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, Services Guest User Podcast, Services Guest User

Is a Course, Group Program or One-on-One Coaching Your Next Step in your Business? with Christine McAlister

Today on the show we are so happy to welcome back Christine McAlister! If you are not already familiar with Christine, she helps high achievers replace income and continue to grow their businesses and be generally awesome! This episode is a look behind the scenes on coaching, group courses and one-on-one programs. We want to help you decide which might be the right one for you at any particular time. All of us on the show believe that different times require specific approaches, the trick is to know what you need and then follow that path to success! 

In order to do this, you need to establish expectations and clarify your goals. This relaxed conversation will feature all of us sharing our opinions and experiences in this realm, seeing our students progress and helping you figure out what is the best fit for you. We are going to hash it all out for you listening, so sit tight and do not forget to hit up our Instagram and DM us any thoughts, questions or reflection you might have!

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Podcast, Systems & Automation Guest User Podcast, Systems & Automation Guest User

Busy vs Productive: How to Stop Spinning Your Wheels and Get Some Traction with Lauren Goldstein

Today on the podcast we are joined by the fabulous Lauren Goldstein, CEO and founder of Golden Key Partnership, a strategy consulting firm that helps businesses to scale smart in order to be more sustainable. There is tons to learn from her seasoned and scientifically-backed approach, so today she will be dishing out straightforward facts, particularly as it pertains to productivity and how it relates to your profit. She shares time-wasting tactics that many of us are skilled at and pulls up some new studies that illuminate what distraction does to our day. A question we often think about is what we need to be doing to move our business forward, and it can be stressful to decide which of the dozens of things to take or leave. Lauren weighs in on the matter with some simple, no-nonsense advice. 

Being overwhelmed with tasks can lead to decision fatigue, which prevents us from effectively prioritizing tasks that are most important. Productivity and processes can make or break an entrepreneur because of burnout or be the demise of a business due to revenue and profit leaks. According to the IDC, companies lose 20 to 30% in revenue every year as a result of inefficiencies. This is a staggering statistic! Therefore, we bring you this episode that is guaranteed to help you improve your productivity, so be sure to join in the conversation! 

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

What Does it Really Cost to Grow a Million Dollar Business

Welcome back to the show, everybody! Today we are going to be letting you even further into our business lives! As we continue to grow we are constantly asking ourselves, "What is the content that people want to hear about?" This goal of keeping you entertained, educated, and engaged is very important to us and we have always loved sharing our lives and work with all of you. When we started out, everything we did was fun, fresh, and engaging and it was easy to share this with our listeners in a natural way. As we have grown, things have changed and we have been more considerate in our choices but we want to carry on sharing stuff with you that is exciting, new, and informative. It has always been our best thing, being able to share something about a problem we solved or a strategy we discovered. 

As we enter year four of our biz we have to continue to look for these opportunities when we have had a different reality from where started out and many of our listeners. We want to help you now and set you up for success in the future! We have a feeling there may be some inaccurate perceptions out there of what is happening in our business. You are welcome to DM us on Instagram with your thoughts but we sense people find us less relatable than when we started out and were smaller. There have been challenges in continually connecting with our audience as our situation has changed, our team has grown and so on, but we want, more than anything, to stay relatable to all of you! We actually think we are probably in more similar situations to a lot of you than you may think! All this to say, we have resolved to let you in on some of this and share more of what is going on in our current lives than we have been!

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Podcast, Marketing Guest User Podcast, Marketing Guest User

We Almost Deleted Our 39k Follower Instagram Account

Would you ever consider deleting your Instagram account if you had nearly 40,000 followers? Businesses go through different seasons and for a long time we had not focused on Instagram because we were otherwise occupied. But for some reason, our account remained semi-active and we were still slowly but surely gaining followers, even though we only really posted about the podcast and random bits in between. But the engagement was poor, so much so that we no longer saw the need to post at all or to have the account, and this set us on a rollercoaster of a journey of trying to figure out whether we should delete our existing account and start all over again. This might sound crazy, but we had what we believed were legitimate reasons for wanting to do that, and our intentions were so good! 

We were absolutely convinced that this was the way to go, that is, until a comment or two from our audience and friends threw a wrench in the works and forced us back to square one. This was an amazing educational process that we came though as we learned a ton about ourselves, our business and what our approach to our followers should be. If you are thinking about deleting your account and starting off with a clean slate or just looking to grow your Instagram engagement, this episode is perfect for you, so be sure to listen in! 

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Podcast, Marketing Guest User Podcast, Marketing Guest User

Marketing to Millennials & the Generational Divide

Today we talk about a fascinating topic, one that affects every single one of you in one way or another in your business. When we think about marketing, we tend to think about psychology in general and the things that inherently appeal to all people. But, there is a better way to approach marketing and it pertains to the different generations. Ever thought about why people of different ages think and behave so differently from one another and often bump heads, whether in families or in business? What we discuss today will shed a whole lot of light on this subject. We compare and contrast the generations, from the traditionalists up to Gen Z and everything in between. 

Each new generation is constructed in a unique way with different things that impact how they view the world and what kinds of consumers they are. For this reason, marketing efforts should be adjusted accordingly to ensure that you speak to the needs of the generation you are targeting, and so you can better understand why certain initiatives will be more effective than others. We have relied heavily on the research of the amazing Jason Dorsey for this episode, so a lot of the information provided here is from his work on the topic. Definitely check out his website if you want to find out more. Jason also speaks about a very interesting new thought about millennials, one which we will get into on this episode, so be sure to tune in! 

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Podcast, Mindset Guest User Podcast, Mindset Guest User

A 30-Minute Meditation Practice with Alma Omeralovic

Welcome back to The Strategy Hour Podcast all of you wonderful and beautiful business badasses! We are so excited about today’s show and believe us when we say it’s an extra special one. Our guest today is Alma Omeralovic, who we met a few months ago when Amanda Boleyn brought her out at a speaking event and she guided a group of us through a meditation. We both felt an instant affinity for her and immediately and excitedly asked if she would join us on the show for a taste of what her mediation practice has to offer. So today we have a 30 minute, uninterrupted meditation, guided by Alma, followed by a short discussion on our experiences and questions. Sounds great, don’t you think?

This is an episode you may want to come back to a few times, depending on your needs. If you do not make it through all 30 minutes the first time, that’s okay, just go at your own pace. We recommend marking when the actual meditation starts in the audio so that you can skip directly to that part each time you would like to practice it. Another point we would like to make here, and something Alma mentions in our discussion, is that you do not have to have some perfect environment or situation to begin. We often might put off something like mediation because we do not have a perfectly serene, empty room, Alma says one of her favorite places to meditate is on the train or at the airport! So no excuses! Just try do as much as you can and see how you feel, it will definitely be a learning experience. So make yourself comfortable, find a gentle seat and keep an open mind.

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Podcast, Project Management Guest User Podcast, Project Management Guest User

Community Managers, Facebook Moderators and Baby Wearing

Hey all you beautiful people! Welcome back to The Strategy Hour Podcast. Today we are going to be talking about something we have implemented recently that was a great help to us and it might just be something you can use too. We’ll be talking about community managers and what this role means, why it is different from a brand ambassador or a group moderator and why you might want to think about employing one. We have a big ol’ free Facebook Group that is currently about 20k members strong. And then we have two paid, private TCC communities and it is for these groups that we implemented this role of community manager.   

We’ll be talking about what differentiates these positions and why both are useful in their separate iterations. As these groups and communities grow, they change and shift, like anything. We want to continue to make sure that we can provide for all the members in the best possible way. We want everyone to have a great experience and for this experience to continue to improve and progress as the members grow. So we heard from a couple friends about how they were using community managers and how useful they were finding it. At first we were a bit confused by the title but once we looked into it we thought it was worth a try and it most definitely was! We’ll be talking a bit about the application process for this and how we defined the role and we also somehow segue into a section on baby sling fashion. We promise it is on topic, kind of! Anyway, for all this and more let’s dive right in!

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Podcast, Mindset Guest User Podcast, Mindset Guest User

Living in a Fear Based Mentality

Are you unsure of what you are doing or where you are going? We know the feeling! Here at Think Creative Collective 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 do next and how to go about getting over these hurdles. Abagail on the other hand finds that she is stuck more in the present than on 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 know our listeners have all their own worries and concerns that impact 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.

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Podcast, Mindset Guest User Podcast, Mindset Guest User

How Volunteerism Impacts Our Business

Hey all you wonderful Wonder Women! We have a super fun episode for you today where we will be talking about our experiences in volunteering and just how much we have benefited from these. Specifically, we will be going over the time both of us have spent in the Kansas City Junior League and the work we have been involved in there. As part of our general mission to help all of our amazing listeners find their power and move with strength through this world, we would highly recommend any type of volunteer work and have extra faith in the Junior League organization which has chapters all over the world. During this episode we give some context to its work and how it operates.

We chat about how many great things the organization has to offer, both to its recipients and participants. We then dive into some of the many lessons we have learned over the last couple of years and Abagail shares her experiences working in partnership with the local animal shelter and anti-cruelty unit. This has been a particularly profound time for her and please excuse us if there are a few tears! Emylee also chats about her evolving position in the League and how trying new things has been such a rewarding process for her. We finish off by rounding up the multiple ways in which you and your business can grow through this type of involvement, a truly symbiotic relationship. So come with us and get inspired to help and grow!

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

How to Have Difficult Conversations

Hey everybody and welcome back to The Strategy Hour Podcast! We have a great episode in store for all of you biz unicorns that we think will be super helpful with a big part of everyone’s lives. Today we are going to be talking about communication, resolution, and how to have those difficult conversations that we all have to have sometimes. You know that when problems arise you have to deal with them in one way or another and that there are good ways and bad ways. Well, today we are going to be showing you one of the better ways to go about it. This episode was inspired by a speech by Sheila Heen from Harvard Law School that Abagail recently witnessed and needless to say, she was inspired. We hoped to pass on some of that inspiration to all our wonderful listeners so you can go out and be your best selves for the world!

During our discussion Abagail leads us through some of the steps that Sheila outlined and we give some examples of what these steps can be from personal experiences. We talk about inner dialogue and intentionality and why certain attitudes lead to having the same fight over and over. We are really trying to help you find a better way to handle conflict resolution and the first part of that is definitely in the way you approach an issue. Abagail explains how stories play a huge role in the way we understand our own perspective. These stories that we tell ourselves often determine how a particular conversation will play out. We also offer some tips for more reading on the subject and look at the book that Emylee has been reading which is dealing with similar subject matter. Ultimately the message of this episode is to slow down and take some time to try and understand someone’s point of view rather than try and prove why you are right. We know! This can be difficult! But don’t you think the world would be better off with a little more understanding? We think so!

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Podcast, Marketing Guest User Podcast, Marketing Guest User

How To Host Your First (Profitable) Virtual Summit with Kyrsten Sherwood

Hello all you wonderful entrepreneurial unicorns and biz badasses! We have a really kickass buddy on the show today to share some great information and inspiring stories. Please help us welcome Kyrsten Sherwood from Copper Kettle! Kyrsten is here to tell us about her experiences hosting virtual, online summits and hopefully help you think through how you could possibly do it in the future! Isn’t that fun? This episode will get you started on thinking about how you can setup and run your own events and there is a ton of valuable information for those interested. So if you have ever wondered about doing something like this you will love what Kyrsten has to say!

We also believe that online events, like Kyrsten’s summit, are a great stepping stone to bigger, in person events, so who knows what you could be achieving in next to no time! In our discussion, we look at the differences between these types of events and which parts of the online overlap with real world hosting. Kyrsten gives us some insight into Copper Kettle’s business plan and how her virtual summit now fits into that. From there she takes us through some of the setup procedures and how you might go about getting ready for an event before talking about the monetization of free online video summits. You are not going to want to miss this one! We promise!

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Podcast, Systems & Automation Guest User Podcast, Systems & Automation Guest User

Boss Talk: If you could outsource three things in your life or business right now what would they be?

Welcome back to another special episode of The Strategy Hour! We are doing a new round of our favorite thing, Boss Talk! We are lucky enough to have Steph Crowder back with us, and you know how much we love it when she is around. This week we are asking each other: what are the top three things we wish we could outsource? That’s right, strategists, what are those jobs that you want someone else to do because it’s not your thing, you’re bored of it or you just have better ways to spend your time now that you are a boss?

As our business has grown we have found we need and want more and more of the day to day stuff handled by other professionals, so we can have space for the most important jobs and all the rest of the good things that life has to offer. This is one of the blessings of growing a business, you get to choose how it transforms and shape its future according to your instincts and needs. This conversation covers the most fantastical desires we have as well as the most mundane, don’t worry we didn’t skimp on the things we wish we could have just a little different! Come with us on this journey of wishes and wonderment and think about what you may like to outsource in your biz!

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

Ask TCC Anything!

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!

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

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, Project Management Guest User Podcast, Project Management Guest User

Strategies Every Successful Wedding Planner Needs with Madison Sanders

Today on the podcast we have Madison Sanders, of Madison Sanders Events. Madi has been a wedding planner and designer since 2014 (and also, it just so happens that she and Emylee went to highschool together!). Madison has gone from working for other agencies to building her own business, to even growing her agency where she now has other planners working for her.

Inside today’s episode, we talk about how that entire process worked, what she invested in along the way and how she was able to utilize relationships with vendors to continue to grow her business. We discuss the ins and outs of wedding planning – from managing multiple marketing platforms, to how she gets her clients, communicating with employees and clients, asking for referrals and setting boundaries so that you can look after your own well-being. Even if you are not in the wedding industry, there are so many valuable nuggets in here, for any entrepreneur, in any industry. Take a listen!

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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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