Top Business Podcast • over 4 million downloads • 900+ episodes

The Strategy Hour Podcast

with abagail pumphrey

Recognized by INC and Forbes as one of the best podcasts for entrepreneurs, join our twice-weekly show as we share business strategies, interviews, and actionable advice for building an online business your way.

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Our Episodes

Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

Boss Project's Story Part 1: The One Thing We Actually Think All Small Business Owners *Should* Have

On today’s show, we wanted to take you back in time a little bit and talk about the beginning stages of our business. We so often get asked, ‘How did this all start and why does it exist in the way it does today?” We think there are some incredible takeaways from the early part of our journey that we don’t often talk about but which have shaped the mission and vision of our business as we have continued to grow and make an impact in the world of online business. It has been interesting uncovering some of our story through the work that we have been doing with Rachel’s coaching program in which we are currently enrolled.

We have struggled to frame our story because it breaks the mold of how origin stories are usually told, in the sense that there are two of us, not one. Often we have felt that sharing our feelings and thinking out loud on this podcast has helped us find clarity, so we wanted to use this episode to tell our story! We hope that if you had some things holding you back from telling your own story that this episode might help you step outside your comfort zone and share a little more about yourself.

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

Negotiating Brand Deals, Dangerous Contract Terms, and Changes to Social Media that Affect Your Business

This is another one of those episodes where Abagail puts Emylee on the spot in front of the audience. She knows nothing and is expected to come up with something out of thin air. For context, we started our business as creative entrepreneurs and designers and all that. What we did not realize we were doing at the time was influencing people. We started this blog, we were putting out content, and ultimately, a large portion of our business has become what we would call affiliate marketing. It makes up a big percentage of what we are doing. So, Abagail has all this background knowledge of what it takes to be an influencer in an affiliate capacity and has made all of these pivots with her second brand to broaden the ways she is bringing in money for this brand. Emylee is admittedly the laziest influencer out there. It is not that she doesn’t influence people; she definitely does, and there are many examples to prove it. In technical terms, Abagail, based on the size of her audience, would be seen as a micro-influencer. There are so many people out there that want to be influencers but they don’t necessarily know what they need to be looking out for. There are some alarming things brands are starting to include in their contracts, and micro-influencers are agreeing to these things, most probably without any idea of what they actually mean. And they could not only negatively impact your business, but they could destroy your online reputation if you do not pay attention to what is going on.

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Reduce Risk and Cover Your Legal Shizz with Braden Drake

Most of us can use a little help with the tax and accounting side of our businesses and we have just the person to talk us through the important parts of this process! Back on the show is our friend Braden Drake, who runs Braden Drake Law, where he works with a handful of one on one clients to sort out their tax and legal issues. His mission is to help as many people get as much of their business on the right track and running smoothly! He believes strongly in treating yourself like the CEO you need to be and in this episode, he covers exactly what this looks like. Spoiler alert! Braden has just finished writing a book that is about to be published! It is called Unf*ck Your Biz and details the service that Braden provides for his clients.

Braden does an amazing job of unpacking the framework of the book for us and shares the initial steps in tackling the biggest and most common mistakes he comes across. He talks about the 'oh shit cycle' that business owners get into with their taxes, how to know you are in this, and how to go about getting out! Braden shares many of our biz philosophies, striving to help you become profitable, paying yourself, and paying your taxes. We know tax can sound a bit boring but Braden is amazing at making it fun and lighthearted, so make sure to stay tuned as we get into some strategy!

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

Redefining Your Expectations for Your Work-At-Home Life with Kat Harris of The Refined Woman

Today on the Strategy Hour podcast we have Kat Harris joining us. She is a Brooklyn-based online educator, digital content creator, co-founder of The Refined Woman, and the host of The Refined Collective podcast. Kat is also a photographer who has spent the last decade working from home—so she can teach us a thing or two about getting working from home right! After so many years of experience, she had tons of advice and shares her strategies for organizing your schedule to serve you. Because, for Kat, your time and energy matters and you should be spending it exactly like you want to while still getting the job done.

She talks about how she has adjusted her schedule, mindset, and expectations during the crisis to strike the balance between growing and giving yourself a lot of grace. This episode is full of practical advice everyone can implement on some level, according to your reality and set of priorities. Let’s jump in!

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

Planning for Worst Case Scenarios 2020

For those of you who don’t already know Emylee – welcome to her anxious life. She is the type of person who can tell you where every exit in a building is, or how to stop drop and roll in case of a fire, and where to hide just in case a tornado suddenly appears on route to the mall. In business, Emylee is the kind of person that likes to go through every single worst case scenario. She always has a back up plan… and a backup plan for the backup plan. Emylee is the queen of doing this and it turns out this can be a super helpful attribute to have in a business partnership.

This episode is about planning for the things you can never plan for. It’s about answering those difficult “What if” questions. It’s about securing your business for the future and the reassurance this brings to your life. For those of you who are single business owners, we’re not sure you’ve thought of planning for worst case scenarios and exactly how to do that. So in today’s episode, we’re going to be sharing our experiences and the reasons we have made planning for worst case scenarios an integral part of our overall business strategy. We discuss buy-sell agreements, the various insurance options you have, the tough questions you need to ask yourself today and how you can effectively plan for the worst, in the best kind of way. Take a listen!

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

Validating Your Offer and Leaning Into Your Role as Founder with Jessica Korthuis of Sohuis

Life as a successful female entrepreneur can be frazzling with all the different responsibilities you have to take on. Sometimes it can be difficult to know which thing to tackle first! Today on the podcast we have Jessica Korthuis, founder of Sohuis, a marketing and branding education resources company that provides on-demand training for early-stage female entrepreneurs. Jessica is a powerhouse brand strategist marketer, and she has worked with brands like Red Bull, TEDxWomen, Girls Who Code, Stanford University, Bloomingdale’s, and Florida Institute of Technology.

In this episode, we are talking about all the differences between small business ownership and entrepreneurship. We cover marketing tips, feeling the need to do everything and be everywhere, and how to prioritize the stuff that is actually working in your business so you can move forward. Joining this discussion, you’ll hear some top tips for validating your product, how to stop being a perfectionist and take action, and the value of being transparent to build audience trust. There is a lot of mindset-related stuff we are tackling today! Jessica is really in tune with female founders, and the different way intuition works when running a business. So, if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed about what is on your plate and what you have to handle, perfect! This episode will definitely provide some clarity for you.

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

Unf*ck Your Biz Framework with Braden Drake

Today on the podcast we have Braden Drake, a California licensed attorney with a master’s degree in tax law, joining our conversation. He runs an education company that teaches other small business owners how to get the legal and tax stuff in order to ultimately unf*ck your business framework! He’s a pro at sorting out all the accounting and tax mess we make in our businesses, all those things that are totally befuddling to most of us! 

You’ll be happy to hear that he dishes out a lot of great strategy regarding lawyer-y things, and towards the end of our talk, he also gives away an awesome resource. If you need to do some damage control or brush up on your know-how around the sticky issues like choosing the right entity, paying quarterly taxes and avoiding Frankenstein contracts, be sure to tune in! 

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

The Boss Project Summit Is Back

Guess what’s back? Another Boss Project Summit! For those who have not yet joined us for one of these events, it’s basically an amazing, free business conference during which you can wear your PJs while attending in the comfort of your own home. We gather all the best entrepreneurs and business owners to teach you everything they know, from starting an online business to pivoting and scaling, and everything in between. Head to the Boss Project Summit website to sign up and get your virtual ticket. It is happening live August 20-22, 2019, so make a note of that. 

On this episode we give you a quick overview of some of the topics that will be covered and the great sponsors we have for the summit. We also tell you how you should go about getting access to the summit and what an all access pass will allow you to do. So be sure to get with the Boss Project Summit program! 

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

Lame House Analogies and Business Advice

Many times people come to us and ask where they should start with their business. They’re overwhelmed and feel like they’re having to do so many different things when really they want to focus on doing only the things that actually get results. You can also get totally snowed under by the ideas and opinions of others. The biggest detriment can be wanting to have all the bells and whistles of a thriving business and wanting all of them straight away. We argue for the opposite: first get the foundational things in order and get really good at it before worrying too much about the fluff.

Here is a construction analogy: In the Midwest, houses often have basements because their foundations have to be built below the snow line, otherwise it will crack. The same applies to our businesses: they require really solid foundations. Some of you have to take a few steps back and dig out a basement so that the structure of your business can be healthy and sturdy. A foundation allows you to have stability, and frankly, without a foundation, you don’t have a sustainable business. Today we’re talking about what’s involved in those initial stages that many people are skipping or putting off, so get ready to join us for another fun episode of the Strategy Hour Podcast!  

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

Copyright, Copy Cats and What Creatives Can Do to Protect Themselves with Autumn Boyd

Today on the show we welcome Autumn Witt Boyd. Autumn is an experienced lawyer who helps ambitious and creative business owners, such as yourself, reach their big scary goals. She owns the law office of Autumn Witt Boyd where she guides online and e-commerce businesses as they grow. She has special expertise in copyright and trademark issues and her firm offers full legal support to creative businesses. Autumn is also the host of The Legal Road Map podcast which teaches business owners to protect their rights and stay out of legal hot water!

A lot of entrepreneurs and business owners tend to shy away from legal conversations, particularly when it comes to copyrights. These situations can get complicated, awkward and are often just downright confusing! But they shouldn’t have to be. This is why we’ve brought Autumn on - to simplify our lives and ensure that we’re all on the right track and protecting our booties! In this episode, you’ll hear more about the biggest legal mistakes that creative and online business owners are making and get some special insights related to copyright, trademarks and dealing with copycats. To top it all off, you’ll get to hear Emylee go off on a tangent about people stealing our sh*t!

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

How to set Boundaries in Your Business & Life

Today on the show, we are tackling a topic that has cropped up in a lot of Facebook groups recently, ours included, and it’s a really good one for discussion! The question is, “How the heck do you set, handle and enforce boundaries when you work from home?” Not only with yourself, clients and customers but also if you have a spouse, a partner, or your kids at home. So whatever your situation, we are digging deep and pulling out the good stuff to help you with those boundaries.

In this episode, we share how we managed the transition from working in an office to working from home. We discuss the importance of figuring out your own workflow, setting concrete boundaries with your family and friends and how to communicate them effectively. At the end of the day, you have to manage the expectations of others, ensure your business is respected and at the same time, enjoy the wonderful privileges that come with working from home! We will share with you the challenges we’ve faced and how we have managed these often tricky scenarios, in the hope that this will empower you to crack that whip and lay down the law!

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

From an Invertebrate Biologist to a Floral Maven with Gina Thresher

Today on the podcast we have Gina Thresher. Gina is the founder of From the Ground Up Floral and she started out her journey, believe it or not, by pursuing marine biology, DIY’ing her own wedding and eventually turning into a very talented florist in her industry. In her own words, she makes kick-ass floral arrangements and we are talking more about her journey today. We are taking the idea outside of just the realm of a bouquet and really looking at it as a business and what she can add on.

 

Inside this episode, we are talking about the transition of Gina’s hobby mindset to a business mindset and what it really looked like when she was chasing brides and chasing weddings and then finally realizing that she really needed to be paying attention to other pieces of her business. She shares with us some tactics and strategies she was able to pull from The Strategy Academy like figuring out what to do and when to do it to actually focus on your business holistically instead of just one tiny detail. We dive into everything from travelling the world to speak, workshops, educating other florists and everything in between. This will spark you with some ideas you can implement in your own business so you are not just focusing on one tiny detail.

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Celebrating Two Years For TCC: Reflecting Back and Looking Ahead

Happy Birthday to us (cue birthday song). Did you know Think Creative Collective just turned two? We are worried now, because the you know the terrible two’s, does that happen in business too? We certainly hope not! We want to tell you everything we’ve worked on, everything that’s kinda worked for us, some stats to get you familiar with how things have been going and talk a little bit about the future of TCC.

Also, we have opened and started and closed seven businesses together, so this ain’t our first rodeo, babes. It might be our first rodeo together and our most successful business, but we have been in so many other businesses and we have been through all the ups and downs. So we get it, we get it all. Want to find out how we have made this business work? 

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

Inside Our $37K Launch - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Inside today’s episode, we are talking all about launching and specifically a launch we just had where we made $37,000 in a matter of a week. We’re going to talk to you all about what changed, what we did differently, some systems we added on to try our new take on Facebook ads, and exactly how we got the results we did. We’re even going to dive into some data and what worked and what didn’t.

We have been waiting to do this episode because we wanted to come back with all the final results and it would be helpful for you guys to know perhaps how we launched before so you can really see the value of the changes that we have made and how we approached it differently this time around. Really, it comes down to two things that we changed, so stay tuned as we dive into the details in this episode.

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

Most Websites Are Missing This and It Could Mean Trouble For Your Business with Danielle Liss of Hashtag Legal

Today, we are super excited to bring our friend Danielle Liss to the show. She is a partner over at Hashtag-Legal and she focuses on legal issues for online business owners. Danielle has extensive experience negotiating contracts and interpreting FTC guidelines, and her experience has given her intimate knowledge of the challenges facing influencer networks and social media professionals today.

In this episode we talk all about business formation, contracts, website policies, intellectual property, copyrights, trademarks, and she may even give us the straight talk about some of the things we have not yet done inside our own business. So, regardless of where you are in your business; whether you’re  just getting started or already have your own multiple six figure business, get ready, because we promise you that you are going to learn something today!

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meet your host

I don’t believe there’s one right way to build a business.

I’m your host, Abagail Pumphrey. And I’m dedicated to supporting online businesses.

I’m here to help you build business your way: one that supports not only the life you have but the life you want. I’m on a personal mission to help you become financially free.

I’m talking about all the lessons learned as I turned a layoff into a 7-figure online business. I’m here to help you prioritize your life every step of the way, whether you’re creating your first digital product, growing an email list, or scaling an already profitable business.

I want to hear your hot takes, your biggest takeaways, or the genius ideas that pop in your head as you’re listening to the show.

My DMs are always open on Instagram, so head over and introduce yourself so I can get to know you!

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Meet Our Partners

The links below are affiliate links. We receive a commission (at no additional cost to you) when you purchase through these links.

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Digital Product Jumpstart

Build your list and grow your revenue at the same time!

I’ve kept these details to myself for far too long. I’m ready to spill everything and give you the exact steps that’ve helped me generate tens of thousands of qualified leads and MILLIONS in low-ticket digital product sales. I won’t just show you what I did, I’ll teach you how you can do it too.

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