A podcast for fempreneurs / women entrepreneurs / women business owners who are creating their own way of living, working and making cool sh*t happen. Hosted by women entrepreneurs Gretchen DeVault and Tera Wozniak Qualls.
Gretchen DeVault and Tera Wozniak Qualls
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Dr. Tamara Pizzoli, owner and sole writer of independent publishing house, The English Schoolhouse, about how she built the boutique publishing house. She has penned over fifteen children’s books, connecting with professional fine artists to include the most amazing illustrations in each book. This episode is a must listen as Dr. Pizzoli shares her stories of building her business and owning her own abilities to get shit done and make her dreams a reality! Building a Boutique Publishing House Episode Highlights: “Adversity guards the door to success.” Work doesn’t have to be difficult and cumbersome, sometimes it can be “that simple”. Take your time. Make time for yourself and own pleasures and mischiefs. Do it. Do something about it today. Start today, even something little. Date your ideas. Dr. Tamara Pizzoli Dr. Tamara Pizzoli is the owner and sole writer at her independent publishing house, The English Schoolhouse. In five years she has penned over fifteen children's book titles including the award-winning story The Ghanaian Goldilocks and Tallulah the Tooth Fairy CEO, which has been optioned to be made into a live action film produced by Gabrielle Union and John Sacchi. Originally from Texas, Pizzoli has resided in Rome, Italy for over a decade where she does everything she deems creative and interesting while raising her four children. You can find Tamara online at: Facebook: Tamara Pizzoli Instagram: @tamarapizzoli Twitter: @engschoolhouse Website: theenglishschoolhouse.com If you like the bumper music in each episode, you can hear more from Gretchen’s bands at leanthef-ckout.com/music.
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, Gretchen and Tera talk with Tameka Ramsey, founder of T Ramsey & Associates. Tameka is an entrepreneur, consultant, community organizer, problem solver and so much more. Honestly, it’s hard to capture in a brief statement what a bad ass Tameka is! Listen to this episode to get a sense of what she does, why she does it, and how she is truly changing the damn world. Changing the Damn World! Episode Highlights: Tameka started T Ramsey & Associates and modeled it after Olivia Pope & Associates! The consultancy is made up of black women consultants with a wide range of expertise including advocacy, social justice, strategic planning, civic engagement, PR, branding, communications, writing and more. An important aspect of T Ramsey & Associates is that it empowers black women to run their own businesses while having the flexibility to work and raise their families. Black women move the needle when it comes to policies and voting. Community organizing has to start hyper-locally. Organize yourself and your lives first, then once you feel that empowerment you automatically start going bigger and making more movement. You need to feel empowered personally first. Organizations need to see this first. Empower women first, then bring them along to the Capitol. “Calling out rudeness is my favorite past time.” “All community organizers should be social workers.” “Organize in the way of the Black Panther.” Tameka Ramsey Tameka Ramsey is the founder and senior associate at T. Ramsey & Associates, a consulting firm based in Downtown Pontiac, Michigan. Tameka is a sought-after consultant, known for her work with grassroot nonprofits; minority owned microenterprises and small businesses; and, progressive political campaigns. She serves as the co-founder of Pontiac Policy Council, convener for Black Women’s Roundtable Detroit, and is a member of 482Forward and Mothering Justice. Tameka has worked tirelessly to build grassroots organizations in Pontiac and Metro Detroit that are committed to their communities. Tameka earned her associate’s degree in mental health social work from Oakland Community College; her bachelor’s degree in social work from Wayne State University; and her master’s degree in public administration with a dual concentration of local government and nonprofit management from Oakland University. In addition to her formal education, Tameka has more than 12 years’ experience in community organizing, advocacy and leadership development. She has received training from Neighbor Works America, Center for Progressive Leadership, Midwest Academy, the Gamaliel Organization and more. Tameka is married to Michael Brown Ramsey. They have three children, Qua’Veionta (Roshae), Zakiya and Michael Jr and a new grandson Qua Jr You can find Tameka online at: website: tramseyllc.com Facebook: facebook.com/BWRMD If you like the bumper music in each episode, you can hear more from Gretchen’s bands at leanthef-ckout.com/music.
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, Gretchen and Tera talk with Ary, the Badass Budget Babe and Virtual CFO. Ary tells about her journey toward loving finance and budgeting, and gives tips on her can go from business budgeting to badass business budgeting. This episode is chocked full of tips and tricks you don’t want to miss. Business Budgeting Episode Highlights: Ary helps business owners learn about cash flow, looking at books over time not just at tax times. Cash is your insurance policy as a business owner. Big issues CEOs come with: paying yourself a salary or growing your salary; having enough to run my bills; effectively leveraging credit vs. I can’t afford this without debt; taxes. Shift mindset to “This is what we need.” in your business budget instead of facing what you actually have. A lot of times, not managing money or avoiding it is a mindset issue, not actually a money or number issue. Mindset and numbers are both important to focus on. Take yourself on a weekly money date for 15-20 minutes a week, every week. What’s the point of having money if it isn’t fun? Sit down with your numbers and look towards your goals. What are my financial goals? What am I working towards? Use that time for visualization and journaling. Ask yourself ‘what do I need to shift this week?” Use that time to make sure you are on the same track with your partners. Set a timer. Stretch your goals and set them regularly. Goals should be a stretch but not bring on disappointment. A good way to manage goal setting is by using markers of 3. If your first goal is to hi $1k this month, maybe $3k is reasonable the next month, etc. Sometimes it is the timeframe that needs to be adjusted, not the goal. Extensively each quarter: review what happened with your money. Did you hit your goals, why or why not? There are no ‘shoulds’. If you ever feel like you ‘should’ be doing XYZ, then ask yourself who said it and why. If you want to have a job and run your business, give yourself permission to do that. Do you what you want, lean into it, feel it out, then get the data and do it. Ary Michele Ary is a Virtual CFO who helps 6&7-figure businesses to increase profit margins through better financial management. After graduating from Azusa Pacific University with her accounting degree, she worked as a tax and audit accountant for a CPA firm. After realizing the typical accountant life just wasn't for her, she stuck out on her own and figured out how to make accounting work for growing entrepreneurs. She's been fortunate enough to work in many industries, from medical to non-profit, brick and mortar retail to online consulting. This gives her the skills and knows how to grow businesses in both top and bottom line profits. When she's not working with numbers, she enjoys reading, traveling around with her family and doing yoga with her cat. You can find Ary online at: Facebook:@badassbudgetbabe or @ary.michele Instagram: @badassbudgetbabe Website:badassbudgetbabe.com If you like the bumper music in each episode, you can hear more from Gretchen’s bands at leanthef-ckout.com/music.
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, Gretchen and Tera talk with entrepreneur Kathy Terry, co-founder of P. Terry’s Burger Stand and founder of In Lieu. Kathy talks she founded a business built on giving after being inspired by giving her and her husband were able to do through their restaurant business. A Business Built on Giving Episode Highlights: In Lieu starting as an idea for transforming behavior from gift giving to friends to giving back in a new way. Giving back is fast and easy through the In Lieu app. Use giving to get to know friends/coworkers/clients a bit more. Kathy’s business build on giving started with the user experience and was built backwards to create the working app it is today. Redirecting market from gifting market to the nonprofit market. As a femprenuer use your access. Kathy Terry A fierce female and serial entrepreneur, Kathy Terry has been making waves since starting her first business over 20 years ago. In 2005 she co-founded P. Terry’s Burger Stand with her husband Patrick and quickly established its presence as a socially and health-conscious fast food alternative. With fifteen P. Terry’s locations and counting (and a hot new fast casual Mexican offering called Taco Ranch) there’s no denying that Kathy Terry has helped change the way Austinites do “fast casual.” Kathy and Patrick have a heart for philanthropy, and giving back has always been a core principle of the Terry’s business model. Through their stewardship, the restaurant chain has donated over $900,000 to date, all benefiting local nonprofits. But Kathy didn’t stop there - in 2018 she launched an all-new mobile app called inLieu: the first social giving app where users can make donations and share a personal message with a friend, anytime, anywhere. Kathy’s mission to change the way we think about giving is a reflection of a lifetime of charitable giving and service. Her goal is simple–to make it easier for people to make the world a better place. Kathy and Patrick live in Austin Texas with their two children, Kate and Caroline. You can find Kathy online at: Website: inlieu.com Facebook: facebook.com/giveinlieu Twitter: twitter.com/giveinlieu Instagram: instagram.com/giveinlieu If you like the bumper music in each episode, you can hear more from Gretchen’s bands at leanthef-ckout.com/music.
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Sage Ke’alohilani Quiamno and Aparna Rae about the organization they founded, Future for Us, and the work they are doing to help companies grow and recruit womxn of color. Through Future for Us, Sage and Arpana are building an intentional community for womxn of color to build careers and life’s they want and support one another throughout the process. Future for Us Episode Highlights: Future for Us is an intentional community for womxn of color that started in Seattle. There is not a womxn of color pipeline problem, companies are missing out on hiring already qualified and ready womxn. Womxn of color are ready and coming together to support one another and get better jobs. Future for Us’ ambition is for womxn of color to be leading at the highest levels of corporations. Womxn of color need to build community and support among each other to make this happen. Connecting with others like you in a community like this, allows you to learn from those that are similar to you. We are all different and not always cohesive and can teach each other through our own lessons. Companies: It’s not enough to say you want diversity, you have to back it up through evidence within your staff. Womxn looking to len the f*ck out: lead by example. Give others the courage they need to do the same. Leaning the f*ck out is what we owe ourselves so that the next generation can walk lighter. We have the opportunity and privilege to do the work now, unlike many womxn before us. Sage Ke’alohilani Quiamno Sage is recreating seats of power for and by womxn of color so that our workforce reflects what WoC bring to the table: resilience, ROI, and liberation. Sage Ke’alohilani Quiamno is an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, and changemaker. As co-founder of Future For Us, a platform dedicated to advancing of womxn of color through community, culture, and career development, Sage has galvanized a nationwide movement to build a future of work reaching new levels of growth through diversity, equity, and inclusion. Starting her career in pay equity, she provided 4,000+ women with the tools and resources they need to advocate for themselves at work and, as a result, negotiate $500K in salary increases and secure 150 promotions. Sage is an amplifier, advocating for womxn of color at work in top publications and organizations - from Forbes, NPR and GeekWire to SXSW, the Women’s March, Microsoft, Starbucks, and more. Sage has gathered a groundswell of support and recognition - a clear signal that our cities, companies, and economy are ready and already fighting for equity at work. Recent accolades include Rising Star Awards from Seattle’s National Organization for Women and the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, KUOW Radio’s Boss Tactician Award, University of Washington’s Community Leadership Award, and a nomination for Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2019. Sage is a native Hawaiian who looks at systems, processes, and people with an indigenous lens to leave a better world for generations to come. Her story - your story - our story - continues. Aparna Rae Aparna is recreating seats of power for and by womxn of color so that our workforce reflects what WoC bring to the table: resilience, ROI, and liberation. Aparna is an educator, innovator, and disruptor working at the intersection of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and organizational design. Her decades-long career in workforce development has advanced thousands of individuals in under-resourced communities through culturally relevant resources and leadership. Beginning her career at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Aparna developed and deployed UBC’s first open journaling system, democratizing research for all, not just the wealthy few with journal access. Aparna has since launched a number of groundbreaking equity initiatives, including Project Feast, a platform providing employment pathways for immigrant and refugee women in the food industry, and Firki, a highly scalable, nationwide teacher training portal in India. Today she is co-founder of Future For Us, a platform dedicated to advancing of womxn of color through community, culture, and career development, and Moving Beyond, an impact practice that operationalizes DEI and supports fund managers, wealth advisors, investors, philanthropists, and social innovators creating positive impact for people and the planet. Aparna believes in the power of story and frequently shines a light on equity at work as a presenter, keynote speaker, and panelist. Her voice and vision has been covered in Seattle Business Magazine, Forbes, Geekwire, The Seattle Times, and more. Growing up in 5 countries, Aparna witnessed the power of diverse voices early in life. This concept continues to be reinforced personally and professionally: diversity and inclusion is a pathway to success. You can find Sage and Aparna online at: Linked In: linkedin.com/company/future-for-us Facebook: facebook.com/futureforus.now Instagram: instagram.com/futureforus.now Twitter: twitter.com/futurefor_us If you like the bumper music in each episode, you can hear more from Gretchen’s bands at leanthef-ckout.com/music.
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Lindsay White about leaving a corporate career to make music full time and how that journey brought her to starting Lady Brain Collective, a supportive and collaborative group of local women pursuing careers in the arts. Lindsay shares tips on making a career as an independent artist, and supplementing with a side hustle when you need to. She talks about her mental health journey and her experience as a caregiver to a partner dealing with mental health issues. Lindsay also discusses grief and loss and the perspective it has given her. Lady Brain Episode Highlights: Watch for your moment to leap. Look for the moment when the universe is tipping the scale. If you lean out you have to be willing to work your ass off. Starting out as an artist, your side hustle is key. Be genuinely kind. You never know what people are going through, be compassionate. Show yourself grace and compassion like you would those you are care taking. Loss gives us all perspective, no one is immortal. As a society we need to talk about trauma, grief and death more, the discussion will make us a more compassionate . Loss is a unifying experience. Always have honest conversations with yourself, about your mortality. What do you want to get out of this life? Lindsay White You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll call your therapist. With influences ranging from Bob Dylan to Ani DiFranco, Lindsay White's songwriting has earned recognition from Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Kerrville Folk Festival, and American Songwriter. Her latest record Lights Out chronicles the experience of losing her estranged mother to brain cancer. The record debuted #2 on the iTunes Singer-Songwriter charts, was named #1 Album of the Year by Global Texan Chronicles, and earned her the 2018 San Diego Music Award for Best Singer-Songwriter. White was recently named one of "15 Lesbian/Bi/Queer Musical Artists You Need to Know" by AfterEllen.com. She has opened for notable acts such as The Lone Bellow, David Crosby, Steve Poltz, Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles), Raining Jane ft. Jason Mraz, and more. White is a queer intersectional feminist, mental health advocate, grief support advocate, and writer. She has led songwriting workshops for Rock n' Roll Camp for Girls San Diego, participated in Pride events throughout the country, and independently published a narrative essay called "Love by the Numbers: What to do (and not to do) when your Bipolar partner thinks she's Jesus." Recently, she organized the Lady Brain Collective, a supportive and collaborative group of local women pursuing careers in the arts. White relies on support from, Lindsay's Corner, an exclusive community of dedicated friends and fans who always make her journey as an independent artist feel like a group effort. You can find Lindsay online at: Website: lindsaywhitemusic.com // ladybrainpresents.com Patreon: patreon.com/lindsaywhitemusic Instagram: instagram.com/lindsaywhitemusic // instagram.com/ladybrainpresents Facebook: facebook.com/lindsaywhitemusic // facebook.com/ladybrainpresents Youtube: youtube.com/lindsayannwhite Twitter: twitter.com/listentolindsay Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/lindsayannwhite Lindsay White Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/4kdJU3sybstAXUhWzZNRT1 Lady Brain Presents Spotify Playlist: open.spotify.com/user/1211221790/playlist/00RpoDN5SJe6qTV7scOqLO?si=ldfdgRhiSny-h7ABwrZ8yg iTunes: music.apple.com/us/album/lindsay-white/1238408015?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Robin Schorr about her bold move from an accomplished career as a film producer to pursue her deepest passion -- music. Two years into her second act, Robin has already had her music placed on MTV and Free Form. She is proof that it is never too late to follow your heart! Episode Highlights: A bit about Robin’s second act: Deep down, film was never really her love Music was her biggest love but she had never seen a path to a career in it Her daughter was reading The Alchemist - Robin started reading the book out loud to her daughter. Started questioning what her purpose was and whether her life was a lie Started meditating Decided to learn how to play guitar Had always heard melodies Once she started playing the guitar, an explosion of melodies were in her head Had a lightbulb revelation moment while listening to a country song. Realized she could write songs for country artists. She KNEW deep in her heart and in her bones music was her purpose - even though she had never written a song. In 2017 - went to Nashville and there happened to be a workshop during the time she was going. For the next year, she worked on songs for country artists and focusing on the things she learned at Nashville event. You’re not a songwriter til you’ve written 100 songs Find your best co-writers Come to Nashville as much as you can Get good enough at guitar so you can play out and meet alot of people Started writing for country but began wondering where her place was in country music -- especially since it's so male dominated. Keith Hill Quote: “Trust me, I play great female records and we’ve got some right now; they’re just not the lettuce in our salad,” Hill said. “The lettuce is Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and artists like that. The tomatoes of our salad are the females.” Wrote a pop song in LA as a fluke. Played her song for a film industry colleague and they loved it. Robin spends 2 hours a day reaching out to film connections. Industry outreach. The rest of her time is spent writing music with artists and producers, particularly on music that works for film and TV. Robin has had placements on MTV’s “Teen Mom 2,” Freeform’s “Good Trouble,” and the indie film “Sugar.” Advice for women thinking about leaning out and pursuing their second act: Of course, you have to make sure you’re financially able to live But life is short and particularly while you’re in good health, you have to grab it with every bit of passion and practical hours in the day that you can. Don’t be self deprecating about being female and about your age. Every time you think in this space, instead think about what you love and what you have to say. Carve out the time to do it If you don’t know what it is, read The Alchemist. Robin Schorr Songwriter Robin Schorr was working as a film/tv producer and senior executive in Los Angeles until 2017, when she unexpectedly and totally fell in love with... songwriting! A lifelong passionate music fan, she never dreamed of actually creating music. So as soon as she discovered this deep passion, she has fearlessly pursued songwriting with enormous joy and energy. Robin refuses to believe that it is ever too late to follow your heart, and she is gratefully living by that credo every day. Her first year of writing was spent in Country music because she mistakenly thought that was the only genre of music in which artists didn’t always write their own songs. But when old friends from film heard her music, they started asking her for songs in other genres for their features, trailers, games and series. After a total career pivot, suddenly her old world and new dovetailed in perfect harmony. Now Robin toplines every day with gifted artist/singers and producers to create fully produced tracks in all genres, either based on briefs she has received or on spec, for film, tv, trailers and commercials. Robin’s collaborators are repped by companies from Universal to Lyric House to Resin8. Film highlights: Robin had senior executive jobs for companies including legendary producer Kathy Kennedy of Lucas Film as well as at Disney and Lionsgate Studios, where she worked on films including THE SIXTH SENSE and many more. Schorr was also head of creative production for River Road Entertainment, where they produced Sean Penn's critically acclaimed INTO THE WILD, as well as FOOD INC, the groundbreaking documentary on agribusiness for which Schorr won 2 Emmy Awards. Schorr also worked in music video production with top video/film directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) and received her M.F.A. in Production at UCLA film school. She started her career as a disc jockey in the Bay Area. Music highlights: In country, Robin was a finalist in the Nashville Songstar Songwriting Competition 2018, selected by NSAI as “One To Watch” and she attended NSAI Advanced Song Camp. Her co-written song, “Walk Away” recently was chosen for the Taxi Top 10 in Feb 2019. Since her start writing for sync in just the past year, she has had four placements on MTV’s “Teen Mom 2,” as well as Freeform’s “Good Trouble,” and the indie film “Sugar.” She regularly attends the Durango Songwriter Expo for songwriting and Film/TV and attended the magnificent Hawaii Songwriting Festival for the first time in summer 2018. You can find Robin online at: https://soundcloud.com/user-265966734 Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Mar Yvette, an LA-based lifestyle writer, editor, on-air host and founder of the online platform Homegirl Talk. Mar talks about the platform she built and the importance of creating a space for women of all walks of life to keep it real and share stories, struggles and successes. Homegirl Talk Episode Highlights: On celebrating your own culture. The struggle with internalized racism that often leads to shame, even within one’s own culture. The importance of accepting, embracing and celebrating your culture. For Mar, confidence came with worldly experiences, education, stronger work experiences, etc. What Mar has learned from doing Homegirl Talk We have to be the light and share each other’s stories. Women need a space to keep it real. Our power is finding that we are all more similar than different. It’s been surprising how women have been willing to open up. Mar’s advice to women thinking about leaning out and doing their own thing: Be fearless - just do it Being fearless doesn’t mean without fear, it means moving through the fear! Might be the first step in making your dreams come true Mar Yvette Mar Yvette is an LA-based lifestyle writer, editor and on-air host who has worked with some of the world’s most recognized media companies including E! News, ABC, Citysearch, Huffington Post, Playboy Magazine and Fox News Latino. She is the founder and editor in chief of Homegirl Talk, an online platform to connect and promote women from all walks of life. You can find her on Instagram at @therealmarpop. You can find Mar online at: https://www.homegirltalk.com/ https://www.instagram.com/homegirltalk/ https://www.facebook.com/homegirltalk https://twitter.com/homegirltalk Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Jasmine Jia founder of La La Tours, a private tour company in Los Angeles about the art of being a good guide, the importance of curiosity and listening, and her passion for travel. Running a Tour Company Episode Highlights: What Jasmine has learned running her own business: Takes one passionate traveler to understand travelers You are always learning Being a good listener is important Customer feedback is so important Businesses are rated and reviewed all the time which is a great promotional tool but can also feel very scary Best promotion is word of mouth Advice for women thinking of leaning out: Try it But be flexible and willing to adjust your business as it develops Talk to and listen to people who are successful Work hard and be patient Jasmine Jia Jasmine Jia is a private tour guide and owner of La La Tours in Los Angeles, California. Her private tour guiding service has earned an impeccable 5 star rating from her customers from all over the world since 2012 on various review websites for travel and tour services. Born and raised in northeastern China, Jasmine moved to Shanghai for her college education and worked there until she immigrated to the U.S. 20 years ago. She loves travel, nature exploration, photography, food, history and art. She and her husband of 22 years of marriage also enjoy spending time with their daughter who continues to be her inspiration of love, creativities and curiosity. You can find Jasmine online at: Website: lalatours.net Instagram: @LaLaTours Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PrivateToursLaLaTours/ Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Ashima Saigal, founder of Database Sherpa, about her unique approach to consulting and how she harnesses the power of a sherpa approach to guide clients through change. A Sherpa Approach to Business Episode Highlights: Change is scary, Ashima’s sherpa approach is there to help clients tackle their fears of the change. The process is a very open dialogue at the beginning. The sherpa approach requires the consultant to acknowledge their own humanity when first connecting with a client, to ensure that authenticity is there throughout the entire process. Sincerity throughout the process leads to both the client and the consultant being more sincere. It resets expectations. Meet more frequently or check in more often to ensure everyone is feeling good about the process. The sherpa approach is more focused on the person that is making the change than ensuring the process is moving forward in a specific way or the system that they are implementing. Business owner (runs a business) versus entrepreneur (blazes a brand new trail). You are worth something. Don’t let someone tell you that you are charging too much! If you devalue yourself it might be more likely to lose business, you will start looking like a cheaper option instead of a peer to others who offer similar services. Ashima Saigal We often don’t know our destination while taking a journey, and this was the case for Ashima Saigal before developing Database Sherpa. Her path has taken her from working for herself in an award-winning computer consulting business to a small software development company to a large manufacturing company to a small startup nonprofit to a university. The experiences along this path, combined with her ongoing education and her yoga practice, came together as the foundation of Database Sherpa. Having lived all over the world, she eventually landed in Michigan to attend Michigan State University, where she studied Computer Science in a liberal arts setting at MSU’s Lyman Briggs College. She completed her Master’s in Computer Information Systems at Grand Valley State University. Ashima is a Certified Salesforce Developer and a Certified Salesforce Software Administrator. In 2012, Ashima founded Database Sherpa to help organizations find peace with their data. She developed a “Sherpa Approach” to guide organizations to use their own skills and knowledge to develop their databases using the Salesforce platform. With her background in software development, entrepreneurship, and nonprofit technology, she guides nonprofits towards self-sufficiency with the Salesforce platform. Database Sherpa is not just a business for Ashima—it’s a community of people who are open-minded and eager-hearted when it comes to using technology to shape organizations. While guiding organizations to find peace with their data, Ashima observed that many organizations were challenged using tools like Filemaker Pro and Access, which were made for technical professionals. Salesforce was built for sales and marketing department staff -- in other words, for users rather than the IT department. Experience showed that this user-focused tool was exactly what nonprofits needed, simple and user friendly. Ashima’s consulting approach is grounded in her yoga and meditation practice and her compassion for people. She is proactive and thought-provoking, encouraging dialogue whenever possible. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan and loves to travel, meet new people, try new foods, and play board games. You can find Ashima online at: Website: databasesherpa.com Facebook: facebook.com/databasesherpa Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with entrepreneur Amy Rasdal about how she leaned out and started her own consulting business. Amy shares tips and tricks on how to build your own consulting business from her own experience and from her own trainings for women looking to lean out and stay home with their children. Launching a Consulting Business Episode Highlights: There are a lot of other options to working a 9-5 job, you can live the life you want to live. Amy works to open minds to the ideas of what those options could be. Just because you work from home doesn’t mean you should make less money. The work that you do is important, not where you do the work. You do not have to give up your career path if you become a consultant. Happiness is a journey. Just when you figure it out something is going to change. Enjoy the ride. As a consultant you are hired for your specific “superpower”. “Be a Superhero with Superpowers and make Superpay.” Your consulting business puts you in a position to be a short term resource for a company, which allows you to get paid more. Use the term “work remotely” instead of “work from home”. Allows for a different mindset with clients. Your home office is “The Office”. Be prepared to be able to answer “What is your rate?” with confidence. Practice it out loud. Practicing makes a huge difference. To start a consulting business you need a computer, a phone, brainpower, and business experience. You do need to have some experience with your superpower before starting your own consulting business. You don’t have to start a business as soon as you launch. Get a client and get your first check in the bank, then keep building. Often when you start your consulting business your first few clients will come quickly, then you have to work to build your the pipeline out from there. The billable work is the easy part, the business development and marketing is the hard part when you start your own consulting business. Look for clients within your own network to get started. Work to constantly to expand your network - always be prospecting. It’s always relationship building that gets you clients, not the social media, etc. You can’t just “build it and they will come.” No matter if you are in corporate or starting your own consulting business, there is always a leap (sidewalk crack or grand canyon) - you can work your way to take these steps, one at a time. Amy Rasdal I am a working mom of two kids, ages 15 and 5. I traded my corporate job for consulting 15 years ago and make more money than most executives. Now I live a very blended life with almost no boundaries. I work and play every day. I liberate corporate working mothers by empowering them to build their own successful consulting businesses. I’m quick on the mute button and I can tell you a foolproof way to do a professional conference call from Disneyland. The mission of Billable with Baby® is to help you find the courage to start your own consulting business so you can have the freedom and flexibility to raise your children the way you wish. You can replace the full time pay your family needs. You can find Amy online at: Website: BillableWithBaby.com Facebook: facebook.com/BillableWithBaby LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/amyrasdal Twitter: twitter.com/billablebaby Instagram: instagram.com/billablewithbaby Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Susan Hyatt about how you can take yourself further as a business owner by defeating self-sabotage through self-love, body positivity, finding what gives you pleasure, and quitting things that deprive you of that pleasure. Susan shares tips and techniques from her own experience and her new book BARE. Defeating Self-Sabotage Episode Highlights: Stop obsessing with your body and revert our energy to what really matters for our life. The “Invisible Workload” of women = Even if you are in a ‘equal’ partnership, women still carry the invisible workload that doesn’t take any credit. The invisible workload is the emotional heavy lifting we do to hold up our family and friends, and keep things moving. When you are not feeling good it’s hard to shift your mindset away from self-sabotage. Environmental Detox = Paying attention to everything in your environment that depletes your energy in some way. What do you need to clean up here? Set boundaries and say no. Take power and time back. This frees you up to focus more on yourself. Lack of willpower is not the reason you can’t make a change or develop a new habit. You are distracted and exhausted by the visible and invisible workload you carry. The antidote to the “more willpower,” “no pain no gain” is women focusing on their pleasure. The Pleasure Principle = the human body is wired for pleasure, if you deprive your body of pleasure and run on scarcity (like through traditional dieting) you are acting counterintuitively to your need for pleasure. You don’t have to deserve pleasure. Your body is wired for it. Give yourself permission. From this you will help to overcome self-sabotage. Do the environmental detox work to reduce self-sabotage. Envy is a good tap on the shoulder. Admiration is hijacked by negative thinking. Envy is a sign of the pleasure you desire or are depriving yourself of. Fuel yourself regularly throughout the day and allow yourself some pleasure food. For every deprivation there is an equal and opposite binge. Susan Hyatt Susan Hyatt is a master certified life coach who has helped thousands of women to transform their bodies and lives. She’s the creator of the Bare Process, the Bare Deck, the Bare Podcast, and an online community called Bare Daily. With her fiery Facebook rants—including “Whoop Ass Wednesday,” where she reads a fresh batch of hate mail from Internet trolls and gives her sassiest response—Susan has gained an international following of women who love her honesty, humor, and fearlessness. Susan has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Woman’s World, Seventeen, and O: The Oprah Magazine, and was a Finalist for the Athena Award, honoring her work in the field of women’s empowerment. You can find Susan online at: Website: shyatt.com BARE Website: letsgetbare.com Instagram: @SusanHyatt LinkedIn BARE Podcast (iTunes) Rich Coach Club Podcast (iTunes) Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we look back at the last 100 episodes and how the amazing women we have talked to on the podcast are leaning out. We talk about some of our greatest lessons and most influentials moments. Together we run through our 10 most listened to episodes and talk about the women we have interviewed who are out there making cool shit happen! Top 10 Most Listened to Episodes of Lean the F*ck Out #10. Episode 53: Mastering Google Search and SEO to Increase Sales with Michele Hansen #9 Episode 60: Running an Activist Side Hustle with Chelsey Goodan #8 Episode 58: Lead Generation and Prospecting with Sara Bay #7 Episode 68: Strategic Destruction to Solve Business Problems with Susan Norris #6 Episode 67: Outsourcing to Scale Up with Brianna Carney #5 Episode 51: Ladies Get Paid with Claire Wasserman #4 Episode 1 of Lean the F*ck Out #3 Episode 61: Turning Passion to Profit with Elaine Huang #2 Episode 54: Selling Doesn’t Have to Suck with Leah Neaderthal #1 Episode 62: Finding Your Brand Story with Kate Browne Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Jill Salzman about her company The Founding Moms. Jill is an expert in building a business and making it work as a mom. We talk about how you can become a badass founding mom and chat about what it takes to be a mom entrepreneur. Badass Founding Moms Episode Highlights: Systemizing makes everything feel less crazy. Two universal truths about moms: 1. Moms carry guilt about being a working mom and having a kid; and 2. they all carry fear that they will fail. No entrepreneur has it all and knows all of what she’s doing. If you think you understand your target market you don’t. You can’t assume anything about anyone. You have to survey, survey, survey; ask, ask, ask. Use your intuition. Don’t let data fuel your fears. Do the thing you want to do. Dive right in. Don’t let anything be the hurdle to you trying it. Ask people. The worst you could hear is no, which is also helpful. Jill Salzman Jill Salzman is currently growing her third entrepreneurial venture, The Founding Moms, where she helps mom entrepreneurs build better businesses. A graduate of Brown University and law school, she started a music management firm and then launched and sold a baby jewelry company before creating her current venture. She’s the author of The Best Business Book In The World and the best-seller, Found It: A Field Guide for Mom Entrepreneurs. Jill is a co-host of Inc. Magazine’s top-rated entertaining business podcast, Breaking Down Your Business, gave her own TED talk on 11/11/11, was dubbed a “mommy mogul” by CNNMoney, a “ Cool Mom Entrepreneur We Love” by MSN Live, and she was recently named one of the Top 50 Women to Watch In Tech as well as a Top 100 Champion Small Business Influencer after Forbes’ named The Founding Moms one of the Top 10 Websites For Entrepreneurs. She’s shared the speaker stage with Richard Branson, Sheryl Sandberg, Daymond John, Marilu Henner, and Desmond Tutu and she regularly appears on ABC7’s Windy City Live TV show. In her spare time, Jill enjoys kloofing, baking, and erasing her daughters’ crayon artwork from the kitchen walls. You can find Jill online at: Website - foundingmoms.com Podcast - Breaking Down Your Business Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Erica Cerulo and Claire Mazur talk about building a business with a friend. Erica and Claire talk about their successful online store, Of A Kind, and their recently released book Work Wife: The Power of Female Friendship to Drive Successful Businesses. We discuss the many different ways partnering with a friend can make your business successful and how you can find the right friend to partner with, among other amazing tips from these friends who have kicked ass in their own business. Building a Business with a Friend Episode Highlights: Vulnerability and transparency is key to a strong partnership. When you start a business it becomes all encompassing to your life. What to look for and think about in a friend who could be a good partner: trust and respect in your relationship. similar work ethic and similarly high standards. Learning to fight/have constructive disagreements early on is really productive for any partnership. Get comfortable with conflict – the more you practice the easier it is. How to spot potential red flags in the friendship that should not become a partnership: If your friend is someone it is hard to plan something small with, they will likely be someone you can’t plan a business with. Go on a stressful trip together - see how people respond to difficult situations. Not every friend would make a good partner, be aware of red flags. Because of the history of workplace culture, we’ve only seen a patriarchal structure. The way women work is different. It is important to be passionate about it the business you are about to build. Trust your gut. If you made the rules behind your company, you can break those rules. Be open to evolving. You don’t have to know everything before you start your business. You will learn along the way, and there is always someone willing to help. Erica Cerulo and Claire Mazur Erica Cerulo and Claire Mazur met as undergrads at the University of Chicago in 2002 and founded Of a Kind in 2010. They have developed a reputation as influential curators at the forefront of the maker movement, with a knack for identifying “the next big thing” when it’s still a small thing. In addition to unearthing America’s most talented up-and-coming designers for feature on their website, Cerulo and Mazur have also become known for their popular 10 Things newsletter and its podcast companion A Few Things, where they expand their enthusiasm for new discoveries across product and lifestyle categories. Accolades for Cerulo and Mazur have included being named to Forbes’s“30 Under 30,” InStyle’s “Best of the Web,” and Fashionista’s “Most Influential People in New York Fashion Right Now.” This is their first book. You can find Erica and Claire online at: Website - ofakind.com Instagram: instagram.com/ofakind Facebook: facebook.com/ofakind The book: Work Wife: The Power of Female Friendship to Drive Successful Businesses Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Holly Gillen, professional videographer and owner of HollyGStudios, about how you can create video content to grow your business. Holly teaches entrepreneurs and small businesses how to create the best content for their videos and how to make each video look professional. If you’ve ever thought about creating your own videos or want to hone your own video brand on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, or anywhere else you have your content, then this episode is for you. [Libsyn] Creating Video Content Episode Highlights: Video is the best way to grow your know, like, and trust factors. This is what Holly calls the “Vidcofactor”. Video helps people identify if they are not your person, or right client, with video you can attract and repel the right people. YouTube is at the end of the day a search engine (the second largest search engine). People come on to find answers to their questions; answer their questions with your own video content. Use your video content to teach and empower; create a transformation for your client. The most important part of your strategy for video is to remain consist, that is how often you show up and when you show up and what content you are publishing. A common issue entrepreneurs have is overcommitting to how often they will be publishing new video content. For audio: the audio you use is really important. While you can use your iPhone for filming, do NOT use the iPhone audio. For lighting: Invest in a soft light or face a window. For your brand: add in graphics (helps drives home point and adds to professionalism). For editing: You can use something as simple and easy as Canva. #effthefluff > Don’t waste my time with a long intro. Leave out unnecessary information. People are searching YouTube to learn. Get right to the point. Simple video content outline: Thriller (captivating/intriguing/what’s in it for me), Filler (fulfill your first promise), Spiller (call to action). Have a video content strategy, include: why (long term strategy), who (who are you creating content for), what (understanding the type of content your audience wants), how (how you are going to actually create content - equipment, logistics, schedule). Promote your content by creating complimentary content for other mediums that drives them to the YouTube content, as well .gifs or memes or other fun quick snippets to highlight your brand and promote your video content. 60-65% of your time spent on video content should be spent on planning. Reverse engineer your content plan and do it on a quarterly basis. When planning video content, start with the client and you will know what they want. Direct content back toward how you are bringing in funds, remember your content is to attract clients and seller your services/products. Build up “video muscles” to get comfortable in front of the camera. Keep your set super simple, you can change your set at any time. Include items that match your brand or message. Everything in the frame should have a purpose. No glaring or distracting or moving. Take action. It’s better to take imperfect action, then to not take any action at all. You’ll never get to where you want to be if you don’t start. Present yourself how you would out in public (be authentic). Clothes should fit, flatter and feel confident. Don’t wear small polka dots or stripes or anything that makes noise (jewelry). Batch!!!! Planning is super important, especially to help keep the editing process more efficient. Video Script Formula - https://www.hollygstudios.com/videoscriptformula Makeup vs No Makeup - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIbpWUS1ON8 Business Cinema Production Planner - https://www.hollygstudios.com/sales_bcpp Holly Gillen Holly started her career in video production in 2008 as a Camera Operator, Producer, and Editor working with big industry names including the Sundance Channel, Sony Music, Nick.com, HBO, Bono, Big Time Rush, Forest Whitaker and many others. Her skills and experience run the full gamut from Producing and Directing to Shooting and Editing, and she has translated those skills into a range of educational courses and services to support entrepreneurs in their quest for video stardom. Holly believes that video isn’t “just” video; it’s your ticket to a more personalized brand, your secret weapon to cut through the static in your market, and your best opportunity to have a meaningful conversation with your clients and customers. You can find Holly online at: Website – hollygstudios.com Facebook – facebook.com/hollygstudios YouTube – hollyg.video Instagram – instagram.com/hollygstudios LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/hollysugrue Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Katrina McGhee, best-selling author, speaker and CEO of Loving on Me about the importance and value of worthiness as an entrepreneur. She shares tips on how you can embrace your confidence, understand your worthiness, and grow our businesses exponentially by using our greatest skills to master our work. The Value of Worthiness for Entrepreneurs Episode Highlights: Self care is often seen as a nicety not a necessity. If we don’t take care of ourselves, we don’t show up as our highest self. Choose “pain free priorities” and decide how you want to show up based on circumstances of your life. Every morning: set the tone for your day, present yourself with a moment of gratitude and leave your phone behind. Start everyday with “I have everything I need to succeed.” Most of us are leading a life that we didn’t design for ourselves, leaving us without the understanding of the value that we give to the world. We don’t value our own worth, because we haven’t thought about (we let others decide for us). Understanding your value and worth helps us go beyond what we can do (ie: skills and competencies) and start understanding what we master and excel at. Understanding worthiness gets us off the rollercoaster of “Am I enough?”. Talk to yourself like you would your best friend or sister. If you understand your worth you can then challenge yourself to go beyond your comfort zone. “Identify your space for greatness and marry it with what you are willing to do.” Train yourself to speak to yourself differently. We can often misrepresent what confidence is, it is not ego and arrogance. Embrace courage by mastering learning. Ask yourself, “What I don’t know? What can learn?” Confidence is rooted in: Self-awareness, and Boosting your skills (embracing a forever learning mindset and the spirit of curiosity). Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. Riches are in niches. You can’t be everything to everybody. Be focused to produce excellence. Go for what you want, not what you think you can get. Use your highest and best skills and farm everything else out (release yourself from minimum wage activities). Katrina McGhee Best-Selling Author | Speaker | CEO, Loving on Me Katrina McGhee is a best-selling author, speaker, and a strategic advisor for organizations across America. For over 20 years, she served as a senior executive for two of the world’s most recognizable non-profits, revolutionizing the way women were ignited to take charge of their health. Realigning her knowledge and experience of inspiring wellness, Katrina now serves as a women’s empowerment advocate, inspirational teacher, and life and career strategist. In 2012, Katrina launched Loving on Me, a global movement encouraging women to love themselves, and each other, more. For the past six years, through her online “inspiration destination,” books, videos, and thriving social community, over sixty thousand women have joined her tribe, getting equipped with the tools they need to lead in every aspect of their lives.She is passionate about helping people reach their highest heights. With years of business experience, she is uniquely skilled at igniting change at individual and corporate levels in areas including leadership, personal branding and career development. Through her Loving on Me Academy, she provides online courses that empower audacious women to lead, inspire, and succeed. Whether Katrina is transforming a corporate culture or inspiring individuals to achieve unimaginable success, McGhee is a powerful agent of change. You can find Katrina online at: katrinamcghee.com instagram.com/katrinamcghee facebook.com/thekatrinamcghee lovingonme.com twitter.com/IAmLovingonMe Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Hansni Thadhani about how she created and grew Strand Boards from a surfboard shower in her own home to an international company surfboard showers and more custom surf decor online. Creating and Growing Strand Boards Episode Highlights: Strong relationships starts with strong customer service and attention to detail. Everyone relationship, whether with a vendor, customer, or production partner is treated equally. Your team around you needs to be just as strong as you, in order to be successful. Growing pains are a real thing (bigger space, more staff, the right team, cash flow). Talk to people about what has worked for them, don’t create new models that already exist and work. If you are looking to do your own thing, ask questions in and out of your industry. Hansni Thadhani With three children, under the age of 5 at the time, Strand Boards founder and Manhattan Beach resident, Hansni Thadhani wanted a place for her family to wash off after a day at the beach. She didn’t want anything dull or boring and thought, “we live by the beach; a surfboard shower must exist!?” Hansni looked online but she didn't find any surfboard showers that she liked, looks or quality wise. A designer at heart, and a lover of the ocean, Hansni had the idea to go to a local surf shop, have a surfboard made and she figured out how to integrate the plumbing inside of the board. When friends of hers saw the surfboard shower in her family’s backyard, they would say, “that is awesome, I need one!” And Strand Boards was born! Strand Boards has been featured on the Today show as a, "must have summer gadget,” an "Editor’s Pick" in Palm Springs Life’s Home + Design Magazine and a, featured, “Best of O.C.” by Modern Luxury Orange County, to name a few. The customization offered on each surfboard product is paramount. In addition to the uniqueness of a shower made out of a surfboard, Strand Boards also manufactures chandeliers, benches and the tables, all out of actual surfboards! Whether it be for a residence or a hotel, these unique items are something people appreciate and love. Strand Boards was born out of a need. Hansni Thadhani’s entrepreneurial mind realized that others like her would love to bring these coastal living accessories with a purpose to their residence or business. Fulfilling her dreams and using her business sense, the love of the ocean, her sales background, and design experience all gave her the perfect platform to take Strand Boards global! You can find Hansni and Strand Boards online at: www.StrandBoards.com www.Instagram.com/StrandBoards Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Leah Madden, founder and managing director of Greenprint Growth Partners, about how she helps companies maximize value beyond the launch phase and find the right funding strategies to match with their growth plans. Funding Your Business Beyond the Launch Phase Episode Highlights: All companies should have some sort of a plan for capital building (funding), no matter the size. To create a strong investor pipeline, target: investors that work with companies at your stage and focus on the industry or sector your company is in. Companies with investors as their main funding source, should have 20-30 investors in their circle of trust. Relationship management is critical to all funding. Companies should have three main focus areas: 1. Customers 2. Operations 3. Investors. As early as possible have a cash flow statement for your company. This will create a runway (number of months your company will be able to exist based on the capital you have) for you to understand your funding needs. A company in growth mode is likely managing more for cash flow than profitability. There are many ways to fund a business, including: bank loans, grants, crowdfunding, self-funding, raising capital from investors. Trying to think of self as your most important employee. How would you treat her? What environment would she be the most effective and productive in? Leah Madden Leah is the founder and managing director of Greenprint Growth Partners, where she helps companies maximize value beyond the launch phase, with a focus on startup and growth strategy, exit and M&A scenario analysis, capital markets research, and capital raising. Before starting Greenprint, Leah's career was in the consumer sector, primarily focused on food and beverage products and services. She oversaw corporate strategy and asset management for a San Francisco private portfolio, and held general management and operations roles for Marriott International and Two Roads Hospitality. She started her career managing small businesses, and considers that experience to be a cornerstone of her business philosophy and investment thesis. Leah holds an MBA from USC Marshall’s global business program (IBEAR), and a Bachelor’s in psychology from UC Berkeley. You can find Leah online at: Website: www.greenprintgrowth.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/leahmadden Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GPGrowth/ Free pitch deck review: https://www.greenprintgrowth.com/pitchdeckreview Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Intuitive Consultant Jenna Gessay about her practice and understanding and connecting with your own intuition. Jenna discusses how intuition describes the language of your soul and how entrepreneurs can use their intuition to build and grow their businesses in the right direction. Connecting with Your Intuition Episode Highlights: Intuition is the language of your soul. Intuition is so untapped for many entrepreneurs. Intuition helps with making wise decisions. If someone feels like they are being deeply invested in, they will likely be a much more productive employee. Being an intuitive practice could differentiate you as a company, giving you a competitive leg up. Intuition can help with organization and prioritization. Honor the expression vessel of who you are. If you exploring completely new frontiers, you can rely on your intuition to access the divine wisdom that put the idea there. You’ll know if it is intuition, because your ego will have something to say about. Your ego wants to keep you in comfortable suffering. It wants to keep you there for a reason. You have to get quiet enough to hear your intuition, try activities like guided writing exercises and meditations. Put yourself first, absolutely. Going to do what you truly love has to be a yes. You can always go back if it doesn’t work out. Jenna Gessay Jenna Gessay is a visionary Intuitive Consultant who finds her deepest joy helping people to express their highest potential, heal from the inside out and live from a guided place using their intuition as a language to connect with their souls. She is a passionate entrepreneur, healer and spiritual teacher and has watched thousands of people transform their lives through her groundbreaking Intuitive Wellness sessions, Immersion Workshops and Intuitive Business programs. After 10 years in an elite biotech career, working in teaching institutions, Jenna is passionate about the healing process and helping people connect with their own inner wisdom. Her business degree and corporate background working for Fortune 500 companies led to connecting her intuitive sensibility to bring businesses up to their highest potential. She now specializes in assisting game-changers with innovative ideas to launch successful, spiritually-rooted businesses and training business leaders to operate intuitively. Meditation Resource Grounding Meditation for Intuitive Wellness You can find Jenna online at: Website: jennagessay.com Instagram: instagram.com/jennagessay Facebook: facebook.com/jennagessay Nurture Moms: Instagram: instagram.com/nurturemoms Facebook: facebook.com/nurturemoms Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Leah Komaiko brand storyteller and author of 20 bestselling books for children, about how she found her way into the corporate world as a consultant among a family of artists. She also shares how she built her business helping brands (companies and individuals) find their story. In the episode, Leah offers advice on how you as a fempreneur can find your unique story and pave your own way. Finding Your Story Episode Highlights: If a story is good for a child’s heart, it is good for a business client’s heart. What has been your motivating energy and force, and your personality and brand? Stories help us to understand these things, see who we are and remember who we were. Allow yourself to understand what stuck with you and never left you. That’s the art of a brand. Genius is simple. We all strive to stand out and the only way I think to stand out and not mimic or copy someone else is to understand the major events/challenges in your life. Your story is then built upon the characteristics and actions you took after those events. What you did with what happened is what matters most. When trying to discover “what is my why?” start with WHAT questions instead. Your story is not just the icing on the cake, it’s the cake, the everything. You only have so many hours in the day, who do you want to give your time to? Why do they need it? Why do they care? This is how you discover your audience. Your brand comes before marketing, not the other way around. Realize what your greatest story is. What makes you unique? Make that your brand. When you’re on your right track, the right people show up. Start off with a little bit of money. The information you need is in your heart. You already have it. Don’t hop from one shiny object to the next. “Nobody doesn’t want to buy joy.” Leah Komaiko At her core, Leah Komaiko is a writer and author of 20 bestselling books for children including a modern classic. She got her first branding client, a Fortune 100 company, because she loved business and discovered a valuable connection between a loved bedtime story and a brand that sticks: That thing that gets a child to pick the same book down off a shelf every time when she’s got 50 others to choose from? It’s the same instinct that makes a customer choose you today above all others as their brand. There’s surprise, delight, and connection at every turn. Leah works in a mix of business categories and with authors and speakers. Her clients include start-ups, Fortune 500’s, an Olympic champion, nonfiction authors and an acclaimed rapper. She watched clients get a big deal on Shark Tank and was a Marketing Director for a beloved skincare company. She authored a memoir for grown-ups that was bought by Hollywood. Leah’s come to learn that if you believe you have more genius in you than you’re letting on, you’re probably right. She is well known for helping to bring that out of her clients. At all stages of their projects, businesses and even just brainstorming to determine what’s next. You can find Leah online at: www.LeahKomaiko.com Twitter: @LeahKBranding Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Lisa Q. Fetterman, founder and CEO of Nomiku, about how she paired her love for amazing food and high-tech manufacturing to bring Nomiku to life. Lisa shares her adventures with Kickstarter; the story about how she has grown her sous vide aficionado business into a home staple; and gives advice to other women looking to lean the f*ck out and do their own thing. Pairing High-Tech Manufacturing with Good Food Episode Highlights: Kickstarter was a good choice for Fetterman because it was hard to get funding from investors and banks as an untested founder with a potentially risky concept. To build credibility for Kickstarter Fetterman toured the country participating in maker spaces. Manufacturing will always cost more than you think it will. The longer it takes, the more money you pay out. You are creating something the world has never seen before – you are creating the blueprint – that takes time. There is no shortcut around the development of a new product. It takes a lot of trial and error. Googling helps a lot when you are creating a new thing. Remember: the hard part is temporary. Survive. Is this the only thing in the world you can do and that you are good at that you enjoy doing? If the answer is yes - you should do it! If answer is no - do not do the fucking thing. Lisa Q. Fetterman Lisa Q. Fetterman is the founder and CEO of Nomiku, the first home sous vide immersion circulator machine on the market. Lisa has been featured in Wired, MAKE, and Forbes, and was named on Forbes, Inc, and Zagat Survey’s 30 Under 30 lists for her pioneering work in the food space. Lisa has worked at some of the top restaurants in the country including Babbo and Jean-Georges in New York and Saison in San Francisco. She lives in San Francisco where she and her husband-cofounder have brought manufacturing back to the states with their new Wifi-Nomiku device. The new Nomiku Sous Chef program also ships food directly to your door and works seamlessly with their third generation made in USA product. You can find Lisa online at: Website: nomiku.com Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Robin Stewart, founder and co-owner of Rip Fix about how she took a family recipe and turned it into a must-have product for athletes around the world. Robin discusses how she started and grew the company and how she manages it today as a passive income stream. From Family Recipe to Passive Income Episode Highlights: Rip Fix started out being made in a kitchen and moved to small batch manufacturing. Business mentor advised, that “You will know when you can’t handle it and are falling behind” that is when you need to make the move to manufacturing the product. Planning for a manufacturer started quite a bit of time before they actually needed one. Connections are of the utmost importance. Small batch manufacturers can be expensive and hard to find. Robin and business partner built systems for the business which now allows for passive income. Working with an Amazon Prime consultant really took their business to the next level. When you start off get the right business partner (need to balance each other out and have opposite skillset). Take your time (when you get excited you can take on things that can trip you up). Get comfortable with making mistakes. Product sales take a while before you actually make money. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Robin Stewart Robin grew up in Toronto, Canada and has spent most of her life in a gym of some sort. At age 4, she started her gymnastics career and worked her way up to become a top level competitive gymnast. Unfortunately, she ruptured her achilles heel right before what would have been her Olympic trial year; it was the boycott year so she wouldn’t have gone anyway. She paid her way through college teaching aerobics (yes, step class in leg warmers and very high cut leotards) and has been a fitness educator for over 20 years. In 2008 Robin moved to Franklin, TN from Los Angeles, CA for a life change. During her time in LA she worked as an actress and a certified personal trainer. In 2012, Robin reignited her love of the fitness industry after joining a CrossFit box and realized she found where all retired gymnasts should train. It was a place where they could show off their kipping abilities and feel competitive again. When she started CrossFit she saw the need for hand care (who knows rips better than a CrossFitting former gymnast?!) and she knew it was time to market her family’s “miracle cream”. With the encouragement of her CrossFit community and a great business partnership with Cecilia, RipFix was launched. Robin is a single Mother of two beautiful, high achieving girls, her 25 year old is a Medical Student at Johns Hopkins University and her 10 year old is a State Champion level 5 Gymnast. She believes in hard work, perseverance, fun and lives by the motto “You are only as old as you look from behind”. You can find Robin online at: Ripfix.com Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we have a frank discussion about money with financial coach Lynne Somerman. We talk about the challenges (and anxiety) entrepreneurs face when it comes to finances like forecasting, revenue versus profit, cash flow, budgeting and paying yourself. Lynne offers great tips for getting your money on track for your business and personal finances. A Real Conversation About Money Episode Highlights: You are not the only one that doesn’t know what they are doing when it comes to budgeting for your business. To start budgeting get realistic with where you are right now. Remember, the numbers are facts. Talk to people that are in similar place as you. Revenue goals and profit goals are different. Growth happens in years, not months. Entrepreneurs often have unrealistic revenue goals and ideas for the speed at which they are able to attain them. The amount you are able to grow your business each year depends on where your business is currently and the trends you have experienced over time. Making 20% profit is a good place to begin. Be really realistic about business expenses and keep them separate from your life expenses. Look at your cash flow and budget daily. Base what you spend on actual numbers. For paying yourself a salary: a good goal to work toward is paying yourself 50% (250K under a year biz) of what you bring in. Change in your business is possible. Make small, methodic changes to reach your goal income. Budgeting Tool: You Need a Budget (YNAB) Book Recommendation: Profit First Lynne Somerman Lynne Somerman helps entrepreneurs feel less stupid and sad about their money through practical skill building, habit change, and mindset work. She loves speaking about budgeting as radical self-care and coaching a client when they light up, realizing that they’re not doomed, after all. She lives in South Portland, Maine with her feisty daughter, snaggle-toothed dog, and chickens named after strong women. You can find Lynne online at: https://lynnesomerman.com/ Instagram: @lynnesomerman Facebook: Lynne Somerman Financial Coaching Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, Gretchen and Tera talk with Racheal Kay Albers, founder and creative director of RKA ink, a branding, web design, and digital marketing studio. Rachael talks about how she got her business started and her effing hilarious video series, Awkward Marketing, a business comedy show blending fun size small business advice with storytelling and sketch comedy. Epic Marketing for Unforgettable Brands Episode Highlights: In the act of defining what you are against, what your brand is not, you can begin to understand who you are and who you want your audience to be. Relationships are at the core of how businesses are growing. Most businesses that fail at marketing do so because they are trying to fit themselves into some else’s model. Don’t just create the passive income tool just because someone told you to. Don’t chase all the different ideas. Let what you should be doing “burst out of you”. If you spend too much time and money on what others are doing, you can deflate your business momentum. Ask yourself: What’s missing in the conversation? Contribute something to your industry that hasn’t been done yet. Contribute to the conversation with a new approach. “You don’t have 35 wigs on the wall to create an epic brand.” Become a “Talk Trigger”. Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries. You have to have boundaries. Build your damn email list from day one. People are going to treat you the way you are going to treat yourself. Be the one to hire yourself first. Rachael Kay Albers Rachael Kay Albers is a marketer who hates marketing. As the founder and creative director of RKA ink, a branding, web design, and digital marketing studio based outside Chicago, Rachael has helped hundreds of thought leaders and visionary entrepreneurs all over the world stand out online without selling their soul or playing the manipulation game. Rachael’s clients have used their online platforms to launch bestselling books, five star podcasts, and six figure funnels. When not crafting epic, unforgettable brands for her clients, Rachael hosts Awkward Marketing, a business comedy show blending fun size small business advice with storytelling and sketch comedy, for entrepreneurs who want to create epic, unforgettable brands online. Rachael has been featured in Inc. Magazine and The Huffington Post and been a guest on podcasts like Make Money Your Honey, Marketing In Yoga Pants, and The Entrepreneur Mastermind Show. Rachael lives in St. Charles, IL with her husband, daughter, two troublemaking dogs, and a bunch of old computer cords they’re afraid to throw away. You can find Rachel online at: http://www.rkaink.com/ http://awkwardmarketing.com/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/rkaink/ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/rkaink/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/rkaink/ Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this interview we talk with Tasha Booth about how she went from touring musical theatre performer to CEO of her own business support services business. Tasha shares some of the lessons she has learned from the growth of her business, some amazing tips on how to keep a virtual team motivated, and pointers on how solopreneurs can recognize when it is time to hire support services to grow their business. Hiring Support Services to Grow Your Business Episode Highlights: Being honest with yourself about what you are great at and not so great at will help you understand how to best build your business. “Stay in your zone of genius.” - Tasha Booth As you grow, get to know what your best ‘type’ of client is for your business and your work style. Making a virtual team work: Utilize a rigorous vetting system for new hires. Make sure new hires are critical thinkers that can work independently. Try out tools like the Colby A to get to know each other’s work styles. Host weekly team meetings, be sure to include non-work items like shout outs/praises for fellow team members. Use Slack or other communications tools for ongoing communication. Give as many thank yous as you can and remember what is important to each of your team members (make this an intentional part of on-boarding - favorite things: restaurants, foods, etc) If you feel like you are working outside your zone of genius more than in your zone of genius, it might be time to hire support services to grow your business. If you are always procrastinating on specific tasks it might be time to hire support services to grow your business. Even if you feel like you don’t have a ton of time to put into their business, you can get started with just 30 minutes a day. Do one thing a week that pushes the needle forward on your business. Tasha Booth Tasha Booth is a podcaster, mentor, and Online Business Manager for successful course creators and coaches. She is the CEO of The Launch Guild - an Online Business Management & Virtual Support Agency which supports coaches and course creators with everything from podcast development to systems creation, from daily business management to 6-figure launches. Tasha also mentors virtual support pros (VAs & OBMs) who are passionate and ready to grow their businesses while living life on their own terms. You can find Tasha online at: Facebook How She Did That Podcast Instagram LinkedIn Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode, Gretchen DeVault and Tera Wozniak Qualls talk with Charlene Trinh about how she turned a two decade career in Wealth Management into a leadership practice developing conscious leaders through mindfulness, intention, and wellness. Conscious Leadership Episode Highlights: Conscious Leadership: Bringing one’s whole self to a leadership role. Not about being seen, but you seeing yourself. Stepping outside your comfort zone, over and over again. Understanding your own patterns of self sabotage and developing a plan to manage times when you are sabotaging progress in order to stay outside of your comfort zone. Creates a culture of trust, support, growth, and collaboration. Becoming a conscious leader comes from “tuning in” – getting connected to your heart, gut, intuition. Do the inner work and get clear on who you are not and own You! If you’re going to hold place for someone else, you have to be solid on who you are. Network with those that do similar work and find those that support you. Make sure you are clear on who you are as a coach and who you want to work with; you can’t be everyone’s coach. Find your gift and share it with the world. If you have a hard time finding it, get a mentor or coach. Authenticity is your superpower. Charlene Trinh I am passionate about supporting others in their journey of wellness and Wellbeing. I cultivate a holistic approach to wellness that balances not only the body, but also the mind and spirit. My clients benefit from my wide-ranging knowledge of Integrative Health (combining wellness disciplines from Ayurveda, Western and Eastern healing modalities), and my extensive experience with nutrition, detox and exercise. I also believe that in order to achieve true happiness and wellbeing, we must live a life consciously aligned with our passions and visions. I therefore work with my clients to identify their unique definitions of success, and to process and breakthrough the limiting beliefs that are holding them back from their full expression. Endless possibilities exist when we make heart-centered shifts to find our own voice, and take actions to maintain balance and authenticity in our life and career. I spent 18 years as a corporate executive in Wealth Management, and even though it looked like I had it all on the outside, inside I felt there had to be more to life. I started to invest my free time exploring my passions and began to train for marathons, practiced yoga and meditation, and completed wellness and personal development programs. Through my own personal inner journey, it became clear that I had been playing it small and was settling instead of taking risks and going after what I truly wanted. It was then that I found the courage to lean in and fight for an uncommon life, an existence that would light me up from within. We each only have one precious life, and there is no dress rehearsal. We are all meant to forge the life of our dreams. Having found my own freedom, I feel called upon to pass it on, to inspire others to do the same and to create a positive ripple effect in the world. I am committed to being a guide for others so that they too may rediscover their own inner wisdom, step into their full power and find balance physically, emotionally and spiritually. As Pablo Picasso once said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” Charlene is a 4-time Boston Marathoner, a yogi, and an avid traveler. and foodie. When she is not coaching, teaching or speaking at events, she enjoys spending time with her husband Brandon. Charlene has a B.A. from UCLA and a J.D. from UC Hastings of the Law. You can find Charlene online at: http://charlenetrinh.com Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this week’s episode, we talk with Chaya Milchtein about starting her blog – The Mechanic Shop Femme – which has certainly become much more than just a blog. Chaya now offers automotive classes and consultation services, and automotive career coaching. The blog covers automotive topics as well as plus-size fashion and LGBT lifestyle. Through her blog and classes, Chaya empowers women and LGBT+ with knowledge about car maintenance. Empowering Women through Car Maintenance and Lifestyle Blogging Episode Highlights: Tips for growing a blog: Listen to readers who are open to sharing what they are looking for. Offer classes, people want to learn more. Blogs don’t grow on their own, build a network. Virtual Assistants can be a good option to support bloggers. Provide education to people in many different places (paid and unpaid). Make sure you actually are reliable (most important thing). If you promise something, you need to deliver or be honest that you can’t deliver on that. Be the upstanding person you want other people to be. Sit down with paper or on computer and write out your plan and how you are going to know you are successful. It helps reframe how she looks at things. Not every idea is going to work, need to have a plan to understand what will and won’t, and for working through failures. About Chaya Milchtein Call me a workaholic, call me a paradox, call me something else; I call myself Chaya and my motto is “If the shoe fits don’t just wear it, rock it!” I’m an outspoken female service manager making my mark in a field of older men and sometimes skeptical customers. I have proven through my experience and knowledge that I have earned my place and respect. I use my automotive knowledge to empower women and queer folks through online classes and consultations. In addition to my work in the automotive industry, I manage social media accounts for bloggers, models and brands looking to build their presence online and strengthen their customer reach via their social media channels. While sharing images of me in fabulous colorful dresses, I blog about automotive repairs, plus size fashion and social media every now and then. I am proof that you can be feminine and work in a male-dominated field without compromising yourself. Follow Chaya online at: https://mechanicshopfemme.com/ Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Brooke Sprowl about how she is growing a therapy practice in Los Angeles, My LA Therapy, and her upcoming book: Why You Should Date Emotionally Unavailable Men: Use Your Unhealthy Relationships to Transform Yourself and Your Love Life. Growing a Therapy Practice Episode Highlights: When Brooke’s therapy practice was smaller, she didn’t need to have as many processes and systems in place, however, as her therapy practice started to grow, it became clear how important systems and processes were. One of her many lessons in business is that she should have developed those systems and processes right from the beginning. Don’t learn the systems as your scaling. Create the systems first. Brooke used a website approach to growing her therapy practice. A majority of her leads have been referrals and she has never paid for online advertising. Her success in marketing started with finding her authentic marketing voice on her website and blog. Videos allow people to understand who the therapists are and their potential fit. Tips for fempreneurs: Regulate anxiety above producing. Understand your goals for caring for yourself. Caring for yourself leads to be producing more effectively. There is no difference in productivity between six and eight hours of work in a single day. Have integrity from the beginning. Make sure your team feels valued and appreciated. Trust your intuition. Have people you trust who have the experience you need to learn from and draw from their wisdom. Don’t do it all alone. Don’t try to be too rational about everything all the time. Take a leap of faith but be responsible and do the planning. Brooke Sprowl Brooke Sprowl, LCSW is a UCLA-trained psychotherapist and author of the upcoming book Why You Should Date Emotionally Unavailable Men: Use Your Unhealthy Relationships to Transform Yourself and Your Love Life. With over 10 years of experience as an individual, couples, and family therapist, she specializes in anxiety, depression, relationships, codependency, abuse, LGBTQ issues, and narcissism. As the Founder, CEO, and Clinical Director of My LA Therapy she trains and oversees an elite team of therapists to navigate the complex and fascinating terrain of clinical psychotherapy. Earning her Masters in Clinical Social Welfare with a specialization in Mental Health from UCLA and bachelor's degrees in Neuroscience and Spanish from USC, she is passionate about applying her knowledge of the brain, biology, human behavior, and communication to helping people transform their lives. Brooke has been featured for her mental health expertise in the Washington Post, Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global Magazine, Annenberg Media, Social Work Today, Authority Magazine, Fatherly Magazine, Bustle, Martha Stewart Weddings, Mel Magazine, VoyageLA Magazine, Complex.com, and the Child Law Help Center on topics ranging from co-parenting strategies, sexual assault, the effects of student loan debt on mental health, and healthy communication for couples. Brooke is just beginning her foray into the podcast world and has appeared on the San IT Project, Power the Hustle, The Nobody Guide to Life, Sisterhood of Sweat, and The Segilola Salami Show Through her upcoming book Why You Should Date Emotionally Unavailable Men: Use Your "Unhealthy" Relationship to Transform Yourself and Your Love Life, Brooke hopes to challenge the wrongheaded concepts surrounding the "emotionally unavailable man" that have turned relationships into war zones and prevented women from healing and growing. Why You SHOULD Date Emotionally Unavailable Men debunks the damaging myths that prevent women from developing healthy partnerships, offering a practical toolkit of relational skills and inner healing exercises in tandem. The book redefines what it means to be a strong woman and offers insight into how to use your relationships to see your blind spots and how to shed our narcissistic tactics and manipulative games in order to make real intimacy possible. With over 15 years of leadership and public speaking experience, Brooke has received many awards and honors throughout her career for leadership and exceptional achievement. She is a published, award-winning poet and AA-rated beach volleyball player. In her spare time she enjoys beach volleyball, surfing, cycling, singing, songwriting, storytelling, and attempting to play the guitar and piano. Follow Brooke online at: https://mylatherapy.com/ https://www.facebook.com/mylatherapy https://twitter.com/mylatherapy https://www.instagram.com/mylatherapy/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mylatherapy/ https://mylatherapy.tumblr.com/ Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
This week on Lean the F*ck Out we talk with plus size fashion designer, stylist, and entrepreneur Rachel Kacenjar. Rachel discussed how she sold her business Re/Dress after purchasing it from a colleague and running it for almost a decade. Selling Your Business Episode Highlights: Go into all employee hires with good boundaries in mind; there is a fine line between employee and friendship that should not be crossed. If you are going to start your business doing something you are passionate about, be prepared that you might lose that passion. Always have a contract, no matter who you are dealing with. Contracts help set healthy boundaries. When opening a business banking account, open two additional sub-accounts. Put one-third of your income in one of those accounts for tax savings and put another one-third into an account for buying new stuff you need for the business. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Let it go, make mistakes liberally, and learn from them. It’s okay to critically analyze big mistakes. Have a backup plan. Plan for your dreams and the health of your personal future. Rachel Kacenjar Rachel Kacenjar has more than a decade of experience in the fashion industry. She is a plus size fashion designer, stylist, and entrepreneur who bought, ran, and sold the popular plus size indie fashion giant, Re/Dress. She lectures at Parsons the New School for Design on ethical fashion and has been a queer body positivity advocate both locally and nationally working on the board of NOLOSE and organizing local events like talk therapy group Body Positive Circle, as well as body positive activity groups like BoPo Yoga, Jammin' Jellies Dance Class, and BoPo Dance Party. She recently switched gears and returned to non-profit work as a statewide operations director for a women's rights advocacy group and runs a small consulting firm where she helps new businesses grow, create product lines, and keep their finances in order. Follow Rachel online at: Website: www.rachelkacenjar.com Consulting info link: http://tinyurl.com/consultwithRK Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
This week on Lean the F*ck Out, we talked with Lesly Simmons about how she went from running her own business to taking a gig back in corporate. Lesly talks about the difference between working for herself and working at a corporation, and how she has been able to utilize her entrepreneurial mindset in her new role. Episode Highlights: Bonuses for Lesly of moving back to work for a company: Going in to an office day-to-day and not having to pay quarterly taxes. It is important to remember that your goals and dreams can change over time. If an opportunity presents itself you do not have to decline it because it doesn’t live up to other people’s or even your own expectations. Security – whether you are running your own business or in a corporate environment – comes from within and honoring your own abilities. Bringing entrepreneurial mindset into a corporate environment: allows you to look at things from different perspective. gives you a chance to connect the dots between the many different organizations/companies you worked with while consulting. bringing your grit into the workplace can give you a leg up. you are better at time management. you are likely more resourceful. gives you a chance to recognize when to ask for help and see the grand scale of what she needs to execute a project. Started directing work to small business owners and consultants in the industry, while keeping some of her team when she transitioned to a full time job. #speakingopps lists a diverse set of speakers and opportunities. Three tips for budding fempreneurs: Go for it. Trust your instincts. Get a great squad around you. Dabble in a side hustle and feel your way through it if you feel unsure before launching a full time gig. Lesly Simmons Lesly Simmons is a content and conference producer in San Francisco. She specializes in working with speakers and brands to develop talks that leave audiences buzzing. Lesly works with companies including Google, Amtrak, Oculus, Airbnb and others to develop and execute incredible conferences, and recently joined Twitter to develop live programming. Before Simmons Creative, Lesly managed disaster and diversity communications for the American Red Cross in Washington DC, and worked as a reporter for the Washington Post and the Bureau of National Affairs. She has a master's degree in ethics and philosophy from Georgetown University. In 2018 Lesly launched Backstage Box, an event planner emergency kit now in use at conferences, concerts and awards shows across the country.
In this episode, we talk with Magalie Rene´ about how she went moved from Public Relations into a creative business, and then finally into coaching fempreneurs on finding their own shine. Magalie shares great tips on overcoming fears and taking the leap to find a career where you shine. Episode Highlights: Are you a hummingbird or a jackhammer? https://blogs.psychcentral.com/creative-mind/2015/11/elizabeth-gilbert-on-jackhammers-and-hummingbirds-and-creative-life/ Trust your instinct, follow the breadcrumbs (signs of what you should be doing). Take a chance on things you might not feel are possible; don’t just say no. You have skills from all of your experiences to share, think about how those might be useful for new experiences, even if they aren’t in the same field. Hurdles many of the woman face in running their own business: fear, comparison to others, need for external affirmation or permission, fear of failure and success (fear of judgement) Overcoming fears: awareness, action, accountability Magalie René Magalie René is a Business Strategist, Speaker, Bestselling Author, and “Shine” Sourceress. Her Find Your Shine events and coaching practice helps entrepreneurs conquer their fears, shine in their business, and earn. She has worked with companies like Heineken, HGTV, Kaiser Permanente, Fidelity Investments, and New York Life Insurance on marketing, public relations and brand ideation. Magalie also has firsthand knowledge of what it takes to career transition as she successfully facilitated her own in 2013 (launching her interior design company Consciously Design and writing bestselling book "Kid-Smart Spaces: Decorating a Classroom That Changes Lives"). Magalie is a contributor to Mind Body Green and has been featured in Dr. Oz The Good Life Magazine, Good Housekeeping Magazine, and Design Sponge. When she’s not facilitating corporate brand ideations or speaking about Career Boldness and the pursuit of meaningful work, you can find her on a walk in her Los Angeles neighborhood of West Hollywood with her dog Prince. The Feb 9th Find Your Shine event will be held in Los Angeles and promises to be an incredible experience. Details can be found at: bit.ly/FindYourShine2. Follow Magalie online at: Follow Magalie @magalie_rene on instagram and www.magalierene.com. Find Your Shine details bit.ly/FindYourShine2.
This week we talk with Linda Otterbridge, founder of Hook a Sista Up and purveyor of connections between women business owners. HASU is a membership based sisterhood, movement and platform for women entrepreneurs who share a common goal. “Entrepreneurship.” HASU brings women together to share valuable experiences and resources that help each other as they travel on their business journey. Linda shares the challenges and triumphs she’s seen with many women owned businesses including her own and offers great advice for making connections and getting support. Episode Highlights: Linda founded Hook a Sista Up (HASU) HASU is for any woman who wants to start a business who may need a mentor or have an idea and want to get connected They come together to build connections and support each other. Monthly accountability check ins Confidence is one of the barriers Linda has seen for women considering taking their business full time. It could be family structure that matters or level or risk adversity or if they have the right support. Triumphs Linda has seen in women owned businesses Women owned businesses are very good at multitasking. Women are better at patience and tolerating/resilience. Women will fall back, not let it go and try again. We don’t give up as easily. What kind of support do you have? Financial Emotional Connections/Network which lead to customers “Connections are the new cash cow.” - Linda M. Otterbridge Time management is critical HASU is a platform, a movement. Linda M. Otterbridge Linda Otterbridge is the president and owner of Hook a Sista Up Collaborative www.hasucollaborative.com Hook a Sista Up was created in Charlotte NC however launched in Grand Rapids, MI. June 2013. HASU is a membership based sisterhood, movement and platform for women entrepreneurs who share a common goal. “Entrepreneurship.” HASU brings women together to share valuable experiences and resources that help each other as they travel on their business journey. They do this through monthly accountability check in’s and mentorships. Linda is responsible for redefining the way women connect and build relationships through hook-up’s and sharing of resources. HASU has grown and expanded into other niche platforms like Women who Write GR which serves authors, writers, editors, publishers and all businesses for women who write. As the president and owner of HASU Linda orchestrates and wear’s many hats within the platform to remain relevant to the many needs of women who join as a member. She serves as a mentor, business coach, accountability coach and her new role as host of her NEW podcast show- “The no Plan B entrepreneur.” Coming in Jan 2019. As a career Linda serves as a Site Manager for a Behavioral Health Counseling Center. She also holds a Masters Degree in Organizational Management from Spring Arbor University in which she graduated in 2008. Linda resides in Grand Rapids and is wife, mother and grandmother of a 7yr old girl and 7 month old baby boy. Linda believes in serving others so they can be of service to others. She also enjoys sharing her knowledge and promoting women owned businesses so that she can help others grow their businesses. One win- we ALL win. Follow Linda online at: https://www.hasucollaborative.com/ Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
This week we talk with Carly Cylinder, owner of Flour LA, Inc, author of The Flower Chef and host of The Flower Kitchen. Carly shares how she started her business out of her small apartment and how she’s grown it to a bicoastal, full-service studio. She shares what it was like to publish her best-selling book The Flower Chef and talks about her show The Flower Kitchen on Bluprint. Episode Highlights: How Carly runs Flour LA with locations in LA, NYC and Dallas How her book was published and the details of the process Carly talks about her show The Flower Kitchen on Bluprint How she uses Instagram as a portfolio Biggest lessons Carly’s learned from running her own business: Wait for those bigger jobs that are the right fit. By saying “no” to projects that are not the right fit, you allow room for other opps you are more aligned with Give yourself more financial security - have some sort of regular income Recommended reads: The 4 Hour Work Week and The Big Leap Stay in your own lane, keep focused Don’t look at what other people are doing Carly’s advice on leaning out and doing your own thing: Remember “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill Be open to change Know where you want to go About Carly Cylinder Owner, Flour LA, Inc & Best-Selling Author of The Flower Chef Carly Cylinder is owner of acclaimed florist Flour LA, Inc with studios in LA, NYC, and Dallas. Her first book The Flower Chef was published in March 2016 by Hachette Book Group and named Best Books by Amazon. She is the host of The Flower Kitchen on Bluprint (NBC). Vogue named Carly Cylinder and Flour LA as one of the best flower classes in the country. In 2009 at 26 years old, celebrity florist Carly Cylinder founded floral design studio Flour LA, Inc. What started as a daily delivery service based out of her small apartment quickly grew into a bicoastal, full-service studio. Flour LA Inc specializes in events for the beauty, fashion, and tech industries, installations, and high-end weddings. Carly’s first book THE FLOWER CHEF: A MODERN GUIDE TO DO-IT-YOURSELF FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS was published in March 2016 by Hachette Book Group and named Best Books of 2016 by Amazon Books. She has worked in nearly every major city doing celebrity and luxury events. Follow Carly online at: The Flower Chef book Instagram Flour LA Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
This week we talk with Callee Ackland, US Navy veteran turned eco-entrepreneur and founder of Bestowed Essentials, podcaster, zero waste activist and van dweller. Callee shares how and why she started Bestowed Essentials and bringing the business on the road with her. She also talks about life traveling the country in a van. Callee talks zero waste activism and how listeners can reduce their impact. Episode Highlights: About Bestowed Essentials ethical, eco-friendly and zero waste Soaps, shampoo bars, candles All natural No fragrances Vegan and cruelty free Plastic free packaging Zero waste activism A Plastic Ocean - documentary inspired this lifestyle change for Callee Zero Waste - idea of trying to reduce your personal footprint you leave on the planet. Individuals and individual actions make a difference. It plants seeds. One by one we all change. Mission is to encourage and enable people to reduce waste and live their best life Simply ways to reduce waste Try to reduce or cut out single use plastic (water bottles, paper towels, premade meals, etc) Requires a bit of planning ahead Do a trash audit (many of recyclables don’t make it to the recycling plant) Trying meatless Monday - plant based diet is the biggest way one individual can reduce impact on the planet Animal agriculture is number one carbon producer About Van Life Pros and cons to van life Living in a van full-time can be a challenge Love the freedom of waking up in a different place everyday and meeting new people It’s nice to have a home that travels with you Temperature changes can be a pain Finding a place to park can be challenging Biggest con is occasional loneliness. Hard to establish meaningful connections. Callee converted a 2014 cargo van It takes some Tetris skills to fit everything in the van Biggest lessons You have to wear so many different hats. Both overwhelming and empowering. Hire help! Wish she’d hired sooner. Once you find the right people, together you can grow so much more. Employees need to be invested in your business Do your research. But don’t let perfectionism hold you back. You have to be okay with 90% perfect. Otherwise you won’t learn. Callee Ackland Callee Ackland is a US Navy veteran turned eco-entrepreneur, podcaster, zero waste activist and van dweller. At age 23, while still on active-duty in the military, she started Bestowed Essentials, a line of ethical + eco-friendly home goods, and now is about to open her first store in Rapid City, SD. Callee hosts the Hippie Haven Podcast, where she interviews experts + everyday people on sustainable living. She travels the United States in her self-converted 2014 Ram Promaster van, while doing zero waste workshops + activism events around the country. Learn more about her at www.ahippieinavan.com Follow Callee online at: www.ahippieinavan.com www.ahippieinavan.com/podcast www.bestowedessentials.com www.instagram.com/bestowedessentials Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
This week we talk with Susie Trujillo, Founder & Chief Strategist at STRUC, a strategy consultancy building brand positioning and marketing programs for growth-stage companies. We talk about common mistakes businesses make when it comes to marketing, where to start with your marketing efforts and how to market when your business is scaling up and at growth stage. Episode Highlights: Biggest mistakes businesses make when it comes to their marketing: Not investing enough in brand. Commodity won’t win in the long wrong. Brand is king. Not understanding the value of good brand strategy. Trying to do too many things. So many tactics. They usually go for low hanging fruit but it might not be the most effective. They don’t look at whole marketing eco-system. They don’t have a plan. Where businesses can start when it comes to their marketing: Coming up with your marketing plan is the first step. Who are you? What do you sell? Why should your customers care? Problem > Reality > Future State Customer journey map is also a great way to get going. Tips for companies that are in growth stage: Press can be very effective at this stage. Brand storytelling is important. The press is often interested in the story behind the brand. Having an EPK (electronic press kit) on hand - to easily send to media (who you are, what do you sell, spotlight brand story, genesis story of the founder) Social impact strategy can boost you up. Getting key press wins (this may take a great deal of cold outreach) Send a fun email Send them something cool and interesting Send them a really nice looking EPK Get comfortable talking about self and company Susie Trujillo Susie Trujillo is successful brand marketing executive and business strategist with over 9+ years of experience building consumers brands. Currently, she is the Founder & Chief Strategist at STRUC, a strategy consultancy building brand positioning and marketing programs for growth-stage companies. Previously she led brand partnerships and strategy at two AMEX-backed companies in luxury travel and e-commerce where she focused on bridging the gap in hospitality between brand storytelling (‘what makes something unique’) and customer experience (‘how can we serve you’). Her superpower is combining creative concepts with operational processes that result in quantifiable success. Through her proprietary STRUC Method, she partners with founders to translates their big ideas into actionable sprints making the marketing process easy, fun and effective! She loves to stay curious about the world around her, to explore new cultures through food, and connect with others over deep conversations about the human experience. Follow Susie online at: www.strucmarketing.comhttp://www.strucmarketing.com/stormreport/ Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
This week we talk with entrepreneur Rosie Cruz CEO of Cruz Multimedia Productions LLC, the Founder of The Actor’s Conference and Co-Creator of HUSH The Series. She shares her entrepreneurial journey and her experiences finding community through founding The Actor’s Conference. She also talks about how HUSH The Series was created. Episode Highlights: Rosie shares how and why she founded The Actor’s Conference The importance of finding your community and having a sense of camaraderie Rosie talks about how HUSH The Series came about. Rosie’s advice for juggling multiple projects: Breathing is huge - it changes your thinking, changes physiology We all strive to have balance and focus, but it’s not always possible. Stay focused on what you want to accomplish Entrepreneurship is beautiful, it’s ugly, it’ll make you confront yourself, you’ll cry but also in the most joyous way, you’ll learn to vibrate within your body in the most beautiful way. Rosie Cruz Rosie Cruz is the CEO of her own production company, Cruz Multimedia Productions LLC, the Founder of The Actor’s Conference and Co-Creator of HUSH The Series. A graduate of San Jose State University’s Theatre Arts program, Rosie has worked steadily as an actor in the Bay Area and LA markets. She continues to study with top Hollywood acting coaches to refine her craft. Her recent film and studio television highlights include A Normal Life, Oksana, and NBC’s Trauma. She co-founded New Works West Theatre Company in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the co-creator of HUSH The Series, an award winning internet series, inspired by true events. Her new media credits include the Dyke Central Pilot. For nearly two decades, she has developed a thriving event planning business. She’s a true creative entrepreneur, living in the Bay Area with her husband and three children. Follow Rosie online at: Facebook: @theactorsconference2017Instagram: @Cruzinrosie & @TheActorsconferencewww.theactorsconference.comwww.cruzmultimedia.com Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
This week we talk with podcaster and TV writer Elizabeth Laime about all things podcasting including her bad ass podcast Totally Laime. We dive into the logistics of podcasting, how the medium has changed and how podcasting has impacted her career trajectory. Elizabeth also shares her experiences in TV writing for the shows I’m Sorry and NBC’s The Village. Episode Highlights Podcasting can connect you with your community The benefits of podcasting go way beyond financials The logistics of podcasting - what it takes on a weekly basis The importance of consistency in podcasting The snowball effect in growing an audience for your podcast Elizabeth Laime Elizabeth Laime is a comedy writer and podcaster. She got her start onstage at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York with her long-running one woman show, "Dear Diary" (a Time Out New York's critics' pick,) and as part of the original sketch "Maude" Team, "Gunderson". Her three podcasts, Totally Laime, Totally Married, and Totally Mommy have over ten million downloads, thousands of 5-star iTunes reviews, and accolades from publications like E! Online, USA Today, and Los Angeles Magazine. She recently sold and developed a comedy pilot, CRYSTAL, for ABC, as well as a comedy pilot inspired by her podcasts for CBS. Her most impressive accomplishment to date, however, was narrating the 1998 VHS unauthorized documentary of Leonardo DiCaprio, "Hangin' With Leo." She hates to brag about it, but it happened. Follow Elizabeth online at: Website: http://www.totallylaime.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TotallyLaime/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethlaime/ Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
This week we talk with founder and CEO of the GLYD travel app, Monika Bhasin. She shares her deeply personal journey of loss, finding love and acceptance from within, and connecting the world through travel. Monika talks about how she came up with the concept of the GLYD travel app and the process to build and launch the app. She also talks about being raised by her grandmother in India, moving to the United States to live with her parents and the expectations that come with being a part of a traditional Indian family. This episode is a powerful one. Episode Highlights: How Monika went about the app building process, as a non-developer: Took classes to understand development Taught self a little bit of coding Used the internet and really immersed herself in the subject matters Important to be open to learning Biggest lessons she’s learned: You have to be passionate about what you are doing. You need this passion to help you persevere through the challenges. On the flip side, don’t be afraid to realize when you are no longer passionate about what you are doing. Don’t be afraid to take the leap of faith more than once. Believe in yourself. You are your strongest link and your weakest link. It’s you that takes this bus forward or backwards. You have to fail in order to succeed. Don’t be afraid you failed. But keeping moving forward. It takes a lot of courage to understand to admit to moments where you don’t feel good and make a change. About Monika Bhasin (in her own words) I'm Monika Bhasin, an avid barrier breaker. Usually those barriers are within my mind, aka my invisible fence. Being born a girl with dark skin, I was always frowned upon and somewhere inside me from a very young age, I felt the need to always do what I want. I felt that if just by existing I was an inconvenience to people around me then there is no reason to listen to them, right? So began my life's journey. I didn't live with my parents until I was 11/12 and to live with them I had to move to the US, a totally different country, culture, school system, FAMILY! I was constantly pushed to be a doctor, the only profession that exists in my family's mind and most Indian people I know. That's the only thing I DIDN'T want to be, no surprise there! However, the need to please my parents overtook me and although I didn't become a doctor, I did become a Scientist. After seeing that even that didn't please them, I set out to finally live my life. I went from being a scientist to taking part in a year of Acting school, which gave me the opportunity to wait tables, work in insurance, retail, and everything else I didn't think existed since I grew up so sheltered. Taking that bold step out from under my parents helped me meet my husband, and pursue a life that I absolutely love. I met my husband on a job I picked up while waiting tables and that's a story for another day. That pivotal step also set me out to end up where I am today, a Founder of a company setting out to connect the world through travel. I love what I do and honestly, the problem I'm solving goes back to my roots. I always wanted to feel like I belonged somewhere, that I was a part of something, that I was home..wherever that is. With GLYD, when we travel, you can connect with locals so they can help you feel as if you are home wondering the streets of the world. I hope you connect with me on GLYD (it’s free to download on GooglePlay or iOS) and share your part of the world with our GLYD community. Follow Monika online at: Instagram @_monikabhasin or @glydapp Twitter: @glydapp Facebook: @glydapp Download GLYD: http://open.glyd.co More about GLYD: http://www.glyd.co Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
This week on Lean the F*ck Out we talk with Jenna Arcidiacono owner and chef of Amore, an authentic Italian restaurant in Grand Rapids, Mich. Jenna is an accomplished chef and Amore has won Best New Restaurant 2011, Grand Rapids Magazine; Restaurant of the Year 2012, Grand Rapids American Culinary Federation; Best European 2012, Grand Rapids Magazine and Chef of the Year 2013, The Grand Rapids Press. With all her accolades Jenna was noticed by Guy’s Grocery Games and recruited for an episode that aired this October. Jenna gives advice on how to build a business and keep employees long term; talks to us about how she was able to conquer the restaurant business as a female; and how she supports other women-owned businesses. Building Restaurants Episode Highlights: Days off are very important when you have a busy schedule. Jenna has found that work can’t be her entire life, she needs a balance and break to be the best she can be for her business and family. Running a business is more like being a psychologist (especially when dealing with staff). It takes a lot of coaching and counseling. Staffing is the hardest part of running a service business. You know your service or product, but the hard part is finding a good staff to help you make it happen. Learn how to manage and deal with people in order to be successful. As a business owner you have to stand up for yourself and your product, you can’t waiver based on critics or trolls. The customer is not always right, particularly with radical complaints. Kill people with kindness. Sometimes have to let it go. Embrace that everyday you will learn something new. Find your tribe, the people who truly support you. Jenna Arcidiacono Jenna Arcidiacono’s first job at 14 (in 1988) was slinging chili dogs and root beer floats at Cook's Drive-In in Kentwood, Michigan. Slowly she began realizing that cooking was more than just a way to pay for her stirrup pants, music cassettes and perms. She moved to East Lansing to finish her degree in art and continued to work in restaurants as a part time job. She managed a vegetarian restaurant until the owner decided to close and tried to pay the staff with hummus. At that point, she should have known what she was in for by working in this unique business. Her next job was at a Korean-Chinese restaurant where she became passionate about the diverse styles of Asian cuisines. She spent time learning from the cooks after hours and ate what they would make for family meals--which are always quite different from what's on the menu. After receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Michigan State University, Jenna decided to make a big move-- to San Francisco. She wanted to live in a big city and soak in as many styles of cooking as she could. Besides getting into plenty of trouble, she got a job at a 10 table restaurant in North Beach called "L'Osteria del'Forno.” It was run by two Italian women and is still going strong in 2017. Jenna was not educated in true Italian cuisine and was often screamed at in Italian, "How is it possible that you don't know what bresaola is!!!?" Her next job took her to San Francisco's famed Mona Lisa restaurant, which lead to a fateful encounter. One day a stranger, named Maurizio, stopped in for an espresso. He was visiting from Milan with his friend and ended up staying a few extra days in San Francisco. Soon after, Maurizio took Jenna on her first trip to Italy and she fell in love with the food and relaxed culture (and of course with Maurizio). She spoke no Italian--but in the kitchen with her future mother-in-law pointing and giggling sufficed. Soon after, Jenna and Maurizio were married and she lived in northern Italy for three years. Her favorite days were spent at the outdoor markets purchasing local produce, cheese and honey and in the kitchen with Vittoria, her mother-in-law, who taught her how to make gnocchi, bechamel and bread from scratch. After having two daughters, and working in corporations, Jenna felt it was time to go for the dream of opening her own trattoria. She wanted to serve homemade locally sourced authentic Italian comfort food. Amore Trattoria Italiana opened in July of 2010 and has been her biggest project to date. Amore has won Best New Restaurant 2011, Grand Rapids Magazine; Restaurant of the Year 2012, Grand Rapids American Culinary Federation; Best European 2012, Grand Rapids Magazine and Chef of the Year 2013, The Grand Rapids Press. Follow Jenna online at: http://amoretrattoriaitaliana.com/ https://www.facebook.com/AmoreTrattoriaItaliana https://www.instagram.com/Jennamoretrattoria/
This week we talk with globally traveling photographer, new author, and all the time psychic, intuitive, empath Mira Zaki about her entrepreneurial journey. Mira talks about how she helps heal and empower through her camera. She also shares her travel experiences, including a recent tour with Pearl Jam. Mira talks about the influence intuition has been on her business and how she has honed those skills. Episode Highlights: On healing through her camera: There is strength in vulnerability. It’s transformative. Instagram is curated and planned, not natural and transparent; don’t compare yourself to the unnatural photos. She highly recommends the podcast Unfuck Your Brain https://unfckyourbrain.com/podcasts/ You can’t verify whether thoughts are true. We all have different truths. Ask instead: are my thoughts helpful? On Intuition: Our bodies have their own cycles. Listen to your cycles. Rest when you need to. Slow down. Listen and notice. Journal and see patterns. Admitting and realizing there is something trying to get your attention. Healthy curiosity can do a lot along with your community. Resources Mira recommends: https://www.intuitiveleverage.com/ https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-10745/are-you-ignoring-your-intuition-7-tips-to-get-in-touch-with-yourself.html https://chopra.com/article/5-ways-develop-your-intuition https://www.erinthepsychicwitch.com/ http://www.essentialpsychicskills.com/ https://www.themodernwitch.com/ https://www.andrewsmith.ie/ A spectacular book for anyone who feels like a highly sensitive person- it is out of print, but watch for it as its been picked up by a larger publisher: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Want-Empath-Anymore-Boundaries/dp/1976792010 https://www.amazon.com/Witch-Unleashed-Unapologetic-Lisa-Lister/dp/178180754X http://theintrovertentrepreneur.com/ http://astrostyle.com/guided-meditation-cancer/ http://astrostyle.com/pisces-season/ https://jenniferracioppi.com/pisces-magic/ https://jenniferracioppi.com/things-arent-flowing-tune-into-your-gut/ Biggest business lessons Mira has learned: Self care (not just on the weekends and evenings) Follow your own rhythm There is wisdom in rest. There is wisdom in the no you’ve received. Always ask for help. Help others. Mira’s advice to women who are considering leaning the f*ck out: Do it. Stop caring what other people think. The greatest gift you can give yourself is not giving a f*ck. Mira Zaki Mira Zaki is a Seattle born, Manhattan based, globally traveling photographer, new author, and all the time psychic, intuitive, empath. Due to her upbringing in an Egyptian-American family, she has been infused with a deep appreciation for multicultural experiences. Naturally a storyteller, she is committed to making a positive impact with her work. When her dreams started coming true at age 8, she simultaneously picked up a camera for the first time and found her easiest, most true expression. The combination of her spiritual abilities and having a camera to tell a story with led to a healing for the people in front of her camera. Her mission is to help heal and empower through her camera; to share your true Divine essence and to share the beauty of the world around us. Her degree in Commercial, Advertising Photography from Brooks Institute of Photography helped her to perfect her unique abilities as a photographer into an artist who brings expertise, professionalism, and her intuitive magic to all of her work. She's been published in: The New York Times, The New York Times T-Magazine, Travel + Leisure, The Travel Channel, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Edible Manhattan, Edible Brooklyn, The James Beard Foundation, VH1-Save the Music Foundation, Tesla, Taylor PR, CNN.com, CNNI.com, CNNMoney.com, Well + Good, Bust Magazine, Olive magazine Korea and more. Follow Mira online at: www.mirazaki.com http://www.mirazaki.com/media-kit/ www.facebook.com/mirazakiphotography www.instagram.com/mirazakiphoto www.twitter.com/mirazakiphoto www.pinterest.com/mirazakiphoto Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
This week we talk with Adriana Vázquez Ortiz, CEO and Co-founder of Lilu about launching a healthcare startup and creating a product that improves breastfeeding. Adriana talks about how and why she started the company, the research and development process, understanding your customers’ needs, pitching and getting funded. She also talks about the importance of building better technology to improve lives and in Lilu’s case, helping mothers thrive during the transition into parenthood. Episode Highlights: Moms are eternally multi-tasking, and women are so incredibly good at coming up with life hacks - but Adriana realized there was a need to build better technology in some of the key areas which are challenging for lots of parents: breastfeeding and sleep. Lilu is helping to improve breastfeeding. No matter how unpolished the product was in the beginning it was important to have real users in the testing from the beginning. Getting feedback from the target customer is critical to learning, even if the product isn’t ready. On funding/pitch competitions: Apply, apply apply! You learn so much in the process. It forces you to distill your company and vision into a few words. This is a very helpful exercise, no matter what stage. On pitching: Know who you are pitching to and learn from every single pitch. Find excuses to rehearse over and over in front of as many people as you can. “Practice makes better” On entrepreneurship: Remember that “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” It is important to ask for help. Use your advisors. Pay that support forward. ADRIANA C VÁZQUEZ ORTIZ Adriana is CEO and Co-founder of Lilu which creates the next generation of products to help moms pump, manage and track their milk supply. Adriana graduated from MIT where she received a B.S. in Mathematics with Computer Science. She later pursued a Masters in Integrated Product Design at the University of Pennsylvania. She loves running, attempting to snowboard, has been a pescatarian for over a decade, kind of speaks four languages and prefers carrot cake over chocolate cake. Follow Adriana online at: www.wearlilu.com https://www.facebook.com/wearlilu https://twitter.com/wearlilu https://www.instagram.com/wearlilu/ Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussion of sexual assault and domestic violence, including stories of actual events Giugi’s clients have experienced. In this episode, we talk with attorney Giugi Carminati about her experiences starting her own law firm which represents women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community. Her law firm focuses on litigating cases involving domestic violence and sexual assault in family law proceedings, protection orders, and civil litigation. Giugi discusses victim blaming, offers tips on how to support yourself or women in your life who may be or may have experience domestic violence or sexual assault. Giugi also talked about building her business and becoming a fierce advocate for women. Defending Victims of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Episode Highlights: Since the beginning of the #metoo movement, Giugi is seeing more women have the ability to say: “I was a victim of abuse and it was not my fault.” Giugi recommends counseling for her clients Support is extremely important for victims Giugi explains terms like trauma bonding and gas lighting Advice for fempreneurs: Stop caring what people think, what people say, what people might do. Find what it is that you want to do with honesty and purposefulness and just go f*cking do it! About Giugi Carminati Giugi Carminati, JD, LLM, JSD is a women's advocate, a blogger, a public speaker, and entrepreneur, and intersectional feminist. She represents women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community in their personal and professional lives. Her law firm focuses on litigating cases involving domestic violence and sexual assault in family law proceedings, protection orders, and civil litigation. Giugi also speaks about sexual harassment, gender dynamics, and sexual assault. She is licensed in New York, Texas, DC, and Colorado. She speaks French, English, Italian and Spanish. Follow Giugi online at: www.arguelikeagirl.com www.TheWomansLawyer.com www.NoDramaPara.com
This week we talk with Alison Mountford, founder of Ends + Stems about her meal planning business that helps reduce household food waste. We talk about her entrepreneurial journey and what led her to open Ends + Stems and how the business is evolving. Alison shares tips on how she’s grown her customer base and how she retains them. She also talks about managing a large amount of content on an ongoing basis -- tools she uses and tips on what has worked best for the business. Episode Highlights: Stats on food waste: 40% of food we produce ends up in the landfill $165 billion of edible food is wasted in the US Ends + Stems helps home cooks reduce food waste through a meal planning subscription service. Alison shares how the business started as a blog and how it is currently evolving into a subscription model Alison tells us how she has built and continues to grow her email list She shares tools and tips for managing ongoing content which is a large part of her business Alison also shares lessons learned from her businesses and her advice to listeners considering leaning the f*ck out 50% off first month with promo code: MEALPLAN About Alison Mountford Alison Mountford is the Founder, Chef and CEO at Ends+Stems. Alison has 15 years of head chef and entrepreneurial experience. In 2004, she founded her first company (Square Meals), which delivered ready to eat meals to busy families around the Bay Area. Mountford’s business acumen, vision, and management successfully grew this business from one client to selling thousands of high end meals weekly and was at the forefront of the meal delivery trend. Square Meals was sold in 2015. Her time leading procurement for a large food tech company inspired her to found Ends+Stems and set off a mission to do good for the planet and customers. E+S combines her unique knowledge of consumer food habits, culinary skill set, and accurately forecasts a need in the Food Waste trends developing today. Alison holds a culinary degree from the California Culinary Academy and both an A.A and B.A from New York University. Follow Alison online at: https://endsandstems.com/ https://www.facebook.com/EndsandStems/ https://www.instagram.com/endsandstems/ Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode, we talk with Susan Norris. Susan is a leader and coach who describes herself as “The Unbalanced Force” to combat organizational inertia (a nod to Newton’s first theory). Susan shares some amazing tips on how to escape this inertia and move toward innovation in your company. She also talks about how to use your skills as a fempreneur within the corporate environment. If you are running a side hustle or getting ready to lean out if you are still working your day job, her tips will help you figure out when the right time might be and how to survive in your company environment in the meantime. Susan brings a new perspective that you are not going to want miss. Strategic Destruction to Solve Business Problems Episode Highlights: Be willing to change how you are reaching your goal. The how, the implementation, the process might be what needs to shift; it doesn’t have to be your goal. Commitment to your goal is very powerful and hard to change. Stay committed, change how you implement in order to solve business problems. Always stay in a perpetual state of creative dissatisfaction to innovate. Always ask is there a better way to solve this problem? Make sure you are doing the right thing then make sure you are doing things right. Keep yourself in a constant state of questioning. Don’t get stuck in inertia. The challenge us fempreneurs often feel is that the evolution in large organizations can happen a slower than if it were a small business or solopreneurship. Being stuck or organizational inertia can happen for entrepreneurs too. Entrepreneurs start to make sales and having cash flow presents more risk to change or solve business problems and you become slower and more risk averse. If working at a company, as yourself: can the organization handle my destructive ideas? If not, you have to build a thicker skin to take the lumps, while shifting your method for pushing change. Solid communication and negotiation techniques are important while you are in a company. Use skills for communication within the corporation and the delivery chain and the messenger and the means and put that machine to work for you to solve the problems you see. When thinking of quitting ask yourself: What alternatives do I have to quitting work to allow for more flexibility? Always keep in mind: your brain and your body are what keep you viable and relevant. You are your business as a fempreneur. Susan Norris Susan Norris is an experienced leader, coach and innovative problem solver. She describes herself as “The Unbalanced Force” here to combat organizational inertia (a nod to Newton’s first theory). Meaning, she helps others think differently about problems and approaches to deliver more innovative and effective products and ensure we’re doing the right thing before we do things right. She has been working on a team that blends social science with innovative design to address global issues through human solutions - working directly with organizations to develop, implement and evaluate programs, products and services that make the world better and solve issues that matter to us the most. You can find Susan online at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-francke-norris-78028815/
In this episode we talk with Brianna Carney about her move from Amazon to starting her own company, Crewbloom. Through Crewbloom, Brianna has built a robust outsource business with a workforce in the Philippines. Throughout the episode, she talks about how she built her business and offers tips to business owners on how to scale up through outsourcing. Outsourcing to Scale Up Episode Highlights: Outsource when the task is related to content development, virtual assistant work, scheduling social posts, or is easily replicable. Training is one of the most important factors for successful outsourcing. Ensure that anyone working virtually on your team feels that they having an understanding of your organization (culture, core values, goals for the future). Tools you can use to make outsourcing easier: Timedoctor; Brain Central; Share access to CRM systems, and any tools for regular communication, including SLACK is critical. Ways to collaborate more effectively with remote workers could include remote happy hours, team building exercises, and giving back to communities together. Allowing for a probationary period when you first hire gives you great insight on the individual you will be working with and what you need to have in place to ensure the worker is successful. You NEED to invest your time into your relationship with your virtual employees. Outsourcing is not a set it and forget it solution.
This week we talk with International Business Development Coach and Speaker Mel McSherry about prioritizing your profits and slashing stress. We also dive into time management, weekly goal boards, to do lists, and establishing boundaries. Get your notepad ready! Mel predominantly works with women business owners who are exhausted and overwhelmed by what they think they need to do, in order to be successful. As an entrepreneur since 2010, Mel has launched two successful businesses, doubled her monthly income, and created a true life by design. She has worked with hundreds of people helping them get crystal clear on what they want and prioritizing the time that they have. Episode Highlights: Ways to slash stress: Getting crystal clear on what YOU want (not partner, not kids, just YOU) Learn how to tame your time. Give yourself that time to breath when things shift Reassess, reapply and move on Learning boundaries and “Saying no to the good so that you can say yes to the best.” IF you keep doing the small things you will always play small. It’s the big items that propel you forward. Conscious vs. unconscious procrastination Time management: Goal and vision board each month. How much and how many clients, etc. What resources do I have now to make that happen? What do you already have? Weekly plan of action on top of that. Don’t put personal things on your business to do list. Never ever. Mel’s Monthly Goal Board Tutorial on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52j42_KUwvM
We talk with Jen Proctor, Founder & CEO of Cultivated Entertainment about Navigating the Pressures of Entrepreneurship. Jen certainly knows high pressure. She runs a full-service talent consulting firm in Los Angeles and has worked with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry. Jen talks about leading with compassion, a mantra that fuels her. She also talks about losing her mother to suicide and how that has shaped who she is today. Jen shares tips on how she takes care of herself amidst the pressure of running her own business, managing clients and life in general. Episode Highlights: On self care: Balance and self care have to be worked on every day. She works out every morning for an hour without her phone. Tune into your body and mind. It’s important to first and foremost have compassion for yourself. Allow yourself to feel whatever you’re feeling it whenever you are feeling it. On sales and taking on the right work: Does this align with my values. Project by project. Set boundaries. A good way to do that is focusing on finances. Don’t work with those that aren’t committed with a budget. Own your work. Saying no can legitimize you. Try to understand the person you are trying to make the deal with. You don’t know what that person has been through. Give them a chance to show you who they are. On managing high pressure projects: Soak in there demands or whatever they are doing and don’t react right away. Put yourself in their shoes before answering and come to a level where you can actually communicate with that person. Human to human connection can resolve so much. Jen Proctor "Lead with compassion and compassion only.” This is the mantra that fuels Jen Proctor, Founder & CEO of Cultivated Entertainment, both professionally and personally. Cultivated Entertainment is a full-service talent consulting firm that connects entertainment entities and brands with talent across campaigns, media, events, and more. Jen is an integral part of every synergy created and oversees all accounts. Compassion remains the cornerstone of her business strategy; Jen’s warmth and energy have solidified her as one of the industry’s go-to experts in talent development, casting, producing and booking. Cultivated Entertainment’s clients range from traditional television and production studios to cutting-edge streaming services and global consumer brands. For every project, Jen and her team utilize years of experience, data-driven insights and trend research to go above and beyond client expectations. Complete transparency and client collaboration throughout the entire process are of the utmost importance in all that Cultivated Entertainment does- reinforcing this compassionate mantra. Jen’s immense knowledge and understanding of talent and the entertainment industry is a culmination of all her work experience prior to the launch of Cultivated. Just before launching the company, Jen was the Head of Talent for Embassy Row, Sony Pictures Televisions’ TV and digital production company. There, she oversaw the development and booking of talent for all productions from inception to completion. She also held roles as Head of Talent for a cable network’s daily talk show, was an Entertainment field producer for Fox News and worked on the talent representation side, on the booking desks of CAA and ICM. There is no such thing as ‘off the clock’ for Jen, she is working everyday to create and cultivate new relationships. People are her utmost priority in life and business." You can find Jen online at:https://www.cultivatedent.com/ @Cultivatedentertainment Cultivated Conversations Podcast Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
In this episode, we talk with Mercedes Torres, Co-Founder of Cash Flow Savvy and Epic Real Estate about how she built her Epic empire through real estate. Mercedes shares how she got started in real estate, her experiences flipping houses (she was on a house flipping TV show before they were hot) and how she has built a solid business through cash flow properties. This is a great episode if you have ever considered real estate as an investment or flipping houses! Mercedes shares how you can make your money work for you. Building an Epic Empire Episode Highlights: 7 - 10% return on real estate investment; allow your money to work for you Stay focused on your goal Start a lot sooner Don’t reinvent the wheel - Hire a mentor and follow proven models Have a partner or staff that “gets it” Identify strengths and weaknesses in your partner so you compliment each other well Spend a lot of time training and helping team become solid team member - they will benefit from experience Mercedes Torres Mercedes Torres is an accomplished real estate investor with a portfolio of 90+ income generating properties. She continues to strategically build her passive income portfolio as Co-Founder of CashFlow Savvy, a turnkey investing company based out of Southern California. CashFlow Savvy focuses on helping other investors to build financial freedom through turnkey real estate. Mercedes, a graduate of UCLA, brings a banking and finance background to Cash Flow Savvy. While providing a relentless passion for client service her focus is to help clients build passive income through real estate investing. Those that know Mercedes recognize her exceptional talent for building relationships and creating win/win solutions for all. Her enthusiasm and generosity of spirit lends itself as an “unfair advantage” to Cash Flow Savvy’s ability to acquire deeply discounted and undervalued assets while giving investors large margins for profit. She is the driving force behind Cash Flow Savvy and a primary reason that investors are lining up to do turnkey business. Follow Mercedes online at: www.CashflowSavvy.comwww.EpicRealEstate.com Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
Our first episode of Season 3 features female entrepreneur Marie Denee, creator of The Curvy Fashionista, a respected voice in the plus size fashion arena. Marie shares her entrepreneurial journey and growing The Curvy Fashionista into the powerhouse it is today. We dive into influencer marketing, building a brand, driving website traffic, social media marketing, editorial calendars, business systems and so much more! Episode Highlights: Marie shares her entrepreneurial journey and how she started The Curvy Fashionista Learning as you go as an entrepreneur (Google becomes your best friend) How social media tools can work for us, rather than against us Know your audience and find out what they really need Scaling up tips: Have a really fleshed out editorial calendar (especially important when you have a team) Need a good marketing plan and goal list. Need Standard Operating Procedures - document every process that happens in the brand. You may have to fire yourself from certain roles. Best, most useful thing you need for your business: A roadmap for systems at the heart of your brand. Other tips: Learn how to advocate for yourself. Face the fears you have a lot sooner. Navigate cultural and gender norms. Practice. Speak on your ideas. Learn how to have those tough conversations early. Get to know financial planning. Marie Denee Marie Denee, creator of “The Curvy Fashionista”, is an established and respected voice in the plus size fashion arena. With over eleven years of experience, Marie has made it her mission to continuously show women that they can be Curvy, Confident, and Chic. In 2008, enter The Curvy Fashionista. While cutting her teeth in retail, Marie realized that when it came to great stylish clothing for plus size women, their options were limited. Armed with MBA in Marketing, fashion experience, and a passion for empowering women of every shape and size, Marie launched the popular blog which today attracts over 400,000 visitors and averages 750k pageviews. Through The Curvy Fashionista, Marie showcases wardrobe and style options from the industry’s top fashion brands, as well as shares news and events for curvy women in a world where fashion for this community is often overlooked. In 2015, Marie founded The Curvy Fashionista Style Expo in Atlanta, which drew over 400 women to shop their favorite plus size brands, socialize and sit in on panels led by some of the industry’s leading experts. This year’s highly anticipated event was held on July 28th & 29th, 2017 with even more participating brands such as Ashley Stewart, Lane Bryant, Chevrolet, and MVP Collections, and attracted over 500 attendees. Sought after for her fashion and styling advice for the curvy fashion forward woman, Marie has been featured in Lucky Magazine, Glamour Magazine, Black Enterprise Magazine, Marie Claire Italia, The London Times, The Wall Street Journal, Madame Noire, Shape Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, and more. She has also worked with some of the top retailers and brands in the industry including Nordstrom, Chevrolet, Marina Rinaldi, Beyond the Rack, Ashley Stewart, and others through hosting, consulting, and strategic partnerships. In addition to being a popular fashion blogger, Marie Denee is a freelance fashion writer whose work has been featured in Styleblazer, Plus Model Magazine, USA Today, the Huffington Post, and Ebony.com, to name a few. Follow Marie at: http://www.mariedenee.com http://thecurvyfashionista.com Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
This week we talk with Dr. Kate Browne in depth about how to find or share your brand story. Kate is a storytelling strategist and writing consultant who helps entrepreneurs find and share their brand stories in an honest, unforgettable way. She also founded Taking Up Space, an online self-care advocacy project, to empower consumers to think critically about the rhetoric of health, wellness, and fitness marketing. Episode Highlights Defining brand story and why it matters Alot of companies do “phone book marketing”, in essence confusing the internet with a phonebook. It’s not just about your service, it’s about the whole experience that customers are going to have with your business How a company can get started on creating their brand story. The Hero’s Journey as it pertains to your brand story and why you need conflict and a resolution to that conflict in your brand story. Watch the TED Talk on Kate’s website at: https://katebrowne.net/ Dr. Kate Browne Dr. Kate Browne is a storytelling strategist and writing consultant who helps entrepreneurs find and share their brand stories in an honest, unforgettable way. Kate also founded Taking Up Space, an online self-care advocacy project, to empower consumers to think critically about the rhetoric of health, wellness, and fitness marketing. Her TEDx Talk, “How I Found Real Fitness Inspiration: Saying ‘No’ to Fitspo” shows how autobiographical marketing tactics of the 19th century freak show influence advertising in the fitness industry today. Kate is also a proud preschooler’s mom, an iced coffee enthusiast, and is writing the first academic book on her favorite sitcom, Golden Girls. Follow Kate online at: Web: katebrowne.net FB: Taking Up Space IG: @takeupspacewithkate
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