How are you going to make this your best year yet?

Every year inside No BS Agencies Mastery, I lead a two-day planning workshop for our students. 

If you want to have your best year yet, it’s vital that you envision not only the big picture, but what steps it will take to achieve it.

Today, I’m sharing my vision and planning process, from soup to nuts.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• Our approach to identifying “accomplishments” 
• Two exercises to help you get your big dreams onto the page
• How to identify the obstacles and opportunities in your plan
• The “Freedom Finder” and why this is crucial
• What actually helps you go from your big goal to an action plan 

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

I was recently a guest on Sara Chambers’s fabulous podcast, Chicks Who Give a Hoot and I loved our conversation. We chatted a lot about Mastery, her experience in it, and talked about other people’s experiences as well. Plus we dug into mindset shifts we’ve both needed to make to be successful in our businesses and lots more.

I wanted to share that conversation here on my feed. I hope you enjoy it and do check out Chicks Who Give a Hoot!

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

Almost all of us have worked for a crappy boss at some point. And even though you have your own business now, you might still be working for one. 

Getting away from bad bosses may be one of the reasons you started your own business in the first place. But it is all too easy to end up treating ourselves horribly.

So to close out 2024, I want to talk about how to be a great boss to yourself so you can have the freedom and ease you set out to find.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• How old habits and short-term thinking keep us stuck and burned out
• One thing we really need from a good boss (and how to give that to ourselves)
• How to keep yourself accountable even when things aren’t going exactly to plan
• How a great boss deals with mistakes
• Why making time for continuous learning and development is related to being a great boss

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

Last week, I talked about how to think about planning your year ahead when you’ve had a wildly successful year.

If you’re looking back at 2024 and feeling like things fell apart instead of coming together, you are not alone. Those same students I talked about last week who had their best years ever have also had years that felt like a total bust. 

If things didn’t take off quite the way you hoped and you feel like you worked so hard and don’t have much to show for it, remember, this is the end of the year, not the end of your story. Where you go from here is up to you.

So, let’s talk about planning for 2025 if your year wasn’t so great.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• How unrealistic goals and timelines trip us up
• The thing about hitting every goal 
• Planning for the unexpected
• The difference between being productive and strategic in your work
• How to reflect on 2024 and turn it into a plan to bounce back

Mentioned:

• Taki Moore

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

It’s been a year filled with milestone achievements for No BS Mastery students. And the wins aren’t just about bank accounts and booked calendars. It’s taking pottery classes in the middle of the day and bucket list trips across the world and teaming up on a project with a legend in your field. It’s the freedom and flexibility that comes with owning and trusting the No BS process.

So what do you do when you’ve had your best year yet?

If you want to get to the next level, but you don’t want to lose the spaciousness that you’ve found in your life, what do you need to do to achieve those results? 

Let’s talk about how to reflect on a big year so you can move into 2025 set up for success as the kind of business owner you want to be.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• The common trait that successful agency owners share
• Why you need to take time to reflect on the low points of the year, not just the wins
• How to find areas of your business that aren’t working and are draining your energy
• How to evaluate if you’re ready to scale sustainably
• Setting goals and strategizing for the entire upcoming year

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

Katie Koch and Jess Dyroff are No BS Agencies Mastery success stories. They joined the program soon after they started their business, setting the right course that works for them from the start. 

Katie Koch and Jess Dyroff are the founders of Brightside Creative, where they transform nonprofits and mission driven organizations into unforgettable brands, empowering them to put their mission in motion.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• How Jess and Katie started their business
• Why Jess and Katie joined the No BS program so soon after starting their business
• How the No BS process made them the trusted partner their clients want
• How the No BS model helped Jess and Katie structure their business in a way that works for their business and personal goals

Learn more about Jess Dyroff and Katie Koch:

• Brightside Creative
• Instagram: @brightside.kc
• Facebook: @BrightsideCreativeKC
• Connect on LinkedIn

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

Let’s see if this sounds familiar: You say yes to everything. You take any project as they come up and you start them as soon as possible. You have too many clients and you’re juggling too much work. You have no work-life balance. And if you’re not up to your eyeballs in client work, you’re stressing and spinning your wheels about the next thing to cross your door.

Burnout is on the horizon.

Last week, we talked about setting boundaries with your clients to successfully manage those expectations and relationships.

In this episode, we talk about something equally important: the boundaries you set for yourself, in your life and in your business that will actually help you grow.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• What feeds scarcity and tramples your boundaries
• Why you have to protect time to work on your business, separate from client work
• The kinds of boundaries you have to set for yourself and your business
• The really important thing about small habits

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

Many branding agency owners and creative people find dealing with clients very difficult.

In my experience, and after having coached many people through difficult client experiences, I have found that the culprit is almost always lack of clarity around boundaries and expectation management.

Things often go off the rails when you can’t communicate and maintain clear boundaries with clients. That’s when you get urgent after-hours emails. That’s when you get scope creep. That’s how everyone ends up unhappy, you and your clients.

So let's talk about how to have clearer boundaries for yourself and your business and how to communicate those to your clients. 

Tune into this episode to hear:

• How do you create boundaries and set expectations with clients 
• How often you need to communicate your process 
• What ensures project efficiency
• What actually happens when you try to be responsive always and please your clients all the time 
• Why maintaining boundaries around your time makes your clients value it more

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

I’ve come to realize that so many people struggle to set and hold boundaries because they are afraid of being perceived negatively.

Whether it’s saying no to a casual invite to a bar when you’d rather not or holding firm to your boundaries in a professional setting, having and communicating clear boundaries can be stressful. 

But it is absolutely vital to your business for you to develop this skill. 

So that’s what I’m talking about boundaries this month. In this episode, we talk about what boundaries are, why they're so hard to set, and how you can start to practice the art of having them, acknowledging them, and setting them.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• What actually allows clients to push your boundaries
• What helps create more positive experiences for your clients
• How to start identifying areas in your life where you want to have better boundaries and why you don’t
• Using low-stakes situations to get more comfortable setting a boundary or saying no

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

Eleanor Hancock is a star student inside No BS Agencies Mastery and her transformation over the last couple of years has been absolutely phenomenal to watch. She’s an inspiration to me and in the community, and I know you’ll get so much out of hearing her story.

Eleanor Hancock is the co-founder of Number 75 Design, a creative agency that specializes in creating ‘damn fine brands’ and websites for dreamers, rebels, corporate escapees and change-makers. Eleanor’s “75% Rule” encourages action over perfection, helping entrepreneurs discover their hidden potential and take meaningful strides towards their goals.

As a self-proclaimed timid trailblazer and respectful rule-breaker, Eleanor has mastered the art of turning imposter syndrome into a source of strength and she’s all about empowering small businesses to make big waves in their industries.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• The state of Eleanor’s business after COVID and before joining the No BS Mastery 
• Why Eleanor was initially hesitant to join the No BS Mastery
• What Eleanor has discovered is the most valuable piece in any client project
• How Eleanor and her husband deepened the relationships within the community and their clients
• How the Mastery program has also been a catalyst for Eleanor to overcome impostor syndrome

Learn more about Eleanor Hancock:

• Number 75 Design
• Instagram: @number75design
• The Dilemma of the Timid Trailblazer

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com