In This Episode * How Alisha Robertson got the idea for The LOE Collective , a membership community supporting women business owners* The process she used to figure out how the community would take shape and what features she would include* How her course library & Intentional Success Path help members feel at home and in control* Why the pricing for the community has evolved over time “What’s next?” The first few dozen or so times I heard this question from a customer I was perplexed—even a...
Aug 04, 2020•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast I had a Magic 8 ball when I was a kid. I wouldn’t say that I relied on it in any serious way… but, when my kid brain was trying to process some big emotions or sort through a sticky situation, I often pulled it out and asked it questions. Most of the time, the mysterious blue text that would emerge from the dark depths of the ball would give you some sort of definitive answer. Without a doubt. Signs point to yes. Don’t count on it. My reply is no. But there was another set of answers that just r...
Jul 28, 2020•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * What led Ginkgo Public Relations founder Cher Hale to move from Las Vegas to Portland, Oregon* How she took her business full-time in a new-to-her city* How her mom’s romance novels inspired her to discover a bold new Why for her business* What action that new Why led her to take and how she’s showing up in new ways because of it What do you want? It’s a simple enough question. What do you want from your life? From your business? From the work you do on a daily basis? What do ...
Jul 21, 2020•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * How Sarah Avenir took on the role of CEO for digital development & strategy agency, &yet * Why Sarah considers herself a naturally fearful person—and how she pushes herself to face that fear* Why refining the positioning & messaging at &yet helped her to discover how her strengths could be of highest value* How she structures her work and responsibilities to maintain her capacity for leadership* Why she focuses on being “anti-overfunctioning” We’re looking for ...
Jul 14, 2020•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * Why I chose “embrace uncertainty” as one of my commitments for 2020 and how it’s served in this wild year* How Charlie Gilkey recommends finding the most courageous next step* What led Second Breaks founder Lou Blaser to rethink her business model—and return to a years-old vision for her work in the process* What 2 questions she used to find new ways of creating value* How she used existing assets in her business to start building toward her new vision The tweet that’s pinned ...
Jul 07, 2020•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast How we think about money impacts what we do with money. And for many of us, what we think about money is influenced by narratives, frameworks, and biases we picked up well before we started our businesses. The money framework I picked up as a kid was that I could either make a lot of money or I could do something I love. Now, no one sat me down and told me I was destined to barely scrapping by if I didn’t choose a lucrative career that I didn’t like very much. But my little kid brain chewed on e...
Jun 30, 2020•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * Fire + Mineral founder Tiffany Whipps shares how she’s gone from willy nilly pricing to pricing for the future of her company* What her “feather money” phase taught her about the value of her products* The future expenses she’s factoring into her pricing today* What product-based businesses need to consider when they’re thinking about their pricing & business model Pricing your products or services can feel like a game of pin the tail on the moving donkey. There are so man...
Jun 23, 2020•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * The webinar that changed everything for strategist Marie Poulin * Why she decided to go “all in” on creating content about Notion and how YouTube has impacted her bottom line* How she developed and sold an in-progress online course about Notion * The process she’s using to create additional leverage in her business even when clients coming asking about 1:1 services The path to building a business that works is not mysterious. Sure, there is always some luck involved. Timing, c...
Jun 16, 2020•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * Why grief & trauma worker Jennifer Patterson prices a significant portion of her work using a sliding scale* How a sliding scale system increases accessibility to valuable healing work for people from disadvantaged and marginalized communities* Why Jennifer priorities clear & direct communication when it comes to how people find the right amount to pay* What she thinks about “charging what you’re worth” (hint: she’s not a fan) People with power have used it violently a...
Jun 09, 2020•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode * The single most important lesson Tara McMullin learned about money in the last 5 years* How that lesson rippled through her business and personal development as a leader* Why this lesson also led with taking stock of how much her sense of credibility was tied to the money she makes* How Sean McMullin is asking new questions about money and his relationship to it now that he’s a business owner, too* What his experience with collectivism has inspired him to consider as the busine...
Jun 02, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * What happened with coach Shirin Eskandani got the call for her dream job–singing in Carmen at the Met* How she discovered coaching and the process that would help her reexamine how she feels and what she wants* The role coaching plays in her life now that she is a coach herself* How she works to support her own clients in a coaching relationship today I was not a girl scout. But I love merit badges. As in, few things thrill me more than earning recognition for learning or doin...
May 26, 2020•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Leading a business can be lonely. I noticed just how disconnected business owners are when I started my very first website way back in 2009. That website was a blog about makers and artists in Pennsylvania. I wrote about their stories and shared products that caught my eye. The blog was relatively popular but the real magic of it wasn’t in what I was writing about. The magic was in how it connected people who didn’t know anyone else who was trying to make a go of turning their ideas into a busin...
May 21, 2020•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * How licensed professional counselor & therapeutic coach Nancy Jane Smith learned to navigate high-functioning anxiety while building her business* How high-functioning anxiety differs from our usual concept of what anxiety “looks like”* The strategies Nancy uses to help herself (and her clients) deal with HFA* Which of the 3 voices in her head Nancy uses to guide her action and keep moving forward Can we talk about anxiety? Even if you don’t think of yourself as having anx...
May 19, 2020•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * Why Startup Pregnant founder Sarah K. Peck started organizing mastermind groups & experiences before she was even a business owner* How Sarah facilitates conversation among group members for maximum results* Why mastermind groups are less about getting answers and more about getting in touch with your own inner knowing* The role that mastermind experiences play in her business today and how her business model is structured (including pricing)* Why structure is such an impo...
May 12, 2020•2 hr 30 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * Bestselling author & business consultant Chris Brogan shares how depression and anxiety impact his experience as an entrepreneur* Why he always knows what he can “drop” when things get rough and what he isn’t willing to let slide* Why he has been transparent about his mental health challenges on social media and how he’s helping to reduce the stigma for others* How he approaches his conversations with others to be as supportive as he can, while also creating his own suppor...
May 05, 2020•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast The tools I use to run my business have come a long way in the last decade. Back then, I had to do most things manually. Now, integrations and automations are a given. Back then, I had to learn code and poke through dense documentation to get what I wanted. Now, everything is drag & drop. Back then, digital small business owners were repurposing tools meant for other tasks to put our businesses together. Now, we use tools that are made just for us. But it’s not just the tools that have chang...
Apr 30, 2020•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * How personal trainers Holly Myers and Arryn Grogan use systems and software to run a thriving online coaching business* Why they invest in new training and certifications as tools to use in their business* What coaching online has allowed them to accomplish* What tools they use to communicate with clients, produce a library worth of content, and build programs for people to purchase My routine has been disrupted. It’s been six weeks since I’ve been to the gym and I’m quite cer...
Apr 28, 2020•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * The process Prerna Malik, founder of Content Bistro , uses to create effective copy for her clients* Why she keeps her tools simple and isn’t quick to change them just because there are new options out there* How Prerna uses experience, testing, and research to push the edge and try new things with the copy she writes* What she did to translate her service processes into a program for other agency owners and service-based businesses Your process is your most valuable tool. By ...
Apr 21, 2020•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * What tools Jessica Stansberry uses to run her content-driven business* How she knows when it’s time to switch tools and what criteria she uses to pick a new one* What project management tool she’d make out with if she could* How her systems and workflows help her get the most out the software she uses to run her business Most small businesses today create some form of content. Some are sporadically posting updates & photos on social media. Others take the time to create he...
Apr 14, 2020•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * Sean and Tara McMullin, co-founders of YellowHouse.Media share the tools they use to run their podcast production agency* Sean shares the value of templates across a variety of tools* Tara sheds light on some of the “magic” tools that help them make standout podcasts * And they both share what’s working when it comes to tools for managing stress & anxiety right now When I started my business over 11 years ago, the only tool I worried about was WordPress. My business was my...
Apr 07, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast My brand is more “me” than ever. Which is funny because, up until 2017, my brand was my name. That year, I made a conscious effort to move away from my personal brand and build out a company brand, something that could represent an idea that was much bigger than me. At that same time, I started to do some significant personal work. I drank less. I ate better. I started moving my body. Later, I did a heap ton of mindset work. I discovered the great outdoors. I started to feel like a new person… a...
Mar 31, 2020•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast People are still spending money. It’s a message I’ve shared over and over again over the last 2 weeks. Not everyone is spending money… and not everyone has the money to spend. But plenty of people are still investing in goods and services that will make their lives and businesses better. And along those lines, my friend Mark Butler shared some great insight with his audience last week after investing in a program–even in the midst of our current economic situation. He said that, even when times ...
Mar 26, 2020•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * Why Martinus Evans started running in the first place* How his idea of a runner changed at the starting line of his first race* Why Toastmasters played a bit part in his decision to play bigger* How he’s defining his brand on his own terms My now-husband and I agreed on our second date: we are not people who run for fun. Run to escape zombies, sure. Run as a necessary part of a pickup game of basketball, okay. But run for miles on end chasing some feeling of inner contentment?...
Mar 24, 2020•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * Shameless Mom Academy founder & host Sara Dean shares how her brand developed over time and in partnership with her community* Why she started the podcast in the first place, as well as why it was key she didn’t have a business in mind at first* How she came to understand the rewards of imperfect action* Why she took some big risks to bring her community together in person and how it paid off It’s tempting to think that you control your own brand. After all, you’re the one...
Mar 17, 2020•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Well, things are weird out there. We’re all wondering how the coronavirus pandemic will shape our lives and work in the months (or years) to come. For many small business owners, there’s real uncertainty about how COVID-19 will play out. Many are feeling the immediate effects. More still are planning for the long-term fallout. Now more than ever, we need honest conversations that transcend the hype, uncertainty, and panic. This is a special episode of What Works. Normally on What Works , we talk...
Mar 14, 2020•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast In This Episode: * What Studebaker Metals stands for as a brand and how that shapes the choices they make about product, marketing, and messaging* Why they’re focused on producing genderless accessories—and how that impacts the conversations they have with customers* What their motto, “Slow is fast,” means and the role is plays in their brand positioning* How they make the choice about what stays and what goes when it comes to their product line Strong brands are focused and intentional. You kno...
Mar 10, 2020•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Nitty-Gritty: * How Gina Bianchini has been leading a slow & intentional brand evolution at Mighty Networks* Why customer feedback has been the key factor in how the brand (and product) has adapted* How the Mighty Networks team is using an online course to gather more customer feedback and create a plan for the future of the brand* What led to leveling up the Mighty Networks visual brand in 2019 Brands evolve. Sometimes brands evolve naturally—think Dunkin’ Donuts changing their name to ...
Mar 03, 2020•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Nitty-Gritty: * The day Melissa Urban realized she needed to do more to make the Whole30 community more inclusive* Why she’s chosen to be public about her learning when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion* How Dr. Carrie Kholi-Murchison is taking the lead on efforts to make sure everyone feels seen and heard within the community* What unique challenges Whole30 faces in their DEI efforts* Why listening is at the heart of so many of the initiatives they’re rolling out Who’s missing he...
Feb 25, 2020•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast The Nitty-Gritty: * What values are woven through Rob Walling ‘s many ventures* Why he started MicroConf and how it’s a direct reaction to so many communities & events for founders* How Rob sees his role as a leader of a rapidly growing community* How he turns his values into policies, systems, and operating procedures no matter one business he’s working on “Different is better than better.” That’s what Sally Hogshead says . Sally is a brand expert and the creator of the Fascination Advantag...
Feb 18, 2020•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Nitty-Gritty: * The “fetal position” moment that led Shannon Siriano Greenwood to start Rebelle * Why belonging, inclusivity, vulnerability, and authenticity are the top values the community leans into* How the details and design of each event help bring the values to life* How she sees her role as a leader within the Rebelle community* How she’s managing the growth of Rebelle so that she ensures its values continue on Stepping up as a leader takes a willingness to walk a fine line. On one h...
Feb 11, 2020•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
