Podcasts about krista it

“The EASY Way, the focus is on weight loss. But honestly, it's about elevation of health, and weight management really is just one of the facets that is the fruit of the work,” explains Dr. Krista Coombs, IFM.  Dr. Krista has spent 22 years in the healthcare industry with the last 10 years being in integrative medicine. Dr. Krista's catalyst came to her when she was celebrating her 50th birthday on a beach feeling sad about not being able to kayak because it was winter. She had been seeing a lot of complex patients with autoimmune issues and feeling like there had to be an easier way to help them. She laid down in the sand and began doing EFT, and while she was tapping she came up with the foundations for her program, The EASY Way for Weight Loss with Dr. K.    The EASY Way is a four phase process focusing one week on each letter. The acronym stands for eating (and all the physiological practices involved), activities (physical, mental, and spiritual), sleep, and the commitment to saying yes yesterday. Though Dr. Krista applies this program to weight management, it truly can be used for anything because it begins with the fundamentals and builds from there. By applying this process to herself, Dr. Krista was able to not only lose weight, but also regain control over her health in a way that helped her to be less burned out. As a sensitive and highly empathic person, Dr. Krista often struggled with taking on the emotions of others. But by simplifying things down to the fundamentals, she has been able to better protect herself and allow space for grounding. Physicians are primarily taught that self care is selfish and that they are there to be servants to their patients. But the truth is that to be a good physician, it is just as important to take care of your own health needs.    Integrative medicine can sometimes get caught up in the weeds and seem overwhelming for new patients. With the EASY way, integrative medicine can be simple and approachable. The great thing about this method is that it's not just applicable to weight loss. The EASY method can really be used for anything in life as a mindset shift to focus on the fundamentals and build along the way.   Quotes • “The easier I make my life, the easier it is to manage my own health concerns. And so translating that over to other people, which is a big part of my calling, has been very fruitful because more people are learning that they are self empowered and can handle their own healing journey, and not need to be codependent on a practitioner for very long.” (5:49-6:10 | Dr. Krista) • “We need to acknowledge that we need to be in a discomfort zone in order for growth to happen.” (13:06-13:10 | Dr. Krista) • “Honestly, you could do anything the easy way because you just have to layer it. You start with the fundamentals, and then you layer with complexity as you are comfortable with learning more.” (14:02-14:15 | Dr. Krista)  • “It's a four phase process and everybody says how easy it is once they learn the tools, and they just make this different mindset shift that food is for fuel and performance, for real. That's really, really what it is for the body.” (14:37-14:53 | Dr. Krista) • “I think getting in the discomfort zone is the one pivotal choice that I've made on a regular daily basis that has helped me evolve at a faster rate in the last year.” (34:40-34:50 | Dr. Krista) • “The easy way, the focus is on weight loss, but honestly it's about elevation of health, and weight management really is just one of the facets that is the fruit of the work.” (43:47-44:01 | Dr. Krista)   Links   Connect with Dr. Krista Coombs: Website: https://www.drkristacoombs.com AcuPlus Wellness Clinic: https://www.acupluswellness.com  The EASY Way for Weight Loss with Dr. K: https://www.theeasyway.ca  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acupluswellnessclinic Connect with Lara:  Dr. Lara Salyer's Links: Premium Subscription Box: https://rightbrainrescue.com/p/medical-infographics-social-media-for-the-functional-practitioner Website: https://drlarasalyer.com Instagram: @drlarasalyer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/ YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor   Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

EPISODE 002 HIGHLIGHTS:Defining SEL and deconstructing some myths around SELSEL is not a program and more than a lesson plan: It is who you are and what you do every day.Modeling SEL ourselves and leveraging that to change the power dynamics in learning spacesExamining our connections with students so they can show up as their authentic selvesTaking a collective, strengths-based approach to SEL that involves self, staff, students, and familiesEPISODE 002 RESOURCES:Follow Krista on social media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Resonance Ed websitePASCD 3-part webinar series: Cultivating an SEL System for Student and Staff Synergy AcademyEPISODE 002 TRANSCRIPT:Krista: Welcome everyone to this episode 2 of SEL in EDU. Hi Craig!Craig: Hey, Krista how's it going?Krista: It is good. It's a Saturday morning. I think you and I have a ton of energy that is not really contained in any one direction.Craig: that would be true. That would be true. Krista: But I think we had talked about the first couple of episodes were just them getting used to us and who we are. But we're excited to bring on some guests to dig in and really talk about where SEL shows up in education and in all the different ways that it can show up.Craig: Yeah. And so today I'm excited because I have the opportunity to interview you so that the world can learn, just get a couple of glimpses into who Krista is to the world that we have here. And so pretty excited.Krista: I'm excited as well. So I know that we had, we often talk about, do we come up with some questions or do we just kind of wing it? And you're like, well, what if I just ask you some questions? And so I'm off for that. So let's just see where this goes.Craig: Awesome. Well, let's go there's a great quote by one of our education leaders who I regard highly. He's the author of many things and he just released the children's book. You know, how to think and like a coder and he has this quote, “All you need is one person to believe in you and the world is yours.” Just one. And so I'm curious, who's that one person, and I know that it's probably many people, but as early as you can think about it…Who is one person who lit that fire ignited that fire in you that has driven you to be who you are today?Krista: Wow. Wow. Like, do I go back to elementary school?Craig: I'm leaving it open-ended.Krista: Dang. You may have silenced me because I have all of these different people come in. And so here's how I'm going to answer that. All right. I truly believe that there are different people who come into your life at different points and provide opportunities and entries for you that you may not have ever thought about before. And so, as I'm talking about that, I am going to share that one of the biggest “AHAs” of my life was when I had a principal named Chris Shafer who came to me one time when I was seven years in teaching. He said the state of Pennsylvania has a grant that allows for people to get involved in what they're calling “Classrooms for the Future,” where you become an instructional technology coach. And we're going to apply for this grant. Krista: We're one of the schools that is kind of behind in it; there are other schools that are ahead. Would you be interested in this position? And up until that point, I never thought I was going to have a life outside of the classroom because I loved being with the students so much. It was an

In this episode I'm answering listener questions…ask me anything! The questions I answer in this episode are: What kind of laptop to you use? —Ellen What was the coding school that rejected you in episode 48? —Karl Do you think you'd ever start a new podcast, maybe focusing more on financial independence with a few updates on your coding? —Erica What life is like in general for someone living abroad? Do you ever get home sick or was it easy to meet new people? —Erica What was/has been your favorite part of living abroad? Would you like to make the move permanent or just a few years? —Erica Any podcast recommendations? I know you mentioned Second Career Devs and I'm now a big fan of that. Not even just coding ones, but what are some others you enjoy? And what made you start the podcast vs just blogging? —Erica What is your perception of the job market for entry level frontend web development jobs? —Alex It's my current plan to build a solid portfolio and apply for jobs online, but I wonder if that route has become so competitive that it's not a realistic way to land a job anymore. As you said, it's so saturated on Upwork that they turned you down(?!) —Alex I know that meet-ups/networking is important, but it's hard to prioritize that stuff since it would take up a lot of time that I could use to work on my coding skills. How do you decide how to prioritize these two aspects of the job hunting process? —Alex In pursuing financial independence, for us self supporting folk, is coding the best route? Also, is there any threshold to transition completely to a self learning or school route or just to keep at it an hour or so a day? —Krista If you had $1000 to spend, what would be your top resources? I have tried Udemy (Colt Steele and others), FCC, Learn XYZ the Hard Way, Treehouse, Udacity, community college, and am struggling with information overload… —Krista It seems that web dev, computer science, mobile, data, and security are really all their own things. Is it best to be a generalist or only focus on one? —Krista Any idea on how long to really be job ready at the hour plus a day? Is it really like Gladwell's 10,000 hours or Norvig's 10 years? —Krista With limited time, is it best to do tutorials/learn or just go build? —Krista This episode was originally published 26 June, 2018.

How To Relay Your Message To Customers With Krista Ripma How to make sure your message isn’t lost? Josh: Who has trouble relaying their message and being the person that they want to be from their heart? You got into business for a certain reason, and most of the time that is emotionally driven for those young entrepreneurs that are trying to make a difference. Sometimes that authentic marketing doesn't come through with your message. We've got Krista here from Authentic Audience. She's here today to talk to us about how you can get that message through in a way that resonates with your story, resonates with your customers, and ultimately gets you more sales. So, Krista, tell me, how do you make sure that your message doesn't get lost in the midst with the message of everyone else? That's also trying to make sure that they're authentic? and so on and so forth? Krista: Great place to start. So no one is you is the simple answer. So although there are lots of marketing and sales coaches out there in the world, nobody's me, so nobody's going to deliver my message in the same way that I am. So I think the first step is to ask yourself, what are your gifts, and these are the gifts that you bring into your business that you walk into a room with, that your best friend would say about you, and start from that place. So for me, my gifts are authenticity and truth. So I try and bring that into my business into my messaging and into everything I share, which sets me apart and makes me more unique and approachable. And I also think, sharing your why and sharing your story, your personal story and journey before you found x, whatever product service or anything it is that you're selling, your customer is you before you had this transformation. Get really, really specific in who you are and also who you're talking to.   Finding The Right Audience That Wants To Work For You Josh: If you've got your message down pat, or maybe you need someone to see it from a distance, I found it difficult to see the forest for the trees. I thought I've got a great message. But, I've got that message from the mindset of an engineer from the mindset of someone who is very detail-oriented. So having an authentic audience, how can you make sure your audience isn't just talking bullshit? How do you make sure you get the right audience that does resonate with your message? Krista: My first suggestion is to write a letter to your dream client or your dream customer. This is like the first thing I have anybody do if you ever come work with me. Regardless whether it's a session with me or a course, we always do this, and I have you write a letter to your dream customer, because they're out there. They need what you're selling. They're listening to other podcasts. Who do they follow? What books are they reading? What inspires them? What pain points are they experiencing, the more you can get in the head of your dream client or customer and talk to them. It's amazing how quickly they start to show up every call I get on. I'm still excited and surprised who shows up because it's like you're exactly who I was speaking to and you're exactly who I made this for. Quality Over Quantity Krista: So I think a big mistake we make when we're trying to grow our audience is we want quantity over quality. And really, it should be the other way around. If you have 100 people who are engaged with what you're sharing and buying from you, that's amazing, versus 10,000 people who aren't commenting, aren't buying, aren't connecting. So the name of the game is get specific, get really, really specific. And the best way to do that is talk to this person, write a letter to this person, create a mood board, whatever it takes to really connect to and be in service to your dream customer. Be Authentic Josh: I know for my customers, I'm happy enough to say that if any of them saw me at a pub, they come over to me and buy me a beer without even saying hello, they're like "oh Josh, here you go" and you've got that perfect relationship and they know your partner's name. I'm happy to say that we do have a fantastic group of listeners, the businesses that we work with. What we found in having that is their retention rate is huge and the churn is incredibly low, so we don't lose many customers. Because we do have that relationship and because we do understand their pain points, anyone in business can really start to see it. They and feel like hey, if they know me to this level of business, if they know that I'm building this house and the direction that my business is going and not just macro but micro details about each other, you can make the right decisions and know that you are going to be putting in better solutions than your competitor.   It’s Beyond Business Benefits Krista: That's a really good point that you made. It's beyond just the business benefits, it's the benefits of you, of being in your community of being in your world. And I just can't stress that enough how valuable that is, the more vulnerable, the more personal, the more real you are. And then when somebody sees you, like they come on a call, or they use your services, or see you in the pub, they feel like they know you. I do think that the more we can authentically be our full selves, the more people will resonate with that. I just can't stress enough how beautiful that is, and what an important point that is to make. When you hide behind your brand it's impossible to have that relationship with your audience. Don’t Hide Behind Your Brand Josh: Perfect what you said there, hiding behind your brand. You sit there hiding behind your brand, we have a look at Steve Jobs. And the way that he was the ambassador for the brand, people loved Steve Jobs. He owned a portion of Apple versus some of the other massive brands out there, like who resonates the same way with Google. Or the same way with McDonald's or some of these other massive brands. And it's not that they're doing things wrong, they're still working in a way, that's fine. But when you go to contact Google support, you can't find a phone number. Facebook support, you can't find a phone number, any of these large companies can't find a phone number. With Apple, you're able to go into a store and speak to someone there and really get to know them. How to Not Be a Copycat Business Josh: If you've made an entry point that the other businesses weren't doing, how can you make sure that you don't end up with a copycat business that takes the same information? You've created the same content on the web, the same scripts, it's very difficult to sort of not just have those spun and changed into something else. And for anyone out there that's listening, spinning content is where you take someone else's content, adjust some of the syllables pretty much and then make it your own, put the sentences in a slightly different way. But how can you make sure someone doesn't have that same message so that from the outset, it appears as if you are the same? Or at least they're trying to compare apples with apples before they have that authentic relationship? How can you make sure that for us in Australia, the Hungry Jack's to McDonald's, or for you guys, the Burger King to McDonald's, how can you make sure you can have that differentiator? Krista: You know, I mean, people can smell authenticity, it's crazy. I think just having that faith in our customers and in our audience that they know. For me, if somebody was trying to spin off my content, I would see that as a great sign, it means I'm doing something, right. And also, nobody's me. So you could take my script. You could have my talking points. You could have my slides, but it's not going to feel the same. And I think as a culture, we're becoming more and more conscious of who we're buying from and where our money's going. I'm seeing it in the Facebook ads, I'm running every day, like people really care, especially since COVID. This whole idea of spending and connecting and community is so big. So I think that, first of all, if you are focusing on copying somebody else, or doing what somebody else is doing, you're doing a disservice to yourself and to your customers, and really into the world. I am very spiritual. I believe we're all here with a Dharma or a purpose. And it can be really easy to see somebody else in our industry doing something and be like, oh, I'm just going to try and do that. But that's not your purpose. That's not your dharma. And so to try and do that, or change your business model, or your strategy based on somebody else's, or their posts or their content is such a disservice. If you can just try and block out that noise. One of my teachers says comparison dilutes your focus. Because when we're comparing ourselves, we're not focused on our work on our art, our flow, our process, whatever it is that we're creating. So for me, if I'm on the side of seeing somebody else trying to copy my work, I'm like, go for I. You're never going to be able to do what I can do and just own that. And secondly, if you're trying to work on somebody else's stuff, instead of focusing on your stuff, that's such a bummer, because you have amazing gifts and services that are getting lost in that process. The last thing I wanted to say when you talked about Steve Jobs, I think that's such a good example. And I say all the time and people follow people, and then they follow brands. And so just how you introduced me, Krista from Authentic Audience, and I'm the face of it, I'm the voice of it. It's not me. Authentic Audience is a beautiful company with its energy and vibe of its own. But it wouldn't have the same energy if there wasn't a face and a personality and somebody being the messenger for that brand. So when you hide behind your brand, or you don't step forward and really own it, you're actually doing the business a disservice as well. The Secret and The War of Art Josh: As the saying goes imitation is the greatest form of flattery. And it's not a bad thing, if people decide to do that, it's a good thing. And it sounds like you would have read "The Secret". Krista: I have, I've read The Secret. And my other big book that I tell people to read is the War of Art by Steven Pressfield, it's a quick read. It's a lot about resistance, and stepping into your art and like facing resistance, and overcoming that and really owning who you are, and working on your art and your purpose and your guests. And yes, The Secret, I read it a long time ago, but I feel like it really stuck. Josh: When you were saying write a letter to your ideal customer, bringing it into your world and knowing exactly what you want. And having that hyper focus makes a huge difference. Knowing that these are the people you want to work with also removes the poo customers, so to speak, the ones that you don't want to work with. Krista: Totally because they won't resonate with it. I just think energy is so real, especially in our businesses. And it's like if energy is too woowoo for you then like getting more concrete with goals and spreadsheets and getting really, really specific, like this is my dream customer. This is how many of them I want to reach this is how many sales I want to make. And this is how I'm going to go about doing that. So I always start with the goals. And then the very first action item that I have anybody do is write a letter to the person that they want to reach with these goals. And it's just it calls it in, it's like you have to put it out there. And the more you say it, the more you speak it, the more you share it, those people will just start to show up because they'll hear you. The Right Customers Are Out There Josh: That's exactly what we want. Like we want those correct people, anyone that says that they don't have enough people in business, or they can't find the right audience are probably not really thinking enough about who their right audience is. And a lot of the time and you'll hear this, everyone's my audience, everyone can work with me. And when you have that approach, I find that no one will work with you if you've got everyone working with you. It just dilutes your message and also makes you more commoditised. So if you are in a position, you've got that mindset and someone wants to start writing this letter, what are some of the attributes, you really want to make sure that they're having that hyper focus on like, I've undergone similar activities, where were we talking? Do they like golf or yachting? Or just you really go down to their hobbies? What does their weekend look like? Is that the kind of stuff that you'd suggest to go into the letter? Krista: It really depends. There's somebody out there that needs your service right now. If they were sitting across from you, what would you say to them? I mean, it's as simple as that it's what pain points are they experiencing right now that your product service or offer can solve? And how do you want to deliver it to them?   The fiist thing I'll actually suggest sometimes if you don't know where to start with your letter is answering the four key questions that any business needs to be able to answer. Who are you? What do you do? Why does it matter? And what's in it for me, the customer? That's your pitch. That's your one liner. That's how you connect with people. And that's how you feel seen and engaged as quickly as possible as being able to refine those answers. So when you're writing this letter, it's who are you, you tell them who you are. You tell them what you do, you tell them why it matters, and you tell them what's in it for them. So that's always a good place to start, and then getting as specific as you can. Also, my dream client is always changing, because my business is always evolving and changing. So the person I was speaking to last year isn't who I'm speaking to now. And so I suggest people do this almost quarterly to sort of set yourself up for success. I like to work in 90 day sprints. So every 90 days are, so I like to sort of revisit this idea of who I'm calling in to hit these specific goals for the next 90 days. It truly is amazing how it happens and how quickly it happens to.   Finding Customers When You Aren’t Outgoing Josh: You have to have a business plan, but they evolve as well. And I think that you should be writing them both together, you shouldn't be neglecting one or the other thing, having the business plan to know what you want to achieve is just solidifying a dream and writing down so you can have actions to get to get to the future. Knowing the people that are going to be able to have you take those actions is all about writing a letter to know exactly who you're talking to. When you've got those items in place. How do you start if you have no knowledge on how you're going to find a customer, you've never done networking, you're possibly introverted type person? Where do you find the person? Or how do you know once you've got your letter written? I know this is going to be a super difficult question to answer. So I'm going to go with this scenario. Let's say you've just finished university and you want to become own your own practice as a lawyer, or we can go with this scenario of the pie shop owner. How do you go about finding those people when you know you're a detail oriented person, very factual, but not necessarily outgoing and you need to go talk to lots of people. How would you find that audience? Krista: I'm going to assume that you're a fantastic lawyer or that you bake fantastic pies. The product is everything, so marketing and sales can't make your product better, right, it can just get it out in front of the right people and position it in a place for them to buy. But it has to be good. So let's just assume that it's good. It's the best pie in town. There are five people in your world right now, just five people that if you reached out to them, it would change your business. Right now, everybody has this, whether it's an aunt, an uncle, a friend, a cousin, or somebody that you knew from college, there are five people in your world that if you reached out to them, they would be excited to hear from you and happy to help. So I always start those there, those are your low hanging fruit. And just say, this is what I'm doing. This is what I'm offering, this is what I'm looking for. What do you suggest if you're just starting from the very beginning? Get some beta testers. I have three free slices of pie that I'm giving away today, who wants them, like DM me, write me back if you want this free slice, or this beta test of whatever it is that I'm offering. So it's always about crawl, walk, run, you don't want to just hit the gas without testing without refining. And as my partner would say, it's get one customer and get one customer, take them through your journey and make sure that they're happy customers. So you take one person, make sure they're happy, they loved your service, they love your offer, the best form of marketing will forever be word of mouth. So you make one customer happy, you'll get three more, because they'll go tell their friends, they'll go tell their partners, and the word of mouth will start coming. What marketing is online, what I do is just kind of like digital word of mouth, right? But you still need that initial organic traction, before you start running ads or doing anything crazy like that. It's like, reach out to five people get one customer make it a success. That is way farther than most people starting out will do. You're already ahead of the game if you have one happy customer. You Need to Be Sustainable Josh: I think it also gives you the confidence internally to go, okay, I've done this with one person, I can do this with another. And as you said perfectly, I don't think people get into business, and I could be wrong in this, but I don't think people get into business to go, I'm going go make shit pies and be a bad lawyer. Krista: I mean, I would hope not. I would hope not. You know, it's not sustainable. And so that's always like, when you're having trouble with sales or marketing. I'm like, well, how's your product? How's your service? Can we invest in making that experience better for people? Whenever I look at somebody's account, or website or service, I'm like, before we drive people here, let's make sure this is good. Let's make sure this is going to convert and what you're offering is super valuable, because it's way easier to keep customers then continuously finding new ones. Josh: I completely agree with that. And when you look at costs of churn customer churn, it's huge. For us, we have some pretty cool offers for our customers or for our leads, where we say, look, we'll hack into your business, if we can't hack into business, we'll give you $1,000. And we think well, that's pretty good. But if we can hack into your business, we're going to have a discussion around how we're able to do that. Krista: I love that! Josh: It's a strong call to action that says we know what we're doing. And it has some elements of discrediting the current company that wins, because business owners that need to know they aren't in the game of knowing all that they need to know about technology, all that there is out there about technology, because it's not a requirement for them. That's why they hire the experts and making sure you're making great pies. Lead With the Benefits Krista: I love that call to action, though, I think that says so much like I feel something it's risky. And it tells me that you know what you're doing? And also, I don't need to know what you do. I just need to know the benefits. And I think that's a huge mistake. So many people are focused on the features like what's included, but not the benefits, right? So I always say lead with the benefits. And I feel like that call to action right there. That's solid. I have nothing to say about that. There's always something I have to say, so that's very impressive. Josh: Only because you said that I'm going to tell you the other one that we use and that's financially backed up time. So we had to look at what our competitors were offering versus what we are offering and our competitors charges a flat rate per month for their IT support and you get unlimited IT support, we charge a flat rate. And we thought, well, that's not really a differentiator. But then we said if you have downtime, we will pay you per hour until you go back up. That's not something anyone else is doing. That means that if your business is down from a technology standpoint, it's costing you money, it's costing you downtime, it can be costing you 10s of thousands of dollars an hour, depending on the size of the business. If we say look, we're going pay you per hour if you go down. And obviously that's a scalable statement, depending on the size of their business, everyone's pulling the ship in the same direction. We want to get to make sure we're offering the best support the fastest support the best solution so that you don't go down because we don't want to be paying it. It's not a very good business model for us. Krista: I think it's great. I mean, and just the way you talk about it, it's so clear that it's authentic, right? And it's like, again, going back to that idea. Like, it's not something you can fake like seeing the way you light up about it. And you're excited to tell me about it. I personally find I.T very boring, but listening to you talk about it. I'm like, tell me more. That matters to people. When I teach my marketing fundamentals course, and the basics of marketing, it could be very boring, but I'm so excited about it, that it makes other people excited about it. And I think that's just a key point in selling and sales is if you're not excited, and you're not sharing and posting and screaming it from the rooftops how amazing your offers, why should anyone else care? Josh: Exactly. And everyone has the ability, as I say, this is a cringy sentence. But with IT, we try to squirt some sexy on it. Krista: I love that. Josh: It's what we try to do. It's not a very fun topic. It's something that people will roll their eyes over at. But it's something everyone has to have. And everyone understands the effects that has if you don't have a great marketing plan, if you don't have a great sales strategy, if you don't have your sales funnels or pipelines reformed and refined. You're not going to be able to have said sexy squirted on your business. So people out there that are probably thinking, ah, man, I want some sexy, or my business or I want to have a business, it's doing what what I wanted to be doing. But maybe they're a bit too scared. Or they might not have that creative mindset or flair to be able to really bring that laser focused message into place. I understand you got some strategy sessions, and also a course, tell us a bit about how that works. Getting Help From Krista Krista: Sure. So the two ways in which we can work together, I have a course called Marketing Fundamentals and that's the basics. So it goes through types of digital offers, a lot of people don't know, there's so many things out there, YouTube, LinkedIn, SEO, Facebook, like what should I be doing? How should I be doing it? So I break down all the types of digital marketing. Then I go into mindset, and then I go into organics, and I teach you how to build a sales funnel. So that's the basics. If you have a good audience size, if you have a great email list, and you don't know how to launch, you don't know how to price you don't know how to create your offer, or you have an offer, but you're ready to get it out there more. That's where my Strategy Sessions come in. So I do a deep dive with you. We get on and we go into everything from customer journey, pricing flow, everything across the board goals. And then we hang up and I build you a custom strategy. if you do what I say it will work. Josh: I've been in business for 13 years, and I'm still doing courses, I'm still doing refresher things, you can never know too much. Like as you said, you wanted to do something, let's say you're not doing much, or you're not doing much well through social media. So what do you go through Pinterest, or Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn, or focusing on the AdWords strategy. There's so many different options. The only advice I could give is focus on one, not all of them. If you want more advice in that you should probably be talking to Krista there and jumping in and checking out what she has to say because it varies for every business to what the approach is. In today's day, there's no silver bullet that's going to help work for everyone. It's about working out exactly how it works for you. Krista: Yeah, that's exactly it. That's why I created these custom Strategy Sessions because I know business is the same even if you're in the same industry or strategy, depending on your needs, budgets and goals is going to be totally different. So that's why I like to dive in with you and build something that's totally tailored to you. That's like with clarity, focus and again focusing on one thing at a time that is key. Josh: If you have enjoyed what Krista has had to say make sure to jump across to Authentic Audience.co. Give us some feedback, and stay healthy.  

This is a very special episode of the Market Like a Boss Podcast as I’m joined by Krista Ripma, who will share with you the secret behind a 6-figure launch and what mistakes you might be making during a launch.    Krista Ripma is a marketing coach, launching strategist and co-founder of Authentic Audience, who she owns with her husband. She’s been in business three years and knows all the key ingredients you need to have a successful launch.   Let’s dive in!   “Why is a launch valuable?”   Krista: A launch by definition means there’s a period of time when you’re promoting a new offer - whether it is a course, product, service, etc. It’s extremely important to have a launch as it provides a sense of urgency and scarcity, which are two fundamental pieces in your marketing.    A launch allows your audience to have something to focus on and learn about the new offer with no distractions.    “What is the biggest misconception of a launch?” Krista: I think the biggest misconception about a launch is people think they need to spend a lot of money to launch, which is not the case.   I’m a huge fan of soft launches, beta launches, skinny launches, etc. A skinny launch means you’re operating on a lean budget and using content that you already have (no paid ads). Marketing always requires some sort of investment, but it doesn’t mean you need to go over budget for a new launch. “What mistakes have you seen during a launch?” Krista: It’s so common for business owners to start a launch and then completely stop halfway through because they aren’t seeing the results they had projected. It’s important women realize that it takes an average of seven times to see and hear something before someone makes a decision to purchase. I also find that business owners don’t post about their new offer frequently enough because they are afraid they will annoy their audience. If your audience doesn’t see your offer, how can they invest in the first place? Show up more than you feel comfortable with during a launch. And remember - you can’t annoy the right person. The other big mistake business owners experience during a launch is that they think they need to have a huge following to be successful, which is not the case. Having a smaller niche audience means your people know you intimately and are more likely to invest.  The last mistake is sending a person directly to a sales page without any kind of introduction to you or your services. This can be a huge turn-off to potential clients. Marketing is all about relationships - without the foundation of trust, how can you assume someone will purchase your offer?    “What would be step 1 of a launch?”   Krista: Mindset, mindset, mindset! If you don’t believe in what you’re offering, your audience won’t either. Authenticity = Resistance. Your ego wants to consume you with fear. When you recognize the resistance, you’re on the right track. Think about what your gifts are...can you confidently say them out loud? We all have gifts. Being able to recognize your gifts and realizing no one is YOU.    “What would be step 2?”   Krista: You have to craft your offer. People get so far ahead with pricing, how many offers they want to sell, where they’re marketing, etc . You need to build your offer first before you jump into figuring out the logistics and goals of your launch.  “What happens after you craft your offer?”   Krista: The last step would be to create the launch strategy. All launch strategies are different. Regardless of which strategy you choose, you want to create urgency by giving your audience a behind-the-scenes look at your offer, email teasers, and a special event or training like a webinar with a special bonus for your offer for a limited time only. Urgency is key!     “What would be the time frame for a launch?”   Krista: I think two weeks is a great time length for a launch. You have to earn the trust of your audience and be firm about your deadlines for the launch.    “Why don’t you offer discounts?”   Krista: Discounts can devalue your offer. Your offer is valuable because you spent the time to create it. Instead of offering a discount, I recommend having an add-on or bonus for your offer.    “What advice would you give about showing up for a launch?”   Krista: For a six-figure launch, you will need to invest in your launch financially, which could be growing your email list or running re-targeting ads.    Secondly, you have to show up. You have to create content that is dynamic for your audience. This includes an assortment of posts, graphics, stories, and lives. Don’t be afraid to mix up your content and have fun with it. I also recommend posting every day during your launch, which can be so hard, but so necessary. Remember - people have short attention spans (8 seconds or less) and they don’t see all your content on social. Posting every day increases the likelihood that they’ll see at least one of your posts.   Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see a six-figure launch happen on the first try. Every launch you do teaches you more about your audience and what to do better the next time around.    If you want to learn more about Krista be sure to check out her website https://www.authenticaudience.co/   Follow Krista on Instagram: @kristarimpa  Connect with Market Like a Boss!  Continue the conversation in Michelle’s Facebook Group  Find out how you can work with Michelle at Vroom Communications Grab your copy of Michelle’s free guide - 5 Steps to Get Clients Like a Boss.  Listen + Subscribe on ITUNES or STITCHER I’d greatly appreciate a podcast rating and review so that this podcast can reach more women!  Search for the podcast in your podcast app (Market Like a Boss) Scroll down and click 5 stars Tap “Write a Review” & enter a brief review Press send

Running your own online 'summit' or conference is not just a new income stream - it can also bring you tons of new leads, enhance your credibility and authority around your topic, and open up valuable new relationships with experts in your space,a and summit expert Krista Miller is her to explain exactly how you do it. This one is value-packed! TRANSCRIPT: Rob: Welcome back listener, Rob Tyson here. And in the last episode, I talked to Ian Sanders about the power of story for your business. It was a good show, so do catch up on that one if you missed it, had a good chat within. I'm here today, though, with Krista Miller. Now Krista through her company Summit In A Box, does something really interesting. She helps entrepreneurs three times their monthly revenue through virtual summits without wondering where to start or what to do next. And her method is focused on strong connections, collaboration, and making a difference. And today, our topic we're gonna be talking about is how to host your first profitable online summit. So I'm really interested in this topic, looking forward to getting into it. Before we do get into it, though, if you're listening to this show, chances are good you have professional expertise and it could be you want to monetize that through an online learning program. Well, if that is the case, before you rush off and start creating content, please take a few moments to watch my free web class because it's gonna explain why the ascension model or value ladder you may have heard about is usually a really bad approach for people in your position. Not only is it likely to make you peanuts, but you won't be giving maximum value to your clients either. There is a much better way if you would like to generate real meaningful cashflow quickly and get on the right track with productizing your expertise online and my web class will show you how to do that. That is free. All you need to do is pop along to robtyson.net/class to get the web class, that is robtyson.net/class. So with that all said, Krista, welcome. Great to have you here. Krista: Hey, Rob. Thank you so much for having me. I'm pumped to chat all about summits with you. Rob: Me too because this is a really interesting topic for me. And let's open up with my first question for you. What is an online summit? I mean, how do you define this term? What does it mean? Krista: So when I'm trying to define it for people, I like to have them think about a virtual...not virtual, excuse me, an in-person conference, and what that looks like. So you're bringing together, you know, a group of people to come speak to attendees about different topics relating to an overall topic. A virtual summit is the same except online. So there's one host, they have an overall goal or topic in mind for this summit, and they're inviting speakers on who can speak about smaller topics inside the overarching topic. And then attendees from all over the world can come and tune in to these presentations usually for 24 hours is how long the free access lasts. But the goal is really to let the attendees come and get these pieces of information that they wouldn't be able to get for free together anywhere else, and really help them start making steps towards whatever the goal of the summit is. Rob: And are there other words that we might use instead of summit? I mean, do people sometimes call these things online conferences? Yeah, you're nodding? Krista: Yes, virtual conferences, online conferences, online, they say, events. I've seen people say, like, interview series. There's kind of just all kinds of different words. I would say online conference is, like, the most common alternate, but there's people using all kinds of different words who for some reason don't want to say the word summit. Rob: No, interesting, interesting. And what are some of the different models of summit we could use? Krista: So there's a few coming to mind. I guess the first one is the most common and that is a free...a summit that's free to attend. So attendees can register for free. They can get access to the presentations for usually about 24 hours for free. And with that, there are usually 20, 30 speakers at that kind of summit. From there, the host can upsell to an all-access pass and that's how they can make money. I'm happy to talk about that in more detail as we go, but that's kind of the most common. Those ones usually last around three to five days, most commonly five, but I'm seeing more and more people now cut down and going between three and five. Another one that's talked about a lot is a one-day summit. So people who don't want to, you know, go through the work of getting what, 30 speakers and having this thing go on for five days, maybe they have something really specific they want to talk about related to an offer, they will host a one-day summit instead. Usually around five to eight speakers in a one-day summit. And again, those are usually run for free with the option to upgrade for ongoing access. And then the third one is a paid summit. So instead of being able to access the presentations for free, for a limited amount of time, people charge for entry to the summit basically. Usually with these people then automatically get the ongoing access to the presentations. They're not limited by 24 hours or anything like that, but they're basically getting a ticket to attend the event, kind of like you would with an in-person conference. Rob: And which model do you like the best and why? A what are the big benefits of the model? Talk to us a little bit about that. Krista: So I'm a big fan of the first model I mentioned, which is free attendance, three to five days long, 20 to 30 speakers. And this is the one I have seen work the best for most industries. Now there are some industries where the paid model works great. For a lot of us, the paid model is not gonna work well instead what you're gonna see is you get so many fewer people who are willing to pay for that ticket. And the reason that the free entry works so well is there's no barrier there. People are like, "Oh, I can get all of this for free. Awesome." And then you have the rest of the event to convert them to your all-access pass, which is so much more powerful. And I have a customer, her name is Kara, and she was just on my podcast comparing the two because her first two summits were paid summits. Her most recent was a free summit. And her first couple summits had about 60 attendees and brought in $2,000. Her most recent had, I want to say 2,000 attendees and $16,000. So it let her get so many more leads into the summit by having it for free, she was able to just see so many more profit...so much more profit, excuse me. But like I said, there are some industries where the paid summit works fine. I see this work better for people in more, like, professional niches like if you're targeting, like, lawyers and doctors and stuff like that, like, they're used to having to pay when they're gonna go learn about something. But for most of us, the free model is what works the best. Rob: I like that. And one...you know, some of the times that I've noticed people doing summits, which seems like a really smart thing to do, is perhaps when they're launching a new business or launching a new product or side of business. That can be a really good application kind of it because it can be pretty effective way to build your authority and get a lot of leads in the door quite quickly. Krista: It's so powerful when you're doing something like that. I really love using it for launching something new or, you know, something that you already have. Because you're getting those leads that are just, you know, really interested in what you're doing if you position your summit the right way. They're warmed up, they're excited by the end of your summit, and then you have this thing to help them take it even further, you know, and make it nice and easy for them. Rob: And as the host of the summit, so you're interviewing these other experts, is that normally how you would be presenting that content? Krista: Yes, it's usually about 50-50, I have never done an all-interview summit just because I don't like doing interviews. I don't want to sit on 30 interviews. Some people love doing it that way. I like to have my speakers just pre-record their presentations like, you know, most of them use a slide deck. I personally like that because, one, I'm not required to get on 30, 60-minute calls with all these people. But also then they're able to really present their information in a way that fits their topic the best. They're not limited by the questions I'm asking. They can, you know, say, "Here's the overall teaching on this topic, and here's action steps you can," take a little more easily than if they were being interviewed. But there are a lot of really great, you know, purely interview summits out there as well. It's kind of up to the preference of the host, your comfort with interviews, your skill with interviews because you don't want to have 30 boring interviews either. But I like doing the presentations. Rob: And so, would you typically be presenting something of your own? You know, would you do a session of your typical summit, or would you just kind of leave that to the "experts"? Krista: Yes, I always recommend doing your own presentation as well. A really big benefit of summits is the increased visibility. So, you know, I always say every opportunity you can get to get in front of these people during your summit do it. They need to know who you are and that you're the host. I know some people who do their own presentation daily during their summit. But definitely have one presentation that you do, whether it's, you know, mixing with the rest, a keynote, something like that, but definitely get yourself in there. Rob: Now, as you're talking about it, I can see it would be mad not to do that, wouldn't it? Krista: I've seen a lot of people who don't, so I'm glad you asked. Rob: And what's your view on selling during the summit content? I mean, so at one end of the spectrum, you could consider a complete no-no, but the other end, I'm sure there are summits where it's pretty much all anyone is doing. So what do you think is the right balance? I mean, do you think, well, you know, people could be paying for the content and therefore it's not really...we shouldn't be pitching too much? Just talk to us about that. What's your feeling? Krista: So I have found just through, you know, experience with my own summits, that the more I can focus on the attendees and the speakers during the summit, the more I'm gonna get out of it myself. So I don't pitch my own offers during the summit. I am selling them that all-access pass though, and that is so powerful. And it doesn't mean you can't sell your own product later. So here's what I recommend, people register for free immediately they're getting an offer for the all-access pass for the first time. And then if they don't buy, they're kind of seeing that offer all throughout the summit. My last time summit I made $60,000 just through that all-access pass. So, that is a really great thing to focus on, it's giving them the ongoing access to the presentations they like. I really like including extra bonuses to help them take it even further, but they're really able to focus in on that content. A challenge I see with trying to sell, you know, one of your programs or something in a summit is they're all so focused on trying to watch all these presentations and retain the information, that it's kind of like just a distraction and like a fly they're trying to swat away if you're, like, constantly pitching them with something else. So I always wait until... You know, there are some people who do like a keynote presentation, the last presentation on the last day, and that's, like, their webinar where they're pitching their offer. Other people, you know, wait till the week after, or maybe two weeks after, I wouldn't go any longer than that. But it's kind of positioned as an extension to the summit, but it's a webinar helping them, you know, take it one step further, but "Here's my program." Rob: "Here's an offer." Interesting, interesting. Okay, no, that's really good. And how big should we aim for our first summit? Because obviously you mentioned, you know, one of the models is with 20 or 30 speakers, and if someone is brand new to this that will sound very daunting and maybe isn't where they should start anyway. So, what do you think is a good number of speakers? A good duration if you're just doing this for the first time? Krista: So, if you're someone doing this for the first time and maybe you feel a little intimidated by it, I would stick to a three-day summit with 15 speakers. Once you start getting those speakers on, you feel like, "Oh, you know, this is easy. This isn't so bad." You can always change your mind and add a couple of days. I just had someone in my program do this actually yesterday as we're recording, and she was like, "Hey, like, this isn't so bad. Would it be worth it for me to add 5, 10 more speakers?" And I was like, "Yeah, let's do it." So I would say 15 speakers, three-day mark is a good place to start with your first one. You can still get really great results with that if you position it the right way and choose the right speakers. Rob: Okay. That's really helpful. And how do we pick a good topic for the summit? And should we go quite broad with the subject matter, or is there more value in being quite niche? What do you think? Krista: I love this question. I love this question and I am all about getting as specific as you can. And I like to give an example to kind of help illustrate this. So for most of us, if we're, like, scrolling through Facebook and we see a Facebook ad on a summit to help online business owners grow their business, we're like, "I don't care." You know, we probably don't even think back because it didn't catch our attention enough for us to even have a thought. But there's a lot of people in my program who are, like, wedding professionals, so I use them as an example. If like a wedding planner is scrolling Facebook and she sees an ad for a summit to help wedding planners book up their client's schedule using Instagram, heck yes, that's gonna stop her in her tracks and she's gonna sign up for that. And there's so much more room to make an impact for these attendees when you're doing it that way. Because instead of learning, like, 101 level information to grow her business, she is learning stuff really specific and unique to her industry, and how and exactly the steps she needs to take to do it. So I'm really all about getting as specific as possible. As for how to do it, I usually recommend that people start with their audience. A lot of us find ourselves targeting online business owners, entrepreneurs, things like that, like, that's too broad. So what I tell people to do is who are the subsets in your audience? Look at people who are purchasing your products, your services, what subsets do they fall into? And which one of those are you most excited about working with, do you relate the most, find that audience, focus on them. Like, that's the audience for your summit. And then I say, get on a couple of calls with people, even if it's just 3, 15-minute calls, talk to them and learn exactly what their real problems are. Not what you think they are, I would have got that so wrong with my first time and if I did what I thought their problem was. But I found it out from them, host a summit to solve that problem. And that is how you make one that stands out, gets you incredible results, and gets them incredible results. Rob: Really interesting. And you'd just be quite open in that conversation? You say, "Hey, I'm thinking doing of a summit, you know, what's the kind of thing that would get you to give up three days or whatever?" I mean, do you frame it like that or what kind of conversation do you have? Krista: So I don't come at it quite like that, I usually ask someone who I know in my audience, you don't have to do that, that's just what I do. I say, "Hey, can we get on a 15, 20-minute call for me to ask you a couple of questions, in return I'll reserve 5 minutes for you to ask me questions?" So that they're getting something out of it too. And I just kind of ask questions about their business and, like, dig deep. So, I ask them a little bit about what they do so I can see how they talk about what they do. Ask what they're struggling with, ask what their goals are. And then why is that your goal? Why is that a struggle? And that really helps with messaging. So the struggle is great for, you know, hitting that in your messaging and so is the goal. Because then you can say, "Here's what the summit is gonna do for you" and use their words. And so, I keep it really simple like that. But if they say something kind of vague, like, you know, "My goal is to get more clients," why is that your goal? And keep asking questions like that. Rob: Okay. I really like that. That's pretty good. And so people up to this point, they're listening, they think, "Yeah, I love this idea, Krista. I want to do this as soon as possible." How much time do they need to leave themselves to do their research and prepare and do all this kind of stuff? What would you say? Krista: So my recommendation isn't what most people like to hear, but I really love to see first-time host give themselves 90 days. And it's not 90 days of you just hustling hard 24/7 to get this thing out there. It takes time for you to research. It takes time for you to find potential speakers and connect with them rather than just sending, you know, 30 cold pitches. It takes time to hear back from those people, you know, once you send the pitch. You have to give them time to either make their presentation or schedule an interview with you. You want to figure in about three weeks for promotion. So there are a lot of things in there that aren't totally reliant on you doing all the work. There is a very good amount of work that goes into especially the first one when you're figuring out your positioning, setting up the tech in your website, and writing all your copy. But 90 days is a really great spot to sit for the first one. I've had people do it in two weeks, I have people who take six months, but 90 days is what I have found as the sweet spot. Rob: And a question occurred to me just as you were explaining that, to what extent can we repeat summits? I don't mean repeat the exact same content, but I mean, like, for example, you know, if you have a summit on some aspects of email marketing this year, is that the kind of thing you might do annually because the, you know, the texture, I don't know...what's your approach to this? I mean, do you see these things as one-offs or are they things that can be repeated? Krista: So there's so much power in repeating your summit, one, because it gets so much easier. So, my first summit, I've estimated, took me 500 hours to put together. And that's because I was starting from scratch, I didn't have any resources, I couldn't find any podcasts about it. Like, I was figuring this all out. So, 500 hours for my first summit. My most recent took me 60 because, you know, I have all the pages done, the messaging is done. The copy is there, you're making little tweaks. And the biggest part is reaching out to new speakers and getting the information you need from them. So it gets so much easier. And I have actually repeated the same summit, same topic for three years in a row now and each time has just gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. So, like, you can totally repeat the same summit over and over and just keep getting bigger results too and it's way easier after that first time. Rob: Why do you think it gets bigger and better each time? Krista: I think because...well, I think there's two things. One is just the increased visibility you have for that first one. You know, before my first summit, I had an email list of 500 people. After it I had 1,500. So I was like, "Okay, I'm promoting to three times as many people," there's number one. Number two is, at least for me, I got braver with who I was pitching and figured out what the right people were to pitch. So instead of just pitching people I knew and people I was comfortable with, I figured out, "Well, hello, why am I not pitching people that only have the exact same audience as my summit?" Like, it's so obvious now, but it took me three seconds to figure out. So that was definitely, you know, a game-changer as far as the growth goes as well, figuring out which speakers get you the best results and pitching as many people like that as you can is, you know, huge for seeing your summit grow. Rob: Right. And as you allude to that, I guess that it helps to show the better speakers you've got a track record and, you know, they're gonna be that much more receptive, aren't they, if they can see that you've done it before and it was good? Krista: Yes, there was actually someone I pitched for last year's summit and she said no. And this year I came back to her again and was able to say, "Hey, here are our numbers from last year." I think it was, how much was it, 2,500? Twenty-five hundred people just from your audience last year, we're expecting even more this year. Do you want to be a part of it?" And then it was a "Heck yes," you know, once I had those numbers to show her. And for the first summit where I didn't have great numbers, I was still getting yeses from people I didn't expect to. But it just gets easier both on your confidence and on them saying yes as you grow. Rob: Really good, really good. And what kinds of things do we say to potential speakers to interest them? Krista: That's a great question. So the first thing that makes it just way easier, we were just talking about with the audience and the topic, when your audience and topic really closely relates to what they do, like, that's step one of grabbing their attention. Like, if someone pitches me for a summit and it's...I am not...I'm trying to think of an example now. If they pitched me for a summit for my other business where target I designers and it's a summit for all creatives or copywriters, for me that's a no, right? But if they were to come to me with a summit just for my people, okay, you have my attention now. So that's step one is being really targeted with who the summit's for and going after speakers that also have that audience. Then it comes down to you looking like you know what you're doing. So being really organized, giving them the information they need. I really like to have a draft of my registration page as complete as possible so they can go over if they don't know me and see that this is a real thing, it's put together well, I know what I'm doing. And then as for, like, benefits for them, that's also something I like to list out right in my pitch email. I guess, first, I start with, "Here's what I would need from you. And by the way, it's not all about me, here's what you get as well." And there's a few things I like to do there, I like to give good affiliate commissions. So, I give 40% to 50% affiliate commissions to my speakers. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have a summit. So I feel like they deserve that. They've always liked that. I also give them the opportunity to pitch something at the end of their presentation. I let them pitch something paid if they want to, but I really tell them, "You're gonna get better results if you pitch something for free, have a tripwire offer, or put them in a proven funnel down the road." So they like that, they're allowed to do that. And, you know, just the way to grow their email list and I make it as easy as possible for them. Like, people want visibility, leads, and money. So if you can show them that they can get those things, it's a really great chance that they'll say yes. Rob: Great. That's really good advice. And on the other side of the coin, what are the kinds of things we're saying what's important in the messaging that we put out there to potential attendees to get them interested in attending the summit? Krista: So the biggest mistake I see with people doing this is they kind of promote the fact that they're doing a summit. Because they're like, "This was so much work, it's so cool that I'm doing this. Hey, everybody, look, I have a summit." And they're like, "I don't care." So, like, instead of focusing on the fact that, yes, it's this cool thing, you're focusing on those pain points and benefits. "So here's this free event with all of these really cool speakers," you know, do some name dropping of, you know, your most visible speakers, "and here's what you're gonna get out of it." So hit on a benefit that your summit is really focused on. And when it's just for them solving a problem for free, it's like, "Heck yes, I'm gonna sign up for that." Even if they only go to a couple of presentations, you have their attention, they're now on your email list and that's what we're looking for. Rob: Right. So it's just all about this is gonna, you know, come along to this thing, it's gonna show you how to get something nice and move away from something horrible. Krista: Exactly, exactly. Rob: And what tactics do you like the best for getting attendees? Krista: So speakers are just a really great thing to count on. If you are counting on your speakers to promote, you really have to make that clear to them from the initial email you send. There are so many summits going on right now where, you know, you get pitched and maybe it doesn't say anything, but then all of a sudden they send you this contract and it's like you have to send three solo emails to your email list and post this many times on social media. I'm like, "No." So when you're using your speakers, they're part of your promotion strategy, tell them that in the initial email but also be reasonable about it. So I have my speakers send one email and post once on social media. That way I know at least their audience has a chance to see it. And from there, if they're getting sales through their affiliate link and getting those commissions, they're gonna keep promoting. And that's what I saw with my last summit that works even better if you did do your targeting correctly for your summit and pitch the right speakers as well. So that's really what I focus on. Of course, promoting on your own platforms, my email list has always been huge for getting attendees, but Facebook ads actually have worked really well for me as well. I mean, I've seen people get under a dollar per lead for their summit, and then you're selling the all-access pass after so you're just profiting from those Facebook ads. For my last summit, I was actually at the breakeven point but that's cool because now they're on my email list and I can sell them something else. So Facebook ads are also a really great thing to do, and you can do them for super cheap by, like, retargeting people who hit the registration page without signing up, or, you know, doing lookalike audiences to your website traffic or email list and you can do it for, you know, a really decent price. Rob: I like it, I like it. And when we run the summit or...well, you know, at least when we run it the first time, so we're not talking about the recordings that we give, you know, people can get access to, but do you prefer that as a live thing or some are all of the sessions prerecorded? What's your preference or advice? Krista: So I say, at least for your first one, do prerecorded. I have never done a live summit, I never will because you will find that dealing with your speakers is like herding cats. And I would rather herd prerecorded cats than live cats every day. You have to count on them showing up when they're supposed to and having all of the tech work. And that's a lot to count on, especially if you have 20 speakers counting on 20 people to show up where they're supposed to, when they're supposed to, and have no tech glitches, that's a lot for you to have on your shoulders as a summit host. And also during the summit, you are on all week long, even with recorded presentations, you are interacting with people in the Facebook group, which is, you know, something that I just kind of dropped on you guys. I really recommend having a Facebook community for your summit. You're interacting with people in email, you're supporting your speakers, and to also have to, you know, be live, making sure things are working all day every day, that's just a lot for one person to manage it. I mean, I guess you could have a team helping out with that as well, but I always recommend prerecorded for at least the first one and just see how it goes. Rob: That's good advice and that makes a lot of sense. And so software-wise, is there a specific software you would have to get in order to pull this off? Krista: So I actually recommend that people just use whatever you're using for your regular website. Tech is like a huge hurdle that people let hold them back from doing a summit, but really whatever platform you're on, you can make it work. I'm on WordPress, all of my stuff is on WordPress. That's great. But I have people doing it on Squarespace but their courses are in, like, Teachable so they integrate those two things. There's people doing it on ClickFunnels, you know, all kinds of different platforms. There are summit-specific platforms, I personally don't necessarily recommend them because you're kind of limited by what the creators of that think a summit should look like. But, like, virtual summit software would be my top recommendation if you do just want an all-in-one kind of platform that will kind of lead you through getting everything set up, you're not too concerned about, you know, being able to customize things. That's the one that I've seen make it the easiest and just set things up in the best way. Rob: Okay. Now that's really good. And do you think there's a limit to how many summits you could or should do in a year? I mean, is this just a question of your sanity or is it to do with your audience? What's your view? Krista: I love that you put it that way because seriously, it's all about your sanity. My first time running a seminar, I was like, you know, on a high after I was like, "Oh, my gosh, I did not expect it to go that well, I didn't expect to help people that much, I want to do it again." So I did another one six months later and I was like, "Oh, this is just too much for me." But then I had to make it an annual thing, so I had to do another one six months later so it lined up with my first one. For me, every six months is too much because you get done with your summit and, like, it feels like immediately you have to start looking for the next round of speakers. And that's a little bit of an exaggeration, you have a couple of months rest, but for me it was a lot. So I really like doing it annually. I have people in my program who are doing it quarterly and that's just what they like to do. They choose a little bit different topic every quarter so their audience isn't getting burnt out on it, and they are just like summits is the way they grow their business rather than, you know, one of the ways. So it's totally personal preference and how you feel after that first one probably. Rob: If you've got the energy to do it, too, do it quickly. Krista: Exactly. Rob: And in terms of charging for access, I appreciate there's a range and it depends on the market, but what kind of price points do you see working? Krista: So for the all-access pass, is that what you're...? Rob: I guess so. Krista: I mean, again, like you said, it's all over the map. I've seen people charge like 20 bucks. And for me I'm like, "Why bother?" So I have actually raised my prices for every single summit and made more money every single time. So I have landed at... I do three different price points throughout my summit. So right after somebody registers, they have 15 minutes to get a super special offer. For me, that's landed at about $47, between $47 and $97 depending on exactly what the offer is. After that 15-minute expires, they can then buy the all-access pass for the current regular price and I just do a price increase once the summit starts. So, you know, I would say the max price I have done is $197 and people still buy at that price point. So, like, don't feel like you have to, like, sell yourself short because this is a free event, people are still willing to buy if you have something good to offer. Now, would people pay 200 bucks for just presentations? You know, that's gonna be a little iffier. But I like to include bonuses, like, I let my speakers contribute bonuses if they want to, I contribute my own bonuses, maybe some like coworking calls, network sessions that you can just host on Zoom are great ways to just boost the value of that offer and be able to charge more. So, you know, that's a wide range even I do between $47 and $197, but I haven't run into anything that has not worked yet. Rob: I really like that. It's a really nice idea, you know, offering a few other things to, you know, make it a more valuable package, you know, along with the content, I really like that. This would be really great. Krista, any other important tips or big mistakes that people make that we need to look out for? Krista: I guess just, you know, we've touched on a lot of things, so something that we haven't talked about yet is just don't put so much pressure on yourself. I see people saying...you know, they'll come to me like, "Oh my gosh, I'm hosting this summit next month, I just decided that last week and I need to get it done, can you help me? I'm so overwhelmed." Like, well, obviously you're overwhelmed. If you're trying to organize 20 people, this brand new thing you've never done before, the tech, the website, it's gonna be a lot. So take your time, let yourself enjoy the process. I am totally one of those people, I have an idea, I need to do it now. So that 90-day timeline, it can hurt but it is so worth it to be able to get those details. The details are really what impresses people, the speakers, and your attendees. And, like, the more onboard they are, the more they're gonna help you do your selling as well. Your speakers are more likely to promote, your attendees are gonna be talking about how awesome it is and spread the word about it. They're gonna be shouting out how great your all-access pass is and other people will want to buy it. Take your time, get the details right, enjoy the process as much as you can. Rob: Excellent, really like that. So just to wrap up a little bit there, what is one action people could take right now if they wanted to make a start with this? What's kind of the first thing that they might do? Krista: As much as you guys won't like me for this, I want you to start with your audience and topics. So what's the audience for your summit gonna be if you're targeting people like online business owners, entrepreneurs? What subset can you use? And then get some calls scheduled with people to figure out what direction your summit should really go in to make the biggest impact for everybody. Rob: I really like that rather than just going, "Right, I've got an idea, let's go" because that always ends in tears, doesn't it? Usually more often than not. Really great. Krista, this has been excellent. Where's the best place for people to get more from you if they would like to? Krista: So you guys can find me over at summitinabox.co. I actually have a free masterclass for any of you who are really like, "Okay, like, I want to do this thing. I want to host an awesome summit." It's my three-part framework to triple your monthly revenue with a virtual summit while building your list for free. We cover all kinds of good stuff in there like how to make a plan you can actually follow even if your business is already way too busy, which I feel like most of us can probably say, how to land expert speakers and host a really great event without a huge audience, and how to use my three-part profitable summit system to triple your monthly revenue in the size of your email list. And that training is at summitinabox.co/class. Rob: Awesome. And just to say, people, you know, I have I bought some of Krista's info lately and it's really good, really thorough. So, yeah, definitely check it out if you're interested in this topic. Krista: Well, thank you. Rob: You are welcome. No, it's been really great. No, Krista, thank you so much. This was really helpful for people and I do appreciate you talking to me. Krista: Thank you so much for having me on. Rob: Hey, it's Rob again. Want to build a successful online business from your expertise? Well, the game has changed. There are bigger opportunities but also bigger pitfalls than ever before and I would hate for you to waste years figuring these things out for yourself. Now, as a listener to this show, you're obviously a sensible person, right? So here's my invitation to you. Apply to jump on a call with me in the next few days and let's talk about you. You will get feedback on your ideas. You will get a product concept that is fit for right now. And you will get a personalized sales and income plan to take away. That is free but availability is limited. So please go along right now to chatwithrob.com, that is chatwithrob.com. Do that now. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Once again, that is chatwithrob.com. Talk to you soon.

Running your own online 'summit' or conference is not just a new income stream - it can also bring you tons of new leads, enhance your credibility and authority around your topic, and open up valuable new relationships with experts in your space,a and summit expert Krista Miller is her to explain exactly how you do it. This one is value-packed! TRANSCRIPT: Rob: Welcome back listener, Rob Tyson here. And in the last episode, I talked to Ian Sanders about the power of story for your business. It was a good show, so do catch up on that one if you missed it, had a good chat within. I'm here today, though, with Krista Miller. Now Krista through her company Summit In A Box, does something really interesting. She helps entrepreneurs three times their monthly revenue through virtual summits without wondering where to start or what to do next. And her method is focused on strong connections, collaboration, and making a difference. And today, our topic we're gonna be talking about is how to host your first profitable online summit. So I'm really interested in this topic, looking forward to getting into it. Before we do get into it, though, if you're listening to this show, chances are good you have professional expertise and it could be you want to monetize that through an online learning program. Well, if that is the case, before you rush off and start creating content, please take a few moments to watch my free web class because it's gonna explain why the ascension model or value ladder you may have heard about is usually a really bad approach for people in your position. Not only is it likely to make you peanuts, but you won't be giving maximum value to your clients either. There is a much better way if you would like to generate real meaningful cashflow quickly and get on the right track with productizing your expertise online and my web class will show you how to do that. That is free. All you need to do is pop along to robtyson.net/class to get the web class, that is robtyson.net/class. So with that all said, Krista, welcome. Great to have you here. Krista: Hey, Rob. Thank you so much for having me. I'm pumped to chat all about summits with you. Rob: Me too because this is a really interesting topic for me. And let's open up with my first question for you. What is an online summit? I mean, how do you define this term? What does it mean? Krista: So when I'm trying to define it for people, I like to have them think about a virtual...not virtual, excuse me, an in-person conference, and what that looks like. So you're bringing together, you know, a group of people to come speak to attendees about different topics relating to an overall topic. A virtual summit is the same except online. So there's one host, they have an overall goal or topic in mind for this summit, and they're inviting speakers on who can speak about smaller topics inside the overarching topic. And then attendees from all over the world can come and tune in to these presentations usually for 24 hours is how long the free access lasts. But the goal is really to let the attendees come and get these pieces of information that they wouldn't be able to get for free together anywhere else, and really help them start making steps towards whatever the goal of the summit is. Rob: And are there other words that we might use instead of summit? I mean, do people sometimes call these things online conferences? Yeah, you're nodding? Krista: Yes, virtual conferences, online conferences, online, they say, events. I've seen people say, like, interview series. There's kind of just all kinds of different words. I would say online conference is, like, the most common alternate, but there's people using all kinds of different words who for some reason don't want to say the word summit. Rob: No, interesting, interesting. And what are some of the different models of summit we could use? Krista: So there's a few coming to mind. I guess the first one is the most common and that is a free...a summit that's free to attend. So attendees can register for free. They can get access to the presentations for usually about 24 hours for free. And with that, there are usually 20, 30 speakers at that kind of summit. From there, the host can upsell to an all-access pass and that's how they can make money. I'm happy to talk about that in more detail as we go, but that's kind of the most common. Those ones usually last around three to five days, most commonly five, but I'm seeing more and more people now cut down and going between three and five. Another one that's talked about a lot is a one-day summit. So people who don't want to, you know, go through the work of getting what, 30 speakers and having this thing go on for five days, maybe they have something really specific they want to talk about related to an offer, they will host a one-day summit instead. Usually around five to eight speakers in a one-day summit. And again, those are usually run for free with the option to upgrade for ongoing access. And then the third one is a paid summit. So instead of being able to access the presentations for free, for a limited amount of time, people charge for entry to the summit basically. Usually with these people then automatically get the ongoing access to the presentations. They're not limited by 24 hours or anything like that, but they're basically getting a ticket to attend the event, kind of like you would with an in-person conference. Rob: And which model do you like the best and why? A what are the big benefits of the model? Talk to us a little bit about that. Krista: So I'm a big fan of the first model I mentioned, which is free attendance, three to five days long, 20 to 30 speakers. And this is the one I have seen work the best for most industries. Now there are some industries where the paid model works great. For a lot of us, the paid model is not gonna work well instead what you're gonna see is you get so many fewer people who are willing to pay for that ticket. And the reason that the free entry works so well is there's no barrier there. People are like, "Oh, I can get all of this for free. Awesome." And then you have the rest of the event to convert them to your all-access pass, which is so much more powerful. And I have a customer, her name is Kara, and she was just on my podcast comparing the two because her first two summits were paid summits. Her most recent was a free summit. And her first couple summits had about 60 attendees and brought in $2,000. Her most recent had, I want to say 2,000 attendees and $16,000. So it let her get so many more leads into the summit by having it for free, she was able to just see so many more profit...so much more profit, excuse me. But like I said, there are some industries where the paid summit works fine. I see this work better for people in more, like, professional niches like if you're targeting, like, lawyers and doctors and stuff like that, like, they're used to having to pay when they're gonna go learn about something. But for most of us, the free model is what works the best. Rob: I like that. And one...you know, some of the times that I've noticed people doing summits, which seems like a really smart thing to do, is perhaps when they're launching a new business or launching a new product or side of business. That can be a really good application kind of it because it can be pretty effective way to build your authority and get a lot of leads in the door quite quickly. Krista: It's so powerful when you're doing something like that. I really love using it for launching something new or, you know, something that you already have. Because you're getting those leads that are just, you know, really interested in what you're doing if you position your summit the right way. They're warmed up, they're excited by the end of your summit, and then you have this thing to help them take it even further, you know, and make it nice and easy for them. Rob: And as the host of the summit, so you're interviewing these other experts, is that normally how you would be presenting that content? Krista: Yes, it's usually about 50-50, I have never done an all-interview summit just because I don't like doing interviews. I don't want to sit on 30 interviews. Some people love doing it that way. I like to have my speakers just pre-record their presentations like, you know, most of them use a slide deck. I personally like that because, one, I'm not required to get on 30, 60-minute calls with all these people. But also then they're able to really present their information in a way that fits their topic the best. They're not limited by the questions I'm asking. They can, you know, say, "Here's the overall teaching on this topic, and here's action steps you can," take a little more easily than if they were being interviewed. But there are a lot of really great, you know, purely interview summits out there as well. It's kind of up to the preference of the host, your comfort with interviews, your skill with interviews because you don't want to have 30 boring interviews either. But I like doing the presentations. Rob: And so, would you typically be presenting something of your own? You know, would you do a session of your typical summit, or would you just kind of leave that to the "experts"? Krista: Yes, I always recommend doing your own presentation as well. A really big benefit of summits is the increased visibility. So, you know, I always say every opportunity you can get to get in front of these people during your summit do it. They need to know who you are and that you're the host. I know some people who do their own presentation daily during their summit. But definitely have one presentation that you do, whether it's, you know, mixing with the rest, a keynote, something like that, but definitely get yourself in there. Rob: Now, as you're talking about it, I can see it would be mad not to do that, wouldn't it? Krista: I've seen a lot of people who don't, so I'm glad you asked. Rob: And what's your view on selling during the summit content? I mean, so at one end of the spectrum, you could consider a complete no-no, but the other end, I'm sure there are summits where it's pretty much all anyone is doing. So what do you think is the right balance? I mean, do you think, well, you know, people could be paying for the content and therefore it's not really...we shouldn't be pitching too much? Just talk to us about that. What's your feeling? Krista: So I have found just through, you know, experience with my own summits, that the more I can focus on the attendees and the speakers during the summit, the more I'm gonna get out of it myself. So I don't pitch my own offers during the summit. I am selling them that all-access pass though, and that is so powerful. And it doesn't mean you can't sell your own product later. So here's what I recommend, people register for free immediately they're getting an offer for the all-access pass for the first time. And then if they don't buy, they're kind of seeing that offer all throughout the summit. My last time summit I made $60,000 just through that all-access pass. So, that is a really great thing to focus on, it's giving them the ongoing access to the presentations they like. I really like including extra bonuses to help them take it even further, but they're really able to focus in on that content. A challenge I see with trying to sell, you know, one of your programs or something in a summit is they're all so focused on trying to watch all these presentations and retain the information, that it's kind of like just a distraction and like a fly they're trying to swat away if you're, like, constantly pitching them with something else. So I always wait until... You know, there are some people who do like a keynote presentation, the last presentation on the last day, and that's, like, their webinar where they're pitching their offer. Other people, you know, wait till the week after, or maybe two weeks after, I wouldn't go any longer than that. But it's kind of positioned as an extension to the summit, but it's a webinar helping them, you know, take it one step further, but "Here's my program." Rob: "Here's an offer." Interesting, interesting. Okay, no, that's really good. And how big should we aim for our first summit? Because obviously you mentioned, you know, one of the models is with 20 or 30 speakers, and if someone is brand new to this that will sound very daunting and maybe isn't where they should start anyway. So, what do you think is a good number of speakers? A good duration if you're just doing this for the first time? Krista: So, if you're someone doing this for the first time and maybe you feel a little intimidated by it, I would stick to a three-day summit with 15 speakers. Once you start getting those speakers on, you feel like, "Oh, you know, this is easy. This isn't so bad." You can always change your mind and add a couple of days. I just had someone in my program do this actually yesterday as we're recording, and she was like, "Hey, like, this isn't so bad. Would it be worth it for me to add 5, 10 more speakers?" And I was like, "Yeah, let's do it." So I would say 15 speakers, three-day mark is a good place to start with your first one. You can still get really great results with that if you position it the right way and choose the right speakers. Rob: Okay. That's really helpful. And how do we pick a good topic for the summit? And should we go quite broad with the subject matter, or is there more value in being quite niche? What do you think? Krista: I love this question. I love this question and I am all about getting as specific as you can. And I like to give an example to kind of help illustrate this. So for most of us, if we're, like, scrolling through Facebook and we see a Facebook ad on a summit to help online business owners grow their business, we're like, "I don't care." You know, we probably don't even think back because it didn't catch our attention enough for us to even have a thought. But there's a lot of people in my program who are, like, wedding professionals, so I use them as an example. If like a wedding planner is scrolling Facebook and she sees an ad for a summit to help wedding planners book up their client's schedule using Instagram, heck yes, that's gonna stop her in her tracks and she's gonna sign up for that. And there's so much more room to make an impact for these attendees when you're doing it that way. Because instead of learning, like, 101 level information to grow her business, she is learning stuff really specific and unique to her industry, and how and exactly the steps she needs to take to do it. So I'm really all about getting as specific as possible. As for how to do it, I usually recommend that people start with their audience. A lot of us find ourselves targeting online business owners, entrepreneurs, things like that, like, that's too broad. So what I tell people to do is who are the subsets in your audience? Look at people who are purchasing your products, your services, what subsets do they fall into? And which one of those are you most excited about working with, do you relate the most, find that audience, focus on them. Like, that's the audience for your summit. And then I say, get on a couple of calls with people, even if it's just 3, 15-minute calls, talk to them and learn exactly what their real problems are. Not what you think they are, I would have got that so wrong with my first time and if I did what I thought their problem was. But I found it out from them, host a summit to solve that problem. And that is how you make one that stands out, gets you incredible results, and gets them incredible results. Rob: Really interesting. And you'd just be quite open in that conversation? You say, "Hey, I'm thinking doing of a summit, you know, what's the kind of thing that would get you to give up three days or whatever?" I mean, do you frame it like that or what kind of conversation do you have? Krista: So I don't come at it quite like that, I usually ask someone who I know in my audience, you don't have to do that, that's just what I do. I say, "Hey, can we get on a 15, 20-minute call for me to ask you a couple of questions, in return I'll reserve 5 minutes for you to ask me questions?" So that they're getting something out of it too. And I just kind of ask questions about their business and, like, dig deep. So, I ask them a little bit about what they do so I can see how they talk about what they do. Ask what they're struggling with, ask what their goals are. And then why is that your goal? Why is that a struggle? And that really helps with messaging. So the struggle is great for, you know, hitting that in your messaging and so is the goal. Because then you can say, "Here's what the summit is gonna do for you" and use their words. And so, I keep it really simple like that. But if they say something kind of vague, like, you know, "My goal is to get more clients," why is that your goal? And keep asking questions like that. Rob: Okay. I really like that. That's pretty good. And so people up to this point, they're listening, they think, "Yeah, I love this idea, Krista. I want to do this as soon as possible." How much time do they need to leave themselves to do their research and prepare and do all this kind of stuff? What would you say? Krista: So my recommendation isn't what most people like to hear, but I really love to see first-time host give themselves 90 days. And it's not 90 days of you just hustling hard 24/7 to get this thing out there. It takes time for you to research. It takes time for you to find potential speakers and connect with them rather than just sending, you know, 30 cold pitches. It takes time to hear back from those people, you know, once you send the pitch. You have to give them time to either make their presentation or schedule an interview with you. You want to figure in about three weeks for promotion. So there are a lot of things in there that aren't totally reliant on you doing all the work. There is a very good amount of work that goes into especially the first one when you're figuring out your positioning, setting up the tech in your website, and writing all your copy. But 90 days is a really great spot to sit for the first one. I've had people do it in two weeks, I have people who take six months, but 90 days is what I have found as the sweet spot. Rob: And a question occurred to me just as you were explaining that, to what extent can we repeat summits? I don't mean repeat the exact same content, but I mean, like, for example, you know, if you have a summit on some aspects of email marketing this year, is that the kind of thing you might do annually because the, you know, the texture, I don't know...what's your approach to this? I mean, do you see these things as one-offs or are they things that can be repeated? Krista: So there's so much power in repeating your summit, one, because it gets so much easier. So, my first summit, I've estimated, took me 500 hours to put together. And that's because I was starting from scratch, I didn't have any resources, I couldn't find any podcasts about it. Like, I was figuring this all out. So, 500 hours for my first summit. My most recent took me 60 because, you know, I have all the pages done, the messaging is done. The copy is there, you're making little tweaks. And the biggest part is reaching out to new speakers and getting the information you need from them. So it gets so much easier. And I have actually repeated the same summit, same topic for three years in a row now and each time has just gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. So, like, you can totally repeat the same summit over and over and just keep getting bigger results too and it's way easier after that first time. Rob: Why do you think it gets bigger and better each time? Krista: I think because...well, I think there's two things. One is just the increased visibility you have for that first one. You know, before my first summit, I had an email list of 500 people. After it I had 1,500. So I was like, "Okay, I'm promoting to three times as many people," there's number one. Number two is, at least for me, I got braver with who I was pitching and figured out what the right people were to pitch. So instead of just pitching people I knew and people I was comfortable with, I figured out, "Well, hello, why am I not pitching people that only have the exact same audience as my summit?" Like, it's so obvious now, but it took me three seconds to figure out. So that was definitely, you know, a game-changer as far as the growth goes as well, figuring out which speakers get you the best results and pitching as many people like that as you can is, you know, huge for seeing your summit grow. Rob: Right. And as you allude to that, I guess that it helps to show the better speakers you've got a track record and, you know, they're gonna be that much more receptive, aren't they, if they can see that you've done it before and it was good? Krista: Yes, there was actually someone I pitched for last year's summit and she said no. And this year I came back to her again and was able to say, "Hey, here are our numbers from last year." I think it was, how much was it, 2,500? Twenty-five hundred people just from your audience last year, we're expecting even more this year. Do you want to be a part of it?" And then it was a "Heck yes," you know, once I had those numbers to show her. And for the first summit where I didn't have great numbers, I was still getting yeses from people I didn't expect to. But it just gets easier both on your confidence and on them saying yes as you grow. Rob: Really good, really good. And what kinds of things do we say to potential speakers to interest them? Krista: That's a great question. So the first thing that makes it just way easier, we were just talking about with the audience and the topic, when your audience and topic really closely relates to what they do, like, that's step one of grabbing their attention. Like, if someone pitches me for a summit and it's...I am not...I'm trying to think of an example now. If they pitched me for a summit for my other business where target I designers and it's a summit for all creatives or copywriters, for me that's a no, right? But if they were to come to me with a summit just for my people, okay, you have my attention now. So that's step one is being really targeted with who the summit's for and going after speakers that also have that audience. Then it comes down to you looking like you know what you're doing. So being really organized, giving them the information they need. I really like to have a draft of my registration page as complete as possible so they can go over if they don't know me and see that this is a real thing, it's put together well, I know what I'm doing. And then as for, like, benefits for them, that's also something I like to list out right in my pitch email. I guess, first, I start with, "Here's what I would need from you. And by the way, it's not all about me, here's what you get as well." And there's a few things I like to do there, I like to give good affiliate commissions. So, I give 40% to 50% affiliate commissions to my speakers. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have a summit. So I feel like they deserve that. They've always liked that. I also give them the opportunity to pitch something at the end of their presentation. I let them pitch something paid if they want to, but I really tell them, "You're gonna get better results if you pitch something for free, have a tripwire offer, or put them in a proven funnel down the road." So they like that, they're allowed to do that. And, you know, just the way to grow their email list and I make it as easy as possible for them. Like, people want visibility, leads, and money. So if you can show them that they can get those things, it's a really great chance that they'll say yes. Rob: Great. That's really good advice. And on the other side of the coin, what are the kinds of things we're saying what's important in the messaging that we put out there to potential attendees to get them interested in attending the summit? Krista: So the biggest mistake I see with people doing this is they kind of promote the fact that they're doing a summit. Because they're like, "This was so much work, it's so cool that I'm doing this. Hey, everybody, look, I have a summit." And they're like, "I don't care." So, like, instead of focusing on the fact that, yes, it's this cool thing, you're focusing on those pain points and benefits. "So here's this free event with all of these really cool speakers," you know, do some name dropping of, you know, your most visible speakers, "and here's what you're gonna get out of it." So hit on a benefit that your summit is really focused on. And when it's just for them solving a problem for free, it's like, "Heck yes, I'm gonna sign up for that." Even if they only go to a couple of presentations, you have their attention, they're now on your email list and that's what we're looking for. Rob: Right. So it's just all about this is gonna, you know, come along to this thing, it's gonna show you how to get something nice and move away from something horrible. Krista: Exactly, exactly. Rob: And what tactics do you like the best for getting attendees? Krista: So speakers are just a really great thing to count on. If you are counting on your speakers to promote, you really have to make that clear to them from the initial email you send. There are so many summits going on right now where, you know, you get pitched and maybe it doesn't say anything, but then all of a sudden they send you this contract and it's like you have to send three solo emails to your email list and post this many times on social media. I'm like, "No." So when you're using your speakers, they're part of your promotion strategy, tell them that in the initial email but also be reasonable about it. So I have my speakers send one email and post once on social media. That way I know at least their audience has a chance to see it. And from there, if they're getting sales through their affiliate link and getting those commissions, they're gonna keep promoting. And that's what I saw with my last summit that works even better if you did do your targeting correctly for your summit and pitch the right speakers as well. So that's really what I focus on. Of course, promoting on your own platforms, my email list has always been huge for getting attendees, but Facebook ads actually have worked really well for me as well. I mean, I've seen people get under a dollar per lead for their summit, and then you're selling the all-access pass after so you're just profiting from those Facebook ads. For my last summit, I was actually at the breakeven point but that's cool because now they're on my email list and I can sell them something else. So Facebook ads are also a really great thing to do, and you can do them for super cheap by, like, retargeting people who hit the registration page without signing up, or, you know, doing lookalike audiences to your website traffic or email list and you can do it for, you know, a really decent price. Rob: I like it, I like it. And when we run the summit or...well, you know, at least when we run it the first time, so we're not talking about the recordings that we give, you know, people can get access to, but do you prefer that as a live thing or some are all of the sessions prerecorded? What's your preference or advice? Krista: So I say, at least for your first one, do prerecorded. I have never done a live summit, I never will because you will find that dealing with your speakers is like herding cats. And I would rather herd prerecorded cats than live cats every day. You have to count on them showing up when they're supposed to and having all of the tech work. And that's a lot to count on, especially if you have 20 speakers counting on 20 people to show up where they're supposed to, when they're supposed to, and have no tech glitches, that's a lot for you to have on your shoulders as a summit host. And also during the summit, you are on all week long, even with recorded presentations, you are interacting with people in the Facebook group, which is, you know, something that I just kind of dropped on you guys. I really recommend having a Facebook community for your summit. You're interacting with people in email, you're supporting your speakers, and to also have to, you know, be live, making sure things are working all day every day, that's just a lot for one person to manage it. I mean, I guess you could have a team helping out with that as well, but I always recommend prerecorded for at least the first one and just see how it goes. Rob: That's good advice and that makes a lot of sense. And so software-wise, is there a specific software you would have to get in order to pull this off? Krista: So I actually recommend that people just use whatever you're using for your regular website. Tech is like a huge hurdle that people let hold them back from doing a summit, but really whatever platform you're on, you can make it work. I'm on WordPress, all of my stuff is on WordPress. That's great. But I have people doing it on Squarespace but their courses are in, like, Teachable so they integrate those two things. There's people doing it on ClickFunnels, you know, all kinds of different platforms. There are summit-specific platforms, I personally don't necessarily recommend them because you're kind of limited by what the creators of that think a summit should look like. But, like, virtual summit software would be my top recommendation if you do just want an all-in-one kind of platform that will kind of lead you through getting everything set up, you're not too concerned about, you know, being able to customize things. That's the one that I've seen make it the easiest and just set things up in the best way. Rob: Okay. Now that's really good. And do you think there's a limit to how many summits you could or should do in a year? I mean, is this just a question of your sanity or is it to do with your audience? What's your view? Krista: I love that you put it that way because seriously, it's all about your sanity. My first time running a seminar, I was like, you know, on a high after I was like, "Oh, my gosh, I did not expect it to go that well, I didn't expect to help people that much, I want to do it again." So I did another one six months later and I was like, "Oh, this is just too much for me." But then I had to make it an annual thing, so I had to do another one six months later so it lined up with my first one. For me, every six months is too much because you get done with your summit and, like, it feels like immediately you have to start looking for the next round of speakers. And that's a little bit of an exaggeration, you have a couple of months rest, but for me it was a lot. So I really like doing it annually. I have people in my program who are doing it quarterly and that's just what they like to do. They choose a little bit different topic every quarter so their audience isn't getting burnt out on it, and they are just like summits is the way they grow their business rather than, you know, one of the ways. So it's totally personal preference and how you feel after that first one probably. Rob: If you've got the energy to do it, too, do it quickly. Krista: Exactly. Rob: And in terms of charging for access, I appreciate there's a range and it depends on the market, but what kind of price points do you see working? Krista: So for the all-access pass, is that what you're...? Rob: I guess so. Krista: I mean, again, like you said, it's all over the map. I've seen people charge like 20 bucks. And for me I'm like, "Why bother?" So I have actually raised my prices for every single summit and made more money every single time. So I have landed at... I do three different price points throughout my summit. So right after somebody registers, they have 15 minutes to get a super special offer. For me, that's landed at about $47, between $47 and $97 depending on exactly what the offer is. After that 15-minute expires, they can then buy the all-access pass for the current regular price and I just do a price increase once the summit starts. So, you know, I would say the max price I have done is $197 and people still buy at that price point. So, like, don't feel like you have to, like, sell yourself short because this is a free event, people are still willing to buy if you have something good to offer. Now, would people pay 200 bucks for just presentations? You know, that's gonna be a little iffier. But I like to include bonuses, like, I let my speakers contribute bonuses if they want to, I contribute my own bonuses, maybe some like coworking calls, network sessions that you can just host on Zoom are great ways to just boost the value of that offer and be able to charge more. So, you know, that's a wide range even I do between $47 and $197, but I haven't run into anything that has not worked yet. Rob: I really like that. It's a really nice idea, you know, offering a few other things to, you know, make it a more valuable package, you know, along with the content, I really like that. This would be really great. Krista, any other important tips or big mistakes that people make that we need to look out for? Krista: I guess just, you know, we've touched on a lot of things, so something that we haven't talked about yet is just don't put so much pressure on yourself. I see people saying...you know, they'll come to me like, "Oh my gosh, I'm hosting this summit next month, I just decided that last week and I need to get it done, can you help me? I'm so overwhelmed." Like, well, obviously you're overwhelmed. If you're trying to organize 20 people, this brand new thing you've never done before, the tech, the website, it's gonna be a lot. So take your time, let yourself enjoy the process. I am totally one of those people, I have an idea, I need to do it now. So that 90-day timeline, it can hurt but it is so worth it to be able to get those details. The details are really what impresses people, the speakers, and your attendees. And, like, the more onboard they are, the more they're gonna help you do your selling as well. Your speakers are more likely to promote, your attendees are gonna be talking about how awesome it is and spread the word about it. They're gonna be shouting out how great your all-access pass is and other people will want to buy it. Take your time, get the details right, enjoy the process as much as you can. Rob: Excellent, really like that. So just to wrap up a little bit there, what is one action people could take right now if they wanted to make a start with this? What's kind of the first thing that they might do? Krista: As much as you guys won't like me for this, I want you to start with your audience and topics. So what's the audience for your summit gonna be if you're targeting people like online business owners, entrepreneurs? What subset can you use? And then get some calls scheduled with people to figure out what direction your summit should really go in to make the biggest impact for everybody. Rob: I really like that rather than just going, "Right, I've got an idea, let's go" because that always ends in tears, doesn't it? Usually more often than not. Really great. Krista, this has been excellent. Where's the best place for people to get more from you if they would like to? Krista: So you guys can find me over at summitinabox.co. I actually have a free masterclass for any of you who are really like, "Okay, like, I want to do this thing. I want to host an awesome summit." It's my three-part framework to triple your monthly revenue with a virtual summit while building your list for free. We cover all kinds of good stuff in there like how to make a plan you can actually follow even if your business is already way too busy, which I feel like most of us can probably say, how to land expert speakers and host a really great event without a huge audience, and how to use my three-part profitable summit system to triple your monthly revenue in the size of your email list. And that training is at summitinabox.co/class. Rob: Awesome. And just to say, people, you know, I have I bought some of Krista's info lately and it's really good, really thorough. So, yeah, definitely check it out if you're interested in this topic. Krista: Well, thank you. Rob: You are welcome. No, it's been really great. No, Krista, thank you so much. This was really helpful for people and I do appreciate you talking to me. Krista: Thank you so much for having me on. Rob: Hey, it's Rob again. Want to build a successful online business from your expertise? Well, the game has changed. There are bigger opportunities but also bigger pitfalls than ever before and I would hate for you to waste years figuring these things out for yourself. Now, as a listener to this show, you're obviously a sensible person, right? So here's my invitation to you. Apply to jump on a call with me in the next few days and let's talk about you. You will get feedback on your ideas. You will get a product concept that is fit for right now. And you will get a personalized sales and income plan to take away. That is free but availability is limited. So please go along right now to chatwithrob.com, that is chatwithrob.com. Do that now. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Once again, that is chatwithrob.com. Talk to you soon.

Nikki: Hello everyone! And welcome to the So You Had a Baby Podcast, Episode 23! Today we will be chatting with Kate Westervelt. Kate is the Founder & CEO of MOMBOX and mama to one child with another on the way. MOMBOX is a women’s wellness company on a mission to take better care of new moms during the postpartum recovery period. Kate created this company after buying postpartum care essentials in the grocery store shortly after giving birth, and desired to provide the convenience of a postpartum care kit so other mamas wouldn’t have to make the trip to the store as well. MOMBOX ships postpartum care kits direct-to-consumer, filled with the healing aids new moms need across the U.S. and Canada. Krista: It was so wonderful having Kate on to share her postpartum story and share about her amazing business. She is so genuine and her willingness to share so honestly about all that she overcame will surely help every mama out there know she is not alone and that it's okay to take care of yourself, and she has made taking care of yourself a little easier! So stay tuned, we cannot wait for you to hear this! --- Thank you for listening to this episode! If you're liking what you hear, rate, review, and subscribe. We'd love to hear from you! WHAT'S NEW?: You can now join us on INSTAGRAM LIVE every other week. In other words, if you don't see a new episode up on the podcast - then we're over at IG waiting for ya ;) Don't worry about trying to remember mama - we'll remind you! --- CONNECT WITH US - INSTAGRAM www.instagram.com/soyouhadababypodcast/?hl=en - WEBSITE www.soyouhadababypod.com/podcast/ - SHOW NOTES/RESOURCES www.soyouhadababypod.com/show-notes/ --- Music: Fredji - Happy Life (Vlog No Copyright Music) Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Video Link: youtu.be/KzQiRABVARk --- With love & support, Nkiru & Krista --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/soyouhadababypodcast/support

Nikki: Hello everyone! And welcome to the So You Had a Baby Podcast, episode 19! Today, we had the pleasure of interviewing Stacey Grumet. Stacy is the Founder & CEO of Paper Pinecone, the most comprehensive preschool & childcare directory available. She and her husband have one 4-year old daughter, and was inspired to help other families in their search for childcare after going through a frustrating search process for preschools. Along with her business, Stacy is also a contributor to CNN’s Headline News on childcare topics. Krista: It was so wonderful talking with Stacey and her story was so refreshingly honest. As moms, we all experience hard situations while adjusting to this new phase, and Stacey's story will definitely hit home for so many women. We truly enjoyed having her on and we know you will enjoy her story as well! --- CONNECT WITH US - INSTAGRAM www.instagram.com/soyouhadababypodcast/?hl=en - WEBSITE www.soyouhadababypod.com/podcast/ - SHOW NOTES/RESOURCES www.soyouhadababypod.com/show-notes/ --- Thank you for listening to this episode! We look forward to having you join us next Monday! If you like this podcast, rate, review, and subscribe, we'd love to hear from you! --- Music: Fredji - Happy Life (Vlog No Copyright Music) Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Video Link: youtu.be/KzQiRABVARk --- With love & support, Nkiru & Krista --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/soyouhadababypodcast/support

Nkiru: Hi everyone! Welcome to the So You Had a Baby Podcast, Ep. 14. Today, we are very excited to share with you our interview with Amanda Gratchner. Amanda is a privacy and data security attorney at IdeaLegal, a boutique law firm focused on counseling client’s about business, privacy and intellectual property, located in Portland, Oregon. She has been practicing law for 18 years, and earned her law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from UCLA. She is a Certified Information Privacy Professional, holding certifications for both Europe and the United States. In addition to her professional life, Amanda is married, mom to one bio-baby, step-mom to three bonus-daughters and human-mom to her black lab. Krista: It was so wonderful having Amanda on to share her story. She is smart, funny and her perspective and experience in life and motherhood is refreshing. We truly enjoyed interviewing her and we know you will love her as much as we did, so stay tuned! --- CONNECT WITH US - INSTAGRAM www.instagram.com/soyouhadababypodcast/?hl=en - WEBSITE www.soyouhadababypod.com/podcast/ - SHOW NOTES/RESOURCES www.soyouhadababypod.com/show-notes/ --- Thank you for listening to this episode! We look forward to having you join us next Monday! Also, don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast. We'd love to hear from you! --- Music: Fredji - Happy Life (Vlog No Copyright Music) Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Video Link: youtu.be/KzQiRABVARk --- With love & support, Nkiru & Krista --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/soyouhadababypodcast/support

Corinne Corrigan is a fourth grade teacher who has a unique experience where she started in the classroom and moved to the computer lab, started her family, came back and established our maker space studio and is now back in the classroom–in a new grade. Whew! She has a wealth of teaching resources and tips for eveyone. I learned everything about teaching from Corinne (and Zoe Ley) when I was her teaching assistant way back. She continues to be a mentor and friend who has always given great advice and tips professionally and personally ;). Come listen as we chat about her experience and get valuable tips to use in your own teaching and find out what she means by telling teachers to “just don’t do it!” Books Mentioned (Affiliate Links – at no extra cost to you!) Great Horn Spoon One Crazy Summer Music by: JukeDeck Here is the transcript for you: [Welcome to the Teaching Bites Podcast. Here are your hosts, Fred and Sharon Jaravata.] Fred Jaravata: This is the Teaching Bites Show where we connect you with people and ideas to take your teaching to the next level. I’m your host. I’m Fred Jaravata and today we have a special guest. This person here is a very good friend of mine and a special person where she was actually my boss. Well, Corinne was my master teacher in first grade for about two years and then after that, I followed her into the computer lab and we worked together there for the next few years. She took some time off, came back and worked in the Makerspace. She helped us set that up and she went back to the classroom and teaches fourth grade. Hi Corinne. Corinne Corrigan: Hello. Fred Jaravata: How are you doing? Corinne Corrigan: Good. How are you? I didn’t know I was so special. Fred Jaravata: Very special. OK, one of the few people in this universe that actually – is actually really cool. Corinne Corrigan: Oh, wow. Thank you. Fred Jaravata: OK. Corinne Corrigan: I’m honored. Fred Jaravata: OK. So Corinne, fill in any of those blanks – any blanks that I – the intro I shared with our listeners and let us know your teaching story. Corinne Corrigan: OK. So my background, I taught for second, third and now fourth grades. I also had a stint as a pre-kindergarten teacher for a semester and I was a technology specialist for several years. I got into that when I wanted to do something different and I wanted to have a job that would also allow me to possibly work part-time when I was having children and it worked out. But then I missed the classroom. I’m happy to be back teaching fourth grade humanities. Fred Jaravata: Fourth grade humanities, OK. So when did you start teaching? Corinne Corrigan: I started teaching in 1994. It was when I started my credential program. I actually did a credential program overseas in England. I was – I had been living in England and wanted to stay there and had a boyfriend there that I wanted to stay and hang out with. So I did my teaching credential and teaching education in England for – before I moved back to the States and then now I have a California credential. Fred Jaravata: Now, why did you choose San Francisco? Corinne Corrigan: I went to college. I went to the University of San Francisco and I wanted to come back. So I did a year in Atlanta where my parents lived. I moved back from England and had about $50 in my pocket and decided I needed to live at home for a while and I taught third grade for a semester and pre-kindergarten first semester and then I moved back to San Francisco. Fred Jaravata: OK. Corinne Corrigan: I lived here longer than anywhere else. Fred Jaravata: Than anywhere else. And you like it so far? Corinne Corrigan: Uh-huh. Fred Jaravata: Yeah. I did two and here. How did you get into teaching? Corinne Corrigan: Well, let’s see. I started college in 1989 and didn’t really know what I wanted to study. I knew I loved working with children. I bounced from one major to another. I finally ended up with a degree in psychology and religion and part of my practicum at the end of my degree was working in a school with the first grade classroom and being in that classroom, I loved it and decided that that’s where I wanted to be. Fred Jaravata: OK, hold on. I have some sound issues I need to fix real quick. OK. Corinne Corrigan: So I was working in a first grade classroom in San Francisco and decided that that’s what I wanted to do. By then, I was already a senior in college. So I decided the best route would be to graduate with my degree as it was and then go back to school and study education and get my credential. Fred Jaravata: And again, you got your credential in San Francisco, in the University of San Francisco? Corinne Corrigan: No, I did it in England. Fred Jaravata: Oh, in England. That’s right. OK. Corinne Corrigan: Yeah. And then I came back. I eventually got my master’s degree at USF as well. Fred Jaravata: Oh, OK. All right. Now share with us the “aha” moment, that time when you realized teaching is for you. Corinne Corrigan: Well, it was during my senior year in college and I was volunteering as part of my practicum for my psychology degree working at a school, working with individual students who – I was used in the classroom kind of – in the beginning, just to be there to observe and help and eventually I was given small groups and worked with children who really needed that extra support. The teacher was great. She let me try out lessons with the whole class and with groups and just being in that classroom, I don’t think there was really one moment. I think it was that whole experience that really made me realized that that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to work in schools. I wanted to work with kids. Fred Jaravata: How old were you? Corinne Corrigan: I was a senior in college. So I was 22. Fred Jaravata: So what did you want to do before that? Corinne Corrigan: I had no idea. Fred Jaravata: You had no idea. Corinne Corrigan: Nope. I knew I love children. I wanted to work somehow. I thought maybe by going into the field of psychology. That was my degree. But in the end, I really – I wanted to be teaching children and working with them in the classrooms. Fred Jaravata: OK. All right. Corinne Corrigan: I was directionless before that. Fred Jaravata: You were directionless and then you found teaching. That’s good, yeah. A lot of people – a lot of teachers I have noticed that when I interview them, they kind of fell into the teaching world too and they realized that they love teaching. Corinne Corrigan: Well, I didn’t love it at first. I mean I wanted to be a teacher and then I became a teacher. It’s hard. The first few years were really a struggle. Just a lot … Fred Jaravata: What were the toughest parts? Corinne Corrigan: I think the amount of work, not having enough time to get everything done, knowing – you know, really what I wanted it to be, what I wanted my classroom to be and not being able to get there just because of the sheer size of my class or the lack of time. Dealing with parents was difficult because I was young and they were all older than I was. It’s hard the first few years really. I think that – I thought about trying to find a different career at one point. Now I love it. Now I just really enjoy it. Fred Jaravata: So what helped you get through over that hump of actually sticking with it and facing all those challenges? Corinne Corrigan: Not knowing what else to do partly. No other choice. Fred Jaravata: I mean you were young. Corinne Corrigan: I was young, no choice really. Like, OK, got to stick with this. I have a job and you need to pay the bills. Quite honestly, after doing it for two or three years, it definitely – it gets easier being able – especially when I was teaching one – the first couple of years, I moved around classes. So it was always like starting over. Fred Jaravata: Right. Corinne Corrigan: But once I was able to stick with one grade level for a few years and build some confidence and that experience I think helped me get through that. Then I took some time off after my children were born and honestly having my own kids also I think and getting older makes things a little bit easier. Fred Jaravata: You’re much older now. Corinne Corrigan: Much older. I know, Fred. You’re six months younger than I am I think. Fred Jaravata: I’m only 27. So … Corinne Corrigan: Ha-ha! Fred Jaravata: You’re 28. Corinne Corrigan: Twenty-seven plus what? Fred Jaravata: Stop it. Stop it. A couple more decades of that. Corinne Corrigan: Yeah. Fred Jaravata: OK. So you mentioned that you – you know, you have your children. OK. So how does that affect you now in your own philosophy of teaching? You’re a parent. You have two kids. How does that affect you with how you teach but also in talking or engaging with your children’s teachers? Corinne Corrigan: Right. Well, I look back to when I was a younger teacher and didn’t have my own children and I used to get really frustrated with the parents. Like I send things home and no one would reply. Things would sit in the children’s backpacks for weeks. And like, what are these people doing? How can they not look in their kids’ backpacks? Just little things like that. Now I am that parent. So I definitely commiserate with the parents a bit maybe. I understand them more. I have more empathy. So – and with family life and what these kids – what happens when they leave school and how busy they are and what life is like after school hours. I have a better understanding of these families and I think that has helped me quite a bit. Is that what you asked me? Fred Jaravata: Yeah. Corinne Corrigan: OK. Fred Jaravata: You definitely understand now why parents aren’t getting back to you sooner, right? Corinne Corrigan: Yeah. And just what – as far as even things like homework and what is appropriate for kids to work on as – with homework and how busy kids are outside of school. All of that, I have a better understanding of and how busy parents are and how hard it is to be a parent and juggle everything. Fred Jaravata: And with that, so when you interact with your children’s teachers, you … Corinne Corrigan: I’m usually apologizing because I’m the one that forgot to send in the form because I know what it’s like being on the other side not getting that form. Fred Jaravata: Right. You understand that and hopefully they understand that too. Corinne Corrigan: I showed up to a parent-teacher conference a week early once. Yeah. That’s me. Fred Jaravata: That’s you. Corinne Corrigan: That’s me. Fred Jaravata: Wow, OK. Corinne Corrigan: And she was so nice. She even did the conference right there. Fred Jaravata: Oh, she did? Corinne Corrigan: She did. Fred Jaravata: That’s nice. Corinne Corrigan: She didn’t have to, but she did. I felt so bad. Fred Jaravata: Wow. You caught her off-guard – well, she was probably ready. Corinne Corrigan: Well, she’s a great teacher. She knew I wasn’t, you know, going to hold anything against her for not being totally prepared since I was a week early. Fred Jaravata: OK. Better than a week late. That would be irritating. Corinne Corrigan: I have not shown up too. That has happened. Fred Jaravata: OK. Quote or a mantra. What is your – if you have one. Do you have a quote or mantra or a saying or whatever it can be that helps you with your teaching? What would it be? What is it? I need a drink. That’s a quote. Corinne Corrigan: That’s … Fred Jaravata: I can’t wait until it’s over. I can’t wait until June. Corinne Corrigan: June, July and August are the best months of the year. Now, there are a couple of things. One I would say is – when I was a senior in college working at that school in San Francisco, when I decided to become a teacher, the teacher there, she said something that has kind of stuck with me. She said – she was like, “You know, they learn in spite of us.” So I tried to remember that, that I can’t do everything, that I can’t get everything done. I can’t have a perfect running classroom the way that it’s all shiny and happy and perfect and trying to create that kind of classroom is impossible and just creates too much stress. So I just do my best and I say to myself, “Well, they learn in spite of me.” Fred Jaravata: They learn in spite of you. Corinne Corrigan: In spite of me. And also the other thing I try to remind myself is to have fun. I spend more time here at school than I do … Fred Jaravata: Anywhere. Corinne Corrigan: Anywhere else and it better be fun or it’s – it can be miserable if you let it. Fred Jaravata: You’re going to go crazy. Corinne Corrigan: You will. You will go crazy and you can be totally stressed out and miserable or you can decide, “I’m going to have fun. I’m going to enjoy myself and not worry if I don’t get everything done.” Fred Jaravata: That’s a good one. That’s good one. They are learning in spite of you, right? In spite of all of us. Corinne Corrigan: I hope so. Fred Jaravata: OK. What I ask a lot of our guests also and a lot of the listeners like to hear the answers to this or the tips and ideas, can you name or can you share a moment in time of a challenging moment that you had with a student or with a parent and how you overcame that? Corinne Corrigan: Are parents going to listen to this? Fred Jaravata: Parents are probably not. But they may. Corinne Corrigan: I won’t name names. I won’t name names and it was a long time ago. Fred Jaravata: OK. Corinne Corrigan: But if this person does hear it, she might know who I’m talking about. So this was several years ago and I had a child in my class who like to go home and tell stories that weren’t always true because they would experience something that a six-year-old – or he would experience that a six-year-old would experience and whatever that experience was would then go through his six-year-old filter in his brain. Fred Jaravata: This is first grade? Corinne Corrigan: Yes. Fred Jaravata: Was I in this class? Corinne Corrigan: No. Fred Jaravata: OK. Corinne Corrigan: That narrows it down, doesn’t it? Fred Jaravata: Yeah it does narrow it down. Corinne Corrigan: And so things would go through this six-year-old brain. It filtered through and come out as not really what happened, right? I don’t think he was outwardly like trying to fib. But his version of events wasn’t quite accurate. So he went home and I honestly can’t even remember what he told his mother I said. It was something that was criticizing her, that I had criticized her to him, which I wouldn’t do. Fred Jaravata: Right. Corinne Corrigan: Right? Who would do that? So this was a time before email really. I mean there was email but it wasn’t used as much as it is now. Fred Jaravata: As communication with parents. Corinne Corrigan: Right. So I would get voicemail messages. So I had a voicemail from this parent within half an hour after dismissal, which was a usual thing with her, but this especially. So I talked to her and I tried to reassure her that I would never criticize her in front of her child and she basically accused me of lying. Yeah. So it was hard. This was about a week before parent conferences. Fred Jaravata: Ouch. How did she approach you? Corinne Corrigan: She phoned and left a message for me to call her. Fred Jaravata: Oh, OK. Corinne Corrigan: So I called her back. Fred Jaravata: OK. Corinne Corrigan: And was accused of lying when I denied that I said what he had said and I don’t remember what it was exactly. So that parent conference a week later was not so much fun and I just decided to – and I’ve done this a couple of times where I just – I’m very direct with the parents and just take it head on and I just said, “You know, I’m really having a hard time getting past our phone conversation where you basically accused me of lying.” So then it didn’t work out too well. The conversation went downhill from there. I wasn’t super delicate with her. Fred Jaravata: But she insulted you. Corinne Corrigan: She did and I wanted to clear the air and I wanted her to understand that I wouldn’t have done that. I wouldn’t have criticized her in front of her son. Fred Jaravata: Right. Corinne Corrigan: It worked out in the end. She kind of blew up and left and the next day wrote me an apology letter. So it – and from that point forward, we got along very well. So it’s – sometimes being direct with the parents helps and works really well and other times, you have to finesse it a little bit depending on the personality of that parent. Fred Jaravata: Interesting. OK. Corinne Corrigan: Yeah, that sticks out as probably the biggest event with a parent that I’ve had. Fred Jaravata: That’s probably common also with teachers and parents, the whole dynamics. That probably is pretty common. But I’m glad it worked out. Good. Corinne Corrigan: I ran into her probably a year ago. We had a nice conversation and yeah, I think she has obviously moved past that her son is now … Fred Jaravata: Do I know this parent? Corinne Corrigan: I’m not naming names. Fred Jaravata: OK, no names. Corinne Corrigan: You may have heard of her. I don’t know. Fred Jaravata: OK. Corinne Corrigan: No, she’s a lovely lady and she was … Fred Jaravata: You worked it out. Corinne Corrigan: She was looking out for her child and herself. Fred Jaravata: Exactly. Corinne Corrigan: I understand that. Fred Jaravata: You would do the same thing. Corinne Corrigan: Uh-huh. Fred Jaravata: OK. OK. So I know earlier, before we stepped into the sound room here, you didn’t have a book or a song or even a movie that kind of inspires you. You even questioned. Like, what is this question about? But is there anything that inspires you, something in pop culture? Let me put it that way. Something in pop culture. Corinne Corrigan: Pop culture? Like Kardashians or something? No. Fred Jaravata: What was the other one that you kept on talking about before, you and Krista? It was the Honey Boo Boo thing? Corinne Corrigan: Oh, Honey Boo Boo. Yeah, no. Fred Jaravata: That’s a big one. Corinne Corrigan: Not so much. Fred Jaravata: It doesn’t inspire you? Corinne Corrigan: It inspires me to do other things. It’s a hard one. Honestly like the books I read, I find myself reading a lot of children’s literature since – this is only my second year teaching fourth grade. So I feel like I’m constantly trying to read things that they’re reading. Fred Jaravata: Can you name some books at least in your fourth grade? Corinne Corrigan: Books in my fourth grade. So … [0:17:22] [Crosstalk] Corinne Corrigan: Some of them read that, yeah. I read those a long time ago. But I was reading the summers. I really enjoyed reading. It was called One Crazy Summer. It’s about in the 60s in Oakland and these children that move out to the Bay Area to be with their mother for the summer who is involved with the Black Panthers. So it’s an interesting read. I read a lot of books that revolve around the gold rush, California gold rush. So there’s the By The Great Horn Spoon that my students read. I’m always looking for new things about California history or that tie into California history so that I can integrate the subjects. I find that’s the best way to get through the most amount of curriculum is to try to integrate the reading and the writing and the social studies. Fred Jaravata: OK. So you have a very unique experience. You started in the classroom. Then you went to the computer lab and then you took some time off to be with your family. Then you came back into the computer lab, which we transformed into the Spark Studio. Now you’re back in the classroom. Corinne Corrigan: Right. Fred Jaravata: This is a question. How – from what you know now, from all the experience that you did that, is there a tip or trick or – how do you integrate technology in the classroom now being … Corinne Corrigan: Not as much as I would like. It’s interesting. Fred Jaravata: Right, because you were one of [0:19:01] [Indiscernible] and you went through that. One of our jobs is to help teachers start using technology and innovate, right? Corinne Corrigan: Uh-huh. Fred Jaravata: From your point of view now, as a classroom teacher, what’s your experience with that? Corinne Corrigan: Well, you think I would go in and be using technology left and right just from my background. But being new to a grade level and really trying to learn all that curriculum and learn where the students are at this age and piece it all together has been a huge overwhelming task and I do use technology. We have – the children all have one-to-one iPads that they use. I would like to use it more. I find myself sometimes forgetting to use the technology in that. I will be like, oh, I could have done that. Why didn’t we use the iPads for that? It’s not coming to me because I’m too busy trying to get everything else together at this point. So one of my goals actually is to – this year and especially next school year, my third year in fourth grade, is to really use it more and use it how I really want to use it. But it kind of goes back to what I said earlier about having this perfect classroom that has everything like the way it should be. Like, in my mind, I know what it should be. I just can’t get there right now. Fred Jaravata: Right. The reality gets in the way. Corinne Corrigan: Reality gets in the way, definitely. Fred Jaravata: OK. Corinne Corrigan: So I do use it. I do use technology. The students – I try to let them have as much choice as they – as I can. Technology is always one of those choices. So some children have ideas of ways to use it and I usually let them go with it. Fred Jaravata: Can you share at least one way that kids are using it? Corinne Corrigan: Well, we are … Fred Jaravata: The iPads. Corinne Corrigan: The iPads. Yeah. So sometimes what I will have them do at the end of reading a novel is have them do some kind of report using the iPads and I leave it kind of open. So they can make a movie about it. They can do either an iMovie or an iMovie trailer. They can use the audio. Oh gosh, what is that app called? Is it Audio where they do like a little slideshow and their voice in – I can’t remember what it’s called. I think it’s called Audio, isn’t it? Anyway, they can do that. There are lots of choices. They can make a little book about it using Book Creator. Fred Jaravata: So you’re giving this as an option for them to do it. Corinne Corrigan: Yes, or they can make a poster or they can not use the iPad. Fred Jaravata: So that’s a key thing, what you did. You’re giving them the choice to do that and I think that’s one of the things that I think some teachers have – are struggling with technology, using the iPads or Chromebooks or whatever, is that they would have to know everything of using the technology. Of course you’re unique where you have that background. You know how to use iPads and so on. But what’s one tip you can share with the teachers struggling to use technology? Corinne Corrigan: Right. I think what’s important is to decide, “Well, why do you want them to do this project? What is it you want them to show?” You want them to show their learning and what they know. So that can be done in a variety of ways. You have to just be open to letting them show their learning in different ways. So I don’t like to get 22 – or in this case I have 42 students. I don’t like to get 42 projects that are all the same. That’s boring. Fred Jaravata: Right. Corinne Corrigan: So I like leaving it up to them. They can still show their learning in multiple different ways and it could all be different. But they’re still showing me their learning. I think you just have to kind of let go and be able to do that. I don’t know if that’s a really good piece of advice or a tip but that’s – you have to get to that point where you – and you can still give them parameters. If making a movie is one of the options, well then, give them parameters within that, that your movie has to have X, Y and Z in it. That way, you still have some control over it. Fred Jaravata: What’s your favorite tech tool? Corinne Corrigan: My favorite tech tool. Fred Jaravata: Tech tool, resources, websites that you actually like using. Corinne Corrigan: You’re going to laugh. Fred Jaravata: I’m already laughing. What is it? Corinne Corrigan: Yeah, I like my phone. My new watch. Fred Jaravata: An Apple watch. Corinne Corrigan: An Apple watch. No, I really actually like Pinterest. Very simple. There’s so much on there. I can always – if I’m stuck for an idea, and I do a search, nine times out of ten, it’s on Pinterest. Fred Jaravata: Right. It’s true. Corinne Corrigan: And I know it’s – I knew you were going to laugh at me. But it’s true. I can always get different ideas or I get an idea and I tweak it and make it my own and take it off from there. Fred Jaravata: Sharon, she loves that. Last year she … Corinne Corrigan: There’s everything on there. Fred Jaravata: There’s everything on there, right? I mean you just type in like kitchen stuff or whatever. Corinne Corrigan: I don’t have time to make my own Pinterest page. Who has time for that? But other teachers … Fred Jaravata: You’re pinning stuff or you’re subscribing to boards or whatever. I don’t know how it works. Corinne Corrigan: Yeah. Fred Jaravata: But yeah, Sharon loves it. I don’t. I don’t like Pinterest and maybe just the layout, how it works out, and it’s not really geared for my style of consuming things. Yeah, I just know there’s a lot of – I’m going to say it. Women love Pinterest and men, I don’t – very rare do I find … Corinne Corrigan: The only thing I look on there, for teaching things and gardening. That’s it. I get ideas and all I do is look at the pictures and if it’s something interesting, then I click on it and try to find it. The other site that actually is often on there is Teachers Pay Teacher. Fred Jaravata: That’s a big one. Corinne Corrigan: I like that site too because that way I don’t have to recreate something that’s already out there. Fred Jaravata: And people making money with that too. Corinne Corrigan: I know and I thought about putting things on there. But again, I don’t have time. Fred Jaravata: You don’t have time. Corinne Corrigan: I don’t have time to make my own stuff to sell. Fred Jaravata: Exactly. But if you make something and then it’s a hit, you will have more time to do the things you want. Corinne Corrigan: Yeah. Maybe at some point I will give it a try. Fred Jaravata: OK. So what’s something happening now that you’re excited to learn about more or about? Corinne Corrigan: Something I want to learn about. One of my regrets is not learning another language and I took a lot of Spanish in high school and college. I really don’t remember much because it was all just written and reading. Not a lot of conversational Spanish and I didn’t really use it. So I really want to learn. I want to go back and study Spanish and really learn it. I would love to find a way because my students take a semester of Spanish. It would be really great to find a way to do more of an immersion style, like parts of the day in Spanish, even if it’s just like the morning meeting or trying to incorporate that into the classroom to help them with learning Spanish as well. So I have this idea kind of rolling around in my head and I need to find a way to go and do it and do like an immersion myself and learn Spanish. So that’s kind of one of my future goals is to get on that and learn a language. Fred Jaravata: That’s cool. That’s a very useful thing. Corinne Corrigan: It also ties in because I teach about Spanish colonialism in the 1500s and all of that kind of ties together. So it would be kind of cool to bring it into the history that I teach as well. Fred Jaravata: OK. What project have you done in the classroom that you’re most proud of? Corinne Corrigan: Oh, gosh. I don’t know. Fred Jaravata: I’m guessing it’s not the Spanish. Corinne Corrigan: I didn’t look at that question. I didn’t see that one. I didn’t think about that. Project that I’m really proud of in the classroom. Oh, I know. So I did this thing last year. I called it the California Showcase and this year I changed the name to California Bonanza. I think it sounds better. So basically it’s kind of a culmination of all of the history that my students learn. They take that. I divide them up into groups and they research a topic or a period of history, so that they’ve already learned about it but they dig in deeper. As a group, they write a play. So we do a little bit of playwriting with it and they perform the plays for the parents at the end of April. So we start with the early Californians, the Native Americans, so there’s a skip with that. Then we move into the explorers and Spanish California, Mexican California, the gold rush and statehood. So they take and create plays about each of those periods of history or periods within California history and then perform them. They write the plays themselves. They make the props. They create all of it. It’s a huge project. They have – they bring in things for costumes. We will even do some sewing if we need to. It’s really child-centered, child-made, the whole thing with the teachers kind of – we’re the guides to make sure that they stay on track. Fred Jaravata: So when will you start this project? You said they present it in April? Corinne Corrigan: Yeah. So this is only my second year doing it and we’re starting it now. I wanted to start it earlier but it just didn’t happen. This year, I’m incorporating it into our writing, our informational writing unit. So they are – I’ve divided them into groups. They’re getting their topics. They then individually have to choose a topic within that period of history to work on during the informational writing unit that we’re doing. So that way, they’re getting all their research done and they really feel that they understand that period of California history, so that when – in about a month, they sit down to write the play as a group. They will have a lot more research and information in their heads and in their work that they can share to write a play. Then we practice and practice and rewrite and rewrite and revise, revise, revise. It’s a lot of work. But the kids love it and they perform it and the favorite topic last year was the Donner party of course. Fred Jaravata: The Donner party. Corinne Corrigan: Oh, yeah. I tried to just keep it about pioneers and people coming out to settle in California. Fred Jaravata: So they’re reenacting the whole … Corinne Corrigan: They decided to … Fred Jaravata: The beef jerky. Corinne Corrigan: There was no beef jerky, Fred. We kept it tasteful. Fred Jaravata: Using it as a prop? No? Corinne Corrigan: We kept it tasteful. They – so they wrote – the one group that did about the pioneers, wrote their skit about the pioneers definitely talked about the Donner party in there. So it was pretty funny. We kept it – it was appropriate. Fred Jaravata: OK. Corinne Corrigan: That’s where we step in and make sure the teachers step in at that point. Fred Jaravata: OK. So how do you inspire your students? Corinne Corrigan: How do I inspire them? I don’t know. I try to use humor as much as possible. They’re here just like we are, more than they are at home, and I think it’s important that they feel safe and happy at school because they can’t learn if they don’t feel safe and happy. So I try to tell stories. I think teaching history is – can be dry. So I try to create stories out of it as much as possible. Fred Jaravata: One thing that I learned also is to get to know your students, right? And I know you’re doing that. How about the other way around? Do you share what’s going on with you with your students? Corinne Corrigan: I do. I think it’s important that they feel a connection with the teacher and in order to feel a connection, you have to really know a person and I definitely – I share little tidbits. They know about my family. I have children their age and I talk about them and they love that. They love hearing any little tidbit I can throw out there that’s about me. Fred Jaravata: Right. And hang on to that. Corinne Corrigan: So yesterday, I actually blow-dried my hair and used a flat iron and it was the first thing they noticed this morning. Mrs. Corrigan! Your hair looks gorgeous. Any little difference, they notice. Fred Jaravata: Well, that’s a good one. I mean otherwise … Corinne Corrigan: It is good. Fred Jaravata: The other way around, sometimes they will just criticize you. Corinne Corrigan: Well, they will. Yeah. Fred Jaravata: Your hair is ugly today. Corinne Corrigan: Well, they’re not quite like that. The girls are more subtle. They look and they will say things like, “Wow, you must really like those shoes.” Like why? Because I wear them a lot? Yeah, you do. You wear them a lot. Fred Jaravata: So wait a minute. You kids are in dress uniforms. You guys are always wearing the same thing. Corinne Corrigan: I know, I know. Fred Jaravata: OK. So we have a couple more minutes left in this interview. Corinne Corrigan: OK. I’m scared. What else are you going to ask me? Fred Jaravata: Time-saving tip. Corinne Corrigan: Time-saving tip. Fred Jaravata: To … Corinne Corrigan: Don’t do it. That’s the time-saving tip. Just don’t do it. No. I don’t know. Fred Jaravata: That’s a good one. Why do you say that? Corinne Corrigan: Well, sometimes you have to decide what’s important and if you – I could be here until six o’clock every day and still not get everything done. So I have to decide what’s important right now and get that finished. Some things don’t really have to be done. I have to decide. Do I really need to do this? Does this have to be done? Maybe in a perfect world, I want it to be finished. But sometimes I’m like, no, I don’t have time. It’s not needed and I need to focus on other stuff. Fred Jaravata: You are prioritizing things. Corinne Corrigan: Yes. Fred Jaravata: Right. What needs to be done. Corinne Corrigan: Yeah. I think early on I tried to do everything and wanted everything to be perfect and I would be at school so late every day and neglecting my family and I try not to do that anymore. I try to get out of here and pick up my kids and enjoy time with my family. Fred Jaravata: Good. That’s very good advice. Speaking of tip, advice, would that be the best advice you would have for teachers or is there another tip or advice you want to share with teachers? Corinne Corrigan: I mean I think going back to what I was saying before about you – there’s not enough time in the day and you ask teachers often. Like, what is it you really want? And they often say more time, more time. Well, it’s not going to make any difference. You’re still not going to have that perfect bright and shiny little classroom that has everything you want done and it’s impossible. So it’s hard as a teacher because you know what it should look like and you just can’t – reality sets in. Fred Jaravata: Because you’re looking at their Pinterest. That’s why. Corinne Corrigan: Yes, because I’m looking at Pinterest. Fred Jaravata: Why? Looking at the perfection. Corinne Corrigan: May be true. Fred Jaravata: You don’t see the work behind all that stuff. Corinne Corrigan: Yeah. Yeah. I think prioritizing, choosing what to do and what not to do, being OK with it not getting done. I think you have to get to the point where you’re OK with that. Like, oh well, I didn’t get it done. It doesn’t look like what I wanted it to look. Oh well, move on. Fred Jaravata: Oh well, move on. Corinne Corrigan: You know? And try to use humor and have fun. Fred Jaravata: Very cool, very cool. All right. Corinne Corrigan: Anything else. Fred Jaravata: I think that’s – well, I’m done. I’m done with all these questions. Corinne Corrigan: Well, thank you. I’ve enjoyed it. Fred Jaravata: Did you really enjoy this? Corinne Corrigan: I did. I did. I was a little nervous. I didn’t know what it was going to be like. But it was fun. Fred Jaravata: OK, Corinne. Thank you so much for joining our show. Corinne Corrigan: Thank you. Fred Jaravata: Thank you. Corinne Corrigan: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Audio File:  Download MP3Transcript: An Interview with Krista Marks General Manager, Disney Online Kerpoof Studios Date: August 2, 2010 NCWIT Entrepreneurial Heroes Lucy Sanders: Hi this is Lucy Sanders. I am the CEO of NCWIT or the National Center for Women and Information Technology. And this is one in a series of interviews that we're doing with great entrepreneurs, women who have started IT companies. And they all have great stories to tell, especially in the areas of entrepreneurship and the technology of the future. And with me is Larry Nelson from w3w3.com. Hi Larry. Larry Nelson: Hi, I am happy to be here. Lucy: What's going on with w3w3? Larry: Well we're doing all kinds of very neat things; we interview all kinds of neat people. But we really enjoy the NCWIT interviews because I'm having four daughters, and this idea of information technology in helping support women, it's just fantastic. Lucy: Well today is a real treat for us because today we're interviewing one of my absolute favorite people and entrepreneurs, Krista Marks. And she's a real blend of technical accomplishments, and social passion, and entrepreneurial spirit. You cannot spend more than five seconds with Krista without getting all kinds of really great information, and energy, and passion. And I had the privilege of interviewing her recently at Entrepreneurs Unplugged Session, and it was just a real treat. Everybody loved it. And I know our listeners are going to love the interview today. She's the co-founder of Kerpoof Studios, but before that in working in many technical areas with great technical credentials, patent-holder, et cetera. And when she started Kerpoof it was around a passion of children and innovation, and a great place to be on the Internet for learning. And apparently Disney thought that as well, and acquired Kerpoof in 2008. And Krista is now the general manager of Disney Online. And like I said at the Entrepreneurial Unplugged event she gets that little Mickey Mouse on her card, which I'm entirely jealous about. So welcome Krista. We're very excited to interview you. Krista Marks: Thank you. Thank you. It's good to be here. Lucy: Why don't you tell us a little bit of about what's going on at Disney first before we launch into the interview. Krista: Well one of the most exciting things that's going on, everything on the Create portal is done in bolder. And if you go to disney.com there's a game portal like a video portal, but there's now a Create portal. And that was the vision when Disney acquired us, that we would take an extended technology we've done around Kerpoof and really combine it with their IT, and build kind of an area on that dedicated to creativity. And we've done that. But we have a very big event that's going on now that I'm super excited and proud about which is a digital mosaic. Lucy: Oh wow. Krista: It's a large scale mosaic. There are images of Mickey. We provide the tools for kids to create drawings online. Those drawings are submitted and once moderated there incorporated into a Mosaic of Mickey that takes thousands and thousands pieces of art. In fact, we are rolling out different images of Mickey and each one is populated as a Mosaic. The whole portal is very exciting but for me this is sort of the combination of what is exciting about the web. Is this idea, the technology the technology for those not interesting to me but technology combined with the kind of things you can do in terms of being kids into this story? Be part of the story to participate and that kind of interaction is just super exciting. And to do something on that scale so its not just, "hey kids come in and draw, hey kids come in and draw and be part of something larger. Is part of a large Mosaic dedicated to Mickey?" In addition, it has been hugely successful I think were over 300,000 pieces of art created today. Lucy: Wow that is awesome. I am going to check that out four sure. In addition, its just so fascinating to you knows Krista is a real pioneer in the area of innovation for kids on line and it is very inspiring. Therefore, I am glad a company that is big as Disney is getting into that, that whole area. Krista: Serious, honestly is not it I thought it was very exciting. The reality is to have a company with number one family media company in the world really embrace bringing the kids into this story. Not just saying here is our art and here is art beautiful this is what they do well. Right, they create content saying, "you know what kids we want you to create content too, we want you to be part of that." I think its extraordinary exciting and I am really proud to be part of it. Lucy: Absolutely, one of the things that we always like to ask people and you rather go back in time a little bit. And think through here you are at Disney today but you were not always at Disney. You were interested in technology for some reason so why don't you tell us how you first got interested in technology. And as you look at the technical landscape today what technology do you think are especially important? Krista: My road is not, some ways its super smooth because I went, I graduated high school and I went to college and I studied electrical engineering. I would say it was unsmooth and it is why NCWIT is so important and that when I went to college I did not know about technology or pursuing a career in technology. Which for me it ended up being electrical engineering but obviously the number of careers one can choose in technology. For me what happened in high school is that I really gravitated in mathematics and science, problem solving. This is the areas that I like, unfortunately when I got to orientation for college I sat next to a student and I said what your major is. In addition, they said they were an electrical engineer and I said I do not know what that is, what is that? And they said oh well, I do not what that is either. But I know that if you really like math and physics, that it's really the best major to have and I said oh my gosh. Those are my two favorite things. So I really fell into it. And so I think, why NCWIT is so critical in the kinds of things they're doing, that you are doing which is so important, is that I would like no young person to start college not knowing what computer science, engineering, electrical engineering, all of the areas that on can pursue in technology, bio engineering. You know, the list goes on and on. But to be really aware of those opportunities, it may not be for everyone. But at least to be aware of them and so mindfully know what you're choosing from, when you choose a career. So anyway, again, I think I got lucky which I don't think is a good thing. But the good news is I did end up there and love technology and in fact really wanted, from that point on, to be part of designing technology. And spent a number of years, my first eleven years, designing custom electronics for high energy physics experiments. Got to work around the world, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, that really solidified my love of technology. Again, I was just working on really state of the art technology and systems. Great experience, great first experience. Worked with some real giants in that field and had amazing mentors. So that's kind of how I landed in technology. In terms of technology that I think is very interesting right now. I first would say, look at the I-pad, for a number of reasons. But for me, particularly, and again I'm interested in kids and technology. And the reality is kids learn by touching things. And so the I-pad is just perfectly designed for this demographic. And I think increasingly kids will literally learn how to read and problems solve using these types of devices. You know, what's interesting is, is I'm a part of a number of groups that are always thinking, gosh, can digital media actually make a difference. We have a lot of kids that are falling behind that aren't doing well. And there's always, can it be the silver bullet. We know that kids need scaffolding and they need adults to be there to help them succeed. But can digital media, can technology actually help set them and do something about this. And I think, to me, the I-pad is the first device, first piece of technology. And actually I like to bring up I-pad because a lot of times I think young people don't even think about the I-pad, the I-phone, the computer, that those are pieces of technology that are designed by technologists, right. And that how cool to have a career that, that's the kind of stuff you create, right. And I always say engineers. Look, at the end of the day all we do, we just create stuff. We build stuff whether it be Google the website, whether it be a Ferrari car, whether it be a Boeing airplane, whether it be an I-pad, and I-touch right. Software and hardware, that's what we do, we're creators, we're builders. So that's a piece that's exciting to me. I'm a little excited, I got to go to E3 which is of course the big conference this year, has to spend a little time there. In addition, have to see Microsoft's new Kinect, which of course is new tall. To me you know I would of prior to see thing that I would said the Wii. I think the Wii is very interesting piece of technology. I think its bringing back the sense of intergenerational game play. And again technology for technology's sake is not interesting to me but technology as a means to do interesting things like intergenerational play, very exciting. That takes that to the next level where you have Kinect where your whole body becomes the controller. Right, so you jump up and down on the screen the avatar jumps up and down. This is big stuff this is exciting stuff. I will say in the world self-serving but I think what we just did with the group wall, the digital Mosaic. [inaudible 09:01] is part of the kind of technology that to me is exciting, really pushing what the web can deliver. That level of interactive that frankly up to recently I would say you really only got from desktop software. Lucy: You know I saw Kinect at the Microsoft Facility Summit; it was interesting very, very interesting technology. Larry: Wow, you know, Krista, I thought when I fist met you at First Robotics, when you and I were both judges and of course, Lucy and her husband who were very involved also. But you mentioned Lawrence Livermore National Labs; about 20 years ago, they were a client to mine. Krista: What a small world. Larry: So I wonder if we met there. Krista: Actually, I was at Lawrence Berkley National Labs, something different then Lawrence Livermore. Larry: Oh, OK. Lucy: There all related to Lawrence. Larry: Is that the case. Krista: Actually there not, interesting a little aside the Lawrence was connected with Lawrence Berkley. In fact, his family has fought a long time to have his name removed from Lawrence Livermore. Because he really did high-energy research. He did not do bomb testing or development so a little aside. Lucy: That is interesting. Larry: It is and in fact when I think back there were very few women at all at Lawrence Livermore, very few. Anyhow you know here you are you got this techie background, you like solving problems in math and physics and all. Why you are an entrepreneur and what is about entrepreneurship that makes you tick? Krista: You know I have not really thought about this it is a good question and the more I thought about it. I have been asked this before and one of the simplest reasons and I do not think probably unusual is my father was entrepreneur. I think there's always been a piece of me I really admire him and admire what he has accomplished. I think its something always in the back of my head that is a big dream. I also think, honestly I think it is in the water in the United States. I think we're born and bred on the idea that you can strike it on your own. You can really start your own company. It is an extraordinary thing about this country that makes me excited to be here. I think there's not that you cannot be an entrepreneur in other countries but its very favorable here. We have a very nurturing environment being an entrepreneur. But first of all, my father, I think some other things happened that were critical. I think the reason a lot of people aren't entrepreneurs is not that they don't want to be, but because it's too scary. You have a good job. You're getting good pay. Why would you leave that for something that, frankly, that most people fail. You go to making no money and very unsure. A different level of stress. Because now, really, the buck stops with you in a very real genuine way. And I think because of all that, most people don't make the leap. I had two pivotal events. And I think it's an interesting thing to share because it really validates how I think having mentors or people that believe in you can impact you. I met a very famous entrepreneur, Jerry Fiddler. He's actually the cofounder of Wind River. A company that he grew literally from his garage to a billion dollar company. And I was on a ski trip with mutual friends and he was there. And it was all week. And we were skiing together. And during the course of the week he got to know me. And by the end of the week he said, "I think you would be an amazing entrepreneur. And not only that, I think you would be an amazing CEO and entrepreneur." And I think that someone who you kind of look up to, validates you, and says that, it has a huge impact. And so, at that point, I knew I was going to do it. It was a matter of finding the right group to do it with. It's not true for everyone, but for me, it was really important to do it with cofounders. And I was at Xilinx for the time, and three other people who were at Xilinx, three other engineers, we all had had a lot of success at Xilinx. A very wonderful company Xilinx. And I got to lead some products that really made a difference to their bottom line and their company. And I felt like, wow, I think I can do this. I think I have some good instincts. One of the things I learned when I left Lawrence Berkeley Lab and went to industry, and went to Xilinx that I didn't know about myself was how competitive I was. And I was working on products. And this raging competitor came out of me. When we would lose design wins, I would be so angry. And I would say to the sales people, "What do you mean we've lost?" And they would say, "Well, Krista, you're products are only one of many pieces that factor into a win." And I would say, "What are you talking about? My products should be so good it should determine the win. I want to talk to your customers." And I would go to the customers. And I would say, "What could we have done? Could we have done anything?" And in fact, there were things. They said, if you did 120 of this bus, and you did dynamical lining. You know what? We would have given it to you. Well, we went back and we did those things. And in fact, [inaudible 13:40] at our customer and led to the success. But what I learned is that it's obvious. It's not like a lot of people don't know. But was listening to customers. How powerful that can be. Truly viewing what they want and the kind of success you can have from that. So I think that combined with obviously having seen a father that ended up having role model sort of confirm that they think I could be good at it. With sort of already having some product success within the company and feeling my instincts are good. I think this is something I could do. I think all of that came together to make me able to take that leap. That's a scary leap. I don't think anyone who takes that first leap to become an entrepreneur and start a company from scratch. I always see it as jumping off a cliff. In fact, the other three cofounders, I always said, "We're going jump off this cliff together, and here's what I know. If we hold hands, don't let go, ever. We'll succeed. If we hold hand and don't ever let go, we'll succeed." And I use that metaphor a lot actually. Even when we sold the business, I said that, "Look. You guys, we got to hold hands here. We're holding hands. We're stronger as a four than we are individually." I think that's true. Lucy: That's really awesome advice. And I want to point out Jerry Fiddler's encouragement as being something really important, especially to many women to start companies. That he saw a great skill and he encouraged it. And here we have Krista today, having done a lot of great technology, and a successful entrepreneur. I had cause to be in a room with him once. When he found out I was from Boulder, he came up and said, "Do you know Krista Marks? She's just fabulous. Do you know about Kerpoof?" Larry: Whoa! Wonderful. Lucy: So, he's definitely your fan. Krista: Well that's funny because I actually... at that ski trip, I said Jerry when I become an entrepreneur this means you have to be an advisor. That's what you're signing up for right? I had locked him in right then. Lucy: Oh, that's great. Krista: He was an advisor to Kerpoof. Lucy: So see, I think we know what makes Krista tick about entrepreneurship. It's great. So, along the way Krista you have obviously done some tough things in your career. Why don't you tell the listeners one thing that's especially tough that you've had to do? Krista: I'll answer that in two ways. The short answer is becoming an entrepreneur. By far. Just that single decision to leave the security of a good job. I was doing very well in the context of where I was, and take that risk. Career wise, that was the most radical thing I've ever had to do. I think there are two other things. I think if you become a manager, which I did when I went to Xilinx, I took on a manager role. So, I was managing a group of engineers in Silicon Valley and then eventually also in Boulder that were developing technology. And I think when you become a manger, one of the hardest things in any career, in my opinion, is the first time you have to let someone go. The first time you have to fire someone. That was so hard that I really questioned whether I wanted to be in a leadership role anymore. It really was that difficult. I think it's always a hard thing. I think the first one was the most traumatic for me. It really was very hard and yet really critical in that role. I mean I say if you can't take on that [inaudible 16:55] role, you shouldn't be in that role because the reality is as best as we try to vet people when we hire them, we don't always do a perfect job. So that was very difficult for me. I think the other thing that was tough for me, in terms of it took sort of a ton of brain power is we lead first, we're entrepreneurs. And we initially launched Kerpoof in January of 2007. And we actually didn't have a lot of traffic. And I think we and the founders really had a tough, very tough decision about, do we keep going or do we do something else. You have to understand that was such a radical thing to do. We, all our hardware engineers and software engineers, the software engineers developing for hardware. Really pretty much a high tech classic background and we're coming to not only developing for children, a consumer web space. I mean, we really could not have in many ways, left our domain more completely. And everyone we talked to just thought we were insane, everyone just though we had lost our marbles. You know, why were we doing it? Xilinx is the leader in a product called a field programmable gate array and why are you doing some of that gate array, are you crazy. And we were following our heart, which I think is critical but with that comes more risk, right? You don't know, you don't know. You don't have the context of this. There's risk with that, so. And then combine with when you launch the product. And of course we thought we launch it in and everyone and their mother would use it and that didn't happen. So, we decided to stick with it and at that point, really I think did some true market research. There are two types of market research. One is you find what you want to hear and that feels good. And one is you really, you've got to get the answer. You dig deep. You're looking hard for the answers. And when we did that we really learned some stuff. We made some fairly modest tweaks to Kerpoof. And at that point really started watching it grow, watching the traffic grow. And it's interesting, a lot of the time it's true for entrepreneurs. They often, too quickly throw everything away and completely do something different, when often a small course correction can have a big impact. So that was very, I don't know if that's what you're looking for but I think that's for me personally was a pretty tough decision. Larry: Well speaking of tough decisions and giving good advice, how about if you were sitting down right now and across the desk from you was a young person considering entrepreneurship. What advice would you give them? Krista: That's so funny because my nephew is [inaudible 19:20] is interested in becoming an entrepreneur, so I just did this. I just had a delightful meeting with him over coffee. And that's what he's asking me, right. What was my advice? So I'll tell you the truth because I just did this and that's what I just said. The first thing I said is, "Get a co-founder." One of the things and I talked to a fair number of people and they have a good idea and they're kind of on their own. And I think there's a lot of value, I actually think there's a lot of value and in fact there is research to back up that diminishing return on number of founders doesn't go down until after five. Sort of shocking. If there's a lot of assumptions around the five, I think the five have to be... you offer diversity to their offering different skill sets. But literally and figure the five founders. So one of the things I say because I think it was so critical to me in my success was having co-founders. It's at least one other person. Once a very practical thing, if you can't convince one other person to jump off that cliff with you, how good of an idea is it? [laughter] Lucy: That's a very good point? Larry: Yeah. Krista: Right? That's one [inaudible 20:22] of a idea. But it is such a scary thing. And I say it feels a lot scarier than it is. I think the interesting thing about being an entrepreneur, I was impressed. What was the big deal and the other side is that it's such a big deal. But at the time those decisions feel so big and just having at least one other person hold hands. So the first thing I said to him was he needs to find a co-founder and the good news for him is he has. The other is I actually think the number one indicators for success as an entrepreneur has nothing to do with talent and little to do with good idea. I truly believe that and this is kind of a radical thing to say, it has to do with being tenacious. You need to want it, you need to have the drive, you're going to be there and if it's not right, you're going to make it right. Like I said, I said to my co-founders, "As long as we hold hands. Look, we may be really slow, it may take us 10 years before we have success but we will get to success. That's a given, we're going to get to success. I don't know how long that will take but we're going to get there." So I naturally had the tenacity and the drive and I think you got to have that. If you don't have that it's too hard. You'll just give up because it's too hard. And it's too much of an emotional roller-coaster. Look, most of the time you're looking for people to say yes. Whether it be you're trying to sell something to someone or an investor and the majority of the time you get a no, right? No, no, no, no and then it maybe turns into a no. So it's tough, it's really tough. So if you didn't have that drive and tenacity because you're following your heart, you have a passion. Do you have like, "You're going to work on this day and night, night and day until it's right because you just have to. It's just in your blood, you got to do it." You got to have that. If you don't have that then I sort of think good luck because this is not an easy thing, I think, to succeed. So you have to have kind of had that drive and passion. I think it says the obvious but one of the things I go back to the co-founder. I think it's a very interesting relationship with the co-founder. I almost liken it to a marriage though it's not a marriage but it's literally subjected to that much stress. And so you really, ideally the people that you co-found with you know pretty well, you really trust them, you're really comfortable with them. Because I think if you're not, if the trust isn't there, if that relationship isn't there, I find it hard to believe it would hold up to the kind of stress that is typical for a new entrepreneur. There's exceptions to these. I'm very much shaped by my own experience, so certainly take it with a grain of salt. The two core things in terms of once you decide to be an entrepreneur that I think have shaped me and I believe in, is build value first. One of the things that served us really well is, I felt like if we built value, we would succeed. Instead of focusing on, can we make a million billion dollars? Can we be bought by Disney? Instead of focusing on anything that might be a success scenario, just focusing on building value. So, look, we build this digital drawing tool for online for kids, let's build it really well. Let's make it great! I don't know that that will come with success, but I know that if we keep building value, we'll get there. The correlate of that is to follow your heart. I also think being an entrepreneur is really hard, so even when people are saying, "You are nuts! What do you know about kids? What do you know about the consumer's space?" If that's where your heart is... It's so hard, right? It can't be a means to an end. You have to enjoy the process. And we did. We would develop things for kids, they'd bring kids to the site, they would play with them. We may have been, in the early days, really kind of struggling, but that brought so much joy. Right? Building value, seeing [inaudible 23:56] kid liking it, feeling like, hey, we're on to something! I think part of that was really this fight. To a person, everyone's advice that we were crazy... We really did follow our hearts. Lucy: Yes you did. We had the pleasure of working with Kerpoof a little bit, and it was a great deal of fun. So, Krista, this advice is wonderful advice, and from it you can derive certain personal characteristics about Krista. For example, passion, and competitiveness, and tenacity. But also listening, valuing what the end customer, in this case kids - what do they need? Truly listening to those requirements. What other personal characteristics do you have that you think have given you advantages as an entrepreneur? Krista: Besides tenacity, which I think is a big one - drive, tenacity - I think... To me, this so overwrites everything, but it's very easy. Think of it as audience. Because it's particularly true for technologists, I just think we love technology. We just do, and so it's very easy to get caught up in the technology and forget the customer. It just doesn't matter how cool whatever you're widget is if no one else cares about it. Really identifying who your audience is, who your customer is. I really think focusing, and then being able to listen to your customer. I think sort of that's in general a characteristic of a good entrepreneur. They genuinely want to build things that people are going to use. That maybe isn't as true for a business to business. But I would say even in the business to business kind of entrepreneur at the end of the day the corporate clients that you're going to have or the business clients you're going to have. What do they want? What are their pain-points? What are they struggling with? I just recently talked to a really neat entrepreneur, but I felt like they had 10 ideas. I mean they were all good, but it was hard for me to feel they could all do well at once. I really, my advice to them, personally was just take one, focus on it, do it extremely well, and then grow that, expand that. I think there are a lot of ideas. So one of the characteristics of entrepreneurs that is very valuable is being able to narrow and focus in a very clear way. And sort of to know that focus should become bigger and when it should become narrower. That's a really critical skill. Larry: With everything that you do Krista, and I know you're busy well about 48 hours a day, how do you bring balance into your personal and professional lives? Krista: It's such a [inaudible 26] question for me, because I feel like it doesn't apply as well to entrepreneurs. And the reason is, I think typically when people talk about work life balance, there's very much this notion that work is something that you do because you need to see a paycheck. And so you want to just to turn it off, and not worry about it, and go. And I think when you follow your heart and you're doing what you're passionate about you realize it's 24/7, but it's a different kind of 24/7. And it doesn't mean it's not tiring, it doesn't mean it's not going to cost to your family and friends, certainly. And this is [inaudible 27:02] somewhat true. First becoming an entrepreneur, and even now being part of Disney I don't see as much of my family and friends. But in part that's because I love what I do. I want to do it. I love what I do. But that thing said, we did feel like they were diminishing returns and not being somewhat careful of burnout. And when we became a company we all agreed that we'd take one day off a week. We didn't always honor that. But I think we have the notion of trying to do that, of really trying it one day a week, which was typically Sunday. That know you're coming to the office. That we'd spend time with our friends and family, we'd rejuvenate, go hiking in the mountains, whatever. And certainly that helped. But, again, it is a finer line I think when what you're doing, particularly in entrepreneur it does become all consuming. It's funny one made the analogy. And I thought it was such a good analogy that in many ways being an entrepreneur, starting a company is much like having a child. And if you ever meet a new parent they're obsessed with their child. They want to show you pictures of the child, they want to talk about their child. They're really not interested in anything else in the world, right? There could be earthquakes, and there could be things going on, and they're just oblivious, right? And, that's their first year bubble of new child. And, entrepreneurs are a lot like that. I said - I always joked, you know, that - that the only family they spend a lot to time with - In the first couple of years of my being an entrepreneur, of starting Kerpoof, were people who were into Kerpoof. If you were into Kerpoof, then we could have a good conversation. If you didn't want to have a Kerpoof, I didn't really have much more I wanted to talk about. So, there is sort of a - And, there is an all consumingness that may not happen to everyone. It certainly happens to some entrepreneurs. I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing. You know, I think it's part of doing something extraordinary. It's part of succeeding. I think to answer your question really in the most succinct way, I don' think I do bring a lot of balance to my life. But, I am trying to do a little better and not because I - to do it for it's sake, but because actually I do think that your relationships with your family and your friends are very important to the whole of your life. And, if you neglect it too long, obviously that's at a cost. So, not to say that I don't think those things need to be considered and nourished. And, I think I have neglected them, for sure. And, I am - I making up now for that. Lucy: Well, I learned how to speak Kerpoof. Larry: Yeah. You did. You did. Krista: You did. You did. And, we got to talk. Lucy: I learned how to speak Kerpoof. And, listeners should also know that Krista is very generous with her time in the community with First Robotics, and certainly with NCWIT, and other groups. So, we definitely appreciate that as well. So... So Krista, the last question - You've achieved a lot. You know, you - I'm sure - have things that you want to accomplish in the future. Why don't you tell us a bit about what's next for you. Krista: You know what? One thing that... I don't know. I feel ostensibly believe life is extremely long. I think people say life is short and they're just wrong. I think it's long. I think we have the ability at least in the United States for - Many people have the ability to do many things in the course of their life if they're interested. So, I'm 43 now. So, I believe as many things as I've done to date, I've will, at least if not more, just have found it wiser to do as many more. So, I think life is very long. I also don't tend to be a long-term planner. I never have. I think it's kind of hog wash - much more interested in today and - and short term. So, for me what I know for sure is I feel very passionately about making sure...I really would love to see Disney stay in Boulder. I would love that - how ever long that takes. And, that could take a decade. But, I would love to see Disney remain in Boulder as a presence in Boulder. I think it's an extraordinary company. And, I think they have a real need for the kind of talent... we have in Boulder-technical talents - and also in Dimmer, actually inside Colorado. People don't realize the creative talent. But it is the fifth state in the top five in terms of the number of creative people that are here - artists and creatives - and so that combination of creatives and technologists. I actually hate that word "creative" because I think engineers are creative. But anyways, that's still the term that's used. Creatives - so animators and artists and the kind of amazing engineering talent and technical talent that we have here. That combined is very special. So it's not just an act to have Disney here. I think Disney can actually flourish here. I think we can continue to add something important to what they're trying to achieve with digital media. So that's one goal. Also, and I think this is happening but I really believe that we are changing the face of the Internet in some meaningful way for kids. I think that historically the large companies that frankly own the kids audience. The reality is kids go to very few sites. Nick.com, Disney.com obviously are the two big ones. Then there are a number of other players. Club Penguin certainly is one. But there are only a small number of sites. So what you want is for those sites to offer engaging entertainment but also offer participation, interactivity, and the ability to design because one of the things that's unique to the computer that's not true for a mobile device at least today, and it's certainly not true for a TV, is you can't design. So the computer is this unique platform. I think that, not those mobile platforms won't also be this, but those platforms you actually can participate, right? So to me this large piece of having a place and do that kind of dedicated creativity is a step towards we just move in a direction that nobody would think of doing otherwise. If you create something for kids, you just wouldn't imagine not offering some level of genuine engagement, some level of genuine participation, if it is computer-Internet based. That would just be an obvious step. I don't think we're there yet, but I think we're moving there. One of our competitors - actually it was interesting - I just noticed launched a very modest, but albeit a little center dedicated to creativity on their site, a site you wouldn't anticipate that from. I just thought that was so exciting, right? To me, you know you're leading when people are following. If you're leading in a place that's interesting for kids, then that's very exciting to me. I guess to me that's what's next. Lucy: We vote for that, and we vote for Disney in Boulder. Larry: Yeah, you bet you! Lucy: Absolutely. Well, thank you, Krista. This was very interesting as always. We really appreciate it and want to remind listeners to look for this interview at W3W3.com and also NCWIT.org. Krista: Oh, and thank you, Larry and Lucy. It's really my pleasure to be here. Larry: It's great, and of course we're going to have to follow up on you again. Lucy: Thank you, Krista. Krista: Thank you. Series: Entrepreneurial HeroesInterviewee: Krista MarksInterview Summary: "When I went to college, I didn't even know about technology or pursuing a career in technology," says Krista. "Fortunately when I got to orientation for college, I sat next to a student who said she was going to major in electrical engineering. 'What is that?' I said. And she said, 'I know that if you really like math and physics, it's the best major to have. I said, 'Oh my god, those are my two favorite things! I would like every student to be aware of the available opportunities when they're choosing a career. I did end up there and loved technology. In fact, from that point on I really wanted to be involved in designing technology. I spent the first eleven years designing custom electronics, and got to work around the world." Release Date: August 2, 2010Interview Subject: Krista MarksInterviewer(s): Lucy Sanders, Larry NelsonDuration: 33:56