Entrepreneur Talks: Recent Episodes
Joleen Boers
Let's talk about the authentic side of entrepreneurship. I want to be real and talk about what happens before you reach success. Join me as we navigate the world of entrepreneurship together.
We grew up surrounded by people who claimed their way of life was the ONLY way and judged anyone who strayed from the path. If you weren’t having kids at 20, you were a failure. If you weren’t a stay at home mom you were a sinner.
There’s a difference between following a religion and sticking with old cultural traditions.
I can be a business woman and a believer.
Travelling and investing in experiences doesn’t make me a sinner.
It’s sad that a community who claims to know the love of Christ is so skilled at making people feel unwanted. It’s even worse knowing that there are total ‘heathens’ out there who are better at showing love than you.
For me, the problem was never religeon, the problem isn’t Christianity. God never let me down, it was the people I grew up with who claimed to be Christians. It’s the specific community I grew up in that made me bitter.
If I get hate for this post I’ll still be content knowing that I spoke the truth. If I get disowned, just know I disowned you first.
I walked away because you made me feel unwanted. During that time, I’ve built a community around myself that genuinely loves me. Some of them are Christians, some of them are not.
Religion was never the problem, you were.
I speak out not to spread hate, but to show others like me that they’re not unlovable, they’re just looking in the wrong place for love.
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Every entrepreneur needs a vision, but when it comes to ADHD there is a reason why you can't afford to miss this step.
Your vision is what keeps you from turning your business into another hyper fixation. There is nothing worse than pouring time and money into something, only to realize that you're no longer interested in continuing on. Now, you might think this is typical of all entrepreneurs. We all get the ups and downs in our business, but hyper fixation is something you can't control.
I know what it's like to go to bed with racing thoughts about my business and then wake up with absolutely no desire to continue on.
I think it's something all ADHDpreneurs fear: "What if my business is just another hyper fixation?"
This is why having a vision is so important. If you can discover the reason why you started your business in the first place, it can help overcome the hyper fixation.
Let's talk about it in this episode!
Define Your Vision
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It's something everyone wants, and it makes you wonder if there's enough of it to go around. I'm talking about standing out from the crowd, or success, as we like to call it.
If you're like me, you'll go through Instagram looking for inspiration, and you'll come across these accounts that have thousands of followers. "How the heck did they do that?" you wonder.
After all, you have literally tried everything and nothing seems to be working.
Here's the thing though.
You need to stop using other people's strategies to grow your business and stand out.
You can't stand out by doing what others are doing.
This is why you need a mission statement, to help you define who you are helping and why you are different.
Craft Your Own Mission Statement
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If you're having a hard time motivating people to engage with your offer, then this one is for you!
Sometimes, we can get so caught up in the logistics of what we are selling that we forget to see the bigger picture.
What I need you to do is take a step back and see it from your ideal buyer's point of view. What are they looking for? Do they understand how your offer will get them to where they want to go?
In today's podcast, I'm going to walk you through how to tweak your offer so that it looks more compelling. If you're thinking to yourself: "this sounds great, but my offer is too complicated to make it interesting" then this podcast is exactly what you need to hear right now!
Listen now!
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This podcast is all about authenticity and why you need it to stand out from the crowd.
Gone are the days of highlight reels and looking perfect online.
People are sick of it.
They want honesty, raw emotion, and someone/ something to relate with.
Social media has made us one of the loneliest and most discontented generations that have ever walked this earth.
Yes, we may have it good in terms of technology and medical advancements, but that doesn't change the fact that we are constantly looking for validation from people we have never even met before.
When we don't get the likes and comments we're looking for, we immediately begin to wonder what is wrong with us.
If you want to break through the noise, stop posting for validation, likes, and comments.
Create posts that inspire others, and give them a place where they feel respected validated.
Show them your frustration with running a business.
Show them that you don't always have it together and how hard you try to keep it together when the rest of your life is falling apart.
Check out this podcast episode to learn how authenticity can help you stand out from the crowd!
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“If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Success” - Frederick Douglas
Nobody likes to struggle. Nobody chooses to deliberately put themselves in a situation where they know what's going to be painful or uncertain.
But unfortunately, life has a way of doing that for us. If you are an entrepreneur, you deliberately choose that kind of life and continue to chose it every day. When you started your business, you knew it wasn't going to be easy.
Maybe you didn't know it was going to be as hard as it is, but you still chose the difficult route. For that, I say, kudos to you. You chose to take an already difficult life and make it harder, just so you could come out the other side all the better.
I get it though. It’s really tough, and sometimes you need a little (or a lot) of motivation.
Check out today's podcast episode for some motivation for the year ahead!
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Research.
One of the most painful parts of the entrepreneurial process.
In college, it was one of my most despised topics, until I understood just how important it is.
Turns out, it’s a little difficult to sell services to people you know little to nothing about.
That, my friend, I learned the hard way.
I spent a year trying all the hacks I could find to land a client.
I want to shave some of that time off your business so that you can move forward with a strategy…and with confidence.
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So, you’ve built an online community, your engagement is on point but you’re still not making any sales.
Frustrating, isn’t it?
The truth is, growing your audience is only half of the battle. After all, not everyone in your audience is your ideal buyer.
“Okay…so, what’s an ideal buyer, and why doesn’t my audience count?”
Let’s address the first question:
Your ideal buyer is a specific group of people that resonates with your brand and what you offer. They, more often than not, share the same fears, pain points, goals, and needs.
To answer your second question, your audience doesn’t count because they are a broad representation of those ideal buyers. Notice how I said “not everyone”. This means that there are definitely people in your audience that are a perfect fit for your business.
Your job is to separate these people out by speaking to them as clearly as possible. This can only be done by understanding exactly who they are.
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Once a year, when I was a kid, my parents would take my siblings and me to Myrtle Beach. Now, we were a family of 15 so flying wasn’t really an option. So, we took our van and drove for a whopping 24 hours. Getting from point a to point b was a riot, sometimes it was a good riot, sometimes it wasn’t. One thing’s for sure is that I’m glad we had a roadmap. Without it, I’m sure we would have ended up completely lost in a van full of screaming kids.
I’m currently laughing at the image in my head, but there is some seriousness to this story.
Trying to get from point A to point B without a map is simply asking for trouble.
It’s the same with your business.
Every part of your business needs a strategy, but the strategy I want to talk about today is the one you’re going to use for your brand.
This is going to be a bit of a longer podcast, but it’s packed full of practical information on how you can build a brand strategy for your business. So, grab a coffee, a notebook, and let’s get started!
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My Guide To Creating A Personality For Your Business
Growing up, I was always told to “mind my attitude.” I was a bit of a smart mouth as a kid, and my parents weren’t the type to just let it fly. At the time, I remember being really frustrated every time they told me to “tone it down”. Now that I’m a little older, I am grateful for how strict they were about the way I acted.
Something I’ve learned is that being confident with the way you look is great, but personality goes so much further.
So, what does this have to do with branding??
As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, your brand is your business’s personality. The real-life analogy I used above, is an example of why your logo isn’t enough to stand out.
Sure, it’s great as a first impression, but it’s not enough. Just like getting a first impression from someone you just met doesn’t count as truly knowing someone.
I want you to take a moment and think about your business. Does it have a clear personality? If so, what is it? If not, check out my podcast episode to learn how!
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To some extent, I believe most entrepreneurs like to have control over their businesses. After all, we wear so many different hats in order to keep things up and running.
Something I’ve learned over the course of a few years is that we don’t have as much control as we like to think. There are so many moving parts to our businesses, it’s hard to imagine that we truly are controlling it all. I’ve realized that it’s ok to let some things run their course. Sometimes, it’s enough to just plant a seed and wait for it to grow as we focus on other areas of our business.
That being said, you need to be deliberate with which areas you do control. For starters, I would say your brand should be one of those areas.
Against popular belief, your brand isn’t something you create when you first start your business. It’s something that grows along with you and plays a huge impact on the way people interact with you (a.k.a sales).
In this podcast, I’m going to teach you about the different parts of your brand and how you can use each one to its full potential.
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When you think of a brand, what comes to mind? Nike, Disney, Apple perhaps?
The first thing that may come to mind is a logo, or something visual. However, the longer you think about it, the more things may come to mind. Perhaps you’re starting to think of the times you used to lay on your living room floor and watch your favorite Disney movie with your family. Maybe, you think about all the late-night college assignments you completed on your Apple Mac Book.
The experiences you have through a business are what make up a brand.
Even if those experiences were made mostly by you, they were made possible through the business you got them from.
The more I learn about branding and what goes into creating a powerful one, I am always blown away by all the hidden, moving parts involved.
In today’s podcast episode, I’m going to debunk some common branding myths and, hopefully, shift your mindset on how building a strong brand can impact your business.
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Where to begin…
2021 was a whirlwind of opportunities, setbacks, and curveballs…oh so many curveballs.
In January, I set my goals, planned out my year, and got to work. I can’t begin to tell you how much adrenaline I had pushing me forward…it was unreal.
April rolled around and, to my frustration, I tested positive for Covid. Almost immediately, I lost all my drive and passion as I fought with one of the worst colds I had in my life. After I got better, it took almost a month for me to get my head back in the game. I was so behind on my goals that I was too overwhelmed to keep going. With the help of my mentor, I was able to find my energy back and start killing it again.
Through the summer, I started playing around with Instagram Live, Reels, Blogging, Podcasting, and Course Creation. At that time, I was convinced that nothing would push me back into taking a break from my goals. I could get hit by a freight train and still get back onto my feet.
The universe, deciding to test that theory, threw me another curveball.
Listen to the podcast to hear the rest of the story!
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Today, my friend and colleague, Simran will be talking about how she's managed to chase her goals while living abroad during Covid. As an international student, Simran has been faced with countless challenges and obstacles, none of which have been able to hold her back from becoming the strong, independent woman she is today.
Listen as she talks about:
- How she prepared to study abroad
- The toughest challenge she has faced so far and how she overcame it
- How the past year has shaped her as a person
If you would like to reach out to Simran and ask her your own questions, you can find her Instagram handle below!
Until next time,
Jo
@simrann_singhhh Jo Creative Website
Today's podcast is brought to you by Anne Marie Espina, an ADHD Coach For Entrepreneurs. I met Anne Marie on Instagram and I was immediately inspired by the energy, passion, drive, and love for coaching entrepreneurs. Immediately upon stumbling across her page I thought: "Damn, she has to be on my podcast!"
So, here we are, chatting about entrepreneurship, all things ADHD all while going off on tangents that are sure to bring a few laughs (and tears) to your day. So, if you're ready to be inspired, put on your headphones, start the episode, and do whatever you do while listening to podcasts.
Also, I highly recommend following her page @annemarie.espina
Every entrepreneur wants to stand out, but very few actually do.
So what is this DAMN secret that no one is spilling??
I've taken a look into the lives of some extremely successful entrepreneurs and critiqued some of the successful times in my life and they all have one thing in common:
A clear vision.
It's one thing to work until you drop, but it's an entirely different thing to make strategic moves based on a real plan you have for your life. When I first started entrepreneurship, I thought working 18 hours a day would bring me the success I was after...until I realized I didn't even know what success meant to me.
How was I going to work toward something I couldn't even see?? Having a vision is one of the most important tools for an entrepreneur.
If you want to grow your business and stand out, you need to get very clear with what you want. Stop burning yourself and make some real, impactful moves in your life!
What's your vision for your life and business?
So, what do psychology, colours and logos have in common? Well, together they make one kickass logo for your business. Understanding the way your ideal buyer thinks, and how different colours can be used to evoke emotion, you have discovered a very powerful tool.
This is why business owners who use logo templates are missing out on so much!
Let's talk about it in this episode, where I share how I learned this lesson the hard way.
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"All You Need Is Good Design." - Unkown.
Bullshit.
Design, in and of itself, won't do fuck all for your business. That is why your logo sucks. But...it isn't your fault. It's mine. It's the fault of graphic designers who don't what tf they are doing. It's graphic designers who think design can solve problems. The truth is, it can't. At least, not the way that we've been doing it.
The truth is, unless your logo design has been paired with strategy, it's 100% pointless. Actually...I would go as far as to say that it's working against your business. Why? Because your logo is supposed to be the first impression, and without a strategy, that first impression is going to be a little confusing.
For the longest time, I didn't see how strategy and design were related. I was trying to solve my business problems purely through design. I would create interesting graphics for my posts and hope they caught people's attention, and create gorgeous layouts for my website. I learned the hard way that design without a strategy is actually pointless. That's coming from a former graphic designer. Now that I know the truth, I really do feel like every single entrepreneur out there needs to know what I know. "It doesn't matter how good your logo looks, if it doesn't have a strategy behind it, has no purpose."
Your logo should have a purpose. It isn't just something that every business should have because that's what's expected. Every business should have a logo because logos are what set you apart from your competitors and draw the right attention from the right people. I know you've been wanting your business to stand out, so you need to level up your game.
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I get SO many questions about how to design logos and they're always focused on design. While design is a huge part of it, your logo is so much more than that. At least, it should be. Today, I'm going to take you behind the scenes and show you what I tell my clients all the time that helps make a huge difference in their results. Be forewarned, you need to come with an open mindset. Otherwise, this episode will be a waste of time. From myth-busting to turning everything you knew about logo design on your head, this episode is going to be epic.
Craft Your Logo Crash Course
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This week on the "Entrepreneur Talks" podcast, I'm joined with Dave Walcott! 🙌
@dave_wcott is the founder of @pro_dr8, the next-generation sports hydration beverage. This ambitious entrepreneur was featured on Dragons Den Season 13 Episode 8.
I reached out to Dave a couple of months ago for a mentorship opportunity, and the phone call I had with him was mind blowing! 🤯
Since then, he's been such a huge encouragement to me as well as an amazing friend!
I am so honoured to have him as my very first guest on the "Entrepreneur Talks" podcast!
This week on the "Entrepreneur Talks" podcast, I'm joined with Dave Walcott! 🙌
@dave_wcott is the founder of @pro_dr8, the next-generation sports hydration beverage. This ambitious entrepreneur was featured on Dragons Den Season 13 Episode 8.
I reached out to Dave a couple of months ago for a mentorship opportunity, and the phone call I had with him was mind blowing! 🤯
Since then, he's been such a huge encouragement to me as well as an amazing friend!
I am so honored to have him as my very first guest on the "Entrepreneur Talks" podcast!
This week on the "Entrepreneur Talks" podcast, I'm joined with Dave Walcott! 🙌
@dave_wcott is the founder of @pro_dr8, the next-generation sports hydration beverage. This ambitious entrepreneur was featured on Dragons Den Season 13 Episode 8.
I reached out to Dave a couple of months ago for a mentorship opportunity, and the phone call I had with him was mind blowing! 🤯
Since then, he's been such a huge encouragement to me as well as an amazing friend!
I am so honored to have him as my very first guest on the "Entrepreneur Talks" podcast!
"I don't fit in anywhere...I just want a place where I belong. I feel awkward at my corporate job, I never made any true friends in high school and even my family seems distant."
I see you. 🥰
I've been there too.
I didn't know 100% what made me different, but I had a few ideas. Part of it was things I couldn't control like being adopted and having ADHD, and part of it was almost on purpose.
I hated fitting in the mold. The community I was in expected girls to get married super young and have kids.
I'm sorry, but that was not appealing to me at all.
Being a stay-at-home mom wasn't on the bucket list, and neither was the 9to5 rat race.
If you feel lost, it could also be something you can change, but why should you?
You're supposed to feel uncomfortable when you don't fit the mold.
Trust me, you're not missing anything by not being like everyone else. Sure, they might be happy living the way they are, but why should you be happy living the life they are?
Let's talk about it!
Research is hard, especially you go into it without a clear goal. Sure, you have an idea of what you need to be answered, but it's not enough is it? Especially when you've been brainstorming about what your audience needs and you need some research to back up your claims. There's a fine line between being strategic online and falling down the Google rabbit hole. You know, where you sit down at your laptop and open Google, and before you know it. it's been hours and you still have nothing to show for it. When it comes to doing research to learn about your target audience, you need to have a plan. Get that plan on this podcast episode here and now, so you can move the needle forward in your business.
I know that feeling. The urge to work yourself to death just to achieve that lifestyle you've been dreaming of. The frustration you feel when you realize there's something you missed and now you have to backtrack, again. Stop. Just breathe. I know you feel like you started your business late and perhaps, there is also a voice in your head that tells you that you've missed your opportunity. Trust me, you haven't. The fact that you are here now, trying your best is a sign that now is your time. While "missing your opportunity" isn't a valid threat to your success, not putting the research needed to support your business is. There are many reasons why people skip this step, but one of the main ones is the fear that they don't have enough time. This causes them to skip the steps that seem unimportant, like target market research, in order to catch up to their competitors. It isn't worth it. It doesn't work. Working hard doesn't do shit when you don't have a strategy to follow.
Do you know who your customers are? As weird as the question may sound, it’s actually an important one. Too many times, and I’m guilty of this myself, I’ve seen entrepreneurs jump right into business without a second thought to who they are selling to. It’s no wonder they run into problems like, not having enough followers, sales, and awareness of their brand. Take a moment to think about your business. Do you have a clear picture of who you’re selling to? If not, is it possible you may have also skipped this step? While you may not be alone, this is a problem that could break your business.
We use the word 'brand' all the time as entrepreneurs, but do we really know what it means? Having an unclear definition of what a brand is can literally make or break your business. Join me in learning what a brand really is and how to develop a powerful one for your business.
It’s the most frustrating thing you can experience as an entrepreneur. You have invested so much money and time, working towards this goal and nothing ever came from it. You’re having doubts. You’re starting to wonder if you were ever supposed to take this rocky path in the first place. Then your mind drifts to that career opportunity you were presented with a few months ago…” should I have taken that instead?” One thing leads to another and you’re spiraling into a full-on boxing match with your inner self, regretting every single decision you made for your business. It’s not over. That door to success hasn’t been shut...yet. However, this is the most crucial point in your journey as a business owner. You are currently standing in front of 2 options. What will you choose?
Do you ever get to the end of the day and feel like you did absolutely nothing? During the day, you felt like you were really hustling, but when you sit down to recall what you have completed, you start to wonder what you actually accomplished. I used to feel that way a lot, until I started thinking about the way I have been working. Join me in this next episode to learn about how to become more productive.
Something I have been seeing all over social media is this “ultimate millionaire’s morning routine”. It’s a cool idea, but there’s no way a morning routine can make you millions of dollars.... Right?
Yes, but not directly.
The concept behind this routine, if you look at each of the steps, is to improve your overall physical and mental wellbeing. When it comes to being an entrepreneur, there’s something to be said about how the health of your mind and body affects the health of your business.
Learn how to create your own custom morning routine in this episode from Entrepreneur Talks.
Do you find yourself wondering if you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Are you worried that you don't measure up to what an entrepreneur is supposed to be? Stop worrying and start cultivating a successful entrepreneurial mindset in this new episode on becoming an entrepreneur.
Setting goals is a crucial part of your success. Entrepreneurs are so focused on hustling, that they forget to take a step back and actually plan what they are hustling for. While this might seem like I am contradicting myself, let me ask you this:
Have you ever ended a day of work feeling unaccomplished, even though you put in a solid 12 hours of work?
It’s because you are hustling without goals. Goals help you keep your focus on what actually matters. Sure, you may get things done during the day...but are they the right things? Are these tasks actually moving you forward, or have you just gotten stuck in a rut?
In today’s podcast, I’m going to explain why goals are so important and how to set them correctly.
Let's talk about the nitty gritty side of entrepreneurship. I want to be real and talk about what happens before you reach success. Join me as we navigate the world of entrepreneurship together.