Back in the day, we recorded an entire series on starting your business and one of the first subjects we talked about was adopting a profit-first mentality. Here’s the thing, we re-looked at that episode and have so many more things to say! The way we run our business has dramatically shifted in the last 12 months and because of that, we have so many things to say to people who are just getting started. Even if you have an established business, we have some thoughts about what you should be doing differently when it comes to your dollar bills.

We recorded that first episode about adopting a profit-first mentality in February of 2018 but we honestly didn’t really put our ideas into practice until 2020! It took two years for us to learn how to do that, so we are going to save you that time today. We are not saying that our first episode has no value, but now that we have actually been through the trenches, this is the episode you want!

On today’s episode we are super-duper excited to host Ashley Knight. Ashley founded the Hello Boss Community (no longer active) as a means to support and bolster other businesswomen who were in the same boat as her. Through her group she was able to teach and coach strategy to dedicated members and she loved it! And we love her for it! Here at the Strategy Hour Podcast we know the value of the groups we have run and been a part of, they can be the lifeboat bringing you back in when you are out at sea, so we know exactly what Ashley is talking about!

In our discussion we cover the early stages of starting a supportive community, relationships within this space, real world events, social media, sensitivity masterminds and much more. Ashley is one of the most dedicated community founders we have spoken to and we are sure her attitude and advice is going to be wonderfully useful and inspiring to all of our listeners. So whether you are part of an online community or looking to start one yourself, this is definitely the episode for you. Listen in to get the low-down.

Are you ready to plan the year ahead? It might be easier to do when you’ve had a great 2020 but, even then, you can plan to stick to the plan! We know we just want more of what we had but we are also keen to try new things too. In 2020, we found the sweet spot of being consistent and boring and realized that they are our middle names. We embrace them, we love them, and this is where we flourish and feel comfortable. While it’s not flashy or sexy and it doesn’t do dances on TikTok, we are 100% okay with that!

Not all of us dream of making seven figures. For some of us, our businesses are perfect the way they are when they work for us instead of us working for them. In other words, while you might not roll in the dough, if you are satisfied with what your business brings in and it supports you to the extent that it suits your lifestyle, who cares about the rest? It is worth remembering that you risk much more when you try to grow and scale your business aggressively, and many have closed their doors after pursuing exponential growth instead of keeping to the stable and consistent things. We would like to be around, no matter what happens in the world, and we believe that we can do that by doing more of the same-old same-old. This strategy will not get us on Oprah’s couch or anything spectacular like that, and we don’t have $10 million growth plans, but tune in to hear how we are planning to bring boring, stable, and consistent back!

Today on the podcast we have Dolly DeLong. She is a photographer and she has been in business since 2006. In 2020 she started educating small business owners on how to go from scattered to streamlined using powerful tools like Dubsado.

This episode is jam-packed with her exact framework, the TASK method, that is going to walk you through how she utilizes it in her business to really streamline her interactions with potential clients and actually turn those prospects into clients. Abagail had a ton of fun interviewing her! If you haven’t been introduced to the wonders of Dubsado yet, after this episode you most definitely will want to. If you haven’t signed up for a free trial yet, visit this link, and upgrade when you are ready! You can get 50% off your first month or year with the code BOSSPROJECT at checkout!

Today we are talking to Emylee’s good friend, Mia Graves. She is another maker from a tiny town in Northern Alabama but she is now a Louisville transplant. She has a background in politics, philosophy, and economics but she has a maker-based business where she makes jewelry called Honey Bee Clay. She specializes in handmade and 3D printed clay cutters and, as a total side note, she also has a talking dog named Gus! But we are not talking about Gus today, we are talking about marketing strategies, and while Mia isn’t formally trained in marketing, she is really smart when it comes to this side of business. We are talking about how she uses the magic of call to actions anywhere and everywhere she can to direct her clients, customers, fans, and followers to go from one platform to another with the end goal of making her money.

She shares all of her customers’ journeys and the different things she uses like Instagram, DMs, comments, TikTok, and email to get people to follow her and buy from her on a continued basis. We also talk about an exclusive Facebook group that she just recently started and her opinions on sellout launches and everything in between. Regardless of whether you have a physical, product-based business or not, the marketing strategies taught here today are going to help your business and give it a new life if you have hit a wall in your growth or engagement, so be sure to take notes during this one!

Emylee is back from a much-needed break, but now she feels like she has forgotten how to do her job! Getting back into business mode with Boss Project is also different from returning to her side hustle, since the more creative tasks use another side of the brain. It got her thinking about overwhelm and taking breaks and thought it’s high time they did an episode on honoring your creative process. Abagail, on the other hand, is in the middle of a big house move and, as they both want to take a break over December, they find themselves in an interesting place. Abagail finds that, after a busy day, it is more relaxing and energizing to do something creative rather than vegging out on the couch. Once Emylee got back into her clay-making studio, she also had an idea for a pair of earrings she wanted to get out, surprising herself with creativity she didn’t even think she had at that point.

If you feel like you lack creativity, feel overwhelmed, and get stuck comparing yourself with everybody else, this episode will help you navigate these ‘meh’ situations and get your creative fire going again! At the very least, you will walk away encouraged by the knowledge that others also go through dry spells. Tune in!

Prepare yourselves for one of the best episodes! Why? Because we are interviewing two of our favorite people, Jake and Becca Berg, the founders of Dubsado. Not only have they done amazing things for us in our business but they have helped many other service-based babes get a grip on things. We have loved watching them continue to grow over the last five years and admire them for building a software service while also leading one of the best customer service teams out there, making a huge impact on small business owners. They are now five years in and have expanded to 45 employees!

In today’s episode, we are touching on some of those unique aspects that make Dubsado tick and pick their brains about what they are doing that we can all apply to our businesses. Jake and Becca share the lessons they have learned as a SaaS company, how their business has evolved and changed in 2020, and how they have kept customer service a priority throughout. Be sure to tune in for a super fun interview!

In today’s episode, we are going to bring back an oldie but a goodie — We are going to do a Boss Talk episode, where we just ask a question, riff on it, and see where it leads us. That's totally our style anyway; we love to riff on things. No one is surprised that we go on tangents and talk about whatever we want, whenever we want. The question for today is, how do you cope with stress and still remain productive when you have got all this stuff going on? We both run two businesses, so there is a lot on our plates! Also, we are in the middle of a pandemic, heading into a new season, Emylee has a kid who is bouncing off the walls, and Abagail just bought a house that needs renovations!

So, as you can hear, there is hardly anything going on at all (sarcasm much?). The question around productivity is one we hear super often, and Emylee finds she always gets it in her DMs when she has shared an especially productive day. People want to know how she manages to sleep, much less do it all. So, just to clear the air, she wants to let everyone know that she is not a workaholic, and it’s actually something she actively puts effort into not being. It's so easy in today’s world to just work all the time, especially for her personality type. So, she wants to share some of the expectations she has for herself, and how she and Abagail have stayed productive in the midst of it all.

Are you unsure of what you are doing or where you are going? We know the feeling! Here at Boss Project we want to talk about these things with you! On this episode of the The Strategy Hour we are talking about the crippling effects of fear and anxiety. We are here to tell you that everyone feels these things at different times and you need to be kind to yourself when these scary feelings come around! It is the unknowingness and feeling unsure that make it so unbearable most of the time. But if we can talk about and acknowledge what is going on maybe we can make some progress and take a little more control of our lives. Come on sister, we know you got this!

Emylee feels that she has an unhealthy fixation on the amount of time she has left before she dies, something that can become overwhelming and paralyzing. This can stop her from achieving the exact goal that these fears arise out of, wanting to be impactful and do great things. She feels like she is not sure what to do next and how to go about getting over these hurdles. Abagail on the other hand finds she is stuck more in the present than in the future. She ends up settling for the dissatisfaction and inaction of not having any more to give and just wants to put her feet up and do nothing. We are sure all our listeners have all their own worries and concerns that affect them in different ways and we really feel for all of you and hope that this episode can be the beginning of some important conversations towards better managing these issues.

Today's episode is all about the required step you need to take in order to successfully sell what you do. That's right we are giving you the tools to really beat your imposter syndrome and beat it well! We have shared in the past a lot about where your clients are and how to find them, this is a big internal piece and it means getting over a big hairy monster! We also suffer and have suffered from this issue, so do not fear, this is the way to crack the code and move forward. We know you are doing this so no need to hide in the reeds! We see you convincing yourself that if your work gets better you will get more clients and that the reason you are not currently getting more clients is because of the quality of your work. It is easy to start thinking you should work for free or very cheaply and get into the churn of lowering your value, so that one day the glory gates will miraculously open and you will have arrived.

You know this is not the world we live in! It is not like your portfolio does not have any say in your client base but so many potential clients out there are less concerned with your portfolio than you. Customers are not in your field and do not have as discerning an eye as you do, they are more interested in the experience you are selling. So we are here to tell you to stop selling yourself purely on what you have already done and how good you think you are, not everyone knows good from bad as well as you do!

Today on the podcast we have Lindsay Hotmire. She loves to work with female creatives, entrepreneurs, and CEOs to help them discover a non-formulaic version of authenticity. She’s helped over 200 clients and counting ditch the one-size-fits-all formulas and frameworks and helps them genuinely align with their message. In this episode with Lindsay, we break down what being authentic actually means and how to be authentic in a way that feels good for you and with your audience.

We talk a lot about business values, your core values as a person, and how to not only identify them but then use the results in marketing, branding, messaging, and in your overall strategy to grow your business and sell your product, offer, or service. There are so many examples we talk about today, everything from messaging and Instagram presence to how you build community; so many different ideas! It’s a really good one and we hope you love it!

Today we are super excited to welcome Ward Sandler to the show! Ward is the co-founder and CEO of Memberspace, where he and his team help entrepreneurs and organizations turn any part of their site into a members only area. They make it so easy, anyone can do it! Our topic for today's conversation, however, is customer service and feedback loops and we were over the moon when Ward pitched this idea to us and we cannot wait to share it all with you. We get into all the helpful and authentic ways you can keep in contact with your clients and customers, and Ward talks about the ways he does this every day, all week long!

This kind of proximity to an audience is what has helped Memberspace grow and grow in such an exciting way. They have raving fans and Ward explains what has contributed to this. Spoiler alert, its the feedback loops and great service! These lessons can be applied to whatever kind of business you run, whether it is for services, courses or products, you do not have to be a software company for these strategies to be implementable. We really recommend that you check out Memberspace and give it a shot if you have been considering something like this. Without further ado, let's get into some strategy!

Welcome back all of you lovely quarantined listeners! We are sending you some love and strength in these trying times! And in order to show you that we are having a chat with a special person today. Carrie Grace McQuaid is a former teacher who is now a full time motivational speaker and spends most of her time traveling around the country spreading joy and kindness! Sound great? We think so! She talks to companies, colleges, sororities, schools and more about how they can incorporate more joy and kindness into the workplace and their practices. The current crisis has put traveling on hold for a while, but Carrie is here specifically to help us unpack how you can share the love and offer help in these difficult times!

She has literally gone viral for her work in this area and we just wanted to bring her on to open up the conversation about feelings and thoughts and how to be kind, open up your capacity for others, take care of your mental space and what to focus on business-wise as we all hunker down for an unsure future. Everything is so unclear at the moment and a lot of things are up in the air, the economy, health, income and everything else! Carrie shares some great action steps for everyone but we would like to say if you are currently feeling overwhelmed or have too much information on your plate, maybe save this for when you are feeling a bit more receptive. It is a great episode and deserves your attention, so best to make use of it in the right headspace! We really feel that what Carrie is offering can help us be the amazing community of amazing people that we can be, so let's get into it!

Today we are joined by our badass biz bestie, Shunta Grant! Shunta has released something amazing that we think so many people in our audience need and in fact a bunch have already started using and loving! It is called The Best Today™ Guide and it is all strategy and no fluff! We will be going over the ins and outs of the guide today, so you can get a sneak peek of what is inside and the strategy behind its creation.

Shunta is a great example of someone who has taken her business to the next level and is now letting her audience in on some of her wisdom. She is the mind behind Because of Zoe Designs and her new foray into online education promises to be just as successful as what has come before. So without further ado, let's hear what she has to say!

At the tail end of January, there was a viral blog post that blew our minds, and since then we have been on the hunt to find others who are experiencing similar things. The post was about a guy who had a bad day because he found out that not everyone has an inner monologue, in other words, they do not talk to themselves. We’ve managed to track down a handful of people who swear they do not have that internal voice happening at all. One of these people is Hannah Chester. Hannah never realized there was such a thing as internal monologue until she was diagnosed with ADHD and listened to a podcast about it.

For her, her thoughts are more like a visualization rather than a conversation that takes place within. When she remembers something that needs to be done, she sees a mental picture of it — there is no inner voice that narrates the scenario to her. We invited Dr. Barbara Shabazz to give us a scientific perspective on internal monologue and how that ties into ADHD, and the four of us have a fascinating conversation about how differently each of us experiences and engages with the world. Join us to hear more about this internal monologue from those who do and those who don’t!