The Nitty Gritty:

* Marie shares the role customer interviews have played in the evolution of her online learning software product, Doki

* How automation plays an important role in how Marie and her partner manage their workload without assistants or contractors

* What enables Marie to balance managing her business with outside pursuits like rock climbing and permaculture

On this episode, I’m caught up with Marie Poulin, the co-founder of digital agency Oki Doki during another live recording of the podcast.

Marie is a designer and digital strategist who helps small business owners translate their 1:1 services into profitable digital products and programs. She co-founded Oki Doki with her partner Ben, and together they run Doki, their platform for delivering online learning experiences. When she’s not working with clients, you can find her climbing rocks or playing in the garden.

On a personal note…

One of the personal goals that I set for myself this year was:

“Spend at least as much time mastering technique and perfecting form as learning new things”

You have no idea how difficult this is for me. I love to try new things… and I hate repeating things for precision.

You can ask my mom about how well I handled that in grade school.

But I’m in the process of massively leveling up—as I know you are too—and technique counts. It counts big time.

I’m applying this goal to everything from physical fitness to new digital tools to tried-and-true marketing techniques. It always takes a mental cue for me to pause and perfect my technique before I move on but, each time I do, I get better and better.

Without spending time on optimizing what works and mastering technique, you end up piling more and more on your plate because you assume the only way to move forward is to do more. You never give what you’ve introduced into your business (a new social media channel, a sales funnel, a team member, etc…) the time to show you what it can really accomplish on its own.

It might feel slow at first–but it’s the fastest, most sustainable way to make progress in the long-term.

Marie cares deeply about mastering technique and optimizing what works

One thing I always take away from conversations with Marie is her commitment to getting things right, focusing on the details, and optimizing what works. She recognizes that the best way to get big things done is to care about the little things.

You’ll find this theme throughout the whole interview and you’ll see how she’s applied technique and optimization to everything from her product development to her service delivery to the way she sets up her weekly schedule. Listen to the full episode to hear it all.

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