The Grit & Grace Leadership Podcast

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone: Lessons from Penny Light

• Jen Kelly • Season 2 • Episode 15

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Ever wondered if a drastic lifestyle change could redefine your perspective on life? In this episode, we sit down with Penny Light, founder of Grit & Grace Clothing, Grit & Grace Adventures, and Grit & Grace Yoga. 

Penny shares her inspiring story of transitioning from a successful travel business in Costa Rica to pioneering immersive retail experiences that redefine how women approach fashion and self-expression. Discover how she navigated uncertainty and embraced new challenges, offering valuable insights into stepping outside comfort zones both in business and in life.

Through candid conversations, Penny discusses the transformative power of pushing boundaries and the profound impact of immersive travel experiences on personal growth. Join us as we explore her journey, from corporate escape to entrepreneurial success, and uncover practical strategies for embracing change and cultivating confidence.

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Jen:

Joining us today is Penny Light, a successful visionary and entrepreneur.

Penny:

The women are usually in some kind of transition in their lives or they're just looking out on their lives and it's not reflecting back on them what they recognize and they're just looking for a change. So this is that kick. It's that out of the comfort zone?

Jen:

Discover how stepping out of our comfort zone raises our tolerance for uncertainty, how travel can spark transformation and the importance of leaning on mindfulness as we navigate the unknown. Let's dive in Penny. Welcome to the show. It's so wonderful having you here.

Penny:

Thank you for having me. I'm honored.

Jen:

Well, I have to tell people like we are not affiliated in business.

Penny:

And I've been asked to.

Jen:

But what I love is that women entrepreneurs are just so open to supporting one another, and so you've been so gracious as I reached out to you, so thank you for being here. Well, we have a lot to get to. You're the founder of Grit and Grace Clothing, and Grit and Grace Adventures, and now Grit and Grace Yoga. And next one for you.

Jen:

I wanted to just lay the backdrop here. So before the pandemic, you ran a successful travel company out of costa rica. You had to make a difficult decision and move back to canada. Yes, start us with the catalyst of what inspired you to begin your journey with grit and grace clothing well it was.

Penny:

it was in coming back to Toronto and going shopping. I lived in Costa Rica for six years, so I had flip-flops and sundresses and I needed some Canadian appropriate clothing, and when I went to Costa Rica I'd left corporate, so whatever I came back to was just suits which I wasn't wearing anymore. So I went shopping and the experience I had for now 49, I was a few years younger then didn't suit what I thought women my age were looking for, who were youthful and playful. I went to some of the old go-tos that I used to go to and the product wasn't there and the experience wasn't there and the service wasn't there. So it really was an itch, a scratch, you know. So I basically wanted to create my own closet, but I wanted the experience to be something different and something special for all women, but particularly women our age.

Jen:

And can you just talk about the vision of this immersive experience as? You saw, it in retail, and what was missing and what you introduced.

Penny:

Yeah, I think feeling comfortable and, if I might use the word, safe in this space while we're trying on clothes. I think we're bombarded so much as women within, through the media, through social media. But this idea of how we're supposed to look and how we're supposed to be and you know the shopping experience in a lot of large chains is, you know, these big open change rooms that are open to the entire store and there's no mirrors in the change room. So you have to come out and you know that whole kind of it felt cold and it felt very salesy. Yeah, so I wanted to create something. You know, there's nothing more fun than getting ready with your girlfriends when you were younger, you know you all get ready together in the bedroom the clothes get sprung everywhere, so creating that kind of living room space.

Penny:

So all the change rooms have a couch, all the change rooms are big enough to spin in. So, you can have like you can. You don't have to come out, but you have lots of room to try things on and mirrors in the change room so you can stay in or you can come out. But it's created so that you feel comfortable coming out. It's like the whole store isn't staring at you, kind of thing.

Jen:

What surprised you about what you had to learn and kind of overcome through that leap, because that's a radically different industry.

Penny:

Well, it is, but it's. You know, so many skill sets are transferable and still to this day, every day, I'm Googling how do I do this, how do I do this, how do I fix that? So it's really just. That's the grit, that's the like. You just got to figure it out and I I had to figure something out when I came back to Canada and I wanted a better experience. So thankfully, my partner actually is in retail. He's 30 years in the secondhand clothing business, so still a little quite different. He had a lot to learn to help me as well.

Jen:

When you developed this name, what? What was the value set that you thought about?

Penny:

That we're all made of stories of grit and grace, and if we've, when we share them, we discover that and you know how do we get through anything in life? It's with grit, yeah, and hopefully a little bit of grace, sometimes, not always, but as much as we can.

Jen:

When it comes to confidence and watching kind of women walk into the store. Have that experience. What have you learned about women and their bodies and confidence just through that immersive experience?

Penny:

It's interesting. Interesting because you do sadly see how women are so influenced by what the media is telling us we're supposed to be or look like, and I think, sadly more so, this filtered world we live in, I, you know, worry about our young girls. Yeah, so they do come in and have this, this idea of what they're supposed to look like in the clothes that they put on, or even how they're supposed to fit and sizing. And you know, it's interesting when we explain to women there was a time in fashion where everything was fit to you. There wasn't sizing, there was always a seamstress. And we offer tailoring for that purpose.

Penny:

Yeah Right, but we've moved to this world where they're trying to, like, put all women into one size and that's not a realistic thing to do. So you know, they come to the store and it's interesting to observe that and and kind of teach them a different way of looking at it. And once they kind of have that aha moment, they're like oh, and then they're more willing to try on things they might not usually wear and sort of just stepping out of their comfort zones a little bit. Yeah, it's fun. And then they get excited when they come to the change room like super happy and excited and like I never thought I could wear this. It's so rewarding.

Jen:

Well, that kind of segues me perfectly to this topic that I really wanted to dig in with you on, which is venturing into the unknown and stepping outside of our comfort zone raises our tolerance for uncertainty, and I grabbed that from your website. As soon as I read that, I was like, oh, this is amazing. I'm imagining this is woven through several of your businesses. Can you just go into that lesson for all of us a little bit and what your experience has been with it?

Penny:

we're in a comfort crisis. There's a great book, new book out I don't know if you've read it called comfort crisis. Actually, um, he delves really deep into it. But we're not actually designed to live this perfect. Our rooms are the perfect temperature, our roads are perfectly smooth. For the most part, we we're never uncomfortable.

Penny:

We're not actually designed to be that way and what happens is we get into this like mindset of repeat. We're kind of on this hamster wheel and 95% actually this is a stat of our life is spent on repeat, which is shocking. That means only 5% of our time is spent in a conscious state. So I am a huge believer that we have to kick ourselves out of that repetitive, because it will it. It inspires creativity, it inspires mindfulness, for example. You know to be more in the in the moment. So when we step out of our comfort zones whether we're going on a trip or just taking a different route somewhere and noticing something different, or putting on an outfit you might not normally wear, that inspires us. You know, you sort of sit up a little bit taller and you get to express yourself a little bit more and you're more mindful and more in the moment was that the catalyst for the travel?

Jen:

like the grit and grace uh adventure experience, like when did you start that?

Penny:

so? So I had live life, flight adventures. So I've been doing this for the travel for 10 years. So the rebrand, the relaunch was to it just made sense. I had this amazing database of incredible women through grit and grace clothing, so it made sense to rebrand it under that name and bring it back to life. And it's my true passion. I mean, I love the stories and I love what it's providing to women and the connections that are being made. But I think the real experience of getting out of your comfort zone and traveling and seeing the world and connecting people in those moments is is so powerful and more my passion. So it was actually more. I was looking out at my life and what was reflecting back on me. I wasn't recognizing myself in, so it was my whole.

Penny:

The change from living in Costa Rica to coming back to Canada was more than just just the move. I did it not knowing it was permanent. We all thought the pandemic would last a week or two or three months, but you know three years. Thought the pandemic would last a week or two or three months, but you know three years. So I didn't. It wasn't on my own terms, so I left my house full of everything, and when you live as an expat, you create a family. So, you know, I had a great network of female friends, um, and I had my work and all of that. And then I stepped into instant new business, instant parenting. So my partner has two young kids and I don't have children of my own.

Penny:

So that was a lot. All you moms out there are killing it, um, and instant cohabitation. I lived alone and loved it. So you know, I was living a life that was very much me and then had to step into all these other roles that I was figuring out partnering, figuring out step parenting, figuring out business figure. I was just figuring things out for so long that I yeah, I guess it was a breakdown. And so my therapist said to me well, well, when was the last time you looked out at your life and recognized yourself? And I said, when I was sharing my love of travel. She's like okay, so do that, so, do that, so do that. So Grit and Grace Adventures was born in January. I want to say now, and what happens like?

Jen:

how many women join? Like, give us a little peek into this. What is this experience?

Penny:

I cap it out at 10 women, just because I like to keep it as super intimate as possible. Yeah, I don't like to call them yoga retreats. We move our bodies every day. There really are more adventure retreats and kind of the overland experience. So we don't go to one place and stay in one place. So Morocco, for example, is we. We caravan through the country and luxury SUVs and do two nights, two nights, two nights, two nights. So the women are usually, yeah, rh, yeah, they're in some kind of transition in their lives, whether it's like nearing retirement or just entering retirement, divorce, soon to be empty nesters, or they're just looking out on their lives and it's not what they reflecting back on them, what they recognize, and they're just looking for a change. So this is that kick, it's that out of the comfort zone moment that helps people, I think, then reflect and go home a changed person in some shape or form.

Jen:

And is this? Because, like we're just in travel, we're transported into everything that does not look familiar. None of it looks familiar, and so you're kind of forced into that state of mindfulness, day after day after day.

Penny:

Yeah, when you're traveling's unknown and and and usually something will go wrong, a flight will get delayed, or we we rolled into the sahara desert. We were short one tent because the the camp had accidentally rented it out to an airbnb thing, and so that was me that had to like go to spend the night in another tent, you know, but you have to very quickly adjust. So people are just like you're forced into the moment, you're forced into a mindfulness and you're forced to pay attention to what's around you, whereas here, when you're on that repeat you don't, you miss so much.

Jen:

Do you find, when people return, are they able to hold that skill? It's tricky.

Penny:

I do get a lot of calls, I you know. Sometimes it's immediate reflection, sometimes it's a year down the road. Someone will message me from a retreat and they'll be like hey, penny, you know it's just hitting me now. What shook me up then? What needed to come out? So sometimes it takes a little while for it to like percolate and you know they'll come home and they'll look at their lives around them and make minor changes or slight changes, sometimes big changes.

Jen:

Well, and I think in your website the thing that I loved, it says exploring our hidden capabilities within us. Now, I love that idea for our everyday living. Obviously, it's heightened during travel. Can you share a little bit about maybe some of the stories that you've encountered for yourself where that door has opened for you and you didn't even realize you? Had that capability.

Penny:

I'll use my experience in Africa. It's I mean, it wasn't a trip, I did go live there. I was living in Botswana in the middle of the bush, documenting a pride of lions with a film crew for a year, and every time I say that it seems ridiculous, but it's true. It's such an incredible opportunity. But I came from a strong corporate world, so I was working for some Fortune 500 companies where what you wore, the purse you carried, the shoes, where you ate, like a lot, mattered. That didn't really matter, but mattered. And I was 34 years old, I was young.

Penny:

Mm- to this world with no electricity, no running water, no mirrors Literally, the only mirror was on the side of the vehicle which I would catch a glimpse of. There was no room for vanity, and I came from a world where I believed beauty was external, and this experience taught me that beauty was from within. So it changed me literally on a cellular level, that what was inside of me was way more beautiful than anything on the outside. It didn't matter what suit, shoes or purse I was carrying, or car was driving, or restaurant I was eating at, and with whom it's so freeing was that your experience so freeing when you get there?

Penny:

yeah, it's incredibly's incredibly freeing. You know there was no phones. Yeah, you know I wasn't attached to this external appendage we now have of our cell phones, which was really nice. And then watching the animal and not being the top of the food chain for the first time, I mean we walk around pretty safe here, you know where you know. So I had to listen very intently for warning signals. I had to look near and far constantly. My earring and my eyesight both improved just from being in nature and and having to be aware and alert at all times, which was pretty magical. Being silent, when are we ever, when are we ever, quiet enough to hear our own thoughts, which is scary for some people.

Penny:

And then can also be pretty magical because you can let the shit go that you realize, if you stop to hear yourself, you realize how much damage some of those thoughts might be doing or how unimportant they actually are. So you start to let it go and you allow in what matters, what?

Jen:

practices do you do every day to kind of keep this potency alive?

Penny:

It's so hard, I'm not going to lie it is so, so hard and as an entrepreneur, it's I'm too busy to do this, I'm too busy to do that. And when I do step away from everything be it a walk in the woods, yoga, solo yoga, meditation in the morning, journaling it blows my mind. And it shouldn't surprise me, but it always does remind me that, wow, I have a whole other set of creativity going on that I can't access because I keep saying I'm too busy or I keep on this grind. But when you step away from all of that, it's natural. It just comes naturally it's natural.

Jen:

It just comes naturally. There was a lot on your website as I was doing my research for this show and I just screamed at me, yearning for more than the ordinary. Yeah, I mean, you put that right on your website. Why is that such a value for you? Where do you see people stopping?

Penny:

It's fear-based, it's a sense of worthiness. I so come from that. I have no problem sharing a very personal story. I don't come from a traveling family at all. I didn't get on a plane until I was 18.

Penny:

And then I didn't really travel until I was 21. My first trip was to Italy. Not a lot of money growing up and abusive. I'm actually estranged from my birth mother, so self-worth is something I've struggled with my entire life.

Penny:

I think like one of my earliest memories was wanting more. That I knew, not that I wasn't happy with what I had, but I knew that there was potential out there. Fortunately, I had a great set of friends at a young age, so you know, who came from good homes and their parents were great influences. I spent a lot of time in those homes, so I was seeing this, like you know, and one family was British. They had accents Like it was this foreign, like otherness, if you will, and I wanted the otherness in my life.

Penny:

So I always desired something more, maybe to my detriment, to be honest, it's you know what's around that corner, what's over that hill, but it's fed and the, the desire to see more of the world is fed, the desire to do more and um, and I don't want to say I don't have a fear of failure, I do. I think. You know, even with my stores, it's not a great time right now in retail. It's actually really difficult for small business and I think to myself if this doesn't work, what will people think? Yeah, but then I have to remind myself that, like I tried, yeah.

Penny:

The alternative would have been still working in corporate, you know, having small talk around a cooler, not sitting here with you having this beautiful, meaningful conversation. And if it doesn't work, I tried. Yeah. And I'd rather that than not.

Jen:

I just got chills when you said that, penny, because I know there's a lot of women entrepreneurs that listen to the show. That's the, the narrative we all have. Like I hear that in my head too, you know. But yeah, I tried at least I tried.

Penny:

I like to ask myself what's the alternative.

Jen:

Yeah.

Penny:

You know, and when you really reflect on that question, you realize that this is what I'd want to be doing stuff.

Jen:

It's not more things, it's not the next level. What's this life that I can lead that's somewhat unconventional, that gives me permission to do things a little differently? Yeah, do you think that we are on the cusp of a revolution here?

Penny:

I think we're on the cusp of a revolution.

Penny:

I honestly and I fun fact, somebody just told me this and I don't know where just told me this and I don't know where. I can't quote where it came from that young women are following us now. So our followers are actually young girls. They're tired of the filtered world. They're tired of the whatever it is they're seeing on their instagrams. They want to follow women our age who are doing things like this.

Penny:

That's the cool factor, that's the inspiration, that's the and there's a lot of us right now and we're a very unspoken to demographic who are finding our voices. Look out, yeah, and we're speaking up and we want to be heard and we want. We also want to be spoken to from a, a marketing perspective too. They're missing this demographic. You're hearing all this stuff about perimenopause and menopause and we're not our mother's 49-year-old. When I look at a picture of my mom when she was 49, we are very different looking. We're more youthful, we're more active, we're taking better care of ourselves, we're healthier and we want more than the ordinary. Yeah, I think it's amazing that these young girls are looking to this now and not that.

Jen:

Well, Penny, if people want to come for a Grit and Grace retail clothing experience, can you just share where your stores are located so people know?

Penny:

So we have a seasonal store. The first store was Solville Beach. That opens actually this weekend. Long weekend closes thanksgiving, so it's a summer store fast and furious. Uh guelph was the second store. That's at 24 wilson uh street in guelph downtown and then 170 ozington street in toronto.

Jen:

That's the newest and great, immersive experiences for people to you know, gain, gain new perspectives, push their comfort zone, try on clothes and feel the confidence. Yeah, thank you for being here.

Penny:

Thank you for having me. Yeah, amazing.

Jen:

It's been a joy. Thank you for joining us. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn, where we transform the wisdom from our podcast into practical tips, tools and takeaways for your leadership journey. Find us at gritgracepodcast. See you next week.