Business Models Archives

EP 245: Coaching Yourself To Stick With It With Original Impulse Founder Cynthia Morris

Oct 22, 2019

Cynthia Morris is the founder of Original Impulse. She coaches writers, artists and entrepreneurs to get out of their own way so they can finish projects that matter. She’s also the author of The Busy Woman’s Guide To Writing A World-Changing Book.

Cynthia and I talk about her 20 year journey of business ownership, creative exploration, and coaching. I ask her about the lessons she’s learned along the way and how she’s kept the business going for over 2 decades.

Pay close attention to the commitment she made to taking risks and the willingness to do the hard creative work she asks her clients to do.

EP 238: Scaling Up With A Certification Program With The Ops Authority Founder Natalie Gingrich

Sep 24, 2019

My guest is Natalie Gingrich, the founder of The Ops Authority.

After spending 15 years in corporate at a Fortune 150 company, she dove into entrepreneurship leveraging her project management and HR experience to assist high-level influencers in the online and small business worlds. What she discovered along the way was that there was a ton of super capable women whose skill sets were not leveraged and whose natural tendency toward leadership wasn’t acknowledged.

In this conversation, Natalie and I talk about why she decided to create a certification program instead of an online course, why she takes screening candidates very seriously, and how the certification unfolds from start to finish. We also talk about some of the new opportunities she sees for growth now that the certification program is underway & successful.

EP 234: Choosing Not To Scale With Oki Doki Co-Founder Marie Poulin

Sep 10, 2019

Today, my guest is Marie Poulin—our first 3 time guest here on the pod!

Marie is not someone to miss the important questions. Her and her husband Ben are building Oki Doki with the life and work they want to lead top of mind. That choice has brought them face to face with some scrutiny from people with a scale-or-die mindset.

Marie recently wrote a lengthy article about her choice not to scale—or, not to scale in any conventional way—so, of course, I wanted to bring her on the show while we’re covering scale to talk about it!

Marie and I chat about the hybrid business model Oki Doki has developed, the cocktail party conversation that shook her up, how she approaches finding a equilibrium with her energy, and how her focus on profitability has paid off.

EP 233: Creating Scale With A Single Offer With Membership Guys Co-Founder Callie Willows

Sep 5, 2019

Building a subscription-based product is one key way small businesses can scale up.

But they can require a significant trade-off in at the beginning. It takes time, energy, infrastructure, and savvy marketing to get to a point where the business is healthy and profitable.

I know this from personal experience.

So does Callie Willows, the co-founder of The Membership Guys. Callie runs Member Site Academy, a leading training resource and community for membership site owners.

Callie and I talk about why The Membership Guys chose to focus on just one offer, the mindset shifts she’s had to make running a membership site, the operations that go into keeping members happy, and how running a membership site is a great fit for her as an introvert.

EP 222: Planning & Hosting Events All Over The World With Brazenist Founder Brooke Roberts

Jul 23, 2019

This week, my guest is Brooke Roberts, the founder & host of Brazenist, an online education and offline experience company helping goal-getters to future-proof, redefine success, and live a brazen life. Brazenist is Brooke’s latest venture in a line of successful businesses and a traditional career in taking people to faraway places.

You’ll hear how a high school trip to Europe helped her embrace the wide world beyond her rural Kansas hometown. You’ll also hear how an accidental career in the study abroad space helped her launch not just 1 business but 2!

Brooke and I talk about her process for planning events—whether their simple meet-ups or retreats in foreign countries. Plus, we talk about her non-negotiables and past mistakes.

EP 221: Fitting Business Into A Full-Time Travel Lifestyle With Amy Scott

Jul 16, 2019

Today, I’m joined by Amy Scott. Amy is the founder of both Nomad Editorial and Nomadtopia, a hub for inspiration and resources for location independence. Amy opted out of her office job and traditional lifestyle back in 2004 and never looked back. She now keeps a home base in Buenos Aires while she travels the world with her Argentine husband. Her podcast, Nomadtopia Radio, features interviews with people living their version of Nomadtopia.

Amy and I talk about the steps she took to create a location independent lifestyle, the initial challenges she overcame, and how her life has evolved since becoming a digital nomad. We also talk about the nitty-gritty of tech, tools, and techniques it takes to live life on the road and run a business at the same time.

EP 220: Managing A Team From The Road With Kinetics Consulting Co-Founder Kate Leese

Jul 9, 2019

Kate Leese is the co-founder of Kinetics Consulting, which helps electric and gas utilities create a culture of safety and preparedness.

Kate and I talk about how she made the move to full-time travel and how it impacted the way she approaches her life and work. We also discuss the logistics of working from the road, how she finds team members, the systems they use to manage projects, and how the way their team is built helps them stand out.

Ep 217: Finding A Niche Audience With Bawdy Bookworms Founder Thien-Kim Lam

Jun 25, 2019

The Nitty-Gritty: What inspired Thien-Kim Lam to develop a subscription box and virtual book club for a niche audienceHow she channeled her love of romance books and her experience selling adult toys into the subscription she would have loved to buy herselfHow she's...

EP 208: Pricing By The Numbers With Systems Saved Me Founder Jordan Gill

May 21, 2019

In this interview, Jordan and I talk about how her business model evolved into VIP weekend offerings, how her pricing strategy has evolved with it, and the numbers-driven marketing she does to support the model.

EP 204: Creating Value After Going Viral With Jennifer Johansson

May 7, 2019

My guest today is Jennifer Johansson, a mixed media artist, living and working in Carbondale, Illinois. Jennifer studied art and education in college, going on to teach high school art and art history for 15 years. About 9 years ago, she was able scale back her teaching to focus more on her art.

In an effort to spool up her art business, Jen started sharing her work on Pinterest. And one day, she noticed a particular pin was sending an outsize amount of traffic to her website. Not only that, it was generating comments and emails from interested people.

But they weren’t so much interested in buying her artwork as they were in learning how to create the art they saw on Pinterest.

Jennifer spotted the opportunity—which was distinctly different than Brigitte’s!—and started to take action.

In this conversation, Jennifer and I talk about the pin that went viral, the decision to build an online course about her unique style of art, and the nitty-gritty of how she created the course. We also chat about how her business has evolved as a result of pursuing this line of business.

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