Once Upon A Time As Ashley:

* Ashley was an entrepreneur before she was a parent

* Ashley went to law school two years after high school, and married her husband after the first week

* From law school she dealt with analytical things, and she loved it

* However, she had a creative side that she showed through her design blog

* Eventually Ashley started a consulting business while she was in law school, but after finishing law school she sold her business and went into law full-time

* Ashley’s husband eventually quit his job and became Ashley’s partner in her law firm, then just after they found out they were expecting their second child

* She was entrepreneur and loved it, but when she became a mom she felt more isolated

* She did not see many moms who were also entrepreneurs. Usually one will be traded for another

* For Ashley and her husband, their business was part of their personal life

* She wanted to find other moms who felt the way she did about having her business be a part of her personal life

* Ashley had people join the Mommies Hiring Mommies from West Sacramento, but since then she has started a national tribe

* There are various local communities, but for those who do not have a community in their area the national tribe is the way to go

* The local ones are the ones you really get that community feel and that special connection

* There are no limits on how many referrals there can be on the page; there is a very informal atmosphere

* Those who are able to get a lot of business are the ones that take marketing seriously

* Fostering relationships are how to get business. Ashley doesn’t need to advertise; when someone wants the services she provides she is simply tagged

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* Facebook has the benefit of having more in depth conversations, and groups are a great way to connect

* When Ashley is feeling tired, she’ll have rest time set aside

* Ashley and her husband will occasionally take trips with just the two of them, and when they aren’t working they devote 100% of their time to their kids

* Ashley has a goal of getting her work down to just three days a week

* When you don’t have an emotional tie to your goal it can be much harder to achieve

* Ashley has three process goals

* Create more and better working systems

* Spend a max of 30 minutes a day on Facebook

* Time block and set timers for vital tasks- tasks that result in financial revenue

* During that time she can only do the one task until the timer goes off

*

*

On The Fence?

* There are very few business that require you to start right away

* You have the time to reflect and make sure it’s the right decision for you

* Have a plan. Know why you’re doing what you’re doing

* Know exactly what makes you special and how what you’re doing is special

* Having a unique product or service will help you stand out

* You need to know when to push forward, push back, or pull the plug altogether

* Your family comes first. sacrificing their well-being for your business is not good

Connect With Ashley:

* Her Law Office

* Facebook

* Mommies Hiring Mommies

 

Check out the first time Stephanie was on the show!

Once Upon A Time As Stephanie:

* Stephanie was an entrepreneur before she became a parent

* She has gotten married and relocated since the first time she was on the podcast

* Stephanie has been able to allocate and delegate work more now, so her business has gotten to a point that she never dreamed it would

* It’s difficult to delegate, but you have to be able to let go and let others help in your business

* It can’t be something someone tells you; it’s an emotional thing

* Stephanie found that she got emotional behind her emails, but eventually she was able to just keep it business and delegate the emails to her admin who can answer without emotional bias

*

* Letting go of things like emails frees up the energy for doing things that she enjoys

* Answering emails and phone calls are not money making activities

* Setting up processes that run on their own is a money making activity

* Scheduling as an entrepreneur isn’t a schedule you get from a boss, it’s a schedule you make for yourself to get everything you need to get done done

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* Businesses usually succeed or fail at the ten year mark

* When you’re an entrepreneur everything is on your shoulder

* To be able to take a part of the money earned and give it to yourself without having to put it back into the business is success

* Stephanie has always been a giver and a sharer of her mistakes and her successes

* What has helped her business explode recently has been showing others how to succeed like she has

* Pushing people into technology while showing them how it can be beneficial has skyrocketed her business

* Everything runs in the background, but in the foreground Stephanie has become a mentor showing people how to do things successfully

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* You need someone to bounce ideas off of

* Have someone to tell you the truth and tell you when you can do something better

* Utilizing online marketing and showing people how to use different technologies has helped Stephanie gain more success

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* Being interactive with people on the internet enables you to expand your reach exponentially

* There is a special kind of interaction online: people wait for your posts and you’re able to connect with people on a global schedule

* Look at exactly what you make. What do you make, and how are you spending that money?

* What can you let go of?

* Recently Stephanie had to to a reassessment and look at her past expenses

* She saw that she had made a lot more money than she thought, and she had no idea where it all went

* Stephanie had to become accountable for what she was spending

* You have to really let something go, but you have to have a plan

*

Connect with Stephanie:

* Her website

* Smooth Skin Supply

* Facebook

Once Upon A Time As Diane Gardner:

* For Diane, the business came first

* She was running an accounting practice in California, right after a major earthquake leveled half her time

* Just after that happened, Diane was able to adopt a little girl

* Suddenly, Diane had to balance ten hour work days with raising a two year old

* Diane made plans where she would hand off operation of her company and move to Idaho to be a stay at home mom

* For the first two years Diane had her daughter she had to go to daycare

* However, from the ages of four to ten Diane was able to be there for her daughter throughout the day

* Her business was small back then, which allowed her to spend that time with her daughter

* When her daughter was 10, Diane became the single parent in the home and the sole provider, so she had to move her office into the town and get some more clients

* At that time Diane was shy and introverted, but she needed to step up and get clients in order to keep a roof over her head

* As a result, Diane’s daughter essentially grew up in the office

* Diane’s daughter was able to see and experience living at nearly the poverty level, which showed her that she couldn’t just snap her fingers and get what she wants

* At that point Diane offered only the basic services of an accountant

* However, after 2008 Diane really needed to develop a niche to stand out from the crowd

* Diane never had to do any marketing up to 2008, but after that she needed to learn how to market to a whole new group of people

* In that reinventing of her business Diane needed to get over her fear of being in the spotlight of her business

* Since then she has become an author and she has learned to do interviews like this very podcast! She has had to step way out of her comfort zone to become a tax coach

* A regular accountant is really good at recording history. They’ll make sure your numbers are in the right place and things get filed on time. A tax coach, however, in addition to that likes to sit down with people and find out if they are overpaying their taxes

* People don’t know what they don’t know, so Diane has really tried to educate people, and she’ll offer a free tax analysis

* Diane will sit down with people and make sure they save money each year

* Diane has created a product containing a few of her books and other things that help them, and that helps open doors for new clients

* It is common to take many tries to get a door open for a new client

* In addition to using her books, Diane uses send out cards. She’ll send two books, then a package of brownies, then more books

* The combination of the books and the brownies have opened a lot of doors

* Diane has put together a list of names of current prospects. After finding a name she’ll look them up online and see if they are struggling when tax season comes around

*

* Have a way to keep track of your income and expenses. It is so helpful to accountants

* One of the biggest tools that has helped Diane has been time blocking

* That is when she puts a time block on her calendar for working on certain tasks. Once the time is up, she needs to stop whatever task she’s working on

Connect With Diane:

* Check out free copies of some of her books, and the free tax analysis!

* Facebook:<...

Once Upon a Time As Andrew:

* Andrew has been an entrepreneur since he was a kid

* He would take the toys he got from the McDonald’s happy meal and go sell them at his school

* Andrew decided to push off a serious relationship and kids until he was doing well enough to support himself and others

* For Andrew, there are days when getting his kids ready in the morning exhausts him before he even really starts his day

* Riding his exercise bike at night isn’t nearly as much work as getting his kids ready in the morning

* Andrew spends most of his mornings and evenings at home. Usually Andrew won’t go out after work like he used to

* After having kids Andrew lost the time and energy to go out after work. He wanted to run to work after getting the kids ready, then at night after getting the kids to bed he wanted to go out. That isn’t what ended up happening

* Before Andrew had kids he would be afraid of not being able to provide for himself, and now that he has kids he is afraid of embarrassing his kids or not being able to support then

* These fears only happen in his mind. He tries to rationalize it in his head, and he reminds himself that he married someone who he knew was willing to live in a cardboard box with him if need be

* At night Andrew will take his mind through a story to help calm him

*

* Andrew and his coworkers were having a difficult time, so he found the nicest place he could and they took a company retreat

* He wanted to develop some systems they could use and get things running more smoothly

* Systems are essential. The most successful people had systems to what they did

* Andrew never packs much with him when he goes places. He wants to experience life without being weighed down, he’ll figure it out if he needs to

*

On The Fence?

* If being an entrepreneur is what you want, you gotta do it

* Entrepreneurs have this creative need that entrepreneurship satisfies, it just happens

* Recognize that you have the biological imperative, so don’t fight it and just do it

* Did you like what Andrew said? Let him know at [email protected]

Connect With Andrew:

 

* His website:

* Bot Academy:

* Mixergy:

* Twitter:

Russ Perry: founder of Design Pickle (best company name ever), and the upcoming author of The Sober Entrepreneur

Once Upon a Time As Russ:

* For Russ, the kids came before the business

* He was a senior in college and working for Apple when he found out he was going to become a dad

* Russ started to get annoyed having to keep asking for time off to spend time with his daughter

* As a result he discovered entrepreneurship, which started out as freelance graphic design

* Essentially his once upon a time story was stubbornness

* After Russ left Apple he launched his small agency. Russ and his team did a great job with promoting his brands

* They would come up with crazy cool ideas, but by the time they were approved they were watered down through bureaucracy

* At Design Pickle, at a flat rate, you can meet with a designated designer that will work on your stuff everyday

* This was founded because Russ had a lot of small design projects he needed, so he created a system

* Russ and his team at Design Pickle want to be kind and make sure you’re shown support

* Can you quickly communicate it in an email? If things become too complicated, that’s a big red flag

* Those kinds of intense project Russ tries to avoid. Design Pickle isn’t going to design your site for you, only the various kinds of graphics

* Now Russ has three daughters. While he does have an office outside the house, Russ still has the value of flexibility and time with family

* At first Russ was never home, but now Design Pickle is completely online so Russ and his family can go anywhere at anytime

* Russ’s book The Sober Entrepreneur shows how when Russ quit drinking his business was able to take off

* The book is about Russ’s personal experiences around substance and being a male entrepreneur

* Russ was both drinking and addicted to this idea of running an agency, so things deteriorated quickly overtime

*

* Russ could never be where he is today without hitting rock bottom. He thought that he was at the best place he could be, but he found out that he could be in a much better place

* Stuck at rock bottom? Russ’s book is definitely a tool to help

* The first thing to do would be to get a coach. Find someone who’s further down the path you’re on and go talk to them

* The first way to prevent rock bottom is to get a new perspective

* A coach focuses on where you’re at now and where you want to go in the future

*

* A good coach is going to call you out

*

Connect with Russ:

* Special link for PEP listeners!

* His website:

* Facebook:

* Twitter:

If you’re looking for a millionaire guru or expert someone to give you the exact steps you need to take to make $1Million by next year this time, and to give you links to resources you need to make that happen even faster, then you opened the wrong book. There are plenty of free resources from those people online that lead to their amazing, discounted online course that takes you step-by-step through everything you need to know and do. This book has no sweet koolaid promises that say if you only do what I say, you will have what I have. You can’t have what I have, because what I have is part of my life.

* Did you get married at 19 to your first boyfriend you met when you were 16?

* Did you go to a community college for four years, trying to figure out what you wanted to study for a career?

* Did you graduate from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in Nutrition & Food Science, while your husband attended and graduated from U.C. Santa Barbara, and only came home every 6 – 8 weeks for 2 years?

* Did you wait 15 years to have children, then suffer 2 miscarriages over the course of 2 years to finally deliver your first incredible son after being hospitalized with early labor when you were 35?

* Did you fall while 8 months pregnant with your second incredible son, and break both your legs…then go through labor, delivery and the care of a newborn, toddler, husband and home while hobbling through life with a pink cast on one leg up to the knee and a blue cast on the other, because you didn’t know the gender of your baby?

* Did that give you the confidence you needed to start your first business, the first novelty maternity store online in 2003 based on your all- consuming passion from those miscarriages and pregnancy difficulties to bring joy and laughter to other mommies-to-be?

* Did the four years of the 2008 recession almost completely destroy your family with $40,000 in debt that you paid off by liquidating your 401K and savings?

* Did you write a book about your 2 broken legs while 8 months pregnant story that inspired people to choose the parenting path that was right for them, and not just follow along with everyone else going to a job, and putting their kids in daycare?

* Did you then start a podcast sharing your stories and experience raising sons while building that first business that further inspired you and your listeners to embrace everyone’s unique path to success, no matter the twists and turns?

* Did you interview over 200 incredible parent entrepreneurs who showed you and your listeners how to create a successful life and business by intentionally assessing and choosing from the many messages we all get every day?

* Did you finally get and enthusiastically reply to “The Message” that changed your trajectory and showed you which messages you should really be paying attention, embracing and replying to?

* Did you build a business that grossed $70,000 in its first six months, and is on track for $210,000 in its first twelve months? No, those things didn’t happen to you, they happened to me, and took 14 years of responding to the wrong messages, not listening to the right ones, and finally having the courage to know and accept the difference to create that first amazing 12 months of success.

You can, however, have something similar that is based on your life, and that is what I will share with you in the following pages.

I WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO PAY ATTENTION TO EACH MESSAGE, AND DECIDE IF YOU WILL REPLY.

When you pay attention to the messages you receive every day, and decide whether or not to accept them and reply by weighing them against your goals, dreams, strengths, values and family, you can create incredible personal and entrepreneurial success. I hate to break the news to you, but there are no overnight successes, or easy roads, or quick fixes to important problems.

Once Upon a Time as Isaac:

* Isaac started things early, and had his first son when he was 21 years old

* They wanted to have 4 or 5 kids, but they couldn’t get pregnant again for 5 years

* They decided to adopt, then they got pregnant with another child!

* Now, 5 years later, they got pregnant with another son

* Isaac started out in politics, since he wanted to help people, but he soon realized that politics was not the way to go for that

* After he got out of politics, he got involved in non-profits and such

* He spent 10 or so years working with high schools

* Isaac had an idea for a startup apprenticeship program that put students through a 6-month virtual boot camp to help them succeed in the business world

* Isaac had moved to South Carolina, was doing something he loved, and was making a good amount of money. However, he wasn’t satisfied. He wanted more

* Isaac had a small network of small businesses, so he talked to about 20 companies that said they were interested in an apprentice

* As time went on Isaac got more and more apprentices to be successful, which brought more popularity

* Young people pay tuition for Isaac’s program, then they’ll train for 6 months and then have a paid 6 month apprenticeship

*

* There are two things necessary to succeed in the market: the ability to create value for other people, and the ability to prove that to them

* You may not even realize how good you are at sales or something like that, Isaac’s program will help you realize your skills

* The 6 month paid apprenticeship is a great way to help train for working professionally. 97% of graduates are able to get jobs paying about $50,000

*

* There is a project that will help you learn something, and a project that will help demonstrate something that you know

* Having learning based around a goal is much more effective than just reading textbooks

* College isn’t like most consumer experiences. You pay all that money, but the professors don’t care at all about the consumers since their pay is not based off the student’s happiness

* Isaac wants to invest interest in his students

* The best applicants to Isaac’s program have parents who are small business owners

* As a parent entrepreneur you normalize being a business owner and your kids are more likely to pursue that

* Make sure your kids have a resource-rich environment. When they see you being generally interested in things they’ll want to do it too

On The Fence?

* Do not feel bad for being in that spot

* Life is too short to be bored and not give it a try

* We are incredibly blessed to be living at this point in time. If you fail really bad, the bottom isn’t too far. The worst that can happen isn’t honestly too bad

Connect with Isaac:

* His website:

* Praxis:

Once Upon a Time As Pamela:

* In general, business came first for Pamela

* Pamela grew up on a farm and then went to Yale university, where she ended up in the business world

* She was first in the restaurant business, then the fashion industry

* When she had her kids she was able to take a break from the business world. Her husband afforded them the flexibility to do that

* Earlier this year Pamela got inspired to write her book and do work surrounding inner strength

* Pamela wrote her book, Find More Strength, in about two weeks

* Pamela is passionate about fitness, and that goes for physical fitness and mental fitness

* She outlines 5 areas in the book that will help you get stronger

* Gratitute

* Compassion

* Courage

* Surrender

* Openness and curiosity

* There are all powerful and beneficial things, but they’re difficult sometimes

*

* As you move out of your comfort zone to become more skillful try to stay warm and gentle, even though it may be difficult

*

* Be aware of how you’re feeling. If you feel yourself drop and feel low, the first thing is to tune in and be aware of that

* Pamela started to wear jewelry to keep reminding her to pay attention to how she’s feeling

* If you’re feeling low, accept it and love it

* If you keep circling around all of the five areas Pamela outlines and working a little bit on each you’ll make real progress

* Pamela has two kids. For her, parenting has been the biggest opportunity for her to experience personal growth

* Your kids really force you to work and come to terms with yourself

* Teamwork, integrity, and leadership are huge parts of any business

* Those five pillars Pamela outlined are just as important in business as it is in your personal life

* Get over the mindset of money scarcity. There is enough money out there for you and it will come

* Get over the fear of rejection. Embrace and be inspired by rejection

On the Fence?

* There’s nothing more important than what we choose to believe is possible

* Keep that openness for growth

Connect with Pamela:

* Her website/book:

Once Upon a Time As Kathleen:

* Kathleen was a parent first

* She has always wanted her own business, but at the same time she is the kind of person to get cold feet

* Kathleen started out focusing on cooking healthy for kids

* She wanted to make a business of selling healthy meals for kids, but she would have to spend a lot of time cooking on top of a full-time job she already had. That did not afford a lifestyle she wanted

* Instead, she focused instead on teaching cooking classes and delivery and other things in the community

* Now Kathleen has a website to help teach healthy eating

* Once a week Kathleen delivers healthy foods supplied by local growers. It gets her more towards service than products, like she wants

* Kathleen used to be so much more focused on the specific services she offered, as opposed to being focused on the overall purpose of her business

*

* Over time, Kathleen was able to narrow down her audience to women, not just specifically moms

* Kathleen has been working in manufacturing for 11 years

* Just about 3-6 months ago she realized that her customers needed the general knowledge of how to cook and eat healthy instead of just getting the meals pre-cooked

* For anyone outside of her local area, she offers healthy meals simplified for $10. It’s an online course that’s a combination of an eBook, video presentation, and PDF worksheets

* How can we change 5 hours of cooking for the week into 2?

* All of it comes down to ingredients instead of a meal plan

* Kathleen recommends 2 proteins, 3 starch/heavy sides, and 5 veggie sides

* Make combinations of those to last the week

* Use the tips to plan your meals and reduce waste in your business

* It comes down to preparing your steps. Prep documents ahead of time, and anything else you can

* Stop and think of where you’re experiencing waste in your business. Time? Money? Thoughts? Worries?

* Kathleen delivers to her customers near her since buying in such bulk is much cheaper than grocery shopping individually

* Toggl is one tool that Kathleen definitely recommends. It’s a way to time study yourself

* You can track your time on an app on your phone. It’s important because it’s your time and money that shows where your priorities are, so Toggl definitely helps with the time portion of that

* Tracking your time helps you to not change tasks every ten minutes and remain focused

On the Fence?

* Break it down into baby steps and focus on one little step at a time

* If you focus on all of it at once it can be intimidating

* Focus on the logic behind it

*

* Just because something didn’t work doesn’t mean it can’t work differently

* Kathleen has three takeaways that take those manufacturing tips and help you apply them to your small business or home

* Check it out at mommaskitchenllc.com/powerparents

Connect with Kathleen:

* Her website:

* Facebook:

Once Upon a Time as Scott:

* For Scott, the business came far before the kids

* Scott has had eight different companies and waited quite a while to have kids

* Scott and his wife have run three businesses together

* They created an online business just before they had their kids teaching contractors various efficiency methods

* They ran that for a number of years

* At the beginning Scott and his wife never thought they would have kids

* After some time they decided to entertain having kids

* Scott had a startup business at the same time of having kids

* Scott spend the first two weeks of parenthood working out of a hospital lobby

* For Scott’s first business, a couple of Scott’s coworkers came up to him and asked if he could help with their business. Scott has an IT background, but they couldn’t afford to pay him, so they gave him ownership of the company instead

* Scott agreed and did that for three years without getting paid at all

* That was Scott’s first taste of being an entrepreneur and drew him away from the corporate world

* Now, as a CEO, Scott has more responsibilities than just an owner. He has to keep the books and other such tasks

* At the beginning, while Scott was in a corporate job, he did a side hustle in the evening and and weekends

* He started to love the side hustles more and switched to being a full time entrepreneur

* When Scott and his wife first had their kids things were very difficult. With those newborns they were also trying to sell one company and start a new one

* As an entrepreneur, there is a mindset of having to do something right now

*

* As business owners, we’re always trying to make more money. Do you want a modest income so you can live at home and have a modest life, or do you want ten million dollars? If so, what would you do with it?

* Work life balance is difficult to make possible. Saying you’ll work 40 hours in a week turns into 50 or 60 whether you like it or not since you have to factor in commute times and lunch and other such things

* Work-life integration is much more realistic

* Scott has a podcast and radio show called the Scott Alan Turner Show on which he teaches personal finance

* Scott teaches the concepts and things he wished he knew when he was finishing school and starting life

* Scott wrote his book to help people navigate the world of investing

* 99 minute millionaire is a book you can read in 99 minutes to learn how to be a better investor than the Wall Street professional

* We have been groomed to believe that the path to success is to go to college, get a 9-5 job, and retire at 65

* That isn’t the case now. You can be an entrepreneur or work in a trade

* These opportunities are easier now than they were before

* For some businesses you still might need a large investment, but a lot of online businesses do not require start up money

* If you have extra money and you reinvest it in your business, it’s like putting all your eggs in one basket

* Commit to saving 1% or 2% of your income for things besides your business. Invest it over a long period of time and you end up with a lot more wealth down the road

*