The Capable Collective Podcast: Recent Episodes
Ellie McBride
How can I earn more from my business without working longer hours? How can I spend more time with my family alongside running a business? How do I set up a website? How much should I charge for my services? Do I have to be on every social media platform? How do I stop procrastinating and get more done? How can I market my business in a way that feels good?
I answer all of these questions and more. Host Ellie McBride and experts guests share tips, advice and strategies to help women (female-identifying or non-binary) find ease and enjoyment in running a business.
In this episode, Ellie interviews Eve Earley, an American living in Ireland, about her journey as a business owner and the impact of their collaboration over the years. They discuss Eve's transition to Ireland, her approach to teaching creativity through workshops, and the importance of connections.
Eve shares insights on career counseling, finding creativity in unexpected places, and the power of systems and templates in business. The conversation delves into setting boundaries, timezone challenges, the evolution of Eve's business, and the joy of helping people discover their potential.
Tune in for an inspiring discussion on embracing change and building a supportive community.
In this video, I share my guiding principle for business success: keeping things simple.
I discuss how simplicity can make a big difference for small business owners, especially when feeling overwhelmed or unsure of how to proceed.
I provide examples of how I apply this principle in my own business, such as using templates, outsourcing tasks, and focusing on what truly moves the needle. By asking ourselves how we can make things simple and fun, we can achieve greater impact and better serve our community.
Ellie interviews Wivi-Anne Nyberg, a yoga teacher with over 20 years of experience. Wivi-Anne shares her journey from a high-stress corporate career to finding solace in yoga and Ayurveda, leading her to teach and empower others in their holistic living. The conversation delves into Wivi-Anne's transition to the digital space, the challenges she faced, and the transformation in her business with the help of Ellie's expertise. Tune in to learn how Wivi-Anne's business thrives with simplicity, balance, and a passion for empowering others.
It was great to bring Mel Wiggins back onto the show to discuss the evolution of Mel's business, starting from gathering creative women in 2016 to establishing a partnership called Embodied Leadership.
We chat about our arework together and the significance of using systems like Asana and Acuity to streamline operations, allowing Mel to focus on higher-level tasks and grow her business effectively.
Let's discuss how I streamlined my processes, automated client hand-holding, improved consistent communication, provided a clear dashboard for tracking my business, enabled lead tracking, and saved me time and headspace. Watch the video to learn more about how a CRM can transform your business.
These 5 side effects include having a brain that always feels full, accidentally dropping the ball, miscommunication, making less money, and having no CEO time. I provide examples and explain how these side effects can impact your business.
Let's discuss the importance of small businesses focusing on what they are good at and not getting caught up in administrative tasks and marketing. I explain how automating certain processes, such as client care emails and appointment scheduling, can free up time for entrepreneurs to work in their zone of genius. By delegating or automating other aspects of their business, entrepreneurs can focus on what makes them unique and valuable to their customers.
Let's address the common misconception that small business owners are too disorganized to simplify and automate their businesses. I share my personal experience and offer solutions to tackle messy file systems, overflowing inboxes, client onboarding/offboarding, creating templates, and making marketing more consistent.
I also highlight the importance of embracing the chaos and being proud of the growth you've achieved. No matter how messy your business may seem, I'm here to help you simplify and streamline.
So will sorting your systems make you more money?
Imagine once you've simplified client care, marketing processes, scheduling, file management, project management and more.
How much more time you have to make money? How much better boundaried you are with your clients? How much more consistently you're showing up? So they're referring to you because working with this person was super smooth sailing.
👉 Take my free quiz to figure out where to start in creating a simple business: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/62f390a9bb3d6200188d871e
What would you do with an extra five hours a week? What would you do with all that extra time? With that extra energy? With that extra space, that flexibility?
What would you do if when you stepped away from your computer and you got a potential new client or a lead, or you got a new sale, or a new email subscriber or new community member?
And you knew that person would be taken care of just as well as if you were sitting at your computer. You knew that they would receive the right welcome, the right hand holding, the right reminders for onboarding processes or the reminders to leave that review on the product they've just purchased and it would feel warm and on brand and as if you were there for the business.
👉 Take my free quiz to figure out where to start in creating a simple business: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/62f390a9bb3d6200188d871e
It's a really common thing I hear from small business owners where they think, “Okay, if I put up systems, put in systems, I won't be able to create the way that I want to.”
People will often conflate being creative with being disorganized.
The clients that I've had over the years, they’ve found that the opposite is true.
👉 Take my free quiz to figure out where to start in creating a simple business: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/62f390a9bb3d6200188d871e
Is imposter syndrome creeping up because you feel like you don’t have your shit together behind the scenes?
This is a sentiment that comes up a lot.
I guess it's that people often feel like they're not really a business owner because their back end, their operations, the way that they do business feels messy or feels maybe not professional enough or not together enough, right?
That's really, really, really normal.
👉 Take my free quiz to figure out where to start in creating a simple business: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/62f390a9bb3d6200188d871e
Join host Ellie McBride in a lively YouTube live interview as she sits down with Minal Patel, the founder of Marketing by Minal, to delve into the exciting world of email marketing. Minal will share her expertise on successfully driving traffic to your email list and, more importantly, guiding that traffic back to your website to convert into sales.With her firm belief that marketing is akin to cooking, Minal brings a fresh perspective to the table. Drawing from her 20+ years of marketing experience, she understands the recipe for success lies in having the right ingredients, tools, and practice. Minal's practical and actionable tips have empowered countless small business owners to find their inner marketer and avoid the dreaded cycle of marketing mishaps.If you're looking to take your email marketing game to the next level, this interview is a must-watch. Minal will reveal strategies, tactics, and insights that will help you not only grow your email list but also maximize its potential by driving valuable traffic back to your website.
Ellie sits down with Emma Greer, a talented copywriter and content writer hailing from Northern Ireland and now based in Glasgow, Scotland. Emma shared her expertise in creating captivating website copy that leaves a lasting impression.
As a skilled copywriter, Emma understands the power of words in conveying the personality, values, and unique offerings of service providers. Through her website copywriting, blog writing, and article writing services, she helps businesses make a splash with every word they use to promote their brand. By attracting their dream clients through compelling and engaging content, Emma's clients are able to showcase their true essence and stand out in the competitive online landscape.
During this discussion, Ellie and Emma dive into the secrets of crafting persuasive and impactful copy for websites and explore strategies to infuse personality into your words while maintaining a strong focus on the needs and desires of the target audience.
We're diving into the world of podcasting and how it can supercharge your website.
My guest, Amanda Sloan, is an award-winning content creator, podcast enthusiast, and multi-passionate entrepreneur from Thankful Cow Solutions.
Amanda is not just a talented writer and podcast host but also the Founder and Co-Creator of Geek Herring Productions. She's all about making podcasting accessible to everyone through her courses and services.
Hosted by Ellie McBride, a website expert and amateur podcaster from Calibrated Concepts.
You don't want to miss Amanda Sloan's insights and Ellie McBride's expertise. Whether you're a seasoned podcaster or new to the game, this interview will empower you to harness the podcasting wave and take your website to new heights.
As a renowned brand photography expert, Karen knows the art of creating a deep connection with your target audience through visually captivating branding.
Whether you're running a service-based or product-based business, having a curated collection of impactful images that align with your vision and values is essential for effortless business growth. Discover the power of confidently showcasing your brand, attracting your ideal community, and unlocking your full potential with Karen's expert insights.
I can’t wait for you to watch this powerful conversation about what makes impactful website photos!
Peter and Ellie delve into the powerful fast track of paid digital advertising and how it can drive website success. Learn how to leverage digital ads for maximum impact on your website's performance.
My special guest is Peter Doak of PDG Advertising, a dynamic agency that has achieved remarkable growth since its inception in June 2017. With an impressive roster of 20 global clients, they specialize in delivering and managing exceptional digital ads across platforms like Google Ads, Meta, Tiktok, and running outstanding Email Marketing Campaigns. But that's not all – they wrap it all up with an incredible analytics package because they truly care about results.
Join us as I chat with the amazing Chikumo Fiseko, a multi-talented entrepreneur, marketing consultant, food stylist, blogger, and content creator.
With over 11 years of experience in the industry, Chikumo specializes in food and content that captivates and engages audiences.
During this livestream, Chikumo shares her expertise on driving traffic to your website through effective marketing strategies. Learn from her wealth of knowledge as she unveils tips and tricks to enhance your online presence and attract more visitors to your site.
Tune in, take notes, and get ready to elevate your website's visibility like never before!
Guest expert Jillian Henning and I dove into the world of blogging and website content creation, discussing how it can supercharge your website's growth.
Learn valuable methods and insider tips that will make your content creation easier and more effective. Whether you're a seasoned blogger or just starting out, this livestream is packed with actionable insights to help your website and blog be more impactful.
An epic YouTube Live session with Chris Colton, the founder of See See — a one stop shop for creative services that include Website Design, Video, Photography & Drone Services.We're diving into the game-changing power of video and websites, and how they can transform your online presence.
In this video, I get to talk with the incredible Cara Bendon, a branding specialist with over 14 years of experience.With a track record of helping over 60 brands create a lasting impression, Cara is passionate about empowering ambitious sustainable brands to make a significant impact. In this livestream, she shared invaluable insights and techniques that entrepreneurs and small businesses can use to establish themselves, drawing from her extensive expertise in the field.
Join Ellie McBride, the Squarespace pro from Calibrated Concepts, and Zoe McCallum, the WordPress guru behind ZCM Digital, as they spill the beans on website platforms. We'll talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of different options out there. Whether you're team Squarespace or team WordPress (or somewhere else entirely), this livestream is gonna help you find the perfect fit for your business. Don't miss out on our epic conversation! Grab some popcorn and tune in to learn all about picking the right website platform.
In this episode I talk about why I use templates for every aspect of my business and how you can use them to add ease to your workflow.
I also give you the low-down on my brand new Squarespace website templates which are available to purchase now from my Template Shop.
This podcast is written and presented by Ellie McBride from Calibrated Concepts. It was produced by Emily Crosby Media.
In this episode I talk to Adanna Onuekwusi about how exploring your identity can transform your content. We talk about writing techniques that can help you to find your voice, and learn to bring your identity to the work you do.
Adanna Onuekwusi is the founder of Invicta Writers. An educator, writer and creative mentor, she is committed to teaching women how to harness the power of writing as an essential self-care practice that supports deeper connections and more fulfilling lives. Adanna feels passionately about women supporting, empowering and celebrating one another to confidently embrace their multi-layered identities, and balance being powerful leaders and self-aware, compassionate humans.
You can find out more about Adanna on her website www.invictawriters.com or follow her on Instagram @invictawriters
Or receive her Nourish Notes straight to you inbox: https://mailchi.mp/5c5317780fd6/signupfornewsletter
This podcast is presented by Ellie McBride from Calibrated Concepts. It was produced by Emily Crosby Media.
In this episode I talk to Dani Paige, a launch copywriter who specialises in upgrading sales copy.
Dani is passionate about creating persnality packed, ethical sales material for your business. She tells me how you can use different sections of your sales page to greater effect, and why we should all be keeping a list of our personal 'isms'!
You can find out more about Dani on her website www.danipaige.com and follow her on Instagram @danipaige.online
Get her free offer at offers.danipaige.com/personality-poppers
This podcast is presented by Ellie McBride from Calibrated Concepts. It was produced by Emily Crosby Media.
In this episode I talk to Nicola Rae-Wickham about finding and using your voice in business. We discuss leading with your values while allowing them to evolve as you do, and the ways that you can work on using your voice.
Nicola Rae-Wickham is a certified coach and brand strategist who helps big-hearted creatives and purpose driven humans to amplify their voice and make a real wholehearted impact on the world. She is founder of A Life More Inspired where she's combines her 20 year corporate marketing experience with coaching in order to coach big-hearted creatives and purpose driven humans to to build brands and lives based on truth-telling and soul-connecting and do work that makes a meaningful and wholehearted contribution to the world.
You can find out more about Nicola on her website www.alifemoreinspired.com follow her on Instagram @alifemoreinspired and listen to her podcast Dream and Do Podcast
This podcast is presented by Ellie McBride from Calibrated Concepts. It was produced by Emily Crosby Media.
In this episode I talk to Melanie Knights, a self-published author, anti bro-marketing mentor and host of the podcast Entrepreneurial Outlaws. We talk about creating content that reflects your personality and values, instead of trying to fit in with what the algorithms demand of you.
Melanie describes her work as being the entrepreneurial intersection of strategy, spirituality and self-inquiry - she advocates for building a business that serves your lifestyle on your terms, inspiring you to rewrite the usual marketing rules rather than trying to fit yourself into a box. Ever inspired by her deep love for the storytelling found in Country, Americana and Folk music, Melanie continues to pave new and exciting paths for her business whilst challenging the status quo of modern entrepreneurship.
You can find out more about Melanie on her website www.melanieknights.com and follow her on Instagram @entrepreneurial_outlaws
This podcast is presented by Ellie McBride from Calibrated Concepts. It was produced by Emily Crosby Media.
In this episode I talk to Kerstin Martin, a Squarespace expert and educator about making the most of your website.
Kerstin believes in a heart-centered approach to business: providing great service and delivering high quality content and training. She has designed and launched over 80 websites and is the creator of the Eule Planner, an analog planner specifically designed for digital entrepreneurs.
You can find out more about Kerstin on her website www.kerstinmartin.com and follow her on Instagram @kerstinmartin
This podcast is presented by Ellie McBride from Calibrated Concepts. It was produced by Emily Crosby Media.
In this episode I talk to Niamh Crawford-Walker, a content strategist and coach all about getting started with Instagram Reels.
Niamh has successfully coached radio presenters, authors, freelancers, female founders, those working to take their side-hustle to their full-time gig and those transition from employee to business owner.Â
You can find out more about Niamh on her website www.hashtaggoals.org and follow her on Instagram @niamhserena
This podcast is presented by Ellie McBride from Calibrated Concepts. It was produced by Emily Crosby Media.
I would love to chat with you about how to get content together for your website, especially when you're first getting ready to launch or maybe doing a big overhaul.Â
I want to talk to you about everything you need to pull together...get organized before you start. So, why is it important to get organized before you kick off a website project?Â
To start with the obvious, it saves time. If you have everything together from the start of the project, you don't waste times hunting down the right thing. Or getting off-brand or getting distracted, but more importantly, if you've taken some time to pull together all the elements I'm going to share with you today... it's going to be so much easier to create a cohesive, gorgeous design.Â
Sophy Dale is absolutely brilliant nd she's got such a warm personality! We talked all about how to create content that has empathy and connects. And Sophie is just brilliant at this.Â
So a little more about her Sophy Dale is a copywriter business coach and messaging strategy. Who works primarily with online business owners, helping them find the right words to the right people.
Sophy believes that empathy can be a business owner's unfair advantage, enabling them to get right inside their ideal client's heads and create an emotional connection. So that potential clients feel seen, heard, and understood stories and words are at the heart of all of her.Â
A lifelong bookworm. Her background is in publishing and the arts world where she worked with writers, including Margaret Atwood, Ian Rankin, and Lionel Shriver, Sophy's experience as an editor, it gives her an edge and drawing out her clients' stories, seeing connections and narrative arcs and helping them find the best ways to express who they are and what they do in a way that will connect with their ideal clients.
Kiara Davis is a content strategist and a digital agency owner who's passionate about helping DIY entrepreneurs and purpose driven business owners show up confidently online in order to skyrocket their businesses to the next. Behind the brand, she's a multi-hyphenate with an array of passions and interests.
In this episode, we talked about how to strategize your content more and get really clear about what you're creating.
Eve Earley has nearly 50 years of work experience across industries as varied as legal accounting manufacturing and the counseling professions. Her earliest experience delivering change management programs was that Motorola. Grounded in the techniques, which went on to become six Sigma which was in development there. Since moving to Ireland in 2008, she has worked with startups, founded a social enterprise and catalyze connections among Changemakers and reformers and social enterprises, SMEs, and micro businesses.
Her career spans two global recessions. During the first, she was employed to outplace senior and C suite corporate employees made redundant in the early eighties. In 2009, she founded empowering change and applied those skills and supporting startups among the many reluctant entrepreneurs coping with the aftermath of the 2008 crisis.
Shari Medini and Karissa Tunis are the coauthors of Parenting While Working from Home. A monthly guide to help parents balance their careers, connect with their kids and establish their inner strength. They are also the co-owners of the popular parenting, adorethemparenting.com, with six kids between them and over a decade of work from home experience. They love sharing strategies that help fellow parents minimize the overwhelm while trying to juggle it all.Â
In this episode I chatted with Miriam Tocino, all about cycle tracking and working with our natural menstrual cycle. She lays out exactly what it looks like for her to work throughout the 4 phases of her cycle and how she's used this method to help her thrive in her work as an author!
Miriam is former architect, turned software developer and programming teacher. As a result of her recent motherhood, she's passionate about making computers more accessible, friendly, and easy to understand for young children and encourages them to become curious about what technology is and how it works.
Sasha classes herself as a writer, doubter and doer, even though she's been writing in some form from the age of eight, she only started calling herself a writer last year and rebellious act against herself, doubting nature. She's an avid journaler and lover of words who wants to use them to challenge the negative narratives that women can have about themselves.
In this episode, we discussed how harnessing the power of self-expression and being a rebel journaler can help you be more inline with your own seasons and needs in life.
We are here today with Mel Wiggins. If you've been following me for any amount of time, you'll see that Mel and I's worlds are really intertwined. It started when I was working as a VA, she hired me as a virtual assistant and then I joined her community Assembly and since then we've gotten even more melded into each other's businesses and lives.
And I'm really excited because Mel just has such a wealth of wisdom. She's so soulful and peaceful in the way that she brings her information and her insights. So I'm really excited to dive in and have you guys hear all about setting boundaries, trusting ourselves and making space for rest.Â
Carla McGreevey is a yoga teacher who specializes in healing trauma through breath and movement. Carla is a former exercise addict who worked as an account manager for Bacardi who had a deep aversion to the idea of yoga, who then quit her full-time job with the mission to make the power of this ancient practice, widely known, accessible, and relatable to modern day people.
Yoga connects you to the deep intelligence of your breath and body whose depths of intelligence science is yet to fully understand by connecting to ourselves. We can live authentically with deep connection. And remember we belong, which empowers us to live happier, more fulfilled lives. When Carla started yoga at 28, she didn't know anything about herself or what made her happiest.
She didn't know about her passions. She hated her body. And couldn't feel any sensations in our body. She felt so disconnected from herself and second-guessed herself constantly. The yoga and meditation helped her with how she felt. And she learned to love and take care of herself.
Marsha Powell, is the founder of belly view UK, a London-based girls, charity that equips girls and young women with a support network skills and competence to make informed choices about their future, committed to the development and social mobility of young women. This HR professional uses all her transferable skills, knowledge and experience.
From her 15 year career and the city and her masters and personnel development to develop and sustain a platform that contributes to the female empowerment. And gender equality narrative in the UK belly gives girls and young women support guidance, education, confidence, self-esteem opportunities, positive solutions, and role models.
With eight years of experience, working with girls and young women, Marsha has developed and successfully facilitated the learning of over 5,000 girls aged eight to 19, contributing to their social mobility, improved educational outcomes and wellness. Believes outcomes are delivered through employability leadership workshops and career development support, a strong believer that every girl needs a mentor.
Cassie is a social media strategist, consultant and workshop facilitator, and she works with busy business owners to simplify their social media strategy. Cassie believes in creating sustainable strategies that work with your lifestyle, not ones that have you chained to your phone.
I loved recording this episode with Cassie because she shows us what's possible. She's created her entire business around. Her energy, her schedule, and wanting to spend more time with her husband doing the things she loves. And that's exactly why we're all in business for the freedom and flexibility, as well as the capacity to help people with our gifts and talents and skillsets.
So let's hear exactly how she does it.Â
I am so excited for you to listen to this episode. Rachel is just a fountain of calm and just the peacefulness of nature seems to emanate out of her. So I'll tell you a bit about her. Rachel is the founder of Rooted Wings, a nature based business that seeks to gather and connect people to themselves, each other and the land we live on through nature, connection, holistic living nature education forrest school and adventures.Â
She lives in Yorkshire, UK with her husband and four children, three of which are home educated and one is a recent convert to school. They spend a lot of free time on the moors, uphills, in the woods, and along the canals exploring.
Through this discussion, Rachel shared so much about what it means to live with nature, as opposed to living in this busy technological life that we have. To mirror the energy of the seasons and of our own rhythms. It's super important. And she's given us lots of really good tips. Ready? Let's hear it directly from her.
PS this particular episode is pretty echo-y on my audio! Sorry about that, we've got it fixed for other episodes.
What do you want more time and energy for?
This is something that in my previous life, as a tech virtual assistant, I dealt with all the time, it was one of the first questions I asked my clients when I was trying to figure out how I could assist them in making their lives easier. It's something I still ask members of The Capable Collective all the time.
What do you want more time and energy for?Â
I also asked this question in a recent workshop in the free Capable Collective Facebook group.
The answers I got included things like. Focused deep work to think about new products. Finding time for Headspace. Ensuring that I spend time on actually supporting my clients and less on faffing. Resting. Pleasure. Self-care. Being able to get up and go. Working from anywhere. Finding some balance between work and time to herself.
These are things that I see really commonly across my community and across my work. So I want to share with you some of my very best tips, tools and templates to streamline your business in a way that will feel like it's a lot less hard. You can make business easy.
I wanted to end this season with a couple of solo episodes. Just me and you talking about the things that I know the most about in my professional expertise that I think will really help you.
And obviously one of the things I know quite a lot about as websites. I design and build custom Squarespace websites for a living.
And one of the reasons that I've chosen Squarespace is because it's so user-friendly. Â And damn near impossible to make an ugly website. So if you're getting started on your own. I have loads and loads of resources for you, but this, episode's going to be one really good one.Â
Today we have one of my favorite entrepreneurs, Ashley Gartland.
Small business mentor and coach Ashley Gartland helps service based businesses streamline so that they can scale sustainably and build a business that makes the life and the lifestyle they desire possible. She runs her six figure business in 30 hours a week, leaving her plenty of time to enjoy the good stuff in life - like trail runs, reading and adventures with her family.
What I love about Ashley is that she's so honest. She is willing to break the mold. She has a brilliant mind and is all about creating simple and streamlined businesses that serve your life.
The funny thing is we didn't make an online connection until well after I'd moved to Belfast., but Ashley and her family are actually based back in Portland, Oregon, where I spent about seven years before moving here. So it's really cool to have that connection and I'm hoping that next time we get to go home, I'll actually get to meet her in real life.
Today we have another brilliant business woman that I've made a connection with over on Instagram.Â
Her name is Shannon Baker and Shannon is a podcaster and business systems coach who helps busy women with service-based businesses, create systems to automate the time consuming tasks required to run a business so they can work more efficiently. And have more time for what matters most.Â
Shannon hosts the podcast, The More Than Capable Mompreneur, which has been listed in the top 202 categories on Apple podcasts. In her episodes, Shannon shares, tips, strategies, and conducts interviews to help busy women be more productive and to use the mom cracks of time to get more things done so they can find a balance that works for them without the mom guilt. They can invest time in themselves and grow their businesses without burning out.
Welcome back. So I am super excited about today's guest. Susie and I have been following each other on Instagram for a really long time. And have been really good cheerleaders for each other in business. We have a lot of really overlapping ideals, but very different experiences and expertise.Â
It's interesting because. I live over here in Northern Ireland, which is technically part of the UK and Ireland. And she's moved from the UK to Mexico. So she's moved to North America and I've moved from North America.Â
Susie mentors, freelancers to help them figure out how much they should be charging. And how to raise their rates with clients so that they can earn a decent living, doing what they love.Â
And she is here today to talk to us about how to create simplified finance systems in our business. How to charge what we're worth. How to keep track of our financial health in our business. And how do I make sure that we're making money while maintaining all around wellbeing with our lives and our businesses.Â
So without further ado, let's talk to Susie.
We're here today with Shunta Grant. She is absolutely incredible. She has created an amazing system for helping women to simplify their days and get more enjoyment and fulfillment every day, while still getting the stuff they need done to move the needle forward towards their goals. So I think that that is something that I find so incredible.
Today, I want to talk to you about the road to the Capable Collective or what I'm calling the road to the Capable Collective. A lot has brought me here. A lot has made me want to invest my time and money and energy into creating the Capable Collective. Because I think it's really important.Â
So let's dive in.Â
That's why The Capable Collective was created. Because I have a vision for a space - where women run business in the integrative way that comes so naturally for us. And we all thrive while doing it. Because there is a desperate need for us to push away from the hustle culture. That exists in digital business. Because there needs to be an informational hub where the curtain is pulled back on the mechanical side of business. We are in this together.