The Pursuit of Purpose with Amy Austin: Recent Episodes
Amy M Austin
Purpose as a noun means the reason for which something is done or created. As a verb, purpose is to have as one’s intention or objective. Imagine a world where you and your purpose are aligned. Simon Sinek challenges us to Start with Why. Lead with our intention – through life and business. I believe when you’ve discovered your purpose, daily tasks become easier, and business decisions are made with clarity and confidence.
The Pursuit of Purpose explores how to put your unique purpose to work building an authentic and successful service-driven brand.
Your host, Amy Austin, is a successful entrepreneur, coach and branding strategist. Her experience spans over 20 years and many service industries including healthcare, computer software, and entertainment. Additionally, she leads workshops focused on defining your purpose and using it to build authentic personal and business brands. Our stories start with purpose.
Brand confidence is the result of clarity and consistency.
In episodes 111 and 112, I share the value of being clear and consistent with all aspects of your brand and your business. And the end result of that is brand confidence, the topic of episode 113.
Show notes
If you do a quick search on the power of consistency, you'll find articles about business, habit building, recruitment, personal success, and customer services - just to name a few. I'm going to add marketing and branding to the list.
Clarity paired with consistency are two important elements of building a brand. Clarity of who you are as a business and a brand contribute to clarity in marketing and messaging.
But clarity of branding and marketing will not mean a thing without consistency.
Show notes
Clarity is critical for success in so many aspects of life - ranging from personal to professional. Are you clear on the purpose of your business? Of your life? Do you have clarity on what your brand stands for? Does your audience know and understand what your business can do for them - or that it is for them?
As Brene Brown has said - Clear is kind, Unclear is unkind. A lack of clarity creates more work for your prospective clients, your clients, and your team. Clarity guides decision making and ultimately saves you and your team money, and helps you earn more too.
This episode dives into the areas of marketing and branding where a lack of clarity may be hurting your business.
Show notes
More to the point, where I've been?
Excellent question and one I needed to answer before I was ready to start releasing new content. I've done that - this episode will give you some insight into what I've been doing and why I haven't released a new episode since February.
Show notes
"Am I crazy to have all these different business ideas?" A friend and client asked me this question over coffee recently. No, she is not crazy. She is just full of ideas – and those ideas all happen to be business opportunities.
As you think about acting on all those business ideas swirling around in your head, think about what connects them to the vision of your business. That connection is what I mean by a through line.
If you are feeling as though you have too many business ideas, concerned that people may not understand the connections, or maybe you haven’t recognized the connection yet…. I’m guessing it is there, hiding in plain sight. It’s likely already visible to those around you. You just need to step back and allow it to become visible to you.
My goal at the end of the year was to bring purpose to 2022. I paused production of the podcast, spent time with friends and family, and directed my creative energies to art and the opportunities that have come from it.
How have you started 2022 with purpose?
How hard is it to engage your customers in a conversation? For some businesses, it is easy. And for far too many, it seems to be quite challenging. But why is that?
Is it the desire to be more efficient? Hit a growth target? Achieve arbitrary metrics that may or may not impact the quality of the work or service we provide?
Or is it that we've become too focused on all the internal workings of the business that we've lost sight of the fact without customers, we don't have a business?
Honestly, I think it is a combination of all these factors. Bottom line, engaging customers in a conversation is good for business.
It was a Speaking Your Brand episode that inspired the primary focus of this episode. In a recent keynote address, Carol Cox suggested resistance comes with living your purpose. Resistance or tension comes with anything worth having and that includes living the truth of our purpose. And if we are not feeling one of those maybe we need to dig deeper into our search for purpose.
Resistance can come in internal and external forms. External examples might come from others criticizing or judging you and the way you lean into your purpose. Internal are obstacles we put in front of ourselves such as imposter syndrome, perfectionism, or people-pleasing.
Show notes
What if I told you there were three steps to get better feedback? Three steps that would lessen the stress you feel when faced with a performance evaluation. Carole Stizza has developed a formula that will do just that.
When we go into a performance evaluation or ask for feedback from a client, we often start with a prescribed form. And as a result, we listen to the responses but neglect to ask questions. Carole shares this is often because we view an evaluation as a one-way conversation rather than an open dialog for questions and conversation. Her research lead her to realize when we did ask questions, the questions were too broad or didn't include the context of what would make the responses relevant.
Show notes
What is return on relationship? The purpose of the relationships you have should be considered and reevaluated periodically. Especially after a year like 2020, when relationships of all kinds were pulled in various directions, aligning the value of the relationship with the purpose it serves is more important than ever.
How do you figure out where your relationships stand? Think about the purpose. Is the original purpose of the relationship still valid? Has it evolved over time? Has it diminished? Maybe the purpose or the value of it no longer exists?
In this episode of The Pursuit of Purpose, I discuss how to evaluate the return on relationship for a variety of key relationships in both our personal and professional lives.
Check out the show notes for a variety of resources and a valuable worksheet to assist in determining the purpose of the relationship.
Branding. Marketing. What is the difference? Is there a difference? Everyone has an opinion. Including industry professionals - there isn't a standard definition of either branding or marketing.
Branding is.... Marketing is... There are so many different ideas, opinions, and nuances to these two words. Clients wanting a logo believe they need branding. Is it? Or is it marketing? Or maybe they want a blog written. Is that branding or marketing?
How do you respond when clients ask for services you don’t offer – but they think you do or should?
It is easy to let this question get under your skin or at the very least, start that little voice of self-doubt in your head chattering. Whether you start wondering if you SHOULD be offering the service or if you get anxious wondering how best to respond, a clear and concise understanding of WHY you are offering the services you do will lead you to the best response to these requests.
Do you aspire to be a thought leader in your industry? My guest Carol Cox helps women create a signature talk to put them on the path to thought leadership.
Being a thought leader is about inspiring your audience to dream with you - helping them see your vision of the world and benefit from this newly imagined version of reality. Carol and her team at Speaking Your Brand help women turn their personal stories into inspirational talks.
Show notes
A recent episode of Gary Vee's brought me to the idea of connecting self-awareness to purpose. His core message was that success comes from being self-aware. And I believe success comes from an understanding of our purpose. As I listened more closely to this short episode, I realized the definition of being self-aware and purpose are intertwined.
Also in this episode, I celebrate the 100th episode of The Pursuit of Purpose and share what I've been listening to lately.
Is your fear preventing business success? Does your business have a clearly defined niche? And, if not, are you hesitant to declare one?
If you are in this camp, I’m guessing your thoughts might include some or all these ideas:
- Is this niche too narrow? Will I be leaving an opportunity on the table?
- Will I be giving up potential income?
- My clients need more than what my niche can offer them. If I narrow my scope of work, they will need to look elsewhere for what they believe I should be able to do for them. And prospective clients will skip past me because I don’t do it all.
- I’ve expanded my services to better serve my client’s needs, I can’t walk away from that now. If I do that, I’m letting them down. But …. this additional service does not play to my strengths.
Fear is a weight, holding you and your business in a place of uncertainty, confusion, and frustration.
For more information, check out the show notes.
Connect with Amy Austin on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter
As more and more businesses are moving to online courses and programs, experiential learning has become a hot topic. In this episode, I talk with Romy Alexandra about creating a learning experience to ensure our audiences learn and retain the content of our program.
What is experiential learning?
Experiential learning focuses on the idea that the best way to learn things is by actually having experiences. Those experiences stick out in your mind and help you retain information and remember facts. Alexandra shares the philosophies of David Kolb, a psychologist and educational theorist known for this theory as well as his learning style inventory.
For more about Alexandra, her work, and resources from this episode, check out the show notes.
Follow Amy Austin and Austin Marketing at:
Website
Are you a purpose-led business looking to define success metrics related to your purpose? Do you work with a shared vision and intention but struggle to articulate the role purpose plays in the success and growth of your company?
Many leaders intuitively know there is a benefit to knowing and embracing your brand purpose but have yet articulated the metrics to prove its value. This episode is meant to help you define those metrics.
Resources and connect with Amy via the show notes page
Follow Amy at
Twitter @AmyMAustinMktg
LinkedIn @AmyMAustin
Do your messages leave your audience empowered to take action? The call to action in a marketing message should give them a sense of empowerment, a feeling of confidence that the action they are about to take is the right one.
In the final episode of the encore presentation of the Marketing to educate, engage, and empower, I talk about the value of a clear call to action and empowering your audience to take action.
Download the complimentary worksheets on the show notes page.
Are you engaging your audience in a conversation? Your marketing message should engage your audience in way that makes them want to know more and take the next step - working with you.
Social media has changed the definition of engagement in marketing circles. The number of likes, shares and comments is one aspect of engagement but I don't believe it is the most important aspect.
Be sure to download the complimentary worksheets to apply this strategy to your marketing tactics.
In part two of this marketing strategy series, I talk about the importance of educating your audience. The foundation of any marketing strategy should be the who, what, where, when, why, and how of what you need your audience to know. But too often our desire to be creative gets in the way and we miss several of these key elements.
Be sure to download the complimentary worksheets to help you create marketing messages that educate, engage and empower your audience.
A primary goal of your strategy should be to educate, engage, and empower your audience through your marketing efforts. Because these three words are so important, I encourage all my clients to use these three words as a filter to run all marketing messages through.
This week's Pursuit of Purpose episode is an encore presentation of episode 44, which ran in May 2020.
Saying yes to your true self - your Brave Yes - can be scary and rewarding. My guest, Shawn Fink, helps women move toward embracing their authentic selves.
During our discussion, Shawn and I talk about how difficult it can be to step into our brave yes, the steps necessary to do so, and how fear can get in our way.
Recently I was reminded that asking for help is a strength even though the action itself is hard. This is exactly why it is so important to ask for it when you need it. And I was reminded of the importance of modeling the behavior.
My experience came from my daughter but it could have just as easily come from a co-worker, a client or a direct report. When we are viewed in a leadership role, letting those we lead know we routinely ask for help is equally as important.
This lets them know it is acceptable to ask when you need assistance. As I thought about how hard it was for my daughter to ask for help, I realized she likely didn’t have any idea how often I ask for help.
How can coaching questions benefit your brand? I wouldn't have thought of this either until I heard a recent interview on the Dare to Lead podcast between Brene Brown and Michael Bungay Stanier. As I was listening to him share the seven essential coaching questions, I realized these are very similar to what I ask of clients when helping them define their brand.
When you put yourself in the position of answering his seven questions about your brand, you'll find some insights you may not have considered previously. In the podcast, I share more detail on how I use each of these questions (or a variation) to identify key pieces of the brand equation.
Authenticity is not a brand value. Authenticity is knowing what your brand values and then living them.
Stop using authenticity as a catch-all for what you hope to be… take the time to define the values your brand represents.
By definition, authentic is real or genuine: not copied or false: true and accurate: made to be or look just like an original.
When it comes to branding and marketing, we’ve all heard that consumers today want authenticity from the brands they become loyal to…. Especially if those consumers are Millennials and Generation Z. And those two segments of the population represent 144 million people.
So brands want to be authentic…. Even if they don’t know exactly what that means.
Show notes
"Comparison is the thief of joy," Theodore Roosevelt
How do you respond when you hit a milestone in your business? Do celebrate when you hit a milestone in your business? Or do you compare what others have done to your accomplishments?
Roosevelt's quote is true. When we focus our time and attention on what others are doing, we rob ourselves of the opportunity to celebrate our wins.
We've all been there.... working while anxious about how you are performing. Are you doing the right thing? Are you meeting expectations? Will your boss agree with your assessment? Can you do more?
"When you are anxious, you are thinking about the future. Being able to see the future, or envision what is possible, is a fabulously important skill." And when this vision includes a view of "what if" and "how come," the anxious feeling enters the equation and achievement is rooted in that feeling.
Dr. Susan Bernstein calls this anxious achievement. After pushing herself too hard in management consulting - and passing out during a client presentation, she knew something needed to change. She decided to pursue a PhD in mind/body psychology and help people with career issues.
Daniel Pink digs into whether there is such a thing as perfect timing. His book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing attempts to answer this question and explain how there is more to timing than most of us believe. Holly Adams and I both read the book recently and decided to bring our discussion of it to the podcast this week.
We share our thoughts on larks, owls, and third birds - which we think we are - and other key takeaways from the book.
Is the use of jargon a pro or a con in business? This has been a popular topic lately. And I don't know that there is a right answer.
But first and foremost, you need to know your audience and how well they are going to understand the jargon you fall into using frequently. If you spend a lot of time explaining the words you are using, you might be relying on jargon too often.
Show notes
"Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind." I shared this quote from Brene Brown recently. And just putting it out into the universe has brought so many examples of this to light.
In this episode, I share my thoughts about the variety of ways that uncertainty and the lack of clarity make the task at hand harder - for your audience or yourself. Why do we make things harder than they need to be?
What you’ll hear in this week's episodes are snapshots from the seven most popular interviews that when brought together take you on a journey of purpose, strengths, and how incorporating those into your brand and storytelling efforts reap many rewards. The links for each episode will be included in the show notes.
As I mentioned last week, I spent time looking at the most popular episodes. And what I have found is that my underlying goal is apparent in these interviews. My intention has always been to showcase conversations that either highlight individuals who are living their purpose and how they got there; or those who understand the underlying importance of intentionality with business decisions and how connecting those decisions to the business purpose is critical.
Let's talk about why a brand strategy is important. Having a strategy for your brand saves you from unnecessary work, it helps you make decisions rooted in the purpose of your business, and it offers confidence in the direction your business will go in the future.
Brands are the sum of all experiences with your business. Break that statement down: if brands are the sum of all experiences with your business, then the brand needs to influence all aspects of your business. This means your brand should be a filter you run all business decisions through - whether it is financial, people, operations, or marketing. All decisions need to be checked by brand. Just like finance has a voice, same with human resources, operations, and marketing.
For more information, check out the show notes.
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What is a niche? Niche is an important part of your brand and marketing. And how is a niche different than your target audience? Or is it the same thing? Or part of your target audience?
In this week's episode, I explore the various definitions of niche, how temperament can be a differentiator for our brands, and the benefits of niching down.
Show notes
Listen to The Pursuit of Purpose on these podcast players: * Google: http://bit.ly/POPonGoogle * Spotify: http://bit.ly/POPonSpotify * iHeartRadio: http://bit.ly/POPoniHeartRadio * Stitcher: http://bit.ly/POPonStitcher * Apple: http://bit.ly/POPonApple
Simon Sinek's latest book, The Infinite Game, is about understanding the difference between the infinite mindset and the finite mindset. He recently did an interview with Brene Brown on her podcast, Dare to Lead. It is well worth the time to listen - in fact, I've listened to it twice.
In this week's episode, I share my thoughts regarding this conversation as well as how clarity, consistency, and confidence helped me reach an initial step in a long-term goal.
Show notes
Listen to the Pursuit of Purpose on these podcast players:
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Assessments are all about mapping personal and professional success but when Kristin Sherry wanted more and the answers weren't there - she wrote her own. YouMap®️ reveals the four pillars of career fit: strengths, values, preferred skills and interests.
Kristin Sherry used her strengths to chart a course toward an assessment that not only offered insight into who we are but also give us an action plan on how to use the results.
But this conversation isn't about the assessment or how she did it, it is about WHY Kristin did it.
Show notes
Listen to The Pursuit of Purpose on these podcast players:
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For human resources executive, Kim Hamer supporting your employees with cancer is personal. She has seen firsthand the impact a supportive leader can have on an employee coping either with their own cancer diagnosis or the diagnosis of their loved ones. Kim credits her husband's boss for giving her and her children three more years with Art, her husband, after this first entanglement with cancer.
This experience led Kim to write her book, start her podcast, and redirect her professional energies toward helping managers and leaders be more supportive of their employees. This topic is close to my heart because I have been there and understand how challenging it can be for an employee who has a loved one with cancer. Knowing how and when to be supportive is not easy.
Listen to the Pursuit of Purpose on these podcast players:
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Do you consider the learning styles of your target audience? No. Me neither. Until this week. As if there aren't enough things to consider, learning styles are not typical.
Last week I started teaching a course at a local community college and decided to do a learning style assessment to help me get to know the students better. The results were fascinating - and telling. And the more I thought about these learning styles, the more I wondered how we could use these in determining our communication and content development strategies.
January has been the shortest and the longest month. Christmas seems like yesterday. But the last two weeks have felt like a month or longer.
Why? I started teaching a course at a local community college. Just when the teaching arrangements were finalized, client opportunities started to come again. And like many American's, I decided to focus on my health - so I changed up how I'm eating and participated in the 21-day meditation challenge through Ten Percent Happier. Add to this, life. And I was feeling very overwhelmed by January 30.
In this episode, I share a Brene Brown strategy that helped me overcome or at least manage, the overwhelm. It is the F'ing First Time (FFT).
Successful brands start with trust. As Scott J. Miller starts building his new brand, independent of the Franklin Covey company, it must start on a foundation of trust. Miller recently moved on to become an entrepreneur, focusing on leadership development, keynote speaking, and continuing on as the host of the On Leadership podcast.
One of Miller's goals with starting his own business is teaching his three young sons how businesses operate and that hard work generates success. During our conversation, we talk about why this lesson is important for his boys to learn, our collective thoughts on rebranding, and most importantly, what makes a brand successful.
Don't forget about PR - public relations (not press release).
Public relations is a valuable way to increase brand visibility. In a recent episode of Building a Story Brand, Donald Miller included the press release as one of the key pieces of a campaign. While I agree with him, I believe he was thinking too small. He should have said don't forget public relations. A press release is only part of the public relations effort.
My guest this week, Julie Livingston of Want Leverage Communications, shares how public relations can elevate the presence of a brand but it is not enough to just send out a press release. The way we consume media has grown and evolved over the last 20 years, which means public relations needed to evolve as well.
Brand and branding often are thought of as confusing and frustrating or to go the opposite direction - oversimplified as being only the logo, color, and tagline of a business. Making these five mindset shifts will lead to branding success.
I'd like to say these five mindsets were of my own creative writing and intellect - but that would not be giving credit where credit is due. I found these from a post by dailycreative.io. When I saw their post, I was struck by the truth behind these five mindsets.
In this episode, I provide context to each of these mindsets.
After being asked many times, I'm sharing how I come up with content ideas. When I bumped up my LinkedIn activity from occasional to daily, I needed more ideas than ever before. And before this, I agonized over writing a post to the point it may never be posted.
So how do I find all these ideas? Well, that is a work in progress.
Imagine living a life of possibilities. Viewing each instance, each encounter, each challenge with the mindset of there is always a possibility. Some may say this sounds fluffy. Others may turn their nose up at it. But this attitude, mindset, or, as my guest on this week's podcast calls it - purpose - is vital to her very existence.
Meet Melissa Ciciola
Melissa spent her time during the pandemic doing what many of us have done - reflecting on our lives, searching for answers, reflecting on where she had been and how she got there. But I bet her results are very different than most. She put words to her purpose and is now living her best life as a result.
For more background and resources, check out the show notes.
Over the last 60 days, I've posted daily on LinkedIn.
Back in August, I made the decision to up my game on LinkedIn. The platform has the potential to be a benefit for business development for my business - especially with the pandemic turning traditional networking into a bigger challenge than it was before.
So later that month, I found a LinkedIn strategy course that fit my needs and objectives. I started an accelerated version of the course a couple of weeks later. One of the assignments was to post daily for 30 days... well that turned into 60 consecutive days.
This episode is about what I've learned from the experience.
Financial anxiety. At some point in our lives, we've all faced it. And with the uncertainty of the pandemic happening around the world, many of us are probably living with it currently.
This is where someone like Lindsay Bryan-Podvin can be helpful. Lindsay is a financial therapist.
As we discussed the role of purpose in our money relationship, Lindsay points out that in order to achieve our purpose we need to have money - and that money is necessary for most things in our lives. Money belongs in a neutral space.
Your brand is what is said about you when you are not in the room.
A brand strategy will help you make sure what is said is what you WANT to be said. And to get there, a strategist will help guide the way.
As I’ve talked about before, the brand is a clear understanding of the who, what, where, and when of your business. It is what drives your business. It brings the purpose of the business to life. It is the personality in terms of how you speak and how you make those you serve feel. It is a deep understanding of the problem you solve for those you serve.
Brand strategy is the plan that brings the brand to life. The key role of the brand strategy is to bring the ideal target audience and the business together. And that strategy touches every interaction you have with your audience.
October's favorites are more about looking forward to November than reflecting on the learnings of October. It is about recognizing and honoring those with lung cancer and becoming more aware of how we speak to those with cancer. And it is how we can teach our future leaders to reframe traditional roles - in business and in life.
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. Given my family history of lung cancer, it is important for me to do what I can to raise awareness. This also includes being more aware of how we talk about a person's cancer - by following their lead.
In closing, I reflect on Brene Brown's conversation with Abby Wambach and the role-reframing she presents in the book Wolfpack.
Asking for help is not a weakness - it is a sign of strength.
In this week's episode, I talk about different ways our subconscious tricks us into believing going alone is our best option. Additionally, I share a few suggestions to consider when it comes to getting support or help with our work.
The Jeopardy song. James Earl Jones' voice. The Netflix sound.
Did you hear each of these in your head when you read the words? These sounds represent specific brands. Sounds - whether it is a song, a voice, or a recognized tone - immediately bring something to mind.
Jodi Krangle, my guest on this episode of The Pursuit of Purpose, is a voice artist who helps bring brands to life with her voice. Our discussion focuses on what she wants to know about brands to help her bring her best voice to the brands that hire her.
Check out the show notes for more information.
Content planning is not easy. As I've been working on increasing my presence on LinkedIn and producing the podcast each week, I've found keeping up with content has been challenging. This week has shown me I need a plan.
In this episode, I'm sharing nine tips I'm working to incorporate into my planning to stay ahead and not stress over finding ideas to share.
Are you spending as much time and effort promoting your new service as you did to develop the service? There are five tactics you should include in your next campaign effort.
But all too often we focus our attention on the development and then rush the promotion. As a result, we maybe only do one or two tactics.... and expect that rushed effort to produce results. But does that ever work??
In this episode, I share my thought on five tactical elements to include as well as a rule to live by when it comes to balancing production to efforts.
Bonus campaign worksheet available here.
What do exclusivity and campaigns have in common? More than you'd think - at least I found a way to connect them. Each month I cover a few highlights from the month - sometimes it is sharing something I learned via a podcast or book; other times it is a key takeaway from a client project. This month my focus is on exclusivity of platform, the meaning of campaign in marketing terminology, and a brief update on my progress towards defining my target audience.
Link to show notes and reference materials
My own target audience challenge was called out this week. Maybe saying it was 'called out' is too harsh, but the words "it is not clear who you work with" felt like a gut-punch. Then the waves of guilt, feeling like a fraud, hypocrisy flooded my mind. Classic imposter syndrome.
In this episode, I share my response and the "aha" moments I experienced while working to clarify my own target audience.
There are many business strategies influenced by your target audience. And yet often businesses try to be all things to all people, especially when just getting started. And I admit, I've been there.
In this episode of The Pursuit of Purpose, I cover nine business strategies that benefit from a clear target audience definition - and as a result, your business will benefit too.
Do you really know your target audience? Knowing exactly who you serve has many benefits, one of which is having clarity in the conversations you have with them. In this week's Pursuit of Purpose, Suz Carpenter and I discuss her ideal client avatar - Jessica - and how she keeps Jessica top of mind when creating content, making business decisions and shaping her business model.
Reviews, experiences, and fitting in are the three primary topics for this month's favorites. Each plays a role in building a brand. Starting from a place of purpose and intention will make each of these aspects of business easier.
Don't ignore or stress over reviews.
Customer experience offers opportunities for personalization.
Know what your brand stands for and embrace it.
Bonnie L Frank launched her business through consistent use of live video. We frequently hear that video can lead to greater social media awareness and following, and Bonnie is proof it can lead to big results.
After years of being an influencer, Bonnie decided to build a brand for herself. While it didn't happen overnight, she knew how to create a recognized brand - live video. Some days she would go live seven or eight times!
Today Bonnie is helping clients create visibility on social media platforms and build their brands and businesses. You can find her working from indie coffee houses around St. Louis - and sharing the business lessons she sees in our daily interactions.
Leaning into your brand during a crisis allows you to share and showcase your brand values. Your business will prove it is more than a business. Iowa recently experienced a significant weather event called a derecho. And the path of destruction left for individuals, businesses and government to clean up will forever change the community.
Showing support of the community in times of crisis allows your brand values to be seen in ways not often showcased or known to your customers. The result will raise the loyalty people have to a business over another. And the businesses or brands that are noticeably absent in the community response will also feel the effects of their absence – by way of being absent in the minds of their community later.
Our highlight reel is a reflection of our legacy. When thought of in response to the question "what's on your highlight reel?" it is the destination of the path leading to your future.
During our conversation, we talk about the importance of understanding our personal brands, running opportunities through a brand filter, and recognizing the power saying no. Bonnie's mantra is "Let's find out..." when it comes to how she runs her business, how she coaches her clients and how she approaches life.
Unlearning. As professionals, and as humans, we have habits, thoughts, and routines that would serve us better if we'd unlearn them. What holds us back from being confident in sales conversations? Why do we hesitate when it comes to launching a new product or service? Do we compare ourselves, our skills, our success to others?
Risk aversion. Compare & despair. Imposter syndrome. Scarcity mindset.
We've all heard of these things as potential roadblocks on the path to success. My guest this week, Cachet Bird Prescott, and I discuss how the act of unlearning can have a significant impact on our ability to achieve our goals and reach the level of success we strive for but our own habits and mindset get in our way.
'What ifs' have been popping up around me a lot more frequently this month. Normally this would be my Favorites File episode but I found my thoughts circling around questions and unknowns instead.
So many 'what ifs' lead to more and more questions and potential changes in direction. If one thing is certain during 2020, everything we thought was 'normal' is subject to change. So with this episode, I share a few of the professional questions I'm pondering right now.
Radical soul care is the phrase Krista Resnick, life coach, uses to guide women to uncover who they truly are – they are not the book they wrote, the trophy they won, or the car they drive. Those are things but not your identity.
Purpose is much deeper than that. It is in your DNA and it never changes. Krista and I agree with this point. The difference between us is HOW we put the purpose to work for our clients. Krista’s emphasis is on her client’s life. Mine is on my client’s brand.
Clarity, consistency, and confidence are three words you've heard a lot from me and will continue to hear. As I kick off the second year of podcasting, I spend some time in episode 51 reflecting on how the last year of podcasting has reinforced the value of these three words in the work I do and how I live my life.
Empathy in marketing may seem like the new buzzword, the new shiny object to grab our attention. But for me, it has been foundational throughout my career. In fact, I cannot imagine a successful marketing strategy that doesn't, in some way, tap into empathy.
As a society today, the pandemic and racial inequities are prompting many brands to reflect on their values and tap into empathy in ways they have not needed before. Will the responses be honest and relevant or will it be a gesture to be seen as trite and superficial? Time will tell.
How are you doing with diversity in marketing? Have you made an effort? And if so, are you acknowledging diversity in a way that shows you know and understand your audience.
I think the best way to bring diversity to your audience, in a way that is authentic to your business, is to review your target audience. Look at it through the lens of people of color, the LGBTQ community, of people with disabilities, and people from different generations. It will not be easy work, and you might find things you don't like about how you've done things in the past - but push through. When you look at your brand as someone other than yourself or those like you, you will see an opportunity.
23 leadership lessons in 25 minutes is my summary of 90 ideas in 90 minutes hosted by the Corridor Business Journal on May 28, 2020. On this episode of The Pursuit of Purpose, I share 23 leadership lessons shared by these leaders - and offer my take on the meaning and identify the unifying theme I recognized after spending the day reflecting on the messages. Additionally, I recommend a couple of podcasts for you to check out.
Empowerment is created by building confidence in your ability to respond. This is what we want our marketing tactics to do. Whether it is messaging for a specific tactic or building the overarching image of your brand, you want your audience to be confident in their decision to build a relationship with you and your brand.
This episode of The Pursuit of Purpose focuses on the empowerment element of the three-part framework I use with clients to build out their messages. Empowerment is your call to action. It is about your audience feeling knowledgeable and equipped to make the decision that is right for them as it relates to working with you.
Engagement is more than likes and shares, downloads, comments, or other forms of actions taken as a result of a marketing message. That definition is typically top of mind for most marketing efforts. I am going to challenge you to think of engagement as more.
Over the last two episodes, I've talked about using educate, engage, and empower as checkpoints for your marketing strategies. In this episode, I share how to create an engaging story and start a conversation with your audience.
Download a helpful worksheet on at https://austinmarketingoncall.com/engagement-more-than-likes/
When you bring education to your marketing tactics, you ensure you are covering all the bases of what your audience needs to know about you, your services, and why they need you.
Have you considered that your marketing efforts are a form of education? We need our audience to learn about us, what we stand for, how we can help them solve their problem, and continue coming back to us. This starts with education.
In episode 44, I introduced the idea of using education, engagement, and empowerment as the three E's to create a successful marketing strategy. In this episode, I take a deeper look at education and what details to consider when evaluating your tactic's ability to educate your audience.
The goal of marketing is to educate, engage, and empower the people you want to reach. I encourage you to use those three words as a checkpoint for the effectiveness of your efforts.
Each is a layer needed to achieve a goal. Educate is the backbone. Engage is the mind. And empower is the movement directed by the brain and allowed through the backbone. Each layer adds to the impact.
The last six weeks have been anything but predictable and certainly not the normal as we’ve come to enjoy. But is it a change for the better?
I think there are several things that have changed that will continue going forward as we move past the pandemic and into the “new normal” we’ll live in going forward. I share my thoughts in this episode.
Content marketing strategy is important, now more than ever. Your customers and clients still need you - but maybe in a different way or a different timeframe than before the pandemic.
This week's guest on The Pursuit of Purpose is Michelle Hunter of Michelle Hunter Creative. Like me, Michelle believes now is not the time to be silent in our marketing efforts. We need to be supportive and empathetic to the situation we are all in but we also need to be strategic in how we continue to market our businesses.
Show notes
There comes a time when video documentation of your stories and business important. But how do you do that? And when do you do it?
During my conversation with Jillian and Matt Love of Love Creative, we talk about the importance - especially in times of crisis or transition - of capturing the events happening in your business. Often the value of these stories will mean much more to your brand than you realize at the moment. And once the moment has passed, you can not get it back.
How does a business know when to pivot? Typically a pivot occurs when a company makes a fundamental change after determining its product isn't meeting the needs of its intended market.
And this pandemic may be the reason your product or service isn't meeting those needs. If you are considering a pivot, it is important to revisit your business strategy and be intentional in the changes you decide to make.
March has not gone as planned. The Covid 19 virus made sure of that. And as such productivity and first times for a lot of things have been top of mind for most people.
I'm revisiting the idea of productivity shame and tender discipline - because I have been practicing that concept a lot over the last two weeks. And I introduce you to Brene Brown's FFT strategy - f'ing first time. Because, let's face it, we are all dealing with that right now.
During times of uncertainty, it is always a good idea to be intentional. This may seem challenging when so much feels out of our control.
This week's episode focuses on 6 ideas to help you be more intentional and thoughtful as we navigate these uncharted waters of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This past week our collective lives went from routine to frantic almost overnight as the country shifted from an observer to an active participant in the Covid-19 pandemic.
And those of us in the small business space, whether owner, employee, or solopreneur, are left wondering what the coming weeks will look like for our business.
After seeing a Facebook post from my friend and colleague, Brook Easton, about the social media coaching she was doing with their clients, I invited her to have that conversation with me on the podcast this week.
Are you setting boundaries for your brand? Boundaries are just as important for your brand as they are for business/client relationships or your personal work/life balance.
Established boundaries help clearly communicate expectations, roles, responsibilities and rules - all which lead to respect. Respect for your time, talents, resources, and you individually.
Show notes
In the February Favorites File, we talk about how statistics & data are used in marketing decisions, the challenges of branding facing the Royal family as Meghan and Harry move away from royal life, and my reading list.
"I'm too busy." "My to-do list has a mind of its own." As busyness has become more and more accepted as the "norm," have you thought about how busyness impacts culture and brands?
In this episode of The Pursuit of Purpose, James Mayhew and I talk about how busyness reaches beyond the individual who is busy and creates business challenges far bigger than the tasks themselves.
Show notes
Is your ideal target audience in your stories? Are you recognizing your ideal target audience when you see them?
If you answered no to those questions, you are not alone. It is not all that uncommon for businesses to believe they do all things for all people or have a much broader target audience then you can actually serve.
In this episode of The Pursuit of Purpose, we talk about the importance of recognizing your ideal target audience, why it is important for them to see themselves in your stories and messages, and the value of empathy in branding.
For the resources mentioned in this episode, check out the show notes.
"Customer experience is proactive. Customer service is reactive." This quote from Joey Coleman, author of the Wall Street Journal #2 Bestselling book Never Lose a Customer Again, has helped provide me with much-needed clarity regarding the difference between experience and service.
Having that context of one being proactive, meaning anticipating and creating the experience we want our clients to have, is impactful to our businesses. Why wouldn't we want to do that? And as he says, businesses routinely hire for customer service but only occasionally hire for customer experience.
Join us for a conversation about how simply understanding your customers can begin moving them from an occasional purchaser to a lifelong customer.
Branding, motivation and a legend - the thread connecting these three ideas is purpose. An authentic brand is rooted in purpose. Motivation is a result of a clear understanding of purpose and a desire to put it into action. And a legend, such as Kobe Bryant, used his purpose to guide him daily.
For more information and the resources mentioned in this episode, check out the show notes.
When was the last time a brand experience with a brand excited you? Do you think your brand is exciting your customers? To help you do that, here are three tips to improve the customer experience.
Our customer's opinions about their experience with our business can make or break the business. Are they raving fans or raving critics? Customer experience is proactive. Customer service is reactive.
Read more on the show notes.
Your strengths are your stories. And how you tell your stories makes a big difference in how the story is received.
In this episode of The Pursuit of Purpose, I talk with Sarah Elkins of Elkins Consulting, about how bringing context and understanding to your storytelling creates shifts for both you, as the storyteller, and the audience.
My key takeaways from the conversation are:
- how context changes the impact of our stories
- learn to maximize our strengths in communications
- the power of story in creating credibility and trust
- know your audience and the circumstances
It is not uncommon to see businesses jump into implementing tactics they THINK are going to solve their problems, however, tactics before strategy rarely work.
In this episode, we cover the three things you should know about your business before tactics such as websites, videos or ads should be developed. Additionally, we break down 10 different types of stories you should know about your business.
Click here for show notes.
In the December Favorites File, we'll discuss the brillance of Benjamin Zander and The Art of Possibilities. "Your job as a leader is to awaken the possibility in others." It doesn’t matter what your job is or the relationship you have to that individual, encouraging others to see the possibilities makes a positive impact.
Next we'll explore the connection between our personalities and building our brand, specifically looking at the role of the Myers-Briggs and enneagram personality assessments.
This will be the last episode for 2019. New episodes return the week of January 6, 2020.
Aligning purpose and work can have a tremendous impact on your job satisfaction, performance and overall well-being. And these three results are good for business.
As a business owner, it is important to have satisfied and high-performing team members. Employee satisfaction and performance can be enhanced through professional development opportunities, which include helping the person grow as an individual, as well as their craft.
Episode 26 of The Pursuit of Purpose focuses on the benefits of attending our retreat and finding your why on January 23, 2020. Tickets and more information can be found here.
Color matters in branding because it initiates feelings. And those feelings become associated with our brands. So the strategic selection of colors helps solidify our brand in the minds of our customers.
Do your homework when planning your brand colors and make sure the feelings associated with the color you select aligns with the feelings and values you WANT to be associated with your brand.
What does Wil.i.am and You've Got Mail have in common? As I see it, my November Favorites and excellent business insights.
Becoming epic will mean different things to different people but to Wil.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, epic means compounding the impact of opportunities when possible.
"You've Got Mail" offers a reminder that business always has a personal element to it - no matter how big or small the business may be.
South Dakota's new public service campaign about the methamphetamine problem in the state has captured the attention of people across the country - because of the creative direction of the campaign. "Meth. I'm on it." Some people see it as a huge joke and not helping the solve the problem it is supposed to address. Some believe it is a success - because people are talking about it. What do you think?
Show notes
Burnout and purpose may not seem logical but there is a connection.
We hear about burnout regularly - whether it is the signs, symptoms, the prevalence in one profession or another. As our society continues to value 24/7 availability, instant gratification, and short term goals/gains, burnout will exist. These three expectations push us into productivity shame.
When we start to look at suggested strategies to overcome burnout, the connection to purpose becomes more apparent.
Click here for show notes.
Being a caregiver and running a business is not easy. It isn't impossible but it most certainly isn't easy.
And as I found out while putting together this episode, there isn't a lot of information out there to offer guidance when facing this situation. Or if there is, it is hidden under a different string of words than I used in my search.
In the end, I decided to share a combination of ideas that have enhanced and shape the way I do business today as well as a few things to be aware of should you find yourself caring for a loved one while trying to keep your business moving forward.
This episode was done in honor of National Family Caregiver Month and National Lung Cancer Awareness Month. My hope is this information will help someone else who is trying to balance their business, their family and caring for someone they love very much - whether that be a parent, a child, a sibling or a friend.
More information and resources in the shownotes
It's already time for the October Favorites File. While naming, productivity and reviews may seem random, intentionality and purpose is an underlying theme with all three. To keep these actionable tips close by I've created a helpful summary to print and reference whenever you need it.
What's in a name?
Names are one of the most repeated parts of your brand - whether it is your brand name, or the name of a product or a service you offer - it is important to make your selection wisely. In episode 247 of The Marketing Book Podcast, Douglas Burdett interviews Alexandra Watkins about her book "Hello, My Name is Awesome!"
Let's talk productivity
Jocelyn K. Glei talks with Dan Harris on episode 207 of The 10% Happier podcast about how to overcome productivity shame through practicing heart-centered productivity and a healthy dose of tender discipline.
Do you really want 5 Star reviews?
Did you know that our brains are wired to resist being sold to? Yes, it is true. And 82% of people seek out negative reviews when making an online purchase. Todd Caponi discusses this with Douglas Burdett on episode 226 of The Marketing Book Podcast. He is the author of The Transparency Sale.
Read the show notes here.
Do you know your strengths? Have you heard people talking about their top five and wondered what they were talking about? In this episode of The Pursuit of Purpose, we'll uncover the importance of your top five - your Strength Finder's top five.
What's the top five? If you've taken the CliftonStrength's profile, the top five strengths identified of the 34 ranked are your signature strengths. Approximately 1 in 33 million - that's roughly the odds that someone shares the exact same sequence of the top five as you.
Your greatest opportunity for professional development comes from knowing your strengths and improving upon them rather than focusing on your weaknesses. My guest on this episode - Arica Ohloff - has built her coaching business around helping her clients understand how to maximize their strengths and understand how your strengths work with others in your life - whether it be family, friends or colleagues.
Arica helps me understand how my key strengths influence my life and fulfill the HOW in my WHY Golden Circle. Additionally, we talk about how our strengths can be perceived negatively by others who are not strong in those same areas - and how those responses can result in us trying to hide those traits.
About Arica Ohloff Arica has been living out her calling as a Women’s Business and Leadership Coach for the last seven years. She is missioned to inspire others to live a more fulfilling life and is passionate about helping others grow into a more confident version of themselves by developing their unique God-given strengths and empowering them to pursue their full potential.
Arica lives in North Liberty with her 4-year-old son, Dawson Dean and her 9-year-old Tiny Teddy Bear dog, Bella. She loves to play and watch sports, enjoys spending time outside with her son, reading developmental and leadership books and traveling with her family.
Connect with Arica:
- www.aricaohloff.com
Always pursuing purpose,
How often do you find yourself focused more on your competition than your own business? And does that cause you to lose track of what is important or become stressed? Or even frustrated with where your business is in terms of market share or profitability? Comparison is a thief.
What would happen if you shifted your thinking and viewed the competition as a worthy rival - someone or something that makes you want to continue to get better, regardless of the timeframe or circumstances?
In this week's episode of The Pursuit of Purpose, I talk about how this shift in mindset can make a big impact on our lives and our business. It is about staying true to your purpose - your WHY - and knowing when you are in a finite game or an infinite game.
Resources mentioned in this episode: * Simon Sinek's website * The School of Greatness podcast interview with Simon Sinek * Entreleadership podcast interview with Simon Sinek * Bernadette Jiwa * Show notes
Do you achieve an ROI for sponsorships and memberships that you engage in for your business? Is the money you put toward these activities an investment or an expense?
If you are questioning whether that membership or sponsorship - or even a conference - is worth the money, think about how the opportunity aligns with the values, goals and the PURPOSE of your business.
In this episode, I share some points to consider when evaluating the value of sponsorships and memberships. It is not uncommon to question whether you've made the best decision. Here is a starting point to determine the return on investment. A worksheet of things to consider when working through those decisions is available for download on in the show notes at http://austinmarketingoncall.com/roi-for-sponsorships-and-memberships/
Other resources include:
- How to calculate ROI for sponsorships
- How to effectively your event sponsorship ROI
- Send the right message about membership ROI
- Proving ROI of memberships and sponsorships
What is appreciative inquiry?
At its heart, AI is about the search for the best in people, their organizations, and the strengths-filled, opportunity-rich world around them. AI is not so much a shift in the methods and models of organizational change, but AI is a fundamental shift in the overall perspective taken throughout the entire change process to ‘see’ the wholeness of the human system and to “inquire” into that system’s strengths, possibilities, and successes.
– Excerpt from: Stavros, Jacqueline, Godwin, Lindsey, & Cooperrider, David. (2015). Appreciative Inquiry: Organization Development and the Strengths Revolution. In Practicing Organization Development: A guide to leading change and transformation (4th Edition), William Rothwell, Roland Sullivan, and Jacqueline Stavros (Eds). Wiley
My guest, Stacey Margaret Jones, calls it an elegant methodology. And after our conversation, I understand why. Appreciative inquiry focuses on the positive and getting in touch with what makes the organization a great place for those who work there.
The positives about your business impacts: * culture * employee morale * employee recruitment and retention * brand (both internal and external perceptions) * and customer experience.
About Stacey Margaret Jones: Stacey Margaret Jones is a market research consultant in central Arkansas, who has worked with regional and national organizations on custom research studies to provide the foundation of comprehensive and targeted communications campaigns. Her consultancy, Ariel Strategic Communications, celebrated its 10th year in March 2019, and her research has been used for award-winning and effective campaigns by nonprofits, universities, health systems, retail, educational, transportation and professional organizations, among others. She holds a master's of science in communications management from Syracuse University and a master's of fine arts in creative writing from the University of Central Arkansas, along with her bachelor's degree in elementary education and English from Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D. She's an adjunct instructor at UCA and a published novelist who likes to travel and run marathons and half-marathons. She lives in Conway, Arkansas, with her retired medievalist husband and four dogs.
As she says during the interview, we deal with problems all the time so taking 90 minutes to focus on the good the organization does is good for everyone involved.
As always, pursue your purpose,
Resources from this episode: * Learn more about appreciative inquiry * Stacey M. Jones on LinkedIn * Stacey's recently released novel: Mr. Catherine * Previous episodes of The Pursuit of Purpose
What do the infinite game, context and being indispensable have in common? These are all part of my favorite learnings in September.
Podcasts, books and quotes 1. Simon Sinek's new book, The Infinite Game, will be released in mid-October. As part of the book promotion, Sinek is on the interview circuit talking about the concepts of the infinite and finite games. In business, we should focus on the infinite game but many business owners/leaders tend to focus on the finite game instead. It is easier to set metrics and manage expectations in a specific timeframe. This interview from the Entreleadership podcast is the perfect introduction to his new book. 2. Let's talk about context. Context is the difference between a good message and a great one. When we take into consideration the context of the situation our customers are facing when needing our services, we are able to relate with them better, therefore speaking to them with more relevance. After my conversation with Zach Messler (Episode 14), I did some work on my own messaging with him. It is always good to get outside advice. 3. What makes us indispensable? In his interview featured on Entreleadership, Seth Godin discusses the increasing role of artificial intelligence in society and what it means to us. 4. And the last key learning this month comes from a neighbor offering advice on finding balance in our lives.
Always in pursuit of purpose,
Three steps to a killer message. Zach Messler has fine-tuned this methodology. What is it? What does it do? And why does it matter? Define those three steps and you have the start of a killer message for your business.
We all know what we do but when don't understand why it matters, can we relate to our audience? Probably, but Zach simplifies the process and helps put it in context.
What to expect in this episode? "Connecting the core value of your product with the core value of your customer" leads to context and clarity of message development.
Know your target audience and remember they are humans. Get to know them in the same way we do new people in our lives. Learn about them, what they like, what they don't. This effort can shape your messaging and make it more relevant to them. They will see themselves in your words and feel as though you are talking directly to them.
To have a killer message, the message needs to be clear, compelling and convincing.
Learn more about Zach Zach spent 20 years focused on product marketing for B2B tech, teaching non-technical sales pros to explain complex software to executive buyers. And, it’s where he came up with a simple methodology that makes your message clear, compelling, and convincing.
About a year ago, he left the corporate world for good so he could help more people.
Today, he helps entrepreneurs and growing tech companies know what to say and how to say it so they can make a bigger impact on the world…and their wallets. * www.zachmessler.com * LinkedIn * Join The Killer Message group * Twitter
One thing I can guarantee about this conversation with Zach, you will smile. Our conversation was filled with laughter and fun but it is jam-packed with value.
As always, pursue your purpose daily,
Building What Works, both the podcast and the online network, represents the culmination of 10 years of entrepreneurship for Tara McMullin. While the path has not been a direct route to where she is now, it is not far from what she had envisioned at the start of the journey.
In this episode of The Pursuit of Purpose, Tara and I discuss
- how her purpose and intentionality guides both business and personal decisions
- how the realization her status and notoriety had moved her away from her true purpose for her business and the changes she made to bring her back to the original vision
- the process she and her team use to make sure decisions are in alignment with the overall purpose
- her view of The What Works podcast as a product rather than a piece of content
- And challenges us to think about where are we willing to be fully present and what does that mean to us?
"With the business, the purpose is upholding transparency and honesty, and just getting smart people to talk about smart things. And that is really what my personal life is about to."
Tara McMullin
About Tara: Tara McMullin is a podcaster, writer, and small business community leader. With over a decade of experience helping thousands of small business owners grow their businesses, she’s on a mission to change the dialogue about what’s really working from hype to candid conversation.
She’s the host of the What Works podcast, a top small business podcast that’s been recommended by Forbes and Entrepreneur, as well as the founder of The What Works Network, a community hub for small business owners. She’s also a bestselling Money & Life instructor on CreativeLive. Her work has been featured on Fast Company, Inc, Daily Worth, and The Huffington Post.
Always pursue your purpose,
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin
- What Works network and podcast
- The Power in Purpose with Candice Coppola; interview with Rhiannon Bosse
- The August Favorite's File. Tara's podcast is among my favorites!
Brand strategy is important but is often considered an unnecessary task or busy-work. This couldn’t be further from the truth. A brand strategy, especially when it is interlocked with your business strategy, can make your day-to-day life as a leader, owner, or entrepreneur so much easier.
Why is a brand strategy important? I believe when you have a brand strategy outlined or documented, you have a foundation to come back to whenever you need to make decisions about your business. Brand should be included the same as you’d take into account financial considerations, staffing, or capacity. If what you are about to do doesn’t MATCH or FIT within your brand strategy – your audience is going to notice. And when they notice something before you do, that is never good.
Your brand should also align with the overall purpose of your business – it is a reflection of the intention or objective of your business. Again without a defined brand strategy, your purpose can get lost or becomes a blur – and then when you have leaders in your organization making decisions, they aren’t as in tune with company purpose. The risk is again your audience noticing the mismatch.
Three helpful examples In this episode of The Pursuit of Purpose, I share with you three scenarios where having a defined brand strategy can help guide your message development as well as your path to purposeful decision making.
- Business development and prospecting
- Preparing to pivot and how to talk about it
- Bringing on staff or additional help
Brands are the sum of all experiences with your business.
Derrick Daye, Branding Strategy Insider
Don’t let your desire to get something out into the world – a tactic – take the place of strategy. It takes time and some soul-searching but in the end, the work will be worth it, and future work will be managed more efficiently and effectively.
As always, be actively pursuing your purpose,
Resources from this episode: * Branding Strategy Insider – this website is FULL of excellent information – I highly recommend you bookmark it for future reference. * Elements of brand are featured past episodes in Branding is a Verb and Characterizing your brand * Related blog posts include: + Educate. Engage. Empower. Keys to a marketing strategy + Use education to improve your marketing strategy + Branding is a verb + Brand is more than a logo
What does friction, a purposeful life, and audio branding have in common? Probably nothing more than making my list of favorites for August.
This month flew by but not without some great educational or thought-provoking ideas catching my attention.
Purpose and intention is the connection. Here is what you'll hear about in Episode 11 of The Pursuit of Purpose. As a reminder, each month I share what I've listened to, what I've read and other resources that have helped me navigate the month.
- Friction: The Untapped Force That Can Be Your Most Powerful Advantage by Roger Dooley. Episode 237 of The Marketing Book Podcast. "Friction is a multi-trillion dollar problem. It frustrates customers, costs you sales, reduces loyalty, and creates negative word-of-mouth. Inside your organization, it destroys productivity, reduces employee engagement, and increases turnover. In Friction, you'll learn how to spot it, how to eliminate it, and occasionally use it to your advantage."
- The Miracle Morning for Parents and Families by Mike & Lindsay McCarthy with Hal Elrod. Purposeful parenting is listed as the first skill necessary to be an exceptional parent. As I read this section, the parallels to leadership were apparent. Each of the four steps outlined to become more purposeful in our parenting can easily be applied to business development.
- Regardless of where we are in our business, confidence is still a factor in our day-to-day lives. The Candid Confidence project offered by the What Works Network has deepened the conversation around confidence - whether you are just getting started or have been in business for several years. The podcast episodes in this project include: 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, and 231.
- Audio selection is an element of our brand. Who knew that listening to Gretchen Rubin's Happier would result in this golden nugget? Not only is the title of the episode a good reminder for us all (consider the company that someone keeps), she shares her fascination with the podcast 20,000 Hertz, including a reference to the episode titled Soundmarks. To add build out the importance of audio to your brand, I found this about the five benefits of audio branding.
- And I close with a quote I found thought-provoking as well as close to my heart. You'll have to listen to learn more about it.
Check out last month's Favorites File and download the full list of my recommended podcasts and books.
Be sure to practice your purpose this week,
Aligning finance and purpose can be beneficial to the health of your business. Does the purpose of your business influence your financial decisions? If scaling your business is in your future, do you have a plan to achieve those goals?
Christina Sjahli, Cash Flow Consultant and host of Her CEO Journey podcast, and I chat about putting your purpose to work in your financial decisions.
We discuss the three-step scale for driving business success to scale from 6 to 7 figures or 7 to 8 figures. The steps include:
- laying the foundation
- optimizing cash flow
- financial management and creating a vision and long-term strategy
Having a financial plan built on the vision of your business brings you closer to achieving your goals.
About Christina Sjahli:
Christina Sjahli is a Chief Financial Officer and Cash Flow Consultant. Having spent 20 plus years as an auditor, a consultant and part of the executive management team for international companies, she knows exactly how critical cash flow is to the success of any business. She is on a mission to shift the fear of finance to a new perspective that finance is S.E.X.Y, specifically for female entrepreneurs. For more information about Christina and the work she does with clients, visit her on one of the links included below.
My key takeaway was the permission Christina gives all of us to change our financial plan. Just because it is written down doesn’t mean it is written in stone. Adjust your plan as you need to in order to meet the here and now but keep the ultimate goal in mind. Always pursuing our purpose,
Addition resources:
- From 6 to 7 Figures OR 7 to 8 Figures: 3 Steps to Scale Your Business Successfully
- Christina Sjahli on LinkedIn
- Christina Sjahli on Facebook
- https://www.christinasjahli.com/
- Her CEO Journey podcast The business finance podcast for women entrepreneurs – Christina and her guests explore the financial and business challenges women face on the entrepreneurial journey to success.