Ambition, Honey & Hustle

You MATTER. Believe me...you matter. And this isn’t a pep talk. It’s reality.  There’s a reason the flight crew instructs you to put on your mask before helping anyone else.  If we don’t address our own state of being and need, it's hard to be of service to others consistently. And when you pour your heart and soul into an entrepreneurial baby, you have to have a way to replenish yourself so you can continue to nurture further.  My guest on the Ambition, Honey & Hustle podcast, Annie Boyd-Ramirez, Co-founder and executive director of Programa Velasco talked about that very thing.  And for this season finale, what a special treat, this fellow entrepreneur also happens to be my college roommate!!! For show notes and bonus resources visit Candacespears.com

 It was like she lifted the words right from my heart to her lips.  I'm talking about Ann Sieg, Founder and CEO of eCommerce Business School.  She and I had a conversation, that literally had me shifting in my seat because the resonance was so strong. Shifting your perspective, not only relative to realities of the COVID world we live in, but also the power of creating a family economy through business ownership.  Family economy...self-sustaining...yes..yes...yes...here for that all day.  The author of some of the most widely read books in the world on how to get new customers and prospects to come to you, Ann Sieg is considered one of the pioneers of attraction marketing. For show notes and bonus resources visit Candacespears.com

 How many times have you said to yourself, "I'm so ready to be done."   Or maybe even typed up your resignation notice and have it just waiting in that special folder on your desktop to whip out at an uncertain date in the future?  Been there, and my guest on the show today, Monica Allen has too. Monica is a serial entrepreneur owning several businesses in the Westside Atlanta area. She is co-owner of Allen Professional Graphics Group and Deuce Equity Group with her husband Ethan King. She is also the founder and CEO of Monica Allen Interiors.   Allen Professional Graphics Group is a full service graphic design firm owning the brands Zeus’ Closet, stuff4GREEKS.com, and FratBrat.com.  From being given office space for their business by Tyler Perry in their early years to her and her husband creating design that now reaches around the world, in all of that, there were decision points.   At some point you may cross that corp life vs. paying the bills scenario, but what to do next and how to lay a successful path, we're talking about that on the show. For show notes and bonus resources visit Candacespears.com

 Failure is freeing! Yelling that from the mountaintops!  See...so much learning is tied up in the things we fail at and as entrepreneurs, baby... failure is a part of the process of bringing success and value to the world.  On the show today, I had this very conversation with DJ Higgins. DJ is an award-winning filmmaker and university educator, having produced such thought-provoking films as Meet Mario, and Pasquales Magic Veal. All of his films take a conscious responsibility for what shows up on the screen.   We’ve each had our fair share of failures, and we'll both tell you this...what comes out on the other side is yours to benefit from. For show notes and bonus resources visit Candacespears.com

MINDSET IS EVERYTHING. And while it's the one we easily brush off in favor of pretty websites, must have lead magnets, "perfectly" priced offerings, and a hustle of a day prospecting. It is your best friend or your worst enemy, believe me from entrepreneurial experience on both sides of the coin.  My dear friend, Colleen Falk, entrepreneur, educator, and consultant knows all about it, and we're digging in on that very thing.  She has been an Entrepreneur, Educator and an Organizational Consultant for over 30 years.  Her philosophy of being a change agent whether you are an Entrepreneur, Student, Organization, or Friend has been her driving force throughout her life.    Living in Bemidji MN with her husband of 39 years and her 2 beautiful daughters who have given her 7 grandchildren and 2 awesome son-in-law’s, has fueled her fire!  Her toolbox brings her expertise in processes that help communicate and develop a plan for change, helping people and organizations succeed.  Understanding the challenges people need to face, preparing properly for the change and carrying the crucial implementation phase through to a successful conclusion are critical goals. For show notes and bonus resources visit Candacespears.com

Hayley Henning, CEO and founder of Characters.io, and I are having that very conversation about traveling the entrepreneurial journey at scale and her 21 location scale-up.  After starting Characters.io in 2008 at age 19, she took the concept from a single location to a successful 21-location franchise that performs thousands of events nation-wide, most recently pivoting into the virtual space as a result of COVID-19. For show notes and bonus resources visit Candacespears.com

 Alright, imagine this...put a clone of your products and service right next to you. Same programs, similar offerings. Does that make you just another business selling the same 'ol thing...unable to compete, commodity like? Heck no, not if you interject the piece that no one can duplicate...YOU.  You and your experiences can be a strikingly powerful business advantage. Of course, you have to be willing to utilize it. We're talking about that on the show today with Cassandra Govan, the Fit’n’Fab Coach Cass, Health & Wellness Consultant, CEO of Dema Agency Consultants, LLC, and Founder of the SuperME Coaching Programs.  She lived her professional life as a façade and after almost two decades of being in this industry, finally broke those chains and shifted her focus to mind, body, and health acceptance and tolerance which eventually led to real freedom within her.  This change came from her creating and going through her own Body Development Success Plan; the same plan she encourages leaders and employees to experience.  Because of this personal shift, she's helping employers & CEOs and Entrepreneurs & employees, all over the globe, have it ALL by following her formula of Better behaviors + Better bodies = Better businesses. For show notes and bonus resources visit Candacespears.com

 Justin Aldridge is life and online business coach who helps ambitious, heart-centered people create and scale their online, passion-based businesses so they can quit their 9:00 - 5:00 and make the income and impact they desire.  Growing up, he had a hard time fitting in. He was the “different” kid and hated that about himself. However, later in life, he realized that being different was actually his greatest gift because it meant that he was standing in my power.  But, like my people, I lost touch with that inner truth and started going through the motions of life. Although he was highly successful by everyone else’s standards on the outside, he was battling himself on the inside. He struggled with depression and almost lost his marriage and life.  An experience where he was holding his newborn daughter and thinking about having a conversation with her about chasing her dreams completely changed his life. Following that experience, he created The UNCOMMON Life movement. For show notes and bonus resources visit Candacespears.com

 The women who dare to impact in a bigger way, that describes my guests on the show, Sheunopa and Symone, the co-hosts of High Key Woke podcast.  Highkey Woke Podcast is a safe space for Nopa and Mone along with their counterparts to discuss all things corporate America, the Culture, and Politics and how these three components relate to and/or influence the Black experience.   Naturally being co-workers first, they would vent to each other about their day to day responsibilities and experiences they encountered being Black in the workplace. Those discussions evolved from initially just being about work to also being about their worlds outside of work.   They figured that if they were having these discussions between the two of them, why not take their dialogue broader. For show notes and bonus, resources visit Candacespears.com

 A few years ago, my guest on the show, PJ Taie, decided to build the best video monetization platform on the market. A platform for users to build their own Netflix, but not limited to entertainment. In 2014, he put an amazing team together and launched Uscreen; now the world’s leading video monetization platform. Today Uscreen is home to over 10,000 video creators who use their platform to distribute and sell their videos online and through OTT (over-the-top) devices. Who is PJ?  PJ is a video monetization expert obsessed with creating a profitable space for creators, instructors, and educators. For show notes and bonus resources visit Candacespears.com