Our Entrepreneurial Lives | The Struggle and Strategy of Building a Business

Your branding is so much more than your logo. Long before anyone reads a word on your website or books a call with you, your brand is already forming a first impression, and it's backed by the psychology of how people see, feel, and remember. In this episode, Jen sits down with Erica to learn what branding really is and why it deserves a place in your business. Erica walks through a recent rebrand she led and shares how she approaches the process, from deciding how you want people to feel to evaluating whether your visuals match the quality of what you offer.

What you'll learn:

• What branding is, and why it's about the impression people have before they ever talk to you.
• Why the feeling you want people to have comes before your colors and fonts.
• What goes into a brand guide, and how it keeps your visuals consistent.
• The question to ask yourself to know whether it's time for a refresh.
• How to look at your own brand through the eyes of your ideal client.
• The technical side of a rebrand that is easy to overlook.

Connect with Jen and Erica

We'd love to connect with you. Come join us on social media, grab one of our free resources, or find out more about our businesses.

Jen Howat, Build it Better Communications

builditbetterco.comInstagram: @jenhowat

Have you hit a plateau in your business but not sure what to do? Fill out the Build it Better Scorecard and see what's working in your business and your greatest opportunities for growth. Your report will score you over 8 areas of business and show your top priorities. Visit https://scorecard.builditbetterco.com to get started.

Erica Bollinger, The Mustard Seed Agency

themustardseedagency.com

Instagram: @themustardseedagency

Every 3rd Monday of the Month, The Mustard Seed Agency hosts a free webinar series related to marketing for small businesses: https://themustardseedagency.com/webinar

Enter your website below to see exactly where you stand in search: https://themustardseedagency.com/seo-analyzer

Find Your Digital Blind Spot. Every small business has one. Find out what's costing you customers and what to fix first: https://tools.themustardseedagency.com/quiz

What if everything you wanted, as a business owner, a mom, a wife, didn't actually require more time, just nine focused minutes a day? In this episode, Jen and Erica sit down with Jennifer Sise, coach, consultant, and author of It's Only a Matter of Time, to talk about why women don't have to choose between giving their best to their work and showing up well for the people they love. Jennifer shares the difference between managing your time and owning it, why getting quiet and eliminating distractions matters more than any productivity hack, and how nine minutes at a time has transformed everything from a client relationship to a kid's bath time for the women she coaches.

What you'll learn:

• The difference between time management and time ownership, and why it changes everything.
• Why you don't have to do it all to be it all.
• How to "set apart" time instead of trying to find or make it.
• Why checking email first thing in the morning hands your to-do list to everyone else.
• How the nine-minute principle works in business, parenting, and everyday life.

Connect with Jennifer Sise

Listen to the Podcast: In 9 Minutes

Order Her Book: It's Only a Matter of Time: Where you are is not where you were made to stay

Website: jennifersise.com

Instagram: @jennifersise

Connect with Jen and Erica

We'd love to connect with you. Come join us on social media, grab one of our free resources, or find out more about our businesses.

Jen Howat, Build it Better Communications

builditbetterco.comInstagram: @jenhowat

Fill out the Build it Better Scorecard and see what's working in your business and your greatest opportunities for growth. Your report will score you over 8 areas of business and show your top priorities. Visit https://scorecard.builditbetterco.com to get started.

Erica Bollinger, The Mustard Seed Agency

themustardseedagency.com

Instagram: @themustardseedagency

Every 3rd Monday of the Month, The Mustard Seed Agency hosts a free webinar series related to marketing for small businesses: https://themustardseedagency.com/webinar

Enter your website below to see exactly where you stand in search: https://themustardseedagency.com/seo-analyzer

Find Your Digital Blind Spot. Every small business has one. Find out what's costing you customers and what to fix first: https://tools.themustardseedagency.com/quiz

Join Jen for this unfiltered solo episode where she talks about how to know whether or not you have the right lead magnet.

Learn More About Your Business

Fill out the Build it Better Scorecard and see what's working in your business and your greatest opportunities for growth. Your report will score you over 8 areas of business and show your top priorities. Visit https://scorecard.builditbetterco.com to get started.

If you've ever looked at your to-do list and called it your priorities, you're not alone, and this episode is going to change how you think about both. Erica and Jen get into the real definition of a priority, why it's not the same thing as everything on your plate, and why mixing the two up is exactly what keeps you feeling exhausted and behind. Come and discover how to turn a long list into something manageable, including a simple check-in tool for knowing what you actually have the capacity for in any given season.

What you'll learn:

• The real difference between a priority and a to-do, and why confusing them keeps you overwhelmed.
• A simple framework for checking your capacity before you commit to anything new.
• Why your priorities aren't just about work, and what that means for how you build your list.
• A practical approach to turning your priorities into something you'll actually follow through on.

Connect with Jen and Erica

We'd love to connect with you. Come join us on social media, grab one of our free resources, or find out more about our businesses.

Jen Howat, Build it Better Communications

builditbetterco.comInstagram: @jenhowat

Fill out the Build it Better Scorecard and see what's working in your business and your greatest opportunities for growth. Your report will score you over 8 areas of business and show your top priorities. Visit https://scorecard.builditbetterco.com to get started.

Every client travels a path, from first finding you to trusting you enough to invest. Most businesses have at least one gap along that pathway that costs them. Let's find yours. https://audit.builditbetterco.com

Do you wonder what's slowing your growth and how to fix it? Join me for a free strategy session and get your personalized Build it Better Blueprint. No catch. Just clarity. https://builditbetterco.com/strategy-call

Erica Bollinger, The Mustard Seed Agency

themustardseedagency.com

Instagram: @themustardseedagency

Every 3rd Monday of the Month, The Mustard Seed Agency hosts a free webinar series related to marketing for small businesses: https://themustardseedagency.com/webinar

Enter your website below to see exactly where you stand in search: https://themustardseedagency.com/seo-analyzer

Find Your Digital Blind Spot. Every small business has one. Find out what's costing you customers and what to fix first: https://tools.themustardseedagency.com/quiz

If you've ever sat down to write out your priorities and realized everything on the list feels equally important, this episode is for you. You'll hear why prioritizing isn't something you figure out once and move on from, why the priorities that worked for you last season might not work for this one, and why most priority lists fall apart because of something that never even makes it onto the page: the mindset running underneath it. This episode will help you ensure your life and business are moving to the beat of the right drum and going in the direction you want to go.

What you'll learn:

• The strategy behind setting priorities.
• The critical question that needs to be asked before you get started.
• What mindset mantras could be a sign that something's off.
• How to see if any fears, lies, or limiting beliefs are keeping you from choosing your priorities freely.

Connect with Jen and Erica

We'd love to connect with you. Come join us on social media, grab one of our free resources, or find out more about our businesses.

Jen Howat, Build it Better Communications

builditbetterco.comInstagram: @jenhowat

Fill out the Build it Better Scorecard and see what's working in your business and your greatest opportunities for growth. Your report will score you over 8 areas of business and show your top priorities. Visit https://scorecard.builditbetterco.com to get started.

Every client travels a path, from first finding you to trusting you enough to invest. Most businesses have at least one gap along that pathway that costs them. Let's find yours. https://audit.builditbetterco.com

Do you wonder what's slowing your growth and how to fix it? Join me for a free strategy session and get your personalized Build it Better Blueprint. No catch. Just clarity. https://builditbetterco.com/strategy-call

Erica Bollinger, The Mustard Seed Agency

themustardseedagency.com

Instagram: @themustardseedagency

Every 3rd Monday of the Month, The Mustard Seed Agency hosts a free webinar series related to marketing for small businesses: https://themustardseedagency.com/webinar

Enter your website below to see exactly where you stand in search: https://themustardseedagency.com/seo-analyzer

Find Your Digital Blind Spot. Every small business has one. Find out what's costing you customers and what to fix first: https://tools.themustardseedagency.com/quiz

Have you ever caught yourself calling everything you sell an "offer" without really knowing what that word means? In this episode, Jen and Erica break down what an offer actually is and how it fits into a value ladder, the system that moves someone from a free lead magnet all the way up to your highest-ticket offer. They walk through their own value ladders in detail, share real client examples across different industries, and talk honestly about the upsells they still haven't gotten around to automating.

What you'll learn:

• What an offer actually is, and why it's more than just deliverables or a discount.

• What a value ladder is and how it helps grow lifetime customer value.

• The different types of offers in a value ladder: lead magnets, front-end offers, core offers, subscriptions, upsells, and one-time offers.

• How to turn something you already have into a lead magnet instead of creating something new.

• Why giving people too many choices at once can lead to overwhelm and inaction.

• How deciding what kind of business you want to be (Walmart, Target, or a high-end store) shapes your offer strategy.

Do you want to build your own value ladder? Check out our interactive tool. In just 5 minutes you can see the steps you have in place and which rungs have room for a new offer.

Are you interested in attending one of Erica's free webinars? Find out more HERE.

Connect with Jen and Erica

We'd love to connect with you. Come join us on social media, grab one of our free resources, or find out more about our businesses.

Jen Howat, Build it Better Communications

builditbetterco.comInstagram: @jenhowat

Erica Bollinger, The Mustard Seed Agency

themustardseedagency.com

Instagram: @themustardseedagency

Are you standing at the edge of starting something new and wondering if you're crazy for taking the risk? Or are you a few years into your business, watching things that used to work stop working, and wondering what to do next? Wherever you're standing, you're not the only one there. In this episode, Jen and Erica compare notes on a theme that kept showing up in their client conversations at the same time — new business owners taking the risk to start, and established owners figuring out what to do when the ground shifts under them. Whichever place you're in right now, they've got something for you.

What you'll learn:

• Why "if you build it, they will come" is a myth — and what actually has to happen after you launch.

• How to know when an outside opinion is worth following, and when your gut is telling you something different.

• The mindset shift that helps you stop reinventing the wheel with every client.

• Why chasing a "perfect" offer or plan can stall your progress.

• What to do when you feel stuck: the small, practical moves that create momentum again.

• Why failure in a past business isn't wasted — and how it sets you up for what's next.

• A simple gut-check for deciding when to pivot versus when to stay the course.

Don't forget to check out our episode How to Market Your Own Business When You Are Busy Serving Everyone Else.

Interested in attending Erica's webinar?

REGISTER HERE.

Connect with Jen and Erica

We'd love to connect with you. Come join us on social media, grab one of our free resources, or find out more about our businesses.

Jen Howat, Build it Better Communications

builditbetterco.comInstagram: @jenhowat

Erica Bollinger, The Mustard Seed Agency

themustardseedagency.com

Instagram: @themustardseedagency

Being the CEO of Your Business

Are you the CEO of your business, or have you just created another job for yourself? In this episode, Jen and Erica sit down with friend and mentor Mandi Casey to unpack her CEO framework and what it actually takes to lead instead of just work. We get honest about where we still get stuck in the weeds, the mindset shifts that changed things for each of us, and the practical habits that keep a business moving forward instead of just staying busy.

What you'll learn:

• What Mandi's CEO framework stands for — customer journey, executive presence, and operational simplicity.
• How to start with the end in mind by envisioning where you want your business in three to five years.
• What "CEO time" is and how to actually protect it on your calendar.
• How breaking a big goal into small, almost laughable steps creates real momentum.
• Why getting off course isn't the problem — and how to shorten the time it takes to course-correct.
• The mindset shift that helps you recognize doing nothing is still a choice.

Books Mentioned

• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy
• Be Your Future Self Now by Dr. Benjamin Hardy
• The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

Connect with Mandi

Website: theminderco.com

Join the Elevate Mastermind: An exclusive mastermind for ambitious women ready to rise above the day-to-day, think like a CEO, and scale with intention.

Instagram: @the_minder_coach & @thecollectiveok

The MindHER Podcast: Listen HERE or on your favorite podcast platform

More About Mandi

Mandi is a coach and business strategist who helps women create lives that feel purposeful, profitable, and fully their own. She teaches women to lead from alignment by shifting how they think and trusting their intuition. Her philosophy–leadership starts from within–shows up in her coaching, her Elevate Mastermind, and The Collective, the coworking community she runs for women entrepreneurs.

Marketing your own business can be surprisingly hard; even when marketing, messaging, or strategy is part of what you do for clients. In this episode, Jen and Erica have an honest conversation about the ways their own marketing has fallen to the back burner and what they're doing to get back into a sustainable rhythm.

• Why business owners often put their own marketing last

• Why paid ads are not the only form of marketing

• The importance of relationship marketing and intentional networking

• What belongs in a simple marketing foundation

• How email lists, websites, Google Business Profiles, and lead capture tools work together

• Why your lead magnet should lead to a clear next step

• How to choose marketing activities you can actually sustain

The PESO model: paid, earned, shared/social, and owned media Google Business Profile SEO and AEO Email newsletters Organic social media Lead magnets Value ladders Cold outreach Relationship marketing

Choose two simple marketing actions you can realistically commit to. Your plan does not have to be complicated to be effective. We'd love for you to share with us what you've decided to do. Send us a note at hello@ourentrepreneuriallives.

AI is everywhere right now, but many business owners are still only using it for one thing: creating content. In this conversation, Jen and Erica talk about how AI can support your business in much bigger ways; from saving time and organizing ideas to improving systems, handling repetitive tasks, and helping you work more efficiently.

They also talk honestly about the temptation to chase every new AI tool, the importance of bringing strategy into the process, and why AI works best when it supports your thinking instead of replacing it.

• How many business owners are currently using AI for content creation

• Why AI can do much more than write blog posts and captions

• The difference between using AI as an assistant and using AI as an agent

• How to avoid shiny object syndrome with new AI tools

• Why strategy matters before using AI in your business

• Practical ways beginners can start using AI

• How AI can support repetitive tasks, email drafts, brainstorming, SOPs, and website work

• Why you should ask AI how it can help you

ChatGPT Claude Gemini NotebookLM Canva HighLevel Manus Zapier Make Google PageSpeed Insights

You do not have to use every AI tool available. Start with one practical area where AI can save you time or reduce friction, then build from there.

Have a question or example of how you're using AI in your business? We'd love to connect with you. Email us at [email protected].