A conversation with my long-time friend Molly who also started a new biz after a big Covid Pivot. You can find Molly Keyser on Clubhouse @MollyKeyser and you can find Jamie Bright on Clubhouse @JamieBright Check out Molly's free 5-Day Course Kickstart Challenge here: https://bit.ly/3uRKolS Connect with Jamie Bright on Instagram at @JamieBrightAdventures Transcript: Today I get to introduce you to one of my longest friends in the online space. Her name is Molly Keyser. She was in the photography industry with me and also made a big pivot in her business last year after COVID hit. And we had the most wonderful conversation that went. All over the place. We talked about the biggest mindset shifts that we've made since we started our businesses and how we are growing our businesses differently. Now, we talk about the importance of messaging and how that shapes everything. We talk about focus. We talk about hiring. We get into all sorts of wonderful topics. I know you're going to enjoy it. So let's dive in to this phenomenal 📍 podcast Molly has been a dear friend of mine for gosh, how long Molly ages? Like seven, eight, nine years. Yeah, like probably eight, I think. Forever. Very long time. And, um, we have both grown businesses starting in the photography industry and then pivoting away. And she is just one of my dearest colleagues and I'm so excited to, excuse me. I am so excited to have her here today and to introduce her to you. So Molly, would you take a quick moment and share, um, Like super brief, like a little bit of your journey and where you are now and what you're doing now. Just so people kind of have context of who you are. Sure. So hello guys. So yeah, I started out, let's see here many years ago, I ended up, I dropped out of college, started a photography business. With 81 cents to my name was living with my grandma low times, low times. And I grew that photography business to multiple six figures. So other people started asking me how I was able to do that. And so I started doing a little bit of coaching and if you're doing coaching right now, you might relate to this. I felt like I kept repeating myself over and over. Um, so I thought, you know, what, if I take this same information and put it into an online course, So I put it into an online course. And for the last six years I had an online course for photographers. Um, one of which we grew to $2 million a year. And then when the pandemic hit, um, I actually made the decision to pivot and I can maybe share more on that later out in the episode. But, um, now my, my one and sole focused business is called profitable courses. So I am a course expert and I help people just like you turn their passion into an online course. Yes. And you do such a good job of making things so clear and simple. You're such a good teacher, so all right, Molly. Um, what I really want to dive into right away in our conversation and just see where it takes us is talking about now that you've pivoted about a year ago. Gosh, it's almost. Exactly a year. Isn't that crazy? Yeah. What month is it? March one month short of a year. March 12th is the day that it hit me. Oh my God. What month is it? That's so like, can I think like April I started to pivot and I think may was like the official start of the new year, like right away, you knew. But, um, since you've been through this pivot, I would love Tish. Um, Just basically have a conversation about how you're building your business differently now and like how I've been building my differently now than back when we started and how that mindset has changed for, for you. So like you wanna, you want to start like, how is your mindset different today than it was way back when you started? Wow, it's crazy. I would say the first thing that comes to mind is just. Almost like a calmness, assuredness and focus. Um, and I will say, you know, when you're starting your first business ever, I feel like you are going to go through a little bit of chaos just because you're trying to figure out what works and what doesn't work. And I feel like that was sort of, my last business was just like Jamie actually. And I were talking about this a different day and she said, it's almost like you've got your. Um, masters in business with your last company, like you got paid to grow that company, you know, because it was profitable and that is how I feel about it. Um, now with the new company, it's so clear to me. Like what we need to do to have success and to help our students. And it's just such a clear path. And so I don't feel that chaos in this business, but I do think that that is because of the journey I had before and what I learned in terms of trying all the things like we tried, all the things it absolutely did. And I think some of them we did together even sometimes. I feel like, yeah, we did. Yeah. Like one of us would have an idea. We would try it. Oh, this works. That works. Yeah. I feel like you tried a lot of different things as well. I think I tried everything. I've done. Quiz funnels and evergreen and LA immersion trips, challenges like a tiny offer, you know, mini everything yet. Yeah. I haven't done teleseminars. I think I came in just late enough to skip that, that I've been involved in many telesummits. We're getting old here. I was reflecting on this cause, um, two days ago as we're recording, this was my ten-year anniversary of starting my online business. So, um, like bef you know, it was so different having a blog before Facebook lives and like you had to have a blog and know how to code like HTML. I mean, it was just, there was no blogging, honestly feels like a different lifetime and. Well, yeah, like you'd have to code on the sidebar, your opt-in and be like, you know, open all the CSS. Yeah, exactly. A place to host video and like, yeah. Oh, it's image or I M G space source. Oh, I know all this stuff. It was, it's just crazy to think about business before, um, before it was so easy and at least in terms of technology, um, which. It kept the barrier to entry higher than, and it was easier because there was less competition, but I think there's never been an easier time to start a business. So anyways, I'm getting off on a tangent, which is fun. These are conversations, but, um, so what is one thing I would love? Um, so you talked a little bit about the mindset. You have this assurance and this confidence, because you've done it, you've proved to yourself that you can do this. And so, you know, you can repeat it. And so as you're coming into like your gosh, you're not quite a year into the new business yet. Um, what would you say is the biggest difference now? With how you're growing your business versus back then when we were just throwing spaghetti against the wall and seeing what was sticking. Yeah. That really does describe what I did last time for sure. I'm going to say we a lot because my husband actually called owns this new business with me, my last business. I started on my own and then he eventually joined it. Um, I'm super jealous that you call, you know, doing your ads and all the things employing my husband, but no now we're co-owners, um, which I would highly recommend. It's better to have your husband as a co-owner than an employee, but anyway. Yeah. And there was that dynamic too. I agree. Um, yes, I would say the biggest thing is going into the new business with a strategy. So I know a lot of people think they need like a business plan. I don't necessarily think you need a business plan because I think that can sometimes be something where you're trying to fit a lot of things into a document to say, like, I have a business plan, but rather you should have a clear plan. That's just simple. So for me, for example, With my last business, it was like, okay, I have this successful photography business. People want to learn it. I'm going to start a blog and then, Oh, okay. Now people want to buy things from me. What do they want to buy for me? Okay. They wanna buy a posing guide? Well, I should ask them what they want to buy next. Okay. What do you guys want to buy? Oh, you want to buy this thing? Okay, cool. I'm going to make that next. Whereas with this company, it's very clear. Like I came, you know, I just sat down and thought about who do I want to help? What's the one thing that's going to get them X result. And then. You know, I'm only going to have one product, one business, and what are the vehicles we're going to sell that product? So I would say the biggest shift is my last business was what products am I going to create for people to buy? And I would just keep creating new products and new ways to sell them and all the things. Um, whereas now I understand that one product is really a business, uh, just one product in itself. So with the new company, it's like, okay, how can we take this one product and sell it in all of these different ways to reach even more people and impact even more people while remaining. Calm cool collected enjoying life and not, you know, having a million different products, which is like running a million different businesses. Basically. It is. And I think that's, I mean, this is why I was so excited to have you come because we both have made this shift as we've been restarting. Like I don't want. To have like a bajillion products and 150 blog posts and like all the stuff, just for the sake of having the stuff it's like, what is the one thing that's most aligned with who I am that I can just go deep and focus on and say no to everything else and just sell the one thing. Just sell the one thing, just sell the one thing and make it as easy as possible. And it's such a huge mindset shift from what I used to do before. I think, um, I don't know. I think I felt. Like I needed to be busier, so it makes sense. Yeah. And you know what I'm so I proudly go to weekly therapy now and I actually wrote down yesterday, wait, what was it that you just said, Jamie, I need to be busy. Yeah. Yeah. I wrote down that I was like, I was really burying myself in my work. It's really no different than any other addiction in my opinion, but that could be like a whole podcast topic in itself. But. I was going to say in terms of the o
