The Nitty-Gritty:

* How Edios Media‘s target clients have evolved over their 3 years in business* What happened with co-founder Michael Karsh and Elizabeth Madariaga got the chance to pitch a project for Google* Where Michael sources his confidence while working with giant corporations* What Michael and Elizabeth have focused on operationally to continue leveling up their service and their confidence

Even in today’s digital world, when we think small business, we often think the mom & pop shop on main street.

Or, maybe you think about the lawyer who drew up your will or the accountant who prepares your taxes.

Even online, you probably think about coaches, designers, artists, educators, copywriters, and project managers.

One thing all of these businesses have in common is that they’re person to person kind of businesses. Whether the person is walking through the door of a coffee shop or the person represents a business they founded, each transaction feels really personal.

It’s a business ecosystem we can all be really comfortable with.

But there’s a different business ecosystem that many small business owners and self-employed people deal in.

That ecosystem? Big business.

Did you know that 54 percent of Google’s workforce is temporary workers, contractors, and vendors? I sure didn’t.

Did you know that Facebook has tens of thousands of contract workers? Nope, I didn’t know that either.

Some of these workers are people who choose flexible or temporary work at home over long-term permanent employment.

But plenty are small business owners who are doing business with the big dogs—or… should I say unicorns?

Today, my guest is Michael Karsh. And Michael is the co-founder of a company that does business with the unicorns.

When I first met Michael, he wasn’t a business owner. He was my content producer at CreativeLive. Together, we developed 9 classes and reached tens of thousands of people with high-quality video education. Later, he helped work on this very podcast.

A couple of years ago, Michael and another of my producers, Elizabeth Madariaga, started their own video production company, Edios Media. You can hear more about their first year in business in Episode 101.

I wanted to bring Michael back on the show to take a look at how his and Elizabeth’s mindset and confidence level has evolved as they’ve worked with giant clients like Google, Facebook, Salesforce, and The Sundance Institute.

Michael and I talk about the first big deal they signed, how the clients they serve today are different from what they initially expected, and how the business itself has evolved to serve those clients.

***

This candid conversation with Michael is part of a whole series we’re doing here at What Works on confidence. We want to shed light on how small business owners continue to find confidence, long after they’ve taken the leap to get started.

Over the next month, you’ll hear about finding the confidence to raise your prices, come back after a major loss, experiment & iterate, and stick with the plan. When we’re not posting new conversations here on the podcast,...

★ Support this podcast ★