What Works

In This Episode: * How Katie Hunt adapted her largely events-based business in the wake of Covid-19* Why a product she’d been working on since December 2019 was the key to serving her people in the most valuable way* How Katie adjusted the messaging and marketing campaign to reflect the current state of affairs* A complete breakdown of the social media posts and email messages that made her sales campaign a smash when it was time to launch There are a lot of misconceptions about what it takes to launch and sell a new online course or program. Heck, there are a lot of misconceptions about selling in general—but this is just one podcast episode. “Launching”—depending on when and where you started your small business—means many different things. I’ve talked to plenty of people who swear it’s not a launch if you don’t have a Facebook ad funnel. Others will swear it’s not a launch if there isn’t a 3-part video series to warm up your audience. Still others will swear it’s not a launch if you don’t have a list of 15,000 people to blast with 30 different emails. Launching a new online course or program has become so misunderstood and, simultaneously, blown out of proportion, that I often outlaw the use of the word! As my friend Amy Walsh once said, “Launching is for rockets.” Instead of launching, I plan—and talk about—sales campaigns. Today, we’re diving straight into an incredibly successful sales campaign to get the nuts and bolts of what worked. When the economy ground to a halt earlier this year, many small businesses were forced to think fast and make big changes on the fly. At this point, we’re probably all familiar with the local restaurant that figured out an ingenious takeout model or the local clothing store that created virtual shopping appointments or the local yoga studio that started sharing classes, workshops, and meditations online. And while many digital small business owners kept operating business as usual—or as usual as one can operate in a pandemic—there were a few groups that were deeply affected by the shutdowns. Two of those groups were small business owners running in-person events as a component of their otherwise online business and small business owners who depend on trade shows for the majority of their wholesale orders. Today’s guest is Katie Hunt—who is a member of the former group and serves the latter group. Katie is the founder of Proof To Product, which helps creative entrepreneurs run and grow thriving product-based businesses. She works with designers, illustrators, and artists to help them develop in-demand product lines and get them sold in stores all over the world. Not long after the pandemic threw her business and the industry she serves for a major loop, Katie and her team launched Proof To Product Labs to provide a completely digital, ongoing support opportunity for business owners when they needed it most. And that launch was a smash. Katie and I get into all of the nuts and bolts of how she adjusted the offer to meet the moment and how she warmed up her audience before the campaign, as well as the exact mix of emails, podcast ads, and social media content she used to sell the offer when it went live. We also talk about how she sees the sales system evolving in the future and how the offer has been received now that people are using it! Now, ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * How attorney Autumn Witt Boyd discovered that she’d over-automated the sales process for her law firm* The adjustments that she made to get her sales process back on track—and why she chose to put a human touch on it* What steps a potential new clients goes through in Autumn’s hybrid sales system* How her values are reflected in the way her business does sales now We all have a story about a bad salesperson. Ask my husband about buying a car and he’ll tell you about the time he and his ex-wife got trapped in a user car lot when they refused to make an offer on a car that was well over their budget. It’s cliche—but true. If this is the kind of story you think about when you think about sales, it’s no wonder that selling your own products or services would be a challenge. But this is not what your sales system needs to look like to be effective. You can be a kind, generous, and human sales person and be incredibly effective. This month, we’re talking sales. We’re going to get into the human side of sales in a minute or two. But first, I think we need to make an important distinction here: marketing is not sales. Sales is not marketing. Can there be overlap? Sure. Does one often support the other? You bet. But marketing and sales are not the same thing. In fact, an intentional, proven sales system is often one of the missing pieces of a business that almost works—but isn’t quite there. You can’t market your butt off and expect it to just materialize into purchases—you have to sell. So then, what is sales? Sales is the system that presents the offer, answers any questions or objections, and then makes the ask and closes the deal. Sales tends to happen a little more behind the scenes—which is why it’s one of the more misunderstood parts of running a small business. It often happens in an email, on the phone, or even in person. Our goal for this series on sales is to demystify the process and give you a look at what really works when it comes to selling your service, your program, or your product. We’re even going to take a look at sales through a feminist or anti-capitalist lens. To kick things off, I thought it was fitting to talk with a lawyer—another profession known for their sales techniques… about how she moved away from impersonal, automated sales processes and into a more human way of selling—and why that generated better results for her firm. Today, I’m talking with my friend Autumn Witt Boyd, the founder of The AWB Firm, which specializes in helping online business owners protect what they’ve built. Autumn and I talk about why she started tinkering with her sales process in the first place, the speed bumps she experienced along the way, why her sales process ended up too automated, and how she’s taken a more human approach and actually gotten much better results. Now, let’s find out what works for Autumn Witt Boyd! What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, ★ Support this podcast ★

The market is constantly changing. New technology, new trends, new players. We can either treat the constant changing and uncertainty as a threat… …or we can treat it as an invitation to see everything we do as a work in progress. All this month, we’ve been looking at the process of value creation–how we wind up building the products and services we sell. We heard from Alisha Robertson about how she turned her book into the idea for a membership community. India Jackson shared how she she went from modeling to photography to running a brand visibility agency. And we heard from Michelle Markwart Deveaux about how she took a tried-and-maybe-not-so-true model for offering voice teaching services and turned it on its head to improve how she delivered value AND to make more money. Along the way, I also shared stories from my own companies about how things have evolved and what I’ve learned as things have changed about the ways I create and deliver value–from business support to podcast production to leadership development. So back to change and uncertainty… …like I said, change and uncertainty is a given. There is absolutely no point in fighting it–trying to get things exactly right or anticipate what’s going to happen next. And you know what? That’s great! Because at this point, it should be clear that creating value is always a work in progress. As the market changes, our offers can evolve. As we learn more, we can try new things. The challenge in this is actually treating your business as a work-in-progress. So often, I see business owners work in fits & starts–trying to solve one piece of the puzzle once and for all… only to get frustrated, take a break, and then find something else to fixate on for a while. Whether it’s creating value, making your systems more efficient, or growing your audience… the trick to treating your business as a work in progress is consistent action. Business-building has to be a habit, not a one-off project you have to get right. To make business-building a habit, you need a solid system to focus on what matters, a structure of getting the work done, and the support of peers and mentors who can inspire you to keep going. That’s exactly what we do at The What Works Network. When you join The What Works Network, you commit to making business-building a habit. Each month, we give you the focus, structure, and support you need to take your work in progress and make it a little stronger. Together, we take consistent, strategic action to build a more effective, efficient, and sustainable business. The What Works Network is accepting new members right now through the end of August. ★ Support this podcast ★

Hey, it’s Tara McMullin, and this is a special bonus episode of What Works, the show that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how small business owners take decisive action to build a stronger business. This is the third and final episode in a series on how I’ve approached creating and delivering value through the products and services I’ve offered over the years. In the first episode of the series, I shared how my most recent offer, a live program called The Commitment Blueprint, started as a personal life change, grew into a free webinar, and then transformed twice into a paid product. In the second episode, I gave you a closer look at my other company, YellowHouse.Media, and shared how and why we’ve taken on the productized service model. And now, as I close out the series, I want to share how The What Works Network has grown out of a long line of products and services that package small business support in different ways. Earlier this week, I spoke with Michelle Markwart Deveaux about how she refined her voice coaching offer from a pay-for-service model into a value-pricing model, and what that did for how she packaged, sold, and delivered the value she was creating. Just repackaging the same offer in a new way made her business more enjoyable to run and more profitable too. It also gave her students a whole new perspective on what she was offering and how it benefited them. Refining, repackaging and re-messaging the way I offer support for small business owners over the last 10 years has given me the chance to build a stronger business model and find more valuable, more aligned, and more customer-centric ways of creating value. Now, to be clear, it would be easy to say the different offers I’ve made over the years are truly different products or services, but I see them as one long lineage of refining and repackaging, and that’s the key take-away I want you to have from what I’m about to share. Building a stronger business doesn’t mean throwing in the towel on what you’ve already built. It’s a process of building on what’s working, making guesses about what could work better, and finding ways to experiment your way to a more sustainable, profitable and effective model for everyone involved. Let’s, as they say, start at the very beginning. So first, did you know I used to design websites? It’s true. I used to run my blog during the day in between taking care of my new baby, and then I would build websites either really late at night or very early in the morning. And building websites was a really easy concrete way to create and exchange value. In other words, it was an easy way to make money when that was something that was super important, just figuring out how can I make money. But what I found was that what people really got out of the work that we did together was a better idea of how to structure their business. In the process of building a website, writing an about page, figuring out what needs to go where on that site, we’d have a lot of conversations about their business, ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode * Why voice teacher Michelle Markwart Deveaux refined her offer from a pay-for-service model to a value pricing model* How that shift changed how she packaged her services and what outcomes she focused on for her students* What she did to double her rates while deliver 3 times the value* How she started sharing her methods and business structure with other voice teachers and professionals Product development isn’t always about building something new. Often, it’s about taking what you’ve already built and making it stronger. You refine the packaging, the value proposition, the customer experience, the delivery mechanisms, and the price. Little by little, you create value simply through the process of excavating the most useful or transformative pieces of your offer and making sure they are as polished & refined as they can be. Refining the product or service you already offer can be as good—or even better—for giving your business a shot of energy as offering something new. When you refine or repackage your offer, new people might notice it who passed it by before. New methods of delivery might give you back some serious time. A new price point might unlock a new level of profitability for your business. A new message or angle on what you really offer could open your eyes to a whole new way to market what you do. In other words, refining your offer could lead to a new, bold vision for your whole business! This is exactly what I talked about with today’s guest, Michelle Markwart Deveaux, founder of FaithCultureKiss voice studio and the SpeakEasy Cooperative. Michelle is a voice teacher… as well as champion for voice teachers who want to empower students, performers, podcasters, and voice talent of all kinds to use their voices in powerful ways. Michelle started out teaching voice with the same kind of offer you’d expect any voice, piano, or instrument teacher to use. Students paid her for each lesson and they called it a day. But as she started to hate how transactional that method was and how guilty it made her feel for doing work outside of her lessons, she started to refine her offer—and ended up creating a whole new model for teaching voice. We get into all of that and more, including how she doubled her rates and delivered 3x the value, how she structures her packages, and how she got started teaching voice online. Plus, we talk about how she took what she learned refining her original voice teaching offer and created a new offer to help other voice teachers, too. Now, let’s find out What Works for Michelle Markwart Deveaux! What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. Visit mightynetworks.com to see more examples of brands bringing people together and taking their businesses to the next level. ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * Why Sean and Tara McMullin chose to “productize” their full-service podcast production offer at YellowHouse.Media… and what productized services actually are* What’s included in the package they offer–and why they don’t often custom or a la carte services* How the productized service model allowed them to quickly create a small group coaching program to increase their capacity and serve more clients Hey! It’s Tara McMullin and this is a special BONUS episode of What Works—the show that takes you behind the scenes of how small business owners take decisive action on building a stronger business. This is the second episode of a bonus series on how I’ve approached creating and delivering value through the products and services I’ve offered over the years. In the first bonus episode, I shared how my most recent offer, a live program called The Commitment Blueprint, started as a personal life change, grew into a free webinar, and then transformed—TWICE—into a paid product. In this episode, I’m going to give you a closer look at my other company, YellowHouse.Media, and share how and why we’ve taken on the productized service model—including what that means for how we serve our clients, run our operations, and build for the future. Plus, I’ll share how the same principles that apply to YellowHouse also apply to What Works and how we continue to develop The What Works Network to support small business owners as they build stronger businesses. Now, in the last regular episode I spoke with India Jackson, the founder of brand visibility agency Flaunt Your Fire. India described what clients come to Flaunt Your Fire looking to achieve and how the agency helps them achieve those results. She also shared that she tailors each client engagement to the goals of that client using both master services list and a really strong idea of what the agency’s yes, no, and maybe projects are. This bespoke service model is typically how people approach building a service-based business. The client tells you want they need, you figure out how to make that happen and put a price on it. Each engagement looks different and might include a different mix of services. And this model works. But it’s not the only way to build a service-based business. A few years ago, I started to notice that the most successful people I was working with in our community and mastermind groups were running a different kind of service-based business. They were running productized service businesses. (And in case you’re wondering, yes, most of the time these productized service businesses were out-earning the digital product businesses. So don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t make money in client services.) I was intrigued by the model and operations behind these successful productized service businesses… but, more than that, I was intrigued by how happy these business owners were! They were focused. ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * How Flaunt Your Fire founder India Jackson takes a strategic approach to offering custom service packages without getting overwhelmed or burnt out* Why getting to know her potential clients really, really well helps her put together the right packages for their needs* How her “master list” of services helps her build bespoke engagements easily & efficiently* How she’s gotten her team involved with client-facing work and slowly let go of control Somewhere in the craze for online courses and making money in your sleep, service-based businesses got a bad rap. Of course, most of the bad rap really just came from marketers who convinced would-be business owners that passive income and infinitely scalable models were the only way to ensure they wouldn’t be overworked and overwhelmed by client work. The other reason, I think, that service-based businesses got a bad rap was that so many service providers weren’t very thoughtful or strategic in how they offered their services. And understandably so! You want to make clients happy. You want to say yes. You want to close the deal. And so you agree to switching things up, doing things that you’re only kind of good at, and going along with what the client wants instead of what you know to be best. That’s all a recipe for taking on too much uninspired work for yourself—and even for your team. But offering a service doesn’t have to be that way. Offer development is an incredibly important part of running a service-based business. Without a careful strategy and thoughtful process behind how you create value, you are likely to get stuck in the trap of trading time for money or wind up overwork & overwhelmed. That’s why I wanted to make sure we included a bespoke service-based business in this series on creating value. I invited India Jackson, the founder of Flaunt Your Fire, a full-service brand visibility agency, to share her approach to how she creates value and constructs the services she offers clients. India is clear on what her agency does and what it does not do. She’s clear on why her agency offers the types engagements it does and why some projects just aren’t right for them. And, she’s clear on how her team adds value to the services the agency provides—so India isn’t stuck doing everything herself. Even if you don’t run a service-based business, this conversation has a lot to offer. Listen in and consider how you might be trying to do too much with your product-based business or how you’ve succumb to making offers that aren’t aligned with your values or best work. We’ll get to this conversation with India in just a minute—but first, don’t forget to check out our special bonus series this month for a behind-the-scenes look at how I’ve developed some of my favorite offers over the years. In the first episode, I shared how we took The Commitment Blueprint from idea to free offer to paid template to paid live program. In the second episode—out Thursday—I’m sharing how Sean and I developed the service package we offer at YellowHouse.Media. It’s the perfect follow-up to this conversation with India. Now, let’s find out What Works for India Jackson! What Works Is Brought To You By

In This Episode: * How a significant life change for What Works founder Tara McMullin turned into an idea and then several iterations of offers* The process Tara used to turn The Commitment Blueprint process into a free webinar, then a paid template, and finally a live paid program* How a similar process is helping Tara and the What Works team continue to evolve how The What Works Network is structured* And why asking “What’s next?” doesn’t have to mean creating a brand-new offer but, instead, iterating on what you’re already selling This is a special bonus episode of What Works–the show that takes you behind the scenes of how small business owners take decisive action to build a stronger business. This is the first episode in a three-part series taking a closer look at what’s worked for me as I’ve developed a new ways to create and deliver value over the years, both here at What Works and now at YellowHouse.Media. Today I’m sharing how our latest What Works offer, a live program called The Commitment Blueprint came to be—tracing it from its humble beginnings as the seed of a major life and business shift for me to a successful webinar, to a paid template, and finally to the live program version. Now I’m going to be breaking it down iteration by iteration, from idea to offer and really to the next offer from there and the next offer after that. So let’s start at the beginning—the idea. Like so many offers out there, the idea for The Commitment Blueprint really came as a result of solving my own problem. Now I had always been a planner and a goal setter, but I started to notice that my planning and goal setting was maybe causing me more problems than they were solving. I started to get really caught up in other people’s goals and trying to prove myself based on reaching them. And I realized that I needed to make a change or I was going to be constantly chasing after other people’s ideas of what I should be achieving or accomplishing instead of building the life and business that I really wanted. So at the beginning, little by little, I started to focus more on process. In other words, I was thinking about. What could I commit to doing consistently to change my current experience and my future outcomes. Now, this led to all sorts of personal growth for me, I got back to being an athlete again after 20 years, I prioritized execution and systems in my work for like the first time ever. I learned to see how other people were functioning in the world and that helped me temper my righteous indignation, at least most of the time. This whole process was just the experience of major personal growth. And I realized looking back over that time, especially as people started to ask me more and more, “Hey, Tara, something’s different with you. What did you change? What happened here? What, what are you doing?” I realized that there was method to the madness. I had made certain commitments to myself. And I developed a process for upholding those commitments. And then from there I was able to make adjustments over time. So once I realized that there was a method to the madness, I realized that I could share it with other people. And that led to the very first offer. In other words, the very first way that I could create value for other people using this same system. Turning the method into a free webinar So from there, ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode * How Alisha Robertson got the idea for The LOE Collective, a membership community supporting women business owners* The process she used to figure out how the community would take shape and what features she would include* How her course library & Intentional Success Path help members feel at home and in control* Why the pricing for the community has evolved over time “What’s next?” The first few dozen or so times I heard this question from a customer I was perplexed—even a bit concerned. Whether it was after a course wrapped up or a coaching engagement came to a close or a small group came to a close… …when a customer would ask me “What’s next?”, I worried that I hadn’t done my job. I thought maybe they wanted to know what was next because they hadn’t quite gotten what they came for. They hadn’t seen a real change or improved their situation. It took me much longer than I’d like to admit to realize what they were really saying was, “That was great. What else can we do together?” I realized that “What’s next?” was an invitation to create more value for the people who I was already helping—and, in turn, make a very, very easy sale. This month, we’re focusing on how small businesses create & deliver value. How do we develop new offers? Put together new packages? Build new products? We’ll be deep diving into 3 businesses and how they create & deliver value. I’ll also be sharing a series of short bonus episodes looking back at how I’ve created & delivered value over the years—and how that process continues to evolve both at What Works and at YellowHouse.Media. Plus, we’ll close out the series by hearing from a few more business owners who have found creative ways to create and deliver value through the offers they make. As I mentioned earlier, “What’s next?” is often a question that helps you figure out how to create and deliver value beyond what you’re already doing. A product or service that solves a particular problem might shine some light on the next problem that needs to be a solved. A product or service that creates a delightful experience might simply leave the customer asking for more. Or “What’s next?” might simply be a request to go deeper, keep working together longer, or investigate new possibilities. Alisha Robertson found herself with a whole bunch of customers asking her “What’s next?” after she released a book called Living Over Existing. After a lot of thought, some customer research, some soul-searching, Alisha came up with her next move. Alisha and talk about how the LOE Collective came to be, how she’s set up her community to meet those “What’s next” needs, and how she created the Intentional Success Path to guide her members through more “What’s next” questions. Plus, Alisha shares why she also created a physical welcome kit to send to her new members. Now, let’s find out What Works for Alisha Robertson. What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours... ★ Support this podcast ★

I had a Magic 8 ball when I was a kid. I wouldn’t say that I relied on it in any serious way… but, when my kid brain was trying to process some big emotions or sort through a sticky situation, I often pulled it out and asked it questions. Most of the time, the mysterious blue text that would emerge from the dark depths of the ball would give you some sort of definitive answer. Without a doubt. Signs point to yes. Don’t count on it. My reply is no. But there was another set of answers that just really left you hanging. The one that sticks out in my mind is “Reply hazy. Try again.” All things considered, “Reply hazy. Try again,” was probably the most accurate of Magic 8 Ball answers. You can ask the ball a question. You can shake it vigorously and beg for the answer you’re hoping for. But, in truth, the reply is ALWAYS hazy. The future is hazy. It’s unknowable. And that makes taking decisive action to build a stronger business much more challenging. But we have a choice. We can either fight it–and metaphorically try to shake that damn ball until we have a complete picture of what the future is going to be. Or we can make decisions based on the information we have, a solid understanding of our goals, and an acceptance of the uncertainty of it all. Waiting until you have all the answers you need or want is a great way to keep spinning your wheels. While embracing uncertainty might be risky and it’s can definitely be scary, but it’s the only way we move forward. This month, we looked at 3 different stories of embracing uncertainty. Lou Blaser told us how a big life change allowed her to look at her business in a new way and see how she could finally build the business she’d been dreaming about for years. Sarah Avenir shared how she leads herself and her team through uncertainty. And Cher Hale told us about getting clearer and clearer on her vision for life and business–and the big moves it required of her. We’re rounding out this conversation about embracing uncertainty today by hearing from 4 more small business owners: Podge Thomas, Melissa Dinwiddie, Kat Lu, and Amy Feierman. Each entrepreneur embraced uncertainty in a way that allowed them to move forward despite not having all the answers or a guarantee of what the future would hold. My guess is that you’ll hear a version of situation or question you’re wrestling with right now in at least one of these stories. What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. Visit mightynetworks. ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * What led Ginkgo Public Relations founder Cher Hale to move from Las Vegas to Portland, Oregon* How she took her business full-time in a new-to-her city* How her mom’s romance novels inspired her to discover a bold new Why for her business* What action that new Why led her to take and how she’s showing up in new ways because of it What do you want? It’s a simple enough question. What do you want from your life? From your business? From the work you do on a daily basis? What do you want from your home? Your relationships? Your community? It’s a simple question—but it’s not easy. Answering this question—even imperfectly—can give you more confidence in managing and even embracing uncertainty. What do you want is not an easy question for me to answer. What I want is often influenced by what others have, what they do, and what they’re going after. What I want is often an effort to prove that I’m good enough, smart enough, and goshdarnit, you should like me. I’ve been working hard on making sure that I’m really honest when I answer that question. It takes some soul-searching and a willingness to admit that I’ve been on the wrong path. But it’s been oh-so worth it. Because when I know what I want, I can make much stronger plans for my life and business. I can pursue more decisive action. And I don’t have to wait around for the approval or praise of someone else. Today, we’re talking about how knowing what you want—and discovering a clear vision for your life and business—can help you navigate uncertainty and even embrace it. My guest is Cher Hale, the founder of Ginkgo Public Relations. Cher is full of incredible stories of figuring out what she wants and taking action to make it happen—from making a big personal moving, to going full-time with her business, to embracing a bold new “why” for her business. We talk about why she made the move from working on the Vegas Strip to getting weird in Portland, how she used retainer clients to take her business full-time, and how she rewrote some of the harmful mindsets she held. We also talk about her mother’s erotic romance novels and how Cher was inspired to make a big shift in who she serves with her business and why. Don’t worry—this interview is completely PG. Now, let’s find out What Works for Cher Hale! What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. Visit mightynetworks.com to see more examples of brands bringing people together and taking their businesses to the next level. ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * How Sarah Avenir took on the role of CEO for digital development & strategy agency, &yet* Why Sarah considers herself a naturally fearful person—and how she pushes herself to face that fear* Why refining the positioning & messaging at &yet helped her to discover how her strengths could be of highest value* How she structures her work and responsibilities to maintain her capacity for leadership* Why she focuses on being “anti-overfunctioning” We’re looking for leadership. We’re living through this time of deep uncertainty: uncertainty about our health, uncertainty about our culture, uncertainty about our businesses… uncertainty about our communities, our families, and—I think—even uncertainty about our relationships with ourselves. We’re looking for leadership because there’s a lot to be wary of and, at the same time, there is a lot of opportunity too. We’re looking for leadership because where there is a leader there are other followers we can gather with. We’re looking for leadership because we’re called on—every day—to lead more and more ourselves. If you’re a leader—and I know you are—you’re being called to lead in a new way right now. And that leadership can be humbling, scary, and exhausting. Your leadership is also an opportunity to figure out what your best role is—how you contribute the highest value, how you work best with others, what your vision of the future is. The call to leadership in this moment is a call to growth and clarity—which shouldn’t be confused with a call to certainty. I wanted to dig into what leading a team or community through a crisis can look like… …and I could think of no one better to talk to about this than my friend Sarah Avenir. Sarah Avenir—who you might know better as Sarah J. Bray—recently took the helm as the CEO of &yet, a digital development and strategy agency. Sarah is an incredibly thoughtful leader and I knew her approach on leading both herself and her team through this time would be an insightful look at embracing uncertainty. Sarah and I chat about how she became CEO of &yet, how she considers herself a naturally fearful person, and why a key part of her leadership is knowing others have her back. We also talk about how she structures her time, team, and approach to her work so she can focus on her own role and let other people do their job. Now, let’s find out what works for Sarah Avenir! Grab Sarah’s book, now in its second edition, Gather The People. And keep your eye on this Instagram account for a free Gather The People course! What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * Why I chose “embrace uncertainty” as one of my commitments for 2020 and how it’s served in this wild year* How Charlie Gilkey recommends finding the most courageous next step* What led Second Breaks founder Lou Blaser to rethink her business model—and return to a years-old vision for her work in the process* What 2 questions she used to find new ways of creating value* How she used existing assets in her business to start building toward her new vision The tweet that’s pinned to the top of my profile lists my 3 commitments for this year. Those commitments are my guiding principles, the things I’m actively trying to cultivate more of in my life, the ideas that guide the decisions I made. My three commitments for 2020 are: Question normal. Expect success. And embrace uncertainty. Now, most people I know have had to recalculate their goals for 2020. But these commitments? Well, they’re more relevant than ever. In fact, I’ve had a few people @ me on Twitter and ask if I’m psychic! While each of my commitments for 2020 have been a huge help for navigating this wild year, it’s that last one–Embrace Uncertainty–that’s really asked me to grow. Uncertainty seems to be the theme of 2020. With everything that’s happened so far this year and no real confidence in what might be coming, we’ve all had to recalculate. Some business owners I know have had to completely rework their business models. Others have taken huge in-person gathering online. Others are discovering they have skills that are incredibly useful in the pandemic economy. And still others still aren’t sure what they’ll do next to bring in some revenue. As I’ve worked with business owners on making decisions and reworking plans, there’s one thing I keep coming back to, though. While 2020 might have presented us with a unique batch of unpredictable circumstances, uncertainty is not a new condition of entrepreneurship. Uncertainty is baked into the operating system of how we function every day as business owners… …whether we like it or not… and whether we like to admit it or not. When I chose embracing uncertainty as one of my commitments for this year, I didn’t have a pandemic in mind.I wasn’t gearing up for a historic upheaval in the labor market. I didn’t predict the long overdue tectonic shift in public opinion about systemic racism and police brutality. I chose to commit to embracing uncertainty because I wanted to take more courageous action. I wanted to see what would happen for me and for my business if I stopped trying to predict the right thing to do and started leaning into my full potential and my full vision. And while you might think I’m a natural risk taker, I can assure you I am not. This idea wasn’t really mine at all. It was a very important lesson I learned from my friend Charlie Gilkey during an interview for this very podcast. Before we get into this week’s interview with Lou Blaser, I want to share a snippet from this interview to tee up all of the conversations we’re having this month around embracing uncer... ★ Support this podcast ★

How we think about money impacts what we do with money. And for many of us, what we think about money is influenced by narratives, frameworks, and biases we picked up well before we started our businesses. The money framework I picked up as a kid was that I could either make a lot of money or I could do something I love. Now, no one sat me down and told me I was destined to barely scrapping by if I didn’t choose a lucrative career that I didn’t like very much. But my little kid brain chewed on everything that I was being told and interpreted that way. I could either make a lot of money or I could do something that I loved for work. My idealist teenage brain told me that I was NOT going to be one of those people who choose to make a lot of money–so I settled on a major I loved and a career path I thought would bring me fulfillment even if I’d be struggling for the rest of my life. When I started to have major doubts about that career path, I had to go back to the drawing board. And that’s what eventually led to me starting my own business. Even in that process, that either/or money framework was still doing its work and keeping me down. It took real work to start to replace either/or with both/and–and truthfully, that work continues to this day. Today, I know that I can do work that I love AND make a lot of money. But I struggle with similar either/or framework: either I can compromise my values so I can make a lot of money easily or I can hold fast to my values and turn making a lot of money into a struggle. Today I’m working to replace that framework with one that reminds me that I can hold fast and find abundance with ease. I know embracing that money narrative is the key to the next phase of my business–and my life. This week, we asked members of The What Works Network to share one thing they thought they knew about money but later discovered wasn’t true. Each shared a narrative or bias that held them back from fully embracing their business and their earning potential. As you listen, consider which of these narratives are ones you’re currently operating with and how you could start reevaluating them. What would you do differently if you reprogrammed those money thoughts? What decisions would you make if you claimed a new money narrative? You’ll hear from Charlene Lam, a curator and social media strategist, Maggie Patterson, the founder of Scoop Studios, Carol Hamilton, the founder of Grace Social Sector Consulting, and Anna Wolf, the founder of Superscript Marketing. What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. Visit mightynetworks.com to see more examples of brands bringing people together and taking their businesses to the next level. ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * Fire + Mineral founder Tiffany Whipps shares how she’s gone from willy nilly pricing to pricing for the future of her company* What her “feather money” phase taught her about the value of her products* The future expenses she’s factoring into her pricing today* What product-based businesses need to consider when they’re thinking about their pricing & business model Pricing your products or services can feel like a game of pin the tail on the moving donkey. There are so many factors to take into account. The price you choose needs to consider the market, your cost of goods sold, the positioning of your brand, the value of what you’re offering, and the cost of doing business. Each of these pricing factors have their own challenges and potential pitfalls. And just because you figure out the equation once… …doesn’t mean you’ve solved it for all time. The factors that influence price change over time. Over time, the market changes, your cost of goods change, your brand positioning might change, the value of what you’re offering can change, and almost without a doubt the cost of doing business will change. And that all means that what you price your products or services at in the beginning will likely need to adapt to future circumstances. But what if you could start to anticipate those changes? Could you build future changes into your pricing strategy? Yes, I absolutely believe that you can. As you grow as a business owner, you can start to anticipate market changes and plan for the way your cost of goods increases. You can set a goal to position your brand in a certain way and you can become smarter about your target market so you understand the value of what you’re offering more fully. And perhaps most importantly… You can plan for the ways your cost of doing business will evolve. You can anticipate the team members you’ll hire. You can plan for the software upgrades you’ll need. You can build in margin to cover unforeseen circumstances or changes in the market that impact your bottom line. Very, very few business owners do this from the start. But over time, you can get better and better at your pricing strategy—and even your overall financial strategy—so that you’re planning for the future instead of reacting to it. And that’s exactly what I’m talking about with today’s guest, Tiffany Whipps. Tiffany is the founder and designer behind Fire + Mineral Jewelry. Tiffany has been designing jewelry full-time since 2012 and she’d be the first to admit that her pricing strategy has become a lot more sophisticated since she put together her first line sheet on a whim. I originally invited Tiffany onto the show to showcase how money flows through product-based businesses. And we absolutely talk about that. But we also talk about how Tiffany’s approach to money has grown more sophisticated over time, as well as how she’s now pricing for the business she wants to have instead of the business she has right now. Tiffany and I talk about how her pricing strategy has evolved over the years, why she’s focused on products that have more long-term value as opposed to what’s trendy right now, and how she’s using her goals to set prices for her new work. ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * The webinar that changed everything for strategist Marie Poulin* Why she decided to go “all in” on creating content about Notion and how YouTube has impacted her bottom line* How she developed and sold an in-progress online course about Notion * The process she’s using to create additional leverage in her business even when clients coming asking about 1:1 services The path to building a business that works is not mysterious. Sure, there is always some luck involved. Timing, connections, and how you show up can play a big role in whether or not you feel traction early. But the nuts and bolts of it? It’s really not up for debate. You create a product or service that people want because it is going to solve a problem or improve their lives. And then you find enough people who want it and are willing to pay the right amount for it to offset the costs of doing business. Then, you make the methods and costs of doing business efficient, effective, and humane. Okay, sure, that’s pretty reductive—but it’s also true. That’s how you build a business that works. The problem is that we have a tendency to fight one or more of those steps. We resist the process. We resist building the right product or service for our people. We resist going out and finding customers or clients. We resist putting an appropriate price on the work. We resist making our business operations more efficient or humane. And so things get sticky—or worse. I’ve gone through the push & pull of resisting the process of building a business that works many times. I notice it every time I feel like it’s hard to make money. It’s in these times that I have to look at what part of the process I’m resisting and why I’m resisting it. And it almost always comes down to feeling like I don’t wan to go all in on what I’m working at. Maybe I don’t want to go all in on the product I’m working on. Maybe I don’t want to go all in on the way I’m building a customer base. Maybe I don’t want to go all in on how we’re operating or the systems we’re using to do business. The problem is that not wanting to go all in on any single part of the process creates friction and makes it harder to make money. This week, we’re taking a look at what happens when you’re able to go all in on every aspect of building your business—product, marketing, and operations—and how that impacts how money flows through your business. To do that, I talked with Marie Poulin. Now, Marie has been on the podcast several times now. Most recently, I spoke with her about her decision to not build a business that scales. Funnily enough, at just about the time that interview aired, things started to change for Marie. Marie found something she could go all in on. And suddenly her path to the right product, the right marketing, and the right operations became clear—as did the path to making money with ease. In this conversation, Marie and I talk about how she transformed her business when she stopped resisting and found the thing she could go all in on. ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * Why grief & trauma worker Jennifer Patterson prices a significant portion of her work using a sliding scale* How a sliding scale system increases accessibility to valuable healing work for people from disadvantaged and marginalized communities* Why Jennifer priorities clear & direct communication when it comes to how people find the right amount to pay* What she thinks about “charging what you’re worth” (hint: she’s not a fan) People with power have used it violently against others throughout history. We are being reminded of this right here, right now. Before I get into today’s episode, I want to make sure that my position—and the position of my company—is clear. We condemn police brutality and state-sponsored violence. We believe Black lives matter. People took the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and so many others unjustly. To our Black listeners, I want to acknowledge your cumulative pain and thank you for the superhuman ways that you continue to show up. To all of the indigenous people and people of color who listen, I want to acknowledge your cumulative pain as well. Thank you for continuing the work. This show is all about learning about what’s working to run and grow a small business. However, the question that feels most urgent right now is: What works to end this violence, to end our systems of oppression, to end the continual trauma perpetrated against Black people and people of color? The answer is… I don’t know. I’m listening to the people are working toward these ends though, so that I can do better work myself. But I do know that just as power can be used for harm and violence, it can be used to make new culture. It can be used to set new standards. It can be used to create new systems that take the sanctity of all lives and the dignity of all work into account. And I know that business owners have power. We have the power to do things differently. We have the power to question how business has always been done. We have the power to question the leaders who encourage us to exploit others and ourselves in the name of success. This month on What Works, we’re talking about money. Money is a tool for creating change—and it represents cog in the system that has been used to exclude, exploit, and dehumanize people for a very long time. When we start to question our assumptions about money and its role in our business, we start to undo that system little by little. Today, my guest is Jennifer Patterson. Jennifer is a grief and trauma worker and the founder of Corpus Ritual. Jennifer operates a significant portion of her business on a sliding scale pricing system. She does this for all the reasons I just outlined. She sees pricing as a way to work towards economic justice and make valuable services available to everyone—especially people from marginalized communities that need it most. We’ll get into exactly how this works in just a minute—but first, I wanted to share that money is not the only way we can create change through our businesses. White supremacy and systems of oppression are at work in the default ways we operate throughout our businesses—marketing, sales, management, hiring, communication, and more. One resource that I’ve been sharing a lot over the last f... ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode * The single most important lesson Tara McMullin learned about money in the last 5 years* How that lesson rippled through her business and personal development as a leader* Why this lesson also led with taking stock of how much her sense of credibility was tied to the money she makes* How Sean McMullin is asking new questions about money and his relationship to it now that he’s a business owner, too* What his experience with collectivism has inspired him to consider as the business (and bank account) grows Money is always about more than the dollars and cents. No matter how nice it might be to objectively measure the value of a thing or calculate the salary of a new hire or assess the return on a particular investment, there’s always something else going on. Something that defies the ability to measure it with pure math. There are the cultural norms we carry, the familial attitudes that are passed on to us, the limiting beliefs we’ve picked up along the way. There is always so much more to consider about money than the dollars and cents. This month, we have a series of episodes exploring money and our changing relationships to it. This is a series we’ve been planning since late last year but as the current global health crisis has blossomed into a global economic crisis, these questions about money and our relationship to it–especially as small business owners–feel more relevant every single day. Over the course of the month, you’ll hear from What Works regular Marie Poulin about how a surprise discovery led her to upending her business model while finding a whole new sense of ease when it came to making money. You’ll also hear from jewelry designer Tiffany Whipps who has seen first hand the wild swings in value that a fickle market can create. And you’ll hear from Jennifer Patterson, who runs a large portion of her herbalism and breathwork business on a sliding scale. Plus, you’ll hear What Works network members share how their relationship to money has evolved over time, too. All throughout this series, we’re asking you to examine the assumptions and beliefs that you hold about money. Some of them might be long held… perhaps stemming from how your parents handled money or a story you heard a long time ago. Others might be more cultural… maybe you’ve picked up some beliefs about money that come from how the news is reported or which business heroes are celebrated. Others might come from your very own market… I hear tall tales about money repeated as fact in my own industry all the time. Today, I wanted to start close to home. My own relationship to money has changed so much over the time I’ve been a business owner. So the first half of this episode is my own reflections on the most important money lesson I’ve learned in the last 5 years and the specific ways it’s played out in my business over that time. The second half of the episode is a conversation with my husband and business partner, Sean, about how his relationship to money is changing now that he’s a business owner, too. As I put this episode together, I realized that the whole of it is really a conversation about... ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * What happened with coach Shirin Eskandani got the call for her dream job–singing in Carmen at the Met* How she discovered coaching and the process that would help her reexamine how she feels and what she wants* The role coaching plays in her life now that she is a coach herself* How she works to support her own clients in a coaching relationship today I was not a girl scout. But I love merit badges. As in, few things thrill me more than earning recognition for learning or doing something. I’ve been chasing merit badges all my life—so much so that the pursuit of merit badges has often led me away from what I really want out of life… and toward what will earn me the next badge. I’ve taken numerous jobs I didn’t want just to get the merit badge. I’ve agreed to plenty of collaborations I didn’t really want just to get the merit badge. And, I’ve chased a bunch of goals that didn’t really inspire me just to get the merit badge. Every merit badge I earn is just another attempt to prove to myself that I’m good enough, that I’m worthy. And each merit badge I earn only convinces me that the next merit badge will be the one that finally makes me happy. It’s only been in the last couple of years that I made this realization. And I did so with the support of my husband, my team, and coaching. Now that I know about my merit badge pattern, I’m always on the lookout for it. I’ve rearranged my goal-setting, planning, and decision-making so that I have a better opportunity to notice when I’m stretching toward something I really want… or gunning for another merit badge. I know I’m not the only person who always has her eye on the next merit badge. There’s a good chance that, as a listener of this show, you’re also keen on collecting accomplishments and achievements. Maybe that’s been helpful for you… and maybe it’s gotten you off track. Maybe it’s been a result of your own sense of self-worth… and maybe it’s been an attempt to prove it. My guest today found herself in a similar situation to me—always trying to prove she was good enough by climbing the rungs of her chosen career ladder: opera singing. But when she earned the merit badge she had most wanted her whole life, she realized that she still wasn’t happy. I’ll let her tell that story—but, listener, I can relate. And that’s why I so wanted to bring Shirin Eskandani onto the show. Shirin has done a lot of work on rewriting this pattern and she’s found support for that work through coaching. Today, Shirin is not a full-time opera singer. She’s a full-time coach herself. Shirin is a life coach, public speaker and writer who specializes in mindfulness and mindset work. She has been a featured wellness expert on the Today Show and Cosmopolitan Magazine. Shirin’s holistic approach to transformation is influenced by her background in meditation, spirituality and the arts. We talk about achieving her childhood dream and realizing she still wasn’t happy, as well as how she started to choose the thoughts that would help her feel the way she wants to feel, made the leap to coaching, and found her why. We also talk about coaching as a support structure and how coaching can ... ★ Support this podcast ★

Leading a business can be lonely. I noticed just how disconnected business owners are when I started my very first website way back in 2009. That website was a blog about makers and artists in Pennsylvania. I wrote about their stories and shared products that caught my eye. The blog was relatively popular but the real magic of it wasn’t in what I was writing about. The magic was in how it connected people who didn’t know anyone else who was trying to make a go of turning their ideas into a business. They connected on my website, they connected in an early iteration of what Facebook groups have become, and they even connected in person. Even though I haven’t written for that blog in a decade, I know there are still people from that community who support each other as business owners. They are less lonely because of the connections they made through that simple website. After I handed that blog off to other people and started down the path of business coaching and education, I noticed that not only were small business owners a lonely bunch, I noticed that our isolation often led to missing information, confirmation bias, and unhelpful assumptions. And that’s what’s really led to how I’ve structured my business from there on out. I have been creating the structure to connect small business owners to each other for the last 10 years. I build containers, see what works, and then evolve. From Kick Start Labs to Quiet Power Strategy to What Works, I’ve endeavored to help entrepreneurs find the support they need–the support they crave. I’ve seen first hand how, yes, the emotional support of the right people can make all the difference in whether you press on or whether you quit. But even beyond the huge help of emotional support, I’ve seen how the right people can open your eyes to new ideas, how it can help you check your assumptions and self-limiting beliefs. I’ve seen how support can help you set new goals and find your focus. I believe we all need to find our support as small business owners… and I believe that support comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes it’s the people we hire to work for us. Other times it’s our families. Sometimes it’s the professionals we engage with. Other times it’s the colleagues who call us on our own bullshit. All this month, we’ve looked at the challenges–and opportunities–that small business owners face in getting the support they need to feel confident and prepared. We’ve looked at mental health support, we’ve examined peer support, and we dug into coaching. This week, we asked 4 of our community members to share times when they’ve experienced a profound sense of support and I’m thrilled with how each of them shared a different form of support. Rebel Therapist founder Annie Schuessler shared how being honest & vulnerable with her peers has made a huge impact on her and her business. Business coach Justine Clay shared how a year-long program and accountability partner helped her get a new business off the ground. Voice coach and the SpeakEasy Cooperative founder Michelle Markwart Deveaux shared how her team supports her–and has helped her see herself and her role in a new way. And coach Leigh Johnson brings it all home by sharing how important different types o... ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * How licensed professional counselor & therapeutic coach Nancy Jane Smith learned to navigate high-functioning anxiety while building her business* How high-functioning anxiety differs from our usual concept of what anxiety “looks like”* The strategies Nancy uses to help herself (and her clients) deal with HFA* Which of the 3 voices in her head Nancy uses to guide her action and keep moving forward Can we talk about anxiety? Even if you don’t think of yourself as having anxiety or dealing with anxiety, there’s a good chance you’ve felt pretty anxious over the last 2 months. I’ve been calling it ambient anxiety. It’s just in the air. Everything is in flux. Nothing is in our control. Everyone is on edge. It’s just really hard to get a solid handle on what’s going on a day to day or even hour by hour basis. Your response to all of this ambient anxiety might be to slow down—even shut down. You might feel numb or a bit panicked. You might have trouble concentrating or find yourself caught up in worry. That’s a very normal, very understandable response. But it’s not the only way that anxiety can manifest. The other way anxiety makes itself known doesn’t even look much like what we think of when we think anxiety. And that’s how I initially responded to the anxiety of our present moment. This month on the show, we’ve been talking about finding support as an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship can be a lonely endeavor and the mental health challenges that many of us face don’t make it any easier to feel like you’re not alone. Which leads me back to how I found myself quote-unquote coping with my anxiety a few weeks ago… Instead of shutting down, I turned on. I worked long, hyper-productive days. I created new things. I hosted live events. I checked in with friends and supported our members and clients. My anxiety led me to over-functioning. My subconscious was trying to work my way through the stress and uncertainty. I was trying to control the uncontrollable. That burst of anxious over-functioning led to a complete collapse. I’m now trying to get back into a more manageable and gentle groove but I’m feeling pretty rotten. I’ve talked to a lot of people who have been living a similar story. Which really isn’t that surprising to me because in the before times, I was having a lot of conversations that started with: “Can I tell you about high-functioning anxiety?!” You see, I started learning about high-functioning anxiety from our guest today, Nancy Jane Smith. The way Nancy described anxiety was nothing like what I thought of anxiety to be… but was everything about my experience of the world. I’ve shared on the podcast before that only recently did I realize I was living with chronic anxiety. I had always identified as dealing with chronic depression and didn’t recognize my normal-for-me mental state was one of high anxiety. But the more I’ve learned from Nancy, the more I’ve learned about my own brand of anxiety. Nancy is an expert in High Functioning Anxiety. Nancy is trained as a licensed professional counselor and therapeutic coach. ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * Why Startup Pregnant founder Sarah K. Peck started organizing mastermind groups & experiences before she was even a business owner* How Sarah facilitates conversation among group members for maximum results* Why mastermind groups are less about getting answers and more about getting in touch with your own inner knowing* The role that mastermind experiences play in her business today and how her business model is structured (including pricing)* Why structure is such an important part of creating highly effective mastermind groups What would we do without the internet? I mean, really. I have access to a global library of information and ideas in my pocket at all times. If I have a question, I can typically find an answer in less than 60 seconds. And how about online learning? If I want to learn a new skill, there’s probably a YouTube video or a CreativeLive class or an ebook that will teach me what I need to know. It’s probably impossible to quantify the amount of new skills I’ve picked up thanks to the internet. And how about the people that the internet brings together? You know I love online communities, social networks, and just finding random connections between humans you would have otherwise never met. The internet gives me access to people all over the world. Information, ideas, learning new skills, meeting new people and connecting with old friends… the internet, with all its faults and foibles, can be an incredible place for support. But at some point, learning new information, acquiring new skills, and even meeting new people starts to come up short. At some point, as my guest today says, you realize that their aren’t external answers to internal questions. You realize that beyond access to the world’s information and citizens… you need access to yourself: your own inner knowing. One way I’ve gotten access to myself—my own inner knowing and decision-making—is through mastermind groups. Last year, at an in-person gathering of one of the masterminds that we run at What Works, one participant told me that they didn’t really need anyone to tell them what to do with their business. They knew exactly what they should be doing. Instead, they said they needed people to ask why they weren’t doing it. That’s why they were in the mastermind group. To me, that’s the perfect illustration of how a mastermind group can support business owners who are committed to—not just learning a new marketing skill or figuring out how to launch a new product—but to becoming a more whole entrepreneur and building a business that works exceptionally well. I’ve been running mastermind groups of one sort or another for about 5 years and I have a lot to say on the subject. But I didn’t want you to just get my thoughts… So I invited someone equally as passionate about masterminding as I am, Sarah K. Peck, the founder of Startup Pregnant. Sarah was on the show before talking about how the Startup Pregnant podcast got started—but the whole business and community of Startup Pregnant has evolved and grown a ton since then.

In This Episode: * Bestselling author & business consultant Chris Brogan shares how depression and anxiety impact his experience as an entrepreneur* Why he always knows what he can “drop” when things get rough and what he isn’t willing to let slide* Why he has been transparent about his mental health challenges on social media and how he’s helping to reduce the stigma for others* How he approaches his conversations with others to be as supportive as he can, while also creating his own support network I have received an outpouring of gratitude in the last 6 weeks. Telling you that makes me quite uncomfortable and feels self-serving, but I promise there’s a point. The messages I’ve received have thanked me for being a leader and for sharing how I’m personally processing both our public health crisis and our economic pause. Many of these messages have also ended with something along the lines of: I hope there’s someone supporting you right now. And that’s why I’m sharing this with you. Because, sure, I know that sharing how I feel, what I’m doing to navigate planning or marketing, and how I’m coping is helpful. But what I think is really helpful about what I’ve been sharing? It’s showing people that they’re not alone. I think that’s what they’re really saying to me when they say “I hope there’s something supporting you right now.” They’re saying “you’ve made me feel like I’m not alone and I hope you don’t feel alone either.” Because the truth is… Leaders get lonely. When everyone is looking to you for answers, for support, for guidance, you can feel like there’s no one to go to for your own support. And since all small business owners are leaders in one way or another, we all feel that loneliness sometimes—or maybe, we feel it quite often. This month, we’re tackling that feeling of loneliness and the different kinds of support we can lean on to feel grounded and whole. We’re going to tackle 2 sides of this conversation—mental health and business owner support—and we’ll acknowledge that this conversation really has many more sides than that. I’ll share what works for me and we’ll be asking our community members to share what works for them, too. You’ll hear from Nancy Jane Smith about living with and finding support for high-functioning anxiety which is something I certainly deal with, along with many other business owners I know. You’ll also hear a conversation between me and Startup Pregnant founder Sarah Peck about using & facilitating masterminds for support. And you’ll hear from Shirin Eskandani about finding support through coaching. Today, we’re kicking things off with Chris Brogan, an author, speaker, and consultant who has been incredibly forthcoming about his own experience with depression and anxiety. Chris helps business owners feel less lonely by vulnerably sharing what he’s going through on a regular basis and by regularly offering his support to those who are in the throws of mental health challenges. Post by post, conversation by conversation, Chris is doing his part of reduce the stigma of depression, anxiety, and even failure. ★ Support this podcast ★

The tools I use to run my business have come a long way in the last decade. Back then, I had to do most things manually. Now, integrations and automations are a given. Back then, I had to learn code and poke through dense documentation to get what I wanted. Now, everything is drag & drop. Back then, digital small business owners were repurposing tools meant for other tasks to put our businesses together. Now, we use tools that are made just for us. But it’s not just the tools that have changed. It’s also how I use them. When I started my business, I was always just trying to get one step ahead and the tools I used were solving problems as they came up–no real rhyme or reason. I didn’t stop to think about what my technology or system needs might be even a few months in the future. Today, I look at my tools in terms of how they’ll help me grow. I ask myself how I can use them to build a foundation that makes my business easier to run months or years in the future. I don’t just solve problems with my tools–I create systems. We’ve covered a lot of territory with the tools we use to run our businesses over the last month. And we’re going to cover a little more today. But I think this mindset shift around how we use technology and develop systems has been a thread that has tied all of our episodes together. Whether it was my conversation with Sean, or Jessica, or Prerna, or Holly & Arryn, I hope you picked up on the strategy that these business owners use when it comes to picking and working with tools. That strategy isn’t just about what tools or systems they use. It’s really a bigger mindset around how they run their businesses. They expect to be running, building, and growing these businesses for years to come and so they choose tools, systems, and workflows that make that easier. Today, I want to share 3 more business owners and their favorite tools with you. You’ll hear from designer & illustrator Cynthia Oswald, operations manager Heidi Johnson, and software engineer Rachel Ober. Each one is sharing a tool that’s dramatically changed the way they do business–each in completely different ways. What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. Visit mightynetworks.com to see more examples of brands bringing people together and taking their businesses to the next level. ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * How personal trainers Holly Myers and Arryn Grogan use systems and software to run a thriving online coaching business* Why they invest in new training and certifications as tools to use in their business* What coaching online has allowed them to accomplish* What tools they use to communicate with clients, produce a library worth of content, and build programs for people to purchase My routine has been disrupted. It’s been six weeks since I’ve been to the gym and I’m quite certain my neighbors are very confused about what I’m doing with the kettlebells in the backyard. Like most gym-goers, I’ve been experimenting with working out from home and hoping that my gym family is well. Luckily, I also have an Instagram gym family—and they’ve been motivating, educating, and challenging me since long before this all started. It’s been so fun watch them re-learn how to do business overnight while, at the same time, providing an immense amount of leadership for the people they care about. Now, all that said, this episode sounds like a no-brainer—but I assure you, it was recorded weeks before every gym in America shut down. This week, we’re taking a look at the tools that personal trainers use to run their businesses online. And since I realize that you’re most likely not a personal trainer, I want assure you that this episode is still full of interesting ways to think about your business and the tools you use to run it. My guests today are Holly Myers and Arryn Grogan from Lift With Holly And Arryn. They were running an online personal training business before taking your personal training business online was corona-cool! I found Holly and Arryn through my Instagram gym family and fell in love with their joy, strength, and precision. Their content is incredibly useful and very fun and real at the same time. Because Holly and Arryn specialize in training other coaches on the techniques they’ve mastered, they realized that online coaching was a great fit for them early on. Instead of constraining their client base to their hometown, they’re able to coach people from all over—and coach while they’re on the road, as well. In this episode, we talk about the tools and systems they’ve used to build their online training business—including the equipment they prefer, the software they use for coaching, the system they use for putting together programs, and how they build content for Instagram. We also talk about some of their favorite tools for working on the road. Now, let’s find out What Works for Holly Myers and Arryn Grogan! What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. Visit mightynetworks.com to see more examples of brands bringing people together and taking their businesses to the next level. ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * The process Prerna Malik, founder of Content Bistro, uses to create effective copy for her clients* Why she keeps her tools simple and isn’t quick to change them just because there are new options out there* How Prerna uses experience, testing, and research to push the edge and try new things with the copy she writes* What she did to translate her service processes into a program for other agency owners and service-based businesses Your process is your most valuable tool. By that, I mean that the way you do what you do, the system you use to create results, the pattern you follow time and time again is what all the value-generating activities of your business are based on. Now, when you’re just getting started with your business, your process probably feels pretty loose and undefinable. You might even call it magic. And so then it’s no wonder that you have trouble explaining it or documenting it—let alone putting a dollar value on it. But as your business matures, your process (should) become clearer and clearer. You can explain it. You can document it. You can see the financial value in it. Everything else in your business layers on top of your process to create clarity and efficiency. Your process provides the foundation for every other tool you introduce into the way you run your business. This month, we’re examining the tools we use to run our businesses. So far, we’ve talked through some of the tools that Sean and I use to work with clients in our podcast production agency. I talked with Jessica Stansberry about the tools she uses to run her content-driven digital products business. And this week, I’m talking with Prerna Malik about the tools she uses to run her copywriting agency, Content Bistro. Yes, Prerna and I get into the specific tools she uses—things like Google Drive, Notion, and CrazyEgg. But we also talk a lot about her process—how she does what she does. Like I said, process is the most valuable tool in your business and your process should determine the tools that you use. Prerna’s approach certainly demonstrates this. Her tools help her make her process work. They help her make her process more efficient. And ultimately, it’s her process that’s helped her build an incredible business. Now, let’s find out what works for Prerna Malik. Tools In This Episode: * Google Drive – document collaboration and file storage* Notion – project & process management* CrazyEgg – heat maps, user recordings, and A/B testing* Book Like A Boss – scheduling system What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Y... ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * What tools Jessica Stansberry uses to run her content-driven business* How she knows when it’s time to switch tools and what criteria she uses to pick a new one* What project management tool she’d make out with if she could* How her systems and workflows help her get the most out the software she uses to run her business Most small businesses today create some form of content. Some are sporadically posting updates & photos on social media. Others take the time to create helpful articles, entertaining videos, or valuable podcast episodes. But there’s a whole category of small business that I would consider content-driven. In other words, these businesses rely on the steady production of content that keeps the existing audience happy while it also helps attract new audience members. These businesses might make money by selling advertising, leveraging affiliate marketing partnerships, or selling their own digital products. And often, it’s a combination of all three. These businesses—and the creators behind them—have a lot to teach us about the tools and workflows that can make the content we create easier to manage, more effective, and more profitable. We’re continuing our series on the tools we use to run our small businesses… …by taking a look at the tools a content-driven business uses to create, manage, and publish all that content—as well as how it actually drives revenue, too. I could think of no one better than my friend Jessica Stansberry to talk content & tools with. Jessica is a YouTuber, podcaster, and fellow lover of tools. She’s the host of Grit, a podcast about business and lifestyle design. She’s also produces videos on planning, productivity, business, and marketing for over 66,000 subscribers on YouTube. Jessica and I chat about the hardware, software, and systems she uses to manage it all—plus her criteria for selecting or switching tools! I also asked her about the tools she uses to manage her life outside of business. Now, let’s find out what works for Jessica Stansberry! Tools In This Episode: * Clickup – project management software* Canon D70 – camera for video* Ring light – lighting for video* ATR2100 – microphone* Zoom H1n – portable audio recorder* Premiere Pro – video editing* MemberVault – learning management system for online courses* GoodNotes – iPad app for notetaking* Keywords Everywhere – SEO research Chrome extension What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * Sean and Tara McMullin, co-founders of YellowHouse.Media share the tools they use to run their podcast production agency* Sean shares the value of templates across a variety of tools* Tara sheds light on some of the “magic” tools that help them make standout podcasts* And they both share what’s working when it comes to tools for managing stress & anxiety right now When I started my business over 11 years ago, the only tool I worried about was WordPress. My business was my website and my website was my business. WordPress made it all work. And while I still use WordPress to this day, there are dozens of other tools I use to run both of my companies. There’s my email provider, my web host, our community platform, the graphic design tools I use, the communication software we chat on… each tool has it’s purpose and place within the larger business. This month, we’re going to take a deep dive into the tools that different businesses rely on to run. We’ll talk software, systems, and processes—plus how it all works together. We’ll talk about how things have changed, what’s stayed the same, and how to know when it’s time to switch up your tools. And, we’ll talk with business owners that run different kinds of businesses—digital products, 1:1 services, and agencies. Focusing on tools is especially relevant right now because many business owners are looking for ways to run more efficiently and more effectively so that they can boost profit or create new streams of revenue as the economy is changing. We’re also trying out new tools to cope with interruptions and stress. So in this kick off episode, I wanted to talk about both of those pieces of the puzzle with my podcasting partner-in-crime, my husband and the production coordinator for What Works, Sean McMullin. Together, Sean and I run YellowHouse.Media, a full-service podcast production agency that specializes in helping small business owners create standout podcasts that power their marketing and sales. We’ll get into the tools we use to run YellowHouse—including how we set up client dashboards, manage projects, edit audio, and consult on content strategy. But first, we wanted to share some of the tools we’re using to mange stress and anxiety right now. Let’s get into it! Tools Mentioned In This Episode: * Headspace – meditation app* Rode Procaster – Tara’s microphone* Audio Technica ATR2100 – Sean’s microphone* Google Drive – documents, spreadsheets, storage, and more* Descript – transcripts and audio editing* Headliner – app for creating audiograms* Canva – graphic design tool* Notion – project management and organization tool* Squadcast – remote interview recording tool Some of the links above are affiliate links—meaning that we may earn a com... ★ Support this podcast ★

My brand is more “me” than ever. Which is funny because, up until 2017, my brand was my name. That year, I made a conscious effort to move away from my personal brand and build out a company brand, something that could represent an idea that was much bigger than me. At that same time, I started to do some significant personal work. I drank less. I ate better. I started moving my body. Later, I did a heap ton of mindset work. I discovered the great outdoors. I started to feel like a new person… and at the same time, I started to feel more myself. More comfortable with myself. More confident, more whole. Along the way, the brand I was building evolved. It created a space where I could fully belong—as a leader, a businesswoman, and as a human. I wasn’t playing at who Tara Gentile was anymore. I wasn’t hoping to become something that I really wasn’t. I wasn’t putting on a nice dress and fancy makeup and hoping people would trust me. I could just be me. We’re closing out this month on branding by getting personal. We’re looking at how who we are informs what we create and how those brands evolve over time. Like I mentioned, my business brand is more “me” than it’s ever been. Just because my brand represents a company and a community doesn’t mean that it’s not extremely personal. So whether your business is represented by your name and your face or whether you’re building something separate from you, there’s a lot to dig into in this episode. Today, I’m joined by Stasia Savasuk, the creator of Stasia’s Style School. Stasia helps people find the courage, clarity, and congruency to rock their personal style. I wanted to showcase her story during this month as a way of helping you reexamine the stories and patterns that we inadvertently fall into because of what we believe it takes to fit in, to be professional enough, or to earn credibility. Stasia’s personal story—and how she’s turned her passion into a thriving business—will shed light on all the hangups you might have about your personal style and the way your personality plays into the brand you’re building. We chat about how Stasia realized she was fitting herself into imaginary boxes, how the birth of her first child changed how she approaches her own body & style, how she finds the guts to dress the way she wants, and how her personal style informs her personal brand. Now, let’s find out what works for Stasia Savasuk! ★ Support this podcast ★

People are still spending money. It’s a message I’ve shared over and over again over the last 2 weeks. Not everyone is spending money… and not everyone has the money to spend. But plenty of people are still investing in goods and services that will make their lives and businesses better. And along those lines, my friend Mark Butler shared some great insight with his audience last week after investing in a program–even in the midst of our current economic situation. He said that, even when times are tough, when we need help, we’ll invest with the people & businesses that we trust. Who do we trust? Well, they’re the people–the brands–that have made a lasting impact on us over the years. They’re the people and companies that have made an effort to connect with us, that share our values, that represent what we want to see more of in the world. I’m Tara McMullin and you’re listening to What Works–the show that transcends the hype to bring you stories of what’s really working for small business owners today. Yes, people are still spending money and they’re spending it with brands they like and trust. This weekend, I spent money at my local brewery because I want to support them as they try to keep their workers employed. I spent money at a local cafe. And I spent money at Whole Foods, which might be a big corporation but one that does a helluva lot of good for its workers and our local economy. These brands are really important to me. They represent my home, my friends, and the world that I want to live in. I value their presence and I want to see them thrive. They’ve worked hard to build brands that truly connect with people. The small business owners we support at The What Works Network are doing the same. We asked 4 of them to share how they approach brand-building and what they’ve done to create a genuine connection between how they show up and the people they care about. Now, I want to let you know that each of these contributions was recorded before the outbreak had fully hit North America. But I think sharing them with you and inviting you to think about how you want to approach your own brand-building is more important than ever. You’ll hear from Layla Pomper from Process-Driven, Lou Blaser from Second Breaks, Julie O’Hara from Hearts & Brains Consulting, and Margy Thomas from ScholarShape. Let’s get into it! What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. Visit mightynetworks.com to see more examples of brands bringing people together and taking their businesses to the next level. ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * Why Martinus Evans started running in the first place* How his idea of a runner changed at the starting line of his first race* Why Toastmasters played a bit part in his decision to play bigger* How he’s defining his brand on his own terms My now-husband and I agreed on our second date: we are not people who run for fun. Run to escape zombies, sure. Run as a necessary part of a pickup game of basketball, okay. But run for miles on end chasing some feeling of inner contentment? Hell no. It was much to his dismay, then, when I started running 3 years ago. I started running because I wanted to move my body more and practice personal accountability. Running seemed the easiest way to do it—no gym membership, no expensive equipment. Just sneakers and pavement. But still, I was not running for fun. I was not one of those people. Now, let’s pause for a second and imagine what those people look like and sound like. Maybe you picture Rob Lowe’s character from Parks & Rec—high energy, frenetic, obsessive, and very trim. Maybe you picture marathon runner Des Linden who became the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon in 33 years back in 2018. She’s petite, wiry, and has that stare of someone completely focused on her goals. Maybe you picture a friend of yours, a coworker, or a family member who has been running their whole life. That’s how I pictured those people—the people who run for fun—a few years ago too. When I started running races, however, I realized that the picture of a runner that I had in my mind couldn’t be further from the truth. I mean, sure—there are plenty of wiry, high-energy, trim people who toe the starting line. But there are also people of all different shapes, personalities, and backgrounds who race, too. We’re all runners—no matter how “off brand” any of us might seem. Now, I know I use running & fitness metaphors quite a bit on this show. But today, there’s a very good reason why I’m talking about running. Back on that second date with my husband, I had a certain idea of who a runner was and how someone got to enjoy running. Think of that as the brand of “running.” When I started running, I didn’t feel very on-brand. Now, my guest is Martinus Evans, the host of the 300lbs And Running podcast and the founder of the Slow AF Run Club. Martinus isn’t very “on brand” either if you consider a runner someone wears short shorts and only eats salads. But Martinus is very much a runner. And Martinus has built a brand around rebranding who you think of when you think of a runner. Today, we’re talking about building a brand that defies convention and stereotypes. Martinus and I chat about how he got started sharing his journey to become a runner, how his first race changed his own idea of who a runner is, and why Toastmasters played a big part in him finding the confidence to go big. We also talk about dealing with negativity online and why he chose to create the Slow AF Run Club as a standalone community instead of a Facebook group. Now, let’s find out what works for Martinus Evans! ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * Shameless Mom Academy founder & host Sara Dean shares how her brand developed over time and in partnership with her community* Why she started the podcast in the first place, as well as why it was key she didn’t have a business in mind at first* How she came to understand the rewards of imperfect action* Why she took some big risks to bring her community together in person and how it paid off It’s tempting to think that you control your own brand. After all, you’re the one paying for the logo art, the web design, the copywriting, the photo shoots… Your money, your decisions. Your story, your brand. Except… A brand is really only as strong as the idea of it in your customer’s mind. Let me say that a different way: you can put loads of thought and money into carefully crafting a brand for yourself or your business but, at the end of the day, if the customer thinks of you or your company as something else entirely, none of that thought or money matters. Your brand is what your customer thinks it is. Your brand is what your customer thinks it is. It’s the impression they have about who you are, what you do, and how you help them. So in essence, all brands are co-created with their customers. We saw this in my conversation with Gina Bianchini from Mighty Networks in Episode 267. Gina and her team is in constant contact with their user base to understand how people want to use their product and what that means for leveling up the brand. We saw it again in Episode 268 with Alyssa Catalano from Studebaker Metals. Alyssa shared that their unique approach to genderless accessories was always sparking conversations with new customers. Those 2-way conversations go a long way to create a stronger brand identity for Studebaker. And I’ve experienced this first hand. The hardest part of my business transitions and pivots over the years hasn’t been the process of changing a name or redoing a website. That’s the easy part. The hardest part of rebranding has been rebuilding the idea our customers and community have about who we are and what we do for them. That process is never a one-way conversation. It’s collaborative and co-creative, especially in a community-based business like ours. My guest today also runs a community-based business and she’s intimately familiar with the role that her community members play in the brand she’s building. Sara Dean is the founder and host of Shameless Mom Academy. As the Shameless Mom Academy podcast started to take off, Sara realized that what she was creating wasn’t just hers. It wasn’t just her sharing her thoughts and stories behind a mic and her audience listening, all from their respective houses, in their separate communities. No, Shameless Mom Academy was a connection between women wrestling with their identities as mothers and ambitious women. This connection was the real story, the real brand powering an emerging business. Today, Sara leads the Momentum Mamas membership community, ★ Support this podcast ★

Well, things are weird out there. We’re all wondering how the coronavirus pandemic will shape our lives and work in the months (or years) to come. For many small business owners, there’s real uncertainty about how COVID-19 will play out. Many are feeling the immediate effects. More still are planning for the long-term fallout. Now more than ever, we need honest conversations that transcend the hype, uncertainty, and panic. This is a special episode of What Works. Normally on What Works, we talk with small business owners about what’s actually working for them. Not the hype about starting or growing a small business, but the reality of how marketing sales systems and management work on a day to day basis. But in this episode, I wanted to have an honest conversation with three business owners who I love and respect about the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on their businesses now and what they expect that impact to be in the coming months. I’ve personally had to make difficult choices this week, as well as leading our digital community through this uncertainty. So I know that the stress of the uncertainty is real. And while I know that nothing beats an actual conversation with another human being, I also know that, often, the next best thing is listening in to a conversation between people you trust. So that’s what I wanted to bring you today. I invited Jacquette Timmons, Autumn Witt Boyd, and Lauren Caselli to talk with me about their experience so far dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, the impact they’re experiencing now and how they’re preparing for the future, plus what they’re both fearful of and optimistic about. Jacquette Timmons is a financial behaviorist, the host of More Than Money, and a sought after speaker on how our choices impact our money. Lauren Caselli is the founder of Lauren Caselli events, a boutique events planning agency specializing in events for the tech sector. Autumn Witt Boyd is the founder of the AWB firm, a law practice that works with small business owners on intellectual property, contracts and agreements, and employment. Now, our goal was to give you a look at what we’re thinking about and how we’re approaching taking care of business and taking care of ourselves in this uncertain time. You’ll hear about the ripple effects we’re considering, the legal gray area we’re navigating, the way we’re planning for the short and long term, and you’ll hear about the emotional impact we’re dealing with. One last thing before we dive into this conversation: this conversation was planned in about 24 hours and we wanted to turn it around fast. In the process, we had some tech mishaps at the beginning of the recording, so we ended up recording on a platform that doesn’t have the sound quality you’re used to hearing on What Works. My hope is that you’ll value the conversation enough to forgive us for the lower fidelity! *** P.S. We know a lot of small business owners are looking for thoughtful spaces to process what’s going on, plan for the future, and connect with people who understand their concerns. We’ve extended a 30-day free trial of The What Works Network so you can join in on the conversati... ★ Support this podcast ★

In This Episode: * What Studebaker Metals stands for as a brand and how that shapes the choices they make about product, marketing, and messaging* Why they’re focused on producing genderless accessories—and how that impacts the conversations they have with customers* What their motto, “Slow is fast,” means and the role is plays in their brand positioning* How they make the choice about what stays and what goes when it comes to their product line Strong brands are focused and intentional. You know exactly what you’re going get from them. When a brand you’re a fan of rolls out something new, you already know you’re going to want it. They’ve sold you before they ever showed you the product—because they were never focused on selling you a product in the first place. They’ve been selling you on the idea behind the brand all along. Think Apple and how they leverage global attention with every new product cycle. Think Target and how they sell out of every new design collaboration. Think Glossier and how they’ve encouraged a generation of women to think about makeup in a new way. Think Everlane and how I just had to try out the performance leggings they just rolled out. They’re great, by the way. Strong brands aren’t just for big companies or mid-sized direct-to-consumer businesses. Even a tiny business can build a strong brand. But since tiny businesses lack the ability to invest heavily in brand-building advertising, it means the burden for brand development is on conscious, intentional choices about messaging, product development, and organic marketing. Tiny businesses have an even greater need to stay focused and intentional if they want to build a strong brand. This week, my guest is Alyssa Catalano, the co-founder of Studebaker Metals—a metalsmithing and accessories brand that epitomizes focused and intentional choices. Alyssa and the Studebaker Metals team have made careful brand choices about everything from how they style their products to how their products are categorized to the tools they use to craft their products to the messaging behind the products. Alyssa and I talk about the unconventional choice to produce unisex accessories, why slow is fast and what that has to do with their brand positioning, and how their brand plays out in advertising, plus the roles of timelessness and place in how their brand is built. Now, let’s find out what works for Alyssa Catalano! What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. Visit mightynetworks.com to see more examples of brands bringing people together and taking their businesses to the next level. ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How Gina Bianchini has been leading a slow & intentional brand evolution at Mighty Networks* Why customer feedback has been the key factor in how the brand (and product) has adapted* How the Mighty Networks team is using an online course to gather more customer feedback and create a plan for the future of the brand* What led to leveling up the Mighty Networks visual brand in 2019 Brands evolve. Sometimes brands evolve naturally—think Dunkin’ Donuts changing their name to Dunkin’ to reflect the fact that more people think of them as a coffee place than a donut place. Sometimes brands evolve… unnaturally—think Weight Watchers changing their name to WW because, well, I’m not sure why other than they’re trying to stay afloat as more & more people care more about health than weight loss. The reason that brands evolve is that a brand is only as strong as its reputation in the mind of the customer. A company doesn’t—can’t—have sole ownership of a brand. A brand is what the customers believe it is. Yes, a company can influence a brand’s reputation and story—but it doesn’t own it. Brands are co-created with the people who engage with it. This month, we’re examining how brands are built. No, we’re not talking about where to get a logo done or what color scheme to use on your website. We’re talking about how the people you care about—your customers, clients, and prospects—remember your business. We’re talking about the story you tell about what you do, why you do it, and who you do it for. And we’re talking about what it takes to define a reputation and a presence when there are so many things competing for the attention of our people. Over the course of this month, you’ll hear from Martinus Evans who is redefining what it means to be a runner with his podcast 300lbs And Running and his community, the Slow AF Run Club. You’ll hear from Stasia Savasuk about how her journey to discovering her personal style taught her about establishing a personal brand. And you’ll hear from Alyssa Catalano from Studebaker Metals about how what you offer defines your brand. But today, we’re kicking things off with Gina Bianchini from Mighty Networks. Now, as you probably already know, Mighty Networks is a sponsor of What Works. Plus, we’re proud users of their community-building and course delivery software. And, as such, I’ve seen the Mighty Networks team go through a careful brand evolution over the last 3 years. In fact, Mighty Networks brand evolution is a perfect case study in co-creating a brand with the people who engage with it and that’s exactly what I wanted to talk with Gina about. Gina and I chat about what’s stayed the same and what’s changed over the last few years as Mighty Networks has grown and grown. You’ll hear about Gina’s light bulb moment, how building a community for Mighty Networks users helped her see how people were really using the software, and why she decided to build an online course. Plus, you’ll hear how all of this learning helped Mighty Networks create a stunning new visual brand, in-house, ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * The day Melissa Urban realized she needed to do more to make the Whole30 community more inclusive* Why she’s chosen to be public about her learning when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion* How Dr. Carrie Kholi-Murchison is taking the lead on efforts to make sure everyone feels seen and heard within the community* What unique challenges Whole30 faces in their DEI efforts* Why listening is at the heart of so many of the initiatives they’re rolling out Who’s missing here? What points of view, what lived stories, what experiences aren’t represented here? Up until a few years ago, this is a question I didn’t think to ask. The reason I didn’t ask those questions, simply put, is because the spaces I was in—the spaces I had created—seemed so normal to me. The spaces I was in and the spaces I had created were full of middle class, white women. If I’m being frank, the only question I would ask from time to time were: where are the men? Which probably just further proves my point… I was used to seeing men around, so I questioned it when they weren’t there. I wasn’t used to seeing people who had different points of view, different lived stories, and different experiences than mine so I didn’t notice they were missing. Who’s missing here? It’s a question that asks so much more of me as a leader than to “simply” even out the demographics. “Who’s missing here?” asks me to consider why people are missing in the first place. What is it about the way I’ve built my business, my community, my brand that doesn’t create space for people who are different from me? Over the last few years, like many white women I know, I’ve been on a personal growth journey to better understand systematic oppression and internalized bias—and their role in my business. I’m personally invested in this journey. I’m politically invested in this journey. And yes, I see this journey as integral to my effectiveness as a leader and entrepreneur, too. I do not have answers. I don’t even have all the questions! But I’m learning and sharing that learning with you is important to me. While there are many white women entrepreneurs who are on this journey with me, few have been so public about her learning, her missteps, and the action she’s taking in her business as Whole30‘s Melissa Urban. About a year ago, shortly after I finished my own life-changing Whole30, I noticed that Melissa announced she was searching for someone to lead diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts for her company. I kept my eye on those developments and always enjoyed seeing her update her audience on the hire and progress they were making. So when we decided to do this month on leadership, I knew I wanted to talk with Melissa and the woman she hired to fill this role, Dr. Carrie Kholi-Murchison, now Whole30’s Director of People & Culture. I wanted to find out why and how Melissa has been leading so publicly on this front—and I also wanted to find out what Kholi was doing to lead this change internally in the organization. This conversation has been several months in the making—even though we recorded it less than a week ago! ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * What values are woven through Rob Walling‘s many ventures* Why he started MicroConf and how it’s a direct reaction to so many communities & events for founders* How Rob sees his role as a leader of a rapidly growing community* How he turns his values into policies, systems, and operating procedures no matter one business he’s working on “Different is better than better.” That’s what Sally Hogshead says. Sally is a brand expert and the creator of the Fascination Advantage Assessment, which helps entrepreneurs and leaders discover what’s naturally fascinating about themselves. What she means is that better is fleeting. It’s uninspired. “Better,” she says, “keeps you chained to the same way of working as your competition.” Being different, on the other hand, helps you stand out. Being different helps you gather the right people around you—because they immediately see what you’re about. Different helps you win on your own terms. So how do we arrive at “different?” How do we build our brands, our ideas, our businesses to be different? Different is a result of operationalizing our values. This month, we’re working our way through a series of conversations about leadership. Specifically, I’ve been talking to small business owners about how they lead with their values and how those values pop up in their businesses in their systems, policies, and operating procedures. Today, my guest is Rob Walling and Rob is committed to doing things differently. Rob is best known for his leadership in the world of bootstrapped software-as-a-service businesses. He is the founder of Drip, MicroConf, and most recently TinySeed. He’s also the host of Startups for the Rest of Us and the author of Start Small, Stay Small. Rob has chosen, from the beginning, to do things differently—and the reason is his values. His values led him to realize that he could build a business without playing by everyone else’s rules—and that’s made him a leader for thousands of others who are looking to do things differently too. I talk with Rob about the throughline that weaves his different ventures together, the values that define his work, how his community and events are a reaction to the “standard” in his field, and how he views his role as a leader. Plus, I ask him how he’s ensuring his values continue to play out as his community rapidly expands. Now, let’s find out What Works for Rob Walling! ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * The “fetal position” moment that led Shannon Siriano Greenwood to start Rebelle* Why belonging, inclusivity, vulnerability, and authenticity are the top values the community leans into* How the details and design of each event help bring the values to life* How she sees her role as a leader within the Rebelle community* How she’s managing the growth of Rebelle so that she ensures its values continue on Stepping up as a leader takes a willingness to walk a fine line. On one hand, you become a leader because there is a community, an organization, a group, or a movement that you care passionately about. Your leadership is an expression of belonging at the same time it is a question of possibility. On the other hand, as a leader, you have a responsibility to set the tone, to hold others accountable, to make decisions for the group, and set standards. Your leadership is product of always being a few steps in front of the rest of the group. Whether you’re leading a team, a community, your current clients, or a bevy of customers, every small business owner is a leader. Which means you—yes, you listening right now—are walking this fine line whether you realize it or not. This month, we’re examining leadership and specifically how we lead with our values—and turn those values into systems and action. One way that we, as leaders, can make sure our values are known and that our actions support the kind of culture we want to create within our businesses, is by recognizing our role as members of the group we lead. If you’re leading a team, you’re a member of the team. If you’re leading a community, you’re a member of that community. If you’re leading a movement, you’re a member of that movement. Yes, you have a role and responsibility that is separate from that—and often takes up much more of your time and attention. But you’re in it, too. And that’s important. Last week, Erica Courdae shared that one of the ways she leads is by modeling how she wants her values to play out. She shows up and does the work just like she wants her staff to. This week, my guest Shannon Siriano Greenwood, echoes something similar. When I asked her how she views her role, she told me that she sees herself as much as a member as a leader. In my own business and The What Works Network, this is also how I’ve learned to see things. If I model the kind of behavior I want to see play out, others will follow my lead. If I show up as a member in our community, others will mirror what I do. That’s not how I used to operate, though. I used to think that being a leader meant distancing myself from the people I lead. It meant being different and doing differently. What I’ve learned is that being a leader is both/and. I’m both a member of my community and the one that sets the standards. I’m both a member of my team and the one that makes the plans. If I’m careful and thoughtful, I can do both. And now, it’s time to get to this week’s guest. I’m thrilled to bring Shannon Siriano Greenwood back to the podcast. Shannon is the founder of Rebelle, which started as a conference and grew into a whole community of women ... ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * The frustrating situation that led Erica Courdae to go on her own and create Silver Immersion, an inclusive hair and beauty company* How Erica has developed her voice and ability to stand up for what she believes in* Why modeling is a key way she leads her team—and her clients* How she made the transition into coaching and decided to specialize in diversity, equity, and inclusion for business owners* Why Erica takes a stand for imperfect allyship and how that plays out in her business Values. We talk a good game about having values, living our values, and even running a business with our values. But, like, what does that really mean? It’s not enough to have them written down somewhere. It’s not enough to put them on your website. It’s not enough to talk through them with a new hire. No, values can be, should be, the filter for how we do everything in our businesses. Part of our job as business owners—as leaders—is to ensure that the values we hold dear are operationalized in our work. It’s our job to make sure values turn into systems, product features, or boundaries with clients. Strong leaders turn values into action. This month on What Works, we’re talking about leadership—and specifically, we’re talking about how leaders operationalize their values, how they turn values into action, structure, and systems. I’m fascinated by the creative ways that entrepreneurs operationalize their values. I’m fascinated by how values make decisions easier, policies clearer, and plans stronger. I’m fascinated by how brands display immense leadership by doing things differently than the norm—all inspired by their values. And I’m fascinated, of course, by the results that businesses see because of how they operationalize their values: stronger communities, bigger movements, more brand recognition, and, yes, often more profit, too. Displaying strong leadership and operationalizing our values isn’t squishy and it’s certainly not just a nice-to-have. It’s become the bar we have to rise above if we want the work we do to be relevant and meaningful. Over the course of this month, we’re going to hear from leaders who have operationalized their values in a variety of ways. You’ll hear from Shannon Siriano Greenwood, who has built an incredible, values-driven community with Rebelle. Shannon is now expanding outside of the Richmond area and I wanted to hear how she’s taking her values into new territory. You’ll hear from Rob Walling, a serial entrepreneur, podcaster, and the founder of MicroConf. Rob has intentionally an event experience that’s different than others in the same field by focusing on his values. You’ll hear from Melissa Urban and Carrie Kholi-Murchison from Whole30 on why they’re investing in making the Whole30 community a more diverse and inclusive community—and what steps they’re taking to do it. But today, my guest is Erica Courdae, the founder of Silver Immersion, a Baltimore-area hair and makeup business, as well as a diversity, equity, ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How Kickass Conferences founder Isaac Watson manages massive projects like organizing a conference* The 5 phases that each event plan goes through and how project management works at each stage* What tools Isaac and his teams use to ensure every detail is accounted for and every guest has a fabulous experience* How he manages the experience on the ground during a live event I used to balk at project management. It felt like the systems I was supposed to follow were imposing rules on things that didn’t need rules. I’d get it done. And I’d do it my own way, gosh darn it. But then, at some point… …probably the 341st time I didn’t have enough time to execute a project the way I really wanted it to be done… …I realized that project management is as much about honing your craft as it is about making sure you hit deadlines or don’t forget a step. Teasing out the bits and pieces of how projects happen helps us make better stuff… …whether what you’re making is a publicity campaign, a book, a set of complex financial reports, or a podcast. This month, Sean and I have working hard on the next phase of our project management at Yellow House Media. Yellow House is the full-service podcast production agency we co-founded back in August. The way we look at it, every step in the process of producing a podcast is an opportunity to make a show better—to make it more engaging for the listener and to drive more results for the business owner. But to fully take advantage of those opportunities, we have to have our process down. We can’t just throw an episode together. We have to carefully and intentionally work each step of the process so that both the host that we’re working with and our team has the greatest freedom to innovate and improve. The structure of project management gives us the space to hone our craft, to get creative, and to make something great. And the better we get at making great podcasts, the better our project management gets too. My guest today has had a similar experience learning the ins and outs of event planning and hosting kickass conferences. Isaac Watson is the founder of Kickass Conferences, an event strategy and production studio based in the Pacific Northwest. Isaac helps community leaders develop and deliver transformative events for their audiences that inspire them to build a better world. So far, he’s planned and managed events that have touched over 21,000 lives across the US and Europe. Isaac is a natural event planner. I know because I’ve attended a number of events that he’s planned and I hired him to plan a conference for me 4 years ago. But Isaac hasn’t relied on his natural aptitude for creating meaningful and engaging experiences. Instead, he’s designed a process he can rely on to pull off one great event after another. This process and the way he manages his events is clearly a product of the way he’s honed his craft over the years. He notices what works, he notices patterns, he notices the things that go unnoticed—and then he adapts the way he manages future projects. In this conversation, Isaac and I talk about how things have evolved since his ve... ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * 5 small business owners share the project management tools they can’t live without* Why each tool is the right fit for the way each business owner works* How they incorporate the tools into their workflows* Plus, what tools haven’t worked for them Project management is so much more than software. But if you think about tools like Asana, Trello, Clickup, or Notion (referral link that helps to support What Works) when you hear project management, you’re certainly not alone. I remember when Asana first started gaining popularity among digital small business owners. “Finally!” we thought collectively, “We can figure out how to get it all done.” Of course, most of us quickly realized that software like Asana doesn’t solve the problem of having too much work, unclear priorities, and a decidedly nonlinear project to complete. Project management is as much about how you approach the work that needs to get done as the software you use. So if project management is as much about how we approach the work as it is the software we use, why do we spend so much time stressing over that software? My hunch is that, despite all indications to the contrary, we believe that there’s a piece of software out there that will make us more productive, more organized, and more effective. Here’s what I’ve found to be true, instead: My project management software is only as good as I am. I can’t expect it to do for me what I’m not willing to do for myself. But if I commit to doing the work of project management… …if I organize my projects and get real about what’s required to bring each of them to completion… …if I’m willing to do the work I say I’m going to do… …if I consciously balance my big picture goals and my daily to-do lists… …then I can find project management software that helps me do that. But it starts with me and my own approach to the work. Now if that sounds personal, I can assure you that it is. I thought I was “broken” when it came to project management and that maybe there was some piece of project management software that could fix me. I tried a bunch. For while, I tried managing projects in Evernote–but that really just turned into me relying on my own brain, as per usual. Then, we dabbled in Trello… but it just didn’t work for us. Then, I tried using Asana. My team used it for 2 full years but I could never get the hang of it. That’s partly because I needed it to do something it just didn’t do–but it’s also because I wasn’t fully committed to doing the work of managing my projects. Then, I decided to grow up and do hard things. At the same time, we switched to Notion. Yes, Notion lets me do things I could only dream of in Asana or Trello. It combines content with task management in an completely customizable interface. But the most important piece is that I decided to manage my projects. I decided to work the system. I committed to following through–and Notion helps me do that. Today, ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * Why clear client communication helps on-demand CFO & cash flow analyst Christina Sjahli manage her complex financial projects* The system she uses to keep track of documents and change history* How she uses deadlines for herself and her clients to manage the progress of her projects* What Christina learned from her corporate finance experience that’s transferred to her own business—and what she left behind Can I really learn project management as an entrepreneur? A few of years ago, it became trendy to explain away the operational problems in our businesses by saying something like, “Dammit, Jim! I’m an entrepreneur, not a manager.” This trend was fueled by a book called Rocket Fuel, by Gino Wickman. In Rocket Fuel, Wickman argues that entrepreneurs are Visionaries. He writes, “Entrepreneurs hunt. They don’t manage. They explore rather than analyze. They build companies with vision, creativity, and tenacity; not with policies and procedures.” He continues by suggesting that every Visionary needs someone to be their Integrator. The Integrator’s role is to manage between the entrepreneur’s vision-driven ideas and the people on the ground actually making those things happen. I bought it. Hook, line, and sinker. The ideas in Rocket Fuel felt right to me. After all, the idea of creating, managing, and—dear god—following procedures made me feel all sweaty and claustrophobic. Finally, someone was telling me what I suspected all along: I just wasn’t good at managing. I wasn’t built for precision execution. I would always suffocated by routine, analysis, and consistency. Lots and lots of other small business owners I know bought this argument too. Soon we saw job descriptions for Integrators everywhere. We saw virtual assistants and online business managers start advertising themselves as Integrators. The language might be new to you—but I have a feeling that this distinction between the idea-creators and the idea-managers feels familiar. Here’s what I’ve realized since I myself caught the Rocket Fuel fever: While it’s true that some of us are gifted with natural aptitude toward one side of this spectrum between vision and management, that doesn’t get us off the hook for taking the time and care that’s necessary to manage projects well. Just because I’m an idea machine doesn’t mean I can’t also be a procedure machine. Just because I’m creative doesn’t mean I don’t have to follow systems. Just because I’m fueled by vision doesn’t mean I get a pass on thinking through the process behind my vision’s execution. Plenty of people will say that you’ve got to stay in your Zone Of Genius to be successful. At the risk of mixing metaphors, I say cross training is important. I’m not either/or, I’m both/and. And the more I’ve stepped into everything I can bring to the table,... ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How Brooklyn Book Doctor founder Joelle Hann manages the process of book writing for her clients* What her book coaching experience taught her about creating and managing a group book proposal writing program* The tools Joelle uses to track her clients’ progress and coach them along to completion* Why it’s key for Joelle to consider the human element at every stage of managing a book writing project What happens when project management and the creative process collide? I think we expect a mess. A gnarly pileup of missed deadlines, unrealistic task lists, and artistic prerogative. But what if the creative process was manageable? What if there was a way to do your best creative work while also honoring your commitments to the more objective pieces of your project? That’s the question we’re asking today. Managing the creative process is exactly what my guest, Joelle Hann, does. Joelle is the founder of Brooklyn Book Doctor. She works with authors to help them complete their book projects—whether it’s crafting the proposal or completing the manuscript. Her job is to be as much creative partner as it is project manager. After Joelle and I wrapped up our conversation, she told me: “the human element is a huge piece of the puzzle.” And, honestly, if you listen for this idea throughout this interview, I think you’ll see what she means. Joelle has become a master of managing for the human element in the creative process. And while Joelle has to manage the human element with her clients, we have to do this for ourselves every day. I believe that all business owners are creatives in one way or another. Whether your version of creativity is expressed in product development, code, design, marketing, or management, you’re creative. And that means we’re tasked with managing the human element—that’s us—in the creative process each day. It’s the reason we can fail so epically at developing systems, documenting our work, or shipping new work. It’s the reason we can expect a team to follow our procedures while ignoring them ourselves. And it’s the reason why the technology we use and the way we approach that technology can make such a difference in whether we follow through on the work or not. Be sure to listen to this conversation for not only some ideas on working with your customers or clients—but working with yourself. Joelle and I talk about the tools she uses to manage different types of writing projects, what she’s learned about managing projects for creative people, and how her project management system blossomed into its own offer for working clients through the book proposal process. Now, let’s find out what works for Joelle Hann! What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How Kaye Publicity founder Dana Kaye plans and manages multi-layer book publicity projects* The tools she uses to track progress, run reports, and organize the information that goes into every project* How her team members take ownership of different areas of each project* Why she’s learning to take a more top-level role in each project they manage One of my most important personal commitments from last year was to “work the system.” In other words, I wanted to stop constantly reinventing the wheel, breaking things that weren’t broken, and looking for new novel things to add to my plate. I wanted to take the systems that we had as a company and work them. No more pretending that I didn’t have to follow the procedure or document my work just because I was the boss. No more excuses for why my tasks weren’t getting checked off or the process wasn’t getting completed. Just working the systems we had, making them better, and following through until every last item was crossed off the list. By and large, I was pretty successful! I confirmed this with my team to make sure I wasn’t blowing smoke up my own butt. What I’ve discovered as I’ve embraced working the system is that—against all odds—I actually love it. In fact, now that I’ve been working the systems for a year, I see systems everywhere. I see how they make things better, how they make me better. And I relish getting those set up and figuring out how they can become more effective. Since I’ve decided to finally embrace not only having systems in my business but actually using them myself, I thought it would be fun to kick off the new year at What Works by focusing on project management. In other words, what does it take to make sure that the projects we start are projects we can finish? And how do different kinds of projects take on different forms as we use tools to track and complete them? And… how do different kinds of business owners approach managing projects differently? This month, we’re going to take a look at how a book coach manages the creative process for her clients. We’ll examine why communication and expectation is so important in complex projects with an on-demand CFO and cashflow analyst. And we’ll find out how a conference planner sees his events from vision to final invoice paid. Plus, we’ve also asked a panel of small business owners to share the tools they use to manage their projects and why they love them. You’ll hear about software like ClickUp, Asana, Trello, and Notion so you can make a more informed decision about what will work for you. But today, we’re starting with a look at managing massive multi-layer projects. Dana Kaye is the founder of Kaye Publicity, a publicity agency specializing in helping authors get media coverage for their books. As you’ll hear, publicity projects aren’t exactly linear. It’s not just a list of tasks that need to be completed step by step. There’s traditional media to go after. There are influencers to reach out to. There is content the team needs from authors and there are conversations that need to be had with the publisher. Each type of media is another layer in the project. Each layer is owned by a different member of the team. ★ Support this podcast ★

We’ve had a helluva year here at What Works. We’ve talked to over 100 small business owners, published more than 80 episodes, and tackled 12 different themes this year. What Works is special because we focus on the people who are making their businesses work every single day. We believe we all have a lot to learn from each other—and the more honest & transparent we are about how our marketing, operations, tools, product development, or sales processes work, the better chance we all have for success. On this episode, it’s no different—except, instead of me being the one asking the questions, you are! Here’s what we covered: * 2:20 What are the best ways to grow your organic reach on social media today?* 12:48 What kind of structure have you used for in-person strategy intensives?* 19:31 What’s working for you right now as you deal with capacity challenges in a 1:1 service business?* 28:46 What trends do you see coming in 2020?* 36:08 How did you come up with the name for YellowHouse.Media?* 38:24 What are your biggest business lessons from 2019? What marketing will you continue in 2020 and what will you stop doing?* 49:58 How have you leveraged the symbiotic relationship between your podcast and your community?* 55:21 Still running Facebook/Instagram ads in 2020?* 56:43 Who manages your finances and payroll? We use Gusto and recommend you do, too (we receive a small commission when you sign up)!* 57:49 What has been your biggest business challenge in 2019? ★ Support this podcast ★

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The Nitty-Gritty: * Why podcast advocate Elsie Escobar created a personal process for looking back over the year and setting her intentions for the year to come* How setting clear boundaries helps her to stay on top of her commitments and execution* The tools she uses to look back over the past year and how they give her a fresh perspective on what she’s experienced Do you know what you did this year? Do you know how many blog posts you published? How many emails you sent out? How many customers bought your product? Have you kept track of the accolades that have come your way? Or the speeches you’ve delivered? Or the interviews you’ve done? When the year is hurtling toward a close, it’s easy to lose track of everything you’ve accomplished already. All you can see in front of you is a to-do list that absolutely must get done before you can relax and enjoy the holiday cookie spread. But that’s precisely why taking a look back is key. This month, we’re examining how we can take better care of ourselves as small business owners. We’re putting aside cliche self-care tips and digging into how entrepreneurs actually engineer their routines, procedures, and operations to care for themselves. This week, my guest is Elsie Escobar. Elsie is the co-host of LibSyn’s podcast The Feed as well as their community manager. She’s also the co-host of She Podcasts, a podcast and community of over 14,000 women podcasters. Her mission is to help more people use their voice and make an impact through the craft of podcasting. With everything she has going on, it would be easy for Elsie to forget what she’s accomplished in a year. It would be easy to dismiss the small wins and important insights she’s experienced. That’s why Elsie has developed a personal process of looking back, assessing her opportunities, setting intentions for the new year. Elsie and I talk about the energy of the end of the year—and how it can contribute to feeling like we need to catch up no matter how much we’ve achieved. We also talk about the experience that catalyzed her will to look back and set intentions, as well as how she’s trained herself to recognize her true capacity. Now, let’s find out what works for Elsie Escobar! What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. Visit mightynetworks.com to see more examples of brands bringing people together and taking their businesses to the next level. ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * Why Toi Smith made the shift from virtual assistant to online business manager to growth & impact strategist* How she reassessed the true value behind what she was offering her clients so she could rework her business model* What eliminating exploitative business practices from her own model has taught her about creating value* How her rates, working hours, and client load is different now that she’s built a business that helps her take care of herself Business is an experiment. You try something, you get a result, you learn. Then you try something else. Little by little, the learning adds up to a business that works. But often, our learning leads us down a path that earns some money and keeps us busy but doesn’t really let us thrive. Discovering “what works” can feel like a dead end. In other words… …success can make you feel stuck. You’re your own boss. You’ve got good clients. You have plenty of work to do. By many accounts, you’re successful. So it can be really tempting to just make do with what you’ve got—even if it is slowly and relentlessly grinding you down. So what happens when “what works” is actually grinding you down and making it hard to take care of yourself? That’s the question we’re exploring today. It’s a question I’ve asked myself several times during the course of my own business. There have been plenty of times when what’s working in some ways just wasn’t working for me as a human being. There have been times when what works has turned into what worked—and I needed to rethink my business in a way that would contribute more to my own well-being. Today’s guest is Toi Smith—a growth & impact strategist who has wrestled with this same question. Toi and I talk about how her identity and business model has shifted from virtual assistant to online business manager to strategist and why each pivot was necessary. We also talk about the ups and downs of making these changes and the impact each shift has had on her rates, working hours, and client load. Pay close attention to how Toi talks about her mindset shift away from thinking of her work as labor and into thinking of it as thought partnership and leadership. She’s had to dismantle and reassemble the way she thinks about how she and her business creates value in order to realize the full potential of her own entrepreneurship. Now, let’s find out What Works for Toi Smith! What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. Visit mightynetworks.com to see more examples of brands bringing people together and taking their businesses to the next level. ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How The Joy Of Missing Out author Tonya Dalton discovered the stories and self-talk that were keeping her from really enjoying life and celebrating her success* Why identifying the litmus tests she put herself through helped her determine what she really wanted out of life and business* How she reflects on the good, the bad, and the ugly to keep her stories and self-talk in check* How Tonya rewrites her stories so her self-talk supports her and the life she wants to lead Let’s talk about self-talk. Self-talk is that voice inside your head that narrates everything happening around you. Sometimes self-talk pumps you up—like after you nail a meeting with a new client and you remind yourself what a boss you are. Sometimes self-talk cuts you down—like when you realize you’ve made a mistake and you tell yourself you’re such a screw-up. I think we’re all pretty familiar with how our inner critics or inner cheerleaders can impact the way we feel or act at this point. What you might not be so familiar with is how your self-talk can reinforce stories about how the world works… stories that just don’t hold up to scrutiny. This month on What Works, we’re examining taking care of ourselves with our businesses. That doesn’t just mean taking time for a Hawaiian vacation with all those sweet airline miles you’ve earned on your business credit card. Nor does it mean treating yourself to a massage, a meal delivery, or a first class upgrade because you “deserve it.” Taking care of yourself with your business means examining how you work—and how the business works for you—from the ground up. Today, we’re going to look closely at a key component of how you make decisions for your business—your self-talk—and how your self-talk contributes to the 21st century phenomenal of FOMO. Specifically, we’re going to look at the stories we tell ourselves and how they convince us to do more, push harder, and never rest for fear of missing out. Next week, we’ll examine how your business model and identity as a service provider impacts how you run your business with growth strategist Toi Smith. You’ll also hear from podcaster Elsie Escobar about how she audits her growth and accomplishments over the course of the year and sets intentions for the year to come. Then, you’ll hear from Hailey Thomas about how a sudden loss led her to rethinking the way her business operates and how it impacts her life. Alright, back to self-talk and the fear of missing out. A bunch of the stories we tell ourselves revolve around what it takes to be a good business owner. And these stories make it really difficult to take good care of ourselves. Your story might be that a good business owners is always available for their clients—so the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night is check your email. Or, you might tell yourself that a good business owner always completes their to-do list—and you beat yourself up when you don’t. Or, you might tell yourself that a good business owner is on all the social media platforms—so you work your tail off to be o... ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * Why SmartStart founder Linda Lopeke has every potential client complete a rigorous application* How she sets expectations clearly from the get-go so that every client has the best chance of getting results* What inspired her approach to business systems and client experience* How she makes brand-new clients feel at ease, step-by-step Starting my working life as a retail worker, I always associated “customer service” with what you do when there’s a problem. A customer needs to make a return. They have a question about this week’s sale. They need to report a problem with the bathroom. Despite years and years of training on customer service, no one ever said to me: customer service starts before the customer even walks in the door. Customer service is having the right product on display. It’s having the carpet freshly vacuumed. It’s having the music at the right level, playing the right songs. Do customer service right, right from the beginning, and you dramatically reduce the number of problems you encounter during the day. I didn’t learn that lesson until I started my own business—and really many years after. For our final episode on our series on designing exceptional customer experiences, I spoke with Linda Lopeke, the founder of SmartStart. Linda knows that customer service starts long before the first purchase is ever made. She’s designed her entire client on-boarding system to set clear expectations, ensure fit, and make new clients feel at ease. Instead of crossing her fingers and hoping she doesn’t run into customer service problems, Linda has crafted a process elevates her client experience. I talked with Linda about the lengthy application process she uses, why she interviews every prospect before they can work with her, and how she brings on a new client step-by-step. Play close attention to all the opportunities Linda has to set expectations throughout the process and reduce the friction of doing the work. Now, let’s find out what works for Linda Lopeke! What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. Visit mightynetworks.com to see more examples of brands bringing people together and taking their businesses to the next level. ★ Support this podcast ★