Britt Rohr, owner of the instafamous boutique letterpress studio Swell Press Paper joins me on the Road to Self Love this week and we talk all about how she lives her life without regret. We also dive deep into building a business on instagram, how she took her side hustle and turned it into a full time gig and so much more.

Every time you say “Yes” you are saying no to something you might not even know about yet.

Britt Rohr

My favorite part of this episode has to be the Story Game that we play together. Britt initially doesn’t understand the rules of the game, but I actually love her version! This is also a great episode for a budding entrepreneur who is ready to take the leap into their dreams full time, but scared they might regret the decision!

In This Episode

Paul: Welcome back to The Road to Self Love. It’s your boy, Paul Fishman, here ready to have an amazing conversation with my friend, Britt, from Swell Press.

Britt: Do I say hi?

Paul: Yeah, that’s what you do. You say hi. Do I say hi? I’m so excited to have this conversation with her because Britt is just a creative. She’s gone through that struggle. This truck is parked in the middle of the street. We’re just going to get through it. We’re going to make it all happen.

Britt: I think what you should do is just do the fake driving on a green screen. You know what I mean?

Paul: Once again, so grateful that you think that I have that type of budget. It means so much to me. We are currently melting in the sun, but production value is more important than my comfort. Britt loves it in the car. Britt, you know what? I’ve tried really, really hard to introduce my guests, but I think that it’s way better if my guests just introduced themselves.

Britt: Oh, okay.

Paul: Why don’t you tell us a little bit about you, who you are, what makes you just so excited to live life?

Britt: Oh, man. Okay. I’m Britt Rohr. I have a company called Swell Press. We are a boutique design and printing company. It started as a side hustle/hobby a couple years ago. Over the past few years, it’s grown and is now my full-time business. I’m very passionate about sharing what I do and sharing the struggles of what it takes to get to, not to say and get to this point like, “Oh, you’re such a big deal,” but to just have a business that’s –

Paul: You’re a big deal.

Britt: No, to have a business. I’m super sensitive to Instagram’s a highlight reel and all that stuff. It’s not real life, so I always want to be transparent about this. I’m happy to be here and be able to share that with you.

Paul: Thank you for being here.

Britt: Thanks for having me.

Building a business on Instagram

Paul: Oh my goodness. Well, I’m going to let you do more introduction along the way, but I just heard something that you said that I really want to talk about with you. It’s about Instagram as the highlight reel. I couldn’t even hold because that’s really what I personally think. I know that you’re super creative and you have amazing things going on, that has really supported your business, just growing and thriving and being amazing. Was there a time when you weren’t truly authentic on Instagram?

Britt: It’s like I want to be transparent at some level about my struggles and everything, because that’s the community that I have on Instagram. It’s other creative entrepreneurs. I get so many DMs from people saying that they admire what I’m doing or they want to do what I’m doing. But at the same time, my customers, the people who actually pay the bills and support Swell Press are mostly brides and grooms and stuff like that. I try to not, I don’t want to seem I’m complaining because I don’t want my customers to feel I might not have a grip on things or something like that. That I’m not running a well-oiled machine. Sometimes I feel I’m caught in between two things, where there are times I just want to be like, “This is so fucking hard.”

Britt: But then, at the same time, I don’t want my bride to be like, “Oh my God. She can’t handle my stuff,” or anything like that. It’s kind of this dance I have to do. I mean I suffer hardcore from comparison theory. I mean I love Instagram. It’s why I have my business, and I’m so grateful for it. But at the same time, I really, really limit what I look at at other people because I started to do this practice last year of when I did something, just something that was silly, wasting time on Instagram or watching mindless TV and zoning out for a couple hours.

Britt: I would ask myself after. I’m like, “Do I feel better after having done that?” I found with Instagram if I would ever go on more of my personal account or something like that and I would scroll, the answer was always no. It was like, I don’t feel more filled up as a person after mindlessly scrolling through Instagram for 30 minutes, because I’m always looking at what other people are doing. I think it’s weird because I know some people look at me. They might feel that same way like, “Oh my god. She’s doing so much.” It’s like, “I look at other people too and think that.” I think that’s really important to keep in mind.

Vulnerability on Social Media

Paul: It’s very, very important. I was thinking about as you were speaking when you said that you don’t want your clients to think that you don’t have it all together. Do you think that, in a sense, that’s not being authentic to who you really are? Because I know you have it all together, but that’s business. Business is always growing. Do you think that putting up this facade of just pretending you’ve got it all together when you’re growing. You’re doing all this stuff. You’re moving. You’re figuring it out. You have to process orders, but also in between stuff. That’s real life. Do you think that that’s more valuable than having this?

Britt: Well I think there’s two, and I guess I should quit. I think there’s two, touch-points I basically have with my customers. It’s my current clients. It’s the emails with them and all that stuff and then what they might see on Instagram. I try to always be super professional in our emails. I’m never like, “Oh my gosh, sorry client. I’m sorry it’s so late. I am just dealing with all this stuff.” I don’t believe in that. I think if you’re running a business, you should be professional. If you’re paying someone for their service so all that. I do think I’m definitely more vulnerable on Instagram.

Britt: I’ve gotten to be, over the past couple of years, I feel like I almost see it as a responsibility. I know that sounds super cheesy. But as my numbers grow, which again, I’m rolling my eyes because I know it’s just a number. It doesn’t really mean anything. But in some ways, it does mean something. I do see it someone as a responsibility. If I have people looking at what I do or wanting to learn from me, I think there is. I have to be somewhat transparent about it. I can’t just paint this beautiful glossy picture of the final product product, which is what a lot of my photos are. It is the beautiful final product. But the shit that went into it, I tried to be honest about,

Paul: I love your honesty on Instagram. I love how you are so open and vulnerable. I think it’s what truly attracted me to you. It’s what attracted me to want to work with you, to have you create my wedding invitations, which unfortunately-

Britt: Never happened.

Paul: Which never happened because Britt never responded to my email.

Britt: No! Okay. Just for the record, for the record.

Paul: Yeah, it wasn’t you. It was me.

Britt: It was you.

Paul: I know.

Britt: I remember when you reached out to me, I remembered your email in it. The subject line was, I thought it said, all the Beyonce realness. I thought that was the subject line. But then I looked back, I found the email and it said all the Unicorn feels or something and you wanted this fantastic wedding invitation. I was like, “Did I never write back to him?” But I did.

How to not compare yourself to others online

Paul: You did. I really wanted that so badly. I just really think it’s so cool how you have built this business on Instagram. I think it’s really, really important for you, having said that, I turn into comparison theory, which I to call Komparedashian. It’s knowing right here and now. I would love for you to give a tip or maybe seven, maybe just two, of how you move through that when you notice that you’re comparing yourself to others because everyone does it.

Britt: I often step back and think about myself like, what if someone saw me on the surface on Instagram, what they would be thinking. That they have no idea what I’m going through, or what I’ve really been through. Some people maybe to an extent do. I just have to step back and think about that. I think about people I know or dear friends who have gone through hard times or whatever, but if you look at their Instagram, there’s no hint of that or anything. It’s we all our own PR person painting this the best image of ourself we possibly can. I get it, but it’s also just … I don’t know, it wears on me.

Britt: I think that’s my tip. It’s not a quick tip, but it’s just think about yourself. If someone looked at your pictures, they would probably think that you’re just live in the highlight, which maybe you are.

Paul: Yeah, I love that. It’s reminds me of something I like to say. Worry less about what others think of you and more about what you think about others too. There’s just this way where we don’t have to worry. We don’t have to have that FOPO, fear of other people’s opinions. You like it?

Britt: Yeah.

Taking your part time business to a full time one

Paul: You like it, you love it. Awesome. I think this is a great time to transition because I could talk about Instagram all day, but I really want to know deeper into your journey of becoming an entrepreneur. Really, it’s really important for me, for you to share that piece of your story because you weren’t always a full-time business owner.

Britt: No.

Paul: Tell us what you used to do, what sparked this idea to learn how to press words into paper, and where you are now. Also, I’m sweating so that’s great.

Britt: Well, let me see. It started in Atlanta, Georgia in 1985.

Paul: That’s when you were born.

Britt: I was born.

Paul: Oh, wow.

Britt: No. I’d worked in the production, in production. In LA, when you say production, people know what it means like TV, film or commercial. But when I would go back to Atlanta and tell people production, they’d be like, “What do you produce? Do you work in a factory?” I should clarify, it was film and TV production. I did that for many years. I was always somewhat artistic and crafty and all of that stuff. I took letterpress lesson. Side note, letterpress is specific printing method that I do. I took a letterpress lesson on the side. I had a New Year’s resolution to do one new thing a month that year, which if I highly recommend everyone, if there’s a year where you can do it to do it because it was such a fun experience.

Britt: I did so much cool shit. I took a letterpress lesson. I fell in love with it and I just became addicted. I started it as a side hustle. Then I eventually bought a press and started an Instagram, which took me forever. I used to just do it for myself and I would send people photos and all that stuff. Then my husband’s like, “You’ve got to get an Instagram.” I was terrified because anytime you put anything out there it’s scary because people, you’re putting a piece of yourself out there for the world to judge if they want. I finally did that. Then the side hustle just grew when I was doing both. I was doing full-time production freelancing and then I was building Swell Press.

Britt: Eventually, it got to the point where it was I had a full-time job and I had a full-time business and it was just too much. I didn’t have a day off. I was totally beat. I was like, “All right, something’s got to give.” I laid the groundwork in as much of a responsible way as I could. I had enough money saved to last me six months and all that stuff.

Paul: Excuse me, sir. We’re recording over here. If you could turn your music down, that’d be really sweet. Thank you.

Living without Regret

Britt: I was like, “All right. I can’t do this anymore. I have a couple somewhat maybe a nervous breakdown.” I was like, “Something’s got to give.” Laid the plan out, save the money, decided to get a studio space. I was like, “I’m just going to give it, everything I’ve got for a year.” Because I didn’t really know what was going to happen. I didn’t hate my other job. I actually love production. It was a great job, but I just felt the one thing I didn’t ever want to have was regret. I didn’t want to look back and wonder and be like, “What if I had done that?” I was like, “All right. I’m going to give it everything I got for a year.” Then I did it for a year. Then after that, I was like, “All right. I’m going to do it one more year.”

Britt: Still TBD, and then I remember when you took a lesson, which was only a couple months ago, that was the first time that I was like, “All right. I’m going to talk. I’m going to stop talking about going back to my old job now. Swell Press is going to be my life for the foreseeable future.” Because I always even then had one foot in and one foot out, because I could always go back to the job. That was it. Then you’re catching me at a a weird time right now because we, Swell Press, just signed a three-year lease at a new location, which it brought up a lot of emotions I’ll say because it’s a big move to a different space that has a lot more room to grow and stuff like that. That move just happened, which brought up so many emotions as far as like, “Okay I’m committing to this for three years. There’s no going back now.” That’s where we are now.

Paul: I love that story. I think that it’s so cool to just hear from start to finish. Can you give a break down the timeline so people can hear how many years you were where? How long have you been doing this for part time to full time?

Britt: Let me see. Maybe since I first touched the press, it’s been five, no four and a half years. It was a side hustle, something I was doing just in every free moment I could get for two and a half years. Then it’s been my full time Gig for just two years now.

Comfort is the killer of dreams

Paul: I just wanted to take this time to remind anyone who’s listening or watching that if you want something, there are lucky people who it happens overnight to, but it takes a long time to make anything happen. What I really, really love to point out about Britt is that she was comfortable where she was. She didn’t have any reason to do this, but she knew that she had to do it. I wanted to talk a little bit more about that because, what would you say to someone who is in the same shoes? I feel comfort is the killer of dreams.

Britt: Oh, yeah.

Paul: What would you say to someone who has this comfortable job, but also has this dream, this desire, just like, “Well, I’m going to regret if I don’t do it,” but there might be a lot of fear coming up? How did you step through that fear?

Fear in the workplace

Britt: I’m still, every single day, I’m terrified. It’s different when you have your own business. Your ass is on the line. You don’t have an entity of a company or anything protecting you. It is you. I don’t know if there will ever be a time when I’m not scared. I’m always scared, but I think my tolerance to a lot of things. I think my tolerance for stress has just increased. I think my tolerance for fear. I just don’t really… I’m a lot better now at identifying when I have these scary thoughts and just being like, “Okay, well that’s just that. I just don’t really have a choice. I’m just going to not really indulge in it.” I mean, like I said, this time right now, it’s a interesting time for my psyche because it’s been so much fear coming up. Because this new move is a huge commitment.

Britt: The rent that we’re paying at this new space is astronomical. It was forcing me to step up in so many ways. I’m still scared but I’m like, “You just have to.” There’s a picture. I’ve seen it on Instagram, but it’s a little circle. It’s like, “This is your comfort zone and this is where the magic happens.” I don’t really think, if you’re a super lucky person, maybe the magic happens when you’re in your comfort zone. But I don’t want to look back at life and be like, “I wish I really would have taken that leap.” I think that was a main thing that was driving me. I knew that if I quit after a year, I would have always been like, “Well, what if? What would have happened if I had just kept going?”

Paul: That’s so cool that you had that understanding of where you were in your life. I just really want to commend you because a lot of my clients really are at that breaking point. They’re really terrified to take the leap into something that they truly, truly want. It’s getting foggy in here.

Britt: It’s getting hot in here!

Paul: Literally. Sorry, I just going to have to turn the air on a little bit. It’s really just over here. It’s just, I’m just emanating heat over here. Let’s just move this a little bit. With that in mind, you said fear is a daily thing for you. You’ve got to have a nugget that you can give us. Take us back to a day where you were just so terrified, what caused you-

Britt: Yesterday.

Stepping through Fear in the workplace

Paul: Okay, great. Well what happened? What got you through yesterday?

Britt: Just not have it. I feel I don’t really have a choice. You’re just like, “No, I don’t, I don’t have a choice but to move forward and to try to just kick ass as much as I can.” It’s not really … I don’t know. I mean, but just yesterday I was nauseous all day. I literally couldn’t even eat all day because I had so many things coming up. We have a lot going on right now with work, so couple that with moving 10,000 pounds of equipment and an entire studio and all that stuff. Like I was saying, I knew the universe was going to test me. I knew things were going to happen whether it was something being delivered to the wrong address, or something being printed wrong, or all of that stuff.

Britt: I just weirdly anticipated that everything was going to be heightened right now. My anxiety was going to be heightened and my emotions and all that stuff. I was like, “I know the universe is going to test me.” Like I heard on Oprah’s podcast once, if you ask God for patience, He’ll give you a line at the bank. I always think about that. It’s like, “Okay, I’m trying to be successful.” By successful, I just mean successful where I can look in the mirror and be like, “You are successful and all that stuff.” I don’t mean making a certain amount of money, even though I do have that in mind. In this attempt to try to build what I want to build and be successful, I knew that challenges were going to come up.

Britt: Because that’s really the only way that you can learn and grow and develop. It’s a smooth sea ever made a skilled sailor. I think that’s, I don’t know, a quote or something. I think about that.

Paul: We’ve talked a lot about where you’ve been, where you’ve came from. We’ve talked about Instagram. We’ve talked about all of these tools that you’ve been using on the day, and a lot about fear too. I think that it’s a great time now to lighten up the mood and play a road trip game. Are you ready?

Britt: Yeah.

Paul: I think that you are just a creative in your own. She’s cracking her knuckles. She’s nervous, fam. We are going to play the story game. Are you familiar with the story game?

Britt: No.

Road Trip Game: The Story Game

Paul: You and I are going to tell a story together.

Britt: Oh my god. Okay, I’ll try it but improv is the worst.

Paul: This is how it works. I’m going to say a word and then you’re going to say a word. Then I’m going to say a word, and you’re going to say a word. Okay?

Britt: Okay.

Paul: What are we going to tell our story about?

Britt: It’s going to be about the time that we kept driving east. Then ended up in this vacant parking lot. There was this weird car parked. It was this really old school Cadillac, and it was amazing. Then the door opened and a bedazzled shoe steps out. It was a loafer.

Paul: That is mine.

Britt: And it was none other than …

Paul: I love this story that you just told without my help.

Britt: No, I wanted you to say who it was. I was saying it was bedazzled loafer. Then I was setting it up so then you could be like-

Paul: Got it, okay.

Britt: We’re just going to do a word at a time. I’m like once.

Paul: Yeah.

Britt: Okay, we’ll do that. Once.

Paul: Oh my god. Wow. If you are not watching on YouTube, please go over and cut to that part. I can’t give you an actual timestamp, but Britt’s eyes that she just rolled were seriously an all-roll to end all eye rolls. I really know. I really liked her concept. I just wasn’t clear what was going on. I like that. We can continue on with the story.

Britt: That’s how it worked when I’ve seen improv.

Paul: Okay, great. We’re going to do that. You’ve given me a new game to play. I’m going to then continue this story with way more than one word. Okay?

Britt: Okay.

Paul: You said a bedazzled shoe stepped out. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a disco ball start to spin in this vacant lot. All of a sudden, the sun went down. It was this magical moment. There she was, in all of her glory, RuPaul standing in front of us about to sashay her way towards us. At that moment I said to Britt… Oh, geez. It’s your turn.

Britt: I know it’s my turn. At that moment, you said to me, “That dress would look good on you too.” I looked down. Somehow, I had transformed, out of my sweaty workout clothes that I’m wearing right now, into this fully bedazzled, amazing dress. Then Ru, RuPaul, can I call her Ru?

Paul: Yeah. We’re best friends,

Britt: Ru points to Paul and says …

Paul: Honey, if you can’t love yourself, how the hell are you going to love anyone else? You can use that in your business, as a self love coach. I’ve heard a lot about you, sweetie. I’m so proud that you are spreading the good message to love yourself from the inside out. But you know what? These clothes aren’t going to work for you. So Pit Crew, come on out.

Britt: Then, the Pit Crew comes. And to my surprise, it’s a bunch of miniature Jeff Goldblums. It’s six of them. They all come. They all work untying the laces of your Golden Goose sneakers that you’re wearing right now. Then they go voila and you’re wearing …

Paul: The same dress that you are wearing and Ru as well.

Britt: But you look better in it than me.

Paul: I mean-

Britt: That’s a point of contention.

Paul: The end. That was the best story that I’ve ever told with the story game.

Britt: Oh, good. I’m glad I hijacked that and is really made it work

Paul: You know what I’m really proud because I’m really grateful that you did that, because now I have a way better story game to tell. Let’s talk about collaboration because when I came to do my lesson with Britt and made these beautiful know cards that I send to all of my clients, and all of my guests are on the show, but I’m not going to give you one because you already had one. You made it, and I need to savor them. Having Britt put me on her Instagram, I probably, over the course of the time, have gotten three clients. I think three or four.

Britt: Should I give you the address for my 10% referral fee?

Paul: Yeah.

The Power of Saying No

Britt: No. I want to tell you something about that. I’m sidestepping and I don’t know if you … This is weird share, but afterwards you reached out to me because we had printed these cards. You reached out to me and asked for me how much it would be to do a reprint. I told you the price. You wrote back and you were like … I can’t really remember it. But basically you were like, “Oh, that’s a little bit over budget,” because what I do is expensive and understandably so. You were like, “Do you think you could do a certain amount for this number?” I remember seeing that email because, I have this, I’m trying to reach this point where I have boundaries.

Britt: I’m firm with my pricing because sometimes when you do a craft, whether it’s coaching or doing anything, you have people that ask for discounts, which wasn’t what you were doing but I have a minimum to what I do. I was like, “No, I can’t do it for that price.” I felt so guilty sending that, and I felt so uncomfortable, but I was trying to be better and honor my truth of what I said I was going to do. I was so nervous writing it back. Then you wrote me back and that brought me to tears. You said, you were like, “Good for you. I’m so happy you’re not undervaluing yourself and you know your worth. You go “and I’ll come back to you when we can meet that higher budget.”

Britt: It was a godsend because I felt so uncomfortable saying no. Then you made me feel so good about saying no to you. It did bring me to tears. It was the most perfect response and it was, I don’t know. It made a huge difference actually in how I approach things in the future when I would be asked for people to do things at a reduced rate or for a discount. That gave me the confidence to securely be like, “No, I’m not going to do it for a discounted rate or something like that.” I just want to give props to you for how much that meant to me.

How to define your worth

Paul: Well thanks. Well, I am really happy to hear that. I’m really glad that you brought that up because I wanted to talk about worthiness so we can talk about collaboration in a little bit, but worthiness in itself. Actually, this is a massive thing that I coach about, and you already answered the question but I just wanted to preface with the question that I would have wanted to ask you is just how. Well I’d really to know how did that change even more so. Have you found that you had this more confidence that you know the power in saying no. Has it given you more freedom to say no?

Britt: Yeah, I think saying no is huge. It’s important because when I started I was so excited just to get an opportunity to do anything that I would say yes to everything. Then, I again heard a quote somewhere that was like, every yes you say you’re saying no to something that you might not even know about. I started really guarding my yeses. Then this one year when I felt particularly burnt out, I was like, “You know what, this is going to be my year of the no. I’m going to say no to most things that come my way.” That year was the year that my business grew the most. Ironically, it was the year. The year I started saying no was the year that all these other yeses that felt more aligned to what I want to do came to happen.

Britt: I think the feeling of worthiness, especially for creatives, is really hard because it’s hard to put a price on, especially on a service. It’s like, what is this thing? It’s not a physical product. Some things are, but it’s mostly a service. How do you charge it? Constantly, I have. I work with other people sometimes and they give me their rates. I’m like, “You need to raise your prices. What are you doing? This is so low.” I’m a huge advocate for people believing in their worthiness and stuff like that. But it’s, that’s not to say it’s not hard and it’s not to say there’s not moments when I don’t doubt myself and wonder, “Oh my god. Am I worth what I’m asking for right now?”

Paul: Wow. That comes up a lot for you. I think that you are just the poster child for stepping into something so terrifying, but you know that you have to do it for yourself. Then just you continue to learn the lessons. What I think is really cool about you is you’re not regressing. You learn the lessons and you take action on those lessons. I think it’s really, really important to notice that about yourself. Getting emotional. It’s just so cool to be in your presence and hear your story, and know that not only were you able to step into this career that was the unknown, but also slay it. You do amazing work with big brands and have really cool creative suites. I’d love you to tell the story about the time that you did something way under budget and how it made you feel.

Britt: Well, when I was just getting started, I would do everything for a discount just for the chance to do it. I have various thoughts about that. I think when you undervalue yourself and you under price your services, you’re doing a huge disservice to the community of the industry that you’re in basically. In retrospect, I’m ain’t about that. Some jobs, I’ve under priced. I’ve totally regretted it. It’s been awful. But other jobs I do, because maybe they don’t have the budget, but creatively they fulfill me. That’s what drives me. It’s the stuff that excites me creatively. To quote Vincent Chase from Entourage, it’s like the one for you, one for me.

Paul: Yeah, I like that.

Britt: That’s how I feel about budgets. Sometimes it’s like, “Okay, I’ll do that. Well, I’m going to do this lower budget job for myself.”

Paul’s Instagram success

Paul: That’s what I feel about Instagram posts. One for you guys. One for me or else I go crazy or then it’s whatever. But we’re not talking about Instagram anymore. I love that. I think that it’s real. I just need to highlight how every one who is watching this or listening to it, I just want you to take note about how even though Britt is fucking terrified every single day of, like she said, going into the business. She still perseveres and she still pushes through. I hope that you’re … Also, this big message that I’m being hit with is that if you’re listening to this or watching this, you are meant to hear this.

Universe teaching lessons

Paul: I’m curious, how many times did the universe try to teach you a lesson, whether it’s stepping through fear or raising your rates or things before you actually took it seriously and listened? What was the breaking point for you? Because I have a breaking point in mind for myself, but I’d love to know yours.

Britt: Without giving too much away, I’ve had some, I’ve had a few people that I’ve worked with that I felt I needed to draw the line at some point and I didn’t. Ultimately, I think a fatal flaw of mine is that I tend to be somewhat of a people pleaser. I tend to push my own limitations aside. Hence, why I’m working on boundaries. I just want the other person to be so happy and to have such a great experience. In doing that, sometimes I look back and I’m like, “Oh, I really should’ve drawn the line there because at the end of the day, I should have cut it off.”

Britt: It wasn’t a good experience and I wasn’t honored. I wasn’t following my gut, because there’s times when you just haven’t gut feeling. That’s the one thing and that’s my business. I’ve done decisions sometimes that might not financially make sense, but in my gut, they just felt right. I feel that’s why I’ve been able to grow. With the exception of a couple projects that stand out in my mind, I’ve never not followed my gut. I think that’s really important. Even when I wanted to start the business, people thought I was crazy. They were like, “Wedding invitations, who sends that out? Isn’t it the world and Eve White?” I’m like, “Just trust me. It’ll be okay.”

Paul: It will be okay. You just have trust yourself, Britt.

Listening to your intuition

Britt: Yeah. I always try to check in and listen to my gut. Again, moving to this new space, it’s literally what I’ve always wanted. I wanted a space where I can invite other creatives to come there and to have, and to host workshops and all that stuff. My gut was just saying yes, even though if you look at it on paper, business wise, it’s like, “Should you really be doing that?” I don’t know, but yeah.

Paul: Well, once again, you operate from this thought of, “Will I regret it if I don’t?” I think that’s a really cool place, a cool question to ask. Anyone’s listening can relate to the concept of not stepping into your business or a relationship or a transformation fully. Will you regret not doing it?

Britt: Yeah, I would imagine myself. In a year from now, if I looked back and I didn’t make this choice, would I regret it? Would I be heartbroken? That’s mostly the true north of what I do. It’s like, “Is this what feels most right to me?”

Road Trip Game: Fuck, Marry, Kill

Paul: That’s so good. I’m obsessed. We need to play another road trip game. This is the game that I play with everyone and just to remind yourself, love is uncensored. We are going to play Fuck Marry Kill but with inanimate objects. Today, we are going to play Fuck Marry Kill with letterpress. Okay? Screen printing and hand calligraphy.

Britt: Oh, I lied. I gotta marry letterpress because that’s the choice I’ve done. Wait. I’m going to fuck screen printing because my husband’s a screenwriter, so that makes sense. I’m going to kill hand calligraphy even though, you know me, you know that’s not the truth. It’s between myself and my husband. Sorry. Sorry.

Paul: Well, your best friend who does hand calligraphy, hopefully she’s not listening.

Britt: Yeah. Sorry, Nicole.

Paul: I was really excited to ask you that. I think I had a feeling at how it’s going to go. I mean, Britt, I could talk to you forever. It means so much to me that you’re here. I just have a couple of more questions. I’d really just love to know, first of all, what does self love mean to you?

What Does Self Love Mean?

Britt: self love means being unapologetically who you are. I think that’s something … I mean growing up, I always felt I was an outsider, which is weird, because I think you wouldn’t look at me and be like, “Oh, she’s a weirdo.” But in my head I never really fit in. Then I just remember being younger, my parents instilled a good deal of confidence in me. I don’t know. They just were always like, “You can do whatever you want to do. We believe in you.” I think at a somewhat of a young age when I felt I didn’t fit in, I was always just like, “Well, whatever. I’m just going to be myself and fuck it.” I think that’s a lot of self love. It’s just like, “This is who I am. It doesn’t mean that I have to be this way or this way or fit into this group. It’s just that’s what it is, and I’m not going to apologize for it.”

Paul: You were just the poster child for The Road to Self Love. I love it. It means so much to me. Thank you so much for sharing that beautiful definition. Where can everyone find you if they’re getting married and they don’t want to be savage like me and never responds to your emails? Where do they find you?

Swell Press Contact Details

Britt: You can find me @Swellpress. That’s my Instagram handle, or my website is swellpresspaper.

Paul: Amazing. Well, Britt, thank you so much for joining me on The Road To Self Love. This was so much fun. Like I said, we’ll have to do an episode two and talk more about fear because I think-

Britt: I know, I can talk for eight more hours about fear, Instagram, everything

Paul: Eight more hours, fear and Instagram and all the things. Just, yeah, thank you for being here.

Britt: Thank you.

Paul: You guys, if you enjoyed this episode, please give it a big thumbs up. Make sure to rate and review on iTunes. Give us a subscribe on YouTube, wherever you’re consuming this. It means the most to us to support this channel as it grows. Share it with your friends. I’m sure you have a friend who is struggling through some sort of, say, just entrepreneurial struggle. They really want to start their own business, but they’re not getting through.

Paul: Britt has a lot of experience in stepping through fear. I think it’d be very important. If this struck a chord with you, please share it on Instagram. Make sure to tag me @paulfishman, @theselfloveshow, and also tag Britt, @swellpress. Thank you so much. We’ll see you next time on The Road to Self Love. Bye.

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Resources Mentioned in this episode

• Swell Press Letterpress lessons

More from Britt Rohr and Swell Press

• Instagram: @swellpress

• Website: www.swellpresspaper.com