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On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy discuss the power of masterminds. As a listener of Monetize the Mic, you probably know that Interview Connections helps their clients increase their visibility as a guest on podcasts. Every time a business experiences growth, there are new challenges to overcome. Clients of Interview Connections grow their business rapidly with their new visibility and find that they need more support in other aspects of business, like sales, marketing, pricing, etc.   That’s where Monetize the Mic Mastermind comes in!  This program is a group coaching and mastermind exclusively for Interview Connections clients. Jess and Margy have grown a successful, multi 7 figure business and they have a lot of experience with overcoming challenges in growing your business. They also have a great arsenal of coaches and mentors in their network that they’ve been bringing in as guest speakers for this mastermind! Jess and Margy realized that they wanted to offer up-leveled support for their clients long-term on their journey of growing and scaling their business. They know from experience that a mentor and a mastermind can help you avoid so many mistakes that Jess and Margy themselves made.  Having those mastermind mentors saves you so much time in the long run. A mastermind can also offer you a sense of community with people who are going through exactly what you are going through. You can connect and network with people who have goals that are as big as your goals! The masterminds that Jess and Margy have been a part of completely transformed their businesses and their lives. An important thing that both Jess and Margy have realized is that you have to change yourself to reach goals. Business is a vehicle to transformation. They find that it’s so invigorating to help their entrepreneur clients whose businesses they really believe in. Interview Connections clients embody authenticity, integrity, leadership, and kindness. Jess and Margy put their voices and their stories on podcasts to give them a stage, a spotlight, and visibility. Now, Jess and Margy are offering their clients support with their infrastructure so their business can scale and grow from all that visibility! How does this mastermind work with the consistent visibility and networking that clients get from podcast guesting? People tend to not realize just how important visibility is. Jess was recently talking to an entrepreneur who said that she had spent thousands of dollars on coaches and systems but she wasn’t getting any sales calls. Jess knew immediately it was because she wasn’t visible. Without actually getting on the court and putting the spotlight on you, you’re just not going to grow. If you don’t have the visibility, all of the marketing strategies and the coaching are pointless. Jess and Margy realized that when growing from 6 to 7 figures, the name of the game was lead generation. Where does lead gen come from? Visibility.  Visibility is the first and most important thing, but joining a mastermind can help amplify your visibility as well. After Jess joined a mastermind, she had a network. The people in that mastermind would offer support, they would share Jess’s podcast episodes, increasing Jess’s visibility.  The biggest gap that Jess has seen with entrepreneurs is between their true gift and vision for what they’re doing and why they’ve started this business, and then what they’re talking about on podcasts. When entrepreneurs have space on mastermind calls to go deep, they tend to find that the tactical topics that they talk about on podcasts are a lot different than what their vision is. Their vision is more about why they’re running this business and what their gift really is. Masterminds allow people space to infuse this vision into their podcast interviews. Once that vision becomes part of your podcast interview, that’s when there’s magic created. Listeners are so attracted to you and that energy. Why is it so hard for people to go deep and tap into their inner vision?  When you go deep, that’s where you see the good, the bad, and the ugly. The surface level is all about looking good: “I’m an expert and I have a successful business.” When you go deep, that’s when you see the insecurities come out. Often there will be some doubts about worthiness, and that’s uncomfortable to face. We don’t want to admit that. You have to go through that muck and clean it up for you to be authentic. When there is inauthenticity, that will come through in your energy and people will not be attracted to that. It will come through in your messaging, in your body language, and even in your pricing. What is the structure of the mastermind? Every Wednesday, there is a group coaching call. Jess and Margy alternate between trainings and implementation. They strongly believe in focusing on both vision and implementation. Some masterminds are all about the vision but there’s no space for implementation.  Every other Wednesday, you’re held accountable to implementing what you’ve learned the week before. Every other Thursday, they host a mastermind call where you can have a hot seat coaching session and share what’s going on in your business. Plus, there’s a private Facebook community for you to connect and network with other amazing entrepreneurs who are reaching for big goals. If you’re interested in joining the Monetize the Mic Mastermind, send Jessica an email at jessica@interviewconnections.com and she’ll hop on a call and talk to you about the mastermind! This Mastermind is for Interview Connections clients only. If you’re not a client, apply for a consult call at interviewconnections.com/apply so you can get in!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy talk about the why behind setting high goals. At Interview Connections, Jess and Margy love to set crazy high goals and go for them. Something they like to acknowledge is that their goals a few years ago seemed incredibly high, and now those same goals seem so small! Compare your goals now to your goals two years ago and you’ll see how much your business has grown. When talking about setting high goals, Jess remembers a specific moment after attending a Landmark course. She was walking back from the hotel to the seminar and had an amazing lightbulb moment. Jess started opening herself up to new possibilities and increased her goal of what was possible.  Margy has always been the one to set the really, really high goals. Jess tends to set lower goals, and they usually end in the middle of those two goalposts. Sometimes when business owners and entrepreneurs set high goals for their team, they’ll see that their team feels triggered by these expectations. It’s important to remember that your team is a mirror of you. Look at what exactly gets triggered with your team when you set high goals. Triggers are necessary. They are what you come up against with high goals. The day after Interview Connections launched, Jess was working on closing spillover sales. Margy asked Jess “How many sales are you closing?” Jess responded that she was going to close three sales. Margy said, “How about six?” That moment was so triggering for Jess. Margy was telling Jess that she can do more than that. But, what Jess heard was, “You didn't do enough.” Jess sees this trigger in her team as well as in herself.  Jess and Margy have experienced a drive to hold people accountable but also a fear of triggering them. What it takes to get your business to 2.5 million, versus what it takes to get to 10 million is huge. Margy’s unwillingness to be direct with people and holding them accountable was holding her back. Jess and Margy couldn’t get to 10 million if either of them were holding back on their gifts and who they really are. Margy felt like she was holding back on her aggressive vision casting for high goals. Those high goals seemed like they were a lot to ask, but they would never happen if they didn’t set those goals. Jess feels like she wants someone to be accountable to as she reaches for these big goals. Margy helps Jess stay accountable to those goals!  For Jess and Margy, it’s been interesting to see when they’re being their most powerful selves, and being their possibility versus reverting back to their small selves with triggers. The reason Margy loves giant goals is that they require so much transformation. As their goals got bigger, they required new teams and new systems. Every new level you hit, you have these new opportunities.  When someone holds us accountable to the person they know we can be, it can feel like they’re being mean, or like they’re withholding love and connection. That’s when triggers happen - tantrums, shutting down - you feel that child start to kick up. Whatever those sirens are that your inner child sets off when you feel like you need that love and connection, that’s what comes up when you go for these high goals. It’s not all being badass when you level up in business. There’s triggers, there’s crying. You’re going to confront things that are dormant that you haven’t dealt with before that could go really far back. If you are going for a high goal and it’s a shitshow, that’s good news! That means you’re on track. Going super deep is where the breakthroughs are. When you work through your own triggers, you can help others work through them as well!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess had the chance to talk with Interview Connections client Jennifer Chapman about work-life balance as a leader! Jennifer used to be a workaholic, known as the go-to person for getting things done and managing the most difficult customers or clients at a Fortune 500 consulting firm. She thrived on challenging situations and proving to others that she was invincible. But when her mental and physical health began to take a hit, she began a journey to create a work and personal life that aligned with what she most valued and wanted most.  Now she has created and has the job she wants, an independent confidence from within, and the ability to bring her authentic self into everything she does at work. She’s more successful—in terms of happiness, financial security, and her ability to help others—than she’s ever been.  Jennifer is an expert leadership coach who works with clients who want to be more confident, more authentic, and more successful. She especially enjoys helping leaders who have been promoted through functional expertise embrace their roles as people managers. Jess asks, with everything Jennifer has going on, how does she find time to relax? What’s her secret?  Jennifer admits that it’s a struggle - it’s a practice. Sometimes she starts to feel like she is invincible and she can do it all and then her body reminds her that she’s not. Mother’s Day is a great example. Despite the well wishes of Mother’s Day, that day can often be more stressful than relaxing for mothers. This year, Jennifer wanted to make it the day she wanted it to be.  So she planned a Mother’s Day party. She invited 6 friends, they all had a great dinner, and Jennifer hired two massage therapists and everyone got massages. Afterward, they had a gift exchange and topped off the night with Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Jennifer and her friends had such a great time, they’re already planning one for the weekend after school starts, which is another crazy time for parents.  Jennifer has to plan things in order to achieve work-life balance. She has a super supportive husband but Jennifer realized that she just needs to ask sometimes even though it can be hard to ask. Jennifer realized that you can really take ownership by knowing that you can have what you want by making the time and planning for it. Jessica agrees that as mothers, it’s not that our spouses aren’t okay with us taking time for ourselves - it’s that we ourselves have a hard time. Jennifer recommends to flip it around and ask yourself, “What advice would I give to my friend?” People ask Jennifer all the time, “Do you coach yourself since you’re a coach?” Yes, all the time, Jennifer says! She asks herself, “If I were my client, what would I be saying to myself right now? How would I be comforting my friend?” Like many women, Jennifer is a lot kinder to her friends than she is to herself.  Jessica wants to know, why is STEM in the industry that Jennifer specializes in? Why does she feel called to support them in their leadership? Jennifer always felt like she got along with people in the STEM field. Those people tend to be very task-focused and very logical. She feels different from a lot of coaches, who are more interested in the people-side and gravitate toward people in those industries. Jennifer discovered she has a gift working with task-oriented and focused people. She thought, why not specialize in it.  Jennifer has found it incredibly rewarding. She works with type A personalities who want to get stuff done, and the people-side of things is an afterthought. Her clients typically reach a point where they realize that they are getting stagnant, and they won’t move up unless they figure out how to do the people-side of their business. A recent study showed that 78% of HR leaders said that they had become focused on finding technology employees with soft skills. The thing that is gonna differentiate you is “Can you work with people? Can you have difficult conversations? Do you know what to do when there’s conflict? Can you mentor effectively?” People Jennifer works with say, “I want to get better with this but I don't even know where to start.” Jess asks for some examples of soft skills that Jennifer helps her clients improve. One of the biggest skills Jennifer helps her clients with is how to get influence or how to get buy-in. She shares a story about how her husband noticed at his new job that a software that they were using was archaic. They had used it for a long time and loved it. Her husband noticed that it was inefficient, and they were doing double the work. At a meeting, her husband raised a hand and said “We need to do something about this system because it’s completely inefficient.” He met with stunned silence.  The people in the room were the ones who advocated for that software program in the first place. He said to Jennifer, “I don't know why they didn’t see that my way was better.” Jennifer helped him see that he just stood up in a room and basically called everyone there an idiot. He responded, “I am who I am, and I am direct.” Jennifer asks, “And how is that working out for you?” People say feelings shouldn’t matter but Jennifer insists that they do. The key is figuring out what issues are getting in the way of you getting what you want. Then you need to figure out how you can authentically develop those relationships with people, and build that trust so they will get on board and get excited about what you have in mind.  Jess asks, “What’s your process when you coach? How do you help them see the difference between their intent and their impact?” Jennifer has observed that a lot of task-focused people don’t have a lot of empathy. She explains that empathy isn’t letting someone cry on your shoulder. Empathy is the ability to step out of your own shoes and try on someone else’s shoes and see it from a different perspective. When you think about the best leaders, they’re the ones who can step into so many different shoes. They ask, “How is this going to impact everyone?” Empathy is a key attribute to success in any industry. Stop and think, “What is my objective? What am I trying to accomplish?” And then flip to being in their perspective. What are they trying to accomplish?  Sometimes when you think about it that way, you find out you’re aligned on the same thing. That’s when you can have a real conversation about how you can collaborate and work together so you both achieve what you both want.  Another piece of advice Jennifer has for our listeners is that your example speaks volumes. She would tell her team members that she wanted them to have work-life balance. Yet she was sending emails at 11:00pm, or working on a Saturday.  Actions speak louder than words. After Jennifer started modeling a better work-life balance and being more clear in her expectations, she noticed that her team did a much better job of maintaining their work schedules. When she made the well-being of her team a top priority, she saw that when she needed them, her team was there and came through for her.  You can connect with Jennifer at ambitionleadership.com! 

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess sits down with Interview Connections client Shawna Schuh to discuss leadership blindspots! Shawna Schuh is an eccentric thought leader, a skilled executive leadership coach, a two-time TEDx speaker, and a lifetime adventurer. In addition to her hard-earned Master’s Certificate in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Shawna has three decades’ experience working closely with top organizations such as Nike, Columbia Sportswear, Fashion Group International, and the National Speakers Association.  She knows leaders thrive with an advocate who questions their thought process, and her unconventional perspective gives her some unexpected questions to ask. Shawna shares a unique perspective so that the information and ideas she promotes stick and work.  Jess asks, what are some of the blindspots that exist in leadership? Shawna begins by discussing one of the biggest blindspots that challenge leaders, which is relying on your team to tell you what’s wrong. Your team isn’t going to tell you what your leadership blindspots are because their job is on the line! A big mistake a leader can make is assuming that their team is 100% on board with every initiative in the company.  Another blindspot that she’s uncovered is that most leaders are just telling. Leaders will say to her, “Well, I told them this. I told them why.” But it’s not actually communication. Some leaders also sell ideas and initiatives, instead of really having a two-way conversation about it. Shawna also discusses that some leaders have a blindspot in allowing certain things. If a leader allows frequent bad behavior from an individual, it affects the entire team. She is thrilled to see that many leaders are educating themselves, talking to other leaders, and strategizing. Shawna emphasizes that leaders need to ask questions to become better leaders. She also notes that sometimes leaders know their values, but they don’t actually feel them. They’re not committed to them. Leaders need to absolutely commit to and feel their core values. Most leaders do not know what’s wrong with their business. They don’t have any idea of what’s being said or being done under them, even though they think they know. Jess asks Shawna, “When should leaders ask questions, what kind of questions, and with what context?” First, Shawna recommends that leaders figure out their intent. Shawna believes that a check-in is just an interruption. Leaders should ask themselves, “What am I trying to accomplish here?” She has had leaders come to her and say, “I do check-ins with all my people.” Shawna asks, “What if you stopped and said - ‘I’m calling you to find out what one good thing happened today already?’” You’re going to be asking them something they’re not used to giving. Another example might be, “Rate the meeting you just had with that client on a scale of 1 to 10. What could you have done to make it a 10?” Most leaders are checking in to make themselves feel better, but they might be triggering the team, or just interrupting them.  Jess asks Shawna to dig deeper about check-ins.  For Shawna, check-ins are about leaders feeling anxious that work isn't being done, or not being done well enough. Instead, she recommends having a pre-scheduled time to meet with a purpose. Instead of a check-in, maybe do a progress report: “What’s your progress? What’s preventing that progress? Tell me the process and share with me the steps you are taking.” The best leaders are the best questioners. Don’t ask, “What were you thinking? Why would you do it that way?”  “Why” questions are usually the poorest questions. That question doesn’t give you the answer that you want. Shawna asks, “What if you just shifted it to, how could I do that differently in the future?” You can connect with Shawna at Shawnaschuh.com and take a free quiz to uncover your leadership blindspots! 

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess speaks with Interview Connections client Dr. L. Carol Scott about the bridge between personal and professional success! Women on the rise seek out Dr. L. Carol Scott and her “Seven Self-Aware Success Strategies” to help them remove invisible barriers, ignite self-confidence, and implement immediate action for their personal and professional evolution.  As a trauma-informed developmental psychologist, she shares how the first 2,500 days of our lives determine our skills for relationships—ALL our relationships…for the rest of our lives. She achieves her life's mission to improve the way we treat each  other, by teaching us what we have always wanted to know about  “what makes people tick.”  A TEDx speaker and author, Dr. Scott is also a nationally respected thought leader in early care and education. As a  keynoter, trainer, and coach, she supports teams and individuals,  anywhere that relationships are at the heart of success.  Her first book, Just Be Your S.E.L.F.--Your Guide to Improving  Any Relationship, provides the framework and the tools for  Development Do-Overs on your earliest years of life, for better relationships now, at home, and at work. She holds an MA degree in Early Childhood Education and a Ph.D. in Developmental and  Child Psychology, both from the University of Kansas. Jess wants to know, why are the first seven years so crucial to relationships? What is happening in those first seven years that is impacting us today? Dr. Scott explains that in those first seven years, we are being wired for life. We are born with a whole lot of loose neurons. There are billions of neurons floating around that are not connected. Our job over the first three years is to wire those together. The way those neurons get connected is how we process the world.  We are wiring our brains by experiencing the world at the rate of one million neurons per second, and 85% of the brain gets connected in the first three years of life! Jess then asks, what does self-awareness have to do with success?  Dr. Scott knows that success is all about relationships. If you’re going to do well with those important relationships, you have to be able to trust people. We, as humans, learned how to trust when we were 6 months old, and that affects us forever. When Dr. Scott works with adults, she has them look around at the trust in their lives. How is trust working for them or not working for them in the relationships that they have? She then uses that as her backward assessment to guess how things probably went for them. Dr. Scott helps them rewire that part of their brains.  Naturally, Jess wants to know - how do we rewire our brains? Dr. Scott explains that as infants, we know that trusting is about needing things. Infants learn to trust because they need fundamental caretaking. At that very basic level, if the infant learns that if they need something and nothing happens, that’s going to affect them. She wants people to unpack trust relative to needing things. They can work on looking at their needs. Generally speaking, we are often told that we have too many needs. Pretty early in life, we learn that needing something from someone else is to malfunction.  Dr. Scott knows that we need to rethink that. Adults can learn that needing things is a normal thing. After facing that, people can really look around and be honest about what needs are being met, and what needs aren’t.  We can identify our needs and we can identify people who can meet those needs who are in our lives. We can also identify people that we know who won’t meet that need. If someone doesn’t have the skill set to meet those needs, that doesn’t mean they cannot be in your life. You can teach them! People in your life want to help you but they might not know how - but they can learn. Something that Dr. Scott does not want you to forget is: we need to put more time and energy into fostering and building relationships. They’re living things and that need to be fed! Some people might be wondering, what does any of this have to do with success as an entrepreneur or business owner? Dr. Scott believes that it’s not possible to separate the personal from the professional. We cannot hope for professional success without personal success, they are completely intertwined.  Jess completely agrees. Vulnerability is the greatest gift you can give someone. Podcasting is an especially great medium because it’s a long-form platform where you can be vulnerable, share your story, and create those deep connections.  Jess also asks Dr. Scott, who typically works with you? Often Dr. Scott works with women around the age of 35. She works with people who thought they were ready to launch into the world, and manifest all their possibilities. She works with people who had recently made a big change that feels like freedom, and yet freedom isn't there. Something isn’t right. They want to rise to the mountaintop but it feels like they have chains on their ankles. Dr. Scott is the person who says, “I know where those chains come from, they come from the first seven years. Let me show you how to unlock them so you can rise.” Although Dr. Scott’s work resonates with a lot of women, she works with all gender identities. She helps you find success in the way you define your success. You can get to know Dr. L Carol Scott and start a relationship with her on Facebook!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess sits down with Interview Connections client and certified relationship coach, Roy Biancalana! Roy Biancalana is a nationally recognized expert in the field of attraction and conscious relationships. He is the author of three #1 best-selling books, the latest of which is Relationship Bootcamp: Hard-Core Training for Life, Love & the Pursuit of Intimacy. For the past 15 years, Roy has been supporting single people in the art of attracting healthy, sustainable, intimate relationships. His experience has taught him that getting in “relationship shape” is the key to attracting lasting love.  Jess first asks Roy, “What goes into being fit in a relationship?” Roy is the first to admit that he has made every mistake you can make. One of the biggest mistakes is to focus on strategy. People always ask Roy about the strategy of dating. Questions include, “Where do I go to meet someone? How do I find someone online? How do I approach someone? How do I flirt?” If you were going to run a marathon, you could ask questions about how to be successful in a marathon. You could focus on questions like “What should I eat that morning? When should I drink during the race?” You could ask all kinds of questions about what to do on the day of the race, the strategy. But no matter how great your strategy is, if you’re not in shape you’re never going to go the distance.  The biggest mistake people make is focusing on the dating strategy. What Roy has found is if you are not in great relationship shape, even if you have a great strategy, it’s not going to go the distance. The success of the relationship is more about your internal relationship health. You can never be in a relationship that’s healthier than you are. Roy likes to turn questions about “them” into questions about you. Instead of “Where can I find someone?” ask, “Am I ready to create something real? Do I have something blocking me? Do I have limiting beliefs? What might be going on inside of me that is either going to inhibit the evolution of this relationship?” Roy wants to reorient people toward looking at themselves, rather than looking for a person. Jess remarks that trust is one of the things that can hinder someone in a relationship. What does Roy tell people who have been hurt and betrayed and are having a difficult time trusting? Roy reminds us of the fitness metaphor he uses for relationships. He has identified seven important relationship “muscles.” These muscles need to be strong so we can have healthy relationships. Something that Roy recommends we ask ourselves, is “What muscles do I need to get stronger with?” One of the muscles that Roy talks about is your relationship to the past. Trust is really your relationship to the past. It’s important to ask, are you holding on to it or are you letting go of your past? Everyone to one degree or another has some baggage. What that does is, if it remains alive in us, makes it difficult to trust. It makes it difficult to meet the next person with an open and available heart. It makes it difficult to meet someone to get to know them.  Roy coaches his clients to understand the past, and then let go of it. It’s not about forgetting it, it’s about framing it, and making peace with it. It’s something that happened, not something that is happening! Walls will keep you safe, but they will keep you single.  Roy has identified three levels of trust. The first level is: I trust you. Your ability to trust is based on the other’s person’s character and behavior. You never can really feel secure if your trust is based on their behavior and character. Roy recommends reframing this trust to be, “My heart may get broken, but it will never break me. People are unpredictable. I don’t know what they’re going to do. I don't know what they are going to do, but no matter what, I’m okay. I’m going to learn from the experience.”  Now, your trust is based on something that you know that you can control. Then you can be normal, you don’t have to protect yourself. You can be free, relaxed, and authentic. That’s when you’re the most attractive! Roy wants listeners to make sure they do not get discouraged if they find out your muscles need some work! It is not only possible, but life-changing, when you start to train and strengthen your relationship muscles! You can connect with Roy and take his free relationship fitness quiz at Coachingwithroy.com!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy talk about the importance of content marketing. Jess and Margy agree that content marketing should be resources, information, and other content that provides value. Margy finds that she doesn’t identify with marketing. For her, it feels cold and it feels out of alignment. Margy comes from a place of always wanting to give valuable information and having important conversations.  If you feel like Margy does, her number one tip is to find what makes you different. Don’t just parrot what other people are saying in a crowded online space. It’s so powerful to hear someone saying something different in a sea of online noise.  When Jess and Margy coach their client, they really dig in on their client’s messaging. They focus on the client’s company vision, and how they can infuse that in their interviews. When that happens, their marketing and their content messaging is something that makes people listen.  People always ask Jess if content marketing should be paid or free. Jess feels that if it’s paid, it’s no longer content marketing. It becomes a product. The reason content marketing works so well is because it’s free and anyone can access it.  A lot of people will respond with something like, “I put a lot of work into my content, I want people to pay for it.” Jess reminds us of the power of reciprocity. If you put a lot of work into your content, your podcast, your launch, your videos, etc, people feel that gift that you’re giving to them. This will make people feel more likely to want to work with you! Nobody will want to pay for you until they’ve seen what you can do. And the best way for them to see what you can do is content marketing! You should also keep in mind that it’s strategic to create content marketing in multiple different ways because people learn in different ways. The number one content marketing strategy Jess and Margy recommend is, of course, podcasting. Podcasting is a great way to reuse content, increase visibility, and get in front of a trusting audience. Podcast guesting is easier to start with, rather than creating your own podcast and hosting. Guesting will get you out there. It gets you familiar with the space. It’s a really easy way to create a content machine with podcasting as the center of the wheel. From one podcast interview, you can create written blog posts, videos, audiograms, emails, etc. You can also accomplish this by hosting your own podcast, which is an amazing thing to do, but it can be overwhelming especially at first. Jess and Margy definitely recommend starting with guesting so you can get your feet wet in the podcasting community! The next content marketing tactic Jess and Margy discuss is videos! People love consuming content visually. There are so many ways you can utilize videos, whether it’s pre-recorded videos, Instagram reels, or Facebook lives. There is definitely a different energy with live videos when you have people interacting with you in real-time. In any video content marketing, hearing someone’s voice is a great way to connect with someone! Videos allow you to do that. A viewer will really get to see you, your body language, your voice inflections, and everything that makes you, you. Video can leave a lead feeling much more connected with you than other content marketing strategies. The final content marketing piece is written content. Jess could devote a whole episode about writing a book, and if that is something you’re interested in doing, a book can be a fantastic way to get your content out into the hands of your leads. Some people will gravitate toward books, especially if they feel like they need to take a break from screens. Other great written content includes LinkedIn articles, episode descriptions, and blog posts! Margy’s recommendation is don’t do nothing if you can’t do all of it. The most important thing is consistency. If you’re overwhelmed by all of these different strategies, just start with one! Entrepreneurs who are really good at content marketing know they are playing a long game. They do not expect to do one video and reap all the rewards of content marketing. When you really want to give value and when you understand that this is a long game, that is when you will see success.  Another recommendation from Jess and Margy is to block out time for content. Jess and Margy pick one day and plan their entire month’s content. Just start showing up and keep going. You’ll get better with consistency. You may feel like you’re screaming into the void but people are watching. A lot of people are lurkers. They just look, they don’t interact. Once they’re ready to buy, they’ll reach out. Margy herself is a lurker, so she can attest to that! Immature entrepreneurs give up if they don’t see success right away. Mature entrepreneurs are consistent. This is a long game, you have to keep going and be consistent. Jess reminds us that you can’t stop just because you don’t have “fans” yet!

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast to teach you how to transform your business and life with the power of visibility and strategy! On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess puts Margy in the guest spotlight to talk about Margy’s new podcast We Get It, Your Dad Died. Jess first asks Margy, why did you decide to start this podcast?In 2015, while Margy was living in Taiwan, she learned that her dad had died by suicide. As an only child, Margy was incredibly close with her parents and this was a life-shattering moment. Now, six years later, it still remains a horrible loss. However, Margy realizes that a lot of the things she has in her life she would not have if she hadn't been through such a challenging struggle. Margy started doing some research into high-achieving grievers and the relationship between loss and success. She wanted to start a show where she interviews high-achieving entrepreneurs who have suffered a serious loss. Margy wants to talk to them about what that experience was like, how it shaped them, and also what became possible in their life because of that loss. Margy wants to prove that there are ways to turn the setbacks into positives in our lives. A seed of her idea for this podcast came from Iconic, an Ali Brown event, in Miami on the beach, just days before lockdown in 2020. Margy started talking to a friend and fellow entrepreneur, Brandi Bernoskie, about the death of Brandi’s mom. She was really moved by Brandi’s story and felt like these conversations could be incredibly powerful on a podcast. Margy decided that her podcast would focus on interviewing 7-figure + entrepreneurs who have a story of loss that they are willing to share. Jess also wants to know, what was the process like of producing this podcast? Margy came up with the concept and she started posting in mastermind groups and the Interview Connections client network group to find people who would be interested in sharing their stories. She knew that she had entrepreneurial friends who were at this level who had incredible stories to share. The interviews gave the show the momentum that it needed. Margy just started recording the conversations and took it from there.  The next question Jess has for Margy is, who is your audience? Margy didn’t make this trying to please anyone in particular. Her goal was to share important and powerful conversations and to make a show that she herself loves. She feels like this podcast has a wide demographic. Margy’s hope is that this podcast will resonate with anyone who has experienced grief or loss. Secondly, Margy is interested in reaching entrepreneurs who are interested in how high-achievers approach setbacks. After giving interview after interview, Margy realized that her podcast gave a kind of blueprint for how to thrive through the most negative events. Finally, Jess asks, how do you monetize a show that is seemingly not related to your business? Margy explains that when you're a guest on podcasts, you're sharing your story and that is what is going to resonate with people. It’s not really an infomercial for your service or your product, you’re trying to get the listeners to resonate with you personally. All of the content that we create, when we genuinely want to be of service and do great work magnetizes clients to us no matter what industry we’re in! Search "We Get It Your Dad Died" wherever you listen to podcasts on April 29th to listen to the first season!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess sat down with Interview Connections client Heather Steinker to talk about leveraging Instagram! Following the crumbs in the chaos is a full-time job. As a busy mom of three, a wife to a traveling hubby, and keeping it weird in Austin, Texas, it’s safe to say that Heather’s life is far from boring. Running a household with three young kids takes strategy and a system to keep things moving, like a well-oiled machine.  After many moms came to her asking “How do you do it? I swear you have more time in the day than anyone else,” Heather wanted to show them the way! She created Chaos n’ Cookies to help busy mompreneurs stress less and save time through helpful tools and systems to increase productivity in their lives. Heather teaches her clients to be more efficient in their homes or running their businesses, working smarter and not harder. In addition to running her coaching business as CNC’s CEO, Heather is a certified coach for a premier virtual fitness and nutrition program helping others feel better while sustaining a healthy lifestyle. Heather gained 10+ years of experience as a Director of Marketing, building multiple court reporting companies.   Oh, and if she wasn’t busy enough, she maintains her own column called “How-to with Heather'' for a local neighborhood magazine, where she teaches her community fun hacks to be more self-sufficient with common household tasks. You can catch her weekly on her Chaos n’ Cookies Podcast, which ranked #80 in Parenting on the USA charts. Heather is helping mompreneurs chip away, one problem at a time. Social media and Instagram became a tool that Heather started to use when she became a wellness coach. Heather had a sales and marketing background, but when she went into the online space, she knew she had to start using Instagram. At first, Heather didn’t know anything about it! She sat down and decided to learn all the ins and outs of Instagram so she could use it well. Eventually, people started asking Heather for help with their own social media, so now Heather teaches mompreneurs and entrepreneurs how to best leverage social media, especially Instagram! Jess first asks Heather about Instagram reels. Reels are funny, entertaining, and can be of such great value to a business. How can entrepreneurs be using them? Instagram reels are king right now. When these platforms roll out something new, it’s like their new baby, and the algorithm really favors it. Heather explains that if you’re not using reels, you need to be. Heather knows that a lot of entrepreneurs feel intimidated by reels. She sees a lot of pushback because it can look goofy. Entrepreneurs will say, “That’s not me, I’m not going to do that.” But Heather explains that Instagram reels are getting pigeonholed. You don’t have to do goofy dances to leverage Instagram reels. As an entrepreneur, you could use reels to show a demo or tutorial that demonstrates your value! Heather goes on to explain the differences between stories, reels, and IGTV. Stories are 15-second clips that stay on Instagram for 24 hours. Stories are for your nurture sequences. They help nurture people who are already following you. Reels are between 15 and 30 seconds. Reels are more of a viral strategy to get new followers. Reels tend to convert people to become your followers. If your video is between 30 seconds - 1 minute, it goes on your grid. If it’s over 1 min, it will become an IGTV video. Reels are a strategy for video content between your stories and your grid. Jess then asks Heather what she can tell us about the algorithm. How do you get more of your followers to see your story? Heather emphasizes the importance of hashtags! You can use hashtags on both your grid posts as well as your stories. Hashtags will extend reach with your stories because hashtags are basically neon signs saying, “Look at me, check me out over here!” Hashtags don’t create engagement, but it gets people to your content. Content is what will get your followers to engage. Jess asks Heather, how do you choose what hashtags to use? Heather recommends searching a hashtag to see who is using it and get inspiration that way. Use ones that are specific to your brand. Then you’ll want to use ones that are specific to your niche. In addition, you’ll want to do a series of relevant hashtags just to the post itself.  You can add hashtags in the comments or in the post. If you have a really long post, you’ll need all that character space. If you don’t have space, add the hashtags to the comments. Other people put it in the comments to make it look cleaner. The other strategy of putting hashtags in the comments is that FB or IG doesn’t know it’s you, but it knows that you’re getting a comment. They see it as engagement. It gives it a little bit of a one-up! Heather reminds us that we have between 10 to 30 minutes to get some kind of impression or the algorithm is going to see it as boring and not continue to push it. It’s really important to get on and engage right away. Get the algorithm to notice! Finally, Jess wants to know the dos and don’ts for your Instagram profile! Heather’s first tip is, if your Instagram handle is your name, don’t put your name as the bolded type underneath the photo. We know it’s you by your handle! Put something else, like what you do, or what you’re known for.  You should answer some important questions in your bio, such as What’s your business? Who are you? What do you do? Who do you help? How do you help them? Heather’s last tip is to make sure that your bio has a great CTA! If you use a linktree or a website in your bio, make sure people know what they’ll get when they click that link! You can connect with Heather at her website chaosncookies.com or follow her on Instagram @chaosncookies! You can click the link in Heather’s bio for a free Lead & Social Tracker Sheet, among other amazing resources!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess has the opportunity to speak with Interview Connections client Tracy Litt about believing your worth. If Brene Brown and Tony Robbins had a baby, it would be Tracy Litt. Tracy Litt is a proven powerhouse of transformation. As a leadership expert, mindset coach, and spiritual advisor, she helps people across the globe to break the patterns that bind them so they can become the highest versions of themselves to create the businesses, relationships, and lives of their dreams. She does this through her powerful and practical process, The Choice Method, which elevates prosperity, fulfillment, and happiness to new and incredible heights.  Tracy is the celebrated author of Worthy Human, a book featured as a best-seller on Amazon and in major media outlets such as Thrive Global, Entrepreneur, Inc., and Fast Company. She has been praised for her outstanding TEDx talk and was recently awarded the Social Good Entrepreneur Women in Business Award in 2020. Her impact is undeniable, and her power is highly sought after for keynote presentations to leaders and entrepreneurs.  Tracy is leading a major movement in self-worth, empowerment, and wild success for visionary leaders. One by one, they are stepping into the reality of their highest selves. They are becoming extraordinary leaders in their vision. Jess asks Tracy about her concept of being a worthy human, and how we are our own problems and our own solutions. Ultimately, Tracy explains, you are the only block you will ever have. The reason that we struggle taking ownership and responsibility is that we aren’t willing to say “I am the problem and I am also the solution.” We are suffering from the lie of unworthiness. That lie is that you are only worth what you do. The fundamental truth is, your birthright is your enoughness! If you woke up today, you’re worthy. Tracy believes that when you decide that you’re worthy, what you desire is available to you because you can take the responsibility necessary to get out of your own way. Jess agrees and says that you have to believe in your heart and your gut that you are enough. Jess asks, what are some tips for people to really embrace the power of themselves? Tracy explains that it is your responsibility to know your worth. You are not broken, you don’t need to be fixed -- but you have wounds. it is your responsibility to heal those wounds so you can grow into your greatest potential. For Tracy’s clients, that is the first step in their worth work. To illustrate this in another way, Tracy says, “If I only love myself an inch worth, but my partner loves me four feet worth, it doesn’t matter how much love they give me, I can actually only absorb, believe, and let in that inch’s worth.” The next step on your worth work journey is to go back in time. Ask yourself, “When was the first time in your left that you felt worthless, unsafe, unseen, unheard?” Identify that, and go back into those moments. Tell yourself that truth. Then, construct a new belief system that begins with: I am enough. I am worthy. I always have been, I always will be. My worth is my birthright. It is not negotiable, it can never be influenced. For you to have a different result, you must change. For you to actualize every ounce of a vision that you desire, it lies in your ability to heal and transform and to become the version of yourself who lives in that vision! Tracy reminds us, you are not your mind, you are the director of your mind. Tracy and Jess then talk about forgiveness. Tracy explains that there is no forgiveness without rage. There is no forgiveness without letting out the suppressed emotion. But ultimately, forgiveness is a gift to yourself. When you don’t heal, your power is still with that other person at that age where you were wounded. It depletes you! You’re still giving your power away to that person. Finally, Tracy talks about the joy of knowing nothing. Let yourself absorb that, and then you can start doing the work. She recommends the shift to “I love not knowing what is going to happen next!” Then you’re open to seeing everything. That will clear away biases and assumptions that you’re constantly functioning in. If you want to connect with Tracy, head to whatwouldshedo.net for her free audio training!

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast to teach you how to transform your business and life with the power of visibility and strategy! On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess talks with Interview Connections Client Aimee LaLiberte about being future-focused! As the owner of My Virtual CFO, Aimee is a trusted profitability advisor to six and seven‐figure business owners who are tired of being behind in their books and are ready to uncover blind spots, course correct, and ultimately get more profitable. Aimee also is a certified life and money coach and works with business owners who seek greater confidence and unwavering drive to attract and build wealth in their businesses and lives. After working in non-profit and finance for over 16 years and helping more than 75 business owners since starting her own business, Aimee knows how important it is to have steadfast trust in the person looking after your books. Jess was immediately interested in Aimee’s ideas about the importance of separating your self-worth from your bottom line. In your business, when you create really incredible results, it’s easy to attach that to your self-worth. “I’m worthy because I’ve made such mind-blowing results in my business!” But Aimee warns that the opposite can happen too. When those amazing results aren’t achieved, it can turn into “I’m not worthy.” Aimee reminds us that we are inherently worthy! Regardless of our money or our results, we’re all worthy.  Aimee asks, “Why would you put your worth, that is just foundational as a human being anywhere other than at the foundation?” This completely resonates with Jess.  Jess recently had to do a lot of work disconnecting financial results in a launch from her own self-worth. Aimee explains that we want those good results to mean that we’re enough, but in fact, we’re always enough. Jess then asks, how does Aimee’s business as a virtual CFO work? Aimee realized she really enjoyed the organizing and bookkeeping aspects of running a business. While speaking on a panel, Aimee began to understand that because she is so future-focused, she is much more like a CFO than a bookkeeper. Once Aimee made that shift, things really started to change. The clients that Aimee was attracting really started to change as well. Her advice for business owners is, they should be spending money on outsourcing or hiring someone who is future-focused!  The money should be spent on someone who can show you how to get to that place you need to get to. That’s the skill that’s not as readily available in terms of what you can buy on the market. Jess wants to know, what are some of the biggest money mindset pitfalls that Aimee has seen? Aimee has seen a lot of mindset issues about debt and shame around spending money. The biggest mistake she has seen is that people think there’s a one size fits all approach to money. Aimee believes that this is not true at all! However, Aimee insists that you need a relationship with money. People tend to avoid their money and their relationship with money because they think it’s about their self-worth. Aimee wants us to ask ourselves, “How is my psychology around money affecting these decisions?” Jess asks Aimee about her experience working with Profit First. Aimee explains that Profit First is a cash flow management tool that sits on top of your bookkeeping system. It’s essentially the creation of bank accounts that are intended for certain places so you can allocate money to specific purposes. These include income, operating expenses, owner’s pay, tax, and profit.  Those accounts create smaller plates of money, it allows and embraces the notion of restraint, which is what business owners need. If business owners see all this money, they think they have all this money available to them. But then they are confronted with a tax bill that they didn’t save for, or they want to hire someone but they don’t have the funds available to them. Profit First drives scalability as well as profitability in businesses. This method is ideal for being future-focused in your business when it comes to your finances! You can connect with Aimee in her Facebook Community, Confident Money Matters, where you’ll be supported in achieving your money goals! 

We wanted to let all of our amazing listeners and subscribers know that we are going to be changing the name of this podcast. Starting in April, we will be called Monetize the Mic! Our focus truly is on the strategies behind monetizing your visibility on podcasts. We’ve had this show since 2014. We have been called Rhodes to Success, Interview Connections, and Rock the Podcast. We make those shifts because our business has evolved. Right now, we are focusing so much on monetizing your visibility, not just getting booked and being a great guest. We can’t wait for all the episodes ahead under our brand new name Monetize the Mic and we are so thankful for all of our loyal listeners and supporters!

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Margy talked with Interview Connections client, Stacy Bahrenfuss! Stacy is the owner of a 7-figure real estate company, Founder of The Truth Teachers™ and Ultimate Break-through Accelerator™. Her customized results-oriented approach to personal development is reflective in her unmatched intuitive 1:1 consulting, intimate group coaching, and exclusive certification program.  She began her entrepreneurial journey in the real estate industry at the early age of 19, sustained through the housing crisis of 2007-2010, and continued to build the business to be a 7-figure operation and one of the top real estate teams in the state of Idaho. In 2018 she personally funded and sold a development project consisting of 11 upper-tier luxury homes while still operating her real estate team. Her husband runs the operations of the real estate team today, while Stacy resides in an Advisory role.  Now, along with her certified consultants known as The Truth Teachers™ Stacy is on a mission to smash the shackles of suffering by shining a light on the truth so that her clients can achieve everything they want. Her programs serve as a catalyst for deep inner transformation to create lasting whole life success, and how to do it all from a limitless, beautiful inner state. One day while Margy and Stacy were chatting, Margy helped Stacy realize that she went from helping people find their homes, to helping women find their internal homes. Stacy is also kind of a  utility company, helping them turn on all their powers! She is driven to help people on her team connect to their power. Stacy likens this to identifying leaks in the boat and then sealing those leaks. All of the power that is being drained in the boat can be redirected to build 8+ figure businesses! Since June, that is where Stacy has really been refocusing her work. While Margy was looking to buy a house, Stacy was able to offer Margy an incredible mindset shift that changed everything. In her house-shopping experience, Margy found it to be incredibly emotionally draining. Margy had made an offer on a house that she felt very confident about, and the offer was rejected. It was really a crushing blow for Margy, who had already been imagining the house as her own. Soon after, Margy found another house and put in another offer. She was talking to Stacy about it and said, “I hope this offer is good enough to win.” Stacy then said to Margy, “What about focusing on the highest and best good for everyone?” Stacy’s piece of wisdom was, what if you shifted that perspective of winning to “My offer is good enough.” What if you consider that it be for the best for everyone involved. Focus on that win for you, win for the seller, and win for the collective. Margy was having these constrictive and isolating feelings associated with a winning and losing mentality. Her mindset went from “I don’t want to make my offer too high” to “I want the sellers to be psyched about this offer too. I want the realtors to be psyched about this commission. I want to be so happy.” That shift to considering everyone involved not only made Margy feel a lot better, but her offer was also accepted. Once you operate in the space of the highest and best good of everyone involved, you start to play on a different level completely. A ripple effect is created. That constricting piece, that separation can hold us back subconsciously. Once you move away from constriction and fear, you’ll move to possibility, abundance, and expansion. Margy also brings up that mindset plays a huge role in the success that a guest has on a podcast in terms of their ROI. Stacy agrees: you’re either in contribution, or you’re in fear and in lack. She explains that you have a choice and you can make it in the moment. The choice is tied into two internal states that we all have access to, fear and love. A beautiful state or a suffering state. For podcast guests, Stacy recommends making that shift and setting that intention for who you want to be. Set the intention for how you want to show up and the internal energy that you want to bring to the table. That mindset shift can be transforming for both the host and the audience! You can connect with Stacy at thetruthteachers.com!

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess and Margy talk about top-line revenue and profit! When Margy came on as co-owner in 2018, her number one goal was to grow the top line revenue of Interview Connections to 7 figures. Even though Margy didn’t quite understand profit margins yet, she knew that she wanted the revenue to reach that 7 figure goal. And it worked! In 2019, Interview Connections hit 7 figures, and the company is currently scaling to 8 figures.  It wasn’t until recently that Jess and Margy shifted their focus to healthy profit, as well as top-line revenue growth. The first step that they took was to address their pricing structure. When Jess started Interview Connections in 2013, there was no other podcast booking agency on the planet! This meant that Jess had nowhere to look when she created the pricing structure. Way back then, Jess had implemented a month-to-month pricing package for clients and raised prices every few years. In 2017, Jess and Margy had a coaching day with Ali Brown, and Ali helped them completely restructure their pricing packages. Not only did Jess and Margy restructure so that the team and the business were being compensated fairly, but they also ensured that the clients were getting everything they needed from the package! Interview Connections prices their services based on the value they are providing. The entire package, which includes so much more than guaranteed podcast bookings, offers clients an opportunity for a massive ROI. When we price our services, we do not compare to what other podcast bookers are charging, because we are offering so much more than just podcast bookings! As an entrepreneur, it’s so important to ask yourself, “What is the value I’m providing?” It’s crucial to make sure that you are charging what you’re worth. As buyers, we often assume the more expensive service is the better one! When you charge what you’re worth, and when you have a high ticket offer, you are perceived to be of higher value. But of course, you need to back that up with your value and your service delivery! Don’t inflate your price to where it would not be a good investment for a business owner. But we find that most people price their services too low. First, you need to look at your service and look at how you can increase your client’s ROI. Once you can improve their experience with your service, you can justify higher prices! The next part of growing your top-line revenue is growing your sales infrastructure. If there is only one person in your organization who can close sales, especially if you’re selling high ticket services, you’re hitting a huge ceiling to your top-line revenue growth. Growing a sales team is critical because allows you to multiply your sales results. At Interview Connections, we have a strong sales team engine that is propelling us forward. As an entrepreneur, you should be out there on podcasts working on your visibility to obtain leads, and then having a team come in and work on actually closing those leads! Margy goes on 4-6 interviews a month, creating content, developing her thought leadership, and building up brand and company! From this, qualified leads come in and meet with our sales team. You need to build your visibility for the leads to find you. We needed more salespeople to handle the leads we were getting from podcast guesting!  The next important step in growing top-line revenue is tracking your progress.  It’s imperative to set goals and to look at what you’ve accomplished so far! Margy has a spreadsheet that is incredibly near and dear to her heart. That spreadsheet tracks revenue, expenses, and profit for each month. Jess and Margy find this tracking to be so helpful for planning, setting goals, and celebrating successes. When Jess and Margy have felt disappointed that they didn’t hit a goal, they can look back to their May 2017 sales of 30k and compare that to May 2020 with 300k sales! It really hits you in the face with everything that you’ve already accomplished. The work you did 6 months ago is why you are here today! What you’re doing right now is going to determine where you are 6 months from now.  If you are not getting interviewed on podcasts right now, you cannot expect growth in your visibility 6 months from now! Start now because this long-term strategy really does take time to grow.  What you do right now is going to determine what your spreadsheets look like a few months down the road. Jess and Margy find that they themselves, along with many entrepreneurs, are generally impatient. This can be a difficult concept to master, when you allow yourself to be patient and track your results, you’ll be able to see the fruits of your labor. Turning the focus to profit, Jess and Margy started tracking profit in 2017. In Margy’s spreadsheet, they could see every year lined up with income expenses and profit. You should be focusing on profit from Day 1, but it becomes even more important as you grow. Jess and Margy didn’t really focus on profit for a while but then their expenses started to catch up with them. As they started tracking expenses and revenue, they found they could drive growth and profit in a way that is strategic and sustainable! Another one of Margy’s obsessions is org charts. Org charts are incredibly important for your revenue and profit growth because they help you plan as you grow for the team that you will need! You can look at what that structure needs to be and what the different teams and departments will look like.  Jess and Margy created an org chart so they could look at what payroll expenses would be at 10 million top-line revenue. This helped them create the growth trajectory of various roles, teams, and departments in the company.  The clarity that org charts bring can help you lead your team and be intentional with your profitability.  The bottom line is to be mindful of what you’re investing in for your business. You should separate the “nice to haves” and the critical drivers. Things that really drive profitability like visibility, coaching are smart investments. Avoid things that aren’t actually going to move you forward and they’re going to cost you more!

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess had the opportunity to speak with Interview Connections client Nancy Murphy! Nancy is the founder and president of CSR Communications and creator of Intrapreneurs Influence Lab. Her passion is helping leaders of change within established organizations (intrapreneurs) influence and persuade others so that they can realize their vision for change faster, with less frustration and resistance.  From challenging stereotypes of girls in her Catholic school more than 40 years ago, to her first job after college convincing nonprofits to engage youth volunteers or her role as board chair of a global nonprofit transforming the way we do international development, Nancy has experienced the challenges of leading big change within established organizations. And she’s willing to share all the mistakes she made – and all the solutions she discovered – so that you don’t have to learn them the hard way! First, Jess asks Nancy what led her to a business where she helps companies with intrapreneurs? Very early in Nancy’s life, she realized she was a status quo challenger by always challenging perceptions. She found herself often being hired to lead change, or once she was hired she would always find a way to start leading change.  Once Nancy started working in consulting, she found that her clients were often also people who were leading change in organizations. Nancy realized that she had lessons and techniques to share, so she then started CSR Communications!  Jess then wants to know, what is at the root of people’s fear of change? Why do people resist change? Nancy’s mantra is “Leaders don’t respond to lizard brain with lizard brain.” Well, what does “lizard brain” mean!? Our brains are very good at pattern recognition and this helps protect us. Lizard brain is the ancient part of our brain that is designed to protect us. It’s the part that triggers the fight, flight, or freeze response. Particularly in times of change, that part of our brain goes into overdrive, and our brain is trying to protect us from that change. As leaders, we can’t get into letting our lizard brains take over in response to other people’s lizard brains!  She does, however, urge leaders to not always view resistance as a bad thing. Resistance can make us stronger, it can illuminate our blind spots, and it can make us better. We don’t always want to see resistance as a negative. We want to get curious about it and see what’s going on underneath it. We want to find out what we can do to use that resistance in a way that improves and advances the change! Nancy tells her clients that they need to become credible leaders. The first step in doing this is looking in the mirror. Jess loves this because the mirror concept is something that she and Margy talk about all the time. Your team is a direct reflection of your leadership!  Nancy agrees and explains that the only thing we can control is ourselves. We can, however, influence others. Everything really starts with what can we do to become credible! She also recommends being open and being curious as a leader. It’s crucial to have empathy and to appreciate when someone is freaking out or feeling anxious about change. Once we know something we can’t un-know it. Nancy knows that it’s really hard to explain something you already know to someone who is hearing it for the first time. She recommends that leaders ask themselves, “what curse of knowledge do we have for our vision of change? What are those gaps we forget to fill in that really make all the difference?” Jess and Nancy both stress the importance of patience. Nancy discusses the power of pause. As a leader, if you’re about to train someone on something new, ask yourself, “How can I pause before I go into this training or teaching scenario? How can I actually put myself in a scenario when I was learning something new? What did that feel like and how can I imagine what other person can be feeling on the opposite side of my teaching or training?” Nancy also asks her clients to think of themselves as campaigners. People on the campaign trail give the same speech over and over, but they still have to make it dynamic and interesting every day. When people ask questions, the campaigners have to act as if that is the first time they’ve heard that question.  When people challenge them, the campaigner has to act as if this is the first time they’ve heard an opposite point of view. Nancy asks her clients, “How can we adopt the campaigner mindset?: Jess then asks Nancy if she has any tips for small business owners and entrepreneurs. She brings up a key point that she uses in her consulting frequently, and that is the concept of artifacts. If an organization has been around for a long time, what are all those little things left behind that show people what that organization really values? What really matters in terms of how things get done in that organization? When we go through change, look across all aspects of the organization and ask, “What do those artifacts convey? Are they aligned with the change that we’re leading?” If they don’t, you’ll have to address those head-on and challenge what they mean for your organization. That will be imperative to being an effective leader of change wherever you are! You can connect with Nancy at csrcommunications.com and be sure to head over to the freebies tab for loads of free resources, including a Meeting Makeover Kit, a Quarterly Momentum Maker Worksheet and more! 

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess and Margy dispel the myth of the visionary entrepreneur. There is a really prevalent idea that all founders of companies and all entrepreneurs are huge visionaries. Not only is this a stereotype, but it’s also a glamorization of being a visionary entrepreneur. Not every entrepreneur is a true visionary, nor do they need to be in order to become a successful entrepreneur! When Jess started Interview Connections, it wasn’t really her idea. She had started working as a VA for her dad, Jim Palmer, a business coach. As his VA, her dad had started asking Jess to book him on podcasts. Soon after, Jess decided that she wanted to be a business owner. Her dad coached her and helped Jess see that she could create a podcast booking company. Even though it wasn’t her idea, it was Jess’s implementation that made Interview Connections possible. To be successful as an entrepreneur, there is no one thing that you need to have. You can bring on team members or partners that help balance what you’re missing. A lot of founders really embody incredible implementation. Even though Jess didn’t have a grand vision, she took massive action and that is what made everything happen! So many people out there are not taking action because they’re overthinking and they’re not getting on the court. These entrepreneurs are paralyzing themselves in their minds. It’s important to understand that when you are starting your business, it’s 10% visioning, and 90% implementing. It’s crucial to build momentum in the beginning. Once you are a little more established, then you can move on to evolving and developing strategy. That’s where Jess sees a lot of people get stopped. They’re so focused on being the visionary that they don’t implement. Jess and Margy came to decide where their strengths really wore only a few months ago. Margy has brilliant ideas and visions, and Jess rolls up her sleeves and implements. Jess is a “doer” or an implementer, and Margy is a visionary. Both of these are equally important in a successful business. Everyone can have a great idea, but the real success lies in implementing it. Jess and Margy see this a lot in entrepreneurs that have a gorgeous website but no clients. You can have amazingly curated social media, you can have a great high-tech website, and you can have a great idea but if you’re not picking up that phone and dialing for dollars, that stuff is useless! Jess and Margy don’t recommend that you invest a bunch of money in your website and other shiny objects like that, because that is not the driver in the beginning stages of your business. You need to get clients! And you do have to make mistakes. You won’t know what makes a good sales call until you pick up the phone! Jess and Margy hope that they can inspire you to be brave. If you truly want to build something you have to have the faith and the courage to start sprinting and going for it.  It wasn’t until recently that Jess and Margy had a conversation about their titles and what they should mean. After discussing what each of them really does in the business and where their strengths lie, Jess took the title of President because she is really the implementer. Margy took the title of CEO because she has the bigger vision. It’s so imperative to know what your strength is, know where you belong, and know what your lane is. Once you know this, you can really thrive and grow in your strengths as opposed to getting better at something that you’re not really great at. Margy observes that it really does take true leadership to put your ego aside and stay true to what your strengths are! At Interview Connections, it’s so important to stay in the lane that lights you up. While Jess is focused on the process in the business, Margy is focused on ahead of the process and that is where they both thrive! Jess and Margy both recommend that if you’re an entrepreneur, you should ask yourself: Am I an implementer or am I a visionary? Where do I really thrive? Where do I need help? Who can help balance out what I lack? Plant the seed by asking these questions to find out if you are a visionary or implementer! If you don’t have 100% clarity on what you should be doing, don’t worry yet. You’ll figure it out on the journey! As we mentioned before, Jess and Margy only got full clarity on their visionary and implementer roles this year.  We are running a Podcast Guesting Masterclass from March 15th - 19th (with bonus sessions until March 23rd)! If you need to take action on your visibility and build your authority with podcast guesting, you need to attend our free Masterclass! Head to interviewconnections.com/livemasterclass to register!

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess and Margy talk about their partnership origin story! Jess started Interview Connections in 2013, but it wasn’t until Margy came into the picture that the current iteration of the company was created. Margy came on board as co-owner in 2018, but she had a bumpy road to get there! Margy loves telling her story because she wants listeners to reassured that even if it doesn’t seem like things are going the right way - keep going!  Margy graduated college with dual degrees in art and Latin, but she felt like she didn’t know where to go with her degrees. She ended up finding a job on Craigslist, in a door-to-door fundraising company. Jess was the canvas director for that company, and interviewed and hired Margy herself! An opportunity arose for Margy to travel to Austin to help open a new office for the company. When it was time for Margy to return, she called Jess and said “Sorry, but I’m staying here in Austin!” Margy was at a place where she didn’t know what she wanted to do and was following her impulses.  After living in Austin for a little while, Margy traveled to Taiwan and lived there for two years working as an English teacher. She loved traveling, but she never felt like she could find her calling. While living in Taiwan, Margy received the life-changing news that her father had died by suicide.  Among the many other things that come up during a close family member’s death, Margy had to frantically find a new home for her dad’s cat, Kitten. She had posted on Facebook to see if anyone could foster the cat, and even though Jess and Margy had mostly lost touch over the years, Jess commented on the post and volunteered to foster Kitten.  Kitten was the catalyst to bring Jess and Margy back together again. About a year later, Jess started working from home as a VA. Soon after that, she created her first business, Interview Connections. After a few years, Jess began hiring 1099 contractors for Interview Connections, and Margy was at the top of her mind for people to hire. Margy started working at Interview Connections as a booking agent contractor. She started to become obsessed with entrepreneurship and business, even though she had absolutely no background in that whatsoever. The more podcast episodes she listened to, and the more she got to know and understand her clients, the more Margy felt drawn to the world of entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, Margy began to deal with some more trauma in her personal life. She had a bad breakup that forced her to pack up all of her stuff and move from Colorado back to her mom’s house in Rhode Island. She really felt like she had hit rock bottom. What Margy didn’t know yet, was that moving back to Rhode Island was the first step in her journey to becoming CEO of Interview Connections. Jess had decided to switch from 1099 contractors to W-2 employees, and she asked Margy to be her first-ever employee. At the time, Margy did not want to relinquish the freedom she had as a 1099 contractor. She was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, and Margy felt like becoming an employee was a step backward. However, she accepted the offer anyway. There were so many moments in Margy’s journey that seemed like nothing was going to plan. Even though she felt like everything was going wrong, she was actually on the right path. Jess was Margy’s boss, but it truly started to feel like a partnership. They cried together, they celebrated together, and they rose to the challenges of a new business together. By the end of 2017, Jess and Margy felt like they were starting to get the hang of things. In 2018, Jess was starting to feel really burnt out. The weight of running the business alone was beginning to weigh on her. She knew that Margy should be her business partner. They began to discuss the options available for Margy to become an owner in the business. Margy knew that she wanted to have 50% equity in the business. She wanted to feel like she had just as much of a stake in the success and failure as Jess did. Jess initially offered less than 50% equity, and Margy was fully authentic in her decision to graciously not accept that. Margy was firm that she wanted equal risk and equal reward. Jess trusted her intuition and her gut. She offered Margy 50% equity in the company and they became equal co-owners. It has been such an incredible journey for Margy to start as a 1099 contractor and end up as the CEO. There is so much possibility when it comes to collaboration, and the partnership of Jess and Margy is one of the reasons they were able to grow the company to multiple seven figures!    

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess (virtually!) sits down with Precious L. Williams, also affectionately known as the #KillerPitchMaster! Precious can help you slay all competition with her “killer” elevator pitches, media pitches, and investor pitches! Precious is a world-class master communicator who works with successful entrepreneurs and speakers and helps them take their professional pitching and speaking skills to the next level.  With over 25 years of experience in creating unique speaking and public speaking techniques, Williams is also known for her innovative training programs and services to her clients and sales teams at Fortune 100 companies. These companies include Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and eBay! As a 13-time national business elevator pitch champion, Williams has been on top television shows and publications for her pitching, branding, and professional speaking skills. She was featured on Season 8 of ABC’s Shark Tank, Forbes Magazine, CNN, ABC, MSNBC, Wall Street Journal, the movie, LEAP, as well as several others around the world.   In 2019, Precious became a best-selling author of the #1 business book, Bad Bitches with Power Pitches: For Women Entrepreneurs and Speakers Only, and has been featured on time square billboards, top podcasts, and stages around the world! The philosophy of her “killer” pitch is evident in the strategic and personalized creative communications and presentation solutions Williams puts forth. As a serial entrepreneur, international professional speaker, and corporate trainer, Williams is equipped to bring life, authenticity, strategy, and boldness to all your oral and written communication needs! Jess wants to know, why does Precious love pitching so much? Even though pitching scares most people, Precious, who has been a professional speaker since age 16, doesn’t feel any nerves during her killer pitches. For Precious, pitches present endless possibilities of where they can take you. When you think about it, you’re pitching every day. Every time you attempt to get someone to be interested in you, or your ideas, you’re pitching yourself! Precious has had so many different opportunities because of pitches! She has been on Shark Tank, she has worked in corporate, she has been offered numerous speaking engagements, she has been in movies, and has been featured in massive publications like CNN, Forbes, and Wall Street Journal! Not only has Precious been able to seize these opportunities for herself, but she is also now working to help her clients achieve these results as well!  Jess then asks Precious, what are the elements of a successful pitch? First, Precious recommends that you get clear on the basics. Ask yourself, “Who am I? Who do I serve? What is my secret sauce? What do I do better than anyone else?” Once you know the basics, continue asking yourself questions like “Why should someone hire me? Why should they consider me? What stands out about me from everyone else?” Precious also explains that in order to have a killer pitch, you must have a killer call to action.    Precious then emphasizes just how crucial storytelling is to your killer pitch. She explains that you have to tell a compelling story. You absolutely have to be a master storyteller. For your pitch to be killer, you have to wrap everything up in a great story that is emotionally compelling to others.   As a Black woman, Precious has had to face incredible obstacles in the entrepreneurial world. Precious asks, how do you win a no-win situation? You have to re-write the rules. She explains, once you change your language, you change the game. The question is: how do you do it in a bold and unexpected way?   An example of one of Precious’s most exciting opening pitches is: “Ladies, raise your hands if you want to be a bad bitch with a power pitch!”   That pitch not only grabs your attention, but it is 100% authentic to Precious as a person. You don’t have to have Precious’s personality to create a killer pitch. The key is to embody your authentic self in your pitch and have it come across in a bold and attention-grabbing way!   Since telling a story is so imperative to pitching success, Jess then asks Precious, what are her top tips for storytelling?   Precious explains that you have to set a scene in the audience’s mind of where you really want them to go. As an example, Precious discusses her killer pitch for Curvy Girl Lingerie on Shark Tank! She sets up the story to take place on Valentine’s Day. Even if you don’t have a boo, you have an emotional connection to Valentine’s Day in some way, so you are immediately drawn in.   Precious asks, “What is Valentine’s Day to a woman who is not seen or heard? You’re a big girl in the city, trying to find lingerie for Valentine’s Day, and no retailer has what you want in your size.” Precious explains that there are 14 million women size 14 and up, and they all want cute underwear!   In this killer pitch, she is illustrating that there is an ignored population. Precious is demanding that this population of women matter and they want to buy! It is both a sizeable and underserved population of buyers. She explains that your niches can make you riches.   When you’re putting together your killer pitch, you have to show why the population that you’re serving needs you - even if they don’t know it yet. Did we know we needed the iPhone before we got it? Of course not! Another tip Precious offers is to start off your killer pitch with a question, statistic, or quote that is bold and unexpected! We highly recommend that you consider Precious’s advice, because after the first 6 months of Curvy Girl Lingerie, Precious had already crossed the 6 figure mark!   You can take Precious’s free killer pitch quiz at pitchingforprofit.com!   You can connect with Precious on her website, Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, and Instagram!

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess speaks with Interview Connections client Tim James! Tim is one of those guys that will leave you feeling younger and more energetic just by hearing him speak.  After suffering from multiple health issues, including chronic acid indigestion and surgery to remove one of his organs due to serious digestive issues, Tim knew something had to change. But it was only after watching his closest ones die of cancer and the untimely death of his younger brother that he finally decided to take action. Tim’s journey led him to a shocking discovery that helped his friend beat cancer and transform every area of his life.  Feeling charged with a duty to help others he started sharing his knowledge with anyone that would listen. This led him to produce his own chemical-free food products. Chemical Free Body was born. Tim’s inbox is constantly flooded with people singing and dancing about how his products have given them a life they couldn’t believe was possible. His story will have you laughing, crying, and gasping but most importantly he will give you the recipe to a longer, happier, and healthier life! Since Tim owns a product-based business, Jessica asked him why he chose podcasting to promote his business and increase his visibility. With products, many other entrepreneurs will choose more direct advertising. “Why are you passionate about going on interviews to tell your story and educate the market?” Tim had been selling mostly over the phone. He built his business over the phone, but then the Covid pandemic shut everything down. Tim didn’t really have any tech skills and had previously invested money with the wrong people. But, Tim had been invited on some podcasts. Every time he went on a podcast, he saw that some sales would trickle in, however, Tim never really put a lot of thought into podcasts.  Tim decided to call up a friend to get on some podcasts. He guested on three shows and did an enormous amount of sales. Tim thought, “This could save me.”  Within a few months of podcast guesting, Tim tripled his sales. Once Tim began working with us here at Interview Connections, he created half a million dollars in sales. Tim loves podcast guesting because he gets to do what he does best: tell his unfiltered story and educate people. Podcast guesting is simplifying the business for Tim, so he feels like he is getting his life back while still expanding his business!  For Tim, podcast guesting is a no brainer. As a guest, you just get to show up on someone else’s podcast, who has put in all this work to establish trust and build an audience. Tim explains that it’s like getting in front of a stadium of people and having their attention for an hour It’s a fantastic organic marketing strategy --no ads necessary-- and it’s just your unfiltered story doing the selling for you. Tim also points out that these podcast hosts need good content! They need good guests or they don’t have a show. If you’ve got a story (and really, don’t we all?) Tim recommends that you get really good at telling your story. When Tim really started focusing on podcast guesting, he doubled his business. Jessica asks Tim to expand on what kind of shows are giving him those amazing results.  Podcast guesting was uncharted water for Tim. He just tried to get on as many different types of shows as he could. Tim would also track sales from podcast interviews by giving out a unique discount code on episodes, and tracking if that code was used. This would allow Tim to see exactly what podcasts were creating momentum for him. Tim was interested in reaching audiences that he could relate to, and offer solutions to. These audiences excised in a variety of shows, so Tim went on a large number of different shows! Tim tracked his results and had a clear understanding of his client avatar, which was incredibly valuable for his podcast guesting strategy. Tim understands who wants and needs his product, and understands his ideal client’s mindset. If you’re thinking about doing a show, you have a great message but you are scared about how you are going to share it, Tim explains that you’re really getting in your own way. A friend of Tim’s paid $25,000 for a coaching program, and the first piece of advice the coach gave was to go live every single day.  A lot of people would respond, “I don’t have my message yet, it’s not perfect!” Tim explains that the first 45-75 lives are not for the audience, they are for you to find your message and to refine your message! You will find your message and you will start getting comfortable sharing it. The best way to hone your message is to start going live, hire a booking agency to get you on podcasts, and just go on the shows. You don’t have to be an ad expert, you don’t have to know how to build a website. You just have to have a message and a way to connect with those people who resonate with your message. You just have to be really good at telling your story! If you’re saying, “I really want to do this, but I’m not ready. I don’t have my message right.” Tim argues that you just have to start! You can connect with Tim at Chemicalfreebody.com and listeners can also use discount code “IC” at checkout!

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Margy (virtually) sits down with Lisa Larter! Lisa helps businesses navigate modern entrepreneurship so that they can increase sales and profits. She works with her clients on everything from business strategy, understanding their numbers and measuring what matters, to online marketing, social media and the best way to turn connections into paying customers! Lisa believes that business is all about the numbers and that you need to take lots of action in order to make things happen. She is known for her no-nonsense approach to helping business owners get results. You won’t get fluff from Lisa, only the facts and an expectation that if you really want your business to grow, you will dig in and do the work! Margy and Lisa bonded over their love of numbers! They both agree that if you don’t have a grasp on your numbers, you will not be able to pay yourself and you will not be able to have the lifestyle that you want as an entrepreneur. Everything that you want as a business owner-- the freedom, the impact -- if your numbers are a mess your business will ultimately fail. Margy and Lisa both loved the book The Ultimate Blueprint for an Insanely Successful Business by Keith Cunningham. That book emphasizes the importance of really understanding the numbers in your business and looking at numbers in a way that can benefit you and can benefit the people that work with you.  Every new coaching client of Lisa’s receives this book. Lisa has held mastermind retreats  and spent entire days looking at and discussing concepts in The Ultimate Blueprint. A concept that Lisa loves to implement is comparing historical data year over year in your business to look for trends and exceptions. Lisa also ensures her clients are getting clear on their expenses. Lisa explains that we have a tendency to throw money at problems. If you have enough money to solve the problem, then you don’t have a problem. The issue is that sometimes the money you’re throwing at a problem isn’t actually fixing the root of the problem. This is when you have to look at numbers and be able to understand what they mean in your business. Lisa asks that her bookkeepers and accountants send her the numbers every month, so Lisa can unpack. Lisa knows that she needs to look at them and know exactly what is going on before she gets to the end of year, so she can make smart decisions based on that data.  Margy asks Lisa what advice she has for entrepreneurs who tell themselves the story of “I’m not a numbers person.” People hire Lisa for marketing strategy, and she almost always ends up working on their numbers! Her clients don’t have a marketing problem, they have a numbers problem. Lisa will work with them to get to the root of their issue: Are they having a pricing problem, an expense problem, or perhaps a billable hours problem? Lisa notes that her clients always think numbers are going to be very complicated, but really it’s just basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. If you can calculate percentages and you can look for outliers, that’s all you need to be able to do.  Lisa also observes that business owners often make a lot of emotional decisions to spend money. Business owners and entrepreneurs rationalize when they need to spend the money, but the logical side of the brain wants to avoid that, and that creates a lot of shame surrounding your numbers. Instead, Lisa argues to look at your numbers up front. She tells her clients that they can reverse engineer what they want in your business, and together, Lisa and her clients can create budgets and forecasts to make that happen. That way, as an entrepreneur, you can spend the money the way you want because you’ve planned for it! You can still pay yourself and have a profit. Margy has seen first hand how much emotional decision making comes with your finances. Margy really loves being analytical and looking at her numbers, but she also believes in intuition. When something feels right or wrong in your business, you shouldn’t ignore that feeling. But you should look at your numbers to either validate or disprove your assumptions and feelings. It’s not “Never trust your gut.” It’s more “Marry numbers and intuition together.” Lisa explains that many business coaches are doing their clients a disservice by not looking at the numbers. Business owners need to be able to interpret data to have successful businesses. The Ultimate Blueprint is all about tracking your numbers, what numbers to track, and tracking them over a long period of time. This allows you to see a comparison of month to month and year to year.  Margy asks Lisa, for somebody who wants to implement tracking their numbers better but is overwhelmed by all the spreadsheets, what do you think are the key things that they should be tracking every month in their business? The first action Lisa recommends is to track your revenue weekly and monthly. It’s imperative to track sales MTD on a weekly basis, so you can find patterns and trends. She also recommends looking at your profit and loss statements, looking at your cashflow situation, and if you have receivables to look at those. She explains, you want to pay as late as you can, and you want to get paid as early as you can. The longer the receivable sits, the harder it is to collect it. Lisa is also a huge fan of per unit measuring, she loves slicing and dicing numbers in as many ways as she can to support a hypothesis that you have about how to make the business perform better. Lisa also points out that if you have a team and you are able to gauge revenue per person,  then you can create a factor capacity model.  Another idea to consider as a business owner is per uniting the cost of acquisition of a new client. If you decide to spend $7,000 in facebook ads, how much are you generating in revenue as a result of that spend? How much did it cost you per lead? What did you get for every dollar spent? When you can drill the numbers down that way, you can actually replicate what you’ve done that has produced results. You will also have a baseline measurement that will tell you if something is no longer working.  If you only measure it one time, and you don’t look at what the trends are, you won’t be seeing legitimate results in your business. Lisa breaks business growth into 5 steps: Attract Convert Retain Expand Refer After you are able to both attract business and convert to clients, you need to then keep your client or customer, and expand the amount of business you do with them. This will have a huge impact on the lifetime value of your business. If they refer people to you, your cost of acquisition goes down; buyers are selling for you. You can’t maintain a strong business with luck, you need to know your back-end numbers. Lisa and Margy agree that even during the good times, entrepreneurs need to be prepared and get everything in order in case they have a tough month ahead. Lisa asks all her clients, “How much money do you have in the bank? What is your burn rate? How long will that last?” Thought Readers is Lisa’s newest venture, the online Business & Book Club community. Lisa came up with the idea when someone had reached out to her explaining that they were always trying to keep up with what Lisa was reading. They asked if Lisa would start a business book club. They said, “Send me the book you're reading every month, tell me what you’re learning and I will write you a check.” She thought, nobody is gonna pay me to read books with me! However, after the first year, 75 people signed up. Lisa chooses a book, reads it a month before, and picks out all the important “ahas!” She then shares them with the group, records videos about her own takeaways, and she does a “Books and Business Q&A.” People can come to the call and ask Lisa any question they want about the book or just business in general! Lisa is now entering her fifth year reading books together with this community! You can join the community and she will ship you the book, or join and be a digital member and buy the book yourself. Either way, you still get wisdom from the discussion that happens inside the community. It’s a great shortcut to reading the entire book. A recommendation from Lisa is to pick books that are aligned with where your business problems are - read something that resonates with you, read something that will help you. Margy’s big focus is on implementation, so she is drawn to books like Profit First and The Ultimate Blueprint. It’s incredibly helpful to have someone to talk it out with and get some bullet points on what you’re struggling with or want to learn more about. Thought Readers helps community members translate these books into their lives and their business to take action. A final recommendation from Lisa is when you’re looking at business books, pick the lever that is going to lift you the highest with the least amount of effort. Don’t get stuck in the weeds of tactical implementation, instead stick with the one thing that is going to give you the biggest ROI on your time. You can connect with Lisa at thoughtreaders.com!