And She Spoke

“Business is not about money. It’s about making dreams come true for others and yourself.” — Derek Sivers

Our company’s internal motto is: Be kind. Be brave. Be love. There’s a lot of power in being kind. So many of us promote kindness in our everyday lives, but not so much in business (probably because it is considered to be an act of weakness). We think that this is a huge missed opportunity.

We never would have imaged, until we did it for ourselves, that business could be a vehicle for love. We have incorporated kindness into our customer service, our professional networking, our team’s culture, and via the products we put out into the world. The biggest gift you can give to your clients and customers is to be a good listener -- to be fully present and fully human to their experience.

But kindness without boundaries breeds resentment. It’s a balance, right?

Other Mentions:
Stuffed Animals on Vacation (giraffe, bunny)

Joy: More Love Letters (Ted Talk)

Hustle: Anything You Want by Derek Sivers

Gumption, as a word and as a concept (which Americans often refer to as “tenacity”), dates back to Scotland in the early 1700s, and although the concept is quite old, we think that it is a critical component of modern entrepreneurship. This episode explores a number of strategies we recommend for building up your own capacity for gumption: Set yourself up for success with self care. Start setting goals that you can control and then don’t let yourself off the hook. (Keep your word to yourself.) It’s ok to try something new. (Creative problem-solving is arguably the most important skill in entrepreneurship.) Capture successes + celebrate heroes and legends. Community + accountability. (It is SO hard to be brave in vacuum.)

Gumption, as a word and as a concept (which Americans often refer to as “tenacity”), dates back to Scotland in the early 1700s, and although the concept is quite old, we think that it is a critical component of modern entrepreneurship.

This episode explores a number of strategies we recommend for building up your own capacity for gumption:

1. Set yourself up for success with self care.
2. Start setting goals that you can control and then don’t let yourself off the hook. (Keep your word to yourself.)
3. It’s ok to try something new. (Creative problem-solving is arguably the most important skill in entrepreneurship.)
4. Capture successes + celebrate heroes and legends.
5. Community + accountability. (It is SO hard to be brave in vacuum.)

Could artistry and entrepreneurship be intertwined? We encourage you to follow your creative pursuits and, in fact, we believe that creative self expression can help you to become a better founder and better human. Taking great ideas from seemingly unrelated disciplines and bringing them together in a new way is the ultimate creative hack. We’ve witnessed this play out in life and in business. But...you’re going to have to get comfortable with most of your work being terrible (especially at first). Just keep creating, growing, and learning and, eventually, you’ll make something that impacts the world around you (and maybe even your business).

Could artistry and entrepreneurship be intertwined? We encourage you to follow your creative pursuits and, in fact, we believe that creative self expression can help you to become a better founder and better human.

Taking great ideas from seemingly unrelated disciplines and bringing them together in a new way is the ultimate creative hack. We’ve witnessed this play out in life and in business. But...you’re going to have to get comfortable with most of your work being terrible (especially at first). Just keep creating, growing, and learning and, eventually, you’ll make something that impacts the world around you (and maybe even your business).

Working together in partnership has been critical to our success in online business. You don’t have to do it by yourself and you, alone, cannot master every skill that’s necessary for success as an entrepreneur. In this episode, we explore the ways that collaboration can set you up for success. Do personality assessments matter for collaborative partnerships? What about archetypes? If you’re dreaming of having a greater impact with your work and through your business, consider ways that you can join forces with others in your market to build something bigger than any of you could do on your own.

Working together in partnership has been critical to our success in online business. You don’t have to do it by yourself and you, alone, cannot master every skill that’s necessary for success as an entrepreneur. In this episode, we explore the ways that collaboration can set you up for success. Do personality assessments matter for collaborative partnerships? What about archetypes?

If you’re dreaming of having a greater impact with your work and through your business, consider ways that you can join forces with others in your market to build something bigger than any of you could do on your own.

We're living in an economy where each person is likely to work in a dozen jobs over the course of her career and where the only thing that's stable is change. We recorded this episode to pay homage to the ever-present transition that so many of us are making in our careers and in our lives. Sandy shares her own emotional and liberating journey from brick and mortar retail business owner to online entrepreneur. As you listen, you’ll learn why we believe that flexibility is the one true skill that matters in today's world.

We're living in an economy where each person is likely to work in a dozen jobs over the course of her career and where the only thing that's stable is change. We recorded this episode to pay homage to the ever-present transition that so many of us are making in our careers and in our lives.

Sandy shares her own emotional and liberating journey from brick and mortar retail business owner to online entrepreneur. As you listen, you’ll learn why we believe that flexibility is the one true skill that matters in today's world.

“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.” - Salvador Dali This episode explores the role that ambition plays in entrepreneurship and the ways in which our definitions of ambition can shift over time. We discuss the interplay between owning our power, yet still allowing space for humility and how ambition shifts as we transform from employee to entrepreneur or from individual to parent. How does ambition surface for you in different phases of your life? What about men versus women? “Naked ambition in a woman is problematic in the business world. We continue to walk a fine line. We have to demonstrate enough ambition to be taken seriously as ‘success material’ but not so much that we’re perceived as a freight train.” - Betsy Stark What about Sandy’s point that the word “entrepreneurship” is replacing “ambition” for many of us these days?