Short Story Collection Vol. 045 by Various: Recent Episodes

View Details

Find out the exciting update on the Podcast here. Make sure to sign up and take the FREE Authority Brand Style Quiz: www.heartbehindhustle.com/quiz

View Details

You might mistake my guest today for Superwoman and if you do, you won't be alone. But Alissa believes YOU have Superpowers too! Alissa Daire Nelson is regularly featured on television news segments, inside major blogs and publications, and on podcasts from all over the globe. She's an accomplished Success Coach, Speaker, host of the Maximize Your Strengths podcast, as well as published Author of the hot new book; From Frustrated to Frickin' Awesome: 4 Steps to Achieve the Success You're Wired For. But more than anything else she's an exceedingly proud wife and mother of two, who loves helping others discover how to make their businesses and relationships thrive in harmony.   1:43 Strength Finder Alissa explains what Strength Finder is; that it’s essentially a psycho metric tool. It’s scientifically based and comprised of studies that span over 40 years which measures your aptitude for how you might go about doing things. It highlights how you can make your aptitude most enjoyable and play to your strengths. The magic and transformation of the strength finder profile is in the application and learning how to actually apply it to your day to day life. 3:45 Why Alissa started Strength Finder She was in a networking organization called BNI – a place for business owners to get together and share their business. Apart of their training was Strength Finder. Handing her a book, Alissa took the test and was impressed by the accurate profiling of her strengths. Thinking that these things were negative about her, the test actually depicted that these were Alissa’s strengths. That’s when the shift happened for Alissa where she stopped focusing on her weaknesses. Taking a 30 week long certification course, she begun to understand the ins and out and the application of Strength Finder. Kamila shared her experience with taking the test about how her perceptions of the findings were changed when Alissa explained what they meant. 6:47 Applying your Aptitude and Strengths Look at your strength themes: Eliminate any pre disposed connotations to the findings is the first thing you have to do so you can understand that each of these strength themes have needs. When we do not meet the needs of our strength themes, they start to come out sideways and start to look ugly. Removing the connotations or beliefs around these strengths is what will aid it to be successful. Find the Contributions of these themes: The strengths naturally bring something to the table – for example, a competitive strength brings influence which can inspire people. When it serves you and your goals as well as other people, that’s when these aptitudes become strengths. 10:25 Evolution of Strength Themes You always have access to your strengths, however in different stages in your life, you may turn to use one more than the other. Typically, we don’t see strength themes shift out of the 15 of the 34 themes. Alissa then talks about her “consistency” was ranked 34 on her list. She explains how she can use her top five strengths as a vehicle to achieve consistency. 16:22 Setting Yourself Apart How do you set yourself apart when there are lots of people with their own strengths and skill sets? You look directly at your contributions of your strength themes and use it to bring value to someone else. These are relators which is a vehicle to connect with your audience and prospective clients.   19:37 Strength Finder Link www.daire2succeed.com/profile 20:10 Alissa Daire Nel’s new book: From Frustrated to Freakin Awesome A book about self awareness and being completely comfortable and ok in your strengths and in turn accepting and identifying the strengths in others. Rather than being frustrated or envious of not having certain traits of strengths, you’re appreciate these contributions in others and seek a way to collaborate.   Tweetables: “It’s ok to do your business the way you’re wired.” “Imagine just how much brighter our world would be, if we all let our candles burn.”

View Details

Holly Diederich is a Business Success Stylist and Sparklepreneur™ who helps women build 6 figure online businesses that they are obsessed with that allow them to leave their trail of glitter all over the world. She built her six-figure coaching business from the ground up in less than a year without a website, without a big email list, no “real” sales funnel, no big team and without huge business expenses. She loves to work with online CEO's who are ready for 5 figure months and help them do the same in a fun and authentic way.   1:35 Holly Diederich’s Story Holly’s background is truly unique in that she has been able to create huge success without having gone down the path that entrepreneurs usually do. With a background in business, she thought the secret sauce to life was to make six figures in the corporate world. She was in charge of Human Resources and Recruitment at a large corporate company and felt that making six figures before the age of 30 was the life. However, once Holly started to have children, her priorities changed and she craved more from life. She started an online boutique store, researched, shipped, ordered – literally did everything for this business with no help or support. Finding herself up until 4am in the morning even though she was doing very well in a short amount of time wasn’t what she wanted. She created a facebook group as a plea for help in 2015 and people, primarily mothers began to engage with her and over time, she naturally became the leader of that group and subsequently played a business mentor to this community. Teaching visibility and DIY Public Relations, her business took off very quickly and whilst that was happening; selling over $200k in coaching services this year alone – all without a website or sales funnels. Now, Holly works 3-4 days a week from 11-2:30pm which she balances with being a mother.   6:41 Omitting Traditional Methods for a Coaching Service Business As an entrepreneur and business owner, Holly alone shatters a lot of myths about what it takes to be successful – she did this all without a website while fostering and nurturing the relationships she had. She put her head down and focused on money making activities only through staying off Facebook unless it was to support her clients or connect with her friends. She came up with the name “Sparkleprenuer” because as a kid, she remembered loving sparkles. The first step she did when she began her business was that she created an opt in and got an email list. She became confident on how she showed up and told her story which lead her to grow her Facebook and email list. She also only emails when she is inspired to do so. Her tip is to put her blinders on, don’t pay attention to anyone else and how they did things and just do what you need to do to focus on the money making activities.   10:26 Time Wasting Eliminators Holly has noticed that a lot of people feel they need certain things before they start the actual work. She is so the opposite. She believes that it’s whatever marketing tool your using that you’re going to send people to is what you need to create – and this doesn’t necessarily have to be a website.  People get caught up on having to do sales pages and this in turn becomes the excuse created in order to stop from actually doing. She is a big advocate for doing.     12:21 How to connect with your community without a Sales Page Holly’s first tip is to look at your community and asses the kind of community you have. How can they pay you without a sales page? Those are the people you need to talk to and give them a payment link whether it be through a post or email with a payment link. It’s only if you make it hard is that it becomes hard. Sometimes sales pages work if you believe you want them too, however Holly has sold thousands of programs without one. If you’re really inspired to do something, your momentum comes to a halt when you think about sales pages and having to invest the time and resources into creating something.   15:37 Favourite Platform To Use to Grow The Business In terms of picking a platform for growth, Holly explains that this depends on the mood she is in. She’s work through Facebook, Instagram to her email list. When she goes to post, she will start it on her Facebook group, then recycle everywhere. She’s learnt to be in her business on an inspire basis. If she’s not feeling it for two weeks, she won’t show up and post anything which has proved that this forced feeling, or forcing yourself to do something or be somewhere is so counterproductive. She learnt to trust herself and knew it was just going to work out.     17:37 Tips for Hiring and Knowing When To Hire As a former HR specialist and now entrepreneur, one of the most solid tips Holly gives in terms of hiring people is that you make a list of things you don’t like to do and to pick the things that you aren’t excited about and outsource them first.  It’s just whatever you’re really feeling. If you need to hire somebody before you start your business – do it. The first person she hired was after she booked her first client when she was able to get support. Her first VA only did 3 or 4 hours a month. It wasn’t a huge thing then. She started where she needed to and made it work.    19::57 Vision for Business Expansion Holly’s hard goal is to be a millionaire by 35. In her business, she has courses, one on one programs and she is now moving towards a business model that takes less one on one clients to being able to help and serve more people through courses and programs.     22:15 Connect with Holly: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sparklepreneurtribe/     Tweetables: “People need to hear that there’s no right way to do something. The moment you get that out of your head, the moment you try to stop being somebody else.” “Do things how you want to do them.”

View Details

Shanda Sumpter is the founder and Queen Visionary of HeartCore Business. If you have ever dreamed of having a life of no worries—being able to pay your bills, buying a nice home, sending your kids to college, taking a great vacation, or having the freedom and money to make a difference for others . . . Shanda Sumpter is the business coach to show you how to make those dreams come true (and how it may be less complicated than you think).   1:42 Shanda Sumpter’s Story Growing up, there was this always an inherent feeling within Shanda that there was more that she could give to the world to be of service. Originally, she had thought this to mean that she would need to make a lot of money. Shanda goes into her background and her childhood where she was raised for the first part of her life by her mother who worked from 9am to 9pm. On the nights her mother went out with her friends to play pool, one of her mother’s boyfriends would wake Shanda up and beat her. This part of the story was included not to elicit pity or by any means as a way of being ok with that behavior, but it was an example of where Shanda first started to develop her sense of drive. When she moved in with her father and stepmother, Shanda experienced a totally different life. From living in a tiny apartment with her mother, she learned what it was like to have cooks, drivers and a staff of people. A vivid memory she recalled was waking up to many presents at Christmas where her stepmother – whom Shanda considers to be her mother, has remembered things Shanda had liked at shops and had wrapped these up for her. She was deeply touched by this gesture and cried at the thought that somebody cared enough about her to make such a thoughtful effort. From that moment, Shanda associated money with freedom and love which inspired her drive to go to university as “smart girls do.” She started failing out of university and landed in a school in America, believing it to be the land of the free. Quickly learning that if you work hard in Corporate America, you can make a lot of money, Shanda made over 170 million dollars in real estate over a year, even though she felt she had no idea what she was doing. 6:05 Giving Up and Stopping After making 170 million dollars in real estate, Shanda passes on some advice about people who have ideas, execute and give up because it fails or doesn’t work. This creates a pattern of a series of stopping. For Shanda, she firmly believes that there will be never anything in her life that she will leave uncompleted. This inspired her to leave real estate and start her current company HeartCore Business. The reason she wanted to work in real estate was to use it as an avenue to help people be financially sound – this was something she realized a lot later with new found wisdom. HeartCore Business has the same intention of helping people.   8:04 Manage Your Mind Shanda describes how she has witness people who push back on things they set out to complete, instead of seeing it through. In order to be a leader in service, you have to be able to lead the masses by example – through completing what you said you would. There’s nothing wrong with quitting, however you must be congruent in integrity. We quit a lot of things a lot of the time – whether it be friendships, relationships or courses and then we try to logically come up with an excuse as to why.   11:30 It’s Important In Today’s Economy To Build Your Influence You have got to become a massive influencer – and not necessarily on social media. You have to be able to lead people who pay you, long term to work through their challenges because you work through yours. Otherwise you don’t have a business. It is predicted that 30-45% of the American population will be unemployed due to the middle class being wiped out. It’s important to follow and be connected to a network of people who are really rocking it. When Shanda was a successful 30 year old and making lots of money, her attitude lead her to having seven years of bad credit when the market crashed. Even though she was able to recover with her new business, it was a huge lesson she learnt about leveraging opportunities and relationships. Predicting a market crash, Shanda explains how people are being replaced by technology which will be the catalyst.   15:30 Tips for staying successful Have a strong network of people who are successful Befriend those who are wiser than you and can bring business value and advice Position yourself so you can higher people Pay attention and listen   17:10 HeartCore Business: Creating Audiences If you want to stay relevant, you’ve always got to be changing. If you stay on the cutting edge of what your clients want, they will stay with you because you serve them best. Shanda advises business to build their audience first before asking them what product they want. You have to build a community that trusts you. 21:52 Audience Building To get her clients out of the way, Shanda gave her clients 90 days to compete for her Porsche. Streaming this live on HeartCore’s facebook business page was a way that Shanda demonstrates that documenting is the new way of selling. Actually taking parts of your day and using the platforms to distribute it. Think of it like being in a documentary all the time, similar to a reality show. This can create Lead Generations. She goes through the journey mindset and the challenges she has faced personally in her own business and with her clients.   33:28 Learn More about Shanda Visit Shanda’s social media: Instagram: @shandasumpter Facebook: www.facebook.com/heartcorebusiness     Tweetables Every hardship in our lives gives us a stepping stone into our next stage or development. There’s a series of stopping that prevents us from getting the things we want in life. If you are the smartest person in your business, you are not going to scale fast.

View Details

When it comes to getting things done, what fuels you? What is the driver for you to get in the flow and support you in making it happen? It’s important to find what helps you personally in getting more accomplished in less time. Feeling uninspired is only an excuse because you can create inspiration if you create the right environment for yourself.   Once you determine ways to stay productive, you can get in the zone and stay there for whatever it is that you need to do. Through procrastination, I realized that I needed to start creating deadlines and accountability for myself. The beauty that we have in entrepreneurship is that we can be flexible. If you’re able to recognize what you need to have in place to be self-motivated, you’re going to have an easier time crushing your goals and responsibilities.     Tweetables:   “I create artificial pressure for myself so that I can finish stuff in a faster way and I like to just knock out content.”   “Feeling uninspired is bullshit by the way - you can create inspiration.”   “It’s about getting in the flow, and if you're really clear about what fuels you, you can just stay there for the assignment or thing that you need to do.”   “The beauty that we have of entrepreneurship is that we can be flexible, but be able to recognize what you need to have in place so that you can be self-motivated.”   “Reward yourself, treat yourself; you deserve it - just get stuff done.”

View Details

Sarah Grear has personally written copy for over 200 businesses from start-ups to earning 7 figures in a single launch. As a copy conversion expert, speaker and published author her focus is on helping entrepreneurs turn online browsers into buyers with persuasive writing.    Along the way Sarah has been a speaker at Social Media Week Los Angeles and featured as one of "50 Must-Follow Women Entrepreneurs in 2017" by the Huffington Post.    When she’s not writing copy, Sarah is teaching entrepreneurs with her DIY online writing classes that have been taken by over 1,000 people in more than 30 countries. She supports entrepreneurs who want to amplify their voice and their sales.     0:00 Sarah Grear Introduction In an episode all about copy, copy conversation and figuring out exactly what kind of people to hire in what kind of role, Kamila had a really enjoyable and valuable chat with Sarah Grear. Sarah has personally written for over 200 business’ from start up’s to to seven figures in a single launch. As a copy conversion expert, speaker and published author, her focus is on helping entrepreneurs turning online browsers into buyers with persuasive writing. She’s been named one of the 15 must follow women entrepreneurs in 2015 by Huffington Post.   1:50 Sarah Grear’s Story Started travel blogging as her first experience of writing online and fell in love with telling stories and engaging with people.  She believes at on some level, we are copywriters at some point. In her 20’s where she went all over the world to Thailand, Mexico and Europe, she was telling engaging stories about her experiences. Working in the Art World, by day she was installing Art for difference Museums, she was on leave at the time from the California Science Centre during a really iconic moment in  Los Angeles’ history where the Endeavour Shuttle did three loops over the city. After reading “The Well Fed Writer” by Peter Bowman – on online writing and marketing which become her intro to writing. This was her gateway book. She started out doing this for local business owners whilst going to networking events trying out being a copywriter.     4:47 Being an Entrepreneur and a Business Owner Sarah explains that after she quit the Museum Industry and dove in head first to be a entrepreneur thinking it would be easy, as she was so in love with the creative aspect of it and the people that she was meeting. What she didn’t grasp was being a business owner on top of an entrepreneur. In hindsight, going into an entrepreneurial endeavour blindly, however she had no other option than to make it work. Over time, when reality kicked in that indicated she had to do other things to continue to grow the business.  It’s easy to be an entrepreneur as you have an idea, a vision and you put it out there. it’s a whole different thing to be a business owner – it’s the no so pretty part. A business owner sits down and looks at their PNL, invoices their clients and following up on their leads. Sarah shared that she had to fall in love with that part as much as she loved sharing stories. Kamila shares a story about a dating experience she had where she found out that there’s a difference between entrepreneur and business owner. When Kamila started online dating, she put in her bio that she was an entrepreneur as it’s a big part of her life. All these people would talk to her and ask her what business she would want to start, and she realised she had to tell them that she had a business already. She also shared some advice on using copy correctly to market the right audience – for example, if you want to attract six figures plus, you have to market to a business owner.     10:35 How much should you outsource when it comes to copy? Sarah believes in the crash and burn test when it comes to copy – she believes the best way to decide is while you’re still starting your business to try it and see if the market responds and your copy is working for you, keep writing. If your copy crash and burns and there are no sales, hire a copywriter. The business’ she’s seen grow the fastest have teams that are aware of what they are skilled at and what they are not.   12:40 Elements That Should Be Outsourced Faster versus others When you map out a launch and you’re looking at all the different pieces that have to happen for this launch, start with the sales page if you’re going to outsource copy. A lot of the language that you establish in the sales page and the clarity of your offer, that’s what people are going to buy as that’s where the yes or the no happens. You can take a lot of that language and put it into the promotional emails and training pages. A copywriter’s job is take the ideas that you have and make them better and make them appealing and attractive to the consumer. When you go to hire a copywriter, there’s a wide spectrum of clients. You want to find a copywriter who definitely has an intake process that will save you time when you meet. Once you have gone through that intake part with them, find out what their process is. The other place that is really important to hire a copywriter is the opt in page to your free training – if you’re doing a challenge or summit. These two examples maximise opportunity for leads and sales.   16:05 Biggest Things You Have Learned Around Copywriting for Coaches, Consultants and Leaders Often people don’t give enough time to copy due to time constraints and deadlines and other activities taking precedence. All the sections that are there in copy need to serve a purpose and really create opportunity for conversions. Conversion Hack #1: Anytime that you have a photo next to a button, it converts better. For example, if you have a section of your sales page where it’s a call to action and you want people to buy what you’re selling, have a picture above or below it and it helps with conversations. It creates a level of trust with people who land on your sales page.   If you’re looking at a launch, give yourself 6 weeks to get your copy together. The first thing you look at sales copy because that’s the groundwork, then opt in, then the email blast.   Conversion Hack #2: In terms of the page itself, one thing to keep in mind is the pyshcology of people who land on your page. People who look at an online page are grouped into Four Different Colours: Reds: Very much about take action and will not read your sales page. They have already made their decision and will likely look for your buy button. For them, put in an anchor link at the top of your page so they can directly click through to the buy. Blues: More of the huggy, feely and visual times of people. They will be drawn in by your photos and your bright colours which will excite them to look through your sales page. For them, have really strong photos. Yellows: These are the fun, party people. They like humour in your copy. Use plenty of wit. Greens: These are the people who you are writing an entire sales pitch for – they will read the sales pitch from top to bottom. They are very detailed oriented people. These are important groups to consider for your type of audience. Once you know the colour code, you can use this for team building. For examples – Reds and Greens really work together. Yellows are great at socialising so they would be great at customer service. The Blues are great because they are great at project managing and ensuring that people are taken care of. The best way to figure this out is to do a survey of some type with your team so you can give examples in context to your business. You will be able to decipher what colour they are.   25:20 Advice to get better at Copywriting to create sales Coach yourself through books when getting started or finding a course with somebody who teaches copy than you know what kind of person you are hiring. Getting training for yourself is important otherwise you are doing your business a disservice.   26:20 Connect with Sarah Grear Sarah has a free brand copy guide for The Kamila Gornia Show Podcast listeners. Visit - www.sarahgrear.com/kamila for free guide to start telling your brand story.

View Details

It’s about time we bust the passive income myths. A lot of people think that passive income is easy because that’s how everyone online makes it seem. We’ve all heard the success stories where someone sets up a sales funnel once and then sits back as the money just flows in. The problem is, it doesn’t really work like that. When it comes to passive income, most people think that it’s the end all be all, but there’s a lot more that goes into it.   A lot of online entrepreneurs set out to start businesses by focusing on passive income versus creating more projected income that they have more control over. Even for the very lucky people, results won’t always be consistent, and there is plenty of tweaking, testing, and changing going on behind the scenes. Be realistic about the idea of making money without lifting a finger; the money may be “easier” in a sense, but it still requires work.     Tweetables:   “What people say to you online in terms of passive income isn't 100% how it really works.”   “When it comes to passive income most people think it’s the end all be all and set out to start their businesses by focusing on passive income versus creating more projected income.”   “A lot of people think that passive income is easy because it’s what everybody online makes it seem to be.”   “While the money is coming you don't have to actively deliver the content that they're buying, but is it really passive for you to keep tweaking and testing?”   “Be really cautious whenever you hear someone giving you huge claims about easy money, fast money, or passive income.”   “When it comes to passive income it really means easier money, something that you don't have to deliver yourself.”

View Details

Today’s episode is AMAZING, I am getting actual coaching around a failed launch that happened earlier this year and what came up for me and why it ended up the way it did - I’m getting super real and personal here, so I know you’re gonna love it. The coaching was done by a total rockstar.   Rachel Luna is a best selling author, international speaker and Sales Confidence Strategist. A former US Marine, this 4 foot 11 inch firecracker has a reputation for inspiring confident action and helping her clients double, triple and quadruple their income.    She's the host of the podcast, Real Talk with Rachel Luna where she dishes on how to gain more clarity and confidence in life and business.   Rachel has created numerous courses, The Feel Good Sales Society, Profit without Products, and the Confident Entrepreneur Academy to name a few. She hosts live events throughout the year and is working on her upcoming book, Girl, Confident, launching this fall.   An international speaker, Rachel has been invited to share her powerful talks all across the globe from the US to Europe to Japan and has been featured in The Huffington Post, Success Magazine and Latina Magazine among many others.   If you're looking for sales confidence, mindset mastery and marketing strategies that will boost your revenue while building your legacy, Rachel Luna is the girl you call.   1:30 Rachel Luna’s Story Rachel grew up with not much confidence with what she called “false confidence” and lived in that cycle. She looked the part but deep down she was struggling with alcoholism and two eating disorders. She remembers being the shortest in her class and having to always really yell to be seen and be heard. Her insecurities took her down a path that was just no meant for her. After lots of meaningless sex with the same people which was caused from a where she didn’t value herself, she experienced low Self Esteem, struggled with anxiety and severe depression. She woke up one day and realised that this was not the kind of woman she wanted to nor was raised to be and something had to change. In an attempt to try and figure out the patterns of her destructive behaviour, she hired a life coach. At this time she was in a lot of debt, at her highest possible weight. One thing that is very important to Rachel is integrity –she wanted to be a woman of her word even though she didn’t always necessarily live up to that. Her Life Coach during her sessions told Rachel that she would make a great life coach.It made sense as in the fourth and fifth grade, some of her classmates referred to her as “Oprah,” for the way she gave advice. It was that life coach that planted the seed that maybe this life was a possibility for her. She lost the weight from changing her mindset, self worth and value perspective. She became a certified Life Coach at a time where people were not even talking about Life Coaching. Even though people thought she was crazy, she just knew she had to help people. Rachel found that she liked Life Coaching for Entrepreneurs in particular as they were driven more than the average individual. A lot of the feedback from her clients was that the result they received from her was confidence. She worked on her own confidence and mindset. One thing that’s common amongst entrepreneurs is what she calls a “Paralysis moment,” And the first thing to do is to recognize that you’re in paralysis   11:49 Working through your Paralysis moment To take you through the steps of working through a paralysis, Rachel uses Kamila’s recent launch experience where things didn’t go as planned.   Feeling Like A Fraud. Whether we are Oprah or Tony Robbins, it is natural human instinct to feel like a fraud when results don’t happen the way that we expected them to. Everyone struggles with that no matter what level they are at – even at the mastery level. We exercise this behaviour because we want people to know that we are the expert and to not lose faith in us. Dispel the myth, It will attack us at some point or another no matter what we have accomplished.   14:10 Before The Paralysis Kamila tried to analyse what happened – and why things didn’t go the way she planned. Analysing helps to identify patterns of what worked and what didn’t to ensure for the next time, these can be improved upon or avoided. What happens from here is, because Kamila is a strategist, her mind clicks over to the, “how can I make the money that I thought I could,” and her mind occupies with a thousand ideas and how to execute them. Rather than going out an executing them, she falls into a paralysis.   Rachel explains that this happened because Kamila didn’t go back to examine the facts around the deep rooted thought and fear that she had was “I’m a fraud, I’m not good enough.:   I am not good enough is the number one limiting belief that every single human being has on the planet. It manifests in it’s different ways. You can call it whatever you want but at the core, the belief is, I am not good enough.   16:43 Facts Around The Launch The Fact Is she had over 1,000 people sign up for the launch. The Fact is she had over 300 people live per day.   17:40 Meaning & Story Rachel asks Kamila what story and meaning she gave to the facts. “I didn’t hit my goal,” was the thought and the story. The feelings and emotions that came up with that were disappointment and anxiety driven hopefulness. Because she didn’t reach her goal, even though 1,000 people signed up, she told herself that “There’s not enough.” This attaches the energy of lack of abundance into the entire launch sequence. So everything she was going to do going forward, there would be this underlying lack that it wasn’t enough. The next fact “300 People Showed Up Live,” Kamila told herself the story More subconscious stories deployed from “I thought it wasn’t going to be terrible,” The story she told herself was that “I know based on the numbers, we’re not going to make it.”   21:16 A fact during Kamila’s paralysis that she missed “We changed the time. My audience is an evening attendance type person.” “When I do what I want, when I do what’s best for me – people don’t show up.” “I have to change what I want to do to accommodate other people.” To break apart these stories - The facts actually were: Kamila had things to do so she could only do it at that time She only wanted to do it at that time She wanted to build a business the way she wanted it to be and the fact is, they just didn’t show up.   All brand new facts where you can tell brand new stories.   When you have this recognition in the paralysis cycle, the fact is: I am worthy I have launched many times Attendance was low because I changed the time   It’s not a reflection of my worth It’s not a refleiciton of my contribution, service or program.   The only thing this mean, based on the facts, people couldn’t show up at that time.   24:36 Belief in Entrepreneurs   Humans don’t believe people enough. And we also don’t believe ourselves at all. This is why consistency is such a big problem for entrepreneurs as this lack of belief is letting you down. Deep down, if we can’t trust ourselves, we can’t trust other people. Take what people say to you at face value. At Truth. If you start to operate in your truth, then you’ll start to see and attract more truthful people that you can count on.   25:58 Rachel Luna’s Book A book that challenges to make massive shifts in your self awareness, perspectives, relationships, in your business and the way you communicate with yourself and other people.   26:05 The Cycle of False Confidence The premise is that most of us have lived our lives operating from the cycle of false confidence which says we take courageous action not confident action. We are expecting a result, positive or negative and no matter what that result is, we find yourself in a state of paralysis because we are seeking joy as a result of the result. When we take action and a result happens, we expect joy and fulfilment are waiting for us there.   28:55 The Cycle Of True Confidence You take courageous action with a confident mindset and that confident mindset is assuring you that no matter what happens, it is safe for me to operate from a place of joy and fulfilment right here and right now. And when I get there, which becomes here, no matter the result, I’m not going to die and it’s safe for me to keep going. You’re able to look at the entire journey of getting you from here to there and recognize that you have been in a state of joy and fulfilment along the way, so you didn’t really lose anything. In fact, what you’ve done is gained wisdom, lessons, power and strength so that you can continue. Our brain is programed to keep us alive. We think that everything we do can potentially kill us. When you have the confident mindset you know that the chances of you launching or partaking in any business activity and dying are super super slim. People think that enjoying fear means that you can’t feel the emotions that are associated with fear. Get aware. Get Present. Separate the fact from the story When we are scared or experiencing fear, we add certain elements that eventually paralyse us.   39:02 Keep Up To Date with Rachel Visit www.racheluna.biz/profitable Get your free 20 page guide of a profitable To Do List. It comes with an audio that walks you through basically how to set your days up so that you are taking inspired, confident action to make more money. Stay tuned for the release of her new book Girl, Confident.   Tweetables: “There is here.” “My happiness, joy and fulfilment are not dependent on the result of my action. My happiness, joy and fulfilment come from taking the action.” “Enjoy every step of the Journey” “If I try to save someone while I’m drowning, I’m going to drown.” “Admitting that you’re scared actually brings you so much peace.” “I am not good enough is the number one limiting belief that every single human being has on the planet. It manifests in it’s different ways. You can call it whatever you want but at the core, the belief is, I am not good enough.”

View Details

It’s extremely important to set boundaries in your business and create time for what matters to you. So many entrepreneurs are drowning in their endless tasks and to-do lists. Instead of feeling energetic and accomplished, they’re left feeling overwhelmed and obligated to do things that they have no interest in. They’re committing to things that aren’t serving them because they don’t want to miss out on opportunities. The word “no" needs to be in your vocabulary, and saying it should never leave you feeling guilty. It’s less important to show up everywhere and more important to guard your time wisely. Do you really have the time to keep saying yes to all of these things that are draining you? If it’s draining you and you’re dreading it, set boundaries or don’t do it. Your time and energy are priceless - make room on your plate for the things that matter and clear away the rest.   Tweetables:   “Setting really clear boundaries and what you have time for is important because you want to have a social life and time for yourself.”   “You need to care about yourself and put yourself first for a change - that’s so important.”   “Do you really have the time to keep saying yes to all of these things that are draining you?”   “Why are you not setting boundaries and why do you feel like you can’t let go of things?”   “If it’s draining you and you're dreading it, set boundaries or don’t do it.”   “Claim your brilliance and the fact that you are worthy of saying no and having time for yourself.”

View Details

Dr. Lindsay Padilla is a teaching + learning consultant for trailblazing entrepreneurs who want to create value-packed, student-centered digital content that get their clients (students) A+ results, while making a lasting impact on the world! Using her years of teaching adults online at a community college and the ridiculous amount of learning she has done in all things education, she specializes in translating 1:1 client work experiences into signature courses, group programs + membership sites, as well as mapping out instructional content into a conversion machine that she lovingly calls the "Teach First Funnel." 2:20 The journey for Lindsay so far Lindsay shares her story as to how the path to teaching started. She knew intrinsically that she also wanted to be a teacher and so began to take actions towards that with little pivots along the way. She enjoyed high school and wanted to teach high school.  When she began teaching, she didn’t like the subject that was in her curriculum being history however what she was quick to discover was that she enjoyed the essence of the subject which was learning about people and the past. Growing up in suburbia, once she finished her first degree, she moved in with a friend from college and her in in Huntington Beach to pursuit her master in sociology. This is where she fell in love with the subject and wanted to teach it all day every day or to anyone who wanted to listen.  It was clear that teaching was not only her gift, but her passion also. After her masters, Lindsay pursued her doctorate at the University Of San Francisco. 7:35 How Fitness ignited the Coaching path Having such a long academic spurt meant that when she had received her doctorate, Lindsay was out of the continuous writing routine that academia demanded of her. She filled the gaping hole of time with nothing other than working out. Committing to a workout routine for over a year, she then began coaching in areas of health. Being inspired by Amy Porterfield and other entrepreneurs who continuously talked about business’ and the lives they were creating around health, Lindsay bought 90 day year –and began to dissect exactly why she was on the path she was on. One day she found herself sitting with coach Melissa Griffin at lunch whom she helped her think through some things for her course. Lindsay explained things to her in a way that aligned exactly where Melissa wanted to take her course in the value that it provided her students. This was when she turned to Lindsay and said, “Why aren’t you teaching this?” That was just the  “aha” moment Lindsay  needed and everything else was lining up. She was inspired, ran home and she knew that her business would involve helping others to create courses. 11:56 How Her Business Looks Like Now When Lindsay started her business, she was on lots of calls and began co creating courses with her clients. During this time, she went back to teaching that August which effectively meant she was running a business full time and classes full time. She eventually left in the middle of the school year, even though financially, that decision didn’t make sense, she knew that the money would find her after she made this choice. Diving into her business, she had five clients that hired her that she serviced which eventuated in her running an “MBA,” course which was “Misfit Business Academy,” as a contest on Facebook.   From there, Lindsay went into high level course co creation whilst working with established people in the industry and was working to make sure that her client’s courses would sell to expectations. At the same time, she began talking to Emily Hersh who’s business seemed to have services that would complement Lindsay’s. It made sense for the two to form a partnership. A year later, as Lindsay intuitively felt all along, some money came through! She received this from her house and used this to invest in things like team building and hiring people full time. The scaling allowed her to move away from the VIP course style creation and focus on smaller business’. She wanted to serve that population and by putting a team under allowed her to manage and grow her services. She was able to be more productive and less overwhelmed.   17:05 Biggest struggles when it comes to creating Courses Being an industry leader in course writing and course creation, Lindsay explains the top three struggles she hears from clients when it comes to creating courses: 1. How do I make sure it’s good and that the students are learning? 2. How long should lessons be? What kind of content? What’s the best LMS? 3.  How do I motivate and encourage my students Lindsay found that people seek validation from someone who has designed courses before, especially given how she had positioned herself in the market. When it comes to teaching, she dives into the deeper stuff with her clients and tries to understand the thought processes going on inside their minds. 19:50 How to Start a Course Sharing some tips on the best way to actually get started to writing a course, Lindsay recommends: Market Research – Know your market and assess any problems or gaps in that market. Make sure you find a problem and that you are actually solving that problem. Avoid the burning desire to have it sold instantly; You can’t start with what you want to teach or what you think what your following needs. Make time to Brain Dump. Whatever thoughts you have in your head, make time to actually dump those thoughts onto a page. The course may not be perfect however the brain dump process can be developed over time.  24:01 Mindset & Courses There are common feelings that teachers have and the core thing that was observed is that teaching can be very vulnerable. You are sharing what you know through knowledge, experience and story – that’s very revealing. You have to adapt to students and how they are feeling and responding.  We get scared that other pioneers that do similar courses to our expertise may teach different aspects that we don’t. The way you get around that is knowing that you are a different teacher. Who you are as a person is what teaching is. It is the connection of your inner self to lots of people. If you’re really teaching, your soul is bared to your students and you’re going through the subject together. You have to be ok with the fact that you put out course material exactly as it is in the way you express it best. Students tend to mirror what you are putting out there. Rather than being worried about being challenged, let go of the pressure that you actually put on yourself to hold all the answers. The subject you’re teaching is actually in the centre, not the teacher. Both the teacher and the student are looking at it together and you look at things through totally different experiences through a live subject. The students will see you as the authority when you support them and guide them, not necessarily when you have all the answers. 34:42 Structural Side of Making Your Course Great The results that you are promising your students –think about what is the student going to be able to do after this course. This can be broken down into certain milestones to which the student can achieve without your assistance. This will ensure your course is actually streamlined. With adult learners, you find that they need to feel very autonomous and have constant motivation and reminders. Generally, these adults are busy so you need to make sure you don’t add any fluff to their schedules. You can also catch the students who are in different places - those who are more advanced, can be advised to skip the step. However, bear in mind that some entrepreneurs of late aren’t getting basic enough. People don’t realize they don’t know the things they don’t know. 45:06 Connect with Lindsay Connect with Lindsay on her soon to be revamped Facebook Group – The Teachers Lounge http://www.lindsaympadilla.com/fb-group/ Tweetables: “If you’re really teaching, your soul is bared to your students and you’re going through the  subject together: “You have to be ok with the fact that you put our course material exactly as it is in the way you express it best. “

View Details

Influential content marketing is essential when it comes to growing an authentic, message-driven business. If you are a service-based entrepreneur, you want to make a difference in your client’s lives, whether that’s with your own story or with the work that you do for them. Sharing content can support you, not only in always staying fresh, but also by remaining relevant in peoples minds.   If people forget you, then it’s going to make maintaining engagement with them difficult.   Another benefit to sharing content consistently is that you will be showing that you know what you’re talking about. People will see that you have confidence in your topic of expertise. When you establish this credibility, you’ll be seen as a leader and an authority figure in your space.   Content creation is vital when it comes to growing your business. Unfortunately, a lot of people struggle in this area and not everyone is naturally creative. Some people are very analytical, and others worry that they won’t portray themselves accurately. Luckily, the current trends taking place in the online marketing world are proving that it’s not all about perfection.   What’s most important is sharing value through your stories, lessons, and learnings to bring people behind the scenes.   Being transparent is incredibly powerful when it comes to connecting with your audience and making yourself and your brand more desirable. Get raw and be open with people versus just writing how to’s and tutorials that people can find anywhere else. You have an audience, but how much longer are you going to keep sharing these same ideas with them? They may already be familiar with what you’re putting out there, but they want to know more about you.   Hook them into wanting to continue to follow you. What you’re sharing plays a significant role in why your audience started following you, but the reason they keep following is that they feel like you’re someone that’s very relatable. You may be a figure of someone they aspire to become or someone that they want to meet one day. That kind of admiration doesn’t happen by itself.   You create a deep connection with people by being open, genuine, and letting them in behind the scenes to see the real you.   An easy way for you to start sharing the transparent experience behind your brand is simply by talking about what you’re doing. You can discuss lessons that you’ve learned and the challenges you’re facing in your journey. Your audience will be able to see that you’re not a perfect human being - you are just like them, and you have the same struggles that they do.   If you flip the script and share something personal with your audience, you’re going to get even more engagement. You may receive messages from people you’ve impacted by sharing your story. You don’t have to get too personal or vulnerable, especially not right away.   Start thinking about the last 30 days and ask yourself what you have done that relates to your business?   If you’re a health coach, have you recently completed a 5K, attended a health food festival, or maybe tried aerial yoga for the first time? There are a lot of things that we do in our every day lives that we may not even consider using as content. Be aware of what these things are and how they can tie into your business. Is there a lesson or something that you can share with your audience that will allow them to see that you apply your methods in your own life as well?   If you’re not showing people that you live what you’re sharing with them, it’s going to be really hard for them to trust you.   You can talk all day long about being vegan, but if you don’t show people and lead by example, then eventually they’re going to have some questions or maybe even lose interest. I was talking to a client recently who mentioned a live stream I had made when I had moved to New York. Initially, I had thought my life would completely change, and it did - but not necessarily for the better.   Other people, including this particular client, would have never known that I struggled so much with my move. It was embarrassing for me to admit since I was amping it up so much initially, and then once it happened, I ended up disappointed. But, I started to be very real with my audience, and I shared this live stream explaining what I was experiencing behind the scenes. I received feedback from people who had shared similar experiences and reactions and was able to connect with them.   Because I am my brand and business, I want to be real with my audience and make sure that they know what’s going on in my life.   I invite you to do the same. Make a challenge for yourself to think about something you have done over the last 30, 60, or even 90 days, and talk about it. Is there a lesson that you’ve learned or something new that you’ve tried? Why is it important and how is it allowing you to live as the person you desire people to see?   Try creating your content in new ways. Your audience wants to know what’s going on and how they can support you, so let them in. The whole point of the human experience is to connect with other people, and we can do this through the power of our business.

View Details

If you want to show up in a captivating way online and off, you have to incorporate STORIES into your marketing, and today’s guest knows all about that.    Jamie Jensen is a screenwriter, director, online business strategist, and the founder and CEO of Your Hot Copy. To date, Jamie has helped over 500 clients and customers increase their sales by as much as 900% with the power of story. And, while formulas are great, she’s all about doing business, life, and creativity YOUR way.   After doing time in Hollywood, working at United Talent Agency, Miramax, Mandate, and a major network television show, she bounced to make her own indie romantic comedy film Hannah Has a Ho-Phase. This project won her the Best Feature Writer award at the La Femme Film Fest in 2013. Since then, Jamie’s been combining the sizzle of Hollywood-grade story with the power of effective internet marketing to help YHC’s clients entertain and inspire their audiences to rave results.   Jamie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Storytelling from New York University, and a Master’s in Producing from the University of Southern California. When she’s not teaching, speaking, or writing, you can find Jamie at the yoga studio (hot, naturally), twerking up a storm at Vixen Workout, or cuddling on the couch with her partner in Queens, New York. 1:15 Jamie Jensen’s Story Owner of a Copywriting agency called Hot Copy, Jamie always knew that she was always going to own a business and be an entrepreneur. She was born a writer and meant to be a writer. Her vision has always been working from home in a project based environment. With a background consisting of visual writing and storytelling with multiple journals growing up, going to the Fame High School and won the student award for Mixed Media Art in Visual Art and Theatre. She came to the realisation that story telling in a visual or textual capacity was what she was talented at and meant to do. She visited a psychic when she was 18 years’ old who told her that she would go to Los Angeles and work in television. When she started college, she created her own major by negotiating her course and designed her education with reading and learning everything on storytelling to screenwriting, narrative structure to hero’s journey. This was a vehicle to how she was going to find out how she fit in the world as someone who was artistic and hyper sensitive. Going to Peter Star Producing Program at USC – one of the only film producing programs period which focuses a lot on business and the entertainment industry. She ended up working in Hollywood (as predicted by her psychic). Her love affair with Hollywood didn’t last very long – primarily because she was working 70 hours’ week, not being paid very much and she wasn’t doing what she truly loved – writing.   10:25 How Did Hollywood Does Business What Jamie learned at Grad School and during her time in Hollywood – she applies everything to business. There’s always test screenings of movies. The concept has to be sexy and have a level of pre awareness with your audience. This can be something that they’ve heard of already or have a movie star to bring a sense of familiarity and a trust factor. Therefore, you’re looking at things from two factors – marketability and playability which means there has to be elements of the movie that make it easy to sell – for example, the Harry Potter books which later turned into movies. It has a wide audience already existing so there is already that pre awareness. Playability is more important – especially in the digital age because audiences can communicate their feelings on the movie at scale on social media. The opening weekend of a film indicates how successful the movie will be. To apply this to your business, you have to know what your audience wants and cater to that and playability wise, deliver a quality product.         14:51 How to Apply “Sexiness,” in Online Business Jamie explains that in online business, what makes it sexy is the actual person who is teaching. There is a lot of repeat information in the info product work -  different spins and similar teachings, but you chose who you chose to learn from. How to make it interesting for your target market as an entrepreneur is to gamify it and do a different spin on how to interact with your audience as a contrast to what would normally happen. We ebb and flow through different models – the market will get tired of one model and then go back to another.   16:53 How Story Relates to Business Your Story People are going to get to know you and your story. You story can be told in one sentence, a paragraph or a book, but that story is your calling card and how people know you. It’s your selling points and how you help/what you offer people. It’s also what makes you human and what makes you emotionally resonant with people. When you’re telling a truly authentic story that connects with you audience, you’re letting them in to who you really are in a very vulnerable way which is how they feel they know you. It gives your audience a trust factor and something to remember you. This is a huge piece of personal branding. The reverse of this is, you need to be familiar with your customer’s journey – what challenges, obstacles and things are they going to face along the way? Your ability to see every piece of that story and almost predict their needs at any point in their journey.     19:52 Essential Elements For A Story To Be A Story A story is essentially is a character achieving a goal in spite of obstacles. A story has three elements: a beginning, middle and end or set up, conflict and resolution. There is a character, a goal and obstacles. When you’re talking about sales copy – the obstacles are what’s getting in the way of what your customer wants. You’re helping them overcome obstacles and essentially positioning yourself as a mentor. A good book/audiobook that guides on how to write a good story is “Sell Of A Story,” By Paul Smith.   23:45 Ways To Make Your Story Good For Your Audience There are three ways to make your story Good For An Audience. Relevancy Why does your audience care? This relates back to what do they care about and how this shows up in your story. This can be through values that you use to dictate your actions that they align with, a goal that they deeply desire themselves or feel strongly about that elicits an emotional response.   Tension/Suspense How do you create tension in the story and how you create suspense. You want to be creating some level of up and down. There are different ways to use story in different mediums – a book, a talk, a story from a stage to a page – the level of dramatization you can get away with changes depending on the platform you use. Use the pieces that matter the most in each platform.   3   .Contrast You have to be able to put two contrasting elements together. Is this going to work out? Create opposing factors. Jamie uses a great example of the movie Legally Blonde – the girly, fun, blonde playgirl up against the serious world of Harvard Law. Putting these things together creates an interesting experience for the audience.   27:58 Hypersensitive Entrepreneurs Jamie feels that being hypersensitive is one of the things that make her good at her job, but is also one of the challenges. She feels a support system and asking for help through self-expression or reaching out to her circle is the way to manage that.  There are other ways are spirituality and meditation which is practical to her. She feels a lot of success is attributed to other people in your life who have supported you in your journey. She approaches things with gratitude in addition to her own effort and work. Things don’t get easier, you get better.   34:37 Learn More About Story & Copy If you check out YourHotCopy.com , you can find everything copy and lots of helpful blog posts - related from how to tell your stories, how to make impact with them. You can get on the list to find out whenever there are masterclasses, courses or things to learn more. It includes a Sales Pitch Check List which is free which will help ensure that the story you’re telling on your sales page is highly effective and creating the influence you want to create in your audience.

View Details

It’s common for us entrepreneurs and leaders to be in the space of doing a lot of urgent tasks and strenuously focusing on the hustle and grind. Because of this, we can lose sight of the creative, fun, and exciting hustle that supports us in creating more flow. I want to challenge you to think a bit differently when it comes to your marketing, business strategy, and campaigns that you’re running.   We are so conditioned to follow steps, formulas, and systems; they have a time and place, but can't be all that we rely on.   It’s great to be able to simplify and automate things, and we do need systems to do that. But, when it comes to having more creativity and innovation in your business, you have to think differently. To start, you have to give yourself the space to do that. If you’re just working on the urgent tasks all day, every day, then there’s a problem. If you have business development time for yourself, then let’s make sure that the tasks you are doing are allowing you to be creative and step into that visionary role of your business and growth.   Something I’ve always liked to do is gain inspiration from what others are doing. If I appreciate something that they’re producing, I will get a spark for something that I want to create as well. Now I’m not the kind of person that will completely copy everything that someone else has done, and that’s it. That kind of process is very uninspiring to me personally.   That’s not to say that you can’t model after things like a successful sales funnel for example. With funnels, campaigns, launches, and offers there’s a significant portion that consists of the science and framework. But, there’s also the art and creative thinking that comes into play as well.   If you’re just blatantly copying someone else’s work, it feels uninspired, and the energy is typically lacking.   I want to make sure that you feel excited when it comes to your business. You should feel that creative, fired up energy that makes you want to keep going and going. What I like to do is combine a lot of the great ideas I see out there into this one thing, and then I think about how I can make it even better. How can I make this vision a little bit different and make it stand out?   There are many different ways you can do this. It could be on the forefront, in a visual way, or maybe you’re modeling after a successful framework for a sales page. I think conversion is crucial. But, if I’ve done the same thing over and over, eventually I’m going to want to test different ideas so that I can experiment and have fun in the process.   Then, I find the things that aren’t resonating with me or that I feel could be done differently to suit my personality and audience. It’s all about giving yourself that ability to shift and be flexible on what it is that you want to create for yourself. Before I move on, I want to give a small warning to those who may be newer in their business. I recommend that you follow more frameworks first so that you can create a baseline for yourself.   We can be creative and do things from scratch, but if you don’t have a framework at all and have never had any clients, don’t go creating a brand new launch in a brand new way with a brand new formula. It just doesn’t make sense.   You want to make sure that you have some frameworks in place and that you have a proven method. Once you have this established, you can tweak that method and use that space for being more creative. As much as I value innovation, I also think it’s important to be smart when it comes to your business. Be aware of what you’re doing, how you're operating, and make sure that your creativity is strategic; take calculative risks.   I love risks, but I’m always making sure that I’m not taking such massive risks that I could go under. I prefer to have space for creativity in a way that supports me and how I like to operate. I invite you to challenge yourself to think differently and to be that visionary that I know you are. I promise you that you’re going to be so much happier and have so much more fun and excitement in your business.

View Details

Kathleen Ventura is a high-performance coach, conscious consultant and TEDx speaker. Making a move that would terrify even the bravest of non-conformists, she quit her high-pressure sales job in 2012, sold everything, and set out to ride her bike across the United States. After 2 years of perpetual travel, she found her calling as a coach and consultant. Kathleen supports influencers—entrepreneurs, professionals and celebrities—who are crushing it professionally and realize they need to be more intentional about creating a lifestyle full of things they desire beyond business for their success to be both sustainable and fulfilling. 1:15 Kathleen was in her mid 20’s working a high pressure sales job in Chicago just prior to the recession.  She had never planned to be in that kind of job and soon realized she was sick of the endless cycle of endless work.  She and her husband decided to sell their posessions, quit their jobs and begin travelling nomadically around the world.  3:52 Kathleen and her husband then lived in various countries over the next two years.  It was while they were spending time in Portugal that Kathleen had what she calls an “independent woman breakdown.”  She had been working non-stop since she was fifteen and now was simply spending money with nothing coming in.  She felt this was irresponsible. So she decided that it was time to re-enter the workforce. 5:30  Kathleen knew that many of her friends and family were unhappy with their working lives and realized that she could play a role in helping people to accomplish their goals.  Since that realization she has spent the last five years building a coaching business. 7:50 Kathleen wanted to help woman live “intentional lives”.  She began life-coaching entrepreneurs but had never incorporated her principals as an environmentalist and feminist.  Slowly over time she realized that keeping her work and personal lives separate was a mistake.  If she wasn’t part of the solution, she was part of the problem. 13:13 Kathleen likes to ask her clients about their personal values..  What are the things they know that they wish others knew?  Does it have to do with malnutrition? Climate change? Gender inequality?  Once that is established she helps her clients to effect positive change.  15:20 In a world where Kim Kardashian sells lipstick on Instagram Kathleen wonders what would happen if similarly high-profile influencers were trying to effect positive change in the world.  Incorporating positive things you are doing in your life into your personal brand is the way to change the world. 18:10 The public is fully on-board with the idea of paying more for responsibly produced products.   Millennials are becoming more and more loyal to products and services produced by progressive companies.  There is always a risk those values will alienate some but those that remaining will be much more passionate about those companies. 22:25 Kathleen hesitated about being more open about her personal values as a vegetarian and environmentalist.  She didn’t want to put her beliefs in peoples face because she was worried about putting people off.  She wanted to be a role model rather than someone waving their finger.  To do that she began to re-educate herself about the basis of her own beliefs to make sure she had all her facts in order. 26:38 Kathleen believes that people need to see themselves in you.  You can’t be an unreachable personality.  You have to start where you can.  You don’t immediately become a perfect vegetarian or a perfect environmentalist overnight.  Be gentle with yourself.  All that’s important is doing something. 29:00 What is the one thing you know that you wish others knew?  It’s the question that Kathleen believes will guide you to the issue you should be focusing on in your personal life and on your social media presence.  “Success is a few small things you focus on every day.” 32:00 Kathleen has a gift for listeners.  It’s a 21-day Earth Day challenge that can provides a guide about how to live a more sustainable life.  You can find that at kathleenventura.com/EarthDay

View Details

I’ve noticed a lot of people talking about anxiety and the struggle of coping with it as a business owner. The spark of this topic inspired me to share my own story along with what has helped me when I struggle myself.   If you’ve ever experienced anxiety you know, it’s really tough, especially as an entrepreneur trying to grow a business.   Anxiety is something I’ve been dealing with for several years, but I didn’t realize how many other people also face this problem. Being a business owner or entrepreneur can be challenging because with anxiety comes a lot of fear. Fear is something that can hold us back if we aren’t able to find ways to overcome it. Anxiety is different for everyone and there are lots of different ways to approach it depending on what works best for the individual.   I was diagnosed with panic disorder when I was 21. After I had my first attack, they continued to happen, and I felt like my mind was in a cloud all of the time. It felt like I had no control over my own body or mind at times which was a terrifying feeling. I tried to change certain things in my life but the anxiety remained, and the panic attacks continued.   I felt like I was outside of my own body and had this debilitating anxiety that I needed to take control over.   I knew that I needed help, but it seemed as though the people that I turned to couldn't really grasp what I was experiencing. I just wanted to feel normal again and was desperate for a solution. I was encouraged to try some breathing exercises for relaxation as well as yoga which helped me significantly. I also started meditating and practicing visualization to help focus on feeling more peace and serenity in my life.   For about a year my routine was: go to work, come home, work on my business, and repeat. I no longer had time available in my schedule to focus on self-care, and this created a lot of stress on my body. I wasn't taking care of myself, and this became an open invitation for my anxiety to increase. At this point, I was working seven days a week between my 9-5 job and my own business.   Staying positive and reminding myself that my situation was only temporary helped me to hustle hard and stay committed.   I knew that if I kept working towards my goal, I would be able to quit my day job sooner versus later. Once I could do this, I would be able to work on my business full-time and have more time in my schedule. A lot of people lack commitment and aren't willing to hustle hard in the beginning of their business because they don't know if they can ever leave their job.   Once I was able to quit my 9-5, I felt a huge relief. My body was very thankful, and things began to look up for me. I did still struggle through other ups and downs, like surrounding myself with the wrong people or living in a setting that didn’t suit me or my needs. But, with some realization and redirection, I was able to remove myself from the things that brought me stress and negativity.   You have to be aware of your environment - who you surround yourself with, what you surround yourself with, and the energy that you’re in.   Devote time to yourself and respect both your body and mind. Test out different healthy solutions for reducing stress in your life and take back your power and control. Be open to experimenting and cutting things out of your current routine that may be a contributing factor towards overwhelming emotions. If you’re dealing with anxiety, just know that you are not alone. We are in this together, and I know that you are going to be just fine because you are a rockstar!

View Details

To grow your business in a sustainable way that makes an impact you have to create deep connections with your audience and prospective clients. A great way that you can do this is by opening up and being vulnerable and authentic in your marketing. It’s important to open up as an entrepreneur and as a brand. One of the best ways to make sure that you are fulfilling your mission is to put yourself out there and be willing to be transparent.   Something that is currently very popular and that people are starting to expect from brands is more vulnerability.   Your audience wants you to show up being real, raw, and open with them. Being vulnerable is very important and can make your marketing so much more effective. I don’t want to necessarily talk about using this as a strategy since there are a lot of people out there using it without the best intentions in mind.   I know that you want to change the world, make an impact, and that you have a bigger message and mission in mind. Since I know this about you, I feel more comfortable sharing why vulnerability is so incredible and beneficial in business and marketing. Being vulnerable with others is about sharing stories from your personal life as well as your business experiences. Share things in your life with your audience that are relevant to your industry, and also share things that aren’t always 100% relevant.   On Facebook, we see the highlights of peoples lives, and it’s very easy to start comparing our lows to other peoples highs.   When we start comparing our lives to others based off of only the things they want us to see, we may start to feel unhappy, depressed, and like our lives are somehow lacking. How are they so successful and happy when I’m hustling so much and still where I am right now? Having these thoughts does not feel good for anyone.   Being a leader in your business gives you the space to be real, open, and share the hardships that you face throughout your journey. Share specific stories that may not always be comfortable to share, and might not even necessarily be 100% relevant to your business. There’s always a way to connect a story to what you’re doing or to use it as a metaphor.   If you want to connect with your audience profoundly, and you want to make a huge impact, sharing yourself is going to be extremely instrumental to your growth.   If you think about it, we don’t usually follow people or influencers that are perfect and seem to have no problems in life. Using the Kardashians as an example, we see all of the highlights of their lives through social media, but through their TV show, they show their hardships as well. Showing personal struggles with the world is a pretty vulnerable thing to do. The Kardashians have mastered this act of vulnerability through using story, and that’s their way of marketing.   They’re getting more followers and customers through being themselves and not necessarily filtering what happens to them in their lives. So, how can you use this in your own business? Think from the perspective of serving your current and prospective clients. Is there a particular story that happened in your life that made you into who you are today? The answer is yes - your entire life has made you into who you are today.   The different events that have happened in your life, whether good, bad, seemingly irrelevant, have contributed towards creating the person you are today.   I want to share an exercise with you that I shared with some of my clients when I did my Authority Launcher live event in Chicago. A lot of people had amazing break throughs around how they wanted to show up with their audience. This exercise is about the experience of sharing stories and figuring out what to share. Start thinking about ten events that have happened in your life (feel free to go further and think of more, but start with ten).   I don’t necessarily mean major events like getting married or having a baby. Just think of random situations that have happened, positive or negative, and list them out and write about them. Ideally, five of them would be business or industry related to what you do, and five of them would not be related. When you list these different events, I want you to start thinking about the common threads throughout each situation as it relates to your business.   Is there a theme or a lesson you’ve learned from one of your life experiences that you can share with your audience?   Discover how to tie your stories into conversations about your industry or what you’re trying to teach your clients. Sharing stories in your business marketing strategy is solid gold and can help grow your audience and increase the likelihood that people will buy from you after a pitch. Always ask yourself, how can I tie this into my business? I invite you to start thinking about the different things that have happened in your life and find ways to relate them to your audience - they will love you for it!

View Details

Nicole Jackson Miller, is the Founder of The Project Designer, a company that helps entrepreneurs manage their projects and their people.  From her 10 years of management experience negotiating deals for major TV networks, overseeing 6- and 7-figure projects online and even orchestrating some of the behind-the-scenes magic of the Beijing Olympics, Nicole basically knows her stuff. Today she runs a successful Project Management agency, mentors and trains Project Managers, and supports entrepreneurs with Human Resources (or their "people" management!)   1:18 Definition of Project Management Project Management is managing projects that you have in your business. A project can really be anything. A project can be of any size, from anything from starting your business, bringing in a new team member to launching an online program or membership site. Project Management is essentially making sure that the ideas you have and want to execute actually get done.   2.15 How Nicole Came into the Project Management Field She’s worked in television before she had her own business. It taught her a lot about managing her own time. The television environment was fast paced and operationally lean, so that meant there were a lot of projects happening and a few people to execute them. This forced Nicole to learn how to be the master of her own schedule – to learn how to priorities and communicate with people and keep up the quality of the project. It was natural to break into the project management space, we were able to explain what we did and manage the different pieces of projects.   5:02 Defining Moment to Project Manage on own There were several moments in my corporate job where I asked myself whether I want to do this job. I was such a perfectionist and wanted to do everything well. I was the epitome of wanting to climb the corporate ladder. I battled eating disorders, relationship problems and alcohol – I wasn’t an alcoholic, but was using different coping mechanisms. That was when I realized I needed to figure it out. I dived into myself and got the help that I needed which opened up a whole new world for me spiritually. I realized that I could make an impact on the people I was around, so, with the advice of my spiritual teacher, I started where I was. I had an urge within me to start my own thing .There were many restrictions in terms of what I could do in my job setting, so I started to explore the online space.   9:48 Being in a position to empower people and your team Move away from typical responses – how to manage your team, during the difficult times or challenging times where they need you the most – if you can be with them throughout that experience, that’s what keeps great people around you. It ties into starting where you are, in every moment you have the ability to impact the situation which takes a lot of self awareness and presence. I remember being on teams and when something messed up, the memory was around being told off or scolded and my work effort was not acknowledged. I try and bring those experiences in when I manage my own teams or my clients – as long as you’ve done a great job hiring and you trust the people around you, you have to trust that they are working just as hard as you are. I believe that as a CEO, you have to be there for your team. They are the ones who will help you grow. 12:48 The other elements of People Management People can be anyone in your business – from a team member, partner to a coach, who is helping you in your business. It really comes down to relationships. The things that go into People Management boils down to developing relationships including knowing how to communicate; when things are going well and when things are not going well and to also work out a way to ensure things are getting done – that the teams able to execute as smoothly as possible. 14:28 The element of hiring and firing and building better communication If you’ve hired well and managed well, you don’t have to fire as much, or hopefully at all. It’s going to happen if you’re in business for longer than a year or two. I think of building a team as dating – sometimes you’re great with someone to a certain level and then you realize it’s time to part ways. Then there are others whom you grow and develop with together and you’re able to keep going. It’s the same principle with relationships. Hiring is a big one – make sure you are making the best decision for you and your team, and the first step to that is knowing yourself. The second step is being able to communicate that. When it comes to hiring people think they have to change who they are in order to be able to have a team, and although there are certain tweaks you can make to improve yourself and develop professionally, you’re just going to be who you are. The most important part of that is to find a team that works with that. I think good people are everywhere and I also think it’s really tough to find a great match. It’s the same thing with people on your team – just because they don’t work with you, doesn’t mean they’re not good at what they do – they’re just not the right match for you. I find that the best clients to work with when I help them with hiring and team management are the ones that know themselves and know how to communicate it. Firing is one of those thing that sucks to have to do it. Make sure you understand what happened and what needs to be done different next time. A lot of people go to fire and don’t realize that this could be avoided by simply having an open conversation with someone. I only fire quickly on two occasions – if someone has done something illegal or they have a poor attitude. If there’s an issue, address it fast, but it doesn’t mean you have to fire fast. An open conversation with your team can reveal exactly what’s going on so you can be in a position to be there for your employees or co create a solution before you just jump to re-hiring.   20:37 Conscious Conversation: Catch The Fire before the Explosion Nicole connects with her team weekly, or twice a week to talk through things, clarify things and adjust it. It’s a great way also to give feedback to my team and I’ve learnt every time something keeps coming up, it’s because I haven’t addressed it. If I’m on the phone to a client with a team member and something occurred that I would have preferred to have been done differently, I will bring it up with them. Otherwise that behavior will simply not change. It’s my job to communicate that. When I don’t say anything, it almost always happens again. It’s a practice that I believe in and it’s worked. It may be a difficult or uncomfortable conversation to have, but if I procrastinate, it will keep happening. Miscommunication is no communication. As a leader of your business, you have to manage. People often want to delegate management, which you can do a degree. You can have a whole director level, however you still have to know how to manage your people. Managing is like a muscle, you have to practice it.   25:47 Balance between Planning and Planning Way Too Much I have a Project Management company and I launched something without a plan. Obviously I knew it wouldn’t do too well and I was talking to my team member about it and she was making suggestions on how this process could be improved for next time. Planning is an important stage, you need to ensure that everything works rather than just throwing ideas on a wall and hoping it sticks.  Everything works together. It was a great lesson to me because I preach project planning all over the place. It was one of those instances I had to get out there and do it. I did get other clients from it , just not in the way I thought I would.   28:54 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make in Planning or Managing When you hire, to really understand yourself and be able to communication what you need and go through a process. What can sometimes happen is that they decide they need customer support immediately. If you rush the hiring process and you’re not very clear on what you need and how you need your clients or customers to be supported - you may bring on someone who is not a great match. Part of that is not finding a great fit, but even if it’s a great fit, they’re not able to communicate what you need efficiently. Have people read a job post, fill out an application and interview them. Ask all of your questions. Make sure you get along with them, because you’re probably looking to grow your team and your business. Kamila talked about her hiring process. In college, you’re not really told how to apply for jobs and to be noticed. Have that application and be clear about what you’re looking for. Some people are filling out applications mindlessly and not paying attention. In the past, if somebody misses a call or interview, I don’t chase. Attention to detail and timeliness that is demonstrated earlier on is something you can learn about a person in the process. Think about how you would hop onto a sales call and evaluate how you can take on the new client. There’s a lot of things that come up that will indicate how it will be like to work with them later on. The next mistake will be that plans are not run past their team. Any time we work with a new client, a conversation is had and an evaluation of how things are going to pan out. Nicole uses the example of a client she had who was about to launch something. She was heavily reliant on an assistant at the time who seemed to be MIA The importance of communication and conversation around expectations of the launch. When you are the owner of your business, you are responsible for everything that happens in your business. Accountability can be taken by team members. Plans need to be communicated to the team.   37:28 Advice for consciously knowing who to hire When you’re looking to hire somebody in your business, start again with knowing yourself. What do you like to do and what don’t you like doing. Think about what you like doing and what you don’t. A person who loves design is not going to hire a designer. A client she had was copywriter because when she wrote, she stopped. Think about the kind of support you need and what area you need it in. What is it your passionate about? Do that. Whatever slows you down, get support. The same things go for team. Team members are passionate, so there is no template for who to hire first. Know yourself, Know what your passionate about and priorities and hire those first. Then question your team about what they like and don’t like doing and delegate or hire there. It’s all about relationships and communication. If you don’t talk or communicate with your team, you would not know this information. If we can create happy business and happy teams, it’s so much better. We all lift each other up.   42:12 Gift for our Listeners A resource that talks about hiring, managing and firing available at theprojectdesigner.com

View Details

When we think of CEOs, a common trait that we notice many of them share is that they are often very future oriented. On the other hand, people that are very personal-development based typically follow the general idea of remaining in the present. I believe that it’s somewhat impossible to be a successful CEO that has the growth of their business in mind without being future oriented. Business growth is all about planning, creating campaigns, funnels, and launches - growth requires thinking ahead.   A lot of people struggle with this because they feel as though you can’t be grateful and in the present when you’re focusing so much on the future. If thinking ahead is your natural way of being, then you’re going to be a great CEO, if you aren’t already. You’re able to consider and also plan for what’s going to happen a month from now, three months from now, or by the end of the year. With this way of thinking you’re able to start projecting what you should be doing when it comes to generating your cash flow and the different things that are necessary for you to be a successful business owner and CEO.   At the same time, I don’t believe that thinking about only the future 100% of the time is the best approach either.   If you focus on the future and have nothing that you’re grateful for in the present, then that’s a bit problematic. Subconsciously you are telling yourself that the things you want in the future aren't because of abundance but are because of fear and lack since you want certain things, and you want growth, but you do not recognize that you’ve come a long way. If you fail to acknowledge how well you’re doing right now or what you already have, then you start to operate from a lack mentality, and the reason for you to grow and be successful in the future is that you don’t even realize that you’re successful now.   To be the most successful that you can be you need to find your balance of present and future. Each person is different so everyone has specific traits and strengths that they should build on. Some of us can be in the present and see and feel exactly what’s happening right now, and there is great power in that. But, keep in mind the balance of how much you need of both present and future to be a great driver for you so that you can see the growth that you want.   If you’re only considering the present, then this means your business is stagnant because what is happening right now is only right now.   Make sure that you’re not settling or letting yourself down by setting goals that are smaller because you feel like you should simply be grateful for what you already have. You are worthy of creating the incredible success that you feel deep in your bones, so don’t feel guilty or selfish for wanting to achieve it. Shoot for the stars! Don’t be afraid of creating massive change or results - change your life, change your business, and create the life that you desire.   Keep in mind that when you’re able to reach those big goals that you set you’re not just helping yourself, but you’re also helping everyone else around you. Money may not always buy happiness, but it makes life a lot easier so don’t be afraid of having it or working towards your goals. If you want to make a million dollars, go for it. Why are you stopping yourself and who’s to say that you can’t make that happen?   Don’t listen to the naysayers who tell you that what you want to achieve is impossible because that’s a reflection of them, not you; they forbade themselves from dreaming that big, but don’t let that stop you.   You’re different because you’re dreaming big, but you’re also doing the work, too. You’re not just sitting on the couch all day eating potato chips and hoping that a million dollars will manifest out of nowhere. Having goals is great, but it’s important to do the work that supports you into making them a reality. Whether it’s huge actions every single day or smaller ones based on how much time you have available to you, you’re still doing the work.   When you’re creating and achieving your goals, you’re helping the people that you share your message with. If you’re making money, whether it’s a million dollars, 10 million dollars, six figures, etc. it means that you are impacting people with what you’re doing. You aren’t just doing something for the sake of doing it - you want to help people, and that’s why you started your business in the first place.   When you reach those crazy, high goals that you set, it means that you’re reaching more people and making an even greater impact.   If you have a message or mission to share with the world, you can’t hold back on that. People are listening to you and having transformations because of you and your heart-driven business. You can get out there and do this. You have so much more power within you that you even realize, so don’t ever be afraid to dream.

View Details

Are you operating as the CEO of your business and your life, or are you only staying in the role of the service that you’re providing? If you are like most people, it’s very likely that you are not operating as a CEO. I am not here to make you feel bad, but I want to bring it to your attention that you might be digging yourself into a hole.   One of the most common reasons we go into business is to have more freedom. Whether it’s to travel more, have more money, support your family in a bigger way, or maybe move to another place, sometimes having your own business makes those opportunities possible. Regarding having my own business, moving somewhere new was a big factor for me. I wanted to move to New York City, and then I wanted to move to San Diego.   I craved the ability to do that; I wanted to travel, speak at events, and live in a way that I desired in the places that I wanted.   I often hear people saying very similar things, but many of them are building their business in a way that forms a breeding ground for frustration, discouragement, and overwhelm. What I mean by that is, they are creating a business that is entirely reliant on them being present at all times to function. That is not a good recipe for success.   For example, one of my clients was getting married, and she wanted to go away on a honeymoon for two weeks. She was freaking out because how would her business function without her there? What would happen to her clients and her marketing? She was concerned because she was not operating as a CEO - she did not have that CEO mindset.   She was growing her coaching business, and this company was reliant on her. It’s hard for people to let go of this mentality of needing to be there and present at all times. It’s easy for anyone with a service-based business to feel like their clients are going to fail if they’re not there for them 24/7, supporting them in a high touch way. Many people believe that they’re directly responsible for their client’s success, but that’s not how it works.   They need to go out, actually show up, and do their part of the job. Whether they succeed or not is not up to you. You can be there to support them in making it happen by creating that environment, but it doesn’t mean that you need to forgo your life or not go on a honeymoon to make this possible.   Your clients should still thrive, whether you’re present 100% of the time or present in a more boundary driven way.   Sometimes there are situations in life that require you to step away. Occasionally things happen that aren’t very happy - maybe there’s an accident that happens, or you’re sick or hurt and need to be away from your business. What’s going to happen then? Is your business going to crumble and fall to pieces, or will it keep going? Is it still moving forward, or does everything stop because you can’t tend to your clients?   If it’s the former, it means that you’re not operating at the CEO mindset. I want to empower you to think bigger, past just being a coach, designer, copywriter, virtual assistant, or any other service provider. How can you start to think bigger and brainstorm how to create a legacy and a company that is going to serve you, regardless of what happens? Of course, this isn't something that will happen immediately.   It’s not something that will occur in a week or a month, or even a year unless you’re very fortunate. But, the sooner you can start thinking about it and becoming aware of how you want to structure your business, the better off you will be. This game plan will bring you closer to the opportunity of having the freedom that you want, and more space for innovation and creativity. That goes beyond just serving yourself and your family; how can you make a bigger impact when it comes to your work?   If you are always exclusively working with clients, then it’s really hard for you to have that space for freedom, innovation, a greater impact, and global thinking.   Take a look at your calendar right now. How much of your week do you spend on client calls or sales calls, and what space do you have left for business development, creating potential partnerships, or focusing on long term vision goals? There may be a balance issue if you are building a business that is extremely reliant on you being there at all times.   Even if you have a team that supports you with some of these tasks, you’re still delivering on all of them. If all of your time is spent on your calendar and working with clients nonstop, that’s not giving you any space for doing the bigger things you want to do in your life. If you don’t care about any of that and this is fine with you, then you’re obviously in good shape. But if you know deep down in your heart that you are meant to be doing more, then you need to start thinking about things a little differently.   If you keep spending your time on these things that are not serving you, there’s going to be a bit of a problem in terms of growth.   There are two things that you can start doing that can help you significantly. The first one is outsourcing. Look at how you can outsource some of the things that you're doing right now that are taking you a lot of time and that you don’t personally need to do. The second one is leverage. Make sure you aren't spending all of your time on delivering one on one services and that you’re not the only one delivering them.   Have a team in place for outsourcing, where you can leverage them to support your clients in getting the results that they’re asking to receive. If you’re a coach or a mentor, you should be creating leverage based offers as well, so that it’s not only one on one services all of the time. This is how you will be able to invent other ways of bringing in income outside of just one specific offering.   Think about business development and growth in a bigger way that supports you personally. Don’t be afraid to take on that CEO role and start structuring your business so that it won’t crash and burn if you’re not around.