We recently connected with Lydia Morris and have shared our conversation below.

Lydia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Oh man! I would say in both businesses, I was jumping in feet first, with no prior knowledge of the industries.

When I was 16/17 was a single, teen mom, who worked multiple places, and never went to college. So, when starting my own businesses, I always felt that not going to college was something that disqualified me. I was very wrong. I had grit, determination, a massive support system, and faith.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Lydia Morris, I am 27, married, and a mom to three kids! I love to workout, love reading, being outdoors, and spending time with my kids at literally any event! We love to travel and frequently hit up Disney World! I am LOUD, outgoing, and always happy to meet new people, and make new friends. When I started my first business, Be Our Guest Boutique, I was just a mom who loved everything custom! I’m the mom who dresses everyone the same for every single trip we go on, so I was ordering A LOT. And there came a time, where I was thinking, I can make all of these things that I order. So, that’s where it started. Then it just kept expanding to where I was not only creating for my family, but others as well. Until, it was a full blown company, with customs, and drops and a full line of ladies and littles creations.

In my main career, as a financial strategist, it was something I added to tangibly be able to serve and love on others. As someone who had always “done well” but didn’t really know what to do/where to put money, I knew that there was a crisis with everyone else not knowing either. I began a few years back, really studying, getting all of my licensing, testing, continuing education, and adding licenses across the country. As I built my clientele, and added other agents, I saw that we were not only making a difference for our brokerage, but, we were making a massive impact for families across the United States.
One HUGE factor is the fact that I do not charge for my services, which means, anyone, in any life stage, can meet with me, for free and gain the value they need to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. I work with clients on wills and trusts, annuities, debt solutions, financial education, retirement strategies, investment options, life insurance, basically anything that helps you grow and protect your money, I can help with!

What I am most proud of in my careers is that at my core, it allows me to serve others, and make a difference for them. As a person who is a believer, I also believe part of my purpose in life is to serve others and leave them better than I found them. I am proud of the families I have been able to serve, the women I have helped feel more financially literate, the couples who needed help getting out of debt, the children who I have had the opportunity to help plan their futures, the man who wants to set himself up properly, I am very very proud of those moments. Watching the weight of the world be taken off of someones shoulders because they feel confident in the tools they have to build the future they want..that’s a moment you never forget. I am so thankful that I get to be part of that everyday.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

OOOH! This is one of my favorite topics! I think that your client experience is everything! The way you handle your clients in the high moments and the low moments, really makes or breaks your growth in business.
In business there are several ways you can scale,
You can buy leads, you can market/advertise, you can go door to door, etc, but the biggest (and most effective in my opinion) way to grow and sustain your business is through referrals!
Now, why? When you give your clients such a great experience in your establishment, they WANT to tell their friends/family members about you. Everyone wants to “have a guy/girl/person” when someone is looking. For example, if one of my clients sees a post about needing some investment strategies/guidance for retirement on social media, they can instantly plug me and my business AND they want to. When your client has such a great experience it’s not hard for them to share. They not only help their friend who is looking, but they help you expand your business as well. They know how well you took care of them, so it is easy for them to feel good about sharing your business with other people.
When you are constantly being plugged into new markets, your business growth is limitless.

Now, on the flip-side, if you are not giving the best client experiences, you will see the alternative happen to your business. So, please be mindful of this situation as you grow!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

This was not something I thought I would be talking about today, but I feel like when you have hard situations, it allows you to help others who will walk the same road as you, or help them navigate the road when it comes in a way that avoids some of the pain you went through. Sometimes you are given a ministry/friendship/business from your struggles.

In August 2021, just 3 short months after I was interviewed by you guys the first time, my dad, my biggest supporter, got extremely ill out of nowhere. So much so that he was placed in the hospital, and his O2 levels were in the high 70’s (should be 96 or above).

During the time my dad was in the hospital, approximately 2 weeks, I became the advocate for everything in his care. I was making decisions, calling the nurses multiple times a day, getting called by my dad’s team of medical professionals, updating my family (which is huge btw!), listening to gut-wrenching descriptions of what was going on with my father every moment of the day. I was put in a position no child (even at 26) should be put into. I am thankful now, that I was the one in charge, so I knew full-heartedly that no stone would be left unturned.

On top of that, my husband had to be quarantined from our family for 2 weeks due to his exposure, and my 3 kids and I were negative, spending that time living upstairs in our home. I was the only one coming downstairs at any point, I was sterilizing, washing everything, masking up, spending every moment I wasn’t taking care of my husband’s needs, or my kid’s needs cleaning and trying to protect my household.

To sum it up, I was awake 20 hours a day, cleaning, handling medical needs, fielding phone calls, on top of taking care of my family, and being a good, present mom. My phone on loud through the 4 hours of sleep I would get to never miss a phone call from a nurse. It was heavy to say the least.

As I’m sure you can tell from this story, it doesn’t have the ending I would want. My dad died after 13 days in the hospital. Gut- wrenchingly hard to even believe that it’s true 10 months later.

How does this apply to resiliency and business? Simple, I was placed in a position that I didn’t ask for, I had to rise to occasion, I had to demand better, I had to advocate, I had to push through, I had to make hard decisions, I had to ask questions, I had to carry heavier weight than I’ve ever carried in my life. In the end, I still didn’t get the outcome I wanted. What does this show? It shows that if you keep pushing, you WILL get through the struggles, and you WILL come out with more skills than you went in, mentally stronger, and a passion to help others face these trials with someone by their side, and not feel so alone, or unprepared.

I am beyond thankful for having a business where I can hit pause, and still be paid, while I am walking through struggles in my life, thankful for freedom to build when I want, and slow down when I need to. During the hardest times of my life, there were days when I could take clients and be totally okay, and others there was no way I’d make it through without being a sobbing mess. That’s okay, and that’s normal. You are allowed to be both human, and a business owner, I think it’s important to note that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.beourguestboutique.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.ccom/therealfitwife
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/lydia.d.meek
• Other: Those interested in interviewing with me: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd6SMKKAleq49eTCWDkUE8p711tp5i79KQYMVGPVPo9TYgkSQ/viewform