Nina Caviggiola  00:00:00  We can do anything. But the thing is, can you challenge yourself enough to believe that you’re worthy, that you can do it? Especially for women? It’s so much deeper that you actually have to do that mental work. It’s in your mind. Dig a little bit deeper, like where actually are you getting stuck?

Katy Ripp 00:00:21  Hey there, fellow rebels, welcome to #ActuallyICan, the podcast where we say a hearty hell yes to designing life on our own terms. I’m Katy Ripp, a lifestyle coach, business mentor, and serial entrepreneur here to guide you through the wild ride, defying what society expects of us and embracing our authenticity. On this show, we dive deep into taboo topics like death, money, spirituality, entrepreneurship, unapologetic self-care, and personal development, all while swearing and laughing along the way. Expect down and dirty conversations, plenty of humor, and a whole lot of exploration, leaving you feeling empowered to be your true self? Whether you’re craving a good laugh, seeking unconventional self-care tips, or simply looking for some camaraderie.

Katy Ripp 00:01:07  You’ve come to the right place. We only get this one short life, so buckle up and let’s design yours on our own terms. Ready to dive in? Let’s go! I’m so excited to have you. 

Nina Caviggiola  00:01:24 I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to chat. I love the topic. 

Katy Ripp 00:01:29  I have so many topics and so many things. Yeah. So I’m going to kind of give you the the floor. Yeah. Obviously the name of the podcast is hashtag. Actually I can so this is more of like a fuck you. Yes, I can do this right. Actually, I can do this, I did it. Watch me. I mean, obviously, I think you’re such an inspiration, but it’s hard to be this person, right? Like, it’s hard to be you. I’m guessing right to hear it from other people. And I’m sure you hear it a lot. But then there’s, like the other side to all of this too. So I’d love to get into, first of all, just your story, like how you got here, because that’s a story in and of itself, right? How you got here.

Katy Ripp 00:02:10  How like, I know you were a nurse, so how that even came to be. And then how did you get to where you are now? Which, by the way, when we met, I think you had like 300,000 followers, which I was like, dang, girl, that is like insane. And then I look today it was like 573,000. I’m like, that’s almost a million people. That’s crazy.

Nina Caviggiola  00:02:33  Yeah, it’s crazy to me. It doesn’t feel real. It doesn’t feel like I have. I mean, I’ve combined all my socials, I have over a million and it just doesn’t feel like that. My space feels very intimate to me. Yes, it feels very close knit. The conversations I have privately with the people that are following me are just so intimate, so that it doesn’t feel big, you know, it doesn’t feel that big to me. And then when people say hi to me, if they see me out, it feels weird because I don’t feel like I’m anything special.

Nina Caviggiola  00:03:07  I don’t feel I’m anything big and I’m not. I’m just as normal girl that’s willing to be vulnerable and show up as the raw version that I am. And yeah, so it’s crazy to think how that I have this huge community, but it feels so small.

Katy Ripp 00:03:26  So I think we also have no idea how many people a million people is. Right. Like somebody said this to me one time, like, do you know how long it would take you to count to a million and all? There’s 1,000,000 seconds in 12 days. A billion is 33 years. Wow. Right. Like we don’t know the difference between that, right? Like it’s just like we hear, like, billionaire or millionaire and. And you just don’t even know what that means. It’s like we can’t wrap our heads around it. I’m totally fangirling over you. But like not from a space of followers, from a space of I love everything you put out to the world, right? Like the mental health aspect of this is so important to be sharing with people that can relate to you and that it’s okay to be not okay.

Katy Ripp 00:04:18  Is that one of the things that has been like the biggest motivator for you?

Nina Caviggiola  00:04:23  Mental health wasn’t really anything that was even in the forefront of my mind when I first started sharing on social media. So the way it all started for me. So like you said, I am a nurse and that was my dream job. That was my dream profession and I wanted to do everything with it. I wanted to go on and get my nurse practitioner. I wanted to keep like, I love school, I love education, I love learning, I’m kind of like a geek in that sense. I just love learning and turns out. Side note I’m finding out in therapy that that’s also like a part of my like, toxic anxiety because I constantly need to have validation of what? Yeah, you’re raising your hand. You have the same. Yeah. Yeah. So like it’s a good thing I love to learn and I love to be educated, but it also my need for validation masks a lot of my issues with mental health.

Nina Caviggiola  00:05:21  But anyways, so I’m a nurse by trade and I graduated from there. I went straight from high school to nursing school. I, you know, did the traditional college route. I was the first person in my family immediate and extended to ever go to college. And I’m a first generation immigrant.

Katy Ripp 00:05:39  Yeah. I read in your Bible. You came here in 1998. Yeah.

Nina Caviggiola  00:05:43  Well, where were.

Katy Ripp 00:05:43  You born or what? How old were you when you got here? How about that?

Nina Caviggiola  00:05:46  Ten I was ten.

Katy Ripp 00:05:48  Wow.

Nina Caviggiola  00:05:49  Yeah, I was ten when I came to the US. If you want to go that far back, we can. So I’m a refugee of war. I was born in Bosnia. And for everyone listening, the war that was happening in Bosnia is very similar to what’s happening in Ukraine right now. Like the people are being displaced. And in Bosnia, it was very it was a very religion and political type war. And my mom was displaced with my brother and I.

Nina Caviggiola  00:06:18  We lived in refugee camps. We were hostages at one point. I don’t remember it. Like I don’t have like actual visual memories of any of this. And my therapist says it’s probably because I, you know, I blocked it out.

Katy Ripp 00:06:33  Your brain is your friend. And it was like, you know, we’re not gonna we’re not going to give that to you.

Nina Caviggiola  00:06:37  Yeah, but, you know, my mom tells me stories. But we fled to Germany, lived in Germany in a refugee camp. And then when the war was over, quote unquote, they were sending everybody back home. And the only way you could stay in Germany is if you had somehow obtained a residency or citizenship. In that meantime. We lived in Germany for like seven ish years, and we had nowhere to go. So my mom applied for American residency. It was like a year long process. You know, we had to go through all these interviews and application process, and we had to go to the doctor. It was like this huge thing.

Nina Caviggiola  00:07:19  You can’t just like, come to America and live in America if you’re going to like, be a resident legally. So we got our residency, we got our green cards.

Katy Ripp 00:07:28  How did you get here?

Nina Caviggiola  00:07:30  We flew. So we flew from Germany with one suitcase. We left everything behind. And there was a program in Chicago, the refugee Relief program. And you had to be sponsored by a family. And the family that sponsored us are my cousins that are there like very distinct once removed, like, yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:07:54  Yeah, but.

Nina Caviggiola  00:07:55  They were only like in their 20s. But him and his wife sponsored us and they helped us get an apartment. So we got a studio. We had like a studio apartment in the South Side of Chicago. My mom and nobody spoke. We didn’t speak English.

Katy Ripp 00:08:10  How old was your brother?

Nina Caviggiola  00:08:11  He was like eight.

Katy Ripp 00:08:13  Oh my goodness.

Nina Caviggiola  00:08:14  Yeah. And my mom had through this program, they find you a job. And so she was like a housekeeper or like she worked for a program.

Nina Caviggiola  00:08:22  And they also require you to learn English. So obviously we would learn it in school. And my mom had to take classes. And so my mom meant the teacher of her English class. After about a year of learning English and getting her driver’s license and all this stuff like rebates alone. Yeah, single mom.

Katy Ripp 00:08:43  This is.

Nina Caviggiola  00:08:44  Insane. I know she’s wild. Some of the stuff that she went through. I mean, I also.

Katy Ripp 00:08:49  Love her, right? Like I’ve watched every single fucking video with her on it. And I love her so much.

Nina Caviggiola  00:08:54  Yeah, she’s like one of the strongest people that I know. She was my age, maybe a couple years younger than I am right now with two kids. No. Yeah. She was about my age, two kids fleeing countries left and right. And then we were sponsored. So we lived in kind of a shitty area of Chicago, and my mom just didn’t want that for us. So we were sponsored by a church in Janesville, Wisconsin, and they sponsored us to move there.

Nina Caviggiola  00:09:21  And they got us an apartment and a car and a job. They put my mom through school. So my mom’s education didn’t count in America. So she like, was this very well educated woman back in Europe. And she got put through school. She became a CNA. Yeah. And she did all that. I went through school. I went to school for CNA at age 16. I got a job as a CNA and then obviously catching you up. I went to nursing school in Madison at Edgewood College, and it was like the coolest, best experience of my life. I loved it, and I love, love being a nurse. I worked at the VA hospital in Madison, and I felt like that was a very like, full circle moment for me because America helped us so much. And I know there’s a lot of there’s a lot of really like a lot of negative things about our country. Right now, we’re in an election year and there’s always something to complain about. But to me, like America saved my life and America gave me a life that I would have never had, it gave me opportunities that I would never have.

Nina Caviggiola  00:10:30  And it continues to do so. So I have this, like completely different perspective of where I live and how I live compared to when we visit our family. Like life is so different over in Eastern Europe. So I felt that working at the VA was a full circle moment, because I got to take care of America’s most vulnerable veterans who like, in a roundabout way, helped save my life, you know? So I just love, love, love, loved working at the VA and worked there for 14 years. 18 years. Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:11:03  Why do you must have been so young?

Nina Caviggiola  00:11:05  I was like, I think I was like 19 when I started there. Wow.

Katy Ripp 00:11:10  Well, thank you for your service because I’m going to end up in a VA hospital someday.

Nina Caviggiola  00:11:15  Are you your.

Katy Ripp 00:11:16  Veteran? I am, I didn’t know that. Yes, I.

Nina Caviggiola  00:11:19  Was in.

Katy Ripp 00:11:19  Your service. Yeah. You know, it was a lifetime ago, right? I went in in 2002 and was over in Kuwait, in Iraq in 2003.

Katy Ripp 00:11:29  And then. Yeah. And then came home and, you know, had babies and got out. But, you know, it’s interesting to hear you say that because sometimes I if I have a weird, like, feeling around being a veteran, like people thank me for my service all the time. And it’s a very like sweet. Like people are actually grateful. But there’s also like a lot of opinions about it, right. Like how political it can be. And I was in an aviation unit. So like we flew around VIPs and shit, you know, we weren’t like doing any combat or anything. But to be in a in Kuwait, in Iraq and see kids like living in tents and there’s all these camps and it’s a very different world. And it was like a lifetime ago. But I appreciate you saying that because it’s sometimes hard to be a veteran. Yeah.

Nina Caviggiola  00:12:16  Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And I think the general public, before I worked at the VA, I had no idea about anything about veterans and what they went through and what they saw.

Nina Caviggiola  00:12:27  And I saw very, very many different generations of veterans World War Two, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, and even just like present day, like everyone has their own stuff. And I think that at the end of the day, we’re all just human and we’re all just trying to make it work. And I think veterans are just held to such a standard because of serving our country and whatnot. But I cannot say enough amazing things about that job and the things that I learned and the people that I met. I mean, I could go on and on. But so 2020 came around. So in the midst of working as a nurse, I’ve always been a creative person. I’ve always had a blog, like I had a blog in high school, like when blogs weren’t even really a thing. I had a blog, I love art, I love creativity, I love entertaining people. I love making people like, feel happy and connected. And that’s just always been who I am. And in 2014, I think it was, I started an Instagram account to share.

Nina Caviggiola  00:13:39  My husband and I had just bought our first home. We weren’t even married. We were just dating. I actually bought the house. He just moved it with me, and we bought our home and we were doing all kinds of renovations, and I started sharing on social media about our renovations and the DIY projects, and it just kind of took off, and it was really easy to take off in social media in 2014 because it was new. I’m actually listening.

Katy Ripp 00:14:03  Also, remind the listeners, this is ten fucking years ago.

Nina Caviggiola  00:14:07  Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:14:08  That’s crazy. Ten years. That is such a long time.

Nina Caviggiola  00:14:13  But it feels like yesterday. Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:14:15  And this. Well, right. Also it does feel like yesterday. But also we get into this. Well I can just do it tomorrow or I expect to be successful overnight. Right. Like we forget that it’s taken ten years for you to get here, right? Just crazy.

Nina Caviggiola  00:14:30  Yeah. Yeah. It is crazy to think that. And my success didn’t come right away either.

Nina Caviggiola  00:14:36  My success with social media didn’t come right away as far as financial success.

Katy Ripp 00:14:40  So I really the intention behind it.

Nina Caviggiola  00:14:42  Right. No, no, no, my intention was just to like share our projects. And then people were like, you can get some free stuff. And I was like, oh my god, free stuff, I take it. So I, I got some free stuff, you know, like occasional like free Etsy shop things, whatever. And I’m so grateful to those opportunities and then social media. So have you heard of the book The Anxious Generation?

Katy Ripp 00:15:05  No, but now I’m writing it. I’m writing it down.

Nina Caviggiola  00:15:09  I highly recommend everyone listening should listen to that book. It’s about the Gen Z generation and any generations to come who are on social media and have cell phones or tablets or whatnot, and they talk about the rewiring of our children’s childhood started happening in 2010 when the selfie camera came around, because then everything became about you and how you look in your life and what you share.

Nina Caviggiola  00:15:35  So by the time I was on social media. The selfie cam was already out. And then this is where it really took a turn for me in 2015 or 14 or 15 ish is when Instagram Stories came, and that’s when you could really show video like real time.

Katy Ripp 00:15:53  That long ago.

Nina Caviggiola  00:15:55  Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:15:56  Really old right?

Nina Caviggiola  00:15:57  But I remember like I was sharing on social media before stories were a thing. It was literally just pictures. Nobody could hear your voice or see your face ever. Like you just showed pictures.

Katy Ripp 00:16:06  How much you’ve learned. Right.

Nina Caviggiola  00:16:09  So that’s when things really took off for me because I was able to show my like personality and things behind the scenes. And they really took off for me. And then I was getting married and I got pregnant. And when I got pregnant and started sharing that side of life and motherhood and my content shifted, and then it shifted again because I developed postpartum depression and anxiety. And it was then that I really started sharing mental health stuff. And again, I was never really sharing any of this for like profit.

Nina Caviggiola  00:16:44  You know, I wasn’t like, I’m going to make money, so I’m going to share this. It was just generally like, is anyone else feeling this? And it just became this huge thing about motherhood and mental health and parenting and yeah, so that’s that. And then in 2019, I was like, maybe. So in that time between 2015 and 2019, I had like very few paid opportunities. And they were like low paid opportunities. But to me, like extra money is extra money. 2019 I was like male nursing, right? Yes. Yep. Still working full time as a nurse. And so there’s two ways to make money or there’s multiple ways to make money on social media now. But back then it was through brand partnerships and affiliate linking and brand partnerships back then weren’t that big because brands didn’t really yet see the value in influencers. But affiliate linking was basically you share an affiliate link and you can make a commission off that link. So my affiliate link income was like a few thousand a month, and I was like, this is crazy.

Nina Caviggiola  00:17:52  Like, if I could replace my nursing income, like I can do both and then we can like live our dream, like we can make money to like pay off. My biggest goal was to pay off student loans. And then I really wanted to help my mom financially, and I wanted to help my husband pay off a student loan. You know, like I had all these dreams of just getting out of debt. And so 2019 came around and I was like, I’m going to start taking this more serious. So I did, and I started posting more consistently. I got a brand manager. So a brand manager basically helps me get brand deals. And then they take a 20% cut from that deal.

Katy Ripp 00:18:29  Is that like an agent? Kind of yeah.

Nina Caviggiola  00:18:31  Yeah, it’s like an agent. Is that an.

Katy Ripp 00:18:33  Employee of yours or somebody, like out in the world.

Nina Caviggiola  00:18:36  So it’s a contractor. So I have a contract with them. It’s an agency. I have a contract with them. How do you.

Katy Ripp 00:18:43  Even know to do that, Nina?

Nina Caviggiola  00:18:45  It just kind of felt like. I think all of us just kind of talk amongst each other in the space, okay? And I was living it as it was evolving, so it wasn’t like something that was already there. And I sort it out. It was kind of like, hey, you know, it happened. I got an email once from an agency that was like, we have a partnership opportunity, we can represent you. And I was like, okay, like, yeah, let’s do it right. And since then I’ve had a couple different agents and they technically work for me technically. Like I can say, like, I don’t like, you know, but the one I currently have is very like they do everything for me, like legal contracts, everything. And we text every day, all day. It’s a very like intimate relationship because if I make money, they make money? Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:19:33  Of course.

Nina Caviggiola  00:19:34  So as they should. Yeah.

Nina Caviggiola  00:19:35  So that happened in 2019. And then 2020 came around and it was awful. Nursing was awful. I would go I would be driving into work like having a panic attack because you just didn’t know what you were going to see. You didn’t know how many people were going to die that day, like, you didn’t know you were gonna die. Like we didn’t know anything about what Covid could do to you yet. So, like, I mean, it was awful. And in that time, right, as Covid started, so it started March was when we shut down and in April I had a miscarriage. So I had a miscarriage. And I had like working through it in our unit, in our emergency room. And it was just really, really hard mentally. A lot of people struggled mentally at the morale. Staff morale went down and this was like nationwide, you know, this was just general and nursing because you’re just like as a nurse, you just feel like you’re kind of dumped on.

Nina Caviggiola  00:20:35  And then there’s people like out there saying Covid is fake as you’re watching people die. So that was really hard for me mentally. And I decided to at that point, I already had matched my nursing income with social media, and I actually more so, like I was making more than my nursing income and I was just holding on to nursing because I just love nursing. Yeah. And after my miscarriage and after just the morale and how Covid kind of ruined things for me, I decided that I was going to cut back on nursing. So I cut back like very little bit. I went from full time to point eight, so I was like, yeah, basically still full time, same. And I cut back. And then in 20 2020, between 2021 and 2022, I quadrupled my nursing income. It was like insane on social media. I mean, more people were spending time online, more people were stuck at home and business and social media was just blooming. And then I ended up cutting down even more like I was working one day a week as a nurse.

Nina Caviggiola  00:21:42  And finally, after taking on way too much work on social media and then working as a nurse, I honestly would still work as a nurse if I could, but I think the demand for my current job in social media is just so high that it was really hard for me to balance it, and my husband made a good point. He was like, it’s not really worth your mental health and like, you can always go back and whatnot. So as of February 2024, I stopped working as a nurse at the oh, you.

Katy Ripp 00:22:14  Were still working a day a week until February of this year.

Nina Caviggiola  00:22:18  Yeah, I have issues. I have like attachment issues and like, this is the thing.

Katy Ripp 00:22:24  Like Nina it’s fine.

Nina Caviggiola  00:22:25  Yeah, I know the whole point of this is like, I know I can, I can do it. But the thing is, it’s not that my issue is and I think I’m speaking for a lot of women here. It’s not that like, you can’t do the thing. It’s training yourself to believe that you can like mentally, right? It’s not like, I know I could do it, I know I could work, I know I could make this work, but it’s convincing myself that I’m worthy and it’s convincing myself that I have value.

Nina Caviggiola  00:22:55  Yeah. And to be fair, to be fully honest here, I’m still not 100% convinced. Like, I still every day I’m like, did I make the right decision? And it’s not that I regret leaving nursing. I don’t regret leaving nursing. I miss it, of course, but the freedom I have with this job is just right now with me having little kids and honestly, the financial freedom and just everything. Like it’s a no brainer, right? But it’s the fact that I just worry that I made the right decision as far as do I bring enough value into people’s lives as I did when I was a nurse?

Katy Ripp 00:23:33  That’s so fascinating.

Nina Caviggiola  00:23:35  Logically, like I know that I do like of course my logical brain says, yes, you do. You’re changing lives, you’re doing amazing things. But like emotionally, I’m unable to like, give myself that. I’m able to say it out loud, but I’m unable to feel it. I’m unable to feel that I’m still worthy and valuable in this space as a business owner versus someone that was nursing.

Nina Caviggiola  00:24:01  It’s such a like such a tricky thing to navigate.

Katy Ripp 00:24:04  I have so much respect for you even saying that out loud, because I would imagine that most people that see you from a 30,000 foot view is like, what does she have to worry about? Right? Like, or that there’s no such thing as imposter syndrome when you get to a certain level. But like you said before, like those are just numbers. You can’t really wrap your head around it, but the worthiness and the value piece of that, or feeling that the bottom is going to fucking fall out, right? Like, I mean, I’m sure that you have like, you know, residual income or whatever, but like if you weren’t raised like that or you have money stories or you have trauma in your past, those limiting beliefs don’t just fucking go away. I’m sure that can feel very vulnerable and very like insecure. And to feel like you’re like a value piece and like, not worthy. I think every I mean, I feel like it all the time.

Katy Ripp 00:24:59  Like, what the fuck am I doing out here? What business do I have doing this? Right? And I wasn’t a nurse or a teacher or. But there’s lots of people out there leaving really amazing, you know, give back jobs to do something. And yes, like you said, you’re still giving back in a totally different way but doesn’t match. And when you feel like it’s mismatched, it just feels different. So thank you for saying that out loud. I feel like you’re so honest, and you have probably said that a number of times, but to say it here, where people are, you know, of course it’s like hashtag actually I can well, yes, from a far away place, you can do anything you want until you get into it. And then all of a sudden you’re like, oh my God, I’m going to actually quit this job. Like I’m tethered to this job and it feels safe and it feels secure. I did it for years at my gym job.

Katy Ripp 00:25:48  I was still running three other businesses and still had a full time job at A and an athletic club, and I just felt like, oh my God, I can’t leave this. This is my secure, like nice little paycheck. Even though I was making triple that. Right. Like it just it’s a real party win.

Nina Caviggiola  00:26:02  Yeah I think that you hit it on the head with the money. There’s a lot of money trauma and a lot of money scarcity mindset that I have because of how I grew up and because of not having any money. So for me, no matter how much money I have, I could have $1 million right in front of my face and I still would be afraid that that wasn’t good enough, and it would be taken away from me at any given moment, because all my life, that’s what it was. My home was taken away from me all the time. My family was taken away from me and we didn’t have money, food. We didn’t have food. So like that scarcity mindset is so hard.

Nina Caviggiola  00:26:41  But I also want to add that as women, I think that we are taught to be comfortable with what we have, and we are taught and told that we shouldn’t want more. So for me to believe that I’m only worthy as a nurse because that is what I should do. And I love being a nurse. I love taking care of people and saving lives. I love that, but I’m still stuck in that mindset of like, but am I still worthy to be doing business in a business that I never had business in? That’s the thought that I’m constantly battling. Because if it was a man, if it was a man that was like, I’m going to go become an entrepreneur, Sure I’m going to leave this bedside nursing job and become an entrepreneur. He would get a pat on the back. Whereas a woman we are taught to believe like, am I still worthy? Am I doing enough? Am I still valuable as the woman that I am in a more powerful role?

Katy Ripp 00:27:40  Yeah, and I think we get in trouble then, right? Because then we’re like, well, I’m going to do all of the fucking things because I have to be productive and I have to be worthy if I’m going to do all this stuff.

Katy Ripp 00:27:50  One of the things I like to tell my clients right now is like the things that you can do with money, right? Like the good that you can do with money when we are like responsible and good caretaking, creative, resourceful, whole people, the things that we can do with the money that we make is priceless, right? Like you can turn around like you. You think you make a difference at a bedside. You could buy a fucking hospital, right? Like. Or you could pay for everybody’s treatment if that’s what you wanted to do. But in order to do that, you have to make a lot of money, right? So it’s okay to make money. I just I have my own fucking money stories. Let’s be real, right?

Nina Caviggiola  00:28:34  I have, we all do. Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:28:36  Of money stories. I was at a workshop this past week with seven very highly ambitious women, and the workshop was about a money mindset. And my first question to them was, what’s your first money memory? And they all wrote down their first money memory, and all of them cried, right? Like all of them had some sort of memory about money, that the emotion was so close to the top that it just poured out, like, why do we have these things? And so and it takes a lot of work to get there.

Katy Ripp 00:29:08  It takes a lot of work and like peeling back all the layers of this to leave a nursing job or leave a teaching job or leave a any kind of job to pursue something that isn’t necessarily the norm. Yeah.

Nina Caviggiola  00:29:24  I do think that I love the hashtag. I can because we can write, we can do anything. But the thing is, can you challenge yourself enough to believe that you’re worthy, that you can do it? I think it’s so much deeper, especially for women. It’s so much deeper that you actually have to do that mental work. Like, why are you stuck? What is making you feel stuck? It’s not that you can’t. Like you told me at the beginning about your friend. It’s not that you can’t make a real. It’s not that you don’t know how to work a camera. It’s not that you don’t know how to get a brand deal. It’s not any of that. Because that you can watch a million YouTube videos and learn it in a second, right? It’s in your mind.

Nina Caviggiola  00:30:09  Dig a little bit deeper. Like where actually are you getting stuck? Because for me, this is something I’m working on in therapy. For me, I’m getting stuck because I believe that everyone is worthy. I believe that everyone is deserving of grace, but I have yet to allow myself to have grace and feel that worthiness and like I fight for it every day. But it’s something that I constantly have to work on. So my thought is like, I can work for that, I can work for those emotional needs, or I can work for those emotional changes so that I can do the things right.

Katy Ripp 00:30:54  Yeah, it’s just so much deeper than like, yes, I can do that. Well, of course we can all do it, right. Like there’s that saying out there. I think, like if knowledge was all we needed, we’d all be rich and thin, right? Like, knowledge isn’t enough, right? We have to go through, like, why aren’t we doing it? Why aren’t we taking the next step to do that thing? because we can all do anything right.

Katy Ripp 00:31:18  There’s examples of it all over the world of people doing it before you, or maybe not, but doing something with a significant courage level. But what’s holding us back? And I do totally agree. I think for most women it’s a worthiness or a like, do I feel valuable in this space? Am I giving enough? Again, the answer logically, is yes, but every other like that’s not enough. That part is not enough. Yes, I can do it is not enough.

Nina Caviggiola  00:31:49  Yeah, I literally have in my phone I literally have a photo album that’s called Nice Messages, and I screenshot those messages that are like, you’ve changed my life, you’ve changed my perspective, you’ve made me a better mom. You’ve helped me seek therapy. You’ve like, I have all these like messages that are so deep and intimate that I literally put in that folder, because I have to remind myself, like I’m not. Just because there is such a surface level to the job that I do. Like there’s affiliate links in the brands and like the money that I make.

Nina Caviggiola  00:32:26  But to me, what’s more important is the connections that I make. And what’s more important to me is that I’m able to help somebody feel more confident in themselves, in any aspect in their life, their relationship, their parenting, their motherhood, their body, whatever it is, I want people to feel more confident. And I always I’m there’s this constant battle because in my job, success for brands and affiliates is measured by numbers. and July and August are very slow months. Right. So like, I’ve been really feeling down, my numbers are down. I mean, across the board for everybody they are. But when you have brands that are like, well, why is the ROI down this month? And then I beat myself up for it. And then I feel like I have to push more sales. So it’s a constant balancing act for me too, because I there are definitely I’ve met people in this business, in this industry that are like strictly like, this is my job. I only share links, I only do business deals.

Nina Caviggiola  00:33:34  But that’s not my intention at all. That’s like, well, I think so.

Katy Ripp 00:33:38  Why so many people relate to you is basically because you’re like a community builder with a side of affiliate. Yeah, right. Like you have built up this amazing community that you happen to do the other stuff for it. That’s how I feel. You put yourself out like I’m here to build community, and the rest of it is just like the cherry on top. Yeah. Instead of the other way around. Right. Like that’s why I’m speaking. I can’t speak for your other followers, but I can speak for myself that like, I watch every single one. But it’s because I think you’re talking to me and you actually care. And then, like, sometimes I buy your bra. Right. Maybe we shouldn’t tell your brand affiliates but like mostly right. Like I. And then there’s, I’m sure that there’s a ton of other people that go to your socials or your other sites specifically because you, they like what you offer.

Katy Ripp 00:34:37  Right. Like they like the products that you offer. I mean, there’s you have so many like demographics, right, revenue streams and all of these things. But to me it never feels like you’re pushing product. It feels like you’re building community first and then it just like, this is the cool side piece.

Nina Caviggiola  00:34:58  Yeah. No, that’s thank you for saying that. That’s my goal and that’s my intention. But again, it’s like a fine balancing act because there are days where I’m just like exhausted and I don’t feel like talking to anybody. Yeah. You know, I don’t feel like talking to anybody. And there are days where those days where I don’t feel like talking to anybody. I maybe have an ad that I has to go live that day, because it is at the end of the day, the way that my business is, it is a business, right? Like, at first of all, it wasn’t a business to begin with. It was me just trying to build a communication community.

Nina Caviggiola  00:35:39  And I still want that and I still strive for that. But at the end of the day, like I do have contracts, I have brand partners and it gets really sticky. Sometimes. I only take the brand deals in partnerships that I feel truly resonate and align with me as a person in my brand, but like some days I’m like, I don’t feel like I’m not in a peppy mood. I’m not in the mood to. I’m in a shitty place. But I have to post this ad because yeah, that’s my contract.

Katy Ripp 00:36:09  Because that’s my fucking job. All right.

Nina Caviggiola  00:36:11  Yeah. And we all have that, like, in all jobs, like, I know you, you are in the business of empowering women and helping women and, like, building confidence just like I am. I mean, maybe you can vouch for this. Like, I’m sure you have days where you’re like, feel like shit about yourself and don’t feel confident, but you have to go tell someone else to be confident.

Katy Ripp 00:36:28  Yes, of course, like I try to practice what I preach, but otherwise, like I also look to other people to inspire me, right? Because like, we’re just not out here, like, with no problems and right things. Just fucking amazing all the time. This brings up a question I had for you. I specifically like me. I know how much work this takes, right? Like this isn’t just fucking posting reels and hoping for like throwing enough shit at the wall and seeing what sticks, right? There’s strategy behind this, and there’s money that you pay out for people and there’s like, it is a job B and the bigger it gets, the more legitimate it gets, right? Like, I would imagine that. And correct me if I’m wrong and we can totally cut this. If this is not actually the truth, I would imagine, as you’ve grown, that somebody along the way was like, is that a fucking job? Like, is that even a job? Or like, yeah.

Nina Caviggiola  00:37:27  So there have been people that have like mocked my job or asked what it is. And even to this day, I like when someone asks me what I do, I just say I’m self-employed. I work in social media marketing. I just say I work in marketing because.

Katy Ripp 00:37:41  Do you call yourself an influencer?

Nina Caviggiola  00:37:43  I don’t know, like yes and no. I do feel that we all this is so cheesy, but I genuinely believe that we all have influence on people in one way or another.

Katy Ripp 00:37:54  Social media would not exist if it was not true. We all have influence, right?

Nina Caviggiola  00:38:00  And I think that.

Katy Ripp 00:38:01  You’re just a professional one.

Nina Caviggiola  00:38:03  I just get paid. I just feel that it is. It’s gotten a bad rap, and I don’t know why. I mean, some people say content creator. Influencer? Yeah. I just usually if someone asks me in like a professional setting, I just say social media marketing because that is what I do. I do marketing, but I do believe that my influence on people’s lives is beyond marketing.

Nina Caviggiola  00:38:28  I do believe that I have an influence on people to want to be better. I mean, I have literal I have a whole fucking album in my phone of pictures, like people telling me, right, so.

Katy Ripp 00:38:41  Like I do.

Nina Caviggiola  00:38:42  So this is where the like, need for validation. Like I have data that proves that my job is valuable to people. But yeah, people have like not directly to me, but I’ve seen like people say like, how is this a job? This is dumb. And you know, I do really good. Like I stay off of any of the gossip sites. I know there’s Reddit. I stay off of all that and I just don’t. I don’t even look, I don’t Google myself. I have a very head forward mindset, like I’m doing the best that I can. For me, I’m doing the best that I can for my family and my employees, and I will fuck up. I will say the wrong thing. I will make mistakes. I will change my mind.

Nina Caviggiola  00:39:26  I tell my kids this all the time, it’s okay to change your mind. It is okay to change your mind if you feel that you made the wrong decision. Because my son was like, well, you used to let me have the tablet every day and now it’s only on the weekends and I don’t like that. And I said, I know you don’t like it. And mommy made a choice to change her mind because I learned some new things about tablets. And, you know, so, like, I believe that people will always have something shady to say. And this always brings me back to like a woman in this business is always going to get hated on a man in this business is not going to get hated on there either. Like smart there comedian. They’re valuable there. This they’re that. But as women it’s really hard for some people. And I do think that a lot of like the people that do hate on influencers, I do think a lot of that that stems from like their own inner shame or embarrassment or jealousy or like they’re just not able to be happy with for somebody else.

Nina Caviggiola  00:40:27  Like when you played that message for me that your friend sent, like, that is the kindest thing ever. Like to know that people are talking about me in a positive light behind my back is like protecting my name when I’m not there. Like, that is the biggest and best gift anyone can give me, and that’s who I hope to be as a person, you know, because you can always find something shitty. You can always like people will say, oh.

Katy Ripp 00:40:51  But you can also as equally or more find something good. Well, all the time. The influencer part of that, the where you said a lot of people call themselves content creators or whatever. Is that kind of the among the I’m going to call you guys influencers, but among the industry because like, I’m technically a life coach, right? Like I’m technically a coach, but somewhere along the line, life coach got a bad rap like the pit bulls of the 90s, right? Like for whatever reason, we just life coaches never been a great term.

Katy Ripp 00:41:25  And in my coaching circles, people are like, oh, I would never call myself a life coach, which, I mean, I get it. But I also like, for some reason, find it a like personal crusade to correct it. I don’t know why it’s not my job to do that, but I’m curious if like, everybody feels that way because it got a bad rap. So we don’t call ourselves that. We just like all call ourselves whatever it feels like. Good to call us at the time if that’s a like yeah, pretty common.

Nina Caviggiola  00:41:55  Yeah. It’s a common discussion amongst people in the space. Some people will say influencer, some people will say content creator. I think that generally most people don’t call themselves influencers. I don’t know. I don’t care if people call me an influencer and I can call myself that. Again, like I said before, I do think that we all have influence, and if we can be a positive influence, then why is that a negative thing? Yeah, I think that you as a life coach, you can technically be called an influencer too.

Nina Caviggiola  00:42:26  You’re influencing people to find the best versions of themselves. I just yeah. So I don’t know. That’s just. Yeah, people are always gonna be negative. And again, like, influencing is such a new I mean and there’s so many different types of influencing. There’s literally people who are like, there’s people like me who have taken this role and made it a business. This is a business. Now I have seven employees. I you know, I.

Katy Ripp 00:42:51  Really.

Nina Caviggiola  00:42:52  Yeah, I have a whole team. I have, you know, it’s a whole business. Like it’s crazy to think. And then there’s people who are maybe in the infancy stages and are just like sharing funny dances and videos. Like, I think that’s why the term influencers get such a bad rap, because like, you have the ones that are kind of like mocking the influencers, and then you have the ones that are just doing it for fun and like maybe sharing fun, cute videos. And that’s oftentimes how it starts. And then you have the ones who are like, who were on a TV show like The Bachelor and now they’re influencer.

Nina Caviggiola  00:43:23  You know, there’s such a wide range of influencers. And yeah, I think that it’s going to always have a bad rap because it is essentially at the end of the day, it’s like a entertainment business. Yeah. At the end of the day.

Katy Ripp 00:43:37  Tell me about the business side of it. Like when did you say to yourself, like, fuck, I can’t do this by myself and started looking for help because I’m guessing you tried to do all things still? Yeah, yeah, yeah, right, right. I that’s the other thing about female entrepreneurs, right? Like we all think that, oh, we have to be the bookkeeper and the janitor and the accountant and the videographer and the photographer and the copywriter and the website designer in the. You know, I mean, I could go on and on and on.

Nina Caviggiola  00:44:09  I mean, just like moms, right? Like, we think we have to do it all, and it’s not okay to it’s God forbid you have a housekeeper, God forbid, like a soul keeper.

Katy Ripp 00:44:18  And somebody that does my laundry.

Nina Caviggiola  00:44:20  Good. Send them my.

Katy Ripp 00:44:22  Way. Her name is Yolanda. She’s amazing. I’m happy to send her your way. My house cleaner was actually like, hey, I have somebody that does laundry. Do you think maybe you should have somebody? I was.

Nina Caviggiola  00:44:33  Like, yeah, like.

Katy Ripp 00:44:34  Yes, I do.

Nina Caviggiola  00:44:35  And there’s this, like, urge, this urge that we have to be like, oh.

Katy Ripp 00:44:41  Oh, do you know how many people are like, you have somebody do your fucking laundry? I’m like, yes. Isn’t it amazing? Like, I.

Nina Caviggiola  00:44:47  Even have to rewire my own brain to like, not judge. Because how much more can you do when you have help? So just to answer your question and it’ll lead up to this. So I probably needed help years ago. My husband is a more like logical thinking, and he’s a man like he’s not expected to do it all. So he’s the more logical thinking. And he thought I needed help a long time ago.

Nina Caviggiola  00:45:10  So I hired part time, very part time, like 5 to 10 hours a week. Help. And the only reason I even hired help this was in 2019 or 18, was because she was, like, persistent in my email. It was someone that was a follower. She was persistent in email and I was like, girl, I don’t need help right now. She’s like, well, let me know when you do. I’m here. Like, here’s my resume, blah blah, blah. So then in January of that year, I was like, fine, like, let’s try it out now. She’s now my full time CEO. She like runs the whole she’s like the brains behind the business, but.

Katy Ripp 00:45:45  Good for her. Yeah. That’s Cassidy. Yeah.

Nina Caviggiola  00:45:49  So I hired Cassidy very part time, and it was never an intention to hire anyone full time. Like like I said, this business that I’m running, I come from zero business knowledge. I come from zero. Like I’m a nurse.

Katy Ripp 00:46:05  Like nurses don’t know shit about money in business.

Nina Caviggiola  00:46:07  Like if you ask any accountant or any like financial advisor, they’ll tell you like doctors and nurses are some of the worst money people because they don’t know anything.

Katy Ripp 00:46:16  All they care about is helping people. It’s not their wheelhouse, right? Like I’m caring for people. You figure the rest out. Yeah.

Nina Caviggiola  00:46:23  So I just have never had a business mindset. I have a business personality. I always say, like, I could sell a pencil, you know, that’s just who I am, is I’m just a passionate. Anyways, so I hired Cassidy, and once she came on full time. Well, actually, once she came on part time every year after hiring her, my business doubled in income in revenue like doubled every year. And it’s like insane how much my business has grown because of Cassidy. She has taken so much off my plate. And since her, we’ve hired two more assistants. And then I have an editor and then I have a manager.

Nina Caviggiola  00:47:04  So. And then Tom, I employ my husband too. He could probably do more, but he. And this is where it gets really tricky. Like, he does so much for our family that people wouldn’t think like, how is that a job? But like, he takes care of a lot of things, like he cooks. I don’t like how he cleans. So I still clean, but he like, does the cooking. He takes care of the kids like he organizes like the sports and all that. So he does a lot of the things that traditionally women are expected to do. And then he also does all of my business bookkeeping, and he pays my employees accounting stuff. So, like he does all that one time he forgot to pay our nanny and I was so pissed at him. So like, it is still a small business. We’re still figuring it out, But yeah, and people used to tell me this all the time, and I’m sure you’ve heard this and I’m sure you’ve said this to people once you hire help, even if you don’t feel that you want to pay someone for it, your business blooms.

Nina Caviggiola  00:48:04  It grows like you get so much freedom. I think people go into having their own business and you know this. You’ve owned a lot of businesses. You’re going to having your own business and you think like, this is going to be amazing. I’m going to have all this freedom. I know it’s the opposite. You literally invest your entire self and time and being into this business, and then once you’re able to get help, then you’re supposed to back off a little bit, right? You’re supposed to. I just told my mom the other day, she owns a business, by the way, speaking of my mom, earlier, she opened up her own home health business, and she takes care of people in their homes. And she’s got 12 employees, and it’s amazing. I know I love it. She’s like a true, like, amazing American dream story. But she has 12 employees and she pays them. But then she also works herself and she, her sister is coming from Europe to visit.

Nina Caviggiola  00:48:53  And I was like, did you take time off? She’s like, yeah, I did a little bit, but I’m not going to have any pay. I was like, mom, why are you not paying yourself? Well, I’m not working. Yes you are. You write the schedule, you do the bookkeeping, you run a business like she’s still in that mindset. Like I have to be physically doing the work to be making money. And like I said, like, those are all things that you don’t think about.

Katy Ripp 00:49:16  Like on that subject, I tell people all the time, like, if you’re not careful, all you do is buy yourself a job. Yeah, and really expensive fucking job, right? Like I bought a wine bar and then ended up bartending all the time, and I was like, I just bought a super expensive bartending job. I’m done. I’m no longer event coordinating. I’m not bartending. And so I started spending some of the money to hire employees, which there’s a whole for me, the value piece in hiring local, amazing staff is like it’s part of it that fills my cup, right? Like that part of it I love.

Katy Ripp 00:49:56  So when I started and what I call it is buying my time back. So like, I buy my freedom back every single time I hire an employee, I buy more freedom for myself to not be there. And I was doing it all because I can doesn’t mean I should write like I was bookkeeping. I was doing all the website. I was doing all my social media management. I’ll never forget I hired Maria to do my social media management. She also reached out to me on Instagram and was like, do you need help? And I was like, sort of offended, sorry, Mariah. It was sort of offended that I was like, what’s wrong with my social media? Like, I’m doing it myself. It’s totally fine, right? Like, no, I don’t need any fucking help. And then all of a sudden I looked at myself and I was, I’m such an impulsive poster, right? Like I can post something, but I have to be there and like, that’s just how I work.

Katy Ripp 00:50:45  I can’t like, plan stuff out and schedule. I’ve got 42 courses to show me how to do that, that I can’t, I just can’t. And finally I was like, you know what? I think I’m just gonna hire? How much does it how much does it cost to hire her? I can still do all the impulsive stuff, but like, there’s a strategy behind this. And when I hired her, all of a sudden it was like, oh, my God, I have never have to worry about social media. I only do like the fun stuff. Yeah. And my husband was like, don’t you do that for a living? Like for other people, like social media manage. And I was like, yeah, but I’m not doing it anymore for us. Yeah, but I bought some of that time back and I needed it. And so when you’re talking about my bottom line goes up every time I buy an employee, I mean, I buy my time back. I mean, that sounds horrible, but I also pay them well and I’m happy to pay them well.

Katy Ripp 00:51:32  I’m happy to like, give them my money so I can be at home with my alpacas. Yeah.

Nina Caviggiola  00:51:37  One thing that I feel guilty this is something that I’m working on currently is I feel guilty when I have time, like I’m like, all my other employees are working. Why shouldn’t I be working? So, like, on days where I have, like slower days, I feel like I need to fill that time with stuff because, I mean, when you’re on your own business, you can always find work. Yeah, it’s never like in nursing. I would clock in and out and that was it. Especially in the emergency room, you see the patient and then they’re gone. Like it’s never like a continuous thing. Whereas with this business it’s a continuous thing. You’re constantly thinking, you’re constantly like rising for real.

Katy Ripp 00:52:15  Oh it’s done.

Nina Caviggiola  00:52:17  Oh my God, I need. So does your lady actually put your laundry away too?

Katy Ripp 00:52:21  Oh yeah. She and she. And once every two weeks she organizes all the closets and drawers.

Katy Ripp 00:52:25  Oh, my God, that’s it is the best $20 an hour I spend. It’s amazing. And I felt super guilty about it for a really long time. Right. I was like, isn’t this my job? Like, shouldn’t I be doing this? But I also run for other businesses right now.

Nina Caviggiola  00:52:42  What is that? What is that guilt. And I think over that.

Katy Ripp 00:52:46  Plus, I have the same exact feeling you do that if I’m home sitting with my alpacas and my businesses are still open, I feel guilty. I still feel guilty. I don’t know that I’ll ever get over it. I feel like I should be down there making lattes. That is not my zone of genius, by the way. I can make a mean latte, but it is not my zone of genius. It’s not where I make the money, right? Like I make $7 an hour doing that after I have to pay myself the fucking Social Security and Medicare. Right? So, like, it doesn’t make sense for me to do that.

Katy Ripp 00:53:19  Yet I still feel guilty. I still feel guilty when Yolanda comes. And what ends up happening is, like everybody, when they have a cleaning lady, they cleaned before the cleaning lady. Right? I refuse to do like Yolanda does that for me. So my cleaning lady comes every other week and Yolanda just picks up and does all of the stuff to get ready for the cleaning lady. All the things that I. But it’s like the only it’s really the only thing I give myself. And I don’t even give it to myself. Right. Like my everybody else in the family also benefits. It’s not like I’m going to get, you know, I have, like, a personal masseuse coming in here every third day. It’s like she’s just doing laundry. But I still feel guilty about it.

Nina Caviggiola  00:54:03  Yeah. Growing up, we had nothing like my mom was. All the things. I was all the things. So, like, now you just almost feel like, well, if my mom did it, why can’t I do it?

Katy Ripp 00:54:13  Yeah, well, because you’re always working.

Katy Ripp 00:54:15  So. I mean, your mom is working too, but, like, also, we can. It’s just. Are we worthy of it? Yeah. Right. Like, are we actually worthy of, like, why shouldn’t I be doing 42,000 different things? Because somehow we got to a place where it’s like a badge of honor to be overwhelmed and burned out, like, yeah, no, I’m not. I’m done with that.

Nina Caviggiola  00:54:38  Yeah, but, you know, the growth that I’ve personally had in delegating and hiring and asking for help in the last year and a half has been significant, like even to the point, like business aside, like I will email my husband. So like, we want our kids to be in swim lessons and I’m like, oh, I don’t have time. Like I can’t deal with. I literally sent the email to my husband, said, please handle this period by like please handle like I. It feels so weird, but also empowering to just be like, pass it on, pass it on to your husband.

Nina Caviggiola  00:55:13  And like, my husband is very receptive to that stuff. Like he’ll do anything. And I used to be so annoyed that I had to ask, like I wanted him just to think of it himself. But I’m like, you know what? If it’s it, I’m just going to send it to him and he can handle it and we can have a discussion about it if we need to. But it has been very freeing to be able to delegate, and it’s something that I’ve really gotten good at. And I again.

Katy Ripp 00:55:37  It’s kind of addictive.

Nina Caviggiola  00:55:39  It is. And like when.

Katy Ripp 00:55:40  We get more people in here.

Nina Caviggiola  00:55:42  Yeah, like.

Katy Ripp 00:55:44  Can I hire someone to dust to my house?

Nina Caviggiola  00:55:46  Like what? But no, it really is. I think even when you think of it in a very simple manner, you don’t have to be hiring seven employees, you know, however many employees you have, however many I have. Like if you’re just starting out, like just delegate, ask for help. And it doesn’t have to be a full time employee.

Nina Caviggiola  00:56:03  Like there’s also for people listening who are like, I really want to get more help and I can’t financially cut it. Like there are interns everywhere. Like I right now, our nanny, she’s in college and her friends are looking literally for free internships to do stuff, so why not like, why not ask? My nanny is like half time nanny. Half time assistant. Why not like find word of mouth, ask people. And that’s kind of how I did it.

Katy Ripp 00:56:29  One of the things that I’ve started saying to myself also for helping people. So anybody listening out here that’s like, well, I can’t afford help change it and say, how can I afford help? How can I afford it? Right? Like there are ways to afford help. There are ways like you can give up some stuff, or you can go out and make more money to afford help. And a lot of that help helps you afford it. So I mean it’s a little bit backwards but yeah I don’t want to like I know we’re on a sort of a time crunch and I don’t want to disrupt your schedule.

Katy Ripp 00:57:02  So I have a couple of questions. One is I definitely want you to talk about your event in October, and I’m just going to give you the reins on that because I can’t wait to hear, like, all the things. What’s next for you? What’s the future look like for Nina?

Nina Caviggiola  00:57:15  like, I hate this question because you.

Katy Ripp 00:57:17  Don’t have to answer.

Nina Caviggiola  00:57:18  I love like I like. It’s a great question. I love the question, but like, I hate it at the same time because it makes me uncomfortable. Because I wish I knew, like, yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:57:26  How far do you look ahead? Do you think like, do you feel like you look ahead to tomorrow or. Yeah, we we look older or.

Nina Caviggiola  00:57:35  it depends like in personal life. We look ahead by like 2 to 5 years and personal life like, I don’t know, my dream is just to like, give my kids the childhood to travel. Like travel, lots of traveling. We have a buy land and build a house in the next 5 to 10 years, probably closer to ten because we love our neighborhood.

Nina Caviggiola  00:57:56  Yeah. So personally, that’s what’s next for me there. Nothing really super exciting. But I also, I saw this quote the other day and I can’t quote it exactly. It was like, you’re not going to be as successful looking ahead and dreaming ahead until you’re happy with the version of yourself you are now. And I think that’s where I am right now. Like, I’m trying to be happy with the version of myself. Now I might look like this super successful, put together person on the outside and like, I’m running this awesome business and I’m so proud of it. But like, I have a lot of work to do as far as giving myself grace and as far as like giving value to who I am and what I do, I’m still like. Those are things I’m still working on as far as business where I’m going. This year was kind of a busy year for me. We started a nonprofit organization called Nurture a Foundation, and that was a dream of mine for years. I wanted to help families who are low income or who are in need.

Nina Caviggiola  00:58:53  And so this year was kind of taken up by that. And we haven’t really thought too much ahead, but we’re hopefully going to be doing more confidence and empowerment events for women. Some speaking, I would love to do more speaking events. I know you were there when I did my first speaking event and I would, I think I.

Katy Ripp 00:59:12  Went like you if it makes you feel any better.

Nina Caviggiola  00:59:13  So like I talked for.

Katy Ripp 00:59:15  Like 45 minutes, they gave us.

Nina Caviggiola  00:59:17  Like 15 minutes and oh my god. So yeah, I got to get better at that. And business wise, I’m stuck in that sense because I don’t like naturally in this influencer space, people will like start a brand. Like that’s kind of the next step.

Katy Ripp 00:59:32  Interesting. Yeah.

Nina Caviggiola  00:59:33  Okay. I don’t know how passionate I feel about that because that’s a whole. Then you have to run a whole nother business. Yeah, right. My husband and I did start a business last year for real estate. So we have a real estate business and we own a few properties.

Nina Caviggiola  00:59:51  So that’s kind of like in the infancy stages. We’re trying to, like, grow our money in other places and not grown on what I do. Yeah. So yeah, that’s kind of we’re hopefully growing that hopefully growing the confidence space. And I don’t know yet what’s next. I think currently I’m just going to focus on myself and building my own confidence up.

Katy Ripp 01:00:12  Right. Well I’ll be there with you if that makes you feel any better.

Nina Caviggiola  01:00:15  Yeah.

Katy Ripp 01:00:16  What about your event?

Nina Caviggiola  01:00:18  My event? So we’re having our first confidence in her event. So it’s an event for women? A lot of it is catered to moms, but any woman is welcome to help build confidence in yourself. It’s going to be October 17th in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. It sold out in seven minutes when I posted about it, so it’s already sold out. I’m sorry for anyone listening that wants to come, but it is a non-profit fundraising event so you’ll get a lot of like confidence stuff there. We’re going to have tons of vendors like pampering, self care type stuff.

Nina Caviggiola  01:00:53  I have basically every brand that I’ve ever worked with has donated for goodie bags, they’ve donated for raffles. We have like an entire like luxury Mexico trip being given away. We have hundreds and hundreds of dollars being given away for spending on shopping. We have Botox, we have tattoos. I mean, it’s going to be like a whole this is going to be big. And I’m excited. We only charge $25 for entry fee, and I’m hoping that this will help women feel like there’s a community out there. And we’re going to have a panel of speakers talking about confidence. We’re going to have a keynote speaker talking about mental health and women and motherhood. And then I’m going to speak. Hopefully I won’t go over my time. But yeah, there’s going to be a DJ. There’s going to be, oh my God, we’re going to offer professional headshot like it’s I’m hoping that women just feel leave feeling just empowered and worthy of who they are in their life.

Katy Ripp 01:01:52  You think you’ll do it every year?

Nina Caviggiola  01:01:54  Honestly, it was really a lot of work.

Katy Ripp 01:01:57  Yeah, it’s so much.

Nina Caviggiola  01:01:58  Work this entire basically since January, we’ve been working on this and it’s now August and Cassidy has done everything. Cassidy and my manager well.

Katy Ripp 01:02:09  So those things from the outside look like, oh my God, this is so cool. And it is amazing. But like the amount of work that goes into shit like that is next level.

Nina Caviggiola  01:02:19  Yeah. And I think that people have written to me and say they want this every year, and I think that we don’t have enough of these things. Maybe you and I can do one together.

Katy Ripp 01:02:26  I.

Nina Caviggiola  01:02:27  I feel like when you do it with other people, it’s like easier.

Katy Ripp 01:02:30  But yeah, I spread it out a little bit.

Nina Caviggiola  01:02:32  I had like major imposter syndrome. I was like, no one’s going to come, no one’s going to buy a ticket. And like, it sold out in seven minutes. And then we opened more spots up and that sold out in two minutes. So it’s just.

Katy Ripp 01:02:46  Such a testament to how hungry people are for connection.

Nina Caviggiola  01:02:51  Yes, yes. Especially women and moms.

Katy Ripp 01:02:53  People are like kind of done with the virtual space. That’s what I’ve discovered. Like I’ve done a bunch of virtual stuff and all my in-person stuff is way more attended. It’s just that was actually one of the questions is, do you ever feel lonely? Like isolated?

Nina Caviggiola  01:03:10  Yeah, all the time I do. I have Cassidy here a lot now, and that really helps me because in nursing you are in a nurse’s station with a bunch of people, and you’re always talking, constantly socializing. And it’s just amazing to get away. Like in that job. It’s amazing to get away from your house. It’s amazing to get away from your kids and your husband, and you’re in this space of like, mutuals, like everybody feels that way. Like, oh, my kids were driving me nuts. Or like I, you know, whereas now I’m in my house where I have this constant need and desire and guilt if I’m not cleaning or if I’m not organizing or and then I don’t leave my house very often.

Nina Caviggiola  01:03:57  That’s another thing I need to work on, is I’ve become such a homebody. I don’t like leaving my house, ever. I barely go anywhere. So yes, it gets very lonely, but I’m kind of at peace with it. I don’t know, I used to be such a social person. I had to have plans all the time, and now I’m like, I kind of love this. But yeah, it is lonely.

Katy Ripp 01:04:20  Yeah, I know for me, like, the healthier I got and the more I healed my own, like inner child and my myself. I liked being with myself a lot more. And so I didn’t need other people to fill that in as much. And so now I’m like this homebody that I’m like, oh, I if I never have to leave here at all, ever. It would be amazing.

Nina Caviggiola  01:04:42  That’s such it like, I know.

Katy Ripp 01:04:44  But like, I just, I thought I was an extrovert all these years because it would just like, masked all the other stuff.

Katy Ripp 01:04:51  And for me, all of a sudden I was like, well, I didn’t like my own company. And now that I like my own company, I kind of like to be introverted and be home. And like, I still love the social part, and I like to be on social media and do all of the things and be at events and stuff. But I still get some energy being alone too, and I think that’s for me, it was like such a healing. It was a testament to like actually doing the work and healing some stuff.

Nina Caviggiola  01:05:14  So yeah, that’s a really good way to put it. Like when you finally get comfortable with being with yourself, because I think we are often uncomfortable being with ourselves in the chaos because there’s a constant chaos going on. There’s. There are such high expectations of mothers and women, and once it quiets down, you don’t know what to do with yourself. Like, what are my hobbies? Like, I don’t even know what my hobbies are.

Katy Ripp 01:05:39  I should be doing all this shit like, well, and also the chaos is, like, kind of comfortable, right? Like it feels like, oh, I can fix this problem.

Katy Ripp 01:05:47  So I’m useful and I’m valuable and I’m worthy and all of the things I could talk for about that for fucking.

Nina Caviggiola  01:05:53  Weeks, that’s like a whole nother EP.

Katy Ripp 01:05:54  Oh, that was you do not have an office.

Nina Caviggiola  01:05:57  I mean, you have an office.

Katy Ripp 01:05:58  In your house, but like, you leave to go to an office.

Nina Caviggiola  01:06:01  No.

Katy Ripp 01:06:02  Has that ever been a thought?

Nina Caviggiola  01:06:03  My husband thinks it would be a good idea, but, like, I would have to then drag all my clothes. Like, I do a lot of stuff with clothes and like a lot of my. I want my content to feel like natural, and I want it to feel like I’m just in my house showing you, you know? So I don’t want that. Yeah, maybe one day, depending on where the business. Yeah.

Katy Ripp 01:06:22  You might end up with like a really super cute Airbnb that you just go to for a retreat. Yeah, like that’s a good idea. I’m going to the office. Yeah, yeah.

Nina Caviggiola  01:06:31  That would be nice. We I mean, we have a commercial property I could go over to, but I don’t know, I like being in my house and.

Katy Ripp 01:06:39  Yeah, me too, I love it. I also love my office. My office is pretty badass, but right now it’s covered in a bunch of shit from the ice cream shop. Oh my God, I have so many questions that I should have asked you that I just never got to. But maybe I can have you back on.

Nina Caviggiola  01:06:53  Yeah, I’d love to. I’d love to come back. It feels like such a easy, natural conversation.

Katy Ripp 01:06:59  Oh, I just love you. I mean, I just.

Nina Caviggiola  01:07:01  Like, I.

Katy Ripp 01:07:02  Watch everything, and I, like, seek you out. I just I’m so glad we met. I’m so glad my path crossed with yours. I just feel like sometimes people I will not. Sometimes all the time. People cross each other’s path for a reason. And I just like I’m always rooting for you.

Katy Ripp 01:07:19  I know you don’t probably need it, but. Or maybe after this conversation you do. But I just I’m always rooting for you. I just feel like you are just such a bright, shining light in so many ways. And so keep doing what you’re doing. And I just at least two of us love you, me and my friend Jana.

Nina Caviggiola  01:07:35  Keller, I said hi, I.

Katy Ripp 01:07:37  Sure will, she will be fangirling all over that. I just feel like there were so many important things in there. Like, of course not everybody feels great. Like we just, you know, do it. Sometimes you have to do it scared, sometimes you have to do it bloated. Sometimes you have to do it, you know. Yeah. All the ways. And sometimes you just say no, right?

Nina Caviggiola  01:07:57  Yeah. I think that the biggest takeaway for yes I can is that you can do it if you’re willing to believe in yourself and you can say no and you can ask for help. Yeah.

Nina Caviggiola  01:08:10  Those are the things that I think we miss a lot is saying no and asking for help. And you can do it because I’ve built an entire multi-million dollar business doing those two things, even though it took me a long time. To believe that I can do it. You don’t have to wait as long as me, I promise. Asking for help is, oh.

Katy Ripp 01:08:31  It’s so good.

Nina Caviggiola  01:08:32  Game changer.

Katy Ripp 01:08:33  Yeah, it’s so good. I’m not going to leave Yolanda’s name for the laundry, because I’m scared that if I give her name out too much, she’ll leave me. So Yolanda has a special place here. But yes, you can have somebody else do your laundry. Yeah, my mother hates it, but whatever.

Nina Caviggiola  01:08:51  Well, she’s also, like, probably in that mindset, you know, women back when our moms were raising kids, they didn’t have to do all the things that we have to do now.

Katy Ripp 01:09:00  No, they.

Nina Caviggiola  01:09:01  Weren’t expected to have a business and be a boss, babe, but also be a cook and a cleaner and raise children and do crafts with their children and make sure their kids are in sports and make sure you’re traveling, but also make sure your marriage is healthy.

Nina Caviggiola  01:09:15  Like they didn’t have to do all that. They literally just had to be married. And, you know, I’m not downplaying, but like the expectation in our society is so different. Like, I’m sure they had it hard, but they had to cook, clean and be there for their husbands. Now we have to do a million more things plus that.

Katy Ripp 01:09:33  Yeah. And also work full time and be multimillionaires.

Nina Caviggiola  01:09:37  Yes.

Katy Ripp 01:09:37  And not feel bad about any of it?

Nina Caviggiola  01:09:40  No. Yeah. Be a man. Be a man.

Katy Ripp 01:09:43  Be a man. We’re also birth children.

Nina Caviggiola  01:09:46  Yes. And cook and clean.

Katy Ripp 01:09:48  Cook and clean and do all the things. Oh, Nina, thank you so much. I appreciate this so much. I’m so excited to have talked to you. I would talk to you every day if I could.

Nina Caviggiola  01:09:59  Thank you so much for having me, Katy. This was seriously so amazing. I would love to be back.

Katy Ripp 01:10:04  Yes. Thank you so much. And that’s a wrap on today’s episode.

Katy Ripp 01:10:11  I hope you enjoyed diving deep into the world of living authentically with me. Before you go, don’t forget to connect with me on Instagram. Shoot me a message at Katy Ripp. I’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s episode and connect with you further. And remember, if you want more details on today’s episode, or just want to explore more about designing your life unapologetically, head on over to my website at Katy Ripp dot com. There you’ll find all the juicy details and resources you need to keep the inspiration flowing. Lastly, if you’d like to join me on the show, whether it’s to tell about your experience of designing your own life, to share your expertise, or if you’d like to participate in lifestyle coaching live on air, don’t hesitate to reach out. Your story could inspire countless others on their own path to living authentically. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, keep living boldly designing your life. And remember #ActuallyICan.