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Speaker 1: The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast are

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Speaker 1: solely those of the individuals involved and do not represent

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Speaker 1: those of Intouitt, QuickBooks or any of its cornerstone brands

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Speaker 1: or employees. This podcast does not constitute financial, legal, or

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Speaker 1: other professional advice or services. No assurance is given that

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Speaker 1: the info is comprehensive, accurate, or free of errors, and

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Speaker 1: the information presented is for general information purposes only. Into

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Speaker 1: It QuickBooks does not have any responsibility for updating or

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Speaker 1: advising any information presented. Listeners should verify statements before relying

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Speaker 1: on them. QuickBooks Money is a standalone Into It offering

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Speaker 1: banking services provided by Green Dot Bank member FDIC. Hi everyone,

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Speaker 1: I'm jinnyse Torres.

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Speaker 2: And I'm Austin Hankwitz, and welcome to another episode of

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Speaker 2: Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories, a podcast brought

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Speaker 2: to you by Ruby Studios from iHeartMedia and Into It QuickBooks.

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Speaker 1: In each episode, we chat with entrepreneurs and small business

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Speaker 1: owners as they share their stories about the successes and

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Speaker 1: challenges of owning and growing a business. This episode is

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Speaker 1: a very special episode.

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Speaker 2: That's right, this is our own personal holiday gift to you.

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Speaker 2: This is a bonus episode, but it's not just any

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Speaker 2: bonus episode. We recorded our interview with business and leadership

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Speaker 2: coach mary Ella de la Mora live from the Into

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Speaker 2: It Innovation Summit, and we're really excited because at the

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Speaker 2: summit we talked to Mariyella about a very unique type

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Speaker 2: of entrepreneurship, and that's solopreneurship.

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Speaker 1: Yes, and Austin, even though you and I now work

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Speaker 1: with other people at this point in our career, we

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Speaker 1: are both very familiar with solopreneurship as it's how we

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Speaker 1: operated for so long and for so many people. Growth

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Speaker 1: does not include employees or building a staff. For freelancers

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Speaker 1: and artists and many others, it makes the most sense

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Speaker 1: to remain a solopreneur. But I'm curious, Austin, when you

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Speaker 1: were a solopreneur, how did you define success for your business?

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Speaker 2: For me, I define success as progress.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 2: So rewind three years ago and Austin Hankwitz is over there,

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Speaker 2: pluging away, trying to write the best newsletter he could

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Speaker 2: host the best live streams possible and begin to monetize

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Speaker 2: his audience in a meaningful way. And as solopreneurs, we

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Speaker 2: aren't given a playbook. No one's saying go do this, now,

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Speaker 2: go do this, and now go do that. Right, we

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Speaker 2: have to make those decisions for ourselves. So when I'm

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Speaker 2: thinking to myself, Okay, I just quit my job, what

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Speaker 2: should I be doing now, keeping that idea of consistent

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Speaker 2: progress and one step at a time in mind was

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Speaker 2: paramount for my success. But Jenius, I know solopreneurship means

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Speaker 2: a lot of different things for a lot of different people.

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Speaker 2: What does success mean to you as a solopreneur?

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Speaker 1: For me, it means doing more of what you enjoy

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Speaker 1: and less of what you don't because you are on

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Speaker 1: your own. So in the beginning of my journey, I

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Speaker 1: was trying to throw so many different things at the wall,

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Speaker 1: and not everything was necessarily worth my time and effort,

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Speaker 1: and especially not when you're trying to piecemeal a paycheck

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Speaker 1: with a bunch of different tasks and opportunities. So I

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Speaker 1: started getting really clear on what are those things that

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Speaker 1: I enjoy doing, What are those things that have a

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Speaker 1: higher return on investment for my time? And then what's

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Speaker 1: the stuff that I can automate to maybe a software

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Speaker 1: or maybe just removing it from my business processes altogether

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Speaker 1: that are going to allow me to make more while

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Speaker 1: not also working more. And I like to tell newbie

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Speaker 1: entrepreneurs and especially the solopreneurs, if you create a rat race,

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Speaker 1: that's your fault at this point because this is your business.

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Speaker 1: So you have to be the one that dictates where

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Speaker 1: those boundaries exist.

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Speaker 2: One hundred percent. Now what do you say? We jump

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Speaker 2: into our great conversation that was recorded live from the

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Speaker 2: Intuit Innovation Summit with our guest solopreneur Mary Ella de

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Speaker 2: la Mora.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, and a quick note to our listeners, don't forget

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Speaker 1: to keep listening after the interview, as Austin and I

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Speaker 1: share some major mind the business news with you at

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Speaker 1: the end of the episode.

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Speaker 2: Let's get into it.

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Speaker 1: Hey everyone, I'm Austin Hankwotz and I am Janice Torres

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Speaker 1: and this is Mine the Business Small Business Success Stories,

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Speaker 1: a podcast brought to you by Into It QuickBooks and iHeartRadio,

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Speaker 1: and we're coming to you live from the Innovation Summit

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Speaker 1: in Northern California. Austin, I don't know about you, but

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Speaker 1: I am so excited for two reasons. First Off, this

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Speaker 1: is my first visit to like a tech company, and

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Speaker 1: I'm just like, I get it. I totally get why

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Speaker 1: y'all are doing this, okay, and honestly, from a creator's perspective,

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Speaker 1: we couldn't do what we do without companies like you.

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Speaker 1: We literally rely on software and the brilliant people that

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Speaker 1: build it to do what we do. So thank you

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Speaker 1: first of all for everything that you do for creators

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Speaker 1: like us. And I'm excited because we're talking about things

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Speaker 1: that are near and dear to our hearts. Solopreneurship and

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Speaker 1: defining success in a different.

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Speaker 2: Way, absolutely right. And to help us dive into these topics,

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Speaker 2: we are joined by mary Ella de la Mora. Maryelle

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Speaker 2: is an EQ certified business and leadership coach, helping women

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Speaker 2: of color grow their businesses and their teams through proven

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Speaker 2: identity specific mindset and leadership practices. Prior to her solopreneurship journey,

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Speaker 2: Mariella worked as a director of marketing for sixteen years,

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Speaker 2: where she helped build multi billion dollar companies and startups

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Speaker 2: help them build their profitable brands while growing and leading

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Speaker 2: award nominated marketing teams all around the world. Today, she

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Speaker 2: helps entrepreneurs and working professionals become competent and empowered leaders

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Speaker 2: by infusing identity specific mindset, emotional intelligence, and business strategy.

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Speaker 2: Mary Ella.

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Speaker 3: Welcome to the show.

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Speaker 2: Yea. So let's rewind to the early days of the business.

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Speaker 1: HM.

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Speaker 2: You know, you have this great experience working for these

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Speaker 2: multi billion dollar companies and the startups. You've done this

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Speaker 2: for sixteen years. Now, where do the idea for this

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Speaker 2: business really stem from? And as you were sort of

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Speaker 2: getting your reps in, were there any really big obstacles

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Speaker 2: that you had to overcome that were like, wait a second,

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Speaker 2: if I could do that, maybe I can actually do

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Speaker 2: this for a living.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the idea for the business it isn't like one

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Speaker 3: aha moment. I don't know. I rarely see that that's

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Speaker 3: the case. I think we all start with one small thing.

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Speaker 3: It's kind of like you just know to plant a

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Speaker 3: seed and then you just start watering that seed and

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Speaker 3: you're like, I don't really know if this is a

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Speaker 3: seed for like a fruit tree or a plant, Like

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Speaker 3: I don't really know what this is, but I'm just

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Speaker 3: going to start doing it. So I really just started

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Speaker 3: by a discovering that coaching was so much bigger than

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Speaker 3: like executive coaching, sports coaches, you know, things like that,

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Speaker 3: Like there was coaches for so many different areas of life,

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Speaker 3: and I just started sharing my story and you know,

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Speaker 3: helping people with marketing because that was a transferable skill.

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Speaker 3: So I was like, cool, what's my most obvious transferable skill?

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Speaker 3: And I talked about marketing and then I talked about

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Speaker 3: this other thing that I saw as separate, which was like,

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Speaker 3: how my identity was being challenged by trying to do

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Speaker 3: this thing. And then I found this is like where

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Speaker 3: the community came in because I had already built the

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Speaker 3: community that I had so many people that just had

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Speaker 3: followed me for that that they were like me too.

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Speaker 3: And that's what brought up the curiosity around why are

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Speaker 3: all of these brilliant, successful, high achieving people all having

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Speaker 3: similar struggles that I don't necessarily see to the same

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Speaker 3: degree outside of our community. It definitely self doubt exists

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Speaker 3: for everyone, but that's really what it was. It's like

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Speaker 3: starting to think about sharing your story. A lot of

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Speaker 3: the times will show certain things, but I really was

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Speaker 3: always kind of looking at what is like an unmet

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Speaker 3: need that I'm seeing happening that I'm curious about solving.

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Speaker 1: You know, one thing I found with solopreneurs is like

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Speaker 1: that first time that you're successful. You don't actually believe

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Speaker 1: that you did that. Oh yeah, you think it's like

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Speaker 1: a fluke, and you're like, I don't have any idea

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Speaker 1: how this happened, don't ask me. Yeah, and if someone

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Speaker 1: asks you, okay, let's do it again, You're.

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Speaker 3: Like, I don't know.

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Speaker 2: I don't even know what to do.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So how do you combat those feelings to actually

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Speaker 1: own the success that you created.

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Speaker 3: It took me a while because it's still happens. It

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Speaker 3: does not matter how much evidence you have. You're just like,

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Speaker 3: that's it.

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Speaker 2: It's over.

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Speaker 3: Like I ran out stuff to say, so I have

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Speaker 3: had to because this is my marketing brain. That's like,

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Speaker 3: we need data, we need data. What is the data

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Speaker 3: that now? Because I've had to coach so many of

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Speaker 3: my clients through like yeah, but like I'm scared and

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Speaker 3: like I'm not booking sales calls and I'm just like,

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Speaker 3: but didn't you just do this thing like last quarter?

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Speaker 3: Like yeah, but it's only because like if someone referred

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Speaker 3: that person and this other person like heard about me

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Speaker 3: from someone else, and I'm like, but they wouldn't work

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Speaker 3: with you if you were like bad at what you do.

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Speaker 3: So I've literally had to create data. So like I

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Speaker 3: created something for my clients called success receipts, and it's

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Speaker 3: like if you were to go to a restaurant, it's

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Speaker 3: like what did you buy? Like what did you do?

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Speaker 3: So I'm like what did you do? Like what did

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Speaker 3: you do for marketing? How many offers did you make?

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Speaker 3: What thoughts were you having? What unhelpful thoughts were you having?

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Speaker 3: Did you get coached? What did you surrender? Like what

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Speaker 3: did you stop worrying about? Because success always comes with

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Speaker 3: like you let something go. You're just like, you know what,

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Speaker 3: I'm so tied. I'm just gonna like let it be.

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Speaker 3: And when they document it, like they've been able to

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Speaker 3: go back and be like, oh, I'm literally just not

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Speaker 3: making offers. And sometimes the answer is a lot simpler

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Speaker 3: than our minds want to make it. So I really

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Speaker 3: am an advocate of like document the things that are

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Speaker 3: working for you, because you are going to forget and

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Speaker 3: you're going to think it's over and you want to

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Speaker 3: show your brain evidence. Showing your brain evidence is like

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Speaker 3: a literal entrepreneurial skill because it'll say some crazy stuff

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Speaker 3: to you when it's scared.

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Speaker 2: I love the idea of those success per seats I

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Speaker 2: need to check that one out for myself.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, in your recollection, what is felt like the big

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Speaker 1: break for you in business when where you're just like, ooh,

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Speaker 1: there's something happening here.

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Speaker 3: Oof.

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Speaker 1: Okay.

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Speaker 3: So I started my coaching business right before the pandemic,

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Speaker 3: and I just remember it took so long to get

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Speaker 3: my first client that I think at a certain point

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Speaker 3: you think like, I don't know, this is my take forever.

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Speaker 3: And I think a couple months in, I feel like

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Speaker 3: I found my groove, like I found my message, and

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Speaker 3: then it started to come back to back and I

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Speaker 3: remember telling myself if I land three clients in two months,

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Speaker 3: I'm going to quit my job. And I kind of

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Speaker 3: said that because I was like that's crazy, like that's

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Speaker 3: probably not going to happen. And then it did happen,

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Speaker 3: and so I think that was the moment where I

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Speaker 3: was like, oh, this is the thing. It can happen

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Speaker 3: a lot faster than you think, and it's not linear.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. So I guess my first question right is we're

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Speaker 2: both solopreneurs, myself and Genia's here, So what does it

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Speaker 2: mean to you to be a solopreneur? Like what are

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Speaker 2: the advantages and the disadvantages that come with that title.

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Speaker 3: Well, first thing that came to mind was solopreneur is

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Speaker 3: like I came from corporate sixteen years. I was like, oh,

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Speaker 3: so your marketing, you're like product development, you are research

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Speaker 3: and development, your HR, you're like all the things. So

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Speaker 3: I think being a solopreneur really means like being agile, learning,

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Speaker 3: teaching yourself things, getting it wrong, kind of just being

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Speaker 3: willing to like messily wear all of the hats and

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Speaker 3: know that you're just going to do the best you

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Speaker 3: can because you're just learning. When you work for a company,

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Speaker 3: you kind of have to like vet things and there's

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Speaker 3: like layers, right, But when it's you, you're like I

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Speaker 3: can decide if I want to try again, if I

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Speaker 3: want to do something differently. So I feel like your

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Speaker 3: brain kind of clicks to become like a scientist in

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Speaker 3: a way. So I feel like the disadvantages it's all

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Speaker 3: on you, but the advantages is also all on you,

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Speaker 3: and you can just learn really quickly. And I think

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Speaker 3: for me, there's a lot of advantages in the sense

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Speaker 3: that like, part of the reason that I worked for

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Speaker 3: myself was that I'm a single parent. My daughter is six,

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Speaker 3: and I had climbed high enough up on the corporate

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Speaker 3: ladder that I knew it was never going to be

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Speaker 3: chill for me. So I'm able to like be the

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Speaker 3: PTA mom, go volunteer at school and like do those

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Speaker 3: things with her, and I can decide that I want

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Speaker 3: to take a month off in July to take her

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Speaker 3: on trips. So it really is the freedom, but it

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Speaker 3: is also like two sides of the coin of it

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Speaker 3: all being on you. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I always tell people, if you on the fastest path

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Speaker 1: to personal development, go start business, yep, because you're going

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Speaker 1: to confront every toxic narrative that's floating through your mind

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Speaker 1: in one way or another, either by yourself or with

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Speaker 1: the help of a therapist. Right.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, therapy is like a mandatory when you have a business.

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Speaker 3: I feel like it should be a business expense, honestly.

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Speaker 3: So what does success mean to you and your business

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Speaker 3: and how has that changed over time? I think now

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Speaker 3: it means feeling at peace and feeling like I'm in control.

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Speaker 3: I have freedom, I can make the decisions. That's also

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Speaker 3: difficult sometimes, but that and also feeling like I'm making

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Speaker 3: an impact and something that like really really really matters

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Speaker 3: to me and that's something that I didn't have before.

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Speaker 3: So I served first chen and I'm a daughter of immigrants,

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Speaker 3: so I feel like it just couldn't possibly be more

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Speaker 3: meaningful because I'm the one that decided, like what the

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Speaker 3: meaning is and who I wanted to help and what

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Speaker 3: problem I really like on fire to solve and think

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Speaker 3: about every single day. So that's what success means now.

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Speaker 3: But it used to mean like getting the accolades and

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Speaker 3: like my job title and how much money I made

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Speaker 3: and my grades. And it changed from some other system

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Speaker 3: deciding like what was good versus me sort of setting

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Speaker 3: that standard. And that's just huge because children of immigrants,

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Speaker 3: like we really just want to make our parents proud,

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Speaker 3: like we want to be their American dream, right. So

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Speaker 3: I think that's been the biggest shift, is like me

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Speaker 3: defining what that looks like for myself.

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Speaker 2: I think a lot of solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, small business owners,

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Speaker 2: especially entrepreneurs and solopreneurs. Right, we see the headlines of

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Speaker 2: that one person who raised twenty million dollars at this

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Speaker 2: billion you know whatever, right, and we kind of benchmark

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Speaker 2: ourselves against that. It's like, wait, should I be doing that?

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Speaker 2: They're younger than me, They're all like whatever that looks

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Speaker 2: like the dynamic in actuality, like just having that self

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Speaker 2: reflection and saying what am I doing this for? What

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Speaker 2: is my path? Like? That's so powerful?

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, So we know that the road to entrepreneurship is

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Speaker 1: a bit lonely. So how do you find the support

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Speaker 1: when you're self employed? And how or in his community

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Speaker 1: been to you in your business? Oh man, you absolutely

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Speaker 1: like need your community. I think that one thing that

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Speaker 1: I didn't realize I was doing early on, like before

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Speaker 1: I had ever made any money. I found community mostly

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Speaker 1: because I knew in my mind, this is a little

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Speaker 1: delusional to everything that I was raised to be like,

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Speaker 1: which is hard working, like he the hardest worker in

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Speaker 1: the room, you know, make your parents proud. And I

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Speaker 1: was like, I just want to go find other delusional

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Speaker 1: people who are like asking themselves the same questions, who

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Speaker 1: are like having this existential crisis, but they're all about it.

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Speaker 3: And they're like, yeah, like this is what I'm thinking

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Speaker 3: of doing. And so I actually knew to find community

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Speaker 3: before I knew what I was selling. So I found

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Speaker 3: courses that had Facebook groups that had communities built in,

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Speaker 3: and I just like met as many people as possible,

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Speaker 3: and that helped to change my brain to say, maybe

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Speaker 3: I'm not so crazy, Like there's other people that are

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Speaker 3: asking themselves similar questions, and I don't think that I

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Speaker 3: could have done it honestly if that wasn't normalized for me,

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Speaker 3: Because I think that when you're doing something that you've

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Speaker 3: never done before, that maybe your family like hasn't modeled before.

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Speaker 3: It's so easy to go back and say like I'm

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Speaker 3: not cut out for this, or this doesn't make sense,

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Speaker 3: or it's taking too long, or I'm doing something wrong,

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Speaker 3: but your community will remind you like, no, this is

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Speaker 3: just part of what comes with the territory. Are you

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Speaker 3: the eldest daughter by anygs? Okay, yeah, I thought so too,

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Speaker 3: my eldest daughter.

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Speaker 2: Problems, Yes, so mary Ella, What would you say to

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Speaker 2: the small business owner or solopreneurs specifically right now listening

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Speaker 2: who just got started. Maybe they just you know, hit

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Speaker 2: that first goal. It's their big break, but they have

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Speaker 2: no idea where to start. As it relates to building relationships,

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Speaker 2: finding community, is it a conference? Is it the Facebook groups? Like?

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Speaker 2: How truly step by step? Can someone go out and

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Speaker 2: find those people?

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Speaker 3: Oh? Man? I always think about like where are people

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Speaker 3: like me that are also like looking for the same answers.

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Speaker 3: So for me and what I've seen, it is like

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Speaker 3: these events in person, going to meet people. Some of

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Speaker 3: it could be online summits, it could be going to

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Speaker 3: join a group, even if it's just for the community,

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Speaker 3: Like there are these early stage entrepreneur groups where like

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Speaker 3: you're finding out what your thing is and like how

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Speaker 3: to monetize it, just anything where other like minded people are.

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Speaker 3: So I know that during the pandemic we couldn't go

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Speaker 3: and meet each other in person. I think that's why

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Speaker 3: I joined so many groups during that time. But yeah,

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Speaker 3: I honestly think that get on the email lists too

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Speaker 3: of like anything related to personal development and entrepreneurship, because

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Speaker 3: sometimes that's how you find out that there's like something

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Speaker 3: going on that you can join. So that's what I did.

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Speaker 3: I just plugged myself into email lists, podcasts, summits in person.

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Speaker 2: So here's a fun question. Have you ever like looked

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Speaker 2: at your community for answers where like you didn't think

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Speaker 2: about something when then someone chimed in and said, oh,

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Speaker 2: actually you should think about it this way, and you

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Speaker 2: like took their advice and it worked.

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Speaker 3: I feel like my business was kind of always the

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Speaker 3: result of feedback to some extent, not permission, but more

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Speaker 3: like validating yes, I have this need too. I also

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Speaker 3: struggle with this that really hit, that really resonated. So

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Speaker 3: I think your community will tell you what they need,

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Speaker 3: I guess in that sense. And that's still the case

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Speaker 3: because sometimes you'll see a problem or you'll see something

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Speaker 3: you want to do for them, but then they'll tell

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Speaker 3: you how they're thinking about it, which is kind of

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Speaker 3: like when I think about my marketing brain, I always

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Speaker 3: think about like speaking in your client's language. So a

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Speaker 3: lot of what you do learn in like building community

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Speaker 3: and listening to community is like how do they think

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Speaker 3: about that thing that you want to help them with?

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Speaker 3: So I think that's been really impactful too. I mean,

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Speaker 3: I think that.

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Speaker 1: Makes a lot of sense because you're kind of using

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Speaker 1: your community as that like test group, right, So you're

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Speaker 1: not just building a product and hoping you're going to

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Speaker 1: find people that are going to buy it. You're actually

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Speaker 1: building the excitement because you're building for the community after

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Speaker 1: you've received their feedback.

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Speaker 3: Yes, that's really key because I think that's one I

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Speaker 3: don't gonna say like mistake, but I think that that's

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Speaker 3: an idea that I had at the beginning, is you

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Speaker 3: need to come up with the course and who it's for.

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Speaker 3: But it's like you haven't necessarily gotten that like validated yet.

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Speaker 3: So it's like the community does come first, honestly, and

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Speaker 3: not everyone thinks about it that way. But I hope

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Speaker 3: that that's like empowering to hear to start the community

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Speaker 3: first because you don't need to have the answers, but

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Speaker 3: you can start the community now just by talking about

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Speaker 3: the need that you want to solve for or starting

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Speaker 3: to share your story. And that actually, I think keeps

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Speaker 3: a lot of people like in waiting because they think

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Speaker 3: that they need to have the solution outlined one hundred percent.

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Speaker 2: So something I've struggled with, you know, as a solopreneur

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Speaker 2: is scaling. I only have so much time every day,

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Speaker 2: oh yeah, and I can only lean in on so

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Speaker 2: many productivity tools to help me achieve more in that

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Speaker 2: twenty four hour period. So as a solopreneur, what does

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Speaker 2: it mean to scale your business? How do you scale?

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Speaker 2: And does scale even exist?

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Speaker 1: To me?

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Speaker 3: I found like scaling comes in so many ways it

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Speaker 3: almost seems like it's this big system or something, but

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Speaker 3: I think scaling a lot of times is like how

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Speaker 3: do I do what I'm doing more efficiently, better with

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Speaker 3: less of my time. So in a small way, one

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Speaker 3: of the things that helped me scale even without a

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Speaker 3: team is I'm a coach. So there have been eras

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Speaker 3: of my life for a long time where I was

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Speaker 3: like on fourteen coaching calls a week, but in order

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Speaker 3: to get to fourteen coaching calls a week, I had

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Speaker 3: to struggle with six because I was spending so much

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Speaker 3: time I was trying to figure out how to help

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Speaker 3: them and solve their problems. And then what would happen is, oh,

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Speaker 3: I'm having three different clients have a similar problem. I

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Speaker 3: just created a framework, you know, and like a lot

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Speaker 3: of times, you're doing it live, and then that framework

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Speaker 3: helps you help the other clients, so you're spending less time,

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Speaker 3: people are getting better results. So scaling could literally just

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Speaker 3: be getting better at what you do, delivering it faster, better,

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Speaker 3: and then eventually it's also things like using systems, like

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Speaker 3: I have content going out today that I'm not posting,

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Speaker 3: you know what I mean. It's things like that. It's

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Speaker 3: using you know, software and systems to help you automate

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Speaker 3: and schedule that actually pushes some of those things out

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Speaker 3: for you.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Delegation, right, really being able to identify what you

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Speaker 2: might be really good at but also might not be

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Speaker 2: that great at, and then hiring people that can really

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Speaker 2: help support you there. Yeah, I think sort of a

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Speaker 2: lesson that I've learned throughout my solopreneurship journey connect conspective.

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Speaker 2: What you said earlier is, you know, it's not about

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Speaker 2: making more money a solopreneur, Like that's eventually going to

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Speaker 2: cap out because I have so many hours a day.

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Speaker 2: It comes back to am I able to drive my vision,

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Speaker 2: my purpose, reasons why I'm doing this and feel good

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Speaker 2: about that and be able to hit the mark every

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Speaker 2: single day on that Like that to me is scale.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. I like that. It's consistency. It's almost like creating

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Speaker 3: a system for that. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I mean I think I would argue too, that it

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Speaker 1: would involve raising your prices so that you're actually making

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Speaker 1: more by not necessarily working more. Yes, because I think

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Speaker 1: that's a mistake that a lot of entrepreneurs make. We

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Speaker 1: tend to undervalue our skill set because we've been kind

435
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,600
Speaker 1: of programmed to see our abilities as like a dollar

436
00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:38,199
Speaker 1: per hour. You know when we're trying to figure out

437
00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:41,760
Speaker 1: how to scale. It's also how do I charge for

438
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:44,680
Speaker 1: the transformation versus the time?

439
00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:46,680
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, that's so important.

440
00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:52,760
Speaker 1: Coming up on Mind the Business Small Business success.

441
00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:57,480
Speaker 3: Stories, Playing it safe actually works against me because I'm

442
00:20:57,480 --> 00:20:59,520
Speaker 3: not giving myself or my business what it needs, like

443
00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,480
Speaker 3: cutting off the oxygen to the business. And there have

444
00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:05,119
Speaker 3: been times where I've pulled back and been like, Okay,

445
00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:06,560
Speaker 3: we need to cut here and I need to stop

446
00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,480
Speaker 3: doing this, and then I actually struggled more. We'll be

447
00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:10,800
Speaker 3: right back after the break.

448
00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:20,520
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories,

449
00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:26,199
Speaker 2: brought to you by iHeartRadio and Into It QuickBooks. So,

450
00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,679
Speaker 2: as a solopreneur, what are the essential tools and resources

451
00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:31,920
Speaker 2: you use to run your business? How did you find them?

452
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,080
Speaker 2: How are you implementing them? Give us the play by play.

453
00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:36,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is where community is important because you'll go

454
00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:38,160
Speaker 3: in and it's like, what do you guys use for this?

455
00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:41,840
Speaker 3: And then people will give you their two cents because

456
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,840
Speaker 3: there's just there's just so much. So I do use

457
00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,600
Speaker 3: QuickBooks for my bookkeeping. I do have an accountant though,

458
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,359
Speaker 3: because I don't know that I should be trusted with that.

459
00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:56,160
Speaker 3: But oh my gosh. We use Canva for design, Zoom

460
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,920
Speaker 3: for meetings, squadcasts for podcasts, and dscript to do like

461
00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:03,480
Speaker 3: AI automatic transcripts. So like I love now. I'm just like,

462
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:05,440
Speaker 3: how could we do this better and faster? How could

463
00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:09,280
Speaker 3: we take a coaching call and immediately extract snippets are

464
00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:12,080
Speaker 3: used Slack for like my community and I have a

465
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,080
Speaker 3: little hub for everything, and I think it helps me

466
00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,119
Speaker 3: feel like I can do it all without doing.

467
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,840
Speaker 2: It all one hundred percent, right. Having that tech stack

468
00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:20,680
Speaker 2: is really important.

469
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's true, And I think one of the things

470
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,440
Speaker 1: that scares people about this solopreneur journey is when you

471
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:29,680
Speaker 1: are starting to think about hiring help. Yeah, it doesn't

472
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:31,560
Speaker 1: always have to be people right away. It can be

473
00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,159
Speaker 1: the software, absolutely. You know, something as simple as like

474
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,560
Speaker 1: calendarly or squarespace scheduling can take those minutes that you're

475
00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:40,600
Speaker 1: spending going back and forth when can we hop on

476
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,960
Speaker 1: a call? Those things all can help you scale without

477
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:45,360
Speaker 1: necessarily having to hire too.

478
00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:49,040
Speaker 3: Exactly. I'm thinking of flow desk to have an automated

479
00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:52,080
Speaker 3: email sequence that when someone opts in, they get three

480
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:55,240
Speaker 3: emails or five emails introducing them to you and your brand,

481
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:56,919
Speaker 3: and how you can help them like that is kind

482
00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,639
Speaker 3: of scaling and then having the calendlies and we use

483
00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:03,199
Speaker 3: later for prescheduling, social media and all those things. So

484
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,280
Speaker 3: like these things can also like work for you. And

485
00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,639
Speaker 3: as a solopreneur, I feel like we also are like

486
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 3: the most adept at getting the most done with those

487
00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:16,399
Speaker 3: resources because we don't default to just hiring, so you'll

488
00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:18,320
Speaker 3: become like an accidental like tech x.

489
00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,000
Speaker 2: Well, actually, you know, speaking of QuickBooks, QuickBooks money is

490
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,760
Speaker 2: going to be a game changer for solopreneurs. Right is

491
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:29,320
Speaker 2: offering business banking tools with a game changing five percent

492
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,840
Speaker 2: annual percentage yield. It allows entrepreneurs and business owners to

493
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,000
Speaker 2: business differently. So I'm curious, Mary Ella, how do you

494
00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:38,480
Speaker 2: set yourself apart from your competitors? How do you do

495
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:39,640
Speaker 2: business differently?

496
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:42,320
Speaker 3: I think that a big part of what I do is,

497
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:46,840
Speaker 3: like I focus on what my specific community needs, meaning

498
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:51,879
Speaker 3: like how their backgrounds and their lived experiences are creating

499
00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:55,840
Speaker 3: specific challenges that I can solve. So I'm a leadership coach,

500
00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:57,600
Speaker 3: I'm a business coach, and I'm a leadership coach. I

501
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:00,000
Speaker 3: kind of give you an example that when I was

502
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,800
Speaker 3: certified as a leadership coach. We were taught someone has

503
00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,480
Speaker 3: a certain emotional intelligence ranking in a certain area, how

504
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:08,639
Speaker 3: do we build it? But I always come in with

505
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,960
Speaker 3: the curiosity of, like, why is this particularly hard for

506
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:15,399
Speaker 3: my people? And then if you can solve a niche

507
00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:17,679
Speaker 3: problem for your people. That's what I think sets me

508
00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,240
Speaker 3: apart is that I really do center the first gen community.

509
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:21,960
Speaker 3: I don't just say I want to help them because

510
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,919
Speaker 3: I'm first gen. I'm actually like studying them and studying

511
00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,440
Speaker 3: their brain, studying why do they struggle with the things

512
00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:29,000
Speaker 3: that they do, why are they so great at the

513
00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:30,760
Speaker 3: things that they're great at? And how can I become

514
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,639
Speaker 3: the best person with that lens. That's I think how

515
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,000
Speaker 3: anyone can set themselves apart is really thinking about like

516
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,159
Speaker 3: your specific person. But that's always been it for me.

517
00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:39,360
Speaker 2: That's so powerful.

518
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,399
Speaker 3: Yeah, I really love that approach. So I know you've

519
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:44,720
Speaker 3: probably learned a lot of lessons along the way as

520
00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:48,240
Speaker 3: a solopreneur. What do you wish you'd known at the beginning?

521
00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:52,280
Speaker 3: That's a good question. I think it's that I'm going

522
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:58,080
Speaker 3: to learn how to hold ups and downs and like

523
00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:00,159
Speaker 3: I don't want to say positive emotions or nega of

524
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:02,480
Speaker 3: emotions because there aren't. But I wish that I knew

525
00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:05,639
Speaker 3: that solopreneurship was going to introduce me to like the

526
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,399
Speaker 3: full human experience, because I think that for such a

527
00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:11,720
Speaker 3: long time, and many of us think like, something's wrong

528
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:13,840
Speaker 3: with you because you're having a hard time or because

529
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,760
Speaker 3: you have self doubt, but it really is part of

530
00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,359
Speaker 3: the process, and so I think, instead of judging it,

531
00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:21,840
Speaker 3: it's like, Okay, well, what do I need? How can

532
00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:26,120
Speaker 3: community help me? How can a coach or literally going

533
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:30,080
Speaker 3: to therapy? And I don't really see them as like

534
00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:32,960
Speaker 3: positive or negative anymore. Sometimes I even look at what

535
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,320
Speaker 3: you would perceive to be negative emotion, like something like

536
00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:39,119
Speaker 3: imposter syndrome, right, and being like, okay, imposter syndrome is

537
00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:42,199
Speaker 3: showing me that, like I'm doing something that passed me,

538
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:45,880
Speaker 3: didn't think was possible, and now I'm like, okay, bring

539
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:48,080
Speaker 3: it up. Now. This is telling me I'm adding in

540
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:53,199
Speaker 3: the right direction. It's getting comfortable being uncomfortable, yeah, constantly,

541
00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:55,720
Speaker 3: and then what feels comfortable, You're like, what's next?

542
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, what's been the hardest lesson that you've had to learn?

543
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,400
Speaker 1: Because you know, despite what social media says entrepreneurship, it's

544
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:04,440
Speaker 1: not always unicorns and rainbows.

545
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,360
Speaker 3: Man, there's been a lot. I don't know if it's

546
00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:10,679
Speaker 3: like a lesson. I'd say that, like, my relationship with

547
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:14,120
Speaker 3: money is probably tested more than anything in my entire

548
00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,879
Speaker 3: life because you don't have a paycheck. I mean, I'm

549
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,120
Speaker 3: an escorp now, so I have a paycheck, but I'm

550
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,440
Speaker 3: also the person who provides the money for the paycheck.

551
00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,080
Speaker 3: The hardest part for me, and I think this is

552
00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:27,040
Speaker 3: very much like a first gen thing and being a

553
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:31,520
Speaker 3: single parent that I'm like, I have to learn how

554
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:34,199
Speaker 3: to trust myself. And I think the harder lesson was

555
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:39,840
Speaker 3: more that sometimes like playing it safe actually works against

556
00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:42,159
Speaker 3: me because I'm not giving myself or my business what

557
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:45,240
Speaker 3: it needs, like cutting off the oxygen to the business.

558
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:47,679
Speaker 3: And there have been times where I've pulled back and

559
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:49,159
Speaker 3: been like, Okay, we need to cut here and I

560
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,680
Speaker 3: need to stop doing this, and then I actually struggled more.

561
00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,080
Speaker 3: So I think that that is probably one of the

562
00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:58,479
Speaker 3: hardest lessons. Was like, your relationship with money is an

563
00:26:58,640 --> 00:26:59,840
Speaker 3: entrepreneurial skill.

564
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,359
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. So I struggle with this, But I

565
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:04,320
Speaker 2: really want to hear your answer, especially for the person

566
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,520
Speaker 2: listening right now who is also probably struggling with this problem.

567
00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:10,280
Speaker 2: I've got contractors, I've got vendors, I've got all these

568
00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:12,760
Speaker 2: things that I'm managing behind the scenes as a solopreneur.

569
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:17,720
Speaker 2: What tips, tricks, hacks, ideas, how do you really hone

570
00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:19,520
Speaker 2: in on that skill and be able to sort of

571
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:22,040
Speaker 2: organize that and keep it flowing. So you're scaling your.

572
00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:25,160
Speaker 3: Business with like getting everybody kind of doing well exactly

573
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,720
Speaker 3: needs to be done. I have just found like one

574
00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:31,879
Speaker 3: of the biggest challenges is like there isn't actually like

575
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:34,879
Speaker 3: clear written expectations. It's kind of like you bring someone

576
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:36,960
Speaker 3: in and then you're like, Okay, I'm just going to

577
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:38,960
Speaker 3: like verbally explain it to them, but you don't have

578
00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:42,199
Speaker 3: like standards like do we have a policy on like

579
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:44,640
Speaker 3: what have I actually documented what it is that I want?

580
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:46,919
Speaker 3: And that's part of scaling is almost like turning a

581
00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:50,800
Speaker 3: decision into a policy and so bringing people into your

582
00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:53,879
Speaker 3: business like having clear like this is exactly what I

583
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:56,320
Speaker 3: want you to do by when how do we know

584
00:27:56,359 --> 00:27:59,159
Speaker 3: that we're actually giving clear instruction? So I think is

585
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,639
Speaker 3: that's like part of it. And I think also just

586
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:06,280
Speaker 3: clear priorities because I think part of even where like

587
00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 3: contractors will struggle is like we'll tell them this is

588
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:10,800
Speaker 3: what we're doing, but then we'll come in with like

589
00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,840
Speaker 3: a bunch of conflicting other things and then we're not

590
00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:17,320
Speaker 3: planning far enough ahead sometimes and you know, things happen.

591
00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:21,240
Speaker 3: But I think that just leaders will send conflicting messages

592
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,240
Speaker 3: to like their teams, and then that's kind of what

593
00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:27,199
Speaker 3: keeps everybody scrambling, and it's inevitable. But I think creating

594
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:28,960
Speaker 3: systems of like and then how do you want to

595
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:31,920
Speaker 3: be kept informed when all those things and you're not

596
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:34,000
Speaker 3: going to know all that stuff up front? Literally every

597
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:37,639
Speaker 3: single time something goes wrong, every single time, I'm always like, cool,

598
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:40,240
Speaker 3: do I need to make a decision about this? And

599
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:42,840
Speaker 3: if so, I'm going to document it. And if something

600
00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:46,440
Speaker 3: went wrong, why what is the root cause of this

601
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:49,720
Speaker 3: so we can solve it one time forever. So I

602
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,280
Speaker 3: think a big part of leadership is like what's the

603
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:54,959
Speaker 3: root cause? Instead of just being like, oh, we forgot

604
00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:57,080
Speaker 3: to loop in this person, it's like, how can we

605
00:28:57,120 --> 00:28:59,080
Speaker 3: make sure that this doesn't happen in the future. And

606
00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:02,080
Speaker 3: even when I give back to contractors, it's never about

607
00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:04,520
Speaker 3: like why did you do this? It's like what happened

608
00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:06,440
Speaker 3: in like the process that this was missed, and like,

609
00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:09,000
Speaker 3: how can we make sure that like we clean this up.

610
00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:10,040
Speaker 3: I love it.

611
00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:12,040
Speaker 1: I feel like you have a bit of an engineering

612
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:14,240
Speaker 1: brain because I'm thinking, like, it sounds like you're talking

613
00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,920
Speaker 1: about SOPs or standard operating procedures, right, Yeah, And that's

614
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:19,440
Speaker 1: one of those things I had to figure out too,

615
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:23,120
Speaker 1: when I was looking at getting additional support, Like I mean,

616
00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:25,040
Speaker 1: we have an SOP for how to record a podcast

617
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:27,120
Speaker 1: episode or like how to book a podcast guest, and

618
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:30,280
Speaker 1: you don't think about how many steps you have to

619
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,560
Speaker 1: take personally to do this. But then when you're trying

620
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:34,600
Speaker 1: to explain to somebody else like how this actually works,

621
00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,479
Speaker 1: writing things down is very very useful.

622
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:39,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then you actually get to empty your brain,

623
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:41,560
Speaker 3: because that's the thing about when you have a business.

624
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:44,440
Speaker 3: Your brain is such a busy place that I think

625
00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:48,200
Speaker 3: about an SOP as like emptying it out. And if

626
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:51,200
Speaker 3: I'm going to give directions, sometimes what I'll do is like, hey,

627
00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:53,640
Speaker 3: we forgot to do this, or I'm like I we

628
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:55,560
Speaker 3: literally didn't forget. I never told you to do it,

629
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:57,280
Speaker 3: And then I'm like, can you write that down for me?

630
00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:58,800
Speaker 3: You don't even have to be the person doing it

631
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:00,960
Speaker 3: if you have somebody supporting me. I'm just a big

632
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:03,600
Speaker 3: visionary thinker and I don't like writing words down, but

633
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:05,560
Speaker 3: you can actually ask for help to be like, can

634
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:07,120
Speaker 3: we just document that this is going to be like

635
00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,840
Speaker 3: our decision moving forward on how we want to do stuff.

636
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:12,080
Speaker 2: So I guess my last question here really that I'm

637
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:15,840
Speaker 2: super curious about is if I rewind my solopreneurship journey

638
00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,200
Speaker 2: about two years ago. Now, it was so hard for

639
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:20,160
Speaker 2: me to like really stay on track, and so I

640
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:21,520
Speaker 2: had a time box. I'm not sure if you guys

641
00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:24,080
Speaker 2: seen that, be like sort of figure out when am

642
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,160
Speaker 2: I going to do specific things on my to do list?

643
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:28,600
Speaker 2: What time a day I'm going to accomplish those things.

644
00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:30,520
Speaker 2: That's how I was able to stay on track, knowing

645
00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:32,160
Speaker 2: that I didn't have a boss to, you know, report to,

646
00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:34,360
Speaker 2: and no one was really holding me accountable. So I

647
00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:36,880
Speaker 2: want to hear from you now, talking to the solopreneur

648
00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:40,440
Speaker 2: out there listening, how can you sort of share your

649
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:43,160
Speaker 2: experience of staying on task, staying productive, making sure that

650
00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:45,680
Speaker 2: you're holding yourself accountable. How have you able to achieve

651
00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:49,280
Speaker 2: those specific things? Yeah, without having someone micro manager and

652
00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:50,480
Speaker 2: you know kind of keeck you into gear.

653
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:52,600
Speaker 3: It's funny because I would have struggled to answer this

654
00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:56,200
Speaker 3: question like even six months ago, a year ago, because

655
00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:58,240
Speaker 3: I feel like I don't like to use this smart

656
00:30:58,320 --> 00:30:59,200
Speaker 3: but I was, like I felt like I was like

657
00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:01,080
Speaker 3: a hot mess all the time. So I've had to

658
00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:03,920
Speaker 3: figure out how to be more efficient because I'm scaling,

659
00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:06,520
Speaker 3: so it couldn't just be like me back and forth

660
00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,000
Speaker 3: with like my assistant all the time or just figuring

661
00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:11,280
Speaker 3: it out day to day. Now what really helps me

662
00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:14,360
Speaker 3: is like I go into the week more peacefully when

663
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:18,760
Speaker 3: I spend Monday mornings meeting with my assistant going through

664
00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:21,560
Speaker 3: last week's stuff. So we go into clickup, which we

665
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:25,240
Speaker 3: use for project management. So I use Mondays for decisions

666
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:29,760
Speaker 3: and delegating, and then I get coached and then I

667
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:31,880
Speaker 3: have time to just like work on my stuff, so

668
00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:34,440
Speaker 3: like I don't take client calls on Mondays. So I

669
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:37,600
Speaker 3: think having like designated focuses for the day really helps

670
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,640
Speaker 3: because task switching it just takes a lot out of me.

671
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,479
Speaker 3: And I think for most people, you're using like different

672
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:45,480
Speaker 3: skill sets and different parts of your brain. So now

673
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:49,280
Speaker 3: it's like Monday's decision day, Delegation Day, CEO day. I

674
00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:52,640
Speaker 3: coach on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wednesdays are mostly for me

675
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:55,400
Speaker 3: to just do work in my business. Friday, I'll mostly

676
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:57,520
Speaker 3: take that for like wrapping stuff up and then taking

677
00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:00,080
Speaker 3: the afternoon off before my daughter gets off school. So

678
00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:03,520
Speaker 3: I think sprints like dedicated focuses and planning up front

679
00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:05,480
Speaker 3: so that you're not sitting down at your computer going,

680
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:07,240
Speaker 3: oh my god, what am I going to do? Like, Okay,

681
00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:08,920
Speaker 3: I need to work on my business, but there's twenty

682
00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:12,000
Speaker 3: different things. You're not spending that time making those decisions.

683
00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:13,960
Speaker 3: You're making those decisions up front.

684
00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:16,680
Speaker 1: So one of the themes that I've heard you speak

685
00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:20,200
Speaker 1: on several times throughout our conversation is this idea of mindset.

686
00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,840
Speaker 1: So what's your favorite mantra or quo or something that

687
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,880
Speaker 1: you like look back at when you need that extra motivation.

688
00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:30,600
Speaker 3: There's so many. I literally made a deck of cards

689
00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:33,200
Speaker 3: with my mantras on it if I get to my clients.

690
00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:36,400
Speaker 3: But I think the one that I lean into the most,

691
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,760
Speaker 3: that gives me the most piece is like, my success

692
00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:42,920
Speaker 3: is inevitable. And I say that from this perspective of

693
00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:47,560
Speaker 3: like if you just keep problem solving and showing up

694
00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:51,800
Speaker 3: to solve that problem, it's impossible for it not to work.

695
00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:53,760
Speaker 2: I wanted to say that again one more time.

696
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:56,720
Speaker 3: My success is inevitable, and if you keep showing up

697
00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:59,280
Speaker 3: to solve the problem, there's no way that it's not

698
00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:02,280
Speaker 3: going to work. It's like, literally impossible. How could you

699
00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:05,560
Speaker 3: feasibly spend your entire life trying to figure out how

700
00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:07,160
Speaker 3: to make this thing happen and not make it happen.

701
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:10,480
Speaker 3: It's literally impossible. So whenever I'm like, oh my god,

702
00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:12,520
Speaker 3: this is taking too long, oh my gosh, like maybe

703
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:16,000
Speaker 3: I shouldn't do this, it's like, it's okay, it's inevitable.

704
00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:19,080
Speaker 3: You're just freaking out because it's not happening now. But

705
00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:21,160
Speaker 3: when that thing happens, you're going to be worried about

706
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,960
Speaker 3: another thing, another goalpost or another problem. Every level has

707
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:28,560
Speaker 3: new problems. That's another one. Every level has new problems,

708
00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:30,560
Speaker 3: and you are solving the problems you are equipped to

709
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:34,240
Speaker 3: solve right now. So don't wish on problems that you're not.

710
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:36,960
Speaker 3: You don't even want those problems right now. Because I

711
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:38,800
Speaker 3: think we always think it's going to be better when

712
00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:41,040
Speaker 3: we get to like some other place, and then you

713
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:43,280
Speaker 3: get to that place and you're like, oh wait, that

714
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:46,040
Speaker 3: was easy, like the stuff I was worried about. And

715
00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:48,320
Speaker 3: not to scare you, but that's just part of like

716
00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,040
Speaker 3: you become a different person who can handle different stuff.

717
00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,360
Speaker 2: My success is inevitable. Yeah, I like get that as

718
00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:57,239
Speaker 2: a tattoo, right, My success is inevitable. That is so

719
00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:01,120
Speaker 2: cool doing chills right now. Just listen about that. That's incredible.

720
00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:04,840
Speaker 3: I mean, I think that's the quotable quote of the day. Y'all.

721
00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:07,720
Speaker 3: Mary Ella, thank you so much for being here. It's

722
00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:11,200
Speaker 3: been a total pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.

723
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:23,000
Speaker 1: Wow. I mean, what an experience and what a conversation

724
00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:25,359
Speaker 1: to share it with our first live audience for Mind

725
00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:29,160
Speaker 1: the Business. Mary Ella really shared some very meaningful insights

726
00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:32,080
Speaker 1: and wisdom on that stage. We had so many people

727
00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:34,120
Speaker 1: coming up to us after and saying how they felt

728
00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:36,440
Speaker 1: like they needed to hire mary Ella as their life

729
00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:40,359
Speaker 1: coach after this discussion, Austin, what resonated most with you?

730
00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:42,560
Speaker 2: I may or may not have been one of those

731
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:44,920
Speaker 2: people trying to hire mary Ella now as a life coach.

732
00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:48,680
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, she was incredible. I think a couple

733
00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:51,279
Speaker 2: of things stood out to me first was community. Right,

734
00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:53,759
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, being a solopreneur is

735
00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:56,680
Speaker 2: very lonely, and it takes a toll on our mental

736
00:34:56,680 --> 00:35:00,080
Speaker 2: health for sure. And so by identifying and surrounding yourself

737
00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:03,480
Speaker 2: with people who are also solopreneurs, learning from them, from

738
00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,960
Speaker 2: their mistakes, from their accomplishments, everyone has a unique experience

739
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:10,440
Speaker 2: and something to share. Another thing that really really stood

740
00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:13,080
Speaker 2: out to me was her comment around consistency. Right, if

741
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:17,239
Speaker 2: you stay consistent over time, success is inevitable. At the

742
00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:20,160
Speaker 2: end of the day, we're putting in hours upon hours

743
00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:22,560
Speaker 2: of hard work to achieve this goal in our dreams,

744
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,200
Speaker 2: and just by doing that, we are setting ourselves up

745
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:28,560
Speaker 2: for long term success. I also think there's something to

746
00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:31,720
Speaker 2: be said about the imposter syndrome, especially myself. I'm definitely

747
00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:33,640
Speaker 2: on the younger side, right, and so what I'm surrounded

748
00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:36,759
Speaker 2: by all these successful solopreneurs like yourself Jennie's, it just

749
00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:39,560
Speaker 2: gets me so excited and really puts a lot in perspective.

750
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's important for us as solopreneurs to

751
00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:46,799
Speaker 1: really believe that the success that you've achieved is not

752
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:49,480
Speaker 1: just an accident, It's not just a fluke. It really

753
00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,279
Speaker 1: is about what you did, Like you mentioned Austin showing

754
00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:55,280
Speaker 1: up consistently. And I think one of the really key

755
00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,040
Speaker 1: points that mary Ella shared with us is write down

756
00:35:58,080 --> 00:35:59,840
Speaker 1: all of the things that you do in your business.

757
00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:03,279
Speaker 1: Start to standardize those things, because inevitably, you know you

758
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:06,200
Speaker 1: may want to look for additional support at some point

759
00:36:06,239 --> 00:36:09,480
Speaker 1: down the road, depending on where you are in your journey,

760
00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:12,279
Speaker 1: and being able to pass on that knowledge in a

761
00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:16,600
Speaker 1: really formalized way through procedures is super useful. And also

762
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,120
Speaker 1: I think it just helps you understand, like, what are

763
00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:21,120
Speaker 1: all these different things that are happening in my business

764
00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:24,320
Speaker 1: versus trying to keep everything in your head. It's important

765
00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:27,600
Speaker 1: as a solopreneur to make sure that you are leveraging resources.

766
00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:31,840
Speaker 1: Technology is our friend, and software like QuickBooks money is

767
00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:34,000
Speaker 1: one of those really key tools that you can use

768
00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:36,880
Speaker 1: to make sure you're not wasting time chasing somebody for

769
00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:39,200
Speaker 1: an invoice and you can get back to doing the

770
00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:41,600
Speaker 1: thing you're supposed to be doing, which is growing that business.

771
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:46,200
Speaker 2: Now for our exciting news, Jennie's give me a quick

772
00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:49,839
Speaker 2: little drum roll please, We.

773
00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:53,319
Speaker 1: Are coming back with season two at the beginning of

774
00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:57,520
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. We'll have brand new episodes featuring more

775
00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:02,279
Speaker 1: solopreneurs sharing their stories of struggle and success. Subscribe and

776
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:04,320
Speaker 1: follow the show and keep an eye on the feed

777
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,839
Speaker 1: so you don't miss out on the amazing insights and

778
00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:08,440
Speaker 1: knowledge from these business owners.

779
00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:12,920
Speaker 2: I cannot be more excited. This series has been so

780
00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:17,760
Speaker 2: eye opening for myself as a small business owner, solopreneur, entrepreneur.

781
00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:19,759
Speaker 2: I've had so many people reach out to me saying

782
00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:22,880
Speaker 2: that they've learned so much from the incredible entrepreneurs that

783
00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:26,240
Speaker 2: we've interviewed over the last several months, and twenty twenty

784
00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:27,960
Speaker 2: four is going to be a blast.

785
00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:32,160
Speaker 1: I am so excited for season two. I just have

786
00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:35,080
Speaker 1: gotten so much incredible feedback from folks that are tuning

787
00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:39,040
Speaker 1: into the show, learning so much, and most importantly remembering

788
00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:44,280
Speaker 1: that this is not a sprint. This journey through solopreneurship

789
00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:46,440
Speaker 1: is a marathon, and we are here to support you

790
00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:47,439
Speaker 1: every step of the way.

791
00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:51,000
Speaker 2: Well that's it for our very first live episode. You

792
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:54,400
Speaker 2: can find me on social media at Austin Hankwitz.

793
00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:56,760
Speaker 1: And you can find me at jokierro Dineto podcast.

794
00:37:57,200 --> 00:37:59,480
Speaker 2: You can learn more about mary Yella by visiting her

795
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:04,680
Speaker 2: website Marielladala Mora dot com or on Instagram Atmaryella dot

796
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:07,839
Speaker 2: Dala Mora. You can follow Into It QuickBooks on all

797
00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:10,719
Speaker 2: social media at QuickBooks. To get the tools you need

798
00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:14,120
Speaker 2: to start, run and grow your business, head to QuickBooks

799
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:15,120
Speaker 2: dot com today.

800
00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:17,759
Speaker 1: We also want to hear from you, so be sure

801
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:19,280
Speaker 1: to leave a rating and review.

802
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:23,600
Speaker 2: This podcast is a production of Ruby Studios from iHeartMedia

803
00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:24,839
Speaker 2: and Into It QuickBooks.

804
00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:29,920
Speaker 1: Our executive producer is Mollisosha, Our supervising producer is Nikkia Swinton.

805
00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:32,480
Speaker 2: Our head of post production is James Foster.

806
00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:44,680
Speaker 1: See you next time I'm QuickBooks. Money is a standalone

807
00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:47,200
Speaker 1: into it offering banking services provided by Green dot Bank

808
00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:50,279
Speaker 1: member FDIC only. Funds and envelopes earn annual percentag yield

809
00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:53,160
Speaker 1: apy can change at any time. Money movement services provided

810
00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:55,520
Speaker 1: by intowit Payments, Inc. Licensed as a money transmitter by

811
00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:57,680
Speaker 1: the New York State Department of Financial Services