaigns that flopped. I have tried, we always go for ostentatious and I think that what I want your audience to know is you get to be exactly who you are everywhere you go. And so, like I can think of times when I've coached mompreneurs before and they're like well, I just don't want this person to think insert thing here that I'm going to have spit up on my shirt if I show up for a meeting, if my kids are going to be a disruption, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, if people think those things they're not your client, I don't care what service you offer, I don't care what product you sell. If those people are worried like, oh my gosh, this is one of those mama punners, not your client, and that's okay, let them filter their way out.
Don Mamone:And so we have done some pretty, um, braggadocious, ostentatious things that keep people's memory. Um, emily and I did a our clients rock campaign one time where we drove around to our 20 or 25 biggest clients in Dallas and we dressed up like rock stars and it was October, so we bought all the stuff at the Halloween stores and we just dropped off a little gift basket. It costs, I think, $8 per basket. We assembled them ourselves and they had a pet rock and pop, rocks and smart pop and everything was about rock and pop and excitement and we just, it was just a loyalty thing.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah.
Don Mamone:And I think that went really well. And we had like one client, um, that that kind of didn't get it. I think they were a little bit on the this sort of kind of quiet and conservative side, um, and so I was like I don't know if that landed for them and Emily's like that's okay, we did 20 of them, right. And so I think that that the message there is, your marketing efforts may not be for everybody, and that's okay, right. Your marketing gets to be for that client that sees it and says, oh my gosh, this is so clever, this is so wonderful. So, even if you fail, fail faster, because it means you're trying new and different things and you're really putting yourself out there.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, I think that, and that makes me think about moms putting themselves out on videos specifically, because I think a lot of times people are afraid to market themselves on reels and all of these other things. What if my friends see me? Who cares? Just do it. You need to get out there and do it, because obviously they're not your target. They're going to move past you way faster. Right, they're going to see you faster.
Don Mamone:They are, and I'll be candid.
Don Mamone:I love to be vulnerable and I love to be authentic, and so, for those of you that are listening to this podcast as opposed to potentially watching the video, you know I introduced myself as Don Mamone pronouns they them I'm non-binary and I live in the state of Texas and in the city of Dallas, and, um, if you need the courage and the confidence to step out in front of that camera, just remember that I'm somewhere in Dallas. I'm likely going out to dinner with my wife and I'm wearing a dress and heels, because that's how I express my gender identity to the world around me. And I do that not necessarily without fear, but I do it without any wonder or worry about whether I'm inconvenient for someone else or whether they're judging me or what they might be thinking about me. So, to everyone listening to the sound of my voice, you get to shine, you get to show up, you get to be loud and clear and you get to take up massive space. And if that's inconvenient for someone, rita, that's a them problem and not a you problem.
Rita Suzanne:I love how comfortable you are with yourself, and I think that that's how everybody should be. And oftentimes I think women especially get too wrapped up in worrying about what other people are going to think about them, especially in business, right. They get too concerned, for fear of judgment, of what everyone is going to think or say. So how do you define success in your business? Is it solely financial or are there other factors?
Don Mamone:Um, I would say that for me it's, it's ironic, but I don't even know that. Um, I mean, yes, every business gets to make money. Right, we're not a 501c3. Um, we're not a charity. Although we do very philanthropic things, I think that money for me is a tool like any other. I'm not money motivated, but I do know that we need to make money. I am time motivated, and so I do live in this city of Dallas, but right now I'm on the Gulf coast.
Don Mamone:We just survived a hurricane with my sister, because we're the crazy ones that had planned to come down here for the 4th of July holiday and my nephew's birthday and my birthday and my wife and I's anniversary and all the things. And when they said, well, there's a hurricane that might come, I'm like, well then, we'll weather it together. And so for me, as an entrepreneur, and my wife, we get to come down here for two weeks at a time. My daughter gets to spend time with her cousins and her aunt and her uncle, we get to use their pool and we get to travel through areas where we wouldn't be able to do that with a nine to five corporate job. And so for me, success is sort of creating a life that we genuinely love to live Now. Would I love to make a little more money so I could do some more things and give some more away and have more impact. I would, and I continue to strive for that. But also, I get to create impact on people's lives and I get to do that in a way that I'm not working 15 hour days and never seeing my daughter and all those types of things.
Don Mamone:And so for me, and I think so often the reason that moms become entrepreneurs and people that I've coached is it's that bridging that gap right. So many moms are told they get to live in either or existence. You get to either be a good mom or you can be a good employee, or a good corporate servant, or a good breadwinner. You can't do both and I disagree with that. First of all, even if you did want to have a nine to five job, there is a way I think and places that you're welcome to be a parent and a corporate employee, but as an entrepreneur, it is this beautiful, unbelievable opportunity to say I get to be both a present, available mom or parent, and I get to chase this dream of creating a business, being, being an entrepreneur, and so, um, for me, that's the success is understanding that this is a both and world, and you get to create the life that you would love to live, both as a parent and as a business owner.
Rita Suzanne:I love that. So what is one tool, app, software, something that you're using, that's kind of streamlining your life right now, that you would love to share with us?
Don Mamone:So, brand aside, I don't really care what brand people use. I have been doing this for 20 years and I will say that there's always something new and flashy and different. I believe that some of the most important things is about relationships, okay, and so I would say that every app that I use, everything that I do, comes back to that concept of a relationship. So, for example, I have a bookkeeper and a CPA right, and that's the relationship. The tool that I use is for my relationship with money Right, and so I have a bookkeeper and a CPA right, and that's the relationship. The tool that I use is for my relationship with money Right, and so I have.
Don Mamone:If you don't have zero or quick books online or whatever it is, you get to because you're setting the stage now for the future. You right the you that is a seven figure entrepreneur doesn't use a spreadsheet to track their expenses and their income. They use a bookkeeping and CPA management software. If you are going to have clients, you get to create the best possible experience for them. I had people in photography. If you're listening to this podcast and you're a photographer, we've used PixieSet for the last like 10 years, and for those, rita, that aren't photographers. It's an image management and hosting software, but it also is a studio manager and it has a website builder and all these things and it's grown over the last 12 years.
Don Mamone:When I bought it, it was one of the most expensive on the market. Okay, people like you're so silly, you're so silly, why would you spend all that money? And I said because of all the ones that I've tested as a consumer, this is the best. This creates the best experience for my customer. This has the best feature set for my customer, and I believed them when they say that they were going to be advancing it forward. And now people are moving to it in droves because they really are the best on the marketplace.
Don Mamone:I'm willing to invest because I realized that when you create something for this customer right so, having a CRM management system I can tell you when it was inquired, when it booked, how much it booked for, how far out it booked.
Don Mamone:You know we track our demand, all those things. So really, it's not which specific app you're using, but to understand that every business, every single one, gets to invest early in something that manages their money because of their relationship with money, something that is the deliverable for their client because of the relationship with their client, relationship with themselves. Right, I do use productivity software and journaling and note-taking software. So I think the moral of the story here and probably you're like, don just give me an answer but I genuinely believe that people think that I can't afford that. You can't afford not to do it and I can guarantee you that when you get your house in order and everything is streamlined and people are like my gosh, this person got back to me fast and I have the deliverable I want and blah, blah, blah, it pays for itself very quickly.
Rita Suzanne:I mean even when I first started for itself very quickly. I mean even when I first started, I one of the first things that I invested in was FreshBooks, and I remember and I use QuickBooks now and I couldn't imagine trying to run a profit loss. I mean you can't run a. You can't, like you said, you can't run a report off of a spreadsheet. But you know, every month you should be looking and I tell my clients you should be looking and see what products or services are making you the most money and then making decisions on it. Are you going to keep this or you're going to move to something else? Anyways, I remember one time having an argument with somebody over the internet telling them that it was not professional for them to be invoicing out on a Venmo or something like that, and I'm like business owners should not be doing this. This is not professional at all.
Don Mamone:It works. But I think, and it works for maybe, the side hustle and and maybe that that's great. But if somebody's and I think that that's important to acknowledge right, like I, um, I believe that everybody's journey and path is different and, um, I think that that there are many different paths to getting to where you want to go, but, um, I think that most people that are coaching into, uh, a successful career, right as an entrepreneur, would say that there are certain things you do upfront, right, you register a URL, you make sure you have an email that's associated with that URL. So, mompreneurs, if you're out there and you still have, like creativekitten at gmailcom, like I get it, tech is hard.
Rita Suzanne:But it's one of those things. That's why they do it. But, yeah, you can still use Gmail. You just go sign up for work workspaces through Google, like you know, and you still can use your Gmail and you know it's still possible and, like you're saying it's. It's frustrating to me when I see them at Gmail and these were coaches that were using Venmo as their preferred payment portal and I just I couldn't believe it and like these were successful and I just I couldn't believe it and like these were successful. Those were air quotes of you know, if you're not watching Um, okay, I'll, I'll move on Um. So what are you reading or listening to right now? It?
Don Mamone:doesn't business related, but you know so I'd like to tell you an anecdote, because I'm a storyteller, um, I'm an author, author. I'm 50,000 words into my first ever book, which is very exciting for me. I'm hoping to have it in edit and maybe published by the end of the year. But we get to acknowledge that writing a book is quite the undertaking, and I was working with a business coach which, again, one of the ways in which I know I'm genuinely serious about creating a change or accomplishing and being committed to something, is when I outlay money, Right.
Don Mamone:So if you're a member of this audience, I can't afford that. Sometimes it's the catalyst you need, right? So I told Emily, like, as we go into 2024, I've been talking about writing a book. I had put down maybe 10 or 20,000 words over time and I said this is going to be the best, coolest Google doc for the rest of my life If I don't pay someone to make sure this gets published. And so I did, and I was telling her like I'm struggling. When I hit about 40,000 words, I was like I am feeling all the things that every momopreneur has ever felt.
Rita Suzanne:Right.
Don Mamone:I feel like I'm an imposter. I'm overwhelmed. Who's going to even read this? Why are they going to read it?
Don Mamone:I walked into a bookstore. I was like, look at all these books. Like I'm just I'm literally putting a pebble of sand on the beach of life. And she's like, okay, you need to stop writing and start reading. And I was like, okay, and she's like she has all these little cool habits and things about using a writing prompt to get you going and asking yourself a question and answering and then just keep going.
Don Mamone:None of it was working. I was like I admittedly read. A lot of what I'm writing is very emotionally driven and so I think that there's an intimidation and a bit of unpacking. That's happening. Anyway, I set a goal to read 24 books in a year, which is a pretty big jump from where I had been, and I have read every different type of book you can imagine, because I'm reading differently now. I'm reading not only to consume the content. I'm reading and I'm looking at the way the person writes and whether I'm enjoying it or not, and times when I'm like I'm getting kind of bored here, and what that did was the more I read and the more things that I liked or didn't like, the more it pushed me to get back to my written page. And so in the last six months I have read a book called the Last One, which is like a thriller that someone recommended me that I would never have read in a million years.
Don Mamone:Now I'm back to back reading memoirs by a memoirist by the name of David Sedaris, who's really a wonderful author. By way of like, you read it and you feel like you're in his childhood bedroom, living life with him, which a lot of my, my vibe is, is is going to be about that in my book, and so I feel like, oh, cool, okay, I get to to learn from this. Um. And then business and entrepreneurial and, for those that that you were interested, there is a psychologist by the name of dr benjamin hardy. I not only read his books, but I I had the pleasure of photographing him, listening to him speak, and it's all about future selfing and it's a very popular um right topic in psychology, and I'll just, I'll leave you with this from a from a writing perspective. It broke my brain when I was flipping through his book while he was there and it said research now shows us that we're pulled forward into our future more than we are pushed forward by our past.
Don Mamone:And the reason I thought that was so brilliant and the reason it kind of broke my brain a little bit, rita, is I want all the mompreneurs to understand that where you've come from certainly can contribute to where you are right now, but it doesn't necessarily in any way indicate where you're going to go right, where you want to go. The life you want to live, that's on the horizon, can in fact, pull you forward more ambitiously and more creatively and more entrepreneurially than the past. So look towards the horizon and decide where you want to go, point yourself in that direction and make the decisions. Be the person that you get to be. Because you noticed what I said I'm an author. I have not published yet a book. I'm in the process of writing that book but I'm okay saying that I'm an author because I know it's going to happen. It's just a matter of timing.
Rita Suzanne:I love that and I love that quote. That's very profound and I like it. I'm going to put that in here.
Don Mamone:Okay.
Rita Suzanne:Last question so how are you making time for yourself? There are so many things going on. What are you doing for self-care?
Don Mamone:So I am a big person that is into energy and exercise and things, and so I have committed to closing my rings every day, which I know is super cliched right now and kind of cringy to even say, but like I really do, I got a walking pad for my room, because it's 112 degrees in the shade in Dallas and if I don't get up early enough, it's just not going to happen. So I walk and I write and I do things like that. I am a huge believer in non heroic, massive self care things. Yes, take a spa day, take it all, go for 12 hours and disconnect from the internet and leave your spouse and your kids behind and spend the entire day on you from the internet and leave your spouse and your kids behind and spend the entire day on you. But, more importantly, wake up a little bit earlier and have a skincare routine that involves applying different creams and lotions and things you know. Take that three minutes to sit and breathe in and out.
Don Mamone:Um, find what's going to help you this is the way I say it cognitively or mentally, emotionally, spiritually, whatever grounds you and feeds those parts of you. Do those things, but I think most oftentimes people think of them as big grand things. And some of the things that I love the most now are like I'll go and I'll put my hair up in the cutest little top knot you've ever seen. And in the old days I was like I just wash my face before I go to bed. I wash my face and I put on a toner and then I put on a serum and then I put on a moisturizer and then I walk out of that room kind of rubbing my hands together, thinking I'm so pretty and taking care of myself and doing all the things. So that's my jam is is both the big, more ambitious efforts but day to day small things that we know are going to make a difference.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, I agree. I think that, um, when I first started this, people would say things like oh, go get my hair and my nails done, and and. But then I would say well, even spending five minutes in the car by yourself is self-care. Anything that's going to recenter you taking a bath, you know, like you know, sometimes we don't even get to use the bathroom by ourselves when, especially when you have multiple children and they're young, you know.
Don Mamone:So it just doing what you need to do to recenter and be alone for a few minutes or whatever conference last year, that was all mom, mom openers and the, the challenge they have, disconnecting from the obligations of that identity, that part of their identity, um, is heartbreaking, um, and admirable at the same time. It is so admirable that um I started developed an ability to see, but more than ever, that if you're not good to yourself, you're not going to be good to others, and so I cannot cannot say with more enthusiasm how much I love and respect moms and how much I believe them so deserving of of their own time, their own abilities to care for themselves.
Rita Suzanne:I love that, okay, so where can we find you? Where are you at, where you hang out online?
Don Mamone:I like to say that I'm everywhere. I'm omnipresent, but I know that's probably not true and there's a lot of people out there. I would say that my biggest social media presences are on Instagram and LinkedIn. I do have a YouTube channel, but I get to be better about it. So if you're in the socials and you want to look me up on Instagram, I'm at Don Mamoni and I'm sure you can put that in the show notes. I'm at Don Mamoni pretty much everywhere. I do have a website at Don Mamoni.
Don Mamone:I do spark calls and sessions for people to find out how we might be able to usher them forward, catalyze them and put them in a place where they're achieving greater with less work and a bit faster, maybe even than they hoped. So I mean, my name is really the thing right? I'm at Don Mamone pretty much everywhere. So come find me, and I just want I want to make sure that everybody understands this.
Don Mamone:My capacity to love is infinite, and so I think it's really fun when I tell people that my job on this planet is to create change and impact with the spoken and written word, and so what I want to speak into the universe now is, I bet you, every one of the people that's listening to this podcast struggles or wants to be seen, and I just want them to know that I want the opportunity to see them and to know them and that I love them for everything they're doing and everything they're creating in the world, want the opportunity to see them and to know them and that I love them for everything they're doing and everything they're creating in the world.
Rita Suzanne:So sweet. Thank you so much for being a guest. It's been such a pleasure. I appreciate it.
Don Mamone:I appreciate the opportunity to share my story and to help your audience, and I hope it does just that. Thank you.
