The Self-Employed Life

There’s a shift going on in the world and I’ll bet you’ve noticed it – and that shift is, shop local! That’s why today’s episode features my conversation with Wendy Batten, a self-described ‘chief cheerleader for independent shop owners.’ Although the focus of today’s episode is primarily on those of us self-employed folks who manage brick-and-mortar retail locations, I believe much of what Wendy and I discuss is relevant to all small business owners. Among other topics, we discuss how the pandemic has increased awareness of the importance of small businesses, small shops, and shopping local in general, especially as they impact the vibrancy of ‘main streets’ and ‘downtowns’ in communities across the country. We talk about the importance of working with your communities and local leadership – something that’s applicable to all small-businesses folks! – as well as how every one of us can help support small businesses in our own communities. Wendy Batten is a small business coach and chief cheerleader for independent shop owners. She is obsessed with helping small business owners develop the confidence and business skills they need to see their dream of growing a thriving retail business through her online courses, business coaching programs, and her popular podcast, The Creative Shop Talk Podcast. Wendy truly believes small shops can thrive and are the heart and soul of local communities, playing an important part in their social and economic progress. Wendy has been self-employed for over 20 years including running her own successful retail and studio business, she understands what it’s like to be in the trenches. Wendy works with hundreds of small shop owners across the globe from a crooked cottage by the sea that she shares with her husband, in Nova Scotia, Canada. And be sure to subscribe to The Self-Employed Life in Apple Podcasts or follow us on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts so you don’t miss an episode. Everything you need can all be found at jeffreyshaw.com.   Wendy Batten, thank you so much for being here!   Remember, you might be in business FOR yourself but you are not in business BY yourself. Be your best self. Be proud and keep changing the world. Guest Contact – WendyBatten.com Main Street Success Resources Wendy Batten on LinkedIn (ln/wendy-batten-02396920) Wendy Batten on Facebook (@WendyBattenbizcoach) Wendy Batten on Instagram (@wendybatten.biz) The Creative Shop Talk Podcast Contact Jeffrey – JeffreyShaw.com Books by Jeffrey Shaw Business Coaching for Entrepreneurs The Self-Employed Summit Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share! Valuable complimentary resources to help you – The Self-Employed Business Institute — You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out! Take The Self-Employed Assessment! — Ever feel like you're all over the place? Or frustrated it seems like you have everything you need for your business success but it's somehow not coming together? Take this short quiz to discover the biggest hidden gap that’s keeping you from having a thriving Self-Employed Ecosystem. You’ll find out what part of your business needs attention and you'll also get a few laser-focused insights to help you start closing that gap. Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! — Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO!   Host Jeffrey Shaw is a Small Business Consultant, Brand Management Consultant, Business Coach for Entrepreneurs, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker and author of LINGO and The Self Employed Life (May 2021). Supporting self-employed business owners with business and personal development strategies they need to create sustainable success.

Honestly, telling people about the importance of meaningful connections in business today almost seems trite. Unfortunately, many of us, myself included, aren’t as good as we need to be or want to be at actually making and maintaining meaningful connections. But what if we had a system for doing it? And what if we could understand the 5 most important aspects of gaining and maintaining connections? What that help? I hope so – because that’s what we’re talking about in this episode. In my conversation with Vincent Pugliese, we discuss how building a network consistently over time, through a lens of generosity rather than selfishness, is what will help us build connections that will pay off (and not just financially!). Along the way, we talk about standards and expectations in relationships, the importance of spending time on and with people who value what you do, and the collaborative elements of connection. Vincent is the author of The Wealth of Connection and Freelance to Freedom, a keynote speaker, and the host of the Total Life Freedom Podcast. He is the owner of The Total Life Freedom Mastermind Community - which brings entrepreneurs and small business owners together to build a life of time, money, and location freedom. Vincent Pugliese is, most importantly, a husband to his wife, Elizabeth, and father to their three sons, Andrew, Nolan, and Dylan. Vincent and his family live in Bradenton, Florida, where they home school their three sons through interest-based learning. And be sure to subscribe to The Self-Employed Life in Apple Podcasts or follow us on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts so you don’t miss an episode. Everything you need can all be found at jeffreyshaw.com.  Vincent Pugliese, thank you so much for being here! Remember, you might be in business FOR yourself but you are not in business BY yourself. Be your best self. Be proud and keep changing the world.     Guest Contact – Vincent Pugliese on LinkedIn (ln/vincent-pugliese-3955321a) Vincent Pugliese on Facebook (@vincent.pugliese.16) TotalLifeFreedom.com The Total Life Freedom Podcast The Total Life Freedom Community The Wealth of Connection Free Audio Book The Wealth of Connection: A New Approach to Making Business Personal by Vincent Pugliese Freelance to Freedom: The Roadmap for Creating a Side Business to Achieve Financial, Time and Life Freedom by Vincent Pugliese Contact Jeffrey – JeffreyShaw.com Books by Jeffrey Shaw Business Coaching for Entrepreneurs The Self-Employed Summit Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!     Valuable complimentary resources to help you –   The Self-Employed Business Institute — You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out! Take The Self-Employed Assessment! — Ever feel like you're all over the place? Or frustrated it seems like you have everything you need for your business success but it's somehow not coming together? Take this short quiz to discover the biggest hidden gap that’s keeping you from having a thriving Self-Employed Ecosystem. You’ll find out what part of your business needs attention and you'll also get a few laser-focused insights to help you start closing that gap. Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! — Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO!   Host Jeffrey Shaw is a Small Business Consultant, Brand Management Consultant, Business Coach for Entrepreneurs, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker and author of LINGO and The Self Employed Life (May 2021). Supporting self-employed business owners with business and personal development strategies they need to create sustainable success.

Of course, we’re all curious about what makes people successful, but what if you could learn the four elements that make up the ‘Success Factor?’ How valuable would that be for you? Today, we’re going to explore those four elements in this enlightening interview with Dr. Ruth Gotian. In our conversation, we talk about what Ruth has identified in her research as being the common elements that make high-achieving people so successful. We discuss the importance of ‘emulating mindsets’ rather than ‘copying habits’ to customize mindsets in ways that leverage your unique set of skills and circumstances, and we talk about the importance of transitioning people with high potential into high achievers. Plus, Ruth shares what surprised her most about her findings. Dr. Ruth Gotian is the Chief Learning Officer and Assistant Professor of Education in Anesthesiology and former founding Assistant Dean of Mentoring and Executive Director of the Mentoring Academy at Weill Cornell Medicine. She has been hailed by the journal Nature and Columbia University as an expert in mentorship and leadership development and was recently recognized as one of the top 20 mentors in the world. In 2021, Thinkers50, dubbed the Oscars of management thinking, ranked her the #1 emerging management thinker in the world to bridge theory and practice.  She was also a semi-finalist for the Forbes 50 Over 50 list. In addition to publishing in academic journals, she is a contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Psychology Today, where she writes about ‘optimizing success.’ Her research is about the mindset and skill set of peak performers, including Nobel laureates, astronauts, and Olympic champions, which she writes about in her book, The Success Factor. And be sure to subscribe to The Self-Employed Life in Apple Podcasts or follow us on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts so you don’t miss an episode. Everything you need can all be found at jeffreyshaw.com.  Dr. Ruth Gotian, thank you so much for being here! Remember, you might be in business FOR yourself but you are not in business BY yourself. Be your best self. Be proud and keep changing the world.     Guest Contact – RuthGotian.com Ruth Gotian on LinkedIn (in/rgotian) Ruth Gotian on Twitter (@RuthGotian) Ruth Gotian on Instagram (@RuthGotian) The Success Factor by Ruth Gotian Passion Audit Conversation Starters Contact Jeffrey – JeffreyShaw.com Books by Jeffrey Shaw Business Coaching for Entrepreneurs The Self-Employed Summit Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!     Valuable complimentary resources to help you –   The Self-Employed Business Institute — You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out! Take The Self-Employed Assessment! — Ever feel like you're all over the place? Or frustrated it seems like you have everything you need for your business success but it's somehow not coming together? Take this short quiz to discover the biggest hidden gap that’s keeping you from having a thriving Self-Employed Ecosystem. You’ll find out what part of your business needs attention and you'll also get a few laser-focused insights to help you start closing that gap. Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! — Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO!   Host Jeffrey Shaw is a Small Business Consultant, Brand Management Consultant, Business Coach for Entrepreneurs, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker and author of LINGO and The Self Employed Life (May 2021). Supporting self-employed business owners with business and personal development strategies they need to create sustainable success.

Turning your creative ideas into income is certainly not easy: it takes bravery, commitment, and a good business head – which can often seem contradictory to creativity. Today we’re going to talk about what it takes to turn your creative ideas into a viable business, so you can live the life of your dreams. In my inspiring conversation with artist and entrepreneur Miriam Schulman, we talk about ‘talent’ vs. ‘success,’ the vital importance of marketing, and why right now is the best time to turn your creative ideas into a successful business. Throughout the conversation, Miriam shares her experiences and advice for how to move on from a ‘traditional’ career to have a successful, ‘creative’ business. Today's guest, Miriam Schulman, is an artist, author, and host of The Inspiration Place podcast. Miriam has helped thousands of creatives around the world develop their skill sets and create more time and freedom to do what they love. Her signature coaching program, The Artist Incubator, teaches artists go from so-so sales to sold-out collections. After witnessing 9/11, Miriam abandoned a lucrative hedge fund to become a full-time thriving working artist. She has been featured in major publications including Forbes, The New York Times, Where Women Create, Art of Man, and Art Journaling, and her artwork has been featured on NBC’s “Parenthood” and the Amazon series “Hunters” (with Al Pacino). Her forthcoming book with HarperCollins Leadership, Artpreneur, is scheduled to be released January 2023. And be sure to subscribe to The Self-Employed Life in Apple Podcasts or follow us on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts so you don’t miss an episode. Everything you need can all be found at jeffreyshaw.com.  Miriam Schulman, thank you so much for being here! Remember, you might be in business FOR yourself but you are not in business BY yourself. Be your best self. Be proud and keep changing the world.     Guest Contact – Miriam Schulman on FaceBook (@schulmanart) Miriam Schulman on Instagram (@schulmanart) Miriam Schulman on YouTube (@schulmanart) SchulmanArt.com Artpreneur by Miriam Schulman — Pre-Order Now ‎The Inspiration Place on Apple Podcasts Contact Jeffrey – JeffreyShaw.com Books by Jeffrey Shaw Business Coaching for Entrepreneurs The Self-Employed Summit Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!     Valuable complimentary resources to help you –   The Self-Employed Business Institute — You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out! Take The Self-Employed Assessment! — Ever feel like you're all over the place? Or frustrated it seems like you have everything you need for your business success but it's somehow not coming together? Take this short quiz to discover the biggest hidden gap that’s keeping you from having a thriving Self-Employed Ecosystem. You’ll find out what part of your business needs attention and you'll also get a few laser-focused insights to help you start closing that gap. Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! — Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO!   Host Jeffrey Shaw is a Small Business Consultant, Brand Management Consultant, Business Coach for Entrepreneurs, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker and author of LINGO and The Self Employed Life (May 2021). Supporting self-employed business owners with business and personal development strategies they need to create sustainable success.

You are likely creating friction in your business which is causing you to work harder than you need to and you're not even aware of it. How do I know this? Because you're not alone. In this episode I share the reason you are working harder than you need to and what to do about it. I'm confident you'll persist and accomplish everything you set out to accomplish. But at what cost? How much harder did you make it than it needed to be? Find out.   Contact Jeffrey – Website Books Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!   Valuable resources to help you –   The Self-Employed Business Institute You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out!   Take The Self-Employed Assessment! Ever feel like you're all over the place? Or frustrated it seems like you have everything you need for your business success but it's somehow not coming together? Take this short quiz to discover the biggest hidden gap that’s keeping you from having a thriving Self-Employed Ecosystem. You’ll find out what part of your business needs attention and you'll also get a few laser-focused insights to help you start closing that gap.   Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO!   Host Jeffrey Shaw is a Small Business Coach, Brand Management Consultant, Business Coach for Entrepreneurs, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker and author of LINGO and The Self Employed Life (May 2021). Supporting self-employed business owners with business and personal development strategies they need to create sustainable success.

Community and a sense of belonging are two essential elements in the self-employed life. In this episode, my guest Joshua Greene and I look at why and how community, especially in business, has changed in recent times. We first talk about the concept of a “wavy” career path – a descriptor which suits a lot of us self-employed folks – and why someone on a wavy career path might need community even more than someone with a more traditional (linear) career path. We explore the critical importance for a "businesses of one" (e.g. a self-employed solopreneur) to be inspired and lifted up by others – which is difficult to do without a community! Other topics we discuss include feeling connected vs. feeling lonely, the unexpected importance of "loose ties," the burden of making decisions alone, and how having a community can actually make your business itself better. And of course, we talk about the solutions that Joshua’s company Groove aims to provide to solopreneurs to give them access to supportive community. As the co-founder and CEO of Groove, an online coworking community and mobile app for solopreneurs, Josh is building on his passion for community to help transform the way people on wavy career paths (solopreneurs, freelancers, creatives) can find support and human connection to help them accomplish great things. Josh believes in work-life harmony — how we work shapes how we live, and vice versa. He experienced this firsthand as an exec at WeWork in the office of the CEO working across the business. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Josh and his co-founders saw that the world had changed, along with our traditional work systems. Groove was created as a response to that and is here to support the next generation of solopreneurs as they break open the ideas of how we can connect and work on energizing projects. And be sure to subscribe to The Self-Employed Life in Apple Podcasts or follow us on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts so you don’t miss an episode. Everything you need can all be found at jeffreyshaw.com.  Joshua Greene, thank you so much for being here! Remember, you might be in business FOR yourself but you are not in business BY yourself. Be your best self. Be proud and keep changing the world.     Guest Contact – Groove.ooo Joshua Greene on LinkedIn (@in/GreeneJoshua) Joshua Greene on Twitter (@Stalk_Josh) Joshua Greene on Medium (@Joshua-Greene) Contact Jeffrey – JeffreyShaw.com Books by Jeffrey Shaw Business Coaching for Entrepreneurs The Self-Employed Summit Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!     Valuable complimentary resources to help you –   The Self-Employed Business Institute — You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out! Take The Self-Employed Assessment! — Ever feel like you're all over the place? Or frustrated it seems like you have everything you need for your business success but it's somehow not coming together? Take this short quiz to discover the biggest hidden gap that’s keeping you from having a thriving Self-Employed Ecosystem. You’ll find out what part of your business needs attention and you'll also get a few laser-focused insights to help you start closing that gap. Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! — Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO!   Host Jeffrey Shaw is a Small Business Consultant, Brand Management Consultant, Business Coach for Entrepreneurs, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker and author of LINGO and The Self Employed Life (May 2021). Supporting self-employed business owners with business and personal development strategies they need to create sustainable success.

Are you comfortable in your skin? I mean really comfortable? Comfortable with who you are, and what you offer the world? We know that being comfortable with who we are impacts our success – and that’s why in today’s episode, I talk with the almost-completely-covered-in-tattoos Drew Plotkin, successful entrepreneur and author of Under My Skin: Baring It All, One Tattoo at A Time. In this entertaining and inspiring interview, we discuss Drew’s extraordinary professional life, in which perceptions about his physical appearance have given him unique opportunities to subvert expectations. We talk about how being true to yourself and confident in that truth can give you the courage to forge your own path regardless of your profession, and how your own signature style can become a competitive advantage – or even your personal trademark. DREW PLOTKIN is an Emmy® award-nominated producer and founder of the Launch DRTV agency, where he has created and directed award-winning TV broadcast commercials for major celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Serena Williams, Cindy Crawford, Ellen Pompeo, Dwayne Wade, Kristin Davis, Jane Seymour, Paris Hilton, Drew Brees and more. In addition, he is the founder and CDO (Chief Dude Officer) of the skincare line Derm Dude which produces products specifically for men’s beards, balls, and tattoos. They are the primary 2022 sponsor for NASCAR driver Spencer Boyd. Drew has also co-founded Global Mobility USA, a non-profit that delivers wheelchairs to people in need.  Drew has an engaged audience of more than 56.9K TikTok followers, 20.2K followers on Instagram, and just over 5K loyal email subscribers. He lives in Southern California with his four magical kids and his dog, Rufus. And be sure to subscribe to The Self-Employed Life in Apple Podcasts or follow us on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts so you don’t miss an episode. Everything you need can all be found at jeffreyshaw.com.  Drew Plotkin, thank you so much for being here! Remember, you might be in business FOR yourself but you are not in business BY yourself. Be your best self. Be proud and keep changing the world.     Guest Contact – DermDude.com Under My Skin: Baring It All, One Tattoo at a Time by Drew Plotkin Derm Dude on Instagram (@dermdudeofficial) Derm Dude on TikTok (@dermdudeofficial) Contact Jeffrey – JeffreyShaw.com Books by Jeffrey Shaw Business Coaching for Entrepreneurs The Self-Employed Summit Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!     Valuable complimentary resources to help you –   The Self-Employed Business Institute — You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out! Take The Self-Employed Assessment! — Ever feel like you're all over the place? Or frustrated it seems like you have everything you need for your business success but it's somehow not coming together? Take this short quiz to discover the biggest hidden gap that’s keeping you from having a thriving Self-Employed Ecosystem. You’ll find out what part of your business needs attention and you'll also get a few laser-focused insights to help you start closing that gap. Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! — Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO!   Host Jeffrey Shaw is a Small Business Consultant, Brand Management Consultant, Business Coach for Entrepreneurs, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker and author of LINGO and The Self Employed Life (May 2021). Supporting self-employed business owners with business and personal development strategies they need to create sustainable success.

Have you ever had a delayed response to something that took you by surprise? Like a time of great joy followed by unexpected sadness? It happens in business, too, and this delayed response in business after a big change in the world can prove to be devastating. Listen in to understand more and to find out what you need to do to ward off the dangers of the period post-pandemic (or any other big change).     Contact Jeffrey –   Website Books Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!       Valuable resources to help you –     The Self-Employed Business Institute You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out!     Take the Self-Employed Assessment! Ever feel like you're all over the place? Or frustrated it seems like you have everything you need for your business success but it's somehow not coming together? Take this short quiz to discover the biggest hidden gap that’s keeping you from having a thriving Self-Employed Ecosystem. You’ll find out what part of your business needs attention and you'll also get a few laser-focused insights to help you start closing that gap.     Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO!       Host Jeffrey Shaw is a Small Business Coach, Brand Management Consultant, Business Coach for Entrepreneurs, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker and author of LINGO and The Self-Employed Life (May 2021). Supporting self-employed business owners with business and personal development strategies they need to create sustainable success.