What Works

The Nitty-Gritty: * Why Sean & Tara McMullin are starting a second company, Yellow House Media, and keeping scale in mind from the get-go* How they’ve prioritized doing every task like they’ll have to do it again tomorrow* Why they’re keeping future hires in mind while they document processes* The importance of considering an exit strategy earlier than you’d ever expect Big businesses start small, too. Today, we’re kicking off a month focused on scaling up. We’re examining the misconceptions, the assumptions, the biases, and—of course—the many ways that small business owners today are scaling up. And no—it’s not all online courses or apps. If you’ve been thinking about how your business can have a bigger impact, serve more customers, and make you more money… …but you’re at a loss of how to do that without running yourself into the ground or sacrificing your values… …this month is dedicated to you. To start this month, I have a confession to make. I started a new company. A second company. And I started it with someone you know: my husband and the producer of What Works, Sean McMullin. We’re approaching the first moves in this company completely differently than when I started my own business almost 11 years ago. To sum it up: we’re starting with scale in mind from the get-go. To be honest, the idea of “scaling up” snuck up on me the first time around. By the time I was well on my way to scaling up in theory, I realized that my company wasn’t ready to scale up in practice. My finances were a mess. My team was disorganized. There was little—if any—documentation. Important stuff fell through the cracks all the time. Getting that stuff handled? It took years. I do not want to repeat those mistakes. And since Sean was around for that clean-up job, he doesn’t want to repeat them either. So Sean and I are doing things very differently this time around. In just a bit, we’ll have a conversation about what scaling up means to us, why we’ve started this company, and how I finally convinced Sean to start a business. We’re also going to talk about the nitty-gritty details of how we’re starting with scale in mind. Things like process documentation, planning for future hires, pricing with labor in mind, creating scripts, anticipating training, and considering our exit strategy. But this is just the tip of the iceberg for what we’re covering on the podcast this month. You’ll hear from Callie Willows who scaled up with a membership site, Marie Poulin who is intentionally choosing a path that doesn’t necessarily scale, and Carol Cox who is hiring and training coaches to help her scaling her speech coaching company. You’ll also hear from Katey Schultz who challenged some personal assumptions to scale up her writer mentorship program, Debra Giunta who has scaled her company providing

The Nitty-Gritty: * How Victoria Klein questioned her choices and assumptions to try some decidedly unexpected things in her business and life* Why she decided to go back to school to study Japanese and how the decision gave her a fresh perspective on her business* What’s happened to her level of confidence as she’s experimented and questioned her assumptions* Why her business is better off today than before she took these unconventional risks Assumptions, defaults, stories—I’ve had a number of conversations recently about the role unconscious choices play in how we run our businesses. Maybe your inbox is out of control and your calendar is jam-packed, so you go with the flow and assume you need to hire help. Maybe you tell yourself a story about keeping prices low so that more people will buy and sales will be easier. Maybe you default to following someone else’s business plan instead of getting creative with your own. Every single day—every hour, even—we’re presented with choices. But most of them never really look like choices to us because we’re so used to falling back on the default or playing to the story that’s already in our heads about what we’re supposed to do in that scenario. The option of doing something different doesn’t even cross our minds. We’re wrapping up our month on confidence with today’s episode and I think it’s worth taking a look back on what we’ve covered. Not in a “previously on What Works…” kind of way. But, instead, looking at the threads that have tied these stories together. One thing I’ve noticed is how all of our guests made the decision to disrupt the stories about what life or business was supposed to look like… …and embraced something personal, maybe even unconventional. Jamie Varon picked up her life and moved to the south of France—and discovered a new a approach to life. Hillary Rea realized that success doesn’t have to mean conventional growth and that her body of work is much more than the number of butts in seats. Michael Karsh didn’t wait until he felt ready or experienced enough to sign big deals with Google or Facebook. Victoria Clark chose to prioritize building her career in a way that meant she was getting paid for the hard work and long hours she was putting into practicing law. Disrupting long-held stories, beliefs, and assumptions is really uncomfortable. It’s unnerving. While you’re there, being a leader, questioning something important… you end up questioning everything else too. So maybe that’s another way to look at confidence. Confidence is the skill, the practice of questioning everything. It’s the power to be uncomfortable while you forge your own path and make your own decisions. It’s the habit of never assuming that the next step is REALLY the next step. Today, for our final Candid Confidence Project conversation, my guest is Victoria Klein. Victoria is an author, entrepreneur, ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * Jodi Brandon took nearly 2 years away from full-time work on her small business to care for her dying mother* When and how she made the decision to step back from her business and step up for her mom* How she kept things going behind-the-scenes while she wasn’t working normal hours* Why her confidence took a hit when she returned to full-time work* What she learned about running her business through the process of returning & rebuilding her confidence Small business owners—especially women—take time away from work for all sorts of reasons. I’ve already spoken with Catherine Orr and her business partner Elena Rue, who took simultaneous maternity leaves. I spoke with Rebecca Tracy who takes extended time away for rock climbing and hiking. Others take sabbaticals or take time away to write books. On a regular basis, though—and much more frequently than I would have ever guessed as a clueless 26-year-old just getting started—small business owners take time away from their businesses to care for sick or dying family members. It makes a lot of sense in many ways. Small business owners work flexible schedules. We often have more passive revenue streams that might keep money trickling in even if we’re not actively working. We can work from anywhere. But small business owners also have a lot to lose. We could lose clients, the audience we’ve built over years of hard work, the brand reputation we’ve worked so hard for, the team we’ve trained… Of course, when it comes to family, it’s worth the risk. So what happens when it’s time to come back to your business? What happens when you sit down to your desk for the first time in weeks or months? What do you do first? How do you feel? What do you set your sights on? These are daunting questions. And they get to the heart of the crisis of confidence that comes from stepping away from a business for an extended period of time—often unexpectedly and without a real plan. Today, my guest is someone who has lived this scenario. Jodi Brandon has more than 20 years’ experience in book publishing. Today, her passion is working as a book coach and editor for creative entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to serve their business with a book. Jodi took 2 full years away from her business full-time to care for her mother. We talk about how she made the decision, the challenge of trying to keep up, how she felt when she started back in her business, and how she’s adjusted both her work and her mindset. This conversation with Jodi is part of a month-long series on confidence and entrepreneurship called The Candid Confidence Project. To get the full series delivered to your inbox—and check out what we’ve already released—click here. Now, let’s find out what works for Jodi Brandon! What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And cha... ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * Why attorney Victoria R. Clark decided to leap into her own solo law practice just 5 years out from law school* How she’s focused on working through her weaknesses and supporting her business with each new challenge* What happened when she realized that her prices were keeping her stuck and overworking* Why she believes increased confidence is the key to overcoming every obstacle she’s faced with her business Starting a business takes a real leap of faith. I don’t think anyone starts a business expecting to feel fully confident in what they’re doing. So we end up being fairly prepared to feel unsure and a bit anxious at the beginning. As the saying goes, you feel the fear and you do it anyway. Throughout this series on confidence, I’ve wanted to look beyond getting started and look at what happens when our confidence falters long after that predictable startup period. What happens when a new opportunity, a new goal, or a new idea causes our insecurity to come flooding back? How do we deal with it, find new confidence, and move forward? My guest today is Victoria R. Clark, the founder and managing attorney of Clark Law in Washington, DC. When Victoria got in touch with me, she told me that it wasn’t just getting started that required a new level of confidence. She had to find a new level of confidence every time she wanted to show up and level up. She told me that anything from introducing herself at a networking event to pricing her services to adding new areas of her practice required her to dig deep. And here’s the thing, talking to Victoria, you’d never know her confidence wavers. She’s self-assured. She’s present. She’s willing to put herself out there and show up for herself in intimidating spaces. Like Katie Linder and I talked about, though, there’s always that tricky balance between the confident public persona and lingering, hidden self-doubt. So I wanted to hear how Victoria has dealt with it—and is dealing with it. I think Victoria’s story might just sound pretty familiar to your own. Victoria and I talk about why she decided to start her own law practice in the first place, how she became more confident talking about herself, and how she took a new approach to what she can control on a daily basis. We also chat about how aspects of the business have evolved as she’s gotten more confident in what she’s doing. This candid conversation with Victoria is part of a whole series we’re doing here at What Works on confidence. We want to shed light on how small business owners continue to find confidence, long after they’ve taken the leap to get started. You’ve already heard stories about raising your prices, landing huge clients, and changing up your habits—and there are more coming. When we’re not posting new conversations here on the podcast, we’re sharing personal essays and reflections from What Works Network members on how they find the confidence to take the next step. To get the full series delivered to your inbox—and check out what we’ve already released—click here. Now, let’s find out What Works for Victoria Clark! ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How podcaster & coach Katie Linder uses her Radical Self-Trust framework to ensure her life and goals support her confidence* Why she finds confidence in sharing the work she’s most passionate about as she’s creating it* The 6 foundational pieces of the Radical Self-Trust framework* How she uses “cross walking” to match her to-do list with her values Showing up and being seen can be a real mind-bender. Every post we make on Instagram, every video we record for YouTube, every blog post we write, every email we send, every client consultation we do… They can all feel like an invitation to have others judge whether we have our shit together or not. So we work really hard to present as polished, professional, and confident. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. Looking polished, professional, and confident—whatever that means to you—is great. But it becomes a problem when the image you’re trying to portray becomes disconnected from what you actually feel. What happens when I show up looking like a powerhouse but feeling like an impostor? I can tell you exactly what happens to me when I show up looking like a powerhouse and feel like an impostor: I end up hiding. Sometimes I literally hide: in my hotel room, away from social media, ghosting on relationships. Sometimes I hide more metaphorically: not setting clear goals, not saying what I really mean. It’s at these times when finding my confidence, trusting myself, and showing up to be seen is most important. My guest today is facing challenges like these head-on. Her name is Dr. Katie Linder and she’s the creator of the Radical Self-Trust Podcast Channel. Katie developed the Radical Self-Trust framework as a way of helping herself and her clients source a new level of trust and confidence in themselves so they can overcome any obstacle. I wanted to find out the personal and professional challenges that led Katie to document this process… …and, of course, I wanted to hear more about the process itself. Katie and I talk about the self-doubt she struggled with initially while launching her business, how she balances the public persona of confidence with lingering self-doubt, and how showing up & sharing actually gives her confidence. We also discuss the Radical Self-Trust framework and how it can be used to discover a new path forward. This candid conversation with Katie is part of a whole series we’re doing here at What Works on confidence. We want to shed light on how small business owners continue to find confidence, long after they’ve taken the leap to get started. Throughout this month, you’ll hear about finding the confidence to come back after a major loss, experiment & iterate, stick with the plan, and regularly level up. When we’re not posting new conversations here on the podcast, we’re sharing personal essays and reflections from What Works Network members on how they find the confidence to take the next step. To get the full series delivered to your inbox—and check out what we’ve already released—click here. Now, ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * Why Abby Herman, founder of Write Solutions, set her prices so low to begin with* How she realized she needed to raise her prices and how long it took to make it happen* What happened when she realized that her prices were only part of the problem and how her services have evolved since* Why Abby feels more motivated than ever to find a new level of satisfaction in all areas of her life and work Nothing can spook an entrepreneur’s confidence like setting a price. As soon as you come up with a number, your inner critic goes into overdrive: “It’s too high! They’ll laugh at us!” “It’s too low! It’ll bankrupt us!” “Is it really worth that much?” “Who do you think you are asking for money at all?” “What if they can’t pay?” “What if I lose sales?” “What if I’m wildly successful and can’t keep up?” As my grandmother would say: Good grief! If putting a price on your products or services—let alone raising your prices—makes you want to run and hide, all that mental chatter is a good excuse. My guest today is no stranger to this incessant mental chatter around pricing. Abby Herman is the founder of Write Solutions, a content marketing agency for service-based business owners who want to gain visibility for their businesses with personalized content strategies and implementation. When Abby started out, she priced her work so she could guarantee she’d get paid—even if it was next to nothing. She had bills to pay and a child to take care of. As time went on, though, Abby discovered that pricing her work the way she was just wasn’t working. Abby and I talk about how she ended up working for so little and what she needed to do to raise her prices. We dive into all the feelings that came up around raising her prices and discovering the real value of what she was offering. And the best part? Abby shares how upleveling her prices and services has inspired her to uplevel every other aspect of her life, too. This candid conversation with Abby is part of a whole series we’re doing here at What Works on confidence. We want to shed light on how small business owners continue to find confidence, long after they’ve taken the leap to get started. Throughout this month, you’ll hear about finding the confidence to come back after a major loss, experiment & iterate, stick with the plan, and land giant clients. When we’re not posting new conversations here on the podcast, we’re sharing personal essays and reflections from What Works Network members on how they find the confidence to take the next step. To get the full series delivered to your inbox—and check out what we’ve already released—click here. Now, let’s find out What Works for Abby Herman! ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How Hillary Rea, founder of Tell Me A Story, discovered her love of rich and nuanced storytelling* What she does to help new storytellers find more confidence in themselves and their ability to perform* What triggered a recent crisis of confidence and how its helping her move forward with growing her company* Why she’s channeling the confidence she feels in other aspects of life to provide the support she needs I shared my own crisis of confidence a few months back on Instagram. I wrote about how I felt at a loss with how to share our product with the people who needed it most. I’d spent 2 years trying to figure it out and I didn’t feel any closer to a solution. I was feeling stuck and inadequate. My friend Lou Blaser commented, “I had thought this was going to be a different post. Because Tara McMullin & ‘crisis of confidence’ didn’t compute in my brain!” Just last week, someone else told me that they loved my interview with Claire Pelletreau from Get Paid because it can seem like people like me have it all figured out. And I share in that interview how much I do not have figured out yet. The truth is that any entrepreneur can suffer from a crisis of confidence. Any small business owner can find themselves riding high one minute and feeling lost the next. Any smart and ambitious founder can have all the right answers… until the next question gets asked. This month, we’re examining confidence. Specifically, we’re looking at how small business owners find the confidence to take a big step forward. So let me say it again: any entrepreneur can suffer from a crisis of confidence… …even an entrepreneur who is totally comfortable hopping on a stage in front of hundreds or thousands of people and sharing intimate personal stories. My guest today is just one such entrepreneur. Her name is Hillary Rea and she’s the founder of Tell Me A Story, a company that trains entrepreneurs, start-up leaders, and those looking to leave a bigger footprint on the world, how to find their voice and share their unique story with honesty and passion. She’s also the creator of a long-standing live storytelling show by the same name. Right before we recorded this conversation, Hillary posted a vulnerable reflection on her blog looking back at her time producing this live show and how it’s matured. In it, she shares her inner monologue about the doubt and even embarrassment she felt preparing for a big anniversary show. She wondered why the show hadn’t grown more. She wondered whether people took her seriously. She wondered if it was time to throw in the towel. So while Hillary originally came on the show to talk about how she sources her confidence from showing up and being visible, we also talk about this very real crisis of confidence and how it’s impacting her business moving forward. This candid conversation with Hillary is part of a whole series we’re doing here at What Works on confidence. We want to shed light on how small business owners continue to find confidence, ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How Edios Media‘s target clients have evolved over their 3 years in business* What happened with co-founder Michael Karsh and Elizabeth Madariaga got the chance to pitch a project for Google* Where Michael sources his confidence while working with giant corporations* What Michael and Elizabeth have focused on operationally to continue leveling up their service and their confidence Even in today’s digital world, when we think small business, we often think the mom & pop shop on main street. Or, maybe you think about the lawyer who drew up your will or the accountant who prepares your taxes. Even online, you probably think about coaches, designers, artists, educators, copywriters, and project managers. One thing all of these businesses have in common is that they’re person to person kind of businesses. Whether the person is walking through the door of a coffee shop or the person represents a business they founded, each transaction feels really personal. It’s a business ecosystem we can all be really comfortable with. But there’s a different business ecosystem that many small business owners and self-employed people deal in. That ecosystem? Big business. Did you know that 54 percent of Google’s workforce is temporary workers, contractors, and vendors? I sure didn’t. Did you know that Facebook has tens of thousands of contract workers? Nope, I didn’t know that either. Some of these workers are people who choose flexible or temporary work at home over long-term permanent employment. But plenty are small business owners who are doing business with the big dogs—or… should I say unicorns? Today, my guest is Michael Karsh. And Michael is the co-founder of a company that does business with the unicorns. When I first met Michael, he wasn’t a business owner. He was my content producer at CreativeLive. Together, we developed 9 classes and reached tens of thousands of people with high-quality video education. Later, he helped work on this very podcast. A couple of years ago, Michael and another of my producers, Elizabeth Madariaga, started their own video production company, Edios Media. You can hear more about their first year in business in Episode 101. I wanted to bring Michael back on the show to take a look at how his and Elizabeth’s mindset and confidence level has evolved as they’ve worked with giant clients like Google, Facebook, Salesforce, and The Sundance Institute. Michael and I talk about the first big deal they signed, how the clients they serve today are different from what they initially expected, and how the business itself has evolved to serve those clients. *** This candid conversation with Michael is part of a whole series we’re doing here at What Works on confidence. We want to shed light on how small business owners continue to find confidence, long after they’ve taken the leap to get started. Over the next month, you’ll hear about finding the confidence to raise your prices, come back after a major loss, experiment & iterate, and stick with the plan. When we’re not posting new conversations here on the podcast,... ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How Jamie Varon decided to embrace an “effortful” attitude and put more intention into her work* Why living and working from France reset her satisfaction meter and helped her find a new level of confidence* Her weekly writing practice and how that habit has impacted her ability to show up and do the work* The results she’s experiencing—personal and professional—from embracing a new working style I used to find confidence in the fact that lots of things come easily to me. I taught myself how to play the piano as a small child. I could pitch a softball at 60mph without much practice. I got excellent grades without studying. I was given extra responsibilities at my first jobs. My default mode was to expect to good at whatever I tried. I expected things to be easy and effortless. Most of the time, this was good. It meant that I had the confidence to try new things or step up to a new level. But operating like this also had a serious downside. The downside of finding confidence in things being easy is that, when I tried something that didn’t feel easy, I ran the other way. Anything that took effort or practice tore down my confidence and left me feeling like a sad sack. This month, we’re examining confidence. Specifically, we’re looking at how small business owners find the confidence to take a big step forward. As you might imagine, lacking confidence in anything that required me to actually work at a thing didn’t serve me well as a business owner. For years and years, I ran my business in a way that allowed me to avoid hard things. I hired contractors instead of making a home for employees. I relied on more passive marketing instead of picking up the proverbial phone and closing the deal. I avoided examining my own mindset instead of confronting my biggest fears and weaknesses. I set goals that felt safe instead of taking a long hard look at what I really wanted from my business. A couple of years ago, I started to get real with myself. I realized I had been coasting. And, while coasting felt good, it wasn’t really what I wanted to be doing. This was around the same time I started bouldering. Imagine a 15ft wall—or, quite literally—a 15ft boulder. Your job is to start at the very bottom and use your hands and feet to work your way to the top. Unlike big wall climbing, bouldering doesn’t use ropes. You fall on pads. And, you will fall. I was terrible at bouldering at first. Like, truly terrible. Looking back, I’m not sure what even possessed me to sign up for the class. And I’m less sure what made me decide it was a good idea to go back for the second class! Getting on the wall the first 5, 10, or 15 times, I felt weak. I felt inept. I felt truly terrible at the task set before me. But I kept getting on the wall. I practiced—and I hadn’t truly practiced anything in my previous 35 years of life. Eventually, I got better. Now, I teach bouldering at my gym and other climbers come to me for tips on a regular basis. Bouldering taught me how to work hard at somethin... ★ Support this podcast ★

I opened my email and saw the message that brightens the spirit of any cross-country traveler: my upgrade was confirmed. Even better, this upgrade included my daughter. Lola has always loved flying but this was her first First Class flight. Of course, she had no idea what to expect when we boarded the plane. She was 6 at the time and small enough to sit quite comfortably in economy so she was dwarfed by the faux leather lounger she buckled into. She was thrilled. An hour later, the captain announced we’d be waiting at least another hour before we could take off. We were going to miss our connection to Portland. I was stressed and anxious. Lola had already fallen asleep while watching a movie on my iPad. I grabbed my phone and called the special hotline for United MileagePlus premium status holders. A cheery man answered the phone almost immediately. He already had my flight info and agreed that there was no way I was going to make my connection. He said, “I can see you’re sitting in first class right now. Why don’t I go ahead and confirm your upgrade to the first flight up to Portland tomorrow morning?” I thanked him profusely. When I hung up, the flight attendants were coming around to get beverages. I asked for a gin and tonic. The flight attendant replied, “I make them strong. That okay?” Of course, it was okay. I was stressed and, while my conversation with the agent had made me less anxious, a little self-medicating wouldn’t hurt. Self-medication is one of the perks of First Class travel. Eventually, we did arrive in San Francisco. We proceeded to the customer service desk. We bypassed the long line of people waiting for help rescheduling their flights and entered the area designated for premium status holders. There was no wait. They gave us a hotel room to sleep in for a few hours and a stack of meal vouchers—and sent us on our way. We made it to Portland the next morning, tired but care-free. This kind of service is why I value frequent flyer status. The upgrades, the shorter lines, the extra perks. But it’s not the only reason I crave it. Receiving that kind of service, achieving that kind of status… it makes me feel special. Like I belong to a not-so-secret club full of those who have been deemed worthy by the powers that be. It gives me a little boost of confidence every time I enter an airport. But not just there. My status as a woman who uses a barbell gives me confidence at the gym. My premium status as a speaker gives me a confidence boost at conferences. My status as an employer or a multi-6-figure business owner gives me a confidence boost when I’m interviewing or facilitating. Feeling special is often a feeling I confuse with confidence. This month, we’re looking at confidence. Not so much the confidence to start a business but the confidence to grow one, to deal with unforeseen challenges, to level up yourself and your goals and pursue something bigger than you ever imagined. Throughout the month, I’ll be sharing conversations with small business owners about how they navigate insecurit... ★ Support this podcast ★