The Boss Mom Podcast (Dana Malstaff)

For moms juggling family and business, productivity and efficiency can feel near-impossible. Everything we have going on can leave us feeling overwhelmed and guilty about not meeting our goals, but we don’t have to, if we have the right plan. 

Society tells us that we have to hustle around the clock to be successful, but that doesn’t take a mom’s schedule into account. Is there a way for us to work without burning out? How do we manage our schedules and to-do lists in a more purpose-driven, aligned way?

In today’s episode, I’m joined by productivity mentor, author and founder of A Purpose Driven Mom, Cara Harvey. She shares how we can conquer our goals and say yes to what matters without burning ourselves out. 

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why aiming for perfection leads to procrastination
  
  We won’t always have large chunks of time to get things done. How do we use little pockets of time to make progress on our goals and move our businesses forward? 

• The Learn, Plan, Do method
  
  How do we take on new tasks and gain new skills in a way that doesn’t leave us feeling so overwhelmed that we end up quitting? 

• How to say yes to what matters
  
  When you’re growing a business, everything feels imminent and urgent. What strategies can we use to prioritize what needs our attention?

Guest Bio

Cara is a wife, mom to a 15-year-old stepson, 6-year-old daughter, 4-year-old son, woman of God, productivity mentor, author, speaker and founder and host of A Purpose Driven Mom. She works as a mom empowerment coach and her mission is to provide women with the tools, resources, and community to reach their goals, empower themselves, find their happiness, and live a life by design. She does this via her blog, podcast, virtual community groups, and e-courses that help women learn to balance their lives, finances, schedules, health, and themselves! 

For more information, visit https://apurposedrivenmom.com/, and follow @apurposedrivenmom on Instagram. 

Get Cara’s free 15 Minute Formula action guide here.

Mind maps are a great way to brainstorm, and they serve as a great starting point for getting ideas out of your head. Why are mind maps so freeing? Why is it so important to understand how your brain works and comes up with ideas? On this episode, I talk about why mind maps are my favorite way of planning to execute on an idea.

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

• Mind mapping is great way to brainstorm without worrying about structure. Sometimes structure holds us back, as our ideas don’t always come in the order we want to execute.
• A mind map is never wrong. Every piece of it, whether you keep it, cross it off, or move it is part of the journey to allowing your brain to unravel the beauty that’s inside it.
• You can’t access the parts of your brain with the good stuff without getting uncomfortable.
• If it’s not worth mapping and doesn’t fit into the strategy of your business, consider whether it’s really worth it to your business.

Our brains are wonderful and unique instruments. When we learn how they function and how ideas unfold in them, the better we get at fleshing out our ideas and then executing on them. It’s not about having the most perfect and organized mind map-- it’s about letting our minds roam free to get an idea out of our heads and onto paper. Expect discomfort, because that’s how we reach the highest form of creation and creativity.

Going viral is something many business owners desire and even chase on social media, but does it actually help you and your business? Of course, going viral can draw more attention to your business, but it doesn’t have to be the primary goal behind every piece of content we create.

In this episode, I talk about the content that’s best for you to create instead of focusing on going viral.

A million of the wrong people are really unhelpful to your business. -Dana Malstaff 

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why "going viral" should not be your main focus
  What are the reasons we shouldn’t lead our content creation efforts with going viral?
  
  
• The types of content that work
  What should we create for social media if we want it to help our businesses?
  
  
• How to use Truisms to make better content
  What do truisms mean, and why are they effective in content creation?

Finishing strong with Dana & NJ. In this episode, Dana and NJ In this episode, Dana and NJ give you a pep talk for finishing your business strong so you can start your new year even better. This episode is sponsored by Gifts Happen Here.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Ideas for finishing strong in your business.
• Setting yourself up for a great launch into the new year.
• Building your annual calendar.
• Looking at the end of the year as a service based versus a product based business.
• The one thing you should do at the end of the year.
• Identifying what to pass off and building a team.

Show Sponsor: Gifts Happen Here

Find a gift for anyone on your list,or yourself at Gifts Happen Here. The company was founded to provide high-quality embroidered items at amazing prices. They handcraft the design and you can get it monogrammed. Don't wait to fulfill your shopping list for the holiday season by visiting Gifts Happen Here.

For free shipping through the end of the year, use the code BossMom.

Recommended links and resources:

*Affiliate links present

• Ontraport
• Thinkific
• Lara Casey Powersheets
• Lion Latch
• Boss Mom Academy
• Boss Mom fitting call
• Boss Mom Facebook group
• Boss Mom Retreat Facilitators List

Can I quote you on that? 

• Finishing the year strong could be the thing that launches you into the new year. - Dana
• There's nothing magical about January 1. - NJ
• Finishing strong is looking at what you can do a little bit better at the new year. - Dana
• Finishing strong for me is allowing others to help me to build my business with others and make it better. - Dana

Connect with Dana & NJ

Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place)

NJ : Website / Instagram (her total happy place)

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We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both of us hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Hey there passionate moms and passionate entrepreneurs. Welcome to Episode 3 of the Boss Mom podcast.

I don't know about you, but I get exhausted with all of the decisions I have to make each day between my business and my family; sometimes it can be overwhelming. Over the years I have discovered a few things that can help battle what I like to call decision fatigue, and I wanted to share them with you in today's episode.

Listen to the audio...

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There are two types of decision fatigue that I want to talk about today.

The first, is when there are just too many options. Think of all those times you are trying to find the right tool for your business or family. There are so many options, and maybe you have felt bogged down, frustrated, or overwhelmed. I mean, you don't have enough time in the first place to go and research every single option out there, right?

The second type is when you have too many different decisions to make throughout the day. We make tons of subconscious choices each day, but these are the choices that you consciously make, and then worry about later.

Now there is one thing that can really help battle both of these...and it's a good strategy. Having a clear strategy for your business, and family, will not only make decision making easier, but it can really how much time and effort you're putting into each decision that you have to make moving forward.

Here's some of the ways to help you create a good business strategy:

First, is to really know your purpose or what is commonly referred to as these days is your "why".  What is it that you want to achieve? What is it that you're really trying to change in the world?

How does this help battle decision fatigue? Because, when you know why it is you're doing what you're doing, all of a sudden, making decisions becomes so much easier. Now you are able to use your 'why'' as a sounding board to make sure your decision really aligns with what you're trying to accomplish?

Second, is set priorities. A lot of times we have decision fatigue because we have shiny object syndrome. There's so many cool new things coming out, so many new courses, so many new people to follow, so many social media platforms we should be on. Then, all of a sudden you can't decide what to do, because you have your hands in so many pots that it's really tough to know which ones to continue.

How does this help battle decision fatigue? Well, when you are super clear on your main priorities to grow your business, it becomes easier to stop yourself from trying to make too many decisions on things that don't actually get you to your goal. Basically, it becomes easier to just say no, and not feel bad.

Third, is to create a schedule. When you are thinking about creating your schedule, think about what items are prerequisites of others. So, what do you have to do now, before you can do the next thing?

How does this help battle decision fatigue? When you consider the elements of your day, week, month, that have to get done first in order for other things to happen, then you are making sure that you stay on schedule AND not wasting time or money by not fully utilizing your resources. You are also able to limit the number of larger decisions that need to be made each day, which can really help cut down on your decision fatigue.

Here are some things you can do to help eliminate that decision fatigue when it comes to making a decision with just too many options.

1. Set a time limit of how long you're going to allow yourself to research that particular tool, or resource.
2. Know who your influencers are and then listen to their preferences and let them, well, influence you.
3. List what you need. Why do you need this tool? What do you need it for? The more details the better.
4. Make the best decision you can in the time you've given yourself, and then act.

And that is how I deal with decision fatigue. I would love to hear how you deal with decision fatigue. Share in the comments below.

How can we create great content that not only sells a product, but makes a massive impact on our audiences?

When we think of memorable marketing, most of us are likely to feel overwhelmed. How do we even begin to craft something that people resonate with, for years to come?

Most of the time, the best ideas come from the moments we separate ourselves from daily tasks and allow our minds to wander.

In this episode, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Harmon Brothers, Daniel Harmon joins me to discuss how memorable marketing campaigns come to life.

There is so much value in boredom. Some of the best ideas come from white space. -Daniel Harmon

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

Become the customer

To market a product the right way, we need to use it ourselves to see what sets it apart. We have to become genuinely passionate about it. Remember, nothing sells better than the truth.

Relax

The best ideas tend to come to us when we’re relaxed. Do enough work beforehand so that when we’re in a state of relaxation, our brains can fill in the blanks. 

Go out and experience culture

When we’re passionate about what we do, it’s easy to slip into a cycle of only consuming information related to our businesses. Go out and see what the audience is doing; otherwise, we risk repeating what everyone in our space is already doing.

Guest Bio- 

Daniel Harmon is the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Harmon Brothers, the advertising agency behind the most viral ads in internet history. Under Daniel’s creative direction, the agency’s groundbreaking ads have collectively driven more than 1.5 billion views and over $400 million in sales. Daniel was actively involved in revolutionizing the way products are marketed, having helped write and creatively direct a campaign for Poo~Pourri- and today, he is also the host and creative teacher at Harmon Brothers University, a new school for creators seeking to learn the Harmon Brothers method. 

To find out more about Daniel and Harmon Brothers, head to: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielharmon/ 

https://harmonbrothers.com/home 

Harmonbrothersuniversity.com

Books mentioned on this episode:

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown https://www.amazon.com/Essentialism-Disciplined-Pursuit-Greg-McKeown/dp/0804137382 

As moms, there’s a constant pressure to put our maternal identity above everything. Of course, our kids are important, but there’s a lot more to us than that.

Our worth isn’t determined solely by how much time we dedicate to our families. Neglecting our other identities and passions can lead to a profound loss and disconnection from ourselves.

How does the pressure sabotage our ability to be truly happy and connected as women? How do we recognize and embrace our multitude of identities as women without feeling guilty?

In this episode, I talk about how having a guilty mom mindset can sabotage your success. I also talk about fostering a balanced approach to identity and how to give our identities as women enough time and space.

We are so many more things than just being a parent. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

-Figuring out who we are as women

How do we figure out exactly who we are as women? What aspects do we look at?

-Our identity as partners

Does our identity differ when we have a partner as opposed to when there is no one else included in our lives? What does that look like?

-The mindset that children are everything

How has culture set this mindset up and made it a norm? Is this the correct mindset to have?

Reading is a necessary part of self-development and growth. What can we learn about emotional intelligence, communication, creativity, and making decisions? How can books help us become better versions of ourselves and better business owners?

On this episode, I talk about 5 books with a tremendous amount of value and how they can help you and your business. These books will change the way you think and how you engage with the world, as well as how to make decisions without questioning them.

Business is people-- and people relate to each other. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

• The more you understand how people feel valued and loved, the higher your chances of success.
• The best way to live your life is to read other people’s love languages so that you can give them love in the way that they understand.
• When we use our minds to create ideas and bring them to life, it fulfills us as human beings.

Running a business, being creative, and working towards your goals can be daunting. By learning love languages we can become better communicators, which will help our relationships. When we lead with emotional intelligence, we find that our interactions with people improve. The act of creation provides us with fulfillment, as does finding what truly suits us and plays to our strengths.

This is a Nurture Your Business segment with Dana. Dana tells how to leverage your work with me page on your website. This show is sponsored by T. Bosler Writing.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Why people go to your work with me page.
• Think about the main aspect as to why people make decisions.
• Building a bridge in decision making.
• Make a seen on page.

Steps to making a work with me page:

1. Showing they are in the right place by recognizing their frustrations. If you're unsure how to write these frustrations, ask your community.
2. Show your reader where you will take them.
3. Add a testimonial. A testimonial shows that you've helped others.
4.  The what you want people to buy. It needs to be the features (what) and benefits (intangibles) you get when you invest. Be specific.
5. Have an opt-in or exit pop up to get your visitor on your list. As your opt-in you should have where you've been seen.
6. Pricing is a choice.
7. Have a button for them to get on a call with you.

Show Sponsor: T. Bosler Writing

Tara is offering a Holiday Stress Relief Writing Package: 25% off all her current rates! She offers repurposing services - taking Facebook live, videos, or podcasts and turns them into a blog on your website. That means $225 for three authored blog posts, $394 for three ghostwritten blog posts, and 25% all her web copy rates as well. Visit her website, T Bosler Writing, for more information on her services!

Mention Boss Mom for your 25% off holiday stress relief package!

Referenced in the show:

• Episode 123: Nurture Your Business: How to get your ideal client to talk to you with Dana
• Episode 33: Nurture Your Business: What to put on your sales page with Dana
• Episode 87: Nurture Your Business: How I run my group coaching program with Dana
• I heart your face mug
• Boss Mom Academy Fitting call

Can I quote you on that?

• Ever single thing you write is a sales page. - Dana
• You're not just telling people what they can get, it's recognizing what drives people to hire you. - Dana
• Figure out how to bridge the gap between where someone is at and show them how to get to the other side and being positive in their decision making. - Dana
• In sales, take the experts formula, follow the guidance until it's perfected, then tweek it. - Dana's dad
• People want to work with people they trust and those with whom they feel comfortable with. - Dana

Connect with Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Courses are everywhere - everyone’s talking about them, offering them and telling entrepreneurs to create them. I get it, the natural progression of knowledge and growth is making a course about it.

But before we even think of creating a course, certain things have to be in place because great content isn’t enough, even if it’s put together beautifully.

So what needs to happen before we create a course? Why is messaging so important? In this episode, I’m talking about how to get a course to work for you at the right stage in your business.

No matter how good your course is, if your messaging isn’t right all the course has to stand on is what it teaches, and that’s not enough. -Dana Malstaff 

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• What gets a course to succeed
  Why do some courses struggle even though they have awesome content?
  
  
• Why our messaging has to be dialed in
  As awesome as we are at what we do, there are other people in our space. How do we make sure we’re putting our beacon out to the right people?
  
  
• Why we shouldn’t rush creating a course
  How do we know we’re making a course too fast and creating a recipe for sales PTSD?

In this episode I'm breaking down a core element from my latest book, Confessions of a Boss Mom, which is all about knowing your circles of understanding to know how to leverage the connections and relationships in your life.

Understanding this concept will literally change how you see the world and do life and business, so jump in, grab and pen and piece of paper to take notes, and don't forget to check out the new Confessions of a Boss Mom book for even more juicy goodness just like this.

• Gina’s transition from military officer to fitness coach and why she chose to start a business during maternity leave
• How she built her client base through word of mouth and social media while juggling the demands of a newborn
• The importance of setting boundaries as a new entrepreneur and balancing business with family life
• Tips on letting go and delegating tasks to grow your business without burning out
• The power of authenticity: why showing up as your true self is key to building a loyal audience
• Advice for moms feeling overwhelmed about adding fitness or self-care into their routines

• Follow Gina on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube: @MamaStayFit
• Visit her website for prenatal and postpartum fitness courses, childbirth education, and more: MamaStayFit.com

This is a Nurture Your Business segment with Dana. Dana asks an important business building question of what is feeding your funnel - the answer is inside this episode and it will change how you think of an optin.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• What is a funnel feeder?
• Starting at the end of the funnel and working backward.
• Outlining what it looks like to create a funnel.
• How flipping the way you think about an optin will make you a better business owner.

Referenced in the show:

• Autumn Boyd
• Gillian Perkins
• Lilah Higgins
• CJ Thomas
• Boss Mom Academy
• Boss Mom Facebook group

Can I quote you on that?

• The optin is just the beginning of the funnel, but it's not the first thing you should think about or focus on. - Dana
• If you said what am I going to create that's going to feed my funnel, you'd think about it differently. - Dana

Connect with Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

In today's highly socialized culture, it can feel like system overload trying to figure out how, when and where to leverage the power of live social media for your business. But, we know we're supposed to do it....right?

Well, in this episode NJ and I are sharing a little about how we approach "going live" in our businesses and a few practical bits of wisdom and strategy to help you figure out how to incorporate live broadcasting into your overall business plan with a little more ease.

Saying No to Sweats & How Your Jewelry Tells Your Story with Veronica Zielinski Staudt. In this episode of the Boss Mom Podcast, Veronica and Dana talk sparkles and passion for business and family.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Veronica's boss mom journey that starts with deeply rooted heritage.
• Selling vintage jewelry with a story.
• Raising kids to have positive self - image and good self - esteem.
• Dressing for success.
• Fashion trends, dressing for yourself and finding a way to dress on brand.
• Working in your passion.
• How Veronica handles with overwhelm.
• Passion for shopping small business.

Recommended links and resources:

• Money Saving Mom
• Boss Mom Academy
• Trello Training
• Boss Mom Facebook Community

Can I quote you on that? 

• We need a little sparkle in our lives. - Dana
• I was so passionate about it, and I was going to bring the personal shopping experience to others through online. - Veronica
• A great piece of jewelry can completely change your outlook for the day. - Veronica
• Women deserve to take time to dress up. - Veronica
• It's about being you, and portraying you through the way you dress. - Dana
• When things are tough and challenging, and when we're passionate about our job, that goes a long way. - Dana
• For me, getting to work with happy customers, that's how I continue to know every day that I'm in the right place work wise. - Veronica
• I never get tired of making people happy through jewelry. - Veronica

More about our guest, Veronica Zielinski Staudt.

Veronica Staudt runs Vintage Meet Modern, an online jewelry boutique specializing in designer and vintage jewelry. Veronica has worked in personal shopping and styling for 20 years. Her mantra is “Always Sparkle” and her mission is that every woman deserves to shine and feel beautiful inside and out. Her company prides itself on creating a personal shopping experience online, while providing unique and rare pieces that work seamlessly with today’s modern fashions and lifestyles yet are so timeless they can be enjoyed for years to come. She is fully committed to the sustainable fashion movement.

She is also the mother to three beautiful children. Victoria (age 13), Valerie (age 10), and Michael (age 3). She and husband reside in Homer Glen, a suburb outside of Chicago. Rumor has it she has the best dress up trunk on the block. When not busy spreading her love of sparkles, you can find her curled up with a stack of fashion magazines, in the kitchen cooking, or watching “Friends” with her husband

Veronica shares her love of fashion not only in her boutique but with her community.  You can join the Vintage Meet Modern Style Society, her private Facebook group where she reveals her tips and tricks on where to find the best pieces and how to style them. She also love to blab about baubles on her blog at VintageMeetModern.com.

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

Connect with Dana: Instagram / Periscope (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Taking Personal Development Mainstream with Alexi Panos. In this episode of the Boss Mom Podcast, Alexi talks about building a life where she can have a family and a thriving business at the same time. This episode is sponsored by Trello.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• How Alexi and her husband are preparing their business for kids before having them.
• Building their life in the adventures they want to have and how they add their business to that life.
• Integrating life and business intentionally.
• Adding team members from your tribe.
• How Alexi grew her tribe.
• Being real and authentic.
• Alexi's journey to starting a non-profit and her coaching business.

Sponsor: Trello

Allow transformation in your life by using Trello to organize your business, home, and life. Put all your ideas and thoughts into order visually using Trello.

Get Dana's Trello training now for free!

Recommended links and resources:

• The Upcycling Toy Club book
• Boss Mom Facebook Community

Can I quote you on that? 

• The more I move into myself, the easier it becomes. - Alexi Panos
• My realness attracts those who like me. - Alexi Panos
• The simple things are what we're all missing. - Alexi Panos

More about our guest, Alexi Panos.

I’m Alexi Panos, and I am an artist of life. Some would label me a Transformational Thought Leader, others would say I’m a Conscious Content Creator, but I believe it is all just amazing forms of ART. Through my art, I am insanely committed to empowering others to own their greatness and live a life they are completely OBSESSED with. I am on a mission to make personal development mainstream by synthesizing big ideas into fun, bite-sized nuggets of goodness that spread throughout the world and create a ripple effect of positivity and love.

Website / Facebook / YouTube

Connect with Dana: Instagram / The Boss Mom Facebook community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Rach Wheatley is business consultant and coach, speaker and blogger. She’s a proud mum and wife who juggles day care drop offs, collecting pretty things and getting sweaty via a range of fun/crazy fitness adventures. She thrives on hearing women’s stories and helping them create a new story for their future that it meaningful, peaceful and happy.

Project: Breathe is home to her blog, consultation, workshops and shop, all of which are designed lovingly to help women go from ‘pie in the sky’ dream stage to ‘wow this business is actually happening’ stage. Rach’s unique style blends emotional support with practical tools leaving clients feeling empowered to move into a new phase of their lives.

This podcast with Rach is a great listen with lots of amazing advice about finding your why and intention setting.. Let’s dive in, shall we?

Listen to the audio:

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In this episode you’ll hear:

• Rach’s journey from working in management to working for herself, and how motherhood influenced her decision to become an entrepreneur.
• How working with the wrong business coach helped Rach plan the right course for her business and following her passion.
• What being heart-centered is and why it is important to being in business for yourself and being a mother.
• Why having vision and purpose is powerful.
• Why uncovering your “why” is hard (but important) work and why it is worth it.
• Rach’s intention setting method, how it differs from goal setting and the impact it has on Rach’s business and personal life.
• Why we need to practice the art of self compassion.
• How having a mantra can slay the feeling of guilt.

Can I quote you on that?

• After becoming a mum (and taking 12 months off to be home with my son), I tried looking for a job the conventional way and found that no one wanted me. That was really really hard. - Rach
• I said to myself, “When I was pregnant, I knew I didn’t want to go back to my old career, so why was I even trying?” - Rach
• I stopped, and had a really good think about what I really wanted and what my purpose actually was. - Rach
• I realized, I could be a mum and have the type of business that was meaningful to me  without compromising either. -Rach  
• When you know what is important to you, you can build your business to support that kind of life.- Dana
• Women are getting this message that they have to do things this normal traditional way, or else this (business) isn’t going to work. And it just increases that mother’s guilt that we’re already feeling….. I really wanted to be that person that says to them, we can work through this. You can work it out and you can have both. - Rach
• There is plenty of judgement out there- we don’t need to be putting it on ourselves and each other.  - Rach
• We just have to figure out what is your vision and what is your purpose and how can we put that into your everyday. -Rach
• We can make business decisions with our intentions in mind. - Rach
• The biggest tip I can give for intention setting is to have self compassion, you have to as compassionate to yourself as you are to your kids or anyone else.
• The intention setting has taken the guilt out of being a mother and an entrepreneur (I used to feel guilty for spending time on one or the other). There is no place for guilt because I’m focusing my feelings, thoughts, and energy on other more positive emotions. -Rach
• I’m going to give myself permission to change my mind, if that’s the best decision for my business and family. - Dana

Recommended resources, links, and books (affiliate links present):  

• Rach’s free Intention Setting worksheets
• The Law Of Divine Compensation by Marianne Williamson

Connect with Rach:

Visit Rach’s website.

Rach has current availability for four Boss Mom's to have a Purpose Strategy Session with her for AU$99.00. In this session you’ll clarify purpose, set goals and create focus. Must book prior to October 23. Details at http://www.projectbreathe.co/purpose-strategy-session/

Rach on Periscope: @WheatleyRach

Website / Twitter /  Instagram

What intention will you set for today? Answer in the comments below, or connect with Dana on Instagram to continue the discussion there. 

Social Media Smorgasbord - Dana & NJ. In this episode, Dana and NJ go deep into the basics of social media, what platforms to live on and tools they use for scheduling posts. This episode is sponsored by Pierce Social.

Listen to the podcast:
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In this episode you’ll hear:

• Facebook from a business angle.
• If This Than That recipe.
• Tools that you can use to schedule.
• API access and what it is.
• How to decide what social media platforms to be on.
• Algorithms changes and how it's changing what we see on social media.
• Getting people on your list and why it's important.
• The Boss Mom Facebook group.
• Hashtags defined by Dana.

Our Podcast Sponsor: Pierce Social

Is social media management a huge time suck for you? Pierce Social's free 5 Day Challenge is designed to help you reduce the time spent on your social media marketing tasks & create a system for managing it. This challenge includes a free Trello board. Get her free challenge NOW!

Pierce Social is also sharing the love and offering the Boss Mom listeners a 40% discount on her NEW workbook through February 10th. They can use the discount code BOSSMOM.

Recommended links and resources:

*Affiliate links present

• Tailwind
• Trello
• Coschedule
• Meet Edgar
• Buffer
• Hootsuite
• SmarterQueue (tool NJ couldn't remember)
• Later
• Plann
• Boss Mom Pinterest boards
• Heather Crabtree
• NJ's email address hello@boss-mom.com
• Danielle's email address help@boss-mom.com
• Gracious Gift Wine
• Trello Training
• Boss Mom Academy
• Boss Mom Facebook group

Can I quote you on that? 

• You don't have to be on every single platform. - NJ
• Social media platforms are business. - Dana
• Think about posting pins as a Google search. - NJ

Connect with Dana & NJ

Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place)

NJ : Website / Instagram (her total happy place)

We would LOVE it if you’d leave a podcast rating or review on iTunes. We also know it can be kind of tricky to figure out. Here are a few step by step instructions on how to leave an iTunes rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

1. Launch Apple’s Podcast app.
2. Tap the Search tab.
3. Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review.
4. Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right.
5. Tap the album art for the podcast.
6. Tap the Reviews tab.
7. Tap Write a Review at the bottom.
8. Enter your iTunes password to login.
9. Tap the Stars to leave a rating.
10. Enter title text and content to leave a review.
11. Tap Send.

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both of us hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

This is a Nurture Your Business segment with Dana. In today's podcast episode, Dana shares on how your calendar the best accountability partner, but there are things you can do to maximize its effectiveness.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• What happens when we don't use our calendar.
• How Dana uses multiple calendars to her advantage.
• Being honest with yourself in using your calendar.
• Giving yourself time and space to have a great accountability partner.

Recommended links and resources:

• Google Calendar
• Vcita Scheduling tool
• Trello
• Trello training
• She Plans To Do List Calendar
• Course Creation Summit
• Translating your Goals into Action Webinar
• Ted Talks
• Marie Forleo
• Your Notebook Bestie by Ashley Shelly
• May Designs
• Boss Mom Episode 51: Nurture Your Business: The Purposeful Checklist

Can I quote you on that?

• When I have not done something on my calendar, there is a sense of loss over the time I missed. - Dana
• I don't want to create a calendar atmosphere where I don't take it seriously and then I am overwhelmed. - Dana
• My calendar is my space to give myself space. - Dana
• Our calendars are our accountability partners. - Dana

Connect with Dana: Instagram / Periscope (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

The world of entrepreneurship is dominated by masculine energy. For female entrepreneurs, learning about business from the perspective of masculine energy can cause burnout, self-sabotage, and not running our businesses on our own terms. 

Masculine and feminine energy clash because they are distinctly different. Facing this clash internally often leads to us feeling disconnected and misaligned with our own businesses. It can also make us struggle to find a pricing model that is true to what we care about. 

How can we run better businesses and lead happier teams by leading with feminine energy? What are some of the key parts of feminine energy we can bring into our businesses? How can we set boundaries from a feminine energy perspective? 

In this episode, I’m joined by entrepreneur, DEI educator, and CEO of The Digital Market.co, Jocelyn J. Kopac. She shares how to improve our businesses by changing the energy we lead them with, and how that helps us create a more aligned financial model. 

Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How pricing structures affect how we feel about our businesses:
  
  If we don’t believe in the pricing structure and the financial model we’re using to scale our businesses, we may end up sabotaging ourselves and our businesses. Instead of pricing according to everyone else’s model, we have to find the model that’s in alignment with our values. 
  
  
• How to establish a pricing structure that aligns with our energy:
  
  Our pricing shouldn’t be about charging for our time, it’s about charging our worth. No one can ever pay us enough for our time because it’s too valuable. Charge according to your values, boundaries, and how much time you can spend on a task. Charging by account, rather than by the hour, also gives us the time and space to nurture our projects without feeling overwhelmed. 
  
  
• What stops women entrepreneurs from setting more boundaries:
  
  Feminine energy prioritizes helping others, and as a result, many women end up feeling guilty for setting boundaries. Boundaries can also feel harsh if we’re viewing them from a masculine energy perspective. It is possible to create boundaries that don’t exclude, eliminate, or reject people.
  
  
• How to identify the activities we should be outsourcing:
  
  It’s easy to slip into the habit of overworking ourselves when our energy is driven towards helping others. To avoid taking on too many tasks, keep a record of every activity done in a day and rank them in terms of enjoyment. After 2 weeks, we’ll have a good idea of what we should be delegating to others.

Guest Bio- 

Jocelyn J. Kopac is the CEO and Strategist at The Digital Market.co. A serial entrepreneur, Jocelyn started her first business at the age of 7. Knowing from a young age that running and growing businesses would be a huge part of her future, today she is also a business coach who helps leaders become confident in their growth plans, make sales, and build an audience through unfettered honesty, positivity, and doable strategies. Her ingenuity and positive attitude represent true leadership, but she attributes a lot of her success to the power of abundance, paying it forward, and a great cup of coffee.

To learn more about Jocelyn’s agency visit https://thedigitalmarket.co/. To sign up for her Business Readiness program visit https://www.jocelynjkopac.com/program/ and follow @jocelynjkopac on Instagram and Facebook. 

Letting Go of Your Past & Embracing Your Gift with Michelle Dempsey. In this episode of the Boss Mom Podcast, Michelle shares her passions in business and empowering women, and how she thrives in community. Sponsored by Throwing Pinecones Gathering.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Michelle's fast but fierce journey into business and motherhood.
• What act, receive, believe means in her business.
• How she's built her business into a thriving business.
• The importance of having a niche.
• What strategy means to Michelle.
• The power of telling your why.
• Michelle's passion to empower women, and how she uses her business in that passion.
• How a rock bottom moment changed Michelle's life.

Our Podcast Sponsor: Throwing Pinecones Gathering

The Throwing Pincones Gathering is a one-day event in Portland, OR, to help Christian women foster vulnerability, growth and depth in Christ. At the Throwing Pinecones Gathering, you will be equipped with the tools you need to seek this strength and courage and empower you to utilize them. All proceeds of the event go to benefit the human trafficking education and awareness through the organization She Has a Name.

To get your ticket to the event, visit their website, Throwing Pinecones.

Recommended links and resources:

• Scary Mommy blog
• Zoom - affiliate link
• PACE center for girls
• Boss Mom Academy
• Boss Mom Facebook Community

Can I quote you on that? 

• I turned my blog into a business, blood, sweat and tears, with the help of my tribe. - Michelle
• You have to sell yourself better than anyone else can. - Michelle
• I'm a fierce believer in the 'girl gang'. - Michelle
• A strategy is just a fancy word for a plan. It's like a roadmap. - Michelle
• When you're putting yourself out as a new business person, everything needs to make sense in your brand. - Michelle
• My past is something that's going to make a difference for tomorrow. - Michelle
• A lot of women who can't get their business started is because they're holding themselves back. - Dana

More about our guest, Michelle Dempsey.

A writer, a dreamer, an entrepreneur, and above all things, a mother, Michelle Dempsey recently turned a passionate hobby into a thriving career. Internationally published and known for her ability to connect with readers on a deeper level, Michelle launched her own business, Michelle Dempsey: Very Well-Written, offering writing and editing services, business coaching, branding expertise, and social media strategy to businesses of all kinds. She speaks to female audiences regularly on topics including empowerment, personal development, and business success. Visit any of her websites to read more of her work, or her personal blog, The Trusted Mama, to read her honest tales of motherhood, marriage, everything in between.

Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Instagram

Connect with Dana: Instagram / The Boss Mom Facebook community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Whether you’re starting a business, growing a community or working through your entrepreneurial process, writing a book is a great way to clarify your purpose, ideas or brand. 

Many Boss Moms have a book in them, and even though writing a book is more accessible than ever, actually getting your ideas out of your head and onto a page can be quite daunting. 

We should always yearn to write something great, and that often means getting some help, even if you’re a talented writer. 

Today I’m joined by a book writing coach who helps people create their own masterpieces! In this episode, Danielle Fetherson shares the 4-step book writing process she uses to turn a collection of ideas into page-turners. 

We also talk about how to intentionally design the reader’s experience and why the process is so worthwhile. 

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How the ghostwriting process works
  
  If you’re not the actual writer of your book, can you still claim it as your own?

• The importance of designing the reader’s experience
  
  How do we make sure our books make people feel like they’re having a real conversation with us?

• Danielle’s 4-step book-writing process
  
  What are the steps involved in defining what you want to say, refining your ideas, and making sure your book accomplishes what you want?

Guest Bio- 

Danielle Fetherson is a former college instructor turned ghostwriter turned book writing coach. She helps service-focused leaders and entrepreneurs turn their best ideas, stories and content into amazing books worth reading, even if they’ve been stuck for years and don’t consider themselves to be amazing writers.

Clients describe her four-step process for helping them finally finish their book as engaging, energizing and inspiring. When she is not helping authors make the world a better place with their messages, she is reading, dancing, or cracking jokes with her husband, their 1-year-old son or 5-year-old daughter. 

For more information, visit http://daniellefetherson.com/ or find her on Facebook.

For a lot of women, the demands of our lives make us suppress the light inside of us. Why is it so important for the world that we embrace what makes us unique? How do we step out of society’s expectations and judgments? How can we shift our thinking and choose to live in a woman’s world? On this episode, photographer and speaker Jennifer Rozenbaum is here to talk about her mission to take back femininity.

The more “you” that you can be without any shame, the more power we have as people, as women, and as a community. -Jennifer Rozenbaum

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

We don’t have to sacrifice femininity for empowerment (11:23 - 12:16)

A lot of women feel like empowerment should come at the expense of femininity, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Authenticity makes the whole world better (13:05 - 13:13)

It’s critical that people live authentically and “step into their own”. Not only does this benefit the individual, it also benefits partners, children, families and the community as a whole.

Run into the pain. It’s worth it (14:15 - 15:06)

Stepping outside of your comfort zone is always going to be scary and a little painful, but we don’t have to shy away from it. Overcoming that pain is what makes us grow. Whether the challenge is small or large, if you don’t face it you’ll never see the beauty on the other side of the pain.

There’s no better time to be a woman than right now. There’s a lot of change happening and a lot more awareness, but all progress starts with women stepping into their own and being authentic without shame. We have something unique that men don’t, and we shouldn’t be stifling ourselves to live in a man’s world. There is nothing wrong with owning our femininity and choosing to run towards the pain, even when we’d rather not. Remember: skydiving might be scary, but jumping out of the plane changes everything.

Guest Bio
Jen Rozenbaum is a photographer and speaker putting “feminine” back in “feminist”. Jen specializes in luxury boudoir photography. She believes every woman must celebrate her unique femininity, shamelessly. Go to http://www.jenerations.com/ to learn more about her work.

In this information age, people get so excited about the possibilities of their ideas that they jump the gun and start in the wrong place. When you have an idea, what are the steps you need to think about? How do you avoid prematurely floundering? On this episode, idea strategist and inventor Lisa McCarthy gives insight on doing things in the right order when you have a new idea.

You need to retrain your brain to think in a positive way, even when you’re slamming through the slime. It’s about you empowering yourself. -Lisa McCarthy

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Before you can empower anyone you have to empower yourself first (04:04 - 04:30)

A lot of us are driven by purpose and the need to make an impact on something outside of ourselves. The truth is, if you want to make an impact externally, you have to do the hard work of empowering yourself before you can do it for anyone else.

Be intentional and proactive about what you say to yourself (08:09 - 09:26)

We all have an inner monologue, and often we allow the message to be negative. What if you learned to drown that out with something you purposefully and intentionally chose to say to yourself? Imagine how that would change everything.

Plan first before taking any action on a new idea (14:20 - 15:44)

When you come up with a new idea for something, it’s so easy to get carried away that you miss the foundational steps that ensure success. To avoid this, take the time to map the details so that questions and obstacles can be anticipated.

When excitement and inspiration form around a new idea, we can easily forget the important details that go into executing it. Missing crucial steps can actually hinder progress, so it;s worth it to take the time to map out your ideas. Figure out “the who, what, when, where, why and how” so you have the right game plan to move forward. This will make the process of executing on an idea a lot less daunting and ultimately more effective.

Guest Bio

Lisa is a Strategist at Make My Idea Real and the Inventor of the Affirmations Mirror. Go to makemyideareal.com for more information or get in touch with Lisa success@makemyideareal.com.

How To Reach Your Goals & Working From Your Core. In this episode of the Boss Mom podcast, chat about why they recommend working from your core and how that relates towards working on your goals.

In this episode you'll hear:

• Why it is important to work from your core.
• Why it is important to dream in your business.
• How to manage ourselves when the to dos overwhelm us.
• How to use our long range goals to set actions in our day to day.
• Our Forget Me Not lists of businesses and ideas we are not currently taking action on.

Recommended links and resources: 

• Autumn Whitt Boyd, a lawyer for creative entrepreneurs
• The Rise of the Guardians 
• Hal Erod's Miracle Morning
• The Front Row Foundation 
• Little Bins For Little Hands
• 16 Personalities 

Can I quote you on that?

• We can do a million different things, but if we're not operating out of our center, none of it really matters. - NJ
• When you realize your center, you recognize your gift. - Dana
• If we're not operating from our center in our business, if we're not pulling in the core values of who we are as a person into the core values of our business, then it is really easy to chase the wind and get caught up in comparison.
• If you're operating from your core, you can think of yourself as a kite on a string. You might put something out there, but that something is always tethered back to your core. If it's not working, you can pull that back in without guilt.
• Tasks become meaningful when we work from our core.
• There are no unrealistic goals, just unrealistic timelines. - Unknown
• If you know your end goal it, it makes some of the dirty work a little easier to swallow.
• The great thing about knowing your core helps us not feel bad about making money in our business. - Dana
• You are the person who knows yourself best. Listen to your gut and your center. - Dana

Connect with Dana & NJ

Dana: Instagram / Periscope (her total happy place)

NJ : Website / Instagram (her total happy place)

NJ's husband playing with her daughter.

We would LOVE it if you'd leave a podcast rating or review on iTunes. We also know it can be kind of tricky to figure out. Here are a few step by step instructions on how to leave an iTunes rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad
Launch Apple's Podcast app.
Tap the Search tab.
Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review.
Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right.
Tap the album art for the podcast.
Tap the Reviews tab.
Tap Write a Review at the bottom.
Enter your iTunes password to login.
Tap the Stars to leave a rating.
Enter title text and content to leave a review.
Tap Send.

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both of us hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Eating Clean and Cooking Dirty with Samantha Rodgers. In this episode of the Boss Mom Podcast, Samantha and Dana talk about eating healthy, establishing good food relationships and creating a good eating plan. Sponsored by Throwing Pinecones Gathering.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• How Samantha started out in design, and the journey that her passions have led her on.
• Samantha's experience in becoming a mom.
• How she found that keeping things minimal and took little steps made all the difference.
• Meal prep made simple.
• Making food a family ritual.
• Keeping food shopping and meals simplified and stress-free.
• Changing the way you eat and establishing a healthy relationship with food.
• How Samantha transformed her mornings to overcome overwhelm.

Our Podcast Sponsor: Throwing Pinecones Gathering

The Throwing Pincones Gathering is a one-day event in Portland, OR, to help Christian women foster vulnerability, growth and depth in Christ. At the Throwing Pinecones Gathering, you will be equipped with the tools you need to seek this strength and courage and empower you to utilize them. All proceeds of the event go to benefit the human trafficking education and awareness through the organization She Has a Name.

To get your ticket to the event, visit their website, Throwing Pinecones.

Recommended links and resources:

• The Miracle Morning
• The Miracle Morning for Parents
• Kid safe knives
• Boss Mom Academy
• Boss Mom Facebook Community

Can I quote you on that? 

• I thought I never wanted to do anything with food. - Samantha
• You brought your life back to balance with paleo and CrossFit. - Dana
• Our gifts are shown highlighted necessities - Dana
• What steps do I need to take and how long will it take to see results from those steps. - Samantha
• We're not looking for more, we're looking for what matters. - Samantha
• You can spend 1-2 hours a week prepping, so you spend 20 minutes a day in the kitchen cooking. - Samantha
• Are you going to teach your kids to eat healthy? It's a choice you have to make. - Dana
• Any change we make around food, it needs to start at the epicenter and that's at home. - Samantha
• Stop going to the grocery store and picking up food, pick up meals instead. - Dana

*Photo credit: Samantha Rodgers. This is the hamburger that Dana mentions in the podcast episode.

More about our guest, Samantha Rodgers.

Sam is a Boss-Mom with a passion for food. Her love of food has grown from her family history. Today, she combines her love of food and her ability to simplify the process of cooking to help mom's increase family time and decrease kitchen time without sacrificing clean delicious meals.

Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram / Free Trial

Connect with Dana: Instagram / The Boss Mom Facebook community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

When you get into business, you’re often told that you need to know your ideal client avatar. However, when you focus on one specific group, there’s so much you miss. Why is it so important to have a scale of your ideal clients? How do you flow through knowing this scale? On this episode, I talk about the 5 stages of understanding your ideal client and the journey you want to take them on.

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

• You don’t necessarily have to market to the ideal client because those people are going to find you.
• A person can show characteristics of needing you, but might lack the mindset, financial resources, and time resources to hire you.
• The majority of your marketing effort should go towards the people who are one step from saying yes to you.
• Having clients that outgrow you will be part of the process, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Let them outgrow you and become referral partners.

Your ideal client scale is massively important. It is the cornerstone of understanding who you’re going after, where to get them, and whether they’re even the right fit for you. You’re going to have people who look like a good fit but don’t actually have the resources to work with you. Then there are those who are only one step away from working with you, and they are the perfect target. Have clients who are working with you but are becoming independent. Remember that it’s okay for some clients to outgrow you, as they can become excellent referral partners.  

On your website, a “thank you page” should be the first thing a person sees after they’ve said “Yes!” to you about something. If we fail to provide more ways to interact or connect with us, we’re missing out on huge opportunity. We want to guide people to the next step while they’re open, energetic, and excited about us.

In this episode, I’ll explain how powerful your thank you page can be, how it can help you create die-hard fans, and share some tips on exactly how to build it!

“It’s not ‘salesy’ to offer them an additional step to get closer to what they want” - Dana Malstaff

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

• A thank you page is a great way to allow a person to continue their journey with you, especially if you have more to offer that can improve their life.
• Don’t assume that people don’t want to dig deeper into what you have to offer.
• Give yourself the depth and potential to have die-hard fans
• A professional-sounding video is a great way to strike a chord emotionally, and communicate who you are in a way that text can’t.

Start the message of your page by thanking them for specifically what they did (or the form in which they said “yes” to you). Speak to their frustration, and propose an alternative. Let them know they’re in the right place, and provide the source of a solution. Setting this up in a way that resonates with your target audience is a powerful way help them find you, connect with you, and share you!

Few things feel as exciting as creating a business around the things we use in our own lives, and sometimes, our coping mechanisms can turn into professional ventures.

How can we turn something like meditation for stress alleviation into a business, so we can use what’s helped us to assist countless others? How can we fall in love with our daily practices enough to promote them?

In this episode, CEO of Expectful, Nathalie Walton shares how she became the co-founder of a business that helped her through her difficult pregnancy. 

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How to develop a regular meditation practice
  
  Most of us have heard about the benefits of meditation, but how can we find the time (and the willpower!) to get started? 

• How stress impacts fertility
  
  What can we do to reduce the effects stress has on our reproductive systems? 

• How to get started with hypnobirthing
  
  What is hypnobirthing, and how can we more women start using it in their own birth plans?

Guest Bio- 

Nathalie Walton is the CEO and Co-Founder of Expectful, the number one go-to wellness app for women and growing families.

While she was working at some of the world’s most admired companies, Airbnb, Google, and eBay, she was always on a constant search for deeper fulfillment. This search launched a self-discovery process that resulted in the cultivation of a wellness & mindfulness practice; Nathalie began meditating and practicing yoga daily, became mindful of her eating, and read incessantly about finding purpose. Not long after, she became pregnant and discovered that she was at high risk for placental challenges in the second half of her pregnancy. She went from an uneventful pregnancy to a high-stress pregnancy where every day she worried about her baby’s survival. During her third trimester, she saw an ad for Expectful, which was not only life-changing but the next step into her future. Within a week of diving into the meditations and deeping her hypnobirthing practice, her condition managed to stabilize and she made it to term. 

After becoming familiar with Expectful, she soon met Mark Krassner, who was looking for the right person to succeed him as CEO/Co-Founder. As a user, a new mother, a longstanding wellness enthusiast, and the person who built the roadmap for scaling Google’s Local Commerce offerings, this was the perfect opportunity for Nathalie. 

Nathalie knew that she was passionate about the prospect of making Expectful available to every pregnant woman, especially those whose doctors hadn’t offered them the support and resources they could be utilizing. 

Since becoming CEO, Nathalie has raised over $4M for Expectful. As Expectful’s CEO, as of September 2020, Nathalie’s mission is to solve the wellbeing crisis facing the 21 million women in the U.S. who are new parents, pregnant, or aspiring to conceive.

To find out more, go to: 

https://expectful.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/expectful/ 

https://www.instagram.com/nathaliewalton/

It's hard not to get caught up in who is engaging in your community and of those that opt into your list and buy your programs who is really engaging and getting value.  We spend a lot of time focusing on the wrong people and on the wrong content because we don't understand the pie of engagement.

On this episode, I will walk you through how the pie of engagement works and why it’s so important to keep it mind in your business.

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

• Just because you want people to get a certain result doesn't mean that getting a different result won't still satisfy your customers. 
• There will always be a percentage of people that don't really dive in and do the work. Stop trying to make those people engage and spend your time with the 12.5% that's going to continually buy your programs (listen to find out more).
• The people who get really good results from you are your rockstars. Don't try to keep making content for these people. Use their stories and testimonials to bring in your ideal client. 

The pie of engagement is relevant for people who engage in your community and those who buy your programs. If you draw a circle and draw a line through the middle. This is the start of getting a good idea of how engagement works. 50% of the people might engage but they won’t do the work. Divide one of the halves into 4 parts. These are people who will engage with your stuff to varying degrees. Some of them won’t get results and others will. The ones who get good results will refer you and bring you more business. Don’t fight the pie, just do what you can to get more people into your stratosphere.

Many people are eager to escape the stress and unfulfillment of climbing the corporate ladder, but fear that they may not have the same income and level of impact. What they might not realize, is that consulting is a great way to make the switch from employee to high-value entrepreneur. What are the advantages of consulting over having a corporate job? How do we get a steady stream of clients? How does consulting differ from coaching?

On this episode, business consultant and founder of Billable at the Beach® Amy Rasdal, shares on getting started in the consulting world and how to turn consulting gigs into a steady business. 

To build a successful consulting business, you have to break beyond your circle and immediate network, and start developing the outreach to build new relationships. -Amy Rasdal  

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

A consulting business is only as healthy as its pipeline (07:08 - 08:23)
Many consultants are able to find success early, but the work starts to slow down because the circle of people who know you have already hired you. The key to keeping the business growing is a steady pipeline, which we build by going out of our immediate circle, developing an outreach strategy and following through on it. 

Being a present parent and a successful professional are not mutually exclusive (17:29 - 19:04)
It often feels like we’re forced to pretend that we don’t have children in order for us to be able to excel professionally, or that they have to be invisible. More people need to see that we can have both children and a great mind. 

Consulting can be an impactful and a more lucrative alternative to the corporate ladder (25:07 - 29:07)
Becoming a consultant allows us to have more impact than we would as employees, while we also get to earn more money with more time freedom. People often feel like the only way to advance is through the corporate track, but consulting opens us up to more opportunities.

Guest Bio- 

Amy is the founder of Billable at the Beach®. She has been running her multiple 6-figure consulting business for 15 years. Amy liberates 6-figure earners by empowering them to build 6-figure consulting businesses through Billable at the Beach®. She has helped hundreds of people over the past 10 years. For more information, visit https://www.billableatthebeach.com/. 

To get Amy’s free course 3 Action Steps to Generate Revenue Now visit https://www.billableatthebeach.com/free-course/.

Creativity is incredibly important for our children, but their imaginations are often stunted way more than we realize. What’s stopping them from tapping into their full creative potential, and what can we do about it, as parents? 

How do the stories our children read, hear, or watch influence their ways of thinking, and is there anything we should be monitoring? How can we foster creativity that will help them in the real world?

In this episode, award-winning author of the Britfield book series, Chad Robert Stewart shares how to engage our children’s minds. 

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• The key to getting kids eager to learn
  
  Far too often, education is seen as a chore. How can we flip that on its head and help our kids find the FUN in learning? 

• How to keep our kids’ imaginations alive while working from home
  
  Kids tend to be more imaginative when they’re interacting with their peers. How can we recreate a playful, creative environment while they’re learning remotely? 

• How creativity benefits us as adults
  
  Could a creative background be more beneficial than we’re led to believe?

Guest Bio- 

Born in Newport Beach, California, Chad Robert Stewart has 20 years of experience in writing fiction, non-fiction, and screenplays. He is an award-winning, bestselling author, creativity specialist, and prolific writer. Founder of prestigious Britfield Institute, and Devonfield, an innovative company dedicated to the highest quality in publishing, film production, and education, Chad received a Bachelor of Arts in British literature and European history from Brown University; earned an MBA from Boston College, and is pursuing a Master of Science and a Ph.D. at Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management.

To find out more, go to:

https://www.britfield.com/ 

https://www.britfieldinstitute.org/ 

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialBritfield 

https://twitter.com/britfieldworld?lang=en 

One of the most awarded books in children's fiction, Britfield & the Lost Crown is a bestselling, fast-paced middle school adventure novel that transports the reader from the smoldering crags of Yorkshire, through the heart of England, and finally to the magnificent shores of Dover. Creating an interactive world of mystery and adventure, culture and education, Britfield is about friendship, family, loyalty, and courage. The first in a seven-book series, Britfield presents a real-world that children can embrace and not only entertains the reader, but educates them with accurate geography, literature, architecture, and history is interwoven throughout the exciting story.

Get a copy at:

https://www.britfield.com/store/

One thing that will be driving all the action we take this year is the belief that anything in our business can be templatized or built into a framework, and that includes how we build relationships and convert people. What is the nurture to convert system and how does it work? How can it help us run a smoother business process? On this episode, I share more on the new system we have developed and how you can leverage it to make your business more efficient and successful. 

The nurture to convert system is a revolutionary way of systematizing how we engage online and with our prospects and our audience. -Dana Malstaff 

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

• Everything can be distilled down to a method, framework or template. 
  
  
• If people don’t know what our opinions, beliefs and methodologies are, it’s hard for us to become well-known or an authority in that area. 
  
  
• We need to be clear on what we want to do with our audience. We need to feel like we have a congruent life and business, so we don’t feel like there’s a tug of war for our time and attention.

This is a Nurture Your Business segment with Dana. Dana shares an ah-ha moment and what happens if you don't use "it". This show's out of this world sponsor is Starship Family Journey.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• How you will lose "it" if you don't use "it".
• Daily practices you should take.
• Staying in tune with your strengths.
• Seizing ah-ha moments.
• When you charge in your business by expertise.

Show Sponsor: Starship Family Journey

Admiral Laura has launched a new sci-fi fun membership group called Starship Family Journey which creates fun and engaging ways for you to bring science and science fiction into your child’s world.

You can try it by going to StarshipFamilyJourney.com/bossmom and taking the free five-day solar system adventure. Each week has a new themed adventure to discuss at dinner time, with activities, meal ideas, and downloadable content.

Laura's out of this world membership is starting soon! If you sign up by October 7th, you can get the special starting price of $20 per month (30% off). Boss Moms who sign up will get a free Starship Family Journey Logbook (a twelve dollar value) just by using the membership code BOSSMOM (no spaces). The Logbook makes it easy for you to record your fun space adventures, pictures, and achievement stickers that your kids will earn. So check it out at StarshipFamilyJourney.com/bossmom.

Laura is a mom of two who has written space science books. She enjoys spending time with her family.

Referenced in the show:

• Boss Mom Episode 72: Nurture Your Business: Why you should take your calendar more seriously with Dana
• Boss Mom Episode 51: Nurture Your Business: The art of purposeful checklists with Dana

Can I quote you on that?

• In some ways, as we grow in business, parenting, and life, that we will grow and change. - Dana
• Every day has to be a day where we assess what our priorities are. - Dana
• When we decide to be action takers, we have to be okay with making decisions. - Dana
• When you stop doing something that's important, you'll be rusty. - Dana
• Consciously know and prioritize what you want to be good at. - Dana
• Be really clear where you are spending your time. - Dana

Connect with Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Once upon a time, not too long ago, who we let into our worlds was based on who lived nearby, but that’s no longer the case, and today, we can base our relationships on who really brings us joy, no matter where they are. 

However, let’s face it: that can be super overwhelming at times! If the world is our oyster when it comes to the people we’re closest to, where do we even begin? 

Who should we be bringing into our lives, and is there anyone we should avoid altogether?

In this episode, I’m sorting through the 5 people everyone should have in their lives (plus, the people we should keep out!). 

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• What to do about friendships that don’t serve us right now
  
  When is it time to move on from a relationship altogether, and when is it possible to change the existing dynamic we have with certain people in our lives? 

• How to seek out the kinds of relationships we need
  
  What happens if we don’t already have the ‘right’ kind of friends? How can we start building relationships with them, and where do we even begin to look in the first place? 

• The importance of becoming the friend others need
  
  Everyone wants to be surrounded by the right people in their lives, but what can we do to ensure we’re that person for the people we love?

As entrepreneurs we daily battle shiny object syndrome and the barrage of ideas that are constantly popping up in our creative little minds.

This presents a problem when we have limited time and resources! How do we know what to focus on and how to actually get the important stuff done?

In today's episode I'm joined by the lovely Ashley Gartland, a wife, mom of two spirited little girls, and life and business coach who works with entrepreneurs and creatives to help them simplify their business so they can experience more growth and fulfillment in their work and find more freedom in their life.

Ashley is passionate about helping women drop the cookie cutter approaches and instead grow their business their way through the lens of simplicity, and she is about to drop some serious golden nuggets so - let's jump in!

For the first time ever I am welcoming a repeat guest onto the podcast because we were recently talking about something that I just knew you ladies needed to hear.

In this episode I'm joined by the lovely Samantha Rodgers from Eating Clean, Cooking Dirty about strategies and tactics to literally save and create more time in your life.

This one is relevant to anyone, and everyone, so be sure to tune in and share it far and wide!

The digital marketplace is vast. For many, the challenge lies in figuring out how to leverage the power of platforms like Amazon effectively.

Making money online is not always as straightforward as it seems. It requires a strategic approach, and in a market saturated with options, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and uncertain about where to start.

How can we leverage the Amazon Marketplace and the Amazon Influencer Program to not only earn money but also build a trusted and lucrative online presence?

In this episode, Amazon expert seller and consultant Kathleen Kobel joins me to talk about leveraging the power of Amazon, its potential and the different opportunities it brings.

I’ve always seen it (Amazon) as the only reason small businesses are still alive. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

-How Amazon helps small businesses

Amazon is a marketplace, but how exactly does it help keep small businesses alive?

-The different opportunities on Amazon

What are some of the ways we can leverage Amazon?

-Requirements and rules

How do we qualify to be in Amazon’s programs?

Guest Bio

Kathleen Kobel is an Amazon expert seller and consultant who has now added 6 figure content creator to her Amazon resume. She helps entrepreneurs leverage the power of the Amazon marketplace to earn a full time income working part time hours creating honest, quality content for the Amazon Influencer program.

Course to become an Amazon Influencer -

Influence & Earn: The Amazon Creator Success System: https://www.coursesbykathleen.com/courses/amazoninfluencer 

Find Kathleen on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/smartbusinessmom 

Join the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/663758048939978 

Follow Kathleen on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/smartbusinessmom1 

Subscribe to Kathleen’s YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@mastersofmarketplace 

Find Kathleen on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-kobel-6a1b97b0/

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to find yourself in a sales funnel without realizing it? It happens to us all the time. We grab on to that thing that sounded great and we wanted, and all of a sudden we find ourselves in a funnel!

While sales funnels can sometimes feel scary, and have gotten a bad name at times, funnels are actually a beautiful thing when approached correctly. 

In this episode I'm joined by Dawn Marrs of Marrs Marketing and we are chatting all about how to navigate your way through funnels and create funnels that work - for you and your ideal customers!

The Ins and Outs of Working While You're Sick. In this episode, Dana and NJ share how to stay productive while being sick. Plus, a goodie from our fun sponsor: Hooray Mail.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• How Dana and NJ deal with being sick and continuing to work.
• Loving yourself enough to take a break.
• Allowing yourself to have space to move work around and not feel stressed about it.
• How the Boss Mom team likes to work ahead in business.

Our Sponsor:

Hooray Mail is subscription snail mail delivered twice per month for kids ages 2-6. In each brightly colored envelope find a personalized card and a simple, fun activity!

An awesome exclusive for Boss Mom's! Discount code: BOSSMOM - 30% Off!

A note from our sponsor: I'm Katie - proud wife of Mark and mama to Nina Lorraine and Mae Frances. Believer in living - and parenting - with intention and always eating something sweet after dinner. I love letterpress, Wisconsin cheese, and fresh flowers.

As a child, I LOVED getting snail mail - the joy, the fun... the hooray moment! I wanted to provide my two little girls the same fun experience in our digital world so I looked to see if there was a subscription-based service that would automatically send them fun mail. I couldn’t find what I was looking for so I decided to do something about it!

Recommended links and resources:

• Episode 72: Nurture Your Business: Why You Should Take Your Calendar More Seriously with Dana
• Ted Talk: Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator with Tim Urban
• Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
• Episode 70: How to Live Your Brand in Real Life with Dana & NJ

Can I quote you on that? 

• I'm a big believer in self-care and taking a nap to stay productive. - NJ
• I'm shifting my day to allow myself to still be productive. - Dana
• We can embrace the unexpected because we've given our calendar time to allow that.  - NJ
• If you connect with the people in business, they will become life-long customers. - Dana's dad

Connect with Dana & NJ

Dana: Instagram / Periscope (her total happy place)

NJ : Website / Instagram (her total happy place)

We would LOVE it if you’d leave a podcast rating or review on iTunes. We also know it can be kind of tricky to figure out. Here are a few step by step instructions on how to leave an iTunes rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

1. Launch Apple’s Podcast app.
2. Tap the Search tab.
3. Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review.
4. Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right.
5. Tap the album art for the podcast.
6. Tap the Reviews tab.
7. Tap Write a Review at the bottom.
8. Enter your iTunes password to login.
9. Tap the Stars to leave a rating.
10. Enter title text and content to leave a review.
11. Tap Send.

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both of us hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Creating freedom through structure with Gillian Perkins. In this episode of the Boss Mom Podcast, Gillian shares her Boss Mom story, how she let go of the clutter so she could focus on what really mattered and how she said goodbye to the things she didn't need... books, dishes, clothes, and junk.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Gillian's Boss Mom story.
• Gillian started teaching piano lessons nine years ago, through her business Northwest School of Music.
• The story of Gillian's new book Sorted: Structure Through Freedom.
• How Gillian spends half an hour on housework a day.
• How to break down chores into manageable pieces.
• Creating routines with kids at home.
• How to write a book and different tools available to help authors.

Recommended links and resources:

• Sorted: Structure Through Freedom
• Google Docs
• Createspace
• Scrivener
• Blankpage

Can I quote you on that? 

• We found out while living in a tiny apartment with less stuff, we were happier. - Gillian
• Everyone can take the time to organize. - Gillian
• I stopped trying to make things an hour long process, I break them down into little steps. - Dana
• It's about getting rid of the things that aren't adding value to your life. - Gillian
• Reorganize until being clean is easy. - Dana

More about our guest, Gillian Perkins.

Gillian Perkins is a mom, successful entrepreneur, and dynamic business woman. She is a prolific content creator and private consultant who enjoys helping others develop order and discover balance in life. Gillian is the founder and executive director of Northwest School of Music. She lives in beautiful, green Oregon with her husband and two young children.

Website / Facebook / Blog

Connect with Dana: Instagram / Periscope (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Niching down is by far the most effective way to make more money, while simultaneously making our lives easier, so it’s no surprise why so many business experts are all for narrowing our scopes. 

The problem is, however, most of us already know this, but when it comes to actually carving out a niche, we’re more than a little hesitant. 

What is it that’s stopping us from niching down? Is there ever a good reason to forgo finding a niche and simply aim to serve everybody?

In this episode, producer of the show and host of the MicroFamous podcast, Matt Johnson shares why most solopreneurs are reluctant to niche down, and why we need to do it anyway! 

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why not niching down does our audience a disservice
  
  How much value can we actually offer if we’re constantly trying to be everything to everyone? 

• How to get over the fear of there not being ‘enough’ people to serve
  
  Is it really feasible to build a business so niche that only a very select group of people would buy in?

• How to pinpoint a profitable niche
  
  It’s one thing to serve a very specific audience. How can we be sure that audience has the means to buy what we’re selling?

Guest Bio- 

Matt Johnson is the founder of done-for-you podcasting agency, Pursuing Results and host of the MicroFamous podcast. Also the author of the book of the same name, Matt is passionate about the benefits of niching down and becoming famously influential to a small group of people. 

To find out more, go to:

https://pursuingresults.com/

https://getmicrofamous.com/

This is a Nurture Your Business segment with Dana. In today’s podcast episode she talks about how to craft checklists that will propel you forward in your goals.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Dana gives a new definition for a checklist.
• The tangible things in goals are the tasks to completing the goals.
• Dana walks through creating an action plan to avoid overwhelm.
• Insight into understanding why tasks are not being completed, and how to move past that block.

Recommended links and resources:

• Pat Flynn Podcast - Smart Passive Income 210: How to Automate Your Business to Save Time and Make Money with Dana Malstaff
• Translating Your Business Goals into an Action Plan Webinar
• Zoom

Can I quote you on that?

• We want to make sure we are not multi-tasking our priorities. - Dana
• We don’t want to make lists, we want to make action plans. - Dana
• Break down the obstacle until action easy for you. - Dana
• Let’s stop being busy, if it’s important, it will get you to your future you want to have. - Dana
• Creating a workable action plan gives you confidence in your future. - Dana

Connect with Dana: Instagram / Periscope (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

We would LOVE it if you’d leave a podcast rating or review on iTunes. We also know it can be kind of tricky to figure out. Here are a few step by step instructions on how to leave an iTunes rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

• Launch Apple’s Podcast app.
• Tap the Search tab.
• Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review.
• Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right.
• Tap the album art for the podcast.
• Tap the Reviews tab.
• Tap Write a Review at the bottom.
• Enter your iTunes password to login.
• Tap the Stars to leave a rating.
• Enter title text and content to leave a review.
• Tap Send.

We often don’t leverage holidays and special days enough--but we should! Why are holidays such a great way to get your audience excited about your products? How are the special moments in our lives opportunities for us? On this episode, I talk about the power of infusing special days and holidays into your marketing and content.

We have complete control over what we launch, and we can make informed decisions that we can market really well. -Dana Malstaff

Things We Learned From This Episode

• Marketing and promotion is about finding a reason to celebrate.
• September and October are great for health and cooking because we’re about to have guests, and we want to cook good meals without gaining weight over the holidays.
• Look for correlation between a holiday and what you’re trying to sell to your audience.

Holidays and special days give us an opportunity to breathe life into our projects and promotions. If you plan ahead, you can do something that will stand out and resonate with your audience. Go to websites like http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/ , pick 4 or 5, and find a way to get people excited!

If you're not yet familiar with Pat Flynn, Creator & Host of the Smart Passive Income podcast, this episode is going to give you a lightening fast introduction to who he is, what he stands for and how knowing him has personally and professional left a lasting impact on me.

In this episode I'm sharing five specific things I've learned from the example Pat has set as an entrepreneur, a husband, a dad and a human being in general. I hope you'll glean some helpful wisdom yourself and encourage you to go like, listen and follow along with Pat - your life and your business will be better for it, guaranteed!

To access the show notes for this episode, click here.

As moms, we're bombarded with advice from all angles - including successful men.  Should we really be taking advice from them?

Their success is undeniable, and they may make really great points, but can they truly understand the intricacies of motherhood? This dilemma leaves us torn between wanting to benefit from their wisdom and doubting if it truly applies to our lives.

How can we stop dismissing advice from successful men outright and adopt a more discerning approach?

In this episode, I talk about whether or not we should take advice from successful men as Boss Moms, how to identify the nuggets of wisdom that they share and when exactly we should heed their advice.

If people don’t fit in with your belief system or moral compass then you’re not going to want to take their advice no matter who they are. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

-Generalized marketing

Do we need to listen to people who don’t resonate with us?

-Everyone can add value

How do we take the approach of learning from different angles? 

-When to not take advice

How do we figure out when advice is just not fit for us?

This is a Nurture Your Business segment with Dana. Dana talks about how you need to work your mind and diversify your knowledge intake. 

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Your brain works because we work it. 
• Becoming engrossed in something and the importance of diversifying how we work our brains.
• Having other experiences outside of work.
• The world is bigger than the niche we've created.
• How Dana's diversifying their dinner conversations.

Referenced in the show:

*affiliate links may be present.

• Space Balls
• Trello Training
• Boss Mom Academy
• Boss Mom Facebook community

Can I quote you on that?

• The world is bigger than the niche we've created. - Dana

Connect with Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

I want to talk to you today about questions....beautiful, amazing, glorious questions. The questions we ask of both ourselves and other people can literally change the way we think, experience, perceive, act, connect and engage. But.....are we asking the right ones?

Recently I attended the first part of a certification training I'm going through this year in appreciative inquiry called Leading with Experiential Appreciative Facilitation. This training is run by the amazing Jon Berghoff and the Flourishing Leadership Institute, based on the amazing work of Dr. David Cooperrider and has literally rocked my entire world (seriously, click the play button on this episode because you'll hear me get truly giddy!)

Listen + subscribe on iTunes // Stitcher

Ok, as I mentioned, I've become completely obsessed with diving into appreciative inquiry, so you're going to be seeing a lot more of it infused into everything I do....especially in the Boss Mom Retreat happening later this year in NC ;)

Appreciative inquiry is truly an introduction into how to have better questions when designing group spaces, summits, retreats, meetings, etc.

What AI does is it flips the way we talk about things from being focused on addressing the failures, challenges, and things we need to fix to focusing on recognizing, maximizing and leveraging the strengths.

What I've learned is that if we only focus on the problems, challenges or obstacles and finding a fix for those, we will only ever help get people back to a neutral point, where they don't feel broken anymore. But what if we could take them beyond that point??

A quote that has been completely rocking my world lately is this:

“The task of leadership is to create an alignment of strengths, making the system’s weaknesses irrelevant.” - Peter Drucker

Leading for the future is all about strengths. If we focus on our strengths, on our aspirations, on where we want to go, and what we’ve just done to get ourselves to where we are so far, what would the world look like? What would our businesses and lives look like? Can you picture it?

So how can we do that? Well, we need to reframe the way we think about the questions we ask.

Oftentimes we will default to asking the questions that are easy, the ones everyone is always asking. But might it mean so much more if we actually stopped to really think about the questions we're asking, how they'll land and what kind of feedback or response they might produce?

I'd challenge you to start asking yourself the following questions anytime you are posing a question to someone:

• Am I asking questions because I really care and wanting to know or understand more?
• Am I asking this question because I think I should ask it?
• Am I asking the questions that really need to be asked?

We’ve gotta start digging deeper into the words we use. Are we speaking to people from their strengths? Are we helping people to see their future, what they want, what their dream will be?

When we do this, it opens up this beautiful positive emotional attractor component of your brain that gets people thinking bigger, broader, and in a way that gets them past that neutral point and into this amazing space where they truly believe anything is possible.

Which is totally where we want our kids to be, right? It starts with the questions we ask.

Now, let’s get tactical to figure out how to actually go about knowing the right questions to ask and how to approach asking questions in our lives and businesses.

1. Determine where you are already asking questions in your business.

Are you asking questions in surveys, calls to action, Facebook groups, intake forms, coursework, sales calls, webinars, Facebook ads, etc?

2. Assess the kinds of questions you're asking.

Are you questions framed from the positive or the negative? Are you addressing someone's challenges, obstacles, problems or weaknesses? Our questions are meant to illicit response, and if you phrase them right, you'll get the kind of feedback that's really valuable.

Here's a great personal example to get your wheels turning.

I still have an email in my nurture sequence that I need to go back and change because I ask “What is your biggest challenge?” and rarely get responses. I'm convinced that's because it's vague and it’s framed from the negative perspective.

Now all of a sudden the reader is thinking about their biggest challenge. Maybe they don’t even know what their biggest challenge is, but now I’ve just got them thinking about 10 things that aren’t going right for them.

Maybe I can go and help them now, but holy moly - I don’t want to be the one that puts them in that negative space!

Instead I’d love to ask a question like, “What moment can you remember of having a business and having a baby where you felt like you came alive? That you were really doing what you were meant to do and showing your children, even if they didn't understand it, that what you were doing was important?”

I want women thinking about what they’re doing right more than what they’re doing wrong. I want our weaknesses to be irrelevant!

I want us to be getting support from each other, and thinking so much about what we’re doing right and how to do more of that that it overshadows our weaknesses so they are irrelevant. I want to live in a world where that happens.

3. Change your questions.

You have the power to change your approach to the questions you're asking! Figure out how you can make the switch from trying to fix problems and put out fires to how you can leverage and maximize people’s strengths.

Referenced in the Show:

• Case Western Reserve University: One of the nation's best
• Flourishing Leadership Institute
• The Miracle Morning - Hal Elrod
• LEAF (Leading with Experiential Appreciative Facilitation)
• David Cooperrider
• The Appreciative Inquiry Commons

(Just FYI, some of these links may be affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase using the links I may receive some love in return!)

Sponsor Spotlight: Boss Mom Retreat

It's coming ladies. Do you have your ticket yet?? If not, and you're still on the fence, let me tell you just a little bit about the amazingness that will be happening in Charlotte, North Carolina later this year....

Think two days filled to the brim with amazing community, tons of time to gain clarity and work ON your business alongside tons of other badass boss moms, yummy food and drinks, a gorgeous event space, and.....YES, there will be a karaoke dance party. (Do I have you excited now?!)

We are already 1/3 of the way to being sold out, so don't wait too long....grab your ticket today at boss-mom.com/retreat.

Connect with Dana

• Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you!

If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com. Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in her happy place, the Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

There are thousands of tools and platforms that can boost our businesses and grow our professional presence online. Pinterest is no different and when we really know how to tap into it, it can help our business to expand.

How does Pinterest work for the B2B space? What are some of the things we need to familiarize ourselves with before getting started with Pinterest?

In this episode, I am joined by Pinterest Marketing and Ads Strategist Emilee Vales to talk about Pinterest for business, how to understand it better, how it makes content easier to consume, and the pros of being a freelancer.

In the beginning for a while, I really just learned by doing.- Emilee Vales

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

- The best products to market on Pinterest

Pinterest doesn’t work for everyone but how can we figure out if it can work for us and our business?

- How Pinterest can work for businesses

Can we leverage Pinterest as a business marketing tool and not just a place for inspiration?

- The flexibility of being a freelancer

When it comes to being a freelancer, flexibility is one of the main topics to talk about. How does being a freelancer free up time in your day to accomplish more?

Guest Bio

Former teacher turned Pinterest Marketing and Ads Strategist, Emilee Vales thrives on diving into her clients data to create personalized strategies that turn their traffic into profit! When she's not maximizing her clients’ marketing strategies, she’s educating her students on how to take their business to the next level with Pinterest.

Free Masterclass: https://courses.emileevales.com/my-pinterest-quickstart
Pinterest Marketing Magic: https://emileevales.com/pinterest-marketing-magic/

Pinterest Manager Academy (application call): https://emileevales.as.me/pinterestmanager

Visit www.emileevales.com

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@emileevales

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/emileejvales/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilee.vales/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/emileevales

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@emileevales/featured

A lot of marketing strategies today feel cold and don't work well. This makes it hard for busy moms to connect with their audience while taking care of their families. What if there’s a way to market that not only helps you build real relationships but also helps your business grow?

Many traditional marketing methods leave moms feeling tired and disconnected, making it tough to manage both work and family. How can you create a business that really connects with people and lasts a long time?

In this episode, I'm interviewed by Krista Lockwood and we talk all about how important it is to build relationships and create a community-focused business.

"Nurture marketing is the idea of cultivating a relationship over time with people you don't know." - Dana Malstaff

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

-Nurture Messaging
Build relationships by making your audience feel noticed and important. What can your business gain from taking care of your audience?

-Results Messaging
To build trust, show your results and prove you're good at what you do. What can you do to increase the trust of your audience?

-Conversion Messaging
Get people to take action by solving their problems. How can learning to do this well help you sell more and get more people interested?

How to step out and speak in public with Carrie Sharpe. In this episode of the Boss Mom Podcast, Carrie and Dana talk about communication and public speaking to benefit your business. This podcast is sponsored by Home Made Luxe.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Carrie's Boss Mom journey, raising five kids and working at home with her husband.
• How she got started with speaking.
• Her coaching and consulting practice.
• Advice on how to prepare and share your story.
• Giving your talk in the shower then rehearse on video.
• Speaking at events and ways that you can speak without traveling.
• How Carrie keeps recovers from over whelm.

Show Sponsor: Home Made Luxe

All moms need Mommy Alone Time in their lives so Keitha started Home Made Luxe a DIY Home Decor subscription box. Every month, Keitha from Home Made Luxe sends ladies (and some crafty gents) around the country a gorgeous, Pinterest-inspired home decor project. The best part is that ladies get to walk around their homes and see their beautiful, custom pieces and think about the next mommy alone time moment!

For the special Boss Mom discount of 10% off your first box, use the code BossMom.

Recommended links and resources:

• Boss Mom Facebook Community

Can I quote you on that? 

• Homeschooling our kids and running our business from home is a lot of time management. - Carrie
• I love helping my clients work through their communication challenges. - Carrie
• Fear is what keeps people from public speaking. - Carrie
• Every story matters. - Carrie
• You want to have what you're saying be natural. Rehearsing will help you in this process. - Carrie

More about our guest, Carrie Sharpe.

Carrie Sharpe is a Communication Consultant and Speaker. She and her husband, Ryan, have five children whom Carrie homeschools. Carrie earned her degree in Political Science and Psychology. She is a Huffington Post Contributor and has spoken across the United States and Canada about marriage, relationships, and communication skills.

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

Connect with Dana: Instagram / The Boss Mom Facebook community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

There is no 'right' way to talk about sex with our kids. How we choose to do it is deeply personal, and no one else should ever dictate how we do it.

That said, sometimes, hearing how others have done it can be incredibly helpful. The only question is, in a world where it's so easy to be judgmental, where can we actually have those conversations?

In this episode, Founder of Sex Ed Rescue, Cath Hakanson shares her suggestions on the matter.

Disclaimer: because this episode deals with a sensitive topic, I'd suggest listening to it away from your children.

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• When to have 'the talk' with our kids
  The 'birds and the bees' conversation used to happen with 12 to 13 year olds, but should we start having the talk earlier on?
  
  
• How to change the way we think about sex education
  Is talking to our kids about sex giving them permission to seek it out, or is the opposite true?
  
  
• Why sex education is more important today than ever before
  What is it about today's world that makes sex education so vital?

Guest Bio-

Cath Hakanson is an experienced author, sex educator and mother of two who provides accessible and down-to-earth information for parents on how to talk children about sex.

To find more titles and resources to help with sex education go to https://sexedrescue.com/ 

And join Cath's Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/cathhakanson

Media appearances aren’t just for celebrities and big companies. Small businesses can leverage them as well. What are the first steps we should take towards exposure in the media? Are a few appearances enough to generate leads for years to come? How does the media cycle impact the number of times we need to be seen to stay relevant?

In this episode, Christina Nicholson shares why media appearances are superior to advertising and how we can leverage them.

You have to continue to put yourself out there because the cycle is always moving and changing.

-Christina Nicholson

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Why it’s beneficial to make the transition from freelancer to business owner (13:00-14:00)

Being a freelancer and a business owner is almost the same thing, but people perceive these words differently. Plus, when we make the shift, we can add more people to our team who can help us out and free up our time.

How to leverage media appearances  (17:37-19:20)

People assume that once they appear in the media everyone is going to see it and clients will flock to them. We still have to do our own PR and promote our appearances.

The importance of continually investing in media (24:01-25:08)

Like the stock market, we can’t just invest money, make a small win, and retire. We have to continue to invest in our PR efforts or we won’t get leads on a consistent basis. Our media appearances only stay relevant for so long, making it important to pursue and create new opportunities for exposure.

Earned media is different from advertising because our audience knows we're getting the coverage because of our value. Anyone can pay for ads, but it takes a certain level of skill and expertise to be featured on a major media outlet. This is why PR is so important for our businesses. It gives our audience clues about our value and what we can bring to the table.

What makes earned media different from advertising is our audience knowing that it’s because of our value that we get coverage. Anyone can pay for ads, but it takes a certain level of skill and expertise to be featured on a major media outlet, and this is why PR is so important for our businesses. It gives our audience clues about our value and how much we can bring to the table.

Guest Bio

Christina Nicholson is a former TV reporter and anchor who has worked in markets from New York City to Miami. She is still telling stories, but instead of doing it for a newscast, she's doing it to help businesses grow. With her business, Media Maven, she helps entrepreneurs reach thousands, even millions, of their ideal customers or clients in minutes instead of months through the power of media without spending big bucks on advertising. You can still see her in front of the camera as a host on Lifetime TV, in national commercials, and read her work online in Huff Post, Inc. Magazine, and Fast Company. Christina also has a local lifestyle and family blog, Christina All Day. She lives in South Florida with her husband and two young children.

Go to https://www.mediamavenandmore.com/ for more information, find her on Facebook http://Facebook.com/MediaMavenAndMore and follow @ChristinaAllDay on social media.

The term ‘Mastermind’ is used fairly often in the business world, but many entrepreneurs still aren’t sure what joining one of these groups entails. What is a Mastermind, and how can we use them to benefit our businesses? Why is it necessary for Mastermind members to challenge each other? How can we offer different viewpoints without offending other members in the process?

On this episode, owner of the Speech and Language Kids website, Carrie Clark, and founder and CEO of Cardinal Rule Press, Maria Dismondy, discuss what makes Masterminds so beneficial to business owners. 

A good Mastermind is a group that helps you whittle down options. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

• Use Masterminds to challenge ideas (10:48 - 11:49)
  Masterminds are the ideal space for ideas to be shared and challenged. We should be using our groups to help each other brainstorm our ideas in different ways. The benefit of this kind of input is ultimately creating a more thought-out product. 
  
  
• Take advantage of the different viewpoints in Masterminds (15:25 - 16:22)
  Having a tight-knit Mastermind with different views allows us to narrow down ideas and options more easily. This is an important step, because it stops us from becoming overwhelmed by all the suggestions we get from like-minded people outside our groups. 
  
  
• Maintain mutual respect for all Mastermind members (20:41 - 21:51)
  For Masterminds to be effective, we have to have a mutual respect for everyone in our groups. This respect makes it easier to challenge one another, without running the risk of offending anyone on a personal level.

Guest Bio- 

Carrie Clark is a speech-language pathologist and the founder of the Speech and Language Kids website. She is passionate about helping children through speech-language pathology, and has extensive experience in the field, having worked at the Columbia Public Schools in Columbia, Missouri, and later opening a private practice. 

To find out more about Carrie, visit 

https://www.speechandlanguagekids.com/about-us/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrie-clark-74210054

https://www.instagram.com/slpsolution/

https://www.facebook.com/theslpsolution/

Maria Dismondy is the founder and CEO of Cardinal Rule Press. She is also an author and speaker. Maria is the creator of the Empowering Kids with Character mini-podcast, a movement that aims to nurture character development in children through education.

To find out more about Maria, visit

https://mariadismondy.com/

https://www.instagram.com/mariadismondybooks/

https://www.facebook.com/mariadismondy

https://www.youtube.com/user/mariadismondy

https://twitter.com/mariadismondy

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariadismondy

If we want to take our businesses to the next level and create sustainable success, selling online courses is vital. What content should we be offering? How can we get our mailing lists interested in the courses, and how could we use the courses themselves to sell our other products?

On this episode, I’m sharing how to create a small course that sells big.

Leverage your knowledge and particular way of doing things into something you can sell: an online course. -Dana Malstaff

3 Takeaways

• Courses need to be a part of your business plan. The course can be on anything, from business processes to how to make a candy apple. The important thing is, you’re teaching your audience something.
  
  
• Small courses are a great way to make money while promoting your products. In 30 minutes or less, you’re adding value to the client while making money on the course itself and potentially making more sales of congruent products.
  
  
• To get a small course to sell, offer your mailing list small tidbits of content congruent with the course content.
  

We should never depend solely on our websites to make sales. We need to be sharing our products as much as we can, through as many platforms as possible. Building a small course is an effective platform to promote our businesses, all while making money in the process. Give your clients something of value at every turn, and you’ll sell big.

Is it possible to have babies and successful businesses? Heck yeah, we can do whatever we want, but we can’t pretend that there aren’t challenges that come with running a business and raising kids. Don’t ignore them - embrace them and allow them to exist.

The more we acknowledge and lovingly accept the truth of being a parent, the less hard we are on ourselves, and that makes this journey a lot easier.

What inevitable challenges will we experience as business owners with kids? What are some of the most rewarding and amazing parts of being Boss Moms?

In this episode, we’re having a real, candid conversation about how our kids impact our businesses.

When you’re hard on yourself, it makes it harder, and when you’re telling yourself you should be further along, it makes success less joyful. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• The effect of being too hard on ourselves
  Why do we have to stop believing something is wrong with us when our journey is different?
  
  
• What do we need to lovingly accept about running businesses as parents?
  How do children change the way we build and run our businesses?
  
  
• The reward of having a business and children
  What do our kids learn from seeing us build something from the ground up?

This is a Nurture Your Business segment with Dana. Dana shares an exciting information about selling through giving away aha moments. Sponsored by the Boss Mom Retreat!

Listen to the podcast: 

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Giving away the right parts of your business.
• A lesson in letting potential clients learn.
• Strategy in selling for your business that works.

The Show Sponsor:

The Boss Mom Retreat is being held in San Diego, CA on January 27 and 28, 2017! We want to make this a fun AND impactful event for you. So we are going to make sure the event is easy to get to, fun to attend, comfortable, interesting, exciting, invigorating, relaxing, amazing, and so much more.

Referenced in the show:

• Episode 111: Nurture Your Business: How to Use the 20 Mile March Method in Your Business with Dana
• Autumn Witt Boyd
• Vintage Meet Modern
• The Higgins Creative
• Gillian Perkins
• TheIt Camera Bags
• Boss Mom Academy
• Boss Mom Academy Fitting Calls
• Boss Mom Facebook community

Can I quote you on that?

• Give your aha moments away like it's confetti. - Dana
• Hold your execution methods sacred. - Dana
• The buy in is that your potential client believes they are valuable. - Dana
• You have to give the aha moments first, then the execution methods follow. - Dana

Connect with Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Marketing is an important part of building a successful brand, but many business owners ignore word-of-mouth advertising strategies. Why is word-of-mouth so crucial, and how can we use storytelling to boost our success? How do we become relevant in the eyes of our target customers? 

On this episode, New York Times bestselling author and Convince & Convert founder, Jay Baer explains the importance of storytelling for branding a business.

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Get your fans to do the advertising for you (17:34- 18:14)

The best brands often have the least advertisements. The reason for this is, they’re being talked about by their customers. The power of word-of-mouth is immeasurable, so we need to make sure we’re giving our customers something to talk about.

Use storytelling to generate word-of-mouth (19:11- 21:17)

Simply being competent and running a good business isn’t enough to generate excitement about our brands. We need to create talking points and put word-of-mouth strategies in place. We can’t assume people will talk about our businesses. We need to give them something to talk about. 

Keep your audience small (28:50- 30:14) 

To create successful content, your podcast, books, or videos need to be someone’s favorite version of that content. For that to be possible, you need to be targeting a small enough audience so you’re not competing with every other version of your product. Stop trying to generate a huge following - focus on being great at being small.

Advertising is crucial, but relying solely on marketing campaigns is not enough to turn our brands into household names. We need to be focusing on creating stories - whether through unique experiences or inside jokes - that make us relevant in a public space. We can stay small and create awareness and excitement to the point where our need for traditional advertising is reduced.

Guest Bio-

Jay is a Hall of Fame speaker, emcee, New York Times best-selling author of six books, and an internet pioneer. The 7th-generation entrepreneur is the founder of five, multi-million dollar companies, including Convince & Convert, a boutique consultancy that works with the world's most interesting brands. 

For more information on Jay and his work, see Convinceandconvert.com

And Jaybaer.com

To follow Jay on social media, visit these links:
http://www.twitter.com/jaybaer

http://www.instagram.com/jaybaer

http://www.linkedin.com/jaybaer

http://www.youtube.com/jaybaer00

http://www.facebook.com/therealjaybaer

To find out about Jay’s Talk Triggers book, head to talktriggers.com

To follow the Talk Triggers show, visit https://talktriggersshow.com/

Sales can be difficult, especially if we look at selling as if it’s a burden. If we don’t feel good about how we sell, we won’t feel good about closing the sale.

How do we sell with integrity? How do we engage in sales in a way that feels more heart centered and not burdensome?

In this episode, multi-passionate entrepreneur Miriam Thiel joins me to talk about ethical sales, the future of sales with women and how you can serve and sell.

It’s not always all about selling, it's about having conversations. -Miriam Thiel

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

-Sales engagement and why we feel nervous about it
We tend to feel nervous when it comes to engaging in sales because we feel like selling is a burden. How can we serve our clients while selling? 

-Why messaging is so important
How do we engage with people and show them that we care?

-Why women buy into high pressure programs
Why do women tend to buy into high pressure programs? What are some alternatives to this?

Guest Bio

Swiss-based Miriam Thiel is a multi-passionate entrepreneur, mom of one, expat, and dot connector. Since 2019, Miriam has built her online business to serve empathic entrepreneurs who are looking to grow a flexible and soul filling life and business with her business and trauma-trained life coaching, breathwork and tech creativity.

Find Miriam on Instagram @miriamthielofficial

Find Miriam on Facebook @itsmiriamthiel

Join Miriam's Facebook group @empathicentrepreneurscommunity

Visit https://www.miriamthiel.com/

In this episode you hear: 

• Amy's journey from working as a top producer in Australia to becoming a Boss Mom.
• How Amy's own search for mindfulness influenced her blog.
• How a pregnancy complication served as the catalyst to change in her life.
• The judgement factor all moms go through and how to over come it.
• The importance is having a tribe and give and take in relationships.
• The importance of self care and mindfulness in motherhood and business.

Recommended links and resources: 

Happy Mama: A Guide To Finding Yourself Again

• The book is my journey to becoming a Happy Mama. It focus on the six key areas to be a happy mama- kindness, strength, trust, grace, value, and mindfulness/connection. We do a lot of work on parenting, but we don't learn how to be a woman while we're mothering. This book is about finding yourself again.

Can I quote you on that? 

• My daughter is one of my biggest teachers. - Amy
• When I was struggling with motherhood, the mommy blog scene was just starting. I needed more than this sucks, I need 3:00 pm wine. - Amy
• When I tapped into the idea that we don't have to put ourselves on hold, my blog started to really grow. I found my niche and voice. It flowed out of me and grew overnight. - Amy
• I decided I wasn't going to be all, my dreams had changed. I wanted to talk to moms about how to mums about how they could have real balance in their lives. - Amy
• I love to help women see the joy in the struggle of motherhood. - Amy
• I think there is a great power in women doing great things together. - Amy
• You can be a great mom, even when you're making different decisions that other moms are making about the same topic. - Dana
• You are the perfect mother for your children. No doubt about it. - Amy
• The more you surround yourself with community, the more every aspect of your life and business will grow and flourish. - Dana
• We need to surround ourselves with people who are not only taking, but also giving. It needs to be an equal relationship. - Amy
• The training wheels of my life fall off in all areas (motherhood and business) when I don't allow time and space for myself. - Amy
• In an ideal world, I get up a half hour to an hour before my kids do. I putter around, drink my coffee, open up the curtains and have a beautiful start to the day. It doesn't always happen, but it makes me so happy when it does. - Amy
• Moments of self care can come in pockets of time. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. Just stop and reconnect to  yourself, what you're doing, and why you're doing it. - Amy
• In order to be mindful, you have to slow down. - Dana
• If we're not careful, we can be in business brain 24/7 and that leads to overwhelm. - Amy
• The more I invest in self care and myself, the more my business seems to do better. Because when I do step back into it, I'm refreshed, ready and full of great ideas. - Amy
• Someone recently asked me the best business investment I ever made. I told them that it was a program that helped me learn how to meditate and clear my energy. It was exactly what I needed to gain balance in my life. - Amy
• We think of ourselves and our business of being separate. But they're not. They're both our babies. - Dana
• You are an instrument that needs to be nourished. - Amy
• Your greatest asset in your business is you. YOU have to invest in yourself. - Amy

Nurture Your Business: How to Brainstorm Your Opt-in and Build Your List With Dana. In this episode of the Boss Mom podcast, Dana is chatting all about opt-ins. Grab a pen and paper or open up your favorite note taking program. This one is full of practical hands on advice to nurture your business!

In this episode you'll hear: 

• What is an opt-in?
• Mistakes Dana and others have made and how she's grown in her opt-in strategy.
• How much to give away in your opt-in vs how much to keep back for your list.
• The elements of a great headline.
• Why it is important to not get too attached to your opt-in.

Recommended links & resources: 

• Boss Mom Academy 
• Dawn Marrs Headline Generator
• Dana's Trello Training Opt-in 

Can I quote you on that? 

• Don't create the title before you create the content.
• What is the value and the a-ha! moment? Whatever that is, give it to them in an opt-in.
• Shift your focus, what is the maximum value to be that you can give up front?
• The opt-in is your first opportunity for people to be wowed by you.
• Don't marry your opt-in until you know that is working. Don't get attached.

Dana: Instagram / Periscope (her total happy place)

We would LOVE it if you’d leave a podcast rating or review on iTunes. We also know it can be kind of tricky to figure out. Here are a few step by step instructions on how to leave an iTunes rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

Launch Apple’s Podcast app.
Tap the Search tab.
Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review.
Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right.
Tap the album art for the podcast.
Tap the Reviews tab.
Tap Write a Review at the bottom.
Enter your iTunes password to login.
Tap the Stars to leave a rating.
Enter title text and content to leave a review.
Tap Send.

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both of us hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

One of the toughest things as an entrepreneur, especially one who is just starting out, is figuring out what the heck to create or offer.

With a million awesome ideas swirling around in our heads, we want to do #allthethings. But it's super important to make sure you're building your business in the right order so you can grow most effectively.

In this episode I'm going to walk you through the 3 main things you need to know before creating your programs, and the 3-phase process you need to move through when creating your offerings.

For this week, the team and I decided to do a Throwback Thursday, dedicated to an episode that we find important and informative!

Here is “Episode 370: NYB - How to Figure Out What Problem You Solve.”

As human beings, we all want validation. For entrepreneurs, no validation is as great as knowing there’s a demand for the problem we solve. Why is it so important to be clear on what we want to be known for? How can we drill down to that problem and turn it into something we can sell or share with clients?

On this episode, I talk about some strategies you can implement to define your service and package.

You have to fall in love with the problem you solve, not the thing you sell. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

• Rushing makes you slower. You’ll spend more time putting out fires from mistakes, you won’t give strategies enough time to grow legs, and you might end up relaunching.
• If your name isn’t associated with what you should be known for, you’re facing an uphill battle.
• Think about what you want people to know from you and how you can bottle it into an educational package you can sell.

Businesses and brands that stand the test of time and make money, in the long run, are built on solving one key problem and really honing in on it. It’s important for us to work towards what we want people to know us for. We must also know the key intellectual property we have that solves a problem for our clients. You don’t have to know what it is right this second, but you can start getting clarity by thinking of what you’re constantly teaching, doing, or creating that could be packaged into a course. That will improve your messaging because you can start talking about the problem so you’re not just creating content without a purpose.

As moms, business owners and human beings in general, our lives are messy. We have scars because of what we’ve been through, and sometimes it feels like those experiences make it harder to be successful in our businesses.

The truth is, everything we’ve been through (good or bad) influences the fullness of who we are today, and there’s so much beauty in that.

In this episode, I share the power of being thankful for the things that have gotten us here, even the hard ones.

We have this immense power within us to take everything that’s ever happened to us and move ourselves into what we want to be. -Dana Malstaff 

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• What I’ve learned from what I’ve been through
  It’s not easy to be thankful for our painful experiences, but is there a way to come to terms with them?
  
  
• How our stories influence the impact we make
  How do we use the things we couldn’t control that molded us into who we are to choose what we want for the future?
  
  
• The power of community
  Accepting the messiness of life is easier when you have support. How can we build and find a community of people who understand and root for us?

The Amazing Power of a Miracle Morning with Hal Elrod. In this episode of the Boss Mom Podcast, Hal shares how he started his Miracle Morning practice and how it has revitalized his life and lives of thousands around the world. Sponsored by Gracious Gift Wine.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• How Hal has influenced Dana's business.
• Hal's journey to writing The Miracle Morning.
• How performing The Miracle Morning has transformed lives and businesses around the world.
• What waking up can mean for you as a parent and entrepreneur.
• The purpose that Hal has to sharing his book to others.
• The Best Year Ever Blueprint event.

Our Podcast Sponsor: Gracious Gift Wine

Gracious Gift Wine is a wine company that gives back to your local community. It was created with a simple goal: feed America’s hungry. When you buy Gracious Gift Wines, they give a percentage of the money spent to the local community depending on the zip code of the shipping. Buy delicous wine for yourself and give back to your community!

Try the Gracious Gift Wine for 15% off your order using code bossmom.

Recommended links and resources:

• The Miracle Morning
• The Miracle Morning for Parents and Families
• Best Year Ever Blueprint Event
• Boss Mom Facebook Community

Can I quote you on that? 

• I have co-authors who authentically share how they practice The Miracle Morning. - Hal
• Success is something you become through personal development. - Jon Berghoff
• Success to me is enjoying waking up in the morning and to have more enjoying that. - Dana
• I'm going to wake up each day with intention. - Hal
• When you wake up early, take care of yourself, you can be your best parenting self. - Hal
• You can help people changes their lives by creating a habit. - Hal
• We have a responsibility to fulfill our potential so we can lead by example and give confidence, responsibility or encouragement to others so they can do the same. - Hal
• When you do The Miracle Morning you start to get clarity. You become more intentional and focused. - Dana
• Extraordinary results require extraordinary clarity. - Hal
• If you are to preach possibility to your kids, do it in actions so they see it. - Hal

More about our guest, Hal Elrod.

In addition to being one of the highest rated keynote speakers in America, Hal is the #1 best-selling author of one of the highest rated books in the world (with over 1,500+ five-star Amazon reviews), The Miracle Morning and creator of The Miracle Morning book series.

Facebook / Twitter

Connect with Dana: Instagram / The Boss Mom Facebook community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

This is a Nurture Your Business segment with Dana. Dana talks about building a tactical action plan to spur you forward in your business. This show is sponsored by Redefining Mom.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Why it's important to get tactical in your business for next year.
• Steps for becoming more tactical.

1. Write down what it is you already have planned.
2. Make a list of what you want to do and accomplish.
3. Place the things you want to accomplish on the calendar.
4. Take a look and see if it makes sense for you.
5. Look at financial goals for the next year.

Show Sponsor: Redefining Mom

Monica Froese of Redefining Mom, recently quit her job of 10 years and is now coaching and sharing her secrets on how she did it, and you can quit your corporate job too! This is an investment in you and your family. You both are important. If you have a spark of an idea of how things could be different, let me show you how you can make that happen!

If you want to quit your job, and want to get great support and encouragement from someone who has been there before, check out a free 15-minute working mom action call with Monica! 

Make sure that if you are already making plans in 2017 to quit your corporate job, you connect with Monica and have a 15-minute working mom action call.

Referenced in the show:

• Downloadable annual calendar
• Boss Mom Academy
• Boss Mom Facebook group

Can I quote you on that?

• In prepping for the new year, start number one with the things you know. - Dana
• Find out what will work, then plan for it. - Dana
• The more confident you are in what you're going to do next year, you then have the end point to get to where your going. - Dana
• Assign revenue numbers to each goal for the next year. - Dana
• You have to be willing to committ to what you want to do and not waiver in that. - Dana

Connect with Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Many of us would love to make a bigger impact on more people, but we aren't sure how. The great news is that our habits and choices as consumers are some of the biggest ways we can be impactful today.

There are emerging businesses that are becoming the supplier and marketer for amazing products made by talented people in third world countries.

How can we adapt our consumer behavior to make a bigger impact? As entrepreneurs, what can we do to bring about meaningful change in people’s lives? And how can we reward good work?

In this episode, Founder and Executive Director of Purse & Clutch, Jen Lewis shares how she is making a difference in the world one purse at a time.

We are connected to the people that make our stuff, even if we don’t know it. Shouldn’t we have a story attached to our belongings? - Jen Lewis

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• The importance of taking baby steps:
  
  We might not have the resources to impact 100 people today, and that’s okay. Focus on helping one person at a time and ultimately, all our efforts will add up.
  
  
• How to create positive change as a consumer:
  
  We’re all connected to the people who make the products we buy. When we support “slow” businesses that prioritize expertise and quality over mass-produced items, we’re contributing towards someone’s sense of purpose. 
  
  
• Why we should focus on celebrating good work:
  
  For entrepreneurs thinking of partnering with local artisans, it’s important to remember we’re not doing so for charity. Instead, we’re doing it to support skilled craftsmanship and amazing work.

Guest Bio- 

Jen Lewis is the Founder and Executive Director of Purse & Clutch, a slow fashion brand working to create sustainable jobs for men and women in developing countries - starting from the raw materials and ending with the consumer carrying the most beautiful bag in the room. Jen holds a degree in Chemistry and a Master’s degree in Leadership & Ethics, and in her spare time she enjoys vegetable gardening from seeds with her 2 ½ year old daughter, despite mixed results. 

To find out more, visit:

www.purseandclutch.com  

www.instagram.com/purseandclutch 

www.pinterest.com/purseandclutch 

www.facebook.com/purseandclutch

Copy and content are a huge part of connecting with and selling to our target market. What are the foundational pieces of content we have to develop before we do anything else? What are some of the key steps often missed in writing content and copy? How do we address these gaps by understanding our audiences, both mentally and emotionally? On this episode, Tara Bosler shares on how we can write content that relates, helps, and converts.

I’m a huge proponent of clarity over cleverness. -Tara Bosler

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Stay tapped into the pains your audience has (15:12 - 16:00)

It’s important to stay plugged into the issues your target market is facing. Even if you started off as your target market, becoming successful takes us further away from that emotional base. This can make it hard for us to write in a way someone facing that problem can relate to. You have to constantly go back to that emotional base to know where they are and what are they experiencing right now. The closer your language is to the language they’re using in their head, the more successful your copywriting will be.

How to create authenticity in our copy (17:21 - 21:07)

Authenticity is about consistency and relatability. It’s all about being clear with yourself, first and foremost. We have to know who we are and show up unapologetically.  You can’t tap into what the audience is thinking and feeling if you’re not tapped into what you’re thinking and feeling. If you don’t tap in, you’ll always comes off as surface level, and you won’t have a brand that people will fall in love with.

Why our content won’t succeed if it doesn’t address limiting beliefs (26:46 - 28:17)

Some of the key steps between someone becoming interested in what we’re talking about, and actually investing in what we sell are the limiting beliefs that stop them from taking further action. We have to understand not only what they want at the end result phase, but also what they believe is possible. If they don’t think something is possible, they won’t invest in it.

When it comes to writing copy for our businesses, we tend to get excited about the flashier pieces of content like sales pages and social media copy. However, the very first thing we need to do is be clear about who we are, our message, mission, vision and manifesto. That foundational copy allows us to drill down to the things our target audience thinks and feels, and how we can answer those questions. It all starts with us being authentic. It’s not about creating a brand and trying to become that brand. It’s about being “you”, and then building your brand around that.

Guest Bio-

Tara is a copywriter and content creator for creative women entrepreneurs. She is in love with her extroverted daughter, her nervous dog, writing engaging sales copy, and hot, hot coffee.

To get Tara’s Complete Copywriting Playbook go to http://www.tboslerwriting.com/

Susan Noble joins Dana for this episode of the Boss Mom podcast where they chat about starting non-profits, teaching your kids how to become a cheerful giver, and the art of losing self doubt.

In this episode you'll hear: 

• Susan's path to starting her non profit and how her friends and family influenced her.
• Why Susan believes in the power of slow sustained growth.
• All about Susan's mission to give families the resources they need.
• Why Susan feels strongly about where the dollars her foundation raises stays within the community.
• How to start a non profit successfully and why it is super important to know the state and federal guidelines.
• How to encourage your child to be a generous giver.

Recommended links and resources: 

• If you are thinking about starting a non profit, Susan recommends utilizing your state's Secretary of State office.
• Samaritan's Purse Operation Shoebox. 
• Susan's foundation: Epilepsy Warriors Foundation 

Can I quote you on that?

• Finding support for my family gave me the biggest push. The resources weren't available. So I started something. - Susan
• You're going to have challenges, you're going to have hurdles, you're going to have people who don't like what you're doing. Take it slow and regroup as you need to. - Susan
• Make your organization stand out from the others- there are a lot of great organizations out there. Be different, even if someone is doing the same thing as you. - Susan
• I'm doing what I do because I love it. And because I feel called to it. - Susan
• You all have a talent, you just have to find it and run with it. Don't let the negative Nelly's stand in your way. - Susan
• When you have the love in your heart to do something, you'll find the time to make everything happen. - Susan
• If you don't take care of yourself, your business will suffer. Self care is so important. - Susan
• When you get discouraged, go back to the vision of why you started in the first place. - Susan

Here's a little bit about Susan in her own words: 

Hi! My name is Susan, owner creative director behind Blessed Events-The Gift of Giving and founder of the Epilepsy Warriors Foundation.  As a small child, I was always organizing things from my dolls to anything I could think of. There is nothing I enjoy more in life than organizing and planning a good party. As the founder of a non-profit for children and families that suffer from epilepsy and seizures, I am always thinking what can I do to raise funding for the foundation in order to assist us in reaching our goals and that is when the planning side of me started whispering in my ear.

I have always made a big deal out of birthdays for the kids in my own family, and for friends so I thought why not take another job you love and make it into a business that can support your cause and so after talking it over with a few of my closest friends and my favorite little munchkins Blessed Events-The Gift of Giving was born. It’s through the innocence and sweetness of those children who brighten and inspire me and give me reasons to celebrate.

I can’t think of  a better way to honor all children than by a sweet celebration of the true gift and blessing they are to their parents, family, and friends. Blessed Events-The Gift of Giving will make your child’s birthday or parties magical and memorable because there is always a reason to celebrate the special moments of a child.

When I am not planning parties or working on foundation business I enjoy time with friends, baking, doing lots of fun things with some of my favorite little people, reading, long walks and time spent with those who mean the most to me.

For more information on the Epilepsy Warriors Foundation go to www.epilepsywarriors.org

Connect with Dana:

Dana: Instagram / Periscope (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find us hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

What do you do when you have to work and have kids at home? In this episode Dana and NJ talk about how they work from home with their tiny humans around. This is a part 1 of another 2 part episode. Part 2 will be episode 49, where Dana and NJ will chat all about making child care work when you're not able to do full time care. affiliate links present

In this episode you’ll hear:

• A day in the life in NJ's shoes and why she's up at 4:30 am.
• Why NJ let's her kids see her work versus working only when they're not around.
• How to handle working from home when your child is a baby.
• How to handle working from home when your child is a toddler & preschooler.
• The power of writing a to do list the night before your business day.
• Why using voice to text is magical.
• How Dana and NJ moved their business forward while they had newborns at home.
• Why NJ only works from home at her desk.
• How and why Dana and NJ have conditioned their children to learn how to be independent while they're working.
• Why Dana almost exclusively works with parents.

Recommended links and resources:

• Boss Mom Academy
• Anchored by Kayla Aimee

Can I quote you on that? 

• You can have a little bit of time or a lot of time. You can be busy and not grow your business. If you want to grow, you have to be strategic with your time. - Dana
• When I had babies, I got a wrap and a stand up desk and made work happen. - Dana
• As moms and entrepreneurs, it is so important that we let to see our kids work. It gives them an opportunity to make a connection. - NJ 
• My toddler knows when i'm working because I work at the same place all the time. My laptop stays at my desk... it doesn't go anywhere else in the house. - NJ 
• I'm working hard now to grow my business so that when my kids are school aged, I can shut down my work at 3:00 pm when they get home from school. - Dana 
• I have really tight time boundaries because of the way motherhood (and having kids at home) is intersecting with business. And I'm okay with that.- NJ 

Connect with Dana & NJ

Dana: Instagram / Periscope (her total happy place)

NJ : Website / Instagram (her total happy place)

One of the ways we can help our businesses grow is being visible. Getting featured in an article or on podcast is one of the best ways to do that. What are the things you need to do? How does collaboration help you get featured more? How do you come up with your movement story? On this episode I talk about the 5 things that will increase your chances of getting featured.

The idea of being visible is being a very bright star, in the right place where the right people are looking. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

• Your movement story is the story that’s going to get people to stand up and rally with you.
• The better you know your target audience, the more you know where they will be.
• Find your supplementers: people who add value to what you do, while you also add value to what they do.
• Collaborate with your supplementers because you won’t feel like you’re competing with them

It’s hard to really move the needle on your business when you don’t have any visibility, and that’s why getting featured needs to be one of the components of your business plan. First, develop a compelling movement story. What you’ve done is what will move people to want to be a part of what you’re doing. Next, make sure you know who you’re targeting and find people you can build mutually beneficial relationships with. Be willing to collaborate and actually reach out to people.

To celebrate another year of making my way around the sun, I thought it would be fun to reflect on and share the 10 best pieces of advice I can think of that sum up how I live my life and why I think we've been able to create so much success with Boss Mom. So, here it is....all my juicy bits of wisdom, downloaded just for you!

Relationships are the lifeblood of people and business. How can you go about building more strategic partnerships that can be mutually beneficial? How do we decide where to put our energy when we’re developing relationships? What are some of the mistakes we make? On this episode, NJ Rongner shares on the importance of building and maintaining solid relationships for our businesses.

It’s important to have relationships that feed your soul and your life, but also help feed your business. -NJ Rongner

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Build relationships with people who are ahead of you in business (6:10 - 6:27)

While it’s important to have relationships with people who are at a similar point in their journey, you should also look for relationships with people who are ahead of you so you can learn from them. You can do it through collaboration, an introduction, a podcast guest spot, or other ways.

Work outward from your inner circle (15:05 - 16:29)

If you want a place to start looking to build new relationships, draw a circular diagram with a bull’s eye in the center. This center represents the people you are closest to. These are people you go to for advice, people you would trust to pick up your children in your absence or people you would give your passwords to. Work your way outward with a few rings, and start thinking of the people in the outer layers. These are people you could build stronger relationships with.  

Be strategic about all your relationships (18:53 - 19:50)

Whether it’s romantic, friendship or business, you should always think about why you’re in a certain relationship and what you’re getting from it. You should also be thinking about what you give to the relationship.

At the end of the day, business is people-- and people are relationships. You can know and be known by many people, but you can’t have relationships with everyone. Determining which relationships are good for you comes down to the value each person brings to your life. Whether they give advice, offer support, collaborate or partner with you, our relationships can be a powerful way to grow our business and increase our spheres of influence.

Guest Bio

NJ is a Western MA Mom Blogger and the founder of A Cookie Before Dinner. Go to http://www.acookiebeforedinner.com/ to check out her work.

How to get What you Want in Life & Business. In this episode, Dana and NJ give the ins and outs of how to take action and get what you want out of life and business. This show is sponsored by high-performance coach, Stacy Tuschl.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Ways to pitch yourself to get what you want.
• Creating a story that sets you apart.
• If you own a business, you have to sell.
• Handling rejection and finding the root of the fear.
• You have to program your brain to believe you are spreading your story and your message.
• The words to stop using to be action oriented.
• What words to take out of your sales pages.

Our Sponsor: High-Performance Coach, Stacy Tuschl

Would you love your marketing done for you? High-performance coach, Stacy Tuschl is hosting a contest right now with a $10,000 prize. Stacy built her own million dollar business and wants to help 1 lucky winner create their next million dollar marketing plan. The winner will get to work with Stacy 1 on 1 in her Marketing Accelerator program, as well as other great prizes including a bonus for all of those that enter! To enter the contest, use this link: www.HighPerformingMom.com

Stacy Tuschl is an entrepreneur and Business Performance Strategist. She started her first business in her parents' backyard at the age of 18 and turned that company into a 7 figure business. Author of the #1 international bestselling book, “Is Your Business Worth Saving?” she reveals proven strategies for pulling entrepreneurs out of a rut and launching them toward business success and is the host of the top-rated podcast Business Rescue Road Map.

Recommended links and resources:

• Boss Mom Podcast Episode 113: Routines, and Nannies while still working hard with Melanie Duncan
• Entrepreneur On Fire: Lose the Guilt and Build Thriving Homes and Businesses with Dana Malstaff
• Pat Flynn's Smart Passive Income Episode 210: How to Automate Your Business to Save Time and Make More Money with Dana Malstaff
• 21 Amazing Online Entrepreneurs Huffington Post
• I Heart Your Face mugs
• Lilah Higgins - The Higgins Creative
• Boss Mom Academy
• Boss Mom fitting call
• Boss Mom Facebook group
• Boss Mom Retreat Facilitators List

Can I quote you on that? 

• You have to decide what you want, know what benefit is for the other person, and ask for what you want. - NJ
• Get past what you are trying to promote and highlight your story and why you are interested in helping people. - Dana
• You are what sets you apart. What part of your story makes you unique. - NJ
• If someone says no, it's not personal, it's business. - NJ
• Make a commitment to say action words. - Dana
• Asking for something is a muscle you have to stretch, the more you work it, the more comfortable you feel, you have to work it! - Dana
• Don't build the things you hate into your business, but if it's fear of the unknown, dive in anyway! - Dana

Connect with Dana & NJ

Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place)

NJ : Website / Instagram (her total happy place)

We would LOVE it if you’d leave a podcast rating or review on iTunes. We also know it can be kind of tricky to figure out. Here are a few step by step instructions on how to leave an iTunes rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

1. Launch Apple’s Podcast app.
2. Tap the Search tab.
3. Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review.
4. Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right.
5. Tap the album art for the podcast.
6. Tap the Reviews tab.
7. Tap Write a Review at the bottom.
8. Enter your iTunes password to login.
9. Tap the Stars to leave a rating.
10. Enter title text and content to leave a review.
11. Tap Send.

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both of us hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

In case you hadn't noticed, Amazon is kind of all the rage these days - for both consumers and businesses.

Today my friend Kathleen Kobel and I are chatting all about how easy it can be to grow your business and make more money by leveraging the power of Amazon.

Kathleen is an Amazon expert seller and consultant who helps small businesses grow their brands and scale their sales by selling products on Amazon.

Her mission is to help business owners increase their visibility, trust factor and profits by selling on a marketplace full of customers ready to buy.

Sound like you? Let's dive in!

This is a Nurture Your Business segment with Dana. Dana shares secrets to finding your ideal client and growing your business through the application of these steps. This show is sponsored by T. Bosler Writing.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• What constant learning mode is.
• Implementing things into practice is scary.
• Learning mode can be really great!
• The opportunity cost to being in learning mode.
• What we need to use learning mode for.
• How to get out of learning mode.
• Some ground rules for staying focused.
• Having a budget to get courses and support that helps you and your business.
• Execution in saying no.

Show Sponsor: T. Bosler Writing

Tara is offering a Holiday Stress Relief Writing Package: 25% off all her current rates! That means $225 for three authored blog posts, $394 for three ghostwritten blog posts, and 25% all her web copy rates as well. Visit her website, T Bosler Writing, for more information on her services!

Mention Boss Mom for your 25% off holiday stress relief package!

Referenced in the show:

• Boss Mom Episode 98: How to Build a Thriving Business and Raise a Family at the Same Time with Pat Flynn
• I heart your face mug
• Boss Mom Academy Fitting call

Can I quote you on that?

• We feel lost or like we need to learn something so we jump into learning. - Dana
• I take in and learn things exactly when I need it. - Pat Flynn
• You cannot take action if you are continually in learning mode. - Dana
• Say no to the things that are not the right time for you to learn. - Dana
• You have to go from learning mode to creation mode to action mode to implementation mode. - Dana
• Tweek and tweek until you find what works. - Dana
• Before you go and buy another course, invest in a coach or specialist who will help you implement. - Dana
• If you're really clear about what you want to do in 90 days and if something doesn't align with that, say no. - Dana

Connect with Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Promotion is a touchy subject for many of us. We don’t want to sound salesy, nor do we want to get rejected. Is it possible to be supportive while selling? How can we deliver more value and promote ourselves without sounding salesy? Is selling a skill that can be learned by anyone? In this episode, I talk about why it’s so important to accept rejection and focus on promoting our businesses to the people who find value in what we do.

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

• Every business owner has to be a salesperson, unless you plan to hire someone to do it for you. This aspect of building a business makes many people uncomfortable because we sometimes doubt ourselves and our abilities.
• You aren’t a snake oil salesman if you offer support and deliver on what you promised.
• Many moms have a hard time talking about their business. They don’t want to sound like they are promoting their products and services. The truth is, we all exchange money and services.

Part of being a salesperson is finding the right people, and understanding that not everyone can be helped. You also have to recognize that, like everything else, selling is a skill that can be learned. The more you know about it, the easier it is for you to communicate effectively, sound more genuine, and become better at supporting people throughout their journey.

When you're an entrepreneur, it can be overwhelming to think about all the things you must do to take your business to the next level. Do you have the right systems in place yet? How do you know where to start?

On this episode, Brittany Dixon is sharing her advice for scaling your business.

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Pay attention to processes (09:49- 11:14)

Every single thing we do has a process— from running a business to making a sandwich. Go into as much detail as you can when considering your processes. Even the most basic step is important.

Get everything in one place (14:46- 15:27)

When you're just getting started in your business, try to have everything in one place. Use systems like Trello to put all your work, clients, and progress in one spot. This creates much-needed structure.

Hire a business consultant when you're ready to scale (18:53- 19:24)

If you're at the point in your business where you're able to scale, it's time to hire a consultant. This will allow you to step away while your business is taken care of.

There are so many moving pieces involved in building a business that it's bound to get confusing at some point. As you grow, make sure you're taking stock of everything you do. To take your business to new heights, you have to pay attention to what got you off the ground in the first place.

Guest Bio-

Brittany Dixon is a business consultant. After finding out she was pregnant with twins soon after starting a new job, Brittany decided to start her own company. Today, she is the owner of Brittany and Co. Consulting. Brittany strongly believes that building a great business requires great documenting of processes. She’s also adamant that the reason she has more time with her kids today is because of the consistent processes when she started her business.

You can find Brittany on Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/pages/category/Consulting-Agency/brittanyandco.consulting/about/

And Instagram: @brittanyandco.consulting

To find out more about Brittany, head to: https://brittanyandco-consulting.com

You can also try out her free content planner at: bit.ly/bco-contentplanner

Today, we’re diving into The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins—a book that’s taken the internet by storm. Whether you’ve read it or not, this episode will give you insight into why this concept is so powerful for Boss Moms.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The Power of Storytelling – Why Mel Robbins' approach to storytelling makes Let Them such a compelling read and how you can apply it to your content and business.

• Let Them (and Go Slower If You Need To) – Why comparing yourself to others is draining, and how embracing your pace is the key to success as a mom and entrepreneur.

• The Reality of Adult Friendships – How building a business can change your relationships, and why finding a supportive community (like Boss Mom Plus) is essential.

• A Fun Bonus! – Dana’s absolute favorite sheets for relaxation and self-care, and why they’re worth the hype.

Links & Resources:

• Read more at BossMom.com

• Join Boss Mom Plus for a community that gets you: bossmom.com/join

• Get 40% off Dana’s favorite sheets at CozyEarth.com with code Boss Mom

If this episode resonated with you, make sure to hit subscribe and leave a review! We love hearing from you. Thanks for tuning in—I heart your face, and I’ll see you next time!

Kathy Radigan is a writer, blogger, social media addict, mom to three, wife to one and owner of a possessed appliance. She posts a weekly essay each Sunday on her blog, My dishwasher's possessed! Kathy is the author of the viral post An Open Letter to My Teenage Son About Drinking and is a contributing author to three anthologies, Motherhood May Cause Drowsiness, Sunshine After the Storm: a survival guide for the grieving mother, and The HerStories Project: Women Explore the Joy, Pain and Power of Female Friendship. She is a Huffington Post Blogger and a contributor to What the Flicka and Scary Mommy. Her work has also been featured on, Yahoo, Elephant Journal, What to Expect,and other online publications. Kathy lives outside New York City with her family.

In this episode of the Boss Mom podcast, Dana chats with Kathy about her journey being an at home mom to a work at home mom, the process of syndicating her writing, and the tools Kathy uses to manage her business. Let's dive right in.

Listen to the podcast: 

Subscribe to the Boss Mom podcast in iTunes. 

What you'll hear on this episode of the Boss Mom podcast: 

• Kathy's journey from a mom who lived and died by her kid's schedule to a successful writer and blogger
• Why Kathy decided to step away a successful magazine she started.
• The process of syndicating her writing and why she only writes once a week.
• How Kathy decides what to write about.
• How Kathy manages the overwhelm.
• What happened when Kathy struck up a conversation with a stranger and how that effected her business.
• The tools Kathy uses to run her business.
• What Kathy does to take care of herself.

Recommended links and resources: 

• Beyond Your Blog, a website that helps you learn how to syndicate your work
• Other websites to syndicate on: Mamapedia, BlogHer, Today Parenting 
• The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
• An Open Letter to My Teenage Son About Drinking 
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• The Book Of Laughter And Forgetting
• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Brief History of Just About Anything  by Bill Bryson (get it on audio)

Kathy's favorite blogs to read:

• Science of Parenthood (fun parenting advice with pictures)
• Grown and Flown (teen and young adult parenting)
• Rubber Shoes in Hell, Laugh Lines, and So Then Stories (to make you laugh)
• An Inch of Gray (to make you cry and smile at the same time)
• Scary Mommy (great for parting advice for the imperfect parent)

Can I quote you on that? 

• For the first 11 years of my motherhood, I could never thing of going into business. I was too busy with my kids. - Kathy
• I started from scratch, just like everyone does. - Kathy
• I went viral and it took me to a new level. - Kathy
• You have goals and things happen organically. And then there is a snowball effect.
• My kids spark my whole passion for everything. - Kathy
• When life gets crazy, I like to call my parents. - Kathy
• When I look at all of the challenges I have in my day to day, I just can't sweat the small stuff. - Kathy
• My business is a family affair. - Kathy
• I always say yes to everything. I can work out the details later. - Kathy
• If the Today Show calls, you go. - Kathy
• If you've got a new opportunity, say yes to the adventure. -Kathy
• I don't use a lot of technology. Instead, I use my time well and ask for help when I need it. - Kathy
• If you want to do something new, start small. Do one thing well, if that's all you can do. - Kathy
• Mistakes are nothing to be ashamed of. - Kathy
• I screw up daily and that's okay. The world has not come to an end. Instead of beating myself up, I try to learn from it. - Kathy
• I started my own business because I wanted to do what I love. - Dana

Connect with Dana: 

Instagram / Periscope

Connect with Kathy: 

Website /  Facebook / Twitter / Google +

Many entrepreneurs spend a lot of time building up content, but they miss out on building programs people can pay for. Why is it so mission critical to have these programs? How can you go about actually creating them? On this episode, I talk about the importance of turning what you offer into something that can help you make money.

As you get better at what you do, what you know is going to be worth more. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

• If you have opt-ins and you don’t have a structured paid program, get one together ASAP!
• One-on-one programs are important. You always have to keep your finger on the pulse, and you can’t do that in a group.
• At some point in your paid programs you’re going to see that there is a bell-curve where your pricing will create a new ideal client for you.

A lot of entrepreneurs think they can only start launching paid programs once they’re much bigger, but you can start now. We make money by selling things, and the things we sell must have structure. The nuances with which we deliver our programs are just as important as the kind of effort we put into marketing, words and sales pages. Whether you offer one-on-one coaching, set up a live event, or create paid content, setting up this kind of program will boost your business in a major way.

Do you ever struggle with knowing what exactly should come next in your business?

Do you find yourself getting easily distracted with shiny object syndrome and losing focus?

So often as entrepreneurs we waste our time on things that don't ultimately move our businesses forward, and keep us stuck in places of indecision. 

In this episode I'm going to break down 5 specific steps to take in order to figure out what you should be focusing and working on next in your business.

As Boss Moms, we tend to bite off more than we can chew, and say yes to whatever comes our way even if it doesn’t align with where we want to be. Toxic hustle culture holds us to an unhealthy standard, leaving us with less time for the things that truly energize us.

It takes work to build a business and raise a family, so how can we track our time so that it’s spent doing the things that matter to us? Can we break away from hustle culture and reclaim our energy so that we are more energized to work on our passions?

In this episode, best-selling author and TEDx speaker Jadah Sellner returns to discuss some important aspects of her book She Builds: The Anti-Hustle Guide to Grow Your Business and Nourish Your Life which shares a new entrepreneurial model for women, one that focuses on reclaiming your time and energy and doing business on your own terms. We also chat about toxic hustle culture and how to break away from it.

For decades we’ve been reading business books that don’t reflect our truth. -Jadah Sellner

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How to embrace working at your own pace
  How do we work in a way that doesn’t deplete us and build and grow the way we want?
• Detoxing from hustle culture
  We tend to hold ourselves to a metric of success that hustle culture pushes. Why should we not compare ourselves to the standards set by hustle culture?
  
  
• How to start reclaiming your time
  How can we track how we spend our time so that we can prioritize the things that energize us?

Guest Bio

Jadah Sellner is a bestselling author, business coach, international keynote speaker, TEDx presenter, poet, and host of the Lead with Love® podcast. She's the author of SHE BUILDS: The Anti-Hustle Guide to Grow Your Business and Nourish Your Life. She’s also the co-author of the best-selling book Simple Green Smoothies where over one million people have embraced this simple and healthy habit.

As the founder of Jadah Sellner Media, Inc. and She Builds Collective, Jadah helps women build their businesses and their lives in a way that works for them—–with love. She has been featured in Forbes, O, The Oprah Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. Learn more at jadahsellner.com or follow her on social media at @jadahsellner

When Jadah's not speaking on stage, you can catch her dancing to Beyoncé in her living room or sipping on a Chai tea latte by a cozy fireplace. She lives in the San Francisco bay area with her husband, daughter, and dog Beesly.

Visit https://shebuilds.com/ 

Find Jadah’s book on Amazon She Builds: The Anti-Hustle Guide to Grow Your Business and Nourish Your Life

The feeling of being busy fills most of us with a sense of accomplishment, but we need to remember that constantly being busy doesn’t always mean our businesses are growing. In fact, most of the time it’s the exact opposite. 

The momentum trap tricks us into believing we need to work round the clock to see results, but that only holds us back. When we dedicate all our business hours to client work, we lose time that could have been spent building authority in our markets. 

How can we pull ourselves out of the momentum trap and get to a place where our businesses succeed without needing constant tweaking? Can we ever reach a point where our businesses generate revenue without our input? 

In this episode, I share how to escape the momentum trap that keeps our businesses in one spot. 

The momentum trap is sustaining what you already have. Spend your time growing so you systematically get bigger results. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

Break the cycle of spending hours coming up with one-on-one solutions for clients. Acknowledge that tons of consumers are facing the same challenge and create one piece of content to serve them all. 

We’re never going to be the only entrepreneurs in our space, but that doesn’t make what we do any less valuable. Once we believe our uniqueness is what separates us from others in our areas of expertise, we can work on creating something sellable. 

Date-driven content limits the reach of our products. Instead of creating solutions to date-specific problems, focus on finding a frustration people experience all year round. 

Everyone needs a Momcation. In this episode, Dana and NJ talk about how to refresh your life and soul by taking a momcation. This show is sponsored by the awesome Lil' Labels - check out the discount now!

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• The definition of a momcation.
• Things to do during a momcation.
• Why it's important to take time for yourself.
• How you can get single focused in your life.
• Ways to take mini-momcation at home.
• Encouragement to do things for yourself more frequently.

Our Sponsor:

Lil' Labels

For moms who love easy. They are writeable, waterproof labels for daycare and school. They stick on all things baby and kiddo, like baby bottles, clothing, lunch containers ... and are washable and worry-free.

Boss Moms can save 30% off their order with code "BOSSMOM30".

Minna is a mom of two little girls. She absolutely loves being an entrepreneur.

Recommended links and resources:

• Irena Miller Yoga
• Irena Miller's Boss Mom of the Week
• Heather Crabtree
• The Higgins Creative
• Boss Mom "I Heart Your Face" mug
• Fruit Infused Water Bottle
• Boss Mom Academy
• Boss Mom Facebook group

Can I quote you on that? 

• The purpose of this time is to fill every reserve well to refresh. - NJ
• I do things that make me happy and feel loved. - NJ
• Because I'm fulfilled by my business, I forget that there are other things that fulfill me. - Dana
• See where you can fit in a momcation in the next six months. - Dana
• Make a goal to feed your soul daily. - NJ

Connect with Dana & NJ

Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place)

NJ : Website / Instagram (her total happy place)

We would LOVE it if you’d leave a podcast rating or review on iTunes. We also know it can be kind of tricky to figure out. Here are a few step by step instructions on how to leave an iTunes rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

1. Launch Apple’s Podcast app.
2. Tap the Search tab.
3. Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review.
4. Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right.
5. Tap the album art for the podcast.
6. Tap the Reviews tab.
7. Tap Write a Review at the bottom.
8. Enter your iTunes password to login.
9. Tap the Stars to leave a rating.
10. Enter title text and content to leave a review.
11. Tap Send.

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find both of us hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Giving Thanks: Tracing the Steps of Each Person that Helped Build Boss Mom with Dana. Dana shares how she's grown the Boss Mom brand through building relationships.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• The year before the starting of Expand Your Reach.
• The people who influenced Boss Mom.
• How meeting one person can make a huge difference in your business.

Referenced in the show:

• National Association for Entrepreneurial Women
• Lisa Anzaldua
• Live Your Legend
• Kelsey Murphy
• CJ Thomas
• Lena Zawaideh
• Heather Crabtree
• Savvy Business Owners Facebook Group
• Hal Elrod
• Best Year Ever Blueprint
• Nicole Keating
• Chandler Bolt
• Pat Flynn
• Chris Ducker
• Azul Torres
• NJ Rongner
• Danielle Roberts
• John Lee Dumas
• Kate Erickson
• Mike Sherbakov
• Dawn Marrs
• Taki Moore
• Greg Smith - Thinkific
• Tonya Rineer
• Mike O'Neil
• Samantha Skelly
• Boss Mom Academy
• Boss Mom Facebook group

Can I quote you on that?

• I love to keep Boss Moms around me, but I also believe in loyalty to others. - Dana
• Pick what's easy to you, and do that. - Dana
• Yes, it's about tribe, but I can name those who have helped me become who I am. - Dana
• Do something to recognize those who are important in your life. - Dana
• Thanksgiving isn't just a list, but a mindset. - Dana

Connect with Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place)

We love hearing from you guys! If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in our Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

What if you could look amazing, feel amazing, help your kids eat better, and have more energy to run your business?

Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, with Adria DeCorte’s simple techniques for the health driven female entrepreneur, it can be true for you.
In this podcast, Adria tells us about how eating healthy can not only impact your weight and overall health, but your energy levels too. And wouldn’t we all like a little extra energy to get the daily work flow going stronger than ever? It all comes down to a few simple lifestyle changes.

This episode covers everything you could ever want to know about:

• How to keep yourself healthy while running a business
• What exactly it means to be living a healthy lifestyle
• How to have more energy on a day to day basis, the healthy way (no coffee necessary!)
• The best healthy snacks for a busy businesswoman
• How to effectively simplify time in the kitchen
• How to fit in healthy eating out of the house/while travelling
• How to eat healthy while keeping your diet spontaneous and exciting

Join the conversation:

Tell us on Twitter or Instagram @danamalstaff …

What new healthy recipe will you try today?

More about Adria:

TedxFremontEastWomen- “How Food Fuels Hustle” 

Listen and subscribe to the“Feed Your Hustle” Podcast on ITunes

Check out Adria’s website here

Female entrepreneurs Facebook group for behind the scenes of business

Get Aria’s 3 minute morning meal plan 

My new book, Confessions of a Boss Mom (which just hit #1 on Amazon for Motivational Self Help!)  is what inspired this episode, and I think it’s something that’s important to talk about because it’s something that doesn’t impact just us, but also everyone else around us.

This is a quick, fundamental episode touching on a key way I think we should approach life, that I think will make a difference in how we feel about ourselves, how we feel about others, how we raise our children, and how we engage in our businesses.

When it comes to marketing our businesses, we’re taught to niche down according to demographics - age, income, occupation etc, but then we craft content, and it just falls flat.

Our marketing becomes more magnetic when we niche according to how people feel, not a rigid set of characteristics. It makes crafting content easier, makes more people want to share our stuff and buy from us.

In this episode, I share how to start niching by emotions, not by demographics.

Your demographic niching reveals itself to you over time, the emotional niching is actually the right place to start. -Dana Malstaff  

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

- How to map out how your ideal people feel
If we want to key into people’s emotions, where do we start? 

- The key to magnetic content
How do we make people feel like we get them and what they are dealing with?

- Why your marketing feels off
How do we find out what’s holding our content back?

In this episode Dana is chatting with Racheal Cook, a green smoothie enthusiast, restorative yoga advocate, and award winning business strategist who believes entrepreneurs can grow their dream business while living their dream life, right now.

Since launching TheYogipreneur.com in 2008 and RachealCook.com in 2014, she’s built two multiple six-figure businesses inspiring over 20,000 entrepreneurs around the world to create profitable, sustainable businesses they can be proud of, all while navigating the beautiful chaos of raising three kids with her husband Jameson.

Tune in to hear them discuss Racheal's journey through entrepreneurship and motherhood, how she's navigated creating a sustainably profitable business herself, and how she works to help other business owners do the same!

Racheal's Journey

“My journey of being an entrepreneur and a mom kind of happened simultaneously, without meaning to.” (1:55)

Racheal started her career in financial consulting after receiving her MBA in college. She was newly married and working 75 hours per week which meant she only got to see her husband on Sundays (and even then she was basically passed out from exhaustion!)

Three years in, she found herself completely burned out and ready for a change.

“It got to the point where I was burning out and I was looking around going ‘Ok, we’re newly married, we want to start a family….how is this going to happen?! I can’t do that if I’m working like this, it’s just not going to work for me.’ It just wasn’t the life I wanted.” (2:29)

So, she left her career and decided to take a 3 month sabbatical to figure everything out.

“I really had no idea what I was going to do for my career, but I knew that I wanted to start a family, knew that I actually wanted to have a marriage and not just see him on Sundays when I was actually conscious.” (3:14)

What Happened Next

At that time she'd been seeing a yoga instructor almost daily to get her health back on track and recover from the burnout she'd experienced.

Her yoga instructor knew the situation she was in and expressed her need for help running her business. She was struggling with her business model and needed the kind of strategy and expertise Racheal had to offer.

“It never had occurred to me to that point to work with really small businesses - like solo entrepreneur businesses where it’s just one person.” (3:50)

All of Racheal's former experience had been with working startups or what were considered to be small businesses, but really had anywhere from 50-100 employees. She realized there was an opportunity to market and share her skills with smaller, solopreneur businesses.

She began working with that first client, got a website set up, officially "started" her business and worked mostly one-on-one by referral....then she got pregnant!

Life as a Boss Mom

Just six months after starting her business Racheal discovered that she was pregnant for the first time, and a month after that she learned she would be having twins!

After her doctor told her that she would need to be placed on bedrest, Racheal had some decisions to make about how she would continue running her business.

“Ok, I’ve got to figure something out here if I’m going to be on bedrest and then have to take care of two tiny people. How is this even going to work?!” (5:03)

At that time (around 2009) business was just beginning to really take off online and she recognized the opportunities there were to leverage her skills and technology in the online space.

“It’s been amazing to work with people online because now I’ve got clients all over the world, which I never imagined, and I’m able to do it while I’m home with my 3 little people.” (6:34)

Racheal and Dana discuss the many benefits of being a work-at-home mom, like being able to still get work done and be productive even if you're home, in your pajamas taking care of sick babies!

Racheal also mentions that she grew up with two entrepreneurial parents and she remembers that there was a lot of shuffling back and forth with scheduling, trying to find babysitters, and making sure everyone was where they needed to be, doing what they needed to do.

“The nice thing about this business model that I’ve set up for myself is, I’m able to shut things down at 2:30 and go pick the kids up off the bus and there’s no question about who needs to shuttle kids around because I’m available and it’s really, really flexible.” (9:55)

Infusing Your Passions & Gifts into a Focused Business Model

Now Racheal provides business growth strategy for consumer-facing small health & wellness businesses. She is passionate about working to restructure her clients' businesses to work efficiently and sustainably in a way that benefits both the business owner and the clients.

“Suddenly the value just shoots through the roof and now they’re able to work so much more efficiently, and work less, which is what they all really want. They can work less, earn more and get a life!” (12:22)

Dana and Racheal discuss how many people seem lost when it comes to really knowing what their business model even is, and how people often get stuck on the first superficial level without going deeper.

Questions business owners need to ask themselves are, "What am I offering? How am I going to sell it? What's my marketing strategy? What's the big picture and how does it all fit together? Are all the pieces of my business supporting my end goal, as well as serving my clients?"

Dana suggests that business owners are sometimes afraid of digging deep to really get to the meat of what their business should look like. She thinks brainstorming for your business should be tumultuous and uncomfortable (like a storm) or you’re not going deep enough.

They also discuss the common practice of basing your business model on what others in your industry are already doing.

“The problem is, they don’t know if that’s going to work for them, if that’s actually going to pay the rent for the space they have, they don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes.” (15:41)

This is why it's so important to build a solid foundation yourself, based on your unique passions, gifts and goals for both your life and business.

Navigating Seasons of Transition

After a few years of running a launch-based business model that worked well, but was running her ragged, Racheal recognized that it was time to make some adjustments.

“It is so time and energy intensive that it’s like you disappear from your life for a solid month. I wish I could say there was an easier way around it. (20:03)

She has since moved away from a launch-based model toward an evergreen model, which has helped her create sustainability for the season of life she's in with her family. She and her husband also worked really hard to map everything out so they could bring him home from his job during that season.

When it comes to knowing when and how to navigate seasons of transition in your life and business, Racheal recommends to keep things simple, and take everything one step at a time. Don't rush it!

“We took our time, we planned it out, we really wanted to make sure our ducks were in a row.” (37:05)

Staying Focused & Consistent

Racheal also shares that she is a big believer in slow, steady, well-thought out consistency being the key to making things happen sustainably in business. It's common for business owners to want to move quickly - especially in the online space, always trying to create something new or launch something new, one thing after the next, after the next.

“I think a lot of people overcomplicate launching and creating because they think they need something new all the time, and I’m like ‘No you don’t! You need one awesome program, you need one awesome offering, one system that you can rinse and repeat because you’ll make it better, your clients will get better results, and it’ll be easy for you to continue to duplicate it and run it again and again.”  (41:31)

Dana and Racheal agree that beginning by working with clients one-on-one can really help business owners figure out what their main core offering should be. After working with several clients, you're in a great position to move forward in leveraging a proven system you've created that has worked with your one-on-one clients.

“Take your time! You don’t have to rush because if you rush to throw something out there hoping that it’s going to be the magical launch, chances are you’re going to be pretty disappointed on the other end.” (44:44)

If you can get results for people one-on-one and you have a process and a journey that you take people on, you’ve got something that will really work long-term. 

Referenced in the Show:

• TheYogipreneur.com
• RachealCook.com
• Sweet Spot Strategy
• Your Business Sweet Spot: Simplify Your Business. Amplify Your Results.
• Find Racheal on Facebook
• Find Racheal on Instagram
• The Boss Mom Academy

(Just FYI, some of these links may be affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase using the links I may receive some love in return!)

Episode Sponsor: Adoption STAR

The adoption process can often be confusing and frustrating. Adoption STAR offers support, knowledge, assistance, and most importantly, personalized attention, to make this process easier. Clients of Adoption STAR are pleasantly surprised that their adoption journey is one filled with education, individual choices and compassion.

Adoption STAR’s international programs are open to residents of New York State, Ohio and Florida. Adoptive couples or singles who wish to adopt domestically with Adoption STAR are eligible if they reside in New York State, Florida, or Ohio. Adoption STAR is also Connecticut and Illinois Approved. In addition, each year a a few applicants outside of these areas are considered for the domestic program.

The agency offers consultation, counseling, educational classes, a resource library, home studies, updates, post-placement, post-adoption support, expectant parent, birth parent and adoptive parent counseling, child placements and so much more.

Begin your adoption journey today by clicking here to request your free information packet!

We love hearing from you!

If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com. Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in her happy place, the Boss Mom Facebook Community. 

Building new relationships with other parents, and maintaining existing ones, can be tricky when we have different parenting styles, so it’s important to know what type of mom we are. How can we find out our parenting type and should we avoid other types of parents altogether? How can we set boundaries with other parents without offending them? On this episode, educators and co-hosts of the Modern Manners for Moms and Dads podcast, Sarah Davis and Evie Granville, share how to navigate friendships with other parents. 

Spend time with other parents who share your parenting style. When you connect with someone who has a similar perspective to you, it makes your relationship easier. -Evie Granville

Building new relationships with other parents, and maintaining existing ones, can be tricky when we have different parenting styles, so it’s important to know what type of mom we are. How can we find out our parenting type and should we avoid other types of parents altogether? How can we set boundaries with other parents without offending them? On this episode, educators and co-hosts of the Modern Manners for Moms and Dads podcast, Sarah Davis and Evie Granville, share how to navigate friendships with other parents. 

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Take a quiz to find out what kind of mom you are (05:50- 07:37)
There are three main ‘types’ of parents: self-preservers, accommodators and protectors. While we may not adhere to our own ‘types’ all the time, knowing which category we fall into can make it much easier for us to understand why we make certain decisions and be more understanding of others. 

Spend time with like-minded parents (12:00- 14:59)
Being friends with people who have a similar parenting style to our own can make spending time with each other much easier. Knowing what type of parent we are can help us create bonds with people who fit into our lives more easily. That being said, don’t cut off people with a different parenting style, just be mindful of the differences.

Set boundaries (33:28- 36:22)
When our children are visiting their friends, it’s important for us to know and share our boundaries with other parents. For example, if we’re not happy with our kids being in a house with a gun, we need to raise that. Setting boundaries is often something we avoid because we don’t want to offend other parents, but there’s nothing to worry about if we handle every situation respectfully.

Guest Bio- 

Sarah Davis, EdD, and Evie Granville, MEd, are a real-life best friend duo that shares refreshingly realistic advice on all those “what the h**l do I do now?” parenting moments. 

Educators and mothers to six young kids between them, Evie and Sarah teach moms and dads how to prioritize their own needs, their child’s, and everyone else’s when parenting in public. With their simple online quiz, you can discover which you naturally prioritize, and how that can help you shine or hold you back when it comes to building your confidence, character, and connections.

On their five-star podcast, Modern Manners for Moms and Dads, Evie and Sarah answer reader and listener questions. And stay tuned for the upcoming book in fall 2020!

To find out more about Sarah and Evie, head to

https://www.facebook.com/EvieandSarah/ 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/modernmannersformomsanddads/ 

https://www.instagram.com/evieandsarah/ 

And to find out your parenting style, take the quiz at EvieandSarah.com/quiz to discover which Parenting Perspective defines you, and how it's helping you shine or hold you back!

You can also call them 857-MANNERS

When it comes to getting featured, we need a pitch that gets people instantly captivated by what we have to share. It gives us an opportunity to get better at what we want to say and the way we say it.

How do we ensure that our pitches have the correct angle and are positioned in a way that makes featuring us a no-brainer? Why should we share stories and discussions when it comes to pitching other people?

CEO of Pursuing Results Matt Johnson joins me again to talk about pitching people with the right angle and getting featured. We also talk about college alternatives and leveraged mentorship.

Start pitching the discussion you want to have and the stories you want to talk about. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Creating a bridge to entrepreneurship
  How can we take people from being stuck in a traditional mentality to having the confidence to do their own thing and start their own businesses?
  
  
• The importance of internships and apprenticeships
  How can we figure out the path we want to take?
  
  
• The next generation of leaders
  How can we raise up other people and shine the spotlight on them?

Social media advertising is vital for online businesses, so all entrepreneurs should be looking into it. Is there a right time to start advertising? What happens if we don’t have a big online following yet? Do we need to be hesitant to use retargeted advertising? On this episode, host of The Art of Online Business podcast, Rick Mulready, shares how to advertise effectively on social media. 

It’s never too early to start using ads. Start running them as soon as you have an audience. -Rick Mulready

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

• Start using ads as soon as possible (20:07- 21:58)
  As soon as we have a social media presence and an audience, we should be leveraging ads. There’s no time like the present to start using ads if we have an audience. 
  
  
• Build an audience (22:41- 24:01)
  Those of us new to a platform may not have established audiences yet. The best way to build these audiences is by doing Facebook Lives, which we can later use as advertisements to build our following.
  
  
• Rethink advertising (20:07- 21:58)
  A lot of people are hesitant to use retargeted advertising, because there’s a common belief that this is an invasion of privacy. We have to shift our mindsets away from that - advertising isn’t going anywhere, so we may as well provide useful information to the right people. 

Podcasting is a great way to build a relationship with your audience by giving them something more than a blog post to connect with. How can you use podcasting as an authority builder, and why should you be more than just an interviewer? What kind of feedback can you expect? In this episode the CEO of Pursuing Results, Matt Johnson, speaks all about podcasting and why you should start one too!

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

• Putting out a podcast that gets ignored is not failure; it’s feedback. When you know what your audience doesn’t respond to, you avoid making even a more costly mistakes, such as putting together a course without having any feedback ahead of time.
• Podcasting is a great authority builder if you know how to use credibility by association. Don’t just be the interviewer. When you have heavy hitters on your podcast, engage in conversations with them instead of just asking questions.
• Social proof is another credibility builder, so make sure you help the guests promote the podcast episode on their social media accounts as well. This will also help you receive more exposure and get invited to speaking events.

You don’t have to have a million downloads to have a six figure business. You can dominate a category in the minds of your audience. Focus your marketing efforts and build your business on that. Additionally, the relationships you build with your guests will serve as another opportunity to grow.

Guest Bio:

Matt Johnson is a marketer, entrepreneur, musician. As founder of Pursuing Results, a podcast PR & production agency based in San Diego, Matt runs a worldwide virtual team helping business coaches and agencies break in and dominate new markets through podcasting.

Matt currently hosts and co-hosts niche business shows such as The YouX Podcast, Real Estate Uncensored, The Team Building Podcast, and Level Up. He also speaks to experts and entrepreneurs on how to turn a rockstar business into a YouX Machine. He is a featured podcast guest and speaks to audiences around the US, Canada and Australia.

Moms have a lot on their plates, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. We all know that juggling children with a career can be tiring, but could there be another reason we’re feeling overwhelmed? What can we do to work around it all? Join me on this episode as I talk with the star of reality show Hannah, Help Me! and founder of Mom Mastery University, Hannah Keeley. Hannah shares how she has made a career of teaching moms and tells us how to excel in all areas.

When moms learn to work with the way that their brain is wired, amazing things happen. -Hannah Keeley

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Stay present and be strategic (08:55- 10:51)

Zone in on one thing at a time. When you’re with your kids, stay completely in-tune with them. The same goes for business: in the time you allocate to work, focus fully on the tasks at hand. You need to adhere to separate business and family time parameters to make the most of both.

Moms work differently (13:50- 16:45)

Mom’s brains are wired differently from everyone else. The gift of multitasking sounds great- until your inability to focus on singular tasks starts to affect your work results. You’re not alone in this: it’s something most, if not all, moms experience. The first step you need to take is acknowledging that motherhood changes the way you approach everything- then you can start finding ways to work with it, not against it.

Work like a woman (17:32- 19:48)

Women have been conditioned to believe they need to put their womanhood aside to do well in business. That kind of thinking is not only inaccurate, but can even lead to lower levels of productivity. Work with your womanhood in mind, and leverage it.

When you become a mom, a lot of things change. Business is no exception. However, being a mom doesn’t mean you have to stop doing business: it just means you need to adapt. Stop pressuring yourself to work less like a mom- or even less like a woman in general. You’re wired differently and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Guest Bio-

Hannah Keeley is the founder of Mom Mastery University. With a background in behavioral therapy- and the experience of being a mom to seven kids- Hannah is passionate about teaching mothers how to excel in business and at home. She believes the key to unlocking amazing potential comes from moms realizing that they’re wired differently, and need to work accordingly.

You can hear more from Hannah on her podcast: https://player.fm/series/crazy-blessed-with-hannah-keeley

You can also find out more about Hannah on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hannahkeeleyfriends/

As moms, we know the struggle of never having more than 10 minutes to ourselves. We are always constantly juggling multiple tasks with barely a moment to spare.

It can get overwhelming and frustrating especially when we lose focus.

Is there a solution that takes just one minute of our time and can make a world of difference?

Enter one-minute success hacks; quick, actionable strategies that can help us achieve both our personal and business goals, even when we're short on time. How do these simple, yet incredibly effective strategies maximize our productivity and clarity in just 60 seconds?

In this episode, I share mind-blowing one-minute hacks for success, how it can help achieve personal and business goals and the hidden power in starting off small.

One-minute success hacks are crucial to actually reaching your goals in life. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

-Get fit, one minute at a time

How do we get moving and things done when we don’t love the idea of workouts in the first place?

-Multitasking

How do we get the most out of stacking activities?

-Impactful breathing exercises

How can breathing exercises help us when we get frantic? Can it help us get our focus back?

Marketing and sales is all about making choices. People either excel or fail because of the choices they make, so we have to be sure we make the right ones.

When it comes to marketing, are women generally better at certain aspects of it? Is there a feminine advantage? Can people actually shift our perspective about sales and marketing?

In this episode, international Sales and Marketing Consultant Dorothy Villeneuve, joins me to talk about looking at marketing in a new light, how she got started in sales and the many different ways of doing sales.

The more and longer we have been in the sales, marketing and online space, the more I realize we are part of a revolution. -Dana Malstaff.

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode

- Spending time with the right people

Why should we spend time with people who get us fired up and motivated?

- Timeless training

What things in sales and marketing will never lose their value?

- Clarity, communication and commitment

How do we build clarity on the things that we want for our businesses?

Guest Bio

Dorothy is dedicated to helping women achieve unshakeable confidence and utilize simple, repeatable systems and strategies in their sales so that they can attract ideal clients to their high-ticket offers.

She is an international Sales and Marketing Consultant for online women entrepreneurs and offers DONE WITH YOU consulting to help 6-figure online coaches and experts zero in on their zone of brilliance, simplify and increase their sales and finally get all their fancy funnels and copywriting done even if they dread tech and feel scattered.

High Converting Sales Page Guide learn.dorothyvilleneuve.com/high-converting-sales-page

Visit https://dorothyvilleneuve.com/
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For more information, visit http://www.parentingboyspeacefully.com

Astrology is experiencing a huge Renaissance because it’s relevant and extremely applicable to our current daily lives. What are the basics of astrology that one should become familiar with? How can we plan our lives and personal development around it? How do we take action that is energetically supported by astrology?

On this episode, I’m joined by CEO and Founder of Astrology Hub, Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh, who shares her journey of discovering astrology and building her business. 

When it comes to personal growth, if you align with the themes that are astrologically-based, you will have the wind in your sails. You’re focused on the thing that is supported energetically at that time. -Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh  

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Pregnancy creates huge shifts
There’s something about being pregnant that brings clarity. It helps us realize that we’re unhappy, need to make a change or a big idea comes up. But that clarity doesn’t mean we won’t face challenges. Sometimes, before the doors open, there will be a moment of breakdown, but that doesn’t mean we’re broken; it’s part of the process and actually, the fact that it’s happening is a sign that you’re exactly where you need to be. 

Astrology goes a lot deeper than the zodiac
Most people have a superficial understanding of what astrology is. Astrology is the language of the stars; it’s very mathematical, but also incredibly intuitive. The sun travels through every single zodiac sign throughout the year, and this is what created zodiac signs. Astrology goes deeper than the horoscope, and actually, it’s timing and patterns can reveal a lot about how we’re feeling at a specific point in time. 

All Zodiac signs have progressions of expression
Some people like to make excuses for bad behavior by blaming it on the flaws of their zodiac sign. Every low expression of a zodiac sign has a higher expression for it. Being aware of the low expression of the sign, and finding a way to turn it into a positive, can help us become more cognisant of our strengths and weaknesses, and help others dealing with similar issues.

In this episode I'm joined by the amazing Samantha Skelly to talk about how to identify what we're truly hungry for in our lives and how to start honoring ourselves and our bodies by ending the battle with food and body image. This one is SO chock full of amazing awesomeness and I think it might just change your life - so let's dive in!

Domestic violence leaves so many people suffering in silence. How can you identify if you’re being abused? When you want to escape a relationship, what should you keep in mind? What are some of the biggest misconceptions that further isolate abuse victims? On this episode, domestic abuse survivor, speaker, and author Rosie Aiello shares how she survived and why she’s empowering others.

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

When you don’t know what abuse looks like, you can think you’re the problem (06:45 - 08:35)

A lot of women don’t realize that what they are actually experiencing is abuse. It’s only when they know the signs that they can empower themselves. Until then they will think they are the problem and keep trying to make it better.

Keep your escape private (17:29 - 17:46)

When planning to leave an abusive partner, don’t tell them. If you do, they will only tighten the reins. This can put you and your children in danger.

Observe the patterns of behavior (25:26 - 27:46)

When it comes to an abuser’s behavior, there are patterns you have to watch out for. They tend to be narcissistic, they don’t take responsibility, they aren’t willing to change their behavior, and they are great to the outside world but awful to you.

Abuse comes in many forms, and sometimes we don’t even recognize it’s happening to us. When we’re not being heard or given the love and respect we deserve, that’s a problem. The key to survival is being strong inside and learning what your value is. It’s possible to escape and finally live a life outside of the prison walls. Rosie is an incredible example of this. Remember: real love is kind, respectful, and understanding.

Guest Bio-

After a 25 year marriage, Rosie Aiello engineered an international escape to save her daughter and herself from domestic violence.

Nearly mentally destroyed,  within four years of arriving back in the United States, she reinvented herself since started her own business, and became a speaker, best-selling author and an international awarding-winning entrepreneur.

Visit www.11hourstofreedom.com to learn more about Rosie’s empowerment program for women.