No BS Agency Podcast (Pia Silva)
Explore every episode of No BS Agency Podcast
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Nov 2022 | Ep 120: Worried About The Recession? Here's What I Want You To Do. | 00:10:25 | |
If you’re hearing rumors that there is a recession coming, or that we might even be in a recession right now, and you’re thinking this maybe isn’t the right time to invest in your business, this one’s for you. I want to tell you a story of what happened in our businesses the last time the proverbial sh*t hit the fan: March 2020. Today I’m sharing how members of my 2020 group coaching program responded when COVID hit, and what the most successful strategies were. Hint: It wasn’t playing it safe. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 30 Apr 2020 | EP 00: Introducing Show Your Business Who's Boss | 00:03:01 | |
Make the leap from an overworked, underpaid employee of your own business to a badass authority that has plenty of profit and freedom because you are finally the boss. Host Pia Silva will shift your perspective and help you build a business that works for you instead of the other way around. Double down on what makes you awesome by badassing your brand and business, being smart about your marketing so you can shout it from the rooftops. She’ll tell you how it really is when it comes to ignoring the crap that’s holding you back and what it really takes to be the boss of your own business, one that gives you the life of freedom you wanted when you went into business for yourself in the first place. | |||
| 14 May 2020 | EP 01: The Exact Moment That I Became The Boss Of My Business | 00:15:47 | |
It was 2014, and I had been hustling trying to build my branding agency for 3 years. From the outside, I looked like I was succeeding. I had a super cool office in Brooklyn, NY, two full-time employees, and the last project I was invited to pitch for was a 20,000 square foot restaurant in Times Square that wanted that cool Brooklyn vibe.
I had all the glitz of a successful owner, but behind the scenes, things looked very different.
I was networking every day, hoofing it around NYC to meet with whomever would have coffee with me, I was pitching project after project and either not hearing back or just losing them. And my overhead was high. By March 2014, we had maxed out all of our credit cards, were overdrawn on our bank accounts, and had no idea how we were going to make payroll in two weeks.
I was desperately trying to figure out how to bring money in. Not only did we need money to live, but we needed to pay back this $40,000 we now owed. Tell the prospects with proposals that we would bargain with them? Network… MORE? Just cry in the corner with my fingers crossed that one of these proposals would close in the next week and pay a deposit? And if none those things worked, I assumed the only option left would be to give up, admit that I FAILED to all my friends and family, and get a regular job.
I was working SO hard to get clients and busting my butt 24/7 to be at the beck and call the few clients we had, so why couldn’t my business at least support itself?
I had the best intentions, I had done my homework, read every book, studied other success stories, pounded the pavement networking, took courses, and was willing to work round the clock on my business while giving my all to deliver for my clients… I was doing everything that every expert, guru, mentor, and colleague had recommended. I had even thrown money at my problems by hiring other service providers to solve them for me and not only did that not work either, but it also cost me more money I didn’t have.
But despite all my knowledge, experience, and effort, none of it was showing up in my bank account. It felt unfair. I was depressed and felt more and more like a failure.
And one night, while having dinner with my husband and business partner Steve, I was in a catatonic daze over the crushing burden of my failing business while he was just chatting along as if everything was fine, making me even more anxious! Just as my anxiety was turning to rage, the adrenaline must have heightened my senses and I snapped out of my failure coma to hear him say
“...why don’t we just let the employees go?”
For all my butt busting and desperate efforts, I am embarrassed to admit that I had not even considered that as one of my options and that was a wake-up call.
Because I was trying to create an agency, a big business that looked like what I imagined success was, in my mind, letting our employees go would be failure and the end of my business. Because I was on a trajectory of building an agency, I refused to entertain any ideas that felt like backtracking and saw any of my efforts that didn’t achieve that goal as failures. I was so set on a specific idea of what a successful business looked like, that I was actually entertaining closing our business to get a normal job instead of entertaining the idea of running a different kind of business.
Now Steve had my attention and he was saying more great stuff… he said we had built a LOT of value in our business, had a lot of experience, great work to show and happy, satisfied clients. We weren't at a dead end, we actually had tons of options of what we could do with what we had created and achieved.
He forced me to entertain the idea that there were infinite options available to us, and just because they were different from what I had originally planned, didn’t mean they were inferior.
My lightbulb not only went off – it popped.
A huuuge weight had been lifted off of me and I was able to see my business with a ruthless, cutting clarity that was unencumbered by my previous fears of failing (because I already had!).
Now I was free to do ANYTHING.
Immediately, my new terminator vision was assessing my business problems.
Fact: We couldn’t afford the employees right now and hadn’t been able to for some time, hence the debt, so keeping them was no longer an option. I had been avoiding that fact for months. The second I accepted it, relief washed over me.
We won’t need to find $8,000 for them this month. WOW. I had just made $8,000 in a moment of clarity.
I’m gonna date myself here but you know that game Minesweeper? Where you’re clicking the boxes without clicking the mines? And every once in a while you click an empty box and the whole area opens up all at once? That’s what this was like. Everything broke open for me.
THAT was the moment I became the boss of my business & my whole demeanor changed
We started looking at our business as a clean slate and started brainstorming like crazy all the possible ideas of what we could do next. We started listing all the skills and assets we had and how to make money off them. We questioned why we had done everything the way we had, and why we felt we had to do it that way.
We were EXCITED for the first time in a long time. It was like when we first started our business and anything was possible again. We were no longer desperately trying to do what we thought we had to succeed. We were asking ourselves what we really wanted out of our business and how we could structure it to get it.
In that MOMENT, I went from being at the mercy of my business and the situation I was in, to stepping up and showing my business who’s boss.
Before that moment... I thought MONEY was my biggest problem.
So I thought if I just had more money, more clients, more work, things would be better.
Before that moment... I blamed all the people I was pitching for my business’ problems.
They would take our proposals and then end up hiring other, less expensive companies... how could I compete with that?! So I thought they’re just ignorant of the value of my services.
Before that moment... I thought I was doing the best I could at marketing my business.
I was networking like a maniac. I was posting on Facebook, blogging, trying to speak at events. Nothing I was trying was bringing me enough business, so I thought marketing doesn’t really work.
Before that moment... I thought clients were really difficult and annoying.
They always wanted more, more, more, and never wanted to pay what the work was worth (and almost never on time). So I thought clients suck and there’s nothing I can do about it However, after my breakthrough moment, I could see how all these beliefs weren’t true and had been limiting my ability to succeed.
I now realized there were always, so many more possibilities available to me that I had never even considered.
And I had the power to whip my business into exactly what I wanted it to be.
And so I did.
Over the next few months…
I went from being oppressed by my business to leading it.
I went from being stuck in a whole bunch of assumptions and stories that were holding me back, to being free to entertain, create, and experiment with new ways to run my business.
I also realized that it could go any number of ways and a lot of those possibilities started to look way more attractive than my original plan of building a big agency with lots of employees.
In the 12 months that followed we changed our entire strategy and made $500,000 selling our branding services, and we did it without the employees while working less than we had before.
Not just that, but every year since we continued to make more and work less than the previous year.
Each year we set new goals for how we want to live and work backward from those goals to mold our business to support the lifestyle we want.
The extra income and time also created space to grow my business in other ways. I wrote and marketed a best selling book, I became a speaker, I’ve written hundreds of articles on my blog and Forbes column, I learned how to build, market and successfully sell multiple online courses, and we’ve traveled to over 30 cities and countries, sometimes taking months off at a time for adventures.
All while working less than 25 hours a week.
That didn’t just happen. It happened because I MADE IT happen.
You see, Showing your business who’s boss all starts with OWNERSHIP. And no, I don't mean that you own your business.
I mean you show up and own your shit in your business.
Everything I’ve accomplished since my business “rock-bottom” moment happened because I started owning mine, and showing my business who’s boss.
I started taking responsibility for everything that was happening, starting with why clients were happily asking for proposals... and then hiring others who were cheaper.
I started owning that it wasn’t that the clients that were cheap, it was us. We either weren’t pitching the right people, we weren’t making a good enough case for them to hire us, or both.
I started owning that more money wasn’t going to solve our business problems. In those moments of desperation, had we closed a client like I desperately thought I needed, we would have been in the same situation a month later. Another client, some more money… they weren’t going to fix the FUNDAMENTAL problems in our business.
I started owning that my fear of failure, or even worse, my fear of looking like a failure, was blinding me to all the opportunities in front of me. I was so concerned with being successful according to other people’s definition of success, that I didn’t even know what success really meant for ME! I finally realized that I would never be successful until I figured that out.
I started owning that I had been operating my business for the past few years by trying things, and then crossing my fingers hoping they would work. When they didn’t work I would just throw up my hands and say “oh well, it didn’t work” and then move on to the next option, instead of trying again until I MADE it work.
I started owning that all the mistakes I had made were not mistakes, they were actually HUGE, VALUABLE lessons that could teach me how to build a really strong business, if I would only LISTEN.
I started owning that if I wanted to be a business owner, I needed to operate like a business owner. That means understanding that the service you provide is the product, NOT the business. The business is the machine: the brand, money, the process, the marketing, and the sales. If I wanted to show my business who was boss, I needed to be the boss of a business and not just try to hock our services to whomever was willing to pay for them.
Shifting from being at the mercy of my business to showing it who’s boss every day since then, has been THE difference between constantly hustling while fearful of things not working, to feeling like I can hold my entire business in my hand, and manipulate it to do what I want.
And as what I want evolves and changes, I can use my business to fulfill those new goals.
How would you feel if you had that kind of power and control over your business? If you felt like you could use it as a tool to get what you want, instead of this hungry beast that you are constantly trying to feed?
How could you use your business to both fulfill you, AND enjoy your life more?
Steve helped switch the light on for me that night, and if you let me, I’m going to switch that light on for you, and every service expert who is fed up with struggling to get the results they want from their business.
It’s about how you show up each day, looking for possibilities and opportunities where others see problems and challenges. It’s about taking ownership so you can make decisions from a place of power and confidence. It’s about showing up ready to kick ass and take names like the boss you were meant to be.
If you want more of that in your business, then I started this podcast to inspire you to start showing your business who’s boss. | |||
| 14 May 2020 | EP 02: Natasa Lekic – Imposter Syndrome, Priorities, and Building Your Mistake Muscle | 01:05:32 | |
Every business owner suffers from Impostor Syndrome--that feeling that you’re a fraud and it’s only a matter of time until everyone else finds out.
Yes, believe it or not, even I feel that way on a regular basis.
And so does my guest today–my dear friend and the founder of NY Book Editors--Natasa Lekic. Despite those fraudy feelings, Natasa knows how to show her business who’s boss.
Natasa is one of my only business owner friends who, whenever I text her midday, midweek, I’m surprised if she’s actually working.
Her business is lean and full of automation and systems that, as she puts it, renders her basically useless. She has one full-time employee, one part-time employee, and 35 contractors. Her business gives her a beautiful lifestyle – she brings in about $750,000 a year and last year she did it while taking 2 full months off to travel to 7 different countries.
NY Book Editors is the premier affiliation of professional editors and copy editors that help authors meet their writing goals. Her editors have worked for Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, their booklists include New York Times Bestsellers, winners of the Pulitzer Prize, and my book–Badass Your Brand. I can personally attest to how badass her business really is.
Despite her badassery, Natasa isn’t immune from feeling like a fraud or even making mistakes. None of us are–and that makes today’s conversation an important one.
If you are thinking about writing a book or have one in the pipeline, definitely go to newyorkbookeditors.com for their amazing articles, and maybe even to find an editor for your book! Plus you should definitely check out Natasa on their YouTube channel for stellar writing advice and inspiration.
You'll also find her interview with me there, where I share all kinds of juicy details about how I self-published and then self-marketed my book and got 100 reviews on Amazon in the first month.
*Note* That quote at the end of the episode about the meaning of life (that I couldn’t remember who said it) it was Picasso that said that after all!!
Listen to the full episode to hear:
Natasa’s Links:
Pia’s Links:
| |||
| 14 May 2020 | EP 03: Stacey Brooke – Putting In Your Time, Building A Business Without Sacrificing Adventure, And Why Every Business Is A Marketing Business | 01:11:36 | |
Your business can either force you into a life you don’t love. Or, it can bankroll a lifestyle that allows you to do the things you love, visit the places that excite you, and take control of your long-term goals.
On today’s episode, I’m talking to fellow New Yorker, dear friend, and boss of her business Stacey Brooke.
Stacey’s company, College Essay Advisors, helps college applicants present their most polished and intriguing selves by crafting effective college essays to get admissions to their dream schools.
She started her business as a freelance advisor in 2004 and took it full time in 2014. She now has one full-time employee and 20 independent advisors she brings on for projects. While keeping her operation lean and efficient she’s been able to grow 50% year over year!
I personally wouldn’t trust my kid's essay with anyone else!
Listen to the full episode to hear:
Stacey’s links:
Pia’s Links:
| |||
| 14 May 2020 | EP 04: Priya Malani – Cursing In Your Brand, Going Viral, And How Having A Strong Liver Is Good For Business | 01:06:07 | |
Going viral can make or break a business. It’ll make it if you’re prepared to cash in on the attention. It’ll break it if you don’t have the balls to follow through.
My guest today was not only prepared to cash in but to take a big leap of faith into a new dream for her brand and her business.
Pia Malani is one of my earliest Brandup clients, who has since become one of my besties, Rebel of Wall street, and boss of her business.
Priya is the owner of Stash Wealth, a financial firm for HENRYs™ (High Earners, Not Rich Yet) She’s a sought-after thought leader in the Millennial Money arena by some of the nation’s largest publications. She has been featured hundreds of times everywhere from mainstream news sources like Fortune, Wall Street Journal and CNBC, to entertainment and lifestyle brands like the NYPost, Bustle, SiriusXM, and Refinery29.
Listen to the full episode to hear:
Priya’s Links:
Pia’s Links: | |||
| 21 May 2020 | EP 05: Ciara Pressler – The Allure Of Outsourcing, The Marketing Racket, and Whether Anyone Deserves to be a Business Owner | 01:07:43 | |
Do you embrace marketing and selling? Do you relish the chance to share what you do with the people who need it?
Or are you hoping to pass off marketing and selling to someone else as quickly as possible?
Hiring an expert to help with marketing and sales can be a great idea, but only if you’ve gotten your hands dirty and taken the time to learn–and embrace–it first.
Maybe you read some books, take a course or two, or hire a coach to help you beef up your marketing and sales skills. Jumping in the deep end with marketing and sales might just be your first step in showing your business who's boss.
The truth is that there’s a whole marketing racket waiting to take advantage of you and your cash flow just because you want to get marketing and sales off your plate. But a real boss invests time and energy into knowing what works before you outsource it.
I sat down with my friend Ciara Pressler–an amazing entrepreneur and successful author–to talk about marketing your business, the allure of outsourcing, how to not get taken advantage of by the marketing racket, and so much more.
Ciara is the founder of Pregame and author of Game Plan: Achieve Your Goals in Life, Career, and Business. She advises entrepreneurs, business leaders, and creative professionals on creating their personal Game Plan for success and is disrupting the coaching industry with an innovative model that makes expert business and marketing coaching accessible to game-changers at all levels of business.
Listen to the full episode to hear:
Ciara’s Links:
Pia’s Links:
| |||
| 28 May 2020 | EP 06: Amie Sheridan – Doubling Your Email List, Clicking "Publish" On Your First Blog Article, and Personal Branding Opportunities In A Pandemic | 01:04:27 | |
Showing your business who’s boss during a global crisis can be done—and done well.
And although it might feel counterintuitive as you see the economy fall and rise and fall again, your ideal clients are out there waiting for you.
So what does it take to get their attention and grow your clientele—now and in the future?
It takes confidence and using your unique voice. It takes showing up and doing the work. And it’s about building your reputation.
But don’t just take my word for it.
Today on the podcast, I chat with Amie Sheridan who did exactly that. Just last year, Amie founded Technically Sports to help sports industry leaders up their content game and make an impact and her business has truly thrived during the quarantine. Prior to founding her business, Amie worked a high profile career for the NHL, Comcast/NBC Regional Sports Networks, and regularly contributed to Sports Business Journal.
Amie is also a badass client of mine. This is the first time I’ve brought a client on the podcast and I wanted to bring Amie on as an amazing example of what’s possible in your business—in less than a year—when you commit to building your badass brand online.
In this episode, Amie shares what moves she made to grow her business online, how she upped her business game, and why now was the best time to show her business who’s boss.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Amie:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 11 Jun 2020 | EP 07: Amanda Neville – What It Really Takes to Build a 7-Figure Agency, When Creative Genius Isn't Enough, and This Pinot is Your Guilty Pleasure | 01:02:26 | |
When was the last time you brainstormed marketing ideas just for fun?
As entrepreneurs, we are primed to always think about what works first—we look at what we’ve done and continue doing it into the future.
But what if focusing on what amuses you or what inspires you opens you up to more interesting and badass ways of marketing and doing business?
Maybe you’re afraid. I get it: sometimes I am too, but, I remind myself that not everything is going to work. Not everything is going to get you results.
Whether it gets the results you were looking for or not, it’s the whole getting used to trying new things that can be incredibly valuable to the long term success of your business.
And that might just be your first step in showing your business who's boss.
On today’s episode, I’m talking to my dear friend, fellow Brooklynite, and badass boss of her businesses (yes, businesses!), Amanda Neville. Not only is Amanda the founder and lead strategist of Three Furies, a 7-figure branding, marketing, and communications consulting agency but also the founder of Tipsy, a fun and friendly neighborhood wine store in Brooklyn.
Amanda’s agency business is the complete opposite of mine in terms of structure, types of clients we serve and what we’re going for—yet, the fundamentals are so strikingly similar that I knew having her on the show would provide some awesome takeaways.
And just wait to hear more about her wine store—Amanda creates some super fun brand stories that will definitely inspire you to think about your marketing differently.
So without further ado, let’s dig into it!
Tune into this episode to hear:
Links:
Learn more about Amanda:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 04 Jun 2020 | Where I Stand: Black Lives Matter | 00:02:14 | |
Showing your business who’s boss is about showing up every day in your business asking how can I make something happen, not wondering if it will happen or hoping it will happen or feeling like it won’t happen because of a million reasons. That’s the same kind of tenacity with which I want to approach doing my part to fix the injustices in our society.
I’m not going to release an episode today. Instead, I just wanted to share with you, in case you don’t know, where I stand on this issue.
I stand with everybody who is discriminated against, who doesn’t have access to the same opportunities and resources that other people do, and certainly with the families of anybody who has been hurt or killed by people of authority because of the color of their skin. Specifically, I believe Black lives matter and I fiercely condemn police violence against Black people and people of color.
I stand with them, and I’m working on putting together a long-lasting plan to make sure that I am consistently supporting this movement from now on.
I’ll return next week with another episode of Show Your Business Who’s Boss where my mission is to empower individuals to grow profitable businesses. Profitable business owners tend to have a larger platform and more economic agency and have the potential to be powerful players in this movement as well.
In the meantime, I highly recommend checking out some of the amazing podcasts out there hosted by people of color. NPR's Code Switch, specifically their latest episode called A Decade of Watching Black People Die, is a great start. I’m also seeking out more Black and POC voices for my podcast feed and will be linking to some more recommendations in the show notes as well.
Thank you for listening.
Podcasts to learn from:
Places to donate: | |||
| 25 Jun 2020 | EP 09: Carolyn Herfurth – Entertaining Off-The-Table Ideas, Becoming Unattached To Your Email List, and Figuring Out "What's Next" in a Successful Business | 01:15:34 | |
How often do you entertain a “crazy” idea, shrug it off as impossible, and move onto the next thing? Most of the time, we park those ideas at the back of our minds for good.
They’re too impractical, too impossible, too wild…
We’re afraid of even entertaining them.
But what if those wild ideas are the seeds of a new product offering, a new way of doing business, or even a different way of doing life?
It’s time to embrace those WILD ideas for your business—and even your life—and give them room to breathe. Listen to them. Hear what they have to offer.
You never know: the mindset of experimentation might be the best tool for showing your business who’s boss.
On today’s episode I’m talking with one of my coaches, someone I truly look up to, and boss of her business, Carolyn Herfurth.
A strategic business coach for women, Carolyn, works with 6- and 7-figure business owners who want to pivot to their next level of growth—but don't see a clear path. She’s a pro at spotting opportunities and crafting new revenue streams with offers you’ll love just as much as your ideal clients love to buy them.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Carolyn:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 18 Jun 2020 | EP 08: Chiquita Brujita – Privilege, Spreading Joy, and Building A Community-Driven Business | 01:03:40 | |
The people we regularly spend time with and the media that we consume no doubt influences our perception of the world. And when we follow a narrow set of people and news outlets, our default perspective is skewed.
So now is the time to question: how do these people, perspectives, and media limit me? How do they affect my decision making? How do they hold me and my business back?
It’s also the time to break out of our bubble to seek out more diverse opinions, perspectives, and approaches—not just because it’s good for business but because it’s the right thing to do.
And that might just be your next step in showing your business who’s boss.
That’s why I wanted to bring on one of my oldest college friends on the podcast. Chiquita Brujita is the owner of Brooklyn Brujeria which, at its core, is built around supporting the arts and building community. She is a woman who shows UP as a total boss in whatever situation she’s in.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Chiquita Brujita:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 02 Jul 2020 | EP 10: Jean Tang – Repurposing Content, Hiring a Copywriter, and When Good Content Is Just Not Possible | 01:00:10 | |
Creating a single piece of quality content takes a TON of time.
And, as entrepreneurs, we only have so much time to devote to content creation.
Sure—you can hire a copywriter to do it for you —but you can always get more bang for your buck by repurposing your content, therefore, stretching out the initial time you put into it.
Here’s an example. Right now, I write an article for Forbes every week. Because of the time it takes to create something that I feel good about, I have pretty much forgone writing anything for my own website.
But with repurposing, there are quick, easy ways to create multiple pieces of content from a single article—without spending too much time doing it.
On today’s episode, I’m talking with a long time friend, neighbor, and boss of her business, Jean Tang. 10 years ago, Jean founded MarketSmiths to provide insightful, inclusive content to help corporations grow. She, along with her team of 16 copywriters, create badass, razor-sharp strategy, impenetrable logic, and a devastating charm offensive at scale.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Jean:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 09 Jul 2020 | EP 11: Brett Lavender – Influence, Being Your Brand, and How to Command the Attention of Any Room | 00:59:24 | |
For a moment, think about the last conversation you had.
Maybe it was with a client, a family member, or a stranger. Now think about how you communicate beyond what you say. How often do you make eye contact? When do you avoid it? What does your tone of voice sound like? What do you do with your arms or your stance?
If you can’t remember, that’s totally normal! They say that 90% of communication is non-verbal and most of the time it’s subconscious, too. We just operate on auto-pilot.
But what if we could bring an awareness to the way we show up in our conversations, regardless of who we’re talking to? In my experience, working on my non-verbal communication skills has been a hugely impactful way to show my business who’s boss.
On today’s episode, I’m speaking with the man responsible for turning me into the badass speaker than I am: Brett Lavender. Through his company, The Persuasive Lion, Brett trains thought leaders, business owners, and everyday people on how to become a persuasive and effective leader through communication.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Brett:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 16 Jul 2020 | EP 12: Paige Wilhide – Video Marketing, Improv, and Losing the Travel Bug | 00:47:45 | |
An incredible 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute and almost 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube every single day.
Crazy, right?!
And while those numbers might seem intimidating, it’s also motivation to start doing more video for your business. Video is one of the fastest ways to connect with your audience and build trust… and trust is what leads to sales.
Though video isn’t right for everyone, if you know you could crush it, I urge you to take this opportunity to consider whether it could be your next step in showing your business who’s boss.
On today’s episode, I’m speaking with video marketing guru and total boss of her business, Paige Wilhide.
Paige is a storyteller, content creator, and video coach who’s dedicated to helping you get out of your head and in front of the camera so you can make amazing videos that grow your business. She coaches mission-driven entrepreneurs and influencers on everything from content strategy to at-home video production to camera confidence.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Paige:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 23 Jul 2020 | EP 13: Evan Horowitz – Building Awareness, Living Courageously, and Using Business as a Personal Growth Gym | 00:53:58 | |
We all know that being a business owner means constantly being forced to face your fears, try new things, and fail… then try again and again and again.
These challenges force us to grow—even if we’re not paying attention.
Now imagine how impactful, effective, and powerful you could be in your business if you intentionally welcomed those challenges and that failure because you wanted the growth that came with it?
How powerful would it be to notice each day how you’re feeling and use that information to inform how you show up the next day and the day after that?
Well, my friends, that might be exactly what you need to show your business who’s boss.
Today, I’m delighted to speak with someone who sees business as a personal growth gym and one of my first business coaches, the person who actually helped me coin the phrase “Badass Brands” back in 2013, boss of his business Evan Horowitz.
Evan is a serial entrepreneur, Harvard MBA, personal development junkie, growth advisor for entrepreneurs, and CEO of Movers+Shakers, an award-winning video marketing agency that’s all about spreading joy, TikToking, and breaking engagement records. His agency is behind the most viewed TikTok video—at 11 billion views—and Ad Week called it the most influential campaign on TikTok!
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Evan Horowitz:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 30 Jul 2020 | EP 14: Cole Hauptfuhrer – The Importance of Focus, How to Multiply Your Money, and One Life-Changing Week On a Cruise Ship | 01:22:57 | |
Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy in our business.
We’re afraid to fail... so we don’t try new things.
We’re fearful about putting ourselves out there… so we don’t launch new projects.
We hold ourselves back from what’s possible when we swim in circles around that fear—especially when we allow it to keep us from taking action towards growth.
If you resonate with that, you’re not alone.
Fear is a common experience for many entrepreneurs—we even talked about fear and using our businesses as a tool for personal growth with Evan Horowitz in Episode 13.
But if you’re finding that fear is holding you back from taking action, it might be a good time to seek out someone who pushes you into the deep end, who believes in your capacity, and who encourages you and keeps it real. That person can be a friend, a family member, or even a business coach—whatever works! Having someone on your side who’s willing to say things you don’t want to hear might be just what you need to show your business who’s boss.
On today’s episode, I’m excited to speak with an old friend of mine and Steve’s, someone who rented a desk in our office, whose business we branded long ago, general boss of his life and business, Cole Hauptfuhrer.
Cole is the Chief Executive Fishmonger of Find Fat Fish, where he has been popping people’s stock cherries since 2010. He’s the author of 12 Steps to Your First Stock and the Supreme Leader of the Your First Stock Workshop.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Cole Hauptfuhrer:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 06 Aug 2020 | EP 15: Ramon Ray – The Joy of the Smart Hustle, Building Fan Base, and Thriving in the Life You Want | 00:52:36 | |
Most entrepreneurs are addicted to the hustle.
They think that a never ending to-do list of writing email newsletters, queuing up the next Facebook ad campaign, tweeting their latest blog post, and launching new programs is the foundation to success and path to fulfillment.
That’s not to say those aren’t effective at growing your business—and they might be just what you need to do to show your business who’s boss…
… but what if there’s a smarter way to hustle?
What if we skip the to-do list?
And, what if we find that by skipping the hustle as-is and take a smarter approach that we build our fan base, strengthen our skills, and heighten our brand all in one fell swoop?
On today’s episode, I’m chatting with an old friend from my networking days, Ramon Ray. Ramon is the founder of Smart Hustle Media, a content platform for small businesses. He’s also a global speaker, event host and producer, and the best selling author of Celebrity CEO.
When I think of Ramon, I think of one of the best networkers I know and his track record shows it. Not only is he a highly sought after commentator on marketing, technology, mindset, startup, and more—his expertise and networking skills have taken him to the White House to present to the President’s staff, he’s testified to Congress, he was with Ivanka Trump in India for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, and he even interviewed President Obama in his first live video chat.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Ramon Ray:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 13 Aug 2020 | EP 16: Jake Jorgovan – Using Personality Tests With a Team, Visualizing a Future, and Doing More Than One Thing Well | 00:45:56 | |
Anyone can take a personality test.
I bet you’ve taken quite a few yourself before. They’re easily accessible, insightful, and entertaining. Rarely, though, do people take what they’ve learned and applied it practically into their lives.
But what if we did?
What if you applied the information to structure your work day, what you work on and what you outsource, and even what your business should focus on?
Spending the majority of your time working on things in your zone of genius is a great way to be more effective AND more fulfilled—and that might just be your next step to showing your business who’s boss. Today’s guest is a huge proponent of personality tests and a total boss of his business, Jake Jorgovan. Jake is a serial entrepreneur, author, podcaster, and business advisor and the Founder of Lead Cookie, Content Allies, and Arete Incubator. Through these companies he’s generated $40M+ in sales for his clients. He’s also the host of the Working Without Pants Podcast and shares the raw lessons of his entrepreneurial journey at Jake-Jorgovan.com.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Jake Jorgovan:
Learn more about Pia:
Other resources from this episode:
| |||
| 20 Aug 2020 | EP 17: John DeMato – Persuasive Visual Story, Pivoting During COVID, and Capturing the Magic Shot | 01:02:46 | |
Do the photos of you online represent the best you?
Are they representing you like a true expert?
Do they let your personality shine through or are they a little stiff?
It’s not uncommon for business owners to grab a camera and have their friends take a few shots for their website or simply open selfie mode on their iPhone and upload the best of the shots to their social media accounts.
These kinds of pictures do the trick—but, as you’ll hear today, having a persuasive and cohesive visual strategy across all your online channels takes more than a nice photo or two.
On today’s episode, I’m excited to introduce branded lifestyle portrait and virtual photographer, John Demato. John collaborates with speakers, trainers, and other expert-based business owners to create an emotional connection with their audience through persuasive visual storytelling.
John helped me get over my fear of the camera and has shot most of the photos of me online, including my book cover. And as you’ll hear in the episode, I cannot tell you how powerful it was for my brand to get a library full of branded lifestyle photos and how quickly it helped me level up in the eye of my audience.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about John DeMato:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 27 Aug 2020 | EP 18: Dov Gordon – Leveraging Your Network for Profit, Where to Put Your Efforts, and the Alchemy of Building Relationships | 00:50:57 | |
Are you strategically networking to get clients?
If you’re just starting out, networking is a great short-term client-hunting strategy and one that I recommend often. But if you’re going out there and throwing spaghetti at the wall, hoping to connect with the right people by random, you might be wasting your time and effort.
Without a strategy, your networking efforts could possibly derail you from making progress and actually building your business in a smart and sustainable way.
To show your business who’s boss, anything you spend a lot of time doing needs to have some sort of bigger, long-term strategy behind it.
On today’s episode, I’m excited to speak with the master of leveraging relationships and turning them into profit with the boss of his business, Dov Gordon.
Dov helps consultants get ideal clients by becoming “under-the-radar” leaders in their industry by building what he calls an alchemy network of highly vetted, ideal clients and referral partners. He runs a number of these groups himself and he coaches consultants on how to start and run their own profitable alchemy network for consistent referrals.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Dov Gordon:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 03 Sep 2020 | EP 19: Renee Sieli – Going Against PR Traditions, Learning When to Say No, and The Power of Self-Discipline | 01:25:58 | |
Do you want to be seen as the authority in your space?
Then you need to be the authority!
And, truthfully, becoming the authority you’re meant to be all comes down to self-discipline in your life and business. You can go so much further by just keeping your word to yourself, showing up, and doing the work every day.
Not sure where to start with self-discipline?
Choose one thing and commit to it for 30 days. That’s it. And if you miss a day? Start over on day one. If that doesn’t sound appealing, I get it! I am VERY resistant to being told what to do—even if I’m telling myself to do it. But I found that by committing to myself, I grew my self-confidence and self-esteem.
On today’s episode, I'm chatting with my dear friend and boss of her business, Renee Sieli, all about the power of self-discipline and how she runs her super badass boutique PR firm, ERPR Group, that specializes in finance, technology, media, and entertainment.
I won’t give it away here but she has a very unique business model that blows other PR companies out of the water and can serve as an inspiration to anyone running a small service business on how to really stand out as an expert and get paid the big bucks.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Renee Sieli:
Learn more about Pia:
Other resources from this episode: | |||
| 10 Sep 2020 | EP 20: Jesse Sommer – Contracting Coronavirus in Afghanistan, Engaging with Fear, and A Different Approach to Personal Growth | 01:15:25 | |
Fear: an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or a threat.
Fear is a pretty common human experience. Yes, it keeps us safe but it also keeps us from doing things that could have a positive impact on our lives, too.
Think about, for example, taking bold steps towards a business goal. Maybe you want to appear on 10 podcasts this quarter. But, the first step is to actually put yourself out there and open yourself up to rejection.
That’s where many people stop—they’re afraid that the no’s will cause them pain and therefore they’d rather avoid it altogether.
But sometimes facing the fear, knowing that you can do hard things, is the best way to grow into the person who might not fear that thing again in the future.
Take it from my friend, Captain Jesse Sommer, who will share some of the ways he’s overcome fear through his experience in the U.S. Army. Jesse is a command judge advocate and Paratrooper who just returned from another tour in Afghanistan where he contracted COVID so we are happy to have him back state-side, safe and sound.
Jesse’s also a JD/MBA and small business owner and, as you’ll hear, a bit of an accolade whore with a 20-year life-plan unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere else.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Jesse Sommer:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 17 Sep 2020 | EP 21: Amanda Silver – How To Stop Dwelling On Why It Can’t Work and Get Into the Driver’s Seat Of Your Business | 01:01:16 | |
What happens when you realize that you don’t like what you offer anymore?
Do you jump ship and try something new?
Or does fear hold you back from making moves?
More often than not, entrepreneurs get stuck in thinking that this offer is the only thing people will hire them for—and by leaving it behind, you’re leaving money on the table.
But imagine for a second if all the parts of your business you loved could actually bring you MORE money, if only you could get creative in how to present and deliver it?
Figuring out how to make it happen, instead of dwelling on why it can’t, is what it means to get in the driver's seat, and what it looks like to show your business who’s boss
Today I’m chatting with a client who I’ve had the pleasure of coaching on and off for over a year now, and have excitedly watched her step into being the badass boss of her business, Amanda Silver.
Amanda is a leadership consultant, coach and trainer for social change leaders and organizations, and she is passionate about creating thriving teams and cultures that get things done. Her unique approach focuses on heart and mind leadership and draws on expertise in mindfulness, emotional-intelligence, and strength-based mindsets.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Amanda Silver:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 24 Sep 2020 | EP 22: The Effect Our Money Stories Have On How We Spend, Invest, and Save or Don't Save | 00:45:16 | |
What’s your money story?
Money stories originate from events and people in our past—like our parents or primary caregivers—and they often shape our mindset around money in the present.
These stories influence how we spend our money, invest, save or don’t save, and how we feel about money—as well as all of our hangups and issues around money.
In this episode, I’m going to talk all about my own money stories—starting with when I found out that my dad was an accountant—and how my relationship with money has evolved over time.
Interestingly, the reason I talk about money so much is that it’s the tool for getting all the things I actually want—which, ironically, have nothing to do with money. Money opens up time and freedom and it’s a tool to be able to work on projects that I want.
Tune into this solo episode with Pia to hear:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources mentioned in this episode:
| |||
| 01 Oct 2020 | EP 23: Melanie Gow – Telling Stories That Change Lives and Harnessing The Unstoppable Power Of The Spotlight | 01:19:35 | |
Imagine this—you’re on the TEDx stage, sharing your powerful message with the world...
What would your story be about?
What would you say? What would your life look like up until that point where you could draw on all your incredible life experiences to empower and inspire others?
Right now, this might feel a little fuzzy.
You might not know exactly what you would want to say. And that’s OK! You’d be amazed at how setting a goal to commit to getting on stage—whether in the next six months or the next 6 years—can ignite you from within.
Being seen as a leader on stage—delivering your powerful story—can change the trajectory of your life, both personally and professionally.
Today, I’m delighted to talk with Melanie Gow. In some worlds, she’s known as a Story Strategist and TEDx Coach—but, in her world, Melanie believes that she makes Legends. Melanie connects people to their boldest message, so that they can harness the unstoppable power of the spotlight.
Melanie is an ex film maker, published author and crowd-funded publisher, best known for walking her two sons 800km over the Pyrenees and across Spain for 33 days, when they were 12 and 16.
And, yes, she gave a TEDx talk about it.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Melanie Gow:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 08 Oct 2020 | EP 24: Susan Boles – Positioning as an Entry Point, Unconventional Strategies for Your Business' Ecosystem, and Embracing Process | 01:08:16 | |
Behind the scenes you bring a ton of expertise and value to the table.
And when you’re marketing your business, you might want to showcase that expertise—whatever your unique combination of skills and talents you have that make your business, well, YOURS—like it’s the only thing that makes you different.
But what you might not know is that positioning yourself as the expert of all the things might work against you. That’s why it’s essential to reposition your work by narrowing in on who you want to work with and what you want to help them do.
When we repositioned our agency-style branding company, we went from serving huge clients to only selling Brandups to 1-3 service businesses. The work was almost entirely the same but the process in which we delivered it, who it was for, and what it was called were all more specific.
Today’s guest, Susan Boles, went through a similar experience. The way she presents herself has evolved over the years; however, the core of the work hasn’t changed all that much at all.
Susan is a Virtual CFO and Finance and Operations Strategist for agencies, consultants & coaches at ScaleSpark and she's on a mission to help founders build sustainable, resilient businesses that punch above their weight.
She's also the host of the Break the Ceiling podcast, the show that breaks down unconventional strategies you can use to save time, boost your profit, and increase your operational capacity.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Susan Boles:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 15 Oct 2020 | EP 25: Rachael Wonderlin – What's Possible: Stop Trading Dollars for Hours and Start Scaling Your Business with Confidence and Clarity | 01:27:18 | |
Scenario One: You’re still trading hours for dollars. You’re trying to do everything in your business yourself. You’re fearful of saying anything too aggressive or opinionated—it might scare potential paying clients away.
Scenario Two: You don’t feel icky about giving your work or time away—for free. You outsource what’s needed so you can actually concentrate on what you do BEST. You own your voice and trust yourself 100% because you’re a BOSS at what you do.
Do either of those scenarios sound like you? Chances are, you’re in scenario number one. BUT, like one of my clients, you can learn to embrace everything in the second scenario so you can show your business who’s boss.
In 2019, my client Rachael Wonderlin was the person in scenario one. But she learned how to embrace what she does best, put processes and boundaries in place, and really stepped into the role of boss of her business. Now, she’s selling lead products, 6-month contracts and online training programs for tens of thousands of dollars that require almost none of her time.
Rachael is the owner of Dementia By Day, a dementia care consulting company. She is the author of two published books, Creative Engagement and When Someone You Know Is Living in a Dementia Care Community. Rachael works with senior living companies who want to take their dementia care communities and programs to the next level. She’s also the creator of the Dementia By Day Podcast and the Dementia By Day “Car Chats” YouTube channel.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Rachael Wonderlin:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 22 Oct 2020 | EP 26: Ilana Preuss – What's Possible: Building Authority Online and Owning Your Brand and Voice | 01:04:38 | |
When you own your brand and voice, you are seen as the authority in your space.
And when you’re the go-to celebrity?
EVERYONE wants to hire you—and they’ll pay whatever high prices you want.
But if you haven’t been showing your business who’s boss, you might be stuck in a pattern of feast and famine. You might be hustling to get clients with tons of emails, calls, and proposals—or so busy working for your clients that it feels impossible to do business development for future clients.
Inevitably, this style of working cycles over and over again. The hustle never stops.
Thankfully, there’s another way to take your business to the next level—through building your authority online so you’re seen as a respected expert in your space.
This is exactly what today’s guest went through—from doing really well to struggling to make sense of her business offerings—to well-known and booked out two months in advance. Who doesn’t want that?! And she made that happen by staying laser focused on building her celebrity status by sharing her value online in talks and in articles.
Today, I’m so excited to be speaking with Badass Business owner, Ilana Preuss.
Ilana’s company, Recast City, helps bring local “main street” economies back to life by partnering with local leaders to bring businesses back to downtown, particularly small-scale manufacturing businesses. It’s fascinating work—unlike anything anyone else I’ve worked with—and it’s been equally fascinating to watch her apply these badass brand and business principles to her company, especially because nobody in her space is doing anything like this.
Ilana is also the author of the forthcoming book, Recast Your City: How to Save Your Downtown with Small-Scale Manufacturing, being released by Island Press in spring 2021.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Ilana Preuss:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 29 Oct 2020 | EP 27: Michelle Mercurio – What's Possible: Align Your Message, Lead With What Inspires You, and Make Room for "Great" | 00:56:00 | |
Do you want to let go of what’s holding you back from being the most badass business owner you can be and align your purpose and create your legacy?
It’s possible and it starts with getting to know YOU. The REAL you.
2020 has dealt a lot of challenges for entrepreneurs. Businesses are shuttering across the country. In the “What’s Possible” series here on the podcast, I’m chatting with entrepreneurs who’ve experienced tremendous transformations despite everything else happening this year.
These badass entrepreneurs are members of my program, LEAP To Badass Authority. It’s pretty incredible what can happen in a year or less when you stay focused on taking leaps every day to get closer to your goals, have a support system to keep you accountable, help you make strategic decisions and pull you up when you falter.
Michelle Mercurio is a brand catalyst and co-owner of The Brand Scene where she helps transformational entrepreneurs write their brand’s story, do more of what they love and be more themselves and less of what the world expects them to be. WE can all use more of that in our business.
In 2019, hitting $100,000 was still a dream of an idea—yet after COVID hit her business, Michelle still had her best month ever in August, bringing in well over $30,000. In this episode, you’ll hear more about how she stepped up as boss of her business, letting go of the good to make room for the great, and owning her voice at a new level.
And this is possible for you, too. But there’s no silver bullet. It's the results of a thousand little decisions you make every day that add up to the life and business you want. And in each decision, doing it in a way that is true to your brand and who you are, and being seen as a celebrity expert in your space.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Michelle Mercurio:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 12 Nov 2020 | EP 28: Preparing Yourself to Take Bigger Leaps and Building Your Confidence in the Process | 00:41:00 | |
In business, there is always somewhere greater to go.
That’s why taking leaps—both big and small—is essential to growing your business and building your confidence.
I know this because I've had the experience of being terrified of something new—and doing it over and over and over again.
Taking those leaps—both small and big—gets you outside of your comfort zone. It’s about going after something you really want—or something that is true to you and who you want to be—EVEN when the outcome is scary or unknown... and you do it anyway.
If you never take a leap, if you stay comfortable with the status quo, there’s only so far you can go. But when you bank true confidence in yourself, ANYTHING is possible.
The more often you take the leap that, the more times you have that experience and the more your body—not just your mind—learns that it doesn't matter if things do or don't work out exactly the way you want. You're always going to be okay.
And every time you face adversity, or you have a failure, and you get up and do something else and eventually something good comes out of it? THAT’S where the real work is. That’s where the confidence comes from. That’s where the business you want is created. Tune into this solo episode with Pia to hear:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources mentioned in this episode:
| |||
| 19 Nov 2020 | EP 29: Ediuska Laurens – What's Possible: Leverage Your Expertise, Lean Into Your Big Vision, and Build a Purpose-Driven Business | 01:10:45 | |
You DON’T need to do things just like your peers. And actually—you SHOULDN’T!
By taking a leap and doing things differently—even if you’re just getting started in a new business—you stand out which goes a LONG way in getting noticed. And getting noticed means getting tons of recognition through speaking engagements, awards, and panel invites that show her off as an expert, just as our guest will share it this episode!
In the “What’s Possible” series here on the podcast, I’m chatting with entrepreneurs who’ve experienced tremendous transformations despite everything else happening this year through my program LEAP To Badass Authority.
These badass entrepreneurs are members of my program, LEAP To Badass Authority. It’s pretty incredible what can happen in a year or less when you stay focused on taking leaps every day to get closer to your goals, have a support system to keep you accountable, help you make strategic decisions and pull you up when you falter.
Today I’m speaking with Badass Business owner, Dr. Ediuska Laurens. Ediuska is an entrepreneur, innovator, and two-time patent holder with expertise in medical device product development, regulation, and quality—and she wants to use the magical powers of SCIENCE & know how of INDUSTRY, to help the most vulnerable populations.
She has a BS in Aerospace Engineering, and MS in Mechanical Engineering, and a doctorate in Biomedical Engineering, and she spent nearly a decade at the Fortune 500 medical firm, Stryker, leading a global team that developed pediatric Craniomaxillofacial implants from concept to global commercialization. So needless to say, she’s got the chops and the background to make big things happen.
Ediuska is the founder of Genius Shield, a compliance management and regulatory readiness company that shields and de-risk medical innovators and investors so they can launch compliant medical solutions seamlessly and safely to the global market.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 26 Nov 2020 | EP 30: Why Giving Thanks is a Super Power | 00:10:44 | |
In honor of Thanksgiving, I wanted to share some thank yous of my own as well as share how giving thanks has been a HUGE super power in my life. It’s my go-to exercise whenever I’m feeling stressed or low-energy.
I truly believe that daily gratitude and giving thanks is something we all need more of to show up for ourselves and show up for those in our communities.
My favorite daily exercise is pretty much a daily gratitude journal but I put my own spin on it—you’ll have to listen to the episode to get all the juicy details on what I mean.
Whenever I don’t feel 100%, it’s one of the only things that makes me feel better and it’s SO easy!
I’ve truly seen MANY clients who started up this practice and it had an obvious and sustained effect on how they felt and how they approach their life once they committed to doing this for just a few weeks.
Thank you for being a part of my world. I hope you enjoy a delicious meal with the people you love today—even if we have to keep the groups small this year.
Happy Thanksgiving! Tune into this solo episode with Pia to hear:
| |||
| 03 Dec 2020 | EP 31: James Heaton – Holding Ourselves Accountable, Continuous Learning, and the Real Value of Our Failures | 01:35:24 | |
It’s almost 2021 and that means it’s the PERFECT time to make a plan and set goals.
Where can you declutter and make space for the badass business building activities that will serve you and your goals?
What processes, software, product offerings or tasks have you been doing for awhile that aren’t moving the needle forward in your business?
How can you hold yourself accountable, make room for learning, and embrace your failures to move forward?
I will tell you: focus is your friend!
Too many people are overwhelmed in their business because they have so much to do—and yet, most of their activities aren’t moving the needle at all. And yet they continue to do the same thing over and over with the same lackluster results. Cue the sad face.
If this sounds like you, then it’s even more important to focus because that is a good next step if you want to show your business who’s boss.
Today, I’m chatting with James Heaton, a friend I picked up from back in my networking days. James is the Lead Strategist & Creative Director of Tronvig Group, a brand strategy and management consulting agency in Brooklyn.
Drawing on his 23 years of branding experience, James developed the Tronvig Method. Its first step is a Brand Pyramid. This tool enables strategic brand decisions. James believes that strategy requires not only a differentiated brand position but also the alignment of organizational passion, natural talent, and operational behavior. Only then can your brand promises be kept. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 10 Dec 2020 | EP 32: Brent Weaver – The Business Value of Focus, Less is More, and Getting the Right Advice at the Right Time | 01:02:06 | |
Recently I’ve been thinking and talking a lot about FOCUS.
It’s essential to focus on where you spend your time, how you spend it, and how—just like your closet—your business needs to be periodically decluttered.
Like I talked about in the last episode with James Heaton, people are overwhelmed because they have so much to do—and yet most of what they’re doing isn’t moving the needle. Why? Because there’s a lack of focus.
Symptoms of unfocused energy can show up your system processes, your day-to-day life, and your product offerings. That’s why it’s so important to stay on top of. When we do too much, we dilute our work and our impact.
As you can see, focus (or a lack thereof!) touches everything from the little stuff to the big stuff and is why it’s essential to reign it in so you can create a thriving, badass business.
Today, I’m excited to have someone on the show who just wrote a book about focus, author of Get Rich In The Deep End, and seriously badass business owner, Brent Weaver.
Many of you probably know Brent because he’s a big name in the branding agency world. He is the founder and CEO of UGurus, a business training and education company, and they are on a mission to help 10,000 digital agency owners achieve freedom in business and life by helping them own their market.
Brent’s had a long and successful career building and constantly reinventing his businesses for over 20 years, and I’m excited for him to share what he’s learned. Tune into this episode to hear:
| |||
| 17 Dec 2020 | EP 33: Steve Wasterval – The Journey From Being an Artist to Being an Artist Who Makes a Living With His Art | 01:33:11 | |
I hope you are all snuggled up and ready for this holiday season. I don’t know about you but that’s how I’m doing the holidays this year. Just keeping it low key and easy. I’m definitely bummed that we can’t travel and see family. I’m sure you are, too.
Every year, we usually go see my big family down in Virginia. We have 30-something people at these gatherings. I help my abuela make empanadas. We play games. My uncle Carlos tries to get us to do karaoke (it never works) but it’s still really fun.
I’m sad to miss out on all of that—especially because my son is almost three and he’s finally at an age where he can enjoy hanging out with the other kids and I don’t have to carry him around all the time.
BUT, hopefully we’ll do that next year. Steve and I are all about the deep chill in life right now anyway so we’re kind of excited to just have lots of comfort foods and warm beverages.
In honor of this time of year, I thought I would do something a little different from my other conversations and bring you in my world a little bit. I’ve been meaning to do for awhile which is why I’m happy to have my most special guest on this podcast—my partner in business and life, my source of inspiration, my biggest supporter—often my nemesis and biggest obstacle—and my all around favorite person, Steve Wasterval.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Steve Wasterval:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 24 Dec 2020 | EP 34: Steve Wasterval – Building an Audience and a Sustainable Business From Your Creative Work | 01:22:55 | |
Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!
I hope you’re enjoying your holidays—whatever you celebrate (or don’t celebrate!)
Steve and I didn’t celebrate holidays for years but now we’re all about the holiday spirit so I hope you’re getting some R&R right now.
Last week, things got personal when I had part one of my interview with my partner in business and in life, Steve Wasterval. We talked about our origin story as a couple and as collaborators.
We also dug into all kinds of stuff about his evolution from a creative who gave his paintings away, never signed them and didn’t have any knowledge of—or desire–to sell his art to being someone who is actively building a career as an artist.
This week, I’m continuing the conversation with Steve but we’re going to focus more on how he’s building his art career. We’ve applied a lot of the Badass Business strategies that I teach entrepreneurs to his art business and it’s had a huge impact!
Stay tuned because I’ll be back with part three of my convo with Steve where we’ll discuss the building of Wasterval Design and get Steve’s perspective on the whole thing for the first time EVER! Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Steve Wasterval:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 31 Dec 2020 | EP 35: The Evolution of Worst of All Design and Steve Wasterval's Perspectives on the Business Side of His Creative Work | 00:58:47 | |
Happy New Year’s Eve everyone and Happy New Year if you’re listening to this later!
Welcome to the third and final installment (for now!) of my interview with my hubby and business partner, Steve Wasterval.
In part one, Steve shared the mindset shift going from an artist to an artist who makes a sustainable living with his art through
In part two, we talked about how to build an audience and sustainable business from your creative work.
Today, we’re going to focus on our company, Worstofall Design, and how we evolved from trying to build a classic agency model business to the intensive model we have today. This model makes us a lot of money through short, intensive projects and gives us the freedom we crave to spend time doing all the other things we love to do!
Obviously, I am talking about this all the time but Steve will share his perspective on the journey as the creative, times that he was resistant to the changes I was trying to implement, which I’m sure any creatives listening will be able to relate to, and how and why he evolved and shifted to embrace this model and really sees it as the key to being able to be the free, creative artists that he wants. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Steve Wasterval:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 07 Jan 2021 | EP 36: Michael F. Schein – Secrets to Successful Propaganda, Bold Marketing Techniques, and Why You Need Them | 01:21:49 | |
Think about a group, organization, or—yes—even a cult that you find repulsive yet seem to attract a TON of attention.
Instead of focusing on what you don’t like, look at what they’re doing that engages their audience that turns them into (and sometimes psychotically) loyal fans.
Any marketing strategy that is used for bad can also be wielded for good. That’s why, as entrepreneurs, we need to be responsible in how we use these tactics to ultimately create MORE value in the world.
I believe that it’s our responsibility to drown out those that use these tactics to just make money and sell snake oil. If you’re selling something that can truly help other people, it’s your responsibility to do what it takes to be seen by your audience so they know you exist.
It’s a tough pill to swallow for most people who think self-promotion is icky… but if you don’t embrace it you’ll be stuck as the best-kept secret and those snake oil salesman will be the ones your audience buys from.
And that’s no good for anyone.
On today’s episode I’m excited to have fellow marketer, owner of marketing company Micro Fame Media, and now about to be published author, business badass Michael F. Schein!
I always love getting together with Michael. He’s such a creative thinker, an artist at heart and yet has a marketer’s mind. He’s one of those people who’s genuinely curious and interested in ideas and books. I always walk away with new inspiration and new info when I talk to him so I know you’ll enjoy this conversation.
We’re also here to celebrate the release of Michael’s brand new book, The Hype Handbook: 12 Indispensable Success Secrets From the World’s Greatest Propagandists, Self-Promoters, Cult Leaders, Mischief Makers, and Boundary Breakers, releasing on January 12th, 2021, with McGraw Hill! Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Michael F. Schein:
Learn more about Pia:
Mentioned in this episode:
| |||
| 14 Jan 2021 | EP 37: Kristina Semos – Responding to Business Challenges Due to COVID Without Devaluing Your Brand | 01:03:12 | |
2020 was challenging for SO many entrepreneurs. For service-based business owners working with other people face to face, life turned on its head back in March.
It is NOT easy to transform your business. It’s even harder to truly thrive—but today’s guest did just that in the wake of the pandemic.
Today, I’m catching up with an old client who became a friend of mine, which actually happens quite a bit—badass business owner, Kristina Semos.
You might remember her from my book, Badass Your Brand, where I shared the rebrand we did for her back in 2016. Kristina went from charging hourly and hauling butt around NYC to meet students 7 days a week to selling a lead product that positioned her as an expert and packaged services that she started delivering almost entirely remotely… ONLY 4 days a week!
Kristina owns Ivy Lounge Test Prep®, where she helps high schoolers around the globe get into the colleges of their dreams with high-end private tutoring for the SATs, ACTs and college essays.
This new model became so profitable that Kristina ended up having extra time to play with. She ended up opening a second business based on her decades-long passion for astrology and turned it into her second business, AstroOils®. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Kristina Semos:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 21 Jan 2021 | EP 38: Max Miller – The Magic of Taking Action and Reclaiming the Stories We Tell About Ourselves | 01:07:45 | |
We ALL tell ourselves stories. Usually they’re rooted in our childhood and how we were raised. Those very stories influence us in our everyday lives—and in our businesses—from how we think about money and relationships to how we relate to the world around us.
For a moment, think about the biggest stories that you carry with you. What do you believe to be true about you? And how are those stories playing out in your business right now?
I have found that once you identify the stories that are holding you back, you can actually lean into your business MORE.
For me, I realized that shaking myself loose from the fear of what other people think of me was a big reason why I built a whole business about standing out and not caring what everyone thinks. I realized that allows me to lean into following my path EVEN MORE.
On this episode, I’m speaking with storyteller, publisher, writer and badass business owner, Max Miller. I met Max years ago when we were both involved in a program about using live events and speaking to promote your message, and we connected on so many levels that we have stayed in touch.
Max has ghostwritten bestsellers for 6 and 7-figure earners. Over 15 years Max has refined his signature Magnetic Messaging Method to help experts and experienced leaders create successful enterprises and movements by leveraging books, media, and other authority platforms.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Max Miller:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 28 Jan 2021 | EP 39: Ben Potts – Running a Restaurant in the Pandemic, Spotting New Opportunities, and Starting a Consultancy Business | 01:00:35 | |
Building out a new arm of your business in the middle of a pandemic is no small feat—but sometimes it’s necessary. In recent episodes, we’ve talked to different badass business owners who transformed or pivoted their businesses in response to COVID. They shared why they pivoted, how they did it, and how they’re doing now. Today’s guest, Ben Potts, is another living example of how you can alter your business to meet your needs and your clients *right now—*and be a badass business owner all at the same time. Interestingly, Ben was able to seamlessly open a consulting company because he was already a true expert—spending decades learning every inch of the business and meeting so many people. As you’ll hear, when you’re consulting and before you’ve launched any sort of marketing, your first clients are going to be people that you already know—or people that they know! That’s why it’s essential to reach out to everyone you know that might be interested in what you’re offering. In this episode, Ben and I are going to dive into the method behind developing and launching his new program, Better Bar menu, and how he created a lucrative business before doing any kind of marketing. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Ben Potts:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 04 Feb 2021 | EP 40: Shannon Siriano Greenwood – Transforming a Business in Response to the Pandemic and Creating Unique Experiences — Offline or Online — For Your Community | 00:56:03 | |
We hear stories about how we should be, what our business should look like, what we should look like every day.
But how are those messages hindering your ability to break out and build the business you really want?
I designed my whole business, Worstofall Design, to help me truly embrace my vision for myself and my life. This helped me break free from doing things "the way things are supposed to be done" and instead create a life that jives with who I truly am and what I want.
I've found that breaking so-called rules is where the differentiation often lies.
But if you're trying so hard to do everything "right" you might be missing the opportunities that are right in front of you.
And, truly, there are no real rules, they're just stories, and the sooner you ignore them and listen to what you REALLY want, the more authentic your brand will be.
On today's episode, I'm speaking with the fabulous founder of Rebelle, rule breaker, and badass business owner, Shannon Siriano Greenwood.
I first met Shannon when she invited me to speak at Rebelle Con back in 2018 and we hit it off immediately. She's a magnetic personality which serves her well when building her Rebelle brand and community and I was so excited to have a reason to catch up with her on this podcast.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Shannon Siriano Greenwood:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 11 Feb 2021 | EP 41: Michael Roderick – Building True Influence, Creating a Referable Brand, and "Finding Your Celine" | 01:00:13 | |
When you think about your brand, how referable is it?
What makes a referable brand, you might ask? Point blank, it’s a brand that is easy to share with others. WHAT you do and WHO you serve is crystal clear—and it’s all wrapped up in a short sentence.
When I changed my business from “selling branding” to “selling 1-3 day brandups,” the referrals flowed to me like water in a way they never did before. That’s not an exaggeration!
Today’s guest is an expert in creating referable brands. This is simple but not easy stuff and I’m so grateful to have my old friend from my networking days on the podcast today to share some simple ways that will make a WORLD of difference in your business.
Michael Roderick is not only the KING of networking and connecting but he’s also the CEO of Small Pond Enterprises which helps thoughtful givers become thought leaders by making their brands referable, their messaging memorable, and their ideas unforgettable.
He is also the host of the podcast Access to Anyone which shows how you can get to know anyone you want in business and in life using time-tested relationship-building principles. And his background is pretty unique—he went from a high school English teacher to a Broadway Producer in under two years until shifting into the entrepreneur he is today.
As you’ll hear in today’s episode, if you work on the referability of your brand, that might just be your next step in showing your business who’s boss.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Michael Roderick:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 22 Feb 2021 | EP 42: Nicole Antonio-Gadsdon – Where HR Fits in a Company's Brand, "Stealing" From Copywriters, and When HR Wears the Marketing Hat with Nicole Antonio-Gadsdon | 01:04:30 | |
Creating culture in your business comes down to WHO you hire. Even if it’s just you right now, it’s SUPER helpful to think about what kind of culture you want to create in your business.
Think about it:
Are you a work-hard, play-hard kind of company?
Are you a slow and steady, balanced place to work?
What do you WANT your business to be like? Because you can make it happen NOW if you want.
I used to mindlessly roll out of bed and right into emails and had no separation between work and life. Now that I have clear boundaries, I get MORE work done—not less.
At some point I realized you can implement your goals for what you want your company culture to be EVEN when you are just one person or maybe two. And if you do that, when you ARE ready to hire you’ll be much clearer on the kind of people you are looking for and how they will help you grow the business you want.
On today’s episode I’m speaking with HR Rule Breaker, badass business owner Nicole Antonio-Gadsdon.
Once I tell you about Nicole’s business you’ll wonder why YOU didn’t niche here. Her company, Banana Pepper HR, works exclusively with independent luxury hospitality brands, private properties, and boutique hotels in the Caribbean*—smart right?*
Nicole is actually also our client, as in we designed her brand and website, and like most of the people we attract, she brings high-level expertise in a number of categories to her work which is what makes her so special.
And that’s why she has some fancy clients, including Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island hotel and private estates on Moskito Island.
You’re gonna love Nicole, and I think you’ll get a lot out of her discussion about how to find the right people to hire, and how you should look at hiring and building a team. Even if you don’t want employees, which you know I have been against for years, hiring great contractors to outsource to is critical to freeing up your time, so I know this will be valuable for you to start thinking about things differently.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Nicole Antonio-Gadsdon:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 04 Mar 2021 | EP 43: Lee Rowley – Getting Inside The Head of Your Clients, Finding The Words That Connect, and Why a Polarizing Voice Works and May Just Be What You Need | 00:41:31 | |
Ever felt like your marketing and copy was falling on deaf ears?
No clicks, no buys, no nothing. It sucks when a new product launch or campaign doesn’t go the way you want. Your sales fall flat and so does your spirit.
Of course, there’s another side to this: a world where you find the perfect words that connect with your clients by getting inside their head and they listen to every word you say and buy the things you make.
But how do you find the right words to use to get their attention?
Today’s guest is all about eavesdropping on your clients online. By learning the language they already use, it gives you insight into what will get their attention. It’s all about that specific language about a specific experience that your clients are thinking about that’s going to get them to notice you and listen to you when you speak.
Lee Rowley is The Emperor of Words. He’s also an odd duck. On one hand, he's one of the most sycophantically adored copywriters in the English-speaking world, revered for creating copy that subtly lingers in a buyer's mindspace until they HAVE to take action.
On another, he's a prolific spouter of quasi-Zen poppycock who knows all too well the sound of one hand clapping. And on a third hand (consider it an evolutionary spandrel), he's just a salty middle-aged sideshow clown keeping the Internet awash in guilty giggles. He'll teach you who your daddy is, that's for sure (and you'll probably be a better marketer, too).
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Lee Rowley:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 11 Mar 2021 | EP 44: The Best of Show Your Business Who’s Boss – Amie Sheridan | 00:30:08 | |
I was recently visiting some old podcast episodes and I found a few gem moments in our conversations that I want to replay for you now and elaborate on a little bit.
The first one that really stood out to me was a conversation I had back in June with Amie Sheridan in episode 6 (you can listen to the full episode here.) We were talking about something that really hits the nail on the head when it comes to the challenges we face as entrepreneurs: the experience of doing something new over and over and over again.
It feels like as an entrepreneur, I am pushing myself off of a cliff almost daily and having to grow wings on the way down—and that's by design. As entrepreneurs, we are constantly growing as people and also looking for ways to evolve our businesses. Because if your business is not growing and changing and evolving, then it's going to be stale and stagnant.
Marketing is changing constantly, and if you're not able to adapt, if you don't get comfortable with change, your business is going to go out of business at some point. As somebody who does a lot of marketing, I am at the forefront of all of this. I'm constantly trying new things and changing and having to let go of things that I've learned.
I mean, doing something new is always a challenge. By definition, you’re doing something that you've never done before. You're not going to be very good at something the first time around. You're very likely going to make mistakes. You're very likely going to fail at it.
But if you're an entrepreneur, you're going to have to brush yourself off and get up and do it again until you figure it out. I think what makes somebody a great entrepreneur is getting comfortable being in that uncertainty, because if you let those failures beat you down emotionally or mentally, or even physically, you'll never have the strength to get back up and try something new again.
Tune into this episode to hear:
And listen to Episode 6: Doing Something For The First Time May Be Hard But It Gets Better and You Win All Along the Way, with Amie Sheridan
Learn more about Amie:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 18 Mar 2021 | EP 45: The Best of Show Your Business Who’s Boss – Jean Tang | 00:26:28 | |
We’ve been revisiting past episodes that really stood out and today I am bringing back Episode 10 with my dear friend Jean Tang.
Jean is the owner of MarketSmiths, a copy and content writing company which now employs twenty people!
I’ve known Jean since almost the beginning, back when she was just a one-person shop. She actually wrote one of the first iterations of our website copy—I think we even bartered with her—and Steve drew the cartoon images for her TedX talk.
In this episode, we talked about creating content and copy for your brand, which you can apply to your business and we talked about the act of creating content and copy with a client, which is more about the management and presentation of creative work to clients, which you can apply to your business in a different way.
To go back and re-listen to the full episode, you can listen to it by clicking here!
Learn more about Jean:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 25 Mar 2021 | EP 46: The Best of Show Your Business Who’s Boss – Brett Lavender | 00:29:36 | |
We’ve been revisiting past episodes that really stood out and today I am bringing back my dear friend and speaking coach, Brett Lavender.
If you like the way that I sound on this podcast, you can thank Brett, because I think I would sound very different if I had not worked with him for so many years.
I want to replay this clip for you because Brett just dropped so many gems about how to adjust how you speak to be more powerful, to be more influential, to make your message land and have people perk up their ears and listen and see you as an authority.
No matter what business you're in and no matter if you're going to be a professional speaker or just always speak to people one-on-one, there is a CLEAR difference in how people react back to you when you are speaking from a position of power and when your voice carries power and conviction.
To go back and relisten to the full episode with Brett, you can listen to it by clicking here!
Learn more about Brett:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 01 Apr 2021 | EP 47: The Best of Show Your Business Who's Boss – Jesse Sommer | 00:41:56 | |
I invited Jesse onto the show right after he came back from a seven month stint in Afghanistan which happened to coincide with COVID happening so he came back to the States to a very different world and that was pretty fascinating.
I had him on because I wanted to see how he was doing and I knew he'd always have some good stories and it ended up being really applicable to a lot of the things that I find entrepreneurs are dealing with.
He starts by sharing about the first five times that he jumped out of a plane in Army Ranger school and how terrifying each of those five jumps were. I mean, literally risking his life but also almost dying in every single one and managing to keep going back. I don't know how he did that.
And that was 55 jumps ago.
It’s so powerful to hear this story, because even though it's a really different kind of fear than maybe what you and I experience every day, it reminds me of all the times I’ve done things that really scare me—and how I can’t even really remember how I felt scared of them now since I’ve done them so many times.
We’ve been revisiting past episodes that really stood out and today is the last episode in that series
Make sure to go back and re-listen to the full episode with Jesse, EP 20: Contracting Coronavirus In Afghanistan, Engaging With Fear, And A Different Approach To Personal Growth With Jesse Sommer
Learn more about Jesse:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 08 Apr 2021 | Ep 48: Dr. Cynthia Armand — Practicing Medicine, Teaching, Podcasting, Activism, Performing: Doing It All and Having a Ball | 01:09:25 | |
I’m really lucky to know a lot of amazing people.
And there are a few that aren’t technically entrepreneurs!
Dr. Cynthia Armand is my dear friend from college. We met our freshman year at the auditions for the prestigious dance troupe Precision and we were the only two freshmen to get in.
We became fast friends and eventually co-directed the dance group as seniors–something that I am extremely proud of.
These days Cynthia is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Montefiore-Einstein and the Fellowship Director at the prestigious Montefiore Headache Center here in NYC. She is on the founding board of the Society of Haitian Neuroscientists, where she also serves as Vice President.
She is the current web editor at JAMA Neurology and the host of the JAMA Neurology author interviews podcast. She is also heavily involved in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work and headache education with the American Headache Society.
Cynthia is an avid lover of neurology and health news with a strong interest in patient education as well as social media as a valuable means of patient empowerment and knowledge.
In college, it was clear that Cynthia was always going to be a doctor. She loved acting and performing but becoming a doctor always came first. It was exciting to talk with her about how these two loves came together.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Dr. Cynthia Armand:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 15 Apr 2021 | Ep 49: Carl Gould on Having The Guts to Make the Obnoxious Offer No One Else is Willing to Make | 00:53:33 | |
Today, I'm bringing on a serious badass in the coaching and consulting world.
Badass business owner, Carl Gould.
Now, it seems like everyone and their mother is a business coach these days but Carl is going to put us all to shame.
First: he built 3 (!) multi-million dollar businesses by the age of 40.
Then, he started and launched the super successful business and coaching advisory company, 7 Stage Advisors, where, since 2002, Carl has mentored the launch of over 5,000 businesses and has trained, certified, and accredited over 7,000 business coaches and mentors.
Carl has written 9 books, co-authored books like Blueprint For Success with Ken Blanchard and Stephen R. Covey, and he has spoken at Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within seminar. Plus, he has run the New York City Marathon twice!
So, yeah. He’s done some things.
On top of all this, he's just a really cool, laid-back guy with a lot of great war stories and I am so excited for him to share them with you.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Carl Gould:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources:
| |||
| 22 Apr 2021 | EP 50: Aga Conboy on Niching Down, Nailing a Lead Product, and the Personal Growth it takes to Command Premium Pricing | 00:55:40 | |
On today’s episode, I’m excited to chat with badass marketer and business owner, Aga Conboy.
Aga is an incredible example of what’s possible when you do the work and show up for your business.
Aga believes that busy professionals have been cheated into believing that just because some forms of marketing are now accessible by anyone – social media – they should take on their own marketing on top of trying to run a business.
She believes that just because you can, doesn't always mean that you should.
Aga’s company Agaland Brand launches epic marketing for busy professionals, taking them from None to Done in 90 days— you know I love that!
She started her business less than 3 years ago and, as you’ll hear, found my stuff really early on, joined my Bootcamp, and basically set up her business in my Badass Model and never looked back.
Fueled by her music-loving nature and the belief that you can’t have a rocking brand without rocking content, Aga pulls her clients’ marketing out of the shadows and into the spotlight with her 90-day method.
Her clients don't have time to get quickie degrees in marketing, but they wanna reach rockstar status in their field, so they bring in Aga’s rockstar team to do it.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Aga Conboy:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources:
| |||
| 29 Apr 2021 | EP 51: Jennie Nash on the Book Proposal Process, Writers and Their Passion, and Writing Books That Impact People Through Time and Space | 01:13:19 | |
Do you want to write a book?
Do you know WHY you want to write a book? Do you have something you absolutely have to get on your soapbox about? Or do you wonder why your voice should even be the one to tell this story?
Without clarity on WHY you want to write a book, you probably won’t be able to create the kind of book that can really move people, change them, inspire them.
On today’s episode I am delighted to share the brilliant and badass Jennie Nash.
Jennie is a highly sought after book coach whose clients have landed top New York agents and six-figure book deals with Big 5 houses such as Penguin, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette. She herself is the author of 9 books in 3 genres and is the creator of the Killer Book Proposal Method.
Given that amazing resume, it’s no wonder that she is now on a mission to raise the bar in the book coaching industry as the founder and CEO of Author Accelerator, which has trained and certified more than 70 book coaches in both fiction and nonfiction.
We had an eye opening conversation about the power of a book to transform the reader, how to think about writing your book, book proposals and agents and just everything you didn’t know you needed to know about writing a killer book and proposal.
We also talk about the current state of publishing, Jennie’s biggest book-related pet peeves, and what a book coach actually does. If you think you have a book in you, you definitely want to listen closely.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Jennie Nash:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 06 May 2021 | EP 52: Matt Inglot on the Truth Behind Membership Sites, When a Business Truly Becomes Passive-Income, and One Advantage of an Agency Over a Service-Based Business | 01:00:11 | |
On today’s episode I’ve got serial entrepreneur and badass business owner, Matt Inglot.
Matt owns several businesses, including Freelance Transformation that helps freelancers become more successful, and Tilted Pixel, his agency that helps grow membership website companies.
I met Matt years ago when he invited me on his podcast and we’ve stayed in touch since just because we are so aligned in our philosophy on business, and because he was also solely focused on helping service businesses grow for the longest time.
We talk about the importance of iteration and of taking the opportunity with every client, every project, to take what you’ve learned and do it better next time, so you can raise the value–and the price–of your services.
We also talk about how Matt found his niche with membership businesses and how he grew his skill set so that he could grow his offerings and his business.
You’ll never get it perfect on the first try, but if you take each experience and learn from it, you can build a REALLY BOSS business pretty quickly.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Matt Inglot:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources:
| |||
| 13 May 2021 | EP 53: Kia Abrera on Starting Up a Video Production Company and Addressing Marketplace Misperceptions By Being Transparent with Pricing | 00:55:48 | |
From burned out to noped out, was there a moment that made you realize you’d had enough?
Today, we're going to talk to Kia Abrera about her journey from burnt out, working until four in the morning at her high level agency job to finally calling it quits and starting her own thing.
Kia is the co-founder and CEO of Braveworks Inc., a 6-figure video strategy and production company that specializes in videos with attitude. She creates scroll-stopping content that takes brave expert-preneurs from ME TOO to GO TO.
I met Kia last year when she joined my Badass Business Bootcamp, and then leveled up into working with me in my group coaching program, so I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know her and her business intimately. She is such a great example of how it takes more than expertise in your field to build a successful agency.
Today, we'll talk about the challenges of selling creative services in a market that sees the tangible output, but doesn’t understand the value of the creative process.
And we’ll discuss how the perception and expectation of “cheap” labor in the Philippines has created additional challenges for her business when selling premium services to an international market.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Kia Abrera:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 20 May 2021 | EP 54: David Mammano on Letting Go to Find Opportunities, Building a Career Based on Joy, and Always Starting With The Right Intentions | 00:50:43 | |
Entrepreneurs can be a pretty Type A bunch. But what if letting go–even just a little–lets in your next big thing?
Are there opportunities right in front of you that you don’t dare explore?
Sometimes we, and I definitely mean me too, can be so myopic in our thinking that our business needs to look a certain way, that we miss the opportunities right in front of us.
On today’s episode I’ve got serial entrepreneur and badass business owner, David Mamanno. David is a 7-time business owner who now helps others achieve their entrepreneurial dreams.
He’s also the host of the Gonzo Experience podcast, the author of Crash & Learn, a three-time Inc. Magazine 5000 Growth Company winner, a TEDx speaker, an adjunct professor at the University of Rochester.
He is also a big believer in being open to opportunities and making work a joy by taking the time to try new things in pursuit of finding your calling.
Whether it’s stand up comedy, a networking and speakers group for local businesses or starting a podcast, even the paths and opportunities that didn’t end up being your calling are experiences and skills you can use. And David has done all of those things and more.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about David Mammano:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources:
| |||
| 27 May 2021 | EP 55: Tara McMullin on What Simplification in Business Looks Like in Practice and Playing the Role You Want to Play While Having Fun With It | 01:09:16 | |
What have you overcomplicated in your business recently?
Are you trying to solve problems by adding more to your plate rather than taking something off?
It’s not just you. There’s a human tendency to add and look for more things to do whenever we have a problem that needs solving, when subtraction might be the best solution.
Add a culture where what we do is who we are, and overwork is treated as equivalent to good work, and it’s easy to see how that tendency gets amplified.
On today’s episode I’m excited to have badass business owner, Tara McMullin.
Tara McMullin is a coach, community builder, podcaster, producer, and writer. She’s the founder of What Works, a digital platform for small business owners who are building strong, resilient and sustainable companies.
AND she’s the co-founder of Yellow House Media, which you might recognize from the credits at the end of this show every week. That’s right, that’s how I know Tara, because her company is the reason I have a podcast every week.
She’s a brilliant thinker, writer, strategist, she has her own podcast, What Works, which has been downloaded over 2 million times, she’s an international speaker and she’s been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, Inc, and The Huffington Post.
I’m delighted to share this conversation with you where we go deep on topics around being overworked business owners, what it really takes to find that freedom and flexibility and how simplicity is usually the answer to business challenges.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Tara McMullin:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources:
| |||
| 03 Jun 2021 | EP 56: Justin Esgar on Generating Ideas on the Fly, the Genius of Multiple Revenue Streams, and the Hard Climb to Profitable Conferences | 01:10:49 | |
Where are your blind spots?
Is there something you love doing anyway that could make you a few extra dollars with minimal setup or maintenance costs? Can you leverage your audience to support your passion project or side hustle?
I tend not to think things are worth my time if they aren’t going to produce significant revenue. That has served me well, of course, but it may also close me off to new ideas that are actually really good.
Today, I’m chatting with a badass business owner and entrepreneur whose approach is almost exactly the opposite of mine.
Justin Esgar has more ideas than he has time to implement them but he does it anyway, whether it’s parking a domain for later or putting T-shirt designs on Threadless and being delighted by every single $6 sale.
Justin originally built a successful IT consulting company over 10 years ago called Virtua Consulting Group, which he still runs and owns. But like so many entrepreneurs, Justin has IDEAS.
First, running a successful IT company wasn’t enough, so he started the ACES Conference to teach IT consultants how to build better businesses. Fun fact, I actually spoke about branding at the first ACES Conference in New Orleans!
But as you’ll hear it didn’t stop with the conference. Justin is always looking for new ideas, creating new streams of income, and enjoying himself in the process. I’m looking forward to catching up with him and seeing what irons he’s got in the fire right now.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Justin Esgar:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources: | |||
| 10 Jun 2021 | EP 57: Evelyn Powers on Evolving, Adapting, and Making Good Choices–in Business and in Life | 01:01:24 | |
Are you evolving in your business? With your industry?
Or are you fighting it, scared to take the steps you need to take to build the business you know you want?
Sometimes it’s learning new skills, sometimes it’s learning new softwares.
It can be especially challenging when you’ve been in business for a long time and you’re ready to just know how things work.
But really, that’s what business is — a constant evolution. And if you don’t get used to including the learning and evolving as part of the process, you may very well get stagnant and wonder why the business isn’t growing in the direction you want.
On today’s episode I’m excited to have badass business owner, and super badass woman that I have had the pleasure of working with over the last few years, Evelyn Powers.
Evelyn founded Design Powers 25 years ago, and her business has evolved from being a graphic design firm serving mid-sized companies and nonprofits with print work, to a web design firm for professional small businesses and entrepreneurs.
I’m excited to share her story of starting her business because she wanted to be home more for her two then-young children and how she’s evolved and grown over the years to keep up with the total transformation in the design industry from print to web.
Today, Design Powers is in the midst of a complete rebrand to niche further in on small business creatives, founders and experts who have “legit” businesses, but uncommon and unconventional offers, and seek authority through excellence and conviction.
We talk about the need to evolve, the challenges that come up, and how if you want success, getting comfortable with evolving and adapting is critical.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Evelyn Powers:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 17 Jun 2021 | EP 58: Mike Michalowicz on Authorship as a Vocation and Why Your Book Isn't Just a Glorified Business Card | 00:27:38 | |
A lot of us are scared to share our best stuff because then we think people won’t hire us or pay us for it. But why would we want to hide our best stuff behind a paywall? Yes, some of your audience will take your expertise and go the DIY route. But if you use your ideas to build your platform, know that some of the people watching will want more from you. And they’ll pay you for it. That’s the top advice from today’s guest. I’m delighted to have the one and only Mike Michalowicz on the show. Mike is going to share some behind the scenes stories about his rise to fame as an author and entrepreneur, and some of the things that did and didn’t work along the way. You probably know Mike as the author of six, soon to be seven, incredibly influential books for entrepreneurs including Profit First, The Pumpkin Plan, Fix This Next, Clockwork, Surge, and The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. His next book, Get Different, is out in September and available for preorder now. But what you may not know is where he got all these crazy ideas. Before we wrote his first book, by his 35th birthday Mike founded and sold two multi-million dollar companies. Confident that he had the formula to success, he became a small business angel investor…and proceeded to lose his entire fortune. That’s when he started all over again, driven to find better ways to grow healthy, strong companies. Since then Mike has devoted his life to the research and delivery of innovative, impactful entrepreneurial strategies to you.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Mike: Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 24 Jun 2021 | EP 59: Jeff Bajorek Talks About His Sales Philosophy, Salesmanship, and the Sales Mindset | 01:05:43 | |
How do you feel about your sales process? How do you want to feel about it? Could it even be something you enjoy?
So many people say they don’t want to be sales-y. They don’t want to be pushy. It doesn’t come naturally, etc. etc. But you do, in fact, need to be selling in order to have a sustainable business.
And you can do that in a way that feels good and authentic to you. No scripts. No manipulative tactics. No pretending to be someone you’re not.
How?
You have to change your mindset.
I still tell people I hate sales and that I don’t sell. The word “sales” is still associated with pushiness and desperation in my mind.
Obviously, I do sell, but it doesn’t feel that way because I completely changed how I view it. I’m never trying to convince someone to do something they don’t want to do. The only thing I want to find out is if I can genuinely help the person on the other end of the line.
It didn’t happen overnight, but making that shift made it so much easier to talk to potential clients.
On today’s episode we’re turning the topic of sales on its head with badass business owner, Jeff Bajorek.
Jeff is a sales trainer and consultant, the author of two books and the host of two podcasts. Jeff helps salespeople perform better by helping them rethink the way they sell. Jeff also offers weekly live training and more on his community site Rethink the Way You Sell.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Jeff:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 01 Jul 2021 | EP 60: Iman Khan Spills Selling Secrets During Online and In Person Events, the Danger of Under Pricing, and Working on His Abundance Mindset | 00:47:43 | |
Pricing conveys value. If a potential client is wondering if they’re going to get bombarded with upgrade offers once they sign up, they won’t sign up. Being underpriced can and does hurt you.
When your price reflects the value of the service or package, your clients can trust that they’ll get what they’re paying for.
But how do you know when your price reflects your value?
On today’s episode I’m excited to have badass business owner and former business coach of mine, Iman Khan. Iman and his wife Afrin own Red Elephant Inc, where they are on a mission to empower people to empower others to make real change in the world by finding their platform and voice. I’ve known Iman and Afrin for nearly 10 years, from back when they still lived in New York and their events were one of the places I turned to most to find MY voice.
When they were building their business and honing their system, Iman and Afrin tweaked and tested and tweaked again until they found what works consistently, and that includes pricing.
And while their core system hasn’t changed, those adjustments, tweaks and pivots have been more key than ever for them in the last year as their business moved from live events to online with hundreds and hundreds of Zoom rooms.
They definitely succeeded, and today Iman is going to share some of the strategies they used to make online events engaging, entertaining and most importantly, impactful.
Tune into this episode to hear: • How reviving and restructuring the delivery of older programs helped Red Elephant pivot quickly when the world shifted online • How their network pushed their business to evolve from producing events to teaching entrepreneurs how to sell from the stage and run their own events • How tweaking and testing led to a system that works, and why they don’t mess with it now that it does • What makes in-person, multi-day events worth the investment of time, energy and the costs of hosting Learn more about Iman:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources: | |||
| 08 Jul 2021 | EP 61: Bruce Eckfeldt on Leveraging Opportunities, Scaling Your Business, and Breaking Into a New Field with Maximum Impact | 00:51:43 | |
Do you know what you really want from your business? It’s not enough to say “I want more money,” or “I want to scale.” What is your life going to look like when you get there?
What role do you want to play? What do you want to do every day? CEOs can bottleneck a company faster than anyone else when they’re not actually doing the right job.
There’s no one right answer but there is an answer for you. Knowing what that is will help you make strategic decisions about how, when, why or even whether to scale up your business.
Strategic thinking and planning is something most small businesses don’t do enough of, but getting that clarity can set you up for success. And really, you aren’t going to get where you want to go if you don’t know where you are going!
Dream big! Then make strategic decisions and actions to turn it into a concrete reality.
Like today’s guest, badass business owner Bruce Eckfeldt. Bruce has settled into a life and a business where he gets to play, and pick and choose projects of all different kinds, which is my total dream scenario.
After building, scaling and selling his own technology consulting firm in 2003, Bruce became a strategic coach and advisor to early-stage CEOs and their leadership teams. He hosts two podcasts, Scaling Up Services and Thinking Outside the Bud and writes weekly for Inc.com on leadership and strategic business growth.
I always get inspired talking with him so I’m excited to share his wisdom and decades of experience. Tune into this episode to hear:
| |||
| 15 Jul 2021 | EP 62: Jane Sagalovich on Creating Courses That Make a Difference and her Hybrid Approach to Online Courses | 00:50:13 | |
If effortless passive income were possible, you’d be on a beach somewhere with a margarita right now, or whatever your fantasy vacation looks like.
But passive income takes a lot of effort up front. You have to build an audience, the course, the funnels, the ads. And you have to keep selling the course once it’s out there.
Maybe you’re hitting your capacity for clients with the services you’re currently selling and you want to scale up. Maybe you want another revenue stream that’s less intensive than done-for-you services or one-on-one coaching. Creating an online course is a great solution.
But what if trading one time and energy-intensive service for the time and energy-intensive process of setting up and selling an automated online course doesn’t sound like a good trade?
On today’s episode I am excited to speak with badass business owner, and Founder of Scale Your Genius, Jane Sagalovich.
Jane is a business strategist and scaling mentor and she is on a mission to rid the world of crappy online courses–I think we can all second that! She has helped hundreds of experts create their high-quality online courses and programs with clarity, confidence, and ease.
She teaches a hybrid course model that allows service providers to leverage their time by combining the elements of a good self-paced course, a good group coaching program, and a one-on-one coaching experience to create an offer that gets clients great results, without needing to build the whole funnel system that is required to sell online courses.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Jane: Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 22 Jul 2021 | EP 63: Matthew Capala Gets Real About Website Psychology and the Modern SEO Way | 00:57:14 | |
SEO can easily become a massive distraction for the small service lifestyle business owner.
Yes, it has value, but with changing algorithms and conflicting advice and best practices out there, figuring out when and how to spend your time and attention on SEO is confusing at best.
And what’s the one thing that really matters when a potential client lands on your website?
The same thing as when you meet them at a networking event. Trust.
The split second impression that clients have of you and whether or not they trust you and want to learn more, happens when they see your website.
Look at your website. Would you trust you?
Everyone has SOMETHING that they can put front and center to demonstrate that other people trust them, and therefore, that you the viewer should trust them too. To help you figure out what those trust symbols are, I brought an old friend and colleague, badass marketer and business owner, Matthew Capala to the show. Matthew Capala is keynote speaker, entrepreneur, the founder of Alphametic, an SEO marketing agency in Miami, and author of the new book The Psychology of a Website. And he knows more about SEO than anyone I know. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Matthew:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 29 Jul 2021 | EP 64: Michelle Mazur Drops Truth Bombs on Messaging, Copywriting, and Bro Marketing | 00:56:43 | |
How’s your messaging?
If you’re struggling with marketing your business and every time you sit down to write copy–any copy–feels like an epic slog because you don’t know what to say, you’ve got a messaging issue.
Everyone wants their marketing to connect with their audience, but if you’re unsure of what to say or not say, or you’re winging it every time, the problem isn’t your copy, it’s that you don’t know what your message is.
Distilling what you do into a consistent, clear, impactful message that is reflected in every piece of marketing you produce isn’t easy, but it will make your life–or the lives of anyone you hire for marketing help–easier once you figure it out.
To help us get there, I have the Communication Rebel herself, badass business owner Michelle Mazur.
Michelle works with brilliant business owners who are shaking things up, but having trouble talking about it. She combines the tools of successful social movements with the qualitative research skills she earned in her Communication Ph.D. to help them craft their powerful, captivating message.
She's the author of the 3 Word Rebellion and has been featured in Fast Company, Entrepreneur, and Inc. Michelle knows that speaking about what you do in a clear and captivating way is the key to reaching the people you could help the most and making more money in your business.
We chat about the problem with bro marketing, lament about the prevalence of online courses from people who did something once and Michelle helps clarify the difference between messaging and copywriting.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Michelle:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 05 Aug 2021 | Summer Quickie: Amanda Silver on Getting Off Defense and Taking Control | 00:14:24 | |
What do you want your business to look like?
What would it take to stop playing defense and start getting into offense?
When you’re operating in default mode, relying solely on referrals, you’re operating from a defensive position. You need a system that allows you to consistently take action to get business.
You need to flip the script and ask yourself the hard questions about what you want your business to look like, who you want to work with, how you want to work with clients, how much money you want to make. When you get that clarity, you can make a plan.
It’s a lot easier said than done.
In this summer quickie, I’m going back to an episode with Amanda Silver.
Amanda Silver is a leadership consultant, coach and trainer for social change leaders and organizations. She is passionate about creating thriving teams and cultures that get things done. Her unique approach focuses on heart and mind leadership and draws on expertise in mindfulness, emotional-intelligence, and strength-based mindsets.
She shares how she used to be completely reliant on referrals for her business, which meant that she couldn't say no to clients. She had to take what she could get. And she was always scared. She didn't know where her next clients were coming from.
And she’ll share how she evolved her business to get the clients she really wanted and do the work she loves doing.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Amanda Silver:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 12 Aug 2021 | Summer Quickie: Rachael Wonderlin on Creating Your Destiny | 00:13:39 | |
What if you reimagined the norms of your industry? Said no to the conventions that don’t work for you and worse, kept your business from being profitable? People will say it can’t be done, that the industry model exists for a reason, you’ll never get clients, and on and on. But what if breaking out of the mold meant you could actually produce your best work for your clients? There are opportunities to do things differently from how everyone in the industry does it. If you allow yourself to explore, you may find a better way of doing things. Or a way that fits you better, something you enjoy. This can be your most exciting opportunity to build something really special and unique. In this Summer Quickie, I’m revisiting a conversation from Episode 25 with Rachael Wonderlin of Dementia By Day. Rachael is one of those people who stared her industry in the face and said, “I don’t think this is how it needs to be.” She saw a better way and wasn’t afraid to try something new and figure it out on her own. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Rachael Wonderlin:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 19 Aug 2021 | Summer Quickie: Melanie Gow on the Getting to the Core of a Story | 00:13:39 | |
There is so much talk about story. What’s your story? You need to have a good story for your brand. Blah, blah, blah.
I think a lot of people don’t actually understand what “story” really means and how to use it to build your brand.
So today, I wanted to revisit a clip from Episode 23 with Melanie Gow, the brilliant mind behind my TED Talk last year. Melanie understands story deeply. She is so good at cutting through the BS and getting to the core of what somebody’s story is — where they came from and how that has shaped who they are and how they see the world. I hope this clip inspires you to think about what other stories you have inside you that have shaped who you are and how those stories can be brought out to add color and depth to your brand and your brand story.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Melanie:
Learn more about Pia:
| |||
| 26 Aug 2021 | Summer Quickie: Michelle Mercurio on Letting Go of Things (Even if They're Working) | 00:15:26 | |
Letting go is hard. It hurts when it’s time to retire something you worked really hard on and that you’re proud of, especially when it’s working. But sometimes you have to let go of things that are good to make room for something great. Those good enough things might be filling the space and time you need to grow and expand into new places that will lead to even greater success. Saying no to clients and to money now so you can grow in the long term is difficult and scary. But if you are set on continuing to grow and nurture and nourish a business that serves you and serves your goals and your mission, you have to get used to the idea that you will have to turn down projects and opportunities in order to make space for bigger and better projects down the line. Which is why today’s summer quickie comes from Episode 27 with Michelle Mercurio. She shares about her struggle to let go of things in her business that were doing well and making her lots of money and how she ultimately decided that they really did have to go. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Michelle:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 02 Sep 2021 | EP 65: Melanie Spring on Building the Business and Life You REALLY Want and Nothing But | 00:59:56 | |
When was the last time you visualized the details of what you want from your business and your life? Did you have a clear, specific picture of what that actually looks like? Not just the money or a title or recognition, but what it looks like day to day. When you see the picture, does it show the life you really want? Getting clear and specific about your goals avoids you chasing a dream that doesn’t fit you. What you want will evolve over time as your life changes, which is why it’s a great idea to check in with yourself periodically. Today, I’m chatting with an entrepreneur who’s had multiple successful careers and many evolutions in her business, from brand strategist to “Approachable Badass.” Melanie Spring is an international keynote speaker and public speaking trainer. She and her crew travel the world creating branded experiences for humans like you to find your stories, build your confidence, and amplify your voices. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Melanie:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 09 Sep 2021 | EP 66: Dominic Monkhouse Gets Real on What it Takes to Build Grit, Resilience, and Really Strong Teams | 01:02:04 | |
Growth is challenging because growth requires change. And many of us are stuck in our ways and we don’t even know it. Which is why it can be so helpful to have other people ask you questions that will push you out of your comfort zone. In a coaching program, boot camp or mastermind, you can have someone else force you to really look at yourself and ask, “Am I willing to adapt and grow and change to get the business that I want? And am I getting in the way of what I want?” And the answer is usually yes. Today, I’m talking with a business coach who helps his clients and his audience get comfortable with being uncomfortable. He’s got so much to share about business, how to manage teams, and how to think about growth in your business. Dominic Monkhouse is an architect of business growth and a business coach to some very impressively large IT companies. Before becoming a coach, he headed up and grew multiple multi-million dollar IT companies. Prior to his career in IT, Dominic held positions in a number of industries, including selling gold, diamonds, women’s underwear and chickens. Dominic now helps other businesses as a coach and works with his clients and their teams in the “Management Lab” on his farm near Salisbury. He also hosts the weekly podcast, The Melting Pot, where he shares nuggets of value and conversations with business leaders about what’s working today. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Dominic:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources: The Melting Pot: Badass Your Brand and Show Your Business Who’s Boss with Pia Silva Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity, Kim Scott | |||
| 16 Sep 2021 | EP 67: Dorie Clark Drops Truth Bombs About Playing the Long Game and How to Make Your Own Luck | 96:55:55 | |
What are you willing to do to get to what you really want? And how many times are you willing to hit a wall in the process of achieving it? You need clarity about what you want, but you also need to get clear on your expectations for the results of your actions. If you reach out once and assume not hearing back means no, if you pitch a major publication with three articles on your blog, you have to adjust your expectations. Success is a long game that requires tenacity and consistency. Today I’m so excited to catch up with the brilliant and badass Dorie Clark. In this conversation Dorie shares a behind the scenes look at how she built an impressive and far-reaching brand and reputation online and off, as well as her upcoming book, The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World, and what it means to stay steady on a path to build the business and life you want. Dorie Clark is an adjunct professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the author of Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You and Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of 2015 by Inc. magazine. A former presidential campaign spokeswoman, the New York Times described her as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.” A frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, she consults and speaks for clients including Google, Microsoft, and the World Bank.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Dorie:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 23 Sep 2021 | EP 68: Talia Koren on How an Intentional and Wildly Successful Instagram Strategy Fueled the Growth of Her Business | 00:45:51 | |
What really goes into building your platform?
Whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or another site, building an audience for your business through social media presence can be a key piece of marketing your business.
Actually getting traction and followers, however, can seem like a mysterious process. It’s not often that someone with a large following opens up about just how they did it.
Which is why today’s episode is super valuable.
Talia Koren is the founder of Workweek Lunch, a blog and digital meal plan subscription that helps thousands of people all over the world master meal prep. Talia is a self-taught home cook and she started WWL in 2016 to teach her peers how to cook easy, balanced meals to save time and money. Since then, she has grown her Instagram following to nearly 500k followers.
And she’s willing to share the details of how she did it.
We’d all like to have secret weapon to get attention and sales with minimum time and effort, and Talia’s approach is not that. It’s going to take time and effort to get the kind of results Talia did.
But you can build an intentional strategy that will pay off, that will make you money, and will bring new opportunities to you.
Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Talia:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources:
| |||
| 30 Sep 2021 | Ep 69: Nate Bagley on Nurturing an Amazing Relationship With Your Romantic Partner and Why This Is So Important in Business | 00:53:47 | |
Whenever people ask me how I built a business with my husband, they usually add, with an eye roll, “because I could never do that with my partner.” And I always kind of laugh and say, “Lots of therapy.” Which is the truth in many ways. Though it’s not just therapy, it’s both of us actively working on having a healthy, loving, energizing, communicative, successful relationship. And I believe that having fulfilling relationships in your life really do lead to more business success. And that’s true even if you aren’t running a business with your partner. Which is why today, we’re veering away from our usual topics and talking about relationships with Nate Bagley. Nate is on a mission in life is to rid the world of mediocre love. He is a marriage researcher and educator and host of the Growth Marriage Podcast as well as a kickass Growth Marriage YouTube channel. And I am just so excited to share this conversation with you, where we are going to talk about how your relationship plays a role in the success of your business. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Nate:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources: Everything Isn’t Terrible: Conquer Your Insecurities, Interrupt Your Anxiety, and Finally Calm Down, Kathleen Smith | |||
| 07 Oct 2021 | Ep 70: Jeffrey Van Dyk on Finding Your Perfect Market, the Work Only You Can Do, and the Messaging That Hits The Bullseye | 01:07:04 | |
Everyone wants to find their one perfect square inch of the market where they can go a mile deep, do good work, and make good money. You could chase what you think the market wants and jump into a niche that seems hot right now. You could choose a market segment based on what your degree is in, what you’ve done before, or what you think you should be doing. You could jump from niche to niche to niche and never see the kind of success you’re looking for. Or you could find the work that only you can do. Today, I’m sitting down with Jeffrey Van Dyk to talk about his process for finding the square inch that only you can inhabit because of your history and experiences and emotional and behavioral patterns. Patterns that you also happen to share with your best clients and customers. Jeff is an international speaker, strategist, and guide who works with highly successful leaders and founders in the second half of life who know that they are meant to transition into their life’s legacy and have a meaningful, lasting impact on the world. Jeff currently helps spiritually-guided celebrities, business leaders, and founders become more powerful leaders and create the work that only they can deliver to the world. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Jeffrey:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 14 Oct 2021 | Ep 71: Philip Morgan Explains Why Our Relationship to Risks Matters a Whole Lot When Picking Our Business Strategy and Specialization Area | 01:03:31 | |
How much risk are you willing to take? For some, the idea of taking a giant leap of faith is exhilarating. For others, the idea instantly makes them queasy. Where you land on that continuum will change depending on the greater circumstances of your life, too. Your relationship to risk affects your business and the choices you’ll make. When it comes to finding your niche, your comfort with uncertainty and risk will have a major impact in the direction you choose to go. Or the directions you can even imagine going. All businesses come with some level of risk and uncertainty. So how do you manage your relationship to risk in your business so that you don’t get mired in indecision or leap headfirst into an unproven venture? To talk about risk, I’m catching up with Philip Morgan. Philip Morgan is an expert on experts. He works with independent consultants to help them hone their area of specialization, cultivate their expertise, and monetize their IP. His book, The Positioning Manual for Indie Consultants has helped thousands transform their businesses. We talk about building authority and expertise, how to find your niche and positioning, what it takes to build an expert business and some self-psychoanalysis in the process. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Philip:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources:
| |||
| 21 Oct 2021 | Ep 72: Jared Kleinert Peels Back the Curtain on His Processes, Habits, and Relationships That Have Allowed Him to Accomplish So Much at 26 | 00:51:05 | |
Do you have a clear set of goals for your business each year? Or a systematic way of orienting your business toward your goals each quarter? I’m a huge fan of annual, quarterly, weekly and daily planning to maximize the time you spend each day on high value tasks that move you toward your goals. Implementing a business planning strategy means you can make better choices about how to prioritize your time, whether with your own schedule, or figuring out what needs to be delegated to someone on your team. Which is why I’m talking to badass business owner Jared Kleinert. Jared is a serial entrepreneur, keynote speaker and consultant with a range of high-profile clients. He was a delegate to President Obama's 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Malaysia, and is the author of multiple books, including the upcoming NETWORKING: How to Meet Influential People, Deepen Relationships, and Become A Super-Connector. His insights on entrepreneurship and networking have also been featured in major media such as Forbes, TIME, Harvard Business Review, Fortune, NPR, Entrepreneur, Mashable, Fox Business and more. He’s been in the game for over 15 years and he’s only 26! Jared shares his story and how he’s managed to do so much at such a young age, how he manages and thinks about his time so he can make all this happen, and his advice on hiring support even when you don’t need or want employees. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Jared:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 04 Nov 2021 | Ep 73: How to Guarantee Your Own Success | 00:28:46 | |
If you absolutely knew you were going to be successful, to have the business and the life you want, what would you pay to get there? What would you be willing to sacrifice? What failures would you endure, if you knew it was all going to pay off? I’ve been thinking and talking to a lot of people recently about the idea of whether or not you can guarantee success. I interact with a lot of business owners who are so scared of making the wrong decision or the wrong choice or going in the wrong direction that their doubt paralyzes them. They can’t make decisions or take action because they’re plagued with doubt and they end up stuck. Sound familiar? I want to give you a different perspective and hopefully change your mindset. I want to free you up to make decisions and take action. I want to tell you how you can guarantee success in your business. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 11 Nov 2021 | Ep 74: Seth Erickson Shares His Research and New Book on Why Storytelling in Business Works and How We Can Tell More Engaging Stories | 00:48:59 | |
You know you’re great at what you do. You know how to deliver value to your customers. But when it comes to communicating that, you’re struggling. A lot of people suck at communicating to their customers so that they stand out. But there is a method that is as old as humanity, and is ten times more effective than just telling customers what you do: Storytelling. I’m sitting down with Seth Erickson to talk about how to use storytelling to connect with your audience, whether your brand is business or personal, and why your story evolves with your business. Seth Erickson is the owner of Storify Agency and the author of How to Hack Humans: Storytelling for Startups. He has built a career merging business creativity and wit and he trains startups to use storytelling to communicate their value to investors and to the marketplace. His goal is to reduce the number of startups that fail–90%!–by incorporating storytelling so their presentations and products stand out. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Seth:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources: Winning the Story Wars, Jonah Sachs Building a Storybrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen, Donald Miller | |||
| 18 Nov 2021 | Ep 75: Focus on Process Over Product and Build Your Resilience | 00:20:11 | |
When you’re an entrepreneur, you’re in a constant state of not knowing. No matter how much you know, there is always more to learn. You can’t know everything, because the landscape is always changing. And not knowing isn’t always comfortable. When you’re doing something for the first time, when you’re learning a strategy that runs counter to everything you were taught, you’re bound to get frustrated and uncomfortable. But if you want to build a business, you have to build resilience in the face of not knowing. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 25 Nov 2021 | Ep 76: Hillary Weiss on Finding, Visualizing, and Showcasing the Thing That Makes You Special in the World | 00:54:25 | |
What’s holding you back from putting yourself out there, whether in articles, on social media, in videos, or just sending emails to your list? If you’re waiting to be good enough, spoiler alert: you’re never going to be good enough until you start doing it. Yes, you'll probably feel embarrassed by your earlier efforts and outputs. I feel the same way! But this is an unavoidable part of the journey on the way to mastery and finding that thing that makes us unique. To chat about developing your unique voice and putting yourself out there online, among other things, I’m talking to Hillary Weiss. Hillary Weiss is a creative director, positioning coach, and founder of Statement Piece Studio. She’s also the co-host of the cult-favorite Youtube marketing talk show Hillary and Margo Yell at Websites (#HAMYAW), and has had her work featured on Business Insider, The Next Web, The Observer, and more. Since 2011, she’s helped thousands of brands all over the world get seen and heard (and make serious cash) through her one on one client work, writing, coaching, and videos. Nowadays, she’s on a mission to help more small businesses define their “statement piece”, a.k.a. the bold point of view that makes them radically relevant to their perfect people. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Hillary:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 02 Dec 2021 | Ep 77: Julia Pimsleur Dives Into Why Mindset is the Key to Achieving Our Big Goals and the Mindset Practices She Encourages Us All to Adopt | 01:01:03 | |
We make assumptions all day long. And those assumptions dictate how we respond to people and situations around us. Whether it’s assuming the tone in your boss’s email, or not following up because you didn’t get a response the first time, or a client who says yes but then disappears, the assumptions we make about the people around us have major impacts on our business. But what if instead of assuming that your boss is being curt, or the person you reached out to doesn’t want to talk to you, or the client who disappeared changed their mind, you stopped to notice your assumptions? We can spend so much energy on these stories we tell ourselves about other people, especially when they’re negative. And that hurts your business. Today I’m chatting with a friend and mentor about her new book Go Big Now: 8 Essential Mindset Practices to Overcome Any Obstacle and Reach Your Goals, and how even small shifts in your mindset can have big impacts in your business and your life. Julia Pimsleur is a scaling coach, mindset expert, speaker and best-selling author. She is founder of Million Dollar Women, a New York City-based online membership community helping one million women get to $1M in revenues. Million Dollar Women recently celebrated its five year anniversary and has helped thousands of women entrepreneurs scale up their businesses. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Julia:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources: | |||
| 09 Dec 2021 | Ep 78: Getting Out of the Fear Place, Selecting a New Business Model, and Fundamentally Changing the Way We Do Business | 00:35:41 | |
A couple of months ago, I started running Facebook ads again. And with Facebook ads, come all kinds of comments and Facebook trolls. Pissy comments don't upset me. But they show me what triggers some people and why! They have been a wonderful breeding ground for ideas about what I want to share with you here on the podcast. So today, I want to take you back to how this all started—the challenges and opportunities that Steve and I experienced that led us to change our business model so drastically. And I'm going to address some of the biggest misunderstandings that small business owners I come into contact with have when it comes to what I preach. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 16 Dec 2021 | Ep 79: The Business Model You Need if You Want Work-Life Balance and The Secret Behind a Successful Passive Income Business | 00:20:15 | |
Last episode, I told the story of how Steve and I started Worst of All Design and how it evolved into the No BS Agency model. Today, I want to share one more reason why that model is so valuable. When you’re running an agency, the hustle is constant. Constantly trying to fill your pipeline, constantly pitching, constantly chasing and closing clients, then all the work for those clients you landed. Plus communications, various fires that always need putting out, meetings… People build these agencies because they love creative work and because they want to help clients, but they build it in a model that inherently makes work-life balance almost impossible. The truth is the agency life is hard. Which is one reason why Steve and I had to create another way forward. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 23 Dec 2021 | Ep 80: Exciting Business Goals for 2022 and Going All-In on What's Next | 00:22:46 | |
Every year, I do at least one, if not two, full days of strategizing and planning with Steve. And it’s not just imagining what we want for ourselves in the coming year in terms of our business, but it’s about strategizing every aspect of our lives. We’ve been doing this for years and it’s an amazing opportunity to take a step back, take a deep breath and look at everything we’ve accomplished over the last twelve months and really intentionally think about what we’re going to do for the next year. We talk about our personal goals, our relationship goals, our family goals, goals for what we want to do with our friends, and of course, our business goals. Last year, when I was doing my strategy work and intentions for the following year, and I thought about what I really wanted to accomplish, I realized I really wanted to help people on a much grander scale. I realized that this business model is really powerful and I wanted to help other people implement it. So for the past year, I have been building the no BS Agency Mastery Program, which is a group program where I teach other small branding agencies how to build a much more profitable, flexible, sustainable business. And next year is where I'm really going to be able to take it to new heights and places that I want to go. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 06 Jan 2022 | Ep 81: You Are The Hero Of Your No BS Agency | 00:12:57 | |
It's the beginning of January, which means a lot of us are thinking about goals and what we really want our next year to look like. What’s your vision for your business in 2022? How do you want to evolve personally and professionally? How do you want your relationships to evolve? How do you want your business to evolve? Most people do this kind of goal setting once a year. They come up with some really loft goals and then struggle to stick to the plan. You go to the gym every day for a month! And then you stop… How do you set yourself up so that you don’t simply come up with some intentions for the year and do them for a couple of weeks and forget about them? How do you actually set yourself up to achieve those things in the next twelve months? There are a few ways to do that, but today I want to talk about visioning. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 13 Jan 2022 | Ep 82: How Do You Sell Something That All Your Competitors Are Giving Away for Free? | 00:27:33 | |
In the creative agency space, almost everyone follows the same process to close clients. I did too. First, you network to find potential clients. Then when you find the client, you have multiple meetings, hold free consultations and free strategy sessions or phone calls to figure out what the client needs and wants. Then, you create a proposal that finally (hopefully) wins you that client. I don’t know about you, but my proposals were incredibly detailed and specific and it was a TON of work. And whenever you don't win it, all that time that you spent with that one potential client is gone. Lost. I knew I had to stop spending so much time and energy writing proposals for clients who were never going to close. So I quit doing proposals for free. And you can too. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 20 Jan 2022 | Ep 83: Exactly What BS Did We Cut and How Were We Able to Do It | 00:18:30 | |
“How is it even possible to do it that fast? Aren't you sacrificing quality? You must be selling templates.” These are just some of the biggest questions I get whenever I tell people that we deliver entire branding projects — projects that typically take 6-8 months to complete — in just one to three days. People think it’s impossible. They think our work must suck or that we’re duplicating our work and selling the same thing over and over. Today, I want to tell you that not only is it possible to work that fast, but we actually believe we’re delivering better quality for our clients in these intensives. Spoiler Alert: We’re not selling templates and our projects are not all the same. But they do have some similarities, which is what I’m going to tell you about today. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 27 Jan 2022 | Ep 84: Five Principles for Eliminating Never-Ending Revisions and Banish Scope Creep Forever | 00:21:49 | |
The never-ending revisions process and project scope creep are two of the key reasons that most small branding and creative agencies are not profitable. It’s why creatives seem to be working all the time for not enough money. It's easy to see how this happens. Your clients are paying you good money and you want them to be happy. So what’s another revision, right? Maybe you have a stipulation in your contract about the number of revisions before you'll charge additional charges, but how often do you actually enforce that? The client needs something different and you want to please them. So you do the extra work. What’s another hour? The problem is these extra hours add up very quickly. When I tell people that we have eliminated the revisions process and that clients accept our deliverables without revisions, they’re both amazed and highly skeptical. Today, I’m letting you in on how we do this and how it’s not just a better path to creating a more profitable business, but it’s a better path with better results for your clients too. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 03 Feb 2022 | Ep 85: Jennifer Anastasi Implements the No BS Agency Model and Tells Us All About it: The Good, The Bad, and The Awesome | 01:03:44 | |
What does shifting from the old default model of working with clients to using the No BS Agency model actually look like? Super badass business owner Jennifer Anastasi is here to tell us. In this episode, she reveals how she implemented the model that changed everything for her — from projects that dragged on for six or nine months at a time to projects that were delivered in just a couple of days intensive. Jennifer is an engineer turned brand strategist who empowers service providers to find a clear brand and online presence using her background in tech mixed with creativity. Her superpower is turning the intimidating into easy to understand ideas. She is also one of my star students in the No BS Agency Mastery Program, who had a take no prisoners approach, and today she’s sharing her journey from looking for flexibility in being self-employed that corporate jobs just didn’t have to gaining the freedom and flexibility of being a No BS Agency. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Jennifer: Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 10 Feb 2022 | Ep 86: Step Inside the "Non-Sales" Sales Conversation and Learn Why It's The Only Sales Convo You'll Ever Want to Have | 00:14:54 | |
Raise your hand if you hate sales. It's probably the most common thing that people struggle with when they're building a small agency. It's also the most important part of building any business. Because if you don't have sales, you don't have a business. You have a hobby. People hate sales, they feel icky. They feel like they're not very good at it. They don't want to pressure people. They don't want to even learn sales techniques because sales techniques feel icky. Believe me, I feel the same way. I hate sales. In fact, I could argue that the entire no BS agency business model and all the authority I built online was all my attempt to avoid selling. And in many ways it did. Today, I’m sharing how we turned that long, laborious, awful sales process that most small agencies go through to try to close a client into a simple 15 minute conversation and we close people on the spot. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 17 Feb 2022 | Ep 87: Why Focusing on the Money to Earn More Money Isn't Going to Make You More Money (and Where to Focus Instead) | 00:13:54 | |
Everybody wants to make more money without working more hours. That's the dream, right? That's what I sell: How to make more and more money while working fewer and fewer hours. It’s a great goal and it’s absolutely achievable. But here’s the problem, and why people struggle to get there. When you want to make more money without working more hours, what’s the first thing you think to do? You focus on the money. You raise your prices or you bring on more clients, maybe even both. But when you focus on the money, it can actually end up being the reason you get stuck working all the time without making enough. So what’s the answer to this conundrum? Profitability, not revenue. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 24 Feb 2022 | Ep 88: Truth Bombs About Retainer Models and Why They Are Not Profitable | 00:18:39 | |
Retainer model clients. Are they the holy grail of small agencies? Or the source of their eventual downfall. So many small agency owners are stuck in a feast or famine cycle with client work and marketing. They’re either spending all of their time on client projects or they’re spending all of their time hustling for clients and not making money. It’s a stressful way to run a business. Eventually, a lot of business owners get to a point of asking themselves, “Wouldn’t it make more sense to put some of these clients on retainer? A monthly fee for ongoing work would stop the feast or famine work/client chasing cycle, give me a steady income, and give me a sense of security.” It makes logical sense. And yet, I still get contacted by a lot of one to two person branding agencies, who have clients on retainer, and they’re still working all the time and they’re still not making enough money to actually feel safe. And they still ask me if the answer is to get more retainer clients. To that, I always say, NO. I am avidly against retainer clients for small agency owners. And I’m going to tell you exactly why I think they give a false sense of security and are the absolutely wrong strategy to implement if you want more profit and more freedom in your life. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 03 Mar 2022 | Ep 89: Rochelle Moulton and Jonathan Stark Dive Deep on Productized Services, Fixed and Value-Based Pricing, and Building Authority | 00:52:23 | |
Productizing your services is a hell of a great way to run a business, make better money and live a more sustainable life. For me, it was the answer to years of chasing clients and struggling to keep my branding projects profitable for my small agency. Productizing my services completely turned my business around within just a couple of months and I went from $40,000 in debt to $500,000 in sales in just 12 months. But like any business model, there are constraints. Where are those constraints? And what value or opportunities might be left on the table when you productize? After listening to Rochelle Moulton and Jonathan Stark talk about productized services on their podcast, I knew I had to invite them over to dig into it some more. We’ll talk about constraints of the model for a small agency and where we’ll have to agree to disagree. Rochelle Moulton turns independent consultants into authorities. The author of The Authority Code: How To Position, Monetize And Sell Your Expertise, she has been called “an emotional Red Bull” for her balance of inspiration and practical advice. She co-hosts The Business of Authority and is a leading voice in the independent consulting space. Jonathan Stark is a former software developer who is on a mission to rid the world of hourly billing. He is the author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts, the host of Ditching Hourly, and writes a daily newsletter on pricing for independent professionals. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Rochelle Moulton:
Learn more about Jonathan Stark: Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 10 Mar 2022 | Ep 90: The Real Deal About Creatives And Their Art And Why Perfectionism Doesn't Help Your Clients | 00:16:15 | |
A designer recently told me they’re very intrigued by these one-to-three day intensive models, but their issue was they "can’t stop designing”. “My problem is being a perfectionist. I don’t know when to stop designing. How can I get more disciplined to get to a point where I can call it done and stop exploring ideas?” It’s a great question. People tell us that building an entire brand in one to three days is impossible because they have no idea how long it’s going to take to do their brilliant creative work. I get it. Steve used to spend upward of 60 hours on just a logo. But we’ve honed our process and we deliver high value for our clients. And I know you can do it too. So how do you deliver for your clients and maintain boundaries on your time so your business is actually profitable? Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 17 Mar 2022 | Ep 91: How to Gain Financial Safety and Feel Financially Secure (Even if You Don't Have Lots of Money in the Bank) | 00:15:15 | |
I bet you have a number you want to make each month. Maybe it’s the holy grail of making six figures. Or maybe it’s the amount of cash you want to have in your bank account. We all have some number in our heads that we think, "When I have that amount, when I’m making that much money, then I will feel safe. I will feel secure and stable and I can breathe in my business." When we first started in 2011, $10,000 a month was our holy grail number. I felt like if I could get to that level, everything would feel solid and I would feel okay. And I hustled to get there. We opened for business in March, I started networking in June, pounding the pavement meeting everyone I possibly could, and by August 2011, we hit our first $10,000 month. And it felt like such a sweet victory to have made it there. The problem was, that was now my benchmark. The months after that when I didn’t hit $10,000, I felt like a failure. And it didn’t get rid of my stress, because I had to hustle for that money every month. After many years in business, many nights stressing about money, and lots of personal work to shift how I felt about that security I was chasing, I have come to a very different conclusion about what it means to feel financially secure. What I’ve realized is that it’s not about how much money you’re making in a month or in a year, or even how much money you have in the bank. None of those things is going to make you feel secure if you don’t know how to generate money. So let’s talk about how to do that so you can be financially secure and financially free. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia:
Resources: $100M Offers: How To Make Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No, Alex Hormozi | |||
| 24 Mar 2022 | Ep 92: The Difference Between a Freelancer and an Expert And Why You Want to be Intentional in How You Position Yourself | 00:15:33 | |
Do you feel stuck charging low prices for your work? Do you feel like people around you just don't ever want to pay more than you're asking for? In fact, they don't even want to pay the prices that you're pitching them. Well, that may be because you are stuck thinking about yourself and pitching yourself as a freelancer. If you want to charge higher and higher prices–those premium prices that everybody's talking about–then you need to evolve from a freelancer into an expert. What’s the difference? That’s what I’m going to tell you today, plus how to start positioning yourself as an expert and stop pitching yourself as a freelancer. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||
| 31 Mar 2022 | Ep 93: Truth Bomb: Delivering The Work in Less Time Delivers More Value for the Client | 00:11:16 | |
The No BS Agency model is about doing projects in intensives. This means short timelines. A lot of people wonder, "Won’t shorter project timelines result in less valuable work for the client?" When I tell people that we deliver entire brands and websites in a two-day intensive Brand Up, many people assume we’re delivering templated work, that the work must be shoddy, that it’s rushed, that there’s just no way you can deliver high quality work in a short amount of time. Not only is that not true, but it’s actually the exact opposite. We have found that you can deliver more value in less time. If you play your cards right. Today I’m going to tell you why. Tune into this episode to hear:
Learn more about Pia: | |||