Quitting corporate and striking out on your own can be a daunting task. But with the right preparation and strategies, you can build the business you’ve always wanted without feeling totally overwhelmed. Today on the show, I share the story of how I quit corporate and started my own business in 2015 and how I would go about doing it again in 2023.
Back in 2015, the online landscape was totally different, and starting your own company had far more barriers to entry than it does today. In the intervening years, technological advances have made it easier than ever to earn money online and organize your systems. While it’s wonderful that these tools have made starting a business more accessible, it also means that it can be more difficult to get your name out there. Tune in for a breakdown of my journey, the lessons I’ve learned along the way, and a rundown of my advice for anyone looking to quit corporate and set out on their own in 2023!
Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com.
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764: Quitting Corporate: How I Left & How I’d do it Again in 2023

The Strategy Hour Podcast is a twice weekly show hosted by Abagail Pumphrey, Co-Founder & CEO of Boss Project. Join us for actionable biz strategies designed for creatives, consultants, coaches, agency owners and service providers looking to build a profitable and sustainable online business. We’ll nerd out on all things business, marketing, finance and all the challenges that life throws your way.
Find show notes and resources at bossproject.com/podcast

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This episode forms part two of a series on obstacles that are preventing you from launching your first or next digital product. Listen to them in either order. It’s totally up to you. Part one was mostly about the fear, worry, and time involved in launching your product. This time, we’re mostly talking about marketing and tech. 
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Episode Highlights

Where to Begin When You Don’t Know How to Build What You Need [0:01:34] 

What to Do When You Don’t Have an Existing Audience to Sell To [0:02:42]

How to Make Your Digital Product Look Professional and Polished [0:07:35]

One Way to Choose Which Idea to Actually Move Forward With [0:10:29]

When You Shouldn’t Move Ahead With Your Digital Product (Yet) [0:14:10]

So You’re Not a Tech Person, What Now? [0:18:20]


Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com.
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848: Unstuck - Part 2: The Marketing & Tech Preventing You From Launching Your Digital Product

Today we get into part two of our four-part series on diversifying your income! Joining us today is solo traveler turned travel expert, Shakeemah Smith. In 2015, she created her course, Travel Like a Bawse, and since then, she has taught over 2000 women in eleven countries how to master the art of solo travel. Even though her professional background wasn’t in the travel industry, she was able to pull from personal experiences to give people the knowledge they were craving. 
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Each and every one of us has a huge opportunity to take the experiences we've had in our lives, be it personal or professional, and transform that knowledge into something teachable that people are eager to learn. Creating digital products may feel like starting over, but it’s important to remember that we all carry with us the wisdom and experiences that brought us to this point. I want you to take a step back and think about what got you to where you are today. What lessons have you learned? What would you do differently if starting anew? What would you skip? Chances are, you’ll find you have a lot more knowledge than you think.
Join me today as I talk with Shakeemah about how she took her knowledge and built a thriving business from it. Discover how Shakeemah approached the shift in her career, not as a total overhaul, but as a starting point to build on all the knowledge and experience she already had!
Episode Highlights

From Investigator to Traveler, to Course Creator [0:03:55]

Evolving Your Digital Products [0:07:02]

What Happened When The Pandemic Hit [0:11:52]

Unpredictability and The Challenges of Entrepreneurship [0:16:34]

Why You Have What It Takes To Succeed [0:19:37]

How to Leverage Where You Are At Instead of Starting Over [0:24:23]


Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com.
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847: Diversify Your Income - Part 2: How to Leverage Where You’re At Instead of Starting Over with Shakeemah Smith

Right now, you have free opportunities to be seen by an organic audience and get free traffic to your offers from people all over the globe. What a time to be alive! What an incredible chance to grow your business! Today's episode of the Strategy Hour Podcast is part one of a two-part miniseries that covers the obstacles that might be preventing you from launching your next (or even your first) digital product. 

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This miniseries was developed in conjunction with Digital Product Fast Track, a free challenge to take you from idea to launch in just one day! Sign up at bossproject.com/launch and tune in today to learn about the fear and the worry that often creep in and the time it takes to get your product launched. 

Episode Highlights

How to Overcome the Overwhelm that Comes with Launching 

Why Visibility is So Scary (and Why You Should Do it Anyway!) 

One Way to Take All the Pressure Off Your Product

What it Really Means to Serve a Past Version of You

The Unexpected Way You Can Create the Time You Need


Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com.
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846: Unstuck - Part 1: The Fear, Worry & Time Preventing You From Launching Your Digital Product

Welcome to the first chapter in our four-part series on diversifying your income, sponsored by Teachable! In these episodes, I’ll be speaking with a range of creators, each of whom has successfully built their own businesses by sharing their expertise with the world.
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For today’s conversation, I am joined by the wonderful Dara Denney, a performance creative expert who works with direct-to-consumer (DTC) eCommerce brands on their paid social advertising. More specifically, she creates video ads for some of your favorite brands! She is also a content creator and every week she launches an episode on her YouTube channel where she shares her insights on paid social advertising. She is currently the Director of Performance Creative at Thesis, a conversion rate optimization company. 
Over the past year, Dara transitioned from agency work to consulting and launched her very first course. That initial launch earned over 50,000 dollars! Her journey is remarkable and inspiring, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t make her fair share of mistakes. Dara tells us about the many instances where she made the process more complicated than it needed to be, and what she would do differently the next time round. Tune in to learn how Dara created a business built on sharing her expertise and why she wishes she had started sooner! 
To support your journey, I’ve built a one-day challenge to take you from idea concept to launch in just one day, so that you can confidently create your next (or first!) digital product. You can learn more and sign up for free at boss bossproject.com/launch to grab that spot!

Episode Highlights

Why You Should Diversify Your Income [0:01:49]

Why Dara Started Her Business [0:22:53] 

How Dara Overcame Her Reservations About Selling Courses [0:30:31]

Dara’s First Launch [0:36:41]

You Don’t Need to Create Your Course on Hard Mode [0:46:29]

How Teachable Can Support You [0:53:39]


Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com.
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845: Diversify Your Income - Part 1: What to Consider Before You Add New Income Streams with Dara Denney

Today I’m sharing the strategy of how I got those people on the list, what’s working, what you should be paying attention to, and what it means for you and your business. An email list is incredibly important to your business because it will allow you to reach your audience more consistently and it’s something that you actually own, unlike your social media followers. Email lists are a long-term strategy that adds to the stability of your business. 
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In the past, I have avoided talking about email lists because I worry that they can become too much of a distraction. Utilizing a list will get you sales but if you are so focused on marketing to bring people onto the list instead of focusing on actual, tangible sales. I’m pretty confident that the majority of these new email subscribers came from seven different kinds of activities that I was doing in my business to attract those leads. I’m having a significant increase this year – way more so than in 2023 because of my focus on visibility. So, let’s dig into how I managed to do it! 
Episode Highlights

Utilizing Old Training Programs to Attract Quality Leads [0:08:40] 

Keeping Up with Trends (When You Feel Inspired to!) [0:10:02]

The Number One Way I Want You to Start Building Your Email List [0:11:50]

How Refreshing Old Content Can Bring You Leads Today [0:13:38]

Working Backwards to Gain Better Insight into Your Clients [0:16:37]

The One Thing that Surprised Me the Most When I Started My Program [0:18:34]

The Power of a Generic Sign-Up [0:23:13]

Using Activation to Add to Your Email List [0:24:35]


Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com.
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764: Quitting Corporate: How I Left & How I’d do it Again in 2023

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