Proof to Product

Emily Thompson is an author, educator and web designer.  She’s the founder of Indie Shopography and co-host of the Being Boss podcast, where she inspires, writes and curates content to help creatives own their path and be more boss.  With over 3 million listens, the impact of the podcast inspired Emily and her business partner and co-host on Being Boss, Kathleen Shannon to write their first book called Being Boss:  Take Control of your Work and Live Life on your Own Terms.   This episode is a fun one and we talked about some key topics in the book.  Emily shared her thoughts on why being boss requires vision and hustle, the importance of setting boundaries that align with your values and why you need to do the work. ON TODAY’S EPISODE: The biggest misconception that people have around being an entrepreneur The career path that has led Emily to multiple businesses, an amazing podcast, and a book How she met her podcast co-host, Kathleen Shannon, and how they grew their “business bestie” relationship Starting the Being Boss podcast & the inspiration behind it What lead to Emily & Kathleen deciding to write a book & how their experiences shaped it How Emily balances being both a visionary and an implementer How values set the stage for decision making within business The advice Emily has for people pleasers who want to say “yes” to everything The red flags people experience when they need to set better boundaries Emily’s definition of success What’s next for Emily and the Being Boss brand KEY TAKE-AWAYS: “My life probably looks a lot easier to some people than it actually is.” - Emily Thompson   “Most successful people have super windy roads that get them to the place they are now.” - Emily Thompson   “Once you make that first leap, all the other leaps are easier. “ - Emily Thompson   “I understand that I have to know what those day to day tasks are, in order to reach that big vision, and so it was a practice of finding a system that worked for me, and then just implementing it, day after day after day.” - Emily Thompson   “As creative entrepreneurs, we live our work, and our work in a lot of ways, defines who we are.” - Emily Thompson   “If you have some good parameters around what you allow yourself to say yes to, you can say yes with confidence and no resentment, to things that are going to fit, and you can say no with confidence and no fear, to the things that don't fit.” - Emily Thompson   “Once you are good at holding your boundaries, it's so much easier to be fluid and maintain control.” - Emily Thompson   “Just because somebody else is doing it, does not mean you need to do it. You need to do what is best for you, your company, your business, your circumstances, your family.” - Katie Hunt   “My success looks like doing whatever I want to do, but also being super productive while I'm doing it.” - Emily Thompson LINKSBook: https://www.amazon.com/Being-Boss-Take-Control-Terms/dp/0762490462/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1520391475&sr=8-1&keywords=being+boss+kathleen+shannon&dpID=51hskd%252BskIL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch&linkCode=sl1&tag=tradesbootc07-20&linkId=82b7a7e0f16f088a9455de3037cfc23c Website: https://beingboss.club Facebook: https://facebook.com/beingbossclub Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beingbossclub/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/beingbossclub JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY:   Do you want to scale your business and add new revenue streams?  Are you ready to get a handle on your cash flow and tuck money away for retirement?     Maybe you are interested in increasing your visibility and fine-tuning your marketing outreach?  Perhaps you have a team that you want to nurture or need help building your team?   Our newest on demand program, Paper Camp+ can help you with all of these things and more.  The program includes 5 keynote presentations and 2 panels from a wide range of business experts.  You can watch what you need, when you need it most and revisit the videos as often as you’d like.   This course was built for anyone running a product based business, and extends way beyond the paper industry.  Enroll at www.tradeshowcamp.com/pcplus! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

TSBC Alums Laura Hooper Leader and Alyssa Bobbett of Laura Hooper Calligraphy have served clients with hand calligraphy and stationery needs for weddings, showers events & more since 2002.  These sisters have grown a dynamic business that includes their custom work, ready made product, calligraphy kits, offer in person and online educational programs and these girls wrote a book last year.      On today’s episode we’re talking about their business model including their process for adding new revenue streams.  We dove deep into their custom work regarding pricing and how they’ve set better boundaries to provide a better experience for their customers.  And, we talked about their strategies and goals for engaging with their 318k instagram followers! A little side note here — but they aren’t happy with the IG algorithm changes either! ON TODAY’S EPISODE: How Laura got her start in calligraphy and how her love for hand lettering turned into a business When Alyssa joined her sister at Laura Hooper Calligraphy and how she defined her role How having people on her team handling very specific tasks frees Laura up to focus on the creative side of the business The importance of investing in your business & outsourcing when possible What led to the diversity of Laura Hooper Calligraphy’s product offerings and how they determined what direction to go in The start of their calligraphy workshops & why they decided to “train the competition” The custom work they are doing The systems & boundaries they have in place to standardize their custom work The strategies they use to engage with their followers on social media Laura & Alyssa’s thoughts on the Instagram algorithm How they measure conversions from Instagram What’s coming up next for Laura Hooper Calligraphy KEY TAKE-AWAYS: “I'm very logistical and Laura is very artistic. You could say that it was a good little marriage of skills.” - Alyssa Bobbett “I've never been afraid to take risks and step out and try something new. I like to look at what we're doing, what's working, what isn't working and what do we need to change.” - Laura Hooper Leader “You could spend a week researching something and figuring it out and doing it, but think of all the other ways that you could put your actual skills to use during that week if you outsource something.” - Alyssa Bobbett “We kind of let the people tell us what direction to go in. We listen to what our clients or potential clients are asking for.” - Laura Hooper Leader “People talk about the market being so saturated, which it is, but at the same time it allows you to kind of streamline what you want to do.” - Alyssa Bobbett “There's an endless number of weddings. There's an endless number of greeting cards at Paper Source or wherever. There's plenty of work to go around.” - Alyssa Bobbett “I want everyone to be happy, and that's just not 100% feasible. You have to have policies or you're just going to be miserable all the time. You need to enforce them or else people walk all over you.” - Laura Hooper Leader “We like to use our social media as an extension of our brand.” - Alyssa Bobbett “We don't consider followers or likes to be the goal. We consider conversions to be the goal.” - Alyssa Bobbett “We're not always trying to sell to our followers. We want people to follow because it's beautiful, but we don't want them to feel like we're just using them to make money.” - Laura Hooper Leader LINKSWebsite: http://lhcalligraphy.com Facebook:  http://facebook.com/lhcalligraphy Instagram: http://instagram.com/lhcalligraphy Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lhcalligraphy Twitter:  http://twitter.com/lhcalligraphy JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY:   Do you want to scale your business and add new revenue streams?  Are you ready to get a handle on your cash flow and tuck money away for retirement?     Maybe you are interested in increasing your visibility and fine-tuning your marketing outreach?  Perhaps you have a team that you want to nurture or need help building your team?   Our newest on demand program, Paper Camp+ can help you with all of these things and more.  The program includes 5 keynote presentations and 2 panels from a wide range of business experts.  You can watch what you need, when you need it most and revisit the videos as often as you’d like.   This course was built for anyone running a product based business, and extends way beyond the paper industry.  Enroll at www.tradeshowcamp.com/pcplus! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

Meet Autumn Witt Boyd, an attorney who specializes in helping ambitious entrepreneurs reach their big goals faster and smarter — guiding them as they go. Autumn loves helping creatives put together collaborations and partnerships, grow their brand with trademarks, and protect their content with copyrights. Autumn is also the host of the Legal Road Map podcast, which teaches business owners about legal issues they may face as they grow profitable companies.   On today’s episode we’re talking about the difference between copyright and trademarks, the process for protecting your work and how to handle copycats. Autumn does a fantastic job of breaking this complex topic into bite size pieces and provide tangible steps that you can take in your business now.   ON TODAY’S EPISODE: The most common mistake Autumn sees product-based businesses making The difference between copyright and trademarks and where to start when working to protect your work Copyrighting multiple pieces as a collection-- when you can do it and when you cannot The importance of copyrighting your work earlier rather than later Autumn’s opinion on when to pursue legal action The steps a product-based business owner can take when they find a copycat online that is worth putting the time, energy, and effort into shutting down What information a cease and desist letter contains and whether you need a lawyer to send one How to ensure that you’re not inadvertently influenced by things like social media or other people's work Utilizing song lyrics or quotes in your work and the potential consequences you can face The process of protecting and fighting for you trademark Legal document templates that would be helpful to product-based business owners When to start looking for an attorney and how to find one Autumn’s firm and the companies that she works with The five minute IP audit worksheet that Autumn has put together for businesses Her podcast, The Legal Road Map Podcast KEY TAKE-AWAYS: “Under US law, you cannot file a lawsuit for copyright infringement without having a copyright registration.” - Autumn Witt Boyd “Think of copyrights as protecting creative works.” - Autumn Witt Boyd “If you're registering something, you're really kind of buying the right to stop other people from using your stuff.” - Autumn Witt Boyd “You just have to make a judgment call of how much time and energy it's worth, and money, because lawyers are not inexpensive. And it also takes a lot of your energy and time to gather all the evidence and do all the work to try and shut them down.” - Autumn Witt Boyd “Make sure that you either take screenshots or save whatever evidence you can find that they're infringing your stuff, because once you get in contact with them, often it will disappear.” - Autumn Witt Boyd “You don't poke the bear when you're trying to get the bear to do something nice for you.” - Autumn Witt Boyd “I always say stay in your own lane, make up your own stuff. You're going to be safest that way.” - Autumn Witt Boyd “I do like to recommend that people work with an attorney who has some experience, either with a specific issue that you're having or with your particular industry.” - Autumn Witt Boyd LINKSWebsite: http://awbfirm.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AutumnWittBoyd/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/autumnwboyd/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AutumnWittBoyd IP Audit Worksheet: http://awbfirm.com/free-legal-guides/   JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY:   Do you want to scale your business and add new revenue streams?  Are you ready to get a handle on your cash flow and tuck money away for retirement?     Maybe you are interested in increasing your visibility and fine-tuning your marketing outreach?  Perhaps you have a team that you want to nurture or need help building your team?   Our newest on demand program, Paper Camp+ can help you with all of these things and more.  The program includes 5 keynote presentations and 2 panels from a wide range of business experts.  You can watch what you need, when you need it most and revisit the videos as often as you’d like.     This course was built for anyone running a product based business, and extends way beyond the paper industry.  Enroll at www.tradeshowcamp.com/pcplus! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

Richele Silva is the founder of Richie Designs, a boutique design and letterpress studio located in Long Beach, California. Richele is an art director, stylist, designer and printer. She founded Richie Designs 12 years ago, first as a side hustle while she worked at an advertising agency. Richele's products are sold at Paper Source, Urban Outfitters and Sugarfina along with hundreds of independent boutiques across the U.S.   On today’s episode we’re talking about leveraging past work experiences in business and the benefits of moving slowly and steadily in your business. ON TODAY’S EPISODE: Her career path and how her previous stationery business led to Richie Designs Walking her first National Stationery Show in 1990 Her first greeting card company, Three Mulligans How her background in advertising helped prepare her for being a business owner Starting Richie Designs as a side hustle and then transitioning into it being her full-time gig How her background as a printer shaped the decisions she’s made for her business The “tipping points” in her business that helped her realize she could do this full-time Richele’s slow and steady approach to growing Richie Designs Her approach to social media and how it has changed over the years The advice she would give to people early on in their product-based businesses Richele’s favorite resource for her business What’s next for Richie Designs in 2018 KEY TAKE-AWAYS: “I remember having a conversation sitting with college girlfriends and we were talking about our dream jobs and greeting card designer was mine.” - Richele Silva “I want to meet everyone in their journey exactly where they are and I want to help them with whatever phase they're in.” - Katie Hunt “Having printed for other designers who don't print, I feel like it shapes my design for sure. Somebody who doesn't print is going to dream up three-color designs versus somebody who has to stand there and actually print it.” - Richele Silva “I just know I have to work slowly.” - Richele Silva “I don't think it's a bad thing to sit back and take a little breath.” - Richele Silva LINKSWebsite: http://www.richiedesigns.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Richie-Design-Letterpress-164221064003/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richiedesigns/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/richiedesigns/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/richiedesigns   JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY:   Do you want to scale your business and add new revenue streams?  Are you ready to get a handle on your cash flow and tuck money away for retirement?     Maybe you are interested in increasing your visibility and fine-tuning your marketing outreach?  Perhaps you have a team that you want to nurture or need help building your team?   Our newest on demand program, Paper Camp+ can help you with all of these things and more.  The program includes 5 keynote presentations and 2 panels from a wide range of business experts.  You can watch what you need, when you need it most and revisit the videos as often as you’d like.     This course was built for anyone running a product based business, and extends way beyond the paper industry.  Enroll at www.tradeshowcamp.com/pcplus! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

Katie Hunt, Founder of Tradeshow Bootcamp and Host of Proof to Product shares three important business lessons that her daughter used to sell Girl Scout cookies — things we should all remember in our own businesses. Listen to more episodes of Proof to Product at www.prooftoproduct.com

TSBC alum Caroline Hull is the founder of Caroline Creates.  A designer and owner, Caroline has a background in music and was actually a ballet dancer at the University of Oklahoma before finding her niche in design and podcasting. Caroline has a passion for helping other small business owners like herself through her podcast, Creative Biz Rebellion.   On today's episode, we're talking about switching gears in business, the benefit of taking a break to really reassess how you're feeling about things and she also shares how past experiences shaped who she is and what she's doing today.   ON TODAY’S EPISODE: Caroline’s career path and what motivated her to start Caroline Creates Her custom wedding invitation designs and how the word got out about her Etsy shop Making the transition from working Caroline Creates part-time to full-time How her move to Nashville impacted her business and her decision to transition to the wholesale market The pain points that made her realize she needed to make some changes in her business Her decision to homeschool her children and how that impacted her decision to pivot in her business Taking a break in her business to evaluate how she felt and what she wanted to change Transitioning her Etsy shop to all downloadable products or drop ship The start of her podcast, Creative Biz Rebellion and how she met her co-host, Kelly How community and professional development have impacted her business How Caroline became a podcast producer and editor The growth of her podcast business Caroline’s advice to anyone just starting a product-based business KEY TAKE-AWAYS: “The business itself started to feel more like a chore and a burden and it felt very hard and it felt like I was constantly having to fight to get to where I wanted to go.” - Caroline Hull “It's hard to make changes sometimes in our business unless we're forced to.” - Katie Hunt “I would not have that podcast [Creative Biz Rebellion] and the success of that podcast is having and the joy that it brings to me if I hadn't have had the business in a way that I had it.” - Caroline Hull “I think that is super important is to be able to say, ‘You know what, things aren't working. I need to take a step back and see how I feel.’” - Caroline Hull “These print-on-demand services and the drop shipping options, they're really great especially for people that work at home and are still at the beginning stages of their business or scaling back and don't want to have a whole manufacturing warehouse.” - Katie Hunt “When I could feel like my business was hitting a point where I needed to grow but I wasn't sure how to do it, that was when I knew that I needed to go do something and be around people who knew more than I do.” - Caroline Hull “I've become like this mini podcast launch cheerleader and helping people figure out all the pieces that they need to get going.” - Caroline Hull “Podcasting was a hobby and now it's my business and doing the shop and the design was my business and now it's gone back to being my hobby.” - Caroline Hull “It is so just amazing that by opening myself up and being open to new possibility that I've ended up with this business that I love that to me is so similar to the original thing I had set out to do when I was a young 18-year-old.” - Caroline Hull   LINKSWebsite: www.carolinecreates.com Website: http://creativebizrebellion.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carolinecreates/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/carolinecreates   JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY:   Do you want to scale your business and add new revenue streams?  Are you ready to get a handle on your cash flow and tuck money away for retirement?     Maybe you are interested in increasing your visibility and fine-tuning your marketing outreach?  Perhaps you have a team that you want to nurture or need help building your team?   Our newest on demand program, Paper Camp+ can help you with all of these things and more.  The program includes 5 keynote presentations and 2 panels from a wide range of business experts.  You can watch what you need, when you need it most and revisit the videos as often as you’d like.     This course was built for anyone running a product based business, and extends way beyond the paper industry.  Enroll at www.tradeshowcamp.com/pcplus! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

Heather Haynie and Dani Antol are the owners of Rock Paper Scissors, a custom invitation and paper goods shop in Charlottesville, Virginia. Rock Paper Scissors is the go-to destination for locals and visitors alike looking for laugh-out-loud greeting cards, journals, dec accessories, calendars, planners and modern gifts.     On today’s episode we talk about a wide range of topics including what it takes to run a retail storefront, how they divide responsibilities as business partners and what success looks like for each of them. We also got personal. Dani shares her story of battling cancer. We also discuss how Heather & Dani were able to unify their local community after the hateful rallies in Charlottesville. ON TODAY’S EPISODE: What prompted Heather & Dani to go into business together What their day-to-day looks like running a retail storefront The custom design side of their business The benefits of buying an existing storefront and how they made it their own The growth of Rock Paper Scissors over the years How Heather & Dani divide responsibilities and how it has changed over the years as they have grown The things people should think about before jumping into a business partnership with someone Dani’s battle with breast cancer and why she decided to share her story publicly How breast cancer changed Dani’s perspective and her motivations Heather & Dani’s involvement in the C’ville Heart Project & the purpose behind it The things they have accomplished in their business that they are very proud of What’s next for Rock Paper Scissors KEY TAKE-AWAYS: “I'm extremely thankful that we purchased the business because as Dani said, there were so many things that were already in place that were really helpful for us, from the relationships with vendors, as well as relationships with existing clients.” - Heather Haynie “We trust each other in those roles because we know that that's what we're good at.” - Dani Atol “One of the greatest benefits [of our partnership] is that we don't have the same strengths.” - Heather Haynie “I mean, she [Dani] would have chemo and then be sending me proofs. This girl's work ethic is amazing.” - Heather Haynie “Some really terrible people came to our town and invaded our town and that's something that we always want to be really clear about. They are not Charlottesville and that's not what our town is like at all.” - Heather Haynie “We've grown our business every year, some years higher percentage than others. But every year we have grown and I'm super proud of that.” - Heather Haynie “Running a small business is hard and it is time consuming. There's always a million hats that we're wearing, and so I think it's important to remind ourselves that, "No, we set the rules here and we can decide what we do and not do to some extent." We do need to carve out that time for our personal lives.” - Katie Hunt  LINKSWebsite: www.thinkrockpaperscissors.com Website: www.rpscvilleheart.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkrockpaperscissors Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rps_cville/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rps_dani/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rps_heather/ JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY:   Do you want to scale your business and add new revenue streams?  Are you ready to get a handle on your cash flow and tuck money away for retirement?     Maybe you are interested in increasing your visibility and fine-tuning your marketing outreach?  Perhaps you have a team that you want to nurture or need help building your team?   Our newest on demand program, Paper Camp+ can help you with all of these things and more.  The program includes 5 keynote presentations and 2 panels from a wide range of business experts.  You can watch what you need, when you need it most and revisit the videos as often as you’d like.     This course was built for anyone running a product based business, and extends way beyond the paper industry.  Enroll at www.tradeshowcamp.com/pcplus!

Renee Griffith, the founder of HeartSwell, designs and creates her products using her original hand lettering style, incorporating patterns, colors and textures inspired by her deep love of the ocean and lush landscape where she lives in South Florida. Renee is a TSBC alum who has attended our Paper Camp Conference twice, once when she was starting her business and a second time after she had revised her line and rebranded her company.   On today’s episode we’re talking about why she changed her business name, how she nurtures relationships with customers and the importance of finding your voice within your product and brand.   ON TODAY’S EPISODE: How she got into the world of entrepreneurship and product creation The beginnings of her Etsy shop, Perro Paper What inspires Renee when she’s creating and developing new products The catalyst for changing the name of her business from Perro Paper to HeartSwell The process of brainstorming new names and how she came to HeartSwell Bringing other people into the naming process How she handled the rebranding process once she had decided on a name How Renee communicated the name change to her customers Whether changing the name of her business enhanced her confidence as a business owner The steps she took to refine her product line How she manages the day-to-day logistics of different sales channels An accomplishment in the last year that she is proud of The advice she would give to someone just starting out in a product-based business What’s next for HeartSwell KEY TAKE-AWAYS: “It's important to see what you like doing, and see what you want the vibe of your business and your brand to be.” - Renee Griffith “[my new company name] was a combination of what I want my voice and my company to be, which is making people feel very loved and make their hearts swell as cheesy as that is.” - Renee Griffith “I just feel like way more confident with [my new company name]  because it's just me. My colors. It's the same colors I have in my home. It's the same colors I wear. It truly is me out on paper.” - Renee Griffith “Keeping that tight color palette for me has enabled me to really keep a cohesive brand.” - Renee Griffith “To have that product recognition is really an important part of growing your business.” - Renee Griffith “It is so important to know the reasoning behind why you're running this business, why you started it to begin with, and why you want to continue doing it, because it does drive your decision-making as an entrepreneur.” - Katie Hunt   LINKSWebsite: http://www.heartswellco.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartswellco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartswellco/ JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY:   Do you want to scale your business and add new revenue streams?  Are you ready to get a handle on your cash flow and tuck money away for retirement?     Maybe you are interested in increasing your visibility and fine-tuning your marketing outreach?  Perhaps you have a team that you want to nurture or need help building your team?   Our newest on demand program, Paper Camp+ can help you with all of these things and more.  The program includes 5 keynote presentations and 2 panels from a wide range of business experts.  You can watch what you need, when you need it most and revisit the videos as often as you’d like.     This course was built for anyone running a product based business, and extends way beyond the paper industry.  Enroll at www.tradeshowcamp.com/pcplus! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

Beth Penn is a professional organizer, speaker and life hacker. She is the founder of Bneato Bar, a professional organizing service whose clients range from corporations looking for big-picture management solutions to busy individuals simply flooded with email, paper or stuff in their home. Beth has been featured in Real Simple Magazine, Oh Joy!, DesignLoveFest, and more, and has collaborated on projects with Style by Emily Henderson and Apartment Therapy.     On today’s episode we’re talking about misconceptions people have around cluttering and organization,  and how to get started with decluttering.   ON TODAY’S EPISODE: Some of the common misconceptions that people have around clutter and organization What got Beth started in this business and if she always knew she wanted to help people reduce overwhelm Systems to help reduce inbox overwhelm Beth’s new book “The Little Book of Tidying”  and where most people get hung up in the decluttering process What advice she gives to people who just aren’t sure where to start when it comes to decluttering How tidiness can affect somebody's overall life and happiness How the space around you directly affects the way you think Applying tidying principles to businesses and how we can be maximizing our workspaces and productivity Beth’s definition of success for her clients The services Beth offers and what’s next for her How she knew she wanted to write a book and the process of getting her book published KEY TAKE-AWAYS: “A huge misconception is that people think an organizer's going to show up, take away everything, put things back into place, and you're never going to have to touch it again.” - Beth Penn “It's really important to not be a slave to your email inbox.” - Beth Penn “Start simple and start easy.” - Beth Penn “When you are constantly playing catch up, there's no extra time to do the things that you want to do.” - Beth Penn “Tidying doesn't have to mean physically putting things away. It could mean just trying to be creative in not bringing extra stuff or having to buy stuff.” - Beth Penn “Success for my clients would be being able to maintain and then as well being able to pivot.” - Beth Penn LINKSBook:  The Little Book of Tidying Website: www.bneatobar.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bneatobar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bneatobar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BneatoBar   Business Camp Program (Beth gave us tips for zero inbox here!): www.TSBCbizcamp.com JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY:   Do you want to scale your business and add new revenue streams?  Are you ready to get a handle on your cash flow and tuck money away for retirement?     Maybe you are interested in increasing your visibility and fine-tuning your marketing outreach?  Perhaps you have a team that you want to nurture or need help building your team?   Our newest on demand program, Paper Camp+ can help you with all of these things and more.  The program includes 5 keynote presentations and 2 panels from a wide range of business experts.  You can watch what you need, when you need it most and revisit the videos as often as you’d like.     This course was built for anyone running a product based business, and extends way beyond the paper industry.  Enroll at www.tradeshowcamp.com/pcplus! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

TSBC alum, Melanie Karlins of Grey Moggie started letterpress printing in 2008 as a creative outlet while she was in law school, and later taught letterpress classes at a local art center. In 2011 she started selling her products at local craft fairs and picked up wholesale accounts through her Instagram feed. Today, Grey Moggie is Melanie's full-time job and her greeting cards are sold in stationery and gift shops all over the United States, including Paper Source   On today's episode, Melanie is sharing how retail craft markets shaped her business and product line, how she overcame creative blocks, and why her definition of success shifts with different seasons in her life.   ON TODAY’S EPISODE: Melanie’s motivation for starting Grey Moggie How she began teaching letterpress classes The types of products she creates and the motivation behind them How craft shows shaped her business and how it shaped her product line Merchandising tips for people considering retail shows The benefits of selling her products at a weekly market How she determines if a retail market is a good place for her to be Managing her wholesale line and the retail line and how she does it on a day to day basis How being a mom has impacted the way she runs her business and how she prioritized her time Melanie’s definition of success in her business The advice she would give to someone just starting out in a product based business What’s next for Grey Moggie KEY TAKE-AWAYS: “The day after exams my second year of law school, I took a letterpress class and I just couldn't give it up.” - Melanie Karlins “That was one big thing I learned from customer feedback, was that everyone's looking for something new.” - Melanie Karlins “You can kind of tell upfront before you even get to the show what kind of help you're going to get onsite or what the scene is going to be like onsite.” - Melanie Karlins “My biggest takeaway is through really trying to make my business a business and becoming a mom at the same time was just that everything has a season and you can't necessarily plan ahead for it.” - Melanie Karlins “Self-care is so important to the creative process and the decisions that we're making within our business.” - Katie Hunt “It's important to revisit our definition of success and what we hope to achieve with our business and with our time and the effort that we're putting into these things.” - Katie Hunt   LINKS: Website: http://greymoggie.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreyMoggiePress Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greymoggie/ JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY: Our signature Paper Camp program is back and we’re now enrolling for Winter 2018!   We’re talking about product development  sales tools, trade shows, marketing, working with buyers, sales reps and the press.  Attend live or online.  It’s the similar content, available in different formats.   We have two seats remaining for our Paper Camp Conference, March 1-2 in Los Angeles.   Join us here! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!