She Did It Her Way

She Did It Her Way

By Amanda BoleynBusinessEntrepreneurshipEducationSelf-ImprovementMarketing
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She Did It Her Way episodes

  • SDH224: Following Your Gut and Taking a Chance with Vivian Kaye
    LISTEN VIA ITUNES
    LISTEN VIA STITCHER

    Learn to Podcast: If you have ever wanted to launch your own podcast but the thought of doing so seems daunting or overwhelming, you are not alone. That’s why I am launching “Learn to Podcast” a 30 day zero to launch strategy for anyone who is looking to make podcasting part of their brand. I’m sharing my exact processes and templates I use to produce my podcasts. At the end of the 30 days, you’ll have your own strategy and systems in place to produce and launch yours. Head on to www.learntopodcastvirtualsummit.com for more information. The cart closes on January 5th and the live option is only available to a limited number of students.  

    Where do you find support for your business? How do you speak to the customer with your personal brand and not your product? What was the response? How did it affect customer engagement? 

    In today’s episode Vivian Kaye shares her insights on those matters and more as she tells us about KinkyCurlyYaki, a textured hair extension company for women of color! In her previous business as a wedding decorator, she said she needed something easier to do with her hair, but she wanted it to look authentic, and protect her hair at the same time. She began wearing wigs and other extensions, and tailoring them to look like her natural hair, and would be stopped by strangers who were in love with her hairstyles. Once they found out she was wearing a protective style, they were eager to buy it. She said that’s when her light bulb went off, and she decided to take on the hair industry herself, and launched in KinkyCurlyYaki in 2012!

    She was hesitant to launch a second business at first though because she was so content with her wedding decorating career. But because she was initially trying to solve her own problem, her passion for the hair industry had already been planted. She said she was heavily engaged in forums and Facebook groups and was gaining feedback and knowledge on hair textures, and other aspects of the industry. So when wedding season wound down, she decided to go for it and gave her little side hustle a shot. 

    Loaded up with five rubbermaid drawers of inventory in her apartment, and a website, she launched and notified her networks in forums and Facebook. Everyone was quick to support her because she had built such a following and personality through her chat rooms, and she was also one of the first businesses to tap into influencers on Instagram. She said she would ask some of her followers to test her products, and in turn, they would make reaction videos or a post, and she said her customer base grew from digital word-of-mouth. To her surprise, business began to flood in, and in 2016 she made her first million dollars and is now operating out of a 1,500 sq. foot warehouse with a shipment team! 

    Stay tuned and hear more about how she learned how to market her business, hire her first staff member, and more about the elevation of Vivian Kaye!

    In this episode you will…

    • Know how to market through chat rooms and social media 
    • Be able to add a personal touch to your brand to edge out the competition
    • Learn how to figure out your price point and inventory according to a finicky market
    • See how to trust someone else with your business, and hire your first staff member
    • Know where to look for reassurance and guidance
    • Begin to trust your gut more

    INSIGHTS 

    “What a lot of people fail to realize is that [customers] buy you, they’re not necessarily buying your product. When people ask me for advice now, I just say be yourself because people…want that personal touch, they want that human that had that same problem.” -Vivian Kaye

    “At a certain point you just have to trust people, it took a while for me to hire my first person because I had to learn to let it go. I couldn’t grow my business, I couldn’t scale my business if I couldn’t trust anyone.” -Vivian Kaye

    “You always think that you’re  alone in this journey, and being an entrepreneur is one of the loneliest things you can do…so I would seek out [entrepreneurs] online and meet up groups…it’s really reassured me that it’s not just me.” -Vivian Kaye

    “A lot of people think they don’t know, but you do, but for some reason, you don’t trust yourself…I’m a big follower of listening to your gut…and we as women, we need to hone into to that, because that’s what it’s here for. It’s here to help us through all these decisions, and help us through the self-doubt, because we’re a pretty strong gender…and we need to rely on ourselves to bring ourselves together.” -Vivian Kaye

    RESOURCES

    Vivian Kaye Instagram

    KinkyCurlyYaki Instagram

    KinkyCurlyYaki Facebook

    KinkyCurlyYaki Twitter

    Myleik Teele’s Podcast

    The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** by Mark Manson
     

    32 min
  • SDH223: How to Be Patient While Building Your Business with Jill Minton
    Does it seem like you’d have to give up everything to build your business? Are you scared people will look at you like your crazy if you uprooted your life for your dream? Despite the sacrifices, is your drive still there?
    Today’s guest Jill Minton was that woman a few years ago as she and her husband built t. Loft, a gluten-free café, and she know those fears and questions all too well. She and her husband really had to grind it out to get t.Loft off the ground, but they believed in their dream, and stopped at nothing to make it a reality!
    Her story begins in 2010, when she worked for KPMG as an IT consultant. She loved her job, but when she had kids it became hard to dedicate her life to such a constant work schedule. Her heath started to degrade, and she said she felt so depleted that during a family zoo trip, she had to keep putting her head on her child’s shoulder just to snatch a few seconds of rest. As her health continued to deteriorate, so did her sister’s, her daughter’s, and her dad’s. Her 5-year old daughter began waking up in the middle of the night because of headaches and stomach aches, and her sister began getting mouth sores and stomach cramps, and her dad had struggled with health problems his whole life.  She said they all started to realize that something may be seriously wrong, and her sister’s doctor suggested that they get tested for Celiac disease, which is an immune reaction to eating gluten. They all tested positive, and they learned that it could’ve been triggered by trauma to the immune system, or stressful situations. 
    Now that they finally had answers, they started to change the way they were eating, and juicing became a huge part of their lives. They were so inflamed before, and juicing was the only way their bodies could get nutrients, and digest them easily. She said she became very passionate about eating right, healing, and wanted to make juicing and clean eating a part of her career. She decided to create a place that offered truly healthy food, but was fast and convenient, and wanted to create an environment that people wanted to hang out in, like a friend’s house. 
    Before she completely jumped the corporate America ship, she tested out her concept at a farmer’s market on the weekends. She said she refers to that summer of 2012 as the summer from hell, because she would fly in on Friday, stay up all night prepping, and get to the market at 5am, and be there for 12 hours Saturday and Sunday. On the bright side, her and her husband were able to talk to interested people, get some feedback, and develop a following.
    By the end of the summer, they had enough of a clientele to start looking at physical spaces, but faced some push back from developers. A lot of development companies didn’t look at her concept as a serious business, and didn’t want to take the risk of her idea failing, and her not being able to pay the rent. They finally found a space in a half empty strip center, with a rickety building next door, and were determined to make it work. Everything needed to be gutted and renovated, so to expand their budget, they sold their big house in the suburbs and moved to a tiny house in the city, and sold both of their cars to get a cheaper one to share. Jill had to leave her job as an IT consultant to run the store, but her husband kept his job; and after traveling 45 minutes to work and back, he would come to the shop to help with renovations until 2 or 3am. After 60 days of construction, the store was complete, and they were able to do it 50% under budget!
    They opened their first location April of 2013, and just opened their 5th store last week! Since their official opening she said it’s been a rough and crazy ride, but the community has been amazingly supportive, and they’ve been fortunate to feed the Kansas City Royals during home games! 
    Listen in and learn more about their grind to bring t.Loft to life! 
    In this episode you will…
    See what to sacrifice to make your business a reality
    Gain the courage to build your business
    Know how to deal with a perishable product if you’re in the food business
    Figure out your inventory flow
    Decide whether to keep your business private or turn it into a franchise
    Start to pay attention to the things that inspire you
    Learn to be patient with your process
    INSIGHTS
    “I can’t tell you how many times I called my sister crying [asking] if I’m doing the right thing… [But] I had gotten to the point where I told [my husband] I would rather live in a box than to not try…You’re never going to get another chance here on earth, why not try?” -Jill Minton
    “If you want to do what most people don’t do, your life is going to different. You’re going to look weird. You are. You aren’t doing what society is doing, most people don’t get this opportunity, or they don’t take it…As crazy as it is, and as hard as it is, at least you tried!” -Jill Minton
    “Pay attention to those things that inspire you. I get inspired when I go to another city, and go through other concepts, I get inspired by looking at beautiful designs online…all of those things inspire me. I think when I go back to that place I get re-inspired and reinvigorated, and just remembering that I got to take time to refuel, because if you’re always giving…you do just end up depleted…and you can’t be creative if you’re completely spent.” -Jill Minton
    RESOURCES
    t. Loft Website
    Jill Minton LinkedIn
    t. Loft Facebook
    t. Loft Instagram
    t. Loft Twitter
    Strategies for Living with Stephen Covey
    Gary Vaynerchuk Website
    How I Built This with Guy Raz
    The 5 Second Rule with Mel Robbins
    38 min
  • SDH222: Finding your Definition of Success with Jenna Kutcher
    LISTEN VIA ITUNES
    LISTEN VIA STITCHER

    Learn to Podcast: If you have ever wanted to launch your own podcast but the thought of doing so seems daunting or overwhelming, you are not alone. That’s why I am launching “Learn to Podcast” a 30 day zero to launch strategy for anyone who is looking to make podcasting part of their brand. I’m sharing my exact processes and templates I use to produce my podcasts. At the end of the 30 days, you’ll have your own strategy and systems in place to produce and launch yours. Head on to www.learntopodcastvirtualsummit.com for more information. The cart closes on January 5th and the live option is only available to a limited number of students.  

    Do you know what your superpower is? Do you know how to channel your gifts into a business? How about making money from that business? Can you do that in yoga pants?

    Look no further than Jenna Kutcher! Jenna has a podcast, is an educator, and a photographer. With her many platforms, she aims to inspire women to start profitable and sustainable businesses that they love, start living on their own terms, and capture their business freedom!  

    Originally, Jenna thought she wanted to be a surgeon, and studied pre-med in college. She decided to reroute her career path when she saw how long she’d have to be in medical school, and decided to go the traditional corporate business route. As she sat down in her cubicle in her pencil skirt, though, she said she realized she hated every second of that world. She said when she sat down with her boss and discussed her future in business, she yearned for a life in yoga pants and a life full of success on her own terms.

    Her exit ticket came in the form of a blog and a $300 camera from Craigslist, and she became a wedding photographer. Despite never taking a photography class, she booked 25 wedding gigs right out the gate, and after six successful years has shot 125 weddings. Even though she was happier as a photographer, she said the constant workload began to give her anxiety, and couldn’t seem to find time to disconnect from work. Her entire world revolved around her laptop, and her camera, and she had to make another change before she burnt out from exhaustion. 

    After talking with her husband, she decided to cut her wedding workload and income in half to reclaim her life and peace of mind. With her new free time, she began exploring other passions, like painting, and calligraphy. As her mind welcomed clarity and balance, she said she realized her superpower was being able to start a profitable business in the arts and wanted to help starving artists do the same. So she started the Goal Digger podcast to help entrepreneurs find their definition of success, and start their careers!

    Get cozy, and hear more about how Jenna got her start and created her resource hubs for aspiring entrepreneurs!


    In this episode you will…

    • Know when to start to explore other passions
    • Learn to balance your peace of mind, creativity, and career
    • Learn how to ask for help and pass off duties to other people
    • Know what KPI’s to look at to keep track of your productivity and growth
    • Look at your price point as an equation, and separate it from your emotions
    • Find the best way to start your day so you will have a positive mindset and productive day


    INSIGHTS

    “We are just working on building and automation, and so looking at how can we serve people in the best way, while preserving my energy, my creativity, and letting me work on the pieces of my business where only I can serve. So that’s looked like building an actual team…and how I  prioritize my time so I can make the most of it. So truly seeking balance is something that we are working towards, while we continue to grow and expand the empire that we’ve built.” – Jenna Kutcher

    “We protect the word ‘yes’ for the best ‘yes’s…I have learned over the last six years that it is best to bet on myself and to invest in myself. A lot of those ‘opportunities’ are truly to further other people’s brands and endeavors, and so you have to learn to put your head down just a little bit more. It’s been really awesome having almost a gatekeeper of my time, my calendar, and kind of seeing that overall picture of what are my biggest goals, and if this is in alignment, then say yes, and if it’s not…then it’s a very easy no.” -Jenna Kutcher

    “Pricing is an equation it’s not an emotion. So often when we’re passionate about what we’re doing we get emotional about, it’s only natural. But that doesn’t come into play…when it comes to what you charge for your products or services…How much do you want or need to make for the year? How many hours are you committed to working towards that goal?...You have to run the numbers.” -Jenna Kutcher

    “I think that our inner dialogues can say so much about us…if my inner dialogue was shared with the world, I’d be embarrassed about the things I say to myself everyday…I think that we all are struggling, [and] I think that there’s beauty in acknowledging that as human beings that we never figure it out…I don’t think we’re meant to feel complete on this earth, but what I think is so incredible about it is that we have the ability to shine light into those dark areas…and say I see you…but I’m not gonna give you power anymore.” -Jenna Kutcher 

    RESOURCES

    Jenna Kutcher Website
    Goal Digger Podcast
    Jenna Kutcher Facebook
    Jenna Kutcher Instagram
    Jenna Kutcher Twitter

     

    47 min
  • SDH221: Secrets Behind Running Million Dollar Businesses with Amanda Googsly
    How did you get serious about changing destructive behaviors? Who believed in you first? When did your intention match your actions and mindset?
    Hey there guys! Amanda Googsly is our go-to girl today! Amanda is the owner of a coaching practice, Aligned Success, and just launched her own podcast 5 weeks ago. Amanda focuses on helping driven, and high achieving leaders create success in their health, career, and life. She started her practice only 5 months ago, after resigning from running the Portland region of Orange Theory Fitness. When she left her position, her franchises were pulling 20 million dollars in revenue a year! But her calling to help people was greater, and she knew her story would inspire others to push through their storms and believe there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
    Her journey began back in 2010. She was submerged in the world of fitness, studying exercise science at Washington State University, running her own fitness studio, and competing in bodybuilding competitions. Unfortunately, that summer she got her knee caught on a wave runner, and tore a ligament in her knee, and a main artery in her leg. She had to have an emergency vascular surgery to save her leg and spent two months in the hospital. During those two months, she dealt with complete muscle atrophy, causing her leg to turn into mush. The following 6 months, she was confined to a wheelchair and walker and gained 30 pounds in those months alone.  
    She said she felt like her life and identity had been taken away from her, and started making poor life decisions in the coming 18 months. She found herself in an abusive relationship and began using and selling ecstasy in the Portland nightlife scene. She said she no longer could recognize the person she had become, and knew if she didn’t change she would end up dead or in prison. So she piled everything she could in her car and took off to Phoenix. She didn’t have a job, place to live or a plan. She just knew she had to create a different environment than the one she was in. 
    When she got to Phoenix, she said it was easier for her to make a living selling drugs, and it took her about four months  to actually change her habits. She said the gumption to make a change came to her as she was doing a video blog. She said the day of the accident, was the day she stopped loving herself, and that is why she dove so deeply into sex, drugs, and destructive behaviors. She had to find her passion again, and knew helping people change their lives through fitness was where she found the most purpose and joy. 
    She applied for a job at Orange Theory Fitness, and through that got a mentor who gave her a book on leadership. He taught her to recognize the resilience and grit that it took for her to overcome her obstacles, and see the potential she would have as a leader if she worked on her confidence. His belief in her gave her the final nudge she needed to transform herself mentally, and she started excelling at work, and getting raises! 
    She said once she got her personal development into alignment, everything from her finances to her lifestyle was improving, and was addicted to succeeding. By 2014, she was traveling the country trying to open more franchises as a consultant for Orange Theory Fitness. In 2015, she became VP of two new franchises in Utah, and oversaw over 2 million dollars in revenue each year. By that fall, she was ready for something with more opportunity and responsibility, and decided to move back to Portland to open a franchise, and help other franchisees open their own  studios, too. 
    Before she tackled that development process, she took a month leave to travel to Bali. She said she got a different level of clarity about where she wanted to go, and remembered her desire to coach people full time. She wanted to coach in 2014, but felt she wasn’t ready, even though she knew that was where her heart was. She said she was passionate about fitness, but realized that it was not her entire purpose in this world, and wanted to help people work through their pain in other aspects of their life. 
    Through her business she has helped clients like burnt out executives and entrepreneurs create more efficient systems in their lives and careers so they have a moment to breath. Not only that, she helps them figure out whether the success they’ve been chasing is their true purpose, and how to begin to reroute their path, and achieve their career and personal dream!
    Listen in and hear how she got the courage to leave Orange Theory Fitness, created her coaching practice, and grew as a leader and a person!
    In this episode you will…
    Find the motivation to change destructive habits
    Get your personal development in alignment
    Use your pain to help others through theirs
    Learn how to run million dollar businesses
    Figure out your best method of learning
    Learn to invest in yourself
    INSIGHTS
    “I kind of became addicted to seeing myself perform at a higher level, and seeing the rewards that came from it. I was just improving in so many facets. My lifestyle was improving, my finances were improving. It was what I call the domino affect of I got my personal development into alignment. That was the thing I needed most in my life.” -Amanda Goolsby
    “I really got a different level clarity about what I wanted…I thought, I did not go through all of that that I went through to then not give back and help humanity through that…I did not go through that [in] vain.” -Amanda Goolsby
    “If you’re going to invest in something, you should invest in yourself because it multiplies…invest 10% of everything you make into yourself…I’ve seen the payoff already, if I stay the process, and keep going, this will pay off in the end.” -Amanda Goolsby
    “What aligned success is all about is you can achieve success…but does it feel good in your life, or are you putting your ladder up the wrong building, climbing all the way to the top, and then realizing it’s not really where they want to be.” -Amanda Goolsby
    “I believe energy is more important than intelligence, and if you don’t have a full, vibrant energy everyday, how are you going to accomplish any of your dreams at the level that is possible for you.” -Amanda Goolsby
    RESOURCES
    Amanda Googsly Website
    Aligned Success Podcast
    Amanda Googsly Facebook
    Amanda Googsly Instagram
    Amanda Googsly LinkedIn
    Team Lift Inc.
    The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
    Bali Retreat
    Free NYD Training
    49 min
  • SDH220: Develop a Strategy that Profits with Julie Solomon
    LISTEN VIA ITUNES
    LISTEN VIA STITCHER

    Learn to Podcast: If you have ever wanted to launch your own podcast but the thought of doing so seems daunting or overwhelming, you are not alone. That’s why I am launching “Learn to Podcast” a 30 day zero to launch strategy for anyone who is looking to make podcasting part of their brand. I’m sharing my exact processes and templates I use to produce my podcasts. At the end of the 30 days, you’ll have your own strategy and systems in place to produce and launch yours. Head on to www.learntopodcastvirtualsummit.com for more information. The cart closes on January 5th and the live option is only available to a limited number of students.  

    What do you do in a pitch meeting as a blogger? Do you negotiate your rates or do you have pre-determined ones? How do you know your worth as an influencer, and communicate that to brands?

    Well, look no further than influencer marketing strategist, Julie Solomon! Julie shares her tips and tricks with bloggers and other influencers on her blog, website, online courses, and new podcast, The Influencer! Through these multiple outlets, her audience is able to network, and load up on valuable resources that they’ll need to turn their online platforms into profitable businesses and grow their brands. 

    Julie originally got her start in PR and worked at the publishing house, Thomas Nelson, now owned by Harper Collins. Though she progressed rapidly and loved working with people like Mike Hyatt and Dave Ramsey, she could not shake her need to innovate. So she left Harper Collins, and co-founded a PR-firm with her business partner, but was ready to move on after a couple of years. She began noticing a career pattern within herself, and said she was always ready for the next big step after doing something for around two years. She needed to find a profession that could keep up with her and became interested in the constantly evolving online influencer space. 

    To get acclimated to the influencer world, she wanted to understand what it meant to be one and began lifestyle blogging for a couple of years. By experiencing their highs and lows, she figured out where the industry needed help the most, and began building a service list for her marketing business. 

    One of her courses, Pitch it Perfect, was created from discussions with bloggers who couldn’t get their foot in the marketing door or had plateaued once they did. Since Julie had eight years of PR experience under her belt, she was able to come up with unique opportunities for others to offer brand collaborations with media outlets and established brands beyond the typical Instagram post. So she developed a strategy course that lets bloggers know what to say to brands,  and how to negotiate rates and deals. She said one of the biggest mistakes she sees bloggers make is giving their rates before they even have a deal, which causes them to lose all their negotiation power. By learning to finesse a negotiation, she helped bloggers make 2-3 times more than what they were initially offered! 

    Tune in to hear more tips on how to grow as an influencer, how she grew her own brand, and so much more!

    In this episode you will…

    • Create more "evergreen" or timeless content so you can repurpose it
    • Develop your services based on your clienteles need
    • Understand how to pitch to brands
    • Learn how to give genuine complimentary feedback to brands
    • Be able to build relationships with people through an email
    • See how to build an engaged audience

    INSIGHTS

    “When it comes to pitching or emailing anyone…you always want to come from a place that’s complimentary…really coming from a genuine place of saying look I’ve tried your product, I’ve tried your services, and I really love them, and this why… really give them a lot of genuine feedback…as to how their products or services are really benefitting you and the audience that you have.” -Julie Solomon

    “A lot of bloggers or influencers will come across saying, ‘Hey this is who I am, this is how many followers I have, this what I want to do, and this is how much it’s going to cost.’…And that’s such a cold way to come across…so really you have to come at it as like how can I build a relationship with this person. There is an actual human being on the other end of that email…how can I  serve them in a way that’s going to be impactful, and really in a way that’s help their bottom line.” -Julie Solomon

    “To me, it’s about the quality over the quantity…A falling number doesn’t really matter, because it’s really about how engaged is that community…I’d rather have 10 people who are super engaged in everything that I say, who are loyal members of my community, who are going to be there to offer constructive criticism, or whatever it may be, than to have 500 people who don’t give a crap, because that’s what’s really going to help me build long-term.” -Julie Solomon

    "I really feel like passion, or your lack of passion is really like a spiritual condition...what joy are you not able to find because of this lack of? So for me when I go through these periods, I really try to get back to the basics of...what's my purpose?...I just try as much as I can to just stop...when I start to lose my passion, is when I try to do too much at once...I have to connect with nature...and where I can really be still...but if I can find those moments in that, that's where I can kind of seek out what the truer issue may be, and then try to figure out if I need to maybe be more flexible with my passions." -Julie Solomon 

    "I always knew I wanted to help people [and] I wanted to connect at the end of the day...how I do that now is through podcasts, and course creations, and Instagram stories, and all these other things! And it's really about being flexible, you can still get to that passion at the end of the day, as long as you're flexible with the journey of getting there." -Julie Solomon


    RESOURCES

    *How to Attract Your Ideal Audience* (Juliesolomon.net/newsletter)
    Julie Solomon Website
    Julie Solomon Instagram
    Julie Solomon Facebook
    Julie Solomon Twitter
    Julie Solomon Pinterest
    Pursuit with Purpose Podcast with Melyssa Griffin

    A Course in Miracles by Helen Schucman

    The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron


     

    46 min

About She Did It Her Way

From the publisher's feed

Welcome to the She Did It Her Way Podcast where we dive into all of your most important questions about starting a business and when to make the leap of going full-time as an entrepreneur. Every week, host, Amanda Boleyn delivers fresh content on productivity hacks, different business strategies, how to confidently transition out of your 9-5 and become a full-time business owner. Along with sharing her business savvy tips, she interviews women who have also gone out and done it their way (Amy Porterfield, Jenna Kutcher, Julie Solomon, Lori Harder and many more).