Get Your Hopes Up with Christy Wright

In Episode 12: How to Find Your Business Idea, we talked about taking a look at what you already have to come up with some business ideas. In that episode, I mentioned three things to look at specifically. Three ways to come up with business ideas: Your skills Your stuff Your strengths When you look for business ideas in those three areas, you're making it so much easier on yourself to win! For example, my first business idea came from my stuff. There was an 11-stall barn already on the property I was renting, so I used that to start a horse-boarding business. Now, my second business came out of my strengths and skills. That was a side business doing life coaching, and it was long before I ever became a speaker for Dave Ramsey. But now we're going to take this a step further. If you want to start a business of any kind and you want it to work, your idea needs to be based on two things: It needs to solve a problem. It needs to serve a target market. In this episode, I'll walk you through examples of how to determine which of your business ideas meet this criteria. Related: The One Thing All Businesses Must Have My Guest This Week Is Ken Coleman! My good friend Ken is an author, a speaker, and the host of The Ken Coleman Show on Sirius XM and the EntreLeadership Podcast. His passion is helping other people find their passion. To do that, Ken helps people who feel stuck or confused in their careers by shining a light on their core qualities as a person. From there he brings clarity by weighing their passion against their talents to help them discover what they should be doing with their lives. But Ken didn't start out as a successful speaker and Ramsey personality. Ken says, "I left a corporate VP job at age 31 to chase a broadcasting dream that started with two listeners. One was my wife." Before getting his own show, he spent years working behind the scenes at Ramsey Solutions and eventually on the stage hosting Dave Ramsey's live events. Ken has interviewed hundreds of top business leaders all over the country and helps thousands of people every week with their career and business ideas. In this episode, Ken and I talk about: How to narrow down your top talents-those things you do better than anything else The euphoria that happens on a scientific, physiological level when you're working in your sweet spot Creating a "purpose sentence" for yourself and your business How to change an entire conversation and shift the room by asking the right questions Why chasing significance will bring more success than chasing wealth or status Choosing a Winning Business Idea With Madison Dennis! Our success story this week comes from Madison Hardy Dennis. Madison's business idea checks all three of our boxes: MHD Beauty is based on her skills, her strengths, and her stuff! When she started thinking about leaving her full-time administrative position in 2014, she took stock of all the things in her life she was really good at. She discussed the list with her husband, and they thought about which skills and strengths would lend themselves to a freelance business. She kept coming back to makeup. That first year Madison started her freelance beauty business, she was hired to do makeup for two weddings. But her business has absolutely exploded since then. Last year, her company did makeup for 133 weddings. And y'all, this is just one facet of her business! She'll also tell us everything she took into consideration before hiring team members and what gave her the idea to start her own cosmetics line. Related: Want a Business Like Mine? MHD Beauty Plus, I'll answer your business questions! 1:17 How to Come Up with Your Business Idea 9:31 Interview with Ken Coleman 40:28 BB Success Story with Madison Dennis 56:37 #ASKCHRISTYWRIGHT 65:25 Homework Sign up for the Business Idea Bootcamp at BusinessBoutique.com/Bootcamp. Use the code BOOTCAMP to...

Did you know that the beginning stages of Paul the Apostle's ministry were greatly affected by a woman? And not just any woman: Lydia, a successful businesswoman, who many scholars believe to be his first known convert. Specifically, she sold purple cloth-which, back then, was valuable and expensive. It was a sign of wealth, nobility and royalty. Purple cloth was purchased and worn by members of the royal family and Roman senators. So Lydia's customers-her demographic and target market, in fact-were upper-class people. And we can assume that Lydia was successful and prosperous because she owned a home with enough rooms to host Paul and three of his friends overnight at the same time! What I love about Lydia's story is that it's a biblical example of how God cares about our life as a whole, not just our spiritual life. The biblical account of her life doesn't shy away from the fact that she was a successful businesswoman. And why would it? God cares about our business pursuits! He is the One who gave us those gifts to be used in the first place. If it weren't for Lydia's business, would she have had the means and the space to house Paul and his companions overnight? Maybe not. Later in her story, she once again offers up her home as a place for the early church to meet. Lydia didn't operate what we would call a "Christian" or faith-based business, but her business and her lifestyle of faith was certainly helping Christians. Related: What Happens When You Use Your Gifts One of my favorite Bible passages speaks to not only using your gifts, but also using them as a light for others: "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV) How Can Faith Affect Your Business? As a Christian, when you live a life of faith, you are being true to yourself. But you may have wondered how prominent your faith should be in your business. There are two ways to approach faith in business: Your business is identified as being in the Christian sector. Your business is in the general marketplace but is owned by someone of faith. Choosing which approach to take in your business is an important decision, because it will affect your: Marketing Unique position Labeling Access to other markets In this episode, I'll explain the real differences here and give lots of examples. I want you to decide which path makes the most sense for you. That way, you can reach the most people! My First Guest This Week Is Alli Worthington! Alli is an author, speaker, mom of five boys (send prayers), and the executive director of Propel Women. She's an amazing entrepreneurial coach, helping everyone from small-business owners all the way up to fortune 500 companies! But being a successful businesswoman wasn't always part of Alli's story. She shares her journey of dealing with an unsettling force that so many of us deal with: anxiety. Alli remembers one day in a Target parking lot when she broke down in tears. She called a friend for help, and her friend told her, "You're so held down by the weight of fear and worry-and you're trying to make safety your god." But Alli thought that was normal. She thought anxiety was just part of modern life. It wasn't until the release of her first book-while simultaneously walking with her husband through a serious illness-that she was able to confront her fears head on and break free from anxiety. Alli's story is a very real example of how tough, terrifying and downright unpleasant it can be to put one foot in front of the other, trusting God and pursuing what you love in the face of fear. In this podcast, Alli and I talk about: How men and...

There's this idea out there that building relationships is just easy for some people. And sure, if you have a social personality and are naturally an extrovert, or if you love to talk and connect with people, then yes, maybe building relationships is easier for you. But your personality style doesn't have to dictate your ability to build relationships! After all, everyone has a little bit of insecurity in them. As you can probably guess, I'm a huge extrovert. But I still get a little nervous walking into a party or situation where I don't know anyone. We all know what it's like to feel like the new kid at school. So for those of us who have a super extroverted personality style, it doesn't mean that we won't ever struggle with building relationships. And building relationships isn't only vital in your life, but it's also vital to your business. Everything you will ever achieve in your life will come through people-so becoming good at building relationships is one of the most important skills you can develop. In fact, if you don't have key relationships, you won't get anywhere. Related: 4 Friends You Need in Business Why Are Business Relationships so Important? Even if the only person that works in your business is you, you still don't have to go it alone. Building strong business relationships will set you up for success in these areas: Getting your products into stores Collaborating with bloggers and influencers Gaining referrals for new customers Connecting your clients with supplemental vendors Overcoming challenges when you get stuck And who doesn't need help with at least one of those things? So, in this episode, I'll give you the five steps to making strong business connections. My Guest This Week Is Emily Richett! Emily is a publicist, consultant, and the founder of Richett Media. She is a former TV news reporter. While in that role, she covered over 6,000 inspiring stories about entrepreneurs, businesses and nonprofit organizations. So, she's basically an expert on how to share the story of your business and get exposure. Sharing your story is one of the strongest ways you can build business relationships and get PR, and we're going to learn so much from her! In this podcast, Emily and I talk about: Why it's easier than you think to get media coverage, especially as a small-business owner How to think like a reporter and pitch your story as valuable to them, so that they actually want to help you get exposure and access to their audience The best times of year to seek out local media coverage based on your type of business Overcoming Imposter Syndrome when you're competing with owners of bigger businesses How to build amazing relationships with reporters and influencers so they have you back for repeat collaborations Creative, outside-the-box ways to promote your business From Building Relationships to Busting Business Loan Myths I was reading a Forbes article the other day called "Best Small-Business Loans For Women in 2018," and I was encouraged to see the latest stats on female-owned businesses. Basically, y'all are killing it. But the article goes on to talk about all the different ways you can get small-business financing. Now, you know I'm all about y'all growing your businesses. What I don't want you to do is believe that taking out loans is the only way to do that. In fact, taking out a loan isn't an indicator of success or growth-it's a risk and a loss of power. But I am here to tell you that you can chase your dream and achieve success-and do it all debt-free! In fact, I know and have personally seen countless women who've done just that. Just listen to my podcast interview with Melissa Hinnant, founder of Grace & Lace, who did $800,000 in sales her first year in business without borrowing a penny. In this episode, I'm going on a bit of Christy-rant to address this issue head-on! Plus, I'll answer a question...

Digital Marketing Strategies That Work "People will take away one thing, and that's if you make your point really clear." Looking back on my earliest speaking events as part of Dave Ramsey's speaking group, it makes me cringe to think about how I made one of the most common mistakes that all new speakers make. I tried to say everything. I would get onstage for a speaking event, thinking, Well, I've just got to tell them all the things. I need to talk about life balance, living from your values, making time for yourself, how to manage your money and get out of debt, and also how to be a good parent and achieve all your life goals and grow your business . . . How effective do you think that strategy was? Not very, because I was trying to say five million different things! And people can't process-let alone remember-five million things at once. People will take away one, maybe two things, if you make your point(s) really clear. But it took me several speaking engagements of not connecting with audiences to realize I needed to choose just one main thing I wanted to say. And the same is true for your digital marketing. Just like we talked about in episode 31 with Donald Miller, we need to be crystal clear with our audience so they know exactly what our brand is about. We need to let them know the one problem we'll solve for them-one, not ten. (Or, like in my early stage presentations, not five million.) This same strategy applies to digital marketing-just as it does to any other kind of marketing. "Okay, hold up!" (You might say.) You might be thinking that digital marketing sounds intimidating and complicated. You might be daunted by the term "digital marketing" if you don't actually know what it is. So What Is Digital Marketing? It's easier than you think! Digital marketing is simply marketing on a digital platform. Digital marketing includes: Social Media Blogs and articles Email Webinars Okay, so now that you know what digital marketing is, let's work on your digital marketing strategy. In this episode, I'll give you the four things you need to know in order to build a digital marketing strategy that works. Plus, I'll break down other digital marketing concepts and make them easy to understand, including campaigns, funnels, lead magnets and building email lists. My Guest This Week Is Molly Pittman! Molly is a digital marketing expert and educator, and she has an amazing story about building an incredible career specifically in digital marketing. As we dive deeper into this topic of digital marketing strategies, there's no one better to have in on the conversation than Molly! Early in her career, her job as an intern at DigitalMarketer was to create organic social media posts. As marketing and technology advanced so did her skillset, and she learned all about paid ads on Facebook and paid search on Google. She rose up through the ranks at DigitalMarketer to eventually become a VP, and recently branched out to start her own consulting agency. In this podcast episode, Molly and I talk about: The mistakes she sees business owners make when it comes to digital marketing and how to avoid them How to get new customers into your marketing funnel using lead magnets The attributes your lead magnet should have to be seen as highly valuable and get lots of people to sign up Ways to keep your audience and email list engaged without overwhelming them Plus, I'll give you a pep talk on where you're standing with your goals at the moment and answer your questions from our live Business Boutique events. 1:03 Digital Marketing Strategies That Work 10:44 Interview with Molly Pittman 42:37 Goals Check-In 45:51 #ASKCHRISTYWRIGHT 54:47 Homework Get Christy's Social Media Cheat Sheet by filling out the form here! To save $5 on any Business Boutique 1-Day ticket, use the code BBWRIGHT. Sign up for the Business Boutique Academy at BusinessBoutique.com/Academy....

What makes a highly successful woman? Society often paints a picture of success that looks like this: Either you're home all the time, dedicating 100% of your time to your family, or you're at work all the time, completely abandoning your friends, family and the rest of your life. But as I discussed with Laura Vanderkam in Episode 34: Excuses That Steal Your Time, that's a myth! The truth is, you can be successful in multiple areas of your life. You can be successful in your career, your relationships, your business and even your health and exercise routines-get this!-all in the same life.     It's all about priorities. When every waking minute is taken up for work, routine responsibilities, or taking care of others, you'll feel the opposite of successful; you'll feel stressed out and set back. For example, when I start to feel overwhelmed, it's usually because I'm not spending time on the things that I care about the most. So, I've made it a habit to take a look at my schedule when that happens. It's pretty eye-opening to see what gets my time. If I'm honest, there are a lot of unworthy motivations I have that sometimes creep to the top of my priority list, such as: Pleasing people Being the hero Accomplishments Keeping up with Facebook Pursuing perfectionism Approval Feeling needed Chasing those motivations, no matter how much effort I put into them, always leaves me coming up short. I spin my wheels, and I feel like a failure. The problem with achieving success in your life (and mine!) isn't that we aren't doing enough, and it's not that we're doing too much. Often, it's that we're doing the wrong things. So, let's talk about the right things! And don't worry, you don't have to sacrifice-at least, not in the way you think you do. In this episode, I'll reveal habits, characteristics and traits that are present in the lives of highly successful women. I'll dive into the seven things you need to prioritize to achieve success. And the great news it this: If you don't currently have them, I promise you can learn to practice all of them starting today! By the way, you know what's not on the list of traits of successful women? Pleasing people Being the hero Seeking approval (You get the idea!) My guest this week is Ali Brown! Ali is the host of the highly successful Glambition podcast, and her passion is to see women succeed in business! Ali's story of success began with recognizing what she was good at. She was a mover and a shaker working in an office of-as she puts it-"turtles!" It didn't take long for Ali to realize her own potential, get excited about doing things her own way, and quit her day job to pursue her own freelance business full time. In my conversation with Ali, we'll talk about: What it means to blaze your own trail, do business differently, and design your business around your life How Ali got started using email newsletters when the Internet was just becoming a thing The benefits of being inspired by other women rather than intimidated by them What success really looks like today Three trends she sees in highly successful women Success Story: Abbey Ashley's Wildly Successful Courses & Coaching! Our success story this week is Abbey Ashley, founder of The Virtual Savvy. Abbey says she helps "savvy starters launch and grow their virtual assistant business to 5K months and beyond!" Abbey took what she knew from being a virtual assistant and turned that knowledge and experience into online courses. While her first course launch was by no means successful-she only had one customer sign up-she didn't give up there. The next iteration of her business was in virtual assistant business coaching, and she started The Virtual Savvy in August 2016. Since then, she's become hyper-focused and (at the time of publication) has made over $300K in sales! I'm so excited that she's sharing her strategy for success with us. Plus,...

Which Lies Are Holding You Back? Many of you are being held back by something you aren't even aware of: You're believing lies about yourselves and about your businesses. See, when you believe something that isn't true, you're living our life based on misinformation. You're missing out on something that could change your life, that could make you happy or even make you a better person and open up opportunities you couldn't even imagine. Recently a woman came up to me at a speaking event and told me she'd been hearing me for about a year on The Dave Ramsey Show. But every time she heard me, she thought, "Well, that's nice. But it's not for me. I could never start my own business." Eight months later, guess what she's doing? She's running her own business! I love her story because it's a great example of how we all believe lies we think are true. And if you don't hear the truth, you're going to continue to live in those lies and you'll never be free to win. So in this episode, I'll talk about five common lies that I see women believing about business. My Guest is Annie F. Downs! My guest this week is my dear friend, best-selling author and speaker, Annie F. Downs. Annie is no stranger to anyone who's attended a Business Boutique event, because she's our amazing and hilarious host. But I can't wait for you to get to know her journey on a more personal level. In this episode, she'll share: Why she decided to pursue bravery in her day-to-day life How to create a habit of courage What can happen when you stop believing lies in your life and start pursuing acts of bravery Success Story: Melanie Gaye and Her Nerdy Skirts! Our success story this week is Melanie Gaye, owner of Pretty Smart Kids. She makes beautiful, custom nerdy skirts for girls! Melanie is actually a former engineer-turned-entrepreneur, and her business idea came about as the solution to a problem she found in the marketplace. If your little girl is more interested in science and dinosaurs than she is polka dots and dolls, you pretty much have to shop in the little boys' department. So, she cut back to working part time at her day job to pursue making skirts for those girls as a side-business! You'll love hearing about the "Why" behind her business, and you'll be encouraged by what her life looks like since pursuing something she's truly passionate about. Plus, I'll answer some of your burning business questions from our Business Boutique event in November. 1:14 Five Lies You Believe About Business 20:34 Interview with Annie F. Downs 48:45 BB Success Story with Melanie Gaye 61:03 #ASKCHRISTYWRIGHT 70:03 Homework Get Christy's Goal Setting Tool by filling out the form here! To save $5 on any Business Boutique 1-Day ticket, use the code BBWRIGHT. Sign up for the Business Boutique Academy at BusinessBoutique.com/Academy. If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week.

Let's talk about goals for your business-but not big, huge, overwhelming goals. Instead, we'll talk about tiny, baby, daily, micro goals. These are the smaller goals along the way that it takes to get to the finish line. In this episode, I'll teach you how to break down your big goals into weekly and then daily goals so you can actually achieve them! My guest this week is speaker, best-selling author, podcast host and my good friend, Chris Hogan. He'll get real practical with us about how to eliminate excuses and chase down our results so that we can run businesses and lives that we're proud of. And Chris and I will answer your burning business questions together! Our success story this week is Naomi Duncan, owner of Naomi Ruth Photography. Naomi has grown her humble hobby into a business that brings her over $40K per year on the side! 1:08 Hitting Big Goals By Winning Small 12:03 Interview with Chris Hogan 41:22 BB Success Story with Naomi Duncan 52:29 #ASKCHRISTYWRIGHT 64:11 Homework Get Christy's Goal Setting Tool by filling out the form here! To save $5 on any Business Boutique 1-Day ticket, use the code BBWRIGHT. Sign up for the Business Boutique Academy at BusinessBoutique.com/Academy. If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week.

This episode is all about recognizing and celebrating you, and the hard work you've put in all year long! We'll hear the story of Catherine Cramer's Southern Home Bakery and Kathy Lozano's Parents' Academy. We'll also hear from the incredible women behind businesses like Howdy Honey, Old St. Augustine Gourmet Foods, and more. Here's to another year making money doing what you love! 1:20 BB Success Story with Catherine Cramer 17:20 BB Email Success Stories 44:18 BB Success Story with Kathy Lozano 54:10 #ASKCHRISTYWRIGHT Click here to use Christy's Profit Potential Tool  To save $5 on any Business Boutique 1-Day ticket, use the code BBWRIGHT. Sign up for the Business Boutique Academy at BusinessBoutique.com/Academy. - If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week.

Shame is the root of so many things we experience in our lives, whether we realize it or not. It may be holding you back in your business, in your relationships, and from believing in yourself. Shame is a powerful, far-reaching force that will keep you from living the abundant life that God has for you! So in this episode, we're going to change what we believe about ourselves. We're going to overcome the mistakes you've made in your past, or maybe the wrong that's been done to you. It's time to remember who you are, and more importantly, Whose you are. My guest this week is my friend, author and speaker Lisa Bevere! Lisa co-founded Messenger International, and she'll tell us how she broke through the limits she thought were on her life to step into the big things God had for her. This is one of my favorite and most powerful interviews ever on the podcast! Our success story is Kasey Hill, founder of the financial literacy program, Growing Wealth From the Start. Kasey began her business while she was a stay-at-home mom, so she's a great example of balancing the roles of mom and business owner. Plus, I'll answer your business questions from Business Boutique events! 1:08 Shake Off Your Shame 17:59 Interview with Lisa Bevere 44:58 BB Success Story with Kasey Hill 54:50 #ASKCHRISTYWRIGHT 63:28 Homework Get Christy's step-by-step guide to shake the shame by filling out the form here! To save $5 on any Business Boutique 1-Day ticket, use the code BBWRIGHT. Sign up for the Business Boutique Academy at BusinessBoutique.com/Academy. - If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week.

For many of us, the holidays are a time when it's easy to be thankful. But when the celebrations are over and the decorations are packed, a spirit of gratitude becomes harder to maintain. So in this episode, we're going to dive deep into the benefits of incorporating daily gratitude into your business and life. I'll share my top twelve reasons I'm thankful for thankfulness! My guest this week is pastor, speaker and host of the Life, Money, Hope podcast, Chris Brown. As a businessman, father, husband and pastor, he has helped people discover what it means to intentionally pursue their God-given purpose, and he'll share his tips on how to incorporate gratitude into your daily life! Our success story is Jane VanOsdol, owner of Botanically Me. Jane is taking the concepts she's learned from Business Boutique and is in the process of relaunching her business. Plus, I'll answer your business questions from our Nashville Business Boutique event! 1:06 The 12 Benefits of Gratitude 16:54 Interview with Chris Brown 42:33 BB Success Story with Jane VanOsdol 49:56 #ASKCHRISTYWRIGHT 58:44 Homework Get Christy's 14 Days of Gratitude Journal by filling out the form here! To save $5 on any Business Boutique 1-Day ticket, use the code BBWRIGHT. Sign up for the Business Boutique Academy at BusinessBoutique.com/Academy. - If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week.