You're listening to the CUPICOLTA CEO podcast, episode 87. Hey, everyone, it's Ellen, and I'm back with another

short and sweet solo episode. This one is going to be focused on a hot topic that you either

have been guilty of doing yourself, or it's something that really, really irks you. So I'm just

going to throw it out there. It's the question, the age old question, hey, can I pick your brain?

Right. We've all been there. We've all either been on the receiving side of that message or perhaps

sent that message ourselves to someone. And honestly, if you have sent that message,

don't beat yourself up about it. Most of the time, I would say 99% of the time,

people asking that question come from a place of really great intention. I think the issue

sometimes is a lack of understanding that if you are seeking someone's time and expertise

for something that they normally charge for, as in this is the thing that they actually

sell in their business or consult on in their business, then it is, I think, honoring of the other person to offer to pay instead of expecting people to work for free if you wouldn't expect the same of yourself or if there isn't an equal trade-off for them to help you in this way. So I bring this conversation up because this was a question that was asked

in my membership recently on a Q&A call. Someone asked, you know, I really, I really want to help

everyone that asked me, but I don't know how to say no without coming off as rude. I don't know how to establish stricter boundaries

on what I can say yes to. I want to help more people, but I don't know how. And so it really got

me thinking, oh, wow, this is a question that plays a lot of people, even very, very seasoned

entrepreneurs. I've had

conversations with my friends in this industry who want to help as many people as they can,

but they just do not have enough hours in the day to actually say yes to every single person

who asked to meet up or ask to pick their brain. So I thought, why not compile a list of five responses that

you can default to anytime someone asks, can I meet up? Can I pick your brain? So I hope that

these help you as much as they've helped me as a recovering people pleaser. It is very difficult

for me to say no, but I have found that by

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