We have such a great episode for all of you today, we literally cannot wait to share it! Today on the Strategy Hour we host Nathan Barry from ConvertKit! Now it may come as a bit of surprise he is not actually here to talk about email marketing and funnels and all that good stuff that we all love him for, but rather he is going to explain the big changes that almost happened at ConvertKit this year. We say almost because for those who might not know, ConvertKit, the hugely successful and constantly growing company almost changed their name during the summer and then decided not to. So Nathan is here to give the low down on this experience, how it all transpired and the lessons he and the company took away from it.

There is so much to learn in the episode so grab whatever you need. Maybe even some tissues because it gets a little emotional! We chat about handling audience reactions, moving forward with ConvertKit, difficult conversations, the big lessons, and much more! This conversation is such a true and honest reflection on a difficult and potentially disastrous process and it is not often we all get to have such an inside scoop on a true industry leader. So without much more ado, let’s dive right in!

On this episode of the Strategy Hour we have a very wonderful guest and conversation to share with all our listeners! Today, we welcome Jennifer Mary of Apple and Pear Wardrobe.  She is here to tell us all about how to curate your best wardrobe and the difference that it can make in your business and life in general. Funnily enough, Jennifer admits she is not the person who loves clothes more than anything, but she is obsessed with difference they can make to our lives. At the end of the day it’s all about what clothes mean to us and how they can make us feel. Let’s face it, we perform much better when we are feeling good and and we feel good when we look good, so really it’s quite a simple equation.

We talk about compiling a great capsule wardrobe and decluttering your closet for a stress free mind and less decision fatigue. We also get into how to really dress according to your needs and to make the right impression. Jennifer shows how you can easily increase your levels of productivity and happiness by just making a few changes to your dressing habits and looking the part. A big takeaway from the episode is the idea that you can make a statement, wherever you are, with how you dress. Your clothes speak volumes about you, make sure show up in the right way!

Today on the podcast we welcome Amber Rae. Amber is an author, artist and speaker and has been called the “Millennial Motivator” by Fortune and "The Brené Brown of Wonder” by Mind Body Green. Amber’s work invites the truth that lives within us and helps you befriend your emotions and express your gifts.

In this episode, we uncover powerful techniques for how to deal with anxiety, worry, perfectionism and everything in between. Amber is here to help us let all that self-sabotaging sh*t go to live a better life – possibly our best life! If you want some action steps on how to make that happen, then this, right here, is the episode for you.

Today on the show we welcome Michelle Knight – mother, wife, world traveler and storyteller. Michelle is also a branding coach and the founder of Brand Merry, where she works with female entrepreneurs to create an authentic, captivating and money-making brands through the power of stories. Today we are breaking down the different types of stories that Michelle sees as most effective in the online space, as well as how you can literally integrate yourself, your background, your purpose and all the little stories that make you an amazing human being – into your brand.

Michelle shares some tricks, tips and tactics on how you can outline really big stories, break them down, share them authentically and how to truly draw a connection between your audience so that you can build trust – which in turn, builds sales and a money-making business! This episode is really actionable and is going to spark a ton of ideas for you and your business. Everyone has a story to tell, right? So grab a notebook and start brainstorming yours here with us today.

Today on the show we welcome Jen Miller. Jen is a brand strategy consultant and is super pumped about helping women build their brands. In 2003 Jen also started a blog, interviewing female founders to discover how she might be able to build a brand of her own. Jen has learned from the best and the proof is in the pudding! Jen is really great at helping entrepreneurs ask themselves the right questions; questions that will help them lay the foundation of their brand and get them headed on the right path from day one.

In this episode, we are talking about the importance of brand personality and how it is so much more than just your logo, your color scheme and your website. We’re also talking about how you can take care of people in a way that serves your brand well, how to put yourself out there, dressing the part and being a little vulnerable with your own self. At the end of the day, it boils down to authenticity. But authenticity with intention. So, whether you’re starting a brand from ground zero or trying to get your brand back on track, by the end of this episode, you’ll have some awesome tools to get you going with

Today on the podcast we welcome Mae Karwowski, the Founder and CEO of Obvious.ly, a technology-driven influencer marketing platform that launched in 2014. In this episode, we are talking all about building a business from the ground up. Mae shares how she scaled her company to over 20 employees without any outside funding, as well as her experience working as a woman in the tech industry today. But for the most part, we really hone in on influencer marketing; what it’s really like working in that space as an agency and how you, as an influencer or brand, can work with an agency like Obvious.ly and start making a little money!

Mae is an absolute badass with heaps of insight, tips, tricks and advice. The influencer marketing landscape has truly evolved over the past four years and Mae gives us an overview of how influencer marketing started, the progressions it has made, and where it is today. This is a really exciting and rapidly growing marketing road to be on today and we can’t wait to share what Mae has to say on this. If you are a brand looking to partner with influencers, or an influencer looking to partner with brands – then you’re going to love this one!

Today on the podcast, we’re doing things a little differently. We are going to have an actual conversation about how our business is going to evolve after we were hit with some crazy new perspectives. Spoiler alert! We have an agent now, which is super weird! We brought her on to help us deal with sponsor requests for the podcast and land us some opportunities that really fit and say no to opportunities that don’t. It takes an entirely different set of skills that we simply do not possess, and so we brought her on to give it a try.

So there you have it; we have an agent now! We were having a conversation with her to figure out who to say yes to and who to turn down as sponsors. We were kind of struggling with it because as a business focused on strategies we were thinking more along the lines of software and tools. But turns out, without even knowing it, according to our agent we are actually a lifestyle brand! What?! We had to take a step back and have a serious conversation because a B2B “business” brand is a whole different thing from being a B2B “lifestyle” brand. So stay tuned as we unpack what it means to embrace the lifestyle brand and truly focus on evolving our business to be who we are at the core.

Today we are joined by Tara Bosler of T. Bosler Writing. She is a copywriter, y’all, for creatives just like you. We are super excited for you to learn from Tara and we want you to have your ears perked up because there’s a funny noise in this audio that we are not going to cut out and we want you to try to guess what it is before she tells us. Because to me, it doesn’t sound anything like what it actually is. Suspenseful!

Inside this episode, we are talking about how to be authentic in your writing and how to use your conversations with not only your friends, but also your clients, as intel to use on the things that you spit out into the world. We are talking about whether or not it’s okay to be grammatically incorrect and we get into some details about how to hire a copywriter. We know this sounds simple, but Tara breaks it down to make it even better for you inside your business. We can’t wait for you to jump in and start writing some copy, and we are super excited for you to listen to this episode!

Have you been aiming to become the face of your business, but just not sure how exactly to do it? Well, you are in luck! In this episode we have our friend Mallika from MikiFoto with us and that is precisely what she is coming on to share with you guys today. We got to meet Mallika last year at The Savvy Experience and have loved watching as she shifted her business to do more lifestyle branded headshots and photography for small businesses and creative entrepreneurs.

In our chat with Mallika, we jump into the importance of being the face of your business, exactly what you should be doing to find the right photographer for you, how to prepare for your shoot, what to wear, and how to make these photos last longer than three months. We also get into the most important shots you need for your business so that you can take away from this photo session exactly what you need to prosper online. We are super excited for you to listen more, because she’s legit, guys. So get excited!