Podcasts about not rocket science

Who is Maria?Maria Dolores: A Life Guided by Seven PrinciplesMaria Dolores's journey is deeply anchored in her belief in seven guiding principles. From an early age, she embraced the right to her body, her emotions, and her thoughts, cherishing both the freedom and the responsibility that come with caring for her physical and mental well-being. As she matured, Maria expanded her focus to the importance of personal power, communication, and the essence of life itself. She believes every person deserves the right to express themselves—whether through speech or creativity—while maintaining accountability for their actions and words.Maria's story is one of balancing self-awareness with compassion for others, always striving to act with dignity and listen with an open heart, embodying the fundamental human needs of both the individual and the collective.Key Takeaways* Maria Dolores shares the Human Constitution—7 principles for rights and responsibilities—drawing from global values and encouraging maturity, dignity, and collaboration in every aspect of life and work.* Leaders, business owners, and individuals: caring for physical and mental health isn't just personal, it's foundational for thriving teams. Maria reminds us, maturity starts with self-awareness and responsibility.* Our experiences, from grief to joy, shape how we connect and broaden perspectives. Maria believes embracing discomfort and lessons is key to growing as individuals and humanity as a whole.* The Human Constitution isn't top-down or political—it's an invitation to reflect on our rights and responsibilities. Change begins within, and our ideas can change the world.* Dignity means wearing your crown and honoring others' crowns, too. Maria's life and work remind us: we all have birthrights, but true maturity comes when we care for ourselves and each other with integrity.00:00 “Maria Dolores: Five Questions Chat”04:18 Human Constitution: Rights and Responsibilities09:28 “Striving for Human Maturity”11:25 “Human Evolution and Technology's Role”15:07 Lessons in Discomfort and Growth20:31 “Rights, Responsibilities, and Life's Journey”24:38 “Living and Serving with Dignity”27:52 “Maria's Insights & Subscription Info”29:27 Grateful AcknowledgmentDon't forget: If you want to connect, ask questions, or get notified about upcoming guests like Maria subscribe to the newsletter here. You only need your first name and email—easy as (coffee) pie!And don't forget: keep an eye out for next guest. To submit your own questions, subscribe to our newsletter and join the conversation!P.S. Loved this episode? Hit reply and let us know what resonated most_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Do You Need a P.A.T.H. to Scale?We help established business owners with small but growing teams:go from feeling stuck, sceptical, and tired of wasting time and money on false promises,to running a confident, purpose-driven business where their team delivers results, customers are happy, and they can finally enjoy more time with their family -with a results-based refund guarantee: if you follow the process and it doesn't work, we refund what you paid.This is THE P.A.T.H. to scale your business.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast.SUMMARY KEYWORDSHuman Contract Foundation, Human Constitution, Universal Human Rights, birthrights, rights and responsibilities, dignity, maturity, global goals, civil courage, moral courage, collective rights, collective responsibilities, physical health, mental health, leadership, human resources, burnout, emotional health, personal power, communication, freedom of speech, freedom of creativity, empathy, self-worth, integrity, cultural diversity, global village, technology, collaboration, community change, slavery statisticsSPEAKERMaria Dolores, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:33]:Hi and welcome back to 5 Questions Over Coffee. I have in front of me my coffee mug. I know Maria, our guest today, has her coffee in front of her as well. So welcome to Maria Dolores. Maria is a global speaker, uh, she is a— the founder of the Human Contract Foundation, and we're going to get into what the Human Contract Foundation is She's the author of The Human Constitution, which I think is a really interesting and great document, and there will be links to that in the show notes so that you can access that and read it. And she was Ambassador for World Peace— that was, she was honored with that in 2023. And also only last year was given an honorary doctorate in humane letters, which I think is a brilliant achievement. So Maria, thank you for spending a few minutes with us and making some time in what I think must be a very, very busy life for you to come and spend a few minutes talking to us here at Five Questions Over Coffee.Maria Dolores [00:01:33]:Thank you, thank you, Stuart. I'm so happy to be here with you in the audience and to share about the Human Contract, the Human Constitution, and our rights and responsibilities. Thank you, thank you.Stuart Webb [00:01:47]:And we're really looking forward to hearing it. So, so tell me a little bit about— and we'll get into a little bit about the, the history behind it, but Who is it that you think— I mean, we're all human beings, we all have rights, but who is it you're trying to reach most at the moment with this contract, with the foundation that you're working with?Maria Dolores [00:02:08]:Yeah, so I help leaders to remember people's rights and responsibilities and to lessen hate, disrespect, and to increase Dignity and maturity. And I do this with the Human Constitution. The Human Constitution is 7 principles regarding our— to take a stand for our right, our birthrights, and that we all need to mature with these birthrights.Stuart Webb [00:02:41]:And, and tell us a little bit about those 7, if you like, to really get us into understanding how they fit.Maria Dolores [00:02:48]:Yes. Okay. So the 7 principles is based and derived from United Nations Declaration of the Universal Human Rights, but with rights, we should have responsibilities. Don't you think, Stuart?Stuart Webb [00:03:04]:Yeah, absolutely.Maria Dolores [00:03:06]:So these 7 principles, the first 3 is personal: body, emotion, and thought, that you are born with a right to your body. You're born with a right to the range of all your emotions and your thoughts. But we also have a responsibility to care for our body, our physical and mental health. So the first 3 principles is addressing our fundamental human needs as a, as a species and individually. And then the coming 3 is about power, communication, and life. That you have the right to your power, your personal power, and we also have a responsibility in how we act and interact with each other. And the fifth principle is about our communication, our freedom of speech and freedom of creativity, but also responsibility in what we say and what we create and to express and trying to express with dignity and trying to listen to each other. And so that's the fifth principle.Maria Dolores [00:04:18]:And the sixth out of the seven is our life, that you have the right to your life and you have a responsibility to respect others' way of life and other life forms, but never at the cost of any other. So, and I think we have a lot to do and a lot to mature here. Respecting— and so it also ties not only to United Nations Declaration of the Universal Human Rights, but it's also the 17 Global Goals. And then the last principle, the, the 7th principle, is about our collective rights and responsibilities. In Swedish, we call this civil courage, which is moral courage, and to to increase civil participation and to increase how we need— and we, yeah, we really need to collaborate more as a species. So that's the human constitution.Stuart Webb [00:05:22]:So can I just— I know the first 3, I can see how we get to sort of 6 and 7, how business owners, business leaders will see exactly they apply to their business. But the first 3, how do you help business owners, business leaders, people who are in charge of large organizations to understand the first 3? Because within a workspace, often we forget we have a responsibility. We forget ourselves. We work for a corporation. How do we manage that situation? How do you think we should?Maria Dolores [00:05:59]:Yeah. So Stuart, my, my background is with human resources and leadership. So I worked with 25 years and more with human resources and leadership. So I worked with everything from, you know, attracting strategies and recruiting and developing individual group organization and offboarding roles, offboarding groups and organization. And it's really addressing our physical mental health. It's when we get recruited and onboarded and to care for the individual and, and both the individual and the team and to develop our physical health understanding. So I was working in the Swedish steel industry and forest industry where we have people working in different schedules., you know, different times. I— for what, what do you call that? We call it shift.Maria Dolores [00:07:01]:They're working.Stuart Webb [00:07:02]:Shift is a good— yeah.Maria Dolores [00:07:06]:Okay. So, and that's also with the understanding of to have to really care about ourselves. And as leaders, you know, it's really the fundamentals of how to have a well-functioning leadership, but also a good functioning team is to truly care about the physical mental health. Burnout is because we don't acknowledge the early symptoms of burnout and not listen to ourselves. So it's really, really fundamental. Both for the leader and for, for the co-worker. And we also— to have— now, the human constitution is not about— I'm not telling anyone anything. I'm just simply taking a stand for our rights and our responsibilities.Maria Dolores [00:08:13]:And this is not religious, it's not party political, it's not even an ideology, but simply to take a stand for our rights and responsibilities. How you want to do that is up to you. Some, like for instance, so some people are smoking, right? And we know that's not really good for our health, but it's to leave the choice for the individual and that we all have both rights and responsibility for ourselves. And one another. So it's the choices that we make and to be more curious about our own emotions and our thoughts and to broaden perspectives and to be more curious and to mature with that.Stuart Webb [00:09:08]:And the maturity is such an important thing. And I know that we've just before we came on air, we discovered that today is your birthday. So very happy birthday, Maria, for, for today. Thank you. You talked a little bit about the fact that maturing is an important part of living.Maria Dolores [00:09:28]:Yeah, yeah. And you know, I'm sure you know also, Stewart, we have met the humans that are like 5 years old and who are very mature and very wise. And then we meet people who have lived most of their lives and who are very, you know, judgmental and, and locked in, in a narrow mindset and, yes, you know, immature, immature, really. So the human constitution is to encourage all humans, all 8 billion of us, to strive for maturity with more physical mental health, to lessen the drama, to increase and to broaden perspectives, to be more curious about ourselves and one another, and, and to mature in our relationships as well as we all need to mature as a species.Stuart Webb [00:10:34]:And that's a really interesting point.Maria Dolores [00:10:38]:Because.Stuart Webb [00:10:38]:Um, we often, we often, we often almost, uh, I wouldn't say throw away, but, but, but experience, uh, is not valued as much as it was, particularly in the Western world. Experience is often, uh, is often scorned in some respects, and yet it is an extremely valuable contribution. I mean, we, you, you look in the world of with nature. There are very few animals that keep grandparents around in order to help raise young people. Elephants is a great example, human beings and others. That's because of the huge experience those, those elders have and can bring and contribute. And we often don't see that as a, as a benefit.Maria Dolores [00:11:25]:Yeah. And what I also find, Stuart, is that we're, we're in a very privileged time in our human history right now. If we look back through our human history, the, the, um, here, there, the 300,000-year human history, and we have always had technology supporting and driving us to the next level and the next level. And, you know, 300,000 years ago, we lived in groups of 150 people, and then we grew in groups, became, becoming agricultural and having groups of 1,000, and then empires, and then various forms of democracies. And right now, we still have representation of people living, indigenous communities and nomads, in groups of 150. And we have small communities with agriculture living close to nature, various forms of empires, and various forms of democracies. So I think it's really essential, and the change that we are in right now, obviously, like you, the audience, and you, Stuart, that we are scattered all across the planet and we have this beautiful technology supporting us and connecting us. So we're standing very much in a nation-centric thinking and going to a global-local world.Maria Dolores [00:13:14]:And the shift going from this nation-centric thinking to the global-local world, and that shift is about embracing our history, embracing the potential of and the beauty of each cultural, the beauty of each region, the beauty of the Americanness, the beauty of the Britishness, the beauty of the Swedishness, and to embrace and to see that gemstone and that potential. For all of us to be proud, more proud and more mature of who we are, but also more curious about each other.Stuart Webb [00:14:04]:Yeah, I think that's a beautiful thought, Maria, because when the internet was first dreamt up, the concept of a global village was very prominent in those first internet pioneers. And we have lost a lot of that thinking because Social media now tends to drive us into tribes, and you meet with only the people that you want to hear the same voices from. And hearing different voices from around the world and recognizing and understanding different voices, I think, is a key element of being a human being. And I would encourage any any teacher, any, uh, any parent to teach your children not to just, uh, follow the crowd, but to, to think about what they're hearing and take from it the good and discard the bad. Because I think so often we fail to do that ourselves, don't.Maria Dolores [00:15:05]:We?Stuart Webb [00:15:07]:Yeah.Maria Dolores [00:15:07]:And, and also with discarding the— discarding the what you say bad, for me, that's also the lessons that we need to learn. Because usually whenever there is friction, whenever there is, you know, discomfort, there is also learning and a lesson in that. So the discomfort may be driven from an old belief, something we need to question. Or, you know, all the fear, anger, frustration, all the emotions that we carry, and more the dense emotion, there are lessons learned. And sometimes the lesson is to step away from, from a toxic situation, a toxic relationship, or a toxic workplace even, and, and to have and to increase our healthy boundaries, to have a healthy ego, to care for ourselves and our life in our relationships. So I see, I see this as very important lessons to learn.Stuart Webb [00:16:28]:I think that's lovely, and I think it also reminds us of those later principles that we also have responsibilities for the planet, don't we? We have responsibilities for those around us. It's not just ourselves, but we have to look after, the people around us. Because otherwise, how can we continue to look after ourselves if the planet is— if we don't look after the planet, if we don't look around, look around our neighbors and look after them, we have no way of being able to actually ensure that we are looking after ourselves, do we?Maria Dolores [00:16:57]:Yeah, yeah. And that's why I think the human constitution is, as you understand, it's not anything like top-down. It's not a decree. It's not a policy. It's simply an offering, and it's to be curious about ourselves, who we are. What is my right and what is my responsibility? Yes. How can I mature in this situation? How can I care better for myself? How can I show better care in my relationships and in, in this preconditions that I have? And how can we better collaborate? You know, to, to bring up a, a heavy topic, um, we have 45 million slaves in the world today. 45 million slaves.Maria Dolores [00:17:55]:We have never had as many slaves in the world through our human history. Yet we have never had as few in percentage. So I think the change needs to be both from within and in the community, because if we have 45 million slaves, then we have about half a billion people working and trading around this. So the change needs to come from within and within the community and the pressure and the support from all of us saying, we're not accepting this anymore. This is not okay. And that's the 6th and the 7th principle reminding us about who we are and who we.Stuart Webb [00:18:49]:Can be. I was going to ask you as my 3rd question, I know we've been talking for a while over 1 or 2, but my 3rd question is, is there one, and I I would just at this point invite any of the people who are either watching or listening on the recording, if you have questions that you want to pose to Maria, we will have available show notes that will enable you to sort of follow and understand where Maria posts a lot of her talks and where she works. So please reach out, ask Maria questions. Is there one thing, one tip that you would like to sort of get? If somebody wants to remember nothing else from what you've said, what is the one thing you want want them to take.Maria Dolores [00:19:34]:Away today? I, I want to say that your ideas matter, and your ideas can change the world. Your change within can change the world. And to, to listen to what would be my rights here and what would be.Stuart Webb [00:20:00]:My responsibilities. Maria, my fourth question is around how you got to this place where you are at the moment. This is not something that you just sort of sit one evening and sort of realize that you need to document these 7 principles. This is the work of somebody who's thought deeply and come to realize it. So how did you come to understand these 7 principles? What was the journey? And please don't feel you need to go into every detail, but give us a flavor of exactly how you came.Maria Dolores [00:20:31]:To where you are today. Yeah, so, um, uh, it's true, I have been working on this for decades. Um, 10 years ago I published my book, uh, State of Grace: Human Rights and Human Obligations. So that was when I first published and started to talk about our rights and responsibilities Obviously, you know, no thoughts come just out of nothing. Everything is building on everything, I would say. And so in conversations with my friends, but also being a woman born and raised in Sweden, studying psychology, my major in sociology, philosophy, working with human resources and leadership and to see the need and also the human history, which I described earlier, and to see the breaking point of where we are today and the potential of the beautiful technology we have, but also the lack of the fundamentals that could support humans and humanity forward, which is really the, the core of our rights and responsibilities. It's about life here and now. And I, you know, personally experienced grief, and my mother died in 2015, experienced extreme fear, and my ex-husband was stalking me in, in our divorce, and but also the freedom and insights of life and how life is evolving, and to see other aspects of life.Maria Dolores [00:22:31]:And I've done over the years, I've done over 160 days of meditation. So it's both reading and growing up in a society where we have had 200 years of peace, but also seeing myself and my own lessons and humanity as a whole and my love really for people. Seeing people and in all different situations.Stuart Webb [00:23:15]:Wow. Gosh, wow. That's a, that's a story, and I'm sure there's another book in there as well somehow. Maria, I realize I've taken up a lot of your time. As I said, I welcome comments, questions from people watching and listening at the moment because I think you have a wealth of experience to offer to us. If you've got questions about, you know, how do you apply some of this in your business, if you've got questions about how you apply some of this in your own personal life, there are some resources that we'll point you to. And Maria's just an open person. I know that she will love to engage and talk with you.Stuart Webb [00:23:57]:But there must be one question at the moment, Maria, you're thinking, he hasn't asked me the one truly killer question, and he's gonna do it any minute now. Well, I admit I never ever know what the killer question is, so therefore I ask you, what is the question that I should have asked you? And please, once you've explained the question, you need to answer it for us because you're the expert. So what is that killer question, the final question that I really should have.Maria Dolores [00:24:24]:Asked and I haven't yet? Thank you. My core value is dignity, and so the question would be, so what.Stuart Webb [00:24:35]:Is dignity? What a great question.Maria Dolores [00:24:38]:And dignity for me is when you have the crown on your head. You are the king, you are the queen in your life, and you have the crown on and you treat yourself with dignity and grace, but also to see others as their king and their queen in their life. And I, I worked with dignity in— while helping my friend in her funeral business and casketing 3,000 people, seeing all religions— Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, and secular sermons. So all the major religions. And also attending 1,500 funerals and with dignity to see and to acknowledge that we have both rights and responsibility for all our emotions and to be who we are in that moment in grief, but also the potential of broadening perspectives. For ourselves and one another.Stuart Webb [00:25:58]:So dignity. So how do you see, because I often spend a lot of my time thinking about people who have very little self-worth. They don't have enough of an understanding of how they fit into the world. How do I describe this? Self-worth for me is being able to walk down the street and not necessarily feeling as though you own the street, because I don't think that's the right thing, but you don't care who owns the street. You walk down the street not worrying about anything else around you. Do you see that as a form of dignity? Do you see dignity as related to.Maria Dolores [00:26:36]:That in some way? Yeah, and that's for me dignity and integrity is like a brother and sister. But yeah, dignity, you know, if you feel like You own the street. You know, it's— I think that's a good way to express it. But you don't own the street at the expense of others. No. It's to hold that, to imagine like you're in a protective bubble or, you know, an integrity bubble and with mutual respect. And you have steward, you have that crown on your head, and you are the pride, but not the oppression.Stuart Webb [00:27:29]:So if I can summarize it, you walk down the street, but you don't care who owns the street. As far as you're concerned, you have the right, you have the responsibility to act in a way which is with with compassion, but you walk down the street because that's where you need to be, and you just know that's where.Maria Dolores [00:27:49]:You need to be.Stuart Webb [00:27:52]:Yeah. And I think with that, Maria, I have to thank you for such a fascinating, uh, discussion. Um, uh, for those of you watching and listening, uh, Maria is a, is a, is a fantastic person to follow on LinkedIn and on her various social medias. There will be links to where you can find out more about Maria in show notes. And I would ask you at this stage, if you want to to be able to get a simple email from me, uh, which just allows you to know who's going to come up on these, uh, and, and spend some time watching, listening, catching up with some of these brilliant interviews. And I love some of the people that come on this and talk to us about these fascinating subjects. If you go to www.systemize— that's S-Y-S-T-E-M-I-S-E—.me/subscribe there's a simple form. It asks for just two things: your first name, your email address.Stuart Webb [00:28:45]:That's all it needs, and you will get an email from me which says who's coming up on these podcasts, how you can get involved, how you can ask questions, or where you can get and speak to some of these fabulous, fabulous people that are on. Maria, thank you so much, uh, for, for coming on. I'd love it if, uh, if you— if you're listening, uh, follow, follow this podcast, but follow Maria. She is fascinating and brilliant speaker with a wonderful idea. And you'll get notes on where you can get the, uh, more information about what Maria says, does, in the show notes. Maria, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. We really do appreciate you spending a few minutes out of your, I know, very busy day.Maria Dolores [00:29:27]:Thank you. Thank you, Stuart. Thank you very much. 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Who is Ally?Ally Machete has built her career working closely with a dynamic range of authors, but she has found her true passion in helping confident business owners become first-time authors. She specializes in guiding experienced entrepreneurs who know their industries inside out but feel unsure when it comes to writing a book. Understanding that her clients have no time, energy, or money to waste, Ally works deliberately and strategically to ensure their book aligns with their greater business goals. She is the expert these leaders turn to when the stakes are high, and there's no room for mistakes—helping them transform their hard-won expertise into powerful, purposeful books.Key Takeaways* Writing a book isn't just for the famous—it's a powerful tool to build credibility and open doors for any expert. As Ally Machete shares, the real impact comes from writing the right book, with the right strategy behind it.* Don't write a book for “everyone.” As Ally Machete explains, clarity about your target audience and their needs makes your book not only marketable but transformative for your business or career.* A well-crafted book is more than “decoration for your Zoom background,” says Ally Machete. It's a tool—something to leverage intentionally, not just a vanity project.* Not every business needs a book. Ally Machete recommends crafting your strategy first—sometimes timing or focus on other projects delivers more growth than rushing into publishing.* Feeling the “magic” of book writing doesn't mean ditching strategy. Ally Machete urges authors: don't just write what you want, write what solves a real need for your ideal reader. That's how culture shifts—one book at a time.Don't forget: If you want to connect, ask questions, or get notified about upcoming guests like Ally, subscribe to the newsletter here. You only need your first name and email—easy as (coffee) pie!And don't forget: keep an eye out for next guest. To submit your own questions, subscribe to our newsletter and join the conversation!P.S. Loved this episode? Hit reply and let us know what resonated most_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Do You Need a P.A.T.H. to Scale?We help established business owners with small but growing teams:go from feeling stuck, sceptical, and tired of wasting time and money on false promises,to running a confident, purpose-driven business where their team delivers results, customers are happy, and they can finally enjoy more time with their family -with a results-based refund guarantee: if you follow the process and it doesn't work, we refund what you paid.This is THE P.A.T.H. to scale your business.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast.SUMMARY KEYWORDSwriting a book, lead generation, business owners, book marketing, strategic writing, target audience, book publishing, book as a tool, writing process, marketable book, author credibility, authority, business growth, writing strategy, book promotion, niche audience, sales conversion, email list building, free resources, blog articles, podcast interviews, digital printing, ebooks, networking, credibility signal, partnership promotion, course creation, return on investment (ROI), book launch, marketing strategySPEAKERAlly Machate, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:00]:Live, please go live. Yeah. Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. I am here today with Ali Machati, the writer's ally. I've got those two right, haven't I, Ali, Please tell me. Okay, thank you. So I was going to get something wrong.Stuart Webb [00:00:47]:I've managed to get through without actually making a huge mistake yet. So welcome, Ali. Thank you so much for making a few minutes today. Ali is, well, she's somebody who helps people write books. So I can tell you somebody who has tried to do that and successfully succeeded, but by golly, it was hard. You need an ally in your corner. So I'm really pleased Ali has made some time today to come talk to us a little bit about this. You know, writing a book is probably the greatest lead generator you can do because it really sets you apart from the competition.Stuart Webb [00:01:18]:Ali is going to tell us all about that. So, Ali, thank you so much for being the writer's ally. And welcome to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee.Ally Machete [00:01:26]:Thank you so much for having me, Stuart. I'm really excited to be here.Stuart Webb [00:01:30]:Well, I hope. I hope we're going to have a really interesting conversation. So let's start by talking a little bit about, well, the sort of people you try to help as the. As the writer's ally.Ally Machete [00:01:43]:Yeah. So we work with lots of kinds of authors, but our real sweet spot, our ideal client, are generally business owners, people who have been in business for a little while and are really confident in their expertise. But now they're thinking about writing a book and they're not confident about that. You know, they don't have time, money, energy to waste. All of that has to go very deliberately into their plans and their strategies in business. But they want to have that book. They know enough to know that there's things they don't know, and they know that they really need to get it right. That book has really important goals attached to it.Ally Machete [00:02:24]:It's a tool that's going to be really valuable to them and is a part of their growth strategy. And so they need it to be done at the highest level. And that's where we come in.Stuart Webb [00:02:33]:That's brilliant. So tell me. I mean, you've obviously, you've obviously helped a lot of people do this.Ally Machete [00:02:38]:What.Stuart Webb [00:02:38]:What are the sort of things they tried to do? I mean, you know, everybody has sat with that sort of completely blank piece of paper or blank screen or whatever nowadays and thought, where do I start? What are the things that you've seen them try which have failed to get them anywhere.Ally Machete [00:02:54]:Well, one of the things that I think a lot of people who are new to writing a book get stuck on is there's this sort of kind of like romantic, kind of magical, I think thinking around what a, what a writing process looks like. You know, you're going to get struck by the muse and you're going to sit down and it's all going to flow out of you in a number of hours and you're going to end up with this masterpiece that, you know, just needs a spell check and then you're done. Right. And they don't understand how much harder it actually is. You know, even if you are fortunate enough to be able to create a rough draft very easily, and some people certainly can, some people do have that experience, but that is rarely the finished product. Right. There is so much that goes into crafting a book strategically. Not just writing a good book, but writing a marketable book.Ally Machete [00:03:44]:Writing a book that's going to get you certain results in your business is a lot more than just writing something that's, you know, basically well written and, or even interesting to read. So I think that's, that's the biggest piece where people tend to get tripped up is they think, well, I wrote it, it's good, right. It's objectively good. And they miss that strategic tie in piece and they end up with a book that on the surface is really nice and looks professional and is well done, but doesn't move the dial in their business.Stuart Webb [00:04:14]:So we may be straying into the sort of the third question here, which is about what, what free advice, what valuable advice you can give, but sort of talk a little bit about that. Sort of, what do you mean by a marketable book? Sort of explain the whole, you know, what that does to a little bit about what that does to somebody's business, somebody's career, but also a little bit about what needs to go into a marketable book for it to be something that people actually want to pick up and look at.Ally Machete [00:04:41]:Yeah. So one element of that is when you write a book that is the wrong book. Right. So first let's just assume you've written a book, it's a good book, it's objectively well written. Right. It's been, you've put energy into it, you've made an effort, it looks nice, you paid for a nice cover, maybe even, and it all looks good. What might make that book not marketable are a few different things. First of all, if you were never clear on exactly who your Target audience for that book is a lot of people write a book thinking that anybody can benefit from this, this book will help everyone.Ally Machete [00:05:15]:And even though that may be true, you can never market to everyone. Right. Like, I like to say that if you're trying to talk to everybody, then you're going to be connecting with nobody. So this idea that it's just, I'm putting this out there, it's going to help all of these people without really getting clear about who exactly the book is for, that can make a book not marketable. If you don't know who to put the book in front of to sell copies, it's almost impossible to create a marketing strategy. Right. A lot of marketing strategy is about who are the right readers for this and how do we get in front of those people. So if your audience isn't clear, if your promise isn't clear, if it isn't crystal clear why your target reader needs your book.Ally Machete [00:05:56]:Right. Again, a lot of people start a book from a kind of internal place. If they have something they want to say or they have something that they feel like they can share, that's a value. But ultimately, people don't buy books because you think they need the book. Right. They buy the book because there's something they want or there's something they're looking for that they feel like your book is the answer to. So that comes back to your unique promise. If your promise isn't crystal clear, it might be a good book, but it's going to be very difficult to position and it's going to be very difficult to have that conversion situation.Ally Machete [00:06:28]:Just like any other product or any other sale, when you're just trying to sell books, there's conversions. People will come and check it out. If there's nothing there to actually hook them in and make them see, yeah, this is the book that's going to solve my problem or teach me the thing I need to learn. They don't convert.Stuart Webb [00:06:43]:Do you know, Ali, you make it sound as if you're trying to sort of put together a marketing strategy for some sort of product, which you would hope a business owner has learned how to do. But anyway, let's, let's move on a little bit. Tell me a little bit more about the. The sort of effects that you think a book can have to somebody's business, somebody's career, if you like. I mean, we can all think of people like Tony Robbins who have written interesting books and then they end up on the world stage. I'm not necessarily suggesting that we're all going to do that tomorrow?Ally Machete [00:07:11]:No. And you don't have to. That's the really beautiful thing about books. And especially these days. You know, not only do we have the Internet, which gives us tons of opportunities to directly connect with our target audience and to market a book with, you know, very little cost compared to, let's say, print media, for example, but also we have digital and print tech, digital printing technology, and ebooks. So the very act of creating a book, making it available for sale, getting it out there, is also more accessible to people now than it pretty much ever has been in history, really. So those are all really wonderful things. But excuse me, when you put that book out there.Ally Machete [00:07:52]:So let's say, for example, that somebody is writing a book to bring in more clients. That's like a pretty classic example. They're writing a book to bring in more clients if they write a memoir. And I've seen this a lot with coaches, in particular coaches and consultants, they think, well, people who want to work with me want to know more about me. So instead of writing a book that shows how they think about that particular problem, how they've worked with people in that particular niche, how their process or their way of, you know, approaching a situation is a good method or a different way of thinking about certain things, and instead they write a memoir, they write a book that's just all about them and their life's journey. Right? Sure, there will be a subset of people who are interested in that book, but most people don't come to the book because they want to learn all about you. Again, people buy a book because what's in it for me? Right? What are they going to get from it? So when you have a book that's dialed in to the right people and is strategically aligned to achieve goals in your business, and it can accomplish large numbers of things. Everything from the very simple giving books away to build your mailing list.Ally Machete [00:09:05]:We've had clients too, in particular that were enormously successful simply finding partners who are willing to promote the free ebook to their lists because they thought that it was something of value. It's a win, win situation, right? I want you to promote my book. You get to give something free to your audience. Everybody looks good. Now all of a sudden you have thousands of people opting in to join your list to get a copy of that free book. That's a real basic, simple way of leveraging a book to grow your business. But also things like we've had clients tell us that sitting down in a meeting with people and Taking a few copies of the book out of their bag and handing it to the high level people that they're meeting with changes the conversation instantly. Right.Ally Machete [00:09:50]:Giving a book to somebody or even just knowing that someone is the author of a book is an instant credibility signal. They don't even have to read the book. The very fact that you've written one, again, assuming it's the right one and it's done well, you hand it to them, they look at it, they can see this person literally wrote the book on this subject. And there's a psychological effect. Again, there's a reason why the word author is the root word of authority. Right. And that's how we think about people with books. So having that book can get you to open more doors, it can get you on more stages, it can get you more clients, it can get you higher level clients, it can help you to close deals.Ally Machete [00:10:32]:It shortens the like, no trust factor and gets those that cycle, that sales cycle to shorten and speed up. It can do a number of really important things for your business. And I agree, I think it is one of the most powerful lead generating tools even still.Stuart Webb [00:10:47]:Yeah. And amazingly, I learned a little bit about this. But the words sort of, you know, the best business card you will ever have are really applicable here, aren't they? Because somebody who has a book, you don't need to leave them a business card. You leave them the book, they'll find you. Even if you've got very little else in that book in terms of contact details, they will find you because a book says something about you. Ali, I'm going to sort of pose the, you know, is there one piece of. And I think you've already given some advice, but I'm sure there are other things and I know we've got some things that we're going to be sort of pointing people towards, which is in our vault, which is in www.systemize.me. free stuff.Stuart Webb [00:11:32]:Tell us a little bit about some of the free, valuable services you provide to people.Ally Machete [00:11:38]:Well, we have a blog, of course. We publish new articles every month. So our blog is available for free at our website. Atthewriters ally.com you can find our newly launched library. And in the library we have links to the blog with all of those articles. We have a playlist of podcasts that I've been on. I've been on more than 50 podcasts. And so they can listen to those recordings or watch those videos and download a number of free resources that we have available.Ally Machete [00:12:08]:Checklists, a few mini Guides. I have a ton of stuff available for people. I've been in this business more than 20 years and I've accumulated some stuff. So I've really put it all together. We just launched this website. I'm very excited about having this, you know, the ability to put all of this stuff in one place to give to people.Stuart Webb [00:12:26]:And, and I, and I've had a look at some of the checklists and I must admit I, I was, I was really, really impressed. So look, if you haven't captured all of the, the details of that, we will have links to, well, where you can find all this stuff and more stuff from alysystemize me forward slash free hyphen stuff. Yeah.Ally Machete [00:12:45]:Before you jump to the last question, I just wanted to add one thing.Stuart Webb [00:12:48]:We're not even close to that yet. Don't get excited.Ally Machete [00:12:52]:I also have a free gift that I prepared especially for your audience. And they can.Stuart Webb [00:12:56]:Oh, thank you.Ally Machete [00:12:57]:Yes, they can get that. If you go to offers.the writers ally.com rocketscience it is an evergreen video of my webinar called Don't Write the Wrong Book. And it is about just that. What does it mean to write the right book? How do you avoid writing the wrong book? And a simplified step process for thinking through your book idea. Whether you have one idea you're trying to choose, or if you've already started writing and you want to temperature check what you're working on, it'll help make sure that everything is strategically aligned in the way that we're talking about today.Stuart Webb [00:13:27]:I will make sure that link is in the, in the vault, our vault, which is another valuable resource. But I will make sure that's pointing straight to you. We, we will, we will get that to people. We are not yet at the end though, Ali, because we have more to go. Awesome. What, what you've just said. You've been in this business for 20 years, so that's, that's a huge amount of experience. But let's, let's talk about how you got here.Stuart Webb [00:13:52]:What is it? Was it, was it a realization that you just had to write? Was it the realization you didn't write very well? What was it that brought you to understanding how to give such valuable advice? Was it a book? Was it a program? Was it a life experience that brought you this level of understanding of how to write a book?Ally Machete [00:14:11]:Well, Stuart, I am a lifelong dedicated book nerd. Really. I've always loved books. I've always loved writing and reading. It's family legend that I learned to read at the age of three because I was frustrated that my parents just wouldn't sit and read to me all day long, you know, God, they had had to go to work and like do things. But I started reading very early and making books out of construction paper and crayons and I would give them to like my neighbors and my friends. And I would tell people I was, I was a book publisher. And even as early as first grade, you know, you get into school and everyone's always asking, what do you want to be when you grow up? What do you want to be? And I would tell people I wanted to be a writer, a lawyer and an editor at Simon and Schuster.Stuart Webb [00:14:56]:Oh, wow.Ally Machete [00:14:58]:Yes. And you know, I have no idea where that came from. I'll be totally honest, you know, like, why Simon and Schuster? Where did I pick that up? Goodness only knows. But it was something that I said and I stuck with it. I stuck with that love all the way through my academic career. I did, you know, yearbook and school paper and lit mag and all that kind of stuff. But was really in college where I started getting more serious about it. I started freelancing for pay as a writer as the Internet started becoming a thing and really opening up opportunities.Ally Machete [00:15:26]:And then of course, I did an internship at a small regional publisher while I was still in school in upstate New York. And after that, the big, big turning point was that I got that dream job and I got hired at Simon and Schuster.Stuart Webb [00:15:39]:Oh, wow. Wow, wow, wow. But the greater challenge was then to go on and do it and show other people how to do that.Ally Machete [00:15:46]:That's absolutely true. Yeah. So I spent some time there. I learned a ton, as you can imagine. Big five publishing. You know, that's, that's the Olympics of publishing. Like you really learn everything at the highest level. And I was also fortunate to be in particular in a department that was very nurturing and very supportive of its young people.Ally Machete [00:16:05]:So I got to really learn. Hands on. I acquired my first book for the company before I had been there a year, which is pretty much unheard of. And so I was able to just dive in and learn a lot about how it all worked. And then, you know, fast forward a few years, dot com bust happened, 9, 11 happened. A lot of things were changing in New York. I decided to step away for a little while. I thought I would wrap up.Ally Machete [00:16:29]:I was doing a part time master's degree that had taken me a few years. I was real close. I thought, you know what, I'll knock it out. I'll take a Year, I'll go full time, I'll finish all my classes, I'll do some freelancing, I and I'll come back and maybe, you know, the economy will have calmed down and the market, the job market will have opened up again. And I loved working directly with the authors and running my own business so much that I never looked back.Stuart Webb [00:16:50]:Yeah, well done. Well done. Look, Alec, I'm going to have to say you've been asking some and or answering some brilliant questions. But there must be one question that you cannot get away from thinking. When is he going to ask me that killer question, the really important one? Well, I don't know what that question is, so I'm just gonna have to ask you what is the killer question that I should have asked you by now? And obviously, well, you have the question, so you might as well answer it as well.Ally Machete [00:17:19]:Well, I think the killer question is one that most people maybe don't ask because they assume, which is, should everybody have a book?Stuart Webb [00:17:26]:You know the question.Ally Machete [00:17:29]:Yeah, and the answer might surprise you because there are a lot of people out there who suggest that if you have a business, if you are an expert, you have to have a book, it is just a must have. And I do not agree with that at all. I think there are situations in which a book may not be right for your business. It really depends on what your strategy is and where you're trying to go. Because as we've been talking about, the real power in a book is as a tool to be leveraged, right? It's not just decoration for your zoom background, it's something you're going to use in your business.Stuart Webb [00:18:04]:Business.Ally Machete [00:18:05]:Not every business benefits from a book and not every business benefits from a book at any time. So there's also a timing issue involved writing a book. As you know, Stuart, you've been involved. It's a huge commitment of time, energy and money. And anything that you are saying yes to means you're also saying no to other things, right? So, you know, one of the biggest misconceptions I think people have is this idea that, well, if every business owner has to have a book, I'm new to business, I'm still growing my business. If I write this book, that will help me establish myself. But you have to have a business to grow before a book can help you grow a business, right? It's not the thing that gives you a business, it's the thing that helps you level up what you already have. So if you're not already at least a little, well, established, it might be too early for a book to really give you the kind of benefits that it would if you waited a little bit longer or if you're in a situation where you have a choice to do I launch a new course? Do I do this big marketing push? Do I change this part of my business, or do I write a book? You want to think strategically.Ally Machete [00:19:09]:What is the thing that's going to give you the most ROI where you need it first? And a book is not always the answer.Stuart Webb [00:19:17]:Do you know, it's almost as if you are trying to say to people, you have to have a strategy why you are writing a book, know who your audience is and write the book for that audience. And if you're still in the process of working out who what your business is about and who your audience is, maybe a book is not going to help you achieve that goal.Ally Machete [00:19:35]:Exactly right. Exactly right.Stuart Webb [00:19:38]:Hey, I think that is a fantastic and truly brilliant way to wrap this up. Because if there's one thing that I think you've proven to us, Ali, is that you are an ally. You are somebody who is trying to think of the best for the authority, trying to think of the best way of helping that author achieve their goals, rather than just trying to pitch everybody on doing the same thing just for the sake of it. That's a truly allied way of thinking. So thank you so much for bringing that perspective. And if you don't mind me just taking two minutes from me, if you, you get such value from some of these, from some of these interviews from brilliant people like Ali, who's bringing this wealth of knowledge. I would like to be able to send you an email once a week just to say who's coming up on the podcast. And the only way you can get that email is if you join the blog, the email list, and that is to go to www.systemize.me.Stuart Webb [00:20:38]:subscribe. That's a simple form. It takes you to. It needs two things. Your first name, your email address. I don't want anything else. I just want to be able to send you an email. I just want to be able to address you as you and, and tell you about the brilliant stuff that's coming up.Stuart Webb [00:20:50]:Ali, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us and being so, so, so honest with your advice and so, so helping us to think through just how we need to use books to be so intentional. Thank you for that time.Ally Machete [00:21:06]:It's my pleasure, really. Thank you for having me. And you know, I like to say I'm a reader too. I want there to be better books out there for me too, you know. So I really do care is it.Stuart Webb [00:21:17]:Is a heart led business for somebody who's been doing that since three years old. I guess you do need another one of those books to just have a look at least. At least one more time, don't you? Thank you so much Ali. I really appreciate it.Ally Machete [00:21:32]:Thanks again. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Who is Julia?Julia Felton is a business consultant who has built a reputation for identifying the real issues behind her clients' challenges. While companies often approach her with concerns about team dysfunction, lack of trust, and poor collaboration, Julia quickly uncovers that these surface symptoms stem from deeper underlying causes. With her insightful approach, she helps organizations move beyond treating just the symptoms—enabling teams to break free from silos, improve communication, and achieve the results they desire. Julia's clients rely on her expertise to foster genuine trust and collaboration within their teams.Key Takeaways* Is your team chasing results but feeling disconnected? Julia Felton says it's all about energy alignment, not just process. Slow down, reset, and watch collaboration grow.* Most trust issues in teams don't come from lack of tools, but from not investing enough in relationships. Build social capital, even if it feels “frivolous”—it's critical for flow.* True leadership isn't about controlling everything. Julia Felton reminds us: empower your team, step back, and let the natural talents shine for real productivity.* Vision isn't a one-time message. Keep communicating your purpose so everyone knows where you're heading. As Julia Felton notes, clarity builds trust and connection.* Take inspiration from nature: humans, like herds, thrive when leadership is shared. Health, harmony, unity—let these guide your team to higher trust and adaptability.Don't forget: If you want to connect, ask questions, or get notified about upcoming guests like Julia, subscribe to the newsletter here. You only need your first name and email—easy as (coffee) pie!And don't forget: keep an eye out for next guest. To submit your own questions, subscribe to our newsletter and join the conversation!P.S. Loved this episode? Hit reply and let us know what resonated most_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Do You Need a P.A.T.H. to Scale?We help established business owners with small but growing teams:go from feeling stuck, sceptical, and tired of wasting time and money on false promises,to running a confident, purpose-driven business where their team delivers results, customers are happy, and they can finally enjoy more time with their family -with a results-based refund guarantee: if you follow the process and it doesn't work, we refund what you paid.This is THE P.A.T.H. to scale your business.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast.SUMMARY KEYWORDStrust issues, team building, rewilding leadership, misaligned energy, team dynamics, collaboration, silos in business, business productivity, meeting fatigue, leadership styles, performance paradox, shared leadership, empowerment, micromanagement, business culture, teamship, employee engagement, organizational trust, social capital, remote work challenges, communication in teams, business vision, talent management, role alignment, leveraging strengths, sustainable leadership, natural leadership, flow in teams, founder-led business, relationship buildingSPEAKERJulia Felton, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:01]:Hopefully. Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. I'm delighted. Today I've been joined by Julia Felton. Julia is an expert in, well, helping to fix trust issues within teams using rewilding leadership. She's really going to help us to understand exactly how we can rebuild those trust issues which so often dog startups, even rapidly scaling a growing company. So, Julia, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science.Stuart Webb [00:01:01]:Five questions over coffee. I hope you've got your coffee in front of you. I've actually got a fruit tea at the moment, but that's because it's after Christmas. I try to be careful with my body.Julia Felton [00:01:12]:Well, me too, Stuart. I'm, I've got ginger and lemon here.Stuart Webb [00:01:15]:So I've been off your only way to live. Let's start by understanding, you know, the sort of person you're trying to help. You obviously, you're obviously trying to help somebody that's got a problem. But how do, how would you recognize them? What would they, what would they be saying? What would they be doing in order to sort of, you know, for you to be able to say, well, that's exactly the sort of person I'm trying to help.Julia Felton [00:01:42]:Yeah, that's such a great question. Because I think what typically happens is what people come to me with and what actually the problem is, are very different. And I think often what we find in business, isn't it, we, we, we, we of treating the symptom rather than the cause. So sort of people come to me and they go, oh, my team's not functioning properly, Julia. You know, and people don't trust each other. There's a lot of bickering going on, we're not getting the results we want. You know, there's people are working in silos, nobody collaborates together. Those are the sorts of things that my clients are saying.Julia Felton [00:02:19]:And my clients range from, you know, smaller SMEs up to larger corporates, you know, and this, these kinds of problems exist throughout many types of organizations. So anywhere where you've got people involved, really. Because at the end of the day, trust drives everything in business. Right.Stuart Webb [00:02:41]:So what would some of those, I mean, you just talked about sort of smaller SMEs, large corporates. I mean, they've tried everything before, haven't they? They've done the courses, they've sent people off on the training courses, they've, they've done that, they've done the online stuff, they've done everything they can and it's still not fixing it. So what are the sort of things that they are trying that you break through and you find that even having done this stuff, they've still got these issues.Julia Felton [00:03:08]:Sure. So I think if we distill it back down and we go to, well, what's really the cause of what's going on in the business? Rather the biggest challenge, if I was to sum it up like that, is it's, it's not this lack of skill or ambition or desire, but it's actually all to do with misaligned energy. So we've got brilliant purpose driven leaders out there. They built often fast growing businesses, but somewhere along the way this momentum turns into mayhem, right? And the team's busy, but it's not productive. People, you know, having loads and loads of meetings. We know this meeting fatigue, right? The progress stalls, everyone's working harder, but people aren't working collectively together, they're not pulling in the same direction. So I call that the performance paradox. Because what we're seeing is companies chasing these results so hard, but they've become really disconnected from the very people and the energy that creates them.Julia Felton [00:04:08]:So what happens is these businesses start running on logic and process rather when what we really need is this connection and trust and flow, Flow. And so I think what I really see leaders craving is a much more natural, sustainable way of leading where we get everyone pulling in the same direction and we stop forcing the results and we start getting the results flowing naturally because everyone's working in their right energy. And as you know, Stuart, you know, I'm very passionate about nature. I reference everything back to the natural world. And, and you know, when we look at the natural world, the natural world understands the ebb and flow of energy and how it goes inside cycles. And that's what we're not really seeing in business right now is leaders really understanding that. And it's interesting, we're recording this right after Christmas, right, where people have actually had an opportunity to kind of rest and re reset themselves for this year. But we tend to wait till Christmas, right.Julia Felton [00:05:10]:And we take a week or two weeks off, try and rest and reset and then we don't. Then we try and go for another whole year and, and that's not feasible for people.Stuart Webb [00:05:21]:So what are some of the things that you then introduce into the business in order for them to, to understand that it's that, you know, to develop that ebb and flow. What is it you do to help them essentially reset on a more regular basis?Julia Felton [00:05:36]:Yeah, well, obviously as we, as we just talked about there, you know, reset the rhythm and flow and recovery. So for me, that's actually about leaders taking time out to rest and relax and, and it's that psychology of slowing down to speed up that, you know, instinctively we know that, but everything's saying to us, oh, you know, if I, if I take the afternoon off, I'm not going to get everything done. But I don't know about you, Stuart, but I know when I step away from my desk, if I'm really struggling with something, all of a sudden when I'm away from, from my work and what I'm doing, I get all these insights. So it's about understanding that in order to get into flow, we actually have to go through a period of resetting ourselves and resting and stepping away from the problem in order to get back. You know, it's a good old adage, isn't it? You know, we get our best ideas in the shower, wherever it is, out on walks and stuff like that. So I think it's about really purposefully crafting time into our weekly schedules to do that. Because I think most people, they go into the office, you know, foot to the metal, go, go, go all day and we get to the end of the day and then they're like, I'm not even sure what I've accomplished because we've just been being that busy fool that, you know, you and I know, I've talked about, you know, we're spending all this time doing things, but we're not doing the right things that we need to do.Stuart Webb [00:07:05]:Yeah.Julia Felton [00:07:05]:So, you know, if we look at some of the mistakes that people are making around, this is the first thing we often see companies doing, is we put all these tools right. We've got problems. Like you said, you know, teams are working in silos, there's no collaboration. So we throw tools at the problem. You know, we maybe buy, you know, a collaboration platform like Trello or Asana or something like that to try and make everyone work more effectively together. And that rarely solves the problem. Right. Or we send people on team building away days or training courses, and all of these can have some marginal gain for the business, but they don't really get to the shifting the underlying energy or trust dynamics that are actually blocking performance.Julia Felton [00:07:52]:And for me, the way that we change those trust dynamics is actually by really slowing down and investing time in building relationships. It's this importance of social capital within business. Right. And sometimes it seems a bit frivolous. Right. You know, oh, we, we're stopping and we're talking to somebody in the corridor. But I don't know about you, but you know, in the days when we were all in the office and I was in the corporate world, I got all my information from those informal chats. That's where you knew what was going on.Julia Felton [00:08:23]:Of course the trouble that we've got right now is with so many people working remotely, all of that informal communication you might want to say isn't getting shared and you don't know what's going on in another team, which you would have found out because you walk with somebody and you went and grabbed lunch with them when we used to go out to the sandwich bars for lunch or whatever or you were making your coffee. So I think there's a big problem there that we're not spending enough time investing in building that social capital.Stuart Webb [00:08:54]:Yeah.Julia Felton [00:08:55]:And go. I'm sorry.Stuart Webb [00:08:57]:No indeed. I'm just agreeing with you. Absolutely agreeing with you.Julia Felton [00:09:00]:Yeah. And I think one of the other mistakes I'm seeing companies make is that they, when things aren't going well, there's a tendency, particularly if it's a smaller founder led business for the founders want to take everything back, to control everything. Right. You know, if I control everything, it's going to work better, better. More meetings, more KPIs, more oversight. But actually all that's doing is draining the founders energy. But more importantly it's signaling to your team members that you don't trust them. We're not allowing them to get on.Julia Felton [00:09:32]:They don't feel empowered because there's so much micromanagement. And actually really what our team members are looking for is for us to trust them and to empower them to get the job done and then get out their way and leave them to do it. And when we've got that, then people will get on and do the job. And then the other lens that I often see going on here is when again when we've got problems we want to fix the people, we always think it's a people problem. And rather than think about, well, what is the potential our team members have got to unlock, how can we leverage them more effectively in the business? What new responsibilities can we give them? What new opportunities can we give them to help them thrive? You know, can we redefine their roles to give them a role which is more naturally aligned to what they love to do? Because we all know we've got more energy for the things we love to do. Right. And so if your role, you're spending 50% of your time doing things you don't love to do, in it, you're never going to be as productive as if you've got a role maybe where you've got 80 or 90% of things time doing the things you love. Now, the caveat I would just say against this is we're all going to have to do things in our role that we don't love.Julia Felton [00:10:50]:That's just life. But, you know, we want to spend the vast proportion of our time and when we can start redefining roles so that people do that, it makes a massive difference to their performance, their, you know, their productivity and then ultimately the productivity of the business. So, you know, I reflect back often to my corporate role where I didn't understand about energy and the best roles that people could go in. And I had this data manager, her name's Jane. And every single appraisal I was like, jane, you need to get better at spreadsheets, you know, because, you know, you're running the data center and that's what you need to do. Failing to realize that her complete zone of genius and what she bought to my business was actually her ability to rally the troops around. She was a great collaborator, a great people person, and I didn't leverage her skills effectively. So she wasn't as happy as she could be and I wasn't getting the best results out of her.Stuart Webb [00:11:46]:Yeah, I know. I remember very early on, in one of the first businesses that I, that I founded, somebody took me home on time. It was one of the non executives that sort of came in to help the business, said, are you asking the people that you're working with anything about, you know, what they do when they go home? And I, I sort of looked at, I'll be honest, I looked at him. What's that got to do with this? As in somehow, you know, he was talking complete nonsense. He said, you'll find those people go home and they run scout groups, they run, they run charity bazaars, they run charities and they run them brilliantly. All of those skills are open to you. If you only knew about them. And I looked at him and thought, that's a huge insight that I've got to think about.Stuart Webb [00:12:30]:And it was back to what you were saying there. It's about communication, isn't it? I haven't bothered to say to these people, what else are you up to? And, you know, they turn us, oh, I run a scout group. Are you good at admin? And that's a really useful thing to know because oftentimes people come into work and they sort of drop all these skills over their shoulder at the front door and then walk in and sort of just come in and do their job, don't they? Because they don't think they have to bring any of those skills with them because I'm at work now. And then they go home, they pick up all those skills again and they take them home and they use them very, very effectively. So sometimes it does mean that we've just got to speak to each other, ask what's going on and then go, wow, that's a really useful skill that we could use and then learn to let them get on with it.Julia Felton [00:13:17]:Yeah. And then, and then they feel more empowered, they feel trusted, you know, they know that they've been heard and you know, it's a win, win all round at the end of. But yet so important for us to, to really know our team members, like you say, what motivates them, what's inspires them and what the skills are that they've got that they're not bringing to the workplace that we could really leverage more effectively.Stuart Webb [00:13:39]:Yeah, brilliant. Julia, I'm sure that there's a. And I'm. I know you've given us some very valuable information to stick into our vault, which is at www.systemize.me/free stuff. Gosh, there's an awful lot of words in there. Immediately after the longish break, talk to us about what you've got available for people to be able to sort of advice, guidance that you could give people which they can tap into. And all of this will be available in the vault.Julia Felton [00:14:14]:Yeah, sure. So where I always suggest that people start is I've got a turbocharge your team quiz, which you can get at businesshorsepower.com forward/quiz. And it's. What is it? It's about 15 questions that just really helps you identify where your team's energy is getting drained. And what I often talk about is something called Team Ship, which we'll get onto in a minute when we talk about books and stuff. But Team Ship is about how do you. How do you run your business? Rather than leadership, it's all about teamship, people getting together. And then when you take the quiz, you actually get a free copy of my ebook on how to create a business that runs on teamship and the three pillars that actually underpin that.Julia Felton [00:15:01]:And then anyone who's taken the quiz is also welcome to join me for a Turbocharger quiz audit where I help you unpack the results of the quiz in more detail so that you can start to put together a kind of a short plan on how to how you want to change things in your business going forward.Stuart Webb [00:15:18]:And I can, I can assure you because I've been on, had a look, good look at that stuff. If you go to systemize me free stuff, you'll see all of the details of that. And Julia is really good at this stuff. So you will be pleasantly surprised when you see the level of detail that this goes into. Julia, yes, you're right. We're about to get on to other things. What was it that brought you to your understanding? You talked about your corporate career, you've talked a little bit about your passion for nature. How did you get to now books, courses, programs that enabled you to understand that teamship was actually the thing which needed to drive your day to day existence in your life now.Julia Felton [00:16:10]:Yeah, such a great question because I think, you know, once I left the corporate world, you know, like so many of us do, you know, you see things in the rear view mirror, right, that you didn't see when you were in it. And you know, I look back and I just got really frustrated with the way that we were running and leading businesses. And as everything I looked to nature and horses were a big part of my life. And what I looked to was the way that horses actually operate as a unity in unity, you know, that a team is a horse herd is always concerned with the health, harmony and unity of the herd, how to keep it all together. And they employ something called, I call shared leadership at the time. And shared leadership is this concept of as a leader you don't need to know everything. And let's face it, you know, in the good old days before Mr. Google, you know, and we were in the industrial era, it was probably true that the factory manager, they did know everything, right? But that doesn't exist today.Julia Felton [00:17:13]:So I think for any leader today, they want to know that it's okay to share the leadership with each other. And horse herds do this so well. And we see this in a lot of other dynamics of animals in nature, but they share the leadership. They realize that not one animal can keep the whole herd safe. So in the horse herd, they share the leadership between everybody. But there is a lead marine and a lead stallion within the herd that, you know, have pacific roles and then everyone else in the herd looks for the danger. And I was like, well that would be so much better if that was a model that happened in business where everybody in the organization is responsible for the health and safety of the organization. So even though you are, you know, on the production line or, you know, you're in the admin team or whatever it might be, you still have a duty of care to ensure that the business is going to stay successful.Julia Felton [00:18:08]:So if you see a competitor doing something, you should be able to speak up and say, did anyone else notice that going on over there? That could be a threat for us, you know, so it's all these eyes and ears looking out. So it was when I read Keith Freshley's book, Never Lead Alone. He t. He introduces this concept of teamship, which is effectively shared leadership. And I was like, it gave me kind of a framework and some language to use. So I've now created my own framework. It's called the unbridled Teamship roadmap, which helps leaders create this high level of trust, adaptability and shared energy within their teams that we see within, particularly within horse herds, for example. So Keith Farazi, I have to acknowledge him, he kind of gave me the language for this, but it was my life experience of partnering with the horses and seeing things in the natural world, particularly when I lived in Africa, that that kind of bought these two worlds together.Julia Felton [00:19:03]:And I was like, yeah, this is a new framework for how we need to lead in the 21st century that is just going to be much more compelling and engaging for people.Stuart Webb [00:19:13]:And I think you're right. The, the, the, the, the days of the command and control have largely gone, haven't they? Because there are so too many, too many moving parts, too quickly moving for you to be able to make, to be able to control everything. And so unless you're prepared to allow the leadership to spread, it will be impossible.Julia Felton [00:19:38]:And you just become a bottleneck as well as the leader. If you try and keep it all together, right, because everything's moving so fast, you've just not got the capacity to make that many decisions all day, every day. So we've got to share it out. Otherwise your business is likely to, to stumble and falter just because you've just not got the brain power to do it. All right? So, you know, you can actually end up being the biggest risk factor in your business if you don't share the leadership.Stuart Webb [00:20:06]:Yeah, that's the challenge. So, Julie, there must be one question that I haven't yet asked you that you really want me to ask, which will sort of open up, open up the eyes of people who are currently thinking, this is kind of me, but I'm not sure what is the question that you think I should have asked. And, and as you obviously know the question, you probably also know the answer. So what would the answer to that question be?Julia Felton [00:20:35]:Well, I hope I know the answer. I think it. I think it's this reframe about how do we reframe leadership? Because we're still seeing leadership through this lens of performance and results. And I get that. We've got to get that. But actually, how can we reframe leadership to be the role of a leader is more about how do you direct and orchestrate the energy of the people around you? Because performance is the byproduct of where our energy goes. So if we're really clear on where our energy goes, where our attention is going, then we can get better results. And we see this all the time, don't we, where you get leaders that something happens and they go, you know, they go in.Julia Felton [00:21:17]:This is frenetic, scattered energy all over the place. And that ripples through the team. It causes confusion and nobody knows what they're doing, and everyone starts running around like headless chickens. And we've seen this so often in businesses, you know, when this firefighting throws in, but actually it just causes disarray. And how would it be if the leader recognized in. Actually, in that moment is the moment that you need to become more grounded, more coherent and really pause to go back to the rest and set and pause and. And just be discerning about what's going on? Is this something that I really need to get frantic about right now, or is this something that I can just slow down, pay attention to and realize there's different ways I can approach it? And that kind of coherence is very, very contagious within the team, and it slows all the team down. And then we've got.Julia Felton [00:22:14]:We can be just a lot more discerning then about the decisions that we really need to take. So I think for from when we start looking at leadership, my question would be that you didn't ask is, you know, what if leadership isn't about performance anymore, it's about how do we orchestrate the ebb and flow of the energy of the team so that everyone can work from their natural stance. And therefore we're shifting from this control stance to getting connection. We're moving from burnout to flow, and we're moving into really true leadership that is sustainable for everybody.Stuart Webb [00:22:50]:And do you therefore think, and I'm sorry, that I'm going to ask you a question when you've just answered a question, do you think in order to sort of support that the leader has to have been able to transmit their vision for the business to everybody. So that when they get into that state of flow, they're able to operate without constantly referring back and saying, why are we doing this again? I've forgotten.Julia Felton [00:23:14]:Yeah, absolutely. That's 100% at the top of everything. If nobody knows where they're going, nobody knows where we're going to end up. You know, I often when my clients, you know, I say, well, you know, there's so many different ways that we could maybe get to. I'm in the uk, so I could get to London at the end of. End of this call, right? But I got to know I'm going to London, otherwise the team will end up in Edinburgh or somebody will end up in Dublin or somebody will fly to New York. Right? And I think having that really clear purpose and vision absolutely underpins everything because it's. That, for me, is the glue that pulls everyone in the right direction.Julia Felton [00:23:48]:And we need to remember that. We need to continually articulate that to come back to communication. It's very easy for people to go, I've told everyone the vision and we expect people to remember it, right? But we have to be embedded into absolutely everything. Everything we do day in, day out needs to be aligned with the vision because people don't remember, you know, and I know from, you know, having run workshops with clients, I. I remember I run the same workshop, I hosted the same venue, like, four, no, five or six times in a row, and my client attended as a guest each time because it was her venue and it was a particular workshop. Actually, I was running with the horses. And she said to me on the sixth workshop, she goes, that bit you said about xyz, that was a genius, Julia. And I was like, God, that has been in every single workshop.Stuart Webb [00:24:36]:It's such cool content.Julia Felton [00:24:38]:And she hadn't heard it. And of course, this is what we forget about communication. People only hear what they want to hear when they want to hear it. So we've got to keep repeating the vision where we want to go to the strategy. And sometimes I think as leaders, we. You can feel a bit like a broken record. We're like, I've told everyone that. But people only hear it and get it when they want to hear it.Julia Felton [00:25:00]:Yes, absolutely. Underpins everything, Stuart. Yeah, And. And I think, you know, when we put that clear purpose, that really builds trust because people know, right? People have got that clarity about where we're going. We know what the outcomes are, we know where we're heading. So people have got trust that what's going to happen. We. We've got a.Julia Felton [00:25:18]:We've got a vision, we've got a plan. And so that really helps.Stuart Webb [00:25:20]:Wonderful, wonderful. Julia, this has been really, really, really wonderful. It's a really great way to sort of. For me to kick off what we do this year. Just one small thing from me, if you don't mind.Julia Felton [00:25:36]:Yeah.Stuart Webb [00:25:37]:I send out about one email a week on the weeks where we're doing a podcast, and it just. It just tells you who's coming up and why you need to get in front of the. And be live. We've had a number of people, tens of people watching this today. So they got that from, you know, they've sat at the desk. They hopefully some of them have gone away and thought, I've got some problems I need to resolve. So if you would like to be one of those people who gets the email that sort of says, somebody's coming up, go to www.systemize. that's S Y S T E M I S E.com forward slash, subscribe.Stuart Webb [00:26:13]:Simple form. It asks you for just your first name and an email address. I don't want any more than that because I just want to send you an email which basically says it's coming up, so please go do that. Julia, this has been really enlightening to start with. Wonderful reset of what we should be doing as leaders. Thinking about trying to sort of allow the energy and allow the natural talents to sort of dominate rather than somehow trying to force everybody down into a narrow path in order to sort of make things happen. So thank you so much for bringing that to us, and I really appreciate you spending some time with it. No problem at all.Julia Felton [00:26:48]:Thank you so much.Stuart Webb [00:26:49]:Thank you very much.Julia Felton [00:26:50]:Thank you so much indeed, Stuart. Really appreciate it. It's been a pleasure.Stuart Webb [00:27:19]:So I can talk to you. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Who is Patrick?Patrick Van der Burght's journey began over 25 years ago, when he first discovered the transformative power of understanding human behaviour and research. Awed by how empowering and effective these insights were—without the need to lie or cheat—he quickly became passionate about sharing them. Today, as a sought-after keynote speaker, Patrick relishes witnessing audiences experience their own “aha” moments, just as he did decades ago. His mission is to help others unlock their potential by waking up to the profound impact of his teaching, sparking realization, growth, and change wherever he speaks.Key TakeawaysThe Secret Science Behind Getting a YES—Without Being Manipulative1/ Ever felt “icky” trying to get someone to say yes? Turns out, ethical persuasion isn't about tricking—it's about understanding human behavior. Patrick Van der Burght dropped some serious knowledge on this in his chat with Stuart Webb on “It's Not Rocket Science.”

Who is Anna?Anna is a psychologist who specializes in helping individuals and organizations navigate the often invisible, yet crucial, “unwritten rules” of work. Anna works particularly with neurodivergent individuals and has a deep background in exploring class culture clashes within the workplace—especially the challenges faced when employees transition from blue-collar roles into corporate environments. Her upcoming book tackles these unwritten rules head-on, offering practical advice for leaders, staff, and HR professionals on how to recognise and address the subtle dynamics that impact team engagement, employee retention, and overall organisational success. Get ready for a conversation packed with actionable insights and straight-talking advice from someone who's dedicated her career to demystifying what really makes teams tick behind the scenesKey Takeaways* If your best performers hit a wall after their promotion, look out for unwritten rules holding them back. Culture clashes are real, and naming them is the first step to fixing your team.* Every workplace has unwritten rules—norms no one talks about that trip up even the best people. When these rules go unspoken, they can kill engagement and stall change.* Do you ever promote a top worker, only to see them struggle? The issue might not be skill, but hidden cultural expectations. It's time to get clear on what success really looks like.* What does your “ideal employee” look like in your mind? Dig deep—sometimes our assumptions create noise, not results. Get intentional about measuring what actually matters.* Before jumping into AI or new strategies, solve the unseen people problems first. Automation just speeds up whatever's broken—fix your foundation before you build.Don't forget: If you want to connect, ask questions, or get notified about upcoming guests like Anna, subscribe to the Systemise.Me newsletter here. You only need your first name and email—easy as (coffee) pie!Thanks for sharing a cup with us this week. Here's to strong coffee, smart hiring, and believing in the dreams you're just starting to imagine.And don't forget: keep an eye out for next guest. To submit your own questions, subscribe to our newsletter and join the conversation!P.S. Loved this episode? Hit reply and let us know what resonated most_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Do You Need a P.A.T.H. to Scale?We help established business owners with small but growing teams:go from feeling stuck, sceptical, and tired of wasting time and money on false promises,to running a confident, purpose-driven business where their team delivers results, customers are happy, and they can finally enjoy more time with their family -with a results-based refund guarantee: if you follow the process and it doesn't work, we refund what you paid.This is THE P.A.T.H. to scale your business.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast.SUMMARY KEYWORDSunwritten rules of work, employee engagement, employee retention, promotion pipeline issues, blue collar workers, white collar workers, management training, cultural norms, organizational culture, class culture clash, communication skills, indirect communication, assertiveness, workplace professionalism, neurodivergence, unconscious bias, productivity issues, team performance, leadership recommendations, HR practices, workplace audits, work miscommunication, onboarding, context performance, task performance, workplace diversity, automation, AI in the workplace, organizational change, workplace complianceSPEAKERAnna Kallschmidt, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:31]:Hi and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee I have with me. Well, it's not coffee actually at the moment, this is a tea. But I'm here with Dr. Anna Kauchmid. Hello Anna. Hope you're got a coffee or something with you to refresh you during this brilliant stuff. Anna is a psychologist.Stuart Webb [00:00:52]:She works particularly with people who know neurodivergent, etc, talking about the unwritten rules of work. And I know you've got a book coming out soon, Anna, which I hope we can get into. So welcome to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. And I hope that you are going to be able to tell us about the very unwritten rules there are around work.Stuart Webb [00:01:14]:Thank you. Thank you for having me. And I love the title of the podcast because I do think that internally a lot, this isn't rocket science. We don't need to, we don't need to make it more complicated than it is.Stuart Webb [00:01:25]:No, we don't. No we don't. And there is, there is too much already of people trying to make things sound complicated. And I do say often, you know, if, if it's too, if it's too complicated for me to understand, it's already got too complicated and you don't have to get too complicated for me to lose it. So let's talk about you and your work. Let's talk about the sort of the people that you're trying to help. What's the, what how would you characterize and what, what, how do they, what is it that they notice about themselves? Or are they business owners that need the help for their employees?Stuart Webb [00:02:00]:Yeah. So since I look at the unwritten rules of work, which are the cultural norms that are so ingrained in your organization that people don't think they need to be transparent about what they are. So it's really about. There's a cultural problem which impacts so many things. So I'm going to tell you the signs that my clients notice when they come to me, but at the core of them is being not in denial. That's my ideal client, someone who's not in denial. Someone who's recognized that there's an issue and wants to move forward.Stuart Webb [00:02:32]:And for those of us who aren't yet even aware of the problem, what's the problem? What are the things they're noticing so that, so maybe there are people out there that haven't even yet got to.Stuart Webb [00:02:40]:That stage so it can be low. Employee engagement is always one very poor retention. You're having Problems promoting have. You have like great employees. This is a big one. I see you have great employees from like entry level to like almost middle management. But once they get into like the higher corporate levels, it's like they fall apart or they just don't get it. So I see this a lot specifically in industries that have like a blue collar, white collar, two different subsets, so like retail or anything in manufacturing etc.Stuart Webb [00:03:17]:Of where you have like these excellent blue collar workers. You promote them up to the corporate side and they're like, what is going on? Because he introduced me as neurodivergent, which is true, but originally my work is about class and there's a class culture clash there. And so it's when you have a really good performer who as they get higher they run into more problems. And when you see this, so you have promotion pipeline issues, you have retention issues, you might have productivity issues and you might have complaints about your management at the management level after you've promoted them. And you're not sure why because they were always great performers and you know, they work really hard.Stuart Webb [00:03:54]:So tell me, you know the people that you're talking about there, the managers, the business owners, the founders of those companies, what are the things they've done? They, presumably they've gone through the sort of, they've gone through the usual training, they've tried to sort of train their managers in better communication, all that sort of thing. What do they normally find that, that they haven't done, that they haven't understood what their problem is.Stuart Webb [00:04:16]:A lot of us, and this is normal human nature, a lot of us have a hard time conceptualizing that our normal isn't. Everyone's normal. And it's one of those. That sounds simple, that's not rocket science, but that's so deeply ingrained that a lot of companies spend a lot of money trying to add more things to solve the problem, have this training, have that speaker come in, etc. But they don't look at what the core issues are. And it's just assumed that it's very, it's just professionalism. And that people get bristled when you say that because like, well, that's just being respectful. That's not all the professionalism is.Stuart Webb [00:04:59]:Right, it's very easy to dismiss and be like, this is just how things are done. This is just white collar work, this is just professionalism. But it's things like indirect communication. It's things like they don't know how to schmooze enough, they're rubbing People wrong, they seem rough around the edges or that they either don't know how to be assertive enough or they come across as aggressive. And it's those little nuances that are more common in blue collar and pink collar work of being more direct in your communication, of talking more about task and less about interpersonal skills. And then it changes when it gets to the corporate level. And so bringing in somebody to talk about unconscious bias can be great for other reasons, but it's not going to solve those culture clashes.Stuart Webb [00:05:47]:Okay. Okay. So you must have some great advice that you can give to people to take them into that first step. And I know we're going to get into some of the stuff that you offer us in terms of sort of. If you go to the vault that we have here, which is the systemized me free stuff vault, we've got got stuff from, from Anna which you can sort of grab but talk us through sort of. What is the advice that you give to companies when they first come to you? The sort of thing that you're telling them they need to start this process before they get an expert like you involved.Stuart Webb [00:06:20]:So I do it on. I will do an unwritten rules audit for where I look at water. I have eight groups of unwritten rules and I can survey that and tell you which ones you're struggling with. But I have a very quick free version on my website drkaulschmidt.com quiz and it's about four questions. Once you tell me if you're looking for yourself, your organization, and that'll let me know which one you're struggling with the most. Are you struggling with people? Don't tell you about problems until it's too late. Are you struggling with people? There's a lot of miscommunications and it's delaying productivity. Are you struggling with.Stuart Webb [00:06:54]:You have a team of really top performers, but they do not know how to work together. And that helps me narrow down which culture clash might be an issue. And then I can make recommendations for your organization so that that is the quickest free option. But I do have, like I said, a book coming out in the next couple of weeks and that has every chapter covers an unwritten rule and at the end of every chapter I give recommendations for leaders, staff and hr. And those are very practical, hands on. I don't do the vague advice thing, if you haven't noticed. I'm like. The first thing I said was like, well, you have to not be in denial.Stuart Webb [00:07:34]:Right. So it's a very, it's A very. I've been told I'm not a B12 shot speaker. I'm not going to make you feel great and then walk away and you're like, what are we doing? So it's very. The book is over 300 pages for a reason. It's very tangible, hands on.Stuart Webb [00:07:51]:And that's a really good recommendation for anybody who's here at the moment for actual practical advice. And that's the stuff we love to give on this podcast. Because I don't know about you and comment in the below. If you're beginning to see things in what you're being told now, are you seeing things in your work, where you're going, I think I've got one of these. And I know Anna or myself will come back to you and sort of direct you in the right direction to start getting that help. Because we all need to start being direct with people. We need to start getting that sort of action that Anna's talking about now. We need to, to be able to move things forward.Stuart Webb [00:08:28]:So, yeah, do comment below on things that you might have seen in your workplace and let us know whether or not this is resonating. Anna, you were saying you were direct. How did you come to be this expert in these unwritten rules, the things that we don't see? How did you manage to sort of find them? And how did you find them, work them out?Stuart Webb [00:08:51]:Well, I like to do well. The short answer is I screwed up enough that I had to figure it out. You know, I pissed off people. Okay, yeah, I can see that deep dive on this. But I would say, I'd say the moment that it started coming together for me was in my first week of my PhD program. We have this class, Introduction to Industrial Psychology, where we're going over. I'm the type of psychologist, nobody knows who we are, so we're going over like, you know, job performance, how to design metrics, how to design jobs, how to do a job analysis, all of those tangible things. And we learned first week there are two types of job performance.Stuart Webb [00:09:25]:Does that sound right to you, that there are two types? No, that's not so it fascinated me as well. And so the first type is task performance, which is what is in your job description. And the other kind is contextual performance. And it was all of those other things that help organizations, but that aren't written down. And I was like, so what are all those other things? And the room just went silent and everybody was like, well, you know, I was like, no, no, I wouldn't have.Stuart Webb [00:09:57]:Asked the question if I knew and.Stuart Webb [00:09:59]:I was coming in. I didn't go straight from undergrad to grad. I worked since high school and I worked in between grad. So I had work experience. And I was like, what is this? And I was already doing a research my master's thesis was on. Is a low income background stigmatized at work even after you've experienced social class mobility and even for white men in America? And so I was already in that vein of looking at class. And so when nobody could tell me what all those other things were. And IO psychology is so big on measurement.Stuart Webb [00:10:32]:Like, we're so big on what gets measured, you know, matters and drives performance. So it was just weird to me that there was this whole second piece of performance that we weren't being really clear about. And so that's what I ended up doing my dissertation on was what are the unwritten rules of work for people who move up from a low income background to middle class or higher through employment? And So I interviewed 64 people and noticed themes and what they were saying. I talked to black and white women and men in the United States. And then over time, my next study, I made a scale and I administered it to all races and genders in the US And I looked at statistically significant differences. And so it's just kind of evolved from that moment of being like, what's all that other stuff?Stuart Webb [00:11:22]:And so is that effectively the book? Is that what you've now put into the book so that you can really, well, at this stage categorize what those unreal written rules are so that now there is an answer to the question, what are the unwritten rul rules?Stuart Webb [00:11:40]:Yeah, that's the book. So I did the dissertation and I didn't plan on becoming like the unwritten rules coach, but I. I have largely been outside of academia. Like I've done, you know, I've kept a research hold and I sometimes teach, but largely I've worked for the federal government or private consulting firms and worked in organizations. And everywhere I worked, the unwritten rules were a problem. Like, no matter what, if you go in and you're trying to implement a change and nobody knows what you're talking about when they don't know how to talk to each other, it's not going to work. And so it just kept on becoming this pattern of noticing that it's like putting a band aid on a broken bone, right? We're not addressing the broken bone. And so, yeah, I just kept researching it.Stuart Webb [00:12:25]:And then in the book I talk about I spent a chapter on the research on each of them. I spinach. I talk about my personal experiences with organizations, and I also talk about case studies of where we can see these rules play out in other organizations as well.Stuart Webb [00:12:41]:That's fascinating. And, you know, I mean, that, that strikes me that it's not just small business owners who are currently struggling with their teams, which are perhaps not quite as functioning as the way you. They would like them to be, who are listening to this and thinking, that might be me. But it's those organizations that are trying to undergo big change. And I've been involved with. And you are absolutely right that when you try and make a change, even if it is for the better, nobody wants to adopt that change. And it's largely down to a bunch of things that you cannot tangibly put your finger on and go, we need to address this. And it's those unwritten rules which actually prevent and cause those transformations to often go very badly wrong, become very expensive, and be very expensive to fix.Stuart Webb [00:13:29]:So this doesn't change a large number of people. Yeah, that's exactly right. AI is actually making problem almost worse.Stuart Webb [00:13:36]:Yeah. Because it's ample. AI amplifies and automates the good and the bad. And then I'm sure you've heard of the MIT study that came out a few months ago that was like 95% of AI actually isn't increasing profits at all. Did you see that?Stuart Webb [00:13:49]:I did.Stuart Webb [00:13:50]:Okay, so what I found interesting. So one of my unwritten rules is the unwritten rule of compliance, which is that people might ask you for your opinion, but they're not really asking for your opinion. Right. You're supposed to just agree. And one of the examples that the MIT report gave was that there was this huge flop. And of course, they don't name the organization. That one person, one leader made this global rollout, just him and AI, no feedback. Nobody else looked at it.Stuart Webb [00:14:22]:And guess what? It didn't go well. Isn't that shocking? And that to me, that's an example of you automated. The unwritten rule of compliance.Stuart Webb [00:14:32]:Yeah, yeah.Stuart Webb [00:14:32]:Because AI is only going to disagree with you if you tell it to. Otherwise it's like, yeah, you go, girl. You are so smart. Like, hello. Right. And you have to tell it. Don't hallucinate. What are the holes here? And even then, you still have to think for yourself.Stuart Webb [00:14:50]:So to me, that was an example of. I wasn't even looking for it. I was just reading the report. I found it interesting because I'm not anti AI. I'm just anti being stupid with AI. And I saw that example and I was like, well, there you go. There's an unwritten rule on automation.Stuart Webb [00:15:06]:I must admit that that's one I shall now start to quote more often. I do often get involved in companies that are trying to improve productivity with AI. And the one thing that I often say about automation, and I did automation for a number of years, I built a couple of companies around automation. And the one thing that I was always taught and always said to customers as they started their automation product, please let's start by sor out the problems because otherwise your automation will just make your bad stuff flow faster and you cannot then control it. If your bad process is now fast, you don't even understand where the bad stuff's coming from because it would come at you so quickly. Too many companies I don't believe are looking at these sort of unwritten rules, looking at the underlying problems first, resolving those. So they've got a foundation for growth and a foundation for building those, those, those, those glorious temples of, of sc. And I'm not going to try and keep you here all afternoon.Stuart Webb [00:16:06]:I'm sure we could have a very, very long conversation and it would be great fun. But people want to get, want to get to the nub of things. And one of those things that I think is really important is there must be a question at the moment that you're thinking he hasn't asked me the killer question, the one question that will really break this topic open. So I'm going to ask you to tell me what that question is because I obviously don't know it and I haven't asked it. But then you're obviously going to have to answer it for me because that is the key to getting this topic embedded in everybody's workplace.Stuart Webb [00:16:42]:You know, I have not the only question you sent me that I could not answer. But I what it reminded me of is that something, an exercise that I do with some of my clients is I'll ask them to picture their ideal employee and I'll ask them what are they doing?Stuart Webb [00:17:01]:Good question for them.Stuart Webb [00:17:03]:And I'll ask them what are they doing? Okay, what does this look like? And it's a helpful because you know, you should already be doing this because why are you measuring job performance if you can't tell me this? Right? So we're having this conversation. It'll be like this person is a great communicator. This person is a great team player. This person, you know, tries to solve problems first and then they Come to me Da da da da. And then at the end I asked them, and what background did you assign that person? Because inherently, what race did you assign that person? What gender did you assign that person? How old were they? There's all these things that we don't realize. Color, who we foresee. And it's both important to know who your ideal employee is so that you can make sure you're measuring job performance. That is needed.Stuart Webb [00:17:48]:And it's important to also recognize the noise because too often, and we all do this, we all, like, I think white women with a Southern American accent sound brilliant, right? But that's because they sound like me, you know, and so, like, we all do that. And so it's important to recognize that we all have noise. And, and that is a really critical takeaway in my book is one of the main recommendations is we all need to have frame of reference training. And that's going to be the next rollout. In my workshops that I do in my online school community is focusing on how do we narrow down the noise because it may make us feel good short term, but then we run into all those problems that we talked about in the beginning of the. Why are the people I'm promoting not meeting expectations? Why do we have low engagement? Why am I spending so much in turnover? What's going on? Why is my AI not working? Right? All of these things.Stuart Webb [00:18:55]:Yeah. Yeah, Brilliant. Anna, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. You know, what you say is so critical to people who are trying to grow their businesses, who are trying to sort of get work done more profitably, get it done productively. They're ignoring, they're often ignoring, you know, they've got the task, they're ignoring the other stuff. And that's the thing that often slows you down. So I think you're, you. You've got a, you've got a great way of putting it.Stuart Webb [00:19:25]:I love the way you're putting it. I really hope that if anybody here is, is thinking, I, I know that's me. Please drop comments down in the chat below. We will get back to you. We will point you in the right direction because I think this is a great way of doing it. The other thing I'm going to ask you all to do now is this link, which is www.systemize.me forward/subscribe. That's systemize.me forward/subscribe. It's a simple form.Stuart Webb [00:19:53]:It just asks you for your name and an email address. You will then get onto the website, the mailing lists, apologies, the mailing list for this, for the show. You'll get an email once a week from me telling you who's coming up. And you can come and look on LinkedIn and join the join the call so that you can get your questions answered. But in the meantime, Dr. Anna Carlschmidt, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. Really appreciate you coming and explaining some of those unwritten rules. I'm now going to have an unwritten rule, which is I need to have a drink immediately after this.Stuart Webb [00:20:23]:So thank you very much for your time. And I look forward to seeing, seeing more of what you are producing as you do the second version of all of this.Stuart Webb [00:20:31]:All right. Thank you so much. Have a good one. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

The pressure to optimize every minute of your calendar can often become a trap of its own, leading to a state of “fake time freedom” where you remain stressed despite having control over your schedule. In this episode of Productivity MD, Dr. Ann Tsung discusses the specific friction between being a “Time Creator” and ascending to a “Time Liberator”.Drawing from her personal journey of taking a NASA sabbatical to travel the world with her family, Dr. Tsung reveals how easy it is to stay stuck in a macro-level optimization loop even when your daily life looks successful. You will learn how to identify the five stages of time freedom, how to use a “Shutdown Sequence” to maintain a gain-state mindset, and why the most important decisions in your life require a “Hell Yes” or a “No”. This episode is a guide to stopping the “waffling” of indecision and moving toward the physical and mental vitality required to shape the future of your family and your legacy.Key Points From This Episode:The Five Stages of Time FreedomThe Trap of the “Time Creator”Micro vs. Macro FreedomFiltering by Energy, Not TimeThe Power of DecisionThe Shutdown SequenceMassive Transformative Purpose (MTP)Fighting for PresenceThe Boundless LifeTaking the Micro-StepResources:Search for Time and Energy Mission Control on SKOOLListen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - Stuck in Stage 3 Time Creator, Steps to Ascend to Stage 4 Time LiberatorPlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2026/04/18/episode-83/

Who is Royce?Royce Blake is a seasoned professional in the radio industry, known for his deep expertise in audience engagement. Drawing on years of experience, Royce specializes in helping podcast hosts and guests connect meaningfully with listeners. Through his insights and practical advice, he teaches how to make each guest feel valued and every audience member feel special. On this appearance on “It's Not Rocket Science: Five Questions Over Coffee,” he shares his proven strategies for keeping listeners captivated, making him a trusted figure for anyone looking to elevate their podcasting game.Key Takeaways* Ever felt awkward hearing your own recorded voice? Royce Blake explains: it's normal! The key is getting comfortable with your true sound—crucial for building real connection, whether you're on air or in the boardroom.* Struggling to keep your audience engaged? Royce Blake says: Be natural. Ditch the “radio voice” and just be yourself. Recording and reviewing yourself honestly will transform your confidence and presence.* Silence feels uncomfortable, but pausing can be powerful. Let moments land. Pauses give your audience space to process and make your next words even stronger, says Royce Blake.* Great podcasts start with research. Asking guests questions they've never heard lets them shine and keeps things authentic. Dig deep—don't settle for surface-level!* Facing trolls? Royce Blake shares: No one more successful than you will ever put you down. Focus on being your authentic self and let the hate go. Keep showing up, every day.Don't forget: If you want to connect, ask questions, or get notified about upcoming guests like Royce, subscribe to the Systemise.Me newsletter here. You only need your first name and email—easy as (coffee) pie!Thanks for sharing a cup with us this week. Here's to strong coffee, smart hiring, and believing in the dreams you're just starting to imagine.And don't forget: keep an eye out for next guest. To submit your own questions, subscribe to our newsletter and join the conversation!P.S. Loved this episode? Hit reply and let us know what resonated most_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Do You Need a P.A.T.H. to Scale?We help established business owners with small but growing teams:go from feeling stuck, sceptical, and tired of wasting time and money on false promises,to running a confident, purpose-driven business where their team delivers results, customers are happy, and they can finally enjoy more time with their family -with a results-based refund guarantee: if you follow the process and it doesn't work, we refund what you paid.This is THE P.A.T.H. to scale your business.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast.SUMMARY KEYWORDSpodcasting, podcast hosts, podcast guests, audience engagement, radio industry, public speaking, event hosts, speaker training, business leaders, microphone confidence, voice recording, self-assessment, filler words, affectation, natural speaking, pause technique, research, interview preparation, guest questions, press junket, celebrity interviews, social profiles, hobby discussion, body language, hand gestures, listener retention, overcoming nerves, handling trolls, negative comments, authentic communication, podcast improvementSPEAKERRoyce Blake, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:00]:Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. I'm really pleased that I'm here today with Royce Blake. Now, Royce has got a huge amount of experience in the radio industry, and I think he's going to really help us to understand, as podcast host, potential podcast guests, exactly how you can engage your audience, make sure that you keep hold of them, and do the intelligent thing of making them feel like the special person on your show. So I'm hoping that Royce can do that for me. Royce, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. I know we're gonna have a great time, and I really appreciate you spending a few minutes with us, making time in your busy day.Royce Blake [00:01:13]:It's my pleasure. Stuart. Got my coffee. I'm ready to go. So let's do this.Stuart Webb [00:01:19]:Terrific. Okay, let's start with. I mean, you've got an absolutely enormous amount of history. Who is your ideal audience at the moment? Who are you trying to help understand how to better engage their audience and keep them held?Royce Blake [00:01:35]:Right now, it's mainly podcasters, but I also help event hosts, speakers, even business leaders that do a lot of speaking before even their employees. Anybody that needs to keep an audience, that's who I help.Stuart Webb [00:01:53]:And tell me, Royce, I mean, you're obviously doing this from a radio perspective, but it's not just radio, is it? You. You. You help people who understand how to appear in front of an audience and. And in. And interact in that way.Royce Blake [00:02:04]:I like to call it mike shy to camera confident, because that's. That's what it is, really, because we're all. It's. It's normal. Do you remember the first time you heard your. Your voice recorded?Stuart Webb [00:02:22]:Never heard it. Royce, don't. Never, never, never. It's never been possible.Royce Blake [00:02:26]:It's human. We all. We all go through the same thing because we hear our voice through bone, and people and microphones are hearing our voice through air, and that's the big difference. That's why it sounds weird.Stuart Webb [00:02:44]:Yes, yes. And unfortunately, that weird makes us all very nervous. Makes us feel somehow as though things are wrong. And that is the. The root of all the problems you get, isn't it?Royce Blake [00:02:58]:Oh, absolutely. And, you know, even, like when I was first on the air, on the radio, you know, you put headphones on, right? And so you're hearing your voice as it appears to other people live in your ears. And that usually causes, in radio, what we call affectation, because you put those headphones on and you say, hey, there, and all of A sudden it sounds weird, right? It sounds. And you say, hey there. And wow, that sounds even better, you know, so pretty soon you're talking like this, and eventually affectation leads to what we call in the radio world, puking. Because you get down to there, how are you? And it sounds like you're really trying to vomit. So we try to avoid that. And luckily these days, especially in the podcast world, people.Royce Blake [00:03:52]:People are kind of swinging back to real, so they appreciate people that are just real. You don't have to have a radio voice. It's be natural. And that's what I help people do.Stuart Webb [00:04:06]:So tell me, Royce, what people, what have people tried to do before they reach out to an expert such as yourself? You know, we've all recorded ourselves. We've all tried to avoid listening to it. Again, what are the things they've done and how have they made that affectation worse?Royce Blake [00:04:25]:Well, see, this is the biggest challenge for me because asking someone to admit they need help when it comes to talking is a big mountain to climb, ego wise, right? So you're like, oh, man, I think I talk good. And, you know, you can get so much better. And if you like, I can jump right into one of the techniques that anybody can do at home.Stuart Webb [00:04:50]:Okay, yeah, why don't we look into that? Because this is. This is the valuable free advice that you are. That you're going to offer us, isn't it?Royce Blake [00:04:58]:Absolutely. All you need is one of these. Use your cell phone, right, and record yourself a lot, and it's going to be very uncomfortable at first. It doesn't matter what you're recording, but you need to record for five whole minutes, because we can all start off, you know, reiterating our elevator pitch or your sales presentation or whatever. And that goes great for a couple of minutes, but after that, you're starting to stress out on what to say, and that's when the magic happens. The real you starts coming out, and that's what we're looking for. So five minutes. It can be about your grocery list.Royce Blake [00:05:45]:One of my favorite topics to help people is talk about a hobby you love and why you got into it and why it's so awesome, or why someone is your best friend, whatever it is. Talk for five minutes. And remember, you can always delete this stuff, right? You don't have to keep it. No one else has to see it. But the key is how you watch it when you record yourself. First time you watch it, I want you to do it with the phone facing down. Don't watch it. Just Listen to it, crank up the volume, and just listen to yourself.Royce Blake [00:06:24]:That's when you'll start to discover little things. In radio, we call them crutches. Things you say that you're not even realizing. Realizing that you're saying the ums, the likes, you know what I mean? Those are all filler words or phrases, and that's when they start to stick out. Secondly, watch it back again, but this time with the sound off. So you're just watching yourself. Do you sway all the time? Are you playing a statue? Do you never move? You know, things like that that you had no idea you were doing? Do you use too many hand gestures? Are you flailing all over the place? That's going to start submitting in your subconscious mind exactly what you're doing, and then watch it entirely. Watch it full screen and rinse and repeat.Royce Blake [00:07:22]:You keep doing that, after five times, you'll be at least 50% better. Maybe. I've seen some people go 90% better because they had no idea what they were doing. And once again, it's a crutch. It's one of those things that personally we're not aware of. But that's what the audience is seeing, and that's the way you get used to you. That's the bottom line right there, is getting used to yourself. And nothing helps more than watching.Royce Blake [00:07:56]:And, you know, it can. It can go away. No one else has to see it, but you're going to start seeing things a lot differently.Stuart Webb [00:08:07]:So, Royce, this is. This is really interesting stuff. Tell me, when you. I mean, you obviously help people a lot with this sort of thing. You help them with those filler words. And I know how embarrassing it was. For the first time, somebody. Somebody did that with me, and I found it intensely embarrassing.Stuart Webb [00:08:26]:How do you get people to understand that? That's just what natural is?Royce Blake [00:08:31]:Because humans. It's a great question, Stuart. Humans abhors silence.Stuart Webb [00:08:38]:Yes, we think.Royce Blake [00:08:40]:We think that if there's silence, oh, man, people are freaking out. Let me tell you something. First of all, an overall view of audiences. People are so afraid of what people are thinking, and that's the real fear. We're not really worried about our voice or even what we're saying. We're worried about being judged. And that's part of. That's part of human nature.Royce Blake [00:09:04]:And so when you abhor a vacuum, right? Silence, you try to fill it with, no matter what. You know what I mean? Do you get that? You guys understand where I'm coming from, Things that mean nothing. One of the Big secrets that most great speakers use is something I did right there, and that is the pause. When you take a pause even for three seconds, it doesn't even have. You don't have to count to three seconds, but if you can just pause and say the letters and A, B, C in your head, that's a perfect pause. And see, I threw in another one right there. Did that feel weird to you?Stuart Webb [00:09:53]:Yeah. The thing is, Royce, it kind of you, you feel, you feel as though you should be saying something, and yet sometimes the audience needs that pause to process what you've just said. And you're being kind to them by actually pausing long enough for them to have that revelation or whatever it is you're trying to give them.Royce Blake [00:10:12]:Right. It lets them ponder it, especially if it's an important point. The other awesome thing about pauses is it makes what you say next much more powerful.Stuart Webb [00:10:25]:Love that.Royce Blake [00:10:26]:So once again, the pause, it's hard to do in your brain. It sounds totally natural to any, any audience, really.Stuart Webb [00:10:38]:Let me just put a link on the bottom because we have got some fabulous stuff that Royce is going to make available to the listeners and to the audience here. If you go to www.systemize.me, free hyphen stuff, Royce, I've already got some of this stuff. The five day course, things like that, where you are going to be taking people from a world, from amateur to professional.Royce Blake [00:11:06]:Right, right. And in, in the course brilliance.Stuart Webb [00:11:12]:Just, just, I just. Thank you so much for making some of that stuff available.Royce Blake [00:11:17]:Absolutely. In the course, I go into all these.Stuart Webb [00:11:20]:Hide that again for a second so that people can focus on what you're saying.Royce Blake [00:11:26]:There you go. Well, in the course, I also go over all this in much more depth. And each, each day it's just a five day email course. Each email also has a video included. So you can see me explaining this more. Are you still there, Stuart? I'll just keep talking. I used to get a. I used to get a lot of money on that for that.Royce Blake [00:11:59]:You know, the other awesome thing that I really want to help podcasters with is research. And if anybody asked me what's the secret to a great podcast or a great radio show? It's research. Figure out something you want to get to, a question a guest has never been asked. And that's the secret. And when you get to research, I'm not talking about like on the radio, for instance, especially when we had a celebrities. The reason that celebrities even appear on, on radio stations or TV stations is they usually have a book to promote. Right. Or, you know, a movie, a brand new movie coming out.Royce Blake [00:12:49]:Well, they're on a press junket. And a press junket is where they sit in one studio and then they do a TV hit in Cincinnati and then a radio show in Cleveland and then off to another radio show in Dallas. And so when you're doing these things, you have no idea. If you're a radio host and you're about to interview a celebrity guest, you don't have any idea what number you are. You could be station number nine for all. For all. All things considered. So, and odds are, whoever it is, they've been asked the same types or sometimes the same exact question nine times in a row.Royce Blake [00:13:33]:And so you don't want to be that host, whether it's on a podcast, an event, or, you know, on radio or tv, you want to be someone that asked them a question they've never heard before. I. I always recall one with boxer Mike Tyson, who was awesome. Obviously, this was at really the height of his popularity. And for those of you that remember the ear biting incident, well, I'm sure he'd been asked that a thousand times at that point. Instead, I had done deep research, and once again, yes, you can look at their social profiles. You can, you know, check into any, any, anything they posted and see where they're coming from. Check their hobbies and all that stuff, but go much, much deeper.Royce Blake [00:14:26]:Anything you can find, even if it's a business owner you're talking to, go back and look at their ads, See what kind of ads they had running. If they had a weird ad or maybe a weird job. Before they, you know, got into the car business, they used to, you know, build porcelain dolls or something, something weird like that. For me and Mike Tyson, it was pigeon racing. Now, I have no idea how you race pigeons, but I knew that Mike Tyson was into pigeon racing. And so what did I do? While everybody else was asking him about the ear biting incident, I asked him about pigeon racing. Hey, champ, how's the pigeon racing environment this year? Everything. You got a shot, and he lit up like a Christmas tree.Royce Blake [00:15:20]:It was amazing. So that's the type of research I'm talking about. Go deep. If I didn't. If I finished an interview and I didn't have at least two pages of questions I didn't get to, then I hadn't done my job. So once again, it's all about research.Stuart Webb [00:15:42]:Brilliant, brilliant stuff, Royce. Thank you so much for that. Royce. There must be one question that you're currently thinking that I haven't in the process of this interview or discussion, asked you what is the question that you think I should have asked? And obviously now you know what that question is, you need to answer it for us as well.Royce Blake [00:16:07]:Well, you know, once again, I, I think, by the way, just talking about. Here's. Here's one for you. We were talking about. I know we're having tech problems here, Stuart, but, you know, if I had a, you know, a question for you to give you an idea of what kind of research, and it doesn't take long, this took me probably.Stuart Webb [00:16:27]:Oh, no.Royce Blake [00:16:29]:I would say, hey, Stuart, I know that. Well, how did you go from like, killing viruses to helping businesses scale? You know, you were in the, in the bio.Stuart Webb [00:16:46]:Do you know the reason. The reason that I did that, Royce, Tell me the reason. The reason I did that, Royce, was because I wasn't very. I. I was. I was actually not a very good practical scientist. I was a very good thinker. A lot of people kept telling me I had brilliant thoughts, but I was very poor at putting them down into an experiment.Stuart Webb [00:17:12]:And so I had to find something where I was able to use my brain to solve big problems, but not necessarily always. Always sort of make those experiments very successful. So it's about finding that thing which you are passionate about, but at the same time, you can actually turn into something people will pay you to do.Royce Blake [00:17:35]:Absolutely. Have you been asked that before?Stuart Webb [00:17:42]:That is not what I have been asked. And I'm going to remember how good you are at turning the. The. The question and answer into a discussion, because you find that way. And that's how you make an engaging podcast guest or host out of people, isn't it? By getting to open up and explore things with an intelligent research question.Royce Blake [00:18:08]:And listen and listen intently. Don't worry about getting to question seven when your guest has just spun gold on your podcast. You know, let them expand, let them go with the flow there. You know, as. As far as questions that, that you didn't ask me, I get this from a lot of podcasters. Well, a lot of people in general is. How do you handle trolls? How do you handle negative comments? Right. People, you know, all this.Royce Blake [00:18:38]:I was lucky, I guess, because I was trained. I. You're. You're old enough to remember. I'm not sure if they have this on the BBC or any of the, you know, any other. But the request line, this radio station request line where you can call in and request a song, right?Stuart Webb [00:18:57]:Yes.Royce Blake [00:18:58]:Well, this is. You got to think about it. This is the only time for free you can reach another human being and say anything you want, because 95 weren't there to request a song. A lot were there to give their opinion. And. And, you know, a lot of times it always amazed me, someone would sit on the request line on hold for a half an hour just to tell me, hey, you suck. So, you know, after you get that a few thousand times, you start. You start losing the nerve that, you know, so.Royce Blake [00:19:34]:But I want people to remember, no one more successful than you will ever put you down. They don't have the time. They don't have the inclination.Stuart Webb [00:19:45]:Brilliant.Royce Blake [00:19:45]:So ignore them. I know it's easy to say and hard to do, but trust me, something's wrong with them, not you, so just let it go.Stuart Webb [00:19:56]:Brilliant, Royce. I love that. And I want to end it there, because I think that is the best advice that you can give anybody. I mean, if I want to take away two things, and I know there have been a couple of technical difficulties, but there are two things I want to take away, one. One of which is, you know, you have just got to get used to the fact that you need to sound natural and need to get over yourself and start behaving like you are just a normal human being. And we all have that problem. And. And the haters.Stuart Webb [00:20:26]:Well, the haters are going to hate, and you just got to let them do it and get away from them and move forward being your positive self.Royce Blake [00:20:33]:I've got a great phrase. You can. You can write down everybody. And it's something I learned from an old radio pro. He said, royce, I don't care if they hate me as long as they hate me every day.Stuart Webb [00:20:49]:I love that one. I love it. Listen, people, I'm gonna. I'm just gonna thank Royce for spending a few minutes with us. If you would like to get an email from me where you can actually just find out who is going to be on the show and listen to the brilliant advice like people like Royce Lake bring to us. Go to Systemize Me, subscribe. That's systemized me. Forward slash, subscribe.Stuart Webb [00:21:20]:Just go there. Simple form, name, email address. We don't ask you for any more than that. Once a week, you get an email from me saying who's coming up? And you really should listen to some of the people that are coming up on this show. Royce, I want to thank you so much for being here and telling us a little bit about this, and I appreciate you keeping going when I know there have been a one or two technical difficulties, but I just think what you've told us is absolute gold about how to engage people and keep them engaged, and I just love it. And thank you so much for spending a few minutes.Royce Blake [00:21:47]:It's been a pleasure, Stuart. Thank you so much. And, you know, once again, this has been awesome. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Who is Donna?Donna Amos has been working with a law firm since 2010, helping them share their expertise with the world. When she first started, the firm had three attorneys and two financial planners specializing in elder care. Donna encouraged the team to create weekly videos answering frequently asked questions, making their knowledge accessible on every platform. However, when the first video shoot arrived, nerves got the better of the group—they greeted Donna with a case of beer, hoping to calm their anxiety about being on camera. Thanks to Donna's encouragement, they pushed through their fears and successfully filmed their first video, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the firm's outreach efforts.Key Takeaways* Action is what drives change, especially for solo and micro business owners. Donna Amos reminds us: just take that first step, even if it's scary. Progress starts before confidence kicks in!* We often get stuck in our own heads, telling ourselves we're not good enough. Donna's advice: seek out someone who believes in you, encourages you, and helps you move forward. Sometimes that's all we need.* Staying “busy” isn't the same as making progress. Donna explored how focus and vision make the real difference—not just for ourselves, but for those we work with and serve.* Writing a book can be daunting, but Donna recommends starting with simple research and writing a little each day. In 3 months, you could have your biggest calling card and a new way to share your expertise.* The first challenge is finishing what you start. Donna shares: Only 3% of people finish their manuscript. Create discipline by writing 500 words a day—small steps lead to big results in your personal story.Don't forget: If you want to connect, ask questions, or get notified about upcoming guests like Donna, subscribe to the Systemise.Me newsletter here. You only need your first name and email—easy as (coffee) pie!Thanks for sharing a cup with us this week. Here's to strong coffee, smart hiring, and believing in the dreams you're just starting to imagine.And don't forget: keep an eye out for next guest. To submit your own questions, subscribe to our newsletter and join the conversation!P.S. Loved this episode? Hit reply and let us know what resonated most_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Do You Need a P.A.T.H. to Scale?We help established business owners with small but growing teams:go from feeling stuck, sceptical, and tired of wasting time and money on false promises,to running a confident, purpose-driven business where their team delivers results, customers are happy, and they can finally enjoy more time with their family -with a results-based refund guarantee: if you follow the process and it doesn't work, we refund what you paid.This is THE P.A.T.H. to scale your business.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast.SUMMARY KEYWORDSsolo business owners, micro business owners, solopreneurs, marketing agency, self-publishing, book publishing, business inspiration, taking action, self-talk, productivity, time management, strategic vision, encouragement, coaching, marketing strategies, authority building, marketing tools, business growth, client engagement, discipline, writing a book, business storytelling, video marketing, social media promotion, networking, expert positioning, lead generation, case studies, business challenges, research techniques, Amazon researchSPEAKERDonna Amos, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:00]:Hi there and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. My mug is in hand. Still got coffee in it, which is just as well. And I'm delighted to be welcoming Donna Amos to the podcast today. Donna is a marketer, she's a publisher, but mostly she is someone who aims to try and inspire others to take action. I'm really excited to that we're going to be having a discussion about how Donna is going to inspire us to be taking action today. So welcome to the podcast, Donna.Donna Amos [00:01:05]:Thanks, Stuart. I appreciate it.Stuart Webb [00:01:09]:Thank you. So let's start by trying to understand those people who you are trying to inspire to take action. Who is it that you're trying to help with that particular problem that I know we all have.Donna Amos [00:01:24]:So I focus on solo and micro business owners. So those are the people that I want to inspire to take action, to realize that whatever it is they want, if they just take the first step, they'll see that it's not impossible to make it happen.Stuart Webb [00:01:49]:Difficult sometimes to do when you're a solopreneur or a small business owner buried under paperwork and mountains of things to do, isn't it?Donna Amos [00:01:58]:Yes, it is. And our, our talk between our two ears, our self talk actually gets in our way a lot.Stuart Webb [00:02:08]:It does, it does. So let's, let's explore some of those sort of problems, some of those people. And I guess there'll be people listening to this right at the moment there is. If you want to drop a question into the chat to get Donna to answer it or if you need to drop a question into the chat later, please do. Donna or I will pick up and answer those questions for you. But so what are the sort of problems that they might recognize? What are the, what are the things they might have tried to do to get themselves out of these situations, these that you can help them with?Donna Amos [00:02:42]:I think the. So for years, the biggest challenge that I see is that they spend time being busy because it makes them feel like they're, you know, they're accomplishing something, but they're really just being busy and they're not really focused on the end goal and, and taking the right actions towards that. And again, it's because we get in our own heads and yes, tell ourselves that we shouldn't be doing that we're not good enough.Stuart Webb [00:03:22]:And that's not good for self talk. But it's also not good for businesses that have small numbers of employees, is it? People want to see that you have a vision that, you know, where you're going.Donna Amos [00:03:33]:Absolutely. But for solo business owners, they also have to think about they may not have employees. Many of them will have subcontractors, though, that support them in what they're doing. And their customers will also see if they have that vision or not. And that can either attract people to them or push people away.Stuart Webb [00:04:07]:And how, how do you help them? What is it you try to do to get them out of that situation?Donna Amos [00:04:15]:I think probably the most important thing is to encourage them that when people are encouraged by others, when they're told that they really do have what it takes and that they. They deserve to. To accomplish whatever it is they're looking for, then it helps them to again take that first step. So, encouragement.Stuart Webb [00:04:44]:Is this the sort of thing you spend your time doing at solopreneurs Solutions? Solopreneur Solutions.Donna Amos [00:04:50]:It is. So, you know, we're a marketing agency, but. And we're also a publisher, but oftentimes our clients just need somebody in their corner. Yeah, it's telling them, yes, you can do that. We're happy to help. We'll hold your hand so that they will take action on the things they want to.Stuart Webb [00:05:13]:Yeah, yeah. And that's a, that's often the most valuable thing a marketing agents can do, isn't it? It is, it is. Helped bring that clarity and it's helped move those people forward. That one step.Donna Amos [00:05:25]:Exactly. Yep.Stuart Webb [00:05:28]:And so, Donna, have you got a valuable piece of advice or anything that you wish to sort of leave with people so that they can, they can understand how you could help them?Donna Amos [00:05:42]:I'll share a quick story if that's okay.Stuart Webb [00:05:45]:Please do.Donna Amos [00:05:46]:So I work with a law firm that has been with me since 2010. And they have. They had a staff of five attorneys. Well, staff of three attorneys and two financial planners that focus on elder care. So when we first started working together, I was encouraging them to do weekly videos, just quick, frequently asked questions that they were answering that we could then push out there to every platform. And the first day when I got there with my camera and ready to go, they had a case of beer sitting there because every one of them was scared to death to get in front of the video. They just, you know, they just didn't think they could do it. So they got through that first video shoot.Donna Amos [00:06:47]:We did probably 15 videos that one shoot they made it through. They, when we left, they went to the bar to watch basketball because it was during Marsh Madness. But now we're what, 15 years down the road and every week we still publish a video for them. And they get business from it constantly.Stuart Webb [00:07:15]:Brilliant.Donna Amos [00:07:17]:Yeah. So it was just encouraging them and telling them they could do it. And, you know, and that's what I believe. So if you're not, if you don't think you can do something, find somebody that will wrap their arms around you and say, yes, you can. And I'm right here to help.Stuart Webb [00:07:35]:We're going to drop some links to where you can find out more about Donna and the way she's talking about this sort of thing and helping people in our vault. And if you want to get access to the vault, just go to www.systemizer sy s t e m I s e.me forward/free hyphen stuff that. Systemize me forward slash free hyphen stuff. You can see where Donna is posting and more about Donna in the, in the vault. And she, I'm absolutely convinced she will be more than happy to pick on any information and, and help you in the same way. Donna, you've talked a little bit about what you do as a, as a, as a marketer and somebody who publishes or helps people to publish books. How did you, how did you learn those skills? What, what, how did a marketer start with, become a book publisher?Donna Amos [00:08:30]:Well, interesting story. Again, I had a client that we were, we were actually doing their social media and they had a website that was about helping children overcome their fears. Her daughter, who was about 13 at the time, 13 or 14, her, she, her mom came to me and said, natalie's written a book. We want to get it published, but we don't know how to go about it. Can you help? And I said, absolutely. So I went looking for, you know, what I needed to do to publish a book, all the steps. And we did that. So her, Natalie and her friend.Donna Amos [00:09:17]:Her friend did the imagery for the book. We published the book. They, we promoted it, all of that good stuff. But when Natalie went away to, when she was going to go to college, she was interviewing with colleges and she took that book with her to show them that she knew how to start and finish a project. And yes, most of them were impressed. And I said to myself, duh, you need to help your other clients do this because it is a way to show authority and to share what you have. So it's in my mind it became a large business card for them to use for marketing themselves. So it wasn't about the publishing piece.Donna Amos [00:10:09]:They're not going to make a lot of money selling books. That's not what we do. But it's about having that marketing tool that you can then use to get speaking gigs and on podcast and to develop your social, your Social Security, to develop your social media from. All of those things can be taken from one book.Stuart Webb [00:10:31]:Yes. And it's, and you're right, it is a, it's an incredibly good way of demonstrating your, your, your, your expertise to demonstrate your knowledge, isn't it? Because writing the book is, is half the story. But getting it published because it's, it's got the, it's been edited and it's, and it's in a readable format is, is not a simple task and it does require you to actually know what you're talking about. And that is a great demonstration to any of your potential clients that you have got the knowledge and skills that you need to be able to engage with their situation and help them.Donna Amos [00:11:06]:Absolutely. And you know when, so when I, I've written to myself and I use those as calling cards, I send them to people that, you know, that I might meet on LinkedIn, I will carry it with me. And when I have a face to face, I make certain that I give them one of my books because it, I don't have to say then that I know what I'm talking about, that I have the expertise in a marketing sense. The book tells, tells the story for me.Stuart Webb [00:11:44]:Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. And I know from experience that writing a book is only half the job. It is, it is a, it is a heartbreaking thing to send it to somebody to edit and they take very large chunks of it away that you spent very many hours writing and then realize that it didn't actually aid anything to help anybody to understand what you were talking about. And the red pen that comes back is quite disheartening, but it's such a valuable exercise. It's true, isn't it, that a book, sometimes less is more?Donna Amos [00:12:16]:Absolutely. It is. In any kind of writing, it is pulling all those words out that don't need to be there can be huge in clarifying the message that you're trying to get across. But the first challenge is actually finishing your manuscript.Stuart Webb [00:12:36]:Yeah.Donna Amos [00:12:37]:Only about 3% of the people do that.Stuart Webb [00:12:41]:Have you got any tips for people to say, how do you go about having the discipline to finish a book in that way?Donna Amos [00:12:53]:Yeah, so it takes discipline, but if you focus on writing 500 words a day, five days a week, you'll be finished in about 90 to 120 days. And so if you just focus, okay, in three months I can be done. That is. Yeah, that's huge.Stuart Webb [00:13:21]:Once again, if you have questions about how you can focus and structure your day to produce a marketing. This is a great marketing marketing piece. It is the biggest and best calling card you'll ever get. If you want to drop comments down below and get Donna to give you a few tips on how you can get your book out there, it is a great way of doing it. It is really fabulous. Please drop them in the comments. I'd be more than happy Donna will pick up those comments as well. I'm sure she'll be happy to provide you with, with, with any advice.Stuart Webb [00:13:59]:Donna, I'm kind of very aware I've been standing here asking you questions for the last sort of 15, 20 minutes. And you must be wondering when I'm going to get to the really key question, which is the killer question, which will actually sort of, you know, really open up the discussion. So I'm at a loss to be able to answer exactly what that question is. So I'm going to leave it to you to, to ask what that question is. And of course, once you've asked what the killer question is, you'll have to answer it for us as well.Donna Amos [00:14:26]:Well, Stuart, tell me the killer question.Stuart Webb [00:14:31]:What is it? I haven't asked you, Donna, that you'd like me to ask. Oh.Donna Amos [00:14:40]:Great question. I don't know that you haven't asked me anything.Stuart Webb [00:14:48]:Oh, that's just not. I can't believe that. Okay, I will ask you that, that question then. Donna, what it. You're, you're, you want to inspire somebody to take that first step? How do you. What is the best way for somebody who's sitting there at the moment overwhelmed with marketing things to do, overwhelmed with thinking I should get on with a book, but I don't know how to start. How do they go about making that first step?Donna Amos [00:15:14]:Start doing the research because that will help to inspire you to keep moving forward. So by that I mean there are. People have different ways of learning. So one author might be the kind that does all the studying and then shares what they've learned with others in their book. Another might be that they take everything they're all their experiences and they tell them the story and how they can overcome the challenges that they have overcome. Or it might be that you use case studies to discuss what you have learned or what you want to share with others. The bottom line is do your research. Go look at.Donna Amos [00:16:10]:One of the best places to research books is Amazon. Go pull up the genre that you want to be an expert in. And every book has a look inside.Stuart Webb [00:16:28]:Yes.Donna Amos [00:16:28]:That you can click on and you can see the chapters that they wrote about. And that can help you identify gaps that you might be able to explore in your book. Do things like go to answer the Public, which is like a search engine, except it delivers to you the questions that people ask Google, and then you can take those questions and use that to help inspire you as to how you move forward. So just go, start doing some research and you'll feel that tug at your heart to get it going.Stuart Webb [00:17:11]:What a great idea, Donna. I think that's a really brilliant thing to leave the audience wanting to start and take that action, as I said. Look, go to the comments, post, post a question or a comment on the, on the, on the episode, and Donna or I will get back to you and answer those questions and give you the help that you're looking for. And in the meantime, whilst you're doing that, go to this link which is systemized SYS T E M I S I E me. Subscribe. If you get onto that and just put in your name, it doesn't ask for anything more than your email address. And just put in your email address and each week you'll get an email from me telling you who's coming onto the podcast and how you get it. And follow these great people who are speaking, you know, and helping, trying to drive things forward to inspire you to take action, like Donna.Stuart Webb [00:18:05]:Please do that. And you'll see next week who we've got coming on. Donna, I want to thank you very much for spending a few minutes with us. Thank you for trying to inspire us. I hope people have taken that inspiration and are even now thinking about going to Amazon or looking for a book that they ought to write because they know something that people need to hear about.Donna Amos [00:18:24]:Absolutely. Thanks, Stuart. It's been a pleasure.Stuart Webb [00:18:27]:No problem. And thank you, Donna. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Who is Mitchell?Mitchell Levy is a passionate advocate for purpose-driven business relationships. Through his work, Mitchell observed a common frustration among professionals on platforms like LinkedIn: many reach out without a clear purpose or differentiation, often leading with sales pitches rather than genuine value. Recognizing this disconnect, he champions the power of having a “North Star”—a clear vision and understanding of the problem you solve and the unique value you bring. Mitchell encourages business owners, regardless of their size, to approach networking with intention and a customer-centric mindset. His insights help professionals articulate their purpose and foster meaningful, effective connections in the digital age.Key Takeaways* Mitchell Levy reveals the power of clarity: leaders and business owners need a simple North Star—a CPOP—in under 10 words. When you know where you're headed, decisions get easier and credibility follows.* Tired of random LinkedIn messages? Mitchell shares why real connection starts when you understand who you truly serve and their real pain or joy. Purposeful outreach beats cookie-cutter pitches every time.* Small business? Big CEO? Mitchell's “executive abundance” works for all. Growth happens when you get clear on your purpose, your people, and the possibilities you can create. Alignment is everything.* Elevator pitches are overrated. What matters is knowing, in a few words, who you're helping and why. That's your true vibration—one you won't need to memorize, just live.* Want credibility? Keep learning, stay coachable, and be willing to reset your focus. Mitchell's path: clarity, purpose, connection. Change your story, and your impact grows—no matter your size.Don't forget: If you want to connect, ask questions, or get notified about upcoming guests like Mitchell, subscribe to the Systemise.Me newsletter here. You only need your first name and email—easy as (coffee) pie!Thanks for sharing a cup with us this week. Here's to strong coffee, smart hiring, and believing in the dreams you're just starting to imagine.And don't forget: keep an eye out for next guest. To submit your own questions, subscribe to our newsletter and join the conversation!P.S. Loved this episode? Hit reply and let us know what resonated most_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Do You Need a P.A.T.H. to Scale?We help established business owners with small but growing teams:go from feeling stuck, sceptical, and tired of wasting time and money on false promises,to running a confident, purpose-driven business where their team delivers results, customers are happy, and they can finally enjoy more time with their family -with a results-based refund guarantee: if you follow the process and it doesn't work, we refund what you paid.This is THE P.A.T.H. to scale your business.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDSexecutive coaching, credibility, LinkedIn sales tactics, business owners, CEOs, executive abundance, fast-growing companies, Inc 5000, Marshall Goldsmith 100 coaches, clarity, North Star, customer point of possibilities, CPOP, marketing cookie cutter, business scaling, founders, path to scale, leadership, business strategy, elevator pitch, business clarity, operating system of credibility, business growth, credibility expert, solopreneurs, company purpose, personal compass, decision-making, business differentiation, referral partners, customer focusSPEAKERMitchell Levy, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:31]:Hi and welcome back to five Questions over Coffee. Here is my coffee. Now be careful spill that, it's quite full at the moment. Mitchell. Yeah, well done. It's a Guinness, so well done. Mitchell Levy here is a leading executive coach, a global credibility expert and I'm looking forward to him walking through his process today talking to us a little bit about how he helps get leaders real credibility. So Mitchell, thank you for making a few minutes available to come and speak to us here on It's Not Rocket Science.Stuart Webb [00:01:06]:Five Questions over Coffee.Mitchell Levy [00:01:08]:My pleasure. Thanks for having me Stuart. Really nice to, really nice to engage with you.Stuart Webb [00:01:14]:Well that's terrific. So let's start by trying to understand the sort of person you're reaching out to with helping them with their credibility.Mitchell Levy [00:01:25]:You know it's interesting, I, I have two distinct audiences. So as an executive coach, so I'm part of The Marshall Goldsmith 100 coaches, some of the top executive coaches on the planet. And for that audience it is fast growing CEOs leading the future with executive abundance. Now in if you were in the U.S. i say Inc 5000, which basically is the, the top five, 5,000 fastest growing companies in the U.S. but yeah, since this is Australian, I'll just say fast growing company. So that is one group of one audience. And, and executive abundance is a new framework I'm introducing into the marketplace.Mitchell Levy [00:02:12]:It's been my executive coaching for years. But one of the things you, you asked me in the green room, how you doing? Last week I advanced to candidacy on my PhD program and so I am actually doing a dissertation and then we'll, we'll write a book, do coursework and chatbots on executive abundance.Stuart Webb [00:02:33]:On your Congratulations. Thank you doctor. Not a, not a, not an easy thing to do as I recall. So tell me a little more about sort of the people that you're helping that you've just sort of described. Give us an example of sort of things that they might have tried before and the ways in which you help them.Mitchell Levy [00:02:54]:Well so by the way, let me do the second audience and then you could tell me which one you want me to.Stuart Webb [00:02:59]:Oh, no problem.Mitchell Levy [00:03:00]:So the second audience is business owners escaping slimy LinkedIn sales tactics. Perfect. Perfect. That's exactly what I want to get right. It's, I've been on LinkedIn since before they were making money. Now a couple hundred thousand people could say that, but there's one thing I could say that nobody else in the planet can say and that is I was in the room with two, with two of the five founders And I was commissioned to have written and published the first book on LinkedIn. I've looked at a couple hundred thousand LinkedIn profiles and I have a system and approach that helps people drive one to one business relationships with people on LinkedIn. And I can do it at scale.Mitchell Levy [00:03:43]:And so it's the 5% on LinkedIn functionality that brings 80% of value. So that sort of answers that question for the business owner side. On the executive coaching side, the question is what sort of things, what have they tried before? You know, I think I'm going to generically say something and then you could, you could drill me in if we need to. Life is, and business is really, really simple.Stuart Webb [00:04:14]:It's not easy, right?Mitchell Levy [00:04:17]:And what's not easy about it is the fact that even if you know the answer in your heart, in your head, in your body, you know exactly what to do. There's chaos out there and there's these experts who have what I call marketing cookie cutter approaches. And so in, in your vernacular, there's a wicked problem they have and they're trying to solve it. They're going to go out and talk to a ton of people and they get such a diverse range of answers and then they hit one they like, but they don't hold on to it. And so for those that I work with on executive coaching, the first thing we need to do is establish the clarity, establish the playground they play and establish what I call their cpop, their customer point of possibilities. And that is in less than 10 words, where they're executing on their purpose. That's for the company or for the individual. And once you have that, then you can deploy an operating system of credibility.Mitchell Levy [00:05:23]:But until you have that, it's really hard to make decisions because you need a compass, you need a personal compassion that you can actually live by. You need your own North Star. And, and so that's, in terms of business, we need a North Star and that's, that's where we start. And after that, when I hang out with somebody who's doing executive coaching, I'm just, I'm just helping them understand how they're making decisions in their North Star, how they propagate it throughout the organization. It's, it's always fun to see and everyone's different. Some are really fast, some take a little bit more time, some need to fall down a couple of times so they can get up. But generally speaking, what I do is extremely simple, but apparently it's not so easy.Mitchell Levy [00:06:18]:Let me just try and link those two customer types together. In some way, I think something like LinkedIn requires somebody to have what you've just described in terms of the Northstar, what they're doing and be very clear about what their problem solution is. I see an awful lot of people on LinkedIn just sort of, you know, reaching out quite randomly to people, sending the immediate, why don't we just. Why don't we just cut to the chase? Buy my. Buy my stuff, buy my thing. And I find myself very frustrated by the fact they don't actually have, as you've just described it, a real purpose, a real point of differentiation, a real customer focus behind that message, because they're not able to actually articulate what it is they're actually going to do. So there's a great deal of sort of overlap between those two things that you've described, because business owners, even if they're small, need to have that North Star about what it is they're reaching out to do with LinkedIn and why they need to do it. Am I wrong?Mitchell Levy [00:07:24]:No, no, no. It's, it's a great observation. Thank you for seeing it. It shows a little bit about who you are. It turns out that if I'm working with a CEO with a couple hundred, couple thousand, tens of thousands employees, there's a lot more what to say, politics and vested interest and vested groups in place. When I'm working with a CEO who's a solopreneur, where they've got five or 10 people in their organization, it's a whole lot easier to make change. And so it's a different price point, a lot less expensive for the LinkedIn work. And it turns out that the lessons I learned in both places apply to each other.Mitchell Levy [00:08:14]:I call the LinkedIn guys mini executive abundance, even though I don't necessarily call it to them. In my mind, I, I'm deploying executive abundance at the individual level as well, which is a great way to. So it's, it's technically the same thing, but most of the time I don't, I don't say it that way.Stuart Webb [00:08:33]:Yeah. And thank you for. Thank you for sort of endorsing the fact that I had misunderstood it, because I do think that this idea of executive abundance applies to some smaller businesses. They just don't know it applies. They just don't recognize it in themselves. And I think a lot of business owners probably don't grow because they don't know how to do that. They don't know how to start to let themselves have that abundance. So talk to me a bit, a little bit Mitchell about.Mitchell Levy [00:09:01]:Well, I know you've got a valuable offer that you're going to put. And we've got this, we're going to have this in our vault, which I'm going to show now on screen, which is a www.systemize sys t e m I s e me free stuff. So you'll be able to get hold of some of the stuff that Mitchell is going to talk about there. So Mitchell, talk to me a little bit about the process that you go through. So if people were thinking I need to get and understand this guy a bit more, talk about the process. Talk about how you help them with this abundance as you're talking about.Mitchell Levy [00:09:38]:So we'll practice on you. Stuart, you've demonstrated that I should do that. What, what I ended up doing. And I'll share. This is actually what I do second, but I'm, I'm sharing on screen. Oh, not working at the moment. Looks like I, looks like I have a small problem with my, my screen sharing. So I will not do that.Mitchell Levy [00:10:00]:I ended up interviewing 500 thought leaders on, on credibility. And with those 500, I was able to articulate the definition of credibility, which turns out to be a good operating system. We live by credibility is the quality which we TR light. And it turned out that I unlocked a superpower. My superpower is deploying the framework of clarity. So I sit with any company, any human, help them articulate in less than 10 words where they're executing on their purpose. Now, I call that a C pop. Your customer point of possibilities, that's, that's that north star.Mitchell Levy [00:10:36]:That's the compass we're talking about. And Stuart, let's create that view. I looked at your LinkedIn, looked at your website. There's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing wrong. What I will promise you is that after you hear your C pop, you're going to go, oh, I have to make changes because it's just going to help focus you right. Now let me say something and I'm going to guess right away. I'm going to guess that you're in a 10%.Mitchell Levy [00:11:03]:And I'll tell you what I mean by that. When I share a C pop with somebody, I'm they. We as humans, we vibrate out of frequency. And so what happens is the, the C pop represents in words, the frequency you vibrate at. It's who you are. It's, it makes you feel aligned with who you are. I've done this over 1200 times and in 1200 cases, the person's Feeling aligned. Now here's the scary part.Mitchell Levy [00:11:37]:In 90% of the cases, they will get unaligned between two hours and two weeks because of the chaos and noise out there. I'm going to assume that you're going to be in the 10%. So we'll see next time we talk.Stuart Webb [00:11:49]:Right.Mitchell Levy [00:11:52]:Now, I also will tell you something else. I will give you the formula. It's a secret formula. And I will gift that to you and we'll go through the exercise together. When I was doing the interviews, I created a video and I would share the formula and say, listen, what I found so far. I created the video somewhere around interview 50. And what I said, what I found so far is even when somebody had the formula, only 2% would actually articulate their C pop. Because even with the formula, it's hard because we get stuck on this marketing cookie cutter stuff.Mitchell Levy [00:12:30]:And even after they got the video, they. There was still only 2% of people could walk in. So I'm gonna give you. I'm gonna give you in the audience the formula and we'll walk through it together. The C pop is less than 10 words, and it's really two components. The first is the who. And I'm gonna go in and ask you the questions. Who do you serve? If we're credible, we're servant leaders.Mitchell Levy [00:12:55]:So who do you serve? And the second piece is from their perspective. What is their pain point? Or what is their pleasure point?Stuart Webb [00:13:04]:Right.Mitchell Levy [00:13:05]:So let me ask you these questions. So who is it that you serve?Stuart Webb [00:13:10]:So I serve a business leader who has a really bright idea but doesn't know how to get that and make it into a positive business reality.Mitchell Levy [00:13:20]:Now, it's funny because you're LinkedIn says founders.Stuart Webb [00:13:26]:That's true. It is true.Mitchell Levy [00:13:28]:So when you think about where 80% of your revenue comes from, is it from corporate businesses and business leaders, or is it from founders? Or who. Who is it?Stuart Webb [00:13:38]:It's 80% comes from founders.Mitchell Levy [00:13:41]:Okay, so good thing I looked at your LinkedIn. All right, so from the. I think you said it, but I'm going to ask you both pain and pleasure, what's their primary pain point?Stuart Webb [00:13:58]:They have no ability or starting point to make that business strategy or business idea an actual reality in the marketplace. They are unable to articulate, possibly even to themselves, where they start to go from. This would be brilliant to. It is there and it's making me money.Mitchell Levy [00:14:29]:So you're talking about really founders, pre revenue founders.Stuart Webb [00:14:34]:Now, a lot of the people that I deal with are. They've already Got a product, but they've got one product. They need two because they want to scale. And the problem they have is I've got a great idea for my second product, but the way I did it first, but now I've got a small team, it doesn't work the second time.Mitchell Levy [00:14:57]:Interesting. Okay, so they, they have money because they've, they've been able to get something in the marketplace, but now they want to scale. Either scale what they're doing or scale into another product.Stuart Webb [00:15:14]:Essentially, yes.Mitchell Levy [00:15:16]:Oh, oh, Tell me how to get it wrong. Tell me what you got.Stuart Webb [00:15:20]:No, no, no, you're absolutely right by saying essentially, yes. The only other thing that I would add into that is there are. There are sometimes businesses who have managed to get that second product, but it's now tanking because they have got all the wrong. They're trying to do it the way they did it before, and therefore, you know, the, the mechanisms they're using are wrong for where they are because they're now a bigger company. You were talking about politics. They're now sort of saying, it's got to be done by other people, but it's got to be done my way, in the way that I started this. And that just doesn't work if they start instructing in that way. Whilst we're doing this.Mitchell Levy [00:15:55]:While we're doing this, Mitchell, I know you're just doing a bit of typing, such like, I'd invite anybody. If anybody's hearing this and thinking to themselves, I need to make comments or I need to actually sort of, you know, leap in. At this point, Mitchell and I will be monitoring the comments on LinkedIn after this. So if you've got questions or if you're looking at this and thinking, I want somebody to talk to me about this, post your questions there. I can guarantee Mitchell will get onto that and we'll answer your questions because he's that sort of guy.Mitchell Levy [00:16:22]:Thank you, Will. Interesting. Okay, give me a pleasure point, not a pleasure point of working with you, but we'll just fast forward to a period of time after they've had a chance to spend time with you. How are they feeling? What are they doing? What. What makes sense to them?Mitchell Levy [00:16:41]:Let me give you a very real example of that. Working with a company, the founders needed to start to scale something. We turned their service that was poorly defined couldn't be delivered because they couldn't really articulate it. It's now much more of a sort of defined product idea, although it's still a service, but it's got a Logo. It's got a description, it's got a series of processes which their staff can operate, and they're selling that multiple times per week. And it's now. It's now. Then they're now proud of it.Mitchell Levy [00:17:18]:They're now saying, I'll use the name of it. They're now saying, threat sure is a great product. It was a great idea, and now it's something which is actually making us money. And customers love it.Mitchell Levy [00:17:32]:Cool. Nice. Okay, thank you. So yours is easy.Mitchell Levy [00:17:42]:I don't want it to be easy, Mitchell.Mitchell Levy [00:17:44]:Let me rephrase that. Yours was really simple. And it was only after I started talking to you to see who I was seeing this morning that I. Because, remember, we talked in the green room. Should we do this live? And sometimes there's a lot of marketing, cookie cutter stuff that gets in the way, but everything you said reinforced. Wait, let me count the words. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 words. Would you be happy if you could describe yourself?Mitchell Levy [00:18:11]:Wow. Okay, that is now. I will say now. This is where people. If you are watching this live and if you are going to go onto LinkedIn, you need six words. I have never been able to articulate this in six years. Six words. I can articulate it in two or three hours if you ask me to.Mitchell Levy [00:18:26]:But six words, that's impressive.Mitchell Levy [00:18:28]:So let me. Let me say that. Or just say less than 10.Stuart Webb [00:18:34]:Right?Mitchell Levy [00:18:34]:Because if you. If you think about it, and, and this is. This is for people paying attention. When you asked me my two audiences, I gave you my seat, my two C pops. C POP stands for customer Pointed Possibilities. So my executive coaching is nine words. Inc. 5000 CEOs leading the future with executive abundance.Mitchell Levy [00:18:55]:The goal when you share your CPOP is that the referral partner or the prospect says, oh, tell me more, Mitchell, what's this executive abundance thing?Stuart Webb [00:19:02]:Right? Or.Mitchell Levy [00:19:04]:Or the other one when I'm talking to a business owner. By the way, Stuart, you're a business owner, right? So when I talk to your founders or business owners, When I talk to business owners, it's business owners escaping slimy LinkedIn sales tactics. And I either get the laugh that you gave before or the visual reaction because you just remember being slimed recently.Mitchell Levy [00:19:23]:Yeah. Yeah.Mitchell Levy [00:19:24]:In either case, the goal when I share those words or is to paint a compass, to paint a. A playground that I plan. And then when I answer what comes next, I get more credibility because I've been so finite in terms of the playground. So in your particular case, your playground is six words. And I'm Putting it in chat, because I'm a visual person, so you could see it as well. But I'll share it out loud. Founders needing a path to scale.Mitchell Levy [00:20:01]:Brilliant.Stuart Webb [00:20:02]:Right?Mitchell Levy [00:20:03]:And so, by the way, once again, anybody who is watching this, that is such a brilliant summary. I could not. I couldn't have done. I couldn't have done that without Mitchell's help. But that is a fabulous summary.Mitchell Levy [00:20:18]:I'm going to say thank you. And it's. By the way, it's you. Because, by the way, although what happened, you're marketing cookie cutter stuff, which I'm glad I looked at your LinkedIn. You said the word founders, and that seemed important to me, so I had to ask you, where does 80% of revenue come from? Yeah, right. And it's. But other than that, everything you said reinforced. And you already have this on your LinkedIn.Mitchell Levy [00:20:46]:You have a couple other things which I might encourage you to remove. But everything you said reinforced. Having a path to scale. Even the pleasure point was talking about a path to scale.Stuart Webb [00:20:59]:Right.Mitchell Levy [00:20:59]:And so when you now have these six words, and by the way, what I was typing in on the back end is, I have a Mitchell Levy chatbot, and I said, if this is your C pop, what could the acronym path stand for? And I'm putting it in chat. We don't have to talk about it, but this is just my gift for you. You know, path could stand for, you know, basically, purpose, action. Ooh, team, and. And. And harmony. Sorry, I. It didn't cut.Mitchell Levy [00:21:37]:It didn't cut and paste really well. And then it talks about what. That what stuff is. But. But I think. I think the way to think about it for you is, is when you share with somebody. Let me do your. Tell me more, if you don't mind.Stuart Webb [00:21:54]:I'll.Mitchell Levy [00:21:54]:I'll do it. Because we're recorded. Right, so. And now a superpower I have is the ability to do this. It's a formula, and I've just done it over 1200 times, so it's easy. I'm happy for people to grab it. It's the who and the what. Who in the what comes before why.Stuart Webb [00:22:12]:Right.Mitchell Levy [00:22:12]:Just to be clear. Comes before Simon Sinexy. Who in the what comes first? It's a C Pop. And a ancillary superpower is if I know somebody C Pop most of the time, I could do their tell me more better than them until they feel good about it. So let me tell you, Stuart, what I mean by this. When in the future, when you share your cpop now, if somebody says to you, hey, what's your cpop? Now, maybe a couple hundred thousand people know this word, so most likely they're gonna say, who are you?Stuart Webb [00:22:45]:Right?Mitchell Levy [00:22:46]:What do you do? Who are you? And in that particular case, you need to put a.Stuart Webb [00:22:51]:A.Mitchell Levy [00:22:51]:A hook up front. The hook is, hey, there's an audience I spend a lot of time with, or there's an audience I do really well with, or my clients all get success in a certain area.Stuart Webb [00:23:01]:Right.Mitchell Levy [00:23:02]:Whatever the hook is. Then you do a pause, and then you say, founders needing a path to scale. Then you drop the mic, and then you may say something. Oh, let me tell you a little bit more. Listen, I work with a series of founders. A lot of times they've already put their first product out there. They've already been successful, and they need to scale. They need to get to the next level, and they get stuck.Mitchell Levy [00:23:29]:They either don't know how to move forward or they've already moved forward, but they've deployed what worked in the first product to the second, and it doesn't work. What I do is help them lay out the path that will allow them scale going forward.Mitchell Levy [00:23:45]:Mitchell, that is the best way I have ever heard somebody describe what is effectively an elevator pitch. You'd have heard elevator pitch. And they're all. They're all very difficult for people to do, and most of the time, they're not very good. So I'm not going to say that, because there are a lot of people on here will be offended by that. But that.Mitchell Levy [00:24:04]:Oh, I'm gonna say it. I'm gonna say to you and everyone else, if you've memorized an elevator pitch, please forget it.Mitchell Levy [00:24:13]:Yes.Stuart Webb [00:24:15]:Right, stop.Mitchell Levy [00:24:15]:Now.Mitchell Levy [00:24:16]:It comes from here. Your elevator pitch comes from your head. And your goal when you talk to somebody is you want them to feel the energy inside. You want them to feel your heart. So memorize the six words or nine words or three. A couple people have three words, right? So memorize your C Pop. But you won't have to memorize it. It's your.Mitchell Levy [00:24:38]:It's your vibrational energy. And then your.Stuart Webb [00:24:40]:Your.Mitchell Levy [00:24:41]:What would have been your elevated pitch is more the tell me more. Which you custom tailor to the person you're talking to.Stuart Webb [00:24:47]:Yeah, absolutely. I love what you're saying. Look, Mitchell, I could keep you here for another couple of hours, but I have a feeling you have important business to go and speak to other people who need this. Once again, I'm going to invite anybody listening live or in future, when you see this, drop comments into the comments Below, Mitchell, I know, will come back, give you some very, very good advice to try and get this sort of thing into your life, because we need more clarity. I am, as Mitchell has probably managed to sort of convince me. I spend a lot of my time with people who haven't got the clarity they need. And it is always difficult to get that clarity because in their own head, they're trying to rationalize, they're trying to sort of apply a set of rules. You know, they've done all the courses, they've read all the books, they've.Mitchell Levy [00:25:43]:They've been out and seen all the YouTube videos, and somehow that's actually created less clarity than if they just sat down and did a very simple exercise like Mitchell is doing here. So drop your questions, drop your comments. I know we can get some clarity back in the world. But Mitchell, how did you get to this? Where did you come from that this became your mission in life?Mitchell Levy [00:26:07]:It's really interesting, I think, what happened because of time. I'll try to do this super quick. My undergraduate was a Bachelor of Science in Stochastic and Deterministic Models of Operational Research. In essence, I was taught how to model. Well, as long as I could say the words and the syllables come out of my mouth, I'm still happy. And one day I won't be able to do that anymore, right?Mitchell Levy [00:26:34]:So.Mitchell Levy [00:26:36]:But I was taught how to model people and systems and improve them. And what I learned then I got an MBA, and as I mentioned previously, I'm doing the PhD thing, right? So what. What I learned was, although I only speak English and it's American English, and so it's bad English, I don't speak those multiple languages. I do speak multiple languages of functions, you know, so marketing. Funny. Marketing, talking to sales, talking to engineers. I mean, it's just, whoever you are, I could speak your language because I'm feeling the energy of what does it mean to be who you are? And then it was in 2019 that I went on a Napoleon Hill journey And I interviewed 500 thought leaders on credibility between 2019 and 2020. And so I.Mitchell Levy [00:27:27]:It turns out I asked everyone five questions. And the first question that just sort of magically appeared to me is, what's your C Pop? That's the first thing I wanted to. I wanted to learn from people. And. And it took me a couple years, post the interviews, post the TED Talk, post the book that I wrote on it. By the way, I've written 65 books. My 66 is the most important. It's the one I'm writing now called Executive Abundance.Mitchell Levy [00:27:57]:It took a number of years afterwards to really understand. As a matter of fact, what happened is I went to the Purpose Summit. Now, when you go to a summit called the Purpose Summit, you got a lot of people talking about purpose, bringing purpose into corporations, what people's purpose are. And, you know, everyone had a different definition and it meant many different things to different people. And at some point in time, I thought the C pop had to do with purpose. But as it turns out, the C pop is where one is executing on their purpose today.Stuart Webb [00:28:30]:Yeah, brilliant, right?Mitchell Levy [00:28:32]:And I'm like, oh, my God. And then once that started happening, and then. I'll give you one last. One last thing. It was about seven months ago, eight months ago. So, by the way, if you haven't figured this out, being credible means you're always learning, you're always growing, you're always coachable.Stuart Webb [00:28:47]:Right?Mitchell Levy [00:28:49]:About seven, eight months ago, I realized something, and this put everything into perspective. I've known this my entire life. I've been in Silicon Valley, started 20 companies, and sat on the board of a public firm.Mitchell Levy [00:29:01]:And.Mitchell Levy [00:29:01]:And I've known this my whole entire life, but have not ever executed on it until about seven or eight months ago. Sell them what they want, deliver what they need.Stuart Webb [00:29:13]:Yeah, brilliant.Mitchell Levy [00:29:14]:So let me. I'll just finish that. So what's interesting is I ended up spending five and a half years of my life focused on what people need. Clarity and credibility are what people need. It's not what they want. So you sell them something else, but behind the scenes. So I'll make a. I'll make an offer for you.Mitchell Levy [00:29:31]:And listen, there are many people who actually sell clarity, and they could still use the CPOP and what they work. So I do, once a month, I do a clarity session. Have your clients come with your client to one of my clarity sessions. Have them get their CPOP and then do your thing and do your magic, right? And. And it's. It's the. It's the partnership thing that we've been taught not to spend time on and not to focus on. But, you know, if you can bring your client to get a C pop.Mitchell Levy [00:30:03]:And. And then all of a sudden, everything you do from then out in is so much easier. You know, just an offer, if that's interesting here.Mitchell Levy [00:30:12]:Brilliant. Mitchell, I am very aware that there must be a question that you are waiting for that you are begging me to ask, but I haven't yet asked, and I am obviously unable to articulate that question because I don't know what it is. So what's the question you think I should have by now asked? And then clearly you're gonna have to answer it because I haven't yet thought about.Mitchell Levy [00:30:35]:You know, that's always my favorite. That's my favorite question.Mitchell Levy [00:30:39]:It's the one. It's one I like best because I don't have to do any work for that one.Mitchell Levy [00:30:43]:Yeah, you know, I didn't really, given I'm looking at the time, I didn't really have anything. I guess the. Probably the biggest question is it's along the lines of, Mitchell, what you did with Stuart was so simple and so straightforward and so quick. Why is it that Stuart didn't already know that? Or why? Why? If you say you've done this 1200 times and every time they've had the same reaction with Stuart, how come you're not known universally around the world? That would probably be the answer.Mitchell Levy [00:31:30]:And the answer.Mitchell Levy [00:31:32]:I'm still, I'm still grokking. I'm still trying to grok all that.Stuart Webb [00:31:35]:Right.Mitchell Levy [00:31:35]:Still trying to figure that out. The, the. A lot of the answers. There are many people who, who focus on clarity and focus on credibility and, and I think ultimately it's the best way I could think about it now. It really is what people need, but not exactly what they want. What I found is that 90% of. Of. Of people, or let's even go down to the C pop level, 98 of people don't know their C pop.Mitchell Levy [00:32:14]:And if you ask them if they have clarity, they're either going to say yes or they're going to say, I don't care, I don't need it. But 98% of people, 98% of the audience has figured out that. That understanding where they're executing their purpose in less than 10 words is not important to them yet. And so it's hard to imagine that you could sit with somebody and they could look at you and they could. They could actually present a summarized version of how you're showing up in the world so quickly. And, you know, there are people who watch us who would think it's staged, that we did it ahead of time.Stuart Webb [00:33:00]:Right.Mitchell Levy [00:33:01]:And it's not. So. But the answer, I don't. I don't know exactly. I just know that when I talk to somebody, whether it's a CEO of a large company, if, if you're my client, I'm going to stick with you and you're going to play in your playground.Stuart Webb [00:33:15]:Right.Mitchell Levy [00:33:16]:But if you're somebody who I'm just Sort of giving a gift to or you're. You've paid me to be in my clarity session. The it, it's so easy to get off track. It's so easy to get out of alignment that people often do. And they go, yeah, it was good talking to Mitchell for a period of time, but I didn't do anything with it. Right when and, and what I'll say to you is last week was also, it was a great gift. It's when I advanced a candidacy for the PhD. I also had a woman join me and apparently I had talked to her three years, three years earlier.Mitchell Levy [00:33:56]:And the first words out of my mouth, out of her mouth was, Mitchell, I've been thinking about you for the last three years. Which is one of those things that are really, you know, you know, how do I interpret that? And she goes, I was about ready to enter an extremely difficult chapter of my life. And what you gave me, that C pop was the best gift I've ever received in my life because it allowed me to actually pull myself out of that chapter to focus on my business. And I've served 259 clients over a five year period. Most of those came after year two because that's when you and I spoke. And I am just so honored to have spent time with you. That's an example of somebody who heard it, understood it and used it. And I did.Mitchell Levy [00:34:54]:I challenge anyone. If you get your C pop and I'm someone who supports you or where you could take the formula in the 2% and you can make it work for you, I'm going to encourage you to live it and see what happens. I guarantee that your life will be different.Stuart Webb [00:35:10]:Mitchell, that is a brilliant story to end on. I've got nothing very much else to say. I'm going to ask people if they would just go to this link www.systemize.me subscribe. You need to go to that link because that link is a link to a form which will allow me to send you an email and you will then get an email once a week when we have brilliant guests like Mitchell on. And you can just sit and learn from people like Mitchell because they are worth listening to. Mitchell, you have been an inspiration. I have got some words to add to my LinkedIn profile, but better than that, I've got some living to do now because I have now got a challenge from you to live up to something that you have set down as a standard for me. I cannot believe what you do and you should be world famous and I'm going to try and make it so.Stuart Webb [00:36:05]:Mitchell, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. I really appreciate it.Mitchell Levy [00:36:09]:Oh, Stuart, my. My pleasure. I. I look forward to whatever our next conversation and seeing who you are the next time I have a conversation with you.Stuart Webb [00:36:19]:Terrific. Thank you. Mitchell. Mitchell, that. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Who is Joe?Joe Abreu is the creator of the Profit Optimization Program, designed specifically for small to medium-sized business owners striving to bridge the gap between hard work and real profit. After years of working closely with business owners who frequently asked him how to translate increased revenue into greater profits, Joe began collecting and analyzing their recurring challenges. Drawing on these insights, he developed a results-driven program to help entrepreneurs break free from the cycle of endless work and unlock their businesses' true financial potential. Through his work, Joe has empowered countless business owners to move beyond just doing more and instead focus on building businesses that reach their full profitability.Key Takeaways* Many business owners work harder, but profits still lag behind. Joe Abreu reminds us: true success comes from understanding your numbers, not just chasing more sales. Clarity leads to freedom.* Are you slashing expenses without strategy? Joe says test each change. Don't cut blindly—learn what truly moves the needle for your business growth.* Delegation scares a lot of owners—what will I do once I delegate? According to Joe, it's your chance to step back, innovate, and focus on what really matters.* The 80/20 Principle changed Joe's business life: focus on the 20% of tasks that create 80% of results. Systemize, delegate, and start freeing up your time for what counts.* Your business shouldn't be golden shackles. Profit optimization is about designing your business to give you freedom and the life you dreamed of when you started.Don't forget: If you want to connect, ask questions, or get notified about upcoming guests like Joe, subscribe to the Systemise.Me newsletter here. You only need your first name and email—easy as (coffee) pie!Thanks for sharing a cup with us this week. Here's to strong coffee, smart hiring, and believing in the dreams you're just starting to imagine.And don't forget: keep an eye out for next guest. To submit your own questions, subscribe to our newsletter and join the conversation!P.S. Loved this episode? Hit reply and let us know what resonated most_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Do You Need a P.A.T.H. to Scale?We help established business owners with small but growing teams:go from feeling stuck, sceptical, and tired of wasting time and money on false promises,to running a confident, purpose-driven business where their team delivers results, customers are happy, and they can finally enjoy more time with their family -with a results-based refund guarantee: if you follow the process and it doesn't work, we refund what you paid.This is THE P.A.T.H. to scale your business.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDSprofit optimization, small business owners, medium sized business, revenue, business profits, expense management, business growth, sales strategies, bookkeeping, financial literacy, accountant, business owner challenges, business expenses, business numbers, business coaching, process improvement, business systems, delegation, 80/20 principle, business mergers, business acquisitions, business sales, business optimization, podcast, business clarity, CRM, AI in business, business freedom, online course, certification course, workbookSPEAKERJoe Abreu, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:31]:Hi and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. I'm here with my guest today, Joe Abro. Joe is the author of the profit optimization program which I'm really excited to learn about. And Joe, I just want to thank you for taking a few minutes out of what I'm sure is a very busy day to spend a few minutes with us talking about this new program and the book you've written.Stuart Webb [00:01:00]:Oh, thank you for having me, Stuart. It is a pleasure to be here today.Stuart Webb [00:01:04]:Terrific. Now listen, let's start why. So who is it that this book is written for? Who is it, if you like the person you're trying to help by giving them access to the profit optimization program?Stuart Webb [00:01:17]:A great question. The profit optimization program was set up to service the small to medium sized business owners. That's pretty much everyone everywhere who's working exceptionally hard, trying to do their best that they can. But the revenue and the profits are just not connecting. We're just doing more work, but we're just not seeing the bottom line. We're not really seeing what we could, how best we can be. And so what I've done is over the years I collected all the information from different business owners that asked me questions over and over. How do I get the revenue to actually create more profit? Because sometimes we put in more business, we create more business, but we never get to the very end.Stuart Webb [00:02:06]:Right. The profit doesn't translate just the same way. And that's where the profit optimization program was born, which is the collection of all these business owners. Over the years. In my experience as a business owner, I've had the opportunity to purchase businesses, to merge them. I have also to sell, so, you know, have sold them. So that's given me a lot of experience to share.Stuart Webb [00:02:28]:And, and Joe, I mean you've obviously been through this, this program yourself, but what have you found when you've been talking to these people? What have they been trying to do to, to help themselves from, you know, the situation where the, the profits are somehow not quite adding up. What, what do you see as some of the common things they try to do, which, which are not, which are not effectively helping them?Stuart Webb [00:02:49]:Oh yes. So we see a few common things happen over and over. The first one I would say is in most business owners, what they do is when they look at their profit, it's not matching the revenue or it's not translating to the profits. They'll just say, well, let's go ahead and just do more sales, let's just increase the revenue side. Right. That's the most common thing. I mean, it makes sense. I mean, that's exactly what we would all do as business owners.Stuart Webb [00:03:14]:So let's just go ahead and put more deals through the pipeline and to see if that translates into profit. The second thing that we often see common mistakes or things that are slowing them down that probably they can improve would be looking at their expenses and not slashing them all at once. Because what happens is they start going through the whole business, all of their expense list, and what they'll do is start slashing everything without testing one thing or another and then impacting the business. The third thing that they do very often is just hand over the books to an accountant or a bookkeeper and not really learning their own numbers. And I'm guilty of that. As a business owner, I just want to do the sales. I want to get out there, I want to get involved, I want to grow, and I don't want to see the numbers all the time. But if we don't learn our own numbers, how do we know how to impact? How do we improve them, how to slash some of the expenses? So we have to learn those numbers.Stuart Webb [00:04:17]:And, you know, lastly, what they do is they try to do all of these things at one time versus trying one step at a time to see what works and what doesn't work.Stuart Webb [00:04:29]:Absolutely, absolutely. I've just put on the screen, you know, if anybody has questions or comments on what you've just said, I. I'd love to see them in the chat, because I know you and I will respond to that. And I'm sure there are people that have got questions about, you know, how do I best get these numbers and what do I understand by them? And I know exactly what you're saying. Too many of us actually don't want to have to look at numbers. We see that as a dull, boring, administrative job. But actually, it's when you start to see those and you understand them that these optimizations become obvious, isn't it? It's the time when you suddenly recognize the, hey, if I actually sort of develop the area that, you know. And we often find that customers are the best sources of these things.Stuart Webb [00:05:15]:If I develop this, that would be a much more profitable area than just chasing the new customer and things like that. That's the sort of insight you get by looking properly at what your numbers, what your CRM, things like that tell you.Stuart Webb [00:05:27]:Oh, absolutely. It's the clarity to see where you are. That's why I say often that at Globis are our company. What we do is we take a look at every step of the business and we break it apart in a very positive way. And we're sort of the lens for the business. We close in or just maybe zoom out a little bit just to show them exactly what they have. Because most business owners, they have the right elements, they have the right tools. It's just that they don't really have the clarity to see which direction they should go where they should actually invest most of their time or money.Stuart Webb [00:06:07]:I love the advice. Joe. I know that you have got a very valuable free offer for us. I'm just going to point people in the direction. If you go to this link, this link is available now, which is if you go to www.systemize me/free hyphen stuff, you'll see Joe has put a very valuable offer which I believe is at the download, seven quick wins, which I think is a really valuable piece of advice that you're going to offer. Tell us about seven. Seven quick wins.Stuart Webb [00:06:37]:Yes, the seven quick wins transformation for a business in 30 days. It's a workbook. It's a small workbook that gets you started in the process. Going back to when I put together the profit optimization program. My idea was that if I can offer a business owner one aha moment, one of those moments where you're like, wow, I didn't, you know, I had heard that before or I can actually multiply my business or multiply my profit based on what I just learned. For me that was that that would be a win. So the seven wins is just the beginning. It's, it's very common things that you can do to start the process of identifying the things that could improve your profit in your business.Stuart Webb [00:07:22]:And if you see that you find one big aha and then you want to move forward, that's what we move on to the course, the POP certification course that we have. And that's pretty much so we have the book which is a self help and then we have the certification course which is an online version and that is more structured. But individuals started to let us know that they wanted a little bit more than just the book and they want a little bit more than just the course. So then we move down to doing some coaching and that's what we do. A little bit more of the personalized version.Stuart Webb [00:07:54]:Brilliant. And even, even if you don't get the personalized version, that seven quick wins could be the one thing that you need to get that one aha moment to move you forward. Joe, I'd just really love to understand at the moment. There's a huge amount of experience you bring to this. You've bought businesses, you've merged, and you said you've sold businesses. Was there one course, an idea, something which sort of brought you to really understand how you could help people in the way that you're helping them now?Stuart Webb [00:08:26]:Yes, I would say the 8020 principle. Oh, my Coke. And I, once I read that, I mean, it blew my mind, really, because I'm thinking, how is it that 20% of our actions actually brings 80% of our results? Then I'm thinking, why am I wasting my time with the other 80%? What am I doing?Stuart Webb [00:08:51]:Wonderful, wonderful.Stuart Webb [00:08:53]:So that really blew my mind. I started to think, okay, well, then in that case, I have to find a way to improve. How to divert or how to channel those 80% in another way.Stuart Webb [00:09:05]:Yes.Stuart Webb [00:09:05]:So I can go ahead and get the other 20% and then maybe I can take the other 80% of the time off and we can do that. That's a lot of what we do with the optimization program. We're identifying how we can improve processes, how can we systemize certain things, how can we delegate? Because that's a huge thing for business owners. We fail to delegate. The 8020 principle really just highlights that. And then once I started to just infuse that into the business, I was, you know, I started to line up everything that I can just say, okay, that's part of my 80%. Let's find a way to delegate to someone else.Stuart Webb [00:09:46]:I. I don't know if you have a comment on this, Joe, and once again, I'd welcome anybody currently listening to us or people who are listening later in the. In the podcast version of this. There is a sense in which. And I was talking to a business owner only this morning that was afraid of the idea of delegation, because as they said, what do I do when everybody else is doing my job? And my answer was, go and do another job, because there must be a ton that's waiting for you, but you haven't currently got time for it. You know, developing your staff, developing your team so that they are the most efficient, the most effective, and effectively allowing them to do your job, to free. Free you up, to do something else. That seems to be a burden, or at least it's.Stuart Webb [00:10:29]:It's a blocker for a lot of business owners who are basically saying, but if I let everybody do my job, then I've got nothing to do. And that's actually just not true, is it?Stuart Webb [00:10:39]:Oh, no, it is not. Actually. If you find ways to delegate all of these tasks, they can be systemized or can be organized in a certain way to give you that freedom, then I think that's when you can come back as a business owner and have that macro view where you can now start to innovate, where you could start to bring in other new processes that. That frees you up to do that. So a business owner's job is never done because we're always looking for the next thing. And now that AI is coming into the picture, we're basically changing processes and systems almost on a monthly basis. Now. By the time that we're done producing a system, we're already thinking how we're going to improve this, how we're going to make this better.Stuart Webb [00:11:24]:Brilliant, Joe, you've been very eloquent. You've explained this brilliantly, and I have a funny feeling there is something in you at the moment that's saying, he still hasn't asked me that one real killer question. So I'm going to assume that I am too stupid to be able to work out what that killer question is and say, Joe, tell us, what is the killer question that I. That I really should have asked you? And. And when you've obviously made that question known, you're gonna have to answer it, because I didn't even think of the question. So what is that killer question that I have failed to ask?Stuart Webb [00:11:56]:Well, I don't know, Stuart, I think you're considered one of the smartest podcasters, so I don't know. But I would say if there's one question that, that often I think that most people should ask is, why now? Why do I have to do this now? Why should I do it now? And I think the number one thing is that we're business owners who are working really hard at growing our business. But ultimately, we are humans and we have to be as successful. We have to meet our dreams. We have to reach that freedom as a business owner, because that's exactly what when we open our business, when we started our business or merged into another business, we had the dream of becoming more successful. So why now? Now? Because we owe it to ourselves. We have to be the best that we can. Sometimes businesses are just golden shackles.Stuart Webb [00:12:51]:They're fantastic because they're providing us a. An income. And that's why they're the golden shackles, because they're beautiful, because we're getting that income. But that's. So that's good. But sometimes, as the saying goes, good is the enemy of great and brilliant. Sometimes we're just missing that part to getting to great. And if we can sit down and really learn our numbers, figure out how can we get rid of these ghost expenses, how do we improve our bottom line? That equals freedom, freedom as a business owner.Stuart Webb [00:13:23]:And that's really the, the ultimate sign of success that you can do what you want when you want.Stuart Webb [00:13:33]:Joe, I love the message. I think it's absolutely brilliant. And I absolutely agree with you because I worked with a business who had to learn how to do a lot of what you've just said. The business owner was very reluctant to sort of go forward with some of these ideas, but they then had a family emergency. And if they had not learned how to delegate how, how to let go, they would not have had the time, the freedom to be able to deal with that family emergency. They would then never have been able to come back after that family emergency, after several months and still had a business that they could get involved in. And I absolutely agree. You trying to help people to understand that their job is about making their business an effective route to, to, to.Stuart Webb [00:14:24]:To their. To their ability to enjoy their life as opposed to being the shackles that keeps them involved in their business forever is a brilliant message. Thank you very much for sharing it with us this afternoon. I really appreciate it.Stuart Webb [00:14:37]:Absolutely. Thank you.Stuart Webb [00:14:39]:So listen, one quick plea for me. I've just put a link on screen. This is WWW Systemize. That's sys T e M I S E. Please go to that link. Just put in your name, your email address. You will get one email from me a week giving you details of the brilliant guests that we have coming up on this podcast to allow you to come find out what the LinkedIn Live will be and to ask questions to get your questions answered about your business growth and the sort of things that people that brilliantly Joe has emphasized today. So just go to Systemize Me, subscribe, get onto the mailing list.Stuart Webb [00:15:25]:And I want to just finish by thanking Joe for taking time out of his. I can only imagine it is a very busy time with a book and a bunch of other things to do. Joe, thank you for coming on and spending a few minutes talking to us and I really appreciate some of the pearls of wisdom you've left us with.Stuart Webb [00:15:40]:Absolutely. Anytime. Thank you so much for the opportunity.Stuart Webb [00:15:44]:That's no problem at all. Thank you. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

The pressure to optimize every "white space" on your calendar can often become a trap of its own, leading to a state of "fake time freedom" where you remain stressed despite having control over your schedule. In this episode of Productivity MD, Dr. Ann Tsung introduces her "Time and Energy Mission Control" a decision-making framework inspired by NASA's criticality levels to help you allocate your most precious capital wisely. She breaks down the five stages of time freedom, from "Time Prisoner" to "Time Transcender," and provides a step-by-step guide on how to identify when you are descending a stage and exactly how to course-correct. You'll learn how to craft a North Star through a Life Vision and Massive Transformative Purpose (MTP), ensuring that every "yes" or "no" brings you closer to the physical and mental vitality you desire at age 95. Key Points From This Episode:The Time and Energy Mission ControlDefining Your North StarThe Five Stages of Time FreedomMassive Transformative Purpose (MTP)The Trap of the "Time Creator"Filtering by Energy, Not TimeCourse-Correcting the DescentThe 80% RulePrioritizing Health for the Long GameThe Power of "No"Listen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - Decision Systems to Prevent Expensive Time and Energy MistakesPlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2026/02/15/episode-82/

Who is Arup?Arup Biswas is a dynamic entrepreneur at the forefront of AI-driven marketing solutions. Recognizing that true innovation lies in customer outcomes, Arup has dedicated his career to making powerful marketing accessible for all. He identified three key audiences—marketing agencies, recruitment firms, and SME owners—who often found traditional radio advertising out of reach due to high costs and lack of expertise. With a passion for breaking down barriers, Arup's work centers on helping these businesses connect with audiences more effectively, using cutting-edge technology to solve longstanding challenges and drive real, measurable success.Key Takeaways* Arup Biswas, founder of Klaxon AI, shared how AI can make radio and podcast advertising accessible, affordable, and targeted—even for small businesses. Breaking down barriers is reshaping who gets to be heard.* Removing technical barriers in media isn't just about cost. Klaxon AI lets anyone create professional audio ads in minutes, not days, changing who gets to participate in the advertising landscape.* Culture shifts when technology puts power in new hands. DIY audio ads, as Arup describes, give small business owners a voice where only big brands used to play. That shapes narratives—and who gets to tell them.* Targeted messaging is more than a marketing tactic. Klaxon AI shows that when we speak directly to our audience, we foster deeper connections and more inclusive cultural conversations.* Audio advertising isn't just for radio. Arup encourages using your audio ad everywhere—on your site, social, emails. Culture today is cross-media, and your voice can travel further than ever before.Don't forget: If you want to connect, ask questions, or get notified about upcoming guests like Arup, subscribe to the Systemise.Me newsletter here. You only need your first name and email—easy as (coffee) pie!Thanks for sharing a cup with us this week. Here's to strong coffee, smart hiring, and believing in the dreams you're just starting to imagine.And don't forget: keep an eye out for next guest. To submit your own questions, subscribe to our newsletter and join the conversation!P.S. Loved this episode? Hit reply and let us know what resonated most_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Do You Need a P.A.T.H. to Scale?We help established business owners with small but growing teams:go from feeling stuck, sceptical, and tired of wasting time and money on false promises,to running a confident, purpose-driven business where their team delivers results, customers are happy, and they can finally enjoy more time with their family -with a results-based refund guarantee: if you follow the process and it doesn't work, we refund what you paid.This is THE P.A.T.H. to scale your business.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDSsmall business hiring, remote work, hybrid companies, digital marketing agencies, coaches and consultants, e-commerce businesses, hiring process, HR departments, bad hire costs, hiring mistakes, onboarding, job candidate selection, concierge hiring service, affordable recruiting, job post templates, freelancer pricing guides, virtual assistants, customer service hiring, company culture fit, soft skills, work from home, moms working remotely, freelancing, home-based businesses, job boards, local business networking, HireMyMom platform, Hire Thy Neighbor, faith-based business, church directory, entrepreneurial journeySPEAKERArup Biswas, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:00]:Hi there and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. I have in front of me my coffee mug. I hope Arup has his drink with him, whether or not it's coffee or something else. But I'd love to welcome Arup as well. Arup is the founder of something called Claxon AI which I'm hoping we will learn more about in the next 15, 20 minutes. But from initial introduction I'll say that Klaxon AI is one of those game changing type AI systems that really should be shaking up the podcast advertising, media advertising landscape, enabling us all to produce those really game changing ads cheaper, faster and with more specificity.Stuart Webb [00:01:14]:So Arup, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science five questions over coffee.Arup Biswas [00:01:19]:Thank you, Stuart. I'm delighted to be here.Stuart Webb [00:01:22]:Terrific. Well, you know, let's start with who the who the who. The ideal audience for Klaxon AI is what's the sort of characteristics that anybody who's listening to us at the moment might be thinking? Well, I wonder if this is for me.Arup Biswas [00:01:38]:Yeah, well, there are three key audiences for what we do. And I should say that actually, yes, we are an AI business, of course, but actually it's all about the outcome for the customer. And the outcome for the customer is reaching people effectively in a powerful way. So our core market is marketing agencies are already working with clients, but offering traditional marketing methods, recruitment agencies who may be looking to recruit volume numbers of staff and owners of SMEs. So those business owners who are struggling hard to, to make their business business a success. But I've always thought that radio advertising in particular has been out of their reach because of lack of knowledge or price cost. Those kind of traditional factors have always been the issue. So that's our traditional market, that's our marketplace that we focus on and our solution is all about helping them overcome those issues.Arup Biswas [00:02:31]:And we provided a, created a solution which we think does all that.Stuart Webb [00:02:36]:And let's just sort of understand that. I mean you talked about the fact that it's a solution. So what are the sort of problems that you noticed that you were trying to solve with this? Obviously cost is one, but there must a bunch of other things that you're looking at this solution in AI that will actually help solve.Arup Biswas [00:02:55]:Absolutely. And the biggest, one of the biggest issues other than price, price is always an issue for small business owners is knowledge and technical expertise.Stuart Webb [00:03:03]:Yeah.Arup Biswas [00:03:03]:Particularly when it comes to broadcast advertising, whether it's TV or radio, people think, and traditionally this has been the case. So this is completely justified why people think this way. You need to go to a recording studio, you need a sound engineer, you need a voiceover artist, you need to create a script. And traditionally the cost of creating an audio advert has been thousands and thousands of pounds. Typically a recording studio can be upwards of £300 an hour to just hire the recording studio. So the costs are really high. But also the technical expertise, you know, if you're a business owner running whatever your business is, you know, how much do you actually know about creating a radio advert? You think you might have to outsource that, but it's not typically something you think you can do yourself. So there were high barriers to entry to get into radio advertising and there traditionally always has been high barriers to entry.Arup Biswas [00:03:56]:So when we came up with the concept for doing this, and I should say myself and my co founder, we come from a media background, so we were very experienced in working with small business owners who were looking to promote their businesses in normal market ways, but struggled with things like broadcast advertising. So we came with it from a problem point of view of how do we make it easier for these business owners to get their message out via radio advertising and increasingly podcast advertising. So we know that we know the pain. We, you know, we see the pain every day. And historically the pain's been there, been there. So what we've done is create a system which removes every, every barrier to entry. And I'll, you know, we'll talk a little bit more about what we offer, but essentially one of the services we offer is a self serve advert creation system where anybody can go in and create a professional audio advert with no technical expertise in less than five minutes. So that's what we've tried to do, is remove barriers to entry.Stuart Webb [00:04:55]:So let's, let's just deal into that and I guess we're going to get into some of the sort of the offerings and services that you've got. And I hope that there's going to be a valuable offer, a piece of advice that you'd like to give to the audience. But let me just explore for a moment. I mean, how does this system work? What does the business owner do to, to solve the problem they've got? Having sort of looked at the cost of this and thought this is going to be too expensive for me to be able to sort of put a radio advert, a podcast advert, TV advert, whatever, out this might be a solution to it. What's the steps that they take? What are the different services you Offer.Arup Biswas [00:05:33]:Yeah, well, the first thing to say is when we talk to business owners is to forget everything they know about creating radio adverts. Because most of us, or most people come to this thinking expensive techniques, technically complex, all those kind of things. As I said, we've created a system that removes all that. So we've got two services. One is a self serve system I mentioned where anybody can go in, they can just write a few words of text. We use AI to create a script for the, for the company owner or the marketing executive. So you just need to put in a few words about your business. You know, for example, you know, ABC is a marketing company that works in Chester.Arup Biswas [00:06:11]:Our AI will automatically create a 30 second advert script using that text, or you can put in the exact text that you want to be read out. What happens is our system automatically creates the script, automatically adds an AI voice, and these are high quality AI voices. We use the best AI voices in the industry. You would never know it's an AI voice. And we add background music to it as well and we patch it up as a, as a 30 second advert. Now that process is super quick. Anybody can go into the site now, they could do it now and they'll see that they'll have an advert there to listen to literally within less than a minute, you know, no more than five minutes if they want to translate it, because we offer a translation facility as well. So that's fine, they could do that, then they could download the advert, do whatever they want with it.Arup Biswas [00:06:56]:But what we also know is quite often somebody will produce something like an audio file and they won't know what to do with it. It's great having an advert on your desktop or what the hell do you do with it. So what we do is we don't see ourselves so much as a tech company, we see ourselves as a full service tech and advertising agency. So we offer what we call a fully managed service where we'll create the advert for the client for the same cost. It's the same low cost. So we'll create the advert for the client and then we work with our media partners. So we have media partnerships with the largest radio station owners in the UK and the world's largest podcast advertising network. And, and these are companies that own every commercial radio station you've heard of, the big ones, you know, Heart Great Sits Radio, lbc, Capital Jazz fm, Classic fm, all the ones you, you've heard of, which get millions and millions of listeners every week.Arup Biswas [00:07:49]:And we partner with those guys to actually broadcast the advert for the client. So we offer a full one stop shop solution where the client can just say to us, yes, create the advert for us and we want it broadcast in Chester in, in September for two weeks. And we want to target a particular demographic now because more and more people are listening to radio adverts, not on traditional radios but on what you call connected devices, smart speakers, phones, game stations, Alexas, all those kind of things that gives you a lot of data about who's listening. And because the media owners have that data, we could target really effectively. So nowadays if a business owner says to us, oh my target audience is Eastbourne for example, but I only want to target 45 year old business owners in Eastbourne, within a 10 mile radius of Eastbourne and they have to be female business owners, we can do that. We could target exactly that audience through our media partners and deliver the advert exactly to that audience. So nobody else other than those target audience people will hear the advert which makes the advertising spend really effective of course. So what we do for the client is we create the advert, we manage the broadcast for them, we get it broadcast and we send them analytics at the end of it.Arup Biswas [00:09:02]:So, and obviously they can hear the advert when it's live on air. So we offer a full service solution.Stuart Webb [00:09:09]:And I think it's really important to, to, to, to, to sort of emphasize in this, if it's not become very obvious, that makes this really very, very cost effective, doesn't it? Because you're not paying for the normally 95% of people who don't want, you're targeting the very specific people that you know that you have a solution to their problem and therefore that advert becomes extremely relevant and very much more targeted.Arup Biswas [00:09:35]:That's right. And actually some of the campaigns we've already run for clients, they've been very targeted campaigns. So we've got one coming up actually in the next couple of weeks which is targeting business owners in Birmingham and it's just targeting Birmingham city centre. So like a mile, a couple of mile radius of Birmingham city centre. It's only targeting business owners because that's who the business the advertiser wants to target. We can even set the age range. If they only want to target business owners over 25, for example, we could do that. So yeah, it makes it very effective and it means you're not, you're not wasting your ad spend on people hearing your advert who aren't in your target audience.Arup Biswas [00:10:13]:So why why waste money doing that?Stuart Webb [00:10:15]:Terrific. So that brings me on to the sort of third question. Is there a piece of advice, an offer, something that you can give, give to the audience listening at the moment, the people watching us on YouTube, LinkedIn who might say, well, this sounds like it's interesting. So how do I get some advice from this guy and understand whether or not this is for me?Arup Biswas [00:10:34]:Yeah, well, the first thing I would do is I'd say look at one of the challenges is people often think that radio listenership in particular is declining. They know podcast listenership is increasing because podcasts are booming massively around the world, but they think radio listenership generally is declining. And that's not the case at all. Radio listenership is really, really strong in the and around the world. So in terms of free advice, free resources, I would tell people to go to a couple of the industry websites. These are completely in industry official websites. One is called radiocentre.org which is kind of the voice of the radio industry in the uk. The second one is a site called Rajar R a j a r.co.uk which is run by the BBC and the Radio center which gives the stats on how many people listen to different radio stations.Arup Biswas [00:11:24]:So if you go there and even if you look for your local radio station, so you might want to know how many people listen to heart radio in your part of the world, you can go there and you can see the actual stats of how many people are listening to heart radio in your area. So you'll know how big the audience is. The second bit of advice I'd give, and this may sound a bit self serving, is just go onto our website, go into register for our free advertising service. There's no cost to create the advert. The only, the only cost is if you want to download the advert at the end of the process. But you don't have to do that if you just want to go in, have a look, see how it works, actually create an advert yourself, see how it sounds, do that, go in there, have a play with it, see how easy it is to create a professional audio advert and that you'll, that will make you very familiar and comfortable with knowing it's really easy. Now you don't need the traditional ways of creating adverts now. What we've done is created a disruptive way to create an professional audio ad cheaply and quickly.Stuart Webb [00:12:21]:So anybody who's just tried to sort of write down all of that information, I can promise you, and I've put it on screen. Now, if you go to our vault, which is systemize S Y S T E M I s e.me forward/free hyphen stuff that's systemized me free hyphen stuff, all of those links that ARIP has just, just mentioned will be there. You don't have to try and write them down. Just remember, systemize me free hyphen stuff, dead easy. Go on that, pick up all of that links, pick all of the information that we've got and we'll be able to direct you to all of that stuff that ARUP has just mentioned. And that will save you having to try and remember a lot of information which is actually going to help you to understand exactly how you can create these adverts. Low cost, highly targeted, very relevant to the person, has a problem that you can solve for them. And if that doesn't bring in leads, then nothing else will.Stuart Webb [00:13:17]:Arab, you've mentioned a little bit about how you sort of began your journey towards this. You were, you were obviously in the media world yourself. Was there a, was there a moment, a book, a course and in a meeting, something which sort of struck you as, okay, I've got a solution to a problem. I need to, I need to start telling the world about this. What brought you to who you are at the moment, as it were?Arup Biswas [00:13:38]:Yeah, well, as I said, myself, my co founder, Monok, we come from the media sector and actually we both started off as traditional newspaper journalists back in the day when, you know, newspaper readership was huge. So we started in the media sector. We moved into different areas of media operations in terms of managing news websites and operations, those kind of things. But we worked quite closely with advertising teams in our media companies. So we were working with colleagues who were working with local businesses who were looking to promote themselves via. In those days it was all newspaper advertising. You'll remember, Stuart, back in the day, all the job listings weren't on. Indeed they were in your local paper.Stuart Webb [00:14:16]:And all the properties, I don't remember those times.Arup Biswas [00:14:18]:I'm only 21, I'm obviously older than you.Stuart Webb [00:14:24]:21 in a few months. I just haven't counted the number of months recently.Arup Biswas [00:14:29]:But trust me, in, in, I'm going to say in the old days, job listings, property listings, they're all in your local paper. That's where you would go, you know, Thursday used to be job paper day. You know, you'd get a paper on a Thursday and that's where your jobs were. Wednesday was for property. Now all that has moved online. But working with commercial teams in media organizations. Like I said, we understood how SME owners, business owners were evolving, what they wanted to do. They were Google AdWords was a new thing at the time.Arup Biswas [00:14:55]:You know, the, the power of advertising online became a new thing and more and more were shifting away from traditional print advertising into online advertising. But there was a growing band who wanted to go further and want to do things like radio advertising. But there just wasn't the capability to do it. A low cost, easy to, easy to use and understand way and it hasn't been for years. You know, we set up to solve that problem, to fix that problem. We, we knew AI could solve that problem and we built our own system to enable us to do it. So we have our own proprietary system that uses AI. Now if you're into AI, yeah, it's fine, it's exciting.Arup Biswas [00:15:31]:But if you just focus on the outcome of I want to reach potential large audiences in a really effective and powerful way. Radio advertising, podcast advertising is number one. And actually it's not me saying that numerous bodies, including the Guardian newspaper and Tapestry research, they did some analysis a few years ago about the effectiveness of podcast advertising, for example, and what they found, what they found was podcast advertising is more, it's the most effective form of advertising around, much more effective than online advertising, a lot more effective than TV advertising. And actually what they found in their in depth analysis and research was 52% of of podcast listeners who heard an advert in a podcast wanted to buy something from the brand. 38% of people who heard an advert on radio wanted to buy something from the brand. And there's a whole stack of literature about the science of audio and the fact it goes in your ear and it sticks in your brain and it, and you digest it and you, and it works its way into your brain in a different way to things you see visually, for example. So there's a lot of science about how audio is the most effective method of getting a message in, in your brain and also the most effective message method of advertising and getting the customers to recall your brand, recall your message and go onto your website and make a purchase.Stuart Webb [00:16:55]:Terrific. I'm very aware of the fact that you've given a huge amount of very detailed answers to questions that I've given you, but probably I've not yet asked you the one question that I should have asked and that's probably my fault for having not realized. There's an important question here, but there must be one important question that you keep thinking. When's he going to ask this really, really important question. So I'm going to ask you now to tell me what that question was. And obviously, as you know what the question is, you're also going to have to answer it for me because I can't answer that question.Arup Biswas [00:17:25]:That's fine. Well, I guess a really obvious question is what do I do with an advert? And I know it sounds really obvious because we've been talking about advertising on radio, we've been talking about advertising podcasts and Absolutely, you know, create the advert. That's where it'll go. That's where you're going to get your biggest audience when it's broadcast on radio or broadcast in podcast. However, an audio advert doesn't have to be just used in that way. There's lots of other things you can do with an audio advert. You can stick it on your website, you can stick it in your newsletters, you can stick it on your email, you can use on social media. So if you never want it to be on radio or you don't think you can afford the cost of it, going out on radio or podcast doesn't mean that an audio advert won't be effective.Arup Biswas [00:18:06]:It will be effective and there's lots of ways you can use it. So, you know, if you don't want it on Heart FM or Greatest Radio or in the podcast or whatever, fine. Use it on your website, Use it on your, in your blog section if you've got one. Use it in your emails. User on social media, people still digest it in the same way. It's still going through people's ears. They're still hearing the message. It's just a different medium that's going out.Arup Biswas [00:18:29]:So that's the one thing I think people should get, should really understand that using our system or using any system to create an advert doesn't necessarily mean you have to broadcast it on radio. An audio file, an audio advert can be used in lots of different ways and it's a powerful mechanism whichever way they use.Stuart Webb [00:18:48]:And now it's as cost effective as you described, Eric. There's no reason not to do five, six, seven of them and use them in different ways, different channels where, you know, there'll be different audiences. I'm always very keen on talking to business owners who are sort of unsure about whether or not they should target and get very much more niche in there trying to solve particular problems. And I keep saying to them the niche person is the one that actually it's where the money is really made. So actually creating a very niche advert might sound like a really crazy idea, but actually it's the one which is probably going to be the most effective in bringing the person that has a problem that you solve to get to know who you are and start to know and trust you. And it's a much more effective way of doing it by something as simple as creating an audio advert like you're describing than it is by blasting a message to the entire world and hoping, which is just a very ineffective strategy.Arup Biswas [00:19:41]:Yeah. And, you know, with our services, there's two ways to, to look at that. One is, as I said, with the radio advertising, it can be really targeted at who you want to reach and the demographics. But podcast advertising is a really interesting space. I mean, everyone know how big podcasts are getting? You know, they're huge globally in the UK and globally. But with podcasts, obviously there, it's a bit like websites. There's podcasts for everything and podcasts for very niche subjects. So if you want a podcast just on marketing, you'll come to your podcast Stuart.Arup Biswas [00:20:11]:But if you want a podcast on business growth that you, you know, sorry, your business growth podcast will come to you. If you want one on marketing, if you want one on cars, whatever, there'll be a podcast about it. I mean, if you. Everybody knows about the Peter Crouch podcast, you know, and he's got some really successful podcasts out there now, music podcasts that appeal to people, they're funny, that the comedy podcast, but the podcast for everything. And whatever sector you're working in, there will be a podcast that relates to that sector. So that means you can have an advert in that particular podcast, which means only people that be hearing it are people that you want to target, people who are, who are looking for those services or looking for knowledge and experience. So you can be really, really highly targeted. Which is why some podcast advertising can be a bit more expensive because it's so targeted.Arup Biswas [00:21:04]:But going back to your point, it's exactly that point, you're not wasting a single penny on people that aren't in your target audience.Stuart Webb [00:21:11]:Brilliant. Brilliant. Arab. I think you've really, really hit the nail on the head with that. And I'm just going to, once again, if you, if I would encourage you, go to Systemize me free hyphen stuff, go and find out Those email, those URLs, those websites that are mentioned, they will be in the vault. You can go there, you can pick up those, those valuable links and find out just how quickly and easily you can create an advert like Arup has just described to you. I'm going to back up what he's saying. I've been doing some sort of helping people launch their own podcast just recently.Stuart Webb [00:21:47]:When you look at the number of blogs there are in the world and yet there are so few podcasts and blogs are something that I know every web expert tells me, you must have a blog, you must have a blog. If you've got a blog but you haven't got a podcast, you've missed out on a huge section of potential audience I happen to have to attend. Not because I, because I was doing something else there, but I was attending an event recently in the middle of Derby which was around the train industry and there were no less than 12 YouTube and podcast people there, all creating podcasts about the trains that they were seeing. So there are some really huge audiences for these people. If they hadn't expected there to be a huge audience for their stuff, they wouldn't have been there. So go think about it. Go have a look at what you can do with podcasts, look at what you can do with an advert to promote your stuff on a podcast and get out there and do it. Arup, I've got to thank you for, for what you've just said.Stuart Webb [00:22:46]:I think it's brilliant stuff and really, really appreciate you coming on and spending a few minutes with us.Arup Biswas [00:22:50]:Thank you, sir, I really enjoyed it. Thank you for the opportunity.Stuart Webb [00:22:53]:No problem. If you'll excuse me, I'm just going to now encourage people to subscribe to this podcast and website. Go to once again, Systemize Me subscribe you just, it's a simple format, asks you for what two things, your first name and your email address. And every week you'll get an email with me from me telling you who's coming up on this so that you can join live on LinkedIn or YouTube and actually get the sort of valuable free advice from experts such as Eric. We don't have people on here who have got something really valuable to say. So if you want to listen to more people like Arup who've got really valuable free advice for you and really will help get your business motoring, come and subscribe at Systemize Me Forward slash subscribe. Arup, thank you very much. Thank you for indulging me for a few minutes in making my own little self promotion there.Stuart Webb [00:23:42]:It's not an advert. Maybe I need to start thinking about one of those as well, but thank you very much for being here.Arup Biswas [00:23:47]:Thank you, Stuart.. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Biology has always been my first love, and this episode felt like the perfect moment to come back to it! In this episode, I share the thinking behind my biology scope and sequence, why order matters so much, and the structures, experiences, and connections students need to truly understand biology. I also dig into my biggest sequencing hot takes and give an inside look at what makes my It's Not Rocket Science® biology curriculum intentionally designed, practical, and effective.➡️ Show Notes: https://itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com/episode220Resources Mentioned:Biology FULL YEAR Curriculum Biology curriculum on TpT (see all the 5 star reviews!!)Biology Units Biology Scope and Sequence Blogpost Get the FREE Biology Pacing Guide!Strategize Your SequenceDownload your FREE Classroom Reset Challenge.Take the Free Labs When Limited virtual PD courseSend me a DM on Instagram: @its.not.rocket.scienceSend me an email: rebecca@itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com  Follow, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts.Follow, rate, and comment on Spotify.Related Episodes:Episode 60: Teaching with Packets - What They Are, Why I Love Them, and How to Use ThemEpisode 80: Strategizing Your Sequence: Curriculum Design Part 1Episode 179: Unpacking the NGSS: Phenomena and Storylines Episode 194: The Importance of Inquiry-Based Learning - And How to Implement It PracticallyEpisode 209: Anatomy Scope and Sequence: How and Why I Teach Anatomy the Way That I Do

Who is Lesley?Lesley Pyle is the founder of HireMyMom, a company dedicated to helping small business owners—especially those running hybrid or remote teams—grow and succeed. After seeing countless business owners struggle to find skilled, trustworthy candidates and juggle the demands of recruiting, Lesley made it her mission to simplify hiring. Through HireMyMom, she connects digital marketing agencies, coaches, consultants, and e-commerce businesses with talented remote professionals, eliminating the hassle of massive job boards. Lesley also offers a unique concierge service, allowing an experienced HR professional to handle the entire hiring process, so business owners can focus on what they do best—growing their businesses.Key TakeawaysHere's what's brewing in this episode:

Who is RJ?RJ Horner's journey began from a place of deep frustration and anger—twelve years ago, he was unhappy with his life and felt nothing was going right. His anger affected every aspect of his world, pushing people away. Yet, amid this struggle, RJ discovered a turning point when he clung to one idea: there had to be a better way. With the support of those few who stayed by his side, especially insightful mentors, RJ started to see life differently. Their guidance reminded him of his capabilities, recognizing his education and potential even when he could not. Through this transformation, RJ found peace and purpose, building a fulfilling life grounded in resilience, learning, and the unwavering belief that things could get better.Key TakeawaysWe were thrilled to welcome RJ Horner, Life Empowerment Coach and founder of the Beacon of Life and Leadership, onto the show. RJ's journey from frustration and feeling stuck to building a fulfilling life is both inspiring and practical—perfect fuel for your next growth spurt.Here's a taste of what we covered:Recognizing When You're Ready for Change RJ speaks directly to those of us who feel there must be more to life—but just aren't sure where to start. Maybe you feel like you're drifting, struggling at work, or just not finding the joy you know is possible. RJ's story about shifting from anger and uncertainty to action is a reminder that no one is alone in feeling this way.Small Steps, Big Shifts A mentor's advice led RJ to John Maxwell's “Make Today Count,” which started his transformation. He reminds us: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Taking action, even a small one, is how you steer the car in a new direction.Tools and Support on the Journey RJ has launched the Beacon School of Leadership—a FREE community full of practical leadership and growth resources. He's all about genuine service: “By giving value, you now get buy-in from people… They can trust you, because they know you're in it for them.” Join the community for workshops, masterminds, and support from others walking the same path.Books That Change Mindsets RJ recommends:* “Make Today Count” by John Maxwell* “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale CarnegieBoth shaped his attitude toward leadership, service, and personal happiness.Where Do You Start? RJ introduces his 3S System for Success—State, Sightline, Strategy:* State: Where are you right now?* Sightline: Where do you want to go?* Strategy: What steps will take you there?Key Takeaway:Don't be afraid to take the first step—even if it feels like the wrong one. You can always adjust your path as you go. Every attempt, even a failure, is a lesson learned.Ready to take your first step?

Who is Brian?Brian Parana is no stranger to the turning points that come in midlife. At 42, he's the dedicated husband of his high school sweetheart and the proud father of four—juggling the joys and challenges that come with two high schoolers and two middle schoolers, ages 10 to 15. With 15 years as a self-employed professional and over 23 years in the health industry, Brian has seen firsthand what so many entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders experience: the demands of life and responsibility often sneak up, and self-care takes a back seat. His journey reflects the universal realization that reaching 40, 45, or 50 doesn't always look or feel as expected—prompting him to help others redefine what thriving in midlife can truly mean.Key Takeaways00:00 Avoiding Midlife Crisis: Enhance Life05:05 Finding Balance Amid Life's Chaos08:04 “Rice 72: Three-Day Fat Loss”11:50 “Developing Habits for Growth”13:30 “1% Improvements for Massive Success”17:32 “Health Choices Over Consequences”20:40 Appreciative Farewell Message_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Do You Need a P.A.T.H. to Scale?We help established business owners with small but growing teams:go from feeling stuck, sceptical, and tired of wasting time and money on false promises,to running a confident, purpose-driven business where their team delivers results, customers are happy, and they can finally enjoy more time with their family -with a results-based refund guarantee: if you follow the process and it doesn't work, we refund what you paid.This is THE P.A.T.H. to scale your business.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDShealth and wellbeing, business leaders, productivity, midlife crisis, entrepreneurs, self-employed, diet industry, weight loss, lifestyle balance, flexibility, moderation, accountability, fat loss protocol, nutrition, mindset, radical accountability, busy professionals, sustainable habits, atomic habits, James Clear, Tony Robbins, personal development, business performance, routines, incremental change, ROI of health, confidence, energy levels, work-life balance, men's healthSPEAKERSBrian Parana, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:00]:SA hi and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. I have my coffee monkey here. My guest Brian, Coach Brian Piranha is here with me. He has his coffee with espresso, with.Brian Parana [00:00:49]:Some seltzer water and some oat milk.Stuart Webb [00:00:52]:Coach BRIAN that's a brilliant, brilliant recipe. Thank you for that. So Brian is a, is a, is a health and well being expert, an athlete, now a coach who helps business leaders, people who are trying to run their businesses and forget that they need to remain healthy to run their business, do better with both. So Coach Ryan, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. Looking forward to this conversation and really looking forward to hearing how you can help us.Brian Parana [00:01:27]:I'm excited to be here. I'm looking forward to our five questions and the insights that I can bring, the value and some ideal takeaways for our guests that are listening in.Stuart Webb [00:01:37]:That's what we want to hear. So let's start with that first question. I like to always start with just give us a little bit of an oversight of the sort of person you're trying to help. What are the problems that they have in their life that might help them identify that you're currently talking to them, right.Brian Parana [00:01:55]:What happens when we reach our mid-40s? There's that term of a midlife crisis, right. I'm 42, I've married my high school sweetheart, we're 19 years in. We have four kids, two high schoolers, two middle schools, three boys and girls, 15 to 10. And I've been self employed for 15 years and been in the health industry for 23 or something. I've seen it time and again. Is that people, business owners, entrepreneurs, leaders, everyone ends up running into this at some point where the responsibilities of their life caught up to them. In a sense, they realize they're not taking care of themselves and their body. And 40, 45, 50 isn't what was expected when they got there, right.Brian Parana [00:02:44]:They're on their way to retirement or they got money in the bank or the house or whatever this stuff, but when they see themselves in the mirror, they just their waistlines expanding. They don't have the confidence in their, their workloads that they once had. There's fatigue, the lack of productivity. They feel half a step behind or maybe in one or two instead. And that's the type of person that I'm coming to the marketplace to meet is to get that priority. Let's not have a midlife crisis where we potentially disrupt some things in life. Let's actually Enhance what life has and be even more productive by taking care of yourself first to then have the energy, the resources, the capacity to keep pace with all the responsibilities that you are now in charge of.Stuart Webb [00:03:35]:So let's talk a little bit about maybe there's somebody out there at the moment thinking, hey, this guy, this guy's talking to me. What do you think they'd be able to recognize in terms of the things they tried? You know, the health kicks that go on, the act, the diet, which constantly never seems to work. I mean, they may even be finding the soul at the moment, sitting there looking at yet another diet book or even some other ways of trying to enhance this. And I think what you're trying to say is that's not always all of the solution, is it?Brian Parana [00:04:06]:No, no, definitely not. Oftentimes we've been taught through marketing, through just literal time for, or the, the, the diet industry really started in the 1980s or so and 90s and, and continued on if you, I, I grew up in that and has infiltrated every single person that I am in association with and what I, who I've worked with for years, restriction. There's these hard protocols that they have to follow. It often lines up with more of a leader type personality where they have to feel that the grind, the hustle. They have things that have to be hard. Those are, they have to cut out, restrict all that. And I've been in a five pound weight range for decades. Obviously it's what I do by profession and I should look and be the part to lead those people.Brian Parana [00:05:05]:But with four kids, with self employment, with all these, these obstacles that just show up in everyday life, there is a way to find some balance. To have some ice cream after a kid's soccer game or after a school event, or have a small sliver of cake at a birthday party because I mean, what weekend do people not have birthdays, especially if they have four kids or something, right? There's just always those opportunities to potentially fall off track and then next, you know, we'll start again on Monday. Well, Stuart, today's Wednesday or Tuesday. It's Tuesday that we're recording this. There's a lot of sloppiness that can, that can be created there and cause you to be setting yourself back a significant amount. We need to find a level of balance of, with some flexibility, some moderation in a way that creates a lifestyle that they can actually live. What we do in two weeks, we do in two months, we do in two years. And finding that balance is so important.Brian Parana [00:06:04]:And that that's where I meet people every single day.Stuart Webb [00:06:09]:And I think you've got a very valid point then Brian, because you know, it's if, if you are having to force yourself into something, if you're telling yourself that you can only achieve this by constant denial, you can only do this by having to go to the gym when you don't really feel, feel like it because you've got other concerns, you've got the family to worry about things like that. It becomes more and more difficult to actually stick with something like this, doesn't it? I mean if the only time you ever get any pleasure is when you get that little bit of ice cream or that small amount of cake at a birthday party and suddenly you deny that, it just becomes impossible to stick to anything that you really, really want to do. You have to link it to something that's more than that, right?Brian Parana [00:06:50]:It's just same thing with business. If you have to grind to grow a business, it's going to fail at some point because whether the motivation, the willpower, the lack of consistently putting out or say a high marketing budget, if you one, one or five months go by and you haven't produced the outcomes to pay for that, now you're in the red and things aren't going well for the business because it's at such a high demand of say accuracy or focus or the ROI needs to be right on point there.Stuart Webb [00:07:26]:So I've got a really. You've got a special offer that I think that the audience is going to be really interested in. This I will be putting into our vault. So if you go to www.systemize.me free stock you, you'll get the details of exactly how Brian can help this coach. Brian, tell us how can you help us to get through some of these problems?Brian Parana [00:07:52]:Yeah, well say the free stuff thing, right? I have a.Stuart Webb [00:07:56]:That's the one. Anything we valuable offers. Valuable free stuff. That's what we want to give to people here. Pay it forward.Brian Parana [00:08:04]:We have a, a we're in the, the mega information, right? Maybe I could coin that. The mega information Time of our lives, right? And with ChatGPT and all you can get a meal plan, you can get a workout, you can do all these things. And what I have, my free stuff would be what I call the rice 72. It's just a three day fat loss protocol that has food, that has nutrition, that has some mindset things to help reset from the brain. Because it all starts here. And in that you get step by step specific things that we know and we've heard so much. But the point is it has to be done. So whether there's email accountability, there's actual text engagement with me as well.Brian Parana [00:08:52]:If you do get the free thing, the Rise 72, you'll be able to have some level of accountability. And that's what I want to bring into my world to. To others is create an experience, a transformative experience. Not just, hey, here's the meal plan that you're supposed to eat, but it's got to be more because nobody I the one of two things. I'm busy. Every single person, I think has always said that. And they usually say it's in all cats B, U S Y with multiple exclamation points after. That's how they describe their life.Brian Parana [00:09:27]:And I get it. I'm busy too. But I still have found a way to prioritize my health.Stuart Webb [00:09:32]:Yeah.Brian Parana [00:09:33]:So let's find a way to do that for you. The other thing is that they. So they're. They're busy and they always want to just jump in with. With both heels, in a sense. And we have to find those small little pivot points to again create that sustainability. And through talking with thousands of people over the last 20 years, so many conversations, we need to. To be able to do the things that we already know we need to do.Brian Parana [00:10:09]:And that's a high level of radical accountability I want to bring to.Stuart Webb [00:10:14]:Yeah. And it's about finding that way of, as you say, prioritizing using the. Using triggers. You know, one of the things I've often heard that.Brian Parana [00:10:22]:Yes.Stuart Webb [00:10:23]:One of the great ways of sort of building your. You're building this sort of thing in as you're talking about mindset is linking it to pleasure. You know, yes, you're going to go for a, for a run, but you're going to go for a run in the outside and listen to your favorite podcast or whatever it is, this podcast. So. And so you actually sort of. And you, you. You have to set yourself up with. The only time I listen to the podcast is when I'm going for the run or when I'm going for the walk.Stuart Webb [00:10:49]:And so that you get that sort of mindset shift. If it's not something hard, it becomes a pleasure to do some of this stuff.Brian Parana [00:10:55]:Right, Exactly. And, and that's a huge gap where people are. An example would be, say, the 75 hard. It's a very strong reset accountability protocol where you have to work out twice a day, you got to drink a gallon of water, you have some you got to read a book. All these things are great. Let's do 75 hard on your own terms. That makes it so that on day 76 or day 2000, you're still doing the things. Yeah, it's my job to help figure that out.Stuart Webb [00:11:28]:Brilliant. Love it. Brian, you've gone to the stage where you understand exactly how this works. Was there a book or a program or something that actually sort of allowed you to understand how to get that sort of mindset, that body work, everything sort of coming together, which is how you explain it to people.Brian Parana [00:11:50]:The book that comes off top of my head is there's so many personal development things I've done. I actually went to Tony Robbins seminars, I was a fire walker, I did it twice. And so many other different certifications and all that. I guess when it all comes said and done, we, we've heard it again a million times. Is that the, the James Clears is a really easy that everyone we know atomic habits. How do we build habits 1% better at a time? We take these small incremental, consistent steps to get us and we consistently keep doing that. And, and the other thing is to understand the analogy that is used in there as well. An ice cube melting at 22 degrees, it's not going to melt.Brian Parana [00:12:36]:At 23, it's not going to melt. At 29, it's not melting. At 32, it might start to melt. At 33, it's melting, it will take a while. At 40, it's melted. It's definitely on its way. And today in Miami in July, it's done melted. You know, the moment it touched the ground, even maybe on the way down to the ground, it's already evaporated because it's so hot.Brian Parana [00:13:00]:And in the beginning of these changes, even just in business, we can tie it back to business since that's who's listening. In the beginning of the business, it was so small and incremental and you didn't see those, those 1 degree changes over time. But then you built that momentum and all of a sudden you have a business with employees and it's successful and all of a sudden you're wow, I don't have time for myself. But that 1% better is going to be the key thing to build consistency into your life.Stuart Webb [00:13:30]:I'm a, I'm a great fan of somebody you may or may not have heard of a guy called David Brailsbridge who was the coach of the Great Britain cycling team. And he was a very great fan of sort of 1% improvements and he was looking at 1% improvement, improvements all the time, which took the British cycling team to the top of the world. And the reason that he did it was because he was looking at tiny, tiny changes every single time they raced, to the extent that he started sending the team out to meetings with their own pillow so that they got a slightly better night's sleep the night before they raced. It really does take tiny, tiny changes to produce a massive result, doesn't it? But it has to be consistent. It has to be continuous. You can't just do it once and then hope it's all gone back to it. You know, it's gonna be easy from that. You make that tiny change, but you have to continue to make that change.Stuart Webb [00:14:22]:You need the accountability to do it.Brian Parana [00:14:24]:Yeah. KPIs for ROIs, right? In the business world, we have those and these SOPs to get to the ROIs that we want to go, but it has to be done every day. Yeah. Same thing in our body. We need to. These are basic. We need to move so much. We need to drink our water, get enough sleep.Brian Parana [00:14:46]:We need to eat healthy food. Those are basic tenets of taking care of yourself and living in a healthy body that's energetic and you feel confident in and you fit in your clothes in. But we let distraction take us away.Stuart Webb [00:15:01]:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Brian, there must be one question that you're left at the moment thinking he's still hanging on to the really critical one, that one question that we need to sort of get to get to, and I should ask it, but I obviously don't know what it is. So what is the question that you would have liked me to have asked by now, which I obviously haven't. And then obviously, as you know the answer, you better answer it for us, otherwise it'll never get answered.Brian Parana [00:15:27]:I thought long and hard on this. And what is the true ROI of taking care of yourself and your health?Stuart Webb [00:15:34]:Oh, that is a good question. I like that.Brian Parana [00:15:37]:Huh? I thought about it a little bit. Make sure it was juicy. What is it? People at first just think, oh, I'm at a healthy body weight, or I can. I don't fall asleep in the middle of the day anymore. Or I can be productive at work, or I can go one meeting to the next to the next, or when I come home, I can engage with my family and children. Those are all really important things. But we. One thing is.Brian Parana [00:16:03]:Is say the confidence that you have, if you aren't in a healthy body, then you don't necessarily have the confidence that you think that you're portraying when you go into a meeting, right. Even this is a good old Tony Robbins example. But I'm standing here, but I can take a big deep breath in and, and I can get up here. All of a sudden I'm, I'm just 1% taller in a sense, but I am. It's been multiplied. It's 10x in my energy flow, my breath. I can get oxygen in my lungs and I can start to think clearly. And people notice that and they see it, they can feel that confidence and that energy coming from.Brian Parana [00:16:48]:And, and you don't know that you're walking around like this all day. You might feel the same, but it's, there's a difference. So what does that mean? That means that we can, if the true ROI of a healthy body is better connection with those around in your, your, your family circle, your social circles, how you show up at work and lead. We want that lead. What type of ability are you to be able to produce deals and make things happen in your career? These are all big, big ROIs that can happen. And you don't. The, the thing that you don't see. And I love sharing this with my four kids, especially my oldest right now, because he's teenage for sure, at 15, almost 16.Brian Parana [00:17:32]:But you choose your actions, but you don't choose your consequences. Therefore, if you're not taking care of your health in the 40s, you might have a heart attack by your 50. Hey, I'm so glad that you're retiring as a millionaire or whatever, but you're going to spend all of it on health care and assisted living and having someone wipe your butt because, because you have a disease, right? We have, everyone has lots of problems until they have a significant health problem, then we only have one problem. And everything else fades quickly because you have diabetes, you've had a heart attack, there's a stroke, there's cancer, there's all these, these things that are trying to kill us. And health is the most easy, say, almost free thing to do outside of your time. That you can get a huge ROI for now, but also into the future.Stuart Webb [00:18:24]:That's absolutely brilliant. And if nobody, if nobody takes anything away from this, they should take away the fact that doing something for their future is actually looking after their kids, their grandkids, their great grandkids. You know, you need to be around for those. I'm going to go back. You need to come on to systemize me free. Go find out about what Brian has been talking about, talking to us about today and make sure that you understand exactly how somebody like Brian can really help you to focus, to make sure that you are available to the future. And I'm going to put in my own little request to you, please. I send out an email just, just once a week with who's coming up on the podcast and you can come on and watch the live stream, ask questions.Stuart Webb [00:19:15]:If you want to please come onto the newsletter list. You go to Systemize Me subscribe and that gets you onto the newsletter list and you'll get an email just enabling you to listen to such brilliant advice from people like Coach Brian. Brian, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. Really appreciate you taking the time and if I take anything else away from this, I'm going to go and find a way now of going back out for Cycle Ride, which is something I haven't done for a while and that will help me to sort of just live a little bit longer. Yep.Brian Parana [00:19:49]:So, you know, wrapping it up, I have the, the free thing that I'll be given with Stewart is the right 72. It's a three day fat loss protocol. Men and women can do it. And then what the call to rise is is it's a hundred day fat loss transformational experience that really focuses on weekly challenges, quarterly assessment. There are small cohorts of. This is more of a men's focus group called the Brotherhood where we have a small knit group of people, men that are like minded, that want to thrive in their health too along with all these other areas in their life. And, and it's, it's again getting out of just information but actual doing the things because you're in a. It's a catalyst for transformation and that's what the call to rise is.Brian Parana [00:20:34]:So answer your call to rise to better health and a better quality of life.Stuart Webb [00:20:40]:Right. I love it. Thank you so much and I really appreciate you spending a bit of time for us. Go get that stuff. Thank you. Bye bye. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Are you chasing success but quietly losing time with the people (and the life) that matter most? The pressure to optimize, hustle, and “do more” often comes at the cost of presence, peace, and vitality.In this episode of Productivity MD, Dr. Ann Tsung shares powerful insights from Tony Robbins' Date With Destiny and her own experience as a physician working closely with life-and-death moments. She breaks down how unconscious values, emotional triggers, and rigid rules around success create overwhelm, stagnation, and regret.You'll learn how to redefine your “towards” and “away” values, make fulfillment easier to access daily, and structure your life so that—no matter what happens—you can say you lived without regrets.By the end of this episode, you'll have a practical framework to reclaim your energy, live more intentionally, and create success without sacrificing yourself.Key Points From This Episode:Why the pressure to optimize often leads to regretUnderstanding “towards” values vs. “away” valuesHow success-driven rules create overwhelm and stagnationMaking fulfillment easier instead of harder to achieveWhy health and vitality must come before productivityReframing overwhelm, stagnation, and “not enough”How to detach self-worth from task completionDesigning values that are dependent only on youLiving with presence instead of waiting for “someday”Resources:Tony Robbins' Date With DestinyListen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - How to Align Your Time With What Truly MattersPlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2025/12/30/episode-81/

Who is Kyle?Kyle Beltle is a sought-after advisor for professional coaches and consultants whose businesses are flourishing in the high six figures. Having worked extensively with clients eager to reclaim their time, Kyle specializes in navigating the twin challenges his clients so often face: “tax FOMO” (the fear of missing out on tax deductions) and analysis paralysis. He knows all too well how the constant swirl of social media tips and advice from well-meaning friends can leave entrepreneurs unsure of where to start and anxious they might be missing out. Through patient guidance and hands-on support—including welcoming endless client questions at kickoff meetings—Kyle helps business owners cut through the noise, find clarity, and confidently optimize their financial strategies.Key Takeaways00:00 Coaching Clients' Tax Woes Solved04:39 Experience Over Price09:06 Focusing Intentionally in Business12:55 Maximize 401(k) with Profit Sharing15:58 “Subscribe for Podcast Updates”_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Do You Need a P.A.T.H. to Scale?We help established business owners with small but growing teams:go from feeling stuck, sceptical, and tired of wasting time and money on false promises,to running a confident, purpose-driven business where their team delivers results, customers are happy, and they can finally enjoy more time with their family -with a results-based refund guarantee: if you follow the process and it doesn't work, we refund what you paid.This is THE P.A.T.H. to scale your business.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDStax strategy, tax planning, proactive CPA, tax deductions, analysis paralysis, tax FOMO, professional coaches, consultants, high six figure business, time management, business finances, business owner, real estate investment, rental property, multi state tax return, online tax software, premium guidance, tax mistakes, tax savings, 401k, retirement planning, profit sharing, S corp, employee benefits, pension contributions, business tax, cash flow management, VAT bill, financial planning, tax professional, small business taxSPEAKERKyle Beltle, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:03]:Okay, we've gone live without the stream coming in, which is really interesting. So welcome to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. I'm here with Kyle Bentley Beltly. Sorry, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get that wrong. Kyle. Apologies. Kyle Beltley.Stuart Webb [00:00:22]:Kyle is the owner of ProActive CPA. Kyle is going to talk to us about some really interesting things about how we manage our finances, manage tax, etc. Carl, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. I hope you've got your coffee in front of you today.Kyle Beltle [00:00:38]:Ready to go.Stuart Webb [00:00:39]:Terrific mug, terrific mug. Let's, let's talk briefly about how you're, who is, who is the person you're trying to help? What's the problem they've got? So that we can sort of, as we were listening to you describe this, we begin to get a sense of is this me that Kyle is talking about?Kyle Beltle [00:01:00]:Sure, sure. So my clients are professional coaches and consultants running businesses that are generating high six figures of sales and they're people who are looking to buy back their time. I would say that the primary issue that people come to me with and I help them solve, it's kind of a twofold. It's first off, it's what I like to call tax fomo, fear of missing out, and it's analysis paralysis. So with the tax fomo, we are inundated with social media posts on tax tips, our neighbors giving us tax tips, our crazy uncle at the family dinner is giving us. And there's this fear that I'm missing out on these deductions that everybody else knows about. But where do I even, where do I even get started? You know, this, this analysis paralysis. And a great example of this is I just started working with a client there and as we were getting ready for our kickoff meeting, he said, I hope you don't mind, I just jotted down a few thoughts.Kyle Beltle [00:02:10]:Well, so Stewart, this guy had composed this entire Google Doc of just all the things that he'd been coming across. And you know, does this apply to me? Where do I start? And so what I do with my clients is distill all that into a crystal clear tax strategy plan for them where they know, a, this applies to me, B, this is how to take advantage of it, and C, here's the savings I'm going to get from it.Stuart Webb [00:02:38]:So let's just, let's try and explore a little bit then on what are the things. I mean, that guy obviously had ideas about what he wanted to do, the problems that he knew had. He Tried anything. What were the things he tried to do to overcome this problem before turning to Kyle and say, carl, can you help me?Kyle Beltle [00:02:57]:So fortunately he hadn't tried anything and sadly that's not always the case. I had a client, I'll call Ian, who just started working with me the beginning of this year and he had heard, real estate's a great investment. I'm going to get into real estate. And he ended up purchasing a rental house that was out of state. So now he's preparing a multi state return and he has to set up a rental property. He was using an over the counter online tax product there. And you know the saying, garbage in, garbage out. Well, the data that he was putting into the software was not correct.Kyle Beltle [00:03:47]:He ended up missing out on a lot of deductions around that rental property. And so when we first started working together this year, I went back, took a look under the hood of the return last year and was able to help him get that rental property set up properly. And the savings, the actual tax savings that he experienced as a result of that were twice what I was charging him there. And so, you know, I have a colleague, Rajo Jose, who likes to say premium guidance cost a lot less than premium mistakes. And so certainly don't, don't try to DIY things when you're working with a complex tax situation.Stuart Webb [00:04:39]:I'm going to have to agree with you, Carla. I know one of the early lessons I was taught when I was a very young business owner was people forget the price long after they've forgotten the lack of quality, so long after they've remembered the lack of quality. So you know, the, the problem that we all try and think of is this may or may not take me a lot of time, but you're not dealing with, you're not dealing with something which, which is, you know, so much time based, are you? Although they are paying for your time, they're paying for the years of experience which you bought into the, you've used as your education and your experience in order to come back and go, this is how much it's valid, the value is to you. This is not about me taking 15 minutes over this. This is 15 years of my life that's taught me how to do this for you.Kyle Beltle [00:05:25]:100%. 100%. And that's not even mentioning the time that they would need to take away from their core business.Stuart Webb [00:05:33]:Absolutely.Kyle Beltle [00:05:34]:To try to learn this or to even, even to execute it.Stuart Webb [00:05:38]:Absolutely. So I think, Carl, you've been very kind to the audience. You have Got a giveaway. And this will be something which is in the vault that we have, which is the systemized me free stuff. So describe what this is, a PDF, I think, which is going to be a great asset to a lot of people. Tell us what's in this PDF and how it benefit them.Kyle Beltle [00:06:04]:So, as I said at the top, one of the issues that so many of my prospects and so many of my clients come to me with is just saying, where do I even begin? So I put together a handout here of my six favorite tax strategies that most people can take advantage of. And so I would download that there and take it with you next time you're meeting with your tax professional to see which one of these can we put into play to maximize my savings.Stuart Webb [00:06:34]:And I would, I'd hate to, to prejudice this, but if somebody comes along and finds they're only using five of the six, they may need to have a word with you anyway.Kyle Beltle [00:06:43]:Yes, absolutely, absolutely.Stuart Webb [00:06:46]:Okay, terrific. That's a brilliant. And I, I'll just repeat, if you go to systemize me free hyphen stuff, you will find that immediately. You can go and download that now and go get that from, from that vault and, and you will be able to get hold of Kyle's top six strategies. Have a feeling he may have more than six in his bank. But that's, that's the top.Kyle Beltle [00:07:09]:There may be a bonus. There may be a bonus one.Stuart Webb [00:07:12]:I love it. I love it. I love it. Kyle, tell us a little bit. You know, how did you become the, the expert that you are on tax? This doesn't happen overnight. It certainly doesn't happen unless you, you set out intentionally to understand these things.Kyle Beltle [00:07:28]:Yeah.Stuart Webb [00:07:28]:Is there a book, a course or something like that that took you to this, this place? That's.Kyle Beltle [00:07:34]:That is a great question, Stuart. And I love when you ask your guests this because you're always, always finding great books, great programs through this, and I've read a lot of books over the years and just trying to think distill it down to one. Ah, it's really tough. But if I had to choose, I would say that the most impactful program in my life has been Earl Nightingale's the Strangest Secret. Are you familiar with it by any chance?Stuart Webb [00:08:05]:It's not one I know. It's not one I know.Kyle Beltle [00:08:08]:So I encourage everyone out there, go look it up on YouTube. The strangest secret. It's originally, I believe it was a radio broadcast that Earl gave. It's only about 30 minutes. It's very concise. Very to the point. And spoiler alert. The strangest secret is that we become what we think about most of the time.Kyle Beltle [00:08:34]:Oh, and, you know, certainly that is by, you know, no means new to any of your listeners, I'm sure. But for me, I came across this early in my career. It was one of the first times I was really ever exposed to the power of being intentional with your thoughts and setting goals there. And so even to this day, I still find it as a great reset any. Anytime I'm stuck to listen to Earl Nightingale's the Strangest Secret.Stuart Webb [00:09:06]:That is a great, great tip, Carl. I thank you for that one because you're absolutely right. Too often we are, we're not intentional with our businesses, are we? We are distracted. I often see business owners, and I deal with business owners most of my day, and I find myself saying, well, why are you doing it that way? And the answer is sometimes it's sort of like, well, I just can't stop thinking about this. And unfortunately you go, well, you're missing out on a bunch of other things which actually you should be focused on and this should not be even in your thing. So you, you tend to end up doing it because you've just got locked in a cycle of focus that is the wrong one. And to switch the focus to what you should be focused on is much more important.Kyle Beltle [00:09:53]:Yeah. If you're just reacting to the latest email, the latest text message that comes across your inbox there. Yeah, you're absolutely right. You're going to get stuck in a cycle that is not productive and not product. You know, really building up your business to the best that it can be.Stuart Webb [00:10:12]:And this is where you have to start thinking a little bit about, like the, the future of your business by focus on those tax strategies which actually enable you to free up the cash, free up the investment that you might need in order to move the business forward.Kyle Beltle [00:10:26]:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. May feel like you're taking some time, some invaluable time out of your schedule to invest one, two, maybe even three hours to sit down with your tax pro and really map out the upcoming year, what you can take advantage of, what you can't. But the clarity that I have seen that give to my clients is worth its weight in gold and more than comes back to them in time savings.Stuart Webb [00:10:57]:Yeah, I'm gonna, I'll tell a small story here. It's one that's rather specific to the. But I came across a business just recently. The business had hit a real problem. They had a real cash flow problem. And I sort of said, what's the real reason for the cash flow problem? Wasn't very obvious from the discussion. They went, we forgot a VAT bill, value added tax bill. We forgot this tax bill was coming in.Stuart Webb [00:11:20]:We completely missed swiped our cash flow. We're now in deep trouble because we had no idea that it was coming in. And I looked at them and I basically said these bills are paid once every quarter. It's like Christmas. It's going to be on the same day, same time every year. What happened? We didn't have a plan. A one or two hour meeting with an attacked professional to just work out where that was would have solved a whole heap of problems for that business.Kyle Beltle [00:11:52]:Yeah, absolutely, absolutely not. Not to mention just the fact that they could have set up a very simple system to, to remind them about that or to automate it there.Stuart Webb [00:12:04]:Yeah, absolutely brilliant, Kyle, I guess we're getting towards the end of this and I'm going to let you go so you can get back to helping other tax professional people get their taxes in order. Professionals get their taxes in order. Carl, there must be a question that you're thinking, well, he still hasn't asked me the real killer one and obviously I might, I might think of it and probably I'm not going to because I'm a person of very little brain. So what's the one question that I should by now have asked you? And as you know what that question is, you better answer it for us as well.Kyle Beltle [00:12:38]:Yeah, absolutely. Well, one of the questions that I was waiting for was what is one tax strategy in particular that could be a quick win for someone today?Stuart Webb [00:12:50]:I am so glad I didn't ask that question because that is such a good question.Kyle Beltle [00:12:55]:And I got to tell you, Stuart, I'll preface this, I know this, this answer, it's not exciting, it's not revolutionary here, but it is, it truly is powerful. And that is for the listeners here in the US to max out your 401k retirement plan there. Now most people, Stewart, very familiar with having some money taken out of their, their paychecks there to put in the 401k and that's great and that everyone should be doing that. However, I'm always surprised that more business owners don't know about the profit sharing options that most for 1k plans have. And the reason that the profit sharing is so powerful, Stuart, is that it is money that the business elects to put into their employees 401k plans. And it's powerful because if the owner owns a company that's taxed as an S corp here in the US that owner will be on payroll and they'll be able to put additional money into their personal 401 while the business gets a tax deduction for it. It's also a great way for employers to reward their employees by giving them a little bit of a bonus that they don't have to pay payroll taxes on. The employees don't have to pay income taxes on there.Kyle Beltle [00:14:26]:So using the profit sharing component of your 401k to really max it out is a very powerful tax strategy that a lot of businesses will will be able to implement this year and get a quick win.Stuart Webb [00:14:40]:Carl, it will not surprise you to learn that is not a strategy that is just related to the US that is also many other countries. Optimizing and maximizing the amount of money you put into a pension is often the best way of saving tax for the business, but also, as you just said, allowing the employee, even if the employee is the chief executive, to get ready for a time when they need to step away from the business anyway and have still got the money coming in that they should have.Kyle Beltle [00:15:11]:Yeah, absolutely, Stuart. You know, as I said, it's not a particularly exciting strategy, but it's, it's been my experience as a professional that oftentimes it's the simple disciplines.Stuart Webb [00:15:23]:Yeah.Kyle Beltle [00:15:23]:Simple steps that we repeat day after day within our businesses that in the long run provide the biggest wins for us.Stuart Webb [00:15:32]:Kyle, that is a great message to end on because I think it is a universal truth. Business is actually really simple. If you boil it down, it's about making a customer and keeping that customer happy. And hey, what could you do better than doing that with your employees by giving them tax breaks and money for when they retire as well. Absolutely brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Kyle, thank you so much for spending a few minutes.Kyle Beltle [00:15:56]:Thank you, Stuart. It's been a blast.Stuart Webb [00:15:58]:I'm. I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna encourage people. If you're listening to this, if you're watching this, if you, if you're seeing us live, if you're seeing this in the recording or listening to this in the recording, just please subscribe to the. To the main with the Systemize me forward/subscribe systemize.me forward slash subscribe. You will get an email once a week which will intel tell you who's coming up on the podcast so that you can join live. Ask questions if you want, get on there. If you've got boring, know, really burning questions, that's the time to sort of ask it to experts such as Kyle who's been with us today talking about his stuff. And please go to Systemize me free hyphen stuff to get Kyle's really valuable six plus special special offer.Stuart Webb [00:16:39]:Download as soon as you can. Kyle. Kyle Beltley. I hope I've got it right. At long last.Kyle Beltle [00:16:45]:Yes.Stuart Webb [00:16:45]:Thank you for being with us.Kyle Beltle [00:16:47]:Thank you for having us. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

December is here, and we're kicking off the month by bringing back your most-loved, most-listened-to episodes of Secondary Science Simplified to make the holiday chaos feel a little lighter! This week's replay dives into practical, high-impact ways to differentiate for high achievers - without busywork or burnout. You'll learn how to craft more challenging assessments, build a classroom culture that fosters autonomy and peer support, and weave in student choice, inquiry, and meaningful extensions that keep advanced learners truly engaged.➡️ Show Notes: https://itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com/episode211Resources Mentioned:Take the 2026 Secondary Science Simplified Podcast Survey! Be a guest in 2026 on the SSS podcast. It's Not Rocket Science® Complete Units Biology Curriculum Full Year Bundle Chemistry Curriculum Full Year Bundle Anatomy Curriculum Full Year Bundle Physical Science Curriculum Full Year Bundle PBL Packs Culture Mini Course Download your FREE Classroom Reset Challenge.Take the Free Labs When Limited virtual PD courseSend me a DM on Instagram: @its.not.rocket.scienceSend me an email: rebecca@itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com  Follow, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts.Follow, rate, and comment on Spotify.Related Episodes:Episode 29, Student-Centered Pedagogy: What It Is Episode 96, Why I Stopped Assigning Homework (And 6 Surprising Results)Episode 168, Differentiation In Your Science Classroom – Simple Tips to Decrease OverwhelmEpisode 170, Differentiating for Lower Achieving Students (Without Lowering the Bar)Save 25% on It's Not Rocket Science's resources, full-year curricula, and virtual PD with code: CYBER25! The sale runs Monday, December 1st, and Tuesday, December 2nd, and is your LAST CHANCE in 2025 to save BIG on INRS resources! https://shop.itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com/

AI may be getting better every day, but it's still not coming for my job anytime soon - because, well…it struggles with science! While it can't write a reliable test or answer key, it can make day-to-day teaching easier in some surprisingly helpful ways. In this episode, I'm sharing four new strategies for using AI alongside the It's Not Rocket Science® curriculum (or any curriculum you're working with). These tools won't replace great teaching, but they can definitely feel like a tiny assistant taking tedious tasks off your plate.Show Notes: https://itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com/episode210Resources Mentioned:Shop INRS full year curriculum bundles.Download your FREE Classroom Reset Challenge.Take the Free Labs When Limited virtual PD courseShop my TPT StoreSend me a DM on Instagram: @its.not.rocket.scienceSend me an email: rebecca@itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com  Follow, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts.Follow, rate, and comment on Spotify.Related Episodes and Blog Posts:Episode 154, AI and ChatGPT with Guest Mitch WielandEpisode 157, Serving ELLs with AI and MORE with Guest Alyse of Keystone ScienceEpisode 173, 9 Quick Ways to Use AI to Simplify Your Life as a TeacherEpisode 174, 7 Ways to Teach Your Students to Use AI ProductivelySave 25% on It's Not Rocket Science's resources, full-year curricula, and virtual PD with code: CYBER25! The sale runs Monday, December 1st, and Tuesday, December 2nd, and is your LAST CHANCE in 2025 to save BIG on INRS resources! https://shop.itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com/

5 STEPS a Day to Feed Body, Mind, and Spirit w/ Dr. Len Lopez5 S.T.E.P.S. a Day...is taking ‘to-do' lists and journaling to the next level by Visually tracking Body, Mind, and Spirit...to Improve Habits and Attitudes. Created by Dr. Len LopezNutrition and fitness expert, Dr. Len Lopez, is the creator of 5 S.T.E.P.S. a Day... a unique ‘to-do' list to help improve your Habits and Attitude by tracking how You Feed Body, Mind, and Spirit.  Everyday shade-in One or all 5 S.T.E.P.S. for the action you took and tap into your 'visual' and 'kinesthetic' learning centers to help anchor those better habits and attitude.  If you're already tracking your Physical steps or closing your Rings for your PHYSICAL Body... this will be easy, but What am I doing for My Mind and Spirit?Every day ask yourself these 5 questions?SLEEP ----- Did I Sleep/Dream with a Smile?THINK ----- Did I Think Better?EAT ------- Did I Eat Right?PHYSICAL -- Did I Get Physical?SPIRIT ------ Did I work my Spiritual muscles? ....if you did, shade-in that step. By the end of the day... week... month... you can quickly see how good you are at feeding your body, mind, and spirit.It's NOT Rocket Science... It's Feedback and Accountability. In less than 2 minutes you can track and see, if you are doing the things that will make you Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise?  Or at least get you to be Bigger, Better, Bolder?  Dr. Len also created a TEEN version. The 5 S.T.E.P.S. are the Same - but Different.So, let's learn more about 5 STEPS with Dr. Len LopezPlease welcome...Dr. LenLinks:https://5stepsaday.com/https://www.instagram.com/5stepsadayTags:Accountability,Christianity,Confidence,Daily Discipline,Faith,Habits,Personal Development,Personal Growth,Self Help,Self-Improvement,5 STEPS a Day to Feed Body, Mind, and Spirit w/ Dr,Live Video Podcast Interview,Phantom Electric Ghost Podcast,Interview,PodcastSupport PEG by checking out our Sponsors:Download and use Newsly for free now from www.newsly.me or from the link in the description, and use promo code “GHOST” and receive a 1-month free premium subscription.The best tool for getting podcast guests:https://podmatch.com/signup/phantomelectricghostSubscribe to our Instagram for exclusive content:https://www.instagram.com/expansive_sound_experiments/Subscribe to our YouTube https://youtube.com/@phantomelectricghost?si=rEyT56WQvDsAoRprRSShttps://anchor.fm/s/3b31908/podcast/rssSubstackhttps://substack.com/@phantomelectricghost?utm_source=edit-profile-page

Do you ever feel like you're constantly busy but never truly free?In this episode, Dr. Ann Sung reveals her Five Stages to Time Freedom framework—a powerful system to help you understand your current relationship with time and how to master it. From being a “Time Prisoner” stuck in endless reactivity to becoming a “Time Transcender” who lives in flow, you'll learn what it takes to reclaim your time, energy, and peace of mind.Dr. Ann explains why so many high-achievers fall into fake time freedom, saying yes to too many things, and how to break that cycle by aligning your schedule with your life vision and energy. Whether you're a physician, entrepreneur, or parent, this episode will help you find balance without sacrificing productivity.What You'll Learn in This Episode:The 5 stages of time freedom and how to know where you areWhy you might feel “free” but still stressed and overcommittedHow to shift from managing time to creating it intentionallyThe question every “Time Liberator” asks before saying yesHow to design your days for energy, focus, and peaceThe mindset that helps you live more in the present momentResources:WhisprFlowFreedomAppListen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - How to Become a Time Alchemist & Transform From Time Prisoner to Time TranscenderPlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2025/11/15/episode-80/

Who is Andrea?Andrea Stenberg is a social media whiz who really knows her stuff when it comes to video marketing. She loves helping business owners figure out how to use video to get noticed online and turn viewers into customers. Andrea's all about sharing simple, practical tips that actually work, no jargon or tech headaches. As a guest on “It's Not Rocket Science: Five Questions Over Coffee,” Andrea brings her friendly vibe and tons of helpful advice for anyone looking to grow their business with video.Key Takeaways00:00 “Aligning Video with Brand Strategy”04:45 Building Trust Through Videos07:39 Authentic Video Marketing with AI11:25 Authentic Video Outperforms Polished Content17:21 “Start Marketing with Video”21:23 Instagram & LinkedIn Content Strategies22:29 Challenges of Creating Short Videos25:53 Improving Videos Through Feedback_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Do You Need a P.A.T.H. to Scale?We help established business owners with small but growing teams:go from feeling stuck, sceptical, and tired of wasting time and money on false promises,to running a confident, purpose-driven business where their team delivers results, customers are happy, and they can finally enjoy more time with their family -with a results-based refund guarantee: if you follow the process and it doesn't work, we refund what you paid.This is THE P.A.T.H. to scale your business.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDSvideo marketing, social media video, lead generation, customer conversions, coaches, course creators, healers, expertise marketing, personal branding, seat of your pants marketing, marketing strategy, brand consistency, going viral, target audience, client journey, personalized videos, AI in video, video editing tools, video content repurposing, audience trust, showing up on camera, authentic video, video length, LinkedIn Live, Instagram Reels, closed captions, video accessibility, video engagement, video production quality, content funnel, repurposing contentSPEAKERSAndrea Stenberg, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:00]:Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. The important thing here is the coffee. And I want to really welcome Andrea, Andrea Stenberg, who's going to talk to us about the importance of doing a video in your social media and helping us to increase our lead generation and help us to increase our customer conversions by using effective video in, in lead generation. So, Andrea, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. And I hope you're ready to give us some pearls of wisdom.Andrea Stenberg [00:01:08]:Oh, thank you, Stuart. Thanks for having me.Stuart Webb [00:01:11]:So let's start by trying to understand exactly who, who, who the who, who the people are that you help with understanding how to use video better. And how do you, how, how you understand what their needs are?Stuart Webb [00:01:25]:Well, I, I work with coaches, course creators, healers, anyone who's selling sort of what's up here, their expertise and their knowledge. And they're usually people who are really good at what they do and they're really passionate about helping people. In fact, they're almost more passionate about helping people than they are about growing their business. But they're also serious about growing their business. And one of the things that that happens is, you know, they've learned along the way that video is becoming really important and they understand that video is important. So they've started using video, but they don't really know what they're doing. So what happens is like, so they've got over here, their website, their social media, their emails, all their marketing is kind of professional and branded. And then they put their video and it's over here and it almost looks like they're not even coming from the same business because they've just kind of added it on.Stuart Webb [00:02:22]:And they're doing what I call seat of your pants marketing, where they're just, when they, you know, on the rare occasions they have a few spare minutes, they do a video because, and they model it on somebody else's. But they don't really figure, haven't really figured out where it fits in their marketing and really is, I want your marketing and your video to like work together seamlessly like this so that they all support each other, they all work together, they all look like they're from the same business and they're all sharing a similar message. And so that's, you know, that's, that's who I work with. And that's my, my end goal for everybody is to have their video and their, the rest of their marketing all working seamlessly together.Stuart Webb [00:03:05]:You've kind of already Excuse me, you've already sort of answered the second part of my question which is, you know, we, you're right, we're all, we're all very aware of the fact that video is really important in, in marketing nowadays because it starts to help to sort of demonstrate who you are as a person. And you know, we have to remember at the end of the day even big businesses buy people. So, so what is it you've seen people do that perhaps doesn't quite gel? You've sort of talked about the website not looking the same as the video or the video somehow not looking as if it's coming from. What are some of those things that people have done that you've sort of spotted potential problems for them?Stuart Webb [00:03:42]:Well, I mean some of the problems is like, so everybody gets focused on the idea of going viral and I want to go viral and get discovered. And yes, part of video is getting discovered. But for most coaches, course creators, consultants, healers, going viral is actually not good for your business. For example, I had a video that went viral like it didn't get millions of people but it was like easily 10 times my normal viewership of videos. And the interesting thing was the vast majority of this new audience were 18 to 24 year old boys. And they're not my target audience, they're not going to be a customer of mine. Like I don't know why they liked this video but you know, like it was not really of any business value to me that these 18 year old boys were liking this video. So, so going viral, like yes, it's nice to be discovered but it's if you're being discovered by the wrong people, that doesn't help you.Stuart Webb [00:04:45]:The other thing about that is when people come into your world like they don't just hear of you today and become a customer today. I mean sometimes that happens but usually there's a process and there's a journey where people have to get to know like and trust you and, and that's where video becomes really powerful because not just from being discovered, but as people are getting closer and closer to making that decision, to becoming your client, you can build that trust. You can let them see that you have some expertise. They can, you can get them to experience what it might be like to work with you in a completely non threatening way. So if you're posting a video on LinkedIn or YouTube, somebody doesn't even have to give you their email address to watch your video. So it's a very low risk on their part to get a taste of what it's like to work with you. And then, of course, you know, once people get closer to becoming a client. For example, one of my favorite strategies is you can do personalized videos that you create one video for one person and you can say, hey, Stuart, I really enjoyed talking with you.Stuart Webb [00:05:52]:I just wanted to remind you about A, B and C and send a video to them and that, you know, really creates that. Wow, that's. This person really heard me. This person is really interested in me. And look, they sent me a video just for me. So there's lots of different places where you can use video, not just at the top of the funnel of just getting discovered by new people. And I think that's. That's the biggest change that people can make is start incorporating it into all the stages of your marketing, not just at the beginning.Stuart Webb [00:06:27]:I think that's a very, very, very, very interesting way of doing things because I've. I've seen and done similar things where. And that personalization, even if that video that you create for that one person is, you know, it's just their name and everything else is exactly the same to something you sent to somebody else, they feel it's theirs, don't they? Because you can't create a video easily without putting some effort in and making it very personal to them. We ought to just sort of COVID off the AI thing because is that something that you think AI generated videos are helping or hindering in these respects?Stuart Webb [00:07:08]:Well, I mean, for people who I work with. So, like, for example, if you're a coach or a healer, like, say you're a healer and you're going to help me make my child healthier or do better at school or whatever that you do. I need to trust you a lot, Especially if it's about my child. Like, if it's about me, I might be willing to take some risk. But if it's my child, I want to trust you a lot. And having an AI video like that doesn't build any connection to me. Whereas. But AI is useful.Stuart Webb [00:07:39]:But I really think if you're an expert and you're sharing your expertise and you work closely with your clients and they need to trust you, I think there's real power in getting your face on camera, getting your voice, letting people hear your enthusiasm, your passion for your industry, and getting a taste of what it's like to work with you. So having an AI avatar do the talking for you, I think is not going to help you grow your business. That being said, there are lots of ways you can Use AI as part of your video marketing. For example, I have a video editing tool that I use that creates a transcript so that instead of editing video, you actually edit the transcript. And when you delete a sentence in the transcript, it deletes it from the video. That's AI but it's like, it's still me, I'm just editing what I said. Or the same AI, you can go in and say, put in a 15 minute video and say, pull out five 30 second clips that I can share on social media. It's still my words.Stuart Webb [00:08:46]:It's just doing it for me. So it's kind of like having an assistant rather than, than, you know, AI creating everything. So I, I am very, very passionate about the idea of people showing up on camera, showing their faces. And you know, I, I sometimes get pushback from people saying they don't want to. And it's like, you know what? I, I don't like being on camera either. I'm, you know, I'm pushing 60, I'm not as thin. I have, you know, gray hair and wrinkles like everybody else. But you know what, my ideal clients don't care about that.Stuart Webb [00:09:17]:What they care about is how I can help them. And that's the same with anybody watching this. Your ideal clients ultimately don't really care that much about what you look like. It's like, how can you help them and do they trust you enough that you can actually do the things you say and video is really the thing that's going to help you?Stuart Webb [00:09:33]:I think you've got a valid point actually, Andrew. And you know, to an extent, I can remember talking to one consultant who actually said, at long last, I've got the gray hairs. Because now it looks like I've got the experience to help you rather than just having the experience to help you. So sometimes those gray hairs and wrinkles are really helpful and useful. Andrea, let's, let's move on to your, the way that you can help people. You've given us an offer that we've put into our vault at Systemize Me Free Stuff. What, what's the offer that you've got available for people if they go there and they, they read about this?Stuart Webb [00:10:09]:Well, the number one question I get from people is, okay, I get video is important, but what do I say? And it goes back to what, you know, what I said earlier about having that, that kind of funnel is you want to have videos for each stage. And so I have, I have a free guide that's called this seven Essential Videos for Explosive Growth. And it is, it's seven videos that are for different stages of a client, of the client journey. And if you follow that, you will create seven videos that speak to people in different stages of that journey. And then, you know, if you do one video a week, that's two months worth of videos you've created following this guide.Stuart Webb [00:10:53]:One video a week is so easy to do as well, isn't it? Let's face it, I mean I've, I've had a, I've had a look myself and they are not, these are not, these are not very difficult videos to create, are they? You're not, you're not telling people they need to book a studio or go and spend time learning how to be a professional presenter. This is how normal people, I'd like to consider myself normal. Normal people can just do these things in a very simple way just to get themselves started, even if they don't, even if they don't have all of the necessary professional equipment.Stuart Webb [00:11:25]:Well, and what's really interesting is there's actually lots of data now that shows that if your video is too polished and too well edited and too slick looking, they actually perform worse than somebody taking their cell phone and holding it up and, and talking and walking and it's jiggly and it's not perfect. And I think the reason is we're all used to, you know, commercials. As soon as a commercial comes up on television, what do you do? You get up and you go get a snack or you go and, and go use the, the, the facilities or you do any commercial. So when you're on, on social media, if you see something that feels like a commercial, your blinders go up and you go, no, I'm not going to listen to that. But if you get on camera and it's not perfect and you make a mistake or you stumble over a word, people go, this is a real person.Stuart Webb [00:12:20]:Do you know we've had a comment in from Derek. Derek's another video person I know, and he said, he's just said AI videos are great and can be personalized. What love said. But it's still easy to insert. Some of you, it's the dynamic captions that annoy the heck out of me. And I think Derek's got a point there. You're talking about the fact that we need to be us on those videos, don't you? You're saying that having the jiggliness sometimes just shows that you're a human being and you're still relatable. And that's the really key thing to making your video hit home with people.Stuart Webb [00:12:53]:And I've even seen, like, you know, Tony Robbins was doing video back when we were still using VHS to watch video. And I've seen him now online doing videos where he's clearly holding the cell phone and speaking to the cell phone. So even, you know, somebody who has been doing video for decades is recognizing that sometimes this off the cuff, just speaking to your audience, speaking from your heart, sharing a message resonates better than a really polished professional done in a studio. And all the flashy bells and whistles, sometimes those, those convert better.Stuart Webb [00:13:30]:So, Andrea, tell us how you, how you got to who you are. Was there a book or a course or something which sort of, which you used as a way to sort of help you to understand how video marketing was going to help your business grow?Stuart Webb [00:13:45]:Well, it's kind of. I felt really long and hard about this question because there's lots of things that got me to where I am and when I started learning video, because as a marketing professional, I knew my. I had to learn it for me so that I could help my clients figure it out. And there, there wasn't a lot available, but I came across, I think it was about 20, 20, 19. Somebody had an ad online for a course and it was going to be like, learn how to do video. And I was like, oh, yay, I'm going to get support, I'm going to get coaching, I'm going to get accountability. And I swear, I think my credit card was smoking. I pulled it out of my wal about to pay for this course.Stuart Webb [00:14:27]:And then imagine my crushing defeat when I opened up the course and the course was a PDF with 30 topics to do. When I went live every day for 30 days and the hashtag to you to post with my videos, I was like, this wasn't what I was looking for. But I went live every day for 30 days, including one day I was at my sister visiting my sisters. And the only place in the house that was quiet enough was. Was the bathroom. And I sounded like I was at the bottom of the toilet because it was all echoey. It was terrible. And so at the end of that, I thought, well, okay, if I can do that.Stuart Webb [00:15:05]:Okay, so I'm not scared of being on video because, like, that was bad. And I did it. I didn't die of embarrassment. Nobody threw virtual tomatoes at me. Like, it was fine. But I still didn't have a strategy. So I had to spend. I spent the next year being very UN Canadian.Stuart Webb [00:15:22]:I started like If I saw people doing interesting things with video, I would like message them. Can we get on zoom? Can we get on the phone? I'd like to pick your brain and what you're doing. And I just like, sort of, I just spent time talking to people and looking at people and just trial and error and learning from people because there wasn't really good guidance back then for how to use video as marketing. And so it kind of. But then the other thing, other side about it is video marketing. While it. It is different, it's actually still the same principles as offline marketing. And, you know, a lot of times I have older entrepreneurs come to me and say, well, I don't know if I can do video because I'm not a digital native.Stuart Webb [00:16:05]:I didn't grow up with this stuff. And I was just, you know, what? If you have the knowledge and the skills to talk to people and talk to customers and. And find out what their pain points are and talk to them about how you can help them, all you have to do is learn which buttons to push on video, because it's the same skill set because you're still talking to human beings. And that's. That's really the most important part.Stuart Webb [00:16:31]:Yeah, absolutely, Andrea. That there's a. There's a sense in which I'm sure that you've sort of got a question at the moment which you're wondering why I haven't asked yet. And I'm sure that that question is the one that you sort of really will help us to sort of to nail what the next step is or something. So I don't have that question because I've got to admit, I haven't thought that deeply about it. But you have got a question that you think I should ask. So what's the question that I should have asked you by now? And therefore, once you've asked it, you can have to answer it for us.Stuart Webb [00:17:05]:Well, earlier when I said you want to take your. Your marketing and your videos and make them work together, like, you know, a handshake. It's like, well, how do you do that when you're busy and, you know, busy entrepreneurship?Stuart Webb [00:17:19]:I like the question very much.Stuart Webb [00:17:21]:And so my answer is what I like, you know, people to do is turn their marketing on its head and start with video. So if you start with one video that has your message, has your voice, has your face, you start with the video and then repurpose that video. So you take your video and then you're repurposing it into a bunch of other Content. And you can do it quickly, you can do it easily, AI can help you, but it still sounds like you because you started with your words, your ideas, your voice. So, for example, you take a transcript of your video that you created and turn it into an email or a blog post, or do some LinkedIn posts based on content that you've created. And, and that does a number of things. I mean, first of all, it saves you time because you're starting with your words and then you're just recreating it. The second thing is one of the fundamental marketing principles is people need to hear the same message over and over again.Stuart Webb [00:18:27]:That's why, like, if you're watching commercial television, the advertisers don't make a commercial play at once and they never play it again. They play it over and over until we're sick of it because it takes that long for us to remember it. So if you take a video and then maybe you do an email or a blog post, then you do a LinkedIn post and maybe a LinkedIn carousel post, that's all on the same messaging. People start recognize it, remembering it. And sometimes they may even think, oh, I've heard that before. That Stuart must be really smart because I've heard that before, even though they heard it from you. So it's the repetition and the different formats that help. So that's, that's for me, is if you start with the video and then build from there, but using, you know, the same basic messaging, you can speed up your marketing.Stuart Webb [00:19:15]:You can make your, make it easier for you and more effective.Stuart Webb [00:19:21]:Brilliant. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I love it. Andrea. I mean, you've left us with what can only be described as the action for the rest of the day. We. Which is to do that, start with video and take that first step and go, go live.Stuart Webb [00:19:37]:I mean, you're right. It didn't kill you to go live 30 times in 30 days. Nobody is yet violently objected to me going live on video. Although personally I have. But that's another story. Andrea, thank you so much for encouraging us to sort of go and do these things and really make it happen. I think it's brilliant that you're pushing this message. I wish more people were taking it on board.Stuart Webb [00:20:00]:And I'm just going to ask people if they would value, like Derek was earlier, being alive and listening to us live, talking. If you can go to www.systemize.me, subscribe, that takes you to a simple form which allows you to actually just ask for my email once a week where I Send you who's coming up so that you can do like Derek, join and listen to the comments that are being made. We've got, we've got other people here talking as well and I'm just going to share these you Andrea, so that you can answer them. Derek, what is the sweet spot regarding video length?Stuart Webb [00:20:38]:That is a fabulous question. It's one of my most common questions and my answer is a terrible answer. And it's terrible because the answer truly is. It depends and it depends on a number of things. One, it depends on what your audience is expecting and what they're used to. Two, it depends on your skill as a presenter. You know, if you're really skilled and engaging and interesting and speak and sound bites, you can go longer. The other thing, the third thing it depends on is the actual content of the video because you need to give be long enough to give all the information that you promised at the beginning, but not so long that people are dropping off.Stuart Webb [00:21:23]:For example, I know I, I have two clients, one who is doing massively good reach with seven second Instagram reels. People are commenting, people are DMing her. They're, you know, you know, they're not just top of the funnel. These are people reaching out and taking the next step from 7 second reels. And then I also know somebody who does. This is also an Instagram example, but hour long live videos on Instagram five days a week and has hundreds of people showing up live, have people commenting, people are staying all the way through and engaging. So I know it's a terrible answer but it really is true. But if you're just starting out and you know, for example, If Derek's on LinkedIn, if you're doing a LinkedIn Live, often 10 to 15 minutes is a good place to start because there's that, you know, that quota that's been attributed to Mark Twain and a few other people is I apologize, my letter is so long I didn't have time to make it shorter.Stuart Webb [00:22:29]:So making a really short video that has a complete message and is really succinct is actually challenging. Where it's talking for 10 to 15 minutes, you know, if you have an intro that's one to two minutes, you maybe you have three talking points and you have an example or a story for each one of those, that's probably two to three minutes each. And then you have your, your closing statement which is probably at least a minute. There you go. You're already over 10 minutes. So, so that's a good place to start. And then you can sort of adjust up or down as you figure out what your audience expects from you and wants from you, and also what you're. Your skill as a presenter and how much work you want to put into making them shorter or making them longer.Stuart Webb [00:23:14]:Love it. We've got one question from Nicholas. Closed captions are on nearly every video now. They're always wrong somewhere. Do you have a comment on that, Andrea? As closed captions, I've always thought the closed captions were useful because, you know, we do have people who don't necessarily understand all of our accents. We do have people who are not able to hear everything we're saying. Sometimes they're in a busy office and they've got to have the sound off. There are a whole range of reasons why closed captions might be useful.Stuart Webb [00:23:40]:Are you a fan?Stuart Webb [00:23:42]:Yeah, absolutely. I actually have a client who is hearing impaired, so even when we're in person, she's got an app that will do closed captioning. So, yes, I think it's important for all sorts of reasons. There's also lots of data that show a lot of people watch videos with the sound off. So if you want to engage your audience having captions and really it's. The problem with closed captions is most of them are done with AI and the AI is mostly trained with American accents. So if you don't have an American accent, that's problematic. I speak quickly, and some.Stuart Webb [00:24:21]:Some of the AI has trouble with the way I speak. And then if you have, you know, particular terminology for your industry, they may not understand them. Now, depending on what you're like in a live stream, if there's closed captionings, there's not really anything you can do while you're live. If you're editing videos, people, you know, it just depends how much of a perfectionist you are, whether you go in and edit the closed captioning that the AI created or whether you just go, you know what? This is close enough. I'll just. I've got more important things to do in my business and. But closed captioning has gotten better. A year ago, I just about always edited, even on Instagram, the AI closed captioning because they were so wrong.Stuart Webb [00:25:09]:Now a lot of times I'll just leave them because they're close enough and they may get better as time goes on.Stuart Webb [00:25:19]:Andrea, thank you for answering those questions. I really appreciate you spending a bit of time doing that. I think that's great advice there. So just to repeat, go to Systemize me Free stuff. Pick up Andrea's excellent course on how to get your seven messages across and go to the Systemize me. Subscribe and be like Nicholas and Derek. Get your questions answered live by real experts like Andrea, rather than having experts like me tell you something wrong. So Andrea, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us.Stuart Webb [00:25:53]:I really appreciate what you've been able to do teach us today and I look forward to getting my videos better because of the advice you've given.Stuart Webb [00:26:01]:Thanks for having me, Stuart, that. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Who is Katie?Katie Hahn is no stranger to the entrepreneurial hustle. Early in her journey, Katie was the one burning the midnight oil—she was everywhere, trying every strategy in the book. From updating her CRM to jumping onto the latest social media trend, Katie left no stone unturned. But beneath the surface, she was pulled in countless directions, chasing quick fixes and scrambling for solutions to meet her coaching clients' needs. Over time, Katie realized that true success came not from the frantic chase, but from focus and clarity. Now, she empowers other women to step off the hamster wheel and build purposeful, sustainable businesses.Key Takeaways00:00 Brilliant Women Lacking Growth Systems05:19 Lack of Business System Integration08:00 Empowering Women Coaches' Growth12:44 Sales as Helping, Not Forcing15:39 Guidance and Accountability in Business17:01 Weekly Advice_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download check out https://systemise.meIt's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDSwomen coaches, coaching business, business systems, overwhelm, time freedom, financial freedom, CLIMB Framework, scalability, sales checklist, business growth, online business, client onboarding, lead generation, business processes, virtual assistants, high ticket sales, business optimization, chaos to stability, female entrepreneurs, productivity, systemization, strategy call, Facebook group, sales strategies, business model, business mentoring, accountability, client experience, business automation, business supportSPEAKERSKatie Hahn, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:00]:hi and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. I'm here with Katie Hahn. Katie is the founder of the Climb Framework. The Climb Framework, and I'm sure we're going to get into this is a way that helps particularly women coaches, consultants get out of the overwhelm of a non systemized business and helps them too elevate themselves to growth by using a framework which introduces systems processes to help their business grow. So, Katie, thank you very much for spending a few minutes with us. I'm really looking forward to this conversation. And welcome to It's Not Rocket Science.Stuart Webb [00:01:11]:Five questions over coffee. Thank you.Katie Hahn [00:01:14]:I'm very excited to be here.Stuart Webb [00:01:16]:Thank you, Kate. So, Katie, let's start by trying to understand those people that I just sort of talked about, those people that you're trying to help. What, what are, who are these people? What's the business they've got? What's the problem that they really find themselves in?Katie Hahn [00:01:32]:I'll give you an example. And we've seen a lot of these people and this men and women, but I just specialize in women. But we see those people who hustle, you know, the ones who are working all hours, they're doing everything, you know, they're really putting this stuff in place. They're saying, oh, I got a new CRM, I'm on social media, I'm doing these things. But really when you talk to them and you dig down, they're all over the place. They're, they're after every shiny object. They are really just trying to solve that problem that they have today. And it may be trying to find people to, you know, for their coaching clients.Katie Hahn [00:02:09]:And so they're like, okay, what am I going to do today I'm going to go after this and tomorrow it's like, oh, I need a CRM. Now I have this. Well, now I have a client, what do I do next? And it's just constant chaos. And really what they face is this their bit. They don't have a business, they have chaos. And really what that means is they don't have a system to support their businesses. And what I found coming from the traditional business setting, brick and mortar professional services, is when you set up a business, you generally set up with very specific systems in place. However, in this new world of having everything online, you know, anybody can get started with anything.Katie Hahn [00:02:53]:And these women that I work with are brilliant, absolutely brilliant and passionate. Problem comes in is they got the hustle, but they don't have the know how that gives Them those systems in place to actually predictably grow and, and feel that they're meeting what they want to do, which is generally, you know, support the people they want to and whatever that coaching is, or in their business aspect, but also provide themselves that time and financial freedom that they got into this for. You know, most of them are moms and had a life crisis of change because now I can go back to work, I'm going to do my thing I love. And now with that, they got hustle, but they don't have time or financial freedom at all.Stuart Webb [00:03:38]:Yeah, I know the sort of thing you're talking about. This is the sort of person that goes from feast to famine. Suddenly they've got too much work, they've got no time to deliver properly. And then the next week they're looking around going, what, where's the next meal check coming from? I have no idea where everything is. And, and it's that need to have that continuous flow of leads that, that conversion of the, of the lead to the customer in order to sort of just give them the space and the time to actually develop a real business, isn't it? Yeah.Katie Hahn [00:04:08]:And they, they make these, you know, rash decisions because they need something today to solve a problem and they don't have the systems in place that's going to help them long term.Stuart Webb [00:04:20]:So let's, let's talk a little bit and sort of, you know, if there's somebody out there sort of immediately saying, hey, this might be me, and they might recognize themselves, but give us some specifics about the sort of things that they found themselves doing. You know, you come across somebody and you go, you know, I know what you're trying to do. These are the sort of people that have tried all sorts of things. Give us an example of the sort of things they've tried before. They seek advice on how to put the sort of systems you're talking in about Katie.Katie Hahn [00:04:47]:So it's really how they. Women generally, it's a feeling. They are just sick of the feeling of being out of control. When they were a mom or in the traditional business setting, their life was pretty easy. And now they're starting to feel chaotic and they're feeling overwhelmed. And what they start doing is the shiny object. You know, they may be on Instagram and they see, you know, some somebody puts out there. You're gonna get a million, you know, views if you do this.Katie Hahn [00:05:19]:And so they start going down rabbit holes. But it's really never a system in place that's going to get them to the Actual end goal. And so, you know, they're not figuring out that everything in a business has a relationship to each other. You know, so they may go down, oh, I got a CRM. But they don't use it, which means they don't now have the data, the information, the cohesion that's going to take the processes from sales to onboarding to client experience, to have those, you know, clients that are really going to be the evangelist for them. And because of the experience wasn't there. And it means that they are acting in a way where everything in their business is a bottleneck because it relies on that. There's no growth strategy because they've put everything on themselves and not using the right system so that they can say, okay, I need to work on my business, not in my business.Katie Hahn [00:06:19]:And then they can start delegating, bringing on a va. Because ultimately, what you typically see are they'll bring people on, they'll bring salespeople. Vas problem is everything goes through them and it ends. I work with tons of them like that.Stuart Webb [00:06:33]:Yeah, yeah, yeah. We've all seen those poor people that turn around. You know, I've got 15 people working for me, and absolutely none of them make a decision. And the question you always ask is, have you ever asked them to make a decision without talking to you first? And they look at you as if to say, why would we do that? That would be a very silly thing to do. So we know what you're talking about, Katie. I know you've got some really valuable, free. And I'm going to just point people now towards our. Our vault.Stuart Webb [00:06:59]:Katie has given me three brilliant, brilliant pieces of valuable content that I think you're going to just describe it to us, Katie, because, I mean, I'm going to really encourage people. There are some really, really interesting pieces of really valuable advice that you've got that you've given to us to give away this evening.Katie Hahn [00:07:20]:So the first one is my coaches weekly sales checklist. It just starts small. You got to start somewhere and realizing that at the front end, you need to have some processes in place and a checklist. So that one's an easy read. It gives you some activities to do, how to start implementing one thing at a time into your business and have a repeatable process every week just for sales, just small things. But I couldn't stop there because I know we'll have lots of problems. And I don't want to make this sound like these people are horrible or they're doing things wrong. They just don't have the right support and I feel like I don't.Katie Hahn [00:08:00]:I'm not doing them justice if I can't help provide more and the guidance they need to get to the next steps. So what I did was I just created a Facebook group and it's called High Ticket Women Coaches and it's all about sales and systems for scalable growth. I'm going to be dropping lots of nuggets of information in there, going live, talking about actual tangible pieces that they can implement in their business to get there. And the last thing is I don't normally do this, but I want to make sure that what people and women are doing is impactful and they're really going to have some strategies that they feel apply to them because everybody feels like they're in a different spot. My business is different. But really there's three stages and these three stages are chaos, stabilization and optimization. And what I want to do is help them identify where they are and provide real strategies on a strategy call to get out of where they are so they can get to that growth. So I, I got a busy summer, but I am willing to give 10 people a free strategy call and really start working with them on.Katie Hahn [00:09:09]:Here's what the steps you need to take to get to where you want to go.Stuart Webb [00:09:13]:So if you go to www.systemize.me forward/free hyphen stuff, you can see there those three links. There's the link to book a strategy call. That's quite a long link, so I'm not even going to try and read it out. You can go to free hyphen stuff and you will get immediate access to that strategy call link. You will get the Facebook group where Katie, I, I really, I really wouldn't mind dropping in on that myself. I'm the wrong, on the wrong. I've got the wrong hair lengths and things like that. But so there's some really great stuff that you're going to put in there as well as exercise.Stuart Webb [00:09:54]:Go to www.systemize.me. free hyphen stuff. Grab those free things from Casey because they are hugely valuable. Casey, I just wanted to understand a little bit more about it. You obviously have got this system. You've worked out the climb system and the climb is a great system system. What, what was it was a book, a life event. What, what helped you to form the climb system and get it really focused in the way that you've got it now?Katie Hahn [00:10:22]:Well, it, it started off with experience. I, I was drinking from a fire hose. I was put in charge As a CEO of an IT company and the owners that I was working with, my other owners, they left to go off on another venture. And so it was a disaster. I was changing a business model, growing clients in charge of sales. Everything was happening at once and I felt that I didn't have a method to figure out what I needed to do. And so somebody had given me a book and it was the business model Generation by Strategizer. And it really helps to visually organize what your business model is and who are your clients, kind of all those basic things that you really need to know.Katie Hahn [00:11:07]:And I absolutely love the book. I still use it and to this day I talk to my clients, have them fill it out and I just share the link. There's some great videos, but once you understand your business model, then you can move on to say what systems are important to your business model and really where to start focusing. So it's a very easy starting point. The other one I just, I believe you can use in life, but specifically for sales, is how to win friends and influence people. By oldie but a goodie. It's got core ideas. And what I really like about it is I don't want to manipulate people.Katie Hahn [00:11:49]:It talks about how to be genuinely interested in people, how to be there to support their needs and hear them. Because I don't want to be this used car salesman. I am a high ticket closer. I love sales, but I want to do it for the right reasons. And I want my, the coaching clients that I work with to understand why that's so important. Because I want those evangelists on the outside, you know, I want them talking about it. And once you learn those and can align them, your businesses can scale because people aren't talking this negative talk about their experience, but also how they made you feel. And so I really want to combine those two.Katie Hahn [00:12:26]:And the life instance that really kind of put these all together is that I work on the back end for high ticket coaches and I see in their business and I'm like, all right, I already have a process. Doesn't matter if it's a coach or a traditional business. Let's put it in place.Stuart Webb [00:12:44]:Yeah. Do you know, I'm very aware that one of the things you were talking there about was the how to win friends and influence people and how. And I'm very aware that a lot of people, particularly who are struggling or perhaps just beginning to scale their business, they get very worried about sales because they feel dirty. They feel somehow it's forcing somebody to have something they shouldn't have. And I was talking to somebody not so very long ago, and they were saying, well, how do you feel about sales? Because my background is very different to most, and I was not trained in sales or anything like that. And I said, I eventually realized sales is about helping somebody, and I just wanted to be the most helpful person in the world. So when I was reaching out and I was talking to somebody about helping them, I would say something like, you have this problem, and I have this solution to your problem. If you'd like the solution, let's find a way of working together.Stuart Webb [00:13:39]:And they go, yes. And I go, well, there needs to be some money for that. And they go, of course there has to be some money. And immediately you'd go, this sales thing isn't so difficult. It's just reaching out and helping somebody. And it's not about trying to force somebody to have something they don't want. It's basically being the most helpful person in the world. But just remembering in the end to say, I need to pay my mortgage.Stuart Webb [00:14:01]:So do you mind if you help me do that?Katie Hahn [00:14:03]:I completely agree. I'm not traditionally in sales. That's not where I came from. I have an education and a science background. I'm a scientist by trade. So this is not my background. And it's just like you. What I find is, if I can be helpful and they align, let's do it.Katie Hahn [00:14:20]:And it's not slimy or anything like that.Stuart Webb [00:14:24]:So let's move on to the. To the real question that you've probably got for me, Katie, at the moment, which is, you know, you're probably sitting there thinking, he still hasn't asked the killer proper question. He's got these questions he's asked me, but he hasn't asked the real one that. That I'm. That I'm waiting for. So I'm just gonna have to admit that I don't know what that question is and ask you to tell me what is the real killer question that you want me to ask you? And then obviously, you have to answer it, because I don't know the question either.Katie Hahn [00:14:52]:Well, it's not difficult. I mean, if I was talking, like, thinking about this, it's like all this information is out there. You know, all these processes are out there. There's tons of templates. The question is, why do business owners, specifically coaches, women coaches, still need a coach or mentor? And that, for me, is it takes some realization that as a business owner, you still need to have that support. Because basic transformation in a Business is driven by just implementing. It's not about just the information you have. And I don't think that all this information that we can Google is making everybody money, because if it was, we'd all be on autopilot.Katie Hahn [00:15:39]:We need somebody to say, here's where you start. Here are the things you're blind to because you're in the business and really aligning and saying, okay, here are the things we need to do to get you to X, putting plans in place and holding somebody accountable. I was an athlete, and we have coaches for a reason. We need to have a team behind us. We have doctors. We don't just go to one. You know, there's always this team and this support, and we think that's okay in other areas of our life. But as a business professional, you know, we got to get our set, set our egos aside and say, you know what, there's somebody here who can help guide me.Katie Hahn [00:16:18]:And the point is that it's going to happen quicker and faster and easier when I have the right support. And that's why I do this back to your sales thing. I want to help people.Stuart Webb [00:16:30]:Brilliant. And we've gone full circle, which is exactly where we need to end. Listen, I thank you so much for coming out and spending a few minutes with us today. Katie, I think the advice you've given is brilliant. I'm going to just once again, Pete, go to Systemize Me free. Grab that stuff from Katie. There are not many people that give away as much free value as Katie does, so please grab that stuff as soon as you can. And one little request from me, please subscribe to the newsletter.Stuart Webb [00:17:01]:What I do is I send an email once a week, and all I do is I let you know who's coming up so that you can join in and grab the sort of free advice that people like Kate give. So go to Systemize Me forward slash subscribe. That's Systemize Me Forward slash subscribe. Get onto the newsletter list. You'll just get an email once a week, which basically there's a joke in there as well. So it's not all. It's not all stuff. There's a joke, there's a joke, there's a.Stuart Webb [00:17:26]:There's news about the people that are coming up on the podcast and also some really great ways of getting advice from these people. Katie, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. I really, really love what you're trying to do to help people, and thank you for being as generous as you have been with so much of your advice.Katie Hahn [00:17:44]:Thank you very much.Stuart Webb [00:17:46]:Listen, I'm looking forward to following Katie. I really do think you should do the same. Thank you, Katie.Katie Hahn [00:17:53]:Thank you. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Ever wish your money could grow in two places at once? Brennan and Blake from Money Insights join Dr. Ann Sung to reveal a wealth strategy that turns idle cash into a powerful investment engine. Discover how high cash value life insurance—used the right way—can help you earn tax-free compounding growth while funding your next big move. They break down how this “Investment Optimizer” gives investors more liquidity, safety, and control, so every dollar you earn keeps working even when you're between deals.Tune in and start building a system where every dollar you own keeps growing, even while you sleep.Key Points From This Episode:How to make your money grow safely in two places at onceWhy high cash value life insurance can outperform traditional savingsTurning idle funds into an opportunity engine through the Investment OptimizerBorrowing against your policy while it continues to compoundHow to earn tax-free growth and create generational wealthThe flexibility of policy loans and why repayment isn't requiredA real-world case study showing how a 12% return becomes 15%How to protect your wealth while keeping liquidity and controlThink about how much money you are losing by having cash sitting in your bank accountResources:Money Insights GroupMoney Insights (Wealth Builder Series)Listen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - How to Double Dip on Gains Tax Free Using High Cash Value Life Insurance Policies with Money Insights Please subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2025/10/15/episode-79/

Who is Stever?Stever Robbins is a strategic advisor dedicated to empowering individuals at pivotal moments in their professional journey. With a focus on reputation building, he guides business leaders and entrepreneurs who aspire to become recognized authorities in their fields. Stever's expertise lies in helping clients establish themselves as the go-to person around their key constituents, whether it's within their industry or among high-value employees. His approach is tailored to those eager to cultivate a magnetic reputation that naturally attracts attention and opportunities, positioning them as influential figures in their respective domains.Key Takeaways00:00 Understanding Business Relationships05:54 "Public Speaking Overcomes Age Bias"09:41 Networking Maintenance System14:06 "The Myth of Hard Work"14:45 Rethinking "Work Hard" Advice18:16 "Maximizing Productivity and Networking"22:45 Effectuation in Startup Success24:28 "Networking: Meeting the Right People"29:32 Reflecting on AI's Impact31:12 AI's Impact on Critical Thinking34:31 Networking for Personal Fulfillment_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page : https://systemise.meIt's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast.SUMMARY KEYWORDSexecutive coaching, personal branding, business networking, building relationships, reputation management, career advancement, professional development, strategic outreach, public speaking, podcasting, productivity tips, maintaining connections, follow-up systems, industry recognition, business leadership, career success myths, high impact coaching, business startups, entrepreneurship, effectuation, business ecosystems, corporate politics, introverts in business, systematic networking, reconnecting contacts, business strategy, work-life balance, leadership skills, personal productivity, AI and productivitySPEAKERSStever Robbins, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:31]:Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science five questions over coffee. I have my coffee here in front of me. I think Steve is ready to go as well. So I have my coffee. Up. We are caffeine up and ready to go. Looks, I'm really, really grateful that Steve has meant, spent some time with us. He's gonna spend a bit of time with us today.Stuart Webb [00:00:50]:Steve is well, he's, one of the most interesting and thought provoking and, innovative, speakers I've come across. So, Steba, I'm really grateful you're gonna come here and spend a few minutes talking to us about, well, five ideas we're gonna have over coffee.Stever Robbins [00:01:08]:Absolutely. Thank you for having me.Stuart Webb [00:01:11]:So, Steven, let's start with, I know you're you're sort of talking today a little bit about some of the some of the work you've been doing, and we're gonna get into it. So so tell us, who is it you're trying to help? What what what's the what's the the the ideal candidate for the sort of work you're trying to do with them at the moment?Stever Robbins [00:01:26]:Sure. I help people who are at an inflection point. People who need to get more widely known and who wanna become the go to person around their key constituents. At some point, I'll probably get a little bit more focused than that. But for example, a business person who wants to get known in their industry, a business person who wants to get known around the, high value employees. So So they wanna have a reputation as a, as a hire as a hire as an employer. Basically, anyone who wants to have a reputation that draws people to them and they want to establish a high profile as go to person.Stuart Webb [00:02:02]:And so this isn't just, just business owners. This could be anybody from a business owner to somebody who's already in in an employment and and just wants to get better known around their industry or bet better known around around the company.Stever Robbins [00:02:15]:Yeah. What I've discovered isStuart Webb [00:02:16]:that this actually has been oneStever Robbins [00:02:17]:of the keys to many of the coaching engagements that I've done. I've I've spent the last twenty years as an executive coach. And I finally realized, wait a minute. Helping this person with their marketing was just like helping this person who, I I work with a lot of high potential leaders, so people who are being groomed for the c suite. And part of being groomed for the c suite is you have to establish connections. You have to be known within the company. You need to be able to to, you know, go to the right places, know the right people, call in the right favors, and get people working together. And I realized this is actually the exact same skill set.Stever Robbins [00:02:49]:What it takes to become known in your industry is the same thing that it takes to come to become known within your company, you know, with a few minor tweaks. Instead of speaking at a conference, for example, you might be speaking at a brown bag lunch, but, you know, largely the sameStuart Webb [00:03:02]:thing. Absolutely right. A lot of these people will have spent time trying to do this just just by, you know, maybe making making mistakes or maybe sort of trying to sort of get out there and do things, but but I haven't got anyway so far. So what are the what are the frustrations? What are the some of the things you've seen people do? I wouldn't say wrong, but are not necessarily focused in the right way in order to really get that that high impact that you're talking about.Stever Robbins [00:03:29]:Sure. Well, you know, one of the big ones is that people treat their business like a business. So if I were to ask people, do you do you know where you make money? Most people would say yes. They might be wrong, but but but at least the point is they have some idea. Like, they're they're paying attention. But when I ask people, do you know do you know who you're connecting with and why you're connecting with them and what their major motivational drivers are and how you can deepen a relationship with them and connect with them, they just kind of look at me and go, well, yeah. I mean, I called someone up to have a lunch date. And I'm like, so you're preparing a proposal and you spend six weeks doing research and write a 25 page proposal.Stever Robbins [00:04:17]:But when you're thinking about who do you need to know, who needs to know you, and how are you gonna create that connection, you give that no thought. You just sort of treat it the way that you did back in kindergarten, which by the way, don't knock kindergarten. Really good time, recess, awesome idea. I love the thing where you play with the blocks. But as adults, we get more sophisticated about things. I would say one of the biggest, problems that people have is they're not systematic about it. They don't decide who they're gonna contact. They don't actually have a system for making contact and then a system for maintaining relationships, which, you know, people think, oh my gosh.Stever Robbins [00:04:59]:This is gonna take me a hundred hours a day. It is gonna take time. Building and maintaining relationships takes time. However, it doesn't take as much time as one might think if you're systematic about it. And even in the best of worlds, you're only gonna have a small inner circle, and a lot of what you do is gonna be about getting yourself out there more widely.Stuart Webb [00:05:20]:Are you suggesting that some people don't think deeply enough about their networking and they just wander into a networking meeting with a bunch of business cards and hope for the best?Stever Robbins [00:05:28]:Oh god. Yes. Yes. So okay. I know that it doesn't come across in this in this format. I am a high introvert. You put me in a networking event, and I will find the cheese table, and I will nibble 200 of those little cheese cubes while desperately trying not to make eye contact with anyone. And I realized this about myself.Stever Robbins [00:05:54]:And what I found what and and the other thing too is I look, this is actually getting less true. I started getting gray hair, like, all of a sudden last week. I'm like, where did these come from? But prior to getting some gray hairs, I looked much younger than I actually am. And I would go to business networking events, and people would just look right past me. They would just assume, oh, who's this high school kid? He has nothing to offer. And what I discovered was that if I did public speaking and if I was on stage, people would pay attention long enough to me just by virtue of my being on stage that I could say something intelligent. And then they would go, hey, that guy on stage said something intelligent and then they would approach me. So I never had to leave the cheese table.Stever Robbins [00:06:37]:I got to be lauded as like, oh, this great public speaker. And of course, for introverts, public speaking is amazing because you have complete control over the room. You don't have to pay attention to anyone you don't want to. They raise their hand to ask a question. You ignore them. Public speaking is a fabulous introvert activity. And and what I found was that was people would start coming to me. So that that was, like, my first big in, you know, in you don't have to network the way that that people say where you go and you show up with business cards.Stever Robbins [00:07:10]:You can network by putting yourself on a stage and having people want to come to you. I started a podcast in 02/2007, and, it was called the Get It Done, guys. Quick and dirty tips to work less and do more. It was a personal productivity podcast. It made it to number five on I or number three on iTunes, which I was totally psyched about. Unfortunately, I was never able to monetize it. But one of the interesting things about that is that I started having people come up to me on the street and just saying, you know, hey. You're you're Steve Robins.Stever Robbins [00:07:42]:You're that get it done guy person. And I'm like, how do you know what I look like? This podcast is audio only. But, apparently, people found somehow found out what I look like. And, again, that was putting myself out there with my ideas in such a way that I actually built an audience and built people who wanted to, to come speak to me to connect.Stuart Webb [00:08:04]:And the problem with all of that, Steven, I think you've just sort of alluded to it, is you've gotta have a system. You've gotta have you've got to have a you've got to have a strategy, you've got to know what it is you're trying to do to connect with them. But but networks can go cold very quickly, can't they? I mean, you just mentioned a podcast in 02/2007 now. In Internet terms, that was that was pre pre dinosaur. You you you can't just assume that the the the people you've connected with three years ago even remembered that your name or whether or not you've got gray hair. You you have to have a system for being available and being with them all of the time.Stever Robbins [00:08:41]:You do. And that's one of the wonderful things. So first is so the podcast went through 2020, by the way. So there are some still some people who who remember who I am. But but part of it is in fact being in front of them in some fashion. And you don't have to you don't have to be in front of them all the time. You need to be in front of them enough to reactivate their memory of you. And one of the things that I I mean, one of the wonderful things about the Internet world is you can do that through many different media.Stever Robbins [00:09:09]:You can do it through video. You can do it through audio. You can do it through email, newsletters. You can also do it with the telephone if you're keeping in touch. I mean, I I'm if you're doing marketing, you might be trying to keep in touch with hundreds and hundreds and thousands of people. But you might if you're within a company and you're networking within the company, you're not necessarily trying to keep in touch with 10,000 people. You're trying to keep in touch with a hundred people who are your most critical people. Or if you're in a career and entering a new industry, you'd be and and you're and it's not just customers you're going after.Stever Robbins [00:09:41]:You may only only wanna be keeping contact with, you know, 20 industry leaders, five or six key suppliers, etcetera. And part of, part of, like, the systems that I have, which I hate, let me be very, very clear, there's nothing pleasant about this, is I have a whole follow-up system. And every it's pleasant to actually connect with people. What's not pleasant is actually sitting down there. And every day, I have a spreadsheet that I can sit down and go through. It'll tell me how long it's it's been since I contacted which people, which ones are currently high priority. And I'll just run through it and drop them all an email. Drop them an email, send them a text, make a phone call, and just do something to remind them that I exist.Stever Robbins [00:10:23]:Doesn't have to be a long conversation, but they need to see my name and and remember who I am. And, you know, I'll offer to reconnect at depth. Some people take me up on it. Some people don't. But it's about keeping your name front and center. It's not necessarily about having having tons of in-depth conversation or tons of in-depth content with them at every touch.Stuart Webb [00:10:45]:And I remember when I was a very young professional, I I I know, I know I only look back 12, but, but I was I was a a professional at one stage. And I remember one of my mentors saying to me, use the opportunity for the two minutes at the beginning of every meeting to sit next to somebody different. That way you'll find out somebody else who you haven't spoken to yet. So you don't have to you just have to be systematic in the way that you think. You don't have to necessarily sort of think to yourself. I must reach out to them. If you see them, you you you make contact, you make a note, you move on. Yeah.Stever Robbins [00:11:15]:I one of the things I was doing recently was cleaning up my address book because I have about 7,000 contacts, and I just decided that, you know, that's a lot of contacts. And many of these people I haven't talked to for quite a while. So I literally had been going through about, you know, 50 to a hundred names a week. It's slow going. And as I've been going through every single one, I'm like, oh, wow. Here's someone I really care about. And for whatever reason, we haven't connected in, you know, ten years. And I've just been dropping people an email or sending them a text and just saying, what are you up to? And it's amazing.Stever Robbins [00:11:47]:This is something that a lot of people are afraid to do. They're afraid that if they've lost contact with somebody, oh, it'll be so embarrassing for me to try to reestablish contact because it's been so long. No. Remember, it's been long for them too. They haven't reached out to you. You haven't reached out to them. Without fail, when I reach out to people after ten years, their reaction is primarily, oh my gosh. It's great to hear you, except for the person who says, wait a minute.Stever Robbins [00:12:13]:Does the restraining order expire? You know? You know? Like, why? You're the one I was supposed to delete from theStuart Webb [00:12:18]:address book.Stever Robbins [00:12:20]:But but generally speaking, I've had a great response. I've reconnected with some people that I I I reconnected with a friend of mine I haven't seen in thirty years. And, you know, we had a great conversation, and it was all because I just picked up the phone. I picked up the phone, and I said, hey. Is this still your phone number? Because if not, I really wanna delete it out of my out of my phone. And she was like, don't delete it. Don't delete it. Call me today.Stever Robbins [00:12:43]:We had a great conversation.Stuart Webb [00:12:44]:That's brilliant. That's brilliant. Steve, I it it brings me to to what is technically question three, but I think we've sort of veered off track a little bit. And that, I know you've got some really valuable free advice, valuable free offers that you wanna sort of, leave the audience with. Do you wanna just describe those to us and and and tell us about, you know, how you are trying to help people with these, with exactly these problems?Stever Robbins [00:13:06]:Sure. Absolutely. So, as I mentioned to you, I don't remember if we were on air when I did. I've recently done a business pivot, and I previously dealt mainly with strategic business issues and am now shifting to this new model, which I call connected and respected, which is helping individuals do this kind of outreach. The the giveaway that I have today is a handout from a presentation that I did called 10 cultural and success lies. And,Stuart Webb [00:13:36]:Only 10? Wow.Stever Robbins [00:13:38]:Well, the the top 10. Well, let's make it a top 10 list. I gave this first at Harvard Business School, this presentation. I and I ended up being asked and came back and did this several times. The basic idea is as I got older, I looked around at people who were successful. I looked around. I I I did go personally to Harvard Business School, so I know a lot of people who are very successful in material sense. And I started noticing that the way they actually got there was not the way everyone says.Stever Robbins [00:14:06]:Right? Success lie I think this is number one. If it isn't, it should be. Is work hard and you'll get ahead. And I'm like, in what universe? I I mean, I know a couple people who are worth who are worth hundreds of millions of dollars when I compare their life to mine. They don't work harder than I do. Meanwhile, my cleaning lady I know how hard she works because I know how messy I am. My cleaning lady works her butt off, and she's never gonna have a hundred million dollars, at least not from not from cleaning. And that was the first cultural career lie that really got me wondering what other things do people say that have become conventional wisdom that if you really stop and think about them.Stever Robbins [00:14:45]:You know, we even tell kids to work hard. And I'm like, why would you tell a kid to work hard and they'll get ahead if that's not actually how getting ahead works? I mean, I wanna give my kids or my nieces and nephews because I don't have kids. I wanna give them advice that works. So I will say, work hard under the following circumstances for the following reasons, but don't expect these to be the thing that distinguishes you from other people. This may just be the price of admission or it may actually and this this was the weird thing about having a personal productivity podcast is I took a really hard look at what makes people productive. And one of the interesting things about being productive, if you're an employee, this is not true if you're self employed, but if you're an employee, the more productive you are, the more free time you have. The more free time you have, the less you appear to be working. The less you appear to be working, the more the people around you say that person is lazy.Stever Robbins [00:15:36]:And they give you more work to do because they think you have all of this free time, but they don't raise your salary because clearly, you were you didn't have enough to do previously. So when you are employed by someone else, the paradox is the more productive you get, the more work and the more responsibility you get without necessarily getting the rewards. When you're self employed, the more productive you get, you also get the rewards because you get to keep them, to keep the rewards yourself. So hard work, depending on the form, may or may not be having social and reputational consequences and maybe having career consequences that have nothing to do with your output and your productivity, but that have everything to do with the way that the hard work that you're doing is or isn't being perceived by other people. Should I tell you a secret I've never told anyone?Stuart Webb [00:16:24]:Please go ahead.Stever Robbins [00:16:25]:Okay, everyone. You're hearing this for the first time. I hope my first manager is not listening to this. I figured this out at my very first job out of undergrad. I was a computer programmer, and I Figured it outStuart Webb [00:16:39]:a lot earlier than most of us at Stevie. You know that. Don't you?Stever Robbins [00:16:42]:Well, so I was much I was much more productive than any anyone else on the programming team, like, really more productive. And I realized that I wasn't get I wasn't getting paid more for this. In fact, they even told me at my review that I was that productive, and they said, but you're too young to be making any more money than you're making now. So, I had to finish the system that I was working on. I finished the entire system in two days, and I then spent the next six weeks releasing one new module at a time so that it appeared that I was doing six weeks worth of work even though I had only spent two days on it. I spent the rest of the time reading comic books. And what was interesting is because I was so much more productive, the amount of work I was releasing per day was comparable to what everyone else was releasing per day. Whereas if I had released it all in two days, they would have given me six more weeks worth of work to do.Stever Robbins [00:17:41]:And, anyway, I've never told anyone that before. If my ex manager is listening, Sheldon, now you know. And the statute of limitations has passed.Stuart Webb [00:17:53]:Steve, I hate to I hate to sort of, just summarize that in a in a phrase that that was said to me when I was a much, much younger person. It's not what you know, it's who you know. And so you come back to the fact that you can be brilliant. I mean you can really know some stuff, but if you don't know the right people or you don't know the right person to tell that to, you might as well know nothing.Stever Robbins [00:18:15]:And IStuart Webb [00:18:16]:think you're illustrating that brilliantly with the fact that if you are, if you do have that free time, and I do know somebody in one company that I worked with who had a lot of free time because they were very productive. They just spent their time networking. They just spent their time going around making sure the senior managers knew who they were so that when they had an hour free and they had an idea, they knew to go and talk to about it. So they use their productivity extremely well. But, I'm really looking forward now to getting my hands on that and that that freebie that you just mentioned. And what I'm gonna tell people, look, if you go to this this link, I'm gonna put a lot of this stuff from Steve, you know, where you can find him, who you can talk to about him, and and some of his previous talks and things. I mean, we'll even refer to the podcast because I think the the productivity podcast, I do remember listening to it, was a brilliant brilliant insight into productivity. But if you go to systemize.me/free- stuff, we'll have links about Steve, what he does, how he works.Stuart Webb [00:19:11]:You can pick up all of that stuff there, and I really do think you should go and find out more about Steve. If you don't know who he is, you really should. So go to systemize.me, free stuff. Steve. I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna potentially take you back a little bit. You you've talked about productivity. You've talked about being a high impact coach. How did you get to be a high impact coach from being somebody who was a programmer? What what path was it were you on? Was there a program, a a course, a book, something that changed how you started to think about yourself? And I I appreciate we could now we could open a Pandora's box, and we could be here for a while.Stuart Webb [00:19:48]:So you take your time.Stever Robbins [00:19:50]:Sure. Let me let let me let me let me try to summarize as best I can. When I discovered that the hard work I I mean, this is this was my own lived journey. When I discovered that the hard work wasn't getting me the results that I wanted, I was gonna have to wait another ten years for my age to catch up with my work ethic. I started doing things like trying different companies, and I went back to business school, got an MBA, and I was with a series of startups. And after my I think it was my ninth startup, this was over the course of about of about fifteen years. After my ninth startup, I I was seeing patterns. Like, we we we myth mythological, myth logic.Stever Robbins [00:20:32]:We turn start ups into myths, at least here in America, and we have kinda corporatized to the whole start up process. So so there's all of this stuff, which just like the career wise, it is just complete b******t that people spew about startups. And part of it is things like how hard you have to work. And after you've been with nine startups, you start to notice the reason people are working hard is they don't know good project management. They don't know project scoping. They don't know how to identify what's important and what isn't. And if you know these things, then you simply, you know, you scope your work so that you can do it and you choose the work that's most important that's gonna get you the next step, etcetera. So I was at a start up.Stever Robbins [00:21:12]:It was driving me absolutely nuts to watch a bunch of very earnest, well meaning young people make all of the same mistakes. And I went to my lifelong mentor, and I said, you know, I I'm getting really tired of going through the same learning curve over and over and over and over. And they won't listen to me, of course, because they're young and adventurous and visionaries and all that stuff. And he said, why don't you try helping people from the outside instead of necessarily being part of the company? Because when you're the outside expert, people take you more seriously. And long story short, that's what led me into coaching, and I discovered I loved it. It's,Stuart Webb [00:21:50]:I'm gonna have to I I was laughing. I was trying not to laugh too much because this is a very serious subject. But I'm afraid I recognize so much of what you were saying because, you know, I I spent some time myself being a a start up mentor to some start up companies. And then nearly always ask the first question, which is, well, we're we're in the process of developing this or we're doing this. And I'll go, okay. Is that is that how is that gonna help your customer solve their problem? And they nearly always have no answer to that question. I think that's the basic question that you ask of any business. You know? Am I producing a solution to a problem, or am I doing this because it feels like it's the right thing to do? And, you know, I'm a scientist by background.Stuart Webb [00:22:25]:So I often use sort of the soul sort of, like, let's run an experiment and find out. And people would look at me as if to say, no. No. That's not how you do it. And I'm thinking, yeah. It is because that is actually the basis upon which most successful businesses have been built. But but it takes time to learn that sort of thing, doesn't it? And I think you've encapsulated that journey brilliantly.Stever Robbins [00:22:45]:There there is a there's a set of research in entrepreneurship and business formation that actually supports that. It's, done by a woman named Sarris Sarris Vathid at the Duke Fuqua School of Business, and she has published it under the title under the term effectuation, e f f e c t u a t I o n. It is she somehow has taken an extremely easy set of concepts and made them almost impenetrable using scholarly language. However, at the bottom line or at the at the end of the day, the bottom line is that most successful startups go through a period of extreme experimentation. And the ones that tend to be most successful and have the longest runways in terms of they're able to try the most experiments Mhmm. Are the ones who manage their investment very carefully. They make commitments in a very particular kind of way. And one of the big things that they do is they form alliances.Stever Robbins [00:23:43]:They become connected and respected, but they allow their network and their connections to help shape the business. And it becomes an iterative process where the business becomes shaped by the people around the business who put skin in the game. And skin in the game is the big differentiator. Anyone who's only put skin in the game, they get a say. And what happens is you have ecosystems developed, business ecosystems, in which everyone is an interested and committed player because everyone has skin in the game. And it may not look like the ecosystem that any of those players would have imagined in the beginning, but it's successful because everyone involved has had a hand in shaping it so that it meets their needs as well as the needs of anyone else. So it's called effectuation.Stuart Webb [00:24:28]:That's a brilliant I've not heard of that book, and I really am grateful for that. You've mentioned it. It's another one to add to my reading pile, which is getting longer, and I need to find some time to do it. But, you know, that is, that once again takes us back to this question about how do you know the right people and how do you keep the right people in your orbit so that they can actually be the partners that help you to form your ideas. I mean, we all have to we all have to have these networks. So it brings us right back to to your basic core tenant of this this discussion, which is you've gotta know the right people, and you don't know them by sitting in the corner with the cheese and waiting for them to come and approach you. You have to have a system for getting out there and finding them out and talking to them about these things.Stever Robbins [00:25:10]:Correct. And it it and it's the side of business that pretty much every successful business business owner either has because they work at it or because they have it naturally. Because let's be clear. If I look I was raised in a in a polyam a a traveling new age polyamorous hippie commune. And, you know, driving around in a in a 12 foot trailer with with our little commune members. And I went to Harvard Business School. So I was an extreme outsider to that entire echelon of society and and way of working. And it's been really interesting seeing that from both the inside and the outside because a lot of, you know, a lot of hundred million dollar deals do not get done the way you would imagine with tons and tons of due diligence and whatever.Stever Robbins [00:25:59]:It's, you know, my college roommate is running a fund, and he needs to invest in a gas pipeline for a tax deduction this year. Do you know anyone who's selling a gas pipeline? Oh, sure. My friend Bill is. I'll tell you what. I'll introduce you to Bill. You give me a 10% cut. Fine. And I'm sitting here watching these deals get made, and I'm like, really? Really? That that's how this happens? You know? Now there's plenty, I'm sure, that happened with a lot more due diligence and and a lot more care, etcetera.Stever Robbins [00:26:27]:But it's astonishing that that at the higher levels of business and presumably of it probably presumably, it's not just business. An awful lot of what goes on ends up being through personal connections, not through formal requests for, you know oh, can I tell you can I tell you something that will blow your mind?Stuart Webb [00:26:50]:Please.Stever Robbins [00:26:51]:I I realized this a couple weeks ago, and I realized I have never heard anyone else say this. I was thinking about, gee, isn't it a shame that there are no entrance criteria or entrance qualifications to be the leader of a country? And I thought about it. I thought, you know, I I honestly can't think of any country for whom there's their process of selecting a leader includes something like like they have to have passed economics one zero one with at least a passing grade or or a CEO. I've never heard of a CEO being given a balance sheet and saying, can you read this? What does this what does this balance sheet tell you about the business? Our leadership positions, none of them are based on actual competency measurements. They're all based on personal connections, who knows who and who has what reputation. And I would love a counterexample. Please send me counterexamples, but I haven't been able to think of them.Stuart Webb [00:27:52]:I hate to, I hate to to support what you've just said. I had a meeting with a CEO of a reasonably sized company, and I sat down with the CEO. And my immediate response was, I'm not sure how this guy got his job, but it wasn't by some sort of competence based interview. And I just asked him a simple question about his finances. Now I'm not an accountant. I'm not a great finance expert, but I knew a couple of questions to ask. And he looked at me and said, well, I don't really understand the numbers. I leave that to my finance guy.Stuart Webb [00:28:28]:I said, so how are you driving your strategy? And he said, strategy. What do you mean by strategy? And I said, well, do you know who your main customer is and how you're gonna make them happy? And he went, I'll leave that to my sales and marketing team. And I was wondering how this guy ran his team. And then I realized, he played a lot of golf, and he met a lot of potential customers on the golf course. And he invited those potential customers and potential partners to come back to the golf club and have a drink with him. And that's how he did his deals, and it was nothing more than that because he was playing quite a bit of golf. And and I just thought, hey. I wish I had your life, but on the same token,Stever Robbins [00:29:06]:I don't thinkStuart Webb [00:29:07]:I'd be as successful somehow. And I'm I'm afraid you're absolutely right. We do not have enough people who have been taken through those those lessons unless, of course, they've failed miserably and learned from them. And I think as a species, we're not that good at reflecting and learning upon what we've done in the past and maybe sort of sitting quietly and thinking about it and perhaps correcting it in the future?Stever Robbins [00:29:32]:Oh, don't even get me started on humans as a as a species and how we learn. I've been playing a lot with AI recently, which is probably gonna be our next successor species. And and I've been playing with AI, but I've been doing it in a very particular way, which I have been observing my own reactions to the AI. And so I'll solve a problem, and then I will solve a problem with AI. And and what I'm paying attention to, I mean, obviously, is whether the solution is correct, but I'm also paying attention to what is that experience like for me. How is it different for me to use AI as a tool or not? Because I wanna find out. Is this a tool that I wanna use? And what I have found is the piece that you just mentioned, the reflective piece, is virtually a % missing when I use AI. So when I use AI to solve a problem, I'm kind of pounding at the keystrokes and hoping the AI figures it out.Stever Robbins [00:30:25]:But when I solve a problem on my own, I kind of stop and think deeply about it. So with AI, it's more like I'm an editor. Oh, okay. Here's the five page essay that chat GPT or Claude just did for me. I'm gonna scan it over to see if there are any obvious errors. But what I'm not doing is really reading it sentence by sentence and going, wait. Do I really believe this sentence? And if I don't, is Claude right or am I right? And if Claude is right, how can I learn this? And how can I incorporate it into my thinking? None of that is happening when I use AI, and it should be because that's how humans learn, and that's how we get better at things. So I am now very afraid of AI.Stever Robbins [00:31:04]:I am afraid that it is going to deskill us very, very rapidly. Yeah. And I use it anyway. Go figure it out.Stuart Webb [00:31:12]:Articulate you have articulated a number of problems that I think we've got with AI at the moment. And it's nothing to do with the fact that well, it is to do partly with the fact that it's stealing stuff off the Internet and the the business models are highly flawed. But I think it is it's, for me, too often we're lazy and we just use it because it's quick and it's easy and we don't have to do the thinking. And I think sometimes we find thinking to be too much effort and I think that's partly and we go back to how are we teaching children. We're teaching them we're teaching them some of the some of the things which are not necessary to pass exams as opposed to do thinking. It's we're teaching them about we're teaching about the fact that they should know this stuff, but they don't have to think they don't have to learn it by doing any thinking. They learn it because it goes up on the blackboard and they copy it down or they write to a blackboard. Whatever screen they use now in teaching, I'm sure they don't use blackboards anymore, but it goes up and they just copy it down.Stuart Webb [00:32:03]:So We could spend many hours on that, but I'm gonna take us away because otherwise, we'll be here for the rest of the afternoon. And I don't wanna keep you that long because I know you've got things to do. Steve, you must be thinking we've had some really interesting questions, but when is he gonna be asking that really key question, the one that really makes me say, well, no. This is the key one that you should have asked. So I'm gonna ask you now to to pose that question and answer it for us.Stever Robbins [00:32:27]:I think the question you should have asked me, is why do we bother with any of this? Why why are we striving for, quote, unquote, success or to build our business or to have our hundred million dollar exit? And, you know, there's tons and reams of research that says that on people's death beds, they do not say, oh my god. I wish that I had acquired one more company. Right? It's the relationships that matter. As I as we're sitting here talking, the day care center across the street is taking the little tots out for their walk. There's, like, 20 of them. They're holding this little rope, and they're they're climbing up on the curve, and they're jumping, and they're making these little babbling tock noises. And even though I'm here with you, oh my god, it's coming in the window and I can't can barely stop myself from running over and going, oh gosh, they're so adorable. They're the future.Stever Robbins [00:33:23]:So I wanna be really, really clear. Right? All of the success stuff and the business stuff, none of this means anything. The only reason we do it is so that we can have a meaningful, happy life with relationships and people we love. And if that's the whole reason we're engaged in this set of endeavors and pretending that this is important, then why not start with the connection with the connections and the respect and the relationships and and build your business around that. Build your business around who do I wanna hang out with because I do business eight to ten hours a day. I'm gonna hang out with the people I'm doing business with. Instead of choosing the business and then hoping that you can find people to buy, choose the people and then find a business to serve them. And forget the hundred million dollar thing.Stever Robbins [00:34:16]:Trust me. You know, a couch made out of platinum thread is not more comfortable than a couch that's you know, that old stuff one that you got in the junkyard. It actually probably is more comfortable. But you you get the basic broad idea.Stuart Webb [00:34:31]:I'd love I'd love to have a an old couch, just to sit and talk about this while I've done it. You're absolutely right, Steve. But I I absolutely believe that too many people are spending time in companies and building businesses that make them unhappy. And, you know, you need to you need to know people to reach out to and have a coffee. You need to reach out to and speak to people who can just feed your soul. And I just kind of feel like you've done that for me this afternoon. There there's a big I've got a I've got a large contact list as well. I'm gonna go through that today.Stuart Webb [00:35:03]:I'm gonna make a note of some of the people that I have connected with in twenty years. No. I'm not that old. In in five years. And, just, just send them a message and find out. You know, there are people that I was I I spent some very happy years, when I was doing research at universities. I probably haven't spoken to them In a few years, I really should reach out and just say hello to them, and I'll be doing that. And then I'll put a system in place to keep in touch with them because that's the key thing, isn't it?Stever Robbins [00:35:28]:That is the key thing. Just remind them you exist, and eventually, you'll both be in the same city. You'll get together for lunch. You know, you'll plan a diamond heist together. You'll succeed. You'll wait long enough for the statute of limitations to wear off, and then you'll write a screenplay about it, and you obviously will be played by George Clooney.Stuart Webb [00:35:47]:I I can think of nothing better that I wanna do with my afternoon. Steve, thank you so much for spending some time with me. Listen. I'm I'm gonna say once again, look. Go to systemize.me/free-stuff to find out about Steve. Find out about that valuable, 10, 10, tops tips that he's gonna give me. I was gonna say the 10 tips, but it's not. It's only the top 10.Stuart Webb [00:36:08]:It's nothing more than the top 10.Stever Robbins [00:36:09]:I need to go put the word top in the title of that really quickly.Stuart Webb [00:36:14]:And now I'm just gonna beg you. Look. If you'd like to hear more about some of the people that are coming up, that are as joyful, they're as useful, they're as informative as Steva. Go go join, my my newsletter subscription list. Systemize.me/subscribe. Get on the list. Just get an email. It it doesn't come out very often.Stuart Webb [00:36:34]:I do not bombard you with 15 a day. It's I haven't got time for that, but I'll send you an email just letting you know who's coming up on the podcast, who you should join to listen to because some of these are absolutely brilliant. Stevie, you have been one of those people. Thank you so muchStever Robbins [00:36:48]:for beingStuart Webb [00:36:48]:here today, and thank you for bringing to our attention those tiny tots that are outside right at the moment enjoying themselves. Go join them. Go have fun. Go wherever they're going. I'm sure it's better than wherever you were planning to be some boring meeting that you were gonna go to.Stever Robbins [00:37:04]:Quite probably. Thank you very much, Stuart. I've really enjoyed it.Stuart Webb [00:37:08]:Thank you, Stever. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Who is Ryan?Ryan Ware is a thought leader who helps individuals and organizations navigate the challenging period of change. He identifies a common tendency among people to undervalue the transitional phase between the current state and a desired future. Ryan emphasizes the importance of embracing this uncertain and confusing middle area, recognizing it as a critical time for growth and transformation. Through his insights, Ryan empowers others to appreciate the significance of this phase, ultimately guiding them toward achieving their envisioned future.Key Takeaways00:00 "Navigating Change in Business"06:11 "Embrace the Journey of Growth"07:04 "Embracing Change is Uncomfortable"12:27 Embracing Change Through Curiosity16:17 Adapting to Change in Learning18:47 "Embracing Curiosity in Coaching"20:16 Embracing Curiosity in Problem-Solving24:05 Reframe Change Mindset Strategies28:34 Join Our Expert Mailing List_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page : https://systemise.meIt's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast.SUMMARY KEYWORDSchange management, construction industry, architectural design, business transformation, team coaching, mindset shift, curiosity in business, growth mindset, human side of change, habit formation, leadership empathy, organizational development, business strategy, process improvement, learning culture, resistance to change, business coaching, fractional COO, project management, behavioral change, employee engagement, adaptability, consulting, coaching vs consulting, discovery call, strategy session, willingness to change, Amy Edmondson, Carol Dweck, failure as learningSPEAKERSRyan Ware, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:31]:Hi there, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science, five questions over coffee. I'm delighted, well, one, to have my, coffee in front of me, which is the most important part of all of this. There's not very much left in there at the moment, so I'm gonna need to refill that soon. But, I'm also delighted to to to welcome Ryan who tells me he has decaf coffee in front of him. So, don't, don't don't fall asleep on us, Ryan. You gotta be you gotta be entertaining us for the next twenty minutes or so. Ryan is a, keynote speaker, a coach, a fractional chief operating officer, and he really helps teams within the construction, architectural design space to navigate change, to think about the way in which they have to approach the changes that are, that are that they're approaching in their business. But it's a it's a it's a common problem that all business owners have to, think about, which is how do you navigate the changes in the business landscape around you.Stuart Webb [00:01:28]:So, Ryan, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science, five questions over coffee. Thoroughly looking forward to this. So, please, take your time to tell us a little bit more about how you help these teams to navigate change.Ryan Ware [00:01:41]:Yeah. Well, thank you for having me, Stuart. I appreciate the opportunity. I'm looking forward, to the questions and the conversation, even though it's decaf, try to run off natural energy.Stuart Webb [00:01:52]:That seems entirely reasonable. So let's start with the first question, which is Right. Let you I've already said that you work with sort of teams in the sort of architectural construction space. But, you know, the the common problem, who what are the sort of the the sort of give me the the the sort of common, ideal client, the person that sort of really is seeking sort of help from somebody like you at the moment.Ryan Ware [00:02:12]:Yeah. I I think there's a couple categories, but, generally, they they find themselves pretty much all in an area where they're recognizing that current state isn't exactly what they want. And they can envision this future state that they wanna get to. But they all, in some way, form, undervalue that middle that middle area. And that middle area is where things are uncertain, things are confusing, things, are unknown, and we've never seen them. We don't recognize them. It's what we call change. They undervalue that that time.Ryan Ware [00:02:52]:And by undervaluing it, they each have one group will overvalue current state and stay in it, and the other group will tend to rush through, that center area and and lack, the connection of human complexity into the change that's occurring whether in their individual life within a team or an organization.Stuart Webb [00:03:17]:And and tell me, Brian, I mean, you you you've been doing this for a while. You you you have some experience in it. What what are the sort of things that you've seen these business owners, these people within these sort of situations try before they reach you? I know when I've come across people that are doing this, they've they've they've normally done a bunch of things that try to help, but but rarely sort of, you know, seek out an expert such as yourself, and and I don't always succeed.Ryan Ware [00:03:44]:Yeah. It's you know, they say 70% of all change management and companies fail to meet the objective. And so a lot of times, what I mentioned in this middle area and undervaluing it, it's they'll they'll make an attempt on a new strategy, a new process, try a new solution within a project per se. And it doesn't go exactly as planned because they've never seen it before, and then they halt. And a lot of people will give up on that that center, change, area, which which is it takes a lot of time for us to learn something new, to develop, you know, new skills. We we already have habits. If we think about just a daily routine habit of getting up in the morning when who hasn't said, like, oh, I'm sorry. I'm sort of all out of sorts.Ryan Ware [00:04:34]:I got out of my routine in the morning.Stuart Webb [00:04:36]:Yeah. Yeah.Ryan Ware [00:04:38]:Yeah. When you get into that center area, what I see a lot of companies doing is, again, disconnecting the human side of change. And it's the objectives there. We wanna get this software put into place or there's a merger and acquisition done or or whatever. You know, it could be large or small sort of change that's occurring, but they don't go go to the humans and have the real conversation. So they'll they'll only bring up results and sort of go there. They won't drill any deeper, into the conversation to find out the root cause. They'll, they'll overvalue that current state as being something like, hey.Ryan Ware [00:05:21]:I've already been doing this a long time. I know how to do it, versus sort of a beginner's mindset of how do I test this? You know? How how do I work through through this change in order to learn? And I think you come from the world of science, and I try to tell everybody's like, we treated every project sort of as a laboratory or a change internally as this free testing zone to to regain knowledge on something that we've never seen before, it doesn't mean that we aren't taking what we've already known and just eliminating it. We're actually able to sort of stack on and and and grow. And I just find people rush through this. They see the goal, and they wanna rush through it. It's like, hey. You know, as simple as, hey. I wanna lose some weight.Ryan Ware [00:06:11]:Well, you can't just rush through that process, but you can start to recognize each day the little wins, and, you know, you don't rush through university. You know, the beauty of that the beauty of university is you go in and you're developing your learning. And even though you wanna be on the other side of it, even though you know at the end of the clarity is to graduate, you don't know what's happening on a daily basis. You can see the courses, but you don't know for sure. But where you're really in growth is that that middle confusion, you know, unknown territory that allows you to develop, and to begin to build a stronger relationship with change because you're now recognizing it as as an opportunity and a positive, not as a disruption or a cost or or a burden, to yourself.Stuart Webb [00:07:04]:Yeah. And I think you've mentioned two things. And and and and, what comes across to me most resonantly is change is tough, change is hard, people's habits. I mean I often remember the sort of the exercise I was taught when I was doing some of this which is you know this is the way you like, naturally lock your fingers. But if you do it the other way, it feels wrong, and it feels unnatural, and you desperately want to get back to the way it feels right. And just that action of sort of holding it there can make you feel uncomfortable, can make you feel very, very exposed if you like. And and just having to do that behavior change or or introduce something new takes people time to sort of understand that things won't be as threatening as perhaps they feel it is when they first come across it. And and the other thing is you say is is that sometimes when you when you are in that state, when you're when you're uncomfortable and when it's when it's you you have to start to think to yourself, okay.Stuart Webb [00:08:02]:This might not might not be as threatening as I first thought it was, but I have to want to learn to go through this. And getting to that mindset of wanting is kind of tough for a lot of people. You know, the business owner just wants to get them through it, and they're going, I was comfortable. Why why why are you making me do stuff which you don't? I I've got enough discomfort when I go home. You know? I've got a a family that I've gotta deal with. Why make me go through this discomfort now? I just wanna come here and be comfortable and and enjoy myself. You know? This is tough.Ryan Ware [00:08:32]:Yeah. It it's what I call willing participants first forced compliance. Right? So this is where leaders sort of begin to get it a little off track. A lot of times, they'll they're they're up the hill, and they believe they've said it, so therefore, the change is happening. And you have a middle layer who is trying to initiate the change, and everyone has their own their own agenda and their own goals towards the bigger goal. And this is where the human the human side, having that empathy of how difficult it is as a human to change. Like, just, you know, go do something simple. Get a new haircut, which I don't have the privilege to do anymore.Ryan Ware [00:09:13]:But, like, go change a style. Get a new shirt. Get a new get something small. How long does it take to adjust? And and when you start to recognize that within yourself and give yourself that time, that grace of adjustment period towards something new, you you can extend that same empathy towards others on your team, whether you're all coworkers or you are the manager or you're the leader. But when you when you connect the change to to humans and our and the way our brains want to function without getting into a lot of the science, because I know a lot of your shows have been able to already start to explain that, you described habits. They're great. They're perfect. We want them because that's where we're we can speed up and and be what we consider it our most efficient.Ryan Ware [00:10:03]:But we really hold on to that as, again, that overvalued state versus achieving what we want to. Like, taking seeing this middle area of it's always, you know, going to be a little unclear. The goal is there, but how you get there is going to still be unclear. You you overvalue that pain of going through it or the work to go through it or the the some people look at it as like, well, what if I fail? I'll be embarrassed. And what if I'm wrong? Mhmm.Stuart Webb [00:10:38]:First,Ryan Ware [00:10:38]:you know, believing in yourself and saying, like, I value that I have the ability to get through this. And even when it's not exactly what I thought, I can reframe my thought process in that moment of I've been here somewhere near here before. I've been through these things. I have the ability and think through with the team. But if we think embarrassment is, like, the end, or or we've thought something our whole life, and now it's wrong, and and we're afraid to say it and hold on to something, there's actually more cost to that and more pain to that. But we but we've it's familiar, so we keep it.Stuart Webb [00:11:24]:Yeah. And learning is hard, isn't it? I mean, well, I mean, we could we could do an entire an entire twenty, thirty hours on just learning. But I mean, learning is is is hard but is often undervalued in these situations. And I and I think you're absolutely right. People too often go back to when a a learning situation was difficult for them and go, well, I just don't wanna be there. You know, we we have to find these easy ramps, these easy paths, don't we? Yeah. And I'm I'm I'm gonna sort of bring in now because I think you've got some great, some some great some great offers and things that people, which we've put into our our our free stuff vault, where Ryan just took us through. I know there are a couple of offers in there, but, people, if you you go and go and look at these immediately.Stuart Webb [00:12:09]:In my opinion, immediately is is is is is possibly too too strong to work. But you need to get a hold of these and have a look at what Ryan is is is is giving giving away in terms of his valuable advice. Ryan, just talk us through, sort of some of the stuff that you've been able to sort of, offer to the listeners here.Ryan Ware [00:12:27]:Yeah. So we've got a couple ebooks that are out there really around mindset and and, you know, also just being able to navigate change by being more curious. Like, curiosity is, like, the key to me of change, and also this this idea that it's okay to be wrong once in a while. And what I mean by that, it's not, it's not that we always wanna just stand, you know, and fight against something that that we don't truly believe in, but that you could attempt to do something, and it's it may not go exactly as you thought. But now you know. And this is that world of science, and I'm trying you know, these these areas are about reframing our our thought about our relationship with change. And there's some steps and some things that you can go into, especially in chapter three of the the change mindset that some activities that you can begin to put yourself through that will help you sort of, like, assess your own relationship. Because I don't you know, you can't drive change as an individual in the company if you're not usually a willing participant or you aren't quite sure how how you react.Ryan Ware [00:13:44]:How do your emotions come up when something happens, until you recognize that your relationship with change tends to be one-sided. And no relationship is strong when when it's one-sided. Right. And I would say the other thing that we're we're you know, we typically will do is a strategy session or a discovery call because there's there's no one problem. As a coach or consultant, every company is different. While there's some similarities, it's just getting to know. I've gotta get closer to the team. I've gotta get closer to the problem to to be able to assess and work with them and build a relationship because, you know, consulting is is advice.Ryan Ware [00:14:28]:Coaching is questions. Like, I'm trying to get to your curiosity level to help you explore. And, you know, it's, to me, like, even with the speaking, I am just trying to spark enough curiosity that makes people start to question, like, I don't know. How did I learn this? Where did I get it from? Things like that to to be willing to say, hey. I'm curious enough to to go through this, like you said, and and begin to makeStuart Webb [00:14:58]:I think that's a brilliant way of putting it because to to make that sort of change for you to to start that journey. I mean, it doesn't matter where you are within an organization. You have to be curious about your own beliefs, your own your own behaviors, in order to get to the stage where you go, I now need to move beyond this this behavioral pattern, which which which has which has caused me to stay where I am. Because, you know, I I said this to one organization very recently who said, well, you we're talking specifically about the fact that, you know, their their growth had stalled. And I said, well, it hasn't stalled. It's going backwards because the world is advancing. Whether you like it or not, everybody around you is moving on. And so if you're sort of staying static, it means you're losing relative to everybody else two, three, four, five percent a year.Stuart Webb [00:15:51]:So you have to be changing constantly. Otherwise, you are behind. You're you're losing just by the fact that you're saying, well, I'm comfortable where I am. You you you're in actual fact losing. And so having that cautious sort of, belief that you need to question is absolutely critical to that whole process. I love what you were saying.Ryan Ware [00:16:11]:Yeah. I think it's we we forget that we're changing from the moment we're born.Stuart Webb [00:16:16]:Yeah. Yeah.Ryan Ware [00:16:17]:Life is constantly changing, but we're all you know, I I think it is. It's important that we have we create habits because we're taught that. Like, there's there's a reason that that you have to go through routines, and you gotta get them in sort of ingrained and embedded. But where I started questioning things, you know, little things is, like, as I learned math, my parents were teaching me. Those teachers were teaching me. Everyone had learned math the same way. But when I started teaching my son, I had never seen some of the new math that was coming through. And while I could be frustrated and I and I probably did get frustrated, like, why can't I figure this out? Why can't I learn it? I started realizing that the challenges that that generation is gonna have are different than than ours, but we we've learned math the same way, or we've done things the same way as all the other generations prior.Ryan Ware [00:17:09]:And without questioning, like, where where did we figure this? Where did we learn this? Or, you know, why do I believe this? Without doing that exploration, like, we're we're sort of allowing like, we love choice and we love control, but we're allowing other things to control us by not questioning it. And even though it may not be different, without knowing, we're letting someone else make a choice for us.Stuart Webb [00:17:35]:Brian, there must have been a, book, of course, a life experience that brought you to where you are with this knowledge, with this understanding, with this with this expertise in how to help construction companies go through the sort of changes you're talking about. Where did that come from? What was the what was the origination of of that? What was the book, of course, that you you think you'd recommend others sort of think about?Ryan Ware [00:18:01]:Yeah. I think that I think the book that really hit home was Carol Dweck's mindset. Courtney, you know, which is a couple decades old. But the just the things that I was seeing on a daily basis of how I was practicing architecture and then and left architecture and got into construction and was really trying to get people to reevaluate how they were building. You know, I watched, like, why isn't this taken off? I started just questioning, like, you know, this has been around a hundred years. Why isn't this taken off? Like, you know, we know there's other problems, like, all of it, labor shortage, all of these things occurring. It just I needed to know, like, what was the resistance? And it Yeah. You know, we could say it's risk.Ryan Ware [00:18:47]:We can say all of these things, but I just needed to start to understand the human mind. So reading mindset by Carol Dweck kicked off this this area for me to start thinking about, you know, how I train people in architecture, how I learn, how I wanted to take more of a coaching approach to it, and stretching people's minds as I was going through a change and implementing, you know, process and, you know, into those conversations because I couldn't force I couldn't force them to do it. If I've forced groups to to take on what I was trying to put in front of them as as, hey. Here's a new method to construction. Try it. They that's when they go into defense. Right? And and it it didn't work, or I don't have a choice. Someone is making me do this, opposed to using more curiosity, you know, kinda driven questions while having conversations with them.Ryan Ware [00:19:51]:Mhmm. You're trying to get trying to get them into not just their idea, but becoming those willing participants. So, you know, whether it's, you know, the Carol Dweck's and then reading a lot of the Dan Heath books. But one of my most favorite recent books is Amy Edmondson from Harvard, which wrote The Right Kind of Wrong. And you beingStuart Webb [00:20:15]:Great book.Ryan Ware [00:20:16]:From science. Right? Like, it's a it's a beautiful area where you you go back to that curiosity and exploration where just because you didn't get the answer today with all of the work that you did, it wasn't lost because you're using that experience as, like, we just know this didn't wasn't the right answer. It doesn't mean it's a wrong end. It just means it's one step closer to the right answer Yeah. Than being able to bounce back quicker. And I think that's one of the you know, that book has allowed me to be like, we have to think differently in this industry to address our problems. We we've got to kind of stretch our mind into into more curiosity sort of building experiences that create the project like a lab that we get the freedom to be wrong once in a while to make a mistake that some would say is too costly, which we're not talking about, like, you know, the buildings collapsing. We're we're talking about just selecting a new method, selecting a new delivery model, selecting a new material finish that that addresses other areas.Ryan Ware [00:21:26]:So, anyway, those are probably some of the books, but I would say the the one right now is Amy Edmondson's.Stuart Webb [00:21:32]:And I think Amy Edmondson has a a wonderful way of looking at it from all the way over from the malicious intent to destroy you through to the, hey. I was experimenting and that's a good thing, which we all have to bear in mind. You know, the the the the occasions in in which you know, you're talking about buildings collapse. There was one that I know she's talked about a little bit, which is a hotel that that unfortunately collapsed because somebody just didn't do the calculation, but that was because they were in the wrong mindset. So you you have to put yourself in the right mindset, Damien. That's the change is all about the mindset as you've been talking about and getting the right mindset. You know? Am I here? Should I be here in the I need to question everything because this is a safety critical issue, or, hey. This is a time for experimentation to learn and develop and grow.Ryan Ware [00:22:25]:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I I'm a child of, you know, the eighties and the challengers. A perfect example for me of one where information's sort of there, and sometimes we're afraid to talk about it. Sometimes we're whatever the reason. Right? And I just think that creating that safe zone is you everyone can say we're creating a safe zone of kind of that learning environment. But by by really as leaders, if you're going through a change, getting just going through questions, getting to everybody's curiosity gets them to become more willing participants. But you don't have to start it with a change per se.Ryan Ware [00:23:06]:You don't have to be going through a massive change to begin building a stronger relationships with change. You just have to sort of start with yourself and something you've been thinking about, something you wanted to learn, something you wanted to try, you know, anything to go into that that exploration. SoStuart Webb [00:23:27]:Ryan, I I I'm very aware that I've been sort of asking you questions that have sparked my curiosity, but possibly are the wrong questions for, people, who have sort of, understanding of this. And and and there must be one question that you really think at the moment I should have by now asked, and it's very, it's very foolish of me not to have asked it. So I'm just gonna ask you to tell me what that question is. What is the question that I should have asked you? And and, obviously, once you've you've posed the question, you're the expert. You're gonna have to answer it for me, which is, which is the only way that, I can I can get through doing this? So what's the question, Ryan, that I should have asked you by this stage?Ryan Ware [00:24:05]:Yeah. I think I'll I'll stay, I'll stay in a little bit of just kinda giving, an opportunity for the for the listeners to to test something. So it would probably be is, like, what is one thing that they could do starting right now in order to, kind of reframe their thought on relationship with change? And I would say this goes back to that change mindset ebook, which has some strategies in there. But I would just I I typically like people to just start with something in their their life that it could be small like, pick a small thing that you could just win on or something that you've known your whole life, and you haven't really questioned it. And the reason I say something like that is, as a kid, you know, for a long time, we thought, you know, something happened to a child actor, in a life commercial. Because we were told that, and we believed it, and we never validated. And your whole life, you go through these things like, hey. Something something might be true.Ryan Ware [00:25:15]:So my question my question for them would be is pick something in your life that you were taught and you believed pretty much your whole life, but you've always felt like, there's no way this is valid. There's no way it's exactly like this. And maybe it sounds a huge impact, but just start asking the question. Where did I learn it? Who taught it to me? Who taught it to them? Is it still valid? What situations were different? What would have to be true today in order for this to be false or even further in the truth? Just to start to stretch your mind into it's okay to ask questions. It's okay to start to wonder, like, I don't know. I don't know if this is real. I don't know if this is true. And I would pick on the construction industry and say, like, because we're taught, that's exactly how we do it, or how we design or how we set up a sheet or whatever, in a set of documents, that doesn't mean it's true.Ryan Ware [00:26:19]:It could be something that someone set into motion years ago and just happens to become part of the process, but it's not real. And I think you just have to be willing to start asking questions and see where you get and just just to test it. You know? Just stretch yourself a little bit into this new way of thinking opposed to sitting in this current state of, like, well, I just I think it's too hard to go through the change. I don't wanna ask the question. What if somebody thinks I'm not intelligent enough because I didn't know the answer? Or, you know, because I've been here for five years, I've been doing it. Will I look, you know, silly or embarrassed? Because, you know, you read the book Traction or anything in kinda operation systems and think through it. They'll say, like, hey. If you're not embarrassed, you haven't gone deep enough.Ryan Ware [00:27:11]:But I I would just say, like, it's you don't have to be embarrassed by it. It actually is this moment of, like, like, an moment. It's actually this beautiful like, I keep talking about this beautiful thing that has changed, which is that's where you're growing. That's where you're learning. It's not where you're actually being downgraded or suppressed. You're in you're in an area of this freedom to to, yeah, you know, sort of explore your, kind of a beginner's mindset again ofStuart Webb [00:27:47]:I love that. I love that. And I think that's a really important message as we come to the end of this because, you know, change doesn't have to be embarrassing. Change doesn't have to be, I can only do it if I'm really hanging out there. Sometimes the incremental, sometimes the small steps to help you get there can be just as effective, and it's about taking yourself from the the mindset of I just wanna be comfortable through to the curious, which actually is probably the biggest shift that you can go through. Mhmm. Ryan, what a, a lot to think about, and I'm really grateful for the fact that you you spent sort of twenty, twenty five minutes with us just sort of talking us through some of that. Thank you so much.Stuart Webb [00:28:34]:Listen, I I'm just gonna do a little tiny bit of self promotion at the end of this. If you would like to get onto the mailing list so that you get an email, once a week, which sort of tells you who's coming up and so that you can join the the the the the LinkedIn live to to listen to some of the real experts in this, in this sort of stuff like Ryan talking to you, go to, www.systemize.me/subscribe. It's as simple as systemize.me/subscribe. And there's a simple form. It asks you for your first name and your email address, and that's it. And you'll get an email from me that just basically sort of, sets out who's coming up, what they're gonna be talking about, and you can come on and ask questions and and talk to people like us as the knowledge that people like Ryan have got. Ryan, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. Really appreciate you spending that time, and and I look forward to, to spending a bit more time with looking at what you're talking about and and learning more because I think, change is gonna be, the one constant that we can all agree is never going away.Ryan Ware [00:29:40]:Yep. Thank you, Stuart. Appreciate it.Stuart Webb [00:29:42]:No problem at all. Thank you. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Do you feel like your days slip away before you ever get into a state of true focus? The problem might not be time—it's energy.In this episode of Productivity MD, we dive into the concept of energy arbitrage—mastering your chronotype, aligning your day to your natural rhythms, and using intentional flow blocks to get more done with less struggle.You'll learn how to identify your personal peak zones, build two daily flow blocks, and even optimize what you eat to sustain deep focus. By the end, you'll have a roadmap to hit your goals while still making time for yourself.Key Points From This Episode:How to determine your chronotype and why it mattersStructuring your day around energy—not just tasksAction steps that bring you closer to your goalsWhy starting with time for yourself sets the tone for focusLeveraging your second flow block during peak energy zonesThe different types of peak zones and their timingWhy two flow blocks a day can transform productivityThe role of nutrition in sustaining focus and energyListen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - Are You Wasting Your Peak Energy Time on Low Value Tasks? Find Your Chronotype Peak Zone and 4X Your ProductivityPlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2025/09/15/episode-78/

Who is Robyn?Robyn Harris is the visionary founder of Wild Well-being, a transformative initiative born from her personal journey towards holistic health and self-discovery. Recognizing the profound impact of perspective on one's life, Robyn created Wild Well-being as a philosophy rather than a prescriptive set of steps. Her approach emphasizes the transformative power of changing thoughts, beliefs, and filters to ultimately enhance well-being. Central to her philosophy is the concept of "rewilding," which highlights humanity's intrinsic connection to nature. Through Wild Well-being, Robyn encourages others to reconnect with nature and rediscover their inner harmony, fostering a deeper sense of health and balance.Key Takeaways00:00 Embrace Nature's Rhythms05:39 Rediscovering Childlike Wonder09:41 "Embrace Stillness Amidst Noise"10:26 "Adjusting to Pandemic Lockdown"14:52 "Book a Free Chat with Robin"17:55 YouTube Link and Health Insights_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :It's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast.SUMMARY KEYWORDSnature connection, well-being, rewilding, Wild Well-being, perspective shift, health and wellness, NHS, self-care, empowerment, intuition, childlike wonder, holistic health, stress reduction, mind-body connection, diabetes reversal, lifestyle change, seasonal cycles, intuition, loving yourself, personal growth, resilience, adaptability, stillness, mindfulness, burnout, self-compassion, mental health, symptoms as information, breathing exercises, emotional safety, grounding exercisesSPEAKERSRobyn Harris, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:31]:Hi there, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science, five questions over coffee. I'm delighted today to be joined by, Robin Robin Wilde who is, going to be giving us some fascinating insights, I hope today. If she doesn't, then I'll have to kick her out and find somebody else. But, Robin, is, is going to well, Robin, do you wanna introduce yourself and and talk about, your business Wild Well-being?Robyn Harris [00:01:01]:Thank you Stuart. Yes my name is Robin and my business is Wild Well-being and as you might be able to see on the screen there that is an acronym and it came from my own journey. And it's basically not as much a set of steps, but how we can shift our perspective because everything is about our perspective. Thoughts, we change our beliefs, we change our filters, we change our experience, we change our well-being, we change everything. It's transformative. And that's for I for me, my journey was all around nature. So Wilds fitted in with that and how we are a part of nature. And it's about getting back to that rewilding ourselves.Robyn Harris [00:01:47]:We hear a lot about rewilding now, and I recently watched the documentary on NEP, the NEP estate where they have allowed it to go back to nature and how that is so healing for the land and for the animals that live on that land for all of the plant life. And we can do the same for ourselves. And so wild fitted in with that as well, but it is an acronym, and that is Well supporting ourselves and changing that perspective.Stuart Webb [00:02:12]:Let's get into that. So let's let's talk about the sort of, the the the people who you're appealing to at the moment, the the ones that need to, go on that journey, towards well-being. So that I'm sure we're getting to wild, but let's talk about who those people are before we leap into the to the wild acronym.Robyn Harris [00:02:31]:I think most of us could do with a little bit more wild in our lives because generally speaking, certainly in The UK, we don't live as close to nature as we used to. But physically and genetically, we are the same as our hunter gatherer ancestors. We evolved alongside the cycles of nature day and night. The ebb and flow of the tides, the monthly cycles of the moon, those affect us because we are such a high percentage of water. You can see in a glass of water. You can measure tides in glass of water. It it the pull of the moon is that strong, and we are such a high percentage water that the moon impacts on us as well and obviously there's the seasons so we go through those alongside of nature so if people are feeling tired and sluggish in January and February we've started a new year we get all of this messaging of it's new year you know get to the gym and do all of those things. And you might be thinking, but we're still wintering.Robyn Harris [00:03:32]:Our body is still wintering. So that's perfectly natural and perfectly normal.Stuart Webb [00:03:37]:So tell me the you you you we've we've sort of touched a little bit on this. There are people who are suffering, and and need to go on that journey. What what do you see that they've done themselves before they start that process, before they start to discover an expert like yourself to help guide them?Robyn Harris [00:03:57]:Sadly, I think in The UK certainly and probably in many other parts of the world as well, our messaging that we receive is if you feel sick, go to see the doctor. And that's our first port of call. Without realizing that there's so much we can do to support our well-being well before we need to go to the doctor, and we see the results, don't we, in the NHS. It's crumbling. It's really struggling. They're under resourced, understaffed, etcetera. So if we could take back a lot of our own well-being empowerment, then we would take off a lot of that pressure on the NHS. And we could potentially keep ourselves well, not need the doctor.Robyn Harris [00:04:38]:So it's small things like coughs, colds, etcetera we could deal with and recover from, and we could maybe prevent some of those other, bigger illnesses. I'm currently doing a podcast with a colleague of mine, Steven Leggett, who is the diabetes destroyer because he was diagnosed with type two diabetes and he reversed it. So things like that that we can do for ourselves when we understand what our symptoms are showing us. Because symptoms are just information. Our body isn't going wrong. It's making a mistake. It's adapting. And when we understand why it's adapting, and we can then know how to not need that adaptation anymore, get back to balance and to well-being.Stuart Webb [00:05:21]:So the the let let's let's get into the acronym, the WILD. What what does it stand for? And then what is it that you're you you think you can offer as advice for people and listening to at the moment thinking, I know that I need to be a diabetes destroyer myself?Robyn Harris [00:05:39]:Well, I don't particularly work just with diabetes. It's one of the things that I cover. That's my colleague, Steven Leggett. But wild is the fact that quite often as we grow up we start off having that child life way of looking at the world and everything is new and everything is exciting and we're like little sponges and we just wanna know we're curious and we're eager to learn. But we get older and we get a bit cynical and a bit jaded and a bit disillusioned sometimes with life. So the w is to get back those childlike eyes of wonder. And some circles talk glimmers because so often when we're older we focus on all of the heavy burdensome stuff that we have to do. You know, the the general day to day life that can just get to be a bit mundane and we just feel like it's a struggle.Robyn Harris [00:06:27]:Whereas we're here to thrive and we can thrive when we look at the world through eyes of wonder, looking for all the joy, all of the excitement, being curious, being compassionate, being loving towards ourselves. So w for wonder, I for intuition, knowing that our bodies are wise. Biological, design. Biologic we are biological beings. Our body isn't going wrong. It's not making a mistake. It's making an adaptation. And when we can understand that and work with it rather than as I was doing right at the beginning of my journey, I was working against it.Robyn Harris [00:07:07]:I hated my body. I hated everything about it. It was letting me down. It was going wrong. Everything was crumbling and falling apart. Only it wasn't. That was just how I saw it. And then I came to understand its wisdom and understand things like my liver is doing over 500 functions for me every single day.Robyn Harris [00:07:29]:I had eczema. I thought my skin was fighting against me. It wasn't. It was doing a job for me. Yes. It it was uncomfortable. And, yes, it wasn't what I wanted, but it was actually trying to serve me. And when I came to understand that, and then I could see what it was telling me about myself and the way I was living my life and how I could change that.Robyn Harris [00:07:51]:So it's it's it's our wise and our compass. The l of Wilde is loving ourselves. How often become our own biggest critic. We're not there cheering ourselves on by and large. We're there picking holes in everything that we do. Whereas if we could love ourselves, because the picking holes and the criticizing ourselves isn't getting us the answers that we want to want in our lives. It's not moving us forward in the way that we want. It's holding us back.Robyn Harris [00:08:16]:So why don't we stop doing that and start loving on ourselves instead? And that's not to say that we let ourselves off the hook. We love ourselves best when we are challenging ourselves, helping ourselves to grow, nurturing ourselves, not just pampering ourselves. It's actually holding ourselves to account and being the best that we can be. And d is dance. Because I used to say and I've heard people say it to me. It's one step forward and two steps back. But when that's a dance that's not a problem. Again it's how we're looking at things.Robyn Harris [00:08:53]:And if we can see it just life has changed tempo. Life has changed its background music right now. It might not be what I would choose, but I can still go with that. And when I go with it rather than resisting it, I find my flow. It might not be my easiest style but I can still find how to work at that rhythm until it shifts again. Because it's always shifting, always changing and it's about being adaptable.Stuart Webb [00:09:22]:And is there a valuable piece of advice or or something similar that you can give to the audience listening now who are and maybe themselves struggling with the with the understanding their body, understanding the the the the way in which that's giving them signals that they find confusing?Robyn Harris [00:09:41]:Yes. I would say to allow time for stillness. Our world is so noisy and so busy. We have mobile phones that are with us by and large twenty four seven, bombarding us with information. And if you've got all your news notifications and stuff turned on, most of those notifications are not uplifting and cheerful and supportive. There are more things to be worried and anxious about, particularly in the current climate with all that's going on. So to make time for stillness, to make time to be still. So it's not just quiet and getting away from all of those messages and notifications and bombardments, but to take time out and to sit still as much as you can.Robyn Harris [00:10:26]:And that can take getting used to. And I used to think when we went into lockdown at the beginning of COVID and we all thought we can't do lockdown and we can't be home based and we can't just do all of that and then we were forced to. And I thought of it like jumping off a roundabout where when you first jump off the roundabout that's already been going around and you jump off, your insides are still spinning and your head is still spinning, and it feels deeply uncomfortable. But when we allow ourselves the time to adjust to that, then we find there's such value. And I heard so many people saying after we've been in lockdown for a while, oh, I didn't realize how busy I was, how much I was running around, and now I really value this time. We were noticing how much cleaner the air was. There were dolphins allegedly swimming through the canals in Venice. There were goats coming into, a town in North Wales.Robyn Harris [00:11:23]:The the wildlife was coming out because we weren't making as much noise and we weren't being as busy and there wasn't as much pollution. We can do that in our lives as well. We can make that space in our lives. Get back. A lot of people took up gardening or walking in nature. So those sorts of things we can bring back and remember how valuable they are. Make space and time for them.Stuart Webb [00:11:47]:You you you alluded earlier to the fact that, this journey you came on, brought you brought you to this understanding. Do you want to give us a a small a small insight into that? And I I don't ask for your life history, but but what was the the event, the the the book, or or whatever it was that brought you to the to realize that you needed to return, if you like, to that that wild state of being?Robyn Harris [00:12:14]:It was a long journey, and being me, I took the scenic route. So there was I don't think I could really pinpoint one point in time, but I had got to that point as I was kind of touching on earlier where my body, I felt, it was letting me down. It was breaking apart. It was crumbling. Everything felt like it was going wrong. I had eczema, IBS, a whole list of things. And then I would go to the doctor and they say, oh, you're borderline for fibromyalgia. You're borderline for diabetes.Robyn Harris [00:12:44]:And I thought, if I don't do something and it needs to be quite a serious something, I need to change my life, then I'm just gonna carry on going downhill, and I will be slapped with diagnosis left, right, and center, and goodness knows how bad it's going to get. So I tried the conventional. I tried going to the doctor and got put on medication, which did not work for me. I got referred for counseling, which also didn't work for me. And that was I mean, we're going back twenty odd years ago. So it was of its time, and it wasn't solutions. It wasn't giving me solutions. It was just giving me sticking plasters.Robyn Harris [00:13:22]:And it was fairly recently I looked back and I realized it didn't work because it didn't make me feel like I had the tools. So I I think at that point, I realized that's what I need. I need tools. I need to find things that are going to help me. I know life is always gonna be shift shifting and changing and throwing me curve balls. Where do I get the tools that equip me to respond to that? I I did a lot of reading as well, and I've come across terms like being response able. I felt very responsible. I felt like things were going in wrong in my life and it was my fault.Robyn Harris [00:14:01]:And there's a lot of reasons behind that, and I actually go into that in my book. But learning that I could be response able and that I didn't have to react to things, I could respond, and I could choose how to respond. And I'm currently listening to The Choice by Edith Eager. But I read books like,Stuart Webb [00:14:24]:IRobyn Harris [00:14:24]:read a lot of Brene Brown, and, I read Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now. So it was books like that and Louise l Hay, those kind of energetic and how we can work with our body and how our body is telling us so much information if we just know how to interpret it. It was those things that helped me to shift and transform.Stuart Webb [00:14:52]:So I'm just gonna show a a link on the screen now because I know you have got the ability for somebody. If they wanna book a free chat with you and just have a a short discussion, to explore some of this in their own life. If you go to www.systemize.me, that's systemize, s y s t e m I s e, Me hyphen, forward /free- stuff. I'm gonna put a link in that vault there to Robin's, website and her her ability to book a chat, which will enable you to have a short very informative, I suspect. I'm not gonna judge how Robin will do it, but I would imagine a short and very informative discussion helping you to sort of understand perhaps if you're hearing some of this and thinking, I can recognize myself in some of this. But that's gonna lead me on to the to the question that I've got at the moment in my head, Robin, which is, you know, I've asked you a number of questions and you've explained and answered those questions, but there must be one question that you're currently thinking. Why doesn't he ask that really important question, the one that we're all really thinking about and yet he still seems to be avoiding? So I don't know what that question is because I just don't haven't thought of it, but you have. So can you give us what is the key question that that you would like to to have given us the sort of the takeaway that you think we are thinking? And once you've done it, you'll obviously have to answer it as well because I don't know what the question is myself.Robyn Harris [00:16:15]:I think one of the big questions that comes up for me a lot in my work and that maybe people don't know how to articulate or don't even recognize in a sense, but what inside possibly they're asking for is how do I feel safe? How do I find that space or create that space that allows me the time and the the physical, emotional, psychological space to explore some of this stuff? Particularly because some of it is sensitive stuff. It's stuff that we have pushed aside or pushed down perhaps for years, and we've done that for a reason. So to suddenly say, right, I want to transform my life. I'm gonna have to explore some of that stuff if that stuff is holding me back. I need to look at it. I need to process it because I haven't. If it's still there and it's coming out in my body and symptoms, then I'm gonna need to process it. So how do I do that? How do I find that safe space? And I think there are ways in which we can create it for ourselves.Robyn Harris [00:17:28]:And I have a YouTube channel and on that channel I have a self care exercise playlist which goes through various different ways that I find really useful. Breathing exercises, energetic exercises, grinding exercises, that sort of thing to create that safe space. And also remembering it is not just physical safety but emotional and psychological safety. And it might require working with somebody for a while.Stuart Webb [00:17:55]:I will make sure that we put we put that same, same YouTube link into the, the vault to make sure that people can get to see that, Robin. And thank you for answering that because I think that's a really key point of this. I'm going to to thank you for spending these last sort of fifteen, twenty minutes with us. I think what you've identified is a number of things that actions even the busiest professional can take a few minutes to think about because health is so important. And thank you for bringing that to us. If you would like to get an and and hear more about some of the, the work that we're doing and and how we are bringing people like this to a wider audience, if you just go to www.systemize.me/subscribe, there's a simple form there. It's just your email address and your first name. You sign up to that.Stuart Webb [00:18:51]:You'll get an email which brings, to you the the who's gonna be on the the podcast recording this week. And you'll get here people like Robin who gives you such really valuable advice, that will help you live better and live longer and be less stressed in your business and personal life. So, Robin, thank you for bringing that to us. Really appreciate you spending a few minutes of your day doing that, and, I look forward to hearing more about this, as we go forward.Robyn Harris [00:19:20]:Thank you very much, Stuart. It's been great being here and sharing this passion.Stuart Webb [00:19:25]:Thank you. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Who is Oli?Oli Cohen is a documentarian dedicated to transforming ordinary lives into compelling narratives. Driven by the belief that everyone has an interesting story to share, Oli focuses not on fame, but on the intrinsic value of personal experiences. Recognizing the digital age's potential to democratize storytelling through accessible video technology, Oli bridges the gap between people's everyday stories and the wider audience they deserve. By capturing the essence of individual lives, Oli underscores the importance of personal history and its significance to loved ones everywhere.Key Takeaways00:00 "Live Storytelling vs. Written Legacy"06:28 Life Stories Spotlight Feature09:49 Bridging Generations Through Vulnerability12:12 The Philosophy Behind Life Stories14:32 Personalized Emails for Groundbreaking Ideas_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :It's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast.SUMMARY KEYWORDSlife stories, personal documentaries, legacy, video storytelling, capturing memories, documentary film, family history, emotional storytelling, nonverbal communication, archival footage, two-camera interview, photography, cinematography, preserving memories, storytelling philosophy, intergenerational connection, empathy, relationships, self-reflection, unsung heroes, audio-visual legacy, life story spotlight, nomination process, everyday heroes, pandemic impact, digital age, documenting lives, life story website, preserving family stories, legacy preservationSPEAKERSOli Cohen, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:30]:Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science five questions over coffee. I have my coffee here with me. I've probably had too much of that so far this morning, so I'm likely to be hot. Very well hopped up. And I'm delighted to be joined today by Ollie Cohen. Ollie is a cinematographer and photographer, but more importantly today he's here to talk to us about the his founding of a company called Life Stories or a product called Life Stories. Life Stories is a way that people can tell their story and capture it. And I think this is a fascinating idea.Stuart Webb [00:01:07]:I think it's something that more people should know about. Hence, Ollie is here with us today. So, Ollie, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science, five questions over coffee.Oli Cohen [00:01:17]:Thank you so much for having me. Great to be here.Stuart Webb [00:01:21]:So, I mean, you've had a a fascinating story, your yourself, but what is it what is it you're trying to do? How is it you're trying to reach out and and help people with this idea of life stories, and the the content that that comes with that?Oli Cohen [00:01:38]:So, well, life story is about turning people's lives into documentaries. There's the the basic thinking that everyone's got a an interesting story to tell. It isn't fame that makes somebody have, you know, worthy of documentary. People all have, valuable stories that are significant to their loved ones. Yeah. There seems to be a disconnect or certainly there's a lack of, opportunity for people to have their lives turn into documentaries. And, you know, we live in this digital age, and so video, is a very accessible medium.Stuart Webb [00:02:17]:Okay.Oli Cohen [00:02:17]:So the idea is we turn people's lives into documentaries, which is a two camera interview, intercut with photographs, archive footage, and and music.Stuart Webb [00:02:29]:I think it's a I think it's a truly brilliant idea. I mean, a lot of people have sort of done this for themselves, but, I mean, I guess the problem that that we would all say is, you know, one, it's very difficult to interview yourself, but, also, none of us are particularly good at the editing something to make it look right. Have you seen people do this? And, frankly, it doesn't quite tell the story in the way that you go, I just know I could do a better job.Oli Cohen [00:02:58]:I don't know if people try to do it themselves. What, I am aware of are people getting their lives turned into books, and there's quite a few, operators in that in the sort of legacy space. And, you know, that's great. But my thinking was that so much of the emotional nuance gets lost when words get put on into, onto the script. And, you know, when you hear somebody's somebody speaking, there's a lot more powerful. There's so much more emotional information there that's that affects you as a as a listener. And, you know, but we're not just recording we're not just doing podcasts at Live Stories. We we're creating films, and so much communication is nonverbal.Oli Cohen [00:03:48]:It's in the body language. It's in the face of expressions. It's in the little twinkle in people's eyes. And I think that, through film, there's a lot more potential to capture the essence of somebody compared to just turning their life into a book. And I kind of I thought there's not when I was when I set the the the company up, there there didn't seem to be many people doing it. And it was something that I wish that I had done myself, not for me, but for for my sister. Yeah. That's the the origin story of why I set it up.Oli Cohen [00:04:21]:My sister, unfortunately, passed away not that long ago. And at the time, I was living in LA. And I, you know, I rushed. I got, you know, immediately within twenty four hours when I heard the news. I I got some documentary film equipment together and got on a plane back to The UK to try to capture her life on film, thinking mainly that this would benefit my, nephew, her son, who was only seven years old at the time. Because I thought he's never gonna be able to see his mother from an adult perspective. So I thought this is this is something that I can do to add value to this awful situation. That is sort of be a wonderful thing to be able to to get my my sister's life, on on film documented.Oli Cohen [00:05:05]:But I wasn't able to do it because of the pandemic. I wasn't able to visit her in hospital, and, it was a missed opportunity. And it was, you know, really, really sad. And, I just thought this is this is something that I'd like to be able to offer to other people. You know, that's that was the the, the beginnings of the idea.Stuart Webb [00:05:27]:I'm sorry to hear about that story, but I mean, it's a wonderful illustration of the fact that you don't leave these things until it's too late, do you? You do it now because none of us can really count on tomorrow or next week. We have matters outside of our control.Oli Cohen [00:05:45]:Exactly. Yeah. There's, there's that idea of, like, that concept of you you don't know you don't know what you've got until it's gone. Yes. Yes. And, you know, it's easy to sort of think well, well, I it's easy to not to not want to think about it at all or to put it off. Yeah. But Well I you know?Stuart Webb [00:06:11]:Great that there are people like you, on the at the moment trying to address this problem. Do you have a a a valuable, a piece of advice or or or offer that you have that you can you can bring to the audience at the moment?Oli Cohen [00:06:28]:Well, on on the life stories website, which is, lifestories.media, On the homepage, if you scroll down, there's this thing we're doing, called life stories spotlight. And with that, we you know, with this with that spotlight feature, we'll be we're encouraging everybody to think about who is it in who who in your life do you feel has, a story that, or just, you know, a life story that you would like to to document. And, and and then, you know, this could be a loved one, but it could be anybody you know. Somebody who who you have some respect for, because of something they're doing. It might be extraordinary, but it might just be not just it might be an an everyday an everyday hero, you know, and someone an unsung, hero, if you like. So what we what we're encouraging people to do is have a think who this person could be, get in touch with us, and and then we will select a particular story that we think is worthwhile documenting, and we will cover all of the the costs and the production ourselves. So it's something we encourage people to think about, who would you like to nominate?Stuart Webb [00:07:45]:If you didn't catch that, website, the the the the link will be in our vault where we put all of the content of these these, these podcasts. So if you go to www.systemise, s y s t e m I s e, Me forward / free - stuff, you will see a link to Ollie's website and details of that, in that in that vault, and you will be able to access that from there. Ollie, you've got a fascinating history. You've been a city photographer and photographer, as we've said, with some really impressive stuff being shown across the world. You've told us the story of how you sort of got here. Are there other stories that you've captured as part of this, a part of this project which which have made you realize just how valuable it is to to have this content available for documenting lives, even if it's not lives that are past, but lives that are ongoing?Oli Cohen [00:08:44]:Yeah. Well, thanks for asking. The there are a lot of, a lot of surprising, things that happen when you make a film about someone's life because they they can sometimes unlock I mean, I'm I I don't wanna I don't need to be like therapy sessions, but they can sometimes unlock, emotions in, that they that people have kind of, not wanted to talk about. You know? Because in with family stories, you know, this is something that's occurred to me. When a child asked an adult a question about that adult's life, you know, children are quite inquisitive. The adult gives them a very, you know, child friendly watered down version of what actually happened. And then that those stories sort of get a bit cemented and stuck. But then when when you go to make a life story film about somebody, and you ask them certain questions or particular questions about their, about what it was like for them growing up at that place at that time.Oli Cohen [00:09:49]:And on these situations, sometimes, things can, they can show a vulnerable people can show a vulnerability, that they haven't shown to their children before. So the generation below get to see their parents or their grandparents with, a new perspective, which is which can, help bridge the generational divide, which I find a, you know, I I find that such a a powerful thing, helping because because ultimately life story is is about it's connected people through stories to help people feel more connected with each other and particularly with the their loved ones. But as well as that, people who are answering their questions, they they, often have certain realizations themselves. Yes. Yeah. Because we, you know, we all we all have this need to be appreciated, to be listened to, to be heard, to be seen, to be appreciated. So there's some in the process of doing that, that you can tell that people really enjoy it. They really benefit from doing it, and they get to sometimes look at their own lives in a slightly different perspective and kind of think, actually, you know, I've done alright.Oli Cohen [00:11:05]:You know? Because we I think a lot of us feel really critical of ourselves. But when you look back and think, you know what I did, I did do, okay. I've got through this and I've done pretty well. And I don't have, loads of regrets. A lot of people say they they don't regret the decisions they made, which I often find yeah, an interesting bit of a confusing thing to me, but it's, you know, it's the process gives people new perspective on themselves.Stuart Webb [00:11:33]:Yeah. Brilliant. Brilliant. Ali, I'm I'm very aware that I've asked you questions that I'm sure you think at the moment are sort of you know fairly softball questions that really haven't sort of gone to the heart of the matter. But there must be one question that you think well he's forgotten to really sort of nail the killer question. So as I've, as I'm thinking about this, I'm gonna suggest that you try and ask me what is the killer question I should have asked you, and then, obviously, you will have to answer it for us because you already know the answer. Well,Oli Cohen [00:12:12]:there's the questions about, the the sort of philosophy behind life stories. And so you could you could ask you could ask me that. And, I I can I can just answer that if you if you like? The there's a few things that stick out. There's the line from, Joan Didion, who she said, we tell us we tell ourselves stories, in order to live. And I think that's the line. So stories help us make sense of the world, and they encourage empathy with each other. So that's really very much aligned with the sort of the thinking behind life stories. And similarly, I'm a big fan of Esther Perel, and one of her sound bites is that the the quality of, our relationships determine the quality of our lives.Oli Cohen [00:13:16]:So with life stories, we we you know, obviously, it's about preserving memories. But ultimately, it's more about deepening our relationships with people. So, yeah, that and and stuff we've already talked about about this the the impermanence of of things. These are the the key sort of philosophies or the the the thinking behind life stories.Stuart Webb [00:13:48]:Brilliant. Oliver, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. I'm just going to make a short appeal after hearing frankly about the fact that relationships are so critical, stories are so critical to our well-being. If you would like to hear more about things like this where we speak to some really groundbreaking thinkers and some people doing some very different stuff, and I love meeting these people. You should wanna meet them as well. You should wanna get onto the newsletter list. So come to www.systemize, that's systemise,.me/subscribe. Just fill in short form.Stuart Webb [00:14:32]:It just asks you for your email address and your first name just so that I can send you something a little bit more personalized than hey. And you will get an email from me telling you about some of the really groundbreaking thinkers coming up with such brilliant ideas, in the next week or so, on this, live stream. Oliver, I just want to thank you for spending a few minutes with us today talking about what I think is a really, you know, we don't think enough about the fact that, you know, as somebody who is ordinary I have got stories, I have got things that people might be interested in hearing, and those stories bring a better connection which inevitably is a healthier life altogether. So thank you for just bringing that to us and I I hope that people get on to the to the vault and have a look at that, that that story that you told us, the the where you can go and actually capture some of those really brilliant brilliant, brilliant stories from other people. Thank you for for being here.Oli Cohen [00:15:31]:Thank you so much for having me on. Great to talk to you. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Most people feel like there's never enough time—but what if you could create it? Being a Time Creator means designing a life where your hours serve your vision, not the other way around.In this episode, we break down the exact steps you can take to guide clients through conversations that help them rethink how they spend their days, who they spend them with, and what they're building for the future. From mapping out your “wheel of life” to envisioning where you want to be at 85 or 90, this approach shifts the focus from endless busyness to intentional living.You'll discover how to align daily actions with long-term purpose, build passive income, stay sharp and energized, and ultimately control the one resource you can never get back—time.What You'll Learn in This Episode:What it truly means to be a Time Creator.How to use the “wheel of life” to identify gaps and opportunities.Why having a clear life vision changes how you spend your hours today.The role of peers, travel, passions, and contribution in living intentionally.Practical ways to take control of your time and align it with your values.How well are you controlling your time?Create 5 goals for the year Listen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - Do You Want To Become a Time Creator_ Start with Life Vision, Wheel of Life, and 5 Goals for the YearPlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2025/08/27/episode-77/

Who is Kimberly?Kimberly Gawne is a dedicated professional in the field of alternative education, known for her insightful critiques of the traditional public school system. With a focus on Canada and the United States, Kimberley frequently addresses a common concern shared by parents, educators, and observers: the outdated nature of public school curricula, many of which have remained unchanged since the 1990s. Her work highlights the urgent need for educational reform and innovation, as she humorously notes that some educational materials are older than she is. Through her advocacy, Kimberly aims to inspire a modernized, dynamic approach to education that better serves current and future generations.Key Takeaways00:00 Public School Curriculum Criticisms05:11 Parental Involvement in Education Crucial06:59 Thoughtful Outsourcing Responsibilities10:44 Discover Kimberly's Journey & Resources14:17 "Unasked Killer Question"_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at https://systemise.me/newsletterFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :systemise.meIt's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDSAlternative education, public schooling system, homeschooling, outdated curriculum, classroom sizes, private school, parent involvement, educational complaints, teacher frustration, educational outsourcing, parental responsibility, school PTA, student learning styles, burnout in homeschooling, educational support, star students, tutoring services, socialization in homeschooling, educational accountability, flexible learning, educational resources, school system reform, individualized education, factory-style education, John D. Rockefeller education, educational history, digital education, parent educator communication, modern curriculum, real-world preparationSPEAKERSKimberly Gawne, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:32]:Hi there, and welcome back to five questions over coffee. I have my coffee here in front of me. I need it at the moment because a man has just stopped it started chopping down a tree outside. So if there's a noise, that's what it is. I'm delighted, however, to be here with Kimberly Gorn. Kimberly, is gonna be talking to us about providing alternative education solutions for parents who are dissatisfied with the public schooling system. So, Kimberly, I love I love the attitude you brought with you as well. You've promised me you won't have skate stage fright.Stuart Webb [00:01:06]:You're just gonna do it. So I love the attitude. Let's do it together. How are you doing?Kimberly Gawne [00:01:12]:I'm doing well. It's really nice to be able to chat with you. Thank you for having me on. I appreciate it.Stuart Webb [00:01:17]:No problem at all. So, look, Kimberly, let's start with the the obvious first question. For anybody who is, who is at the moment sort of maybe themselves, struggling with the public schooling system, what are the sort of sort of thoughts that they have? Who who are they? Who is it you're trying to reach, and what is it you're trying to tell them?Kimberly Gawne [00:01:38]:I would say that the I mean, that's a good question. I get that I get asked that a lot is what are the complaints. Right? Because, I work in the alternative education space, and so a lot of people say that, well, you know, what what complaints are there with the public school system? They asked me to specify. And I kind of make a joke of it, and I say, well, a shorter list is what's not wrong with the public school system. The most common ones that I hear from people in terms of complaints, whether they're parents, whether they're educators, or whether they're just kind of on the sidelines of looking at how public education works is the curriculum. The fact that the curriculum itself is so outdated, so outdated, especially in I I can't speak for European education as much, but in Canada and The US, public school education, some of those curriculums have not been updated since nineteen nineties. Like, they're older than me. Not to you know, like, people aging is a different thing.Kimberly Gawne [00:02:36]:Curriculums aging is quite another. I think it's really important to make sure that we have accurate and updated information that we're teaching to children, let alone, you know, with the framework that we're teaching as well, or that from which we're teaching. Mhmm. So curriculum is definitely the biggest one. That's the biggest complaint that I hear. The other complaint is, the classroom sizes. And there's no getting around that no matter how you look at it. Public school or private school, you are typically in a class of anywhere from 15 to 30 plus children.Kimberly Gawne [00:03:10]:And and that's not that you're not able to really talk to the kids. You're not able to really teach them, in the way that they learn best. Right? That's one of the biggest frustrations I see from parents. I also see that from educators, but on the different side of the perspective because they're expected to teach all 30 children to the best of those kids' understanding, and they just can't. It's not possible.Stuart Webb [00:03:33]:Great. So, you know, I think we we can all we can all identify with with people who have you know, if you're you're a business owner, you don't wanna be trying to sort of reach out to 30 customers at a time. So, you know, parents are in the same situation. So tell me, what are these people I often say this about sort of, you know, when somebody sort of sees a a business person that's tried to solve a problem, parents are trying to solve this problem as well. What what are the sort of things you've seen that they've tried to do and maybe made mistakes trying to solve as part of their, desire to get their children better educated as part of their frustrations with with watching this situation at their school?Kimberly Gawne [00:04:20]:I see I see some commonalities when it comes to parents, trying their best. And this is not to say that, you know, parents don't have good, good intentions. Of course, they do. We all have good intentions when it comes to our children, especially when it comes to their education. One of the common mistakes that I see parents making when it comes to their child's education is outsourcing it without any sense of responsibility, without any sense of responsibility. One of my favorite things to say is that the public school system is glorified babysitting. I get a lot of hate for that, but it's true if you think about it. What else are are parents doing other than sending their children to a public school that's going to just babysit their kids all day while the parents are at work.Kimberly Gawne [00:05:11]:If the parent themselves does not have any responsibility, any communication, any sort of, initiative to go and talk to the teachers, to go and get involved with the school activities, to go you know, if there's a PTA, go get involved with the PTA. If there's no responsibility on the part of the parent in terms of getting involved with their kids' education, the children are the ones that suffer because those are the kids that will fall through the cracks. Because the teachers, quite simply, don't have the brain space and or the time, to be quite honest with you, to give all 30 children the the best of what they are able to give them because they have Of course. They have, what, forty five minutes or fifty minutes or, you know, maybe seventy five if you're talking about high school. If you have a child whose parents are not involved and whose parents are not, as active in their school life, that child is going to suffer because nobody's looking out for that kid's best interest in terms of educationally speaking. Right? In in my in that specific context for me, no no one's looking out for their educational interests. So that's a really common mistake that I see parents making is outsourcing without any sense of responsibility. There's nothing wrong with outsourcing, but you still have to be involved because you're you as the parent are your child's first, you're you're the child's first barrier to or the first first guardian to, getting that good education, to be able to to speak for your child if they're, you know, in elementary school, they're in grades one through eight.Kimberly Gawne [00:06:43]:They're not really able to speak for themselves in terms of what's best for their best educational interest. You as the parent, that's your job. And if you're not saying anything because you're not involved, there that no one else is going to do that for you.Stuart Webb [00:06:59]:And I think that's a really good message that you've given with the fact that too much outsourcing is done without thought of the responsibilities you own as the sort of parent or, the the the, you know, if we we think of, you know, too many times people outsource things without really thinking about their responsibilities within the process, which is exactly what you've described. A parent just sort of, you know, says, well, I I don't know what else to do. I'm just gonna I'm just gonna leave it and hope for the best. And that's where things go wrong, isn't it? When you hope for the best, we often we often fail to realize that actually there, you know, there are things we can do. There are things we can the actions we can take in order to improve, if not if not, drastically change the situation.Kimberly Gawne [00:07:50]:Absolutely. Absolutely. And like I said, it's not there's nothing wrong with outsourcing because you can't do it all yourself. That's another mistake I see parents making is that they they can they're like, okay. Well, I'm gonna homeschool my children. I'm gonna do all of it myself. You will burn out so fast. Absolutely.Kimberly Gawne [00:08:07]:Yeah.Stuart Webb [00:08:07]:Yeah. You know, if you if you're if you're busy working or if you don't have the the necessary income in order to be able to afford to sort of have one parent take the time off, then then it becomes very difficult, doesn't it?Kimberly Gawne [00:08:19]:Mhmm. Yeah. Absolutely. Even if you have a parent, we have I have quite a few clients actually who that's a sort of, that's the sort of category that they fall into where there's one parent who is actively working and away from home, and then there's the other parent, usually the mom, because that's just how the dynamic works, who's homeschooling kids, who's chosen to make the time to homeschool the children. But when you have multiple children, I and I'm speaking from experience here, when you have multiple children that you're trying to homeschool in the same household at once, it is a lot. It is a lot. So there's nothing wrong with outsourcing, but you still have to be involved. Right? You can't just outsource with that and say, okay.Kimberly Gawne [00:08:57]:Now it's this person's job. I'm they you know, I'm I'm paying them the money. They'll just they'll just take care of everything. You as the parent still have to be an active participant in your child's journey, whatever that looksStuart Webb [00:09:09]:like. So is there a a piece of advice, an offer you can you can provide people who are currently watching this and going, this is me. This is me. I'm I'm kind of intrigued to know more. What what what is the valuable piece of advice that you would you would offer them?Kimberly Gawne [00:09:24]:I would say that the most valuable piece of advice I could offer parents at whatever stage they might be at in their child's journey, This is perhaps more of a reassurance than advice. It is never too late to start over. It's never too late to say, hey. Something needs to change because this isn't working anymore. Right? Yeah. And in order to say that, it requires a sense of accountability as to, like, hey. This isn't working for me. This isn't working for my child, more importantly.Kimberly Gawne [00:09:57]:What can we do to change it? Instead of sitting there and saying, oh, well, you know, it's already ruined. They're already in public school. You know, they're already in private school. It's it's not working, but whatever. What else do you do? I would encourage people to look outside the box. There's so many different solutions for alternative education these days, and public school is just not it's just not where it's at anymore in terms of preparing children for the real world, in terms of fitting a family's flexible lifestyle. It it is just not there. So my piece of advice, look around you, take stock of what the world is like, ask yourself, is this public school system preparing my child for what this world is going to be like in ten years or even in five years.Stuart Webb [00:10:44]:And I'd encourage everybody to go to the link that I'm just showing at the bottom of the screen at the moment, which is www.systemize.me/free-stuff. We'll have links to Kimberly's website, her LinkedIn profile, and and everything there so that you can you can find out more about what Kimberly's talking about here and and and understand the sort of actions that you can take in order to solve these problems if, you are, who, if you're one of the people that, that that you you feel it's Kimberly is talking to you at the moment. Kimberly, can I just sort of find out a little bit more about how you got to be well who you are today? What was it? Was there a book? Was there a was there a a course, a program, a life situation that eventually brought you to the realization that you need to take this sort of responsibility for stepping into the outsourcing breach, if I can put it like that.Kimberly Gawne [00:11:47]:Mhmm. I I just laugh. I'm just chuckling as you're saying that because it was definitely not a book. It's simply not a book or a course, or program. It was, as we mentioned, a life situation, that brought me to starting like, to to starting star students and to being able to, provide that for families. I graduated teachers college in March or rather in April, of twenty twenty. So ifStuart Webb [00:12:15]:people were to graduate.Kimberly Gawne [00:12:17]:I'm telling you. We went home, and it I I remember it to the day. It was Friday, 03/13/2020, because that was the Friday before March break. To make a long story short, we we decided we were taking two weeks, and I never saw my kids again that I was teaching. That was a that that was the five let me call that the the cherry on the icing on the cake of a long line of complaints that I had, with my with the public school system in my six years of post secondary education. So I really had to take a hard look once I graduated. I did that year. I had to take a hard look at, is this something I really want to do? And the answer was no, quite frankly, because it was not something that I was willing to sign myself up for.Kimberly Gawne [00:13:05]:It was not something that I wanted to have be my fulfillment. I could not I I could not see myself doing the a public school teaching job and coming home every day, Monday to Friday, for the next forty years, looking in the mirror and genuinely saying to myself, I did a good job today with those kids.Stuart Webb [00:13:26]:Yeah. Yeah.Kimberly Gawne [00:13:27]:That was what it came down to. That was what it came down to. I realized I could not do that. I could not look myself in the mirror and say I did a good job with those kids. I said if I can't do it after, you know, two years of being in school, in a school, how am I gonna do that for forty? For the next forty, right, or thirty or whatever my code would be in the public school system. So that I mean, that was where it started because I I was kind of I I said, okay. Well, that's not I I can't I can't do that. What am I going to do instead? And star students was born to make a long story short, star students was born from that.Kimberly Gawne [00:14:04]:It was born from the desire to do something different and the desire to see something different for the kids of this generation and for future generations because they don't deserve what they're getting in the public school system. They don't.Stuart Webb [00:14:17]:And and I think that's a that's a a brave action to take at a very tough time for the world anyway. But, I mean, that is a that was a that was a driving force clearly, and and I guess that's what led you to this, which is kind of what I'm expecting you to be thinking at the moment. Do you know he still hasn't asked me that killer question, which I just don't understand why he hasn't got this? So, you know, I'm obviously unable to think what that killer question is because otherwise, I wouldn't now be asking you to say, what's the question that you think I should be asking you so that you can really sort of get me to understand exactly the next actions I should take. So what's that question that you think you would like to answer? And then, obviously, once you've asked it, you need to answer it, Kimberly, because that's the way this works.Kimberly Gawne [00:15:05]:Right. The I would say the killer question that I always that is always the number one thing that people ask me when it comes to homeschooling. They find out that, you know, we provide homeschooling services and and tutoring services. Tutoring services is something that people can, understand because it's in our cultural schema. Right? When people find out that Star Students is very much about homeschooling and we provide a variety of homeschooling supports, the first question that people always ask without fail, when they when they talk about homeschooling is, oh my goodness. How are you gonna homeschool children? They need to be socialized. What do you mean you're taking it from public school or some sort of variety of that? Right? That is the killer question I get asked. I get asked that on podcast.Kimberly Gawne [00:15:51]:I get asked that by parents. I get asked that by, teachers, public school educators. Right? What do you mean? Are you gonna homeschool your children? You can't you can't do that. They won't be socialized. That's my killer question, I would say. Because the answer, I think, really shakes a lot of people. It really makes a lot of people think about how our world is set up. I very simply respond to that question, and I say, is public school actually educating your children, or is it indoctrinating them into the nine to five factory style workforce? Not one person.Kimberly Gawne [00:16:34]:Every single person has that look on their face. They just oh, you're right. If you look into the public school education, history, if you look into the history of how public school education got started, it was John d Rockefeller that started our public school education. Not to get on a history tip. I am a history fan. I'm a history major, actually. Not to get on a history tip, but John d Rockefeller started the public school education system with the intent with the publicized intent of making sure that he had factory workers and not thinkers. So if that doesn't say to you about the intentions of what the public school system intends to do to your children, if that doesn't say something to you, I I don't know what will.Kimberly Gawne [00:17:25]:That that's my killer that's my question. Gives people a lot to think about.Stuart Webb [00:17:32]:And I was about to say and I think that is an interesting point at which to say, this is where people let's go back once again. Have a look at what Kimberly's, Kimberly says in in her profile and and and the, the the website get and where where you talk about getting getting started with with homeschooling. So, Kimberly, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna leave people with that thought, and ask them to check you out further. And at this point, I'm just gonna say, look. If you would like to get onto the main list so that you get access to that free stuff or if you would like to, to to hear about the people that are coming up on the podcast coming up, go to this form, which is www.systemize, that's with an s, not a a zed or z,systemize.mesubscribed, s y s t e m I s e, Me forward / subscribe. And, you'll just get a it's just simple form, email, first name, and then you get an email once a week, which basically tells you about who's coming up on the podcast. Now outside my window, the tree is being heavily chopped down, so I don't know if you can hear that. So I'm just gonna thank I'm gonna thank Kimberly.Stuart Webb [00:18:48]:Okay.Kimberly Gawne [00:18:49]:So you're good.Stuart Webb [00:18:51]:Thank Kimberly for her time now. Kimberly, thank you so much for coming on to talk about this. I really hope that people do get on and, listen to some of this stuff that you're saying because I think it's important. Kimberly, thank you so much for being with us. I trust, that the kids continue to behave. I I know, I know in the background, you've got quite a lot of activity, so enjoy the time with them. They grow up very fast, and, eventually, they become less educated and less trouble, but an awful lot, a lot of my distant to you. So enjoy the time you got with them now, and thanks for coming on and talking to us.Kimberly Gawne [00:19:29]:Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Who is Howard?Howard Polansky is a pragmatic individual who navigates life's financial intricacies with a focus on strategic decision-making. Recognizing common defaults in financial practices, he often critiques the conventional 30-year mortgage system prevalent in the United States. Polansky understands that while many opt to pay extra on their monthly mortgage to reduce the term, the fixed nature of the monthly payment remains unchanged, a topic he frequently discusses. His insights reflect a deep understanding of financial commitments, emphasizing the impact of additional payments and highlighting the etymology of "mortgage" as a lasting "death pledge." Through his observations, Polansky shares his wisdom on making informed financial choices.Key Takeaways00:00 "Cash Flow Chat with Howard"06:03 Pay Yourself First, Always08:01 "Ebook Insights on Home Equity"12:40 "Prepare Financially During Success"16:21 "Key Unasked Question"19:32 "Motivating Business Financial Freedom"_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at https://systemise.me/newsletterFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :systemise.meIt's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDSCash flow, cash flow coach, financially led, debt management, high debt professions, medical debt, student loan debt, mortgage payments, fixed debt payments, paying off debt, interest reduction, offset mortgage, home equity line of credit, business owners, business cash flow, paying yourself first, tax payments, IRS, emergency fund, financial planning, risk management, business continuity, business loans, personal finance education, burnout, work-life balance, entrepreneur finances, insurance planning, financial ebook, income preservationSPEAKERSHoward Polansky, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:33]:Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science, five questions over coffee. I haven't actually got a coffee in front of you at the moment. This is actually fruit tea, because if I drink too much coffee, after lunchtime, I start to go to sleep. And I don't wanna go to sleep right at the moment because I'm really interested in speaking with Howard Polanski. Howard is a he's a cash flow coach, who doesn't need to speak to one of those nowadays. Howard is the cash flow coach at Financially Led, and we're we're gonna get into what that means at the moment. But who doesn't wanna spend some time thinking about cash flow and how to preserve it in these days? So, Howard, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science, five questions over coffee, and I trust you're ready to take us through cash flow and financially led.Howard Polansky [00:01:26]:Thank you, Stuart. Thank you for the opportunity.Stuart Webb [00:01:30]:It's It's terrific. So let's start with, let's just start. You're you're you're a former dentist, so we'll get into how you ended up in this situation. But who is it you're trying to help with your advice on on cash flow and and financial matters overall?Howard Polansky [00:01:47]:Those that don't like being in debt. And if we're talking about people let me just use The US since that's where I'm based. Those professions that are high debt type of professions, medical doctors, dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, lawyers, where they just have these massive fixed payments that they're trying to navigate around. And sometimes it feels like all I'm doing is going to work to literally pay off these debts. When do I get to enjoy my life?Stuart Webb [00:02:25]:Yeah.Howard Polansky [00:02:25]:And and I'm not saying that there's not other industries that face that challenge, but those are the obvious ones that if there is a way for us to minimize the impact of those fixed debt payments, get them out of our lives sooner, pay less interest. Now all of a sudden, you have more money freed up at the end of each month.Stuart Webb [00:02:47]:And and and, Howard, I'm I'm sure you can you can sort of, you can help us to understand this, but was that a situation that you were in as a dentist? Did you find yourself wondering every day, why am I doing this? There must be an easier way to make a loss, and that's what you led you to where you are?Howard Polansky [00:03:05]:Well, I didn't know if that was gonna be the question now or it was gonna be question number five in terms of how I got into this. If you wanna wait until then, we can, or you want me to go through the story now, I will.Stuart Webb [00:03:16]:Yeah. I'll put it I'll put it to you as question five. Let's just talk a little bit more about how you, what you the the sort of things that the the people you've helped have got into the sort of trouble they have, and what are they trying to do to get out of it? What is it what is it you see when you sort of they they eventually engage an expert like you and you start dealing with them? So they they recognize eventually they they have a problem and they need to do something about it.Howard Polansky [00:03:42]:Yeah. So, I mean, one of the I hate to call it a mistake, but one of the ways that people are doing it just because it's either it's by default or by design. And so by default, they're like, I've got this mortgage. Let's just say that. And in The US it's a thirty, traditionally a thirty year mortgage. Well, I don't wanna pay on this for thirty years, so let me throw a little bit of additional money against this. So if I've got a $2,000 mortgage, let me put 2,200 and I know that's going to save me some time. The problem is, what's your payment the next month? It's still the $2,000 It does not change when you put extra money against the mortgage because the more mortgage is two French words put together, which literally means death pledge.Howard Polansky [00:04:39]:So the system is set up for you to make payments until the day you die or you're gonna die trying. This allows you and, again, you're we're over on different sides of the pond, so I'm not gonna keep this a secret. Over in The UK and Australia, they're known as offset mortgages. So the open ended mortgages where all of the money can go in to lower the overall balance of the debt. When you lower the overall balance of the debt, you're lowering the amount of interest you pay on a daily basis. And then when the expenses come due, you just take that much out, but you've got the excess now attacking the entirety of the debt versus the way that it's set up in The US. They have a one way street known as your house in front of you. You only make the minimum payment because you're like, if I put more money in, I can't get the money back out.Howard Polansky [00:05:42]:And when we don't have access to money, that's when people don't sleep very well. So that's the common mistake is how I'm just putting more money into this loan, but then if something happens, I get disabled, I get fired, I still have this fixed payment in front of me, and now I have no wiggle room.Stuart Webb [00:06:03]:Yeah. I I'm always very aware that a lot of business owners, disobey, for want of a better word, one of the golden rules which which I think is is something I hope you'll you'll agree with, which is they forget that they need to pay themselves first out of the income into their business. They're putting it against all sorts of other things, and then eventually they realize that there isn't anything left for them. And they they're left in a situation like you've just said where suddenly they are unable to pay the bills that have come in for their family, and they then have to get back on the treadmill and work even harder because they've now forgotten that they've got a life. And and I just think it's it's it's often this the the the the the golden rules of, you know, thinking about your cash flow and how you allocate it are so difficult for many business owners for for reasons because often we are not taught. We are not given the instruction early enough in our lives about how to manage money.Howard Polansky [00:07:04]:What's even worse than not paying yourself first is not only do you pay yourself, you take the money from the IRS that you have to pay them and use that on your expenses too. I've seen that situation happen also. That's never a good situation that I wanna be involved in.Stuart Webb [00:07:23]:Now if there's one thing you should definitely be very aware of is the tax man will find you and will hunt you down if you are if you are diligent in, not diligent in playing that that money off. Howard, look. The the the these must be times at the moment. People are are listening to you and thinking, I think I hear myself in this. This might be me. What valuable piece of advice or or or free free offer can you sort of help people with? And, and how would you sort of, you know, give them that that allow them to sort of access you?Howard Polansky [00:08:01]:Yeah. The probably the easiest way to understand a little bit more of the concept behind this is my ebook. So financiallyled.com, so that's just LEDfinanciallyled.com/ebook. It'll take you maybe about twenty minutes to go through and start to understand the three lessons on how and why this works. The second, if I'm okay if it's okay for me to get a second piece of advice, Stuart, is if you have lived in let's just keep it on the personal side for now. If you've lived in your residence for a number of years now, whether it's in overseas or in The US, it doesn't matter, Your house is probably appreciated substantially, and there is equity. There is cash literally trapped in the bricks. While you're employed, while business looks good, go get a home equity line of credit.Howard Polansky [00:09:08]:Have access to the cash because you just never know what's gonna happen in life. I mean, here's a perfect example. One of my clients is a dentist. She texts me back in November saying, guess what happened to me two months ago? I'm like, this is just out of the blue. I'm like, I don't know. COVID? It's like, no. Two ruptured aneurysms and a mini stroke. Mhmm.Howard Polansky [00:09:34]:Mhmm. She's 40 she's 46 years old, Stuart. I don't think this was in her life plan in terms of, oh, I'm gonna go I wanna be in the ICU and have brain surgery for three weeks sitting in a hospital. If it wasn't for having the business line of credit set up twelve to eighteen months ago, her business would be toast. That buffer of cash is what allowed her to keep paying the bills. Even though there was no money coming in, it was the access to cash that allowed her to pay her team, pay the bills so that she could get back to still having a a functioning business.Stuart Webb [00:10:19]:I've just put a link, on the the screen in front of you, Howard. I'm gonna put that story and the link to your ebook into our vault. Our vault, if you if it listen, guys, it if you're listening to this and you go, I need to do that. If you didn't capture what Howard just said, go to, Systemize, and that's the word systemize, but it's spelled with an s, not a zed, systemize slash free hyphen stuff. There's a vault there with with and and we'll put Howard's link, and we'll put that story in order for you to be able to sort of capture that and come back to it again and again and again because that is really valuable advice. I think that's a truth that everybody should be trying to do, Howard. It's not just dentists that have aneurysms. Anybody can have one of those.Stuart Webb [00:11:03]:You know, I I have a a a a friend who went on a very nice holiday, fell over, skiing, and they were in a similar situation. They were suddenly unable to work. And if they hadn't set up the right systems in place in in his case, it was the fact that his business carried on because he had set up teams that were working. But he had to you have to think ahead, don't you? You have to you do have to do exactly what you said. This might not be in the plan, but there is a risk that this could happen. So, therefore, I need to sort of deal with the risk before it happens, not as it happens because it takes time. These things take time to set up. They don't happen overnight.Stuart Webb [00:11:46]:You have to plan it. You have to think about it. You have to put that into your thinking, don't you?Howard Polansky [00:11:51]:Absolutely. And and look, you know as well as I do, when are banks gonna gonna be most, when are they gonna be most appreciative of giving you money? When you don't need it.Stuart Webb [00:12:06]:When you've got it.Howard Polansky [00:12:08]:That's exactly as soon as you're in distress, they're the last people that wanna help you. So get this set up while things are going goodStuart Webb [00:12:18]:Yeah.Howard Polansky [00:12:19]:And just have it there just in case because stuff happens. I mean, we're live, so I definitely don't wanna say what I normally say, but stuff happens. And it's just far easier to have this all in place before any of this stuff happens because we know it's happened to everyone. It's a it's part of life.Stuart Webb [00:12:40]:It is. And, you know, there's an old there's an old story about a man walking down the road, it's pouring with rain, and he sees a farmer digging a well. And he turned around and said, why are you digging the well when it's raining? And he said, because now the ground is soft and the digging is easy. The last thing you wanna be doing is digging a well when there is no water and the ground is hard. So if you're in a situation at the moment where your business is still doing well, I know we're going into some, economically interesting times at the moment, but if you've got a business that's doing well, now's the time to be digging that well ready for when, perhaps the the ground hardens and it's not quite as easy digging. Howard, I'm I'm I'm gonna gonna, gonna get on with this because otherwise, I think we'll be here for many, many hours talking about this. So was there a sort of we we sort of talked about the the the origin of your sort of, a realization that financially led was the way that you wanted to go. Was there a a books, a course, something that led you from from where you are as a dentist now to being, the guy that tries to advise other people that, they need to think about their cash flow?Howard Polansky [00:13:50]:Yeah. The the one book which really helped in terms of solidifying this whole concept, the author's name is Harsh Gill, h a r j is the first name, g I l l. And it's the book is something like pay off your debt sooner. That was the first time I ever heard in terms of this offset mortgage, they call it the Australian mortgage or whatever. And I was like, oh my god. This is the most logical way I've ever seen in terms of being able to pay off debt. It doesn't have to be a house. It can be student loans.Howard Polansky [00:14:29]:It can be cars. It can be business loans, whatever it is. I just realized that once I was able to utilize this for myself and I got my I got down to a $24 house payment, which might be about £20 for you. I shared that with another dentist and he could not believe what he was seeing and is like, can you help me? And I'm like, I think so. And he ended up paying off his house in eight months instead of thirty years. Wow. Wow. And and that and that's when it really the light bulb went off.Howard Polansky [00:15:07]:And then later on, I was like, wait. I think I can help apply this idea to businesses because if the business has more cash flow, where's it gonna spill over? It's gonna spill over to that owner's personal life, which is where I was trying to make the impact anyway. And the answer is, yeah, it works beautifully, for the average business owner, the cash flow improvements been over $65,000 in year one. SoStuart Webb [00:15:39]:But again, notHoward Polansky [00:15:41]:doing anything crazy.Stuart Webb [00:15:43]:For those that want a personal testimony, I had an offset mortgage. We became mortgage free quite a while ago, and, I'm very grateful for the fact that I found it. So, Howard, perhaps perhaps if I'd got this advice from you many years ago, I'd I'd have to but but I found it myself. So they're a great thing. They're a great thing.Howard Polansky [00:16:03]:For the right person, if you're gonna go and just, you know, spend on Louis Vuitton and Lamborghinis and and trips around the world and you don't have the cash flow to back that up, please don't do this. You are going to get yourself in trouble.Stuart Webb [00:16:21]:I will I will not I will not immediately go out and buy a Lamborghini then. I will I will keep that. I'll keep what I've got at the moment because, clearly, that would be the wrong wrong thing for me. So, Howard, let let me let me let me sort of, help you get back out to helping people do this rather than talking about it. Is there a question that you think I should have asked you in these questions? Is there one thing that you're thinking? I wish you'd hurry up and get to the really important question. And, obviously, once you've posed the question, you need to answer it because I don't know what the question is at the moment.Howard Polansky [00:16:55]:We've kinda hinted at it before. How the heck does someone go from being a dentist to doing this?Stuart Webb [00:17:02]:Let's talk about it.Howard Polansky [00:17:04]:Yeah. So I tell people now sometimes life leaves you little clues and other times life hits you with a two by four. My two by four moment was Sunday morning, Memorial Day weekend twenty eighteen. Jaden, my older son, is 12 years old. I'm sitting next to his bed. He realizes I'm there and he says, Dad. His voice is barely above a whisper. Yeah, buddy.Howard Polansky [00:17:30]:I lean over the bed, I put my ear over his mouth to make sure I can hear him, and he says three words I'll never forget. Am I dying? Oh. Twelve days earlier, Jaden came home with a stomachache. Three days after the stomachache were in the ICU at the Children's Hospital having emergency surgery. Woah. It was a it was appendicitis that turned septic, twenty nine days in the hospital, 19 of them in the ICU, eight straight days of sedation because he went to the Operating Room 5 times. After they take the tube out of his throat, they give him methadone and morphine to bring him down from the drugs he was on. So my 12 year old son looks like a heroin addict coming down from a high, and the very first question he will only ask me are those three little words, am I dying? My first breath was, did I hear him correctly? My second breath was, do not lose it right now.Howard Polansky [00:18:34]:I look him in the eyes, and I tell him, no. You're not dying. You've had prayers from thousands of people all around the world, and you're gonna be just fine. He looks at me, he knows I'm telling him the truth. He closes his eyes to get more rest. I walk outside the room and then I broke. I was already miserable. I was burnt out from sixteen years of dentistry.Howard Polansky [00:18:57]:And one thought seared into my mind, if life is this fragile and I'm unhappy with the path that I'm on, burn the ships, it's over. That's what I did. I sold my practice September 2018, just walked away. And if I didn't make the bold move of walking away from dentistry, I would have never had this $24 house payment and never took the shot to open open a new business and do this. So that's that's the one question, Stuart.Stuart Webb [00:19:32]:Howard, if if if that is the story that motivates people to get and think about their cash flow situation, to manage their business in such a way that they turn it from being a millstone around their neck to something which is actually an asset and something which brings them the financial freedom that you got from making that decision. I trust and pray nobody has to go through what you went through to make that decision, But we can all learn from the fact that you cannot regulate, cannot plan for life to continue being the joy that it is. So if it is currently raining in your business and the ground is soft and you are not currently digging the well and taking advice from people like Howard, I would encourage you, please go and find that stuff in the in what we've said with that, Howard. Get that ebook and get on and listen to some of the brilliant advice. Howard, listen. That is a hugely, humbling story for me to have listened to, and I'm grateful for the fact that you spent just a few minutes with us giving us that story. Let me just let me just be slightly flippant now and just say please come subscribe to our newsletter list because I would love you listening to us now to to be able to get and hear people like Howard talk about these stories and really motivate you to make your business better. If you go to www.systemize.me/subscribe, there's a simple form.Stuart Webb [00:21:06]:It just asks for your first name, your email address, and that's all I want from you. Just so I can send you an email once a week saying we've got this really great guest coming up tomorrow. Come listen to some of the stuff they do, and you can listen to some real truth bombs, like Howard's given us today. Howard, that is a powerful way to end. I'm not really wanting to say very much more other than thank you very, very much for coming on and motivating us to get control of our finances and our cash flow. And and and thank you for taking the steps that you've taken in order to be that, that cash flow coach.Howard Polansky [00:21:41]:Stuart, thank you for the opportunity.Stuart Webb [00:21:44]:It's been brilliant. Thank you. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Feeling stuck in the grind of full-time clinical work? You're not alone—and there is another way.In this episode, Dr. Ann Tsung is joined by an interventional cardiologist, STR business owner, SuperDad, and founder of Halftime Freedom, , Dr. Ryan Mallory. Dr. Ryan shares how he transitioned from a traditional full-time role into locum tenens while optimizing his income and reclaiming his time.You'll learn how he's helping other physicians compress the timeline toward the freedom they want—without abandoning their careers or families.Whether you're exploring locums, scaling your investments, or just want your time back, this conversation offers actionable steps and a blueprint for building a life on your terms.Key Points From This Episode:Why he created Halftime Freedom to help physicians fast-track their lifestyle goalsThe mindset shift from a full-time cardiologist to a flexible locums careerHow locums enabled him to work less but earn more while staying clinically activeUsing STRs (Short-Term Rentals) to accelerate income and freedomTips for physicians who want to start locums without fully leaving their jobThe Halftime STR Blueprint: a framework to optimize your business launchHow he helps others compress the time it takes to reach financial and personal outcomesResources:Half Time Freedom WebsiteFollow Dr. Ryan on InstagramPhysician Locums Facebook GroupListen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - How to Boost Income With Locums Medical Work and Short-Term Rentals With Dr. Ryan MalloryPlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2025/07/21/episode-76/

Who is Helle?Helle Brodie is an insightful entrepreneur who intimately understands the challenges faced by business owners in today's fast-paced world. Acknowledging the widespread issue of burnout among entrepreneurs—characterized by stress, overwhelm, and sleepless nights—Helle champions the cause of work-life balance and mental well-being. She recognizes how the pressures of entrepreneurship can spill into personal life, affecting friendships, family, and even self-care routines. Driven by the need to transform chaos into mastery, Helle is committed to helping fellow entrepreneurs navigate these hurdles, ensuring they remain at the top of their game without sacrificing their well-being.Key Takeaways00:00 Entrepreneurial Burnout: A Common Struggle06:08 Beyond Step-by-Step: Entrepreneur Growth08:06 "No Magic Button in AI"10:00 "Overcoming Fear for Better Decisions"13:56 "Entrepreneur Resource Access Steps"_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at https://TCA.fyi/newsletterFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :It's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDSBusiness success coach, Entrepreneurs, Freedom in business, Livelihood, Business transformation, Chaos to freedom, Time freedom, Financial freedom, Internal freedom, Entrepreneurial burnout, Stress, Overwhelm, Sleepless nights, Pressure, Self-doubt, Loss of confidence, Creativity, Business mastery, Safe zones, Working harder, Chasing opportunities, Unconscious blocks, Success mindset, Growth mindset, Conscious mind, Unconscious mind, Entrepreneurs Freedom Formula, Autopilot business, Self-discovery, AlignmentSPEAKERSHelle Brodie, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:00]:So yes. Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science five, questions over coffee. I've had some technical difficulties today, although, to be honest with you, it's probably not the coffee that's causing it. I'm delighted, however, to be here with Hela Brody. Hela is a business success coach. She really specializes in working with entrepreneurs, to create freedom in their business and their livelihood. It sounds absolutely fantastic. She's been an entrepreneur herself for thirty seven years in two vastly different industries.Stuart Webb [00:01:00]:I'm sure we're gonna get into that. And she's really got an intimate understanding of the complexity and, I believe, the simplicity business. So she's gonna help us to understand exactly how we can transform our businesses from a state of chaos to a vehicle for freedom. That's time freedom and financial freedom and the internal freedom to savor the life. So, Hela, welcome to the podcast. I really am looking forward to this, and, I'm looking forward to having a conversation about how you're gonna help us to transform these, these complex piece into something simple we can all enjoy.Helle Brodie [00:01:36]:Absolutely. It's wonderful to be here, Stuart.Stuart Webb [00:01:39]:Terrific. So, Helen, let's start with the the first question I would start with, and that's just try and describe to us, if you can, the the the person you're trying to help. I mean, you've mentioned there are things like freedom, and I think we all can all identify that sometimes as a business, we don't feel as if it's a freeing thing. So tell us about the sort of the sort of person you're trying to reach to help with these, with these problems.Helle Brodie [00:02:02]:Right. So so fifty percent of entrepreneurs admit to struggling with burnout. You know, it's the stress, the overwhelm, the sleepless nights. You know? And the the the pressure can feel exhausting and and all consuming. And, you know, it creeps into your friendships. It creeps into your family life, and it like, it even creeps into that gym membership that you promised that you'd start using next week. So as entrepreneurs, we know that we need to master our business. We know we need to be at the top of our game, and yet we've created a state of chaos in our business.Helle Brodie [00:02:40]:And after a while, it starts to starts to wear on, our our self belief, you know, and and and we we quietly start to doubt whether we can really do this, whether we're really cut out for this. Right? And so, you know, when that self doubt creeps in, we, we start to lose our confidence, We start to lose our clarity, our energy, our drive, and our creativity. And so I'm here to help people get all of that back.Stuart Webb [00:03:18]:Terrific. I'm I'm sure that you find there are, people who try to do things to help themselves in these situations. I know I come across people. I'm a I'm a big fan like yourself who sort of try and help people find ways in which to make their business something which runs on autopilot. And I know they've tried a hundred different things. They've tried the courses. They've tried the books. They've tried, a thousand and one things.Stuart Webb [00:03:41]:What what are you seeing that people, have tried before they sort of find somebody like you to help them to to produce that sort of that sort of, unblocking, in their in their business?Helle Brodie [00:03:53]:That's a great great question, Stuart. So typically what I find is that they go back to what feels safe. You know, they've looked at the courses, they've looked at, read books, they've, you know, gathered all kinds of knowledge. And so they go back to what feels safe because quite often they're feeling like they're sort of on the edge. Right? And so, you know, what feels safe? Well, working longer and harder feels safe.Stuart Webb [00:04:19]:Yeah.Helle Brodie [00:04:20]:Yeah. You know, chasing every opportunity out there feels safe, because this is what's got them to where they are now.Stuart Webb [00:04:28]:Yeah.Helle Brodie [00:04:28]:The challenge is that what's got them to where they are now isn't necessarilyStuart Webb [00:04:33]:It's taken to where they are.Helle Brodie [00:04:34]:To the next level.Stuart Webb [00:04:36]:Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.Helle Brodie [00:04:38]:Yeah.Stuart Webb [00:04:38]:Now I think I think you've got a really valuable free offer that you are gonna give to the and I'm just gonna let everybody know, know that, we're gonna put this in our vault. So you don't have to remember this. This will be in the vault, so you'll see it. But Helen's got a really valuable offer to help people with this. So, Helen, can you tell us about the the really interesting offer that you've got that you're gonna help with today?Helle Brodie [00:05:02]:Yeah. It's called the Entrepreneurs Freedom Formula. Wonderful. What it is, it is it, outlines 10 areas of your business that, I can say you should, you could look at. It would be advisable to look at to create freedom in your business. Time freedom, financial freedom, and the free the internal freedom to really savor your life. Because we know that working longer and harder and chasing absolutely every opportunity isn't necessarily what works. You know? And Mhmm.Helle Brodie [00:05:35]:You know, one of the things that that I can't give you the the 10 steps to is one of the keys is really aligning your conscious and your unconscious mind. Now I I can't I can't offer that as a free resource difficult thing to do on your own. Right? And that's one of the keys to how I'm able to help people, really get to the next level in their business, create that freedom, and, and move forward. Live life with new dreams.Stuart Webb [00:06:08]:So these so the 10 steps that you're you're hearing here, this is this is the outline that people can start to understand. But but, really, that's that's not the end of the journey, is it? What we're talking about here is something which you've gotta partly self discovery, but also that's something that you've got to sort of understand exactly how to apply these things. I often think that that's one of the failures that we have as as entrepreneurs. We see a formula, we see a set of steps, and we go, well, I'll just implement those as they as they are, and they'll just work. And that's not the whole story, is that?Helle Brodie [00:06:36]:Right. Right. Because because, I mean, the so when I talk about the the, unconscious blocks that that that are holding you back from your progress, You know? I mean, so we've heard all all heard about mindset. You have to have a success mindset and a growth mindset, and that's all very true. This goes one level deeper than that because our in our conscious mind, we we set our goals. Our unconscious mind is the part of our mind that acts actually helps us achieve our goals. Mhmm. And until we have those two things aligned, it's gonna be really hard to achieve your goals and do everything that you wanna do without working longer and harder and pushing and struggling.Helle Brodie [00:07:19]:So so it creates ease and flow in your business. Now you still have to have a work ethic because growth and change don't happen on their own.Stuart Webb [00:07:29]:You know what I mean?Helle Brodie [00:07:29]:I'm sure you've heard a lot of people talk about, oh, it's just so easy. You know? You just think it and think positive thoughts, and all the good things in the world will will come to you. Well, that doesn't necessarily happen. And when we I'm I'm trying to be kind. So when we align our with our unconscious minds, then it becomes a lot easier because we're not we're not self sabotaging us ourselves. We're not keeping ourselves from achieving the goals that we really want. I mean, this is what we really want.Stuart Webb [00:08:06]:So Yeah. I I I absolutely know what you mean, and I think it's something we too often, we we too often, we sort of look around and go, oh, there's there must be I'm just looking for the magic formula. And, you know, I was talking to somebody about AI, and they went and, and we were discussing sort of, you know, AI in the business and and how to automate something, and they went and and is that when the magic happens? And I went, no. There's no magic. I'm sorry. There is no magic. There is there is hard work and, you know, there was there is this sort of, you know somehow there was this belief that somehow I I I just push that button. Everything just happens, doesn't it? It just all becomes nice and funky, and that's just not the way the the world works, does it? Right.Helle Brodie [00:08:45]:Yeah. There's no I call it the easy button. There's no easy button. Right? You know, big red button where you just push it and everything happens beautifully and miraculously. You know, wouldn't wouldn't that be nice? And if if there was, everybody would be doing it, and we'd be looking for something else, wouldn't we?Stuart Webb [00:09:03]:Terrific. That's a great message, and that's a great way to great way to segue into my next my next question to you. There must have been something, a a book, and we talked a little bit about it at the beginning when I gave the introduction about sort of your journey from from vastly different, industries. Can you was there a was there a was there a point in your life, a book, or a program or something which brought you to this understanding? How did you get to where you are now?Helle Brodie [00:09:28]:Right. Well, I mean, it it wasn't a book like, I do have a favorite book, or a book that that's been very significant in terms of my beliefs and my growth.Stuart Webb [00:09:39]:Please tell us.Helle Brodie [00:09:40]:And and I'll you know, give me a second. So that my process to get from from one industry to to another was that I real recognized that, my clients in in the other industry were not always making, what I would say, rational decisions.Stuart Webb [00:10:00]:Mhmm.Helle Brodie [00:10:00]:They were making decisions out of out of fear and scarcity. And and I had great solutions to offer them, and they agreed until it came to down to the bottom line. And so until well, and I'm sure you've come across those people as well. And so as I dove into that, I came to understand that that they were living in stress, overwhelm, fear, anxiety. They may not have shown it on the outside, and that's where their decisions were coming from. So in my other business, my goal was to create a better world, you know, and that was more that was primarily environmentally. And I realized that if I wanted to, create a better world through that industry, the best thing I could do will help the people in that in so that's it's kind of a roundabout way for how I got to where I am. And and, you know, I promised you that I would I would tell you about a book that's been particularly significant for me.Helle Brodie [00:11:11]:It's called, Unstoppable Self Confidence by Andrew, by Andrew, Leadham. And so the the most valuable lesson in that, or the most valuable lesson that I've taken from that is wrong with you. As an entrepreneur, when we don't succeed, when something goes wrong, you know, you start thinking, what's wrong with me? Why can't I do this? Why can't I figure it out? Valuable resource that says, really, there's nothing wrong with you. And what he does is he helps us to, think the way the 1% do. The 1% who all who who achieve their goals, who have success, who live life on their terms. And it all comes down to there's nothing wrong with you. And so it's a beautiful resource that that, I mean, it's a it's a great book. It's it's fascinating, and it certainly opened my eyes in in many areas.Stuart Webb [00:12:14]:Well, it's not one I've come across. I'm glad you've introduced it to me. I should be checking it out because that is a hugely valuable step forward for all of us. But let me get to the right to the to the question I've got for you here, which is I'm sure you've been thinking for all this time where you you've been talking away and thinking, well, the the question he question he should be asking me is is so critical. Why when is he gonna get to that one? Well, I'm gonna give you the opportunity of telling me what the question is. And then, obviously, when you've posed the question, well, you're gonna have to answer because I really don't know what the question is. So, therefore, Helen, what's the question I should have asked you in these last few minutes you really think I should have asked?Helle Brodie [00:12:52]:So the question is why do I think it's so important for entrepreneurs to thrive? Because I work with entrepreneurs, So why is it so important for entrepreneurs to thrive? And so I I truly believe that entrepreneurs hold the key to our future. They're a huge part of our economy. They're the movers and shakers of the world. Right? They're nimble. They're resourceful. They're creative. You know? And and and they're great adjusting. They're resilient.Helle Brodie [00:13:28]:They're adjusting to what you've called the the new normal. Right? Big corporations can't adjust. They're they're not as nimble. They're not as creative. They're not they're not as passionate. Right?Stuart Webb [00:13:42]:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.Helle Brodie [00:13:43]:And so I believe that when entrepreneurs thrive, they they create a better world.Stuart Webb [00:13:50]:Wow. What a what a So that'sHelle Brodie [00:13:53]:why I wanna work with entrepreneurs.Stuart Webb [00:13:56]:Hello. That is just such a fantastic just such a fantastic I'm gonna say no more because I think you have ended that, and given us something to think about, during the rest of today and tomorrow. If you're an entrepreneur, you hold the key to the future. So I wanna reach out to you and say, you probably need to go on to, within twenty four hours, we will have Heller's resource at this link, and I would get onto it. I would start looking at those 10 steps immediately because I think you, need the, need to be able to get in and tap into some of this wisdom. But, before you do that, you need to go to this link, which is www.systemize.me/subscribe. That puts you on the newsletter list. You know that you get an email from me just once a week that actually tells you about who's coming up on this podcast recording each week.Stuart Webb [00:14:56]:And you have the opportunity to get on, listen to it live, and if necessary, dive in and ask questions of great experts such as Heller and, really understand how to make your business move that one step forward that you need to make it move each day. But remember to get on and have a look at the stuff that Heller will have, to help you to do that. Heller, I wanna thank you for taking a few minutes out of our of your valuable time and giving us your your wisdom for us to to take away and think about and to really sort of dwell on. And I appreciate the fact that you've, given us that very valuable free advice, today. So thank you very much for doing that.Helle Brodie [00:15:35]:My pleasure. It's been an honor to be here with you today.Stuart Webb [00:15:39]:Brilliant. Thank you, Helen. I really appreciate it. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Who is Paige?Paige Arnof-Fenn is a seasoned marketing strategist who specializes in helping businesses enhance their visibility in today's competitive landscape. Her clientele ranges from mid to emerging market companies with revenues between $2 million and $200 million to early-stage venture-backed startups, and even large Fortune 500 corporations. With a keen understanding of the challenges organizations face in cutting through the noise, Paige has dedicated her career to crafting strategies that elevate her clients' profiles and expedite the sales of their products and services. Her expertise lies in navigating the complexities of modern business environments, ensuring that her clients stand out and succeed in an ever-changing market.Key Takeaways00:00 Raising Visibility in Competitive Markets03:12 "Every Business is a Brand"07:06 Focus Marketing on Outcomes, Audience11:56 "Show Humanity, Not AI"_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at https://TCA.fyi/newsletterFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :It's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDS* Marketing* Brand* Visibility* Profile* Products* Services* Business* Brands* Pandemic* Online presence* Customer expectation* Audience* Message* Trust* Social media* Outcomes* Commodities* Price* Real estate* Competitor* Features* Value* Experience* Connection* Humanity* Artificial intelligence* Growth mindset* Dale Carnegie* Storytelling* Brand promiseSPEAKERSPaige Arnof-Fenn, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:00]:Start dancing. Hi and welcome to It's Not Rocket Science five questions over coffee. I have got my coffee with me here. It is, in a mug which I got when I recently returned from Lanzarote which is and Paige has got her coffee with her. So I'm delighted today to be speaking with Paige on our fen. Paige is a really brilliant marketing connector, she's into into connecting, captivating, and converting those customers. So we're gonna learn a lot about how she's done that and what she's been doing in her business. And, Paige, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science, five questions over coffee.Stuart Webb [00:01:11]:Welcome to giving us your spin on the world.Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:01:14]:Thank you, Stuart. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me.Stuart Webb [00:01:18]:No problem. Now I know that, you are, you are you are interested in in these companies and and how they market. So can you tell me the sort of sort of business leaders, sort of business, work the business that you work with? What are the sort of problems that you see that they have that they are maybe maybe not quite converting at the moment?Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:01:40]:So the majority of our clients, I would describe as, mid to emerging market, kind of 2,000,000 to 200,000,000 in revenue, but we also work with companies who are early stage venture backed startups or even big Fortune 500 companies. And a lot of the common denominators, that affect all the organizations today is, you know, they're getting lost in the noise. There's just so much going on, and they want to raise their visibility and their profile so that they can sell more of their products and services faster. And they just feel like, you know, there's just a lot going on, and it's hard to get noticed today.Stuart Webb [00:02:25]:And and tell me, Paige, what are the problems that you've noticed that they have with that getting noticed? Because you're right. A lot of scale up businesses are are often struggling to break through the noise, and and sometimes sometimes it's simple steps they take. What are the sort of things that you find that that business owners you're working with, business leaders that you you speak to are struggling with and how and and what are the mistakes they're making?Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:02:50]:So you know, one, one universal problem, I think, is a lot of people feel like I'm really not a famous person. I don't run a big company that has global recognition. I'm not Taylor Swift or Serena Williams or Beyonce. You know?Stuart Webb [00:03:10]:Few of us are, Paige. Few of us are.Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:03:12]:But a lot of, you know, small business owners don't think of themselves as brands. They just think I'm running this small company. It's not that big of a deal. But the truth is everybody's a brand today. And I think if we learned anything during the pandemic, it's that if you don't exist online, you're really invisible today. And so, you know, the thing that I try encourage, people that, reach out is I really hope that I can convince you that it's important that you do brand yourself and brand your your product or service in a way that connects with your customers and clients on a on an emotional level. A brand is a promise of a consistent experience, and it you want to own real estate in your customer's brain so that every time they have a problem that your product or service that, can help them solve, that they think of you first. And if you own that real estate in their brain, you're a brand.Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:04:18]:And if you don't, you're a commodity. And commodities compete on price, and that's a really bad place to be. Because if you're competing on price and all you do is lower your price to win more business, that's not a sustainable option.Stuart Webb [00:04:33]:I think that's a brilliant message, Paige. And I must admit, one of the businesses that I was helping when it came to the pandemic, when they started the pandemic, they had unknown no online presence. They'd never thought of it. And by the end of the pandemic, they had more business coming in online than they had in their physical store. And, actually, that was one of the causes of the problems they then started to have in terms of that, as you said, that promise. Because, you know, what often you find with brands, with marketing, is that people promise one thing but can deliver something very different. And it's that experience of then failing to meet the customer expectation which actually causes so many problems. And that is a is a it becomes a business issue very quickly, doesn't it? Because people rarely understand that they have to have to live up to what they're talking about in their marketing.Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:05:22]:Absolutely. And you you really need to own a very specific, message. You can't stand for everything. You can stand for one or two things. And I think another big mistake people make is they try to be all things to all people. And theyStuart Webb [00:05:38]:All people. Yes.Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:05:40]:Million, benefits and features out there. People don't remember the features. What they wanna know is how you're gonna help them. How are you gonna help them solve their problem? So it's really important to hone in on your message, figure out what those really singular things are that really matter to your audience and reinforce those messages in everything that you do. And don't spread yourself too thin online either. If you try to be on every platform all the time with all the messages, again, it's just gonna dilute your brand. People aren't gonna, remember too much. And if you're not consistent in your message, if you try to be one thing on one platform and another thing on another platform, you're not building trust.Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:06:32]:And, you know, brands are you know, you you wanna have, unique, special, and different messages that build trust in what you're saying. And people buy brands they know, like, and trust. So make sure they can find you, that you're talking about yourself in a way that's relevant and compelling, and that it's constantly being reinforced in everything that you do. Those are the brands that succeed. And like you said, if they do it well, their business will explode.Stuart Webb [00:07:06]:I love the what you're saying, Paige. And I must admit I I I buy into it a lot of the time because so often I think business owners fail to recognize two things. One of which is, you know, they're reaching out onto 17 different social media platforms, and they've forgotten that on 16 of those social media platforms, their audience is not there, and they are just wasting their time and their effort and their money to reach out to somebody who just doesn't exist. And the other thing that I find so many small businesses do is they forget that they're trying. They should be selling outcomes. They should be selling the outcome of the because, you know, that once again, we go back to that promise. Somebody is not interested in the fact that I I often sort of talk to to people and say, when you buy a stapler, what is it you're looking for? You're not looking for metal. You're looking for us for for the fact that the paper will hold together.Stuart Webb [00:07:54]:So tell people about the paper being held together and how good it is that it does that, not the fact that it's made out of metal because that's a feature that nobody can relate to. And so often people forget that it's that outcome that they're really interested in, not the the steps to it. That's just the incidentals.Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:08:12]:Bingo. What's in it for them? How are you making their lives more convenient, simpler? You're saving them time. You're saving them money. And like you said, if you're just spinning your wheels and you're spending a lot of energy to no end, it's running you ragged, and it's not building your business.Stuart Webb [00:08:30]:Yeah. We're back to that most popular radio station on the, in the world, WII FM. What's in it for me?Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:08:37]:You got it. Bingo.Stuart Webb [00:08:40]:Paige, you must have, and I'm gonna put your, on screen now the the the website where we could come and find more information about you, which is at mavensandmoguls.com. Is there something at that website that we can all latch on to which is already valuable piece of free advice?Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:08:56]:Absolutely. I have a lot of free content. Articles, I've contributed to a lot of books. I've got videos. I've got podcasts. So if anyone that wants to learn more about branding or marketing, personal branding in a digital world, it's all there. There's no gated. You don't have to, give me, email address.Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:09:18]:There's no fee, and I think there'll be a lot of great content for people who wanna learn more.Stuart Webb [00:09:24]:And anybody who hasn't actually managed to capture that email that that that that now and we'll put this into there. We keep a record of all of the great stuff that that guests on the show come across. So if you just go to systemize.meforward free forward free hyphen stuff, I'll try and say that again only this time in English. Systemize dot me hyphen, sorry, slash free hyphen stuff. If you go to that link anyway, you'll see it in the show notes. You will be able to go straight onto a I will have a link straight to Paige's website, and you'll go straight into that in order to be able to get to that. So, Paige, we've got to know a little bit more about you as a as a person. So what is it? Was there a book, a program, a life experience, something that brought you to the point here where you became the the the the marketing mogul that you are?Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:10:15]:So, you know, I am constantly reading and trying to learn. I think having a growth mindset is so important today. There's so much out there. I I like the classics, to be honest with you. I think Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People is one that if you haven't read it or you haven't read it in a long time, there are a lot of great tips on human nature and great marketing tips as well. But there are a lot of current people, Seth Godin, David Meerman Scott, Guy Kawasaki, people that have been real practitioners in marketing and technology, and they don't use a lot of jargon. They're very straight shooting. They talk about their real life experiences in the trenches, the good, the bad, the ugly.Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:11:04]:And I always learn if I follow them online or read their books asStuart Webb [00:11:09]:well. Good good good attitude to have a growth mindset. I love it. So we come to the the million dollar question, Paige, the one that I know you've been asking yourself. When is he gonna ask me that really killer question? And so I'm going to say to you, what's the killer question I should have asked you? And then, obviously, once you've told me what that killer question is, you better answerPaige Arnof-Fenn [00:11:30]:it because I won't know the answer. So maybe is there a quote or, something that motivates you, that inspires you, that affects, you know, how you I love that question. Build your business. And I would say there's a quote. It was attributed to Teddy Roosevelt, but I I think it's been attributed to a lot of people. It's that people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.Stuart Webb [00:11:54]:And I think I love that.Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:11:56]:I think it's a great quote. And I think especially in this day of artificial intelligence where people are kind of throwing a lot of things, you know, to these rope robotic machinery online, and what comes back is very generic and robotic, copy. And I think you have to remember to show your humanity to stand out today. So people are not looking for facts and figures and to be inundated with a lot of data. I think you have to find the stories that are unique, special, and different to you that make you stand out and get remembered. So, you know, I think if you remember nothing else about our talk today, just remember that showing your humanity, the good, the bad, the ugly, the things that the lessons you learned that only you can share, your origin story. What what is it about you that or how are you gonna help people in a way that they're gonna think of you first and remember you because you're a human being and you're not some AI tool that, you know, uses all the same buzzwords and keywords and copy, people aren't gonna remember that, but they will remember you if you have a great story.Stuart Webb [00:13:14]:Do you know? I think that's a really valuable and I hope a timely piece of advice. I know a lot of people today are using AI to write their blog posts. They're using AI to write their books. I came across somebody the other day who is using chat GPT to write his book for him. And he's using it in a very clever way with some very interesting prompts but at the end of the day when I read something I need to hear the writer's voice and that's when you suddenly sit there and go 'I cannot imagine' I couldn't imagine actually when I read what this this person I I won't use his name, but when he sent me what he'd written, I went, this doesn't sound like it. It doesn't sound like the way he talks, and I certainly don't buy into what he's saying because of it. You've actually got to continue to remember that marketing is about that. Once again, that's delivering on that promise that you make, isn't it? And if you fail to deliver because you have one voice in your marketing and another voice in your delivery, you fail to connect with a customer.Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:14:13]:Exactly. And you get one chance to make a great first impression, so don't blow it.Stuart Webb [00:14:18]:I love that. Paige, that is an absolutely brilliant way to stop. We're gonna stop there before we ruin it by saying anything which actually isn't nearly as brilliant as what you've just said. So, I'm just gonna put this up at the moment. Let's, let's let's let's just ask you. People, if you are interested in getting a a I send out a normally, I send out a weekly newsletter, and it just tells you who's coming up on the podcast in the coming few days. And if you'd like to get on that newsletter so you can get ready to hear some of the great interviews that we have with some brilliant people like Paige, go to systemize.me forward slash subscribe. Simple form.Stuart Webb [00:14:54]:It only asks you for two things, your name and your email address. You'll have nothing more than that. You will only get an email from me about once a week, and that that's as simple as that. So please go to systemize.meforward slash subscribe page. Thank you so much for coming on. What a brilliant piece of advice. And just remember, if you're using AI to write your marketing materials at the moment, you are missing a huge opportunity to be a brand which people connect with, which people love to trust, and that is missing out, and you're leaving money on the table. So, Paige, thank you so much for your time.Paige Arnof-Fenn [00:15:28]:Thanks, Stuart. I love chatting with you today. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Who is Adam?Adam Warner is an accomplished technology professional who has navigated a successful career from hands-on software engineering to becoming a chief technology officer (CTO) at a prominent company. Starting from humble beginnings, Adam honed his technical skills and gradually rose through the ranks, moving from engineering roles to leadership positions such as VP of Engineering, and finally stepping into the CTO role. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated exceptional technical acumen across various industries. Nevertheless, like many technology leaders, Adam initially faced challenges adapting to the broader executive responsibilities of aligning technology with business objectives, cultivating strong leadership teams, and establishing influence among fellow executives and board members. Through perseverance and dedication, Adam has become a respected figure in bridging the gap between technology and business strategy.Key Takeaways00:00 Navigating Executive Anxiety03:48 CTO's Strategic Reflection Tools10:22 Subscribe for Weekly Podcast Updates11:05 "CTOs to Executive Coaches"_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at https://TCA.fyi/newsletterFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :It's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDSCTO coach, Stuart Webb, Adam Warner, executive thinking, technology leaders, technical expertise, business goals, leadership presence, strategic leadership, CTO chasm, delegation, strategic approach, vision oriented, frustration, burnout, stalled career growth, firefighting, strategic risks, engineering team, business alignment, weekly reflection session, introduction call, helping first, CTO Playbook podcast, Satago, Patrick Lencioni, five dysfunctions of a team, thinking like a business leader, Turn the Ship Around, David l Marquette, executive coaching.SPEAKERSAdam Warner, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:31]:Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science five questions over coffee. On this occasion, here is my coffee in my mug here. I'm joined by Adam Warner. Adam is a CTO coach helping, executive thinking within those people who are technical leaders. So, Adam, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science five questions over coffee.Adam Warner [00:00:54]:Thanks Thanks so much. Good to have me. Good to have you here. Thanks so much.Stuart Webb [00:00:57]:So so, Adam, let's start by, just exploring exactly it is who it is you help. What are the sort of people that are reaching out to you and asking for your help as a CTO coach?Adam Warner [00:01:07]:Yeah. Sure. So typically, it's the CTO, the chief technology officer, or the most senior technology leader in a company if they aren't called the CTO. They could be anywhere from startup, scale up, large enterprises, and they're typically someone who's transitioned, as you said, from being a hands on software engineer of some sort, VP engineering, into that senior leadership role. And it can be from almost, you know, any vertical. They're often incredibly skilled technically, but often feel unprepared for the broader executive responsibilities that they now find themselves with at at the CTO level. So often it's around, you know, aligning tech with business goals, building up their teams, and then they often face challenges in securing buy in from the other executives and then building that sort of leadership presence at the executive and board level.Stuart Webb [00:01:55]:So tell me, what are the sort of problems that these people have faced before they get in an an expert while you you involved, you know, in terms of both the business issues and also sometimes some of those, some of those more soft skills, the the the persuasion, the ability to influence?Adam Warner [00:02:15]:Yeah. That that's that's pretty much it. So I think there's there's a couple of things that people face. And and one of them is, the the the gap between the technical expertise and the strategic leadership. They're sort of trying to cross this, what I call the CTO chasm, really. And it's really about moving from being an individual contributor to being, working through delegation. It's going from the tactical approach to the strategic approach. And at the same time, migrating that view from the, sort of execution oriented perspective to the vision oriented perspective.Adam Warner [00:02:48]:And and the kind of feelings that people come to me with is sort of frustration, sometimes it's burnout, sometimes it's careers, stalled career growth. And sometimes I find them where they're sort of firefighting every day. They're struggling to get time to think strategically, sort of lurching from issue to issue, and often struggling to sort of step back and give themselves space and time to lead proactively because they're constantly in execution mode rather than thinking long term. And without the right guidance, people can make this transition. You know, it can take years of trial and error. But my role really is to help them cross that, well, you know, the CTO chasm as I call it, by accelerating that process of trying to figure out all of those things together and get them all to line up. A bit like getting all of the tumblers in a lock to line up at once so you can move to that next level and act strategically.Stuart Webb [00:03:36]:So, Adam, you must have one valuable piece of advice or one valuable, piece of, offering that you can you can give to people at the moment. What is that that offer that you get?Adam Warner [00:03:48]:I've got three, actually. One of the simplest and most powerful things a CTO can do, I think, is to implement a sort of a weekly strategical reflection session. So just setting aside thirty minutes every week to just analyze what are the biggest strategic risks I face, how well is my engineering team aligned with business goals, where am I spending my time. So just thirty minutes a week set aside for yourself to reflect and figure out where you're going. It's something that's completely free, completely straightforward, and and everybody can implement that straight away to to strong effect. I also offer a free thirty minute introduction call, with every CTO who'd like to have a chat with me, and I take the approach of helping first. So it's a good way to get some instant feedback on the current challenges and some of the other options that are available to you in terms of the different directions you could go in. And then lastly, I also host a podcast, as you mentioned in the beginning, called the CTO Playbook.Adam Warner [00:04:38]:That's aimed primarily at helping CTOs excel in their role. Taking a a playbook in each episode, often with a guest speaker who's an absolute expert in their area that they work in their topic. And you can find that podcast by searching for the TCO the CTO playbook, sorry, on your favorite podcast platform or by visiting my website, sunnova.tech/podcast.Stuart Webb [00:05:00]:So we're gonna we're gonna put a link to those things that Adam just mentioned in our, our free vault which is systemize.me/free-stuff. So if you go to systemize.me, if you didn't catch any of that, go to systemize.me-freestuff. I'll put that as well into the notes. You can you can you can catch all those, those valuable free offers that I've just offered you there. So, we'll we'll have those in our show notes. Adam, I'm I'm gonna sort of, try to sort of dive in a little bit to the sort of acumen behind the, behind the CTO coach here. That must have been a book, a program, a life experience, something which brought you to where you are today? What what what was it that sort of took you on the journey? What ended up sort of, you know, becoming Adam, the CTO coach, and what was it that inspired that?Adam Warner [00:05:54]:Yeah. So about twelve years ago, I became a founder of a startup, a cofounder, I should say. I started side, Stephen, who's the founder of Satago. And I sort of went through that role, figuring things out the hard way. Most of the time, I had some good mentors along the way with members of seed camps who had access to a a couple of great people, from there. But it was that kind of it was that sort of step of of, first of all, figuring out all the challenges I had in front of me and working out step by step, you know, sort of using the brute force approach to get through it. And I think, really, the thing that that brought it home was is this idea of stopping thinking like an engineer and beginning to think like a business leader. And there was really two, areas there.Adam Warner [00:06:33]:So one was this transition of trying to figure out a lot of things at once, which you already mentioned, Crossing the CTO Chasm. And the other one was really closely related to that, which is actually from the, Patrick Lencioni book on the five dysfunctions of a team, which is that you gotta you gotta act in your first team. And in that case, as a CTO, that's the executive team. It isn't the engineering team. So So that's another one of those key transitions that once I figured out and got my head around it, became a lot easier to understand what was expected of me. And in terms of mindset shift, there was also a book that really helped, which I'd been recommended years earlier, but really came into its own. And that's a book called Turn the Ship Around by David l Marquette. And the reason it's so useful is because it represents that mindset shift to the leader, to then stop that process of of change across the entire team as well as in yourself.Stuart Webb [00:07:18]:Brilliant. Look, Adam, it's been me asking the questions up until now, and I I guess one of the things that you must be thinking is, well, there's a second obvious question. Why isn't he asked it? And so, therefore, I am going to, immediately turn that over to you and say, what is that obvious question that you wish I have asked you at this stage? And and, obviously, as it will be your question, you'll need to answer it for us. So what's the obvious question that I haven't asked you up until now?Adam Warner [00:07:45]:So the obvious question is why don't more CTOs get coaching?Stuart Webb [00:07:51]:Why doesn't everybody get more coaching? Adam, are they? It's not a not a problem limited to CTOs. I often wonder why it is that people are somehow resistant to the whole idea of having somebody that they can sort of rely on and and tap ask and and be outside of a situation to just say, do you know, I just want an ear?Adam Warner [00:08:10]:And a lot of the times, I think people do rely on their immediate leader. They have, a mentor. A lot of people have somebody. And in other cases, people go to coaching and training courses. But I think with CTOs, there's a particular challenge in that. I think many c CEOs get coaching. And in fact, I think if most CTOs turn around to their to their most most CTOs turn around to their CEO and say, do you get coaching? The answer would probably be yes. And that's also true for many CFOs and COOs.Adam Warner [00:08:37]:But it so there's a lack of awareness that CTOs don't really realize it's an option. Often, CTOs being classed as a delivery role rather than an executive role. And so, it's just not that common. There's not many people who talk about CTO coaching. That's one thing. I think the other the other reason is is applicability. I think there's a there's a lot of executive coaches out there and they're quite generic, in terms of the the background that they expect somebody to have. And it doesn't always apply or resonate particularly well with the CTO.Adam Warner [00:09:09]:There's a difference in the the course you take through a company from engineering than if you come, for example, sales or marketing, where you've got a lot more focus and emphasis on, for example, communication. I think training courses fill some of this gap. I think mentors can really help. But mentors can, you know, they can be a bit hit and miss based on the right kinds of experience. The CTO role might be only forty years old, but it's a very broad church in terms of the different kinds of roles that CTO covers. So my approach, for coaching is slightly different. I basically blend together coaching, teaching, and mentoring. And so coaching is that, you know, the blockers, the fears, the confidence, you know, in some cases, the imposter syndrome.Adam Warner [00:09:48]:Teaching is the frameworks and playbooks that you haven't been previously exposed to or had experience in. And mentoring is kind of two folds mentoring. One is holding people to account based on promises and expectations, but the other part is also being able to bounce ideas off somebody, with a lot more experience and background. And, you know, what are the unexpected side effects? What would be the in consequences that I can't foresee coming from those kinds of things? And so having that, approach, really, I think a lot of CTOs just don't realize that coaching's available and out there. There aren't that many CTO coaches who specifically focus on this.Stuart Webb [00:10:22]:Brilliant. Adam, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us and talking us through that. I'm just gonna leave, one final, link for people. If you would like to get on to the, the mailing list that we send out, we send out an email about once a week, and we just let people know about who's coming up on the podcast and other things that we're thinking about at the moment. It it contains two or three things that we're thinking about, two or three things that are common and going on in the world, plus, plus some humor. We try and inject some humor to every newsletter because we think the world should be a brighter, buprenier place. But if you'd like to get onto that newsletter list, come on to systemize.me/subscribe. That's systemize.me/subscribe.Stuart Webb [00:11:05]:Alan, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. Really appreciate it. I hope to hear in the future how many more people get their coaching from the CTO background, and go on to become successful executives. Thank you so much.Adam Warner [00:11:18]:Thank you, Stuart. Great to have you. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

You don't have to follow the traditional financial playbook to grow lasting wealth. In fact, the smartest strategies often involve tools most people overlook—like life insurance.In this episode, Ann Tsung sits down with Brenyn McConnell, Wealth Strategist at Money Insights, to demystify how alternative assets and well-structured life insurance policies can create a powerful financial foundation. What started as simple personal finance tips for family and friends has turned into Brenyn's mission: helping others grow and preserve wealth strategically, without falling into the trap of high-interest debt or low-yield investments.We unpack how to store capital efficiently, why understanding the cost of interest is critical when taking out loans. You will also hear a breakdown of how cash value grows, common mistakes in policy design, and a real-life example of a well-built policy that enhances—not hinders—returns. Tune in! What You'll Learn in This Episode:Why traditional savings methods might be holding your wealth back.The biggest misconceptions about life insurance and wealth strategy.3.How to calculate the real cost of interest when taking on debt. Key differences between Indexed Universal Life (IUL) and Whole Life policies.How to structure a policy so it builds wealth, not just security.A real-world example of how capital can grow when structured correctly.Resources:Money Insights GroupFollow the Money Insights PodcastFollow Brenyn in LinkedInListen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - How to Double Dip on Gains Tax-Free Using Indexed Universal Life InsurancePlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2025/06/17/episode-75/

Who is Karen?Karen Rands is a dedicated advocate for entrepreneurs and investors, striving to bridge the gap between innovative ideas and financial support. With a strong belief in strategic, world-changing initiatives, she leverages her expertise to instill confidence in investors and guide them towards impactful investments. Through her podcast, Karen addresses the common challenges faced by startups, providing insightful advice to entrepreneurs who often venture into capital-raising without fully understanding the nuances. Her mission is to equip emerging businesses with the knowledge they need to start on the right foot and succeed in their entrepreneurial journeys.Key Takeaways00:00 Misjudging Capital Needs Hinders Growth07:25 Understanding Early Customer Acquisition10:18 Investment Readiness Assessment12:32 Emotional Investing for Impact17:14 Strategic Board Structure for Control19:34 Free Consultation and YouTube Webinars23:01 Discovering Angel Investing's Exclusivity26:59 Entrepreneurship Challenges and Misconceptions28:51 Investing in Startups for Profit_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at https://TCA.fyi/newsletterFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :It's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDScapital consultancy, entrepreneurship, capital raising, investors, angel investors, compassionate capitalist, business podcast, startups, scaling business, venture capitalists, reg a plus, crowdfunding, valuation, financial independence, market validation, revenue generation, investor confidence, competitive marketplace, emotional investment, strategic investment, due diligence, incubation, acceleration, product market fit, financial forecasting, convertible notes, safe agreements, entrepreneurship challenges, angel investing, financial education, investing risk.SPEAKERSKaren Rands, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:31]:Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science, five questions over coffee. I am truly honored today to be in the presence of a real expert in their field. Someone who spent, their dedicated their career to helping entrepreneurs raise capital and guiding investors to make smarter, more respectful in and impactful investments. And that's Karen Brands who brings with her over twenty years of experience in capital consultancy. She consults entrepreneurs, advises to angel investors and networks. She's a leader of the compassionate capitalist movement. And this is a top ranked business postcaster as well. So I'm really, really grateful that Karen has been able to spend a few minutes with us.Stuart Webb [00:01:21]:Karen, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions for coffee. I'm really looking forward to this discussion because I think you've got some really valuable things to tell us. So welcome to the show.Karen Rands [00:01:32]:Thank you so very much, Stuart. And and I have been, since we got reconnected on LinkedIn, looking at some of the podcasts and the different interviews that you've done, and it really are some true golden nuggets out there for entrepreneurs to be able to, like, get in there and and, like and I love the way that you do it with just the five questions. So, you know, you chop chop, we get to it, and get good stuff going there.Stuart Webb [00:01:56]:We're only gonna ask the five questions, but, obviously, you know, we are really interested. If anybody is watching on the livestream, they need to pop something in. Please post questions in the chat. We'd love to have this interactive. So but let's start, Karen. Karen, talk to me a little bit about the sort of, investor or entrepreneur you're trying to reach, the sort of person who needs the help that you could give them in order to guide them in the right direction towards the capital they need to raise.Karen Rands [00:02:25]:Okay, Stuart. That so I saw that question before. You paved with a little bit different. It's always a struggle for me because you have two sides of the coin, right, with entrepreneur entrepreneurs and investors and different problems. So one is strategic change the world kind of thing with what I do with investors and bringing in this, you know, to get confidence and confidence in investing. But, you know, the there is a challenge, and part of the big reason why I do my show, my podcast show itself is for those entrepreneurs out there, it they startups always know about, seems like raising capital, and they'll get out there and they'll they'll get some good advice. They they get a lot they oftentimes don't know what they don't know. So they get started wrong.Karen Rands [00:03:16]:They get started with wrong perceptions of what it's gonna take to raise capital and actually get to scaling their business. And as a result of this, you find both sides of that table, the angels and the entrepreneurs find themselves in the same problem spot. And that problem spot is the fact that they raise an early round of capital. They are successful in getting to that point, but they underestimate how much capital they're gonna need in order to fully go all the way to the end, to be able to get to a profitable exit, to be able to continue on their life cycle of growing. And by the time that they figure out that they need to go raise more capital, they oftentimes are now not attractive to the next round of potential capital people like venture capitalists. You know, they find out that they need more money than a bank is gonna be. Let's just so let's say somebody raise give me an example. They raise a million dollars as a technology company, let's say, And they and they think that because of the way they calculated their numbers, that's gonna be enough to get them into making $10,000,000 in revenue.Karen Rands [00:04:28]:But in reality, they end up making 3 or $4,000,000 in revenue with that. They might have a little bit of cash flow and some money that they keep putting back into their business to try to get it to grow. And they struggle with scaling because they really need another 5 to $10,000,000 to become the $50,000,000 or the $70,000,000 company that they originally forecast that they would be when those angels put that million dollars in. So they look around and they go, wait. Okay. I I I'm too I'm wrong industry or too slow quote VCs. I'm not big enough for private equity funds. I need more money than a bank will give us, and I'm too big and stale.Karen Rands [00:05:06]:And I didn't do what I said I was gonna do, so the angels aren't gonna give me any more money. Where do I go? And the angels are looking at them going, this is what the every you know, everybody knows about the ten ten companies in a portfolio. I call the three in the middle of the Midlands. 3 go out of business, three do one does really well, three do pretty good that make up for the others, and the three just sort of putter along the Midland companies. Well, those Midland companies have a great opportunity to be able to use some of the new programs available with the jobs act like reg a plus that's designed for growing companies to go out and raise tens to, you know, up to $75,000,000 in a year. It gives the angels an exit. It gives them access to capital to grow and eventually create a, potential exit way into a Nasdaq small cap. So biggest problem, they don't know what it's gonna take to get all the money to get all the way, and they have no idea that there's a program out there like reg a plus that could solve the problem.Stuart Webb [00:06:10]:And I think that's a really critical point that you've made there, Karen, which is so often people haven't thought through enough what they're gonna do with the capital in order to be able to really properly scale, isn't it? That's one of the major issues. And it's an issue for an angel as well because they're looking at the plan and going, well, they're asking me for this much, but I know they need more. But why aren't they asking for it? What is what is wrong that I have that they haven't actually come to me with the right ask? And, you know, that gives you that gives angels and investors a problem as well because they really want people to ask for the right amount. They don't need somebody coming back for two, three different different asks. It gives them all sorts of problems. We could talk about dilutions and things like that. But the fact of the matter is an angel needs somebody to be on the ball and understand what they wanna ask for as well, don't they?Karen Rands [00:07:00]:Yeah. And it's a sequence. You know, you build value that they it's really down to the numbers. I dig into the numbers deep because then I know whether they have any idea what they're doing and if they're gonna be successful at doing it because and I had a call earlier in the day. A guy was like, yeah. If we just get 1% of this giant market, it's gonna we're gonna be we'll be like, whatever. And I said and I laugh. I always have to laugh.Karen Rands [00:07:25]:It's like, do you understand that that's not the issue? It's how are you gonna get your how are you actually gonna get your first hundred customers that pay you money? Not some euphemistic 1% of a big marketplace. There's a hundred companies chasing after that 1%. You know? So that is such a it's so understanding. And and I and and, yeah, I could we get it. We could probably spend the whole thing talking about financials and how they do the financials, but that's really is the secret of their success is understanding their marketplace, how they're gonna generate revenue, what's gonna cost them to do it, how much time and money is it gonna take them to get to that point so that and and then how much money do they need to get to that point? Right? And if they if you and and not get over into this this bogged down to this percentage thing, because if you get your shares at 25¢ a share, if that's what you're selling, when when Amazon first, you know, started raising capital, they raised a little, and then they go another round at 50, another round at a dollar, another round at a dollar 50, another round at $2 and raising incremental money as their value went up and they delivered on it. And if an investor says to an entrepreneur, okay. Come back to me when you finish this round or come back to me when you have those hundred customers. It's not because they're it's because they don't believe that entrepreneur has the ability to do it, and they don't wanna shoot them in the foot.Karen Rands [00:08:51]:They just wanna, like, put a caveat out there because if they believe that they had the ability to do it, wouldn't they want the stock at 25¢ and not a dollar a share? It's because they don't think they're gonna ever get there. That's why they say that.Stuart Webb [00:09:04]:Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. And it is it is you know, it's in everybody's interest to get it right first time, isn't it? It's absolutely the right thing to do to get it right because you then you then save yourself a whole lot of trouble. We could talk for many hours about this, and I'm gonna try. Because you also do as well with with angel investors and helping them to make the right sort of choices and to make the right sort of calls. So is there is there anything you sort of turn around and and and think about in terms of how you help, investors as well to understand how they make their smart investments.Karen Rands [00:09:37]:Well, it's the offering the due diligence. So when I ran my angel investor group for about a decade, you know, I got really, really good at screening companies to see who was worthy of being able to pitch to my investors, which ones I thought the investors would be most likely to invest in. Right? So when you have reviewed a thousand some odd business plans and models and ongoing, you know, you start to pick up a few things here and there. And also in preparation when I was, you know, writing the book, I probably interviewed a hundred investors and I and on my podcast. Right? So it's like, what worked for you? What was your biggest mistake? All that kind of stuff. And it kinda ties right back into what we were talking about. It's the red flags. Right? I I have a program.Karen Rands [00:10:18]:I take companies through an analysis and identify their red flags and give them a red light, green light, yellow light, whatever to go forward to investors. And the, and it really comes down to truly understanding the problem, the solution, why they're the only ones who deliver the solution, and, you know, how are they gonna get there? Do they understand their marketplace well enough to know, like, how they're gonna how they're actually gonna get there and put money in the register? And it's you know, people talk about that, like, incubators and accelerators will sort of talk about the product market fit. That's kind of a thing that people like to throw in there. That's just really catchy little words that came out of a book that, you know, are are do you have do you know where your product fits, and does the market want it willing to pay you the money you need in order to make a profit?Stuart Webb [00:11:13]:Yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah.Karen Rands [00:11:14]:It's still common sense sometimes, but it it's it it because here's the thing. Emotion. So I call it subjective and objective. Emotion so way too often onto investors, buy based off of emotion. And this is when I wrote the book, it was really an anticipation because of crowdfunding that, you know, angel investing has a black eye in a lot of financial sectors for lots of different wrong reasons, not valid reasons, but it's still out there in this in the ethersphere. Right? And the and I was afraid that these people would be like, oh my god. Now I can invest in entrepreneurs. I better go do this.Karen Rands [00:11:54]:And they would see a video. They'd fall in love with the company. They wouldn't look at any of the things that you would need to look at, you know, for buried entry or ability to perform. And they would invest and then lose their money, and it would continue to give angel investing a black eye. And so it was one of those things that you just it there the so I have in my course, I you it's a very disciplined process that you go through and a scoring system so that you can know where if it's between it on a scale of one to 10. Seven to 10, write in. It's your industry. It's your stage.Karen Rands [00:12:32]:It's your the structure of the offering. It, you know, it's it you know this marketplace. It fits it checks about enough of the boxes. And then a five would be like, oh, it's not really perfect, but I just love this entrepreneur. Oh, I love what they're doing. So you consciously are making a decision that says, I know this is riskier. I might lose my money on this, but I'm willing to do it because I just I'm giving credit to my emotion of wanting to do this because it's gonna feel good. Because one of the main reasons why I figured out why millionaires that have the ability to be an angel investor in this sector that is considered, like, so risky, right, is because of the good that they feel when they make an investment with their dollars, and they're having an impact not only to potentially change the world with the problem that that company that founder is solving, but they just like that founder.Karen Rands [00:13:31]:They wanna see that founder be successful. So they if they can balance it properly with objective reasons why this is good a good investment with their emotional reasons why I just really like this and it makes me feel good, then hopefully they get a win win. But they've got to be conscious of that. If they're not conscious that they're making those choices, they will invest on emotion almost all and I've done it. I I have I have broken my own rules and invested on emotion that I'm still, you know, ten years later for waiting for that return on investment. So, you know, it is easy to go down in that slippery slope of doing that, but that's really it's it's it's understanding and really thinking through common sense logic. Do they have what is necessary to succeed?Stuart Webb [00:14:18]:Yeah. Brilliant.Karen Rands [00:14:20]:Sipping my coffee.Stuart Webb [00:14:23]:Karen, I mean, we've we've we've just started started the the talking about this. So so and you've started explaining a little bit about how, investors are and, and and business people sort of end up in these situations. What are the what are the problems that you've seen some of these investors, some of these, some of these, business people get into before they come across somebody like you? And and and and what is it, that you see them do that you can sort of try and help them sort of steer away from those problems before we even get there?Karen Rands [00:14:54]:So we talked we touched on it a little bit with valuation. Valuation is one of those that I think they oftentimes can make mistakes. And then I they come into me and they're struggling with raising capital. I'm sort of like the fixer when it comes to entrepreneurs. A lot of times they're like, oh, I don't know where to go. Karen, can you help? And then I'll look at this stuff and I go, this is why you're having a problem raising capital. And and then and then hopefully, they haven't spent too much money with the wrong people at that point in time so that they can fix themselves to get fixed so they have their odds of being able to raise the capital increases. But if you you know, there used to be a pretty steady rule of thumb that if you were an idea stage, you might be a million dollar valuation.Karen Rands [00:15:37]:Right? And then once you got past that and you had an MVP and you, you know, kind of had some market validation, you might be able to go to 5,000,000. And then based off of actual forecast, you would do some sort of like a net present value of a higher valuation, but you would be raising money along the ways. And that's when convertible notes and safes became all the rage because it got out of that conversation of what are you a million or $5,000,000 company in the beginning, and it would just convert or give you some kind of sweetener for putting money in now for when, an institutional round that set the valuation happen. And so I think that's probably one of the areas. And entrepreneurs will be like, oh, if I'm 1% of the marketplace, I'm gonna have a hundred million dollar business in five years. Therefore, I'm a $75,000,000 valuation. It's like, no. Not really.Karen Rands [00:16:31]:You know what I mean? It's like, no. Because and they're like, well, you know, they just they just have this Pollyanna approach to it thinking that because they believe it, they see it, it will happen, and that's not the case. It's it's always stair stepping your value and getting out of that scarcity mentality of a percentage of. Because if you understand how to structure the company, you're gonna have preferred and common. So common are the voters. Preferred gets the fur VCs all want that because that's the first right of the technology if something happens. Right? And you can end. And also once you get their board of directors are the ones that actually make most of the operational decisions of things.Karen Rands [00:17:14]:And so you set up from the beginning that you're gonna have your core executive as three people on the board, and then you give two seats up. But you put in your your stockholders agreement and in your formation that add certain amount of revenue or a certain amount of capital raise, you add two more seats. So you you can you always you keep control of your company through the structure of it and how you go about raising that capital having to feel like, oh my god, I've gotta have 51% of a $75,000,000 company when you will never raise the capital on that valuation. Because just real quick, I've the reason why is investors think this and I learned this from some of my key investors. When I say, well, how come you didn't like that? I love that company. What do you mean? And they were like, their valuation is too high. I'll never make my money. How do you mean? Well, if they came in at, let's say, 25,000,000, well, that means that in order to get the typical minimum five times the investment, they have to have a revenue number and stuff and such that they will sell for a hundred million, 5 times that valuation.Karen Rands [00:18:24]:And if they raise any more capital, that valuation continues to go up. And it's they can't get to where they can get an exit. That's why you see all of these unicorns imploding because they're not really that value. It's just the money that got put in.Stuart Webb [00:18:39]:Yeah. Yeah. Karen, we talked a lot about some of the the valuable advice. Is there a a a valuable piece of advice, a a free offer that you have? And, this will go in the the the notes, but just describe it. I'll I'll make sure this goes into, into this vault that we have where all of our free stuff is available. But is there is there a free, free piece of advice, an offer you're gonna sort of present people here that we could put into the vault for them.Karen Rands [00:19:10]:Okay. So so I'm gonna three kind of three things. Right? So the Wow. The pure free thing is I have a an ebook. It's called, 12 secrets of innovation. That is, me explaining 12 there's 47 inside secrets in the book, inside secrets to angel investing. And so I explained 12 of them to an investor and an entrepreneur perspective. And that's, you know, a pretty short one.Karen Rands [00:19:34]:I'll put that I'll I'll give that link will be in your with your free stuff. And then, I do offer up a, you know, a free initial twenty minute kind of get to know you, you know, give you some little snippets of of stuff. Happy to talk to people. Give them some quick feedback. You know, they can then sign up for a full hour if they want. And then the thing is on my YouTube channel, this is the re a resource is that I've been making these webinars and talking about how to raise capital and what do you need to do in great detail, interviewing lots of different people about that. And they're all on their video. Some of some of them been lost over time in migration of the RSS feeds for the audio, but the videos are there.Karen Rands [00:20:20]:And the video, there there's a a playlist that says for entrepreneurs. So they go to YouTube, search on my name, Kiera Rance, get the link in your show notes. They can go to the playlist for entrepreneurs, and there's a lot of content there that they can just, at their leisure, learn and digest and, you know, submit questions or whatever.Stuart Webb [00:20:44]:That is a fabulous resource. And I have gone on looked and had a look at that, and I will make sure that link is you get free stuff. Go to systemize at systemise.me/freestuff. You free hyphen stuff, that is. You will go to that link. You can then click on the stuff that Karen has just said, and we'll make sure that those links are all working. And you can go and get that from and that resource that you talked about, those those videos, they are really, really interesting. And you have spoken to some very, very interesting people, Karen.Stuart Webb [00:21:17]:So, I really encourage people to go look at that one. Let's let's just understand a little bit about more more about you as a person that can. Was there a particular book, of course, anything that brought you to the vast knowledge you've got now about how to how to become, a revenue, or a a a capital raising machine? The the sort of person that does that, but also the way that you're helping us to become the the compassionate capitalist.Karen Rands [00:21:49]:So, I would say it's an oldie, but it changed the way I reference it a lot in my book itself. And I, and that would be, thinking well, Robert Kiyosaki's, cash flow quadrant, which was was the the the subsequent to Rich Dad Poor Dad. Right? His first book was Rich Dad Poor Dad. Yeah. And I read that long time when I was still an employee, at IBM, but it was it the whole idea of the white quadrant versus the left quadrant and how you go from being chain changing hour trading hours for dollars to become a custom business owner that could run a business without being there, and it made them money and then taking that money and putting it into other investments. That was profoundly changed my I didn't know ain't about angel investing out there. One of the real ironic things out there, Stewart, and it really it took me I did not unpack this until probably, like, just a few years ago, even though I've been working with angels and entrepreneurs for a long time. I had never heard the term angel investing.Karen Rands [00:23:01]:And then in IBM, I was a I was like a person that package companies up to go get venture capital and come back and spend it with IBM and get our capital money. But I had never heard the term angel investing until I left IBM to help one of my clients raise capital in the middle of the .com bomb, mind you. That's my own little bubble that I was in. And I got invited to this angel group, and I tell them my story that it was like I was walking into a secret society where the people in this room, because we had to close doors back then, you couldn't general solicit. Next big thing because they put their money into it. Right? And it and in any way, it was so it was that piece of it, why more people didn't hear about, know about angel investing, particularly when crowdfunding happened. And then the second piece of it was this perception that 20 people in that room picked one company, the other two weren't worthy. Well, no, you when going through with my process, you might review six companies, pick three that you think are are the best for your particular audience doesn't mean those other three aren't good.Karen Rands [00:24:09]:And the one that they pick doesn't mean the other two aren't fundable. It's just that's the scarcity of capital. Right? So that was my that was the book that really set me on a journey of thinking different about money and looking at, you know, how you put money to work for yourself. That one, and then, you know, there's been, when I'm first learning about angel investing, there wasn't any book out there about it. I was one of, oh, wait. The guy that was starting New York angels, he he wrote his book a little bit before me, but it was really about how angel groups should do. And then there was, Jason Connes' book came out at the same time line. It's really about his own personal experiences.Karen Rands [00:24:50]:But I wrote my book because people were coming to me saying, hey, Karen. How how do I learn how to be an angel investor? I've got clients that wanna be an angel investor, and they don't know how to be an angel investor, and I can't advise them. I work for Maryland. I'm not allowed to talk to him about that. So where where can I send them? And so all the entrepreneur books I read about how to raise capital and all the sessions I had gone to, like, talk people talking about their experience, I started reverse engineering it to be how what should investors look for in companies and how to be a good investor. And that's where I, you know, wrote the book, my book, to be the step by step guide for how to go about should you would you could you be an angel investor.Stuart Webb [00:25:33]:And, Karen, you are now an absolute, an expert on this. This is this is a valuable resource because, you know, there are people who wanna get into this but just don't understand the value of increasing their capital by putting it into the right place safely and in a sensible way. And, you know, thank you for being that resource. We're we're kind of coming up to, coming up towards the end of this. And and I wanna give you the opportunity of sort of telling me the question I should have asked, which I have not yet done. So it's not a question I haven't yet asked. And if there is, you know, please, tell me what is it you would have liked me to have asked? And obviously, when you ask that question, you're gonna have to answer it becauseKaren Rands [00:26:19]:Well, I know the answer. I'm not sureStuart Webb [00:26:23]:Tell us the question and the answer.Karen Rands [00:26:27]:So you you maybe you can fit tell me what the question would have been for this answer. So, it would be like why I mean, would I'm gonna do a simple version of the answer, but why is it that more people, aren't investing in entrepreneurs? Okay. Yeah. TheStuart Webb [00:26:45]:because they should.Karen Rands [00:26:46]:That the answer the so the US Treasury and the SEC commissioned a report last year, and their findings were pretty much the same. Lack of awarenessStuart Webb [00:26:58]:Mhmm.Karen Rands [00:26:59]:Lack of tools and lack of of education. Right? So I solve that's my trifecta. I'm solving that. But I also think that there, we have a deep rooted sort of like very deep roots in our American psyche that says to be financially successful, to be financially independent, you need to be a successful entrepreneur. And the reality is that not everybody's cut out to be a successful entrepreneur. You know, if you're doing a market participant, may you're opening up another restaurant, you're opening up another thing that other people do, then you've got a whole different set of challenges and competition to deal with. If you're being a market maker where you're saw you're creating a solution that nobody's done before, it's a one off or wedging into an existing marketplace, You know, that's a whole other set of things. Right? And both of them take you know, one of the things when I first started teaching about entrepreneurs, I say, if you can't figure out how you're gonna make double the amount of money you make in your day job right now in the next two years, don't even get started.Stuart Webb [00:28:03]:Yeah. Yeah. It's a start. Yeah.Karen Rands [00:28:04]:Because you got you know, you you keep your job. And now I say, so it is a misnomer to say the best way to create to be create financial independence to be an entrepreneur. Because the reality is for ninety years when it was illegal for everybody else to be involved in in for entrepreneurs to raise money from somebody they didn't already know, that wasn't already a millionaire before the jobs act. And for people that weren't already millionaires to invest in those companies. Okay. During that period of time, we, the, we created this, this myth that it's super, risky. It's not super risky if you know how to do it because millionaires could they don't choose to just throw their money away. Oh, wait a sec.Karen Rands [00:28:51]:I got an extra million bucks. Let me just throw it into some companies so I can lose it. No. They're putting a million dollars into those companies because they expect to get $10.15, $2,030,000,000 back. And the you know? And so you don't have to be the successful entrepreneur that sacrifices everything, your family, your your you know, seeing your kids' football game, your benefits from your job, you can take that extra money that you have, liquidity, the $50 you were gonna invest in the real estate that you got shut out of, or the $50 you were gonna use in your savings to start putting, you know, into starting a business and put that into 50 companies. Put it put 5,000 into 10 companies. Whatever. You know what I mean? There's so many ways that you can share in the success of those entrepreneurs that are solving a problem that you love, that have the gumption, the real desire to work those eighty, ninety hours a week that they have to work, and you they need your money to be successful.Karen Rands [00:29:55]:So it's a win win. When When you figure out how to do that, not only do you get to invest in entrepreneurs that you believe in that are doing something that you're also passionate about, but you share in their success without all the risk of being that entrepreneur.Stuart Webb [00:30:09]:Karen, that is absolutely the right way to end this because you've talked about some things which I'm really passionate about myself, and that is do not start going down the path of starting your own business unless you love what you're doing. Find find ways of supporting those people who do love what they're doing and work with them because so many I find so many business owners who aren't ready to do that. And they do what I call the path of least assistance. They don't look for the assistance they need. They battle out on their own, and they get tired, and it becomes difficult. And I just want to help get out of that problem. But that's another podcast which we will not start now because that's gone for another two and a half hours. So let me just finish by saying, Karen, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us.Stuart Webb [00:30:57]:Really appreciate it. Love the energy. Love what you've done. I'm just gonna ask everybody who's who's watching at the moment, please go to this link, which is systemize, systemise.me/subscribe. Please put your name, email address into that. It's a very simple just to form your first name, your your email. What I do is I send out an email once a week with who's coming onto the show so that you can hear the true gems that these people bring onto the show and really educate you on the way in which you could, one, get the sort of capital or whatever it is you need into your business to grow it, and two, how you can be more successful in your life. So Karen, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us.Stuart Webb [00:31:41]:Really appreciate you spending a few minutes with us today. I just hope everybody goes to the, to the vault and gets that free stuff that you've been asked me about because they need to hear this great stuff from you. And I really, really want them to hear more from you. So thank you so much for spending some time with us.Karen Rands [00:31:56]:Yeah. Absolutely. I look forward to continue our conversation when I'm recording you and asking you the questions.Stuart Webb [00:32:02]:I'm looking forward to it as well. Thank you, Karen, and speak to you again soon.Karen Rands [00:32:07]:Alright. Thanks, Stewart. Bye bye. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Pushing harder isn't always the answer. Sustainable high performance comes from aligning your mind and body—not burning them out.In this episode, holistic coach Tania St-Laurent—a certified osteopath in Canada with a degree in microbiology and over 20 years of experience as a movement specialist—shares how true performance begins with doing things the right way. Drawing from her background in science, mindfulness, and global experience across clinics, labs, and sports fields, Tania unpacks what sustainable performance actually looks and feels like.We explore how movement, nutrition, and recovery work together to create long-term energy and focus, why presence is the most underrated skill, and how starting small can lead to big change. Tania, also a certified Lifestyle and Wellness Coach from Harvard Medical School, gives you practical tools to optimize your well-being and perform without depletion.What You'll Learn in This Episode:Why Tania dedicated her life to exploring the connection between physical health and mental clarity.It's not about doing more—it's about doing the right things with intention.What it looks and feels like when you're in sync—covering movement, nutrition, and recovery.Simple, proven principles anyone can start applying today.Why multitasking backfires—and how presence can shift your entire performance.Why choosing one habit and doing it consistently leads to lasting change.Resources:Follow Tania St-LaurentVisit Tania's WebsiteListen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - How to Avoid Burning Out Your Nervous System and Achieve High Performance—In Body and Mind with Tania St. LaurentPlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2025/05/24/episode-74/

Who is Anne?Anne Bland is an insightful and compassionate advisor dedicated to helping individuals who haven't fully received the support they need. With a keen understanding of the challenges people face, Anne empowers them to recognize their own struggles and the steps they've already taken to address them. She guides her clients to see when it's the right moment to seek further assistance, offering innovative solutions and encouraging them to take notice and make meaningful changes. Anne's unique approach ensures that people feel understood and equipped to tackle their problems more effectively.Key Takeaways00:00 Compartmentalization and Self-Care Importance07:47 Inner Wellness and Happiness Connection10:50 Balancing Personal Space in Relationships14:35 Developing Stress Management Tool Library15:49 Smiling as Stress Relief21:55 Mindfulness Techniques for Anxiety24:45 Creating Meaningful, Purpose-Filled Lives27:30 Access Free Resources Online_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at https://TCA.fyi/newsletterFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :It's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDSselfishly happy, business people, work-life balance, compartmentalization, burnout, leader, self care, happiness, stress management, communication, personal development, mental health, professional growth, emotional well-being, self-awareness, mindfulness, nervous system, energy, relaxation techniques, positive psychology, neuroscience, self-mastery, transformation, leadership, organizational culture, parasympathetic nervous system, breathwork, inner smile, meaningful life, stress response, relationship managementSPEAKERSAnne Bland, Stuart WebbAnne Bland [00:00:31]:Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science 5 questions over coffee. I'm delighted this afternoon to be joined by Anne Bland. Anne is a coach and mentor with a range of experience, but mostly, she's gonna be talking this afternoon about how selfishly happy you, which I think is gonna be a really fast paced topic. It's how do business people become selfishly happy. So, Anne, welcome to It's Not Rocket Times, 5 questions over coffee. Looking forward to talking with you enormously today.Stuart Webb [00:01:02]:Thank you so much, Stuart, for having me. I'm really looking forward to this conversation.Anne Bland [00:01:07]:So can we just start by sort of, helping to define or, people to understand the sort of person that you're looking to help?Stuart Webb [00:01:18]:Right. My clients often are professionals who are leaders in their fields, either as entrepreneurs or working in an organization who kind of balance try to balance the work and life and not quite succeeding in that. So maybe there is a there is a there is, you know, one of them is well, managed, but the other one is not. So it's like kind of that compartmentalization that we all kind of, resort to as, as a go to method when we try to struggle too many things. It's easier to put things in a box, if you see what I mean. Mhmm. And not realize that they're interlinked.Anne Bland [00:01:58]:I did. And they are interlinked as well, aren't they? There's no doubt about it. Even though we want to all pretend that somehow we are, superheroes, we are human beings at the end of the day.Stuart Webb [00:02:09]:Yeah. And we are really not super, beings, I think. What's the the question? We're we're we're supposed to be human beings, not human doings and definitely not super doers. So I I definitely have a lot in my CV as you said. And I think that's the, that's the culprit why I've burned out myself few times in my life. And it's not really something that I take pride in, cause you, everybody's about to in, in modern stressful life to burn out or get exhausted once in their lifetime, but not three times. I mean, you know, you start thinking, what's gone wrong there? So I think I've learned my lesson and really got my teeth in over the last 5, 6 years to understand what makes us happy, joyful, pleasure filled human beings.Anne Bland [00:03:03]:So we'll come onto that, I think in a minute, Anne, because I think there's some really good stuff you've got to say. But let's start by talking about sort of things that people have done Mhmm. Who are perhaps not quite getting the help they need that you can provide. What is it that they've done themselves to try and resolve some of these issues? How would they recognize themselves and go, oh, wait. They're talking about me. Perhaps this is this is the time when they should really start to take notice.Stuart Webb [00:03:34]:I think it is that compartmentalization I said earlier, you know, where you want to kind of put things in particular boxes and, okay, I I leave that there. You know, my marriage is not very good or my work life, I'm struggling in in particular relationships. And I try to kind of just avoid that. The other thing is, because there is some other aspects in life that are bringing fulfilment and joy and, and a sense of achievement. The, the other thing I see is that people just tend to plough through stress. So there is this kind of magical thinking that if I just get into the Christmas or if I can just get into the, before the summer holiday starts, if I can get through this week and then it's the weekend and I can catch up and relax or I can, I, but, but it doesn't happen that way, unfortunately? And then the other thing is that I see a lot is that people don't think, especially in men, that self care is something that one ought to be, investing in. And if, if, if they ask their, family, they say, yeah, why don't you just look after yourself a little bit, demon? There is that kind of, opportunity to actually learn what makes each one of us more calm, happier, more pleasure filled, and peaceful, and also joyful to be around with. And I think it's that kind of understanding that self care is not just for women or self care is something that actually needs to be one of those pillars that we invest in and get tremendous return on investment.Stuart Webb [00:05:15]:I'd say, regardless who you are, regardless of your status, regardless of your, agenda.Anne Bland [00:05:23]:So let's talk about some of those things that you you do to help people understand that self care, that, that ability to, as you put it in your your bar lines, to be selfishly happy. And it's got a bad reputation, hasn't it? But actually, you know, a bit like when you're here when you're on a flight, it tells you to put the oxygen mask on yourself first before helping anybody else because how can you possibly help somebody else if you've fallen unconscious or, and you are unable to sort of do anything. So let's talk a little bit about what does it mean to be selfishly happy. Let's talk a little bit about that. And then perhaps you could sort of I know you've got some some some things, some valuable advice, some valuable free things that you'd like to sort of bring to the audience. So perhaps you could describe those, and and talk a little bit about that.Stuart Webb [00:06:13]:Yes. So putting that oxygen mask on yourself first before helping others is, is is something that I talk a lot about because I feel that, again, it's embedded in my own experience. I'm very passionate person. I want to change the world. I want peace and happiness all around. And then I realized that, you know, when you work in that kind of social impact or environmental impact, scene, you tend to burn out very quickly because you can't control the external externalities. And the only thing I can change is how I react, how I feel and how, what kind of energy I bring into any table, any situation, any relationship, any work. And, and I think that's the, that's the key is really kind of going in.Stuart Webb [00:07:03]:And that's why I call it selfishly happy because it is putting that oxygen mask on yourself first. And also if you become selfless, like we're all told, especially women that, oh, you just need to serve others. You need to be helpful. And, you know, you know, don't put yourself, you know, it's, it's bad. It's egoistic. And I'm not talking about ecocentricity. I'm talking about, becoming more of you becoming self full in a way because selfless can, can become quite toxic eventually. You know, it can become a person can become bitter or, or, or, or a doormat or people pleaser or, or, you know, that there is, there is a balance to be had.Stuart Webb [00:07:47]:And I believe if we are in good health, if we are in good energy, we are happy, we have so much more to give out to others and to the world at large. So there is this kind of understanding that it starts from within and more we can regulate our own nervous system, just talking about sort of neuroscience spiel it's, speak it's, it's, it's more important to actually regulate your own nervous system so that you don't come across as aggressive or, or you don't come across as, as somebody who is just, there for themselves or, or, you know, just avoiding situations that actually benefit from having frank discussions, for instance. So it is, it is that kind of play with words if you like. And I do know that lots of people are, well, you can't say selfish. And I said, well, let's just, you know, really understand what's behind it as opposed to, you know, getting to the, preconceived idea. So it is kind of deliberate to stop people to think and kind of what do I actually mean by that? What is it to become happy truly? It is to know what you need. It is know how to get what you need, and it is understanding what your fears and anxieties are and taking care of those.Anne Bland [00:09:08]:So we've got a question from Mark. And perhaps this leads into some of what you're gonna talk about in terms of the valuable free advice you've got for our audience. But but Mark asked, in your opinion, what does self care look like for a man? And I suspect it probably isn't just going to the the nail spa and getting your nails done. Although, you know, let's face it. It could be that. But I mean, what is it that you would say men, in particular, should be looking for in terms of what they need to do to care for themselves to make them, efficient and effective human beings?Stuart Webb [00:09:45]:Thank you, Mark. That's a that's a very good question, and I really appreciate, you, raising your hand and asking that question. It looks very different to different people, of course, regardless what gender you are, but there is a lot of energy that men have that, that I think for instance, exercise is something that often men don't do because it is something that, you know, that there is there, there are responsibilities at home, there's responsibilities at work. So it is very easy to stop that. And maybe then just sit down when you're exhausted and open the telly, open a can of beer And, and nothing, no judgment there, but it is, it, it could be something that, what is it that, and I think whoever you are is to really ask that question to do that pausing and kind of do the list. What is it that really makes me feel good? You know, it's for somebody it is, you know, have a good, male friend who loves art. You know, he just goes to the art classes on every Saturday morning. You know, he just goes off and does art.Stuart Webb [00:10:50]:You know, whether it's, painting flowers or painting nudes, I don't know, but it is, you know, amazing that you can just kind of realise that, okay, what makes me happy? What is the time when I can, you know, play chess with somebody on the other side of the world or, or do a game of some sort? You know, it is, it is that, but also it is the need to, to spend time on your own. And I think one of the biggest things I've noticed with relationships is that often, especially if one of the, one of them in the relationship is, is a home maker. They often feel very, isolated or they, they just yearn for having an adult conversation. And the other one comes from work and just yearns for solitude and yearns for having, oh, I just, let me just get my coat off. And, you know, let me just, you know, have 5 minutes to actually state those boundaries and saying, look, can I just have my 10 minutes? And I'll just go to the bedroom, get changed, and I just lie down for a while. I just need to empty my head and land into the home life. And I think this is very important that people learn to communicate what they need so that they don't become begrudged and and oppressed and suppressed just because we tend to please people that we love.Anne Bland [00:12:16]:Just a small insight from my own life, which I think sort of illustrates the difficulties with this week. Then in my household, there were 2 busy very busy professionals both, you know, pushing hard at their career and a child. And it was a rule that the one that picked up the child from nursery or school got home, did childcare, and the other one would spend 10 minutes on the drive before they came in. Because the minute they walked through the door, responsibility passed to the other one because they haven't had their downtime. And so therefore, there was this sort of an it was, it's unwritten. We had discussed it, but it was the rule that you spend the 10 minutes in the car decompressing because the minute you walk through the door, I haven't had my 10 minutes to decompress. Yeah. And immediately, you've got you've got the responsibility for making sure that nobody's nobody's doing anything silly because I need to just go away for a few seconds.Anne Bland [00:13:07]:And it was quite difficult to balance because sometimes they'd look and go, I I may have had my 10 minutes in the car, but frankly I could do with another 10 minutes in the house. And it's like, I don't care. I'm sorry. I need the time. So we you've gotta learn to communicate these things and balance them, haven't you?Stuart Webb [00:13:24]:Yes. Absolutely. And congratulations for that awareness and that practice because that again is it's not just about yourself, but it is starting from yourself. What do you need? And asking for it, communicating it with a with a kind of nonviolent loving way and making the, making the, the, plan and whether it's outspoken, whether it's a practice, but it is, it is important to actually, have that understanding. And I would always, always, champion talking because we often think that, you know, oh, they understand, but often they don't. So it is good to actually spell it out and, and talk about it. I've got so many ideas that I could share here, but I wantAnne Bland [00:14:08]:to, I want to keep it to, to your time limit. So over to you.Anne Bland [00:14:12]:Oh, we have no, we have no time limit. If you wish to talk for the next hour, we will let you out.Anne Bland [00:14:18]:You don't know what you're leashing here unleashing here.Anne Bland [00:14:22]:Oh, maybe it can. Maybe 45 minutes. So but there is there there's obviously some stuff on your website which which we could go and have a look at. Can can you describe some of the stuff that we'll find there and and and some and how we might access, you know, what what we what we'll access it?Stuart Webb [00:14:35]:Well, my my website is not actually very much geared towards, things yet. It's, it's something I it's under development, but, I really want to create a library of tools that people can start practising because I strongly believe that there is, there is this culture at workplaces where people are demanded to push through that stress. Then the organisations are wondering, well, why the hell do we have such a staff turnover? And we all know how much staff turnover costs for organisations. Well actually not everybody understands the wider impact. You know, you might kind of look at the recruitment costs and, and, you know, teaching somebody to, to land in their new job, but actually it's not just that it's somebody else working 3 to 4 jobs at the same time whilst they are recruiting a new person or somebody is learning. So, so it is also impacts on their health and so on and so on. So it's just lots of ripple effects. So do you have a kind of, library anywhere where we can actually drop in, for instance, I was just teaching today, in another call, in another group, and an old Taoist practice called the inner smile.Stuart Webb [00:15:49]:And this is something I definitely want to put on the website is how a busy person, even during the work day can just take 2 minutes or even just 2 seconds and just practice in a smile. It's one of the most effective ways of getting your nervous system, which is often at work days during work days in, in this kind of, reactionary, you know, stress response of, of fight flight, which is important. Otherwise we don't get anything done. But we are also designed to be more a human being in that rest digest parasympathetic nervous system response where we can sleep without needing to take sleeping pills or your, your normal whisky or whatever. So it is, it is important to, not, not knowing whether you have whisky. So I'm not saying, well, I'm, I'm, you know what I mean? It's very easy to think that in the morning we need coffee in the evening, we need an alcohol, you know, drink to, to, to calm us down. So it is, it is kind of things like breath work. It is meditation.Stuart Webb [00:16:51]:It is about, doing, embodiment practices, just like, you know, sport is, you know, exercises or just, you know, shaking and dancing a little bit, to let that tension go and stretching, you know, just very simple things like this and just learning how to breathe so that you can access that parasympathetic nervous system. So it is interesting how people think of, well, of course I can breathe. Of course I can smile, but how many actually do it? You know, we could when we are in that stress response, even our breathing becomes like kind of, we hold breath a lot. And we just but when you actually get into that parasympathetic nervous system response, what I observe is that people start, oh, there is that sigh and there is, oh, isn't it delicious just to be and just just relax. And you could just do this like a microsecond, and it will be money in the bank, in your energy bank and well-being and and happiness bank. So things like that. It's quite simple things I'd like to offer to people.Anne Bland [00:18:04]:Indeed. And and I know the power of breathing, myself because I've been doing I've been learning better breathing techniques myself, for for other reasons other than standing here doing this. And one of the things that we've been trying to learn how to do is the fact that when you breathe in rather than sort of doing this with your shoulders, which is, you know, how we're able to breathe bring immediately bring the whole music tension is to just breathe deeply from down into the diaphragm down low. And then you don't hold it. You just suspend. You just relax and allow the air to be there rather than thinking about it. And it's quite difficult to sort of turn your mindset to this ability to think, well, I'm just gonna allow the breath to be in me. But it's actually really powerful because it stops you trying to sort of do.Anne Bland [00:18:53]:You learn how to sort of just enjoy the experience of saying, okay. I'm now standing. I'm completely relaxed. I'm not actually holding my my my my tension anymore. Nothing's happened. The air hasn't just suddenly disappeared. It's it's still there, and then you can breathe out later. And it is a mindset thing, isn't it? Learning how to control your feelings, learning how to control of that.Anne Bland [00:19:15]:And and it brings a sense of calm as you do it because otherwise, you're sort of fighting your body.Stuart Webb [00:19:21]:Yeah. And have you ever heard, you know, this expression that any any place, any organization is a reflection of the leader?Anne Bland [00:19:28]:Absolutely. And I'm watching it with an organization now and just Yeah. Aware of just we can talk a little bit about this. There is toxicity, and the suggestion from the management was shut down the office. We'll never we'll never change this culture. And I went, I think the culture starts here. Oh, really? And you can change the culture at the bottom if we just change 1 or 2 things around the management. And yet, there was this sort of, oh, no.Anne Bland [00:19:53]:We just sack everybody. It will solve the problem, which was a very disappointing thing to hear.Stuart Webb [00:19:59]:Yeah. I don't think transformation organizational transformation works quite like that. But just as a as a simple example, just taking your breathing, ex example. And you were saying that how it's so easy to kind of be like this, you know, and just hunch, you know, just, you know, your shoulders are 10 tense and all that. But the studies show that a person, in terms of body language, you know, just the idea that who do you trust is somebody who has a long, distance from ear to their shoulder. So when people were shown pictures,Anne Bland [00:20:38]:I was thinking, oh, I've got, shoulder pad you know, pads in this jacket. So, oh, dear. Should have chosen a different jacket or or blouse.Stuart Webb [00:20:47]:But but but it is it is that kind of when when somebody's like this, you kind of, you know, people were shown pictures. And when they were looking at people who were like this, you know, it's kind of, oh, I don't trust that person. So if there is that kind of energy that somebody is going to launch at you, you know, from the management, you know, like you said, you know, there is that toxicity. It's not going to change by changing the, the people who are below them. It is about, okay, how can we relax this, this, this boss or this, this C suit, in this organisation so that they can learn like you just demonstrated how you're breathing differently and how you can just, you know, and it's it's simple as that because we are animals in so many ways. We have that primitive, you know, ancient brain. And when we see somebody who actually holds themselves with esteem and has that posture of calmness, and I'm you know, we feel that, okay, they are in control. You know, it's not like, you know, you need to kind of because they are reflecting this fight flight, you know, all the time.Stuart Webb [00:21:55]:It's quite fascinating how this all kind of links together. And there are so many tools we can use in organizations where we kind of, okay, just mini, micro, micro pausing, just become aware, and then use habits like breathing, like in a smile, like just being present with your with your physical body through your 5 senses. What can you hear? What can you see? What can you feel? Just doing this, you know, for for, 10 seconds. Just trying to feel the ridges of your fingers with your, if if this people can't see the picture, you know, the video. It's it's just putting 2 fingers like your thumb and your, first finger together. And for 10 seconds, which is about 3 breaths to to just move your fingers and just really focus on on feeling the ridges of your skin in on on on those fingertips. And even that simple 10 second, 3 breath exercise will put you into your body, out of your thinking mind where the anxiety often lives, you know, and just fall into your body and kind of, you know, it doesn't have to be. Even if you're in a meeting in a boardroom and you can just do that when you start feeling anxious.Stuart Webb [00:23:14]:You know, it will help you to calm down and get into that, parasympathetic nervous system. And there's so many other things.Anne Bland [00:23:22]:And was there a particular book, of course? I mean, you have a a a a very, very wide career, but, obviously, this is this is this is this is something that's that's that's come to you. Is there a particular book, of course, that you, read or took that actually started this journey for you?Stuart Webb [00:23:39]:Well, I think 10 years ago when I burned out last time and I I decided to to resign and and divorce and all sorts of things happened, and started, learning everything. You know, it was I was like a sponge. I I realized that I didn't have joy and pleasure in my life. I just been on that kind of autopilot. Oh, you know, just one more day, one more week, one more month, and I'll make it through or, or whatever it is that we tell these quite toxic stories to ourselves. Which is fine because we're just trying to cope. You know, it's okay. I'm not judging here.Stuart Webb [00:24:18]:It's just that we the society hasn't taught us how to look after ourselves. So I can't pinpoint. I'm really sorry. I can't, I know you asked this and I can't just choose 1. You know, I can't choose 1 because I've studied positive psychology and intelligence. I've studied breathwork. I've studied, how pleasure works for our favor. I've studied Taoism.Stuart Webb [00:24:45]:I've studied, so many things, neuroscience, you know, neuroplasticity, all these kinds of, how do we create positive habits so that we can look after each other ourselves and then, you know, each other, because like we said, the energy and the, the nervous system, emits to others is going to impact other people just like in that organizational structure, but also at home. So I've learned tantra as well. I've learned so many different things in terms of philosophies, practices, and, ways in which, you know, I feel that if we have the self awareness that, okay, this is what I need, how am I going to get it? So what are the tools and processes and practices? So having that self mastery. And then eventually, how do we express ourselves in the world, in our relationships in a more balanced, constructive way so that we can actually have that impactful, passionate mission, purpose filled life? Because that's what every human being in the end of the day is looking for is to have a meaningful life.Anne Bland [00:25:56]:So that leads me, I guess, to the last question I have for you this afternoon. I'll let you get along with something. I know you're not you need to get on and do and that Yeah. Is there a question I haven't asked you? Is there something that you're thinking, well, he's missed the point. He's just completely misunderstood what we're trying to do here. Is there a question that I should have asked, which you would like me to have asked? I don't know. And you have to answer it.Stuart Webb [00:26:22]:Well, I don't know. I mean, in terms of the Not really. I think we've discovered quite a lot of things, and, and it's it's as long as piece of string, isn't it? It's like kind of we can talk about this much. And when you said, oh, you have an open mic, I said, you don't want that because I will talk. You know, I will talk for England. I will talk for the world. So, now I think I would I would perhaps invite people to ask questions if there is anybody in the audience that, I don't know if Mark has already letAnne Bland [00:26:58]:Well, we well, I'd say we have Mark who asked. And the only question he's he has made it, the third comment is, it's hard to be there for someone if you're going through stress and you're struggling to deal with it. So my my sympathies, if, if that's your situation. I know how difficult it can be. And, Mark has just given us a compliment. So that's very kind of you, Mark. Thank you very much for for enjoying it. And I hope I I don't think I've done very much to contribute other than ask Anne the right questions, but Anne, you've got a huge amount of knowledge, a huge amount of value that you've added this afternoon.Anne Bland [00:27:30]:I really appreciate how much effort you've put into this, and I thank you very much for coming on and speaking to us. I just one thing. If, Anne is in the process of, of of of of building things, so, you will continue to be able to see, a lot of the free stuff that we have at, for this website where people give away free advice. But if you go to go.systmise.comforward/freehyphen stuff, you'll find a list of all the free things that, people have given away. And if you would like to get an email every week, who just will tell you exactly is coming up so that you can join as Mark did today and spend some time asking questions of people I can. Go to go.systmise.comforward/subscribe. It's a simple form. First name, email address, all we want, just so that you get an email, which basically says, who's coming up this week? And you've got the opportunity to join in the live and ask questions as Anne has been here answering your questions.Stuart Webb [00:28:33]:Anne, thank you so much for spending 20 minutes with us and talking about this. Really appreciate some of the advice. We'll all be touching our fingers in meetings in future, try to learn how to be more relaxed as we are presenting and and talking to the boss. So thank you for those tips, and I really appreciate the time you spent with us.Anne BlandThank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed this discussion. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Who is Steve?Steve Feld is a seasoned business consultant known for his keen ability to analyze and understand consumer demographics and psychographics. With a talent for uncovering unexpected market insights, Steve often finds that business assumptions about target markets can be misleading. He has successfully guided clients to reshape their marketing strategies, revealing that the true key to their success lies in the genuine connection they establish with their customers, beyond just their messaging. Steve's own experience in business echoes this lesson, as he discovered that his thriving client base did not align with his original target market, yet his authenticity and expertise kept them coming back.Key Takeaways00:00 Welcome Steve Feld, business coach, for questions.05:54 Free advice and book at www/systemise.me/free-stuff08:43 What's the essential question for your message?11:09 Prioritize crucial tasks early for business success._________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at https://TCA.fyi/newsletterFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :It's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDSbusiness coach, small business owners, entrepreneurs, target market, messaging, elevator pitch, customer demographics, marketing strategies, valuable advice, tech startups, networking events, expertise, published author, authoritative figure, marketing piece, business growth, massive results, audience engagement, client engagement, business owners, business plan, business focus, business execution, business career, massive action, business achievements, business clarity, business improvement, business dreams, business goalsSPEAKERSSteve Feld, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:31]:Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science 5 questions over coffee. I have in my hand what is left of, a mug of coffee. It's not quite as full as it was earlier on today, but I wanna welcome Steve Feld. Steve is a business coach, who works with a a range of different organizations, range of different businesses. I think we're gonna get into some interesting conversations about the sort of thing he's trying to do at the moment to help businesses move forward in what we can all describe, I guess, as some interesting times. So, Steve, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science, 5 questions over coffee. I hope you're ready for, an interesting few questions, and I hope you too are well fueled up.Steve Feld [00:01:12]:I am well fueled up. I my blood type is coffee, so I am ready forStuart Webb [00:01:16]:you. Terrific. Steve, let's start with the the sort of, the business owner, the business that you're trying to help. What's the what's the problem that you often see? And I know, we're likely to have a lot of common common common problems, but what are the more common ones that you see, when you start to engage with those businesses?Steve Feld [00:01:37]:Absolutely. Since I work primarily with small business owners, entrepreneurs, the biggest thing I see is they really don't know who their target market is.Stuart Webb [00:01:46]:Mhmm.Steve Feld [00:01:47]:And that starts affecting everything else, and they wonder why no one their messaging isn't working, why their elevator pitch isn't working, why nothing's working. It's because you're trying to be everything to everyone. And reality is you're nothing to everyone because they don't Yeah.Stuart Webb [00:02:06]:It's it's common, isn't it, that so many people desperately don't want to exclude somebody. But the fact of the matter is that by being targeted and very specific, you will attract other people anyway because it sounds as if you know what you're talking about.Steve Feld [00:02:22]:Yeah. It's absolutely it's like putting the red rope up. Right? Get books from get books solid. You put the red rope up, you only let the people you want in. Guess what? People now wanna be in, so they're gonna form a line outside. That's what you want.Stuart Webb [00:02:40]:Yeah. And and so often as well as small business owners, I come across they they very, very rarely actually do their level best to actually screen, and they end up being sort of open to too many people and unable to help the people who really, really need it.Steve Feld [00:02:56]:It's so true. It's the messaging too. It's like, as consumers, we're all the same. If it let's say you don't eat fast food. So if there's a fast food commercial on, you zone it out because you're not their target market, and they know that. So what So, Steve,Stuart Webb [00:03:16]:so so, Steve, what do you find these business owners have done in the past to try and help themselves before they they get somebody like you and to sort of really help them to refine their pitch and refine their their offering so that it becomes targeted at a particular at a particular niche person?Steve Feld [00:03:33]:Absolutely. I mean, the first thing I was telling was, like, well, you have cuss if you have customers now, let's see who they are. Let's look at their demographics, psychographics. And I did that with one of my clients, he thought his market was x y z and when we looked at his clientele it was a b c. He changed his marketing and found out that people still went with him because they liked him. They ignored his message. I mean, it happened in one of my businesses. I'm wondering I was targeting, you know, financial planner CPAs, and then one day I woke up, realized I'm booked to the gills with clients, and not one of them was my target market.Steve Feld [00:04:12]:And so I asked my clients, like, why did you go with me? They go, we just ignored CPA. Everything else in your message really spoke to me. Yeah. So Yeah.Stuart Webb [00:04:22]:I got rid of it. It's surprising, isn't it? And so often, we sort of we look at these things as sort of, you know, that it's gonna it's gonna hurt me, but in actual fact, it absolutely never hurts you, does it?Steve Feld [00:04:33]:No. If your if your message is still in the ballpark, it's okay. You're gonna be alright. But getting it on home plate, you're gonna knock it out of the park all the time. And I I see that with entrepreneurs when I ask them, so what do you do? And they go on and on. Well, we're all the same. We all zone out. But if it's crystal clear, who here's who hires me.Steve Feld [00:04:56]:Here's my market. Here are their problems. Here's how I solve them. Guess what? You have my attention even if I am not your market.Stuart Webb [00:05:04]:Yeah. Absolutely. Steve, I think you've got some really valuable advice that you can give to the audience at the moment that helps focus in on this, and I've got a a link, I believe, that you are you're gonna do, to help us out with. So tell us a little bit about what this valuable free piece of, advice is that you have. Yeah.Steve Feld [00:05:23]:I with my very first book, I've written 9 others since then, but it's 8 simple marketing strategies that you can put in your business right away without spending money. Because since I know my market, it's like they're getting beaten up like you're supposed to buy Google Ads, you're supposed to buy all this. No. Let's hone in on your messaging, get it crystal clear, implement just 1 or 2 of these marketing strategies at a time, and really start seeing some massive results fast.Stuart Webb [00:05:54]:Now that sounds like a valuable free piece of advice, and I'm really glad that you've done that, Steve. So if we go to bizcoachsteve.comforward/100co, so that's, bizcoachsteve.comforward/100k, and that link will be in the show notes. There's a valuable very valuable piece of advice for you, a free book that will help you to put that into your business. So, Steve, what other than you said, there are 9 books in your in your in your repertoire. What was the thing that actually brought you to being a coach with this very simple, specific, really useful message for people?Steve Feld [00:06:30]:Well, I've been there, done it. I mean, unfortunately, I've had highs and lows. I've owned and operated 7 businesses and turned now a 4th my 4th one around. I learned the good things and the bad things in one of the things I learned from being around other business owners is make sure your messaging is spot on. Really know who your target market was. Because I started like everyone else. I actually started writing business plans for tech startups, so it was very, very niche. And I didn't do business plans for anyone else but tech startups.Steve Feld [00:07:09]:And I was swamped. I had a waiting list. So then I started expanding out, and that's when I realized stay in your lane, and everything got better.Stuart Webb [00:07:20]:Mhmm. Okay. Okay. It's back to that simple. You know who you help. You know how you help them, and you know who those people are. You can definitely sort of you where you you you when you start explaining the things that you can do, you definitely find yourself in a position where those other people, see the advice you can give. But by knowing exactly how you help somebody, you can reach out and help them, can't you? I often say to people that are well, small business owners who are very afraid of selling, they'll say to, you know, they say, well, I don't really like selling myself.Stuart Webb [00:07:50]:And I sort of I can often turn around and say, well, stop thinking of it as being somebody that sells anything. Just think of being some somebody who's very helpful. And you just know how you help and why you help them. And people will pay you for the privilege of helping them. And that's all you need to do.Steve Feld [00:08:06]:You're a 100 spec spot on. I always call it sell without selling. Serve first. What can I do for you? And watch the the results versus we've all been to these networking events where someone is hawking I call it hawking your junk because you're you wanna build a connection, but if I can come to you and say, hey, Stewart. Is there something you need? Someone I can connect you with? Some kind of resource I can provide you that's gonna help you in your business? I don't want anything in return. What can I do for you? I think it's more valuable than buy my junk.Stuart Webb [00:08:43]:That's a brilliant that's a really brilliant piece of advice. Steve, I I guess we've I I've asked you I've asked you some some interesting questions. I guess you've thought that I probably asked you the wrong questions. So here's my opportunity to throw over to you. There must be one question that you would like me to ask or one question you would like me to have already asked that that is gonna help people to sort of really understand what your message is here. So what's that one question that you want me to ask? And, obviously, once you've asked it, well, you're gonna have to answer it for us as well. So tell us, what's the question that I needed to have asked?Steve Feld [00:09:19]:One thing I see with entrepreneurs is they when they start a business or even have an existing business, It's what can I do to get myself out there? And out there is marketing their name recognition. And one of the biggest things I see, it depends on the industry too. So if I, can go to networking events, maybe like insurance or something like that, that's the way they build their network. That's how they get out there. But there's other ways too, because you could be the expert in something. We're all experts in something. Use it your expertise. Get on a stage.Steve Feld [00:10:00]:Get on a podcast. Get on a summit. Share your knowledge. Write a book. I kid you not, I used to have a publishing company. I was cofounder of it, and we had a publishing company for entrepreneurs. So we wrote their book, and it was all done in less than 1 week.Stuart Webb [00:10:20]:Wow.Steve Feld [00:10:20]:So now they become a published author, they're an authoritative figure, and they can give this book away as a marketing piece. And we saw these businesses skyrocket just by telling their story.Stuart Webb [00:10:36]:It sounds so simple. It sounds so simple, but it's not that easy to execute, is it?Steve Feld [00:10:42]:Because being, you know, business owners, it's do you have a laundry list of things to do? Yeah. And I'll get to that one day. Well,Stuart Webb [00:10:51]:if youSteve Feld [00:10:51]:have some there's plenty of people like me out there that can help you. All they have to do is sit down with you. I swear to god, in 1 hour, you're gonna see massive results, and you're gonna start taking action right away. Guess what? It's gonna be done before you blink.Stuart Webb [00:11:09]:Yeah. Yeah. Brilliant. I think the the the the most important piece of advice that I was given many, many years ago when I first started with my business career was somebody sat me down and said, remember, if you can achieve the one thing that moves your business forward today before 11 o'clock, the rest of the day is free for you because you've already done the massive action. If you leave it until 4 o'clock in the afternoon, you've wasted the whole day. So get it done. Get the one thing you know you've gotta get done that day, get it done, and everything else is a bonus. If there's one thing I've taken away from it, it is sit down and do that one thing, which actually moves the business forward and get it done.Steve Feld [00:11:52]:I couldn't agree with you more. It's you know, eat that frog. Get that big audacious goal out of the way. Although others will fall into place, and you're gonna love it.Stuart Webb [00:12:04]:Brilliant. Steve, I think this has been a brilliant discussion. I hope everybody takes you up on the offer of getting that book, and I hope that they understand the the focus that you've given them. I'd just like to to point you in the direction of the newsletter we produce, which is, we we send out a newsletter once a week, which basically says who's coming up on the podcast. So you can really tune in on the valuable advice these, these great podcast sets we have. So if you would like to just know exactly who's coming up in the next week, go to this link, which is link dot the complete approach dotco.ukforward/newsletter. That's link dot the complete approach dotco.ukforward/newsletter. That's just the HTTP thing before that, and you will get a newsletter.Stuart Webb [00:12:49]:It just says once a week, basically, who's coming up, who what their specialty is, and just come and join us on LinkedIn and YouTube and the other places that we broadcast this so that you can see exactly the sort of valuable advice people like Steve bring to you, and you can move your business forward by doing that one thing and being really focused. Steve, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. Really appreciate you bringing that clarity, that focus, and that message so simply and so directly to what we've been talking about.Steve Feld [00:13:19]:Well, thank you for having me, and I just hope everyone out there find that one thing in your business. Take action on it, and live your dreams. Achieve your dreams and your goals.Stuart Webb [00:13:31]:I love that. Thank you very much indeed, Steve.Steve Feld [00:13:34]:Thank you. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Teaching can feel like driving on autopilot - same route, same scenery, same old routine. So what happens when that journey starts to feel monotonous and uninspiring? In today's conversation, I dive deep into a feeling that every teacher experiences at some point: boredom. Whether you're an AP Biology teacher counting down to exam day or a Earth Science instructor trudging through yet another semester of the same curriculum, staleness can creep into even the most passionate teacher's classroom.I've been there, teaching multiple sections of general biology, repeating the same lessons over and over again, semester after semester. That's why I'm sharing eight practical strategies to reignite your teaching spark when your job feels stale. They worked for me, and I know they can work for you too! From considering a new course prep to collaborating with colleagues, investing in fresh resources, and shifting towards more student-centered approaches, these tips are designed to help you break out of your educational rut and rediscover the joy of teaching.➡️ Show Notes: https://itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com/episode181Resources Mentioned:INRS PD CoursesLabs When Limited Virtual PD Course (free!)Core Values Mini-CourseTeach the Class Project Download your FREE Classroom Reset Challenge.Send me a DM on Instagram: @its.not.rocket.scienceSend me an email: rebecca@itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com  Follow, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts.Related Episodes and Blog Posts:Episode 29, Student-Centered Pedagogy: What It IsEpisode 30, Student-Centered Pedagogy: Why Make the ShiftEpisode 31, Student-Centered Pedagogy: How to Do ItEpisode 32, Student-Centered Pedagogy: One Way to StartEpisode 72, Review Strategies for EOC, Benchmark, and AP ExamsEpisode 121, Burned Out? When It's Time to Make a Change Episode 153, How to Make Boring Topics More EngagingEpisode 166, How to Use Your Students to Work Smarter Rather Than Harder Save 25% off on ALL It's Not Rocket Science resources (and virtual PD courses)!!https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/its-not-rocket-science

Who is Jamie?Jamie Toyne is a seasoned coach who specializes in empowering creatives and entrepreneurs with ADHD, helping them navigate burnout and rediscover joy in their professional journeys. With over 13 years of experience working alongside entrepreneurs, Jamie has developed a deep understanding of the challenges they face. His career began as an M&A adviser, where he honed his expertise in business strategy and growth. Transitioning from consulting to coaching around five years ago, Jamie's unique approach is informed by his firsthand experience running startups and an accelerator program. Today, he is dedicated to guiding his clients towards achieving their goals while maintaining optimal performance and enjoying the process.Key Takeaways00:00 Coaching ADHD creatives and entrepreneurs overcoming burnout.06:42 Action as reward: Journey's flow prevents burnout.07:48 Rebuild brain-body connection for optimal flow state.12:16 Developed ADHD program, blending flow and neuroscience.16:05 Clear alignment needed with personal values, actions.18:52 Jamie's website resource helps counter social media distractions.21:00 Looking forward to your help improving flow._________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at https://TCA.fyi/newsletterFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :It's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDSADHD business coach, entrepreneurial journey, burnout symptoms, energy levels, executive function, adult ADHD, business scaling, business exit, inattentive ADHD, hyperactive ADHD, flow state, focus improvement, alignment, self-esteem, creative entrepreneurs, business motivation, coaching strategies, flow research, internal family systems, VAST, social media distraction, mergers and acquisitions, neuroscience of flow, mindset, business performance, energy management, cognitive overload, high performance program, true nature, ADHD diagnosis, flow blockers.SPEAKERSJamie Toyne, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:31]:Hi there, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science 5 questions over coffee. I have my, mug in front of me here filled with what I could only assume is coffee. It's looking a bit brown and sludgy now because it's been made a while, so, it won't be so so good. But it keeps me awake. And I'm delighted to be joined today by Jamie, Jamie Toyne. Jamie Toyne is a a a certified ADHD business coach. He helps you to unlock your ADHD superpowers and soak your Purna. And I know he's been involved in starting, scaling, and exiting businesses.Stuart Webb [00:01:06]:So I'm really looking forward to a great conversation with Jamie. Jamie, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science 5 Questions Over Coffee.Jamie Toyne [00:01:13]:Thanks, Stuart. Nice to be here.Stuart Webb [00:01:16]:So, Jamie, let's start with the obvious question. Look. Tell us a little bit about the sort of business person you're trying to help. What's the what's the sort of problems they're probably noticing in and around their business, their life? How do they recognize that they're the sort of person that you're trying to help?Jamie Toyne [00:01:37]:Yeah. So I work with creatives and entrepreneurs who have ADHD and generally starting from a place of burnout. And they're basically sort of struggling to, a, enjoy the journey of reaching their goals and, b, sort of perform at their best, and enjoy the process of getting towards their goals. So, that's sort of the target audience of people that I work with. It took me a little while to, get there. I've been working with entrepreneurs for 13 years. I was a m and a adviser for many years, and have run a few startups myself and, and run an accelerator program. And, I moved from consulting into coaching, like, 4 or 5 years ago.Jamie Toyne [00:02:27]:And then really only in the last 2 years that I sort of really narrow down on working with people who specifically struggle with burnout and specifically have ADHD.Stuart Webb [00:02:38]:And and tell me, what do you think are the the major symptoms of something like burnout, Jamie? What what are what are people sort of because it it manifests very differently in a number of different people. So what is it you're looking to sort of point people towards to say, you know, this might be you if you're feeling this?Jamie Toyne [00:02:55]:Yeah. So one is like energy. So if you're, like, feeling constantly physically, emotionally, or mentally exhausted, that's a big that's a big one. If your performance is, like, significantly below your sort of baseline or your average, another one is, like, your sort of self esteem and attitude, like, if you're easily frustrated or easily irritable or have a lot of negative thoughts about yourself or other people, that's another big symptom. So what what have we got? We got motivation, energy, you know, sort of attitude, self esteem, and I guess motivation is the other really obvious one if you're really struggling to get motivated.Stuart Webb [00:03:38]:And and what sort of things are you likely to have found, these people do to try and resolve these issues before they they come and speak with an expert such as yourself?Jamie Toyne [00:03:50]:Well, the obvious one, you know, a lot of people, you know, there's, you know, been a big, like, surgeon surgeons of, surgeons surge of, of, like, adult ADHD diagnoses. A lot of peopleStuart Webb [00:04:04]:Yeah.Jamie Toyne [00:04:05]:Didn't get picked up for ADHD in childhood, which is for a number of reasons, but a lot of people, you know, there's 2 main types of ADHD. 1 is, hyperactive and the other one's inattentive, and then there's the the combo, the delicious combo of hyperactive, inattentive, which I'm so lucky to have. But, yeah, a lot of people that had inattentive ADHD didn't really, you know, show those, like, very classical a d a ADD symptoms back in, back in the eighties, nineties, and early 2000. So, you know, an obvious thing is to see a psychiatrist and, you know, get medicated that's, you know, has has some efficacy with focus and ability, you know, to improve their executive function and stuff like that. The obvious other one is, like, you know, taking a break, going on a holiday, and and doing all those types of things. What other things do people do, when they're feeling burnt out? Well, some people actually push harder. Some people double down and sort of go like, whoop. I'm feeling like I'm sort of stuck in the mud here.Jamie Toyne [00:05:10]:I need to push even harder to just, like, get through this bit. And, you know, once I reach the top of my my mountain, then I'll be able to relax. So, yeah, people approach it differently.Stuart Webb [00:05:20]:And you never quite get to the top of that particular mountain, do you, Jamie? That's the problem. Like, you know, you you climb a mountain, you think to yourself, this is the peak, and you see a further peak. It's like being sort of, you know, up in the the mountains of any any location. You sort of you push a peak, and there's another peak further on. You can never quite see the top of the mountain, can you?Jamie Toyne [00:05:39]:That's usually what happens. Yeah.Stuart Webb [00:05:42]:So tell me, is there a piece of advice, a a a valuable sort of, something that you would offer people to sort of say, look. Here's one thing that you could do, one one way of getting out of this, or or, you know, here am I. Come talk to me.Jamie Toyne [00:05:56]:Sure. Yeah. I I really when I when I started researching burnout, I really wanted to come up with, like, what, you know, what is no one likes to enjoy the, experience of burnout. What's the opposite of burnout? What's the antithesis of burnout? And and the best answer I can find to that question is is flow. And, you know, we all sort of understand what flow is. It's when you're sort of totally absorbed or wrapped in the in the present moment, and, you know, every sort of action and decision sort of flows effortlessly and and sort of clicks into place. Right? And that's when we feel intrinsically motivated. And I think I think the interesting thing about flow is that it's an autotelic experience.Jamie Toyne [00:06:42]:So the action becomes the reward in and of itself. So talking about that that journey, the entrepreneurial journey, you know, a lot of people struggle to enjoy the journey, and they're so focused on getting to the top of their mountain that they'll do anything to get there. And the journey's usually a lot of suffering and and and and pain, and grit and, and hustle, basically. And so, you know, really the idea is, you know, I I sort of think of burnout on one end of the spectrum and flow on the other. And so if we can get into flow, where we sort of become immune to burnout is is is what I've found personally and what I've found for for my clients as well. And so, the advice or the the tip I could give, is really thinking about the way that we approach, manage the management of ourself, like, the that almost our relationship with ourself. And so I'll give you an example. You know, there's there's a part of ourselves which I might call the higher self or the or the general who's you know, that's sort of the prefrontal cortex.Jamie Toyne [00:07:48]:That's the part of the brain that's, coming up with strategy and setting the vision and setting goals and tasks and and organizing everything, and writing your to do list and things like that. And then you have, you know, your lower self or the or the workhorse as I call it, or what Tim Go away would refer to as second self, which is sort of the intuitive body and also the the part of you that actually has to sit down and do the work, and actually execute. So when I was a tennis player, you know, that'd be a part of me that would be deciding where I'm gonna hit the ball and how I'm gonna structure the point, and then there'd be the actual part of me that actually has to swing my racket. And, usually, what I see is when we are burnt out, that relationship between those two parts is completely disintegrated and broken down. And so, what I really focus on with my clients is helping rebuild that relationship, and so that those two parts are working together as a team. And that's when we start to get into flow. So it's almost like designing our environment and our systems and the way that our business operates to be aligned with what I would call our true nature. Right? Because I think flow our our flow state or our our state of flow is essentially our natural state of being, And it's the conditioning and the stress and the, you know, all the things that we complicate our lives with that block us from flow.Jamie Toyne [00:09:12]:And so what I really would recommend is, like, trying to identify the things that are blocking you from flow and removing them, and that's the quickest way to resolving burnout. And so an example of things that would be blocking you from flow would be things anything that you're putting energy into where that energy seems to leak out and it drains your energy. So if you're putting the energy into something and it rebounds back to you and it's energizing, it's in alignment. And if that energy's flowing out, and flowing one way, it's probably out of alignment. And so that could be a relationship in your personal life. It could be a business partner, an investor. It could be a customer type. It could be some way that you're structuring your business or the hours you're working.Jamie Toyne [00:09:50]:It could be anything. And so really doing a bit of an audit of everything that you think might be zapping your energy and really looking at that and looking at ways that you can either remove that or optimize it or modify it so that, you know, it's, it's more in alignment and it's, it's not blocking you from flow, but it's creating space for flow to emerge, your natural state of being.Stuart Webb [00:10:13]:So I've just dropped a link into the bottom of the, the screen that anybody can see here, which is where you offer a free coaching call for somebody who perhaps wanna wants to go back and discover that state of flow. And I know what you mean by flow. It's something which, well, obviously, you as a former professional sportsman, really sort of appreciate the the ability to sort of get into that point where the the point in where in your business, for instance, you are no longer thinking about everything that has to happen. It's happening, and you're able to move your your thoughts to sort of, you know, the future, the strategy, rather than having to be thinking about what happens next in this business in order to just keep it alive, which is kind of, you know, my level of tennis. I don't know. Yours is probably slightly better than that. My level of tennis is how do I manage to keep this ball from actually sort of just dropping on this side of the net, and I never see it again. But, you know, you need to get to that state, don't you, with your business, which is where, you know, the you the the racket swing is happening.Stuart Webb [00:11:08]:It's moving the ball to where you want your opponent to be, and you're thinking about sort of right what you know, when I finish this game, I'm gonna have a really nice dinner because I'll I'll reward myself having having beaten this guy. So that is the state that we need to get our business to. Jamie, let's let's move on to something which I hope is is gonna sort of give a bit of an insight into is there a is there a a a course, a program, a a book, something which actually brought you to the point at which you understood maybe your own h ADHD, maybe the way in which you can sort of sort of conquer some of these ADHD feelings. And at this point, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna flash up the fact we've got Therese Baptiste who is a I love Therese. She's watching in. So, Therese, hi. I know you're somebody that really understands this sort of thing. You have so much energy yourself.Stuart Webb [00:11:58]:I'm not even gonna try and sort of compete with you. So hello, Therese. Jamie, let's get back to the to the point, you know. Is there a particular book, of course, or something which helped you to understand flow, helped you to understand how you recover flow in your life, how you started to sort of bring this into your own coaching practice?Jamie Toyne [00:12:16]:Yeah. I I so I was I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, so I've I've always known I've had it. I I was never medicated, so I've I've sort of learned different strategies and techniques just by through trial and error and a lot a lot of suffering and and three pretty significant burnouts throughout my life. But I did recently the most recent training I've done is a ADHD training program done with a woman called Brooke Schmidtman, who's fantastic. So that was a really cool I've done a bunch of study on sort of the neuroscience of flow states and and and burnout. So it was really cool to, you know, I sort of developed this high performance program for entrepreneurs and then to really marry the the the neuroscience of flow with the neuroscience, and psychology of of of ADHD, was was was really sort of what allowed me to develop the curriculum for this program that I run, which is called FlowJo. I was talking about the relationship between different parts of ourselves. You know, I wanna credit, internal family systems or parts theory, as, you know, it's a sort of a 50 year old, psychotherapy practice that has been, you know, pretty transformational for me personally.Jamie Toyne [00:13:26]:I've been working with an IFS practitioner for years, and I've done a short training on that. Also, the Flow Research Collective, I'd love to, you know, credit them. I did their program 0 to dangerous, which sort of really talks about the mechanics of flow and how to cultivate flow states, and sort of in sort of the biohacking and, you know, hacking the sort of biology in the mind for flow. So that was that was pretty pretty amazing as well. And then, you know, all the coaching training that I've done in those courses have been massive. I got so much out of that for for myself, and it's allowed me to, you know, really feel confident, working on a month with clients as well.Stuart Webb [00:14:10]:Brilliant. We're we're kinda getting towards the end of this, time now, Jamie. I'm thankful that you that you know what to sort of, you know, bring yourself to sort of just spend a few minutes with us. But I kinda wanna ask you one final question, but the the question that I wanna ask you is is probably one that I would prefer that you sort of, you know, ask of of yourself. And and what is that question that I have not yet asked that you think is the most important one that you think that we should be we should be hearing? And and, obviously, now that you've asked yourself the question, you need to answer it. Just my way of not actually doing all the work here on the podcast and making you do it more.Jamie Toyne [00:14:51]:What question would I would be most useful? Well, I talked about burnout and flow and how flow is sort of the the antidote to burnout. So I guess and I talked about removing the blockers. I guess, maybe the next practical question that people would have is, like, what are those blockers? What are and, you know, how what's an example of how you could remove them? So I'd be happy to answer that.Stuart Webb [00:15:16]:Good good question, Jamie. What are those blockers? What is it that we should be we should be looking at?Jamie Toyne [00:15:22]:Well, I mean, they can be anything as I mentioned before, but I like to categorize them into sort of 5 main areas. The first one is clarity, and so that's really, you know, as I mentioned, flow is your natural state of being. So really what you're trying to do is connect back with your true nature. And so being really clear on who you are, what your passion, your your your purpose, your values, your vision for the future, your mission, all of those things, having that really crystal clear. A lot of people have done exercises like that, but often when I ask people, describe what your purpose is in a single sentence, or what's your what's your mission in a single sentence? A lot of people really don't know how to answer that, and they need about 10Stuart Webb [00:16:03]:sentences toJamie Toyne [00:16:03]:answer it.Stuart Webb [00:16:04]:So Good point.Jamie Toyne [00:16:05]:I think being really clear on that. Once you're really clear on that, the second blocker is, alignment. And so, we I talked about the two way energy flow, so I won't go back into that. But, essentially, once you're really clear on who you are and what your true nature is, it's very easy to identify things that are out of alignment with you. Right? And so an example for me is, when I was running my mergers and acquisitions company, we were an all commissioned business, and it meant that we had a negative cash flow cycle. So we're always doing the service up front, and it just meant that and and my employees were, were on a heavy commission basis. And so just just the ups and turns, you know, the ups and downs of the market and whatever, it just meant that when there was volatility in the market, there was volatility in my my team and my company and my my whole life, and it didn't really align with the way that I wanted to live my life. And so that business model was just not aligned with with me and my what my values were in the way that I wanted to create sort of safety for my team.Jamie Toyne [00:17:04]:So, I I mean, that's one of the main reasons I burnt out in that business that I I ended up exiting a few years later. So, that's an example. 3 is focus. That's a really obvious one. Attention, like, you know, we live in an ADHD world now, so even if you don't have ADHD, a lot of people are struggling with variable attention stimulus trait, which is, basically, you're experiencing all the symptoms of ADHD, but it's not a permanent neurological disorder of the brain like I have. It's just, basically an environmental thing that's been created through cognitive overload, which is being caused through the way that we integrate you know, interact with, with digital media and and wherever else. So that's the other really big one. The 4th, sort of blocker of flow or culprit of flow is mindset, and that's pretty self explanatory, but limiting beliefs and all the rest of it.Jamie Toyne [00:17:56]:And then the 5th and final one is just energy. You know, if we're if we're burning the candle at both ends, we're just, you know, we there's there's there's no resources there to to to flow, to get into flow. Your rivers run dry. So there's some of the 5 areas. And, yeah, like I said, the audit is probably, you know, just auditing everything and and and realizing, like, where where are my blockers. And, actually, on my website, I have a free diagnostic tool. You can answer a bunch of questions, and it will give you an analysis of where you sit on the spectrum of burnt out to flowing. There's sort of 7 levels, and it will also give you a breakdown of those 5 blockers.Jamie Toyne [00:18:35]:So it'll tell you, you know, whether your mindset's closer to burnout or blocking, and you can sort of start to identify what areas, might be causing blockages, you know, that keep you at risk of burning out, and stop you from sort of performing at your peak, and flying.Stuart Webb [00:18:52]:Useful. Useful. And I think that's a really useful resource. If people wanna go to Jamie's website, there will be notes in the, in the show notes where we'll put a link to that so that people can see that, get on there, and have a look at that. Jamie, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. Personally, I am really aware of the very dangerous nature sometimes of social media that can that can prevent that flow state, the ping, the dingle from the phone, the side of the desk, that constant reminder that we should be looking at it because it's not in our interest. It's in the, interest of the social media companies that run those platforms to keep us engaged on that. It doesn't help our flow state at all.Stuart Webb [00:19:29]:So turn off those pings. Turn off that thing that sort of pops up at the bottom of your screen that tells you you've got a new email. You don't need to worry about that email. If you're in a flow state, forget the email. It'll wait for several hours quite often, honestly. So turn off your phones, turn off those pop ups, focus on what you're doing. I know they're the things which really present me prevent me from getting into flow. So I'm I'm really big into what some of what Jamie mentioned in that third part of his what can prevent your flow, for you there.Stuart Webb [00:19:58]:So I'm really, really hopeful that people learn how to do that in the coming year. Jamie, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. Really appreciate you spending a few minutes here. I'm just gonna sort of put out the appeal that if, if you'd like to be able, like Therese was today, joining in with the conversation, watching these things live on LinkedIn each Tuesday that we do them, if you go to this link, which is httpscolonforward/forward/link.thecompleteapproach.co.ukforward/newsletter, I've gotta make something shorter than that soon in order to get that. But if you go to link dot the complete approach dotco.ukforwardsmash newsletter, there you will find a very simple form. It just asks for your first name. It asks for your email address. That's all it is.Stuart Webb [00:20:42]:You give you put that in. I will then send you an email once a week, which says this is who's coming on. This is what they're gonna talk about. This is where you join us. Come on. Join. Have a really great conversation with the guests that we have coming on to this podcast. Jamie, thank you very much for spending a few minutes with us.Stuart Webb [00:21:00]:Really appreciate it. And I look forward to watching what you do to help those of us who are struggling with flow to get better again, in the coming months.Jamie Toyne [00:21:11]:Thanks, Stuart. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

Efficiency is key in healthcare, but how do you move faster without sacrificing patient care? In this episode, Dr. Ann Tsung and Dr. Bradey Block, host of The Physician's Guide to Doctoring Podcast, shares valuable insights on how to improve patient interactions, enhance trust, and manage your time without compromising the quality of care. From asking the right questions to leveraging technology and creating boundaries, this episode provides actionable strategies to optimize your practice.Key Points From This Episode:The Podcast Origin: How the podcast began as a way to learn from communication experts to improve patient interactions and efficiency without sacrificing care quality.The Doctor-Patient RelationshipWhy asking “What worries you about this?” builds immediate trust and uncovers hidden concerns.How completing notes immediately reduces attention residue and mental clutter.Why multitasking during patient visits erodes connection—and what to do instead.How to use simple language, compassionate framing, and intentional introductions to deepen rapport.Tools like AI, structured boundaries, and focused presence to reclaim time without sacrificing care.The Illusion of Multitasking:Typing while listening isn't the same as being fully present. Patients sense when you're distracted—even if you're technically hearing them.Recognizing fluid balance instead of Static BalanceResources:Follow Dr. Bradley Block Physician Guide to DoctoringThe Physicians Guide to Doctoring PodcastListen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - How to Avoid Sacrificing Patient Care While Trying to Be More EfficientPlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2025/04/18/episode-73/

Struggling to get into flow? The key isn't just about focus—it's about mastering the struggle and release phases that lead to peak productivity. In this episode, we dive into the hidden obstacles that block your flow, from decision fatigue to environmental distractions. Learn how to eliminate friction points, optimize your workspace, and train your mind to transition into deep focus faster. Key Points From This Episode:Why the struggle phase is essential for achieving flow. How to transition from struggle to flow with ease. The art of decisiveness and setting non-negotiables. The top three people who may be disrupting your flow. Simple morning tweaks to remove productivity choke points. Treating your flow block like an event for maximum efficiency. How to turn your workspace into a fortress for deep work. Mental conditioning techniques to improve focus and release. Welcome to Productivity MD, I triple peoples time through neuroscience and peak performance systems, so they feel a sense of control and freedom in life.If you're ready to break free from distractions and unlock your flow state, this episode is for you!Resources:Flow in Research Collective by Steve KotlerListen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - How to Remove the Struggle Phase and Get into Flow Faster to Achieve 5x ProductivityPlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2025/03/15/episode-72/

In the final episode of our differentiation series, I'm sharing practical strategies for implementing content-specific differentiation. Whether you teach biology, chemistry, anatomy, or physical science, you'll learn how to prioritize key concepts, adjust instruction for CP and honors students, and simplify your approach using built-in supports from It's Not Rocket Science®. Plus, I'll help you determine which topics deserve the most focus so you can confidently tailor your lessons to best support your students!➡️ Show Notes: https://itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com/episode172 Resources: It's Not Rocket Science® Complete Units Biology Curriculum Full Year BundleChemistry Curriculum Full Year BundleAnatomy Curriculum Full Year BundlePhysical Science Curriculum Full Year BundleDownload your FREE Classroom Reset Challenge. Send me a DM on Instagram: @its.not.rocket.scienceSend me an email: rebecca@itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com  Follow, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts.Related Episodes: Episode 168, Differentiation in Your Science Classroom – Simple Tips to Decrease OverwhelmEpisode 169, Differentiating for Higher Achieving Students (That Isn't Just Extra Work)Episode 170, Differentiating for Lower Achieving Students (Without Lowering the Bar)Episode 171, Differentiation Within One Class Period (And How to Not Make it Obvious)

Struggling with procrastination, distractions, and a lack of focus? In this episode, we dive into the Four Cycles of Flow and uncover the hidden habits that keep you stuck in unproductive loops. Learn how to eliminate the top three supersimulators—molecules, media, and munchies—that hijack your ability to focus and perform at your best. You'll discover how to move through the struggle, release, flow, and recovery phases effectively, so you can get into deep focus faster, stay in the zone longer, and recover without burning out. Key Points From This Episode:Understanding the Four Cycles of Flow and why they matter. The three biggest super simulators sabotaging your focus and how to eliminate them. How to shift from chronic procrastination to effortless productivity. Decreasing or eliminating the three “M's” (molecules, media, munchies)The role of single-tasking in accelerating flow states. Practical strategies to engage with flow and stay in it longer. If you're ready to stop sabotaging your productivity and take control of your focus, this episode is a must-listen!Resources:Flow in Research Collective by Steve KotlerListen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - How to Master Your Brain and Engage in the Flow Cycle with Dr. Ann TsungPlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2025/02/15/episode-71/

Do your mornings feel chaotic, unproductive, or exhausting? In this episode of Productivity MD, Dr. Ann Tsung will uncover the habits and routines that could be holding you back from achieving flow and productivity. Discover how to avoid the extremes of overcomplicated morning routines or burnout from excessive work, and instead create a balanced path to growth and focus. You'll learn how to start your day in flow within 90 seconds of waking up, recover effectively to stay present, and align your schedule with your natural chronotype for optimal performance. Plus, find out how your eating habits might be derailing your productivity. Key Points From This Episode: 1. Breaking free from excessive routines or nonstop work that lead to burnout. 2. Building the habit of starting flow immediately after waking up. 3. Recovering from flow cycles without losing momentum or presence. 4. Aligning your schedule with your chronotype (lark, night owl, third bird). 5. Why “flow before food” is essential for sustained focus and success. 6. Using gratitude to shift your mindset and enhance recovery. 7. How to change destructive thought processes and habits for long-term results. If you're tired of feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unproductive, this episode is your guide to regaining control and finding flow.Resources:Flow in Research Collective by Steve KotlerListen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - How to Stop Sabotaging Your Productivity with Bad HabitsPlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2025/01/24/episode-70/

Is your child struggling to cope with challenges? Unsure how to equip them with the tools to face life's ups and downs? In this episode, we dive deep into the art of fostering emotional resilience in children, helping them thrive in an ever-changing world. Our guest, Dr. Prasanthi Reddy shares her passion for empowering kids, offering actionable insights into what emotional resilience truly means and how you can nurture it at any stage of their development. She'll discuss a wide range of topics like effective discipline strategies to tackling tricky topics like sex education. This episode is your guide to building a stronger foundation for your child's mental well-being. Learn how to model resilience, embrace new parenting perspectives, and teach your child to see both the challenges and rewards life has to offer.Key Points from This Episode:Why emotional resilience matters: The reason behind her dedication to this crucial life skill. Understanding the importance of emotional reslience for kids in today's world. How to develop coping tools and implement interventions for different age groups. Teaching kids to navigate the world with perspective. Exploring differences in emotional resilience across genders. Setting boundaries while fostering growth. Navigating sex education: Tips for discussing this sensitive topic with your kids. The importance of consistency and a willingness to change your approach. Resources:Connect with Dr. Prasanthi Reddy on LinkedInConnect with Dr. Prasanthi Reddy on TikTok Listen to the previous episodes hereWelcome to Productivity MD where you can learn to master your time and achieve the 5 freedoms in life!Show Notes - How to Avoid Raising Kids Who Crumble Under Pressure with Dr. Prasanthi ReddyPlease subscribe and leave a review so you can help others who need the knowledge most discover this podcast. Visit https://www.productivitymd.com/ to learn more Here are 3 ways I can help you reclaim your time and be more productive:#1: Book a 15 minutes 1 Year 1-1 Peak Performance and Productivity Coaching Qualification Call now to learn more and take control of your time! #2: Join my Private Facebook Group and get full access to my 7-day Video Masterclass to 3X Your Productivity#3: Subscribe to Productivity MD Podcast (Formerly It's Not Rocket Science) on Health, Relationships, and Productivity or watch in YouTube.Follow Ann Tsung MD, MPH onAnn Tsung on FacebookAnn Tsung on YouTubeAnn Tsung on LinkedInAnn Tsung on InstagramAnn Tsung on Twitterhttps://www.productivitymd.com/2024/12/15/episode-69/