Today’s episode of The Strategy Hour is dedicated to YOU and your wonderful questions! We asked our Facebook Group to hit us up with all their questions on anything and everything, and we’re answering as many of those as we can today! We like to have these sessions from time to time because we owe so much to all of you, and what way better for giving back than a little bit of quality time, right?

During this discussion, we answer questions on dream businesses, meeting each other, pivoting careers, our hobbies, health, confidence, new businesses, calendars and much more. As usual we try to be as honest as possible and give you everything we’ve got, because we know how much that little push of inspiration or motivation can do to get you on the track to success. Some of the big takeaways from this episode are following your heart and finding your own path, being kind and peaceful to yourself in the face of disappointment, pushing through challenges and taking opportunities when they present themselves. These are strategies that have worked for us and we are sure they can work for you too!

Welcome back to the Strategy Hour Podcast, all you beautiful creatures! We have a great show in store for you today, and we cannot wait for you to hear it. We have an extra special unicorn joining us in the form of Haley Burkhead, and she is here to tell us all about her business and her company called Profit Planner. Now, we say this all the time on The Strategy Hour, but it’s worth repeating: your profits really should be your highest priority. The money is what drives your business, and you need to put that in the front seat!

In our chat with Haley, we talk all about the way in which she has laid out her planner and how it can massively improve the way all of you run your businesses! Haley has so much energy and so many great ideas that we know you will be able to use immediately and will probably make you want to dig deeper into your planning methods. Haley gives us the whole breakdown on how the different levels of her framework and how each of these levels supports the next. Plus it is so fun and inspiring that we are pretty darn sure that after this episode you will not be able to wait to get started on optimizing everything you do! Throughout the episode Haley gives us steady reminders to keep you eyes on the profit prize and let everything fall into place around that. Great advice and something we urge you all to take to heart!

Today on the show we’re talking The Kinda Crunchy Movement. You must be thinking, “What the french toast does this have to do with business?” Well, half jumping on a movement or half doing anything is freakin’ common and we think it only makes you human. But how can we identify those things and either make a decision that, it’s okay that you’re not going all the way or just decide that you want to make changes? Are you beating yourself up about some of the decisions you’re making or not making? Don’t worry, you’re not alone; We half-ass a lot of stuff!

Now you’re thinking, “How does this relate to other parts of my life?” Today we’re identifying it and recognizing where we’re doing it and where we want to make changes for the better. The common highlighter we’re talking about is our own flaws and our own ways, because we aren’t quite full anything just yet. Also, there is power in calling stuff out on what it is, so let us call out all the bullsh*t that we still do and don’t do so maybe you can feel a bit more normal.

On today’s episode we welcome wonder woman, super biz lady and all round badass Kit Cronk! Kit is part of our Think Creative Collective family and we love her entrepreneurial spirit as well. She is here today to tell us all about how she uses Redbubble and drop shipping for her business and how you might be able to do the same. Some of you may have heard of drop shipping but if you haven’t do not fear, all will be explained and become clear shortly! Kit has managed to come up with a great model for her particular artistic business and we cannot wait to have her share her expertise with you!

During our discussion we cover what the current creative entrepreneur’s landscape looks like and touch on the not too distant fantasy of the business that can be run from the road. We also thoroughly break down Redbubble, the platform with which Kit has had such success, comparing it to other similar ones and looking at its benefits. Kit is kind enough to really unpack the strengths and weakness of the these platforms before laying out the technical details of how she makes them work for her. From there we traverse the world of Instagram and we all know important this can be to your success. Kit offers some great advice for growing a following, increasing the quality of your feed and giving your business the boost it deserves. So for an inspiring and purposeful masterclass in utilizing available technologies, platforms and networks be sure to tune in as we talk strategy!

There tends to be this thing that happens. This thing that has been happening for a while now. This thing where everybody tries to implement the exact same strategy, at the same time. What  ends up happening is everybody starts to look, sound and feel pretty much the same. Have you noticed it? This is where things start to get icky and this icky-ness is what we’re going to be bringing to the surface today.

In this episode, we’ll be highlighting some of the common mistakes we see businesses making. We’re here to help you cut the crap, stop following fickle trends and really get back to laying the foundations of basic business practice. Here we’ll be walking you through our PANCAKES Method to help you identify where you are at in your business and how you can reach those upper-level results. If you need a reality check, a kick in the booty and an actionable gameplan to ground your business for the long haul – then you’re going to love this episode.

Today on the show we welcome Abbey Ashley, founder of The Virtual Savvy. Abbey is a virtual assistant startup coach who is helping women all over the world start their online businesses and launch and grow their VA businesses to $5,000 per month and beyond! Ashley has been featured on Boss Mom, Smart Passive Income and NBC News – so you can image, this girl knows her sh*t! If you’re someone who can’t stand the 9-5 life, being a VA is a great place to start for anyone who is wanting to get their feet wet in the online world.

For anyone who is stuck, not knowing where or how to even begin tapping into the online VA space, this is literally the episode for you. In this episode, Abbey provides so many fantastic ideas for you to get something off the ground as well as how to pivot, niche and scale your VA business so that you can totally crush it. After listening to this episode, you will be able to start making money this very week! So, take some notes and let’s get started.

June was the most slap in the face lesson that Emylee has ever had in business. Abbie, on the other hand, felt like we had it coming. But no matter which way you see it, we’re going to talk about it – and many other delicious things – today in our June Review episode. This June, we launched The Strategy Academy live for the first time since November 2017. We have evergreened the program for the past six months and this launch was to give us a big public push. We did have a successful live launch but it did not reach the goals that we had set.

In this episode, we reflect on the process and the results of our Strategy Academy relaunch and highlight some of the latest changes and additions to TCC. We have some exciting things coming up for July, which we’ll share with you too, and round things off with some strategy, pancakes and spaghetti. By end of this episode, you’ll be reminded that sometimes you don’t need to burn your projects but rather, speak about them in a different way.

Today’s podcast is really special retrospective as we are looking back on our meetaversary! We met three years ago and those of you who have been with use for a while, know just how special the journey we have made together has been! So we thought we would take this opportunity to look back on the last three years and really just pay tribute to each other and what we have achieved. Although it has not all been smooth sailing and easy terrain the good times have made the challenges that much more manageable. Through all the ups and downs that life has thrown at us, this business we have built together is a blessing and we are both so grateful for it!

We remember exactly how we first met and the first conversations we in the Savvy Community and the phone calls and sleepovers that followed. Once we spent time together we knew it was something special and the honesty we were able to exercise so quickly really showed us how rare our connection was. Very soon after meeting we started to see how we balanced each other out and complemented each other’s strengths and weakness. We hope everyone out there gets to feel this great feeling! We look back at some of the best and worst memories from this period and look forward to what the future might hold. This episode is a bit gushy and is all about us - but we know you care, otherwise you wouldn’t be here! And who doesn’t need a little bit more inspirations and gratefulness in their lives?

Today on the podcast, we welcome Lauren Golden. Lauren loves helping mamas free themselves from the nine to five grind. Lauren launched The Free Mama Movement to show working moms that they don’t have to choose between family and financial stability. We’ve all said it and we’ve all heard it: “I don’t have time.” This is the easiest excuse that people love to pull out of their pockets when they’re not seeing business growth or success. But is it really true?

For every single person out there who has ever said, “But I don’t have any time to grow my business” – this episode is for you. Here, Lauren is busting myths, knocking excuses out the window and giving you action steps on how to better utilize the time that you do have in your day – regardless of kids, dogs, full-time jobs, health, hobbies and life. All this so you can make amazing things happen in your business. No more excuses – grab your notebook and give this one a listen!

Today on the show we welcome back Steph Crowder. Steph is so awesome, that we decided she needed to become a regular! So here she is, to talk about keeping your to-do list alive once you’ve lost momentum in your business. After the hype of a launch has died down, losing momentum is common. Trust us, we know! There is a certain amount of adrenaline that keeps you going during a launch, that keeps you alert, that keeps you firing when you’re in that challenge mode. But what do you do after this frenzy subsides? A lot of us go back to the same old habits and the same old routines and this is where a lot of us get super unproductive.

Steph has found that there are 7 major reasons why your to-do list is not getting done. If you are one of those people who are like, “What the hell? It’s Friday and I’ve crossed off barely anything on my to-do list!” Then girl, this episode is for you. Here, Steph talks about the big commonalities she has seen for why people aren’t getting their shit done. Better yet, she gives us actionable steps we can take toward more productivity and sustainable momentum. After this episode, you will be able to take a deep breath, re-evaluate your time, kick that self-doubt to the curb and be the boss lady you’ve always dreamed of being.

Today on the show we welcome Brooke Genn. Brooke is a writer, a photographer, podcast host and one part of a power couple together with her husband, Wilhelm. Brooke has had a really interesting and eclectic past and today works full-time with her spouse, building a business together as well as building a tiny home on wheels. In this episode, we are talking about what it takes to be a power couple. We get into the steps Brooke and her husband took to get her husband to come home and work with her full-time and how they are able to travel the world together and do exactly what they’ve always wanted.

We find out what Brooke has learned from working with her husband and how they have navigated this transition, having their own independence what it takes to run a business when you and your partner are so emotionally tied. A lot of us have thought on and off about working with our spouses but Brooke and her husband are successfully doing it! There is a lot to be learned from this episode about business and about relationships… even if you aren’t working together.

Today we are welcoming you to a brand new series that we are kicking off right here, right now! The monthly series is called Boss Talk and it’s an unscripted, uncensored, roundtable, brainstorming session between Abbie, Emylee and our lovely visiting guests. We’ll be diving into hot topics in the industry right now and will kick off every episode by posing a question to each of us in the discussion, which we’ll flesh out throughout the show. Today’s question is, “What are your thoughts on the phrase "community over competition?" And here to help us answer it, is the delightful boss babe, Steph Crowder of Courage & Clarity.

Here in this series, there is no holding back, no sugar-coating, no censoring. It’s just us, cracking open beers and navigating important questions that you’re probably wondering about too… So, are you someone who is all for community, or all for competition? Or is it about striking a healthy balance between the two? But how do we do that and are authentic communities really possible? This is an important and topical debate across all industries right now and one that we’re not sure people are speaking about as honestly as openly as we’d like. This series is all about real, off-the-cuff, honest opinions and if that’s your jam, then come and join us!

Today on the show we are doing our monthly review for April 2018. Our monthly review is a popular episode that we do every month. In the past, we have gone into a lot of depth with all of our numbers and our tracking. However, we have decided to narrow it down a little bit to be a more of an overview. If you want all the nitty-gritty’s, you can find them inside The Goal Crusher Club. In the episode, we are a little goofy because well, April was crazy! We just got back from a week-long trip to Chicago for the She Did It Her Way Summit. We did some strategizing in our hotel room (which we covered in post-it notes and crazy-lady handwriting) and will be reporting back on our plans and goals for the future. We’ll also be discussing our experience switching email providers (again) from Infusionsoft to ActiveCampaign, as well as how we got 100 members into the Goal Crusher Club through some darn fine teamwork.

In addition to that, we get into some deeper identity crises we’ve been experiencing in our business and the “Aha” moment in Chicago that reminded us that the destination is the journey. Our biggest glory moment this month has been the positive shifts we have seen in our team and how we have come to learn that teamwork takes, well, so much work. Work that is so worth it! We end off this episode with some good ol’ fashion funnel talk and our improvements to work toward for next month. We hope this episode will inspire you to keep going, even if you don’t have it all figured out yet. We sure don’t, but hey, we’re enjoying the ride. Bring it on May!

Today on the podcast we welcome Justine Nelson. Justine is a friend and previous co-worker who embarked on a personal journey to get rid of debt… and then decided to teach other people how to do it too. Justine is the founder of Debt Free Millennials, an online resource blog and coaching center helping thousands of millennials ditch debt and live like a boss. Today we are speaking about all the fun things – like student loans, debt culture and budgeting. We are also going to be discussing how to navigate conversations around debt with your partner and family and how having a budget and goals in your personal life leads to amazing things in your business life.

We hear how this Midwest millennial got into debt in the first place, how she broke out of debt's chains and was able to start a business from the ground up and do things in her life that she never even imagined. Since Justine has been in the dark pits of debt herself, she is a really great person to get some tips and advice from on how to cope with these financial practicalities, as well as the emotional strain that debt can place on your relationships. If you are feeling overwhelmed by your own debt, Justine is going to show you just how doable (and surprisingly fun) paying off your debt can be. If you want to live that debt free life and grow the business you have always dreamed of growing, then this inspirational episode is a great place to start!

Welcome to Part 4 of the Goal Crusher Club Series! Today we are talking about one of Abbie’s favorite things on the planet – creating Key Performance Indicators in your business, otherwise known as KPI’s. We will be walking you through some of the things you need to be tracking on a month to month basis that will genuinely help you realize the health and wellness of your business and exactly what you need to be paying attention to. KPI’s are going to give you all the knowledge you need about where you should be spending your time; what needs more babying and perhaps what needs to be cut. If you aren’t tracking these things you may never be able to recognize what might be an issue in your business, or which aspect of your business you need to grow. This leaves you guessing over and over again and this is not where you want to be!

Ultimately, it comes down to performance and numbers and this is where identifying your KPI’s come in! In this episode, we are going to get you tracking like you’re on safari. We’re going to be explain exactly how to track your data over a launch period and show you exactly how to calculate your earnings per lead, your cost per lead and the additional numbers you should be paying attention to. We are also going to be showing you how to analyze your monthly data; including your most popular posts and your most engaged customer and how you can use them to propel your business forward with confidence.