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EP 182: Launching A Brand On A Mission With Fear Her Fight Athletics Founder Maria Rodriguez

The Nitty-Gritty:

  • Why Maria Rodriguez started Fear Her Fight Athletics–and the surprising results of her initial product launch
  • How Maria centers her mission to empower people of all shapes, sizes, and identities in the gym
  • The key question Maria asks of herself and her community before designing new products
  • How Maria is doubling-down on her mission and exploring new territory with her 2019 business goals

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Many businesses get started because someone asks what they want from a business. Plenty of other businesses get started because someone asks what customers want from a business.

Far fewer businesses are the result of asking both questions.

But at the intersection of these two questions is fertile ground for starting a business that is both personally fulfilling and in high-demand.

This week, my guest is Maria Rodriguez, the founder of Fear Her Fight Athletics. I was introduced to Maria and Fear Her Fight by digital strategist Evan Leah Quinn because she thought I would appreciate the trifecta of Maria’s badass powerlifting coaching, her intersectional feminist fitness brand, and her mission to make people of all shapes and sizes feel more empowered in the gym.

Well, Evan was right!

Now, I thought I was bringing Maria on the show to talk about the mission and message of Fear Her Fight—and yes, we definitely talked about that quite a bit.

But I didn’t realize I was also going to get a masterclass on seeing things from the customer’s perspective and designing products that people would clamor to buy.

Fear Her Fight Athletics is a perfect example of how a business can blossom when it’s personally fulfilling, mission-driven, and creating products people can’t wait to get their hands on.

Maria and I talk about how Fear Her Fight got started, how centering her mission has helped to energize her customers, how she thinks about the products she’s developing, and her goals for the coming year.

Have a brand that’s both personally fulfilling and mission-driven? I’d love to hear about how you’re bringing your message to the center of your products and promotion. Hit me up on Instagram—I’m @tara_mcmullin and let me know what you’re up to!

Now, let’s find out what works for Maria Rodriguez!

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EP 299: How To Design Your Own Sales System

EP 299: How To Design Your Own Sales System

This week, I’ve got 4 more stories to share with you from small business owners who have intentionally done things their own way when it comes to sales and selling. They’ve found what truly works for them–even if it bucks the prevailing wisdom or would make a bro marketing expert role his or her eyes.

These stories come from business coach Ashley Gartland, marketing expert Amy Lippmann, designer Mel Richards, and work reinvention coach Lydia Lee.

Listen for how they incorporated these same considerations into finding their own unique sales systems. They designed their systems with personal values, strong relationships, reduced anxiety, and agency in mind.

EP 298: Creating A Less Harmful Sales System with Wanderwell Founder Kate Strathmann

EP 298: Creating A Less Harmful Sales System with Wanderwell Founder Kate Strathmann

This show is called What Works for a reason.

Sometimes it’s a declaration: this is what worked for this small business. And often, it’s a question, “What works?”

Today’s episode is very much a question, many questions, really:

What works when it comes to selling when you want to avoid manipulative or exploitative practices?

What works when your values conflict with many of the best practices of selling online but you still want people to buy your stuff?

What works when it comes to sales in a business that is actively anti-racist and anti-capitalist?

And even more bluntly: Can you even sell things without causing harm or perpetuating harmful systems?

My friend Kate Strathmann is the founder of Wanderwell, a bookkeeping and consulting firm that grows thriving businesses while investigating new models for being in business.

Recently, Kate took a bit of a detour from how she’s used to building her business, which is 90% referral based and fueled by deep relationship- and community-building. She decided to offer a small group program called the Equitable Business Incubator as a way of exploring anti-capitalist business practices and how they apply to the small businesses we’re building.

To fill the program, Kate need to sell differently.

Which led her to asking the question: Can you even sell things as a anti-capitalist?

While that might not be your specific question, I have a feeling that you too have wondering how you can effectively sell your offers without causing harm, perpetuating harmful systems, or damaging relationships. And that’s why I knew Kate and I needed to explore this topic on the show.

This is a conversation about what a kinder, less harmful sales process could look like—and it probably contains more questions than answers. But I’m confident those questions can help you find the answers that are right for you and the sales system that you want to build to make your business stronger.

We start out by defining what we’re really talking about when we talk about capitalism and anti-capitalism. Then, Kate shares how the Equitable Business Incubator came to be and how she ended up selling it. And then we dig into what makes many of the sales formulas and best practices being taught today problematic—and how to think differently to create your own alternative practices.

Now, let’s take a look at what works for creating less harmful sales systems!

What Works offers in-depth, well-researched content that strips away the hype of the 21st-century economy. Whether you love the podcast, the articles, or the Instagram content, we’d love your support.