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.

Listen & Subscribe

Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser

Find us wherever you listen to podcasts

breaking news: we’re nominated for a webby!

Strategy Hour Needs Your Vote!

We’re thrilled to announce The Strategy Hour Podcast is officially nominated for the Webby People's Voice Award—recognized as one of the TOP 5 podcasts worldwide in Creativity & Marketing! This is YOUR chance to help us take home the gold!

Act fast! Voting closes April 17th.

Vote for the Strategy Hour

Our Episodes

Guest User 8/24/22 Guest User 8/24/22

The Consequences of Finding Joy in Your Work

Finding joy in your work is a wonderful thing. It can energize you, further your drive, and help you push through challenging tasks and deadlines. But it can also have a detrimental effect.

Many of us have fallen into the trap of trying to get all our meaning and joy from one source, whether it’s your partner or your company. The problem with that is that it puts untenable pressure on the people we love the most. It can also cause us to neglect other parts of ourselves, leaving us devastated and adrift when we no longer have the partner, or job, that defined our identity.

Today on the show we delve into the consequences of finding joy in our work. We discuss some of the common traps people fall into when their actions aren’t in alignment with what they want, and how to do the difficult, introspective work of uncovering our true needs and aspirations. Tuning in you’ll learn about the biggest obstacles we’ve seen clients face, and how we can help you overcome them. We also discuss how to find more time in your life and identify exactly what you want for your future self!

Abagail Pumphrey 8/23/22 Abagail Pumphrey 8/23/22

Why You Need to Look at Time as an Asset & an Investment

There is only one resource that you can’t get back and we’re willing to hazard a guess that you already know what it is. The good news is, it is renewable in the sense that you can plan to save more of it in the future! You guessed it, we’re talking about time.

Usually, when you start a business, you have way more time than money. As a result, you tend to be more generous with the former, committing every spare moment to building. Often, your business grows, and your approach doesn’t change. You’re still working nights and weekends to make up for the deficit that no longer exists. There have been various moments in our own journey where we’ve taken stock of what the business is and isn’t doing for us, and where we can free up some time.

Guest User 8/18/22 Guest User 8/18/22

Client Acquisition Has Changed: Here's What You Need to Lean Into

Over the last three to six months, we’ve been hearing a common complaint from business owners that they need more leads. Guys, quit panicking. There’s a few market shifts that we need to be aware of, but they’re not necessarily changing how you’re going to acquire clients. Everything with clients may feel like it’s changing but in fact, everything is the same! We’re serious; everything is the same.

Marketing is cyclical. You’re going to have something that works now that may not work in 6 months, and then in 2 years, that thing could come right back around again! There are also things that are a common thread forever and always; spoiler alert: it’s relationships. Then there’s going to be hotspots, and what you really shouldn’t do is build a business that relies on these “blips.” Marketing is coming back to its roots, shedding things that don’t work, and bringing things back that have been buried for a while. If you’re interested in everything we have to say on this topic, tune in today!

Abagail Pumphrey 8/9/22 Abagail Pumphrey 8/9/22

The 4 Things a Service Provider Must Get Right: Part Three Design Your Systems for Structure

Welcome back to part three of our series on the four things every service provider must get right. In today’s installment, we’ll be delving into one of our favorite topics here at Boss Project: designing your systems for structure.

Most of our clients deliver a service that requires their clients' contribution. This means they usually need input from clients before they can take the next step in their process. Unfortunately, they often aren’t able to systematize a process because they’re spending most of their time and energy chasing people down all the time! In today’s episode we delve into how to create systems that support you, the impact it will have on your operations, and why it’s all about spending more time with your clients, not less!

We want to help you align the goals and values of your business with the systems you put in place. Our approach is all about how to create structure while taking into account the messiness of life, clients, and running a service-based business. Tune in today as we break down how to design your systems for structure and serve your clients to the best of your ability!

Guest User 7/28/22 Guest User 7/28/22

What to Do When Your Client Won't Listen to You (And Other Imposter Syndrome Feels)

All of us, as service providers, need to be reminded of the importance of gauging whether we are, perhaps subconsciously, tying our personal identity and self-worth to what we bring to the table for our clients. There have been some conversations popping up recently in which very successful service providers have been wondering why certain clients are not listening to their every word or taking their professional advice. They are made to feel both frustrated and insecure, as they recognize the clients aren’t going to see the results they’re able to procure for them, simply because they refuse to adhere to the strategy. We, personally, are not immune to these thoughts, and today, we want to share our personal experience and some exercises to help you dispel imposter syndrome and communicate clearly and calmly with clients who won’t hear you out. It’s time to actively separate your self-worth from your work and quit taking on your clients’ “emergencies”!

Abagail Pumphrey 7/19/22 Abagail Pumphrey 7/19/22

Lessons in Goal Setting From a Former FBI Hostage Negotiator

Goal setting forms an integral part of any business. It serves as a guide for your overall vision and can help you persevere, especially when things get tough. But how do we choose our goals? And how do we fully recognize when we’ve obtained them? Too often, we’ve seen clients achieve incredible things only to find themselves unable to appreciate their accomplishments, simply because the reality doesn’t exactly match what they envisioned. This is why, today on the show, we are revisiting our conversation on goal setting and how to appreciate our accomplishments!

We dig into the forces that influence what we envision for ourselves, and how holding onto a particular resolution can undermine our current achievements. Learn how practicing gratitude with intention can help you appreciate your current circumstances and how shifting your perspective to your past self can make you thankful for all that you have! We also share what we learned from a recent interview with a Former FBI Hostage Negotiator about why humans are hardwired to focus on the negative and how to gain perspective. Uncovering what we truly want takes time and work and appreciating what we have takes gratitude and intention. Tune in as we delve into these important topics and the role they play in your life and business!

Abagail Pumphrey 7/14/22 Abagail Pumphrey 7/14/22

The 2 Ingredients Needed for a Successful Service Based Business

Coming your way today is a mix of math and anticipatory mindset work! It’s all through the lens of, “This is what you actually want.” We’re going to lay out the future a little bit for you so that you can start to understand what’s coming and that you can stop stressing about it! We’re seeing hundreds (if not thousands) of people who are constantly apologizing for doing things they don’t want to do. After today, we want you to understand why you shouldn’t be feeling bad about things like not posting consistently on social media, and what you should be putting energy into instead!

Abagail Pumphrey 7/12/22 Abagail Pumphrey 7/12/22

Designing Your CEO + Creative Director Role

What would it look like to remove yourself from the parts of the business that you should remove yourself from? And which parts should you never remove yourself from? Are there opportunities you’re ignoring because of this?

When you give up these things, we can only imagine that, in your heart of hearts, you want to lean more into the CEO role - you just don’t know yet exactly what you’re supposed to be doing with that time. But once you know more about what’s required of you within that role, you might find the motivation to let go of these other parts of the business, and by doing so, gain some very precious time back!

Abagail Pumphrey 7/7/22 Abagail Pumphrey 7/7/22

We Don't Set Goals Anymore, Here’s Why

Today, we’re going to fill you in on our hot take on setting goals! We are now seven years into our business and have hit tremendous milestones. That being said, our feelings towards goals have evolved over time, and we’re about to give you some insight into our retrospective thoughts on setting them, not setting them, and whether we feel worthiness is connected to goals. For six-figure earners who want to continue to scale their business, there’s a mindset shift that needs to happen in terms of your relationship with goals, and we’re here to tell you what that is! Tune in to hear our current take on goal setting, and find out about the TikTok that inspired this conversation.

Guest User 7/5/22 Guest User 7/5/22

What Does a CEO Actually Do

It’s taken us over a year to understand how our roles as co-CEOs of our company are different from the other aspects of our jobs and what exactly a CEO actually does. We’re still in the process of figuring out how to balance being CEOs, managers, and “doers” but we’re getting there! In this episode, we will be talking about what being a CEO entails, the tasks you should always be in control of, and those which you can delegate to other team members at a certain point along your journey.

Abagail Pumphrey 6/30/22 Abagail Pumphrey 6/30/22

How Premium Services Function Differently For B2B vs. B2C Businesses

Speaking to hundreds of people on a regular basis about their business has given us so much insight into which structures work for which industries. It’s what positions us to advise clients entering the incubator who find themselves at a fork in the road of how to move forward. We want to give you some guidance, and let you know what we would do if we were in your shoes.

None of these options are wrong, it’s all centered around what works best for you, what feels fun, and what facilitates you playing to your strengths. There are plenty of scenarios that work amazingly for some people, and don’t work at all for others. The question to focus on is not what is right, and what gets the greatest return, but what feels attainable for you. If something is not in step with who you are as a person, it’s not going to work!

Guest User 6/23/22 Guest User 6/23/22

How To Teach Your Team To Develop a Culture of Curiosity – Strategies We Use With Our Own Team

What does it mean to cultivate a culture of curiosity? That’s what we’re going to be discussing today! “Culture of curiosity” isn’t just a fun phrase. It starts with the way you talk about your work with all the people who are in your support system. It should be all-encompassing because if you use different language with different people it can derail you (in our opinion).

One of the very first switches that we made when we were first growing our team was to speak openly with our team members about the things that we used to only speak about during our private conversations. As soon as we started thinking out loud, and sharing our fears and excitement with the people around us, they could see the evolution in our thought patterns which is such a valuable and inclusive tool!

Abagail Pumphrey 5/31/22 Abagail Pumphrey 5/31/22

We Hate Marketing: Here's Why

The current market is shifting. There’s no doubt about it. What do you think the future of marketing looks like online? Maybe we’re at the next stage of marketing, and the next iteration hasn’t revealed itself yet. A lot of the things that people consider ‘marketing’ may not even be helpful for the majority of service-based business owners. For the majority of you, marketing is a huge distraction! It’s also an ego-killer.

Abagail Pumphrey 5/26/22 Abagail Pumphrey 5/26/22

This is The Sign of What's Next For Your Service Based Business

The ‘work smarter not harder club’ tells you that the only way to work smarter, not harder, is to have a low-priced digital offering, and all of a sudden all your dreams of riches will come true. Fact: the reality is you will actually end up working harder, not smarter! We believe in customizing your approach to your business in order to scale. This is something we talk about in the incubator, and the amount of compliments we get out of the gate is nothing short of impressive. If you’re accepted, you’ll get access to some of our best tradings, to help you to double your income by working twenty hours or less per week.

Our goal is to never make anything ‘one size fits all.' Making these decisions by yourself can be so scary. And if you don’t feel comfortable, and the people in your current circle can’t serve you in that way, it’s time to outsource! When you put too much emphasis on other people’s opinions, you are going to get answers guised with keeping you safe. The Incubator’s goal is to show you the options, and the consequences, and then you get to choose what’s right for you.

Guest User 5/19/22 Guest User 5/19/22

The Difference Between a Coffee Date, a Discovery Call, and a Pitch Meeting

Having discovery calls, going for coffee dates, and holding pitching meetings with potential clients is something that we’ve noticed that many service-based business owners struggle with in the early years. They feel like they either don’t say enough or they say too much, and this causes a lot of stress and anxiety. In this episode, we want to equip you with the confidence to go into these scenarios feeling like you know exactly what you’re doing!

Woman leaning on back of chair and smiling at camera

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!

DM Me on Instagram

Listener Love

paigeamberbacani
Abagail, thank you SO MUCH for this fresh passion! I can hear the genuine excitement in your voice over what is working well for you right now and what you have overcome in the past! Your resilience is truly contagious and I am so grateful for the knowledge that you freely share!
GoodGood Investing
An amazing podcast! From business strategy and systemization, to motivation and inspiration, The Strategy Hour really does cover it all! We love this podcast to bits!
Genevieve0721
I wanted to reach out and let you know how much I’m enjoying your podcast. It’s truly amazing and I’ve learned so many valuable tips and insights on how to scale a business without burning out. Your content is truly awesome and I appreciate you sharing it with us listeners!
Mezar C
Your podcasts are fantastic! The latest episodes highlighing your journey from graphic design to various marketing roles is truly motivating for aspiring entrepreneuers unsure of their career paths. Awesome content!
Fabi Paolini
Love your podcast, you bring so much value to your listeners. Thank you!
Josuediazv
I really enjoyed the episode that covered the importance of building a highly engaged and motivated team to help company scale and grow. I would highly recommend this podcast to everyone interested in learning practical business strategies to start, scale, and grow a business.
Ashao FreeSky
Super valuable. Abagail provides simple and actionable advice for growing your business. Her episodes are super practical. I love how grounded and down-to-earth she is. You can tell she genuinely cares about helping. I definitely recommend giving the podcast a listen!

Item 1 of 7

Software & Services We Swear By

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.

Host courses, coaching, digital products, memberships, and more on Teachable’s all-in-one platform. Their platform is perfect for businesses who want to create real impact.

Save on Teachable Pro with our link.

Try Teachable >

If you’re looking for an email service provider made with creatives in mind, is simple and intuitive, and has one set price regardless of list size, look no further than Flodesk.

Get 30 days of Flodesk for free with our link.

Try Flodesk >

The power of Adobe is now in a cloud-based design platform. Creating beautiful graphics is easier than ever, with Adobe Font + Stock libraries available in Express.

Get 40% off the CC All Apps Plan.

Try Adobe Express >

If you’d rather not be spending hours on end learning design skills and new programs just to make some graphics for your biz, definitely check out Canva.

Get 30 days of Canva Pro for free with our link.

Try Canva >

Later is our favorite visual-first planning tool for social media. Use it for Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok. Plan, schedule, and post with this all-in-one software.

Try Later free for 14 days with our link.

Try Later >

If you’re searching for a platform to house client portals, internal business resources, or even a public landing page, Notion might be the perfect fit for you!

Try Notion for free with our link.

Try Notion >

Unleash the power of chat marketing! ManyChat is a powerful tool that can help you capture leads and sell your digital products in the blink of an eye.

Get ManyChat for free with our link.

Try ManyChat >

SimpleTexting allows you to fire one-off messages, a series of messages in an automation, tag clients, and more, giving your clients a high-touch experience.

Try SimpleTexting for free with our link.

Try SimpleTexting >

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.

Learn More

Never Miss an Episode

Every week we’ll pop into your inbox to share the latest episodes, business strategies, and epic guests we’ve interviewed.

Create predictable income and sustainably scale your online business.

templates • courses • community

By Category

By Integration

Browse By Category

New Episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays

Subscribe Now